foe ‘nym fers ee al hese oft rm Giuenty bokis l-elad in blak ar red Of Aristotle 2% his philesa-phie lum rebis roche orfedele or gay sautrie TaN, yee ie inal i ie 3. i | BLSNationat st iu lhe hu | ye yal , ; | Mh | be Minty, 4 tA \ ay (aot Ni re ut ‘ " i He mn Ny, a Ly Py wt wl ey r ys vay if i a hit aa ididen Jf @ a, 7 tay } 4 Oi A At WEY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE VOEUME XXII. MAY 188 to OCTOBER 1880 “ To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.’ —WoRDSWORTH London and Netw pork: MAC MIOLIGLAN AND CO. 1880 LONDON : . R. CLAY, SCNS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BREAD STREET E:II1, F.C. << Nature, Dec. 2, 1880] | INDEX ABERDEEN, Museum of Science and Art in, 66 Abercromby (Hon. Ralph), Tay Bridge Storm, 533 Absorption Bands in Certain Colourless Liquids, Dr. W. J Russell, F.R.S., and William Lapraik, 368 Abyssinia, Count Louis Pennazzi’s proposed Journey in, 232 Accademia dei Lincei, 257 Acidulated Water, Immersion of Steel and Iron in, W. Johnson, 11 Actinism of the Sun’s Rays and of Daylight, Measurement of, Dr. R. Angus Smith, 70 Adams (Prof. W. G., F.R.S.), Opening Address in Section A at the British Association, 411 ; on the Comparison of Declina- tion Magnetographs at various Places, 447 Adelaide Botanic Garden, 253 Aéronautics: and Advertising, 17; Aéronautical Society of Great Britain, 155 ; New Scheme for directing Balloons, W. de Fonvielle, 303; see also Balloons Africa: Association for the Exploration and Civilisation of Central, 19 ; Missionary Societies’ Exploration of, 19 ; German African Society, 114; Marno’s Expedition, 114; New Map of Equatorial, by E. G. Ravenstein, 134; African [xplora- tion Fund’s Expedition, 303; Baptist Society’s Map of Equatorial, 351; International Expedition to, 376; Royal Geographical Society’s East African Expedition, 479; London Missionary Society’s Expedition to Tanganyika, 544 ; German African Society’s Mittheilungen, 544; Italian Expedition to Shoa, 570; French Expedition to the Upper Senegal, 570; Plants from Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika, 586; Dr. Lenz’ Expedition, 618 *¢ After Images of Motion,” Herr Zehfuss on, 90 Agassiz (Prof. Alexander) : Obituary Notice of Count L. F. de Pourtales, 371 ; Palzeontological and Embryological Develop- ment, 424 Agriculture ; the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, 64, | 154; Establishment of Two Scholarships at the, 185 ; Meeting of National Society for the Encouragement of, 66; Education of the People in, in France, 155 ; Earl Spencer on Agriculture and Science, 182; Establishment of a New School of Agri- culture at Canterbury, New Zealand, 182; Agricultural Show at Carlisle, 253, 275 ; Prof. Church on Agricultural Chemistry, 275, 300; Dr. J. H. Gilbert, F.R.S., on Agricultural Chemistry, 472, 497, 523 Air-Bladder of Herring, Alf. C. Haddon, 534 Air-Engine, Col. Beaumont’s, 567 Alabama, Geological Survey of, 348 Albania and the Albanians, A. H. Keane, 243 Aldis (W. Steadman), ‘‘ Elementary Treatise on Solid Geo- metry,” 531 Aleurone-Grains, the Chemical Composition of, Dr. Vines, 91 Alexander (T.), Elementary Applied Mechanics, 265 Alexandra Palace, Arctic Exhibition at, 254 Algse of the Siberian Polar Sea, 376 Algz, G. F, Chantrell, 382 Algeria: Decrease of Lions in, 204: Population of, 230 Algiers Observatory, M. Coggia appointed Director, 154 Algol, Minima of, 156 Allen (J. Romilly) Cup and Ring Stones, 97 Allen (Frank J.), Songs of Birds, 122 Allen (Grant), a Doubtful British Mollusk, 435 Alligators, Chinese, 112 13 Allman (Prof. Geo, J., F.R.S.), the Freshwater Medusa, 177, 218, 290 Allwood (T.), Double-Egg, 75 Alpine Flowers, Dr. Hermann Miiller’s work on, 204 Alrese ? What is, Dr. A. Ernst, 585 Altai Mountains, Jurassic Rocks of, 349 American Naturalist, 20, 137, 282, 551, 623 American Journal of Science, 45, 186, 257, 480 American Journal of Mathematics, 73, 276 American (East Coast) Siphonophora, 113 American Blue Pike, Parasite on, 114 American Journal of Philology, 167 ; American Journal of Microscopy, 329 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 332 American Association for the Advancement of Science, 345, 397, 498 ; the Entomological Club of the, 397; Prof. Agassiz’s Ad- dress on Palzeontogical and Embryological Development, 424 American Antiquarian Society, 442 Amphipods, Nest-Building, 594 Anatomy of Man, Comparative, Prof, Flo ver, F.R.S., 59, 78, 97 Anchor-Ice, 31, 54, 171 Ancient Monuments, Preservation of, Auberon Herbert on, 228 Ancient Geography, Bunbury’s History of, 333 Anderson (R.), New Zinc-Carbon Battery, 133 Anderson (Richard), on the Necessity fora Regular Inspection of Lightning-Conductors, 446 Anderson (Dr. Tempest), on Astigmatism, 476 ; Improved Heliograph or Sun Signal, 499 Andersson (Dr. Nils Johann), Obituary Notice of, 39 Anemometer, Cup, Constants of, Rev. Dr, Robinson, F.R.S., 404 Angel’s ‘‘ Plane Geometry,” 557 | Animals, Depraved Tastes in, 329, 339; Arthur Nichols, 339 ; F. R. Greenwood, 364 Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 46, 70, 185, 307, 551 Annelidan Entozoon, G. E. Dobson, 583 Ansted (Prof. David Thomas, F.R.S.), Death of, 86 Anthropology: Anthropological Institute, 22, 47, 72, 163, 211, 235; Annual Congress of the German Anthropological So- ciety, 345, 453; International Congress of, 440; General Pitt Rivers’s (Lane-Fox) Anthropological Collection, 489, 511 Antipatharia of the Blake Expedition, 113 Antisana, E. Whymper’s Ascent of, 19 Ants, Sir John Lubbock on the Habits of, 184 ; Sounds made by, S. E. Peal, 583 Antwerp Geographical Society’s Bulletin, 206 Apiary, A. J. Cook’s Manual of the, 433 Apiculture, Exhibition of Apparatus relating to, 17 Aquarius, Variable Star in, 205 Aqueous Vapour in relation to Perpetual Snow, Dr. J. Croll, F.R.S., 19k Archeopteryx, the, at Berlin, 86 Archibald (E. Douglas), a Fourth State of Matter, 213; the Naini Tal Landslip, 533 Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles, 20, 160, 257, 380 Arctic Exploration: Proposed Expedition under Lieut. Boye, 42; the proposed Observing Stations, 90; Breaking-up of the Ice, 115; another Balloon Scheme, 134; the “owgate ~ Expedition, 134; Scientific Results of the Aowgate Polar Expedition, 1877-78, 171; Bessel’s proposed Expedition, 157; Departure of the Zzra from Peterhead, 184; Arctic Exhibition at the Alexandra Palace, 254; the Franklin Search Expedition, 544 ; Arctic Fossil Floras and Temperature, J..S. Gardner, 341; Arctic News, 506 ; Leigh Smith’s Cruise, 593 A 1V INDEX [Wature, Dec. 2, 1889 I I I I I I Argentine Entomology, W. L. Distant, 238 Argyll (Duke of, F.R.S.), the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, 95 ; a Fourth State of Matter, 168; a Fragment of Primeval Europe, 407 Aristotelian Society, 519 Armstrong (Prof. H. E., F.R.S.), Miller’s Elements of Che- mistry, 559 Arrow Heads, Stone, W. L. Distant, 11 Arrow-heads, Chipped, Dr. R. W. Coppinger, 97 Arthropods, Transverse Commissure in, 520 Artificial Diamonds, R. Mallet, F.R.S., 192; 241, 255 Asia, Central, Geology of, 348 Asterabad, the Province of, 281 Astigmatism, Dr. Tempest Anderson on, 476 Astronomical Column, 18, 67, 88, 112, 131, 156, 184, 205, 231, 276, 301, 347, 374, 399) 454, 466, 495, 541, 569, 593, 616 Astronomy, Prof. Asaph Hall on the progress of, 570 Atmospheric Phenomenon, 362, 607 Atoms, Vortex, S. Tolver Preston, 121 Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei, 234 Audiphone, a New, Thos. Fletcher, 145 Audition, Binaural, Prof. Graham EBell’s Experiments in, 586 August Perseids of 1880, W. F. Denning, 470 Aurora: the Inevitable Test for, Prof. Piazzi Smyth, 76; Warren De La Rue, F.R.S., and Hugo W. Miiller, F.R.S., 96; J. R. Capron, 291; Height of the, John I. Plummer, 362; Aurore in Scotland, 373 ; Observations of Aurore on August 12 and 13, Ralph Copeland, 510; Auroras in America, 594; Aurora Borealis, the, Warren De La Rue, F.R.S., and Hugo W. Miiller, F.R.S., 33; Robert H. Scott, F.R.S., 33; Aurora Borealis and its Colours, T. W. Backhouse, 145: Warren De La Rue, F.R.S., and Hugo W. Miiller, F.R.S., 169; Aurora Borealis and Magnetic Storms, Rev. S. J. Perry, F.R.S., 361; J. A. B. Oliver, 361; F. J. Mott, 361; Auroral Observations, Prof. Sophus Tromholt, 192 “<* Australian Orchids,” R. O. Fitzgerald, 53 Australia, Meteorology of South, C. Mann, 120; C. Todd, 120 Australia, a supposed Survivor of Leichhardt’s Expedition, 184 ** Automatic Multiplier and Calculator,” J. Sawyer, 316 Ayrton (Prof. W. E.), Seeing by Telegraphy, 31 ; Wire Torsion, 604; on Technical Education, 616 Axon (William E.), Stone in the Nest of the Swallow, 242 Azores, supposed New Island inthe, Prof. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S., 509 J. B. Hannay, Bach (Albertis B.), Lecture at Royal Academy of Music on the Cultivation of the Voice, and his Resonator, 204 Backhouse (T. W.), Aurora Borealis and its Colours, 145 “Bacterium foetidum: an Organism Associated with Profuse Sweating from the Soles of the Feet,” Geo. Thin, M.D., 209 Paer, Karl Ernst yon, proposed Monument to, 64 Pailey (Prof. W. Whitman), Intellect in Brutes, 607 Baillon and Decaisne, 12 Baillon (Prof.), on a Case of Apparent Insectivorism, 277 Balfour (F. M., F.R.S.), Address in Section D at the British Association, 417; ‘‘ Comparative Embryology,” Prof, E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 601 Balfour (Dr. J. B.), on Socotra, 477 Ball Lightning, W. F. Smith, 267 Balloons: as Advertising Mediums, -17; Balloon Expedition from France to England, 111 ; another project for reaching the North Pole by, 134 ; Photographs from a, 183, 204 ; Balloon Accident at Le Mans, 253; new Scheme for Directing, W. de Fonvielle, 304 ; Manufacture of War Balloons in France, 346; Accident to an Aéronautist, 374; Ascent at Cherbourg, 398 ; Balloon Contest in London, 441; Balloon Society of Great Britain, 441, 495; Military Ballooning, 441 ; Balloon Contest at the Crystal Palace, 519, 592, 615; Proposed Captive at Milan, 615 Barfoed (Dr. Chr. Th.), ‘‘Lehrbuch der organischen Qualita- tiven Analyse,” 581 Barrow-in-Furness, Summer Meeting of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 300 Barrows, Round and Long, Prof. Rolleston on, 478 Bathurst, near Tuena, Discovery of Gold in, 275 Batrachia, on the Structure and Development of the} Skull"in the, W. K. Parker, F.R.S., 161 7 Tattery, Secondary, a New, 521 Bautzen, Discovery of Ancient Burial-Ground near, 66 Bavaria, Prof, H. Ohlenschlager’s Prehistoric Map of, 68 Bay of Biscay, French Deep-Sea Exploration of, Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., 468 Beaumont (Col.), Air-Engine, 567 Becquerel (M. Henri), on the Magneto-Optic Properties of Gases, 280 Bedfordshire Pomona, 615 Bees, Exhibition of Apparatus relating to, 17 Bee-Keeping, English and American Works on, 433 Beetles, Monstrous, 520 Beetles, Branch-Cutting, Fritz Miiller, 533 Behnke (Emil), ‘‘ The Mechanism of the Human Voice,” 239 “‘ Belfast Lough, Birds, Fishes, and Cetacea commonly fre- quenting,” Robert Lloyd Patterson, 289 Belgium, the National Exhibition at Brussels, 345 ; the Geology of, 348 Bell (Prof, Graham), Photophone, Prof. S. P. Thompson, 481 ; Selenium and the Photophone, 500; Experiments in Binaural Audition, 586 Bennett (A. W.), the Classification of Cryptogams, 451 Bergsma (Dr. P. A.), Rainfall of the East Indian Archipelago, Berka, Formation of Society of Zoology at, 65; the Geogra- phical Society of, 254, 618, 624; Anthropological Congress at, 34 Bos Remarkable Discovery of a Murder in, H. N. Moseley, 170 Berrhelot’s Essay on Chemical Dynamics, 285 Beryllium, 350 Bessemer (Sir Henry, F.R.S.), Presentation of the Freedom of the City of London to, 64 Betti (Prof. E.), ‘‘ Teorica delle Forze Newtoniane e sui appli- cazioni all’ Elettrostattica e al Magnetismo,”’ 557 Bibliography, the ‘‘Ronalds” Catalogue of Works oa Elec- tricity, Magnetism, &c., 87 Bichromate Battery, an Improved, 375 Bidie (Dr. G.), Calcareous Concretions in Timber, 169 Biedermann (Dr. Richard), Death of, 87 Binary Stars a Centauri, 399, 541; $5 Pegasi, 467 ; 5 Equulei, Bien Audition, Prof. Graham Bell’s Experiments in, 586 Binocular Glasses, the Inventor of, 567 Binomio di Newton, Ignazio Cameletti, 582 Biological Notes, 112, 277, 520, 594 Biology, a New Term Wanted, D. Sharp, 364 Bird (Isabella), ‘‘ Unbeaten Tracks in Japan,” 610 Birds, the Songs of, 97; James Macfadzean, 12; Prof. Alfred Newton, F.R.S., 122; Frank J. Allen, 122; Migratory, at Lighthouses, 25; Notes of—Wild Swans, J. Birmingham, 171; ‘Birds, Fishes, and Cetacea commonly frequenting Belfast Lough,” Robert Lloyd Patterson, 289 ; the Toothed Birds of Kansas, 457; Migration of, Prof. Newton, F.R.S., 477; Classification of, Dr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S., 549 Birmingham Philosophical Society’s Fund for the Endowment of Original Research, 203, 299 Birmingham, Mason Science College, 514; Prof. Huxley at, 16 Birmingham Natural History Society, 539 Birmingham (John), Notes of the Cuckoo, 76; Variability ot 60 Cancri, 76 ; Wild Swans—Notes of Birds, 171; Chipped Flints, 319 ; a New Red Star, 408 Bismuth, the Density of Fluid, 448 Black Beetles and Yeast, 11 Blight, Mosquitos, Flies, &c., Protection against, Wm. Chappell, BS AS, ir Blowpipe Analysis, Alphabetical Manual of, Col. W. A. Ross, 336 Blue Pike, American, Parasite on, 114 Blyth (James), on Currents produced by Friction between Con- ducting Substances, and on a New Form of. Telephone Re- ceiver, 330 Boguslawski on Ocean Temperature, 114 Bohemian Physicians and Naturalists, Congress of, 379 Books, &e., Recall of Appearance of, Cornelius Walford, 220 Borchardt (Prof. C. W.), Death of, 251 Borneo, Geological Formation of Soil of, 41 Boston, U.S., Meeting of the American Association at, 345, 397, 424, 493; American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 332 Botany : Curious Botanical Phenomenon, 30; Prof. Thiselton Dyer on Botanic Gardens, 39; Safe Arrival of Botanical Col- Nature, Dec. 2, 1880] INDEX v lections from Socotra at Kew, 64; New Botanical Work by Dr. Dodel-Port, 87; Text-Book of Botany, Prof. K. Prantl, 216; ‘‘ Botanische Jahrbiicher,’” A. Engler, 434; Botanical Text-Book, Prof. Asa Gray, 482; the Jamaica Hurricane and the Botanical Gardens, D. Morris, 538; ‘* Botanical Gazette,” Indiana, 568 Bottomley (J. J.), the Elasticity of Wires, 447 Bottomley (J. T.), Experiment with Glass Tubes, 291 Bove (Lieut.), proposed Arctic Expedition, 42 Bower (F. Orpen), Germination of Welwitschia mirabilis, 590; Sieve-Tubes of Dicotyledonous Plants, 602 Brain, 456 Brain Dynamics, on a Point Relating to, S. Tolver Preston, 29 ; G. J. Romanes, F.R.S., 75; Rev. W. Clement Ley, 121 ;S. Tolver Preston, 121 “Brain as an Organof Mind,” Dr. H. Charlton Bastian, F.R.S., 381 Braithwaite (Dr. R.), ‘‘Sphagnacez, ‘or Peat-Mosses of Europe and North America,” 556 Branch-cutting Beetles, Fritz Miiller, 533 Breath, Temperature of, 607; Dr. R. E. C. J. McNally, 534. Breguet (M. Antoine), Recent Advances in Telegraphy, 18 Bremon (C. McPherson de), Lightning Conductors, 382 Brieg, Switzerland, Shock of Earthquake at, 230 Bristol, University College, 494 BRITISH ASSOCIATION : Meeting at Swansea, Officers and Preli- minary arrangements, 181, 383; and Provincial Scientific Societies, John Hopkinson, 319, 440; the Geology of Swansea, 323; Excursions, &c., 324; Inaugural Address of the President, Dr. Andrew Crombie Ramsay, F.R.S., 383; the Natural History Collections and the, 410; Excur- sions, Soirées, Evening Lectures, &c., 410, 41 ; the Annual Grants, 411, 442; Report on the Best Means for the Development of Light from Coal Gas, 442; Report on Underground Temperatures, 442; Report on the Specific Inductive Capacity of a Good Sprengel Vacuum, 443; Report on the Ultra-Violet Spectra by Prof. A. K. Huntington, 444; on the Spectra of Metalloids, Dr. A. Schuster, F.R.S., 444; Report of the Committee on Erratic Blocks, 444; Report on the Exploration of Caves in the South of Ireland, 445; Report on the Carboniferous Polyzoa, 445; Report on the ‘* Geological Record,” 445 ; Sixteenth Report of the Committee for Exploring Kent’s Cayern, 445; Report on H.M. Inspectors of Schools and the Science Subjects of the Code, 445; Report on the In- fluence of Bodily Exercise on the Elimination of Nitrogen, 445; Report on the Tertiary Flora of the Basalts of the North of Ireland, W. H. Baily, 476; Report on the Vivi- parous Nature of the Ichthyosauri, Prof. H. C. Seeley, 476; the Sixth Report of the Underground Water Com- mittee, 476 ; Report on the present State of our Knowledge of the Crustacea, C. Spence Bate, F.R.S.,*7475 Section A (Mathematics and Physics). —Opening Address by the President, Prof.. W. Grylls Adams, F.R.S., 411; on some Laws which regulate the Succession of Temperature and Rainfall in the Climate’of London, H. Courtenay Fox, 455; W. H. Preece on the Best Form to give to Lightning Conductors, 446; Richard Anderson on the Necessity for a Regular Inspection of Lightning Conductors, 446; Sir William Thomson on a Method of Measuring Contact Elec- tricity, 446 ; Sir William Thomson ona Method of Deter- mining without Mechanism the Limiting Steam-Liquid Temperature of a Fluid, 446; G. F. Fitzgerald on the Possibility of Originating Wave-Disturbances in the Ether, 6; W. Ladd on the Best Form of Magnet for Magneto- fachines, 446; J. J. Bottomley on the Elasticity of Wires, 447; Prof. W. G. Adams on the Comparison fof Declina- tion Magnetographs at various places, 447; Prof. G. H. Minchin on Photo-Electricity, 447; Prof. S. P. Thompson on Electric Convection Currents, 447; Hon. F. A. R. Russell on ‘‘ Experiments on Thin Films of Water, with Regard to the Absorption of Radiant Heat,” 447; Dr. Tempest Anderson on an Improved Apparatus for the Objective Estimation of Astigmatism, 476 Section B (Chemical Science)—Opening Address of the President, Dr. J. H. Gilbert, F.R.S., 472; on the In- fluence of Water on the Union of Carbonic Oxide with Oxygen at a High Temperature, Harold B. Dixon, 447; Metallic Compounds containing Organic Radicals, J. Dudgeon, 241, 584 ; Sakurai, 448; on some Relations between the Atomic Volumes of Certain Elements and the Heat of Formation of some of their Compounds, Walter Weldon, 448; on the Specific Rotary Power of Cane and Invert-Sugar, Alfred H. Allen, 448; on the Identification of the Coal-Tar. Colours, John Spiller, 448; on the Density of Fluid Bismuth, W. C. Roberts, F.R.S., and Thomas Wrightson, 448 ; on Petroleum Spirit and Analogous Liquids, A. H. Allen, 448 ; on the so-called Normal Solution for Volumetric Analysis, A. H. Allen, 448; on the Determination of the Loss of Heat in Steam Boilers from Incrustation, Wm. Thom- son, 448 ; on the Identification of the Ink used in Writing as evidence in Cases of Libel, Forgery, &c., W. Thomson, 448 ; the Effects of Magnesia on Vegetation, Major-Gen. Scott, F.R.S., 448; on Bleaching-powder Residues, J. F. W. Hodges, 448; on the Refraction Equivalent of Diamond and the Carbon Compounds, Dr. J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S., 249; on a New Process for the Production from Aluminous Minerals of Sulphate of Alumina from Iron, J. W. Kynaston, 449; on a New Process for separating Silver from Copper Ores and Reguluses, by W. Henderson, 449 Section C (Geology).—Opening Address by. the President, H. C. Sorby, LL.D., F.R.S., 390; Notes on the Sub- Marine Geology of the English Channel off the Coast of South Devon, A. R. Hunt, F.G.S., 449; on the Site of a Palzolithic Implement Mannfactory at Crayford, Kent, F. C. Spurrell, 449; onthe Island of Torghatten, Norway, and on the Influence of Joints on Denudation, Prof. W. J. Sollas, 449; on the Contortion of a Quartz Vein in the Mica Schist from Bod6, Norway, Prof. W. J. Sollas, 449; on the Geological Age and Relations of the Sewalik, and Pikermi Vertebrate and Invertebrate Faunas, W. T. Blanford, 449; on the Relations to be Established between Coast-line Direction represented by Great Circles on the Globe and the Localities marked by Earthquakes in Europe, Prof. J. P. O'Reilly, 449; on the Sandstones and Grits of the Lower and Middle Series of the Bristol Coal-Fields, E. Wethered, 449 ; on the Hiatus said to have been found in the Rocks of West Cork, G. H. Kinahan, 449; Note on the Range of the Lower Tertiaries of East Suffolk, W. H. Dalton, 450; Proof of the Organic Nature of Eozoon Canadense, Charles Moore, 450; on the Post- Tertiary and Glacial Deposits of Kashmir, Lieut.-Col. Godwin-Austen, 450; on the Fault-Systems of Central and West Cornwall, J. H. Collins, 450; on the Geology of the Balearic Islands, Dr. Phené, 450; on some Pre-Cambrian Rocks in the Harlech Mountains, Dr. Hicks, 450; on the Action of Carbonic Acid on the Limestone, Prof. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., 450; on a Raised Beach with Diluvial Drift in Rhos Sili Bay, Gower ; on the Geological Evidence of the Submergence of the South-West of Europe during the Early Human Period, Prof. Prestwich, 450; on a Stri- ated Stone from the Trias of Portishead ; on the Action of a Lichen on Limestone; on Sponge Spicules from the Chalk of Trimmingham, Norfolk, Prof. W. J. Sollas, 451 ; on the Geological Literature of Wales, W. Whitaker, 451; Sketch of the Geology of British Columbia, Dr. G. M. Dawson, jun., 451; Notes on the Occurrence of Stone Implements in the Coast Laterite, South of Madras, and in High-Level Grayel and other Formations in the South Mahratta Country, R. Bruce Foote, 451; on the Pre- Glacial Contour and Post-Glacial Denudation of the North- West of England, C. E. De Rance, 451 Section D (Biology).—Opening Address by the President, Dr. A. C. L. G. Giinther, F.R.S., 393 ; on the Classification of Cryptogams, A. W. Bennett, 451; Further Remarks on. the Mollusca of the Mediterranean, Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., 452, 477; on the Migration of Birds, and Messrs. Brown and Cordeaux’s Method of obtaining Systematic Observations of the same at Lighthouses and Lightships, Prof. Newton, F.R.S., 477 Department of Anatomy and Physiology.—Address by F, M. Balfour, F.R.S., 417; Dr. J. B. Balfour on Socotra, 477 Department of Anthropology.—Address by F. W. Rudler, F.G.S., 421; on Anthropological Colour-Phenomena in Belgium and Elsewhere, J. Beddoe, M.D., F.R.S., 477; Pocket Registrator for Anthropological Purposes, Francis Galton, F.R.S., 478; on the Retention of Ancient and Prehistoric Customs in the Pyrenees, Dr. Phené. F.S.A., 478; Mr. Thomas Plunket, on an Ancient Settle- ment in the Coal Bog near Bohoe, 478; Prof. Rolleston on the Structure of Round and Long Barrows, 478; Miss pees on Surgery and Superstition in Neolithic Times, 47 Section E (Geography).—The Royal Geographical Society’s East African Expedition, 479; Col. Tanner on the Dara Nur and its Inhabitants, 479; the Galapagos Islands, by Capt. Markham, 480 “British Islands, A Short Geography of,” by J. R. and Alice S. Green, 119 British Medical Association at Cambridge, 64, 372; Medal of, 299 British Museum, Fresh Maps at the, 184; Report of the, 246; the Electric Light at, 299; the Removal of the Natural History Collections to South Kensington, 328; the Attend- ants, Wm. Flinders Petrie, 338; Discussion in the House of Commons on, 345 British Wild Flowers, a New and Easy Method of Studying, by Natural Analysis, F. A. Messer, 532 British Columbia, the Trees of, 592 Broca (Paul), Obituary Notice of, 249; Il. F. C. ten Kate on, 292; Proposed Erection of a Statue to, 299 Brock (Dr. J.), Evolution of Dibranchiate Cephalopods, 277 Brocken, Spectre of the, at Home, J. Innes Rogers, 559 Bromine, Chlorine, and Iodine, Densities of at High Tempera- tures, 278 Bronze Statuary and the Process of Electrodeposition, 18 Bronze Implements, Discovery of in Sardinia, 540 **Brook’s Popular Botany,” 347 Broun (J. Allan), Pension to the Widow of, 228 Browne (Walter R.), Iron and Hydrogen, 242 Brussels, International Exhibition at, 131, 345; Proposed Inter- national Congress of Commerce and Industry at, 275 Brutes, Intellect in, F. Lewis, 40; W. W. Nicholls, 266; Rey. George Henslow, 319; Surgeon-Major Curran, 339; Henry MacCormack, 362; L. P. Gratacap, 408; Consul E. L. Layard, 607; Prof. W. Whitman Bailey, 607 Buchanan (J. Y.), Compressibility of Glass, 377 Buchanan (J.), ‘‘Manual of the Indigenous Grasses of New Zealand,” 532 Buckland (Miss A. W.), on Surgery and Superstitions in Neo- lithic Times, 478 Buitenzorg, Java, Dr. M. Neuf, appointed Director of Botanical Gardens of, 64. Bulletin of the Torquay Botanical Club, 136 Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, 161 Bulletin de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris, 209, 331, 575 Bulletin de Académie Royale des Sciences de Belgique, 236, 257, 331, 455, 528, 552 = Bunbury (E. H.), ‘‘ History of Ancient Geography,” 333° ~~ Bunsen Burner, New Form of, 302 Bumham (S. W.), his Report on the Proposed Lick Observa- tory, 515 Buschmann (Dr.), Death of, 66 Byerly (W. E.), Differential Calculus, 509 Gold Caddis-Flies, Monograph on, R. McLachlan, F.R.S., 314 Calantarients (Dr.), on Crystal Ice, 130 Calcareous Concretions in Timber, Dr. G. Bidie, 169 Cambier (M.) on Recent Earthquakes on Lake Tanganyika, 67 Cambridge: Proposed Admission of Women to Academic Degrees, 70 ; the University Commission, 623 Camelette (Ignazio), Il Binomio di Newton, 582 Camps on the Malvern Hills, 211 **Camps in the Caribbees ; the Adventures of a Naturalist in the Lesser Antilles,” F. A. Ober, 214 Caneri 60, Variability of, John Birmingham, 76 Cape Town Botanic Gardens, 517 Capello (J.), Comparative Curves in Terrestrial Magnetism, 220 Capron (J. Rand), Storm Effects, 290; Inevitable Test for Aurora, 291 Carbon and Carbon Compounds, Prof. A. S. Herschel, 320 Carbon, Electrical Conductivity of, 544 Carbon, on the Spectra of the Compounds of, with Hydrogen and Nitrogen, Professors Liveing and Dewar, 620 Carbon Compounds and the Refraction Equivalents, 279 Carbon Compounds, Chemistry of the, M. M. Pattison Muir, 530 INDEX [Wature, Dec. 2, 1880 Carbon Compounds and Phosphorescence, 543 Carbonic Acid? does Chlorophyll Decompose, Dr.’ J W. Draper, 29 Carboniferous Forest at Oldham, Jas. Nield, 30 Caribbean Sea, 242 Caribbees, Camps in the, the Adventures of a Naturalist in the Lesser Antilles, F. A. Ober, 214 Carlisle, Royal Agricultural Society at, 253, 275 Carmichael (Prof.) on the Vibrations of a Flame, 18 Carnelley (Dr. Thos.), Conditions Necessary for the Existence of Matter in the Liquid State, 434; Existence of Ice at High Temperatures, 434, 510; Ice under Pressure, 583 Carnivorous Wasps, 31 Carpenter (Dr. W. B., F.R.S.), Ocean Circulation, 217 Carr (G. S.), Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics, 582 ‘Carriage, the Waiting,” W. M. F. Petrie, 534 Cassel, General Meeting of the German Geometrical Society at, 16 Caves in South of Ireland, 445 Caverns, Discovery of Natural, in the Neighbourhood of West Harptree, 204 Celestial Object, a Novel, Prof. E. C. Pickering, 483 Celluloid, 370 Centrifugal Machine for Schools, 375 Cephalopods, Dibranchiate, Evolution of, Dr. J. Brock on, 277 Ceraski’s New Variable Star, 616; Prof. E. C. Pickering, 603 ; Geo. Knott, 603 Cerium, the Specific Weight of, 542 “*Ceylon Coffee Soils and Manures; Report to the Ceylon Coffee Planters’ Association,” John Hughes, 144 Chalets, Swiss, Rev. Geo. Henslow, 534; H. N. Moseley, 559 Chamblandes, Canton Vaud, Discovery of Walled Tombs at, 40 Champagne, the manufacture of, 397) Champlain Iron Region, New Mineral from the, 278 Chantrell (J. F.), Algz, 382 Chappell (Wm., F.S.A.), Protection against Mosquitos, Flies, and Blight, 11 Charnay (M. Desiré), Exploration of the Ancient Remains of Mexico, 42 . Chatel, Fascination, 484 Chemistry : Wurtz’s Elements of Modern Chemistry, 8; Chemical Society, 21, 47, 139, 162, 211; Grants from Re- search Fund of, 228; Chemical Notes, 278, 349, 542, 6173 Chemical Dynamics, M. M. Pattison Muir, 285; Tilden’s Qualitative Analysis, 360; Agricultural Chemistry, Dr. J. H. Gilbert, 472, 497, 523; ‘‘Miller’s Chemistry of the Carbon Compounds,” M. M. Pattison Muir, 530; Prof. H. E, Arm- strong, F.R.S., on the same, 559; Recent Chemical Research, M. M. Pattison Muir, 608 Cherbourg, Balloon Ascent at, 398 Chicago Observatory, 301 Chimborazo, E. Whymper’s Ascent of, 19 China, Easton’s Journey in the North-West of, 41; Chinese Alligators, 112; Rainfall of Southern China, 431 ; Chinese Geographical Names, 615 Chlorine, Bromine, and Iodine, Densities of, at High Tempera- tures, 278 Chlorophyll, does it decompose Carbonic Acid? Dr, J. W. Draper, 29 Chlorophyllan, Hoppe-Seyler on, 279 Christie (W. H. M.), Spectrum of Hartwig’s Comet, 557 Chrystal (Prof, G.), Experiments with the Wire Telephone on strongly magnetic Metals, 168, 303 Church (Prof, A. H.), Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry, 275 ; Agricultural Chemistry, 300 Church (John A.), Subterranean Kaolinisation, 317 Ciamician (G.), Spectroscopic Investigations, 575 Ciliated Plant, a New Green, 521 Cinchona Cultivation, 568, 592 Cirencester, Royal Agricultural College, Establishment of Two Scholarships, 185 Citric Acid from Glycerin, Grimaux and Adam, 349, 567, 585 City and Guilds of London Institute, 17, 44, 183 Clarens, Remarkable Electrical Phenomenon at, 204 Clark (Lieut. J. W.), Utricularia, 318 Clay, London, Diatoms in the, W. H. Shrubsole, 221 Claypole (Prof. E. W.), Stags’ Horns, 146; Minerva Ornaments, 193 Clifford (Prof. W. K., F.R.S.), Energy and Force, 122 Nature, Dec. 2, 1880] INDEX vii Climates, Geological, Kev. Prof. Samuel Haughton, I.R.S., 532; Dr. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., 559 Clocks, Synchronised, in France, 182 Clocks, Pneumatic, 226 Cloe’s Thermoelectric Pile, Improvement of, 19 Cloud Classification, 96; Rev. W. Clement Ley, 144 Clouds, a New Form of Nefodoscope, 132 Coal Measures, Plants of the, Prof. W. C. Williamson, F.R.S., 281 Coal Mines, Explosions in, 300 Coal Mines in Japan, 616 Coal-Tar Colours, John Spiller, 448 Coasts, Present System of Lighting our, 229 Cobza Penduliflora (Hook. Fil.), on the Fertilisation of, Dr. A, Ernst, 148 Coffee, Ceylon, Soils and Manures, John Hughes, 144 Coffee Disease in New Granada, Dr. A. Ernst. 292 Coffee Trees and Locusts, Dr. A. Ernst, 408 Coleoptera, Parthenogenesis in the, Rev. J. A. Osborne, 509 Colladon (Prof.), on Thunderstorm in Geneva, 65 Collier (Mr.), Crystallisable Sugar, 278 Colour Combinations, C. J. Woodward, 171 Colour Phenomena in Belgium, 477 Colour Sense of the Maoris, 494 Colour-Blindness in the United States, mission on, 567 Colours, Handbook of, for Painters, W. J. Muckley, 357: Columbus (Christopher), proposed Memorial of, 65 Colvée (Don Pablo), ‘‘ Eusayo sobre una nueva enfermedad del Olivo,” 29 5 Coma, Rudimentary, in, Godetia, 595 Comets: Comet of 1106, 18; Second of 1880, 67, 89; Great Southern of 1880, 156, 231, 399; Cape Observations of Comet 1880 (1), 374; Comets 1880 @ and e, 594 Winnecke’s, 131; Faye’s, 156, 301, 466, 593; Schaberle’s, 467; Swift’s New Comet, 467; Westphal’s Comet, 184; Third Comet of 1822, 205; the Comet of 1668, 276; Comets of Short Period, 347 ; a New, 455, 542; Spectrum, &e., of Hartwig’s Comet, W. H. M. Christie, 557, 569, 593 come of Age of the Origin of Species, Prof. T. H. Huxley, ee sey Comparative Anatomy of Man, 1; Prof. Flower, F.R.S., 59 “Comparative Embryology,” Francis M. Balfour’s, F.R.S., Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F,R.S., 601 “ Compendium der Naturwissenschaften an der Schule zu Fulda in IX. Jahrhundert,” 229 : Compressibility of Glass, J. Y. Buchanan, 377 Comstock Lode, the Heat of the, J. A. Phillips, 337 Conics, Elementary Geometry of, C. Taylor, 603 Coniferze, a Chapter in the History of the, J. Starkie Gardner, 65, 3733 proposed Com- 199 Constance (Lake of), Solar Halo on, 111 Continuous Manifoldness, on the Simplest, of Two Dimensions and of Finite Extent, F. W. Frankland, 170 Continuous Manifold, the Simplest, of Two Dimensions and of Finite Extent, C. J. Monro, 218 Poe Cook (A. J.), ‘Manual of the Apiary,” 433 Copeland (Ralph), Observations of Aurore, August 12 and 13, 510 Coppinger (Dr. R. W.), “Chipped Arrow heads,” 97 Coral Reefs and Islands, John Murray on, 23, 351; Prof. Joseph LeConte, 558 Corals, Fossil, 112 “© Coronella levis,” H. King, 220 Corazon, E. Whymper’s Ascent of, 19 Corea, the Japanese Trading Station in, 596 Cornea, Optical Property of the, 595 Cornwall, Birds of, Edward Hearle Rodd, 507 Cotopaxi, E. Whymper’s Ascent of, 19 Coues (Dr. Elliott), ‘ Ornithological Bibliography,” 373 Cows, Phosphoric Acid in the Urine of, 595 Crabs, Fiddler, 278 Crannog, a Scottish, 13, 34 Crayfish, Ural, W. H. Twelvetrees, 10 Crayfish in France, 494 Crickets as Housepets in Lisbon, 540 Croll (Dr. J., F.R.S.), Aqueous Vapour in Relation to Per- petual Snow, 191 Crookes (W., F.R.S.), Contributions to Molecular Physics in High Vacuo, 101, 125; a Fourth State of Matter, 153- Cross (Chas. R.), Permanent Record of Foncault’s Pendulum Experiment, 240 Cryptogamic Society of Scotland, Annnal Conference of, 398 Cryptogams, the Classification of, A. W. Barrett, 451 Crystal Ice, 54, 130, 145 Crystallisable Sugar, Mr. Collier on, 278 Cuckoo, Notes of the, John Birmingham, 76 Culture and Science, Prof. T. H. Huxley, F.R.S., 545 Cumming (L.), Effects of Lightning on Trees, 220 Cup-Stones, Cup-Marked Stones, or Cups and Rings, 221; Morton Middleton, jun., 77; Romilly Allen, 97 ; James Linn, 122 Curran (Surgeon-Major W.), Fascination in Man, 318 ; Strange Method of Crossing a Torrent, 339; Intellect in Brutes, 339 Currents produced by Friction between Conducting Substances, James Blyth, 339 Curves, Comparative, in Terrestrial Magnetism, Perry, F.R.S., 120; J. Capello, 229 Cuttlefish, Large, 113 Rey. S.°J- Dancer (J. B.), Quassia and Mosquitos, 338 Danzig, Meeting of German Association at, 298, 493, 527, 530 Dara Nur and its Inhabitants, 479 Darwin (G. H., F.R.S.), Preston on Vortex Atoms, 95 Darwin’s Theory of the Origin of Coral Reefs and Islands, 351 Darwinian Essays, Two, Alfred R. Wallace, 141 Darwinism, Degeneration, a Chapter in, Prof, E, Ray Lan- kester, F.R.S., 141 Daubrée (M.), on Descartes, 183 ‘‘ Davis Lectures for 1880,” 130 Dawkins (Prof, Boyd, F.R.S.), ‘‘ Early Man in Britain,” $2 Dawson (Principal J. W., F.R.S.), Fossil Men, 82; Eozoic or Paleozoic, 382 ‘ Death by Hanging, 595 Decaisne and Baillon, 12 Dechevrens (Pére Marc), on Typhoons, 183 Deep-Sea Animals, Organs of, M. O. Grimm on, 278 Deep-Sea Exploration, a French Expedition, 134, 345, 3725 of the Bay of Biscay, Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., 468 Deep-Sea Sounding and Dredging, 508 Deer, Domestication of, 278 ‘* Degeneration, a Chapter in Darwinism,” Prof. E, Ray Lan- kester, F.R.S., 141 De La Rue (Warren, F.R.S.), the Aurora Borealis, 33; the Inevitable Test for Aurora, 96; Aurora Borealis and its Colours, 169; Experimental Researches in Electricity, 149, 174, 196; on some Points connected with Terrestrial Mag- netism, 169 Deltocyathus italicus Ed. and H., P. Martin Duncan, 534 Denning (W. F.), the Shower of August Perseids, 1880, 470 Densities of Chlorine, Bromine, and Iodine at High Tempera- tures, 278 Depraved Tastes in Animals, 329, 339; Arthur Nichols, 3395 ¥, R. Greenwood, 364 Deprez’s (M. Marcel), Apparatus for Transmitting a Movement of Rotation by Electricity, 19; Galvanometer ror Strong Currents, 246; New Electric Motor, 301 Descartes, M. Daubré on, 183 “Descent, Studies on the Theory of,” Dr. Aug. Weismann, 141 Desmarets (M. Paul), Success of his Balloon Photographs, 204 Determinants, the Theory of, R. F. Scott, 458 Diamonds, Artificial, R. Mallet, F.R.S., 1925 J. B. Hannay, 241, 255 S ; Diamonds and the Carbon Compounds, the Refraction Equiva- lent of, Dr. J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S., 449 Diatoms in the London Clay, W. H. Shrubsole, 221 Dibranchiate Cephalopods, Evolution of, Dr. J. Brock on, 277 Dickins (Fredk. V.), Luminous Painting, 121 5 “Chiushingura” ; a Japanese Romance, 288 Dicotylodenous Plants, Sieve-Tubes of, F. Orpen Bower, 602 Differential Calculus, Rice and Jonnson’s Treatise on, 509; Elements of, W. E. Byerly, 509 Digestion in Plants, 521 Dilation of the Iris, 220 Diluvial Bones, Discovery of, at Weltend, 66 Dimorphism in NATURE on June 17, Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 361 Dinosaurs, Sternum in, 113 Distant (W. L.), Stone Arrow Heads, 11; mology, 238 Argentine Ento- Vill INDEX [Nature, Dec. 2, 1880 ee eee Diving and Living in Irrespirable Atmospheres, Fleuss’s Method, 32 Dixon (W. A.), Meteorology of a Guano Island, 254 ‘Dobson (G. E.), an Annelidan Entozoon, 583 Dog, Prolonged Fast of a, 347 Domestication of Deer, 278 Dominica, Recent Volcanic Eruption in, Edmund Wratt, 77 ; Volcanic Dust from, M. E. Wadsworth, 266 Dorn (Herr), the Propagation of Electricity, 280 Double-Stars : 85 Pegasi, 205 ; the Colours of, C. S. Peirce, 291 Draper (Dr. J. W.), Does Chlorophyll Decompose Carbonic Acid? 29 Draper (Prof. Henry), Photograph of the Nebula of Orion, 583 Dredging, Deep-Sea Sounding and, 508 Drift of Oldham, Peat Bed in, G. H, Morton, 511; P. O. Hutchinson, 583 ; James Nield, 583 Dudgeon (Dr. Rk. E.), Temperature of the Breath, 241, 584 Dumas (M.), Occluding Gases, Experiments on, 89 ; Presenta- tion of Civic Crown to, 109 Duncan (W. S.), Specialised and United Palzontological Re- search, 120 Duncan (Prof. P. Martin), the Late Count L. F. de Pourtales, 337: Deltocyathus italicus, Ed, and H., 5343; Geological Climates, 559 Duparquet (Pere) on Ovampo-Land, 41 Diisseldorf, Meeting of Iron and Steel Institute, 87, 452 Dust, Fall of, 76 Dutton (Capt. C. E.), the High Plateau of Utah, Prof, A. Geikie, F.R.S., 324 Dyaks, a Forest People of Borneo, Portraits of, 157 Dyer (Prof, Thiselton), on the Botanical Enterprise of the Em- pire, 39 Dynamics, Brain, on a Point relating to, S. Tolver Preston, 29 ; G. J. Romanes, F.R.S., 75 ; Rev. W. Clement Ley, 121; S. Tolver Preston, 121 Dynamics, a Treatise on Elementary, for the Use of Colleges and Schools, W. Garnett, 265 Dynamics, Chemical, M. M. Pattison Muir, 285 Dynastes hercules, Dr. A. Exnst, 585 Early Man in Britain, Prof, Boyd Dawkins, BRSS., (62 Earth-Current and Magnetic Disturbance, Wm. Ellis, 361 Earthquakes: Observations, Prof. Milne, 64; at Ilanz, 66; Prof. Palmieri on, 155; in Surrey, 230; at Brieg, Switzer- land, 230; Further Accounts of the Earthquake in Switzerland, 2523; in Manila, 276, 300; in Naples, 300; in Smyrna, 329 ; Hyde Clark, 363 ; in the Tyrol, 399; at Fribourg, 519; in Transylvania, 592; in Rangoon, 615 East, the Sacred Books of the, Edited by F. Max Miiller, Prof, A. H. Sayce on, 189 East Indian Archipelago, Rainfall of the, 434 Easton’s Journey in the North-West of China, 41 Echinoderms, Hemoglobin in, 595 Lichis carinata, Sir J. Fayrer, F..S., 124 Eclipse, the Next Total Solar, 112 Edelweiss, the, in England, 87 Edinburgh, Royal Society, 23, 187, 284, 331 Education Code, the New, 165 Education, Elementary, 237 Education Report, 298 Education in New Zealand, 298 Education Debate, the, 312 Education, the Place of Science in, 529 Edwards (M. Betham), ‘‘ Six Life Studies of Famous Women,” 75 Egg, Double, T. Allwood, 78 Eisenach, Formation of a ‘‘ Thiiringer Wald” Club at, 20 Ekin (Charles), Water Supply, 221 Elder-Pith, Magnetic Behaviour of, 18 . Electricity : Electric Currents, Effects of, on the Surfaces of Mutual Contact of Aqueous Solutions, G. Gore, BReSsp25 Electric Cwrents, some Thermal Etiects of, W. H. Preece, 138 ; Electric Light: M. Jamin’s New Electric Lamp, 17, 131, 3553 Electric Light, Jablochkoff, 17; Jablochkoff’s Electric Light in Paris, 17, 131; Dr. John Hopkinson, F.R.S., on, 42; Proposal to Light the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, by, 87; Wild Candles, Illumination of the Indus- trial Exhibition of Melun with, 131, 1555 in Paris, 252; at the Palais Royale, Paris, 441; Electric Light as an Insect- Catcher, 567 ; Experiments in Electric Lighting at Boston, 593; Electrical Observations at Montsouris, 16 ; Dr. Siemens’ Newest Electrical Results, 135 ; Curious Electric Phenomenon, EF. T. Mott, 193; Electrical Phenomenon at Clarens, 204 ; Electrical Ring-Figures, Prof. Reitlinger and Dr. Wachter on, 302; Electrical Stone-Breaker, 302; M. Marcel Deprez’s Apparatus for Transmitting a Movement of Rotation by Elec- tricity, 19 ; Instrument for Recording the Notes played on a Piano, 19 ; Ridout’s Improved Thermo-Electrie Apparatuss 22; the way Trees are Strack by Lightning, 65 ; Experiment, in_ Electricity, Prof. Lemstrom, 89; Electric Machine, “ Holtz’s,” Prof. Righi on, 89; Electric Brakes on the French Eastern Railway, Achard, 110; Electricity and Horti- culture, 135 ; Experimental Researches in Electricity, Warren De La Rue, F.R.S., Hugo W. Miiller, F.R.S., 149, 174, 1963 Electric Machine, an Immense, 206; Suggested System for the Transmission of Light by Electricity,-206 ; a New Rela- tion between Light and Electricity, 207 ; the Inventor of the Electric Telegraph, 219 ; ‘‘ Electricity and Magnetism,” Keith Johnston’s, 240; “Electricityand Magnetism, a Physical Treatise on,” J. E. H. Gordon, 263 ; on the Propagation of Electricity, Herr Dorn, 280; M. Marcel Deprez’s New Electric Motor, 301 ; a New Kind of Electric Repulsion, Dr. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 535; Electricity and Radiant Heat, 596 Electrode, the Luminosity of a-Nesative, 133 Electrode-matter, Radiant, Dr. J. Puluj, 280 Electrodeposition, Application of, in the Production of Bronze Statuary, 18 Electrometer, a New Capillary, 157 Electrometer Engine, a New, 543° Electrophone (M. Marche), 131 Elementary Education, 237 Elephant Calf, the Mode of Suckling of the, 11 “ Elephant Sugar Cane,” 518 Ellis (Herbert), Stag’s Horns, 221 Ellis (A. J., F.R.S.), ‘Notes of Observations on Musical Beats,” 234 Ellis (Wm.), Magnetic and Earth-Current Disturbance, 361 “Embryology, Comparative,” Francis M. Balfour's, F.R.S., Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., on, 601 “Energy and Force,” the late Prof. Clifford, F.R.S., fen 3 Moulton on, 122 Iingland and Wales, on the Increase of Population in, R. Price Williams, 205 Engler (Dr. A.), ‘‘Entwicklungsgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt,” 190; ‘‘ Botanische Jahrbiicher,” 434 English Philology, Recent Progress of, Rev. A. H. Sayce, 167 “Ensayo sobre una nueva Enfermedad del Olivo,” Por Don Pablo Colvée, 29 Entomostracon Living in Tree-Tops, 55 Entomology: Entomological Suciety, 23, 92, 163, 308, 504, 623; Carnivorous Wasps, 31; Solving a Problem in Entomology, M, Vayssitre, 130; Argentine Entomology, W. L. Distant, 238; Entomological Club of the American Association, 397 ; Modern Entomology, Prof. S. H. Scudder, 50 Teen an Annelidan, G. E. Dobson, 583 Eozoic and Paleozoic, Principal J. W. Dawson, F.R.S., 382 Loz0on Canadense, Charles Moore, 450 Epping Forest and County of Essex, Naturalists’ Field Club, meeting of, 110, 300, 540 Ernst (Dr. A.) On the Fertilisation of Cobea penduliflora (Hook., Fil.), 148; Coffee Disease in New Granada, 292; Locusts and Coffee Trees, 408; Dynastes Hercules, 585; What is Alrese? 585 Erratic Blocks, British Association, Report on, 444 “* Estudios Fisicos,” Don Eduardo Lozano, 302 “Estudio Micrografico ne algunos Basaltos de Cuidad-Real,” Don Francisco Quiroga, 582 Etna, apprehended Eruption of, 17; Prof. Silvestri on renewed activity of, 39; Ascent of, 171; Eruption of, 346, 465 ; Prof. O. Silvestri, G. F. Rodwell, 359; the Observatory, 373 “* Eucalyptographia,” Baron F, von Mueller, F.R.S., 118 Europe, a fragment of Primeval, Prof, A. Geikie, F.R.S., 400; Duke of Argyll, F.R.S., 407 Evolution of the Vegetable Kingdom, W. B. Hemsley, 190 Evolution of Dibranchiate Cephalopods, 277 Evolution and Female Education, S. Tolver Preston, 485 Excretion of Water by Leaves, Dr. J. W. Moll, 403 Nature, Dec. 2, 1880} INDEX Explosions, the Recent, 228, 265, 2675 Prof. Herbert McLeod, 290, 337 ; Explosion at Seaham Colliery, 464 Falb (Herr Rudolf), Discoveries regarding ‘‘ the Original Lan- guage of the Human Race,” 66 Famine, Indian, Commission, 553 “Famous Women, Six Life Studies of,” M. Betham Edwards, 75 Faraday exhibiting Ghosts, 583 Fascination, Surgeon-Major W. Curran, 318; Rev. dios dee IRS Stebbing, 338, 534; Richard Hodgson, 383 ; Chatel, 484 Fatigue, on the Law of, in the Work done by Men or Animals, Rey. Dr. Haughton, F.R.S., 128 Faulds (Dr. Henry), on the Skin-Furrows of the Hand, 605 Faye (M.), on the Physical Forces which have produced the Present Figure of the Earth, 206 Faye’s Comet, 156, 301, 466, 593 Fayrer (Sir J., F.R.S.), Zchis carinata, 124; the Recent Gas Explosion, 265 Female Education, Evolution and, S. Tolver Preston, 485 Fermat’s Asserted Prime-Form, 495 “Fem Etchings: Illustrating all the Species of Ferns indige- nous to the North-Eastern United States and Canada,” J. Williamson, 168 Fiddler Crabs, 278 Fijian Burial Customs, Rev. Lorimer Fison, 22 Films of Water and the Absorption of Radiant Heat, Hon. F. A. Rollo Russell, 447 Fire-Ball, Rev. S. J. Perry, F.R.S., 362 Fire-Damp, the Report of the French Commission on, 328 Fish; First Decade of the United States Fish Commission, its Plan of Work and accomplished Results, Scientific and Eco- nomical, G. Brown Goode, 597 Fison (Rey. Lorimer), Fijian Burial Customs, 22 Fitzgerald (R. O.), Australian Orchids, 53 Flames, Vibrations of, Prof. Carmichael, 18 eenc (Thos.), 2 New Audiphone, 145; New Gas Furnace, T5 Fletcher (L.) appointed Keeper of the Mineral Department of the British Museum, 203 Fleuss’s System of Diving and Living in Irrespirable Atmo- spheres, Dr. B. W. Richardson, F.R.S., 32 Flies, Mosquitos, and Blight, Protection against, Wm. Chappell, PSEA, 05 Flies, Clouds of, in America, 518 Flints, Chipped, J. Birmingham, 319 Floating Grass in Queensland, 110 Flora of Turkestan, Dr. Regel on, 19 Florida, Singular Phenomenon seen off the Coast of, 301 Flower (Prof. W.'H., F.R.S.) at the Royal Institution, 16 ; “Comparative Anatomy of Man,” 59, 78, 97 Flowers, British Wild, F. A. Messer, 532 Flowers, Familiar Wild, F. E. Hulme, 532 Fluids, the Motion of, Horace Lamb, 145 Fonyielle (\W. de), New Scheme for Directing Balloons, 303 “Force and Energy,” the late Prof. Clifford, F.R.S., J. F. Moulton on, 122 Forbes (Henry O.), Obituary Notice of Dr. Rudolf Scheffer, 12 Forest Trees of North America, III Fossil men, Prof. J. W. Dawson, F.R.S., 82 Fossil Corals, 112 Foster (Dr. M., F.R.S.), Gamgee’s ‘‘ Physiological Chemistry,” 55 Foucault’s Pendulum Experiment, Permanent Record of, Chas, R. Cross, 240 Fourth State of Matter, S. Tolver Preston, 192; E. Douglas Archibald, 218; Geo. E. Newton, 240 Fox (H. Courtenay), the Succession of Temperature and Rain- fall in the Climate of London, 445 France: Statues of Men of Science in, 39; the Telegraphic Service in, 40; French Association for the Advancement of Science, Meeting of, at Rheims, 154, 276, 372, 397; Arthur Young’s Travels in, Prof. S. P. Thompson, 219 ; Geology of North, 348 ; Museum of National Antiquities at St. Germains, 441 Frankfort-on-the-Main, Exhibitions to be held at, in 1881, 155 Frankland (F. W.), on the Simplest Continuous Manifoldness of Two Dimensions and of Finite Extent, 170; Ona Mode of Explaining Transverse Vibrations of Light, 317 Franklin Search Expedition, 544 Freshwater Rhizopods of North America, J. Leidy, 165. Freshwater Jelly Fish, the New, Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 147, 177, 190, 241, 316; Prof. J. Allman, F.R.S., 177,:218; G. J. Romanes, F.R.S., 177. Fribourg, Earthquake at, 519 Friction, Experiments on the, of Air and Water, 207 Frogs, ‘‘ Experimental Researches on the True Relations of the Excitatory Process in,” J. Burdon Sanderson, M.D., and F. J. M. Page, 137 Fuego, Voleano of, 346; Eruption of, 441, 544 : Fungus, Inoculation for Insects, J. P. Leslie, 31 ; Goethe on, 64 Galapagos Islands, 480 Galton (Francis, F.R.S.), The Opportunities of Science Mas- ters at Schools, 9; .Pocket Registrator for Anthropological Purposes, 478 Galvanic Current, Theory of, Herr Hoorweg ‘on, 90 Galvanic Battery, Aluminium, 375 Galvanometer for Strong Currents, Marcel Deprez’s, 246 Gamgee (Prof. A., F.R.S.), “Text Book of Physiological Chemistry,” 398 ; Dr. M. Foster, F.R.S., on, 555 Gamwell (S.C.) ‘¢ Handbook to Swansea and District,” 431 Gardner (J. Starkie) A Chapter in the History of the Coniferze, 199 ; Arctic Fossil Floras and Temperature, 341. Garnett (W.) ‘A Treatise on Elementary Dynamics for the Use of Colleges and Schools,” 265 “ Garrod Memorial Fund,” 182, 251 Gases, W. Ramsay on the Critical state of , 46 Gas, Explosion of, in London, 228; S. Tolver Preston, 265 ; Sir J. Fayrer, F.R.S., 265; Prof. Herbert McLeod, 290, 337 Gas-burners, Report on, 442 Gas Furnace, Fletcher’s New, 615 Gases, Magneto-Optic properties of, M. Henri Becquerel, 280 Gaugain, Jean-Mothée, Death of, 181; Obituary Notice of, 198 Gauss, Unveiling of the Statue to, 181 ‘*Gazetta Chimica Italiana,” 161 Geikie (Prof. A., F.R.S.), Rock-weathering as Illustrated in Churchyards, 104; Old Norway, 117; North American Geology—Idaho and Wyoming, 268 ; Captain C. E, Dutton on the High Plateau of Utah, 324; A Fragment of Primeval Europe, 400 Geikie (Dr. James, F.R.S.) elected President of the Perthshire Society of Natural History, 66 Geneva, Thunderstorm in, Prof, Colladon, 65 ; Geology of, 348 Geography : Geographical Notes, 19, 41, 90, I14, 134, I 57> 184, 205, 231, 254, 280, 303, 351, 375, 455, 467, 544, 569, 596, 618 ; ‘‘Geography for Little Children,” by Mrs. Zim- mern, 20; Historical, Political, Physical, and Descriptive, by Keith Johnston, 95 ; in China, 114; ‘‘ A Short Geography of the British Islands,” John Richard Green and Alice S. Green, 119 ; Bunbury’s ‘‘ History of Ancient Geography,” 333; In- ternational Congress of, 398; Royal Geographical Society, see Royal Geology: ‘Geological Antiquity of Insects,” Herbert Goss, 9 ; Geologists’ Association Excursion to Oxford, 16; Proposed Excursions, 204; Geological Society, 21, 71, 91, 163, 187, 289; ‘*Geological Record,” 28, 445; Dr. Woodward ap- pointed Keeper of Geological Department of the British Museum, 228 ; Stratigraphical Geology, 264; ‘‘ Geology of the Henry Mountains,” Robert Mallet, F.R.S., 266; North American Geology—Idaho and Wyoming, Prof. Archibald Geikie, F.R.S., 268 ; Geology of Central Asia, 348 ; Geology of Geneva, 348; Geological Notes, 348; Geological Survey of Alabama, 348 ; On the Recurrence of certain Phenomena in Geological Time, Prof. A. C. Ramsay, F.R.S., 3833 Inter- national. Geological Congress, 431; Whitaker's “*Guide to the Geology of London,” 481 ; Geological Climates, Rev. Prof | Samuel Haughton, F.R.S., 532; Dr. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., 558; Geology of the Lybian Desert, 587 Geometrical Society (German), General Meeting of, at Cassel, 16 Geometrical Figures, Optical Illusion in looking at, 207 Geometry, Text-book of, Professor Petersen, 360; Treatise on Solid Elementary, W. Steadman Aldis, 531; Angel’s Practi- cal Plane Geometry, 557; C. Taylor's Geometry of Conics, 603 Germany: German African Society, 1145; List of Scientific Expeditions sent out by, 415 JZitthetlungen of, 544; German Anthropological Society, General Meeting of the, 64; Con- x INDEX gress of, 453; German Hordicultuial Eshibition proposed, 139; German Association of Naturalists and Physiciars, Meeting at Danzig, 298, 493, 527, 539 Ghosts, Faraday Exhibiting, 583 Gifford (Anne), Lunar Rainbows, 319 Gilbert (Dr. J. H., F.R.S.), Agricultural Chemistry, 472, 497, 52 Gill Soapt W.) ‘‘ The River of Golden Sand,” 26 Giltay (T. W.), Hardening of Steel, 461 Gladstone (Dr. ]. H., F.R.S.), The Refraction Equivalent of Diamonds and the Carbon Compounds, 449 Glaisher (J. W. L., F.R.S.), American Journal of Mathematics, Pure and Applied, 73 Glasgow, proposed Exhibition of Naval and Marine Engineer- ing Models at, 16 ; Mitchell Library of, 65 Glass, Expansion of, by Heat, 157; Prof. John LeConte, 318 Glass, Toughened, Noble Taylor, 241 ; T. B. Sprague, 292 Glass Tubes, Experiment with, J. T. Bottomley, 291 Glass, Compressibility of, 377 Glycerin, Citric Acid from, Grimaux and Adam, 567, 585 Godeffroy Museum, the, 110 Godetia, Rudimentary Coma in, 395 Gold, Discovery of, in the Bathurst district near Tuena, 2753 in _ _ Queensland and Tasmania, 329 Golden Sand, the River of, Capt. W. Gill, 26 Goode (G. Brown), the Menhaden, 335; First Decade: of the United States Fish Commission, its Plan of Work and Ac- complished Results, Scientific and Economical, 597 Gordon (J. E. H.), ‘A Physical Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism,” 263 Gore (G., F.R.S.), ‘Effects of Electric Currents on the Sur- faces of Mutual Contacts of Aqueous Solutions,” 21 Goss (Herbert), ‘‘ Geological Antiquity of Insects,” 9 Gottingen, Royal Society of Sciences, 48, 332 Grass, Floating, in Queensland, 110 Grasses, Indigenous, of New Zealand, Manual of, J. Buchanan, 532 Gratacap (L. P.), Intellect in Brutes, 408 Gray (Prof. Asa), Botanical Text-Book, 482 Great Southern Comet of 1880, 156, 231 Green (J. R. and Alice S.), ‘‘ A Short Geography of the British Islands,” 119 Greenwich Observatory, Report, 158 Greenwood (F. R.), Depraved Taste in Animals, 364 Gregory (J. R.), Medal Awarded to, at the Sydney Exhibition, 204. Grimaux and Adam, Synthesis of Citrie Acid, 567, 585 Grimm (M. O.), Organs of Deep-Sea Animals, 278 Grube (Adolf Eduard), Obituary Notice of, 435 Guano Island, Meteorology of a, W. A. Dixon on, 254 Guiana, British, E. F. im Thurn’s Journey to, 41 Guns, Woolwich, 293 Giinther (Dr. A. C. L. G, F.R.S.), Opening Address in Section D at the British Association Meeting, 393 Guppy (Surgeon H. B.), the Vang-tse, the Yellow River, and the Pei-ho, 486; the Classification of Rivers, 606 Gyroscope, Electro-magnetic, W. de Fonvielle, 40; Method of Rotating, 131 New Haddon (A. C.), his -Temporary Zoological Station at Torbay, 517, 560; Air-Bladder of Herring, 534 Hematopoetic Function, the, 520 Hemoglobin in Echinoderms, 595 Hagenbach (FProf.), the Phenomena of Explosion of Bombs by Freezing of Water, 302 Hailstones, Large, George Peterson, 292 Hail-storm at Mussooree, India, 22 Haldeman (Prof. S. S.), Death of, 517 Hall (Prof. Asaph), on the Progress of Astronomy, 570 Halo, A, L. Soames, 435 Hamburg, ‘Thunderstorms at, G. Ambrose Pogson on, 155 Hand, on the Skin Furrows of the, Dr. H. Faulds, 605 Hanging, Death by, 595 Hannay (J, B.), Artificial Diamonds, 241, 255; Experiments on the States of Matter, 483 Hart (W. Hume), Rainfall of Sierra Leone, 585 Hartwig’s Comet, 569, 593; Spectrum of, W. H. M. Christie, 557 Hartz Mountains, Forest Fire in, 131 [Vature, Dec. 2,-1880 Harvie-Lrown (J. A.), Ornithological Journal of the Winter of 1878-79, 315, Hats and Memory, 252 Haughton (Rev. Prof., F.R.S.), on the Law of Fatigue in the Work done by Man or Animals, 128; Geological Climates, 532 Heat, Expansion of Glass by, 157 ; the Mechanical Equivalent of, 596 Heat-rays, the Absorption of, by Powders, 350 Heliograph, an Improved, Dr, Tempest Anderson, 499] Helvetic Society of Natural Science, 131 Hemiptera-Heteroptera, the number of Known Species of, Dr. Buchanan White, 606 Hemsley (W. B.), Evolution of the Vegetable Kingdom, 160; Engler’s ‘‘ Botanische Jahrbiicher,” &c., 434 Henslow (Rev. George), Reversals by Memory, 241; Intellect in Brutes, 319 ; Swiss Chalets, 534 Henry Mountains, Geology of, Robert Mallet, F.R S., 266 Herbarium Royal Gardens, Kew, Important Accessions to, 228 Herbert (Auberon), Preservation of Ancient Monuments, 228 Herr Flegel on West Africa, 41 Herring, Visceral Anatomy of, 520; Air-Bladder of, Alf. C. Haddon, 534 Herschel (Prof. A. S.), Carbon and Carbon Compounds, 320 Herschel (Major J., F.R.S.), Wire Torsion, 557 Hill (Mr, Edward Smith), Death of, 65 Hindus, Weapons and Politics of the Ancient, G. Oppert, 581 Hobson (Captain), Death of, 570 Hodgson (Richard), Fascination, 383 Holmes (E. M.), Museum Conference, 10 Holmes (Gordon), ‘‘ The Science of Voice Production and Voice Preservation, for the Use of Speakers and Singers,” 143 Holub’s (Dr.) Exhibition at Vienna, 68 Hoorweg (Herr), on the Thermic Theory of the Galvanic Current, 90 Hopkinson (Dr. John, F.R.S.), Electric Lighting, 42 Hoppe-Seyler on Chlorophyllan, 279 Horner (Pére), Death of, 114 Horns, Stags’, E. W. Claypole, 146; Herbert Ellis, 221; C. Overton, 221 Horse, Intestinal Worms in the, H. Krabbe on, 277 Horticulture and Electricity, 135 “* Howard Medal,” Essays for, 276 Howgate Polar Expedition, 1877-78, Scientific Results of, 171 Huggins (Dr. Wm., F.R.S.), Spectrum of the Flame of Hydrogen, 283; Obituary Notice of Dr. William Lassell, F.R.S., 565 Huglies (John), ‘‘ Ceylon Coffee Soils and Manures : Report to the Ceylon Coffee Planters’ Association,” 144 Hulme (F, E.), ‘‘ Familiar Wild Flowers,” 532 Human Voice, the Mechanism of the, Emil Behnke, 239 Human Hybernation, 366 Humphry (Prof., F.R.S.), Rede Lecture, 115 Humpidge (Prof. T. S.), New Metals, 232 Huntington (Prof. A. K.), Report on the Ultra- Violet Spectra, 444 , . % Hurricane, the Jamaica, and the Botanical Gardens, D. Morris, 8 Hs shinseh (P. O.), Peat Bed in the Drift at Oldham, 583 Huxley (Prof. T. H., F.R.S.), The Coming of Age of the Origin of Species, 1; at the Science College, Birmingham, 16; Science and Culture, 545 fFTwang-nao, Mr. Tremlett on, 183 Hyacinths, Curious Growth of, 30 Hybernation, Human, 366 Hydre, Variable R., 542 Hydrates, Formation of Water of, 542 - Hydrogen, Iron and, H. J. Johnston-Lavis, 220; Walter R, Browne, 242 ’ Hydrogen, Spectrum of the Flame of, W, Huggins, F.R.S., 283 Hydrographic Department, 86; Lieut. Geo, T. Temple, 192 ** Hygiene, Nature’s: A Series of Essays on Popular Scientific Subjects, with Special Reference to the Chemistry and Hygiene of the Eucalyptus and the Pine,” C. T, Kingzett, 142 Hyeicue Parkes Museum of, First Annual Meeting in connec- tion with, 300 Hygiene, Congress at Hamburg, 493 “* Hyper-Space,” 383 Nature, Dec, 2, 1880] DU te ‘Ibaraki, Japan, Discovery of different Colcured Marble on, 88 ‘Ice, Anchor-, 31, 171; J. Rae, 64 Ice-Crystals, 145; Prof. J. LeConte, 54 ‘Ice at High Temperature, Existence of, Thos. Carnelley, 434, 510; Prof. J. LeConte, 603 Ice under Pressure, 559 ; Dr. Thos. Carnelley, 583 : ‘Idaho and Wyoming, North American Geology, Prof. Archibald Geikie, F.R.S., 268 ‘Tlanz, Earthquake, 66 Imray (Hon. John, M.D.), Death of, 539 Imrie (John), Monkeys in the West Indies, 77 Index Society, Second Annual Meeting of, 251 India, Natural History Survey of, 567 Indian Famine Commission, 553 Jnoculation, Fungus, for Insects, J. P. Lesley, 31 Insect Variety, A. H. Swinton, 579 Insectivorism, on a Case of Apparent, Prof. Baillon, 277 Insects, Fungus Inoculation for, J. P. Lesley, 315 Goethe’s Poem concerning, 64 Inspectors of Schools and the Scientific Subjects of the Code, 445 Institute of Civil Engineers, 72, 239 Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Barrow-in-Furness, 300 Intellect in Brutes, W. W. Nicholls, 266; Rev. George Hens- low, 319; Surgeon-Major Curran, 339; Henry MacCormack, 362; L. P. Gratacap, 408; Consul E. L. Layard, 607 ; Prof. W. Whitman Bailey, 607 Intestinal Worms in the Horse, H. Krabbe on, 277 Todine Vapour, Density of, 279 ; Prof. v. Meyer, 130 Todine, Chlorine, and Bromine, Densities of at High Tempera- ture, 278 Tris, Dilation of the, 220 Tron and Steel, Immersion of, in Acidulated Water, W. H. Johnson, 11 Tron and Steel Institute, 37, $7, 328, 452 Tron and Hydrogen, H. J. Johnston-Lavis, 220; Walter R. Browne, 242 Tron, Researches on the Passivity of, J. Varenne, 279 Tron Bars, Changes of Length in, by Magnetisation, 543 Italy, Discovery of a Prehistoric Burial-Ground, 111 Italian Antarctic Expedition, Proposed, 157 Summer Meeting of, at Jablochkoff Electric Light Company, 17 Jablochkofi’s Electric Lights in Paris, 131 Jack (R. L.), Survey of Queensland, 155; Reports on the Geology of Queensland, 431 Jamaica Hurricane and the Botanical Gardens, D. Morris, 538 Jamin’s New Electric Lamp, 17; Experiments with, 131, 355 Janssen’s New Sun Photographs, 302 Japan : New Railway in, 17 ; Experiments on Japanese Magic Mirrors, 133; Seismology in, Prof. Jchn Milne, 208 ; Mining and Mines in, C. Netto, 316; Meteorology in, 342; Tea Cultivation in, 569; Sir E. J. Reed’s Work on, 610; Miss Isabella Bird’s Work on, 610; Coal-Mines in, 616; a Japanese Romance, H. N. Moseley, F.R.S., 288; Japanese Porcelain Clays, 349 Java, Notes from, 148 Feannelle Arctic Expedition, 68, 570 Jeffreys (Dr. J. Gwyn, F.R.S), The Mollusca of the Mediter- ranean, 452,477; French Deep Sea Exploration in the Bay of Biscay, 468 Jelly-Fish, A New, of the Order Trachomedusz Living in Fresh Water, Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 147, 1773 Prof. George J. Allman, F.R.S. 177; George J. Romanes, F.RS., 177 Jenkin (Prof. Fleeming), Keith Medal Awarded to, 16 Johnson (W. H.), Immersion of Iron and Steel in Acidulated Water, II Johnson (Charles), Death of, 517 Johnston (Keith), ‘‘Physical, Historical, Political, and De- scriptive Geography,” 95; ‘‘ Illustrations of Electricity ard Magnetism,” 240 Johnston-Lavis (H.J.), Iron and Hydrogen, 220; Hardening of Steel, 511; Mosquitos, 511 Jolly (W.), on the Parallel Roads of Lochaber, 68 Jordan’s Glycerine Barometer at the Zimes Office, 614 Joule (James Prescott, F.R.S.), the Albert Medal of the Society of Arts awarded to, 154 INDEX Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, 20, 455 Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, 20, 252, 552 Journal of the Franklin Institute, 46, 137, 234, 331, 622, 5¢3 Journal de Physique, 46, 160, 257, 503, 552 Journal of Botany, 136 Journal of Philology, 167 Jupiter, the Rotation of, 617 Jute Fibre, 542 “ Kalkiil der abzihlenden Geometrie,” Dr. H. Schubert, 557 Kate (H. F. C. ten) Paul Broca, 292 Kattenau, remarkable Phenomenon observed at, 64 Kaolinisation, Subterranean, John A. Church, 317 Keane (A. H.), Sayce’s ‘‘Science of Language,” 49 ; Albania and the Albanians, 243 Keith Medal, Awarded to Prof. Fleeming Jenkin, 16 Kensington Gardens, A Snake in, J. Harris Stone, 193 Kent’s Cavern, British Association, Report on, 445 Kerosene, supposed in the neighbourhood of Sydney, 88 Kew Gardens, Important Accessions to the Herbarium at, 228 “Key to the Universe,” Orson Pratt, sen., 290 Kinahan (G. H.), Metamorphic Rocks, Ireland, 606 King (H.), ‘‘ Coronella levis,” 220 Kingzett (C. J.), ‘‘Nature’s Hygiene: A Series of Essays on Popular Scientific Subjects with Special Reference to the Chemistry and Hygiene of the Eucalyptus and the Pine,” 142 Kjerulf (Dr. Theodor), Geology of Norway, 117 Knight Errant, The Cruise of the, Sir Wyville Thomson, F.R.S., 405 Knott (Geo.), Ceraski’s New Variable Star, 603 Koch (Karl), Proposed Memorial Stone on the Grave of, 274 Konig (Dr.), on the Vibrations of a Normal Tuning-fork, 90 Kordofan, Notes on, 455 : Krabbe (H.), Intestinal Worms in the Horse, 277 Lacustrine Volcano, 129 Ladd (W.), On the best form of Magnet for Magneto-Machines, 446 “Ta Exploradora,”” An Association for the Exploration and Civilisation of Central Africa, 19 Lake Leman and the Dam at Geneva, 158 Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyassa, Plants from, 586 Lake-village near Auvernier, discovery of, 494; discovery of, near Milan, 540 Lamb (Horace), The Motion of Fluids, 145 Landslips, 505 Landslip, The Naini Tal, E. Douglas Archibald, 533 Landslips, Thos. Ward, 560 Language, Introduction to the Science of, Prof. A. H. Sayce,49 Lankester (Prof. E. Ray, F.R.S.), On a New Jelly-Fish of the Order Trachomeduse, Living in Fresh Water, 147, 177, 19°, 241, 316, 361; ‘‘ Degeneration: A Chapter in Darwinism,” 141; on Gresham College, 228 ; Dimorphism of NATURE on June 17, 361; Baltow’s “ Comparative Embryology,” 601 Laplace (Marquis de), New Edition of his Works, 300 Lapraik (William), Absorption Bands in certain Colourless Liquids, 368 Lassell (Dr. William, F.R.S.), Obituary Notice of by Dr.-William Huggins, F.R.S., 565 Layard (Consul E. L.), Yuccas under Cultivation, 606; Intel- lect in Brutes, 607 Leaves, Excretion of Water by, Dr. J. W. Moll, 403 LeConte (Prof. John), Ice-Crystals, 54 } Expansion of Glass by Heat, 318 ; Coral Reefs and Islands, 558; Solid Ice at High Temperature, 603 Lees (W.), Keith Johnston’s ‘‘ Electricity and Magnetism,” 240 ‘*TExploration,” 281 Leibnitz, Erection of Monument to, 109 Leichhardts Expedition, a supposed Survivor of, 184 Leidy (Dr. J.), Freshwater Rhizopods of North America, 165 Leipzig, Branch of “ Thiiringer-wald Club” at, 111 Le Mans, Balloon Accident at, 253 Lemstrom (Prof.), Experiment in Electricity, $9 Lens, A, of Variable Focus, 280 Lepidosteus, Development of, 520 Lesley (J. P.), Fungus Inoculation for Insects, 31 Lewis (F.), Intellect in Brutes, 40 Ley (Rev. W. Clement), Brain Dynamics, 121 ; Cloud Clas: ifi- cation, 144 X11 INDEX ee Jars, Voltameters, &c., Reduction of Observations on, 25 Libyan Desert, Geology of, 587 Lick Observatory, the Proposed, 515 Light and Electricity, 1 New Relation between, 207 Light, on a Mode of Explaining Transverse Vibrations of, Wa Ne Frankland, 317 Light, Transverse Vibrations of, 363 ‘*Light and Heat.” Capt. W. Sedgwick, 483 Light, Polarisation of, Experiment in, 595 Lighthouses, Migratory Birds at, 25 Lighthouses and the Migration of Birds, 477 Lighting our Coasts, present System of, 229 Lightning, the way Trees are struck by, 65 ; L. Cumming, 220 ; the Sorbonne struck by, 466 Lightning Ball, W. F. Smith, 267 Lightning Conductors, C. McPherson de Bremon, 382; W. H: Preece on the best Form of, 446; Richard Anderson on the peceiy for a Regular Inspection of Lightning Conductors, 44) Linn (James), Cup-marked Stones, 122 Linnean Society, 39, 71, 115, 162, 210 Lions, Decrease of, in Algeria, 204 Liquids, the Cooling of, 280 Lissajous (M.), Death of, 299 “* Livadia,” Russian Imperial Yacht, 270 Liveing and Dewar (Professors), On the Spectra of the Com- pounds of Carbon with Hydrogen and Nitrogen, 620 Liverpool, Proposed University College at, 208, 307, 519 Lloyd (W. A.), Death of, 274; Obituary Notice of, 299 “‘Loch Etive,” and ‘‘ The Sons of Uisnach,” 289 Lochaber, Parallel Roads of—the Problem and its Solutions, W. Jolly, 68 Locke (John), The Stone in the Swallow’s Nest, 146 Lockyer (J. Norman, F.R.S.), On Multiple Spectra, 4, 309, 562 Locusts and Coffee-trees, Dr. A. Ernst, 408 Logarithms, Four-Figure and Anti-Logarithms, 496 London Missionary Society, Exploration of East Central Africa, 19 London Clay, Diatoms in the, W. H. Shrubsole, 221 -London University, Examinations and Women, 399 London, the Succession of Temperature and Rainfall in the Climate of, H. Courtenay Fox, 445 London, the Geology of, W. Whitaker, 481 London Mathematical Society, 71, 162, 614 Long (Herr), Diffusion of Salts in Aqueous Solution, 280 Longitude, Telegraphic Determination of, 496 Loomis (Prof.), on the Temperature of the United States, 594 Lozano (Don Eduardo), ‘‘ Estudios Fisicos,” 302 Lubbock (Sir John), on the Habits of Ants, 184 Ludlam (Henry), Death of, 203 Ludwig (Prof.), on the Decomposition of Organic Compounds by Zinc Powder, 89 Lunar Rainbows, Anne Gifford, 319 Lunn (Charles), ‘Vox Populi: Sequel to the Philosophy of Voice,” 556 MacCormack (Henry), Intellect in Brutes, 362 Macfadzean (James), the Songs of Birds, 12 McGill College, Montreal, the New Museum, 614 Mackinlay Ranges, Expedition to, 570 McLachlan (R., F.R.S.), “‘ The Trichoptera of the European Fauna,” 314; Prosopistoma punctifrons, 460 McLeod (Prof. Herbert, F.R.S.), the Recent Gas Explosion, 290, 337 McNally (C. J.), Temperature of the Breath, 534 Magic Mirrors of Japan, Experiments on, 133 Magnet, on the Best Form of, for Magneto-Machines, W. Ladd, Magnetic Experiment, a Pretty, 133 Magnetic and Earth-Current Disturbance, Wm, Ellis, 361 Magnetic Storms, Aurora Borealis and, 361 Magnetic Storm, G. M. Whipple, 558 Magnetisation, Influence of, on Iron, Signor Piazzoli, 89 Magnetism, Terrestrial, Comparative Curves ney) IE SG Perry, F.R.S., 120; J. Capello, 220 Magnetism, Terrestrial, on Some Points Connected w ith, Warren De La Rue, F.R.S., and Hugo W. Miiller, F.R.S., 169; Prof. B. Stewart, F.R.S , 146, 202 Magnetism and Electricity, a Physical Treatise on, J. E. H. Gordon, 263 Magnetographs, on the Comparison of Declination, at Various Places, Prof. W. G. Adams, 447 Magnetometer, the Bifilar, Modification of, 544 Mallet (J. W., F.R.S.), ‘‘ Revision of the Atomic Weight and Valence of Aluminium,” 21; Artificial Diamonds, 192 ; Geology of the Henry Mountains, 266 Mallory Screw, a New Vessel Propelled by, 252 Malvern Hills, Camps on the, 211 Mammoth Skull, Discovery of, at Posen, 66 Man, Comparative Anatomy of, Prof. Flower, F.R.S., 59, 78,97. Man, Primitive, 82 Manchester, Victoria University, 274 Manila, Earthquake at, 276, 3co Mann (C.), Meteorology of South Australia, 120 Maoris, the Colour Sense of, 494 Map of Existing and Projected Railways in the Provinces of Rio de Janeiro, Minas, and San Paulo, 205 Maps, Fresh, in the British Museum, 184 Marble, Coloured, Discovery of, in Japan, 88 Marine-Zoology Class, Alfred C. Haddon, 560 Mariotte’s Law, Variations from, 61 Mars, Polar Compression of, 112 Marsh (Prof. O. C.), Toothed Birds of Kansas, 457 Maskelyne (N. Storey, F.R.S., M.P.), Obituary Notice of Prof, W. Miller, 247 Mason College, Birmingham, 514; Prof. Huxley’s Address, Meneame Society, 71, 162, 614 Mathematical Journals, J. W. L. Glaisher, F.R.S., 73 Mathematics, American Journal of, 276 : Mathematics, Pure and Applied, Synopsis of Elementary Results in, G. S. Carr, 582 Matter, a Fourth State of, W. Crookes, F.R.S., 153; Duke of Argyll, 168 ; S. Tolver Preston, 192; E. Douglas Archibald, 218 ; George E. Newton, 240 Matter, Experiments on the States of, J. B. Hannay, 483 f Matter in the Liquid State, Conditions Necessary for the Exist- ence of, Thomas Carnelley, 434 Maximum and Minimum Energy in Vortex Motion, Sir William Thomson, F.R.S., 618 Maya History, the Katunes of, 442 Meat, Tinned, Reported Poisoning by, 567 Medical Congress, International, 275 Medusa, Freshwater, a New, Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 147, 177, 190, 241, 316, 361; Prof. G. J. Allman, F.R.S., 177, 218, 290; G. J. Romanes, F.R.S., 177 Mechanics, Elementary Applied, T. Alexander, 265 ‘Mechanism of the Human Voice,” Emil Behnke, 239 Melanesia, the Religious Beliefs of, 211 Melun Base Line, 329 Memory, Reversals by, Rev. Geo. Henslow, 241; Feat of, 252 Menhaden, the, G. Browne Goode, 335 A ape Mensurational Spectroscopy, Three Years’ Experimenting lin, Prof, Piazzi Smyth, 193, 222 Mercurial Air-Pump, a New, 543 Mercury, Transit of, 67; Visibility of, to the Naked Eye, T. D. Simonton, 119 ; ; Mercury, the Surface Tension of, Experiment illustrating, 157 Meredith (Mrs. L. A.), ‘* Tasmanian Friends and Foes, Feathered, Furred, and Finned,” 300 ; Ss Messer (F. A.), ‘‘ A New and Easy Method of Studying British Wild Flowers by Natural Analysis,” 532 Metalloids, on the Spectra of the, Dr. A. Schuster, F.R.S., 444 Metals, New, Prof. T.S. Humpidge, 232 Metamorphic Rocks, Ireland, G. H. Kinahan, 606 Meteorology: Meeting of the International Congress of Meteor- ology at Vienna, 16; Meteorological Society, 23, 139, 2353 Climatological Stations of, 594; U.S. Weather Maps, 36, Ico, 249, 372, 516; Proposed Alteration in the Hour for Simultaneous Observations, 86; Meteorology of the Italian Mountains, Rev. Prof. F. Denza on, 87; Meteorology of South Australia, C. Mann, 120; C. Todd, 120; Intercolonial Meteorological Conference at Sydney, 160; Meteorological Observatory, Santis Mountain, 131; Meteorological Notes, 132, 253, 504; Missouri Weather Report, 253; Meteorology of a Guano Island, W. A. Dixon, 254; Scottish Meteoro- logical Society, 275; International Meteorology, 307, 471, [Nature, Dec. 2, 1880 ¢ Nature, Dec. 2, 1880] 568; Meteorology in Japan, 342 5 Station in Mexico, 3993 Rainfall of the East Indian Archipelago, 434; the Climate, &e., of London, 445; Prof. Loomis on the Temperature of the United States, 594 Meteors: W. Odell, 193; Major G, L. Tupman, 242; pac. Penrose, 267; the August Meteors, 374; in India, 431; C. Thwaites, 484 “Mexico: Exploration of Ancient Remains of, by M. Desiré Charnay, 42; Meteorological Stations in, 399 Meyer (Prof. V.) on the Density of Iodine Vapour, 130 Miami Natural History Society, 374 Michaelis (Dr. A.), Presentation of Cothenius Medal to, Microscopes and Telescopes, Construction of, 607 Middleton (Morton, jun.), Cup-marked Stones, 77 Midland Union of Natural History Societies, Annual Meeting, 182; the ‘‘ Darwin Prize” of, 299 Milan, Discovery of Pile-Dwellings in, 65 Miller (Prof. W. H.), Death of, 86; Obituary Notice of, N. Storey Maskelyne, F.R.S., 247 Miller’s Chemistry of the Carbon Compounds, New Edition, 530; Prof. H. E. Armstrong, F.R.S., 559 Milne (Prof. J.), Earthquake Observation, 64 ; Seismology in Japan, 208 Minchin (Prof. George), Mind, the Brain as an Organ of, Dr. F.R.S., 381 Minima of Algol, 156 Mineral, New, from the Champlain Tron Region, 278 Mineralogical Society of Great Britain, General Meeting of, 87, 140, 431; Annual Meeting, 398 Minerva Ornaments, Prof. E. W. Claypole, 193; Prof. A. H. Sayce, 219 «Mining and Mines in Japan,” C. Netto, 316 Mines, Roya! School of, Appointment of W. C. Roberts, F.R.S., to, 39 Minor Planets, $9 Miocene Flora, 349 Missouri: Weather Service Report, 253 ; the Tornadces in, 253; the Archzeology of, 519 Moebius (Prof.), on the Food of Marine Animals, 528 Molecular Physics in High Vacuo, Contributions to, W. Crookes, BRS., 101, 125 Molecular Weights of Substances, on the Relation between, and their Specific Gravities when in the Liquid State, Prof. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S., 262 Molecules, the Weight of, 350 86 ‘¢ Treatise on Statics,” 52 H. Charlton Bastian, ~ Moll (Dr. J. W.), Excretion of Water by Leaves, 403 Mollusca of the Mediterranean, Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, 452, 477 Mollusk, a Doubtful British, Grant Allen, 435 Monkeys in the West Indies, John Imrie, 77 ; Edmund Watt, 31 Monkey, Utilisation of a Langur, 398 Monstrous Beetles, 520 Mont Blane, Ascent/of, by a Blind Man, 495 Moon, the apparent distance of 375 Monro (C. J.), on the Simplest Continuous Manifold of Two Dimensions and of Finite Extent, 218 Montsouris, Electrical Observations at, 16 Morphologisches Jahrbuch, 161, 552 Morris (D.), The Jamaica Hurricane and Botanical Gardens, 538 Morton (G. H.), Peat Bed in the Drift of Oldham, 511 _ Moseley (H. N.), Remarkable Discovery of a Murder in Ber- muda, 170; A Japanese Romance, 288 ; Obituary Notice of Louis Francois de Pourtales, 322; Swiss Chalets, 559 a a Flies, and Blight, Protection against, Wm, Chappell, oaks IL Mosquitos and Quassia, J. B. Dancer, 338 Mosquitos, M. A. Veeder, 460; H. J. Johnston-Lavis, 511 Moss (Dr. E. L.), Loss of, in the Afa/anta, 181 Motay (Tessie du), death of, 204 Motion in Algze, Herr Stahl, 114 Mott (F. T.), Curious Electric Phenomenon, 193; Borealis and Magnetic Storms, 361 Mouchet (M.), Researches on the Utilisation of Solar Heat, Aurora 20 Moultcn (J. F.), Energy and Force, Prof. W. K. Clifford, F.R.S., 122 Mountaineering Exploits in South America, E, Whymper’s, 19 Mourlon, Geology of Belgium, 348 INDEX xili Muckley (W. J.), ‘f Handbook for Painters: on Colours,” 357 : Mueller (Baron F. von, F.R.S.) “ Eucalyptographia,” 118 Muir (M. M. Pattison), Chemical Dynamics, 285 Miller’s ‘‘ Chemistry of the Carbon Compounds,” 530; Recent Chemical Research, 608 Mulder (Prof. J. G.), death of, 87; Obituary Notice of, 108 Miiller (Hugo W., F.R.S.), The Aurora Borealis, 33; the Inevitable test for Aurora, 96; Aurora Borealis and its Colours, 169 ; Experimental Researches in Electricity, 149 ; on some Points connected with Terrestrial Magnetism, 169 Miiller (Prof. F. Max), The Sacred Books of the East, 189 Miiller (Dr. Hermann), Alpine Flowers, 204 ; Saxifraga wmbrosa adorned with brilliant Colours by the Selection of Syrphide, 219 Miiller (Fritz), Branch-Cutting Beetles, 533 Multiple Spectra, J. Norman Lockyer, F. R.S., 4, 309, 562 Mundella (Mr.), On Education, 274 Munro (Dr. Robert), A Scottish Crannog, 34 Murder, Remarkable Discovery of, in Bermuda, H. N. Moseley, 170 Murray (John), Structure and Origin of Coral Reefs and Islands, 351 Museum Conference, E. M. Holmes, 10 Museum of Natural History, The New, 237 Museums, Dr. Giinther, F.R.S., on, 393 “Musical Beats, Notes of Observations on,” A. J. Ellis, F.R.S., 234 Mussooree, India, Violent Hailstorm at, 229 Myer (General Albert J.), Obituary Notice of, 462 Naini Tal Landslip, E. Douglas Archibald, 533 Naples, Shock of Earthquake in, 300 Natural History, the New Museum of, 237 “‘Nature’s Hygiene: a Series of Essays on Popular Scientific Subjects, with special reference to the Chemistry and Hygiene of the Eucalyptus and the Pine,” C. T. Kingzett, 142 Nebula, Variable, near ¢ Tauri, 231 Nebule, Two New Planetary, Edward C, Pickering, 327 Nebula in Orion, Photograph of, Prof. Henry Draper, 583 Nefodoscope, a New Form cf, 132 Nest of the Swallow, Stone in the, W. E. A. Axon, 242 Nest-Building Amphiopods, 594 Netherlands Zoological Society, 203 Neumann (Dr. Karl), Death of, 252 Newcastle College of Science, 519 Newfoundland, Island of, Railway across, 184 New Granada, Coffee Disease in, Dr. A. Ernst, 292 New Jersey, Geological Survey of, 348 New South Wales, Discovery of Silver and Gold in, 183 Newton (Prof, Alfred, F.R.S.), ‘* Winter Swallows,” 29 ; Songs of Birds, 122; on the Migration of Birds, 477 Newton (Geo. E.), a Fourth State of Matter, 240 New York, Report of Central Park Menagerie, 16 New Zealand, New Map of, 1343; Establishment of a New School of Agriculture at Canterbury, 182; Education in, 298; New Zealand Institute, 461; Manual of Indigenous Grasses of New Zealand, J. Buchanan, 532; University of, 560 Niagara River, Soundings of, 41 Nicholls (W. W.), Intellect in Brutes, 266 Nicols (Arthur), Depraved Taste in Animals, 339 Nield (James), Carboniferous Forest at Oldham, 30; Peat Bed in the Drift at Oldham, 460, 583 Nineteenth Century Building Society, 568 Nitrogen, the Influence of Bodily Exercise on the Eliminintion of, 445 Noailles, Railway at, 40 North America, Freshwater Rhizopods of, J. Leidy, 165 North American Geology—Idaho and Wyoming, Prof, Archi- bald Geikie, F.R.S., 268 Norton (Lord), and Elementary Education 165, 237 Norway, Old, Prof. Arch. Geikie, P.K.S., 117 Norway, Science in, 574 Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano, 136 Nyanza (Lake), Mr. J. Stewart on, 67 Nyassa, Lake, Plants from, 586 Obach (Dr.), Action of Phosphorescent Light on Selenium, 496 Ober (I*. A.) ‘‘Camps in the Caribbees. The Adventures of a Naturalist in the Lesser Antilles,” 214 XIV O’Brien (C. G.), An Octopus, 585 Observatories: Annual Visitation of the Royal Observatory, 130; Report of, 158; Imperial, Strassburg, 132; Algiers Observatory, M. Coggia appointed Director, 154; Chicago Observatory, 301; Mount Etna, 373; The Proposed Lick, 515; The Paris Popular, 592; The Radcliffe, 599; The New Warner, 614. Occultation of a Fixed Star by Saturn, 112 Ocean Temperatures, Herr von Boguslawski, 114 Ocean Circulation, Dr. William B. Carpenter, eRe 207. Octopus, C. G, O’Brien, 585 Odontornithes : a Monograph of the Extinct Toothed Birds of North America, 457 Ohlenschlager (Prof. H.), Prehistoric Map of Bavaria, 68 Oldham, Carboniferous Forest at, James Nield, 30; Peat Bed in the Drift of, G. H, Morton, 511; P. O. Hutchinson, James Nield, 460, 583 Oliver (J. A. B.), Aurora Borealis and Magnetic Storms, 361 Olympia, Austrian Expedition to, 68 Onagraciz, Stipules in, 521 Oppert (G.), ‘‘ Weapons and Politics of the Ancient Hindus,” 581 Optical Illusion in looking at Geometrical Figures, 207 Optical Property of the Cornea, 595 Orchids, Australian, R. O. Fitzgerald, 53 Ordnance Survey, the, and the Government, 1 3 Organic Qualitative Analysis, Dr. Barfoed’s * Lehrbuch” of 551 Organs of Deep-Sea Animals, M. O. Grimm on, 278 Origin of Species, the Coming of Age of, Prof. T. H. Huxley, PRIS. © Orion, Photograph of the Nebula in, Prof. Henry Draper, 583 Ornaments, Minerva, Prof. E. W. Claypole, 193; Prof. A. H. Sayce, 219 “Ornithological Journal of the Winter of 1878-79,” Harvie-Brown, 315 Osborne (Rev, J. A.), Parthenogenesis in the Coleoptera, 509 Ostrich, Extraordinary Contents of Stomach of, 66 Ovampo-Land (Western Africa), Pére Duparquet on, 41 Overton (C.), Stags’ Horns, 221 Owen (Richard, C.B,, F.R.S.), Notice of (with Portrait), 577 Oxford Observatory, 599 Oysters, Green Colour of, 549 Ozone: Liquefaction of, 560; Liquid, 596; Atmospheric, 617 ? tA. Page (F. J. M.), Experimental Researches on the Time Relations of the Excitatory Process in Frogs, 137 Printing, Luminous, Fredk. V. Dickins, 121 Paleontological Research, Specialised and United, W. S. Duncan, 120 Palzeontological Nomenclature, the Right of Priority in, 348 Palzeontological and Embryological Development, Prof. Alex, Agassiz, 424 Paleozoic and Eozoic, Principal J. W. Dawson, F.R.S., 382 Palander (Lieut. A, Louis) Elected Corresponding Member of the French Geographical Society, 90 Palmieri (Prof.) on Earthquakes, 155 Papin (Denis), Statue of, 431 Paraglobulin, the Rotatory Power of, 596 Paris: Academy of Sciences, 24, 48, 72, 92, 116, 140, 164, 187, 212, 236, 260, 284, 308, 332, 356, 380, 432, 456, 480, 504, 528, 552, 576, 600, 624; Access to the Library of the, 539; ‘Monthyon Prize Awarded to M. Camille Flammarion, 1543 Admiral Mouchez on the Paris Observatory, 65; Formation of a Society in, for the Prevention of Excessive Smoking, 65; Small Pox in, 111 ; Jablockhoff Lights in, 131; Electric Light in, 252; the Electric Light in the Palais Royale, 441 ; Street Astronomers in, 182; Improvements in the National Library, 252, 276, 495 ; Popular Observatory, 592 Parker (W. K., F.R.S.), ‘*On the Structure and Development of the Skull in the Batrachia,” Part III., 161 Parkes Museum of Hygiene, First Annual Meeting in connection with, 300 Parliament, Science in, 7 Parthenogenesis in the Coleoptera, Rev. J. A. Osborne, 509 Pascal, Statue to, 347, 441 Paterson (George), Large Hailstones, 292 Patterson (Robert Lloyd), ‘‘ Birds, Fishes, and Cetacea commonly frequenting Belfast Lough,” 289 INDEX [Wature, Dec. 2, 188) Peabody Institute of Baltimore, Thirteenth Annual “Report” of, 205 Peal (S. E.), Sounds made by Ants, 583 Peat Bed in the Drift of Oldham, J. Nield, 460, 583; G. H. Morton, 511; P. O. Hutchinson, 583 Peat-Mosses of Europe and North America, R. Braithwaite, 556 Panty Water, Action of the Air upon, Miss Halcrow and Dr. Frankland, 139 Pegasi, 85 ; Double-star, 205 : Pei-ho, the Yang-tce, and the Yellow River, Surgeon H, B. Guppy, 486; T. Mellard Reade, 559 Peirce (C. S.), the Colour of Double-stars, 291 Peirce (Prof. Benjamin, F.R.S.), Obituary Notice of, 607 Pendulum Experiment, Foucault’s, Permanent Record of Chas. R, Cross, 240 Penrose (F. C.), Large Meteors, 267 Perry (Prof. John), Seeing by Telegraphy, 31 ; Wire Torsion, 6 04 Perry (Rev. S. J., F.R.S.), Comparative Curves in Terrestrial Magnetism, 120; Aurora Borealis and Magnetic Storms, 361 ; Fire Ball, 362 Perseids, The Shower of August, W. F. Denning, 470 Perthshire Society of Natural History, Dr. James Geikie elected President of, 66 Petermann’s Mittheilungen, 158, 254, 351, 596 Peters (Prof. C. A. F.), death of, 67; Obituary Notice of, 88 Petersen (Carl), Death of, at Copenhagen, 206 Petersen (Professor Julius), Text-books of Geometry, 360 Petrie (Wm. Flinders), The British Museum Attendants, 338 ““ Waiting Carriage,” 534. Petroleum Spirit and Analogous Liquids, 448 Phené (Dr.), On Prehistoric Customs in the Pyrenees, 478 Phenomena of Explosion of Bombs by Freezing of Water, Prof. Hagenbach on, 302 Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, 116, 236; Pro- — ceedings, 330 Phillips (J. A.), the Heat of the Comstock Lode, 337 Philology, English, Recent Progress of, Rev. A. H. Sayce, 167 Philosophy of Voice, Vox Populi, Sequel to the, Charles Lunn, 56 Picante eaiee and Carbon Compounds, 543 Phosphoric Acid in the Urine of Cows, 595 Photo-Electricity, Prof. Minchin’s Researches on, 91 Photographic Society, 48; Exhibition of, 540 Photographs from a Balloon of the Land below, 183, 204 Photographing by Lightning, 351 Photophone, the, Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, 481 Photophone and Selenium, Prof, Graham Bell, 500 i ; Phylloxera, Appearance of the, in the Vineyards of Vesuvius and the Gulf at Puzzioli and Pianura, 17 Physical Society, 16, 22, 91, 139, 210, 258 Physical Notes, 18, 89, 133, 156, 206, 280, 301, 350, 375, 521, 543, 595 2 Physical Aspects of the Vortex-Atom Theory, 145 ; S. Tolver Preston, 56 Physical Science in Russia, 207 Physics without Apparatus, 320, 343, 366, 438, 462, 488, 537, 88 ““ Physiological Chemistry,” by Prof. A. Gamgec, F.R.S., 398; Dr. M. Foster, F.R.S., 555 Phytogeography, Dr. Engler’s Work on, 190 Piano, Electrical Instrument for recording the Notes played ona, 19 Piazzoli (Signor), the Influence of Magnetisation on Iron, 89 Pickering (Prof. Edward C.): Two New Planetary Nebule, 327; Novel Celestial Object, 483 ; Ceraski’s New Variable © Star, 603 Pile-Dwellings, Discovery of, in the Vicinity of Milan, 66 Planets, Minor, 89 Planetary Nebulz, Two New, Edward C. Pickering, 327 Plants of the Coal Measures, Prof. W. C. Williamson, F.R.S., 281 Plants, Digestion in, 521 riage Plants fiom Lake Nyassa and Lake Tanganyika, 586 Plummer (John I.), Height of the Aurora, 362 Pneumatic Clocks, 226 Pogson (G, Ambrose), Thunderstorms at Hamburg, 155 Polar Expedition, 1877-78, the Scientific Results of the Howgate, 171 / Nature, Dec. 2, 1880]! - Reale Jstituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere, ~ Polar-Compression of Mars, 112 Polarisation Spectroscope of Great Dispersion, Polarisation of Light, Experiment in the, 595 Polariser, Prazmowski’s, 157 Ponton (Mungo), his Inventions, &c., 431 Population, the Increase of, in England and Wales, R. Price Williams on, 205 Population of the Earth, 467 Porcelain Clays, Japanese, 349 Posen, Mammoth Skull discovered near, 66 Potagos (Dr. Panagiotés), his Travels, 134 Pottery, Prehistoric, of Missouri, 519 Pourtales (Count Louis Francois de), Obituary Notice of, H. N. Moseley, F.R.S., 3223 Prof. P. Martin Duncan on, 3373 Obituary Notice of, Prof. Alexander Agassiz, 371 Prague, Congress of Bohemian Naturalists, 109 Pratt (Orson, sen.), ‘‘ Key to the Universe,”’ 290 Preece (W. H.), New Microphone, 133; on some Thermal Effects of Electric Currents, 138; on the Best Form of Lightning-Conductor, 446 Prejevalsky (Col.), Letter from, 41 Pressure, Ice under, Dr. Thos. Carnelley, 583 Preston (S. Tolver), on a Point relating to Brain Dynamics, 29 ; Brain Dynamics, 121; on Vortex-Atom Theory, 56; on Vortex-Atoms, G. H. Darwin, F.R.S., 95 3 Vortex-Atoms, 121; a Fourth State of Matter, 192 ; the Recent Gas Explo- sion, 265 ; on the Mode of Explaining the Transverse Vibra- tions of Light—the Expression “ Radiant Matter,” 363; Evolution and Female Education, 485 Primeval Europe, a Fragment of, Prof, A. Geikie, F.R.S., 400; Duke of Argyll, F.R.S., 407 Primitive Man, 82 Priz Volta, Award of the, 299 Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 186 Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 234 Prosopistoma punctifrons, R. McLachlan, F.R.S., 460 Public Health, Society of Arts Conference on, 154 Puluj (Dr. J.), Radiant Electrode Matter, 280 Pyrenees, Prehistoric Customs in, Dr. Phené, 478 Python, a Doctor’s Encounter with a Sick, 541 a Rotary, 360 “ Qualitativen Analyse, Lehrbuch !der organ‘schen,”, Dr, Chr. Th. Barfoed, 581 Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, 503 Quassia and Mosquitos, J. B. Dancer, 335 Queensland, Discovery of Gold-Field in, 131, 2293 Jack’s Reports on Geology of, 431 Queenwood College Mutual Improvement Society, 541 Quetelet, Unveiling the Statue of, 131 Quiroga (Don Francisco), ‘Estudio Microgrifco ne Algunos Basaltos de Cuidad-Real,” 582 Reps Rae (J.), Anchor-Ice, 54 Radiant Heat in Gases, Absorption of 543 Radiant Heat and Electricity, 596 Radiant Matter,” S. Tolver Preston, 363 Radiation—a Query, 363 Radiometers, Suggestion with regard to, 252; Experiments with, 350 Rainbows, Lunar, Anne Gifford, 319 Rainfall of the East Indian Archipelago, 434 Rainfall of Sierra Leone, W. Hume Hart, 585 Ralton (Dr.), Suez Canal Rock Salt, 11; Sodice Chloride Crystals, 11 Ramsay (Prof. A. C., F.R.S.), Presidential Address at the Meeting of the British Association at Swansea, 383 Ramsay (W.), On the Critical State of Gases, 46 Rangoon, Earthquakes in, 615 Rankine (Prof. Macquorn), Memorial Volume to, 539 Rayleigh (Lord), Colour Combinations, 133 Reade (T. Mellard), the Vang-tse, the Yellow River, and the Pei-ho, 569 46, 88, 160, 234, 257, 380, 504, 623 Rede Lecture, Prof. Humphry’s, 115 Reed (Sir E. J.), ‘‘ Japan,” 610 Reefs, Coral-, and Islands, Prof. Joseph LeConte, 558 References to Authorities in Scientific Memoirs, 203 INDEX XV Regel (Dr.), on the Flora of Turkestan, 19 Reitlinger (Prof.) Electrical Ring-figures, 302 Repulsion, Electric, a New Kind of, Dr. F.R.S., 535 Renshaw (A. G.) ‘‘Sarsens,” 55 Retina, the Action of the, 89 Reversals by Memory, Rev. Geo. Henslow, 241 Revue des Sciences Naturelles, 20, 283 Revue Internationale des Sciences, 20 Revue Internationale des Sciences Biologiques, 161 Revue d’Anthropologie, 503 Rheims, Meeting of the French Association for the Advance- ment of Science, at, 154, 276, 397 Rhizopods, Freshwater, of North America, J. Leidy, 165 Rice (J. M.), and W. W. Johnson’s Treatise on the Differential Calculus, 509 Richardson (Dr. B. W., F.R.S.), Further Observations and Researches on Fleuss’s System of Diving and Living in Irrespirable Atmospheres, 32; On a Prolonged Fast by a Dog, 347 Ridout’s Improved Thermo-Electric Apparatus, 22 Rifled Arms, Sir Joseph Whitworth on, 130 Righi (Prof.), Holtz’s Electric Machine, $9 Rimmer (Richard), Land and Freshwater Shells of Great Britain, 483 Ring and Cup Stones, 221 Ring-figures, Electrical, Prof. Reitlinger and Dr. Wachter on, 302 Rio de Janeiro, Minas and San Paulo, Map of Existing and Projected Railways in the Provinces of, 205 Ritter (Dr. Karl), Presentation of a Gold Medal to, 17 “ River of Golden Sand,” Capt. W. Gill, 26 nee (General Pitt [Lane-Fox]) Anthropological Collection, 409, 511 Rivers, the Classification of, Surgeon H. B. Guppy, 606 “Revista Scientifico-Industriale,” 20, 46, 234, 480, 503 Robinson (Rev. Dr., F.R.S.),° On the :Constants of the Cup Anemometer, 404 Robinson (James F.), ‘‘ British Bee-Farming,” 433 Rock Salt, Suez Canal, Dr. Ralton, 11 Rock-weathering, as Illustrated in Churchyards, Geikie, F.R.S., 104 Rodd’s (Edward Hearle), “ Birds of Cornwall and the Scilly Islands,” 507 Rodwell (G. F.), Etna, Prof, O. Silvestri, 359 Roemer (Dr.), ‘‘ Lethza geognostica,” 264 Rogers (J. Innes), Spectre of the Brocken at Home, 551 Rolleston (Prof., F.R.S.) on Round and Long Barrows, 478 Romanes (G. J., F.R.S.) on Brain Dynamics, 75; the New Freshwater Jelly-fish, 177 Ronalds (Sir F.), Catalogue of Works on Electricity, Magnet- ism, &c., 87 Rooks at Kirkwall, 88 Ross (Col. W. A.), Alphabetical Manual of Blowpipe Analysis, Arthur Schuster, Prof. (Av. 336 Rosse (Lord, F.R.S.), his Telescope, 75 Rowland (Prof.), on Thermometry, 18 Royal Academy of Music, Signor Alberto B. Bach on the Culti- vation of the Voice, and his Resonator, 204 Royal Geographical Society's Proceedings, 19, 157, 232, 351, 468, 544; Fiftieth Anniversary of, 114; Journal, 569 Royal Institution, Prof. W. H. Flower, F.R.S., at the, 16; Annual Meeting, 17; proposed Lectures at, 40 Royal School of Mines, Prizes and Associateships awarded, 253 Royal Society, 21, 46, 70, 91, 129, 137; 161, 186, 209, 234, 258, 283, 404 Royal Society of New South Wales, Sydney, Annual Meeting of, 253 Royal Microscopical Society, 235 ; Journal of, 282 Ruby Lake, disappearance of Water from, 41 Rudler (F. W.), Address in Section D at the British Asso- _ ciation, 421 Rugby School Natural History Society, 17 Russell (Dr. W. J.), and Dr. West, on the Relation of the Urea to the total Nitrogen of the Urine in Disease, 186 ; Absorp- tion Bands in Certain Colourless Liquids, 368 Russell (Hon. F. A. R.), Experiments on Thin Films of Water with regard to the Absorption of Radiant Heat, 447 Russia : Physical Science in, 207 ; Russian Geographical Society, 1573; Isvestia, 348 ; the Imperial Yacht Zivadia, 270 Xvi Sacred Books of the East, Edited by F. Max Miiller, Prof, A. H. Sayce on, 189 St. Elmo’s Fire, 375 St. Gothard Tunnel, 40, 110, 130, 229 St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists, 183 Sakhalin, the Miocene Flora of, 349 Salt : Rock, Suez Canal, Dr, Ralton, 11 ; Tables for the Analysis of a Simple, A. Vinter, 337 Salts, Diffusion of, in Aqueous Solution, Herr Long, 280 Sanderson (Dr. Burdon, F.R.S.), ‘* Experimental Researches on the Time Relations of the Excitatory Process in Frogs,” 137 Sanitation, Society of Arts Conference on, 154 Sanitary Congress, 540 Sanitary Institute, 519 Sapphire Mines in Siam, 230 **Sarsens,” A. G. Renshaw, 55 Saturn : Occultation of a Fixed Star by, 112; the Satellites of, 399 Saxifraga umbrosa adorned with Brilliant Colours by the Selec- tion of Syrphide, Dr. Hermann Miiller, 219 Sawyer (John), ‘‘ Automatic Multiplier and Calculator,” 316 Saxon and Thuringian Natural History Society, General Meeting of, at Nordhausen, 131 Sayce (Prof. A. H.), ‘‘ Science of Language,” A. H. Keane, 49; Garrick Mallery’s ‘‘Introduction to the Study of Sign Language among the North American Indians,” 93 ; the Recent Progress of English Philology, 167; the Sacred Books of the East, Edited by F. Max Miiller, 189 ; Minerva Ornaments, 219 Scandinavian Naturalists and Physicians, Meeting of, at Stock- holm, 130 Scandium, 350 Schaberle’s Comet, 467 Scheffer (Dr. Rudolf), Obituary Notice of, Henry O. Forbes, 12 Schlagintweit (Herr Robert von), Arrival of, at New York, 68 Schomburgk (Dr.), Report on the Progress of the Botanic Garden and Government Plantation of South Australia, 253 Schools, the Opportunities of Science Masters at, Francis Galton, “RSS; 9 Schubert (Gotthilf Heinrich yon), Celebration of the Cen- tenary of the Birth of, 66 Schubert (Dr. H.), ‘‘ Kalkiil der abzahlenden Geometrie,” 557 : Schuster (Dr. A., F.R.S.), on the Spectra of the Metalloids, 444 ; New Kind of Electric Repulsion, 535 Schwendler (Louis), “‘ Instruction for Testing Telegraph Lines and the Technical Arrangement of Offices,” 94 ; on the utili- sation of Monkeys for Work, 398 Schwerin, Exhibition of Apparatus relating to Bee-Culture at, 17 Sciacca, Discovery of Coral near, 131 Science in Parliament, 7 Science Masters, the Opportunities of, at Schools, Francis Galton, FE.R.S., 9 Science and Art. Museum of, in Aberdeen, 66 . Science and Agriculture, Earl Spencer on, 182 Science and Culture, Prof. T. H. Huxley, F.R.S., 545 Science, the Place of, in Education, 529 Science, a New Journal, 275 Sciences Naturelles, Revue des, 283 Scientific Practice, 229 Scientific Societies, Provincial, and the British Association, John Hopkinson, 319, 440 SCIENTIFIC WorTHIES, XVI.: Richard Owen, C.B., F.R.S. (with Portrait), 577 Scilly Islands, Birds of, Edward Hearle Rodd, 507 Sclater (P. L., F.R.S.), Waterfowl, 295 ; Classification of Birds, 49 Stead: Thunderstorms in, A, Buchan, 594 Scott (Robert H.), the Aurora Borealis, 33 Scott (R. F.), the Theory of Determinants, 458 Scottish Crannog, a, 13; Dr. Robert Munro, 34 Scottish Meteorological Society, 27 Scottish Naturalists, 137 Scudder (Prof. S. H.), Modern Entomology, 550 Seaham Colliery, the Explosion at, 464 Secchi (Father), Statue of, 39 Sedgwick (Adam), Proposed Life of, 275 Sedgwick (Capt.), ‘‘ Light and Heat,” 483 Seeing by Telegraphy, Profs. John Perry, W. E, Ayrton, 31 Seismology in Japan, Prof, John Milne, 208 INDEX. Rapa wenden Selenium, 585; Action of Phosphorescent Light on, 496; and the Photophone, Prof. Graham Bell, 500 Septum Permeable to Water and Impermeable to Air, with Application to a Navigational Depth Gauge, Sir W. Thomson, F.R.S., 548 Sewage and Potable Waters, 349 Skarp (D.), New Biological Term, 364 "Nature, Dec. 2, 1889 ; | Shells, the Land and Freshwater of Great Britain, Richard — Rimmer, 483 Shettle (Dr.), on the Influence of Solar Radiation on the Earth’s — Rotation, 210 Shrubsole (W. H.), Diatoms in the London Clay, 221 Siam, Discovery of Sapphire Mines in, 230 Siemens (Dr.), Newest Electrical Results, 135 Sierra Leone, Rainfall of, W. Hume Hart, 585 Sieve-Tubes of Dicotyledonous Plants, F. Orpen Bower, 602 Sign-Language among the American Indians, Sayce, 93 Silkworm Culture in Spain, 541 Silvestri (Prof. O.), Etna, G. F, Rodwell, 359 Simonton (T. D.), Visibility of Mercury to the Naked Eye, 119 Simpson-Baikie’s, International Dictionary for Naturalists, 17 Sincholagna, E. Whymper’s Ascent of, 19 Siphonophora, Americin (East Coast), 113 Sirius, the Companion of, 132 Skin Furrows of the Hand, Dr. H. Faulds, 605 Slags, Artificial and Erupted Rocks, Dr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., on, 390 Small Pox in Paris, 111 Smith (Dr. R. Angus, F.R.S.), Measurement of Actinism of the Sun’s Rays and of Daylight, 70 Smith (W. F.), Ball Lightning, 267 Smithson (James), and the Smithsonian Institution, 110 Smithsonian Institute, Annual Report of, 518 | Smyrna: Earthquake at, 329; Hyde Clarke, 363 Prof. ADH as Smyth (Prof. Piazzi), an Inevitable Test for Aurora, 76; Three — Years’ Experimenting in Mensurational Spectroscopy, 193, 222 Snake, Black, Mr. S. H. Wintle on, 40 Snake, Green, Experiment on a, 40 | Snake in Kensington Gardens, J. Harris Stone, 193 Snow, Perpetual, Aqueous Vapour in relation to, Dr. J. Croll, F.R.S., 19% Soames (L.), a Halo, 435 Society of Arts: Conference on Public Health, 154 ; the Albert — Medal of, awarded to James Prescott Joule, F.R.S., 154; Medals, 203 ; Annual Meeting, 229 Socotra, Dr. J. B. Balfour on, 477 Sodic Chloride Crystals, 31 ; Dr. Ralton, 11 Solar Eclipse, the next Total, rr2 Solar Halo on Lake Constance, 111 Solar Heat, M. Mouchet’s Researches on the Utilisation of, 206 Solar Physics, Preliminary Report on, by the Committee of Council on Education, 44 Solar Radiation, on the Influence of, on the Earth’s Rotation, Dr. Shettle, 210 Solar Spectrum, the Magnesium Lines in, 596 Solid Bodies, the Welding of, 350 Solid Geometry, Elementary Treatise on, W. Steadman Aldis, 531 Solothurn, Geological Discovery at, 399 Songs of Birds, 97 Sorbonne, the, struck by Lightning, 466 Sorby (Dr. H. C., F.R.S.), Opening Address in Section C at the British Association Meeting, 390 South African Museum, Report of, for 1879, 205 South America, Mr, G, Whymper’s Mountaineering Exploits in, I South Kensington Museum, Opening of the Indian Section of, to the Public, 66 Sparks (Dr. E. J.), Death of, 591 Species, Origin of, the Coming of Age of, Prof. T. H. Huxley, F-R.S., X Specific Gravities when in the Liquid State, on the Relation between the Molecular Weights of Substances and their, Prof. T. E. Thorpe, F.R.S., 262 Spectre of the Brocken at Home, J. Innes Rogers, 559 Spectrum Analysis: Multiple Spectra, J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., 4, 309, 562; The Ultra-Violet Spectrum, 90; Three © Years’ Experimenting in Mensurational Spectroscopy, Prof. Nature, Dec. 2, 1880] Piazzi Smyth, 193, 222 ; Spectrum of the Flame of Hydrogen, W. Huggins, F.R.S. on, 283; the line Dz, 350; A Rotary Polarisation Spectroscope of great Dispersion, Prof. P. G. Tait, 360 ; Absorption Bands in certain Colourless Liquids, 368; Report on the Ultra-Violet Spectra by Prof, A. K. Huntington, 444; On the Spectra of the Metalloids, Dr, A. Schuster, F.R.S., 444; The Present State of Spectrum Analysis, 522; Spectrum of Hartwig’s Comet, W. H. M. Christie, 557; Spectroscopic Investigations, G. Ciamician, 575; The Magnesium Lines in the Solar Spectrum, 596 ; On the Spectra of the Compounds of Carbon with Hydrogen and Nitrogen, Profs. Liveing and Dewar, 620 Spencer (Earl), On Science and Agriculture, 182 Sphagnacez, or Peat-Mosses, Dr. R. Braithwaite, 556 Spiders and Wasps, 110 Splenotomy in Dogs, 520 Sponges, Proposed Bibliography of, 539 Sportsman’s Guide to Scotland, 17 Sprague (T. B.), Toughened Glass, 292 Sprengel Pump, Improvements in, 375 Sprengel Vacuum, the Specific Inductive Capacity of 2 Good, British Association Report on, 443 Stags’ Horns, Prof. E. W. Claypole, 146; Herbert Ellis, C. Overton, 221 Stahl (Herr), Motion in Algz, 114 Standard Weights, Dr. Werner Siemens and his Set of, 64 Stars, Occultation of a Fixed, by Saturn, 112; Binary a Cen- tauri, 85, 399, 541 ; Pegasi, 205, 467; 5 Equulei, 593; the Colour of Double Stars, C. S. Peirce, 291; Colours of Southern, 495 ; Variable, 277; Variable Star in Aquarius, | 205; Ceraski’s New Variable, 455, 616; Prof. E. C. Picker- ing, 603 ; Geo. Knott, 603; 7 Cygni, 348; R Hydre, 542; A New Red Star, John Birmingham, 408 S Statics, Treatise on, Prof. George M. Minchin, 52 Statistical Society, 116 Steam-boilers, Incrustation in, 448 Stebbing (Rey. T. R. R.), Fascination, 338, 534 Steel and Iron, Immersion of, in Acidulated Water, W. H. Johnson, 11 Steel, Hardening of, T. W. Giltay, 461; H. J. Johnston-Lavis, 51l Step Backwards, A, 165 Stereotyping, a New Process of, 328 Sternum in Dinosaurs, 113 Stewart (Prof. Balfour, F.R.S.), Systematic Sun-spot Periodi- city, 80; On Some Points Connected with Terrestrial Mag- netism, 146, 202 Stewart (J.), on Lake Nyanza, 67 Stone Arrow-Heads, W. L. Distant, 11 Stone in the Swallow’s Nest, 459; John Locke, 146; W. E. A. Axon, 242 Stone (J. Harris), A Snake in Kensington Gardens, 193 Stone-breaker, An Electrical, 302 Stones, Cup and Ring, J. Romilly Allen, 97, 221 ; James Quin, 122 Storm Effects, J. Rand Capron, 290 Storm, Magellanic, G. M. Whipple, 555 Storms of the United States, 594 Strassburg, Imperial Observatory at, 132 Stratigraphical Geology, 264 Streams, Crossing Rapid, 607 Subterranean Kaolinisation, John A. Church, 317 Suez Canal Rock Salt, Dr. Ralton, 11 Sugar, Crystallisable, Mr. Collier on, 278 Sugar-Cane, the Elephant, 518 Suicides, Statistics of, 576 Sulphur, the Elementary Nature of, 349 Sunday Art Exhibitions, 155 Sun Signal, or Heliograpn, Improved, Dr. Tempest Anderson, 499 Sun-Spot Periodicity, Systematic, Prof, Balfour Stewart, F.R.S., 80 Surgery and Superstition in Neolithic Times, 478 “ Swallows,” Winter, Prof. Alfred Newton, F.R.S., 29 Swallow, the Stone in the Nest of the, John Locke, 146: W. E. A. Axon, 242; Chatel, 459 Swans, Wild—Notes of Birds, J. Birmingham, 171 Swansea, Handbook to, S. C. Gamwell, 431 Swedish Lakes and Temperature of Sweden, 132 Swift’s New Comet, 467 INDEX Xvil Swinton (A. H.), “Insect Variety,” 579 Swiss Chalets, Rev. Geo. Henslow, 534; H. N. Moseley, 559 Swiss Natural History Society, Meeting at Brieg, 110 Switzerland, the Earthquake in, 252; the Triangulation of, 518 Sydney, University of, Bequest to the, 45 Sydney, supposed Discovery of Kerosene at, 88; Intercolonial Meteorological Conferencejat, 160 Tait (Prof. P. G.), a Rotary Polarisation Spectroscope of Great Dispersion, 360; Thunderstorms, 339, 364, 408, 436 Tanganyika, Lake of, Establishment of Germans on, 67 ; Plants from, 586 Tasmania, Royal Society of, Report of, 133 ; Discovery of Gold- Fields in, 329 ‘‘ Tasmanian Friends and Foes, Finned,” Mrs. L. A. Meredith, 300 Tay Bridge Accident, 11, 213, 266; Hon, Ralph Abercromby, Feathered, Furred, and 533 Taylor (Alfred Swaine, F.R.S.), Death of, 109 Taylor (Noble), Toughened Glass, 241 Taylor (Henry J.), ‘The Bee-Keeper’s Manual,” 433 Taylor (C.), *‘ Elementary Geometry of Conics,” 603 Tea Cultivation in Japan, 569 Technical Education, Prof, Ayrton on, 616 Telegraphy : Recent Advances in, M. Antoine Breguet on, 18; Seeing by, Profs. John Perry and W.E. Ayrton, 31 ; Testing Telegraph Lines, Louis Schwendler, 94 Telekouphon, the, 375 - Telephone : a New Use for the, 157; the Fine Wire, Prof. G. Chrystal, 168; at Liverpool, 230; in South Australia, 275 ; Experiments with the Wire, chiefly on Strongly Magnetic Metals, Prof. G. Chrystal, 303 ; Experiments in Switzerland, 329 ; ona New Form of Receiver, James Blyth, 330; Prof. Chrystal on the Differential, 331 ; the Telephone and Deaf Persons, 376; ‘‘ A Baby Telephonist,” 442 Telescope (Lord Rosse’s), Otto Struve, 75 Telescopes and Microscopes, Construction of, 607 Temperature and Arctic Fossil Floras, J. S. Gardner, 341 Temperature of the Breath, 607; C. J. McNally, 534; Dr. R. E. Dudgeon, 584. : Temperature, Underground, British Association Report on, 442 Temple (Lieut. Geo. T.), on the Hydrographic Department, 192 ; Letter to Col. Fr. Sejersted, 432 “Teorica delle Forze Newtoniane e sui applicazioni all’ Elettro- stattica e al Magnetismo del Prof. Enrico Betti,” 557 Terrestrial Magnetism, Comparative Curves in, Rey. S. J. Perry, F.R.S., 120; J. Capello, 220 Terrestial Magnetism, on some points connected with, Prof. B. Stewart, F.R.S., 146, 202; Warren De La Rue, F.R.S., Hugo W. Miiller, F.R.S., 169 Thermoelectric Pile, Clée’s, Improvement of the, 19 Thermoelectric Currents and Chemical Action, 156 Thermometer, Water-Steam, Sir William Thomson’s, 9! Thermometry, Prof. Rowland on, 18 Thin (Geo., M.D.), ‘On Bacterium fatidum : an Organism asso- ciated with Profuse Sweating from the Soles of the Feet,” 209 Thompson (Prof. S. P.), Arthur Young’s Travels in France, 219 Thomson (Sir Wm., F.R.S.), on “‘ Turning the World Upside Down,” 493; ona Septum permeable to Water and imper- meable to Air, with Application to a Navigational Depth Gauge, 548 ; on Maximum and Minimum Energy in Vortex Motion, 618 Thomson (Sir Wyville, F.R.S.), the Cruise of the Knight Errant, 405 Thorpe (Prof. T. E., F.R.S.), Longstaff Medal awarded to, 109; on the Relation between the Molecular Weights of Substances and their Specific Gravities when in the Liquid State, 262 ; Supposed New Island in the Azores, 509 Thunderstorms: in Geneva, Prof. Colladon on, 65 ; at Hamburg, G. Ambrose Pogson on, 155; at Moylough, 347; Prof. PB: G. Tait on, 339, 364, 408, 436; in Scotland, A, Buchan, 594 “ Thiiringer Wald ” Club, Formation of, at Eisenach, 20 Thurn (Everard, F. im), Journey to British Guiana, 41 Thwaites (C.), Fascination, 484 Tiberias, Lake of, the Fishes of, 494 Tilden (Dr. W. A.), Principles of Qualitative Analysis, 360 Timber, Calcareous Concretions in, Dr. G. Bidie, 169 Tinned Meats, reported Poisoning by, 567 Tobacco-smoking, Formation of Society against, in Paris, 65 Todd (C.), Meteorology of South Australia, 120 Tokio, University of, 230; the Acceleration of Gravity at, 521 Tombs, Discovery of, at Chamblandes, 40 Tomsk, University of, 441 Tong-pang-chong, Chinese Remedy for Skin Disease, 541 Topographical Society of London, 592 Tornadoes in Missouri, 253 Torrent, Strange Method of Crossing a, W. Curran, 339; F. F, Tuckett, 382 Torsion of Wires of Steel, Iron, and Copper, Experiments on, by Herr Warburg, 207 Torsion, Wire, Major J. Herschel, F.R.S., 557 Toughened Glass, Noble Taylor, 241; T. B. Sprague, 292 Trachomedusze, a New Jelly-Fish of the Order of, Living in Fresh- water, Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 147, 177, 190, 241, 316, 361 Trains, a Substitute for Stopping, 519 Transverse Vibrations of Light, 363; on a Mode of Explaining, J. W. Frankland, 317 Transylvania, Earthquake in, 592 Tree Pruner, Samuel Wood, 336 Tree Planter, Samuel Wood, 336 Trees, Effect of Lightning on, L. Cumming, 220 Treub (Dr. M.), Appointed Director of Botanical Gardens at Buitenzorg, Java, 64 Trichoptera, European, Monograph of, R. McLachlan, F.R.S., 14 Trinity College, London, 540 Tromholt (Prof. Sophus), Auroral Observations, 192 Tubes, Glass, Experiments with, J. T. Bottomley, 291 Tuckett (F. F.), Strange Method of Crossing a Torrent, 382 Tuning-forks, Vibrations of, Dr. KGnig, 90 Tupman (Major G, L.), Great Meteor, 242 Turkestan, Flora of, Dr. Regel on, 19 Twelvetrees (W. H.), Ural Crayfish, ro Two Dimensions and of Finite Extent, oa the Simpl. Lockyer has rightly drawn the conc 2 From these facts, that the atomic aggregation of the molecules is the cause of the different orders of spectra. That the discontinuous spectra of different orders (line and band spectra) are due to different molecular combination, I consider to be pretty well established, and analogy has led me (and Mr. Lockyer befcre me) to explain the continuous spectra by the same cause; for the change of the continuous spectrum to the I.ne or band-spectrum takes place in exactly the same way as the change of spectra of different orders into each other. Analogy is not a strong guide, yet some weight may be given to it in a case like the one under discussion, where experiment hitherto has failed to give a decided answer. (Dr. A. Schus:er on the 'ra of Metalloids, Pid. Trans. Royal Society, 1879. Parti page 38 and 89, note.) ; Professors Bunsen and Kirchhoff have thrown on the subject, I came to the conclusion that these bands must be due to incandescent carbon vapour ; that, if so, they must be absent from flames in which carbon is absent, and present in flames in which carbon is present ; that they must be observable equally in the flames of the oxide, sulphide, and nitride as in that of the hydride of carbon ; and, finally, that they must be present whether the incandescence be produced by the chemical force, as in burning jets of the gases in the open air, or by the electric force, as when hermetically-sealed tubes of the gases are exposed to the discharge of a powerful induction- coil. “ To establish the absolute identity of the hydro- and nitro-carbon spectra, excluding of course the lines due to nitrogen, they were simultaneously brought into the field of the spectroscope: one occupying the upper, and the other the lower half of the field. “This was readily effected after fixing the small prism, usually supplied with spectroscopes, over half of the narrow slit at the further end of the object-tube of the in- strument. The light from the oxyhydrocarbon flame was now directed up the axis of the tube by reflection from the little prism, while that from the oxynitrocarbon flaine passed directly through the uncovered half of the slit. A glance through the eye-tube was sufficient to show that the characteristic lines of the hydrocarbon spectrum were perfectly continued in the nitrocarbon spectrum. A similar arrangement of apparatus, in which the hydrocarbon light was replaced by that of pure nitro- gen, showed that the remaining lines of the nitrocarbon spectrum were identical with those of the nitrogen spectrum. In this last experiment the source of the pure nitrogen light was the electric discharge through the rarefied gas, “The above experiment certainly seemed to go far towards proving the spectrum in question to be that of the element carbon. Nevertheless, the ignition of the gases having been effected in air, it was conceivable that hydrogen, nitrogen, or oxygen had influenced the phe- nomena. To eliminate this possible source of error, the experiments were repeated out of contact with air, A thin glass tube 1 inch in diameter and 3 inches long, with platinum wires fused into its sides, and its ends prolonged by glass quills having a capillary bore, was filled with pure dry cyanogen, and the greater portion of this gas then removed by a good air-pump. Another tube was similarly prepared with olefiant gas. The platinum wires in these tubes were then so connected with each other that the electric discharge from a powerful induction-coil could pass through both at the same time. On now observing the spectra of these two lights in the simultaneous manner previously described, the characteristic lines of the hydro- carbon spectrum were found to be rigidly continued in that of the nitrocarbon. Moreover, by the same method of simultaneous observation, the spectrum of each of these electric flames, as they may be termed, was com- pared with the corresponding chemical flames, that is, with the oxyhydrocarbon and oxynitrocarbon jets of gas burning in air. The characteristic lines were present in every case. Lastly, by similar inter-observation a few other lines in the electric spectrum of the hydrocarbon were proved to be due to the presence of hydrogen, and several others in the electric spectrum of the nitrocarbon to be caused by the presence of nitrogen. . . .” “The spectrum under investigation having then been obtained in one case when only carbon and hydrogen were present, and in another when all elements but car- bon and nitrogen were absent, furnishes, to my mind, sufficient evidence that the spectrum is that of carbon.” “ But an interesting confirmation of the conclusion just stated is found in the fact that the same spectrum is obtained when no other elements but carbon and oxygen are present, and also when carbon and sulphur are the May 6, 1880} only elements under examination. And first with regard to carbon and oxygen. Carbonic oxide burned in air gives a flame possessing a continuous spectrum. A mixture of carbonic oxide and oxygen burned from a platinum-tipped safety-jet also gives a more or less continuous spectrum, but the light of the spectrum has a tendency to group itself in ill-defined ridges. Carbonic oxide, however, ignited by the electric discharge in a semi-vacuous tube, givesa bright sharp spectrum. This spectrum was proved, by the simultaneous method of observation, to be that of carbon plus the spectrum of oxygen. With regard to carbon and sulphur almost the same remarks may be made. Bisulphide of carbon vapour burns in air with a bluish flame. Its spectrum is continuous. Mixed with oxygen and burned at the safety-jet, its flame still gives a continuous spectrum, though more distinctly furrowed than in the case of car- bonic oxide; but when ignited by the electric current its spectrum is well defined, and is that of carbon plus the sulphur. That is to say, it is the spectrum of carbon plus the spectrum that is obtained from vapour of sulphur when ignited by the electric discharge in an otherwise vacuous tube.” “ Having thus demonstrated that dissimilar compounds containing carbon emit, when sufficiently ignited, similar rays of light, I come to the conclusion that those rays are characteristic of ignited carbon vapour, and that the phenomena they give rise to on being refracted by a prism is the spectrum of carbon.” This question was next taken up by Morren. wrote! (in 1865) fifteen years ago :— He “A la réception de cet intéressant et substantiel Mémoire, j’avoue que je ne regardai pas d’abord comme fondée l’assertion de M. Attfield.. . . “Je me suis donc mis au travail avec la pensée pré- congue de combattre l’assertion émise par le savant anglais ; mais pas du tout, il résulte au contraire des expériences auxquelles je me suis livré que M. Attfield a raison, et que c’est bien la vapeur du carbone qui donne le spectre indiqué plus haut. . . . "Si on fait briler le cyanogéne au moyen du chalumeau 4 deux courants, en faisant arriver au centre de la flamme du cyanogéne un courant d’oxygéne trés-pur (cette con- dition est indispensable), on voit se produire un des plus beaux effets de combustion possible, et cette expérience est certainement une des plus magnifiques qu’on puisse réaliser sur la combustion des gaz. Il se produit, au milieu de la flamme 7vosé-violdtve du cyanogéne, une boule d’un blanc vert éboulissant qui rappelle la lumiére électrique produite par le courant de la pile entre deux charbons de cornue. Si le spectroscope est dirigé sur cette brillante lumiére, on apercoit, avec une splendeur merveilleuse, le méme spectre de la partie bleue des flammes hydrocar- burées. Ainsi donc c’est du charbon seul, mais a l’état de vapeur, qui forme cette boule brillante qui plus loin, par son union avec l’oxygéne, va passer 4 |’ état d’acid carbonique. Du reste ce spectre n’est pas seul; avec lui on voit, mais trés-effacé, le spectre spécial du cyanogéne, et ‘celui-ci tend de plus en plus a disparaitre 4 mesure que lV oxygéne arrive avec plus d’abondance et briile de mieux en mieux le cyanogéne. Quant au spectre de l’azote, on ne l’apercoit pas dans cette vive lumiére. Le magnifique éclat de ce beau spectre, le plus beau qu’il m’ait été donné de voir, permet de bien comprendre l’aspect creusé et ombré avec une teinte croissante qu’on remarque dans les parties qui n’ont pas de raies brillantes, et méme entre ces raies.” Four years later Dr. Watts devoted himself to this sub- ject, and in 1869 his work was thus summarised by himself : 2— t Annales de Chimie et de Physique, 4 série, tame iv. p. 309, 312. 2 Phil. Mag., October, 1869. si Be NATURE 7 “This spectrum [that consisting of the flutings in question] may be obtained from the flame of any hydro- carbon, though in many cases, owing to the faintness of the spectrum, only some of the groups can be recognised. In the flame of an ordinary Bunsen burner 6 and « are easily seen, y and f are much fainter, and the red group cannot be detected. “ This spectrum is proved to be that of carbon, inasmuch as it can be obtained alike from compounds of carbon with hydrogen, with nitrogen, with oxygen, with sulphur, and with chlorine. I have obtained it, namely, from each of the following compounds :—olefiant gas, cyanogen, carbonic oxide, naphthalin, carbonic disulphide, carbonic tetrachloride, amylic alcohol, and marsh-gas.” That these conclusions, successively arrived at by Att- field, Morren, and Watts, are sound, I shall show in my next notice. J. NORMAN LOCKYER (To be continued.) SCIENCE IN PARLIAMENT HE House of Commons is now complete; all the boroughs and counties have made their choice, and the composition of the new Parliament has been and will be criticised from many points of view. So far as the interests of science and of what we conceive to be good education are concerned, there is, we fear, little dif- erence between the present House of Commons and its pre- decessor ; just a thin ray of light athwart a cloud of dark- ness, a tiny morsel of knowledge in a mass of ignorance: This ignorance, however, we are bound to believe is not wilful ; we must admit that our new rulers are willing to be enlightened, unless in time they should show them- selves otherwise disposed. On this ground, as well as on others, it is to be lamented that one of the most eminent and useful scien- tific members of the House has lost his seat through some local caprice. The absence of Sir John Lubbock from the new Parliament is one we are sure every true lover of science will deplore. Where there is so much ignorance to be overcome, it seems to us we cannot have too many representatives of science in Parliament ; and we are sure all who desire to see science advanced in this country would welcome any chance of getting Sir John back to his old place. Such an opportunity has, some may think almost providentially, presented itself in the vacancy that has occurred in the representation of London University by the promotion of Mr. Lowe to “another place.” Several candidates have been proposed for the vacant seat, but alongside of Sir John Lubbock all must strike an impartial onlooker as singularly unsuit- able. The ‘‘doctors’’ have been attempting to put ina strong claim to have themselves specially represented, supporting their cause, so far as London University is concerned, by somewhat shaky statistics. But medicine has no lack of friends in both Houses of Parliament ; the claims which it has on the country are patent to all, and it is, moreover, included under the wider region of science. If the latter gets fair play from Government, medicine need have no fear that her claims will be neglected. Already are two Scottish universities represented by Dr. Lyon Playfair, who is nothing if not medical. Not one of our English universities has a man of science as its representative, and it is surely important that an institution in which science holds so prominent 8 NATURE a place as London University should have a scientific man for its representative. Sir George Jessel has for some reason a few strenuous advocates, who seem to forget that their candidate resigned his seat for Dover on the ground that it was contrary to the spirit of the act. Sir George is an excellent lawyer, but there are already too many of them in Parliament. Sir John Lubbock has already been fourteen years member of the Senate, and nearly eight vice-chancellor; thus by returning him not only would the London University confer a benefit on Parliament and the country at large, but at the same time would do the best they could for their own interests. We need not here insist on the claims of Sir John as a man of science; his eminence in this department, as well as aman of business is, known to all. He is indeed so many-sided that he would represent as few others could the different faculties which combine to form the London University. His career in Parliament has been marked by a large number of measures which he has carried through Parliament, all of them of a kind more or less affecting the alumni of London University, and several of them directly affecting those very medical men that would now turn their backs upon him. Sir John has been officially connected with various bodies and various movements having for their object the promotion of learning and science, and now we believe he has had the great honour of being designated as President of the British Association for its jubilee meeting at York next year. We should have thought that for a body like the members of London University it would have been unnecessary to point out Sir John Lubbock’s claims upon them, and his peculiar fitness to represent themin Parliament. We are confident that all the scientific members of the institution will record their votes in his favour, and by sending him to Parliament strengthen the hands of the few who are intel- ligently convinced of the necessity of introducing and carrying out those reforms which are so much needed in the attitude of Government towards science and education. WURTZ’S “CHEMISTRY” Elements of Modern Chemistry. By Adolphe Wuttz. Translated and edited by Wm. H. Greene, M.D. (London : W. Swan Sonnenschein and Allen, 1880.) M WURTZ is one of the recognised leaders of - modern chemistry: a text-book from his pen is sure to be hailed with interest and pleasure. The reputation of the author as an original thinker and worker in chemical science leads one to look for some- thing more than the ordinary orthodox collection of oft-repeated facts in any work bearing his name. And the opening pages of the book before us are certainly very refreshing. Simple and commonly-occurring facts are clearly and simply stated, and on these, as a basis, is aid at once the foundation of chemical theory. The leading features of the book are, clearness of statement, selection of typical facts from among the vast array at the service of the chemical compiler, and devotion of a comparatively large space to chemical theory and to generalisations which are usually dismissed in a few words in the ordinary text-book. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of M. Wurtz’s book is that, notwithstanding that within less than 700 [Way 6, 1880 moderate-sized pages there is given an account of the leading properties of all the more important substances known to chemistry, the book is nevertheless exceedingly interesting and eminently readable. Probably this result could only be attained by a French writer. In a very early part of the book the modern theory of valency or equivalency is explained, and this theory per- vades the whole of the work. ‘he great objection to the book, considered as an exponent of modern chemistry, in our opinion, is this marked devotion to one favourite theory. The objection which we should make to the book, considered more broadly as a scientific treatise, is that theoretical considerations are too much treated as identical with facts, and that facts are, seemingly, sup- posed to be explained when they are only stated in the language of that peculiar theory which finds in such expressions as ‘‘exchange of affinities,” ‘‘ satisfaction of bonds,’ &c., an explanation of chemical phenomena, The theory of valency assumes that the molecular weights of those compounds which are employed jin determina- tions of valency are known. But at present we know the molecular weights of gasifiable bodies only; hence no exact conclusions concerning valencies can be drawn from a study of non-gasifiable compounds. Nevertheless M. Wurtz appears to regard the formule of many non-volatile metallic oxides as on an equal footing with those of such compounds as water, hydrochloric acid, &c., and as just as serviceable for determinations of elementary valencies. Indeed we do not find given a clear definition of molecular weight as distinguished from atomic weight. Avogadro’s hypothesis, it is true, is mentioned, but not clearly stated as the basis of the modern system of mole- cular weight determinations. And without a definition of molecular weight, clearly established, it is impossible to grasp the modern acceptation of the term atomic weight. In such a work as this one might reasonably look for a statement of the results of the recent work, of first-rate importance, of Guldberg and Waage, and of Ostwald, on Chemical Affinity, more especially as the subject of mass action is mentioned and Berthollet’s laws are detailed. The general subject of affinity is somewhat vaguely | treated. Thermal chemistry scarcely finds any recog- nition in the work. It may seem invidious to mention faults of detail; but there are a few which, we think, might very profitably be corrected in a second edition. The nomenclature of the oxyacids of sulphur is cer- tainly erroneous : hyposulphurous acid—H,SO,—is called hydrosulphurous, and thiosulphuric—H.S,0,—hyposul- phurous. The nomenclature of the oxides of iodine is also peculiar, and the formula of the known oxides are some- what startling : perbromic acid is still enumerated among the oxyacids of bromine. Dry sulphuretted hydrogen is said to be energetically decomposed by iodine. SO, is called sulphurous oxide 07 sulphurous acid gas; and, lastly, Lavoisier is said to have determined the compo- sition of water in 1785. That part of the book which deals with the carbon compounds is not so satisfactory as the portion treating of inorganic chemistry. The classification is most un- natural, and the treatment of many important groups, é.g., the alcohols and terpenes, is unsatisfactory. We should not think it possible for an average student May 6, 1880] NATURE 5 of chemistry, beginning the study of the carbon com- pounds with the aid of this manual, to gain any but most hazy ideas regarding the general scope of this branch of the science. But notwithstanding such defects as those we have mentioned there can be little doubt that M. Wurtz’s book is possessed of many admirable qualities. In place ofmasses of unconnected facts he presents the student with carefully-selected leading data ; he may, we think, strain some of his favourite theories too much, yet he inculcates the paramount necessity of theoretical explanations ; he gives prominence to generalisations, such as equivalents, combining weights, and laws of multiple proportions, nomenclature and notation, bases, acids, and salts, &c., &c., and these he develops historically with great clear- ness and rare felicity of illustration; and he gives just sufficient detail concerning chemical manufactures as suffices to render these intelligible to the ordinary student of chemistry. The translation appears to be admirably executed. The book is well printed, and the illustrations are distinct. But why should one be led to believe that spirit-lamps and charcoal-furnaces are still the ordinary appliances for raising the temperature of substances in chemical laboratories ? In reading the historical notes which are given con- cerning most of the important compounds and generalisa- tions of chemistry, one is almost persuaded to believe that, after all, “chemistry_is a French science.” M. M. P. M. OUR BOOK SHELF The Geological Antiguity of Insects. Twelve Papers on Fossil Entomology. By Herbert Goss, F.L.S. 8vo, pp. 1-50. (London: John Van Voorst, 1880.) THIS bulky pamphlet must prove decidedly useful both to geologists and entomologists. The subject of fossil ento- mology has of late assumed gigantic proportions, and asserted an importance little dreamt of when paleontology first substantiated its claims as the real guide to geologists in determining the nature of many strata. Indeed, as is truly stated by Mr. Goss, the wonder is that remains of any animals so fragile as insects could have been preserved sufficiently for scientific purposes ; yet we find contempo- raneous with the remains of those marvellous Devonian fishes those of the earliest types of insects, chiefly only wings, it is true, but wings in such a complete state of preservation that the intricacies of neuration can be traced; and this neuration is in some cases so difficult to homologise with that of existing forms that a separate, supposed extinct order (Paleodictyoptera) has been formed (probably unnecessarily) for the reception of these remains. Mr. Goss has given detailed accounts (with ‘copious references) of almost every described species of fossil insect from the older formations, and has contrived to very lucidly place before his readers the sequence of appearance of the now-existing orders according to the testimony of the rocks. As we ascend in the geological scale the indications become less complete, and only genera, or eventually only families, are alluded to, but always with the same copious references to authorities. It could not be otherwise. As we ascend the materials increase enormously, until at last, in the post-tertiary system, we find ourselves in the presence of remains that have been identified with species now living in the same district; and in somewhat less recent strata in North America the multitude of fossil remains of insects is such as to place it out of the question that any detailed account could be given of them. Not the least useful feature in the work consists in the notes on the correla- tion of special insect-forms with the most remarkable animal and vegetable relics from the same formations. This pamphlet has no claims as embodying the re- sults of original research; it is a useful concentrated compilation from the literature on the subject by one who evidently has an intelligent knowledge of it both in its geological and zoological aspects, and as such cannot fail to be of service as a text-book, giving the student a clear outline sketch, and the references where to seek more detailed information. Such a work {is often more useful than original essays, which, from the magnitude of the subject, can only be limited in their aim. ‘The treat- ment may be a little unequal, and we think it would be possible to point out cases in which certain fossil-insects have been referred to a wrong position ; but this is the fault of the original describers. We are rather sorry to see that all notice of Amber- Insects is intentionally omitted for ‘the present, more especially as, from the medium in which they are pre- served, these are the most~ perfect of all fossil insect- remains. They consist for the most part of well-marked existing genera, but we think no one has yet dared to identify any amber-insect with an existing species. In connection with this subject one word of caution to palzontologists with regard to many fossil insects. We find many insects (excluding those in amber) referred to modern genera, and even among those from ancient strata. This is a convenience only; it indicates that certain fossils pre- sent the general appearance of the existing genera to which they are referred ; but in the majority of instances it does not prove that ‘they would be so referred if the remains were in the same condition as the recent materials. In most cases we think it would be otherwise. The substance of this pamphlet originally appeared as a series of introductory papers in vols. xv. and xvi. of the Entomologist’ Monthly Magazine, but the reprint contains additional matter. EEDPLERS LO THE EDITOR: [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to returi, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous conimunications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that i zs intpossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- muitications containing interesting and novel facts.) The Opportunities of Science Masters at Schools IN consequence of my publishing in your columns some facts on visual and other memory, I have been favoured with letters from many persons and from many countries; few however haye been more acceptable than those from the masters and mistresses of schools. Confining my remarks for the present to the masters of the larger establishments, I may mention that the science masters: of Cheltenham and of Winchester have promised assistance, but I write especially to acknowledge the aid already rendered to me by Mr. W. H. Poole, the science master of Charterhouse, and to make some comments thereon, in order to show how wide and yet how neglected a field for original research lies open to every schoolmaster. Mr. Poole has sent mie returns from all the boys who attended his classes—172 in number. He selected certain of my questions concerning visual and other memory, he explained them clearly to the boys and interested them in the subject, and then he set them the questions to answer in writing, just as he would have set questions in the ordinary course of school-work, Lastly, he forwarded to me the replies in separate bundles corresponding to the different classes, and each paper was numbered, so that if I wanted to learn more about any of them and sent him the numbers, he 10 could ascertain the names of the writers. In this simple manner, by almost a single stroke, Mr. Poole has called a mass of statistical data into existence, more thorough and complete than could perhaps have been procured in any other way. I have spent many hours in analysing the answers, and find that they bear generally the marks of painstaking and veracity ; they have already led me to results which appear important, but of which this is not the time to speak. The observation I desire to make is that as every hospital fulfils two purposes, the primary one of relieving the sick, and the secondary one of advancing pathology, so every school might be made not only to fulfil the primary purpose of educating boys, but also that of advancing many branches of anthropology. The object of schools should be not only to educate, but also to promote directly and indirectly the science of education. It is astonishing how little has been done by the schoolmasters -of our great public schools in this direction, notwithstanding their enviable opportunities. I know absolutely of no work written by one of them in which his experiences are classified in the same scientific spirit as hospital cases are by a physician, or as other facts are by the scientific man in whose special line of inquiry they lie. Yet the routine of school work is a daily course of examination. There, if anywhere, the art of putting ques- tions and the practice of answering them is developed to its highest known perfection. In no other place are persons so incessantly and for so long a time under close inspection. Nowhere else are the conditions of antecedents, age, and present occupation so alike as in the boys of the same form. Schools are almost ideally perfect places for statistical inquiries. If a census on other subjects such as this that has been made by Mr. Poole, was carried out, say once a term, or even once a year, at each great public school, what a rich statistical output we should annually witness. Or again, if a schoolmaster were now and then found ‘capable and willing to codify in a scientific manner his large experiences of boys, to compare their various moral and intellectual qualities, to classify their natural temperaments, and generally to describe them as a naturalist would describe the fauna of some new land, what excellent psychological work might be accomplished! But all these great opportunities lie neglected. The masters come and go, their experiences are lost, or almost so, and the incidents on which they were founded are forgotten, instead of being stored and rendered accessible to their successors ; thus our great schools are like medizval hos- pitals, where case-taking was unknown, where pathological col- lections were never dreamt of, and where in consequence the art of healing made slow and uncertain advance. Some schoolmaster may put the inquiry, What are the subjects fitted for investigation in schools? I can only reply, Take any book that bears on psychology, select any subject concerning the intellect, emotions, or senses in which you may feel an interest ; think how a knowledge of it might best be advanced either by statistical questioning or by any other kind of observation, consult with others, plan carefully a mode of procedure that shall be as simple as the case admits, then take the inquiry in hand and carry it through, FRANCIS GALTON Museum Conference ‘ PRESUMING that the object of a museum is twofeld, viz., to instruct the general public through the eye and to serve as a repository of material by means of which specialists can carry on their scientific and historical researches, it must be obvious to every thoughtful observer how inadequate the machinery gener- ally is to the end in view. A visitor, let us suppose, to the zooloyical department of a museum, observes a number of birds bearing a general family likeness, anda name under each specimen. Having no pictorial clue to the habits, native country, or specific distinctions of the numerous specimens, no verbal dé¢scription before him, and no intelligent curator on the spot to give the information 1equired, he goes away with a hazy impression of what he has seen, and too often with a headache. Surely there is room for improvement in the direction of the amount of infor- mation that could be conveyed by proper adjuncts to the specimens, and by grouping them according to the countries to which they belong, &c.? Many a missionary going abroad would gladly learn something of the economical and medicinal products of the country to which he is going ; but ina museum in which vegetable products are grouped according to their natural orders his difficulties are increased tenfold. 1 can imagine no better means of improving the character of museums and of increasing their usefulness than NATURE [ May 6, 1880 a conference of curators to exchange ideas and the results of their experience. With regard to the use of musems by those seeking special information, the circumstances are very different in large cities and in small towns. In cities, as a rule, the curator naturally tecomes in time the depository of a large amount of special information, for which there is such a demand that time is rarely left him for the manual labour and supervision which the keeping of a museum in good order involves. In this case it is assistance that is required rather than increase of salary, although a curator should in my opinion be so well paid that he need not be obliged to resort to literary work to eke out a living. In provincial towns the case is somewhat different. The curator has less demand made upon his time by specialists, but he needs to be well acquainted with almost every branch of art and natural history, and is often expected to be able to lecture upon any subject that can at all be included within the range of objects in the museum. Such extensive knowledge is rarely to be found concentrated in one person, and consequently one branch of natural history is often pursued to the exclusion of others, as of arts and antiquities, or vice versd ; and it is little consolation to the naturalist who has done good local work to think that if his collection be left to the local museum it may _ become devoured by insects or neglected by a subsequent curator who takes little or no interest in that particular branch. A monthly or quarterly publication would form an excellent means of communication for the exchange of duplicates, the dis- tribution to suitable quarters of the productions of foreign countries for purposes of investigation, for the record of im- provements in manipulation or exhibition, and for the results of experience in various directions. Such a publication, if circulated abroad, might be made the means of incalculable benefit to trade by suggesting uses for little known native productions and by bringing residents abroad in communication with those at home who could direct them how best to utilise the resources of newly- explored districts. I see no reason also why museums, especially those of a technical character, should not be made in some degree self- supporting, by charging a small admission fee to visitors and a fixed fee for the identification of objects used or to be used in trade. I trust the subject of a museum conference will be well ventilated in your columns, and that the liberal offer of the Council of the Society of Arts will soon be turned to account by a preliminary meeting in the rooms of that Society. I would suggest that those who are able and willing to form an executive committee should forward their names at once to Mr. Paton, who will then be in a position to carry out a scheme which cannot fail to produce a beneficial effect upon the education of the nation at large. E. M. HOLMES Ural Crayfish REFERRING to the notice in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 454, of M-. Malakhoff’s memoir on Ural Crayfish, you will perhaps allow me, a resident among the foot-hills of the South-Western Urals, space for a few words. Astacus leptodactylus is found in most of the streams here, in some abundantly. The variety is that in which the cephalo-thorax and chelz are studded with tubercles, and is accurately represented in Prof. E. Ray Lankester’s Fig. 2 in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 354. I have one before me at the present moment from a tributary of the River Bielaia, measuring five inches in length, and this is the average size. I have never seen the mountain variety mentioned in M. Malakhoff’s paper. His remark that ‘‘in the Ural the natives call the freshwater Unio Rak (Ecr.visse) and the true crayfish Rak-ryba (7 Ecrevisse poisson)” does not apply to this district, for here the latter is called simply ‘*7ak” and the unio ‘“rakovitza ” and ‘‘rakovina” indif- ferently, general terms for a mullusc and its shell, Various opinions exist in reference to the quality of the flesh, Tor my own part I find it extremely insipid, and I believe any English- man eating it for the first time would be of the same opinion ; but the inhabitants of the country, who have, of course, no opportunity of tasting fresh marine crustacea, rather esteem the flesh. Englishmen staying here a long time often grow to like it in default of anything better, till I verily believe in some cases they leave the country praising it as a delicacy. This may be one of the ways in which the diverging opinions respecting its quality have originated. W., TH, TWELVETREES Voskresensky Zavod, near Orenburg, Russia, March 27 (April 8) May 6, 1880] NATURE Ir Protection against Mosquitos, Flies, and Blight Mr. HaGeEn’s letter on the destruction of insect-pests (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 611) induces me to make generally known an absolute preventive of the bites of mosquitos, gnats, of green-fly in the vinery, blight in the garden, and a protection to animals from these ‘‘insect-pests.” A few years ago I had some peach-trees which, being on a wall exposed to draught, were annually blighted. One died, and the new wood of the others was not more than a hand’s length. A scientific friend advised me to try a weak solution of quassia to water them with, and the suc- cess was complete. Blight was prevented. The first year the trees bore well and the new wood was elbow-length or more. I next tried quassia in the vinery. Instead of lime-washing the walls to get rid of the green-fly, one watering with quassia dis- missed them ina day. My head-gardener, who had previously much experience in nursery-grounds, wondered that he had never heard of it before. He now uses it in all cases as a pro- tection from flies and blight. The dilution goes a long way: ene pound of chips of quassia-wood boiled and reboiled in other water uatil he has eight gallons of the extract for his garden- engine. He finds it inadvisable to use it stronger for some plants. This boiling makes the quassia adhesive, and being principally applied to the underleaf, because most blight settles there, it is not readily washed off by rain. (uassia is used in medicine as a powerful tonic, and the chips are sold by chemists at from sixpence to a shilling a pound, The tree is indigenous to the West Indies and to South America. And now as to gnats and mosquitos. A young friend of mine, severely bitten by mosquitos and unwilling to be seen so disfigured, sent for quassia-chips and had boiling water poured upon them. At night, after washing, she dipped her hands into the quassia water and left it to dry on her face. This was a perfect protection, and continued to be so whenever applied. The pastilles sold in Florence and elsewhere, which are vaunted to be safeguards against mosquitcs, are, from my own experience, of no use. At the approach of winter, when flies and gnats get into houses and sometimes bite venomously, a grandchild of mine, eighteen months old, was thus attacked. I gave the nurse some of my weak solution of quas-ia to be left to dry on his face, and he was not bitten again. It is innocuous to children, and it may be a protection also against bed insects, which I have not had the opportunity of trying. When the solution of quassia is strong it is well known to be an active fly-poison, and is mixed with sugar to attract flies, but this is not strong enough to kill at once, If it be true that mosquitos have been imported into one of the great hotels in the south-west of London, it might be very useful to anoint some of the furniture with it. Then a strong solution with sugar set about the rooms ought to clear them out. Oatlands Park,-Weybridge WM. CHAPPELL Immersion of Iron and Steel in Acidulated Water In Nature, vol. xxi. p. 602, I have read an interesting account of Prof, Hughes’s experiments on the change produced in iron and steel wire by immersion in acidulated water. May I ask you to draw the Professor’s attention to my experiments on this subject, wzde Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, January 7, March 4, December 30, 1873; January 13, March 1o and 24, 1874; and Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 158, 1875; and a short article in NATURE, I think. It has long been known to manufacturers of iron wire that iron becomes brittle after immersion in dilute sulphuric or hydro- chloric acids. I believe, however, that I was the first to show that this change was due to occluded hydrogen, and by a careful series of experiments to determine approximately the percentage alteration in the breaking strain and elongation at the moment of rupture produced by occluded hydrogen in— (a) Ordinary or puddled iron wire ; (4) Iron wire manufactured with charcoal instead of coal ; (c) Mild or Bessemer steel ; (d) Cast steel. Talso found an increased electrical resistance in wire containing eccluded hydrogen, though subsequent experiments have led me to believe that the numbers I first published were too large. My papers also called attention to the diffusion of hydrogen in iron wire beyond the part immersed in acidulated water ; the increase in the length of wire charged with hydrogen and some other phenomena. The whole subject of the occlusion of hydrogen by metals is one of great interest, and the scientific world will be glad if an accomplished experimenter like Prof. Hughes turns his attention to the subject. WILLIAM H. JOHNSON The Ferns, Bowdon, near Manchester, April 26 Stone Arrow Heads THE interesting investigations of Mr, Redding on the method of making the above objects, as referred to in NATURE, vol. xxl. p. 613, have been somewhat anticipated by Mr. Paul Schumacher, ‘‘ Methods of making stone weapons,” Bu//. U.S. Geol. and Geog. Survey, vol. iii. p. 547, 1877, which again was a translation from an earlier publication in Archiv fiir Anthro- pologie,, vol. vii. p. 263. Mr. Schumacher’s information was derived from the last arrow-maker of a tribe of Klamath Indians, and appears to correspond generally with that obtained by Mr. Redding from the representative of another tribe in the same region. Mr. Schumacher states that obsidian is not the only stone used, but chert, chalcedony, jasper, agate, and similar stones of conchoidal fracture. ‘‘ The rock is first exposed to fire, and, after a thorough heating, rapidly cooled off, when it flakes readily into sherds of different sizes under well-directed blows at its cleavage.” The process is also illustrated in Mr. Schumacher’s paper. Superior stone mortars are often found in use amongst these Californian Indians, who deny their capa- bility of making such objects, and account for their possession as ‘‘finds” either on the surface or beneath the earth, and describe them as the work of another and previous race. W. L. DISTANT Derwent Grove, Ea-t Dulwich, May 1 The Mode of Suckling of the Elephant Calf IN some of the accounts recently published of the birth of an elephant in a menagerie in America it is stated that up to this time naturalists had always believed that the elephant calf obtained its mother’s milk by means of its trunk, and not directly by the mouth. Whether this be the case or not, Aristotle was certainly an exception, as the following passage from the twenty-seventh chapter of the sixth book of his “ Historia Animalium” (Ed. Bekker, Oxford, 1837) clearly proves—‘O 5& ckipvos, bray yerntat, Onrdher TH oTSuaTL, OV TS wuKTHpI, Kal BadlCer al Baémee evOus yevynOets—‘‘ And the calf, when it is born, sucks with its mouth and not with its trunk ; and it both walks and sees as soon as it is born.” 5G. Gs May 3 —oo The Tay Bridge Inquiry In the Pal Mall of April 21 appeared a report of the evidence of Mr. Henry Law, C.E., in the Tay Bridge inquiry. In this report Mr. Law is made to say: ‘‘ The heavy girders would fall more rapidly than the carriages ; a train moving for- ward at a great speed would not fall so rapidly as a quiescent structure.” ; : I have been induced to ask your insertion of this note in Nature in the hope that some of your readers who are at home in such matters may confirm or contradict these statements. A person with a mere elementary knowledge of dynamics would disbelieve the latter of them, and would doubt that the former has any practical truth. ’ (OL Kee Queenwood College, near Stockbridge, Hants Yeast and Black Beetles In what form should yeast be applied for the destruction of black beetles? If Prof, Lankester will show us how to exter- minate them he will earn the gratitude of every Lonpon HOUSEHOLDER 27, Marlborough Hill, N.W., May 1 Surz CaNAL Rock SaLt.—Dr. Ralton wishes to know where information can be obtained on the subject of the rock salt Leds which were cut through in constructing the Suez Canal. Sopic CHLORIDE CrySTALS.—Dr. Ralton asks, what is the action of urea in modifying the crystal form of sodic chloride crystals, referred to by our reviewer of Dr, Ord’s book ? {Sodium chloride usually crystallises in cubes ; it is stated, however, by Prof. Maskelyne in a lecture before the Royal NATURE [AZay 6, 1880 Institution that in presence of uric acid it erystallises in octa- hedra, There are other similar facts : thus alum usually erystal- lises in octahedra ; but if sulphate of alumina is present in excess the alum crystallises in cades.] THE Soncs oF Birps.—In Pennant’s “‘ British Zoology,” vol. ii, Mr. C, C. Starling will find in an appendix a very interesting paper by the Hon. Daines Barrington on the singing of birds. The paper is dated 1773, and published in the PAilo- Sophical Transactions, vol, \xiii—JAMES MACFADZEAN, DECAISNE AND BAILLON* Te is perhaps now time to make a protest against a scandal which has in no small degree excited the disgust of scientific men in various parts of Europe, who, like ourselves, have been favoured with copies of the privately-circulated publication of which the name stands at the foot of this note. That scientific men should quarrel, and quarrel sometimes with singular bitterness, is only to affirm in other terms that they are not exempt from the ordinary frailties of human nature. That they should make blunders in their work, however conscien- tiously performed, is but another illustration of the same truth. But that a scientific man with any respect for his calling should not merely think it worth while to publish the errors of one who has long laboured, and on the whole laboured not ingloriously, under the same roof as himself, and in the same pursuits, and should persist in the unhandsome enterprise of seeking out and raking together faults, even the most microscopic and frivolous, with all the relish and vindictiveness of gratified spite, is a thing so wholly disgusting that a protest should be made against it in the interest of common decency. Decaisne has spent a laborious life in botanical work of great usefulness and excellence, and his scientific reputa- tion has long been established and acknowledged by his contemporaries, who have been quite capable of estimating the value of what he has done. Baillon, a much younger man, is scarcely less regarded for the industrious profu- sion and frequent originality of his botanical publications. But he will not materially affect the position of Decaisne by his animadversions, and it is pitiful that any portion of his abounding energy should be devoted to the attempt to discredit writings which, after all, will always be consulted by students on their own merits, and having regard to the state of knowledge at the time they were published. The fact is that no scientific man could undergo with credit such a scathing revision as that to which Baillon has subjected his unfortunate fellow- savant, and we do not say without some reason that the last person who would emerge from the process with anything like satisfaction would be Prof. Baillon himself. DR. RUDOLF SCHEFFER i T is with sincere regret that we have to record the sudden death of Dr. Rudolf H.C. C. Scheffer, the director of the Botanical Gardens, Buitenzorg, Java, which took place at Sindanglaya on March 9. The loss of Dr. Scheffer will be felt by a large circle of botanists through- out the world, for the splendid gardens of which he was superintendent were in communication with every home and colonial botanical institution ; but in the Netherlands Indian Colonies, however, it is that his death will be most felt and deplored. It is now some twelve years since Dr. Scheffer came out from Holland to take the first directorship of the gardens, which had come into high repute by the great number and variety of species collected into it by numerous eminent botanists and by the energy and zeal of its well- known hortulanus, J. E. Teysmann, who has by his numerous voyages added so many new species to the t “Errorum Decaisneanorum graviorun vel minus cognitorum centuria quinta, Auctore H. Baillcn.”” East Indian flora, and on the fiftieth anniversary of whose uninterrupted connection with the gardens Dr. Scheffer took so warm and active a part last January. Soon after his arrival Dr. Scheffer instituted a school for the training of native boys in the science of agriculture ; and for their practical instruction he was the means of having an agricultural garden opened at Zjikoemah, close to the school, and some two miles from Buitenzorg. In this school Dr. Scheffer took the very highest interest and pleasure. It was not intended, on its institution, that he should take any active teaching duties, his superin- tendence was considered to be all that he could well bestow on it; but finding that the teaching staff was insufficient, he squeezed out of his already overburdened time several hours every day to devote to the tuition of these native boys. When on February 9, on his departure ona botanical journey to the south coast of Java, the writer, little thinking he was saying farewell for the last time, took leave of Dr. Scheffer, seemingly in his ordinary health, he received from him, to aid him in his work, a native boy who had lately taken his diploma of proficiency in the agricultural school. This boy was found to be well acquainted with the general flora of the district and with the classification of plants; he could accurately describe their organs and functions and state their economic uses; he had a good idea of the methods ot fertilisation and the values of self- and cross-breeding. He was fairly grounded in the rudiments of zoology, anatomy, and physiology. Until he had tested this youth the writer did not believe it possible for the Malay mind to so clearly comprehend and so accurately to arrange scientific facts. In this the great power of Dr. Scheffer as a teacher appears, especially when it is remembered that he lectured almost to virgin minds and in a language so devoid of all precise and accurate terms as Malay. I am told by a friend, a competent botanist, who has listened to his lectures, that Dr. Scheffer’s power of lucid explanation was very great. “I wish,” he said, “I had had as good a course of lectures on botany in Holland.” In addition to the labour and anxiety attaching to this section of his work, Dr. Scheffer had also to give occa- sional lectures to the aspirant controlleurs, the young unplaced civil servants, and to superintend their examina- tions in agriculture. Over and above this he had the general superintendence of the large botanical gardens. on his shoulders, with daily arrivals and despatches of plants to and from all quarters of the globe, on which he had to be consulted daily. If one had entered his small study in the fine building containing the herbarium, one would have found him engaged in his own peculiar work, in which he took so much delight, with his microscope and camera lucida studying the Hevmeleia vastatrix, a subject to which he had been lately devoting much time; in another corner would be a series of Palms. —part of Dr. Beccari’s collection, on whose examination and description he was engaged, the sectional coloured drawings being done by one of his own native pupils. If we did not find him here we should see the microscope and pencil conveniently left so as to resume work at the shortest possible notice; and adjourning to his house, near the entrance to the gardens, we should certainly find him in his neat library surrounded by a diverse collection: of botanical works, and with the spare corners decorated with the busts and photographs of distinguished botanists, with an enormous pile of correspondence, to which he was writing heads of reply in Dutch, French, English, German, for his amanuensis. Dr. Scheffer told the writer that he wrote more than 3,000 letters a year with his own hand. He corresponded with every country and every botanical garden in the world; he had to give all sorts of advice to agriculturists throughout the Archipelago, on the cultivation of or the diseases affecting coffee, tea, sugar, tobacco, &c., and the many great improvements effected in the production of these valuable products is ee ———— V May 6, 1880] due in a great measure to his advice. Need we wonder, then, even with youth in his favour, that at the early age of about thirty-seven, being yoked in such heavy double harness, he has died with it on, leaving a large amount of accomplished valuable work, which was waiting for a spare moment to prepare for the publisher. For some time Dr. Scheffer had been suffering from defective digestive powers and frequent sleeplessness, but he neglected these warnings and the advice of his friends to take some rest. He was unfortunate in being surrounded by those who, with few exceptions, took little interest in his work, and by none to whom he thought he could entrust the work in which he was so hard and enthusiastic a worker, so he worked on. The fatal affec- tion was inflammation of the liver. The seizure was very acute, and at an early stage danger was imminent ; but at length he rallied. His medical attendants considered the crisis past, and recommended his removal to his own estate near Sindanglaya, to reach which a tedious climb of 4,500 feet over the Megameudoeng Pass had to be sur- mounted. He never reached his destination, expiring, on March 9, at the Sanatorium at Sindanglaya, where he now lies buried. In his private life he was a man to be loved and esteemed; quiet, unassuming, very kind-hearted, ever ready to give whatever assistance he could, especially to scientific travellers. With him the Netherlands Indian Government has lost a valued public servant, to whom it will not be easy to find a successor, and botanical science has to deplore an earnest worker, a learned disciple, and a great helper. HENRY O. FORBES Preanger, Java A SCOTTISH CRANNOG? ETWEEN geology and history there lies an inter- mediate sphere in which these sciences dovetail into one another. In this common territory or borderland lies the domain of prehistoric archeology, and to its most recent portion, or that which archeologists have desig- nated the “‘ Late Celtic Period,’ must be assigned the antiquarian remains I have here the pleasure of describing. During this period it appears that the Celtic races of Scotland and Ireland were in the habit of constructing artificial islands in marshes and shallow lakes to which, in troublous times, they resorted for safety. They were generally formed by the superposition of trunks of trees and brushwood mingled with stones strongly palisaded by stakes, and so situated as to be inaccessible except by means of causeways, or occasionally by a narrow gangway or mole. These island forts, or cravnogs, as they have been called in the Irish annals, were very numerous in former times, but owing to the gradual rising of the level of the lakes, they appear to have been so completely lost sight of that their very existence was unknown to modern antiquaries, so that their discovery in the present century marks an important epoch in the history of archeology. In October, 1878, I drew the attention of antiquaries, through the columns of NATURE, to the remains of ‘an ancient lake-dwelling just then discovered on the farm of Lochlee, in the parish of Torbolton, Ayrshire. Since then a series of excavations have been made with the view of ascertaining the exact nature of this structure, in the course of which a large collection of most interesting relics has been made. ‘ ; In the year 1839, while a small lake on this farm was being artificially dried up for agricultural purposes, the attention of the labourers was directed to a singular mound, in which, on cutting drains through it, they exposed some wrought wood-work; but their observations, 2A full report of the Lochlee Crannog is given in vol, xiii. of the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and in vol. ii. of the Collections of the Ayrshire and Wigtownshire Archzological Association. NATURE 13 though freely talked of in the neighbourhood at the time, led to no further results till forty years later, when it was found necessary to re-drain the locality, and hence the present investigations. By a curious coincidence the early drainage at Lochlee was made in the same year that Sir W. R. Wilde discovered and examined the first Irish crannog, viz., that of Lagore in County Meath. The Irish discovery, however, owing to a general system of drainage that was then going on, led at once to the most brilliant results, so that it soon became apparent that crannogs existed very generally over the country. Up to the present time over a hundred have been examined, and have furnished the Irish museums with a vast collection of relics. In the year 1854 a great impetus was given to the study of these researches by the discovery of the remains of ancient lake villages in Switzerland, which have now become so famous and wel] known all over the continent of Europe; but it was not till 1857 that the subject began to attract the attention of Scottish archseo- logists. In this year Mr. Joseph Robertson read a paper to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and in 1866 Dr. Stuart, who was then Secretary to this Society, collected and published all the scattered notices of Scottish crannogs known up to that date. Since the publication of Dr. Stuart’s elaborate paper no further investigations on Scottish crannogs, with the exception of an occasional notice of a fresh discovery of the site of one, have been recorded. But though traces of these crannogs, have been found in almost every county of Scotland, there has been no systematic examination of them worthy of comparison with the investigations that have been made in other countries; nor, with the exception of a few articles found at Dowalton, is there any collection of relics which would enable archeologists to form an opinion with much certainty as to the purpose they served in the social economy of the period they represent; mor can their range in the dim vista of prehistoric times be determined with greater accuracy. Before the Lochlee Lake was originally drained no one appears to have surmised that a small island (visible only in the summer time) which formed a safe habita- tion for gulls and other sea-birds during the breed- ing season, was formerly the residence of man. It was situated near the outlet of the lake-basin, and the nearest land, its southern bank, was about seventy-five yards distant. The general appearance which it presented when the present investigations were commenced was that of a grassy knoll, drier, firmer, and slightly more elevated than the surrounding field. Towards the cir- cumference of this mound the tops of a few piles were observed barely projecting above the grass. Guided by these the workmen dug a deep circular trench, in which they exposed numerous piles and transverse beams having square-cut holes in their ends, through which the former projected about eighteen inches or two feet. In the course of further explorations it became apparent that these piles formed a series of stockades surrounding a somewhat circular space about fifty feet in diameter. Beyond this circle on the south side there were indications of other rows of uprights which appeared to unite into one on the north side. Here, instead of further rows of piles, the corresponding space was occupied by an intricate arrangement of woodwork, consisting of young trees and stout branches, mixed with slanting stakes and logs running in all directions, the whole forming a dense protective barrier. The diameter of the island was about 120 feet. The central area was about three feet lower than the surrounding stockades with their transverses, and had a flooring of prepared logs resembling railway sleepers. Near the centre of this log pavement were found four circular hearths placed one above the other with an interval between each of 18 inches to 2} feet. These hearths were neatly constructed of flat stones of various 14 sizes, and had a raised rim round them, also formed of flat stones, but uniformly selected and set on edge. Each of them was imbedded in a thin layer of clay, which extended several feet beyond, and the intermediate strata consisted of ashes, charcoal, and small bits of burnt bones. The top of the upper hearth was 7 feet 9 inches above the log pavement, but only about one foot below the surface of the mound, so that the greatest depth of the accumulated rubbish since the log pavement was laid would be about 83 feet. The lowest or first fireplace was separated from the log pavement by a thick layer of turf and then a layer of clay. On a level with the third hearth, counting from below, there were decayed portions of several massive stakes, with square-cut ends which appeared to have been the remains of a hut. One stake was found to have a small portion projecting from the centre of its base, which neatly mortised into a hole formed by a piece of wood, a flat stone, and some clay, and another had pressed down the portion of clay on which it rested nearly a foot. It was thus evident that the stakes were so formed as to prevent them as much as possible from sinking by pres- sure. Immediately below this level, all over the area of the log-pavement, but more particularly within a circle a few feet from the fireplace, most of the relics were found. Close to this hearth, but about two feet lower, we extracted the skeleton of an animal like that of a goat or sheep, the skull of which was entire, and had short horn-cores attached to it. The relic bed was made up of partially decomposed vegetable matters, and could be separated into thin layers; the common bracken, moss, parts of the stems of coarse grass, heather, and large quantities of the broken shells of hazel-nuts were frequently met with. One of the latter was found to have a hole gnawed in it, as if made by a squirrel. The space immediately beyond and on the south side of the log pavement, extending between it and the outer circles of piles, was occupied by a refuse heap or midden, consisting of gritty ash, decayed bones, and vegetable matters. Its breadth was ten or twelve feet, and its length from east to west nearly double that. Its surface was three feet below that of the field, so that its average depth would be about four feet. Some important relics were found here, such as metal instruments and daggers, two fibulze, several wooden vessels, and a few bone imple- ments. It is noteworthy that the metal objects were all comparatively near the surface of the midden, and also that no boars’ tusks were found in it except at its very lowest stratum. The probable existence of some kind of communication between the crannog and the shore of the lake was sug- gested at an early stage of the investigations by the discovery of a few oak piles in a drain outside the mound on its south side. Upon making excavations in the line thus indicated a very singular wooden structure was dis- covered, which I found no less difficult to comprehend than it now is to describe. The tops of upright stakes were first revealed, which seemed to conform to no regu- lar arrangement, but by and by, in addition to single piles, groups of three, four, and five, here and there, were detected. The first horizontal beam was reached 7 feet below the surface of the field, which proved to be one of a complete network of similar beams lying in various directions. At a depth of Io feet the workmen could find no more horizontal beams, and the lake silt became harder and more friable. The reason of grouping the piles now became apparent. The groups were placed in a somewhat zigzig fashion near the sides of the gangway, and from each there radiated a series of horizontal beams, the ends of which crossed each other and were kept in position by the uprights. One group was carefully in- spected. The first or lowest beam was right across ; the next lay lengthways, and of course at right angles to the former ; then three or four spread out diagonally, like a NATURE [May 6, 1880 fan, and terminated in other groups at the opposite side of the gangway; and, lastly, one again lay lengthways. Thus each beam raised the level of the general structure the exact height of its thickness, though large lozenge- shaped spaces remained in the middle quite clear of any beams. The general breadth of the portion of this unique structure examined was about 1o feet, and its thickness varied from 3 to 4 feet. A large oak plank, 10 feet long, showing the marks of a sharp cutting instru- ment by which it was formed, was found lying on edge at its west side and beyond the line of piles, but otherwise no remains of a platform were seen. All the beams and stakes were made of oak, and so thoroughly bound together that, though not a single joint, mortise, or pin was discovered, the whole fabric was as firm as a rock. No relics were found in any of the excavations along the line of this gangway. The thickness, composition, and mode of structure of the island itself was ascertained by sinking a shaft at the south end of the log pavement (¢.¢., near the centre of the island). This shaft was rectangular in form, and large enough to allow three men to work in it together. After removing the three or four layers of oak planks which constituted the log pavement, we came upon a thin layer of brushwood, and then large trunks of trees laid in regular beds or layers, each layer having its logs lying parallel to each other, but transversely and some- times obliquely to those of the layer immediately above or below it. At the west end of the trench, after removing the first and second layers of the log pavement, we found part of a small canoe hollowed out of anoaktrunk. This portion was 5 feet long, 12 inches deep, and 14 inches broad at the stern, but widened towards the broken end, where its breadth was 19 inches. This was evidently part of an old worn-out canoe, thus economised and used instead of a prepared log. Much progress in this kind of excavation was by no means an easy task, as it was necessary to keep two men constantly pumping the water which copiously flowed from all directions into the trench and even then there always remained some at the bottom. As we advanced downwards we encountered layer upon layer of the trunks of trees with the branches closely chopped off, and so soft that the spade easily cut through them. Birch was the prevailing kind of wood, but occa- sionally beams of oak were found, with holes at their extremities, through which pins of oak penetrated into other holes in the logs beneath. One such pin, some 3 or 4 inches in diameter, was found to pass through no less than four beams in successive layers, and to ter- minate ultimately in a round trunk over 13 inches in diameter. One of the oak beams was extracted entire, and measured 8 feet 3 inches in length and Io inches in breadth, and the holes in it were 5 feet apart. Others were found to have small round projections, which evidently fitted into mortised holes in adjacent beams. Down to a depth of about 4 feet the logs were rudely split, but below this they appeared to be round rough trunks, with the bark still adhering to them. Their average diameter would be from 6 inches to 1 foot, and amongst them were some curiously gnarled stems occa- sionally displaying large knotty protuberances. Of course the wood in the act of digging the trench was cut up into fragments, and, on being uncovered, its tissues had a natural and even fresh-like appearance, but in a few minutes after exposure to the air they became as black as ink, Amongst the @éérzs thrown up from a depth of 6 feet below the log pavement I picked up the larger por- tion of a broken hammer-stone or polisher, which, from the worn appearance presented by its fractured edges, must have been used subsequently to its breakage. After a long and hard day’s work we reached a depth of 7 feet 4 inches, but yet there were no indications of approaching the bottom of this subaqueous fabric. However, towards the close of the second day’s labour, when the probability May 6, 1880] NATURE 15 ee of total discomfiture in reaching the bottom was freely talked of, our most energetic foreman announced, after cutting through a large flat trunk 14 inches thick, that underneath this he could find no trace of further wood- work, The substance removed from below the lowest logs consisted of a few twigs of hazel brushwood, im- bedded in a dark, firm, but friable, and somewhat peaty soil, which we concluded to be the silt of the lake depo- sited before the foundations of the crannog were laid. The depth of this solid mass of woodwork, measuring from the surface of the log pavement, was 9 feet 10 inches, or about 16 feet from the surface of the field. Amongst the very last spadefuls pitched from this depth was found nearly one-half of a well-formed and polished ring made out of sbale, the external and internal diameters of which were 33 and 2 inches respectively. In all the trenches made at the margin and beyond the crannog the stuff dug up was of the same character and composition. First or uppermost there was a bed of fine clay rather more than 2 feet thick, and then a soft, dark substance formed of decomposed vegetable matters. The source of the latter was evident from the occurrence in its upper stratum of large quantities of leaves, stems, branches, and the roots of stunted trees apparently 77 sz¢z. This uniformity in the composition of the silt forming the bed of the lake points to the fact that for centuries the increase was due principally to the decomposition of vegetable matters, while latterly it was caused more by a deposi- tion of fine clay. A change so marked in the sediment can only be accounted for by a corresponding change in the surrounding scenery, and no explanation is more likely than that the primzeval forests had given place to the inroads of agriculture, when some of the upturned virgin soil would be washed down, as it still is, by every trickling rill that finds its way into this lake basin. The remains of human industry found during the exca- vations of the Lochlee Crannog, calculated to throw light on the civilisation and social economy of its occupiers, are very abundant. They comprise a large variety of objects, such as warlike weapons, industrial implements, and personal ornaments, made of stone, bone, horn, wood, metal, &c. In the following description of them I have adopted the principle of classification suggested by the materials of which they are composed :— I.— Objects made of Stone Hammer Stones.—A great many water-worn pebbles, of a similar character to those observed in the surrounding glacial drift and river courses, which were used as Fic. 1.—Hammer-Stcne (Scale }). hammers, pounders, or rubbers, were found in the dédris all over the crannog, but more abundantly in the deeper layers of a small circular area surrounding the hearths. As typical specimens of such implements I have collected no less than nineteen. Of these fourteen are of a some- what elongated oval shape, and were used at one or both ends (Fig. 1). They vary considerably in size, the major | the west margin of the crannog, diameter of the largest measuring 6 inches, and the rest graduating downwards to about the half of this. Two are flat and circular, and show friction markings all round, while other three were used on their flat surfaces only. One of these is divided into two portions, each of which was picked up separately, about a yard asunder, and found to fit exactly. It would thus appear that it was broken while being used on the crannog, and then pitched aside as useless. Heating-Stones and Sling-Stones.—A large number of round stones, varying in size from half an inch to three inches in diameter, some having their surfaces roughened and cracked as if by fire, but others presenting no marks whatever, were met with. The former might have been used as heating-stones for boiling water in wooden vessels—the only ones found on the crannog—the latter as sling-stones or missiles. Anvil—About a foot below the surface, and a few feet to the north of the upper fireplace, a beautiful quartz pebble was found, which has the appearance of having been used as an anvil. It is of a circular shape, flat Fic. 2.—Stone Celt (Scale 4). below, somewhat rounded above, and measures 27 inches in circumference. Sharpening-Stones or Vhetstones.—Five whetstones were collected from various parts of the island. They are made of a hard, smooth claystone, one only being made of a fine-grained sandstone, and vary in length from 5 to 7 inches. Polished Celt.—Only one polished stone celt was found. It is a wedge-shaped instrument 54 inches long and 2 broad along its cutting edge, which bears the evidence of having been well used, and tapers gently towards the other end, which is round and blunt. It is made of a hard mottled greenstone (Fig. 2.). : Querns.—Five upper, and portions of several lower quern stones were disinterred at different periods, all of which, however, with the exception of a pair found over the log pavement, and an upper stone observed towards were imbedded in the débris not far from the site of the fireplaces. Some are made of granite, while others are of schist or hard whin- stone, ; Cup-marked Stones.—Two portions of red sandstone, having cup-shaped cavities about 1 inch deep and 3 inches in diameter, were found amongst the débris. One of them was lying underneath, and as if supporting one of the horizontal raised beams at the north side of the 16 crannog. The other, the position of which was not determined, has two circular grooves or rings round the cup, the outer of which is 9 inches in diameter (Fig. 3). Fic. 3.—Cup Stone (Scale 3). Other Stone Relics.—Amongst a variety of other stone relics there is one peculiar implement manufactured out ofa bit of hard trap-rock. It presents two flat surfaces 3 inches in diameter, with a round periphery, and is 13 inch thick. flint inplements——Only three flint implements were found on the crannog—a large knife flake 3 inches long and 1} inch broad; the posterior portion of another flake p and a beautifully-chipped horseshoe-shaped scraper here figured (Fig. 4). Spindle whorls.——Three small circular objects, sup- posed to be spindle whorls, are here classed together. Two are made of clay, and were found in the relic bed near the fireplaces. The smaller of the two (Fig. 5) is Fic. 4.—Flint Scraper (Scale }). Fic. 5.—Clay Spindle Whorl (Scale }). i} inch in diameter, and has a small round hole in the centre; the other has a diameter of 1}? inch, and is only partially perforated, just sufficiently to indicate that the act of perforation had been commenced, but not com- pleted. The third object is a smooth, flat, circular bit of stone, 1} inch in diameter and 3 inch thick, and is perforated in the centre like a large bead. (To be continued.) NOTES THE Royal Society of Edinburgh has awarded the Keith Medal for the biennial period 1877-79 to Prof. Fleeming Jenkin for his paper on the application of graphic methods to the determination of the efficiency of machinery. Pror, Henry J. S. SmitH, F.R.S., Savilian Professor of Geometry in the University of Oxford, has been made a Corre- sponding Member of the Academy of Science of Berlin. ON the 16th inst. the International Congress of Meteorology will meet at Vienna. THE honorary degree of LL.D. has been conferred by the University of Glasgow on Mr. Edward John Routh, M.A., F.R.S., and Dr, Michael Foster, F.R.S. NATURE day seven were of the same sign, ! J > [May 6, 1880 Pror. W. H. Frower, LL.D., F.R.S., will give a discourse at the Royal Institution, on Fashion in Deformity, at the evening meeting on Friday, May 7. Pror. Hux.ey will deliver the inaugural address at the opening of the Science College at Birmingham on October 1. Sir WILLIAM THoMsON will preside at the meeting of the Physical Society on Saturday afternoon, and will make some brief communications to the Society. Pror, Henry TANNER, F.C.S., Senior Member of the Royal Agricultural College, and Examiner in the Principles of Agriculture under the Government Department of Science, has been appointed Professor of the Principles of Agriculture in the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. THE fifty-first anniversary meeting of the Zoological Society was held last week. The report of the council was read by Mr. Sclater, F.R.S., the secretary. It stated that the number of Fellows on December 31, 1879, was 3,364 against 3,415 at the same date of the previous year, 145 new Fellows having been elected, and 189 removed by death or other causes during the year. In consequence of the bad weather, which had seriously affected the garden receipts, and’ of the general depression in business which had prevailed in 1879, the income of the society showed a falling offas compared with that of 1878, but not to any serious amount ; the total receipts having been 26, 463/. in place of 27,944 in 1878. The total assets of the society on December 31 last were estimated at 28,051/7., and the liabilities at 9,9607. The number of visitors to the gardens in 1879 had been 643,000, against 706,713 in 1878. Tue general meeting of the German Geometrical Society will be held at Cassel on July 4-7 next. In the last week of April an extraordinary fact was observed at Montsouris. We have stated already that the electrical observations are ‘taken eight times daily with a Thomson electrometer and recorded ; out of the eight readings registered on April 28 not less than six were negative, and on the following The occurrence is so extra- ordinary that it has been referred to in the papers as a fair characteristic of the season. A LARGE and influential committee of shipbuilders and marine engineers has been formed in Glasgow for the purpose of pro- moting an exhibition of naval and marine engineering models in Glasgow. It is proposed that the exhibition shall be opened in the Corporation Galleries in November and remain open for six months, Mr. James Paton, the Superintendent of the Glasgow Museum and Galleries,thas been appointed Secretary to the Committee. AT the next meeting of the Society of Telegraph Engineers Dr. Siemens is going to bring forward his latest development of his dynamo machine, and of the influence of the electric light on vegetation, THE Whit-Monday excursion of the Geologists’ Association will be to Oxford, under the direction of Prof. Prestwich and and Mr. James Parker. It will last over two days. The long excursion of the Association will be to Bristol on August 2 and following days. From the Report of the New York Central Park Menagerie we learn that that establishment has now 423 mammals, repre senting 55 genera and 98 species ; 753 birds, of 102 genera, 134 species; 30 reptiles, of 8 genera and Io species; or 1,206 animals in all, The additions in 1879 numbered 668. HEywoop of Manchester has issued, for the small price of sixpence, the eleventh series of the Manchester Science Lectures for the People, containing lectures on ‘‘Islands,” by Mr, A. R. Wallace; ‘The Age of Dragons,” by Mr. B. W. Hawkins; “Palestine in its Physical Aspects,” by Canon Tristram; and | May 6, 1880] NATURE 17 “« Traps to Catch Sunbeams,” by Capt. Abney. We are sorry to learn from Prof. Roscoe’s preface that the interest in these lectures having died out, they are to be discontinued. Never- theless, as he says, they have undoubtedly done great good both when delivered and in the remarkably cheap form in which they have been published. The series, as a whole, has been a genuine success. WE understand that Dr. James Geikie, F.R.S., will shortly send to press a work entitled ‘‘ Prehistoric Europe—a Geological Sketch,” which treats of the principal climatic and geographical changes which have taken place in our continent since the commencement of the Pleistocene or Quaternary period. Mr. Stanford will be the publisher. TueE Council of the Society of Arts have decided to summon a public Conference to consider the question of supplying London with pure water. The date for the Conference has been fixed for Monday, May 24, and succeeding days. The arrangements for the Conference are now being considered by a committee, and full announcements will be made as early as possible. Since November last, instruction by means of lectures and laboratory practice, in connection with the City and Guilds of London Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education, has been given during the evening in Chemistry and Physics as applied to the Arts and Manufactures, by Prof. Armstrong, Ph.D., F.R.S., and Prof. Ayrton, A.M. Inst. C.E., in rooms at the Cowper Street Schools, Finsbury. On and after May Io, day classes will also be established, adapted to the scientific requirements of persons partially engaged, or intending to engage, in the manufacturing industries. The object of these day classes is to afford such preliminary training as is necessary for those who may desire, later on, to study particular branches of Applied Chemistry or Physics, for which special accommodation will be provided in the new buildings. Two courses, each of twenty- four lectures, in Chemistry and Physics will be given on two afternoons per week during May, June, and July, for imparting such knowledge of the general principles as is necessary for the after- understanding of the various branches of Applied Chemistry and Physics :—Chemistry, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 3 to 4 o’clock; Physics, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 4 to 5 o’clock. Prof. Ayrton will also give a special laboratory and tutorial course in Electrical Engineering ; and Prof Armstrong will give a similar course for instruction in Photographic Chemistry. Students desirous of attending either of these courses are requested to communicate with the respective Professors at the present temporary laboratories, Cowper Street, Finsbury, E.C., before May 10, stating the times at which they could attend, and the maximum number of hours they could devote to the subject. WE learn from Catania, under date April 26, that the inhabitants were apprehending an ‘eruption of Etna, An im- mense cloud of smoke has been observed. A PARISIAN speculator has inaugurated the aéronautical season by a private ascent on April 25 at La Villette gasworks. The balloon, of only 300 cubic meters capacity, bore one aéro- naut, with 30 kilograms of handbills, which were distributed all over Paris. The wind being slight, with a favourable direction, thousands of these prospectuses were picked up by street pas- sengers and largely read. The whole expense of the aérial expedition, gas and everything, did not exceed 1o/, sterling. THE phylloxera has made its appearance in the vineyards on Vesuvius and the opposite part of the Gulf at Puzzuoli and Pianura. Much alarm prevails. Precautionary measures are being taken. In Sicily the phylloxera, till now confined to Caltanisetta, is likewise reported near Messina. Art the Annual Meeting of the Royal Institution on May 1, the Annual Report of the Committee of Visitors for the year 1879, testifying to the continued prosperity and efficient manage- ment of the Institution, was read and adopted. The real and funded property now amounts to nearly 85,000/., entirely derived from the contributions and donations of the Members. Forty- nine new Members paid their admission fees in 1879. THE Y2fan Gazette states that the line of railway which has been in contemplation for some time past between Tokio and Mayebashi will soon be commenced. ‘The surveys are com- pleted, and it is said that the line will traverse a rich district, and is expected to prove a great benefit to the country. AN exhibition of apparatus and products relating to bee- culture will be held at Schwerin on August 28-30 next. Tue Electrotechnical Society at Berlin, which was founded on December 20, 1879, begins the second quarter of its existence with no less than 1,248 members. THE Emperor of Austria has presented the large gold medal “ for arts and sciences” to Dr. Karl Ritter von Scherzer in recognition of his latest work, “Die britischen Welt-Industrien.” THE Refort of the Rugby School Natural History Society for 1879 is fairly encouraging. Several creditable papers are given by the members ; we should like to see more papers of this class and fewer lectures by grown-up outsiders, some of which seem to us quite inappropriate in a Refort of this kind. *‘ TuE International Dictionary for Naturalists and Sportsmen in English, French, and German,” by Mr. Simpson-Baikie (Triibner and Co.), is a very useful book of reference, and con- tains a good many scientific terms, especially connected with natural history. “‘ Tue Sportsman’s Guide” to the rivers, lochs, moors, and deer forests of Scotland comes once more to remind us of the hills and the heather, and to recall the memory of pleasant days spent on loch and river. It bears evidence of careful revision, and we are sure will prove useful to the tourist of scientific tastes, even if he be no disciple of the rod or gun. Ir is known that M. Jamin, member of the French Institute, has patented an electric lamp in which the light is directed by an electrical current. A public company has been formed with a capital of 8,000,000 francs for the working of the patent. THE French Minister of Fine Arts has entered into an agree- ment with the Jablochkoff Electric Light Company to light the palace during the whole of the two months devoted to the exhibition, The number of lights fed by the machinery is about 400, and the motive power regarded at about 320 horses. The inauguration was to take place on May 1, and a large crowd had congregated to witness the process. But the crank of one of the principal engines broke, and it was necessary to postpone the opening for a few days, In spite of the growing opposition of the friends of the gas conpany, M. Garnier, the architect of the Paris Opera, will establish a trial of the principal electrical burners, to decide which is the more really fit for use in the house. THE additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Common Ocelot (Fé/is pardalis) from South America, presented by Mr. Stephenson Clarke; two Elliot’s Guinea Fowls (Nmida ellioti) from East Africa, presented by the Rey. Thos. Wakefield ; two American Barn Owls (S¢vix flammea) from Jamaica, presented by Mr. G. E. Dobson, C.M.Z.S.; a Koala (Phascolarctus cinereus) from South-East Australia, a Grey Squirrel (Scéurus cinereus) from North America, two Blue-streaked Lories (Zos reticulata) from Timor 18 Laut, two Prince Albert’s Curassows (Crax alberti) from Columbia, purchased ; two Common Foxes (Camis vulpes), four Chilian Pintails (Dajfila spinicauda), bred in the Gardens, OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN THe CoMET OF 1106.—Amongst the comets which were thought to present certain indications of identity with the great comet of 1843 was that recorded bya large number of European historians, as well as in the Chinese Annals, in the year 1106, The circumstances of its appearance may be thus briefly stated : On the 4th of February, or, according to others, on the 5th, a star was seen which was distant from the sun “‘ only a foot and a half’; it was observed from the third to the ninth hour of the day. Matthew Paris and Matthew ‘of Westminster distinctly term ita comet. Pingré, not having the experience of the comet of 1843 asa precedent, questioned the possibility of seeing one of these bodies at so small a distance from the sun as the above expression may be taken to imply. Now, however, we are able to connect, with much probability, the star viewed in the day-time with the comet which on February 7 was discovered in Palestine about the commencement of the sign Pisces. On this day, we are told by three contemporary writers, a comet appeared in that quarter of the sky where the sun sets in winter, and occasioned great surprise; a white ray extended from it to a great distance. From the time of its first appearance ‘‘the comet itself and the ray, which had the whiteness of snow, diminished day by day.” Others, on the contrary, say that the train, which had a more than milky whiteness, appeared to increase daily. In the west of Europe it does not seem to have been remarked till February 16 or 18, According to some writers it was visible only a fort- night, others say that it continued to shine for forty days, or during the whole of Lent, from February 7 to March 25; an eye-witness records that after fifty days the most acute vision only sufficed to distinguish it with difficulty. There is similar contradiction respecting the aspect of the comet, though most of the historians testify to its great brightness and apparent magni- tude. On February 10, according to Gaubil’s manuscript, used by Pingré for his ‘* Cometographie,” it was near the end of the sign Pisces, with a tail 60° in length. European chronicles mention that the tail extended to the beginning of the sign Gemini, under the «constellation of Orion, whence, as Pingré points out, the latitude of the comet must have been south, while as the sun was in 25° of Aquariu-, it could hardly be less advanced than 10° or 12° of Pisces to be seen in the evening after sunset. Thence, about February 16 or 18, it moved to the western quarter of the heavens, and after many days had elapsed, as Pingré records: ‘‘ La cométe parut du cété du septentrion vers Voccident : sa queue, semblable a une grand poutre, regardoit la partie du ciel qui est entre le septentrion et l’orient ; on la voyoit jJusque vers le milieu de la nuit. Durant vingt-cing jours elle brilloit de la méme maniére 4 la méme heure.” Williams, in his account of comets mentioned in the Chinese annals, has a notice of the one in question. In the reign of Hwuy Tsung, the 5th year of the epoch Tsung Ning, the 1st moon, day Woo Seuh (1106, Februzry 10), a comet appeared in the west. It was like a great Pei Kow (a kind of vessel or measure). It appeared like a broken-up star. It was 60 cubits in length and 3 cubits in breadth. Its direction was to the north-east: it passed the sidereal division Kwei (determined by £, 8, « Andro- medze and stars in Pisces), and through the divisions Lew (determined by a, 8, y Arietis), Wei (by the three stars of Musca), Maou (by the Pleiades), and Peih (by a, y, 8, &c., Tauri). It then entered the clouds and was no more seen, Williams, doubtless influenced by this last expression, and the object having been said to resemble a broken-up star, and probably overlooking the presence of the comet recorded by the European historians in the same part of the sky, adds: ‘This appears to have been a large meteor, as it seems to have been seen for a short time only,” But there can be little hesitation, we think, in identifying the body remarked in China with the European comet, its track through the constellations, as given by Williams, which agrees with Gaubil’s manuscript, representing very satisfactorily the particulars found in the European chronicles. In 1843 Laugier and Mauvais, reducing their elements of the great comet of that year to 1106, and assuming the perihelion passage to have taken place on February 3, found the following geocentric track. NATURE [May 6, 1850 ° ° ° ° Feb. 4, Long. 324, Lat. - 3 | Feb. 16, Long. 4, Lat. —23 7» ” 3351159) = IO March 5» ” 49, 55 28 10, ” BS pp = 16 25, ” 60, 93,027) And they conclude, ‘‘en admettant que la cométe de 1106 est une apparition de la comete de 1843, toutes les observations sont satisfaites.” It is not easy to see how such an inference can have been drawn in face of the circumstances mentioned by the historians during the later period of the comet’s visibility, when it was seen to the north of west, with a tail extending towards ¢he north-east ; a condition wholly incompatible with the elements of the comet of 1843, which body did not remain on the northern side of the ecliptic so long as three hours, On reducing Hubbard’s parabola of 1843 to 1106 we have the following positions, assuming perihelion passage February 3°5 G.M.T, :— G.M,T. Long. Lat. Log. ». Log. 4, Intensity . ° ° of Light. Feb. 4, ©... 322°9 ... — I°4 ... 8:8080 ... 9°O704 .st277n0 19, 8... §216....—25:% ... 976377) ---10,9549 eco March 25, 12... 60°3 ... —27°3 ... O°1725 ... 0°2619 ... 0°13 These places are in agreement with those found by Laugier and Mauvais; that for March 25 corresponds to R.A. 63°°7, Decl. - 6°°4. It is well known that the comet of 1106, with better reason, was long supposed to be identical with the famous comet of 1680. That point has been discussed elsewhere. Our object now, since the possibility of the identity of the comet of 1106 with that of 1880 and 1843 has been again mooted, is to draw attention to the main difficulty that exists in the acceptance of the idea, PHYSICAL NOTES M. ANTOINE BREGUET, at a lecture upon Recent Advances in Telegraphy, exhibited some ingenious apparatus illustrating the principles of the duplex and quadruplex telegraph, the actions of the electric currents being most successfully represented by the flow of water in tubes, PROF. CARMICHAEL describes, in the American Fournal of Science, a device for rendering the sonorous vibrations of a flame visible to a whole audience. He passes coal-gas through a K6nig’s manometric capsule, and then leads it by a tube into a burner inclosed in a small mica cylinder or lantern, which is rotated either in a vertical or a horizontal plane. The ring of light thus produced is broken up by the sonorous vibrations into a serrated form, the forms of the serrations varying with the nature of the sound. To increase the brilliance of the light the gas is previously passed over a sponge soaked in some volatile hydrocarbon such as ‘‘ gasoline” or ‘‘ benzoline,” and oxygen is also supplied into the mica lantern, A shrill whistle produces very fine serrations invisible thirty feet away. The human voice at ordinary loudness produces serrations two or three inches deep round the ring. A modified capsule placed upon the various parts of a vibrating body serves to investigate their modes of vibration, nodal points, &e. SoME curious experiments on the magnetic behaviour of elder- pith have lately been made by M. Ader. Pith-balls placed ina powerful magnetic field are strongly attracted. Pror, ROWLAND contributes a long and careful memoir upon thermometry and the mechanical equivalent of heat to the Transactions of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His results differ by about ‘25 per cent. from the accepted numerical determinations of Joule’s equivalent, Amongst other matters noticed in this memoir is an alleged decrease in the specific heat of water at higher temperatures, A CONTEMPORARY gives the following method of illustrating the indestructibility of matter :—Two sealed glass tubes of equal weight, one of them containing oxygen and a little powdered charcoal, are prepared. The charcoal may be caused to burn away completely by heating it by means of a small flame. On placing the two tubes on a balance it will be seen that there has been no variation in weight. THE process of electrodeposition is now finding a useful appli- cation in the production of bronze statuary, where it promises to supersede the process of casting. The Electrometallurgical Company of Brussels have just produced a colossal statue of Van May 6, 1880] Eyck by the deposition of copper electrically upon the clay model. The production of bronzes may be readily carried out onasmall scale by the following process communicated to the Natural History Fournal, and which possesses some elements of novelty, Take any plaster figure or group, boil in sterine, then blacklead and plunge in a copper bath. Attach a very weak battery, and deposit very slowly a ¢izz coating of copper. Now remove from the bath, and bake in an oven until the plaster model shakes out in dust. You have now a very thin copper reproduction of your model. Varnish this outside so as to pre- vent the further deposition, and replace in the bath. The copper will now be deposited on the inside surface, and you can thicken up to any desired point. For this second process a much stronger battery may be used. MM. Lecterc and Vincent have described to the Physical Society of Paris an electrical instrument which will automatically record the notes played upon a piano. It can be adapted to a piano of any construction. CLoée’s thermoelectric pile has been recently improved by an addition which obviates the injurious effect of sudden and excessive heating of the junctions arising from alteration in the pressure of the gas. This safety-apparatus consists of a small glass vessel about half filled with water, and closed by a cork stopper, through which pass two tubes, one going to the bottom and being a branch of the tube by which the gas comes to the pile, while the other is shorter, and conducts any gas that may pass through it from the vessel to a gas-burner on another branch constantly lit. If the pressure of the gas is weak the water closes the mouth of the longer tube; if it increases the gas issues in bubbles in the l‘quid and rises through the shorter tube to the gas jet, where it is lit. Thearrangement is a sort of safety-valve, and prevents the pressure from exceeding a certain amount, which is regulated at will. M. Marcet DEpReEz has devised an ingenious apparatus for transmitting a movement of rotation by electricity, The appa- ratus is composed of a transmitter and a receiver. The trans- miitter consists of two ordinary split-collar commutators set upon 2 common axis, but adjusted at right angles to each other. The receiver consists of two longitudinal armatures carrying coils of wire as employed in the earlier Siemens’ magneto-electric machines. These also run on a common axis and in positions at right angles to one another : and they are placed in the magnetic field between the poles of a permanent magnet. Currents generated by a battery pass through the transmitter and are conveyed by wires to the receiver. For every position of the axis of the transmitter there is one position—and one cnly—of stable equilibrium for the axis of the receiver. Hence the axis of the receiver follows all the movements of the transmitter ; turns at the same rate and in the same direction as the trans- mitter may be turned ; and makes the same number of revolutions precisely to within a quarter of a revolution. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES THE new number of the Geographical Society’s Proceedings is chiefly occupied with a narrative of Lieut. G. T. Temple’s voyage on the coasts of Norway and Lapland, illustrated by a map on which the depths of the ocean are well shown in colour, and by Mr. E. Hutchinson’s account of Mr, Ashcroft’s ascent of the River Binué last August, with remarks on the systems of the Rivers Shary and Binué, With the latter paper is given a reduc- tion of Mr. Flegel’s map of the Upper Biuné from his own sur- veys, recently issued by Hellfarth of Gotha. An interesting letter from Mr. Thomson is afterwards given, furnishing informa. tion as to the progress of the East African Expedition. Among the geographical notes may be mentioned a summary of the most recent rumours respecting Prejevalsky and a description of routes from Dzungaria into Tibet. There is also an account of a visit paid by Mr. Woolley, of the Consular service, to the Island of Tsushima and Corea, and of the Rey. J. Chalmers’s recent ex- plorations in the interior of New Guinea, in the course of which he traversed a considerable extent of previously unknown country. The notes are followed by a communication on the “Tal-Chotiali Route from India to Pishin and Candahar,” fur- nished by Mr. G. W. Vyse, who was attached to the Tal-Choiiali Field Force, in correction of previous statements made respecting this route. By a note received on April 28 we learn that the Howgate Arctic Expedition Bill passed the House of Representatives at NATURE 1g Washington on the 15th inst., and has gone to the Senate for final action. ‘* This is a great step in advance, and augurs well for Government aid to the Expedition.” UNDER the title of ‘‘La Exploradora” an association has been formed in Spain, through the instrumentality of Sefior Don Manuel Iradier, for the exploration and civilisation of Central Africa, and in furtherance of its objects commenced the publication of a Bo/eté in March, This association proposes to despatch an expedition from the west coast with what appears to be a somewhat ambitious programme. Its starting-point would be the Bay of Corisco, whence it would traverse the Sierra de Cristal, and afterwards march by way of Mount Onschiko and the River Eyo towards Lake Albert. Tf successful so far, it would then visit Mount Gambaragara, in the Usongora range, to study the peculiar population said to be found there. ‘Then, turning in a north-westerly direction, it would make its way back to the Gulf of Guinea by Lake Liba and the Cameroons River. It is proposed that this expedition should start at latest during the month of June, but we are not aware whether the necessary funds for its journey of fourteen months have been provided. In the course of their march it is intended that the members of this expedition should devote themselves to the study of all the important problems yet unsolved in the central region of the African continent, and especially whether there be any connec- tion between Lake Liba and the rivers Shary and Binué. TT is stated that the Comte de Semellé is about to return to Africa, in order to undertake an exploring expedition up the river Binue. Dr. REGEL, director of the Imperial Botanical Garden of St Petersburg, gave an account of the Flora of Turkestan at a recent meeting of the St. Petersburg Horticultural Society. Turkestan may be divided into two distinct parts—the west, with a very mild climate, and the east, the climate of which is almost that of St. Petersburg. The flora of Turkestan is exceedingly varied, much resembling that of Central Asia ; plants proper to the climate of Europe grow there in small numbers. The eastern part abounds in Alpine specimens, and in general its vegetation approaches that of Europe, although quite as often plants are met with which are the sole product of Central Asia. Turkestan possesses neither lily nor tulip, and has very few conifers. LAst week we referred to Mr. E. Whymper’s mountaineering exploits in South America, Some further details are given by Mr. Whymper himself in a letter to Mr. F. F. Tuckett in Tuesday’s Zimes. It is dated:from Quito, March 18. He says :—‘ You will be glad to hear that I have succeeded in polishing off Chimborazo, Corazon, Sincholagna, and Antisana. We have also passed twenty-six consecutive hours on the top of Cotopaxi. This last I reckon a feat, and I am not aware that any one has ever before encamped at so great an altitude as 19,5co feet. Antisana is the most difficult of those we have been up, and few more difficult ascents have ever been made. We are now going off to Cayambe, the mountain on the Equator, and shall try on the same journey to polish off Saranen and Cotocachi. Cayambe is thought to be an active volcano, but it is not certain that this is the case, neither is its height well determined. The height of Saranen is not known, but it zs high, Cotocachi is the volcano which destroyed Ibarra some years ago, and is reputed to be 16,300 feet high. We have grown out of being affected by rarefaction of the air, and can be quite gay and lively at 19,000 feet. At first I was fairly knocked over by it, and was rendered quiteincapable. The Carrels also were nearly as bad. The climate of Ecuador is the most utterly abominable that can beimagined. We have not had one single day fine from beginning to end, and not one view from a mountain top. An hour of clear weather from 6 to 7 a.m, is the most you can reckon on, and after that everything is bottled up ina mist. We carry about mercurial barometers everywhere, and boil water to an extent that would delight your heart.” In the May number of their Chrovicle the London Missionary Society announce the departure, on April 16, of a new expedition for East Central Africa, to reinforce the weakened and scattered party now there. The Rev. A. J. Wookey goes to join Mr. Hore at Ujiji, the Rev. D. Williams to Urambo, where Dr. Southon now is, and Mr. W. S. Palmer, a medical missionary, to Uguha, where, we presume, he will be stationed at Mtowa, near the Lukuga Creek. In their just-issued eighty-eighth Report the Committee of the Bapti-t Missionary Society summarise the efforts of their 20 NATURE | May 6, 1880 Congo Expedition to reach Stanley Pool by way of San Salvador and Makuta. Owing to tribal jealousies, the Makuta route has had to be given up, but fresh efforts are now being made to dis- cover some other route to the Upper Congo by Zombo or Sanda ; or should these prove unfavourable, to strike out an altogether new road, and so to reach Stanley Pool over hitherto untrodden ground. By Jatest advices it seems probable that they may be able to get there by Sanda (about two days’ journey from Makuta), where Messrs. Comber and Crudgington have been well received, and have been allowed to establish a station, A ‘ THURINGER WALD” Club, similar to the various Alpine clubs, has recently been formed at Eisenach. 'An ‘‘ Erzgebirge” Club is in course of formation at Joachimsthal (Bohemia), A Saxon Club for the closer investigation of the last-named moun- tain chain has existed for several years; also a ‘‘ Rhéngebirge” Club. These clubs do great service to tourists and the general public, and would be well worth imitating in our-own mountain districts. * Mr. STANFORD has issued three nicely-printed maps in which the results of the recent elections are very clearly shown for England, Scotland, and Ireland. The maps have been designed by Miss E. Shaw-Lefevre. Mr. STANForD has just published a ‘‘ Geography for Little Children,” by Mrs, Zimmern, which in a very simple and inter- esting way attempts to show the use of a map and teach some of the elementory points of physical geography. Its numerous attractive and quite original illustrations are an important feature. We have also received the forty-fifth edition of Cornwell’s ‘‘ Geography for Beginners.” SCIENTIFIC SERIALS THE Fournal of Anatomy and Physiology, Normal and Patho- Zogical, vol, xiv. Part 3, April.—Prof. Turner, the structure of the comb-like branchial appendages, and of the teeth of the basking shark (Selache maxima) (with a plate).—Dr. G. Thin, on the ganglion-cells of the elephant’s retina, —Dr. J. H. Scott, on the structure of the style in the tongue of the dog.—Dr. A. H. Young, on the anatomy of the Indian elephant.—Dr. C. Creighton, illustrations of the pathology of sarcoma, from cases of subcutaneous cystic tumours (three plates).—Dr, Dreschfeld, on a peculiar form of liver tumour (with a plate),—On a case of cerebellar tumour (with a plate).—Dr. T. Oliver, post-mortem in a case of extreme obesity.—Prof. J. Young, on the head of the lobster (with a plate).—W. S. Richmond, new abnormalities of the arteries of the upper extremity, with a plate.—Dr, R. J Anderson, abnormal arrangement of the thyroid arteries (with a plate).—On a variety of the mylo-pharyngeus and other unusual muscular abnormalities:—Drs. P. M‘Bride and A. Bruce, the pathology of a case of fatal ear-disease (with a plate).—Dr. F. Shepherd, notes on the dissection of a case of congenital dislocation of the head of the femur,—J. D, Brown, abnormal cystic artery. —Anatomical notes. Fournal of the Royal Microscopical Society, vol, iii, No. 2, April, 18$80.—A. D. Michael, a further contribution to the knowledge of British Oribatida, Part 2, with the assistance of C. F. George (two plates).—Dr. Lionel S. Beale, annual addiess as president.—J. W. Groves, on a means of obviating the reflec- tion from the inside of the body tubes of microscopes, with sug- gestions for standard gauges for the same and for sub-stage fittings.—A. Nachet, on a petrographical microscope.—The record of current researches relating to invertebrata, crypto- ‘ gamia, microscopy, and bibliography.—Proceedings of the Society. Revue Internationale des Sciences, April,—M. Gilkinet, on the development of the vegetable kingdom in geological times.—A. de Bary, on apogamous fungi, and on apogamy in general.—R, Blanchard, on striated muscles in the monomyary acephalous mollusks, and on the peritoneum of Seba’s python. THE American Naturalist, vol. xiv., No. 3, March.—G. Macloskie, the proboscis of the house-fly.—E. Coues, sketch of progress in mammalogy in the United States in 1879.—E. D. Cope, a review of the modern doctrine of evolution, being an abstract of a lecture delivered before the Californian Academy of Sciences (with several cuts of crania of Anura),—E. A, Smith, a paper concerning amber.—Notes on recent literature, General Notes, and Scientific News. No, 4, April.—W. S. Barnard, protoplasmic dynamics (an attempt to find a clue ‘‘to the mode in which molecular move- ment is transformed into the movement of masses ”).—C. S. Minot, a sketch of comparative embryology (II., the fertilisation of the ovum).—C. A. White, on the progress of invertebrate palzontology in the United States for the year 1879.—E. D. Cope, a review of the modern doctrine of evolution (concluded). —A. J. Cook, on the tongue of the honey-bee.—Notes on recent literature, General Notes, Proceedings of Scientific Societies, Verhandlungen der kh. k. zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, vol. xxix. Part ii., June to December, 1879, Vienna, 1880, contains, besides list of members and minutes of the Pro- ceedings, the following memoirs :—Otto Bohatsch, supplement to the lepidopterous fauna of Syria.—H. Wichmann, the minute anatomy of the seeds of Alewrites triloba, Forst. (two plates).— Dr. J. Csokor, on the pimple mite, and on a new variety of the same occurring in swine (Demodex phylloides), one plate.—H. Leder, contribution to the coleopterous fauna of the Caucasus.— S. Schulzer, mycological notes, iv.E. Reitter, the synonomy of coleoptera; contributions to a knowledge of the European Pselaphidze and Scydmezenidz : on new coleoptera from South- West Russia ; on Speleodytes, Mill.—Dr. H. Loew, analytical table to determine the North American species of Pachyrrhina, a genus of Tipulidee.—C. R. Osten-Sacken, the Tanyderina, a remarkable group of the Tipulidee.—F. von Thiimen, two new leaf-frequenting ascomycetes, from Vienna.—A. von Felzeln, on a fifth package of birds from Ecuador; on Dr. Breitenstein’s collection of beasts and birds from Borneo.—Dr,. F. Léw, notes on Psyllodidz (with a plate); descriptions of new gall-insects, with notes on some species already known.—Dr. R. Bergh, contributions to a monograph of the Polyceridze (with six plates). —W. Voss, materials towards a knowledge of the fungi of Carniola,—Dr. G. Mayr, cn the ichneumon-wasp of the genus Telenomus. THE Zeitschrift fiir wissenschafiliche Zoologie, xxxiv. Band, Heft 1, March.—Dr. Ernst Nauck, on the masticatory appara- tus of the Brachyura, with a plate and wocdcuts.—Dr. Hubert Ludwig, on Asthenosoma varium, Grube; and on a new organ in the Cidaridz, with two plates and woodcut. Describes three specimens from the Museum: Godeffroy, one possibly a variety of A. warizm, or possibly a new species, and describes five sac- like organs which lie, like the radial Y-shaped manubria (Gabelstiicke), in the plane of the ambulacra. These he calls the ccecal sacs (Blindsacke) of the masticatory apparatus, Each coecal sac consists of a thin membrane, stiff with calcareous spicules ; right and left of each of these there lie two other blind appendages, but very much smaller; they were first de- tected in Crdaris tribuloides, but were also found in C, metilaria, Dorocidaris papillata, and Goniocidaris canaliculata. A slight trace of their existence was found in Diadema setosum, but they were quite absent in the families Echinometridz and Arbaciade. —Prof. Dr. P. Langerhans, on the worm fauna of Madeira ; part 3, with three plates (to the end of the Nemerteans),—The same, on the Madeiran Appendicularia.—Dr. H. von Ihering, on Grafilla muricicola, a new parasitic Rhabdoccelian, with a plate (found in the kidney of AZurex trunculus and A, brandaris, both at Naples and Trieste). THE Revue des Sciences Naturelles, 2e série, tome 1, No. 4, March 15.—Dr. A. Godron, on the axillary buds and branches in the Graminex.—L. Tillier, essay on the geographical distri- bution of marine fishes (conclusion).—S. Jourdain, on the mor- phology of the early stage of the generative organs of “edi asfersa, with a plate.—M. Leymerie, sketch of the Pyrenees of the department of Aude (in continuation), with a plate——A Sabatier, the law of the correlation of forms and intermediate types.—E. Dubrueil, catalogue of the land and fluviatile mol- lusca of the department of Herault (conclusion).—Review of recent French works on zoology by Messrs. Jourdain, Rouzaud, and Dubrueil, and on botany and geology by M. Dubrueil. Rivista Scientifico-Industriale, March 15.—Note on electricity and earthquakes, by Prof, De Bosis.—Researches on the diather- manous power of films of soapy water, by Prof, Marangone. Archives des Sciences Physigues et Natiwrelles, March 15.— Swiss geological review for 1879 (continued), by M, Favre.— Enigmatic descriptions of natural groups, by M. de Candolle.— New ‘observations on philippium, by M. Delafontaine.—On decipium and its principal compounds, by the same.—Earth- quakes and their scientific study, by M. Heim.—On the density of chlorine at high temperatures, by M. Crafts. May 6, 1880] SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LoNnDON Royal Society, April 22.—‘ Effects of Electric Currents on the Surfaces of Mutual Contact of Aqueous Solutions.” By G. Gore, LL.D., F.R.S. In the year 1859 I made the following experiments, for the purpose of ascertaining whether visible movements, similar to those obtained by passing an electric current through mercury and an aqueous solution, could be obtained by passing a current through the surface of mutual contact of two aqueous liquids alone :—‘‘1. A definite layer of oil of vitriol was placed beneath a layer of distilled water weakly acidulated with sulphuric acid, and the terminal wires of a yoltaic battery immersed in the upper liquid ; no visible movements occurred at the boundary line of the two liquids. <>, A dense solution of cyanide of potassium was placed in a small glass beaker, a few particles of charcoal sifted upon its surface, and a layer of aqueous ammonia, half an inch deep, carefully poured upon it, A vertical diaphragm of thin sheet gutta-percha was then fixed so as completely to divide the upper liquid into two equal parts; the vessel was placed in a strong light, and two horizontal platinum wire electrodes, from sixty-six freshly-charged Smee’s cells, were immersed one-eighth of an inch deep in the liquid ammonia on each side of the diaphragm. A copious current of electricity circulated, but no movement of the liquids at their mutual boundary line could be detected” (see Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. x., 1860, p. 235, Pars 9). Recently, also, I have made similar experiments, but in a mtich more searching manner, in order to ascertain whether an electric current, passing between two aqueous liquids, affects their diffusion into each other. The essential difference in the form of these experiments from that of the above-mentioned ones was to concentrate the action of the current upon a very much smaller surface of contact of the liquids, and thus render any visible effect upon their diffusion more manifest. After making several forms of apparatus, in order to obviate certain difficulties of manipulation which arose and were fatal to success, I found that, when an electric current was passed between the surfaces of mutual contact of certain aqueous solu- tions of different specific gravities, the boundary line of contact of the two liquids became indefinite at the surface where the current passed from the lighter into the heavier solution, and became sharply defined where the current left the heavier liquid and re-entered the lighter one ; and that on reversing the direc- tion of the current several times in succession after suitable intervals of time, these effects were reversed with each such change. Also, in various cases in which the contiguous boun- dary layers of the two liquids had become mixed, the line of separation of the two solutions became, by the influence of the electric current, as perfect as that between strata of oil and water lying upon each other, In rarer cases two such distinct lines of stratification appeared. Other new phenomena were also observed. As I have sought, without success, for any record of previous discovery of essentially similar effects, and as it is evident that those I have observed belong to a large class of similar pheno- mena, I beg leave to take the earliest opportunity of submitting this brief statement to the Royal Society. ¢ Revision of the Atomic Weight and Valence of Aluminium, ” by J. W. Mallet, F.R.S. The general mean from all the experiments, if all be included, is Al = 27°032, with a probable error for this mean of + ‘0045. If Series I, B, be excluded, the mean of all the remaining twenty-five experiments is Al = 27°019, with a probable error of + *0030. The general result adds, the author hopes, aluminium to the, unfortunately still limited, list of those elementary substances whose atomic weights have been determined within the limits of precision attainable with our present means of experiment. This result also adds one to the cases already on record of the numbers representing carefully determined atomic weights approaching closely to integers, and leads the author to say a word on the reconsideration of ‘‘Prout’s Law.” Taking the following eighteen elements as the only ones of which the atomic weights may be fairly considered as determined, with reference to hydrogen, with the greatest attainable precision, or a near approach thereto, namely, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, bromine, iodine, sulphur, potassium, sodium, lithium, silver, thallium, aluminium, carbon, phosphorus, barium, calcium, magnesium, and lead, and making a reasonable allowance for the errors of NATURE 21 | the determinations, he calculates the probability that nine of those numbers should lie, as they are found to do, within o*r of integers, supposing the value of the true numbers to be deter- mined by chance, and finds it only as I to 235°2. The exact figure for the chance will of course depend upon the limit of error taken; but the above example seems sufficient to show that not only is Prout’s law not as yet absolutely overturned, but that a heavy and apparently increasing weight of probability in its favour, or in favour of some modification of it, exists, and demands consideration. Chemical Society, April 15.—Prof. H. E. Roscoe, presi- dent, in the chair,—The following papers were read,—On the lecture illustration of chemical curves, by E. J. Mills. The author has contrived an apparatus for exhibiting the variations in the actions of sulphuric acid on zine and sodic hydrate on aluminium, produced by alterations (1) in the strength of the solution, (2) in the time during which the action is allowed to proceed. The gas evolved is collected in a series of inverted glass cylinders filled with water, arranged «t equal distances. The surfaces of the water levels after the gas has been collected form a curve.—On the analysis of organic bodies containing nitrogen, by W. H. Perkin (continued). The author finds that a mixture of precipitated manganic oxide and ‘potassium chromate (containing 10 per cent. of bichromate) in about equal parts kept at 2 temperature of 200°-250° C, is preferable to the chromate alone for absorbing the oxides of nitrogen.—On the yolatilisation of solids in vacuo, by W. D. Herman. The author has obtained adamantine colourless transparent crystals of phosphorus by volati- lising ordinary phosphorus in vacuous glass tubes in the dark. The crystals may be as long as 8 mm.; they turn red in sun- light. Similar experiments have also been made with sulphur, selenium, &c.—On the determination of nitric acid as nitric oxide by means of its reaction with ferrous chloride, by R. Warington. The author describes an apparatus for the above purpose. The air is expelled by carbon dioxide, the nitrate heated bya calcium chloride bath to 135° C., and the nitric oxide measured as gas ; organic matter does not affect the results. —On the six possible isomeric dibromtoluols and other of the bromo- and bromonitro derivatives of toluol related thereto, by R. Nevile and A, Winther. The authors criticise the results of Wrobleosky, Fahr., 1870, 528, and 1871, 450, and establish the conclusion. that in such bodies the bromine never occupies a position which is **meta” to the amido group. Zoological Society, April 20.—Prof. W. H. Flower, F.R.S., president, in the chaix.—Prof. Owen, C.B., read descriptions o£ some new and rare Cephalopoda, to which were added notes on the occurrence of gigantic species of this group. —A second paper was read by Prof. Owen on the external and structural characters of the male of Spirula australis.—Dr. M. Watson read a paper on some points in the anatomy of the Proboscidea, in which he described the structure of the female organs of the Indian elephant, as observed in a specimen recently dissected. — Lieut,-Col. H. H. Godwin-Austen read a paper on the land- molluscan genus Givasia of Gray, and made remarks on its anatomy and on the form of the “‘capreolus” of Lister or the spermatophore, as developed in species of this genus of Indian Helicidee.—A communication was read from Dr. Max Schmidt on the duration of life of the animals in the Zoological Garden of Frankfort-on-the-Main.—A communication was read from the Rev. O. P. Cambridge, C.M.Z.S., containing descriptions of new or little-known spiders of the genus 4 reyrodes.—A com- munication was read from Mr, Edgar A. Smith containing an account of a collection of the shells of Lake Tanganyika, and of the neighbourhood of Ujjiji, Central Africa, made by Mr. E. C. Hore, of the London Missionary Society. Twenty-one species were represented in this collection, amongst which were two new generic forms proposed to be called Tiphobia horet and N codauma tanganyicensis. Geological Society, April 14.—Robert Etheridge, F.R.S., president, inthe chair. Colville Brown, John N. Dufty, and George Benjamin Nichols were elected Fellows of the Society. —The following communication was read :—On a new Therio- dont Reptile (Cliorhizodon orenburgensis, Twelvetr.) from the Upper Permian Sandstone of Kargalinsk, near Orenburg, in South-Eastern Russia, by W. H. Twelvetrees, F.L.S. The above measures are cupriferous, and rest on limestone with Zechstein fossils. Associated with the remains of Saurians and Labyrinthodonts are Calamites, Lepidodendron, Aroides crassi- spatha, Conifers, and a Unio. The specimen noticed in this 22 NATURE [May 6, 1880 paper is apparently the dentary part of the left mandibular ramus, with the crowns of a canine, an incisor, and ten of the molars. The author describes the characteristics of these and the mode of implantation in the jaw, which accords with that described by Prof Owen in Zitanosuchus ferox, The characters of this specimen resemble those of the genus Rhopalodon ; but as there are some marked differences, the author }Yroposes to name it Cliorhizodon orenburgensis.—The classification of the Tertiary period by means of the mammalia, by Prof, W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., Professor of Geology in Owens College. The author, after some introductory remarks on the value of verte- brata and invertebrata in classification, pointed out that the mammalia become of especial value in the Tertiary period as undergoing more rapid change than the other classes, from their being, as it is happily termed, ev Aleine évolution. He discussed the characteristics of each of the great periods, as defined and limited by their mammalia, pointing out that throughout the Eocene these frequently exhibit relations more or less marsupial. Indeed it is not till the close of the Lower Miocene that the traces of this relationship are lost. In the Middle Miocene, Sus, Cervus, Antilope, Felis, Lutra, and Castor appear for the first time, and the higher apes were present in European forests. In the Upper Miocene, Camelopardalis, Gazella, Hyena, and fystrix appear, During the Pliocene several important genera disappear from the world or from Europe—among the latter the apes, at the close of the Upper Pliocene. Oxen, horses, bears, and elephants appear. Great changes took place in the Pleisto- cene ; seven species survived into it which are now extinct, and of new-comers there were fourteen living and seven extinct species. Cervus megaceros is the sole survivor from the Pleistocene to the prehistoric period which has since become extinct. The paper concluded with some remarks on the latter part of the first and the second period, which, however, as forming the subject of previous notices, was treated more briefly. The author remarked that a study of the development of the mammalia renders it hopeless to expect to find man in the Eocene or Miocene, and improbable in the Pliocene. Anthropological Institute, April 13.—Major-General A. Lane Fox, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair,.—The director read a paper on Fijian Burial Customs, by the Rey. Lorimer Fison, There is no uniformity of custom in Fiji, so that no description of what is done by any one tribe can be taken as applicable to all the others. The strangling of widows, however, that they might be buried with their dead_husbands, seems to have been everywhere practised. The widow’s brother performs the operation, and is thenceforward treated with marked respect by his brother-in-law’s kinsfolk, who present him with a piece of land over which the strangling-cord is hung up. Should he, however, fail to strangle his sister, he is despised and ashamed to show his face. When a woman is about to be strangled she is made to kneel down, and the cord (a strip of native cloth) is put round her neck, She is then told to expel her breath as long as possible, and when she can endure no longer to stretch out her hand as a signal, whereupon the cord is tightened, and soon all is over. It is believed that, if this direction be followed insensibility ensues immediately on the tightening of the cord ; whereas if inhalation has taken place, there is an interval of suffering. An excuse for the practice of widow-strangling may be found in the fact that according to Fijian belief, it is a needful precautionary measure, for at a certain place on the road to Mbulu (Hades) there lies in wait a terrible god, called Nangga-nangga, who is utterly implacable towards the ghosts of the unmarried. He is especially ruthless towards bachelors, among whom he persists in classing all male ghosts who come to him unaccompanied by their wives. Turning a deaf ear to their protestations, he seizes them, lifts them above his head, and breaks them in two by dashing them down on a projecting rock, Women are let off more easily. If the wife die before her husband, the widower cuts off his beard and puts it under her left armpit. This serves as her certificate of marriage ; and, on her producing it to Nangga-nangga, he allows her to pass. On the island of Vanua Levu a noted “* brave” is distinguished from the common herd after death by being buried with his right arm sticking out above the grave-mound, and passers-by exclaim with admiration as they look upon the fleshless arm, ‘*O the hand that was the slayer of men!” For some days after the decease of a ruling chief, if his death be known to the people, the wildest anarchy prevails. Theidea seems to be that not until decomposition may be supposed to have made considerable progress is the dead man fairly done with, and his authority handed over to his successor. Ilence the death of a ruling chief is studiously concealed for a period varying from four to ten days. By many tribes the burial-place of their chief is kept a profound secret, lest those whom he injured during his lifetime should revenge themselves by digging up and insulting, or even eating, his body. Hence the surface sods are raised with extreme care, in order that they may be replaced with as little derangement as possible. Cave burial is common in Fiji, although by no means universal; in some cases artificial caves are made, either in the side of a hill, or by sinking a perpendicular shaft, and then putting in a ‘side drive,” as the Australian gold-diggers call it ; this forms the grave, and here the chief lies with his strangled women under him, A stone closes the entrance of the chamber and excludes the earth when the shaft is filled up. On the death of the king of the Nakelo tribe three old men come, with fans in theic hands, and conduct the spirit to the banks of-the river, Here they call upon Themba—the Nakelo Charon—to bring over his canoe, and wait until they see a wave rolling in towards the shore, which they say is caused by the approach of the invisible canoe; they then avert their faces, point their fans suddenly to the river, cry alond, **Go on board, sir,” and forthwith run for their lives, for no eye of living man may look upon the embarkation. The grave is dug about hip deep, the body laid in it, and an old cocoa- nut is broken bya blow witha stone, being so held that the milk runs down upon the head of thecorpse. The meat of the nut is then eaten by the three elders, and the graye is filled up.—A paper on the Polynesian Race, by C. Staniland Wake, M.A.I., was read. The author proposed to show, first, that the Poly- nesian Islanders must be described as a bearded rather than a non-bearded race, and secondly, that, as a rule, they are well acquainted with the use of the bow and arrow, and quoted the observations of numerous travellers in support of his view.— Major-General A. Lane Fox, F.R.S., exhibited some paintings and bead mats, the work of Bushmen. Physical Society, April 24.—Prof. W. G. Adams in the chair.—New members:—The Marquis of Blandford, Mr. Ale Marshall.—Prof. G. C, Foster read a note by Prof, Rowland, of Baltimore, U.S., on the discovery of Mr.:Hall that a magnet exercises an electromotive on a current ina conductor crossing its field, as well as a force on the conductor itself, This fact will render it necessary to apply a correction to equa- tions which assume that only the latter force acts. The electro- motive force in question is at right angles to the direction of the current and to the lines of magnetic force. Prof. Rowland expresses it mathematically in this note, and bases a new method of determining the value of v, the ratio of the electrostatic to the electromagnetic unit of electricity, which gives v almost identical with the velocity of light, thus confirming Clerk- Maxwell’s theory of the nature of light. Dr. J. Hopkinson, F.R.S., suggested an expression for one of Prof. Rowland’s results.—Prof. Foster also read a note by Prof. Wild, of the Central Russian Meteorological Observatory, on a mode of correcting the bifilar magnetometer for torsion of its fibres, &c., and a method for finding the horizontal component of the earth’s magnetism by its aid.—Mr. Ridout, F.C.S., described an improved thermo electric apparatus of his construction. The author has followed the idea of combining the thermopile and galvanometer in one instrument on the same base-board, The defects of the apparatus as ordinarily made are a too great disparity between the resistance in the pile and in the galvano- meter ; the junctions of the pile are too deep, and short-circuit the current; the bars too long and resisting, as well as too numerous ; the junctions too slender ; the mass of matter to be heated too great. These defects are remedied by placing the bars in glass tubes connected with these plates of copper ; making the bars half the usual length, and using only a single pair. The defects in the galvanometer are that the wire does not come near the needle ; the needles are not of the best form, and the suspension is troublesome. Mr. Ridout makes the wire a flat ribbon mounted on one bobbin; the needles are flat oblong plates from the same piece of steel, and magnetised in one piece; they are mounted on a pivot turning in an agate cup. The several parts of the apparatus are mutually adapted to each other ; and in using it the galvanometer is not joined tothe pile till the latter has been exposed to the heat, so as to prevent the current generated abstracting heat from the hot side. As made by Mr. Browning, the pile consists of a pair of elements } in. long, the copper connections being circular plates ,4; in. thick and 2 in. diameter. The pile is supported by thick copper terminals May 6, 1880] NATURE 28 above the galvanometer, which consists of a copper ribbon making some twenty turns round a pair of astatic needles mm, long and # in. broad, pivotedin an agate cup. A contact-key is placed on one side, and the whole is inclosed in a glass shade perforated opposite the pile. A glass cone protects the front from extraneous heat, and a glass case the back. A directing magnet is fixed above the pile. Contact between the galvano- meter and pile is made after (say) 30 seconds’ exposure to the heat. The pile is affected by a person standing six feet from it, and the radiation from stellar space is evident in clear weather, Half a minute is sufficient to put the instrument ready for use.— Mr. Ridout also exhibited laboratory experiments showing cohesion in mercury by causing it to overflow up an inclined trough ; electrolysis of water by a single Grove or bichromate cell, through diminishing the pressure in the flask containing the water by boiling it and condensing the vapour on cooling ; a differential thermometer showing absorption of heat on lique- fying solids ; and the production of musical notes in glass tubes by contracting the bore smoothly to about } of the diameter at one part. Prof. Foster remarked that the cohesion experiment might show the surface-tension, Prof, Guthrie and Prof. Hughes offered remarks on the electrolytic experiment, the latter stating that he finds the resistance of an iron cell he has constructed to depend on the electrodes rather than the liquid; when the nega- tive plate is tempered iron the resistance is low, when soft iron it is high.—Prof. Stone exhibited photographs of Konig’s new tonometer described by him at the last meeting, and further mentioned that Kénig had devised a thermometer based on the principle that changes of temperature produce corresponding changes in the vibration rate of a tuning-fork. The temperature is found from the rate of the fork by bringing it to a zero rate by means of a rider.—Prof. Michin then described his experi- ment to solve the problem of transmitting light by photo-electric action. Two years ago he conceived the idea of employing for this purpose the fact that light falling ona sensitised silver plate disengages electricity. He forms a sensitive cell composed of two silver plates immersed in a conducting solution ; one plate is coated with a sensitive emulsion of chloride or bromide of silver. When chloride is used, a solution of salt in water forms the liquid; when bromide, a solution of bromide of potash, A current is set up in the cell even in the dark, but when exposed to the magnesium light the current is very powerful, and flows within the cell from the uncoated to the sensitised plate. Prof. Michin also conducted this current by wire to a second cell ina dark chamber, and found that it effected a decomposition of the sensitive plate in that cell, as shown by a distinct darkening of the plate when ‘‘developed” by pyrogallic acid. The same effect was produced whether the current was reversed or not. Prof, Michin is continuing his experiments, and has provided a cable containing a number of separate conductors insulated from each other, in order to convey the currents from several cells. Prof. Perry feared that the effect would not be strong enough; but Prof. Michin said the light of a match pro- duced a decided photo-electric effect in the cell. Prof. Perry alluded to the selenium plan proposed by himself and Prof. Ayrton, and said that Mr. Willoughby Smith had observed selenium to be sensitive to the shadow of a flying swallow. Prof. Adams testified to the sensitiveness of selenium and its power of being directly excited by light, a fact first proved by the experiments of Mr. Day and himself. Entomological Society, April 7.—H. T. Stainton, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Messrs. G. C. Bignell, W. D. Cansdale, Frank Crisp, and the Rev. W. Fowler, were elected Ordinary Members, and M. E. André a Foreign Member.— Mr. J. T. Carrington exhibited a pale variety of Arctia caja which was bred by a gentleman at Croydon, who had been ex- perimenting upon the effects’ of the rays of light transmitted through glasses of various colours upon this species. The speci- men exhibited had been reared under green glass, but there was no evidence to show that the variation was due to the green rays. —The Secretary read a communication from Mr. Rothney, of Calcutta, on insects destroyed by flowers, with reference to a note on this subject published in the Proceedings of last year by Mr. J. W. Slater.—The following papers were read :—Notes on the coloration and development of insects, by Peter Cameron ; on two gynandromorphous specimens of Cirrochroa aorés, Dbl., an Indian species of mymphalideous butterflies ; and on Cetonia aurata and Protactia densoni, by Prof. Westwood. Specimens and drawings were exhibited in illustration of the last paper, showing the specific distinctne=s of the insects in question. Meteorological Society, April 21.—Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Rev. J. O. Bevan, M.A., F. E. Cobb, E. Filliter, F.G.S., T. L. Gentles, W. A. Harri- son, F.R.G.S., J. W. Peggs, F. Slade, and E, J. C. Smith, were elected Fellows of the Society.—The discussion on Mr. Ellis’s paper, on the Greenwich sunshine records, 1876-80, was resumed and concluded.—The following papers were read :—On the rate at which barometric changes traverse the British Isles, by G. M. Whipple, B.Sc., F.R.A.S., F.M.S.— A new form of Six’s self-registering thermometer, by J. W. Zambra, F.M.S. EDINBURGH Royal Society, April 5.—Sir Wyville Thomson, vice- president, in the chair.—Mr. John Murray, of the Challenger Expedition, occupied the evening with an interesting and exhaustive paper on the structure and mode of origin of coral reefs and islands. After detailing the well-known and widely- accepted theory of Darwin, Mr. Murray proceeded to take exception to its general truth, and to substitute a new theory, which, in the light of the recent discoveries of the Challenger Expedition, appeared at once simpler and more consistent with the facts. The main features of this theory were as follows : The abundant pelagic life of the ocean was stated to be the chief food of the reef-building corals and of the deep-sea animals. Lime-secreting creatures were especially abundant in tropical oceanic waters. Tow-net experiments showed that in a cubic mass of the ocean one mile square by 100 fathoms, there were about sixteen tons of carbonate of lime in the form of calcareous Algze, Foraminifera, pelagic Molluscs, &c, Although so abundant on or near the surface the dead shells of these organisms were quite absent from by far the greater part of the floor of the ocean. In all the greater depths they were removed during their fall or shortly after reaching the bottom by the action of carbonic acid, which was especially abundant in deep sea water. Other things being equal, they were found at greater depths where they were most abundant at the surface. On submarine elevations (which were probably all of volcanic origin) these dead shells were met with in great abundance: when the depth was less than a mile the shells and skeletons of almost every surface creature were present in the deposit. Mixed up with these we had in these deposits the shells and skeletons of deep- sea animals, as Echinoderms, Annelids, Polyzoa, Foraminifera, Corals, &c, In these more or less‘shallow depths the accumula- tion was relatively rapid, and the solvent action of sea water had consequently little effect. Eventually this bank reached near enough the surface to serve as a foundation for reef-building corals. As these corals built up to the surface those situated towards the outer margin of the coral plantation had a great advantage in the more abundant supply of food, and reached the surface first. If the coral-field or plantation were small (less than a square mile) the periphery was relatively large over which food came from the ocean, and from which detritus was carried to the interior; hence the interior was filled up and no lagoon was formed, The same was the case when the coral plantation was long and narrow. In larger coral-fields—the area increasing as the square and the periphery only in an arithmetic progression —the interior parts of the coral plantation were at a relatively great dicadvantage, less food and less detritus for fillmg up weve supplied per square mile, and in consequence a lagoon was formed, The carbonic acid in the sea water removed in solution the lime of the dead coral and coral rock from the lagoon. As the atoll extended seawards the lagoon was widened and deepened by the solvent and disintegrating power of the sea water. The structure of upraised coral atolls were referred to as confirmi)¢ these views. Barrier reefs were explained on the same pri) - ciples. Fringing reefs built seawards on a talus formed of the ¢ own débris and of surface shells and deep-sea shells and skeletons. A lagoon-channel was gradually formed by the solvent action f the sea water thrown over the reef at each tide. In this way the fringing reef became a barrier reef. Numerous sections © the reefs at Tahiti, from the survey of Lieut. Swire, of the Challenger, were exhibited, The structure of the interior ove hanging reefs, and of the steep exterior submarine talus, we! « especially pointed out and explained. The chief features : barrier reefs and atolls were quite independent of subsidence, a1 would exist alike in stationary areas or in areas either of sk elevation or of slow subsidence. Throughout the volcanic islands of the great oceans the evidence of recent elevation was ever) where conspicuous, and the same was the case in regions of barrie 24 reefs and atolls, as shown by Dana, Jukes, Couthouy, Semper, and others. He would expect to find local areas of subsidence in the great ocean basins on either side of volcanic islands and atolls, and this is what the soundings of the Challenger and Tuscarora seem to show. On the other hand the lines of vol- canic islands and coral islands had probably always been the sites of a gradual elevation, for it must be remembered that these last have probably almost all a volcanic basis. In all cases the great agencies are the growth of the coral where most nourishment is to be had, and its death and disintegration by the action of the sea at those parts which cannot be, on account of their situation, sufficiently supplied with nourishment. In many cases, however, this disintegration, by breaking up the reef, serves to so alter conditions that decaying parts get a new lease of life, and growth begins afresh where decay was formerly manifest. Mr, Murray applied his theory with singular success to the discussion of particular cases of coral islands, such as the Maldive Islands, the Chagos Archipelago, and the great barrier reefs of Australia. The special merit of the theory is that it does away with the great and general subsidences which is the peculiar feature of Mr. Darwin's theory. Of such subsidences there is no other evidence. These views were also in harmony with Dana’s as to the great antiquity of the ocean basins. Ina previous paper he had shown that a study of deep-sea deposits also argued for the permanency and great antiquity of these great ocean depressions. The co-existence of fringing and barrier reefs and of atolls in close proximity (e.g. in the Fiji Islands), which is not easily explained by Darwin’s theory, offers no difficulty whatever when looked atin the light of Mr. Murray’s principles. In the criticism which followed, Sir Wyville Thomson and Prof, Geikie spoke in terms of high commendation of the thoroughness which charac- terised Mr. Murray’s paper, and the success with which he had been able to do away with the assumption which was the basis of Darwin’s theory, but for the truth of which there was no positive evidence, PARIS Academy of Sciences, April 26.—M. Edm. Becquerel in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On the inverse problem of the motion of a material point on asurface of revolution, by M. Resal.—On the law of distribution, according to altitude, of the substance in the atmosphere absorbing ultra-violet solar radiations, by M. Cornu. The identity of this law (which he is able to determine very definitely) with the barometric formula, shows that the absorption is exercised by the gaseous mass and not by aqueous vapour or dust, which leads to different progres- sions.—Study of the explosive properties of fulminate of mercury, by MM. Berthelot and Vieille. It is simply decomposed into carbonic oxide, nitrogen, and mercury. The authors furnish data of the heat liberated, the density, and the pressures deye- loped in a closed vessel, The superior force of the fulminate is attributed to the almost instantaneous nature of its decomposition by simple inflammation, the almost total absence of dissociation of the products, and the great density of the matter.—On the cholera of fowls ; studies of the conditions of non-recurrence of the malady, and some others of its characters, by M, Pasteur. The aliments suited to the life of the microbe in the fowl disappear in consequence of inoculation with attenuated virus,— Observations of Schaberle’s comet at Marseilles Observatory, by M. Stephan.—On the meteorite which fell on May Io, 1879, near Estherville (Emmet Co., - Iowa, U.S.), by Prof. J. Lawrence Smith. He thinks this meteorite should be placed apart for the phenomena of its fall, especially the force of penetration of its fragments into the ground, and for the mode of association of its mineral constituents. —On winter barley as forage, by MM. Pierre and Lemetayer. It is rather the abundance and precocity of this cereal which venders it in demand, than its richness in azotised matter,— On appointment of a scientific commission for the Panama scheme. M. de Lesseps specified documents he would give them. The work in hand came to this: 75,000,000 cubic metres to be excavated ; 8,000 workmen for six years ; 250 working days each year, or 1,500 days, during which 50,000 cubic metres should be done each day. —Afropos of M. Bouty’s note on thermo- electric currents from a metal and a liquid, M. Du Moneel re- called former experiments by M. Hellesen and himself. —Some considerations in support of ‘a note of March 29 on the impossi- bility of supposing in general a function of velocities in every question of hydraulics where frictions have a notable 7é/e, by M. Boussinesq.—On the dependence of two electromagnetic gyro- NATURE [Way 6, 1880 scopes submitted to the same circuit ‘of induction, by M. de Fonvielle. The velocity of each movable piece is diminished. — The death of M. de Luca was announced.—The surface of the wave considered as a limiting surface, by M. Mannheim,—On the numerical calculation of definite integrals, by M, Baillard.— On simultaneous linear equations and on a class of non-plane curves, by M. Picard.—On the series F 3 (a, a, B, B', y, x, 9), by M. Appell.—Influence of temperature on the duration of period of atuning-fork, by M. Mercadier. He corrects a numerical mistake in his memoir as quoted by Wiedemann (with whom he is in agreement).—On the theory of induction-currents, by M. Mascart.—On an experimental method fitted to determiné the lines of surface in stationary flow of electricity through con- ducting surfaces, by M. Guébhard. Ata short distance from a thin plate of metal in a mixed solution of acetate of lead and acetate of copper, are held the free ends of two conductors connected with a pile; thus a double system of Nobili’s rings is produced of remarkable constancy and regularity, and in relation to the positions of the electrodes and the contour of the conducting surface.—Absolute measurement of Peltier’s phenomenon on contact of a metal and its solu- tion, by M. Bouty.—Measurement of the difference of potential of two metals in contact, by M. Pellat. The method (which has precision exceeding ;15 Daniell) is one of compensation, and its principle is, that if two metals, A and B, are connected by a metallic wire they take the same difference of potential as if they had been put directly in contact. The author studies the effects of varied surfaces of metals, change of temperature, and influence of gases round the plates.—On the theory of double circular refraction, by M. Gouy.—Influence of temperature on the compressibility of gases under strong pressures, by M. more Amagat. iese When a gas is _compressible than accord- decreases . imerencee with the temperature.—Researches on the passivity of iron (second part), by M. Varenne. Zuter alia, an iron rod may be made passive by immersion of only a fraction of it in concentrated nitric acid, and passivity may be produced by prolonged immersion of iron in compressed bioxide of nitrogen.—On the proportion of iron in mineral waters of Rouen and Forges-les-Eaux, by M, Hou- zeau.—Isomers of phloroglucine, by M. Gautier,—On the pro- ducts contained in coke of petroleum, by MM. Prunier and Varenne.—On a singular explosion produced during heating of wine, and on a new mode cf determination of alcohol, by M. Wartha, This explosion was probably caused by inflammation of a mixture of alcohol and air in the tun, M. Wartha is seeking to determine the limit of explosion of such mixtures, — Synthetic reproduction of the aluminous silicates and alkaline silico-aluminates of nature, by M. Meunier.—On the origin and development of the egg in the Medusa Eucope before fecunda- tion, by M. Merejkowsky.—-On the apparent analogies between cholera of fowls and the malady of sleep (nelayan), by M. Talmy. ing to Mariotte’s law, its compressiblity CONTENTS THE CominG or AGE oF THE ORIGIN or Species. By Prof. T. H. ELUXEEY ARGS: sen a Pace On Muttipe Specrra. By J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S, | 4 ScrENCE IN PARLIAMENT .. . . . , : Perec 5 6S 7 Wurst CHEMIstRY’2 ' 2 001s) 208 ce a) ih ae 8 Our Book Suetr ;— Goss’s *‘ Geological Antiquityiof Insects??”™., 9 =e 9 LETTERS TO THE EpITor:— The Opportunities of Science Masters at Schools.—Francis GALTON, ESRIS* <4 Gh. erie! felts (iets! si te folie) em Museum Conference.—E. M. Hotmrs Onur te mam cr a a Ural Crayfish.—W. H. Twetvetrers. . EME cil iG) At silegels against Mosquitos, Flies, and Blight.—Ww». CHarrett, C5 OM CSO Ome re ee Cr metH OS. Ce Immersion of Tron and Steel in Acidulated Water.—Wituram H. JOHNSON |. tee tes ae ss Stone Arrow Heads —W. L. Distant . . . . . . . . . . 26 4 The Mode of Suckling of the Elephant Calf.—J. C.G.. . TI The Tay Bridge Tnquiry—O; Cl... utes og Ten fio Wed (ope Yeast and Blackbeetles.—LOnpoN HovusEHOLDER ote Ir DscaAIsNzE AND BAILtON. . . Oo 6 a i6 mate . 12 Dr. Rupo.r ScHerrer. By Henry O. Forses . . ode Nia 12 A Scorrisu Crannoc (With Lilustrations)\. . . . Gi 13 ie OMEN Sans Ga Sey uaee fo Our AsTRoNomicaL Cotumn ;— The Comet of110o6 . . . . , a Fat erate tee or tae ! Sea en aS: PHYSICALINOTES . 4. . 4. SYR Ae Mr ShetP ass: Geille s siaban y ers GrocraruicaL Nores ....... Bi ispNs/p ey qs. fo sey fy ge MeN ScrenTiFic SkRIALS . . . | | Sieh a Moy vol ic ha sk OS eke memes Socistigs AND ACADEMIES. . .. . . eos 1 ie or ened Meeneemeay NATURE 25 THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1880 MIGRATORY BIRDS AT LIGHTHOUSES ONSIDERING the amount of nonsense that has been written and still continues to be written—in season and out of season—on the subject of the migration of birds, it is very refreshing to find two gentlemen in this country seriously setting to work to accumulate facts, which may in time be reasonably expected to enable ornithologists to arrive at an opinion, more decided than anybody can be said to possess at the present moment, with regard to that wonderful movement. It might be thought, perhaps, that we indeed had already enough and to spare of recorded observations, for lists of the arrival of migratory birds abound in most of our natural-history periodicals, to say nothing of provincial newspapers ; but it does not require much study and comparison of those lists to perceive that, with some honourable exceptions, they are obviously the work of persons not at all fitted— whether by character, training, or opportunities it matters not—to be competent observers, and consequently the records of their observations have done uncommonly little to advance our knowledge of the subject. Every one who has tried anything of the sort must admit, if he speaks the truth, that the difficulties in the way of observing the movements of birds are much greater than at first sight would appear to be the case. To carry on this kind of systematic observation to any good purpose, a man, if he cannot make it his first object, must yet have such occupations as will not interfere with his being in the right place at the right moment, and of course the ordinary engagements of life are very apt to act as disturbing forces and to baffle his best intentions, Farmers, in the pursuit of their vocation, are perhaps of all professional men the most suited for the work ; but the farmer may have to attend a couple of distant market-towns for as many days in the week, and unless his road thither and thence lies favourably, these will be des xox so far as his opportunities of observation are concerned. A very few years’ experience will convince any sensible person that the first wheatear of the season is almost always to be seen on a certain down or heath, and the earliest swallow over a certain pool or reach of a river. Localities like these, once discovered, have to be watched daily by him who wishes to record faithfully the arrival in his district of those particular species, and the same is to be said of others. Even the most enthusiastic sportsman may be hindered by a score of circumstances over which he has no control from visiting for a week or more the particular spot in a copse or corner of a bog where, if there be a woodcock or a snipe in the country, he knows it is sure to be found. Seeing then that of the various kinds of out- door observations few are more subject to the accidents which affect human actions and habits than those which relate to the movements of birds, the extremely unsatisfactory nature of records made in what is at best a casual way may be accounted for, and hitherto we have had scarcely any records of any other sort. Some time ago it occurred to Mr. Cordeaux, author of that excellent little book “The Birds of the Humber District,” noticed in these columns some seven or eight VoL. xx11.—No. 550 years since (NATURE, vol. viii. p. 100), and to Mr- Harvie Brown, a gentleman not less well known by his ornithological writings, that a great increase in our know- ledge of the subject would accrue if they could but get the keepers of the numerous lighthouses and lightships along our coast to assist in the work, and accordingly they set about enlisting these men in the service: We know not whether these gentlemen had fully appreciated the unsatisfactory nature of existing records, upon which we have just been dwelling, nor does it signify in the least. It was evident to them, and might have been to others, that men who were always on duty and always on the look-out would be able, if so minded and properly instructed, to give valuable aid, and that their observa- tions would necessarily be of a kind that it was impossible for any other class of people to make, for they would be carried on at hours when nearly all the rest of the world was indoors, if not asleep, and at places at once the most favourable and the most inaccessible to any one else. By what steps Messrs, Cordeaux and Brown proceeded, and how they overcame the scruples (if any were enter- tained) of the authorities of the Trinity House Board in England and of the Commissioners of Northern Lights in Scotland, we are not told; but these gentlemen have to be congratulated on the result they have attained, which appears in the form of a most instructive and interesting “ Report” —the first, we hope, of a long series —“on the Migration of Birds in the Autumn of 1879,” printed in the Zoo/ogist for the current month, to which we beg leave to call our readers’ best attention. It appears that forms of inquiry and letters of instruction were sent to various lighthouses and lightships. To begin with the east coast of Great Britain, it is said that such papers were forwarded to ¢wevty-stx Scottish light- houses, from ¢hzrteen, or just one-half, of which returns have been received, the remaining thirteen having either sent back the forms blank, owing to the unusual scarcity of birds last autumn, or having taken no notice of the request to fill them up. The same course was pursued with respect to ¢hirty-seven English stations, from ¢wenty-five of which returns have been received. On the west coast appeal was made to ¢hzrty-four Scottish stations, fwenty- four of which replied, and to three on the Isle of Man (the Manxmen were silent), but to ‘none in England or Wales. So much willing co-operation, we confess, we could hardly have anticipated, especially on a first experi- ment, and it certainly appears from the intelligent remarks (of which specimens are occasionally given by the re- porters), in addition to the mere filling up of the sheets sup- plied to them, that the men must have taken considerable interest in the inquiry, as well as have taken no common pains in giving the information sought. To form any conclusions on insufficient premisses is a rank offence in science, and it would be absurd to sup- pose that this single report throws any light on the mysteries of migration. But we are greatly mistaken if 1 We give all credit to these gentlemen for the originality of action, but the conception of some such scheme had been taken up before. Among the numerous inquiries in which Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., had engaged himself, he had already made some endeavours in this direction, and we are ina position to say that even prior to his time, though nothing came of it, the idea had been broached informally among some zoological members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Of this. fact we, however, believe that Messrs. Brown and Cordeaux were not conscious, as indeed jt could hardly happen that they should be. Cc 26 NATURE [Aay 13, 1880 some of them may not be cleared up bya series of such reports, and the chief value of the present successful attempt is, in our humble opinion, to show that the plan put into operation by Messrs. Cordeaux and Brown is workable, and we sincerely trust that they will continue their enterprising efforts. The amount of correspond- ence and trouble it must give them cannot fail to be very great, but they, as well as the lighthouse and lightship keepers, will have one kind of reward, and that, perhaps, one not altogether unsatisfactory. They will obtain the true gratitade of all ornithologists who believe in ornitho- logy as a study of life, and we believe will receive from ornithologists without exception the credit and encourage- ment they so richly deserve. If the scheme can be kept going for half-a-dozen years we can scarcely fail to be in 2 position to know something worth knowing of the dunes ‘* wild birds that change Their season in the night, and wail their way From'cloud to‘cloud,” . ¢ . 9; whose movements at present give rise to so much specu- lation, and thereby, perhaps, penetrate. another, and certainly one of the most interesting of nature’s secrets. THE RIVER OF GOLDEN SAND The River of Golden Sand. By Capt. William Gill, R.E. With an Introductory Essay by Col. Henry Yule, C.B., R.E. (London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1880.) se HE River of Golden Sand,” the narrative of a journey through China and Eastern Tibet to Burmah, is likely to prove one of the most valuable books of travel that have been published for a considerable time. It is prefaced by a long and able introductory essay by Col. Yule. In it are indicated many points of geogra- phical interest in the country in which the River of Golden Sand is taken as the axis—the part of Eastern Tibet which intervenes between India and China—and the history sketched of explorations in this extent of country previous to Capt. Gill’s. This essay is so full of interest and information that we shall try to give a summary of the facts detailed in it. The first thing that strikes an observant eye in looking at a map of Asia is the number of great rivers that rush southward in parallel courses within a very narrow space of longitude. This forms the most striking characteristic of the country between India and China. The first of these rivers, beginning at the west, is the Subanshiri, coming from the Himalaya and entering the valley of Assam. The next is the Dihong, which joins the Lohit—Brahma- putra proper—at Sadiya. The third river is the Dibong, which joins the Dihong before its union with the Brahma- putra. It is now believed that this does not come from Tibet. The people of Upper Tibet say they have only two rivers coming from Tibet—the Dihong and the Brahmaputra. The Brahmaputra enters Assam at the Pool of Brahma. This, from a curious piece of evidence given by Col. Yule, is evidently identical with Kenpu of Chinese geographers. The Ku-ts-Kiang is almost cer- tainly a source of the Irawadi. The remotest sources of this river do not lie further north than 30° at the utmost. Its length is considerably shorter than the River of Golden Sand. The Mekong hasits source in the far north of Tibet. Its lower course has only been known accurately since the French expedition. But the town of Tsiamdo, stand- ing between its two main branches about latitude 30° 45’, was visited by missionaries in 1866, so that its course is known as far north as this. The Chin-Sha, from which Capt. Gill’s book takes its name, is, if not the greatest river in Asia, the longest. Capt. Gill followed the windings of this river, with a few digressions, during twenty-four marches on his way from Bat’ang to Ta-li-fu. This great river has its source in about 90° longitude—almost as far west as Calcutta. At this part of its course its channel is 750 feet wide, and the whole river from bank to bank nearly a mile wide. Flowing into China, it receives the name of Kin-Sha- Kiang, which it retains until joined by the Min, coming from Ssu-ch’uan, There it becomes navigable to the sea, The navigation has often many hindrances in the way of rapids and gorges. Capt. Gill was the first to give us any accurate knowledge of the Yun-nan and Tibetan part of this great river. The remaining two parallel rivers are the Ya-lung-Kiang and the Min-Kiang. Capt. Gill is the only traveller that has traced the latter river to the alpine highlands. How to obtain direct communication between India and China has always been a difficult problem. India first became known to China not across the mountains and through the river valleys, but by the enormous circuit of Bactria and Kabul. In the year 127 B.c., Chang-Rien, a military leader, in exploring the country round the Oxus, brought back a report of a land called Shin-tu, ze. Hindu, India. Attempts were made several times to penetrate by the Ssu-ch’uan frontier to India, but with little success. Two hundred years later, when communica- tion opened with India, it was by way of Bactria, and went on so for centuries. In the “‘Periplus,’ a work of the first century A.D., mention is made of trade in silk stuffs through Bactria to Bhroch. Marco Polo, when making his way to the frontier of Burma, went by the same route as Capt. Gill on his ninth march from Ch-eng-tu. Ta- li-fu, which is so often spoken of in Capt. Gill’s book, is a central point on the Chinese frontier. For centuries it has been the centre of all military and commercial communication between China and Burmah. By the treaty of Tien-tsing British subjects received the right to travel in the interior of China. Modern exploration dates from this, and our knowledge of the physical geography, natural resources of the country, and characteristics of the people of China have been slowly growing. It must not be forgotten that the missionaries of the Roman Church travelled much over China and Tibet. Publicity would have been against their purpose, and geographical research was not their object, so that their journals came before a limited few. Abbé Huc, in his famous story of his journey with Gabet, gave the first picture of Eastern Tibet in modern times in 1850. Carl Ritter’s great work, which appeared many years before Huc’s, gives a great deal of information of the great road by Ch’eng-tu to Lhassa. Apart from the little known efforts of the Roman Catholic missionaries, no attempt was made to penetrate those regions until 1861. Blakiston’s exploration of the Upper Yang-tzu, after the treaty of Tien-tsing, was the first in this direction. In 1867 the great French expedition to Ta-li under Garnier was made. This was the first time that any European May 13, 1880] NATURE 27 ee —— traveller (not a priest) had seen the Yachi of Marco Polo since he himself was there in 1283. In 1860 Mr. Cooper traversed from Han-kow to Bat’ang over the high plateau, the scene of Capt. Gill’s expedition afterwards. Cooper hoped to reach India by China, but on the Chinese frontier his party had to stop their journey owing to the disturbed state of the country. There was not much geographical information collected on this journey. In 1872, Baron Richthofen at Ch-eng-tu was on one of those important journeys which forms the groundwork of Capt. Gill’s work. His project came to an untimely end. In speaking incidentally of the labours of the Roman Catholic missionaries, Abbé Desgodins must not be forgotten. In 1873 Augustus Margary was appointed to explore the country between the Irawadi and China. He success- fully reached Bhamo from China, but on his return journey he met his tragic end. Since that time there has been a more recent journey made by Mr. Baber by a new route to Ta-chien-lu. Capt. Gill's first journey was through the north of Pe-chih-li to the sea terminus of the Great Wall. His ascent of the Yang-tzii is full of interest. The greatest importance attaches to his journeys when he commenced his excursion from Ching-tu to the Northern Alps, to where the Chinese Kiang flows southwards into Sst-ch’- uan, It was at this time that Capt. Gill came among highland tribes called Man-tzu and Si-fau. The people along the westward frontier are named by the Chinese Lolo, Man-tzii, Si-fu, and Tibetan. The Chinese look upon the Man-tzu as descendants of the old inhabitants of Ssti-ch’uan. Man-tzu and Si-fau are ambiguously used. Si-fau is used in Capt. Gill’s book as applied to a Tibetan-speaking race in the north-east of Tibet. Capt. Gill had meant to make a journey through Kan- suh to Kashgaria, and from that through the Russian dominions to*Europe. This plan was rendered imprac- ticable by the unsettled state of affairs between England and Russia. His homeward route was the same that Cooper had tried nine years before by Lit’ang, Bat’ang, and Ta-li. He left Ch’eng for England by the Irrawadi on July 10, 1877. The first important place reached was Ya-chau. It is here that the trade of Tibet begins, brick tea or cake tea being the staple of the trade- Capt, Gill gives interesting details about this, and also of a similar manufacture at Hankow for Mangolia, English rupees have become the currency in Tibet. They have superseded the tea bricks which were for- merly used as money. The great drawback to the tea trade in Western Tibet does not lie in the Chinese being unwilling to open the landward frontier, but in the jealousy of the Lamas. Their chief desire is to monopo- lise power, enlightenment, and trade. Capt. Gill’s second place of landing was Ch-eng-tu, the Chinese gate of Tibet, on the Ssii-ch’uan frontier. Very little is known of the ethnography of the tribes on the mountain frontier of China, Burma, and Tibet. The two most prominent are the Mossos and the Lisus. They have some claims to civilisation. The men are quite Chinese in appearance, and have adopted the dress and the pigtail. The women retain a fashion analogous to the fashions of the Swiss and Pyrenean valleys. Their vocabularies have 70 per cent. words common to both, and show a connection with some of the Burmese, Capt. Gill has given a remarkable manuscript to the British Museum. Its hieroglyphical characters are un- known. It consists of eighteen pages about 9} inches by 34, each page having three lines, and the characters read- ing from right to left. The groups of characters are divided by vertical lines. Some of them resemble the old Chinese characters called Chuen-tzu. M. Terrier has in his possession another manuscript resembling this one, but probably Capt. Gill’s one is much older, Garnier, while in Hu-nan, was told that in some caves near that province were found chests containing books written in European characters, Probably they may have been books belonging to extinct aborigines in phonetic characters. The introductory essay, written by so high an authority as Col, Yule, will greatly enhance the value of Capt. Gill’s work. The work is in the form of a journal, and is so graphi- cally written that throughout the interest never flags. The account of the journey through the north of China is full of information regarding the physical aspect of the country and the many beautiful scenes Capt. Gill passed through. Pekin, it appears, is much the same as in the time of Marco Polo, but a great deal of its former grandeur seems to have gone. That 300,000,000. of people should have remained unchanged for centuries seems a very extraordinary fact. Yet in whatever part of the world the Chinese are found they still retain the individuality of their race, and act in all things as their forefathers did hundreds of years before. Their lack of imagination and love of independence, Capt. Gill thinks, account greatly for their stagnation. If the Chinese ever had any originality, perhaps the worship of antiquity and the system of examination have had something to do with eradicating it. The voyage along the Chin-Sha-Chiang was full of surprises; the scenery was constantly changing. At one time the river went winding through “great plains where broad lagoons lay stretching out amongst fields that were protected from the summer floods by extensive dykes and embankments.”’ Now the grand river, clear and almost green, rolled below cliffs of red sandstone. Beyond Ch’ang “the river narrows from 400 to 500 yards. Steep spurs from the mountains 3,000 feet high run down to the water’s edge, their sides, wherever not absolutely perpendicular, covered with long, orange, brown grass, that seems to grow almost without soil. On the more gentle slopes terrace cultivation is carried on. Little patches of the most brilliant green, sometimes a thousand feet above the river, show the presence of some indus- trious farmer who will not leave a square yard unculti- vated if he can help it.” “The Chinese,” Capt. Gill says, after speaking of their great industry, “plough about as well as the natives’ of India, doing little more than scratch the ground. It is true they raise two crops on the same field, as, for instance, when they plant opium under rape, or yams under millet. They have no know- ledge of the modes of improvement practised in the various breeds of cattle ; no instruments for breaking up and preparing waste land; no system for draining and reclaiming swamps and morasses.” On the banks of this river Capt. Gill saw flowers being picked from a tree like an apricot-tree. The blossoms were like long conical-shaped pods; on their surface were numerous 28 small flowers full of pollen. The poor people make a drink from these instead of tea. This flower could not be identified, although high botanical authorities were consulted. The Chinese could not understand why any one should travel in discomfort when he could stop at home in ease. They cherish the most profound respect for any literary person, so to explain his incomprehensible habit of looking at everything, Capt. Gill went about with a note- book in his hand, telling them he was going to write a book. He came on many villages whose original in- habitants had been expelled by the Chinese, who still continue their advance, stopping only where the soil and the climate refuse fruits to those industrious agriculturists. Ch’eng-tu, where Capt. Gill made some considerable halt, has changed much since Marco Polo wrote his description of it. The same river still runs by the city, but not through it, as it did then. The large plain that incloses the town has gradually been drained. At one time it must have been the bottom of a lake. Many insect-trees were met with on the way to Tibet. “It is on this tree that the insect is bred that produces the white wax of Ssii-Ch’uan. The trees are something like willows. Here the insect emerges from his egg, and the branch of the tree on which he is placed is soon covered with a kind of white wax secreted. It is this white wax that is so celebrated, and is one of the most valuable products of Ssti-Ch’uan. These eggs cannot be exposed to the heat of the sun, and whilst being carried from the breeding to the producing district the coolies travel only in the night, when the road is said to present a very remarkable appearance, as they all carry lanterns. Ordinarily in China no travelling is done at night, and as the gates of all towns and cities are closed at dusk, and are never opened for anybody, no matter who he may be, travelling at night is rendered impossible. But during the time for bringing the eggs to Kia-Ting-Fu all the city gates are open night and day—probably the only exception in China to the rule of shutting the gates at dusk. The one day it seemed to Capt. Gill as if “the happy valley of Rasselas had been in Tibet,” the next day he was driving through piercing cold. On his way to Batang he had a glorious view of Mount Neu-Da. “No words can describe the majestic grandeur of that mighty peak, whose giant mass of eternal snow and ice raises its glorious [head seven thousand feet above the wondering traveller, who yet stands within five miles of its summit. He can but gaze with admiration and appreciate the feelings of the Tibetans that have led them to call it Neu-Da, or the Sacred Mountain.” The Lamas seem to be the great curse of Tibet. The scapegrace of a family goes into a Lamassery, not, how- ever, entirely for devotion, coming home at short intervals for amusement. “The Lamas assist in no way in the maintenance of the State; their lands are free from taxa- tion, and they do not pay one iota towards the Govern- ment expenses.” The customs of the people of Tibet seem to resemble those of the Israelites. They pray on the house-tops, pay their cattle-keepers as Jacob did, and set before strangers “butter in a lordly dish.” The popula- tion is diminishing in Tibet by the oppression of the Lamas and emigration to Yun-Nan. The land that the emigrants leave behind them goes to the Lamasseries. ,As NATURE [May 13, 1880 it cannot be taxed the burden of taxation becomes heavier on the remaining people, who still have to make up the same amount. At Shin-Ku Capt. Gill bade adieu to the River of Golden Sand and continued his route to Bhamo, in the footsteps of Marco Polo and Augustus Margary. He came on the scene of Margary’s death. The most fitting tribute that could be paid to this brave officer was ‘‘to establish in those border-lands the right of Englishmen to travel unmolested.” Instead of a gigantic river like the Chin-Kiang, the Irawady above Bhamo, though wide, is very shallow. The continual rain that falls over its basin is very great. At Bhamo Capt. Gill was welcomed by Mr. Cooper, who in all his dangerous wanderings had escaped with his life; when safety seemed to come he fell by the hand of an assassin under the British flag. Capt. Gill’s homeward. journey was through New Mandalay. Capt. Gill’s book will prove a valuable authority on the particular part of China through which he travelled. It does not represent the scientific results, which were pub- lished in the ¥owsnal of the Royal Geographical Society. His journey in Western China is one of the most success- ful that has been made, although it was achieved under agreat drawback ; he did not know the Chinese language. He was, however, very fortunate in his two interpreters, but his success was due to his great tact and perseverance. He tells his story with a brightness and impressiveness not common in modern books of travel, and his originality and independence of view are evident in every page. He has no very great opinion of the Chinese, and his remarks on their peculiar characteristics are well worth considera- tion. One sees the born traveller in every entry in his journal ; nothing is thrown in for effect. A great deal of his journey was made in the dark, through fog and rain, yet he adhered strictly to his rule of writing the accounts of the day’s doings every night. This had often to be done with the comforting thought that most probably the record would be lost. The work is well supplied with maps and illustrations, the former especially being among the most valuable of ° recent contributions to the hydrography of Asia. OUR BOOK SHELF The Geological Record for 1877. _An Account of Works on Geology, Mineralogy, and Paleontology published during the Year, with Supplements for 1874-1876. Edited by William Whitaker, B.A., F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of England. (London: Taylor and Francis, 1880.) WE hail with pleasure the appearance of the fourth volume of this most valuable work. The indefatigable editor deserves all praise for the energy with which he has worked in getting together a staff of volunteers to compile the useful abstracts of contents of the numerous works and memoirs noticed in this volume of 432 pages. It is unfortunate that the work has now fallen two years into arrear, but, now that the staff of contributors seems to have fairly settled down to its work, we hope the editor will soon be able to recover lost time, and that each succeeding volume will appear within the year following that for which it is issued. The editor has been very happy in discovering a method by which the officers on the staff of the Geological Survey may May 13, 1880] usefully employ their leisure, by contributing to geological literature, and we heartily wish him success in his work. Ensayo sobre una nueva enfermedad del Olivo. Por Don Pablo Colvée. Publicado en la Gaceta Agricola del Ministerio de Fomento. Pp. 43, pl. iii. (Madrid, 1880.) IT appears that the Spanish olive crop is being jeopardised in the neighbourhood of Valencia by an insect of the family Coccid@, distinct from Lecanium olee, already known as attacking the olive, and considered by Don Pablo Colvée to be a new species of the genus Asfidiofus, which he describes as A. o/ee. It apparently attacks the tree generally, but especially the fruit, causing the full develop- ment of the latter to be arrested. The greater part of Don Colvée’s paper is occupied by considerations on the development of insects in general, and on those attacking the olive in particular. The author appears to suggest no special remedy, but judiciously invites investigations as to whether the attacks of the insect are the primary cause of the want of health in the trees, or whether the latter does not invite the attacks. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts, No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressureon his space is so great that it ts impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.| Winter ‘‘Swallows” SoME months ago I tried to investigate, so far as possible, the many recorded occurrences of swallows in this country in winter. As might be expected, a large proportion of them broke down on inquiry, but there was one which, for several reasons, I thought might be safely trusted. It appeared in the ‘‘ Remarks on the Weather during the Quarter ending 31st of March, 1864” (p. 5), appended to the Registrar-General’s Report for that period, and stands thus :— “Swallows were stew on January 22d, three miles south of Grantham.” Through the kindness of Mr. Glaisher, F.R.S., and of Mr. Jeans of Grantham, I was at last put into communication with the original circulator of the statement, who obligingly wrote to me (omitting names) as follows :— ss Grantham, Sept. 23d, 1879 **Sir,—The information given to respecting the swallows, I discovered some time afterwards was not correct ; what was taken to be swallows were the common bat. I much regret being instrumental in incorrect statements being published ; it was an Irishman in my employ who told me of them; he some time afterwards showed me what he supposed to be swallows. “‘T remain, sir, ** Your obedient servant, “ ” I leave to others the moral that may be drawn from the above. ALFRED NEWTON Magdalene College, Cambridge, May 9 Does Chlorophyll Decompose Carbonic Acid? I HAVE read with much interest in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 557, Prof. Lankester’s remarks on the question—Does Chlorophyll decompose Carbonic Acid? and having many years ago made experiments on that and kindred topics, should be much obliged if you will do me the favour to reprint the following extract from a paper I published in the PAzlosophical Magazine (December, 1872, p. 425, &c.). This is also in my scientific memoirs, P. 409, 410. ‘*The decomposition of carbonic acid by plants is undoubtedly the most important of all actino-chemical facts. The existence of the vegetable world, and, indeed, it may be said, the existence NATURE 29 of all living things, depends upon it. I first effected this decom- position on the solar spectrum, as may be found in a memoir in the Philosophical Magazine (September, 1843). The results ascertained by meat that time from the direct spectrum experi- ment, that the decomposition of carbonic acid is effected by the less, not by the more refrangible rays, haye been confirmed by all recent experimenters, who differ only as regards the exact position of the maximum. In the discussions that have arisen, this decomposition has often been incorrectly referred to the greez parts of plants, Plants which have been caused to germinate and grow to a certain stage in darkness are etiolated, yet these, when brought into the sunlight, decompose carbonic acid, and then turn green, Thechlorophyll thus produced is the effect of the decomposition, not its cause. Facts derived from the visible absorptive action of chlorophyll do not necessarily apply to the decomposition of carbonic acid. The curve of the production of chlorophyll, the curve of the destruction of chlorophyll, the curve of the visible absorption of chlorophyll, and the curve of the decomposition of carbonic acid are not all necessarily coincident. To confound them together, as is too frequently done, is to be led to incorrect conclusions.” Nothing can act before it exists, nothing can originate itself. Chlorophyll is therefore the result, not the cause, of the decom- position, Its continual increase during the life of a plant is an effect of the same kind. The force decomposing carbonic acid does not reside in chlorophyll, but elsewhere in the structure of the leaf. JoHN WILLIAM DRAPER University, New York, April 28 On a Point Relating to Brain Dynamics ANY attempt to grapple with the doctrine of Free Will v. Necessity on the old lines would probably (and deservedly so) not attract much attention. The object of this paper is to place a consideration of extreme simplicity under critical notice, which would seem to be capable of affording a key to the complete reconciliation of the divergent views on a common basis; and since the matter to be dealt with will be strictly within the domain of natural science, a clear analysis will be rendered possible. It is well known that the only attempt to harmonise the doctrine of Free Will with the principle of the Conservation of Energy consists in supposing that living creatures have a power, by the mere exercise of their ‘‘ will,” of deflecting particles of matter within their bodies from their natural paths, without thereby altering the total energy of the particles.1 This, there- fore, it will be observed in the first instance, assumes a peculiar physical state of things to exist within the body of an animal which does not prevail elsewhere, or it supposes that the laws of nature have not a general application, but that the animal world must be made an exception. This at the very outset evidently involves a very questionable admission. My purpose is simply to point out that by taking into account a special consideration based on the evidence of modern physiology as to the functions of the brain, such an assumption as the above is rendered entirely superfluous, and that even if it could be supported it would still miss the main object in view. Whatever room for speculation there may be as to the exact nature of the mental faculties, it is at least very generally admitted that these faculties are most intimately connected with or dependent on brain structure. Modern physiological research has at least placed this fact beyond question, or it is allowed that the mental faculties have at all events @ physical side. From this it must follow therefore that what we call ‘‘ identity,” character, or individuality (as involved in ‘‘mind”) must be dependent on the special structure of the brain; indeed this view is so widely prevalent that it becomes almost superfluous to insist upon it. Now it may be safely assumed that no upholder of Free Will would wish for more than that a person should act in strict accordance with his identity or individuality, for the object of Free Will certainly is not to annihilate individuality (or those personal ¢rai’s which constitute character). But is not this precisely what would occur if this contention for a myste- rious power of deflecting particles within the body could be carried out? for the effect of this contention would be to make the brain superfluous as a directing mechanism, which would be tantamount to abolishing it (together with the individuality, of The necessity for this special assumption, in order to prevent Free Will from coming into direct collision with the principle of the Conservation of Energy, is so obvious that it will probably be regarded as superfluous to give references to particular authors. 30 NATURE [May 13, 1880 which it is the seat). For where would be the use of the elabo- rate mechanism of the brain for directing the movements of the body if we are to have power of carrying out this same object by deflecting particles by ‘‘ volition” (whatever that may mean)? ‘This would be to substitute for the brain, with which the iden- tity is bound up, the empty nothing ‘‘volition.” In that the brain directs the corporeal movements ; the identity, or that which constitutes the very essence of individuality, thereby directs. What more would we have? Attempt to supplant the brain by the vague notion ‘‘ volition,” and the individuality ceases to exist ; or that very end is attained which those who support Free Will most wish to avoid. From the very fact that the brain is now to exist, it there- fore should be perfectly conceivable (if not even @ priori a natural conclusion) that the brain might be a mechanism com- petent to regulate allt the motions of the corporeal system (for a set of dynamical conditions adapted to amy effect is conceiv- able). In view of this, does not the assumption of this myste- rious ‘deflecting power” seem all the more unwarrantable, or even absurd ; as if it were imagined that the brain, being already there to direct the corporeal moyements, something additional were necessary to direct the brain, or as if it were supposed that [the brain being the seat of the identity] something besides the identity were required to direct the actions of the body? This would seem to be no more than a specimen of the kind of incon- gruities which may be expected to present themselves by any attempt to evade physical principles, It could not, however, be said that the opposite party were entirely free from error. For there appears to have been a notable oversight on the side of those who uphold strict Causal Sequence in nature (sometimes called ‘‘ Necessity ”) in failing to appreciate adequately the important influence (on the question of Free Will) of the fact that the brain is the seat of individuality, as above insisted on. For the omission to give due import to this fact has naturally made strict Causal Sequence to appear as a sort of grinding process, whereby man’s actions are determined zndependently of his individuality; a view which is no doubt repulsive, and may have served as some excuse for the invention of the curious device of deflecting particles by the ‘‘mind” or ‘‘ will.” Tt will be observed, however, that by simply substituting the word ‘‘ brain ” (which includes ‘‘ mind”) for the word ‘‘mind” in the foregoing sentence, a deflection of particles of matter (represented by the direction of material Operations by the brain) then can take place in accordance with and not in opposition to the laws of nature. For from the very fact of the brain substance forming part of the material universe it must of course influence and direct material operations in con- formity with natural causes. Could it be justly said that there is any compulsion in this? Can there be compulsion in being obliged to act in accordance with one’s individuality or identity (determined by brain strac- ture), since the only conceivable escape from this would be to act i opposition to one’s identity (scarcely a desirable end)? But, it may be argued, there is still some coercion left here, because, although brain structure may be the seat of individuality or ‘“mind,” nevertheless, since our brains were originally formed by the operation of causes beyond our control, there is coercion in this a pect of the case. But then do even the most ardent supporters of Free Will ever dream of upholding the ex- pectation that an individual should have a control in the orizinal formation of his brain? or do they not concede (and rightly) that the ideal of Free Will is that an individual should act in strict accordance with (and not in opposition to) his own identity? Yet this is precisely what the believer in strict Causal Sequence, who has a just appreciation of the functions of the brain, will maintain must necessarily occur, Solely in virtue of the fact that there is strict Causal Sequence in nature are the actions brought into strict conformity with individual brain structures (or with identity). If the principles of dynamics were not rigid, or if the laws of nature were liable to alteration, a man’s actions might sometimes be in harmony with his brain structure, sometimes in discord with it; or any number of * Does it not seem a violation of principle, or a kind of inconsistency, to recognise that the brain does, in fact, direct certain motions of the corporeal system (and even those of a complex character, such as the digestion of the food, the circulation, &c.), and yet to assume that the brain would be incompetent to d.rect 2// the motions of the body? It may be said that a Teason.ng process accompanies the direction of some of these motions, but not others. But then is not reasoning itself a brain process, or is it not universally admitted that the reasoning faculty (whatever its exact nature) is at least connected with the brain, or has a physical side, just as, indeed, the mental faculties generally (or ‘ mind”) could not exist without brain? persons, though possessing totally different brain structures, might act identically. The questionable expediency of the pro- ceeding of those who are disposed to grumble at what they term the ‘‘iron” laws of nature, becomes apparent here. : But is it not, after all, more satisfactory to look to a definite physical basis for identity or idividuality, as dependent on the magnificent mechanism of the brain, in preference to the super- ficial view of ignoring all this? No doubt there have been mis- understandings on both sides of this Free Will v. Necessity question. —The Free Will party, failing to appreciate justly the sequence of cause and effect; the Necessitarians, on the other hand, omitting to realise fully the important bearing of the rela- tion of individuality to brain-structure on this question. No logical ground could be given why a complete agreement should not be possible on this subject. For there can evidently be but one correct view on any subject or question whatever. Moreover, from the very fact of the fundamental character of this question, it would follow necessarily that the wrong view on this subject must involve a great error, which, therefore, could hardly escape detection under a careful analysis. The divergence of views here is, however, no doubt more apparent than real. For if Free Will may be justly regarded as the freedom to act in accord- ance with identity (or as the assertion of individuality), then such freedom of will actually exists, and moreover the very con- dition for its existence is seen to be the prevalence of that strict Causal Sequence in nature demanded by the Necessitarians. Thus the two views would show themselves capable of recon- ciliation on a common basis. That this fact should have apparently hitherto escaped appreciation may possibly be to some extent due to that spirit of partisanship which has so largely entered into this question, whereby the judgment may be allowed to be unconsciously biassed, so that in some cases, instead of searching impartially as to what és truth, the inquiry has perhaps rather been as to what oughé to be truth. Londoa S. TOLVER PRESTON : Curious Botanical Phenomenon ABOUT a fortnight ago I noticed a curious phenomenon in a wood near Leyland, Lancashire. The ground was strewn with a layer of about eight to ten inchesof old sodden leaves, covered at the surface by dry withered ones, A quantity of hyacinths (not yet in flower) were growing on this ground, and many of the plants had pierced through the withered leaves to the extent of from half an inch to three inches, carrying them up above the general surface. Some of the hyacinths had in this way pene- trated through more than half a dozen withered leaves, and here and there several plants were gathered together at their tops by a number of old leaves, through which they had conjointly grown. The question arises as to whether the hyacinth shoots had pierced through the withered leaves on first issuing from the ground, when the dead leaves were soft and wet, and so lifted the latter to the surface where they became dried, or whether they had actually pierced through the dry leaves on the sulees Carboniferous Forest at Oldham Ir may perhaps be interesting to the readers of NATURE to know that here at Oldham we have recently laid bare a fine sample of a carboniferous forest. We are here, as you are aware, situated on the middle coal-measures, Oldham Edge (Soo feet) being the highest outcrop of that series. I have been watching with increasing interest during the past eighteen months the progress of disinterment. For some time at the commencement the trees cccurred at considerable intervals of time, but of late they have turned up more frequently, scarcely a day now passing without one or more being unearthed. They are, I am sorry to say, highly perishable, and if the necessities of the works did not require their removal they would all disappear during a single winter if exposed to the weather. The result of the combined action of the two great faults that cross Oldham in a direction parallel to each other has been to throw up to the surface several seams of coal and beds of shale and sandstone. On the eastern escarpment of the ‘‘ Edge” a quarry has been dug in the argillaceous shale above what is here known as the “Bent Mine,” in order to make bricks of the extracted mate- rials. In quarrying tis bed the trees have been laid bare in considerable numbers. Some of them show the characteristic May 13, 1880] NATURE 31 ee eee markings of Sigillariz, longitudinal flutings and the usual leaf- scars, stigmarian roots and rootlets attached, &c., others not so well preserved, being of doubtful affinities. Of course they are now but casts, nothing remaining of the original trees except a thin film of coaly matter representing the bark. They measure in height from three to ten feet, and have a diameter of from one foot to two feet four inches. I think it may be safely stated that they were merely hollow stumps when finally submerged, fronds of ferns, lepidodendroid twigs and leaves, and other vegetable waifs having found their way into the hollow cylinders and left their impress on the inclosed matrix. I may add that there are several horizons of growth, one forest having grown above another; stigmarian roots and root- lets, calamites, lepidodendroid stems and leaves, lepidostrobi, and masses of leaves of unascertained species being indiscrimi- nately mixed throughout the whole section, the ferns, however, being met with in greatest numbers near the bases of the erect trees. It is perhaps worthy of remark, too, that there is no accumu lation of coaly matter in the section revealed, nor is there any of the usual ‘‘ floor clay ” about the roots of the trees. 29, Radcliffe Street, Oldham Jas. NIELD Fungus Inoculation for Insects THE importance attributed by Dr. Lankester (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 448) to ‘‘ Prof. Metschnikoff’s suggestion of a deliberate cultivation of an insect’s-disease-producing fungus, and the application of the cultivated fungus in quantity to places in- fested by these insects,” invites attention to the fact that the suggestion has been anticipated in a very serious and earnest way by my friend the distinguished entomologist, Dr. John L. Le Conte of Philadelphia, in his presidential address before the Portland meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in August, 1873. His address concluded with ten suggestions for the promotion of economic entomology in the United States, and the seventh reads thus :—‘‘ Careful study of epidemic diseases of insects, especially those of a fungoid nature; and experiments on the most effective means of introducing and communicating such diseases at pleasure.” The reasons for making this suggestion are fully stated in the preceding paragraphs of the address, where the observations on which it is based are detailed. Dr, Le Conte’s first suggestion was, ‘‘ Reorganisation of the Department of Agriculture [at Washington] on a scientific basis, for the proper protection and advancement of agricultural in- terests.” Had this suggestion received the attention which has been given to many other subjects of less practical importance, the present reclamation for him of priority in the case of his seventh suggestion, would probably have been rendered un- necessary ; and the credit of introducing a more reasonable method of extirpating insect-pests than the dangerous plan of distributing potent mineral poisons to careless or uneducated persons for use in the fields, would have been secured to the nation to which we have the honour to belong. Dr. Le Conte’s address may be found in the published volume of the Proceedings of the Portland meeting ; but it was reprinted by him and extensively circulated and favourably commented upon at the time, his desire being precisely that so well ex- pressed by Dr. Lankester ‘‘to do something to persuade ‘ prac- tical’ men that all science is deserving of their respect and encouragement.” We all hoped that such earnest words from so high an authority would have their due effect upon Congress and inaugurate a long-desired reform of our Agricultural Bureau. But it has happened, as in so many other instances, that we have had to wait seven years before even an echo reaches us from a distant part of the world, where the labours of Prof. Metschnikoff have procured an intelligent appreciation of the value of Dr. Le Conte’s suggestion, so little comprehended by the powers at home. =)... LESEEY 1,008, Clinton Street, Philadelphia, April 10 Carnivorous Wasps A SERIES of letters, under the above heading, Lave appeared in NaTuRE for several weeks past. The facts they contain, although interesting in themselves, are nothing new to ento- mologists. That wasps are carnivorous, that they chace flies, &c., was known long ago (compare Westwood’s ‘‘Introd. to Entomol.,” ii. p. 246). ‘That wasps cut off the wings of flies before sucking them was observed by Dr. Erasmus Darwin in the last century (see J. H. Fabre, ‘‘Souvenirs Entomolo- giques,’’ Paris, 1879). AN OLD ENTOMOLOGIST Heidelberg, Germany, May 6 Seeing by Telegraphy We beg to thank Mr. Gordon for drawing attention to the fact that the principle of rotation of plane of polarisation of light in a magnetic field could not actually be employed with the form of receiver symbolically described by us in NATURE, vol. xxi. p- 589. Having satisfied ourselves that there could be no doubt of the feasibility of using the first form of apparatus, which we spoke of, as a receiver in a sight telegraph, we merely wished to point out, at the end of our letter, that other methods might perhaps be employed; and we still have no doubt that with a certain proper arrangement of the apparatus not only the effects observed by Dr. Kerr, but other of the Faraday polarisation of light effects might be practically made use of. For it must be remembered that the actual electric currents now used to transmit articulate speech are only one forty-millionth per cent. as strong as those necessary to work even a delicate telegraph relay, whereas it required several Grove’s cells to show in a decided way the old experiment of the sound emitted by an iron bar on being magnetised. And in fact we may go further, and mention that we have for the last year, or more, held the view that just as all electric con- ductors turn into heat energy a portion of the energy they transmit as electric current, so there must be some bodies, presumably of the sulphur selenium order, which, when properly employed, will convert a portion of tke current energy into vi-ible luminous vibratiors, and may therefore be used as receivers in a sight telegraph. As to the other objection that might have been made to the method as popularly described by us in consequence of the large number of wires, we need hardly mention that in practice a telegraph engineer would avail himself cf the principles of multiple telegraphy. JoHN PERRY May 3 W. E, AYRTON Anchor-Ice In confirmation of Mr. Rae’s views upon this subject, the following results of observations made upon the Charles River, Mass., may be of interest. Anchor-ice is usually formed at night during a sudden ‘‘cold snap,” when the river is not covered with surface-ice. It seems to consist of sma'l masses of needle-like crystals grouped in stellate forms, and distributed pretty evenly throughout the body of water. These adhere readily to any obstruction, and accumulate rapidly upon it. Thus the racks or strainers through which the water passes to the mills are covered and closed by it, so that the flow of the water is absolutely stopped, and the mills can only be kept running by constantly removing it with a rake, It is very adhesive and tenacious. I have frequently seen it accumulate upon portions of the extreme edge of a mill dam (over which was pouring water a foot in depth) until it reached the surface, resisting for a considerable time the enormous pressure to which it was thus subjected. It usually disappears soon after sunrise. Detached portions of the accumulated masses always rise to the surface, but the original crystals, if not heavier than water, seem to be at least as heavy. The general appearance of this ice when removed from the water resembles that of sherbet or ‘“‘water ices,” As these are frozen quickly while in motion, they are apparently formed under similar conditions, I have neyer , The intensity of light due to the traces of bodies may not be sufficient to record lines on the plate. “3, Because of the variation in the volatility of the elements, and therefore the necessity of variation in the intensity of the spark.” : The authors therefore thought it important ‘either to separate the iron or considerably lower its percentage, and the solution of this problem was their principal aim. The results of their experiments have led them to believe that as a rule the quantity of iron is much over-estimated. In confirmation of this opinion they also quote the fact that iron and steel are capable of absorbing twenty times their volume of hydrogen, a quantity which is always omitted in ordinary analysis, “ which is probably due to the fact that a steel saturated with hydrogen must be less liable to oxidation in the heating furnace than one containing little or none. In order to eliminate the iron a method of digestion with various solvents was adopted. By this process much larger quantities can be operated on at a time than by the ordinary methods of precipitation. As much as 7,000 grains of Bessemer steel were dissolved in agua regia, The solution was evaporated and heated in a paraffin bath till the acids were driven off. Ammonia May 13, 1880 | NATURE 39 was then poured on and allowed to act under pressure for several hours. It was then filtered off and evaporated to dryness with nitric acid, so as to decompose any ammonia salts. The residue was then treated in three different ways, and the spectrum photographed in each case. I. With excess of hydrochloric acid. 2. Water was added to the iron and boiled with it. 3. Acetic acid was added and boiled with the iron, some of which was dis- solved, and the solution was therefore nearly neutralised with ammonia and boiled. Photographs were then taken of the spectra of the iron thus precipitated and the filtrate from it. The following is a summary of the results obtained :— Ammonia. Water. Acetic Acid. Nickel Calcium Antimony Cadmium ... Manganese Lead Calcium Copper Aluminium Manganese Copper Copper Calcium Manganese “The above experiments were made with 7° coils and dense prisms of 60° and 75°, with object-glasses of quartz. By using an electro-dynamic machine a greater dispersion might be used, and the length of the image increased, We think that it would then be found that the bodies which we have detected by indirect means would appear in the spectrum of the original metal.” In addition to the above Mr. Wrightson read a second paper “On some physical changes occurring in Iron and Steel at High Temperatures,” which was a continuation of a paper read by him at the Liverpool meeting last year. Mr. Ackerman, of Stockholm, contributed a very lengthy memoir “On Hardening Iron and Steel ; its Causes and Effects.’ There were also five other papers on subjects of importance, chiefly to those technically interested in the manufacture of iron and steel. In conclusion the Institute must be congratulated not only on the importance and number of the papers pro- duced, but also on the fact that it has succeeded in obtaining contributions from three foreign countries, viz., Germany, Russia, and Norway, a circumstance which will no doubt give to the proceedings of the association an international importance. NOTES Mr. W. CHANDLER Roperts, F.R.S., Chemist of the Mint, has been appointed to the Lectureship of Metallurgy in the Royal School of Mines, rendered vacant by the resignation of Dr. Percy, F.R.S. Mr. Roberts will continue to hold his appointment at the Mint. Mr. Richard Smith, hitherto Assistant Metallurgist, has been appointed Instructor in Assaying. THE following foreign men of science have recently (May 6) been elected Foreign Members of the Linnean Society :—M. C, J. de Maximowicz, Director of the Imperial Museum and Herbarium, St. Petersburg, author of many important memoirs on systematic botany ; l/r, Edward Strasburger, Professor of Botany in the University of Jena, well known for his morpho- logical and physiological researches among various groups of plants ; and Prof, Elias Metschnikoff, Director of the Embryo- logical and Zoological Institate, Odessa, whose investigations on the structure and development of the lower marine inyerte- brata are highly valued. THE Municipality of Rome has just erected on the promenade of the Pincio a statue in honour of Father Secchi. The statue represents the great astronomer in the attire of a member of the Company of Jesus. UNDER their present government the French are multiplying the statues erected to their men of science by means of public subscription. Not less than three new schemes are on foot for that purpose in several parts of the country. A committee has been established at Montpellier for Auguste Comte; another at Blois, in honour of Denis Papin, a rival of the Marquis of Worcester, who, according to the French notion, invented’the steam-engine ; and a third at Bar-le Duc, on behalf of Frangois Cugnot, an engineer born in the vicinity of that city, who in 1770 constructed a road-locomotive. This rudimentary steam-engine, which is exhibited just now at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, was tried officially but unsuccessfully in the arsenal of Paris more than a century ago, Dr. Nits JOHANN ANDERSSON, the celebrated Swedish botanist and traveller, as the Gardener’s Chronicle learns from the Botanisches Centralblatt, died after long suffering on March 27 at Stockholm. Andersson was born on February 20, 1821, studied at Upsal, graduated as Doctor of Philosophy in 1845, and resided at the University as Assistant Professor of Botany. Afterwards he took part in the expedition of the frigate Zugénie round the world, 1851-1853, the result of which he published in several treatises which were translated into various foreign languages, In 1855 he became Demonstrator of Botany at Lund, and in the following year was appointed permanent Pro- fessor of Botany, Director of the Bergianska ’schen Garten and Su, erintendent of the botanical division of the Royal Museum. There he worked with great success till the beginning of 1879. From here Andersson undertook numerous journeys in the cause of science to Lapland, Norway, Germany, France, England, &ce, He also acquired scientific renown through his various treatises, books of travel, and text-books, PROF. SILVESTRI, of Catania, reports as follows concerning the renewed activity of Etna, to which we referred last week :-— “The eruption issues from the western side of the mountain, pre- cisely the part which separates the central crater from the eruptive craters of last year. The situation indicated represents the principal part of the ravine which was then formed and remained opened, and which, beginning at the recent eruptive craters, finally crosses the great crater. This ravine, in which are many crater-caverns which opened last May but remained inactive, is now the scene of the present activity, limited as yet to a simple eruption of steam and ashes, such as has frequently taken place during the past months at the summit of the mountain. To-day (April 28), while the sky is cloudless, one sees from Catania the summit of Etna enveloped in clouds which, scattered by a rather strong north-east wind, have no resemblance to eruptive clouds, though they are formed by the steam issuing from the mountain. The eruption of mud at Paterno to the south still continues, and on certain days in some of the craters increases in energy, ejecting as abundant mud as during the first days after the appearance of the phenomena,” On Tuesday evening a paper on the botanical enterprise of the empire was read to the Colonial Institute in St. James’s Hall by Mr. Thiselton Dyer, assistant director of Kew Gardens. The lecturer gave a history of botanical gardens, which date from the middle of the sixteenth century, when Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, the patron of Tasso, set the fashion of making collections of foreign plants and flowers. The earliest public botanic garden was founded by Cosmo de’ Medici in 1544 for the University of Pisa. The following year one was founded at Padua. In France the earliest botanic garden was founded at Montpellier towards the end of the sixteenth century, and in Germany that of Giessen was established in 1614, and in the Low Countries that of Leyden dated from 1577. In England the Royal Garden at Hampton Court was founded by Queen Eliza- beth, and supported by Charles IT. and George III. Those which followed and still remain were Oxford, founded in 1632; Chel- sea, in 1673 ; and Edinburgh, in 1680, The origin of Kew asa 40 scientific institution was entirely due to our Hanoverian princes. During the reigns of George IV. and William IV, Kew was much neglected ; but since that date, owing to the efforts of Lindley and Sir W. Hooker, that state of things had been remedied. The lec- turer gave a long and elaborate account of the methods pursued and the objects aimed at in the gardens at Kew. There was hardly any country of which a native would not recognise some types of vegetation with which he had been familiar. Plant distribution to all parts of the world was extensively carried out from the gardens, especially that of cinchona, caoutchoue, and Liberian coffee. The herbarium, which was the largest and best organised in the world, and the library, were important features in the gardens, and served to promote a scientific method of nomen- clature, identification, and classification. In 1863 the Duke of Newcastle, then Colonial Secretary, instructed Sir W. Hooker to publish a series of colonial floras; and twenty-two volumes had been issued and others were in progress. The floras of Australia and British India were especially valuable. In the former there were 293 species of acacia and 135 of the eucalyptus. Floras had also been published of Hongkong, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, the British West Indies, and New Zealand. The example of Kew in the matter of museums and economic botany had been followed by Hamburg, Berlin, Ghent, Paris, Boston, and our own colonies. The whole vegetable collections of the India Museum had been recently transferred to Kew. One of the most striking features of the gardens was the enormous correspondence with the botanic establishments of the colonies. Mr, Dyer then indicated the principles which should guide the establishment of a colonial botanic garden; one of the chief of these was that it should be attractive and con- veniently situate. It was also most important that it should be under competent management, and he was glad to see that the emoluments of directors had in some of our colonies been fixed ona liberal scale. Mr. Dyer concluded by reviewing the progress made by our colonies in botanical research. IN the first four months of 1880 the receipts for telegrams in France have been increased by 1,500,0co francs, but the postal department lost one-sixth of that amount. ‘This result shows that owing to the low rate of telegrams in France (3d. per word) and the increased postage (14d. per letter), telegraphy is gradually taking the place of ordinary letters. Mr. S. H. WINTLE contributes to the Launceston Examiner (Tasmania) of Feb. 20 some curious facts with regard toa ‘‘ black snake” which he succeeded in capturing by pinning to the ground with a forked stick. In his haste Mr. Wintle pinned the snake to the ground by the middle of the body; what then occurred we give in his own words without comment :—‘‘ No sooner had 1 done so—for now his rage was at its highest pitch—than in an instant he buried his fangs in himself, making the spot wet either with viscid slime or the deadly poison. Now comes that which is of most interest from a scientific point of view. He had hardly unburied his fangs when his coils round the stick sud- denly relaxed. A perceptible quiver ran through his body, and in much less time than it takes to write it he lay extended and almost motionless, with his mouth opening and shutting as if he were gasping, but no forked tongue thrust out. In less than three minutes from the time he bit himself he was perfectly dead, Here, then, was a striking example of the potency of the fang-poison of the snake uponitself.” An hour after the death of the snake Mr. Wintle tried the effect of the poison in the fangs on a mouse, which died in five minutes, and ona lizard, which died in fourteen minutes. On a fost-mortem examination of the snake the bedy was found almost bloodless, ‘‘as though the action of the poison had destroyed the colouring-matter of the blood.” Mr, F, Lewis, jun., of Ballangoda, Ceylon, sends us a snake NATURE [May 13, 1880 story in connection with the correspondence on intellect in brutes :—‘‘A short time ago,” he says, ‘I caught a common ‘green snake,’ and, anxious to try its power of intellect, I brought my finger close to its nose, and seeing that it seemed disposed to bite, I introduced the end of a match close to its mouth. This it did not seem to care about touching, so thinking perhaps that if I moved it about before the animal’s eyes it might attract its attention, I did so, but without success. Ithen took the animal by the neck, and brought z¢s own tai before its nose, This it grasped at immediately, and with considerable ardour, but still refused the match! Why should the snake prefer its own tail upon which to exercise its temper? I would suggest that if a few experiments were tried on animal instinct or intelligence some remarkable facts might be elicited, and probably some light thrown upon a subject at present so intricate and complex.” On Tuesday next (May 18) at the Royal Institution Mr. J. Fiske will give the first of a course of three lectures on American Political Ideas viewed from the Standpoint of Universal History ; on Thursday (May 20) Mr, T. W. Rhys Davids will give the first of a course of three lectures on the Sacred Books of the Early Buddhists. The following are the arrangements for the remaining Friday evenings : May 21, Mr. W. Spottiswoode, on Electricity zz transitu; May 28, Mr. Francis Hueffer, on Musical Criticism; and June 4, Mr. H. H. Statham, an Analysis of Ornament. M. W. DE FONVIELLE has discovered a very simple process for putting in rotation his newly invented electro-magnetic gyro- scope. It is sufficient to connect one end of the frame with each part of the self-acting interrupter. The only difficulty is to place the magnets at a proper distance and not to use a stronger voltaic current than required. For this operation to succeed, it is desirable to understand well the manceuvres of an instrument constructed on purpose. Some of the so-called electro-medical bobbins succeed remarkably well, either with the primary, the secondary, or a combination of the two working in tension, A PART of the St. Gothard Tunnel, 6,300 metres from the south entrance, has fallen in, killing three workmen and injuring three others. Five walled tombs, each containing a skeleton, have been discovered at Chamblandes, Canton Vaud. From the absence of metal ornaments and other indications, they are supposed to belong to an age prior to that of bronze. ON May 9 a large number of officials and others assembled at Noailles to celebrate the completion of a rural railway with narrow gauge, of which we mentioned the inauguration a few months ago, The speculation is succeeding very well, and great improvements have been realised in all the surrounding country since the system has been in operation, THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Silver-backed Fox (Camis chama) from South Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S.; a Tayra (Galictis barbara) from South America, presented by Mr. G,. A. Muhlhaiiser; an Indian Chevrotain (Zragulus meminna) from Ceylon, presented by Mr. W. H. Ravenscroft ; a Ruddy Ichneumon (/erpestes smithi) from India, presented by Mr. A. R. Lewis; two Slow-worms (Amguis fragilis), British, presented by Mr. O. Thomas; five Bosca’s Mud Newts (Pelonectes boscai) from North Spain, presented by Dr. A. Giinther, F.Z.S.; an Indian Cobra (WVaia haje) from India, presented by Mr. W. R. Higham; a Macaque Monkey (A/acacus cynomolgus) from India, a Goffin’s Cockatoo (Cacatua goffini) from Queensland, deposited; four Upland Geese (Sernicla magellanica) from Patagonia, purchased ; an Axis Deer (Cervus axis), a Zebu (os indicus), born in the Gardens. May 13, 1880] NATURE 4I SS EE eee O00 OOOO GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES ‘ Tr isa great relief to learn that a letter has been received at St. Petersburg through Pekin from Col. Prejevalsky, dated from the town of Si-Ning, March 20, announcing that the expedition under his command is safe. He left the Nan Shian mountains in July, and entered Thibet through Shaidash, His party were attacked by Tanguts, of whom they killed four and put the remainder to flight. The Thibetian troops stopped the progress of the expedition 250 versts from Hlassa, and a messenger from the Grand Lama of Thibet. brought the refusal of the Thibetian authorities to allow the Russians to proceed. The latter were, therefore, obliged to return, which they did with some difficulty through Northern Thibet, wintering at a height of 16,000 feet above the level of the sea. Col. Prejevalsky expects to reach Kiakhta in August by way of Alashan Urgu. Ar the meeting of the Geographical Society on Monday last, Mr, Everard F. im Thurn, late of the Georgetown Museum, cead a paper nominally descriptive of one of his journeys into the interior of British Guiana, but which also furnished much interesting information about that country generally. Mr. im Thurn first gave an account of the four tracts, parallel to the sea-coast, into which British Guiana may be divided, and after- wards of his journey up the Essequibo to the Savannah tract, over which he passed into Brazilian territory. At the Warraputa Cataracts he saw for the first time the rock-pictures which form so strange an addition to the landscape in parts not only of South, but of North America, The figures represent men, monkeys, snakes, &c., and are on a small scale. These pictures in Guiana are not of one kind, some being cut deeply into the rock, while others are merely scratched on the surface. Mr. im Thurn speaks well of the climate of British Guiana away from the coast, the chief,drawbacks in the interior being fever, not of a dangerous kind, diarrhoea, and ophthalmia, the germs of the last being probably conveyed by the countless small flies with which the country is infested. His allusions to the flora of the region were particularly interesting, and from a remark which he made we are glad to believe that we shall have a book from his pen before long on this little understood colony. Mr. Flint, who had been Mr. im Thurn’s companion, afterwards gave a brief description of an expedition he had made to the Roraima Mountain on the western frontier of British Guiana, He does not believe in the reported inaccessibility of this wonderful mountain, and roundly asserted that no serious attempt had yet been made to ascend it, previous travellers not having approached within a considerable distance of its base. Mr. Douctas W. FRESHFIELD, writing to the Zzmes, states that further letters have been received from Mr. E. Whymper, announcing his ascent of Pichincha and his meeting with M. Wiener, who is about to explore the Napo country. Fuller and more formal accounts of Mr. Whymper’s exploits have been received, but by his request they will not be made public until after his return in June. In continuation of our note (NATURE, vol. xxi, p, 526) on Mr. Easton’s journey in the extreme north-west of China, we learn from a further instalment of his diary some additional par- ticulars respecting his travels. After leaving Shunhwa-ting on the upper waters of the Yellow River, he intersected at right angles the longitudinal range of mountains that runs along the north bank, and after a hard climb of fifteen miles he reached Ba-rung, a small mud-walled town under the jurisdiction of Sining. The hills are of mud, and landslips have split them in all directions; they are uncultivated, and scarcely a blade of grass is to be seen. An extensive view was obtained from the top, and far away on the western horizon were seen snow-capped peaks of high mountains. Sining-fu, where-Col. Prejevalsky is believed to have fixed his head-quarters for the present, was afterwards visited, and this city is described as ‘‘rather large and oblong, but really a very shabby place;” it is stated to be 400 miles distant from Tsinchow-fu, the head-quarters of the China Inland Mission in the interior of the Kansu province. On his return to that place from Sining, Mr. Easton crossed the Yellow River near Sinchéng, about 100 miles from Sining, and he describes its width at that point as about 100 yards, but further down it widens to about 150 yards. The river winds very much, and abounds in rapids. WHERE at one time, says the Eureka Leader, was Ruby Lake, there is at present not a drop of water. ‘This sheet of water, seven or eight years ago, was from eighteen to twenty miles in length, and varied in breadth from half a mile to two or three miles, and was in a number of places very deep. It was fed by numberless springs along the foot of Ruby Mountain, and was the largest body of water in Eastern Nevada. For a num- ber of years past it has been gradually drying up, until at last it has entirely disappeared. What has been the cause of this is a mystery. The Ruby range of mountains is considered the largest and finest between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas, and besides being well wooded, has been the best-watered range of mountains in Nevada. A party of United States engineers has recently taken soundings of the Niagara River below the falls. It was a work of great difficulty to approach the falls ina small boat. Great jets of water were thrown out from the falls far into the stream, and the roar was so terrible that no other sound could be heard. The leadsman cast the line, which gave 83 feet. ‘This was near the shore. Further down stream a second cast of the lead told off 100 feet, deepening to 192 feet at the inclined railway. The average depth of the Swift Drift, where the river suddenly becomes narrow with a velocity too great to be measured, was 153 feet. Immediately under the lower bridge the whirlpool rapids set in. Here the depth was computed to be 210 feet. THE German African Society, in the last number of its Mittheilungen, publishes a list of all the scientific expeditions sent out by the (former) German Society for the Investigation of Equatorial Africa, and by the new Society (under its present title) during the years from 1873 to 1879. Altogether there were no less than eight expeditions, viz.:—1. The Loango- Expedition, and to the Chinchoxo Station, 1873-1876; cost 10,532/., less 1,1337. realised from sale of specimens ; leader, Dr. Paul Giissfeldt, not Prof. A. Bastian (who took part at his own expense in the preparatory steps for the establishment of the Chinchoxo Station), 2. The Ogowe-Expedition of Dr. Oscar Lenz, 1874-1876, cost 1,563/. 3. Cassange-Expedition, 1874-1876, cost 4,4577. Members: Capt. A. von Homeyer, Dr. Paul Pogge, Herm, Soyaux, Lieut. A. Lux. 4. Eduard Mohr’s Expedition, 1876, cost 6927, 5. Engineer Schiitt’s Ex- pedition, 1877-1879, cost 2,590/. 6, Dr. Max Buchner’s Expe- dition, since 1878, cost (till October, 1879) 1,523. 7. Rohlfs’ Expedition, since 1878, cost (till October, 1879) 2,255/. Mem- bers: Dr. Gerhard Rohlfs, Dr. Anton Stecker. 8. Dr. Oscar Lenz’s Expedition to Marocco, since the end of 1879. In his just published report on Borneo H.M.’s Consul-General says that owing to its geological formation the soil of the island cannot be compared with that of Java, Sumatra, the Sulu Archipelago, and the Philippines, all islands of volcanic origin. Towards the north, however, and in the plains in the neighbour- hood of the Great Kina Balu range, the soil is exceedingly good, as is shown by the success with which the natives grow in their rude manner rice, tapioca, indigo, &c. At present the greater part of the island is clothed with a dense primeval forest of lofty trees, many of which afford excellent timber, and until the virgin soil thus covered has been cleared it is useless to speculate on the mineral resources of the country, but there is no doubt of the existence of coal, antimony, ore, and gold in Northern Borneo. Mr. Treacher, we may add, accompanies his report with a useful sketch-map of this part of the island. Dr. Durrieux, who until quite lately was on the staff of the first Belgian expedition to East Central Africa, has just published at Brussels (Lebégue et Cie.) some of the results of his observa- tions in that country, under the title of ‘‘La Question Africaine au point de vue Commerciale.” IN a communication, entitled ‘‘ Cimbébasie,” in the last number of Les Missions Catholiques, Pere Duparquet furnishes 2 good deal of interesting information respecting Ovampo-land in Western Africa. Pére Duparquet gives, in fact, a rapid sketch of his explorations from Olokonda to Quanhama in about 17° S. lat., 16° E. Jong. He has besides, however, collected a mass of notes about a large tract of country hitherto almost entirely unknown, and of which he expresses a high opinion. THE new number of Zes Annales de l’Extréme Orient is chiefly occupied with an instalment of Prof. P. J. Veth’s notes on the languages and literature of Java, and the interminable question of M, J. Dupuis and Tongking. In the new number of the Verhandlungen of the Berlin Geographical Society (Band vii, No. 3) Herr Flegel gives an exceedingly interesting account of his residence in West Africa, 42 his visit to the Cameroon Mountains, and his ascent of the river Binué, ; THE Bolletino of the Italian Geographical Society for April contains full details of the proposed Arctic Expedition under Lieut. Bove, with a carefully compiled map of the south polar regions so far as these have been hitherto explored, M. Desiré CHARNAY has left New York for Mexico for the purpose of carrying out a thorough exploration of the ancient remains that still exist in that country. It is expected that the work of exploration will last for two or three years. ON ELECTRIC LIGHTING* DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES.—Since the date of the author’s former paper in April, 1879, other observers have published the results of experiments similar to those described by him. It may be well to exhibit some of these results reduced to the form he has adopted, viz., a curve, such as that shown in Fig. 4, Proceedings, 1879, Plate 29, and now reproduced, with slight alterations, in Fig. 1, Here any abscissa represents a current passing through the dynamo-electric machine, Gerwe of Force anc Gorrert. Speed 729 revolutions peri.waucde. Ty Gor gS aa €0 7D 80 Webers Birxeite and the corresponding ordinate represents the electromotive force of the machine for a certain speed of revolution, when that current is passing through it. It will be found (1) that with varying speed the ordinate or electromotive force, corresponding to any abscissa or current, is proportional to the speed ; (2) that the electromotive force does not increase indefinitely with increasing current, but that the curve approaches an asymptote ; (3) that the earlier part of the curve is, roughly speaking, a straight line, until the current attains a certain value, and that at that point the electromotive force has reached about two-thirds of its maximum value. When the current is such that the electro- motive force is not more than two-thirds of its maximum, a very small change in the resistance with speed of engine constant, or in the speed of the engine with resistance constant, causes a great change in the current. For this reason such a current, which is the same for all speeds of revolution, since the curves for different speeds differ only in the scale of ordinates, may be called the ‘‘critical current” of the machine. The effect of a change of speed is exhibited in Fig. 1, where the lower line represents a curve for a speed of 660 revolutions per minute, electromotive force current is given by the slope of the line op, which must therefore be constant ; and it will be seen that this line cuts the upper curve at a point corresponding to a current of 15 webers, and the lower at a point corresponding to a current of 5 webers only. In Germany, Auerbach and Meyer (Wiedemann’s Annalen, November, 1879) have experimented fully on a Gramme ma- chine at various speeds, and with various external resistances, The resistance of the machine was 0°97 ohms, Their results are summarised in a table at the end of their paper, which gives the current passing, with resistances in circuit from 1°75 to 200 Siemens units, and at speeds from 20 to 800 revolutions per minute. In the accompanying diagram, Fig. 2, curve No. 1, ex- presses the relation between electromotive force and current, as deduced from some of their qbservations, making allowance, where necessary, for difference in speed. ‘The curve, as actually con- structed, is for a speed of 800 revolutions: at this speed it will be seen that the maximum electromotive force is about 76 volts ; the critical current, corresponding to a force of about 51 volts, is 6°5 webers, with a total resistance of 7°8 ohms. Up to this point there will be great instability, exactly as was the case in 7 Paper read at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, by Dr. John Hopkinson, F.R.S. instead of 720. The resis‘ance, varying as ) NATURE [Aay 13, 1880 the Siemens machine examined by the author, where the resist- ance was 4 ohms, and the speed 720 revolutions. The results of an elaborate series of experiments on certain dynamo-electric machines have recently been presented to the — Royal Society by Dr. Siemens. One of the machines examined was an ordinary medium-sized machine, substantially similar to that tried by the author in 1879. It is described as having 24 divisions of the commutator ; 336 coils on the armature, with a resistance of 0°4014 Siemens units; and 512 coils on the mag- nets, with a resistance of 0°3065 ; making a total resistance of SoD leciromotive W°7 eo horce Vo a, 50] a #0. 4 NP3. ee / 2) of oe Salad 7047 eae oot ea ; Sasa a ec 0 40 20 2a 40 oo 69 70 67 Fic. 2. 0°7079 Siemens units = 0°6654 ohms. Curve No. 2 gives the relation of electromotive force and current, reduced to a speed of 700 revolutions per minute, the actual speeds ranging from 450 to 800 revolutions. The maximum electromotive force appears to be probably 76 volts, and the critical current 15 webers, which is the same as in the author’s first experiments on a similar machine. In the summer of last year theauthor examined aSiemensmachine ~ of the smallest size. This machine is generally sold as an exciter for their alternate current machine. It has an internal resistance of 0°74 ohms, of which 0°395 is in the armature or helix. The machine is marked to run at 1,130 revolutions per minute. The following Table gives, for a speed of 1,000 revolutions, the total resistance, current, electromotive force, and horse-power deve- loped as current, The horse-power expended was not deter- mined :— Experiments on smatlest-sized Siemens Dynamo-Electric Machine Resistance, Elegie Eleciomotive alae ae Ohms. Webers. Volts. Fire: 2°634 4°53 13'2 ree (0108 2°221 10.8 3 27°0 0°39 1°967 Lipat nae RO <2 OOS D7S4ie 18'1 36°4 o'88 1°668 19'S B72 0°95 1°579 20°6 36°6 I‘o1 1°503 22°8 39°3 Poneto to) I'440 24°7 see eee) 4OTO) Wee) where mmmeete: I°I45 B22) sus seer eA TRS) Pen eee Curve No. 3 gives as usual the relations of electromotive force and current. From this curve it will be seen that the critical current is 11°2 webers, and the maximum electro- motive force, at the speed of 1,000 revolutions, is about 42 volts, The determinations for this machine were made in exactly the same manner as in the experiments on the medium-sized machine, using the galvanometer, but omitting the experiment with the calorimeter (compare Table I., p. 249, Proceedings, April, 1879). The time required to develop the current ina Gramme machine has been examined by Herwig (Wiedemann, June, 1879). He established the following facts for the machine he examined. reversed current, having an electromotive force of 0°9 Grove cells, sufficed to destroy the residual magnetism of the electro- magnets, If the residual magnetism was as far as possible reduced, it took a much longer time to get up the current than when the machine was in its usual state. A longer time was required to get up the current when the external resistance was great, than when it was small, With ordinary resistance the current required from { second to I second to attain its maximum. Brightness of the Electric Arc.—The measurement of the light emitted by an electric are presents certain peculiar difficulties. The light itself is of a different colour from that of a standard candle, in terms of which it is usual to express luminous intensi- ties. The statement, without qualification, that a certain electric lamp and machine give a livht of a specified number of candles, is therefore wanting in definite meaning, A red light cannot wih propriety be said to be any particular multiple of a green light ; nor can one light, which is a mixture of colours, be said with strictness to be a wultiple of another, unless the proportions of the colours in the two cases are the same. Capt. Abney (Proceedings of the Royal Society, March, 1878) has given the 'Y | “Bay 13, 1880] NATURE 43 results of measurements of the red, blue, and actinic light of electric arcs, in terms of the red, blue, and actinic light of a standard candle. The fact that the electric light is a very different mixture of rays from the light of gas or of a candle, has long been known, but has been ignored in statements intended for practical purposes. : Again, the emission of rays from the heated carbons and arc is by no means the same in all directions. Determinations have been made in Paris of the intensity in different directions, in particular cases. If the measurement is made in a horizontal PK fais ul We) i Fic. 3 (Scale about 74). direction, a very small obliquity in the crater of the positive carbon will throw the light much more on one side than on the other, causing great discordance in the results obtained. If the electric light be compared directly with a standard candle, a dark chamber of great length is needed—a convenience not always attainable. In the experiments made at the South Foreland by Dr. Tyndall and Mr. Douglass, an intermediate standard was employed; the electric light was measured in terms of a large oil lamp, and this latter was frequently compared with a standard candle. _ Other engagements have prevented the author from fairly attacking these difficulties; but since May 1879 he has had in occasional use a photometer with which powerful lights can be measured in moderate space. This photometer is shown in Fig. 3, and an enlargement of the field-piece in Fig. 4. A lens Fic. 4 (Scale about 4). A, of short focus, forms an image at B of the powerful source of light which it is desired to examine. The intensity of the light from this image will be less than that of the actual source by a calculable amount ; and when the distance of the lens from the light is suitable, the reduction is such that the reduced light becomes comparable with a candle oracarcellamp. Diaphragms cc are arranged in the cell which contains the lens, to cut off stray light. One of these is placed at the focus of the lens, and has a small aperture. It is easy to see that this diaphragm will cut off all light entering from a direction other than that of the Source ; so effectually does it do so, that observations may be made in broad daylight on any source of light, if a dark screen be placed behind it. The long box DD, Fig. 3, of about 7 feet length, is lined with velvet—the old-fashioned dull velvet—-not that now sold with a finish, which reflects a great deil of the light incident at a certain angle. This box serves as a dark chamber, in which the intensity of the image formed by the lens is compared with a standard light, by means of an ordinary Bunsen’s photometer F, sliding on a graduated bar. Mr. Dallmeyer kindly had the lens made for the author: he can therefore rely upon the accuracy of its curvature and thickness ; it is plano-convex, the convex side being towards the source of light. The curvature is exactly 1 inch radius, and the thickness is 0°04 inch ; it is made of Chance’s hard crown glass, of which the refractive index for the D line in the spectrum is 1517. The focal length fis therefore 1°933 inch. Let w denote the distance of the source of light from the curved surface of the lens, and w the distance of the image of the source B from the posterior focal plane. Neglecting for the moment loss by reflection at the surface of the glass, the 2 intensity of the source is reduced by the factor (2) - But u ory = a hence the factor of reduction is “a — of So a | 4 yw Ne The effect of absorption in so small a thickness of I u (Se very pure glass may be neglected; but the reflection at the surfaces will cause a loss of $*3 per cent. which must be allowed for. This percentage is calculated from Fresnel’s formule, which are certainly accurate for glasses of moderate refrangibility, and for moderate angles of incidence. Suppose, for example, it is required to measure a light of 8,000 candles; if it be placed at a distance of 4o inches it will be reduced in the ratio 467 to 1, and becomes a conveniently measurable quantity. By transmitting through coloured glasses both the light from an electric lamp and that from the standard, a rough comparison may be made of the red or green in the electric light with the red or green in the standard. A dispersive photometer, in which a lens is used in a some- what similar manner, is described in Stevenson’s ‘‘ Lighthouse Illumination.” Messrs. Ayrton and Perry described a dispersive photometer with a concave lens at the meeting of the Physical Society on December 13, 1879 (Proc. of the Physical Society, vol. iii. p. 184). The convex lens possesses however an obvious advantage in having a real focus, at which a diaphragm to cut off stray light may be placed. ; Efficiency of the Electric Arc.—To define the electrical con- dition of an electric arc, two quantities must be stated: the current passing, and the difference of electric potential at the ends of the two carbons. Instead of either one of these, we difference of potential atl ee current call it the resistance of the arc, that is to say, the resistance , may, if we please, state the ratio e “ eee Z a cm£a SZ LH: a / VEE a B 0 = Fic. 5. which would replace the arc without changing the current. But such a use of the term electric resistance is unscientific ; for Ohm’s law, on which the definition of electric resistance rests, is quite untrue of the electric arc; and, on the other hand, for a given material of the electrodes, a given distance between them, and a given atmospheric pressure, the difference of potential on the two sides of the arc is approximately constant. The product of the difference of potential and the current is of course equal to the work developed in the arc; and this, divided by the work expended in driving the machine, may be considered as the efficiency of the whole combination, It is a very easy matter to measure these quantities. The difference of potential on the two sides of the arc may be measured by the method given by the author in his previous paper, by an electrometer, or in other ways. The current may be measured by an Obach’s galvano- meter, by a suitable electro-dynamometer, or best of all, in the author’s opinion, by passing the whole current, on its way to the are, through a very small known resistance, which may be regarded as a shunt for a galvanometer of very high resistance, or to the circuit of which a very high resistance has been added, It appears that with the ordinary carbons and at ordinary atmospheric pressure no are can exist with a less difference of potential than about 20 volts ; and that in ordinary work, with an are about 2 inch long, the d.fference of potential is from 30 to 50 volts, Assuming the former result, about 20 volts, for the difference of potential, the use of the curve of electromotive forces may be illustrated by determining the lowest speed at which a given machine can run, and yet be capable of producing ashort arc. Taking o as the origin of co-ordinates, Fig. 5, set off upon the axis of ordinates the distance 0 A equal to 20 volts ; draw AB to intersect at B the negative prolongation of the axis 44 4 oe OL of abscissze, so that the ratio ae may represent the necessary B metallic resistance of the circuit. Through the point 8, thus obtained, draw a tangent to the curve, touching it at c, and cutting OAinp. ‘Then the speed of the machine, corresponding to the particular curve employed, must be diminished in the ratio ORD in order that an exceedingly small are may be just possible. OA The curve may also be employed to put into a somewhat dif- ferent form the explanation given by Dr. Siemens at the Royal Society respecting the occasional instability of the electric light as produced by ordinary dynamo-electric machines, The opera- tion of all ordinary regulators is to part the carbons when the current is greater than a certain amount, and to close them when it is less; initially the carbons are in contact. Through the origin 0, Fig. 6, draw the straight line 0 A, inclined at the angle A. 7) N Fic. 6, representing the resistances of the circuit other than the arc, and meeting the curve at A. The abscissa of the point A represents the current which will pass if the lamp be prevented from ope- rating. Let ON represent the current to which the lamp is adjusted; then if the abscissa of A be greater than ON, the carbons will part. Through n draw the ordinate BN, meeting the curve in the point B; and parallel to OA draw a tangent ED, touching the curve at D. If the point B is to the right of D, or farther from the origin, the arc will persist ; but if B is to the left of D, or nearer to the origin, the carbons will go on parting, till the current suddenly fails and the light goes out. If 8, although to the right of D, is very near to it, a very small reduction in the speed of the machine will suffice to extinguish the light. Dr. Siemens gives greater stability to the light by exciting the electromagnets of the machine by a shunt circuit, instead of by the whole current. The success of burning more than one regulating lamp in series depends on the use in the regulator of an electro-magnet, excited by a high-resistance wire connecting the two opposed carbons. The force of this magnet will depend upon the dif- ference of potential in the arc, instead of depending, as in the ordinary lamp, upon the current passing. Such a shunt magnet has been employed in a variety of ways. The author has arranged it as an attachment to an ordinary regulator ; the shunt magnet actuates a key, which short-circuits the magnet of the lamp when the carbons are too far parted, and so causes them to close, In conclusion the author ventures to remind engineers of the following rule for determining the efficiency of any system of electric lighting in which the electric arc is used, the arc being neither exceptionally long nor exceptionally short. Measure the difference of potential of the arc, and also the current passing through it, in volts and webers respectively ; then the product of these quantities, divided by 746, is the horse-power developed in that arc. Itis then known that the difference between the horse-power developed in the are and the horse-power expended to drive the machine must be absolutely wasted, and has been expended in heating either the iron of the machine or the copper conducting wires, PRELIMINARY REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON SOLAR PHYSICS APPOINTED BY THE LORDS OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION w SiR, —In reply to Mr. MacLeod’s letter of November 20, 1879, calling upon us, pending the preparation of our General Report, to give a brief summary of the progress already made, and to state at the same time what work was in hand, and NATURE [May 13, 1880 such other facts as we might think it desirable to mention, to enable their Lordships to determine whether they shall apply to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury for an extension of the vote for another year, we have the honour now to submit the following report. “The Committee have had thirteen formal meetings. In addition to this several members of the Committee have carried out special branches of the inquiry; and Mr. Lockyer, as arranged when the Committee was appointed, has been charged with the general conduct of the observational and experimental work at South Kensington. The Committee consider that Mr. Lockyer by his laboratory work and comparison of the results with solar phenomena, has brought together a great body of evidence tending frimd facie to conclusions of the utmost importance. The labour and difficulty of the research are, however, so great that much additional time and attention must continue to be bestowed on it before the questions thus raised can be considered as finally settled ; and the Committee think it of much importance that the researches now being carried on should not be interrupted. “The Committee have been in correspondence with the Indian Government, the Astronomer-Royal, the Directors of the Ob- servatories at Wilna, Melbourne, Mauritius, Kew, Moscow, Toronto, Paris, Palermo, Princeton, and with Dr. Warren De la Rue, From all of these promises of valuable co-operation and assistance have been received. To the Astronomer-Royak our thanks are specially due for the manner in which he has met us in the matter, placing all the information bearing on the sub- ject in the Royal Observatory at our service. “4 few months before the appointment of the Committee, daily photographs of the sun had been commenced by order of the Government of India under the Surveyor-General at Dehra, N.W. Provinces, the photographs being transmitted to Mr. Lockyer for reduction, “ Unfortunately the observer, Mr. Meins, late of the R.E., sent from this country, after having been trained at Chatham and South Kensington, died suddenly in the early part of the year, and the continuity of the daily record was thus broken. In August the Government of India requested to be informed as to the importance of the continuance of the records thus interrupted, and the following letter was sent in reply :— “¢ Science and Art Department, London, S.W., “¢onth November, 1879 “¢Srr,—In reply to your letter dated August ro, 1879, inviting remarks relative to the importance of continuing certain solar observations which were recently instituted in India, and sug- gestions as to future arrangements if it should be decided that the observations are to be continued for an indefinite period, I beg leave to submit to you, for the information of Lord Cran- brook, the following explanation :— j “In their General Report the Science Commissioners recom- mended the establishment of a system of physical (as distinguished from astronomical) observations on the sun, and pointed out the advantages which Northern India offers for this study. A memorial was more recently presented to Government, signed by a number of our leading scientific men, urging the carrying out of this recommendation. “Tn compliance with these recommendations the British Government as a preliminary step appointed a Committee on Solar Physics, whose duty it should be to make trial of methods of observation, collect observed results, &c., and who were specially charged with the reduction of such observations as should be made in India. As a consequence of this arrangement the Government of India authorised the employment of the late Mr. Meins for the purpose of taking photographs of the sun in India, anda series of such photographs was prepared by him and has been sent home to be dealt with. The following brief statement will show how superior the climate of India is to our own for observations of this kind. The Astronomer-Royal has been so kind as to furnish the Committee with a list of the solar photographs taken at the Royal Observatory during the period 21st July, 1873, to 18th July, 1879, over a part of which Mr. Meins’ work extended. It should be mentioned that in both places alike the rule was to take three photographs daily, in the morning, about noon, in the afternoon, when clear views of the sun could be obtained, In the rare cases in which a fourth photograph was taken in the same day in India, it is not included in the following list :— May 13, 1880] NATURE 45 ee ——————— —————————— — EES Total number of days during which both in- struments were working simultaneously between February 11th, 1878, and March 384 PI Oicns. coc cad ate cdoy eReoewon: Greenwich. India. Total number of photographs. Reducing where four or more have been taken to 207 872 UMED..456, 9 Gaol Gabe ceeeiC PEC CONECCCL Ee Number of da n which one at least wa SIG Po a act, ade eat ee Number of days on which no photegraph 244 42 WS TENSES DESan occ uetoo das icc! 065 ¢¢*No correction has been made for the non-taking of photo- graphs at Greenwich on Sundays. ‘Tn the total number of photographs the maximum number taken on any one day has been taken as three. «—zfg1 —|Lo—tog1 + |€9—o9g1 — |6S—oSgI —|\$S—zSe1 = \1S—egtegr _|Lp—tbot +|\€b—obe1 — 6€—9EfQI — |\S€—zEg1 | ‘Logi OL Z£QI WOVA SUVIA ANOY MAAT OA SAV 6zE.bz GOIWAd JO ALIIVAOANT LOIS-NAS V giz + |16z1 + + w + +++ £09 1Z oo$ ONILIAIHXY— IT AIAVL PLir+|ggiz+ SIZE + 1SzE + leche + \cg6z + saaas) 270YA4 oobi +|\€611+ |hog + Z€6 +\Lori+ |gogf1 + ¥16 +\gob +/z2fL + Savax jaaganr, | Aaa gSS +lolLb +2Sy + Z19 +]109 +\39h + Sez +jez1 +)9L —- bob +/€Sq +/516 + “Lt +{Z11 +)er — 96z + LEE + (618 + 669 +\crE + 082 + 60z + |z6z +\Lov + 9 +tlozz -|St + () ztl zg 188 (z) £s¢e b6b S11 zbo ooz ob 6€£ Lov Sz Sote+ ttt teeter tits Str + ++ ++4++ L611+ 6b + ++ gst 169 obec (ag zL1t — |61bz Sse —|€bz gir —|go9 669 —|goSI 611 —|hor zgf —|991 gz1 +/Lor 11h —|go9 tof + |Lor 1Z —/Lor gsi —|gz to =—|Lev LLy —\€19 | gSbt — |16L€ — |Lo—etg1 | sori — |6101 — Lo—oSgt gozr — |SZ41—|SS—Prer ogol — 166 —|\€v—ztgi 14S —|ob€ —|Lo—bogt ooL —|oog —|\€9—0981 for +|1zx +/6S—9Sgr zi —|€06 —|SS—zSgi g —|s6 —|1S—grgi sgh —|PLl —|Ly—brgt oS€ —lgzb —|€'—obgi Sze —|zee —|6€—o€gr Sob -|6€2 —|SE—zEgr sumx Moy ddan (1) ANv ‘Logi ox z€gi Wows SUVA YANO AYTAT YOM SAV 7z0,be Goliad JO ALIIVAOANT LOdS-NAS V ONILIGIHXA—T ATA VL a 82 which is fully described in the communications already alluded to. By this means the positions of the various inequalities around twenty-four days have been indicated on the time-scale. I have next taken two of these and attempted to eliminate from them the influence of all neighbouring inequalities, in order to see with what suc- cess it is possible to disentangle the various periods from each other. In order to test this success I have exhibited in the tables on p. 81 the result of this elimination ap- plied to each four years of sun-spot records, and I think it will be manifest to every one that there is such evidence of repetition, that one cannot doubt the reality of the periods therein indicated. I have likewise begun to apply to these records Gen. Strachey’s test, and with a good result so far as I have yet gone. No kind of smoothing or equalisation has been applied, and the elimination has been carried on only to the first stage, so that more accurate determinations will probably result from a further application of labour. BALFOUR STEWART PRIMITIVE MAN? T is a familiar fact that from time to time wrong-headed but enthusiastic persons appear in the scientific arena boldly challenging the truth of some one or other of the most firmly-established and essential doctrines of the scientific creed. Sometimes a clever investigator discovers that we moderns are all in the wrong, and that the sun after all goes round the earth ; another will have it that the moon does not revolve on its axis; a third Aalst a fhe gorrectness of the theory of gravitation; V. Thies ath a > ; ~ difficulty whatever in squaring the circle. Such men have =) ed up at Bee throughout the historical period. “Bitey Seen HGLt their usefulness in their generation, for they atfora 2..., little mirth, and give an opportunity sometimes to men of science to reconsider their standpoints and settle them- selves more firmly upon them. Itseems uncertain whether Prof. Dawson, of McGill College, Montreal, is to be classed with these malcontents, or whether his scientific heresies are to be explained as conforming to the general law that superstitions generally survive and even thrive in colonies long after they have died out in their mother country. No greater contrast could well be conceived than is presented by the two works on Primitive Man which have Just appeared, and which form the subject of the present article. Prof. Boyd Dawkins, in accordance with the teachings set forth in his “‘Cave Hunting” and all other works which have proceeded from his pen, treats his subject in a thoroughly scientific and unprejudiced manner, and the results which he lays before his readers are in keeping with the conclusions now fully accepted by all anthropo- logists and admitted by educated persons generally. Prof. Dawson, on the other hand, has actually written a book at this present time, the object of which is to attempt to show that mankind first made its appearance on the earth not more than 6,000 or 8,000 years ago. He sumsup thus :— “What evidence the future may bring forth I do not know, but that available at present points to the appear- ance of man with all his powers and properties in the Post-glacial age of geology, and not more than 6,000 to 8,000 years ago.” His book is described as “an attempt to illustrate the characters and condition of prehistoric men in Europe by those of the American races.’ His argu- ments are old stagers long ago upset. Such, for example, as that because some savages, such as the Veddahs of Ceylon, who are degraded Singhalese, are degenerate, therefore = << Barly Man in Britain and His Place in the Tertiary Period.” By W. Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S., &c._ (London: Macmillan. and Co., 1880.) “*Fossil Men and their Modern Representatiyes.’’ By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., McGill College, Montreal. (Londen; Hodder and Stoughton, 1880.) NATURE [Way 27, 1880 all savages are the degenerate offspring of highly-cultivated races. On similar grounds we might infer that because barnacles and ascidians can be shown to be degenerate animals, therefore all lower animals have undergone “ degeneration,’ to use Prof. Ray Lankester’s term, and all monkeys are degenerate men. The main argument of the book is however apparently that derived from the results of excavations made on the site of Montreal. On this site, as we know from Cartier’s narrative, stood in 1535 the native town of Hochelaga, which was fortified, as shown in the plan of the town at the end of the third volume of Ramusio’s collection of Voyages and Travels, by means of a circular triple wall of wooden beams, the outer of which were inclined to meet one another at the summit. The native town, its huts and walls, naturally disappeared within a century, and all that now remains of it are the implements and bones which are to be dug out on its site, and of which Prof. Dawson gives an interesting account. There are tobacco pipes of various kinds, stone weapons, pottery, and bones of animals and men. If it had not been for Cartier’s visit and published narrative antiquarians might have ascribed a very early date to these remains, argues the author, therefore in all cases where a very early date has been assigned to human remains of the palzolithic age in Europe a similar error has been committed. We cannot follow Prof. Dawson through his attempts to contort the data of modern science into accordance with Chaldean cosmogonies and mythology as familiar to us in Jewish dress. He gravely refers the remains found at the camping ground at Solutre which, according to M. de Mortillet, mark a special epoch (the Solutrian) in the paleolithic age, to the antedi/uvian epoch, and reminds us how Jabal, before the flood, according to Genesis, initiated the nomadic mode of life, suggesting that the old inhabitants of Solutre who hunted the mammoth, the Cave lien and cave bear, were Jabalites. It is delightful to find how beausieully everything fits into its place when freely interpreted by Prof.Dawson. The results of his ethnographical and antiquarian researches appear to be more or less summed up in the biblical text, ‘‘God shall enlarge Japhet, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.” This means, as he aptly explains, that the Aryan or Japetic races were to be endowed with “the higher control of the physical forces and the greater power of expansion and propa- gandism,” in short, amongst other exploits, to exter- minate the Redskins and colonise America ; whilst the Semitic races were to receive historical and spiritual revelations, and Canaan in the text represents unprogressive humanity generally. . Prof. Dawson’s intimate acquaintance with the details. of prehistoric religion is most startling. He holds up the faith of palzeolithic, or pal@ocosimic, man, as he prefers to call him, as a warning and a pattern to the degraded Ritu- alist, at whom he cannot help having a dig even with palaeo- lithic weapons, being evidently a staunch Protestant. He slays evolutionists with the same thrust. It is an unex- pected honour for them to die in such company. No doubt the association is meant to give the Ritualists the hardest dig. He wishes “ distinctly to affirm that the pres historic religions, and what we call heathenism or animism of untaught tribes, were nearer to God and truth than are either the ritualisms and idolatries or the materialistic scepticisms of more civilised times, when men, ‘ professing themselves to be wise, become fools.’ ” Till we read this passage it seemed to us that Prof. Dawson professed him- self throughout his book to be very wise indeed, but of course he cannot have intended to pose in that attitude. The chapter concludes by calling on ‘all men everywhere to repent,” and so we do heartily of having followed so far Prof. Dawson’s, shall we call it ‘‘ wisdom”? We turn with relief to Prof. Boyd Dawkins’s fine volume. It is sumptuously printed, and contains 168 May 27, 1880] NATURE 8 a o excellent illustrations, the sources of which are given in a table at the commencement of the work, a detail of importance often omitted. The first chapter deals with the relation of geology to archeology and history, these three sciences all contribut- ing to the building up of the account of early man in Britain. There appears to be a slip in the table showing the specialisation of mammalia in the tertiary period, Fic. 1.—Flint River Drift Implement, Gray’s Inn Lane, where the period is divided into the eocene, miocene, | pleiocene, pleistocene, prehistoric, and historic stages. The latter stage is said to be characterised by living species of mammalia and no extinct species, which is | rather misleading, since Steller’s sea-cow is almost cer- tainly extinct, and several other mammalia are verging on extinction. “After an interesting sketch of the physical ‘conditions and the successive faunas and floras of preceding geo- logical periods in Britain, the account of the miocene age is concluded with a paragraph headed ‘‘ No Proof of Man in Europe in the Miocene Age.” High authorities such as Dr. Hamyand M. de Mortillet have maintained that man did exist in France as early as the middle of the miocene age, basing their ‘conclusions on the evidence given by splinters of flint found in mid-miocene strata at - Thenay by the Abbé Bourgeois, and by a notched fragment of a rib found at Pouance by M. Delauny. The author seems a little in doubt whether these flakes and notches are in reality artificial, but if they be so he prefers to conclude, with Prof. Gaudry, that they were made by the anthropomor- phous apes then inhabiting France rather than by man. This appears to be asomewhat wild suggestion, and the author is evidently led to it by con- siderations which are set forth in the same paragraph, and which seem to him to prove that from zoological grounds man could not have existed in the miocene age, as to the cogency of which considerations we cannot at al} agree with him. His argument is that because no other living species of land mammal has been met with in the miocene fauna, therefore man could not have formed an exception to this supposed rule, and “had no place ina fauna which is conspicuous by the absence of all the mammalia now associated with him.” ‘If miocene man had existed it is incredible that he alone of all the mammalia living in these times in Europe should not have perished or have changed into some other form in the lapse of ages.” The author adds : “ Those who believe in the doctrine of evolution will see the full force of this argument against the presence of man in the miocene fauna not merely of Europe but of the whole world.” Now we, we hope in com- mon with all the readers of NATURE, are thorough-paced evolutionists, but we should have said rather that those who understand the doctrine of evolu- tion would consider this argument as completely unsound. Evolution, wher- ever variedly manifested in its action, does not produce any comprehensive similar effect on any group of different objects on which it acts. According to the varying conditions partly sur- rounding, partly embodied in each ob- ject, evolution singles out certain of the objects for higher specialisation, others for degradation, others again for extinc- tion ; whilst others again it, as it were, leaves alone to survive unchanged through ages amongst hosts of modified descendants of their near relatives. The survival of some form, larval or adult, or-of some organ of great antiquity in unchanged con- dition, where all the concomitants have become profoundly modified, is one of the most familiar facts explained by the evolution theory. How is it else that the brachiopod Lingula has survived in nearly identical form to the present. day from the earliest geological times, whilst all its then contemporaries are extinct or have changed ? _ How is it else that the vertebrate structure survives in one 1 i 84 NATURE [May 27, 18380 only one or two of the degenerate Ascidians? How is it else that some savages are still in their stone age, and that Prof. Dawson still believes that mankind is only 6,000 years old ? We see no reason whatever, from evolutionary grounds, why man should not have existed in the miocene times. Anthropomorphic apes were already in those times abundant and varied, and comparative anatomy points to the progenitor of man having been an ancestor of the present existing anthropomorphs, combining many of their several characters. At the same time we do not wish to appear to assert that man did then exist, but we think it rather a pity that the author did not give good illustrations of the miocene flint flakes and the notched ib, if only to show, as we believe is the case, that they Fig 2.—Tooth of Cave lion, Duruthy Cave. do not exhibit any very definite traces of handiwork, and has not formed a more certain judgment as to | whether the objects are artificial or not. We have dwelt upon this matter at some length, because an important question of principle is involved in which we are at variance with the author. With regard to every- thing else in the book we cannot but offer our best thanks to him. His extended experience in cave-hunting, his critical | knowledge of geology and of the later tertiary mammalia, have long rendered him an authority of first rank on the subject of which he treats, and-he has in the present | volume combined with great care all available published information with the results of his own investigations. The book represents with great clearness the present state of our knowledge with regard to the antiquity of Fic. 3.—Reindeer incised on antler, Kesserloch, 3. man, for though it treats principally of Early Man in Britain, no details of importance with regard to dis- coveries bearing on the subject on the Continent or elsewhere are omitted. The whole account is most clearly and logically arranged, and written in a very readable and entertain- ing style. It is popular as well as scientific. The author considers the evidence of man in early pleistocene strata as doubtful. It is inthe mid-pleistocene deposits that man first appears without any doubt, as proved by flint implements found in the lower brick-earths at Crayford by the author himself. Man was at that period associated in the Thames valley with six extinct species of mammalia, viz., three species of rhinoceros, 2. | megarhinus, tichorhinus, and leptorhinus, the mammoth and Evlephas antiguus, and the Irish elk. Large herds of Fic. 4.—Stone hatchet, Robenhausen | horses, stags, and bisons frequented the open country, the hippopotamus floated about lazily in the Thames, whilst the thickets were inhab‘ted by wolves, foxes, brown and grisly bears, huge lions, hyzenas, and wild boars. We cannot here follow the author throughout his well- told story, but can only dip here and there into his work to give our readers a sample of its qualities. Most interesting is a palzolithic implement discovered in England so long ago as the year 1690. It was found with the remains of an elephant in the heart of London in the gravel at Gray’s Inn Lane, and having been preserved in the Sloane collection in the British Museum for more than 150 years, was ultimately recognised by Mr. A. W. Franks as identical with those discovered so long after- wards in the gravels of Amiens and Abbeville. It belongs to the late pleistocene river deposits. The accompanying May 27, 1880] figure of itis taken from Mr. John Evans's “Ancient Stone Implements.” The author carefully considers, as far as the evidence will permit, the question of the range of the Cave men as compared with the River-drift men. The remains of the “Cave men,” who are characterised by the use of certain peculiar implements, are found throughout the whole of France, and are remarkably abundant in the caverns of the Pyrenees. They occur also in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and England, but are limited in range, being unknown as yet in the caves south of the Alps and Pyrenees, and north of a line passing east and west from Derbyshire through Belgium. The Cave men differed in race from the River-drift men. They, were ignorant of pottery, but they had a varied assortment of implements and weapons of bone, ivory, and stone. They prized ornaments, and in the cave at Duruthy forty canine teeth of the bear and the lion were found perforated to form a necklace, “a magnificent trophy of the chase.” The Cave men were also artists, and engraved drawings of very considerable artistic merit on bones, ivory, and antlers. Their drawings of the mammoth on its own ivory are familiarly known. We reproduce here a figure of a reindeer incised on an antler from the Kesserloch, near Thaynigen. Drawings of the great Irish elk, bisons, the ibex, and bears have also been discovered, but those of NATURE - 85 man are extremely rare, and comparatively badly exe- cuted. Mr. John Evans is inclined to hold that the River- drift and Cave men belonged to the same age and the same race, but the author concludes that they must be referred either to two distinct races or to two sections of the same race which found their way into Europe at widely different times ; the River-drift men being of far higher antiquity in Europe, and probably having livea for countless generations before the arrival of the Cave men and the appearance of higher culture. “The dis- coveries of the last twenty years have tended to confirm the identification of the Cave men with the Eskimos.”’ The account of the Cave men is followed by that of the prehistoric period, of the neolithic civilisation, the age of polished stone implements and of the prehistoric farmer and herdsman. Wild boars, the great wild ox, the urus, the Irish elk, the reindeer, the brown and grizzly bear still inhabited Britain during that period. The Irish elk is remarkable for being the sole survivor amongst land mammalia from the pleistocene to the prehistoric age which has since become extinct. Its rarity in Britain forms a marked contrast with its abundance in Ireland, It has been found in England, near Newbury in Berk- shire, and at Maybole in Ayrshire. Inthe neolithic period the dog, horse, sheep, goat, shorthorn, and hog were already domesticated. “ Of all the neolithic implements the axe was by far Fic. 5.—Amber necklace the most important. It was by the axe that man achieved | his greatest victory over nature, by clearing the land of forest. It was immeasurably superior to the rude flint hache of the palzolithic hunter, which could not make | a straight cut in wood, and which was very generally | intended for use in the hand, without a handle. It is therefore chosen as the symbol of the neolithic culture.” In New Guinea and its neighbourhood land is still cleared of forest by the natives for culture by the aid of fire and the stone hatchet. Chapter X. treats of the further development of culture, | the Bronze age, and the invasion of the British Isles by the Celts, who are proved by their tombs, scattered over the face of the country, alike in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, to have conquered nearly every part of the British Isles. In the Bronze age the number and variety | age. of the weapons, implements, and ornaments belonging to | the men of the period become greatly increased, and their culture presents a far more complicated problem for study than that of their simpler predecessors. Mr. John Evans, who, as the highest authority on early bronzes, is | followed by the author, divides the Bronze age into two periods—the Early and the Late; the first of these was a | period of transition, when the use of bronze was super- seding that of stone, and is characterised by the presence of bronze daggers and plain wedge-shaped axes, originally | modelled from stone prototypes. The later division of the Bronze age is characterised by the appearance of swords, | spears, palstaves,.and socketed celts. Already in the Lake, Wilts, ;- early Bronze age such articles of advanced development as tweezers and combs of bone, amber and glass beads, jet buttons, and bronze finger-rings and ear-rings were in use. The accompanying woodcut represents an amber necklace of the Bronze period found at Lake, in Wilt- shire. Even gold is found amongst the remains of this We cannot follow the author in his account of the temples of the Bronze age, Avebury and Stonehenge, nor the methods by which the bronze was worked, of the artistic designs of the period, and of the curious hoards of bronze merchandise which have been found in France, and the pick of which has, we believe, found its way into Mr. John Evans’ hoard. The twelfth chapter deals with the prehistoric iron age north of the Alps, the arms and equipage, personal ornaments, late Celtic art, Etruscan influence on art, &c. Arts in in his description of 86 this period reached a very advanced development indeed, as may be seen from the appended figure of a golden cap found in Tipperary. It is most beautifully ornamented in repoussé. Silver and gold ornaments in this age became abundant. The concluding chapters in the book are on the Overlap of History (the Egyptian, Assyrian, Phcenician, and Greek Influences) and on Britain in the Historic Period (the Exploration of the British Coasts, and Roman Britain). We cannot follow the author further, but commend his book to our readers as one that will well repay perusal throughout. THE HYDROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT sae observe that some of our contemporaries have opened their columns to certain strictures upon a public department standing well, and to our knowledge deservedly so, in the estimation of scientific circles in this and other countries. It would appear that a Lieutenant of the Royal Navy, unknown, as we are informed, in his profession from the fact of his having retired from its active service at an early age, amused himself some few years back by a yachting excursion on the shores of Norway, in a small and crazy decked boat, undergoing, as might have been anticipated, some hardships in this excursion, which ex- tended into the rigorous winter of that region. Gaining thus some knowledge of the coast traversed—but necess- arily, from its great extent and intricate character, know- ledge of a very superficial kind—the Lieutenant’s experi- ences have recently formed the subject of an evening’s entertainment at the Royal Geographical Society. Somewhat unfortunately for the ends of science and navi- gation, this adventurous cruise ina crazy barque has been in consequence dignified into a hydrographical survey, an appellation ludicrously inapplicable from the conditions under which the cruise was made, as related by the adventurer himself. The ambitious voyageur, now extending his operations, under the leadership of an official of the Royal-Geo- graphical Society, has just addressed an audience at the Society of Arts on the ‘‘ Trade Routes between England, Norway, and Siberia.” We had expected at least some shreds of information on this topic, but find ourselves treated instead toa rude and ungenerous attack on the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty, for some supposed shortcomings in its dealings with the officer, to whom the department had confided—mistakenly it seems—the revision of the sailing directions of that part of Norway on which the Lieutenant claimed to be an authority. The Society of Arts commends itself to all reasonable men for the breadth and strength of its operations ; we re- gret that it should in this instance have been exploitéd and made the arena, under cover of a legitimate object, for an attack, from personal motives, on a public depart- ment which has done and is doing good and honest service for the seamen of all nations. We believe we are only performing an act of merited justice in directing attention to the endeavours of a small, obscure, but self asserting clique, bent apparently on discrediting a valu- able and efficient department, affiliated in many ways to science, and well known to many of its ablest workers. NOTES Pror, W. H. MILLER died at Cambridge on Thursday, May 20, in his eightieth year, He graduated in 1826, being Fifth Wrangler, and shortly afterwards became a Fellow of St. John’s College. He served his college as tutor during several years, On the resignation of Dr. Whewell in 1832 he became Professor of Mineralogy. He published his celebrated ‘ Treatisé on Crystallography” in 1838. This work was at once adopted by NATURE [May 27, 1880 some of the most eminent foreign crystallographers, and may now be said to be universally accepted. It was translated into German and French. His ‘‘Manual of Mineralogy ” appeared in 1854, and, like the former book, forms an era in the history of the science. It is full of the results of his own careful research. He is the author of severab other books, and of numerous memoirs published in the various scientific journals. The memoir on the standards of weights is a classical research on :the subject of weights, and is a monument of delicate and careful research. He was Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, and was presented with the Society’s gold medal in 1870 for his numerous contributions to science. Cambridge has especial cause to, be grateful to him for the very splendid collection he has brought together. The collection consists almost entirely of donations; and the two noble gifts of the Hume and Brooke collections mark in a strik- ing manner the appreciation in which Prof. Miller was held by lovers of minerals, On the same day as Prof, Miller died Prof. Dayid Thomas Ansted, F.R.S., at the age of sixty-six years, Prof. Ansted was born in London in the year 1814. He graduated at Jesus College, Cambridge, was a Wrangler in 1836, and was elected in due course a Fellow of his college. In 1840 he was appointed to the Professorship of Geology in King’s College, London, Five years later he became lecturer on geology at Addiscombe College, and also at the Civil Engineering College at Putney. About the same time he was made assistant secre- tary to the Geological Society, whose quarterly journal he edited for many years. From about 1850 down to a very recent date he was extensively engaged in the application of geology to the engineer’s work, in mining, and in various other departments of industry. He has also been frequently employed as an examiner in physical geography under the officers of the Government Department of Science and Art. Prof. Ansted’s works are very numerous ; among them may be mentioned—besides his contri- butions to the transactions of learned and scientific societies—his “* Application of Geology to the Arts and Manufactures,” his “Physical Geography,” his ‘‘ Elementary .Course of Geology and Mineralogy,” and ‘‘The World we live in.” Prof. Ansted was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1844. GENERAL MYER has sent a letter to his numerous correspond- ents, requesting, on behalf of the United States, that the hour for taking the simultaneous meteorological observations, from which are constructed the U.S. Weather Maps, be changed to a time thirty-five minutes earlier than at present; in other words, as regards the British islands, that the observations be made at oh, 8m. p.m., instead of oh. 43m. p.m. Greenwich mean time, and that the change be made to take effect on September 1, 1880. The proposed change being rendered necessary by the exigencies of the Signal Office, the request will doubtless be gladly acceded to. THE second example of Archeopteryx is, we are informed, at present merely 07 defosit in the Geological Museum of Berlin, under the care of Dr. Beyrich, although it is expected that arrangements will shortly be made for its purchase by the authorities of that institution. It was bought from Dr, Haeber- lein, of Pappenheim, by Herr Siemens, of Berlin, for the sum of 20,000 marks (1,000/,), in order to save it from an impending transfer to America, and to secure this valuable specimen for German science. Tue ‘ Leopoldinische-Carolinische” Academy of Naturalists at Halle has presented this year’s Cothenius medal to Dr, A. Michaelis, Professor of Chemistry at the Polytechnic High School of. Karlsruhe, in recognition of his valuable researches in organic substances containing phosphorus. May 27, 13880] NATURE 87 AMoNG the names mentioned for the honour of D.C.L, at the approaching Oxford Enczenia is that of Prof. Sylvester. WE regret to announce the death of Dr. Richard Biedermann, editor of the Centralblatt fiir Agricultur-Chemte. He died at Leipzig on May 10, at the early age of thirty-seven years. Tr is a fact worth noting that M. Chevreul, who is now in his ninety-fifth year, has begun his course on Chemistry at the Paris Museum of Natural History, with as muchiapparent zest and energy as he did fifty years ago when he first entered on his duties of that chair, The programme of his course, Zes Mondes informs us, is beautifully and firmly written in his own hand. Notwithstanding his approach to the centenary, he still looks young and fresh. A CORRESPONDENT, writing from Cherry Hill, Arnold, near Nottingham, informs us that he brought home from the Geisberg, in the autumn of 1877, a few specimens of the Edelweis, which he planted amongst some rock-plants in his pleasure-grounds situated on an eminence. It disappeared gradually altogether antil last spring, when it came out to perfection. Towards the autumn he lost sight of it again, but a fortnight since signs of its reappearance were so developed that no doubt exists of its full growth, and in greater perfection than ever. THE two first parts of a new botanical work by Dr. Dodel- Port, of Ziirich, have just been published by Herr Czesar Schmidt of that city. The title of the work is ‘‘Illustrirtes Pflanzen- leben,” and it promises to become one of unusual interest. In part 1 the lower fungi are described in a popular manner. The author undertakes to popularise the results hitherto attained in our knowledge of putrefaction- and contagion-fungi. He describes their forms, their size, and their manner of propaga. _tion ; introduces the reader to their mode of life, and points out the danger arising to the human race from these minute organisms. The description is accompanied by two excellent plates, in one of which we recognise a reproduction ona small scale of a plate from the same author’s famous ‘‘ Atlas der Botanik fiir Hoch und Mittelschulen.” Another chapter treats of miasma and contagions, and gives a complete account of the present state of our know. Tedge of infection-fungi. Part 2 is devoted to carnivorous plants, and is even more generally interesting perhaps than the first. The work is profusely illustrated with the author’s original drawings. Altogether it is sure to forma very welcome and valuable addition to botanical literature. THE death is announced of Dr. J. G. Mulder, Professor of Chemistry at Utrecht University. Dr. Mulder’s name was well known in the scientific world ; he died at the age of seventy- seven years. THE Iron and Steel Institute holds its autumn meeting this year at Diisseldorf, by invitation of the German iron trade, on August 25 and four following days. An extremely interesting programme of excursions and meetings has been arranged, AN interesting Report on the Meteorology of the Italian Mountains has been presented by the Rev. Prof. F. Denza to the International Congress of Alpine Clubs at Geneva. It appears that observations are regularly made at 113: mountain stations, the names, elevation, and geographical position of which are given in the report. Some of these stations, from their altitude and position, are of the greatest importance for the study of meteorology in the higher regions of the atmosphere. Three of them are specially worthy of notice, viz., Stelvio (2,543 metres), Valdobbia (2,548 metres), and Piccolo S. Bernardo, All stations are provided with good instruments, and meteoro- logical observations are taken at some stations every three hours from 6 a.m. until.9 p.m. The results of the observations are carefully printed and circulated by Prof. Denza. A GENERAL MEETING of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland will be held at the Meteorological Office, 116, Victoria Street, London, S.W., on Tuesday evening, June 1, The chair will be taken by Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., vice-president, at 8 p.m, The following papers will be read :— *4On a New Face on Crystals of Stilbite, from Scotland and Western Australia,” by the president ; ‘‘ Ona Portable Chemical Cabinet for Quantitative Work,” by A. E. Amold (communicated by J. H. Collins) ; ‘‘ On Kaolinite and Kaolin,” by J. H. Collins. Other communications intended to be read at this meeting should be sent to J. H. Collins, Hon. Sec., care of Mr. R. H. Scott, at the aboye address. THE Society of Telegraph Engineers have done valuable service to science by publishing the ‘‘ Catalogue of Books and Papers relating to Electricity, Magnetism, the Electric Telegraph, &c., including the Ronalds Library,” compiled by the late Sir Francis Ronalds, F.R.S. Some idea of the extent and yalue of this catalogue may be obtained from the fact that it occupies 560 pages. The work of editing has been carefully and judiciously done by Mr. A. J. Frost, who has prepared 2 useful memoir of Sir Francis Ronalds, The Catalogue contains 13,000 entries, though we regret that, by the conditions of the trust, the Society were not permitted to bring it up to date. They will, however, we are glad to learn, at no distant date, publish a supplement to the Catalogue, which will remedy this defect. The two together will form an invaluable reference-book in the subjects included in it. IN reference to a note in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 525, taken from the Fournal of Applied Science, on the composition of the well-known Vevey cigars, Messrs. Grant, Chambers and Co., of Fenchurch Street, send us a letter from Ormond and Co., of Geneva, the manufacturers, in which they state that if such cigars exist as we referred to, ‘‘it can only be with the object of fraudulently taking advantage of the name of the goods we make, which have enjoyed an increasing reputaticn for more than thirty years past. The Vevey cigars manufactured by us are composed entirely of selected North and South American tobaccos, without any mixture or adulteration whatever.” A NEw scientific paper now appears at Leipzig every three weeks. It is called Centralzeitung fiir Optik und Mechanih. Dr. O. Schneider is the editor. The avowed object of the paper is to report on the progress in the manufacture of scientific instruments and apparatus, and in the scientific domain where such instruments and apparatus are employed. A PROPOSAL has been set on foot for lighting the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, and the Camera of the Radcliffe Library with the electric light. In a circular addressed to the curators of the Theatre and of the Bodleian Library and to tbe visitors of the Ashmolean Museum by those interested in the question, it is stated that it has long been regretted by many members of the University that the Sheldonian Theatre is not available in the evening for any purposes of public interest, however great, for want of lighting. The neighbourhood of the Bodleian Library has, however, been a bar to any proposal for lighting by means of gas or any ordinary method. The care with which the heat- ing apparatus of the Theatre has been inclosed within a fire-proof chamber is sufficient evidence’ of the importance attached by the curators of the Theatre to absolute security in this respect. The development of the electric light has now rendered it possible to illuminate public rooms by a process absolutely free from danger of fire. It has been adopted largely in the reading-rooms of our public libraries, and notably in the reading-room of the British Museum. ‘The security is absolute and unquestionable, provided that the motive power is external to the building : the boon to readers in such reading-rooms is enormous.. After dis- 838 NATURE | May 27, 1880 cussing the question of the motive power and deciding in favour of a gas-engine, the memorial goes on to state:—‘‘It is sug- gested that Dr. Siemens, F.R.S., D.C.L., to whom the electric light owes much of its recent development, might with advan- tage be consulted in connection with this proposal. Whether a permanent institution or an experimental trial is in question, all parties concerned can have the most perfect confidence that everything will be done as it should be in his hands. It is suggested that an experimental trial should be first made, which could be done at comparatively little expense. The memorialists feel confident that if this is conceded the permanent adoption of the light will follow.” The memorial is already signed by Professors Henry S. Smith, W. Acland, H. Nettleship, Sayce, Sir Gore Ouseley, and Mr. Warren De la Rue. THE enterprising Naturalists Society of Dundee had a very successfulj dredging excursion off the mouth of the Tay and in St. Andrew’s Bay on Wednesday last week. Considerable hauls were obtained of familiar denizens of the coast waters, though we regret to learn that under the influence of the gentle swell in St. Andrew’s Bay several of the budding naturalists suffered some disturbance of their equanimity, and we fear were not able to do perfect justice to the dinner ‘and tea which were liberally provided on board, At the annual meeting of this Society a satisfactory report was presented, though we do not altogether approve of the movement for the publication of abstracts of the proceedings of the Society in the form of a journa], Such publi- cations, we are inclined to believe, are more gratifying to the vanity of provincial cocieties than conducive to the promotion of science in any way. We see the Society is uniting with several other Scotch societies to endeavour to obtain the benefit of the Gilchrist Lecture Trust ; why do they not take a hint from the line of action in reference to a journal, and endeavour to bring about a union of the various Scottish natural history societies for this and other purposes ? A CORRESPONDENT of the Scotsman writes that a colony of rooks has taken possession of a garden which is next to St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, and built about a score of nests. It is only two or three seasons since rooks made their first appearance in Orkney, and it is supposed the absence of trees in the country districts has caused them to take up their abode in the centre of the town. Cotton is the title of a new weekly journal for manufacturers and planters. AN important discovery is stated to have been made in the neighbourhood of Sydney, New South Wales. Boring for coal has been going on in Moore Park for ten months, and about the middle of March a quantity of oily matter was observed to come up, one gush lasting half an hour. This liquid is believed to be crude kerosene, but the analysis was not complete when the last mail left. THE Reale Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere at Milan offers the following prizes:—For a treatise on Miasma and Contagions (Term May 31, 1881), a prize of 1,500 lire and a gold medal worth 5co lire. For determining by experiments whether the virulent principle of hydrophobia is an organised germ or not, a prize of 6,000 lire (Term February 28, 1882). For a descriptive treatise on the Motor-centres of the Periphery of the Brain, the sum of 2,000 lire (Term April 1, 1881). For the illustration by new research of the ztiolozy of cretinism and idiotism, 2,000 lire (Term May 31, 1882). Further details can be obtained by application to the Secretary of the Institution. THE Forester is the title of a magazine published in connection with Nottingham High School, No. 7 of which has been sent us. The contents are varied, one paper being on the “Origin of Sandstones,” M. DEHAIRAN has opened the course of lectures that he is to deliver at the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, on Vegetable Physic- logy. This chair has been recently created by M. Jules Ferry. A SCIENTIFIC examination of the Ibaraki mountain range in Japan has resulted in the discovery of marble of different colours. One mountain is believed to be a mass of white statuary marble, and in another place black marble of the finest description was found, THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Black-faced Kangaroo (Macropus melanops) from South Australia, four Short-tailed Wallabys (Halmaturus brachyurus), three Vulpine Phalangers (Phalangista vulpina), three white-backed Piping Crows (Gymnorhina leuconota) from West Austrailia, presented by Sir Harry St. George Ord, C.B., F.Z.S. ; a Javan Chevrotain (Zvagulus javanicus) from Java, presented by Mrs, L. Dudfield; a Brown Capuchin (Cebus Jatuellus) from Guiana, an Ocelot (Felis fardalis) from South America, a Ring-tailed Lemur (Zemur catta) from Madagascar, presented by Mr, Chas. A. Craven: a Pinche Monkey (Aédas edifus) from New Granada, presented by Mrs Henry Druman Macaulay ; a Long-eared Owl (Asvo o/zs), British, presented by Mr. G. E. Dobson, C.M.Z.S.; an Eyed Lizard (Lacerta ocel- ata), an Afsculapian Snake (Celuder e@sculapii), six Viperine Snakes (Zropidonotus viperinus) from San Remo, North Italy, presented by Lieut L. L. Fenton; two Toco Toucans (fam- phastos toco) from Guiana, a Brown Passerine Owl (Glaucidium Phalenoides), a Rusty Urubitinga (Urubitinga meridionalis), a Downy Owl (Pudsatrix corguata) from South America, deposited ; two Guilding’s Amazons (Chrysotis guildingi) from St. Vincent, West Indies, two Black-tailed Hawfinches (Coccothraustes melanurus) from Japan, four Golden Sparrows (Auripasser euchlorus) from Abyssinia, four Blood-breasted Pigeons (Pi/o- genas cruentata) from the Philippine Isles, two Nightingales (Daulias luscinia), a Canary Finch (Serinus canarius), a Gannet (Swa bassana), British, purchased; a Black Wallaby (Halma- turus ualabatus), born in the Gardens. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN THE LATE Pror, Perers.—Prof, Christian August Friedrich Peters, whose death was mentioned last week, was the son of a merchant at Hamburg, and was born on September 7, 1806. His father’s fortunes suffered in the war times, and his son’s education was attended with difficulties, thouzh he endeavoured to cultivate to the best of his power the natural bent for mathe- matical studies which was very early evinced. After some years ) the attention of Schumacher was drawn to the young Peters, and he employed him in various calculations for his ephemerides and geodetical works, and in 1826, and for several years subse- quently, he was actively engaged in such operations at Ham- burg and in Holstein, at the same time pursuing his studies and incidental employment under Schumacher. He then became for a time a pupil of Ressel, and in 1834 was appointed assistant in the observatory at Hamburg, whence in 1839 he was promoted to a position in the newly-founded Central Russian Observatory at Pulkowa, where he worked in theoretical and practical astro- nomy for ten years. In 1849 he was named Professor of Astro- nomy in the University of Konigsberg, where he remained until 1854, in which year he was appointed to succeed Petersen in the direction of the observatory at Altona, and at the same time editor of the Astronomische Nachrichten, which he conducted up to the period of his decease. He removed to Kiel when the observatory at Altona was transferred to that place, and died there on the Sth inst., after a severe illness of many months’ duration. The works by which Prof. Peters was perhaps more widely known were his ‘‘ Numerus constans Nutationis ex Ascensioni- bus Rectis Stella Polaris in Specula Dorpatensi Annis 1822 ad 1838 observatis deductus,” which appeared in the 7ransactions of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg in 1842, and the ‘‘Recherches sur Ja Parallaxe des Etoiles Fixes,” } printed in the same 7yansactions in 1846. For these important May 27, 1880] memoirs he received the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society at the hands of Prof. J. C. Adams in 1852. His re- searches on the proper motion of Sirius also attracted much attention, and many other papers on various astronomical and mathematical subjects were contributed by him to the Altona journal. His later work at Altona and Kiel chiefly bore upon the determination of differences of longitude; thelast, ‘‘ Altona: Gottingen,” is to be detailed in a memoir to be published in a few weeks. Minor PLANETS.—Circular No. 136 of the Berliner Astrono- nomisches Fahrbuch notifes the re-observation of Hilda, the most distant of the group of small planets yet known to us, and one which, with Zsvzene No. 190, must at times experience con- siderable perturbaticns from the action of Jupiter. It has been found at Pola as an object of 13°5 m., many degrees from the position assigned in the ephemeris last published, but there seems reason to suspect error of calculation. Thus if the ele- ments of Dr. Kiihnert in the” Berliner Fahrbuch for 1880 are employed, though there is a later orbit, the error of the com- puted place is much less than that shown by the ephemeris in the Berlin Circular, No. 135. The difference of positions appears to indicate that the true period of revolution is even longer than has yet been calculated. In the same Circular, No. 136, are new elements of Philomela, attributing to that planet an almost circular orbit, the angle of excentricity being only o° 18’ 36”°8, so that e = 0°005414,: which is less than in the case of Venus. E _ Medusa, to which has been assigned the shortest period of any of the minor planet group, has apparently passed the last oppo- sition without being re-observed, but in addition to much un- certainty as to position, it was likely to fall in a region of the sky which is crowded with small stars, and therefore a search would be attended with much trouble and difficulty. Vesta should now be well discernible without the telescope, being in opposition and perihelion this year nearly at the same time, as we have before remarked, magnitude 5°9. The planet is in perihelion on May 28. Comet 1880, II.—The following ephemeris is calculated from elements depending upon observations to May $8 :— r2h. G.M.T. R.A. Decl. Log. distance from the hm. s. 4 , Earth. Sun. June I ... 6 29 32... +51 38'S ... 04108 ... 0°2683 BES ONAL, --3) | 5005254) Rea ie Ole SON 700) .24) OFA LOG)... 072009 Ves Ze ioc WAQL2257, Owesss PSU eee 394... 0°4221 ... 0°2640 Lt Gon ea Gieines wie Gyo) Mahe 930020) e441) 15:6) ... O'4267)--. 012023 HIS gaat SYM) secn, LS BIRO) yeenegO S08 45 15552) --. 014307) -<. 02009 TOMES Son esa) 45) LOMK 21 ... 6 40 43 ... +44 37°7 «.. 0°4340 ... G'25909 PHYSICAL NOTES Pror. LEMSTROM, of Helingsfors, has recently described to the Physical Society of St. Petersburg a singular experiment which, unless otherwise explained by some of the circumstances of the experiment not yet published, must be regarded as a fundamental fact in the physical theory of electricity. He finds that a ring of insulating material when rotated about its axis of symmetry with a high velocity acts like a galvanic circuit, and produces a magnetic ‘‘field”’ in the space within it. Prof. Lemstrom is a disciple of Edlund, and regards this experiment as confirmatory of Edlund’s theoretical views on the nature of electricity. According to Lemstrém, the ether in the insulator, being dragged along by the ring, produces vortical motion of the ether in the central space, which vortical motion he conceives to be the essential condition of a magnetic field. Arguing from these premises, Lemstrom proceeds to build up an ingenious theory of terrestrial magnetism. The converse operation of rotating an iron bar within a hollow insulating body or insulating medium ought also to produce magnetism in the bar. The earth being a magnetic body rotating in an insulating medium, ought to be magnetised by rotation about its axis, the axis being the axis also of magnetisation, unless the irregular internal disposition of the magnetic constituents produced an irregular distribution of the magnetism, or unless the distribution were affected by the induced magnetism due to moyements of electricity in the atmo- NATURE 89 sphere, as in the awrora, or by the magnetism which would, on Lemstrém’s theory, be generated by the revolution of the earth round the sun, and by the motion of the solar system through space. M. Dumas, who has been examining the property of certain metals in occluding gases, has found that aluminium may occlude as much as one and a half times its bulk of hydrogen gas, and also shows traces of carbonic acid, The gases were given up when the metal was heated to redness under exhaustion. Magnesium behaves similarly. Were these metals distilled 77 vacuo they could probably be obtained pure. It is possible that these observations may throw some light on the anomalous behaviour of aluminium when used as an electrode in the yoltameter. THE cone of rays entering the eye from a peripheric point is never again united to one point, but it must present some- where a minimum of cross section. The geometrical place of this minimum of cross section Herr Matthiessen (Arch. fo Ophthalm. (4) 25, 1879) designates the ‘‘ theoretic retina.” He finds that it is a spherical surface, the middle point of which coincides with the middle point of the corneal ellipsoid. To a distance of 75° from the fovea centralis the theoretical retina corresponds very exactly to the actual (according to the deter- minations of Arlt and Helmholtz), At greater distances the retina is formed hypermetropically, and so is within the ‘* theoretic retina.”’ THE influence of magnetisation on the tenacity of iron has been lately studied by Signor Piazzoli (of the Catanian Academy of Sciences). Jron wires were hung between two hooks and ruptured by pouring water into a vessel suspended from them. They were about 350 mm. long, and were inclosed in a spiral with four windings one over another, which were either all traversed by a current in one direction, or two by a current in one direction, and two by an equal opposite current, so that in both cases the wires were equally strongly heated by the spiral, but in one case they were magnetised, in the other not. The weights required to break wires annealed in charcoal (weight of one metre, G = 0'299) were, during magnetisation, P = 1260- 1306 ; without magnetisation, P’ = 1213-1270, In the case of wires annealed in carbonic oxide (where G = 0°46 g.), P = 1732°4 — 1742°7; P’ = 1703°62 — 1719°87. In the case of wires annealed in hydrogen P = 1289°5 — 1310°1; P’ = 1263 — 1299'7. In each separate series, accordingly, the difference P — P’ was frequently less than the difference between the highest and lowest weights required for rupture of apparently identical wires ; still, the mean values in each of the (14) series, were from about 1 to 3 per cent. greater for the magnetised than for the unmagnetised wires, showing that the tenacity of iron increases on magnetisation. This, it is remarked, need not_be attributed to a change of cohesion of the iron, but may be due to ordinary magnetic attraction of the successive parts of the wires. In eleven out of fourteen cases the relative elongation of the magnetised wires at rupture was greater than that of the un- magnetised, in three cases less. In a recent note to the Vienna Academy, Prof. Ludwig gives the results of the first of a series of observations on the decom- position of organic compounds by zine powder. This relates to alcohols, and it is stated that in distillation of these over zine powder heated to 300 — 350° C., the higher ones—from ethylic alcohol upwards—are split up into the corresponding olefine and hydrogen. Under the same conditions methylic alcohol is decomposed simply (if the small quantities of marsh gas be neglected) into carbonic oxide and hydrogen. The similar decomposition of ethylic alcohol into marsh-gas, carbonic oxide and hydrogen, only occurs at a considerably higher temperature —with dark red glow. On the ground of these decompositions, which indicate that the combination of the carbon and the oxygen must be a very strong one, it is supposed that the de- composition of the higher alcohols is no simple reduction to the saturated hydrocarbons, from which, then, by separation of hydrogen, the olefines might arise, but that in the first phase of the process the alcohol is split up into the olefine and water, and that the hydrogen concentrated in the gases is due to a reduction of the generated steam by the zinc powder. Pror. RicuHr has recently described to the Bologna Academy an arrangement of Holtz’s electric machine, in which the whole machine except the handle and the electrodes is inclosed, along with a small friction machine for excitation, in a glass case tightly 90 NATURE [May 27, 1880 closed by means of strips of fur, and dried interiorly with chloride of calcium, so that in all weathers the machine acts well. Herr ZeuFuss has lately given (Wed. Azzz., 4) some personal experiences of the phenomenon of ‘‘after images of motion” (about which Plateau and Oppel have before written), These after images may be had, ¢.g., in a train, if one look at a point on the horizon for a little, then turn to look at (say) a horizontal fibre in the wood of the carriage, or close one’s eyes. Motions then seem to be still perceived ; in the latter case, ¢9., a stream of sparks seems to be moving to the right (or if the point origi- nally looked at have been between the observer and the horizon, there isa stream of sparks above going to the right and one below to the left). Herr Zehfuss offers a physiological explana- tion, in preference to the partly psychical ones proposed by Plateau and Oppel. Each individual nerve rod, he supposes, has special blood-vessels, which, when the original image of a moved object goes to the right, directs the course of the blood to that side, just as in ordinary light the decomposed blood is promptly replaced by fresh. By this preponderant direction of blood to the right a heaping up occurs in each retinal element on the right, which gives rise to return currents as soon as the outer cause has ceased to act. As the blood flows back there arise, in consequence of the specific excitability of the rods, those spark-streams, which are projected as elementary motions to the right. IN a recent number of Wiedemann’s Annalen (3) Herr Schénn describes a method of making visible ultra-violet prismatically decomposed light in such a way that exact measurements can be made. One feature of it is the use of a disk of fine calking paper saturated with sulphate of quinine, and contained in a small cell which is brought close before the Ramsden ocular, which can be directed at once on the disk and ona luminous line (its axis is not inclined like that of Soret’s, but coincides with the axis of the telescope). The author gives measurements of the ultra-violet spectrum of cadmium, zinc, and thallium,—In the same number Herr Glan describes a ‘‘ spectro-telescope,” with which objects can be seen in any homogeneous colour at will. The instrument has various applications, especially in astrophysics. In a paper on the thermic theory of the galvanic current (Wied. Ann., No. 4) Herr Hoorweg lays down the following propositions :—Wherever two conductors come into contact, motion of heat results in development of electricity ; therefore a constant electric difference arises between the two substances, 2. If ina closed circuit, the total sum of the differences of po- tential be different from zero, there arises in this circuit a con- tinuous electric current. 3. This current exists at the cost of the heat at one part of the point of contact, and has heat-pro- duction in the other for a result. 4. All voltaic currents are thermo-currents. 5. The chemical action in the battery and the decomposition apparatuses is a result of the galvanic current. AN interesting series of experiments has been recently made by Dr. K6nig on the vibrations of a normal tuning-fork (Wed. Ann., No. 3). He finds that, practically, at least to 50° to 60° of heat, the influence of heat on a tuning-fork may be regarded as constant. Thick tuning-forks are more affected by heat than thin ones of the same pitch, indicating (it is remarked) that change of elasticity, and not change of the length of the arms, is the primary cause of the change of pitch. The influence of heat on tuning-forks of different pitch, and of not very different thickness, is proportional to their number of vibrations. Gener- ally the period of vibration of a tuning-fork is increased or diminished z,';5 by a difference of temperature of 1° centigrade. The general change in pitch of the normal fork Ut, = 512 vibrations per second at 20°, through the temperature difference of 1° C, is 0'0572 vibrations per second. Dr, Konig has con- structed a fork which, at any temperature, will exactly give 512 vibrations. SoME quotations by Herr Oehler (Wied. Ann., No. 3) from Jacob Hermann’s work, ‘‘Phoronomia sive de Viribus,” &c., published in 1716, have a curious significance in relation to the history of the mechanical theory of heat. In the twenty-fourth chapter, ‘‘De motu intestino fluidorum,” the following para- graph occurs :—‘‘ Hoc nomine non intelligitur hoc loco internus molecularum motus fluidi cujuscunque in suo. statu naturali consistentis, sed is particularam motus, qui in fluidis a causis externis et accidentalibus excitari solet, quo calor prasertim est referendus, qui dubio procul ex concitatiore particularum mo!u in corpore calido a causis externis producitur. Utut vero ejusmodi motus intestinus admodum perturbatus sit, nihilo tamen minus regula physice satis accurata pro ejus mensura media tradi potest, In another place Hermann offers a demonstration of the theorem that ‘‘Calor, ceteris paribus, est in composita ratione ex densitate corporis calidi, et duplicata ratione agitationis particularum ejusdem.” GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES Lieut. A, Louis PALANDER, of the Swedish Royal Navy, was last week elected a Corresponding Member of the French Geographical Society, in acknowledgment of his brilliant services to geography as commander of the Vega during the late Arctic Expedition. We understand that the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences have just caused a handsome bronze medal to be struck in commemoration of the successful accomplishment of this enterprise. This medal shows on one side the heads of Prof, Nordenskjold and Lieut, Palander, and on the other a well- executed representation of the Vega surrounded by ice. At the Anniversary Meeting of the Geographical Society, on Monday next, the Earl of Northbrook will take the chair for the last time, and will deliver an address on recent geographical progress. The formal presentation of the Royal Medals willalso take place at this meeting, though neither of the recipients (Lieut, Palander and Mr, Ernest Giles) can be present. The Duke of Edinburgh, Honorary President of the Society, will preside at the Anniversary Dinner in the evening, which will be held, as usual, at Willis’s Rooms. ‘ LorpD ABERDARE, it is understood, will succeed the Earl of Northbrook as President of the Geographical Society. A BEGINNING is about to be made to carry out Lieut. Wey- precht’s proposal for a circle of observing stations around the North Polar region. The Danish Government has resolved to establish a stationat Upernivik, in West Greenland ; the Russian Government has granted a subsidy for an observatory at the mouth of the Lena, and another on the new Siberian Islands ; Count Wilczek is to defray the expenses of a station on Novaya Zemlya under the direction of Lieut. Weyprecht; the U.S, Signal Service, under General Myer, has received permission to plant an observatory at Point Barrow, in Alaska; and it is expected that Canada will have a similar establishment on some point of her Arctic coast. At the Hamburg Conference it was announced that Holland would furnish the funds for a station in Spitzbergen; and it is expected that Norway will have an observing post on the extremity of the Province of Finmark. This is a good beginning, and we hope that some sort of agreement will be established to have all the observations made after a uniform method, otherwise their value will be greatly decreased. BARON EGGERs, of St. Thomas, West Indies, sends us a prospectus of a plan for the scientific’ exploration of the West Indies, especially as regards their natural history, his main pur- pose evidently being to make complete collections of plants, insects, and shells. Such collections he offers at certain rates to all who express their wish to become subscribers, the subscrip- tion to be paid on delivery of the collections, Details may be obtained from Baron Eggers or from his agent in Europe, Dr. Eug. Warming, Copenhagen. M. PAuL SOLEILLET, who was compelled to return to Senegal in his attempt to reach Timbuctoo, is now in Paris, and expresses his determination to embark again in July, to make another attempt. A Society of Geography for the north of France has been established at Douai. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAMBRIDGE.—The election to the Professorship of Mineralogy, vacant by the death of Dr. W. H. Miller, F.R.S., will be held in the Senate House on June 12, In the fourteenth Annual Report of the Museums and Lecture- Room Syndicate, Lord Rayleigh, the recently-appointed Professor of Experimental Physics, says :—‘‘ On visiting the Cavendish Laboratory in December last, after my appointment to the Pro- fessorship of Experimental Physics, I was at once struck with the May 27, 1880] great deficiency of apparatus. The building itself appears tome to be very convenient and adequate to its purpose, but the _ advantages which it should afford cannot be fully realised with- out a large addition to the existing stock of apparatus. from July 7 to 29, Dr. W. R. Hodgkinson. Even with an adequate outfit, a considerable annual expenditure is necessary for renewals and to meet the wants of students engaged in original research. Knowing that the University is not likely for several years to be in a position to meet the want, and feeling that Cambridge ought not to remain in this respect behind several Continental and American Universities, I have been endeavour- ing to raise an apparatus fund, to be spent in eight or ten years at the discretion of the Professor, by inviting contributions from persons interested in Cambridge and in science. I have been fortunate enough to secure the co-operation of the Chancellor, to whom the University is already indebted for the building and for most of our existing apparatus ; and the proposal has met with such a degree of support from others that it may be considered to be already a partial success. It is difficult to form an exact estimate beforehand, but I should suppose that 2,500/. will be required during the next ten years to put the institution upon a proper footing.” Lord Rayleigh announces that he has received promises and donations amounting to 1,825/. IN connection with the Science and Art Department at South Kensington the following courses of instruction for science teachers will probably be organised this summer :—(r1) Chemistry, (2) Light, from June 29 to July 14; (3) Magnetism and Frictional Electricity, from July 15 to 30, Prof. Guthrie, F.R.S. (4) Applied Mechanics, from June 30 to July 22, Prof. Goodeve, M.A. (5) Geology, from June 30 to July 22, Prof. Judd, F.R.S. (6) Botany, from July 7 to July 29, Prof. W. T. Thiselton Dyer, F.R.S. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LONDON ff Royal Society, May 13.—Abstract of paper ‘‘On the Chemical Composition of Aleurone-Grains,”’ by Dr. Vines. This paper continues the account of this investigation, which appeared in the Proceedings for 1878. It was therein shown that the aleurone-grains of the Lupin consist of three proteid substances, namely, of two globulins—the one belonging to the myosin group, the other to the vitellin group—and of a substance, allied to the peptones, provisionally termed hemialbumose. In the present communication the results of the investigation of the grains of the peony and of the castor-oil plant (Azczwws) are given. The grains of the peony are found to be readily soluble in distilled water. Treatment with 10 per cent. NaCl solution, jhowever, proves the existence of a myosin-globulin. Apparently no vitellin- globulin is present. The grains contain hemialbumose in considerable quantity. The grains of Ricinus present a com- plex structure. They consist of a mass of ground-substance of proteid nature, inclosing a crystalloid of proteid substance and a globoid which consists of inorganic matter. The ground- substance is found to be composed, like the grain of the Lupin, of the two globulins and of hemialbumose. The chemical nature of the crystalloid is not so clearly madeout. It is slowly soluble in 10 per cent. NaCl solution, and readily soluble in 20 per cent, or in saturated NaCl solution after treatment with alcohol. The crystalloids of several plants were investigated with the view of ascertaining their relative solubility in solutions of this salt. Those of Viola elatior and of Linwm usitatissimum were found to resemble those of Ricinus in this respect ; those of Bertholletia and of Cucurbita are readily soluble in 10 per cent., and saturated NaCl solutions; those of AZusa ensete and hillii and those of Sfarganium ramwosum are either insoluble or only partially soluble in these solutions, The points of more general interest are the action of alcohol in promoting the solution of the erystalloids of Ricinus in 20 per cent, and in saturated solutions of NaCl, and the fact that long- ' continued exposure to alcohol does not render the vegetable globulins insoluble in these solutions, The author finally expresses his opinion that the caseins which Ritthausen has extracted from various seeds consist to a consi- derable extent of precipitated hemialbumose, Physical Society, May 8.—Sir William Thomson, president, in the chair.—New Members: E. F. Bamber, Dr. E. Obach, R, D. Turner, E. Woods, H. E. Roscoe, H. Watts.—Prof. NATURE gI Minchin, of Cooper’s Hill Engineering College, described his further researches on the subject of photoelectricity, brought by him before the last meeting of the Society. He has found that the current in a sensitive silver cell does not always flow from the uncoated to the coated plate. It does when chloride or bromide of silver is used, but when the sensitive emulsion is iodide of silver and the liquid water tinctured with iodide of potash, the current is from the coated to the uncoated plate. He demonstrated that the current set up by the fall of light on the cell could be sent by wire to a receiving cell, and made to pro- duce a /ocal effect on the sensitive plate therein. He also proved that electricity is developed in fluorescent bodies by the action of light, and hopes to show that it is also developed in phosphor- escent bodies. Neither heat nor the red rays produce this electricity, but it is the blue and violet rays which do so. The fluorescent silver plates he employed were coated with an emul- sion of eosine and gelatin, and _had been kept sensitive for twelve days. They would thus be a permanent source of photoelec- tricity, did the eosine not tend to leave the gelatin. Mr. Wilson had suggested naphthaline red for eosine, as not apt to leave the gelatin, and he had found it give good results.— Dr. O. S. Lodge described certain improvements which he had made in his electrometer key designed for delicate electrical and especially electrostatic experiments. Assisted by the British Association, he had made it more convenient, and fitted it into an air-tight case which could be artificially dried. The contact-pins were now of phosphor-bronze gilt instead of platinum, and the contacts were made by press-pins from the outside. Dr. Lodge also exhibited a new inductometer or modified form of Prof. Hughes’s induction balance, conbining a Wheatstone balance, and expressly designed for comparing capacities and resistances, especially the resistances of coils having no self-induction. A telephone takes the place of a galvanometer in the bridge, and the current in the primary coil is interrupted by a clockwork make and break. There is one primary coil of fine wire 3} ohms in resistance and two-secondaries, one on each side of it, of fine wire, each about 270 ohms, These are fixed, but the primary is adjustible by'a screw. Prof. Hughes remarked that he had pointed out in his paper to the Royal Society that the induction-balance could be used in this way; and Dr, Lodge disclaimed any novelty in the apparatus beyond its arrangement. Sir W. Thomson added that it was satisfactory to see so serviceable an adaptation of the induction-balance to research, — Dr. Hopkinson, Prof. Perry, and Sir W. Thomson offered remarks on the element of time in comparing discharges from condensers of different dielectrics. Sir William said that, in 1864, he had made experiments on air and glass dielectrics, and found the discharge about the same for the first quarter-second.—Prof. Adams then took the chair, and Sir. W. Thomson made a com- munication on the elimination of air from a water steam-pressure thermometer, and on the construction of a water steam-pressure thermometer. He said it was a mistake to suppose that air was expelled by boiling water, because the water dissolved less air when warm than when cold. The fact was due to the relations between the density of air in water and the density of air in water vapour. There was fifty times more air in the water vapour over water in a sealed tube than in the water below. If this air could be suddenly expelled only J;th part of air would remain, and of this only 4;;in the water, the rest being inthe vapour. This sug- gested a means of eliminating air from water, whichhe had em- ployed with success. It consisted in boiling the water ina tube, and by means of a fluid mercury valve allowing a puff of the vapour to escape at intervals. Sir W. Thomson also described his new water-steam thermometer now being made by Mr. Casella, It is based on the relations of temperature and pressure in water- steam as furnished by Regnault’s or other tables, and will con- sist of a glass tube with two terminal bulbs, like a cryo,horous, part containing water, part water-steam, and the stem inclosed in a jacket of ice-cold water. Similar vapour-thermometers will be formed, in which sulphurous acid and mercury will be used in place of water, or in conjunction with it. For low or ordinary temperatures they will be more accurate than ordinary thermometers. Geological Society, May 12.—Robert Etheridge, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Rev. Samuel Gasking, Thos, J. George, and Cuthbert Chapman Gibbes, M.D., were elected Fellows of the Society.—The following communications were read :—On the structure and affinities of the genus Protospongia, Salter, by W. J. Sollas, F.G.S.—Note on Psephophorus polygonus, yon Meyer, a new type of Chelonian reptile allied to the leathery 92 turtles, by Prof. H. G. Seeley, F.R.S.—On the occurrence of the Glutton (Gz/o Zuscus, Linn.) in the forest-bed of Norfolk, by E. T. Newton, F.G.S. Remains of the Glutton have hitherto been obtained only from cave-deposits. The author has lately received from Mr. R. Fitch, of Norwich, a portion of the lower jaw of this animal obtained from the forest-bed of Mundesley, Norfolk. The specimen consists of about two inches of the left ramus, bearing the first true molar and the hinder half of the fourth premolar in place. The jaw is smaller than in average specimens of the recent Glutton, but presents all the characters of the species as described in detail by the author.—A review of the family Diastoporide, for the purpose of classification, by George Robert Vine. Communicated by Prof. Duncan, F.R.S. —On annelid jaws from the Wenlock and Ludlow formations of the West of England, by G. J. Hinde, F.G.S. Entomological Society, May 5.—H. T. Stainton, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Mr. Peter Inchbald, of Hovingham, York, was elected a member of the Society.—Mr. W. C. Boyd exhibited a very pale specimen of Myssia hispidaria, taken at Cheshunt.—Mr. M. J. Walhouse exhibited some Geodephagous beetles, which were found only on the summits of some of the highest mountains in India.—Mr. W. L. Distant exhibited a long series of specimens of the Madagascar homopteron Ptyelus goudoti, Benn., to illustrate the extreme variability of the species. The series showed a gradation from melanic to albinic forms, and one specimen was asymmetrical in the markings of the tegmina, thus exhibiting the characters of two varietal forms, an occurrence which Mr. Distant stated was not altogether excep- tional in extremely variable species of the order Rhynchota,— Mr. T. R. Billups exhibited two living specimens of Caradus auratus, which had been found in the Borough Market. In reference to a prediction by Mr. Wallace that a sphinx moth would be found in Madagascar with a proboscis of sufficient length to reach into the nectary of Anagrecum sesquipedale, Mr. Pascoe stated that he had heard a rumour that such an insect had been discovered, and endeavoured without success to find any corroboration of the statement from members of the Society. —Miss‘E. O. Ormerod made some remarks as to the contents of a work which she had edited and presented to the Society, and which contained the meteorological observations taken by Miss Molesworth for a period of forty-four years. Some attempt was made to contrast the meteorological conditions with the dominant phases of plant and animal life during that period, Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, May 10.—A_ paper upon the data of ethics, with special reference to Mr. Herbert Spencer’s views, was read by Prof. Wace. PARIS Academy of Sciences, May 17.—M. Edm. Becquerel in the chair.—The President presented the new edition of the works of Laplace, with letter from Laplace’s granddaughter.—The fol- lowing papers were read :—Meridian observations of small planets at the Greenwich and Paris observatories during the first quarter of 1880; communicated by M. Mouchez.—On saccha- rine, by M. Peligot. It is dextrogyrous, like ordinary sugar ; its rotatory power, in Laurent’s polarimeter, represented by 93° 5’ (sugar, 66° 18’). Saccharine from starch-glucose, and that from crystallised levulosate of lime, showed the same rota- tory power. The essential character of saccharine is its relative stability and its inertia towards agents which act on other mat- ters of the sugar group. It is much more easily got from crystallised levulosate of lime than from inverted sugar or starch- glucose.—Researches on the proportion of carbonic acid in the air; second note by M. Reiset. He made (ninety-one) fresh experiments in the country from June to November last year, day and night, and the average obtained was 29°78 CO, in volume, for 100,000 dry atmospheric air at o° and 760 mm. ; (this closely agrees with the figure 29°42 he got in 1872-73). He describes a new absorption apparatus, with the aid of which six or seven hours was sufficient to ascertain the yield of 600 litres of air, 28-91 was the average proportion of CO, for the day, 30°84 for the night. The maxima were in times of fog and mist; the average of twelve such cases was 31°66; the absolute maximum, 34°15, in a dense fog on September 3. He questions the accuracy of the method by which MM. Levy and Allaire found variations last year ranging from 22 to 36.—On the Furens dam, by M. de Lesseps. The dam of the Chagres (40 m. high) should be built on this type, and not cost over 25,000,000 fr,—M. Peters’ death was announced.—On some nutritive effects of alka- line substances in moderate doses, fiom experimentation on man in good health, by MM. Martin Damourette and Hyades, The NATURE [ay 27, 1880 substances tried were bicarbonate of soda (3 gr. daily) and Vichy water from the spring Elizabeth de Cuaset (0°5 to 1 lit. a day). So taken, they are trophic agents, and they diminish uric acid — largely (though the former causes gastric disorders),—Position of the comet 4 of 1880, determined at Bordeaux Observatory, by M. Rayet.—On the transcendants which play a fundamental 7é/e in the theory of planetary perturbations, by M. Callandreau.— — On the number of cyclic groups in a transformation of space, by M. Kantor.—The tensions of saturated vapours have different modes of variation according as they are emitted above or below the point of fusion, by M. de Mondesir. The passage through the point of fusion always gives a variation at least four or five times greater than that found in two liquids in an equal thermo- metric range.—On the interversion of temperatures of the air — with the height, by M. André. This is shown to occur (under like conditions) within much shorter vertical distances than those indicated by M. Alluard.—On the freezing mixtures formed of an acid and a hydrated salt, by M. Ditte. In such a mixture the cooling is not due to simple dissolution of the salt; there is always a double decomposition, conformably to the law of maxi- mum work. The salt containing much water, this separates out, and the change of state absorbs the heat liberated by the reac- tion, borrowing from the liquid itself the surplus of energy necessary to its complete accomplishment. Hence results a con- siderable lowering of temperature.—Influence of alkaline or acid media on the life of crayfish, by M. Richet. Acid or basic liquids are not poisonous in the direct ratio of their acidity or basicity. With equal weight nitric acid is five times more toxical than sulphuric acid, and twenty-five times more than acetic acid. Generally bases have a more hurtful action than acids, The least toxical is baryta; a crayfish will live two or three hours in water containing 3 grs. of it per litre. Soda and lime are fatal in two or three hours in proportion of 1°5 grs. per litre; potash in one of I gr. Ammonia, however, isthe most poisonous of all; in the propor- tion of 0°8 gr. per litre, its action is almost instantaneously fatal, It is thirty times more toxical than baryta, and fifteen than soda, —On some of the conditions of cortical excitability, by M. Couty. The movements caused by faradisation of the brain seem to vary like the less complex contractions caused by faradi- sation of the central end of the sciatic, pointing to a common origin of the two orders of movements:in the same bulbo-medullary elements. —Local and general anzesthesia produced by bromide of ethyl, by M. Terrillon. The substance seems especially suited for short operations not requiring complete muscular reso- lution, It acts rapidly, is less dangerous than chloroform, and the awaking is not disagreeable.—Variations of urea in poisoning by phosphorus, by M. Thibaut.—Influence of the fattening of animals on the constitution of fats formed in their tissues, by M. Muntz. In animals submitted to a fattening process the fat is always poorer in solid fatty matters. —On the fixity of composi- tion of plants ; analysis of Soya hispida, or Chinese oleaginous pea, by M. Pellet.—On the respiratory and circulatory apparatus of some larvee of diptera, by M. Viallanes. The heart of insects is at first a simple tube open only at its two ends. So long as it has no lateral orifices it is completely arterial. CONTENTS Pace MATHEMATICAL JouRNALS. By J. W. L. GLatsHer, F.R.S. . « ~. 73 Our Book SHELF :— Edwards's ‘‘ Six Life Studies of Famous Women” « . « « « 75 Lerrers TO THE EpITOR:— Lord Rosse’s Telescope.—Lord Rosse, F.R.S.; OTTo Srruve 75 Brain Dynamics.—GeorGE J. RomANES, F.RS.. . «. 2 « . 75 The Inevitable Test for Aurora.—P1azz1 SMYTIT. . « « « «© «= 76 Variability of 60 Cancrii—JoHN BIRMINGHAM. . « «© « «© «© « 76 Notes of the Cuckoo.—JoHN BIRMINGHAM. «. « + \ 8 © 76 Falliof Dust... vse ues eubee utente ore eens ge fife) ed Monkeys in the West Indies. —D.G. G.; JonnImray . . .- 17 The Recent Volcanic Eruption in Dominica.—EpmMunp WatTT . 77 Cup Stones, Cup-Marked Stones, or Cups and:Rings —R. Morton MIDDLETON; Jun. . 6 2 0 0 2 6 «0 0) is) im ean A Double Egg.—T. Attwoop =. ... 2 se si enolate 78 ComMPARATIVE ANATOMY OF Man, II. By Prof. FLower, F.R.S. . . 78 On Systematic Sun-Spor Pzriopiciry. By Prof. BALFour STEwarT, FR S20 cc. <.0) <0: oie SU pe ere 80 Primitive Man (With Iilustrations) . ». « « «© +» © #© © © « « 82 Tue HyproGRaPHic DEPARTMENT. « « « © ACC eno MOS 12) Nyy CDT ho Of o ovo 6 No loONGy oo BBS Our ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN :— ( The Late Prof. Peters: c) «tsi wma) @) @ ot ke bem Sieg 9] sees Minor'Planets:.«) «. "= 2) fente cruel ier ts iver te. Wels oie) coy lomnenmneey Cometix880,, 00S Vay sy ete eemerte ells Neltles¢ tele - « 89 PHysicAL NOTES ©. 5 46), spe te og *) =e sof set ete 89; GeroGrarHIcat Nores Ce eS tia, eras’ te ane) es ece se a UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE « + © + « - ; . feet) Le ¢ SociETIES AND ACADEMIES « + + + + « © « « NATURE . THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1880 SIGN LANGUAGE AMONG THE AMERICAN INDIANS Introduction to the Study of Sign-Language among the North American Indians, as Illustrating the Gesture- Speech of Mankind. By Garrick Mallery. (Washing- ton : Government Printing Office, 1880.) : NDER this modest title another of those valuable contributions, which we owe to the Smithsonian Institution, has been made to science. Researches into the ethnography of the North American Indians have been going on for the last eleven years under the super- intendence of Mr. J. W. Powell, and a series of compact and beautifully-printed monographs has lately been started for the purpose of aiding and directing them. The mono- ‘graph just issued forms the second of the series hitherto published, and in spite of its title is full of new and interesting matter. It will be appreciated not only by those who are actually engaged in observing the life and manners of barbarous tribes, but also by every student of language ard anthropology. The evidence that has been accumulating for some time past makes it probable that the most important part of language, its grammatical machinery, originated in ‘gestures and signs. These were the means whereby sensé and meaning were imported into spoken words. As Col. Mallery remarks : “ A child employs intelligent gestures long in advance of speech, although very early and persistent attempts are made to give it instruction in the latter but none in the former; it learns language only through the medium of signs; and long after familiarity with speech, consults the gestures and facial expressions of its parents and nurses as if to translate or explain their words.”” An examination of the sign- language or languages of mankind consequently becomes of high importance, and it is strange that no thorough and scientific attempt to undertake it has hitherto been made. Leibnitz indeed, with the instinct of genius, pointed out the need and importance of such an investi- gation (in his ‘* Collectanea Etymologica,”’ ch. 9), but his words met with no response. It is therefore all the more satisfactory to find that the subject has at last been taken up in America, where special opportunities still exist for collecting materials, notwithstanding the rapid decrease in the native population that seems to have been going on of late years. North America has always been the country where a language of signs was pre-eminently in vogue. Col. Mallery says with justice that “the words of an Indian tongue, being synthetic or undifferentiated parts of speech, are in this respect strictly analogous to the gesture elements which enter into a sign-language.”’ Just as a single idea or mental picture is represented by a connected group of individual gestures, so too it is expressed in the polysynthetic speech of the Red Indian by a group of individual syllables which form but one word. The first question we have to ask ourselves is whether sign-languages are the same all over the world, whether each idea or group of ideas has a fixed and natural gesture or sign corresponding to it everywhere. To this VoL, xx1I.—No. 553 question the researches made among the American Indians furnish a conclusive reply. “The alleged exist- ence of ove universal and absolute sign-language is, in its terms of general assertion, one of the many popular errors prevailing about our aborigines.” Many signs are purely conventional, while many ideas or objects may be denoted by more than one sign. The signs used by the different Indian tribes to indicate the same ideas by no means agree together, nor do they always agree, so far as I know, with the signs employed for the same ideas in the Old World, whether by savages or by deaf-mutes. The curious language of signs employed in monasteries where the rule of silence was strictly observed, which is given by Leibnitz, if compared with the lists of signs furnished by American explorers, is a good example of the fact. At the same time no signs’ can be so arbitrary and conventional as spoken words, nor can an idea be expressed by so many different signs as it can be by different sounds. Col. Mallery observes that “ further evidence of the unconscious survival of gesture-language is afforded by the ready and involuntary response made in signs to signs when a man with the speech and habits of civilisation is brought into close contact with Indians or deaf-mutes. Without having ‘ever seen or made one of their signs, he will soon not only catch the meaning of theirs, but produce his own, which they will likewise comprehend, the power seemingly remaining latent in him until called forth by necessity. The signs used by uninstructed congenital deaf-mutes and the facial expressions and gestures of the congenitally blind also present considerations under the heads of ‘heredity’ and Satavism,’ of some weight when the subjects are de- scended from and dwell among people who had disused gestures for generations, but of less consequence in cases such as that mentioned by Cardinal Wiseman of an Italian blind man who, curiously enough, used the precise signs made by his neighbours.” But care must be taken to distinguish between two things which are frequently confused together. Gestures and signs are wholly different, gestures being natural signs more or less conventional. A gesticulation is a gesture which has become a sign, and the nearer signs approach to gesticulations the more readily and in- stinctively they will be understood. Those who wish to know what the Indian sign-language is will find plenty of interesting and suggestive examples in Col. Mallery’s Jntroduction. We has addedia list of his authorities as well as a speech in signs addressed: by a medicine-man of the Wichitas to Mr. A. J. Holt, and a story in signs told by Natshes, the Pah-Ute chief, to Dr. W. J. Hoffman. These curious specimens of sign- language will show what it is more effectually than any description could do, and will justify the analysis and classification of the signs proposed by Col. Mallery. In conclusion, aid and suggestions are asked from all interested in the subject, or who are in actual contact with savage and barbarous tribes. A list of words is ‘appended for which the corresponding signs are wanted, those of chief importance being marked by an asterisk, We hope that the ethnographical department of the Smithsonian Institution will meet with all the assistance in this under- taking to which it is entitled. There’ must be many observers among the uncivilised races of the Old World F 94 INEAIG ED SID [ Fune 3, 1880 or in schools for deaf-mutes who have many facts of interest and value to contribute. facts have all been gathered in that it will be possible to reconstruct that primitive speech of mankind which pre- ceded articulate utterance, which formed the bridge to spoken language and expressed the earliest thought of the human race. A. H. SAYCE TESTING TELEGRAPH LINES Instructions for Testing Telegraph Lines and the Techni- cal Arrangement of Offices. By Louis Schwendler. Vol. ii. Second Edition. (London: Triibner and Co., 1880.) HE second volume of this useful work is free from the defects which disfigured the first volume, and which we were bound to find fault with (NATURE, vol. xix. p- 192). This is doubtless due to the watchful eye and careful hand of Prof. M‘Leod, who has nursed it through the press and added some useful notes. It contains a very full and clear description of Mr. Schwendler’s modi- fication of the tangent galvanometer, by which quanti- tative electrical measurements of batteries, lines, and apparatus are more rapidly though more roughly made than with bridges and coils. Such an instrument is very extensively employed in England and America, but Mr. Schwendler has certainly improved its efficiency by combining certain resistances with it and making it more portable. It is remarkable what a handy and useful instrument this becomes, and what a valuable help it is to the telegraph engineer. Society of Telegraph Engineers the other evening that it frequently happened over the extensive system of the Post Office—120,000 miles of wire and 12,000 instruments —that the daily bill of health showed not one single fault existing, and this he attributed principally to that accurate system of testing which has been in use in England for nearly twenty years. Mr. Varley introduced this system sively employed. not made himself better acquainted with the systems in use in other countries, for the perusal of his book leaves the impression that he thinks he has inaugurated a new system in India, whereas he has only modified existing systems to suit the requirements of the Indian service. Again this desire to be individual is shown by the adoption of that most unnecessary nomenclature of unit current, the “ Oersted?’ Unit current is now universally known as the “ Weber,” and though some confusion has oc- curred as to whether unit current should be “ webers per second,” or simply “ weber,’ nevertheless “ webers’’ and that useful sub-multiple ‘‘milliwebers” are now used all over the world, except in India. Custom only has forced the terms vo/t, ohm, farad, weber into use. He would be a bold man who would attempt to convert ‘“‘Ohm”’ into “Schwend,” yet Mr. Schwendler would convert “‘ Weber” into “ Oersted.’’ There is no doubt that Mr. Latimer Clark, who is the author of the recognised nomenclature, proposed the term ‘“ weber” for unit quantity, but as any term applied to unit quantity, excepting that based on unit capacity or “ farad,’’ is not wanted, and unit current is unit quantity per unit time, ‘“webers per second”’ has rapidly, by the silent linguistic It is only when these. Mr. Preece mentioned at the | process of abbreviation, subsided into ‘‘webers,’’ and webers it will remain. This strange habit of ignoring existing terms is shown in the definition of “intensity”? (p. 40) as applied to a battery which is said to be the maximum current which a battery produces on short circuit. Now there is scarcely an English-speaking country where this property is not known as “quantity,”’ though this term is carefully excluded from all books from its eminently unscientific character, Nevertheless it is so rooted in telegraphic circles that there is scarcely a line- man in all England that does not use it. Again, those currents which every one knows as “earth currents’’ are called in India “ natural currents” (p. 53). Moreover we have the strange anomaly that sometimes the author uses Stemen’s units, sometimes ofvs, sometimes S.U., and sometimes 2.A.U., to designate units of resistance. The battery used in India is the Minotto form of Daniell—a very wasteful cell, and giving for line purposes an internal resistance of 30 ohms! In dry climates where the circuits are long such a battery may be useful, but in damp climates, like England, where the circuits are com- paratively short, such a battery is impossible. The Minotto cell is, however, very constant in its electro- motive force ; and Mr. Schwendler’s instructions for its maintenance are very clear and complete. The principal portion of the book is devoted to a description and mode of construction and examination of the instruments in use in India and their connections: Mr. Schwendler has introduced a useful test called the “range test,’’ by which those currents are recorded between which the instrument will work without any re- adjustment. Thus the range test of a Siemen’s relay is 25. In other words, whether the current used be ‘oor or ‘o25 weber, or any current of intermediate strength, the relay will equally work. An instrument that will stand such a test must be quite free from friction in its points or from residual magnetism in its iron core. The working | currents in India never exceed 8 milliwebers nor fall in England and in America also, where it is very exten- | It is a pity that Mr. Schwendler has | below 2 milliwebers. Hence if a relay fulfil the above test it never wants adjustment. This is certainly ‘‘a con- summation devoutly to be wished”’ by all telegraphists. We observe the following interesting instruction : “On no account are relays to be exposed to the direct rays of an Indian sun. The permanent magnet is sure to lose its magnetism perceptibly, and consequently the relay will become unsensitive.” Is this due to the light or to the heat of the sun? His notions of the efficiency of lightning protectors are rather heterodox. “ All,” says he (p. 195), “that can be said of them at present is, that if they are kept clean they do no harm ;’’ yet he gives a very clear description of those in use. He attributes to Steinheil, in 1846, the first lightning discharger; but Highton, on the London and North-Western Railway, before this, rapt the wire for eight inches on each side of the instrument in bibulous paper and surrounded it with a mass of metallic filings placed in a tin lined box in connection with the earth. Very excellent descriptions are given of different forms of relays and of various plans devised for reducing the effects of induction, notably Mr. W. P. Johnston’s electro- magnetic shunt. Indeed the work is an admirable de- scription of telegraphy in India, and it is one which should be in every electrician’s library. There are Fune 3, 1880] many telegraph administrations which would be bene- fited by its clear practical character. But it is not im- maculate. The chief defect of the book is the absence of recognition of what has been done elsewhere and the negation of existing literature’ dealing with the same subject. Mr. Latimer Clark’s boo on “ Electrical Measurement’’ (published in 1868) was written especially for use in India. His “ Electrical Tables and Formulz,” written in conjunction with Mr. Sabine and published in 1871, contains nearly all that is known of testing. Culley’s “ Handbook,”’ first published in 1866, has run through six editions. Hoskizr’s ‘“‘ Guide to Electric Testing ” was published in 1873, and has reached a second edition: Preece and Sivewright’s ‘ Text-book of Telegraphy ” was published in 1876, and has also reached a second edition. Kempe’s ‘Handbook of Electric Testing’’ (a most useful and valuable little work) was also published in 1876. Papers by Fleeming Jenkin, Siemens, F. C. Webb, Hockin, Heaviside, &c., are scattered everywhere ; yet the impression left on the mind after perusing Mr. Schwendler’s book is that, according to him, there is but one system of testing, and that is to be found in India ; and there is but one book on the subject, and here it is! OUR BOOK SHELF A Physical, Historical, folitical, and Descriptive Geo- graphy. By Keith Johnston, F.R.G.S. Maps and Illustrations. (London: Stanford, 1880.) THIS work is in every way creditable to its unfortunate young author, who, our readers may remember, succumbed some months ago to the hardships of African travel while leading an expedition from the West Coast towards Lake Tanganyika. Mr. Johnston has not sought to enter into that minute and often painful detail with which we are familiar in most text-books of geography. His object has been to record in each of the great departments of geography the results of the latest research, leaving it to the teacher or to special text-books to fill up with details. After a brief sketch of some of the main points in mathe- matical geography, a clear and sufficiently full sketch of historical geography is given, treating not merely of the progress of discovery, but of the various movements of peoples and nations which have led up to the political divisions of the earth as they are at present; this we think a useful introduction of scientific method into history. Then follows a section on physical geography, in which the most trustworthy results of research in the various departments of this subject are stated with clear- ness and accuracy, The remaining two-thirds of the work is devoted to the special geography of the various continents and countries—their physical features, natural history, products, industries, peoples, and political and social conditions. The same method is followed through- out of dwelling only upon the important features. The work is amply illustrated by useful and beautifully executed maps, and is one of the best general handbooks of geography that we know. Zeitschrift fiir das chemische Grossgewerbe. iv. Jahrgang. Von Jul. Post. Fortgesetzt von Arthur Lehmann. (Berlin : Oppenheim, 1880.) WE have already had occasion to draw attention to the merits of this publication, and the present issue of the work is in no way inferior to its predecessors. It consti- tutes a complete compendium of the progress of chemical technology during the past year, and as such must be of great service to our manufacturers. The various articles are contributed by acknowledged authorities, and the whole is preceded by a short review indicating the more NATURE 95 striking improvements which have been introduced into the chemical arts since the publication of the last issue of the work. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correstondents, Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressureon his space is so great that it 7s impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] i The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker I HAVE had an opportunity lately of observing closely the habits of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Ficus minor) as re- gazds the very peculiar sound which it makes upon trees by the action of its bill. It is quite certain that this habit has nothing whatever to do with the quest for food. The bird selects one particular spot upon the trunk or bough of a tree, which spot is naturally sonorous from the wood being more or less hollowed by de- cay. The bird returns to this precise spot continually during the day and produces the sound by striking the wood on the spot with its bill, the stroke being repeated with a rapidity which is really incomprehensible; for it quite eludes the eye. It is effected by a vibratory motion of the head; but the vibrations are so quick that the action looks like a single stroke. After short pauses this stroke is again and again re- newed, sometimes for several minutes together. During each interval the woodpecker looks round it and below it with evident delight and with an apparent challenge of admiration. The beautiful crimson crest is more or less erected. The whole performance evidently takes the place of the vernal song in other birds; and so far as I know it is the only case among the feathered tribes in which vocal is replaced by instru- mental music. The nest does not appear to be in the same tree ; but similar spots are selected on several trees in the neighbourhood, and as the sound is very loud and is heard a long way off, the hen bird when sitting is serenaded from different directions. I have not seen or heard any attempt to vary the note pro- duced by variations either in the strength or in the rapidity of the stroke, or by changing the point of percussion; but I have observed that the note varies more or less with the tree on which it is produced. During about six weeks the performance has been frequent every day, and early in the mornings during part of this time it was almost constant. Of late it has been discontinued. In all probability this is parallel to the well-known fact that singing birds cease to sing after the eggs are hatched. This instrumental substitute for singing among the wood- peckers is extremely curious. ARGYLL May 29 Mr. Preston on Vortex Atoms SoME passages in an article in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 56, on Sir William Thomson’s theory of vortex atoms, seem to show that the author, Mr. Preston, has not perfectly apprehended the nature of vortex motion. On p. 57 he says that ‘‘the rotating portion” of the liquid ‘‘ therefore glides smoothly over the in- compressible liquid that surrounds it like a pipe.” From this it appears that the vortically-moving fluid is conceived by him as slipping with reference to the rest of the fluid. This is, how- ever, an incorrect view of the nature of the motion. If there be an infinite mass of fluid, then the stable existence of a vortex filament at any part necessitates motion throughout the whole, and there is, at the surface bounding the filament, no discon- tinuity of the kind apparently conceived by Mr. Preston. Two vortices exercise very remarkable influences on one another, which are due to the irrotational motion of the parts of the fluid outside the vortices. : The existence of surfaces of finite slip in the hydrodynamics of an ideal perfect fluid is not precluded by any quality attributed to the fluid, but Ido not think that the behaviour of vortices bounded by surfaces of slipping has been hitherto treated by any mathematician 96 Tt does not seem likely, however, that the investigation would lead to interesting physical results, because this kind of motion is essentially dynamically unstable. Towards the end of the same article there occurs the following passage :— “‘The old idea that a ship (or more correctly a totally im- mersed body, such as a fish) encountered a mysterious resistance in addition to the mere friction of the molecules on its sides, is now known to haye been a pure delusion,” This statement appears to me either erroneous or very mis- leading. The resistances to the motion of a ship have been classified under three heads, viz., wave-making resistance, eddy- making resistance, and surface-friction.1 For a totally-immersed body the wave-making resistance is non-existent, but Mr. Pres- ton would appear only to take notice of the last of the three. Now whilst for a body with ‘‘ fair lines,’”’ such as a fish, the eddy-making resistance may be small, yet if the lines are not fair it may be very large. ‘Thus a fish leaves scarcely any wake, whilst an oar leaves a very great amount of disturbance. Helmholtz, Kirchhoff,? and Lord Rayleigh? have made some interesting hydrodynamical investigations on the resistance suf- fered by.a vane exposed to a current, on the hypothesis that in the wake of the vane there is dead water, separated from the moving water by surfaces of finite slip. It has been already noticed that such a motion is dynamically unstable, but.there is in many respects a remarkable accordance between the resistance as determined by this theory and that found experimentally,* so that it seems probable that the actual stable motion of flow, with eddies in the wake, does not differ very much from the theoretically unstable motion, with dead water in the wake. It will be noticed that this theory of resist- ance, which gives approximate results for bodies with very bad lines, such as flat vanes, actually entirely neglects surface-fric- tion, to which Mr. Preston’s statement would seem to refer the whole resistance. G. H. DARWIN Trinity College, Cambridge, May 27 The Inevitable Test for Aurora In reference to Prof. Piazzi Smyth’s courteous criticism of our communication to the Royal Society on the aurora borealis, we regret that we are unable to say whether the critical’citron line, to which he directs attention, was present or not in the spectra of the electric discharges in atmospheric air from which we deduced the probable heights of auroral displays. this particular line was consequently not sought for, nor indeed have many measurements been made of the spectra of discharges in atmospheric air, on account of the time required and conse- quent great consumption of the life of the battery which such observations entail. WARREN DELA RUE 73, Portland Place, W., May 29 Huco MULLER Cloud Classification THERE is a proverbial objection to ‘‘looking a gift-horse in the mouth,” and M. Poéy’s Cloud Book is such a yaluable addition to the scanty literature on the subject that it would be highly ungracious to make captious objections to his views. On the other hand, M. Poéy, when he differs from others, puts forward his views with such fairness and courtesy that I believe he would be the last man to deprecate full discussion. Allow me then to put in a plea for certain old public servants, that they should neither be cashiered altogether, nor transported to strange regions, without full examination into their character and their merits. First, then, for the s¢vatus. M. Poéy—happy man !—has carried on his observations under tropical skies’ and in the clear atmosphere of Paris. Had his lot been cast on the clays and gravels of the London basin I venture to think that he would have regarded the ‘‘stratus” with more respect, if with no increase of affection, He would have had frequent opportunities of observing it—at times resting entirely on the ground,° at others rising witha clearly * Froude, Proc. of Roy. Inst., December, 1876. 2“ Math. Vorlesungen,”’ 21st and 22nd lectures. 3 Phil. Mag., December, 1876. 4In particular Lord Rayleigh’s investigation throws light on the theory of the balanced rudder. 5 Howard’s Essay says, “‘its inferior surface commonly’ (not ‘ invari- =e or ‘‘necessarily”) “‘rests on the earth for water.” P. 7, Edit. 1868. NATURE The experi- | ments quoted were made without reference to the aurora, and | [Fune 3, 1880 defined lower and upper ‘surface, a few feet (or even inches) from the earth, cutting the taller trees in a horizontal line, leaving their tops and bottoms free, and then being gradually dissipated, to be absorbed in the warmer air or to form cumuli at a higher elvation. He could hardly have failed to recognise it as a clear and distinct variety of cloud, the lowest in altitude of all the family, but none the less a member of it. If every cloud which has contact with our baser earth is to be cashiered on that account, what will become of M. Poéy’s own cumulus on Plate XV. ? Every mountaineer knows to his cost that if he happens to be on the mountain where such a cumulus is resting, he will be enveloped in a fog undistinguishable from what he finds on the Thames marshes. Whether, on the other hand, it is desirable to use the term “stratus” for clouds in a totally different sky-region, which differ both in their origin and their nature from the true ‘stratus,’ is a question too long to be fully discussed here. Next with regard to the szméous. M. Poéy’s view appears to be that Howard’s term applies:to an isolated shower-cloud, and is unsuitable for a rain-cloud over- spreading the sky. After careful reading of M. Poéy’s remarks on the ‘* pallium,” and comparing them with Howard’s deserip- tion of the ‘‘ nimbus,”’ I entirely fail to see where lies sufficient difference to consign the ‘‘nimbus ” to oblivion ; and I can only imagine that M, Poéy has taken his idea* of what Howard meant almost entirely from the illustration, without noticing that Howard first describes the forming and behaviour of the cloud overhead in words curiously similar to those which Poéy himself uses for his ‘‘ pallium,’’ and then says, ‘‘ But we see the nature of this process more «perfectly in viewing a distant shower in profile.” This clearly shows that the illustration was only chosen as the easiest form in which the cloud, vel nubinm eries, could be depicted, while the context guards completely against the name being limited to an isolated skower-cloud. It would occupy to much space to place the descriptions of the two savazts side by side, but I think that any one who will take the trouble to read the two together can hardly fail to see that Howard’s ‘‘nimbus” fulfils all that Poéy describes as the rain-discharging cloud, including the upper ‘‘ veil,” ? or pallium of cirrus, the lower ‘‘sheet,”* or ‘ pallium” of cumulus, and the ‘lower clouds arriving from the windward,” which ‘* move under this sheet and are successively lost in it” (Howard, p. II; compare Poéy, Plate XII.). In fact, to use an expression frequently employed in the discussion of patents, you can take the description of the one inventor and ‘‘read it on to”, the drawing of the other, or vice versa. M., Poéy’s term ‘‘pallium” is certainly expressive, and will probably make itself a home in cloud terminology; but it appears after all only to mean that a certain modification over- spreads the whole or a large part of the sky (compare Howard, p. I1), and does not by any means cover that combination of clouds which produces rain (‘‘ nimbus.”) I must leave it to afuture time or to other pens to discuss the merits of the ‘‘cumulo-stratus,” and pass on to examine shortly M. Poéy’s views about the ‘‘cumulus.” The Rev. W. C. Ley, in his review of M. Poéy’s work, in your pages, has already pointed out the illogical nature of the author’s repeated remark that the “cumulus ” only exists in the horizon, forgetting that a cloud which is on the horizon of one place must be in the zenith of another. Now I venture to suggest that this curiously- distorted mental view affects M. Poéy’s classification far more than appears at first sight. If clouds are considered not ob- jectively according to their whole form and_ structure, but subjectively as they present themselves to an individual observer, we naturally need new modifications as the clouds are viewed in different positions, Are not many of the clouds which M, Poéy calls ‘*fracto-cumulus” simply “cumuli” viewed from beneath ? Just as (to borrow a similefrom Mr, Ley) an elm-tree seen from beneath presents a spreading, ragged edge, and shows the blue sky ‘through its interstices, whereas on the horizon it appears compact, rounded, and sharply defined. May I add a practical suggestion as to the popular terms proposed by M. Poéy on p. 39? These termsare put forward as an alternative to the scientific Latin names, for the use of zo7- scientific observers, who may be of great service in collecting information at out-stations where no trained meteorologist is at hand. It is therefore all-important that they should be as short, t See Poéy, p. 33. sd be feke 3 ) 2 ‘*At a greater altitude a thin light veil,” &c., Howard, p. 11, and again, “‘superne cirrata,” p. 4 ' 3 ‘The lowerclouds . .. . form one uniform sheet,” p. 11. Fune 3, 1880] NATURE 97 plain, and simpleas possible, conforming as nearly as may be to the popular terms in use, and above all that there should be nothing to mislead an ignorant person. Now I would ask what idea is conveyed to an ordinary unscientific mind by the term ‘‘snow- sheet”? The name is perfectly correct if read in the lightof M. Poéy’s explanation; but to an average lighthouse-keeper or coastguard it would certainly convey the idea of a so-called ‘*pallio cumulus,” 7eady to discharge snow, and would be used accordingly. “Wind cloud” appears also distinctly misleading. To most minds it would, I believe, imply a cirrus or cirro-cumulus, as being the harbinger of wind. We have two excellent names in common use—‘‘scud” and “ rack,”—either of which would serve. “ Stratified cloud” isa very vague term, applicable to many varieties besides ‘‘cirro-stratus.” + Objections might also fairly be raised against ‘‘ Belt cloud,” as compared with the familiar ‘‘ Noah’s ark” which Poéy him- self quotes elsewhere, and to the ‘‘ Globular tempestuous cloud,” as a very cumbrous term, although a correct one. It is to be hoped that all these details will be fully discussed before M. Poéy’s suggestions are either admitted into general use, or, on the other hand, too readily rejected, Es Walthamstow, Essex Norte.—The references are to Howard’s Zssay on the Modi- fications of Clouds, third edition, Churchill, 1865, and to Poéy’s Comment on observe les Nuages, Paris, 1879, ‘‘Chipped Arrow heads ” In a number of NATURE (vol. xx. p. 483) which only lately reached us here I read an interesting account of Mr. Cushing’s researches into the manufacture of flint weapons as practised by aboriginal tribes; and as I have had many opportunities of observing the method by which the Fuegians of Magellan’s Straits fashion their glass arrow-heads, a few words on the matter may not be without interest to some of your readers. One of the indications of the increase of traffic through these Straits which has of late years taken place is that empty bottles are now to be found about the shores of those anchorages which are used by passing vessels as stopping-places for the night ; and bottle-glass is consequently the material used by the Fuegians of the present day, to the exclusion of obsidian, quartz, or flint. The following is the process :—A fragment somewhat approach- ing to the shape of the intended arrow-head is grasped firmly in the left hand, while in the right hand is held an old iron nail stuck into a short wooden handle. The fingers of the closed right hand are turned upwards, and the point of the nail is directed towards the operator’s breast. He then presses with great force the blunt point of the nail obliquely against the edge of the piece of glass, when a thin scale flies off towards him. One’'side of the edge having been bevelled in this way, the glass is turned round, and the opposite edge flaked off in a similar manner. Working the edges alternately in this way, the glass is readily brought to the required shape. The fashioning of the point is the most difficult part of the process, the formation of the barbs being easily effected. I have seen a native thus make a large arrow-head out of a piece of broken pickle bottle in about half an hour, The glass is never struck, but is fashioned entirely by pressure. After a little practice I succeeded in making fair imitations. I find, moreover, that the iron tool above mentioned can be dispensed with, and that the flaking may be effected by pressing with an angular flint or with a piece of doze, which were probably the methods used by the Fuegians before they possessed any iron implements. K. W. CoppiInGeR H.M., Surveying Ship AZer7, Swallow Bay, Straits of Magellan, March 21 Cup and Ring Stones N In reply to Mr. Middleton’s letter I beg to say that the Ilkley cup and ring stones have been carefully described and illustrated in a paper read by me before the Brit. Archaeolog, Assoc. (see Fournal B. A. A. for 1879, p. 93). Further information will be found in Sir Jas. Simpson’s work on the subject, which forms the appendix to vol. vi. of the Proc. t Iam not aware whether Geschichtete Wolken is an accepted term in Germany. In the Bernese Oberland a very expressive name is used, “Gestreifte Wolken, only too well known to mountaineers. Soc. Bits Scot., and in Prof. Boyd Dawkins’ ‘‘ Early Man,” P+ 339+ In a large number of instances cup and ring marks have been found on the stones of cists, stone circles, and menhirs. It would therefore appear that they are connected with sepulchral rites, Cup marks are found in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Northumberland, Yorkshire, Cumberland, Lancashire, Switzer- land, Sweden, and India (see Rivett Carnac’s papers in ¥ournal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1878-9). I should be glad of evidence of their existence in Derbyshire and elsewhere in the South of England. J. RoMILLY ALLEN 23, Maitland Street, Edinburgh Songs of Birds CAN any musical reader of NATURE transcribe for me the notes of the king lorry (Afrosinectus scapulatus)? May not the major and minor keys of the cuckoos noticed by John Birming- ham be sexual characteristics? The males are believed to exceed the females in number in the proportion of four or five to one, and, if this be so, the male note must be heard more often than the female. The ‘‘jerkiness of style” in the major cuckoo, as described, suggests that the performer is a female. ALN. C. W. HArpinc.—The teeth belong to a young horse—not yet “in mark” (Zguzs caballus). Their geological horizon appears uncertain, and they are as likely to be historic or prehistoric as pleistocene. COMPARATIVE ANATOMY OF MAN} Ill. Modifications of the Negro type.—At several parts of the equatorial region of Africa, from the Gulf of Guinea to the White Nile, indications have been met with of a small race of negroes, sometimes so small that the name of pygmy may truly be applied to them, differing from the ordinary negro in the short rounded form of the head. These bear some resemblance to the diminutive members of the oceanic black races who inhabit some parts of the East Indian Archipelago, especially the Andaman Islands, and to whom the name /Veg77¢o is now generally applied, and Dr. Hamy, who has collected together all the evidence at present accessible as to their existence, has proposed to distinguish them by the term Weg7z//o. The Akkas of Schweinfurth appear to belong to this race. In many districts they are more or less mixed with the ordinary negroes, and their physical characters are therefore obscured, but some skulls from the West Coast of Africa in the collection of Dr. Barnard Davis bear a striking resemblance to those of the Andamanese, and have a cephalic index of 80 or upwards. The greater part of Africa, between the equator and the most southern parts, where the Hottentots and Bushmen dwell, is inhabited by negroes, who for linguistic reasons are grouped together, and separated from the more northern tribes, and are now generally known to ethno- logists by the name of Bantu. Their range seems to have extended southwards in comparatively recent times, encroaching upon that of the original inhabitants. They are a pastoral people, warlike, energetic, and intelligent, owning large herds of cattle, and living in villages com- posed of a number of beehive-like huts. The southern Bantu, who at present are the best known, from their vicinity to the British and Dutch settlements of South Africa, are divided by Fritsch into 1. The Ama-Xosa, who inhabit at present the south-east portions of the Bantu territory, adjoining the sea, between the Cape Colony and Natal. To these the name Ka/ir, derived from an Arabic word applied to them as unbelievers or heathens, is com- monly given, but the name is sometimes used in a wider sense for the Bantu negroes generally. The Ama-Xosa include the well-known tribes of Gaikas and Galeikas, with whom we were at war in 1877. 2. The Ama-Zulu, 4 Abstract Report of Prof. Flower’s lectures at the Royal College of Surgeons, March 1 to March 19, on the Comparative Anatomy of Man. Continued from p. 80. 98 NATURE [Sune 3, 18380 situated to the north of these, in Natal and Zululand. 3. The Bechuanas, occupying the central or inland country ; and 4. The Ova-hereros, or Damaras, of the western coast-lands. Each of these divisions is com- posed of numerous small tribes, frequently at war with each other, and constantly changing in relative impor- tance and even locality. The growth of the Zulu nation is a striking example of the mutable character of native African political combinations. At the commencement of the present century they were an extremely insignifi- cant tribe, but by the military and political genius of their chief, Chaka, who conquered and absorbed all the neighbouring tribes, a powerful kingdom was formed, which was consolidated by his successors, Dingaan, Panda, and Ketchwhyo, under whom, however, it has been destroyed by the superiority of European weapons and organisation, at what cost we know too well. Five crania of Zulus who were killed in the fatal battle of Isandthlwana, on January 22 of last year, have already reached the museum, through the kindness of Mr. Fynn, a magistrate in Natal, Col. Mitchell, the Colonial Secre- tary, and Dr. R. J. Mann, and their uniformity of charac- ters is such that they probably are very fair average specimens of the race. They are the skulls of large, powerful men in the prime of life. The capacity of their cranial cavity is remarkable, far above that of the ordi- nary negro, even above that of the lower class of English- men, the average of the five being 1,580 cubic centimetres. One measures as much as 1,745. Their average latitu- dinal index is 75*1, their altitudinal index 76°6. Their orbits are remarkably small and low; index 81°7._ The form of the nasal bones and nasal index (60°7) is charac- teristically negroid, but they differ from ordinary negroes in two important points. They are not truly prognathous, but mesognathous, the alveolar index (100°4), being inter- mediate between that of the negro and the European, and their teeth are small, the index being only 40°7.. The crania of other Zulu and Kafir tribes previously ex- amined give similar results, especially a larger cranial capacity and a less degree of prognathism than is found in the equatorial negro. Another great division of South African people com- prises those popularly known as Hottentots and Bushmen, or in their own language Koi-Koin. They formerly in- habited a much larger district than at present; but, encroached upon by the Bantu from the north and by the Dutch and English from the south, they are greatly reduced in numbers, and indeed threatened with speedy extinction. The Hottentots are at present divided into three principal groups—the Namaquas, Korannas, and the Griquas. -The latter especially are much mixed up with other races, and, under the influence of a civilisation which has done little to improve their moral condition, they have lost most of their distinctive peculiarities. The pure-bred Hottentot is of moderate stature, has a yellowish-brown complexion, very frizzly hair, which, being less abundant than that of the ordinary negro, has the appearance of growing in separate tufts. The forehead and chin are narrow and the cheek-bones wide, giving a lozenge-shaped visage. The nose is very flat and the lips prominent. The women are often remarkable for immense accumulation of fat upon the nates, called sSteatopygy, and also of great elongation of the nymph and of the freputium clitoridis. In these anatomical peculiarities, and in almost everything else except size, the Bushmen agree with the Hottentots. In fact they appear to be a stunted, outcast branch of the same race living the life of the most degraded of savages among the rocky caves and mountains of the lands where the comparatively civilised and pastoral Hottentots dwelt in the plains. Their usual appellation is derived from the Dutch Bosjesman, or “man of the woods,” and they have been regarded both by Kafirs and Boers as some- thing only half human, and have been treated accordingly, and nearly exterminated. Notwithstanding their gene- rally low condition of culture, they show remarkable pictorial power, drawing animals especially with life-like accuracy. The osteological characters of the Bushmen are tolerably well illustrated ‘in the museum both by skeletons and crania. Their average height would appear to be from 4 feet 6 to 4 feet 8 inches, and there is very little, if any, difference between the men and women in this respect. The form of the skull is extremely characteristic, and could scarcely be mistaken for that of any other race. It has generally a very feminine, almost infantile appearance; though the capacity of the cranial cavity is not the smallest, exceeding that of the Anda- manese and the Veddahs of Ceylon. In general form the cranium is rather oblong than oval, having straight sides, a flat top, and especially a vertical forehead, which rises straight up from the root of the nose. The lower occi- pital region is greatly developed, in marked contrast to that of the Andaman islanders. They are moderately dolichocephalic or mesaticephalic, the average of ten specimens being 75°4. The height is in all considerably less than the breadth, the average index being 71‘I, so that they are decidedly low skulls, The zygomata are little developed, the malars project forwards about as much as in the Mongolian races, giving a nasi-malar angle of 140°. The glabella and supra-orbital ridges are little developed except in the oldest males. The orbits are elongated and low (average index 81°4), the space between the orbits very wide and flat, there being no depression at the root of the nose. A large portion of the ascending process of the maxilla is visible on each side of the nasals. The nasal bones are extremely small and flat, and the aperture wide; the average nasal index being 60°8, so that they are the most platyrhine of all races. On the other hand they are rarely prognathous. In this, and some other characters, there is much that recalls the infantine condition of the true negro. Inhabitants of North Africa—The whole of the various populations inhabiting the portion of Africa north of the Sahara Desert, from the Atlantic coasts as far south as the River Senegal on the west to the Red Sea on the east, belong to a completely different type of mankind from that which we have been last considering, and, as before mentioned, the boundaries between the two types coincide remarkably with those of zoological regions, as indicated by distinct characters of the fauna. As must naturally have happened during the vast length of time during which the people of Northern Africa and the negroes have occupied contiguous regions since the drying up of the Sahara Sea, with absolutely no physical barrier between them, considerable intermixture has taken place along the frontier line, and even for some distance into the territories of each at certain points, In the east, especially, the superior northern race has en- croached far southwards, and the practice, which has existed from the most ancient times down to our own, of importing the negroes into the northern country as slaves and soldiers, has given rise to a considerable modification of the type in certain districts. Besides the negro element which has thus partially and locally modified the characters of the inhabitants of Northern Africa, at least two other adventitious ele- ments, although with differences small compared with those last named, appear to have come into the district and assisted to diversify the physical type. The evi- dence on which the first of these rests is rather shadowy ; but to account for the considerable number of individuals, especially in Marocco, who depart at least in colour from the prevailing North African type, and have fair com- plexions, eyes, and hair, an immigration of a northern race is supposed; and as all such immigrations within the strictly historic period, such as that of the Vandals (A.D. 500) have been on too small a scale or too temporary to effect such a permanent change in a considerable portion of the ee Fune 3, 1880] NATURE 99 population, and as there is evidence from Egyptian monu- ments of fair people (the Tamahou) inhabiting North Africa, to the west of Egypt, at least 1500 years B.C., this race has been associated with the builders of the mega- lithic monuments found scattered over the west of Europe and the north-west of Africa, who are supposed to have invaded Africa by way of Spain and Tangiers. The invasion of the country by Semitic races from the East, the Phcenicians and Carthaginians, and more recently the Arabs, who overspread North Africa by way of the Isthmus of Suez in the seventh and tenth centuries, and impressed the Mohammedan religion upon all these regions,’rests upon surer historical evidence. The basis or the population of Marocco, Algiers, and Tunis are the Berbers, descendants of the Libyans or Zedou of the ancient Egyptians. An important section of them are the Kabyles of the French. They are mostly a settled and pastoral people. The Moors are mixed descendants of Arabs and Berbers, residing in towns. The Bedouins are the Arabs who still lead a nomadic life in the desert. There is much in common in the physical characters of all these people, and indeed with those of the South of Europe and South-West of Asia. They belong mainly to the group called MWelanochroi by Prof. Huxley. The Berber type, which perhaps forms the basis of the population of North Africa, is thus described by Topinard, by whom it has been carefully studied. The height is slightly above the mean, 1°68m. z.e., 5 feet 6°1 inches. Theskin, white in infancy, quickly becomes brown by contact with the air; hair black, straight, and abundant; eyes dark brown ; skull dolichocephalic (index 74'4), leptorhine (44°3), and moderately orthognathous. The face is less elongated and of a less regular oval contour than in the Arab. The straight forehead presents at the base a transverse depression ; the superciliary crests are well developed; the nose is sunken at the base, often arched without being aquiline. The moral and social qualities of the Berbers are contrasted with those of the Arabs, considerably to the disadvantage of the latter. The enterprising and commercial spirit of the Arabs has led to their extension over a very considerable part of Africa, along the north as far as Marocco, and down the east coast beyond Zanzibar, and once, in association with Berbers, and under the name of Moors, they effected a lodgment for a considerable period in Spain and the south of France. Physically they area fine race. Their skull, seen from above, forms a perfectly regular oval. Their face, long and thin, forms another oval, with a not less regular contour, pointed below. Their colour is perfectly white until subjected to the action of the air, when it bronzes with facility. The hair and beard are smooth, and black as jet, the limits of their implantation are clearly marked : eyes black, the palpebral openings elon- gated, almond-shaped, and bordered with long black eye- lashes ; forehead not much elevated. The curve of the nose and retreating chin give to the profile a form rather rounded than straight. The superciliary arches and glabella little developed; the root of the nose is little hollowed, so that the forehead and the dorsum of the nose are almost in a straight line. The nose is aquiline, and its point detaches itself from the ale and descends downwards, recurved like the beak of an eagle. The cheek-bones do not project ; the mouth is small, the teeth white and vertical, the ears well made and rather small, and close to the head. The skuli is subdolichocephalic (index 74:0), and the nose leptorhine, 45'5. A branch of the North African people which has received much attention from anthropologists is that called Guanche, which formerly inhabited the Canary Islands, and which previous to the discovery and conquest of the islands by the Spaniards in the fourteenth century had long been isolated from all other people, and had attained to a peculiar civilisation of its own, pre- serving somewhat of the purity of type generally found under such circumstances. The custom of embalming their dead in a mummified condition in rock sepulchres has permitted us to become acquainted with their physi- cal characters. They were of small stature, and rather resembled the Berbers of the adjoining coast than any of the negro races. Their skull was of the mesaticephalic form, having an average cephalic index of 76°5, and was considerably lower than it was broad. The face was not prognathous, the nose was leptorhine, and at least those inhabiting the island of Teneriffe, who are best known to us, are remarkable for the low and elongated orbits, having, according to Broca, the lowest orbital index (77) of any race. In this respect and some others they resemble the ancient skulls of the reindeer period found in the cave of Cro-Magnon in the South of France, and it has been thought that they may be related to that race. It should be mentioned, however, that the Guanche skulls from Teneriffe in the collection of Dr. Barnard Davis do not altogether bear out this view, as they have a considerably higher orbital index than those measured at Paris. Of all the people of North Africa’ the Egyptians are undoubtedly the most interesting. ‘When history begins to dawn, the first object the light strikes upon, and which for a long time alone rears its form above the general gloom, is the civilisation of ancient Egypt. On inquiry we find this thoroughly organised civilisation, fully supplied with all the necessaries and many of the embellishments of life, and which is alone visible in the dawning light, must have existed through ages long prior to the dawn. It recedes into the unfathomable depth of time far beyond the monuments and traditions.” The valley of the Nile has been for thousands of years the scene of many events which have affected the ethnological characters of its population. Invasions and conquests more or less complete from the east, the north, the west, and the south ; importation to its interior from all the regions around of prisoners and slaves in enormous numbers, many of whom have become permanent settlers and integral parts of the population : yet through all the lapse of years since the period from which 'the first evi- dence of the condition of man in that region has come down to us to the present day the mass of the population, through all the political vicissitudes which they have undergone, have presented the same general physical type. Notwithstanding the mixture of Semitic or Syro- Arabian nations, as in the Hyksos, who ruled in the Delta for nearly 500 years, and the Arabs of later times, the less important Phoenician, Jewish, and Greek immigration in the north, that of the Persians from the east, and Lybians from the west, and the Ethiopians from the south, the Copts and Fellahs of modern Egypt are the little changed lineal descendants of the subjects of the Pharaohs of the early empire. The physical characters of these are preserved to us fortunately by artistic representations, graphic and sculptural, and the still more trustworthy evidence of mummified bodies. Although there are considerable signs, as might be expected, of admixture with other races here and there, the general uniformity is striking, especially as it extends through so long a period of time. If variations appear at particular epochs the original type constantly reasserts itself, almost, if not quite, in its primitive purity. In size the ancient Egyptians were not large, and rather delicately built; their hair was long, soft, straight, or wavy, and black; their cranium oval in form, and the average cephalic index is on the borders between mesati- cephaly and dolichocephaly, and _ tolerably uniform in different series, collected and measured by different observers. Thus Morton gives the average of 43 speci- mens in American museums as nearly 75 ; Broca that of $1 crania at Paris as 75°58 ; while the average of 33 in the College museum is 75°4. Of the latter but one is as high as 80'7, and one as lowas 69°6. Of the others, 20 are 100 above 75'0, or belonging to the mesaticephalic class, and 11 below 75'0, or dolichocephalic. The average alti- tudinal index is below that of the latitudinal, viz., 7371. The average cranial capacity of the males is 1,454 cubic centimetres. hey are almost as orthognathous as Euro- peans, and have teeth of the same comparatively small size, the dental index being in 7 male skulls 40°8, and in § females 41°2. The nasal index of 81 measured by Broca was 47°88, and this was found to be tolerably con- stant in mummies of different historical periods, The average nasal index of 25 in the College collection is rather higher, viz., 48°7._ The orbital index of the same crania is 86°2. Of modern Copts unfortunately but few crania have been hitherto available for examination ; but Broca gives the latitudinal index of 12 at 76°39, and the nasal index at 47°15. The cranial and other characters of the Egyptians correspond in the main with those of the Berbers and other inhabitants of North Africa, and they must be placed in the same general category in any classification of the human race founded on anatomical characters. They have no affinities with the negroes, except such as may easily be accounted for by the occasional admixture of negro blood. Indeed it is almost remarkable that there are not more signs of this having taken place. Some authors have supposed a Turanian origin for the Egyptians, but if this term is to be taken in any sense as equivalent to Mongolians, there is absolutely no support for it in their osteological characters; all the characteristics of the Mongolian races are entirely absent in the Egyptian skull. Still less can any resemblance be seen to the Australian, whose skull, compared with that of an Egyptian, presents almost as great a contrast as can be found within the limits of variation of the human cranium. The angular form, limited capacity, wide zygomata, pro- jecting supraorbital ridges, short flattened nasals, wide nasal aperture with ‘rounded inferior border, great alveolar prognathism, retreating chin, and immense teeth, characteristic of the Australian, are all wanting in the Egyptian. In fact tthe Egyptian belongs by all his anatomical characters to the type called by Blumenbach Gaucasian. The much vexed questions, Who were the Egyptians? and Where'did they come from? receive no answer from anatomical investigations, beyond the very simple one that they are one of several modifications of the great group of races which inhabit all the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea ; that they here lived in their own land far beyond all periods of time measured by historical events, and that in all probability it was there that they gradually developed that marvellous civi- lisation which has exercised such a powerful influence over the arts, the sciences, and the religion of the whole of the Western world. THE UNITED STATES WEATHER MAPS, SEPTEMBER, 1877 a Canada and the United States during September, 1877, atmospheric pressure was everywhere above the normal except over a small triangular patch bounded by the Gulf of Fundy, Chesapeake Bay, and the entrance to Lake Superior. The deficiency was greatest in the North-Western States from Leavenworth to Lake Winni- peg, where it amounted to nearly the tenth of an inch, and on the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, the deficiency at Mobile being 0'074 inch. Pressure was also under the normal over Greenland, the Atlantic, the Spanish Penin- sula, Italy, nearly all Austria and Prussia, the whole of Russia and Siberia, except a patch stretching ina N.N.E, and S.S.W. direction about Lake Baikal. The centres of greatest depression were in the Atlantic between Greenland and the Azores, over a rather broad region NATURE [ Fune 3, 1880 extending eastwards from Moscow to the Obi, and from Pekin northwards to Nertschinsk, the greatest depressions below the normals of these regions for September being respectively o*112 inch, 0'130 inch, and 0’o51 inch. Pressures were above the normal over the whole of North-Western Europe, including Iceland, Sweden, Nor- way, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, and Germany as far as Pressburg, the greatest excess, 0°303 inch, occurring in the extreme north-west of the British Islands. But the most extensive region of unusually high pressure embraced the whole of Southern Asia, including Japan, China, except the extreme north, India, Syria, and also Egypt; and the whole of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand was also above the normal, and very considerably so, the excess at Deviliquin, on the Murray River, reaching 0°265 inch. The most remarkable disturbance in the temperature arising out of this abnormal distribution of pressure and the winds necessarily resulting therefrom, occurred over the whole of Europe, except Italy and the Spanish Peninsula. If the Weather Map be examined, it will be seen that from the west of the British Islands pressures steadily diminished on proceeding eastward over Europe, and along with this diminution of pressure pretty strong northerly winds prevailed, except in the two peninsulas already referred to, where winds were southerly and the temperatures consequently above the normal. Under the influence of these northerly winds the temperature of Europe from the North Cape southwards fell greatly below the average, a deficiency of 5°’o or upwards being experienced at the North Cape, Christiania, Memel, Gulynki, Warsaw, and Prague. In Siberia, to the east of this cold region, southerly winds prevailed and high tem- peratures consequently ruled, the excess above the normal temperature being 6°°3 at Taschkent, 4°°0 at Semipala- tinsk, and 2°5 at Jenisseisk and Irkutsk. Southerly winds also prevailed over Iceland and Greenland, raising the temperature above the normal, the excess on the west of Greenland being about 4%0, and in the north- west of Iceland 5°-o. The Weather Map shows strong southerly winds also over Canada and the northern half of the United States, where consequently the temperature was high for the season, the excess being from 2°'o to 3°0, rising even at some places to nearly 4°°o. Further south the excess was much less ; and in some cases there was even a deficiency, as about Cape Hatteras, where northerly winds will be seen from the Map to have swept over that coast, and the temperature fell a degree and a half below the average; and along the upper reaches of the Arkansas and Red rivers, or to westward of the region of lowest pressure, where, winds being north-westerly, the temperature fell nearly a degree below the normal. In India, pressure was unusually and continuously high from the beginning of the year, except in August , when it fell below the average over the region of the Lower Ganges and Assam. In September, however, pressure again became unusually high over all India, the excess being greatest along the northern coasts of the Bay of Bengal and the central districts from Visagapatam to Ajmere. In Assam the excess was considerable and the rainfall exceeded the average, whereas in Orissa, Western Bengal, and Berhar the rainfall was scanty. The excess above the normal pressure was also considerably less over Southern India and Ceylon than it was to northward ; and with this distribution of the pressure occurred the memorable feature of the meteorology of India for the month, viz., an unusual strength of the south-west monsoon over the west of India from Goa southward, accompanied with an abnormally heavy rainfall on that coast, which extended eastward over the Deccan and the greater part of the Madras Presidency, and thus termi- nated the disastrous famine which had wasted Mysore and a large portion of the Madras Presidency during the previous two years. Fune 3, 1880] NATURE IOI CONTRIBUTIONS TO MOLECULAR PHYSICS IN HIGH VACUA? ee paper is a continuation of the Bakerian Lecture © On the Illumination of Lines of Molecular Pressure and the Trajectory of Molecules,” read before the Royal Society, December 5, 1878. Phenomena there briefly referred to have since been more fully examined ; new facts have been observed, and their theoretical bearings discussed ; and numerous experiments suggested by Prof. Stokes and others have been tried, with the result of acquiring much information which cannot fail to be of value in assisting to evolve a theory capable of embracing all the phenomena under discussion. Experiments previously described have shown that the | molecular stream hypothesis is the correct one. Accord- ing to this, the molecules of the residual gas, coming in | contact with the negative pole, acquire a negative charge, and immediately fly off by reason of the mutual repulsion exerted by similarly electrified bodies. Were the indi- vidual molecules solely acted on by the initial impulse from the negative pole, they would take a direction accurately normal to the surface repelling them, and would start with their full velocity. being all negatively electrified, exert mutual repulsion, and therefore diverge laterally. The negative pole, like- wise, not only gives an initial impulse to the molecules, but it also continues to act on them by repulsion, the result being that the molecules move with an accelerating velocity the further they get from the pole. The lateral divergence of the molecules, owing to their negative | electricity, will naturally increase with the amount of charge they carry ; the greater the number of collisions | But the molecules, | the more the molecules lose negative charge, and the less divergent the stream becomes. This hypothesis is borne out by facts. When the vacuum is just good enough to allow the shadow to be seen, it is very faint (owing to few molecular rays), but is quite sharp (owing to the divergence of the molecules laterally). The variation in mutual repulsion is shown by the fact that the focus projected from a concave pole falls beyond the centre of curvature, and varies in position with the exhaustion, being longer at high than at low exhaustions. Assuming that the phosphorescence is due, either directly or indirectly, to the impact of the molecules on the phosphorescent surface, it is reasonable to suppose that a certain velocity is required to produce the effect. Within the dark space, at a moderate exhaustion, the velocity does not accumulate to a sufficient extent to produce phosphorescence ; but at higher exhaustions the mean free path is long enough to allow the molecules to get up speed sufficient to cause phosphorescence. At a very high exhaustion the phosphorescence takes place nearer the negative pole than at lower exhaustions ; this I consider results from the initial velocity of the molecules being sufficient to produce phosphorescence, their greater speed being due to the fewer collisions near the negative ole. : The luminous boundary to the dark space round the negative pole is probably due to the impact of molecule against molecule, producing phosphorescence of the gas in the same way as the impact of molecules against German glass produces phosphorescence of the glass. The following experiments were commenced at the suggestion of Prof. Maxwell :-— A tube was made as shown in Fig. 1. The terminal @ Fic. 1 is a rectangular plate of aluminium, folded as shown in section Fig. 2; Fore) aluminium set obliquely to the axis of the tube. In front of the pole 0 is fixed a screen of mica, with a smail hole | in it, as shown at ¢; this hole is not in the axis of the tube, but a little to one side of it, so that rays starting normally from the centre of the pole 4 may pass through it and strike the glass at ¢, whilst at the same time rays passing direct between the poles a@and é can also pass through the hole. The questions which this apparatus was to answer are: (1) Will there be molecular projections from the negative pole, a, in two series of plane strata normal to the sides of the individual furrows, or will the projection be perpen- dicular to the electrode as a whole, z.¢., along the axis of the tube ? and (2), Will the molecular rays from the pole | 6, when it is made negative, issue through the aperture of the screen, along the axis of the tube, z.2., direct to the positive pole, or will they leave the pole normal to its surface and strike the glass as shown at @? The tube was exhausted and connected with an induc- tion coil; the following results were obtained:—At a moderate exhaustion, the corrugated pole being made * “Contributions to Molecular Physics in High Vacua. Magnetic Deflec- tion of Molecular Trajectory; Laws of Magnetic Rotation in High and Low Vacua; Phosphorogenic Properties of Molecular Discharge.” By William Crookes, F.R.S. (Extracts from a paper in the PAzlosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Part 2, 1879.) the other terminal 4 is a flat disk of | Fic. 2, negative, the dark space entirely surrounds it, slight indentations being visible opposite each hollow, where there also is a linear concentration of blue light. The appearance is in section as shown in Fig. 2. At higher exhaustions the luminous margin disappears and the rays which previously formed the blue foci are now projected on the inner surface of the tube, where they make them- selves evident in green phosphorescent light as portions of ellipses formed by the intersection of the several sheets Fic. 3. of molecular rays with the cylindrical tube. Fig. 3 shows this appearance. | . When the other pole was made negative, and the 102 exhaustion was such that the dark space extended about 8 millims. from the pole, the first appearance noticed was that of a ray of dark blue light issuing through the hole | | in the mica screen, and shooting upwards towards the | side of the tube, but not reaching it. Fig. 4 shows the Fic. 4. dark space round the pole, and the ray of blue light. On increasing the exhaustion this blue line of light, and the luminous boundary to the dark space, disappeared, and presently a green oval spot appeared on the side of the tube, exactly on the place previously marked where the rays issuing normal from the surface of the pole should fall. : It happened that this oval spot fell on a portion of the tube where one of the elliptical projections from the opposite (corrugated) pole also fell when that was made negative. Thus by reversing the commutator I could get a narrow band of green phosphorescent light from one pole, or a wider oval of green light from the other pole, to fall alternately on the same portion of the glass. Fig. 5 shows these effects, which, however, did not occur together as represented in the figure, but alternately. The narrow band shone very brightly with green phosphorescence, but on reversing the commutator and obtaining the oval spot, this was seen to be cut across the middle by a darker band where the phosphorescence was much less intense. The light of the band was always more intense than that from the spot; the impacts from the one being more concentrated than from the other, owing to the shape and position of the poles ; moreover the experiments had been first tried with the corrugated pole negative. The glass along the band gradually becomes deadened by repeated impacts, and will not readily phosphoresce in reply to the weaker blows from the flat plate, although it still responds to the more energetic bombardment from tne corrugated pole. This phenomenon almost disappears at very high exhaustions, or if the tube is allowed to rest for some time. The tired glass then recovers its phosphorescent power to some extent, but not completely. K To obtain this action in a more striking manner, a tube was made having a metal cross on a hinge opposite the negative pole. The sharp image of the cross was pro- jected on the phosphorescent end of the bulb, where it appeared black on a green ground. After the coil had been playing for some time a sudden blow caused the cross to fall down, when immediately there appeared on the glass a bright green cross on a darker background. ‘The part of the glass formerly occupied by the shadow, having been protected from bombardment, now shone out with full intensity, whilst the adjacent parts of the glass NATURE [Sune 3, 1880 had lost some of their sensitiveness, owing to previous bombardment. This effect of deadening produced on glass by long- continued phosphorescence was shown ina very striking manner at a lecture delivered at the Royal Institution on April 4, 1879, when the image of a cross was stencilled on the end of a large pear-shaped bulb. I subsequently experimented further with this bulb, and found that the image of the cross remained firmly stencilled on the glass. The bulb was then opened and the wide end heated in the blowpipe flame till it was quite soft and melted out of shape. It was then blown out again into its original shape, and re-exhausted; on con- necting it with the induction coil, the metal cross being down out of the line of discharge, the original ghost of the cross was seen to be still there, showing that the deadening of the phosphorescing powers the glass pro- duced by the first experiment at the Royal Institution had survived the melting-up and re-blowing out of the bulb. When experimenting with this apparatus a shifting of the line of molecular discharge was noticed when the current was first turned on. The flat pole d (Fig. 6) being Fic. 6. negative and the line cd being normal to its surface, the spot of light falls accurately on @, when the exhaustion is sufficiently good to give a sharp oval image of the hole c. But at higher exhaustions, when the outline of the image of c becomes irregular and continually changing, the patch of light at the moment of making contact is sometimes seen at e, and then almost instantly travels from e to d, where it remains as long as the current passes. The passage of the spot from ¢ to d@ is very rapid, and requires close attention to observe it. If the coil is now stopped for a longer or shorter time, and contact is again made the same way as before (6 being negative), the spot does. not now start from position e, but falls on @, in the first instance. This can be repeated any number of times. If now the pole 4 be made positive even for the shortest possible interval, and it then be made negative, the original phenomenon occurs, and the spot of light starts from e and rapidly travels tod. After this it again falls on d, aé initio, each time contact is made, so long as 4 is kept the negative pole. There seems no limit to the number of times these experiments can be repeated. The explanation of this result appears to depend on a tem- porary change in the condition of the wall of the glass tube when positively electrified molecules beat against it, a change which is undone by subsequent impact from negative molecules. This phenomenon is closely con- nected with some shadow and penumbra experiments described further on, and as the same explanation will apply to both I will defer any theoretical remarks for the present. A suggestion was made by Prof. Maxwell that I should introduce a third, idle, electrode in a tube between the positive and negative electrodes so that the molecular stream might beat upon it, so as to see if the molecules gave up any electrical charge when impinging on an obstacle, A tube was therefore made as shown in Fig. 7; a and @ are the ordinary terminals; ¢ and @ are large aluminium disks nearly the diameter of the tube, con- Fune 3, 1880] NATURE 103 nected with outer terminals. The poles a and J were connected with the induction coil, an earth wire was brought near the idle pole c, and a gold leaf electroscope was brought near a. On passing the current at inferior exhaustions, when the dark space is about 8 millims. from the negative pole, ETT TENT KES Bs Larth Were Llectroscape Fic. 7. no movement of the gold leaves takes place whether a@ or 3 is negative, and whether c is connected with earth or is insulated. At a good exhaustion, when the green phosphorescence of the glass is strong, the gold leaves are only slightly affected whichever way the current passes. On increasing the exhaustion to a very high point, so that the green phosphorescence gets weaker and the spark has a difficulty in passing, the gold leaves are violently affected. When the pole a is negative and 0 positive, the leaves diverge to their fullest extent. On examining their potential it is found to be positive. The coil was stopped and the gold leaves remained open. A touch with the finger caused them to collapse. They then gradually opened again, but not to the original extent. The finger again discharged them, when they reopened slightly a third time. Experiment "! 2.6. 3 Pi fiariarceace ays rks Cloud Classification.—E. H.. 2. « 2) 22 © e+ 2a ee Sigs “Chipped Arrow-Heads.”—Dr. R. W. CopPpiNnceER . a ee COG eentOT, Cup and Ring Stones.—J. Romitty ALLEN . «© ss © 6 + + OF Songs of Birds.—A.N. 2 se es ee ee ee ee OF ComPARATIVE ANATOMY OF Man, III. By Prof. Frower, F.R.S, . 97 THE UNITED STATES WEATHER Mars, SEPTEMBER, 1877+ + « + + 100 ConrripuTions TO Morecurar Puysics 1n Hicn Vacua. By Wiutam Crookes, F.R.S. (With Illustrations) .« vere eon Rock-WEATHERING, AS ILLUSTRATED 1N CuuRcHYARDS. By Prof, GREE VRIS, De seh te os, Soe ae [Redeem “ee See! 071s: Wor eee GERHARD JOHANNES MULDER » + «© + 5 © # 8 + + © » ® 108 NOTES ccs: tyr bp «dada cena dupes ON Coye pe Nae. ce. 0s, (noo) one Our AsTRONOMICAL COLUMN :— Occultation ofa Fixed Star by Saturn . . + s + 6 « © # + TI2 The Polar Compression of Mars « + «© + + # «© © + «© «© » TI2 The Next Total Solar Eclipse . . 2 2 + « s+ + 6 5 «© © WIZ Biotocicat NoTes:— Chinese Alligators . 2. . © © © » © © © © © = @ ote Pe Fossil Corals > plane: bfadae EMnueelimts) Ab ee ote 8 ke, Circulationin Worms . .. an ante ends @ Gitoe bees Large Cuttle Fish . . + « af son cers a atet 8 + % 2rq Sternum in Dinosaurs . + - «© «© «© © «© * wane 0 113 Antipatharia of the Blake Expedition. . . + . Oy vec} American (East Coast) Siphonophora. » + + + eo ec Parasite on the American Blue Pike » + + + + + Cec? Motion in Alge . . 1. . 2 «-5 «© ® . ° 1I4 GROGRAPHICAL NOTES’ © “0s eoiP ete fe fe te fe ee 6 le oe UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE » + + + 2 + + 15 SociETIES AND ACADEMIES. « + + + # * * soe on of rey usb THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1880 “OLD NORWAY” Die Geologie des siidlichen und mittleren Norwegen. Herausgegeben von Dr. Theodor Kjerulf ; autorisirte deutsche Aufgabe von Dr. Adolf Gurlt. (Bonn: Max Cohen und Sohn, 1880.) r that rugged northern land where the mingled Atlantic and Arctic tides course round a network of islands, and lave the shores of deep lonely fjords, sending their waters far inland to the very base of snowfield and glacier, the people, with the patriotism of mountaineers, sing enthusiastically of “‘Gamle Norge”—Old Norway. And have been famous from time immemorial. Norge! chord in the breast of many a Briton, leading him to well may they sing of a land that by its scenery and climate has moulded their habits of thought, their tra- ditions, their literature, and has knit their bodily frames into that muscular type for which the hardy Norsemen Dear Gamle The sound of its praise awakens a responsive reflect how much of the vigour and success of his own countrymen may be due to the fresh blood which came to them from the robust north, and reminding him of the wild creed and spirit-stirring songs which his an- -cestors shared with their kinsmen of the northern fjords, pressive. Well may men speak of ‘‘ old” Norway. Evenas regards human records, its antiquity goes back far enough to merit that appellation. But if we pass to the earlier history of Europe the fitness of the epithet becomes singularly im- To that northern region of tableland and valley the geologist looks as the cradle of this continent. The plains of Russia and Germany are formations but of yesterday. The Urals, the Alps, the Pyrenees, the high grounds of Bohemia, Saxony, and Central France have appeared at various widely separated epochs, and have in the rocky records of the earth’s crust. undergone many vicissitudes in a long course of ages, But the uplands of Scandinavia, though they too have not been without their mutations, already existed as land almost at the beginning of those ages which are chronicled From the sand and mud washed down from these uplands the formations have been derived out of which, for example, most of the highlands of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland have been geological structure and history of Scandinavia. built up. So far as we can tell, the earliest land of Europe rose in the north and north-west. The subsequent growth of the continent has been over the tract of shallow sea by which the first land was bounded. There is thus a peculiar interest in the study of the It is in that region that by far the largest fragment of archzean Europe exists and that the data are chiefly to be sought | ———— — i from which the earliest chapters of European geological history must be written. Most cordially, therefore, will all geologists welcome the volume which Dr, Kjerulf has just published for their information. It is by much the most important summary of Norwegian geology which has yet appeared. In an interesting preface a sketch is given of the progress of geological inquiry in Norway. After nume- rous private and unconnected researches by natives and VoL, xxiI.—No. 554 a NATURE 117 foreigners in different parts of the country, a systematic geological survey of the country was in 1858 projected by Dr. Kjerulf and Bergmeister Tellef Dahll, and on the approval of the plan by the Norwegian Government, was commenced at the national expense. Its main object was to make a geological map of the country with the requisite sections. The Survey was organised very economically under Kjerulf and Dahll, with no special office, no place to store specimens, no laboratory, and no official channel of publication for its memoirs. With praiseworthy enthusiasm the two geologists continued for ten years to work in the field during the brief Norwegian summers, either together or singly, taking with them as volunteer assistants such students of mining and others as chose to accompany them. In 1866 Dahll undertook the investi- gation of Northern Norway, so that the charge of the Central and Southern provinces then fell to Kjerulf. The latter geologist, with the assistance of other observers, whose share in the work is duly chronicled, has at intervals published maps and sections of the area under his control, and in particular a general map on the scale of one-millionth, As a fit conclusion to the labours of a quarter of a century among the geological formations of Norway, he has published at Christiania a quarto volume with an atlas of plates, giving a concise account of the geological features of the central and southern part of the country. This work is in Norse; but the author, with the view of making it more widely known, has intrusted it to Dr. Gurlt, who has rendered it successfully into German, and has had it republished in a convenient form. Every student of metamorphism and the «crystalline schists must procure Dr. Kjerulf’s work. It contains a store of facts of the utmost importance for all theoretical questions in this most interesting and difficult department of geology. At the same time the superficial geology is not neglected. ‘The first part of the volume treats of the loose surface formations—especially of the erratic blocks, moraines, and glacial striz. These phenomena are illustrated by maps, on one of which—that of the striated rock-surfaces—an explanatory remark affords a charac- teristic sample of the author's cautious spirit of observa- tion :—‘‘ The directions of the stria are expressed on the map, as in nature, by lines; the observer must himself judge whence they come and whither they go.” The second part, devoted to a summary of the geology of the Christiania district, contains a table of fossiliferous deposits, which, extending from the base of the Primordial zone to the top of the Upper Silurian formations, are shown to attain there a thickness of 2,700 feet. There is likewise an important tabular statement of the horizons of the leading organic remains of these older palzozoic deposits. In Part III. a description is given of the “ Grundgebirge,” or fundamental rocks of Southern Norway. The author shows that though these have sometimes been classed under the general term gneiss, they contain other rocks, especially various schists, quartzites, conglomerates, and limestones, and that gneiss is rather a structure belonging to rocks of different ages than a formation of one geological date. He regards the bottom gneiss as a metamorphic representative of ordinary sedimentary formations, in rt ' Udsigt over det Sydlige Norges Geologi’’ (Christiania, 1879). G 118 NATURE [ Fune 10, 1889 particular of the so-called ‘ Sparagmite” or fragmental accumulations below the Primordial zone. He believes that the older gneiss may include metamorphosed por- tions of younger formations, in particular considerable masses of the Primordial rocks. This question in another form is discussed in Part IV., which treats of the geology of Central Norway. To the oldest sedimentary forma- tions, termed the Sparagmite series, a thickness of 2,300 Norwegian feet is there assigned. They consist of sand- stones, conglomerates, schists, slates, and limestones. Above them lie the Primordial beds, 2,900 feet thick, composed of quartz-schists, mica-schists, “ blue-quartz,” sandstones, clay-slates, and limestones, among which are found the earliest fossils (Déctyonema, Olenellus, &c.), Above these rocks the unfossiliferous red sandstones and conglomerates of the west coast (? Old Red Sandstone), long since described by Naumann, close the geological record until the deposits of the Glacial period. Dr. Kjerulf brings forward many facts regarding the meta- morphism of the older palaozoic rocks in Central Nor- way, and traces with clearness the passage of these rocks into schistose and gneissose masses as they approach the larger areas of granite. Part V. is devoted to a brief exposition of the geology of the Trondhjem district. Part VI. discusses the lithology of the eruptive rocks, The various species and varieties of granite, syenite, porphyry, gabbro, greenstone, olivine-rocks, &c., are here described with remarkable succinctness alike as to their composition and geological relations. Considering the meagreness of the official equipment of the Geological Survey, this portion of their work must be admitted to be specially creditable to the Norwegian geologists. In Parts VII. and VIII. information -is given regarding the structure of rocks and mineral veins. Some nature- printed illustrations of rock-structure here inserted are interesting. Slices of foliated, graphic, and porphyritic granite, etched with hydrofluoric acid, have allowed the more durable quartz to print its figure upon paper, and the impression has then been photographed on wood and cut into a woodcut. Some figures are also added to show the coexistence of organic remains (graptolites, corals) with crystals of chiastolite, vesuvianite, and other minerals in metamorphosed Silurian rocks. A useful feature in the German translation is the addition of an index, which is wanting in the original, but which would. have been still more acceptable had it been even fuller than it is. The numerous woodcut sec- tions enable a reader to follow the local descriptions in the text. But the addition of a good geological index- map, such as that which accompanies the Norwegian volume, would have been of much service, and might perhaps have been given without any very serious increase of price. But this is a defect which every geological reader, at a little cost to himself, can remedy by obtain- ing the general map. He will find in Dr, Gurlt’s version | of Dr. Kjerulf’s memoir an invaluable compendium of Norwegian geology, and will probably be induced to set out himself to make a personal exploration of the sections which are therein described. Should he be induced so to do he will doubtless come to look back on his tour in Norway as one of the most instructive as well as delight- ful of all his geological rambles. ARCH. GEIKIE EUCALVPTOGRAPHIA Eucalyptographia; being a Descriptive Atlas of the Lucalypts of Australia and the Adjoining Islands. By Baron F. von Mueller, K.C.M.G., M. and Ph.D., F.R.S., Government Botanist for the Colony of Vic- toria. Decades 1 and 2. (Melbourne and London, 1879.) ATERIAL for the issue of this atlas was accumu- lated at Melbourne now over thirty years ago, and the study of this fine group of the myrtles has been carried on ever since, as opportunities presented them- selves by Dr. Mueller. Still the subject was so large and the perplexities surrounding it so many that even now he offers his observations in these decades as only fragments toward a some day complete monograph. The difficulties surrounding the study of this group are many. There is the large number of species, the genus Eucalyptus being surpassed in this respect only by Acacia. The resem- blance of many specific forms is apt to deceive one ; the fruits, and more ‘especially the flowers, are often far out of the reach of the ordinary traveller, even though he might in his enthusiasm not object to climb for a con- siderable height into the trees ; and then the species themselves are widely distributed over ‘the whole of the Australian continent and Tasmania, some even extending to the Indian Ocean Islands, though, it may be added, none occur in New Zealand. Mr. Bentham’s grouping of the species has been, with some trifling modifications, adopted by the author, and the Government of West Australia has borne the expense of issuing these two decades, which contain descriptions of some of the most important timber trees of the great western colony. It is to be hoped that some of the other colonial governments may follow this good example, and so help on the publication of the work. Perhaps even our own Royal Society might see their way to help it by a grant in aid out of the fund placed at their disposal by Parliament for promoting scientific research. The economic value of these eucalypts needs scarcely to be insisted on. Not only do they yield excellent hard timber, but as products we find enumerated oils, tars, acids, dyes, tan, and potash. What magnificent forest trees are to be found among them will appear from the description of some of the species figured in these parts. One (£. goniocalyx) is mentioned as growing on low or hilly woodlands up to about 3,000 feet, and attaining in some of the forest valleys a height of 300 feet, with a stem diameter of not rarely six feet, and sometimes even ten. The timber of this species is described as hard and tough, exceedingly durable, lasting well when buried under- ground, not warping, and difficult to split. Another species (Z. deucoxylon) known as the iron bark tree, or white gum tree, grows to a height of 200 feet, has a timber of great hardness, durability, and of extraordinary strength. On being burnt for charcoal it yielded 28 per cent. of superior stuff, 45 per cent. of crude pyroligneous acid, and 6 per cent. of tar. An excellent packing paper has been prepared from the inner layers of the bark, as can indeed be done from the inner bark of most eucalypts, and the leaves yield a volatile oil to the extent of about I per cent. The genus thus abounding in useful products is not Fune 10, 1880} wanting either in remarkable forms; thus £&. a/gina is found only on the summit of Mount William, Victoria, at an elevation of over 4,000 feet, and its area is limited to the top of this one peak, for it does not even extend to any of the other summits of the chain of which Mount William is the culminating point. This species has been cultivated in the Melbourne Gardens from seeds col- lected in 1853, but even in good soil it retains a dwarf bushy habit, having in a quarter of a century not grown over a dozen feet in height, and showing little tendency to form a distinct stem. This species offers, perhaps, the most remarkable example of limited geographical distribution in the group. The Honey-scented Eucalypt (Z. melliodora) is what is called, among such giants, a middle-sized tree, exceptionally attaining a height of some 200 feet’; it will live on poor soil. In an official report presented in 1869 to the Victorian Parliament, Dr. Mueller pointed out that one ton weight of its branches and leaves, if gathered fresh, would yield about 2]b. 12 oz. of pure potash, and a much larger quantity of crude pearl-ash. Another species, known from its odour as the “peppermint tree” (Z. odorata), would seem to be a great favourite with a destructive nocturnal cock- chafer. Through the immense clearings effected for agricultural settlements, the number of insect-eating birds has greatly diminished, and the increase of this species of Melolontha is not properly kept in check. They prey on the foliage of this Eucalypt,and Mr. Otto Tepper, writing in the Zyavsactions of the Philosophical Society of Adelaide (February, 1878), states that it is being extensively destroyed from this fact. The plates accompanying the descriptions of the species published in these decades give ample details of the leaves, flowers, and fruits of the species ; they appear, so far as the stems with inflorescences are concerned, to be perhaps a little too stiff and formal, Sometimes details of the peculiar wood structures are added, and on one special plate transverse sections of the anthers"of some fifty-eight species are figured. The London agents for this work are Messrs. Triibner and Co, OUR BOOK SHELF A Short Geography of the British Islands. Ty John Richard Green, M.A., LL.D., and Alice Stopford Green. (London; Macmillan and Co., 1879.) “ GEOGRAPHY, as its name implies, is an ‘earth-pictur- ing,’ a presentment of earth, or a portion of earth’s surface in its actual form, and an indication of the influences which that form has exerted on human history or human society. To give such a picture as this of. our own country, in however short and simple a fashion, is the aim of the present work.’’? Mr. and Mrs. Green have carried out the task they have here indicated in a masterly manner. The method they have adopted is the only scientific method on which a text-book of geography of this class can be constructed. Mr. Green, in his preface, speaks with just horror of the majority of text- books, with their dreary array of tables and “ facts” and figures, which makes what ought to be one of the most interesting of lessons a burdensome and unprofitable penance. In the first seven chapters the authors give a clear, instructive, and completely interesting sketch of the great physical features of our islands, and of their relation to the continent of Europe. The mountain groups, the uplands, the plains, and the rivers are brought before the student in NATURE 119 their natural or scientific aspect, with just such details easily worked in as will give a clear picture of the various features. The counties are then grouped in their natural order, and each is treated after the same method as that followed in the general sketch. The great physical features are brought out first of all, the regions of the chief natural resources of the country indicated, and thus the mind of the pupil is prepared to understand how the political, social, and industrial features have come to be developed as we find them at the present day. ‘“‘Facts” enough to satisfy any humane examiner are given, and the principal data and figures are collected in a few well-arranged tables. Great care has evidently been taken to obtain accurate and recent information both with regard to physical geography and topographical, industrial, and other statistics. Besides four coloured maps, there are twenty-four special sectional maps appropriately intro- duced throughout the book, which must prove of great use in impressing the facts upon the mind of the learner. We trust the Geography will be largely introduced into our schools; we are sure that the scholar at least would welcome it. Its style and method, moreover, render it attractive and instructive reading to those who have long left the school of their childhood behind. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice 1s taken of anonymous communications. [Zhe Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that tt 1s impossible otherwise to enseure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.) The Visibility of Mercury to the Naked Eye In NATuRE, vol. xxi. p. 474, I find the following : ‘‘ Mercury was seen at Paris on May (meant for March) 10 and 11 with the naked eye, owing to the transparency of the atmosphere and the great elongation of the planet. . . . The observation was made by MM. Henry brothers at the Paris Observatory.” Must not “‘ the transparency of the atmosphere” have more to do with the visibility of this planet than is usually supposed ? The leading circumstances affecting the question, the amount of the planet’s elongation, the inclination of the ecliptic in which it is situated to the horizon, heliocentric latitude, &c., being of course the same at each apparition in England, on the Continent, and in North America, how shall we otherwise account for some of the facts of the case? The remark is current respecting Copernicus that he never obtained a view of Mercury. And perhaps the general impression as to its visibility—that it can be seen only at the most favourable junctures, and for but a few days at a time—is reflected in the quotation above. ‘As a contribution to the question as it may be affected by the variable element of c/imate, atmosphere, I tabulate herewith the results of several years’ careful though not thoroughly systematic observation of the planet at this geographical position, latitude 44° 53’ N., longitude 93° 05’ W., elevation 800 feet above sea- level :— Year. Time observed. Days. G. Elong. Date. 1877... April 29 to May Ir ... 13 21 5 May 3 1878 . Sept.—Oct. ao 17 53 Sept. 26 1879 Jany 7 to)Jan: 20 s-ee) 24.03 Jan. 16 1880 .., Feb.29toMarchi9g... 20 ... 18 22 March Io It will be observed from the table that I followed Mercury with the naked eye at its last appearance in the west (when it was seen in Paris), from February 29 to March 19. I had intended to look for it a day sooner, February 28, as a crucial test as to how early it could be seen at that apparition, for it came into conjunction with Jupiter that day and would be approximately pointed out by the latter planet. But the state of the sky would not permit. Looking for Jupiter the next evening, so as to take bearings from him, I saw Mercury first, over a degree to the north-east of where Jupiter was when found. So Iam confident that Mercury was within reach of the naked 120 NATURE [Fune 10, 1880 eye the evening before at conjunction, save that clouds inter- vened. And this one day added to the twenty days actually recorded would make the period of visibility on this occasion three full weeks. At the brightest the planet was fully equal to a rst magnitude star, and for more than a week as bright as a Arietis, two hours to the east of it, with which I frequently compared it. It was brighter than Saturn (also in the twilight) for several evenings, and was seen casually, as any other star would be seen, as I came up town from business, for more than a week. As a friend of mine remarked, ‘‘it could be seen with half an eye.” As regards the earlier observations of the table, it will be noted that the planet was seen for thirteen days in the spring of 1877, though first looked for only five days before it reached its greatest eastern elongation. It was again beautifully seen several mornings near the close of September, 1878, coming twice into conjunction with Venus during that time, though the observa- tions were not continued so as to try how long it could be followed. Finally, in January, 1879, though the position of the ecliptic was not favourable, an elongation of over 24° and splendid skies enabled me to follow Mercury for twenty-two days in succession, or while he made a full one-fourth of a revolution round the sun! If any interest attaches to this communication it will surely not be from a superfluous attempt to show that Mercury at special times becomes visible to the naked eye; but rather from its giving certain definite facts as to the exact length of time the planet has been observed, at the several apparitions indicated. The astronomical conditions of these returns of the planet may be made out with the help of an ephemeris and a celestial globe. I need only add that the observations were made in a climate where hours favourable for astronomical work may frequently be numbered by the hundred monthly, and own that the conditions of sky and atmosphere under which they were made were generally favourable to the best results. T, D. Stmonton St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A., May 1 Specialised and United Palzontological Research IN your report of Prof. Huxley’s lecture on ‘‘ The Coming of Age of the Origin of Species” there was one sentence which was pregnant with import to every true devotee of natural history and to every believer in the doctrine of evolution, to wit, that ‘*primary and direct evidence in favour of evolution can be furnished only by palzeontology.” Knowing that this is so, I ask, Do there exist amongst all our scientific associations delegated committees whose function it is to watch and foster palzeontological research by every possible means? Seeing that so much depends on this kind of evidence, it is surprising that we hear so little of [the results of any united efforts in this direction, What we generally hear of are the out- come mostly of private and individual inquiry. And since so much has already been done in this field of investigation by mere individual effort that the ‘‘ missing links” between widely sepa- rated groups of the higher mammalia (not including man) have been discovered so abundantly that it can be said with respect to these, in the words of Prof. Huxley, ‘‘ Evolution is no longer a speculation, but a statement of historical fact”—since this is the result of private and individual effort, what might not be achieved by united and organised research ! It is a truism that division of labour is the best means of specialising and perfecting any work, and an equally trite saying, that ‘‘ union is strength ;” yet in this, one of the most important of all the fields of biological study, we do not hear of a palcon- tological society or committee. What could such a society or committee effect? it may be asked. Would it be expected to take hammer, pickaxe and spade in hand and wander over the wide world in exploration? Certainly not. But remaining at home, it could direct the efforts of private explorers, delegate officers of its own, equipped with the means of questioning the geological record in different parts of the globe, unite with kindred associations in solving problems too arduous for the single resources of one society, dividing alike the expenses and the spoil. Surely it would gratify the heart of every naturalist to learn if palzeontological research had assumed this serious and energetic form. How many opportunities are allowed to slip that might be turned to excellent account! Wars are carried on in countries as yet geologically unexplored, and for want of such a society as T have named there has been no one employed to accompany our armies in the cause of this branch of science. Railways and other engineering works have been carried out in such regions, but no one has been employed to watch the operations in the name of palzeontology. Travellers go and return without having been furnished with data to guide researches that might have been intelligently prosecuted in the cause of science. Will not our leaders in natural science arouse themselves to organised and specialised research in this all-important field of palzontology ? W.S. DUNCAN Stafford, May 29 The Meteorology of South Australia [WE have been asked to publish the following correspondence on an article on this subject in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 281.] South Australia, the Treasury, Adelaide, April 15, 1880 Si1r,—I have to thank you for the extract from NATURE, inclosed in your despatch No. 7,842, dated January 31 last, which was duly referred to the Honorable the Minister of Edu- cation, and has been perused by the Postmaster-General, &c., and observer, Mr. Todd, C.M.G., a copy of whose observations and remarks upon this subject I now forward for your information and that of the Editor of Nature. I am, sir, your obedient servant, : (Signed) C. MANN Sir Arthur Blyth, K.C.M.G,, Agent-General for South Australia, London Post and Telegraph Department Memo. on Letter from Agent-General METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS The writer of the article in NaruRE had evidently not received the volume for 1878, but only the monthly numbers. In the volume, as the Agent-General, to whom I have sent a copy, will see, I have given the results of the observations at Port Darwin, Alice Springs, Eucla, Cape Borda, Mount Gambier, and Cape Northumberland. As the Minister is aware, I have recom- mended that instruments should be supplied to several additional places, which will really give effect to what the writer in NATURE very properly urges. The extent and form in which the observations made at our institutions should be published require consideration on the score of economy of printing ; and, as the Minister is aware, the observatory is altogether under- manned for the work now done, and if it were not for my own personal exertions in doing that which might be intrusted to ~ assistants, we could not do what is done. With regard to the other suggestion, I had previously decided on correlating the rainfall and wheat-yield in different districts, in addition to the table, which takes the colony as a whole, now given. The form in which our observations are published and. dis- cussed appears to give general satisfaction, and this will be greatly increased when we have the continuous self-recording instruments I have recommended should be obtained. April 4 (Signed) C. Topp P.M. G. and Supt. T. [Mr. Todd is correct in supposing that the volume for 1878 was not before us—not having been then received—in writing the article on the ‘‘ Meteorology of South Australia” in NATURE, vol. xxi, p. 281, but only the monthly numbers. The volume has, however, been received quite recently, which, in view of the highly important additions it contains, referred to by Mr. Todd, we shall take an’ early opportunity of noticing. It gives us the highest satisfaction to learn that of the two points we drew attention to half a year ago, the one relating to the esta- blishment of additional stations had not only been resolved on, but actually carried out in the beginning of 1878, and as regards the other one, referring to the correlating of the rainfall andathe wheat-yield in different districts, in addition to the table which deals with the colony as a whole, it had previously been decided by Mr. Todd to discuss the data in the manner suggested. —ED. ] Comparative Curves in Terrestrial Magnetism As the comparison of curves obtained at distant stations is at present one of the most important desiderata for the study of terrestrial magnetism, I forward to you traces of two photo- graphs obtained on March 17 last at Vienna and at Stonyhurst. The storm is a remarkable one, and the curves offer a striking — illustration of the simultaneous action of the disturbing force on Fune 10, 1880] NATURE I21 two magnets many miles apart. The action of the force appears to have been somewhat more vigorous at Stonyhurst than at Vienna, yet not only the great inflections, but even the slight irregularities of the curves were synchronous, The trace of the Vienna magnetograph is taken from the May number of the Zeitschrift der bsterreichischen Gesellschaft fiir Meteorologie, kindly forwarded by Dr. Hann. The range between the maximum and primary minimum at 5h. 45m. p.m. G.M.T. was 33/7 at Vienna, and 42/1 at Stonyhurst ; and between the same maximum and the secondary minimum at Ioh. 45m. p.m. was 241 at Vienna, and 340 at Stonyhurst, : Both the self-recording magnetographs were made by Adie, and the time-scale is the same for both curves; it is therefore very easy to identify the synchronous movements. ' At Stonyhurst G.M.T. is adopted, and the longitude of Vienna is th, 5m, 31°3s. E. of Greenwich. S. J. PERRY Stonyhurst Observatory, May 27 Luminous Painting Nil nowt sub sole—The Japanese, nine hundred years ago, seem to haye been practically acquainted with the art of luminous painting, and thus to have anticipated Mr, Balmain, In looking through the article ‘‘ye” (pictures) in the Sinico- Japanese Encyclopedia, ‘‘ Wakan san sai dzu-ye’’ (illustrated Description of the Three Powers, z.2., Heaven, Earth, and Man), I recently came upon a passage, of which the following slightly condensed rendering may perhaps be of some interest to your readers :— **In the Rui-yen (Lei-yuen, Garden of Sundries—a sort of Chinese Collectanea) we read of one Sii Ngoh, who had a picture of an ox. Every day the ox left the picture-frame to graze, and returned to sleep within it at night. This picture came into the possession of the Emperor T’ai Tsung, of the Sung dynasty (A.D. 976-998), who showed it to his courtiers, and asked them for an explanation, which none of them, however, could give. At last a certain Buddhist priest said that the Japanese found some nacreous substance within the flesh of a kind of oyster they picked up when the rocks were bared at low tide, and that they ground this into colour-material, and then painted pictures with it which were invisible by day and luminous by night.” ““No doubt,” adds the author of the Encyclopedia, ‘‘ when it is said that the ox left the picture-frame during the day to go a-grazing, it is meant simply that during the day the figure of the ox was not visible.” FREDK. V, DICKINS Arts Club, June 1 Brain Dynamics THERE are probably among the readers of NATURE some believers in the Freedom of Volition, to whom the discussion on the above subject has not hitherto appeared to reach the knottiest point of the controversy. The more old-fashioned supporters of the doctrine of Free Will frequently insisted on the sense of Responsibility as the crucial proof that the will is free, probably because few of their opponents were ready to face the possible, or supposed, moral consequences of the denial of responsibility. The proof is essentially weak, and Mr. Romanes has well exhibited its weak- ness in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 76. His ‘‘ Prince of Denmark ” has indeed so little of method in his madness that I am not disposed to think it curious that both Prof. Clifford and Mr. Tolver Preston should have left him out of their play. He may well exclaim: “* What should such fellows as I do, crawling between earth and heayen? We are arrant knayes all; believe none of us.” Surely the sense of Responsibility is not the origin, but is one of the results of the Sense of Freedom. Logically the Sense of Freedom is the justification of the sense of responsibility. His- torically it is, no doubt, its antecedent; for while both are, as much as any other faculties of brute and man, results of evolu- tion, the refinement of the conception of morality, and therefore probably the conception itself, has evidently originated long after the consciousness of volition. Experimentally the sense of re- sponsibility is weakened or destroyed, either psychologically, as where the freedom of the actor is controlled, or physiologically, as where volition is suspended in sleep, or is impaired by lesion of the anterior lobes of the brain, in all which cases the sense of responsibility suffers corresponding loss. It seems to me strange that Mr. Romanes should suppose the doctrine of Free Will to have been conceived and continued in order to justify that Moral Sense which is essentially a consequence of it (though capable finally of being presented as one among other motives in certain acts of volition). It lies with those who think with Mr. Romanes to account, on their own hypothesis, for the development of so universal, obtrusive, irrational, and indeed “nonsensical” an instinct as, according to that hypothesis, the sense of responsi- bility is. Others will see in it a result of the Sense of Freedom of Volition, when combined with the intellectual perception of the consequences, to the individual or to the race, of human acts (the latter perception being the cumulative result of inherited experiences). This Sense of Freedom of Volition is the real Hamlet. We possess, or appear to ourselves to possess, the conscious- ness of the power of choosing between alternative motives. It is unsafe merely to give the lie direct to this consciousness, lest we thereby destroy the validity of the evidence, also derived through consciousness, of all those facts on which any law of nature, and Causal Sequence itself, is based. The consciousness of power is derived from the sense of work done, as against resistance, ¢.g., the consciousness of muscular power is derived from a class of sensations produced on the organism by resistance, these sensations being created by, and consequently associated with, the conversion of potential energy stored up in the brain into kinetic energy transmitted through the nerves and muscles, and it bears no psychological resemblance to the consciousness of sensations of which the brain is the passive recipient. Similarly, the consciousness of the power of volition is derived from the sense of work done, in this case wholly within the brain, in the selection between alternative motives, and it bears no psycho-~ logical resemblance to the consciousness of the motives them- selves. And so, too, just as the sense of lassitude is produced by excess of work done as against physical resistance, so is a sense of discomfort produced by expenditure of potential energy, when acts of volition are performed against powerful emotions. It appears to me that the Necessitarian should be able on his part to show that this sevse of work performed in choosing between motives is fictitious, or that the energy above mentioned has no existence. This will not be done solely by holding even the terrors of omnipotent Causal Sequence over the head of the advo- cate of Free Will. The latter considers volitions to be, not indeed *uncaused ” in the sense of occurring without antecedent emo- tions, or without expenditure of energy in choosing between the emotions, yet not to be rigidly determined by those emotions, He need not inquire whether a man be ‘‘ unfortunate” in the capricious character of human acts as compared with other phenomena, But he on his part has to show (and certainly no scientific mind will underrate the magnitude of the task) that phenomena of volition do, paradoxical as it may seem, constitute a class by themselves, their relation to physical causation being perhaps comparable to that in which the phenomena of life stand to the laws of inorganic chemistry, a relation of addition, not of contradiction, W. CLEMENT LEY I sHOULD like to state, in reply to Mr. George Romanes’ letter (NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 75), that the question of ‘‘ Respon- sibility” was left out of my letter (NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 29) partly because it seemed to me a separate or somewhat distinct subject, and partly from the fact that this matter had been already considered by me in connection with a paper on ‘* Natu- ral Science and Morality,” to be published in the Yournal of Science for July next ; and to this, therefore, I would venture to refer those who may be interested in this question. I may merely conclude by saying that, while otherwise fully endorsing Mr. Romanes’ letter, there is only one point on which I should be disposed to disagree with him, viz., in regard to his suggested view that the doctrine of strict causal sequence in nature would tend to show the feelings of Responsibility, Praise, and Blame to be “destitute of any rational justification.” For there appear to me to be grounds for believing that a scientific and rational explanation of these feelings exists. London, June S. TOLVER PRESTON Vortex Atoms WHILE thanking Mr. G. H. Darwin for his observations on one or two passages in my paper ‘‘On the Physical Aspects of the Vortex-Atom Theory,” which, as they stand, may no doubt tend to convey an inexact impression, I may state that the illus- I22 NATURE [| Fune 10, 1880 tration of a pipe was used with the endeavour to aid the con” ceptions in some respects, rather than for rigid accuracy o comparison. The idea of the exterior fluid being a¢ vest was subsequently guarded against by stating that it had ‘‘important functions” to perform, In regard to the fact of only mentioning “friction” as an element of resistance in a totally immersed body, I wished rather to convey the general idea that if no energy were given to the molecules of the surrounding liquid at the passage of the immersed body, there would be no ‘‘ resist- ance.” The object of the article was, however, not so much to lay stress on these points as to notice certain, perhaps less appreciated (@ Arzort), aspects of the problem. S. TOLVER PRESTON Songs of Birds Your correspondent ‘* A. N.” (ated, p. 97) does not seem to be aware that the best observers are nowadays agreed in believing that the hen cuckoo does not sing. Hence his suggestion in regard to the difference of note observed by Mr. Birmingham (anted, p. 76) hardly applies to the case in question, ALFRED NEWTON Magdalene College, Cambridge, June 6 I HAVE been in the habit of observing the notes of cuckoos, and have noticed that the musical interval is very variable. It is not always, or even often, amenable to our tempered scale, but may lie anywhere between a major 2nd and a 4th. The major 3rd seems to be about as frequent as the minor. The interval may vary in the same bird, as it is well known that the cuckoo’s song alters greatly with the approach of summer. FRANK J. ALLEN St. John’s College, Cambridge, June 6 Cup-marked Stones Own a large block of fine-grained hard whitish sandstone near Burghead, Elgin, are forty-four cup-marks of various sizes, but all very finely formed. Four of the cups have channels or grooves of various lengths and running in different directions, but none to the edge of the stone. Five have one ring, and channels of various lengths, and in different directions, Four have got two rings and channels, and one has three rings and achannel, In some cases the rings are not complete, that is, they stop short on either side of the channel, but close to it. One cup has a simple ring. From this example, and if I recollect the figures in Sir J. Y. Simpson’s work, there seems to be but few cases in which the channels run to the edge of the stone. Out of a considerable number of cup-marked stones partly on finely ice-polished rock surfaces and partly on detached blocks | large and small, in Elginshire, this is the only one that has rings and grooves. A full description of these, with plans, I have nearly ready to lay before the Society of Antiquaries at one of their early meetings of next session. JAMEs LINN Keith, June 2 THE Dumas Number.—In reply to numerous inguiries we ay state that the portrait of M. Dumas should form the frontis- piece to vol, xxi., and the article by Dr, Hofmann be placed after the index in the beginning of the volume. ENERGY AND FORCE* [ N March 28, 1873, Clifford delivered a Friday “evening discourse on this subject at the Royal Institution. By some accident no trace of it, not even the date or title, appears in the printed Proceedings. Thus the lecture escaped notice when Clifford’s literary and scientific remains were collected in the summer of last year. A few weeks ago I lighted on my own rough notes of it taken down at the time, probably the only record now in existence. These I have written out, with only so much alteration and addition (indicated by square brackets) as necessary to make them intelligible. The * An unpublished discourse bs the late Prof. Clifford. With an introduc- tory ncte by J. F. Moulton. | taint, he set about correcting them. | so is highly characteristic. | paper thus produced has been seen by Clifford’s friend and mine, Mr. J. F. Moulton, who (besides his general competence in mathematical physics) was thoroughly acquainted with Clifford’s mathematical work and ideas. Mr. Moulton has added, by way of introduction, some remarks founded on this intimate knowledge, which will explain the aims of the discourse and supplement the too meagre report which is all that I am able to recon- struct from my notes.—F. POLLOCK.] This lecture was, I think, written as a protest against certain loose ideas that had become prevalent relating to energy, motion, and force. The discoveries as to the equivalence of the many forms of energy and the in- variability of the total of energy in any system not operated on by external forces (one case of which is the whole material universe), had led philosophical writers and others to treat force as an entity with a separate existence like matter, and also, like it, indestructible. The error of thus treating force as an entity with a separate existence was not an unnatural one in those who had not much acquaintance with the theories of physics. No idea is more consonant with the ordinary modes of thought than that force is a something operating from without on a body, and producing effects thereupon in the shape of an alteration of its motion, so that the quasi-personification of force contained in the above does not appear to be in any way an un- warranted conception. The further step, which ascribes to force an indestructibility as absolute as that of matter, is due to a confusion in the terms used by mathematicians themselves in speaking of these subjects, for which they are to blame. Before the conservation of energy was fully formulated, mathematicians were acquainted with a particular case of the general principle, and it had received the name of conservation of force. This unfortunate appellation, with all its misleading tendencies, was often applied to the general principle when the latter first became known, and hence unscientific writers naturally assumed that force and energy were convertible terms and that they were alike indestructible. These erroneous conceptions had attracted Prof. Clifford’s attention, and with his usual zeal for preserving scientific ideas from all His mode of doing He strikes straight at the root of the matter, and would have us at once cease to think of force as an entity at all. Indeed he goes so far as almost to warn us against tolerating the conception of a cause as distinguished from its effects. All we know as to force and motion, he says, is that a certain arrangement of surrounding bodies pro- duces a_ certain alteration in the motion of a body. It -has been usual to say that this arrangement of sur- rounding bodies produces a certain force, and that it is the action of this force that produces the alteration of the motion. Why have this intermediate term at all? Why should we not go at once from the surrounding circum- stances to the alteration of motion which follows? The intermediate term is only a mental inference either from the existence of the surrounding circumstances or from the occurrence of the alteration in the motion; and if we only accustom ourselves to pass from one to the other without its assistance, it will cease to be necessary, and like other useless mental conceptions, be gradually for- gotten. And with it will pass all tendency to give to this useless mental phantom any such real and material qualities as indestructibility. I was not pre-ent when the lecture was given, nor do I know otherwise than from these notes how Prof. Clifford carried out these ideas. But in conversation he had often discussed the matter with me, and made me fully acquainted with his views on the subject, so that I am able thus far to confirm the accuracy and completeness of these notes. It will be seen that he defines force as [PRO am Fune 10, 1880] “the change of momentum of a body considered as depending upon its position relative to other bodies,” thus bringing into direct connection the surrounding bodies and the consequent alteration of motion and rendering the conception of force a superfluous one. In his concluding remarks as to whether we are directly conscious of force, there is the same tendency. He is well aware that such an attempt as his will be viewed with very little favour by the not unimportant school of philosophers who conceive that force is the only thing that we are directly conscious of, and thus he takes the opportunity to combat this idea. The part of the lecture that refers to energy needs no special remark. He shows, in his usual clear style, at once how much and _ how little is contained in the law of the conservation of energy. So far from containing in itself the solution of all the changes in the universe, it tells us only one of the conditions that these must obey, and gives us very little information, if any, as to the particular results that follow from the causes that are at work. It is invaluable as a negative law. It enables us to reject with absolute certainty countless hypotheses that would otherwise be temptingly appro- priate to elucidate the complexities of nature. But further than that it cannot go. It cannot distinguish between the innumerable hypotheses that satisfy it, which, after all, only one can be true. Vote Wit No mathematician can give any meaning to the language about matter, force, inertia, used in current text-books of mechanics. The old definition of force contains the word cause. In the older writers this is a mere manner of speaking; thus Maclaurin defines velocity as the cause of a body changing its position. We now define it as the rate of change of position. Causation is defined b; some modern philosophers as unconditional uniformity of succession, ¢.g., existence of fire follows from putting a lighted match to the fuel. This idea must be got rid of to understand force. All universally true laws of nature are laws of co-existence, not succession. Thus, I want to move a thing and I push it, and motion follows. This suggests at first sight the conception of cause and effect being related in succes- sion. But really you change the rate of motion of a thing at the tinte when you push it, not afterwards. So if you drop a thing from your hand, the letting go and the falling down are really simultaneous. Again, the change of motion of a terrestrial body is at every instant dependent on its distance from the earth’s centre (though in practice this is neglected for smalldistances). In every case the law at work is seen to be a law of co-existence, not succession, Momentum may be roughly described as quantity of motion. A body moving ata speed of say twenty miles an hour, has a certain quantity of motion. If the same body goes forty miles an hour there is twice as much motion ; or if twice as much matter goes twenty miles an hour, there is also twice as much motion. Momentum is measured by the quantity of matter moving at a given rate (mass X velocity). How is the quantity of matter measured if we compare bodies of different substances, such as wood and lead? Not by size: there is another scale by which the quantity of matter in a given body, without regard to the kind of matter, can be measured. [The existence of such a scale and the possibility of applying it are involved in the idea of mass.) The simplest method of applying that scale in practice is to weigh the two bodies to be compared at the same place. Force cannot be explained without stating a law of nature concerning momentum, viz. :— Suppose a body with a certain momentum to be the only body in the universe; it will go on with the same momentum. NATURE of | [23 If there is any change, there is another body, and the change depends on the position of that body. The case of bodies in contact is no exception to this law, but only a particular case. Here the change of motion is called Aressuxe. The case of bodies not in contact is illustrated by the motion of the earth about the sun [under the force of gravitation, as we call it]. In all cases change of motion is connected by invariable laws with the position of surrounding bodies. Force, then, has a definite direction [at every instant] at any point in space, and depends on the position of surrounding bodies, and may be described as the change of momentum of a body considered as depending upon its position relative to other things. It embodies the quality of direction as well as magnitude. In other words, it is a guantity having direction. Force, defined as above, is not conservedat all. It may appear and disappear ; it is continually being created and destroyed. “Conservation of force” is, mathematically speaking, a contradiction in terms. Energy [is of two kinds: 1. Energy of position]. 1. In a moving body we have a certain guantity of motion [as explained above under the head of mo- mentum]. Thus in a moving railway train let the unit of motion be one carriage going at the rate of one mile per hour; then ten carriages going at the rate of twenty miles per hour have 200 units of motion. [The quantity of motion or momentum in a body may be regarded as travelling with the body, and] energy of motion is the va/e at which momentum is carried along. {It depends on momentum and velocity jointly, and the energy of motion of a given body] is known when the velocity is known. In practice it is convenient to call the actual amount of energy of motion half this rate. It is expressed by Energy of motion; 2. I i 2 ; : movie, mu Xv, not m Xv": Clifford, in conversa- tion]. 2. Energy of position is quite a different thing. If I take a book lying on the table and lift it up, and put it on the desk above the table, it acquires energy of position, and the energy acquired is measured by the weight [assuming gravity to be constant] of the book multiplied by the difference of height between the two positions. [Energy of position, like force, may be said to exist at any point of space, whether a body is there or not.] The difference of energy between two positions is the quantity of work that must be done to remove a body of unit mass from one positicn to the other. When a body is let fall from a higher position to a lower one, it has, at the instant when it is let go, no energy of motion; but it gains, in falling, as much energy of motion as it loses energy of position. It is found that the sz of energy of motion and energy of | position ts always constant. ie Force, we have seen, is a quantity which has direction. Energy is a quantity which can be greater or less, but has no direction. The name Energy is applied to two dif- ferent quantities, of which we find the sum to be constant. This constancy is expressed by including them in the common name of Energy, and saying that energy is conserved, or is indestructible. This form of speech might be applied to other cases of alternate immortality, where one of two things comes into existence on the disappearance of the other. Does the law of persistence of energy mean no more than this? Yes, [it means more when it is used to include the “correlation of physical forces]”. Other qualities of bodies are connected with simple energy of motion and energy of position. Such is heat, which we find by experiment can be turned into work. Finding it con- vertible with energy, we call it a form of energy. Here we have [it seems] three different things included: | energy of motion, energy of position, heat. But as to 124 NATURE [Sune IC, 1830 heat, it is further established by experiment that in this case the energy of motion does really persist as such. Thus a gas consists of molecules flying about with great velocity, rotating and vibrating, and so having energy of motion. All this energy of motion is what we call heat, and thus heat is a repetition of a known meaning of energy. Again, heat exists between a radiating body and the thing it warms; now the intermediate space is filled by the luminiferous ether, which, being elastic, has in its ultimate parts both energy of motion and energy of position. In these forms the heat exists in the space in question. In the cases of heat and electricity the form of the persist- ing energy is pretty well ascertained. But there are cases in which we do not know if itis energy of motion or energy of position, such as that of chemical energy. Inthe burning of coal there is a falling together of carbon and oxygen [and heat is produced]; but we do not know in which of the two forms, if either, the energy which comes out as heat existed in the chemical process. For such a case the conservation of energy is only a probable statement (though of great probability) to the effect that in all cases where a physical quality is convertible with energy, that quality is itself either energy of motion or energy of position. General Results—Force is a quality of position, definite in magnitude and direction at any point ; not constant. Energy is the name of two different quantities. 1. Energy of motion, half the rate at which a body carries momentum. 2. Energy of position, defined by the statement of the law that the work done in getting from one position to another is the same by whatever path the change of position is made. [The definition of these conceptions helps to clear up sundry questions of mixed physics and metaphysics. ] 1. Is a physical force, such as the attraction of the earth, analogous to our ‘‘exertion of force” in muscular work? No, for the sensation of muscular effort is very complicated. It involves nerve and muscle, which we know not to be present in the simpler cases, ¢.g., the motion of a stone let fall. To talk of pushing or pulling in such a case is a personification of external nature. 2. Are we directly conscious of force? It is often said in physical and metaphysical works that we are. It may be true, but it is at least premature. We do not sxzow that the chemical changes in nerve-matter corresponding to consciousness are energy [only that they are convertible with dynamical energy]; much less do we know that they are force. If they are energy, it is energy of motion, not energy of position, since consciousness does not depend on the position of the nerve-matter [so my notes: sed gua@re]. 3. Is minda force? It is held by some that the will acts as the match to gunpowder, by setting loose a store of energy, the matter of the brain being in unstable equi- librium. But you cannot have in nature an absolutely unstable equilibrium [?.e., an equilibrium capable of being upset by an infinitesimal force], because the universe is not at rest |and every motion in the universe produces a finite change, however small, in the resultant force at every point of space]. Therefore if mind is force, operating in the way suggested, it must be able to create a deter- minate quantity of energy. This is a supposition which, if true, would destroy its own evidence; for it would destroy the uniformity of nature, on which all possibility of inference ultimately rests. [The discourse concluded by pointing out that even from a purely scientific point of view, metaphysical speculation is to be encouraged as a spur to science. ] ECHIS CARINATA “THOSE who are interested in the poisonous snakes of India may have an opportunity of seeing one of the most interesting and destructive of these reptiles, mate in the Zoological Societys Gardens in Regent’s ark. The snake I refer to is a fine specimen of the Echzs carinata, which has recently arrived from India, and is the first of its kind, I am told, that has been received alive in this collection. I think it is probable, however, that a snake so common in some parts of India must have been brought alive to England before ; but at any rate it is rare, and sufficiently interesting to claim attention, especially as it is healthy, vigorous, and active, and readily shows its peculiar habits, in the attitude it assumes and the rustling sound it gives rise to by the friction of the carinated scales of one fold of its body against those of the other when alarmed, and in the aggressive position which it takes up when prepared to strike, which it does most viciously by launching out its head and the anterior part of its body from the centre of the convoluted folds into which it has arranged itself. There are, I believe, only two true vipers in India (though there are several Crotalidz), the Dabota russellit, or chain viper, or ticpolonga, and the Echis carinata. The daboia is well known here, and there are, or have been lately, fine specimens in the Society’s collection; but the echis is not so well known, though common enough in India. It is much smaller than the Daboia, and is very active and dangerous. It is known in Sind as the “kuppur” ; in other parts of the country as “phoorsa” ; about Delhi it is “afae,” or “afai” (a word of Arabic origin). Russell calls it “horatta pam.” It seldom attains more than the length of 20 to 22 or 23 inches; probably 15 or 16 inches is more common, and is from 2 to 24 or 3 inches in circum- ference at the thickest part of the body. It is very fierce and aggressive, always ready to attack. It throws itself into a double coil, the folds of which are in perpetual motion ; the whole body does not necessarily change its place, and as they rub against each other they make a loud rustling sound, which may be mistaken for hissing. This is produced by the three or four outer rows of carinated scales, which are prominent and point down- wards at a different angle to the rest; their friction against each other causes the loud rustling sound which gives notice of the presence of the echis, as does the rattle of the crotalus. I have never heard this viper hiss ; though the daboia does so loudly. It is of a brownish-grey colour, with white and dark spots, and a waving whitish band on either side of the body, On the head there is a peculiar mark some- thing like a cross. Its fangs are very long and mobile, and its poison very active, destroying a fowl in two or three minutes. In Sind, and some other parts of India where it is very common, it causes considerable loss of human life, though I believe it is not so destructive on the whole as either the cobra or Bungarus ceruleus (Krait), which are more generally distributed over the peninsula. I have not seen it in Bengal, but it is common in the North-West Provinces, Punjab, Sind, and Central Pro- vinces, and Southern India in the Carnatic, and about Madras. : % Its aggressive aspect when roused, the vicious eye, its peculiar method of folding itself, the rustling of its scales, and the rapidity with which it strikes, make it, when living, an object of considerable interest. : In the same collection there is a fine specimen of another very rare colubrine venous snake, the Of/zo- phagus elaps, which gives an opportunity not often available even in India, where the snake is found only in certain localities, of studying its peculiar habits and food, which consists of other snakes. It is as deadly as the cobra, to which it is nearly allied; but from its com- parative rarity and the nature of its habitat it does not contribute so largely to the death-rate as that snake or even as the little echis. J. FAYRER ee F une 10, 1880] CONTRIBUTIONS TO MOLECULAR PHYSICS IN HIGH VACUA Il. T has been shown that the stream of molecules are shot off from the negative pole in a negatively charged condition, and their velocity is owing to the mutual repulsion between the similarly electrified pole and molecules. It became of interest to ascertain whether lateral repulsion was exerted between the molecules themselves. If the stream of molecules coming from the negative pole carried an electric current, two parallel rays should exert mutual attraction ; but if nothing of the nature of an electric current was carried by the stream, it was likely that the two parallel rays would act simply as negatively electrified bodies and exert lateral repulsion. This was not difficult to put to the test of experiment. A tube was made with two flat aluminium terminals, a 6, close together at one end, and one terminal, ¢, at the other, as shown in Fig. 11. Along the centre of the tube, cutting the axis obliquely, is a screen of mica, painted over with a phosphorescent powder, and between the screen and the double poles, @ 4, is a disk of mica crossing the axis of the tube, and therefore nearly at right angles NATURE 125 ——$———————————— to the phosphorescent screen. In this mica disk are two slits—one opposite each pole a and —running in such a direction that the molecular streams emanating from a and 4 when made negative shall pass through the slits, forming two horizontal sheets. These sheets striking against the oblique screen will be made evident as two horizontal lines of light. The poles @ and 4 were some- what bent, so that the lines of light were not quite parallel, but slightly converged, The tube being properly exhausted, the pole a was made negative, and ¢ positive, the lower pole 4 being left idle. A sharp ray of phosphor- escent light shot across the screenalong the line df The negative wire was now transferred from a to 6, when a ray of light shot along the screen frome tof, The two poles a and 4 were now connected by a wire, and the two together were made the negative pole. Two lines of light now shone on the screen, but their positions, instead of being, as before, @fand ef, were now dg and eh, as shown by the dotted lines. The wire joining the poles ab was removed, and the pole @ made negative; the ray from it followed the line @fas before. While the coil was working, another wire hanging loose from the pole 4 was brought up to a, so as to make them both negative. Instantly the ray ¢% shot across the screen, and simul- Fic. 11. taneously the ray df shifted its position up todg. The same phenomena were observed when the pole J was connected with the coil, and contact was alternately made | and broken with a, as the ray @g shot across, the ray ef dipped to ef. These experiments show that two parallel rays of mole- cules issuing from the negative pole exert lateral vefze/ston, acting like adjacent streams of similarly-electrified bodies. Had they carried an electric current they should have attracted each other, unless, indeed, the attraction in this case was not strong enough to overcome the repulsion. Many experiments have been made to ascertain the | law of the action of magnets and of wires carrying currents, on the stream of molecules. As an indicator, a small tube, as shown in Fig. 12, was employed. The two poles are at a and 4, a being the negative. Atc isa plate of mica with a hole in its centre, and at d is a phosphorescent screen. A sharp image of the hole in the mica is projected on the centre of @, and the approach of a magnet causes this bright spot to move to different parts of the phosphorescent screen. A large electro-magnet was used, actuated by two Grove’s cells, and the indicator tube was carried round the magnet in different positions and the results noted. The molecular stream when under no magnetic influ- ence passes along the axis of the tube, as shown by | the small arrow (Fig. 12). It will be seen that the indi- cator can occupy three different directions in respect to the magnet. The magnet being held horizontally, the direction of the molecular stream may be parallel to the axis, tangential to it, or at right angles to it, In either of these positions, also, the stream may be directed one way or the other (by turning the tube round endwise). In these different positions various results are obtained which are easily illustrated with a solid model, but are £ “« Contributions to Molecular Physics in High Vacua. Magnetic Deflec- tion of Molecular Trajectory; Laws of Magnetic Rotation in High and Low Vacua; Phosphorogenic Properties of Molecular Discharge.” By William Crookes, F.R.S. (Extracts from a paper in the P/ilosophicad Transactions of the Royal Society, Part 2, 1879.) Continued from p. 104. somewhat complicated to explain by means of flat drawings. They are fully described in the paper. A long tube was made similar to the small indicator shown in Fig. 12, but having a molecular trajectory six inches long. It was only exhausted to the point at which the image of the spot was just seen sharply defined on the screen, as at higher exhaustions the action of mag- netism is less. The phosphorescent screen was divided into squares for convenience of noting the deflection of the spot of light. So sensitive was this to magnetic influence, that when the tube was placed parallel to the earth’s equator the earth’s magnetism was sufficient to cause the spot to move 5 millims. away from the position | it occupied when parallel to the dipping needle (in which position the earth’s magnetism did not appear to act). When held equatorially and rotated on its axis, the spot of light, being always driven in one direction independent of the rotation of the tube, appeared to travel round its normal position in a circle of 10 millims. diameter. I have long tried to obtain continuous rotation of the | molecular rays under magnetic influence, analogous to the well-known rotation obtained at lower exhaustions. Many circumstances had led me to think that such rota- tion could be effected. After many failures an apparatus was constructed as follows, which gave the desired results :— : A bulb (Fig. 13) was blown of German glass, and a smaller bulb was connected to each end of the larger bulb by an open, very short neck. At each extremity was a long aluminium pole projecting partly into the large bulb and turned conical at the end. After good exhaustion the passage of an induction current through this apparatus fills the centre bulb with a very fine green light, whilst the neck surrounding the pole which happens to be negative is covered with two or three dark and bright patches in constant motion, following each other round first one way and then the other, constantly chang- ing direction and velocity, sometimes dividing into other patches, and at others fusing together into one. After a 126 NATURE | Fuze 10, 1880 little time, probably owing to the magnetism of the earth, or that of the core of the induction coil not far off, the movements sometimes become more regular, and slow rotation takes place. The patches of light concentrate into two or three, and the green light in the bulb gets more intense along two opposite lines joining the poles forming two faintly outlined patches, which slowly move Zo Coit 3 ¢ 3 em t SSA — >)\ (SZ Teraviens Sra Fic. 13. Fic. 14 round the bulb equatorially, following each other a semi- circumference apart. An electro-magnet placed beneath in a line with the terminals (Fig. 13) converts these undecided movements into one of orderly rotation, which keeps up as long as the coil and magnet are at work. In order to compare accurately the behaviour of the molecular streams at high exhaustions with that of the ordinary discharge through a moderately rarefied gas, another tube was taken having the upper pole an aluminium wire, and the lower one a ring, Fig. 14. It was only exhausted to such a point that the induction spark should pass freely from one pole to the other in the form of a luminous band of light, this being the form of discharge usually considered most sensitive to magnetic influence. This tube was also mounted over an electro- Ka. he ig “) are ts n Class 6, Class a. Class ¢. Class a. Fic. 15. magnet, and the two sets of apparatus being actuated successively with the same coil and battery, the following observations were made. The tubes will be distinguished by the terms “high vacuum”’ (Fig. 13) and ‘‘low vacuum”? (Fig. 14). The rotation produced in each tube will be recorded in the direction in which it would be seen by an observer above, looking vertically down on the tube, his eye being in a line with the terminals and with the axis of the magnet. When the rotation thus viewed is in the direction of the hands of a watch, it is called divect; the opposite move- ment being called reverse. To facilitate a clear apprecia- tion ofthe actions, an outline sketch (Fig. 15) accompanies each experiment. The shape of the tube shows whether it is the high or low vacuum tube, and the letter D or R shows the direction of rotation. a. Upper pole of electro-magnets ov¢h. Induction current passing through tubes so as to make the top electrode fosztive. Rotation in the high vacuum direct. Rotation in the low vacuum dvect. &. Upper pole of magnets zor//. Top electrode of tubes xegative. Rotation in high vacuum direct. Rotation in low vacuum veverse. c. Upper pole of magnets south. Top electrode of tubes positive. Rotation in high vacuum veverse. Rotation in low vacuum veverse. d@. Upper pole of magnet souzh. Top electrode of tubes zegative. Rotation in high vacuum reverse. Rotation in low vacuum dect. These experiments show that the law is not the same at high as at low exhaustions. At high exhaustions the magnet acts the same on the molecules whether they are coming to the magnet or going from it, the direction of rotation being entirely governed by the magnetic pole presented to them, as shown in cases a and 4 where the north pole rotates the molecular stream in a d@rec? sense, although in one case the top electrode is positive and in the other negative. Cases cand d are similar; here the magnetic pole being changed, the direction of rotation changes also. The direction of rotation impressed on the molecules by a magnetic pole is opposite to the direction of the electric current circulating round the magnet. The magnetic rotations in low vacua are not only fainter than in high vacua, but they depend as much on the direction in which the induction spark passes through the rarefied atmosphere, as upon the pole of the magnet pre- sented to it. The luminous discharge connecting the positive and negative electrode carries a current, and the rotation is governed by the mutual action of the magnet on the perfectly flexible conductor formed by the discharge. In high vacua, however, the law is not the same, for in cases 6 and d similar arrangements produce opposite rotations in high and in low vacua, The deflection exerted by a magnet on the molecular stream in a high vacuum may be compared to the action of a strong wind alowing across the line of fire froma mitrailleuse. The deflection is independent of the to-and-fro direction of the bullets, and depends entirely upon the direction of the wind. I have already mentioned that platinum will fuse in the focus of converging molecular rays projected from a concave pole. If a brush of very fine iridio-platinum wire, which has a much higher fusing point than platinum, be used to receive the molecular bombardment, a brilliant light is produced, which might perhaps be utilised. A piece of apparatus was constructed in which a plate of German glass was held in the focus of the molecular bombardinent. The vacuum was so good that no hydro- gen or other lines could be seen in the spectrum of the emitted light. The focus was now allowed to play on the glass, when the glass soon became red hot. Gas appeared in the tube, and hydrogen lines now were visible in the spectrum. The gas was pumped out until hydrogen dis- appeared from the spectrum. It was now possible to heat the glass to dull redness without hydrogen coming in the tube; but as soon as the heat approached the fusing point Fune 10, 1880] NATURE 127 ee. | ‘ : the characteristic lines appeared. It was found that how- ; thus corroborating E. Becquerel’s results on the action ever highly I heated the glass and then pumped the tube free from hydrogen, I had only to heat the glass to a still higher temperature to get a hydrogen spectrum in the tube. I consider the hydrogen comes from vapour of water, which is obstinately held in the superficial pores, and which is not entirely driven off by anything short of actual fusion of the glass. The bubbles noticed when the disintegrated and fused surface of the tube was examined under the microscope are probably caused by escaping vapour of water. When the negative discharge has been playing for some time on German glass, so as to render it strongly phosphorescent, the intensity of glow gradually dimi- nishes. Some of this decline is due to the heating of the glass or to some other temporary action, for the glass partially recovers its property after rest; some is due toa superficial change of the surface of the glass ; but part of the diminished sensitiveness is due to the surface of the glass becoming coated with this brown stain. The luminous image of a hole in a plate of mica was projected from a flatinum plate used as a negative pole, to the side of a glass bulb. The coil was kept playing for some time until the inside of the bulb was thoroughly darkened by projected platinum. Although a bundle of molecular rays could be seen all the time passing from the platinum through the hole in the mica to the glass, where it shone with a bright green light, I could detect no trace of extra darkening when the part of the glass formerly occupied by the green spot was carefully examined. Platinum is a metal which flies off in a remarkable manner when it forms the negative pole. It therefore appears from this experiment that the molecular stream does not consist of particles of the negative pole shot off from it. One of the most striking of the phenomena attending this research has been the remarkable power which the molecular rays in a high vacuum possess of causing phos- phorescence in bodies on which they fall. Sub:tances known to be phosphorescent under ordinary circumstances shine with great splendour when subjected to the negative discharge in a high vacuum. Thus, a preparation of sulphide of calcium, much used now in Paris for coating clock faces which remain luminous after dark, is invalu- able in-these-researches for the preparation of phospho- rescent screens whereon to trace the paths and trajectories of the molecules. It shines with a bright blue-violet light, and when on a surface of several square inches is sufficient to light upa room. Modifications of these phos- phorescent sulphides shine with a yellow, orange, and green light. The only body I have yet met with which surpasses the luminous sulphides both in brilliancy and variety of colour is the diamond. Most of these gems, whether cut or in the rough, when coming from the South African fields, phosphoresce of a brilliant light blue colour. Diamonds from other localities shine with different colours, such as bright blue, pale blue, apricot, red, yellowish-green, orange, and bright green. One beautiful green diamond in my collection when phosphorescing in a good vacuum gives almost as much light as a candle; the light is pale green—almost white. A beautiful collection of diamond crystals kindly lent me by Prof. Maskelyne phosphoresce with nearly all the colours of the rainbow, the different faces glowing with different shades of colour. Next to the diamond, alumina in the form of ruby is perhaps the most strikingly phosphorescent stone I have examined. It glows with a rich, full red ; and a remark- able feature is that it is of little consequence what degree of colour the earth or stone possesses naturally, the colour of the phosphorescence is nearly the same in all cases; chemically precipitated amorphous alumina, cubies of a pale reddish-yellow, and gems of the prized “pigeon’s blood” colour, glowing alike in the vacuum, of light on alumina and its compounds in the phospho- roscope (Annales de Chimie et de Physique, sér. 3, vol. lvii.). Nothing can be more beautiful than the effect presented by a mass of rough rubies when the molecular discharge plays on them ina high vacuum. They glow as if they were red hot, and the illuminating effect is almost equal to that of the diamond under similar circumstances. By the kindness of M. Ch. Feil, who has placed large masses of his artificial ruby crystals at my service, I have been enabled to compare the behaviour of the artificially formed crystals with that of the natural ruby. In the vacuum there is no difference whatever; the colour of the phosphorescence emitted by M. Feil’s crystals is of just as an intense a colour, and quite as pure in character, as that given by the natural stone. This affords another proof, if one were needed, that Messrs. Fremy and Feil have actually succeeded in the artificial formation of the veritable ruby, and have not simply obtained crystals which imitate it in hardness and colour. The appearance of the alumina glow in the spectroscope is remarkable. There is a faint continuous spectrum ending in the red somewhere near the line B; then a black space, and next an intensely brilliant and sharp red line to which nearly the whole of the intensity of the coloured glow is due. The wave-length of this red line, which appears characteristic of this form of alumina, is 689'5 m.m.m., as near as I can measure in my spectroscope ; the maximum _ probable error being about ES. This line coincides with the one described by E. Becquerel as being the most brilliant of the lines in the spectrum of the light of alumina, in its various forms, when glowing in the phosphoroscope. This coincidence affords a good proof of the identity of the phosphorescent light, whether the phosphorescence be produced by radiation, as in Becquerel’s experiments, or by molecular impact in a high vacuum. I have been favoured by my friend Prof. Maskelyne with the following notes of results obtained on submitting to the molecular discharge various crystals which he lent me for the purpose of these experiments :— ‘Ae ‘Diamond crystals. A very small crystal, exhibiting large cube faces with the edges and angles truncated, was of a rich apricot colour, the dodecahedral faces of a clear yellow, and the octahedral of another yellow tint. No polarisation of the light was detected. Some were opaque; some gave a bluish hazy light. “Emerald. A small hexagonal prism gave out a fine crimson-red colour. The light was polarised, apparently completely, in a plane perpendicular to the axis; this would correspond therefore to extraordinary rays which in emerald, as a negative crystal, represent the quicker rays vibrating presumably parallel to the optic axis of the crystal. “ Other emeralds behaved in the same way, though the illumination in two others experimented with appeared coniined more particularly to one end—the end opposite to that at which the crystals presented some (in one instance fine) terminal faces. “ Beryls exhibited no corresponding phenomena. — “Sapphires gave out a bluish-grey light, distinctly polarised in a plane perpendicular to the axis. In this case, again, the ray developed corresponds to the extra- ordinary or quicker ray. ' “Ruby gives out a transcendently fine crimson colour, exhibiting no marked distinction in the plane of its polar- isation, though in one part of a stone the colour was extinguished by a Nicol prism with its long diagonal parallel to the axis of the crystal. Here, therefore, also the light was that of the extraordinary ray. “Tt seemed desirable to determine the nature of the phenomena in the case of positive crystals, and accord- 128 ingly crystals of quartz, phenakite, tinstone, and hyacinth (zircon), were placed in a tube and experimented on, “The only crystals that gave definite results were tin- tone and hyacinth. A small crystal of the former mineral glowed with a fine yellow light, which was extinguished almost entirely when the long diagonal of the Nicol was perpendicular to the axis of the crystal. “Here, therefore, the plane of polarisation of the emitted light was parallel to the axis of the crystal, and here it is again the quicker, though in this case (of an optically positive crystal) it is the ordinary ray which corresponds to the light evoked by the electric stream: “So far, then, the experiments accord with the quicker vibrations being called into play, and therefore in a negative crystal the extraordinary and in a positive crystal the ordinary is the ray evoked. “A crystal of hyacinth, however, introduced a new phenomenon. In this optically positive crystal the ordinary ray was of a pale pink hue, the extraordinary of a very beautiful lavender-blue colour. In another crystal, like the former from Expailly, the ordinary ray was of a pale blue, the extraordinary of a deep violet. A large crystal from Ceylon gave the ordinary ray of a yellow colour, the extraordinary ray of a deep violet hue, “Several other substances were experimented on, including some that are remarkable for optical proper- ties, among which were tourmaline, andalusite, enstatite, minerals of the augite class, apatite, topaz, chrysoberyl, peridot, garnets of various kinds, and parisite. So far, however, these minerals have given no result, and it will be seen that the crystals which have thus far given out light in any remarkable degree are, besides diamond, uniaxal crystals (an anomaly not likely to be sustained by further experiment) ; and the only conclusion arrived at is, that the rays whose direction of vibration corresponds to the direction of maximum optical elasticity in the crystal are always originated where any light is given out. As yet, however, the induction on which so remarkable a principle is suggested cannot be considered sufficiently extended to justify that principle being accepted as other than probable.” WILLIAM CROOKES ON THE LAW OF FATIGUE IN THE WORK DONE BY MEN OR ANIMALS HE Rev. Dr. Haughton, of Trinity College, Dublin, has recently brought to a conclusion a series ‘of papers on Animal Mechanics published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. The ninth of these papers was appointed the Croonian Lecture for the present year, and the tenth paper closes the series. The most important subject involved in these papers is the experimental determination of the law that regulates fatigue in men and animals, when work is done, so as to bring on fatigue. Many writers, such as Bouguer, Euler, and others, have laid down mathematical formulz, connecting the force overcome with the velocity of the movement ; but these theoretical speculations have never received the assent of practical engineers, Venturoli points out a method of observations and experiments which would serve to determine the form of the function which expresses the force in terms of the velocity, after which a few carefully planned experiments would determine the constant coefficients ; and he adds that “such a discovery would be of the greatest usefulness to the science of mechanics, upon which it depends, how to employ, to the greatest possible advantage, the force of animal agents.’ Dr. Haughton believes that he has found the proper form of this function, by means of experiments, and sums it up in what he calls the Zaz of Fatigue, which he thus expresses :— NATURE [Funxe 10, 1880 The product of the total work done by the rate of work zs constant, at the time when fatigue stops the work. If W denote the total work done, the law of fatigue gives us— aw EME at const or = == COUSfae Aiea ve (1) The experiments made by Dr. Haughton from 1875 to 1880 consisted chiefly in lifting or holding various weights by means of the arms; the law of fatigue giving, in each case, an appropriate equation, with which the results of the experiments were compared. When the experiments consisted in raising weights on the outstretched arms, at fixed rates, the law of fatigue gave the following expres- sion— (ww a)" =A We sw arom) where w, 7, are the weight held in the hand, and the number of times it is lifted, 4 is a constant to be deter- mined by experiment, and a another constant depending on the weight of the limb and its appendages. The equation (2) represents a cubical hyperbola. The wseful work done is represented by the equation— Zhe (3) TW I Goce) tae se This denotes a cuspidal cubic, and the wseful work is a maximum, when w =a, or the weight used is equal to the constant depending on the weight of the limb and its appendages. When the weights were lowered as well as raised at fixed rates, and no rest at all permitted, the law of fatigue became— gle Gh) Sy (4) zt where 7, ¢, are the number and time of lift, 4 is a constant depending on experiment, and # is a constant involving the time of lift (r) at which the aax77um work is done. Equation (4) denotes a cuspidal cubic. When the weights are held on the palms of the out- stretched hands, until the experiment is stopped by fatigue, the law becomes— (CeO eeE ES 5 5) where ¢ is the whole time of holding out. This equation denotes a cubical hyperbola. The Law of Fatigue seems, in itself, probable enough,, but of course its real value depends on its agreement with the results of experiment. If W denote the total work done and # the rate of work, the law becomes, simply— Wax R= tCOnsteieees (6) If different limbs, or animals were used, each working in its own way, and under its own conditions, the Law of Fatigue would become— WR=W,R,+W,R,+ W,R,+&e . (7) and the problem for the engineer would be, so to arrange the work and rate of work of each agent employed, as. to make the zseful work a maximum, the work both useful and not useful, in all its parts, remaining subject to the conditions imposed by equation (7). In using equation (5) in his concluding paper, detail- ing the results of experiments made on Dr. Alexander Macalister, Dr. Haughton treats a as an unknown quantity, and finds from all the observations its most probable value to be— oie? ue a = 5°68 lbs. This result was compared with that of direct measure- ments made on Dr. Macalister himself, and indirect measurements made on the dead subject, from all of which Dr, Haughton concluded the value of a to be— ‘Sune 10, 1880] NATURE 129 a = 5°56 Ibs. + 0°125 (possible error). This result agrees closely with that calculated from the law of fatigue. It should be added that a proposal was made by Dr. Haughton to Dr. Macalister to make the experiment conclusive by direct amputation of his scapula, a course which he, unreasonably, objected to, as he draws the line of “vivisection’’ at frogs. A LACUSTRINE VOLCANO N arecent number of Za Nature further details, fur- | nished by the French Consul of San Salvador, M. J. Laferritre, are given concerning the recent volcanic phe- nomenon in Lake Ilopango in that State. The accom- panying illustration, from a photograph, will show the nature of the crater which has risen in the midst of the | lake. Earthquakes were felt in San Salvador in the first half of January of this year; there were three strong shocks, less violent, however, than those of 1876. These earthquakes had their centre in the vicinity of Lake Ilopango, in the midst of which rose three volcanic openings connected with each other. This new crater, which, seen from a distance as in the illustration, appears a small islet, rises above the surface of the water, how- ever, about twenty metres. An attempt was made to approach it in a boat, but the waters were all in a state of ebullition from contact with the burning rock, and gave off torrents of steam. An abundant column of smoke rose in the air, assuming the aspect of an immense cloud, which was seen from a great distance, and formed an imposing spectacle. The phenomenon was preceded by an exceptional rising of the lake, increased by the abun- dant winter rains. According to an old tradition the Aspect of the Volcano in Lake Hopango. (From a Photograph.) ? Spaniards maintain that when the lake rises earthquakes are to be feared. Formerly, also, it was the custom to | dig trenches to facilitate the escape of the waters. This practice was followed without intermission for a century, | and volcanic phenomena did not appear during all that time, tradition. If it is difficult to explain the fact it is still interesting to remember that a great number of volcanoes are sub- marine, that others are found for the most part in islands or in maritime regions, and that water may be one of the feeders of volcanic fires. Lake Ilopango, also known as Lake Cojutepec, is, according to M. Laferriére, a sunk crater. It is in the volcanic line, and it is a general fact in Central America that lakes alternate with volcanic cones. The water of this lake is brackish, very bitter, and almost viscous. It gives off sometimes, here and there, bubbles of sulphohydric acid gas. about 12 kilometres long by 16 broad; the depth is The present phenomena seem to justify this | The lake is | unknown. It is about 12 kilometres from the city of San Salvador. The Consul of France in Guatemala, | M. de Thiersant, states that Lake Ilopango has now a temperature of 38° C. on its shore, and is in complete ebullition round the volcano. All the fishes are cooked and float upon the surface, with a great number of shell- fish and other aquatic animals. The volcano continues /to rise, and the level of the lake is being gradually | lowered. nt NOTES Tue candidates whose names we gave in a recent number (vol. xxi. p. 616) were elected Fellows of the Royal Society at the meeting of last Thursday. They are :—Dr. Clifford Allbutt, Prof. J. Attfield, Mr. H. E. Blanford, the Rev. W. H. | Dallinger, Mr. Thiselton Dyer, Lieut.-Col. Godwin-Austen, the Bishop of Limerick, Prof. D. E, Hughes, Mr. H. M. Jeffery, 130 Prof. F. M‘Coy, Mr. J. F. Moulton, Prof. C. Niven, Dr. J, Rae, Prof. J. E. Reynolds, Dr. W. A. Tilden. In the last number of the Berlin Chemical Society’s Yournal Prof. V, Meyer announces that he has been able to determine the density of iodine vapour at a considerably higher temperature than before, and that he has obtained values closely approxi- mating to those required on the assumption that the gas then consists of »zozatomzc iodine molecules. He proposes to extend his observations, if possible, to still higher temperatures, in order to ascertain whether the dissociation can be carried further ; for this purpose he proposes to employ the recently described oil furnace of Deville and Troost, which is capable of fusing porcelain, and he hopes to be able to make use of vessels of graphite if those of porcelain are not sufficiently refractory, FROM a copy of some correspondence which has passed between Sir Joseph Whitworth and Lord Beaconsfield, we see that Sir Joseph wrote to his Lordship on February 21, calling his Lordship’s attention to what he had done so far back as twenty-four years since to the improvement of rifled arms. “*By means of elaborate and careful experiments I obtained facts, and established certain laws, both with regard to artillery and small arms. These laws have never been invalidated. Some, though denied and disregarded at the time, are now accepted without question by all who have studied the subject, not only in this country but abroad ; while others, equally im- portant, have not yet been acted upon.” Sir Joseph, after stating that he is anxious to point out the very unsatisfactory nature of the present system of determining questions, or rather of advising the responsible Minister on subjects which require a knowledge of mechanics and metallurgy, says: ‘‘I believe I am not doing any injustice to the officer or officers who have, or who have had, for years past, to advise the Secretary of State for War in these matters, when I say they have no such knowledge —they cannot have it. The very fact that they are able end distinguished soldiers precludes it. Nor, as far as I am aware, has the possession of mechanical knowledge, or of what I may term a mechanical instinct, any bearing on their selection for a post for which administrative ability is necessarily a first qualifi- cation. Further, the War Office has no such skilled technical advisers as the Admiralty has in naval architects and naval engineers. It is to this that I attribute the deficiency in our artillery and small arms, Instead of being, as we might be, in advance of other nations, it is a question whether we are on a level with some of them.” Sir Joseph then asks the favour of an interview, in order to bring this matter more clearly before Lord Beaconsfield, who received the request very favourably. Unfortunately, before Sir Joseph was able to carry out his disin- terested intentions, he was compelled to leave the country on account of his health, A NEW skating surface called ‘‘ crystal ice” has been invented by Dr. Calantarients of Scarborough. Considering that after all ice is merely a crystalline substance, and that there is no lack of substances that are crystalline at ordinary temperatures, Dr. Calantarients experimented with a variety of salts, and after a time succeeded in making a mixture consisting mainly of car- bonate and sulphate of soda, which, when laid as a floor by his plan, can be skated on with ordinary ice-skates ; the resistance of the surface is just equal to that of ice, it looks like ice, and indeed when it has been skated on, and got ‘‘cut up” a little the deception is quite astonishing ; a small experimental floor has been laid in the skating rink at Prince’s, and has proved so successful that no doubt a large floor will be laid there or at some other convenient place in the autumn. This floor will obviously have great advantages, both over artificial ice floors, which are very expensive indeed, and over floors for roller- skating. The surface can at any time be made smooth again by NATURE [Fune 10, 1880 steaming with an apparatus for the purpose, and the floor itself when once laid will last for many years. It is interesting to observe that the mixture of salts used contains about 60 per cent, of water of crystallisation, so that after all the floor consists chiefly of solidified water. Members of the General Committee and others who have not yet paid their subscriptions to the Clifford Testimonial Fund are requested to forward them to Messrs. Robarts, Lubbock, and Co., or to either of the honorary secretaries, Dr. Corfield, No, 10, Bolton Row, Mayfair, W., and Dr. Lee, No. 6, Savile Row, W. IN our next number we shall give the first instalment of a paper by Drs. De La Rue and H. W. Miiller, on some of their most recent Experimental Researches in Electricity. The second instalment of this paper will be accompanied by a fine steel plate illustrating the experiments, kindly furnished to us by Dr. De La Rue. WE understand that a most interesting entomological problem has been solved. The singular aquatic animal originally described by Latreille as a crustacean under the name Pvosofistoma, and which the French entomologists have affirmed to be the aquatic condition of an insect of the family Zphemeride, has been traced through all its transformations by M. Vayssiére, and the result is such as to entirely confirm their belief. THE Annual Visitation of the Royal Observatory was made on Saturday, when the Astronomer-Royal presented his usual report. THE first of the Davis Lectures for 1880, on ‘‘ Teeth,” by Prof. Flower, was given in tke lecture-room in the Zoological Society’s Gardens, in the Regent’s Park, on Thursday last week, The other lectures are as follows, the hour of lecture being 5 p-m.:—June Io, ‘‘ Cats,” by Prof. Mivart, F.R.S.; June 17, “Tadpoles,” by Prof. Parker, F.R.S. ; June 24, ‘‘ Hawks and Hawking,” by J. E. Harting, F.Z.S.; July 1, ‘‘Cuttle-fishes and Squids,” by Prof. Huxley, F.R.S.; July 8, ‘‘ Waterfowl,” by P. L. Sclater, F.R.S. ; July 15, ‘‘ Birds,” by W. A. Forbes, F.Z.S, These lectures will be free to Fellows of the Society and their friends, and to other visitors to the Gardens. As we announced last week, the annual meeting of the Helvetic Society of Natural Science will be held at Brieg (Canton Valais), at the foot of the Simplon, on September 12 to15. The great building of the college and the palace of Baron Stockalper are at the disposal of the Society. The committee speak in glowing terms of the various attractions which will be found in this locality by geologi-ts, mineralogists, and entomologists, the “generous wine of Valais” being not the least among the attractions promised to botanists. Tue twelfth meeting of the Scandinavian Naturalists and Physicians will take place at Stockholm on July 7 to 14 inclusive. A numerous attendance is expected from Denmark and Norway, as well as from other countries, A LARGE German Horticultural Exhibition is planned for the summer of 1882. It will be held at Bremen in connection with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of the Horticultural Society of that city. Ir is believed that the engineers of the St. Gothard Tunnel will be able to overcome the difficulty arising from the threatened collapse of the passage in the part known as the ‘* Windy Stretch.” According to Prof. Colladon, the strata in this section are composed of a calcareous aluminous schist, which has a great affinity for moisture, and swells enormously on exposure to the air. If a tunnel were made through Mont Blanc, 3,000 metres of similar material would have to be pierced and vaulted. Fune 10, 1880] NATURE 132 M. BressE has been elected to fill the place vacated by the death of General Morin in the Section of Mechanics of the Paris Academy of Sciences. THE Vesuvius railway was opened on the 6th inst. with much ceremony. It was found to work with perfect satisfaction. AN experiment with Jamin’s electric candle was made on a large scale at the works of the Compagn‘e Générale d’Electricité, 67, Avenue du Marine, Paris, on June 3. About 1,900 people had been invited, amongst them the principal authorities of the French Republic. The light was found steady, but it remains to be seen whether the expense is smaller than with other systems, and the apparatus can work during a series cf days. The candles are moved by a combination analogous to Wild’s patent. The weight of wire utilised for each of these frames is 600. to 700 grammes, which shows a length of about 80 metres. M. Jamin wants tension for working his candles, and his Gramme machines rotated with a very great velocity. The scene was very picturesque and the general impression was good, although not enthusiastic, as has been reported in several political papers. THE Swiss Naturalists Association have decided to erect the Meteorological Observatory, the establishment of which was recommended to them by the International Meteorological Congress which met at Rome last year, upon the Santis Mountain, in the canton of Appenzell. This peak is better adapted for the purposes of meteorological observation than any other one in Switzerland, on account of its comparatively isolated position. The observatory will cost about 320/., besides which 360/. will be spent annually for its maintenance and staff. Mr. G. H. KINAHAN writes us that a wooden hut has been discovered lately under sixteen feet of bog by Thos, Plunkett, M.R.I.A., of Enniskillen. It is remarkable that this structure is at the same depth as the similar structure found at Drumkelin, and described by Wilde in the Catalogue of the Royal Irish Academy. A LARGE crowd is attracted every night to the Palais de YIndustrie, Paris, where are burning regularly 400 Jablockhoff lights, on the occasion of the Exposition des Beaux Arts, a floral exhibition having taken place in the nave from June I to 10, the scene in the nave surpassing description. ELECTRIC light experiments on a large scale will be conducted with Wild candles at the Universal Exhibition of Melun, The gardens will be opened every night and lighted by electricity. AN international exhibition was opened at Brussels on June 1 hy the king. It is a private speculation, which must not be confounded with the national exhibition which will be opened on June 19, and is the only official display in the capital of Belgium. M. Marcue has invented in Paris a new telephone, which he calls electrophone, and which works with an induction coil. The induction current is sent from a distance which is sa‘d to be very large, and the hearing is said to be satisfactory. M. CAILLERET, a telegraphist of Lille (Nord), discovered a new method of rotating the electro-magnetic gyroscope with any induction coil. It is to employ the thin wire as an inductor, and the thick one for sending the induction current to the coil. A PROSPECTING party, despatched by the Queensland Govern- ~ ment, is stated to have discovered a very rich gold-field on the Sefton River in the north of the colony. An examination of the country along the east coast of Cape York Peninsula has not, however, proved successful. Ir is stated that at Wickham, about 100 miles south of Sydney, New South Wales, two surface bands of metallic stone of considerable width have just been discovered. On analysis it is found that there is a large amount of gold and silver in one of these, while the other contains over 60 per cent. of iron with traces only of gold. A large and enormously valuable diamond is also said to have been discovered in the same locality. THE Naples correspondent of the Daily News states that twelve miles south of Sciacca, on the coast of Sicily, an exceed- ingly rich bank of corals has been discovered, which is even — more important than the one found in 1876 in the same waters. Mr. David Bocue has now at press and will shortly publish a new work, viz., ‘* Birds, Fishes, and Cetacea of Belfast Lough,” 4 by Mr. R. Lloyd Patterson, vice-president of Belfast Natural History Society, and president of Belfast Chamber of Commerce, son of the late Robert Patterson, F.R.S. The book will form an interesting and valuable addition to this branch ef natural history. A TERRIBLE forest fire took place in the Harz Mountains on May 27 last. The whole forest of the Great -Jiigelsberg, near Goslar, is destroyed. Tue forty-fourth general meeting of the Saxon and Thuringian ~ Natural History Society took place at Nordhausen on May 18 and 19 last. The Society numbers between 300 and 400 members. THE nights of May 18 and 19 were fatal to almost all vine- yards on the banks of the Rhine and its tributaries. The young shoots on most of the vines were killed by the frost, which was intense. AN interesting novelty in the German book-market is ‘‘ Upilio Faimali, Memoiren eines Thierbandigers,” collected by Paul Mantegazza. It is published by Winter, of Heidelberg. Faimali was one of the few tamers of wild animals who gained universal reputation, The book contains interesting narratives of his numerous adventures with various beasts. ON May tr last the statue of the late M. Quetelet was unveiled in the gardens of the Brussels Academy buildings. He is repre- sented in a sitting posture, his left hand rests upon a large celestial giobe, and he holds a pen in his right. The expressive features are said to be an excellent likeness, A curious survival of medizeval superstition has cropped up in a rumour which obtains credence in the West of England, that Balmain’s luminous paint is prepared with Auman fat, in order to give it its’ phosphorescent properties! On the Schleswig coast in the Little Belt the establishment of oyster beds is engaging the active attention of the authorities. One million and a half of small oysters have been “‘sown out 2 between the Gjenner Bay and the Danish frontier near Heils- minde. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN WINNECKE’S CoMET.—In No. 2,314 of the Asfronomische Nachrichten Prof. v. Oppolzer has a note of more than ordinary interest on the motion of this body as investigated by his own calculations. He states that it results from his computation of the perturbations with the object of connecting the three appear- ances of 1858, 1869, and 1875 that a satisfactory agreement cannot be found without one of two hypotheses ; either the mass of Jupiter must be diminished to tos or there is a necessity of admitting the existence of a similar extraordinary influence upon the motion of this comet to that first pointed out by Encke in the motion of the comet which bears his name. Prof. Oppolzer finds an acceleration in the mean daily sidereal motion of 001439 after one revolution, a result which, he remarks, isin close accord- ance with his earlier one, deduced by a provisional calculation of 132 NATURE [Sune 10, 1880 : . RS the perturbations, from the observations made at the comet appearance in the summer of 1819. He infers from his researche® apon Winnecke’s comet a value for Encke’s force designated by U, differing little from that assigned by Encke from his discussion of the motion of his comet, the more satisfactory considering that much latitude must be allowed in this direction, He further observes that with U = 54> the effect upon the motion of Faye’s comet would be so small that it is necessarily mixed up with uncertainty in the values of the perturbations ; it will be remem- bered that Prof, Axel-Méller, who has laboured so admirably to follow up with every precision the motion of Faye’s comet, has not, since his computations assumed their present refined form, been able to detect any abnormal effect upon it. With regard to a diminution in the mass of Jupiter it is to be remarked that all the newer reliable determinations have con- firmed the value deduced by Bessel from the elongations of the satellites, including that inferred by Prof. Krueger from the perturbations of Themis, and that which Dr. Axel-Moller has found from his researches on the motion of Faye’s comet. Such diminution, therefore, appears inadmissible, Tue IMPERIAL OBSERVATORY, STRASSBURG.—In a commu- nication to the Astronomisches Gesellschaft Prof. Winnecke has given details of the construction and instrumental equipment of this new establishment, which we cannot doubt, under his skilful and energetic direction, is destined to take its place amongst the most prominent of astronomical institutions. The principal instruments are—(1) the meridian circle, with object-glass of 6°4 inches aperture, which has been constructed by Repsold and was completed several years since ; (2) the alt-azimuth, of 5°35 inches aperture and 4°9 feet focal length, also by Repsold; (3) the refractor, of 19°2 inches aperture and 23 feet focal length, by Merz, but mounted by Repsold, the object-glass being found to be of great excellence; (4) an ‘‘orbit-sweeper,” constructed according to the design of Sir George Airy, as explained in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. xxi. p.158; this is, so faras we know, the only instrument of the kind yet mounted, and has been used for some time by Prof. Winnecke in the provisional observatory at Strassburg; the aperture of the object-glass is 6'4 inches, which is not greater than it is essential to provide for the advantageous use of the peculiar mounting. We may hear of the application of the ‘*orbit-sweeper ” to the search (which it is not too soon to com- mence) for the comet of 1812, and later on for Olbers’ comet of 1815, neither of which bodies will admit of accurate prediction. A plan of the buildings and grounds accompanies Prof. Winnecke’s notice in the Vierteljahrsschrijt. THE COMPANION oF Srrius.—Mr. Burnham publishes mean results of numerous measures of the small companion of Sirius made with the 18-inch refractor at Chicago in the years 1877-80. We subjoin them with the errors indicated for Prof. Auwers’ ephemeris in his Untersuchungen tiber verdnderliche Eigen- Jewegungen :— rani Error of AL Error of Epoch. Position. eahenieist Distance. eoemeus: 187801 52°4 +6°0 10°83... —0'78 1879°13 50°7 a) 10°44 SO 1880'Ir ... 483 ae yf 10°00 —0°72 METEOROLOGICAL NOTES Amonc the interesting papers which appear in the Annales du Bureau Central Météorologique de France for 1878 there is one by Prof, Hildebrandsson, of peculiar value, On the Freezing and Breaking-up of the Ice on the Lakes, the Epochs of Vegeta- tion, and the Migration of Birds in Sweden, based on the observations made by a numerous staff of observers scattered over the country. The paper is illustrated by a diagram showing the seasonal distribution of temperature for ten of the more typical climates of Sweden, and by twelve maps indicating the geographical distribution of the physical: and_biological phenomena under discussion. Since the lakes of Sweden, which occupy a twelfth part of its entire -superficies, exert powerful and diverse influences on plant and animal life, according as they are frozen or open, special attention has been directed to their examination, The results show that while the lakes in the extreme south are covered with ice on an average of ninety days in the year, thosein the extreme north are 230 days bound with ice. The average date of the freez- ing of the lakes in the north is October 10, whereas in the south this does not take place till December 10. On the other hand, the ice breaks up in the southern lakes on April 1, but in the north not until the first week of June. The maps show the decided manner in which the curves are deflected and modified by such extensive sheets of water as are presented by Lakes Wener, Wetter, and Maelar, by height above the sea, and by the Atlantic in different seasons. During the freezing of the lakes the south-west winds of the Atlantic attain a maximum force and frequency, and under this influence the high lakes to west- ward of, the head of the Gulf of Bothnia do not freeze till November 30, or six weeks later than the lakes in the same lati- tude near Haparanda. Onthe contrary, at the time of the break- ing-up of the ice in spring, easterly winds are prevalent, and the ice on the lakes near {the head of the Gulf of Bothnia breaks up four weeks earlier than that of the more elevated lakes to west- ward, An interesting examination is made of the dates of the breaking-up of the ice on Lake Maelar at Westeras from 1712 to 1871, and from a comparison of the averages of each of the ten-year periods it is seen that the earliest was April 14 for the decade 1722-31, and the latest, May 5, for 1802-11. Whilst the results for these 160 years indicate considerable fluctua- tions, they give no countenance to the idea that any per- manent change has taken place in the climate of Sweden. Three maps show the number of days in which the plants that flower in the extreme south in April, and those in May, come successively into bloom, and the leafing of trees occurs at diffe- rent places on advancing northward. As regards the plants which come into bloom in the south in April, their time of flowering is forty-five days later at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, and sixty days later in the elevated districts to westward, but as regards the plants which bloom in the south in,May, the times are only twenty-five and’ thirty-five days. The curves of the May flowers are closely coincident with the curves representing the breaking-up of the ice of the lakes. The time taken for the advance northward from the south to the head of the Gulf of Bothnia is twenty-three days for the {leafing of trees and the flowers, of May, whereas the time taken by the April flowers is forty-three days. The curves showing the times of arrival of four of the more marked of the migratory birds differ much from each other. The lark arrives in the south on March 1, and in the north on May 1, and the arrangement of the curves of arrival closely agrees with the curves showing the breaking-up of the ice of the lakes but a month earlier, As. regards however the wild goose, the cuckoo, and the woodcock, the curves showing their arrival assume a different form, and point to an intimate connection subsisting between the arrivals and the temperature of the place at which they arrive, To mark the high value they set on carefully-made observa- tions, the Council of the Scientific Association of France have awarded medals to: Lieut. Pouvreau, serving on the line from Havre to New York, Lieut. Benoit, of the Yang-73¢, plying between Marseilles and Shanghai, and Captain Corenwinder, of the Grenadier, Dunkirk, for the meteorological observations made by them, these comprising, in addition to the usual obser- yations, numerous and elaborate notes on whirlwinds and other special phenomena, At the same time a medal was awarded to M. Vidal, schoolmaster ‘at Fraisse, Herault, for a peculiarly interesting series of observations made by him during the past fifteen years, regularly in winter as well as in summer, at a height of 3,150 feet above the sea. M. Vidal has also, from his wide and varied knowledge of the natural sciences, rendered effective service to scientific men in their excursions into ‘the higher districts of that part of France, Pror. FoRNIONI has recently described to the Istituto Lom- bardo (Rendiconti, vol. xiii. fasc. 3) a simple nefodoscope, or instrument for measuring the direction of motion of clouds (the instrument of the kind known as that of Braun being thought expensive and inconvenient to use). It consists of a flat compass case with pivoted needle, above which is fixed hori- zontally a plane mirror occupying the whole of the case. On the surface of the glass are drawn diagonal lines corresponding to the rise of winds. The amalgam is removed ina narrow are extending from north to north-west, so that the end of the needle may be seen for the purpose of orientation, and this transparent arc is graduated. A rod with terminal eye, freely pivoted on the edge of the case, completes the instrument. When the direction of a given cloud is to be determined, the nefodoscope is placed in a horizontal plane and properly oriented. The rod Fune 10, 1880] is then moved to such a position that the observer’s eye sees three points in a straight line, viz., the eye of the rod, the centre of the mirror, and the reflected image of a selected point of the cloud. The direction of the displacement which the latter under- goes after a time, proportional to the velocity of the cloud and inversely as its distance, is the required direction. THE Report of the Royal Society of Tasmania for 1878 in- cludes the tri-daily meteorological observations made at Hobart Town by Mr. Francis Abbott, so long an enthusiastic observer there, together with the annual abstract of his observations, and also an annual abstract of observations made by Mr. W. E. Shoobridge at New Norfolk, situated about fifteen miles from Hobart Town, higher up the Derwent. Observa- tions were formerly made at Port Arthur, Swansea, Swan Island, and Kent’s Group, viz., from 1861 to 1866, but at pre- sent Hobart Town and New Norfolk appear to be the only meteorological stations in the colony, the observations at Hobart Town dating from 1841, and those at New Norfolk from 1874. Mr. Abbott prints also his daily observations made at 10.33 P.M. in connection with Gen. Myer’s international synchronous observations, the importance of which we have several times had occasion to refer to in describing the United States weather maps. The regular hours of observation are 7.30 A.M. and 4.30 P.M., these hours having been adopted since 1876, as stated in the Report, with the view of assimilating the records more closely with those of stations in Europe, America, &c., in order to co-operate in a system of international meteorology. These hours have not been happily chosen for general meteorological purposes, particularly since it is the practice to adopt as the mean temperatures of the separate months simply the mean of the observations at the above hours, which, whilst only very slightly below the true mean during the winter months, are from 1°*5 to 2°°8 too high for the four warmest months of the year. PHYSICAL NOTES At the last meeting of the Physical Society of Paris some new and curious experiments upon the so-called magic mirrors of Japan were shown by M. Duboscq and discoursed upon by M. Bertin. Mirrors having a sufficiently true surface to give a fairly good virtual image of an object held near to them may yet be very irregular in the actual curvature of the surface and produce a very irregular real image of a luminous point reflected by the mirror upon ascreen. If such a mirror be warmed the thinner portions change their curvature, becoming flatter, and yield dark corresponding patches in the disk of reflected light. A mirror which gives very imperfect effects when cold will give very good ones when heated. If, by means of a condensing pump, a uniform pressure is exerted against the back of the mirror, the thinner portions are more affected than the thick portions, and therefore, as viewed from the front, become less concave than the rest of the surface, the result upon the reflected beam being that the pattern of the thicker parts comes out bright on the darker ground of the image. Lastly, if a mirror be cast upon the face of the original mirror, and then polished, it will when warmed become a ‘‘ magic” mirror, though when cold it yields only a uniformly illuminated disk upon the} screen, This last experiment alone suffices to show that the cause of the re- puted magical property is to be sought not in any difference of reflective power in different parts of the surface, but in slight differences of curvature of the surface. A NEW zinc-carbon battery, the patent of Mr. R. Anderson, is announced. The exciting liquid is a mixture of hydrochloric acid, bichromate of potash, and of certain other ‘‘salts” in a mixture, for the composition of which Mr, Anderson claims the protection of the patent. The battery may be used either with or without a porous cell. It is stated that the E.M.F. of this battery is as high as 2°15 volts, that it is remarkably free from local action and internal resistance, and that it is very constant, one cell having twelve square inches of effective surface of the zinc, giving for seventy hours a constant current. Mr. A. A. MICHELSON, of the U.S. Navy, has communi- cated to the New York Academy of Sciences some interest- ing observations upon the diffraction and polarisation effects produced by passing light through a narrow slit. If a fine adjustable slit be narrowed down very greatly, the coloured dif- fraction fringes widen out until when the width of the slit is reduced to less than one-fiftieth of a millimetre, the central space only is seen, and appears of a faint bluish tint. Moreover, the NATURE 133 light so transmitted exhibits traces of polarisation when regarded. through a Nicol prism. If the slit is still further narrowed, the depth of the tint and the amount of polarisation increase, until, when a width of only one-thousandth of a millimetre is reached, the colour becomes a deep violet and is perfectly polar- ised. In this experiment the Nicol prism may be used either as polariser or as analyser. Slits of iron, brass, and obsidian pro- duce identical results, though with the latter material, which can probably be more finely worked, the effects are the most pronounced, The polarisation is in a plane at right angles to the length of the slit. The phenomenon is best observed by using direct sunlight, placing the slit as near the eye as possible, and analysing with a double-image prism, thus enabling the delicate changes of tint to be observed by comparison. The possible explanation that the light which thus comes through the slit is reflected at its edges accords with the direction of the plane of polarisation ; but there remains the difficulty that these eflects should take place with all widths of slit and vary with the nature of the materials. One important point is that a slit of this degree of fineness admits the shorter waves of light more freely than the longer waves. Lorp RAYLEIGH showed a curious experiment in colour- combinations to the Physical Society, when he produced a yellow liquid by mixing a blue solution of litmus with a red solution of bichromate of potash. Werecollect a kindred experiment which is even more curious, namely, the production of white by the mixture of crimson and green, An aqueous solution of cuprous chloride and a solution of rosaniline acetate in amylic alcohol are placed in a bottle in certain relative quantities. The crimson solution floats upon the green solution. But when shaken up together both colours disappear, and the mixture is simply a turbid greyish white. Mr. PREECE’s new microphone or telephone transmitter has at least the merit that it surpasses all others for simplicity. A very thin wire stretched between two points forms part of a circuit containing a Bell telephone and a small battery. When it is set vibrating by sounds, the vibrations, by varying the strain to which it is subjected, alter its conductivity, probably by pro- ducing alterations in its temperature. M. OBALSKI describes a pretty magnetic curiosity to the Académie des Sciences. Two magnetic needles are hung verti- cally by fine threads, their unlike poles being opposite one another. Below them is a vessel containing water, its surface not quite touching the needles. They are hung so far apart as not to move towards one another. The level of the water is now quietly raised by letting a further quantity flow in from below. As soon as the water covers the lower ends of the needles they begin to approach one another, and when they are nearly im- mersed they rush together. The effect appears to be due to the fact that when the gravitation force downwards is partly counteracted by the upward hydrostatic force due to immersion, the magnetic force, being relatively greater, is able to assert itself, Tue phenomenon of luminosity of a (especially) negative electrode of smail surface used in electrolysis of, e.g., acidulated water, has been investigated by Prof. Colley of Kasan (Your. de Phys., May). Examining the light (which Slouguinoff found associated with an intermittence of the current) with a rotating mirror, he saw on a weakly luminous ground a multitude of bright star-like points, each appearing only an instant, and dis- tributed without apparent regularity. The spectrum of the negative electrode was found to be composed of bright lines, determined both by the liquid and the substance of the elec- trode. Some physicists have thought that the electrode is con- siderably heated, and that the liquid round it assumes the spheroidal state, being separated by a layer of vapour. M. Colley finds that with a very strong current the electrode indeed becomes incandescent, andthe liquid ceases to moisten it. He shows, however, that the illumination may be produced on an electrode quite cold, and he seeks the cause of production of vapour (of which he supposes the isolating layer to consist) in the high temperature of the liquid immediately surrounding the electrode (not in that of the electrode itself), heat being deve- loped by reason of the small surface and small conductivity of a thin sheath of liquid. With a pile of roo Bunsen couples, water containing 5 per cent. of sulphuric acid, and an electrode of 10 sq. mm. surface, 1°3 seconds would suffice to raise the layer next the electrode from 20° to 100° C, The sheath of gas 134 formed round the electrode may serve as germ for formation of a layer of vapours, and this being once formed, the discharges occur by sparks. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES WE are delighted to find that our good neighbours, the French, will not be behind the rest of the scientific world in exploring the depths of the sea. A large Government steamer, the Travailleur, will be at Bayonne on the 15th of next month to undertake a dredging expedition along the Atlantic coasts of Spain, under the charge of Prof. Milne-Edwards and the Marquis de Folin. Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys and the Rev. Mr. Norman have been officially invited to take part in this expedition, The Dutch are also making arrangements for a dredging expedition in the West Indies. FRoM a note in the June number of the American Naturalist it seems extremely likely that the U.S. Senate will endorse the approval given to the Howgate Polar Expedition by the House of Representatives. The steamer Gw/zare, 230 tons burden, is being fitted up, and will have a crew of fifteen officers and men, The observing party, which will be left at the station as near Lady Franklin Bay as possible, will consist of twenty-five men, including the necessary scientific corps. A house of wood is being fitted up for the men to winter in on the shores of Dis- covery Bay, and a steam launch will form part of the expedition. “Tn making this report the committee respectfully state and report that the object of the bill, as is shown by its terms, is to authorise a temporary station to be selected within the Arctic circle, for the purpose of making scientific discoveries, explora- tions, and observations, obtaining all possible facts and knowledge in relation to the magnetic currents of the earth, the influence of ice-floes therefrom upon the winds and seasons, and upon the currents of the ocean, as well as other matters incidental thereto, developing and discovering at the same time other and new whale-fisheries, now so material in many respects to this country. It is, again, the object of this bill that this expedition, having such scientific observations in view, shall be regularly made for a series of years under such restrictions of military discipline as will insure regularity and accuracy, and give the fullest possible return for the necessary expenditure; and again, in view of the fact that either the governments directly, or scientific corps under their authority, of Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, and Russia, have concurrently agreed to establish similar sta'ions, with like object, during the year 1880, it is believed that the interests and policy of our people concur in demanding that the United States should co-operate in the grand efforts to be thus made in the solution of the mysteries and secrets of the North Polar seas, upon which, in the opinion of scientists, depends so much that affects the health and wealth of the human race.” This station will form one of the series of International Arctic Observatories to which we have already referred. Durine the past year H.M.S. Ader?, first under Sir G. S. Nares, and afterwards under Capt. Maclear, was engaged in very useful service on the west coast of South America, chiefly in examining the channels in about 50° S. lat. Trinidad Channel, which opens out a clear passage to the Pacific 160 miles north of Magellan Strait, has been carefully surveyed, together with its various ports and anchorages. This channel forms a valuable addition to our knowledge of these waters, as it will enable vessels bound westward to avoid the heavy sea often met with in the higher south latitude. Its southern shores are bounded by bold rugged mountains rising abruptly from the sea, and on the north side a low wooded country lies between the sea and the snow-clad mountains in the distance. The A/er¢ also visited St. Felix and St. Ambrose Islands, which, owing to the depth of the soundings obtained, are thought to be unconnected with both the South American continent and the San Juan Fernandez group. Capt. Maclear describes St. Ambrose Island as volcanic, composed of lava in horizontal strata, intersected vertically by masses of basalt. _ Vegetation is scant, and the island is without water ; though frequented by sea-birds, its sides are too steep and rugged for guano to collect. From the sound- ings it would seem that this, as well as the other islands, rises as an isolated mountain from a submarine plateau. At the meeting of the Paris Geographical Society of May 7 a Greek physician, Dr. Panagiotés Potagcs, was introduced by MM. Ujfalvy and Duveyrier as one of the most extensive tra- NATURE [Fune 10, 180 vellers of our time. M. Potagos, we are told, has since 1867, beginning at Tripoli in Asia Minor, visited Teheran, skirted the Paropamisus on his way to Medjid, Herat, Kandahar and Kabul ; crossed the Hindu Kush by one of the most difficult passes, traversed Badakshan, Wakhan, and all Kashgaria, arriving at Hami in 1871. Thence he went to- Ulussutai in the heart of Mongolia, returning to Hami, where all his notes and collec- tions were destroyed, and he himself kept prisoner for more than a year. Thence continuing his journey, he reached Kulja, and returned to Europe by Semipalatinsk, Omsk, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. After staying at Salonica for two years, he went to Bombay and Peshawur, descended the Indus to Karachi, thence to Bunder-Abbas in Persia, crossed the mountains of Laristan, and made his way to Kabul, reaching India again by the Kurrum Valley, meeting Major Cavagnari on his way. From Bombay he went to East Africa, and penetrated into the interior farther than Schweinfurth. The principal sphere of his African journeys seems to have been in the region of the River Beré, which M. Deveyrier is of opinion is the Wellé of Schwein- furth, but which, according to M, Potagos, cannot be connected with the Aruwimi of Stanley, but rather with the basin of the Shari. The observations of M. Potagos are, however, too vague to be of much scientific value, unless, indeed, further details be forthcoming. Mr. LAURENCE OLIPHANT has lately returned to England from a journey of exploration on the eastern side of the River Jordan, and is, we believe, engaged in preparing for publication an account of the results of his investigations. THE map of Equatorial Africa, on the scale of 15°8 miles to one inch, on which Mr. E. G. Ravenstein has for some time been engaged for the Geographical Society, is stated to be approaching completion, and it is expected that the lithographed sheets will be ready during the summer. An analytical catalogue of works on African travel and geography, including papers in periodicals, is being compiled at the same time. Mr. STANFORD has just published a fine new wall map of New Zealand, on the scale of seventeen miles to an inch. The whole of the coast line, together with the details of harbours and banks of these islands, has been carefully reduced from the most recent Admiralty Charts. The interior details of rivers and mountains, roads and railways, towns and villages, hav2 been plotted in from the various Government surveys and partly from private sources. Although not over-crowded with names, it contains, besides the chief physical features, the names of all villages and other centres of population, together with the names of many places of interest, such as the geysers or hot springs and the boiling lakes of the North Island. The principal Maori tribal names are also given over the areas once’ occupied by them. The m>p is coloured to show the boundaries of the new administrative divisions, all of which arenamed. The large size, accuracy, and clearness of this map render it eminently useful for teaching purposes. THE annual address of Chief Justice Daly, President of the American Geographical Society, on the Geographical Work of the World in 1878 and 1879, is as usual, remarkably compre- hensive and well arranged; indeed it is the best summary of the subject we have seen. L’ Exploration of June 2 contains an interesting article on the various explorations of M. Paul Soleillet in Africa, There is also a map of the French possessions and factories on the coast of Guinea, “© ANGLO-CANADIAN ” sends us the draught of a scheme for reaching the North Pole by balloon in comparatively few days, at a cost which must take the gas completely out of the elaborate and expensive scheme of Commander Cheyne. Our correspon- dent has patented a directable balloon, which he maintains is capable of being moved at a rapid rate in any direction. We need not enter into the details of his plan, which reads very glibly, but which we should like to see subjected to rigid scien- tific tests. The whole scheme is to cost only 2,000/., including a steamer to be chartered to Spitzbergen to take the necessary compressed g2s which ‘* Anglo-Canadian ” would use as fuel. We do not attach much importance to the attainment of the Pole, and should prefer to see any money that can be raised for Arctic exploration in this country devoted to the founding of one of those international series of Arctic observations from which England is conspicuously absent. Sune 10, 1880] NATURE 135 Ir may interest such of our readers as are conversant with the German language to know that in the course of the present month Dr. Ernst von Hesse Wartegg will deliver a lecture at the German Atheneum (93, Mortimer Street, W.), entitled ‘‘ Das Leben der Beduinen.” The secretary of the institution will farnish all particulars regarding exact date and admission to the lecture on application by letter. AFTER the example of the German and Austrian Alpine Clubs, a Bohemian Mountain Club is now in course of formation. THE authors of Sweden and Finnland have edited a festive paper, ‘‘ Nordostpassagen,” in honour of Prof. Nordenskjold’s return, which deserves high commendation, both with regard to text and illustrations. It is published by C. E. Fritze, of Stockholm, In a letter from M. Berlioux, read at the Paris Academy of Sciences on May 31, the writer attempis to prove from the last expedition of Dr. Rohlfs in the Eastern Sahara the marvellous correctness of Ptolemy’s Tables. Ir is stated that Col. Gordon, who has resigned his post on the staff of Lord Ripon, is to proceed to Zanzibar to join the Belgian African exploring expedition. THE question of the speedy completion of the Ordnance Survey came up in the House of Commons last Friday, when there was an almo:t unanimous consensus of opinion that Govern- ment ought at once to advance as much money as was necessary to complete the work. The reply of Mr. Adam and Mr. Glad- stone was virtually a xo fossumus. It was not so much the difficulty of advancing the money as of obtaining the necessary amount of skilled labour to carry on the work under pressure. At the present rate the survey cannot be completed for eighteen years. DR. SIEMENS’ NEWEST ELECTRICAL RESULTS A PAPER was read on Thursday last before the Society of Telegraph Engineers by Dr. Siemens, F.R.S., upon **Recent Applications of the Dynamo-Electric Current to Metal- lurgy, Horticulture, and the Transmission of Power.” Theauthor first referred to the inaugural address which he had given before the Society on his election to his second presidency, wherein he drew attention to the applicability of the dynamo-electric current to purposes beyond the range of what electricity had theretofore been employed in effecting. On the present occasion he corro- borated his statements by a reference to recent experimental results of his own. The first part of the paper had reference to an electric furnace. This furnace consists of any ordinary crucible of plumbago or other highly refractory material, which is placed in a metallic jacket or outer casing, the intervening space being filled up with pounded charcoal or other bad conductor of heat. A hole is pierced through the bottom of the crucible for the admission of a rod of iron, platinum, or dense carbon, such as is used in electric illumination. The cover of the crucible is also pierced for the reception of the negative electrode, by preference a cylinder of compressed carbon of comparatively large dimen-ions. At the end of a beam supported at its centre is suspended the negative electrode by means of a strip of copper, or other good conductor of electricity, the other end of the beam being attached toa hollow cylinder of iron free to move vertically within a solenoid coil of wire, presenting a total resistance of about fifty units or ohms. By means of a sliding weight the preponderance of weight of the beam in the direction of the solenoid can be varied so as to balance the magnetic force with which the hollow iron cylinder is drawn into the coil. One end of the solenoid coil is connected with the positive, and the other with the negative pole of the electric arc, and, being a coil of high resistance, its attractive force on the iron cylinder is proportional to the electromotive force between the two electrodes, or, in other words, to the electrical resistance of the arc itself. An automatic adjustment of the are thus arises of great im- portance to the attainment of advantageous results in the process of electric fusion; without it the resistance of the arc would rapidly diminish with increase of temperature of the heated atmosphere within the crucible, and heat would be developed in the dynamo-electric machine to the prejudice of the electric furnace. The sudden sinking or change in electrical resistance of the material undergoing fusion would, on the cther hand, cause sudden increase in the resistance of the arc, with a like- lihood of its extinction, if such self-adjusting action did not take place. Another important element of success in electric fusion consists in constituting the material to be fused the positive pole of the electric arc. It is well known that it is at the positive pole that the heat is principally developed, and fusion of the material con- stituting the positive pole takes place even before the crucible itself is heated up to the same degree. This principle of action is of course applicable only to the melting of metals and other electrical conductors, such as metallic oxides, which constitute the materials generally operated upon in metallurgical processes. In operating upon non-conductive earth or upon gases it becomes necessary to provide a non destructible positive pole, such as platinum or iridium, which may, however, undergo fusion and form a little pool at the bottom of the crucible. In this electrical furnace scme time, of course, is occupied to bring the temperature of the crucible itself up to a considerable degree, but it is surprising how rapidly an accumulation of heat takes place. In working with the modified medium-sized dynamo machine, capable of producing thirty-six webers of current with an expenditure of four horse-power, ‘and which, if used for illuminating purposes, produces a light equal to 6,000 candles, I find that a crucible of about twenty centimetres in depth, im- mersed ina non-conductive material, is raised up to a white heat in less than half an hour, and the fusion of one kilogram of steel is effected within, say, another half-hour, successive fusions being effected in somewhat diminishing intervals of time. It is quite feasible to carry on this process upon a still larger scale by increasing the power of the dynamo-electric machine and the size of the crucibles. It was shown by means of a calculation that this furnace utilises } of the horse-power actually expended, and as the efficiency of a good steam-engine is 4, that of the electric furnace isi X = 75. Now as it takes theoretically 450 heat units to melt 1 lb. of steel, there will be required actually 450 X 15 = 6,750 units in working with the electric furnace, or about the heat-energy residing in a pound of ordinary coal. ‘To melt a ton of steel in crucibles in the ordinary air-furnace as practised at Sheffield, 2} to 3 tons of best Durham coke are consumed. A ton of coal is consumed per ton of steel produced if the re- generative gas furnace is used for heating the crucibles, whilst to produce steel in large quantities on the open hearth of this furnace about 12 cwt. of coal per ton of steel suffice. The electric furnace may therefore be considered as economically superior to the ordinary air-furnace, and, barring some incidental losses not included in the calculation, is nearly equal to the regenerative gas-furnace as far as economy of fuel is concerned. In favour of the electric furnace is an almost unlimited temperature, easy application, a neutral atmosphere within the crucible, and the circumstance that the heat within the crucible is greater than that external to it, whereas in ordinary fusion the temperature of the crucible is higher than that of metal witbin. On the occasion of reading the paper a pcund of broken files was melted in a cold crucible by means of a current of 72 webers in fifteen minutes, and cast in a liquid state, a second casting being effected in eight minutes. These and other brilliant successes of the new apparatus were hailed with ringing cheers. In the second portion of the paper, referring to electro- horticulture, the author explained the experiments by means» of which he has come to the conclusion that electric light produces the colouring matter chlorophyll in the leaves of plants, that it aids their growth, counteracts the effects of night frosts, and promotes the setting and ripening of fruit in the open air. It appears, further, that, at all events for certain short periods, plants do not require a period of rest during the twenty-four hours, but make increased and vigorous progress if subjected during daytime to sunlight and to electric light at night. These okservations on combined sun and electric light agree with those made by Dr, Schiibeler of Christiania, w ho found as the result of continued experiment in the north of Europe, during an Arctic summer, that plants, when thus continuously growing, develop more brilliant flowers and larger and more aromatic fruit than when under the alternating influence of light and dark- ness. As Dr. Siemens has found that under the influence of electric light plants can sustain increased stove heat without collapsing, he is of opinion that forcing may be effected in an electric stove or enclosure containing an electric light, and that horticulturists may thus grow fruit of excellent aroma and flowers of great brilliancy without immediate solar aid. To test what 136 NATURE [Fune 10, 1880 can be done practically the author has put down a steam-engine and boiler at his country residence near Tunbridge Wells, and intends to test the principles involved upon a working scale during the winter. The steam-engine which drives the dynamo- electric machine during the night for the purpose of giving light is to be employed during the day in transmitting power through an electric conductor to the farm for the purpose of carrying on small farming operations such as turnip, chaff, and wood- cutting, &c. Another interesting question which Dr. Sie- mens has set himself to answer is to determine which por- tion of the rays constituting white light is efficacious in producing chlorophyll, starch, and woody fibre, and which in effecting the ripening of fruit. For this purpose arrangements are in preparation to distribute the spectrum of a powerful electric light in a darkened chamber over a series of similar plants exposed seriatim to the actinic, light-giving, and thermal portions of the spectrum, Some experiments have been made with solar light in this direction, but no very conclusive results could be obtained, because the short periods of time during which the solar spectrum can be maintained steadily in the same place are so short that the effects produced upon vegetation have not been of a sufficiently decided character; whereas, with the aid of electric light, the same spectrum may be kept on steadily for a series of days without intermission. The author referred shortly to the lamp which he designed for this purpose, having a focus unchangeable in space, and without obstruction to the rays of light falling downward. There is no clockwork; the carbons are pressed forward either by their own weight or by the force of springs, the motion being checked by an abutment against which the carbon presses at the junction of its cylindrical with its conical portion. This is at a distance of 4 inch to 4 inch from the are centre, when the heat is sufficient to cause the gradual decomposition of the carbon, without being high enough to fuse or injure the metal abutment, In the third portion of the paper the author refers to the application of electricity as a means of mechanical pro- pulsion, He described the electric railway designed by Dr. Werner Siemens, of Berlin, and tried at a local exhibition held in that city. The rails were insulated from the earth by wooden sleepers, and were in electrical connection with a dynamo-electric machine worked by steam power at the station. A magneto-electric machine on the driving carriage was so fixed and connected with the axle of one pair of wheels as to give motion to the same, the driving axle being severed electrically by the introduction of an insulated washer. A current of electricity is thus passed along one rail to work the magneto-electric machine on the driving carriage, and back by the other rail to the stationary machine on the ground. The author anticipates a large application of the electric railway to adits in mines, to locomotives between neighbouring places, and to tunnels. In fact it is seriously contemplated to apply this system at the St. Gothard tunnel, where the large turbines are available which have been employed in the boring operations. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAMBRIDGE.—In their latest-issued series of statutes for the University of Cambridge, the Commissioners maintain Easter as the boundary between the University Lent and Easter terms, and require three-fourths of each term to be kept by residence. The degree of Bachelor in Surgery is added to the list; but the per- mission to give degrees to peers and sons of peers who come to the University in youth is limited to the B.A. degree, and the University may prescribe for their examinations and residence by grace. Titular degrees in any of the seven faculties of Arts, Law, Medicine, Surgery, Science, Letters, or Music may be granted to foreigners of distinction and to British subjects who are of conspicuous merit, or who have done good service to the State or to the University. Complete honorary degrees, with right of voting, may be given to those who obtain some University office after residing three terms in the University. The Demonstrator of Anatomy will superintend a class for Practical Histology during the next long vacation, beginning July 1 3 another class will be held for Human Osteology. The Cavendish Laboratory also will be open for practical work. Notice has been given by the Board of Natural Science Studies that next June (1881) there will be a practical examination in all the subjects of the examination in the first part of the Natural Sciences Tripos, The recent memorials concerning the academical encourage- ment of the higher education of women are to be considered and reported on by a syndicate consisting of the Vice-Chancellor, Drs. Bateson, Phear, Westcott, and E. C. Clark, Professors Cayley, Adams, Liveing, and Stuart, Messrs. G. F, Browne, Ferrers, E, W. Blore, R, Burn, H. Sidgwick, J. Peile, A. Austen-Leigh, and G. W. Prothero, to report before the end of Lent Term next, The Sedgwick prize, given every third year for the best essay on some subject in geology or the kindred sciences, open to the competition of all graduates of the University who have resided sixty days during the twelvemonth preceding the day on which the essay must be sent in, has been awarded to Walter Keeping, Inceptor in Arts, of Christ’s College. The subject of the essay is, ‘On the Fossils and Paleontological Affinities of the Neo- comian Beds of Upware, Wicken, and Brickhill.” Sir JoHN Luppock has been elected without opposition to represent London University in Parliament. Pror, HEnriIc!, F.R.S., has been appointed to the Professor- ship of Applied Mathematics in University College, London. GREAT importance has been given to the first session of the Superior Council of Instruction of France, composed of about fifty members, of whom forty have been nominated by the dif- ferent classes of French teachers, from the Sorbonne to the humblest village school. A decree has granted to each of them a sum of 20francs a day for the duration of the session, and travelling expenses, M. Jules Ferry opened the session by a speech in[which he explained his views, and submitted to the new organisation a programme of reforms. This programme has been sent by the General Assembly to a special commission composed of fifty members appointed to report on it. M. Jules Simon has been appointed president of that commission, It is said that, although approving the general tendency of these reforms, the commission is resolved to protect Greek studies, which had been sacrificed in the Ministerial project. But it agrees to render the study of either the English or the German language an obligation from the admission to the school up to the end of the course of studies. The commission has held already three long sittings for determining these points. The discussion will be long in general sitting. For the first time in the history of France the University has her own parliament to deliberate on all the subjects relating to public instruction. None of these deliberations are to be binding on the Govern- ment. All the provisions of the laws are to be voted as formerly by the French Chamber of Deputies and Senate. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS THE Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club is now published in regular monthly parts, instead of at irregular intervals. The papers are of course chiefly of local interest, and that is especially the case with the three numbers which we have received for the current year, though now and then morphological notes by Mr. Meehan and others are of a wider scope. At all events the Bulletin gives us in this country a lively idea of the activity of botanical research on the other side of the Atlantic. Mr. W. R, Gerard gives a description and drawing of a fungus new to science, Siblum rubescens, belonging to the Phalloidei, UNDER the new editorship of Mr. James Britten the ¥ourna? of Botany loses none of its interest. In addition to contributions to phyto-geography, and smaller articles of special interest to the workers in the critical botany of British plants, the following, which have appeared in recent numbers, may be mentioned as being of a wider scope :—Mr. J. G. Baker’s Synopsis of the species of /soétes, a useful contribution to our knowledge of vascular cryptogams; a much-needed review of the British Characece (not yet completed), by H. and J. Groves; and the botany of the British Polar Expedition of 1875-6, by Mr. H. C. Hart, the naturalist to the expedition, THE Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano continues to be sup- plied with good and useful papers in the various departments of botany. In the two mumbers already published during the present year (vol. xii. Nos, 1 and 2) there are articles by several of the leading Italian botanists. The editor, Prof. Caruel, gives a list of fifty false genera or species of plants founded on terato- logical or pathological circumstances. In an article on the parasitism of fungi by A. Bertoloni, he divides the class of fungi into two great divisions, according to their mode of life. The Fune 10, 1880] NATURE 137 first are true parasites, the mycelium of which, living on the tissues of the host, frequently kills it; the second are false parasites (saprophytes), deriving their nourishment from vege- table substances in various stages of decomposition. The genus Polyporus he considers to belong to the first, Agaricus to the second of these classes. The common disease of the mulberry- tree he attributes to Polyporus mori, not to Agaricus melleus, as suggested by Piccone.—A. Mori discusses the old statement of Gasparini, recently revived by Licopoli, that beneath the stomata of the leaves are cavities, to which Gasparrini gave the name cistoma, which are clothed by a continuation of the cuticle. His observations do not lead him to confirm this statement, but rather to the conclusion that the walls of the cavity beneath the stoma consist of ordinary cellulose. In the number of the Scottish Naturalist for April is the com- mencement of a suggestive article by the Rev. A. Milroy on the value of the names of places in indicating the ancient surface- features of the country. He takes as an example the country on the banks of the Tay below Perth, and shows the light that is thrown by the Saxon and Celtic local names, not only on the ethnological history of the district,, but also on the changes which have taken place in its physical features. The American Naturalist, May, contains :—Edward Burgess, the structure and action of a butterfly’s trunk.—J. S. Lippincott, the critics of evolution.—E. H. Yarnall, Hall’s second Arctic expedition.—O. T. Mason, sketch of North American anthropo- logy in 1879.—The editor’s table, on the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.—On the proposed exploration of the ruins of Mexico and Central America—Recent literature.— General notes.—Scientific news. SFournal of the Franklin Institute, May.—Naval architecture, by Mr. Haswell.—Table and diagram for determining the diameters of speed cones when connected by an open belt of constant length, by Mr. Klein.—Experiments with a steam cutter, by Mr. Isherwood.—Eye memory, by Mr. Leland. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LoNDON Royal Society, May 13.—‘‘ Notice of Further Experimental Researches on the Time Relations of the Excitatory Process in the Ventricle of the Heart of the Frog,” by J. Burdon Sander- son, M.D., and F. J. M. Page, B.Sc. The present paper is a continuation of one previously published by the authors (Roy. Soc. Proc,, xxvii. 410). The excitatory state, z.2., the condition produced in ‘any excitable structure, vegetable or animal, by excitation, is characterised (1) by the appearance of electromotive properties in the excited part which did not exist before excitation and cease to exist as soon as its effect is over ; (2) by diminished excitability ; (3) by the fact that it is prepagated from the part first excited to contiguous parts at a rate which is different in different structures and in the same structure at different temperatures. These three conditions are important as being the only characteristics by which the hidden process of excitation constantly reveals itself. By means of the rheotome described by one of the authors, exact measurements have been made of the time relations of the above conditions. The results obtained by Engelmann (Pfiig. Arch., xvii. 68) are then discussed. In forty-seven out of seventy-eight preparations of the ventricle of the frog made by this observer, the leading- off contact nearest the point of excitation became first negative, then positive to the other leading-off contact ; in the remaining thirty-one the positive deflection was absent. In the case in which the deflection was of a double character (Dofpel- schwankung), the first phase began o”'06 after excitation, and rapidly attained its maximum ; the reversal of sign took place at 0°26, and the contacts became equipotential at o’5. He estimated the rate of propagation at 50 mm, per second. It will be noticed that these researches of Engel- mann refer exclusively to the first half second after excitation, and therefore correspond to what has been termed by the authors of the present paper ‘‘ the initial phase,” and that the ‘‘terminal phase” escaped the notice of Engelmann, The method employed in the investigation of the above phenomena, with the aid of the rheotome, is then briefly described. The heart was carefully maintained at a’constant temperature by being placed on a lacquered brass box, through which flowed a stream of water at the desired temperature. The following table gives | Time after excitation, | | which galvanometric cir- cuit was opened, the period of closure being or sa) Deflections ... coe (ee which galvanometric cir- cuit was opened, the period of closure being o”r « J Deflections... ... .. ».| 0 ]0]0o0] 0 | a . . | Time after excitation, at | | | the results obtained in a typical experiment at 10° C., with the ventricle of the frog. The preparation was led off at apex and base, and excited close to the apex. The deflections represent the relativeichanges of potential at the apex contact. The authors reiterate the statement contained in their previous paper, that the - electrical effect of excitation manifests itself in two phases, an initial and a terminal one, which have opposite signs, and further conclude that these two phases are separated by a relatively pro- longed state of equipotentiality of the two apex contacts. These statements agree with those of Engelmann as far as they relate © to the same period ; but as the whole of the phenomena recorded by him belong to the beginning of the first second, the com- mencement of the period of equipotentiality is regarded by him as the end of the excitatory effect ; but to the authors the absence of galvanometric effect during this isoelectrical interval is the expression of the fact that both contacts are in the same degree of excitation. The proof that this period of equipotentiality is one of balanced activities is obtained by subjecting the two led-off surfaces to different temperatures. If the apex be warmed the deflections of the terminal phase are’ increased, and commence at an earlier period ; if the apex be cooled they are diminished. This is illustrated by the following table :— Time after excitation, at)} , | » | w | uv| a4 | ua which the galvanometer>| 02 | 0°4| 06] 0°8| r’o| r°2 circuit was closed a | a “ r°4| 1°6| 18} 2’o Preliminary observation)|___| x Aaa before warming... -.- at mea DMNLOM I Ons KON its a eee eg 5) 2 Immediately after warming |—24)+17|+30]+71/+95 +99)+63)-+ git 5] 0 rz seconds later... =25|+- 5|+ 21+ 9) +25/+55 +52\+ 6/+ 2] 0 24 seconds later.. —29}0 |o o |+ 6)+14/+-50/+ 9/+ 2] 0 36 seconds later... Coed te Pe ew +34/-+34|-+ 5) 0 48 seconds later... o |o jo jo [+5 +24|-+26| o lo Slight injuries, such as those produced by an application of a minute quantity of Io per cent. salt-solution, resemble those effected by slight warming. If the injury is more complete, such as is produced by touching the surface momentarily by a red hot wire, the isoelectrical interval is as it were filled up; large deflections in which the warmed surface appears to be positive being obtained throughout the whole of the excitatory period excepting the first tenth. This is seen in the following table :— excitation | of opening ofgalvano_| | uw a“ “atl au “ a“ “ a“ “ “a meter cir->| 0'2 | o'4 | 06 | o'8 | ro | x12] x4 | 16) 3x8 } 2'0 cuit, the( | period off | closure be- ing o"18. Deflection Time 2 +586 bide (| eee ae soee| As regards the period of diminished excitability, the experi- ments of Marey (‘‘ Physiol. Exp.” ii, 1876, 85) are first discussed, some experiments are then given which establish—(1) That the duration of the period of diminished excitability agrees pretty closely with that of electrical activity, and (2) that it is similarly affected by changes of temperature. y - The rate of ‘propagation of the excitatory wave in a fresh preparation is about 130 mm, per second. ‘ “ The facts above stated are consistent with the following theories :—r. Every excited’ part is negative to every unexcited part so long as the state of excitation lasts. 2, The local] duration of the excitatory state, de. the time it lasts in each structural element, is measured by the time interval between the beginning of the initial and the beginning of the terminal phase of the variation. 3. When both contacts are at the same temperature and in all other respects under the same conditions, the local duration of the excitatory state is the same at both, consequently it begins and ends earlier at the leading off contact first excited than at the other, the initial and terminal differences expressing Mg +41 138 themselves in the initial and terminal phases of the normal variation. 4. When one contact is warmer than the other the local duration of the excitatory state is less inthe warmed than in the unwarmed surface. 5. 1f the surface near one contact is slightly injured, the local duration at the injured surface is diminished in the same way as when the temperature is increased, but if the injury is of such intensity as to destroy its surface, its most prominent effect is to diminish its electromotive activity. i : In an appendix the authors briefly consider the results of slight inequalities produced by mechanical, chemical, or thermal conditions on the potential of the surface of the ventricle in the resting heart, and the influence of temperature on the excitability of the resting heart. A full account of the experiments, the results of which were communicated to the Society, will be published in the ¥ouwrnad/ of Physiology. May 27.—‘‘ On some Thermal Effects of Electric Currents,” by William Henry Preece, General Post Office. Communicated by Prof, Stokes, Sec. R.S. I have been engaged for some time past in experimenting on the thermal effects of electric currents, but the final results of those experiments are not sufficiently ripe at present to justify my bringing them before the Royal Society. I have, however, obtained one result which I believe to be sufficiently novel to justify a short preliminary note. NATURE [| Fune 10, 1880 The most striking facts elicited by these experiments are : 1, The extreme rapidity with which thin wires acquire and lose their increased temperature. 2. The excessive sensibility to linear expansion which fine wires of high resistance evince, Now as the rate of heating, and therefore of expansion and contraction, varies very nearly directly as the increment or decre- ment of the currents when these variations are very small, it occurred to me that if a long wire of small diameter and high resistance were attached to a sounding board or to the centre of a disk (such as one of those used for telephones and phonographs) and it formed part of a circuit conveying telephonic currents, sonorous vibrations ought to be reproduced. The sketch shows the arrangement of the apparatus used for the experiment. A was a stout base of mahogany, on which a brass support C was attached so that it could slide and be fixed at any distance from D. D was at first a disk of thin paper, and then of thin iron. P was the wire experimented upon whose loose ends were con- nected to terminals on the wooden base, so as to be inserted in the circuit containing a microphone transmitter M and a battery B of six bichromate of potash cells in another room out of hearing. 3 A platinum wire of 0'003 inch diameter and 6 inches long from / to 2’ was first used, and the sonorous effects were most marked and encouraging when the microphone transmitter M SSS Ou) was spoken into. The articulation, though muffled, was clear, and words could easily be heard. 1. Experiments were first made to determine the length which gave the loudest sound and the clearest articulation, and, after repeated trials with every variation of length from 1 inch to 6 feet, it was found that a wire 6 inches long gave the maximum effect. 2. Experiments were then made to determine the diameter of the wire that gave the best effect, and after repeated trials with every gauge drawn from 070005 inch to 0005 inch, it was found that wire of the diameter ooor inch gave the best effect. 3. Experiments were then tried with wires 6 inches in length and 0’001 inch diameter of different materials, viz., gold, iron, aluminium, silver, copper, palladium, and platinum, and they came out in the following order of merit :— Platinum Very clear, Aluminium... ope Very variable. Palladium ... Clear. Tron Clear. Copper Faint. Silver Faint. ; Gold “3 oe one ... Wery poor. 4. The effect of mechanical strain was tried. It was found not to vary the effect. When once the requisite tension, which varied with each metal, was obtained, further tightening up did not vary the clearness or loudness of articulation. HA Gold would scarcely bear the tension required to reproduce sonorous vibrations, hence its low position. 5. Very thin carbon pencil, ‘0625 inch ‘diameter, was tried under compression and under tension, but no effect whatever was experienced unless a bad joint was made, when at once a faint microphonic effect was apparent. Reseed 6. No sibilant sounds whatever could be reproduced. oe 7. That the effect was due to heating and cooling was shown by the fact that it was possible to increase the current to such a strength as to render the temperature of the wire sensible to the touch, and then to make its elongation and contraction by low sounds evident to the eye. It therefore appears from these experiments that wires con- veying those currents of electricity which are required for tele- phonic purposes expand and contract as they are heated and cooled, and as the variations in the strength of the current are small compared with the strength of the current itself, the expansion and contraction vary in the same ratio as the con- densation and rarefaction of the air particles conveying the sonorous vibrations which produced these vibrations. The mechanical changes, or molecular vibrations in the wire, due directly or indirectly to telephonic currents, which result in the reproduction of sound, bear a close analogy to the mechanical changes due to the direct transmission of sound, but with this important difference, that while the vibrations due to sound are progressive along the wire, and their velocity is low and easily Fune 10, 1880] measured, those due to thermal effects are practically instan- taneous, and therefore affect simultaneously the whole length of the wire. Nore.—De la Rive, in 1843 (vide ‘‘ Electricity,” vol. 1. p. 304), observed that an iron wire emitted sounds when rapid discontinuous currents were passed through it; but he attributed the effect to magnetism, for he failed to obtain the same effect in non-magnetic wires like platinum or silver. Graham Bell found, in 1874, that a simple helix without an iron core emitted sounds, and (in 1876) that very distinct sounds proceed from straight pieces of iron, steel, retort carbon, and plumbago, when conveying currents. Prof, Hughes showed that his microphone was reversible, that is, that it could receive as well as transmit sonorous vibrations. Mr. Weisendanger (7Zélegraphic Fournal, October 1, 1878) reproduced sounds on a microphonic receiver which he called a thermophone, and attributed the effect to its true cause, viz., the expansion of bodies under the influence of heat, which, in fact, is the explanation of all microphone receivers. Ader reproduced speech by the vibrations of a wire conveying currents of electricity, but he found that only magnetic metals were effective, and therefore, like De la Rive, he attributed the result to magnetic agencies (vide Count du Moncel, Zélegraphic Fournal, March 1, 1879). These and many other sonorous effects of currents on wires may be really due to such heat-effects as I have described. ' Chemical Society, May 20.—Prof. H. E. Roscoe, presi- dent, in the chair.—The first paper was entitled, ‘*On the Action of Air upon Peaty Water,” by Miss Lucy Halcrow and Dr. Frankland. In consequence of the statements of Dr. Tidy in his paper on river-water, as to the rapid oxidation of peaty matter in running water, the authors have studied upon an ex- perimental scale the action of exceptionally strong peaty water upon atmospheric air. The peaty water was exposed to air and light with and without agitation ; the organic matter in the water and the oxygen in the inclosed air were determined before and after each experiment. It was found that minute quantities of oxygen were absorbed by the peaty water, but even when some water was shaken for ten and a half hours in a bottle fixed on the connecting-rod of a steam-engine making 100 strokes per minute, only 24 per cent. of the organic matter was oxidised, assuming that all the oxygen taken up was employed in the oxidation of organic matter. The authors therefore conclude that if peaty matter .1s oxidised the process takes place with extreme slowness.—Dr. Frankland then read a paper on the spontaneous oxidation of organic matter. This was practically a criticism of the conclusions drawn by Prof. Tidy in his paper alluded to above. The author first referred to the belief so prevalent twelve years ago that water polluted with sewage quickly regains its original purity by spontaneous oxidation, and explained how this belief was upset by the quantitative evidence obtained by the Second Rivers Pollution Commissioners in 1868. He then criticised the results of Prof. Tidy, and pointed out some grave inconsistencies therein. Thus the Shannon, after flowing twenty- three miles through Loch Derg, has its organic elements dimin- ished about 18 per cent., whilst the next flow of a mile effects a diminution of 38 per cent. A sample taken four miles lower down showed an increase of 75 per cent., &c. These inconsis- tencies could only be explained by want of care in taking and securing an average sample of the river at the different points. The artificial purification of mixtures of sewage and water effected by Prof. Tidy by running water through a series of shallow troughs was then considered, and the chief cause of the diminution of organic carbon and nitrogen attributed to the decomposition of the urea into ammonium carbonate. The author concludes that there is no evidence whatever of the de- struction by oxidation of the dead organic matter of sewage by a flow of a dozen miles or so in a river, still less is there any ground for assuming that the organised or living matter of sewage is destroyed under like circumstances. The paper con- cludes with some statistics as to the effect of the water-supply oa the spread of epidemics of cholera, &c. Prof. Huxley pointed out that all diseases which are caused by so-called germs are caused by bodies of the nature of bacteria, and that these organisms were plants, and were therefore extremely unlikely to be oxidised or destroyed by endosmose, as suggested by Prof, Tidy, and that it was quite conceivable that a water containing such bodies might be perfectly pure from a chemical point of view, and yet be as deadly as prussic acid. Prof. Tidy, in reply, pointed to the statistics of the last ten years, which proved NATURE ASo that many towns which derived their water-supply from river- water which had been polluted with sewage were as free from fever, &c., as other towns supplied by deep-well water. Physical Society, May 22.—The annual holiday meeting of this Society was held at Cambridge. On arrival there the party partook of luncheon in a hall of St. John’s College, which had been kindly arranged for the purpose by the College authorities. Prof. W. G. Adams occupied the chair, and Mr. Warren De la Rue proposed a vote of thanks to the Master and Senior Fellows of the College for providing the hall. The vote was heartily accorded by the members, and after some remarks from Prof, Adams the party proceeded to the Cavendish Laboratory, where Lord Rayleigh, as vice-president of the Society, presided. The routine business of the meeting being waived, Lord Rayleigh described a plan for limiting the slit of a telescope so as to alter the angular interval with which it can deal. The interval is measured by means of a grating formed by winding a fine wire round two parallel screws of very fine thread.—Mr. Shaw ex- hibited a modification of Veinholdt’s apparatus for distilling mercury, by which a kilogram of mercury can be distilled per hour.—Mr, Sydney Taylor exhibited a device for showing the motion of the particles of water in the transmission of a surface- wave. Sixteen disks were arranged in single file, each having a white spot on its face, and on turning a handle the disks rotated so that the spots, which represented particles of water, moved so as to present a wave-motion to the eye. Mr. Taylor also showed a manometric flame apparatus for exhibiting to the eye the difference of phase between two musical notes. This con- sisted in two bent tubes, into which the notes were sounded, and capable of being lengthened or shortened by hand like the pipes of a trombone. Opposite the ends of each of these tubes a sensitive flame was placed, and a rotating mirror showed the dis- turbance produced in the flames by the two different notes, A third flame exhibited the joint effect of the two notes. When the tubes were silent, the images of the flames on the revolving mirror were seen as plane bands ; but when notes were sounded into the tubes they became serrated, and the serrations were like or unlike accord- ing as the phases of the notes were like or unlike.—Mr. Poynting exhibited a plan for altering the plane of polarisation of the two halves of a pencil of rays from the polariser, so that half the field may be made to appear dark when the other is bright, or both of equal brightness, at will.—Mr. Glazebrook de-cribed a method of measuring the rotation of the plane of polari-ation of light by means of two spectra giving dark lines made to coin- cide.—Lord Rayleigh described a plan for demon trating that yellow colour can be formed by combining red and b ue together. He mixes a red solution of chromate of potash with a blue solu- tion of litmus, and on pouring it into a glass cell of a certain thickness, the light transmitted through it is seen 1 be yellow. Plates of glass coated with gelatin impregnate with litmus and gelatin impregnated with chromate of poh and placed side by side also transmit yellow light. Lord Rayleigh finds, however, that the eyes =f different persons vary consider- ably in their power of appreciating the tinge of the transmitted yellow, one deeming it greenish, another reddish, while a third considers it pure yellow. This peculiarity is not to be con- founded with ‘‘ colour-blindness,” since all three persons would distinguish the red and green components accurately. Lord Rayleigh also exhibited a colour-box based on the Newtonian principle, first carried out by the late Prof. Clerk Maxwell, but of a small size.—Sir W. Thomson then proposed a vote of thanks to Lord Rayleigh, which was seconded by Prof. W. G. Adams, and the meeting then dispersed to examine the apparatus and appointments of the Cavendish Laboratory. Meteorological Society, May 19.—Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Messrs. T. H. Edm nds, F. Ekless, A. H. Taylor, and T. Turner were elected Fellows of the Society.—The following papers were read :—Variations in the barometric weight of the lower atmospheric strata 1. India, by Prof. E, Douglas Archibald, M.A., F.M.5.—A s«etch of the winds and weather experienced inthe North Atlantic between lats. 30° and 50° during February and March, 1850, by Charles Harding, F.M.S. The period embraced in thi- p per includes the time during which H.M.S. Atalanta was on her homeward passage, as she left Bermuda on January 31. From the data collected it is shown that a gale Jew in the Atlantic every day throughout the two months, excepting on February 21 avid 24 to 27. With especial reference to H.M.S. Afalanta \t appears probable that she would not have met with any exceptionally 140 severe weather earlier than about February 12 or 13, and allowing that she had averaged from five to six knots per hour on her homeward course, she would at that date have inevitably en- countered a severe hurricane. A heavy gale is noted on the 12th in 38° N. and 45° W., which is in the direct homeward-bound track from Bermuda, and if the A/a/anta had only averaged four knots per hour on her homeward course she would have fallen in with this gale. The storm of the 12th and 13th may fairly be considered as about the most severe during the two months here dealt with. It may be remarked that the Norwegian barque Caspaei was north of Bermuda on the 3rd, and was in the full force of the gale on the 12th; her distance made shows that the winds were favourable for a homeward passage from Bermuda, The correspondence from H.M.S. Sa/amis, published in the 7imes of May 6, states, on the authority of the captain of the Caspaei, “Con February 12, in lat. 42° 43’ N., long. 39° 25’ W., while running before the wind, encountered the severest gale he had ever experienced. The ship would not steer, and could not be prevented from broaching to. She was thrown on her beam ends, and remained so for nineteen hours, the cargo of cotton keeping her afloat. Several ships were in sight at the time of the commencement of the gale, and were unable to lay to on account of its suddenness. ”’—On the meteorology of Mozufferpore, Tirhoot, for the year 1879, by Charles N. Pearson, F,M.S,— Mr. D, Winstanley also exhibited his solar radiometer. Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, June 1.—General Meeting.—Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., vice- president, in the chair.—Messrs. G. Neist Walker, F.G.S., Alex. Murray, F.G.S., director of the Geological Survey of Newfoundland, Geo, S. Mackenzie, Ph.D., and MHjalmar Furuhjelm, Government Inspector of Mines, Helsingfors, were elected as Ordinary Members, and Mr, Robert M. Heddle was elected as an Associate.--The following papers were read and discussed :—On a new face on crystals of stilbite from Scotland and Western Australia, by Prof. M. F. Heddle, F.R.S.E.—On a portable chemical apparatus for quantitative work, by A. E. Arnold.—On kaolinite and kaolin, by J. H. Collins.—On new Scottish minerals, by Prof. Heddle-—Further notes on mineral growth, by T. A. Readwin.—Interesting specimens of minerals were exhibited by Messrs. F. W. Rudler, T. A, Readwin, J. R. Gregory, and Wm. Summers.—The next meeting of the Society will be held at Swansea in August, during the ‘‘ British Associa- tion” week. PARIS Academy of Sciences, May 31.—M. Edm. Becquerel in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On an automatic electric lamp, by M. Jamin. A development of the ‘‘ burner” described before. Three pairs of carbons are set pendant within an oblong covered coil ; one pair, having its points nearer than the others, gives rise to the are first, and burns upwards, and when it is consumed the fusion of a brass wire causes the second pair to come into action (similarly with the third), The expenditure in horse-power and the total light increase up to nine lamps, then both diminish. (Numerical results are fully given.) The bright- ness of the points directed down is five times that the other way. —On the heat of combustion of the principal hydrocarbonised gases, by M. Berthelot. Zyter alia, the heat in question is never equal to that of the component elements, and M. Berthelot indi- cates the nature of the differences.—On the cosmogonic ideas of Kant, agropos of a reclamation of priority by M. Schlotel, by M. Faye. He finds no similarity between M. Schlotel’s citations from Kant and his own special ideas.—M. Bresse was elected Member in-Mechanics in place of the late General Morin.—Syn- thesis of citric acid, by MM. Grimaux and Adam.—Researches on the albuminoid matters of crystallin as regard the non- identity of those that are soluble with the albumen of white of ege and of serum, by M. Béchamp. In the soluble part he finds two quite distinct albuminous matters ( phacozymase and crystalbu- min), and distinctly separates the insoluble matters of the crys- tallinian fibres from fibrine. He laid special stress on direct analysis and determination of rotatory power, regarding coagula- tion as of secondary importance.—On the use of volcanic sands in treatment of vines attacked by phylloxera, by M. Novi.—A list of memoirs sent in prize-competition was given.—The Secre- tary described M, de Candolle’s work on ‘‘ Phytography, or the Art of Describing Plants.”—On the refractions of Bessel, by M. Radau.—On an extension to functions of two variables of Riemann’s problem relating to hypergeometric functions, by M. Picard.—On a class of two functions doubly periodic, by M. NATURE [Fzune 10, 1880 Farkas.—Determination of three axes of a solid body on which centrifugal forces exert, through rotation, a maximum effect, by M. Brassinne.—On the equilibrium of elasticity of a rectangular prism, by M. Mathieu.x—Telephone with magnetic superexcita- tion, by M. Ader. This is based on the principle that if a thin layer of iron or steel be placed before the poles of a magnet it is much more powerfully affected if an iron armature be placed behind than if the latter be not present.—Study of the distri- bution of light in the spectrum, by MM. Macé and Nicati. Two quantities of light are considered equal when, illuminating a given colourless object placed always at the same distance from the same observer, they enable him to perceive the details with the same distinctness.—On astigmatism, by M. Leroy. Heat liberated in the combustion of some isomeric alcohols of the fatty series, and of cenanthol, by M. Longuinine. Isomerism of sub- stances having the same chemical function, but differing in internal structure, does not appreciably affect their heat of combustion and formation.—On freezing mixtures formed of two crystal- lised salts, by M. Ditte.—Crystallised hydrofluosilicie hydrate, by M. Kiessler.—Proportion of carbonic acid in the air ; reply to M_ Riset, by M. Marié¢-Davy.—Preparation of malonic acid, by M. Bourgoin. He has simplified and improved the process.—Preparation of neutral sulphuric ether, by M. Villiers.—Presence in Soja hispida (Miinch.) of a notable quantity of a substance soluble in alcohol, and easily transformable into glucose, by M. Levallois.—Functions of the swimming bladder of fishes, by M. Marangoni. It rules the migration of fishes. They have to counteract its action’with their fins. It produces a double instability, one of level, the other of position.—Researches on the structure of the axis below seminal leaves in cotyledons, by M. Gérard.—Jourmney from Biskra among the Touaregs, by M. Roche. ‘This gives some geological details.—On the structure and development of the dentinary tissue in the animal series, by M. Magitot.—On the mucus of the cloacal region of the rectum, by MM. Herrmann and Desfosses.—On the inoculability of symptomatic charbon, and the characters which differentiate it from splenic blood, by MM. Arloing, Cornevin, and Thomas. The microbe by which the disease is transmitted is quite distinct from the Bacillus anthracis. —On M. Rohlfs’ journey of exploration into the Eastern Sahara, by M. Berlioux.—French explorations in Central Africa, by M. Fontane. One of the two proposed scientific and hospital stations (the eastern one) is to be established at Kirassa, near Kiora, about 250 km. from Bagamoyo; and Capt. Bloyet, who is to superintend it, has left Marseilles with that object. M. Savorgnan de Brazza has been charged to explore the region about the sources of the Ogooué, and fix a point for the western station; Dr. Ballay accompanies him.—M. Jimenes presented a celestial map projected on the horizon of Mexico. CONTENTS Pace “Oxrp Norway.’”’ By Prof. ArcH. Gerkiz, F.R.S. . .. . 117 [FC UCALYPTOGRAPHEA: (a) (csc) foe ye. len fol Ev pad lafitol tome) vemnle 118 Our Book SHELF :— Green’s ‘‘ Short Geography of the British Islands”... . . LETTERS TO THE EpiToR:— The Visibility of Mercury to the Naked Eye.—T. D. StmonTon . Specialised and United Palzontological Research.—W. S, Duncan The Meteorology of South Australia.a—C. Mann; C. Topp . . Comparative Curves in Terrestrial: Magnetism.—Reyv. S. J. Perry, BR RiSE let Ban) ale) fied RY sl erect A its Oe Luminous Painting.—Frepx. V. DickINS. . . . +. + + + » Brain Dynamics.—Reyv, W. CLEMENT Ley; S. ToLVER PRESTON 121 Vortex Atoms.—S. ToLvVER PRESTON . . - + » «6 «© « « 21 Songs of Birds.—Prof. Atrrep NewTon, F.R.S.; FRANK J. (ALIEN) lod en aes te Fa Pu ace Oe Cn See Cup-marked Stones—James LINN . » « «+ + 2 « « « « 122 ENERGY AND Force. By the late Prof. CtirForp, F.R.S. . . . . 122 EcHIs CARINATA. By Sir J. Fayrer, F.R.S. . . » « «2 + « I24 ConrrisuTions To MorecuLar Puysics 1n Hicu Vacua, II. By Wivttam Crooxes, F.R.S. (With Illustrations) ne Ain ee On THE Law OF FATIGUE IN THE WoRK DONE BY MEN OR ANIMALS. By Rev. Dr. HaucuTon, F.R.S. . . EAI Ot PON ric. GRE A LacusTRInE Voucano (With Tilustration) . . . « « « « « » 129 ING py ke ot Cer Itheth sO Cen om 9 O Eee Our ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN :— Winnecke’siComet . <) <, 2e. 0 ce le. of 10s ila ee 3 The Imperial Observatory, Strassburg . - + «+ + +: = 32 The Companion of Sirius: 27%) | fer er sits) ten tad) emer aa METEOROLOGICAL, NOTES). =), sie yncpeu seen Venn mnn eres | PHYSICAL NOTES! © cel). fai, of cr, bel Del ens iate ate Ms Dironulelare) = 133 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES . . . 5 «is 6 2 tee 8 2 0 2 «8 : 4 Dr. Sremens’ Newest ELECTRICAL RESULTS} ». . + + + + + + 135 UNIVERSITY AND EpUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE . + + + + + 136 Screnrrric SERIALS: «acti lepine! a-Bes) a> Be, rouge t30 SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. « + + « © © © © #© © © © + # « 137 NATURE THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1880 TWO DARWINIAN ESSAYS Studies in the Theory of Descent. By Dr. Aug. Weismann, Professor in the University of Freiburg. Translated and Edited by Raphael Meldola, F.C.S., Secretary of the Entomological Society of London. Part I. On the Seasonal Dimorphism of Butterflies, with Two Coloured Plates. (London: Sampson Low, Marston, and Co., 1880.) Degeneration. A Chapter in Darwinism. By Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. NATURE Series. (Macmillan and Co., 1880.) HE first of Dr. Weismann’s ‘‘ Studies,” of which Mr. Meldola has given us an excellent translation, with the author’s latest notes and additions, is devoted to a thorough examination of the well-known but hitherto little understood phenomenon of the seasonal forms of butter- flies. For the benefit of those unacquainted with ento- mology we may state, that many butterflies have two, or even three broods in a year. One brood appears in spring, their larvae having fed during the preceding autumn and passed the winter in the pupa state, while the others appear later in the year, having passed rapidly through all their transformations and thus never having been exposed to the cold of winter. In most cases the insects produced under these opposite conditions present little or no perceptible difference ; but in others there is a constant variation, and sometimes this is so great that the two forms have been described as distinct species. The most remarkable case among European butterflies is that of Avaschuia prorsa, the winter or spring form of which was formerly considered to be a distinct species and named Araschnia levana. The two insects differ considerably in both sexes, in markings, in colour, and even in the form of the wings, so that till they were bred and found to be alternate broods of the same species (about the year 1830) no one doubted their being altogether distinct. In order to learn something of the origin and nature of this curious phenomenon Dr. Weismann has for many years carried on a variety of experiments, breeding the species in large numbers and subjecting the pupz to artificial heat or cold for the purpose of hastening or retarding the transformation. The result of these experi- ments is, that by subjecting the summer brood to severe artificial cold in the pupa state, it may be made to produce perfect insects the great majority of which are of the winter form ; but, on the other hand, no change of con- ditions that have yet been tried have any effect in changing the winter to the summer form. Taking this result in connection with the fact that in high latitudes where there is only one brood a year it is always the winter form, Dr. Weismann was led to the hypothesis that this winter form was the original type of the species, and that the summer. form has been produced gradually, since the glacial epoch, by the summer becoming longer and thus admitting of the production of a second or summer brood. This explains why the production of the winter form (4. 14 to the ancestral type; while the production of the summer form (4. Zrorsa) from autumnal larve is impossible, because that form is the result of gradual development ; and processes of development which have taken thousands of years to bring about cannot be artificially reproduced in a single season. This hypothesis was supported by experiments with another two-brooded species, Pieris napz, with similar results, the winter form being produced with certainty by the application of cold to summer pupze; and Mr, Edwards, in America, has made similar experiments with the various forms of Papzliz ajax, finding that the summer broods can be changed into the winter form by the appli- cation of cold, while the winter broods can never be made to assume the summer form by hastening the process of transformation. In the Arctic regions and in the high Alps there is only one form of Pzeris nafi, which very closely resembles the winter form of the rest of Europe, and this could never be the least changed by rapidly developing the pupz under the influence of heat. Another curious case is that of one of the Lyczenida (Plebetus agestis) which exhibits three forms, which may be designated as A, B, and C. The first two, A and B, are alternate broods (winter and summer) in Germany, while in Italy the corresponding forms are B and C, so that B is the summer form in Germany and the winter form in Italy. Here we see climatic varieties in process of formation in a very curious way. That temperature during the pupa stage is a very powerful agent in modifying the characters of butterflies, is well shown by the case of Polyommatus phiwas. The two broods of this insect are alike in Germany, while in Italy the summer ‘brood has the wings dusky instead of copper-coloured. The period of development is exactly the same in both countries, so that the change must, it is argued, be attributed to the higher temperature of the Italian summer. It has been noticed that in Italy a large number of species of butterflies are thus seasonally dimorphic which are not so in Central and Northern Europe. Dr. Weismann lays great stress on the varied effects of temperature in modifying allied species or the two sexes of the same species, from which he argues that the essential cause of all these changes is to be found in peculiarities of physical constitution, which cause different species, varieties, or sexes to respond differently to the same change of temperature ; and he thinks that many sexual differences can be traced to this cause alone with- out calling in the aid of sexual selection. The general result arrived at by the laborious investigation of these phenomena is, that—“ a species is only caused to change through the influence of changing external conditions of life, this change being in a fixed direction which entirely depends on the physical nature of the varying organism, and is different in different species, or even in the two sexes of the same species;” and he adds :—“ According to my view, transmutation by purely internal causes is not to be entertained. If we could absolutely suspend the changes of the external conditions of life, existing species would remain stationary. The action of external inciting causes, in the widest sense of the word, is alone able to produce modifications ; and even the never-failing ‘indi- levana) from summer larve is easy, it being a reversion | vidual variations,’ together with the inherited dissimilarity VoL, xxi1.—No. 555 H 142 of constitution, appear to me to depend upon unlike external influences, the inherited constitution itself being dissimilar because the individuals have been at all times exposed to somewhat varying external influences.” The present writer has arrived at almost exactly similar con- clusions to these, from a study of the geographical distribution and specific variation of animal forms, as stated in an article on ‘‘The Origin of Species and Genera,” which appeared in the Vineteenth Century of January last, and it is gratifying to find them supported by the results of a very different line of inquiry, and by the authority of so eminent and original an observer as Dr. Weismann. The second work referred to in our heading, is Prof. Lankester’s British Association evening lecture last year at Sheffield, now republished with illustrations as one of the useful little volumes of the “Nature Series.’’ It discusses the little-known phenomena of ‘ Degenera- tion’? as a phase of development much more general, and of far greater importance than is usually supposed. Degeneration causes an organism to become more simple in structure, in adaptation to less varied and less com- plex conditions of life. “Any new set of conditions occurring to an animal which render its food and safety very easily attained, seem to lead as a rule to degenera- tion ; just as an active healthy man sometimes degenerates when he becomes suddenly possessed of a fortune; or as Rome degenerated when possessed of the riches of the ancient world. The habit of parasitism clearly acts upon animal organisation in this way. Let the parasitic life once be secured, and away go legs, jaws, eyes, and ears ; the active and highly-gifted crab, insect, or annelid may become a mere sac, absorbing nourishment and laying eggs.”” We see incipient cases of degeneration in the loss of limbs of the serpentiform lizards and the pisciform mam- mals; the loss of eyes in the inhabitants of caverns and in some earth-burrowers ; the loss of wings in the Apteryx and of toes in the horse; and, still more curious, the loss of the power of feeding themselves in some slave-holding ants. —degenerated crustacea, and the mites—degenerate spi- ders ; while we reach the climax of the process in Ascidians—degenerate vertebrates, and such mere living sacs as the parasitic Sacculina and Lernzocera, which are degenerated crustaceans. Not only such lesser groups as the above, but whole orders may be the result of degeneration. Such are the headless bivalve mollusca known as Lamellibranchs, which are believed to have degenerated from the head-bearing active cuttle-fish type ; while the Polyzoa or Moss-polyps stand in the same relation to the higher Mollusca as do the Ascidians to the higher Vertebrates. While discarding the hypothesis that all savages are the descendants of more civilised races, Prof. Lankester yet admits the application of his principle to explain the condition of some of the most barbarous races—‘‘such as the Fuegians, the Bushmen,and even the Australians. They exhibit evidence of being descended from ancestors more cultivated than themselves.” He evenapplies it tothehigher races in intellectual matters, and asks : “ Does the reason of the average man of civilised Europe stand out clearly as an evidence of progress when compared with that of the men NATURE More pronounced cases are those of the barnacles / [ Fune 17, 1880 of bygone ages? Are all the inventions and figments of human superstition and folly, the self-inflicted torturing of mind, the reiterated substitution of wrong for right, and of falsehood for truth, which disfigure our modern civilisa- tion—are these evidence of progress? In such respects we have at least reason to fear that we may be degenerate. It is possible for us—just as the Ascidian throws away its tail and its eye and sinks into a quiescent state of in- feriority—to reject the good gift of reason with which every child is born, and to degenerate into a contented life of material enjoyment accompanied by ignorance and superstition.” This is very suggestive; but we may, I think, draw a yet higher and deeper teaching from the phenomena of degeneration. We seem to learn from it the absolute necessity of labour and effort, of struggle and difficulty, of discomfort and pain, as the condition of all progress, whether physical or mental, and that the lower the organism the more need there is of these ever-present stimuli, not only to effect progress, but to avoid retrogres- sion. And if so, does not this afford us the nearest attain- able solution of the great problem of the origin of evil? What we call evil is the esse¢éal condition of progress in the lower stages of the development of conscious organisms, and will only cease when the mind has beeome so thoroughly healthy, so well balanced, and so highly organised, that the happiness derived from mental ac- tivity, moral harmony, and the social affections, will itself be a sufficient stimulus to higher progress and to the attainment of a more perfect life. For numerous instructive details connected with de- generated animals we refer our readers to the work itself —truly a small book on a great subject, and one which discusses matters of the deepest interest, alike to the naturalist and the philosopher. ALFRED R. WALLACE NATURE'S HYGIENE Natures Hygiene: a Series of Essays on Popular Scien- tific Subjects, with Special Reference to the Chemistry and Hygiene of the Eucalyptus and the Pine. By C. T, Kingzett. (London: Bailliére, Tindall, and Cox, 1880.) HE subject of this book is, practically, Peroxide of Hydrogen. Such a title as “ Peroxide of Hydrogen, with Special Reference to its Sanitary Applications,” might not have proved so taking as ‘‘ Nature’s Hygiene,”’ but it would have been quite as descriptive of the subject-matter of the work. Mr. Kingzett strives to show that the position which has been assigned to ozone as “ Nature’s purifier and_disinfectant,” is not altogether merited by that body, but that it should rather be given to peroxide of hydrogen. There can be no doubt that these substances have been frequently confounded, and that in numerous instances reactions which have been attributed to ozone have been caused by hydrogen peroxide, It has been stated, for example, that the aromatic parts of flowers produce ozone, and that this substance is formed in considerable quantity by plants rich in essential oils—indeed the late Dr. Daubeny was of opinion that the oxygen evolved from plants by the decomposition of carbon dioxide in sunshine was always more or less ozonised ; and other observers have sought to show that Fune 17, 1880] NATURE 143 oil of turpentine and substances allied to the terpenes have the property of transforming oxygen into ozone. There is no doubt whatever that ozone is soluble in oil of turpentine; this is incontestably proved by the experi- ments of Soret, who, as all chemists know, has made capital use of the fact, but this is quite another thing to saying that oil of turpentine geverates ozone. This con- fusion between ozone and hydrogen peroxide has mainly arisen from the difficulty of discriminating between the two substances, and it is only since the researches of Struve, made about ten or eleven years since, that the presence of the latter body in the air may be said to have been demonstrated. Observers were led astray by the supposition that the simultaneous ‘existence of the two substances was impossible; chemically speaking, they were held to be incompatible. Recent observations have shown that the opinions hitherto held on this point must be modified. We are at present very much in the dark as to the causes which lead to the formation of peroxide of hydrogen in nature, but that many plants, and especially those which secrete essential oils, contribute to its pro- duction is almost certain. In the book before us Mr. Kingzett has collected a mass of evidence on this matter, and has presented it in an eminently readable and interesting form. Perhaps the most valuable part of the work is that which relates to the power exercised by the various members of the genus Eucalyptus in preventing or destroying malaria—which power according to our author is related to their property of forming peroxide of hydrogen. The Lucalvptus globulus was discovered by Labil- lardiére in Tasmania towards the close of the last century, but it is only within the last quarter of a century that its anti-miasmatic properties have become known to Euro- peans. To whom the credit of the discovery is due is not clearly made out. M. Ramel, Baron Miiller, and Sir W. Macarthen appear to have been among the first to draw attention to its extraordinary power, and seeds of the tree were sent by them from time to time to Europe. The testimony in support of this power is most convincing, In marshy districts near Eucalyptus forests fever seems to be unknown, and in parts of Corsica and Algeria where the tree has been planted for the sake of its reputed virtues endemic fevers have been stamped out. M. Gimbert, in a report to the French Academy, instanced the case of a farm situated in a pestilential district about twenty miles from Algiers, where by planting a number of the trees the character of the atmosphere was entirely changed. Similar testimony comes from Holland, the South of France, Italy, California, and many other parts of the world as to the febrifugal attributes of this tree, In no case is the evidence more convincing than in that of Algeria, as we have it related to us by Dr. Santra, and, quite recently, by Consul Playfair. Large tracts of land have been quite transformed by the agency of the “ fever- destroying tree” as it has come to be called, and wherever it is cultivated fevers are found to decrease in frequency and intensity. Fewer districts in Europe have a more evil reputation than the Campagna as a veritable hot-bed of pestilential fever, and people who know the country round Rome may remember the monastery at Tre Fontane on the spot, as tradition tells, that St. Paul met his death. Life in this monastery meant death to the monks, but since the Eucalyptus*has been planted in the cloisters fever has disappeared and the place has become habitable. That the aromas of plants have in all ages been held to act as preventives of disease, especially against those of an infectious or malarial type, is well known, and in every visitation of plague which has afflicted this country we read of people carrying strong-smelling gums or balsams about their persons. The physicians of a bygone time had vinaigrettes in the handles of their canes to protect them from the exhalations of their patients, and the miserable wretches who came out of the fever-haunted prisons and bridewells of a century or two ago to stand their trials were surrounded by some aromatic herb to protect the court from possible contagion. Even the chaplain as he accompanied the doomed man to the gibbet had presented to him a bouquet as a precaution against the dreaded jail-fever. Whether peroxide of hydrogen is invariably produced by the process of oxidation of the aromatic parts of plants is not yet proved, but that it frequently is so seems beyond question. There can be no doubt too that this substance is a very powerful antiseptic ; the experiments of Mr. Kingzett and others are quite conclusive on this point. OUR BOOK SHELF The Science of Voice Production and Voice Preservation, Sor the Use of Speakers and Singers. By Gordon Holmes, Physician to the Municipal Throat and Ear Infirmary. (London: Chatto and Windus.) THE author says that this work is an abridgment of his “ Vocal Physiology and Hygiene,” of which a notice has already appeared in NATURE (vol. xxi. p. 271), and that it is intended “to furnish persons who make an artistic or professional use of the vocal organs with a concise account of those relations of the voice to physical and medical science which are only cursorily alluded to, or passed over altogether, in treatises on elocution and singing.” The account is concise enough, in the sense of not occupying much space, if we omit the chapter headed “ Hygiene of the Voice,” which is mainly occupied with general hygiene ; but we greatly doubt whether those who “make an artistic or professional use of the vocal organs” will derive much advantage from its study, that is, whether they will be able to carry away much that will be of use to them. In striving to be concise the author seems to have become vague. Although, of course, he must be professionally well acquainted with the details of the vocal organs and their laryngoscopic appearance, he has not succeeded in conveying a clear knowledge ofso much as it imports the singer and public speaker to know. Norare his woodcuts of the larynx at allsatisfactory ; those, forexample, of “the larynx when sounding a note about the level of the ordinary speaking voice,” and ‘‘ during the emission of falsetto notes,’’ being calculated to convey false impres- sions to those who see them for the first time. His know- ledge of the physics of sound, and especially of phonetics, appears to be entirely secondhand. There is the same impression conveyed by his treatment of the registers and voice training for singers. The consequence is a want of definiteness and exactness in all these important branches of his subject. Thus, on p. 2, he tells us that sound travels through air at the rate of about 1,090 feet in a second, but neglects to add ‘‘at freezing temperature,” or that it goes faster when the air is heated, so that, in fact, about 1,120 feet at 60° F. is the more common rate, At 144 INNS RGT AP [ Fune I 7, 1880 other times his language is rather singular, as when he says that stammering “ frequently arises from a mus- cular defect, giving rise to a clumsiness in getting the tongue round one oy ntore letters” (p. 94), or speaks of the vocal bands being “tensed” (p. 105), or says that “musical gifts of voice are rather phylogenetic in their origin,” the word in italics not appearing even in Mayne, or speaks of “living up hills” (p. 146). In a book written for singers and public speakers Latin and Greek and technical expressions should certainly be explained, if not avoided, such as phylogenetic, already adduced, and frenum lingu@ (p.95). The article on hygiene conveys a good deal of information, but we suspect most readers will rather remember the amusing account of the dietetic habits of singers, quoted from other sources, on p. 114, than be able to dig out what relates to the voice from the great mass of other matter. In conclusion, we cannot help feeling that the words ‘‘the science of,’ in the title, are not justified by the book itself, and might be advantageously replaced by the single word “on,” Ceylon Coffee Soils and Manures: a Report to the Ceylon Coffee Planters Association. By John Hughes. (London : Straker Bros. and Co., 1879.) THE writer of this report has at least gathered together a large amount of useful information about the coffee plant, coffee soils, and coffee manures. As an agricultural chemist he has, not unnaturally, attributed excessive importance to the composition and condition of the soils in which healthy and diseased coffee trees are found ; manures also are indicated as amongst the chief remedial measures. Doubtless, the proper maintenance of the “condition,’’ as it is technically termed, of coffee soils has been woefully neglected. Indeed, where there is neither rotation nor even alternation of crops the difficulty of securing continued vigour of growth and ample crops of fruit must be considerable, even when soils are rich and seasons favourable. But let any adverse influences, whether of excessive rainfall, or of mechanical and chemical injury to the soil occur, and then the plant is more likely to succumb to the attacks of its enemies, vegetable and animal. Thus wheat straw deprived of adequate supplies of soluble silica becomes more subject to injury from insects and mildew. Other examples might be found of a connection between certain de- ficiencies in the soil and certain diseases in the plant, but it is unsafe to make a hasty generalisation on this point. In combating the coffee-leaf disease we must first of all devote ourselves to the fungus which is its direct cause. There can be little doubt that calcium sulphide, which proved so efficient a means of destroying the Ozdium of the vine will be equally destructive to the Memdleza vastatrix. A mixture of sulphur and quicklime, or a wash made by simply boiling these two materials together, is much less active. When Mr. Hughes makes suggestions about the sources of manurial substances available for Ceylon, about the making and preservation of cattle and vegetable manure, and about terracing and draining, we can heartily endorse his recommendations. And when he gives us a number of careful analyses, some of which are of considerable interest, even apart from their connection with the growth of coffee, we are grateful for information which is sure to become useful under some circumstances and at some time. But there are certain portions of Mr. Hughes’s Report which seem to have been introduced with no special object, or which are of questionable value. We hardly need to be taught that ‘‘ Planters want a practical remedy rather than an elaborate description of the disease’? (p. 140). The appearance of what look like recommendations of the manurial preparations of par- ticular manufacturers should have been avoided (pp. 27 to 30). We could have spared the repetition of the well- worn table of manurial values on p. 100, and the analysis of Bude sand (p. 36). The term gvamztic as applied (p. 37) to a limestone containing over 70 per cent. of calcium and magnesium carbonates needs a word of explanation. Of really interesting data furnished by Mr. Hughes we may cite the analyses of castor-seed cakes (p. 15), in which the nitrogen is shown to differ widely—brown and black cakes containing but 44 per cent., while white cakes show no less than 73. Although we do not believe in the third decimal places (how often can we chemists secure accuracy in the tenths?) in Mr. Hughes’s soil analyses (pp. 46, 53, 65, 72, 77, 81, 150)—particularly as his phos- phoric acid determinations were not made by the molybdic acid process—yet these results represent a mass of laborious researches, and ought to furnish much material for the management of Ceylon coffee soils. The analyses of healthy and diseased coffee-leaves (pp. 142-144) deserve careful study; they point unmistakably to the fungoid origin of the disease. AW HigiGe LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents, Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it zs impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.) Cloud Classification BETWEEN M, Poéy and his latest critic (NATURE, vol. xxii. p- 96) it would be impertinent for me to interfere. But until my objection to a part of Howard’s original classification has met with some response from those who maintain the adequacy of that classification I must continue, at the risk of some repetition, to call attention to this objection. It can be stated briefly, and I do not see why the answer thereto, if such exist, should be deferred as too long for discussion. E. H. appears to admit that an observer, when within a cloud (which is then to him a fog), cannot distinguish cumulus from stratus, He, however, elevates the stratus, or rather one variety of it, ‘‘a few feet (or even inches) from the earth,” so as to cut ‘the taller trees in a horizontal line, leaving their tops and bottoms free.” He proposes to shelve the question ‘‘ whether it is desirable to use the term ‘stratus’ for clouds in a totally different sky region, which differ both in their origin and their nature from the true stratus” (7.¢., from the sératus of the sky-region of half-length elms in the Thames basin). Now it is precisely this question which the large and growing class of observers, who wish to record the modifications of clouds, can no longer permit to be left unsettled. If clouds are to be classified according to their form at all, some name is absolutely required for a class of clouds which is in all latitudes common, and in the higher predominant. These are the clouds to which the observers can neither give the title czeszles nor the title cirrus, the clouds which are disposed in beds or layers whose vertical thickness is small. When in trifling amount they arrange themselves in irregular disks or patches capable of being occasionally mistaken for came/us when in the zenith, but elsewhere seen as streaks or threads transverse to the meridian. When in large amount they cover a great portion or the whole of the sky with a shallow and nearly level canopy. In England, putting together observations made at all hours of day and night, clouds belonging to this class are recorded in about 60 per cent. of the observations. Of observations made at 2 p.m. they occur in about 38 per cent. ; of observations made between sunset and sunrise in upwards of go per cent. Of observations made at all hours in the English Midlands from October, 1879, to February, 1880, inclusive, they were recorded in 83 per cent. To leave this class nameless is intolerable. To give to them either of the compound titles cmu/o-stratus and stvato- cumulus is objectionable, because in form they do not resemble cumulus at all (I might add that to a defender of Howard’s unamended system they also do not resemble stratus at all, differing, as we are told, not only in elevation, but in ‘‘origin and nature,” both from ground-fog and middle-tree fog). A similar objection lies against the application to these clouds of Ws Fune 17, 1880] the terms cirvo-stratus and strato-cirrus. Finally the terms cumulo-stratus and cirvo-stratus are sorely needed for varieties of clouds intermediate between the class I have described and the cumulus and cirrus types, if any part of Howard’s terminology is to be left to us at all. It would be a pity that that terminology, lucid and expressive, should perish, merely because, to a few minds, the originator of a system must needs appear infallible, and his classification perfect as Minerva when issuing from the head of Jupiter. I think that Luke Howard would have been the last to put forward such a claim, W. CLEMENT LrEy June 8 The Motion of Fluids Pror. REYNOLDS, in the course of his review (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 342) of my book on the above subject, cites two instances in which I have been guilty of what he considers loose and vague reasoning. I would ask space for a few remarks on the points in question. To take the more important matter first, Prof, Reynolds says, apropos of a certain proof of the velocity-potential theorem given in Art. 23 :— “Mr. Lamb has offered a proof of this now historic theorem, which, if judged by the space it occupies, should be much simpler than the acknowledged proofs of Cauchy and Stokes. As no authority is cited, it would appear that this proof is here given for the first time. If so, the author has done himself great injustice in not examining or explaining his reasoning more closely. For, as it stands, it suggests the idea that he has ignored the fact that dx, dy, dz, on the left of his equation, are integrals through a finite time, and hence, inasmuch as he has given no reason to the contrary, may be of a different order of magnitude from their initial values, da, @d, dc, which appear on the right of his equation. If this is not so it is a peculiarity of the motion of continuous fluid, and needs establishing ; otherwise we might infer that two people who had once shaken hands could never after be so much as a mile apart.” Prof. Reynolds, who himself strongly recommends the careful study of ‘work from the master’s hand,” will hardly take it amiss if I ask him to turn to the proofs which he justly cites as classical, and to notice that they contain, one of them (Cauchy’s) in exactly the same form, the other in a form which is mathe- matically equivalent, the very assumption which he here calls in question, Theassumptionis in fact nothingmorethan a tacit limita- tion, which is made at the very outset of the subject, as to the class of motions which are propozed for study. In the “ Eulerian” method it is implied that the first derivatives of the component velocities 2, v, w with respect to the co-ordinates x, y, z are to be everywhere and always finite throughout the motion considered ; in the “Lagrangian” method the corresponding, and equivalent, assumption is that the derivatives ae ke Be ep rae da @6 de aoa? ae ae &c., are to be finite. that these are universal characteristics of fluid motion, for it is easy to imagine cases in which they are violated; we merely exclude such cases ad initio from the scope of our investigations, But, in one form or another, these fundamental limitations are, from the point of view of analytical hydrodynamics, unavoid- able; they are made implicitly every time we write down the equations of motion, and it is therefore not surprising that they should be found to be essentially involved, not only in the proof which Prof. Reynolds on this account criticises, but in every other proof of the velocity-potential theorem which has yet been propounded. I have only to add that the proof in question is, and professes to be, merely a very obvious corollary to H. Weber’s transfor- mation of the Lagrangian equations. The other passage of Prof. Reynolds’s review which I wish to notice is as follows :— “There is a considerable amount of vagueness attending the author’s use of the term farticle, Having rightly defined fluids as being such ‘that the properties of the smallest portions into which we can conceive them divided are the same as those of the substance in bulk,’ he proceeds to reason about a particle as though it were a discrete quantity, the position of which is defined by some point, thus ignoring the fact that, according to his definition, the same particle of fluid may at one time be a sphere, at another a filament of indefinite length, or a sheet of &c, and also We do not assert NATURE 145 This vagueness appears to have led him into indefinite breadth. error in Art, 11.”{ A good deal of this criticism is, I think, met by the remarks already made. In a fluid moving subject to the conditions I have stated, only finite changes of shape can be produced in a moving element within a finite time. Prof. Reynolds does not indicate the precise nature of the “‘error”’ which he finds in Art. 11. After a careful reconsidera- tion, the argument of that article appears to me to be sound ; but I am free to confess that it is not stated with all the clearness desirable, and that the article is further disfigured by an un- fortunate clerical error in the foot-note, where ‘'% = + /x” should be read for ‘¢« =+ x.” Horace LAMB Adelaide, March 30 On the Physical Aspects of the Vortex-Atom Theory WILL any charitable person explain a difficulty which I (and other non-mathematical people) have encountered when seeking to understand and be satisfied with this theory ? The only proof of those properties of vortex rings which match the physical properties of atoms that I have met with is that in ‘Bésant’s ‘‘ Hydromechanics”; and is based on the initial-co- ordinate method, Now it seems to me that this method assumes what is equiva- lent to the permanence of the vortex filament ; so that in proving the latter by use of this system of co-ordinates we may be merely arguing in a circle, For it assumes that if initially we have any infinitesimal tetra- hedron §a.5 8.5, then after the file time, ¢, this will still form a tetrahedron 6x.5y.5z2. Now I cannot see that one can assume this ; that—to use the words in a late article of NATURE—‘‘if two people have once shaken hands they can never be 100 miles apart.” And this inseparability of the particles of a fluid thus assmed bears a very close relation to the permanence of the vortex filament which we wish to prove. W.2L; Cheltenham, May 29 [It appears to us that our correspondent here confuses between the permanence of any fluid filament and the permanence of the vortex character of the filament. The assumption that every filament remains continuous cannot be said to be equivalent to assuming that the direction of the filament at every point remains coincident with the axis of rotation of its constituent elements at that point, which is what Helmholtz has taught us.—ED.] The Aurora Borealis and its Colours WITH regard to Drs, De La Rue and Miiller’s paper on the Aurora (NATURE, vol. xxil. p. 33) there is still a point I should like to see explained. Is it considered by physicists that in electric discharges similarity of colour is sufficient to indicate similarity of constitution, even when their spectra are quite unlike? The paper, together with the reply to Prof. Smyth, certainly seems to imply this ; though I have not previously seen it stated to be the case. With regard to the red part of aurorze, so far as my observa- tions indicate its position, they show it to be above the greenish part in the aurorze seen here ; though according to Weyprecht’s observations, it is below the green in the Arctic regions. Sunderland, June 9 T. W. BACKHOUSE A New Audiphone FuRTHER experiments on the timbre of musical instruments as rendered by the audiphone haye led me to the selection of the following as a distinct improvement on the birchwood veneer, both for musical purposes and also for ordinary conversation. It has the same advantage as my previous form in not requiring to be held by the hand, it costs nothing, and requires no making. Take a sheet of stiff brown paper about 11 x I5 inches, the paper being such as is ordinarily used for making up heavy parcels. Put the ends together, the middle forming a loop, and hold the ends between the teeth. The paper must be pretty stiff, as the loop must stand out round and full, and of course the paper must be without folds or creases, TuHOos, FLETCHER Museum Street, Warrington Crystal-Ice In reference to the ‘‘crystal ice” proposed by Dr. Calan- tarients, of Scarborough, for skating upon with ordinary skates, 146 NATURE | Fune 17, 1880 it may not be generally known that more than thirty years ago a skating pond was constructed in Liverpool, consisting, I believe, entirely of crystallised Glauber’s salt. I have a perfect recollec- tion of this miniature Jake with its grotto-like surroundings, of its black looking ice with innumerable white scorings marking the tracks of the skaters, yet, strange to say, I cannot remember whether I skated on it myself, The impression that I did seems to be confused with other skating scenes. This perhaps does not look like very reliable evidence, but that the “rink” (under another name) of artificial ice did exist, and was popular, will no doubt be affirmed by many witnesses besides myself. The date would be about 1845, if I am not mistaken, and the speculation ultimately failed owing to a public impression (possibly a wrong one) that the exhalations from the surface of the pond caused sickness and headache. ReE. The Stone in the Swallow Your correspondent, Dr. P. P. C. Hoek, requests informa- tion respecting the origin of the fable to which the poet Long- fellow refers at the end of the first part of ‘‘ Evangeline ””— ‘¢ The stone in the nest of the swallow.” In Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy,” p. 434, at the top (Wm. Tegg’s edition), after describing in the delightfully quaint style of the age the curative virtues of various stones, he quotes the following :— **Tn the belly of a swallow there is a stone called ‘chelido- nius,’ which, if it be lapped in a fair cloth and tied to the right arm, will cure lunatics, madmen, make them amiable and merry.” In a foot-note there are references made to the following authors :—Albertus, Eucellius, cap. 44, lib. 3; Plin, lib. 37, cap. 10; Jacobus de Dondis, &c. It seems probable that Longfellow got his version of the story from some of the descendants of the French Acadians, to whom the poem relates, and it may have come down from the same sources from which Burton derives his account of the matter. It may be noted that the two versions do not in any way clash, Burton’s simply referring to the whereabouts of the stone, ‘‘in the belly of the swallow,” its name and benefits to those afflicted with insanity ; while Longfellow’s version relates more to the finding and locality of the stone and its uses to the young swallows, leaving its supposed value to man, depending on the general term of being ‘‘ lucky.” Joun LOCKE Trinidad, West Indies, May 24 Stags’ Horns IN reference to the opinions recently expressed in your journal regarding the disappearance of the horns of stags, deer, &c., I may mention that this is usually attributed here to the action of rodents rather than of the deer themselves. Even if a deer should occasionally be seen gnawing a horn it would be very difficult to account for the disappearance of all the annual crop of antlers in this way. From the nature of their dentition (having no incisor teeth in the upper jaw) the destruction of such a mass of hard material must be very difficult. Moreover slight examina- tion will show whether the tooth marks are those of the large teeth of a deer or of the small incisors of a rodent. Antioch College, Ohio, U.S.A. E. W. CLAYPOLE ON SOME POINTS CONNECTED WITH TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM HAVE on more than one previous occasion brcught forward some of the various points which are here grouped together. These points are three in number. (a) Regarding the sustaining power of the earth’s magnetism. (8) Regarding the diurnal and other changes of the same. (y) Regarding earth currents and auroras. I may state at once that this only professes to be a working hypothesis. (a) Regarding the Sustaining Power of the Earth’s Mas netism.—I do not here intend to discuss the cause of the earth’s magnetism, but I would ask in the first place if It 1s not possible that this cause may be something small and one which (assuming it to continue at the present moment) we may not readily perceive. If we assume this cause or magnetic nucleus to be small is it not possible to imagine that there is a machinery which acts upon this nucleus (just as we have in certain magneto-electric engines) so as to swell up the magnetism of the earth ultimately to saturation.! May not this machinery be the great convection currents, the anti-trades, that go from the equator to the poles in the upper regions of the earth’s atmosphere, and which may be looked on as conductors moving across lines of magnetic force? It would appear to me that the tendency of such cur- rents will be to swell up and sustain the magnetism of the earth. (8) Regarding the Diurnal and other Changes of Terrestrial Magnetism.—It will of course be natural, entertaining the views now enunciated, to regard the diurnal changes of the convection currents of the earth’s atmosphere, as these are manifested in the upper regions, to be the cause of the diurnal changes of terrestrial magnetism. If this view be taken it might be argued that wind changes in these upper regions should also produce mag- netic variations. The reply is that apparently they do. In conjunction with Mr. Morisabro Hiraoka I have com- pared together the simultaneous records of magnetic declination ranges at Kew and at Trevandrum, and I find evidence of a progress of things from west to east, so that on the whole a particular magnetic-range phe- nomenon occurs at Kew 9'7 days before it occurs at Trevandrum. Again, I have attempted to show, in con- junction with Mr. Dodgson, that a particular magnetic phenomenon occurs at Kew one day before it occurs at Prague. It would thus appear that there is a progress of mag- netic phenomena from west to east, just as we know there isa progress of meteorological phenomena. As, however, the meteorological phenomena which we can examine eccur in the /owery atmospheric regions, while the mag- netic phenomena are, according to this hypothesis, asso- ciated with currents in the /zgher regions, it does not follow that magnetic and meteorological phenomena should travel from west to east at the same rate. I may also mention that we have reason to believe that magnetic changes lag behind corresponding solar changes just as meteorological changes would do. It is manifest that it will be comparatively easy to settle the fact of a progress from west to east of magnetic weather, and that if such exists it will most readily ally itself with the hypothesis above mentioned. In the next place, if we regard those changes in the convection-currents of the earth which depend on the year we have reason to imagine that such are most pronounced at the equinoxes. It is also well known that magnetic disturbances are most frequent at these times. Let us next proceed to regard the secular change of the earth’s magnetism. To account for this magneticians have felt the need of something movable, and the hypo- thesis of a “little earth,” a solid nucleus moving within the recesses of our planet, has found much support, But is it not more likely that the result may be caused by a secular variation in the distribution of the convection- currents of the earth? If the question be asked, What reason have we for imagining the existence of such a variation, the answer will be, A much better reason than we have for entertaining the conception of a “little earth.” For there is some reason, at any rate, for imagin- ing the power of the sun to be subject to a complicated series of periodicities. Now a secular variation in the power of the sun would produce a secular change not only in the intensity, but in the direction of the convection- currents of the earth, and, according to the above hypo- « If Iam not mistaken Sir W. Thomson is inclined to regard the earth as {2 magneto-electric engine. Fune 17, 1880} thesis, these in their turn would produce a secular magnetic change. (y) Regarding Earth Currents and Auroras.—I have for some considerable time looked on the earth as a Ruhmkorff’s coil with a magnetic nucleus. Above this nucleus we may suppose that we have the primary rocks, which are non-conductors, while above these we have the moist or comparatively moist surface of the earth, which is a conductor. Above this, again, we have the lower strata of the atmosphere, which are non-conductors, while above this we have the upper strata, which are conductors. Now suppose that a small but abrupt change of the earth’s magnetism takes place, no matter how. We need not enter into the causes of such. We have thus two secondary coils, if I may use the expression : (1) the moist surface of the earth, (2) the upper rezions of the atmosphere; and both of these will be animated with secondary currents, on account of the abrupt change of the earth’s magnetism. These secondary currents will be in one direction for a magnetic change of one kind, and in the opposite direction for a magnetic change of the opposite kind. Now whenever there are magnetic storms, that is to say, when there are small but abrupt changes of the earth’s magnetism, it is well known from the Greenwich records that we have violent earth currents, which are alternately positive and negative, and that we have also auroral displays in the upper regions of the earth’s atmo- sphere. We cannot examine the auroral displays as we can the earth currents. But with regard to earth currents I would remark that the form of the phenomena they display is entirely against the supposition that such currents are the main cause of the changes in terrestrial magnetism, and in favour of that which maintains that they are secondary currents induced by magnetic changes. In conclusion I would guard against its being supposed that all luminous appearances in the atmosphere are due to the same cause. I only hold that certain appearances which occur at times of magnetic perturbation and simultaneously throughout a large portion of the earth have the origin now mentioned. B, STEWART ON A NEW FELLY-FISH OF THE ORDER TRACHOMEDUSZ, LIVING IN FRESH WATER (oe Thursday last, June 10, Mr. Sowerby, the secretary of the Botanical Society of London, observed in the tank in the water-lily house in Regent’s Park a peculiar organism, of which he was kind enough to place a large number at my disposal on the following Monday. The organism proves to be an adult medusa belonging to the order Trachomeduse and the family Petaside of Haeckel’s system (“System der Medusen,” erster Theil). It comes nearest among described genera to Fritz Miiller’s imperfectly known Ag/auropsis from the coast of Brazil. The most obviously interesting matter about the form under notice is that it occurs in great abundance in perfectly fresh water at a temperature of 90° Fahr. Hitherto no medusa of any order has been detected in fresh water—except perhaps some stray estuarine forms (? Crambessa). It is exceedingly difficult to trace the introduction of this animal into the tank in the Regent’s Park, since no plants have been recently (within twelve months) added to the lily-house, and the water is run off every year. Probably a few specimens were last year or the year before present in the tank, and have only this year multiplied in sufficient abundance to attract attention. Clearly this medusa isa tropical species, since it flourishes in water of the high temperature of 90° Fahr. Mr. Sowerby has observed the medusa feeding on Daphnia, which abcunds in the water with it. NALORE 147 The present form will have to be placed in a new genus, for which I propose the name Craspedacusta, in allusion to the relation of its otocysts to its velum. It is one of the sub-class Hydromedusze or Medusz craspedote, and presents the common characters of the order Trachomeduse (as distinguished from the Narco- medusz) in having its genital sacs or gonads placed in the course of the radial canals. It agrees with all Tracholine (Trachomedusz and Narcomedusz) in having endodermal otocysts, and it further exhibits the solid tentacles with cartilaginoid axis, the centripetal travelling of the ten- tacles, the tentacle rivets (Mantelspangen), the thickened marginal ring to the disk (Nessel ring) observed in many Tracholine. : Amongst Trachomedusz, Craspedacusta finds its plac in the Petasidz, which are characterised as ‘ Tracho- meduse with /fowr radial canals, in the course of which the four gonads lie, with a long tubular stomach and no stomach-stalk.”’ Amongst Petasidz it is remarkable for the great number of its tentacles, which are aé// solid; and for its very numerous otocysts. Further, it is remarkable among all Hydromeduse (velate medusz, that is, exclusive of Charybdza) for the fact that centrifugal radiating canals pass from the otocysts zv/o the velum, where they end cecally. The genus may be characterised as follows :— MourTH quadrifid, with four per-radial lobes. STOMACH long, quadrangular, and tubular, projecting a good deal below the disk. DISK, saucer-shaped, that is, flattened. RADIATING CANALS 4, terminating blindly at the margin of the disk. GONADS 4, in the form of 4 oval sacs, depending into the cavity of the subumbrella from the four radiating canals, MARGINAL or RING CANAL obliterated (or if present of very minute size). CENTRIPETAL CANALS (such as those of Olindias, Geryonia, &c.) absent. TENTACLES solid; in three sets, which are placed in three superimposed horizons :— 1. Aset nearest the aboral pole, of 4 large per-radial tentacles. These are the fvzmary tentacles. 2. Asecond tier of (in large specimens) 28 medium- sized tentacles placed between these in four groups of seven. These are the secondary tentacles. 3. A third tier of (in large specimens) 192 small ten- tacles placed in groups of six between adjacent secondary tentacles. These are the dertiary tentacles. TENTACLE-RIVETS (Mantel-spangen) connecting the roots of the tentacles with the marginal ring (Nessel-ring) are connected with all the tentacles of each of the three horizons. : : F Oro.itus placed along the line of insertion of the velum—about eighty in number (fewer in small specimens), From sixteen to twenty are placed between successive per- radial tentacles arranged in groups of two or three between the successive secondary tentacles. VELAR CENTRIFUGAL CANALS (which are really the elongated otocysts) are peculiar to this genus, passing from the otoliths (one inclosing each otolith) into the velum, and there ending blindly. They appear to corre- spond in character to the cev/7ieta/ canals found in other Trachomedusz in the disk. OCELLI are absent. ‘ : [The presence of velar otocystic canals constitute the chief peculiarity of the genus Craspedacusta, and may necessitate the formation of a distinct family or sub-order for its reception. The minute structure of the otoliths and canal-like otocysts I am now engaged in investigating. ] The above characters are derived from the examination of adu/t male specimens, which were freely discharging ripe, actively motile spermatozoa. 148 NATORE [Sune 17, 1880 The species may be known as SOWERBII, noy. gen. et sp.—I name the species in honour of Mr. Sowerby, who discovered it, and to whose quick observation and courteous kindness zoologists are indebted for the knowledge of this interesting animal. The sole character which I can give as specific over and above the generic characters summarised above is that of size. The diameter of the disk does not exceed one-third of an inch. Locality—The water-lily tank in the gardens of the Botanical Society, Regent’s Park, London. Very abundant during June, 1880. Probably introduced from the West Indies. E. Ray LANKESTER NOTES FROM FAVA HE following extracts from a letter written from Java by Mr. Henry O. Forbes to Mr. H. N. Moseley, F.R.S., have been sent to us for publication as of consi- derable interest. The letter is dated March 19. Mr. Forbes, who has been engaged in collecting in Java, expects shortly to leave for Celebes, Timor, Timor-laut, and other eastern islands. Timor-laut is the most im- portant island of the Malay Archipelago yet remaining to pe explored, and is likely to yield many natural history treasures. Mr. Forbes's letter refers to certain passages in Mr. Moseley’s “ Notes by a Naturalist on the Challenger.” The question of the mode of growth of Myrmecodia and Hydrophytum has been lately before the Linnean Society. “With regard to birds carrying seeds from one island | to another, I have observed on the Cocos Keeling Islands (South Indian Ocean) a species of heron which nested in a high tree (species unknown) there, quite covered with its oblong hooked seeds. I was informed by the pro- prietor of the island that many of these birds, from their feathers getting so thickly covered with the seeds, actually die. Ican therefore imagine that many of these seeds might adhere for even weeks and months, and so get transported to very distant regions. “ At p. 493 you note the habit of hot-water drinking. It is quite a custom among, at any rate, the Sudanese, among whom I have been living some time, who, in the afternoons, invite each other to come and have a cup of hot water. It is drunk either plain or with a little arenga sugar. ‘“T have found here a large quantity of algae growing in the hot springs at a temperature of 132° F. What the species are or is I have not yet ascertained. “ With reference to Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum, I find some difficulty in reconciling in all cases the state- ment (p. 389) that ‘the ants gnaw at the base of the stem, and the irritation produced causes the stem to swell, with what I have myself observed. I have grown many young seedlings, some of which were entirely unmo- lested by ants, and yet produced a bulbous swelling at the base ; others were certainly scratched, but that was all, by the ants, the smallest scar being visible. On opening many of those which were unmolested I observed a degenerated, soft, spongy portion, not in connection with the exterior. May not this spot increase till an external opening is formed, and the ants have an entrance made for them to carry out, as I have seen them doing, the soft spongy substance inside? I have seen other seedlings that had a small orifice close to the rootlet, leading into an interior oval or round expansion in the bulb, and though I closely observed them I failed to detect ants touching them. All these seedlings I grew from the seed tillthey reached at most a couple or three inches ora little more, when they generally became the home of some ants. After they had become infeste1 I did not pursue observations on them, as my time was much occupied, and because the object of my observation was to discover if they bulbed, &c., without the aid of ants. I-should CRASPEDACUSTA | | much like to see these plants grow with all ant life removed from them entirely. If opportunity again offers I shall continue my experiments. I have repeatedly noticed on large Myrmecodia and Hydnophyta which were crowded with ants (on both genera I have found only one species of ant) that in many places irregularly- shaped areas of degeneration existed quite cut off from communication with the wonderful series of galleries and chambers which form this ant-hive. These were found oftenest near the upper portion of the bulb, and towards which excavations were being directed. I have not observed that the surface of the rounded mass gives off any twigs bearing leaves or flowers. All my specimens have had the shape of a bulb more or less gobose, or elongate, prickly, tenanted by ants, giving origin to a much thinner stem, not, or rarely, chambered nor pas- saged, but also armed, and from which the leaves and sessile flowers proceeded, the latter from hollows in which numerous ants were constantly moving about. The Hydnophyta generally give off at once leaves at the summit of a more or less irregular bulb. “T have seen the same species of ant inhabiting the swollen-up hollow leaves of a species of Hoya or Aéschy- nanthus. The plant I saw had many of its leaves in this condition. I gathered it one day while on the march, and I fear it is lost. It zay have been sent to the British Museum, but I am not certain. I have not met with another instance. There was a small hole in the apex of the leaf, and through it the ants came and went. The leaf looked as if all the mesophyllum had been cleared out and the epidermis blown out into a bladder. This observation may not be quite accurate as to the description of leaf, but I noted that the species of ant was the same. “ Here it is quite impossible to obtain a perfect rhino- ceros skull, unless one has the good fortune to shoot it oneself, for the horn is so highly prized that it alone fetches from 200 to 300 rupees (Dutch guelders), being eagerly bought by the Chinese. It is believed in by all the natives as a sure and certain antidote for snake-bites and for purifying water. A respectable hadji affirmed to me with the persistency of belief that on his way to Mecca —he went in a native vessel—the stock of fresh water on board ran out, and that all on the vessel, by drinking sea-water out of a rhinoceros horn, found it to be—-not salt water !” ON THE FERTILISATION OF COBA:A PENDULIFLORA (HOOK. FIL.) OBAEA PENDULIFLORA is a graceful climber, growing rather sparingly in our mountain-forests. It was described and figured by Karsten under the name of Rosenbergia penduliflora (‘Flora . Columbiz,” I. 27, t. ix.), and afterwards in the Bot. Mag.,i. 5757. Karsten’s plate is very pretty, but in all the specimens I have seen the linear lobes of the corolla were never so red as he paints them, nor do the stamens ever hang straight down- “wards parallel to the style, as his figure shows. The plate in the Botanical Magazine has only one defect, the artist having overlooked the hooklets and the ends of the tendrils. The plant grows exceedingly quickly when kept in shade, A specimen now in my garden was raised from seed sown October 3, 1879, which sprang up a fortnight later, and covered, in less than three months, a wall twelve feet high and ten feet long. It climbs exactly in the same manner as Cob@a scandens, described by Darwin in his “Climbing Plants.” The flowers have very little to attract attention, their colour being dull green, with very little red on the filaments, and there is no smell. Though not of great horticultural interest, the plant fully deserves the attention of the botanist on account of the peculiar cir- cumstances under which the flowers are fertilised. Sir J. D. Hooker has made already some pertinent remarks on Fune 17, 1880] this point in his description in the Bot. Mag., and it was for the further investigation of the case that I raised a plant in my garden. The flowers grow on long peduncles, which generally have a horizontal position, projecting some five or six inches from the mass of the foliage. When the calyx opens, the filaments as well as the style are irregularly twisted; but in about two or three days all become straight. The style hangs obliquely downwards; the filaments all bend sideways, the bend being inside the tube of the corolla, a little over the hairs at their base. There is often a distance of 15 centimetres between the anthers of either side. About 5 or 6 o'clock p.m. the anthers burst, and soon after the style rises and assumes a central position, so that there is a distance of about Io centimetres between the stigmata and any of the anthers. Only then is nectar being secreted by the glandular disk round the base of the ovary, but so copiously that by means of a small pipette I obtained from each flower a mean quantity of 014 cubic centimetres. This nectar is completely transparent, very sweet, and slightly mucila- ginous. It contained a kind of gum which is precipitated by absolute alcohol. Zhe nectar appears therefore when the anthers have done their work; even an hour before their rupture no trace of it is to be found. The nectar- cavity in the tube of the corolla is completely shut up by the numerous spreading hairs at the base of the filaments, so that an outflow is impossible. The grains of pollen are very large (o'2 millim. in diameter) and of the same structure as in Cod@a scandens. They are covered by a glutinous layer, and are heavier than water. Several weeks passed at first before I witnessed the manner of fertilisation, The stigmata were every morning carefully examined, but no pollen could be discovered on them. The filaments twisted back again and got some- what frizzled, after one single night’s expansion. About noon the corolla drops off, separating from close to the glandular ring, and then slipping down over the style, which, by this time, is again ina relaxed hanging position. There is always some nectar in the tube of the corolla after its separation, but none remains in the calyx round the ovary, nor does its secretion continue. These facts show clearly that the fertilisation must take place in the same night after the bursting of the anthers, and it was but natural to suppose that it was effected by nocturnal moths. It would appear, furthermore, that ¢he nectar ts not of any direct advantage to the plant, as Mr. G. Bonnier emphatically affirms (Azmales des Sci. Nat. Got., sér. vi. vol. viii. p. 206), because of its being pro- duced and lost in all flowers, fertilised or not, in the same way. As soon as the number of flowers increased (on some evenings twenty to twenty-five had their anthers opened), I found every morning most of them with pollen on the stigmata, and keeping a close watch, I discovered that the plant was visited by several large Sphingide belong- ing to the genera Chaerocampa, Diludia,and Aniphonyx. I observed altogether four visits of an Amphonyx, three of a Chaerocampa, and one of a Diludia. All of them proceeded in the same manner. Holding the body close over the style, they dipped their spiral tongues into the tube of the corolla, beating all the while the anthers so violently with the tips of the fore-wings that they dangled about with great velocity in every direction. The grains of pollen being covered by a sticky substance, many of them adhered to the wings. I have caught an Amphonyx which, after having visited six flowers consecutively, had the tips of the fore-wings almost yellow with pollen. When leaving a flower for another one, some of this pollen is even lost on the foliage, but by the time the insect takes its central position before the flower the stigmata are likewise touched by the wings, and thus some pollen is left on them. Some flowers remain without being fer- tilised, especially in places where the moths cannot reach NATURE 149 them easily. All flowers fertilised in this manner set fruit very soon ; but no flower gave a fruit without having its stigmata pollenised by crossing. Self-fertilisation is therefore excluded, and this is further proved by the following experiments :—Twelve flowers were artificially fertilised by their own pollen and afterwards protected by muslin bags; only in one case was a fruit obtained; but I am not quite sure whether there did not come some foreign pollen on the stigmata of this flower. Cross-fertilisation was likewise tried in twelve flowers, nine being experimented on in the same even- ing after the opening of the anthers, and three the next morning. All the former are now with fruit ; the latter remained sterile. This fact shows how very short is the period of possible fertilisation. Flowers visited by nocturnal moths are as a rule either large and of white colour, or have a strong smell; but in our Coéea the former is certainly not the case, and my olfactory nerves at least cannot discover any smell. But it is well known that insects, especially Lepidoptera, are in this respect of a really wonderful keenness, which enables them to track a scent absolutely imperceptible to man. As I shall have a considerable crop of Cobza-seeds, I can offer some to any botanists who should wish to grow the plant. A. ERNST Caracas, April 4 P.S.—As soon as.the corolla has fallen off, the peduncle withdraws slowly amongst the dense foliage, where the fruit develops, protected from all kinds of injury. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES IN LEE CLERICIEY = Part Ill.—TZwzbe-Potential; Potential at a Constant Distance and Various Pressures; Nature aud Phe- nomena of the Electric Arc. JW EBS De La Rue and Miller, in the third part of their researches on the electric discharge, commence by describing a series of experiments to determine the potential necessary to produce a discharge in a tube, ex- hausted gradually more and more while using a constant number of cells in all the experiments. In consequence of the life of the battery becoming so much exhausted by the method employed the experiments were confined to one gaseous medium, namely, hydrogen. Since the completion, however, of the measurements described in the paper the authors have found two other more convenient methods for determining the tube-potential, which do not exhaust the battery injuriously ; these are described in an appendix. The tube, 162, employed was 33 inches long and 2 inches in diameter, the distance between the ring and straight wire terminals being 29°75 inches; the battery consisted of 11,000 cells. The discharge took place when the pressure was reduced to 35°5mm., 46,710 M (millionths of an atmosphere), and the exhaustion was afterwards continued gradually until it fell to o70065 mm., 8°6 y. In commencing each set of experiments the deflection of a tangent-galvanometer was observed when ‘the battery was short-circuited. By a table previously calculated the value of the deflection in ohms of resistance per cell could be read off; this, multiplied by 11,000, gave the total resistance of the battery ; the tube was then connected with the terminals and the galvanometer again observed ; this gave a less deflection and indicated a greater resist- ance, which, multiplied by 11,000, gave the total resist- ance of the tube and battery : by subtracting the resistance of the battery the resistance of the tube was ascertained. Calling the total resistance R, the tube resistance 7, the 7 X 11,000 a tube-potential V, V = The tube-potential re- quisite to produce a discharge, with a pressure of 46,710 M, was found to be 10,250 cells; this gradually fell until x “Experimental Researches on the Electric Discharge with the Chloride of Silver Battery,’” by Warren De La Rue, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., and | Hugo W. Miller, Ph.D., F.R.S. (P/id. Trans., vol. clxxi. p. 65). 15) a pressure of 0°642 mm., 1,082 M, was reached, the tube- | rose, and, at 8°6 M, it required a potential of 8,937 cells potential being then only 430 cells, after which it rapidly | to produce a discharge. From the experiments described 0001} — >> G00Sf—— 0008->—-——}-— —— ooosi}—— Dia in a previous paper it was found that, in another tube, it | char 3 M, and that, at 18 M, this potential was required the full potential of 11,000 cells to produce a dis- | insu The obstruction to the discharge in tube Dracram II. A—B represents an assumed mean distance of the molecules at a pressur 5 milliont fan atmosphere. A’ to 10, A’ to 20, correspon distances at pressures ), 40960 millionths. reat at 86M as at 28,553 pressure, and ells in each case The diagram (No. I.) laid down from the results when the ring was made positive, shows the curve of the obser- Fune 17, 1880] vations as actually obtained without being smoothed. The figure is a reduction to s& of the original; the ab- scisse are as the cube-roots of the various pressures in millionths of an atmosphere, and show relatively the number of molecules in a given linear space; the ordi- nates are as the number of cells. The observations were again plotted down as in Diagram No. II., making the abscissz in the inverse ratio of the cube-roots of the various pressures in millionths, so as to represent relatively the mean distance of the molecules at the various pressures in millionths of an atmosphere ; this has the effect of extending the scale for decreasing pressures beyond the minimum resistance of the tube, and of compressing it on the opposite side for increasing pressures. : The following tables show the number of cells necessary to produce a discharge for various pressures in millionths of an atmosphere :— V. |] | Vv. Pressure. ; || Pressure. | nerease per | ss Increase per Ga: 1,0co M, Jette es M. M cells. M | cells. 845 430 || 23,000 | 8,499 | | 140 1,000 1,000 || 24,coo | 8,630 i| | 170 1,500 1,780 1,190 25,000 8,8co 169 2,000 2,190 | 25,000 8,960 599 || 140 3,000 2,780 ! 27,000 | 9,1<0 | 475 || 150 4,000 | 3,230 28,020 9,250 430 140 5,000 3,660 29,000 | 9.390 370 || | 140 6,000 4,030 | 39,000 9.539 350 120 7,090 4,380 370 31,000 9.659 8,000 4,750 | | | 120 i 320 32,c02 9,779 9,000 5,070 | TL, ee 310 335020 9,880 10,000 3300 -| | 109 330 || 34,0c0 9,989 9) 11,000 5,710 | | 35,000 | 10,070 | 320 | So 12,000 6,030 | 36,0007 | 10,159 | } 320 || 80 13,000 | 6,350 37,0C0 «10,230 280 70 14,000 6,639 38,000 10, 300 | 270 ||| 69 15,000 6,900 | 39,0c0 | 10,360 | 260 || 60 16,0co | 7,1Go | 40,000 10,420 240 |} 55 17,000 7,420 | 230 41,000 | 19,475 18,000 7,630 45 | 210 .|; 42;c00 | 10,520 es, 72 19,000 | 7,840 | 30 | | 189 43,000 10,559 | 20,000 8,003 | | 30 180 || 44,009 10,580 1 to 21,000 8,180 45,050 | 10,590. | 160 || | 10 22,000 8,340 46,0c0 10,600 | 159 ° 23,c00 8,490 | 47,0CO 10,6co | NATURE iS! Va V. Ee SSUTEs cvearte Pressure | Decrease Cells. per 1o M Cells. per 10 M increase. | increase. (SEs. ey | M cells Mw | cells. 8 9,600 go 5,280 TI, 400 135 9 8,469 100'- | 5,145 9,6c0 o4°5 To 7,500 200-- |- 4,200 420 60 29 | 7,0S0 300 3,600 | 358 48 30 6,722 409 3,120 332 45 49 | 6399 500 2,670 300 39 59 6,0G0 600 2,280 270 45 69 | 5,520 700 1,830 195 | 5t 70 5,625 800 1,320 | 180 | J tye) 5 445 gso | 16 165 | 90 5,280 1,000 1,000 An experiment was made in order to ascertain whether there was either any condensation or dilatation of the gas in contiguity with the terminals before the actual passage of the discharge. In order to do this an apparatus was constructed, as shown in Fig. 1. It consists of a glass cylinder, 4°35 inside diameter, the depth of which is accurately the same in every part, 1°6inch, so as to insure the parallelism of two glass disks which close its ends. Its cubical contents exclusive of the ter- minals was found to be 385 cub. centims. These are held in contact with the ends of the cylinder by means of screw-clamps made of ebonite, and tke whole apparatus is supported on a tripod ebonite stand, which is fastened to a square wooden foot. Attached parallel to the top and bottom glass disks, by means of flanged-screw rods, are two brass disks with rounded edges, 31 inches in diameter ; these are maintained at a distanze of o'13 inch, 33 mm. at which the discharge of 11,000 cells would only just take place. The ends which project through the glass disks are furnished with binding-screws for attaching wires from the battery. On the side of the cylinder is a tubulure in which is fitted a gauge containing strong sulphuric acid, so as to dry the inside of the apparatus, and to indicate whether any condensation or dilatation of the gas contained in the cylinder occurs on connecting the metallic disks with the battery by means. of the contact-key, The edges of the cylinder were rubbed with grease, and care was taken to prove that the apparatus was perfectly tight by causing the fluid in the limb of the gauge to stand for some time higher than thatin the bulb. When connection was made with a battery of 9,800 cells, there was not the slightest indication of any alteration of volume of the contained air, so that there was neither condensation about the disks which would have caused a contraction, nor repul- | sion from the disks which would have caused an expan- sion of volume. The fluid in the stem was observed with a lens, but not the slightest motion of it took place. The same result was noti-ed even when water was substituted for sulphuric acid. So far, then, as this apparatus would indicate it, the result is entirely negative. Potential necessary to produce a discharge between disks 1°5 inch diameter at a constant distance and at various pressures The experiments were made by placing the micro- 152 NATURE [ Fune 17, 1880 meter-discharger, shown in Fig. 2, under the bell-jar of an air pump to which was attached a gauge about 36 inches long in order to indicate the pressure of the con- tained gas. In the first instance the disks were adjusted to the striking-distance at atmospheric pressure for the battery of 11,000 cells. Afterwards a less number of cells was connected with the disks and the bell-jar gradually exhausted until the discharge occurred ; the height of the mercury in the gauge was then read off. Then a less and less number of cells was connected with the disks and the operation was repeated. ; In air the discharge took place at ordinary atmospheric pressure with 11,000 cells when the disks were 0°13 inch, 3°3 mm. distant, and with 600 cells at an average pressure of 10 mm. In hydrogen it took place at atmospheric pressure with 11,000 cells when the disks were 0°22 inch, 5°59 mm. distant ; and with 600 cells at an average of 14 mm. pressure, AT TRUM om 2 ———— i) D pee HHT Fig. For air ono con 079665 3, bydrogen x 600 I‘O170 s, carbonicacid ... 56 1‘0690 The striking distances at atmospheric pressure spherical surfaces 3 inches radius and 1°5 inch diameter, with various potentials, as given in Part I. page 68, curve VIII. and at page 118, also those for nearly flat surfaces in pages 73 and 118, were reduced to millimetres distance and plotted down in the same way, but not on precisely the same scale as the preceding curves for constant distance and various pressures. Hyperbolic curves were also found which intersected the experimental curves in two points. It was seen in the case of spherical surfaces, the result having been obtained as the average of a great number of experiments, that the hyperbola coincided closely with the observations, while for plane surfaces, for which only a few experiments were made, the coincidences were not quite so perfect. Nevertheless, it would appear that the for In carbonic acid, at atmospheric pressure with 11,000 cells, when the disks were 0122 inch, 3°096 mm. distant; and with 600 cells at an average pressure of 5°2 mm. The numbers obtained for air, hydrogen, and carbonic acid respectively were plotted down on millimetre scale paper, the abscissa being 1 mm. = 2,500 M, the ordi- nates I mm. = 25 cells, and curves drawn to give a mean of the several observations. These appeared to resemble hyperbolic curves so closely that true hyperbolic curves were found partly by a geometric construction, partly by computation, which would intersect the mean experimental curves in two points. The results of experiment were again laid down on these new curves, and it was found that they did not differ more from them than they did from each other. The ratio of the transverse axis (pressure) to the conjugate axis (potential) of the hyperbolas set out on the above-mentioned scale was— law of the hyperbola holds equally well for a constant pressure and varying distance as it does for a constant distance and varying pressure; the obstacle in the way of a discharge being up to a certain point as the number of molecules intervening between the terminals." In the two cases of spherical and plane surfaces the ratio between the transverse (distance) and conjugate (potential) axes of the respective hyperbolas was— 1240 1'285 For spherical surfaces », disks au Uc er home With the data already published in Part I., the authors have laid down a fresh curve for the striking distance * Dr. Alexander Macfarlane has published in the Tvansactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1878, vol. xxvii., an elaborate and careful research of the ‘‘ Disruptive Discharge of Electricity’’ in air and different gases, and between terminals of various forms. An abstract of this paper will be found in Narurg, vol. xix. pp. 184, 185. Dr. Macfarlane used a Holtz machine and employed higher potentials than those we used : he fond that the results for the discharge between two disks 4 inches in diameter at various distances up to 1’2 centims. and with various pressures were satis- factorily represented by the hyperbola. Sune 17, 1880} between flat disks on a scale of 1o centims. for a milli- metre and 5 centims. to 1,000 cells. From the curve thus laid down the following numbers were deduced :— | Intensity of force. Striking Difference of EMF in volts.) distance in | potential per centimetres. | centimetre. Electro- Electro- magnetic. static. volts. 1,000 | 070205 48,770 4°88 x 10!” 163 2,000 | 070430 46,5c0 q-65- | 155 3,000 | 070660 45,450 | 455 » | 152 4,000 O°0914 43,779 4°38 146 5,000 o*1176 42,510 4°25 55 142 6,000 01473 40,740 4°7 5 136 7,000 o*1800 38,890 ASO) 55 130 8,000 0°2146 37,280 Bee 124 9,000 0°2495 36,070 BrOLes 5 120 10,000 0°2863 34,920 SIA0 ss 116 11,000 0°3245 33,900 3°39» 113 IT, 309 0°3378 33,469 | 3°35 112 The remainder of the paper is chiefly occupied with the study of the phenomena of the electric arc under various conditions of distance, pressure, and potential; the results obtained support the view that the arc and the stratified discharge are merely modifications of the same phenomenon. (To be continued.) A FOURTH STATE OF MATTER! ie introducing the discussion on Mr. Spottiswoode and Mr. Moulton’s paper on the “Sensitive State of Vacuum Discharges,’ at the meeting of the Royal Society on April 15, Dr. De La Rue, who occupied the chair, good-naturedly challenged me to substantiate my state- ment that there is such a thing as a fourth or ultra-gaseous state of matter. I had no time then to enter fully into the subject; nor was I prepared, on the spur of the moment, to marshal all the facts and reasons which have led me to this con- clusion. But as I find that many other scientific men besides Dr. De La Rue are in doubt as to whether matter has been shown to exist in a state beyond that of gas, I will now endeavour to substantiate my position. I will commence by explaining what seems to me to be the constitution of matter in its three states of solid liquid, and gas. I. First as to Solids :—These are composed of discon- tinuous molecules, separated from each other by a space which is relatively large—possibly enormous—in com- parison with the diameter of the central nucleus we call molecule. These molecules, themselves built up of a/onis, are governed by certain forces. Two of these forces I will here refer to—attraction and motion. Attraction when exerted at sensible distances is known as gvavita- tion, but when the distances are molecular it is called adhesion and cohesion. Attraction appears to be inde- pendent of absolute temperature; it increases as the distance between the molecules diminishes; and were there no other counteracting force the result would be a mass of molecules in actual contact, with no molecular movement whatever—a state of things beyond our con- ception—a state, too, which would probably result in the creation of something that, according to our present views, would not be matter. This force of cohesion is counterbalanced by the move- ments of the individual molecules themselves, movements phe On a Fourth State of Matter,’’ in a letter to the Secret f - Society. By W. Crookes, F.R.S. , ecretary of the Royal NATURE a eee eee 153 varying directly with the temperature, increasing and diminishing in amplitude as the temperature rises and falls. The molecules in solids do not travel from one part to another, but possess adhesion and retain fixity of position about their centres of oscillation. Matter, as we know it, has so high an absolute temperature that the movements of the molecules are large in comparison with their diameter, for the mass must be able to bear a reduction of temperature of nearly 300° C. before the amplitude of the molecular excursions would vanish. The state of solidity, therefore—the state which we are in the habit of considering par excellence as that of matter —is merely the effect on our senses of the motion of the discrete molecules among themselves. Solids exist of all consistences, from the hardest metal, the most elastic crystal, down to thinnest jelly. A perfect solid would have no viscosity, z.e., when rendered discon- tinuous or divided by the forcible passage of a harder solid, it would not. close up behind and again become continuous. In solid bodies the cohesion varies according to some unknown factor which we call chemical constitution ; hence each kind of solid matter requires raising to a dif- ferent temperature before the oscillating molecules lose their fixed position with reference to one another. At this point, varying in different bodies through a very wide range of temperature, the solid becomes liquid. II. In liquids the force of cohesion is very much re- duced, and the adhesion or the fixity of position of the centres of oscillation of the molecules is destroyed. When artificially heated, the inter-molecular movements increase in proportion as the temperature rises, until at last cohe- sion is broken down, and the molecules fly off into space with enormous velocities. Liquids possess the property of viscosity—that is to say, they offer a certain opposition to the passage of solid bodies; at the same time they cannot permanently resist such opposition, however slight, if continuously applied. Liquids vary in consistency from the hard, brittle, appa- rently solid pitch to the lightest and most ethereal liquid capable of existing at any particular temperature. The state of liquidity, therefore, is due to inter-molecu- lar motions of a larger and more tumultuous character than those which characterise the solid state. III. In gases the molecules fly about in every conceiv- able direction, with constant collisions and enormous and constantly varying velocities, and their mean free path is sufficiently great to release them from the force of adhe- sion. Being free to move, the molecules exert pressure in all directions, and were it not for gravitation they would fly off into space. The gaseous state remains so long as the collisions continue to be almost infinite in number, and of inconceivable irregularity. The state of gaseity, therefore, is pre-eminently a state dependent on Collisions. A given space contains millions of millions of molecules in rapid movement in all directions, each mole- cule having millions of encounters in a second. In such a case the length of the mean free path of the molecules is exceedingly small compared with the dimensions of the containing vessel, and the properties which constitute the ordinary gaseous state of matter, which depend upon constant collisions, are observed. What, then, are these molecules? Take a single lone molecule in space. Is it solid, liquid, or gas? Solid it cannot be, because the idea of solidity involves certain properties which are absent in the isolated molecule. In fact, an isolated molecule is an inconceivable entity, whether we try, like Newton, to visualise it as a little hard spherical body, or, with Boscovich and Faraday, to regard it as a centre of force, or accept Sir William Thomson’s vortex atom. But if the individual molecule is not solid, 4 fortiorz it cannot be regarded as a liquid or gas, for these states are even more due to inter-molecular Collisions than is the solid state. The individual mole- 154 cules, therefore, must be classed by themselves in a distinct state or category. The same reasoning applies to two or to any number of contiguous molecules, provided their motion is arrested or controlled, so that no collisions occur between them; and even supposing this aggregation of isolated non- colliding molecules to be bodily transferred from one part of space to another, that kind of movement would not thereby cause this molecular collocation to assume the properties of gas; a molecular wind may still be supposed to consist of isolated molecules, in the same way as the discharge from a mitrailleuse consists of isolated bullets. Matter in the fourth state is the ultimate result of gaseous expansion. By great rarefaction the free path of the molecules is made so long that the hits in a given time may be disregarded in comparison to the misses, in which case the average molecule is allowed to obey its own motions or laws without interference; and if the mean free path is comparable to the dimensions of the containing vessel, the properties which constitute gaseity are reduced to a minimum, and the matter then becomes exalted to an ultra-gaseous state. But the same condition of things will be produced if by any means we can take a portion of gas, and by some extraneous force infuse order into the apparently dis- orderly jostling of the molecules in every direction, by coercing them into a methodical rectilinear movement. This I have shown to be the case in the phenomena which cause the movements of the radiometer, and I have ren- dered such motion visible in my later researches on the negative discharge in vacuum tubes. In the one case the heated lamp-black and in the other the electrically excited negative pole supplies the force majeure which entirely or partially changes into a rectilinear motion the irregular vibration in all directions ; and according to the extent to which this onward movement has replaced the irregular motions which constitute the essence of the gaseous con- dition, to that extent do I consider that the molecules have assumed the condition of radiant matter. Between the third and the fourth states there is no sharp line of demarcation, any more than there is between the solid and liquid states, or the liquid and gaseous states ; they each merge insensibly one into the other. In the fourth state properties of matter which exist even in the third state are shown dvect/y, whereas in the state of gas they are only shown zxdirect/y, by viscosity and so forth. The ordinary laws of gases are a simplification of the effects arising from the properties of matter in the fourth state ; such a simplification is only permissible when the mean length of path is small compared with the dimen- sions of the vessel. For simplicity’s sake we make ab- straction of the individual molecules, and feign to our imagination continuous matter of which the fundamental properties—such as pressure varying as the density, and so forth—are ascertained by experiment. A gas is nothing more than an assemblage of molecules contemplated from a simplified point of view. When we deal with pheno- mena in which we are obliged to contemplate the mole- cules individually, we must not speak of the assemblage as gas. These considerations lead to another and curious specu- lation. The molecule—intangible, invisible, and hard to be conceived—is the only true wza¢fev, and that which we call matter is nothing more than the effect upon our senses of the movements of molecules, or, as John Stuart Mill expresses it, “a permanent possibility of sensation.” The space covered by the motion of molecules has no more right to be called matter than the air traversed by a rifle bullet can be called lead. From this point of view, then, matter is but a mode of motion; at the absolute zero of temperature the inter-molecular movement would stop, and although something retaining the properties of inertia and weight would remain, acer, as we know it, would cease to exist. NATURE [ Fune 17, 1880 NOTES THE Council of the Society of Arts have awarded the Albert Medal of the Society of the present year to James Prescott Joule, LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., “for haying established, after most laborious research, the true relation between heat, electri- city, and mechanical work, thus affording to the engineer a sure guide in the application of science and industrial pursuits.” The medal was delivered to Dr. Joule by the Prince of Wales on Tuesday, when Sir William Thomson received the medal awarded him by the Society in 1878. THE Paris Academy of Sciences has awarded the Monthyon Prize to M. Camille Flammarion for his new work entitled ‘*Astronomie Populaire.” It is a large 4to volume, with mag- nificent engravings, which was sold in 100 penny parts. The sale in the first year of publication reached 40,000 copies. Ir is stated that M. Coggia, Astronomer to the Marseilles Observatory, will be appointed Director of the Algiers Obser- vatory, where no observations at all have been made since its creation in 1864 by Marshal Pelissier. THE University of Oxford has conferred the degree of D.C.L on Prof. Sylvester and Mr. Lister, the eminent surgeon, On Saturday, May 5, the local committee of the French Association for the Advancement of Science met at Rheims, where the next meeting is to be held in August. An exposition of local industry and archeology will be held. Arrangements have been made for excursions connected with the congress, the more notable of which will be to the Han Grottoes, which are situated in Belgium. Nothing has been arranged yet as to the lectures to be delivered, THE new Principal of the Royal Agricultural Collége, Ciren- cester, the Rev. J. B. McLellan, has started a scheme of con- gresses or conferences which may prove of considerable value to agriculture. On Friday, the 5th inst., a goodly number of old Cirencester students and professors, as well as local agriculturists, met in the College Hall to discuss important agricultural ques- tions, The morning session was occupied with the subject of cattle diseases ; the afternoon was devoted to agricultural stations and research, If the papers introducing the subjects were not of a very high order, it may at least be conceded that the discus- sions which followed brought out some sound information and advice. If such congresses as this at Cirencester help to draw public attention to the need for some new departure in modern and scientific agriculture, and if they stimulate those interested in farming to look to the Colleze as the central authority on a subject which that institution must learn to handle adequately, then we predict for them a substanial success. THE annual conference at the Society of Arts on the laws, administration and inspection with regard to public health was opened on Thursday under the presidency of Mr. Stansfeld, M.P. The committee had drawn up a programme of subjects for discussion, which were grouped under the following headings :— 1. Administrative Organisation: 2. Amendment of the Law: 3. Sanitary Inspection and Classification of Dwellings: 4: Further suggestions by Sanitary Authorities. In the discussion on Thursday the chairman, in opening the proceedings, pointed out the desirability of an ‘‘inquiry office” being established in connection with the Local Government Board, at which local authorities might obtain information based on experience. One great hope for the future was that the teaching of the laws of health to children was gradually spreading. The conference was resumed on Friday. In reference to the third heading, the following resolution was put to the meeting —“ That it is expedient that the Metrcpolitan Board of Works within the metropolis, and the County Board within each county, should Fune 17, 1880} NATURE 155 be empowered by the Legislature to make provision for the inspection and sanitary classification of dwellings, upon applica- tion being made by the owners thereof, and to grant certificates of healthworthiness in different categories, for terms of years, according to the perfection of sanitary equipment and fitness for habitation of such dwellings ; and to determine the scale of fees to be paid for such inspection during construction and repair, and also upon delivery to the applicant of the certificate of classification awarded to such dwelling. In the long discus- sion which followed it was clear that the sense of the conference was in favour of some change, but opinions were much divided as to how inspection and certificates should be brought to bear, Among other arguments it was urged that, as Lloyd’s Association inspected the construction of ships and granted certificates, it would be only an extension of a recognised system to inspect and give certificates for houses. After a protracted discussion, the resolution was passed with some few alterations, An exhibition of sanitary appliances was open free to the public. The chief novelty was the new filtering medium adopted by the Admiralty and War Office named Carferal, on which Prof. De. Chaumont has recently reported so favourably. Mr. R. L, JAcK, the Government Geologist of Queensland, has been carrying out his survey operations under difficulties unknown to home geologists. While he and his party were pursuing their explorations in the north of York Peninsula they were attacked by a band of natives, Mr. Jack receiving a spear in the neck, which had to be cut out. Fortunately the wound, though troublesome, is not likely to be attended with any serious or permanent results. North of Temple Bay Mr. Jack came upon a hitherto unknown large river, which he has named the ‘‘ Macmillan.” THE Daily News gives some account of a recent lecture by Prof. Palmieri on earthquakes. Prof. Palmieri went on to say that earthquakes have no doubt shorter or longer periods of pre- paration. The earth is never perfectly quiet for some time before and after a great shock, but gradually sinks into repose or in- creases in agitation. The Professor believes that, by registering the slight preliminary tremblings and noticing their increase or decrease it would be possible to forestall an earthquake about three days in advance, just as tempests are now foretold. If a connected system of seismographic stations were to be organised —the different stations communicating with each other by tele- graph—it would be quite possible, in most cases, to issue warn- ings to the threatened district in time. The seismographic sta- tions should be erected by the different Governments in quiet places where the ground was not liable to be shaken by heavy railway trains. THE illumination of the park of the Industrial Exhibition of Melun with Wild candles has been considered successful, and will be continued every night during the whole of the summer, It is said that the proprietors of the Wild patent will take an injunc- tion against M. Jamin for an infringement of their patent, alleging that his directing frame is not an independent invention. M. W. DE FONVIELLE has discovered that the intermittent current of the frame of his electro-magnetic gyroscope can be made continuous if the magnet is replaced by an electro-magnet worked by an interrupter. THE French Government has taken an important step in the education of the people; a course of teaching in agriculture has been ordered to be introduced into every primary school in the country. Messrs. MACMILLAN AND Co. have published a sixth edition of the late Prof. George Wilson’s well-known little book, “ The Five Gateways of Knowledge.” CHEMISTs engaged in the analysis of alcoholic liquids will be able shortly to possess an elaborate and complete series of tables. of spirit gravities, prepared by Dr. Thos. Stevenson, of Guy’s, and to be published in handy book size by Mr. Van Voorst. Mr. G. AmsBrosE Pocson, British Vice-Consul at Hamburg, writes to the Zzes from that place, under date June 12, as to «St. Elmo’s Fire” :—A series of thunderstorms, he states, has lately passed over Hamburg. During the 11th inst. the air was densely charged with electricity; the storm broke about 10.15 p.m., lasting until 11 p.m., during which time, at very short intervals, from my station, about 1,200 yards distance from the copper-roofed tower of the church known as St. Jacobi, about 300 feet high, I saw this phenomenon apparently resting about 30 feet from the summit of the steeple. The colour was a reddish purple, and reminded one somewhat of burning potassium. From repeated comparisons with other objects during the lightning flashes, I judged these fire-balls (two were several times visible) to be from 4 feet to 6 feet indiameter. The longest duration that I timed was 42 seconds. This passing away of such dense masses of electricity by induction was visible some twenty times, but whether performed silently I had no means of ascertaining. From the apparent size ‘of flame and the non- lighting quality of the colour, I estimated it as equal to 10,coo candles. The colour was doubtless the effect of the glare of the copper roof, Durinc 1881 no less than five exhibitions will be held at Frankfort-on-the-Main, viz., a patent exhibition, a horticultural, a balneological, an industrial, and a tanner’s and furrier’s exhi- bition. A MEETING of the members of the Aéronautical Society of Great Britain will be held at the Society of Arts, Adelphi, on Monday, June 21, for the reading and discussion of papers, and generally for the advancement of the Society’s interests. The chair will be taken precisely at 8 p.m, WE are requested to make the following announcement with regard to the Sunday Art Exhibitions of the Sunday Society :— On Sunday, June 20, the first exhibition at the Hanover Gallery, including Hans Makart’s great picture of the Entry of Charles V. into Antwerp, will be open to the members of the Society, and on the two following Sundays, June 27 and July 4, the public will be admitted by means of free tickets, which will be issued to those who apply by letter, sending a stamped and addressed envelope to the Honorary Secretary, 6, Dudley Place, W. On each Sunday the Gallery will be opened from 3 till 9 p.m. The Grosvenor Gallery will be opened to the members of the Society on Sunday, July 25, and to the public on Sunday, August I, by tickets to be had on written application as above, On Saturday the Geologists’ Association and the West Londoz Scientific Association make a combined excursion to Croydon and Riddlesdown, THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past fortnight include a White-throated Capuchin (Cebus hypo- Jeucus) from Central America, presented by Miss Baker ; a Toque Monkey (Macacus pileatus) from Ceylon, presented by Mr. H. P. Brenan; a Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) from Asia, presented by Mr. Chas. Overbeck ; a Pig-tailed Monkey (Macacus nemestrinus) from Java, presented by Mr. W. C. Lawes; a Macaque Monkey (Macacus cynomolgus) from India, presented by Mr. T. H. Adey; a Black-eared Marmoset (Hafale fenicillatay from South-East Brazil, presented by Mr. G. Mantell; three Slender Loris (Zoris gracilis) from Ceylon, presented by Lord Lilford, F.Z.S.; a Dingo Dog (Canis dingo) from Australia, presented by Lord Ernest Gordon; a White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) from North Africa, presented by Mr. J. Simonds ; a Musky Lorikeet (Z7ichoglossus concinnus) fcom Au tralia, pre- 156 NATURE (Fune 17, 18%0 sented by Mr. A. H. Jamrach ; a Horsfield’s Tortoise ( Zestudo horsfeldi) from Afghanistan, presented by Capt. Cotton; two Smooth Snakes (Coronella /evis), British, presented respectively by Mr. W. Penny and Mr. Thos. J. Mann; two Yellow-headed Troupials (Xanthocephalus icterocephalus) from Mexico, presented by Mr. W. A. Conklin ; a Jaguar (e/is onca) from Bolivia, two Common Boas (ea constrictor) from Savanilla, deposited ; a Ring-tailed Lemur (Zev catia) from Madagascar, a Ludio Monkey (Cercopithecus ludio), a Mona Monkey (Cercopithecus gona), two Rus’s Weaver Birds (Quelea russi), two Cinereous Waxbills (Zstrelda corulescens), two Crimson-eared Waxbills (Estrelda phanicotis) from West Africa, a Black-footed Penguin (Spheniscus demersus), a Levaillant’s Parrot (Pawocephalus robustus), from South Africa, a Brahminy Kite (Halastur indus) from South Asia, a Brown Crane (Gras canadensis) from North America, a Double-crested Pigeon (Zopholamus antarcticus) from North Australia, two Swift Parrikeets (Zathamus discolor) from Tasmania, two Victoria Crowned Pigeons (Goura victorig) from the Island of Jobie, four Bengal Weaver Birds (Ploceus ben- galensis) from India, a Red Lory (Zos rubra), an Ornamental Lorikeet (Z7ichoglossus ornatus) from Moluccas, a White-billed Parrakeet (Zanygnathus albirostris) from Celebes, a Noble Macaw (Ara nobilis) from Brazil, two Yellow-fronted Amazons (Chrysotis ochrocephala) from Panama, a White headed Parrot (Pionzs senilis) from Mexico, two Black-headed Conures (Covwrus nanday) from Paraguay, two Silky Marmosets (A@das vosalia) from South-East Brazil, a Leucoryx Antelope (Oryx leucoryx) from North Africa, a Common Otter (Letra vulgaris), British, three Chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera) from Chili, an Upland Goose (Bernicla magellanica) from the Falkland Islands, three Ashy-headed Geese (Bernicla poliocephala) from South America, purchased ; an Anoa (Azoa depressicornis) from Celebes, received in exchange; an Axis Deer (Cervus axis), a Japanese Deer (Cervus sika), a Geoffroy’s Dove (Feristera geoffroii), 2 Wonga- wonga Pigeon (Leucosarcia picata), a Turquoisine Parrakeet {Zuphema pulchella), bred in the Gardens. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN Faye’s Comet.—Dr. Axel-Moéller commences his ephemeris | of Faye’s comet for the present year on July 1, when its distance from the earth will be 2°005, and that from the sun 2°53; the perihelion passage will not take place till January 22, 1881. The intensity of light corresponding to the comet’s distances on July 1 is 0°039; in 1844 it was observed with sensibly the same intensity, the value for the last observation with the 15-inch refractor at Pulkowa being 0'035. The comet attains its greatest brightness in the middle of October, when the value corresponds to that at the last observation in 1858, with the 9°6-inch refractor at Berlin on October 16, At discovery by M. Faye in 1843 the theoretical intensity of light was 0°54, which has not been approached at any of the subsequent returns, The following positions are taken from Dr, Axel-MOller’s ephemeris, which is calculated for Berlin midnight, or about 11h. G.M.T, :— Right Declina- Right Declina- Ascension. tion. | Ascension, tion. h. m. s. 4 | h. m. s. ne, uly 1s. 23 95 25 ..6-+ 7 $325 | July r7.... 23°73 ty eee aorea's Ei odivaeyls Konet sams 8 ay TQ’... :23503 57 ieee OMg Ss Gy co 2} Pong eee Al ... 23 14 32...1 9 54'6 Gf Seen} Med aced ete SYS 23)... 23) 15 02's LomoO Ope 23y OMS queso 757, 25.... 23 15 27) ee etOple;o DI 23 LOS On conn 27 10223) U5 47 oss eEORLO. 7 9): 2ONLL 44. es OU L2OL 29... 23 16 2.2. 1012676 15 ... 23 12 33)...+9 23°6 31... 23 16 12... +10 32°S The comet will arrive at its least distance from the earth (1°09) on October 3. So far as can be foreseen without calculation of the perturbations the comet is not likely to exhibit a degree of brightness approaching that in the year of its discovery by M. Faye, until 1903. While Faye’s comet is followed up by Dr. Axel-M@ller in the same admirable manner as for many years past, calculations relating to other comets of short period are in the hands of the | times may be nearly a half-hour too late. | here will devote attention to it. following astronomers according to the last Report of the Astrao- nomisches Gesellschaft :—Dr. Backlund of the Imperial Obser- vatory, Pulkowa, proceeds with the perturbations of Encke’s comet, taking up the work where it was left by the late Dr. v. Asten ; Brorsen’s comet is undertaken by Prof. R. Schulze of Dobeln; D’Arrest’s by M. Leveau of Paris; Winnecke’s by Prof. Oppolzer of Vienna; Tempel’s comet of 1867 by M. Gautier of Geneva; Tempel’s second comet (1871), by M. Schulhof of Paris; and Tuttle’s comet, due in the year 1885, by Mr. Ormond Stone of Cincinnati. The exceptional case of Biela’s comet is not provided for. THE GREAT SOUTHERN COMET or 1880.—Dr. M. W. Meyer, of Geneva, assuming for the period of revolution of this comet the interval between the perihelion passage of the great comet of 1843 and that of the comet in 1880, corresponding to a semi-axis major of 11°0869, has adapted the other elements of the orbit thereto by means of Dr. B. A. Gould’s observations at Cordoba on February 6, 12, and 19, covering an interval which, so far as we know at present, is only one day Jess than the whole extent of accurate observation: the Cordoba observations of February 5 await the meridional observation of the comparison star, which is not found in our catalogues: it may be well deter- mined at one of the observatories of Southern Europe. Dr. Meyer's results are as follows :— Perihelion passage, 1880, January 27°44242 G.M.T. Longitude of perihelion 1.278 22 47 99 ascending node ...356 16 43 Inclination of the orbit atest Ob 2a Log, excentricity (=log. sine ) 9°9997682 or ¢=88° 7’ 41°55 Log. perihelion distance ..._ ...'7°7720095 Motion retrograde. The aphelion distance in this orbit is 22°1679 (the earth’s mean distance being taken as zity), and at aphelion the comet is distant from the orbit of Uranus 13°15. The nearest approach to the orbit of Jupiter, about 3°1, takes place when the true anomaly is about 176° 35’. The comet’s orbital velocity at perihelion is 338 miles in a second, and that at aphelion 477 feet in the same interval. Mean equinox, 1880°0 MINIMA OF ALGOL,—The following times of geocentric minima of Algol, observable in this country during the ensuing quarter, are deduced from the elements given by Prof. Schonfeld in his catalogue of 1875. Considerable perturbations of epoch appear to have taken place during the last five years, as we have previously noted in this column, and from the course of the errors of calculation it seems quite possible that the computed Systematic observa- tions of this variable are now much to be desired, and it may be hoped that one or more of the many zealous amateur-astronomers The perturbations to which we have alluded were particularly evident in 1$76, and the error of the calculated times attained a maximum in the following year, a mean of seven observations by Prof, Julius Schmidt at Athens showing that the computed epoch was too late by forty-eight minutes. The following epochs are directly comparable with observation :— h. m. { Ie ils July 16 ... 12 39°0 G.M.T. | Aug. 25 ... 12 47°9 G.M.T. TO Ponzi Sin ae 28 ... 9 30°4 Jaap AUS Ze nw OL Omnis | Sept, G4... 04 2707 esr Gy Rea SP any | U7 nee Dil LOZ ays PP res We OWA op | ZO. 18 VACOTess PHYSICAL NOTES ACCORDING to our contemporary Z’Z/ectricité, M. Exner of Vienna has discovered that a bismuth-antimony pair immersed in a gas incapable of acting chemically on either of these metals yields no current when one junction is heated. Also that if two bars of copper are soldered together to forma ‘ pair ” no current is produced when either junction is heated in air (as would be expected in a circuit of one metal), not even when both strips are exposed to the action of chlorine; but that if one strip only is exposed to chlorine gas and then one junction be warmed a thermo-electrie current is set up. According to Exner therefore, all so-called thermo-electric currents are due to chemical action. It would be easy for some of our ardent young physicists to put to the test this very remarkable announcement, and see whether Fune 17, 1880} NALTORE 157 it is Herr Exner, or all the authorities on thermo-electricity from Seebeck to Tait, on whom we are to rely for the facts. In a new capillary electrometer described by M. Debrun in the Yournal de Physique (May), the microscope is dispensed with, and the requisite sensibility obtained by inclining the tube, which is slightly conical. The capillary tube is bent into a somewhat zig-zag shape, the two turned-up ends opening into larger tubes, and with the mercury in these wires are connected. The support can be turned in a vertical plane, so as to give the middle part of the capillary tube any desired inclination. M. Crova commends, for photometric purposes (Yournal de Physique, May), M. Prazmowski’s polariser, which is a Nicol, with faces normal to the axis of the prism, the two halves of which are joined with linseed oil. It requires large pieces of spar, and the joining is long and difficult, but there are several advantages. Thus the layer of oil (unlike Canada balsam), causes hardly any loss of light; its index, 1°485, being nearly equal to the extraordinary index of spar, the polarised field is limited on one side, as in Nicols, where the total reflection of the ordinary ray commences, by a red band; but these cond limit, corresponding to total reflection of the extraordinary ray, is thrown out of the field of vision; the angular value of the polarised field is thus increased. The increase of field, the angular separation of the only coloured band, and the direction of its bases, normal to the axis, are qualities to be appreciated in certain cases. ACCORDING to some recent experiments of M. Goulier, the coefficient of expansion by heat of a metal is independent of any pressure put upon the metal, and is the same under a stress of traction as under one of compression, Mr. W. P. JOHNSON gives an account in the Philosophical Magazine of a new use of the telephone. It is sometimes neces- sary to grapple and lift a faulty cable, and if it lies in the water along with other cables of similar exterior make it has hitherto been impossible to decide, jwithout cutting it apart, on the identity of the grappled portion. To avoid the obvious evil of having to cut and splice the cable unnecessarily, it is now sug- gested to employ the telephone on an auxiliary parallel wire in which the induction may be sufficiently strong to enable the elec- tricians in charge to read the signals which may be sent into the cable, and so identify it. THE following pretty experiment, devised by Mr. R. H. Ridout, illustrates the surface tension of mercury. A shallow tray, six inches by three, is supported on three levelling screws, and inclined just so that the mercury does not flow over the lipped edge. If now a small quantity of the liquid be set flowing over the edge it will draw the rest of the liquid over with a siphon-like action. It is difficult, however, to get the surface so clean that no adherent trail should be left, marring the comple- tion of the experiment. THE expansion of glass by heat may be demonstrated as follows :—A glass tube of narrow bore and about eighteen inches long is bent round in the shape of a horse-shoe, so that the free ends are within a millimetre of one another. Between these ends a coin may be held, being nipped between the ends of the rod and held there by the grasp due to the elasticity of the glass. If now the owéer portion of the curved part be warmed, the ends open slightly and the coin drops out. This experiment is also due to the ingenuity of Mr. Ridout. THE phenomenon lately discovered by Hall of the action of a magnet in altering the path of a current of electricity in the conductor which carries it, has formed the starting-point for two investigations, which have appeared separately in the Wiener Anzxiger, by Boltzmann and von Ettingshausen respectively, in which they point out that this discovery may be applied to determine the absolute velocity of electricity in a conductor, M. LouGHINIn has published in the last fascicule of the Journal of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society (vol. xii., fasc. 4) a note on his important work on the heat which results from the burning of several alcohols. The substances experi- mented on are burnt in a jet of oxygen ina glass vessel which is placed in the water of a calorimeter. The figures are: For normal propylic alcohol, 481°6 calories for one molecule; iso- propylic alcohol, 479 calories ; isobutylic alcohol, 638°6 calories, GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES _ Mr. Cart Bock has lately returned to London after his journeys in Borneo, bringing with him a magnificent series of portraits of the native tribes of that island,—both Dyaks and forest people—taken in water colours. These, we understand, are to be reproduced, at the expense of the Dutch Government, by chromolithography, and will illustrate his report on the journey, which is to be read in the first instance before the Royal Geographical and Anthropological Society of Holland. Pending the publication of this report, Mr. Bock refrains, at the desire of the Dutch Government, from anticipating it in England even by a preliminary sketch, The varieties of type, the methods of adornment, the manner, and to some extent the religion of these distinct races, are all brought out in Mr. Bock’s faithful drawings taken from the life on the spot, which form, over and above the objects for which the journey was taken, a splendid contribution to ethnography, the publication of which will be looked forward to with interest; the greater perhaps if Mr. Bock were permitted to give some further slight outline than has already appeared in the pages of Nature. Mr. Bock has also made an extensive collection of the swords, lances, blowing tubes, and shields (some of the latter covered with human hair), which are used by the natives. He seems to have had the happy knack of making friends of the savages whom others have found murderers, and has brought himself back alive to receive the honour that is his due. THE current number of the Geographical Society’s Proceedings opens with the Rey. C. Maples’ very interesting paper on Masasi and the Royuma district between Lake Nyassa and the east coast of Africa, The Rey. C. T. Wilson’s and Mr. Felkin’s brief notes on Uganda and the journey through the Nile region are also published, and are followed by an account of that rare occurrence in Dominica, a volcanic eruption at the Grand Souffritre, which took place on January 4. The geographical notes include a list of latitudes in Central South Africa, Mr. I’. C. Selous’ explorations on the Zambesi, &c. (of which full accounts are to be published ina later number), and a journey in Damara-land and beyond the River Okavango. An allusion is also made to Mr. Whymper’s ascent of Cotopaxi, and to a proposed exploration of some of the unknown afiluents of the Purtis. Among the remaining notes is a long account of the country of the Mijjertain Somalis, and of recent exploration in Central Australia. Col. H. Yule furnishes an obituary notice of General Macleod, whose pioneer journey into the interior of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula in 1836-7 is, we fear, now almost forgotten. The map this month is that of the central portion of South Africa, illustrating Dr. Emil Holub’s journeys, and con- structed in part from his original drawings. Dr. Emit BEssELs, who was with Hall in the Polaris, hopes to undertake a new Arctic expedition in 1881 on funds sub- scribed in America. He will establish a station at the entrance of Jones Sound, where a scientific staff will be located, consisting of an astronomer, a physicist, a geologist, botanist, and zoologist. Intercourse will be kept up with the settlement of North Green- land by means of a yacht, as well as with the whalers. SicNor CrisTororo NEGRI, President of» the Italian Geo- graphical Society, and member of the Geographical Society of London, has just published an interesting pamphlet at Genoa, in which he warmly advocates the proposed Italian Antarctic expedition. He demonstrates the importance not only to science, but probably also to trade, of such an expedition. A special circumstance increases the desirability of this Italian Antarctic expedition. In 1882 the transit of Venus will again occur, but after that not again for a hundred years. The Italian expedi- tion, therefore, finding itself in 1882 at some point of the Antarctic circle, would be able to observe this phenomenon under favourable conditions. Signor Negri believes that the expedition might be made with a single vessel at no very extravagant cost, perhaps 600,000 to 700,000 Italian lire. It would spend two winters, returning to La Plata, if necessary, during that period, to re-provision and re-coal the ship. Ag the last meeting of the Russian Geographical Society the Secretary intimated that M. Potanin continues his exploration of North-Western Mongolia, The Society has just received from him a part of his collections, and expects soon to receive his detailed report. M. Tiaghin, who stays on Novaya Zemlya for the exploration of that island, has brought together a very good collection of plants, and has made interesting communications as to the geography of the island. As to new expeditions, the Society proposes to send M. Mereshkoysky to the Crimea for ethnographical and archzeological explorations, and M. Malakhoff to the Middle Ural Mountains for zoo-geographical investiga- 158 NATURE [Funz 17, 1838S tions. M. Maikoff presented a report of the Committee appointed to discuss the subject of a thorough historical and ethnographical exploration of Bulgaria. Col. Lebedeff presented a sketch of the orography of the Balkan peninsula, according to the last geodetical and topographical operations in Bulgaria by officers of the Russian General Staff. The orography of much of the Balkan peninsula has been pretty well studied, a complete trigonometrical report having been completed, and a relief-map on a large scale, like that of the Cauca=us, is now in preparation. A LIVELY controversy having arisen between the cantons of Geneva and Vaud as to the importance of the dam erected at Geneva with reference to the level of Lake Leman, the ¥ournal @e Genéve has published during the past month a series of papers by M. H. de Saussure on Lake Leman, the changes of its level, the destructive action of its waves, and generally on its physical conditions. These papers have a great scientific value. We notice also several papers on the same subject published by the Gazette de Lausanne in answer to M. de Saussure’s articles, WE notice an interesting note by MM. Polonsky and Meyer on that part of the eastern shore of the Caspian which is de- scribed as Tentiak-sor, and is a former lake now transformed into a series of lazoons separated by muddy spaces. Its origin is explained by M. Meyer by a falling of level of the Caspian. Prof. Lenz having made an incision in a rock at Baku in 1830, the subsequent measurements showed that the level stood—in 1837, 1°6 feet lower; in 1847, 0'7 feet higher ; in 1848, 1°3 foot; in 1852, 2°9 feet; in 1853, 2°5 feet; and in 1861, 3°9 feet lower than in 1837. This circumstance would be in complete accord with the general diminution of water in all Asiatic lakes, and. would perfectly explain a multitude of important physico-geographical pheaomena. Hert v. of Petermann’s Mittheilungen begins with an article by C. Marten, on the Inhabited Part of Chili South of the River Valdivia; Dr. Behm gives some collected information on the gold-fields of Wassa, on the Upper Ankobra, north from the Gold Coast ; Dr. Junker narrates his journey through the Libyan Desert to the Natron Lakes; and Herr Bernhard yon Struve writes on the history of trade-routes in East Siberia. The Erganzungheft No. 61 consists of a physico-geographical account of the Portuguese Mountain group, the Serra da Estrella, with special reference to its forestal conditions, by Herr J, Rivoli. In the June number Dr. A. Regel gives an interesting account of a visit he made Jast year to Turfan, in Central Asia. Dr. Emin-Bey describes his journey from Dufilé to Fatiko in Decem- ber, 1878, and January, 1879. Herr Lindemann gives some statistical information on the forests of Bavaria in connection with a map of the Bavarian Spessart. Herr E. R. Flegel gives a detailed narrative of his journey inthe Henry Venn in July and August last year, up the Binué, from Gandé to Djen. THE Yapin Mail states that development in the trade between Japan and Corea is confidently anticipated in consequence of the opening of the port of Gensan. The Japanese residents at Fusan, in the south of the Corean peninsula, are said already to exceed 14,000 in number, and we may therefore hope that we shall soon have more detailed information regarding the interior of the country than has hitherto been accessible. THE Melbourne correspondent of the Colonies and India states that Mr. White, of the Reed Beds, near Adelaide, has fitted out the schooner £/sea, and has left on an exploring cruise to New Guinea for the pu-pose of making natural history investigations, which are expected to occupy two years. In the introduction to his lately published report on the trade and commerce of the Caucasian Provinces, Mr. Lyall, H.B.M.’s Consul for Tiflis and Poti, gives a succinct account of the geo- graphical features of this region, accompanied by remarks 0a its climate, resources, communications, &c. Thouzh the informa- tion is not perhaps entirely new, it is interesting to be able to take in at a glance so much relating toa tract of country which is daily becoming more and more important. Cot. FLatrers, who had left Wargla on March 15 with a column of 100 men for an exploration in connection with the intended Trans-Algerian Railway, returned to Wargla on May 20, after having travelled 600 miles in the direction of Raof, without meeting any opposition from the natives. He intends to resume his explorations in the months of September or October, in another direction. He was unable to discover the Ighorghor Wed, which is marked on every map. From Augut 5 to 10 next the French Geographical Society will meet at Nancy for their triennial meeting. We have received Parts £2 to 16,'each contaiaing three maps, of the new edition of Stieler’s ‘‘ Hand-Atlas.” THE Russian Department of Estates has just published an interesting atlas of six maps, representing the distribution of soils in Russia. The atlas is accompanied by a text by M. Dokoutchaeff. The maps were drawn five years ago by M. Tchaslavsky, who has studied this subject during many years. THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY HE following are the points that seem to us of most interest in the Report of the Astronomer-Royal to the Board of Visitors at their recent Visitation :— The Admiralty have decided not to proceed with the erection of a new library at present, though the space has been cleared, admitting of the erection of a buildinz fifty by twenty feet. The Astronomer-Loyal proposes to erect here a room of one story, but with galleries at mid-height, so that there would never be need to use a ladder. Among other changes occurring in this clearance, he has removed the electrometer mast (a source of some expense and some danger); the perfect success of Sir William Thomson’s electrometer rendering all further apparatus for the same purpose unnecessary. With regard to the library the Report states that no change has been made in plan, but in some departments the number of books has increased rapidly. ‘* Fundamental astronomy advances slowly, magnetism is almost stationary, geodesy progresses, photography and spectroscopy increase very fast, and meteorology the most rapidly of all. The Transactions of foreign Academies increase in number. This is owing, I imagine, to the general scientific activity, both of Aca- demicians and of private men of science, in most foreign countries, and to the facilities given for transmission, by the courtesy of publishers and by the extension of book post.” Under the head of Astronomical Observations, the Report says: ‘The sun, moon, planets, and fundamental stars are the regular subjects of observation on the meridian, special attention being devoted to the moon, which is also observed at every available opportunity with the altazimuth. Other stars are ob- served from a working catalogue of about 2,500stars, with which good progress has been made in the past year, though a large number of stars still remain for observation. About 1,100 stars were observed in 1879.” Between May 20, 1879, and May 9, 1880, the following ob-ervations were made :—With the transit circle 4,164 transits, the separate linbs being connected as separate observations ; 3,953 circle-observations ; with the reflex- zenith tube, 23 pairs of observation of yy Draconis ; with the altazimuth, 713 azimuths of the moon and stars and 352 zenith distances of the moon. A set of micrometer-measures of the outer satellite of Mars and several sets of measures of the satel- lites of Saturn, were obtained last autumn with the south-east equatorial, and a few drawings of Mars and Jupiter were made near the time of opposition. A remarkable proof of the excep- tionally bad weather of last summer is found in the fact that in July it caused the los of a whole month’s observations of the sun. Under the heading of Spectroscopic and Photographic Ob- servations we find the following statement :—‘*The sun’s chromosphere has been examined on thirty-seven days during the period to which this Report refers, and on thirty-four days prominences were seen. Whenever practicable, the appearance of the prominences as seen on each of the chromospheric lines has been recorded, and on four days a detailed examination of the whole spectrum of the chromosphere was made at twenty- four points of the sun’s limb. Three sun-spots have been ex- amined with reference to the broadening of lines in their spectra, and fifteen photographs have been taken of the spectra of three sun spots. As regards the spectroscopic determination of star- motions, 113 measures have been made of the displacement of the F line in the spectra of 29 stars, 44 of the 4, line in 19 stars, and 6 of the J line in 3 stars. Of these 51 stars 21 had not previously been examined. In the case of three of the stars a dispersive power equivalent to that given by fifteen prisms of 60° was used. The stars are taken froma working list of 150 stars, which may eventually be extended to include all stars down to the fourth magnitude, and it is expected that in course of time the motions of about 300 stars may be spectroscopically determined. ‘The spectra of comets ¢ (Swift’s) and @ (Palisa’s } Sune 17, 1880] 1879, and of the red spot on Jupiter, have been examined, but no certain results were obtained. Between 1879, May 20, and 1880, May 9, photographs of the sun were taken on 145 days, and of these 270 have been selected for preservation, The photographs show a complete absence of spots on 64 days out of 145, whilst in the preceding year there was a similar absence of spots on 121 days out of 150. The epoch of minimum appears to’ have occurred about the beginning of 1879, and since last October the outbreak of spots has been very marked.” Various spectroscopic and photographic results, it is stated, have been communicated to the Committee on Solar Physics, with whom, the Report states, the Observatory is in friendly communication. Under Magnetical and Meteorological Instruments we are told that the Thomson electrometer is in excellent order. ‘In the warm weather of summer, and in winter when much artificial heat is used in the basement, the photographs have been unsatis- factory, but we are endeavouring to remedy this by cutting off ; all communication with air from the basement. In the winter the register was frequently interrupted by the freezing of the water in the exit-pipe. A basin (with cesspool) has been recently constructed to carry off the water discharged from this pipe. The action of the photographic barometer appears to have been improved by the slight changes mentioned in the last Report, and small movements are in many cases excellently shown, A new pressure-plate with springs has been applied by Mr. Brown- ing to Osler’s anemometer, and it is proposed to make such modification as will give a scale extending to 50 lbs. pressure on the square foot. Other parts of the instrument have also been renewed. An arrangement for slow motion of the barrel, which was much wanted in adjusting the recording paper, has been fitted to Robinson’s anemometer. It is in contemplation to alter the photographic cylinders of the magnetometers, barometer, thermometers, and earth-currents apparatus, so as to make the time-scales of all the magnetical and meteorological instruments the same.” Some interesting information is given under the head of Reduction of Magnetical and Meteorological Observations. The following are given as the principal results for magnetic elements in the year 1879 :— Approximate mean westerly ee ar declination)...jps-ck aso piess 11s fo “ : 3°911 (in English units). Mean horizontal force... ... 1°03 (in Metric units). ° ‘ “ 67 36 5 (by 9-inch needles). aoe 67 36 54 (by 6-inch needles). 67 37 47 (by 3-inch needles), **On the application of the Committee on Solar Physics, the separate daily values of the diurnal range of magnetic declination for the years 1848 to 1858 have been supplied to Prof. Balfour Stewart.” The Report goes on to say:—‘‘The Visitors at their last meeting suggested the advantaze of preparing a digested account of the magnetical results obtained at the Royal Observatory from 1841 to 1876, similar in some respects to the account of meteorological results recently published. A beginning was made by preparing the monthly means of diurnal inequality in force and direction through the whole period, and exhibiting their combination in curves, It is known to the Visitors that, in two communications to the Royal Society, I have exhibited numerically and in curves the means of these monthly results (yearly means through all months, and monthly means through all years) as far as the year 1863. In 1864 observations were interrupted by the work in progress for the magnetic basement, so that the reductions now to be made commence with 186s. The monthly results through the whole period being taken as before, the next step, for obtaining exhibitions which the eye and the mind could easily command, was to collect the monthly conclusions into a limited number of groups of years. On inspecting the monthly curves in detail there was no hesitation in fixing upon the following :—First group, 1865 to 1868; second group, 1869 to 1872; third group, 1873 to 1876. In each of these, as before, yearly means are taken through all months, and monthly means through all years. The curves in the second group are strikingly larger than those in the first and third; the linear dimensions of the curves of 1870 are fully % of those of 1876 in the east-and-west direction, and fully } in the north-and- south direction. In the study of the forms of the individual curves ; their relations to the hour, the month, the year; their connection with solar or meteorological facts; the conjectural Mean dip ... NATURE Be) physico-mechanical causes by which they are produced ; there is much to occupy the mind. I regret that, though in contempla- tion of these curves I have remarked some singular (but im- perfect) laws, I have not been able to pursue them. The heavy load on the Observatory, and the limited means (in the present year) of supporting it, will in part explain this.” Under ‘‘ Chronometers, Time-signals,” &c., we are told that during the period to which the Report refers ‘the error of the Westminster Clock exceeded Is. on 120 days; on 32 of these it was between 2s, and 3s., on 4 days between 3s. and 4s., and on I day it exceeded 4s. “‘T have reason to believe,” the Astronomer-Royal states, “*thet the use of the time-signals, originating at the Royal Ob- servatory, and distributed automatically from the General Post Office, is becoming more and more extensive, and it seems probable that the same system may be adopted by foreign nations. Very lately an examination of our instruments was made on the part of another country, with the view of establish- ing something similar in one of their maritime cities; and it was intimated that Greenwich time would probably be used as stan- dard. The establishment of time-balls, &c., at foreign ports is increasing.” With regard to the progress of the operations in connection with the transit of Venus, 1874, it is stated that permission was given by the Treasury to Major Tupman last September to devote his time to the work till the end of June, 1880. The result is (taking the stations or station-groups in the order which the Astronomer-Royal proposes for publication): the observations and calculations of the Sandwich or Hawaiian group are completed; those of the Egyptian group nearly finished ; those of Rodriguez completed ; those of Kerguelen nearly finished ; and also those (which unfortunately are less im- portant) of New Zealand. ‘‘In January of the present year I received through the Admiralty the notification of the Treasury that the printing of the observations and calculations might pro- ceed. It has gone on rather languidly ; but I have before me in type 128 pag’s, including the text and the greater portion of the tabular part of the Honolulu work. I propose to take steps for urging on this printing.” ‘* With regard to the transit of 1882,” the Report goes on to state, ‘‘I have lately placed a memorandum before the Royal Astronomical Society. From the facility with which the require- ments for geographical position are satisfied, and from the rapid and accurate communication of time now given by electric tele- graph, the observation of this transit will be comparatively easy and inexpensive. I have attached greater importance than I did formerly to the elevation of the sun. For the four principal phases (ingre:s accelerated, and retarded; egress accelerated, and retarded) I propose to rely mainly on: Ist, the Cape Colony; 2nd, the shores of Canada and the United States, Bermuda, and the West India Islands; 3rd, the same as the 2nd ; 4th, the eastern shore of Australia, or New Zealand in preference if telezraph communication be made. I remark that it is highly desirable that steps be taken now for determining by telegraph the longitude of some point of Australia.” The Astronomer-Royal makes the following statement in reference to his own lunar theory :—‘‘ The general principle of this is: to adopt for correction the best existing theory; to compute with the severest accuracy the numerical values of the terms produced geometrically by the tabular coefficients, and also the terms really due to the forces which produce them; and to remove the differences between these by corrections of the tabular coefficients, for which corrections proper factors are prepared. It was a special object with me to avoid the use of powers of » (a symbol well known to lunar theorists), and to give easy means of computing, not new absolute values, but corrections of existing numerical coefficients (a principle which I have adopted extensively in other branches of astronomy), and also of computing the effect of small external disturbances or small changes of force. Both these are obtained by my process. The heaviest part of the work is the severe computation to which I have alluded, and this is done entirely by junior computers. The calculations had been carried out in every part to the accu- racy of 10-7; but for securing’ the degree of accuracy which I proposed it was found necessary to extend many parts to 10-8, and some to 10-%, This has caused a very great addition to the labour, but the work has advanced well, and will, I trust, be finished ere long. While waiting for this, which is to give the correction to every coefficient of the ordinary lunar theory, I am employing myself partly in rearranging the whole work for 160 publication, and in putting calculations in order for that correc- tion of coefficients ; and partly on three ramifications or supple- ments of the theory relating to the effect of the earth’s oblate- ness, the effect of change of position of the ecliptic plane, and the effect of change of excentricity of the earth’s orbit, and lunar acceleration.. The last of these I have completed to my satisfaction, requiring only an examination of the external factor ; the two others are progressing. The Admiralty have assisted me, on estimates, with a moderate grant (of amount named by myself), but much of ‘the expense has been private.” The Report concludes as follows:—‘‘ After the details into which I have entered as applying to the present state of the Observatory, and after the remarks whica I have made in the two reports last preceding on the question of reduction of print- ing (which at some fitting time I would willingly again present to the consideration of the Visitors), and the note in the last report on the increase of annual expense, I have only to place before the Visitors, but for no immediate expression of opinion, the impression which frequently weighs upon me as to the ulte- rior organisation of the Observatory. The determination of places of stars, sun, moon, and planets, was handed down to me from my predecessors ; it has in various ways been much extended. The magnetic and meteorological observations (the first originating with myself, the second partly with the move- ment introduced by the Royal Society and partly by myself) constituted a distinct branch of science, having this property in common with the original astronomical work, that it is incessant and regular, The much later introduction of photographic and spectroscopic astronomy, established at the instance of the Board of Visitors, and carried on with vigour and regularity, has created a third department. All these departments appear at present to be working efficiently and well. But I can easily imagine circumstances which would interfere materially with the successful continuation in one place of this triplicate series of observations, Though I think this possibility of partial failure worthy the contemplation of the Visitors, yet I do not see any necessity for action of any kind at the present time.” INTERCOLONIAL METEOROLOGICAL CONFERENCE AT SYDNEY METEOROLOGICAL Conference was held at Sydney in November last, the representatives of the different Colonies being Messrs. James Hector for New Zealand, Charles Todd for South Australia, R. L. J. Ellery for Victoria, and H. C. Russell for New South Wales, the last-named gentleman being chairman, The most cordial unanimity characterised the meeting, which lasted from'the 11th to the 14th of the montb, and the resolutions arrived at with a view to secure united action in their meteorological investigations and uniformity in the methods and times of observing and forms of publication augur well for the future of meteorology in the Australian Colonies. The whole question of weather telegrams was under anxious con- sideration. The system in present operation embraces only the Colonies of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, but a resolution was passed declaring it desirable to secure the co-operation of the Governments of Western Australia, Tasmania,and New Zealand in the system of inter-colonial weather telegrams. The facts pointed out by Mr. Todd as to the great regularity observed by the atmospheric disturbances in pursuing a course from west to east, and the statement by Dr. Hector that early notices could be sent from Queensland of the origin and progress of the dangerous and suddenly occurring cyclones that cross the northern part of New Zealand, sufficiently attest the practicability of the system of weather warnings and their practical value, or instance, the great storm which wrecked the Dandenongin September, 1876, could have been telegraphed in sufficient time to have prevented the great loss of property which took place at the different ports along the coast of New South Wales. We have the greatest pleasure in noting a deliverance by the Conference to the effect that weather tele- grams and forecasts shall in all cases depend upon the observa- tions used for general meteorological and climatological statistics. Much emphasis was laid on the establishment of high-level stations with a more special view to the investigation of the winds ; and the Conference recommended that there be esta- blished in each of the Colonies, upon a high mountain peak, a meteorological observatory for the special study of winds and other meteorological phenomena, the most desirable positions being Mount Lofty, in South Australia, 2,500 feet high ; Kian- NATURE [Sune 17, 1880 dra, in New South Wales, 4,600 feet; Mount Wellington, in Tasmania, 4,000 feet ; Mount Macedon, in Victoria, 3,500 feet ; and. in New Zealand, Tauhara Taupo, 4,600 feet, and Mount Herbert, 4,000 feet. We hope that the Governments of the different Colonies will vote the small sums which are required to carry out the resolutions of the Conference, the giving practical effect to which will certainly confer substantial advantages on commercial, shipping, and other interests, and contribute materially to a more satisfactory development of the meteorology of this important part of the globe. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAMBRIDGE,—At St. John’s College Prof. Liveing has been elected to a foundation fellowship, and Dr. Kennedy, Prof. Sylvester, F.R.S., and Prof. Churchill Babington were elected honorary fellows of the society. The following awards for proficiency in natural science have been made at St. John’s College:—A Foundation Scholar- ship to Samways; a Proper Sizarship to Love, and Exhi- bitions to Hart (already scholar), Weldon, Edmunds, Love, T. Roberts. Fleming was awarded one of the Hughes Prizes, given to the two most distinguished third-year students in any branch of study, and a Wright’s Prize, with augmentation of the year’s emoluments to 100/. The Open Exhibition was awarded at Easter to Scott-Taylor (City Middle-class School, Cowper Street), and a second Exhibition to Clementson (Newcastle- under-Lyme). We understand that Mr. W. J. Lewis has been appointed to perform the duties of Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge until the close of the year, the period to which the election to the chair has been postponed by the University Commissioners. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaflliche Zoologie, May.—Prof. Zygmunt Kahane, on the anatomy of Zienia perfoliata, G6ze, as a contri- bution to the knowledge of the Cestoids, with a plate and a woodcut. The actual facts recorded in the paper were originally laid before the Academy of Sciences of Krakau in May, 1878, and were afterwards published ina somewhat altered form, in the Polish tongue, in their Proceedings. The investigations were carried on during the summer and autumn of 1877 in the Zoo- logical Institute at Leipzig, under the supervision of Prof. Leuckart. The history of the species is treated at length, and the paper extends over seventy-seven pages.—Dr. G. Haller, Contribution to a knowledge of the Tyroglyphidz and their allies, with three plates: describes a new species of Listrophorus (L. pagenstechert): On the genus Homopus, Koch. It is not an independent genus, but the forms are only the larval stages of Dermacarus, which is described as a new parasitic genus; 7}/7og/y- plus megninit is described asa new species. Thereis asketch of a delineation of the internal anatomy of Tyroglyphus and Derma- carus, and of the egg in these genera.—Prof, Ludwig Stieda, on the structure and development of the Bursa fabricii, with five woodcuts.—Dr. Hubert Ludwig, on the primary sand canal in the Crinoids, with some remarks on the comparative anatomy of the Echinoderms in general, with two plates.—Dr. H. Ludwig, new contributions to the anatomy _of the Ophiuroids, with three plates. Fournal de Physique, May.—Measurement of the electromo- tive forces of batteries and electromotive forces of contact of metals, by M. Pellat.—Study of polariser-prisms used in photo- metric observations, by M. Crova.—On the illumination of electrodes, by M. Colley. —On a new capillary electrometer, by M. Debrun.—To determine with the aid of an articulated system the conjugate points of an optical system, by M. Elie. Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles, May 15.—On the earths of samarskite, by M. Mariznac.—Researches on the condensation of gases on the surface of glass, by M. Chappuis. —The Siemens machine and its application to transmission of force, by M. Achard.—Specific heat, latent heat of fusion, and point of fusion of various refractory metals, by M. Violle. THE Reale Istituto Lombardo di Sctenze e Lettere, Rendiconti, vol. xiii., fase. iv. and y.—The phylloxera considered in rural economy, by S, Cantoni,—Geological notes on the basin of Lake d’Orta, by Dr. Parona,—Health and beneficence ; their mutual relations, byDr. Zucchi. Fune 17, 1880] NATURE 161 Fasc. vi. and viii—On the convenience of forming national nurseries of vines resistant to phylloxera, by S. Trevison.—On the chronological determination of Luganese porphyries, by Prof. TaranelliimOn the fundamental equation in the theory of linear differential equations, by Prof, Casorati.—Representation on punctuated space of some forms of the third species com- posed of straight lines, by S. Archieri—On the institution of two new genera of arachnida, by Prof, Pavesi.—Electricity aud earthquakes, by S. Serpieri.—List of alge of the province of Pavia, by Dr. Cattaneo.—Second case of peritoneal tranfusion with good success in an oligocitemic insane person, by Profs. Colgi and Raggi.—On a transformation of the fundamental equations of hydrodynamics, by Prof. Paci. THE Revue Internationale des Sciences biologigues, May, con- tains:—E. A. Schaefer, on the development of animals.—Carl Hoberland, infanticide among the ancients and the moderns,— L. Pasteur, on the cholera morbus in fowls ; on virulent maladies and on vaccination.—M. Debierre, man before and on the threshhold of history, a study of palzontological facts and of comparative archeology and philology.—Notice of learned societies —The Academy of Sciences, Paris.—The Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam.—The Anthropological Society of Paris. Morphologisches Fahrbuch, vol. vi., part 2.—Dr. A. Rauber continues his articles on the evolution of form and its transfor- mations in the development of vertebrata, reaching its second section, on the multiplication of xes, pp. 56, with four plates and seven woodcuts illustrating various early stages of monstrous double-axial structures in various species of Salmo and Gallus. —Dr. J. Brock occupies 112 pages, illustrated by two plates, in endeavouring to establish a satisfactory phylogeny of the dibranchiate cephalopods.—Dr. H. von Thering contributes, on the vertebral column of Pifa, to the homology of its individual vertebree and nerves with those of other anura.—Smaller contri- butions by Prof. Gegenbaur and by C. Rabl (on Planorbis development).—Reviews of German text-books of anatomy. Gazetta Chimica Italiana, Fasc. iii. and -iv.—On the ulmic matter obtained from sugar by action of acids, by S. Sestini.— On some derivatives of B-chlorobutyric acid, by S. Balbiano.— The diffusion and physiological state of copper in the animal organism, first announced by Bartolomeo Bizio, and elucidated by Prof. Giovanni Bizio.—Notice on the chemical constituents of Stereocaulon vesuvianum, by S, Paterno. Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, vol. v. No. 3, November 30, 1879.— J. A. Allen, on the species of the genus Bassaris.—W. H. Patton, the American Bembecide tribe Stizini; list of a col- lection of Aculeate Hymenoptera from North-Western Kansas ; Generic arrangement of the bees allied to Melissodes and Anthophora.—George B. Sennett, further notes on the omitho- logy of the Lower Rio Grande of Texas, made during 1878, with annotations by Dr. E. Coues.—Henry Gannett, additional lists of elevations. Among these is a list of the mountain-peaks forming the Cordilleras of North America and of their passes.— Dr. Morris Gibbs, annotated list of the birds of Michigan.— Dr. Le Conte, the coleoptera of the Alpine Rocky Mountain Regions, Part 2. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LoNnDON Royal Society, May 27.—‘‘On the Structure and Develop- ment of the Skull in the Batrachia, Part III.,” by W. K. Parker, F.R.S. (Abstract.) Some of the work brought forward in this paper was in hand before the first part was in print. That initial piece of work dealt only with the formation of the skull in the common frog, but it was followed by another which appeared in the Phi/o- sophical Transactions in 1876, which treated of the skulls of the common and of the ‘‘aglossal”’ toads. Of the latter types only two kinds are known, viz., the nailed toad of the Cape (Dactylethra), and the monstrous toad of Surinam (Pia). All the bulk of the Batrachia are included in the sub-group ‘‘Opisthoglossa.” These have a tongue, and in most cases it is free deind and not in front ; the “ Proteroglossal” Batrachia are very few in number, and the character itself (as Dr. Giinther informs me) is not well pronounced. I have now worked out the skull, in one or more stages, in about a “ithe of the known species, and in my second paper in both of the aberrant (‘‘aglossal””) types; in them this was done In various stages, I am not aware that there is any ‘‘order” of any ‘‘class” in the Vertebrata where so large a percentage of species has been, or indeed weed be, worked out, either in the skull or in any other part of their organisation. That which calls for it here is the great and unlooked-for polymorphism of the species; I may explain this by saying that the skull, in really important modifications, differs more in the species of some of the genera than it does in the orders of some of the classes, As an instance, it would be no easy thing to find a malacopterous fish differing from an acanthopterous type, in deep-seated essential matters, so much as the common toad does from the other native species, viz., the MVatlerjack; and the common frog has only about half as many cranial elements as the bull-frogz of North America, If the metamorphosis of a single species be worked out exhaustively, it gives a range of structural characters which rises up from a larval creature on the level of the lampreys to a reptilian form not far below the Chelonia, and evidently related (obliquely, not genetically) to that ‘‘ order.” Moreover, whilst the ‘‘opisthoglossa” have larve with suctorial mouths, and a gwast-petromyzine structure altogether, the larvze of the ‘‘aglossa” need only to be arrested as larvee and to acquire a dense bony armature to be very close counterparts of the most ézzarre forms of the ganoids of the ‘‘old red sand- stone,” such as Pterichthys and Coccosteus. The Batrachia show some remarkable things in their meta- morphosis, both as to the s7ze their larve obtain and the dime during which metamorphosis is taking place. In the bull-frog (Rana pipiens) the larvee attain the length of about 5 inches, and take two or three years for their transforma- tion ; they may be hindered in this, and be made to take twice that time. In these the larvee beara moderate relation, as to ne to the adult form, which may be 7 inches long, although tailless. But in a frog from the neotropical region (Psezdis) scarcely larger than our native form, the tadpole attains the length of nearly a foot, the tail acquiring a breadth of 4 inches. As zoologists well know, it is easy to procure ¢adfoles of this species, but very hard to get an adult. Iam of opinion that the adult condition is not attained until after many years; and it suggests itself to me that this species may be the not remote descendant of a type which did not finish its amazval meta- morphosis. On the other hand, some of the neotropical forms have very small tadpoles. ufo chilensis, a large toad, has them about half the size of those of our common native Batrachia, and the newly- metamorphosed individuals are no larger than a house-fly. But in Piga the small larve are thoroughly metamorphosed in the maternal dorsal pouches, and at first only do they show a trace (and only a trace) of branchial tufts. These tadpoles, which never see the light as such, have wide mouths (not suctorial), and soalso have the tadpoles of the other waif of the sub-order ‘‘Aglossa,” viz., Dactylethra. In that kind, however, the larvee become large, and are a long while undergoing their transformations, which take place in the water, according to rule. In the skull of the adults much variation is evidently due to _ the different s/ze to which the species attains; some, as the bull- frog, are as large as the common Greek tortoise; others grow scarcely larger than a bluebottle fly. As a rule these small kinds show two kinds of modification: they are apt to retain certain larval characters, and they are apt to acquire generalised characters such as do not normally appear in this group, which is very remarkable for the fewress of the parts or elements composing the adult skull. : Some of the large forms, as Rana pipiens, have many invest- ing bones in their skull, such as must be looked for again in archaic and extinct types, whilst others, as Cerafophrys and Calyptocephalus, have a cranial armature that is dense, extended, and almost ‘‘ ganoid ;” this kind of skull, however, is found in middle-sized types also, as in Pelobates and Nototrema, In the terminal suctorial mouth of the larva of the Opistho- glossa the mandibular pier and its free ‘‘ramus” are carried to the front of the head. After transformation, in the larger kinds, the gape is carried behind the head, as in the crocodile ; it can be guessed how much modification such a change as this will necessitate. Rut it is evident that a low suctorial fish, such as the /adfole 162 is, must have altogether a totally different kind of skull and skeleton to that of an active, noisy, intelligent, more or less terrestrial reptile, such as the frog becomes. ; This necessarily great change involves some very curious and instructive avachronisms, so to speak, in the appearance of various parts and organs. A low suctorial fish would have no fenestra ovalis or stapes, and in the tadpole it is some time before these appear. The low (urodelous) Amphibia have, in most cases, the upper hyoid element suppressed, sometimes it is present, serving as a rudimentary ‘‘ columella auris.” In most Batrachia this part does not appear until after trans- formation, and in some kinds not at all. This part especially shows how the izdividual is gradually changed, and makes it clear why so many variations should occur in genera and even species. With regard to the geographical distribution of the Batrachia, there are many things of importance which I have rather hinted at than expressed in this paper. There is a sort of facies or character about the allied types of any great geographical region which makes me satisfied that certain external characters repeat themselves again and again in different parts of the world. Thus the types of frogs that have dilated toes are evidently more nearly related to those with pointed toes of the same region than they are even to the broad-toed types of some distant region, I should be inclined to derive the zarvow-backed tree-frogs of Australia from the sharp toed frogs of the same region ; the same with those of India, and the same with those of the nearctic and neotropical territories. The ¢rue frogs (*‘Ranide”) of India have many things in common, as also have the true frogs of North America; the same may be said of the sub-typical frogs, or ‘* Cystignathide.”’ On the whole the European and Indian territories yield the highest kinds; Australia and South America the lowest and most generalised. Mathematical Society, June 10.—Mr. C. W. Merrifield, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The following communications were made :—On a binomial biordinal and the arbitrary con- stants of its complete solution, by Sir J. Cockle, F.R.S.—On the focal conics of a bicireular quartic, by Mr. H. Hart, M.A. —Preliminary note on a generalisation of Pfaff’s problem, by Mr. H. W. Lloyd Tanner, M.A.—On the resultant of a cubic and a quadric binary form, by Prof. Cayley, F.R,S.—On the theory of the focal distances of points on plane curves, by Mr. W. J. Curran Sharp, M.A.—Geometrical note, by Mr. H. M. Taylor, M.A. Linnean Society, June 3.—Prof. Allman. F.R.S., pre- sident, in the chair.—The secretary read a paper on the specific identity of Scomber purctatus, Couch, with the S. scomber, Linn., by Dr. Francis Day. The specimen on which this opinion is founded was captured on the coast of Cornwall in April last.—In a note on the anal respiration in the zcea larva of the decapods, by Marcus M. Hartog, he shows from an exami- nation and study of living larvee of Cazcer that the terminal part of the rectum is slightly dilated, and possesses a rhythmic con- traction and expansion duly associated with opening and closing of the anus. A clue to the ultimate transference of branchial respiration may perhaps be found in the Entomostraca, where in certain forms food is obtained by a current from behind forwards due to the movement of the setose or flat limbs immediately behind the mouth. Prof, Claus has shown that ia Daphnia the said limb processes have a respiratory function, while this animal also possesses a well-marked anal respiration.—Mr. G. Murray made a communication on the application of the result of Prings- heim’s recent researches on chlorophyll to the life of the lichen. Summarising Pringsheim’s labours and taking into consideration the views of Vines, Geddes, and Lankester, Mr. Murray arrives at the following conclusion :—That we have in lichens fungal tissues as the body of the thallus and the chlorophyll screen in the gonidial layer ; that is, the chlorophyll is in one system of cells and the protoplasm apparently affected by it in another, which is in contact. The light which traverses the chlorophyll containing gonidial layer excites in the fungal tissues the decomposition of carbonic acid.—Mr. P. Herbert Carpenter, in giving the results of some researches of his in the form of a paper on the genus So/anocrinus, Goldfuss, and its relations to recent Comatule, stated that | Schliiter was perfectly justified in uniting Solanocrinus with | NATURE | Fune 17, 1880 Antedon, The latter author does the same with Comaster, though to Mr. Carpenter, Goldfuss’s description of this type appears to differ so much from all other Comatulz that he prefers provisionally to regard it as distinct. Mr. Carpenter’s researches on the crinoids in question are based on material obtained from the Challenger Expedition and a study of the fossil forms con- tained in the Woodwardian (Cambridge) and British Museums ; he thus finds, on comparison of the living with past Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary forms, that variations in the develop- ment of the basals are useless as generic distinctions, Chemical Society, June 3.—Prof. H. E. Roscoe, president, in the chair.—It was announced that a ballot for the election of Fellows would take place on June 17. The following papers were read :—On some products of the oxidation of paratoluidine, by W. H. Perkin. The present paper contains a study of the action of chromicacid on the above substance. Some beautifully crystallised products were obtained ; one having the composition C,,H2,N3, melting at 216 — 220°, and giving a magnificent blue colour with sulphuric acid ; it has the characters of a base; a second base, rather less soluble, melting at 175° was also separated ; it has the formula C,,H,,N3. By using glacial acetic as a solvent for the chromic acid in the above reaction parazotoluene was formed.—On the detection of foreign colouring matters in wine, by Dr. A. Dupré. The true colouring matter does not dialyse ; all the artificial colouring matters except alkanet dialyse freely, so that cubes of gelatine jelly soaked in the wine for forty-eight hours become scarcely tinged below the surface if the wine i; pure, but if coloured with magenta, &c., the cube is stained to the middle. Alkanet is easily recognised by its absorption spectrum.—On the action of organozinc compounds upon nitrites and their analogues. I.—Action of zinc ethyl on azobenzene, by E. Frankland and D. A, Louis. In this reaction anilin is formed, much gas being evolved, consisting of 3 vols. of ethylene to 1 vol. of ethylic hydride. 70 grm. of anilin were obtained from 80 grm. of azobenzene.—II. On the action of zinc ethyl upon benzonitrile, by E, Frankland and J. C. Evans, Cyaphenine was the principal product of this reaction; this substance, by the action of strong hydrochloric acid in a sealed tube at 250°, is converted into benzoic’acid and ammonia,—On the relation between the molecular structure of carbon com- pounds and their absorption spectra, by Prof. W. N. Hartley. The author has photographed the spectra of various substances ; he concludes that no molecular arrangement of carbon atoms causes selective absorption, 7.¢., gives absorption bands, unless three pairs of carbon atoms are doubly linked together in a closed chain, The most remarkable substance in this respect is anthra- cene, which, when diluted one in 50,000,000, gives a considerable and distinct absorption. —On a simple method of determining vapour densities in the barometric vacuum, by C. A. Bell and F. L. Teed. It consists of a modification of Hofmann’s apparatus. —Mr. C. T. Kingzett made a verbal communication to the effect that he had recently investigated the question of the slow oxidation of moist phosphorus in air, and had obtained evidence that both ozone and hydroxyl were formed. Zoological Society, June 1.—Prof, W. H. Flower, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Mr. Sclater made some remarks on the principal objects he had noticed during a recent inspection of the Zoological Gardens of Berlin, Hamburgh, Amsterdam, the Hague, and Antwerp.—The Secretary exhibited a spider of the genus Zegenaria, which had been forwarded to him from Cape Town by Mr. J. H. Payne, of that place. It had been taken within three miles of Cape Town, on the back of a horse, which had subsequently died, as it was said from the effects of the bite. —Mr. G. E. Dobson exhibited some new and rare species of bats, amongst which was an example of a new species of the genus Megaderma, from Australia, proposed to be called AZega- derma gigas, and remarkable for its large size. —Mr, Dobson made some further remarks as to the date of the receipt of the Dodo bones exhibited by him at a former meeting.—Lord Lilford exhibited and made remarks on some nests and eggs of the Flamingo, which had been taken in the marshes of the Guadal- quivir, below Seville, in April, 1879.—Lord Lilford also exhi- bited some fine hybrid pheasants, between males of Reeves’s pheasant and hens of the common pheasant.—Mr, E, W. H. Holdsworth read a note on the distribution of the crayfish (4s- tacus) in Spain, —Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell read a paper on some species and genera of the Temnopleuride, in course of which he described the method he had adopted in comparing different species, and species at different stages in growth ; he also directed Sune v7, 1880] especial attention to the differences in the size of the generation pores in Amblypneustes formosus, and discussed the specific characters of Sa/macis globator.—A communication was read from Dr, A Giinther, F.R.S., containing notes on a collection of mammals from Japan.—Mr. G. E, Dobson read a description of a new species of bat, of the genus WVata/us, from Jamaica, which he proposed to name JV. micropus.—Mr. A. W. E. O’Shaughnessy read the description of a new species of lizard of the genus Uromastix, from Zanzibar, which he proposed to call U. princeps. Geological Society, May 26.—Robert Etheridge, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Prof. Frederick Guthrie, F.R.S., Rudolf Hensler, Ph.D., James Hulme, William Jolly, Charles Myhill, and Alfred George Savile, were elected Fellows of the Society. —The following communications were read :—The pre- carboniferous rocks of Charnwood Forest (Part III.; conclu- sion), by Rey. E. Hill, M.A., F.G.S., and Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S.—In their former communications the authors had paid less attention (from want of time) to the northern part of the forest than to the rest. This district has during the last two years engaged their special attention. They had provisionally retained the name quartzite for the rocks exposed about Black- brook, &c., probably the lowest visible on the forest. This name proves to be inappropriate, and they propose to call the group, which contains much fine detrital volcanic material, the Blackbrook Series. They have also reason to believe that the anticlinal fault is less than was supposed, and that we have here a fairly unbroken base for the forest rock already described. In this case there ought to be representatives of the great agglome- ratic masses on the western side of the anticlinal (High Towers, &c.). The authors believe that they have found these, though as much finer and more water-worn detritus, in the greenish grits above Longcliff and Buckhill. The authors also believe that they have succeeded in tracing a coarse agglomerate with slate fragments round about three-fourths of the circumference of the forest. Further notes upon the district of Bardon Hill, Peldar Tor, and Sharpley are given, and the origin of the re- markable rock of the last, so like some of the Ardennes por- phyroids, is discussed ; the authors believe it to bea volcanic tuff, altered by the passage of water or of acid gases. Descrip- tions of the microscopic structure of some of the rock: fragments included in the coarse agglomerate and of some of the slates are given. Also a notice of two small outbursts of igneous rock of the northern syenite type, previously unnoticed, are mentioned. —On the geological age of Central and West Cornwall, by J. H. Collins, F.G.S. The author divided the stratified rocks of this district into four groups, as follows :—-1. The Fowey Beds, mostly soft shales or fissile sandstones, with some beds of roofing- slate; no limestones or conglomerates. These beds cover an area of not less than eighty square mile:, and contain numerous fragmentary fish-remains and other fossils, many as yet undeter- mined, the whole, however, indicating that the beds are either Lower Devonian or Upper Silurian. The strike of the beds is north-west to south-east, and they are estimated to be not less than 10,000 feet thick. 2. Zhe Ladock Beds, consisting of slaty beds, sandy shales, sandstones, and conglomerates ; no lime- stones and no fossils. They cover an area of more than I00 square miles to the west and south of St. Austell, strike from east to west, and overlie Lower Silurian rocks unconformably. They are estimated at from 1,000 to 2,000 feet thick. 3. Zhe Lower Silurians consist largely of slates and shales, with some very thick conglomerates (one being at least 2,000 feet thick), some quartzites, and a few thin beds of black limestone. The quartzites and limestones have yielded fossils (chietly Orthidz) which are pronounced to be of Bala or Caradoc age by Davidson and others, The total thickness of these beds is estimated at 23,000 feet, and the fossils are found in the upper beds only, Instead of occupying only about twelve square miles, as shown on the Survey maps, they extend over nearly 200 square miles, and reach southward beyond the Helford River, and westward to Marazion. The strike of these rocks is from north-east to south-west. 4. Zhe Ponsanooth Beds occur beneath the Lower Silurians, and unconformable with them (strike north-west to south-east); they are often crystalline, and are estimated at 10,000 feet thick. Each of these formations has its own set of intrusive rocks; each has been contortedand in part denuded away before the deposition of its successor, The various granitic bosses haye been pushed through this already complex mass of stratified rocks without materially altering their strike, which does not in general coincide with the line of junction. The NATURE 163 chemical effects of the igneous intrusions are generally consider- able, and somewhat proportioned to their relative bulk.—On a second pre-Cambrian group in the Malvern Hills, by C, Callaway, D.Sc. F.G.S. . Anthropological Institute, May 25.—Edward B. Tylor, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Dr. H. Woodward read ex- tracts from a paper by Prof. J. Milne, F.G.S., of the Imperial College of Engineering, Yedo, on the Stone Age in Japan. The author described, from personal examination, many of the archeological remains in Japan. Kitchen-middens are abundant, and are ascribed to the Ainos, the ornamentation on the pottery resembling that still used by the Ainos of to-day. The shells and bones found in the middens were enumerated and described, The stone implements found in Japan include axes, arrow-heads, and scrapers. Many of these occur in the middens. The axes are formed generally of a greenish stone, which appears to bea decomposed trachytic porphyry or andesite. The Ainos used stone implements up to a comparatively modern date. Tumuli occur in many parts of Japan, as well as caves, both natural and artificial. Prof, Milne had opened one of the latter, and found the interior covered with inscriptions. The Japanese themselves make valuable collections of stone implements, old pottery, &c., the favourite notion among them being that such things were freaks of nature. Several fragments of pottery, shells, and other remains from kitchen-middens were exhibited.—Mr, C. Pfoundes read an interesting paper on the Japanese people, their origin, and the race as it now exists. Passing over the fabulous period, we find the Japanese commence their era and history about the same time as that of Rome, B.C. 660; the first Emperor, Mikado, or Ruler, established himself in the vicinity of Kiote, not very far from the present treaty ports Osaka-Kiogo. For centuries history teems with accounts of efforts to civilise the people, and the wild and intractable aborigines were gradually driven north- ward, until they settled in the North Island, where they [still exist and form the bulk of the present inhabitants. Mr. Pfoundes exhibited a valuable collection of photographs and drawings in illustration of his paper, together with articles of Japanese mantfacture and some fine specimens of tapestry. Entomological Society, June 2.—Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Miss Georgiana Ormerod, of Isleworth, and Mr. Hy. Lupton, of Chapel Allerton, Leeds, were elected Ordinary Members.—Mr. M. J. Walhouse exhibited a collection of moths from Mangalore, on the Malabar coast, many of the species of which resembled palzearctic forms.—Mr. J. A. Finzi exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Lowrey, a bred specimen of Arctia fuliginosa which possessed only one antenna. The President stated that he had occasionally bred ants with only one antenna, and on one occasion had possessed a specimen with no antennz at all.—The President also exhibited specimens of a new Australian ant received from Mr. Waller, whichagreed with the genus AZyrmecocystus, of Wesmael, in having an immensely distended abdomen, so that the insect actually serves as an animated honeypot.—The Rev. H. S. Gorham communicated the concluding portion of his Materials for a Revision of the Lampyriae, Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, June 8.—Annual Meet- ing.—The Right Hon. the Earl of Shaftesbury, K.G., in the chair.—Prior to the delivery of the address by Bishop Cotterill, D.D., F.R.S.E., the honorary secretary, Capt. F. Petrie, read the report, from which it appeared that the total number of Members was now 835.—The subject of the annual address was one aspect of the relation between the scientific and the religious view of the universe. VIENNA Imperial» Academy of Sciences, February 19.—The fol- lowing among other papers were read :—On the relation of the muscle-current to local chemical changes of the muscle substance, by Dr. Biedermann.—On orthoethylphenol, by Drs. Suida and Plohn.—Theory of conic surfaces of the fourth degree with a double conic section, by Herr Ameseden.—Changes of form of electrical figures by magnets, by Prof. Reitlinger and Dr. Wachter.—On ventilation in schoolrooms, by Herr Nachtmann. —On the decomposition of nitrososulphhydantoin with bases,"and on a new acid, nitrosothioglycolic acid, by Prof. Maly and Herr Andreasch. March 4.—On the orbit of the planet Ino (173), by Dr. Becker.—Determination of the absolute velocity of current electricity from Hall’s phenomenon, by Prof. v. Ettingshausen, 164 —On a law of the stimulation of terminal nerve-substances, by Prof. Mayer.—Contributions to the photochemistry of bromide of silver, by Dr. Eder.—wNotices on the formation of free sulphuric acid, and some other chemical relations of gasteropoda, especially of Dolinm galea, by Prof. Maly.—On the theory of normal surfaces, by Prof. Peschka,—On cinchomeronic acid, by Dr. Skraup.—On aldehyde resin, by Herr Ciamician.—On an extension of the limits of validity of some general propositions of mechanics, by Prof. Simony.—On oxycuminic acid and on the action of nitrous oxide on organic compounds, by Prof. Lippmann and Herr Lange. } March 11.—The orthogonal-axonometric contraction circle, by Prof, Pesar.—Electrolysis of organic substances in aqueous solution, by Prof. Habermann,—Action of oxalic and sulphuric acid on naphthol, by Herr Honig.—On dipropyloresorcin and some of its derivatives, by Herr Kariof.—On idryl, by Dr. Gold- schmiedt.—On direct introduction of carbonyl groups into phenols and aromatic acids, by Herr Senhofer and Herr Brunnen.—Remarks on Cauchy’s theory of double refraction, by Prof, vy. Lang.—Determination of path of comets discovered at Pola in 1879, by Herr Palisa. March 18.—Heliotropic phenomena in the plant kingdom (second part), by Prof. Wiesner.—On the projective construction of curves of the second order, by Prof. Binder.—On Sturm’s series, by Prof. Gegenbauer.—A hydraulic motor, by Herr Kauer.—The alteration of molecular weight and molecular refractive power, by Prof. Janovsky.—On the tannic acid of oak-bark, by Herr Ettii—On some tertiary echinida from Persia, by Herr Fuchs.—Sulphur compounds of chromium, by Prof, Lieben.—Behaviour of bone gelatine in dry distillation, by Dr. Weidel and Herr Ciamician.—On the determination of the halogens in chlorates, bromates, and iodates, by Herr Fleissner. April 8.—The following among other papers were read :— Theory of motion on developable surfaces, by Herr Wittenbauer. —The inflorescences of Marchantiacez, by Prof. Leitgeb.—On the magnetic action on fluore:cence light excited by the negative discharge in a vacuous space, by Prof. Domalip.—On discrete vortex lines, by Dr. Marguess.—Contributions to the photo- chemistry of bromide of-silver, by Dr. Eder. PARIS Academy of Sciences, June 7.—M. Edm. Becquerel in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On a_ bromised derivative of nicotine, by MM. Cahours and Etard. The formula is C,,H,,N,Br,.—Geological history of the English Channel (first part), by M. Hébert.—M. Daubrée gave a résumé of a study entitled ‘‘ Descartes, one of the creators of cosmology and geology.” Descartes considered all celestial phenomena as simple deductions from laws of mechanics, affirmed the unity of composition of the physical universe, perceived the capital 7é/e of heat in formation of our globe, &c.—M. du Moncel presented a third edition of his work on the telephone, microphone, and phonograph.—M. Chancel was elected correspondent in chemistry in place of the late M. Favre.—Theorems on the decomposition of polynomes, by M. Carrére.—Result of treatments of vines attacked with phylloxera, by M. Boiteau. The vines treated for three years past (with sulphide of carbon) are thriving beauti- fully. Infected vines over fifteen to twenty years old, which can- not renew their radicular system, should be replaced by young plants. The best method of application is that in parallel lines, with doses of 20 gr. per square metre applied in two or three holes. The sulphide even seems to stimulate the vine.—New generation of the surface of the wave and various constructions, by M. Mannheim-—On ternary cubic forms, by M. Poincaré.— On irreducible functions according to a prime modulus, by M. Pellet.—Remark relative to two integrals obtained by Lamé in the analytical theory of heat, by M. Escary.—On the partition of numbers, by M. Dayid.— Direct measurement of the interior resist- ance of magneto-electric machines in motion, by M. Carnellas, The induction of the electro-magnets and the metallic cheeks is obviated by rotating the (Gramme) ring mounted carefully with its brushes on wooden supports, and the effects of terres- trial induction are avoided by opposing to each other these effects in two similar Gramme rings, mobile under the same conditions, with axes parallel. The ring (at rest or rotating) is made the fourth side of a Wheatstone bridge formed by Siemens’ universal galvanometer, The resistance of the ring in motion (450 turns per minute) shows an increase of 25 per cent. on that of the ring at rest,— Transformation of gunpowder in the metallic cases NATURE [Fune 17, 1880 of infantry cartridges, by M. Pothier. A diminished velocity of balls of cartridges that have been long charged, and diminished accuracy of fire, are accounted for by a proved chemical de- composition of the powder in contact with the metallic case, the quantity altered varying according to atmospheric influences, especially moisture, at the time of manufacture or during storage. Experiment proved zinc to have most action, then followed cop- per. Lead, tin, and iron affect the powder less. High tempera- ture accelerates the transformation if the powder is moist.— Optical arrangement for firing within covered batteries, by M. de Fraysseix. By means of a lens and screen the artilleryman is enabled to take better aim. M. Ed. Becquerel called atten- tion to previous devices of the same kind.—On colloidal oxide of iron, by M. Magnier de la Source. The composition of the soluble ferric hydrate is that of the normal hydrate.-—On a new sulphate of alumina (sesquibasic sulphate of alumina), by M. Marguerite. One method of preparation is decomposition of alum of ammonia by heat. Three others are indicated.—Action of chlorine on sesquioxide of chromium, by M. Moissan.—On a combination of allylic alcohol with anhydrous baryta, by MM. Vincent and Delachanal.—On the fixity of composition of plants ; ratio between the fecula, phosphoric acid, and mineral substances in potato, by M. Pellet. While these show constant ratios there are great differences in the proportions of the chief alkalis, lime and potash; but there is equivalent substitution of these alkalis, so that the quantity of sulphuric acid necessary to saturate all the bases is sensibly the same. Silica and nitrogen vary pretty largely.— Analysis of the seeds of beet, by MM. Pellet and Liebschutz,—Disinfection and conservation, from an agri- cultural point of view, of animal matters, and notably blood, by use of bisulphate of alumina and nitric acid, by M. Vautelet. They act by coagulation, &c«.—On the physiological effects of erythrophleine, by MM. Lee and Bochfontaine. It acts both on the heart and the respiratory apparatus, and may prove a useful clinical agent.—On some anatomical characters of Chiroptera of the genus Cynonycteris, by M. Robin.x—On the metamorphosis of Perosopestona, by M. Vayssiére.—On a peculiar modification ofa parasitic Acarian, by M. Megnin. The eggs of a Chevletus, on an American Grosbeak, were found protected by fine tissue, like that furnished by certain Arachnides.—Helminthological observations and experimental researches on the disease of work- men in the St. Gothard, by M. Perroncito. The numerous workers who have become anzmic have been preyed upon by certain small worms, and this quite explains the anemia. A similar malady was observed in making the Mont Cenis tunnel.— M. d’Abbadie presented a work by Mr. Knipping on the cyclones of 1878 in the China Seas. CONTENTS Pace Two Darwinian Essays. By ALFRED R. WALLACE... . « 14 NATURE SIELYGIENG IG} \st op (an icintel nine sursteonetteumente o8 142 Our Boox SHELF :— ‘ : 3 Y Holmes’ ‘Science of Voice Production and Voice Preservation for the Use of Speakers and Singers”... .. +... + I43 Hughes’ ‘‘ Ceylon Coffee Soils and Manures: a Report to the Ceylon Coffee Planters’ Association”. . . . . 6 = « « « J4g LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:— Cloud Classification.—Rev. W. CLemeNT LEY .... . 144 The Motion of Fluids.—Horacze LamB. . . ..... 145 On the Physical Aspects of the Vortex Atom Theory.—W. L. . . 145 The Aurora Borealis and its Colours.—T. W. BacKHoUSE .. . 145 A New Audiphone.—Tuos. FLETCHER. . . Aero” b 145 Crystal-Tcef Rivne ee yh el fe) as ene vente ate The Stone in the Swallow.—JoHN LockE . . ... © 1. 246 Stags! Horns: —E. W, Cravrore. =) (is yh 4 peuks, - ace ener ON SOME PoINTS CONNECTED WITH TERRESTRIAL MaGnetisM. By Prof, .B. STEWART) HekeeSure) tenn Ne imatnl entree) men CG On a New Jevty-FisH oF THE ORDER TRACHAMEDUS., LIVING IN FresH Water. By Prof. E. Ray LANKESTER, F.R.S. . . - 147 NOTES FROMAJAVA) Gay pe. | js, he) Sten) voue) Dearie ep yet of sme asks mR ON’TrHE FERTILISATION OF ConA PENDULIFLORA (Hook. Fit.). By Dr. A. ERNsT By lshe: Se Meigce. a alecer at te tek (a Meee umn EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES IN Evectricity. By Warren De La Rug, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., and Huco W. Mutter Ph.D., F.R.S. (With Illustrations)... +» . » wero teu A + 149 A Fourtu Strate or Matter. By W. Crooxes, F.R.S. m5 NO rs Mat otis eet Pye ce ab Matinee cee) ts) ell temo MECC Our ASTRONOMICAL CoLUMN :— Baye's\Cometinst) cl «0:1 sfuleanetl « + = « » 156 Minima of Algol. . . . OOO OG. 3 See ries 45 PHYSICAL; NOTES). 40, 0) co Tes eee ta cente . Pp 1°) GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES - s) 2 5) Gel’e ger fe depen lke s) (eo foe X57 Tue ROYAL OBSERVATORY, = 5, 0 0. 5 Basse 2 + eae INTERCOLONIAL METEOROLOGICAL CONFERENCE AT SYDNEY . 1€0 UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE . « - a 160 SCIENTIFIC SERIALS/\s pited baumte stereo: Melty eee len tell Te 160 SocIeTrES AND ACADEMIESs! jes s)he 2 > © » 0) @ os ol XOX NATCRE 165 THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1880 A STEP BACKWARDS E are glad that Sir John Lubbock has given notice that he will call attention to the Education Code and move a resolution, unless indeed the Government themselves are sufficiently wide awake, patriotic, and liberal in its best sense, to step in and prevent Lord Norton’s resolution in the House of Lords the other day from attaining the issue desired by the educational obstruc- tionists. Lord Norton’s hostility to popular education is notorious, and on Friday he had the honour of being supported by several reverend bishops, who are supposed officially to yearn after the highest welfare of the people. The effect of Lord Norton’s resolution would be to cut out everything like real education and training from our elementary schools, and leave nothing but the minimum of instruction in the three R’s. It’ seems hard to have to go over the old ground again, and to show that the pittance of education which Lord Norton and those who side with him would allow the vast majority of the children of the nation, is really no education at all. The objection apparently of Lord Norton to the retention of the specific subjects of the fourth schedule is that their introduction has been too successful; that in some schools the talents of a few pupils under this system have been so developed that they have been continued at school beyond the age of fourteen. Con- sidering the ample opportunities which charity has pro- vided for the education of the children of the class to which Lord Norton and his supporters belong, it seems to us mean in them to grudge the pittance expended by the country in encouraging a few hundred clever boys of the humbler classes to pursue their education to a degree for which they have shown special aptitude. We are especially surprised to find/among the supporters of Lord Norton’s motion the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, who thus condemns the very code which was drawn up under his auspices and which was worked under his superintendence for five or six years without any apparent suspicion on his part that it was not the best possible of all codes. Of course our enlightened statesmen would never stoop to degrade a subject of such national importance into a party question, and therefore the Duke of Richmond and the other enlightened and reverend supporters of the persistent opponent of popular education, did not surely realise the effects of their vote. The real aim of Lord Norton’s reso- lution, there can be no doubt, is to stifle all) training in science out of elementary education. We trust Sir John Lubbock will have an opportunity of speaking on the subject in the House of Commons, and reminding our legislators of some of the facts in his impressive speech of 1877. They evidently require to be reminded of what the real object of education is. Mere reading, writing, and arithmetic is but a poor and inefficient equipment for those who will have throughout life the hardest strugele with their physical surroundings. Crime and disease, it has been again and again proved, are more the result of ignorance than of anything else—ignorance, not of the three R’s so much as ignorance of our own bodies and of VoL. xx11.—No,. 556 the laws of that nature by which we are surrounded and of which we form part. Ina former discussion in Parliament on this subject Mr. Playfair showed that many people were appalled by the mere name of science as connected with education, as if it were something beyond the com- prehension of any but a select few, and far too remote from human interests to be of any use in a system of elementary education. But Mr, Playfair also showed that what was meant was merely natural knowledge, a know- ledge of the facts and laws of nature, a knowledge of our own bodies and of the things outside our bodies with which daily every one comes in contact. In the speech already referred to by Sir John Lubbock, and reprinted in his “ Political Addresses,’’ he shows that grammar and even history, as ordinarily taught, are far more difficult and much less interesting than the elements of natural knowledge, which he maintains ought to be introduced into our elementary schools. Much more, he shows, could be advanced against the utility of teaching grammar than against teaching the elements of physiology or domestic or political economy ; and history, as taught in most text-books, is a farrago of figures, crimes, murders, and battles. Lord Norton is evidently so completely ignorant of the real nature of science—which has to do with tangible, hard, every-day facts—that he thinks all that is necessary might be learned from a judiciously compiled reading-book. The fact is no book of any kind need be required by a competent teacher, and the whole aim and end of science teaching would be missed if it dealt with words and not things. If it is desired to turn out men and women with well- trained, observant minds, fitted to grapple with the circumstances of the every-day life of the bulk of the people of this country, then the education which results from an acquisition of some of the most elementary laws and facts of nature is absolutely necessary. Moreover it has been clearly shown that in schools where a little science is properly taught the pupils are much further advanced as readers than in schools where there is no variety apart from the old-fashioned three R’s. We cannot believe that Lord Norton’s resolution will meet with any support outside the House of Lords; should it reach the House of Commons we are sure that body will have too much respect for the bulk of its constituents to insult and injure them by approving of any such retrogressive step. FRESHWATER RHIZOPODS OF NORTH AMERICA United States Geological Survey of the Territories— Freshwater Rhizopods of North America. By Joseph Leidy, M.D., Professor of Anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania and of Natural History in Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1879.) ee scientific history of the freshwater rhizopods ~ begins only a little anterior to the Declaration of Independence. Résel (1755) knew of the existence of such forms, which puzzled him. Linnzeus (1760) named one of them Volvox chaos ;—polymorpho-mutabilis, the form of whose body was Pyoteo inconstantior. But with the increase in the powers of the objectives used with the microscope, [1 166 so did the knowledge of these forms increase, Ehren- berg and Dujardin led the way to ‘a brilliant series of discoveries, which have been continuous, and never more numerous than during the last twenty years. One protozoon was on the roll-call of the systema nature —who could count the vast multitude known to us now? The very list of the provisionary classes and sub-classes would be a long one. On some of these classes splendid monographs have been written, among which those of Stein, Carpenter, Claparéde, Haeckel, Wallich, and Brady may be men- tioned, while the authors of papers on special genera and species would be too numerous to quote. Most of the authors referred to have worked among the European forms, but Carter added greatly to our know- ledge of those to be met with in the Island of Bombay. Africa and America were unknown countries ; while the former still remains so, the persevering efforts of Dr. Joseph Leidy for the last ten years have gradually un- folded to us the rhizopodal wealth of North America, and have culminated in the publication of the finely- illustrated work that we proceed to notice. As preliminary we are reminded that there is no very fixed system of classification for this class. Dr. Leidy treats of the fresh-water species only, as found in the orders Protoplasta, Heliozoa, and Foraminifera, the first two being commonly designated ‘“‘ Freshwater Rhizo- pods.’’ These, writes Dr. Leidy, are to be found almost everywhere in damp or wet, but not over shaded positions; they are especially frequent and abundant in compara- tively quiet waters, which are neither too cold nor yet too much heated by the sun. They are to be found among moss in spongy places oron damp rocks. They hide away ainong sphagnum-leaves, at the roots of sedges and grasses on the bark of trees. Once, we remember, Dr. Leidy got quite a store of them in the fork of an old apple- tree. Sometimes a depression or fissure in a rock, some- times even the crevice of a wall or of the pavement, affords them space enough. We have taken them almost at the equator. Dr. Wallich has described many from within the Arctic circle. The favourite habitation of many forms is the light superficial ooze at the bottom of still waters. If this be gently collected, there they will be found grazing among the desmids and diatoms fond of such quarters. The dark deep mud that will be found below this it is as well not to stir; it is a layer in which life turns to death, and its odour is never pleasant. But again, these rhizopods are to be found in that creamy, flocculent matter that half floats on the surface of gréat pools. The expert collector will soon get to know the difference in these ‘‘ creams’’—some so rich in treasures, some containing nothing but dead cells and empty lorica ; then again Dr. Leidy found these rhizopods in no place in such profusion, number, and beauty of form as in sphagnous bogs, living in the moist or wet bog moss (Sphagnum). “Sometimes he found this moss actually to swarm with multitudes of these creatures of the most extraordinary kinds and in the most highly-developed condition. Pag. A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF THE CONIFER ( working out the Eocene coniferz, in continuance of the monograph which the Palzontographical Society are kindly publishing and illustrating in a sumptuous manner, some reflections upon the past history of the more prominent Eocene genera, such as Araucaria, Podo- carpus, Dammara, Sequoia, &c., have occurred to me, which, although being perhaps outside the scope of the Paleontographical Society’s work, may not be uninterest- ing to the general readers of NATURE. I have therefore tentatively brought forward the present chapter on Arau- carias without yet having any definite intention of putting together my notes upon the other genera, in the present form. Araucayia,! Jussieu.— The earliest traces of distinctly coniferous wood known, those from the Carboniferous, were for many years thought to belong exclusively to the Araucarian type. This supposed prototype became, according to Schimper, modified in successive ages, and he endeavours to trace these modifications through the extinct genera Walchia, Ullmannia, Araucarites, Voltzia, Ptycholepis, Pachyphyllum, and Cunninghamites. Les- quereux, however, carries the actual genus Araucaria to as far back as the Trias, and unmistakable cones of both sections of the genus have been described by Carruthers from the Stonesfield, Yorkshire, and Somer- setshire oolites ; fossil forms agreeing closely with these have been also found in the Jurassic of India. It is not ! From Araucanos, a people of Chili, in which country 4. imbricata abounds, and furnishes the principal food of the Indians. 200 NATURE | Fuly 1, 1880 definitely known at present in cretaceous rocks, for the large fossil cone figured by Heer as Avaucarites nordenskioldi, from the upper cretaceous of Spitzbergen, is a very indis- tinct coaly mass, and as he suggests, possibly cyca- daceous.* The Araucarias thus appeared to have declined since Jurassic times, and Schimper states that, with the Tertiaries, they became extinct in Europe. Thbiselton Dyer ? goes further, and has even stated that, so far as we know, they have been extinct north of the equator since the Oolitic age. It is certain, however, as I hope to show, that at least one section of them abounded in Europe during the Eocene age, and probably did not quit it until the Miocene. The existing Araucarias present a singular appearance when contrasted with other trees, and would be looked upon from their aspect alone as unmistakably archaic in character. They have been divided by Salisbury ? into two very distinct sections: Columbea, or true Araucarias, and Eutacta, or the needle-leaved false Araucarias, They are exclusively confined to the southern hemisphere, Columbea alone being represented in South America, and both sections in Australia and the adjacent isles. The section Colwmbea possesses but four species, which are, however, very distinct from each other and of great interest. The most familiar is the common Avaucaria imbricata, or Monkey-puzzle. It is almost confined to Chili, forming vast forests which extend upon the slopes of the Andes from the snow-level to about 1,500 or 2,000 feet downwards. The trees reach 150 feet in height, and with their dark pendulous foliage are of imposing gran- deur. Their appearance when full grown can scarcely be realised from the young trees in England, but an ex- ceptionally fine specimen is at Windsor, and a carriage- drive leading to a nobleman’s house, near Armagh if I remember rightly, is bordered by high banks of large and, for our country, well-grown trees of this species, and presents a strikingly dignified effect. The cones are very large, and the seeds, which are highly nutritious, form the staple food of the Indians, The second South American species, A. drastliensis, is somewhat similar in appear- ance, and reaches 1oo feet in height. It also forms immense forests, and produces edible nuts, but as it will not live in our climate without protection, is less frequently seen in cultivation. The Australian species are even more strange in aspect. Araucaria Bidwillii forms a majestic tree, growing to 150 feet in height, and confined to a tract 30 miles long by 12 on the east coast near Brisbane, where it far overtops the other forest trees. A. Rz/ez, a smaller though equally beautiful tree, is chiefly remarkable for its singularly restricted range, being only indigenous to Porte Molle, one of the Caledonian Isles, where it is confined to the summit of an extinct volcano, but half a mile in radius, and exposed to extremes of heat and cold that appear destructive to other kinds of vegetation, for hundreds of feet below it. The Columbeas have not been met with fossil either in the Eocene or Cretaceous rocks, probably because their stations are mostly high rocky ridges, where there is an absence of water, rendering it unlikely that their remains would find their way into marine or fluviatile sedimentary strata, We must by no means infer, therefore, that species belonging to this section did not exist in Europe contemporaneously with the species of Eutacta that have been found. The section Zw¢acta has terminal globular cones with broadly-winged and generally persistent scales and falcate . * ‘ Flora foss. Arctica,’? vol. iii, Pl. xxxvii. p. 126. Heer says the figure is much too distinct, and that the position and arrangement of the scales can only be made out with the greatest trouble. Restored as it is, it possesses no distinctively Araucarian characters, while no branches of Araucaria have been found that could be placed with it. Cycadaceous and Sequoia foliage moreover abounds in most cretaceous rocks in high latitudes. 2 Royal Geog. Soc. Proceedings, 1878, vol. xxii. Pp: 427. 3 Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. viii., 1807,%pp. 308-317. needle-like leaves. There are but three existing species, all of gigantic dimensions, for two of them attain a height of over 200 feet, and the third 150 feet. Avraucaria Cookit, or the Norfolk Island pine, a native of New Caledonia and New Hebrides, presents a fantastic columnar-like growth, giving the trees when seen from a distance somewhat the appearance of a grove of ship’s spars 200 feet or so in height. A. exce/sa, indigenous to Australia and Norfolk Island, is an even more majestic and colossal tree, towering to a height of 230 feet, with atrunk of some 30 feet in girth. The third species, 4. Cunningham, I wish to describe in more detail, for I have ascertained, conclusively I believe, that it, or a species indistinguishable from it, flourished abundantly in our latitude and longitude in the Middle Eocene period. A. Cunninghami, like many Coniferze of the southern hemisphere, has two slightly distinct forms of leaf, those: of the young plants being straighter, more sabre-like,. and horizontally disposed than those of the more fully developed tree, which hitherto have alone been met with fossil. The foliage of the more full-grown tree is composed of moderately short falcate needle-like leaves, quadrangular in section, thickening at the base, and with the lower side produced and decurrent on the stem. These are disposed all round the branches, and leave the stem at first at right angles to it, and then gently curve upward and inward. This arrangement causes each leaflet to be free or seldom in contact one with another, and is an im- portant character in distinguishing the species by its foliage when other organs are absent. The terminal branchlets are generally simple for 5 or 6 inches, and then branch shortly but copiously, and chiefly horizontally. These branchlets apparently represent one year’s growth, for they are articulated at the base, and are annually shed in abundance by the trees. Branchlets resembling these in the minutest particulars are to be found in great quantities in the Eocene beds at Bournemouth. Other coniferous foliage, however, resembles 4. Cunningham, especially that of some of the cultivated Seguoia gigantea, so much so that I had difficulty in removing the prejudice from Ettingshausen’s mind, shared by all the Teutonic paleobotanists, in favour of referring all this type of foliage to Sequoia. Before it can definitely be said to belong to A. Cunningham? these types of foliage: must of course be considered. ‘ - In the first place the foliage of A. Cunninghamiis easily distinguishable from that of the other Araucarias in the section ; A. excelsa having leaves more at right angles, more laterally disposed, and foliage less branching, and A. Cookii possessing the leaves broader and in contact with an imbricated appearance, while every articulated branch is simple. The other Coniferze which resemble it are Creptomeria japonica, in which the leaves are much longer and straighter, and quit the stem at an angle of about 35°; Arthrotaxts selaginoides and Dacrydium arau- caroides, which have the imbricated appearance of A. Cookit; and Seguota gigantea, which is much the nearest in general habit. The leaves of Sequoia differ in being rather longer in proportion, less regularly disposed and curved, leaving the stem at a very acute angle, and hugging it more closely, so that their points irregularly overlap and touch each other. Its foliage in the wild state seems always to be very much smaller, and the larger foliage it seems sometimes to assume away from its native habitat, shows very distinctly the seasonal variations in the size of the leaves so characteristic in the other existing Sequoia, S. sempervirens, The Bournemouth foliage differs from all these materially, but as already stated, resembles that of Avaucaria Cunninghami in so close a degree as to be indistinguishable from it by any discover- able character. ‘ : Apart from the foliage, however, there is other evidence in support of the view that this is really Avaucaria Fuly 1, 1880 NATURE 201 ee Fe Cunninghami. Although the branchlets are most abun- dant in some of the beds, both marine and freshwater, no trace whatever of the cones could be found. I was at first surprised at this, for it is generally more common in beds of marine origin, as at Bracklesham, Barton, Sheppey, &c., to meet with cones than with foliage, and no instance of the presence of coniferous foliage only, in a sea-deposit of any age had previously come under my notice. I was so puzzled that I spent several days in digging and tracing out these branchlets and vainly trying to find the attached fruits—the cause of whose absence should have been clear. The cones, 3 inches long and nearly 9 inches in diameter, are so ex- ceedingly dense and heavy that they have no power of flotation, and their presence in beds of fine drifted sediment could therefore only be due to some rare accident. On the other hand, the small light cones of Sequoia would, like those of Pinus, everywhere drift by flotation, and necessarily not unfrequently become imbedded with the foliage. Although I found no cones, the female terminal buds present the peculiar constriction and then swelling, so characteristic of Araucaria. The distribution of Avaucaria Cunninghami at Bourne- mouth is very clearly defined, and tells as plainly as possible that its habits when existing in our latitudes did not differ from those it now possesses. No trace of it is met with west of the pier in the beds whose floras may be thought, from their characters, to have come from districts away from the sea—but east of the pier it abounds every- where, in company with fan-palms, eucalyptus, aroids, ferns, &c., and in certain beds of mud and muddy sand of the marine series, the branchlets, in marvellous preser- vation, are seen to cross each other in every direction. The existing Avaucaria Cunninghami forms vast forests on the shores of Moreton Bay, on the alluvial banks of the Brisbane River, and grows in the greatest profusion in the brush forests of the Richmond River. ‘‘The trees seem to thrive best near the coast, attaining in such a situation their greatest height, often from Ioo to 130 feet, but gradually diminishing in height the farther the trees are inland. It would appear from this that the sea air has a great effect upon it.” The “brush” forests, in which 4. Cunninghami very generally occurs, although it is not exclusively confined to them, are thus described by Moore :— “The ‘brush’ is characterised by denseness of growth, the altitude and beautiful dark green foliage of the trees, the presence of lofty climbing plants, which extend their slender pliant branches considerable distances, and by this means often embracing, as it were, into one common bond, many of the loftiest and largest trees. . . . Another characteristic of forests of this description is a thick undergrowth of numerous kinds of ferns and other plants. Palms and tree-ferns also usually abound, the former reaching a height, in some instances, of at least 130 feet. .. On the stems and branches of the trees numerous kinds of epiphytal ferns and orchids grow,. which, with the other plants referred to, contribute materially to give such forests a very tropical appearance.” 2 It is clear, from the débris of trailing Smilaceze and Aroids, and from the remains of large fan-palms and ferns, that our Eocene “brush’’-growth must have been very similar to this in appearance. The physical aspects of the former stations of Araucaria on the alluvial banks of the great Bournemouth River in close proximity to the sea, as we have ascertained, and its probable extension along the shores of what must have been the cast coast of the submerged continent seem to approximate to those it now occupies on the Brisbane River and the shores of Moreton Bay on the east coast of Australia. Nothing * 150 feet. ‘‘Industrial Progress of New South Wales; Official Report of the Sydney Exhibition, 1870,” Part IT. p. 643. It is astonishing how very generally the dimensions of the Coniferez of Australia and America are under estimated. ? Loc. cit., p. 633. can be more impressive indeed than the remarkable agreement in habit, as far as we can trace, between the Araucaria and associated plants that have passed away and those that survive. The long-imbedded. plants of our Eocene coasts seem to have risen up and to live again in this far-off country, and by what we see there we are able to picture the long sandy coasts, beaten by an ocean surf and fringed with dark-foliaged and gigantic Araucarias, gum-trees, luxuriant palms and ferns, whose remains have helped to form the present pine and heather- clad cliffs of Bournemouth. If we contrast this with the comparative absence of any associated vegetation in the Mammoth Groye, we see how opposed the intended refer- ence of these branches to Sequoia would have been to any known natural grouping. Elsewhere in Great Britain we have little trace of anything referable to Araucaria younger than in the Jurassics, except certain foliage at Sheppey and the foliage from the basalt of Antrim, referred by Bailey to Sequoia as .S. dz (Voyerz, about which however I am not yet able to express an opinion. In France, from many Eocene localities, undoubted Araucaria branches have been obtained, though none of them seem to be specifi- cally identical with ours, and some appear more of the A. excelsa type. In Central Europe, from Sotzka, Haring, Monte Pro- mina, Bilin, &c., in Tertiary beds whose exact age is nof yet satisfactorily determined, a somewhat similar foliage abounds. This was originally described as Araucarites, and indeed at Haring a young cone with every character- istic of Araucaria was found in the same bed with it.* All of them were subsequently transferred to Sequoia, which many certainly more nearly resemble in the direc- tion and arrangement of the leaves; yet the absence of any Sequoia cones which can, so far as I know, be directly connected with them, and the presence of a characteristic Araucaria cone should, at all events, induce caution in believing the whole of this type of foliage met with in Central Europe during the Middle or Upper Eocene to belong to an ally of Seguota gigantea. It is quite open to doubt whether, as Heer’s determination of two frag- ments would imply, this species known as |S. sternbergerz, whatever its real character may be, persisted as late as the Miocene of QOeningen. On the other hand, the presence of fossil Sequoize of the Wellingtonia type within the Arctic circle is undoubted, though Heer appears to have made more species than were necessary. The presence of an Araucaria, indistinguishable from A. Cunninghami, in our latitudes at a time not more remote than the Middle Eocene, is of interest, for although many of our Eocene plants have been referred to Aus- tralian genera, there has always been doubt sufficient to render any confirmation of the supposed land connection with Australia*of importance. While the association with it at Bournemouth, of Podocarps and Dammara, Euca- lyptus, and many Proteacez, which are strictly forms of the southern hemisphere, is but natural, the presence of a needle-leaved conifer of the genus Pinus, even rare as it is, is singular. Such a union nowhere takes place at the present day, although in Mexico pines mingle with feather palms. : The presence in N. lat. 50° of a flora, now distinctive of the sub-tropics of the southern hemisphere, and of a north temperate flora in N. lat. 70°, during the Eocene period, can hardly fail to provoke wonder as to where the equator of heat was then situated. It is impossible to suppose that the equator of heat separated them as it does now, however far north it might be driven by shutting off the Arctic currents and leaving those of the Antarctic to circulate. Yet if the southern hemisphere flora were formerly to the north of the equatorial zone of heat, the question must arise as to how Avaucaria Cunninghamt, I «Foss, Coniferz,’’ Goéppert, Haarlem Transactions, 1850, pl. 44, P- 237. 202 NATURE {Fuly 1, 1880 and other forms that are not tropical, could have reached their present habitat. The range of this Araucaria, although greater by far than that of the other Eutactas, is very definitely limited to a strip of coast in New South Wales between the Bellingen, a small stream about S. lat. 31° 40’, and Cape York in Queensland, in nearly 10° S, lat. It does not approach, therefore, to within nearly a thousand miles of the equator of heat, which is several degrees north of the true equator. They must either have crossed the equator from the south in pra- eocene times and subsequently become isolated and died out in their northern habitat, or have been originally indigenous to the north and retreated to their present stations. A passage must have been made in either case, for the present distribution of Coniferee is against the supposition that any 7dentical species could have extended synchronously in lowlands in both hemispheres, widely separated by the equator. If a general lowering of temperature had favoured their passage, the pre-existing tropical vegetation must have altogether died out, and the existing equatorial vegetation would present a com- paratively new aspect. The absence of any of the Coniferze that have ever been met with fossil in the plains of the tropical regions at the present day, and of any existing strictly equatorial plants, such as Gneta among Conifers, in the fossil floras, seems at first sight to show that it does do so and therefore lends some colour to what is at best merely a very crude hypothesis. A simpler supposi- tion than that of a general lowering of temperature in the Tropics, until more facts are forthcoming, is that the passage was effected across high land, some of which may still remain in Sumatra and Java. The specific identity which is apparent, of this and other Australian forms, with those of our Eocenes, proves that some, at all events, of the at present purely Australian genera, neither originated norbecame differentiated, as Ben- tham supposed, in Australia. The endemic genera, he says, never spread far out of it, the only exceptions appearing in the Malay Archipelago, “especially Timor, New Guinea, and Borneo, and a few as far as Southern China.’’! Nothing could speak more eloquently of the path the migrations have taken, than these remnants left upon the road, nor go farther to prove the former connec- tion with our antipodes, which the discovery in 1814 by Brown of 150 European plants, a number since greatly increased, growing endemically in Australia, first of all I believe suggested to us. It may not be altogether a useless supposition to hazard, that if, as Saporta supposes, plants originated mainly if not wholly in northern regions, and migrated south, the continents of the southern hemisphere may be actually preserving, as in the present case, our Eocene flora, and have been inhabited in Eocene times by the Jurassic flora which preceded it, or by some intervening flora of which we have now but the scantiest records. From what has been said the Araucarias are seen to be an archaic type, formerly most widely spread, now dying out and only lingering in restricted areas in the southern hemisphere, whose very specific differentiation was accom- plished before the Eocenes began. May its value as food and use as the chief timber tree in the districts it still inhabits preserve it from an accelerated extermination at the hands of man, J. STARKIE GARDNER ON SOME POINTS CONNECTED WITH TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM HE remarks in NaTurRgE, vol. xxii. p. 169, of Messrs. i De La Rue and Miiller in connection with their most interesting and important researches on rarefied gases induce me to ask the privilege of stating somewhat more fully than I did on June 17 what I conceive to be the * Bentham, ‘‘ Flora Australiersis,”’ vol. vii. position filled by a working hypothesis such as that then mentioned in the science of terrestrial magnetism. Let me begin with the aurora. Here we have a phenomenon which invariably accompanies magnetic storms, on which occasions it occurs simultaneously over a large portion of the globe. Again the recent researches of the above- named gentlemen render it very probable that auroral dis- plays do not occur at a very great height, while it is con- ceivable that they may occur at times at an altitude ofa few thousand feet. Here then we have a phenomenon which is intimately connected with sudden changes of the earth’s magnetism. To this we may add earth currents as another phenomenon of the same kind, so that we have earth currents and auroral displays invariably associated with magnetic storms, when these are of marked violence. Now what is the nature of this connection? When we examine the formal laws of these associated phenomena we find that these lead us (almost irresistibly, as I think) to conclude that earth currents and aurore are secondary discharges caused by sudden changes in the earth’s mag- netism, no matter how these changes are produced. So strong is the evidence of /o77z in this instance that the late eminent magnetician John Allan Broun expressed to me his belief that earth currents and aurorz were connected with magnetic storms in the way above mentioned. If this be assumed as the most probable working hypo- thesis, it is natural to take another step. If we have dis- charges produced in stationary strata by a changing magnet, may we not have discharges produced in moving strata by a constant magnet, and may not the motions and changes of motion produced by the sun in the upper convection currents of the earth give rise to electric phenomena which may explain the changes of terrestrial magnetism? Of course this is only a working hypothesis. Before it can possibly become an established theory we must have obtained from Messrs. De la Rue and Miiller and from other observers that full and complete infor- mation regarding discharges in rarefied media which they are rapidly affording jus, and we must likewise have obtained fuller information than we now possess regard- ing the directions and velocities of the convection currents in the upper regions of the earth’s atmosphere. When this is done, the problem may be regarded as ripe for the mathematical physicist who may proceed with his calcu- lations and either dismiss the hypothesis as untenable or increase the probability of its truth. : But in the meantime we are not ripe for this, and all that we can do is to regard the hypothesis as a working one, and endeavour by its means to elicit new facts regarding the for of the diurnal and other variations of terrestrial magnetism. I submit that in this respect the hypothesis has not been devoid of value. I have by its means been led to derive the fact that certain magnetic diurnal changes lag behind corresponding solar changes, just as meteorological changes would do —a fact which | has since been confirmed by Mr. Ellis of the Greenwich Observatory. And I may be allowed to anticipate the results of work at which I am now engaged so far as to say that in the short periods which I am now investigat- ing an increase or decrease of solar activity corresponds to an increase or decrease both of magnetical and meteorological activity. Again, in conjunction with others, I have shown by preliminary discussions the probability of a progress of magnetic phenomena from west to east just as we know there is a progress of meteorological phenomena, only magnetic weather (if I may use the expression) appears to travel faster than meteorological weather. This last appears to me to furnish almost a crucial test in favour of this hypothesis, and through the courtesy of the Kew Committee, the Astronomer Royal, and Mr. Carpmael of Toronto I hope to be able soon to investigate this pheno- menon in a more complete manner. Fuly 1, 1880] NATURE ae eee ee Fe Finally, I understand that the Kew Committee are about to take in hand the subject of the progress of magnetic weather and to investigate it in a manner peculiarly suitable to an institution possessing relations with numerous self-recording magnetic observations. BALFOUR STEWART a —————— NOTES THE fund which has been established by the members of the Birmingham Philosophical Society for the endowment of original research already amounts to 700/, in donations, and to 70/. in annual subscriptions. Out of this a sum of 150/. per annum for three years has been voted to Dr. George Gore, F.R.S., which amount is, in the terms of the grant, placed at his disposal in order that he ‘‘may have greater facilities for continuing in Birmingham his original researches.” The council of the society proposes to make other grants as soon as the funds will permit. We have already spoken of the enterprise and public spirit of this society in establishing the fund; it is gratifying that they have been able to make a beginning so speedily, and the success of the scheme cannot be doubted. Dr. Gore’s address is now the Institute of Scientific Research, No. 67, Broad Street, Bir- mingham, WE are glad to hear that Mr. L. Fletcher, M.A., Fellow of University College, Oxford, has been appointed to succeed Prof. Story-Maskelyne as keeper of the Mineral Department of the British Museum. Mr. Fletcher was appointed first assistant in the department a little over three years ago, and the energy and ability with which he discharged the duties of that appointment promise well for the future of the Mineral Department. WE regret to have to announce the death of Mr. Henry Ludlam, which occurred last week from the rupture of a blood- vessel. He had been in failing health for some months, but seemed on the road to recovery when the hzemorrhage occurred. He was well known in the mineralogical world as one of the most assiduous and able of private collectors, and his valuable collection was one of the objects of interest which foreign mineralogists visiting this country wished to consult. He has carried out his intention, announced several years ago, of bequeathing the collection to the Jermyn Street Museum. This gift will render the collection of this museum second only to that of the British Museum, and will, in fact, render it a formidable rival in the case of some of the rarer and more beautiful minerals, Mr, Ludlam was always willing to allow his minera- logical friends to consult his collection, and also frequently supplied them with specimens for examination, THE Council of the Society of Arts have awarded medals to the following gentlemen for papers read during the session which is just over :—Major-General H. Y. D. Scott, C.B. F.R.S., for his paper on ‘‘ Suggestions for Dealing with the Sewage of London;” A, J. Ellis, F.R.S., for his paper on “©The History of Musical Pitch ;” John Sparkes, for his paper on ‘Recent Advances in the Production of Lambeth Art Pottery ;” Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A., for his paper on ‘* The History and Art of Bookbinding ;’”» W. Holman Hunt, for his paper on ‘‘ The Present System of Obtaining Materials in use by Artist Painters, as compared with that of the Old Masters ;” Thomas Fletcher, for his paper on ‘‘ Recent Improvements in Gas Furnaces for Domestic and Laboratory Purposes ;” John C, Morton, for his paper on ‘‘ The Last Forty Years of Agricultural Experience; ” Prof. Heaton, F.C.S., for his paper on “ Balmain’s Luminous Paint ;” Capt. Abney, R.E., F.R.S., for his paper on ‘‘ Recent Advances in the Science of Photography.” LorpD Norton has all along protested that he is not un- favourable to the teaching of science in elementary schools, and is evidently hurt at the incredulity with which his protestation is received by those one-sided individuals who persist in judging his intentions by his actions, and not his words, He is evidently of opinion that the only difference between himself and those who would maintain the Code unaltered, is one of method. There are people so benighted as to believe that as science deals with ¢hizgs, it is hopeless to teach it apart from these things ; who believe that if you want to make children know what a daisy or a buttercup is like, and to understand its structure, the shortest and most effectual way is to show them the flower and take it to pieces in some sort of systematic way before their eyes, But these people are all wrong, Why should children and teachers put themselves to the trouble of soiling their hands by pulling to pieces nasty weeds, when the thing can be much better done from books? Lord Norton, as we learn from a contemporary, has resolved to triumphantly refute these deluded people, by himself compiling a series of reading lessons in botany, warranted to teach the children of our elementary schools all that it is safe and wholesome for them to know. Evidently modern science and its methods are all wrong; books, after all, are the only instruments of education, and the sooner we make a holocaust of all modern scientific implements and methods thebetter. Might we suggest to Lord Norton thatafter he has completed his botani- cal enterprise he might compile a series of lessons in engineering, civil and mining, for the purpose of saving the neophytes in these departments the necessity for spending their time in sooty workshops and stifling mines? In fact there seems no end to the enterprise which Lord Norton is about to ‘inaugurate ;” if he is able to carry it on to completion, he will probably earn for himself 2 right to be considered the most remarkable educationist of his time. Inthe meantime Her Majesty’s reply to the address which the Lords were persuaded to adopt is virtually a quiet snub; while in the Commons Mr. Mundella has declared that the Government have no intention of lowering the standard of education in the country. Does not this look rather bad for the success of Lord Norton’s projected compilation ? Ir is a tacitly-accepted practice, and one so beneficial to student-readers as to be almost imperative, that writers of original scientific memoirs should, wherever their researches touch upon common ground with those of older workers of standing, give references (at the very least in a decent foot-note) by which the student may be able to turn at once to the zpsissema verba of the possible authorities. We regret to notice an increasing tendency of late to slovenliness in the way of making such references on the part of some of the younger generation of enthusiastic would-be discoverers. Even the Proceedings of the Royal Society itself are not exempt from this modern weed, for in a recent paper we find the following given as references :— Phil, Mag., 1850, Pogg. Annalen, 1858, and—for an important deduction from a paper by Clausius—P/i7. Mag., 1851. Is it too much to request the writers of Royal Society papers to be at least a little more explicit in their allusions? We cannot suppose that such references are made vague with any sinister purpose, Dr. P. P. C. Hoek of Leiden writes :—‘‘The zoological station of the Netherlands Zoological Society for the summer months of this year is erected in theneighbourhood of Nieuwediep Harbour. The use of the station is free to the members of the Society and to strangers introduced by one of the members. The laboratory is furnished as completely as possible: with all the implements—optical and steel instruments excepted—neces- sary for anatomical, histological, and embryological researches ; it contains also a small collection of books necessary for a pre- liminary investigation and determination of the animals collected, &c. Special arrangements of a very simple but practical kind serve to keep alive the collected animals. Smaller and larger 204 excursions are organised every year by the station, and for these it always has at its disposal pilot-boats and other small vessels of the Dutch marine. Since its opening, in the summer of 1876, the station has repeatedly received proofs of appreciation from different quarters. Thus on the Scotch coast a similar station has been erected after the drawings and notes furnished by the Dutch Society ; the International Exhibition of Fish and Fisheries, this ‘year held in Berlin, rewarded the practical side of the institution with a silver medal, Further particulars may be obtained from the Secretary of the Commission for the Zoological station.” Dr. HERMANN MULLER’s long-promised work on Alpine Flowers is being printed, and will be published towards the end of the year. Mr. DANIEL GRANT has given notice that he will to-day ask the First Commissioner of Works whether he will take into his con- sideration the advisability of substituting the electric light for the purpose of illuminating the House in place of the gas now used in the roof. Tue annual exhibition of the Photographic Society at Pall Mall will open on Saturday, October 2, and close on November 13 Friday, September 24, is the last day on which pictures can be received. THE Zimes Geneva correspondent writes under date June 20 that a remarkable electrical phenomenon occurred at Clarens on the afternoon of Thursday last. Heavy masses of rain-cloud hid from view the mountains which separate Fribourg from Montreux, but their summits were from time to time lit up by vivid flashes of lightning, and a heavy thunderstorm seemed to ’ be raging in the valleys of the Avants and the Alliaz. No rain was falling near the lake, and the storm still appeared far off, when a tremendous peal of thunder shook the houses of Clarens and Tayel to their foundations. At the same instant a mag- nificent cherry-tree near the cemetery, measuring a metre in circumference, was struck by lightning. Some people who were working in a vineyard hard by saw the electric ‘‘ fluid” play about a little girl who had been gathering cherries and was already 30 paces from the tree. She was literally folded in a sheet of fire. The vine-dressers fled in terror from the spot. In the cemetery six persons, separated into three groups, none of them within 250 paces of the cherry-tree, were enveloped in a luminous cloud. They felt as if they were being struck in the face with hailstones or fine gravel, and when they touched each other sparks of electricity passed from their finger-ends. At the same time a column of fire was seen to descend in the direction of Chatelard, and it is averred that the electric fluid could be distinctly heard as it ran from point to point of the iron railing of a vault in the cemetery. The strangest part of the story is that neither the little girl, the people in the cemetery, nor the vine-dressers appear to have been hurt; the only inconvenience complained of being an unpleasant sensation in the joints, as if they had been violently twisted, a sensation which was felt with more or less acuteness for a few hours after. The explanation of this phenomenon is probably to be found in Prof. Colladon’s theory of the way in which lightning descends, as described in NATURE, vol, xxii. p. 65. The Professor contends that it falls in a shower, not in a perpendicular flash, and that it runs along branches of trees until it is all gathered in the trunk, which it Fursts or tears open in its effort to reach the ground, In the mstance in question the trunk of the cherry-tree is as completely shivered as if it had been exploded by a charge of dynamite. THE number of lions in Algeria is fast diminishing, and it is expected that the animal will soon be extirpated from the colony. As there is an increasing demand for public exhibitions at fairs and zoological gard»ns, an establishment has been formed at Bona, by a private individual, for lion-breeding. NATURE [ Faly 1, 1880 The Commission for the construction of the Trans-Saharan Railway has determined that this great work shall be preceded by the establishment of a telegraph line connecting Algiers with St. Louis in Sengal w@ Timbuctoo, We hear that Mr. J. R. Gregory, the well-known mineral dealer in London, has been awarded at the Sydney Exhibition a first class—equal toa gold medal—and a ¢hird class, for his collections of minerals and fossils, and geological collections. WE are asked to state that the business of Messrs. R. and J. Beck, the manufacturing opticians, has been removed from No. 31, Cornhill, to No, 68, Cornhill. THE success achieved by M. Paul Desmarets in his balloon photographs, to which we referred last week, has created some sensation in the scientific world of Paris. The photographs obtained by him at Rouen were exhibited and explained by M. de Fonvielle in a lecture delivered at Versailles Mairie on June 22, ata sitting of the Société des Sciences Naturelles. They have been presented by MM. Paul Desmarets and Jovis to the Minister of War ; M. Janssen will present them at the Academy of Sciences, and M. W. de Fonvielle to the Geographical Society. One of the photographs will be published next Satur- day in the Monde Jilustré, having been photographed on wood and engraved, The electrical apparatus which enabled M. Paul Desmarets to obtain his c/ichés, and the obturators have a weight of 700 grammes only, including the elements required. Steps are being taken for the systematic photographing of Paris and vicinity. One plate shows a piece of land covered with houses, gardens, and roads in the vicinity of Rouen, measuring 300 yards by 300 yards, and executed on the scale of gy. The altitude was about 1,100 metres. The second photograph was in the direction of W.N.W., facing the horizon, All the Seine, from Rouen Railway Bridge to Guellebceuf, is seen with wonderful distinctness. The city of Rouen was concealed by a dense cloud, and is lost in darkness. The details on the banks can be magnified and examined at leisure. This remarkable ascent was made from Rouen on June 14, with Gabriel, a new balloon of 1,200 cubic metres belonging to M. Tovis, and built for the express purpose of crossing the Channel, weather permitting. It is owing to the uncertainty of the weather that this enterprise, of which we have spoken already, has been postponed. WE learn from a circular forwarded to us that the Epping Forest and County of Essex Naturalists’ Field Club will hold their next Field Meeting on Saturday afternoon, July 3, for the purpose of thoroughly inspecting the ancient earthworks of Ambresbury Banks and Loughton. The archzological conductor for the occasion is Major-General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S. M. Tessie Du Moray, a French chemist who had invented a continuous process for the preparation of oxygen gas and appa- ratus for oxyhydric lighting, has recently died at New York at the age of sixty-two. THE excursions arranged for by the Geologists’ Association are to Maidstone on July ro, Leith Hill and Dorking July 24, and Bristol on August 16 and five following days. On Tuesday evening Signor Alberto B. Bach gave an interest- ing lecture at the Royal Academy of Music on the cultivation of the voice, and on his invention, the Resonator, an instrument somewhat of the nature of an artificial palate, intended to increase the power of the voice without any additional expendi- ture of breath. We hope to be able to give some further notice of this important invention next week. NATURAL caverns of enormous size—one being 600 feet long— have been discovered within the last few days in the neighbour- hood of West Harptree, near Wells, in Somerset. The investi- gations are still being carried on, and the discoveries have excited some interest among antiquaries and archeologists. Fuly 1, 1880} In a paper read at the last meeting of the Statistical Society, by Mr. R. Price Williams, C.E., ‘‘On the Increase of Population in England and Wales,” the author said the total increase of the population of England and Wales during the whole of the last century was only 3,417,536, the average decennial rate of increase being nearly 5 per ceut., whereas during the present century, up to 1871, there was an increase of nearly 14 millions, the average decennial rate of increase being over 14 percent, The rate of increase in the decade 1811-21 was the maximum attained in this century, viz., 18 per cent., as from that period down to the census of 1861 therate of increase of the population had continuously diminished. He observed that a great increase of the population took place at the time when steam-power began to be used for manufacturing purposes, and while the towns increased, the rural districts were found to diminish. Mr, Williams estimates that the population of England and Wales by the census of 1881, will be 25,735,900. In the case of the population of London the decrements were very slight indeed, showing that it had not reached that declining stage in the rate of its increase long since arrived at in the case of Liverpool, Manchester, and many other large towns. The population of London had increased from 958,863 in 1801 to 3,251,913 in 1871. He did not think there was sufficient data for estimating the future increase of the popu- lation of London for any lengthened period, and he regarded as unreliable the enormous estimates which had recently appeared in connection with the question of the water supply of the me- tropolis, where the population in the course of the next century was estimated at over 17 millions, Tue Thirteenth Annual Refort of the Peabody Institute of Baltimore testifies to the increasing usefulness of that institution, both as a library and as a centre of varied instruction, Among its means of usefulness are a series of lectures, many of which are on scientific subjects. WE have received the Refort of the South African Museum for 1879, from which we are pleased to see that the Museum is in a fairly flourishing condition. A long list of additions during the year is appended. THE May and June numbers of the Friends’ Schools’ Watural History Fournal contain much interesting matter, the loca! papers being specially valuable. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include an Arabian Gazelle (Gazella arabica) from Arabia, presented by Capt. Titus ; a Common Genet (Genetta vulgaris), South European, presented by Mr. G. H. Thunder, R.N.; an Emu (Dromeus nove-hollandiz) from Australia, pre- sented by Mr, A. Mcllwraith, F.Z.S.; a Greater White-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua cristata) from Moluccas, presented by Mrs. A. L, Chetwode; three Red-beaked Weaver Birds (Quelea sanguinirostris) from West Africa, presented by the Marchioness of Westminster ; a Crested Ground Parrakeet (Calopsitta nove- Aollandiz) from Australia, presented by Miss M. S. Spooner; a Barbary Ape (AZacacus inuzs) from North Africa, an Ocellated Monitor (Monitor ocellata) from West Africa, deposited ; three Ruddy Sheldrakes (Zadorna rutila), European, two Sandwich Island Geese (Bernicla sandvicensis) from the Sandwich Islands, two Blood-rumped Parrakeets (Psephotus hematonotus) from Australia, two Celebean Rails (Ral/us celebensis) from Celebes, purchased; a Collared Fruit Bat (Cynonycteris collaris), a Japanese Deer (Cervzs sika), born in the Gardens: OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN THE THIRD CoMET of 1822.—Neither Galle in his catalogue, nor Karl in his Repertorium der Cometen-Astronomie, refers to any observations of this comet except the imperfect ones made NATURE 205 by Caturegli at Bologna, and two by Gambart at Marseilles, and the only orbits found in the catalogues are the two calculated by Heiligenstein. The comet was however observed at Rio de Janeiro, from June 18 to June 24, and Henderson reduced the observations, which were made by Lieut. Robertson, R.N., and calculated an approximate orbit upon them. The comet approached near to the earth, and is of some interest upon that account. Mr, Hind has combined the observations of both hemispheres, and with the following results for the elements of the orbit: Henderson’s numbers, not being found in our catalogues, are annexed :— Hinp. HENDERSON. Perihelion passage July 15°8442 G.M.T. ... July 15°651 G.M.T. ‘ Long. of perihelion ... 219 59°4 220 19 49 », Ascending node 97 44°93... 98 14 47 Inclination of orbit ... 36 17°5 35 36 0 Log. perihelion distance... 9°92797 9°92879 Motion—retrograde. Henderson’s paper upon this comet will be found in the’ P/z/o- sophical Transactions for 1831. On June 18 the comet was in opposition to the sun, distant from the earth o°14. Though it was discovered by Pons at Marlia on May 30, we have no obser- vation previous to June 8. Pons at the time was not provided with instruments competent to fix the positions. Zach writes of the comet at the time of discovery that it was without tail or nucleus, simply a nebulosity more condensed towards the centre. Pons thought that in the absence of moonlight it would have been visible without the telescope. He was then on the watch for Encke’s comet, which, though not observed in Europe, was closely followed by Riimker at Paramatta, N.S.W. THE DovsLe-sTAR 85 PEGAsI.—Mr. Burnham publishes measures of the small and close companion of this star made in the summer of 1879, which, compared with those he obtained the previous year when he detected this very faint object, esta- blish its physical relation to the principal star, since it is shown to partake of its large proper motion, while a suspicious differ- ence of 10° between the means of the measures in 1878 and 1879 points to its binary character. These means are as follow :—_ 1878°43 ... Position 274°0 ... Distance 0°67 ... 3 nights TS70:40)e-- ss 284°6 ... a3 o'75 ... 5 nights Mr. Burnham estimates the magnitude of the close companion about the twelfth on Struve’s scale, and considers it will require an aperture of at least twelve inches to showit. He has also measured the distant companion which was used by Prof. Briin- now in his investigation of the parallax of 85 Pegasi, which he made to be 0’""054, This star was observed with 85 at Konigs- berg by Bessel on October 6, 1825, when it followed 61°95 in R.A., and was 38”"6 south of the bright star. If we compare these differences with those corresponding to Mr. Burnham’s measures at the epoch 1878-95, and assume the fixity of the companion, we shall find for the secular proper motion of 85 Pegasi in R.A. + 1001, and in Decl. — 961, agreeing pre- cisely with the values resulting from a comparison of the meri- dian observations. If, as Prof, Briinnow hinted, there is proper motion of the distant companion, its amount would appear to be very minute. Mr. Burnham adds that there are but two other stars on our lists similar in character to 85 Pegasi, viz., n Piscium and 6 Scorpii; all three were detected by him with the 18-inch Chicago refractor. A VARIABLE STAR IN AQUARIUS.—The star observed on six nights at Bonn, in 1863, in R.A. 22h, 28m. 169s. N.P.D. 98° 21’ 19” for 1855°0, is variable from 9m. to invisibility in a 7-inch aperture. Argelander noted it four times 9°5, once 96, and once 10°0. It was observed at Markree as a 9m, on October 27, 1848, on August 26, 1852, it was 11m., and on November 9, 1$74, it was invisible. On September 21, 1876, it was 11°12. It has at times a hazy blurred appearance, as remarked in several other variable stars. This star was long since indicated as variable, but appears to have escaped attention from most observers of this class of objects. a GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES Dr. FRANCISCO PEREIRA Passos, Director of the Brazilian State Railways, has recently caused to be prepared and published a map showing the existing and projected railways in the pro- vinces of Rio de Janeiro, Minas, and San Paulo. This map is 206 apparently executed with much care, and is stated to be the most accurate of its kind yet produced in Brazil, He has also published the first part of a work on the railways of Brazil in 1879, descriptive of the lines shown on the above-mentioned map, and he has added a skeleton map showing the railways only. Dr. Passos has, we believe, been induced to issue these publications in order to make more widely known in England the progress in railway communication now going on in Brazil, a subject which is of considerable interest from an economical and geographical point of view. THE last Bulletin of the Antwerp Geographical Society con- tains a geographical and commercial essay on the Australian colonies, which is accompanied by reproductions of some curious old maps, as well as by a sketch map which professes to dis- tinguish the arable, pastoral, and desert regions of the continent, in regard to which, however, the writer’s information hardly appears to be brought down to the latest date. From the Japan papers we learn that H.M.’s surveying vessel Sylvia left Hiogo on April 24 for Cape Chichakoff to take a line of soundings there, which will complete her surveying work on the Japanese coast. The Sy/vza has been employed for about twelve years in surveying the coasts of Japan and the Inland Sea, and during this period has done excellent service to navigation, M. DE UjrAtvy is to leave Paris at the end of the summer on his new journey of exploration in Central Asia, THE Zimes correspondent writes from Copenhagen that on June 24 died there Mr. Carl Petersen, whose name is connected with some of the most renowned Arctic explorations. He was a born Dane, but had lived many years in Greenland, and had there acquired a perfect knowledge of the Esquimaux language, being at the same time a most skilled hunterand fisherman. At the age of thirty-seven he was engaged by Capt. Penny as interpreter, and accompanied his expedition in the years 1850-51. Some years later he followed Dr. Kane on his unfortunate expedition, when the vessel had to be left in the ice and the crew were nearly starved and frozen to death. He had not been home more than a couple of weeks after returning from a two years’ stay in Greenland, before he went out again as interpreter with the vx, Capt. Sir Leopold M‘Clintock, with Mr. (now Sir) Allan Young as sailing master. Of this expedition, lasting from 1857 to 1859, and leading to the discovery of the fate of Sir John Franklin, he has written a graphic description, supplying many details wanting in the well-known book of Sir L. M‘Clintock, and inscribed with the words chosen by Jane Franklin for the flag of the Fox, ‘‘ Hold fast,” happening to be quite as correct in Danish as in English. In 1861 he accompanied the Swedish naturalists Nordenskjold and Torell on their first expedition to Spitzbergen, and when, in last April, the Vega passed Copen- hagen, the hardy old sportsman and sailor, with his cross and Arctic medal, was one of the friendly faces greeting the discoverer of the North-East Passage. Mr. Petersen died from heart- disease at the age of sixty-seven. PHYSICAL NOTES ONE of our electrical contemporaries across the Channel gives a glowing description of we grande machine électrique allemande, which its editor says he wishes to see introduced into France, ‘where our official professors appear to have lost all ambition at making things big.” The great gooseberry of the season is nothing to this new machine, which is, we are told, composed of twenty parallel disks of 1,300 metres in radius, This is “making things big” with a vengeance, for the diameter of the disks will be over 24 kilometres, or about a mile and a half. Did our contemporary make a double blunder when it wrote “‘treize cents métres”? If we remember rightly, the plates in Topler’s induction-machine, which appears to be the one referred to, are not far from 13 centimetres radius. PROFESSORS BRACKETT AND YOUNG have made a new deter- mination of the efficiency of Edison’s dynamo-electric generator and of his carbon horse-shoe lamp, and find that one horse-power applied at the dynanometer would produce in this lamp a light equal to that of 107 standard caudles. Asa matter of fact the lamp was only giving a light of 10°7 candles while consuming 0'077 of a horse-power, which is not quite the same thing, Pror, QumNncKE has lately been occupied with a very remark- able research on the alteration of volume which a dielectric experiences under the stress of an electric charge. In most NATURE [Futy 1, 1889 cases the result of surface electrification is to produce a minute expansion, but one class of bodies—that of the fatty oils and resins—contracts under similar circumstances. Herr Quincke applies his measurements to explain the phenomena observed by Kerr of the double refraction of light exhibited by dielectric media when under electrostatic strain ; and he shows that the optical effects in the two classes of media are opposite in character. M. MoucHET is continuing in Algeria the researches on the utilisation of solar heat which he began in the South of France. He employs, according to his recent communication to the Comptes Rendus, a mirror 3°8 metres in diameter to concentrate the rays of the sun upon a boiler of copper 5 millims. thick. Even on dull days the apparatus boils water under half an hour. M. Mouchet has employed his apparatus for the distillation of oils and essences, the boiling of linseed oil, and the sublimation of benzoic acid. He has even succeeded in working a small engine. Mr. G. R. CAREY of Boston has published in the Sczentifie American a suggested system for the transmission of light by electricity. A camera throws an image of the object to be exhibited upon a surface made up of small pieces of selenium, each of which forms part of a separate voltaic circuit, the cir- cuits passing to a receiving instrument, where they reproduce the image by incandescence. To this Mr. Sawyer has appended the following criticisms :—The action of light in altering the con- ductivity of selenium is slow. To transmit satisfactorily an image one inch square would require 10,000 selenium points and 10,000 conducting wires, unless some principle of isochronous movement could be devised—which Mr. Sawyer regards as unattainable in practice. M. FAYE has lately published in the Comptes Rendus a re- markable paper on the physical forces which have produced the present figure of the earth. After remarking on the use of the pendulum in determining the figure of the eartlt from series of measurements of the intensity and direction of the gravitation force at different parts of the earth’s surface, he draws attention to the curious fact that while the direction and intensity of gravity are affected perceptibly by the presence of hills such as Schie- hallion and Arthur’s Seat, or even by masses as small as the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, gigantic mountains such as the Himalayas, and great elevated plateaux and table-lands do not affect the pendulum-indications in any sensible manner, except in certain cases where upon elevated continents there appears to be a veritable defect of attraction in- stead of the excess which might be expected. Indeed, the observations are sufficiently striking to seem to point to the supposition that not only under every great mountain, but even under the whole of every large continent, there were enormous cavities. More than this, the attraction at the surface of all the great oceans appear too great to agree with the dis- tribution presumed by Clairant’s formula, which is exact enough for most purposes. Sir G, Airy’s suggestion that the base of the Himalaya range reaches down into the denser liquid interior, and there displaces a certain amount of that liquid, so that the exterior attraction is thereby lessened, is one which, inherently improbable, fails to have any application in explaining why the attraction above the seas should be greater than over the continents, M,. Faye propounds the following solution to the difficulty :— Under the oceans the globe cools more rapidly and to a greater depth than beneath the surface of the continents, Ata depth of 4,000 metres the ocean will still have a temperature not remote from 0° C., while at a similar depth beneath the earth’s crust the temperature would be not far from 150° C, (allowing 33 metres in depth down for an increase of 1° in the internal temperature), Ifthe earth had but one uniform rate of cooling all over it, it would be reasonable to assume that ‘the solidified crust would have the same thickness and the same average density all over it. It is therefore argued that below the primitive oceans the earth’s crust assumed a definite solid thickness before the continents, and that in contracting, these thicker portions exercised a pressure upon the ‘fluid nucleus tending to elevate still further the continents. This hypothesis, M,. Faye thinks, will moreover explain the unequal distribution of land and sea around the two poles; the general rise and fall ‘of continents being determined by the excess of density of the crust below the oceans, and by the lines or points of least resistance to internal pressure being at the middle of continents or at the margin of the oceans, : Fuly 1, 1880] NATURE 207 me Some experiments have lately been made by the Rev. Dr. Haughton and Prof, Emerson Reynolds to evaluate the co- efficient of friction (7.e. the ‘‘ drag”) of air upon air and of water upon water. In these experiments a spherical ball of unpolished granite of 22 kilogrammes weight and 25 centimetres in diameter was suspended freely by a pianoforte wire and was set rotating in the air or in water ; the period of the vibrations and the decrement of their amplitudes being observed by means of indices attached to the brass collar by which the ball was sus- pended, A discussion of the equations of motion led to a simple working equation for reduction of results. The mean coefficient I though this 6052°7 value apparently differed slightly according to barometric and thermometric conditions. For the ‘‘ drag” of water upon water of friction found for air upon air was f = the value found was f = |. These experiments involved fric- te) tion at low velocities only, for which it could be assumed that the friction was proportional to the velocity. The authors of this research point out that these results tend to negative the theory of Dr. Carpenter that the phenomena of ocean circulation are due to the greater height of the water at the equator as com- pared with that at the poles, FRoM 4 series of experiments with tones produced by a limited number of impulses, Herr Kohlrausch finds (/Vied. Ann., No. 5) that a tone of only two vibrations of a certain frequency can be dis- tinguished as differing in pitch froma continuous tone, whenit forms with it an interval of 34. Also, in agreement with the researches of Herr Exner and Herr Auerbach, the possible sharpness in de- finition of the pitch of a tone by an ear of average fineness does not perceptibly increase after sixteen vibrations have occurred. The general results are regarded as confirming Helmholtz’s theory of the co-vibration of tone-perceiving organs in the ear. The experi- ments were made with a pendulum fitted with a piece of toothed wheel, of radius equal to the length of the pendulum, the teeth impinging on (a piece of cardboard. The continuous tone was obtained from a monchord. THE torsion of wires of steel, iron, and copper has been recently made a subject of experiment by Herr Warburg (Wied. Ann., No 5). Among other results, the statically-determined moments of torsion are found to be all smaller than those dynamically determined ; and the differences rise from I per 1,000 for steel to 6 for iron and 28 for copper. The elastic pressures seem to increase somewhat more slowly than the de- formations, the divergence being greater for copper than for iron, and for iron than for steel. No dependence of the coeffi- cients of torsion on the tension was discoverable (within the limits of experiment). As to the properties of wires that have under- gone permanent torsion, it appeared that it was only in the case of soft copper wires that, within wide limits of permanent tor- sion, these extend almost uniformly over the whole wire. Con- fining himself to copper wire, then, his experiments lead him to believe that by permanent torsion the wire becomes anisotropic, behaving, at any part, like a crystal of the rhombic system, whose axes have certain directions, ATTENTION has been called by Herr Holtz (Wied, Ann., No. 5) to an optical illusion in looking at geometrical figures, whereby they appear shorter from right to left than they really are; a square, ¢.g., appearing more or less as a rectangle, and a circle as an ellipse. One direct consequence is that when we draw such figures according to eye-measurement, we make them too long horizontally. The reason of the illusion Herr Holtz con- siders to be that, in common life, we much more frequently encounter bodies than geometrical figures, and so are disposed to accept the outlines of such figures for the outlines of actual bodies, Now we see more of a body in a horizontal direction than in a vertical, because we see with two eyes, and these are in a hori- zontal line. The outline of a ball appears to us really as an ellipse, because, from right to left, we see more than half of the ball. When we see a true circle this seems horizontally shortened, because we take it for the outline of a ball, and if we draw a circle we unconsciously give the outline of a ball. SoME researches by Herr Rontgen in the same line as those by Dr. Kerr, revealing a new relation between light and electricity, are described in the Annalen der Physik, No. 5; the methods were somewhat varied. Special attention was given to the direction of vibration of the light in the liquid, and the author’s results seem in the main to confirm Dr. Kerr’s views. Dr. Kerr got an effect with nitro-benzol only when a spark-interval was introduced in the connection of the one electrode with the conductor of the machine, giving a sudden discharge through the liquid. This Herr Rontgen considers due to the comparatively good conduc- tivity of nitro-benzol ; the spark discharge effects a brief but large difference of potential (not obtained in the other ease), producing sudden luminosity in the field of vision. But Herr Rontgen obtained the same effect with all the badly-conducting substances he examined; it was only of longer duration. A welcome method is thus afforded for examining comparatively good conducting liquids as to electro-optic properties,and Herr Rontgen thus demonstrated, for glycerin, sulphuric ether, and distilled water, an influence of electricity on the transmitted light. The author offers (doubtfully) a different hypothesis of the phe- nomena to that of a direct action of electricity on the light vibration, IN a recent paper in the Avnalen der Physik, No. 5, Prof. Clausius criticises recently-published views of Maxwell, Frowein, and Korteweg on the mean length of path cf gas molecules. PHYSICAL SCIENCE IN RUSSIA E have before us the minutes of the meetings of the Physical Section during the last congress of Russian naturalists, just published in the last number of the Journal of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society (vol. xii., fasc. 4), and we find in them reports of several very interesting papers which were read and discussed during the congress. The most numerous communications were on electricity. Thus, M. Feploff exhibited the new electrophoric machines of his invention. A glass of sulphuric acid is sufficient for main- taining the machine ready, even during moist weather ; it gives very powerful sparks, white and coloured, and succeeds well in decomposing water.—Prof. Khvolson made a communication on corrections to the differential equations of the motion of a magnet which oscillates under the influence of a metallic tran- quilliser, and discussed the method of computation of corrections to differential equations of motion in general.—M. Tchikoleff gives the equations for determining the losses which an electrical current experiences when passing through telegraphic wires.— Prof, Stoletoff has terminated his experiments for determining the ratio between electro-magnetic and electro-static units (uv of Maxwell). He undertook his experiments in 1876, but had not terminated them at that time; recently MM. Ayrton and Perry have determined the value of v by a method analogous to his own, which differs from theirs in measuring a current produced by a series of successive discharges, by means of a rotating com- mutator, the velocity of rotation of which is measured by means of achronograph. The preliminary experiments have given a velocity very near to that found by other researches, 7.¢., about 300,000 kilometres per second, and Prof. Stoletoff expects to obtain more exact figures.—M. Borgmann continues his experi- ments for determining the heating of iron by intermittent magnetisation, The experiments are very difficult, because of the inductive currents, but they have already shown that a change in the magnetic state produces an increase of temperature. — Prof. Lemstrém (Helsingfors) made a communication on his most important work on the causes of terrestrial magnetism. He has demonstrated that an annular isolator, when put in rapid rotation around an iron cylinder, acts upon this last as a galvanic current and magnetises it. Likewise an iron cylinder when rapidly rotating in an insulating medium must be magnetised, and thus the earth when rotating in an atmosphere of ether must also be magnetised. The various peculiarities observed as to terrestrial magnetism might be easily explained by the motion of the earth around the sun, and by the terrestrial galvanic currents. —M. Tchikoleff explained his improvements in the Foucault electric lamp, which allow several lamps to be placed in one circuit.—Prof. Petrushevsky made an interesting communication on his measurements of the intensity of the magnetic field between the extremities of electro-magnets of various shapes, which measurements were made for determining the best shape to give to electro-magnets. That of Rubmkorff proved to be twice as strong as that of Gramme. ‘The best shape is that of two iron cylinders united together by means of ares made of broad iron plates. The free ends must be provided with two spherical pole- pieces, each of which has a conical processes, the ends of these two processes being directed one to another. In meteorology we notice several valuable papers, the most important of them being that by M. Woeikoff on rainfall in 208 NATURE [Fuly 1, 1880 various parts of the earth within different seasons.—Prof. Kraye- vitch, who has undertaken a series of investigations on the very small changes of pressure of the air in connection with changes of weather, exhibited his new graphic very sensitive barometer, the column of which consists of water and mercury, and which amplifies 140 times the oscillations of a common mercury baro- meter.—Prof. Egoroff has begun a series of researches into the atmospherical lines of the solar spectrum. As known, several of them are due to the presence of water-dust in the atmosphere, and Angstrom supposed that several other lines (A, B, and a) depend upon the presence of carbonic acid and nitrogen, The experiments of M, Egoroff show that neither of these two gases modifies the solar spectrum, even when the rays go through a sheet five metres thick of gas. In other branches of physics we must but notice the most important work, by Prof. Tchebysheff, on centrifugal regulators ; the researches by M. Sloughinoff on the calorific capacity of gases; by Prof. Petrushevsky on the velocity of evaporation of liquids with reference to the coefficients of cohesion of these liquids and to the molecular pressure ; on the true atomical heat capacity, by M. Stelson, who arrives at the conclusion that the theory of a constant atomic heat-capacity is not true for many gases ; and by M. Sloughinoff, on the powder-state of bodies, and on the changes of the internal energy of solids and fluids under the influence of exterior forces. We notice also the’communication by M. Lebedzinsky on an improved microscope with liquid lenses, which gives enlarge- ments from 50 to 200 times, and is very cheap; and by M. Argamakoff on lighting and heating by means of pulverised hydrocarbons, SEISMOLOGY. IN FAPAN The Earthquake of February 22, 1880.—The earthquake which occurred shortly after midnight on the morning of February 22 was the most severe since the opening of this country to foreigners. I have been so much in the habit of noting my watch during the frequent earthquake manifestations by day and night, that I am sure I must have been instantly awakened. My house was swaying to and fro, windows were rattling, timbers creaking, mortar falling, and pictures swinging violently. Although, as usual on such occasions, I was studying my watch by a night light, I meditated escape. After forty seconds the motion apparently subsided. There had been two distinct periods of maximum intensity. Taking my lamp, I tried to reach the door, but the motion was still so great that I had to stop, supporting myself against the wall. When I went down stairs to look at two long pendulums of 20 and 30 feet length respectively, I found them swinging in ares of about 2 feet, having broken all the apparatus on the table over which they hung. Hitherto the pointers placed on heavy weights suspended by long wires have been regarded by me as motionless points during an earthquake, and I have been able to use them accurately on this assumption even for a shock which Palmieri’s instrument indicates as 21°, a shock which knocked down several chimneys. It would seem that in the last earthquake the house, instead of, so to speak, ‘‘eating up” the vibrations, was forced into vibration itself, The period of this vibration was roughly noted by my neighbour, Mr, Thomas Gray, as nearly one second, At the lower end of one of these pendulums I have small pointers which scratch two smoked glass plates. These plates are caused to move away during an earthquake, so that relative vibrations are shown in two wavy lines. The direction of the first mark upon the plate tells the direction of the shock, and also the distance moved by the earth relatively to the steady pointer. The amplitude of the waves tells approximately what the move- ment has been during succeeding vibrations. From the number of waves upon a given length of glass we get the rate of vibration, and hence, knowing the velocity of transit, the true wave-length of the earthquake may be determined, Asan example I may mention that an earthquake (December 3, 1879) registered by Palmieri’s instrument as 18°, was recorded on 7 inches of one of my glass plates in a curve of seven verysmall waves, the amplitude of each of which was about1 mm, Each wave was formed in half-a-second. The important deductions which may be drawn from even only one observation of this kind are obvious. The other pendulum I have used only for finding the greatest horizontal movement of an earth particle and its direction. Two pointers push against the motionless pendulum-bob when an earthquake occurs, and 30 they are moved in the stand which carries them, deflecting two suspended galvanometer mirrors, and readings of the amount of deviation of beams of reflected light are taken. I give some examples of the movement of the head of a pile which was driven deeply into the soft soil upon which Yedo is built :— 1. March 4, 1879, 4.43 p.m.—On the smoked glass the mark made was 3 mm, long; N. 10° E. to S, 10° W. Palmieri’s tbstraaet gives this shock of intensity 10° from S.S.W. to 2. February 1, 1880.—Small shock. Mark 1°25 mm. from N. 35 W. to S. 35° E. Palmieri’s instrument gives intensity 2°°5 S.S.E. to N.N.W. As measured by the mirrors, this shock was 0°5 mm,, and there is reason to believe that the mirrors were more correct, The amplitude of swing, as indicated on the moving plates, was from 3mm. to 4mm. At the point, however, there seems to have been a motion of about lomm. As my indicating apparatus was broken, I give the following record from two of Palmieri’s instruments in the Government Observatory :— From S.S.E. or N.N.W. the intensity was 78 3p. SiSbWe he NNER: ee > 52 » W.S.W. ,, E.N.E. eS 28 1 W.N.W.,, E.S.E. Pe oe 28 These measurements had to be computed, as the graduations of the instruments are only to 26°. The shaking seems to have had three periods. The first began at 12h. 49m. 22s., and lasted 14 seconds ; the second began at 12h. 50m, 19s., and lasted Im. 26s.; the third began at 12h. 52m. 15s., and lasted 6 seconds. On visiting Yokohama I found that the chief destruction had been amongst the houses belonging to Europeans, This is partly due to the Japanese houses being nearly as flexible as baskets, but it is also on account of the European houses being mostly buils on hills. Thus the houses built on the d//, hills inter- sected by sharp steep valleys, and also many houses built along the creek have suffered ; the greater part of Yokohama is built on a plain of shingle, and the houses here escaped with smalk damage. The edge of a declivity is like the last of Tyndall’s row of boys, unsupported on one side, and therefore gets shot forwards, Tokei, Yokohama, Japan JoHN MILNE UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAMBRIDGE.—In the first half of the winter course of lectures given in connection with the Cambridge Local Lectures the attendance of about 1,200 persons, on subjects of physical science, out of a total of 3,570, may be noted. Inthe second half of the session scarcely 400 were attending lectures on physical science subjects, but this was coincident with a general falling off after Christmas, to which bad weather, depression‘ of trade, and political excitement may have contributed. Another academic year has completely passed, and in the multitude of counsellors no relief has yet been given to those who desire freedom of choice of language studies and some chance for modern languages. The :University still says: “If you have not the smattering of Greek we require, we will give you no degree unless you bring up Arabic or Sanskrit as an Oriental student.” A EIVERPOOL paper intimates that the movement for establish- ing a University College in that city is likely soon to be erowned with success. In the scheme which was approved at a town’s meeting held some months ago it was proposed that seven pro- fessorships and two lectureships should be founded, and it was estimated that, independent of the cost of erecting college build- ings, the amount required for the foundation of the college is an annual income of 3,000/7., or a capital sum of 75,000/7. The committee accordingly appealed for subscriptions, and the appeal has been responded to in such a hearty manner that there is every probability of the entire sum required being raised before long. Already 60,000/. has been subscribed for the establish- ment of the college, the subscriptions including several of 10,000/, each, Lord Derby has subscribed 10,0007, towards the founding of one professorship ; a like sum has been given by Messrs. W., S. G., and P, H. Rathbone. Mrs. Grant of Rock Ferry has endowed another professorship with 10,000/.; Col. A. H. Brown and the Messrs. Crossfield have between them con- tributed 10,0007, for the founding of another chair ; and it is believed a number of Scotchmen resident in the city will provide Fuly 1, 1880] NATURE 209 a similar amount for a similar purpose. Several other large subscriptions have been promised to the treasurer, Mr. Robert Gladstone, bringing the total up to the amount above stated. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Bulletins dela Société d’ Anthropologie de Paris, tome 2, fase. 4, 1879.—This closing number of the last year’s Bulletins con- tains an interesting paper by M. Jacques Bertillon on the mean averages of life in the various grades of society among civilised races. His paper refers specially to France, although it sup- plies some comparative tables deduced from the mortality tables of other countries, while it principally aims at directing attention to the preventibility of numerous causes of early death.—M. G. Lagneau, in presenting to the Society {the mortality tables for Belgium, drawn up by Dr. Janssens {for 1878, referred to the predominance of phthisis in male subjects in France since 1865— 66, females having before that period supplied the larger number of deaths from pulmonary tuberculosis.—M. Lunier records the results of the official inquiry which he had been authorised to make in reference to the distribution of epilepsy in the various departments of France, and with regard to station, age, sex, &c.—M. le Docteur G. Le Bon gives an interesting report of his examination of the curious collection of skulls of celebrated men, now in the possession of the Paris Museum of Natural History, which is believed to include those of Boileau, Descartes, and Gall. The mean cranial capacity for the forty-two skulls, when compared with that of forty-two skulls of modern educated Parisians, was in excess of the difference between the latter and an equal number of negroes.—The present number of the Bulletins contributes little of importance to the literature of local French paleontology, the most interesting of such contributions being a paper by M. Mortillet, who reports the discovery, by M. Perron, of a funereal car with traces of human bones and textile fabrics in the tumulus, or barrow, known as la Motte at Apre- mont, in Haute-Sadne.—M. Verneau describes the Grotto de Voutré, in La Mayenne, in which a skeleton, believed to belong to the Bronze age, has been found, while a similar discovery has been made at Quevilly, near Rouen, as also at Cierges, where fragments of a dolichocephalic cranium of the neolithic type have been recovered. M. Millescamps has, moreover, drawn attention to the recent discovery by the Abbé Hamard, at Hermes (Oise) of cut flints in graves of the Merovingian age. The previous discovery between 1873 and 1875 of upwards of 20,000 flints in the Merovingian cemetery of Caranda has raised the question, which still awaits solution, whether these flints were deposited with the dead merely as objects with which the living had been most familiar, or whether their presence had any supposed protective action.—M. Zaborowski has laid before the Society the result of his examination of five Hakka skulls, and communicated the information he had received from M. de Lagrenée, French Consul at Canton, in regard to the history and pure Chinese origin of the Hakkas, who have in all ages formed the active combative element in the Chinese system, and have in recent years constituted the kernel of the Taiping rebel- lion.—The Abbé Durand describes a blonde African race, noticed near Laouga in 1562, and still traceable in Mozambique. —The original site of the Aryan race has again been brought under discussion by M. Henri Martin, who now inclines to the opinion, supported by M. de Ujfalvy, that a brown brachycephalic Aryan branch took precedence in Asia of the blonde dolicho- cephalic Aryans.—The most important paper in the present volume is M. Paul Broca’s ‘‘ Etude des Variations cranio- meétriques, et de leur Influence sur les moyennes.” To this is appended a valuable series of the means, variations, &c., of the cranial measurement of heads belonging to all countries and various periods.—M, Ujfalvy explained his views in regard to the opinion put forth by the Swedish anthropologist, Prof. G. Retzius, that Finland is occupied by two distinct races, the true Fin, or Tawaste, and the Carelian, or Finlander.—M, Emile Soldi, in presenting to the Society his recent work on the pro- portions of Greek and Egyptian statues, took occasion to refute the opinion advocated by Dr. Le Bon and M. Broca, that the Greeks followed Egyptian canons of taste in art, and that they took their models from foreigners.—M., Bataillard read a paper on the ancient workers in metals in Greece, and endeavours to trace in the tinsmiths of Dodona the direct ancestors of the modern Tsiganes, or gipsies. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania for 1878,—K, M. Johnston, on the freshwater shells of Tasmania ; gives a list and describes several new species.—Rey. J. E. Tenison-Woods, on some new Tasmanian marine shells; de- scribes a new genus, Iosepha, for a Cominella with a plait, and several new species.—R. M. Johnston, on certain tertiary and post-tertiary deposits on islands in Bass’s Strait.—F. M. Bailey, remarks on the distribution and growth of Queensland plants. — Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, on some Tasmanian freshwater univalves.—F. Abbott, on Carduus arvensis. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LONDON Royal Society, June 10.—‘‘On Bacterium fetidum: an Organism associated with Profuse Sweating from the Soles of the Feet.” By George Thin, M.D. Communicated by Prof. Huxley, Sec.R.S. The feet of certain individuals are characterised by a peculiar powerful and fcetid odour, which is really connected with the moisture that soaks the soles of the stockings and the inside of the boots. The moisture, which comes from the skin of the soles, especially from that of the heels, has no offensive smell whilst it is exuding, but it rapidly acquires the characteristic odour when taken up by the stocking. The fluid is an admixture of sweat with serous exudation from the blood, occurring in persons whose feet sweat profusely, and who, from much standing or walking, acquire an erythematous or eczematous condition of the skin of the soles, the local eczema or erythema being favoured by the softening and macerating effect of the sweat on the epidermis. When a small portion of the sole of the wet stocking was teased out in water, the drop of water was found to be swarming with micrococci. A second generation of the organism, which the author calls Bacterium fatidum, was obtained by placing a small piece of the wet stocking in a test-glass, charged with pure vitreous humour. This and succeeding generations were cultivated at a temperature which varied between 94° and 98° F. The suc- cessive generations were obtained by inoculating pure vitreous humour, with requisite precautions, In twenty-four hours the surface of the vitreous humour was always found covered with a delicate scum, which in forty-eight hours was compact and tolerably resistant. Inthe scum of one day’s ‘growth and in the fluid below it organisms were found as cocci, single and in pairs, in transition stages towards rod formation, as single and jointed rods, and as elongated single rods. Many of the rods were actively motile. The compact scum of two days’ growth was sufficiently resis- tant to be removed in an unbroken sheet. When disturbed by the needle it fell to the bottom of the glass. It was found to contain all the forms found in the twenty-four hours’ growth, and in addition long unbroken rods in transition stages towards the formation of chains of spores. Spores were also found lying beside the empty and partially empty sheaths from which they had been discharged. Groups of single spores and pairs, identical in size and appearance with those which had come to maturity {in the sheaths, were found mixed up with rods in all phases of development. The first stage in the development of the organism is the formation of a pair from one coccus, The next stage is that in which the whole body is wedge- shaped, the round brightly refractive coccus being found in the thickend of the wedge. Another phase, which is probably the successor of the preceding one, is the appearance of a canoe- shaped figure with the bright coccus in the centre. Other appearances connected with the early stage of develop- ment, and probably following the wedge and canoe-shaped figures, show the organism developed into a staff-shaped body, containing two elements of very different refractive power, The coccus element is still distinct and is brightly refractive, the other element is very slightly refractive and is seen as a dull shade, with however perfectly distinct outlines. The coccus may be at one end of the rod, two cocci may be in the centre close together with a prolongation of {protoplasm on either side, or a central rod of protoplasm may have a coccus at either end. In the next stage we have the formation of the rods character- istic of bacteria, The distinction between the coccus and the protoplasm becomes lost, although transitions are found in which faint differences of refraction still betray the two elements. The formation of rods of ordinary size, of long rods with 210 unbroken protoplasin, of rods with segmented protoplasm, and of rods filled with spores or cocci progresses identically with the similar formation in the Bacillus anthracts. The bacterium grows in turnip infusion less actively than in vitreous humour. The observations were not sufficiently extended to determine whether the bacterium forms spores when culti- vated in turnip infusion, but they sufficed to show that if such a formation takes place, it occurs much less actively than when the cultivation is in vitreous humour. The fcetid odour of the stocking was reproduced in the cultivation glasses, although the strength of the odour dimi- nished in successive generations. Dr. Thin stated at the meeting that an antiseptic treatment by which the bacteria were killed in the stockings and inner surface of the soles of the boots completely destroyed the fcetor, ‘‘Memoir on Abel’s Theorem,” by R. C. Rowe, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. _ Communicated by A. Cayley, LL.D., F.R.S., Sadlerian Professor of Pure Mathematics in the University of Cambridge. “©On certain Effects of Stress on Soft Iron Wires,” by J. A. Ewing, B.Sc., F.R.S.E., Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the University of Tokio, Japan. Communicated by Fleeming Jenkin, F.R.S., Professor of Civil Engineering in the University of Edinburgh. Physical Society, June 12,—Mr. Huggins, F.R.S., in the chair.—New Members: Mr. H. B. Iuff, Mr. Adam Hilger, Mr. C. V. Boys.—Dr. Shettle, of Reading, read a paper on the influ- ence of solar radiation on the earth’s rotation, The fact esta- blished by Dr, Shettle, that the magnetic energy of a bar magnet acts along spiral lines has Jed him to surmise that the energy emanating from the sun and impinging on the earth on the zone of the ecliptic, traverses the earth in a spiral path and finally emerges at the magnetic poles. The spiral of energy is ‘‘right- handed” at one pole and ‘‘left-handed” at the other, like the magnetic force in a magnet and the electric discharge in Crookes’ vacuum tubes. Like precession and nutation, these spiral paths are constantly changing and producing magnetic variations. He therefore infers that the magnetic poles will complete a cycle corresponding to the period of precession. Dr. Shettle thinks that bodies exhibit magnetic properties in proportion as they change the direction of the energy traversing them, and throw it into the spiral form. ‘Terrestrial magnetism would be due to the solar radiance on this hypothesis. Gravity also would be produced ; so likewise would the earth’s rotation (by a kind of ‘ magnetic whirl”), electricity, tornadoes, cyclones, water-spouts, and whirl- winds. Moreover this ‘‘spiral energy” would seem to operate throughout the whole universe.—Prof. Wiedemann, of Leipsic, made a communication on the phenomenon of interference in rays of long path, and showed how the phase of vibration of the atom or molecule emitting the rays influenced the phenomenon. Molecular collisions could operate in preventing interference, From a study of this question he was able to deduce a method of determining the pressure on the surface of the sun and stars. He mentioned that he had found that the temperature of a glowing gas in Geissler’s tubes may be under 100° C., and therefore the light of the aurora or of comets might be accompanied by a low temperature. He had determined that the quantity of heat pro- duced in a gas by the electric discharge was always the same, with the same amount of electricity, whether discharged at once or not, and that it increases nearly in proportion to the pressure of the gas. He had also determined that the heat which must be developed by a discharge in hydrogen in order to change the band spectrum of H into the line spectrum is about 100,000 calories for 1 gramme of hydrogen, and hence this might repre- sent the amount of heat necessary to transform the hydrogen molecule into its atoms. Dr. Schuster suggested that Prof. Wiedemann should make a similar experiment with another gas, say nitrogen, as there was a disagreement about the spectra, and Prof, Wiedemann stated that he so intended,— Mr. Ridout exhibited a device for amplifying small motions. A small barrel is slung by two threads between the prongs of a metal fork in such a manner that if the fork is bodily carried to and fro the barrel will rotate round its axis. This is simply effected by making each thread, in its passage from one prong to the other, take a few turns round the barrel. To the barrel an index is attached, and the fork is then fixed on the body whose minute motion is to be indicated. The translation of the body shifts the fork and rotates the barrel, which in turn deflects the index round the face of a dial, and the magnifying power is expressed by the ratio of the diameter of the barrel to the length NATURE | [Fuly 1, 1880 of the index. With this apparatus Mr. Ridout exhibited the lengthening of an iron core when magnetised by the passage of the current of two Grove’s cells through an insulated wire coiled round it. By riveting a slip of brass to the iron, the unequal expansion of brass and iron under heat was also shown, the heat being generated by keeping the current flowing in the coil. —Mr. D. Winstanley exhibited his new radiograph for record- ing graphically the intensity of solar radiation throughout the day. It consists of a differential thermometer with one black bulb anda circular stem. The lower part of the stem is filled with mercury, the upper branches with sul- phuric acid and water. The tube is mounted on a brass wheel, so that when the black bulb is exposed to the sun’s rays the differential motion of the mercury causes the wheel to turn. The wheel carries a light index or marker, which is free to traverse a vertical cylinder covered with paper coated with lampblack, and leaves a white track where its point has scratched off the soot. The radiogram thus produced can be fixed and pre- served. Dr, Guthrie pointed out the curious ‘‘ thermal twilight ” these radiograms had betrayed to Mr. Winstanley. They show that before sunrise the temperature increases, owing to solar radiation. Moreover, half an hour after sunset the index falls and remains till within a few minutes of midnight, when it mysteriously rises and sinks again, although the sun is then directly over the opposite hemisphere.—Mr. Baillie then gave the results of a study he had made into the theory of the phonei- doscope. He finds that waves simultaneously start from each side of the soap-film when the note ts sounded, and meeting in the middle generate ventral points and notes. The equations of several cases were given by him, and he suggested that photo- graphy should be employed to fix the appearance of the figures, in order that they might be investigated theoretically. Linnean Society, June 17.—Prof. Allman, F.R.S., pre- sident, in the chair.—Dr. R. C. A. Prior read a letter from a correspondent concerning the rare case of a mistletoe parasite on a mistletoe.—Lord Lilford exhibited and remarks were made on a series of skins, skulls, and horns of the Wild Sheep of Cyprus (Ovis ofhion, Blyth).—Mr, E. M. Holmes pointed out the peculiarities of the Antheridia in an excellent example of Polysiphonia fastigiata, gathered at Ventnor.—Mr. F. Crisp exhibited slides prepared at the Zoological Station of Naples, illustrating the early stages of the life of invertebrates, and he also showed living specimens of the new Medusa, Limnocodiunz victoria.—Mr. C. Stewart showed microscopic sections of the growing point of chara and of the common ash.—A paper was read by Mr, F, M. Campbell on certain glands in the maxillz of spiders. These glands, to which he attributes a secretory function (probably salivary), he finds in 7égeneria demestica have apertures on the inner side of the upper face of each maxilla, thence inclining towards the mouth. They are ring-like in figure, with an inclosed disk, There are integumental folds at their outlets. The glands and apertures increase in number with age, and the ducts tend to become chitinous, Glands varying some- what in structure, but evidently similar in kind, exist in species of Liniyphiide, Theridiidze, and the Epeiridee.—Mr. S. O. Ridley made a communication on two cases of incorporation by sponges of spicules foreign tothem. Ina species of the genus Czocalypta, Bwk., the dermis contained spicules which belonged to a species of Lsferia, and which latter sponge had been obtained in the same haul of the dredge. In another example of Adebion spicules also derived from Zsferia were likewise obtained. Thus an element of error might arise from one sponge containing skeletal structures accidentally derived from a neighbouring sponge of a different genus and habit.—Prof. Allman then called attention to the remarkable Medusa recently observed by Mr. W. Sowerby in the freshwater tank at the Botanic Gardens, Regent’s Park (a notice of this appeared in our last week’s issue, p. 178). —A short note from Prof, E, Ray Lankester concerning the same Medusa was also read.— Mr. F. M. Campbell read a second paper on the stridulating organs of Steatoda guttata and Linyphia tene- bricola. A stridulating organ has already been described by Profs. Westring and Mason Wood in certain other of the spiders ; ‘the present observations demonstrate its existence in both sexes, and the essentials of the structure are given in detail.—Dr. G. E. Dobson, in notes on Aplysia dactylomela, a specimen obtained at Bermuda, but not distinguishable from the species inhabiting the Cape Verde Islands, showed that there is inequality of size in the right and left moiety in the dental rows of the lingual rib- bon, and he described other structures appertaining to the man- dibular plates—Mr. G, Busk communicated some researches of Fuly 1, 1880] his on the Polyzoa collected in the late North Polar Expedition. Several interesting and new forms are given, while the author expressed himself in certain cases as differing in his determina- tions from Prof. Smitt of Stockholm,—A paper on the natural classification of the Gasteropoda (part 1), by Dr. J. D. Macdonald, was read. He refers to a communication of his published by the Society twenty years ago, wherein sexual characters, lingual dentition, and auditory concretions formed the basis of classifi- cation. With modifications this is now elaborated, and in cer- tain groups additional value given to the lingual and labial dentition.—The sixth contribution to the mollusca of the Cha/- Jenger Expedition, by the Rev. R. Boog Watson, was taken as read. The author treats of the Turritellidze, and describes nine new species.—A’ paper by Sir J. Lubbock was read, namely, Ob- servations on Ants, Bees, and Wasps, with a Description of a new species of Honey-Ant, an abstract of which appeared last week (p. 184).—The following gentlemen were elected Fellows of the Society :—The Rey. H. G. Bonavia Hunt, Trinity College, London ; H. N. Moseley, F.R.S., University of London; the Rey. A. Merle Norman, Durham; and E. A. Webb, Turnham Green,— The President with a few parting words then closed the session. Chemical Society, June 17.—Prof. H. E. Roscoe, president, in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On penta- thionic acid, by T. Takamatsu and Watson Smith. The authors have examined the evidence for and against the existence of this substance; they conclude that it does exist, and give a new method of preparing it, by the action of a very strong solution of iodine in hydriodic acid upon lead theiosulphate.—Preliminary note on some orcinol derivatives, by J. Stenhouse and C, E, Groves. The authors have confirmed their previous conclusion that halogen derivatives of orcinol exist, containing 5 atoms of bromine, &c., both the hydrogen atoms in the hydroxyl groups being displaced.—On the determination of carbon in soils, by R. Warington and W. A. Peake. Oxidation with potassium permanganate gives 92 per cent. of the total carbon, but diges- tion with chromic acid, &c., only 79 per cent. The best method is combustion with oxide of copper in a stream of oxygen. —Note on camphydrene, by H. E. Armstrong. In this note the author sharply criticises a recent paper by Dr. Letts in the Berlin Berichte, and, as a result of some experiments, completely con- firms the statement of Montgolfier that the substance formed by the action of sodium on the solid hydrochloride from turpentine oil isa mixture, and not a hydrocarbon having the formula C,)H),, as asserted by Dr. Letts.—On the action of nitric acid upon diparatolylguanidin, by A. G. Perkin. Dinitrodiparatolylguani- din, melting at 205°, was obtained in red crystals, also, by a slight modification, dinitrodiparatolylurea, melting at 233°.—On some higher oxides of manganese and their hydrates, by V. H. Veley. The oxide was precipitated by chlorine from a pure solution of the acetate, and was then heated ina current of air, oxygen; hydrates, MngO,,, 2H,O:2(Mn,O,,)3H.O, and Mn,,03;H,O were obtained; but in no case was the dioxide formed,—On a new method of preparing dinitroethylic acid, by E. Frankland and C. C. Graham. This consists in passing nitric oxide into a mixture of zine ethyl and sodium ethyl, to which a suitable solvent such as benzine has ,been added.—On the action of organo-zinc compounds upon nitriles and their analogues, by E. Frankland and H. K. Tompkins. The action of zinc ethyl upon phenylacetanitrile is studied.—On the action of benzoyl chloride on morphine, by C. R. A. Wright and C, H. Rennie. The end result is always dibenzoyl morphine.—An examination of terpenes for cymene by means of the ultra-violet spectrum, by W. N. Hartley. The author has examined speci- mens of orange oil, French turpentine, and Russian turpentine, by photographing their absorption spectra ; the first two oils were free from cymene, the last contains certainly less than 4 percent. —Notes on the purple of the ancients, by E. Schunck. The author has examined a sample of the dye still used on the Pacific coasts of Nicaragua, and finds that it contains a colouring matter soluble in boiling anilin, having all the properties of punicin obtained by him from the Purpura lapillus of the British coasts. —The Society then adjourned over the summer recess. Anthropological Institute, June 8.—Major-General A. Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Mr. F. G, Hilton Price, F.G.S., read a paper on camps on the Malvern Hills. Last September, having obtained permission from Lord Somers to excavate in any part of the camps on these Hills, he, set his labourers to work, first on Hollybush Hill, on the NATURE 211 south side of the Malvern range, and afterwards on Midsummer Hill, both of which were encircled by a deep ditch and a rampart, while in the glen between the two hills on the south side was the site of a town about 1,100 feet in length. In the interior of the ancient camp on Hollybush Hill were many hut hollows, some of which he opened, but without making any discovery. On the east face of Midsummer Hill were several lines of such hollows, which, like the rest, had been habitations, and no fewer than 214 had been counted. Along the ravines between the two hills were four tanks, having the ancient dams for holding back the water still in existence. The explorations of these camps were not very fruitful. More productive were the excavations on the Herefordshire Beacon Camp, one of the largest and strongest earthworks in the district. It had usually been looked upon as of British origin, and Mr, Price saw no special reason for doubting it. In one hut hollow much coarse black pottery was met with, and there were besides many bones of the ox, pig, horse, sheep, dog, some kind of gallinaceous fowl, and of the deer. A description was given of the huge block of syenite known as the ‘‘ Divination stone.” It was mentioned that in 1650 a jewelled gold crown or bracelet was found in a ditch at the base of the Herefordshire Beacon. Camden had written of it, and in a MS. said to belong to Jesus College, Oxford, it was stated to have been sold to a Gloucester goldsmith for 37/7., who sold it to a jeweller in Lombard Street for 250/7., who sold the stones alone for 1,500/. There were many traditions as to coins found there, but their dates were uncertain. Mr. Price thought this large camp, as well as those on Hollybush and Midsummer Hills, were of late Cymric or Celtic origin, that the latter camp was of earlier date than that on the Herefordshire Beacon, and that in all likelihood they were occupied by the Romano-British, as many remains of those tribes existed in the district, and the pottery seemed to date from that period.—A paper was read on religious beliefs and practices in Melanesia by the Rev. R. H. Codrington. The subject is a very difficult one, inasmuch as, the islands and dialects being so numerous, no one person’s knowledge can well range over the whole. The author’s information was chiefly derived from the Banks’ Islands and the Solomon group, whence the most advanced scholars have come to the Melanesian Mission Station on Norfolk Island. Nothing is known to show that the Banks’ Islands ‘have been influenced by Polynesian immigration or neighbourhood ; though there are still men alive who can remember a visit of double canoes from Tonga. The Banks’ Islanders alone among Melanesians knew no cannibalism and wore no dress. The Banks’ Islanders distinctly recognise two orders of intelligent beings different from living men; they believed in the continued existence of men after death in a condition in which they exercised power over the living; and they believed in the existence of beings who were not and_ never had been human. The latter are called Vuis, and are divided into two great classes, corporeal and incorporeal. The most conspicuous amongst the first class is Qat, the legends con- cerning whom correspond to those which prevail among the Maories and other Polynesian people concerning Maui or Tangaroa. The brothers of Qat have all of them the name of Tangaroa, and the Vuis of the northern New He- brides have the same name, which is also applied in Banks’ Islands to stones used as fetishes or amulets. The story of Qat’s disappearance from the island bears a close resemblance to that of Noah and the Flood, and has possibly been embellished since the Bible history has been made known among the natives. Of the same order of beings with Qat and his brothers, though looked upon as very inferior, are certain Vuis, having rather the nature of fairies. Some of these are called Nopitu, which come invisibly, or possess those with whom they associate themselves. The possessed are themselves called Nopitu. Such persons would lift a cocoa-nut to drink, and native shell-money would run out instead of the juice, and rattle against their teeth ; they would vomit up money, or scratch and shake themselves on a mat while money would pour from their fingers. This was often seen, and believed to be the doing of a Nopitu. The story of the bringing of death into the world is remarkable, because it is told without any variation in the Solomon Islands and Banks’ Islands alike. At first men never died, but when advanced in life they shed their skins like snakes or crabs, and came out in renewed youth, An old woman went to a stream to change her skin, and let the old one which she had shed float away till it caught against a stick, She then went home, where she had left her child ; the child refused to recognise her, and, declaring that she was another 212 person, could only be pacified by the woman returning for her cast- off integument and putting it on again. From that time mankind have died. The Vuis, which are incorporeal and have nothing like a human life, have a much higher place than Qat and his brothers in the common religious system of the Banks’ Islanders. They have no names, no stories are told of them, and they have no shape, but sthey are numerous, and are present and powerful to assist men who can communicate with them, They are very generally associated with stones, snakes, owls, and sharks. Communication with these Vuis is not in the power of all, but there is an order of priests. If a man thas his stone or his snake, by means of which he supposes that he can obtain favours from his Vui, he will instruct his son or some one else to take hisplace. No other sacrifice than that of the shell money in common use seems to be offered in Banks’ Islands, The great institutions of the Banks’ Islands are the Suge and the Tamate. Neither has a religious character, nor is any superstitions practice necessarily connected with them. The Suge isa club, the house belonging to which is the most conspicuous building in every village, and is to be found wherever there is a permanent habitation ; this house, or ‘‘gamal,” has many compartments, each with its own oven, in accordance with the several grades in the society. To rise from one grade to another money has to be given and pigs killed. The authority of the men highest in the Suge is very considerable, and it is these persons who appear to traders and naval officers as chiefs. The Tamate is a secret society, to which entrance is obtained by payment, and the neo- phyte has to spend many days in the Salagoro, or sacred place ; the only secret, however, is the making of the masks and hats in which the members appear in public and the way of producing the sound which is supposed to be the cry of the ghosts, The members of the great Tamate indulge in much licence. When they choose to go abroad to collect provisions for one of their feasts, the women and uninitiated are obliged to keep away from their paths. The warning voice of the Tamate is heard, and the country is shut up, PARIS Academy of Sciences, June 21.—M. Edm. Becquerel in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On the reduction of pendulum observations to the sea-level, by M. Faye. Some deductions are here made from principles he lately enunciated,— On effects of reversal of photographic images by prolongation of the luminous action, by M. Janssen. After a certain time of exposure a less distinct negative image is had, and with continued exposure this image quite disappears, and a positive one is obtained, which may be quite as distinct as the first. This was the case, ¢.g., in photographing the sun at Meudon, when plates that had been exposed yq'55 of a second, or even gptuo Of a second (gelatino-bromide plates) were exposed half a second or a second. The sun’s disk appeared white, the spots black, Similarly, positive images of landscapes, &c., were obtained. The same spectral rays give first the negative image, then the positive.-—On the heat of formation of oxides of nitrogen and of those of sulphur, by M. Berthelot. The discrepancies of former observations on oxides of sulphur are here accounted for chiefly by a simultaneous formation of several degrees of oxidation of sulphur, and perhaps even the presence of water-vapour. The * author’s own experiments lead to the result that S + O, = SO, gas liberates + 34°63.—On the luminous spectrum of water, by Dr. Huggins. —Proportion of carbonic acid in the air ; reply to M. Marié-Davy, by M, Reiset.—New meteoritic mineral, with a complement of information on the fall of meteorites observed in Towa, in May, 1879, by Prof. Lawrence Smith, The formula he now gives for the mineral (indicated at the séance of April 26, 1880), is SiR + 4 (Si, 2R), or perhaps more exactly 2SiR + Si, 2R, which represents 2 at. of enstatite or bronzite united to 1 at. of olivine. The name of Peckhamite is proposed (after Prof. Peckham), On the border of Emmel and Dickson Counties some 3,000 fragments were found within a radius of 13 km,; their total weight 30 kg. Though they had lain nearly a year under water (submerging a prairie), there was not a trace of oxidation, Prof. Smith thinks this may have been due to a thin invisible coating of silicates. Employment of bitumen of Judcea against diseases of the vine, by M. Schefer.— Report on Mr. Peirce’s memoir concerning the constant of gravity at Paris and the corrections required by old determina- tions of Borda and Biot, The length of the simple pendulum determined by Peirce with his own apparatus is 993°934mm., alt. 74 m, (Biot 993°913 mm., same alt, ; Borda 993'918 mm., NATURE [ Fuly 1, 1880 alt. 67 m.).—On the problem of inversion, by Mr. Elliot.—On an apparatus for registering the law of motion of a projectile, either in the bore of a gun or in a resistant medium, by M. Sebert. A metallic smoked rod, of square section, is fixed in the axis of the projectile, and serves as guide to a small mass carrying a small tuning-fork furnished with two metallic points, which leave undulating traces on the blackened surface, as the projectile moves along (the prongs of the fork being liberated from a constrained state, and set vibrating, when the motion of the projectile commences). From the tracing may be deduced the velocities acquired and the accelerative force in function of the time; also the law of the pressures developed.—On the transcendants which play an important part in the theory of planetary perturbations, by M. Darboux.—On the method of Cauchy for the development of the perturbative function, by M. Trépied.—On linear differential equations with an independent variable, by M. Appell.—On certain linear differential equa- tions of the second order, by M. Picard.—On elliptic functions, by M. Farkas.—On some modifications in the construction of the Bunsen lamp and of monochromatic lamps, by M. Terquem, There are no lateral apertures, and the air is admitted between the foot of the lamp and the bottom of the tube, which is raised somewhat (6 to 7 mm.). divides the orifice into four parts. The temperature is found nearly uniform from the upper point of the flame to the top of the green cones, and from the centre to the circumference. (An analysis of the gases drawn off is given.) This flame is variously superior, and it gives, with sodium, ¢., a much more intense monochromatic flame.—On the flow of gases, by M. Neyreneuf, —On the etherification of bromhydric acid, by M. Villiers. Inter alia, the limit of etherification is not equal to that corre- sponding to organic acids, and it rises with the temperature, Etherification ceases in mixtures containing a certain proportion of water. The limit of dilution from which etherification ceases rises with the temperature.—On the hydrate of iodide of methyl, by M. de Forcrand.—On the artificial reproduction of analcime, by M. de Schulten, The process consists in heating in a closed vessel at 180° to 190°, a solution of silicate of soda or caustic soda in presence of an aluminous glass.—Presence and special character of oyster-marls of Carnetin (Seine-et-Loire), by M. Meunier.—Prevision relative to the amount of current water in the valley of the Seine during summer and autumn of the present year, by M. Lemoine. The Seine between Paris and Rouen, with its large affluents, is expected to present one of those serious and prolonged diminutions of volume which occurred in 1863, 1868, and 1871, but no extraordinary drought.—On the geologi- cal constitution of the Isthmus of Panama, with regard to the execution of the inter-oceanic canal, by M. Bouter. - CONTENTS Pacer Tue Sacrep Books oF THE East. By Prof. A.H. Sayvcze. . +. . 189 EvoLUTION OF THE VEGETABLE K1nGpoM. By W. B. HEMSLEY. . 190 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:— The Freshwater Medusa.—Prof. E. Ray LANKESTER, F.R.S. .« 190 Aqueous Vapour in Relation to Perpetual Snow.—Dr. JAMES GROLT BEER SS Pi 1 ce cs ot lea aera) a So ac. re, geeks Artificial Diamonds.—R. MatteT, F.R1S.. . 1 2 + + + + + G2 A Fourth State of Matter.—S. Totver PRESTON «. . - + « 192 Auroral Observations.—Prof. Sopaus TROMHOLT . . «© + + + 92 The Hydrographic Department.—Lizur. George T. TEMPLE, RENE) cP Spe Tiel erie, 0) 0) a ecco bende yp ecie, Aen gnae eae ELa Curious Electric Phenomenon.—F. T. MoTrT. «. + «© + «© © + 193 Meteor-—W. Opry! 34. wa, 0) 0 tt ore * 103 Minerva Ornaments.—Prof. E. W. CLAYPOLE «© +» + + «© + + 193 A Snake in Kensington Gardens, —J. HARRIS STONE « + + + + 193 Turer YEARS’ EXPERIMENTING IN MENSURATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY By Prof. Prazzr SMYTH'S) 2%." ss Sete ee 8 ws el OS EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES IN Etvecrriciry. By WarrEN DE La Rue, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., and Huco W. Mirter, Ph.D., F.R.S. (With Illustrations) «© 1» 0 + © © © © © © oF 8 8 196 Tur LATE MatGAUGAIN= (60s 6 6+ 0 04.600 oy 0) tn eRe LOS A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF THE CONIFERZ. By J. STARKIE GARDNER siU bie Gee ie a) fan at) a) iss to oe On some PoINTS CONNECTED WITH TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM. By @) pe et LOR ve Prof. BALFouR STEWART, F.R.S. . . . « + : ese! @ clone) amne! wat)! NOTES c path iegsteee ot coore ie a coy Tole Our ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN :— The Third Comet.of 1822 «) 6's 00) ee sees eres fs 205 The Double-Star 85 Pegasi . « + + « «© © * Spt 5 205 A Variable Starin Aquarius. . 6 o 2 © se © ee ee 205 GroGRAPHICAL NOTES » » «© + «© © © * * * & . pi fe) 4205) PuysicaL NOTES. «+ + « « LDCR EEO Os 7 ee PuysicaL SCIENCE IN RUSSIA « + + s+ 2 & ooo te el ta area SrismoLoGy iN JAPAN. By Prof. Joun MILNE . - . ere (2 UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE « + + + © + * 208 ScrenTiFIc SERIALS. . + + + * + * Paine 6 « «, 2Op oe +. 209 SoclETIES AND ACADEMIES. « + + + * * + * * A cross plate - ~_— —e WALT URE THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1880 THE TAY BRIDGE HE Report of the Court of Inquiry appointed to investigate the circumstances of the fall of the Tay Bridge last December has now been made public. There appears to be some difference of opinion amongst the members of the court respecting the scope of the inquiry and the duties placed upon them by the Board of Trade, in consequence of which two separate reports appear together, one by Col. Yolland, Chief Government In- spector of Railways, and Mr. Barlow, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and the other by Mr. Rothery, the Wreck Commissioner. The former report describes in detail the design and method of erection adopted in the bridge, giving also a description of the various alterations in the plan which were rendered necessary as the work progressed. The bridge was 3,465 yards in total length, divided into 86 spans, and it was the central portion, of 3,149 feet in length, which fell on the evening of December 28. As originally designed, this central portion was to consist of lattice girders of 200 feet span, carried by brickwork piers somewhat over 80 feet in height from {high-water level, but as the river bottom turned out to be different from what was expected from the borings, and the difficulty of obtaining a secure foundation greater, eleven spans of 245 feet and two of 227 feet were substituted, and braced iron piers were adopted in the place of brickwork, as imposing a less weight on the foundations. It is these piers which at the inquiry chiefly received attention, as there can be little doubt that they were the immediate cause of the catastrophe. The process of floaling out and sinking the caissons for these piers has already been described in these columns, and so successfully was this—certainly the most difficult and hazardous part of the undertaking— accomplished, that no suggestion of insufficient strength has been made, and in the Report it is stated that there is nothing to indicate any mévement or settlement in the foundations of the piers which fell. The caissons were lined with brickwork and filled with concrete, on which was built a hexagonal pier of masonry carried up to 5 feet above high-water mark. Upon this pier was built up six cast-iron columns secured by holding- down bolts to the masonry at the angles of the hexagon. The columns were made up of lengths united by flanges and bolts, and connected with each other by horizontal struts and diagonal ties. stream columns were each 18 inches in diameter, the remaining four, 15 inches; all were inclined 12 inches inwards at the top. The piers thus formed were from 81 to 83 feet in height from the top of the masonry to the under-side of the girders. The diagonal bracing consisted of flat bars attached to the columns by means of “lugs” cast on them, being secured at one extremity by a screw- bolt passing through the lugs and bar, and at the other by a strap provided with a gib and cotter for tightening up. The horizontal struts consisted of two channel-bars bolted back to back to a single lug on each column. It will thus be seen that all vertical load must be borne entirely by the columns, and with the exception of the ‘ Vor, Xx1I.—No. 558 The up-stream and down- 213 small transverse resistance of the latter the whole of any lateral pressure must be transmitted by the bracing. Whether as designed the bridge would have been strong enough for its work if the materials and workman- ship had been good throughout is very doubtful, but, as carried out, the evidence shows distinctly that it was not sufficiently substantial for the heavy traffic and severe gales to which it was exposed. When everything was tight and in good order the bridge, at the time of its inspection by General Hutchinson in February, 1878, showed great rigidity under the tests imposed by him, but by October of the same year so much slackness had made its appearance in the bracing that, besides the ordinary keying-up by driving the cotters, more than 100 packing-pieces about three-eighths of an inch thick had to be introduced in different parts. Respecting the immediate cause of the accident the Court states—“In our opinion the weight of evidence points out the cross bracing and its fastening by lugs as the first part to yield.” This we believe the calculations of Dr. Pole and Mr. Stewart, taken in connection with the experiments of Mr. Kirkaldy, are quite sufficient to establish. With a wind pressure of 30 Ibs. to the square foot on the windward girder and train, and half this amount on the leeward girder, the stress on the tie-bar most severely strained, would be 16°8 tons, or 10°18 tons per square inch; again, with a wind pressure of 40 lbs. to the square foot the stress on the tie-bar would be 22°4 tons. Now, as Mr. Kirkaldy’s experiments, made by order of the court on some of the tie-bars removed from thé bridge, showed that they broke with a load of from 19.to 23 tons, and the corresponding lugs with a load of 23 to 25 tons, it is pretty certain that the ultimate strength of this part of the structure would be reached by a wind pressure of 40 lbs. to the square foot. And in addition to this more variation is to be expected in the strength of the lugs, as some at least were admitted to be of bad manufacture, and when the pier was most severely strained it would be some of the worst lugs in the lower tiers that would be the first to yield; thus the samples taken for testing would not be likely to embrace speci- mens of the lowest strength, as these would probably have already given way. Again, it does not appear necessary to assume a wind pressure of 4o lbs. per square foot to ensure the destruc- tion of the pier; the stresses above mentioned are due merely to the statical pressure, and it can hardly be denied in the face of the evidence respecting the details of the structure that there would be a great deal of motion due to backlash over and above the elastic yielding of the material. Thus a much lower pressure would produce the effects calculated for one of 40 lbs. per square foot. — The principal conclusions arrived at by the court are that there is no indication of settlement [in the founda- tions, that the wrought iron employed was of fair strength, though not of high quality as regards toughness, that the cast iron was fairly good, that the main girders were of sufficient strength, and that the iron piers, though strong enough to sustain the vertical load, were insufficient to resist the lateral action of heavy gales from the weakness of the cross bracing and its fastenings ; that the railway company did not enforce the recommendation of General Hutchinson by limiting the speed of trains over the L 214 bridge to twenty-five miles per hour, much higher speed being frequently run; that while of opinion that the fall of the bridge was occasioned by the yielding of the cross bracing and fastenings, it might possibly have been due to the fracture of one of the outward leeward columns. Col. Yolland and Mr. Barlow conclude by stating “that there is no requirement issued by the Board of Trade respecting wind pressure, and there does not appear to be any understood rule in the engineering profession regard- ing wind pressure in railway structures ; and we therefore recommend that the Board of Trade should take such steps as may be necessary for the establishment of rules for that purpose.” Mr. Rothery, in his independent report, while stating that there is an entire agreement between himself and his colleagues in the conclusions arrived at from the evidence, goes further than them, and unhesitatingly apportions the blame among the different parties concerned. On the recommendation that the Board of Trade should establish rules providing for wind pressure, he differs from his colleagues, emphatically stating that it is for the engineer- ing profession to make them, and evidently regards the superficial character of an official inspection as no greateyil. Where French engineers have long adopted 270 kilo- grammes per square metre, and many English engineers, on the authority of Rankine, the equivalent 55 Ibs. per square foot, while nearly the same figure is used in America, it seems strange that so much difference of opinion should be found to exist; but one thing at least is certain, that the instruments at present in use for measuring wind pressure are exceedingly crude and liable to error, and that until these are improved and much increased in number there is little chance of being on the spot when these excessive pressures occur, or of truthfully recording them when met with. Respecting the transfer of these responsibilities to a Government Department, we believe that such apron- string policy would be fatal to the profession of the civil engineer ; we would rather see the Board of Trade In- spection, which at least is formal and superficial, relaxed than any attempt made to increase its efficiency. The medical profession does not require a fatherly department to watch over its operations or give an opinion on an am- putation ; why then should the engineering profession ? It cannot be too clearly understood that an engineering work cannot be successfully carried out by mere rule of thumb or even by the copious use of “Molesworth” or “ Rankine”’ ; each operation is to some extent a physical experiment subject to known laws, but under variable conditions. The physicist and the engineer have already to a great extent established the laws for him, but it remains for the scientific engineer to carefully watch their operation, and thus gain that practical experience which will enable him to deal with each special case as it arises. The conclusions we draw from the evidence and report are that the design of the piers was most imperfect, cheapness appearing to be the ruling element in every detail, a cheapness too that must have been completely delusive, as any money saved in first cost would soon, in such a rickety structure, have been swallowed up in main- tenance. At nearly all points an absence of consideration or small details is most apparent, indicating probably that these were intrusted to some subordinate, who failed to appreciate their importance. NATURE [Fuly 8, 1880 It is very far from our object in this article to hold up any particular individuals to blame for this disaster, but we should like to point out on whom the responsibility should rest if such a thing should occur again. It would be quite impracticable for the Board of Trade to exercise such supervision over the selection of the material and the execution and erection of a large work throughout its progress, as would render its certificate of any value ; we believe, therefore, that the undivided respon- sibility should rest on the engineer. Any dishonesty on the part of the contractor or his workmen,—and we are sorry to believe this still exists in some cases,—could be easily rendered hazardous by legal penalties. Doubtless with the keen competition of the present day things must be “cut finer” than they used to be ;_ but while we would remove any arbitrary restrictions imposed by Government on the judgment of those who ought to be best able to appreciate the particular conditions of their own work, we should be very sorry to see the introduction of flimsy structures or reckless traffic arrangements with- out it being clearly understood on whom the responsibility rested in case of failure. CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES Camps in the Caribbees. The Adventures of a Naturalist a the Lesser Antilles. By F. A. Ober. (Boston, U.S. : Lee and Shepherd; Edinburgh: Douglas, 1880.) de author of this lively and very entertaining book of travel undertook in 1876 the exploration of the Caribbees or Lesser Antilles, which islands extend over eight degrees of latitude between Porto Rico and Trinidad, connecting the Greater Antilles with the continent of South America. The islands had been hitherto little visited by naturalists, and the author made his expedition under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, with the especial object of collecting the birds of the group. Around the borders of each island there is a cleared belt of fertile land, and on the coast often large villages and towns, whilst the interior is one vast forest covering wild hills and mountains. It was in the forests that the author’s work lay. He took his camera into the moun. tains with him and photographed everything of interest which he met with, and the book is illustrated by numerous wood engravings of remarkably fine quality taken from the photographs and his sketches. About half the book, which is an octavo of 350 pages, describes adventures in the island of Dominica, Barbuda and Antigua were visited, but are not referred to at length. The account of the islands of St. Vincent, Grenada, Guadeloupe, and Martinique compose the remainder of the work, together with a catalogue of the birds of the group and descrip- tions of the sixteen new species of birds discovered. Dominica was so named by Columbus, who happened to hit off the Lesser Antilles on his second voyage, be- cause he sighted the island on a Sunday, November 3rd, 1493. The island is most beautiful. The hills are broken and ragged, seamed, furrowed, and scarred, yet covered with a luxuriant vegetation of every shade of green— purple of mango and cacao, golden of cane and lime~— whilst the ridges are crowned with palms, and behind Roseau, the capital, rises Lake Mountain, four thousand feet in height, five miles distant from the town, yet seem- ing to overshadow it. ‘ Mr. Ober started forthwith for the mountains, and Fuly 8, 1880} settled himself in a cabin in the midst of the forest amongst the mountaineer population, which is of mixed race, partly negro, partly, Carib, partly European. Here the moun- taineers’ children waited on him, and brought him beetles and snails and humming-birds, which they caught with birdlime. But he had to dispense with their services, for they brought him far too many things of one kind, and especially huge land-crabs as big as a man’s hand. He had incautiously remarked that he should like a specimen of this crab, which abounds in the ravines and rivulet banks. “Each boy and girl in the place resolved to be the first to furnish me with the coveted crab. The consequence was that my place was soon over- run with shell-fish—ugly red and yellow crabs, as large as a man’s hand, and from that to the most diminutive. One of the girls in a mischievous mood brought in a crab with a family of little ones, over a hundred, just large enough to be seen, and let them loose on the floor. Through some open window, while I was absent, some giant crab would be dropped on the floor to await my arrival. This was not done ina spirit of mischief, but from an earnest desire to aid me in my labours. Fora week I could not stir without coming in contact with a shelly creature. I could not put my foot out of bed without a shudder of apprehension. Of nights I would be awakened by the rattling of ale-bottles, and arising, would discover that some crab had got thirsty in the night and had inserted a claw, which had caught in the neck of a bottle.” In the afternoon the author sat looking out through the loophole of this cabin, which served as a window, and surveyed the peaceful Caribbean Sea, with the same vessels to be seen sometimes be- calmed under the lee of the Caribbee Islands day after day. The sea is, however, not always placid; in the “ hurricane season” it rises in its wrath. It is disturbed, however, only by a hurricane; nothing less. In the mornings and evenings he explored the beautiful forests and stream- beds around his camp, gun on shoulder, and collected all he could find. Sometimes on these excursions he had merry companions, laughing girls combining Carib, French, and negro blood in their veins, and full of life and fun. Let us follov him with Marie and her friend in search of crayfish (we presume a species of Palemon, the author unfortunately does not state). “The path is slippery, and we shall need a help from ‘ Marie’s’ hand, for the way leads up hill and over rocks wet and smooth, whilst wet leaves flap in our faces and creeping ferns and trailing plants hang on our feet as we go. “We reach the river, the stream that flows out of the mountain lake, broad and with gravelly beach, with immense boulders as islands, and a wall of vegetation on either side that rises straight up a hundred feet. Here the two girls made into the stream in search of crayfish. The stream is broad with deep pools, and in these the crayfish lurked, looking like miniature lobsters in the clear water. We can see only the small ones, but Marie assures us that there are large ones out of sight beneath the cascades. “Erect upon a rock she stood for a moment, then plunged head foremost into a foaming pool, disappearing from sight. A moment later rising bubbles preceded a round little head, from which hung long Jimp tresses; NATURE 215 a pair of shoulders brown and bare, and round arms and little hands reaching out for a support. She had a cray- fish in each hand, and another with wriggling legs in her mouth,” The following is an account of the method in which humming-birds are caught :—“ Let us follow little Dan, the oldest and sharpest of the humming-bird hunters, as he goes out for birds. First he goes to a tree called the mountain-palm, which replaces the cocoa-palm in the mountains, the latter growing only along the coast. Be- neath the tree are some fallen leaves fifteen feet in length; these he seizes and strips, leaving the midrib bare, a long slender stem tapering to a point. Upon this tip he places a lump of bird-lime, to make which he had collected the inspissated juice of the bread fruit and chewed it to the consistency of soft wax. Scattered over the Savanna are many clumps of flowering bushes, over whose crimson and snowy blossoms humming-birds are dashing, inserting their beaks in the honeyed corollas, after active forays resting upon some bare twig, pruning and preening their feathers. Cautiously creeping toward a bush upon which one of these little beauties is resting, the hunter extends the palm-rib with its treacherous coating of gum. The bird eyes it curiously but fearlessly as it approaches his resting-place, even pecking at it; but the next moment he is dangling helplessly, beating the air with buzzing wings in vain efforts to escape the clutches of that treacherous gum.”’ Mr. Ober tried hard to keep humming-birds alive, but, as usual, without success. They never survived many days. If exposed to the light they kept up a constant fluttering, until the muscles of their wings became so stiff they could not close them, but expired with the wings widely outstretched. “Every morning I would introduce into the cage a bough of fragrant lime-blossoms, at which they would all dash instantly, diving into the flowers with great eagerness. Sugar dissolved in water and diluted honey was their favourite food, and they would sip it greedily. Holding them by their feet I would place their beaks in a bottle of syrup, when they would rapidly eject their tongues and withdraw them, repeating this operation until satisfied. They never displayed fear, but would readily alight on my finger and glance fearlessly up at me, watching an opportunity, however, for escape.’’ The boiling lake of Dominica was visited and photo- graphed by the author. It was remarkably quiet during his visit, showing only a slight movement in the centre. The margin showed traces of the recent subsidence of the water-level, and on the following day the water had risen again somewhat, and was more active. It appears that the ebullition must be intermittent, but Mr. Ober did not see it in full action, though the water rose further, and the disturbance and noises continued to increase. The temperature of the water was only 96° F., though Dr. Nicholls, one of the party who discovered the lake, found it at 196° F., and Mr. Prestoe, of the Botanic Gardens of Trinidad, from 180° to 190°. The author follows Mr. Prestoe in the expectation that by the widening and deepening of the outlet the lake will disappear in time, and a geyser alone remain. Ina boiling spring hard by the author and his guides cooked their supper of wild yams and eggs, and, as usual, cold water for drinking was found also close at hand. 216 NATURE ges: ae [Fuly 8, 1880 An interesting account of the Caribs of Dominica fol- lows. They have allotted to them a reservation extending from Mahoe River to Crayfish River, a distance of about three miles along the Atlantic coast and away back into the mountains as far as they please to cultivate. Though each family has a little garden near the house, all the “provision grounds,’ where staple articles of food are grown—yams, sweet potatoes, cassava, bananas, and taro —are at a distance from the houses, some even two miles away—solitary openings made in the depths of the high woods, The Caribs are especially interesting as being the earliest American savages met with by Columbus, the original “ cannibals,” and the race to which Caliban and Man Friday belonged. They seem somewhat addicted to drinking now, for the author describes the old King George the Third as seen tottering towards the plantation with a sovereign he had earned in his hand to spend it in rum, A lot of drunken Caribs tried to break into the author’s house one night for amusement, and not being able to do that, poked a lot of fireflies in at the cracks to light up the inside, and see for certain whether he was at home—a very neat way of lighting up an interior. The general account of the Caribs is well worth reading. We cannot follow the author in his exciting hunt after the souffritre bird, which lives only about the crater of the island of. St. Vincent. The wary bird when at last procured proved to be of a new species, Myadesies sibilans. In Antigua he was victimised by the well- known “jigger.” ‘I awoke one morning with an itching of my toes, which frequent rubbing failed to allay, and examination revealed four white tumours. They were as large as peas, and in the centre of each was a little black speck. I called my boy William, who at once pronounced them jiggers.”’. The first old negress passing was called in, and turned them out of their nests with an adroitness which showed long practice. ‘“‘ A few hours are sufficient to give the jigger a hiding-place, and as the sensation he causes is a rather pleasant itching only for a time, he is sometimes not discovered till a painful sore is formed.” At Dominica the author met with Dr. Miroy, a friend and correspondent of Sir Joseph Hooker, and who is endeavouring, through the aid of the Kew establishment, to re-introduce the cultivation of coffee into the island. He is cultivating Liberian coffee, in the hope that it will prove able to withstand the attacks of blight which ruined | the former crops forty years ago. In Grenada the author hunted the monkeys which abound there as at St. Kitts, having been of course intro- duced, and having run wild, as explained in a series of letters in NATURE some months ago. He could not, however, make up his mind to shoot one when it came to the point. The.monkeys are a great pest, and do great damage to the cultivator, just as in St. Iago, Cape Verde Islands, on the other side of the Atlantic, where also they were doubtless introduced, though it is not as yet known what the species is, The book ends with an account of an ascent of the Guadeloupe Souffritre. It is throughout entertaining and highly amusing, but the author is evidently not very deeply versed in natural history, and there is often to be noted a lack of precise information, as in the case, for example, of the crayfish, cited above. The account of the land- crabs is somewhat conflicting. At one place we read of a mother-crab, with 100 tiny young, found far up in the mountains, at another, where the author falls in with an army of land-crabs on their combined march to the sea; he tells us that they bury their eggs under the sand, where they are hatched, and soon after millions of the new-born crabs are seen quitting the shore and slowly travelling up the mountains, The story which he tells of the habits of the huge Hercules beetle, Dyzastes hercules, can hardly be accepted as it is by the author on the authority of his dusky guide. It is that the male beetle seizes a small branch of a tree between its enormously long nippers and buzzes round and round the branch till this is cut off, producing a knife- grinding sound, supposed by the author to be a sexual call. He heard a knife-grinding noise indeed, but he did not see the rotating beetle. We recommend the book to all our readers. A NEW ENGLISH TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY An Elementary Text-book of Botany. Translated from the German of Prof. K. Prantl Revised by S. H. Vines, M.A., D.Sc., F.L.S. (London: Sonnenschein and Allen, 1880.) le text-book, we are informed in the English pre- face, ‘‘was written by Prof. Prantl, to meet a growing demand for a work on botany, which, while less voluminous than the well-known work of Sachs, should resemble it in its mode of treatment of the subject, and serve as an introduction to it.” While we already have in English many text-books for students, one indeed almost professedly taking the same line as this, every teacher must have felt how inadequately they supply the needs of the class for which they have been written. Most are new editions of books written first twenty years ago or more, and suffer from the impossibility of intro. ducing those new facts which have so deeply modified our present standpoint, without damaging the symmetry and unity of a well-written work; and others, of more recent origin, are badly compiled or over-concentrated. The book before us, avoiding these faults, will unquestionably take a high place at once; for though using Sachs as his storehouse, the author has digested the strong meat of the big book, and here provides his readers with the milk suited to their years. Moreover, the book is singularly well-balanced in all its parts, and clearly-written through- out. The translation is so flowing that no reader unin- formed of the fact would guess that German was the original dress; and Mr. Vines has added to the value of the work by appending a table, in which the classifica- tion there adopted is compared with that of Bentham and Hooker. A reference to those knotty points to which one always looks at once as tests of successful treatment has proved so satisfactory that it is with regret that we turn to the ungracious task of pointing out the deficiencies that will somehow creep into the most carefully-written books. In several points Prantl has followed Sachs too closely, so that the accounts of cell-division, of the morphology of the pollen-grain and ovule, of the growing-point of Phanero- gams, are all far behind our present knowledge. Again, in the treatment of ‘‘ Modes of Branching,’’ Sachs has been followed rather than Hofmeister, who, despite his complex sentences, gives a much clearer exposition. Fuly 8, 1880] NATURE a7 Thus Sachs is copied even to including the cyme in 7070- podial systems. Surely this is a contradiction in terms, and might be avoided by the use of “lateral,” in contra- distinction to “dichotomous.” In the figures (17, 19) of uniparous cymes, Sachs, and with him Prantl, omit to mention that the diagram is taken in A/am, a point the more important that in French and English text-books it has been usual to give such diagrams of inflorescence in elevation. Without noticing this, a trap is laid through which not students alone have fallen into the error of thinking that the Germans use “scorpioid” and “‘helicoid” in senses inverse to the usage of other botanists. Under inflorescence no mention is made of the very useful French “Cymobotrya” terminology, possibly through feelings of patriotism, with which, how- ever, Englishmen are not concerned. The Elder is given as the example of a corymb; which term is, however, restricted by the best botanists to the corymbose raceme, of which the elder is not an example. In the histology there are several not unimportant errors, probably Prantl’s own. He says that the phloem contains both “phloem parenchyma”’ and “ cambiform tissue ”—is not phloem parenchyma always (primitively at least) cambiform? We are told (p. 51) that the vessels of secondary wood are “‘zzvariably provided with bordered pits ;” this is far too absolute. Under collenchyma no mention is made of its commoner form, distinguished as “concave”’ by Vesque. Endoderm is defined as peculiar to Dicotyledons! Under “stomata” no mention is made of water-pores. The account of the structure of roots and the development of their secondary wood in Dico- tyledons is hardly explicit enough, and almost demands the introduction of one or two pure diagrams; and when it is stated that rootlets arise in front of the xylem bundles of the root, mention should be made of such important exceptions as Umbellifers and Grasses. The physiology proper is singularly well treated, though perhaps with too great a fear of detail. Thus no suffi- cient account is given of the wis a fronte and the vzs a tergo, which lead to the movements of the rising sap. A few little mistakes have been left uncorrected in the systematic part. The legume is stated on p. 197 to occur in “all the Leguminosz ;” and while this is modified in the account of the order on pp. 278-280, a true legume is here implicitly denied tothe Czesalpiniez ! ‘‘ Replum”? is given as meaning a false-dissepiment of the Crucifers, a use unauthorised by the best systematists, and inconsistent alike with its application to the lomentaceous Leguminosze and to its Latin signification. The figures are good, but, as usual in English editions of foreign works, poorly printed. The worse fault of separating them widely from the text they illustrate has been avoided. Finally, despite all trouble taken by the editor, over- sights will occur in a translation. Thus 77//ex is given in italics without its English (?) equivalent, “tyloses,” and “‘bracteole”’ is given instead of the more familiar “bractlet.’’” But these blemishes show how good is the book in which they are the worst to be found; they have been here put forward chiefly in the hope of helping the editor in the new edition which will soon be demanded; and it is with a safe conscience that we would recommend this book as the best of its kind in the English language. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zhe Lditor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [Zhe Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it ts impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of come= munications containing interesting and novel facts.] Ocean Circulation THE notice in NATURE (vol. xxii, p. 207) of the experimental researches of Professors Haughton and E. Reynolds on the coefficient of friction of water upon water, having concluded with the statement that ‘the authors of this research point out that these results tend to negative the theory of Dr. Carpenter that the phenomena of ocean-circulation are due to the greater height of the water at the equator as compared with that at the poles,” I must be allowed to protest against being credited (or rather discredited) with a doctrine which is neither expressed nor implied in anything I have written on the subject. The doctrine which I have advocated is no other than that first distinctly promulgated by Lenz in 1847, and now accepted by numerous Physicists of the highest eminence, both British and Continental; viz., that besides the Zor7zontal circulation produced by the action of winds on the ocean-surface, there is a vertical circulation of which Polar cold is the primum mobile, consisting of an wxderflow of Polar water (chiefly from the Antarctic area) towards and even beyond the Equatorial zone, and a complemen- tary wpfer-flow of Equatorial water towards the Poles. That every part of the vast Oceanic basin in free communica- tion with either of the Polar areas is occupied, to within the range of the surface-heating produced by insolation,! by water which has been cooled down in one of those areas, is now one of the best-established facts of Terrestrial Physics. And those who cannot find in the excess of specific gravity imparted to sea-water by Polar cold, an adequate cause for this movement of translation, are bound to account for it in some other way. I venture to submit to the accomplished professors of Trinity College, that laboratory experiments made to determine the friction of water upon water at sensible velocities can scarcely prove that when the equilibrium of a great mass of water has been disturbed, there will sof be axy movement of translation (however slow) for its recovery. And I would suggest to them that they should rather investigate the conditions of one of those ‘experiments ready prepared for us by Nature,” which is constantly going on in the Baltic Straits, and of which the results have been for many years past most carefully recorded by Dr. Meyer of Kiel and his associates. Four factors are there in continually varying action, viz. (1) difference of /evel between Baltic and North Sea water; (2) difference of salinity; (3) difference of ¢emferature, mainly due to an importation of Polar water into the Skager-rack ; and (4) surface-movement produced by wind, which may also modify the relative levels. I am assured by Dr. Meyer that the action of each of these factors has now been so fully determined, that the effect of any combination of them can be predicted as certainly as ordinary tidal phenomena. And of the competence of small differences in specific gravity to produce movement in great bodies of water, no one who has investigated the question on the great scale seems to have the smallest doubt. This was the un- hesitating conviction of the late Mr. Froude, as the result of his numerous observations on harbours, lochs, and fiords, communi- cating with the sea at their mouths: for he assured me that wherever the salinity of the water at their upper end is lowered by the descent of fresh water from the land, producing a slight 1 The researches of Prof. Forel and his associates on the Swiss lakes clearly show that in /resi water the heating effect of insolation is limited to about roo feet. In sa/f water, on the other hand—as I pointed out in my Mediterranean Report—there is a downward convection of heat produced by the sinking of the water made heavier at the surface by saline concentra~ tion. In the Mediterranean, where this effect is limited to a part of the year, it scarcely shows itself below 100 fathoms (600 feet); but under the Equator, where it is constant, the surface-heated stratum ranges downwards to from 300 to 4oo fathoms. Beneath this depth the thermometer progres- sively sinks in the ocean-basin generally (the thermal condition of the North Atlantic being altogether exceptional) from 40° to 33° or thereabouts; whilst in the Mediterranean, to the deeper part of whose basin the Polar under- flow has no access, the thermometer shows a uniform temperature of from 54° to 56° (according to the locality) from the surface-heated stratum to the deepest bottom (2,000 fathoms). 218 WwAaArOKRE [Fuly 8, 1830 surface outflow, he could trace an underflow of sea-water up the channel; and this he could attribute to nothing else than the slight excess of downward and therefore /ateral pressure in the ozéside column, depending on the continually-maintained reduction in the mean salinity of the zzs¢de column, which more than com- pensated for any slight excess in its level. WILLIAM B, CARPENTER 56, Regent’s Park Road, London, N.W. The Freshwater Medusa In NATuRE (vol. xxii. p. 190) Prof. Lankester refers to a statement of mine in the preceding number, that I had arranged with Mr. Sowerby some methods of observation from which I hoped to obtain data for the determination of important points regarding the development of the freshwater Medusa, and ex- presses a desire to be infcrmed as to the nature of the proposed inethods, The obvious and only practicable course to be adopted with this view was arranged with Mr. Sowerby by Mr. Busk and myself, and consisted in the separation of specimens from the Victoria tank and their confinement in glass jars, which, in order to secure a continuance of the necessary temperature con- ditions, were to be retained in the same house with the tank in which the Medusa had shown itself. The examination from time to time of these jars would probably bring to light facts having a direct bearing on the development of the animal. This method of observation, indeed, is s» obvious that it must have occurred to any one engaged in the investigation it was designed to aid. Prof. Lankester now says that Mr, Sowerby informs him that he had undertaken no experiments except such as had been carried out at his request ; but as it seems that the-e are iden- tical with those proposed by Mr. Busk and myself, nothing has been thereby lost. Residing at a distance from London, my opportunities of studying the life-history of the Medusa are at this moment comparatively few. Prof. Lankester, however, being on the spot, and having an unlimited supply of subjects for investiga- tion, will doubtless avail himself of the advantage thus afforded, and will render our knowledge of this remarkable little animal more complete than would otherwise have been possible. Prof. Lankester refers to the difference of opinion between himself and me, and promises to bring proofs of his own views. When these proofs are offered I shall gladly accept them. My desire is that no previous expression of opinion shall blind me to evidence in favour of a contrary position. The only important points, however, on which my conclusions have been absolutely at variance with those of Prof. Lankester are the presence of a circular canal and the pervionsness of the distal extremities of the radial canals. With regard to these there cannot in my opinion be the slightest doubt. The nature of the marginal bodies is also a point of much im- portance in this investigation, but I have expressed only a con- ditional opinion with rezard to it. While Prof. Lankester considered these bodies as undoubtedly tentacular, I held that the evidence afforded by adult and by comparatively young speci- mens is in favour of their velar origin ; but at the same time I stated that this point cannot be decided without the evidence obtained from development. I also drew attention to the remarkable attachment of the tentacles, whose adnate basal portion occupies exactly the posi- tion of the Zevonza in the Narcomedu:ze and Trachomedu-e, but I failed to find evidence of the presence of true peronia as described by Prof. Lankester, who now admits that the peronia while present are rudimental, The other points, namely those which concern the systematic position of the Medusa, are necessarily only hypothetical. It appeared to me that while there are certain features ir the structure of the adult Medusa which point towards the Tracho- medusze, there are others which connect it with the Leptomedu:z, to which on the whole it seemed to be more closely allied, though holding a position intermediate between the two ; but I regarded the data in our possession as insufficient for the final determina- tion of this point, which can be absolutely settled by the study of development alone. Prof. Lankester promises details of his observations in this month’s number of the Quarterly Fournal of Microscopic Science, and I look forward to what I doubt not will be a valuable contribution to hydroid zoolozy. As to the name of the Medusa, Prof. Lankester, while aban- doning his generic name in favour of mine, declares it to be his intention to retain his own specific name for the animal, This is to me a matter of complete indifference. Science can gain nothing from personal contention about names, and the time so occupied might with far greater advantage be devoted to more useful and lasting work, sem J. ALLMAN On the Simplest Continuous Manifold of Two Dimensions and of Finite Extent So far as I am concerned Mr. Frankland answers too soon (p. 170), for I am sorry to say I have not read Klein in the meantime. Therefore my reply is provisional. A hint was given of Mr. Frankland’s explanation by Mr. Newcomb in a phrase quoted by Mr. Halsted (American SFourn, of Math., 1. ili. 275, paper on the bibliography of hyperspace, &c.): ‘* The first elements of complex functions imply that a line can change direction without passing through infinity or zero.” We do not require even the first elements of complex functions to tell us that we can get to the other side of a point without passing through it, provided we can go round it. But the question was not whether ‘‘a line” simply could be thus reversed, but whether it could be so with the geodetic perpendicular in question described in a uniform continuous manifold of two dimensions, Mr. Frankland’s explanation expressly takes account of a third dimension. It supposes the moving line to generate a sort of skew helicoid about the fixed line to which it is perpendicular. But how can even initial portions of successive generators be in the same plane, Euclidean or other? This point may seem incidental, but I think it is essential, so I omit further questions. Somewhere in his ‘*Dynamic” Clifford says that Klein’s double surface is a sphere in which opposite points are con- sidered as one. In this light the mystery disappears. There are two perpendiculars: considered as one they never change sign; because, considered as two, they periodically exchange signs. But if opposite points do not coincide, they may be ‘‘one,” but they are not one point; if they do, is the manifold they compose a surface? Mr. Frankland has not called it a surface: but is it continuous ? There is a very well-known manifold which obviously obeys the laws worked out by Mr. Frankland and Mr. Newcomb, a system of straight lines, not vectors, through a common point; or, reciprocally, a system of planes. To measure of curvature answers density ; if this is constant, the geodetic distance from a point to a geodetic line is represented by the angle between a straight line and a plane, It may be worth while to note one or two oversights in the writing or printing of Mr. Frankland’s letter. For 3/7 4/—1 we ought to have an expression involving the angle between the geodetics, The sentence ‘‘If a being,” &c., is a quotation, and the last word should be ‘‘ position,” not ‘‘ poise.” Both Mr. Newcomb and Mr. Frankland understand my intention as more negative than it was. I said (xv. 547) ‘‘it could hardly fail to be instructive if Mr. Frankland would explain,” &c. Probably I underrated the difficulty, in this Euclidean world, of making it clear that one means just what one says. C. J. Monro Hadley, June 29 A Fourth State of Matter Ir seems to me that Mr. Tolver Preston in his letter on the above to NATURE (vol. xxii. p. 192) has somewhat overlooked the con ext in the objections he urges against Mr. Crookes’s remark that ‘‘an isolated molecule is an inconceivable entity.” It is p'ain that Mr, Crookes meant this statement to apply to the quality, not the existence of a molecule, and granting Mr. Crookes’s premisses regarding the constitution of matter, it appears a very fair deduction ; since if the three states of matter (as we know it), viz., solid, liquid, and gas, owe their different qualities merely to different modes of motion of the ultimate molecules, it is quite conceivable as well as logical to suppose that the latter have a nature totally unlike that of the effects of their motion, and therefore inconceivable to us by reason of its dissimilarity to anything of which we at present possess any knowledge. ie. R | Again, with reference to the remark, ‘‘solid it cannot be, Fuly 8, 1880] NATURE 219 which Mr. Preston calls in question, it would be. manifestly illogical on his premisses for Mr, Crookes to regard the isolated molecule as a solid, even though, according to Mr. Preston, it may possibly possess certain properties in common with what we call solids, for solidity, according to Mr. Crookes, being ‘‘ merely the effect on our senses of the motion of the discrete molecules among themselves,” it would be exceedingly arbitrary to ascribe to the molecules themselves a quality which, as we commonly know it, is simply an eféct of their motion. We might just as well identify a gas with pressure. July 3 E. Douctas ARCHIBALD Minerva Ornaments I NOTICE that a correspondent writing from America expresses his scepticism as to the figural character of certain stone objects in Dr. Schliemann’s collection at South Kensington. Judging from the analogy of similar objects found in America, he pro- nounces them to be ‘‘net-sinkers” and not idols. Whatever, however, may be the nature of the American objects, I think there can be but little doubt that Dr. Schliemann is right in considering the objects discovered by him at Hissarlik to be rude representations of a deity. At first sight they certainly have but little resemblance to anything of the sort, but a careful examina- tion shows that several are marked with the rude delineation of a human face—or, as Dr. Schliemann believes, of an owl’s face —as well as of a triple necklace, and sometimes also the charsc- teristics of a woman. Occasionally the hair is represented on the back of the head by straight lines. The delineation is some- times incised, sometimes painted, though the paint is mostly worn off. As the marked objects are of the same shape as the unmarked ones, we can have no hesitation in inferring that both were intended for the same purpose. A. H. SAYCE July 4 Arthur Young’s Travels in France _ A FEW months ago my friend Mr. F. F. Tuckett, of Bristol, drew my attention to a passage in Arthur Young’s Travels in France, published in 1792, narrating a visit to Lavoisier and to a certain M. Lomond, the inventor of an electric telegraph, which in some points anticipated that of Ronalds. The mention of Lomond’s name in a historical list of telegraphic inventors recently published by ycur contemporary, the Sctentific American, induces me to send you the inclosed extract as likely to be of interest to the readers of NATURE, S. P. THOMPSON Univ. Coll., Bristol, June 18 “The 16th.—To M. Lavoisier Ly appointment. Madame Lavoisier, a lively, sensible, scientific lady, had prepared a aéjeuné Anglois of tea and coffee, but ker conversation on Mr. Kirwan’s Essay on Phlogiston, which she is translating from the English, and on other subjects which a woman of under- standing, that works with her husband in his laboratory, knows how to adorn, was the best repast. That apartment, the opera- tions of which have been rendered so interesting to the philo- sophical world, I had pleasure in viewing. In the apparatus for aérial experiments nothing makes so great a figure as the machine for burning inflammable and vital air, to make or deposit water ; it isa splendid machine. ‘* Three vessels are held in suspension with indexes for marking the immediate variations of their weights ; two, that are as large as half-hogsheads, contain the one inflammable, the other the vital air, and a tube of communication passes to the third, where the two airs unite and burn ; by contrivances, too complex to describe without plates, the loss of weight of the two airs, as indicated by their respective balances, equal at every moment to the gain in the third vessel from the formation or deposition of water, it not being yet ascertained whether the water be actually made ordeposited. If accurate (of which I must confess I have little conception) it isa noble machine. Mons. Lavoisier, when the structure of it was commenced, said, ‘ Mais oui, monsieur, et méme par un artiste Francois!’ with an accent of voice that admitted their general inferiority to curs. It is well known that we have a ccnsiderable exportation of mathematical and other curious instruments to every part of Europe, and to France among the rest. Nor is this new, for the apparatus with which the Il rench Academicians measured a degree in the polar circle was made by Mr. George Graham, Another engine Mons. Lavoisier showed us was an electrical apparatus inclosed in a ballcon, for trying electrical experiments in any sort of air, His pond of quicksilver is considerable, containing 250 lbs., and his water apparatus is great, but his furnace did not seem so well calculated for the higher degrees of heat as some others I have seen. Iwas glad to find this gentleman splendidly lodged and with every appearance of a man of considerable fortune. This ever gives one pleasure : the employments of a state can never be in better hands than of men who thus apply the superfluity of their wealth. From the use that is generally made of money, one would think it the assistance of all others of the least consequence in affecting any business truly useful to mankind, many of the great dis- coveries that have enlarged the horizon of science having been in this respect the result of means seemingly inadequate to the end: the energetic exertions of ardent minds, bursting from obscurity, and breaking the bonds inflicted by poverty, perhaps. by distress, “To the ‘Hotel des Invalids,’ the major of which establish- ment had the goodness to show the whole of it. In the evening to Mons. Lomond, a very ingenious and inventive mechanic, who has made an improvement of the jenny for spinning cotton. Common machines are said to make too hard a thread for certain fabrics, but this forms it loose and spongy. “In electricity he has made a remarkable discovery : you write: two or three words on a paper, he takes it into a room and turns a machine inclosed in a cylindrical case, at the top of which is an electrometer, a fine small pith ball; a wire connects with a similar cylinder and electrometer in a distant apartment; and his wife, by remarking the corresponding motions of the ball, writes down the words they indicate: from which it appears he has found an alphabet of motions, As the length of the wire makes no difference in the effect, a correspondence might be carried on at a distance—within and without a besieged town, for instance, or for a purpose much more worthy, and a thousand times more harmless, between two lovers prohibited or prevented from any better connection. “* Whatever the use may be, the invention is heautiful. Mons. Lomond has many other curious machines, all the entire work of his own hands. Mechanical invention seems to be in him a natural propensity.” (‘‘ Travels during the Years 1787, 1788, and 1789,” by Arthur Young, Esq., F.R.S. Vol. i. p. 64.) “Saxifraga umbrosa” adorned with Brilliant Colours by the Selection of Syrphide AMONG Diptera the most assiduous visitors of flowers are certain Syrphidz, which, elegantly coloured themselves, are fond of splendid flower-colours, and, before eating pollen or sucking nectar, like to stop a while, hovering free in the air, in front of their favourites, apparently fascinated, or at least de- lighted, by the brilliancy of their colours. Thus I repeatedly observed Syrphus balteatus hovering before the flowers of Verbascum nigrum, often Melanostoma mellina, and Ascia podagrica before Veronica chamedrys; in the Alps the lank Sphegina clunipes before Saxifraga rotundifolia, and in my garden Ascia podagrica before Saxifraga umbrosa. Of Verbascum nigrum the main fertilisers are humble-bees, Diptera co-operating only in a subordinate degree ; in the case of the three other species, on the contrary, the above-named Syrphidz are such frequent visitors and cross-fertilisers that we may safely conclude that it is by their selection of elegantly- coloured varieties that these flowers have acquired their beautiful peculiarity. Hence, in order to estimate the colour-sense of these Syrphidz, it is worth while to consider what colour-com- binations they have been able to produce by their selection. Saxifraga umbrosa being, as far as hitherto known, their finest masterpiece, we may in the first place look at the varie- gated decoration of this species. Its snow-white petals are adorned with coloured spots, which in size and intensity of light gradually decrease from the base of the petals towards their extremity. Indeed, nearest to their base, within the first third of their length, there is a large irregular spot of an intense yellow; about the middle of their length there follows a narrower cross band of red colour, vermilion towards the base, intensely pink towards the outside, not reaching the margins of the petals, sometimes dissolved into several separate spots; lastly, beyond the middle of the length of the petals there are three to eight smaller roundish spots of a paler violet-pink colour. The flowers of Veronica chamedrys prove that also gay blue colours are perceived and selected by Ascia. Lippstadt, Germany HERMANN MULLER 220 NATURE aed [uly 8, 1880 Dilatation of the Iris In addition to the method of observation mentioned by Mr. Ackroyd in his photometric proposal (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 627) I may mention that the variations of the diameter of the pupil are very beautifully observed by a pair of punctures in a screen over the eye. In fact long ago I used this as a means of observing the absolute diameter of the pupil, subject to a small unexamined constant error. By pricking a row of holes ina card at distances of *06, ‘o7, ‘o8....°25 inch, and placing this close over the eye, the diameter is observed by sliding the card until two of the holes are found at such a distance that their edges appear to touch. The opening of the other eye, or the slightest disturbance of light, produces an apparent alteration in the sizes of the disks of light, so that their edges recede or overlap; and a fresh pair of holes may be found showing the altered diameter of the pupil. Thus (1) the extreme diameters of the pupil were found to be ‘07 (? ‘06) and ‘25 inch; (2) the diameter is rapidly variable at will, without any alteration of stimulus, even as much as from *13 to ‘I9 inch; (3) the sympathetic motion takes “4 or *5 second to be produced when the other eye is exposed to light. Many similar interesting questions may be examined by this simple instrument ; for which purpose I inclose a sample card for editorial trial. Wai Baee. Comparative Curves in Terrestrial Magnetism MonsIzur,—En séquence 4 la intéressante communication de Rey. S. J. Perry de l’Observatoire de Stonyhurst, je vous prie d’additioner les suivants renseignements sur la méme perturbation magnétique de 17 mars passé, d’aprés la courbe-du déclinographe de l’ Observatoire du Infant D. Luiz, 4 Lisbonne. La différence entre le maximum et le premier minimum sh. 49,5m. G.M.T. est de 13/,9 (un tiers du mouvement Stonyhurst), et entre le méme maximum et le 2* minimum po ep oA ” é 6 7 4 ” vo uw Declinographe 17 Mars, 1880 (Lisbonne M.T.). xoh, 45m. G.M.T. est un peu plus grande 16’,2, le contraire qu’on voit 4 Vienne et Stonyhurst. Il est digne aussi de remarque que Je temps du 1°? minimum ne s’accorde avec letemps 4 Stonyhurst et Vienne, pendant que le temps du second est de parfait accord. La longitude de cet Observatoire est + 36m. 35s. G. envoie Ja copie de la courbe. Agréez, Monsieur, l’assurance de ma haute considération. Lisbonne, 21 juin 1880 J. CAPELLO Je vous Effects of Lightning on Trees Your note in NATuRE, vol. xxii. p. 204, on the recent thunderstorm at Geneva induces me to send you a note on a tree struck by lightning in Stoneleigh Park during a severe storm on last Thursday week (June 24). The tree was a fine oak about forty feet high, and the lightning seemed to have struck not among the smaller branches at the top, but about two-thirds of the way up the main trunk, just where several of the larger branches came off from the stem, From this point to the ground the bark had been rent off along a strip about three inches wide, and through the whole length the wood beneath the bark had been gauged out as if by a carpenter’s tool, the groove made being about an inch wide and deep. The curious fact of the tree being struck apparently among the branches at once suggested to me that the electricity must have travelled, without visible effect, through the upper branches, and only produced disruption of the wood when the current was strengthened by the combination of a great number of separate streams. I had forgotten that this was Prof, Colladon’s theory of electric discharge, but am glad to be able to give it the support of this observation. Rugby, July 3 L. CUMMING Iron and Hydrogen In the description given a few weeks back of the experiments of Prof. Hughes, the fact was demonstrated that iron wire in contact with dilute acids becomes brittle, and at the same time takes up hydrogen, There are one or two points of great interest that many, perhaps, besides myself, would like to know more about. Thus, at the same time the iron becomes brittle, does it also become harder ? This leads one to speculate on the facts illustrated in the hardening and tempering processes of steel. We know that such liquids as water, weak acid, oil, &c., which are used as baths in which the heated metal is quenched, are all decomposable by iron and other metals at a high tempera- ture, the result being the liberation of hydrogen, &c. Now is it not probable that this liberation of hydrogen is really the essential element in the physical change produced in the hardened steel ?—that is to say, that the steel absorbs, or perhaps becomes alloyed with the nascent hydrogen in contact with its surface, thus rendering it intensely hard ? Prof. Hughes has pointed out that a red heat entirely dissi- pates the hydrogen from the iron wire, which returns to its normal state. This perhaps will explain the process of tempering by supposing that a certain proportion of the (hardness-rendering) hydrogen is driven off according to the temperature reached, as shown in the well-known shades of colour seen on the surface —that is to say, the hardness is proportionate to the contained hydrogen, such as that many other metals become very hard or soft by being alloyed as zinc and copper in brass, tin and copper in bronze, &c. This is supported by the fact that one of the most successful processes of hardening depends on the use of a quenching-bath of dilute sulphuric acid. This would be explained by the greater ease with which acidulated water is decomposed by iron, and therefore a larger bulk of the nascent hydrogen liberated on its surface could be absorbed by the metal. The carbon in steel probably only plays the part of a go- between in rendering the absorption of hydrogen more facile. There is a fact that also supports this, namely, if unhardened steel is dissolved in HCl the carbon is left in the form of graphite scales, whereas after hardening, if treated with the acid in the same manner, the residue is found to consist of a liquid hydrocarbon, thus showing the presence of hydrogen in the metal. These points I should like to have been able to confirm or refute for myself ; but not having the required time or apparatus, I leave it with the hope that some one possessing those advan- tages will settle these questions. H. J. JoHNsTON-LAVIs Naples *Coronella levis” In Nature, vol. xxii, p. 156, the presentation is announced of two specimens of Cororella levis (British) to the Zoological Society. I have known so many persons doubt the existence of the Coronella in the New Forest that I should feel greatly obliged to any of your correspondents who would give me some information as to its history, whether it has been introduced, or is really indigenous. H. KING [Mr. Sclater tells us that he has no doubt that the smooth snake is indigenous to the British Islands, although it was over- looked for many years. The first living example received by the Zoological Society was in August, 1862, presented by Mr. Fenton, having been obtained in the neighbourhood of Sand- hurst. Since then nearly twenty specimens have been received, chiefly from the New Forest and neighbourhood of Bournemouth. See Mr. Cooke’s excellent little volume, ‘‘Our Reptiles” (London, 1865), for a full account of this species of snake, —ED.] Recall of Appearance of Books, &c. I HAVE only to-day been able to read the back numbers of Nature for the past two or three months, and hence have only now seen Mr, Ernst’s letter in your issue of April 29 last. : His power of recalling the appearance of books I know is possessed by others. I have a very large _and still increasing library, but there is hardly a voluwe, or indeed a tract, the appearance and condition of which does not at once present itself to my mind if occasion to use it should arise. Further, being engaged in the compilation of a work some years since, wherein many references to other books were necessary, I used, Fuly 8, 1880] NATURE . 221 when away from home (as was frequently the case) to write and indicate not simply in what part of the library the book would be found, but in what portion of the volume, and almost always whether on the left or right hand page, any given passage required would be found. i Of late years I have found it desirable to rebind my tracts in something of a uniform manner. Their external individuality is thus destroyed, but the aspect of their title-pages and_ the location of particular passages of the contents remain as fresh as ever. CORNELIUS WALFORD London, June 24 Stags’ Horns Wirth further reference to the above question I have pleasure in inclosing a letter received to-day from the head keeper at Bradgate Park, near Leicester, where both red and fallow deer are kept. I may add that I saw at the end of July last, near the head of Loch Eribol, in Sunderland, a quantity of stags’ horns in a gipsy encampment, which I supposed had been collected for sale by that curious fraternity. HERBERT ELLIS 62, New Walk, Leicester ** To HERBERT ELLIS, Esq. “ Bradgate Park, 22nd Fune, 1880 ** DEAR S1R,—In answer to yours of the rgth inst. respecting what becomes of the stags’ horns after being shed, I beg to say they are regularly collected and sold. But there is not the slightest doubt of their eating each other’s horns. I have myself seen several cases where both brow antlers and the top points have been gnawed off. I have also seen Scotch heads that have been quite spoiled by the tines having been gnawed, which must have been done after the horn had become hard, and whilst the animal was living. Iam, sir, yours respectfully, ““C, OVERTON” Cup and Ring Stones Many of the markings mentioned by Mr. Middleton are hollows made by rain, or rather deepened by rain-water holding many low organisms in hollows, on the upper surfaces of exposed grit stones ; overflow from these accounts for the groove or spout noticed at the margin of some of them. ‘They are to be seen on the stones erected near Boroughbridge, and speak to the length of time these stones must have been raised into their present position, June 21 Diatoms in the London: Clay To enable meito determine the exact extent of the diato- maceous band in the London clay, I am anxious to obtain information of any wells in progress, or in contemplation, any- where in the London Basins, wes¢ and zorth of London. With the help of some of your readers I have no doubt that I shall shortly be able to show that the one referred to is co-extensive with the London clay. The details I wish for are :— 1. Locality of well. 2. If begun, the depth attained. I shall also be glad to hear of any railway cuttings now being made in the same area. W. H. SHRUBSOLE WATER SUPPLY JAG the improvements in sanitary matters that this generation has witnessed not one ranks higher than the settled and still growing conviction of the im- portance of a pure water supply, and nowhere are the various aspects of the question more keenly debated and considered than in the Metropolis at the present time. At a discussion at a recent meeting of the Chemical Society there seems to have been some doubt thrown on the conclusions arrived at by chemists in determining the wholesomeness of a water by no less an authority than Prof. Huxley, and it may be well to inquire how far his allegations are borne out by facts. In the earlier days of the history of chemistry, as was to be expected, the processes adopted in the analysis of water were crude in the extreme, and the quaint ideas promulgated in the treatises then published are not a little amusing. Gradually, however, and especially during the last few years, the methods of analysis have improved, and although, judging by the wide diversities of opinion that exist as to what may or may not be pronounced a water sufficiently pure for drinking purposes, the subject cannot yet be said to have arrived at a stage completely satis- factory; still, so far as the purely chemical evidence is concerned, it would seem to be able to furnish results which are sufficiently exact for all practical purposes. The operations involved are among the simplest and easiest the chemist has to perform, and consequently it is not the data furnished by analysis that are called in question, but the conclusions drawn from them. Persons interested in sanitary questions, but who have no special knowledge of the difficulties that beset the forming a correct judgment as to the wholesomeness of water, are apt to express themselves as scandalised, and it must be confessed with some show of reason, that it should be possible there should be so little) agreement amongst those who are looked up to as authorities on such matters, This disagreement, however, is more or less inevitable in the present state of our knowledge, and is largely due to the intricacy of some of the problems involved in the question, which is by no means a simple chemical one. The debatable ground is the nature and estimation of organic matter and the amount of significance that should be attached to the presence of oxidised nitrogen com- pounds. Organic matter may be of animal or vegetable origin, the former being dangerous and the latter much less so, if indeed it be not altogether innocuous. To distinguish between the two kinds is therefore all important; but unfortunately it is impossible directly to do this, as both animals and vegetables yield albuminoid matters, which are, chemically speaking, practically identical in composition. OF the various processes for the estimation of organic matter there are three that are in general use. One, the oldest, known as the permanganate process, finds its advocate in the present day in Dr. Tidy, and consists in measuring the organic matter by the quantity of oxygen required to oxidise it. Another, originated by Prof. Wanklyn, ‘and which he calls the albuminoid-ammonia process, consists in decomposing the organic matter by an alkaline solution of potassium permanganate, and taking the resulting ammonia as the measure of the organic matter. The third process, the one employed in the laboratory of the Rivers Pollution Commissioners and advocated by Dr. Frankland, its originator, estimates the organic carbon and nitrogen separately. A good deal may be said in favour of all these pro- cesses, as affording a rough estimation of the quantity of organic matter, but none of them can be relied upon as giving any indication of its nature, 7.¢.,as to whether it is dangerous or not; and yet it is the almost invariable custom to judge of a water by the quantity of organic matter it contains, no matter what its origin, and a variation of two or three times a given amount is held to make the difference between a good and bad water. It was to this point that Prof. Huxley especially ad- dressed himself in his remarks already referred to. He gave it as his opinion, speaking as a biologist, ‘‘that a water may be as pure as can be as regards chemical analysis, and yet, as regards the human body, be as deadly as prussic acid, and on the other hand may be chemically gross and yet do no harm to any one.” “TI am aware,’’ said he, ‘‘ that chemists may consider this as a terrible conclusion, but it is true, and if the public are 222 . WATORE [Fuly 8, 18$0 guided by percentages alone they may often be led astray. The real value of a determination of the quantity of organic impurity in a water is, that by it a very shrewd notion can be obtained as to what has had access to that water.” However startling these statements may be to those who judge of the wholesomeness of a water by the amount of organic matter it may contain, we believe it to be none the less an accurate description of facts. It is within our knowledge that some of our most wholesome supplies sometimes contain an excess of organic matter, and that the waters which give rise to typhoid fever and other hardly less serious disorders are frequently just those which contain the least, the difference of Course being that in the one case the organic matter is innocuous, in the other deadly. Since, then, chemical analysis fails entirely to distin- guish between these two kinds of matter, it may be thought to be a work of supererogation to have recourse toit atall. Not so, however, for what analysis fails to do directly it can to a large extent do indirectly. Organic matter in solution in water is more or less prone to oxidation, the highly putrescible matter of sewage being most so, and that derived from vegetation very much less so. Hence it follows that one would expect to find the oxidised nitrogen compounds in greater excess in the one case than in the other, and as a matter of fact that is just what we do find. Almost invariably, in all waters of acknowledged wholesomeness, the quantity of nitrates never exceeds a certain small amount, whereas in waters, such as polluted well and spring waters, that have given rise to illness, the oxidised nitrogen compounds, with other accompaniments of sewage, are to be found in excess. By means then of these oxidised nitrogen compounds we get collateral evidence throwing light on the nature and probable source of the contamination of which a mere percentage estimation of organic matter would fail to give the slightest indication. The mistake has been hitherto that the discussion has been narrowed by looking at the question almost entirely from a chemist’s point of view. It is, however, to the biologist that we must look chiefly for the future elucida- tion of the subject, and he has a field of the widest range, embracing much untrodden ground, for his inves- tigations. Putting on one side the specific poisons which through the medium of water are able each to generate, after its kind, diseases such as typhoid fever, it is highly probable, judging from what has already been proved to take place in analogcus cases, that dangerous organic matter is not poisonous as such, but acts by affording the pabulum for organisms which are able to set up putrefactive changes in the blood of the person drinking polluted water. Even the conversion of organic matter into nitrates is not a mere chemical process of oxidation, since we now know that the oxidation only takes place by the help of a distinct ferment. In the inquiry as to how far organic matter is destroyed in rivers, it is clearly insufficient to rely upon laboratory experiments in which diluted sewage is exposed only to the oxidising influence of air. This is entirely to ignore the agency of vegetation and of the vast army of organisms, identical with or allied to bacteria, which, being endowed with various functions of reorganisation, convert the carbon and nitrogen of organic matter into simpler inorganic compounds, these in turn to become the food of the more highly organised aquatic vegetation. Whilst therefore duly recognising the practical help that chemistry can afford in the more limited scope that properly belongs to it, we trust, in the interest of sanitary science, that the enunciation of the views of so dis- tinguished a biologist as Prof. Huxley may have their due weight with those to whom these questions are ordinarily referred, and will tend to promote a better understanding and more solid ground for agreement than has up to the present seemed possible, CHARLES EKIN THREE VEARS’ EXPERIMENTING IN MENSURATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY * By A NEW HAND THEREAT IDE The Whole Solar Spectrum.—Could an observer, who had once made close acquaintance with the glories of symmetry resident in great A of the solar spectrum, when seen in the brightness of a southern noon-day, under a dispersion of 33° and magnifying power of ro, ever remain content therewith ? Never ! if a particle of soul belonged to him! for he would be imperiously constrained from that moment to feel that he must see the whole solar spectrum as it is given forth effulgently to the denizens of the south by a nearly zenith sun, before he died; or to what purpose would he have lived in a sun-illumined world ? Out, therefore, once more to Lisbon the experimenter and his Wife went in 1878, with the important assistance again of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company of Liver- pool; but now, armed with a rather different apparatus. There was indeed the same heliostat and there were ail the prisms belonging to the aurora spectroscope ; but in- stead of each of them being looked through singly and successively, they were now used all together, set out in a curvilinear line several feet long on a large table, and looked through all at once ; with telescope and collimator each 32 inches in focal length ; with magnifying power of 20, and a further prismatic method supplanting the usual employment of coloured glasses to prevent false glare in the field of view; and then what a new world was opened up to behold and admire ! Lines multiplied on lines and in a perfection of finish and refinement, sometimes of infinite thinness, sometimes remarkable power ; and the classic fields ot those more refrangible portions of the spectrum where the great spectroscopists of the age, Kirchhoff and Secchi, Lockyer and Janssen, Huggins and Young, have chiefly gained their laurels, as expounders of the constitution of the sun, were surveyed with respect and all admiration ; but first, foremost, and beyond everything else, were the glories of the illimitable depths of solar colour ; colour, the best leading index that has ever been invented yet, to simplify and facilitate the description of all spectrum place. After having got completely rid of those usual at- tendant impurities in solar spectroscoping, viz., chemi- cally coloured glasses used as shades, the large dis- persions now employed enhanced rather than dulled the solar colours; raised one’s ideal of what colour in light can be, and gave, through near fifty gradations, a definite and ever-memorable colour-characterisation to as many portions of the whole spectrum. In presence of szci solar colours, it seemed to be a wilful ignoring of one’s best and plainest faculties to speak of the spectrum colours as being only 3, or 5, or even 7. They might indeed be rather spoken of as next to infinite in number ; or rather still, as being just so many as there are easily perceptible differences of spectral place ; du¢é for that law of locomotion of colour-bands within certain. limits, already discovered by the experimenter in his absorption spectra, and found equally applicable to the solar spectrum. Confining therefore the number of colours to something which should give each of them a breadth, not likely to be overpassed by the locomotive effects + and — on their boundaries, the following table. of fifteen spectral colours was prepared after much dis- cussion and criticism of each individual’member of it :— 7 Continued from p. 195. Fuly 8, 1880] NATURE 223 | Wave-Number Spectral Place, General Distinctions. | Particular Cotours ms Siamese | eas tes ere crag Extends from Reaches to : Ultra-Red. 25,0CO 30,000 . X. —_ Crimson-Red. , 30,000 34,000 Yand A, Rubidium x and Potassium a. ae RED. 34,000 37,000 Little a and great B. Lithium a, nearly. Scarlet-Red. 37,000 39,000 Great C. Scarlet Hydrogen Line. Light-Red. 39,000 40,000 cand a Band. Light-Red Oxygen. Orange. 40,000 42,000 a Band and Rain-Band. Toe aecOR ema Es Shh Yellow. 42,000 44,000 D. Sodium a. mddis oF Sper: CITRON. 44,009 47,000 Aurora’s chief Line. Cabos Ed roe Rs oo Green: 47,000 st,000 | — Eand little 4 Lecter raat Glaucous. 51,0co 55,000 Little c and F. Glaucous Hydrogen, Blue. 55,000 57,000 Little @. Cesium a and p. Indigo. 57,009 58,000 Little e and little £ Indigo Nitrogen Band. Pees. ( VIOLET. 58,000 61,000 Great G and little g. Violet-Hydrogen Line. Lavender. 61,c00 65,000 Little # and great H!and H?*. Lavender- Hydrogen Line. Gray. 65,000 70,000 — — The colour question settled, then came the measure- ment of the places of the lines seen therein and amongst. Each day the rather ragged train of some simple, some compound, prisms was set to minimum deviation for each of them in the part of the spectrum concerned, and from 100 to 200 or more lines per day were securely recorded day after day; until at last, after that long and laborious journey through all the colours and all the lines, not omit- ting to chronicle in appearance, as well as measured place, a single one amongst 2,000, at last, like huge volcanoes throwing out pillars of black smoke streaked with vertical lines, the overpowering forms of H* and H? hove in sight, and formed a fitting balance as well as contrast in the meee to great A and its rhythmical predecessors in the red. But long, long before soundings were touched in the appearance of these two smoky giants, certain questions had to be wrestled with touching the terms in which all spectral places should be measured and published. Full of desire to contribute data for theorists, the expe- rimenter had indulged in the prospect of recording all line-places in terms of wave-lengths ; and had even made his versatile, Robinson Crusoe sort of solar spectroscope, read its scales in numbers increasing as the wave-lengths of light do, from the violet towards the red end of the spectrum ; and also caused it to present the violet end towards the left, and the red towards the right hand, as with most of his predecessor’s maps employing wave- lengths. Further still, as he found it expedient to com- pare the solar spectral lines he was observing each day with the best maps and photographs he could collect, he applied a wave-length scale to each of them, made them all turn their violet ends leftward, and then tried to trace each line visible in the telescope through all its previous renderings or omissions by previous observers. But oh! the difficulty of carrying that principle out fully, with anything more than a very few leading lines. The difference of the differences of a diffraction or wave- 224 length scale, between one part of the spectrum and another, as compared with an average refraction or prism representation, viz., some sixteen times, was found to defy all accuracy by any ordinary pen or pencil, and to mislead or confound the eye, as to the mere physiognomy of groupings of the lines. Then, worse still, nature herself, and spectrum-forming nature too, was being fought against, in having scales increasing their numbers for dispersion one way, when the prismatic deviations which produced these dispersions were going the other way. So at last it was determined that whatever the scale a pure theorist may eventually prefer to put a few spectrum places in at last, for his own purposes, the spectrum observer, in order to observe well, quickly, and safely throughout the whole spectrum must have :— 1. A scale according to nature, as to the direction of increase of its numbers. 2. Increasing therefore these numbers from red to violet, both because the prismatic deviations do the same, and because, when the temperature of bodies is gradually raised, from that of the air in which we live up to such point that they begin to be luminous, the first light given off is red ; and they only attain to violet light in the latest and most extreme degrees of heat eventually obtained. 3. Red therefore being the natural beginning of the spectrum, and all spectral numbers arranged as above, increasing towards the rest of the spectrum, the said red end requires to be placed on the left hand, so that every spectrum map may be told off as all writing and printing is made to read in all European countries, viz. from left to right, never from right to left. 4. Seeing that prisms will always be employed by some observers of the solar spectrum, and gratings by others, the scale to be used should be one whose general form, in equal parts, should divide the immense difference of physiognomy which exists between the spectra offered by these two instrumental methods; that is, not compressing the red end so much as the prism does, nor compressing the violet so much as the grating does ; and this end is obtained most neatly, on an equally absolute foundation with wave-lengths, and in a handy set of whole figures by adopting the number of such waves to the inch, British. The above points having been all fairly arrived at, after great sacrifices of both time and labour in the other direc- tion, the Edinburgh experimenter proceeded without any further compunction to alter his spectroscope once more, and make it conform in all respects thereto, z.e., to show the | red end of spectra towards the left, and to increase spectral readings from left to right; while he further applied new scales to his collection of spectrum maps in terms of wave-numbers. And then came the reward ; for not only did the same eye and pencil succeed in applying a wave-number scale more accurately than a wave-length one to prism-observed spectra, and make the correspondences between prism and grating spectra more numerous, perfect, and easily apprehensible, but the wave-number scale was found more suited naturally to the absolute requirements of the solar spectrum in itself. Or thus, while the wave-length scale, as repre- sented in Angstrém’s grand normal solar, but diffraction spectrum stretches out the red end to such a degree that the lines there are so few and far between as to waste the very paper on which they are drawn, the wave-number method gently compresses them, or brings them twice as close together; while again, if at the violet end the lines are so numerous, and closed packed in Angstrém’s map that they have hardly standing room, and can scarcely be separated one from the other—the wave- number method gives them twice as much space there, in a map measuring, on the whole, from red to violet, only the same length as Angstrém’s. But there was a still higher reward to the experimenter, who, adopting the scale of wave-number, and finding he had more room for the violet end of the spectrum, began NATURE [Fuly 8, 1880 to pay more attention thereto; for, he then found that, crowded as were the violet lines in Angstrém’s diffraction map, they were not half crowded enough; or rather that there were really in that part of the solar spectrum three or four times as many more lines still; far more indeed * than could have been inserted on the engraved plates of the Swedish philosopher, and many more than his diffrac- tion grating was probably able to show. While therefore all strong lines throughout Angstrém’s map are believed to have been most admirably measured, and the far more numerous thin lines are also most truthfully rendered in the earlier and middle parts of the spectrum—the violet termination, what with the imperfect showings of his grating, and the contracted space of the wave-length scale map, has not been done justice to. Yet this is a very material point in the physics of the sun ; for according to the preponderance of violet, over red, light, so may be assumed the intensity of the tem- perature of that light’s origin. Whereabouts then did the increased number of lines in the violet observed by the Edinburgh experimenter with his prisms, over Ang- strém with his grating, place the photosphere of the sun as to temperature ? This point, described by the experimenter in the Transactions of the Royal Society, Edinburgh, vol. xxix., for 1879, was approximated to by him in this manner :— Having collected from various sources several thousands of spectrum place observations, he reduced them all to wave-number scale, and then arranged them according to the temperatures of their sources of origin, or, as Mr. Norman Lockyer has since then termed it, their respective “heat-levels,’’ and the following series was obtained :— Source of origin of spectral light, when at freezing point as in telluric absorption spectra, has its maximum of lines at W.-N. place . ia = 39,000: Chamber absorption spectra at temp. 68° F. at 41,000 Flame lines at lamp-flame temperatures at Lens 47,000 Gas-vacuum tubes illuminated by 1 inch induction sparks “il gifecia see ere des 49,0CO Chemical lines in 2 inch sparks ... ... we ee 49,000- Chemical lines in 6 to 10 inch sparks intensified 51,000: And Angstrom’s diffraction solar spectrum 55,000 But the solar spectrum, as observed on this occasion in Portugal, showed its maximum of lines at 61,000 of the same scale ; or indicated that the temperature of the solar photosphere may be as much above the highest temperature yet attained by man, even with assistance of electricity in its condensed form, as that is above the freezing tem- perature of the upper strata of the earth’s atmosphere. Lastly, Gaseous Spectvra.—Under this term are included both flames, especially blow-pipe flames, in the open air ; and electric illuminations inside so-called gas-vacuum tubes, such as those of Geissler and Plucker combined. But in all these cases the experimenter, finding that faintness of the light was the crying evil, changed the usual /vazsverse method of looking at lines, or cones, of light, for an ezd-on view of the same. Trying this first for the blow-pipe, whose flame of coal- gas urged by a stream of air could then, by a collimating objective applied to the anterior telescope, be safely looked into, though directed right towards the slit—the increased number of lines, their steadiness and definiteness in all the several hydro-carbon bands—and then the resolving of the mere haze in the field of view into closely ranked little lines or linelets, proved an inimitable reward, as well as a priceless source of the best kind of reference- data in all his subsequent inquiries ; especially too because these advanced results were procured without increasing either the temperature, or size, or combustion material of the flame at all. y ; Next applying the same principle to the Geissler- Plucker tubes, by having their form modified by M. Fuly 8, 1880] Salleron, so that they could be similarly looked at in the direction of the long line of the capillary—the effects were found almost startling in the brilliancy of the principal lines (chiefly indeed at the red end of the spectrum, for only weak sparks were employed) and in the immense number of additional lines in almost every tube- spectrum examined. These results had been communi- cated to the Royal Scottish Society of Arts in 1879, before it was ascertained that similar tubes for end-on use in photographing the violet lines had been made by the eminent Dr. van Monckhoven, at Gand, Belgium, three years earlier. But while fully acknowledging the Doctor’s undoubted priority of invention, and inviting him to communicate his first published results at one of their meetings, the Society found the case already before them a perfectly independent invention ; a part, too, of a more general system, and accompanied by a series of measures of some of the gas spectra, both in blowpipe flames and spark-illumined tubes, to a greater refinement than had ever been made before. They therefore graciously crowned the paper with a prize and printed it at full length in their Zvansactions for March, 1879. Now some of these increased refinements in knowledge of the spectra of the gases referred to matters long in dispute before the world; and especially to the contention of whether the so-called “ carbon-lines” of some observers seen by them in candle-flames, could possibly be the lines of that most refractory element carbon, or were not rather the lines of some of the very easily volatilised compounds of carbon, unless all the usual chemistry of carbon be utterly at fault. Herein the powers of the aurora spectro- scope with its bright images, its still brighter end-on methods of viewing gas-flames, and its easy powers of rotation from one source of light to another, proved of inestimable advantage ; for not only could large dis- persions, approaching those employed on the sun, be used with effect, but the minutest line in one spectrum could be so quickly compared with a similar line in any other, and decided on absolutely as to whether it was or was not in the same spectrum place. Wherefore the Edinburgh experimenter proceeded in the following manner: after repeating Prof. Swan’s ancient observations and finding with him that all the various hydrocarbons gave more or less completely the same spectrum as the blue base of a candle-flame does, he sect up for permanent reference, end-on, a blowpipe flame of coal-gas with common air as the best example of that kind of spectrum, viz., the spectrum of a something which vapourises at merely lamp-flame temperature. That that thing could be pure carbon, the chemists one and all declare is impossible, because no furnace heat can vapourise that element; but the Royal Society, London, had printed a paper declaring that the unknown agent must be carbon, pure and elemental, because the author of that paper had seen the same spectrum, not only in all combinations of hydrogen with carbon, but in those of oxygen, and also nitrogen, with carbon. This statement too was further strengthened by a Report from the Greenwich Observatory in 1877, to the effect that gas-vacuum tubes electrically illuminated, having been examined there spectroscopically, no sensible or material differences were found between carbo-hydrogens, carbo- oxygens, and carbo-nitrogens; the one common spectrum seen there must also, it was argued, though very different from the blowpipe flame spectrum, be the spectrum of pure carbon. But as soon as the Edinburgh experimenter tried his end-on vacuum tubes he found an immense difference between carbo-hydrogens on one side, and both carbo- oxygens and carbo-nitrogens on the other ; for the former, though with some other features constant, invariably showed many most brilliant lines in the orange, the citron, the green, and the blue ; while the other tubes either had not any trace at all of those lines, or only so faint a mark- NATURE 225 ing as to indicate they were there as impurities and not as the whole contents of the so-called “ vacuum-tube.’’ Whatwere these lines then, so peculiar to carbo-hydrogen tubes? A reference to the coal-gas blowpipe flame showed that they were z¢s characteristic lines ; the lines, too, of an easily dissociable compound gas therein, and not of an ultimate and most refractory element; for as soon as the electric sparks illuminating the tubes were somewhat increased in intensity, quantity, and heat, these blowpipe, or we may now safely call them carbo-hydrogen, lines faded out of view; while the two elements which had made them, viz., pure hydrogen, showed its lines, and pure carbon showed, not its ultimate, elemental lines (which nothing short of the most powerful sparks, large batteries, and enormous condensers far above the private means of the Edinburgh experimenter can bring forth), but its low-temperature, compound-linelet, or Jdand, spectrum. Next, on examining the tubes of carbo-oxygen and carbo-nitrogen certain differences between them were de- tected, due apparently to the compound gas in each case being partly dissociated, and partly left untouched, by the simple, small induction-sparks employed. When largely dissociated, then carbon bands and oxygen lines were grandly present in one case, and carbon bands and nitro- gen bands in the other; with some indications also of the compound’s presence in either case, though never to the magnificent degree of the carbo-hydrogen in tubes of that gas. This, however, was merely for the simple reason that carbo-hydrogen is by nature a more magnificent “lighter-up” in luminous spectra ; just as it is indeed the basis of all the means yet adopted in the history of man- kind to correct the darkness of night; and there seems little chance that science will ever find anything better for every kind of occasion wherein we now employ candles, gas-lights, and lamps. ; On further examining the carbon bands in the end-on tubes by a dispersion power of 33° from A to H, a pecu- liar structure was discovered by the experimenter in their component lines; and when he found that to be as distinct in a cyanogen tube which contained no trace of either oxygen, or more unusual still, hydrogen impurity, he considered it a proof that that electric spark-raised carbon-band (to which the chemists will probably not object) was the low-temperature spectrum of that element, and not the spectrum, as argued by M. Thalén, of an oxide of carbon. Many important points, therefore, seem to be indicated by these experiments, but with the general effect also of showing that spectroscopy loses much [of its exceeding accuracy in power of discrimination, unless its observa- tion be accompanied by some record of the particular “ heat-level”’ at which the materials examined by it were rendered incandescent. Hence a paper on these subjects was communicated to the Philosophical Magazine, London, in August, 1879; and further observations are now being carried on by the same experimenter on a new variety of his end-on tubes, prepared also by M. Salleron, and giving still brighter spectra than before, with the same electric illumination. But all this is only while waiting for the aurora to appear, that phenomenon being the proper cynosure of this particular Edinburgh spectroscope. And now all men trust that the said aurora is soon to reappear, as the multifarious solar activities of a new sun-spot cycle have so evidently begun in the increased size and number of these spots ever since October, 1879; when they were critically considered, and openly announced in NATURE, to have at last shaken off the languor of their long mini- mum epoch, and to have begun in earnest their prepara- tion for the new series now fairly under way. (Since the above paper was written, the first of the new cycle of auroras to come, /as been caught. See NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 492). 26 2 NATURE [| Fuly 8, 1880 PNEUMATIC CLOCKS ao distribute the time with accuracy and uniformity in a large city is a problem of great utility and extreme importance. This problem has been all _but completely solved by the pneumatic clocks erected since March last in the principal streets of Parisand among a considerable number of subscribers, who, for a halfpenny a day, receive Boos. ff | ll I [eee il CTT the time from the observatory every minute without wind- ing up or any care on their part. The details of the system established in Paris we take from an article by M. E. Hospitalier in a recent number of Za Nature. The system consists of (1) a central station where the compressed air is produced and sent every minute through the system of tubes ; (2) a distributing system of tubes with ramifications to streets and houses; (3) a series of =m ATT i ay tl = i? i ij Fic. 1.—Distributing Clock of Compressed Air. dials with pneumatic receivers established in the public streets and in private buildings. At the central works a steam-engine sets in motion two pumps, which compress air into a large reservoir of about eight cubic metres, at a pressure of five atmospheres. | This compressed air, by means of a special regula- tor, is transmitted to a second chamber called the dis- | tributing reservoir, where the pressure is kept at seven- tenths of an atmosphere by means of a simple automatic apparatus. This reservoir is put into communication every minute with the main distributing pipes for twenty | seconds by means of a distributing clock shown in Fig. 1. The distributing clock comprises two quite distinct move- ments : the left movement is intended to set the clock going in the ordinary manner; the right movement is specially intended to work the distributing valve R. The seconds-hand is at p. At the beginning of each minute the air of the distributing reservoir arriving by the tube J in the distributing box is sent into the main distributing pipes by the tube M. At the end of twenty seconds a displacement of the lever G places the valve R in its second position. The tube N then communicates with the tube K, open to the atmosphere, while the tube J no longer communicates either with K or with N. The valve R remains 40 seconds of the distributing clock. The compressed air of the main pipes is utilised to wind up automatically the two movements by means of the levers A and B, which are connected with pistons placed in the cylinders c, and 2.—Dial Mechanism of Street and Private Clocks. Fic. in this position, to complete the minute, when a new dis- raised every minute by the compressed air to a distance placement of the valve again places J in connection with | exactly equal to that through which the motor weight has N, and so on. All these displacements of the valve are descended during the preceding minute. There is no effected by means of gearings arranged in the works need, therefore, to trouble about the winding up of the Fuly 8, 1880} distributing clock. This clock is regulated by the Ob- servatory, by hand; but soon a special system will be established, by which the exact time will be distributed from the Observatory by electricity. As the system is established in duplicate at the central works, should any- thing go wrong with one clock the other is put in working order in a few seconds. The function of the distributing clock may be performed by the hand by working properly, NATURE ee ee Oe ee eee 227 every minute, the three-way tap, I, which plays exactly the part of the valve R. _ For the system of distribution the air is sent every minute into the tube N, which bifurcates into a certain number of smaller branches, forming so many networks completely separate and independent, so that a derangement of one of the systems does not affect the others. The principal tubes, carried underground, are of wrought iron, and have: Fic. 3.—The Pneumatic Clock on the Place ce la Madeleine. an internal diameter of 27 millimetres. The tubes placed in private houses are of lead, 15 mm. in diameter ; in apart- ments and passages this diameter is reduced to 6 mm., and the tube attached to the clock, in lead or india-rubber covered with silk, is only 3mm. in diameter. Witha pressure of seven-tenths of an atmosphere, by leaving the distri- buting system for 20 seconds in communication with the distributing reservoir, as we have said, it is easy to set the clocks going several miles from the central works, | notwithstanding the inevitable escape from the pipes. | Differences have occasionally been observed between | some of the clocks, probably in most cases the results of | mischievous meddling; these, and other accidents, how- ever, become fewer and fewer, and will no doubt gradually disappear. Owing to the division of the service into various distinct networks, any flaw is soon detected and easily repaired. Whatever be the form or size of the dial, public or 228 private, the mechanism is always the same. A caoutchouc bellows, like that used in Walker's pneumatic air-bells, is in communication with the main pipes. Every minute the pressure of the air raises it (Fig. 2); this bellows acts on a lever which draws a wheel of sixty teeth, in the axis of which is fixed the minute-hand. The wheel makes one-sixtieth of a revolution; a ratchet-click, shown on the left of the toothed wheel, prevents any return of the wheel. The movement of the hour-hand is effected by means of a small train of wheels, which is not represented in the figures. This small and very simple mechanism may be placed with the greatest facility in the interior of existing clocks, without changing the external form, substituting it for the old movement. By means of a second bellows, the function of which is to wind up the bell of a pneumatic clock on a slightly different system, we may establish striking clocks. The price of the former to subscribers is 5 centimesa day, the striking clocks costing 6 centimes. In Fig. 3 is represented the pneumatic clock of the Place de la Madeleine, furnished with its three dials, the movement of each of which is independent. The letters are clear ona blue ground. At night a jet of gas lights the interior, and the hour is clearly discernible at a con- siderable distance. NOTES WE have much pleasure in stating that Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to grant to the widow of John Allan Broun a pension of 75/. per annum. In NATUuRE, vol. xxi. p. 112, will be seen a full account of the life and works of that distinguished magnetician and meteorologist, whose life may truly be said to have been sacrificed through his devotion to the cause of scientific research. THE following grants have been made from the Research Fund of the Chemical Society :—10/. to Mr. Kingzett for experi- ments on the atmospheric oxidation of phosphorus ; 257. to Mr. Watson Smith for the investigation of the di-napthyls and phenyl napthalene ; 25/7. to Messrs. Bailey and Munro for inves- tigations of the colour reactions of certain metals and metallic solutions. Mr. AUBERON HERBERT is anxious to preserve our ancient monuments, but thinks the method proposed in Sir John Lubbock’s Bill all wrong and unnecessarily harassing ; indeed in his letter in Tuesday's Daily News he scents communism in Sir John’s enterprise. He deprecates Government interference at all, and thinks the only effectual and enlightened method to be the education of the people into an intellizent respect for all our ancient monuments, a respect which would be a sufficient guarantee for their protection, Might not Mr. Herbert get Lord Norton to compile a series of reading-lessons on archeology after his lordship has completed the botanical reading-book to which we referred last week ? These lessons might take practical effect in the course of a generation or two, by which time probably there would be no ancient monuments for popular protection. The obtuseness of Mr. Herbert’s letter is almost phenomenal, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, London, is anxious to complete its buildings, and in connection with this purpose a meeting was held at the Mansion House last Friday. We have frequently had occasion to speak of the great services rendered by the institution to the raising and broadening of education in this country. It has not only itself aimed to carry out a high standard of education, but has given a strong and healthy impulse to older institutions, and led, directly or indirectly, to the establishment of other institutions in which science has its fair plaice. Of the desirability of completing:the buildings of Uni- WalOURE [Fuly 8, 18¥0 versity College there can be little doubt. The sum required is large—105,000/, ; but if Edinburgh could raise 90,000/, for a similar purpose surely the wealthiest city of the wealthiest country in the world need have little difficulty in raising the sum required. Of this sum 20,000/, has already been subscribed ; about the balance we trust there will be no difficulty. In connection with the recent meeting to raise funds for the completion of University College buildings, Prof. Ray Lan- kester writes to yesterday’s Times, animadverting in strong terms on the scandalous misappropriation of the funds left by Sir Thomas Gresham ‘“‘for the purpose of providing a college which should rival the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the completeness of its appointments and bring the highest edu- cation to the very doors of the citizens of London.” Prof. Lankester suggests that the present representatives of the Cor- poration, who appear so anxious to promote the educational interests of the metropolis, should restore “to University educa- tion in London a fair portion of the sum which the Corporation of London, in days long past, diverted to its own benefit from Sir Thomas Gresham’s trust.” But could not the Gresham funds be included in the inquiry of the Commission now being appointed by Government to investigate the whole question of the City Corporations? If not, it ought to be. Two important accessions have recently been received by the Herbarium of the Royal Gardens, Kew. The corporation of Carlisle has transferred to it the herbarium of Dr. Goodenough, who was formerly Bishop of the Diocese, and who died in 1827. This is rich in specimens of plants cultivated at Kew and Chelsea in the end of the last century, but which have hitherto been very imperfectly represented in the Kew Herbarium. The very extensive collections of mosses accumulated by the late Prof. Schimper of Strassburg, and upon which his well-known works upon this group of plants were based, has been purchased (together with the accompanying drawings and notes) from Prof. Schimper’s family by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, and also presented to Kew. Dr. M. C. Cooke having been placed by the India Office at the disposal of the authorities of the Royal Gardens, Kew, has now entered upon his duties as cryptogamist. attached to the Herbarium, and will for the present take charge of the collections of non-yascular cryptogams. Mr. H. A. Rotre, lately a gardener in the employ of the Royal Gardens, Kew, has been appointed by the Civil Service Commissioners, after a competitive examination, to the vacant post of second assistant in the Herbarium of the same establishment. Dr. Woopwakrp has been appointed keeper of the geological department of the British Museum in succession to Mr. Water- heuse, who resigned about three months ago. Dr. Woodward has occupied the position of assistant-keeper in the department for many years, and is the editor of the Geological Magazine, in which, as well as in the Yozsnal of the Geological Society, he has published numerous memoirs, MANny lessons will, and already have been, drawn from the unprecedented explosion of gas in London on Monday; the results were disastrous enough, but we may congratulate ourselves that they were no worse. The science of the explosion is simple enough, as the daily papers have been telling the ;ublic; and when science is properly taught in our elementary schools such accidents can only be due to perversity, not lack of knowledge. We recommend this explosion and its immediate cause, to the consideration of Lord Norton, Our readers may remember that some months ago Sir William | Thomson made several valuable suggestions as to the readjust- Fuly 8, 1880] NATURE B26 ment of our present system of lighting our coasts, which, he maintained, is a fruitful source of danger to navigation. A Parliamentary paper has just been issued containing a corre- spondence between Lloyd’s Committee and the Trinity House on these suggestions. Naturally the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House attempt to show that their system is by no means so un- satisfactory as Sir William Thomson maintains it is, though they admit it is by no means perfect. They assured Lloyd’s Com- mittee of two things—(r) that the lighthouse system was not in the crude state which Sir William Thomson appeared to imply, and (2) that its present custodians were actuated by a very earnest desire yet further to simplify and improve it. The Committee of Lloyd’s remarked, in their reply, dated January 16, 1880, that they were glad to find that they were at one with the Elder Brethren in thinking that some distinctions more marked than those already existing would be useful. They had no special interest in Sir William Thomson’s plan, but they had always understood that his inventions and improvements in electrical apparatus, the mariner’s compass, and the sounding machine had been of great service to the community at large. We suspect there ismuch more in Sir William Thomson’s animadversions and suggestions, the result of the practical experience of an eminent man of science, than the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House are willing to admit. THE engineers of the St. Gothard Tunnel are stated to be ina fair way to overcome the difficulty arising from the falling in of the roof in the part knownas the “ windy stretch.” This stretch, which is 200 metres long, and situated almost directly under the plain of Andermatt, passes through strata composed alternately of gypsum and aluminous and calcareous schists, which absorb moisture like a sponge and swell on exposure to the atmosphere. It has given the contractors immense trouble, and has fallen in so often that it was seriously proposed a short time ago to allow it to collapse, and make a bend so as to avoid the ‘‘ windy stretch” altogether. The expedient nowadopted, which has so far been successful, is the rebuilding of the supporting masonry in rings of solid granite. The rings are each four metres long, so that in the event of any one of them giving way the others will not thereby be affected. The building is constructed slowly and with the utmost care; no imperfect stones are allowed to be used; the masonry is perfect, and the walls of extraordinary thickness—in the parts most exposed to pressure not less than ten feet. At the beginning of June only 34 metres of the ‘‘ windy stretch” required to be revaulted. M. Tresca, whose name has been connected with the Con- servatoire des Arts et Métiers for about twenty-five years, no longer belongs to that establishment. His office has been sup- pressed by a recent decision of M, Tisard, the Minister of Agri- culture and Commerce. This unexpected resolution has created some sensation in the Paris scientific world. WE haye received the first volume of the Archives of the Deutsche Seewarte, a neatly-printed quarto volume of above 300 pages, with numerous plates, containing an account of the first four years’ working of the Meteorological Office at Hamburg, 1875-78, under the able guidance of Dr. G. Neumayer, well known as the former Superintendent of the Flagstaff Observatory at Melbourne. The volume contains some elaborate reports, among which may be specially mentioned an account of the activity of the Office in the departments (1) of Marine Meteoro- logy, (2) of Weather Telegraphy and Storm Warnings, (3) a Report on the Testing of Chronometers, and (4) a paper on the Non-periodical Monthly Variations of the Barometer. Subse- quent annual volumes are promised in regular succession, and we look forward with confidence that an addition of much useful knowledge on the subject of meteorology generally will be gained by their publication, The Seewarte already possesses a library of 9,400 volumes, and includes that formerly belonging to Prof, Dove of Berlin, which was acquired at a cost of 1, 500/. A curious work, impressively illustrative of the ‘‘science” of the Dark Ages, has just been published at Berlin, under the title of ‘‘Compendium der Naturwissenschaften an der Schule zu Fulda in IX. Jahrhundert.” Its purpose is to expound the works of Rhaban, the celebrated Abbé of Fulda (788-856). The Abbé, under the title of De Universo, published what would now probably be classed as an encyclopzedia, and as we have said, its divisions and contents are a curious illustration of the state of systematic knowledge at the time it was written. Book I. treats of the Trinity and Angels; Book II. Patriarchs and Prophets; Book III. Men and Women spoken of in the Old Testament; Book VI. Man and the various parts of the Human Body; Book IX. the World, Atoms, Elements, the Sky, Stars, Meteors; Book X. the Almanack and Feasts; Book XII. the Earth; Book XIII. the Vertical (?) Parts of the Earth; Book XV. Philosophers, Poets, Sorcerers, Idols, Pagans; Book XVIII. Measures, Weights, Numbers, Music, Medicine, and Diseases; Book XX. War, Horses and Ships, &c. Of course the book is full of curious mythological and other mysteries, a remarkable feature, however, being the important part given to etymology; indeed it would almost seem asif all science consisted in good etymology. Dr. R. F. Hurcurnson of Mussooree, India, writes that on the afternoon of May 25 a hail-storm, remarkable for its fury, extensive area, and size and structure of its stones, enveloped that station, and Deyrab and Rajpore, at the foot of the hill, A discharge of stones as large .as pigeon-eggs opened the attack, and this was followed by a continuous downpour of stones, oblate spheres as large as small marbles. The whole station was penetrated by these, and it presented the appearance of being strewn broadcast with acidulated drops. These stones were of pure, clear ice, and, barring their shape, quite amorphous. Not so the large stones, whose structure and mode of formation were very puzzling. First, an opaque nucle- olus surrounded by a concentric nucleus of clear ice, and this by a radiating periphery. The nucleolus being opaque, was rapidly frozen ; it must then have moved through alternate layers of hot and cold air to have received the concentric accretions of clear ice. The radiating periphery (which was translucent, but not transparent) quite puzzles our correspondent. A VALUABLE paper of observations of the aspect of Mars during his recent opposition, of the red spot of Jupiter, and the spots of Venus, by M. Terby, appears in the Belgian Academy’s Bulletin (No. 3). The most delicate part of the work is that relating to the spots of Venus, of which he supplies ten carefully executed drawings. Caprain Doucias GALTON gives an address to-day in con- nection with the Sanitary Institute at the Royal Institution. Tue 126th annual meeting of the Society of Arts was held on the 3oth ult., when the Report was presented and officers elected, The Society is in a more satisfactory condition than at any previous period. Scientific Practice is the title of a periodical published three times a year for the students of the School of Practical Engineer- ing at the Crystal Palace. No. 7, which we have received, contains several papers likely to interest young engineers. Mr. W. SAVILLE Kent’s.long-promised ‘‘Manual of the Infusoria” will be published by Mr. David Bogue. The complete MS. and drawings are in the printer’s hands, The work will be issued in six monthly parts, the first of which is to be ready in October. 230 NATURE [Fuly 8, 1880 A NEW list of members of the Institution of Civil Engineers has just been issued, from which it appears that there are now on the books 1,217 members, 1,299 associate members, 579 associates, 18 honorary members, and 657 students—together 3,770 of all classes. At the same period last year the numbers of the several classes were 1,148, 1,200, 622, 17, and 591, making a total of 3,578, showing an increase at the rate of nearly 53 per cent. During the past session the elections have comprised 2 honorary members, 43 members, 129 associate members, and 15 associates; and 160 students have been admitted, A COMMISSION appointed on November 27, 1879, has visited the five French provincial observatories, A report has been written by M. Leewy, sub-director of the Paris Observatory, discussed at a meeting of the directors of the establishment, approved by the Minister of Public Instruction, and published by the Fowrnal Oficiel on June 29. In a report which he has lately sent to the Foreign Office, the acting Consul-General at Bangkok remarks that the year 1879 will long be memorable in the provinces of Battambong and Chantaboon for the discovery of valuable sapphire mines in that part of Siam. Mines of inferior value have long been known in the neighbourhood, ard about five years ago new mines were discovered by a native hunter. Being, however, in a very remote and secluded position, it was long before their fame spread to the Burman and Indian gem-traders and miners, Eventually they became more widely known, and large numbers flocked to them, especially from British Burmah. The largest sapphire hitherto found weighed, according to Mr. Newman, 370 carats in the rough, and when cut turned cut III carats of the finest water. The ruby, onyx, and jade are also found in the district, but are apparently of inferior quality. THE Liverpool Couric understands that the telephone has been successfully laid down from Childwall Church, Liverpool, to the house of a lady half a mile off who is unable to go out ; the chants, hymns, and lessons are distinctly keard, but only fragmentary sentences of the sermon can be caught. WE see from the Ofago Witness of May 22 that Prof, Black of Otago University has commenced a second course of public lectures on chemistry, in continuation of the course last winter, to which we referred as having been attended by teachers from all parts of the province of Otago, many of them coming distances of sixty, seventy, eighty, and ninety miles. The present course promises to be quite as successful. The Witness, we are informed, publishes the lectures in response to several requests, and in view of the heartiness with which the course (both of last year and this) has been received. Mr. J. LEE JARDINE writes from Capel, Surrey :—‘“‘I felt what may have been the tremor of an earthquake on Sunday, June 27, at 9 p.m. I was sitting with friends talking and reading on the ground floor of a house close to a road, and noticed a low rumbling lasting two or three seconds ; this was repeated five or six times in the course of four or five minutes, sounding so like the noise of wheels that I watched for a cart, but in vain. The last three cr four times the rumbling was accompanied by a slight vibration sensible only to the feet. It was felt also by one of my friends, who remarked upon the curious sensation.” THERE was a severe shock of earthquake at Brieg, Switzer- land, on Sunday. Many buildings were injured, but, so far as is known, no lives were lost. The movement was also much felt at Zermatt and Belalp, and very slightly at Geneva. M. Ferry, French Minister of Public Instruction, presided at the first meeting of a commission established for the improve- ment of popular publications. It has been resolved that a sub- commission shall decide what works shall be rewarded and what subjects proposed by way of competition. In a work published by Dr, Ricoux of Philippeville, Algeria, on ‘‘Demographie figurée de lAlgérie,” it is proved that marriages are more prolific than in France, the mean number of children being 3°67 in the colony, as contrasted with 3°07, in the mother country, In the first twenty years after the French occuyation it was taken for granted that European children could not be reared inthecolony. The increase of the European population is very remarkable ; in 1830, 600; ten years afterwards, 27,000; twenty years, 125,000; thirty years, 200,000; forty years, 271,000, In 1880 the number is not yet known, but is probably 400,000, having been found 323,000 in 1876. WE have received the Calendar of the ‘‘ Tokio Daigaku,” or University of Tokio for 1879-80, This university seems to be quite as complete in all its departments as any similar institution in this country, and the education provided seems, to judge from the examination papers, thorough. The place given to science is what it ought to be, on an equal footing with any other department in all respects, An interesting historical sum- mary is prefixed of the introduction of Western learning into japan. THE Refort of the Miners’ Association of Cornwall and Devon for 1879 shows that the Association continues to do good work among the mining population of these two counties. The numbers attending the classes continue to increase, and the instruction given is well calculated to be of great service to a mining population, The Refort contains a paper by Mr. A. T. Davies on the “Phenomena of the Heaves or Faults in the Mineral Veins of St. Agnes.” WE have received ‘a very favourable Refort (the 22nd) from the East Kent Natural History Society. The feford contains several good papers read at the meetings of the Society, the most important and the longest being that of Capt. McDakin, ** An Outline and Index to the Geology of East Kent.” WE are asked to state by Mr. Walter Baily (not Baz//e) that in our report of the Physical Society last week, p. 210, second column, line 29, ofes should be zodes. Ti additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Rhesus Monkey (A/acacus erythreus) from India, presented by Mr, Fred. Felix; a Banded Ichneumon (Hlerpestes fasciatus) from East Africa, presented by Mr. H, Hall ; a Common Marmoset (Hafale jacchus) from Brazil, pre- sen‘ed by Mr. T. Douglas Murray, F.Z.S.; a Java Sparrow (Padda oryzivora) from Java, a Spotted-sided Finch (4madina lathamz), a Chestnut-eared Finch (Amadina castanotis) from Australia, two Che-tnut-bellied Finches (Mania rubro-nigra), a Yellow-bellied Liothrix (Z7othrix luteus) from India, two Red- beaked Weaver Birds (Qzelea sanguinirostris), a Crimson- crowned Weaver Bird (Zuflectes fammiceps), a Paradise Whydah Bird (Vidua paradisea) from West Africa, a Brazilian Tanager (Ramphocelus brasilius) from Brazil, a Bearded Tit (Calamo- philus biarmicus), European, presented by Mr. St. Julien Arabin; two Commen Peafowls (avo cristata) from India, presented by Miss Wedderburn; a Slender-billed Cockatco (Licmetis tenuirostris) from South Australia, presented by Mr. H. F. Bussey; a Jaguar (Felis onga), two Huanacos (Lama huanacos), two Coypu Rats (A/yofotamus coypus), two American Barn Owls (Strix flammea) from South America, deposited; a Cereopsis Goose (Cereopsis nove-hollandiz) from Australia, a Doubtful Toucan (Lamphastos ambiguus) from United States of Columbia, six Chinese Quails (Coturnix chinensis) from China, two American Kestrels (777unculus sparverius) from America, an Ocellated Monitor (A/onitor ocellata) from West Africa, purchased ; a Red Deer (Cervus claphus), a Reeves’s Muntjac (Cervulus veevesi), born in the Gardens, three Upland Geese (Bernicla magellanica), bred in the Gardens, Fuly 8, 1880] NATURE 231 OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN ‘THE VARIABLE NEBULA NEAR ¢ TAuRI.—Though there has been no mention of late of observation of the vicinity of the nebula discovered near ¢ Tauri on October 19, 1855, by Chacornac, at Paris, and of which he found not the least trace in November, 1862, it may be nevertheless hoped that attention has been directed to the neighbourhood, even if with negative results. As we do not find a sufficiently detailed account of Chacornac’s experiences bearing upon this nebula in our astro- nomical treatises, we may recapitulate them here. Chacornac tells us that when constructing, at Marseilles, the chart No. 17 of the Atlas employed in the search for small planets, he registered between December 3, 1853, and February 20, 1854, a great number of stars in this part of the heavens, and amongst others he observed, from January 26 to 31, a star of the eleventh magnitude, the position of which for the beginning of 1852 was in R.A. 5h. 28m. 35°6s., and Decl. + 21° 7' 18”. At that time and later he did not perceive any nebulosity about it; at the Observatory of Paris on September 1 and December 17, 1854, with a refractor of ten inches aperture he did not detect any such appearance. On October 19, 1855, in verifying the chart of this region, he remarked a faint nebula about the star and delineated it upon the map. He was then, as he says, far from thinking that objects generally considered to be masses of small stars could vary in brizhtness like the isolated variables, and attributed the degree of visibility to the greater or less degree of transparency of our atmosphere. But under the idea that the nebulosity might really be a distant comet, he endea- voured to repeat his observation on following nights, thouzh from clouds and moonlight it was not till November 10 that he could satisfy himself that the object was precisely as he saw it on October 19, having changed neither in position, extent, nor form. It brightness was particularly remarked on January 27, 1856, when it is recorded: ‘Elle offre l’apparence d’un nuage transparent qui semble reflecter la lumiere de |’étoile ¢ Taureau, et son aspect tout different de celui dela nebuleuse 357 (Herschel II.) ne fait naitre aucune idée de points stellaires visibles sur toute Vétendu de sa surface. Cette nebuleuse d’Herschel se présente en effet comme un ainas d’étoiles qui s’apercoivent distinctement séparées les unes des autres méme avec un faible grossissement, tandis que le scuvenir que je garde de la nebuleuse variable ne Pa fait comparer a un leger civro-stvatus strié de bandes paralleles : cette description est, du reste, en toute conforme au dessin de la carte.” From the end of January, 1856, until November, 1862, the dates of comparisons of this chart with the sky were not recorded, but on the 2oth of the latter month Chacornac fiiled to see the least trace of the Nebula, though the star of the eleventh magni- tude, upon which it was formerly projected, remained of pre- cisely the same brightness. Cn frequent occesions subsequeatly, before notifying his discovery in April, 1863, he could see no vestige of nebulosity with the instruments at the Observatory of Paris. With re-ard to the appearance of the nebula Chacornac remarks: ‘* Elle offrait une forme presque rectangulaire, dont le plus grand cété mesurait un are de 3 minutes et demie, et le plus petit 2 minutes et demie.” The eleventh magnitude, according to his position, precedes ¢ Tauri, 12°6s., and is 4’ 26” north of that star; it appears to be No. 907 of the zone + 21° in the Durchmusterung, where it is rated 9°4m, the scale of magni- tudes in that catalogue not being identical with Chacornac’s. In the same neighbourhood is a variable star notified by Prof. Julius Schmidt, which follows the bright nebula % 357, about 23°8s., with 4’°2 le-s declination. It is No. 894, zone + 21° in the Durchmusterung, and there called g*5m. According to Schmidt’s observations it was 8°9 on February 4, 1861, 11°12 on March 21, 1862, 9 on January 9, 1864, and 10 at the end of the same year ; he found its place for 1861°0 in R.A. 5h. 26m. 33°7s., and Decl. + 21° 50’ 47”; a twelfth magnitude follows it 3°7s., about 1’ 18” to the south. THE Great Comet oF 1§80.—Dr. B, A. Gould has caleu- lated a third parabolic orbit for the southern comet which he finds to represent his observations very closely; the elements are :— Perihelion passage, 1880, January 27°41170 Washington M.T, 280 Ir 10) Mean equinox, Longitude of perihelion ifoeg] Sa 18S0'0 ” ascending node Enclinatoume meters ssc --- 35 22/27 Log. of perihelion distance.. 7°7268724 Moticon—re'r »grade. He has also computed an ephemeris for February, from which we extract positions and distances for the period during which the tail was visible, At Washington mean noon, Rughe Ascension. Declination. Log. distance from the m. Ss. 3 r, Earth. Sun. Feb. 2 ... 21 47 38 ... —28 57°6 ... 9'86856 ... 9°53319 3) ....22) (S904 en BONS :S) ..2 O1o5725 4... 2219 12... 31 10°8 ... 9°84799 ... 9°62292 bee 223 be Ales 2 3°1 ... 9°84064 © ... 22 53 Tes” 1321440) 2. 9°83521 2s O1G91a0 Tee 23) LOROHa 33 15°8 ... 9°83167 Sie. 23,2 7b omee 33 35'8 ... 9'82994 ... 9°74677 9 «- 23.45 13... 33 44°9 ... 9°82997 LOW... Oem 33 43°8 ... 9°83165 ... 9°79326 II OnISs 55 33 331 ... 9°83487 12 © 34 58... 33 13°7 -.. 9°83949 ... 9°83333 3) «+» (0150) 2ONe nen g214700) -.1 9784538 14 0c. leedesy7 — 32 140 ... 9°85237 ... 9786853 This gives the least distance of the comet from the earth 0°6757 of the earth’s mean distance from the sun at about 6h, a.m. Greenwich time on February 9. THE DIAMETER OF VeEsTA.—Prof. Tacchini has taken advantage of the recent favourable opposition of this planet to measure the apparent diameter, which with a power of 1,0co on his refractor he fuund to be, on June 9, 1”°706. ‘This value reduced to the mean distance is about double that resulting from Secchi’s observation at the opposition of 1855, when he judged the apparent diameter to be a little less than that of the first satellite of Jupiter, or about o”°8, but ‘*molto pitt debole di luce, e di colore ranciato carico.” For distance unity, Tacchini’s measure gives 1”°96, and Secchi’s estimate 1’*01. Probably we may hear of other measures of Vesta at the opposition of the present year, made with large instruments, GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES THE collections in natural history and ethnography brought home from the coasts of Siberia and Eastern Asia by the Vega are to be exhibited in the old hall of the Royal Library at the Palace, Stockholm. The exhibition was opened yesterday, and Baron Nordenskjold invites naturalists and geographers to visit the collection. AT the German Athenzeum last week the Chevalier Ernst von Hes:e Wartegg gave a lecture on his recent travels in North Africa, comprising chiefly the southern parts of Algiers and Tunis and the rarely-visited frontier regions between these two countries. Herr von Wartegg’s ‘principal aim was the thorough revision and completion of the very defective Tunisian map of the French Generat Staff, edited in 1858, and the investigation of the Schott region in Southern Tunis, adjoining the Lesser Syrtes. The first object was, according to the lecturer, satisfactorily completed by the substantial aid of the Tunisian Government and the foreign consular body at Tunis. To point out a few in- stances of the deficiency of the French maps, Herr von Wartegy mentioned the large river Kassab, a tributary of the Medjerdah, which in the map empties into the Mediterranean about 200 kilometres from its actual mouth. Large lakes are entirely omitted, and cities invented which do not exist. The main fault of the map is the erro: cous spelling of the topography, Frenchi- fying and mutilating nearly every name. For instance, the Arab word Sandjak has been turned into ‘‘Saint Jacques,” &c. Re- garding the well-known project of Capt. Roudaire and M. de Lesseps, the lecturer states that neither the geological formation nor any other sign indicates the former connection between the so-called ‘‘submarine basin” in Southern Tunis and Algiers, and he believes, contrary to the sanguine dreams of Capt. Rou- daire, that it never was connected with the Mediterranean. AABavds. 244 NATURE [Fuly 15, 1880 and from the latter seems to have been formed, 3, Arnaut, the general Turkish designation, though more strictly applicable to the Muhammadan Albanians. Thus Arnaut, Albanian, and Shkipetar, all traceable to roots meaning rock, height, would be practically synonomous, and aptly descriptive of an essentially “highland” race. VI. THREE MAIN ETHNICAL DIVISIONS.—1. Gheg (Gepides) in Upper Albania, as far south as River Shkumbi, and penetrating eastwards across the Morava Valley nearly to Sophia, with detached enclaves in Servia, but on the other hand partly Slavonised on the Montene- grin frontier, Elsewhere the Ghegs are taken as the purest representatives of the old Illyrian stock. This word, the origin of which is unknown, was a term of contempt originally applied to them by their southern kinsmen. It has thus come into general use, although never employed by the people themselves, who use either the collective designation Shkipetar or the particular name of their tribe. 2. Zoshk or Tosk (Toskides) in Central and Lower Albania, wherever not Hellenised. Originally confined to the Toskides proper of Toskeria, a small district on the right bank of the Lower Voyussa north-west of Topedelen, this word has also gradually acquired general currency, and so far differs from the corresponding Gheg that it is accepted and used by the people themselves, at least throughout the whole of the Voyussa basin. 3. The Efzrots of the Vilayet Yanina from the remotest times largely intermingled with the Dorian Greeks, and now almost completely Hellenised. The term is of course rather geographical than ethnical, but very convenient in view of the political changes now pending in this district. In connection with these changes it will be useful to note that the Pindus range between Epirus and Thessaly is occupied by the Kutzo- Vlachs (the Kara-Guni or “ Black Capots” of the Turks), with decided Hellenic proclivities, religious, political, and social, though still speaking a corrupt Rumanian (neo- Latin) tongue. Even in Epirus the Toshk itself, wherever still spoken, is largely mixed with Greek elements, and most of the Toshks themselves are here bilingual, speaking Greek and their mother tongue indifferently, while in Yanina, capital of the vilayet, Greek has long been supreme. Consequently the contemplated transfer of this territory to Greece, with which it has been uninterruptedly associated from prehistoric times,! cannot seriously affect the integrity of the Albanian race or do any undue violence to their legitimate national aspirations. VII. THREE RELIGIONS: 1. Muhammadan every- where, but rather more general in the south than the north; 2. Orthodox Greek, almost exclusively in the south; 3. Rowan Catholic, of Latin rite, almost exclu- sively in the north. From this it follows that the Ghegs are partly Moslem, partly Roman Catholic ; the Toshks partly Moslem, and partly Orthodox Greek ; the respective numbers being as under, as far as any such estimates can at all be depended upon in Turkey :— Moslem. Orthodox Greek. Catholic (Latin). Total. Ghegs 400,000 50,000 150,000 600,000 Toshks ... 600,000 200,000 —_— 800,000 presence of Turki elements in Albania than it does in Herzegovinia or amongst the Bulgarian Pomaks of the Rhodope Mountains. Like causes have produced like results in all these places, and in Albania, when resist- ance ceased with the death of George Castriota, most of the influential and better classes adopted Islam, while the peasantry, who never had much to lose or gain either way, remained christian. We sometimes hear it said that religion is aracial test in Turkey, but from this it is evident that the statement can be true only in a negative | sense. It is safe to say that here no Christians are of * Here were the famous Oracle of Dodona and the no less fam=us rivers Acheron and yhich play such a conspicuous part in Greek mytho- logy, and here was one of the early seats of the Dorians before they migrated southwards. Tirki stock ; but the converse is very far from being the case, for we see from this table that in Albania alone there are no less than 1,000,000 Muhammadans who are not of Turki, but of Illyrian stock, apart always from a few Osmanli officials and others in the large towns. TRIBES.—It is not a little remarkable that the country which might almost be regarded as the cradle of European civilisation has itself remained nearly stationary since the rude Dorians issued forth from the mountains of Epirus to the conquest of Peloponnesus. Of all the western Aryans the Albanians alone have remained in a semi- pastoral state, and retained the primitive tribal organisa- tion. Both branches of the race, but especially the Ghegs, are still divided into a considerable number of Phis or phar, that is, clans or septs, some of which, such as the Suliots in the south, and the Mirdites in the north, have acquired historic renown. George Castriota, the Scander- beg, or “Alexander the Great” of the Turks, who almost single-handed for thirty years stemmed the torrent of Osmanli conquest, was Prince of the Mirdites, and, the astounding valour and self-devotion of the Suliots form one of the most stirring episodes in the Graeco-Turkish wars during the early part of the present century. Recently also such tribal names as those of the Klementi, Hoiti, Dukazin and others have been heard of in connection with the present political troubles on the Montenegrin and Albanian frontiers. As such troubles are likely to be of a protracted character, pending the definite settlement of the new northern and southern frontier lines, the readers of NATURE will probably be glad to have in the annexed table a complete classification of all the Albanian tribes :— ( Mrrpires :—Dukazin ; Dibri ;* Mats or Matia 3 Oroshi Fandi; Kushneni, Spachi; Kuchi =) 4 | PuLaTi :—Giovagni; Planti; Kiri; Summa ; Toplana; Dushmani; Shalla; Shoshi Other semi- ) Klementi; Hotti; Shrelli ; Kastrati_ independent } Rechiluho ; Rioli; Posripa; Kopliki . tribes. { Grica Gruemir; Busagwit ; Grudda; Trepchi GuE { Toshks proper of Toskeria ; Yapides or Liapes ; Kheimariots ; Khamides or Khumis \ Tyames ; Suliots Of all the tribal associations by far the most important are the Mirdites, who, although numbering scarcely over 20,000 altogether, form a powerful political factor in the country. They constitute a Roman Catholic oligarchy, whose chief town is Orosh, where resides their prince or chief. The confederacy is fully recognised by the Porte, to which it is tributary. Amongst them has long been prevalent the custom of marrying none but Turkish, or rather Muhammadan, women, carried off from the plains and baptised in the mountains. Their territory lies chiefly south of the Drin, and with the Pulati (‘‘Men of the Woods ”), Klementi, Hotti, and other highland tribes between the head streams of that river and Lake Skutari, they are often collectively called Malliesor or “ Black Mountaineers.”2 But they must not on that account be TosHKs, | confounded with the neighbouring Montenegrins, as some The diffusion of Muhammadanism no more implies the | writers have recently done.® Of the Toshk tribes the most influential are the Toshks proper on both banks of the Lower Voyussa ; the Yapides or Yagys, who are the Lapides, Liapes, or Lapes of the Greeks, on the Akrokeraunian coast range as far south Terms probably referable to the same Aryan roots as the Greek pity, implying blood relationship, and ppaTpia, a wider tribal signification. 2 From 7zaé, mountain, and sy, black. : : re Bianconi (‘* Ethnozraphie et Statisque de la Turquie d’Europe, Paris, 1877), speaking of the Kuchi, Klementi, Pulati, and Mati, says (p. 45) that “‘ toutes ces races sont Slaves.” But Ritter zur Helle yon Samo (* Die Vélker des osmanischen Reiches, Vienna, 1877). with his usual accuracy, includes them amongst the independent Albanian tribes of the Vilayet of Skutari. So also E. Reclus (I. p. 188) and Vivien de Saint- Martin (Art. Albanie, p. 59):—‘' Leurs tribus les plus notables sont au nord 3. | du Drin inférieur, entre les confluences des deux branches supérieurs du fleuve et le lac de Scutari les AVemeuti, les oti, les Kastrati, et les Poulati, ou gens des foréts.” Fuly 15, 1880] NATURE 245 as the River Pavla,! and the Khamids or Khamis between the Pavla and Kalama Rivers over against Corfu. Many of the Khamids, however, have already been Hellenised, and the rest form detached communities everywhere surrounded by Greek-speaking populations, as correctly indicated on the ethnological map of European Turkey and Greece recently published by Stanford of Charing Cross. Including the Albanian colonies since the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries settled in South Italy and Sicily, and many scattered Toshk settlements in the Morea, Attica, Eubeea, and the Archipelago, the whole race numbers at present considerably over a million and a half, as under :— Upper Albania (Ghegs)... ... ... 700,000 Central and Lower Albania (Tosks) 680,000 South Italy and Sicily 180,000 Greece and Archipelago 90,000 1,650,000 LANGUAGE.—The broad distinction between the north- ern and southern branches of the race—Illyrians or Ghegs, and Epirots or Toshks—dates from the earliest historic records, and was clearly recognised by antiquity. The parting line between the two was much the same then as now, being fairly indicated by the famous Roman road, the Via Egnatia, running from Dyrrachium (Durazzo), on the Adriatic, through Okhrida and Bitolia (Monastir), to Thessalonica (Saloniki), onthe A2gean. North of this great highway dwelt the Illyrians, Dardanians, and Peonians, all closely allied in speech, south of it the Epirots and Southern Macedonians, also represented as originally of kindred speech and like customs, though both were later on largely Hellenised.2 The difference between the northern and southern dialects still persists in Albania, where alone the Thrako-Illyrian language survives, the Gheg and Toshk standing in much the same relation to each other as High to Low German, or even to Danish. Hence the extreme northern and southern tribes are almost mutually unintelligible, although the the Toshks and Ghegs of the border districts (Ergent and Shkumbi valleys) are able to converse together. The Italo-Albanian Demetrius Kamardas accordingly takes the speech current in this central tract as the common “ Tllirio-Epirotic ” standard.* The linguistic affinities of Albania were long a source of great trouble to philologists, and its claims to member- ship with the-Aryan family were only finally established beyond dispute by J. G. von Hahn.* But its position within the family itself can scarcely be said to have yet been satisfactorily determined. Bopp compared it, after his usual method, chiefly with Sanskrit, while others have regarded it as simply an archaic or even a corrupt variety of Greek.® The truth would seem to lie between these extremes, and a more exhaustive study of the subject will probably show that in Albanian we have the only surviving link between the Asiatic and Greco-Italic branches of the Aryan family. An analysis of the southern dialect shows that of its roots about one-third are common to fEolic Greek, one-third to Italic, Keltic, Teutonic, and * Here was Ptolemy’s Albanopolis, and here is a maritime canton still called Arberia or Arberi, and in Gheg Arberia, that is, Albania. The inter- change of x and Zis a prevailing feature in Albanian, as in French, Chinese, Polynesian, and so many other tongues. The peasantry about Frascati and elsewhere in the Campagna call the English Jzgresi for Inglesi. ? Thus Strabo (vii.): ‘‘ Leaving Epidamous and Apollonia (Durazzo and Polini) to follow the Via Egnatia, we have on our right the peoples of Epirus, bordering on the Sicilian Sea as far as the Gulf of Ambracia, and on our left the Illyrian highlands and the peoples of that region as far as Macedonia and the Pzonians.”’ 3 “*Saggio di Grammatologia comparata sulla Lingua Albanese,’”’ Leg- horn, 1865, p. 19- 4 In his classical work ‘‘ Albanesische Studien,’” Jena, 1854. 5 “‘ Ueber das Albanesische,’’ Berlin, 1855. 6 Amongst others the anonymous author of tre introductory remarks to Stanford’s Ethnological Map, who (p. 8) speak the Albanians as “* Greeks in their original and elementary condit *a fact ‘‘now clearly established . . . by the study of the Albanian ct, which modern com- parative philology has shown to be but a@ form of the Hellenic langitage.”” ae Slavonic, the rest consisting of an unknown element assumed to represent the speech of the ancient Thrako- Illyrians. The Italic, Keltic, Teutonic, and Slavonic words may be referred partly to their common Aryan inheritance, partly to contact possibly in prehistoric, certainly in historic times—the Keltic invasion third century B.C. ; Gothic irruption under Alaric; Roman rule of five centuries ; Serb occupation of Upper Albania to the Drin from 640 to 1360 A.D. ; Bulgarian occupation of the central districts till rorg. But what has been called the Alolic Greek element seems rather to date from a common pre-Hellenic period, for it often presents a more primitive phonetic system, and more archaic grammatical and lexical forms than the oldest Greek extant—forms which cannot be derived from Greek, but which are intermediate links between Hellenic and Asiatic Aryan. Thus the Albanian do/nesa = will (noun) explains the Greek Bovdoua for Bodvouat, connecting it with the Sanskrit varnamaz. Alb. dera = door, stands between Gr. 6vpa and Sans. dvdra; Alb. neér or niér = wax between Gr. d&-vyp and Sans. zar. Here the organic a has become ¢ both in Alb. and Gr., but Alb. has not taken the prosthetic a, a sufficient proof that it does not derive from, but belongs to an older period than, Greek. Grammatical forms point in the same direction. Thus the Alb. genitive in Zye, as in atiye = of him, answers to the Sans. sz@, sya, and to the old Gr. eto, €0, oto = ov, as in éueto, euéo, euoto, euov. The numerals, often so instructive in comparisons of this sort, place the matter in a still clearer light. Thus Alb. 2yé, xya = one = Gr. eis for &-s, neutral & ; xarrep = four, has the organic &, which in Gr. becomes ¢ (rérrap-es), Sans. hatvar, katur, Lat. guatwor. Compare also Alb. gvash-te = six with the Sans. siash and Gr. é, where the Alb. ¢ forms the inter- mediate stage between the original sibilant and the Gr. rough breathing. In shetta-te = seven Alb. retains the sibilant, here standing on the same level as Sans. sapéan, as compared with Gr. émra for cenrd. k In other instances Albanian shows great corruption and phonetic decay, as might be expected ina rude, un- cultivated tongue never reduced to writing till quite recently. But the corruption and decay always proceed on different lines from those followed by Greek in its evolution. Thus Alb. 2é-¢e (Skutari dialect az) and Gr. éwéa = nine, have both lost the digamma preserved in the Sans. zavan, from which each flows in independent channels: Alb. xefan, nean, nén, nan ; Gr. avveFav, avveFa, dvvéa, evvéa, here prosthetic a causing reduplication and loss of final v. : ‘ The general tendency of Albanian, as of French, is towards short and contracted forms, the suppression of middle and weakening of final vowels to e mute or ez. This, combined with a somewhat barbarous system of orthography, half Greek, half Latin, which has here been replaced by a simple phonetic system, gives the language a decidedly rough and uncouth look, though it is by no means deficient in harmony, and what Kamardas finely calls a certain Hellenic “aura,” so that ‘at times we fancy we are listening to Greek instead of Albanian utterances.) * Te The determination of the true position of Albanian is of such importance in the history of Aryan speech that the reader will: probably excuse this somewhat dry excursus. Oe Phe? Type.—From many of the foregoing indications it is obvious that the Albanians can by no means be regarded asa pure race. In popular works of travel or fiction a certain halo of romance is thrown over the people, who are represented as endowed with almost classic symmetry of form and beauty. This is to some extent true in the south, where intermixture with the kindred Hellenes could scarcely be otherwise than beneficial, and even in A : 4 4 , t “Una certa aura, per cosi dire, d’ellenismo, che ti fa talora credere d udire parole greche invece di albanesi.”” Of. cit., p. 19. 246 the extreme north, where the elements here absorbed belonged to some of the best Slav blood—Serbs and Montenegrins. But the plain and often even repulsive features met with in some of the central districts would seem to point at fusion with the Ugrian or Volga Finn Bulgarians, whose headquarters were at Okhrida, and who at that time (8th and 9th centuries) had not yet been Slavonised. Nevertheless, the Albanians are on the whole a fine and even a handsome race, with long head, oval face, long thin nose, rather high cheek bones, small eyes, generally grey or blue, hair often fair or light brown, long neck, broad chest, slim and upright figures. But descriptions of course vary with the experiences of the observer. Thus while Pouqueville speaks rather of black eyes, others describe the Toshks as essentially a blue-eyed and light-haired race. In general the purest type is found in the district between the Shkumbi and Voyussa, where Kamardas says that the language also is spoken in the greatest purity. North and south of this district both people and language are more or less intermingled with Slav and Hellenic elements respectively. A. H. KEANE REPORT OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM qpee Parliamentary Report of the Trustees of the British Museum, which has been lately issued, tells us that during the past year much. progress has been made in arrangements for removal of the natural history collections, and in preparations for their re- ception in the new buildings designed for them at South Kensington. New cases and fittings have been provided and erected for the departments of botany and mineralogy, and in part for that of geology; and the transference of these three collections to the new museum will probably be effected in the course of the present year. The galleries vacated by these collections will be at once made use of for the exhibition of objects of archeological interest which have been accumulating for many years, and from want of space have been stored away in imper- fectly-lighted rooms in the basement of the British Museum. The whole of the zoological and geological portions of the India Museum at South Kensington, together with the friezes from the Amravati Tope and other remains of ancient sculpture, have been made over by the Secretary of State and Council of India to the Trustees of the British Museum. The sculpture will be exhibited in the Museum ; the zoological and other collections have been removed to the New Natural History Museum at South Kensington. Turning to Prof. Owen’s special report on the depart- ments of natural history, we are told that part of the work during the past year has been that of the prepara- tion of the collections for the pending transfer to South Kensington. In the department of zoology Dr. Gtinther informs us that not less than 45,881 specimens have been added to the several parts of the collection ; of this, however, more than half is attributable to the collection of exotic butter- flies, bequeathed to the nation by the late William Chapman Hewitson. This is one of the most extensive and valuable collections of this group of animals that has ever been formed; it consists of 24,624 specimens refer- able to 5,795 species, many of which have been described by the testator in his “Exotic Butterflies,’ “ Diurnal Lepidoptera,” and other works. The collection is in a perfect state of arrangement and preservation, and by Mr. Hewitson’s direction a catalogue of its contents has been prepared and printed at the expense of his estate. The testator attached to this bequest the condition that the collection should be called the ‘‘ Hewitson Collec- tion,” and should be kept in good order, preservation, and condition, and in the same cabinets, and in the same NATURE [Fuly 15, 1880 order and arrangement, and under the same nomenclature as they should be at the time of his decease, until the expiration of twenty-one years from that time. Another important addition to the national collection of insects made during the last parliamentary year was the Wollaston collection of St. Helena Lepidoptera, consisting of 364 specimens, and including types of thirty-eight species, collected and described by Mrs. Vernon Wol- laston. This must be regarded as one of the most important acquisitions of last year, as the accurate and perfect knowledge of the fauna and flora of so isolated a locality as St. Helena at a given period will enable future investigators to determine exactly the changes which are taking place in oceanic islands, not only with regard to the composition of their fauna and flora, but also with regard to the specific characters of the animals and plants imported into them. Four additions have been made to the well-known series of zoological catalogues in 1879, namely, the fourth volume of Mr. Sharpe’s “ Catalogue of Birds” ; an octavo volume by Mr. C, O. Waterhouse, containing descriptions of typical specimens of coleoptera, illustrated by coloured plates ; a volume containing descriptions of a number of new species of hymenoptera by the late Mr. Frederick Smith, which the lamented author left nearly ready for publication at the time of his death ; and the third volume of Mr. Butler’s “ Illustrations of Typical Specimens of Lepidoptera heterocera.” Mr. Waterhouse’s report on the Geological Depart- ment and Mr. Story Maskelyne’s on that of Mineralogy succeed that of Dr. Giinther, but we observe nothing of very special interest contained in them. Mr. Carruthers’ report on Botany records an important addition to that department in the shape of the extensive herbarium of the late John Miers, F.R.S., &c., the distinguished botanist, which he bequeathed to the Trustees. It contains the types of the species described in his numerous systematic works and memoirs, as far as they were in his own pos- session, together with an extensive series of South American plants from various collectors, and many valu- able collections from other regions of the world. Besides the plants Mr. John W. Miers has presented to the de- partment the large series of original drawings made by his father from the living plants in South America and from dissections of plants in later years. MARCEL DEPREZ’S GALVANOMETER FOR STRONG CURRENTS peSSricee electricians have laboured up to the present time under a considerable difficulty in attempt- ing to measure the strength of very powerful electric currents, such as are, for example, employed in the pro- duction of the electric light. There has been no simple instrument suited to the rapid direct measurement of the strength of such currents, much less one that would measure any fluctuations of short duration. Ordinary galvanometers have not been equal to the task, being adapted for a different class of work, usually of too high a resistance to be safely introduced into the circuit, and in general too leisurely in their movements to afford indica- tions of any rapid fluctuations. Although the current furnished by a good dynamo- electric machine, such as those of Gramme, Siemens and Brush, may for most practical purposes be considered both continuous and uniform, the construction of these instruments could hardly leave any doubt on @ Priore grounds that the current really consists of a number of successive impulses, which, although they may, as it were, run into one another and yield a continuous current, yet cause the strength of the current to be continually increas- ing and diminishing in rapid alternations ; and indeed the telephone shows clearly that this is the case, for a low humming sound is heard in that instrument when its Fuly 15, 1880] terminals are joined to the two ends of an insulated wire, part of the length of which is laid parallel and near to the conducting-wire of the dynamo-electric machine. M. Deprez’s new galvanometer shows by the most direct evidence that this is the case, for when inserted in the circuit of any dynamo-electric machine its needle is observed to be in incessant vibration. The only instrument constructed previously to that we are about to describe, suitable for measuring strong cur- - rents, was the tangent galvanometer of Dr. Obach, the essential feature in which consisted in the conducting- ring being made movable about a horizontal diameter, and therefore capable of being adjusted by inclining it at NATURE 247 a greater or less obliquity to any degree of sensitiveness between its maximum and zero, the horizontal component of the magnetic force of the current circulating in it being zero when the ring was laid over into a horizontal plane. M. Deprez’s galvanometer is, however, a much more handy instrument, its indications are almost. instan- taneous, and the deflections with very strong currents are not unreasonably great. To secure this end it has been necessary to make the needle of the instrument very light, and at the same time to give it a very great directive force by placing it in an artificial “field” of very great intensity. The needle consists of twelve or fifteen little pieces of soft iron wire set side by side transversely —) 0 iS Muir, Aan Ag Aye Marcel Deprez’s Galvanometer for very strong currents, upon an axis of brass which is supported between two pivots. The axis carries also a light hand or index of straw or aluminium fixed at right angles to the little iron needles. This compound needle is placed between the limbs of a powerful permanent magnet made of separately magnetised laminz superposed upon one another (as suggested by Scoresby and Jamin), and is thereby powerfully magnetised and directed into the horizontal plane. The coils of conducting wire are carried round the needle by being wound upon a light rectangular frame which surrounds the needle, but lies within the limbs of the permanent magnet. When a current passes the needle jumps almost instantaneously to its position of equilibrium, its oscillations being of extremely short duration. M. Deprez has also tried needles made up of several superposed layers of the thin sheet iron used in telephones, but the form shown in the figure is, on the whole, the most satisfactory in practical operation. One advantage possessed by the instrument is that it is inde- pendent of gravity and of the magnetism of the earth, and can therefore be used anywhere in any position. It will, therefore, be found to be a very convenient instrument for electrical engineers, but as its readings are not capable of being translated into values representing current- strengths by any simple trigonometrical function, sines or tangents, it would require to be graduated empirically by a process similar to the method of “calibration adopted for ordinary galvanometers by Melloni, before it could be regarded as more than a convenient galvano- scope. PROF, W. H. MILLER fe is only just to the memory of a man conspicuous within the circle of a not very large scientific class that more than a passing word should be spoken over his ‘grave before the grass has grown on it. William Hallows Miller, whose life began with the century, has lived far enough into it to experience what is a happy fate for a scientific man ; he has seen the chief work of his life bear fruit; has seen the system he intro- duced holding its place in the face of other systems, and recognised more and more as a permanent addition to the agencies with which man may grapple with the problems that nature presents to him ; he has seen it developed, but not superseded. Crystallography was Miller’s science. It had taken its first shape in the hands of Haiiy in the decade of years before he was born, and in those of Weiss, of Mohs, and especially of Franz Ernst Neumann and of Grassmann, it had been receiving development during the years of Miller's growth and manhood. ; The chair of mineralogy at Cambridge was filled pre- viously to 1832 by Dr. Whewell, and a well-known memoir on the geometrical treatment of crystal forms which Dr. Whewell contributed to the 7vavsactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society gave an impetus to the study of crystallography in England which launched Miller on his career. For, taking this memoir and Neu- mann’s treatise of 1823 (Bettrage zur Krystallonomie) as his starting-point, Miller, who was a pupil of Whewell’s, proceeded to develop a system of crystallography which was not published till 1838, but which was the most important work of his life. d : , Dr. Whewell had already for some time recognised in his pupil the ability and accuracy that marked him out for the career he afterwards pursued, and in 1832 the 248 NATURE [Fuly 15, 1880 historian of the inductive sciences resigned his chair and used his disinterested influence to obtain the appointment of Miller as his successor. Previously to this, in 1825, Miller had taken his degree asa fifth wrangler, and he obtained some reputation as a tutor. In 1831 he published an elementary treatise on hydrostatics, and in 1835 one on hydrodynamics. They bore the mark of the same concise and precise treatment, and excision of all that was merely explanatory, which gave afterwards its character to his treatise on Crystallo- graphy, and probably deterred the ordinary student from that subject far more than any real difficulties inherent in the science. Already in 1829 he had published a crystallographic notice of the forms of ammonium carbonate, followed in 1830 by two other memoirs, and thenceforward notices from time to time emanated from his pen on crystallo- graphy and on optical and physical subjects. Miller was thirty when he succeeded to the chair, which he occupied forty-eight years. The system of Weiss indicated the position of a face on a crystal by expressing its intercepts on a system of axes in the form of integer multiples of the intercepts (parameters) of some other selected crystal-face on the same axes. The system of Miller represented the face by a symbol composed of three numerals, or indices, which are the deno- minators of three fractions with unity for their numerator and in the ratio of the multiples of the parameters ; and he asserted the principle that his axes must be parallel to possible edges of the crystal. The elegant way in which this mode of representing a face lent itself to yielding expressions for the relations between faces belonging to a zone (z.c. faces that would intersect in edges parallel to the same line) gave it superiority over previous methods, due to its bringing the symbols of the crystallographer into a form similar to that employed in algebraic geometry. But though expressions were given for the relations connecting four crystal planes in a zone, the principle lurking in them of the rationality of the anharmonic ratios of four such planes was not recognised, or at least was not announced as such, by Miller till 1857, nor were the further results deducible from this principle ever propounded by him. It was by a pupil of Axel Gadolin’s and by V. von Lang inde- pendently that the limitations imposed by this principle on the varieties of crystal symmetry were first set forth; but Bravais had already deduced the necessity for these limitations by a parallel method of reasoning founded on the idea of what may be termed a net-pile of the centres of mass (Raumgitter), that is to ‘say, a parallepipedal system of arrangement of molecules. But Miller’s work consisted in working out into a beautiful system the indicial method of notation and calculation in crystallo- graphy, and obtaining expressions adapted for logarithmic computation by processes of great elegance and simplicity. The faces of a crystal he followed Neumann, Whewell, and Grassmann in representing by normals to the faces, which are conceived as all passing through a common point; and this point is taken as the centre of an imaginary sphere, the sphere of projection. The points, or poles, in which the sphere is met by these normals, and which therefore give the relative directions in space of the faces of the crystal, can have their positions on the sphere determined by the methods of spherical trigono- metry. Moreover a great circle (zone circle) traversing the poles of any two faces will t1>.erse all the poles cor- responding to faces in a zone with them. By the aid of the stereographic projection, which Miller also adopted from Neumann, he was able at once to project any of these great circles on a sheet of paper vith a ruler and compasses, and for the purposes of the crystallographer elaborate edge-drawings of crystals be- come of comparatively little importance. Miller’s system then gave expressions for working all the problems that a crystal can present, and it gave them in a form that appealed at once to the sense of symmetry and appro- priateness of the mathematician. His book at length became recognised by physicists and by the higher school of crystallography as one to supersede what had gone before it, as is evidenced by its having been translated into French by no less a man than Senarmont, into German by Grailich, who added a valuable chapter to it on crystallographic physics, and into Italian by Quintino Sella, and by its being now almost universally employed in crystallographic physics. The future development of crystallography, there can be little doubt, will follow on the lines laid down by Miller, whatever may be the direction that development will take ; and in the cause of higher scientific education, it is much to be regretted that in a National School of Mining and Mine- ralogy like that established in Jermyn Street the elaborate and relatively clumsy system of notation introduced by Naumann should still be retained, to the exclusion of an incomparably more comprehensive and reasonable system which has at least the advantage not only of being English in its completed form, but of having been originated by mathematicians so eminent as Neumann, Grassmann, Whewell, and Miller. For it is to be borne in mind that the (so-called) system of Naumann, apart from his long superseded geometrical treatise, is nothing but a system of notation for the general forms, and not for the particular faces of a crystal, and becomes more complicated in proportion as the symmetry of the crystal is more simple, while it is entirely useless in the methods of computa- tion, its symbols being actually converted by the modern crystallographer who uses them into the Millerian symbols on every occasion when he wishes to deduce relations between faces and the zones to which they belong. Besides his memoirs describing the results of crystallo- graphic measurement and certain tracts such as that on the gnomonic projection and on the crystallographic method of Grassmann, Miller published in 1863 a tract on crystallography which was, in fact, a second edition of his original treatise. In 1852 he published his great work, for it was all his own, on Mineralogy, modestly entitled a new edition of the “Elementary Introduction to Mineralogy, by the late William Phillips,” by H. J. Brooke and W. H. Miller. The publication of this severe little volume was an epoch in the science it illustrated. It contained a mass of results obtained by Miller with all his accuracy and all his patience through many years, and tabulated in his usual concise manner. It may be said to have fired the zeal and directed the general form of the greater but still uncompleted work of his friend Des Cloizeaux. It is a monument to Miller’s name, though he almost expunged that name from it. Like other work of his it may be merged in the larger works of newer men, but it will not be superseded, and will always have to be referred to. One of the great works of Miller’s life was the restoration of the standards lost in the fire which destroyed the Houses of Parliament. The micro- scopic accuracy of his mind here had a congenial task; and another conspicuous quality of that mind had to be brought into play in devising the elaborate precautions to be taken in order that the balances and apparatus employed might be sufficiently sensitive, and at the same time absolutely accurate when considerable weights were under determination. Indeed there was no faculty for which Miller was more remarkable than this of devising readily the most simple means of making an experiment and the apparatus needed for it. His room at the Cambridge Museum was a storehouse of such simple and almost improvised furniture, embrac- ing forms of apparatus needed by a crystallographer and observer using optical instruments: a little heliotrope suggested to him by a crack in the window of a railway 5 ae : ; meee ag! - soe e ea lt eres ‘ytagl ae Ag blo ea eee | id ik Ce dees No. y, & gs Office of the Chief Signal Ofticer, UNITED STA TES ARMY. *: woenail > Series commencing September, 1977, Chartea from Actual Observations taken eimaltancously 25 ost s Or = ep loi F > On, pe—aree | E : 5S ; ee . ~~ f rae Bs ~ Dy, . " . a ih ir - Ry) 2 4 : Jj Ls | ‘ % 2 ae >. iy 3 \ / J ae [ up’ yo > nt J) ae = ss me Ron 5 Y o y ain —j] SEPTEMBER, }— “es =r BY a =e : x aN ral aN 1878. = — <= = =.= & a = 0 == = ~ Sule pate: ae = & =a = o.\ at 6 . == 36 “ CZ === _ the A \ ie z % 3 * *. 2 a Te, te cS : ; : 5 0/0 -76 we ie aio" : w , or oO . jao %o ae aks + WINDS. 30° n of, and fly with, the wind, sinc } nas le ot RIG. GEN, . ASSG'D) CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER U, 8. A. ISOBARS AND ISOTHERMS. Tsobars in bine; detached barometer means in English inches. Isotherms in red; detached temperature INTERNATIONAL MONTHLY CHART means in degrees Fahrenheit, ‘Showing mean pressure, mean temperature, mean force and prevailing direction of winds at 7:35 A.M. Washington mean time, for the month of September, 1878, based on the daily charts of the International Balletin al Officer, Series commencing September, 1877. J SS = | i ms) Fuly 15, 1880] carriage ; a clock of wondrous simplicity and accuracy, the motive power of which was a drop of water, a fresh drop always waiting ready to be picked up and to give its impulse to the returning arm of the escapement; a gonio- meter, consisting solely of a block of wood with a straight edge, and an upright wire with its end bent round so as to carry a cork with a second wire on which the crystal was fastened, and by which it was adjusted for measurement on Wollaston’s method, the angle between two positions of the straight edge being found by the aid of a pair of compasses and determined by a continued fraction. These are a few only of the marvels of ingenuity which every one admitted to that interesting room will remem- ber ; and there were implements of observation fashioned out of the simplest materials—deal, cork, glass tube, wire —-by the hand of their inventor, rough to look at, but exact in their performance. Nor was there any man who better appreciated the elaborate mechanism of an impor- tant instrument; no one, for instance, who could make an afternoon at the Greenwich Observatory more inter- esting and suggestive alike to the instructed student and to the uninformed visitor. Such was the work of Miller. Personally he was quiet, unobtrusive, but observant; retiring, almost shy, in his manner, but in the highest degree genial and full of cordiality when this curtain of instinctive restraint was drawn aside and you met the man himself face to face. He was a traveller. Impelled by his old master Whe- well to the study of German as necessary to a mineralo- gist, he spent many a long vacation in the German and Tyrolese haunts of the mineralogist, and lost no oppor- tunity of exchanging speech and therewith winning the ‘esteem of the masters of his science on the Continent. Most of those contemporaries he survived. Mitscher- lich, Gauss (who paid him the just tribute of compliment- ing him with having “exactly hit the nail on the head” in his Crystallography), Dove, Gustav Rose, Haidinger, Breithaupt, Wohler, Sartorius von Waltershausen—names many of them but yesterday of living workers, were those of silent men before Miller’s grave was closed, but they and Miller had in life been united by esteem and regard, and in some cases by warm friendship. Of the travels which thus brought friendships and new scenes home to him, and in which he acquired valuable additions to the mineral collection at Cambridge, he had other pleasant records in the sketch-books which his constant companion, Mrs. Miller, filled as they journeyed. Those who know the broad strath of the Towey above Llandilo in Carmarthenshire will remember, near its head, in the neighbourhood of Llandovery, a pretty gentleman’s seat named Velindra. This was Miller’s birthplace. Here his father, Captain Francis Miller, had settled towards the close of the last century, after fighting as an officer in the English army throughout the American War of Independence, and after losing a good estate which he possessed in the Boston Government, and which he never recovered. He too came of a fighting family, and doubtless something of the independence, the reserve and gentlemanly courtesy of the crystallographer came to him through this inheritance. The valuable collection of minerals at Cambridge was largely the fruit of Prof. Millers long-vacation rambles. The addition to it of the collection of Mr. Brooke, pre- sented by his son, the late Mr. Charles Brooke, was an appropriate gift, considering the illustrations Miller had so copiously drawn from that collection for the important treatise on Mineralogy, to which he modestly gave the title of an edition of Phillips’ “ Mineralogy,’ by Mr. Brooke and himself: the real authorship of all that made the book invaluable to the true mineralogist being his whose name stood last, though for ever greatest, on the title page. Some of his later years were devoted to arranging in the New Museum at Cambridge the collection he had NATURE ee oe | 249 done so much to form. He did not live to make a cata- logue of it, though Mr. Lewis, who during Prof. Miller’s illness was intrusted with the duty of acting for him, has commenced the laborious work of a register, as a preliminary to a catalogue. There have been rumours that a change would be made in the character of the chair before the appoint- ment of a successor to Prof. Miller. Considering that but for the two mineralogical chairs at the two great universities of England the study of crystallography otherwise than as an almost childish adjunct to popular lectures on mineralogy would have been extinguished in England, it may be worth while to urge that the signif cance of crystallographic structure as a key to great physical problems, and probably too, when the chemists have awakened to the fact,asakey to some of the newest problems in chemistry, gives to crystallography a very considerable claim for recognition among the subjects taught in the university that produced the greatest crystallographer of our time. N,. STOREY MASKELYNE PAUL BROCA WE regret extremely to have to announce the death of this distinguished physician and anthropologist, which took place suddenly at Paris on Thursday last. He had attended a meeting of the Senate, of which he had lately been elected a member, and died during the night in consequence of the rupture of an aneurism. He was fifty-six years of age, born at St. Foy, in the Gironde, educated for the medical profession, and became Pro- fessor of Surgical Pathology at Paris. He soon acquired a high reputation by his researches in cerebral pathology, and continued to devote himself with great zeal to hospital work and clinical teaching to the last; but it is chiefly in consequence of his having taken up the subject of anthro- pology that he has obtained a world-wide fame, and occu- pied a position which it will indeed be difficult to fill up. Twenty years ago the science of physical or anatomical anthropology was in its infancy, and all investigations were at variance even as to the methods to be pursued in its cultivation. Broca devoted many years of unceasing activity in endeavouring to define, systematise, and perfect these methods. The thoroughness and energy with which he threw himself into any research which he undertook were marvellous, and only equalled by the clearness and facility of expression with which he communicated his results to others. His series of essays on various sub- jects connected with craniometry, published in successive numbers of the Mémoires of the Société d’Anthropologie of Paris, and the Revwe which he founded, and his “Instructions craniologiques et craniométriques,’’ with the introduction of numerous neat and happily chosen terms for descriptive processes, have made an immense advance in the progress of the science. Happily Broca’s perfect simplicity and amiability of character, his pure love of science for its own sake, and his readiness to help those engaged in pursuits similar to his own, have inspired with enthusiasm most of those who came in contact with him; and he has created at Paris a school which it is to be hoped will carry on the work which he inaugurated. We may take occasion to notice his scientific work in greater detail in an early number. THE UNITED STATES WEATHER MAPS, SEPTEMBER, 1878 ie the description of the United States Weather Maps for August, 1878, attention was drawn to the fact (vol. xxii. p. 36) that in that month atmospheric pressure was under the normal over a broad belt going half- way round the globe, extending from the Rocky Moun- tains across the United States, the Atlantic, Europe, and thence into Asia as far as the valley of the Lena, and the 250 NATURE { Fuly 15, 1880 bearing of this abnormal distribution of the pressure on the temperature, winds, and rainfall of this large and im- portant part of the globe was adverted to. In the Sep- tember following, the U.S. Weather Map for which appears with this notice, great and radical changes in the distribution of pressure took place—such as a change from a large defect from the normal pressure to a large excess above it in the New England States, South Britain, Central Europe, South Africa, and New Zealand; and on the other hand, a change equally striking from a large excess above the normal to a large defect from it over the West India Islands, South Greenland, Iceland, North Britain, and the whole of Southern Asia from the Bay of Bengal to Japan. As it is still premature to speculate on the causes of these enormous changes in the distribution of the mass of the earth’s atmosphere and the still more enormous forces called into play in effecting them, we must content ourselves with stating them a little more in detail, and drawing attention to some of the more im- mediate and striking climatic consequences which followed in their train. In North America pressure fell most below the normal about Lake Winnipeg, and southwards over the region traversed by the upper tributaries of the Missouri and Platte Rivers. This region of low pressure was extended, though in a less pronounced form, to the south-east, deepening again, however, on approaching Florida, to o’ogo inch, the greatest depression below the normal in the Bahamas. Over the Gulf States and westward through Texas and California, pressure was above the average; and to the north-eastward of the region where pressure was low it rose gradually, till in the Gulf of St. Lawrence it stood at 0133 inch in excess of the average. This high pressure extended across the Atlantic, and thence overspread Ireland, England, the northern half of France, Germany, all Russia except the extreme south near the Black Sea, and on into Siberia as far as the valley of the Tobol. As already stated, the southern half of Africaand the whole of New Zealand had a pressure considerably above their normal, the excess in the northern island of New Zealand being about o'150 inch. To the north of the European belt of abnormally high pressure there was a widespread region of low pressure including South Greenland, Scotland, Denmark, and Scandinavia, the centre of greatest depression being 0°209 inch below the normal in the north-east of Iceland. On the other side of the European belt of high pressure lay a most extensive stretch of low pressure covering the Spanish peninsula and the rest of Southern Europe; the north of Africa, all Asia, except Siberia to westward of the Tobol River and a small patch including the Lower Amur, the East India Islands, and the whole of Aus- tralia. In this widespread region centres of still deeper depression were formed in Italy, the Upper Obi, Western India, Southern China, and the south-eastern division of Australia, the depressions below the normal pressures of these five regions being respectively 0133 inch, 0°146 inch, 0'084 inch, 0070 inch, and 0'136 inch. The sharp- ness with which the regions were marked off will be seen from the statements that in their relations to the normals pressures showed differences of a fall of 0°342 inch from Nova Scotia to Bernfiord in Iceland, 0329 inch of arise from Bernfiord to Cork, and 0°153 inch of a fall from Cork to Rome, and 0'290 inch of a rise from near Mel- bourne to Napier in New Zealand. In the United States, temperature was under the average on the western side of the area of low pressure, the de- ficiency from long. 98° W. to the Rocky Mountains being from 1°°5 to 30, This low temperature extended far to northward, the deficiency from the normal amounting to 4 °5 at York Factory, Hudson Bay. In the region of high pressure which overspread the New England States the rainfall was small, and temperature from 1°°5 to 3°°5 above the normal. On advancing, however, to the north-east? temperature fell to near the average in Newfoundland’ which lay just on the western outskirts of the great baro- metric depression which had its centre near the north- east of Iceland. Greenland was completely enveloped in the western division of this depression, and there it will be seen that winds were northerly and easterly, and tem- perature consequently fell to 4°-0 below the normal. On the other hand, Scotland occupied the south-eastern segment of the barometric depression, and there, conse- quently, winds were west-south-westerly ; temperature was from 1°’o to 2°‘o above the average; and the rainfall in the west of the country from 40 to IIo per cent. above the average; whereas near the east coast it was about, or rather slightly under, the average. Thus in Scotland the distribution of the rainfall of September was the reverse of what prevailed in August, the weather in the latter month being fine and dry in}the west, but wet and backward in the east. These differences of weather were occasioned by the circumstance that in August the centre of greatest barometric depression was to the south-west of Jreland, thus resulting in rain-bringing easterly winds in Scotland with the distribution of the rainfall stated above ; whereas in September the centre of the barometric depression was near Iceland, thus resulting in rain-bringing westerly winds in Scotland, and consequently unfavourable weather in the west, but favourable weather in the east for the ingathering of the harvest. : ‘Temperature was about the average in England, slightly under it in France and Western Switzerland, but above the average over the whole of the rest of Europe, and eastward into Asia as far as the area of high pressure extended. The greatest excess of temperature over this extensive region occurred in the great plains of the Danube and the Dnieper, where it amounted to from 4°0 to 5°°6. In Italy the excess was small, and in Sicily temperature even fell 1°°4 below the average, and this area of low temperature was continued to the north-west through France. Another breadth of low temperature, falling however nowhere lower than 2°o below the normal, extended from the Caspian Sea as far to the north-east as the head-waters of the Yenisei, in other words over the western side of the barometric depression which over- spread this part of Siberia. To the eastward of the Yenisei temperature was above the average, but only slightly so, nowhere exceeding 2°°0. i The greatest barometric depression in Australia lay off the coast south of Melbourne, and in accordance there- with, keeping in view the law of the winds of the southern hemisphere, the prevailing winds were N.E. and N. at Gabo Island and Melbourne, and N.W. and W. at Sand- hurst and Portland; in other words, with the distribution of pressure described, equatorial winds blew over this part of Australia, and the temperature rose at Wilson’s Promontory to 3°2 above the norinal; and the winds being land winds, the rainfall, particularly at places in the interior, was considerably below the average. In New Zealand pressure was not only absolutely higher in the north than in the south, but also much higher rela- tively to the normals, and it was also higher in the west than in the east. Under this distribution of the pressure and the strong equatorial winds resulting therefrom, temperature rose above the normal over the whole of New Zealand, the excess being nearly 4°o at Dunedin, Christchurch, and Napier. NOTES Ir was scarcely to be expected that the debate last Friday in the House of Commons on Mr, Roundell’s motion for the com- plete abolition of the clerical headships and fellowships at Oxford and Cambridge should have had any other ending than it had. The Government thought it scarcely fair to the University Com- Fuly 15, 1880] NATURE 25% - ee SE | a aa missioners to interfere with what is regarded as one of the points which they are bound to consider. At the same time it is believed that the Commissioners are favourable to the almost complete abolition of clerical tests, and if this is one result of their deliberations, it seems to us their appointment will not bave been in vain. The memorial on the subject, with 800 signatures, presented to Mr. Gladstone, could scarcely be more influential. Among the names are those of Sir G. Jessel (Master of the Rolls), Sir Henry Thompson, Dr, Risdon Bennett (President of the Royal College of Physicians), Mr. Darwin, Prof. Huxley, Mr. A. R. Wallace, Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Dr. Abbott, numerous members of Parliament, the Presidents of the Congregational and Baptist Unions and the Dissenting Deputies, the professors of most of the Nonconformist colleges, and several hundred graduates of the Univer- sities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, and Scotland. It seems clear that the days of this remnant of an age of in. tolerance are numbered, and that in the near future Oxford and Cambridge will be as untrammelled by antiquated restric- tions as the London and Victoria Universities. The central institutions of these bodies have developed with a marvellous rapidity, one cause of which, we must believe, has been the perfect liberty of teaching. University College, as we intimated last week, feels urgently the necessity of more elbow-room, and yesterday the foundation of Victoria University was celebrated at Manchester, where Owens College, the nucleus of the Uni- versity has developed quite as rapidly, at least, as her elder sister of London, When Oxford and Cambridge have been brought as much abreast of the age as the two younger institutions, an impulse will be given to higher education in this country, and an encouragement to research in all departments of learning and science, that in time will bring us on a level with Germany in respect of University education, No more satisfactory token of the rapid progress of liberaland just ideas as to the proper functions of universities could be de- sired than the tone of the leading article in the Zimes of Tuesday in connection with the Victoria University ceremonies at Man- chester. After giving a melancholy picture of the disastrous effects of the existing system at Oxford and Cambridge, both on crammers and crammed, the 7zmes gives what is evidently its ideal picture of university life. ‘‘Let us imagine,” the leader concludes, ‘‘a body of professors employed not in examining or in cramming, but in original research or original work of some sort, pushing forward the bounds of knowledge, adding new ideas to the possessions of the human mind, creating, in short, and nct merely appropriating or aiding and testing the appropriations of other people. The stimulus of such work as this would be felt, we may be sure, by all who come in any sense within its range. The example would be contagious. Original workers will be in no want of pupils, whether they seek for them or not. When valuable ore is being dug there will always be some one with a due sense of its worth ready and eager to pick it up. It is for the promotion of such work as this that great funds and great institutions most properly exist. The professions and trades of the country have their own appointed rewards. The successful barrister or the successful merchant may or may not have been a university student. It is not in any case the chief duty of a university to assist him in the attain- ment of his rank, first to sharpen his tools for him and then to keep him in funds during the interval while he is waiting to use them. The professions and trades can hold their own very well without such adventitious help as this. Original work is not so directly remunerative ; to the individual engaged upon it it may not be remunerative at all. It often bears fruit slowly, but it bears it abundantly in the end, It needs, therefore, and justifies the special encouragement which a university can most obviously provide, The Victoria University has its life before it. It can choose its own course. It may become a machine for turning out second and third-rate intelligences, a sort of pro- crustean bed, so constructed as to bring its sons as nearly as possible to the same intellectual stature and equally to forbid any of them from falling far short of it or from exceeding it. Or it may propose to itself another aim, and may seek princi- pally to aid in the creation of knowledge rather than in its distribution, and even weighing out.” We are pleased to find the views we have so long advocated finding acceptance in so influential a quarter, and we commend the article to the earnest consideration of the University Commissioners, THE second annual meeting of the Index Society was held on Friday last, the 9th inst., in the rooms of the Society of Arts, when His Excellency the American Minister, Mr. J. Russel! Lowell, presided. The Report contained an account of the work already accomplished and of that which is in hand or can be put in hand when the list of subscriptions is enlarged. Many of the Indexes issued through the Society refer to literature and history matters, but science is not overlooked. A Handbook of the Literature of Botany, by Mr. Daydon Jackson, the secretary of the Linnean Society, is just ready for the press, and a companion volume for meteorology is proposed. Indexes of Logic and Anthropology also find a place in the list of schemes. Besides the formal business at the meeting, resolutions were passed for the appointment of committees to consider the best means of carrying out the following objects :—(1) The indexing of bio- graphical collections, especially those contained in the Gev#le- man’s Magazine and the Annual Register : (2) the indexing of Roman antiquities and remains in Great Britain; and (3) the opening of an office to contain the printed-and MS. indexes. WE have already called attention to the fact that the friends of the late Prof. Alfred Henry Garrod, F.R.S., being desirous of possessing some memorial of him, it has been agreed, after due consideration, that this object will be best effected by the re- publication in a collected form of all his separate memoirs and papers, both zoological and physiological, prefaced by a bio- graphical notice and portrait of the author. A committee has been formed to carry out this object, consisting of Prof. W. H. Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., P. L. Sclater, Ph.D., F.R.S., Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S., O. Salvin, F.R.S., F. M. Balfour, F.R.S., Prof. E. A. Schafer, F.R.S., G. E. Dobson, E. R. Alston, Prof. F, Jeffrey Bell, W. A. Forbes, secretary. It is estimated that Prof. Garrod’s collected papers will form a volume of about 500 pages, royal octavo, illustrated by twenty-five plates and numerous woodcuts. Each subscriber to the fund will be en- titled to receive a copy of the work for every guinea subscribed. Intending subscribers are requested to forward their names, and to state the amount they are willing to subscribe, to the Secre- tary of the Garrod Memorial Fund, 11, Hanover Square, London, W. Dr. J. H. GLapsTONE, F.R.S., has presented roo/. to the Research Fund of the Chemical Society. Tue French Government has allotted M. Pasteur the sum of 50,000 francs for the purpose of enabling him to carry out his researches on the contagious diseases of animals. WISHING to devote himself exclusively to scientific pursuits, Admiral Mouchez, director of the Paris Observatory, has asked to be placed on the retirement list, a request which has been granted by the Ministry. THE well-known mathematician, Prof. C. W. Borchardt, died at Riidersdorf, near Berlin, on June 27. He was formerly Professor of Mathematics in the Military Academy, and of late years Professor in the University of Berlin. Since 1856 he was editor of the Yournal for Pure and Applied Mathematics, the oldest of the existing mathematical periodicals. 252 THE death is announced, at the age of fifty-seven years, of [Dr. Karl Neumann, professor of history and geography in the University of Breslau; his name is well known to students of historical geography. At the jée in Paris yesterday the electric light played a prominent part. It was used to illuminate the fountains of the Tuileries Gardens, the upper part of Notre Dame, the Bourse, the dome of the Panthéon, Porte Saint Denis, and several other public places, besides private buildings. One of the most interesting experiments was that of M. Serrin from the top of his house, facing the Place de la République, where the gas companies organised an unrivalled display. M. Serrin has invented an apparatus which has been already tried with great suecess, and may be moved in any direction with an amazing velocity. His powerful ray of light describes curves in space visible at an immense distance. Some new forms of regulators were exhibited for the first time on this occasion. The fz, being national, was celebrated all over France in the 40,000 communes or townships of the Republic, and the electric light was used in the provinces as well as in Paris. The most notable display was probably at Rouen, where a group of sixteen Siemens lights, of a power of about 100,000 candles, was placed on the top of the spire of the Cathedral. THE several improvements in the National Library of Paris have resulted in a large increase in the number of readers. In 1869, when the new hall was opened, the number of readers was 24,000, who used 71,000 volumes exclusive of the library of reference. In 1879 the number of readers was 63,000, and of volumes used 230,000. It must be added that other libraries are open to the public in Paris and largely frequented, such as the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers for mechanical science and physics, the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle for natural history ; the Mazarin St. Genevieve, for general purposes ; the Sorbonne, Ecole de Droits, Ecole de Médecine, &c., for the general public, as well as for students. Readers are admitted to the National Library reading hall only by tickets; a special room has been opened to the public, and is also largely fre- quented. The present hall is only provisional, and a new one, on a larger scale will be opened very shortly. A TRIAL has just been made on the measured mile in Stokes Bay, under the superintendence of the Steam Reserve and in the presence of the Controller of the Navy, of a service steam pinnace propelled by the Mallory screw. This is the first appli- cation of the American invention in the English service, and much interest was manifested as to the results of the trial. The propeller, which was fitted to a pinnace constructed specially for the purpose, is capable of being turned to any angle by means of'a pinion and gearing, like an ordinary rudder, with which it dispenses. The boiler is stowed away under the forecastle, while the cylinders are placed at the stern and act directly upon the vertical shaft which turns the screw. Six runs were made with the engines going ahead and two with the engines going astern, there being scarcely half a knot’s difference in the mean speed realised, 8°S28 knots being obtained while going ahead with 339 revolutions, and 8451 knots going astern with 340 revolutions, The engines were reversed from full speed ahead to full speed astern in ten seconds. But the most remarkable results were obtained in turning, the little craft showing such remarkable handiness that it not only turned in its own length, 42 feet, but was put by Col. Mallory through the movements of a\guadrille, chaining, setting to partners, and galloping to places. She made a circle to starboard in thirty-six seconds, and without stopping, made a second circle to port, thus completing the figure 8 in thirty-seven seconds. The trial was deemed satisfac- tory, but the vibration at the stern was so great that the after part of boats fitted with the Mallory propeller will require to be specially strengthened. NATURE [ Fuly 15, 1880 THROUGH the kindness of General Myer we have received some further details concerning the extraordinary memory credited to the man in charge of the hat room at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, referred to in NATURE, vol. xxi. p- 562. He isan Irish-American about thirty years of age, Gilmartin by name, and has occupied his present position about a year. His sole duty consists in looking after hats during meal hours. The fact of his possessing a remarkable memory is indisputable, but still he is not looked upon asia prodigy by the hotel officials. They state that a Tommy Hart, now dead, who figured con- spicuously in the ‘Stokes trial,” was for a long time in charge of their hat-room, fand was this man’s superior as regards memory, and cited other instances of men now employed in different hotels throughout the country whom they consider his equals. It is very evident, however, that he possesses a wonderful talent for selecting the right hats, and mistakes are rare with him. THE suggestion made by A. Martin with regard to radiometers (British Fournal of Photography, July 9, p. 312) isa very obvious one, and has been made dozens of times. We believe that soon after Mr. Crookes commenced working with Becquerel’s lumi- nous sulphides he tried to get a radiometer to move by means of the light given out by these bodies after insolation. He used them painted on one side of the vanes of a radiometer, and also as luminous screens outside the radiometer to act on the darkened vanes, but it was all to no purpose. The light evolved was too faint to have any effect. It is just possible that if a room were entirely coated internally with Balmain’s luminous paint and excited by sunlight or burning magnesium, a radiometer might revolve in it for a short time, but even this is not likely to occur. The most sensitive radiometer will not turn to a candle more than twelve feet off, and the torsion-balance photometer will only just move to a candle thirty feet off; yet the illumination given by a candle at this distance is far greater than any we have seen produced by the luminous sulphides. FURTHER accounts of the earthquake in Switzerland on Sunday week prove it to have been one of the most severe and widespread which has happened in Switzerland for several years. It was felt in the Central and Pennine Alps, at Berne, Zurich, Payerne, Andermatt, on the Lake of Lucerne, in the Bernese Oberland, in the cantons of Geneva and Vaud, and doubtless in Savoy. The principal seat of disturbance was in the Valais, in the neighbourhood of Visp and Brieg. In both places the shock was preceded and accompanied by aérial noises and underground detonations. The time of its occurrence is variously stated at g.20 and 9.30 a.m., and the direction of the movement, so far as can be made out, was from south to north. At Leukerbad the shock is said to have been accompanied by subterranean thunder, Further east, in the neighbourhood of Geneva and Lausanne, the oscillation was perceptible only in the upper rooms of houses near the Lake. AN occurrence, which may be partially or wholly attributable to the rude shakings which Switzerland has recently undergone, is reported by the Z%mes Geneva correspondent from Quarten, in the canton of St. Gall, A short time ago the people of the neighbourhood noticed signs of uneasiness about the Sehnebel- berg. The summit of the mountain appeared to be in a very precarious position, and it was feared that it might slip down and overwhelm the Schnebelwald, an extensive wood in the valley below. In anticipation of a possible catastrophe, great efforts were made to cut down and carry away as many trees as possible, though the men engaged in the work wrought at the peril of their lives, On Sunday fortnight, when fortunately there was nobody in the wood, a deafening report, like the firing of heavy artillery, resounded {through the valley, and the moun- tain was hidden from view by a thick cloud of dust. When it Fuly 15, 1880] dispersed, the Schnebelberg was seen to be shorter by a few metres, and the beautiful wood in the Murgthal has disappeared beneath a huge avalanche of stones and earth. Ar the annual meeting of the Council of the Royal School of Mines, the prizes and associateships were awarded as follows :— The Edward Forbes medal and prize of books to H. M. Platnauer. The De La Beche medal to John Greene. The Murchison medal and prize of books to H. M. Platnauer. Associates ; Mining and Metallurgical Divisions—E. B, Lindon, P. W. Stuart Menteath, Ralph Scott. Mining Division—John Greene, B. Mott, H. E. Tredcroft. Metallurgical Division— R. S. Benson, J. J. Beringer, D. B. Bird, H. S. Cotton. W. Cross, W. L. Grant, G. S. Grundy, C. L. Higgins, B, McNeill, T. H. Reeks, J. Taylor. Geological Division—H. H. Hoffert, H. M. Platnauer. Tue Agricultural Society’s show at Carlisle, which was opened on Monday, is?said to be unusually successful, so far as the exhibits are concerned. Mr. P. H. Pepys writes :—‘‘It may interest some of your geological readers to know that a branch canal is now in course of being made from the Grand Junction Canal at a point near the West Drayton Station of the Great Western Railway. This cut, which runs parallel with the Great Western Railway to a point not far from the Slough station, passes through beds of river gravel and brick earth, a very interesting section of which has just been opened up by the excavators.” A SAD balloon accident has taken place at Le Mans, and may be referred to as illustrating some useful facts relating to aéronautics. A man named Petit had ascended with two balloons connected by along rope. The smaller, which was placed above, carried his son, almost a boy ; Petit being in the larger with his wife. There was not much wind, and this foolish experiment would have ended without accident if Petit had not forgotten to loosen the neck of the balloon, so that no escape was left for the gas which was gradually expanding. When the balloon arrived at an altitude of 400 to 500 metres it burst in the vicinity of the . “equator,” and descended with great velocity, dragging the smaller balloon. Petit, who was devoid of any scientific know- ledge, supposed his son was in danger, and with true heroism he cut the rope connecting the two balloons when at 250 to 300 metres from the ground. He placed his wife on the ring and remained himself in the car. The shock was so terrible that his spinal cord was broken, and he died on the following day. His wife was very badly hurt, and though in danger, is alive. If Petit had not cut the rope by an act of unintelligent devotion he would yery likely have escaped, and his son would not even have touched the ground. WE have received the first two parts of Dr. Braithwaite’s « British Moss Flora,” published by the author at 303, Clapham Rosd. We hope to notice the work at length on its completion. From Dr. Schomburgk’s Report on the progress and condition of the Botanic Garden and Government Plantations of South Australia during the year 1879, we gather many interesting facts. First, with regard to the climatic changes, temperature, sun- shine, &c., and their effects on yegetation in Adelaide, During the Australian autumn, winter, and spring the country was visited with the most favourable and seasonable weather on record, the influence of such a season had, of course, a wonderful effect on the agricultural and pastoral produce of the colony, the wheat crop, for instance, being one of the most abundant on record, We are told that owing to a ‘‘ part of the spring months— September and October—being cool and cloudy, and showery, the roses flowered in such perfection as was never witnessed in South Australia, Flowers were seen from five to six inches in NATURE 253 diameter. On the subject of forage plants, a subject that has occupied a good deal of attention in our colonies of late, Cyperus esculenius, known as the chuffa or earth almond, takes a pro- minent place. This plant it appears is extensively grown in the Southern States of America, where the tubers are used for feeding hogs, sheep, and poultry. These tubers are said to contain a quantity of air and sugar, and are consequently very fattening to animals fed upon them, Dr. Schomburgk also recommends the cultivation of the Nardoo plant (MJarst/ea macropus, Hook.), which, in the interior of South Australia, where the plant is common, forms a valuable nutritious forage plant. Attention is also drawn to the Tagasaste (Cytises proliferus), a shrubby leguminous plant of the Canaries, the leafy branches of which have a reputation as a usefulfodder. Dr. Schomburgk announces the probable early completion ef the new Museum of Economic Botany in the Botanic Garden, the cases in which are arranged on the plan “adopted in the new Kensington and Kew Museums.” The museum collection already numbers 2,000 specimens, and these are being constantly added to, contributions constantly arriving in very large numbers. THE annual meeting of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Sydney, was held May 12; the number of new members elected during the year is fifty-one, making the total number of ordinary members upon the roll to date, 430. During the year the Society has elected the following gentlemen as honorary members, viz. :—Mr. George Bentham, F.R.S., C.M.G., Dr. Charles Darwin, F.R.S., Prof. Huxley, F.R.S., Prof. Owen, C.B., F.R.S., making the total number of honorary members nineteen. Mr. R. Etheridge, jun., F.G.S., has been elected a corresponding member of the Society. Financially the Society’s affairs are in a satisfactory condition. At the Council meeting held on April 28 it was unanimously resolved to award the Clarke memorial medal for 1878 to Prof. Owen; for the year 1879 to Mr. G. Bentham; and for 1880 to Prof. Huxley, for their valuable contributions to the knowledge of the paleeon- tology, botany, and natural history respectively of Australia. During the past year the Society has received 664. volumes and pamphlets as donations, against which it has distributed 523 volumes and pamphlets. The honorary secretaries are Prof, Liversidge and Dr. Leibius. At this meeting Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker was elected an honorary member. METEOROLOGICAL NOTES Pror. NIPHER has sent us the Méssouri Weather Service Report for April, 1880, and the Daily Times of St. Louis of May 4, in both of which publications interesting and valuable details are given of the tornadoes which desolated Marshfield, and were attended with disastrous results at other places in their route through the south-west of the State of Missouri. ‘The details were collected with great labour and care, Professors Nipher and Shepard, Judge Barker, and Messrs, Smith and Kribben having spent four days in the saddle, from the 22nd to the 26th, in col- lecting the evidence of eye-witnesses and examining the effects produced by the tornado, The Marshfield tornado was one of three whirlwinds which occurred in this part of Missouri, separated only by short intervals of time. The most violent of these began near. the south-west corner of the state, and thence swept up the Finley Creek Valley. The width of its path ex- ceeded a mile at points, and over this breadth even oak saplings were torn out by the roots, and either thrown out of its path or laid down in rows in the lee of ridges. The average width of its destructive path for a distance of 100 miles was 3,000 feet, thus covering an area of 60 square miles. The Marshfield tornado originated about half an hour earlier and at a point a little to’ northward, slightly diverging from the path pursued by the previous tornado, Though less violent, considered as a whole, it proved much {more destructive to life, no fewer than sixty persons being killed in the town of Marshfield, that town itself being wholly destroyed. The destructive path ‘of this tornado was about 45 milesin length, and as its average breadth was about 1,500 feet, it covered an area of 13 square miles, This storm 254 NATURE [ Fuly 15, 1880 has been successfully traced to its origin in a harmless dust whirl generated between two currents of air which met in such a way as to produce a whirl in the opposite direction to the hands of a watch, the air at the same time along its subsequent path being oppressively warm and moist. The third tornado occurred about the same time, and passed to the north-east, near Jefferson City. The area covered by these three tornadoes is about 80 square miles, and more than 100 persons lost their lives. Many interesting points were noted by Prof. Nipher and his staff of observers. Almost all the trees blown down were thrown down in the line of the tornado track, and the lane of prostrate trees lying in the line of the storm’s path was continued across sparsely wooded tracts, where, consequently, the destructive lane was formed, not by the trees falling on each other, but by each tree being overturned by the violence of the gust. One of the observers, Mrs. Lenz, reports that the whirl- wind cloud seemed to be of a circular or wheel shape, dark and heavy on its edges, and white or more like an ordinary cloud in the interior; her description being that it looked like a coiled snake whirling round and round a white centre. In this connec- tion an additional observation was made by another observer, Mr. Steel, to the effect that the bottom of the cloud-funnel seemed to sway somewhat, as well as to move up and down; it looked like dark smoke, and he could occasionally see up into the funnel, which seemed to be hollow, the inside appearing to be lighter coloured than the outside, It is much to be wished that future observers who may be so circumstanced as to be able to observe this feature of whirlwinds would endeavour to note the motions, whether upward or downward, in the interior and on the outside of the funnel, accurate observations on this point being of supreme importance in arriving at a correct knowledge of whirlwinds, It was also noted that trees were stripped of their bark only where the ground was covered with débris, and the barking was confined to the sides of the trees exposed to the flying missiles. It is a singular circumstance that along the whole path of the tornado not a single flash of lightning was observed, In the Missouri Weather Service Report referred to above the tracks of these tornados are laid down on the map accompanying the report, and it is in this part of the State that the rainfall of the month was greatest, the maximum of 800 inches being at Verona, which is situated near the point where the tornadoes originated. The rainfall over the southern portion of the State equalled five inches, and the amount diminished on proceeding northward. The minimum amount was recorded along the northern slopes of the Missouri valley, the least fall being 1°07 inch at Glasgow. The mean temperature was 58°*7 at St. Louis, or 2°*6 in excess of the average of April. A general and severe fall of tempera- ture followed the storms of the 18th, when snow fell at Oregon, Palmyra, Neosko, and Greenfield, WE are indebted to Mr. W. A. Dixon, Sydney, for a commu- nication on the meteorology of a guano island, originally made by him to the Royal Society of New South Wales. The island referred to is Malden Island, in 4° 2’ S, lat. and 154° 58’ W. long. ; it is triangular in shape, of purely coral formation, and comprising a land area of little over 10,000 acres. The climate of the island, though near the equator, and sometimes having the north-east and sometimes the south-east trades, is generally characterised by extreme dryness. Mr. Dixon resided in Malden Island two and a half years, dating from October 13, 1866, when the following amounts of rain were collected :—In Novem- ber, 1866, there fell 0°50 inch; in 1867 there fell in September 0°26 inch; October, 0°23 inch; November, 0°63 inch; and December, 0°19 inch; in all, 1°31 inch in twelve days. In 1868 there fell in January 0°69 inch; February, 0002 inch; March, 0°17 inch ; April, 0°19 inch; May, 0°56 inch; June, 0°12 inch ; July, 3°82 inches ; August, 0°87 inch; September, O11 inch ; October, 2°89 inches; November, 0°77 inch ; and December, 3°46 inches ; in all, 13°60 inches in fifty-two days. In 1869 the rainfall was in January, 12°73 inches ; in February, 4°83 inches ; and March, 2°77 inches ; for the three months, 20°33 inches in twenty-eight days. On January 28-29, 1869, there fell in eight and a half hours 4°57 inches of rain. It was often noticed in the daytime that whilst it rained heavily over the ocean all round the island the moisture-laden clouds from the east dis- appeared as they drifted over the island, and no rain fell. As regards temperature, the variations of the thermometer in shade were extremely regular. At daybreak it stood at 80°, when it gradually rose to 96° between 9g and 10 a,m., about which point it stood till shortly after sunset, when it began gradually to falb to 80° at 10 p.m., remaining near this point till morning. From January 16 to 29, 1869, the temperature did not rise above 82°, there being continuous rain, and no sun visible, for thirteen days, with the wind due west. An unblackened thermometer fre- quently exposed to the sun was never ob-erved to rise above 106°'0, but, covered with one inch of light grey soil, it rose to 1350. Evaporation was observed at irregular intervals; an average of eight days ending December 11, 1868, gave 0°387 inch per day. In the beginning of October the wind was gene- rally light east, with calms; and the north-east trades began about the middle of the month, varying from east to north-east till the end of February, when light winds and calms again set in, followed by south-east and east trades till October. The currents round the island changed with the changing of the trades, and this change was marked by the movement of an immense mass of sand forming the west beach. From the beginning of March the sand went on accumulating till the beginning of October, forming a beach 120 feet wide, 9 feet high, and a mile long, When the sun crossed the zenith the sand began to move to the south, and all that the waves could reach was removed and carried to the south beach; and the whole of this sand was washed back when the sun again had crossed the zenith going north. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES Ir is stated that Col. Prjevalsky and his party are prisoners in the hands of the Chinese, who, it will be remembered, prevented him from proceeding to Lhassa. THE New York Herald publishes a telegram from St. John’s, Newfoundland, stating that the steamer Gu/nare, conveying Howgate’s expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, has been towed into St. John’s with her machinery disabled. The message adds that it is thought probable that she will be sufficiently repaired to proceed north in about a fortnight, News from the Azores states that a disturbance of the earth has occurred in the island of St. George, resulting in the forma- tion of another small island of about 18,000 square yards, and distant 600 yards from the shore. An Arctic Exhibition has been opened at the Alexandra Palace, in which a great variety of objects, pictures, photo- graphs, and other things connected with Arctic exploration are displayed. ‘The collection is both interesting and instructive, and is well worth a visit, whatever we may think of Commander Cheyne’s scheme, in connection with which the exhibition is being held. Mr. Coxwell makes an experimental ascent to-day at the Palace in connection with Commander Cheyne’s project. In the Archives des Sciences for June 15, Prof. Forel describes researches on the temperature of Lake Leman and other fresh- water lakes. ner alia, it appears that the heat penetrates very rapidly into the 50 or 100 metres next the surface (in Lake Leman) and very slowly in the deeper layers. The temperature proved to be variable even at the extreme depth of 335 m. and the degree of variation showed that depth was still far from the depth where variability ceases. Heat penetrates more deeply into Lake Leman than into Lake Thun; the isotherms descend on an average 24m. deeper. By January 15, 1880, Lake Leman is considered to have expended all the heat put in reserve during the summer of 1879. (This point was not reached in 1879 till February 7.) No. 87 of the Zeitschrift of the Berlin Geographical Society has a long and important article by G. Harting on the forma- tion of valleys. K. Himly gives an interesting account of the ‘Si Vii Shui Tao Ki,” a Chinese work, published in 1824, on the hydrography of Central Asia, There are two articles on South America: one by Max Beschoren, on the forest region of the Rio Uruguay in the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul, and the other by Arthur Werthemann, on the Rivers Paranapura and Cahuapanas in the Peruvian department Ama- zonas. The journal of the late Erwin y. Bary in North Africa is continued. From the Verhandlungen, No. 6, we learn that the Swiss contemplate a survey of both coasts of the Red Sea for commercial purposes, and a list is given, based on Schlagin- tweit’s investigations, of the greatest heights of North India and Central Asia. Tue principal article in the July number of Petermann’s Mittheilungen is on the variation in the quantity of water in the Fuly 15, 1880] rivers and other bodies of water of the various continents, by Prof. H. Fritz. The author does not think there is any reason for believing that anything like a permanent decrease of the volume of water in rivers has taken place, but that this volume is subject to variations, which, when grouped in periods of about ten years, are seen to be wonderfully regular. He gives, for example, the years 1804, 1816, 1829, 1837, 1848, 1860, 1871, as years of water maxima, and notes as at least a coincidence that these were years of maximum sun-spots. An article by P. F. Bainier refers to the recent discovery of the Niger sources ; there is information on various recent Nile expeditions, and some notes in connection with the projected railway from Mejillones to La Paz in Bolivia. ARTIFICIAL DIAMONDS ' [N a preliminary notice, which the Royal Society has done me the honour of publishing in the Proceedings, I gave a very short sketch of the work I have done which led me to a reaction whereby hard crystalline carbon has been produced, I have now the honour of laying a detailed account of the methods and results before the Society. As far back as September, 1879, I was searching for a solvent for the alkali metals, and tried experiments with many liquids and «gases, but invariably found that when the solvent reached the permanently gaseous state chemical action ensued. This was the case even with hydro- carbons, the metal combining with the hydrogen and setting free the carbon. Paraffin spirit, boiling at 75°, was first used in ex- perimenting, and the spirit contained a considerable amount of olefines ; but even these unsaturated hydrocarbons seemed to be split up in like manner. The experiments were conducted in thick tubes from I to 1'5 millims. internal, and ro to 15 external diameter, and mace of hard glass. The alkali metal which decomposes the hydrocarbon retains a quantity of pure hydrogen, which may be seen by exhausting it by the Sprengel pump. A piece of sodium was exhausted in the molten state for five hours by the Sprengel pump, and when no more hydrogen had been evolved for an hour, a piece was placed in a tube with paraffin spirit and heated for two hours, and when a considerable quantity of carbon was deposited, as much of it was removed as could be conveniently obtained and again exhausted, when 32 times its volume of hydrogen was extracted from it. This was repeated several times, and quantities of hydrogen, varying from 17 to 25 times the volume of the sodium, obtained. The carbon deposited on the tube is of a hard scaly nature, and when the sodium is slowly oxidised and dissolved in water, some very hard scales of carbon are often obtained. This was then the reaction on which my work was built. As potas- sium is a metal of stronger affinities I thought that an examina- tion of its action on paraffin would yield somewhat better results, but in this I was disappointed. Sometimes its action was very great, but it seemed to combine with some of the substance in the tube, and formed black compounds, having no hard carbon amongst them. Some of the experiments did yield a little, but on the whole it was not so good as sodium. Lithium was next tried, and yielded results which were much more hopeful. After an account of experiments on gaseous solution the author proceeds :—The general result obtained from these experi- ments was that the solvent power of water was found to be de- termined by two conditions: 1. Temperature or molecular vis viva; and 2. Closeness of the molecules on pressure, which seems to give penetrative power. From these observations it will be seen that if a body has any solvent action on another and does not act upon it chemically, such solvent action may be inde- finitely increased by indefinitely increasing the temperature and pressure of the solvent. In nature the temperature has been at one time higher than we can obtain artificially, and the pressure obtained by a depth of 200 miles from the surface is greater than can be supported by any of the materials from which we can form vessels. It will thus be seen that, whereas in nature almost unlimited solvent power could be obtained, we are not as yet able to reproduce these conditions artificially. Could pressure alone increase solvent power, then much might be done, but pressure only acts by keeping the molecules close together when they have great v7 viva, and this latter is only obtained by high temperature, As glass tubes were quite out of the question when a red heat 1 On the Artificial Formation of the Diamond.”’ Royal Society by J Author. Paper read at the B. Hannay, F.R.S.E., F.C.S. Abstract by the NATURE 255 and very high pressure were required, iron tubes were resorted to, and a series of attempts made to dissolve carbon by various gaseous solvents. The difficulty of closing iron tubes as com- pared with glass tubes caused me to try various methods, which I shall describe here. Tubes were made of strong hydraulic tubing 20” long, 1” thick, and }” bore. These were fitted with a plug, screwed with a strong screw fitting very well. There was placed in the tube some powdered charcoal from which all the inorganic matter had been removed by immersion in hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids and washing with water, and then suffi- cient paraffin spirit to fill the tube two-thirds of its volume. The plug was screwed in with a lute composed of silicate of soda and manganese dioxide, but after heating the tube in a reverberatory furnace for four hours it was found to be impossible to remove the plug, so the end had to be bored out. There was neither liquid nor gas in the tube, the luting having leaked. Another tube similarly filled was fitted with a plug with a copper washer, the end of the tube, plug, and washer being polished, but this also leaked, and no result was arrived at. Baryta, clay, asbestos, and other substances, wet with silicate of soda, were all tried with the same result—leakage. A silver washer kept compara- tively tight, but only on one occasion. It was thus seen that screw-closing would give no reliable results, so another method was tried. A ball of iron, fitting the tube tightly, was placed in it after the materials had been introduced. The end of the tube was then narrowed by compression between rollers and turned smooth inside. The iron ball was then drawn up by a wire attached and luted by silicate of soda and fine manganese dioxide. It was expected that the pressure would only serve to make the closing more secure, but, on heating, the iron yielded, and the ball was driven out with a loud explosion. After trying several other methods of closing—outside screwing and filling the mouth with molten metal on the top of a clay plug being amongst them—I came to the conclusion that nothing would suffice but welding up the open end. This has been, when carried out efficiently, invariably successful, and in all my later experiments I have used it alone. It requires great skill on the part of the workman, and it is only one man in a hundred who can perform the operation with invariable success. The furnace used in these experiments was a reverberatory one, 6 feet long (internal measurement) and 2 feet broad; fire-place, 15 inches ; bridge, 9 inches; hearth, 4 feet. The roof sloped down towards the flue, and the spent gases had exit at the level of the hearth, thus carrying the flame down as it receded from the fire in order to have the hearth of one temperature. The walls were 13 inches thick, and the roof formed of 4-inch fire-clay covers. Three tubes, 20” x 1’ x }” bore, were filled as follows :— _ No. I. 3 grms. sodium, 3 full paraffin spirit, ” Il. ” ” = ” ” ” Ill. ” ” $ ” ”? On heating them in the reverberatory furnace, No, I. exploded before a visible red-heat had been obtained, so the temperature was not allowed to rise any higher, and Nos. II. and III. allowed to lie for four hours and then slowly cooled. On being bored open next day, No. II. contained a little scaly carbon, but No. III. contained almost none, and nearly all its liquid had been converted into gas, which rushed out on boring it open, It was noticed by the workmen that the inside of the tube was harder to bore than the outside, and I thought, as I found out afterwards rightly, that the iron had been carbonised and con- verted into steel. It seemed, then, that the free carbon had been taken up by the iron. An account of a number of preliminary experiments with various tubes here follows :—The iron used in making the tubes is what is known as ‘‘ Lowmoor” iron, a very pure and strong quality, and a portion removed from the interior of a tube which has been used gave, on analysis, 2°17 per cent, of carbon, showing to what an extent carbonisation had gone on. , Having obtained results from this process of a kind which showed that diamond was unlikely to be formed by its agency, I reverted to the original idea of solution of carbon in a gaseous menstruum, and from some experiments I had been carrying on with the view of finding some commercial use for ‘bone oil,” I concluded that the distillate from bone oil containing the nitro- genous bases would be most likely to yield such a solvent. Bone oil, the nitrogenous distillate obtained in the manufacture of bone char, and for a plentiful sapply of which I am indebted to Messrs. John Poynter and Sons jof Glasgow, was distilled, and the portion boiling between 115° and 150° was taken and rectified 256 over solid caustic potash, and latterly oversodium. When satis- fied that it was free from moisture, oxygen, and sulphur, a tube, 22” X 20” X 4” bore, was three parts filled, and some charcoal powder added, and the whole welded up solid. I found that the nitrogenous liquid was even worse to work with than the hydrocarbon, as on coming into contact with the hot iron it burnt it away at once, and as the tube was of great diameter it was extremely difficult to keep the lower partcool. For welding it had to be arranged so that it was standing in a tub ofice, and the top projecting through the bottom of the forge, and heated until it was at a welding heat, with as little de'ay as possible. When a tube was obtained welded up solid it was heated toa dull red-heat for 14 hours and allowed to cool; on opening the tube there was a very great out-rush of gas, and the carbon was to a certain extent dissolved, and some minute portions of it very hard. Still, under the microscope it presented little difference in appearance from the wood charcoal employed, some of the features, however, being obliterated, and it had a bright appearance. Another tube of the same dimensions and contents was closed up in the same manner, but after eight hours’ heating it burst with a loud explosion. I had-noticed that a tube which had been once used and been partially carbonised would not stand a second heating, and for this reason I had no belief in the power of cast-iron or steel to withstand the great pressure at a red heat. Nevertheless, as many of my friends had urged upon me to try these materials, I had a cast-iron tube made, 3}” X 24” X }” bore, and filled two-thirds of its volume with bone oil distillate and carbon, and then welded up. We succeeded after a little trouble in making a good weld, and the tube was then slowly raised to a dull red- heat in the furnace. It had not been heated for more than an hour when it exploded with a great noise and knocked down the back and one of the ends of the furnace, leaving the whole structure a wreck, The tube had broken into small fragments, and was quite unlike the malleable iron tubes which generally tore up. Thinking that it was perhaps a bad casting, I tried another, but it leaked all over, and emptied itself before the temperature was nearly up. A third tube of the same material burst like the first, but as I had built up the furnace with large blast-furnace blocks, it was not blown down, Cast-iron being inadmissible, experiments were then made with steel. I had several tubes made of this material by the best firms in the kingdom—made by the three methods, Bessemer, Siemens, and the crucible method—but they had the same faults as cast-iron, although to a less degree. The difficulty in making a good weld in cast-iron and steel tubes makes their employment in such experiments as these a matter of inconvenience. Out of five tubes made of steel, some of which were made of the very toughest material manufactured by Messrs, Cammell and Co., only one held in the substance completely. Three burst in the furnace, and one had leaked by its porosity. The top of the furnace, by the continued shocks of explosions, fell in at the bursting of the last of the steel tubes, The continued strain on the nerves, watching the temperature of the furnace, and in a state of tension in case of an explosion, induces a nervous state which is extremely weakening, and when the explosion occurs it sometimes shakes one so severely that sickness supervenes. An account of several experiments follows, none of which were, however, successful. I thought I should either have to abandon the attempt or begin experiments of a very expensive nature, using large tubes and a large furnace, as 20-inch tubes of a greater diameter than four inches could net be closed when three parts filled—at least by welding. As some of them, however, seemed to stand, I deter- mined to make some further trials with the apparatus Ihad at my disposal ; so another tube, 20” x 4” X 4” bore was filled, using 4 grms. of lithium and a mixture of bone oil, carefully rectified, 90 per cent., and paraffin spirit ro per cent., using these propor- tions because I had never had any results with a high percentage of bone oil, the tubes so filled having burst. The tube was closed with great difficulty, being three-parts full of liquid, and then heated to a visible red heat for fourteen hours, and allowed to cool slowly. On opening the tube a great volume of gas was given off, and only a little liquid remained. In the end of the tube which had been the upper end in the furnace, the tube lying obliquely, there was a hard smooth mass adhering to the sides of the tube, and entirely covering the bottom, As I had never ob- tained all the solids in one piece before, I wished to examine it, and so had the other end of the tube cut off, exposing the hard mass. It was quite black, and was removed with a chisel, and as 1t appeared to be composed principally of iron and lithium, it NATURE [Fuly 15, 1880 was laid aside for analysis, I was pulverising it in a mortar when I felt that some parts of the material were extremely hard —not resisting a blow, but hard otherwise. On looking closer I saw that these were mostly transparent pieces imbedded in the hard matrix, and on triturating them I obtained some free from the black matter. They turned out to be crystalline carbon, exactly like diamond. I shall describe further on the analyses, &c,, but will here go on with the account of my further experi- ments. Two tubes were filled in the same manner as the last, but one burst on heating, and the other had leaked so that there was no reaction. Two more tubes were prepared, but were spoiled on welding, and on cutting off the carbonised portion the remainder was too short to work. After much ‘trouble three. tubes were obtained, well closed, in which the three alkali metals were inclosed with liquid containing 20 per cent. bone oil and $0 per cent. paraffin. All three stood, and, on opening, only the potassium one had leaked to any extent. The results were not good, however, the sodium tube containing only soft scaly carbon, and the other two very little better. The reaction did not seem to have proceeded in the same manner in the lithium tube as before, as the mass was soft and friable. Still, lithium seemed to yield the best results, so it was adhered to in the further experiments. A list of disasters now awaited me, Eight tubes failed through bursting and leaking, and one of the explosions, when two were being heated together, destroyed a part of the furnace and injured one of my workmen. Besides this, two tubes were spoiled in welding. However, I had four experiments after this, all withstanding the pressure, and in one of these, with 10 per cent. bone oil and go per cent. paraffin spirit, a small quantity of diamond was found. ‘The contents of this tube were different from the other successful one, being much lvoser and not in the same hard mass as the first. In another series of six experiments two were at [first thought to have been successful, but I afterwards found that one of them was not so, the transparent matter being siliceous, but insoluble in cold hydrofluoric acid, although it dissolved on boiling. The uncertainty and great expense involved in using these forged coils of iron with tubes bored out of the {solid induced me to again try steel, and Messrs. Cammell and Co., having prepared some tubes for me, I tried them, but with the ‘same results—they exploded into fragments at a red heat. And herein they are much more dangerous than coiled tubes, because the latter seldom fly into fragments, but just tear open a little. A further unforeseen danger in using steel tubes was discovered. One which had stood the heating very well was being bored, and when the inner skin was cut so that the gas rushed out, the whole exploded, endangering the life of the workman who was boring, but as he was standing at the end of the tube and the pieces flew laterally, he was not hurt. I have performed over eighty experiments, and have only obtained three results of a successful [nature. The identification of the crystalline pieces as carbon was easy enough, but I have been anxious to find whether they are pure carbon or a compound with some other element, and to that end the following -experiments were conducted. A portion of the substance from the first successful experiment was weighed out after it had been freed from all foreign matter adhering to it, and placed in a very small platinum boat made of a strip of thin foil, the ends of which were wrapped round two stout platinum wires which were sealed into a wide glass tube. The carbon particles were transferred to this boat after being weighed, and the tube connected by india-rmbber stoppers with an oxygen gasometer on the one side and a series of potash bulbs on the other. The oxygen was dried over solid caustic potash before entering the tube, and again after leaving the potash bulbs. The carbon (14 mgrms.) having been weighed out, the potash bulbs were weighed, and a current of oxygen passed through the apparatus, and the platinum wires connected with a battery strong enough to heat the foil to a bright red-heat. After a few minutes the oxygen was stopped and the bulbs weighed, when it was found that they had gained 1 mgrm. On repeating this operation no gain was found, the moisture having been entirely driven off by the first treatment. The carbon was now placed in the boat, and a slow current of oxygen started, then the bulbs connected and the current made to pass through the platinum until all the diamond had been burnt, when the current was stopped and the oxygen allowed to pass for fifteen minutes more, when the bulbs were detached and weighed. They were then reconnected and the gas passed for other ten minutes to find whether all the carbonic acid had been expelled, Fuly 15, 1880] NATURE 257 and reweighed. They weighed o°2 mgrm. less than before. The numbers were as follows :— Potash bulbs before combustion 43'8308 A Sr GaLex D - 43°8776 —— ‘0468 Drying tube before combustion 26°4204 ” 4, after ” 26°4328 *0034 0502 This gives a composition of 97°85 per cent. of carbon, which is a pretty fair approximation to pure carbon. However, to determine whether or not this was the case, some further experiments were tried. A small quantity of the carbon was placed on the platinum boat and burnt in oxygen without any of the gas being allowed to pass out of the apparatus, and the mixed gases so obtained transferred to a eudiometer, and the carbonic acid and oxygen absorbed. It was then found that a residue amounting to about 3 per cent. of the carbonic acid was left unabsorbed by alkaline pyrogallate solution. This proved to be nitrogen. A blank experiment was done, but it gaye only a minute bubble of nitrogen. was performed with the following results :— Total volume col = Boo Meo aoe 183°7 After absorption of CO, 148°5 CO, = 35;2 After an oO HH terse LO 147°4 N I'l This plainly shows that nitrogen was present from some cause or another, and as every precaution was taken in transferring the gas from one yessel to another, and as the blank experiment showed nothing, I am inclined to believe that the carbon, or at least some portions of it, contained nitrogen chemically com- bined. The numbers above given are degrees on the eudiometer tube, and are not more than one-third of a cubic centimetre each. Their exact value was of no consequence in the experi- ment, and the tube was only calibrated by comparing one part with another, and not with an absolute measure. From the fact that no diamond was found when nitrogen com- pounds were absent, and from the fact that the mixed product {for only a portion of the 14 mgrms. was clear diamond) con- tains nitrogen, I am inclined to believe that it is by the decom- position of a nitrogenous body, and not the hydrocarbon, that the diamond is formed in this reaction. The experiments are, however, too few, and the evidence too vague, to draw any conclusions, as there are even very few negative experiments from which anything can be learned, most of the results being lost by explosion. I intend, when my other work—which I laid aside for the diamond experiments—is finished, to begin a series of experiments on the decompositions of carbon com- pounds by metals, to find whether a more easily-controlled reaction may not be discovered. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE THE following circular has been issued by the Science and Art Department :—“ It having been represented to the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education that many parts of the kingdom are still in ignorance of the system of aid to the forma- tion of classes for instruction in the principles of agriculture afforded by the Science and Art Department ; that the supply of teachers who have obtained the necessary qualification to earn payments on results is very limited ; and that a strict adherence to the rules of the Science Directory, which require that, in order to obtain aid, classes must be under the instruction of such teachers, would entail the delay of a year in the commencement of classes in this important subject, my Lords decide that §§ xxxiv. and xxxvi. of the Directory may be relaxed for this year in the following manner :—My Lords will be prepared to consider an application from any committee, formed in accord- ance with § x. of the Science Directory, to grant a temporary qualification to any person selected by it as fitted to teach the principles of Agriculture, and, if such application be found satis- factory, will permit the teacher to earn payments on the results of the examination in May, 1881; on the condition that this provisional qualification shall then determine, and that the only teachers who can after that date be recognised as qualified to earn payments on the results of their teaching in this subject will Another experiment be such as have complied with the ordinary rules. In making the application the committee must show that there is no techni- cally qualified teacher in the locality who could be employed to instruct the class, and also state the grounds on which the pro- posed teacher is considered to be really capable of giving instruc- tion in agriculture, by his knowledge of chemistry and other sciences bearing on the subject.” * ; Mr, RICHARD CHARES RowE, M.A.,B.Sc., Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, has been appointed Professor of Mathe- matics in University College, London. PLANS have been prepared for a new botanical class-room in connection with Edinburgh University, the present room being much too small. The plans have been submitted to Govern- ment ; if approved there will be a grant for the purpose re- quired. The new class-room proposed will be seated for six hundred students, while the old class-room will be altered so as to be used as a practical and histological class-room, SCIENTIFIC SERIALS American Fournal of Science, Jane.—Physical structure and hypsometry of the Catskill Mountain region, by A. Guyot.— Recent explorations in the Wappinger Valley limestone of Dutchess Co., N.Y., by W. B. Dwight.—The colour-correction of certain achromatic object-glasses, by C. A. Young.—Note on the companion of Sirius, by A. Hall.—Study of the Emmet Co. meteorite that fell near Estherville, May 10, 1879, by J. Law- rence Smith.—Oxidation of hydrochloric acid solutions of anti- mony in the atmosphere, by J. P. Cooke.—Relation between the colours and magnitudes of the. components of binary stars, by E. S. Holden.—Occurrence of true lingula in the Trenton lime- stones, by R. P. Whitfield.—Experiments on Mr. Edison’s dynamometer, dynamo-machine, and lamp, by Profs. Brackett and Young.—On substances possessing the power of developing the latent photographic image, by M. Carey Lea. Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles, Jane 15.—Re- searches on the temperature of Lake Leman and other freshwater lakes, by Prof. Forel.—The disease of workmen employed in the St. Gothard tunnel, by Dr. Lombard.—Explosions by freezing, by Prof, Hagenbach.—On a yellow rain observed near Bonne- ville in Savoy, on April 25, 1880, by M. de Candolle.—Diatoms of the Alps and the Jura, and of the Swiss and French region in the environs of Geneva, by M. Bonn.—On a simplification of the theory of vibratory movements. by M. Cellérier. Aiti dei R. Accademia dei Lincei, fasc. 6, May.—Distribution of electricity in equilibrium on two parallel indefinite plane conductors, subjected to the induction of a point in the space included by them, by Dr. Maggi.—On a meteoric rain, containing an abundant quantity of metallic iron, observed at Cattania on the night of March 29-30, 1880, by Prof. Silvestri.—On bromo- camphor, by Prof. Schiff—Chemical and pathological studies on the hematopcetic function, by SS. Tizzoni and Fileti.— Influence of light on the production of haemoglobin, by the same.—On ethylnaphtaline, by S. CameluttiicOn phenol derived from santonosie acid, by the same.—On a connection between meteorological phenomena and the time of arrival of the earth at perihelion, by Mr. Jenkins.—On the electric polarisation produced by metallic deposits, by Prof. Macaluso. —On the envelope and-structure of the uveal tract in verte- brates, by Dr. Angelucci.—Helminthological observations on the endemic malady of the workmen in the St. Gothard (Azchylo- stoma duodenalis), by Prof. Perroncito. Reale Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere. Rendiconti. Vol. xiii. fase xii—On the aberration] of sphericity, &c. (con- tinued), by Prof. Ferrinii—On injury to agriculture caused by the winter 179-80, by Prof. Cantoni.—On a problem of electro- statics, by Dr. Maggi. La Natura, vol. iv. Nos. 3 and 4 (February).—On some recent studies in agrarian meteorology, by S. Porro,—Morpho- geny of animal individuality, by Dr. Cattaneo. Bulletin de V Academie Royale de Sciences de Belgique, No. 4, 1880.—Letter from Dr. Huggins on the subject of M. Fievez’s recent note. Sournal de Physique, June.—Vibrations on the surface of a liquid in a rectangular vessel, by Prof. Lechat.—On the eco- nomic yield of electric motors, and on measurement of the quantity of energy which traverses an electrie circuit, by M. 258 Deprez.—An experiment in physiological optics, by M. Bibart. —Measurement of the refractive indices of liquids, by MM. Macé de Lépinay. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LONDON Royal Society, May 27.—‘‘A Preliminary Account of the Reduction of Observations on Strained Materials, Leyden Jars, and Voltameters,” by John Perry and W. E. Ayrton. Commu- nicated by Prof. G. G. Stokes, Sec. R.S. [Abstract]. In discussing the residual-charge phenomena of condensers, the authors point out that in spite of certain elaborate measure- ments which have been made on different kinds of glass, nobody has yet discovered a constant such that it expresses the residual charge property of a particular substance. They therefore say that the simple plan of charging a Leyden jar for a long time, short-circuiting for a small definite period, then insulating and giving the residual charge at certain times from insulation (thus getting say three definite numbers for each dielectric experi- mented upon), is more accurate than, and is just as definite as, any plan hitherto proposed for determining the residual-charge properties of a dielectric. They show that if Prof. Clerk Maxwell is right, the only correct means of studying these properties are given by the constants of Maxwell’s differential equation, and they describe experiments on the Leyden jar of a Thomson’s electrometer, and reductions of observations to obtain such constants. Thus one such constant is found to satisfy all the observations made from the 500th to the gooth minute of insula- tion of a jar. The authors draw attention to the analogy which they have pointed out between condensers and voltameters charged by electromotive forces less than one and a half volts, and show that if we assume Maxwell’s equation to be true for voltameters, that is, if we assume a voltameter to be a condenser, one constant satisfies observations from the 5oth to the rgoth minute of charging, and from the 2oth to the Soth minute of discharging. They then proceed to develop a theory of the increasing strains in bodies subjected to constant stresses, When a homogeneous substance is suddenly subjected to stress, there is a suddenly produced strain which follows Hooke’s law, depend- ing ona constant 4, but besides this there is a viscid increase of strain whose rate is proportional to the stress depending on a constant v. In steel the viscous strain is not of much importance, whereas in water strained by bodies moving in it it is very important, as it is also when a beam of sealing wax is loaded. They show that the viscid increase of strain is exactly analogous with the flow of electricity in accordance with Ohm’s law, and that the suddenly-produced strain is analogous with in- duction ; and considering a heterogeneous material subjected to shearing stress, they find that the above assumptions lead, for strained materials, to exactly the same equation as Prof, Maxwell found for condensers. They found that the support of this theory is exactly the same as the support which they have given of Maxwell’s theory of condensers. Thus one constant of the equation satisfied the recovery from deflection of a glass beam from the 4th to the 240th hour of relief, and satisfied the re- covery from twisting of a glass fibre for all but the first few observations. They have also constructed a voltameter such that the platinum electrodes may be maintained at any tempera- ture in an atmosphere of any gas for any length of time, main- taining a vacuum over the liquid or saturating it with any gas, and they give the different values of the residual charge constant, which satisfies all but the first few observations of charge and discharge in different cases. The authors conclude their paper by saying that, regarding a voltameter as a condenser, then as the plates of the charging battery are larger and nearer together, and as the times of charge and discharge of the voltameter are made less and less, the more do the total quantities of the charge and discharge approximate to one another. Physical Society, June 26.—Prof. W. G. Adams in the chair.—Mr, C. V. Boys read a paper, by Prof. Guthrie and him- self, on the measurement of the conductivity of liquids by means of magneto-electric induction. The liquid is suspended in a glass vessel by a fine iron wire in the centre of a cylindrical electro-magnet formed of two semicircular parts. This electro- magnet is rotated at a velocity not exceeding 3,000 turns per minute, and the liquid being drawn round in the direction of rotation, the wire is subjected to torsion, which, under correction for certain errors, is proportional to the resistance of the liquid. The torsion is observed by means of a scale and microscope, NATURE [Fuly 15, 1830 The results, plotted in a curve, agree very closely with those of Kohlrausch, obtained by alternate currents, and Dr. Guthrie thinks that they are probably more correct and trustworthy than Kohlrausch’s, for the method would seem to be superior and the curve contains fewer excentric points than his.—Dr. Gladstone read a paper on the refraction equivalents of isomeric bodies, in which he described the present state of the subject and his own contributions to it. He showed that the refractive power of bodies over light was of great importance to chemists, since it depended on their essential structure.—Dr. Huggins described his latest results of star spectra, and illustrated his remarks by photographic spectra taken by his improved method. From these it appears certain stars, such as Vega, give a complete spectrum of hydrogen. Others, more yellowish in colour, show a thinning of these lines, such as Sirius, 7 Ursee Majoris. Others show the intrusion of more refrangible lines ; forexample, Arcturus, a Aquila, a Virginius ; while Capella gives a complex spectrum like that of the sun, Dr, Huggins also showed a spectrum of the flame of a spirit lamp, which presented a strong group of lines at-S, and he considered it to represent the light emitted by the molecules of water, He further observed that the spectrum offered a highly sensitive test of the presence of carbon.—Mr. Liveing exhibited a new fire-damp indicator, capable of detecting 4 per cent. of marsh gas in air. It is based on the fact that an incandescent body shows more brilliantly in proportion to the amount of marsh gas in the air, and consists of two fine platinum wires kept incandescent by a magneto-electric current sent through them in one circuit. One wire is excluded from the fire- damp, the other is exposed to it, and the relative intensities of the two glowing wires is compared by a photometric screen placed between them and adjustable to a position between them at which the reflections of the wires on the screen are of equal intensity. The position of the screen relatively to the wires is given by a scale, and measures the proportion of fire-damp in the air. This contrivance is more advantageous than the safety- lamp, which only indicates 2 per cent of marsh gas in the air.— Dr. Stone exhibited a vacuum-tube of variable resistance and a large electro-magnet wound withiron wire. The former consists of a barometer-tube thirty-two inches long, terminating above in a short vacuum-chamber arranged transversely, and closed at either end by adjustable india-rubber stoppers, through which platinum terminals are passed. Above this the vertical tube is continued to a glass stopcock, by means of which small quanti- ties of air can be introduced. The foot of the tube is attached to an india-rubber flexible pipe with a cistern like that of Frank- land’s gas apparatus. The cistern full of mercury is counter- balanced, and can be raised or lowered at will through the whole thirty-two inches. A Torricellian vacuum can thus be made in the upper chamber, or one of more or less perfectness. On passing the induction-spark between the terminals in the former case all the discharge is carried off, none appearing at the dis- charger. By gradually raising and lowering the cistern, after admitting a little air by the stopcock, the resistance of the partial vacuum thus obtained can be altered within wide limits. A point can also be found where the spark of breaking-contact is shunted through the vacuum-tube, while the weaker discharge of making- contact is stopped. The induction-current is thus obtained in a single direction, a matter of some importance in physiological experiments. The electro-magnet could not be described from pressure of other matter. Its peculiarities consisted in its being wound with best charcoal-annealed wire of about 5 millim, sec- tion in four parallel circuits, and in each pole being cast, after winding into a solid block of paraffin. It was expected that the latter device would increase the inductive effect of the spirals ; and indeed it appeared that the lifting power was somewhat strengthened, The cores had been originally wound with large copper wire of about the same weight as the iron wire. But the lifting power for batteries of moderate size, five or six Bunsen’s cells, for instance, had increased fourfold after the substitution. — A paper by Mr. McFarlane Gray entitled specific heats calcu- lated from entropy. This is a re-affirmation of a paper on the value of v, declined by the committee of the Royal Society in February, 1878. The author read a paper at the last meeting of the Institution of Naval Architects, which we said was a singularly bold and original attempt to account for many of the phenomena of steam and other effects of heat when applied to matter, In the present paper Mr. Gray continues in the same line of startling generalisation. The following is a specimen :— Taking the fv of hydrogen at 493”2 F., as in Rankine’s tables, to be 378819 foot pounds, he writes— Fuly 15, 1880} NATURE 259 “= MPU _2 X 378819 = ¥e ~ 772 x 46372 The letter « in the paper with the value obtained as above is applied in the following remarkable generalisations: m being the molecular weight of the substances, and fv and @ being the pressure, volume, and absolute temperature in any standard units, 1989856. The thermal equivalent of sv = “ 0} m Specific heat at constant volume = 24 = t) n Specific heat at constant pressure = 34“ 9 “mM The specific heat in the gaseous state is therefore at constant pressure. 3 X 1989856 17°96 — 387779 for H,O, water in the gaseous state. By calculating the difference of entropy for water at numerous temperatures for the different states of aggregation, first absolute H,O without energy volume, secondly, water as we know it with a volume increasing with temperature ; thirdly, water split into single molecules, but these yet without motion; fourthly, single molecule H,O or steam gas ; he shows that the difference of entropy between the third and the fourth state is equal to the specific heat at constant pressure, and that the whole energy possessed by the water up to the split and motionless state is a constant quantity at all temperatures for the same substance. He calls this quantity the absolute splitting heat; the splitting heat above any standard state he calls the nominal splitting heat, Sa constant quantity for all temperatures. From the entropy calculation for more than twenty temperatures, all calculate to seven places of decimals from Regnault’s exact formula (//) for saturated steam, he takes two temperatures indiscriminately, and equates the value of S expressed in entropy quantities with one unknown quantity, the specific heat entropy. Equating 278° C. with 374° C. gives *387729 = 278° C. with 494° C. gives *387867 2)°775596 Mean calculated specific heat *387798 Instead of cco choi Ba *387779 Difference A “000019 The value of S above melted ice is for water GaleulatedtateySa t. isl§ sss) sec0 eosyl | 9) == 5027380 ff ZO ABE Peds sh akso-Wal SAF 502 740F 2) 1004°791 502°395 C. or 904°311 F. This is a remarkable corroboration of the kinetic theory of gases, quite unlooked for in steam experiments, and, as the author of the paper remarked, it shows how reliable are the results of the experimenter Regnault. The author also explained a new diagram, in which the area is energy, the length entropy, and the height temperature. In such a diagram it becomes as simple an idea as temperature. From this it appears that the ratio of the two specific heats is 1°4 for steam.—Mr. Clark com- municated a paper on the behaviour of liquids and gases near their critical temperatures.—Mr. Winstanley exhibited two new varieties of air-thermometers and a thermograph actuated by an air-thermometer on the principle of his radiograph exhibited at last meeting. The first thermometer consists of a UJ tube with ~ terminal bulbs and the left leg of much finer bore than the right. Mercury is in the right leg, sulphuric acid surmounted with air in the left. The apparatus is a barometer to the air inside the left bulb, and a thermometer to that outside. A similar com- bination of an air-thermometer and an aneroid barometer consti- tutes the second instrument. The expansion or contraction of the air in the stem by external temperature expands or compresses a small aneroid chamber in the bulb.—Mr. Gee and Mr. Stroud made a communication on a modification of Bunsen’s calori- meter, which will be found in the Proceedings of the Society.— The meeting then adjourned till the winter session commences. Geological Society, June 23.—Robert Etheridge, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Edwin Muir, Benjamin Sykes, and John Thorburn were elected Fellows of the Society. The fol- lowing communications were read :—On the skull of an /chthyo- Saurus from the lias of Whitby, apparently indicating a new species (/. ze¢/andicus, Seeley), preserved in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge, by Prof. H. G. Seeley, ¥.R.S.—Note on the cranial characters of a large Teleosaur from the Whitby lias, preserved in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge, by Prof. H. G, Seeley, F.R.S. —On the discovery of the place where Palzolithic implements were made at Crayford, by F. C. J. Spurrell, F.G.S.—The geology of Central Wales, by Walter Keeping, F.G.S., with an appendix by C. Lapworth, F,.G.S., on a new species of Cladophora.—On new Erian (Devonian) plants, by J. W. Daw- son, F.R.S. The paper first referred to recent publications bearing on the Erian (Devonian) flora of North-East America, and then proceeded to describe new species from New York and New Brunswick, and to notice others from Queensland, Australia, and Scotland. The first and most interesting is a small tree-fern, Asteropteris noveboracensis, characterised by an axial cylinder composed of radiating vertical plates of scalariform tissue imbedded in parenchyma and surrounded by an outer cylinder penetrated with leaf-bundles with dumb bell-shaped vascular centres. The specimen was collected by Mr. B. Wright in the Upper Devonian of New York. Another new fern from New York is a species of Zguisetides (E. wrightianum), show- ing a hairy or bristly surface, and sheaths of about twelve short acuminate leaves. A new and peculiar form of wood, obtained by Prof, Clarke of Amherst College, Massachusetts, from the Devonian of New York, was described under the name Ce//u- loxylon primevum. It presents some analogies with Proto- taxites and with Aphyllum paradoxum of Unger. Several new ferns were described from the well-known Middle Devonian plant-beds of St. John’s, New Brunswick ; and new facts were mentioned as confirmatory of the age assigned to these beds, as showing the harmony of their flora with that of the Erian of New York, and as illustrating the fact that the flora cf the Middle and Upper Devonian was eminently distinguished by the number and variety of its species of ferns, both herbaceous and arborescent. It will probably be found eventually that in ferns, equisetaceous plants, and conifers, the Devonian was relatively richer than the Carboniferous. Reference was also made to a seed of the genus theotesta of Charles Brongniart, found by the Rey. T. Broun in the Old Red Sandstone of Perth- shire, Scotland, and to a species of the genus Dicranophyllum of Grand’-Eury, discovered by Mr. J. L. Jack, F.G.S., in the Devonian of Queensland. In all, this paper added six or seven new types to the flora of the Erian period. Several of them belong to generic forms not previously traced further back than the Carboniferous. The author uses the term ‘‘ Erian” for that great system of formations intervening in America between the Upper Silurian and the Lower Carboniferous, and which, in the present uncertainty as to formations of this age in Great Britain, should be regarded as the type of the formations of the period. It is the ‘‘ Erie Division” of the original Survey of New York, and is spread around the shores of Lake Erie, and to a great distance to the southward.— On the terminations of some Ammo- nites from the inferior oolite of Dorset and Somerset, by James Buckman, F.L.S.—Faroe Islands : Notes upon the coal found at Suderde, by Arthur H. Stokes, F.G.S.—On some new creta- ceous Comatule, by P. Herbert Carpenter, M.A. Communi- cated by Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S.—On the Old Red Sandstone of the north of Ireland, by F. Nolan, M.R.IA. Communicated by Prof. Hull, F.R.S.—A review of the family Vincularidz, recent and fossil, for the purpose of classification, by G. R. Vine. Communicated by Prof. P. M. Duncan, F.R.S. —On the zones of marine fossils in the calciferous sandstone series of Fife, by James W. Kirkby. Communicated by Prof. T. Rupert Jones, F.R.S —The glaciation of the Orkney Islands, by B. N. Peach, F.G.S., and John Horne, F.G.S. In this paper, which forms a sequel to their description of the glacia- tion of the Shetland Isles, the authors, after sketching the geological structure of Orkney, proceeded to discuss the glacial phenomena, From an examination of the various striated sur- faces they inferred that the ice which glaciated Orkney must have crossed the islands in a north-westerly direction from the North Sea to the Atlantic. They showed that the dispersal of the stones in the boulder-clay completely substantiates this con- clusion; for in Westray this deposit contains blocks of red sandstone derived from the Island of Eda, while in Shapincha blocks of slaggy diabase, occurring 7 stf# on the south-east 260 shore, are found in the boulder-clay of the north-west of the island. Again, on the mainland, blocks of the coarse siliceous sandstones which cross the island from Inganess to Orplin are met with in the boulder-clay between Honton Head and the Loch of Slennis. Moreover, they discovered in the boulder- clay the following rocks, which are foreign to the island: chalk, chalk-flints, oolitic limestone, oolitic breccia, dark limestone of Calciferous-sandstone age, quartzites, gneiss, &c., some of which closely resemble the representatives of these formations on the east of Scotland, and have doubtless been derived from thence. From this they infer that, while Shetland was glaciated by the Scandinavian mer de glace, Orkney was glaciated by the Scotch ice-sheet, the respective ice-sheets having coalesced on the floor of the North Sea and moved in a north-westerly direction towards the Atlantic. They also found abundant fragments of marine shells in most of the boulder-clay sections, which are smoothed and striated precisely like the stones in that deposit. They conclude that these organisms lived in the North Sea prior to the great extension of the ice, and that their remains were commingled with the moraine profonde as the ice-sheet crept over the ocean-bed. From the marked absence of shell-frag- ments in the Shetland boulder-clay they are inclined to believe that much of the present sea-floor round that group of islands formed dry land during the climax of glacial cold. PARIS Academy of Sciences, July 5.—M. Edm. Becquerel in the chair.—The death of M. Borchardt (correspondent in Geometry) was announced.—The following papers were read :—Study of the variation of the line of sight, on the great meridian circle of Paris Observatory (constructed by M. Eichens), by means of 4 new apparatus, by M. Loewy. The essential part is a small glass disk giving simultaneously three images in the eye-piece : (1) that of the cross wires, (2) that of a division drawn on the objective, and (3) that of one of the divisions of a plate inserted in the axis.—On the photography of the chromosphere, by M. Janssen, The exposure is continued till the solar image is positive to the border ; the chromosphere then appears as a dark circle 8” or 10” in width.—On the integration of linear equations by means of the sines of superior orders, by M. Villarceau.—On the consequences of the experiment of MM. Lontinand de Fonvielle, by M. Jamin. He indicates experiments which should test his explanation.—On the vision of colours, by M. Chevreul.—On some general relations between the chemical mass of elements and the heat of formation of their combinations (continued), by M. Berthelot. The influence of mass of the elements in diminishing the stability, and therefore the heat liberated, may be conceived simply by supposing that the system formed by two molecules will be more exposed to destruction by movements of the whole system (rotations, vibrations, &c.,) the heavier the molecules, On the other hand, the reserve of energy (which is gradually expended in combination), should, “ceteris paribus, be greater in light elements than in heavy ones.—Epochs of vegetation for the same tree in 1879 and in 1880, by M. Duchartre. Though the temperature was much mere severe in December and January last than the previous year, the renewal of vegetation in six chestnuts was earlier. The mild time between the cold of December, 1879, and January, 1880, does not account for this, for a longer and milder time intervened in 1878- 79. Nor does the method of sums of heat explain it. But the trees received more heat ‘this year from the beginning of vegetation to complete expansion of their leaves. —On a meteorite which fell on November 16, 1874 at Kerilis (Cotes du Nord), by M. Daubrée. This belonged to the sub-group Oligosideres in the Sporadosideres.—On a meteorite which fell on September 6, 1841, in the vineyards of Saint Christophe-la-Chartreuse (Vendée), by M. Daubrée.—Inquiry into the situation of agri- culture in France in 1879, by M, Chevreul.—On the utility of quarantines, by M. de Lesseps. He gives examples of their inadequacy.—Nature of the immunity of Algerian sheep against spleen-disease ; is it an aptitude of race? by M. Chauveau. The property is congenital and natural. It may be communicated by crossing to European sheep. French sheep bred in Algeria do not acquire it, and it is not proved that Algerian sheep bred in France may not lose it.—Determination of the difference of longitude between Paris and Bonn, by MM. Le Clerc and De Bernardiéres, The figures obtained are 19m. 2°269s., probable error + 0'009s. German astronomers found for the same arc, Igm. 2°231s.—Some remarks on the equation of Lamé, by M. Escary.—Integration of any number of simultaneous equations NATURE [Fuly 15, 1880 between a given number ot functions of two independent variables and their partial derivatives of the first order, by M. Turquan.— On the bright spectral lines of scandium, by M. Thalén,—Im- provements in Siemens’ bobbins, by M. Trouvé. He suppresses the two periods of indifference, making the polar faces of snail form, so that the surfaces approach those of the magnet gradually, till the moment that the posterior edge escapes from the pole, when repulsion commences. The work is} thus economised. —On the sensibility of the eye to differences of light, by M, Charpentier. A given light, strong or weak, must (in his case) be increased or diminished about eight hundredths to give a distinct new sensation ; and it seems to be the same in indirect vision fas :in direct, and with coloured as with white light.— Thermic study of polysulphides of ammonium and persulphide of hydrogen, by M. Sabatier.—On the density of iodine vapour, by M. Troost. He finds it to diminish both at a low and at 2 high temperature, so that dissociation or isomeric change seems hardly admissible. —On the atomic weight and on some charac- teristic salts of ytterbium, by M. Nilson.—On the dissolution of platinum in sulphuric acid, by M. Scheurer-Kestner, The attack of platinum is always due to presence of nitrogenised compounds in the sulphuric acid.—Remarks on etherification of hydracids, by M, Villiers—Atmospheric bacteria, by M. Miquel. The number, very small in winter, increases in spring, and is high in summer and autumn; but while spores of mould are abundant in wet, and rare in dry, periods, it is the opposite with aérial bacteria. At Montsouris, in summer and autumn, 1,000 germs of bacteria are sometimes found in I cubic metre; in winter the number may go down to 4 or 5, and on some days 200 litres of air are insufficient to infect the most alterable liquors. In ordi- nary houses air proves fertilising (to neutral bouillon) in a volume of 30 to 50 litres. M. Miquel notes an increase of deaths from contagious and epidemic diseases in Paris, about eight days after a recrudescence of aérial bacteria. Water vapour from the ground, rivers, or putrefying masses is always micrographically pure.— On a digestive ferment contained in the sap of the fig, by M. Bouchut.—A work by M. de Koninck, on the fauna of the carboniferous formation of Belgium, was presented. VIENNA Imperial Academy of Sciences, May 7.—B. Bolzano’s significance in the history of infinitesimal calculation, by Prof. Stolz.—Investigation of the roast products of coffee, by Herr Bernheimer.—On direct introduction of carbonyl groups into phenols and aromatic acids (third part) ; behaviour of pyrogallic and gallic acids with carbonate of ammonia, by Prof. Senhofer and Dr, Brunner.—On Guthrie’s cryohydrates, by Herr Offen.— On the relation of the coefficients of diffusion of gases to the temperature, by Herr von Obermayer.—On the coincidence of disorders of the skin and of the grey axis of the spinal cord, by Dr. Jarisch. CONTENTS Pace THe New Museum oF Natura History. . + «= « «+ 237 ELEMENTARY) EDUCATION. j6 <3 cis) 0 ie fe le) (a) eiuteialel SISA ARGENTINE Entomorocy. By W.L. DisTaANT . . « « . » + « 238 THE HUMAN VOICE 5 5 «= -. + + « Vols cl ome! (elie le MtsmmamECeden Our Book SHELF :— Lees’ ‘‘ Keith Johnston’s Illustrations of Electricity and Mag- netism” . . PROMO deo Oo Oo 2 2S LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:— A Fourth State of Matter.—Gro. E. NEwron . . . « 2 « + 240 Permanent Record of Foucault’s Pendulum {Experiment.—Cuas. R. Cross. 2 - 2. soe we wee we ee we 8 240 The Freshwater Medusa.—Prof. E. Ray LANKESTER, F.R.S.. . 242 Artificial Diamonds.—J, B. Hannay . Ge Ye) Ne pte) wet mist enema ‘Temperature of the Breath—Dr. R. E, DupGEon . . . oe aan Reversals by Memory.—Rev. GEorGE HENSLOW .. . saueia (GA Toughened Glass;—NoBLe TAYLOR . . . + + + » « oe) ade Great Meteor.—Major G. L. TupMAN .7. . . © © «© «© © « 242 Tron and Hydrogen.—WaLTER R. BROWNE . . + «+ «© + © « 242 The Stone in the Nest of the Swallow.—Wittiam E, A. AXON . 242 THE CARIBBEAN SEA. ae eh eke dent fw Wiel ote On oh rel ite illo ALBANIA AND THE ALBANIANS. By A. H. KEANE. . . «© «© © + 243 ReporT OF THE BRITISH MuszUM. . « + + «© s + + + 2 «© 5 246 Marcet Deprez’s GALVANOMETER FOR STRONG CurRENTS (With WU 4170) MOO CnOm oF Gob ol oO Pror. W. H. Mitten. By N. Storey MasKeryne, M.P., F.R.S. . 247 Me hole Io OF Ao Oo oe OF Ce ty Raa o 5) 0. Ag THE UNITED STATES WEATHER Maps, SEPTEMBER, 1878. ». . « + 249 NOTES (eit ee fo. vel lay CMA etel Modan fie! ec’ fe) .e! ton oman METEOROLOGICAL NOTES. . » 2. » + + neo + 2 wuss GEOGRAPHICAL\NOTHS: . <. icusemie) 5 8 0 © 0) @ © 0 @ 8 ents 254 ArTIFIcIAL Dramonps. By J. B. Hannay, F.R.S.E. . . « + » 255 UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE . + © «© « + © + 257 ScrenTiFic SERIALS. . -. + + ° a) sal, J6' Hfel) enebetn oh cle, aie NERO OD SocrETIgS AND ACADEMIES. . » - « + + « © © © © 0 + © « 258 MAO RE 261 ‘THURSDAY, JULY 22, 1880 VICTORIA UNIVERSITY a was only the singular moderation and good sense with which the promoters of the New Manchester University movement conducted their case that could have secured that no Parliamentary opposition should be made to the late Government taking a step so momentous, and affecting so many rival interests, as the foundation of a new English university. They were compelled, indeed, like many other strategists, to change front once or twice, and to accept a charter different in two vital respects from that which they had asked. They wanted a university in England on the model of the Scotch and German universities—a university of a single college in a great centre of population. They were compelled, however, to make provision for affiliating Leeds and other col- leges, when they become adequately equipped, with full faculties of arts and science, and when it is completed the new University will have to carry out’an experiment completely novel. It will occupy a midway place between the Scotch single-college universities, the English uni- versities with their families of colleges bound together by theirfcommon locality, and the Central Examining Board for all qualified applicants, which is known as the University of London. The separate colleges will in fact be Universities of the Scotch type, complete in themselves before they are affiliated in respect of two important faculties. They will differ vitally from the single colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, each with three or four tutors of its own, but each requiring to lean on the private tutors and the resident university professors and lecturers for the necessary supplement of their teach- ing. It will be most interesting to see how the Uni- versity authorities will conciliate the independence and originality of the teaching of the individual colleges with the examination system which must govern and regulate them all. The new University will more nearly resemble the late Queen’s University in Ireland than anything else of which we have had experience. It will differ from the Queen’s University only in the greater importance of the separate colleges. Meanwhile all these arrangements are in posse, The University will be started on the familiar lines of the Scotch and German universities, with a single college, with which for the time being it is prac- tically identified, and whose teaching it will be its sole business to influence. The other important modification is in the temporary absence of the medical faculty. An important medical school is attached to Owens College. The last Go- vernment were occupied with a Medical Bill, the main object of which was to diminish the number of licence- granting medical centres, and to substitute a single authority for the nineteen medical bodies which confer the right to practise on the bodies of Her Majesty’s subjects. It was strongly represented to them that it would be an anomaly that they should add a twentieth licensing body to the nineteen at the very moment when they were attempting to fuse the nineteen into one. The charter they have issued to the Victoria University grants it the right to confer all degrees and titles of honour that it is competent to other universities in the United King- VoL, xx11.—No. 560 dom to grant, except in the single faculty of medicine. Although the medical professors of Owens College become professors in the University, they will remain in an excep- tional position, at all events until the new Government have made up their minds what course to adopt with the Medical Bill. Should the agitation for a medical uni- formity die out, and the Government resolve upon no disturbance of the existing arrangements, it will be im- possible for them not to complete the charter of the new University by conferring on it the right to grant medical degrees. Should they revive the proposals of their predecessors and succeed in passing them into law, the new University will stand in the same position as that which the older universities will then be reduced to occupy. The public will be most interested to see on what lines the Victoria University will be developed. Will it strike out a new line for itself? Every university in this country aims at being a studium generale, but every university has in practice shown a tendency to the exceptional development of special studies. Oxford is in the main a great classical, and Cambridge a great mathematical, school, and London has been exceptionally distinguished for the high attainments and reputation of its medical graduates. In the Victoria University, so far as it is possible to forecast its future, ?a similar position seems likely to be asserted by the scientific faculty. It is in that respect that Owens College has been specially strong. In all the older universities the scientific faculties have had to assert for themselves a higher position than they originally occupied, and they have generally done so during the last century of their history. They will start in the Victoria University from a position at least equal to that occupied by the elder ‘Arts’? studies. It would be a mistake if they were to attempt to claim an exclusive predominance, and the first step which the University has taken indicates that there is no such danger. They have appointed as their Chairman of the Board of Studies their Professor of History and English Literature. Every one who has followed the movement in which the University originated knows how deeply it has been indebted, from its commencement to its close, to Prof. Ward, and it is safe to say that no sounder appointment could have been made, and none more likely to secure the impartial appreciation of all the competing claims of the old and the new learning. The authorities of the Victoria University will begin their new career on the broad and satisfactory lines indicated by the words of their founder. Mr. Owens’ will pointed to the creation in Manchester of a seat of learning in which the subjects taught in the English universities should be taught in the best way, and the promoters of the move- ment have never advocated any scheme for making them- selves a scientific college, or what is called a technical university. But it will be as difficult as it would be imprudent to ignore the fact that Manchester has special opportunities for becoming a great scientific school, and the eminent teachers who represent its scientific faculty may be confidently trusted to maintain the position which they have secured for their subjects. We may reasonably hope to see the new University set itself to the task of proving that science is as educationally effective an instrument as literature and philosophy. Literature, N 262 history, and language will hold their own adequate place in its scheme of instruction, but the newer sciences of animate and inanimate nature will certainly start from a fairer platform than usual, in the North of England. The Victoria University will not be hampered, like its elder sisters, by the traditions of the past. There is a great career before it, and the people of England will watch its development with the deepest interest. They may be reasonably confident of one thing, that the new educa- tional “brand,” to adopt Prof. Huxley’s felicitous expres- sion, will be of as select a character as any of the “brands” with which they are familiar. ON THE RELATION BETWEEN THE MOLE- CULAR WEIGHTS OF SUBSTANCES AND THEIR SPECIFIC GRAVITIES WHEN IN ETE ELOULD STA TE U NDER this title I have communicated to the Chemi- cal Society the results of a prolonged investigation on the connection existing between the weights of unit volumes of liquid substances and their relative molecular weights (see /owrmal of the Chemical Society for March, April, May, and June, 1880), and in obedience to a request from the Editor of NATURE I will briefly indicate the scope of the inquiry, and point out the main con- clusions to which I have been led. The inquiry, I may say in the outset, has resolved itself into a critical and experimental examination of what are known as Kopp’s laws of specific volume. That some definite connection between molecular weight and specific gravity would be traced had been surmised more than forty years since, but all our exact knowledge on the subject is contained in the series of classical memoirs which we owe to Hermann Kopp. Kopp first clearly recognised the necessity of comparing the liquids when under strictly analogous conditions. By dividing the specific gravity of a liquid taken at the temperature at which its vapour-tension is equal to the standard atmospheric pressure—that is, at its ordinary boiling-point—into its molecular weight, we obtain its specific volume. If the specific gravity be referred to the point of maximum density of water, this value represents the number of cubic centimetres occu- pied by the relative molecular weight of the liquid expressed in grams at its boiling-point under the standard pressure. The numbers thus obtained were first shown by Kopp to exhibit certain definite relations which may be briefly stated as follows :— I. Zn many instances differences tn specific volume are proportional to differences in corresponding chemical formule.—Thus a difference of CH, in a homologous series corresponds to a difference of about 22 in the specific volume, or (CH,)’ = 222. On comparing the specific volumes of similarly constituted haloid com- pounds, it is seen that the substitution of 2 atoms of bromine for an equal number of Chlofine atoms increases the specific volume by 57. Il. Zsomeric and metameric liguids have, as a rule, the same specific volume.—Exceptions are exhibited by certain oxygen and sulphur compounds. Ill. The substitution of an atom of carbon for two of hydrogen makes no alteration tn the specific volume of certain groups of organic liquids. NATURE [ Fuly 22, 1880 On the basis of these conclusions Kopp was able to calculate certain numerical values for the specific volumes of the elements in combination. These values are as a rule constant for the particular element: thus, accord- ing to Kopp, carbon has invariably the value of 11, hydrogen that of 5°5. Exceptions are observed in the case of the chemical analogues oxygen and sulphur. Each of these bodies has two values depending, it would seem, on its mode of combination, or on its relation to the remaining atoms in the molecule. For example, acetone and allyl alcohol have each the empirical formula C;H,O, but the specific volume of acetone is 78°2, whilst that of allyl alcohol is 73°8. In the case of acetone the combining power of the oxygen atom is wholly satisfied by carbon; that is, we have reason to know that the oxygen atom is more intimately associated with one of the carbon atoms than it is with any one of those of the other elements ; whereas in allyl alcohol a moiety of the combining value would seem to be satisfied by carbon and the remainder by hydrogen. It appears, then, that when oxygen is united to an element by both its affinities its specific volume is 12°2; when it is attached by only one combining unit its specific volume is 7°8. The corre- sponding values for sulphur are 28°6 and 22°6. I have already pointed out that these differences in the values for the specific volumes of oxygen and sulphur may be employed to throw light upon the constitution of such bodies as the phosphoryl and thiophosphoryl com- pounds, and that we may in this way obtain evidence as to the particular affinity-value that an element such as phosphorus, which is variously regarded as a triad and a pentad, exerts, and in the present paper I give additional instances to show that a knowledge of the specific volume of a body is often calculated to furnish valuable informa- tion concerning its constitution. The most accurate method of ascertaining the specific volume of a liquid is (1) to determine its specific gravity at some convenient temperature; (2) to ascertain its boiling-point with the utmost exactitude; and (3) to determine with great care its rate of expansion, say between o° and this boiling-point. The space at my disposal forbids me attempting to show how these various physical data were determined for the purpose of the present inquiry. Full details of the methods employed are given in the original paper, and the errors incidental to the various processes are fully discussed. The observations necessitated among other things the frequent determination of the fixed points of the thermometers employed, and the accompanying figure shows how these were found to rise during the progress of the investigation. The abscissae represent the times in months at which the several observations were taken, and the ordinates the extent of displacement in hundredths of a degree. A represents a thermometer ranging from — 10° to 50° C., B from 50° to 105° C., and C from 98° to 144° C. It will be seen that the extent of the displace- ment is evidently dependent on, or at any rate is greatly influenced by, the amount of molecular disturbance to which the glass envelope is subjected. The accuracy of the results is of course in great measure dependent upon the purity of the liquids employed, and this fact to some extent limited the number of compounds | which could be investigated. Whenever the mode of Fuly 22, 1880] NATURE 263 preparation was not a sufficient guarantee of the purity it was established either by analysis or by the determination of its vapour density—a most rigid test, provided that this could be ascertained with sufficient accuracy. I have ventured to modify the original form of the Gay-Lussac- Hofmann apparatus, and I think I may claim that this modification admits of all the precision which the process is capable of yielding. It obviates some of the disad- vantages of the original method, such as the liability to crack the tube, and the use of a large quantity of mercury and of liquid to vaporise the body under investigation, and it also permits of a more certain application of the necessary corrections. Among the many problems suggested by a review of our present knowledge of the subject, the following seemed to me to be specially worthy of solution. I. Is it definitely established that an element in com- bination has as a rule an invariable specific volume? May not the volume be modified by the number of the atoms of that particular element in the molecule? Is it menen STC il H+ FEE eI | HERE : EEE aan! EEE Pee t et co Ceo | Peet i pales = 12 24° 36 46 60 72 Curves showing rise of fixed points in thermometers. altogether independent of the general complexity of the molecule, or may not the specific volume of the molecule be a function of its weight ? II. Do the various members of a family of elements possess identical specific volumes, or may not the volume be a function of the atomic weight ? III. Would a re-examination of the cases of so-called variable atomic value serve to show that the specific volume of an element is a function of that value, as Buff supposes ? IV. The hypotheses of Mendelejeff and Meyer indicate the need of additional and more exact determinations of the values for the specific volumes of the elementary bodies? : This scheme of work required the determination of the specific gravities, boiling-points, and thermal expansions of about fifty liquids, and the results of the observations afford material for the calculation of the specific volumes of seventeen elementary bodies. The rates of expansion are represented by formule of the form— V=A-+ Bt+ Ct? + De3, The labour of reducing the observations, and more especially of calculating the empirical formule for so large a number of substances, has been materially lightened by the use of the arithmometer of Thomas (de Colmar). The investigation has therefore incidentally added very considerably to the data upon which the determination of the general laws affecting the thermal expansion of liquid bodies must depend. After a discussion of the errors of the observations and a comparison of my results with those obtained by previous observers, whenever these were applicable, I have sum- marised the main conclusions to which I have been led as follows :— 1. It seems certain that many isomeric liquids, even of the same chemical type (using that phrase in the sense in which it is employed by Kopp) have not identical specific gravities at their respective boiling-points, and hence have not identical specific volumes. Such excep- tions are more commonly met with in compounds con- taining carbon and hydrogen; this fact appears to indicate that the specific volume of one or both of these elements is not absolutely invariable. Benzene derivatives especially show a greater departure from the general law than can be fairly attributed to experimental error. Their varia- tions are of the same order as has been shown to occur in the refraction values for these compounds. 2. We must also suppose that of the additional elements, oxygen, sulphur, and nitrogen have likewise variable specific volumes in conformity with Kopp’s conclusions. 3. There is at present no experimental evidence for assuming that any other element has a variable specific volume. 4. Hence in the case of these elements the volume is not modified by the number of the atoms of the particular element in the molecule, and it is therefore altogether independent of the general complexity of the molecule. 5. The different members of a family of elements do not possess identical specific volumes; the volumes of the elements are periodic functions of their atomic weights. 6. The inquiry affords no evidence in support of the hypothesis that the specific volume of an element in com- bination is modified by any possible variation in the affinity value which it may possess. T. E, THORPE GORDON’S “ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM” A Physical Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. By J. E. H. Gordon. (London: Sampson Low and Co., 1880.) p38 author, in the first paragraph of his preface, 4 draws a distinction between the physical and mathematical points of view in treating the Science of Electricity. Unfortunately, the distinction is at present a real one. Many mathematicians, fascinated by the beauty of the instruments they handle, are disposed to treat physical problems as though the principal function of the universe were to suggest problems to the pure mathematician, instead of the principal function of the pure mathematician being to provide suitable tools for solving physical problems. On the other hand, there are skilful experimentalists who fail to appreciate those powerful methods of deductive quantitative reasoning which they are themselves unable to handle. Mr. Gordon does not profess to be a mathematician, and adopts the experimental point of view. 264 NATURE [Fuly 22, 1880 The book makes no claim to be a complete treatise, but rather to deal with those branches of the science with which the author is best acquainted, one might almost say, those parts at which he has himself worked, either originally or by way of verifying the work of others. As might be expected from such a scheme, the descriptions of apparatus and phenomena are admirable, but, unfor- tunately, the theoretical explanations, intended to give the book more or less the character of a systematic treatise, are neither clear nor accurate. So early as page 2 we read: ‘‘It is found that if equal quantities of the electricity of glass and the electricity of sealing-wax be added together they neutralise each other.” But this is not preceded by any explanation of what is meant by equal quantities of the electricities of glass and sealing- wax. If the sentence had been cast as a definition, it would have been comprehensible. On page 20 there is an extraordinary illustration of the medium supposed to transmit electrostatic forces :— “‘The transmission of strain may be very beautifully seen at any railway-station when shunting is going on, if a train of carriages is being pushed by an engine which happens, instead of giving a steady pressure, to strike a slight blow on the carriage nearest to it. The furthest carriage does not move at once, but the buffer springs are compressed—that is, the first carriage is for an instant strained by having its total length shortened by some inches. It instantly recovers from this strain by the ex- pansion of the springs ; but as it cannot expand towards the engine, it expands away from it, and transmits the strain to the next carriage by compressing its buffer- springs, and the process is repeated all the way from the engine to the carriage furthest from it.” This buffer experiment is an illustration of wave-motion, an idea we do not need in any theory of electrostatics. On page 23 there is a popular explanation from the pen of Prof. Ayrton of the easy discharge of electricity from points ; this remarkable explanation does not in any way depend on the greater electric surface density at and near a point, and it suggests that the force near a conductor is not normal to its surface. It is unnecessary to pursue this criticism further ; we have said enough to show that Mr. Gordon’s strength does not lie in the systematic exposition of electrical theory. The book is divided into four parts—Electrostatics, Magnetism, Electrokinetics, and Electro-optics. In the third part is included all the phenomena of. current electricity. This is an unsatisfactory classification. Electrokinetics should be’ confined to those phenomena of current electricity which involve the kinetic energy of current, such as electromagnetism and electromagnetic induction. followed the arrangement of Maxwell, and have classed the steady flow of electricity in conductors at rest rather with electrostatics than electrokinetics, Adams's experi- The author would have been wiser to have | ments on equipotential lines and surfaces in conductors | are interpolated between diamagnetism and the induction coil; they are, of course, naturally a part of the theory of electrical resistance, and have no near connection with the chapter preceding or following. Great care has been bestowed on the illustration of the work, ‘We know of no book on electricity so beautifully illustrated. Nor are the pictures merely pictures. They show well the details of apparatus; often, too, some leading dimensions are given when perspective does not admit of a scale. We would recommend this practice to all writers on science. It is a great help to the imagin- ation to know how large a thing is, and better that this information should be upon the picture than in the text only. In the construction of this book the freest use has been made of the scissors, whole pages being quotations. This is both wise and modest, for when the original works of the man who discovered and stated a fact are suitable for a treatise, there can be no use in paraphrasing them. Some of the chapters are excellent analyses of the several investigations which have been made into the subjects of which they treat. This is notably the case with the chapter on ‘Specific Inductive Capacity.” When Mr. Gordon has occasion to prepare a new edition he will do well to expand where he is strongest, to omit as far as possible systematic exposition, but to make each chapter a history to which the reader may refer with confidence that he will there find a clear account of every original experiment, English or foreign, that has been tried in that department. The value of such a work would be inestimable. STRATIGRAPHICAL GEOLOGY Lethea geognostica, oder Beschreibung und Abbilding der fiir die Gebirgs-Formationen bezeichnendsten Ver- steinerungen. Herausgegeben von einer Vereinigung von Palaontologen. I. Theil: Lethea paleozoica, von Ferd, Roemer. Textband: Erste Lieferung. Pp. 324. (Stuttgart, 1880.) pe study of fossils may be approached from two distinct points of view: we may regard them as furnishing us with additional illustrations of the diversi- ties of form and structure in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, or we may study them as making their appear- ance ina certain definite order, and thus as characterising particular geological formations. The former is the point of view of the biologist, the latter that of the stratigraphi- cal geologist. Palaeontology, or the study of fossil forms, must necessarily be pursued as a branch of biology, for only by the study of their nearest recent analogues can we hope to interpret the fragmentary and often obscure relics of former inhabitants of the globe; but, on the other hand, the progress of systematic geology has been bound up with the study of fossils ever since it has been clearly recognised that strata can be identified by the organic remains which they contain. German scientific literature is now being enriched by the publication of two very valuable works in which fossils are treated of, in the one case from the stand-point of the biologist, in the other from that of the stratigraphi- cal geologist. The admirable treatise on palzontology | by Zittel and Schimper gives an excellent account of the chief types of fossil plants in their relations to living forms, and the work of which we have placed the title at the head of the present article, promises to supply an equally important contribution to stratigraphical geology. The title of “ Lethzea Geognostica’’ was first employed by Bronn, who between the years 1835 and 1837 published a work under this name, in which he described all the al Fuly 22, 1880] NATURE 265 fossil genera then known in the several geological forma- tions. This book, which was accompanied by an excellent atlas of plates, passed through three editions during the author’s life-time, but in the preparation of the last of these he was aided by Dr. Ferdinand Roemer. The number of fossil/forms now known to geologists is so vast that it would be impossible to find any palzonto- logist competent to deal equally well with the faunas and floras of all the geological periods ;* and hence it has been decided to commit the paleozoic, the mesozoic, and the tertiary divisions of the work to different hands. Dr. Ferd. Roemer has been selected to describe the life- forms of the paleozoic rocks, and in the work before us we have the first instalment of the result of his labours. The work commences with a sketch of the succession and correlation of the palzozoic strata in all the different areas in which they have been studied. The author divides these rocks into the four groups of Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian, using the term Silurian, after the manner of Murchison, to embrace all the lower palzozoic strata. This plan is, of course, open to the objection that his first division is at least equal in value to the other three put together. The account of the palzozoic strata as developed in different areas, which extends to ninety-two pages, is generally very carefully drawn up. We notice on pages 11 and 29 an unfortunate error in the grouping together of the Lower Llandeilo and the Tremadoc slates, while in his account of the succession of strata in Sweden the author has failed to avail himself of the most recently-published results arrived at by the paleontologists of that country. The next twenty pages of the work are devoted to the paleontological literature of the palzozoic rocks, 146 pages to the palzeozoic plants, and seventy-seven pages to the Protozoa. The author describes each genus, and gives also an account of some of the more important species. In noticing the earliest palzeozoic plants, Roemer follows Schimper in regarding the puzzling forms from Bray Head, called O/dhamia by Edward Forbes, as belonging to the Alge. With regard to the so-called Zozoon canadense of Dawson, Dr. Ferd. Roemer accepts the verdict of Mobius against its organic origin, and rejects it from the list of palzeozoic fossils. The atlas of the “ Lethzea Paleeozoica” was published four years ago, the plates, sixty-two in number, being well executed and of the same size as the text, thus getting rid of the inconvenient arrangement in the former work, where the text was in 8vo, and the plates in folio. It would almost appear as if the atlas were drawn up pre- vious to, and quite independently of, the present work, so that the connection between the illustrations and the text is not so close as might be wished. We cannot help remarking, too, that unless much greater expedition is used in publishing the remainder of the work, the earlier portions will become obsolete before the later portions make their appearance. Although the atlas appeared in 1876, the text has now only just reached the commencement of the Ccelenterata. Possibly some unavoidable cause of delay has arisen, which, we may hope, is now removed. We look forward with interest to the completion of this most valuable work, OUR BOOK SHELF A Treatise on Elementary Dynamics, for the Use of Colleges and Schools. By William Garnett, M.A. Second Edition. (Cambridge: Deighton and Co., 1879.) MR. GARNETT’s second edition does not differ in appear- ance from its predecessor. There is the same number of chapters, the headings of which for the most part are also the same, but new matter and more detailed explanation have resulted in the addition of some twenty-five pages. It may be noted as a feature of Mr. Garnett’s work that there is a chapter on “‘ The Dynamical Theory of Gases,” and a good one on “The Dimensions of Units.” We have used the first edition with great advantage, as the author fully discusses and illustrates the cruzces of this subject, which is often so difficult to beginners, and we commend this improved edition to such readers and to all others. Elementary Applied Mechanics. By Thomas Alexander, C,E. (London : Macmillan, 1880,) THE object of Mr. Alexander’s work is to serve as a com- panion volume to the late Prof. Rankine’s ‘‘ Applied Mechanics and Civil Engineering.” This /irs¢ part treats of internal stress and strain, the divisions being elasticity, resilience; pure strain, simple and compound ; the ellipse of stress; and the application of earthwork. All these points appear to us to be well illustrated by the numerous worked-out exercises, with carefully drawn figures, and by the exercises left for the student to try his skill upon. This small book, drawn up, we presume, with reference to Prof. Alexander’s Japanese students at the Imperial Engineering College at Tokei, is likely to be of service, the more so as it appears, to the extent we have tried it, to be correctly printed. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zhe Lditor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Netther can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. iVo notice ts taken of anonymous communications. [Zhe Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressureon his space ts so great that wt is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] The Recent Gas Explosion ‘©THE explosion took place dy the conversion of potential energy into motion.” It may be fairly asked whether physicists are really satisfied with this account of the tremendous development of energy recently witnessed in the neighbourhood, or whether this phrase “potential energy ” is not a useless bugbear which is closing the door to discovery. Why not believe rather that the motion exhibited was not really created (as motion) at all, but already existed ina concealed form? For we have plenty of proof that motion can be stored up to any intensity and yet be quite im- perceptible to the senses, so long as all is in equilibrium. Why assume a supernatural (?) cause, when we have a natural one of transferred motion? Why rush into the inconceivable assumption of the existence of an energy without motion, when the conceivable remains for appreciation? An important and highly interesting problem in the discovery of the modus operandi of the transference of the motion from matter in space would thus be ever present to the mind (which is the sole condition for hoping to solve it) in place of an unrealisable and—may we not justly add ?— therefore shallow and pretentious mysticism which obstructs the pathway of progress. S. TOLVER PRESTON July § [It seems to us that Mr. Preston makes rather too much of a chance newspaper expression, probably employed (for the sake of appearing scientific) by a writer who had no notion of the tremendous metaphysical problem which underlies it. It is very probable that all energy is kinetic, but this has. not yet been proved.—ED. ] 265 Tue dangers of an explosion of gas, such as that which occurred on the evening of the 5th inst. in Bedford Street, are not, it would seem, limited to the immediate vicinity of the accident. k At about 7 p.m. on that day I was reading in a room, which from its position at the back of the house being rather dark, required a light, when I was startled by a sudden rush of the flame from the single gas-burner upwards for about two feet—it immediately subsided, again blazed up, and repeating this a third time sank, and went out altogether. I thought something had gone wrong in the pipe, and that the passage of the gas was interrupted, but on applying a match it ignited and burned naturally, though with a feebler flame than before. It was fortunate that I was in the room to turn off the escaping gas, or some serious mischief might have occurred when next any one had entered the room to find gas and air mingled into an explosive compound, I found that two other gas lights in passages had been extinguished at the same time, attention having been called to them by the smell of escaping gas, As the distance of my residence—Granville Place, Portman Square—is more than a mile from the site of the explosion, it is interesting to note the distance to which the impulse extended. As no further disturbance occurred, and as the phenomena noted happened synchronously or nearly so with the explosion, and as the gas-pipes here are, I believe, branches of the same source of supply, I assume that what I observed and have described was in some way caused by the explosion. Fortunately it was at an hour when the gas was not generally burning, or other accidents might have resulted. It would be interesting to know if others observed similar effects of the explosion. J. FAYRER July 10 The Tay Bridge THERE are two interesting scientific questions, apart from engineering proper, which are suggested by the late inquiry, although no reference seems to have been made to them in the reports. The first is the origin of the extraordinary flash seen at the moment of the downfall of the bridge by many spectators several miles away. It is scarcely doubtful that an impact was the only possible cause. The second is the important question of the amount of wind- pressure which would suffice to force a train bodily off from the top of the bridge at a place where it was zof within the girder. No strength of columns could then prevent an accident. The flash seems to prove that the train had been blown off the rails, and had come into violent contact with the sides of the high girders, Then, and not sooner, the piers were subjected to a strain they were unable to bear, G,. Il. “ Geology of the Henry Mountains ” I LATELY received, through the Home Office at Washington, a ** Report on the Geology of the Henry Mountains,” by G. K. Gilbert, being a portion of the ‘‘ Geography and Geology of the Rocky Mountains.” With the merits or demerits of this paper I am not concerned, Iam not prepared, however, to pass in silence and without protest the following paragraphs, which I find at p- 76:—‘‘ Bischof attempted, by melting eruptive rocks in clay crucibles, to obtain their ratios of expansion and contraction, but his method involved so many sources of error that his results have been generally distrusted. He concluded that the contraction, in passing from the molten to the crystalline state, is greater in acidic than in basic rocks. Delesse, by an extended series of experiments in which crystalline rocks were melted and after- wards cooled to glasses, showed that acidic rocks increase in volume from 9 to II per cent. in passing from the crystalline state to the vitreous, while basic increase only 6 to 9 per ceut. Mallet concluded, from some experiments of his own, that the contraction of rocks in cooling from the molten condition is never more than 6 per cent., and that it is greater with basic than with acidic rocks; but considering that the substances which he treated were artificial and not natural products, that his methods were not uniform, and that he ignored the distinc- tion between the vitreous and the crystalline, of which Delesse had demonstrated the importance, no weight can be given to | his results,” NATURE | qaiv'eenj yed the fun of taking in the fowls. [Fuly 22, 1880 It would be difficult to compress into the same number of lines a greater amount of erroneous statement than is to be found in the above quotation. Bischof’s results were never distrusted by geologists, by whom they were repeatedly quoted, until in my paper on the ‘‘ Nature and Origin of Volcanic Energy,” read to the Royal Society, June, 1872, and printed in Phil. Trans., I pointed out the errors incidental to Bischof’s method of experi- ment, and at the same time directed attention to the strange arithmetical blunder of Bischof himself, by which his deductions from his own experiments are rendered still wider from the truth. The experiments of Delesse, which I presume are referred to, were made on so small a scale that no deduction as to the total contraction between the liquid and solid state of any rock can be inferred from them. Coming now to Mr. Gilbert’s summary condemnation of my own experiments on the total contraction of basic slags from the iron-smelting furnaces of Barrow (Cum- berland), an account of which is given in my paper already referred to, and printed in the P%i/. Trans. for 1873, some of the chief results of which are to be found in p. 201, I have to remark that no other experiments on the subject, conducted on the same great scale, and with equal precautions to insure exact- ness, have ever been made and published. No experiments have ever been made upon the contraction of lava as flowing from a volcano and its solidification on cooling, but I have given comparative analyses of natural lavas, and shown their almost identical composition with that of the slags employed by me. It is incorrect to state that I have ignored the difference between the vitreous and crystalline condition ; all the melted matter experi- mented on by me having, from the large bulk of melted matter, cooled in the crystalline state. Whether then any justification can be adduced for Mr. Gilbert’s sweeping and unsupported statement that ‘‘no weight can be given” to the results of my experiments I leave to the judgment of men of science who have impartially read my results. RoBERT MALLET London, July 7 Intellect in Brutes THE Central Prison at Agra is the roosting-place of great numbers of the common blue pigeon ; they fly out to the neigh- bouring country for food every morning, and return in the evening, when they drink at a tank just outside the prison walls. In this tank are a large number of freshwater turtles, which lie in wait for the pigeons, just under the surface of the water and at the edge of it. Any bird alighting to drink near one of these turtles has a good chance of having its head bitten off and eaten; and the headless bodies of pigeons have been picked up near the water, showing the fate which has sometimes befallen the birds. The pigeons, however, are aware of the danger, and have hit on the following plan to escape it. A pigeon comes in from its 'long flight, and, as it nears the tank, instead of flying down at once to the water’s edge, will cross the tank at about twenty feet above its surface, and then fly back to the side from which it came, apparently selecting for alighting a safe spot which it had re- marked asit flew over the bank ; but even when such a spot has been selected the bird will not alight at the edge of the water, but on the bank about a yard from the water, and will then run down quickly to the water, take two or three hurried gulps of it, and then fly off to repeat the same process at another part of the tank till its thirst is satisfied. I had often watched the birds doing this, and could not account for their strange mode of drinking till told by my friend, the superintendent of the prison, of the turtles which lay in ambush for the pigeons. The same friend had a couple of Hill Mynahs (Gracula veligiosa) the most wonderful bird for mimicry which I have come across, not excepting the grey parrot of the West African coast. One of these birds, when hung out in the verandah during the afternoons, used to amuse itself by calling the fowls together, imitating the call of their keeper so well that they us 1 to flock together under the cage, when the bird would bu st ov. into a very good imitation of a human laugh, as if it Have birds the sense of amu-ement? This one certainly seemed to derive grati- fication from the way in which it had cheated the fowls. Roorkee, June 21 W. W. NICHOLLS The Volcanic Dust from Dominica SoME months ago, through the kindness of Messrs. Alexander Agassiz and S. H. Garman, some of the voleanic ashes which fell in Dominica on January 4 were placed at my disposal. On Fuly 22, 1880] NATURE 267 account of the notices that have appeared in NATURE (vol. xxi. PP. 330, 372, and vol. xxii. p.77) and in Comptes rendus (xc. 622- 26), this note would be needless, were it not that some may regard these ashes as of recent origin. Microscopically the material (already described by Prof. Delesse) is seen to be decomposed to a considerable extent. The materials evidently filled an old crater, and have been subjected to secondary action, so that of the original constituents only the feldspar and augite are left. The other constituents are the results of the alteration of this andesitic (probably) dédris. No trace of recent volcanic material could be found in that examined by me. Inno sense can these ashes be called a recent product ; they have simply been transferred from one place to another. The transfer is recent, but the ashes have for ages been at or near the surface of the earth. M. E. WADSWORTH Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A., June 30 Large Meteor On Friday evening last, July 9, at 9h. 45m., I saw a very fine meteor about equal in brightness to Venus at her maximum, moving very slowly from nearly west to south-west. I did not see its origin. It passed about 4° above Sica, and disappeared soon afterwards, as nearly as I could estimate, in altitude 16° and azimuth 50 west of S. Its apparent course was only slightly inclined to the horizon, approaching it at an angle of about I in Io. Its apparent angular velocity was about &° in a second, its light yellowish till the moment of extinction, when it became blue and fainter, and disappeared without any sign of explosion. Its course was somewhat wavy, and the trail it left behind it very evanescent. My latitude and longitude was 51° 25’ and o° 14 W. F, C, PENROSE Coleby Field, Wimbledon, July 14 Ball Lightning On Saturday night, the 17th inst., an instance of this form of lightning came under my observation. The day had been hot, the thermometer registering a tempera- ture of about 71° F. in the shade during the middle of the day, which was bright and clear. In the evening, however, a curious haze or mist spread rapidly over the landscape, while the tem- perature had fallen to about 68° F. This haze was very much denser and more analogous to the smoke-fog of a town than I have ever observed in the country at this time of year, yet the air did not seem particularly damp or chill. About 9 p.m. frequent flashes of sheet-lightning occurred, with rumblings of distant thunder at intervals, both of which continued more or less up to midnight, about which time, the mist haying somewhat cleared off, I saw when returning home, apparently about a quarter of a mile ahead, a ball or globe of fire of considerable size descend slowly from the clouds, and when near to or touching the earth suddenly disappear, its disappearance being accompanied by two slight but quick con- cussions, which may have been an explosion and its echo. The fire-ball could not have been visible more than five or six seconds. I cannot ascertain that any damage was done by it. As this somewhat rare and curious phenomenon seems to be manifesting itself at this period, accompanying the thunder- storms we are having (see NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 193), may I be permitted to suggest that those interested in electrical science should be on the alert to observe any repetition of the occurrence with its concomitant circumstances ? W. F. SMITH Sutton Valence, Kent E. M. F. should read Prof. Ayrton’s Sheffield lecture on ‘* Electricity as a Motive Power” (see NATURE, vol. xx. p. 568); any decent text-book—Noad’s, for example—will tell of the older attempts of Jacobi to propel boats by electricity. THE RECENT EXPLOSIONS Lover it is difficult to say anything new on the subject, or give instructions more effective than recent remarkable and destructive explosions in London, Wolverhampton, and Monmouthshire seem to call for some remarks at our hands. Two serious explosions of gas following close on each other, in the streets of large towns, announce to every one that the difficulties of supplying gas to large numbers of consumers have not been completely over- come. The special feature in the London accident was the occurrence of a series of explosions, at first at nearly regular, and then at increasing intervals, along the gas main. The first explosion blew out the “‘cap’’ of the main with great violence ; the rush of heated air, doubtless mingled with more or less gas, in the other direction seems to have carried the flame—probably by a rapidly occurring series of small explosions—to a point at which a mass of explosive gas was again reached and fired. The mass of gaseous mixture fired in the second ex- plosion appears to have been about equal to that in the first, but towards the close of the series either the gas became much more diluted with air, or the air became much more charged with gas. It seems just possible that vibrations propagated by the first explosion passed rapidly through a gaseous medium, consisting of much air and little gas, until they came in contact with a mass of gas and air, which they threw into rapid vibration; and so caused to explode. But from the experiments of Abel and others one would scarcely expect this to occur under the conditions which—judging from the evidence given at the inquest—appear to have existed. A second point, illustrated more markedly by the Wolverhampton explosion, is the apparent readiness with which a soil may be charged with coal-gas and retain this gas for long periods of time. The passage of such gas into drain-pipes, and perhaps even into unfilled gas-mains, seems to be of ready occurrence. Experiments might well be instituted by the gas com- panies to determine the power of soils for absorbing and retaining coal gas, and secondly, the conditions of diffusion of mixtures of gas and air through the walls of pipes of different materials. If it can be shown with certainty that the valve at the junction of the main in which the explosion occurred with the Howland Street main was absolutely impervious to gas, then the explosion may almost be regarded as proving the permeability of the material of gas mains to mixtures of air and coal-gas. The practical lesson of the explosions is that some means of certainly determining whether a gas main does or does not contain gas must be found at once, and that this means must wo¢ be the application of a light to an opening in the main. The foreman who applied the fatal match said that the pressure gauge showed the absence of gas in the main ; but as the main contained a quantity of gaseous mixture at rest, and not flowing through the pipe, the gauge could not be expected to indicate the presence of this mixture. It is almost amusing to read of the simple astonishment of the two foremen when the fact was announced to them that mixtures of coal-gas and air are explosive: twenty or twenty-five years’ experience in gas-works had failed to teach them this fact. Yet the lives of the inhabitants in the neighbourhood of Tottenham Court Road were practically in these men’s hands for the last three or four months. A With regard to the Risca disaster, of a different and unhappily more fatal kind than the former, clouds of smoke are said to have accompanied the explosion which devastated the pits soon after midnight on Thursday last (15th inst.), and we have it from the lips of a credible eye- witness that fused and coked coal-dust is found adhering to the timbers in those parts of the workings which have been already visited, though not so conspicuous as in some cases. In these respects therefore the recent ex- such as have been given over and over again, still the | plosion is only a repetition of similar events which have 268 taken place before, and we need not again go over the ground which we have already traversed several times in these pages, when we have endeavoured to point out their most probable origin and mode of propagation. We propose, however, in this place to devote a few lines to the discussion of a question which we think has not as yet received the attention it deserves, namely : When is amine in such a state that it may be termed well-ventilated ? and our principal reason for doing so is that a statement has been already put forth to the effect that the ventilation of Risca Colliery was as perfect as it well could be, the total volume of air passing through it being considerably over 100,000 cubic feet per minute. An air-current of given dimensions may be sufficient to thoroughly ventilate the workings of a fiery mine at one time, and it may be quite insufficient at another: for the degree of sufficiency is obviously wholly dependent on the amount of fire-damp given off per unit of time. Each unit of volume of coal contains a certain volume of fire- damp in a state of great compression—it may be ina liquid or solid condition—and this gas begins to be given off when the workings approach to within a certain dis- tance of the space within which it is confined. The greater proportion of the fire-damp is probably given off immediately before the coal is laid bare, and at the instant it is being detached from the face; but some of it still continues in the coal long after it has left the mine. If the workings of a fiery mine are stopped abruptly and allowed to remain unworked for a considerable time, we find that the amount of fire-damp given off gradually decreases, until in the course of a year or so it is not more than one-tenth of what it was when the mine was in full work. If, on the other hand, the output of a fiery mine is largely increased, we find that the workings soon lapse into a dangerous condition unless the ventilation has been largely in excess of its requirements in the first place. The character of the ventilation is thus dependent upon the output of coal for the time being as well as on the amount of air. The daily output of Risca Colliery is stated to have been 1,000 tons, and supposing the amount of gas given off to have been 2,880 cubic feet per ton of coal, which is the actual amount we have found by observation and calcula- tion in similar mines, then we know that, if the volume of the ventilating current had amounted to 30,000 cubic feet per minute, the whole of it would have been explosive as it returned from the workings ; if it amounted to 50,000 cubic feet per minute it would show a cap half an inch high in the small oil-flame of a lamp, and when charged with coal-dust it would form a highly explosive mixture ; if it amounted to 100,000 cubic feet per minute it would still show a small cap } to 33; inch, and it would still produce an explosion when mixed with coal-dust, and ignited. It is notorious, however, that as a rule the volume of air which reaches and passes round the working faces is much less than that which descends the down-cast and ascends the up-cast shaft ; and when we are told that the ventilation of a mine is represented by a certain number of cubic feet of air per minute, we are on the safe side if we estimate the useful volume to be little more than two-thirds of the stated one. It is further notorious that the practical miner of almost every grade regards a small cap on the flame of the lamp, even if { to } inch high as a very trivial matter, so long as he finds little or no explosive gas in the mine ; and he only begins to speak of the return air as being heavy or rather heavy when the size of the cap on the small oil-flame reaches or exceeds a height of # of an inch ; but still even in this case he is not much troubled with thoughts of immediate danger. What then constitutes a well-ventilated mine ? We say in reply that no mine containing dry coal-dust NATURE [ Fuly 22, 1880 is well-ventilated when the cap on the small oil-flame of a lamp is over or 4%; inch in height, that is to say, when the return air contains more than 2 per cent. of gas. Even with that amount, as we know, it will form an explosive mixture with coal-dust, and we should prefer to see a standard insisted upon in which not more than I per cent. was allowed. This aspect of the question is well worthy of the attention of the Royal Commissioners on Accidents in Mines, and we hope they will not allow their present opportunity to pass without endeavouring to arrive at some definite settlement of such an important question. NORTH AMERICAN GEOLOGY—IDAHO AND WYOMING? ie spite of the revolution that was recently effected among the Government geological surveys of the American Union, provision has wisely been made for the completion of the Reports of the different corps which have been abolished. It is pleasant to welcome still another of the stout black volumes issued annually by the Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. On the completion of the Survey of Colorado in 1876 Dr. Hayden and his corps of active coadjutors moved north- wards across the belt of country included in the Survey of the 4oth Parallel under Mr. Clarence King, with the intention of mapping the territories of Idaho and Wyoming to the north and west. A number of recon- naissances had been made by various observers in these regions since the days of Bonneville and Fremont, some of the earlier work of Hayden’s Survey having been accomplished there. But no general survey of the whole area had been attempted, and many parts of it had never been penetrated by white men. It was a vast territory, including within its borders the sources of the Green, Snake, and Yellowstone Rivers, and embracing the most varied forms of surface and the greatest diversities of geological structure. To survey this unknown domain and bring its geography, geology, mineralogy, ethnology, zoology, botany, and general economic capacity to the knowledge of the world was the aim with which Dr. Hayden and his staff started in the summer of 1877. During the season the primary triangulation was extended over an area of 28,000 square miles, from West Long. 107° to 112° and between North Lat. 41° 10’ and 43° 50’, and was connected with the stations made by the Survey of the 4oth Parallel, and by the Boundary Survey of Wyoming. Topographical field-work was carried on by three parties, each having an area assigned to it of about 11,000 square miles. The total area thus surveyed amounted to about 29,000 square miles. The geological staff was likewise divided into three divisions, each being intrusted with a separate district, viz., the regions of the Sweetwater, Teton, and Upper Green River. In the report of Dr. Endlich of the Sweetwater division, one of the most interesting features is his account of the structure of the Wind River Mountains. This important portion of the true Rocky Mountain range is formed of three parallel chains, of which the western, and chief, rises to heights of more than 13,000 feet and forms the watershed of the continent. Even now its huge snow- fields, which, through the clear summer air can be seen gleaming from a distance of more than 100 miles, suggest the presence of glaciers. When Dr. Endlich and his party traversed these mountains in 1877 they found, indeed, no recognisable glacier, but abundant freshly- grooved and polished rocks and moraine mounds, showing the comparatively recent existence of land-ice in these elevated regions. On the west side of the t « Bleventh Annual Report (1877) of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, embracing Idaho and Wyoming.’” (Washington: F. V. Hayden, 1879.) Fuly 22, 1880] mountains the evidences of glacial action are specially striking, one valley in particular bearing witness to the former presence of a glacier sixteen to eighteen miles long, extending for several miles into the low country, where it threw down its heaps of moraine-stuff in mounds a mile and a half broad, and from 800 to 900 feet high. Next summer, however, the covering of snow having partially melted, true glaciers of small extent were found in the Wind River and Teton ranges. East of the Wind River Mountains there lies a suite of palzeozoic formations from the Potsdam sandstone to the top of the Permian group, having a united thickness of 3,350 to 3,750 feet, and covered by 2,500 to 2,920 feet of Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous rocks. Dr. Endlich computes the total depth of stratified formations in the Sweetwater region at more than 16,000 feet. Underneath them in the Wind River range lies a great series of crystalline rocks, According to Dr. Endlich the Potsdam rocks have been converted into quartzites by the same metamorphic action which has changed the rocks imme- diately below them into granites and schists. His section shows three zones of granite in descending order, the lowest of all being what he terms prozoic, while the youngest, from its stratified or schistoid character, and the coincidence of the inclination of its strata with that of the overlying stratified formations, he classes as of metamorphic origin. The researches of Prof. St. John were devoted to the exploration of that wonderfully interesting region round the head waters of the Snake River and the Teton Mountains. The traveller who journeys wearily over the vast desert lava-fields of the Snake River plains looks wistfully from time to time at the great snow-rifted peaks which the Teton range far to the east raises into the sky. What would he not give for a glass of the cool water which dashes down so profusely among these far moun- tains and disappears so utterly before it reaches that thirsty desert? Extending the observations of Hayden, Bradley, Comstock, and others, Mr. St. John has given us an interesting narrative of the structure of the mountain region and of the lower territory on its flanks. The core of the Teton range, culminating in Mount Hayden, consists of massive granites, gneisses, and schists, flanked by quartzites and slates. On these ancient rocks lie from 500 to 1,000 feet of limestones, shales, and sandstones, containing Lower Silurian fossils, and from 400 to 600 feet of a buff-coloured magnesian limestone referable to the Niagara group of the Upper Silurian. The Carbo- niferous system, consisting mainly of limestones and sand- stones, reaches a thickness of from 2,500 to 5,000 feet. Secondary formations, referred to the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous systems, attain depths of from 2,300 to more than 5,000 feet. The volcanic history of this portion of America is specially noticeable. According to Mr. St. John’s observations the usual chronological sequence obtains in the areas traversed by him. The early erup- tions have been of a trachytic nature, great variety of aspect and lithological structure being traceable among the various outflows. The surface presented by the trachytic areas is markedly uneven—the result doubtless partly of original irregularities of extrusion and partly of subsequent extensive denudation. The latest eruptions were of basalt, which has flooded the bottoms of the valleys, and now covers an area of many thousand square miles. Mr. St. John speaks of the difference of level between different plateaux of basalt as being due to sub- sequent elevation. But it is not necessary to suppose that there ever was any common level for the outflows. ‘Some were no doubt poured out at much higher elevations than others even in their vicinity. The same observer calls attention to the remarkable volcanic conglomerates de- scribed by Hayden from this and the Yellowstone region, and by Whitney from the Territories lying further west. These deposits, 3,000 feet or more in thickness, consist of NATURE 269 angular and subangular or rounded blocks of trachytes» basalts, and other volcanic rocks imbedded in a dul brown tuff-like matrix. They cover wide tracts of country in the volcanic districts, and point to a phase of volcanic or inter-volcanic action which is not yet well understood. Dr. A. C. Peale contributes an interesting report on the varied region lying to the north of the 41st Parallel between Green River City, Wy., and Ogden, Utah. He estimates the total mass of stratified formations in that region from the base of the Lower Silurian system to the top of the Quaternary series at upwards of 30,000 feet. He has added some additional fossils to the list of Lower Silurian forms collected from the district in 1872 by the late Prof. F. Bradley. He has likewise made important additions to the Carboniferous fauna of that area, and has shown how dominant a part is taken by the 6,000 feet or more of Carboniferous limestones and quartzites. The Jura-Trias attains a depth of between 5,000 and 6,000 feet, consisting of the usual red sandy and argillaceous strata below, and passing up into laminated limestones and shales. A considerable number of organic remains were obtained from several zones in these beds, but they do not yet appear to be sufficient for drawing a satisfactory line between the Trias and Jurassic series in the Rocky Mountain region. To our knowledge of the Cretaceous and Tertiary geology of the district Dr. Peale was enabled to make some valuable additions. Besides these geological reports, the labours of the Survey in 1877 included a detailed palzontological re- search in the field by Dr. C. A. White, who contributes an important report of his work, and the first of what we hope will be a series of papers on invertebrate palecon- tology. He specially treats of the Cretaceous fossils of the Western States and Territories. The topographical work of the year was well done by Messrs. Nelson and Gannett. As subsidiary but very valuable parts of the work accomplished by the Survey, reference may be made to the researches on fossil insects by Mr. Scudder of Boston, which have been aided by the Survey and will be published among its memoirs ; to the great monograph by Dr. Leidy on the Rhizopods, which has already ap- peared as one of the Survey’s quarto volumes ; and to the interesting particulars collected by the Survey regard- ing the archeology of the San Juan and South-Western Colorado. There will be, we presume, one further Report for 1878 —the last year of the existence of the Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. Though this mode of annual publication necessarily involves incom- pleteness, and is apt to overload the reports with unim. portant detail, there can be no doubt that the series of volumes issued by this Survey form a permanent record of great value, which for the districts to which they refer will serve as the basis of all subsequent work. It is not without regret that one can regard the cessation of these volumes. On this side of the Atlantic, where they can be calmly considered apart altogether from scientific rivalry and political entanglements, they have been received with general approbation. It is impossible not to be struck by the largeness of the plan conceived by Dr. Hayden for the scope of his survey. Not geology merely, but every branch of inquiry touching the natural history, archeology, geography, and meteorology of the Territories, was embraced within his plan, and has been illustrated as far as the means at his disposal would allow. To have conceived this broad and scientific scheme, and to have possessed the administrative power to secure and keep in working concert solarge and able a body of observers, are qualities of no mean order, and deserve grateful recog- nition wherever an intelligent interest is taken in the general progress of science and in that human advance- ment which scientific progress insures. ARCHIBALD GEIKIE 270 THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL YACHT, “TIVADIA” ig is not surprising that the character of the great steam-yacht Zzvadia, just launched upon the Clyde for the service of the Emperor of Russia, is exciting wide- spread interest. Since Noah built the Ark, no floating and moving structure has been constructed in such direct contrast as this vessel with all that has gone before it. Every other ship afloat has, in its chief features, been a development of the ships that preceded it, not excepting even the circular ironclads of Russia, for they were not the first circular vessels that had been designed and con- structed, and although they had some steaming preten- sions, these were too moderate to challenge seriously either the principles or the practice of naval architects. In the new yacht of Admiral Popoft’s design, however, we have a steamship that, by its very existence, challenges the fundamental principles upon which fast passenger steamers are constructed by all the rest of the world. We give herewith illustrations, of which the first (Fig. 1) is an external view of the Z7vadia as seen out of water ; it is taken from a model which was constructed under the care of Admiral Popoff, and shows at a glance the general form of the ship. Another (Fig. 2) is a cross section, showing among other things the transverse distribution of the boilers and machinery. The third (Fig.-3) is a plan showing the horizontal distribution of the same, and indi- cating more clearly than the other the positions of the three propelling screws.t It is obvious that such a form of vessel, propelled in the manner exhibited, suggests many questions of scientific interest; but most of these will be best discussed after the steam trials of the vessel have taken place. For the present it will be sufficient to take notice of the general characteristics and qualities which she presents to view. It is desirable at the outset for the reader to observe that the Z7vadza consists of a shallow hull 235 feet long, 153 broad, and drawing, when supporting all its burdens, but 63 feet of water. From a foot or two above the water’s | surface arch upwards and inwards with considerable curvature until they each meet (at about one-sixth of the whole breadth of the ship from the side amidships) the fore and aft sides of a naval palace, which extends from | stem to stern. Although the width of the ship at the water-line is 153 feet, her width at a few feet above the water-line is therefore much less—about 110 feet, we believe. onward motion will be those encountered by a vessel 153 feet broad and 235 feet long ; but when the ship gets into heavy seas they will be free to pass over her low sides, and the ship that will have to divide and encounter them will be 110 feet by 225. As the object of this vessel is to furnish ample accommodation for the Emperor and his suite at sea, it may be fairly presumed that the width of | the superstructure has been kept greatly within that of the hull proper, and the accommodation thus restricted, for the purpose of materially improving the behaviour of the vessel at sea. The arrangement will doubtless contribute greatly both to the speed and to the steadiness of the ship in great waves, its value for diminishing rolling having already been demonstrated in the circular iron- clads, which have superstructures of less width than the ship, and which are remarkably steady even in seas that roll freely along the decks of the hulls proper. The primary and chief fact concerning the anticipated steadiness of this exceedingly short, broad, and shallow ship, is that it is to be secured by means the very opposite of those which have lately obtained in this country, viz., by aid of enormous stability. Since the general accept- ance of Mr. Froude’s theory of rolling, the aim of the naval architect has been to send his ship to sea with sufficient stability for safety, and with no more than is ¥ We are indebted for the second and third engravings to the kindness of the editors of Exgincering ; the first has been specially engraved for us. In smooth water, therefore, the resistance to | M€§ d > | —it is of course assumed that the waves in question are NATURE { Fuly 22, 18¥0 ample for that purpose; because steadiness at sea is, under the modern theory, promoted by keeping the stability or righting force as small as possible, within the limit just named. The metacentric height, which is from 12 to 15 feet in the American monitors, which have great proportionate breadth of water-line, has been restricted to 6, 5, 4, and even less than 4 feet in many of our large war ships ; indeed the $z/fav, which is one of the steadiest of our large ironclads, has a metacentric height of only 24 feet, while the Jzcomstant’s, the steadiest of our un- armoured ships, is but very slightly in excess of this. This reduction of metacentric height increases propor- tionately the “period of oscillation,” and makes vessels reluctant to accept the disturbances which waves en- deavour to impose upon them. But while the tendency of modern science has thus been to diminish metacentric height and stability, the effect of the Zzvadza’s form and proportions will be to give her enormous metacentric height and stability, the object in both cases being identical, viz., improved steadiness in waves. Nor is this course pursued, strange as it may seem to some, and violently antagonistic as it is to modern practice, without the sanction of science. For while a ship with very small stability, and consequently very long natural period of oscillation, is ordinarily secured against rolling by her slowness to accept the wave impulses, the ship with very large stability, and consequent very short period ‘ cf oscillation, is ordinarily secured against excessive rolling by the very readiness with which she accepts those impulses and conforms to the mean movements of the waves. It is true that in the latter case the exemption from rolling motions is not so great as in the former, because a certain considerable amount of rolling is un- doubtedly and necessarily involved in this conformity to wave motions; but this amount of rolling is very much less than that to which a ship is exposed which has neither stability so small as to render her comparatively indifferent to wave-pressures, nor stability so large as to force her to keep her decks approximately parallel to the wave-surface. Ships with intermediate degrees of sta- bility are liable to roll much and to accumulate large rolling motions, especially when subjected to successive impulses from similar waves, whereas the ship of enormous sta- bility, while always obeying each wave, is by that very means exempted from the tendency to accumulate the effects of a succession of waves. In all this reasoning— the generality and meagreness of which we fully recognise of sufficient magnitude in proportion to the size of the ship to stand in individual relation to her. The immense breadth of the Zzvad/a will doubtless preserve her from being rolled by small waves, including under that desig- nation waves which would cause many ordinary ships to roll with violence. As regards longitudinal rolling, which is usually called pitching, if we neglect the onward motion of the’ship, and consider the matter from the same point of view as that just adopted in speaking of trans- | verse rolling, we may say with confidence that the longi- tudinal stability of the Zzvadza will be in excess of the transverse, and that no excessive pitching need be feared. Owing to the shortness and light draught of the vessel, she would probably (if not advancing) tend to accompany pretty closely the motions of the wave-surface when heading to waves of sufficient size to cause her to pitch. As her length is so small (less than half that of several transatlantic steamships now at sea), the vertical motions of the bow and stern will of course be correspondingly small for given angles of pitching. It is when we come to consider the case of her enor- mous steam power being applied to force her ahead through large waves that we experience some difficulty in predicting her behaviour. For we here touch upon a question which has been but very imperfectly investi- gated; we might even say, has scarcely been more than F uly 22, 1880} mentioned. A few facts and figures bearing upon it may nevertheless be given. It is estimated that a wave with a 4-seconds period and 82 feet long advances at a speed of 12 knots an hour; an 8-seconds wave 328 feet long has a speed of 24 knots; a 12-seconds wave 740 feet long a speed of 36} knots ; and a 16-seconds wave 1,300 feet long a speed of 484 knots. If the Zzvadia were steaming at 14 knots against waves equal in speed to her own, she would of course encounter them at a speed of 28 knots, and that is a speed corresponding to a length of wave of about 450 feet, whereas the waves which she would actually be meeting would be but little over 100 feet in length. Again, if we may for a moment imagine her to be steaming at 18 knots an hour, and encountering similar waves, she would of course be meeting them at a speed of 32 knots an hour. But a wave of that speed would be nearly 600 feet long, whereas that which she would, under the last hypothesis, be encountering would be only 100 feet long, as before. It is obvious, therefore, that so short a ship, steaming at high speeds, would develop con- ditions unknown alike to vessels of low speed (such as sea-going vessels of her small length usually are when steaming against head seas) and to vessels of high speed but of great length. If we take for example the case of waves about 500 feet long from hollow to hollow, and therefore of a half-length of about 250 feet, it is obvious that whereas a fast steamship 500 feet long would receive the support of a second wave while the crest of a previous one still gave her bodily support, the Zzvada is so short as to be capable of steaming down the wave slope, at an angle to the horizon approximately equal to that of the slope itself. If doing this at a speed of 15 knots an hour, or 25 feet per second, with the on-coming wave advancing upon her, as it would be, at 30 knots an hour, or 50 feet per second, it is easy to see that the behaviour of the vessel would be of an unusualkind. We do not give this as by any means the most notable or critical of the cases which might be selected, but it will serve to show that Mr. Froude was not speaking heedlessly when he said that the purely circular ships would tend to “dive,” and to indicate that those persons are probably correct who see in departure from the circular form in the present case evidence, not so much of a desire to diminish resist- ance, as of a desire to correct the diving propensities of very short ships. And this brings us to notice the steaming qualities of the Zivadia. The enormous steam-power with which she is being supplied has naturally excited much notice, and the Zzmes gave an interesting comparison between her power and proportions and those of the Sha. It will assist the further elucidation of the subject if we invite attention to a different kind of contrast, and compare the Livadia with the largest and most powerful of our finished armoured turret-ships, the Dreadnought. This huge ship, which steams at 14} knots per hour, although very much more than twice the immersed size (displacement) of the Zzvadia, has very much less steam-power. The following is a comparison between the two ships:— Dreadnought. Livadia. Length ecoenaes 320 feet 235 feet. Breadth, extremes (5. /s:5 | s. A 008 ThSuenss Immersed depth of hull (mean) 23 ,, 64 ,, Displacement ... ... . «+» 9,100 tons 3,900 tons. Indicated horse-power ... 8,200 10,500 Allowing for the curvature in the form of the hull at and near the bottom, we should of course more than double the Zzvadia’s displacement by carrying her sides at the load-water line vertically upwards, and immersing her another 63 feet ; we should probably, by this process, bring her displacement up nearly to that of the Dyead- aought. As between the two ships, all this extra dis- placement is, so to speak, saved in the Lzvadia, while, as regards the steam power, hers is in excess of that of the Dreadnought by more than 25 per cent. It will be seen NATURE Zig from these conditions under what immense advantages the experiment of driving a broad and shallow ship very fast is to be carried out in the Imperial Russian yacht. So far as is known, the designer of the Zzvadia has not promised more than 14 knots of speed; but if we allow her the same speed as the Dreadnought (144 knots) she will have a large excess of steam power (no less than 2,300 I.H.P.) applie1 to the propulsion of a hull weighing very much less than one-half the weight of the ironclad. The speed reached by the latter vessel was sustained throughout a six hours” trial. As the Sah is a long fine-lined ship, 15 feet longer than the Dreadnought and 12 feet narrower,’ with about the same mean depth, the Dreadnought may be regarded as a considerable departure from her in the direction which has been pursued so very much farther in the Livadia. It will be instructive therefore to compare these two_vessels— Shah. Dreadnought. Length Bae 335 feet 320 feet. Breadth, extreme 2h Sy 6455; Depth (mean) ... noe 23» 23) as Displacement ... .. ... 5,900 tons 9,100 tons Indicated horse-power UAE) cen Eo 200 Speed 8 ot 278) The Fiddler Crabs . . «. © © © @ © a tere - 278 Organs of Deep-Sea Animals. « . : ate . . 278 CHEMICAT NOTES!» («00 sus intel esirel ee. cele) ise «0, QaeeeeySs PuysicaL NOTES. - - + «= + BPeey ote «nd . Ra (280) GHOGRAPHICAL:NOTHS ‘s/s gael Sole) 5 o\ _ 30s oo ot Re PLANTS OF THE Coat-Measures. By Prof. W. C. WILLIAMSON, FERS) ee eters oo a his * ite 28x UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE . + + + « . 282 +| SCIENTIFIC SERIAIS So) Gllcss «© *: = cs: @ pel ieee eke meena SocieTIgS AND ACADEMIES. « + + © + * © © + # © 2 . . 203m } ~ eat | NARI RF THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1880 CHEMICAL DYNAMICS Essai de Mécanique Chimique fondée sur la Thermochemie. Par M. Berthelot. Two Vols. (Paris : Dimod, Editeur, 1879.) HE problems which the chemist attempts to solve may be broadly divided into two groups. In studying the heterogeneous distribution of molecules, the chemist finds that new relations of molecules, in other words, new substances, are produced; he must study the composition and properties of these substances. He also finds that these changes involve a consideration of the relative Positions of the changing body and of other bodies, that is to say, he recognises the action of force. He must endeavour to determine the laws of action of this force, The study of the properties and composition of substances has received more attention than that of the general laws of chemical force; both methods of investigation must, however, be applied to chemical phenomena, before these can be fully explained. The general properties of a compound may be regarded as depending chiefly on the composition of that com. pound, or chiefly on the function or ‘‘ power of doing” of the compound. There have always been schools of chemistry which paid most attention to composition, as there have been schools which made function pre-eminent. Modern chemistry is attempting to connect both in a general scheme of classification ; whilst at the same time she endeavours to learn the conditions under which chemical force is exerted, and hopes thus to elucidate general laws. The atomic theory, which is one great outcome of the study of the composition and function of chemical sub- stances, has of late years been merged in the wider molecular theory of matter. This theory, assuming the existence of a grained structure in matter, proceeds to deduce, by dynamical reasoning, the amount of motion existing among these little parts of which matter is built up. The laws of Boyle and Charles are among the primary results of this deduction. But under certain conditions gases do not exactly obey these laws ; hence the theory asserts that under certain conditions the molecules exert mutual action. Another deduction from the theory is the statement usually known as Avogadro’s law—“ Equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal numbers of molecules.” This statement provides the chemist with a means for determining molecular weights, But the chemist in applying Avogadro’s law is obliged to admit that in many reactions the parts of molecules really part company. He attempts to picture to himself this molecular splitting. Let the molecule A consist of two parts, a and 4, the molecule B of two parts, cand d; let these parts be in motion. Under certain conditions the stress between a and ¢ and the stress between 4 and d may be greater than that between a and 4, and ¢ and @; the original molecules are decomposed, and new molecules, C and D, are formed, The stress between @ and c considered from the VoL, xx11.—No, 561 285. point of view of a or calone is a force exerted by a onc or by cona. This force is the force of chemical affinity. The result of the action of this force is a new configura- tion of the system AB; the energy of the new system, C D, will be different from that of the original system. Chemical action, thus regarded, is a re-arrangement of parts of molecules under the influence of the force called affinity. Chemical energy is thus regarded as potential energy. Now a chemical action between A and B will take place under certain definite conditions only, hence although the absolute value of the affinity of A for B may be a constant, the course of the change and the entire result of the change will nevertheless be largely dependent on physical conditions. No force may be exerted except at high temperatures; the change of momentum of A will depend on its position relative to B; the relative positions at which this change occurs may only be gained at high temperatures. The force exerted may be small ; still if a chemical change occur at all, there must be an action between the parts of A and the parts of B. Now let this mutual action begin, let no energy be added to the system from without, but let the system as a whole lose energy; the energy so lost may be measured in the form of heat. But more than one re-arrangement of the parts of two molecules may frequently be possible ; which will be produced? A system is in equilibrium when its entropy (using the term in the Clausian sense) has reached a maximum. Hence that system whose entropy is the greatest of the entropies of the possible systems will be produced. This is substantially Berthelot’s “law of maximum work,” a law which lies at the foundation of his system of thermal chemistry. But a system not marked by possessing the largest amount of entropy of all the possible systems, may nevertheless be the most stable under the experimental conditions; the stability will depend on pressure, temperature, relative masses, &c. Hence in order to determine the actual result of a chemical action, the conditions of stability, in other words, the relations to temperature, pressure, &c., of the various possible pro- ducts of the reaction must be known. The necessity of this knowledge is insisted on by Berthelot. To determine, therefore, the product of a given chemical action one must measure the quantities of heat evolved in the passage of the system from the standard state to each of the possible new states, and one must know the con- ditions of existence and stability of each of these states This problem therefore presents both a chemical and a physical question for solution. The solution of the chemical question is much aided by a knowledge of the laws of atom-linking ; but these cannot be here con- sidered. A measurement of the heat evolved in a chemical change evidently enables us to find the difference between the energy of the original and final chemical systems; the total heat change being independent of intermediate states through which the system may pass. So if work is done on a chemical system whereby it is caused to assuine a new configuration, this work measures the energy transferred from the initial to the final system; in this case heat will be absorbed during the chemicai change. ° 286 But in actual chemical reactions the action of the chemical force proper will be interfered with and com- plicated by physical, or secondary forces. So much is this the case, that for many years these actions were not _ distinguished. One school simply measured the quantity of a substance A, which was needed to act on B to produce C; the greater the quantity of A required to act on a given weight of B, the greater was the affinity of A for B. With this school all was chemical. With Berthollet, on the con- trary, all was physical; but facts have been discovered since the publication of the Statique Chimique” which have necessitated a reconsideration of his laws. Gradually the meaning of affinity has been made clear. The greatest contribution towards this end is undoubtedly the papers of Guldberg and Waage, whose work has been sketched by the present writer in this journal (vol. xx. p. 530). The Swedish naturalists disregard the action of secondary forces in their method of determining the ratios between the affinity coefficients of various substances. The importance of a measurement of the change of energy accompanying the passage of a chemical system from one specified state to another; the importance, in other words, of a measurement of the heat evolved or absorbed in such a passage, is at once apparent. But this measurement—even taken along with a general knowledge of the conditions of existence of the various possible systems—does not enable us certainly to predict the result of the chemical action. If we had a complete knowledge of the mode of variation of the potential energy of a system with changes in the configuration of the system, then it #éght be possible for mathematicians to predict all possible arrangements of the system under the action of specified external forces. But having made heat measurements only, we are very far indeed from this point. Indeed the fundamental assumption that chemical energy is wholly potential, and depends on the arrange- ment of the parts of a system, may be false; and even if this assumption be true we know nothing as yet of the relation between this energy and the configuration of the system. The heat absorbed or evolved in a chemical change measures the total work done by the system in its passage from one specified state to another, but it is evident that it does not directly measure the true force of affinity. The stress between the parts of two molecules may be small, yet under certain conditions a chemical change may occur ; the loss of energy in the formation of the new system may be considerable, and hence the heat evolved, considerable. Chemical affinity thus regarded is a kind of liberating force. For the measurement of the ratios of the affinities of various systems, Guldberg and Waage’s method is to be preferred to the thermal method of Berthelot. Fora full consideration of chemical equilibrium Berthelot’s method is altogether insufficient, although it has /argely advanced the solution of this problem. The method of Willard Gibbs seems the only feasible one in the present state of the chemical and mathematical sciences. In this method (see NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 516) the energy and entropy of a system are considered—the stability of a system depends on the component masses, NATURE [Fuly 29, 1880 volume, and entropy (the mzagzztudes of the system) ; and on the temperature, pressure, and fofential (the zxtensities of the system). The stability of a system is chiefly dependent, according to Berthelot, on the amount of heat evolved in the passage to the given state from an initial state, and on the general properties of the given system as compared with other possible systems. This is evidently a much cruder statement than that of Gibbs. Berthelot’s principle of maximum work is indeed one among many deductions made by the method of the American professor. Both methods lead to a recognition of chemical equi- librium as an outcome of chemical action ; the conditions of the latter are considered before those of the former ; chemical kinetics precedes chemical statics. The usual method of the text-books is to make chemical equilibrium all-important, and barely to mention the subject of chemical kinetics. It is evident that the time when it will be possible to treat chemical problems by a purely dynamical method is yet distant. The method of Gibbs leads the way in bringing chemical generalisations under the domain of the principles of energy, and it does this without assump- tions about the action of the parts of molecules; the method is a thermo-dynamical one. , Berthelot’s method, on the other hand, is thermo- chemical; but a thermo-chemical method seems to promise the largest development in the present state of the science. Berthelot perhaps claims too much for his method: in his great work he is not always definite in his use of such terms as “force,” ‘‘affinity,” “energy,” “work ;” never- theless the ‘Essai de Mécanique chimique’’ is undoubt- edly a great work. To Berthelot (and to Thomsen) is due the honour of having steadily pursued the thermo- chemical method for many years, and of having collected masses of most important facts; and he has now enriched chemical science by the publication of these results in a collected and systematic form, in a treatise full of original ideas and suggestive of almost unlimited topics for future work and discussion. Whata field of work is opened before one in this book! To determine that this body is produced by the action of these bodies is not enough; indeed it is scarce a beginning. Chemical science has higher aims. The changes of energy which accompany changes of configuration of matter must be measured ; the physical and chemical constants of all the products of a chemical change must be determined with care, the velocity of the change must be measured, and an attempt must be made to apply dynamical reasoning to the results thus obtained. The first volume of the “ Essai,’ entitled ‘ Calori- métrie,” begins with general remarks on thermo-chemical work, and on affinity ; after laying down certain general theorems concerning chemical reactions, and illustrating the application of these in the formation of insoluble and soluble salts, the formation of series of carbon com- pounds, &c., a detailed account is given of experi- mental calorimetric methods; this is accompanied by numerous tables of specific heats, heats of combination, heats of solution, heats of formation of salts in solution, heats accompanying isomeric changes, &c. The second yolume—entitled “Mécanique”—is concerned with a ah Fuly 29, 1880] study of the conditions which determine chemical changes. This general study divides itself into two branches: chemical decompositions and recompositions—included under the title of ““ Dynamique Chimique” ; and secondly those final distributions of matter which result from reciprocal actions between simple or compound bodies, grouped together as “ Statique Chimique.’”’ Would it not have been better to have entitled the general subject “ Chemical Dynamics,’ and the branches “ Chemical Kinetics’’ and “ Chemical Statics’’ respectively ? It would obviously be impossible to give here even an outline of Berthelot’s treatment of this immense field of work ; one or two instances must suffice. The two fundamental generalisations of the French chemist have already been mentioned. Let us turn to his treatment of the specific heats of elementary bodies and of chemical equilibrium. Berthelot refuses to accept the law of Dulong and Petit as applied to solid elements. He says that the actually- determined specific heats of the elements vary much with temperature, and that the products of these numbers into so-called atomic weights are of very different values. He gives a list of 11 elements, the specific heats of whose equivalents is about 6°4; anda list of 31 for which the product of specific heat into equivalent weight is about Bz This result well illustrates what will probably be regarded by most chemists as a fundamental error on the part of the author of the ‘‘Essai’’ ; Berthelot is still to be classed among the staunch supporters of the system of notation founded on equivalents. In this country we have no such phenomenon as a great chemist who writes the formula of nitric acid AzO;. Nevertheless Berthelot’s thermal chemistry is founded on a molecular theory. He constantly speaks of molecules and of action between the parts of molecules ; he also speaks of the architecture of atoms, and seems to regard the modern atomic theory as utterly opposed to such an idea. : “The kinetic energy of the molecule may be regarded as made up of two parts—that of the mass of the molecule supposed to be concentrated at its centre of mass, and that of the motions of the parts relative to the centre of mass. The first part is called the energy of translation, the second that of rotation and vibration. The sum of these is the whole energy of motion of the molecule. The pressure of the gas depends on the energy of translation alone. The specific heat depends on the rate at which the whole energy, kinetic and potential, increases as the tem- tT rises.’ (Clerk Maxwell, Chem. Soc, Journ., 13, 502. In the present state of our knowledge of the internal motion of the parts of a molecule it is impossible to _ determine satisfactorily the ratio of the two parts of the energy of the molecule, and it is extremely difficult to reconcile the observed with the calculated ratios of specific heats. Nevertheless, if we adopt the mean numbers found for the specific heats of the solid elements and multiply these into the maximum atomic weights as determined by the aid af Avogadro’s law, we get a result which is too constant to be merely accidental. Taking Kopp’s numbers, calculated from specific heats of compounds, for those elements which have not yet been obtained in the solid form, we find that the product of specific heat NATURE 287 into atomic weight (ot egucvalent weight) is about 6:4 for forty-four elements, about 5°5 for ten elements, less than 5 for two elements, and is yet unknown for eight elements. Furthermore we find that the specific heats of the elements are fairly constant, provided they be determined for a temperature-interval known to be considerably below the temperature of fusion of the elements. We seem, therefore, fully justified in accepting the law of Dulong and Petit as an empirical statement of very considerable value, although not as a final statement of the connection subsisting between the ratio of the two parts of the energy of the elementary mole- cules, and the relative weights of the parts of the same molecules. In treating the subject of chemical equilibrium Berthelot first of allexamines processes of chemical combinations in general, and contrasts these with processes of decomposi- tion; hethenstudiesthose changes which are madeup of two parts—-a direct and reverse—and which are characterised by the attainment of a limit dependent on conditions of temperature, pressure, relative masses, &c. The che- mical equilibrium thus established he divides into two kinds: equilibrium of homogeneous bodies, z.e., when the original and final substances are all liquid or gaseous and capable of complete admixture during the course of the change ; and equilibrium of heterogeneous bodies, 2.e., when some of the substances are solid and some liquid, or some liquid and some gaseous, or when all are liquid or gaseous, but are nevertheless incapable of complete admixture. Examples are given of [each kind {of equi- librium, and of the conditioning influence of temperature, pressure, mass of solvent, contact with other substances, relative masses of reacting bodies, chemical functions of reacting bodies, velocity of the change, &c. The phenomena of equilibrium of heterogeneous systems lead to a discussion of dissociation ; this to a consideration of precipitation, and thence to an instructive chapter on the state of salts in solution, and the meaning of the terms “feeble” and “strong” as applied to acids and bases. Although, in considering Berthelot’s treatment of chemi_ cal equilibrium, one’misses the bold and fascinating results obtained by Gibbs in his great paper on the “ Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances,’ and the exactitude and simplicity of the beautiful theory of Guldberg and Waage, and although one cannot but much regret that he should not have written his formulz and equations in a language more easily understood by the chemist of to-day, one must nevertheless admire the breadth of view, the felicity of illustration, and the suggestiveness of the work of the French chemist. The publication of the “ Essai’? marks an important point in the advance of modern chemistry: it comes to the chemist with the message, amongst others, that his science demands more than the stereotyped so-called original investigation, ip which are detailed a few proper- ties of a number of new compounds produced by methods long ago marked out and defined ; it tells him that he must revise and advance his methods, that he must fry to explain his facts by appeal to principles, that he must not be afraid to strike off the beaten path into the by-ways of research, and that there is more to be hoped 288 WATURE [Fuly 29, 1850 for in a bold impatience than in the ‘Smooth diffused tranquillity of heartless pains.”’ M. M. PATTISON MuIR A JAPANESE ROMANCE Chiushingura, or the Loyal League ; a Fapanese Romance. Translated by F. V. Dickins, B.Sc., of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law. (London: Allen and Co., 1880.) HIS book is one of great value and interest, both from a purely literary and from an anthropological point of view, and further as yielding a most instructive lesson in the meaning of Japanese pictorial art. Mr. Dickins is well qualified for the task which he has per- formed, being not only a practised Japanese and Chinese scholar, but a man of very wide attainments in various branches of natural science, and he has been able to supply a series of most valuable explanatory notes in the appendix of his work. It may be mentioned that he com- menced his career by graduating in science and medicine at the University of London, and that after having served for some years as a surgeon in the navy he was called to the bar, and. practised his profession for many years at Yokohama, where, by constant study, he became deeply versed in all that pertains to Japanese life and customs. The present work is illustrated by the actual Japanese woodcuts with which the Japanese edition of the historical novel of which it is a translation is embellished. The woodcuts were printed in Japan by native workmen, and are now bound up with the English text. The reader is therefore able to form an exact conception of the ideas which the Japanese artist has intended to convey in the twenty-nine pictures which the work contains. It is most interesting to all who arein any way attracted by Japanese art to realise the mode in which the emotions, such as rage and despair, laughter and pain, are depicted, and to join as it were in a Japanese game of blind-man’s-buff. The “Chiushingura, or Loyal League,” is an historical romance which embodies the history of the forty-seven Ronin so well known from Mr. Mitford’s account of it in his fascinating “Tales of Old Japan.” The present romance is one of the most popular and best known in Japan, or rather was so, for its main object is to glorify “ Chiushin,” or loyal-heartedness, the supreme virtue of the Bushi class under the old order of .things that passed away with the year 1868. Disloyalty was considered to be the meanest of crimes, rendering the person guilty of it unworthy of existence, and the Japanese self-despatch, seppuku, which occurs abundantly in the romance, was a self-inflicted atonement for this crime, and in no sense a mere ignoble suicide. The action of the romance is laid in the fourteenth century, although the events on which it is founded really occurred at the beginning of the eighteenth, the author having been compelled to disguise barely the reality by diluting the history with a certain’ amount of fiction, and altering names and dates so as to evade the law which, under the Shogunate, attached severe penalties to the publication of recent or current events of a public character. : - We cannot detail the plot of the story, but will give a few exttacts. A highway robber after murdering an old man soliloquises thus as he kicks the body aside: “Wretched piece of work. Well, I am sorry for it. I did not do it out of any malice, but you see you had money, that killed you. No money, and you'd be alive now. Your money was your enemy. Ican’t help pitying you. Which prayer are you for? Namu amida butsu, or Namu miy6hé renge-kiy6? Choose one, and let all end.’ The prayers are Buddhist, the words being Sanskrit ones which have undergone much Japanese alteration. The story closes with the account of the attack of the forty-seven Ronin on the castle of Maronhao, the murderer of their lord Yenya (by ‘‘murderers’’ being meant the persons who compelled Yenya to perform seppuku). Their mode of proceeding is very quaint. In the very heat of the attack, just as they burst into the dwelling of their victim, the leader of the expedition, in true style of a Japanese general, calmly seats himself on a camp-stool and gives his orders. The neighbours on either side are roused by the noise and send their re- tainers to see what is going on. “Ya ya,” they cry, “what means all this uproar and confusion, clashing of weapons and hurtling of arrows? Are you attacked by rioters or by robbers, or has a fire broken out somewhere ?. We have been commanded to find out what is going on, and inform our masters of the cause of disturbance.” The Ronin answer, “‘We are liegemen of Yenya Han- guwan; some forty of us banded together to revenge our lord’s death upon his enemy, and are now struggling to get at him. Weare not rising against the Government, still less have we any quarrel with yourlords. As to fire, strict orders have been given to be very careful, and we beg you not to be under any apprehension on that score, We only ask you to leave us alone and not to interfere with us. If as neighbours you should think yourselves bound to assist our enemy, we shall be obliged, despite our inclination, to turn our weapons against you.” To these bold words the retainers of the noblemen shout back approvingly, “ Right. well done, right well done; in your place we should feel ourselves bound to act as you are acting ; pray command our services.” So they desert the roofs and put out their lights. When Maronhao is at last caught he is treated with ceremonious respect, and afforded the opportunity of performing suicide in the usual manner. “ We pray you pardon our violence, and beg of you that you will Aresent us with your head according to the usage of our country.” But Maronhao is a vile, ungentlemanly ruffian, and draw- ing his sword under pretence of ripping himself up, he makes a treacherous lunge at the leader of the Ronin So he is at once despatched without ‘more ado, The ) head is cut off with the dagger with which Yenya com-. mitted “seppuku,” and is struck at in frenzy, gnashed at, and cried over in grief and fury by the Ronin. Then it is washed, and presented on a small stand before the “jhai” (a tablet inscribed with the posthumous name of the deceased) of Yenya placed opposite to it on a similar stand. Incense is burnt before the “ihai,’’ and a prayer is offered up to the dead Yenya ‘‘resting amid the shadows of the tall grass’’ (in the grave), that he will look with favour on the offering. Then all the Ronin betake themselves to his grave and perform ‘“‘seppuku” them- selves. “3 ee Fuly 29, 1880} The Appendix contains an interesting account of a Japanese orchestra, many historical notes, and various information of great ethnological value. The notes throughout the book are very interesting, and some of themamusing. Thus, when the Ronin are crowding round the body of their victim they shout, “ Happy are weas the Moki when he found his waif.” In the note we learn that “the MOki, according to a Chinese fable, was a species of sea-tortoise with one eye in its belly. For three thou- sand years the monster had longed to see the light, but in vain. One day, while swimming about the surface of the sea, it came into contact with a piece of drift-weod, to which it immediately clung in such a manner that the belly was uppermost under the wood, a ragged hole in which fortunately allowed the tortoise the opportunity of at last satisfying its long-cherished desire. There is a curious note on p. 120 on an allusion in the text as follows :—“ Allusion is here made to the practice of hacking at the dead bodies of criminals, by which the young Samurahi was wont to perfect himself in swords- manship under the old order of things. Treatises exist upon this repulsive art—for an art it seems to have been considered—and one of the commonest of picture-rolls used to represent the various cuts, distinguished by special names, by practising which the aspirant could best learn on the dead subject to qualify himself for mangling the living one.” The Appendix contains a translation in verse of a popular Japanese ballad which is often sung as a kind of epithalamium, and which gives a pleasing conception of Japanese poetry. We commend the book to all our readers. H. N. MOSELEY OUR BOOK SHELF Loch Etive and the Sons of Uisnach. With Illustrations. (London : Macmillan and Co.) ALL sorts of epithets have recently been applied to Oban —the Brighton of Scotland, by those whose highest ideal of heaven is “ London by the Sea” ; the future Liverpool of the North, according to one of its most constant wooers, that enthusiastic Celt, Prof. Blackie; the “ Charing Cross of the Highlands,” a picturesque placard of one of the railway companies informs the public. But to those who have been there and know from impressive experi- ence all the romantic beauties of island and loch and rugged coast to which the modern Argyllshire coast town is the key, no epithet however ingenious is half so ex- pressive and beautiful as simple ‘‘ Oban” itself, especially since the “ Princess of Thuie” has shed a glory over all the Western Islands from Stornoway southwards. But there is the glamour of a story much older than that which William Black has told so well hovering around some of the lochs and headlands in the neighbourhood of Oban. It is this old old story which is told in the anonymous volume before us, the author of which, were we at liberty to reveal his name, our readers would recognise as one occupying a very high rank in a certain department of physical science. The story is that of the early migrations of the Irish Scots to the land which for the last 800 years has borne their name. By the help of a somewhat clumsy dialogue the author takes the reader to some of the localities in and around Loch Etive men- tioned in the half-legendary record which remains of these early migrations. He seeks to reproduce the stirring life of the time and localities, takes us to the spots where the Irish emigrants and their distant kinsmen came in contact, unearths the ruins of their houses and forts, NATURE 289 and the remains of their household utensils and warlike weapons. The work has, however, wider bearings than its immediate subject, and several important points con- nected with the early “Aryan” migrations are discussed in a style much more in accordance with the canons of scientific investigation, and therefore of common sense, than is usual with those who are in the habit of handling such subjects. The chapter on the Celts is specially interesting; its breadth of view is admirable. The authors discussion of the question of Celt and Saxon, Aryan and non-Aryan, and in connection therewith the subject of mixture of race, is an excellent specimen of close reasoning, and we strongly commend it to the study of “Saxon” and ‘‘ Celtic” enthusiasts. To those who read this work with care and with the help of a good map a new interest will be added to Oban and its vicinity, which is now rendered so accessible by the opening of the Oban Railway. The numerous illustra- tions will be found really helpful ; and grand and musical as the names cf many of the places illustrated are in themselves, they will be clothed with a lively significance to those who take the trouble to study the legends of the Sons of Uisnach. The Birds, Fishes, and Cetacea commonly frequenting Belfast Lough. By Robert Lloyd Patterson. (London: David Bogue, 1880.) THIS work does not purport to be a scientific treatise, but to be a record of many years’ observations on the cetacea, birds, and fishes found commonly frequenting Belfast Lough. This lough is, in its way, almost classic ground to the naturalist, and in connection with the treasures to be found around its shores or in its waters, the names of Thompson, Hyndman, Templeton, Haliday, and that of the father of the author of this volume, will ever be asso- ciated. The lough is favourably situated for receiving the visits of birds, though the great and still increasing traffic through it must to some extent frighten away many a species; and in grandeur of beauty and variety of life it will not favourably compare with the fine fjord-like bays of Western Ireland. Mr. Patterson tells us that the greater portion of the matter in this volume was originally brought together in the form of papers, which were read at different times before the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, which will account in great mea- sure for their style and for their being somewhat discur= sive ; still the volume is for the most part pleasant reading, and every now and then we come across very interesting and novel facts. In the chapter about gannets we read a good deal about their great feeding powers, and the following estimate of how many herrings the Scotch gan- nets eat ina year is noteworthy ; it is given on the authority of Commander M‘Donald, of H.M. cruiser VigzZant. Of the five Scotch stations where the gannet breeds, the number of birds frequenting each is put down as fol- lows :—Ailsa Craig, 12,000; the Bass Rock, 12,000; St. Kilda, 50,000; the Stack, 50,000; Gula Sgeir, 300,000, or a total of 424,000. Each of these birds would consume at least a dozen herrings in the day if it could get them ; but estimating the daily average as six to each gannet produces 928,560,000 as the quantity consumed in one year, and reckoning 800 herrings to a barrel gives us 1,160,700 barrels captured by the gannets, as against 750,000 barrels, the total take by fishermen on the west coast of Scotland for 1872. Many more such extracts might we give, but our space is limited, and our desire is to send the reader to the volume itself. Almost every- where throughout the work the author spells the specific names with capital letters, in this overlooking both the rules and practice of men of science. Sometimes, indeed, a specific name, if after a person or place, may be thus spelled without offence, but these exceptional cases should not be made the rule. The volume is dedicated to the memory of the author’s father, Robert Patterson; F.R.S. 290 NATURE [Fuly 29, 1880 Key to the Universe; or, a New Theory of tts Mechanism. Founded upon a (t) Continuous Orbital Propulsion, arising from the Velocity of Gravity and its Conseguent Aberrations ; (2) Resisting Ethereal Medium of Vari- able Density, with Mathematical Demonstrations and Tables. By Orson Pratt, Senior. Second Edition. (Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 1879.) Mr. ORSON PRATT’S work is not a text-book for students, but an application of dynamical principles to the system of the Universe. ‘“ The aim of the author is to vindicate the UNIVERSALITY of the law (¢.¢., of gravitation) ; to rescue it from the environed limits sought to be thrown around it, and to give it that unlimited freedom of action which the distinguished ‘name ‘UNIVERSAL’ so appropriately and definitely imports.”” Mr. Pratt states that astronomical science needs a theory which will answer as far as pos- sible nine questions, which he propounds ; the second is, “Why do planetary bodies rotate upon their respective axes? Why do they rotate from west to east, instead of the contrary direction? Is there any law governing their diurnal periods?”? The ninth, ‘“ Will cometary orbits ever be converted into those of a planetary form?” “Unaided and alone, he launches his humble barque upon this great unexplored ocean, with a compass of his own invention.’’ The discussion occupies thirteen chapters, and his investigations result “in the development of the following beautiful law: Zhe cube roots of the densities of the planets are as the square roots of their periods of votation.” \Vithout making any long comments of our own we can say that Mr. Pratt’s book gives evidence of much hard work and, it may be, of ingenious speculation, and we quote as appropriate to the work before us the following remarks of Prof. Newcomb (“Popular Astro- nomy,’’ p. 233): “It is true that many ingenious people employ themselves from time to time in working out numerical relations between the distances of the planets, their masses, their times of rotation, and so on, and will probably continue to do so; because the number of such relations which can be made to come somewhere near the exact numbers is very great. This, however, does not indicate any law of nature.”’ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Zditor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressureon his space is so great that it zs impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.) The Recent Gas Explosion THE explosion of the gas main in the neighbourhood of the Tottenham Court Road appears to be an example ona large scale of the phenomenon which occurs on the bursting of a eudiometer. It is known (although I do not speak from experience) that when such an accident happens the glass gives way at the surface of the mercury in the tube, for at this point the explosion is most violent, in consequence of the gas being compressed by the explosion of that above it. When no accident takes place the flash of light is more brilliant at the surface of the mercury than in the upper part of the tube. In order to see if this fact would throw any light on the explosion of the gas main I tried a few experiments about a fortnight ago, an account of which may possess some interest. A piece of combusticn tube 1°93 m. long and 13°5 mm. in diameter was closed at one end, and at oo mm. from the open end of the tube a pair of platinum wires was sealed into the glass. The tube was filled over water with a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen obtained by the electrolysis of dilute sulphuric acid, and the mouth of the tube closed with a plug of wet cotton wool. The tube was placed on the lawn and secured to a heavy weight by a piece of string tied near the open end; a spark from an induction-coil was then passed between the wires. The explosion of the gas blew out the plug of cotton wool and bent the platinum wires against the sides of the tube, but the glass was not broken. The tube was again filled with the mixed gases and closed with a cork, which was not forced tightly into the mouth of the tube. This time the tube burst in the middle, leaving *78m. of the closed end and "59m. of the open end without damage. The cork was projected some distance, but the wires were not bent by the rush of gas ; the closed end of the tube was only slightly moved from its original position by the explosion. Another piece of similar tube, but only about °8$ m, in length, was next filled with gas and exploded in the same manner. The closed end was burst, and °475 m. of the open end remained. In this case the cork was also projected, but the wires were not bent. The experiment being made at night, it was noticed that the flash was much more brilliant at the closed than at the open end of the tube. A third tube of the same length as the first was next tried; the cork was blown out, but the tube did not burst. It was again filled and the cork forced in tightly, but it was again projected. The third time a block of stone was placed a few millimetres in front of the cork ; this prevented its projection, but the tube did not burst, being apparently of thicker glass than the previous tubes. In the last three cases the flash was brilliant in the half of the tube towards the closed end, The explanation of the experiments seems to be, that in the two tubes that burst the pressure produced by the explosion at a distance of about three quarters of a metre from the point at which the gas was fired was sufficient to overcome the resistance of the glass; and in the case of the long tube, which burst in the middle, the release of the pressure prevented the closed end from being destroyed. If the tube had been much longer there would probably have been another place where the violence of the explosion produced by the compression of the gas would have burst the tube. The press of work at the end of the term has prevented my carrying the experiments farther, but I intend to try the effect of an explosion in a long lead or composition pipe, when I expect to find several swellings or burstings of the metal at the points where the pressure is greatest. When the experiments have been made I hope to be allowed to communicate them to you. HERBERT MCLEOD Cooper’s Hill, July 243 The Freshwater Medusa In Nature, vol. xxii. p. 241, Prof. Lankester asserts that I had in a previous number (vol. xxii. p. 218) incorrectly repre- sented him as holding that in Limnocodium the radial canals terminate blindly, and as denying the presence of a marginal canal. In proof of my inaccuracy he makes the following statement :— “* A reference to NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 147, will show that in my first publication on the subject I gave as a character of the new genus, ‘ Radiating canals 4, opening into the marginal canal. Marginal or ring canal voluminous.’ I made the same statement in my communication to the Royal Society on June 17, and have not since deviated from it.” I have read the article to which Prof. Lankester here refers, and which was published on the date of the reading of his paper at the Royal Society. The only allusions in it to this subject are the following :— ¥ oY RADIATING CANALS 4, terminating blindly at the margin of the disk.” ““MARGINAL or RING CANAL obliterated (or, if present, of very minute size).” Gro, J. ALLMAN Storm Effects Tue storms about this part of Surrey have been lately local and violent, and the effects produced in some instances curious. Visiting a neighbour’s farm on Wednesday evening (2Ist), we found a field of standing wheat considerably knocked about, not as an entirety, but in patches forming, as viewed from a distance, circular spots. Examined more closely, the-e all presented much the same character, viz., a few standing stalks as a centre, some prostrate stalks with their heads arranged pretty evenly in a direction forming a circle round the centre, and outside these a circular wall of stalks which had not suffered. I send a sketch made on the spot, giving an idea of the most Fuly 29 1880] perfect of these patches. The soil is a sandy loam upon the greensand, and the crop is vigorous, with strong stems, and I could not trace locally any circumstances accounting for the peculiar forms of the patches in the field, nor indicating whether it was wind or rain, or both combined, which had caused them, beyond the general evidence everywhere of heavy rainfall. They were to me suggestive of some cyclonic wind action, and may perhaps have been noticed elsewhere by some of your readers, Guildown, Guildford, July 23 J. RAND CAPRON The Inevitable Test for Aurora I HAVE not long returned from abroad, and have only re- cently had the opportunity of perusing in NATURE (vol. xxii. pp. 76, 96, 145) the correspondence of Messrs. De La Rue and Miiller, Prof. Piazzi Smyth, and Mr, Backhouse on this subject. I do not understand Messrs. De La Rue and Miiller as claim- ing their electric discharges to be in the nature cf an actual auroral discharge, but rather that their experiments inform us inductively at what heights aurorze are to be found. This, how- ever, doubtless assumes that the discharges in question and aurorze must have something very much in common; and Prof, Piazzi Smyth is quite to the point in remarking that unless the citron line (and, I would add, the red line) are present in the spectrum, the identity of the discharges with the aurora has not even a foundation. The fact is, that many of the electric discharges in air and the air gases, and the circumstances attending them—we may in- stance the ordinary tube glow, its change from rose-tint to violet under magnetic influence, the aura-are accompanying the spark discharge under similar conditions, the dark space between the terminal and the glow, the change of colours in a hydrogen tube, and other appearances which I have not time to capitulate —so closely resemble auroral incidents, that one is quite disap- pointed to find on examination no concordance in the spectra. At the most, in a vague and unsatisfactory way one or two of the blue and violet lines in the aurora spectrum have been assigned to one or other of the atmospheric gases ; but as Prof, Smyth points out, the red and green giant lines of the spectrum have up to the present time found no terrestrial analogues. I have examined the air spectrum and the spectra of the com- ponent gases of air under many various conditions, but always without success so far as these lines are concerned. I have not, however, had the opportunity of doing this in the case of direct discharges from large secondary batteries ; and it would undoubtedly be a valuable addition to our knowledge of facts relating to aurore if Messrs. De La Rue and Miiller would undertake this examination, and clear up matters in that respect. With regard to the heights at which aurorz obtain, the evidence is very conflicting. Certainly they have been seen very near the earth (*‘ Aurore, their Characters and Spectra,” pp. 37 to 40. Height of the Aurora), It is unfortunate that simultaneous observations of the auroral corona are almost entirely wanting. I think I once saw one in print, but missed it subsequently, and would be glad if any particulars could now be furnished me. Prof. Newton, by calculations based on observations of auroral arches in 28 aurorz, has assigned a height of from 33 to 281 miles, with a mean of 130 miles, Messrs. De la Rue and Miiller, I notice, deduce experimentally that at 124 miles no discharge could occur. As to whether the red or the white aurora is the nearest to the earth, my impression certainly is that the apparently low-lying aurorze have generally been the white. I may instance the aurora seen by Mr. Ladd a Margate, ‘‘a white ray,” and that seen by me in the Isle of Skye in September, 1874. In Lapland, too, the aurorze seem almost universally yellow, but it can hardly be assumed that they are all thirty-seven miles high, The apparently lower position of the red tint is by no means universal, and can hardly be relied upon as evidence on the point, especially when so many aurore are seen in which it is wanting. I have great hopes, with a spectro- cope specially prepared for the purpose, of getting the photo- graphed spectrum of an aurora. The red line is of course out of the question, but judging from experiments on gas tubes I think the green might be got, and the blue and violet I make in anticipation pretty sure of in the event of an aurora lasting some hours. The principle of the instrument is a long collimator, a single fluid prism, and a short focus- projecting lens, used with rapid dry plates, Guildown, Guildford, July 23 J. RAND CAPRON NATURE 291 Experiment with Glass Tubes I HAVE just been repeating a very beautiful experiment of Prof. Quincke’s which he showed me some weeks ago in his laboratory at Heidelberg. The experiment was, I believe, described in Poggendorff about two years ago, but I have not seen it noticed in English papers, and a few words about it may interest your readers. Prof, Quincke, with a view to test the porosity of glass for gases, sealed up tubes in which hydrogen and carbonic acid were generated in great quantity, and weighed them from time to time. Up to the present time, as I learned from him, no loss of weight has been detected. He obtained, however, a very curious result. As Ido not know precisely how Prof. Quincke filled his tubes, let me describe what I did myself three weeks ago, remarking that I have done nothing but attempt to repeat what he showed me in Heidelberg. I took a glass tube, AB, about 5 inches long and # inch in external diameter, with good stout walls. I closed the end A, and let the glass fall in at c, keeping it still very strong, and annealing very carefully at Aandc. I introduced some sul- phuric acid into the part CA, care- fully keeping the neck c dry, and dropped into the part Bc some frag- ments of marble, previously washed, in order that no little particles should tumble down through the neck, c,and commence effervescing before I was ready. I then drew out the tube at B, making a small hook, by which the tube can be suspended if necessary, closed it yery strongly, and annealed the extremity carefully, wrapped the tube in cotton wool, and inverted it. The sulphuric acid attacked the marble, and carbonic acid was given off no doubt in great quantity. For the first few days there was nothing particular to be noticed. The tube was filled with a bubbling mass of liquid and white mud. Latterly, however, it has begun to show the phenomena which Prof. Quincke observed. ‘The liquid now no longer wets the glass as it did at first, but creeps away from it, giving very much the appearance of the ‘‘tears of strong wine.” Day by day this is getting more marked, and I expect that soon, as was the case in the Heidelberg tubes, the acid will roll about in the tube like somuch quicksilver, Meantime it is most interesting to watch. I believe Prof. Quincke considers that a thick layer of gas is condensed over the surface of the glass, and that it is this which gives rise to the very peculiar capillary phenomena that present themselves. I feel bound to remark that the experiment is one that ought not to be attempted without great care and caution. J. T. BOTTOMLEY Physical Laboratory, University of Glasgow, July 15 On the Colours of Double Stars Ir any light whatever has its intensity increased the effect on the eye is to add to the sensation a certain yellow element which I have accurately defined by experiment (Am. Four. Scz., April, 1877, vol. xiii, p. 247). A red light brightened becomes yellower, a green light yellower, a yellowish white less white, a blue or violet light whiter. The phenomena are described at length in Prof. Rood’s ‘‘Modern Chromatics.” The fact that an incandescent body becomes less red and more yeilow when it is heated is probably due to this physiological principle. That the incandescent body ultimately becomes white is probably owing to some not understood modification of the principle for excessively bright lights. ’ It follows that if two stars are of unequal brightness they will appear of different colours unless the qualities of the two lights have a peculiar relation to one another; and the brighter star will usually be the yellower. Accordingly, if we refer to Mr, Burnham’s lists of binaries recently published by Prof. Holden (Am. Four. Sci.,\June, 1880, vol. xix. p. 467) we find that although differences of colour are so little distinguished that three: quarters of all the pairs are considered to be of the same colour, yet of the twenty-four pairs which differ in brightness by two magnitudes 292 or over, not one is considered to have components of the same colour. And of the forty-two pairs which are said to be of different colour all but two have more yellow in the brighter, so much so indeed that it is possible to suppose that the difference of brightness is the chief cause of the difference of colour. The two exceptions are :— No. 23. € Bovtis A. eq. Cerulea B. eq. Cerulea No. 42, OS 507 A. Blanche B. Cendriolivatre There is evidently some error about No. 23. Either the colours are wrong, or it is wrongly stated to have differently coloured components. In No. 42 it is difficult to say which component is more yellow. Although, then, it is certain that other causes largely affect the colours of stars, yet differences of brightness seem to have the greatest effect in producing the apparent differences in the colours of double-stars. Prof. Holden compares the colours of bright and faint stars to those of a more or less hot incandescent body. But in the latter case the dimmer light is accompanied with redness. We know that this is not the case with the light of our own sun; for of a white surface, upon part of which the sun shines, while the rest is in shadow, the darker part is bluer. In the same way, of the forty binaries of which the brighter component is the yellower, there are thirty-seven in which the fainter is bluer, and only three in which it is distinctly redder. It appears, therefore, that most double-stars do not differ greatly in colour from our sun, and do not shine with the strongly red light of an incandescent solid. C. S, PEIRCE Paris, July 20 Coffee-Disease in New Granada THE following information about what appears to be a new disease of the coffee-tree is taken from an official letter written on April 29 last by Mr, C. Michelsen, Commissioner of Agri- culture at Bogota, to Mr. José Herrera, Vice-consul of New Granada in this city, who sent me a copy of it, requesting me to give him my opinion about the disease, At first there appear on the leaves small spots of a light- greenish colour, which in two or three days turn brownish, and then appears on each of them a fungus divdded in three or more greenish-yellow branches. This fungus is said to be phos- phorescent at night, and i places where it is very common a phosphoric smell is noted (!) After some days the diseased leaves fall off; the fruits, which also are attacked by the parasite, follow very soon, and the trees are left quite bare. They form, however, new leaves after some months, but these are again attacked by the fungus. The disease is reported to be more frequent in damp places than in dry ones, its ravages being greatest in plantations where the trees are planted rather close. The fungus has alsoattacked the shade trees, especially the gwamos (Inga sp.). ; Though the description is far from being satisfactory, I think it is pretty clear that the fungus is not the Wemileia vastatrix of Ceylonese celebrity. However it bears a great resemblance to it, so that I recommended to employ fumigations with sulphur under the kind of large umbrella proposed by Mr. George Wall (NATURE, vol. xix. p. 423). The unusually rainy weather in the last year has very likely much to do with the spread of the disease, which at the same time is a new proof of the eminently fatal consequences resulting from close planting. I have asked for dried specimens of diseased leaves, in order to submit them for examination to a competent mycologist, Caracas, June 26 A. ERNST Toughened Glass PROBABLY the accident mentioned by Mr. Noble Taylor is not exceptional, as a similar one happened to a member of my own family. She was about to take a seidlitz-powder, and had poured the contents of the blue paper into a tumbler of toughened glass half filled with cold water, and was stirring it gently to make the powder dissolve, when the tumbler flew into pieces with a sharp report. ‘There was no fire or lamp in the room at the time. Some of the fragments flew to a distance of three or four feet. The bottom of the tumbler was not altogether fractured, but cracked into a number of little squares, which could be separated readily, T. B, SPRAGUE Edinburgh, July 20 NATURE volutions cérébrales,” ‘ [ Fuly 29, 1880 THE same accident occurred to me a few nights ago as hap- pened to your correspondent, and I cannot help thinking that the spoon had most to do with the phenomenon. In a hot room I had just finished what is usually called a ‘‘Jemon squash,” z.e., the juice of a lemon and a little white sugar, with a bottle of soda-water, a lump of ice being put into the mixture. I was talking at the time, and so held the empty glass with a spoon in it in my hand for a second or two, when suddenly it went off in my hand into thousands of pieces, none larger than an inch or so. I picked up one of the largest and thickest pieces, and found it to be so thoroughly disintegrated that I broke it up with my fingers into about a hundred small pieces, and might have done more. This disintegration seems to be a natural property of toughened glass when broken, but I never before saw a case of its breaking up without being struck. I do not think that usually such occurrences are dangerous, on account of the entire destruc- tion of the fabric. Jo Cie Large Hailstones ON Tuesday, July 13, at 2.30 p.m., hail began to fall heavily in this neighbourhood. A thunderstorm was at the time ap- proaching rapidly from the north-east. I was struck with the extraordinary size of the stones, and going into the open air I collected six—the first that came to hand—in an accurately-tared glass, and weighed rapidly. The six stones weighed 5°766 grams. The average weight for each stone was therefore ‘961 gram. or 14°8 grains. A pane of glass in a skylight window had a hole driven through it by one hail-stone. GEORGE PATERSON Borax Works, Old Swan, Liverpool, July 14 CHATEL, JERSEY.—Please send exact address. / \ \/ PAUL BROCA fp sudden death of the eminent French anthropolo- gist, Dr. Paul Broca, which we announced a fortnight since, is an irreparable loss to science, and for the French medical and anthropological schools particularly. _ Prof. Broca, born in 1824 at Ste. Foy la Grande (Gironde), was a senator, vice-president of the Academy of Medicine, officer of the Legion of Honour, and member of several learned societies. Since 1846, the year in which he was promoted Aide d’anatomie, till 1880, when he died as a professor of surgery, during nearly thirty-four years the life of Dr. Broca has been an uninterrupted consecration to science. A rapid review of his scientific work, espe- cially of what he did for anthropology, will show how indefatigable was his zeal, how well his life has been spent. : . Broca’s publications on various subjects in anatomy, surgery, and anthropology are innumerable, especially his contributions to the last-mentioned subject. One has only to open the numerous volumes of the Budletins of the Paris Anthropological Society, of the J/émoires and the Revue ad’ Anthropologie and other scientific journals, to get an idea of Broca’s immense activity. In 1856 he published his famous ‘*Traité des Anéurismes,” which, with his “ Traité des Tumeurs,” published in 1866, constitute his principal medical works. The former opened a new era in the treatment of these affections; in the latter Broca expounded the historical evolution of the know- ledge of tumours and their treatment in so able a manner that it has hitherto not been surpassed. In 1861 Broca made his remarkable discovery of the seat of articulate language at the third frontal convo- lution of the left side of the brain. Moreover in later years Broca devoted himself to the study of the brains of man and animals, greatly contributing to our know- ledge on that subject. The Revue a’ Anthropologie con- tains many of the results of these studies 5 _for instance, “Sur la Topographie cranio-cérébrale,”’ “ Etude sur le Cerveau du Gorille,” ‘ Anatomie comparée des Circon- “‘Localisations cérébrales,” &c. Fuly 29, 1880] NATURE 293 His treatise “Des Phenoménes d’Hybridité dans le Genre humain” appeared in 1858 and 1859, and in 1864 was translated into English. Among the great number of memoirs may further be mentioned: “ L’Intelligence des Animaux et le Régne humain,” “La prétendue Degénerescence de la Population francaise,” a brilliant plea for the French nation, “T/Ordre des Primates: Parallele anatomique de l’Homme et des Singes,” “ Recherches sur l’Indice Nasal,” “Etude sur la Constitution des Vertébres caudales chez les Pri- mates sans Queue,” “‘ Les Troglodytes de la Vézére,” “La Race Celtique ancienne et moderne,” “Etude sur les Propriétés hygrométriques des Cranes,’’ “Sur T Origine et la Répartition de la Langue basque,’ ‘‘ Recherches sur V’Indice orbitaire,”’ “Sur l Angle orbito-occipital.” The practical results of a good deal of Dr. Broca’s anthropological researches are found in his “ Instruc- tions,” forming two separate volumes ; one, for the anthro- pological study of the living, appeared for the first time in 1864, and has been re-edited several times since; the other, particularly on craniology and craniometry, was published in 1875. Another valuable memoir is that on the ‘‘ Indices de Largeur de l’Omoplate chez l Homme, les Singes et dans la Série des Mammiféres,” in which he opened up new views on the comparative anatomy of races and mammals. One of Dr. Broca’s last works was his important study on the “ Variations craniométriques et de leur Influence sur les Moyennes,” &c. The greatest glory of Broca is perhaps the foundation of the Anthropological Society of Paris in 1859. The perseverance and talent of the founder surmounted all the difficulties and troubles of every kind which threatened in the beginning the existence of the society, which now, after nearly one-and-twenty years, is flourishing as one of the first learned societies in Europe. During these long years Broca was the soul of the anthropological move- ment in France; nay, we may say that his influence extended far beyond his own country, and that the study of man in other civilised countries has been followed after his method. In reality Broca was at the same time the founder of a new and excellent anthropological school: his method of anthropometry, &c., as expounded in the “Instructions” above-mentioned, is now followed by the great majority of anthropologists. But this was not enough for the indefatigable zeal of the eminent scholar ; in 1872 he commenced to publish the Revue d’ Anthro- pologie, one of the best organs on the science of man. Many of his own works have been published in it. Broca’s last and greatest work was the foundation in 1876 of the now celebrated Ecole d’Anthropologie in Paris, with a first-rate museum, laboratories, library, and a complete course of anthropological lessons given by more than half-a-dozen professors, among whom are de Mortillet, Bertillon, and Topinard. Broca himself taught the comparative anatomy of the Primates. The laboratories above-mentioned belong at the same time to the Ecole pratique des Hautes Etudes since 1868. Broca, the scholar, philosopher, and statesman, died on the field of honour, in the midst of his work, in the vigour of life. Though dead, his work will never perish; man dies, but science remains. His illustrious example will continue to enlighten the path of those who follow the imperishable footprints he has left. H. F. C. TEN KATE THE WOOLWICH GUNS Z\. PETITION signed by several men well known in the field of mechanical science and presented to the House of Commons last week contains many points to which it is important that public attention should be directed. The memorialists state their belief that the system of heavy ordnance now in use and known as the ’ Woolwich system is inefficient'and dangerous, that, con- sidering the increasing dependence of the nation for food supply upon its command of the sea, it is evidently unsafe to neglect any of the opportunities which the mechanical skill and manufacturing resources of the country afford for securing the best weapons of offence and defence for our fleet and our army; “that, having regard to the advances constantly being made by private manufacturers in this and other countries, and to the ordnance actually in use orin course of construction for the other Powers of Europe and America, your petitioners look with dismay upon the defects of the English heavy guns, and they are of opinion that these defects seriously endanger our naval supremacy and our national safety.” Further the peti- tioners maintain that it is not right that the heads of the manufacturing department, which is in competition with outside manufacturers, should be the official advisers of her Majesty’s Government as regards new inventions, and that the defects in our present system of ordnance arise and are likely to continue from the absence of independent criticism, and in consequence of the technical advisers of the Government being the same persons as those who either are or have been in charge of the manufactories responsible for these defects; that there are in existence several systems of o1dnance superior to the Woolwich system, and that it is of national import- ance that private establishments for the production of arms of all kinds should be encouraged and should not be crushed by giving a virtual monopoly to the Govern- ment establishments, but that the private trade and the Government factories should rather serve as reserves to cne another. The principal issues thus raised may be very shortly stated. If we want the best guns, can they be obtained better from a Government manufactory carefully fenced round by official jealousy, or can a better article be pro- cured by open competition amongst private manu- facturers? Is it impossible for the technical advisers of the Government to select from the enormous mass of inventions and improvements offered to them those of real value? And further, do they, or would they make this selection if it were in their power? It has often been objected that the great quantity of suggestions and friendly advice constantly being received renders it quite impossible to treat them with adequate discrimination ; but if the officials intrusted with this work were only pos- sessed of a thorough scientific knowledge of mechanical principles, we believe that nine-tenths of the worthless schemes could be at once rejected, so inevitably does the mark of the circle-squarer appear in his work to one who knows where to look for it. Respecting the remaining to per cent. of inventions and improvements, it would probably require somewhat greater practical judgment to decide which were worth further investigation ; but while we do not for a moment suggest that the whole of these should be examined and tested at the expense of the tax-payer, it is at least not too much to expect that an obviously good design should not be rejected with an official reply. Inventors are probably the most persevering of all men, and, fortunately for the cause of progress, though not perhaps for their own ad- vantage, they have a greater belief than any one else in the results they hope to obtain; but it is hardly to be ex- pected that they will bestow their whole powers of per- suasion on the authorities of their own country when they plainly see a more open field abroad. For instance, there can be little doubt that the White- head torpedo might have been a secret exclusively the property of this country if the inventor had been afforded a fair investigation; again, it would be interesting to know whether the Russian Government required as much persuasion to induce them to adopt the Moncrieff hydro- pneumatic gun-carriage as has been expended in bringing it as far as the “ experimental’’ stage in our own service. That many inventors have had a short innings at the 294 hands of the War Department is to be plainly seen in the collections of what are merely regarded as useless eccentricities at Woolwich and Shoeburyness, but it is very improbable that most of the lessons to be learnt from these have ever been appreciated by those who were responsible for their rejection. Has it not taken twenty years for the system invented by Robert Mallet of build- ing up a massive piece of ordnance capable of being taken to pieces to facilitate transport, to at length bring forth the present seven-pounder screw gun, which can be carried in halves on the backs of mules? It would be interesting to know whether any private firm in this country, if they had received the order, could have manufactured and proved a train of siege guns on similar principles, and capable of as easy transport as the modern field gun, and which would have considerably facilitated Gen. Stewart’s advance to Cabul. It can of course be urged with some show of reason that, considering the enormous supply of most patterns of guns and the vast quantity of ammunition required throughout the Empire, great inconvenience would result from too great a multiplicity of designs; but to con- tinue the manufacture of an inferior pattern for this reason when a better one is procurable appears to us only to make the evil greater when the former has to be finally abandoned as obsolete. Thus we suppose it must have been obvious to a great many persons for the last five years that the days of heavy muzzle-loading guns for the navy were numbered, from the difficulty or impossibility of giving sufficient length of bore for the consumption of large charges of powder while still enabling the gun to be fought in a turret. All possible ingenuity was then ex- pended on shortening the recoil and on mechanical systems of loading in a confined space, with results that might have been incalculably disastrous had this country been involved in war previous to the terrible accident on board the Zhunderer,; all this too while we believe a suitable pattern of breech-loader was in the hands of a private firm and had been tendered by them for adoption by the War Department. If it could be shown that a Government factory could alone turn out guns of the best manufacture, superior to anything that could be produced by private establish- ments, the logical sequence would be that armour plates and marine engines and the ships themselves should all be provided in the same way. The effect of a Government monopoly on the foreign trade of a manufacturer is too well known to require demonstration; but if the encouragement of private establishments for the production of all kinds of arms and warlike stores should result, as it doubtless would, in a larger trade with foreign powers in these manu- factures, while we should profit by their custom in time of peace, they would not only find themselves in the event of war with this country cut off from their supply of fresh arms and ammunition, but the whole of our own increased production would be available for national defence. If such an inquiry as is sought for in this petition be instituted by the present Government, conducted not only by officers of the army and navy, but also under indepen- dent scientific advice, we believe that numerous articles of belief and revered principles of construction will be shown to have been long exploded and will have to be at once abandoned. We shall then probably find the Woolwich system of rifling with increasing pitch and studded projectiles giving place to the poly-groove of uniform pitch with rotation by gas-check which has been under consideration for years, and is yet scarcely recog- nised ; we may even take a hint from the Chinese Govern- ment, who, by applying to Sir William Armstrong's firm, have for more than a year been in possession of four more powerful guns than any afloat in our most recent ironclads; we should perhaps find that a system of breech-loading is ready for adoption solving most of the difficulties of NATURE : | Fuly 29, 1880 turret and casemate defence, and that a trustworthy type of hammered steel is ready at hand to be substituted for the welded coils of wrought iron at present in use. If it should be found that our Government establish- ments have been suffering from a slow process of crystal- lisation, they might be resuscitated by being placed in keen competition with private firms whose very existence depends on their unceasing activity, or at the least it would be ascertained whether in a critical time the country would have to depend entirely on the Royal Gun Factory, or whether some of the old firms who in former years fought so hard for a share in the work have not forgotten their skill. LIVING ON WATER OW long a man can live on water alone is now the subject of an experiment in New York. A Dr. Tanner from Minnesota is devoting himself to this trial. Tanner declares that he can live for forty days without food, and is proving, or trying to prove, the truth of the hypothesis on his own unfortunate person. He is re- ported to have got through twenty-eight days of his endeavour, and still to be alive and comparatively well. On the twentieth day his pulse was 76, his temperature 98405, and his actual weight 132 lbs. On the twenty- eighth day his weight was 130 lbs. He lost 274 lbs. in the first nineteen days during which he fasted, and then ceased to waste at the same rate. The latest report we have of him states that he is cheerful, active, and, notwithstand- ing abundant medical opinion to the contrary, confident that he should continue to the end of the time named for the experiment. Of food of the solid kind he touches none ; of drink he partakes of water and nothing else; water and air will, he maintains, sustain him, and that notwithstanding exertions from riding and other exercises. Dr. Tanner is not original in this mode of attempt upon his own life. In the 7yansactions of the Albany Institute for 1830 Dr. McNaughton reported the history of aman named Reuben Kelsey, who on July 2, 1829, declined eating altogether, assigning as a reason “that when it was the will of the Almighty that he should eat he would be furnished with an appetite.”’ McNaughton’s account of this man is singularly inter- esting. We hav2 not room for all the details, but it may be told in brief that Kelsey continued to live for jifly-three days ; that he went out of doors and walked about during the greater part of the time, and that he was able to sit up in bed until the last day of his life. During the first three weeks of his abstinence he fell away very fast, but afterwards did not seem to waste so sensibly. Towards the close of his days the colour of his flesh was blue, and at last blackish. His skin was cold, and he complained of chilliness. His general appearance was so ghastly that children were afraid of him. Of this he him- self seemed to be aware, for it was not uncommon fo observe him covering his face when strangers were passing by. At the time of his death Mr. Kelsey was twenty- seven years of age. The writer of this notice once attended a gentleman, who, for a nearly similar reason as that assigned by Mr, Kelsey, abstained from all food, except water, for even a longer period, viz., fifty-five days. In this instance the wasting was most observed in the first three weeks of the fasting. From this it will be gathered that Dr. Tanner may live to the full extent of forty days on water without being suspected of having been the subject of a miracle. It is against the success of his experiment that he should be exposed to an amount of excitement and vexation that must reduce greatly the vital power, but for all that he may possibly survive the ordeal. The grand question is how he will cry back again. The facts of these examples, painful as they are, are not without their use. They indicate that water being admitted into the body, life may go on for periods Fuly 29, 1880] NATURE 295 far beyond any that might be expected, and they expose altogether the fallacy about the value of alcohol when with large quantities of water it has been administered as a supposed life-sustaining food. i % B, WR. WATERFOWL? r= of the principal objects of these lectures being the illustration of the animals exhibited in the Society's Gardens, I have selected for my address to you this day the subject of “ Waterfowl,’’ by which I mean the Anseres, or family Anatida, of naturalists, commonly known as ducks, geese, and swans. Three familiar species of domestic birds, the names of which I have just cited, belong to this family, and have been known to us since the times of the Romans, and a fourth, the Mus- covy duck, has been added to the series since the disco- very of America. Besides these four domestic species nearly all waterfowl show great aptitude for semi-domes- tication. When pinioned and put in small ponds, and supplied with food and shelter, most of them will thrive, and many of them will breed in captivity. The acquisition of waterfowl has long been a subject of special interest to this Society. In 1830, in the first list of our animals ever published, I find thirty species of waterfowl included, amongst which are the Orinoco goose, Man- darin duck, and the Cercopsis goose. In 1844 I find twenty-six species included in the catalogue of the animals then living in the Gardens. About that time the thirteenth Earl of Derby, then president of this Society, was the great patron of waterfowl, and, by means of collectors and agents in all parts of the world, brought together in his celebrated menagerie at Knowsley one of the finest collection of these birds ever made. At the disposal of the Knowsley menagerie by auction in 1851, examples of 51 different species of waterfowl were sold, many of which had been bred in the Knowsley Gardens. Since that period the Zoological Society, having become the possessor of some of the choicest specimens sold at Knowsley, has taken up the subject of waterfowl with increased vigour, and has succeeded in adding consider- ably to the list of introduced species. During the past twenty years there have been exhibited in the Society’s Gardens examples of 86 species of this group of birds, and at the present time the collection consists of not less than 270 individuals, referable to 53 different species, forming, as we believe, the finest living series of these birds now in existence. The zoological gardens of Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Berlin, and the Jardin d@Acclimatation of Paris have also excellent collections of waterfowl, and have succeeded in breeding some species which have obstinately refused to avail them- selves of the inducements we have offered them in these ‘Gardens. But in extent and variety I believe our series remains pre-eminent. The total number of species of the family Anatidz at present recognised by naturalists is about 175; of these some 94, or more than half, have been at various times represented by specimens held in captivity either in our Gardens or elsewhere, and of the species thus exhibited no less than 50 have paired and produced young. Of the nine groups or sub-families into which, as will be seen by the Table, the Anatidz are divisible, the Azating or geese, swans, and river-ducks show the greatest aptitude for this kind of semi-domesti- cation. The sea-ducks, lake-ducks, torrent-ducks, and mergansers are much more wild in their nature, and do not thrive nearly so well in confinement. Of the 31 known species of sea-ducks (Fudiguding) but 13 are known to have been exhibited in zoological gardens, and of these only 5 have reproduced in captivity. None of the * Abstract of a ‘‘ Davis Lecture” give London, July 8, 1880, by P. L. Sclater, F re the Zoological Society of Secretary t» the Society. lake-ducks (Evismaturineg) or torrent-ducks (Merganet- tin@) have ever been introduced alive, and none of the Mergansers (JJergin@) have been bred in captivity, * Table of Water-fow! Bal Species Known. Exhibited, Bred I. Anseranatine ... ... fines wt 5 Aiea tot = 2. Cercopsinze sat) 8s TE pensy «con le eretntereenne sss Anserine ..5, ic ete 230 cee coe 28 Cen Ae Cygninze | 5.) i258 94, MIO) pce cee On ese by Anatings | 2fP NS Ss Fr ses cee AQ ane eee Gx Fuliguline 2) AR ore ta) is ra ns 7. Erismaturine ... ... 9 = _— 8. Merganettine ... ... 3 — = O°) Merginze)/ G22) ena 6 3 — 174. 94 5° although examples of three species of the last-named group have been occasionally exhibited. Of the geese( Aseria), on the other hand, which number some 38 known species, no less than 25 have been intro- duced at various times, and of these 14 have reproduced in captivity. Amongst these one of the best introductions effected by the Society is that of the Magellanic or upland goose, of which examples were first received in 1857, presented by Capt. Thomas Moore, at that time Governor of the Falkland Islands, in which settlement, as we know from no less an authority than that of Mr. Darwin, the upland goose is a familiar species. The upland goose commenced to breed with us in 1863, and has continued to do so with tolerable regularity ever since; it has also hybridised in this country with the closely-allied form from Chili, which has been called Lernicla dispar, and of which many examples have been received by the Society in recent years. Besides the upland goose, the allied ruddy-headed and ashy-headed geese of Antarctic America have been ac- quired and successfully bred. The ruddy-headed goose has unfortunately been lost, and requires reintroduction, but its ashy-headed brother remains a denizen both of these Gardens and also of similar establishments on the Continent. Passing on to the swans, we find that a still greater degree of success has been obtained in the acclimatisa- tion of these birds. Ten species of swans are recognised by naturalists, of which eight have been introduced into . zoological gardens and five have been bred in captivity. Besides the common tame swan which is upon every piece of water, the ponds of our Gardens contain at the present time examples of the hooper, Bewick’s swan, trumpeter swan, black’ swan, and black-necked swan, and but a short time ago we had also examples of the beautiful Coscoroba swan of Antarctic America, remarkable for its coral-red bill. Of all these the most engaging is perhaps the black-necked swan, originally obtained by the late Lord Derby from Chili, and first acquired by this Society at the dispersal of the Knowsley collection in 1851. A pair of these [birds first bred with us in 1857, and the species has continued to do so with more or less regularity ever since that date. The river-ducks (Azatin@), which succeed the swans in the-natural series, are the most numerous group of the family. Of the seventy-five known species of river ducks forty-three have been introduced into captivity, and twenty-five have been successfully bred. Of these I will call particular attention to two which have been recently added to the list of introduced species, and are charming representatives of the group. The rosy-billed duck of South America was first intro- duced by this Society from Chili in 1867, but only, un- fortunately, in the shape of a single male. In 1870, however, we obtained examples of both sexes from the same locality, which began to breed with us in 1873. Since then young ones have been hatched nearly every 296 year in the Society’s Gardens, and we have been able to | supply many of the gardens and collections on the Con- tinent with pairs of this fine species. | Another successful introduction, from a very different | quarter of the globe, has been the paradise duck of New Zealand. The so-called paradise duck belongs to | the genus Zadora, or shield-drake, and is remarkable, as I believe we were first certainly able to ascertain from our living specimens, for the black head of the male being replaced by a brilliant white in the female. What | is still more remarkable however is that in this bird the young in both sexes, contrary to what usually obtains | amongst the whole class of birds, have the plumage of the male parent, the female birds putting on the white head only after the first moult. The paradise duck was | first obtained by the Society in 1863, when specimens of | NATURE [Fuly 29, 1880 both sexes were presented to us by Mr. J. G. Tetley ; the species first bred in the Gardens in May, 1865, and, assisted by the arrival of subsequent specimens, has continued to do so ever since, so that we have been able to supply many of our friends and correspondents on the Continent with examples of this duck, which may now be considered as firmly established in the gardens of Europe. Amongst other fresh-water ducks which have been suc- cessfully acclimatised in the same way within recent years I should also notice the Chiloe widgeon and the Chilian pintail, of Antarctic America, the spotted-billed duck of India, and the Brazilian teal, all of which have of late years bred freely in the Society’s Gardens. I will conclude with a few remarks upon the geo- graphical distribution of the Anatide. In treating of this part of the subject I find it impos- Fic. 1.—Ufland Goose. sible to separate conveniently the Palearctic and Nearctic | species, or those of the northern parts of the Old and New World. So many of the high northern species are circumpolar or common to both continents, and so many | other of the Palzarctic species have closely allied (in some cases barely separable) representatives in the | Nearctic area, that it is much more natural to unite these | categories into one group as “Arctic Anatide.” Adding | to this the other four generally recognised divisions, we | shall find the Anatidz come out, somewhat as follows, in | five great geographical groups :— I. ARcTIC ANATIDZ.—The Arctic Anatide are by | far the most numerous of all the five groups, these birds | with their thick covering of feathers, and aquatic habits, | being naturally adapted to cold and wintry climates. Out of the 38 known species of geese 20, out of the 10 known swans 7, and of the 31 known sea-ducks not less than 26 belong to this category. Of the whole number of 174 generally recognised species of Anatida, 77 may, I think, be best set down as Arctic, although some of them, such as Tadorna rutila, Fuligula rufina, and Marmaronetta angustirostris, cannot be strictly so termed, as they in- habit only the temperate portions of the Palzarctic region. Very many of the Palearctic species also, as will be noted below, go far south in winter and intrude far into the AEthiopian, Indian, and Neotropical regions. II. ETHIOPIAN ANATID&.—Under this head I place only those species that live all the year round, and breed within the 4Zthiopian region, These are about twenty- two in number. wi EEE EE Fuly 29, 1880] NATURE 297 Amongst these are two generic forms not found else- where, Plectropterus and Thalassornis. two species only are peculiar to the island, Avas melieré Of the nine | and A. dernzer7, the remaining seven being also found in Anatidz hitherto registered as met with in Madagascar | Africa. Fic. 2.—Rosy-billed Duck. In winter, as will be seen by Heuglin’s recent works, many of the Palearctic Anatidz penetrate into Eastern Africa. III. INDIAN ANATIDA#.—In this category again I include only species that are permanent inhabitants of some parts of the region, They are not numerous, con- sisting only of twelve species. Amongst these there is only one peculiar generic form, Rhodonessa. Gig PEE . In winter, however, a host of immigrants from the north invade the Indianregion. Jerdon gives us accounts of upwards of twenty northern ducks and geese which are found in various parts of the Indian peninsula in the cold weather. 1V.—AUSTRALIAN ANATIDA.—As we advance farther south the Anatidae commence to increase again. Instead of only twelve native species we find the number in the Australian region running up to twenty-nine. The greater Fic. 3.—Paradise Duck. number of these are found in Australia itself, that great Among these there are no less than five generic mono- continent, although so dry and arid, being well supplied | typic types peculiar to Australia, namely, Avseranas, with waterfowl, Cereopsis, Stictonetta, Malacorhynchus, and Biziura. 298 NATURE [Fucy 29, 1880 eee eeu“ ee Proceeding to the outlying parts of the Australian region, ! we find New Zealand also well provided with Anatidz, nine species being comprehended by Dr. Buller in his lately-published work on the birds of New Zealand, while the adjacent Auckland Islands are tenanted by two very peculiar ducks, quite unknown elsewhere, namely Neso- netta aucklandica and Mergus australis. In Polynesia Anatide are scarce, Dendrocygna vagans and Anas superciliosa being the only species known until we come to the Fanning group, where the peculiar Chaulelasmus couest has lately been discovered. In the Sandwich Islands two peculiar species occur, Bernicla sandvicensis and Anas wyvilliana. V. NEOTROPICAL ANATID&.—The Neotropical region is better supplied with Anatide than any other of the divisions here adopted except the Arctic, thirty-nine spe- cies being specially attributable to it. Besides these, as Mr. Salvinand I have shown in our articles on the Neotro- pical Anatide published in the Society’s Proceedings for 1876," twenty-three of the Arctic Anatide are more or less regular visitants to it during the winter season, The generic types of Anatidz restricted to the Neo- tropical area are four, namely, Heteronetta, Catrina, Tachyeres, and Merganetta. There are, however, only six species belonging to these peculiar genera, so that the mass of the Neotropical Anatidze belong to Arctic forms. On the whole the Neotropical Anatifauna (if such an expression be allowable) is not so peculiar, as that of Australia, where there are five generic types not found elsewhere. In true Anatide the Neotropical region is specially rich, possessing twenty-three species against the Arctic eighteen. In Fuliguling, on the other hand, it is very poor, having only one species against the Arctic twenty-six. In concluding my lecture I would venture to urge those who have friends and correspondents abroad, or who are so fortunate as to travel themselves, not to let any oppor- tunity pass of adding to the Society’s living collection of Waterfowl. Ina paper recently read before the Zoolo- gical Society I have given a complete list of the known species of these beautiful birds, and an exact account of the introduction of each species that has been obtained alive, and if not, where itis tobe found. I shall be happy to supply any one interested in the subject with a copy of this paper when in type, as it will shortly be. Mean- while I may venture to specify some of our principal desiderata in different parts of the world. 1, Freshly-imported examples of the Cereopsis goose of Australia to cross with the present European stock. 2. Examples of the Bernicla cyanoptera of the high- lands of Abyssinia, never yet obtained alive. 3. Examples of David’s swan (Cygnus davidi) from Pekin. Even skins of this little known bird would be very desirable for our museums. 4. Specimens of the canvas-backed duck and smaller white swan (Cygnus americanus) of North America. 5. The pink-headed duck of India, of which we have only yet received a single pair in 1874. 6. The Radjah shieldrake of Queensland (Zadorna vadjah), a most beautiful species allied to our Zadorna vulpanser. Any examples of these species would be most gratefully received by the Society for their living collection. NOTES As we have already intimated, the German Association of Naturalists and Physicians meets at Danzig from September 18 to 24. Contributions from non-German workers in science are earnestly asked for, and we are sure that any foreigners who desire to be present at the meeting will receive a hearty welcome. Applications for quarters- should be made before September Io to Herr L, Biber, Brodbinkengasse 13, Danzig. Besides the * Revision of the Neotropical Anatide, Prpc. Zool. Soc., 1876, p. 358. usual excursions, concerts, and other social gatherings which the Germans know how to manage so well, there will be plenty of work in the twenty-three sections, Among the public lectures to be given are the following :—On September 8, ‘‘On Writing, Printing, and the Prevailing Shortsightedness,” by Dr. Hermann Cohn of Breslau; ‘On some Characteristics of Cell-life,” by Dr. Strasburger of Jena. September 21—‘‘The Food of Marine Animals,” by Dr. Moebius of Kiel; ‘‘ The Statics of Continents and the alleged decrease of the Water of the Ocean,” by Dr. Jentzsch, of Konigsberg ; ‘*The Scientific Standpoint of Psychiatry,” by Dr. Wernecke of Berlin, September 24— “Polar Expeditions or Polar Observatories,” by Dr. Neumayer of Hamburg ; “Foreign Domestic Birds, with special reference to the scientific results of their Breeding,” by Dr. Carl Russ of Steglitz. MucH capital is being made out of the reports of some of the inspectors in the new Education Report,’ who attempt to enliven their pages by giving some of the results of the recent attempts at higher education in elementary schools. The answers are certainly ludicrous enough sometimes, almost as ludicrous as those said to be given occasionally by the undergraduates of Oxford and Cambridge. But [the rational conclusion to be drawn from this state of things-is not that which finds favour with Lord Norton and his friends, that the attempt to improye elementary education should be abandoned. As the Zimes well puts it:—‘ They are firstfruits of the attempt to put to a higher and more exacting work instruments fashioned for a lower and a simpler one. All such results are at first necessarily imperfect, and nothing is easier than to make them appear ridiculous. The true remedy, however, is not to reject the instruments, but to adapt them, or give them the means of adapting themselves, to the higher function.” If science is to be taught in elementary schools, let it be taught in a proper manner by properly trained men. EVIDENTLY the Government of New Zealand have no fear of over-educating the people. From the Co/onies we learn that the New Zealand system of education has been characterised by the Governor, Sir H. Robinson, as ‘‘the most ambitious yet adopted in any country in the world.” To quote the words of Sir Hercules :—‘‘It is proposed in New Zealand to provide the whole juvenile population with instruction free of charge in the following subjects :—Reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and composition, geography, history, elementary science, drawing, object lessons, vocal music, drill, and, in case of girls, needlework and the principles of domestic economy. The scheme includes also provision at the public expense for a system of scholarships, for the maintenance of normal schools for training teachers, for the efficient inspection of public schools, and for the erection of suitable school buildings. As soon as sufficient school accommodation has been provided the Educa- tion Act contemplates that attendance at public schools shall be made compulsory on all children between the ages of seven and thirteen who may not be otherwise under efficient or regular instruction.” While Sir Hercules thinks the programme may be too varied and too costly, he attaches little weight to the objection that there is a risk of over-educating the masses above their occupations and so making them discontented with their lot in life. While he criticises the scheme in some of its details, still he says :—‘‘I think that your scheme of national education is one of which any country might well feel proud, and that it is being administered with an earnestness and an ability which is deserving of all praise. I have been much struck, in travelling about the country, with the deep interest which is universally taken in this most important question, and with the determina- tion which pervades the whole community that the blessings of education shall for the future be placed within the reach of all. Futy 29, 1880] With such a healthy, vigorous motive power, supervised and directed with so much intelligence, any defects ‘in the driving gear of the machinery will soon be detected and corrected, until the object which all have equally at heart is fully attained, and New Zealand is placed in the front rank amongst the educated communities of the world.” Tue Trustees of the British Museum appear to be determined to earn the reputation of hopeless incapacity for appreciating science. Everybody knows how completely successful has been the experiment of furnishing the reading-room of the British Museum with the electric light, and what an impetus this has given to the use of the British Museum Library. A few days ago a question was asked in the House of Commons by Mr, Dz Grant, whether the Trustees were prepared to make arrange- ments for lighting the building so that the scientific collec- tions and other portions of it might remain open to the public until ro p.m. The answer returned by Mr. Walpole on behalf of the Trustees was unsatisfactory enough. The use of gas would be deleterious to sculptures and books; and experience would not ‘‘ justify” a more extended use of the electric light in the exhibition-rooms and long galleries. The body of Trustees, though they may be admirable custodians of the national library, appear to have the most limited and provincial notions with respect to the scientific collections which are committed to their charge. THE ways of official French science are somewhat inscrutable. Some months ago we notified our readers that the Zrix Volta, instituted by Napoleon, had been awarded to Graham Bell for the articulating telephone. It appears that this award was made in accordance with the report of a commission appointed in 1876, of which M. Dumas was president and M. Becquerel secretary, the Commission being unanimous in their award. In their report they also mentioned with high approval the names of M. Gramme, the inventor of the Gramme machines, M. Gaston Planté, whose researches on secondary batteries, &c., are now so well known, and Dr. Onimus, who has done much to advance our knowledge of electro-physiology. But in passing through the hands of the Minister of Public Instruction this report was manipulated in order to please the national vanity by lifting up the claims of M. Gramme above those of MM. Planté and Onimus, and eventually a grant of 70,000 francs was voted by the Chamber, 50,000 francs being the prize awarded to Prof. Bell, and 20,000 francs to M. Gramme. No one will grudge M. Gramme his prize, though we cannot help thinking that this secondary award will give rise to invidious comparisons of claims, for M. Gramme is not the first nor yet the last in the field amongst electrical engineers and inventors. THE fund established by the Birmingham Philosophical Society for the endowment of scientific research now amounts to 820/,, which will be invested, the interest only to be used. The sub- scription list amounts to over 80/, a year. A donation of 25/, has been received from Mr. Charles Darwin, who, in a letter received from him by Mr. Lawson Tait, a member of the council of the Society, says:—‘‘I saw something in the newspapers about the fund, and admire greatly the noble spirit of Birmingham.” WE have often referred to the enterprise of the Midland Union of Natural History Societies, and now they have gone in for the encouragement, if not the endowment, of original research. The Council, at the Jast annual meeting at Northampton, submitted for consideration a proposal to the effect that an annual prize should be provided for the purpose of recognising and encourag- ing original research by members of the societies in the Union. After careful consideration by the committee at a meeting held at _ Birmingham on July 15, the following scheme was adopted :—1. NATURE 299 That a prize (by permission of Mr, Ch. Darwin, F.R.S., to be called ““The Darwin Prize”) of the value of 10/., to include a gold or bronze ‘‘ Darwin Medal,” at the option of the successful candi- date, be given annually for a paper indicating original research upon a subject within the scope of the societies in the Union, contributed by a member for publication in the journal of the Union. 2. That the subjects for ‘‘The Darwin Prize” for the three years ensuing be limited as under :—In 1881 to Geology, in 1882 to Biology, in 1883 to Archeology. 3. That a com- mittee of five, annually elected for the purpose by the Committee of Management, adjudicate the prize to such paper, of sufficient merit, on the subject of the year, contributed as aforesaid to the journal of the Union (the A/idland Naturalist), either actually published or sent in for publication during the twelve months preceding March 31 of that year, and declare the adjudication at the annual meeting. 4. That right be reserved for the adjudi- cators to withhold the prize if in their opinion no contribution has been sent in of sufficient merit. The scheme is a happy one, and might with great advantage be adopted by other groups of societies all over the kingdom, Mr. Darwin, in giving permis- sion for the use of his name in connection with the medal, says : “Tt is particularly pleasing to me to have my name connected, in however indirect a manner, with a scheme for advancing science—the study of which has been my chief source of happi- ness throughout life.” THE death is announced of M. Lissajous, the discoverer of the well-known Lissajous figures, and author of a number of elegant and valuable scientific memoirs. M. Lissajous, who was Professor of Physics at Toulouse, was one of the founders of the Socicté Francaise de Physique. A comMITTEE has been formed to erect a statue to the late Dr, Broca by public subscription. We have received the following details with reference ‘to the career of the late Mr. W. A. Lloyd :—Born in Wales, ke early developed a taste for study, and in his early years went deeply into such subjects as archeology, numismatics, and heraldry. In 1852 he turned his mind to natural history, especially as regards marine life. The first really successful marine aquarium was that at Hamburg, which was wholly devised by him, and in which the circulating principle was the great element of success. In 1870 he was engaged by the Crystal Palace Company to construct and superintend the fire aquarium there, which, although not large, is probably one of the best existing. His reputation spread, and he was consulted for almost every new aquarium that was projected. Besides his practical knowledge of the aquarium, he was a man of very considerable culture, and contributed largely to the literature of the subject. At the time of his death he was engaged on a work comprising all his life-long experience, which unfortunately he has not completed. His death, at the age of fifty-six (July 13), was the result of effusion of blood on the brain, and took place at his study table, where he was at work. Mr. Lloyd was con- nected with aquaria at Paris, Vienna, Dresden, Frankfort, Naples, New York, San Francisco, Melbourne, Adelaide, Calcutta, Rhyl, Yarmouth, Tynemouth, Nottingham, More- cambe, Edinburgh, Westminster, Southport, Rothesay, Aston, and possessed the only medals (gold, silver, and bronze) ever awarded for aquaria, THE Committee of Council of the British Medical Association have awarded the gold medal of the Association to William Farr, C.B., M.D., F.R.S., D.C.L., ‘as an expression of their high appreciation of his long, unwearied, and successful labours in behalf of statistical and sanitary science; as a recognition of the light he has thrown upon many physiological and patho- logical problems; and on account of the extraordinary services 300 NATURE [Zuly 29, 1880 his work has rendered to the advancement of the health of the nation.” The presentation will be made in the Senate House, Cambridge, on Thursday, August 12, at half-past twelve in the afternoon. THE French Parliament has voted a sum of 300,000 francs for purchasing from the City of Paris the grounds which had been rented for a nominal sum to M,. Leverrier by the Municipal Council, and had been already annexed by the great astronomer to the Observatory. The reason for this resolution is the impend- ing erection of a new monument, which, according to the pro- vision of the French law, cannot be built except on ground the freehold of which belongs to the Government. THE first of the great annual Congresses, that of the Archeological Institute, commenced proceedings at Lincoln on Tuesday. THE summer meeting of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers will be held at Barrow-in-Furness from Tuesday to Friday next week. A number of technical papers will be read, and several interesting excursions have been arranged for. Sir W. Harcourr stated in the House of Commons on Thursday that the Commissioners on Explosions in Coal Mines hoped to make their report at the end of the present or beginning of next year. THE first annual meeting in connection with the Parkes Museum of Hygiene was held at the Mansion House on Tues- day, when a number of eminent medical men were present. The Museum has so expanded that a building specially designed for it has become necessary. It has attracted a considerable number of visitors, and during the past winter a series of demonstrations have been given by members of the executive committee. The various speakers testified to the great educational value of: such a museum, and the absolute necessity for all classes to know something about sanitary science. THE Council of Public Hygiene of Paris, on the proposition of M. Pasteur, has decided to erect two establishments, one at each end of Paris, intended for the disinfection by steam of all furniture or clothing contaminated by individuals attacked by any contagious diseases. AN official despatch from Manila of the 2oth inst., giving some additional particulars of the earthquake, states that the first shock lasted seventy seconds, and that nine of the native inhabitan{s were killed and eleven others injured. A second shock, lasting forty seconds, occurred at four o’clock in the afternoon. At Leguno and Rabacan some of the public buildings were also thrown down. The earth opened in several places, and jets of boiling water and showers of ashes were ejected from the fissures. Another shock is stated to have occurred on the evening of the 24th. Other accounts received state that the period of seismic disturbance commenced on the 13th inst., and that repeated shocks have occurred since then, those of the 13th and 2oth inst, being the most violent. The cathedral and the barracks at Manila have fallen in, and the troops are now encamped outside the city. Almost all the volcanoes of the island of Luzon are in full activity. A sHARP shock of earthquake occurred at Naples at 3.30 on Sunday morning, preceded by lighter shocks at regular intervals, beginning at 9.30 the previous night, The principal shock was undulatory from east to west, lasting five seconds, and was sufficiently strong to awake all the inhabitants of Portici. Vesuvius shows increased activity. Several new fissures have opened, sending lava streams eastwards, THE Epping Forest and County of Essex Naturalists’ Field Club held a meeting at Ilford last Saturday for the purpose of ————— eee visiting the well-known pits which have yielded such a rich harvest of Post-glacial mammals, &c. A well-preserved jaw of Bos primigenius was exhumed in the presence of the members, The zoology of the period and the geology of the district were respectively treated of by Sir Antonio Brady and Mr, Henry Walker, the conductors for the occasion. After spending some time in the pits the meeting adjourned for tea to the “* Angel Inn.” The president announced that as the result of the Field Meeting at the ancient earthworks in Epping Forest (already noticed in these columns) it was decided, in accordance with a suggestion made by Major-General Pitt-Rivers, to apply for per- mission to excavate in one or both of the camps, and to start a fund for this purpose. As the period of these camps was quite un- known, this would be the only method of arriving at any definite conclusion concerning them. A discussion upon the results of the afternoon’s excursion then took place. Sir Antonio Brady brought for exhibition a large number of specimens from his valuable collection of Paleolithic and Neolithic remains ; and remarks of great scientific interest were made by Mr. A, R. Wallace, Mr. Worthington Smith, &c. The Club appears to be in a flourishing condition, as it already numbers over 200 members. M. GAUTHIER VILLARs is publishing, at the expense of the Laplace family, a new edition of the works of the illustrious astronomer, The reason of this republication is very singular. The widow of the Marquis de Laplace bequeathed a certain sum of money to the Academy in order to deliver every year a copy of the works of her husband to the youth who obtains the first rank in the leaving examinations at the Polytechnic School. But latterly it has become almost impossible to-find these volumes in the trade, M. Gauthier Villars and executors iz perpetuo are obliged to deliver gratis a copy every year to the Academy. Pror, CHURCH was lecturing last week at the Cirencester Agricultural College on ‘‘ Some Recent Advances in Agricultural Chemistry.” A FRENCH journal states that the first astronomical instru- ments intended for a great astronomical observatory, to be established at the Trocadéro, have been recently mounted on the first terrace of the east tower of the palace. } On August $ the pupils of all the schools of the Arts et Métiers of France meet at Liancourt to celebrate the rooth anniversary of the foundation by the Duc de la Rochefoucault-Liancourt of the first establishment of this kind at his private residence. There are four of these useful schools—Aix, Angers, Chalons, and Cluses—in existence in France, and one in Algeria, of very recent creation, at Delhys. It is said that each of the two pro- vinces of Oran and Constantine will establish, at their own expense, a similar institution. THE President of the Republic has conferred a knighthood in the Legion of Honour on M. Serrin, the inventor of the first regulator which could be used in lighthouses ; and on M. Gariel, the general secretary of the French Association for the Advance- ment of Science, who will lecture on Radiant Matter at Rheims in the forthcoming session. ““TASMANIAN Friends and Foes, Feathered, Furred, and Finned,” is the title of a work, illustrated by woodcuts and coloured plates, upon the Natural History of Tasmania, to be issued this autumn by Messrs. Marcus Ward and Co. The volume is from the pen of Mrs, L. A. Meredith, the author of several well-known works upon this colony, and gives in a popular style accounts of the kangaroos, bandicoots, wombats, and other marsupials, the birds and fishes. Several of the species described the author believes to be new to science, and the marvellous intelligence displayed by some of these lowly- Fuly 29, 1880] classified mammals when kept by the author as household pets will be both new and interesting to English readers. TuE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Green Monkey (Cercopithecus callitrichus) from West Africa, presented by Mr. Fred Peake, F.Z.S. 54 Great Eagle Owl (Budo maximus) from Nyland, South Finland, presented by Mr, Lindsay von Julin; two Ocellated Turkeys (Meleagris ocellata) from Yucatan, Mexico, presented by Mr. W. E. Sibeth; a Crimson-crowned Weaver Bird (Zufplectes flam- miceps), two Red-backed Pelicans (Pelecanus rufescens) from West Africa, two Common Blue Birds (Siatia wilsonit) from North America, two Great Eagle Owls (Budo maximus) from India, five Four-rayed Snakes (Z/aphis quater-radiatus), 2 Black-spotted Snake (Z/aphis dione), a Lacertine Snake (Ce@/o- ; peltis lacertina), four Dahl’s Snakes (Zamenis dahli), thirteen Vivacious Snakes (Zachymenis vivax), a2 Four-lined Snake (Coluber quadrilineatus—var. leopardinus), South European, deposited; five Australian Wild Ducks (Azas superciliosa), three Garganey Teal (Querguedula circia), three Common Teal (Querquedula crecca), two Horned Tragopans (Certornis satyra), a Peacock Pheasant (Polyplectron chingutis) a Bronze-winged Pigeon (Piapgs chalcoptera), bred in the Gardens. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN Fayr’s Comer.—The following ephemeris of this comet is for Berlin midnight, and is calculated from elements accurately perturbed to the approaching perihelion passage, which were communicated by Dr. Axel Moller to the Academy of Sciences at Stockholm in September, 1878 :— R.A. Decl. N. Log. dist. h m. s x 7 from Earth. Aug. I 23 16 14 10 35°5 o'1859 3 — 16 16 10 40°3 o'1784 5 — 16 r2 10 44°3 "1709 7 — 16 3 10 47°2 071635 9 — 15 48 IO 49°2 o°r562 II — 15 28 IO 50°2 o'1490 13 —I5 3 IO 50°r O°1419 15 Sil Sk) Io 48°9 0°1349 17 — 13 57 Io 46°6 0°1280 19 — 1317 IO 43°2 O'1213 21 eons p Io 386 O°1147 23 — II 42 Io 32°8 0'1083 25 — 10 47 Io 25'8 O'1021 Zee 19249 Io 17°5 o°0961 20) we. ) = 1 S547: Io 8'0 0°0903 Son 2ey or 9 57°3. -. 0°0847 The theoretical intensity of light at the end of the month will be twice as great as at the beginning, when it somewhat exceeds that corresponding to the last observation at Pulkowa in March, 1866. At the return in 1873 the comet was observed on four nights only at Marseilles and at Clinton, New York ; the admir- able calculations of Dr. Axel Méller gave positions which exhibited hardly appreciable differences from the observations. In the present year it will be nearest to the earth on October 3 (distance = 1’09), and perhaps most favourably circumstanced for observation during the last ten days of the same month, though at no time does the intensity of light exceed its value on October 16, 1858, when the comet was last observed at that appearance with the 10-inch Berlin refractor. The perihelion passage does not take place until January 22, 1881, and although Dr. Axel MGller’s ephemeris does not extend beyond the end of the present year, it appears possible that the comet may be observed till quite the end of next February, when its place will still be commanded on a dark sky-ground, or perhaps later ; indeed, on April 26, when the comet sets three hours after the sun, its intensity of light is equal to that at the last observation at Pulkowa in 1844. THE OBSERVATORY, CHICAGO.--The ‘‘ Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Astronomical Society, together with the Repert of the Director of the Dearborn Observatory,” dated May 13, 1880, is before us. During the preceding year the Observatory had been in charge of Prof. G. W. Hough, formerly of the Dudley Observatory, Albany, NATURE 301 Prof. Colbert and Mr. S. W. Bumham taking part in the regular work with the 1$}-inch Alvan-Clark refractor. Mr. Burnham’s attention, as in previous years, was chiefly directed to the measurement of double stars, including the more interesting binary systems and objects beyond the scope of smaller instru- ments, A series of observations of the planet Jupiter was commenced on August 27, 1879, and continued on every fine night till February 11. With a magnifying power of 638 the disk was measured on eight nights by Prof. Hough, and six by Prof. Colbert, the resulting values for ellipticity being respec- tively r-16°23 and 1-16°73, sensibly smaller than Struve’s value, though not differing much from other more recent determina- tions. The measures further showed ‘‘the figure of Jupiter’s disk to be a true geometrical spheroid.” The belt system during the opposition of 1879 is indicated by the following numbers, the equatorial diameter at the planet’s mean distance being 3870, and the polar diameter 36°32. No. I ... +15°10 No. 5... — 5°83 2)... + 9178 3) — + — 6°94 Red spot. ROMEO) 225) sty 5°98 N. ed £ ” 62. = 9°83 se . edge o rp) cho tis hla RET cqgeerbele us a = 3118 } S. edge of oe rs 2 equat. belt, An examination of which shows that the belts were symmetrically arranged on either side of the equator, the large red spot coin- ciding nearly with belt (5). Prof. Hough remarks that the faint belts are not seen with small instruments, in which there is merely a darkening towards the poles. The middle of the great equatorial belt was subject to gradual change in its appearance between September r and November 1. At first it was made up essentially of three separate belts, approximately of equal width ; gradually it formed in two nearly equal portions with a rift extending through a large part of the planet’s circumference. The colour of the equatorial belt was reddish-brown—brick colour. The red spot was studied from September 3 to February Io. Its colour was similar to that of the equatorial belt, but brighter, and appeared sensibly the same when only partially on the disk as when on the centre. The mean value of its length at the centre of the disk was 12°73, and its breadth 3!"56, for Jupiter’s mean distance ; the length appeared to vary to the extent of two seconds, and the breadth about the same amount, but owing to the irregular outline of the object it was difficult to decide whether actual change took place, or whether the discordances in the measures were due to indifferent vision. By observations extending from September 25 to February 10 the time of sidereal rotation was found by Prof. Colbert to be gh. 55m. 342s. The diameters of the satellites were measured on three nights with the following results for the planet’s mean distance :— ee e014: II. 0”980 Ill. 1778 IV. 1"°457 Prof. Hough states that the two interior satellites of Uranus reported by the Washington observers to be ‘‘the most difficult well-known objects in the heavens” can be ‘‘ readily seen and measured under ordinary atmospheric conditions” with the Chicago refractor : micrometrical observations of Ariel were ob- tained on four nights, Umdriel appears to have been measured on one night only, but the weather was unusually adverse to this class of observations. PHYSICAL NOTES A SINGULAR phenomenon was seen (according to the Mew York World) recently off the coast of Florida by the officers of the brigantine Fortunate. Shortly after dark two columns of fire appeared, seemingly a mile away. They were fifty yards apart and about 500 feet high, arching towards one another at the top, but without meeting. They were of a dull red colour, without sparks ; but the arching portions emitted tremulous rays or streamers of light like those of the aurora. They were visible all night, but faded at daybreak, The weather was fine, not a cloud being seen all night. The following day there was a gale of wind accompanied by thunder, but no rain. It is not stated in what quarter of the heavens the appearance was seen. Could it have been an aurora? M. Marcet Deprez, the ingenious inventor of many pieces of electrical apparatus, has just brought out a new electric motor, in which a piston of soft iron is attracted up and down ina hollow cylindrical electro-magnetic coil with a motion like that of an 302 ordinary steam-engine piston. This principle is not new, having been employed by Page, Bourbouze, and Du Moncel in the construction of electro-motors. The novel point however about the motor of M. Deprez is that the magnetism of the soft iron core is never either reversed or interrupted. This was the weak point of the earlier machines, but it has been obviated in the new form by the device of dividing the solenoidal coil into sections like the separate coils of the ring-armature of the Gramme machine, the current being thus transmitted first to one part of the cylindrical coiland then toanother. The commutator which distributes the current successively to the various sections is worked by an excentric on the shaft of the fly-wheel in the ordinary way, but the ‘‘lead’’ does not require to be so much as a quarter of a revolution, THE phenomena of explosion of bombs by freezing of water (once studied by Major Williams at Quebec) have been further elucidated by Prof. Hagenbach of Bale (Archives des Sciences, June 15), who exposed, last winter, two iron bombs 15 ctm. exterior diameter and 2°*2 ctm. thickness, filled with water and closed by screw stoppers, at temperatures descending to — 20°. One bomb, placed out early in the afternoon, burst next morning about 7; the other, exposed about Ico a.m., exploded about 9p.m. In the latter case the stopper was violently projected to a distance and could nowhere be found (the spotless snow around would have soon revealed its position, if anywhere near), Some parts of the screw thread were detached ; there were several fissures round the orifice, anda cylinder of striated ice was forced out, having an irregular top and a curious upward curved fila- ment of ice attached, narrowing from 9 mm. to 3 mm. diameter, and flattened on its upper concave surface. It is thought a little water in suspension got out by the first opening in the screw, flowed down the bomb, and froze ; its freezing provoked crys- tallisation of the whole mass, and the stopper was expelled, the ice following and lifting the attached frozen vein. A little later some water within the expelled cylinder probably froze and burst the top of this cylinder into four pieces, which twisted like petals, causing the filament to turn upwards. The other case was perhaps even more curious. The stopper was not thrown out, but the bomb burst, a triangular piece next the stopper being raised. A round filament curving downwards was here found attached to the protruded ice, and it had some sixteen enlargements or nodes, equidistant 7mm. The initial jet of water had probably come out with high velocity and straight course, and been solidified, afterwards curving down by the action of gravity. The nodes were doubtless due to the vibratory motion obseryed in liquid veins. In a recent paper to the Vienna Academy (June 10), Prof, Reitlinger and Dr. Wachter throw some new light on the nature of ‘‘electrical ring-figures.” They consider these to arise from two causes not clearly perceived before ; first, a disruption of the metal, with projection of solid, fused, and vaporised particles from it by positive electric potential alone; and second, an electro- chemical decomposition of aqueous vapour present in the atmo- sphere in which the figures are produced, between point and plate. To the first-named cause is due the disruption disk (Aufreissungscheide) in the centre of positive or mixed figures, and appearing oxidised in air, but metal-bright in hydrogen (it affords a new mode of distinguishing positive electricity from negative), Witha strong spark (froma Ruhmkorff strengthened with a Leyden jar) the authors got dispersion and condensation vings round the disk, presenting various metallic colourings in dry hydrogen, To the second cause (electro-chemical decomposition of water-vapour) are attributed the various-coloured ovride rings, giving the ring-figures observed by Priestley, Nobili, Grove, Riess, &c., and Peterin’s bright disks. The former occur where positive, the latter where negative, electricity passes from the plate into the air. Thus all the ring-figures observed consist of four ‘‘form-elements,” viz. (1) central disruption-disks ; (2) oxide rings ; (3) bright disks; and (4) dispersion and condensa- tion rings. It is further found that all these kinds can be altered in form by a magnet. ACCORDING to the dynamical theory of gases it is probable that the exponent characterising the relation of the coefficient of diffusion to the absolute temperature is higher by unity than in the case of coefficients of internal friction. This has been fully confirmed by experiments of Herr v. Obermayer (Wien. Ahad. Anz., May 7), which give, for permanent gases, approximately 1}, for coercible 2 (the lower exponents being and 1). The experiments extended over too few gas-mixtures to determine how NATURE the exponent is affected whena coercible and a permanent gas diffuse into each other, ’ Don Epuarpbo Lozano of Teruel, Spain, has lately pub- lished a modest little volume of ninety pages, entitled “Estudios Fisicos,” in which some of the more recent advances in physical science are explained in an easy and popular form. Amongst the topics are the blue of the sky, the mechanical equivalent of heat, atmospheric electricity, &c. It is interesting to observe such signs of a revival of interest in the physical sciences in Spain, It is somewhat of a novelty to find the names of Mayer, Hirn, Wells, Dove, and Tyndall in a Spanish treatise ; and we draw a good augury from this sign that these names have already penetrated into a country where science has unfortunately been so long at a low ebb, ’ A BUNSEN burner of modified form has been contrived by M. Terquem which promises to be well adapted for spectrum work and for producing monochromatic light. Instead of the usual two lateral apertures to admit air, the air is allowed to penetrate between the foot of the lamp and the base of the vertical tube, which is for this purpose raised 6 or 7 millims. above the solid foot. The top of the tube is divided into four by a couple of vertical partitions, so that instead of the usual central cone in the flame there are four cones. It is claimed for this flame that it is more solid, and that the temperatures throughout the dif- ferent parts of the flame are more nearly equal than in the usual Bunsen burner. To procure monochromatic light it suffices to place a small fused bead of sodic chloride between the four central cones of flame, FOLLOWING out his recent discovery that the prolonged action of the actinic rays upon a sensitised photographic plate produces a reversal of effects, M. Janssen has obtained some interesting results. He has by direct exposure taken a positive photograph of the sun Io centims. in diameter, showing the spots in their usual dusky tints. He has, after exposures varying from one hour to three hours, obtained perfect positives of landscapes. A view of the park of Meudon thus photographed shows the sun as a white round spot upon a dark sky. Moreover, from such positives other positives can be printed by prolonged ex- posure ; and it is now possible to obtain negative prints of negatives by the same simple expedient. M. Janssen promises at an early date a complete and searching memoir on the whole subject of photography in relation to the different rays of the spectrum, AN electrical stone-breaker is the latest American invention. A dynamo-electric machine furnishes the power to an electro- magnetic chopper capable of delivering from 1,000 to 2,000 blows per minute, Stone-breaking requires the exertion of very great forces through very small distances, in fact precisely the kind of work for which electro-magnetic machines on a large scale might be expected to be successful, if only the cost_of generating the electricity were not so serious. In a recent valuable paper on the thermal and optical be- haviour of gases under the influence of electric discharges (Ved. Ann., No. 6), Herr E. Wiedemann first studies the thermal phenomena in the case of discharges of the influence- machine, and indicates a different behaviour of the positive and the negative electricity. He then describes an experimental attempt at numerical determination of the quantities which pro- duce a change of the band-spectrum of hydrogen into the line- spectrum, He further investigates the nature of the discharg> from the negative electrode in greatly rarefied space. Then he discusses the applicability of other electrical sources, inductoria, large galvanic batteries, and Leyden jars, to spectrum-analytical researches, also the continuous and discontinuous discharges in gases, The paper concludes with theoretical considerations as to the phenomena of discharge in gases and the nature of spectra, THE known abnormal variation of density of mixtures of acetic acid and water suggested to Herr y. Reiss (Wied. Ann., No, 6) a means of ascertaining whether there were any per- ceptible relation between the densities and specific heats. He finds that, unlike solid bodies, those mixtures show in general, with increase of density, a proportional increase of specific heat. AN example of anomalous dispersion by a glowing vapour, viz., that of sodium, has been recently observed by Herr Kundt (Wied. Ann., No. 6). He was preparing for a lecture the well-known experiment of reversal of the sodium line, and per- { Fuly 29, 1880 _— Re were me + su a alm Fuly 29, 1880] NATURE be o ceived that when the absorbent sodium-vapour was very dense and the dark line very broad a peculiar bend outwards appeared in the spectrum at the ends, and on opposite sides, of the line. The cone of sodium vapour in the Bunsen flame acts as a prism with upward horizontal refracting edges. If glowing sodium vapour give dispersion, this cone should give, with horizontal tays passing through it, a vertical (though necessarily impure) spectrum; and if the rays have also passed through a glass prism with horizontal refracting angle, a spectrum of the form above described should be got. From the position, the refractive index of the vapour is greatest for those rays which are most deflected downwards. In agreement with the author’s researches on solid bodies and liquids, the refractive index increases greatly as you approach the band from the red side, is less on the green side than on the other, and then quickly increases again. If an actual prism of glowing sodium vapour could be produced, one might observe, even with little thickness of vapour, indications of anomalous dispersion in the narrow absorption lines, Herr Kundt’s attempts, however, to change the cone-shaped flame, by means of lateral plates of glass or mica, to a prismatic one, led to nothing. IN a recent paper on the theory of inconstant galvanic ele- ments ( Wied. Ann., No. 6) Herr Exner contends that the so-called galvanic polarisation in elements has no existence. The distinc- tion between a Daniell anda Smee element is merely quantitative, not qualitative. What does he mean? GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES WE understand that a letter was received in London last Saturday from a member of one of the Belgian Expeditions in Central Africa, stating that he had met Mr. Thomson, with the African Exploration Fund’s Expedition, on May 18, at a place some ten days’ march from Simba’s, so that the party had evi- dently found it necessary to return to the coast by the caravan route to Bagamoyo or Saadani instead of following the original plan of coming out at Kilwa. It is probable that the change of route was necessitated by civil wars among the native tribes. Mr. Thomson has thus had an opportunity, not contemplated at the outset, of passing through a considerable tract of unknown country between the south-east of Lake Tanganyika and Unyan- yembe, and it is satisfactory to know that in so doing he has been able to visit Lake Hikwa and settle its proper position, which has been a puzzle to geographers for some time. In a map accompanying the account of Mr. H. B. Cotterill’s journey with the late Capt. Elton northwards from the head of Lake Nyassa, this lake is placed with dotted lines in a position which is probably a good deal too much to the south and east of its true locality. The letter above referred to added that Mr. Thomson was in excellent health, and that he claimed to have traversed 2,000 miles of unknown country in the twelve months he had then been on the march. A telegram from H.M.’s Consul-General at Zanzibar, dated July 17, announces the safe return of Mr, Thomsen and his party. Mr. ALFRED RABAUD, president of the Marseilles Geographi- cal Society, has just published (Marseilles: Barlatier-Prissat) a brochure entitled “‘L’Abbé Debaise et sa Mission géographique et scientifique dans l’Afrique centrale,” which is accompanied by a photograph of the deceased traveller. Pror, R. J. VeTH, president of the Dutch Geographical Society, has just issued in Italian (Turin: Guido Cora), “ Notizia de Selajar et Isole Adiacenti,” which is illustrated by an original map of Selajar and otherislands of the Celebes group, together with a note by Signor Cora. THE Tyavailleur, with the French Government Expedition for the exploration of the Bay of Biscay, left Bayonne on July 17, having on board MM. Milne-Edwards, father and son, Vaillant, of the Natural History Museum ; Fischer, assistant naturalist ; Marion of Marseilles, Fohn, Perin, and the English naturalists, Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys and the Rev. Mr. Norman. The results of the expedition may be described at the Swansea meeting of the British Association, NEW SCHEME FOR DIRECTING BALLOONS GABRIEL YON, one of the directors of the great * Giffard captive balloon, and Mr. E. A. Pearse of Bristol, have each published a pamphlet on the direction of aérostats. The balloon of each inventor is to be elongated according to the principles of the experiments tried by Giffard in 1852 and by Dupuy de Lome in 1871. The propeller is to be moved bya gas-engine in the Pearse balloon, and by a steam-engine in the Yon balloon. M, Yon proposes to use the gas of the balloon as fuel, but only in proportion to loss of weight produced either by uncondensed steam or by consumption of petroleum, Nothing can be said to be really impracticable in the Pearse scheme, although Mr. Pearse lacks the aéronautical training which distinguishes M. Yon, an aéronaut who ascended with M. Giffard in 1854, and has witnessed all his experiments. The only essential difference between M. Giffard’s scheme and the new system is the place given to the fan, which M. Giffard attaches to the car. Practice will only decide whether the alteration projected is an improvement or otherwise. The reason alleged for the change is the bringing of the fan nearer to the centre of resistance. But it obliges the aéronaut to give to his fans a very small diameter, which requires an immense number of rotations in a second, and consequently represents a loss of power. The calculations appear to have been made with care by M. Yon and Mr. Pearse. A trial would be greatly desirable, although it is impossible to suppose that the aérial carriage of Mr. Pearse or the directing balloon of M. Yon can possibly bring aéronauts to the North Pole for their inaugural trip, they may be instrumental in eliciting useful facts. We may add to the peculiarities of M. Yon’s scheme that he uses a small globe inclosed in the lower part of the aérostat called a compensation sphere, and connected by a pipe with a ventilator, for keeping intact the form of his aérial machine. Mr. Pearse does not appear to be-convinced of the urgent necessity of abstaining in any aérial construction from every complication which can be avoided at any cost, and he suggests the adoption of some accessory organs which, although designed to help aéronauts, would tax too much the lifting power or the attention of the aérial sailor. Mr. Pearse supposes that he will be able to navigate the air with an excess of weight, and does not pay attention to the intensity of motive power required to counteract gravitation even in a partial manner. He should certainly take advantage of the pamphlet written by his French competitor, who deals mostly with facts belonging to the public, and on which nobody can, in the present state of science, raise any claim as being his own property. Both these pamphlets are greatly in advance of similar pro- ductions, and are creditable to their writers. Mr. Pearse’s pamphlet has been only published for private publication. M. Yon’s is printed with a number of plates representing many details ; but a directing balloon is so complex a matter that this part of the publication can hardly be said to be complete. Having been the builder of M. Dupuy de Lome’s balloon and one of his crew, M. Yon may be said to have witnessed all the great aéronautical constructions of the age. Next to M. Henry Giffard, of whom he claims to be the pupil, he is the most com- pletely qualified aéronaut to work out the solution of the great problem to which a recent success in photography has given unexpectedly in some respects a practical result. W. DE FONVIELLE EXPERIMENTS WITH THE WIRE TELE- PHONE, CHIEFLY ON STRONGLY MAG- NETIC METALS BY a wire telephone is meant an instrument like that described in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 168. In most of the experiments mentioned below, the mercury cups there figured were dispensed with, as they are unnecessary when stout wires are used. A small ear-piece with a ferrotype plate was also used instead of the drum-head, whose special purpose was to reproduce music so as to be audible at a distance. For hearing close at hand the ferrotype plate is much superior; indeed with the drum many of the sounds alluded to below could not be heard. So far as I can see yet, the most probable cause of the sound in the wire telephone, when fine wires of ordinary weakly magnetic metals are used, seems to be variation of the longitudinal tension arising from the variation of the heating effect of the current. It is of course quite possible that there may be a lengthening of the wire due to the passage of the current over and above that arising from the heat developed, although such an effect can scarcely be said to be certainly established by experiment as yet. 304 NATURE [Fuly 29, 1880 Besides this cause three others were traced in the course of my experiments: Electrostatic action, external magnetic action, and internal magnetic action, The following experiment was made with a very fine palladium silver wire, about 13 cm. long, as sounder. I connected the violin and microphone with four Bunsen’s cells in circuit with the primary of a small induction coil (resistance of primary ‘27, resistance of secondary 44), while the wire telephone was put in Fe circuit with the secondary, With this arrangement the music was reproduced quite audibly, although the quality of the notes was ‘‘wiry.” This small coil had a movable core, consisting of a bundle of iron wires, and the sound was louder with than without the core, I next tried a more powerful induction-coil (resistance of primary °3, secondary 320), all the other arrangements being unaltered. The music could then be just heard, but no more, Dull Red z@ Red. ame | Fic. 1.—Iron.—a, sound very feeble at the temperature of the air; p, high note distinctly heard and increasing: c, feeble fizz now heard ; D, fizz increased ; F, quality of sound deepening : F, low note heard; G, sound very loud, low, medium, and high notes and buzz; H, no falling off ; 1, falling off now evident; J, marked diminution; x, fizz very soft, nearly gone; L A large and very powerful induction-coil (resistance of secondary about 10,000), tried under similar circumstances, gave no result whatever. Electrostatic Action.—As I have said, nothing was heard with the large induction coil when the secondary circuit was closed ; but when it was interrupted at a mercury break, a loud hissing, rattling noise was heard. This could not have come by mechanical transmission from the induction-coil, which was several rooms off, the line wires being hung to the walls and jammed over three doors. It had its seat at the mercury pools of the break, and was doubtless due to electrostatic action. | Stecl , high note left ; m, silence. Similar sounds, only weaker, were observed with the smaller Ruhmkorf when the circuit was broken. If two small disks separated by a small air-interval were made the terminals of an induction-coil, in the primary of which an interrupted current flows, they would form a condenser, and the difference of potential between them would vary in unison with the primary current. Consequently the electrostatic force of attraction would vary, and the disks, being set into vibration, would act as a telephone. The sounds in Thomson’s singing condenser are probably due to this cause. I have not attempted to carry this idea into practice, but I Will Read Fig 2: Fic. 2.—Steel.—a, fizzing sound and high note, neither loud; 3, silence ; c, of loudness. believe that telephones have been made on this principle by Edison and others, Lxternal Magnetic Action,—If the stretched wire of the telephone be brought into a magnetic field so as to cross the | lines of force, and an interrupted current passed, loud sounds are heard. I used a tuning-fork interrupter with two Bunsen’s cells. When a thick copper wire was put into the telephone, at first nothing whatever was heard; but when a horse-shoe magnet NM righ note comes in again; p, sharp fizz; E, buzzing sound and general increase The other letters as with iron. was brought up, and held with its plane perpendicular to the wire, the note of the fork was heard very loud (much louder than in the neighbourhood of the fork itself, in fact), and compara- tively pure. Little or none of the hissing or buzzing sound of which I shall have to speak by and by can be got in this way. It makes no great difference to the sound produced in this way whether we use a wire of 2 mm, diameter or a wire ‘3 mm. in diameter. With the thin wire, however, the visible amplitude Fuly 29, 1880] NATURE 305 of the transversal vibrations is much greater than with the thick. Using a brass wire 15 cm. long and “4 mm. in diameter, I ob- tained with a tolerably powerful horse-shoe magnet transversal vibrations of 2 mm. amplitude or more. The wire telephone, when used in this way, is pretty sensitive to magnetic influences. The presence of the pole of a bar magnet could be detected at a distance of several inches from the wire. It might be used to explore the magnetic field in a rough way. I found, for instance, that when I brought up a north pole on one side I could neutralise its effects by bringing up a north pole to a proper distance on the other side. To get these sounds it is by no means necessary to have any elaborate arrangement of stretched wire and so forth. If a magnet be brought up to the wire leading to the telephone, the sound will be heard quite distinctly. If the wire be grasped tightly in the fingers between the magnet and the telephone wire, the sound is stopped, showing that it is transmitted mechanically along the wire. This experiment is certainly not new, but, although I have seen the possibility of such action mentioned (e.g. Wiedemann, “‘ Galvanismus,” Bd. ii. p. 602), I have no- where seen any indication that the sounds are so marked and so easy to produce, I believe that this cause has been at work along with others in many experiments on the sounds obtained in magnetisation ; for instance, in De la Rive’s experiments. It is impossible, however, to decide with certainty, because no sufficient indications are usually given as to the nature of the magnetic field in which the wire conveying the interrupted current was placed. The wire telephone arranged in this way with the wire ina strong magnetic field is well suited for reproducing music. yketier it could be adapted for articulate speech, I do not now. The above experiments of course raise at once the question whether the sounds in the ordinary wire telephone and those I shall describe presently may not be due to the earth’s mag- netism. To settle this point, I stretched a brass wire 15cm. long in the telephone; the wire was fine enough to give a feeble sound of itself when the interrupted current of two Bunsen’s cells was passed through it. I shifted the apparatus about, so as to bring the wire as nearly as possible into the line of dip, and then placed it perpendicular to that position; but I could not detect the slightest change in the intensity of the sound. If it be borne in mind that here the distinction between wires as ito their thickness is only important in so far as it affects their stiffness, it will, [think, be clear that this experiment settles that the earth’s magnetism is not an operative cause with the current strengths I generally used. Another proof of this will be given by and by. : Lefficts duc to the Magnetism of the Telephone Wire itself.—The following experiments were made with a view to test a conjecture of Prof, Tait’s, referred to in a letter to NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 168, and to settle, if possible, the cause of the exceptional behaviour of iron wires in the experiments of Dela Rive and Dr. Ferguson. Two Bunsen’s cells were used throughout, and the current was interrupted by a tuning-fork driven by an auxiliary battery. My first experiment was made with an iron wire (A, 19cm, long, ‘50mm. diameter). It gave a moderately loud sound to begin with, a low note with a predominating fizz, not unlike the fizz heard at the mercury cup in the far room (owing, I suppose, to the volatilisation of the spirit by the heat of the spark, which passes when the dipper of the tuning-fork leaves the mercury). $ When a portion of the wire was heated with a Bunsen flame the sound increased very much for a short time, and then died away again considerably after the wire got red hot. On allow- ing the wire to cool, the sound, after a short time, suddenly swelled out and then fell away again. The permanent sound was, however, louder than it had been at first.? I soon satisfied myself, by cautiously bringing the flame up to the wire, that there is a certain temperature at which the sound is a maximum. The wire was heated up to white heat and allowed to cool pretty rapidly, and it was found that the sound was at its loudest at a dull red heat, just before the phenomenon of the re-glow occurred, along with which a peculiar crackling could be heard, due, no doubt, to the abnormal contraction and extension of the iron at that temperature. Several causes at once suggested themselves. The alteration 1 This phenomenon was observed by Dr. Ferguson independently, and exhibited to the Royal Society of Edinburgh at the meeting before that at which an abstract of the present paper was read. of the elasticity of the wire was dismissed as probably not the principal cause at all events; for the increase of the [sound begins at comparatively low temperatures. Although I did not expect to find any such thing, I looked for a maximum of resist- ance at a high temperature by placing the iron wire in one circuit of a differential galvanometer, balancing it with an equal resistance in the other, and then heating. I found, as is already known, that the resistance increases with great rapidity after dull red heat, but obtained no indication of a maximum, The most probable explanation seemed to be the magnetic properties of the wire. It is well known that the magnetic susceptibility of iron (that is, loosely speaking, its power to become inductively magnetised under the influence of a given magnetic force) is at its maximum about dull red heat; that it declines very rapidly at higher temperatures, and is almost in- sensible at a bright red heat. The coercitive force of iron, that is, its power toretain magnetism permanently, unaided by exter- al magnetic forces, disappears at a much lower temperature. The sound in the above experiment depends, therefore, upon temperature in the same way as the magnetic susceptibility of the iron wire. This is strong proof that the sound is simply due to the fact that the iron is magnetised. I convinced myself by direct experiment that the effect extends throughout the whole of the wire, for I found that two flames at different places produced, when properly applied, ‘more effect than one, and that, as I brought more and more of the wire to the proper temperature, the sound grew louder and louder. The fact that on cooling the permanent effect was greater than before probably corre- sponds to the fact that, under certain circumstances, the perma- nent magnetism is increased by heating and subsequent cooling, Fic. 3.—Nickel.—a, buzz and low note, both loud; zB, low note, gone; c, buzz, tending to soften; p, buzz, gone; x, feeble high note; F, high note, of which fact it was easy enough to make certain by testing the magnetism before and after heating. I next took a piece of steel piano wire (B, 20 cm. long, ‘9 mm. diameter) and mounted it in the telephone. At first no sound whatever could be heard. On magnetising it longitudinally, by stroking once or twice ‘with a pair of magnets, a sound was heard quite distinctly, ‘viz., a gentle fizz accompanied by a high note. On magnetising more strongly this sound became somewhat louder, but retained the same character. Gentle heating with a spirit-lamp decreased the sound; but it recovered its intensity when the wire was allowed to cool, and remained permanently a little louder than at first. Repeated gentle heating and cooling increased the permanent sound somewhat. The wire was then strongly heated with a Bunsen flame. At first the sound died away to a minimum, then it increased, and was very loud about a dull red, then it fell off again. When the wire cooled the sound rose to a maximum, and then fell off, no minimum being perceptible. After this the permanent sound was a good deal louder, but the diminution on slightly heating could no longer be observed with certainty. I next heated the steel wire B to white heat throughout, so as to deprive it entirely of all magnetism, and tempered it by dropping it into cold water when dull red. When put into the telephone after this treatment it gave no sound whatever. One stroke with a pair of bar magnets caused it to sound quite dis- tinctly. It gave a gentle fizzing sound along with a very high note. ‘Repeated gentle heating and cooling gave the same 306 NATURE [| 7uly 29, 1880 results as I had got before. I then gradually raised the tem- perature till part of the wire was bright red, and finally allowed it to cool. As the temperature rose, the original fizzing sound died out, then the high note became inaudible, then there was a short interval of almost complete silence ; after that a high note came in, then the fizzing sound again, which very quickly changed into a deep buzz, accompanied by a very low note like that of the tuning-fork, a note of medium pitch, and a high note (and possibly others), then the buzz died out, and at last the high note was left. When the wire cooled, the phenomena recurred in the corresponding order. First the buzz came back along with the low and medium notes, then it died away, and the high note alone was left ; then there was silence, then the high note again, and lastly the fizzing sound. Most of the notes heard, certainly the most prominent of them, appear to have little relation to the tuning-fork. They seemed to be affected to some extent by the tension of the wire. When a magnet was brought up to the wire the deep note, ob- tained in a similar way with wires of other metals, was heard along with those peculiar to iron and steel. These experiments with the steel wire appear to me to settle the question as to the cause of the sound in thick iron wires, The fact that the wire can be put into a condition in which no sound is produced, and then made to sound by magnetising it, shows that the action is due to the magnetism of the wire, and is also an additional proof that the earth’s magnetism had nothing to do with it. This view is still further confirmed by the effect of heat on the tempered steel wire. The first effect of heat is to destroy the permanent magnetism of the wire, hence the initial diminution of the sound. Ata temperature of about 250° C. the permanent magnetism is much reduced. On heating farther, the magnetic susceptibility of the steel begins to increase rapidly, until it reaches a maximum about dull red, and then it falls off again very rapidly ; hence the increase of the sound to a maximum and the final falling off. The reason why the minimum cannot be observed with iron, and not always with soft steel, is that with them the permanent magnetism is less and the magnetic susceptibility in general greater at ordinary temperatures, so that the increase of the latter begins sooner and masks the decrease of the former. Ata dull red all kinds of iron or steel are much on a par as to suscepti- bility; hence in the case of hard steel, whose susceptibility begins to increase rapidly only at a pretty high temperature, the phenomena are much more striking, as well as more varied than in the case of soft iron. On cooling the sound came and went again as usual, leaving, however, a permanent sound of considerable loudness, which was increased by repeated operations of this kind. As a test of the soundness of the above conclusions I was anxious to examine the behaviour of the other strongly magnetic metals, and Prof. Tait kindly put several pieces of nickel and cobalt at my disposal. The piece of nickel used was 3 cm. long, 2 mm. broad, and about ‘6 mm. thick. It was hard soldered to platinum terminals, and mounted in the usual way, after being heated red hot and dipped in water at dull red. At first it gave a very feeble high note, accompanied by a gentle fizzing sound. One stroke with a magnet caused it to emit a loud buzzing sound. On heating gently this sound was somewhat reduced, and on heating farther the hissing sound died away, and a high note was left, but it too was extinguished before the nickel was visibly hot. I made some temperature determinations by means of an air- bath and a mercury-thermometer, and found that at 200° C. the buzzing noise first began to be softened down. After 250° C. the diminution appeared rather more rapid, but at 350° C. the sound was still quite loud; after that the falling off was very rapid, and somewhere (say 400° C.) beyond the range of the thermometer, the mercury in which just boiled at the end of the experiment, the sound died out rather suddenly. The behaviour of nickel is therefore exactly what we should expect from its magnetic properties, for it loses its magnetic susceptibility, according to Faraday and others, somewhere between 350° C. and 4oo° C. I found with nickel, as with iron, that the current itself at a certain high temperature could produce much the same effect as I got by magnetising, On testing a piece of nickel after being magnetised by the current I found it to be transversely magne- tised. This induced me to try magnetising my nickel strip transversely, but although I got results this way they were not so good as I had got by magnetising longitudinally. I was thus led to try the following experiment, the result of which is at least curious. Instead of passing the current through the nickel itself as before, I passed it round two flat pieces of iron electro-magnet-wise. These were placed with their ends pretty close together, and the nickel was stretched between them so that it Jay in a nearly uniform field of magnetic force, whose strength varied in unison with the interrupter. I found that with this arrangement the nickel sounded very much as it did when the current was passed directly through it, The sound was not so loud, but its quality appeared to be the same, The sound, however, was loudest when the plane of the nickel strip was parallel to the lines of force, being very feeble when the plane of the strip was perpendicular to the lines of orce. A piece of watch-spring was tried in the same way, with exactly similar results. This experiment is of course very nearly the same as some of those by which the sounds due to the magnetisation and demag- netisation of iron are usually demonstrated. A very full account of these sounds will be found in Wiedemann’s ‘‘ Galvanismus,” Bd, ii. p. 565 ef seg. , I tried a piece of cobalt 6 cm. long and 6 mm. broad, *7 mm. thick, in the ordinary way. In its original state it gave no sound whatever. After being magnetised longitudinally by a large number of strokes it gave a sound, very feeble, however, com- pared with that got in the same way from iron and nickel, or even from hard steel ; it was, moreover, more of a pure note and less of a hissing noise. Heating in the first place diminished this initial sound, so that there came an interval of comparative silence, then the sound rose again, and by and by the familiar buzz came in; but up to a bright red heat no maximum was reached. On cooling, the phenomena reappeared in the proper order. Cobalt behaves, therefore, just as we should expect from its refractory magnetic nature. I may mention one curious phenomenon that appeared once or twice with cobalt and once or twice with a piece of steel. On cooling, after the maximum was past, the buzz had died away, and a period of comparative silence had come, strong beats began to be heard, which lasted for a considerable time, and then died away as the temperature fell. Various causes for these might be assigned. It might have happened that two parts of the metal were at different temperatures, and gave notes nearly in unison. It may very well have been interference between notes due to permanent and temporary magnetism ; for in cobalt generally, and with the particular piece of steel in question, the minimum was not marked by the absolute silence which probably indicates cessation of the sound due to permanent magnetism before that due to temporary magnetism begins. Relation to Thermo-electric Properties.—As it seemed to be of some interest to connect these magnetic sounds with the curious thermo-electric peculiarities of iron and nickel brought to light by the recent researches of Prof. Tait,! I asked the help of his assistant, Dr. C. G. Knott, who has had great experience in work of this kind. The sounding-wire, a short piece of which was always used in order to get the phenomenon pure, was inclosed along with a double or triple thermo-electric junction in a small tube made by rolling up a piece of sheet-copper. The tube was then heated up in the blowpipe flame. This was a rough way of setting to work, but it was sufficient for our purpose. The diagrams (Figs. 1, 2, 3), made by Mr. Knott, with the ap- pended notes, will show the results. I have given the observations made during heating, as being on the whole probably nearest the mark. The cooling, except in the case of nickel, which was inclosed in a wide iron box, and did not require to be raised to a very high temperature, was much more rapid than the heating, and consequently inequalities of temperature due to the different positions of the sounding-wire and the junction would have been*more apparent. In point of fact the discrepancy was not reat, : The abscissa in the case of nickel is the temperature in centi- grade degrees, in the other cases it is the electromotive force of a junction formed of a certain pair of platinum iridium alloys (called M and N) much used by Tait in his thermoelectric researches, because their lines on his thermoelectric diagram are 1 Trans. R. S. E., 1872, 3, vol. xxvii. p. 134, &e. Fuly 29, 1880] NATURE 307 nearly parallel (see p. 140 of the paper above referred to). The ordinate in all these cases is the thermoelectric power. The special feature here is the period of silence at the neutral point of N and steel, viz., about 250°C. This observation agrees remarkably well with the theory that the initial sound in the case of steel is due to its permanent mag- netism ; for, according to Faraday, steel loses its coercitive force about the temperature of boiling almond oil. See also Marshall (Proc. R.S.E., 1871-72, p. 605). On cooling, owing doubtless to the fact that exposure to a high temperature had softened the steel, which was very hard to begin with, no period of absolute silence appeared, and beats were heard. It was difficult to distinguish whether the note at E and F was or was not due to the singing of the Bunsen flame. The ob- servations, on cooling, exactly corroborated those taken during heating. ; Tt appears to me that these experiments establish that a series of sounds are produced by the passage of a varying current through magnetised iron, nickel, and cobalt, which depend on the fact of their magnetism. They are apparently of the same nature as those observed heretofore in magnetising and demag- netising iron. I believe that the phenomena above described explain'the excep- tional power of iron wires of considerable thickness, as sounders in the wire telephone. When the iron wire is very thin it is most likely that the effect obtained with thin wires of ordinary metals predominates, and it is possible that the magnetic effect may in that case be very small. I cannot say, however, that I have settled this point, which clearly involves an experimental difficulty. At all events I hope the above observations will be of sufficient interest to attract notice to a subject which has not been much studied lately, notwithstanding its important bearings on the theory of the telephone, and what is of more scientific import- ance still, the theory of magnetism in strongly-magnetic bodies, a department of physics which stands in as much need of additional light as any that I know. G, CHRYSTAL INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGY HE International Meteorological Committee appointed by the Congress of Rome (1879), will hold its first meeting at Berhe on the 9th proximo. The following is the programme of questions to be considered by the Committee :— I. Report on the action of the Committee since the date of the Congress at Rome. 2. Report of the Polar Conference (Weyprecht’s project) held at Hamburg in October, 1879. 3. Proposed Conference for Agricultural Meteorology, sum- moned for September 6 at Vienna. 4. Proposed comparison of the Standard Instruments of the chief Observatories of Europe. 5. Proposed: Catalogue of Meteorological Observations and of Meteorological Works and Memoirs in all languages. 6, Proposed International Tables for the reduction of obser- vations. > 7. Proposal for an International Meteorological Dictionary. 8. Report on the Meteorological Organisation of England in 1877, being a Supplement to the Fifth Appendix to the Report of the Roman Congress. g. Proposal by Capt. Hoffmeyer for an International Tele- graphic Service for the North Atlantic. 10. Proposal respecting the exchange of Meteorological Publi- cations by post. The Circular concerning the meeting, which is issued by Prof, Wild and Mr. Scott, requests all persons wishing to make any communications to the Committee to address them to Mr. Scott, at 116, Victoria Street, during the current month. A private Conference on the relations of Meteorology to Agriculture and Forestry will be held at Vienna on September 6, The following is the programme of subjects for discussion :— 1. What are the mutual relations of the meteorological elements on vegetation, not only those which are proved to exist, but those which are theoretically supposed to be probable? 2. What observations of meteorological elements are to be particularly attended to, with especial reference to their influence on vegetation ? 3. How far, and in what way, can meteorological observa- 1 tories and stations, without interfering with their other work, include these observations in their sphere of operation ? 4. Would it not be useful with a view of establishing special systems of observations for this object, as, for instance, pheno- logical observations, to prepare general instructions ? 5. Can, at the present moment meteorological central offices issue weather forecasts for the use of agriculture, with reasonable prospects of utility, and if this question is answered in the affirmative, how can the service be organised as fully as possible ? Preliminary materials for the answers to these questions will be found in the Reports of Dr. Lorenz and Dr. Bruhns to the Roman Congress on Article 35 of the Programme. These Reports have also been published separately in German, and partially in French in the collection issued by the Central Office at Rome of all Reports presented to the Congress. In the latter pane the Report of M. Denza on the same subject is to be ound, UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE A TOWN’S meeting was held at Liverpool last week for the purpose of hearing a report from the committee appointed a year or two ago as to the progress of a scheme for establishing a University College in Liverpool. The report showed that in spite of bad times a very gratifying readiness had been exhibited on the part of a number of the leading residents of Liverpool to contribute to the necessary funds, several of whom had promised sums of 10,000/, each for the endowment of different chairs. The Earl of Derby had also promised a similar sum, the result being that 80,0007. was already insured. The col- lege is to be upon the broadest basis, being non-sectarian, and offering no disabilities of any kind to intending students. A resolution was moved thanking donors to the fund, pledging the meeting to the furtherance of the scheme, and recommending that the different classes and businesses of the town should form themselves into committees for the purpose of canvassing, IN reply to a question by Sir J. Lawrence on Monday as to the embarrassed position of the United College of St. Andrews, Sir W. Harcourt stated that the Government would consider the report during the recess, with a view to making some proposal early next session. A COMMITTEE is to be appointed to inquire as to the existing establishments which are available for intermediate and higher education in Wales. THE Superior Council of Instruction in France has terminated its second session. The most notable feature has been the introduction of descriptive natural history in the eighth class, that is, in the first step of classical education, SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Annalen der Physik und Chemie, No. 6.—On electric expan- sion, by G. Quincke.—On the thermal and optical behaviour of gases under the influence of electric discharges, by E, Wiede- mann.—On the electro-magnetic rotation of the plane of polari- sation of light in gases, by A. Kundt and W. C. Rontgen.—On the theory of inconstant galvanic elements, by F, Exner.—On the specific heat of water, by A. Wiillner.—On the specific heat of mixtures of acetic acid and water, by M. A. von Reiss. —On a changed form of my proof of Maxwell’s law of distribution of energy, by O. E. Meyer.—Researches on heat-conduction in liquids (continued), by H. F. Weber.—On anomalous disper- sion in glowing sodium-yapour, by A. Kundt.—On a simple method of galvanic calibration of a wire, by V. Strouhal and C. Barus.—Explosive actions by ice, by Ed. Hagenbach.—On the funnel-valve in evacuated tubes, by W. Holtz. No. 7.—Experiments on stationary vibrations of water, by G. Kirchhoff and G. Hansemann.—On the nature of galvanic polarisation, by W. Beetz.—Key for electric circuits, by the same.—On electric expansion (continued), by G. Quincke.— Experiments for determination of an upper limit for the kinetic energy of the electric current, by H. R. Hertz.—On fluores- cence, by E, Lommel. —Researches on heat-conduction in liquids, by H. F. Weber.—On the transverse vibrations of a bar of variable cross-section, by G. Kirchhoff, NATURE [Fuly 29, 1880 SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LonDON Entomological Society, July 7.—J. W. Dunning, M.A., vice-president, in the chair.—Mr. Jenner Weir, on behalf of Mr. J. W. Douglas, exhibited a female specimen of Woctua c-nigrum.—Mr. McLachlan exhibited a piece of sugar-cane from Queensland much eaten by some undetermined lepidopterous laryee, of which specimens were shown. Mr, W. L, Distant was able to state that this was a quite distinct larva from that infesting sugar-canes in Madras, of which he had lately received specimens.—Miss Ormerod exhibited specimens of various sugar- cane borers from British Guiana, and read notes thereon.—Mr. Distant exhibited a specimen of the larva of Hepialus vivescens, the so-called vegetable caterpillar of New Zealand. The spores of Cordiceps robertsit, falling on this caterpillar, become para- sitic, destroying it, and growing therefrom in the form which has caused many erroneous statements. to be made,—Mr, Bil- lups exhibited a larva of Plusta chrysitis and some specimens of an ichneumon (Paxylloma sp.) that was parasitic thereon.— Mr. Phipson exhibited a remarkable variety of Pyrameis cardui. —A note was read from Mr, Sidney Churchill of Teheran on Argas persicas.—Mr, Roland Trimen communicated notes on the pairing of a butterfly with a moth, and on a supposed female of Dorylus helvolus, Linn.—Messrs. Godman and Salvin communi- cated a paper entitled ‘‘ A list of Diurnal Lepidoptera collected in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, Columbia, and the vicinity.” VIENNA Imperial Academy of Sciences, May 13.—On the theory of Volta’s fundamental experiment, by Prof. Exner. June 3.—On a method of indicating the variations of volume of the heart, by Prof. Knoll.—The variation of molecular weight and molecular refractive power (second part), by Dr. Janovsky. —On preliminary determination of the orbit of the planet (178) Belisana, by Herr Riiling. June 10.—Preliminary communication on the spermogonia of Aacidiomycetes, by Prof. Rothoy.—On electrical ring-figures and their change of form by the magnet, by Prof. Reitlinger and Dr. Wiachter.—On the magnetisability of iron at high temperatures, by Prof. Wassmuth.—On the development of gases from metals, by Prof. Suess.—On the path of the comets 1843 I and 188oz, by Herr Weiss.—On so-called chemical repulsion, by Dr. Lecher. June 17.—Contributions to an investigation of the phylogeny of plant-species, by Prof, v. Ettingshausen.— Optical notices, by Prof. vy. Lang.—On the localisation of functions in the periphery of the human brain, by Prof. Exner. PARIS Academy of Sciences, July 19.—M. Edm, Becquerel in the chair.—The following papers were read :—Researches on the organic alkalies, by M. Berthelot. This relates to ethylamine and trimethylamine, their heat of combustion, &c.—Modifications of respiratory movements by muscular exercise, by M. Marey. The respiratory curves obtained from young soldiers with a (so- called) prexmograph show that after a gymnastic course they breathe about twice as much air as before; the number of respirations is reduced from twenty to twelve per minute, but their amplitude is more than quadrupled. At the outset the respiration is considerably modified by running (600 m. in about four minutes), but after from four or five months’ exercise this running has no perceptible effect.—On strengthening the im- munity of Algerian sheep against splenic fever by preventive inoculations; influence of inoculation of the mother on the receptivity of the foetus, by M. Chauveau. Direct contact of the animal organism with the bacteridian elements is not necessary to its ulterior sterilisation. Preventive inoculations act on the humours proper, which are rendered sterile and sterilising, either by removal of substances necessary to bacteridian proliferation, or rather by addition of matters adverse to this proliferation. — On the construction of the dam of Gileppe, Belgium, by M. de Lesseps.—Ephemerides of comet 4 1880 (Schiaberle), by M. Bigourdan,—Reply to a remark of Mr. Sylvester’s concerning the lessons on the theory of numbers of Dirichlet, by M. Dedekind,— On the cause of the fugitive spectra observed by M. Trouyelot on the solar limb, by M. Tacchini, He has often observed such spectra (attributed by M. Trouvelot to solar disturbances) on passage of swallows and other birds across the sun, In simultaneous ob- servations on three days, by Prof, Ricco, at Palermo (where birds are very rare), no such spectra were recorded; and M. Tacchini finds, as one might expect, that they become less frequent as the _ sun rises in the sky.—On atmospheric electricity, by M. Mascart. His observations at the [College of France are made with a Thomson quadrant electrometer, the deflections of the needle being transmitted to a pencil. The two pairs of quadrants are kept at equal potentials of contrary sign by two poles of a battery which communicates with the ground; the needle is connected with a vessel letting flow a continuous stream of water into the outer air. Generally the potential of the air, always positive, is found much higher and more uniform by night than by ‘day. From 9 p.m. to 3 a.m, it varies little, falls at daybreak, reaches a minimum about 3 p.m., then rises rapidly to a maximum about 9p.m, (Itis commonly thought there are two maxima, morning ond evening ; and two minima, one in the day, the other at night. M. Mascart considers insulation has been too much neglected.)—On the alternative currents and the electromotive force of the electric arc, by M. Joubert. When the current intensity is #77 there is no difference of potential between the carbons, but the difference quickly reaches 40 to 50 volts, which is preserved nearly constant till the current is again very weak. The final fall is very sudden. The difference of potential remains the same during the period of the current, though the mean intensity of this be largely varied. —On a new air-thermo- meter, by M. Witz. This is a sort of Leslie’s thermometer, with one air-globe kept at constant temperature by means of a thermal regulator of special form.—On !some fluorised combinations of uranium with the alkaline metals, by M. Ditte.—On the [atomic}weight and the principal properties of glucium, by MM. Nilson and Pettersson. The atcmic weight is 13°65 if the earth is equal to Gl,O03.—On some com- binations belonging to the group of creatines and creatinines, by M. Duvillier.—Action of chloride of ethyl on ethylamines, by MM. Duvillier and Buisine.—Action of electrolysis on ben- zine, by M. Renard. A new body named isobenzoglycol, C,H,(OH), is obtained.—On a peculiar alteration of butcher- meat, by M. Poincaré. He has found cylindrical pointed elements, with cuticles crossed by lines which seem outlines of cells, and granulated. He thinks they may be phases or meta- morphoses of teenioides, causing tenia in some eaters of raw meat.—On the production of charbon by pasturages, by M. Poincaré. ‘The disease was traced in one case to the grass of a meadow being constantly wet with a liquid of marshy look; in this were found numerous bacteridia like those in the blood, and injection of it into a guinea pig produced charbon,—Observa- tions on the origin of fibrillee in the bundles of connective tissue, by M. Laulanié.—On the Echinida of the tertiary strata of Belgium, by M. Cotteau. CONTENTS By M.M. Pattison MuiR_ .. . » « . 285 CuEMICAL Dynamics. By H. N. Mosgtey, F.R.S.. . . » . 288 A JAPANESE ROMANCE. Our Boox SHELF :— ‘Loch Etive and the Sons of Uisnach” . . . « « « 6 5 « « 289 Patterson’s ‘‘ Birds, Fishes, and Cetacea commonly frequenting Belfast Lough” . . FCECRCORUnOolOoc 6 ot Pratt’s ‘‘Key tothe Universe” . =... « s 0 s «© 6 « « » 290 LETTERS TO THE EpIToR:— The Recent Gas Explosion,—Prof. HerBErT McLrop_ . . . . 290 The Freshwater Medusa.—Dr. Guo. J. ALLMAN, F.R.S.. « + « 290 ofS ie » «| 290 Storm Effects.—J. RanD CAPRON. . + + « « 4 The Inevitable Test for Aurora.—J. RAND CAPRON. . « . « « 20% Experiment with Glass Tubes.—J. T. Borromiey (With Ji/ustra- Hon) . + 5 36 0 i MAILON Srey ta Ted Gere pee On the Colours of Double Stars.—C. S, Peirce . « + + + « + 29% Coffee-Disease in New Granada,—Dr. A, ERNST « «© . «© 6 + 292 Toughened Glass.—T. B. Spracuz; J.C. J.. « 6 + « + © « 292 Large Hailstones.—GEORGE PATERSON. « - «6 © + «© + + + 292 Pau Broca. By H. F.C. TEN KATE 2.6 + @ «65 6 6 + « + 292 THE WOOLWICH GUNS ©2-'ei 10s) ey )etse cersiee #) 18 pee 0 Oy ene OS: LIVING ON WATER fics..0. <0 pe io, gore 0) ce 18) 0 + sje) ee a end WarTERFOWL, By. P. L. Sctater, F.R.S. (With litustvations) » + 205 Noves oS0 A, WD iy uel Gaal Sie Cease) Ode Vig pac Our ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN j— Raye!s Gometity 10: sw)enleT, 0: ie) sppaeenweats 5 oe 9 2 0 ete eaa The Observatory, Chicago « « 2 2 + © + © © + + # ¢ + 30% PuHysicaAt NOTES 442) 495. itt eete eters) oso seh te fet Ve) dasa ae GroaRAPHICAL NOTES « 2 es 2 + © 2 ee New ScHEME For DirecTinc Battoons. By W. DE FONVIELLE . 303 EXPERIMENTS WITH THE WIRE TELEPHONE, CHIEFLY ON STRONGLY Macnetic Merars. By Prof, G. Curystar (With Diagrans) . 303 INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGY. » » + + + e so & Jal UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTRLLIGENCE « + + PAM 8 sey Scizntiric SERIALS. «©» + + + © © © © fe 8 +. yeredO7) cite ener ists Bede 2s SociETIES AND ACADEMIES. « + + + + * _" NARBORE THURSDAY, AUGUST, 5, 1880 MULTIPLE SPECTRA? Il. CONCLUDED my last article under the above heading with a reference to the case of carbon, and gave the results successively arrived at by Attfield, -Morren, Watts, and others, which went to show that besides the line-spectrum of carbon mapped by Angstrém there exists a fluted spectrum of this substance. Now comes my own personal connection with this matter. In the year 18787 I communicated to the Royal Society a paper in which the conclusion was drawn that the vapour of carbon was present in the solar atmosphere. This conclusion was founded upon the reversal in the solar spectrum of a set of flutings in the ultra-violet. The conclusion that these flutings were due to the vapour of carbon, and not to any compound of carbon, was founded upon experiments similar to those employed in the researches of Attfield and Watts, who showed that the other almost exactly similar sets of flutings in the visible part of the spectrum were seen when several different compounds of carbon were exposed to the action of heat and electricity. In my photographs the ultra-violet flutings appeared under conditions in which carbon was the only constant, and it seemed therefore reasonable to assume that the flutings were due to carbon itself, and not to any compound of carbon; and this not alone from the previous work done in the special case of carbon, but from that which had shown that the fluted spectra of sulphur, nitrogen, and so forth were really due to these “ele- mentary ” substances. Professors Liveing and Dewar have recently on several occasions called this result in question. Prof. Dewar, in a paper received by the Royal Society on January 8, 1880, writes as follows :— “The almost impossible problem of eliminating hydrogen from masses of carbon, such as can be employed in experi- ments of this kind, prove conclusively that the inference drawn by Mr. Lockyer, as to the elementary character of the so-called carbon spectrum from an examination of the arc in dry chlorine, cannot be regarded as satisfactory, seeing that undoubtedly hydrogen was present in the carbon used as the poles.” Subsequently in a paper received by the Royal Society on February 2, Messrs. Liveing and Dewar wrote as follows :— “‘Mr. Lockyer (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xxvii. p. 308) has recently * obtained a photograph of the arc in chlorine, which shows the series of fluted bands in the ultra-violet, on the strength of which he throws over the conclusion of Angstr6m and Thalén, and draws inferences as to the existence of carbon vapour above the chromosphere) in the coronal atmosphere of the sun, which, if true, would be contrary to all we know of the properties of carbon. We cannot help thinking that ‘hese bands were due to the presence of a small quantity of nitrogen.” It will be seen that on January & Mr. Dewar alone attributed the flutings to a hydrocarbon, while on February 2 Mr. Dewar, associated with Mr. Liveing, attributed them to a nitrocarbon. - * Continued from p. 7. 2 Proc. R. S., No. 187, 1878. 3The approximate wave-length of the brightest, member onthe least refrangible edge is 3881'o, 4 That is, in 1878.—J. N. L. oie ene INO; 562 309 In fact in the latter paper Messrs. Liveing and Dewar published experiments on the spectra of various carbon compounds, and from their observations they have drawn the conclusion that the set of flutings which I have shown to be reversed in the solar spectrum is really due to cyanogen, and that certain other sets of flutings shown by Attfield and Watts to be due to carbon are really due to hydrocarbon, As Messrs, Liveing and Dewar do not controvert the very definite conclusions arrived at by Attfield, Morren, Watts, and others, I can only presume that they took for granted that all the experimental work performed by these men of science was tainted by the presence of impurities, and that it was impossible to avoid them. I therefore thought it desirable to go over the ground again, modifying the experimental method so as to demonstrate the absence of impurities. Indeed I have started upon a research which will require some time to complete. Still, in the meantime, I have sub- mitted to the notice of the Royal Society some results which I have obtained, which I think settle the whole question, and it is the more. important to settle it as Messrs. Liveing and Dewar have already based upon their conclusions theoretical views which appear to me likely to mislead, and which I consider to have long been shown to be erroneous. To these results I shall now refer in this place. The tube with which I have experimented is shown in Fig. 1: Aand Bare platinum wires for passing the spark inside the tube; Eis a small tube into which carbon tetrachloride was introduced; it was drawn out to along narrow orifice to prevent the rapid evaporation of the liquid during the exhaustion of the tube. The tube was bent upwards and a bulb blown at Cc in order that the spark might be examined with the tube end-on, as it is found that after the spark has passed for some time a deposit is formed on the sides of the bulb immediately surrounding the platinums, thus obstructing the light. After a vacuum had been obtained the tube was allowed to remain on the Sprengel pump, to which it was attached by a mercury joint for the purpose of obtaining a vacuum for a long time, in order that the last traces of air and moisture might be expelled by the slow evaporation of the liquid. The carbon tetrachloride was prepared by Dr. Hodg- kinson, who very kindly supplied me with sufficient for my experiments. - On passing the spark without the jar in this tube, the spectrum observed consists of those sets of flutings which, according to Messrs. Liveing and Dewar, are due to hydrocarbon, and the set of flutings which is reversed in the sun, and ascribed by Messrs. Liveing and Dewar to cyanogen, also appears in a photograph of the violet end of the spectrum, Fig. 2. Onconnectinga Leyden jar with the coil and then passing the spark the flutings almost entirely vanish and the line spectra of chlorine and carbon take the place of the flutings without either a line of hydrogen or a line of nitrogen being visible. As a long experience has taught me that these tubes often leak slightly at the platinums after they are detached from the pump, so that the evidence of such a fidce justz- ficatif is only good for a short time, I took the occasion afforded by a visit of Dr. Schuster to my laboratory while P 310 NATURE [ August 5, 1880 the experiments were being made to get my observations | confirmed. He has been good enough to write me the | following letter and to allow me to give it here :— “March 21 | “My DEAR LOCKYER,—The following is an account of the experiment which I saw performed in your laboratory on Monday, March 15 :— “ A tube containing carbon-tetrachloride was attached to the Sprengel pump. As exhaustion proceeded the air was gradually displaced by the vapour of the tetrachloride. The electrodes were a few millimetres apart. If the spark was taken without a condenser in the vapour the well- ric. again, and the same carbon bands were seen as before. These bands, therefore, show themselves with great brilliancy when a strong and powerful spark does not | reveal the presence either of hydrogen or nitrogen. “March 21, 1880 (Signed) ARTHUR SCHUSTER”’ This result, which entirely endorses the work of Attfield and Watts, has been controlled by many other experi- ments. I have also repeated Morren’s experiment and confirm it, and I have also found that the undoubted spectrum of cyanogen is visible neither in the electric arc nor in the surrounding flame. Hence then in the case of carbon, as in the prior cases » SPARK: IN |] BUNSEN FLAME: { E “CARBON FLUTINGS the view that a body may have a fluted spectrum of compound origin as well as a line spectrum. This conclusion is greatly strengthened by the prelimi- nary discussion of a considerable number of photographs of the spectra of various carbon compounds. A general comparison of the photographs first enables us to isolate the lines in the blue and ultra-violet portions of the spectrum (wave-lengths 4300-3800) of the substance associated with the carbon in each case. | the lines of chlorine. | produced by carbon vapour. known carbon bands first observed by Swan in the spectrum of a candle were seen with great brilliancy; I also saw the blue band which you said was identical in position with one of the blue bands seen in the flame of cyanogen or in the spectrum of the electric arc. When the condenser and air-break were introduced this spectrum gave way toa line spectrum in which I could recognise The lines of nitrogen were absent, not a trace of the principal double line in the green being seen. The hydrogen line Ha(C) was faintly visible when I first observed the spectrum, but it got gradually weaker and finally disappeared altogether. When this line was | 20 longer visible the condenser was taken out of circuit T0°SPRENGEL Te of hydrogen, nitrogen and the like, those who hold that the flutings are due to impurities must, it would seem, abandon their position ; for the flutings are undoubtedly Nor is this all; the sugges- tion that the various difficulties which have always been acknowledged to attend observations of this substance may in all probability be due to the fact that the sets of carbon flutings represent different molecular groupings of carbon, in addition to that or those which give us the line spectrum, and that the tension of the current used now | brings one set of flutings into prominence and now another, seems also justified by the facts. This suggests In this manner the lines seen in the photographs of the spectra of CCl, C,)Hs,.CN, CHI;, CS;, €O;, CO, &c., have been mapped, and both the common and special lines and flutings thus determined. The phenomena seen with more or less constancy are a blue line, with a wave-length of 4266; a set of blue flutings, extending from 4215 to 4151 ; and another set of ultra-violet flutings, which extend from 3885 to 3843 (all approximate numbers). August 5, 1880] NATURE 2b In a photograph of the spectrum of the electric avc (with | flutings and the blue line (4266) are also visible, whilst a weak battery) between carbon poles in an atmosphere | the blue flutings become fainter. of chlorine, the blue flutings alone are visible, whilst, when the sfark is similarly photographed, From this we may assume, in accordance with the the ultra-violet | working hypothesis of a series of different temperature ea) Eighest temperature. Intermediate. Lowest temperature, Fic. 3.—Action of three different temperatures on a hypothetical substance, assuming three stages of complete dissociation, furnaces, as set forth in the paper of December, 1878 (see Fig. 3), that the different flutings and the line correspond to different temperature spectra, the blue flutings to the lowest and the blue line to the highest temperature, whilst the ultra-violet flutings occupy an intermediate position. According to this working hypothesis there should bea Furnace A Inter- ft | mediate | 2 | Furnace B Inter- ( mediate | 2 Furnace C Fic. 4.—Spectra of the hypethetica! present. In other words, the highest and the lowest hypothetical temperature spectra are never visible to- gether without the spectrum of the intermediate hypo- thetical temperature. But this is not all. By placing the spectra of the sub- stances at different heat-levels, so to speak, I was enabled Highest temperature. Lowest temperature. the blue filutings, unless the uitra-z | fa bots } substance in intermediate furnzces, assuming that the vz series of horizons forming a perfect gradation between the spectrum which contains the blue line alone and that which contains the blue fluting alone (Fig. 4). In comparing the spectra of carbon under different conditions, I find this to be true. Zhe blue line never appears in conjunction with iolet flutings are also Highest Temperature.= t Tempc peurs are not ccrpletely disscciatec. to construct a map, which not only indicates the’ mere presence or absence of the lines and their relative intensities, but shows a perfect gradation between the spectrum which contains the line alone ‘and that which contains the blue flutings alone (Fig. 5). I would point out that there is nothing theoretical in this map. All the Spark in C,,H, and CHI,. § Spark CO. an COS: ry SONY ea es) Arc in Cl (B). sae Gln (C)s Fic. 5.—The photographed spectra of some carbon compounds. horizons depicted are copied from photographs of carbon | | under the conditions indicated, and theory has merely Were me to arrange them 77 order. This map I submit, therefore, bears out the hypothesis ip differences of temperature indicated above, for it is | seen that, while the blue line gradually thins out, the ultra- violet flutings appear first and grow in intensity. these increase the blue ‘flutings become visible, | further, as the latter augments and the line disappears, the ultra- violet flutings gradually die out altogether. As and 312 NATURE [ August 5, 1880 It is philosophical to infer from these observations that not only are the line and flutings in question produced by carbon, but that the blue line (4266), since it is visible at the highest temperature, corresponds to the most simple molecular grouping we have reached in the experiments, and the flutings to others more complex. The result to which attention is most to be directed in this place is that touching the two sets of flutings, and should future research justify the double conclusion (1) that these flutings are truly due to carbon, a result I accept, though it is denied by Angstrém and Thalén ; and (2) that the different flutings really represent the vibrations of different molecular groupings ; a great step, and one in the direction of simplification, will have been gained. Indeed it is much to be hoped that this ground will be at once worked over again by men of science who are both honest and competent : that the truth is sure to gain by such work is a truism, I have so often taken occasion to refer with admiration to the work of Angstrém and Thalén that I shall not be misunderstood when I say that their conclusions, to which such prominence is given, and on which such great stress is laid by Messrs. Liveing and Dewar, rest more upon theory and analogy than upon experiment. Their work, undertaken at a time when the existence of so-called “double spectra’’ was not established upon the firm basis that it has now, and when there was no idea that the spectrum recorded for us the results of suc- cessive dissociations, gave, as I have previously taken occasion to state, the benefit of the doubt in favour of flutings being due to compounds, and it was thought less improbable that cyanogen or acetylene should have two spectra than that carbon or hydrogen should possess them. Indeed, later researches have thrown doubt upon the view that the fluted spectra of aluminium and magnesium are entirely due to the oxides of those metals instead of to the metals themselves—and this is the very basis of the analogy which Angstrém and Thalén employed, The importance of the observations to which I have referred is all the greater because of the general con- clusions touching other spectra which may be drawn from them. ‘Thus from what I have shown it will be clear that if my view is correct the conclusions drawn* by Messrs. Liveing and Dewar from the assumed hydrogen-carbon bands touching both the spectrum of magnesium and the spectra of comets, are entirely invalid. These conclusions are best given in their own words :— “The similarity in the character of the magnesium- hydrogen spectrum, which we have described, to the green bands of the hydrocarbons is very striking. We have similar bright maxima of light, succeeded by long drawn-out series of fine lines, decreasing in intensity towards the more refrangible side. This peculiarity, common to both, impels the belief that it is a consequence of a similarity of constitution in the two cases, and that magnesium forms with hydrogen a compound analogous to acetylene. In this connection the very simple relation (2:1) between the atomic weights of magnesium and carbon is worthy of note, as well as the power which magnesium has, in common with carbon as it now appears, of combining directly with nitrogen. We may x Payer read February 1s, 1380. with some reason expect to find a magnesium-nitrogen spectrum. ... _ “The interest attaching to the question of the constitu- tion of comets, especially since the discovery by Huggins © that the spectra of various comets are all identical with the hydrocarbon spectrum, naturally leads to some speculation in connection with conclusions to which our experiments point. Provided we admit that materials of the comet contain ready-formed hydrocarbons, and that oxidation may take place, then the acetylene spectrum might be produced at comparatively low temperatures without any trace of the cyanogen spectrum or of metallic lines. If, on the other hand, we assume only the presence of uncombined carbon and hydrogen, we know that the acetylene spectrum can only be produced at a very high temperature, and if nitrogen were also present that we should have the cyanogen spectrum as well. Either, then, the first supposition is the true one, not disproving ‘the — presence of nitrogen, or else the atmosphere which the comet meets is hydrogen only, and contains no nitrogen.” The importance of the question here treated of comes — out very well from these two extracts. We find the same spectral phenomenon at once called into court, and very properly called in, both to suggest the existence of chemical substances of which the chemist has never dreamt, and to explain the chemical nature of a large group _ of celestial bodies." There is little doubt that when a complete consensus" of opinion is arrived at among the workers, other sugges- tions more far reaching still will be derived from the prosecution of these inquiries. For the present, however, the chief point to bear in mind is that both in line-spectra and in fluted spectra we have indications which I thin favour the view that in each case the origin is compound rather than simple. J. NorMAN LOCKYER Oban, July 20 : THE EDUCATION DEBATE ia) ae chorus of approval with which Mr, Mundella’s report on the progress of elementary education wa! received on Monday cannot but be gratifying to all wh have at heart the highest welfare of the country. Wit one or two unimportant exceptions—members whose visio: is so bizarre as to discern communism in the education o} the children of the working classes, and who connect the increase of weeds with the spread of education—what criticism there was referred to details of method. All the members whose opinions are of any weight agreed that vast good had resulted to the country by the working of the Code. As to the special subjects, among which science is included, the weight of opinion was decidedly in favour of their retention. The greatest friends of the Fourth Schedule will admit that there is still much room for im- provement in the teaching of these subjects ; it cannot be expected that so great a novelty in the system of ele- mentary education in the country can all at once be. taught to perfection. About the success of the compulsory system of education it may be said that the House was all ' but unanimous. The analogy between the treatment of 3 F With special reference to this last question, that of cometary Thee one of acknowledged difficulty, I may perhaps be permitted to add here | by way of note that the yiew I put forward some years ago touching a q relation of this spectrum to that of the nebulz has been lately strengthened * by the observation that at a low temperature one of the brightest lines in tl spectrum of iron is that_ coincident with the “chief line jin’ the! nebul: \ pectrum. August 5, 1880] NATURE 313 paupers and the free education of the children of the working classes will not hold water. In the one case we are simply keeping from starvation people whose im- providence or misfortune have made them a dead burden on their fellows; in the other case we are feeding the minds of those who one day will have to bear the brunt of the work of the nation. The better these future workers are educated, the more intelligently and the more effectively are they likely to do their work, and the less likely are they to become inmates of our workhouses and prisons. As Serjeant Simon testified, even already is there a marked decrease of embryo criminals in our streets. The conclusion cometo by Mr. Mundella and those who, like him, have the interests of education at heart, is not that we have gone too far, but that we have not gone far enough ; not that we have reached finality, but that we have only made a good beginning. The figures he adduced to prove the success of the existing Education Act were practically admitted to be irrefutable; and we only trust the progress in the next ten years will be at an equal ratio to that achieved during the past decade. “ Many of us,” he truly said, “would pass away without seeing the full effect of the work we are doing.’’? As to the propriety of encouraging the retention of exceptionally clever boys in elementary schools beyond the regulation age, the figures showed that it would be crue] and unjust to forbid this. Until we have a State system of secondary education in England similar to that about to be sanctioned in Scotland, until an equally decisive step is taken with regard to educational endowments in the one country_as in the other, the nation would be doing a gross injustice to force exceptionally clever boys to leave school just when their intellects were beginning to shoot into full vigour. Mr. Mundella showed by his figures that Scotland is still ahead of England in the matter of education ; that extra or special subjects are more widely sought after and with greater success, and that a larger percentage of children in elementary schools proceed to secondary education. But it should be remembered that this is the result of many generations of universal education, and that in Scotland it has long been considered as great a disgrace to be uneducated as in England it is considered to be immoral. There among the great majority of the working classes compulsory education was scarcely needed, and this will no doubt be the case in England in the course of a century or so, when education will have become as great a necessity as decent clothing. Again during the debate was it shown by those who have the best means of knowing that where science is properly taught there the children are as a rule more intelligent and bright, and better up in the ordinary subjects than in schools where science is neglected. Sir John Lubbock gave a remarkable instance of the favour with which properly conducted science-teaching is received by the children themselves :— ‘* He had lately,” he said, “visited some of the Lambeth schools, and in one of the last he asked the children which subject they themselves preferred. Out of 229 children in the upper standards, 2 liked grammar best, 11 geo- graphy, 31 arithmetic, 38 history, and 147 elementary science. He did not quote this from any wish to exclude the other subjects, but because it seemed conclusive evidence against the proposal to omit elementary science. He knew that many hon. members, when they thought of children learning these extra subjects, pictured to them- selves anxious and weary children poring over a difficult and distasteful task. He wished they would go and see the reality—the bright, happy, intelligent faces of the children, and their delight as they found themselves able to answer the questions rapidly asked them by the master.” We have no intention of repeating the arguments we have so often adduced in favour of the teaching of at least such elementary science in our national schools as will be of practical use in after life and help to render the hard lives of the working classes brighter and nobler, and thus elevate the whole nation. The debate on Monday confirms all that has been adduced in favour of such education, and is the best possible reply to the attack of Lord Norton in the Upper House, an attack which the debate showed to be an anachronism. The whole tone of Mr. Mundella’s address must convince all but the most prejudiced that the education of the country could not be in better or safer hands, and that he is not in the least likely to take any step that could be considered rash. Quite in keeping with the tone of his Education address were his remarks in connection with the vote for the Science and Art Department. With regard to the vote of 4,000/. for scientific research, Mr. Mundella said that it was expended under the advice of the Committee and members of the Royal Society, and that of the presidents of the various other scientific bodies. He thought the country could well afford to spend 5,000/. on the matters that had been alluded to. “As it was we did not spend too much on science and art.’ This is a remarkable admission to make by our Minister of Science, for such the Vice-President of the Council is in reality if not in name. We do not wish a penny to be deducted from the grant for elementary education, which we hope to see gradually increased ; indeed we would strongly urge Mr. Mundella to devote his energies, so long as he has oppor- tunity, to perfecting the teaching of science in our elementary schools. When once a proper system is fairly established, there will be no danger of retrogression —rapid progress will be certain. Not only so, but we are sure that the nation will be convinced that at the other end of the scale the neglect to encourage by national funds scientific research is quite as disastrous to the highest welfare of the country as the neglect of elementary education. In Germany and France the national neces- sity of both is practically recognised, and they are both amply provided for. If Mr. Mundella is of opinion that we do not spend too much on science, that can only mean that the nation must suffer for this parsimony. It was admittedly as an experiment that the 4,000/. was added to the 1,000/., which, by the by, but for the want of faith of the scientific nabobs of the time, might have been 10,000/,, and that many years ago. Over and over again have we pointed out the benefit which the nation would reap from research when adequately encouraged, and that we can never hope to hold our own in this matter with foreign countries under existing conditions, under which some of our best men are compelled to waste in exceptional powers in teaching for the sake of bread and butter; while some among the “ professors” whom in the view of some we were exclusively to look for research 314 NATURE | August 5, 1880 not only neglect research, but even their students in the most unblushing manner, in their greed of gold. We hope that when next Mr. Mundella has to ask fora vote for the Science and Art Department, he will present as strong a case for the encouragement of advanced science as he has done for the teaching of elementary science. The facts and figures in favour of the one are as strong as those in favour of the other. EUROPEAN CADDIS-FLIES A Monographic Revision and Synopsts of the Trichoptera of the European Fauna. By Robert McLachlan, F.R.S., F.LS., &c. (London: Van Voorst, 1874- 1880.) OST persons have seen those curious aquatic insects called caddis-worms, which live at the bottom of the water, protected by tubular cases formed of bits of stick, stones, sand, or shells, and are much used as bait by anglers; being, as Izaak Walton remarked, “a choice bait for the chub or chavender, or indeed for any great fish.” It is also generally known that these caddis-worms are the larve or grubs of winged insects, known as caddis- flies or water-moths, which abound in the vicinity of rivers or ponds and often fly into houses attracted by the light ; but few persons except entomologists are aware that there are nearly a hundred and fifty different species in the British Isles, while between four and five hundred are known from various parts of Europe—that they constitute a distinct order of insects, named “ Trichoptera,’ from their hairy wings—and that they possess peculiarities of structure of the greatest interest as serving to connect, however imperfectly, such distinct and highly specialised orders, as the Hymenoptera and the Lepidoptera. The perfect insects are characterised by four ample membranous wings, of which the hind pair are usually the largest, while the front pair are somewhat more leathery in texture. The wings are always more or less clothed with hair, sometimes to such an extent as to form a dense coat which completely hides the nervures; and it is this peculiar hairy covering which has given the name to the family. The neuration of the wings consists of longitudinal branching veins with a few cross veins forming cells, very different from the netted veins of most of the Neuroptera, with which the Trichoptera were formerly united, but bearing a considerable re- semblance to those of some of the smaller moths. The body is also hairy, the legs long and spined, while the antenne are usually longer than the body, slender and thread-like; and when the insect is in repose these are directed forward, and so closely pressed together as to appear like one. The mouth is very small with quite rudimentary mandibles, and Mr. McLachlan thinks that the insects usually take no nutriment whatever in the perfect state, “existing on the superabundant vitality acquired during their long larval stage,’’ but he adds: “some of the larger species frequent flowers at night after the manner of moths, and are even attracted by the mixtures used by lepidopterists to attract their favourite insects, facts which prove that some, at any rate, partake of liquid nutriment.”” The exact mode in which this is effected is not yet clearly ascertained. The eggs are gelatinous, and stick together in a mass which is attached to aquatic plants below the surface of the water, into which the female is said sometimes to enter for the purpose of depositing them in a proper situa- tion. The cases formed by the larvee are built up of various substances fastened together by silken threads spun from the mouth in the same manner as caterpillars spin their cocoons—another curious point of resemblance to the Lepidoptera. These cases vary greatly in the different families and genera, and though at present very imper- fectly known it seems probable that every species has a distinctive form of case. The Phryganeide, for example make cylindrical cases of morsels of leaves or fibres arranged in a spiral manner, the cases are open at both ends, and it is believed that the larve have the power of turning in them. When about to change into a pupa the larva closes up the ends with vegetable matter and attaches the case to an aquatic plant. They live only in ponds, lakes, or marshes. Another family—the Limno- philidaa—have some genera which live in still, others in running waters, and their cases vary greatly, the most curious being those formed entirely of shells, often taken while their inmates are alive. One genus of this family— Enoicycla—is altogether anomalous, since the female has rudimentary wings and its larva lives in moss, often in woods far away from water, forming a case of fine sand intermixed with vegetable matter. One species is found in England. larvee live generally in streams, forming cylindrical cases of sand or small stones, but sometimes the cases are broad and flattened, in others quadrangular, while in one genus—Helicopsyche—they are spiral, formed of sand grains, and often so closely resembling the shells of fresh- _ water molluscs, that some of them have been described as species of Valvata, Paludina, &c.! In the Hydro- psychidee and Rhyacophilidz the larva are carnivorous; In the next family—Sericostomatidae—the — and form irregular cases of small stones fixed to larger — stones at the bottom of the water, and sometimes several larvee appear to live in company under a common covering of vegetable and other dér7s fastened together with silk. These are obliged to quit their retreats when wandering about in search of food, and they accordingly have the body and abdomen of a firmer consistency. The Rhyaco- philidz especially frequent torrents. Lastly, the Hydro- philide live in more or less seed-like, movable cases, formed of silk with minute sand-grains, and having a slit at each end forming two apertures, from either of which the larva can protrude its head. They are found among water-plants, on the surface of stones at the bottom of streams or ponds, and have the power of spinning a silken thread by which both the case and its inhabitant can float securely in the water. The insects produced from these larvez are the smallest of the order, and often appear in great numbers. When the larve of Trichoptera are about to change into pupz they close up the apertures of their cases either with a network of threads or with other materials, and some of them besides spin an inner cocoon. though quite motionless, bear a considerable resemblance The pupe, — to the perfect insect, the antennz, legs, and wings being — fully formed, but shorter, and all inclosed in separate sheaths and arranged on the breast. The head is how- © ever armed with a pair of strong horny hooks or jaws © August 5, 1880] NATURE 315 Se eee quite different from those of the larva or the rudimentary jaws of the perfect insect. These are to enable the pupa to cut its way through the cocoon and outer case, when it is ready to assume the perfect state. It then becomes active, swimming by means of its two middle legs, the tarsi of which are densely fringed with long ciliz, forming admirable oars. By means of these the pupa reaches the stem of some aquatic plant, up which it creeps out of the water, and then sheds its pupa-skin, and lives a short aérial life which seems wholly devoted to the duty of continuing the species. From the foregoing brief sketch of the main features of this order of insects, it will be seen that they form what is probably a very ancient group, which has preserved some of the characteristics of several distinct orders. Though, owing to the structure of the rudimentary mouth, the Trichoptera have to be classed among the mandibulate or gnawing insects, and are supposed to be allied to both the Neuroptera and the lower Hymenoptera, yet in the neuration of the wings, their hairy clothing, the silk- spinning and case-bearing larve, and the form and habits of the perfect insect, they more nearly resemble some of the smaller moths, with which Mr. McLachlan believes they have a real affinity. So, in the curious activity of an otherwise quiescent pupa, which possesses special organs for gnawing and for swimming, these insects seem inter- mediate between the groups with an imperfect and those with a perfect metamorphosis, though far more closely allied to the latter; and owing to these various peculiari- ties the Trichoptera may be said to constitute a “critical” group, whose study cannot fail to throw light on the affinities and genealogy of insects generally. Owing however to their obscure colours and slightly varied forms they have attracted comparatively little attention, though a few ardent workers have for many years devoted themselves to this branch of entomology ; but the appear- ance of the present elaborate work, which is a model of conscientious labour and research, will form an important era in the study of the group. This large and handsome octavo volume is devoted to a complete description of all the species of Trichoptera which have been discovered in Europe and Northern Asia, or in what is now termed the Palearctic Region. These descriptions have all been drawn up from speci- mens of the insects themselves—often of the greatest rarity—and the fact that the ‘chief museums and private cabinets of Europe and America have placed their collections in Mr. McLachlan’s hands for the pur- poses of this work, is the best proof of the high repu- tation he has, attained as a master in this branch of entomology. The book is illustrated by fifty-nine plates containing about 2,000 distinct figures (all drawn by the author himself), illustrating generic and specific characters mostly derived from the neuration of the wings and the structure of the anal appendages. These latter organs are wonderfully varied from species to species while constant in each ; and by carefully delineating them by means of the camera lucida, species have been shown to be distinct which appear in all other respects to be iden- tical ; and the fact of such distinctness in a considerable number of cases is one of the most curious and interesting results of Mr. McLachlan’s researches, The work has occupied nearly six years in its publica- tion, and it has had the effect of stimulating inquiry to such an extent that a large number of new species have been discovered during its progress, rendering the book half as large again as was anticipated ; yet the author believes that a comparatively small portion only of the European species are yet known, while in less familiar regions there is a wide field for the discovery of new and remarkable forms. There remain also a number of larvze which have not been identified with the perfect insect, and an interesting and useful line of observation is thus open to entomologists both at home and abroad. Under these circumstances every naturalist will appreciate the value of a work which has collected together and thoroughly worked up all the material ayailable to the latest date. Such a book cannot, from its nature, be a popular one. Its production has been a labour of love, and is to that extent its own reward; but the expense of producing such a volume is very great, and in order to encourage and even to render possible the production of such works it becomes the duty of all who wish to advance the study of nature to do what in them lies to relieve such enthusiastic workers from the pecuniary burthen which their self-denying labour brings upon them. If every scientific institution and every Natu- ralist’s Field Club in the kingdom were to purchase a copy of this admirable volume for the use and instruction of their members, they would do much to render the pro- duction of such works more common, besides really furthering the progress of research, perhaps even more than by the publication in full of their own Proceedings. This is undoubtedly the most important British work on Entomology since the completion of Mr. Stainton’s “Natural History of the Tineina” thirteen years ago, and it is well worthy of the high reputation of its author; while the clearness of the type, the excellent systematic arrangement, the full indices, and the beautifully engraved figures, are equally commendable. Any detailed criticism on such a book could only be given by a worker in the same group ; but as one who has often to refer to natural history volumes for information, the present writer would suggest that the absence of any /amly names as headings to the pages is a great inconvenience, as there is no means of ascertaining what group a genus belongs to or of finding the commencement or end of a family without constantly turning to the index. So far as the typography and general arrangement of the volume are concerned this is the only defect that has been noticed, and that it is so small a one may be taken as an indication of the care and attention which has been bestowed upon the publication, no less than on the composition of this notable volume. A. R. W. OUR BOOK SHELF Ornithological Journal of the Winter of 1878-79 ; with Collected Notes regarding its Effects upon Animal Life, including Remarks on the Migration of Birds in the Autumn of 1878 and the Spring of 1879. By John A. Harvie-Brown, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. (Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc., Glasgow, 1879.) Mr. HARVIE-BROWN, well known as one of the most active and practical of our home-ornithologists, has endeavoured to chronicle the abnormal effects of an 216 NATURE [August 5, 1880 unusually severe winter on bird-life. To this end the scattered notices on this subject which have appeared in various journals and periodicals have been collected, and are supplemented by communications from private corre- spondents and by personal investigations. The result is the memoir now before us, in which the observations thus collected are arranged in a systematic form. The southern migration in the autumn of 1878 was by all accounts unusually early and rapid. The outer Hebrides appear to have been almost cleared of their smaller birds. Visitors to Tyree in December remarked on the “ extra- ordinary scarcity of common birds,” and on the “unusual number of winter visitants.” On the Solway Firth also “‘early notice of the coming winter was afforded by the arrival of vast numbers of wild fowl.” Herr Gaetke of Heligoland reports that while in ordinary seasons the autumnal migration in that wonderful island often con- tinues until the end of February, in the autumn of 1878 every migratory bird had sped past by the close of November. Numerous other testimonies to these facts which are adduced by Mr. Harvie-Brown, leave no doubt as to the general effects produced on bird-life by the unusually severe winter of 1878-79, in which a January “colder than any for forty-one years”’ followed a December “the coldest of any for twenty-one years.’’ The bulk of the memoir is taken up by a series of notes on the different species systematically arranged, a perusal of which is sufficient to show without doubt that the author’s general conclusions are amply borne out by the particulars which he has collected. On Mining and Mines in Fapan. By C. Netto. (Tokio, 1879.) THE substance of this pamphlet was given asa lecture by the author before the German Natural History and Eth- nological Society of Eastern Asia, and it now appears with the above title as vol. ii. of the AZemozrs of the Science department of the University of Tokio. It is mainly a discussion of the present state of mining and metallurgical industry in Japan, with suggestions for improvements by the introduction of machinery, the establishment of model dressing and reduction works, the formation of private companies, and more particularly the introduction of foreign capital, which is at present prohibited by the Japanese law. ‘These points are treated in some detail, and the moderation with which the author expresses his conclusions shows a practical familiarity with the subject such asis likely to command the confidence of those persons who may be interested in the subject. It is however to be regretted that the author has not been fortunate enough to receive the co-operation of some of his literary colleagues in the production of the !work in its present form, as the text, even by the greatest stretch of inter- national courtesy, can scarcely be called English, and the directors of the University must certainly have been unaware of its character when they allowed it to appear among their Records. It is necessary to mention this, as an impression is to some extent current that the translation is of Japanese origin, The Automatic Multiplier : for Performing Multiplica- tion without Calculation and without Writing down any Figures except the Answer. By John Sawyer (London: George Bell, 1880.) The Automatic Calculator, for cwts. grs. lbs. at per lb., Supplying the Cost of any Weight at any Price up to 11s. 11fd. per lb. By the same. IN NATURE, vol. xviii. p. 327, we noticed ‘Automatic Arithmetic’’ by the same author. We need only endorse the remarks we previously made with regard to the former work, and commend the present admirably compact and handy calculators to practical men who, after a little time spent in getting over the manual difficulty to beginners in manipulating the vertical and horizontal: slips, will find these works very serviceable as ready reckoners. Multi- plication is reduced to a mere addition of digits: the earlier work facilitated the operation of division as well. We may add that the “Multiplier” is issued in three forms, z.¢., for multiplying 4 figures by 4 figures, 6 figures by 4 figures, and, as in the specimen we have, 8 figures by 6 figures. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts, iNo notice ts taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it zs impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of comt- munications containing interesting and novel facts.) The Freshwater Medusa THE explanation of the discrepancy between Prof. Allman’s and my own citation of my article in NATURE, vol, xxii. p. 147, appears to be that Prof. Allman has unfortunately received a copy of NATURE differing from the majority of the issue of that date in the fact that it was printed off before the final corrections, sent to the office of NATURE on Wednesday, had been inserted. These corrections were made before the greater number of the issue was struck off, and I have only just ascertained, to my great surprise, that any of the uncorrected copies had been circulated. The error as to the marginal canal was also present in the proof of my paper, marked ‘uncorrected proof, confidential,” which was circulated among the Fellows at the meeting of the Royal Society on June 17, but the error was corrected by me Jdefore the reading of the paper. ’ s Accordingly, so far as any fzblication or the public expression of my conclusions is concerned, I have not committed myself to the erroneous notion that the marginal canal is absent, although in the course of my inquiry I did entertain that and many other provisional conceptions as to the structure of Limnocodium. I shall be glad to see some explanation from the publishers of Nature of the curious and highly inconvenient phenomenon of dualism in NATURE which has mystified both Prof. Allman and myself. E. Ray LANKESTER [Premising that we are supposed to leave NaTuRE in the printer’s hands ready for press at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, we have no difficulty in giving the explanation asked for by Prof. Lankester. ‘ His revised proof was received by us on Wednesday morning, June 16, with numerous corrections, which were given effect to. After the paper had been made over to the printer on the after- noon of that day a postcard was received by the printer with an additional correction, which was also duly made. On the morning of Thursday, the 17th, the following note, dated «Wednesday afternoon,” was received by the printers after the printing of the American edition had been completed and that of the English one had commenced :— ‘ } «DEAR SIR,—If there is time please alter in my diagnosis— ‘MARGINAL or RING CANAL obliterated or much reduced’ into ‘ MARGINAL or RING CANAL voluminous.’ “ Similarly please alter ‘RADIATING CANALS terminating ccecally’ into ‘ RADIATING CANALS opening into the marginal canal.’ ** Truly yours, «CE, Ray LANKESTER ” Although one-third of the edition had been printed off, the printer, knowing our anxiety to give contributors every facility for corrections, stopped the press, and made the alterations which were asked for “if there is time.” Possibly _ Prof. Lankester has no idea of what is involved in stopping a steam press. However this may be, the press was stopped in order to carry out to our utmost what we considered to be Prof. Lankester’s wishes, and we are astonished that he can have put any other interpretation upon what happened. Prof. Lankester’s letter given above 1s undated, but it was re- ceived on July 31 at mid-day. On the 28th he wrote, stating that he had found there were ‘‘two issues of NATURE of June 17, and requesting us to “‘state this if necessary.” This does not August 5, 1880] NATURE 317 seem to accord well with the statement above (July 31) that he had only ‘just ascertained” the fact to his ‘great surprise.” —Ep.] a aa | Subterranean Kaolinisation A YEAR ago Mr. John Arthur Phillips, in criticising, before the Geological Society, my theory of kaolinisation as a source of superficial rock temperatures, made a point which is interesting in its bearing upon the composition of derived or secondary lithological products. He endeavoured to ascertain the number of tons of felspathic rock that must be yearly kaolinised in order to supply the quantity of alkalies known to be contained in the mine waters of the Comstock silver lode in Nevada, and in doing so he began with the supposition that in the process of kaolinisa- tion a// of the alkali in the felspar goes into solution and is re- moved, ‘This assumption is undoubtedly incorrect, for even the surface clays which are deposited from running water, and there- fore must have been subjected to a maximum leaching, almost invariably contain potassic and sodic salts, as any one may learn by studying the subject of fireclays. But when the clay is formed by the alteration of rock at great depths, beyond the line of ready drainage and in the presence of a minimum quantity of water, the product is, or may be, quite different from the clay of sedimentary deposition. It is in fact merely the original rock hydrated, and from the example given in the Comstock region the alteration product does not seem to lose much, if any, of its original alkalies. This is demonstrated by the analyses given in Mr. King’s Report on the Fortieth Parallel, All the existing analyses of the clays in this region were made on specimens obtained in the first thousand feet of depth, and most of them were taken within 500 feet of the sur- face. Thatis, they all come from the region of active drainage, the oxidising and other effects of atmospheric action being well marked inthis lodedownto the depth of 600 feet. The mean of fouranalyses of clays shows 4°72 of alkalies ‘and 10°86 of water, CO, and P,O;. One of the specimens has been very strongly altered, having lost about Io per cent of silica, while another seems to have gained about half as much of the same constituent. As to the compoSi- tion of the original rocks (propylite and andesite, ) it is impossible to be exact, for the alteration in the region has been so extensive and thorough that all attempts to obtain an unaltered specimen have failed. The least altered specimen of propylite from the Virginia range of mountains in which this lode is found contains 5°08 per cent. of alkalies, with 1°02 loss by ignition. The most altered specimen contained 5°26 per cent. of alkalies, and 6°53 loss by ignition. Andesite showed in the least altered specimen 4°7 alkalies and 2°8 loss; in the most altered specimen 7°37 alkalies and 4°35 loss. It is impossible to compare the clays of this district with unaltered rock from other localities, for the reason that the composition of these eruptive rocks varies strongly, especially in the percentage of alkalies. On the whole I think that any one who will compare the tables of analysis given in vols, i. and iii. of Mr. King’s work will be convinced of the truth of what I have asserted above—that subterranean kaolini- sation is merely the hydration of a rock in place without other serious alteration. The fact has importance in its relation to the origin of some hydrated aluminous rocks. Mr. Phillips calculates that the average proportion of alkalies in these rocks is 6°4 per cent., that 813 tons of alkalies are removed yearly in the mine waters, and that ‘‘it consequently follows” that the felspar in 12,703 tons of rock ‘‘must be annually kaolinised, and the whole of the alkalies removed in solution.” It seems to me that a metallurgist of Mr. Phillips’ experience should have known that the alkalies are never com- pletely removed in kaolinisation. That heis not acquainted with the peculiar and remarkable conditions of the Comstock is not surprising, for the lode receives but little attention, and that of the most hasty kind, from visitors. I ask your permission to add the following summary of facts which rebut Mr. Phillips’ criticism :— 1. The removal of alkalies in subterranean kaolinisation, if it is judged by the existing incomplete series of analyses, seems to vary from less than one-fifth of the quantity of alkalies in the present rock down to almost nothing. 2. The whole results of kaolinisation are not represented in the mine waters. In the vast areas of dry rock alteration has been extensive, and seems to be going on now by means of water-vapour, and none of this action supplies alkalies to the mine waters. 3. The}liberation of hot gas which is an accompaniment of kaolinisation by atmospheric waters conveys the heat produced in the dry areas to all parts of the mass, and especially to such channels as watercourses and mine-openings. 4. Kaolinisation in the Comstock region is not produced by the action of cold water on cold rock, but by the combination of water and rock, both already heated before the action to very nearly the temperature they attain after it. The heat of the rock is cumulative, its present temperature being mainly the result of ages of previous kaolinisation, the heating effects of which were preserved from dissipation by a blanket of rock 1,000 feet thick. The water which takes part in the action at existing depths of the mine has been heated by its percolation through 1,000 to 1,500 feet of hot rock lying below the blanket spoken of. Mr. Phillips calculates that 85° are added to the temperature, but in fact the actual increment of temperature by kaolinisation is, in the locality given, but a small fraction of this quantity. Con- sidering the small rainfall of Nevada, and the depth at which the waters are now drawn from the rocks, and the perfect correspon- dence of depth and temperature, it is more probable that the actual gain of heat does not exceed one or two degrees, and may even be less. 5. Mr. Phillips’ calculation that 330 tons of water are heated by the kaolinisation of one ton of rock has no foundation in the known facts, but is probably more than 99 per cent. from the truth. His further error in supposing that the increment of heat is 85° F. instead of being in the neighbourhood of 1°, as is more probable, relieves his criticism of whatever weight it might have if it had been adjusted to the well-known facts of the case. 115, Broadway, New York, June 17 Joun A. CHuRCcH ‘On a Mode of Explaining the Transverse Vibrations of Light ” I VENTURE to call attention to what appears to me to be (possibly) an objection to the views advanced by Mr. S. Tolver Preston in his interesting article, ‘On a Mode of Explaining the Transverse Vibrations of Light” (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 256). Mr. Preston’s hypothesis I understand to be a special modification of Lesage’s, the speciality being that the cor- puscles which by their impact on the cage-atoms of ordinary matter cause gravitation, are also the carriers of some vector property, the changes in which constitute radiant energy, and that in fact there is no ether except just this assemblage of minute corpuscles co-existing in the ultra-gaseous state (z.¢., with a mean free path of great length). Now, as far as I can see, itis a strict corollary from this exceedingly fascinating hypo- thesis that the velocity of propagation of gravity must be iden- tical with that of light. In other words, the acceleration of a material particle at any instant (I) caused by the attraction of a second particle must be directed to the spot occupied by that second particle, not at the instant I, but at some instant prior to I, the interval between the two instants being the time taken by the ultramundane corpuscles, and therefore by light, to travel from the one particle to the other. But do not the observed planetary motions necessitate the assumption that gravity, even if propagated in time at all, is propagated with a velocity vastly in excess of that of light? At any rate this statement is fre- quently met with in discussions on the nature of gravity, and is much prized by advocates of ‘‘action at a distance.” If it is true, does it not constitrvte a fatal objection to Mr. Preston’s hypothesis ? Some two years ago it occurred to me that the ether might consist of particles in the ultra-gaseous state, and might thus, in accordance with Lesage’s hypothesis, give rise to the mutual gravitation of the grosser atoms immersed in it. I was then unaware of the late Prof. Clerk Maxwell’s suggestion that these particles, by being the carriers of some vector property under- going periodic reversal, might account for the propagation of light ; and vaguely hoped that it might receive some explanation from the fact, also discovered by Clerk Maxwell, that a body in the ultra-gaseous state behaves like a solid towards any confining boundaries to the extent that, like a solid, it opposes a certain resistance to change of shape. But I deemed the whole theory to labour under the fatal objection of not giving a sufficient velocity of propagation to gravity. I write in the hope that Mr. Preston or another of your readers will inform me whether my objection is a valid one, . W, FRANKLAND Registrar-General’s Office, Wellington, New Zealand, May 6 > o i8 NATURE | August 5, 1880 Expansion of Glass by Heat THE reproduction in your ‘‘ Physical Notes ” (NATURE, vol. xxii, p. 157) of Mr. R. H. Ridout’s neat experiment for illus- trating the ‘‘ Expansion of Glass by Heat i (Phil. Mag. for June, 1880), recalls to mind an equally striking method of ex- hibiting this property of glass to a class of students in physics. Select a straight glass tube 50 or 60 centimetres in length and I or 2 centimetres in diameter. Place it transversely in front of a fire, in a horizontal position, properly supported near its two ends on two horizontally-adjusted rods of hard smooth wood of about the same diameter as the tube ; the glass tube will gradu- ally voll towards the fire. Now let the supporting rods be trans- ferred to either side of the centre of the tube, so as to support it near its middle; the tube will now gradually rod from the fire. It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that the greater dilatation of the glass on the side of the tube which is nearer the fire renders it caved, with the convexity next to the source of heat, so that, when supported near the ezds, the falling of the central parts of the curved tube rolls it towards the fire ; but when supported near the mzda/e the falling of the ends of the similarly curved tube rolls it /vow the fire. These experi- ments, it is evident, succeed better when the co/d tube is first adjusted near the fire than when it has been so long exposed to the action of the heat as to have become heated throughout its mass. It seems that about the year 1740 this behaviour of glass tubes under similar conditions was noticed by Mr. C. Orme, of Ashby de la Zouch, while heating some barometer tubes. The Rev. Granville Wheler, who carefully verified the experiments of Mr. Orme, very correctly ascribes the phenomena to the distortion of the tube due to the action of heat (wide Phil. Trans., No. 476; also Edinburgh Encyclopedia, Ist Am. ed,, 1832, vol. ix., article ‘‘ Glass,” p. 773). Nevertheless in the United States this behaviour of glass tubes, when placed before a fire, has been frequently classed among the wnexplained mysteries of glass! As recently as 1865 Mr. Deming Jarves, of Boston, in his little volume entitled ‘‘ Reminiscences of Glass-Making,” p. 10 (2nd ed., N.Y., 1865), refers to the phenomena, but with not one word of explanation. In fact not long ago some of our semi- scientific journals characterised these phenomena as mzystertous and zmexplicable, Hence I have for the last twenty or thirty years employed such experiments, not only as exhibiting w7szble manifestations of the expansion of glass, but also as affording an instructive and significant illustration of how completely the most obvious mechanical results may be overlooked or obscured under the inspiration of the propensity to seek for the marvellous in nature ! JOHN LECONTE Berkeley, California, July § Fascination in Man HAVING frequently seen it stated in popular works on natural history as well as in some books of trayels (chiefly Australian) that certain snakes possessed the power of so fascinating, with their gaze, birds and other creatures as to be able to seize upon and devour them without any difficulty, I am induced to inquire if such a power is peculiar to the serpent tribe or not, and inci- dentally to ask if any instances of its influence or extension can be traced, up the scale of creation, to man himself. Being of opinion that such is the case, while it has occurred to me that many of the fatal accidents that occur in the streets of large cities, such as London, &c., might be ascribed to some such agency or sensation, I am induced to call attention to the cir- cumstance in these pages, and to submit the following as my own personal contributions towards the inquiry :— Describing certain incidents of the siege of Gibraltar, Drink- water says, ‘‘ History,” p. 75, that ‘‘on the 9th Lieut. Lowe . . « lost his leg by a shot on the slope of the hill under the castle,” and the italics are mine throughout. ‘‘ He saw the shot before the fatal effect, dat was fascinated to the spot. This sudden arrest of the faculties was not uncommon. Several instances occurred to my own observation where men totally free have had their senses so engaged by a shell in its descent that, though sensible of their danger, even so far as to cry for assistance, | they have been immediately fixed to the place. But what is more remarkable, these men have so instantaneously recovered them- | -elves on its fall to the ground as to remove to a place of safety before the shell burst.” Alluding to the first casualty that occurred at Cawnpore during the siege of the entrenchment there in 1857, Mowbray Thom- | the plants are not yet in flower. son says (*‘ The Story of Cawnpore,” p. 66) that ‘several of us saw the ball bounding towards us, and he (McGuire) evidently saw it, but, /éke many others whom J saw fall at different times, he seemed fascinated to the spot” ; and an old and now deceased departmental friend, who went through the whole Crimean campaign, assured me that he was once transfixed (fascinated, he called it) after this fashion in presence of a shell that he saw issuing from Sebastopol, and whose every gyration in the air he could count. - Other military friends have discussed the point with me in this same wise, and I think there is some allusion to it in one or other of the works of Larry, Guthrie, Ballingall, or others of that ilk. W. CURRAN Warrington Monkeys in the West Indies IN consequence of my removal from the West Indies to the West Coast of Africa, and of illness since my arrival here, I have not until now had time to read in the back numbers ot NATURE the controversy on the subject of ‘Monkeys in the West Indies,” which, it may be said, I created by my com- munication in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 131. I trust, therefore, I now may be permitted to reappear on the scene and to sum up my case. In my communication I quoted, from Prof. Mivart’s lecture on ‘Tails,’ an extract which appeared in your columns (Naturr, vol. xx. p. 510), viz.: ‘‘ Monkeys are scattered over almost all the warmest parts of the earth save the West Indies, Madagascar, New Guinea, and Australia,” and I added, with the utmost respect for Prof. Mivart, that the above statement was not ‘quite correct,” adducing as proof the fact that ‘they were found in St. Kitts, Nevis, and Trinidad. Mr. Sclater, F.R.S., thedistinguished zoologist, answered my letter (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 153), explaining that Prof. Mivart was correct in his statement ; that the monkeys of St. Kitts were not ‘‘indi- genous”’ to that island, and that Trinidad originally was part of the mainland of South America. Mr. Sclater said nothing about the Nevis monkey. Dr. Imray of Dominica followed with a quotation from Pére Labat (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 371), and as regards St, Kitts and Trinidad, the monkey question was closed. But it subsequently came to my knowledge, through hearsay evidence, that monkeys existed in large numbers in Grenada, one of the Windward group of islands, although travellers and historians from the time of Pére du Tertre to that’ of Bryan Edwards seemed to be ignorant of the fact. As I had left the West Indies when I obtained this information, I at once called Dr. Imray’s attention to it, begging him to ascertain its accu- racy and then to communicate with Nature. Dr. Imray has done so (NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 77), and, by a curious coincid- ence, his letter appears in the same number in which a Grenada correspondent, signing himself D, G. G., charges me with being ‘* quite as much in error as Prof. Mivart,” and makes me say that ‘‘¢he only islands in the 5West Indies where monkeys are to be found are St. Christopher [i.e., St. Kitts] and Nevis.” The italics are my own, but I think D. G. G. should at least be careful to quote accurately. Ihave no wish to trespass further on your valuable space. What I desired to show and what I have shown is that monkeys do exist in many of the West India Islands, and that, although nearly four hundred years have passed away since the discovery of the islands, their natural history is still very imperfectly known. And yet these islands are within easy steaming distance from England ; they are inhabited by people whose kindness and hospitality to visitors are proverbial. Their mountains afford all the varieties of healthy climate, and for the botanist, the geologist, the entomologist, and the man of science generally, there are few, if any, richer fields of instruction and enjoyment. Government House, Cape Coast Castle, EpMUuND WATT Gold Coast, July 3 Utricularia CAN any of the readers of NATURE inform me whether the sharp clicking noises produced on removing Utricularice from the water (particularly for the first time) have been noticed or described? I have not succeeded in determining the species, as J. W. CLARK R.I.E. College, Cooper’s Hill, July 30 August 5, 1880] NATURE 319 SS mS The British Association and Provincial Scientific Societies Tue list offdelegates of provincial scientific societies prefixed to the list of members attending the annual meeting of the British Association having appeared to me to be practically useless, being in reality merely a list of “temporary members 3 of the general committee—with the object of making it of some value to the societies represented, and also eventually to the Association, I suggested, at the meeting at Bradford last year, an alteration in the rule of the Association which affects this list of delegates. My suggestion being favourably received by the Council, the alteration proposed was adopted at a meeting of the General Committee. The effect of this alteration is toadmit as a temporary member of the Committee the secretary of any scientific society publishing Transactions as wellas the president, or in his absence a delegate representing him. My object in proposing it was, as I then stated, to admit of a meeting or conference of the presidents and secretaries of societies thus represented being convened under the auspices of the Association, at which matters concerning such societies (their management more especially) might be talked over and arranged, &c., a thing which could not be attempted in the absence of the secretaries, they, as a rule, having almost the entire management of their societies. As the revised rule first comes into operation at the approach- ing meeting of the Association at Swansea, I should be glad if you will draw attention to it, either by the insertion of this letter or in any other way. JouN HOPKINSON Hon. Sec. Herts. Nat. Hist. Soc. ¢ Wansford House, Watford, July 24 Intellect in Brutes THE following story was told me by the mistress of the dog herself. The event occurred in a small village in Essex, some years ago. *°A little black jand white King Charles, beloved by its mistress, but not by its master, was one day lying on a rug in the drawing-room when the master came in, having just paid its tax. He said: ‘I have just paid that dog’s tax’; and looking at it with a severe expression added : ‘and he’s wot worth his tax.” The little dog immediately got up, and with a crestfallen appear- ance put its tail between its legs and left the room. It was neyer seen afterwards, nor was it ever heard of again, although inquiries were made at the time in every direction.” GEORGE HENSLOW Chipped Flints A FEW days agoa maa who had been cutting turf in this neigh- bourhood came to tell me that he found a quantity of small flints at the bottom of the ‘‘ bog-hole,” and he brought some of them for my inspection. Seeing that they all bore very obvious marks of handicraft, while a few were more or less rudely shaped like arrow-heads, I immediately went to the place, accompanied by the man, and succeeded in getting a number of specimens, of which some fifty or sixty show pretty plainly the design of the workman. Among them are a few white flints, evidently from the Chalk, and indeed with some chalk attached tothem, This is worthy of remark, as there is no chalk nearer than the North of Ireland, nor are there any chalk flints among the boulders here, where the drift was unmistakably derived from the lime- stone, silurian, mica slate, and syenite rocks of the west and south-west. The other flints are black, like the chert, which occurs plentifully enough in the carboniferous lower limestone formation of the district. Several pieces of charcoal were mixed with the flints, showing probably that fire was used in breaking them up in the first instance. The final operation of chipping seems to have been done with a very delicately-pointed instru- ment, not thicker than a large sewing-needle. Its marks, both where it struck off the chip and where it failed to do so, are as plain and fresh-looking as if they were made quite recently. It must have been used as a punch and worked with a hammer, and there must have been some contrivance like a vice to hold the flint during the operation. It is really hard to think that the instrument with a point at once so minute and powerful could be other than metallic; but then, if there was metal available, why have recourse to flint? Perhaps these flints might be re- ferred to a time late in the neolithic period, during the transition from stone to metal, when the latter, being scarce, was used only for tools. At one time I fancied that I made a capital discovery of metallic particles struck off and lodged in the stone, but with a pocket lens they were found to be only specks of pyrites. A small sandstone slab, quite smooth on one side, lay among the flints, but it was either taken away or thrown into one of the turf holes filled with water before I came to the place, and I failed to find it. By its impression in the turf which remained untouched it appeared that one surface was quite polished. The other was described as rough. Whether it was used in the manufacture of the arrow-heads or not I cannot surmise, The shape of a large sandstone pebble that I found might suggest its use as a hammer, but it showed no signs of abrasion, At one time there must have been at least twelve feet of turf over the flints. They lay immediately above the roots of a pine close to a short piece of the stem that remained. The tree was most probably growing when the flints were worked, and it may be of some interest to note that the craftsman selected the shade or solitude of a wood for his atelier. In this bog is found the striking phenomenon of two growths of trees, one overlying the other. The lower was chiefly pine, identical with, or nearly allied to, the P. sylvestris, and rooted in the drift clay or gravel. The upper trees were principally oak, and grew in the turf formed from the prostrate wood that preceded them. This is remarkable, showing a wide difference in the habitats of both kinds and those of their representatives of the present day, when we find the oak growing in clayey soils, while in general the moor agrees well with the firs and pines. J. BIRMINGHAM Milbrook, Tuam, July 12 3 Lunar Rainbows THE following communication has been forwarded to me by a lady of considerable ability, and can be relied upon, Asa lunar rainbow is a rare phenomenon, perhaps you may deem the notice worthy of a place in NATURE. J. Kinc WaTTS St. Ives, Hunts., July 30 “©On July 19 a most brilliant lunar rainbow was visible in this village of Over, Cambridgeshire, and was observed by other persons as well as by myself. For several days previously there had been a succession of violent storms, with much thunder and lightning, and the falling of vast quantities of rain, The whole atmosphere was evidently in a very perturbed condition, with considerable electrical disturbance. The wind had for several days previously been exceedingly variable, veering from point to point with rapidity, and on the day in question it had veered much from one point to another. At 10 p.m. the wind blew strong and steadily from the south-west, thereby driving the great masses of cloud to the north-east. To the front of the position I was in, the clouds had been pushed or rolled up into a dark mass extending from the north, north-east, east, and nearly to the south-east, up to the zenith, so that one portion of the horizon was cloudless and the other portion black and sombre. The moon was very clear and nearly to the full. The sky had a singular appearance, one part being most brilliant and clear, and the moon riding in it free from every particle of cloud, and the other part to the north-east was most intensely dark, At 10.35 a beautiful and brilliant silvery white arch was formed (north-east), extending nearly from the zenith down to the horizon. The arch was most perfect in all respects. The force of the wind had abated. There were no prismatic colours visible, but the whole arch, standing out, as it were, in bold relief on the black cloud, had a most awe-like but beautiful appearance, and the sight can never be forgotten. The singular phenomenon was brilliantly visible for a considerable length of time, thereby clearly indicating the slow progress at which the shower was then moving onward. Such a phenomenon is very seldom to be seen. The sky continued clear during the remainder of the night. ‘© ANNE GIFFORD ‘© Over, Camb.” W. E. WILLINK.—The ‘substance ” you send us is a well- known alga, Wostoc commune. See the “ Treasury of Botany,” sub voce Nostoc. BRICKMAKING.—A ‘‘ Brickmaker ” asks if any of our readers can tell him of a book on Brickmaking which gives good and trust- worthy information about the operations, machines, &c. He has a book by E. Dobson, but it is thirty years old, and therefore of very little use. 320 CARBON AND CARBON-COMPOUNDS ee wayward and inconstant train of coloured light- bands that spectroscopists have noted and dis- tinguished in the spectra of various carbon-compounds in flames and gas-vacuum tubes are as yet far from haying all received their full and appropriate interpretations. The extent to which they abound as impurities in almost all spectral vacuum-tubes is a common observation, and in a survey of this kind, aiming at no systematic explora- tion, of a variety of end-on vacuum-tubes in the large and perfect spectroscope erected by Prof. Piazzi Smyth for the examination of aurore, I have had from time to time, at his kind invitation, excellent opportunities for dis- criminating some of the component groups and clusters of the carbon-denoting series from each other pretty clearly. Among the least alterable and changeful in its appear- ance of these coloured ranks is the five-tongued spectrum of wedge-like bands best seen in the end-on prismatic view of a coal-gas blow-pipe flame. Its bands have shaft-lines at the edge and on their fading slopes, with the exception of the last or violet one, just including within its bright edge the solar line of Fraunhofer’s spectrum, G. This has a fine-line precursor, nearly coin- cident with Hy, and a faint haze-band preceding it. Close to the place of 4, in the solar spectrum appears the bright edge or chief shaft-line of the green band, fitly styled the ‘sreen giant,” as it is the real Anak of the coal-gas flame- spectrum. Its less refrangible similitudes in the yellow- green and orange-red are quite subordinate groups, the latter being only discernible in spectroscopes of large aperture and of very great transparency. The fifth finger of this spectral gauntlet is a blue band, or quintett of five close lines pretty equally spaced and pretty equal in brightness, with little haze between them, lying once or twice its own breadth on the more refrangible side from H£ (F.). The frontispiece of Watt’s “ Index of Spectra” contains a figure of this spectrum; and wave-length positions and symbols. and descriptions of its groups are given in the body of the work, under the title “Carbon, Spectrum 1.”’ a, y, 6, «, f (8 and 7 caren?) are the five familiar potentates of the blow-pipe flame; but the two line-bands ¢, @, one on each side of 7 added in the figure and in the text of Watt’s “ carbon-spectrum I.,” are not visible in the blow-pipe flame-spectrum. Along with a similar ultra-violet cluster just following H K in the solar spectrum, they form a triumvirate, the spectral origin of which Professors Liveing and Dewar have re- cently affirmed to be cyanogen, A reason to question the correctness, however, of Messrs. Liveing’s and Dewar’s surmise presented itself to me in my examination of the end-on tubes by the spectacle of the six-lined violet cluster @ rearing itself, without any accompaniment of its blue associate ¢ into extraordinary magnificence in a Marsh-gas tube. The grey or ultra-violet member of- the trio was indeed weakly discernible at the same time; and in just this relative brightness and condition of extreme isolation from every other spectral feature I have recently observed these two violet and ultra-violet line-clusters in the blue flame part of the arc between particularly pure carbon poles in the Brush’s or Anglo-American Company’s electric light. Another reason for suspecting multiplicity of form in the carbon-spectrum by itself occurred to me in an examination of the spectrum of cyanogen in an end-on tube. A perfect counterpart, it is well known, of the blow-pipe flame spectrum is producible by the induction- spark in vacuum-tubes of olefiant gas. Accompanying it however is another spectrum which in its fullest purity and intensity is equally well known to be produced by a weak induction-spark in tubes of carbonic oxide and carbonic acid gas. The blue quintett and the violet G- band are wanting in this spectrum. The edges of the green, citron and orange-red bands are displaced, and NATURE | August 5, 1880 these bands are devoid of shaft-lines, being composed entirely of haze and fine linelets which smoothly shade them off. The olefiant gas and “carbonic oxide” spectra mingle together, usually in divers proportions in the carbon-impurities of gas-vacuum tubes. Two cyanogen tubes (one of them of hardest glass) prepared by M. Salleron betrayed alike only the smallest trace of hydrogen by its red line, when they were lighted up by the induction-coil. Aqueous and atmospheric oxygen may therefore be presumed to have been pretty completely expurgated from these tubes, and the gas which charged them to have been an exceptionally pure compound of nitrogen and carbon. Far brighter, notwithstanding this, than in any other vacuum-tube, the smooth-shaded “ carbon-oxide” bands made their appear- ance; and equally splendid with them was the close- ribbed red and yellow fluting forming the less-refrangible part of the spectrum, figured and described by Angstrém and Thalén as that of “nitric oxide.” The coincidence with the same spectrum of the bright cyanogen-tube lines in the blue and violet spectral regions was not closely examined ; but as far surpassing in brightness the red-end view of it obtained in any other nitrogen-holding vacuum- tube (nitric oxide itself not excepted), the rasp-like ridges of the so-called nitric oxide spectrum were immediately measured with great care and accuracy. Angstrém’s positions and ¢ad/eau (exactly reproducing that of Pliicker and Hittorf) of this region were completely verified ; and the discussion of the well-based determinations left no doubt that while a simple order reigns sensibly among the small linelet features of each separate ridge, the ridges have no perceptible connection with each other or with the linelet-intervals upon them in the pitch of their wave- frequencies, although they follow each other closely in a gradually narrowing succession. In the rest of the nitrogen-spectrum, where the ridge-intervals are much wider, it is again not possible to trace between the ridges any simple wave-period connection. Were I not from these measures, and from the fore- going considerations disposed to regard shaded spectral bands as independent systems of vibration, indicating most probably particular atomic groupings in a molecule, I should have beheld with some surprise the complete and thorough metamorphosis shown me by Mr. Lockyer since the above particulars were noted, which the smooth-banded ‘‘carbon-oxide” spectrum undergoes by introducing a condensing-jar, or better, a jar and air-break, into the circuit of the induction-coil. The smooth shadings disap- pear, the shaft-lines, the “ Anak and the sons of Anak” of the olefiant-gas or blowpipe-flame spectrum make their appearance in their place; even the blue quintett of that spectrum comes forth from its hiding-place ; and, as far as I could examine the spectral appearance of the car- bonic-oxide tube in the now condensed discharge with complete precision, the whole blow-pipe flame, or so-called “hydro-carbon” spectrum, is perfectly reproduced. If we cannot admit, as I think that the cyanogen-tube experi- ment forbids us to do, that a chemical transformation has taken place, then we must acknowledge that among the forms which the spectrum of carbon is capable of assum- ing, there may, by subdivision of its molecule into separate vibrating systems, exist not one, but as many different “low-temperature” spectra of that Briareus-like, hundred- fisted, or Proteus-like, hundred-visaged element, as the electric discharge is capable of dividing its evidently complex gaseous molecule into separate spectroscopically individual groups. A. S. HERSCHEL PHYSICS WITHOUT APPARATUS I. ite is almost a proverb in science that some of the greatest discoveries have been made by the most simple means. It is equally true that almost all the August 5, 1880] NATURE 321 more important facts and laws of the physical sciences can be illustrated and explained by the help of experi- ments made without special or expensive apparatus, and | | essential qualifications necessary to make Physics without requiring only the familiar objects of common life for their performance. The greatest exponents of popular science—and amongst them notably Faraday—delighted in impromptu devices of this kind. It is indeed sur- prising how throughout the whole range of natural philo- | sophy the hand of the master can turn to account the very simplest and rudest of apparatus. A silver spoon, a pair of spectacle lenses, a tumbler of water, and a few sheets of paper suffice to illustrate half the laws of geo- metrical optics. A few pieces of sealing-wax, some flannel, silk, writing paper, pins, and glass tumblers will carry the clever experimenter a long way into the pheno- mena of electricity. These are things which any person can procure, and which any person can be taught to use. But their right use depends on the possession of accurate scientific knowledge and a clear understanding of what the various experiments are to prove. In fact the art of experiment and the science of inductive reasoning are the apparatus profitable. The short series of papers which it is now proposed to publish in NATURE under the title of Physics without apparatus will deal with some of the more important and interesting of these simple matters of experiment. The subject of them has been more immediately suggested by the publication in our contemporary, La Nature, of a kindred series of articles by Mons. G. Tissandier, from which a number of the illustrations we present to our readers are taken, The matter of the present series is however new. Amongst the simple mechanical laws with which a beginner in physics must acquaint himself is that com- monly referred to as the /aw of inertia, which is, however, 4) ll” CME. Fic, 1. very often so imperfectly expressed as to be misappre- hended. It requires force to move matter, not because matter is inherently lazy or sluggish, but because it possesses wzass. The greater the mass of matter in a ball, the harder work is it to send it rolling. Force is also required to stop matter that is moving, the reason again being that a mass moving under the impulse of an impressed force possesses a certain moving energy which | cannot be at once reduced to nothing. In either case— either to move a mass or to alter the motion of a mass— force must be employed and energy expended. Of this law of inertia many examples might be given: and there are many curious facts which this law serves to explain. Some of the most striking of these are those in which the effect of sudden forces is different from that which might have been expected. In Fig. 1 we give an illustration of an experiment of this nature. A wooden rod—say a broomstick—has a couple of needles fixed into its ends, and it is then supported upon two wine- glasses resting upon two chairs. If a heavy poker is now brought down very violently upon the middle of the stick it will break in two without the needles or the glasses being broken. A feeble or indecisive blow will fail to do this, and will break the glasses or the needles, or both. Here the moving energy of the heavy mass, the poker, is suddenly transferred to the middle of the stick, so suddenly that it is broken asunder before the thrust has 77ze to reach the fragile supports. Another simple experiment on inertia is equally instruc- tive. Lay any ordinary visiting-card upon the knuckle, or upon the top of an inkstand or other convenient sup- port. On the card place a brass weight, or a spool of thread, or any other small heavy object. Now flip away the card with the finger and thumb; it will fly out, leaving the heavy object where it was. In the same way if a dozen draughtmen are piled up one upon another 322 NATURE ! August 5, 1880 in a column, the lowest one can be removed without making those above it fall, by hitting it aside with a very rapid stroke with a table-knife. Here again a feeble stroke will fail. Our second figure illustrates inertia in another way. A heavy metal ball is hung by a thread to the ceiling or to a shelf, and another thread is attached below. Tug at the lower thread, and it will break. If the tug be slow the ball will come down too ; butif the tug be sharp and fierce Fic. 2. the thread will break off de/ow the ball, breaking, in fact, before the pull has time to impart to the mass of the heavy ball a sufficient moving energy to enable it to rupture the string by which it hangs. Many other illustrations of a similar kind might be narrated. Of these probably the most telling is that of firing a tallow candle from a gun through a deal board, in which it leaves merely a hole, as the writer can testify from several repetitions, Here, however, we are passing into the region of “ apparatus,’’ and must not pursue the matter further. COUNT POURTALES * TN the death of Louis Francois de Pourtales science has met a heavy loss. He was the Swiss repre- sentative of an old family, which had branches also in France, Prussia, and Bohemia. Trained as an engineer, he emigrated in early manhood to the United States at nearly the same time as the late Prof. Agassiz, to whom he was much attached, and whose pupil and fellow-worker he was. He entered the Government service in the department of the Coast Survey, and continued in it many years. His talents and industry made him a man of mark, to whom was intrusted much work that required original thought. Especially did he show interest in the problems of deep-sea soundings and the structure of the ocean bottom, an interest that led to profound observations on the physical geography of the Carribean Sea and the Gulf Stream. His papers on this subject were of the first order, and established his reputa- tion in Europe as well as in America. “By the death of his father he succeeded to the title, and received a fortune which enabled him to devote himself wholly to his favourite studies, and to do much in continuing the great work of Louis Agassiz. Appointed keeper of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, he gave himself, with untiring devotion, to carrying out the arrangement so laboriously planned by his friend and master. Dividing the task with the curator, Alexander Agassiz, he pushed forward his part of the work with the easy power of a strong and highly-trained intellect. Every day and all day at his post—now pursuing special investigations, and now directing the details of the museum—he was the model of an administrative officer. “He had not an enemy, and could not have had one ; for, although firm and persevering in temper, he pos- sessed the gentleness of a child and a woman’s kindness. His modesty amounted almost to a fault ; and people wondered why a man who was master of three languages should talk so little. But with intimate friends he would speak freely, and never without giving information and amusement. His range of learning was very wide, and his command of it perfect ; nor was it confined to mathe- matics, physics, and zoology. He did not scorn novels and light poetry, and was knowing in family anecdotes and local history. Indeed, it was a saying in the Museum that if Count Pourtales did not know a thing it was useless to ask any one else. “His strong frame and temperate mode of life gave hope of a long period of usefulness, for he was only fifty- seven, and in the prime of his powers. But it was not to be. Stricken, without apparent cause, by an obscure | internal disease, he succumbed, after some weeks of suffering heroically endured. In seven short years he has followed Louis Agassiz, and there seems no hand to take up his burden.” The above account of Count Pourtales appears in the Boston Daily Advertiser of April 20, and is, we believe, from the pen of Prof. Theodore Lyman. We would here, in addition, refer briefly to some of Count Pourtales’ scientific work. Almost from the commencement of his connection with the United States Coast Survey he deeply interested himself in deep-sea questions, and some of the earliest observations on the nature of the deep sea bottom and of Globigerina mud were made by him. He wrote on the structure of Globigerina and Orbulina, and de- scribed the occurrence of the small Globigerina-like shells bearing spines in the interior of certain Orbuline, which he concluded were the swollen terminal chambers of Globigerinze containing young in progress of develop- ment. The first step in deep-sea investigation in the United States was taken by the late Prof. H. D. Bache on his assuming the duties of the United States Coast Survey in 1844, when he ordered the preservation of specimens brought up by the lead. Every specimen was carefully preserved and labelled, and deposited in the Coast Survey Office in Washington. The microscopical examination of the specimens was commenced by the late Prof. J. W. Bailey, and after his death this work passed into the hands of Pourtales, who devoted his time to it in the intervals of other duties. That most important deposit, Globigerina mud, was first disco- vered by Lieutenants Craven and Maffit, U.S.N., during Gulf Stream explorations in 1853. In 1867 syste- matic dredging in deep and shallow water was com- menced on the assumption of the superintendence of the Survey by Prof. B. Pierce, who ordered the dredging. At the suggestion of Louis Agassiz, dredgings were made down to a depth of 1,000 fathoms. In Prof. Agassiz’ report one of the richest grounds for deep-sea corals, lying off Cape Florida, was named Pourtales Plateau. In 1871 Pourtales published what is probably his best-known | work, namely, his “ Deep-Sea Corals’’ (“ Ill. Cat. Mus. August 5, 1880] Comp. Zool.,” Harvard, No. iv.),amost excellent memoir, containing valuable disquisitions on the affinities of various genera, and excellent notes on the geographical distribu- tion of the species and the nature of the bottom on which the dredgings were made. The memoir contains the results of some interesting researches on the relations of the Rugose to the Henactinian corals, in connection with the account of the aberrant genus Haplophyllia. The deep-sea Antipalliaria and Actiniade are described in it, as well as the stony corals, and the genus Pliobothrus, with great acumen, referred to its proper place amongst the Hydrozoa. A second memoir on deep-sea corals was contributed by Count Pourtales to !the account of the zoological results of the H/ass/ex Expedition, and many others on this and other zoological subjects are to be found in the Bulletin of the Harvard Museum of Com- parative Zoology. The last work which appeared from his pen is the description of the plates of corals in the Report on the Florida Reefs, by the late Prof. Agassiz, which has just been published by Alexander Agassiz, by the permission of the superintendents of the U.S. Coast Survey. These plates are the most perfect and beautiful representations of corals that have as yet been published anywhere. They were drawn under the immediate direction of Prof. Agassiz. Count Pourtales’ name is indissolubly connected with deep-sea zoology by means of the genus Pourtalesia, named after him. Pourtalesia, a sea-urchin, one of the Spatangidze allied to Ananchytes, was found by the Challenger expedition to be one of the most ubiquitous and characteristic deep-sea animals. Numerous species of the genus new to science were obtained by the expedi- tion in deep water, some of them being of most extra- ordinary shapes. In conclusion it need only be added that Count Pourtales’ kindness and good-nature were as much appreciated by English naturalists as elsewhere. He was most generous, always ready to give advice to naturalists working in the same most difficult field as himself, to supply them with specimens for investigation, and to discuss in the freest manner, with perfect impar- tiality, any question of systematic arrangement. He will be regretted by many friends in England, to which he paid frequent visits on his way to his native country, his last visit having been made in the spring of the present year. H. N. MOSELEY THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT SWANSEA PREEARATIONS of the most unstinted kind are now being made at Swansea to insure to the members of the British Association a hearty, hospitable welcome, a good opportunity for the interchange of scientific results, and an instructive and healthful summer holiday during their visit in the week commencing on Wednesday, August 25 next. The Excursion Committee have already made arrangements for visiting the more interesting places in the district. The presidential address will be delivered on Wednesday, and a portion of Thursday, August 26, will be devoted to an excursion, limited to 200 members, to the celebrated iron-works and collieries at Dowlais, by special invitation of G. T. Clark, Esq., of Dowlais House. As this excursion will take place so early, members who intend joining in it should send in their names to the Local Committee as soon as possible before their arrival in Swansea. The return will be made in time for the reception soirée, which the Mayor of Swansea (Alderman John Jones Jenkins) will give in a fine wooden pavilion capable of accommodating 6,000 people. Saturday, August 28, will be almost entirely devoted to excursions to the Gower Coast, Penrice Castle, Oxwich Bay, Arthur’s Stone, Worm’s Head, Bishopstone Valley and its underground river ; Bacon Hole and other bone- caves, with the Bays ; the Via Juliaat Langhor, with ruins NATURE 323 ‘coal they contain. of castle, hospitium, sanctuary, and collieries and tin- works ; Llandilo, Golden Grove, Carreg-Cennen, and Dynevor Castle; and by sea to Lundy Island and Ilfracombe. Among the sciences geology this year takes the fore- most place in the person of the distinguished president, Prof. Ramsay. There are few districts which comprise, within so small an area, so many geological formations as Swansea, and fewer still that offer such problems for solution and such advantages for useful study. To the west of the town an axis of old red sandstone is thrust up through lower shales and limestones, and the stratifications of the whole neighbourhood have been dislocated and curiously denuded. Along the coast of the Bristol Channel for twenty miles the | grand limestone cliffs are fissured and distorted until they exhibit almost every variety of dip and strike. Here are bold projecting torrs, inhabited by sea-birds; undis- turbed sandy bays, the realised dream of the bathing enthusiast ; and the celebrated bone caves, explored by Buckland and Col. Wood, and described by Falconer. The list of their fossil contents is a long one, including, with the exception of the Drepanodon (Machairodus) of Kent’s Hole, all the larger-sized extinct carnivorous and herbivorous mammalia found in all the caves of England put together. Of the smaller-sized genera, too, Bacon Hole and its neighbouring caverns contained representa- tives of every one save Lagomys and Spermophilus. In Mewslade Bay Mr. Prestwich discovered a fine example of raised beach, and beneath the sands of Swansea Bay are well-exposed beds of peat—roots, stems, branches, and leaves of the silver birch, and larger vegetation, the remains of a forest still retained in local tradition, On the other side of the bay, in these deposits, have been found antlers of splendid proportions, and British and Roman implements. The Pholas candida is found in the decayed wood, and the rocks at the western extremity of the bay abound with Zithophag7, the most numerous being Saxicava rugosa. The South Wales coalfield, the largest but one in Britain, is brought within easy workable range by a great east and west anticlinal and several smaller axes, and is so cut into by deep river valleys that the coal is generally worked by means of adits and galleries. As a consequence of this fortunate conformation of carboni- ferous strata and surface, the deepest coal-pit in the whole basin—Harris’s Deep-Navigation Steam Colliery, in the Aberdare Valley—does not exceed 700 yards of vertical depth. There is still considerable difference of opinion as to the identity of certain beds which occupy the place of the millstone grit. To the north and east of the basin the grit is of the usual kind, save where the sands and gravels are compacted into a hard, whitish, quartz-like rock; but to the west of Swansea the equivalent beds change into siliceous under-clays, with coal-seams above them. At Lilliput, in Swansea Bay, there are two inter- esting outcropping ridges of this kind ; and a little farther west still the coal-measures are found to lie conformably on the limestone, with the exception of those in the neighbourhood of Oystermouth Castle, where Sir Henry de la Beche found a section “ of a kind of lenticular mass which fines offto the east and west,” and “was formed under minor conditions of a different nature.” At the head of the Swansea Valley there is said to be ‘a seam of coal occurring in the millstone grit.” The Town hill sand- stones, which form the highlands in the neighbourhood of the town, and the high bold escarpments of which may be traced almost all round the Basin, are equivalent to the Pennant rocks of the Bristol district. They are peculiarly interesting for the great quantity of defrztal A few minutes’ walk from the town to the quarries enables the geologist to see the curiosity in situ. Even the same coal pebble is sometimes seen to consist of coal of two distinct ages, The markings beautifully show how the newer plants were pressed down 324 NATURE [August 5, 1880 around the coal-pebbles, which, from their greater hard- ness, have left their impress in the plants; but the crystallisation of the former has a uniform parallelism with the faces of its cleavage, while the cleavage of the older coal is parallel with the sides of pebbles, which occur in all positions, sometimes in the form of a rhom- boid, with its edges and corners rounded by attrition. To the east of Swansea, near Southern Down and Dunraven Castle, there are remarkably fine exposures of Lower Lias full of Gryphea incurva, with large ammonites and belemnites. Last year an enormous slab was dug out of the Trias rocks at Shortlands, which bears five trifid impressions in a clear series. The length of each footprint is 9{ inches, and it ap- pears to have been made by “some solidly-built_short- legged creature.’’ A little further east the Rhatic Passage Beds are laid open for a distance of more than twenty miles to Penarth Headland, where Cardu2m rheticum and numerous other characteristic fossils are found. Through these strata there are many railway cuttings and no less than six passenger stations, so that this district is perhaps the best in the whole country for the study of Rheetic stratain the fields. The peninsula of Gower, west of Swansea, besides offering such scientific attractions as bone-caves, underground water-courses, raised beaches, &c., is remarkable for the great beauty and variety of its scenery. Bold highlands and beetling cliffs alternate with heathery downs and commons, well wooded valleys through which trout streams flow, and rocky gorges, half hidden by luxuriant growths of fern. Tumuli, Druidic stones, Roman and Danish earthworks, and a round dozen Norman castles, dating for the most part from the days of William Rufus, lend additional charm to the district, which is peopled by the descendants of a colony of Flemings, who still retain many charac- teristic words, idioms, and customs, which the ethnologist may profitably study. The lonely granitic rocky island at the entrance to the Bristol Channel is associated with the geology of the Barnstaple district ; but it has a history all its own, and a peculiar species of rat. Ilfracombe, on the Devonshire coast, is only two hours from Swansea Pier by a fast-going steam-boat. At Pembroke Dock, on the occasion of the visit, there will be a considerable number of notable ships and corvettes of war, and the Great Eastern. Minor excursions will run through the magnificent haven of Milford, and to Tenby, while arrangements are made to take fifty persons by road to St. David's City and Cathedral, with the ruined palace and colleges of the see of Menevia, in the utmost limits of Pembrokeshire. All these excursions are fixed for Saturday, the 28th, and the Local Committee exact that all applications be sent in before 1 p.m. of the previous Thursday. On the succeeding Thursday, September 2, the excur- sions, which are very numerous, will be for the most part to collieries and works. Perhaps the chief interest attaching to Swansea is its metallic industries, of which the district is a chief centre. The copper trade has flourished here for a century and a half to two centuries, but though various new processes have been tried from time to time, practically the oldest dry process, called the Welsh method, is still in use. It is affirmed that nine- tenths of the copper-smelting of the kingdom is done here. The sulphurous and arsenious fumes from these works have entirely denuded the hill-sides of verdure, but it cannot be shown that they injure human health. Among the many inventions for the consumption of this smoke, are washing it with water, collecting the sulphurous acid and converting it into sulphuric acid, and the use of deposit chambers and high chimneys. These processes may be seen at Hafod, the works of Mr. H. H. Vivian, M.P. The other excursions on the same day include various large tin works, where the whole of the processes of making the iron sheets and tinning them may be seen, and the visitors will be entertained at luncheon by the Worshipful Mayor at his Cwmbwrla Tin-plate Works; to the Landore Siemens Steel Works, where steel is made in gas regenerative furnaces by the Siemens-Martin process, and hammered and rolled and tested for rails, armour-plates, ship and boiler plates, knives, needles, wire, and all other com- mercial purposes, and visitors will be entertained at lunch by Dr. Siemens; to the Dyffwyn Collieries at Neath, the Navigation Colliery at Quaker’s Yard, the Penrhiwceiber Colliery, Mountain Ash, &c., the most important coal winnings in the district, at each of which places visitors will be entertained. Visitors to Neath Abbey and district will take luncheon in the ruined refectory, and those to the Vale of Neath Waterfalls in the caves. At their Melyn Decorative Tin Works Messrs. Leach, Flower and Co. will show their extremely interesting processes and give a luncheon; Mr. J. T. D. Llewelyn, of Penllergare, will receive 100 visitors at his ancient and beautifully-situated residence five miles from Swansea ; and Mrs. Crawshay will entertain on this day fifty visitors at Langorse Pool, Brecon. The oyster-dredg- ing expedition in the Bay will start from Swansea Piers, and visit the Lighthouse Rock and Battery, luncheon being served on board. The neighbouring works, which may be easily reached from the town, include the manu- facture of patent fuel in the old and in a perfectly new perforated form; sulphuric acid, phosphate manures, cobalt, silver, nickel, lead, spelter, sulphate of ammonia, oxalic acid, distillation of wood, alkalies, &c., &c. Applications for tickets for these excursions on Thurs- day, September 2, must be made not later than the forenoon of the previous Monday. Among the special attractions which will take place concurrently in Swansea are an agricultural show, a flower show, and especially an exhibition of local pro- ductions and processes. The exhibition of machinery will be on an extensive scale, and the greater part will be in motion. The more interesting portions of the machinery in motion and the loan exhibition of scientific instru- ments will be retained as an additional attraction to the second sozrée. The accommodation in the town and in the picturesque suburban watering-place of Oystermouth or The Mumbles is in every way ample, and the hospitality will be gene- rous, but it would much facilitate the work of the Local Committee and add greatly to the satisfaction of visitors themselves if they would give timely and sufficient notice of their intention to be present on the occasion. THE HIGH PLATEAUX OF UTAH* Bes a few years ago the geography of the high grounds of the western part of North America was depicted, even on the best maps, in a manner which now appears almost like a caricature of nature. So much had been said and written about the Rocky Mountains that the popular imagination was wont to picture them as a colossal, rugged, and almost impassable range, extending continuously down the backbone of the continent, and serving generally as the watershed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The progress of research, however, dissipated this delusion by showing that, instead of one continuous chain of mountains, a vast area of country, extending from the British possessions far down into the Southern States, has been upraised into elevated plains or table-lands, and that these at various distances have been ridged up by lenticular mountain-chains, sometimes parallel, sometimes ex échelon, and trending generally in a meridional direction. The term “ Rocky Mountains is now commonly restricted to the most easterly line of ROR t on the Geology of the High Plateaux of Utah.’’ With Atlas. By Cane: E, Dutton, USA. Geographical and Geological Survey of the Territories. J. W. Powell in charge. (Washington, 1880.) August 5, 1880] NATURE ' mountains, which serves as a divide or water-parting between the Atlantic slope and the regions lying to the west. But though the traditional glories of the Rocky Mountains have thus been dimmed, and though the most enthusiastic traveller through their still little-known soli- tudes must in fairness admit that they cannot boast among their innumerable ranges, hitherto visited and described, one which for variety and majesty of outline can be named with the Bernese Oberland, yet this merely nominal degradation is more than compensated by the discovery that these western territories contain a type of high ground to which there is probably no adequate parallel elsewhere on the face of the globe—a type so strange and overwhelming in its first aspect, so weird and almost incredible in its history, that the ordinary lan- guage of scenic description fails to convey the impression which the overawed beholder wishes to produce, and he finds himself obliged to borrow a new vocabulary, yet even with its aid is conscious that his narrative, exagge- rated as it may seem, falls infinitely short of doing justice to the marvels he has seen. To the portion of this region which, bounded by the Colorado Park Mountains on the east and by the ranges which border the Great Basin on the west, stretches from Southern Wyoming far into New Mexico and Arizona, the name of the Plateau Country has been given. It is drained mainly by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Its surface at lower levels than 7,000 feet above the sea is a blazing desert, bright with strange mineral colours— glaring red, livid purple, verdigris green, toned white, and ashy grey. On these plains hardly any vegetation grows. Not a solitary tree, save here and there a gnarled cedar, affords a scanty shade, and little but stunted sage- brush or prickly cactus in scattered tufts varies the eter- nal monotony of the burning soil. It is a region of perpetual drought, for the springs are believed not to average one in a thousand square miles. Yet the land is traversed by a network of rivers, which, however, wind along in profound chasms, to be crossed only by the birds of theair. So deep and sombre are many of these gorges (that of the Colorado being in some places more thana mile deep), that the very sound of their running waters never reaches the level of the plateau above. Onlya dim daylight reaches the bottom, and the stars are said to be visible in certain narrow gorges at midday. But where the level of the plateaux rises high enough to condense some of the moisture which the air-currents carry across them the verdureless aspect of the lower plains is replaced by luxuriant forests and open glades carpeted with rich grass and wild flowers. So colossal, however, are the table-lands that some of them slope gradually out of the range of tree-growth to a height of from 11,000 to 12,000 feet above the sea, and almost lie within the limit of perpetual snow. So far as yet known, the ‘Plateau country reaches the fullest development of its extraordinary features in the southern portions of the Territory of Utah. This region was partially explored by Prof. Powell during his sur- veys from 1869 to 1874, and by the parties under Capt. Wheeler, especially by Mr. Howell and Mr. Gilbert, whose published reports form a valuable portion of the third volume of the “ Geographical and Geological Explora. tions west of the One Hundredth Meridian,” conducted by Capt. Wheeler. In 1875 Mr. Powell secured the services of Capt. Dutton for the investigation of a large volcanic tract among the Utah Plateaux as part of the survey under his direction. Capt. Dutton spent the seasons of 1875, 1876, and 1877 at the task assigned to him. We have now the result of this labour in the hand- some quarto volume and beautiful atlas which have just appeared. This publication is undoubtedly one of the very best of the many admirable contributions to geology which have recently been made by the official surveys of the United States. With the aid of the letterpress, maps, 325 and sections any geological reader can follow and realise to himself the almost incredible magnificence, as well as simplicity, of the structure of these high Plateaux. The geology of the area may be briefly described as presenting a succession of nearly horizontal sedimentary formations from the upper Carboniferous up to the Eocene lacustrine deposits of the West, thrown into a succession of broad folds, cut into segments by a series of important faults, and overlaid towards the north by vast sheets of volcanic ejections, the whole of the rocks, aqueous and igneous, having] been carved into valleys, gorges, escarpments, outliers, and isolated plateaux of the most imposing magnitude. From the Carboniferous up to the top of the Cretaceous series there does not appear to be any general physical break in the continuity of the stratification. The Carboniferous rocks are only partially exposed, but their overlying beds —the singular deep purple, chocolate, slate, and brownish- red Shinarump group—attain a greater development, exhibiting their peculiar regularity of sedimentation and their sculptured terraces and outliers. These charac- teristic strata have been classed as Permian or Lower Triassic, but the researches of last year have, we believe, brought to light fossils which point unmistakably to their Permian age. An occasional want of conformability is observed between them and the overlying Trias, but as a rule the latter follow without discordance, and rise into the succession of bright red and orange sandstones and shales which constitute the great cliff-forming series throughout the Plateaucountry. A geologist accustomed to the scenery of the “New Red” plains of Central England may find it hard to believe that the Trias of Western America forms ranges of vermilion-coloured cliffs 1,000 or 1,500 feet high, projecting in vast pro- montories, retiring into deep bays, and stretching with the same brightness of colour and the same regularity of front for hundreds of miles. No very satisfactory line has yet been drawn between the Trias and the Jura. The latter series consists in the Plateau country of two members, the lower being a massive grey or white sand- stone of great thickness, the upper a series of calcareous and gypsiferous shales from 200 to 400 feet thick. This sandstone, according to Capt. Dutton, was laid down over an area which cannot fall much short of 35,000 square miles, with an average thickness of more than 1,000 feet. Yet so persistent were the conditions of its deposit that from {bottom to top, sometimes through a depth of nearly 2,000 feet, it everywhere consists of intricately false-bedded sandstone without layers or partings of shaly or other heterogeneous matter. From the Upper Jurassic calcareous} beds distinctive “fossils have been obtained. The Cretaceous system presents here the usual massive development of sandstones and shales which form so prominent a feature in the geology of the West. The Lower Cretaceous Dakotah group is recognised by its lithological resemblance to the corresponding beds in Colorado and elsewhere, and by the occurrence of species of Ostrea, Gryphea, Exogyra, Plicatula, &c. The over- lying shales are identified with the Laramie group, which the author places as Upper Cretaceous. The whole of the Cretaceous series is more or less lignitiferous; a considerable number of workable coal-seams in it being already known. At the close of the deposition of the Laramie group the first important break in the succession of the rocks occurs. Extensive disturbance took place along the old Mesozoic shore-line which now bounds the Great Basin on the east, and this was accompanied and followed by such enormous denudation that the Cre- taceous series, several thousand feet in thickness, was entirely removed and the oldest Tertiary strata accumu- lated on the exposed surface of Jurassic beds. Yet so local were these movements that in adjacent tracts the whole Cretaceous series of :the region is present, and 326 NATURE [ August 5, 1880 appears to be followed without interruption by a con- formable suite of Eocene strata. The geographical changes that closed the Cretaceous period in the West were among the most important in the evolution of the American continent. Over many thousand square miles the floor of the sea was raised into land which has never since been again submerged. The lacustrine conditions which began in Cretaceous times now received a far greater development. The waters of the ocean, inclosed into inland seas, from brackish became fresh, and one or more lakes, of per- haps even greater dimensions than those of Eastern America, stretched between the heights of the Great Basin and the Rocky Mountains for as yet an unknown distance to the south. The history of these lakes has been studied by Hayden, King, Powell, and other geolo- gists, and their marvellously rich ichthyic, reptilian, and mammalian fauna has been described by Leidy, Marsh, and Cope. Much remains to be done before the history can be regarded as even approximately filled in. In the meanwhile it is certain that this lacustrine area was undergoing slow subsidence during Eocene time, that sediment was being continually washed into it from ad- joining mountains, that eventually 5,000 feet or more of strata were laid down over its site, and that the area of fresh water progressively diminished. A new chapter in this eventful history is revealed by Capt. Dutton. He tells how in Southern Utah the lake, even as far back as the time of the Middle Eocene, was the theatre of volcanic discharges, and how these, after vast intervals of quiescence and almost incredible denudation, have been from time to time renewed down even to a period so recent that it can hardly be believed to date so far back as the days of Cortez and the Spanish Conquest. He shows that this volcanic district discloses a remarkable variety of phenomena, nearly every form of eruption being exhibited, and every great group of vol- canic rocks being represented in it. The earliest volcanic rocks are tuffs, which he regards as probably derived in chief measure from the degradation of older lavas and the deposit of the resulting sediment on the floor of the lake. The next phase of volcanic activity was marked by the outpouring of masses of propylite and hornblende- andesite, and was succeeded by the third and grandest of all, when floods of trachytes and rhyolites, alternating with augitic andesites and dolerites, rolled far and wide over the plateaux. The author is doubtful whether these extravasations proceeded from A&tna-like summits or craters, and is rather inclined to look upon the larger deluges as having issued from local fissures. Certainly if any true lofty volcanic cones existed, all external trace of them has been completely effaced by denudation. The closing event in this long volcanic period, if indeed the record can be properly regarded as even yet closed, consisted in the emission of abundant streams of lava round the larger areas of previous activity. Capt. Dutton notices some remarkable examples of a feature which occurs ona much smaller scaie in the volcanic region of the Rhine and Moselle. The basalt cones and craters whence the streams have emanated seldom appear at the base of the great cliffs or at the bottoms of the deep canons, They are often crowded together near the crests of the terrace walls, or the lava has broken out from the face of a wall. They commonly lie near lines of fault, yet appear almost always on the uplifted instead of the depressed side of the dislocation. ‘The least common place for a basaltic crater is at the base of a cliff.” Among the volcanic masses special attention is given to the enormous accumulations of conglomerate and tuff, which cover nearly 2,000 square miles of area, and range from a few hundred feet to nearly 2,500 feet in thickness. These vast piles of coarse detritus the author attributes to the atmospheric disintegration of previously erupted lavas, and he describes in detail the process by which similar conglomerates are at the present moment being formed by frost, rain, and mountain-torrents. The highly important observation was made by him among the older tuffs, that in some places they have been so metamorphosed that the product of alteration is a roc’ possessing all the ordinary characters of a lava. The chronological sequence of volcanic rocks among the Plateaux of Utah has been recognised as obeying generally the order enunciated by Richthofen. Capt. Dutton, starting from this observed sequence, devotes two long chapters to theoretical discussion—one on the classification, the other on the origin of volcanic rocks. To his work in the field he has added careful labour indoors, especially studying the microscopical and chemical characters of volcanic rocks. No one can read his pages without recognising their suggestiveness, even though the conclusions reached in them may sometimes appear doubtfully valid. His remarks upon the texture of volcanic rocks (pp. 91-99) offer an excellent sample of his critical treatment. Pointing out how different may be the texture assumed by the same original magma according to whether the mass has cooled and consoli- dated at the surface or beneath it, he is disposed to regard the intrusive condition as a kind of intermediate stage between volcanic rocks which have issued above ground and non-eruptive masses which have remained inactive deep beneath it, and he regards the porphyritic texture as especially characteristic of this “ qualified eruption.” This generalisation is only partially supported by the volcanic history of Britain. Among our older Paleozoic rocks, indeed, the intrusive or injected masses very generally possess the porphyritic structure. But from the time of the Lower Old Red Sandstone onwards to the Miocene volcanic period inclusive, the intrusive sheets are for the most part non-porphyritic, while the porphyritic structure is found among the superficial lavas. The classification our author proposes is as follows :— ACID SERIES—Group I. Ruyo.ireEs, Sub-group 1. Nevadite or granitoid rhyolite. 2. Liparite or porphyritic rhyolite. 3. Rhyolite proper, or hyaline rhyolite, SUB-ACID SERIES—Group II. TRAcHYTEs. Sub-group A, Sanidine Trachytes. . Granitoid Trachyte. . Porphyritic Trachyte. Argilloid Trachyte. 4. Hyaline Trachyte. Sub-group B. Hornblendic Trachytes. 5. Hornblendic Trachyte. 6. Augitic Trachyte. 7. Phonolite. 8. Trachytic Obsidian, SUB-BASIC SERIES—PRopYLITE AND ANDESITE, Sub-group 1. Hornblendic Propylite. .2. Augitic Propylite (?). 3. Quartz-Propylite. 4. Hornblendic Andesite. 5 6 WNH . Augitic Andesite. , . Dacite or Quartz-andesite. BASIC SERIES—Basatts. Sub-group I. Dolerite. 2. Nepheline-dolerite. 3. Basalt. 4. Leucite-basalt. 5. Nepheline-basalt. 6. Tachylite. The fifth chapter is entitled “‘Speculations concerning the Causes of Volcanic Action.” The author propounds a very ingenious trial hypothesis, by which he believes the sequence of volcanic phenomena throughout at least the Rocky Mountain region may be explained. He assumes that volcanic phenomena are brought about by a August 5, 1880} NATURE 327 local increase of temperature within certain subterranean horizons. But, as he himself admits, this way of putting the case brings us no nearer to what may be the ultimate cause of such a local increase of temperature. He seeks to prove that all the phenomena of volcanic action point to local excitation, and that the observed order of appear- ance of lavas is what on this view might theoretically be anticipated. It would be beyond the necessary limits of this article to follow him into the details of his argument. But one or two points may be briefly referred to. He regards lavas as mainly derived not from primeval sub- terranean magmas, but rather from the fusion of such rocks as the crystalline schists and sedimentary forma- tions. In the mechanics of eruptions he believes that the outpouring of lava does not arise from the expansion of vapours absorbed within the molten magma, but is merely a hydrostatic problem of the simplest order—the lava being forced out by the weight of the rocks overlying its subterranean reservoirs. According to this hypothesis two preliminary conditions are requisite for an eruption of lava—the rocks must be fused, and their density in the molten state must be less than that of the overlying rocks. The author regards the observed order of appearance ‘of the lavas to be deter- mined by their relative density and fusibility, the more siliceous requiring a higher temperature to fuse them, and the more basic, though less refractory, demanding a higher temperature to give them such a diminution of density as will permit them to be erupted. At an early stage of eruption he holds that the acid rocks may be light enough to be ejected, but are not yet melted, while the basic rocks may be melted but must await further ex- pansion by access.of heat before they are capable of being poured forth. Hence some intermediate rock will be selected as the first to issue, and this rock the author believes to be propylite. A further increase of tempera- ture produces hornblendic andesite and trachyte, and so on to the rhyolites, and finally the basalts. All rocks more basic than propylite are stated to present evidence of superfusion, these rocks, according to the theory, being those which possess so high a density as to demand a much greater accession of heat than that required for mere fusion, in order that they may become lighter than the overlying crust, and thus be erupted. Basalt in particular is cited as an example of a superfused rock. The author tacitly assumes that the density of a lava at the time of its outflow is necessarily less than that of the rocks through which it ascends, otherwise it could not be erupted. It is a pity that no experimental demon- stration of this assertion was given, for it forms so funda- mental a postulate in the hypothesis. But even on the supposition that the lava is forced out by the descent of heavier overlying rock, what ought to be found as proof of this action? Ought we not to meet with abundant evidence of subsidence at volcanic foci? Every mass of lava derived from the local fusion of rocks at no great depth beneath the surface and driven out by the weight of rock overlying it, should have an accompanying and proportionate subsidence of the crust over the site of its source, Occasional proofs of collapse at volcanoes have long been known indeed, but admit of other explanation, such as “evisceration,’”’ to use Mr. Mallet’s phrase. Instead of subsidence, the emission of vol- canic material has generally been accompanied with upheaval. Capt. Dutton’s own magnificent Plateaux of Utah should furnish copious proofs of a sinking or sagging of the nearly horizontal strata round the eruptive vents. But there is no trace of any structure of this kind in his instructive and carefully-drawn sections. Again, the alleged superfusion of the basic rocks can hardly be admitted upon the evidence here brought for- ward in its support. The fact that thin streams of basalt have had a greater liquidity and have retained it for much greater distances than the acid lavas, has long been recognised. But as Reyer has recently suggested, it is capable of a different interpretation from that of super- fusion. The author appeals also to the microscopic structure of basalt as favouring his view of former intense ignition. He cites, for example, the presence of glass particles, the absence of water-cavities, the isotropic base, the compactness and vitreous structure of this rock. But are not these characters present in far more striking development among the vitreous acid rocks, which he supposes to have had a temperature little more than sufficient for fusion? The exceptions which the author candidly admits to occur in the normal succession of lavas—basalts, for example, appearing before rhyolites, or quartz propylite and quartz-andesite simultaneously with the hornblendic members of their respective groups—seem fatal to the hypothesis. From another point of view the idea that the order of emission of lavas has been determined in the way sup- posed presents great difficulties. The author affirms that “we must at least admit that the source of lavas is among segregated masses of heterogenous materials,” and he supposes that “this arrangement would be well satisfied by a succession of metamorphic strata [gneiss, hornblendic and augitic schist] resting upon a supposed primitive crust or magma having a constitution approxi- mating that of the basaltic group of rocks.’’ But every known mass of metamorphic strata presents endless inter- stratifications of very various materials. By what process of selection are the elements of these diverse rocks grouped successively into definite volcanic compounds? How is it that out of the simmering subterranean broth just so much silica and alumina as are needed for one type are ladled out at one time, while a careful hand is kept on the lime, alkalies and iron-oxides, only the right propor- tions being dealt forth for each lava? The remarkable persistence of type among the different species of lava all over the world has long been recog- nised. It is not easy to see how this persistence should exist, nor why there should not be far more varieties of lava and transitional grades between the varieties if they are due to the local melting up of various masses of heterogeneous materials within the crust. The volume is illustrated by a‘series of heliotype plates, from photographs taken in the course of the survey, representing some of the more remarkable external forms assumed by the sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The Atlas contains a valuable series of topographical and geological maps. Among these’a relief-map of the Plateaux, on the scale of five miles to an inch, is specially instructive. There are likewise two plates of sections, which bring before the eye ina clear and con- cise form the structural details of the region. In point of execution the plates of the atlas are altogether ad- mirable. In his preface Capt. Dutton states that he undertook the task of exploration assigned to him with considerable diffidence in his ability to accomplish it. He must be congratulated on having achieved a signal success. His work bears everywhere marks of the most conscientious and painstaking industry, great acuteness of observation, and not a little literary skill in the mar- shalling and presentation of the facts observed. Let us hope that the arrangement by which he was enabled to exchange the routine duties of an army officer for geolo- logical field-work may be prolonged, and that in further prosecution of his explorations in the West he may live to issue other volumes as interesting and valuable as that which is noticed here. ARCH. GEIKIE TWO NEW PLANETARY NEBULZ PLANETARY nebula in R.A. 18h. 25'2m. and Dec. — 25° 13’ was discovered at the Harvard College Observatory on the evening of July 13. A second 328 NATURE [August 5, 1880 esse nebula was found on the following evening in R.A. 18h, 4°3m, and Dec. —28° 12’. Both, but particularly the first, are only minute, and can be with difficulty dis- tinguished from stars, except by their spectra. The discovery was not the result of accident but of a search with a direct vision prism inserted between the objective and eyepiece of the 15-inch telescope. A star appears as a coloured line of light, while a planetary nebula forms a bright point, and is recognised instantly in sweeping. Many hundred or thousand stars can thus be examined very rapidly, and a single nebula picked out from among them. This method promises to add very greatly to the list of known planetary nebulz, which now number about fifty. Probably a systematic search for these objects crossing a considerable part of the heavens will be made at this Observatory. Our knowledge of that distribution will thus be greatly increased, and we shall know that their absence in certain parts of the sky is not due to an omission to look for them. Any planetary nebula as bright as a twelfth-magnitude star would probably be detected by the method proposed. Bright lines or other peculiarities in the stellar spectra will also be looked for. Doubt has been thrown on many of the attempts to measure the parallax of planetary nebulz owing to the haziness of the borders of these bodies. The minuteness of the disks of the nebula noted above could permit their positions to be determined with great precision, and would thus show a very minute parallax. Cambridge, U.S., July 15 EDWARD C. PICKERING NOTES AN influential committee has been formed from among the members in the Section of Zoology of the Paris Academy of Sciences and others eminent in that department, to obtain subscriptions for a medal in honour of M, Milne-Edwards, the doyen of French zoologists. A MOVEMENT has been set on foot to obtain subscriptions to a memorial fund in honour of the late Rev. J. Clifton Ward, whose name must be well known to our readers as a working geologist who made valuable contributions to his science. Mr. Ward, moreoyer,'did great service in promoting a love of science in Cumberland, and the Association for the Advancement of Literature and Science, for which he did so much, has taken the fund heartily ‘up. It ought to receive many subscrip- tions outside of the Association, and we commend it to the liberality of our readers. Subscriptions should be sent to the Rev. Canon Battersby, St. John’s Parsonage, Keswick, and to Mr. Edwin Jackson, hon. treasurer, Keswick Library and Scien- tific Society. It is proposed to expend the fund in the erection of a mural tablet in the church of St. John, Keswick, and the remainder in Jaying the foundation of a fund for the education of Mr, Ward’s two daughters, In answer to a question in the House of Commons as to the cause of the delay in the removal of the Natural History Collection from the British Museum to South Kensington, and when that removal would be completed, Mr. Walpole said he believed the delay had been caused by the facts that the building in which the collection was to be placed was not handed over to the Trustees of the British Museum until June, and that the grant made by the Treasury was not sufficiently large to cover the whole estimated expense for the cost of theremoyal. He believed the removal of the mineralogical, geological, and botanical col- lection would be completed by the end of the year or in the spring of next year ; and that as far as the zoological collection was concerned, its removal would depend very materially upon the grant which the Treasury might feel itself at liberty to make for the purpose. Pror. Ep, VAN BENEDEN is at present at Bergen for the pur- pose of working out the embryonic development of the Lemming, which is likely to prove extremely interesting, because that of the guinea-pig is so abnormal. A FEW months after Leverrier’s death a commission was established for determining the best means of protecting collieries from fire-damp, The Commission has written a very long report recording the causes of 420 accidents. Sixty-four projects pre- sented by private individuals have been examined, and some new instruments have been designed and are being constructed, viz., an anemometer by Vicaire, a manometer by Le Chatellier, and a registering apparatus for the quantity of air introduced into the galleries. But the composition of coal explosive dust has not been determined, nor the extent of its influence on catastrophes ; the chemical analysis of Grisau has not been completed, and the salvage question has not been exhausted. The only substantial benefit is a compilation of mining regulations and a series of propositions which have been transmitted to the French Ministry, and will be laid before Parliament next session. THE detailed programme of the annual meeting cf the Iron and Steel Institute, to be held at Diisseldorf on August 25, 26, 27, and 28, is now published. The proceedings commence with a concert at the Tonhalle on Tuesday evening, August 24. On Wednesday there is to be in the morning a general meeting of members at the Tonhalle, where the institute will be received by the local authorities ; in the afternoon a visit to the exhibition and to works near Diisseldorf; and in the evening the annual dinner of the institute at the Tonhalle. On Thursday and Friday there are to.be general meetings in the morning for the reading and discussion of papers; the afternoons are to be devoted to excursions by special trains to various iron and steel works in the neighbourhood of Diisseldorf, followed by concerts in the evenings. The whole will be brought to a close by a Rhine excursion on Saturday, which is timed to bring members by 10.30 p.m. to Cologne, vi@ Rolandseck, Bingen, and Coblentz. The general secretary is Mr. J. S. Jeans, whose address up till August 19 is 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street ; and after that date, Tonhalle, Diisseldorf. Tue Aldini gold medal (worth 1,000 lire) will be awarded by the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna to the best memoir on galvanism (animal electricity), Memoirs to be written in Italian, Latin, or French, and sent in before June 30, 1882. THE Bencke prizes (first, 1,700 marks; second, 60 marks) of the Philosophical Faculty of Gottingen University are offered for investigation, theoretical and experimental, of diffraction phenomena in the case of non-homocentric light sources, as, especially, a circular and a square luminous surface of uniform brightness of the emitted simple or compound white light. Memoirs to be written in German, Latin, French, or English, and sent in before March 11, 1883. A NEw process for obtaining stereotypes for printing has been discovered by M, Emile Jeannin, a sculptor of Paris, who pro- poses to employ for that purpose the material known as celludoid, The process of preparation takes only half an hour, when the types are once set up, and the plates thus produced are remark- ably suitable for working on cylinder machines running at a high speed, being very light, flexible, and very durable. In this last respect indeed they surpass metal plates, affording, it is said, 50,000 impressions, whereas even an electrotyped copper plate backed with lead will only last for 30,000. THE astronomical observatory established on the Trocadéro, is not the only scientific establishment which has found a home in the palace of the last Universal Exhibition, A number of microscopes have been arranged in a special room for the benefit of public instruction. The instruments lent by M. Joubert | have been placed on the top of one of the towers, where a lift August 5, 1880] has been arranged for helping visitors to find their way to this exalted situation. A very curious telephonic experiment has been made in Switzerland on the occasion of the Federal fvve of singers. A telephone had been placed in the Ziirich Festhalle and two con- ductors connected with the Bale telegraphic office, where a large audience had congregated. The distance from Bale to Ziirich is about So kilometres. The Bale audience enjoyed the singing about as well as if they had been placed in the upper circle of an ordinary Opera House. At the end of the performance they proved their satisfaction by clapping hands, which the tele- graphic wires transmitted with perfect fidelity to the Ziirich performers. A cREDIT of 25,000 francs has been voted by the French Parliament for establishing, on solid foundations, one signal at each extremity of the Melun base line, which was used by Delambre for measuring the distance from Dunkerque to Per- pignan, and establishing the length of the metre. This operation was:begun by Delambre and Laplace on 17 Vendémaire, An VI. (October 1797) and terminated in six weeks. This base has a length of 6,000 toises, and was situated on the margin of a public road going from Lieusaint to the crossing of the Brie and Paris roads, A sTRONG shock of earthquake was felt at Smyrna at 5.10 a.m. on July 29. The walls of the telegraph office were split in two or three places. Four or five houses were thrown down, and many others were much damaged by the oscillation. Two of the inhabitants were killed, and five or six injured. Much damage has also been done in the country near Smyrna. At Burnabat the shock caused eleven houses and several cafés to fall in. Two minarets were also thrown down and two people were killed, and ten more or less injured. Slight shocks continued to be felt from time to time. THE new edition of the ‘‘ Guide to the Gardens of the Zoolo- gical Society” brings the notices of the tenants of the Gardens up to the latest date. Mr. Sclater’s name as editor of the Guide is a sufficient guarantee for its accuracy, while the numerous illus- trations render it both attractive and instructive. By means of this very cheap Guide a visit to the Gardens will be rendered doubly enjoyable and profitable. THE Gardeners’ Chronicle, in advocating the establishment of school gardens where practicable, as an instrument of useful scientific education, refers to the success of such gardens in Bavaria, Belgium, Sweden, and other countries. In Sweden alone there are nearly 2,000 school gardens. WE have received a copy of the American Antiquarian, No. 3, vol. ii,, published at Chicago by Jameson and Morse, and edited by the Rev. S, D. Peet. It seems to us to be doing useful work in collecting information on early America, though several other serial publications in the States are doing the same thing to a greater or less extent. Excessive subdivision of labour of this kind in any special department is apt to embarrass the student, THE subject of a depraved taste in animals is an interesting one, which has not been studied as much perhaps as it might. In human beings it would seem to depend on ill-health of either body or mind, but in animals it would seem as if it might be present and the animal enjoy good health. One remarkable instance inan herbivorous animal we can vouch for. It occurred in a sheep that had been shipped on board one of the P. and O. steamers to help to supply the kitchen on board, but while fattening it developed an inordinate taste for tobacco, which it would eat in any quantity that was given toit. It did not much care for cigars, and altogether objected to burnt ends; but it would greedily devour the half-chewed quid of a sailor or a NATURE 53 22) handful of roll tobacco. While chewing there was apparently no undue flow of saliva, and its taste was so peculiar that most of the passengers on board amused themselves by feeding it, to see for themselves if it were really so. As a consequence, though in fair condition, the cook was afraid to kill the sheep, believing that the mutton would have a flavour of tobacco. Another very remarkable case has just been communicated to us by Mr. Francis Goodlake: this time a flesh-eating animal in the shape of a kitten, about five months old, who shows a passionate fondness for salads. It eatsno end of sliced cucumber dressed with vinegar, even when hot withcayenne pepper. After a little fencing it has eaten a piece of boiled beef with mustard. Its mother was at least once seen to eat a slice of cucumber which had salt, pepper, and vinegar on it, The kitten is apparently in good health, and its extraordinary taste is not easily accounted for. Even supposing it once got a feed of salmon mayonaise, why should it now select to prefer the dressing to the fish ? THE American Fournal of Microscopy and Popular Science (vol. iv., 1879, of which is before us) is now publishedfmonthly. Besides various original articles, some of which are illustrated, it contains from time to time abstracts of the transactions of many of the microscopical societies of the United States. This journal, without aiming at a standard to be compared with{the European journals relating to microscopical science, seems to perform its part well, and we are glad to know that it has {done much to encourage the use of the microscope in the States. We may trust soon to see some results from all this work, and to find the chief articles in the American Fournal of Microscopy the result of original researches among the minute alge, fungi, rhizopods and infusoria of America, and that the extracts from the various European journals may be relegated to a second place. There is without doubt an abundant field for work of this nature in America—witness Leidy’s volume on rhizopods— nor do we understand why the labourers should be so few. THE Ceylon Observer has published letters from Mr. Morris, who was recently transferred to the Botanical Gardens, Jamaica, detailing his recent experiences with regard to the cultivation of cinchona, and his views on the coffee-leaf disease in Ceylon. He still maintains the usefulness of dusting with lime and sulphur. FURTHER rich discoveries of gold are reported to have been made in Northern Queensland and Tasmania. It is also stated that gold has been discovered under the basalt in the Brook Mountains, in New South Wales, the first instance of the kind in the colony. In a memoir published by the Revue Scientifique, M. Ernest Maindron, archivist of the Academy of Sciences, shows that the Academy is possessed of an income of 116,000 francs, to be awarded in about thirty prizes, of which the periodicity varies from one year to ten. From the Fifth Annual Report of the Hertfordshire (formerly the Watford) Natural History Society, we are glad to learn that that society is now prosperous, its membership having greatly increased during the past year. THE Proceedings of the Nottingham Literary and Philosophical Society for 1879-80 is mainly"occupied with the president’s (Rev. R. A. Armstrong) address on ‘‘ What is Science?” papers on “‘Sandstones,” by Mr. J. H. Jennings; ‘‘ Philosophy in the Middle Ages,” by Mr. G. B. Kidd; and ‘‘Structure of Mole- cules,” by Mr. J. J. Harris Teall. A large’number of lectures on scientific subjects were given during the session, and several special papers read in the Natural History Section. Tur Zransactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists Society for 1879-80 contains a fayourable report of the present 33° condition of the Society. The address of the president, Mr. T. Southwell, is on the Extinction of Native Races. Among other papers of interest are: ‘‘ Notes on Collecting Lepidoptera in Norfolk, 1878,” by Mr. F. D. Wheeler; ‘‘Discovery of Remains of Zmys lutaria in the Mundesley River-bed,” by Mr, H, B. Woodward; The Bird-Life and the Geology of the Shiant Isles, by Mr. »Harvie-Brown and Prof. Heddle respectively ; Notes on Hawking in Norfolk, by Prof. Newton and Mr. J. E. Harting; Ornithological Notes and Meteorological Obser- vations. TuHE Proceedings of the Liverpool Naturalists Field Club for 1879-80 contains notes of the excursions and meetings of the Society. The only papers given are by the president, the Rey. H. H. Higgins, one being ‘‘ Biographical Sketches in Zoology, from its Origin to its Union with Botany in the Science of Biology.” THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Macaque Monkey (MJacacus cynomolgus) from India, presented by Mr. J. Anson ; a Side-Striped Jackal (Canis lateralis) from East Africa, presented by Commander Owen, R.M.S. Azglian ; aCommon Ocelot (Felis pardalis) from Mexico, presented by Mr, A. L. Schiitte ; two Common Pea- fowls (Pavo cristata) from India, presented by Mrs. Joseph Hoare ; four Globose Curassows (Crax globicera), a Little Guan (Ortalida motmot) from British Honduras, presented by Mr. F. P. Barlee, C.M.G. ; ten Amaduvade Finches (Zstrelda aman- dava) from India, presented by Mr. J. W. Wilson ; a Mississippi Alligator (A//ligator mississippiensis) from North America, pre- sented by Mr. T. L. M. Rose ; two Horrid Rattlesnakes (Cvo- talus horridus) from Nicaragua, presented by Messrs. Holt, Lord, and Co. ; an Anaconda (Zzectes murinus) from South America, presented by Mr. G. H. Hawtayne ; a Bonnet Monkey (Macacus radiatus) from India, an Arctic Fox (Canis lagopus) from the Arctic regions ; a Nilotic Crocodile (Cvrocodilus vul- garis) from Africa, deposited; a Nylghaie (Boselaphus pictus) from India, a Collared Peccary (Dicotyles tajacu) from South America, two Common Otters (Zatra vulgaris, jv.), British ; a Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus), an Elate Hornbill (Buceros elatus) from West Africa, a Virginian Eagle Owl (Budo virginianus) “from North America, a White-necked Crow (Corvus scapulatus) from Africa, purchased; a:Collared Fruit Bat (Cynonycteris collaris), born in the Gardens. ON CURRENTS PRODUCED. BY FRICTION BETWEEN CONDUCTING SUBSTANCES, AND ON A NEW FORM OF TELEPHONE RECEIVER? i a communication to the Royal Society of Edinburgh of date January 6, 1879, I showed that ‘‘electric currents were produced by the mere friction between conducting substances.” The existence of these currents can be easily demonstrated either by a telephone or a Thomson’s galvanometer. I have since found that these currents are, for all-pairs of metals which I have yet tried, in the same direction as the thermo-electric current got by heating the junction of the same two metals. They are also, approximately at least, stronger in proportion as the metals rubbed are far apart on the thermo-electric scale—the strongest current, as far as I have yet observed, being got by rubbing antimony and bismuth together. These observations clearly point to a thermo-electric origin for the currents; but it is possible that they may be due partly to the currents suggested by Sir William Thomson as the cause of friction, and partly, also, to contact force between films of air or oxide adhering to the surfaces of the metals. Having ascertained that these friction-currents are of some strength and fairly constant, I proceeded to make several kinds of machine for producing currents on this principle. One of them consists of a cylinder of antimony, which can be rotated rapidly, while a plate of bismuth is pressed hard against it by a * Abstract of a paper read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh by James Blyth, M.A., F.R.S.E., on May 3, 1880. NATURE [August 5, 1880 stiff spring. When this machine is included in the same circuit with a microphone and a Bell telephone, the current got from it is quite sufficient to serve for the transmission of musical sounds and also loud speaking. The transmitter, which I have found most serviceable in my experiments, is made by screwing two small cubes of gas-carbon to a violin, and placing between them a long stick of carbon pointed at both ends, the points being made to rest in conical holes in the carbon cubes, The looseness of the contact is regulated by a paper spring. This forms an excellent and handy trasmitter for all kinds of musical sounds, and also serves very well for transmitting speech. Seeing that friction between metals clearly produces a current, it seemed natural to inquire if the converse held good, that is, if a current from a battery sent across the junction of two metals affected the friction of the one upon the other. I have tested for this in a variety of ways, and the results obtained leave me in doubt whether to attribute them to variations in the friction, or to actual sticking produced by fusion of the points of contact through which the current passes. The most noticeable effect is produced when one of the rubbing bodies is a mere point, and the other a smooth surface of metal. This led me to make a modification of the loud-speaking telephone of Mr. Edison, in order to get audible indications of changes of friction produced by the passing of a variable current. It consists of a cylinder of bismuth accurately turned and revolving on centres, The rubbing-point is made of a sewing-needle with its point bent at right angles, and its other end attached to the centre of the mica disk of a phonograph mouthpiece. It is evident that this is only a loose contact, which can be perpetually changed. When this apparatus is included in the circuit with the violin- microphone and three or four Bunsen cells, the violin sounds, as was to be expected, are heard proceeding from the loose- contact, even when the cylinder is not rotated. They are in- | creased, however, in a remarkable degree by rotating the | cylinder slowly, so much so that a tune played on the violin can, with proper care, be distinctly heard all over an ordinary room. With regard to the explanation of this effect, it is evident, that electrolysis can in no sense come into play, as is supposed to be the case in Edison’s instrument. I am inclined to look for the explanation rather in the direction of the Trevelyan rocker, although the circumstances are considerably different in the two cases, In the rocker we have the heat passing from a mass of hot metal through two points of support to a cold block, where- as, in the other case, the heat is only intense at the points of contact, the rest of the metals being comparatively unaffected. The variations in the current produced by the transmitting microphone must cause corresponding variations in the heat at the point of contact of the needle with the cylinder, and this again produces a mechanical movement of the pressing point, as well as of the air surrounding it, sufficient to give forth sound- waves. If such be the case the effect should be different for different metals, those answering best which have the lowest thermal conductivity and also the lowest specific heat. That this is really so is shown by substituting cylinders of other metals for the bismuth, all other things remaining the same, In this way I have compared lead, tin, iron, copper, carbon, and find that they all give forth the simple loose contact-sound when the cylinder is stationary, but that it is only with bismuth that there is any very great intensification of the sound when the cylinder is rotated. Now, by consulting the appropriate tables T find that bismuth is a fraction lower than any other common metal in specific heat, while it is much below them all in thermal conductivity. This seems to bear out my explanation to a certain extent. ee UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAMBRIDGE.—The subject for the Sedgwick Prize essay, 1883, is ‘The Classification of the Cambrian and Silurian Rocks.” The prize is open to all graduates of the University of Cambridge who haye resided sixty days during the twelve months preceding October 1, 1882. The essays must be sent in to the Registrary on or before October 1, 1882. Neen Ee . SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- delphia, Part 1, January to April.—Thomas Meehan, on disarticulating branches in Ampelopsis (the annual growth is dis- August 5, 1880] articulated at just one node above that one made the previous year, the branch thus gainiug but one node inthe year. This reminds one of the South Pacific Vitis, which produces tubers on the end of the branches, and at the end of each season dis- articulates them).—On germination in acorns (in Quercus virens. Mr. Mazyck has noticed that the two petioles instead of being short were produced to a length of 14 inches before the plumule and hypocotyledonary portions of the young plant commenced their growth, and a small tuberous projection nearly one-fourth the size of the acorn preceded the growth downwards of the radicle and upwards of the plumule. The cells in all of these were gorged with starch).—Dr. Leidy, notice of Filaria immitis in the dog, and on a Filaria reported to have come from a man. —W. N. Lockington, on the Pacific species of Cazdolatilus.— Heilprin, Angelo, on the stratigraphical evidence afforded by the tertiary fossils of the peninsula of Maryland.—J. S. Kingsley, carcinological notes: I. (chiefly relates to the genus Thelphusa, describes two new species from Ceylon and one from West Africa; also a new species of Dilocarcinus. II. Revision of the Gelasimi, plates 9 and 10).—Dr. Allen, description of a fcetal walrus, and on the mammz of bats.—Dr. R. Bergh, on the nudibranchs of the North Pacific Ocean, with special reference to those of Alaska, Part 2, plates 1 to 8.—Howard Kelly, on a sartorius muscle in the gorilla. This muscle was reinforced six inches from its origin by a muscular slip a quarter of an inch in breadth ; it arose at the lower part of the middle third of the femur, between the origin of the quadriceps extensor and the insertion of the adductors joining the sartorius opposite the knee joint.—J. H. Redfield, on Rochelia fatens (Nuttell), decided by Dr. Gray to be Echinospermum floribundum.—Report on plants introduced by means of the International Exhibition 1876. Bulletins dela Société d’ Anthropologie de Paris, tome 3, fase. 1, t880.—The present number contains the address of M. Sanson, president of the Society for 18$80,—A communication from M. Mantegazza, on the Lapps.—A paper by M. Emile Goldi, on the migration of races in Egypt, which gave rise to an animated dis- cussion, in which Mad. C. Royer opposed the author’s view of the Asiatic origin of the Egyptian races.—M. Topinard proposed new methods for obtaining means differing from those suggested by M. Broca, which he considers to be based upon too small numbers.—M. Robin, Inspector of Primary Instruction in the Departement de Loir-et-Cher, invites the attention of the Society to the question whether it would not be desirable, to require from teachers in the public schools reports of the stature, growth, &c., of the pupils under their observation. M. Broca was of opinion that anthropological characteristics are of little value except in the case of adults, and that the important question of growth can only be satisfactorily considered when large numbers of children are simultaneously submitted to observation.—This number of the Bulletins devotes nearly seventy pages to the reprint of the “Inventory of the Megalithic Monuments of France,” in which we have the combined result of the carefully-conducted observa- tions of the General Commission for the registration of these remains, which was formally appointed by the Minister for Public Instruction in November, 1879. In this survey the country was divided into six sections, each of which was placed under the direction of one of the commissioners, while the general work was further subdivided into two groups, those of erratic boulders and megalithic monuments.—The last paper, by M. Paul Broca (on a new instrument invented by himself, and named ‘‘le goniométre d’inclinaison et Vorthogone”’), has fa specially melancholy interest from the fact that it is connected with some of the latest work done by this eminent savant before his death. Fournal of the Franklin Institute, July.—The belt-dynamo- meter of Dr. C. W. Siemens, by R. Briggs.—High railway speeds, by W. B. Le Van.—Economic vaporisation of a boiler, by Chief Engineer Isherwood.—Progress of the dephosphorisa- tion of iron, by F. Gautier.—The involute of the circumference of a circle, by L, D’Auria.—A new pendulum suspension, by L. H. Spellier.—The puddling process, past and present, by P, Roberts, jun. Bulletin de V Académie Royale des Sciences (of Belgium), No. 5.—On a whale caught on the coast of Charleston (South Carolina) on January 7, 1880, by M. Van Beneden.—An application of accidental images, by M. Plateau.—Note on the illumination of mines with phosphorescent sulphides, by M. Montigny.—Researches on the property possessed by solid bodies NATURE | 331 of welding by the action of pressure, by M. Spring.—On the line of (so called) helium, by Abbé Spée.—Excretory apparatus of the Trematodes and Cestoides, by M. Fraipont.—Discovery of heemoglobin in the aquiferous system of an Echinoderm, by M. Foeltinger. SOCIETIES ANI! ACADEMIES EDINBURGH Royal Society, June 21.—Prof. Maclagan, M.D., vice- president, in the chair.—Prof. Chrystal read a paper on a dif- ferential telephone, and on the application of the telephone to electrical measurements. A differential telephone was exhibited. -It differed from an ordinary telephone in much the same way that a differential galvanometer differs from an ordinary single- coiled one. Two thin wires were twisted together and wound round the magnet in the usual way. It was shown that when an interrupted current passed in opposite directions through the two coils of the differential telephone no sound was heard. In using the instrument, its two coils were put into the two branches of a multiple arc, which was inserted in the circuit of the inter- rupted current. The interrupted currents of the two branches passed in opposite directions through the coils. The conditions for perfect compensation were not only that the resistances of the two branches must be equal, but also that their co-efficients of self-induction must be the same. If only one of these condi- tions was fulfilled a minimum of sound could be got, but absolute silence was impossible. The necessity for this twofold adjust- ment had not been hitherto sufficiently recognised ; and it was to its neglect that the main difficulties in using Hughes’ in- duction-balance were no doubt to be referred. Some years ago Prof. Chrystal had worked out the mathematics of the subject, but had been unable till recently to corroborate his results by experiment. Prof. Chrystal then proceeded to indicate how such a differential telephone could be applied to the measurement of coefficients of self-induction in terms of an arbitrary unit. Two coils were prepared of exactly the same resistance, but one was so wound as to have practically no self- induction. The self-induction of the other was the arbitrary unit mentioned above. In the rough model shown, two coils, whose distance. apart could be varied at will, were intro- duced into each branch of the multiple are above referred to, and were first adjusted so as to produce perfect com- pensation in the differential telephone. The other two equal resistance-coils were then introduced, one into the circuit of each induction pair, with the necessary effect of destroying the com- pensation. Bya readjustment of the induction of one of the pairs, compensation was again secured, the change of distance of the coils of the altered pair corresponding therefore to the arbitrary unit. The two single coils were then removed, a fresh compen- sation obtained by alteration of the other induction pair, the single coils again introduced, a fourth compensation effected and a second stage reached in the formation of a graduated scale of self-induction in terms of an arbitrary unit ; and so on till a complete scale was formed. Prof. Chrystal further pointed out how his instrument might be used for measuring capacities, and for investigating the real nature of the opposition offered by electrolytes to the passage of electric currents.—Prof. Tait communicated a paper on the determination of the specific heats of saline solutions, by Mr. Thomas Gray, B.Sc.—Mr. J. Y. Buchanan described a ‘navigational sounding-machine” of very simple construction. A glass tube, closed below by a plug kept sufficiently tight by a close-fitting india-rubber band, was pro- vided above with a peculiarly-formed capillary orifice. The tube was first allowed to fill with air, and then sunk to the required depth in the sea. The air was compressed under the increased pressure, and the water began to trickle in from above. The quantity of water which so gained admittance was the datum from which the pressure, and therefore the depth, could be calculated. The water was removed by taking away the bottom plug; and the instrument was once more in a state suitable for use. Mr. Buchanan also communicated some experiments on the compressibility of glass. The value he obtained was greater than that obtained by Grassi by 24 per cent.—Dr. Macfarlane read a short paper entitled ‘‘ Suggestions on the Art of Signalling.” He advocated the use of ¢i7ee qualities or symbols in preference to the dot-and- dash or two-symbolled alphabet of Morse, arguing that such a system would be found more rapid than the latter.—Dr. R. M. Ferguson communicated a note on the wire telephone, following 332 i NATURE [August 5, 1880 up the results obtained formerly by himself and those more recently arrived at by Preece and Chrystal. Heshowed that the sound emitted by a stretched iron wire through which an inter- rupted current was passing varied fin a remarkable way with temperature, reaching a most evident maximum about a dull red heat. This variation he regarded as being in some way con- nected with the magnetic properties of iron, and on that ground criticised Prof. Chrystal’s explanation of the De la Rive pheno- menon as being due to rapid contractions and dilatations of the thin wires through which the current passed, In the remarks which followed Prof. Chrystal admitted the influence of mag- netism in the case of the ‘vom, a thick wire of which was as efficient as a thin wire; but in the case of what are usually reckoned non-magnetic metals, only ‘ii wires of which are efficient for reproducing continuous sounds, he still thought that the true explanation was to be found in their changes of length. The altogether Zeculiar action of iron—though probably nickel aud cobalt would have a similar action—seemed to him rather to favour this view than the other. Boston, U.S.A. American Academy of Arts and Sciences, June 9.—Prof. Joseph Lovering, vice-president, in the chair.—Dr. A. Auwers of Berlin, and Prof. Descloizeaux of Paris, were elected Foreign Honorary Members.—The Rumford medal was conferred on Prof. Josiah Millard Gibbs for his researches in thermodynamics, —The Hon, Charles Francis Adams resigned the office of president of the Academy, and Prof. Joseph Lovering was elected to the chair.—Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes was chosen vice-president, Prof, Josiah P. Cooke corresponding secretary, and Prof, John Trowbridge recording secretary. PARIS Academy of Sciences, July 26.—M. Edm. Becquerel in the chair.—In name of a committee lately formed, M. de Quatrefages asked the Academy to open a subscription with the view of strik- ing a medal in honour of M, Milne-Edwardes’ services to science. Agreed.—Apparatus for measuring the heat of combustion of gases by detonation, by M. Berthelot. It consists essentially of a bomb suspended in a calorimeter.—On the dissolution of chlorine in water, by M. Berthelot. His observations point to the existence of a perchloride of hydrogen, probably a tri- chloride.—On the theory of the sines of superior orders, by M. Villarceau.—On the same, by M. Farkas.—Substances addressed to the Museum mistakenly as meteorites, by M. Daubrée. Most frequently they are scoricee from works, and pyrites; but iron ores and a variety of substances are sent, and the senders are often men of scientific note. Bolides are often thought to fall near, while really far away.—On the successive transformations of the photographic image by prolongation of the luminous action, by M. Janssen. Beyond the second neutral state he gets a second negative image (requiring a million times the luminous intensity for the first), and a third neutral state, with uniform dark tint.—Report on the project contained in documents de- posited by M.de Lesseps for the interoceanic canal. This reviews the past history of the question.—Report on a memoir by Dr. Companyo, entitled ‘‘ Project of Organisation of the Service of Health of the Panama Interoceanic Canal,” by M. Larrey.— M. Boutigny described some new experiments on the spheroidal state.—On the transformation of linear differential equations, by M. Appell.—On a property of algebraic functions and curves, by M. Pickard.—-On the causes of interior alteration of steam boilers, by M. Lodin. From experiments with iron wire in sealed tubes holding various waters, he finds the predominant cause of oxidation to be the oxygen of dissolved air, and that this is not more intense in the case of distilled water than of calcareous, but the opposite. The action of some disinerustants is studied.—On a method of direct autocollimation of objectives and its application to measurement of indices of refraction of the glasses composing them, by M. Martin, —On the employment of the spherometer, by the same. He has improved it in certain points.—On the causes of terrestrial magnetism, by M. Lem- strom. He magnetises a vertically-suspended bar of soft iron, by rapid rotation of a paper tube, with two con- centric walls round it. The earth he supposes similarly magnetised by rotating in a space of ether.—On an electro- dynamic paradox, by M. Gérard-Lescuyer. When the current of a dynamo-electric machine (Siemens) is sent into a magneto- electric machine (Gramme), the latter moves with increasing speed; then it slackens, stops, and turns in the opposite direction ; this action is ‘reversed in turn, and so on. The polarities of the inductors are reversed.—Researches on ozone, by MM. Hautefeuille and Chappuis. The tension of trans- formation of ozone in oxygen under the silent discharge in- creases rapidly with fall of temperature. In passing from 20° to — 23° itis nearly doubled. Increase of pressure favours the production of ozone.—On a new isomeric modification of hydrate of alumina, by M. Tommasi.—Observations on M. Bourgoin’s note on the ultimate action of bromine on malonic acid, by M. Petrieff.On the molecular heat and volume of rare earths and their sulphates, by MM. Nilson and Petersson.—On a new fermentation of glucose, by M. Boutroux. What he called /actic fermentation in a note on March 4, 1878, he now calls g/uconic. —Absorption and elimination of poisons in cephalopoda, by M. Yung. Absorption takes place most promptly by the branchiz (very weakly by the skin), and according to osmotic power of the substances, Elimination is by the liver and the sac of black liquid.— Velocity of transmission of the motor excitation in the nerves of the lobster, by MM. Fredericq and Vandevelde. It is about 6m. per sec. at + 10° to + 12° C., and 10 to 12m. at + 18° to + 20°.—On the differential sensibility of the eye for small luminous surfaces, by M. Charpentier. As the two illumi- nated surfaces are diminished the power of distinguishing them greatly increases.—Contributions to paleozoic flora, by M. Crié. —The Loire, the Loiret, and subterranean currents of the Valley © of Orleans, by M. Sainjon.—On the bed of cut flints at El Hassi (Algerian Sahara), by M. Rolland.—On the means of obtaining photographic negatives in a free balloon, by M. Desmarets. In a recent ascent he used an obturator like M. Janssen’s. G6TTINGEN Royal Society of Sciences, April 7.—On the conditions of geysers, by H. O, Lang.—On the extension of Abel’s theorem to integrals of any differential equations, by L. Koenigsberger. ~ May 1.—Notices on some Australian yolatile oils, by Baron von Miiller.—Analysis of electric discharges, by W. Holtz.—An improved centrifugal machine for schools, by the same. June 5.—On three-point contact of curves, by H. Schubert.— On those algebraic equations between two variable quantities which allow a number of rational univocal reversible transforma- tions into themselves, by G, Hettner. July 3.—Voltaic element of aluminium, by F. Wohler.—On the functions which arise by inversion of solutions of linear differential equations, by L. Fuchs.—On algebraic logarithmic integrals of non-homogeneous linear differential equations, by L. Koenigsberger.—On a new arrangement of the magnets of a galvanometer, by K. Schering. CONTENTS PAGE Motrtirete Specrra, II. By J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S «(With Tllustvations). .. +. + « 3 ¢ ‘) @ «© e)e! 6 0.5) ass) emo THE EDUCATION DEBATE . « + « «+ «© «© «© = © «© © 0 © we) gue European CApDDIS-FLIES . . + 2 ¢ © « «© © © @ © © 2 « 6 3%4 Our Boox SHELF :— ; Harvie-Brown’s ‘‘ Ornithological Journal of the Winter of VL ee CO Curcumin ON i 3 OBES Netto’s *‘ Mining and Minesin Japan’”” . « . - » « + « . 316 Sawyer’s “ Automatic Multiplier,’”’ and ‘‘ Automatic Calculator”. 316 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: — The Freshwater Medusa.—Prof. E, Ray LANKESTER, F.R.S. . . 316 Subterranean Kaolinisation—JoHn A. CHURCH « . . «+ 3 5 317 “Ona Mode of Explaining the Transverse Vibrations of Light.”— J. W. FRANKEAND) 25 sf 6 0 s0 os oe SE Se ky) Expansion of Glass by Heat.—Prof. Joun LECONTE . + + « - 318 Fascination in Man.—Surgeon-Major W.CuRRAN . « + - + + 318 Monkeys in the ‘West Indiess—EpmuND WATT . «+ + + . 338 Utricularia.—Lieut. J. W. CLARK. « . - ye + es ee 9 318 The British Association and Provincial Scientific Societies. —-JoHN Hopkinson a SOM) e200. cece eee) el Fa) wer (ay Nw atte Intellect in Brutes.—Rev. GzoRGE HENSLOW. . « o- 0 Se oBX9) Chipped Flints.—J. BrrMINGHAM. «© « + «© + + + + © # «© 319 Lunar Rainbows.—J. Kinc WATTS « «+ «= + + + + # «© s 319 CARBON AND CarBoN-Compounns. By Prof. A. S. HERSCHEL « + 320 Puysics wirsout Apparatus, I. (With Illustrations) .» » + + +» 320 Count Pourrates. By H. N. Mosetey, F.R.S.. - . ue 9ga2 Tue Bririsu ASSOCIATION AT SWANSEA s + + + + + + «+ 6 8 323 Tue Hich PLatTEAux or Uran. By Prof. Arcu, Gerkiz, F.R.S. |. 32 Tur New PLANETARY Nesut#. By Epwarp C, PIcKERING . - 327 Noreseos. ok iets =. Seb I ots) oer eee On CURRENTS PRODUCED BY FRICTION BETWEEN CONDUCTING Sus- STANCES, AND ON A New Form OF TELEPHONE RECEIVER. By James Buyry, M.A, FVRiSiE pe gen ct (5 (2 3) Sach cecenee oe UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE » + «© + » * + + 330 ScieNTIFIC SERIALS . TWEETS lg. 750 oMe mesmo s Vener sou) SociBTIES AND ACADEMIES. +» «© + «+ + * + # = Seer tine 330 NAR 339 -THURSDAY, AUGUST, 12, 1880 —— ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY A History of Ancient Geography among the Greeks and Romans. from the Earliest Ages till the Fall of the Roman Empire. By E. H. Bunbury, F.R.G.S. With Twenty Illustrative Maps. Two Vols. (London: John Murray, 1879.) HIS is one of that class of monumental and scholarly works which have almost died out in these days of multitudinous magazines and rapid publication, when authors have not patience to wait the completion of a work before they begin to publish. Mr. Bunbury’s work is the task of a lifetime, and he well deserves the laurels bestowed upon him by the Geographical Society. It is both scholarly and scientific, the product of patient, wide, and thorough research, and treats a complicated subject with such com- pleteness, clearness, and sound sense, that it is difficult to see how it can be supplemented or superseded. Much has been written on the subject of ancient, and especially classical geography, in Germany and France, and with all that has been written Mr. Bunbury is evidently familiar ; his work, however, is in some respects superior to anything that has preceded it. His method is thoroughly scientific; he wastes but little space in endeavouring to extract a grain of sound geography from a bushel of legendary chaff, as so many of his pedantic predecessors have done. He weighs his evidence with rigid impartiality, is never content with second-hand authorities when the originals are attainable, and accepts no conclusions of previous writers unless led thereto by his own researches. He is thus compelled to reject much that has been hitherto accepted by those who have written on the subject. Mr. Bunbury’s book is no light reading. To do it justice requires long and patient study, and to review it fully and fairly would require the scope of a Quarterly. Every page bristles with learned notes, which cannot be passed over except at the risk of losing some important point in his well-knit narrative and close argument. Besides the foot-notes there are appendages of larger Notes to each chapter, in which disputed questions are discussed, and the scattered fruits of long research brought together. As the work is a History of Geo- graphy among the Greeks and Romans, the geographical knowledge of Egyptians, Jews, and Pheenicians is dis- missed ina brief introduction. We should like to see Mr. Bunbury treat the geography of these two last interesting peoples in the same thorough manner as he has done that of the Greeks and Romans, and free it from the accre- tions of conjecture and fable that have encrusted it. Indeed it would be a matter of great interest if scholars as competent as Mr. Bunbury has shown himself to be in his own department would bring together for us in an equally compact and accessible form all that is known of the knowledge of geography possessed by all the old peoples who have left a literature. The Chinese especially, we believe, had a much more extensive knowledge of the geography, not only of Continental Asia, but of the Asiatic Archipelago, than any but a few special scholars have VoL, Xx1I.—No. 563 an idea of. It is a pity also that our Celtic and Teutonic forefathers had no permanent means of recording the tale of their wanderings westwards from their Asiatic fatherland; but surely the experiences they met with during these wanderings have left some impressions upon their extensive folk-lore. Still the first beginnings of solid geographical knowledge and theory rest with the Greeks and Romans, and even in a complete History of Ancient Geography everything must be made to centre in them, Of course Mr. Bunbury in carrying out his weighty task is compelled to speak of the knowledge which those two peoples were likely to acquire from the nations with whom they came into contact, the Egyptians, the Carthaginians, the Persians, and the Indians. His dis- cussion of the extent of the ancient Egyptian knowledge of the Nile and of the African interior is broad and interesting, and he shows a healthy scepticism as to the extent of the wanderings of the Phcenicians. This wholesome scepticism is a praiseworthy characteristic of his work throughout, from the Voyage of the Argonauts down to the Irish Annals. The Argonautic legend he dismisses as of really no geographical importance, but devotes considerable space to the geography of the Iliad and Odyssey. This he reduces to a very narrow compass of certainty, and dismisses as trivial the laboured attempts to identify the many names of places introduced into the Odyssean legend. Indeed the first certain knowledge of any countries beyond their own immediate shores came to the Greeks through the numerous colonies they founded, and even this scarcely extended beyond the environs of the settlements. The Greeks were doubtless enterprising enough in certain directions, but as a people they seem not to have been much given to exploration for its own sake. The knowledge of the regions beyond the confines of the Greek colonies on the Mediterranean and Euxine was for the most part extremely vague, consisting mainly of a multitude of names of tribes exceedingly difficult now to identify. They had for centuries the vaguest and most erroneous notions of the great physical features of Europe, Asia, and Africa, beyond the imme- diate neighbourhood of the shores of these continents ; though by the time of Hecatzeus of Miletus (520-500 B.C.) a wonderful amount of information had been accumulated in. an unsystematic way. This knowledge had greatly increased and become more definite and accurate by the time of Herodotus in the next century. Mr. Bumnbury’s treatment of this large-minded and cautious historian is especially full and satisfactory, and betokens a vast amount of original research and full and accurate know- ledge of the geography of the countries concerned. He clears away many erroneous opinions attributed to Herodotus, clearly proving by reference to the original that many statements attributed to Herodotus himself are really given by him as only second-hand reports to be received with caution. We all know how poor Living- stone met his death ina Quixotic search for the fountains in which the Nile was supposed to have its origin, an idea he attributed to Herodotus ; but Mr. Bunbury shows clearly that the cautious historian held no such opinion himself, but merely related it as an incredulous story he had heard when in Egypt. With regard to the famous story of the circumnavigation of Africa by Necho, related by Q 334 Herodotus, Mr, Bunbury thinks it extremely improbable, but that it cannot be disproved. Neither Greeks nor Romans, as we have said, troubled themselves much about exploration for its own sake; their geographical knowledge, which after the time of Herodotus accumulated at an increasing ratio, came to them mostly through their military expeditions. The wars of Alexander made vast additions to this knowledge, for he, like Czesar, fond as he was of military glory, seems to have had a real love of acquiring a knowledge of new lands and peoples. Alexander brought within the sphere of fairly exact knowledge much of Western, Central, and Southern Asia, and the coast voyage, under his orders, of Nearchus from the Indus to the Persian Gulf is a landmark in ancient geography. Cesar did for about one-half of Europe what Alexander did for Asia, and the merits of the former as an accurate observer are done ample justice to, The extension of the Roman Empire, begun under Czsar, was continued by his successors, and how vast had been the strides in geographical knowledge during that period is shown by the careful and full examinations by Mr. Bunbury of the works of Strabo, Pliny, and Ptolemy. Of the few genuine exploring expeditions of the ancient world Mr. Bunbury writes at length and with his usual caution and attention to accuracy and detail. The famous voyage of Hanno the Carthaginian, for example, along the west coast of Africa, about the end of the sixth or early part of the fifth century B.C., is done ample justice to, so far as the meagre records admit. This enterprise, when we consider the state of knowledge at the time and the means at the command of the leader, deserves all the praise that has been bestowed upon it. In a single voyage this daring navigator accomplished what the Portuguese of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries took years to do. Mr. Bunbury is, we think, unusually suc- cessful in identifying most of the points named and clearing up the apparent difficulties in the brief existing account of this voyage that has come down to us; and there is no doubt that Hanno succeeded in reaching as far south as Sherboro, on the Sierra Leone coast, some- thing like six degrees from the equator. Yet his example does not seem to have stimulated any one to complete his work. Pytheas is another well-known name in the history of ancient geography, and a name that should have a special interest for us, as he was the discoverer of Britain to the cultured nations of the period. (It is rather strange, by the by, that no enthusiastic geo- grapher has ever suggested the appropriateness of erecting a monument to the venturous Massilian.) Mr, Bunbury rightly defends Pytheas from the attacks that have been made upon his veracity, and, as in the case of Herodotus, carefully distinguishes between what he states as the results of his own experience and the information he gives from the reports of others. It is not probable that he ever left the mainland of Scotland. Mr. Bunbury thinks it extremely difficult to identify the “Thule” of Pytheas, ‘‘six days voyage to the north of Britain;” he distinctly states that it belonged to the British group, which would certainly seem to exclude Iceland. Pytheas is well entitled to be considered a scientific observer ; he added greatly to the knowledge which the Greeks had of tidal phenomena, and as might be expected was greatly NATURE [ August 12, 1880 struck with the astronomical phenomena of northern latitudes. Pytheas, moreover, as we know, set up a gnomon at his native town of Massilia, and thus deter- mined the latitude of that place with a wonderful approach to accuracy. Mr. Bunbury by no means devotes all his space to a record of the gradual extension of a knowledge of the earth’s surface among the Greeks and Romans; he gives due attention to what is known as scientific geography, to the attempts of philosophers to discover the form and extent of the earth. At a comparatively early period it was conjectured that the shape of the earth must be spherical ; by the time of Aristotle indeed it had become a generally received tenet among philosophers. Mr. Bunbury, however, considers Eratosthenes (born B.C. 276), the famous Alexandrine librarian, as the true parent of scientific geography ; Strabo tells us that he made it the object of his special attention to ‘reform the map of the world” as it had existed down to his time, and to recon- struct it upon more scientific principles. ‘“ The materials at his command,” Mr. Bunbury continues, “ were still very imperfect, and the means of scientific observation were wanting to a degree which we can, at the present day, scarcely figure to ourselves ; but the methods which he pursued were of a strictly scientific character, and his judg- ment was so sound that he proved in many instances to be better informed and more judicious in his references than geographers of two centuries later.” Eratosthenes set himself to make a careful measure of the magnitude of the earth ; his method was thoroughly scientific, though the data he had to start with were, as might be expected, by no means accurate. Under the circumstances the approximation he made to the measure of the earth’s circumference was really wonderful. Mr. Bunbury’s discussion of the method and results of Eratosthenes shows that he has mastered the scientific side of his subject as well as the historical; it is a fine example of careful and close reasoning. For an account of the work of Eratosthenes and other ancients in this direction we refer the reader to the series of articles on the Figure of the Earth in NATURE, vol. xviii. p. 356, et seq. After all, even in the time of Ptolemy, the map of the world, after something like 800 years work, was of comparatively limited extent. Anything like accurate knowledge did not extend beyond Central and Southern Europe, Western and South-western Asia on the one side, and a small stretch of North Africa on the other. True a vague knowledge was on record of regions far beyond this, a knowledge however which had a vast amount of error mixed with a small modicum of truth. Still when we consider the limited means at the command of the Greeks and Romans, and that they had to overcome all the initial difficulties of the pursuit of knowledge, the results which they achieved are creditable to their enterprise. Mr. Bunbury’s history of these first beginnings of geographical exploration and geographical science is well worth a careful study, and will gain for him a high and permanent position in the literature of geography. Not the least valuable feature, we should say, are the nume- rous map illustrations of the progress of geographical knowledge at various periods. August 12, 1880] THE MENHADEN The Menhaden; being a History of the Fish. By G. Brown Goode. With an Account of the Agricultural Uses of Fish. By W.O. Atwater. (New York: Orange Judd Company, 1880.) iE money value the American menhaden ranks fourth in the list of the fishes of the United States. First comes the cod, secondly the salmon, thirdly the mackerel, and then the menhaden. In absolute pounds’ weight caught it would seem to come first of all, upwards of 460 millions of pounds’ weight having been taken in 1876, whereas there was considerably less than half this weight of cod taken in that year, and all the salmon and mackerel taken if weighed together would not amount to much more than one-sixth of the weight. As its money value must depend on its economic value, it may be as well at once to briefly hint at its uses. As a table fish it is in favour in many parts of the United States, when perfectly fresh being considered superior in flavour to most of the common shore fishes. In the Washington fish market, when in season, they meet with a ready sale. Large quantities are salted, and there is a great export of these to the West Indies, where they serve as food for the negroes upon the plantations. Immense numbers are pre- served in oil and spices and sold as sardines. Goodale’s extract of fish is made out of menhaden, and the qualities of this preparation are testified to as being agreeable in flavour and decidedly nutritive as food for cattle. Men- haden scrap is a great success ; sheep get rapidly fat on it. Hens, ducks, and turkeys prefer it to ‘corn, and it need not be added that pigs greedily devour it. For bait it is extensively used in the cod and mackerel fisheries in New England and the British Provinces. Its popularity is no doubt chiefly due to the ease with which it may be obtained in quantity. As an article of commerce men- haden bait, it will be remembered, came under the con- sideration of the Halifax Commission of 1877 ; but per- haps even a greater future is open to the menhaden fisheries by the recently-established manufacture of oil and guano from these fish. The State of Maine claims to have been the first to discover its value, and now large factories turn out immense quantities of these materials. In 1874 from 50,000 to 75,000 gallons of oil was turned out from the Maine Works. The manu- facture is simple in the extreme, consisting of three processes: boiling the fish, pressing and clarifying the expressed oil. The final operation is pumping it into immense bleaching tanks, where it becomes whiter and clearer in the rays of the sun. When well refined the oil is light-coloured, sweet, and of prime quality. The uses of this oil are manifold. It is chiefly employed, we are told, as a substitute for the more costly and popular oils, and to adulterate them. It is sold largely to tanneries for currying leather. The principal market for it is in Boston and New York, but considerable quantities are shipped to London, Liverpool, and Havre. But menhaden has still further uses. "So far back in American history as 1621 we read that the Plymouth colonists learnt from an old Indian that they should use these fish as manure on their ground; and one Edward Johnson, writing in 1652, says, “ But the Lord is pleased to provide for them [the New England colonists] great store of fish in the spring time. Many thousands of these they used to put NATURE 335 under their Indian corn, which they plant in rills five foot asunder.” Now as a result of the profitable utilisation of the menhaden for the manufacture of oil, the use of the whole fish as a fertiliser has gradually and almost entirely ceased, and the refuse from which the oil has been expressed is used instead. This is known as “ fish-scrap” and “fish guano.” In a wheat-growing country like North America the importance of the subject of artificial manures is great, and we quote from Prof. Cook’s, of New Jersey, report to the State Board of Agriculture as follows : “Those who have tried a mixture of this fish guano with barn-yard manure and a little lime, say that it is superior to any guano in the market. When applied on corn the crop is considered as certain. The value of fish as manure is due mainly to the presence in it of nitrogen and phosphoric acid. The crops’most assisted by fish manures are such as grass, grain, and corn, while leguminous crops, like clover, beans, and peas, are more benefited by mineral manures.” The above is but a brief 7éswmmé of one portion of Messrs. Goode and Atwater’s interesting work, the title of which is quoted above. Their history was prepared for the Fifth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Fisheries for 1877. As reprinted, it forms an octavo volume of 540 pages and 30 plates. The menhaden (Clupea menhaden of Mitchell) is, when ‘adult, a most beautiful fish ; its colour is pearly opales- cent ; each scale has all the beauty of a fine pearl, and the reflections from the mailed side of a fish just taken from the water are superb; the scales of the back and top of the head are of a purplish hue. Its importance to the States may be compared to the importance of the herring to Northern Europe. It is to be found at the same period during the year in the coast waters of all the Atlantic States from Maine to Florida. A surface tem- perature of about 51° is necessary for its appearance in waters near the shores. Its food is apparently for the most part minute alga, The geographical range of the species, the arrival and departure of the “ schools,” the migration question, the peculiar movements of the “schools” of menhaden, are all subjects discussed at great length in this report, and from it many facts of great value to those interested in our own shore-fisheries are to be learnt. The strange and unaccountable absence of the men- haden last year from the waters of Cape Cod are briefly alluded to in the Introduction. This absence was disas- trous to many, and proved by a sad experience that the harvest of the sea will sometimes fail. The oil and guano factories lost a year’s work ; the factory hands and steamer’s crew were entirely thrown out of employment ; those were all on hand to begin work on June 1, and kept working, in the hope that the fish would “strike,” until late in August. When they at last gave up all hope it was too late to engage in any other occupation to make money to carry them over the winter. This absence of the fish north of the Cape did not appear to be compen- sated for by any remarkable abundance in southern New England, but a much larger number of fish were captured in these waters in 1879, as so many more vessels went there to fish. We hope soon to hear of a good season’s fishing at Cape Cod, and we strongly recommend this important report on the menhaden to the reader’s notice. 336 OUR BOOK SHELF Alphabetical Manual of Blowpipe Analysis. By Lieut.- Col. W. A. Ross. (London: Triibner and Co., 1880.) OF late years the blowpipe has been very little used in practical chemistry. It has been felt that efficiency in qualitative analysis is not the final aim of the chemist ; and this branch of chemical art has been more and more relegated to the position of an instrument for examination purposes. There is however little doubt that a thorough training in qualitative analysis—such a course, for instance, as is furnished by Mr. Dittmar’s manual—is of much service to the learner of chemistry ; but even here the methods which are of most general application are founded on reactions ‘‘in the wet way.’’ The blowpipe, however, is beginning to reassert its claims to the favourable recognition of the chemical mineralogist. The little book in which Col. Ross con- denses the results of his own and others’ work is well calculated to advance these claims. No regular course of analysis is given in this book beyond an outline of a method for classifying minerals for blowpipe examination, and an account of the Freiberg scheme of qualitative analysis of minerals. But under such headings as “Alloys,” “ Minerals,” “ Phosphoric Acid Reagent,” &c., most useful information is presented to the worker in tabulated form. The table of “ Reactions of ordinary Oxides at one View” is also useful. Any mineralogist who has acquired some command of the blowpipe and has a fair elementary knowledge of chemistry must find this work of service to him; it contains ina small compass almost all that is required to be known in order to study the composition of minerals by “ pyrological’’ reactions, Very many of the reactions described by Col. Ross are not to be found in other books. Nota few of his statements are opposed to generally-accepted facts. He gives a flat contradiction to the statement made in the text-books, that most metallic oxides are soluble in boric acid, or boron trioxide, at a red heat, whilst of course admitting their solubility in fusing borax ; indeed he bases his system of blowpipe examination, or pyrology, to a large extent, on the non-solubility of metallic oxides in this reagent. As is often the case with one who has undoubtedly ad- vanced any branch of scientific work, Col. Ross is too ready to value his favourite method more highly than it deserves. Thus he is inclined to regard the blowpipe as “a more delicate analytical weapon than the spectro- scope,” and thinks that by its use he has proved that the production of D-lines is not always due to sodium ! @.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Pacific Coast Pilot. Coasts and Islands of Alaska. Appendix I. Meteoro- logy and Bibliography. By W.H. Dall. (Washington, 1879.) THE complicated title of this large quarto volume gives very little idea of the nature and value of its contents. In the first sentence of the Letter of Transmission we meet with a new and amusing use of an old enough English phrase, when Mr. Dall coolly informs the superintendent of the Survey that he has “the honour to ¢ws zz the results of an inquiry into the meteorology of Alaska and the adjacent regions.’? The results of which Mr. Dall speaks in this irreverent manner must have cost him stupendous labour ; indeed they might very well have taken years of research by a small international staff of inquirers. The publication comprises an abstract or summary of all accessible meteorological material relating to the district in question ; both of that which has been published and is widely scattered through numerous proceedings, annuals, and transactions of learned societies, buried in periodicals in the Russian and other languages, and otherwise diffi- cult of access; and also of a very large amount of WATURE [ August 12, 1880 unpublished material from the archives of the U.S. Coast Survey, the Medical Department of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Signal Service, and numerous contributions from private sources. With the abstracts are included the fullest references to the sources from which the materials are derived, and all the data which could be obtained as to the conditions of observation. The list of charts, maps, and publications relating to Alaska and the neigh- bouring regions, and occupying something like 200 quarto pages, is a wonderful piece of well-arranged work, and must prove valuable for many purposes besides that for which it has been immediately compiled. The volume also contains charts representing the monthly and annual means of temperature and pressure, graphic figures of the direction of the winds at each locality, and of the annual curves of pressure, precipitation, and temperature. Mr. Dall probably knows more about the region to which this volume refers than any other man living, and is able from his own observations and experience to contribute greatly to the value of his report. Altogether 'this is one of the most creditable of the many creditable scientific publications of the United States, and Mr. Dall is evi- dently one of the most valuable scientific servants of that Government. We hope, both for the good of the States and the interests of science, that he will be afforded every facility for utilising his exceptional ability as a scientific observer. The Tree Planter. Gardening.” The Tree Pruner. By the same Author. Crosby Lockwood and Co., 1880.) THESE two books form Nos. 209 and 210 of Weale’s Rudimentary Series. Considering the numerous books Mr. Wood has written, the titles of which are set forth on the first pages of the little volumes before us, it is clear the author is suffering from a continued attack of Cacoéthes scribendi, Agreeing with the author, for the sake of argument, that there was a real necessity for the information he desires to impart, we cannot see why the matter contained in the two books should not have been combined in one, for the subjects of pro- pagation and pruning are so closely associated that By Samuel Wood, Author of “‘ Good (London : / they would have gone better together rather than being separated ; besides which a gcod deal of useless repetition would have been saved. Writing in the first book of what the author calls plants of the “ Hibiscus Class—the Althea frutex,’ he says they are “deciduous shrubs of great beauty, comparable to carnations on trees.” In the second book, under the head of “‘The Hibiscus,” it is said—“ These plants are among our most beautiful flowering shrubs; many of them will compare with the carnation.’’ As an illustration of the author’s method of imparting botanical knowledge, we will quote only two paragraphs from the article on the holly. He says— “There are a great many varieties of the holly, and nearly all of them are natives of Great Britain. There is also one commonly called £xee holly, which is not a holly at all. The holly belongs to the natural order Aguz- foliacez, while the knee holly, or Ruscus aculeatus, belongs to the natural order Liliaceae, z.e., flowers resembling a diminutive lily, while the flowers of the former belong to a class quite different, Linn. class 4, and order 3, the latter haying 6 stamens and I style. “ Aquifoliaceze conveys no idea of the class, but simply refers to the plant belonging to those with prickly leaves. This being the case, I am disposed to look upon the term ‘ Aquifoliaceze’ as misleading, because there are some other genera possessing prickly leaves, and some hollies that have leaves with no prickles, and in the case of the Ruscus, which has prickly leaves, it may be and is called a holly, while it is of another genus.’’ It is impossible to comment on this, ‘The author may be practical, but he is not scientific. , : : : j August 12, 1880] NATURE: 27 Pore) Tables for the Analysis of a Simple Salt. By A. Vinter, M.A. (London: Longmans and Co., 1880). MAny tables for the qualitative analysis of simple salts already exist; another set is just added to the list by Mr. A. Vinter. It is very probable that students who—like those for whom Mr. Vinter’s tables are arranged—can only devote one hour a week to practical chemistry, would do well to add that hour to those allotted to some other study ; but if school-teachers will give their boys so insignificant a smattering of practical chemistry, these tables will, we think, be found useful and generally accu- rate so far as they go, which is certainly but a very little way indeed. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it és impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.| The late Count L. F. de Pourtales Every naturalist must have noticed with regret the news of the death of M. de Pourtales, of Cambridge, Mass., U.S., but those who have had the pleasure of his friendship and who have been fellow-labourers with him feel « most sincere sorrow at the loss which science has sustained. The exploration of the deep sea brought Pourtales*prominently before the scientific world, and his practical knowledge of the art of dredging not only produced results which were of great im- portance to Alexander Agassiz and Lyman, but they also provided him with a wonderful series of deep-sea corals, upon which he laboured with great success. The floor of the Gulf Stream in the Straits of Florida, the dredgings of the Hass/er Expedition, and lastly, the examination of the results of the work done in the Caribbean Sea during the voyage of the U.S. steamer Blake, gave the opportunity, which was readily seized and utilised, of con- tributing largely and thoroughly to the knowledge of the interesting Madreporarian fauna of the depths. I can testify to the solid merit of the work done by my friend, and I can never forget his generous assistance, kindly criticisms, and desire to obtain the perfect truth. He spared no pains, and was ever at work in the difficult subject he especially chose ; and he speedily grasped the relations of the past and present deep-sea coral faunas, and, besides adding largely to our knowledge of forms, contributed in a most important manner to the study of the generic and specific value of certain structures. Of his knowledge of the Crinoidea I need not write, but of the great value of the researches of the grave, courteous, and most genial man who is no longer amongst us I shall ever speak in terms of great admiration and gratitude. Atheneum, August § P. MarTIN DUNCAN The Recent Gas Explosion ACCORDING to promise, I write to describe the continuation of the experiments on the above subject. At present there is little else than failure to report, but as I am leaving home to-day and shall not be able to try any addi- tional experiments for the next three or four weeks, I will merely mention the results obtained. _A piece of composition gas-pipe 10m. long, 15mm. internal diameter, and 2 mm. thick, was filled with a mixture of 2 vols. of hydrogen to I vol. of oxygen, and the gas exploded. The tube was not affected, the cork which closed it being projected. It was then filled with a mixture of 10 volumes of coal-gas and 12 of oxygen, and in this case the tube withstood the explosion ; a piece of india-rubber tube covered with calico tightly bound round it, which was used to connect the farther end of the tube to a metal stopcock, was however burst and the calico torn. To-day I tried a tube made of paper. The tube is 7mm. in diameter, and consists of eight layers of thin paper, stuck to- gether with paste, and varnished on the outside with shellac. This I have not succeeded in bursting with the mixture of hydrogen and oxygen; one of the caoutchouc stoppers which closed the glass tubes cemented to the end of the paper tube was blown off. I hope to repeat the experiment with another paper tube which is not so strong. HERBERT MCLEOD Cooper’s Hill, August 9 Heat of the Comstock Lode In May, 1878, Mr. Church, who was at that time Professor of Mining at the University of Ohio, read a paper before the American Institute of Mining Engineers on the heat of the Comstock mines, which was subsequently, in an extended form, included in the author’s volume on the Comstock lode, of which a review appeared in NATURE (vol. xxi. p. 511). In this paper Mr. Church states that the temperature of the waters issuing from the mines worked upon the Comstock lode has always been somewhat high, but it was not until they had attained a very considerable depth below the surface that the workmen first became inconvenienced by extraordinary heat. At their present greatest depth (about 2,700 feet) water issues from the rock at a temperature of 157° F. (7o° C.), and at least 4,200,000 tons of water are annually pumped from the workings at a temperature of 135° F. Mr. Church estimates that to elevate such a large volume of water from the mean tempera- ture of the atmosphere to that which it attains in the mines would require 47,700 tons of coal. In addition to this, he calculates, 7,859 tons of coal would be required to supply the heat absorbed by the air passing aleng the various shafts and galleries through which it is diverted for the purposes of ventila- tion. It follows that to develop the total amount of heat neces- sary to raise the water and air circulating in these mines from the mean temperature of the atmosphere to that which they respectively attain, 55,560 tons of coal, or 97,700 cords of firewood would be annually required. Mr. Church, in his paper, quotes four analyses of waters from the Comstock lode taken at different depths; these vary some- what as to the relative proportions of the various substances present, but they contain on an average 42°62 grains of solid matter to the gallon. Of this amount 20°74 grains are calcic sulphate, 12°13 grains carbonate of potassium, 4°85 grains carbonate of sodium, and °66 grain of chloride of sodium. In order to ascertain approximately to what extent the produc- tion of the large amount of heat absorbed by the water may be ascribed to oxidation of sulphur and iron, the author first caleu- lates the quantity which would be developed by the oxidation of pyrites equivalent to the calcic sulphate in solution, But having found that this amounts to only about ,3;th part of that required, he seeks another solution for the difficulty, and without any calculations in support of the hypothesis, attributes this enormous development of heat to the kaolinisation of felspar in the sub- jacent rocks, In a communication to the Geological Society of London, published in their Quarterly Fournal, August 1879, entitled, ‘* A Contribution to the History of Mineral Veins,” I endeavoured to show that the kaolinisation of felspars is as inadequate to pro- duce the effects observed as is the oxidation of pyrites, and a recent paper read by Mr, Church before the American Institute of Mining Engineers, as well as his letter on Subterranean Kao- linisation in last week’s NATURE, have been written with a view of answering these objections. ‘ ‘ In my communication to the Geological Society I applied to the kaolinisation of felspars a similar line of reasoning to that adopted by Mr. Church with regard to the oxidation of pyrites. The average proportion of alkalies contained in the rocks of the district is 6°40 per cent., while the mean of the published analyses gives 11°30 grains of alkalies in the U.S. gallon of water. It follows that the 4,200,000 tons of water annually pumped out must contain 813 tons of alkalies, and that, as these are present in the rocks in the proportion of 6°40 per cent., the felspar in 12,703 tons of rock must be annually kaolinised and the alkalies removed in solution. e. The amount of rock in which the felspar has been kaolinised being 12,703 tons, and the number of tons of water pumped out of " 4,200,000 : the mines 4,200,000, it follows that 4,200, 08 = 330 is the num- 12,7 ber of tons of water heated by each ton of completely altered rock. In order, therefore, that one ton of rock should be enabled to heat 330 tons of water only 1° Fahr., and the specific heat of these rocks be taken at ‘1477, that of blast-furnace slags, it would require to be heated by the kaolinisation of its felspar to a tem- perature above that of molten gold. Consequently to raise the water 85°, or to a temperature of 135°, at which it issues, the 338 NATURE {August 12, 1880 kaolinisation of the felspar in each ton of rock would require to elevate it to an extent it would be difficult to estimate. To this Mr. Church, who derives-his heat from the hydration of silicate of aluminium during the formation of kaolin, objects that the whole of the alkalies liberated by the decomposition of felspar do not become dissolved in water, and that their amount cannot consequently be taken as a measure of the quantities of that mineral which have been decomposed. In support of this argument he states that clays from the immediate neighbourhood of the Comstock lode still contain above 4} per cent. of alkalies, and ignores the fact that the final result of kaolinisation is the production of a hydrated silicate of aluminium free from alkalies. The clays in question must consequently be regarded as containing undecomposed felspar which cannot have contributed to any increase of temperature. Admitting however for the sake of argument that all the felspar has been decomposed, and that three-fourths of the alkalies present have been retained by the resulting clay, the heat corresponding to the decomposition and hydration of the felspars in a ton of rock must be reduced by three-fourths. If, therefore, as before, to simplify our ideas, we regard the heat required to produce the observed effects as due to a single variation of temperature, the original temperature must have been above twenty times higher than the melting point of gold, which appears as improbable as that found on the assumption of the whole of the alkalies entering into solution. The assumption now made, namely, that much of the kaolini- sation of the felspar is accomplished by aqueous vapour which is entirely absorbed by the rock, and which does not give rise to any aqueous solutions, involves conditions of which we have no known example, and of which it is difficult to conceive the existence at such great depths below the water-level of the country. This view of the question was not advanced by Mr. Church in his original paper of 1878, and has probably occurred to him subsequently to the publication of my observations in the Quarterly Fournal of the Geological Society in the following year. If however the possibility of such an alteration were admitted, it certainly could not be ascribed to kaolinisation, since the removal of the alkalies in felspars is an essential factor in that trans- formation. With regard to the hot spring which formerly issued from between slate rocks and an elvan dyke at Wheal Clifford Mine in Cornwall containing notable quantities of chloride of lithium and other alkaline salts, cited by Mr. Church in his recent pamphlet in support of his views with respect to kaolinisation, the effect has probably been taken for the cause. Hot water is known to be a better solvent of mineral matter than cold water, and it has been shown by Daubrée that at high temperatures and under great pressure it is even capable of rapidly dissolving silica out of glass, and of leaving it in the form of crystallised quartz. We have no direct evidence that the dissociation of the constituents of felspar and the subsequent hydration of the clay produced give rise to any liberation of heat. It is well known that the temperature of mines situated in granite, where kaolinisation is constantly going on, is lower than that of those worked in clay-slate, while high temperatures or thermal springs are not more frequently observed in masses of kaolinised granite than elsewhere. The mines on the Comstock lode are situated in a highly- volcanic region of very late tertiary age, and in the almost immediate vicinity of lava-flows and boiling springs. Until, therefore, stronger evidence than that yet furnished shall have been brought forward, it is probable that the majority of geolo- gists may continue to ascribe these phenomena to the action of volcanic agencies. J. ARTHUR PHILLIPs 18, Fopstone Road, Kensington, S.W., August 9 British Museum Attendants As you are a free lance in British Museum matters, will you not make some remarks on the attendants? They are, as a body, intelligent and desirous of learning, but no attempts seem ever to be made to instruct them in the subjects of their depart- ments ; and all the information they possess is picked up by scraps, from overhearing the remarks of their chiefs to distin- guished visitors, Many of them do what they can to teach themselves ; but why should they not have some regular training, and be competent to give simple and informal description-lectures to parties who really go for instruction? ‘It cannot be said that it would imperil their charges by occupying their attention, when we see how a far scantier supply of care-takers completely? guard South Kensington. 1 av The object is not to get a higher paid and superior class of men, but to give them the advantages they might reasonably enjoy, and use them as rational beings. I have heard some of them deplore the way in which they are treated, ‘‘ like so many watch-dogs” ; the snuff-taking to keep awake; the lapses of the stouter ones into afternoon naps; the forbidden conversations, even on the objects of their care, with visitors; the reading of all the advertisements of the 7zes, for lack of better interest ; all these are familiar subjects, as you will find if you once tap the flow of forbidden talk successfully. Some attention to them might prevent such a colloquy as I once had with a flashy-looking fellow on one of the many un- labelled objects in his department, I asked, ‘‘Do you know where that squared block is from that stands on that terminal ornament?” Gallio (with a flower in his button-hole): “ Which do you mean?”’ ‘That one which has another rough block standing on it.’’ Gallio (impatiently): ‘*‘ Well! what about it?” Do you know where it came from?” Gallio (with ineffable contempt): ‘*No! indeed; I don’t know where it’s from, I don’t know anything about it.” If you should care to quote this, I can vouch for its accuracy, as I noted it at the time. Bromley, Kent Wo. FLINDERS PETRIE Quassia and Mosquitos In NATuRE, vol. xxii. p. 11, I read a letter in which the employment of a wash made from a decoction of quassia wood was recommended as a protection from the attacks of mosquitos and other insect pests. After reading the above-named letter I sent some of the quassia to my son, who is a surveyor camping out on the prairie in Dakotah Territory, U.S.A., in a part much infested in hot weather by mosquitos. In a recent letter my son states that he has repeatedly tried the wash with quassia, but without any beneficial results, the mosquitos having attacked him even before the solution had dried on his skin. I have suggested that he should try carbolic acid ointment, if he can procure any, as English insects do not like the carbolic odour. Possibly the mosquitos referred to in your correspondent’s letter may have been much better fed than the North American tormentors, If any of your numerous readers could communicate some effectual protection against the attacks of these pests, it would be a great boon to those who suffer so much from them. Manchester, August 9 J. B. DANCER Fascination A VERY simple explanation may be offered of the seemingly mysterious facts of fascination, whether in man or the lower animals. Eyery one knows the old and ludicrous problem requiring us to decide what would happen to a hungry donkey placed at a spot exactly equidistant from two quite equally attractive bundles of hay. In theory the creature starves, being unable to make up its mind to choose one bundle rather than the other without any reason for such choice. In practice it is generally supposed that the unsteadiness of this world’s affairs would speedily destroy the equilibrium of motives and leave the donkey free to make its meal of one or other of the bundles. But in critical emergencies, such as those mentioned in Mr. Curran’s letter, when shot and shell are flying rapidly towards their victims, almost instantaneous decision is necessary. The circumstances are such that movement either to the right or to the left would be equally salutary and efficacious, but for the very reason that one movement would be just as good as the other, the mind makes its fatal pause of indecision, A man standing in the path of an advancing express train, and a small bird eyed by a snake, are probably affected both in the same manner. There need be no oceult influence in the eye of the basilisk, as there can be no magical power in the iron and_brass of the steam-engine, to transfix and fascinate the prey. Terror may no doubt in some instances paralyse the- brain and make it incapable of choosing the method of escape, which to an intellect unembarrassed and free from panic would be the one obviously worthy of choice, but in the military examples cited by Mr. Curran it would be indecent to suggest such an explanation of the facts, and needless when the simpler solution is available. Tunbridge Wells, August 9 Tuomas R. R, STEBBING August 12, 1880] NATURE 339 Strange Method of Crossing a Torrent HAVING seen something very like, if not quite identical with, the following in the Himalayas, I am anxious to know if it is not a commoner device under similar conditions than is generally supposed everywhere. The story occurs in Gerard Boote’s (Doctor of Physick) ‘‘Inland’s Natural History,” p. 59, and is related on the authority of ‘‘one Theophilus Buckworth, a Bishop of Dromore,” in whose presence the feat was performed. His description of it runs as follows. After mentioning that the brook or river ‘‘that passeth by that town was greatly risen,” he adds that ‘‘A country fellow who was travelling that way having stayed three days in hope that the water would fall, and seeing that the rain continued, grew impatient, and resolved to pass the brook whatever the danger was, but to do it with the less peril and the more steadiness he took a great heavy stone upon his shoulders, whose weight, giving him some firmness against the violence of the water, he passed the same without harm and came safe to the other side, to the wonderment of many people who had been looking on and given him up for a lost person.” W. CuRRAN Warrington Intellect in Brutes Nor having seen any reference to Cowper’s famous hares in any of the notices under this heading that have appeared in NATuRE, I am induced to refer to them, the more so as the creature is rarely credited with much gratitude or intelligence. My information is from Tegg’s edition of ‘‘ The Life and Works of William Cowper,” p. 633. Describing, at this place, the capers of his favourite hare named ‘‘ Puss,’ who ‘would suffer me to take him up and to carry him about in my own arms,” our poet adds that ‘‘he was ill three days, during which time I nursed him, kept him apart from his fellows, . . . , and by constant care, &c., restored him to perfect health. No creature could be more grateful than my patient after his recovery, a sentiment which he most significantly expressed by licking my hand, first the back of it, then the palm, then every finger separately, then between all the fingers, as if anxious to leave no part of it un- saluted ; @ ceremony which he never performed but once again upon a similar occasion. Finding him extremely tractable, I made it my custom to carry him always after breakfast into the garden. .... I had not long habituated him to this taste of liberty before he began to be impatient for the return of the time when he might enjoy it. He would invite me to the garden by drumming upon my knee and by a look of such expression as it was not possible to misinterpret. If this rhetoric did not imme- diately succeed, he would take the skirt of my coat between his teeth and pull it with all his force.” He ‘‘ seemed to be happier in human society than when shut up with his natural companions,” and if these traits do not Jefoken something more than instinct, it is hard to say where this ends and intellect begins. Warrington W. CurRRAN n > Anchor-Ice HavinG lately read with much interest several letters to NaTuRE on the subject of the formation of anchor- or ground- ice, I beg leave to inform your readers that it forms here every season in the Rock Island rapids of the Upper Mississippi River ; any one desirous of studying its mode of formation would here have a good opportunity. Some observations of mine upon this phenomenon may be found in vol. ii. of the Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, p. 349. Dayenport, Iowa, U.S., July 10 R, J. FARQUHARSON Depraved Taste in Animals WHILE in Australia I kept at different times several koalas— all taken young. Of these three were inordinately fond of tobacco in any form. They would chew and swallow the strong Victorian black tobacco with the greatest gusto, and one, to which I gave a foul clay pipe saturated with tobacco oil, de- voured the whole of the stem. Sitting on the nape of my neck, his usual place when I was writing or reading in the evening, ** Ka-koo” would frequently stretch out one hand, take the pipe from my mouth, and begin to chew it if not promptly interfered with. During the day he passed most of his time rolled up on the rafters of the roof, bush houses being devoid of a ceiling, and on hearing the clinking of glasses, which betokened the preparation of the evening glass of grog, hurried down from his perch to receive his modest share of whisky and water. If a spoon were dipped in the raw spirit and given to him, he would take it in both his paws and lick it dry with manifest appreciation, and could only be prevented from making a raid upon every glass on the table by being tied with a handkerchief by the leg to the back of a chair. No ill effects ever followed these indulgences. ARTHUR NICOLS THUNDERSTORMS * HEN I was asked to give this lecture I was also asked to give a short list of subjects from which your directors might select what they thought most fit. I named three. Regarded from the scientific point of view, one of them was to be considered as fully under- stood in principle, and requiring only additional experi- mental data to make it complete. This was the Conduction of Heat in Solids. Another was to a certain extent scientifically understood, but its theory was, and still is, in need of extended mathematical development. This was the popular scientific toy, the Radiometer. The third was, and remains, scarcely understood at all. Of course it was at once selected for to-night. I might have foreseen that it would be. You may well ask, then, why I am here. What can I say about a subject which I assert to be scarcely understood at all? A few years ago no qualified physicist would have ventured an opinion as to the nature of electricity. Magnetism had been (to a certain extent, at least) cleared up by an assumption that it depended on electric currents ; and from Orsted and Ampére to Faraday and Thomson, a host of brilliant experimenters and mathematicians had grouped together in mutual interdependence the various branches of electro- dynamics. But still the fundamental question remained unsolved, What is electricity? 1 remember Sir W. Thomson, eighteen years ago, saying to me, “Tell me what electricity is, and I’ll tell you everything else.” Well, strange as it may appear to you, I may now call upon him to fulfil his promise. And for good reason, as you shall see. Science and Scotland have lately lost in Clerk-Maxwell one of their greatest sons. He was, however, much better known to science than to Scotland. One grand object which he kept before him through his whole scientific life was to reduce electric and magnetic phenomena to mere stresses and motions of the ethereal jelly. And there can be little doubt that he has securely laid the foundation of an electric theory—like the undulatory theory of light admirably simple in its fundamental assumptions, but, like it, requiring for its full development the utmost resources of mathematical analysis. It cannot but seem strange to the majority of you to be told that we know probably as much about the secret mechanism of electricity as we do about that of light, and that it is more than exceedingly probable that a ray of light is propagated by electric and electro- magnetic disturbances. It is one of the most remarkable advances made during this century. But to know what electricity is, does not necessarily guide us in the least degree to a notion of its source in any particular instance. We might?know quite well what is electricity and yet be, as I told you at starting we ave, almost entirely uncertain of the exact source of atmo- spheric electricity. ! 5 To come to my special subject. I am not going to try to describe a thunderstorm. First, because I am certain that I could not do it without running the risk of over- doing it, and thus becoming sensational instead of scientific; and secondly, because the phenomenon must be quite familiar, except perhaps in some of its more singular details, to every one of you. : : Science has to deal with magnitudes which are very much larger or smaller than those which such words as huge, enormous, tiny, or minute are capable of express- ing. And though an electric spark, even from our most r Abstract of a lecture, delivered in the City Hall, Glasgow, by Prof. Tait. 340 NATURE [August 12, 1880 powerful artificial sources, appears to the non-scientific trifling in comparison with a mile-long flash of lightning, the difference (huge, if you like to call it) is as nothing to others with which scientific men are constantly dealing. The nearest star is as much farther from us than is the sun, as the sun is farther from us than is London. The sun’s distance is ninety-three millions of miles. If that distance be called enormous, and it certainly is so, what adjective have you for the star's distance? Ordinary human language, and especially the more poetic forms of it, were devised to fit human feelings and emotions, and not for scientific purposes. A thoroughly scientific ac- count of a thunderstorm, if it were possible to give one, would certainly be at once ridiculed as pedantic. Let us therefore, instead of attempting to discuss the phenomenon as a whole, consider separately some of its more prominent features. And first of all, what are these features when we are 77 the thunderstorm? By far the most striking, at least if the thunderstorm come on during the day, is the extraordinary darkness. Sometimes at mid-day in summer the darkness becomes comparable with that at midnight, very different in kind as well as intensity from that produced by the densest fog. Objects are distinctly visible through it at distances of many miles, whether when self-luminous or when in- stantaneously lit up by lightning. The darkness, then, is simply intense skadow, produced by the great thickness and great lateral extension of the cloud-masses overhead. Seen from a distance, the mass of cloud belonging to the storm usually presents a most peculiar appearance, quite unlike any other form of cloud. It seems to boil up, as it were, from below, and to extend through miles of verti- cal height. The estimated height of its lower surface above the ground varies within very wide limits. Saus- sure has seen it as much as three miles ; and in one case noticed by De l’Isle it may have been as much as five miles. On the other hand, at Pondicherry and Manilla it is scarcely ever more than half a mile. Haidinger gives the full details of an extraordinary case, in which the thundercloud formed a stratum of only twenty-five feet thick, raised thirty yards above the ground. Yet two people were killed on this occasion. Other notable instances of a similar extreme character are recorded. Careful experiment shows us that the air is scarcely ever free from electricity, even in the clearest weather. And even on specially fine days, when large separate cumuli are floating along, each as it comes near produces a marked effect on the electrometer. Andrews obtained by means of a kite, on a fine clear day, a steady decom- position of water by the electricity collected by a fine wire twisted round the string. Thanks to Sir W. Thomson, we can now observe atmospheric electricity in a most satisfactory manner. I will test, to show you the mode of proceeding, the air inside and outside the hall. [The experiment was shown, and the external air gave negative indications. | On several occasions I have found it almost impossible, even by giving extreme directive force to the instrument by means of magnets, to measure the atmospheric poten- tial with such an electrometer, and had recourse to the old electroscope, with specially long and thick gold- leaves. On February 26th, 1874, when the sleet and hail, dashing against the cupola of my class-room, made so much noise as to completely interrupt my lecture, I connected that instrument with the water-dropper, and saw the gold-leaves discharge themselves against the sides every few seconds, sometimes with positive, some- times, often immediately afterwards, with negative elec- tricity. Such effects would have required for their production a battery of tens of thousands of cells. Yet there was neither lightning nor thunder, and the water was trickling from the can at the rate of only two anda half cubic inches per minute. Probably had there not been such a violent fall"of sleet steadily discharging the clouds we should have had a severe thunderstorm. Falling rain-drops are often so strongly charged with electricity as to give a spark just before they touch the ground. This ‘luminous rain,” as it has been called, is a phenomenon which has been over and over again seen by competent and trustworthy observers. In the Comptes Rendus for November last we read of the curious phe- nomenon of electrification of the observer’s umbrella by a light fall of snow, to such an extent that he could draw sparks from it with his finger. In calm clear weather the atmospheric charge is usually positive. This is very commonly attributed to evaporation of water, and I see no reason to doubt that the phenomena are closely connected. [A few drops of water were sprinkled on a heated crucible, insulated, and connected with the electrometer. | There can be no doubt that, whatever be the hidden mechanism of this experiment, the steam has carried with it a strong charge of positive electricity, for it has left the rest of the apparatus with a strong negative charge. We will now try that form of the experiment in another way. [High-pressure steam escaping from a little boiler was made to play upon an insulated conductor furnished with spikes, and connected with the electrometer, which then showed a strong positive charge. | There are many substances which produce on evapora- tion far greater electric developments than water does, some of positive, others of negative, electricity. By far the most remarkable in this respect to which attention has yet been called is an aqueous solution of sulphate of copper. (Proc. R.S.E., 1862.) The smallest drop of this solution thrown on a hot dish gives an intense negative effect—so great, in fact, that it may be occasionally employed to charge a small Leyden jar. But this, like the smaller effect due to water under similar circum- stances, is not yet completely explained. The next striking features are the flashes of lightning which at intervals light up the landscape with an intensity which must in the majority of cases far exceed that pro- duced by the full moon. To the eye, indeed, the flash does not often appear to furnish more than the equivalent of average moonlight, but it must be remembered that it lasts for a period of time almost inconceivably short, and that the full effect of light on the eye is not produced until after the lapse of a considerable fraction of a second. Prof. Swan has estimated this interval at about one-tenth of a second; and he has proved that the apparent intensity of illumination for shorter intervals is nearly proportional to the duration. (Zyans. R.S.E., 1849.) I can illustrate this ina very simple manner. [Two beams of light were thrown upon the screen by reflection from mirrors, each of which was fixed zear/y at right angles toan axis. When matters were so adjusted that the brightness of the two illuminated spots was the same, one mirror was made to rotate. The corresponding light spot described a circle about the other, and its brightness became less the larger the circle in which it was made to revolve.] The lightning flash itself on this account, and for the farther reason that its whole apparent surface is exceedingly small, must be in some degree comparable with the sun in intrinsic brilliancy—though, of course, it cannot appear so. The fact that its duration is excessively short is easily verified in many ways, but most simply by observing a body in rapid motion. The spokes of the wheels of the most rapidly-moving carriage appear absolutely fixed when illuminated by its light alone. One can read by its light a printed page stuck on a dise revolving at great speed. But the most severe test is that of Sir Charles Wheat- stone’s revolving mirror. Seen by reflection in such a mirror, however fast it may be rotating, a flash of light- ning is not perceptibly broadened, as it certainly would be if its duration were appreciable. 5 The apparatus which, in our laboratories, enables us to measure the time which light, moving at nearly 200,000 a ql August 12, 1880} miles per second, takes to pass over a few feet, is reguired to prove to us that lightning is not absolutely instan- taneous. Wheatstone has shown that it certainly lasts less than a millionth part of a second. Take this, along with Swan’s datum, which I have just given you, and you see that the apparent brightness of the landscape, as lit up by a lightning flash, is ess than one hundred thousandth part of what it would be were the lightning permanent. We have thus rough materials for instituting a comparison between the intrinsic brightness of lightning and of the sun. Transient in the extreme as the phenomenon is, we can still, in virtue of the duration of visual impressions, form a tolerably accurate conception of the form of a flash; and in recent times instantaneous processes of photography have given us permanent records of it. These, when compared with photographic records of ordi- nary electric sparks, bear out to the full the convictions at once forced by appearances on the old electricians, that a flash of lightning is merely a very large electric spark. The peculiar zig-zag form, sometimes apparently almost doubling back on itself, the occasional bifurcations, and various other phenomena of a lightning flash, are all shown by the powerful sparks from an electric machine. {These sparks were exhibited directly; and then photo- graphs of some of them were exhibited.] The spectroscope has recently given us still more con- vincing evidence of their identity, if any such should be wanted. The bifurcations of a flash can puzzle no one who is experimentally acquainted with electricity, but the zig-zag form is not quite so easily explained. It is certainly destroyed, in the case of short sparks, by heating the air. [Photographs of sparks in hot and in cold air were exhibited. The smoother is that which passed through the hot air. The other passed through the cold air nearer the camera, and is therefore not quite in focus. | Now heating in a tube or flame not only gets rid of motes and other combustible materials but it also re- One of each kind is shown in the woodcut. moves all traces of electrification from air. It is pos- sible, then, that ‘the zig-zag form of a lightning flash may, in certain cases at least, be due to local elec- trification, which would have the same sort of effect as heat in rarefying the air and making it a better conductor. A remark is made very commonly in thunderstorms which, if correct, is obviously inconsistent with what I have said as to the extremely short duration of a flash. The eye could not possibly follow movements of such extraordinary rapidity. Hence it is clear that when people say they saw a flash go upwards to the clouds from the ground, or downwards from the clouds to the ground, they must be mistaken. ‘The origin of the mis- take seems to be a swdjective one, viz., that the central parts of the retina are more sensitive, by practice, than the rest, and therefore that the portion of the flash which is seen directly affects the brain sooner than the rest. Hence a spectator looking towards either end of a flash very naturally fancies that end to be its starting-point. (To be continued.) NATURE 341 OBSERVATIONS ON ARCTIC FOSSIL FLORAS WITH REGARD TO TEMPERATURE pee first feelings of surprise caused by the discovery of remains of warmer-temperate, sub-tropical, and even tropical plants within the Arctic circle, of, geo- logically speaking, comparatively recent age, have now died away, and we no longer find that their presence there forms so favoured a theme for speculation. The time appears to have arrived when we may critically examine the botanical evidence upon which estimates of the past degree of warmth enjoyed by the Arctic regions have to be formed. The method open to us is very simple : we have, it seems, only to first set aside deter- minations thatare clearly little more than guesses ; then ascertain the minimum mean temperature required by the remaining groups of plants to flourish at the present day ; and the sum of these temperatures should furnish reliable results for each period. ‘ I am not yet able myself to carry this inquiry beyond the ferns and conifers, but the determinations of these are probably so very much more accurate than_those of the higher orders of plants as to comprise most of the safer data, and they are sufficiently numerous for the purpose. My present remarks are limited to the Komeschichten, a horizon supposed in the “Flora Fossilis Arctica,” to represent in Greenland the Urgonian or Neocomian of Central Europe. In this Komeschichten two genera of ferns occur which deserve especial consideration, for Prof. Heer makes use of their presence to infer that at that period the Arctic regions were favoured with a sub-tropical or even tropical climate. These genera are Gleichenia and Oleandra. The correctness of the determination of the supposed Arctic Oleandra is doubtful, and it is best for the present to place them among the guesses. The very sparse indications of sori are not satisfactory, and there are no less than twelve widely-distinct genera pos- sessing species with approximately the same venation. Oleandra is a small genus with but six species, almost confined to the tropics, but two of them grow in Northern India at altitudes of 6,000 and 7,000 feet. It is quite otherwise with the remains of Gleichenia, for these preserve every characteristic of that genus. But while it is perfectly obvious that these are really fragments of Gleichenias, neither the number of species into which Prof. Heer has divided them, nor the inferences as to climate which he draws from them, can be admitted. He has quite unnecessarily, it seems to me, separated the fragments from the Komeschichten into fourteen species, and to these has added two from the Ataneschichten. The prevailing species, G. Ziffez, if considered to represent the type in its average size, might be made to embrace eight or ten of them without even then approaching the limits of variation seen in the corresponding existing species. G. Giesekiana receives the rather larger pinnae and G. gracilis the smaller, and many others seem sepa- rated on trifling or fancied peculiarities, as G. acutipennis, which is merely a small, indistinct fragment, with a few rounded depressions, conjectured to mark sori, but which, from their position on the mid-rib, could not well be such. Gleichenia is a particularly variable fern. Berkeley men- tions (Introd. to ‘‘ Crypt. Bot.,” p. 516, Fig. 110, 6) that he had seen at Kew the minute pinnules of one of them expanded to three times its normal length, and the margins unfolded by exposure to a warm damp atmo- sphere. In two full-grown specimens of G. dichotoma from Khasia, in the Kew Herbarium, the longest pinnules respectively are one and nine centimetres in length. The Arctic species are, however, closely represented by G. glauca (G. longissima, Hook., “ Syn. Filicum’’), and in this species the pinnules in different plants vary, from a single locality, between 25 and 2 mm. in length. In making species out of fragments of fossil plants the greater or less liability of the living forms to vary should, it seems to me, be kept in mind, and for general convenience the 342 TATURE [. 9. 0 <2 «ee [ferse 8 0 se 6 8 ies BOE Tue STRUCTURE AND ORIGIN OF CoraL ReEFS AND IsLanps. By JORN;MURRAYs:< 10) (0 se s/o pacha Repkuyaune -© | © +000) nish pememoy THE JAMIN'CANDLE,. (c+ ye pemiepuee © + = 0°) oo ieee SocleTIES AND ACADEMIES « + + + + + + * B + + 356 [August 12, 1880 4 ‘ es _— NATURE THURSDAY, AUGUST, 19, 1880 COLOURS IN ART A Handbook for Painters and Art Students on the Character and Use of Colours, their Permanent and Fugitive Qualities, and the Vehicles proper to Employ. Also Short Remarks on the Practice of Painting in Ow and Water-Colours. By W. J. Muckley. (London: Bailliére, Tindall, and Cox, 1880.) HAT a book for the instruction of artists as to the composition and purity of their pigments is much needed can hardly be denied. The difficulty, however, in writing such a book is very great; for it must either be very incomplete or contain a large amount of matter which but very few artists can understand. And no one is competent to write such a book but he who has some knowledge of painters’ manipulations and a very good knowledge of chemistry ; to drop the chemistry and take upon faith what has been written about the purity and nature of pigments, is hardly the method which should be adopted, and the person who does it is not likely to be a very safe guide to the artist, although he may give very many useful hints, and state much that is true. To treat of colours properly their composition must be described and the adulterations to which they are liable should be explained, which cannot be done without a certain amount of chemistry and chemical terms, and if the persons who read a book on pigments know nothing about chemistry, how can they be benefited by it? And this is difficulty number two. How is it to be overcome? Why, simply by artists learning something of chemistry? There is no other way for it. A book so incomplete as that under consideration is very misleading, because a person after reading it will know but little more about pigments than when he began. Of what use is it to know that cadmium yellow is a “sulphide of the metal cadmium,” and that “emerald green is a preparation of copper,’’ unless it be known that the elements which compose each have a decided liking for changing places, and that if these pigments are brought into contact the change will assuredly take place to the entire destruction of the tint of both of them? The real truth of the matter is that until artists will consent to become, to a certain extent, students of science, they will never get out of their diffi- culties, and if they will consent to this, to some of them we fear derogatory task, they will find that there is more help for them from science than they imagined : chemistry will lead to physics, and then for the first time perhaps many of them will learn what colour is, and what light and shade vea//y are, and new views will burst upon them, and new methods of using their pigments will become necessary, and then pictures will be resplendent with nature’s tints, and transparency will replace Opacity, and nature will have some chance of being fairly represented. There are many artists who are scientific men, and there are others to whom nature has given special powers ; and these show by their works that they understand or appreciate the true nature of colour and of light and shade. Look at Mr. Brett’s sea-pieces (he is a scientific man of note), they are bright, luminous, and true to nature, although they may not please painters of the old VoL, xx11.—No, 564 357 school, one of whom once, when asked what he thought of one of this artist’s pictures, was heard to say he did not like rocks. As an illustration of one who lays no claim to be a scientific man, take Mr. Herbert’s painting of AZoses in the House of Lords, where bodies of the colour nearly of the sandy back ground stand out from it without any tricks, with all the vivid distinctness of a stereoscopic picture. To those who know nothing of chemistry what direc- tions can be given for the use of paints which in them- selves are stable, but which cannot be mixed with certain others? It would take a huge volume to record all the cases in which they could be used, and to note all the contingencies which might arise to influence them, and yet a little sound chemical knowledge would make the matter easy and brief. Good champagne is a good and wholesome wine, and good old port is a nectar fit for - the gods, and hock and claret are cooling drinks which, with their fragrant bouquets, appeal to the imagination : all are good and wholesome; but mix them all in the same stomach at a great feast, and what will be the result, at least in most cases? Vermilion is a good and safe pigment, so is cadmium yellow, and so is emerald green ; but mix them all together, and what will happen? Keep the emerald green and the cadmium apart by some hard and quick-drying vehicle, and all will be well; allowa day’s interval to elapse between taking the champagne and hock, and port and claret, and no inconvenience will be experienced. It is very refreshing to read from the pen of Mr. Muckley the warning which he gives to artists to restrict the number of colours which they employ. It is to the use of bright and new tints with which the French colour- makers tempt our artists that much of the evil complained of is due, and moreover the adulteration practised abroad, but rarely in this country, has added to it. Mr. Muckley has divided pigments into “permanent colours” and “useless pigments.’’ Speaking of “whites,’’ he very justly recommends zinc white as being permanent, but then he speaks of ‘‘ flake white” as permanent, but con- fesses that it loses “its opacity by age,” and that “impure air and sulphuretted hydrogen turn white lead’’ (ze. flake white) ‘to a dirty brown in a short time.’’? One would hardly rank this among permanent colours. Amongst yellows he mentions “lemon yellow’’ as not altogether trustworthy. Now lemon yellow is chromate of baryta, and, like all other chromates, is liable to reduction by organic matter, and then, as it becomes reduced, its tint changes to green. Although he ranks this pigment among “ permanent colours” he does so with a caution ; why then place it in this list? ‘Aureolin?’ is also included in it; but very grave doubts are entertained of its stability in oil by many artists. It certainly resists the action of alkalies fairly well. “Naples yellow,” a pigment which portrait and figure painters have a great affection for, is now a compound made in imitation of the old paint, which consisted of antimony and lead ; it was usually some time ago made with white lead tinted with some yellow pigments. If made with zinc white and cadmium, as Mr. Muckley asserts, there is not much danger in using it. Amongst the “useless pigments’’ which are said to be ‘€stable”’ it should be remarked that the whites, “ Blanc R 358 d’Argent or silver white,” ‘London and Nottingham white,” are both white lead, and therefore subject to the same influences as “‘ flake white.” “Scheele’s green,” which is an arsenite of copper, can hardly be called a “stable” colour, “ but unnecessary.’’ “Semi-transparent colours.” Amongst these is placed “cremintz white.’ Why this should be it is difficult to understand, if flake white is to be ranked among per- manent colours, for cremintz white is white lead produced by precipitation. “Prussian blue” is spoken of as not being durable; it is quite certain that it stands well sometimes, but that its hue does often fade. This must surely cause a reflecting mind to ask himself how this can be? The colour is so beautiful and useful to the artist that some effort should be made to prevent its total expulsion from his palette, and here we have an instance of the importance of chemical knowledge to the artist. It is impossible in this place to go into the question; it is however manifest if a pigment stands well at one time but not at another that it must be mixed, in the latter case, with something which does not agree with it. Now this is true ; from its com- position prussian blue is affected by anything which will change the state of oxidation in which part of its con- Stituent iron is held. Terra verte, for example, is, or ought to be, an earth tinted with the protoxide of iron; if this is mixed with prussian blue it will in time change the condition of the oxide of iron in the prussian blue, and therefore its colour. In concluding these remarks on pigments treated of in Mr. Muckley’s book one feels great pleasure in being able to state that with the few exceptions noticed there is nothing incorrect, only one feels how terribly wanting it is in completeness when a thoroughly scientific treatment of the subject is required, One of the points which artists have to guard against is adulteration of pigments; now this is a thing of constant occurrence, where cheap colours are bought, but in this work nothing is said about this important matter. How- ever well an artist may select his paints, impurities in one or two of them may upset all his calculations and render of no value a work which might, if sound, represent a considerable sum of money. From the present position of art in this country this is probably the most touching way of putting it. It would be well, in a future edition, if Mr, Muckley would attend to this, and give some simple methods by which the impurities could be detected. It is as important to the artist that he should under- stand the nature of the vehicles with which he paints as the composition of his pigments, and here one wishes that Mr. Muckley had gone more into detail, and that he had given reasons why such substances as maguilps, mastic, sugar of lead, &c., are so very objectionable. The reason why pictures crack is because two or more media are used which dry differently ; if the vehicle employed is homogeneous there is no fear of cracking. Maguilp is made by mixing linseed oil with mastic varnish, and mastic varnish is gum mastic dissolved in turpentine. When these are mixed together the turpentine goes to the oil and leaves the mastic in a jelly-like condition; the whole mass is then rubbed up together, and in proportion as the mixture is more or less complete so will the vehicle be more or less liable to crack, because it is made up of substances which take different times in drying. All NATURE eee Se eee eee [August 19, 1880 maguilps are bad; here Mr. Muckley is right, and he is also right in advising the use of amber varnish and of good copal varnish tempered with nut (better with poppy) oil. No better media can be used than these, but the picture must be painted from first to last with one of them, whichever the artist selects, but the amber is the best. Six years ago the then Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Academy urged Messrs. Winsor and Newton to get amber varnish made, and that firm did so, therefore amber varnish has been to be had for that space of time, and several artists of distinction, viz., Mr, Brett, Mr. Vicat Cole, R.A., and others, have’painted with it to their entire satisfaction ; nor have they complained that it is too dark to mix with their lighter colours. When a picture is perfectly hard which has been painted with this vehicle, no better varnish can be used, when required, than amber varnish properly applied, that is, in as thin a coat as possible. Mr. Muckley speaks of mastic varnish blooming, but he does not tell us why it does so. It is because the substance is hygroscopic, and taking up moisture is the cause of blooming, therefore it should never be used. All driers, as he says, are unnecessary, they are all ruinous to pictures ; under certain conditions crystallisable driers crystallise out and make the picture spotty. It would have been much more satisfactory if Mr, Muckley had treated this part of his subject at greater length and with greater minuteness ; it is evident that he is quite competent to do so, Copal is a name used by varnish makers for several kinds of gum, and some of the cheap varnishes do not contain any of the better or harder gum. The kind used for artists’ varnishes is what is termed a fossil gum, and is found largely at Zanzibar; it is almost, if not quite, as hard as amber, and almost intractable. The best copal varnishes sold by the best artist colourmen are, as a rule, made from this gum, and can be obtained from them with confidence. It is how- ever pleasing to learn that so conscientious and respectable a firm as Messrs. Mander Brothers of Wolverhampton have undertaken to manufacture vehicles ‘ in accordance with the old formulae supplied by the author.” There is no need whatever to use sandrac, it is very brittle and unmanageable. In the work before us ‘‘turpentine” is spoken of as being, in conjunction with colours, ‘‘ detrimental to their permanence.’’ Turpentine, which is distilled with water from coniferous trees, oxidises and forms a resin, this it does most readily in the presence of moisture and sunlight, If then turpentine be kept free from moisture, in a well- corked bottle, in the dark, this will not happen, and the way to keep it free from moisture is to put into it lumps of quicklime or fused chloride of calcium ; when so treated it may be used with safety. One does not like to have so old a friend banished without saying a word in his defence. The suggestion made to use oil of lavender is a very good one, but it need not displace turpentine, but both must not be used together. “The conditions under which a painter commenced his education in former times were totally different from what they are now.” It would be better for art if they were the same, though perhaps not better for art regarded as a trade. The paintings of the old masters certainly beat most of the modern works in this country, both in merit and durability. Mr. Muckley’s remarks on this point are August 19, 1880] very good ; one only wishes that he had treated this part of his subject more fully. The chapter on “ Mixing and Nature of Colours” is not as complete as it should be, from the almost entire absence of chemical illustrations, which on such a subject are invaluable. One remark, however, which often occurs in this book is most admirable. ‘‘The painter should always make an effort to use as few colours as possible, and they should be of the most permanent kind.’”’ On damage to oil-paintings by gas and damp, it is stated that painter’s canvas is usually prepared by first covering one side of it with a coat of whiting, to which glue size has been added. This is hardly a correct state- ment of the method employed by the best firms. The canvas is treated with size rubbed in with long knives, in the jelly form, it is then scraped off as bare as possible. This is done to protect the canvas from the disintegrating effects of the oil used in the preparation of the surface, for oil oxidises and speedily rots canvas, and therefore a coat of oil paint would not be, as stated, a protection to the back of prepared canvas; better use paraffin, which does not oxidise. Space will not allow a further notice of the concluding chapters of this work. One or two points, however, seem to require remark. “If darkening of a picture is due to some chemical action in the colours themselves, which is not unfrequently the case, the ori- ginal condition of the work cannot be restored.” If the darkening be due to the action of sulphuretted hydrogen or white lead, the whiteness can be restored by washing with peroxide of hydrogen. In the directions given for painting the walls of the painting-room it is advised to use prussian blue, and the vehicle to be employed is spoken of as distemper colour. prussian blue is immediately decomposed by lime or chalk, and therefore cannot be used with these materials. On the whole, one feels great pleasure in recommending this book as useful to art students. As has been before stated, it is matter for regret that parts of it have not been more fully treated, and at the same time it must be ob- served that, as regards scientific questions involved in the composition of pigments and on their action on one another, as well as the adulterations with which they are contaminated, the subject is almost wholly untouched, and we must look for some further treatise to illustrate and explain these points, either from Mr. Muckley or from some other author. A, ViSth, LO -ERNA Un Viaggio ail’? Etna. Del Prof. Orazio Silvestri, di Firenze, Presidente del Club Alpino Italiano a Catania. (Torino : Ermanno Loescher, 1879.) =| (sae Italian Alpine Club has branches in all the prin- cipal cities of the kingdom, and a good deal of useful work is done every year by its members. The work before us is designed not only for the benefit of the Club, but to foment and foster a greater taste among Italians for exploration, by setting ,before them a history of their most famous mountain, and detailing the very varied incidents to be met with in a journey to its summit. The book is divided into eight chapters, and is furnished with an appendix, which contains a list of the principal monticules on the slopes of Etna, with their altitude and NATURE 359 position ; the altitude of the principal towns on and around the mountain; and (to prevent imposition) the tariff established by the Catanian branch of the Alpine Club for the ascent of the mountain, and for visiting points of interest on its flanks. The population of the mountain is rapidly increasing. In 1871 it amounted to 314,092, divided between thirty- nine cities, towns, and villages. The largest of these— Catania—contains 84,397 inhabitants; the smallest—S. Agata di Battiati—5o7. The first chapter of the “ Viaggio” carries the traveller from Turin to Naples, from Naples to Messina, and from Messina to Catania. The passing glimpses of Vesuvius and Stromboli are described, and the beautiful coast scenery between Messina and Catania, which embraces the Capo di Taormina, one of the most picturesque spots in Europe. The second chapter describes the ascent as far as Nicolosi, the last village on the route to the summit. In its immediate neighbourhood are the Monti Rossi, formed during the eruption of 1669, which is described at some length. Starting from Nicolosi (Chapter III.), the traveller passes over the lava of 1537, and presently enters the Regione Selvosa,; he notes the numerous groups of mon- ticules scattered in various directions, rests at the Casa del Bosco, 235 metres higher than Vesuvius; and later on continues his journey through a region in which the vegetation becomes more and more sparse until he arrives at the Casa Inglese, near the foot of the great cone. Here the author bursts out into an “Inno alla Natura” impro- vised by the poet Mario Rapisardi on the occasion of his visit to the summit, and of which the following is a specimen :— . ‘€ Sorridi a noi, sorridi, O Dea! sia che de I’Etna T’amiamo oggi invocar, O dai pietrosi lidi, Ove fuggente e pavido Scagliossi il poveretto Aci nel mar.” About two o’clock in the morning the traveller leaves the Casa Inglese for the summit (Chapter IV.). The severe climb up the cone of cinders (angle from 32° to 35) is attended by some difficulty of respiration, both from the rarity of the atmosphere, and the presence of volcanic exhalations. The phenomena preceding sunrise are described, the gradual illumination of the scene, and the projection of the shadow of the mountain over Sicily. An account of the appearance of the great crater con- cludes this chapter. A description of the eastern flank of Etna and the Val del Bove furnishes the matter for the two succeeding chapters, The geology of the moun- tain is herein discussed ; specially the theory of two axes of eruption, warmly supported by Lyell and other geologists. After resting a night at Giarre, the traveller visits the eruptive craters of 1865, passing by the villages of S. Giovani and S. Alfio, and through the wood of Carpi- netto, which contains the celebrated Castagno del Cento Cavallz. A detailed account of the eruption of 1865 which was minutely studied by Prof. Silvestri, is given in this part of the book (Chapter VII.). The last chapter is avery comprehensive one. It takes the reader com- pletely round the northern, western, and southern flanks 360 NATURE [August 19, 1880 of the mountain, by way of Randazzo, Bronte, Adernd, Paterno, and Monte Ste. Anastasia, and so back to Catania. Reflections on the results of the journey are concluded by a perfervid peroration, in which the author reminds us that from the top of Etna we may see nearly the whole of that beautiful island which the ancient poets symbolised as “La bionda e leggiadra figlia di Cerere e del sole,’ and the moderns yet more happily as “la fulgida perla dell’ Italico diadema circondata da tre puri zaffiri; il Tirreno, il Jonio, ’Africano” ... The book is not illustrated, but it contains a clear and very accurate map of Etna, reduced from that of von Waltershausen, and with the addition of the eruptions subsequent to 1843. Prof. Silvestri’s style, while it is accurate and precise from the scientific standpoint, is never dull or lagging. He carries his reader with him, and excites a genuine enthusiasm, which all who know him can well understand. G, F. RODWELL OUR BOOK SHELF Methods and Theories for the Solution of Problems of Geometrical Construction, Applied to 410 Problems. By Julius Petersen. Text-book of Elementary Plane Geometry. By the same. (London ; Sampson Low, 1880.) SOME months since we noticed Prof. Petersen’s “ Theorie . . . | der algebraischen Gleichungen,’ and now we desire to | draw attention to two more works by the same writer. The former, in its Danish garb, appeared so long ago as the year 1866, and having been tried and found to be a successful text-book, the author naturally desired to offer his work to a wider circle of geometers and students. The “Methods” has been rendered also into French; it is “an attempt to teach the student how to attack a problem of construction.’’ Solutions in most cases are merely indicated, the following up the author’s remarks being left to the student or teacher. The first chapter treats of “Loci” (method of similitude and inverse figures) ; the second of ‘‘ Transformation of the Figures” (parallel translation, replacing, and revolution around an axis); | the third of “The Theory of Revolution,’ with an appendix on systems of circles and on the possibility of solving a given problem by the straight edge and pair of compasses. It is a work of considerable merit. The “Text-book’’ we do not value so highly, though there are points of interest and novelty about it also; it con- tains besides 228 geometrical exercises. We hail Prof. Petersen as a valuable coadjutor in the work of improving geometrical teaching, and shall be glad if his little books meet with a fair measure of acceptance in this country. We could point out what we consider blemishes, but in the main commend both books. The respective trans- lators (both, we presume, Danish students) have done their part intelligently, and English students will have no difficulty in understanding the language, though they may not be able to master the matter. Practical Chemistry. The Principles of Qualitative Analysis, By W. A. Tilden, D.Sc. (Longmans and Co., 1880). Or making books on practical chemistry there is no end. Ifit were necessary that another should be added to the list, the publication of this little book by Dr. Tilden has surely removed the necessity. There is no special feature to be noted in this book: it is clearly and accurately written, and proceeds on the | well-beaten paths. The adoption of a general table | printed on strong paper and protected by cloth backing | is to be commended. | It is, we think, doubtful whether anything is to be | gained by attempting to teach mere outlines of the methods for analysis of mixtures; a more thorough grounding in qualitative analysis may, as a rule, be given by limiting the student’s work for some time to simple salts—which is not such an extremely easy branch of analysis as may at first sight appear; then proceeding to mixtures of metals with one metal only in each group ; then to mixtures of various metals of the same group; and lastly to complex mixtures. The detection of acids—even of a simple acid—is made, as is usual in elementary text-books, to appear a much less difficult undertaking than it really is. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents, Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressureon his space is so great that it is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.) A Rotatory Polarisation Spectroscope of Great Dispersion I HAVE just had an opportunity of trying, on a fine aurora, an instrument for measuring the wave-length of monochromatic light in terms of quartz-rotation of its plane of polarisation. My apparatus is, as yet, very roughly put together, so that I got no measurements of any value, but to-night’s experience has shown me that the method, while simple in application, is capable of very great accuracy. The construction of the instrument will be easily understood from the anexed rough sketch. The course of the light is with the arrows. N isa Nicol, s an adjustable slit, L a lens at its focal distance from s, Qa plate of quartz cut perpendicularly to the axis, p a double-image prism, and E a small direct-vision spec- troscope, which may be dispensed with when absolutely mono- chromatic light is to be examined. When the instrument is properly adjusted by daylight the two images of s formed by P are parts of a straight line, so that E gives two spectra side by side. These are crossed by dark bands, which are numerous in proportion to the thickness of Q, and which move along the spectra as N is made to rotate. In observing a bright-line spectrum the slit is to be made as | wide as possible, subject to the condition that no two of the > LE) | NES ASST ess Le oO” wp. E differently-coloured images shall overlap. We have thus a pair of juxtaposited rectangles for each of the bright lines, and the angular positions of N, when the members of the several pairs are egually bright, are read off on a divided head. I find by trial that a division to 2° is quite sufficient. A fist set of readings is taken with a plate Q (permanently fixed in the instrument) 5 or 6 millimetres thick. Then an additional plate of quartz 100 millimetres or more thick is intro- duced between Q and L, and a second set of readings is taken, From the readings with the thin plate we find approximately the positions of the spectral lines, and the more exact determination is obtained from the readings with the thick plate. This is the chief feature of the instrument. The actual error of any one reading is not more than 2°, but when a thick plate is used the whole rotation may be from ten to twenty or even thirty circumferences. By thus increasing the thickness of the quartz plate very little additional loss of light is incurred, while the inevitable error forms a smaller and smaller fraction of the whole quantity to be measured. The graduation of the instrument is to be effected by very careful measurements upon a hydrogen Geissler tube, and com- parison with the known wave-lengths of the hydrogen lines, An observer furnished with this instrument (which is not much larger than a pocket spectroscope) and with a long rod of August 19, 1880] NATURE 361 quartz, will be able tomake measurements of any required degree of accuracy. Pi Ga carr The Club House, St. Andrews, N.B., August 12 Dimorphism of ‘{Nature”jon June 17 WirH "reference to the statement in an editorial note in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 317, that one statement of mine ‘‘ does not accord well” with another, I must request to be allowed to show that this observation is incorrect. I was told by a friend on July 27 (five weeks after the event) that there had been apparently two issues of NATURE of June 17, and that Prof. Allman was intending to write to NATURE quoting the uncorrected issue (which was unfortunately the one which had been supplied to him) in support of his statement, in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 218, which I had declared to be a misconception (NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 241), viz., that I differed from him as to the existence of a marginal canal in the new medusa. Accord- ingly I wrote on July 28 to the editor, requesting him to state, “*if necessary,” that there had been two issues, and expecting that this explanation would be inserted immediately after Prof. Allman’s letter, published in NATURE, vol. xxii, p. 290. The explanation was not, however, given, and it was left to me to write my letter of two days later date (July 30), which was pub- lished in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 316. I had in that two days interval ‘‘ascertained”’ by further evidence that there were actually two issues of No. 555 of NATURE, and my ‘‘great surprise” was due to the fact that the editor of NATURE should have allowed Prof. Allman’s letter to appear without offering any explanation of the direct opposition between his quotation and mine—the cause of which was well known at the printing office of NATURE, It is thus clear that my letter of July 30 is consistent with my letter of July 28. E, Ray LANKESTER [We willingly give space to the above letter, and accepting the interpretation of the former one which Prof. Lankester now gives us, we regret having made the observation to which Prof. Lankester alludes. We may further add that the insertion of the reference to the letter in question was due to an oversight.— ED.] Magnetic and Earth-Current Disturbance Ir may be of interest to point out that a magnetic disturbance has just been experienced at the Royal Observatory greater in magnitude than any that has occurred for some years. On August 11, at 10.30 a.m., active disturbance suddenly commenced, and continued until midnight, accompanied, as usual, by the exhibition of earth currents. The magnets were then generally quiet until about noon of August 12, when disturb- ances of still greater magnitude began to be shown, continuing ull 6 a.m. of August 13. During the latter period the variations in the magnetic declination and horizontal force were frequent and large, especially between noon and 4 p.m., and between 7 and 9 p.m. Between noon and 4 p.m. there was also a con- siderable increase of vertical magnetic force. During the whole period, from noon of August 12 to6 a.m. of August 13, earth- currents were continuous and strong, and especially strong at those times at which the magnets were most disturbed. It seems well at the present time to warn telegraph engineers, and especially those concerned in the laying of submarine cables, that disturbances of the character of that described above may now become not unfrequent as compared with the quietness of recent years. I may perhaps be permitted here to refer to a short paper, ‘‘ Note on Earth-Currents,” to be found at p. 214 of vol. vill. of the Fournal of the Society of Telegraph Engineers, as containing information on the question of magnetic disturbances and earth-currents, probably not without interest at this time. WILLIAM ELLIS Royal Observatory, Greenwich, August 14 P.S.—During the evening and night of August 13-14 large magnetic disturbances again occurred, accompanied as before by strong earth-currents. Aurora Borealis and Magnetic Storms THE epoch of grand auroras and magnetic storms has again returned, as was evident from the fine displays seen here on the evenings of the 11th and 12th, and these are as usual accom- panied by an increase in the number and size of the sun-spots, and in the development of the solar prominences. The aurora on the 11th was grand, but that which followed it on the 12th recalled vividly the magnificent displays of 1869, 70, and 71. On the 12th my attention was first called to the phenomenon at Ioh, 25m, p.m., when the northern horizon was skirted by a bright white haze terminating in an ill-defined arch, from which sprang a large number of broad streamers stretching towards the zenith. The bank of white light on the horizon extended from about 15° E. of N. to 45° W. of N.,and some of the streamers attained an altitude of fully 60° or 70°. The brilliancy of the individual streamers was varying rapidly, but there was little variety in the character of the phenomenon. At Ioh. 30m, the brightest streamer was 3° W. of N. Ten minutes later this brilliant white band of light had moved gradually westward, and was some 25° W. of N., when it faded away. Some streamers were still more W. of N., and others again were slightly E. of N. At Ioh. 46m. there was nothing remaining of the aurora except a cloudy whiteness in the north, the rest of the heavens being a deep blue. A minute later streamers were again appearing, At Ioh, 56m, a very bright streamer formed 2° E. of N., and then a similar band of light appeared 5° W. of N., followed in rapid succession by other streamers 10°, 20°, and 45° W. of N., each streamer fading away before the succeeding one became very bright. At 11h. om. a single narrow band of intense white light stretched from the horizon towards the zenith, passing through Cor Caroli. At 1th. 7m, the light in the N. and N,N. W. again brightened up, but there was no further appearance of streamers. The magnetic storm that accompanied the aurora of the 12th was one of the most violent ever recorded at this observatory, and was very similar in character to the magnificent storm of 1869. On the evening of the rith the magnetic needle was very irregular in its movements, but it was only towards midday of the 12th that the storm really began. The oscillations from the beginning were very rapid and extensive. The first great move- ment began at 11h. 34m. a.m., and between 12h. 18m, and 12h, 24m. the declination magnet moved 1° 6’ 45” eastward, It then returned westward, and at 1b. 4m. the reading had increased by 1° 18’ 13”. Between 7h. 9m. and 7h. 29m. p.m. the needle moved 59' 18” eastward, when it attained its minimum ; it then returned quickly towards the west, and after a double sweep it reached its maximum at 8h. 13m., the change of declination in 46m. being 1° 27’ 23”. The oscillations of the V.F. magnet were as great as those of the declination. The chief maximum occurred at 3h, 40m. p.m., and there were three decided minima at about 10 p.m. midnight and 2 a.m., the two latter of which were lost from the oscillation being too great to be recorded on the photographic cylinder, and the first showing a change of 1°9 inch of ordinate in 5m, The variation of the H.F. magnet was very large, but not so remarkable as that of the V.F. On the 13th the magnetic storm continued greatly to disturb all the magnets, but it was less violent than on the preceding day. Stonyhurst Observatory, August 15 S. J. PERRY THERE was a beautiful display of the aurora here last night. Between ten and eleven o’clock the streaks extended from the horizon to the zenith, The colour was principally pale blue, but a reddish tinge was occasionally discernible. I observed what I thought was a lateral movement of some of thestreaks. A bright spot suddenly made its appearance to the westward of a small black cloud, seemed to move slowly eastward and disappear. There was a slight breeze from the east at the time, but I do not think that the clouds were moving sufficiently rapidly to account entirely for the phenomenon. J. A. B. OLIVER Springburn, Glasgow, August 13 A FINE display of aurora was visible here on the night of Thursday, August 12, about 10.30. White streamers, stretching vertically from the horizon nearly to the zenith, occupied the north- west segment of the heavens from the pole to Arcturus. There was a narrow bank of cloud along the horizon, and I thought at first that the streamers might be shadow-phenomena from the sun ; but the hour was too late, and the rapid variations of form and 362 NATURE [August 19, 1880 intensity were characteristic of aurora, which is not very common at this season of the year, I think. F, T. Morr Birstal Hill, Leicester, August 13 We had a fine aurora here last night (11th). There was a bright bank of uniform glow till 11 p.m., when it suddenly broke into streamers, some of which reached 40° or 45° in height, the glow extending along 100° or 120° of the horizon, There was no colour, and by midnight it had all faded out. Whitby, August 12 \ | Boas. Height of the Aurora I sHALL be glad if you will allow me the use of your columns to point out that there is really less uncertainty about this element than is usually supposed, and that there are two methods of measuring auroral heights which give accordant results. The first is that based upon the measurements of the altitude and amplitude of auroral arches, and which gives the results mentioned by Mr. Rand Capron. That these results should have so wide a range is probably owing to the fact that they proceed upon an assumption which may or may not be correct, viz., that the arch is part of a circle having the magnetic pole for its centre. Still the mean result from this method would seem to be reliable, especially if care were taken to exclude doubtful measurements from the list. Possibly we may assume that this method gives a height not far from roo miles for the ordinary arch. I speak particularly of the white auroral arch with or without uncoloured streamers that forms, I suppose, 95 per cent. of the auroral phenomena visible in this country. ‘These arches are formed for the most part over a portion of the earth con- siderably to the (magnetic) north of these islands, but oceasion- ally they would seem to be formed over our heads. Mr. Capron in his work on ‘‘ Aurorze and their Spectra” mentions one such instance, though he appends no explanation of the phenomenon, but in the course of ten years’ observations I have myself seen three such arches, Indeed they are perfectly well known to observers in Scotland and the north of England, though I have never scen them in the south. As early as the year 1843 the height of these zenithal arches had been trigonometrically com- puted from observations made in different localities in Britain, with the result of proving them to be at an uniform height of 70 to 74 miles above the earth.t There is much less liability to error in these results than in the determination of the height of a meteor, and-a single pair of satisfactory observations will yield a value within one or two miles of the actual elevation. That auroral arches are ever formed much below this limit I beg leave to doubt. Iam aware of the accounts which would nlace them between the eye and natural objects, but such asser- tions are far from having the weight of accurate measurements, and I have yet to find a case of a supposed low aurora, the eyid -nce of which is above criticism. I do not wish to assert that the streamers at right angles to these arches may not be frequently visible at a /ess height, just as they undoubtedly reach to a much g7eafer elevation in the region where the auroral crown is formed. But to fix either the superior or inferior limit is precisely one of those questions which we can have no hope of solving by direct measurement, since the length of the streamer varies with the force of electric discharge. This is shown by the fact that in an active aurora some streamers extend only a short distance from the arch, while others will climb up to the vanishing point, or crown, To carry these remarks so as to include the question of coloured aurorze would oblige me to trespass more upon your space than I am willing to do on this occasion. Orwell Park Observatory, Ipswich JOHN I, PLUMMER Fire-Ball ON the evening of the 12th a very brilliant fire-ball fell at 8h. 30m. G.M.T. It was first observed at an elevation of about 25 above the E.S.E. horizon, and its path was inclined at an angle of about 35° to the horizon, It was lost in the mist near the south horizon, There was no explosion or noise of any kind. The daylight was still fairly strong, and yet the light of the meteor was very dazzling. S. J. PERRY Stonyhurst Observatory, August 15 TI give these fi igures from memory, as I have no libra hand to which to refer, but I h ; t Dey fare etneely coerce aMnEmenorG re ave no doubt that they are strictly correct. Mr. Capron may perhaps find some information on the point in the published works of the late Prof. Phillips, who was one of the observers engaged in these investigations about the date I have named, or they may be verified upon the first appearance of a zenithal arch. Atmospheric Phenomenon A CURIOUS phenomenon was observed here after sunset the night before last, and again in a less degree last night. Looking across from this point to the position of the sun at and after setting, the line of sight crosses about three miles of sea, then about the same distance or rather less of projecting high ground, and beyond that many miles of seaagain. On Tues- day (roth) the sun set in a hot haze, and half an hour after there appeared on the edge of the projecting land what looked like tongues of flame fifteen to thirty minutes in height, lasting from two to four seconds each, and then disappearing in different places, sometimes half a dozen at a time. At the same time there was more or less of a flickering light along the whole line of projecting land. My first impression was that it was an optical illusion, and the second that a moor was on fire behind the ridge, and that these were points of flame. The first was negatived by the fact that four others beside myself (two of them with very keen sight) saw the lights independently in the same places ; and the second by the gradual fading of the light as the evening became darker, the ‘‘ tongues” retaining pretty much their relative brightness to the general glow until both faded out. The day had been extremely hot, and the evening was sultry, with motionless air, I imagine the appearance was due to irregular refraction, arising from heated currents of air from the cooling land, and that the circumstance of the s/ce of land with its currents occurring between the two stretches of homogeneous air over the sea allowed the effect to be seen without being masked, as it would have been had there been intervening land. But I never saw it before, and don’t remember to have seen it described. B. W. S. Whitby, August 12 Intellect in Brutes INSTINCT apart, cases of intelligence in animals are very numerous, of the affections still more numerous. Comte was of opinion that the affections were even more highly developed in animals than in men, The dog will lay down life for the man he loves, the horse will do so likewise. We have all heard of Greyfriars Bobby, if that be the creature’sname. But instances crowd on the memory. A few years back, during a heavy gale, a sweep of the spanker-boom drove the master ‘of a Leith and London smack into the sea. Instantly the ship’s dog bounded in after, and, sustaining the drowning man, both passed grandly into the eternities together. I have known cats who let them- selves into the dwelling-house at pleasure, and at least three dogs who were wont to deposit the pennies given them on the counter of some baker or pastry-cook in return for values received. I used to meet on the highway a dog who rode behind his master’s groom. ‘The hardest trot never seemed to discompose his seat. Even birds—not merely trained birds—sometimes display singu- lar attainments. I knew a lady who had a singing duck, but being one day at a loss for a couple, she sacrificed the songstress to make up a pair. One wishes that she had displayed a little more humanity ; as also a clergyman, not a hundred miles from where I sit, who ordered a goose that had evinced the warmest attachment to be slain by reason of the poor bird haying followed him on the occasion of paying a visit into a friend’s drawing- room. When a boy I used to spend many a holiday at a farmer's house in the County Armagh. I there experienced great kind- ness, enjoying myself as much as was well possible in the open air, the garden, and the stubble fields. Besides human beings,-I had numerous playmates too in the kine, swine, dogs, fowl, horned cattle, and horses about the place, and indeed was never tired in observing their modes of living and acting. The great house-dog used often to play with a large hog. They alternately chased and faced one another till the hog’s chaps would froth again actually with the excitement of the sport, At first I supposed that the pig did not like it, but in this I was mistaken. One day a strange dog, an immense brute, made his appearance, and attacked the house-dog, who was evidently getting the worst of it, when who should come to the rescue but the hog, who instantly jumped on the strange dog’s back, assailing him at the same time with hoof and tooth. Placed thus between two fires, the stranger beat a speedy retreat, leaving the friends complete masters of the situation. I think I was about ten years old when my parents went to reside at a place called Fairlawn, situated on a gentle eminence a few miles from the mutually contiguous towns of Moy and August 19, 1880] NATURE 363 Charlemont. Facing the house, a stone’s throw or two in front of the lawn, was a river called the Tall, which ran into the close- at-hand Callan, which again ran into the Black Water, which, in turn, emptied itself into that immense puddle which bears the name of Lough Neagh. The waters of Lough Neagh, unable, by reason of the obstructions in the Lower Bann, to escape rapidly enough into the sea, swell up and cause backwater in the rivers I have named, and others as well. The result is the periodic flooding of thousands and tens of thousands of acres of valuable land, to the immense prejudice of the occupants and country at large. The Tall, I should observe, was banked or dyked up on both sides. In some places, however, the dyke had given way, so that at flood-time—and it was flood-time at the period I speak of—the waters of the Tall were awash with those of the flooded meads on both sides, There was further a rapid current in the Tall, and before it merged into the Callan _ the stream had to pass under the arch of a bridge which it filled to the crown. In fact the battlements themselves were nearly covered, and the country, as far as the eye could reach from the position which I at the moment occupied at the foot of the lawn, wore the aspect of a sea. At this precise juncture two horses, whilom occupants, I presume, of the then flooded meads, were to be seen slowly wading in the direction of the Tall. The green summit of the dyke was for the most part visible, and upon this the poor brutes mounted, in quest, I suppose, of some outlet. They had not gone very far when, owing to the trea- cherous footing, one of the horses lost his balance and fell, rolling over and over into the Tall. He swam on brayely, the other horse stretching down at intervals a sympathising muzzle, making indeed repeated efforts to escape, but falling back each time into the surging current. I was alone, surveying the transaction, from which I never removed my eyes, with the deepest interest. All at once the horse that was on the dyke, keeping pace at a sort of half-trot with the other, burst into a hand-gallop, and when he had got sufficiently beyond his struggling comrade, bounded himself into the Tall. Swimming briskly onwards for a few fathoms, he then made his way out through what he must have seen beforehand was a practicable breach in the dyke, followed on the instant by his friend, evad- ing, not a moment too soon, the submerged bridge, where they would have otherwise inevitably gone under. So long as my eyes could follow them they dashed onwards at a gallop, throw- ing up their exultant heels and flourishing their tails across the flooded meadows. It is now many years since I beheld this astonishing spectacle, which my memory recalls as freshly as if it had happened yesterday, awakening, as I think it is well calculated to do, serious reflections in regard of our mysterious associates and the wondrous Power which has called them into being, and now sustains them and ourselves alike in this transi- tory state which we term life. Henry MacCormac Belfast, August Radiation,—A Query In Baily’s experiments with the torsion-rod and two leaden balls weighing 3804 pounds each, it was found that the radiation of heat from the leaden masses affected the vibrations of the torsion-rod, These masses were thereupon gilded, and the torsion-rod protected bya gilt box covered with thick flannel, and the disturbing influence overcome. How did radiation affect the motion of the torsion-rod ? BPaGas: “On a Mode-of Explaining the Transverse Vibrations of Light”—The Expression ‘‘ Radiant Matter” WITHOUT wishing at all to underrate the apparent difficulty noticed by your New Zealand correspondent, Mr. J. W. Frank- land (NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 317) in regard to my paper under the above heading (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 256), as it would be against the interests of truth to doso; I may nevertheless call his attention to a letter of mine (NATURE, vol, xxi. p. 369), where an attempt is made to meet the difficulty in question, The point is to account for the circumstance (admitting that it is rendered necessary by physical evidence) that the velocity of propagation of gravity must, at least, be very much greater than that of light. I will merely confine myself here to recapitulating one of the main conclusions in a somewhat different form, viz., it appears to be necessary to look to a separate medium for gravity, or ‘(more accurately) to ove medium with particles of two grades of dimensions; the one set of particles having very minute mass, and consequently enormous velocity, and concerned in the effects of gravity ; the other set, of much greater mass and slower velocity, concerned in the phenomena of light. It will, I think, be so far tolerably evident that if the der of the more minute set of particles be comparatively very great, the pressure produced by them would be correspondingly great, and therefore these particles would be mainly (z2., almost exclusively, if their number were sufficiently great) ! concerned in producing gravity. On the other hand, on account of the extreme velocity of these particles, they could not apparently be appreciably concerned in the phenomena of light, since the molecules of gross matter would vibrate among them without appreciable resistance. For it is a well-known dynamical fact that the resistance opposed to the motion of a body ina medium diminishes as the velocity of the particles of the medium increases. It may be worth observing perhaps that this idea of three grades of dimensions in matter (viz. gross matter, light-carrying matter, and grayific matter) appears to be anold one. Thus a book was published in 1827 by Dr. Blair, formerly Regius Professor of Astronomy in the University of Edinburgh, entitled ‘‘ Scientific Aphorisms” (to which my attention was called by Prof. Tait), where the idea of three grades of dimensions in matter is set forth, and a theory of gravity very similar to that of Le Sage expounded. Also M. Prevost (*‘ Deux Traités de Physique mécanique”) expresses, I believe, the view that matter exists fundamentally in three grades of magnitude. It may be rather a curious fact to notice that if the theory, that the zther consists merely of finely sub-divided matter in the ultra-gaseous state, light being regarded as a vector property carried off by the atoms in their passage through the open structure of the vibrating molecules of gross matter, as suggested by the late Prof. Clerk Maxwell, article ‘‘ A2ther,” new edition of the ‘* Encyclopedia Britannica” (z.¢., with range of free path greater than planetary distance, NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 256), should ultimately turn out to be substantially true ; then the term “radiant matter,” employed by Mr. Crookes in connection with his experimental researches, would have its practical application in nature on a large scale—or light would be actually propagated by ‘‘radiant matter.” If, on an examination of the theory in that spirit of good-humoured impartiality representing entire freedom from the predilections of any school of thought (the best guarantee of truth)—the difficulties attaching to it should not be considered insurmountable; then it may be worth re- marking that the theory, without violating in the least the essential principles of the firmly-established undulatory theory, contains nevertheless (in its corpuscular essence) ove of the ideas of Newton; so that it would appear that the latter might not have been entirely wrong, nor the upholders of the opposite view completely right, but that a partial reconciliation of their rival ideas might be possible. S. TOLVER PRESTON London, August 10 Earthquake in Smyrna Accounts are freely coming forward, but they are of popular interest, seismological details being scanty. I must premise that in in 1862 I took great interest in promoting Abyssinian wells in Smyrna, and that large numbers were put down. When the French Company built the quay the new works there were similarly supplied, and the result has been that for some years the surface and pipe-wells in the parallel Marina and Frank Streets have been wanting in water. Within a few hours after the earthquake it was noticed that both classes of wells, say 600 feet from the sea, were freely supplied with water. This fact appears to me deserving of record. Tt is said that the earthquake was most felt near the Greek Cathedral of St. Photius, at the Three Corners in Frank Street. It was here the ground opened in the last century earthquake and swallowed up two men, as I heard by tradition; and I always walked across the churchyard in full remembrance. Of late years some kind of a landslip took place on Mount Pagus, or the Castle Hill, where Alexander the Great fell asleep. It may be worth noting in connection with this that (according to a principle developed by Sir W. Thomson, P/i?. Mag., May, 1873) it appears that if the ‘elastic rigidity’? of the /avger particles were such that they suffered no appreciable diminution of velocity at rebound from gross matter, they would not be appreciably concerned in the effects of gravity (even if their number were comparable to that of the smaller set of particles). J 2 Also previous papers by the present writer (on the same subject)—P/i?. Mag., September and November, 1877, February, 1878, April and May, 1880. 364 NALORE [ August i9, 1880 In this new earthquake springs are said to have burst out on the side of Mount Sipylus. HYDE CLARKE 32, St. George’s Square, S.W., August 9 New Biological Term In writing certain parts of a book on water-beetles, I find my- self frequently desirous of indicating briefly but emphatically that some particular genus I may be mentioning consists of only a single species. If we take a rational or theoretical view of classification rather than an empirical one, it must be admitted that a genus consisting of only one species is almost as great an anomaly as a species that should consist of a single individual ; and a special term to indicate the fact would be desirable. Mr. Pascoe has suggested to me that the expression “ monotypical genus” meets the want : but I am not satisfied with this, for in the first place it is a phrase, not a word ; and in the second place the use of the ‘‘ typical” interferes with concentration of thought by the introduction of an alien suggestion. I therefore propose to_use either the word ‘‘autogenus” or the word ‘‘monogenus”’ for the purpose, and on the whole prefer the former, Perhaps some one else may be able to suggest a better term, and I shall be very glad of an expression of opinion on the point. Thornhill, Dumfriesshire D. SHARP Depraved Taste in Animals Your correspondent, Mr. Nicols, draws attention this week to what he terms the ‘‘depraved taste” for tobacco exhibited by several individuals of that species of Phalangistidee known as the koala, Whilst in Australia some years ago I myself remarked the same propensity amongst numerous z/d specimens of the Lharcolarctos cinereus, in an abandoned tobacco-clearing not far from my residence, and, like Mr. Nicols, I also observed that no ill effects seemed to follow the consumption of the tobacco by the Koalz. Now since the Phalangistidee I had the oppor- tunity of observing were perfectly wild, I cannot agree with Mr. Nicols that their taste for tobacco is a depraved one, although the desire for spirits which he mentions is of course decidedly unnatural. These observations induced me to make several analyses of the Victorian tobacco, with the result of isolating an hitherto undiscovered vegetable alkaloid. A detailed account of my various experiments is contained in a paper read by me before the Melbourne Medical and Chemical Society, and printed in the fourteenth volume of the Society’s Zyamsactions. F. R. GREENWooD St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, E.C., August 14 Firing a Tallow Candle through a Deal Board WILL the writer of ‘‘ Physics without Apparatus” be good enough to specify the conditions of success for the above experiment ? C, J. WoopwaRD Birmingham and Midland Institute, August 9 {Set up a }-inch or $-inch plank of deal in the ground, It should be 6-8 inches wide. Ram small charge of gunpowder into gun with wad. Select a dif candle just fitting bore; cut down to about 5 inches long, with flat end. Be very particular to ram it down well; for if there is air space between it and the wad there is risk of bursting gun. Take care that the rest of barrel is cleared of bits of tallow. Fire at say 3 yards from plank. If you don’t miss aim, there will be a hole ¢orm, about 2 inches in diameter.—The WriTER of ‘Physics without Apparatus.”] ‘/—=1 must send his name and address, THUNDERSTORMS} Il. BEFORE I can go farther with this subject it is neces- : sary that I should give some simple facts and illustrations connected with ordinary machine electricity. These will enable you to follow easily the slightly more T Abstract of a lecture, delivered in th ity so, , i Goneigenioninc as e, delivered in the City Hall, Glasgow, by Prof. Tait. difficult steps in this-part of our subject which remain to be taken. Since we are dealing mainly with ofzon of electricity, it is necessary to consider to what that motion is due. You all know that winds, z.e. motions of the air, are due to dif- ferences of pressure, If the pressure were everywhere the same at the same level we should have no winds. Similarly the cause of the motion of heat in a body is difference of temperature. When all parts of a body are at the same temperature there is no change of distribution of heat. Now electricity presents a precisely analogous case. It moves in consequence of difference of Potential. Poten- tial, in fact, plays, with regard to electricity, a part pre- cisely analogous to the 7é/e of pressure, or of temperature, in the case of motions of fluids and of conducted heat. Now the power of an electrical machine may be measured by the utmost potential it can give to a conductor. The greater the capacity of the conductor the longer time will be required for the machine to charge it; but no elec- tricity passes between two conductors charged to the same potential. Hence the power of a machine is to be measured by using the simplest form of conductor, a sphere, and finding the utmost potential the machine can give it. It is easily shown that the potential of a solitary sphere is directly as the quantity of electricity, and inversely as the radius. Hence electricity is in equi- librium on two spheres connected by a long thin wire when the quantities of electricity on them are proportional —not to their surfaces, nor to their volumes, as you might imagine—to their radii. In other words, the capacity is proportional to the radius. This, however, is only true when there are no other conductors within a finite distance. When a sphere is surrounded by another con- centric sphere, which is kept in metallic connection with the ground, its capacity is notably increased, and when the radii of the spheres are nearly equal the capacity of the inner one is directly as its surface, and inversely as the distance between the two spheres. Thus the capacity is increased in the ratio of the radius of one sphere to the difference of the radii of the two, and this ratio may easily be made very large. This is the principle upon which the Leyden jar depends. It is found that the work required to put in a charge is proportional to the square of the charge. Conversely, the damage which can be done by the discharge, being equal to the work required to produce the charge, is pro- portional to the square of the charge, and inversely to the capacity of the receiver. Or, what comes to the same thing, it is proportional to the square of the potential and to the capacity of the conductor directly. Thus a given quantity of electricity gives a greater shock the smaller the capacity of the conductor which contains it. And two conductors, charged to the same potential, give shocks proportional to their capacities. But in every case, a doubling of the charge, or a doubling of the potential, in any conductor, produces a fourfold shock. The only other point I need notice is the nature of the distribution of electricity on a conductor. I say oz a conductor, because it is entirely confined to the surface. Its attractions or repulsions in various directions exactly balance one another at every point in the szdstance of the conductor. It is a most remarkable fact that this is always possible, and in every case in one way only. When the conductor is a single sphere the distribution is uniform. When it is elongated the quantity of electricity per square inch of its surface is greater at the ends than in the middle ; and this disproprotion is greater the greater is the ratio of the length to the transverse diameter. Hence on a very elongated body, terminating in a point, for instance, the electric density—that is, the quantity per square inch of surface—may be exceedingly great at the point while small everywhere else. Now in proportion to the square of the electric density is the outward pressure of the electricity tending to escape by forcing a passage A ugust 19, 1880] through the surrounding air. It appears from experi- ments on the small scale which we can make with an electrical machine, that the electric density requisite to force a passage through the air increases under given circumstances, at first approximately as the square root of the distance which has to be traversed, but afterwards much more slowly, so that it is probable that the poten- tial required to give a mile-long flash of lightning may not be of an order very much higher than that producible in our laboratories. But from what I have said you will see at once that under similar circumstances an elongated body must have a great advantage over a rounded one in effecting a dis- charge of electricity. This is easily proved by trial. {The electric machine being in vigorous action, and giving a rapid series of sparks, a pointed rod connected with the ground was brought into the neighbourhood, and the sparks ceased at once.] In this simple experiment you see the whole theory and practical importance of a light- ning conductor. But, as a warning, and by no means an unnecessary one, I shall vary the conditions a little and try again. [The pointed rod was now insulated, and pro- duced no observable effect.] Thus you see the difference between a proper lightning-rod and one which is worse than useless, positively dangerous. There is another simple way in which I can destroy its usefulness, namely, by putting a little glass cap on the most important part of it, its point, and thus rendering impossible all the benefits it was originally calculated to bestow. [The pointed rod was again connected with the ground, but furnished with a little glass cap. It produced no effect till it was brought within four or five inches of one of the conductors of the machine, and then sfarks passed to it.] You must be strangely well acquainted with the phases of human per- versity if you can anticipate what I am now going to tell you, namely, that this massive glass cap, or vefeller, as it was fondly called, was only a year or two ago taken off from the top of the lightning-rod employed to protect an important public building. [The repeller was exhibited. It resembled a very large soda-water bottle with a neck much wider than the usual form.] From the experiments you have just seen it must be evident to you that the two main requisites of an effective lightning-rod are that it should have a sharp point (or, better, a number of such points, lest one should be injured), and that it should be in excellent communication with the ground. When it possesses these, it does not require to be made of excep- tionally great section; for its proper function is voz, as is too commonly supposed, to parry a dangerous flash of lightning: it ought rather, by silent but continuous draining, to prevent any serious accumulation of electricity in a cloud near it. Thatit may effectually do this it must be thoroughly connected with the ground, or (if on a ship or lighthouse) with the sea. In towns this is easily done by connecting it with the water mains, at sea by using the copper sheathing of the ship, or a metal plate of large surface fully immersed. Not long ago a protected tower was struck by lightning. No damage was done in the interior, but some cottages near its base were seriously injured. From a report on the subject of this accident it appears that the lower end of the lightning rod was ‘*jumped” several feet into the solid rock! Thus we see, in the words of Arago, how “False science is no less dangerous than complete ignorance, and that it zfa//bly leads to consequences which there is nothing to justify.” That the lightning-rod acts as a constant drain upon the charge of neighbouring clouds is at once proved when there is, accidentally or purposely, a slight gap in its continuity. This sometimes happens in ships, where the rod consists of separate strips of metal inlaid in each portion of the mast. If they are not accurately fitted together, a perfect torrent of sparks, almost resembling a continuous arc of light, is seen to pass between them whenever a thunderstorm is in the neighbourhood. NATURE 395 I cannot pass from this subject without a remark upon the public as well as private duty of having lightning-rods in far greater abundance than we anywhere see them in this country. When of proper conducting power, properly pointed, properly connected with the ground and with every large mass of metal in a building, they afford abso- lute protection against ordinary lightning—every single case of apparent failure I have met with having been immediately traceable to the absence of one or other of these conditions. How great is their beneficial effect you may gather at once from what is recorded of Pieter- maritzburg, viz., that till lightning-rods became common in that town it was constantly visited by thunderstorms at certain seasons. They still come as frequently as ever, but they cease to give lightning-flashes whenever they reach the town, and they begin again to do so as soon as they have passed over it. A knight of the olden time in full armour was probably as safe from the effects of a thunderstorm as if he had had a lightning-rod continually beside him; and one of the Roman emperors devised a perfectly secure retreat in a thunderstorm in the form of a subterraneous vault of iron. He was probably led to this by thinking of a mode of keeping out missiles, having no notion that a thin shell of soft copper would have been quite as effective as massive iron. But those émperors who, as Suetonius tells us, wore laurel crowns or sealskin robes, or descended into underground caves or cellars on the appearance of a thunderstorm, were not protected at all. Even in France, where special attention is paid to the protection of build- ings from lightning, dangerous accidents have occurred where all proper precautions seemed to have been taken. But on more careful examination it was usually found that some one essential element was wanting. The most common danger seems to lie in fancying that a lightning- rod is necessarily properly connected with the earth if it dips into a mass of water. Far from it. A well-constructed reservoir full of water is wof a good “earth” for a lightning-rod. The better the stonework and cement the less are they fitted for this special purpose, and great mis- chief has been done by forgetting this. A few years ago the internal fittings of the lighthouse at Skerryvore were considerably damaged by lightning, although an excellent lightning-rod extended along the whole height of the tower. The real difficulty in these situations, exposed to tre- mendous waves, lies in effecting a permanent communica- tion between the lightning-rod and the sea. But when this is done the sea makes far the best of “earths.” When a lightning-rod discharges its function imper- fectly, either from insufficient conducting power or be- cause of some abnormally rapid production of electricity, a luminous brush or glow is seen near its point. This is what the sailors call St. Elmo’s Fire, or Castor and Pollux. In the records of mountain climbing there are many instances of such‘discharges to the ends of the alpen- stocks or other prominent pointed objects. One very remarkable case was observed a few months ago in Swit- zerland, where at dusk, during a thunderstorm, a whole forest was seen to become luminous just de/ore each flash of lightning, and to become dark again at the instant of the discharge. : J : Perhaps the most striking of such narratives is one in the memoirs of the Physical and Literary Society of Edinburgh, on Thunder and Electricity, by Ebenezer McFait, M.D. The destructive effects of lightning are familiar to all of you. All the more ordinary effects can easily be reproduced by the help of Leyden jars on a small scale. How small you may easily conceive when I tell you that a three-foot spark is considered a long one, even from our most powerful machines, while it is quite certain that lightning flashes often exceed a mile in length, and sometimes extend to four and five miles. One recorded observation, 306 NATURE [| August 19, 1880 by a trustworthy observer, seems to imply a discharge over a total length of nearly ten miles. When atree is struck by a violent discharge it is usually split up laterally into mere fibres. A more moderate discharge may rupture the channels through which the sap flows, and thus the tree may be killed without suffer- ing any apparent external damage. These results are usually assigned to the sudden vaporisation of moisture, and the idea is probably accurate, for it is easy to burst a very strong glass tube if we fill it with water and dis- charge a jar by means of two wires whose extremities are placed in the water at a short distance from one another. The tube bursts even if one end be left open, thus show- ing that the extreme suddenness of the explosion makes it act in all directions, and not solely ,in that of least resistance. Whenwe think of the danger of leaving even a few drops of water in a mould into which melted iron is to be poured, we shall find no difficulty in thus account- ing for the violent disruptive effects produced by lightning. Heated air is found to conduct better than cold air, probably on account of the diminution of density only. Hence we can easily see how it is that animals are often killed in great numbers by a single discharge, as they crowd together in a storm, and a column of warm air rises from the group. Jnside a thundercloud the danger seems to be much less than outside. There are several instances on record of travellers having passed ¢ivough clouds from which, both before and after their passage, fierce flashes were seen to escape. Many remarkable instances are to be found in Alpine travel, and specially in the reports of the officers engaged in the survey of the Pyrenees. Several times it is recorded that such violent thunderstorms were seen to form round the mountain on which they were en- camped, that the neighbouring inhabitants were surprised to see them return alive. Before the use of lightning-rods on ships became general great damage was often done to them by lightning. The number of British ships of war thus wholly destroyed or much injured during the long wars towards the end of the last and the beginning of the present century is quite comparable with that of those lost or injured by gales, or even in battle. In some of these cases, however, the damage was only indirectly due to lightning, as the powder magazines were blown up. In the powder magazine of Brescia, in 1769, lightning set fire to over 2,000,000 lbs. of gunpowder, producing one of the most disastrous explosions on record. A powerful discharge of lightning can fuse not only bell wires, but even stout rods of iron. It often permanently magnetises steel, and in this way has been the cause of the loss of many a good ship; for the magnetism of the compass-needles has been sometimes destroyed, sometimes reversed, sometimes so altered that the compass pointed east and west. And by the magnetisation of their steel parts the chronometers have had their rates seriously altered. Thus two of the sailor’s most important aids to navigation have been simultaneously rendered useless or, what is worse, misleading ; and this, too, at a time when, because of clouds, astronomical observations were generally impossible. All these dangers are now, however, easily and all but completely avoidable. A very singular effect of lightning sometimes observed is the piercing of a hole in a conducting-plate of metal, such as the lead-covering of a roof. In sucha case it is invariably found that a good conductor well connected with the ground approaches near to the metal sheet at the part perforated. (To be continued.) HUMAN HYBERNATION D*® TANNER is scarcely off the field when another _ Physiological wonder breaks out in the form of a sleeping girl of Grambke, near to Bremen. This young | lady lies, it is said, in a profound slumber night and day, resting on her left side and never asking for food, but swallowing liquid food when it is put into her mouth. The trance lasts an average of fifty days, during which time she is pale, but does not lose in weight. Her sleep is not cataleptic in the proper sense of the term, inasmuch as she is sufficiently conscious to swallow, and presents none of the indications of death. She merely sleeps. Instances of this kind are not so uncommon as those of true cata- lepsy, though some of them are sufficiently remarkable. Inthe Zyvansactions of the Royal Society Dr. W. Oliver has recorded the history of an extraordinary sleeping person named Samuel Chilton of Tinsbury, near Bath, who, on May 13, 1694, being then “of robust habit of body, not fat, but fleshy, and a dark brown hair,” hap- pened, without any visible cause or evident sign, to fall into a very profound sleep, out of which no art used by those who were near him could rouse him until after a month’s time; then he rose of him- self, put on his clothes, and went about his business of husbandry as usual; slept, could eat and drink as before, ,but speke not one word till about a month after. In 1696, on the goth of April, this youth fell off to sleep again, and although a heroic apothecary, Mr. Gibbs, bled him, blistered him, cupped him, and scarified him, he slept on for seventeen weeks, waking up on August 7, not knowing he had slept above a night, and unable to be persuaded he had lain so long, until going out into the fields he found everybody busy getting in the harvest, and then remembered very well that when he fell asleep they were sowing of the barley and oats which he now saw ripe and ready to be cut down. For six weeks of this sleep he had fasted, but after he awoke he went to work in his ordinary way, and continued to work until August 17, 1697, when, after complaining of shivering and cold in his back, and vomiting once or twice, he fell into one of his long sleeps once more, and being visited by Dr. Oliver and many others, was subjected to further bleeding and extremely sharp treatment indeed, but without being roused. So he lay sleeping until November 19, when he awoke, said he “felt very well, thank God,’ ate some bread and cheese, and dropping off still another time, slept on until the end of January, 1698, and “then waked perfectly well, not remembering anything that happened all this. while.’ He was observed to have lost flesh, but only complained of being pinched by the cold, and presently fell to husbandry as at other times. The known pheno- menon that is nearest to this is hybernation in some of the inferior animals; but it is worthy of remark that the persons affected take food unconsciously when it is offered them, the lower nervous centres seeming to remain in acontinued state of activity. PHYSICS WITHOUT APPARATUS? III, {pes laws of the behaviour of liquids, their pressure and their flow, are very readily demonstrated without special apparatus by the aid of simple articles of every- day use. First amongst the laws of liquid pressure comes the all-important principle that the pressure exerted by a liquid at any point is proportional to the depth, below the surface, of the point under consideration. This pressure is exerted upwards or downwards according to circumstances. We can show first a case of pressure exerted in an upward direction. Take the glass chimney of a lamp, that of a paraffin-lamp will answer, though the straighter form of chimney used in an Argand or a Silber lamp is preferable. Cut out with a pair of scissors a circular disk of stout cardboard, and attach a thread to it by means of a drop of sealing-wax. Provide yourself also with a deep dish of water. Sucha glass trough as is 7 Continued from p. 345+ Axgust 19, 1880] NATURE used for a drawing-room aquarium will answer capitally for this purpose; but if no deep glass vessel is available, a pan or tub of stone-ware or of tin-ware will serve the purpose. The disk of card should be pressed against the lower end of the lamp-chimney (as in Fig. 8) by pulling up the thread through the glass tube. If it is then lowered into the water in the glass trough, the upward force of the water outside pressing up against the card disk will keep it against the end of the lamp- glass, The deeper it is plunged the more tightly is it pressed up against the end of the tube, for the pressure of the liquid becomes greater and greater as the depth of the disk below the surface is increased. A case of downward pressure is even more simply shown. Take the lamp-chimney in your hand and hold it vertical as before, and fix to the lower end another disk of card, this time fixing it to the bottom of the glass by means of soft bees’-wax or of a little stiff tallow. Now pour in some water from above. At first the disk is held on by the wax, and you may pour in water until the chimney is perhaps half full, Butas you go on pouring in water the depth of the water inside gets greater and greater, and the pressure exerted by the column of liquid becomes also greater, until the adhesive force of the wax is over- come, and the water bursts off the card and rushes out. This second experiment may be combined with the first one, as is shown in Fig. 8. After having lowered the empty lamp-chimney closed by the card disk into the rough of water, slowly pour in water into the inside. As long as the level of the water owéside is higher than that of the water inside, the outer pressure upwards will be greater than the inner pressure downwards; but as soon as enough water has been poured in to raise the inner level to that outside, the internal and external pressures will be equal, and when a few more drops are added inside the card will be forced away. The fact that liquid pressure depends upon the height of the column of liquid that is pressing, is made familiar to us in the arrangements for supplying our houses with water ; for when the cistern is at the top of the house we find that on opening a tap in a lower storey the water rushes out with very great force, so great, perhaps, that we cannot Fic. 9. possibly stop it with our hand, however tightly we press it against the mouth of the tap. Fic. 10. Another important law of liquid pressure, not so easy of illustration without apparatus, is the famous principle 368 of Pascal, that when a liquid is put into a closed vessel, and then subjected at any point to a pressure, this pres- sure is transmitted equally in all directions. If the vessel be a strong one and provided with two movable pistons, a large and a small one, the area of the large piston being many times as great as that of the small one, any pressure exerted upon the small piston to the liquid will be transmitted equally over equal amounts of surface, and hence the total pressure on the large piston will be many times as great as the original force, just in pro- portion as its area is greater than that of the small piston. This is, in fact, the principle applied in the hydraulic press of Bramah and in the hydraulic ma- chinery of Sir W. Armstrong, by which heavy bridges, dock-gates, and elevators are set in motion. ‘The writer of this article, when sore-pressed to devise an experi- mental illustration of the principle of the hydraulic press, contrived the following arrangement. The lid of a coffee- pot was removed and a piece of sheet-indiarubber was ued tightly over the open top. Into the spout a piece of lead-pipe about six feet long was inserted, firmly fixed with sealing-wax, and then turned up vertically. The pot was filled with water, and a heavy book placed upon the top. Water was poured into the lead tube until it was filled up to the top. A column of water six feet high affords a pressure of nearly three pounds per square inch, and this, exerted over the whole area of the rubber- covered top, gave a sufficient total pressure to raise the heavy book. The air also possesses weight, and exerts a pressure which may be upwards or downwards according to cir- cumstances. Let a wine-glass or a tumbler be filled full of water and a thin card laid upon the top of it, so that bubbles of air are excluded. Now invert the whole, pressing the card lightly on to the glass during the operation, to prevent accidents, and it will be found (see Fig. 9) that the water will remain in the wine-glass, and will not fall out. In fact the pressure of the air upwards against the card is much more than sufficient to counter- peance the downward pressure of the water in the wine- glass. Most of the experiments upon the pressure of the air require, however, the aid of an air-pump for their per- formance. With the air-pump a large variety of inter- esting properties of the air can be demonstrated, which otherwise cannot be shown. A few, however, do not require the aid of this instrument. The effect of the external pressure of the air in raising the level of a liquid in a tube from which the air has been partially exhausted, thereby reducing its pressure, can be shown by sucking with the mouth at the top of a glass tube, the lower end of which dips into the liquid in question. Thus it is possible to suck up mercury to a height of fifteen inches into a tube; for the lungs are strong enough to reduce the air in the tube to about half the ordinary pressure. Ifa glass tube of sufficient length were available it would be possible to suck up water in it to a height of about sixteen or seventeen feet; for a column of that height would be sufficient to counterbalance the difference between the inside and outside pressures. The rising of a liquid into a space from which the air has been partially removed may also be illustrated in the following pretty way. Take a small bit of card and let it float upon the surface of water in a shallow dish. Upon it place a few shavings of wood and light them with a match ; or place a small red-hot coal upon it, and on this sprinkle a little brimstone to burn. Then quickly invert over the blazing mass a wine-glass or a tumbler, as in Fig. 10. As the shavings or the brimstone, as the case may be, burn away, they withdraw the oxygen of the air inclosed in the space above, until only the nitrogen (about four-fifths of the whole) remains. “ The gases inside, therefore, will not exert so great a pressure as before, and consequently the pressure of the air outside will NATURE _dugust 19, 1880 force the water to rise in the glass as the remaining gases cool down to the temperature at which they were at first. (To be continued.) ON THE ABSORPTION BANDS IN CERTAIN COLOURLESS LIQUIDS [PRELIMINARY NOTICE] H AVING occasion to examine the absorption spectra produced by considerable thicknesses of alcoholic solutions of certain cobalt salts, we were led accidentally to observe that alcohol alone gave a very distinct band, and afterwards, on examining water, found that it also, when a column of six feet was used, gave a very distinct absorption band in the orange, a little on the less refran- gible side of D. By graphical interpolation we find the centre of this band to be about 600, and that the band extends from 607 to 596. This position corresponds very closely, if it be not identical, with Piazzi Smyth’s rain band,! and also with the band seen in 330 feet of high- pressure steam by Janssen.” Fig. I represents this spectrum. It will be seen that the absorption at the red end extends up to the line C, and the end of the shadow is so sharp that it is probable there is a band at this point also, but masked by the general absorption. To convince ourselves that this band belonged to water and not to any accidental impurity, we experimented with different samples of water, using ordi- nary tap-water, ordinary distilled water, also water which had been made with much care absolutely pure; in all these samples this same band was visible, and as long as the water was clear, as far as we could judge, it was of the same degree of intensity. A column of water eight feet long shows the band clearer than one only six feet ; still greater lengths we have not yet tried. We next tried the effect of increase of temperature on the water. For this purpose the glass tube containing the water was fitted into an air-bath, and the temperature was raised from 20° to 60° without removing the tube from before the spectroscope; no change in the band, either in position or intensity, as far as we could see, occurred. Further, it seemed to us that it would be interesting to try whether, on dissolving different colourless substances in water, the band would be affected. We consequently examined saturated solutions of the following substances in a tube 8 feet long :—Ammonium chloride, ammonium nitrate, ammonium carbonate, potassium nitrate, lead nitrate, sodium chloride, and sugar. In all these cases the band was as visible as in pure water, and no additional band was seen. With a mixture of 1 volume of sulphuric acid and 5 of water the band was unaffected, but if pure commercial hydrochloric acid was examined in a 6-feet tube the band was invisible, but with 8 feet a faint indi- cation of it was seeri. This absorption with water being so marked, we naturally went on to try whether other so-called colourless liquids gave,-when depths cf 6 or 8 feet of them were examined, absorption bands, and at first really our difficulty was to find any liquid which did not show clearly one or more bands. The ordinary solution of ammonia gave a very clear and marked spectrum (Fig. 2). It consists of four bands, the centres of which are at 650, 630, 610, and 556. The band at 650 is much the darkest, and the band at 630 is remarkably sharp. Then with regard to the 61o band, it is characterised by sharpness only on the least refrangible side, but shades off gradually on the other side, the shade extending as far as 596; this shade is probably due to the water band; and lastly, the band at 556 is by far the ? Piazzi Sinyth, ‘‘ Edinburgh Astronomical Observations,” vol. xiv. : 2 In this and the following experiments a Desaga’s spectroscope with a single heavy glass prism was used, and the source of light was an Argand gas-burner. The measurements are expressed in the millionths of a metre. Office of the Chief | UNITED STATES Charted from Actual Observations taken Simaulta OFL ost : ot — \ \. o® % \ : \ & \ — y | \ hp \ Rees Ae \ ) x mm \ . » = 7 y BN : - Wee Ik A a 72. +— — Y «0 PN 4] \ q7\* Hay x ae cr ole Ex ; Ly A J / f Z | 10% Vi =~ > gt [ 1" = X \ \ SGP Re hale e APNE hey) Seo: a \ _ aS : ~ p ; Niece ee OCTOB : S 1878. - Se 0 (FB / : eae / ry 2E70 —— 2) 7e = 3092 S ’ Gee of the Chief Signal Officer, Charted from Actual Observations VIED STATES ARMY. en Simultancously, Seri No. V. oz au » Series commencing October, 1827 Ovr owt \ = 60 ee Ti OCTOBER, — PREVAILING WINDs. om TAY she wi PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR. Way BRIG, GEN. (BVT. ASSG'D) CHIEF SIGNAL OFF! sOTHERMS. ICER, U. 3 & . | ISOBARS AND we Tsobyjrs in bles detached io 4.0 a ei | - een peered: detached temperature bs Isotherms ? Dee means in degrees Fa ane Breken Hine low barometer means 10,1 to 18.1 sare d INTERNATIONAL MONTHLY CHART. 38.1 tos0.2 | ShowMEMean pressure, mean temperature, mean force and prevailing direction of wind 20.2 & over. 7:36 A. M., Washington mean time. for the month of October, 1878, based : on the daily charts of the International Bavietin. y sat . 9 nt me E August 19, 1880] NATURE 369 SSS SS ann faintest, and is only visible in a column of 8 feet. With the exception of the 556 band, the other bands are so dis- tinct that in a nearly saturated solution 44 feet in depth, they are clearly seen. This spectrum was so marked and intense that at first we were sceptical with regard to its belonging really to ammonia, thinking that possibly some coal-tar product might be still clinging to the commercial ammonia solution which in the first instance we used. To satisfy ourselves that this was not the case, first we added lime, and distilled the ammonia gas into pure water; this acted in exactly the same way as the former solution ; then we obtained from Messrs. Hopkins and Williams what they guaranteed to be volcanic ammonia. A solution of this gave exactly the same spectrum as the former solutions. And lastly we prepared pure ammonia by Stas’ method, by the action of caustic potash and zinc—free from 29 zo T ie) 6o i TT TI ell carbon—on potassic nitrite; this also gave precisely the same bands as the other ammonia solutions ; there could therefore be no doubt that this spectrum belonged to the ammonia solution. Thirty-six feet of ammonia gas did not give us any indication of bands. Obviously this is only a mere trace of gas as compared with the amount held in the solutions before examined. To have as gas. the same amount as there was of solution in our 6-feet tube, we should require a tube nearly a mile long. If absolute alcchol instead of water be saturated with ammonia, a spectrum (Fig. 3) still sharper than that with water is obtained, but similar to it, excepting that the band at 610 is wanting and the two bands at 650 and 630 now are of equal intensity, instead of the 650 band being decidedly and constantly the darker of the two. Ammonia giving so definite a spectrum it was evidently 1, Water; 2, Ammcnia; 3, Ammonia in Alcchol ; 4, Ethylamine; 5, Amyl ‘Alcohol; 6, Ethyl Alcohol; 7, Aldehyd; 8, Acetic Acid; 9, Benzene > ro, Toluene; 11, Aniline; 12, Toluidine; 13, Turpentine. of much interest to ascertain what spectra would be given by bodies of allied chemical constitution. Ethyl- amine was the next substance we tried. Using a 33 per cent. solution, this gave a spectrum (Fig. 4) similar in character to that of ammonia, but the dominant band, as far as we could ascertain, has clearly moved towards the red. It was now at 665 to 656. The next band is also somewhat nearer the red than the corresponding ammonia band. The position of the third band is very nearly identical with that of the water-band, but instead of being a wide band shading off on both sides, is now narrow and perfectly sharp. It will be noticed that in the alcoholic ammonia solution it is this band and the next more refrangible one that are absent. For Jack of material we have not yet examined the spectra of other organic ammonias, but intend doing so, A solution of peroxide of hydrogen was also examined, using the commercial 20-volume solution. The liquid was not absolutely free from colour, and consequently there was a very appreciable amount of absorption over the whole spectrum. The water band was not visible, and in fact no sharp band could be seen ; there was how— ever a decidedly marked absorption commencing about 674, then the absorption is both dark and sharp; it extends, diminishing gradually, to 638 ; very probably this absorption may prove to be a band, but the experiment was not altogether satisfactory. i We naturally returned to alcohol and other typical organic liquids. Alcohol gives in the six-feet tube a very visible and fairly-defined band, more sharply defined than the water band and nearer the red. It extends from 632 to 624. The spectrum is given in Fig. 6. It will be 379 NATURE [August 19, 1880 seen that a faint absorption extends as far as 650, and very likely the termination of this shade is a band. Fig. 6 represents the spectrum of a sample of pure abso- lute alcohol. Ordinary methylated spirit gives a very similar spectrum, differing only in the presence of some general absorption, and with a mixture of equal parts of methylated spirit and water the alcohol band was still clearly visible, and only a faint indication of the water band. On referring now to the alcoholic solution of ammonia (Fig. 3), it will be seen that the probable explanation of the darkening of the 630 band is owing to the coincidence of the alcohol band with that of the ammonia, so that really the marked difference of the two ammonia spectra is in the absence of the 610 band, and this, we have seen, may be accounted for by one being an aqueous and the other an alcoholic solution. Ethylic alcohol giving this definite band, it was a matter of much interest to examine other alcohols belonging to the same series. We found that amylic alcohol (C,H,,HO) gave a single visible band (Fig. 5), which in character is like the one given by ethylic alcohol, but differs in position; it extends from 638 to 630, the centre being 634, so that it is decidedly nearer to the red end of the spectrum. A sample of amylene (C;H,,) gave also a band in the same position as that of the alcohol, but it differs appa- rently in being broader and less defined at the edges. The sample of methylic alcohol was not quite pure nor free from colour, but it gave a band quite similar to that of the other two alcohols. Its position is certainly very nearly the same as that of the ethylic alcohol, but as far as our measurements went it was a little nearer the blue, but with our method of measuring hardly discernible. It seems—pending further investigations—highly prob- able that this band—and of course there may be others not visible—is common to all the alcohols of the ethylic series, and that its position is a function of the density of the particular alcohol. Apparently however the signi- ficance of this line does not stop here, for in ordinary ether there is a band coincident with this alcohol-band—in fact practically the visible, spectrum produced by alcohol and ether are identical; but in all cases that we have seen the ether spectrum is clearer and sharper than the alcohol one. We thought it of importance to examine a sample of ether which should be as far as possible rendered pure by ordinary means, especially that it should be free from all traces of moisture: this sample gave a band precisely similar to the band in the ordinary commercial ether. Another sample of ether was satu- rated with water: in this case the ether band was as marked as ever, but the water-band was not visible. We have also examined two other bodies which belong to the ethylic series, namely, aldehyde and acetic acid. Both give bands, but they are not so clear or definite as the alcohol or ether bands. Figs. 8 and 9 show these bands, The aldehyde band commences sharply at 628, but on the other side it shades gradually off and ceases at 620. The band in acetic acid is very faint, in fact at first, when using the 6-feet tube, we were led to think there was no visible band. We also tried a few of the saline ethers, and, as far as our investigations have gone, the ethyl compounds give a band coincident with the alcohol- and ether-band. And the band of the amyl compounds is coincident with that of amylic alcohol. There appears, however, to be this general difference between the bands in the alcohols and those in the corresponding saline ethers, namely, that in the latter the bands are always broader and less distinct ; the saline ethers we have examined are ethyl oxalate, amyl acetate, amyl iodide, and amy] nitrate. _ Passing now to the aromatic series, we find that they give very marked absorption bands. Fig. 9 represents the bands given by benzene ; the spectrum is remarkably sharp and clear, quite as clear as the ether spectrum ; the figure is drawn from the spectrum produced by 8 feet of the liquid. The absorption extends as far as 656; the first band is from 707 to 698, the second from 609 to 605 ; both are very dark and distinct. The third band extends from 531 to 528, and is very much fainter, Toluene, the next higher member of this series, gave also a similar spectrum, and it is equally sharp (Fig. 10). As in the case of the alcohols, with increase of density the bands have moved nearer the red. It will be seen that the band in the red differs in position from the cor- responding benzene band more than either of the other two bands do. Cresol, unfortunately at present, we have not been able to examine for want of a sufficient quantity of the pure substance. Phenol gives a spectrum very similar to the benzene spectrum ; possibly the band about 610 is somewhat nearer the blue, but beyond this we could see no differ- ence. In the first instance we tried melting the phenol, but afterwards found it far preferable to keep it liquid by the presence of a mere trace of water. We looked with much interest to the two following ex- periments, with bodies of this series, namely, aniline and toluidene, to see how far their constitution might be indi- cated by their spectrum, Figs. 11 and 12 give respec- tively the spectra of these bodies. There is a band in the red in the same position as the toluene band, and in the case of aniline a band agreeing in part with the 606 benzene band. With toluidene, however, this band was not visible, but probably this arose from its being hidden by general absorption, the liquid used being slightly coloured. However, besides these two bands, both of these amido compounds gave a very clear band from 656 to 645, and it is certainly not without interest that this is coincident with one of the bands given by ammonia ; whether any other band coincidences occur between these bodies we cannot say, as in both cases there was sufficient general absorption to hide them even if present. Among other liquids we have tried turpentine, which appears to give a definite spectrum. This is shown at Fig. 13. With a thickness of 8 feet of carbon disulphide and a similar thickness of carbon tetrachloride, we could see no bands. However, with (the former liquid it may prove that there is a band in the green, but as far ‘as we could tell this is doubtful. One other experiment, which has some interest, is that the benzene spectrum 1s unaltered when the liquid is saturated with sulphur. Such are the principal observations which we have made up to the present time. As stated at first, we look upon these results as preliminary, and as having to be repeated with more accurate means. Of course we have only dealt with the bands visible under ordinary condi- tions ; still, the above results, as far as they go, have been made with much care, and we think show that most inter- esting relations exist between the chemical composition and constitution of a body and its absorption spectrum. Obviously a far more extended series of observations must be made before any general conclusions of value can be deduced. WILLIAM J. RUSSELL Chemical Laboratory, WILLIAM LAPRAIK St. Bartholomew’s Hospital CELLULOID [PES product of the action of strong nitric acid upon cellulose has of late years met with many applica- tions in the arts. When cotton jwool, linen, paper, or other substance largely consisting of cellulose, is immersed in strong nitric acid, a mixture of two or more nitro-celluloses is pro- duced; a solution of this mixture in alcohol and ether has been long known as collodion. é About three or four years ago it was shown that this August 19, 1880] NATURE: aft product may be dissolved under pressure and at mode- rately high temperatures in camphor, and that on cooling a hard, compact ‘mass closely resembling ivory is pro- duced. This observation furnished the starting-point in the manufacture of ‘‘ Celluloid,” a substance which has already been put to many and varied uses, and promises to be of much importance in the future. In the process of Tribouillet. and Besaucéle—patented in January, 1879—the raw material, consisting of paper, linen, cotton wool, hemp, or white wood, is dried at too’, and is then nitrated in vessels of glass, clay, or glazed sheet-iron, furnished with a double bottom, between the parts of which water is constantly flowing. The nitrating acid consists of a mixture of 3 parts concen- trated sulphuric acid (sp. gr. = 1°34) and 2 parts concen- trated nitric acid, containing nitrous acid. The dry and finely-divided material is first treated with acid which has been already once used for nitrating ; the materials are mixed for ten or fifteen minutes by the help of a kind of trowel; the mass is pressed in a glazed iron cylinder with perforated sides and bottom, through which the acid runs out. The material is again treated with a fresh mix- ture of acids in the proportions already mentioned ; it is then washed with water in a series of wooden vessels with perforated bottoms placed one beneath the other on an inclined plane. The last particles of acid are removed by washing with very dilute soda or ammonia, and again with water. The material isthen dissolved in appropriate solvents, from which it is again recovered in a paste-like form, by distilling off the solvent. For making artificial ivory and similar opaque sub- stances, about 100 parts of the prepared nitro-cellulose are intimately mixed with from 42 to 50 parts of very finely-divided camphor, and the mixture pressed in a warm press, into which steam is conducted, and which is connected with a moist chamber wherein the fumes from the press are condensed. After being for some time in a warmer press, the material is dried in a chamber contain- ing calcium chloride or sulphuric acid, and connected with an air-pump. Other manufacturers appear to mix ivory-dust, nitro- cellulose, and camphor, and to press the mixture when moist, heat it with ethyl nitrite in a closed vessel until perfectly homogeneous, and distil off the nitrite. Celluloid is a hard, perfectly homogeneous substance, which is not attacked by ordinary reagents (it dissolves slowly in cold concentrated sulphuric acid), cannot be easily broken, and becomes plastic at about 125°. It may be obtained in thin layers o'5 millims. in thickness, which may be encrusted on wood, marble, &c. At about 140° celluloid suddenly decomposes, emitting a reddish vapour ; this liability to complete decomposition may be prevented by washing the celluloid with sodium silicate solution and then immersing it in a solution of sodium or ammonium phosphate; thus treated, the material is non-inflammable. If colouring materials be mixed with the celluloid during the manufacture, artificial coral, amber, malachite, and /apis lazuli may be prepared. Celluloid is an admirable material for forming the backs of brushes, handles of knives or umbrellas, combs, play- things for children, &c. ; it is also employed in America as a substitute for linen in the manufacture of collars, scarves for the neck, &c. Articles made of it may be washed with soap and a brush, and are practically indestructible. M. M. P. M. L. F. DE POURTALES [O UR readers will be glad to have the following further notice of the late Count Pourtales from his inti- mate friend and colleague, Prof. A. Agassiz.— ED. ] Louis Francois de Pourtales died at Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, on July 17, 1880. Spite of a magnificent constitution and a manly vigour of body and mind which seemed to defy disease and to promise years of activity, he sank, after a severe illness, under an internal malady. Educated as an engineer, he showed from boyhood a predilection for natural history. He was a favourite student of Prof. Agassiz, and when his friend and teacher came to America in 1847, he accompanied him, and remained for some time with the little band of naturalists who, first at East Boston, and subsequently at Cambridge, shared his labours. In 1848 Pourtales entered the U.S. Coast Survey, where his ability and indefatigable industry were at once recog- nised; and he remained attached to that branch of our public service for many years. He then became deeply interested in everything relating to the study of the bed of the ocean. Thanks to the enlightened support of the then Superintendent of the Coast Survey, Prof. Bache, and of his successors, Prof. Peirce and Capt. Patter- son, he was enabled to devote his talents and industry to the comparatively new field of “thalassography” and the biological investigations related to it. The large collec- tions of specimens from the sea-bottom accumulated by the different hydrographic expeditions of the U.S. Coast Survey were carefully examined by him, and the results were published, in advance of their appearance in the Coast Survey Reports, in Petermann’s Mitthetlungen, accompanied by a chart of the sea-bottom on the east coast of the United States. So interesting and valuable were the results obtained, not only as an aid to navigation, but in their wider bearing on the history of the Gulf Stream and on the distribution of animal life at great depths, that in 1866 he was sent out by Prof. Peirce, then superintendent of the Coast Survey, to continue these investigations on a larger scale. During 1866, 1867, and 1868 he was in charge of the extensive dredging operations carried on by the U.S. Coast Survey Steamer 4760, acting-master Platt, along the whole line of the Florida reefs and across the Straits of Florida to Cuba, Salt Key, and the Bahama Banks. The results of these expeditions, published in the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, excited great interest among zoologists and geologists. M. Pourtales was indeed the pioneer of deep-sea dredging in America, and he lived long enough to see that these expeditions had paved the way not only for similar English, French, and Scandinavian researches, but had led in this country to the Hass/er, and finally to the Blake expeditions, under the auspices of the Hon. Carlile P. Patterson, the present Superintendent of our Coast Survey. Onthe Hassler expedition from Massa- chusetts through the Straits of Magellan to California, he had entire charge of the dredging operations ; owing to circumstances beyond his control, the deep-sea explo- rations of that expedition were not as successful as he anticipated. At the death of his father M. Pourtales was left in an independent position, which allowed him to devote himself more completely than ever to his zoological studies. He resigned his official connection with the Coast Survey and returned to Cambridge, where he became thenceforth identified with the progress of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. To Prof. Agassiz his presence there was in- valuable. In youth one of his favourite pupils, through- out life his friend and colleague, he now became the support of his failing strength. y The materials of the different deep-sea dredging expe- ditions above-mentioned had been chiefly deposited at the Museum in Cambridge, and were thence distributed to! specialists in this country and in Europe. A large part of the special reports upon them have already appeared. M. Pourtales reserved to himself the Corals, Halcyonarians, Holothurians, and Crinoids. A number of his papers on the deep-sea corals of Florida, of the 372 Caribbean Sea, and of the Gulf of Mexico have appeared inthe Museum publications. He had begun to work at the magnificent collection of Halcyonarians made by the Blake in the Caribbean Sea, and had already made good progress with his final report on the Holothurians. The Crinoid memoirs published by him relate to a few new species of Comatula and to the interesting genera Rhizocrinus and Holopus. The titles of his memoirs indicate the range of his {earning and his untiring industry. His devotion to science was boundless. A model worker, so quiet that his enthusiasm was known only to those who watched his steadfast labour, he toiled on year after year without a thought of self, wholly engrossed in his search after truth. He never entered into a single scientific contro- versy, nor ever asserted or defended his claims to dis- coveries of his own which had escaped attention, But while modest to a fault and absolutely careless of his own position, he could rebuke in a peculiarly effective, though always courteous, manner ignorant pretensions or an assumption of infallibility. J Appointed keeper of the Museum of Comparative Zoology after the death of Prof. Agassiz, he devoted a large part of his time to the administration of the museum affairs. Always at his post, he passed from his original investigations to practical details, carrying out plans which he had himself helped to initiate for the growth of the institution. As he had been the devoted friend of Prof. Agassiz’ father, he became to his son a wise and affectionate counsellor, without whose help in the last ten years the Museum could not have taken the place it now occupies. If he did not live to see the realisation of his scientific hopes, he lived at least long enough to feel that their fulfilment is only a matter of time. He has followed Wyman and Agassiz, and like them has left his fairest monument in the work he has accomplished and the example he leaves to his successors. Cambridge, Mass., August 2 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ NOTES THE honour of a Knight-Commandership of the Bath has been conferred upon Mr, E. J. Reed, C.B., F.R.S., late Chief Constructor of the Navy. WE give this week, by the continued kindness of General Myer, the International Monthly Chart for October, 1878, showing mean pressure, temperature, force and prevailing direction of wind at 7.35 a.m. Washington mean time, for that month. The lessons which it teaches may be learned by com- parison with the chart for the previous month; any remarks we may have to make upon it we reserve for the issue of the next chart. WE are happy to state that the Worshipful Company of Drapers have intimated their intention of continuing, at all events for the present, their annual subscription of one hundred guineas to the Research Fund of the Chemical Society, THE eighth session of the French Association for the Advance- ment of Science was opened on August 11 at Rheims, under the presidency of M. Krantz, senator and ex-director of the Uni- versal Exhibition of 1878. In his opening speech M. Krantz paid a tribute to the memory of Paul Broca, and spoke of the late Universal Exhibition as well as the construction of the Trocadéro Palace. The General Secretary, M. Mercadier, ac- cording to the routine of the French Association, reviewed the work done last year at Montpellier. Addresses were also deli- vered by M. Diancourt, Mayor of Rheims, and M. Paulane, ex- Mayor, President of the Local Committee. The report read by M. Georges Masson, the treasurer, shows that the French Asso- ciation is very prosperous, numbering 3,000 members, with a NATURE we { August 19, 1880 capital of 300,000 francs. The income is 60,000 francs. The attendance is considered to be very good, the local attrac- tions being really unexceptionable in a city whose wines are famous in the whole world, and which is the centre of inter- esting excursions. On the 12th M. Perrier delivered, in the General Session, an address on the law of selection. THE Cambridge meeting of the British Medical Association last week is considered to have been one of the most successful which the Association has held. The presidential address by Prof. Humphry traced the history of medical science in the English universities, and showed the causes of the gradual divorce between university and medical studies up to the last few years. He reiterated his advocacy of university residence for medical students, and of continual advance and expansion of good teaching and examining. He claimed that in no other branch of knowledge were true science and sound practice so perfectly conjoined; in no other was there so much that was calculated to give strength and balance to the thinking and the observing faculties; nor was there any in which mental and bodily effort were more required or more telling. What problems were harder of solution than those relating to the aberrations of the human organism? The very difficulty of the problems caused them to be overlooked, Clearer knowledge of physiology and pathology, of heredity, of the effects of social laws and climatic variations, would have a vast influence on the whole framework of civilisation; and thus he was led to con- clude with Descartes that all great movements in the world of thought, of philosophy, or of morals, and of government, were to come out of medicine, Cambridge ought not to fail in doing its share in the great work, and renewed life would come to all its best interests from a wise encouragement of medicine. The British Medical Association brings together in one aim an enor- mous power, and ought to aid in wearing away false dogmas and false notions of conflicting interests. Dr. Humphry further urged on the vast mass of members of the Association a hearty participation in the collection of facts bearing on the effects of temperature, climate, soil, &c., on disease, under the guidance of a medical investigation committee. The latter proposal awakened a cordial response, and the Council were requested to see it carried out. The honorary degree of LL.D. was con- ferred on Doctors Brown-Séquard, Donders of Utrecht, Gross of Philadelphia, Sir W. Jenner, Sir W. Gull, Sir George Burrows, Prof. Haughton of Dublin, Mr. Wm. Bowman, Mr. Joseph Lister, Dr. Denis O'Connor of Cork (the retiring presi- dent of the British Medical Association), Mr. John Simon, C.B., and Dr. Andrew Wood. Dr, Chauyeau of Lyons was unavoid- ably absent from the meeting, and consequently could not receive in person the degree which would otherwise have been conferred upon him ; and Prof. Broca’s lamented death caused another variation from the list as originally settled. THE International Congress of Hygiene will meet at Turin on September 6 under the presidency of King Humbert, who will give the inaugural address. The general meeting will take place in the Carignan Palace. The Congress will end by an excursion to Milan, where a cremation will take place. In a brief report of the recent French scientific cruise in the Zravailleur, in the Bay of Biscay, M, Alph. Milne- Edwards says the weather was very good, allowing them in the last fortnight of July to dredge twenty-four times, sometimes using two dredges at once. The bottom has a thick layer of greenish-grey ooze, which was apt to fill the dredges, so recourse was had largely to weighted rods with hemp or twig bundles, swabs, &c., attache1, to sweep the bottom. Sir William Thomson’s wire apparatus proved very serviceable in sounding. The greatest depth reached was 2,700 m., and the least exceeded 300 m. An important collection of marine | August 19, 1880} NATURE S13 ns organisms was obtained, including, besides most of the species described by English and Scandinavian naturalists, many ‘new animals not previously known. Some large Gorgonians of the genus Isis, once brought up from 600 m., about midnight presented a curious sight : the whole of the sarcosoma between the zooids emitted a green phosphorescent light so strong that on agitating these animals they seemed to produce a shower of fire, and with the light emitted one could read the smallest type. The collections are distributed thus: M. Vaillant examines the fishes, nemertians, and sponges; M. Fischer, the molluscs ; M. Marion, the annelids, echinoderms, and other zoophytes ; M. de Folin, the foraminifera; M. A. Milne-Edwards, the crustacea ; while M. Perier has made thermometric observations, and will analyse the samples of sea-bottom. AMONG our letters this week are some referring to the recent remarkable displays of aurorze. Another correspondent writes that similar displays were seen from Caithness-shire on the evenings of Wednesday the 11th, and Thursday the 12th inst. The finer of the two displays was on the Thursday, lasting from about Io p.m. to midnight. The outburst of streamers at 10.15 p-m. was very fine, the streamers appearing like wavy swaying curtains from the zenith to near the horizon, with a development of tints of the loveliest green near the zenith. The aurora of the 11th was to the north-west of Wick, but that of the 12th chiefly to the north-east. From Kirkwall also fine displays were seen on the 13th till past midnight, Reports in the daily papers also show that the phenomena have been seen from many parts of England as well as Scotland. Fine displays of this beautiful meteor may very confidently be looked for during the next three months, and if our spectroscopists bestir themselves a large extension of our knowledge of the aurora is close at hand. Pror, SILVESTRI writes to the Dazly News Naples corre- spondent that ina short time the Observatory on Etna will be an accomplished fact. The Italian Government contributes half of the expenses, the Province of Catania a fourth, and the Commune of Catania the remaining fourth. The object of the observatory is the study of vulcanology, and therefore it has been built at the base of the central cone, exactly on the former site of the well-known refuge called the ‘‘Casa degli Inglesi.’ It will be in connection with several small sismic stations posted on the slopes of the mountain, and the whole will communicate telegraphically with another vulcanic station which he proposes to establish in Catania. In the central observatory, so favourably situated about 3,000 metres above the level of the sea on the isolated mountain, where the extent of view is unlimited, and the sky peculiarly transparent, meteorological observations most interesting to science will be carried on, and Prof. Tacchini, the astronomer, proposes to make there experiments in physical astronomy, particularly relating to the spectroscopical study of the fixed stars. The Observatory will therefore be divided into three scientific branches—-vulcanology, astronomy, and meteoro- logy, connected with the University of Catania, and dependent on the Minister of Public Instruction. It was intended that the inauguration should take place during the Congress of the Alpine Club at Catania, but unforeseen delays in the execution of the works will defer it to next year. THE United States Government has taken prompt and vigorous action on the basis of the recent conclusions come to by scientific investigators as to the prevalence of colour-blindness. Both in the army and the navy, and in the case of pilots, systems of examination have been devised and are enforced to secure the detection of colour-blindness in all cases in which such a defect would be likely to lead to inefficient discharge of duty. As we formerly intimated, also, the State of Connecticut insists that all railway emp/oyés within its borders be tested for the same pur- pose, and doubtless in time a similar law will be passed in all the other States. The following are the rules for conducting the examinations in the State of Connecticut-—Rule 1.—For the qualitative estimation of colour-blindness the following tests are to be employed: Holmgren’s worsteds, the tables of Stilling, Donders’ colour-test patterns, Pfliiger’s letters with tissue papers, Diiae tests and Woinow’s revolving cards may also be used. For the quantitative test for colour-blindness, Donders’ reflected spots, Donders’ method with transmitted light, Holmgren’s shadow-tests shall be employed. Rule 2.—The following are the requirements for a certificate in the first class: 1. Healthy eyes and eyelids without habitual congestion or inflammation. 2. Unobstructed visual field. 3. Normal visual acuteness. 4. Freedom from colour-blindness. 5. Entire absence of cata- ract or other progresssive disease of the eyes. The second class shall have :—1. Healthy eyes and eyelids without habitual con- gestion or inflammation. 2. Unobstructed visual field. 3. Visual acuteness at least equal to three-fifths without glasses and normal with glasses in one eye, and at least one-half in the other eye with glasses. 4. Freedom from colour-blindness in one eye, colour-perception at least equal to three-fourths in the other eye. Rule 3.—In the case of employés who have held their positions five years or more, the standards required in each class shall be determined under special instructions from the Board of Health. THE third instalment of Dr. Elliott Coues’s ‘‘ Ornithological Bibliography” is, we learn from the New York Wation, still in the press, having been delayed by its unexpected extent. Mean- time, extracted from the Proceedings of the United States National Museum, we have the fourth instalment, being a “ List of Faunal Publications relating to British Birds.” Such a list, of course, could not possibly be made complete out of England, and the compiler himself points out its inadequacy. Nevertheless, it embraces something like a thousand titles, only in a compara- tively few cases taken at second-hand, and is so accurate and punctilious as far as it goes that to call it a “published proof- sheet” is almost an excess of modesty. The titles are given in full, and even, as in the first two (different editions of the same book), with the typographic errors and inconsistencies of the originals. Further, they are arranged chronologically, and copiously annotated, not seldom with the aid of Prof. Alfred Newton, of Magdalene College, Cambridge. ‘PaL®ONTOLOGISTS and naturalists generally,” the Mation states, ‘‘ will learn with satisfaction of the appearance in connected form of the results of a portion of Prof. Marsh’s wonderful paleontological discoveries in the Western Territories. The series of explorations so successfully carried on by this distin- guished naturalist in the Rocky Mountain region since 1868, undertaken at no inconsiderable personal risk and no less con- siderable outlay of private capital, has resulted in the acquisition by Yale College of the most extensive collection of fossil vertebrate remains in the world. Hurxley’s visit to this country in 1876 was largely, if not mainly, brought about by his desire to examine personally this collection, Some notion of its extent may be gleaned from the fact that of Pterodactyls (flying reptiles) alone it embraces fragments belonging to at least 600 individuals, and of Mesozoic birds—a class of remains which, as far as number is concerned, has thus far yielded the most barren results in extra-American countries—fragments representing more than 100 individuals. The work before us, which is intended to form yol. vii. of the geological reports of the Fortieth Parallel Survey, deals with the Odontornithes, or extinct toothed birds of North America. These, belonging to the middle-cretaceous period, are the oldest ornithic remains as yet discovered on this con- tinent, and, with the exception of the three specimens of the Archaeopteryx wnearthed from the Jurassic lithographic limestone of Solenhofen, Bavaria, represent the oldest known form of 374 WA LOKE [August 19, 1880 birds altogether, for the footprints in the Triassic sandstone of the Connecticut valley are now generally referred to Dinosaurian reptiles. Despite their strongly reptilian characters—among others, the presence of teeth in the beaks—which point to a position low down in the avian branch of the Sauropsida, Prof. Marsh argues, from the structural differences existing between such forms as “esferornts and Ichthyornis, and between these and Archeopteryx, which appear greater than those presented by any two living birds, that they represent comparatively highly specialised types, and that we must look for the earliest appear- ance of birds in strata possibly as old as the Permian (Palzozoic). The magnificent engravings which accompany the work render it a livre de luxe, and place it in the category of recent American scientific works next to Leidy’s ‘Rhizopods,’ to which we lately had occasion to call attention. We are informed that another important work on the extinct vertebrata of the West is shortly to appear, from the pen of Prof. Cope.” Mr. THomAs BoLton of Birmingham has sent us No. 3 of his ‘‘ Portfolio of Drawings and Descriptions of Living Organisms (Animal and Vegetable) Illustrative of Freshwater and Marine Life,” which have been sent out by him with the living specimens, AN interesting paper by Mr. G. M. Dawson on the distribu- tion of some of the more important trees of British Columbia is reprinted from the Canadian Naturalist. In connection with this subject we learn from the Gardener’s Chronicle that three of the most distinguished botanists of America—Dr. C, C. Parry, Dr. George Engelmann, and Prof. C. S. Sargent—are now on their way to Vancouver’s Island ; thence they propose to return and ascend the Columbia River as far as it is necessary to settle vexed tree questions in the extensive forest region along its shores ; they will thence journey southward vié Portland through the centre ‘of Oregon to the great Fir forests of Shasta. We may hope that much ‘‘clearing-up” in the nomenclature of certain Conifers will accrue from the visit. WE have received the five Annual Reports of the Little Miami Natural History Society, which was founded in 1875 at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, The objects of this Society are :—(1) To develop among the students a habit of accurate observation and patient investigation rather than mere acquisition in studying the natural sciences, and thus to accustom them to the methods and rules of scientific study ; and (2) to work out the natural history of the district in which the college is situated, especially the valley of the Little Miami and its tributary streams. The membership of the Society is open to all students of the College who wish to join for the purpose of doing actual work in furtherance of this purpose. Each of the Reports covers only one side of a sheet of paper, but from the catalogue of papers and reports contributed to the Society, it is evidently doing good work in the natural history of its district. Dr. R. F. HurcHinson of Mussoorie, N. W.P., India, writes with reference to NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 119, that he has frequently seen Mercury with the naked eye out there, especially in the cold weather when the atmosphere is clear and dry. He bas also twice seen two of Jupiter’s satellites under the same circum- stances, SEVERAL important changes have been made in the method of conducting the technological examinations in connection with the City and Guilds of London Institute ; those interested should apply for a programme of the changes to the Secretary, Gresham College, E.C, TELEPHONE experiments with a new apparatus by Dr. Herz have been made with the French Atlantic cable between Brest and Penzance, and are said to have yielded satisfactory results. ON Sunday, August 8, a young man named Brest ascended at Marseilles in a balloon he had constructed himself. He was — lost to view in the direction of the sea, and his aérial craft was — found by fishermen close to Bastia, in Corsica, the unfortunate aéronaut was drowned. THE lady who took so high a place in the London University B.Sc. examination, referred to last week, was not Miss, but Mrs. Bryant, the well-known teacher at the North London Collegiate School for Girls. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Rhesus Monkey (Macacus erythreus) from India, presented by Mr, J. E. Kincaid ; a Black-handed Spider Monkey (Aé/es geoffroyi) from South America, presented by Capt. Woolward; a Common Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), British, presented by Capt. Tholandir; a Spotted Ichneumon (Herpestes auropunctatus) from India, presented by the Hon. L. S. Jackson ; four Richardson’s Skuas (Lestris crepidatus), Shet- land Isles, presented by Mr. Robt. T. C. Scott; three Abyssinian Guinea Fowls (Wamida ptilorhyncha) from Abyssinia, presented by Mr. Gerald Waller; two Common Nightjars (Caprimulous euvopeus), British, presented by Mr. E. Ockenden ; a Common Chameleon (Chameleon vulgaris) from North Africa, presented by Mr. Perey Howard; an Areolated Tortoise (Homopus areo- Zatus), a Geometric Tortoise (Zestudo geometrica) from South Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S.; three Richardson’s Skuas (Zestris crefidatus), Shetland Isles, four Glass Snakes (Pseudofus pallasi) from Dalmatia, deposited ; a Yellow-collared Parrakeet (Platycercus semitorquatus) from West Australia, received in exchange. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN THE AuGusT METEORS.—The meteors annually encountered by the earth on arriving at the descending node of the third comet of 1862, in the orbit of which they are found to travel, are reported to have been less numerous this month than in most recent years. The earth arrived in the longitude of the node about midnight on the 9th inst., and in this position is only 430,000 miles, or less than twice the moon’s distance from the comet’s track, Even if less frequent than in several past years, a considerable number was observed on August 9, 10, and Il, and on the latter night a conspicuous Aurora Borealis, which phenomenon has so often accompanied meteoric displays, was’ witnessed in the north of England, Early on the evening of August 12 the meteors were sufficiently frequent and bright to attract the attention of persons in the suburbs of London who were not looking for them, but there were very few later in the evening, It has been frequently remarked that the August meteors, or, to call them by their astronomical designation, the Persetds, must be much more widely distributed along the cometary orbit than are those of the November period—the Zeonds—moving in the track of the first comet of 1866. The comet which appears to generate the August meteors, or at any rate to be followed by them, has now receded beyond the orbit of Neptune, and will continue to recede until about the year 1923. It was last in aphelion, according to Prof. Oppélzer’s investigation, about 1801 or 1802, and, notwithstanding the great distance of the comet, there was a remarkable meteoric display. Herrick reports a letter from Dr. Joseph Priestley describing the pheno- menon as he witnessed it on August 8, 1801, amongst the meteors being ‘‘a prodigious number of fire-balls.” He com- pared the whole to a brilliant display of fire-works, It is rather singular that in the history of comets we should not have been able to recognise any previous appearance of the body connected with the Perseids, notwithstanding its close approach to the earth’s orbit when the perihelion passage takes place in the summer. Perhaps for many past centuries the perihelion may have fallen in the winter, when the comet would have greater chance of escaping notice. Capr OBSERVATIONS oF ComeET 1880 (I).—Mr. Gill sends us the fully reduced observations of the great comet of the present year made at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good It is feared that | i f August 19, 1880] NATURE 375 nee eee Hope. A ring-micrometer was used, the aperture of the telescope and the unsatisfactory illuminating arrangements not permitting the use of the parallel-wire micrometer. The stars of comparison have been observed in the early morning with the meridian circle ; also the 74 mag. star used by Mr. Ellery on February 14. Mr, Gill expresses himself as by no means proud of his observa- tions, the comet’s nucleus being an object which could not be satisfactorily observed, but he did his best with the available means. He also writes disparagingly of the ring-micrometer, a tool which we incline to agree with him has been very much over- lauded. As Mr. Gill will no doubt communicate the details of his observations and reductions to the Royal Astronomical Society or the Astronomische Nachrichten, we shall confine ourselves to appending his final results :— Cape M.T. App. R.A App. N.P.D. hm. s. hom. s. z ji i Feb. 10 8 50 2 Oo 3 58°59 = 8 52 49 = 123 43 15°53 Lae (fxr 8 33 4 © 20 22°16 _— _ 8 45 42 © 20 31°53 123 31 30°78 [eel s>12 8 42 18 © 36 28°06 123 If 33°93 — 8 42 18 © 36 28°29 — 23°44 i13 8 30 57 © 51 39°32 122 44 20°93 14 8123895 I 6 .7°89 122 IL 17°23 _— 8 42 51 I 6 19°25 122 10 52°86 _— ON42 he 2..8 9)» 6) 19°79 — 57°19 Mer eeo 2A03T |... LTO 54792) ... Zr 3252007, On February 12 two, and on stars were employed. for parallax. February 14 three, comparison The observations are not yet corrected PHYSICAL NOTES Pror. O. N. Roop claims to have produced a ew improve- ment into the Sprengel pump, by which he says he can easily exhaust to gyadoaos OF rosotosas = The alleged improvement is in two parts; the first being an arrangement whereby “‘the mercury, instead of being at once introduced into the pump, passes beforehand through an exhausted bulb”; the second being a ‘‘theoretically perfect fluid valve,” formed by bending the fall-tube into a crenellated form at one point. It is hardly necessary to point out that neither of these improvements is new. The first has been adopted in the Sprengel pumps sold by instru- ment makers in London for the last ten years, and the second, in a form superior even to that of Prof. Rood (since the fall-tube was furnished with more than one fluid valve of a form identical with that devised by Prof. Rood), was to be seen in one of the improved Sprengel pumps exhibited in the Loan Collection at South Kensington in 1876. M. Trovuv£ has suggested a new improvement in the old and simple longitudinal armature employed by Siemens in his earlier magneto-electric machines, and lately revived by M. Marcel Deprez in his little motors. M. Trouvé’s improvement consists in constructing the armature, not with parallel sides, but with sides forming part of a skew-cylinder. Thus one part of the armature is ready to leave the poles of the field magnets when the other is approaching it, and the currents produced are there- fore much more nearly continuous than with the parallel form, This will probably be a considerable advantage in the case where the armature is employed in a small motor, which will be driven much more steadily than has hitherto been possible. With three cells of Reynier’s new battery this little motor will drive a sewing-machine, M. J. PLATEAU proposes a method of estimating approxi- mately the apparent distance at which the moon seems to different people to be in the sky. This means consists in looking at the moon steadily until the retina is sufficiently fatigued to produce an ‘‘accidental” image or ghost. The observer must then turn his gaze to a blank wall, on which he will see the accidental image projected as a tinted patch of the same shape as the moon. He is then to retreat from, or advance to, the wall until this image appears to him to be of the same size as the moon itself did. The distance measured off between the observer and the wall will be the same as that at which he unconsciously takes the moon to be. One of the sons of the author having made this experiment, found the distance to be in his case about fifty metres. This seems a small distance, but it was the result of a single experiment under circumstances which were not very favourable. M. Plateau concludes the brief memoir on the subject, presented by him to the Belgian Académie, by cautioning all persons who may be interested in the subject to take care in repeating the experiment lest the great brilliance of the luminary should damage their sight. M. REYNIER recommends as a powerful and constant battery for electric light work a modified Daniells’ cell, in which the zine is immersed in a solution of caustic soda placed in a rectan- gular porous cell of parchment paper. The electromotive force of this combination varies from 1°47 to 1°35 volts, and the resistance may be less a Thomson’s tray battery. The actual energy which a cell of this battery would furnish is calculated to be twice that of the ordinary round Bunsen cell. A FEW months ago Prof. Boltzmann of Vienna published a calculation of the velocity of the electric current in a conductor based upon the discovery of Mr. E. H. Hall that a magnet acts upon a current in a conductor, tending to alter its path in the substance of the conductor. In the July number of the American Fournal of Science Mr. Hall combats Boltzmann’s calculation, and shows that by parallel reasoning a current should tend to urge forward with considerable force the conductor through which it flows; which mechanical effect is certainly non-existent. Mr. Hall now gives us the very interesting additional piece of information that the displacing force exercised by the magnet upon the current in the conductor is in an opposite direction in gold to what it is in iron—which is also quite irreconcilable with Boltzmann’s theory. AN improved centrifugal machine for schools is described in the Machrichten of the Gottingen Society of Sciences (No. 9), by Herr W. Holtz. The driving-wheel runs in a vertical plane, and the quick axis may (with one and the same length of cord) be set either in a horizontal or a vertical plane, and higher or lower, also at varied distance from the frame of the machine ; further, it can be so rotated that an object to be rotated with it can be suspended fromit. On the same axis and of equal size with the large driving-wheel, but independent of it, runs another grooved wheel. The endless cord passes under these and round two smaller wheels higher up, one of which is on the axis to be quickly rotated (which is setin a movable support). The machine has been patented in Germany. In a communication to the Gottingen Society of Sciences (Nachr., No. 13), Herr Wohbler states that with aluminium alone and with very few elements, a galvanic battery may be formed of strength sufficient to deflect a magnetic needle strongly, decompose water, and raise a thin platinum wire to glow. In a cylindrical glass vessel holding very dilute muriatic acid or dilute soda lye, is placed a roll of sheet aluminium, and within this a porous cell containing concentrated nitric acid and a smaller roll of aluminium, A projecting piece of the metal from each roll is inserted in a circular cover of _ebonite. DuRING arecent thunderstorm at Hamburg the British Consul, Mr. Pogson, observed the phenomenon of St. Elmo’s fire playing above the tip of the spire of a church three-quarters of a mile away. Twenty times within one hour a pale bluish ball of light resembling in tint the flame of burning potassium was seen. It appeared to be spherical in form, and from three to six feet in diameter, It seemed to hover above the spire without touching it, and lasting about forty seconds at each time of appearance. Apropos of the approaching meeting of the British Association at Swansea, we may note that on the occasion of the last meeting at Swansea of the Association, in 1848, a paper was read by Mr. F. Wishaw ‘‘On the Telekouphon, or Speaking Tele- graph.” This antedates Philip Reis’s ‘‘ Telephon” by several years. ANOTHER improved bichromate battery is announced, this time by the Silvertown Company. In no essential respect does this battery differ from the form known as ‘‘ Fuller’s battery, save in the addition of certain ‘‘ exciting powders” to the liquids, a ‘grey compound” being dissolved in the inner cell in which the amalgamated zinc is placed, anda “red compound” in the outer cell with the carbon-rod. The use of dilute sulphuric acid is avoided by employing the ‘‘grey compound;” the avowed aim of this change is the increase of internal conduc- tivity. The result is certainly an increase of cost, SPEAKING of bichromate batteries, it appears to us that the true function of the porous cell now usually employed with them is entirely misunderstood. The bichromate solution, as reduced by the zinc in the cell on standing, is a colloidal substance. The 376 NA TORE | dugust 19, 1880 porous cell prevents this from mixing with the fresher strong solution outside, and thus enables the operator to remove the exhausted portion, AN adaptation of the telephone to the needs of deaf persons has been brought out by one H. G, Fiske of Springfield (Massa- chusetts). To the centre of the disk of the receiving telephone is attached a short rod of wood, ebonite, or other elastic hard material which can be held between the teeth. The sonorous vibrations imparted to the disk by the magnet are thus transmitted mechanically to the auditory nerves through the teeth and the bones of the skull. The advantages are probably limited, since, as experiments with the audiphone have shown, only a small percentage of truly deaf persons retain the power of hearing through the teeth. In the greater majority of cases it is the auditory nerve itself, not the mechanical adjustments and auditory apparatus of the ear, that is the cause of deafness. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES SOME modifications have been made in the composition of the fifth International Expedition to Central Africa. Lieut. Harou, who was to have formed part of the expedition, will only join his companions at a later period on the Upper Congo. He is charged, meantime, with a secret mission to Africa, for the accomplishment of which about ten months are necessary, After the termination of this mission he will join the expedition, M. Harou will embark about the 23rd for his new destination. We learn that Dr. Dutrieux, who had to return from Africa to Bel- gium to recruit bis health, is about to return to Africa to take part in the service for the abolition of slavery, at the head of which is Col, Sala. He had begun when in Africa a dictionary of the Suaheli language, so common all over Central Africa, Although incomplete, the Executive Committee of the Associa- tion have decided to print the dictionary asit is, and put itin the hands of travellers for correction and completion. THE Zereg states that next autumn Baron Nordenskjold will visit St. Petersburg to make preparations for his proposed ex- pedition to the New Siberian Islands in 18$2, the expenses of which will be borne by the Russian merchant, M, Sibiriakoff, Nordenskjéld will go to the mouth of the Lena overland, and thence embark for his destination. THE Congress of French Societies of Geography was held this year at Nancy during the first week of August. M. Levasseur, honorary president, gave an address, in which he reviewed the progress realised by the creation of so many geo- graphical societies. In the evening the members were invited to the Town Hall, where they were entertained by M. Volland, the mayor. A number of toasts were delivered by his Worship, as well as by M. Levasseur and others. A LETTER from Dr. Matteucci, written in May {last, fintimates the arrival of the expedition under Prince Borghese at El Fasher, the capital of Darfur, and the approaching departure for Wadai, Dr. Matteucci remarks on the almost absolute want of water in Darfur, and the consequent recent cultivation of water-melons by the natives as far as the arid soil will permit. They also utilise the Baobab tree in a curious manner. Hollowing out the huge trunk of the older trees by fire, they by some prehistoric primi- tive method get the hollow trunk filled with water during the rainy season, the water keeping sweet for eight months. The people of Darfur, Dr. Matteucci says, are still in a primitive uncorrupted condition, a contrast to the Egyptianised natives of Kordofan, ; M. BIscHOFFSHEIM pays the expenses of M. G. Capu, a young geologist and botanist, who will accompany M. de Ujfalvy on his new mission to Central Asia, referred to last week ; M. Gabriel Bovalt, as topographer and naturalist, will also accom- pany the mission. THE ALG OF THE SIBERIAN POLAR SEA‘ BEFORE the voyage of the Vega our knowledge of the alzx of the Siberian Polar Sea outside the Kara Sea was limited to the fact of their existence in Tschaun Bay and along the coast between that bay and the mouth of the Kolyma. This in- formation was obtained by Baron Maydell, the leader of a scientific expedition sent out in 1869, under the auspices of * Abstract of preliminary communication by Dr. F. R. Kjellman in “Ofvers, af Kongl. Vet. Akad. Forhandl.,”’ 1879. the Russian Geographical Society, to explore the Tchuktchi Peninsula, A statement previously made by Matiuschin, one of Wrangel’s companions during his Siberian journey, that alg exist at Tschaun Bay, was thereby confirmed. Maydell brought home with him only three incomplete specimens of alga, which he obtained from a native living at Cape Schelagskoj. From the description given by him they appear to belong to the genera Alaria and Laminaria, From observations made during the voyage of the Vega it appears that alge exist at several places along the whole coast of the Siberian Polar Sea. They occur almost exclusively within the sublittoral region. In the elittoral area, which was the best and most completely examined during the expedition, Dr, Kjellman found only at two places, viz., between Port Dickson and Tajmur Island, an exceedingly scanty flora consisting of three species, two Florideze—Lithothamnion poly- morphum and Phyllophora interrupta—and a Phzozoosporacea —Lithoderma fatiscens. The littoral region along the north coast of Siberia is, like that of the coasts of Novaya Zemlya and clearly for the same reasons, nearly everywhere devoid of algze. Only at two places did Dr. Kjellman find traces of a strand vegetation. ‘They consisted of two small green alge, Extero- morpha conipressa and Urospora penicilliformis, both known from the same region in other parts of the North Polar Sea. Fucacez occur nowhere within the littoral region, not a single individual of this group having been found at any of the places visited between Port Dickson and Koljuschin Fjord near Behring’s Straits. To the east of this fjord there was found in the sublittoral region in limited quantity Fucus evanescens, which is extensively distributed in the North Polar Sea. In the sublittoral belt of the bottom, too, the vegetation in the Siberian Polar Sea is very scanty. Dr. Kjellman had not an oppor- tunity of examining any region where the flora was not considerably poorer in individuals than in those places on the coasts of Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya where alge are pretty abundant. The eastern portion of the sea appears to be some- what less poor in alge than the western. The places where they most abounded were Cape Irkajpij—Cook’s North Cape (N. L. 68° 55’ W. L. 179° 25’), and the mouth of Koljuschin Fjord. From the natives settled between this fjord and Cape Serdze, situated about fifty miles to the east of it, Dr. Kjellman repeatedly obtained during the first half of 1879 very large masses of algze, which appears to show that a pretty abundant vegetation of algce is to be found at certain places along this part of the coast. There are not wanting, however, in the western part of the Siberian Sea some comparatively very good places for alge. One such at least was found, viz., the region round Tajmur Island, between Port Dickson and Cape Chelyuskin. : The srecies that occurred most frequently were Polysiphonia arctica, Rhodomela tenuissima, a variety of Rhodomela subfusca, Sarcophyllis arctica, Phyllophora interrupta, species belonging to the family Laminariex, Sphacelaria arctica, and Phloeospora tortilis, The Laminariese give in general their stamp to the vegetation; at one place however Phyllophora interrupta, at another the above-mentioned variety of Rhedomela subfusca occurred in quantity surpassing that of the Laminariez. _ Of this family six species were found, viz., four species of Laminaria: ZL. Agardhii, L. cuneifolia, L. solidungula, and one belonging to the digitata group, in which Dr, Kjellman believed that he recognised the Z. atro-fulva of J. G. Agardh, and two species of Alaria, one standing near to A. esculenta, the other corresponding in much to A. mzsefolia, but probably belonging each to species allied to these, and yet incompletely known, which occur in the north part of the Pacific. The distribution of the Laminaria along the north Siberian coast is different. Laminaria sclidungula occurs both east and west of Cape Chelyuskin. Laminaria Agardhii was found only at that promontory and at a couple of places west, but nowhere east of it. Eastward it is replaced by Z. cumetfolia, found first at Irkajpij and afterwards east of it in comparatively large quantities. Both the two species of Alaria and Laminaria atro-fulva appear also to be confined to the eastern portion of the Siberian Polar Sea. None of them were seen west of Irkajpij. Some of the species already mentioned as occurring most frequently enter into the composition of the vegetation in different proportions east and west of Cape Chelyuskin. Polysiphonia arctica and Phyllophora interrupta were more common west; Lhodomela tenuissima again more numerous east of the northernmost point of Asia. Phlocospora tortilis was nowhere seen east of Tajmur Island, nor Sarcophyllis arctica and the variety of Rhodomela subfusca west August 19, 1880] NA TORE BYTE of Irkajpij. Hence it follows that the algal flora differs in its composition in a noteworthy degree in the eastern and western portions of the Siberian Polar Sea, It has been stated that an abundance of large-sized luxuriant plants is a characteristic of the Arctic alge. In this respect the vegetation of the Siberian Sea is considerably behind that in other parts of the North Polar Sea. The largest alga seen by Dr. Kjellman was a Laminaria Agardhii, whose length was 210 and greatest breadth 37 centimetres. Among the many speci- mens of Z. caumeifolia examined there was none more than half solargeas this. JZ. solidungula is about as large as middle- sized specimens of this plant from the coasts of Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya, about 90 centimetres long and 15 to 20 broad. The two species of Alaria, when they are largest, are about a metre in length. Other algze almost without exception are stunted in comparison with piants of the same species from other portions of the North Polar Sea. The collections of algee made by Dr. Kjellman, according to the examination to which it has been possible to subject them, consist only of thirty-five species, of which there belong to the Floridee ... .. 12 UCOIdecte wee co ees ert yeve oss)! sn) TO Chlorophyllophyceze ose) Ses Cone eon, 19) Phycochromophycee ..._.. I These are not more than half as many as are known from the Murman and Spitzbergen Seas. With the exception of two, or possibly three, species, all also occur in other parts of the North Polar Sea. The western part of the Siberian Polar Sea, at least to Cape Chelyuskin, must doubtless be considered to belong to the terri- tory of the Spitzbergen marine flora, though poorer in indi- viduals and species and more stunted than it. The alge in the eastern part of the same sea also in a considerable degree correspond with those on the coasts of Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya, but in the composition of its Laminaria vegetation it has a trait foreign to the latter, and indicating a connection with the algee in the north part of the Pacific. ON THE COMPRESSIBILITY OF GLASS? THE following experiments were undertaken with a view to determine by actual observation the effect produced on solids by hydraulic pressure. The instrument was constructed accord- ing to my directions by Mr. Milne, of Milton House, about two years ago, but it is only now that I have been able to devote myself to its application to the purposes for which it was de- signed. It consists of a hydraulic pump, which communicates with a steel receiver capable of holding instruments of consider- able size, and also with a second receiver of peculiar form. This receiver consists essentially of a steel tube terminated at each end by thick glass tubes fitted tightly. It is tapped at the centre with two holes, the one to establish connection with the pump, and the other to admit a pressure-gauge or manometer. The steel tube may be of any length, being limited only by the extent of laboratory accommodation at disposal. The tube which I am using at present has a length of a little over six feet, and an internal diameter of about three-tenths of aninch. The solid to be experimented on must be in the form of rod or wire, and must, at the ends at least, be sufficiently small to be able to enter the terminal glass tubes, which have a bore of 0'08 inch, and an external diameter of 0°42 inch. The length of the solid is such that when it rests in the steel tube its ends are visible in the glass terminations. When the joints have all been made tight the experiment is conducted as follows :— !: A microscope with micrometer eyepiece is brought to bear on each end of the rud or wire. These microscopes stand on sub- stantial platforms altogether independent of the hydraulic appa- ratus. The pressure is now raised to the desired height, as indicated by the manometer, and the ends of the rod are observed and their position with reference to the micrometer noted. The pressure is then carefully relieved and a displacement of both ends is seen to take place, and its amplitude noted. The sum of the displacements of the ends, regard being had to their signs, gives the absolute expansion in the direction of its length, of the glass rod, when the pressure at its surface is reduced by the observed amount, and consequently also by the compression when the process is reversed. As in the case of non-crystalline bodies, like glass, there is no reason why a given pressure should * Substance of a paper read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, June 21, by J. Y. Buchanan. produce a greater effect in one direction more than in another, we may, without sensible error, put the cubical compression at three times the linear contraction for the same pressure. As yet I have only experimented on glass, and only on one sort, namely, that made by Messrs. Ford and Co. of Edinburgh. It contains lead, and is very suitable for glass-blowing purposes. I have not yet analysed it. Ihave observed its compressibility up to a pressure of 240 atmospheres, and before proceeding to higher pressures I intend to determine the compressibilities of other solids, especially metals at pressures up to 240 atmo- spheres. The reason for taking this course is that having got two glass tubes to stand this pressure I am anxious to utilise them as far as possible before risking them at higher pressures, The pressure in these experiments was measured by a mano- meter, which consists simply of a mercurial thermometer with a stout bulb, which is immersed in the water under pressure, whilst its stem projects outside. The values of the readings of this instrument were determined by comparing it with a piezometer containing distilled water. This piezometer had been compared with others which had been subjected to the pressure of very considerable and measured columns of water on the sounding-line. The mean apparent compressibility of water in glass was thus found to be 0'00004868, or, multiplying by 1,000, to reduce the number et figures 0°04868 per atmosphere at temperatures from 1° to 4° C. The manometer (No. 2) was compared with this piezometer. The temperature of the manometer was 12°°5 C., while the piezometer was enveloped in ice in the receiver. The ice was thus melting under the same pressure as the instrument was undergoing, consequently the piezometer was not exposed really to precisely the same temperature at each succeeding experiment. For our present purpose the effect of the possible variation in volume due to this thermic cause is negligable, and we assume that the indications of our piezometer are comparable with those obtained in deep ocean waters. In a future communication I hope to return to this point. In Table I. we have in the first column the number of obser- vations meaned for each pressure from which the average values of the manometer-reading under A, and of the piezometer- indication under H are computed. Manometer No. 2, when treated simply as a thermometer, showed at atmospheric pressure a rise of one division for a rise of 0°233° C. in temperature. Piezometer K, No. 4, was filled with distilled water, and contained 7°74 cubic centimetres at 0° and atmospheric pressure. It is made of Ford’s glass, though not drawn at the same date as the experimental rod. TABLE I.—Comparison of Manometer No. 2 at 12°5° C. with Piccometer K, No. 4, in ice melting under pressure “cit = _ | Apparent Piezometer K, No. 4, contains at 0° and ents |S th) Gash ce Pip ee 3 of obser- {divisions of| tion of atmospheric aed 74 cub. cent. of vations |manometer) water per P meaned. No. 2. | thousand, K, No. 4. | , A. H. Temperature of manometer 12°5° C. 4 26°08 | 4°0228 Piezometer immersed inice... ... 4 30°28 | 4°6534 Melting under pressure A... «.. I 36:20 | 5°5972 Probable temperature between — 1° | . ; 2 and o° C, : se ees) eee 5 40°08 | 6"1045 3 50°08 | 7°6043 3 60°20 | 9°1057 3 70°08 | 10°5163 Total number of observations 23 Mean reading of manometer Hees) 4300 Mean apparent contraction of water | in piezometer - | 66495 Dividing the mean apparent contraction of the water in the piezo- meter by the apparent compressibility of water in glass (0°04868), we have for the pressure corresponding to arise of 43°61 divisions on manometer No, 2 at 12°5° C. (epee LEE 0704868 0'04868 t Proc. Royal Society of London, 1876. p. 162. 136°6 atmospheres. 378 NATURE [August 19, 1880 But this pressure produces a rise of 43°61 divisions on manometer No. 2. We have then for the value of one division on the manometer— 66 = 13016) aaj SEES SES a 43°61 3°13 Hence to convert readings of manometer No. 2 into atmospheres we have to multiply by 3°132 the difference between the mano- meter reading under pressure and that at atmospheric pressure. In another series of experiments piezometer K, No. 4, was compared with manometer No, 2, both being at a temperature of 12°5° C., and the following results were obtained as the mean of nineteen observations :— Mean rise of manometer No. 2... Mean apparent contraction per thousand of water in piezometer IKAINIOs Alitcost tiseel sei newsmen But from the results in Table I. we have for the pressure in atmospheres— P = 3°132 X A = 3'132 X 41°35 = 129°5 atmospheres. And the apparent compressibility of water in glass at this tem- perature (12°5° C.) in volumes per thousand per atmosphere is— M= EN eR 0°04539- iP 129°5 We see then that at pressures up to 240 atmospheres the property peculiar to water of diminishing in compressibility with rise of temperature is preserved unimpaired, and the amount of change corresponds closely with that found at low pressures in the experiments of Regnault and Grassi. In Table II, the results obtained are summarised. In the first column we have the number of the series, and in the second the number of observations which constitute the series. Under T we have the temperature of the receiver and therefore of the rod init. The experiments were made at the temperature of the room, which varied very slightly. The arithmetical mean of the values of T is 12°77 C. Under A we have the pressure in terms of the scale of the manometer; that is the difference between the readings of the manometer when the pressure was up and when it was equal to that of the atmosphere. Under P (3'132 X A) we have the pressure in atmospheres which is ob- tained by multiplying A by 3°132 (see Table I.) Under D we have the sum of the expansions observed at each end in terms of the micrometer, divisions which had identical yalues, Under F we have the values of D reduced to parts of an inch by multi- plying them by o'000417, Under Q we have the greatest devia- tions from the mean amongst the individual observations forming this particular series. R represents this deviation as a percentage of the total expansion (F). Under H we have the linear com- pression (in inches) of a rod one million inches long under a pressure of P atmospheres. K is the corresponding value for one atmosphere, and N = 3K is the cubical compression of the glass per million per atmosphere, The total expansion on D was determined by observing the expansion at each end and adding them{together. These partial expansions were not always, nor indeed often, of exactly the same extent; the excess was sometimes on the one side and sometimes on the other. The effect of the rise of pressure is to extend the containing tube and to compress the contained rod. On the relief of pressure the tube shortens again and the rod recovers its length, and there is necessarily a sliding of the one or the other, and ‘it depends entirely on minute local circum- stances whether the rod finds it easier to return to its original relative position or to another, In some experiments made pre- viously to those quoted in Table II. the rod had greater freedom of motion longitudinally, and it happened several times that it crept bodily to the one end, necessitating the opening of the apparatus to replace it in a position suited to observation. After- wards stops were placed in the tube, which, while setting limits to the crawling motion, did not in any way interfere with the expansion and contraction. The results of these previous ‘exe periments are not included in the table, because they were merely tentative with a view to learning the details of the kind of experimentation ; and further, because in the microscope at the east end the power used was very low, and the micrometer insufficiently delicate. The micrometers used were: at the east end a photographic copy of Hartnack’s eyepiece micrometer, and at the west end one of Morz’s. They were both compared, and the values of their divisions as used determined by comparison with a stage micrometer of Smith and Beck, obligingly lent me by my friend (A) 41°35 divisions. (H) — 5°8782 Dr. William Robertson, who had very carefully verified its graduations. It is remarkable as a coincidence that the values of the divisions turned out to be identical, namely, 0°000417”. 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The only way in which the pressure affects the reading of the micrometer is that when it is sufficiently high it produces a microscopic distortion of the tube which throws the point very slightly out of focus, This is remedied by a slight touch of the fine-adjustment screw of the microscope. ‘ The general result of these experiments is that the linear com- pressibility of the glass experimented on is 0°96 and its cubical compressibility 2°92 per million, é i Grassi} gives as the means of his observations at pressures up to ten atmospheres : ; Glass 2:25 ... Crystal... 2°804 and 2°8584 So that our results agree closely with those found by him for crystal. I Ann. Chim. Phys., (1851) [3], 31) P+ 477- _< ; lugust 19, 1880] e have then the apparent ‘compressibility of water in glass at 2°5° C. 0704868 dd compressibility of glass _ nes 0700292 {True compressibility of water at 2°5°C. ... 0'05160 jAnd the apparent compressibility of water Bmti2sn: Cr 1S 0 ce - pede.) O104530 dd compressibility of glass eee.) 10,00292 rue compressibility of water at 12°5° C. ... 0'04831 Grassi gives the following values for the true compressibility f water at various temperatures :— te T5ciC...., O'0515 Jo Ca 070499 | Mean ... 0°0507 P meecro's~ C, ... 00480 | PAIRESTASIC. 5 aes 0°0477 Mean ... 00478 {My results agree very closely with these. ; Before concluding I would call attention to a very curious henomenon which I have never seen noticed, namely, the eculiar #ozse which accompanies the relief of pressure in a ixture of ice and water. : In comparing the Piezometer K No. 4, in melting ice with the anometer at 12°5° C., I proceeded gradually from lower to igher pressures. When the pressure which was relieved was 100 or 120 atmospheres, I thought I noticed a slight noise. On ising the pressure higher the noise became more and more istinct, until when the pressure relieved was over 200 atmo- heres, it was distinctly audible at a distance of 5 feet or 6 feet. t resembles the noise produced by bending a piece of tin back- jwards and forwards, and is markedly intensified by accelerating he relief, just as the noise made by blowing off steam is intensified iby enlarging the outlet. When the relief valve is opened very arefully it whispers gently but very distinctly, till the pressure s all down. If opened comparatively briskly, but still with reat care, the noise is comparatively loud but more rapidly used jap. I forbear making any reflections until I have been able to (study this phenomenon more closely. Pieces of clear ice which had been subjected to high pressure n the receiver were finely laminated in parallel planes. In each Be there was a central patch surrounded near the sides of the lock by a ring of spherules. | lf _ The annexed figure gives an idea of the arrangement in 2 plane of lamination ; the size of the spherules is greatly exaggerated. _ The lamination of ice by pressure in one direction is well own. I am not aware that its production by pressure in all irections has been noticed. I hope to pursue my observations m this subject. J. Y. BucHANAN b THE CONGRESS OF BOHEMIAN PHYSICIANS AND NATURALISTS | THE first Congress of Bohemian Naturalists and Physicians } met at Prague on May 14 last. More than 400 members ‘oet under the presidency of M. Krejci, M. Eiselt, M. Koristka, ind M. Studnicka. The first general meeting was opened by M. Krejci, Professor of Geology, who delivered an inaugural iddress ‘* On the share of the Bohemian Nation in the Develop- gent of Natural Science.” He showed that not only Bohemian orkers in science were in the field up to the seventeenth century, yut that when the Bohemian nation, after two centuries of »olitical and national slavery, awoke to life again, it very soon NATORE 379 took its part in the progress of natural science. The names of Purkyne, Rokytansky, Skoda, Bohdalek, Pitha, Blazina, Safarik, Celakoysky, Fric, Krejci, Helmhacker, and of many others, are known even beyond the boundaries of Bohemia. Many obstacles were placed in the way of these promoters of science ; they were not assisted by Government, and. even the ancient university of Prague was, and indeed is, almost exclu- sively German. But in spite of all difficulties scientific progress went on steadily, and at present the number of workers in science'sis very fair. Knowing the cosmopolitan character of science, the Bohemian nation values equally the progress made in England, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia; it wishes only that its own share—if proportionately small—may be recognised by others. The great languages of the world are like the sea, which carries the ships and steamers of all nations; but the languages and literature, of small nationalities—of the Danes, Swedes, Dutch, and Bohemians—resembleso many rivers irrigating and fertilising the continents by which the sea is surrounded. On May 15 and 17 sectional meetings took place. On the 16th the members visited the village Chuchel, where Prof. Krejei explained to them the very interesting distortions of the silurian strata on the left bank of the river Vltava (Moldau). In the evening of the same day the members assembled at a banquet, where especially the healths proposed by Prof. Safarik were heartily responded to, He spoke first of the progress of science in Bohemia and its relation to scientific investigation in England and France; he then proposed the health of the distinguished Russian naturalists, referring chiefly to Mendeleeff, Butleroff, Menshutkin, Chebysheff, Shecheneff, Mechnikoff, and Kowas lewski ; finally he drank to the Nestor of palzeontological research, to Joaquin Barrande, whofat Prague has carried out the chief part of his scientific work, In the first section (medicine) papers were read on purely professional subjects. The second section was devoted to mathematics. Besides several mathematical papers Prof. Augustin spoke on cyclones and_anticyclones; M. Doubrava read a paper on electricity ; M. Domalip explained the action of 2 magnet on a current of electricity traversing a rarified medium; Prof, Charles Zengef gave an account of his method of constructing achromatic lenses by means of a combination of crown-glass and certain liquids. Excellent microscopic photographs made by the aid of these lenses were shown. For astronomical purposes lenses with an opening of 2 inches and a focal distance of only 9 inches have been constructed according to this method with complete success. In the third section (Natural Science) the following “papers were read:—Prof. Boricky, on the structure of the Bohemian porphyries. He showed that they frequently contain the mineral ““cordierite,” which hitherto had not beenifound in Bohemia, According to Prof. Boricky a great part of the} Bohemian porphyries must be classed as séliceous porphyrites. Prof. Fric demonstrated a new genus of the ganoids found at Kounoya, near Rakoynik. ‘This fish resembles the genus Palzeoniscus, but its scales are very different. He gave to the new genus thename of Trissolepis kounoviensis. q M. Bayer gave a report on the characters of the skulls of some batrachia. Comparing the skull of the genus Pelobates with that of other genera, he found that the skull of Pelobates differs essentially from all others, and that this genus does o¢ form the connecting link between the Ranidz and the Bufonide. M. Hellich read a report on the genital apparatus of the genus Cypris. He supplemented the data given by Zenker, and corro- borated in a certain sense the new observations of Weissmann, A series of plates belonging to a new work on Bohemian creta- ceous Echinodermata was shown by Dr. Ottomar Novak, and their peculiarities were explained. M. Ladislav Duda gave a preliminary account of the anatomy of the Bohemian hemiptera, especially of the section Seutata. He has discovered on the fore feet of these insects a comb-like apparatus, by means of which the insect cleans its tentacles. In Bohemia as yet 4o1 species of hemi- ptera have been found. Prof. Boricky showed to the members many interesting novelties in mineralogy, as, ¢.g., the Rosslerit, a mineral of which as yet only three specimens are known. Dr. Vejdoysky exhibited the second part of his work on the com- parative morphology of the annelids, containing a new system of the Oligochzeta and their anatomical details, together with their affinities to the Turbellaria and vertebrata. Dr. Vejdovsky pro« poses the following arrangement of the new families of the Oli- gocheeta :—(1) Amedullata (Aeolosoma), (2) Cheetogastrida, (3) ” 380 Discodrilida (Branchiobdella), (4) Naidea, (5) Echytraeida, (6) Tubificida, (7) Lumbriculida, (8) Phreorzetida, (9) Criodrilida, (10) Lumbricida. M. V. Fric showed to the members a speci- men of the body of a chimpanzee, four years old, which was prepared by the injection of Wickersheim’s conserving fluid. He explained all methods hitherto known and used to preserve the bodies of animals, and he declared the method of Wickersheim to be the best of them. In chemistry some interesting papers were read and an animated discussion took place on educational and scientific questions. On the 17th the second general meeting took place, Prof. Albert, of the Innsbruck University, delivering an address “On Theory and Practice in University Education.” During the session of the Congress a journal was published containing the abstracts of the papers read before the Congress. The addresses of M. Krejci and Dr, Albert, however, were printed i extenso, and of the former afterwards also a German translation appeared in print. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles, July 15, No. 7,—Note on the equilibrium of solids of great dimensions, by M. Cellerier.—Geological description of the Canton of Geneva, by M. Favre.—Phytography, &c. (M. de Candolle), by M. Micheli.—A differential thermometer for demonstration, by M. Dufour,—On the casting of the beak of birds of the Mormonides family, by M. Bureau. Reale Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere Rendiconti, vol. xiii. Fasc. xiii, June 17, On some trigonometric series, by Prof. Beltrami.—Morphological studies on the human body, by Prof. De Giovanni.—On the part taken by the pneumogastric in death by hanging, by Prof. Tamassia.—Iconography of the Laplanders, by Prof. Mantegazza.—On reflex arthropathia of urethritis, by Prof, Scarenzio.—On a geological congress held at Rome, by Prof. Taramelli. Fasc. xiy., July 1.—Ossiferous breccia and neolithic station in Corsica, by Dr. Major.—On the present geographical distribu- tion of Wyctinomus cestonii, Gavi., by Dr. Beltonii—On a shower of falling stars observed at Milan on June 22, 1880, by S, Fornioni and Prof, SchiaparelliOn univocal plane trans- formations and particularly on involutory, by Prof. Bertini. — Notes on the fishes, and in particular on the male eels, observed at the Berlin Exhibition, by Prof. Pavesi. pee SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES PARIS Academy of Sciences, August 9.—M. Wurtz in the chair.— The following papers were read :—Summary report of a z00- logical exploration in the Bay of Biscay in the Government ship Le Travailleur, by M. A. Milne-Edwards.—Experiments tending to prove that fowls vaccinated for cholera are refractory for charbon, by M. Pasteur.—Results of observations of solar spots and facule during the first two quarters of 1880, by P. Tacchini. The numbers indicate rapid increase of solar activity. The days without spots form five groups separated by a mean interval of twenty-nine days, showing that in one hemisphere (which is that visible in the end of last December) the spots were formed with difficulty —On a class of linear differential equations of the second order, by M. Brioschi.—Experiments on the discharge in rarefied gases, by M. Righi, ner alia, the glass seems to become Tuminous at the point where it acts as positive electrode. During discharge the negative electrode is probably much more heated than the positive. The cause of mechanical action of the negative electrode is the same as in the radiometer.—On some properties of flames, by M. Meyreneuf. The gas which feeds a flame is subject to two opposing influences, one creating a draught outwards, the other (expansion through combus- tion) tending to drive the gas back. By diminishing the rate of outflow without modifying the combustion, one may regu- late these movements so as to get vibrations of the nature of sound. Better sonorous effects are had by making a flame im- pinge on a round rod or on another flame.—Indices of refraction of aqueous solutions of acetic acid and of hyposulphite of soda, by M. Damien.—On an improyement of the Bunsen battery by M, Azapis, by M. Ducretet. For acidulated water is substituted NATURE [August 19, 1380 a 15 per cent. solution of cyanide of potassium, caustic potash, marine salt, or ordinary sal ammoniac. The zincs need not be amalgamated. They are less consumed than in the Bunsen ; the intensity of the current is no less, and its constancy is remark- able.—On the spectra of ytterbium and erbium, by M. Thalén. —On thulium, by M. Cléve.—Researches on the heats of "com- bustion of some substances of the fat-series, by M. Louguinine. —Secondary reaction between sulphuretted hydrogen and hypo- sulphite of soda, by M. Bel'amy.—On the acid obtained by M. Boutroux in the fermentation of glucose, by M. Maumené.—On a new process for producing malleable nickel of different degrees of hardness, by M. Garnier. This consists in incorporating phos- phorus with the nickel (to take up oxygen) ; ¢.g., adding to the bath of nickel a phosphide of nickel containing about 6 \) per cent. phosphorus. Very thin sheets of the material can be |} produced.—On propylnervine, by Mr. Morley.—Influence of light on transpiration of plants, by M. Comes. Plants transpire more in light than in darkness, and more the intenser the light. The more intense the colour of the organ, the greater the trans- piration, The luminous rays absorbed alone favour the trans- piration.—On the source of muscular work and on supposed | respiratory combustions, by M. Sanson, The liberation of |) energy is due greatly, if not wholly, to phenomena of dissocia- tion similar to those in fermentations ; in presence of anatomical elements (blood-corpuscles specially) the immediate principles of the plasma are dissociated, give carbonic acid and doubtless other compounds which borrow oxygen from the hemoglobin for their formation, and yield their energy to the muscul elements, which then manifest it by doing work in contracting, or to the blood for maintenance of animal heat,—On the use of } nitrite of ethyl for rendering contaminated places healthy, by M. Peyrusson. It acts like ozone, but more powerfully.—Com- | plement of the biological evolution of pucerons of galls of | poplar (Pemphigus bursarius, Lin.), by M. Lichtenstein.—On |} the affinities of the genus Polygordius with annelides of iia family of Opheliide, by M. Giard.—Discovery of new mammalia | in the phosphate of lime deposits of Quercy (Upper Eocene), | by M. Filhol.—On the structure and functions of the embryonal | suspensor in some leguminous plants, by M. Guignard.—On | deforming pilosism in some plants, by M. Heckel.—On a new instrument for pointing guns, by M. Arnoux. f CONTENTS CoLouRSIN/ART « <» c= +0 2 5 © © © 0) ©) ue meune smn A Visit To Etna. By G.F.RopwELL. . « + + + + + + + * Our Book SHELF :— Petersen’s ‘‘ Methods and Theories for the Solution of Problems of Geometrical Construction, applied to 410 Problems,’’ and “Text-book of Elementary Plane Geometry’’. » - + + + = 360 Tilden’s ‘‘ Practical Chemistry’” . - + + + * + 2 5 0 360 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: — A Rotatory Polarisation Spectroscope of Great Dispersion.—Prof. P) G. Tair (With Diagram) - +» s| =| 9) see eee 36¢ Dimorphism in NATURE on June 17.—Prof. E. Ray LANKESTER, "RIS. es eel 8 St to) lo 0\ tole Coney men ia Magnetic and Earth-Current Disturbance. —WILLIAM Brrs are 36 “y Aurora Borealis and Magnetic Storms —Rev. S. J. Perry, F.R.S.; } A. B. Oxtver; F. T- Mott; B.W.S.. - - -'- = = =m Height of the Aurora —Joun I. PLUMMER - + + + + + + = 362 Fire Ball.—Rev. S. J. Perry, F.R.S.. . - sige) = ln Atmospheric Phenomenon.—B. W.S._- » » - « © © © = = iam Intellect in Brutes.—Dr. Henry MacCoRMAC + + + + « = 3 Radiation—A Query.—F. G.S. 0 - + 6 se ee se 5 “(On a Mode of Explaining the Transverse Vibrations of Light ’— The Expression ‘ Radiant Matter.’”—S. ToLvVER PRESTON - Earthquake in Smyrna.—Hype CLARKE « - + + + + s 5 * New Biological Term.—D. SHARP» + + «+ + + + s * 5 8 36. Depraved Taste in Animals.—F. R. GREENWOOD + - + + + = } Firing a Tallow Candle through a Deal Board,—C. J. WoopwaRD 364 THUNDERSTORMS. II. By Prof. Tair + + + + * © 5 * 8 = & 364, Puvsicat NoTEs « = Vise Reet hire holies mmonaE® : GHOGRAPHICAL NOTES) «le. (6) + teil bo ibh sis IRir ena a n Potar SEA._ By Dr. F. R. KyELLMAN 379 3) HuMAn HYBERNATION «: @ 0) = 0) 0 09) = 1s) 0) urns) CC 36 Puysics witHouT Apparatus, III. (With Illustrations). . + + + 308 On THE ABSORPTION BANDS IN CERTAIN Corourtess Ligquips. By Dr. Witutam J. Russet, F.R.S., and WiLLIAM LapRAIk (With | Diagram) . “6.8 feet ol we hele) os) 6 es ee 36 CELLULOID “ue 2 ee 2 20s es Sy oe. aS . ae L. F. pE PowrTates. By Prof. ALEXANDER AGASSIZ. . + + + + 397% ores files dertpe. fe el cele ww ale 6 hfe topo )ie) alias! elite Our ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN :— The August Meteors - + 2 + se es 5s syn 7? 374 Cape Observations of Comet 1880 \(I)i2" ss) shee eae ean 37 3 Tur ALG& OF THE SIBERIA On THE COMPRESSIBILITY OF GLASS. By J. Y. BucHANAN. « + + 77 Tur ConGRESS OF BOHEMIAN PHYSICIANS AND NATURALISTS. + + 379 ScrENTIFIC SERIALS.» + + + * * °° % . ee ae SocleTIES AND ACADEMIES + + + * * * ' " " * * seas Bal NATURE 381 -THURSDAY, AUGUST, 26, 1880 DR. BASTIAN ON THE BRAIN The Brain as an Organ of Mind. By H. Charlton Bastian, M.A., M.D., F.R.S. International Scientific Series. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., 1880.) yet preface or other proposition than that suggested by the title of his book, Dr. Bastian commences to deal with his subject by an inquiry into the Uses and Origin and the Structure of a Nervous System. His motive, as expressed farther on, in giving such a wide scope to himself in his method of exposition was to ascertain whether the general similarity in structure of the neryous system in the lower animals as compared with that of man, “carried with it a general similarity in mode of action.’? To all those who, like Dr. Bastian, look upon mental phenomena from the evolutionary aspect—aiming as they do at reducing psychology to a more or less transcendental branch of physiology—this, if not a neces- sary, seems at least to be a favourite plan. Such readers as require to be initiated into the earliest mysteries of zoology and physiology must find this method a useful one, inasmuch as by submitting themselves to the guidance of an accomplished and trustworthy guide such as Dr. Bastian, they are led with ease and interest through a field of attractive information to the considera- tion of the main problem which the author keeps con- tinually in view. To the author himself, however, the method is one which is not free from disadvantages. It leads him, for instance, at the very beginning of his task into the most hypothetical region of evolutionism, namely, that which has to do with the commencement of diver- gences from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous in structure and function; and so affords to sceptics and even to others who may have a stronger predisposition to accept his views, an opportunity of assigning to his argu- ment a weakness which is inherent not in the argument itself but in the present state of a rapidly-progressing branch of science, of which he has submitted a sketch for the guidance of his readers. When Dr. Bastian, for instance, discusses the method in which muscular tissue may be produced by recurring contractions, his language is necessarily so hypothetical that his readers may incline to think that a work which commences in such a nebulous form can scarcely end in the satisfactory exposition of a new philosophy. It is a pity that false conclusions should be suggested by sentences which haye no direct or essential connection with the author’s argument. When, however, Dr. Bastian has disposed of the pre- liminary parts of his work he enters with emphasis into the statement of his views regarding the Scope of Mind, He considers it a ‘‘legitimate inference” that the term ‘©¢ Mind’ no more corresponds to a definite self-existing principle than the word ‘Magnetism.’” He repeats the demonstration of the fallacy which pervades every region of introspective metaphysics (H) that, namely, of regarding all mental phenomena as being limited or bounded by the sphere of consciousness; and, with admirable clear- ness, expands into a definition the title of his work. “Tn treating of ‘The Brain as an Organ of Mind,’ ” he says ‘‘it will be understood that we use the word ‘ organ’ merely in the sense that it is a part whose molecular VoL.Oxxi1.—No,. 565 changes and activities constitute the essential corvelatives (the italics are ours) of those phases of Consciousness known as Sensations, Emotions, Thoughts, and Volitions, as well as of a considerable part of the sum total of those other related nerve actions which are unattended by Consciousness, and whose results form, in accordance with the views above stated, so large a proportion of the phenomena comprehended under the general abstract word ‘ Mind.’” This sentence expresses admirably the position which has been arrived at by all who have studied psychology from the biological point of view, and it is difficult to understand how such a moderate statement of the rela- tionship of Mind to Brain should require in Dr. Bastian’s and other recent books to be supported by an imposing presentation of facts relating to the comparative anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, Dr. Bastian’s volume is a valuable and opportune addi- tion to the International Scientific Series. It will supply a want which has been much felt by specialists as well as by general readers who have been desirous of obtaining a knowledge of the opinions held by exponents of this line of thought—a class of writers whose style is apt to be obscure, and whose writings are too frequently con- tained in scattered and unattainable periodicals. The writer of this work deserves to be complimented on the success with which he has propounded his own special views regarding brain functions without assigning to them such an undue predominance as to rob his work of the credit of being a fair and comprehensive statement of what has been discovered and believed by other workers in the same field. Dr. Bastian writes in all departments of his subject with that ease and clearness which are indicative of perfect knowledge. If in anything this statement does not hold good the exception could be made only with regard to an apparent tendency to do some little injustice to the views of Hughlings-Jackson by attaching a meaning to some of his terms which is too bald and mechanical. Dr. Bastian himself excludes the processes taking place in the Motor Centres of the Cere- brum from “the cerebral substrata of Mind,” and ‘he cannot consequently be expected to lavish much sympathy on doctrines of an opposite tendency. ‘The Cerebral substrata of Mind,’’ he says, ‘in no way include, as the writer believes, the processes taking place in the Motor Centres of the Cerebrum wheresoever they may be situated. Mental operations, in other words, can no longer be legitimately postulated as being in part immediately due to the activity of Motor Centres. Nor can ‘ideal’ words be rightly described as ‘motor pro- cesses.’ This is a point so fundamental that in regard to it there should be no misunderstandings or ambiguities other than those which may be inherent in the subject itself.’’ Similarly the author speaks of ‘‘ Mind as comprising the results of all nerve actions, other than those of out- going currents.” To us this exclusion of the motor element from the constitution of mind and the range of mental phenomena appears somewhat arbitrary, and, from an evolutionary point of view, unnatural; but the opponents of Dr. Bastian’s views will prefer to fight their own battle, and the question is one which as yet has not been sufficiently discussed to justify a critical judgment. S 382 Some of the last chapters of this excellent work are specially rich in information and suggestiveness. That on “ Will and Voluntary Movements’’ deals lucidly with a difficult subject; and the chapters on “Speaking, Reading, and Writing,” and on “ The Cerebral Relations of Speech and Thought” contain much valuable informa- tion regarding the physiology and pathology of intellectual expression and the light which they throw upon the nature of mind as a function of the brain—a phrase which must be read subject co the explanation which Dr. Bastian gives of the title of his work. There may be some reason to doubt whether transcendental metaphysicians will be prepared to admit that their belief in mind as an entity has been so completely destroyed, as Dr. Bastian thinks, by the demonstration of. the doctrine of unconscious cerebration and the consequent vitiation of all deductions drawn exclusively from within the range of consciousness; but there is no room for doubt that metaphysicians of all shades must make themselves familiar with such researches as those embodied in Dr. Bastian’s work. Should they fail to do so they must be prepared to find their carefully-nurtured speculations exposed to many severe rebuffs, and open at all times to that kind of merciless danger which theories experience when they run against conflicting facts. This work is the best book of its kind. It is-full, and at the same time concise; comprehensive, but confined to a readable limit ; and though it deals with many subtle subjects it expounds them in a style which is admirable for its clearness and simplicity. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents, Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice ts taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressureon his space is so great that it zs impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.) Eozoic and Palzozoic PERMIT an old worker in fossils to protest mildly against the slapdash manner in which writers sometimes hit off great palzeontological questions. In your review of Roemer’s valuable “‘Lethea Palzeozoica” it is stated that in regard to Hozoon canadense, he *‘accepts the verdict of Mébius against its organic origin, and rejects it from the list of palzozoic fossils.” Now as to the acceptance of the ‘‘ verdict” in question, I have nothing to say, except that the naturalist to whom are assigned the functions of judge and jury in the case very obviously lacks some of the qualifications for that high office, and has not been recognised by those best qualified to understand the case of Eozoon. But why Roemer or your reviewer should ‘‘reject Zozoon from the list of palzeozoic fossils” Iam at a loss to understand. Asa writer on paleozoic fossils, Roemer has nothing to do with Eozoon. It belongs to that great series of eozoic or archzean formations which precedes the palaozoic, and which probably represents quite as long a period. Little comparatively is known of the fossils of these oldest rocks; but what we do know of their Eozoon, Archeospherine, Spiral arenicolites, and Asfpi- della, and of their immense deposits of graphitised plants, is sufficient to assure us that the life of the eozoic period was very different from that of the palzozoic; Zozoon, whatever its nature, is one of the most characteristic of these eozoic fossils. It has been recognised through a great vertical thick- ness of beds, and over so wide areas, that it is now equally characteristic of eozoic rocks in Canada and Brazil, in Bavaria and in Scandinavia. Further, it has obviously been connected with the accumulation of some of the greatest limestones of the eozoic time, NATURE [| August 26, 1880 One can excuse a paleontologist familiar only with mesozoic or kainozoic fossils, when he doubts as to the organic nature of such obscure markings as O/dhamia, or even as to those wrink- lings and scratchings on Cambrian slates which are recognised as trilobites and sponges ; but we never think of asking him to accept or reject them as mesozoic fossils. In like manner those who are working out the dim traces of life remaining in the eozoic rocks will be content if geologists who scarcely conde- scend to recognise these great formations in their arrangements will abstain in the mean time from pronouncing judgment on eozoic remains supposed to be organic. To us in Canada who have long regarded the eozoic forma- tions as being quite as important in a physical point of view as the palzeozoic, it is a matter of congratulation that they are now attracting so much of the attention of British geologists. Their palzontology, it is true, is still meagre, but our knowledge of it is gradually increasing, and those who have lived to see the Cambrian fauna grow from nothing to its present satisfactory condition need not despair of the Laurentian or Huronian, Montreal, August 5 J. W. Dawson Algee I Notice in NATUuRE, vol. xxii. p. 319, that amongst other subjects you answer inquiries about minute “ algze,” I venture to send you herewith specimens of one of the Oscil- latoriaceze, which I believe is rare. In form it is nearest to what is described in the ‘‘Micrographical Dictionary” as ‘* Spzvzlina oscillaroides”” (Turp. ?), but it is very much larger. When two join and intertwine they formacable. Under an th objective it is a most striking object ; it has the characteristic deep blue- green colour, and also its movements. I shall be glad to know if it has been described by any one. G, F, CHANTRELL St. James’s Mount, Liverpool, August 6 [The alga is Spirulina jenneri, Kutz, and the Spiril/um jenneri, Hassall. It is described in the ‘‘ Fresh Water Alga” of the latter author, and the description occurs also in Rabenhorst’s “ Algve aquee-dulcis.” During this year, in a paper read by the Rev. J. E. Vize at the Montgomery Society, and printed in their Proceedings, it is called Spirulina oscillarioides, but it is larger, and more distinctly articulated than that species. The figure given by Mr. Vize is accurate. It is not very common, but we have heard of it in two or three localities during the past twelve months.—ED. ] Lightning Conductors I sHALL feel exceedingly obliged if you will have the kindness to reply to the following question :—The painter of my villa (Villa Calpe) having taken the liberty to paint the chain of the lightning conductor attached to my house, I should like to know whether it will interfere with the efficiency of the apparatus. CATHERINE MCPHERSON DE BREMON Biarritz, August 5 [A coat of paint on a lightning conductor will not at all affect its efficiency. It will protect it from rust, which of course is an advantage. But if the note is to be read literally and @ chazn is used as a conductor, it is the worst possible form, and it ought to be changed for a continuous conductor. ‘The links of a chain only touch each other at Zozts, so that even a link made of half an inch in diameter of metal is reduced to the size of less than 31, of an inch of metal. We would rather trust to a copper wire of #1, than to @ Zink of much larger size. A point of great importance is to have a good discharge in the earth, either wet soil or a large quantity of metal joined to the conductor.—ED. ] Strange Method of Crossing a Torrent REFERRING to the inquiry of your correspondent as to the existence in modern times of the practice of carrying a stone to steady oneself whilst crossing a torrent, I may state that it is well known to the inhabitants of mountainous districts, and though practically it may not often have to be resorted to in Switzerland, where the streams are mostly well bridged, I have myself been glad to adopt it in Dauphiné. As, however, a weight on the head or shoulders would, by raising the centre of gravity, rather diminish than add to the steadiness of the bearer, it is more usual to fill the lower side pockets of the coat, and per- August 26, 1880} NATURE 383 haps take a large stone in each hand, and I have certainly found | this useful in traversing rapid glacier streams when mid-thigh deep. Frenchay, near Bristol, August 18 F, F,. TUCKETT Fascination Ts it a fact that snakes can fascinate birds? With reference to the fascination of man, the ingenious explanation offered in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 338, seems to me unsatisfactory, in that it supposes the individual fascinated to be self-conscious in a degree necessary for the consideration which of two courses to adopt to escape danger. This supposition implies an amount of self-consciousness which surely is absent in such cases as narrated? I have frequently experienced this fascination when standing on the railway platform as the engine was steaming in, and with myself at those times it was to be accounted for by the absorption of attention by the external object, little being left for self. That cries for assistance showed consciousness of danger, as in cases mentioned by Mr. Curran in NaTuRE, vol. xxii. p- 318, might be explained by the fact that these would follow on a much less attention to self than would be required for movement to carry the body out of danger. Indeed they would be the outcome of /ee/iévg rather than of ¢hought. This view seems to be borne out by the very description of those fascinated, e.g., ‘‘have had their senses so engaged by a shell in its descent,” ‘whose every gyration in the air he could count” (NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 318), and it is expressed definitely by Mr. Spencer (‘‘ Principles of Psychology,” vol. ii. p. 438) — “‘When the external object or act is an astounding one, the observer partially loses consciousness of himself. He is, as we say, Jost in wonder, or has fov-gottex himself; and we describe him as afterwards returning to himself, recol/ecting himself. In this state, the related impressions received from the external object, joined with representations of the objective changes about to follow, monopolise consciousness, and keep out all those feelings and ideas which constitute self-consciousness. Hence what is called ‘fascination ;’ and hence the stupefaction on witnessing a tremendous catastrophe. Persons so ‘ possessed’ are sometimes killed from the inability to recover self-conscious- ness in time to avoid danger.” RicHARD HopGson Cambridge, August 17 “« Hyper-Space ” Ir some one learned in many dimensions would throw some light on vudimentary contour lines in hyper-space, it would doubtless interest many readers of NATURE, and inconceivably yours, NZ August 9 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION ee fiftieth Annual Meeting of the British Association was opened yesterday evening at Swansea, when Prof. Allman resigned the presidential chair to Prof. Ramsay, who gave his inaugural address. At midday on Monday the reception rooms at the Agricultural Hall, St. Helen’s Road, were formally opened for the transaction of the business of the Association, under the direction of Mr. Gordon, the permanent under- secretary of the general staff, and the local honorary secretaries, Dr. Wm. Morgan and Mr. James Strick, and their efficient local staff. The hall, our Swansea corre- spondent informs us, is admirably situated on the border- line that separates the business part of the town from the west end residential suburbs, and the conveniences of the place are augmented by a good line of tramway and a temporary cab-stand in front, and telegraph, telephone, and post-office within the building. The arrangements had been brought to a very creditable state of comple- tion by Monday, and the visitors have been pouring into the town steadily since Saturday. The suburban watering-place of Oystermouth, or The Mumbles, and many others of the favourite summer resorts of Gower are full to overflowing, but in the more immediate out- skirts of the town, on the gently-sloping hill-sides that offer such excellent fresh air and such extended prospects of landscape and sea-view, there is ample accommoda- tion for all comers, thanks to the really warm local hospitality and to the careful arrangements of the Local Committee. A fair number of papers are down for reading in the various sections, the usually popular section of geography, however, exhibiting a sad dearth of contributions; we trust things may look brighter here before the end of the meeting. INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF ANDREW CROMBIE Ramsay, LL.D., F.R.S., V.P.G.S., DirecTor-GENERAL OF THE GEO- LOGICAL SURVEY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND OF THE MUSEUM OF PRACTICAL GEOLOGY, PRESIDENT On the Recurrence of Certain Phenomena in Geological Time IN this address I propose to consider the recurrence of the same kind of incidents throughout all geological time, as exhibited in the various formations and groups of formations that now form the known parts of the external crust of the earth. This kind of investigation has for many years forced itself on my attention, and the method I adopt has not heretofore been attempted in all its branches. In older times, Hutton and Playfair, in a broad and general manner, clearly pointed the way to the doctrine of uniformity of action and results, throughout all known geological epochs down to the present day ; but after a time, like the prophets of old, they obtained but slight atten- tion, and were almost forgotten, and the wilder cosmical theories of Werner more generally ruled the opinions of the geologists of the time. Later still, Lyell followed in the steps of Playfair, with all the advantages that the discoveries of William Smith afforded, and aided by the labours of that band of distinguished geologists, Sedgwick, Buckland, Mantell, De la Beche, Mur- chison, and others, all of whom some of us knew. Notwith- standing this new light, even now there still lingers the relics of the belief (which some of these geologists also maintained), that the physical phenomena which produced the older strata were not only different in kind, but also in degree from those which now rule the external world. Oceans, the waters of which attained a high temperature, attended the formation of the primitive crystalline rocks. Volcanic eruptions, with which those of modern times are comparatively insignificant, the sudden upheaval of great mountain chains, the far more rapid decom- position and degradation of rocks, and, as a consequence, the more rapid deposition of strata formed from their waste—all these were assumed as certainties, and still linger in some parts of the world among living geologists of deservedly high reputa- tion. The chief object of this address is, therefore, to attempt to show, that whatever may have been the state of the world long before geological history began, as now written in the rocks, all known formations are comparatively so recent in geological time, that there is no reason to believe that they were produced under physical circumstances differing either in kind or degree from those with which we are now more or less familiar. It is unnecessary for my present purpose to enter into de- tails connected with the recurrence of marine formations, since all geologists know that the greater part of the stratified rocks were deposited in the sea, as proved by the molluses and other fossils which they contain, and the order of their deposition and the occasional stratigraphical breaks in succession are also familiar subjects. What I have partly to deal with now, are exceptions to true marine stratified formations, and after some other important questions have been considered, I shall proceed to discuss the origin of various non-marine deposits from nearly the earliest known time down to what by comparison may almost be termed the present day. Metamorphism.—All, or nearly all, stratified formations have been in a sense metamorphosed, since, excepting certain lime- stones, the fact of loose incoherent sediments having been by pressure and other agencies turned into solid rocks constitutes a kind of metamorphism. This, however, is only a first step toward the kind of metamorphism the frequent recurrence of which in geological time I have now to insist upon, and which implies .that consolidated strata have undergone subsequent changes of a kind much more remarkable. Common stratified rocks chiefly consist of marls, shales, slates, sandstones, conglomerates, and limestones, generally distinct and definite; but not infrequently a stratum, or strata, may partake of the characters in varied proportions of two or more of the above-named species. It is from such strata that meta- 384 morphic rocks have been produced, exclusive of the metamorphism of igneous rocks, on which I will not enter. These may be looked for in every manual of geology, and usually they may be found in them. As a general rule, metamorphic rocks are apt to be much con- torted, not only on a large scale, but also that the individual layers of mica quartz and felspar in gneiss are bent and folded in a great number of minute convolutions, so small that they may be counted by the hundred in a foot or two of rock. Such metamorphic rocks are often associated with masses of granite both in bosses and in interstratified beds or layers, and where the metamorphism becomes extreme it is often impossible to draw a boundary line between the gneiss and the granite ; while, on the other hand, it is often impossible to draw any true boundary between gneiss (or other metamorphic rocks) and the ordinary strata that have undergone metamorphism. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that when chemically analysed there is often little difference in the constituents of the unmetamorphosed and the metamorphosed rock. ‘This is a point of some importance in relation to the origin and non- primitive character of gneiss and other varieties of foliated strata, and also of some quartzites and crystalline limestones. I am aware that in North America formations consisting of metamorphic rocks have been stated to exist of older date than the Laurentian gneiss, and under any circumstances it is obvious that vast tracts of pre-Laurentian land must have existed in all regions, by the degradation of which, sediments were derived wherewith to provide materials for the deposition of the originally unaltered Laurentian strata. In England, Wales, and Scotland attempts have also been made to prove the presence of more ancient formations, but I do not consider the data provided sufficient to warrant any such conclusion. In the Highlands of Scotland, and in some of the Western Isles, there are gneissic rocks of pre-Cambrian age, which, since they were first described by Sir Roderick Murchison in the North-west Highlands, have been, I think justly, considered to belong to the Laurentian series, unconformably underlying Cambrian and Lower Silurian racks, and as yet there are no sufficient grounds for dissenting from his conclusion that they form the oldest known rocks in the British Islands. It is unnecessary here to discuss the theory of the causes that produced the metamorphism of stratified rocks, and it may be sufficient to say, that under the influence of deep underground heat, aided by moisture, sandstones have been converted into quartzites, limestones have become crystalline, and in shaly, slaty, and schistose rocks, under like circumstances, there is little or no development of new material, but rather, in the main, a re-arrangement of constituents according to their chemical affinities in rudely crystalline layers, which have very often been more or less developed in pre-existing planes of bedding. The materials of the whole are approximately the same as those of the unaltered rock, but have been re-arranged in layers, for example, of quartz, felspar, and mica, or of hornblende, &c., while other minerals, such as schorl and garnets, are of not infrequent occurrence. It has for years been an established fact that nearly the whole of the mountain masses of the Highlands of Scotland (exclusive of the Laurentian, Cambrian, and Old Red Sandstone forma- tions) mostly consist of gneissic rocks of many varieties, and of quartzites and a few bands of crystalline limestone, which, from the north shore to the edge of the Old Red Sandstone, are repeated again and again in stratigraphical convolutions great and small. Many large bosses, veins, and dykes of granite are associated with these rocks, and, as already stated, it sometimes happens that it is hard to draw a geological line between granite and gneiss and vice versdé. These rocks, once called Primary or Primitive, were first proved by Sir Roderick Murchison to be of Lower Silurian age, thus revolutionising the geology of nearly one-half of Scotland. To the same age belongs by far the greater part of the broad hilly region of the south of Scotland that lies between St. Abb’s Head on the east and the coast of Ayrshire and Wigtonshire on the west. In the south-west part of this district, several great masses of granite rise amid the Lower Silurian rocks, which in their neighbourhood pass into mica-schist, and even into fine-grained gneiss. In Cornwall the occurrence of Silurian rocks is now well known. They are of metamorphic character, and partly asso- ciated with granite; and at Start Point, in South Devonshire, the Silurian strata have been metamorphosed into quartzites. In parts of the Cambrian areas, Silurian rocks in contact with Naan URE [ August 26, 1880 granite have been changed into crystalline hornblendic gneiss , and in Anglesey there are large tracts of presumed Cambrian strata, great part of which have been metamorphosed into chlorite and mica-schist and gneiss, and the same is partly the case with the Lower Silurian rocks of the centre of the island, where it is almost impossible to disentangle them from the associated granite. In Ireland similar metamorphic rocks are common, and, on the authority of Prof. Hull, who knows them well, the following statements are founded :—‘‘ Metamorphism in Ireland has been geographical and not stratigraphical, and seems to have ceased before the Upper Silurian period. ““The epoch of greatest metamorphism appears to have been that which intervened between the close of the Lower Silurian period and the commencement of the Upper Silurian, taking the formations in ascending order. “Tt is as yet undecided whether Laurentian rocks occur in Ireland. There are rocks in north-west Mayo very like those in Sutherlandshire, but if they are of Laurentian age they come directly under the metamorphosed Lower Silurian rocks, and it may be very difficult to separate them. ‘*Cambrian purple and green grits are not metamorphosed in the counties of Wicklow and Dublin, but the same beds at the southern extremity of county Wexford, near Carnsore Point, have been metamorphosed into mica-schist and gneiss, ‘In the east of Ireland the Lower Silurian grits and slates have not been metamorphosed, except where in proximity to granite, into which they insensibly pass in the counties of Wicklow, Dublin, Westmeath, Cavan, Longford, and Down ; but in the west and north-west of Ireland they have been meta- morphosed into several varieties of schists, hornblende-rock, and gneiss, or foliated granite.” It would be easy to multiply cases of the metamorphism of Silurian rocks on the continent of Europe, as, for example, in Scandinavia and in the Ural Mountains, where, according to Murchison, ‘‘by following its masses upon their strike, we are assured that the same zone which in one tract has a mechanical aspect and is fossiliferous, graduates in another parallel of latitude into a metamorphic crystalline condition, whereby not only the organic remains, but even the original im- press of sedimentary origin are to a great degree obliterated.” The same kind of phenomena are common in Canada and the United States ; and Medlicott and Blanford, in ‘‘ The Geology of India,” have described the thorough metamorphism of Lower Silurian strata into gneiss and syenitic and hornblende schists. In Britain none of the Upper Silurian rocks have undergone any serious change beyond that of ordinary consolidation, but in the Eastern Alps at Gratz, Sir Roderick Murchison has described both Upper Silurian and Devonian strata ‘interstratified with separate courses of metamorphic chloritic schist. Enough has now been said to prove the frequent occurrence of metamorphic action among Cambrian and Lower and Upper Silurian strata. If we now turn to the Devonian and Old Red Sandstone strata of England and Scotland, we find that metamorphic action has . also been at work, but ina much smaller degree. In Cornwall and Devon five great bosses of granite stand out amid the strati- fied Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous formations. Adjoin- ing or near these bosses the late Sir Henry De la Beche remarks, that ‘‘in numerous localities we find the coarser slates converted into rocks resembling mica-slate and gneiss, a fact particularly well exhibited in the neighbourhood of Meavy, on the south-east of Tavistock,” and ‘‘near Camelford we obseryed a fine arena- ceous and micaceous grauwacke turned into a rock resembling mica-slate near the granite.” Other cases are given by the same author of slaty strata tured into mica-schist and gneiss in rocks now generally considered to be of Devonian age. The Devonian rocks and Old Red Sandstone are of the same geological age, though they were deposited under different con- ditions, the first being of marine, and the latter of fresh-water origin, The Old Red Sandstone of Wales, England, and Scot- land has not, as far as I know, suffered any metamorphism, excepting in one case in the north-east of Ayrshire, near the sources of the Avon Water, where a large boss of granite rises through the sandstone, which all round has been rendered crystalline with well-developed crystals of felspar. i On the continent of Europe a broad area of Devonian strata lies on both banks of the Rhine and the Moselle. Forty years ago Sedgwick and Murchison described the crystalline quartzites, chlorite, and micaceous slates of the Hundsruck and the Taunus, August 26, 1880] NATURE 385 and from personal observation I know that the rocks in the | country on either side of the Moselle are, in places, of a foliated or semi-foliated metamorphic character. In the Alps also, as already noticed, metamorphic Devonian strata occur interstrati- fied with beds of metamorphic schists, and, Sir Roderick adds, ‘*we have ample data to affirm that large portions of the Eastern Alps .. . are occupied by rocks of true palaozoic age, which in many parts have passed into a crystalline state.” I know of no case in Britain where the Carboniferous strata have been thoroughly metamorphosed, excepting that in South Wales beds of coal, in the West of Caermarthenshire and in South Pembrokeshire, gradually pass from so-called bituminous coal into anthracite. The same is the case in the United States, in both instances the Carboniferous strata being exceedingly dis- turbed and contorted. In the Alps, however, Sir Roderick Murchison seems to have believed that Carboniferous rocks may have been metamorphosed: a circumstance since undoubtedly proved by the occurrence of a coal-measure calamite, well pre- served, but otherwise partaking of the thoroughly crystalline character of the gneiss in which it is imbedded, and which was shown to me by the late Prof. Gastaldi, at Turin. I am well acquainted with all the Permian strata of the British Islands and of various parts of Continental Europe, and no- where, that I have seen, have they suffered from metamorphic action, and strata of this age are, I believe, az yet unknown in the Alps. This closes the list of metamorphism of Palzeuzoic strata. I will not attempt (they are so numerous) to mention all the regions of the world in which Mesozoic or Secondary formations have undergone metamorphic action. In Britain and the non- mountainous parts of France they are generally quite unaltered, but in the Alps it is different. There, as every one knows who is familiar with that region, the crystalline rocks in the middle of the chain have the same general strike as the various flanking stratified formations. As expressed by Murchison, ‘‘as we fol- low the chain from north-east to south-west we pass from the clearest types of sedimentary rocks, and, at length, in the Savoy Alps, are immersed in the highly-altered mountains of Secondary limestone,” while ‘‘the metamorphism of the rocks is greatest as we approach the centre of the chain,” and indeed any one familiar with the Alps of Switzerland and Savoy knows that a process of metamorphism has been undergone dy all the Furassic rocks (Lias and Oolites) of the great mountain chain, Whether or not any strata of Neocomian and Cretaceous age have been well metamorphosed in this region I am unable to say; but it seems to be certain that the Eocene or Lower Tertiary Alpine formation, known as the Flysch, contains beds of black schists which pass into Lydian stone, and also that in the Grisons it has been converted into gneiss and mica-schist, a fact mentioned by Studer and Murchison. I also have seen in the country north of the Oldenhorn nummulitic rocks so far foliated that they formed an imperfect gneiss. In Tierra del Fuego, as described by Darwin, clay slates of early cretaceous date pass into gneiss and mica-slate with garnets, and in Chonos Islands, and all along the great Cordil- lera of the Andes of Chili, rocks of Cretaceous or Cretaceo- oolitic age have been metamorphosed into foliated mica-slate and gneiss, accompanied by the presence of granite, syenite, and greenstone. This ends my list, for I have never seen or heard of metamor- phic rocks of later date than those that belong to the Eocene series. Enough however has been said to prove that from the Laurentian epoch onward the phenomenon of extreme meta- morphism of strata has been of frequent recurrence all through Paleozoic and Mesozoic times, and extends even to a part of the Eocene series equivalent to the soft unaltered strata of the formations of the London and Paris basins, which, excepting for their fossil contents, and sometimes highly-inclined positions, look as if they had only been recently deposited. Volcanoes.—The oldest volcanic products of which I have personal knowledge are of Lower Silurian age. These in Wales consist of two distinct series, the oldest of which, chiefly formed of felspathic lavas and volcanic ashes, lie in and near the base of the Llandeilo beds, and the second, after a long interval of repose, were ejected and intermingled with the strata forming the middle part of the Bala beds.. The Lower Silurian rocks of Montgomeryshire, Shropshire, Radnorshire, Pembrokeshire, Cumberland, and Westmoreland are to a great extent also the result of volcanic eruptions, and the same kind of volcanic rocks occur in the Lower Silurian strata of Ireland. I know of no true volcanic rocks in the Upper Silurian series, In the Old Red Sandstone of Scotland lavas and volcanic ashes are of frequent occurrence, interstratified with the ordi- nary lacustrine sedimentary strata. Volcanic rocks are also intercalated among the Devonian strata of Devonshire. I know of none in America or on the continent of Europe. In Scotland volcanic products are common throughout nearly the whole of the Carboniferous sub-formations, and they are found also associated with Permian strata. I now come to the Mesozoic or Secondary epochs, Of Jurassic age (Lias and Oolites), it is stated by Lyell with some doubt, that true volcanic products occur in the Morea and also in the Apennines, and it seems probable, as stated by Medlicott and Blanford, that the Rajmahal traps may also be of Jurassic age. In the Cordillera of South America, Darwin has described a great series of volcanic rocks intercalated among the Cretaceo- oolitic strata that forms so much of the chain; and the same author, in his ‘‘ Geological Observations in South America,” states that the Cordillera has been, probably with some quiescent periods, a source of volcanic matter from an epoch anterior to our Cretaceo-oolitic formation to the present day. In the Deccan volcanic traps rest on Cretaceous beds, and are overlaid by Nummulitic strata, and, according to Medlicott and Blanford, these were poured out in the interval between Middle Cretaceous and Lower Eocene times. In Europe the only instance I know of a volcano of Eocene age is that of Monte Bolea near Verona, where the volcanic products are associated with the fissile limestone of that area. The well-preserved relics of Miocene volcanoes are prevalent over many parts of Europe, such as Auvergne and The Velay, where the volcanic action began in Lower Miocene times, and was continued into the Pliocene epoch. The volcanoes of the Eifel are also of the same general age, together with the ancient Miocene volcanoes of Hungary. The volcanic rocks of the Azores, Canaries, and Madeira are of Miocene age, while in Tuscany there are extinct volcanoes that began in late Miocene, and lasted into times contempora- neous withthe English Coralline Crag. In the north of Spain, also, at Olot in Catalonia, there are perfect craters and cones remaining of volcanoes that began to act in newer Pliocene times and continued in action to a later geological date. To these I must add the great cozdées of Miocene lava, so well known in the Inner Hebrides, on the mainland near Oban, &c., in Antrim in the north of Ireland, in the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Franz-Joseph Land. It is needless, and would be tiresome, further to multiply instances, for enough has been said to show that in nearly all geological ages voleanoes have played an im- portant part, now in one region, now in another, from very early Palzeozoic times down to the present day; and, as far as my knowledge extends, at no period of geological history is there any sign of their having played a more important part than they do in the epoch in which we live. Mountain Chains.—The mountain-chains of the world are of different geological ages, some of them of great antiquity, and some of them comparatively modern. It is well known that in North America the Lower Silurian rocks lie unconformably on the Laurentian strata, and also that the latter had undergone a thorough metamorphism and been thrown into great anticlinal and synclinal folds, accompanied by intense minor convolutions, before the deposition of the oldest Silurian formation, that of the Potsdam Sandstone. Disturb- ances of the nature alluded to imply beyond a doubt that the Laurentian rocks formed a high mountain-chain of pre-Silurian date, which has since constantly been worn away and degraded by sub-aérial denudation. In Shropshire, and in parts of North Wales, and in Cumter- land and Westmoreland, the Lower Silurian rocks by upheaval formed hilly land before the beginning of the Upper Silurian epoch; and it is probable that the Lower Silurian gneiss of Scotland formed mountains at the same time, probably very much higher than now. However that may be, it is certain that these mountains formed high land before and during the depo- sition of the Old Red Sandstone, and the upheaval of the great Scandinavian chain (of which the Highlands may be said to form an outlying portion) also preceded the deposition of the Old Red Strata. In both of these mountain regions the rocks have since undergone considerable movements, which in the main seem to have been movements of elevation, accompanied undoubtedly by that constant atmospheric degradation to which all high land is especially subject. 386 NATURE [ August 26, 1880 The next great European chain in point of age is that of the Ural, which according to Murchison is of pre-Permian age, a fact proved by the Permian conglomerates which were formed from the waste of the older strata. On these they lie quite unconformably and nearly undisturbed on the western flank of the mountains. In North America the great chain of the Alleghany Mountains underwent several disturbances, the last (a great one) having taken place after the deposition of the Carboniferous rocks, and before that of the New Red Sandstone. The vast mountainous region included under the name of the Rocky Mountains, after several successive disturbances of upheaval, did not attain its present development till after the Miocene or Middle Tertiary epoch. In South America, notwithstanding many oscillations of level recorded by Darwin, the main great disturbance of the strata that form the chain of the Andes took place apparently i fost- crelaceous times, The Alps, the rudiments of which began in more ancient times, received their greatest disturbance and upheaval in post- Eocene days, and were again raised at least 5,000 feet (I believe much more) at the close of the Miocene epoch. The Apennines, the Pyrenees, the Carpathians, and the great mountain region on the east of the Adriatic and southward into Greece, are of the same general age, and this is also the case in regard to the Atlas in North Africa, and the Caucasus on the borders of Europe and Asia. In the north of India the history of the Great Himalayan range closely coincides with that of the Alps, for while the most powerful known disturbance and elevation of the range took place after the close of the Eocene epoch, a subsequent elevation occurred in post-Miocene times closely resembling and at least equal to that sustained by the Alps at the same period. It would probably not be difficult by help of extra research to add other cases to this notice of recurrences of the upheaval and origin of special mountain chains, some of which I have spcken of from personal knowledge ; but enough has been given to show the bearing of this question on the argument I have in view, namely, that of repetition of the same kind of events throughout all known geological time. Salt and Salt Lakes—1 now come to the discussion of the circumstances that produced numerous recurrences of the deve- lopment of beds of various salts (chiefly common rock-salt) in many formations, which it will be seen are to a great extent connected with continental or inland conditions. In compara- tively rainless countries salts are often deposited on the surface of the ground by the effect of solar evaporation of moisture from the soil. Water dissolves certain salts in combination with the ingredients of the underlying rocks and soils, and brings it to the surface, and when solar evaporation ensues the salt or salts are deposited on the ground. ‘This is well known to be the case in and near the region of the Great Salt Lake in North America, and in South America in some of the nearly rainless districts of the Cordillera, extensive surface-deposits of salts of various kinds are common, ‘The surface of the ground around the Dead Sea is also in extra dry seasons covered with salt, the result of evaporation, and in the upper provinces of India (mentioned by Medlicott and Blanford) ‘‘many tracts of land in the Indo- Gangetic alluvial plain are rendered worthless for cultivation by an efflorescence of salt known in the North-West Provinces as Reh,” while every geographer knows that in Central Asia, from the western shore of the Caspian Sea to the Kinshan Mountains of Mongolia, with rare exceptions nearly every lale is salt in an area at least 3,500 miles in length. ‘This circumstance is due to the fact that all so-called fresh-water springs, aud therefore all rivers, contain small quantities of salts in solution only appre- ciable to the chemist, and by the constant evaporation of pure water from the lakes, in the course of time, it necessarily happens that these salts get concentrated in the water by the effect of solar heat, and, if not already begun, precipitation of solid salts must ensue. The earliest deposits of rock-salt that I know about have been described by Mr. A. B. Wynne of the Geological Survey of India, in his memoir ‘‘On the Geology of the Sali Range in the Punjab.”? The beds of salt are of “great thickness, and along with gypsum and dolomitic layers occur in marl of a red colour like our Keuper Marl. This colour I have for many years con- sidered to be, in certain cases, apt to indicate deposition of sediments in inland lakes, salt or fresh, as the case may be, and * Many earlier notices and descriptions of the Se i ; rn a escriptions of the Salt Range might be qusted but Mr. Wynne’s is enough for my purpose. a = 4 ; with respect to these strata in the Punjab Salt Range, authors seem to be in doubt whether they were formed in inland lakes or in lagoons near the seaboard, which at intervals were liable to be flooded by the s2a, and in which in the hot seasons salts were deposited by evaporation caused by solar heat. For my argument, it matters but little which of these was the true physical condition of the land of the time, though I incline to think the inland lake theory most probable. The age of the strata associated with this salt is not yet certainly ascertained. In ‘* The Geology of India” Medlicott and Blanford incline to consider them of Lower Silurian age, and Mr. Wynne, in his “Geology of the Salt Range,” places the salt and gypsum beds doubtfully on the same geological horizon. The next salt-bearing formation that I shall notice is the Salina or Onondaga Salt Group of North America, which forms part of the Upper Silurian rocks, and lies immediately above the Niagara Limestone. It is rich in gypsum and in salt-brine, often of a very concentrated character, ‘*‘ which can only be derived from original depositions of salt,” and it is also supposed by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt to contain solid rock-salt 115 feet in thickness at the depth of 2,085 feet, near Saginaw Bay in Michigan. In the Lower Devonian strata of Russia near Lake Ilmen, Sir R. Murchison describes salt springs at Starai Russa. Sinkings, ‘made in the hope of penetrating to the source of these salt springs,” reached a depth of 600 feet without the discovery of rock salt, ‘*and we are left in doubt whether the real source of the salt is in the lowest beds of the Devonian rocks or even in the Silurian system.” In the United States brine springs also occur in Ohio, Penn- sylvania, and Virginia, in Devonian rocks. In Michigan salts are found from the Carboniferous down to the Devonian series; and in other parts of the United States, Western Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky, from the lower Coal-measures salts are derived which must have been deposited in inland areas, since even in the depths of inland seas that communicate with the great ocean, such as the Medi- terranean and the Red Sea, no great beds of salt can be depo- sited. Before such strata of salt can be formed, supersaturation must have taken place. In the North of England, at and near Middlesborough, two deep bore-holes were made some years ago in the hope of reach- ing the Coal-measures of the Durham coal-field. One of them at Salthome was sunk to a depth of 1,355 feet. First they passed through 74 feet of superficial clay and gravel, next through about 1,175 feet of red sandstones and marls, with beds of rock-salt and gypsum. The whole of these strata (excepting the clay and gravel) evidently belong to the Keuper marls and sandstones of the upper part of our New Red series. Beneath these they passed through 67 feet of dolomitic limestone, which in this neighbourhood forms the upper part of the Permian series, and beneath the limestone the strata consist of 27 feet of gypsum and rock-salt and marls, one of the beds of rock-salt having a thickness of 14 feet. This bed of Permian salt is of some importance, since I have been convinced for long that the British Permian strata were deposited, not in the sea, but in salt lakes comparable in some respects to the great salt lake of Utah, and in its restricted fauna to the far greater salt lake of the Caspian Sea. The gypsum, the dolomite or magnesian lime- stone, the red marls covered with rain-pittings, the sun-cracks, and the impressions of footprints of reptiles made in the soft sandy marls when the water was temporarily lowered by the solar evaporation of successive summers, all point to the fact that our Permian strata were not deposited in the sea, but in a salt lake or lakes once for a time connected with the sea. The same may be said of other Permian areas in the central parts of the Continent of Europe, such as Stassfurt and Anhalt, Halle and Altern in Thuringia, and Sperenberg, near Berlin, and also in India,? Neither do I think that the Permian strata of NRussia, as described by Sir Roderick Murchison, were necessarily, as he implies, deposited ina wide ocean. According to his view all marine life universally declined toa minimum after the close of the Carboniferous period, that decline beginning with the Per- mian and ending with the Triissic epoch. Those who believe in the doctrine of evolution will find it hard to accept the idea which this implies, namely, that all the prolific forms of the Jurassic series sprang from the scanty faunas of the Permian t See “ Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain,” sth edition, where the question is treated in more detail. August 26, 1880] and Triassic epochs. On the contrary, it seems to me more rational to attribute the poverty of the faunas of these epochs to accidental abnormal conditions in certain areas, that for a time partially disappeared during the deposition of the conti- nental Muschelkalk which is absent in the British Triassic series, In the whole of the Russian Permian strata only fifty-three species were known at the time of the publication of ‘* Russia and the Ural Mountains,” and I have not heard that this scanty list has been subsequently increased. I am therefore inclined to believe that the red marls, grits, sandstones, conglomerates, and great masses of gypsum and rock-salt were all formed in a flat inland area which was occasionally liable to be invaded by the sea during intermittent intervals of minor depression, some- times in one area, sometimes in another, and the fauna small in size and poor in numbers is one of the results, while the depo- sition of beds of salt and gypsum is another, If so, then in the area now called Russia, in sheets of inland Permian water, deposits were formed strictly analogous to those of Central Europe and of Britain, but on a larger scale. Other deposits of salt deep beneath overlying younger strata are stated to occur at Bromberg in Prussia, and many more might be named as lying in the same formation in Northern Germany. If we now turn to the Triassic series it is known that it con- sists of only two chief members in Britain, the Bunter Sand- stones and the Keuper or New Red Marls, the Muschelkalk of the Continent being absent in our islands. No salt is found in the Bunter Sandstones of England, but it occurs in these strata at Schoningen in Brunswick, and also near Hanover. In the lower part of the Keuper series deposits of rock-salt are com- mon in England and Ireland. At Almersleben, near Calbe, rock-salt is found in the Muschelkalk, and also at Erfurt and Slottenheim in Thuringia and at Wilhelmsgliick in Wiirtemburg. In other Triassic areas it is known at Honigsen, Hanover, in middle Keuper beds. In the red shales at Sperenbergand Lieth on the Lower Elbe, salt was found at the depth of 3,000 feet, ae the salt is said to be ‘‘several hundred yards thick.’ In Central Spain rock-salt is known, and at Tarragona, Taen, and also at Santander in the north of Spain, all in Triassic strata. Other localities may be named in the Upper Trias, such as the Salzkammergut, Aussee, Hallstatt, Ischl, Hallein in Salzburg, Halle in the Tyrol, and Berchesgaden in Bavaria. In the Salt Range of mountains in Northern India saliferous strata are referred with some doubt by Medlicott and Blanford to the Triassic strata. In the Jurassic series (Lias and Oolites) salt and gypsum are not uncommon. One well-known instance occurs at Berg in the valley of the Rhone in Switzerland, where salt is derived from the Lias. Salt and gypsum are also found in Jurassic rocks at Burgos in Spain. At Gap in France there is gypsum, and salt is found in the Austrian Alps in Oolitic limestone. In the Cretaceous rocks salt occurs, according to Lartet, at Jebel Usdom by the Dead Sea, and other authorities state that it occurs in the Pyrenees and at Biskra in Africa, where ‘‘ moun- tains of salt” are mentioned as of Cretaceous age. The two last-named localities are possibly uncertain; but whether or not this is the case, it is not the less certain that salt has been deposited in Cretaceous rocks, and, judging by analogy, probably in inland areas of that epoch. In the Eocene or Older Tertiary formations, rock-salt is found at Cardona in Spain, and at Kohat in the Punjab it occurs at the base of Nummulitic beds. It is also known at Mandi in India in strata supposed to be of Nummulitic Eocene age. The record does not end here, for a zone of rock-salt lies in Sicily at the top of the Salina clays in Lower Miocene beds, and in Miocene strata gypsum is found at several places in Spain, while salt also occurs in beds that are doubtfully of Miocene age (but may be later) at Wielitzka in Poland, Kalusz in Galicia, Bukowina, and also in Transylvania. In Pliocene or Later Tertiary formations, thick beds of gypsum are known in Zante, and strata of salt occur in Roumania and Galicia, while in Pliocene rocks, according to Dana, or in Post-Tertiary beds, according to others, a thick bed of pure salt was penetrated to a depth of 38 feet at Petit Anse in Louisiana. This ends my list, though I have no doubt that, by further research, many more localities might be given. Enough, however, has been done to show that rock-salt (and other salts) are of frequent recurrence throughout all geological NATURE: 387 time, and as in my opinion it is impossible that common salt can be deposited in the open ocean, it follows that this and other salts must have been precipitated from solutions, which, by the effect of solar evaporation, became at length supersaturated, like those of the Dead Sea, the great salt lake of Utah, and in other places which it is superfluous to name. Fresh-water, Lakes and Estuaries.—I now come to the subject of recurrences of fresh-water conditions both in lakes and estuaries. In the introduction to the ‘‘ Geology of India,” by Messrs. Medlicott and Blanford, mention is made of the Blaini and Krol rocks as probably occupying ‘‘hollows formed by denudation in the old gneissic rocks,” and the inference is drawn that “if this be a correct view, it is probable that the cis- Himalayan Paleozoic rocks are in great part of fresh-water origin, and that the present crystalline axis of the Western Himalayas approximately coincides with the shore of the ancient Palzeozo:c continent, of which the Indian peninsula formed a portion.” The Krol rocks are classed broadly with ‘‘ Permian and Carboniferous” deposits, but the Blaini beds are doubtfully considered to belong to Upper Silurian strata. If this point be by and by established, this is the earliest known occurrence of fresh-water strata in any of the more ancient Paleozoic formations. It is a fact worthy of notice that the colour of the strata formed in old lakes (whether fresh or salt) of Palzeozoic and Mesozoic age is apt to be red: a circumstance due to the fact that each little grain of sand or mud is usually coated with a very thin pellicle of peroxide of iron, Whether or not the red and purple Cambrian rocks* may not be fartly of fresh- water origin, is a question that I think no one but myself has raised.” There is however, in my opinion, no doubt with regard to the fresh-water origin of the Old Red Sandstone, as distinct from the contemporaneous marine deposits of the Devonian strata. This idea was first started by that distinguished geologist, Dr. Fleming, of Edinburgh, followed by Mr. Godwin-Austen, who, from the absence of marine shells and the nature of the fossil fishes in these strata, inferred that they were deposited, not in the sea, as had always been asserted, but in a great fresh-water lake or ina series of lakes. In this opinion I have for many years agreed, for the nearest analogies of the fish are, according to Huxley, the Polypterus of African rivers, the Ceratodus of Australia, and in less degree the Lepidosteus of North America. The truth of the supposition that the Old Red Sandstone was deposited in fresh water, is further borne out by the occurrence of a fresh-water shell, dxodonta jukesti, and of ferns in the Upper Old Red Sandstone in Ireland ; and the same shell is found at Dura Den in Scotland, while in Caithness, along with numerous fishes, there occurs the small bivalve crustacean Zstheria murchisonia. I think it more than probable that the red series of rocks that form the Catskill Mountains of North America (and with which I am personally acquainted) were formed in the same manner as the Old Red Sandstones of Britain; for, excepting in one or two minor interstratifications, they contain no relics of marine life, while ‘the fossil fishes of the Catskill beds, according to Dr. Newberry, appear to represent closely those of the British Old Red Sandstone” (Dana). The Devonian recks of Russia, according to the late Sir Roderick Murchison, consist of two distinct types, viz., Devonian strata identical in general character with those in Devonshire and in various parts of the continent of Europe. These are exclusively of a marine character, while the remainder corresponds to the Old Red Sandstone of Wales, England, and Scotland. At Tchudora, about 105 miles south-east of St. Petersburg, the lowest members of the series consist of flag-like, compact limestones accumulated in a tranquil sea, and containing fucoids and encrinites, together with shells of Devonian age, such as Spirifers, Terebratulee, Orthis, Leptzenas, Avicula, Modiola, Natica, Bellerophon, &c., while the upper division graduates into the Carboniferous series as it often does in Britain, and, like the Old Red Sandstone of Scotland, contains only fish-remains, and in both countries they are of the same species. ‘‘ Proceed- ing from the Valdai Hills on the north,” the geologist ‘‘ quits a Devonian Zone with a true ‘ Old Red’ type dipping under the t By Cambrian, I mean only the ved and purple rocks of Wales, England, Scotland, and Ireland, older than the Menevian beds, or any later division of the Silurian strata that may chance to rest upon them. 2 “On the Red Rocks of England of older date than the Trias.” Your. Geol. Soc., 1871, vol. xxviii. 3838 NEAL URE [| August 26, 1880 Carboniferous rocks of Moscow, and having passed through the latter he finds himself suddenly in a yellow-coloured region, entirely dissimilar in structure to what he had seen in any of the northern governments, which, of a different type as regards fossils, is the true stratigraphical eguzvalent of the Old Red system.” This seems to me, as regards the Russian strata, to mean that just as the Devonian strata of Devonshire are the true equivalents of the Old Red Sandstone of Wales and Scotland, they were deposited under very different conditions, the first in the sea and the others in inland fresh-water lakes. At the time Sir Roderick Murchison’s work was completed, the almost universal opinion was that the Old Red Sandstone was a marine formation. In the year 1830 the Rev. Dr. Fleming of Edinburgh read a paper before the Wernerian Society in which he boldly stated that the ‘* Old Red Sandstone is a fresh-water formation” of older date than the Carboniferous Limestone. ‘This statement, however, seems to have made no impression on geologists till it was revived by Godwin-Austen in a memoir ‘‘On the Extension of the Coal-measures,” &c., in the ¥owrnal of the Geological Society, 1856. Even this made no converts to what was then considered a heretical opinion. I have long held Dr. Fleming’s view, and unfortunately published it in the third edition of ‘‘ The Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain,” without at the time being aware that I had been forestalled by Dr. Fleming and Mr, Godwin-Austen. To give anything like a detailed account of all the fresh-water formations deposited in estuaries and lakes from the close of the Old Red Sandstone times down to late Tertiary epochs is only fitted for a manual of geology, and would too much expand this address ; and I will therefore give little more than a catalogue of these deposits in ascending order. In the Coal-measure parts of the Carboniferous series a great proportion of the shales and sandstones are of fresh-water origin. This is proved all over the British Islands by the shells they contain, while here and there marine interstratifications occur, generally of no great thickness. There is no doubt ‘among geologists that these Coal-measure strata were chiefly deposited under estuarine conditions, and sometimes in lagoons or in lakes, while numerous beds of coal formed by the life and death of land plants, each underlaid by the soil on which the plants grew, evince the constant recurrence of terrestrial conditions. The same kind of phenomena are characteristic of the Coal-measures all through North America, and in every country on the continent of Europe, from France and Spain on the west to Russia in the east, and the same is the case in China and in other areas. In Scotland, according to Prof, Judd, fresh-water conditions occur more or less all through the Jurassic series, from the Lias to the Upper Oolites. In England fresh-water strata, with thin beds of coal, are found in the Inferior Oolite of Yorkshire, and in the middle of England and elsewhere in the Great Oolite. The Purbeck and +Wealden strata, which in a sense fill the interval between the Jurassic and Cretaceous series, are almost entirely formed of fresh-water strata, with occasional thin marine interstratifications. By some the Wealden beds are considered to have been formed in and near the estuary of a great river, while others, with as good a show of reason, believe them to have been deposited in a large lake subject to the occasional influx of the sea. In the eastern part of South Russia the Lias consists chiefly of fresh-water strata, as stated by Neumayr. The Godwana rocks of Central India range from Upper Paleozoic times well into the Jurassic strata, and there all these formations are of fresh-water origin, Fresh-water beds with shells are also interstratified with the Deccan traps of Cretaceous and Tertiary (Eocene) age, while 2,000 feet of fresh-water sands overlie them. In South-Western Sweden, as stated by Mr. Bauerman, ‘‘ the three coal-fields of Hoganas, Stabbarp, and Rodingé Jie in the uppermost Triassic or Rhetic series.” In Africa the Karoo beds, which it is surmised may be of the age of the New Red Sandstone, contain beds of coal. In North America certain fresh-water strata, with beds of lignite, apparently belong to the Cretaceous and Eocene epochs, and in the north of Spain and south of France there are fresh-water lacustrine formations in the highest Cretaceous strata. In England the Lower and Upper Eocene strata are chiefly of fresh-water origin, and the same is the case in France and other parts of the Continent. Certain fresh-water formations in Cen- tral Spain extend from the Eocene to the Upper Miocene strata. There is only one small patch of Miocene beds in England, at Bovey Tracey, near Dartmoor, formed of fresh-water deposits with interstratified beds of lignite or Miocene coal. On the continent of Europe Miocene strata occupy immense independent areas, extending from France and Spain to the Black Sea. In places too numerous to name they contain beds of ‘‘ brown coal,” as lignite is sometimes called. These coal-beds are often of great thickness and solidity. In one of the pits which I descended near Teplitz, in Bohemia, the coal, which lies ina true basin, is 40 feet thick, and underneath it there is a bed of clay, with rootlets, quite comparable to the underclay which is found beneath almost every bed of coal in the British and other coal- fields of the Carboniferous epoch. The Miocene rocks of Switzerland are familiar to all geologists who have traversed the country between the Jura and the Alps. Sometimes they are soft and incoherent, sometimes formed of sandstones, and sometimes of conglomerates, as on the Righi. They chiefly consist of fresh-water lacustrine strata, with some minor marine interstratifications which mark the influx of the sea during occasional partial submergences of portions of the area. These fresh-water strata, of great extent and thickness, contain beds of lignite, and are remarkable for the relics of numerous trees and other plants which have been described by Prof. Heer of Zurich with his accustomed skill. The Miocene fresh-water strata of the Sewalik Hills in India are well known to most students of geology, and I have already stated that they bear the same relation to the more ancient Himalayan Mountains that the Miocene strata of Switzerland and the North of Italy do to the pre-existing range of the Alps. In fact it may be safely inferred that something far more than the rudiments of our present continents existed long before Miocene times, and this accounts for the large areas on those continents which are fre- quently occupied by Miocene fresh-water strata. With the marine formations of Miocene age this address is in no way concerned, nor is it essential to my argument to deal with those later Tertiary phenomena, which in their upper stages so easily merge into the existing state of the world. Glacial Phenomena.—I now come to the last special subject for discussion in this address, viz., the Recurrence of Glacial Epochs, a subject still considered by many to be heretical, and which was generally looked upon as an absurd crotchet when, in 1855, I first described to the Geological Society boulder-beds containing ice-scratched stones and erratic blocks in the Permian strata of England, The same idea I afterwards applied to some of the Old Red Sandstone conglomerates, and of late years it has become so familiar, that the effects of glaciers have at length been noted by geologists from older Palzeozoic epochs down to the present day. In the middle of last July I received a letter from Prof. Geikie, in which he informed me that he had discovered mam- milated motonnée surfaces of Laurentian rocks, passing under- neath the Cambrian sandstones of the north-west of Scotland at intervals, all the way from Cape Wrath to Loch Torridon, for a distance of about 90 miles. The mammilated rocks are, says Prof. Geikie, ‘‘as well rounded off as any recent roche moutonné,” and ‘‘in one place these bosses are covered by a huge angular breccia of this old gneiss (Laurentian) with blocks sometimes 5 or 6 feet long.” This breccia, where it occurs, forms the base of the Cambrian strata of Sutherland, Ross, and Cromarty, and while the higher strata are always well stratified, where they approach the underlying Laurentian gneiss ‘‘ they become pebbly, passing into coarse unstratified agglomerates or boulder-beds.” In the Gairloch district ‘‘it is utterly unstrati- fied, the angular fragments standing on end and at all angles,” just as they do in many modern moraine mounds wherever large glaciers are found. The general subject of Paleozoic glaciers has long been familiar to me, and this account of more ancient glaciers of Cambrian age is peculiarly acceptable. BPs: The next sign of ice in Britain is found in the Lower Silurian rocks of Wigtonshire and Ayrshire. In the year 1865 Mr. John Carrick Moore took me to see the Lower Silurian grapto- litic rocks at Corswall Point in Wigtonshire, in which great blocks of gneiss, granite, &c., are imbedded, and in the same year many similar erratic blocks were pointed out to me by Mr. James Geikie in the Silurian strata of Carrick in Ayrshire. One of the blocks at Corswall, as measured by myself, is nine feet in length, and the rest are of all sizes, from an inch or two up to several feet in diameter, There is no gneiss or granite in this region nearer than those of Kirkcudbrightshire and Arran, and these are of later geological date than the strata amid which the August 26, 1880] NARGRE 389 erratic blocks are imbedded. It is therefore not improbable that they may have been derived from some high land formed of Laurentian rocks of which the outer Hebrides and parts of the mainland of Scotland form surviving portions. If so, then I can conceive of no agent capable of transporting large boulders and dropping them into the Lower Silurian mud of the seas of the time save that of icebergs or other floating ice, and the same view with regard to the neighbouring boulder-beds of Ayrshire is held by Mr. James Geikie. If however any one will point out any other natural cause still in action by which such results are at present brought about, I should be very glad to hear of it. IT must now turn to India for further evidence of the action of Paleozoic ice. In the Himalayas of Pangi, south-east of Kash- mir, according to Medlicott and Blanford, ‘‘ old slates, supposed to be Silurian, contain boulders in great numbers,” which they believe to be of glacial origin. Another case is mentioned as occurring in ‘transition beds of unknown relations,” but in another passage they are stated to be ‘‘ very ancient, but no idea ean be formed of their geological position.” The wnderlying rocks ave marked by distinct glacial striations. The next case of glacial boulder-beds with which I am ac- quainted is found in Scotland, and in some places in the north of England, where they contain what seem to be indistinctly ice-scratched stones. I first observed these rocks on the Lam- mermuir Hills, south of Dunbar, lying unconformably on Lower Silurian strata, and soon inferred them to be of glacial origin, a circumstance that was subsequently confirmed by my colleagues Prof, and Mr. James Geikie, and is now familiar to other officers of the Geological Survey of Scotland. I know of no boulder formations in the Carboniferous series, but they are well known as occurring on a large scale in the Permian brecciated conglomerates, where they consist ‘‘ of pebbles and large blocks of stone, generally angular, imbedded in a marly paste . . . the fragments have mostly travelled from a distance, apparently from the borders of Wales, and some of them are three feet in diameter.” Some of the stones are as well scratched as those found in modern moraines or in the ordinary boulder- clay of what is commonly called the Glacial epoch. In 1855 the old idea was still not unprevalent that during the Permian epoch, and for long after, the globe had not yet cooled suffi- ciently to allow of the climates of the external world being uni- versally affected by the constant radiation of heat from its interior. For a long time, however, this idea has almost entirely vanished, and now, in Britain at all events, it is little if at all attended to, and other glacial episodes in the history of the world have continued to be brought forward and are no longer looked upon as mere ill-judged conjectures. The same kind of brecciated boulder-beds that are found in our Permian strata occur in the Rotheliegende of Germany, which I have visited in several places, and I believe them to have had a like glacial origin. Mr. G. W. Stow, of the Orange Free State, has of late years given most elaborate accounts of similar Permian boulder-beds in South Africa. There great masses of moraine matter not only contain ice-scratched stones, but on the banks of rivers where the Permian rock has been removed by aqueous denudation the underlying rocks, well rounded and mammillated, ave couzred by deeply incised glacier grooves pointing in a direction which at length leads the observer to the Pre-Permian mountains from whence the stones were derived that formed these ancient moraines.! Messrs. Blanford and Medlicott have also given in ‘‘ The Geology of India” an account of boulder-beds in what they believe to be Permian strata, and which they compare with those described by me in England many years before. There the Godwana group of the Talchir strata contains numerous boulders, many of them six feet in diameter, and _in one instance some of the blocks were found to be polished and striated, and the underlying Vindhyan rocks were similarly marked.” The authors also corre- late these glacial phenomena with those found in similar deposits in South Africa, discovered and described by Mr. Stow. In the Olive group of the Salt range, described by the same authors, there is a curious resemblance between a certain con- glomerate ‘‘and that of the Talchir group of the Godwana i Mr. Stow’s last memoir on this subject is still in manuscript. It is so exceedingly long, and the sections that accompany it are of such unusual size, that the Geological Society could not afford their publication. It was thought that the Government of the Orange Free State might undertake this duty, but the late troubles in South Africa have probably hindered this work —it is to be hoped only for a time. the strata known as Flysch in Switzerland. however, Swiss geologists are by no means agreed, and I attach little or no importance to it as affording evidence of glacier ice. system.” This “ Olive conglomerate” belongs to the Cretaceous series, and contains ice-transported erratic boulders derived from unknown rocks, one of which of red granite ‘fis polished and striated on three faces in so characteristic a manner that very little doubt can exist of its having been transported by ice.” One block of red granite at the Mayo Salt Mines of Khewra ‘‘is 7 feet high and 19 feet in circumference.” In the ‘‘ Transition beds” of the same authors, which are supposed to be of Upper Cretaceous age, there also are boulder beds with erratic blocks of great size. I know of no evidence of glacial phenomena in Eocene strata excepting the occurrence of huge masses of included gneiss in On this question, Neither do I know of any Miocene glacier-deposits excepting those in the north of Italy, near .Turin, described by the late eminent geologist, Gastoldi, and which I saw under his guidance, These contain many large erratic boulders derived from the distant Alps, which, in my opinion, were then at least as lofty or even higher than they are now, especially if we consider the immense amount of denudation which they underwent during Miocene, later Tertiary, and post-Tertiary times. At a still later date there took place in the north of Europe and America what is usually misnamed ‘* 7%e Glacial Epoch,” when a vast glacial mass covered all Scandinavia and distributed its boulders across the north of Germany, as far south as the country around Leipzig, when Ireland also was shrouded in glacier ice, and when a great glacier covered the larger part of Britain and stretched southward, perhaps nearly as far as the Thames on the one side, and certainly covered the whole of Anglesey, and probably the whole, or nearly the whole, of South Wales. This was after the advent of man. Lastly, there is still a minor Glacial epoch in progress on the large and almost unknown Antarctic continent, from the high land of which in latitudes which partly lie as far north as 60° and 62°, a vast sheet of glacier-ice of great thickness extends far out to sea and sends fleets of icebergs to the north, there to melt in warmer latitudes. If in accordance with the theory of Mr. Croll, founded on astronomical data, a similar climate were transferred to the northern hemisphere, the whole of Scandinavia and the Baltic would apparently be covered with glacier-ice, and the same would probably be the case with the Faroe Islands and great part of Siberia, while even the mountain tracts of Britain might again maintain their minor systems of glaciers. Conclusions.—In opening this address I began with the sub- ject of the oldest metamorphic rocks that I have seen—the Laurentian strata. It is evident to every person who thinks on the subject that their deposition took place far from the beginning of recognised geological time. For there must have been older rocks by the degradation of which they were formed. And if, as some American geologists affirm, there are on that continent metamorphic rocks of more ancient dates than the Laurentian strata, there must have been rocks more ancient still to afford materials for the deposition of these pre-Laurentian strata. Starting with the Laurentian rocks, I have shown that the phenomena of metamorphism of strata have been continued from that date all through the later formations, or groups of forma- tions, down to and including part of the Eocene strata in some parts of the world. : In like manner I have shown that ordinary volcanic rocks have been ejected in Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Jurassic, Cretaceo-Oolitic, Cretaceous, Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene times, and from all that I have seen or read of these ancient volcanoes I have no reason to believe that volcanic forces played a more important part in any period of geological time than they do in this our modern epoch. So also mountain chains existed before the deposition of the Silurian rocks, others of later date before the Old Red Sandstone strata were formed, and the chain of the Ural before the deposition of the Permian beds. The last great upheaval of the Alleghany Mountains took place between the close of the formation of the Carboniferous strata of that region and the deposition of the New Red Sandstone. ; According to Darwin, after various oscillations of level, the Cordillera underwent its chief upheaval after the Cretaceous epoch, and all geologists know that the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Carpathians, the Himalayas, and other mountain-chains (which J have named) underwent what seems to have been their chief great upheaval after the deposition of the Eocene strata, while 399 WATURE ‘ dugust 26, 1880 | some of them were again lifted up several thousands of feet after the close of the Miocene epoch. The deposition of salts from aqueous solutions in inland lakes and lagoons appears to have taken place through all time— through Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene epochs— and it is going on now. In like manner fresh-water and estuarine conditions are found now in one region, now in another, throughout all the forma- tions or groups of formations, possibly from Silurian times onward ; and glacial phenomena, so far from being confined to what was and is generally still termed ¢e Glacial epoch, are now boldly declared, by independent witnesses of known high reputation, to begin with the Cambrian epoch, and to have occurred somewhere, at intervals, in various formations, from almost the earliest Palaeozoic times down to our last post-Pliocene ** Glacial epoch.” If the nebular hypothesis of astronomers be true (and I know of no reason why it should be doubted), the earth was at one time in a purely gaseous state, and afterwards in a fluid condi- tion, attended by intense heat. By and by consolidation, due to partial cooling, took place on the surface, and as radiation of heat went on, the outer shell thickened, Radiation still going on, the interior fluid matter decreased in bzlk, and, by force of gravitation, the outer shell being drawn towards the interior, gave way, and, in parts, got crinkled up, and this, according to cosmogonists, was the origin of the earliest moun- tain-chains. I make no objection to the hypothesis, which, to say the least, seems to be the best that can be offered, and looks highly probable. But, assuming that it is true, these hypo- thetical events took place so long before authentic geological history began, as written in the rocks, that the earliest of the physical events to which I have drawn your attention in this address was, to all human apprehension of time, so enormously removed from these early assumed cosmical phenomena, ¢ia/ they appear to me to have been of comparatively quite modern occurrence, and to indicate that, from the Laurentian epoch down to the present Jay, all the physical events in the history of the earth have varied neither in kind nor in intensity from those of which we now have experience. Perhaps many of our British geologists hold similar opinions, but, if it be so, it may not be altogether useless to have considered the various subjects separately on which I depend to prove the point I had in view. SECTION C GEOLOGY OpEninG ApDpDREsS By H. C. Sorby, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION In selecting a subject for an address to be given in accord- ance with the custom of my predecessors, I was anxious that it should be in some way or other connected with the locality in which we have met. If I had been adequately acquainted with the district, I should have thought it incumbent on me to give such an outline of the general geology of the surrounding countiy as would have been useful to those attending this meeting. Iam, however, practically a stranger to South Wales, and must therefore leave that task to others. On reflecting on the various subjects to which I might have called your attention, it appears to me that I could select one which would be eminently appropriate in a town and district where iron and copper are smelted on so large a scale, and, as I think, also equally appropriate from a geological point of view. This subject is the comparative structure of artificial slags and erupted rocks. In making this choice I was also influenced by the fact that in my two anniversary addresses as President of the Geological Society, I have recently treated on the structure and origin of modern and ancient stratified rocks, and I felt that, if in the present address I were to treat on certain peculiarities in the structure of igneous rocks, I should have described the leading conclusions to which I have been led by studying the microscopical structure of nearly all classes oj rocks. It would, however, be impossible in the time now at disposal to treat on all the various branches of the subject. Much might be said on both the purely chemical and purely mineralogical aspects of the question; but though these must not be ignored, I propose to draw your attention mainly to another special and remarkable class of facts, which, so far as I am aware, have attracted little or no attention, and yet, as E think, would be very instructive if we could fully understand their meaning. Here, however, as in so many cases, the observed facts are clear enough, but their full significance is somewhat obscure, owing to the want of adequate experimental data, or of sufficient knowledge of general physical laws. A considerable amount of attention has already been paid to the mineral constitution of slags, and to such peculiarities of structure as can be learned independently of thin microscopical sections. A very complete and instructive work, specially devoted to the subject, was published by von Leonhard about twenty-two years ago, just at the time when the microscope was first efficiently applied to the study of rocks. Since then, Vogelsang and others have described the microscopical structure of some slags in connection with their study of obsidian and other allied volcanic rocks. At the date of the publication of von Leonhard’s work the questions in discussion differed mate- rially from those which should now claim attention. There was still more or less dispute respecting the nature and origin of certain rocks which have now been proved to be truly volcanic by most unequivocal evidence. Iam not at all surprised at this, since, as I shall show, there is such a very great difference in their characteristic struc‘ure and that of the artificial products of igneous fusion, that but for the small portions of glass inclosed in the constituent crystals, described by me many years ago under the name of ‘‘glass-cavities,” there would often be no positive proof of their igneous origin, There was also considerable doubt as to the manner in which certain minerals in volcanic rocks had been generated. The observed facts were sufficient to prove conclusively that some had been formed by sublimation, others by igneous fusion, and others deposited from more or less highly-heated water, but it was difficult or impossible to decide whether in particular cases certain minerals had been formed exclusively by one or other process, or sometimes by one and sometimes by the other, or by the combined action of water and a very high temperature. I must confess that, even now that so much may be learned by studying with high magnifying powers. the internal structure of crystals, I should hesitate very much in deciding what were the exact conditions under which certain minerals have been formed. This hesitation is probably as much due to inadequate examination, and to the want of a complete study of typical specimens, both in the field and by means of the microscope, as to the unavoidable difficulties of the subject. Such doubt, however, applies more to the origin of minerals occurring in cavities than to those constituting a part of true rock masses, to which latter I shall almost exclu- sively refer on the present occasion. In the formation of these it appears to me that sublimation has occurred to a very limited extent. In many cases true igneous fusion has played such a leading part that the rocks may be fairly called zgrecous, but, in other cases water in some form or other has, I think, had so. much influence, that we should hesitate to call them zgseous, and the term erupted would be open to far less objection, since it would adequately express the manner of their occurrence, and not comuit us to anything open to serious doubt. In studying erupted rocks of different characters we see that at one extreme they are as truly igneous as any furnace- product, and at the other extremity hardly, if at all, dis- tinguishable from certain deposits met with in mineral veins, which furnish abundant evidence of the preponderating, if not exclusive influence of water, and have very little or nothing in common with products certainly known to have been formed by the action of heat, and of heat alone. Between these extremes there is every connecting link, and in certain cases it is almost, if not quite, impossible to say whether the characteristic structure is due more to the action of heat than of water. The great question is whether the presence of a small quantity of water in the liquid or gaseous state is the true cause of very well-marked differences in structure, or whether greater pressure and the necessarily slower rate of cooling were not the more active causes, and the presence of water in one state or another was merely the result of the same cause. This is a question which ought to be ‘solved by experiment, but I fear it would be almost impossible to perform the necessary operations in a satisfactory manner. ‘ What I now propose to do is to describe a particular class of facts which have lately attracted my attention, and to show that the crystalline minerals in products known to haye been formed by the action of heat alone have a certain very well-marked and characteristic structure, which is gradually modified as we pass August 26, 1880] NATURE 391 through modern and more ancient volcanic to plutonic rocks, in such a manner as to show at once that they are intimately related and yet differ in such characteristic particulars that T think other agencies than mere heat must have had great influence in producing the final results. In dealing with this subject I propose in the first place to de- scribe the characteristic structure of products formed artificially under perfectly well-known conditions, and then to pass gradually to that of rocks whose origin must be inferred, and cannot be said to have been completely proved. Crystalline Biowpipe Beads.—Some years ago I devoted a con- siderable amount of time to the preparation and study of crystalline blowpipe beads, my aim being to discover simple and satisfactory means for identifying small quantities of different earths and metallic oxides, when mixed with others, and I never supposed that such small objects would throw any light on the structure and origin of vast masses of natural rock. The manner in which I prepared them was as follows.—A small bead of borax was so saturated with the substance under examination at a high temperature that it became opaque either on cooling or when slowly re-heated. It was again fused so as to be quite transparent, and then very slowly cooled over the flame. If properly managed, the excess of material held in solution at a high temperature slowly crystallised out, the form and character of the crystals depending on the nature of the substance and en the presence of other substances added to the bead as test re- agents, By this means I proved that in a few exceptional cases small simple solid crystals are formed. More frequently they are compound, or occur as minute needles, but the most charac- teristic peculiarity is the development of complex skeleton crystals of extreme beauty, built up of minute attached prisms, so as to give rise to what would be a well-developed crystal with definite external planes, if the interspaces were all filled up. In many cases the fibres of these skel-tons are parallel to three different axes perpendicular to one another, and it might be sup- posed that the entire skeleton was due to the growth of small needle-shaped crystals, all uniformly elongated in the line of one crystalline axis, so that the resulting mass would be optically and crystographically complex ; but in some cases the different systems of fibres or needles are inclined obliquely, and then the optical characters enable us to prove that the separate prisms are not similar to one another, but developed along different crystal- line planes, so as to build up one definite crystal, mechanically e

-0 ‘5 0) (orem oi) bin od eanel stan Join Groertpircan Nores 250 o> Seed etl re) Gohan em5O0 Tue First DECADE OF THE UNITED STATES FisH CoMMIssION—ITS PLAN oF WorK AND ACCOMPLISHED RESULTS, SCIENTIFIC AND Economica. By G. Brown GoopE . « - + + + + «© © # «© 597 UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE »« + + + «© + + + 599 600 ated SocreTIES AND ACADEMIES . + *© «© © © © «© # + ® NATURE 601 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1880 BALFOUR’S “COMPARATIVE EMBRYOLOGY” A Treatise on Comparative Embryology. By Francis M. Balfour, M.A., F.R.S., Fellow and Lecturer of Trinity College, Cambridge. In Two Volumes. Vol. I. (London : Macmillan and Co., 1880.) [ie is scarcely possible to exaggerate the expressions of gratitude which are due from zoologists to Mr. Balfour for the execution of the great task which some three or four years ago he set himself. Zoologists have to be thankful to him not only for the admirable style in which he has carried out his work, but for the promptitude with which he has achieved it. Mr. Balfour’s object was to produce a work in which all that has been written during the last ten or fifteen years on the structural features exhibited by animals during their growth from the egg to the adult condition should be digested, and its import carefully estimated; the result being set forth in a syste- matic way, so that the broad conclusions arrived at by the almost innumerable studies of “development from the egg’’ in all sorts and conditions of animals should be pointedly placed before the reader. At the same time he aimed to provide for the purpose of reference and for the guidance of future students something like a complete bibliography, accompanied by an analysis in many cases, of the works which have been published on special forms, It is very well known to those who are in a position to make a comparative estimate, that during the last fifteen years in no branch of science has there been such activity, such abundance of discovery, of careful observation and ingenious speculation, as in biology; and this activity has tended more and more to concentrate itself upon the study of the mode in which the complex adult organism (whether plant or animal), with all its astounding powers and its beauty of form—slowly, surely, and yet by most improbable and devious ways, advances to its complete estate from the condition of a microscopic structureless globule of albuminous slime. This marvel of develop- ment is one which has only recently come to man’s know- ledge, and it seems likely that the fascination which the study of it can exert will be such as to attract the energies of an ever-increasing crowd of observers. Mr. Balfour’s book gives for those-who are to come a résumé or summing up of the labours of those who have up to this date worked for and created our knowledge of what this process of growth from the egg is and signifies, The first volume deals with the history of development in all groups of animals excepting the Vertebrata. The labour which it has involved will be understood when it is stated that the author gives references to five hundred and seventy-two separate memoirs or books, most of which he has thoroughly read, and from many of which he gives extracts or carefully condensed abstracts. The thoroughness with which the subject is presented to the student may be appreciated by a consideration of the fact that two hundred and seventy-five woodcuts are given in this volume, which are, with few exceptions, prepared especially for this work, either from the author’s original drawings or from the drawings of the writers whom he is summarising. Vat. xxu.—No. 574 The work is divided into an “Introduction” and a “Systematic Embryology.” In the Introduction we have chapters on “The Ovum and the Spermatozoon,’’ on “The Maturation and the Impregnation of the Ovum,’’ and on “ The Segmentation of the Ovum.’ The syste- matic portion is divided into chapters, each of which corresponds with one of the large divisions of animals, e.g. Porifera, Platyelminthes, Rotifera, Mollusca, Cheto- poda, &c. Mr. Balfour, it is hardly necessary to say, has not per- formed his task as an ordinary maker ofbooks. He‘s,as all zoologists know, one of the foremost students of em- bryology in Europe, and has added a very large prope tion himself to that great heap of isolated embryological- memoirs and monographs which it is the purpose of his book to condense and render accessible to a wider circle of students. Consequently we. find not only new and original observations scattered here and there in the chapters of this treatise, but on the very numerous matters which call for the expression of an opinion or the exercise of judgment between conflicting statements of preceding observers, we have the conclusions, always modestly formulated, of a thoroughly competent critic. In fact those who are already advanced in the study of embryology will find that Mr. Balfour has freely and most legitimately made use of speculative views of his own, as a series of strings on which to thread the almost innumerable observed facts which have to be put on - record and kept ready, as it were, for the future building up of embryological doctrine. The reader, on the other hand, who has not yet reached the degree of knowledge at which such speculations become intelligible, will find that there is so much in Mr, Balfour’s pages of hard, solid, descriptive record of the actual developmental changes of one animal after another, that he will certainly not feel cause to complain. It would be out of place to discuss in these pages any of the new theoretical considerations which Mr. Balfour puts forward. With some of them it is possible to find fault; at the same time they are all ingeniously supported and indicate close reasoning and a large survey of facts on the author’s part. They serve, as Mr. Balfour himself recognises, to stimulate inquiry, and when advanced not by a paper-philosopher, but by a most exceptionally industrious observer, they cannot fail to command respect, If we venture to offer any remark which suggests how possibly Mr. Balfour’s book might have been even more excellent than it is, it must be clearly understood that as it stands we hold it to be a perfect mine of valuable information and well-considered suggestion. We should, however, have been glad had it been possible for the author to give more attention to the history of the various stages of progress in our knowledge of embryology in general, and of each particular group. Full justice is done to recent authors, and his own contemporaries receive ample recognition from Mr. Balfour ; but the successive steps by which a particular point of view has been arrived at are not always definitely indicated and due merit assigned to each of those who in past times has laboured to bring about the present phase of science. This, no doubt, has not entered into Mr. Balfour’s plan on account of the additional responsibility and labour which it would have involved, and the increase in size of what is already DD 692 NATURE [ Oct. 28, 1880 a voluminous treatise. But such treatment of the subject has avery high educational value and a certain ethical importance. Further, it may be noted that the author has neces- sarily a difficulty to contend with in the scope itself of his book. Embryology is not a natural nor a convenient division of biological science. The study of the orga- nism in its complete form cannot be advantageously separated from the study of the coming about of that form, and indeed it is very difficult for a writer who pro- poses to himself to describe the developmental changes of organisms to draw the line consistently in the various cases which he describes, and to say that at such a point his business with the organism ceases and that of the “antipeedologist” begins. It is because the knowledge of embryological facts is to so large an extent new, that separate treatises on embryology are necessary. It is as a supplement to treatises on the structure or anatomy of animals which do not sufficiently deal with embryology that such a distinct treatise is needful, and such need is merely the result of the late development of embryo- logical research. In the course of time we shall no doubt see a complete fusion of “embryology” and “antipzedology”—the facts of structure to be observed in the youth and in the maturity of organisms being treated as a matter of course concurrently. Nothing could conduce more ‘directly to this desirable state of things than the really remarkable and successful effort which Mr. Balfour has made to gather together and present in a compact and logical form the embryological results which have been and still are pouring forth from Russian, German, English, French, and American laboratories in an overwhelming stream, calculated to daunt by its velocity any but the most determined student. E. Ray LANKESTER THE SIEVE-TUBES OF DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS Bettrige zur Kenntniss des Siebrihrenapparates dicotyler Pflanzen. Von Dr. Karl Wilhelm. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1880.) T is perhaps natural, owing to its peculiarities, and especially to the character of the cell walls, that the soft bast was comparatively lately investigated and described ;1 but it is surely a surprising fact that the ground should have been left open till the present year, for a thorough investigation of the development of those tissues which are characteristic of the phloem. In the “ Comparative Anatomy” of De Bary we find a full account of what was known in 1877 of the structure and development of the soft bast ; at the same time the writer pointed out several questions concerning which further investigation was required. He drew especial attention to our want of knowledge of the relation of the cambiform cells* to the sieve-tubes, and of the develop- ment of the sieve plate, the callus mass, and the contents of the sieve-tube. It has been the object of Dr. Wilhelm’s researches to supply information on these several points; yere discovered by Hartig (1837). His observations er verified by other observers, especially yon Mohl, . rgl. Anat.,”’ p. 337. while at the same time he affords us many other interesting details. Owing to the wideness of the subject it was impossible for the author to extend his researches beyond a limited number of types. Those selected were Vitis vinifera, L., Curcubtta pepo, L., and Lagenaria vulgaris, Ser. It will be seen that Dr. Wilhelm has selected plants having sieve-tubes of the two different types common among the Dicotyledons, viz., Cucurbita and Lagenaria where the structure is more simple, Vitis where it is complicated by the presence of several sieve-plates side by side on the same cell wall. In a note at the end of the paper the author specially asserts that his results only apply to the plants named ; while further research must show whether the structure described is really typical. The main results arrived at are as follows :—Those formative cells of the bast which are set apart for the development of a member of a sieve-tube, usually suffer a longitudinal division into two unequal cells: the larger forms one member of the sieve-tube ; the other, which is smaller and shorter, develops into the companion-cell (Geleztzelle). The latter may, in Cucurbita and Lagenaria, again divide. The walls separating the companion-cells from the sieve-tube are fitted, and the cell contents richly protoplasmic. It will be seen that these cells, being sister cells of the members of the sieve-tubes, must be dis- tinguished from the larger cells, which are usually termed “cambiform ;” these latter being formed by division from formative cells of the bast, but not being in direct genetic connection with the cells, which develop into members of the sieve-tubes. Dr. Wilhelm finds that the ‘ callous’’ condition of the sieve-plate is not, as previously supposed, the result of a secondary change of the plate; on the contrary, the dif- ferentiation of the sieve-plate begins by the change of the cellulose to ‘‘callus’’ at a number of points. It is in the callus masses, formed at these points, that the pores of the sieve later appear. The callus may extend itself from these points so as to cover the whole face of the plate, and completely inclose the cellulose sieve. A callus- skeleton is thus formed which may be isolated. The callus varies in volume, increasing with age, or on approach of the period of rest; in which case the pores may be completely stopped; or decreasing as the period of summer activity approaches, when the pores are again opened. This result may be obtained by artificial means. It is best seen in Vitis; it is probable that this variation of volume of the callus is by no means universal. As regards the substance of the callus it will be seen from the following reactions that it cannot be identified with any of the substances previously described. With acids and alkalies it swells quickly; if the reagents be strong it is dissolved. Ammoniacal sub-oxide of copper attacks it only slightly, or not at all; by use of this reagent the callus-skeletons before mentioned may be obtained free. Solution of iodine in alcohol does not colour it; solution of iodine in potassium iodide colours it yellow to brownish yellow. This with Schultz’s solution gives a deep red brown; when used alone the latter reagent gives no colour, but causes considerable swelling. Thus far we have only discussed the cell walls. While the development of the sieve has been going on, but before the perforations are formed, a change appears in Oct. 28, 1880] NATURE 603 Nee aa the contents of the young sieve-tubes. Isolated drops or irregular masses appear in the layer of protoplasm lining the cell cavity before the disappearance of the nucleus. These consist of a slimy stuff (Sc/Zeiz) apparently rich in nitrogen! The separate masses later fuse together to form a band, which is usually much narrower than the girth of the cell. Between this and the wall of the sieve tube a protoplasmic envelope intervenes (H7l/schlauch). The central cavity within these is filled with “sieve-tube sap.’ For further details concerning the contents of the sieve-tubes the reader must be referred to the original work, The author has not been able to observe directly the first appearance of connection through the pores of the sieve ; but suggests that it is effected by the outgrowth of protuberances of the envelope (A7é//schlauch) from oppo- site sides of the sieve, which penetrate it and coalesce to form the connecting strings. The presence of starch grains noticed by Briosi is con- firmed by Wilhelm in Vitis. He finds them in members of sieve-tubes which are still closed. He opposes the idea that they pass through the sieve on ground of their size. In Cucurbita and Lagenaria they are absent. Be- sides the communication of sieve-tubes with one another laterally, so as to form a complete system, Dr. Wilhelm has observed in the case of Vitis a further connection, through the medullary rays, of tubes lying on opposite sides of the ray. This is effected by special sieve tubes, produced by transformation of cells of the medullary ray, so as to form a series of very short members; these correspond in development and structure with the ordinary sieve-tube. They traverse the medullary rays in an obliquely tangential direction. Such communications are not found in Cucurbita or Lagenaria. The question of function has not been solved by these observations. Dr. Wilhelm still holds the view, pro- pounded by Nageli, that the function of the sieve-tube is the transference of indiffusible substances from place to place in the plant. In conclusion it may be remarked that the paper is well written, but that it is of such a character as to be interest- ing only to the specialist. The plates, of which there are nine, are executed with great skill and exactitude. F. ORPEN BOWER OUR BOOK SHELF The Elementary Geometry of Conics. By C. Taylor, M.A. Third Edition. (Cambridge: Deighton, 1880.) Mr. TAYLOR has been before the public as a writer on geometrical conics since 1863, in which year he brought out his ‘‘ Geometrical Conics’’ ; in 1872 we have the first edition, and in 1873 the second edition of his ‘‘ The Geo- metry of Conics,” a smaller work than his first book (1863). Now we have a third edition with the above title. In May, 1875, Mr. Taylor, in a paper entitled “On the Method of Reversion applied to the Transformation of Angles’’ (read before the Mathematical Society, and subsequently printed in a more extended form in the Quarterly Fournal, No. 53, 1875, with the title “The Homographic Transformation of Angles”), called atten- tion to a “neglected work on conics by G. Walker, F.R.S. (1794)”: in this work we first meet with the properties of a circle, which Walker calls the generating circle, but which Mr. Taylor, in the work before us, styles * Cf. De Bary, ‘‘ Vergl. Anat.,” p. 185. the eccentric circle ; in the free use of this circle consists the main feature in the alterations made in this new edi- tion ; further, though still keeping well in view the proving chord-properties independently of tangent-properties, there is a rearrangement of the text ; so that the two properties are not treated of in distinct chapters. In other ways also we think this little work is improved, but we need say no more upon a third edition. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts, No notice is taken of anonymous communications. | [Zhe Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressureon his space is so great that it zs impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com- munications containing interesting and novel facts.] Ceraski’s New Variable Star UNLEss the principal fact mentioned below has already come to your notice, you may like to bring it before the astronomical public in the columns of NATURE. The true period of the variable star recently discovered at Moscow (Durchmusterung, zone + 81°, No. 25) appears to be two days and a half, instead of five as given in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 455. Minima were observed at the Harvard College Observatory on September 23 and 28. The changes of the star will accordingly be visible in England on October 13, 18, 23, 28, &c., during the three or four hours before or after midnight. The rapidity of the change is probably greater in the case of this star than in that of any other known variable, the variation exceeding a magnitude in the course of one hour. The total variation is more than two magnitudes. A star of about the eighth magnitude (No. 30 of the same zone) is within a few minutes of the variable, and may readily be compared with it. The phenomenon of the variation is consequently a striking one, even as seen in a small telescope. The approximate place of the variable for 1881 is inR.A. oh, 51m. 48s., Decl. +81°14"I. EDMUND C, PICKERING Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, U.S., October 2 = Lorp LinpDsAy’s Dun Echt Circular, No. 10, which I received on Saturday morning, October 23, prepared me to watch for a probable minimum of M. Ceraski’s remarkable variable star B.D. + 81°25’ on the same night. From my observations the minimum appears to have occurred at about 11h. rom. G.M.T., the star then being of about 9°1 magnitude. At gh. 5m. I noted it about equal to a neighbouring star, B.D. + 81° 30’, which I gauged 81 mag., and at 13h. 50m. it had regained the same magnitude. When about minimum I thought the variable to be slightly ruddy, but as it brightened up again it lost this tint and appeared to be white, or bluish white, as when I first observed it. It has a small bluish 113 mag. companion, the P. and D. of which I roughly estimated to be 60’ and 10” respectively. The star was observed by Carrington in 1855, on December 19, 21, and 30, his estimated mags. being 80, 8'0, 9’0. Possibly the star may have been near minimum at his third epoch. Knowles Lodge, Cuckfield, October 25 GEORGE KNOTY “Solid Ice at High Temperatures ” THE interesting results announced by Prof. Thomas Carnelley, of Firth College, Sheffield, in relation to the physical conditions under which zce persistently maintains its so/éd state when exposed to the influence of heat (NATURE, vol. xxii. p.'435), deserves some notice. When he speaks of obtaining ‘solid ice at temperatures so high that it was impossible to touch it without burning one’s self,” it is evident that this durning quality apper- tains to the hot vessel containing the ice, and not to the solid ice itself, For it is obvious that under the given conditions ‘he temperature of the surface of the ice is kept at least as lowaso C. by the rapid vaporisation of it while in a solid state. The phenomenon of a body remaining persistently at a low temperature when surrounded by a hot vessel—through the influence of the rapid change of state—is analogous to the well-known results of Boutigny and Faraday in relation to the freezing of water and mercury in a hot vessel by means of large 604 NATURE [ Oct. 28, 1880 globules of sulphurous acid and liquid carbonic acid while in a **spheroidal condition.” In these cases, notwithstanding the proximity of the hot vessel, the temperatures of the globules of SO, and CO, are respectively as low as — 10° and — 73°C, It has long been remarked by physicists that some substances pass directly from the solid to the gaseous state, without under- going liquefaction: that is, when heated, they sublime without melting. Such bodies, under ordinary atmospheric pressures, have their orig points /ower than their temperatures of fusion ; hence they vo/atilise without meltizg...Moreover-it-has long been known that such substances may be made to fuse by subjecting them to an abnormal pressure sufficient to raise their boiling points above their points of fusion. Thus the classical experiments of Sir James Hall show that carbonate of lime may be fused when heated under a pressure sufficient to prevent the CO, from escaping (Zvans, Royal Soc. Edin., vol. vi. pp. 71- 186, 1805), In like manner metallic arsenic sublimes without melting at 180° C., under the ordinary pressure of the atmo- sphere; but the experiments of Landolt in 1859 show that under artificial pressure it melts in globules at a low red heat. It is evident that in these cases the rapid vaporisation of the solids under ordinary circumstances grevents the temperature from reaching the point of fusion; but when subjected to addi- tional pressure the conditions of liquefaction are secured. On the other hand, in the case of zz, it is obvious that the withdrawal of pressure by lowering its boiling-point places it in the same category with metallic arsenic under ordinary conditions of pressure, In relation to the /itera/ure of this subject it is proper to add the following quotations from M. V. Regnault’s ‘‘ Elements of Chemistry” (American Translation, Philadadelphia, 1868, vol. i. p.279). In speaking of the fusion of metallic arsenic under pressure he says :—‘‘ The distance between the point of fusion and that of ebullition of any body may, however, be increased at pleasure. For the point of ebullition of a body ts the temperature at which the tension of its vapour ts equal to the pressure exerted upon it; and hence by increasing the pressure the boiling-point ‘is raised without sensibly affecting the point of fusion,” Again, he says :—‘*‘ Reciprocally it is evident that a volatile solid body may be always subjected to so slight a pressure that it will Joz7 at a temperature zferior to that at which it sze//s. Thus ice at the temperature of — 1° C. possesses an elastic force represented by 4°27 mm.; in other words, it boils at 2 temperature of — 1° C, under the pressure of 4°27 mm. Ice may therefore be entirely volatilised dy ebudlition under this feeble pressure, with- out reaching its point of fusion, which is 0° C.” Berkeley, California, September 30 JoHN LECONTE Wire Torsion THE phenomena described by Major Herschel in his letter to NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 557, and about which he asks for informa- tion, are, we think, quite easily explained by what is known of the fluidity of metals. Yielding, or flowing, seems to occur in all metals after a certain limiting stress has been reached ; indeed it probably occurs, although perhaps to animmeasurably small ex- tent, even with small stresses (see Proc. Roy. Soc. No. 204, p. 411, 1880) ; but there is generally a limiting stress beyond which the increase of strain due to yielding becomes comparable in magni- tude with the ordinary strains, which instantaneously disappear on the removal of the load. The bell-smith pulls his copper wire, and makes it much longer before he thinks it fit for use; in a similar way the telegraph constructor stretches, or #2//s the iron wire before he erects the line. Up to a certain limit of pulling force, the wire obeys the well-known laws of elasticity ; slightly above that limit there is considerable fluid-yielding, there being but very little yielding below that limit ; and at any instant during the lengthening if the man ceases to pull, the wire shortens a little. In fact at any stage the wire obeys the elastic law for small stresses. Eventually the man ceases to pull, knowing that the metal has lost most of its fluid properties, which can only be restored to it by annealing. The same thing occurs in brass, although toa smaller extent than in copper, which can be expe- rimentally proved in the following way :—Stretch a piece of well- annealed brass wire in the manner described by Major Herschel until it is nearly breaking ; and immediately set the wire vibrating. Now the note given out by the stretched bra-s wire, which, as is well known, depends on the tensile stress, will be found rapidly to go down in pitch. If the wire be tivhtened up again sufficiently with the screw, the original note will again be heard, and the pitch will again go down, but not so rapidly as before. Repeat this process until no flattening of the note is heard; then in this state we think that the experimenter will find the wire to break with much less torsion than before, and to obey Hooke’s law more exactly. If it be desired to repeat the yielding or flowing process, the wire must be previously again annealed. Mere sudden straining, even nearly up to the breaking stress, is not sufficient to destroy the fluidity of brass ; time is required. The yielding behaviour of a brass beam when loaded has been studied by Prof, Thurston (7Z7avs. American Soc. of Civil Eng. yo]. vi. p. 28), and we may add that we have found that the permanent state is always more rapidly reached when the wire is subjected to rapid vibrations. It may be because torsion of a wire is more visible than longi- tudinal strains (the twist being inversely proportional to the fourth power of the diameter for a given twisting moment, whereas the longitudinal strain for a given load is inversely pro- portional to the square of the diameter) that fluidity is so much more apparent in torsional experiments ; but we think it probable that fluidity will be found always much more apparent when the volume of the material acted on is unchanged, that is, when the stress is mainly one of shear as it is in torsion. » However this may be we can explain why wire which has been “killed” for pulling forces is not ‘‘ killed” for twisting, and why .it is more difficult to kill for twisting than for tensile stresses. It is well known to wire-drawers that in whatever state copper or brass wire may be, whether annealed or not, it may be drawn smaller, although no doubt it requires less care to draw it if it is annealed. We cannot merely pull wire much smaller, it has to undergo a lateral pressure such as the die gives it. Now in twisting a wire it everywhere receives this lateral pressure, that is—imagine a right-handed spiral filament being lengthened by the twist—then the other component of the twist gives to the filament a compression at right angles to its length which enables it to extend. It seems that this lateral pressure is needed to overcome some sort of friction in the particles of the metal tending to prevent their moving into the axis of the wire, and which therefore is greater as the section of the wire is larger, and it is probably for this reason that a very thin wire extends much more, for a given initial length, before it is killed than a thick wire. We have known a length of about fifteen inches of fine copper wire which had just been drawn, and which had been well killed, to bear six or seven hundred complete turns in a lathe, one end being fixed, the other end turned, and the wire kept pretty taut before it was accidentally broken, and even afterwards parts of the wire could be considerably lengthened by pulling. The nature of the explanation of this apparent anneal- ing for tensile stresses arising from previous torsion will be gathered from what follows. We infer that the three or four turns given to the wire at the beginning in Major Herschel’s experiment were not sufficient to produce permanent torsional set ; why then should increasing the tension during the torsion cause torsional set as well as lengthening of the wire? This is, we think, a more important question than the one presented to us by the observations of fluidity in the latter half of Major Herschel’s letter, and which arose from the metal having belonged to what Prof. Thurston calls the ‘tin class” as distinguished from metals of the ‘iron class.” The explanation we think is as follows, and it leads to the conclusion that torsional fluidity is not independent of tensile stress :-— Suppose right- and left-handed spirals had been imagined in the wire in question, making everywhere angles of 45° with the axis of the wire; then torsional strain, however set up, would consist in the production of a difference in length of these two sets of spirals. Now a twisting moment produces this effect ; it lengthens, say the right-hand spiral and shortens the left, and we know that up toa certain limit, which is tolerably high, the same effect is produced whatever be the tensile stress in the wire, which latter simply tends to lengthen both spirals equally. In fact if Hooke’s law is true, the torsion is independent of the tension. But above a certain limit of pull in the wire, the strain in the direction of the right-handed spiral being everywhere due to the sum of two tensile stresses, becomes so great that fluidity sets in and permanent set is produced ; whereas in the direction of the left-handed spiral the stress is due to the difference between the tet:sile stress and the compressive part of the torsional shearing stress, and this difference being small, no permanent tensile set is produced, or at all events one much less than in the case of the other spiral, Consequently if all stresses now cease to act Oct. 28, 1880] NATURE 605 a permanent difference would remain in the lengths of the two spirals, that is, there would now be a permanent twist. Information regarding the fluidity of tempered steel, copper, brass, lead, tin, &c., will be found in the papers of M. Tresca, and in the second of the Cantor lectures delivered by Mr. Anderson before the Society of Arts April 19, 1869, as well as in Mr. Anderson’s book on the ‘‘ Strength of Materials,” and in Mr. Bottomley’s reports communicated at the Meetings of the British Association in 1879-80. We do not think, however, that much of the valuable information on the fluidity of metals which is scattered through the Proceedings of the different societies has yet been collated. Wire-drawers, watch and clockmakers, as well as the makers of philosophical instru- ments and of other small machinery, have a considerable amount of knowledge of this subject which they cannot systematise and make known to others, but which, nevertheless, they make ready use of in their work. Finally, we would suggest that if Major Herschel wants his wire to obey Hooke’s law for small twists only, he will not find it necessary to destroy the properties which are due to its being annealed. If, however, he desires to use greater twists, it will be necessary to leave the wire under a fairly large pull for a considerable time without twisting it until it ceases to con- tinuously yield to tensile stresses of greater intensity than that of the shear stress to which it has afterwards to be subjected. And if in Mr. Allan Broun’s gravimeter it be necessary to employ such large twisting couples as Major Herschel was using in his experiments, we would suggest the employment of a longer and thicker wire. JOHN PERRY London, October 18 W. E. AyRTON On the Skin-furrows of the Hand In looking over some specimens of ‘‘prehistoric” pottery found in Japan I was led, about a year ago, to give some atten- tion to the character of certain finger-marks which had been made on them while the clay was still soft. Unfortunately all of those which happened to come into my possession were too vague and ill-defined to be of much use, but a comparison of such finger-tip impressions made in recent pottery led me to observe the characters of the skin-furrows in human fingers generally, From these I passed to the study of the finger-tips of monkeys, and found at once that they presented very close analogies to those of human beings. I have here few oppor- tunities of prosecuting the latter study to much advantage, but hope to present such results as I may attain in another letter. Meanwhile I would venture to suggest to others more favourably situated the careful study of the lemurs, &c., in this connection, as an additional means of throwing light on their interesting genetic relations. A large number of nature-prints have been taken by me from the fingers of people in Japan, and I am at present collecting others from different nationalities, which I hope may aid students of ethnology in classification. Some few interesting points may here be mentioned by way of introduction. Some individuals show quite a syzzmetrical development of these furrows. In these cases all the fingers of one hand have a similar arrangement of lines, while the pattern is simply reversed on the other hand. A Gibraltar monkey (Macacus innus) examined by me had this arrangement. A slight majority of the few Europeans I have been able to examine here have it also, An ordinary botanical lens is of great service in bringing out these minor peculiarities. Where the loops occur the innermost lines may simply break off and end abruptly ; they may end in self-returning loops, or, again, they may go on without breaks after turning round upon themselves. Some lines also join or branch like junctions in a railway map. All these varieties, however, may be compatible with the general impression of symmetry that the two hands give us when printed from. In a Japanese man the lines on both thumbs form similar spiral whorls ; those of the left fore-finger form a peculiar oval whorl, while those of the right corresponding finger form an open loop having a direction quite opposite to that of the right fore-finger in the. previous example. A similar whorl is found on both middle fingers instead of a symmetrically reversed whorl. The right ring-finger again has an oval whorl, but the corresponding left finger shows an open loop. The lines at the ulno-palmar margin of this particular Japanese are of the parallel sort in both hands, and are quite symmetrical, thus differing from the Englishman’s considerably. These in- stances are not intended to stand for typical patterns of the two peoples, but simply as illustrations ‘of the kind of facts to be observed. My method of observation was at first simply to examine fingers closely, tosketch the general trend ef the curves as accurately as possible, recording nationality, sex, colour of eyes and hair, and securing a specimen of the latter. I passed ~ from this to ‘‘nature-printing,” as ferns are often copied. A common slate or smooth board of any kind, or a sheet of tin, spread over very thinly and evenly with printer’s ink, is all that is required. The parts of which impressions are desired are pressed down steadily and softly, and then are transferred to slightly damp paper. I have succeeded in making very delicate impressions on glass. They are somewhat faint indeed, but would be useful for demonstrations, as details are very well shown, even down to the minute pores. By using different colours of ink useful comparisons could be made of two patterns by superposition, These might be shown by magic lantern. I have had prepared a number of outline hands with blank forms for entering such particulars of each case as may be wanted, and attach a specimen of hair for microscopic examination. Each finger-tip may best be done singly, and people are uncommonly willing to submit to the process. A little Zot water and soap remove the ink. Benzine is still more effective. The domi- nancy of heredity through these infinite varieties is sometimes very striking. I have found unique patterns in a parent repeated with marvellous accuracy in his child. Negative results, how- ever, might prove nothing in regard to parentage, a caution which it is important to make. Iam sanguine that the careful study of these patterns may be useful in several ways. 1. We may perhaps be able to extend to other animals the analogies found by me to exist in the monkeys. 2, These analogies may admit of further analysis, and may assist, when better understood, in ethnological classifications. 3. Ifso, those which are found in ancient pottery may become of immense historical importance. : 4. The fingers of mummies, by special preparation, may yield results for comparison. Jam very doubtful, however, of this. 5. When bloody finger-marks or impressions on clay, glass, &c., exist, they may lead to the scientific identification of criminals, Already I have had experience in two such cases, and found useful evidence from these marks, In one case greasy finger-marks revealed who had been drinking some rectified spirit, The pattern was unique, and fortunately I had previously obtained a copy of it. They agreed with microscopic fidelity. In another case sooty finger-marks of a person climbing a white wall were of great use as negative evidence. Other cases might occur in medico-legal investi- gations, as when the hands only of some mutilated victim were found. If previously known they would be much more precise in value than the standard mo/e of the penny novelists. If unknown previously, heredity might enable an expert to deter- mine the relatives with considerable probability in many cases, and with absolute precision in some. Such a case as that of the Claimant even might not be beyond the range of this principle. There might be arecognisable Tichborne type, and there might be an Orton type, to one or other of which experts might relate the case. Absolute identity would prove descent in some circumstances. . I have heard, since coming to these general conclusions by original and patient experiment, that the Chinese criminals from early times have been made to give the impressions of their fingers, just as we make ours yield their photographs. I have not yet, however, succeeded in getting any precise or authenti- cated facts on that point. That the Egyptians caused their criminals to seal their confessions with their thumb-nails, just as the Japanese do now, a recent discovery proves. This is how- ever quite a different matter, and it is curious to observe that in our country servant-girls used to stamp their sealed letters in the same way. There can be no doubt as to the advantage of having, besides their photographs, a nature-copy of the for-ever-unchange- able finger-furrows of important criminals. It need not surprise us to find that the Chinese have been before us in this as in other matters, I shall be glad to find that it is really so, as it would only serve to confirm the utility of the method, and the facts which may thus have been accumulated would be a rich anthro- pological mine for patient observers, Tlenry FAULDS Tsukiji Hospital, Tokio, Japan [Some very interesting examples of nature-printed finger- tips accompanied this letter.—ED. ] 606 NATURE [ Oct. 28, 1880 Metamorphic Rocks, Ireland THERE appears to be confusion as to the times when meta- morphic action occurred among the Irish rocks ; my experience would point to the following :— In the Carnsore district, South-East Wexford, there are meta- morphic rocks for a long time supposed to be of Lower or Cambro-Silurian age; I however proved that they were up- turned, contorted, metamorphosed, and denuded, prior to the overlying fossiliferous Cambro-Silurian rocks being deposited, and for the reasons given in the Geological Survey Memoir it is probable these metamorphic rocks are of Cambrian age. dn the hills north of Pomeroy, Co. Tyrone, there are meta- morphic rocks, which were upturned, contorted, metamorphosed, and denuded, prior to the overlying fossiliferous ‘‘ Pomeroy rocks” having been deposited. ‘The fossils in the latter would point to their being Cambro-Silurians ; consequently the meta- morphic rocks are older, and for reasons given in a paper read before the Royal Irish Academy I believe they are the equiva- lents of the ‘‘great micalite series,” West Galway, or the equivalents of the Arenig group of Wales. Thal is either Upper Cambrian, or Passage beds between the Cambro-Silurian and Cambrian. In Erris, North-West Mayo, there is a tract of excessively metamorphosed rocks, supposed by Griffith to be older than the associated altered Cambro-Silurians, and this opinion is shared in by Mr. McHenry, who more recently examined them. From the above it is evident that there was a Zeriod of intense metamorphosis prior to the Cambro-Silurian age. The Cambrian (Arenig group?) and Cambro-Silurian of Galway and South-West Mayo must, in part, have been altered prior to the deposition of the Upper Silurians on them; while the general metamorphism of the South-East Ireland Cambro- Silurians, which was quite irrespective of the intrusion of the Leinster granite, was probably at about the same time. If the Comeragh Mountain rocks are Glengariff grits, ze. Silurians, the age of the metamorphic action is evident, as in Waterford these rocks underlie those of the Comeragh Mountains. In addition to the general metamorphism in the rocks of South- East Ireland, there was also a local and secondary action in connection with the protrusion of certain granitic rocks. The testimony of the West Galway and South-West Mayo rocks alone, however, would prove a@ Zeriod of intense meta- morphic action at the close of Cambro-Silurian time. In South-West Mayo, as proved by Mr. Symes and myself (Maps and Memoirs of the Geol. Survey), there is a considerable area of metamorphosed Upper Silurian rocks, which prove another period of intense metamorphic action subsequent to the dawn of Upper Silurian times, The secondary metamorphism previously mentioned in South-East Ireland may also be of this age, as the granitic rocks allied with the metamorphic, in both areas, are very similar. Thus there are records of at least three periods of intense metamorphic action, and probably there were two others sub- sequently—one in the Triassic and another in the Miocene time —to account respectively for the metamorphic rocks in the neighbourhood of the Mourne granite, Co. Down, and those associated with the granitic rock near Portrush, Co. Antrim. Formerly, as mentioned by me in the ‘‘ Geology of Ireland,” the period of greatest metamorphism was considered to have been at the close of the Cambro-Silurian time ; now, however, more recent research has taught us that metamorphic rocks, formerly supposed to be Cambro-Silurians, are Cambrians ; so it seems possible the metamorphic action prior to Cambro- Silurian time may have been greater than that subsequent to it. Ovoca, Ireland G. H, KINAHAN The Number of Known Species of Hemiptera- Heteroptera As Mr. Pascoe, in his very ‘‘handy book of reference” for zoological classification, says of the Hemiptera-Heteroptera that “in round numbers there may be about 10,000 species in this sub-order,” I am induced to give my census of the group. On completing, about a year ago, MS. lists of the families which Stal unfortunately did not live to include in his ‘‘ Enume- ratio Hemipterorum,” I was tempted to try and ascertain the total number of species that had been described. This I found to be about 7,800 (the actual number arrived at is 7,780). Of these, 7,445 belong to the Geocorisee or Gymnocerata (mostly terrestrial bugs, but including four families which inhabit the surface of water), and 334 to the Hydrocorisz or Cryptocerata (almost all aquatic species). Of the Geocoris 1,503 are Euro- pean, 3,248 are natives of the rest of the Old World, and 2,694 are American ; of the Hydrocorisee the corresponding numbers are 95, 120, and 119. The largest family of the Geocorisz in Europe is the Capsidze with 500 species, as against 134 and 312 in the rest of the Old World and America respectively. Amongst the Hydrocorisze the family Corixidee is most numerous in species, the numbers being: for Europe 72, the rest of the Old World 17, and America 34. But as these two families contain many inconspicuous species, and species having a strong resemblance inter sé, and as Europe has been (naturally) inore thoroughly investigated than the other regions, it is likely that many extra- European species of these families remain yet to be discovered. Of what may be the actual number of species of Hemiptera- Heteroptera existing it is difficult to form an estimate. It is only of late years that much attention (comparatively) has been directed to the order, and from the number of new species sent home by the few collectors who condescend to collect bugs, it is evident that very great additions to the list will in course of time be made. Even within the last twenty years the list has been more than doubled, asin A. Dohrn’s catalogue, published in 1859, only 3,627 are mentioned. Of the sub-order Homoptera it would be rather difficult to make a census. In Dohrn’s catalogue somewhere about 3,000 species are catalogued—a number not very far short of that of the Heteroptera. In the British and European lists the number of Homoptera is about two-thirds that of the Heteroptera. Perth, October 1a F, BUCHANAN WHITE On the Classification of Rivers Ir has often occurred to me that a convenient classification of rivers might be obtained by arranging them according to their “ water-discharge.”” Such a classification would not only indicate the relative position of one river to another in a descending scale, but would enable a rough estimate to be borne in the memory of the amount of water any particular river may discharge. I therefore venture to suggest the following arrangement : and have given below the names of seventeen ‘rivers, the discharges of which I have obtained from various sources, for which I would refer the reader to NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 486. Discharge of Cubic Feet per second First Rate. Second. Third. Fourth, Fifth. bove Above | Above Above Above 2,000,000, 1,000,000. 500,000, 250,000, 100,000. Amazon. Congo. Yang’ tse. Danube. Ganges. Plate. Shat-el-Arab. | Indus, Mississippi. Atrato Nile. Yellow River. Sixth. Seventh. Eighth. Ninth. Tenth, Above Above Above Above Below 50,000. 25,000. 10,000. 5,000. 5,000. Rhone. Pei-ho. Thames. Rhine. Po. Woodlane, Falmouth, October 19 H. B. Guppy Yuccas under Cultivation In Nature, vol. xxi. p. 315, in the report of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, it is stated that ‘‘ the yuccas fruit rarely under cultivation, the large white pendulous flowers being in the wild plant fertilised by a moth of the genus Pronuba.” The yucca has been introduced and is very abundant in this colony, especially round Noumea. It fruits freely ; in fact I rarely see a plant in which many, if not most, of the flowers do not pro- duce seed-pods, In my own garden they seem to be fertilised by the common bee, of which I have a hive, others being in the neighbourhood, If I remember rightly, Pvonuda is a genus of large moths having yellow underwings. We have a species identical with, or closely resembling, an old Ceylon friend, but it is rare ; still it does exist here, and may assist in the fertilisa. Oct. 28, 1880] tion, though I should say, from the number of flowers fertilised, that other agencies preponderate. E. L. LAYARD British Consulate, Noumea, New Caledonia, July 31 Intellect in Brutes I conress I do not see much ‘‘ intellect” in a snake biting its own tail (cf. NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 40) ; onthe contrary, I con- sider the creature evinced remarkable stupidity. Perhaps how- ever you will think what I now relate will show that snakes do possess reasoning powers. Many years ago, while in Ceylon, I lived in a house in ‘* Slave Island,” raised on a high platform. The steps up to the door had become loosened, and behind them a colony of frogs had established themselves. One morning I watched a snake (a cobra) creep up, insert his head into a crack, and seize a frog, which he there and then swallowed. But the crack that admitted the thin flat head and neck of the ophidian would not permit of the same being withdrawn when the neck was swollen with the addition of the frog inside it. The snake tugged and struggled, but in vain, and after a series of futile attempts dis- gorged its prey and withdrew its head. But the sight was too tantalising. Again the head was inserted in the crack and the coveted morsel swallowed, and again the vain struggles to with- draw were renewed. J saw this repeated several times, till, gaining wisdom by experience, the snake seized the frog by one leg, withdrew it from its coigne of vantage, and swallowed it outside. E. L, LAYARD I sEND you the following dog story, the truth of which is vouched for by the young lady who owned the animal. Her pet dog, a black-and-tan-terrier, was well known to the neigh- bours for his intelligence. He had established a remarkable friend- ship for a certain kitten, although given to fierce attacks on all others. This kitten was infested with fleas, which, when the dog discovered, he took her by the nape of the neck, in truly parental fashion, and souwsed her up and down in a bucket of water, He would then take her out into the sunshine and care- fully pick out the drowned fleas, A friend of mine, a naturalist, and a very conscientious man, whose word can be implicitly trusted, gives the following, to which he was an eye-witness. His grandfather, then a very old but hale and hearty man, had a splendid Newfoundland. There was a narrow and precipitous road leading from the fields to the house. It was regarded as a very dangerous place. One day when the old gentleman was doing some work about the farm his horse became alarmed and started off with the wagon along this causeway. The chances were that he would dash himself and the empty wagon to pieces. At once the dog seemed to take in the situation, although until that time he had been impassive. He started after the horse at full speed, overtook him, caught the bridle, and by his strength arrested the frightened creature until help could reach him. My friend gives many other stories of this fine dog, and thinks he had a decided sense of humour, I will repeat that both of these tales come to me well authenti- cated, and I could, by seeking permission, give names and places. W. WHITMAN BAILEY Broun University, Providence, R. I. (U.S.A.), October 10 Atmospheric Phenomenon Last evening (October 21) at 5.45 p.m. I observed four huge radiating arms of faint white light, like the spokes of a gigantic wheel, rising from a centre apparently on the west-south-west horizon, and extending almost to the zenith. I say apparently on the west-south-west horizon, because an intervening house pre- vented me from seeing the nucleus of the diverging rays. The aspect of the phenomenon was more suggestive of an aurora than anything else I know of, but the beams of light seemed to be quite stationary, and although I fancied their brilliancy in- creased at one time for a few moments, I cannot be sure. Other fainter rays appeared to me to divide the west-south-west sky with those I have mentioned ; but on that point I am also not sure. The sun set at 4.53 p.m., and twilight ended about 6.43 p.m., at which time the appearance I have attempted to describe was no longer visible. The sky was heavily clouded. I should very much like to know the cause of this (to me) singular exhibition of light. B. Kentish Town, N.W., October 22 ‘ NATURE 607 Temperature of the Breath WITH reference to the high reading, 107°-108°, noticed by Dr. Dudgeon when a thermometer tightly wrapped up in the folds of a silk handkerchief was kept in the mouth for five minutes, might I ask Dr. Dudgeon if he has verified this reading by immersing the thermometer, with a handkerchief tightly rolled round its bulb, in a vessel of water, at say 108°, the tem- perature of the water being simultaneously taken by a standard thermometer with its bulb uncovered? It seems to me that there is some danger of actually squeezing up the reading of a delicate thermometer when twenty or thirty folds of a silk handkerchief tightly encircle its bulb. Bey. Meike October 23 Crossing:Rapid Streams HAVING read some letters lately in your paper on the subject of crossing rapid streams by means of carrying heavy stones, it strikes me that the following may be of interest to your readers. It is an extract from a survey report by Lieut. (now Major) Woodthorpe, R.E., written in 1876, describing the method, which he saw practised by men of the Naga tribes, for crossing a deep stream too rapid for their feeble powers of swimming, and about twenty yards wide :— “Taking large stones in their hands, they waded in up to their necks, and throwing up their legs and lowering their hands, the stones carried them to the bottom, along which they crept on all-fours till they reached the shallows on the other side.” The rough bottom afforded them sufficient hold to withstand the modified current and resist flotation. Mussoorie, September 28 Construction of Telescopes and Microscopes PERHAPS some of your readers may be able to inform me whether there exists in English or French a work on geometrical optics, in which the author applies himself thoroughly to explain the optical (not the mechanical) construction of telescopes and microscopes. Works like those by Parkinson and Polter stop short exactly where the application of theory to the construction of the best instruments begins. September 30 BENZAMIN PEIRCE, F-.R.S. WE regret to have to record the death at Cambridge, Mass., on October 6, of Prof. Peirce of Harvard University, following upon an illness of three months from Bright’s disease. Prof. Peirce was the son of a former librarian of the university, Benjamin Peirce, who died in 1831. For the past thirty-five years he has occupied a pro- fessorship at Harvard ; and as a lecturer, author, thinker, and investigator, has not only ranked amongst the first of a numerous corps of professors, but also among the first of American men of science. Devoting himself originally to mathematics, Prof. Peirce has successively pursued ex- haustive studies in all the branches more closely allied to mathematics, and has obtained eminence equally in physics, astronomy, mechanics, and navigation. His numerous investigations in these various departments, while read before various scientific societies, have been published, unfortunately, for the most part in the briefest possible form, and the results of many of his researches are to be found only in the manuals he published on various subjects. As an author Prof. Peirce was highly esteemed upon both sides of the Atlantic, his work on analytical mechanics, which appeared in 1857, being regarded then even in Germany as the best of its kind. His chief works are a “ Treatise on Algebra,’’ a “ Trea- tise on Plane and Solid Geometry,” ‘‘ Pure Mathematics,” a © Treatise on Sound,” “ Ocean Lanes for Steamships,” “ Tables of the Moon,” “System of Analytic Mechanics,” “Potential Physics,’ ‘Linear Associative Algebra,’’ “ Analytic Morphology,”’ and “ Criterion for the Rejec- tion of Doubtful Observations.” As a lecturer Prof. Peirce was highly esteemed in both scientific and popular circles. It is related that in 1843, by a series of popular 608 NATURE [ Oct. 28, 1880 lectures on astronomy, he so excited the public interest that the necessary funds were supplied for erecting an observatory at Harvard. A remarkable series of lectures on ‘‘Ideality in Science,” delivered by him in 1879 before the Lowell Institute in Boston, attracted the general attention of American thinkers, on account of the thoughtful consideration of the vexed question of science and religion. Much of Prof. Peirce’s activity was absorbed by his duties as the head of the American Coast Survey, a position in which he succeeded Prof. Bache. He brought to this work the same degree of zeal and ability which were so brilliantly evidenced by his predecessor, and constantly maintained the well-earned reputation of the Coast Survey among the hydrographic efforts of our day. Prof. Peirce was one of the founders of the American National Academy of Sciences. In 1853 he presided over the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him twice, by the University of North Carolina (1847), and by Harvard University (1867). He was elected an Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society (1849), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (1852), and of the Royal Societies of Edinburgh and Gottingen. Prof. Peirce leaves behind him his wife, a daughter, and three sons. Of the latter one is Professor of Mathematics at Harvard, and another is Professor at Johns Hopkins University. RECENT CHEMICAL RESEARCH HE masses of facts accumulated in the text-books on chemistry are already portentous: each month, almost each week, adds to the store. The difficulty of getting a stable standing-ground from which to survey, in order, if possible, to find the meaning of these facts, increases likewise. Fortunately from time to time there are found investi- gators who, turning from the easy toil of adding new compounds to those which are as yet but imperfectly known, concern themselves with the fundamental ques- tions of chemical science. Why are the properties of bodies. so largely modified under certain conditions? This is the all-important question for the chemist. Before this question can be answered for a series of substances the properties of those substances must be accurately known, and the variations in their properties under varying conditions—themselves definitely ascertained—must be determined. Among the properties of substances those which we usually call physical are, as a rule, more susceptible of accurate measurement than those which we call chemical. But these physical properties must be connected in some way with the chemical structure of the little parts, or molecules, of which we conceive the substances to be built up. To determine what this connection is in the case of a definite physical property, and fora series of chemical substances, is at present one of the most promising problems which presents itself to the chemical inquirer. But these physico-chemical problems require for their solution, a practical knowledge both of chemical and physical methods; methods of laboratory work and methods of reasoning on the results obtained. Students of nature trained in both methods are not extremely abundant. The suggestion made in the preface to Armstrong and Grove’s new volume on Organic Chemistry, that each chemical school should regularly prepare special series of pure compounds, and should let it be known that physical observers can procure these compounds in order to deter- mine their physical properties, is well worthy of being acted on by all in whose hands may rest the arrangement of the work of any chemical school. The older method of regarding chemical physics as consisting of a little chemistry loosely tacked on to a great deal of ordinary physics, is disappearing ; and chemists and physicists now recognise that the problems which each attacks are, in very many instances, but different aspects of the same question. The more thoroughly the chemical worker is trained in the correct use of dynamical principles and dynamical reasoning, the more likely is he to succeed in his search for chemical truth. Very recently two papers have appeared, the contents of which illustrate the importance of the results obtainable by physico-chemical methods. Brithl has published in Liebig’s Anmalen—and in a condensed form in the Berlin Berichte—the results of his investigations on the connection between physical properties and chemical constitution of carbon com- pounds; and Thomsen, in the Journal fiir practische Chemie (and also in the Berichte) has given the first two instalments of his thermal work bearing on the isomerism of carbon compounds. I propose to give a short account of the work of these two chemists: let us begin with Thomsen’s. The “heat of formation’’ of a compound substance is the difference between the sum of the heats of combustion of the constituent elements of the compound, and the heat of combustion of the compound itself. But this heat is not the true “heat of formation” of the molecule of the compound; it is only thealgebraic sum of various heat disturbances. The thermal change which accom- panies the formation of a compound molecule from various elementary molecules consists of various parts: (1) heat absorbed in dissociating the molecules of the different elements; (2) in some cases, heat absorbed in liquefying or gasefying the constituent elements; (3) heat evolved in the formation, from the dissociated ele- mentary atoms, of the new compound molecules; and (4) in some cases heat evolved in the liquefaction or solidification of the gaseous compound molecules. If the physical state of the various substances concerned be constant throughout the experiment, (2) and (4) may be neglected ; and the heat of formation will be equal to the difference between the heat absorbed in splitting the elementary molecules, and that evolved in the falling together of the atoms so produced, in the new configura- tion. The value of the first part of this operation will always be constant for the same element or elements ; but the value of the second part will depend upon the configuration assumed by the elementary atoms in the new compound molecules. Now the generally accepted chemical theory of isomerism is that it (isomerism) is dependent on varying configuration of the same atoms. Some chemists have urged that iso- merism is more probably due to the possession, by the different compounds, of different amounts of energy. But these two theories are really parts of the same theory. Thomsen’s method, indeed, may be said to be based on this fundamental identity. Given the dissociated elementary atoms, they may arrange themselves in various ways, each arrangement will be attended with a definite but different evolution of heat, hence, inasmuch as the heat absorbed in the pre- liminary elemental dissociation is fixed, the heats of formation of the various isomeric molecules will be different. But when it is said that isomerism depends on atomic configuration, two things are included in this statement. Let us consider isomerism in a hydrocarbon: the carbon atom combines with four, and not more than four, hydrogen atoms to forma compound molecule. The carbon atom is said to be tetravalent ; this is usually graphically expressed by the symbol =C=. The maximum number of hydrogen atoms which two carbon atoms can com- bine with to form a definite molecule will be six, Oct. 28, 1880} NATURE 609 and the molecule will be graphically represented as NS vas Nc—-cZ4 H>C—CCH H/ Nu molecule of which contains two carbon, but only four But we also know of a compound the hydrogen atoms, this is represented as eee, and athird hydrocarbon, C,H,, is represented as H—C=C—H. In the first molecule the carbon atoms are commonly said to be “singly-linked,” in the second “doubly-linked,” and in the third ‘‘trebly-linked.’’ We do not as yet attach any definite physical conception to these phrases ; a compound said to contain “ singly-linked” carbon atoms is, as a fact, incapable of combining with hydrogen or other monovalent element, whilst a compound said to contain “ doubly-linked ” carbon atoms can combine with two monovalent atoms for each pair of doubly-linked carbon atoms it is represented as containing; and a compound said to contain “ trebly-linked” carbon atoms is capable of combining with four monovalent atoms for each pair of trebly-linked carbon atoms in the graphic formula thereof. These are instances of isomerism said to be due to differences in the linking of the atoms of the isomeric molecules. But according to the generally accepted theory isomerism may arise among hydrocarbons in which all the carbon atoms are singly-linked; such isomerism is due to different relative arrangements of parts of the molecule. We may suppose all the carbon atoms arranged in a chain, or we may suppose ramifica- tions of these atoms; thus the hydrocarbons represented as W HoH Le | Eilpilens oe ae Mit mig e=Ge | : H 5 i 1 ’ H and Hol would be iste Jel ei Jat | H isomeric. Thomsen deals only with isomerism due to differences in the linking of atoms. If from a certain number of dis- sociated carbon and hydrogen atoms a compound be pro- duced containing only “singly-linked” carbon atoms, that compound is not capable of taking up any more hydrogen ; but if a compound be produced containing © doubly-linked” carbon atoms, that compound is capable of taking up more hydrogen. But in the act of combining with more hydrogen, heat will be evolved ; hence the heat of formation of the first compound is greater than that of the second. The heat of formation of an isomeric com- pound containing “trebly-linked” carbon atoms would be less than that of either of the preceding. Thomsen, from the results of his own and other experiments, has calculated the heat of formation, from amorphous carbon, of a pair of singly-linked, a pair of doubly-linked, a pair of trebly-linked, and a pair of quad- ruply-linked carbon atoms. From these values he has calculated the heats of formation of isomers containing | singly, doubly, or trebly-linked carbon atoms. The cal- culations involve certain assumptions, but the applica- tions of his results to actual hydrocarbons show very close agreement between the calculated and the actually deter- mined “heats of formation.” Thomsen furnishes us with a thermal value for the formation of each of the three possible linkings of the group C, in the molecule of compounds. The value of this result to the chemist is great ; a determination of the heat of combustion of a hydrocarbon may now yield him much information as to the structure of the molecule of that hydrocarbon. Thomsen’s results also strengthen the commonly- accepted theory of isomerism, and they point towards a dynamical explanation of this theory and to the possibility of attaching a definite physical idea to the phrases “singly ” or “ doubly-linked” atoms. As Thomsen has succeeded in tracing a quantitative connection between the heats of formation of certain molecules containing carbon and the linking of the carbon atoms in these molecules, so Briihl has shown that the linking of carbon atoms exerts a definite, measure- able influence on the #olecular refractions of compounds of this element. Landolt showed many years ago, that in many com- pounds, the atoms of each elementary substance, possessed a definite specific refractive capacity independently of the way in which the atoms might be grouped. Molecular refraction is defined as « = =) M, where p= refractive index, d= density of substance, and M = molecular weight. The difference between the molecular refraction of a compound containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and that of a compound containing the same number of car- bon and hydrogen atoms, but free from oxygen, gave the atomic refraction of oxygen. Numbers were thus found expressing the atomic refraction of carbon, hydro- gen, oxygen, and a few other elements. Gladstone and Dale showed, however, that the observed molecular refractions of many carbon compounds, especially the compounds existing in essential oils, were greater than the refractions calculated from Landolt’s numbers : it seemed that the grouping of atoms did exert, in certain cases, an influence on the refractive power of molecules. Briihl finds that certain groups of isomeric carbon compounds possess but one molecular refraction ; in these groups the refractive power of the molecules is independent of the grouping of the atoms; in other isomeric groups, however, the molecular refraction varies. The members of the latter groups of isomers are always represented in structural formulz as containing “ doubly- linked” carbon atoms. Now if the molecular refraction be conditioned by the linking, but not by the grouping, of the atoms in the molecule, it follows that the atomic refraction of each monovalent element must be a constant number, inasmuch as there is but one way of linking a monovalent atom to other atoms. Such isomers as ethy- lene chloride, CIH,C—CH,Cl, and ethylidene chloride, Cl, HC—GCH,, should possess the same molecular refrac- tion. But the atomic refraction of any polyvalent atom, e.g. oxygen, must vary according as the atom is linked by one, two, or more “ bonds’’ to other atoms : such isomers CH, CH, ll | CH, acetone C=O, and pro- as allylic alcohol H—O—CH, /CH; fe) pylene oxide \.CH_ should possess each a distinct mole- CH, | CH, cular refraction. Briihl’s actual results confirm these deductions. There is then a definite value for the atomic refraction of the carbon, or oxygen, atom according as that atom is ‘singly-linked” or ‘‘doubly-linked” to other atoms: in other words, the molecular refraction of a \ YA compound containing the group —C—C— is different a from that of the isomer containing the group yexex. and the molecular refraction of a compound containing the group C=O is different from that of the isomer mn 7 610 NATURE SS x. , . potential. containing the group pores Briihl obtains a definite numerical value for the refractive power of each of these groups. Now although the molecular refraction of isomers with similarly linked, but differently grouped, carbon or oxygen atoms is constant, the refractive indices and the densities of these isomers are not the same. There is, therefore, a definite connection between the densities and refractive indices of carbon compounds, and the grouping, as dis- tinguished from the linking, of the atoms in these com- pounds. The densities and refractive indices of the isomers, ethylene chloride and ethylidene chloride (see ante) are not the same. Briihl has not determined any exact numerical value for the refractive power of this or that grouping of carbon or other atoms; generally, how- ever, he has shown that the more ramifications there are in the structural formula of a carbon compound, the smaller is the density and the smaller the refractive index of that compound. Thus the density of butylic iodide, CH,— CH,—CH,.—CH,l, is 1°6166, and the re- fractive index (#) is 1'49601; but the density of the CH;—CH—CH, isomeric isobutylic iodide, | CHE , is 1°6056, and the refractive index is 1°49192. Generally, then, it would appear that when rays of light pass through a series of isomeric carbon compounds, the isomerism of which is traceable only to differences in the grouping of the constituent atoms, then that ray which passes through the densest compound is more bent from its original course than any of the other rays; but that when isomerism is due to differences in the linking of the atoms, then the amount to which the rays are bent is dependent not only on the density, but also on the molecular “structure” of the compounds. Brihl considers also the connection existing between the boiling points, and other physical constants, of isomeric carbon compounds containing only singly-linked poly- valent atoms, ze. compounds the isomerism of which is due only to variations in the grouping of the atoms, and the structural formule of these compounds. His results establish a considerable probability in favour of the rule, that in such isomeric groups, those compounds which have the smallest molecular volumes, have also the highest boiling points, greatest specific gravities and re- fractive indices (zo¢ greatest molecular refraction), and longest time of flow through capillary tubes; and very probably these compounds have also the smallest amount of ramification in their molecular structure. Brihl thus put into the hand of the chemist another means whereby he may readily learn much concerning the inner structure of the substances which he examines. Briihl’s results, as also those of Thomsen, exhibit a close connection between physical properties of compounds and the valency, or specific saturation power, of the elementary atoms which build up these compounds. As the theories of modern chemistry are so largely based on the idea of valency, the results of Briihl and Thomsen are most welcome, as at once tending to confirm the general soundness of the methods of the Newer Chemistry, and exhibiting at least two measurable physical phenomena as closely connected with the exer- cise of valency. The results of both observers emphasise the difference which chemists have long recognised between two kinds of isomerism; that due to “grouping,” and that due to “linking” of atoms. Is it not at least possible, in view of these results, that a greater part of the chemical energy of molecules containing doubly (or trebly) linked poly- valent atoms is kinetic, than is the case in isomeric mole- cules, the atoms of which are all singly-linked? if indeed the chemical energy of the latter molecules be not wholly [ Oct. 28, 1880 Double-linking might then mean greater kinetic energy ; and the entropy of a molecule containing only singly-linked atoms would be greater than that of its isomer, some of the atoms in which were doubly-linked. The consideration of valency of atoms is closely con- nected with the more general subject of chemical affinity ; and the work of Thomsen and Briihl suggests many questions connected with affinity which press for answers. A short account was given in this journal (vol. xx. p- 530) of the work of Guldberg and Waage, and of Ostwald, on chemical affinity. The latter naturalist has recently extended his methods of observation: in his earlier papers he used physical methods, determining the changes in the specific volumes, and also in the refractive indices, of solutions of acids and bases when these acted chemically on each other, and hence calculating the amount of chemical action. Ostwald now employs a more purely chemical method ; he allows acids of known strength to react on a solid salt in excess, and determines the amount of action at definite intervals. His results, so far as they have extended,! strikingly confirm the numbers which he before obtained for the relative affini- ties of the commoner acids. The application of the theory of Guldberg and Waage to reactions between a solid and a liquid, the former being in excess, requires that a definite and stable condition of equilibrium should be reached at the expiry of not too great a time. Doubt was thrown on Ostwald’s results because it was said that such equilibrium had not been attained. In his latest paper Ostwald has carefully ex- amined this point, and has shown that the required equi- librium is attained, and maintained, and that therefore such reactions are well suited for the study of general problems of affinity. Ostwald’s future results, as he extends the application of the chemical method, will doubtless be very interesting. All the work which has been here shortly noticed tells unmistakably that chemistry is rapidly passing out of the natural history stage of progress into that stage where her facts will be accurately grouped under general laws, which laws will admit of quantitative statement, and of quantitative deductions being made from them, The recent work in chemistry also illustrates the need of a wide training in the methods of various sciences for the investigator of this branch of natural phenomena. One man begins with a purely chemical investigation, another with one which appears wholly physical ; before long they find that their paths meet, and that the problem which each had attacked without thought of the other, can be solved, and even then solved but partially, only by the united effort of both, , M. M. PaTTIsOoN MUIR JAPAN? ip M® MURRAY is to be congratulated on being able to bring out simultaneously two such excellent books on a country which for some years has probably attracted more interest than any other country in tbe world. Although they both treat of the same subject, they differ much in their method of treatment. Indeed the one may be said to be complementary of the other ; and any one who reads them both with care will be able to form a very complete idea of the present condition of an unusually interesting country and people. Sir Edward Reed went out practically as the guest of the Japanese Government, and had ample opportunities of seeing the 1 His papers are in the Yournal fiir practische: Chemie of the last and present year. tics : r ? “Japan: its History, Traditions, and Religions, with the Narrative of a Visit in 1879.’’ By Sir Edward J. Reed, K.C.B., F.R.S., M.P. Two vols. With Map and Illustrations. (London: John Murray, 1880.) ‘Unbeaten Tracks in Japan.’’ By Isabella L. Bird. Two vols. With | Map and Illustrations. (Same Publisher.) Oct. 28, 1880] NATURE 611 official side of the life of the country, of gaining a know- ledge of what is being done to graft the results of Western civilisation on a civilisation centuries older, and which has been developed on totally different lines. From first to last he was in the hands of the leading Government officials of the country, who spared no pains to make his visit as pleasant as it could possibly be. During the whole of his three months’ visit to the country, from the beginning of January, 1879, he had seldom an hour to himself, and what time he could subtract from his sleep was given to the writing up of his notes on his day’s work, for work it must have been, harder than even an obstruction night in Parliament. From the young Mikado down to the most subordinate provincial official, every one was anxious to convince the great English engineer that the enthusiasm with which they received him was genuine, and that they would only be too glad to let him inspect every detail of the great work they were endeavouring to carry out for their country. From beginning to end his visit to the country was a triumphal progress, and, as might have been ex- pected, Sir Edward Reed left the country with a high opinion of its Government, and deeply impressed with the genuineness and thoroughness of its progress. Miss Bird, on the other hand, went to Japan, as she went to the Sandwich Islands and the Rocky Mountains, solely in pursuit of health, which she sought and found by travelling alone in those parts of the country rarely if ever frequented by foreigners, living in common inns and humble houses, and finishing up with a sojourn among that curious people known as the Ainos, the probable aborigines of Japan. She of course had every protection which the influence of Sir Harry Parkes, our representative, could procure her, and her passport was powerful enough to secure a courteous reception wherever she went; indeed she found travelling safer in Japan thanit is insome European countries. To some extent it may be said that Sir Edward Reed was shown the outside and the brightest side of Japanese life, while Miss Bird plodded her way through the unfrequented heart of the country, and saw much of the light and shade in the everyday life of the common people. The two travellers had this in common, that no obstacle was put in the way of their seeing all that they desired to see, leaving one with the conviction that the Japanese Government has really nothing to conceal, and that their enthusiasm for progress is, for the present at least, genuine. Thus the two works, as we have said, ae a fairly complete picture of all sides of Japanese ife. Sir Edward Reed’s headquarters were of course at Tokio, where he was courteously received by the young Emperor, who impressed him as a man thoroughly anxious to do the best he can for his people, but old and careworn beyond his years from the many trials he has had to undergo since his accession. Here he met with most of the ministers and other public officials, and he has a good word to say about every one of them. All the public sights were of course seen, and especially the great temples, both Shinto and Buddhist. Indeed a great part of the narrative is occupied with accounts of the nume- rous temples visited by Sir Edward, their architecture, ornaments, relics, and history, and the legends connected with them; and they seem to be all so much alike that we think some of the space thus occupied might have been devoted to other details of his interesting journey. After a month’s stay in Tokio, Sir Edward and his son, who accompanied him, and a few of whose interesting notes are embodied in his father’s narrative, were taken in a lighthouse steamer round the south coast of the main island through the Inland Sea to the outside of Shim- onoséki Strait. The number of excellent lighthouses, constructed on the very latest principles, is remarkable in a country whose adoption of Western institutions is scarcely ten years old. Various points on the coast were touched at, and the vessel finally left at Osaka. From this point the journey into the interior of the main island and back to Yokohama was performed in those curious man-cabs known as “ jinriki-shas,” which were only intro- duced seven years ago, but which look as long-established as cabs in London, up to Kioto, the old capital of the country, down to the sacred city of Nara, and back by the ancient Shinto shrines of Isé, at the south entrance to Owari Bay. During this busy journey the time not devoted to inspecting Shinto and Buddhist temples was spent in visiting public works of various kinds, manufac- tories, schools of all grades, dining, mostly in Japanese fashion, and being amused by dances and other spec- tacles of a strictly indigenous kind. How much the great bulk of the people have yet to learn is evident from the fact that in many parts of their route through the most frequented part of the country the people would crowd to the doors and run from their work in the fields to get a look at the “ Chinese” riding in their jinriki-shas. It would be impossible to give the reader any idea of one-tenth of the things which Sir Edward Reed saw and which he tells about. As an engineer he was naturally much interested in the public works and manufactures of the country, and the magni- tude of some of the Government factories, and the perfection which they have already reached, impressed and delighted him. Even the engineering feats of Old Japan astonished him sometimes, as in the case of the great blocks of stone in the castle of Osaka, the beauty and grandeur of which he says it would be impossible to exaggerate. “The whole or most of the walls are notable for these very large blocks of granite, which vie with the largest of those built into the great pyramid of Cheops, near Cairo, in Egypt; but as the main entrance to the castle proper is approached, one sees block after block of the most astonishing proportions, until at and opposite to the entrance itself are single stones of such immense size that one is almost driven to doubt whether his senses are not deceiving him. It is so difficult to understand how such huge masses can have been quarried, transported, raised to such a height, and there worked into walls. I could not conveniently measure the largest stones, but I feel sure that some of them must be over twenty feet in height, nearly twice that in length, and several feet thick, and must weigh three hundred to four hundred tons.” Into their paper-manufacture the Japanese have intro- duced the best modern machinery, and paper has for centuries played an important part in the everyday life of the Japanese. Partitions, table-cloths, napkins, curtains, carriage-covers, and innumerable other things are made of this material, and Sir Edward thinks it would be a good thing to introduce some of the articles thus made into our own country. He paid much attention to the native art of the country, of which it is evident we have the most erroneous ideas. The ordinary reproductions of Japanese pictures which we see here, are wretched cari- catures, and in this as in many other points we have much to learn before we have any adequate idea of the real nature of Japanese civilisation. They have everso many schools of art going back for centuries, and many of their pictures are well worth studying, and capable of affording genuine pleasure. Their method of producing their famous lacquer- work, and their various contrivances for casting, interested him greatly, and he gives much curious information on these and similar matters. Some idea of the multifarious industries of the country and of the zeal of the Government in encouraging them may be gathered from Sir Edward’s account of the in- dustries of Kioto. “ Under the city government of Kioto there is an industrial department, the Kuwangiyoba, which was established in 1870 specially for the promotion of the industrial arts, and which has the following branches :— 1. An experimental gardening department (Saibaishi 612 NATURE [ Oct. 28, 1880 nnn ee Kenjo), commenced in 1872, for the cultivation of foreign and Japanese fruits and vegetables; 2. A shoe-mant- | factory (Seikuwajo), begun at the same time, for extending the manufacture of boots and shoes of European style ; | 3. A weaving-factory (Shokkoba), begun in 1873, where silks and other fabrics are woven, principally in foreign looms: this branch sent three workmen to Europe to learn the art of foreign weaving; 4. A physical and chemical branch (Semikiyoku), which has a sub-branch at Miyadju, in Tango, eighty miles distant, and which, with the assistance of two foreign workmen, is promoting | and teaching the manufacture of chemicals, soap, effer- vescing and lemon drinks, clozsonné ware, porcelain, &c. ; adjoining it is the Senkojo, for teaching dyeing on foreign methods; 5. The female industrial school, Jokoba, already mentioned ; 6. The Bokujo, or more properly Bokuchikujo, which is an experimental farm, established in 1871 with the object of improving the breeding of cattle and of teaching agriculture, the foreign cattle and sheep being chiefly purchased in America, and the milk produced being sold in the city ; a branch farm exists at Komo in Tamba, about sixteen miles from Kioto; 7. A depart- ment (Yosanba) for promoting the multiplication of sill- worms; 8. A pauper industrial department (Jusansho), established in 1869, with a branch at Dosembo, in the south-eastern part of Kioto County, where agriculture and the manufacture of earthenware are the principal employ- ments of the pauper colony; 9. A street-sweeping depart- ment (Kuwakaisho), where compost is prepared on the French method; 10, A paper-manufactory, established in 1875. There exist also separate branches for making and teaching how to prepare leather, beer, and mineral waters. A museum is in course of formation.” Of course the educational establishments of the country interested Sir Edward greatly. We have heard much of the admirable university of Tokio and its famous engineer- Fic. 1.—Mount Fuji. ing school. it as Sir Edward Reed visited, Government is evidently doing what it can to give facilities for education of the est kind. Schools of all grades and for all classes and both sexes are being everywhere established, and some of those Sir Edward visited seemed to be admirably organised, though some of the subjects taught, espe- cially to girls, are amusing. We all know what a hold science has taken upon the Japanese ever since they But all over the country, at least so much of | barracks opened their country to European and American influence. | They have been shrewd enough to see that through the encouragement of science lies the surest road to national progress, and the Government has spared no pains. nor expense to place education in science in the first rank; and this feature is seen throughout all their schools. The present purpose of the Government is evidently to make education universal all over the country, and to bring it up to a standard equal to that of the foremost countries in Europe. Every soldier Sir Edward Reed noticed in the at Osaka had a little library of books all to him- self, and this is a relic of the old days of Japan, when the Samurat Class were at once the soldiers and scholars of the country. Sir Edward is sanguine enough to hope that the time may come in this country: when soldiers will occupy a comparatively high position in the social scale, ‘and when the army will attract to it the surplus members of the civil community of all grades that are respectable and well instructed.” Sir Edward was, moreover, struck with the size of the men in various parts of the country, as contrasted with the little fellows that are sent over here to be educated, and with the common idea entertained in Europe of the stature of Japanese. Indeed Sir Edward’s testimony on this point is so novel and so different from that which has been generally accepted, that we should | like to see some attention given to the subject by those in a position to throw light upon it. Sir Edward met at Kioto Mr. Akamatz, a highly-educated Buddhist priest, who had been to Europe to study and report on the . Oct. 25, 1880] religions of the West, and who spoke English well. “It may be interesting,” Sir Edward says, “to some of my readers to learn that this excellent priest, possessing a knowledge of England and the English, and also the chief priest who was our host on this occasion, find em- braced in their section of the Buddhist faith all that they consider good and true in the Christian religion, and are not without hope of seeing England adopt this view, and with it the tenets and practice of their faith, which they consider most excellent. It will be gratifying, doubtless, to the many good people at home who look upon Buddhists as eligible for conversion to their particular views of the Christian religion (whatever they may happen to be in each case), to find their own generous and beneficent intentions so entirely reciprocated.”’ Over Sir Edward, as over others who have been to Japan, the quiescent (not necessarily extinct) volcano, Fuji-yama, seems to have exercised an influence akin to NATURE | the traveller's sight coming from south or east. 613 fascination. He was never tired of looking at the snow- covered cone, rising nearly 13,000 feet above the sea in solitary grandeur, and like no other mountain in the world. For hundreds of miles around it is the prominent feature in the landscape, and the first object that meets “But the best evidence of the sacred character of Fuji is to be found, I think, in the fact that every person who speaks or writes about it seems naturally to rise more or less into a reverent state of feeling as he does so. It has a real, a strong, and a solemnising influence on all who behold it. Even when it is viewed from beyond other mountains, its sovereign character is very striking; and when it is seen springing with one tremendous and sublime flight from sea to sky, it is of more sovereign character still,”’ But the record of what Sir Edward’ Reed saw while he was in Japan forms a comparatively small part of the two Fic. 2.—Curious Japanese Bridge. volumes he has written. His interest in the country and its people is so great that he has put himself to consider- able trouble to master their history, their religions, their political and social systems, their art and manufactures, in short everything that could enable him to understand a civilisation so real, but so entirely different from any- thing in Europe. The results of all this study, with the conclusions he has come to both from this and from his visit to the country, occupy a considerable part of the work. That a man of the scientific eminence and political | experience of Sir Edward Reed should take so much interest in Japan seems to us a proof that it really de- serves the attention of all thoughtful men; and whatever conclusions such an observer may come to ought to have considerable weight with those who are not. quite sure what to think of the strange social and political pheno- menon that has been taking place for upwards of ten years in the farthest East. Unless, however, the subject is | inquiry, it had better be left alone. | great approached in the spirit with which Sir Edward Reed has taken it up, a spirit of thorough seriousness, with an adequate idea of the worthiness of the subject for earnest A little learning here is a dangerous thing, and has led some triflers to find only amusement in Japanese history and Japanese | ways, as if this were merely a toy civilisation, and not a complicated system which has been the deve- lopment of ages. Sir Edward traces, in his first volume, the history of the Japanese from the earliest “God- period” down to the present time; discusses their two { religions, the native Shintoism and imported Buddhism, their political and social system, their foreign relations, the recent reforms, and the existing govern- ment. In the second volume, besides the narrative of his journey, he has interesting chapters on art and on the proverbs and phrases of the people; and both in the second volume and in the introduction he has elaborate 614 NATURE [ Oct. 28, 1880 discussions on the ethnology of the Japanese, their language and literature. Sir Edward does not profess to know all these subjects at first hand, but has, with perhaps only one exception, chosen for his guidance the most trustworthy authorities attainable. Sir Edward gives several examples of what the Japanese language is capable of in the way of poetry; we have space for only one specimen :— “ Types of our children are the tiny grasses, Tender and fr ile in the ample moorland : We know n.’ to what fragrance their infant sprouts may blossom, Nor wist to what sweetness their unborn fruits may ripen, But hoping ever wait till autumn tells their story. Oh! cherished children, may ye never perish, Flowerless, fruitless, in the early sprinvtime, Nor like this petal trampled by the wayside, Fall in the fuller promise of your prime,” A people that are capable of thinking and writing thus deserve better than to be laughed at. Sir Edward Reed left Japan with the highest respect for the people and their efforts to bring themselves abreast of the civilisation of Europe and the United States, and with a firm belief in the determination and earnest- ness of the Emperor and his ministers. He evidently is strongly of opinion that the new phase upon which Japan has entered is no mere spurt which will collapse in a few years, but a permanent change for the better in the direc- tion of the civilisation of the country. That the result will be a complete assimilation to European ways, as some people seem to think and hope, is not to be wished for and not in the nature of things to be ex- pected. With all their admiration for the science and the arts of Europe, the Japanese respect themselves suffi- ciently to see that there is much in their old civilisation that may well be retained. Indeed the problem is one of the meeting of two forces. A new force from an entirely different direction has struck in upon the course of the old civilisation, with the result of a permanent change of direction ; but that change cannot be entirely in the direction of the new force. Nor will the final result be a lapse back into the old ways; even in the brief period since the country was opened to European influence the change has been so wide and deep that any such lapse is inconceivable. ‘Those who are in the habit of decrying the country tell us that the Japanese are everything by turns and nothing long; their upwards of 2,000 years of gradual development in one direction, and their steady continuance in the course entered upon about fifteen years ago, belies the sneer, which probably owes its origin to that official quarter whose contemptuous treatment of the Japanese Government Sir Edward Reed so strongly laments. We earnestly hope that the Japanese will go on during the next fifteen years as they have done in the past, and by that time the current in the new channel will be so broad and powerful that it will require a force of equal power to seriously change its direction, and we do not know where that is to come from. The problem in national development being worked out by the Japanese is of the highest possible interest, and what is its real nature cannot be better learned than from the two valuable volumes which so busy a man as Sir Edward Reed has found time to put together.! NOTES THE foundation-stone of the new museum of McGill College, Montreal, to which we referred some time ago, was laid on September 21 by the Marquis of Lorne. Principal Dawson in thanking Mr. Redpath, the donor, for his generous gift, stated that the museum would be not merely a place for the exhibition 1 For the illustrations in this article we are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Murray. of specimens, }but a teaching instrument and a laboratory of original research; a great natural science department of the University, in which the classes in geology and biology would receive their instruction, original workers would be trained in all departments of natural science, and from which would go forth the men—and, he trusted, the women also—best fitted to bring to light the hidden treasures of the Dominion, and to avert by the aid of science the injuries with which any of its industries might be threatened. Dr. Dawson referred to other noble examples of private local or national liberality on the American continent, besides those of which Montreal can boast—to ‘‘ the great National Museum at Washington, whichsis intended to rival, and if possible surpass, the British Museum; the Central Park Museum of New York, on which that great city has lavished vast sums of money ; the Zoological Museum of Harvard, whose revenues would suffice to support some entire {univer- sities in this country; or the foundations of Mr. Peabody, which have established great museums in several American cities.” And he hoped that this latest gift to Montreal would stimulate other benefactions, especially for their Faculty of Applied Science, so that the physical apparatus and class-rooms of the University might be as well provided for as their natural science collections. Mr. MERRIFIELD, F.R.S., the retiring president, proposes at the annual meeting of the London Mathematical Society on November 11, to cast his valedictory address into the form of ‘¢ Considerations respecting the Translation of Series of Obser- vations into Continuous Formule.’”’ The following is the pro- posed new Council :—Mr. S. Roberts, F.R.S., president ; Dr. Hirst, F.R.S., and Mr. J. W. L. Glaisher, F.R.S., vice-presi- dents; Mr. C. W. Merrifield, F.R.S., treasurer; Messrs. M. Jenkins and R, Tucker, honorary secretaries ; other members, Prof. Cayley, F.R.S., Mr. H. Hart, Prof. Henrici, F.R.S., Dr. Hopkinson, F.R.S., Mr. A. B. Kempe, Mr. R. F. Scott, Prof. H. J. S. Smith, F.R.S., Messrs. Lloyd Tanner, H. M. Taylor, and J. J. Walker. WE take the following from the New York ‘‘ Monthly Index to Current Periodical Literature,” &c. :—‘‘ The new Warner Observatory which is being erected at Rochester, N.Y., is attracting much attention in social and literary as well as scien- tific circles. The new telescope will be twenty-two feet in length, and its lens sixteen inches in diameter, thus making it third in size of any instrument heretofore manufactured, while the dome of the Observatory is to have some new appliances for specially observing certain portions of the heavens. It is to be the finest private observatory in the world, and has been heavily endowed by Mr. H. H. Warner. Prof. Swift has laboured under numerous disadvantages in the past, and the new comet which he recently found was in spite of many obstacles ; but as the new institution is to be specially devoted to discoveries, there are good reasons to expect very many scientific revelations in the near future from the Warner Observatory at Rochester.” Tue Zimes has shown considerable pluck in having erected at its office one of Mr. Jordan’s glycerine barometers, described in Narourt, vol. xxi. p. 377. Inthe issue of the 25th inst. and following days are published the readings of this gigantic barometer at intervals of two hours from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m, This will be continued regularly, a second edition of the paper giving the two-hourly readings from midnight to noon. These daily records with a barometer on such an enormous scale will be of the greatest value. The Zimes rightly states that it seems unquestionable that an instrument of this kind is admirably suited for practical use at meteorological stations, at seaports, in collieries, and in all other situations where it is of importance for the unpractised eye to notice frequently and easily the changes taking place in atmospheric pressure. Oct. 28, 1880] THE results of the observations made from the two balloons sent up from the Crystal Palace on Thursday last have not yet been discussed. But it may be stated that the direction of the wind was remarkably steady, as during the run the two balloons were constantly kept in view of each other in spite of the want of light and transparency of air. This result is all the more to be noted that the variations in the altitude of the two balloons were frequent and considerable, 0 tq 5000 feet. The variation of temperature did not amount to more than 5° C. between the maximum of the readings and their minimum. A peculiar current was observed just on arriving on the coast, which is usual "under such circumstances. The composition of the clouds was very complex. First, a layer of transparent fog covered almost the whole of the land and gave a watery appearance to it; second, cumuli described as analogous to pulled bread were floating at a height of 1000 metres and descended gradually as the sun was nearing to the horizon; and lastly, a large number of parallel strati stretching south-westerly in the direction of the sun, and seemingly diverging from it. The _yelocity of the wind was about half a mile per minute, and pretty well determined by observers located in one of the two towers of the Crystal Palace. As to the prognostication of the route, it was nicely done by Mr. Coxwell, who told M. de Fonvielle that he should land between Portsmouth and Winchester. A question arose between M. de Fonvielle and Commander Cheyne about the bearing, the latter’s compass haying been reversed by an optical illusion, but the azimuth was given with great accuracy, and the uncertainty between the two would not have lasted for a minute if the possibility of the error could have been ascertained. The swinging of the balloon round its axis was sufficient to prevent the use of a new compass designed on purpose for acronauts, Ir has been represented to us that in our notice of Prof. Owen’s work the statement that ‘‘he was lecturer on palzon- tology at the School of Mines in Jermyn Street in 1856” may lead to a misapprehension. We have therefore to state that although Prof. Owen delivered a course of lectures in the theatre of the School of Mines in the year in question, he held no appointment in that institution. Mr. GRAHAM BELL has been honoured in the scientific, as well as other circles of Paris during the past week. He exhibited his photophone at the establishment of M. Antoine Breguet and elsewhere, and was the object of much curiosity wherever he went as ‘‘l’homme qui fait parler la Iumicre.” AT the opening meeting of the Geologists’ Association on November 5, the president, Prof. Rupert Jones, will read a paper on the origin and progress of that society. THE next number of the Victoria Philosophical Institute’s ‘fournal is announced to contain papers by Prof. Stokes, F.R.S., Prof. Hughes of Cambridge, Prof. Nicholson, M.D., F.R.S.E., of St. Andrew’s, and Dr, Hormuzd Rassam, with maps and details of his discoveries. Mr. FLETCHER of Warrington has sent us a specimen of a new gas heating burner which seems well adapted for many purposes and trades which are as yet unsupplied with satis- factory heating apparatus. It seems to us to have all the ad- vantages claimed for it by Mr. Fletcher. It has from three to four times the power of any burner similar in appearance ; the flame is solid, intensely hot, and perfectly free from smell ; it gives a duty higher than the calculated theoretical maximum for the gas consumed, and it cannot be damaged by the dirtiest work. In case the perforated copper dome gets choked with dirt, it can when the burner is warm be lifted off and washed or brushed clean. Any liquid spilt so as to get inside the burner flows out by the side tube without the possibility of damaging NATURE 615, the burner. The body of the burner is cast all in one piece, without a joint, thus doing away with one great fault, causing liability to leakage in most of the burners at present in use. Altogether this bummer seems to be one of the greatest advances yet made in the practice of heating by gas. Mr. Fletcher has also sent us a useful practical paper on Heating (including cooking) by Gas, read the other day before the Philosophical Society of Glasgow. Part iii. is to hand of the magnificent ‘‘ Bedfordshire Pomona,” the illustrations of the apples and pears in which continue to be as numerous and life-like as ever, so much so as to make one’s mouth water. The papers in this part are on ‘‘ The Crab, its Characteristics and Associations,” by Mr. Edwin Lees, F.L.S.; ‘The Orchard, its Products: Cider and Perry,” by the Rev. C. H. Bulmer ; the latter a paper of considerable length, minute detail, and great practical value. Mr. David Bogue is the London publisher. Amonc the lectures to be given this winter at the Museum and Library, Queen’s Road, Bristol, are the following :— November 22, Prof. S. P. Thompson, B.A., D.Sc., ‘‘ The Rainé bow,” illustrated with experiments by the electric light ; January 17, 1881, Prof. Rolleston, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., Linacre Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, Oxford, ‘‘The Early Races of the British Isles”; January 31, Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., F.L.S., ‘‘ Fruit and Seeds” ; February 14, Rey. J. M. Wilson, M.A., F.R.A.S., Head Master of Clifton College, ‘‘ Double and Multiple Stars”; February 28, Dr. W. H. Stone, F.R.C.S., Lecturer on Physics at St. Thomas’s Hospital, ‘‘The Measurement and Determination of Musical Pitch,” illustrated with experiments ; March 14, Prof. W. J. Sollas, M.A., F.R.S.E., F.G.S., Curator of the Bristol Museum, ‘Coal and the Bristol Coalfields.” We have received the Catalogue of the General Lending Department of the Newcastle-on-Tyne Public Library, a very thick volume, with a much thinner one containing a list of the books of the Juvenile Lending Department. We may notice them more at length in a future number. WE have received a very favourable Sixth Annual Report from the West London Scientific Association and Field Club, which commenced its new session on the second Tuesday of this month, THE Reports of the Dunedin (N.Z.) Naturalists’ Field Club for 1878-80 are, we regret to see, desponding. It finds some difficulty in keeping up the interest of its members, rather a strange thing in the land of the New Zealand Institute. The Report contains catalogues of the indigenous and introduced flowering plants occurring in the Dunedin district. On September 23 Rangoon was visited by three distinct shocks of earthquake ; all parts of the province had previously been visited by shocks. A shock of earthquake lasting two seconds was felt at Cordova on the 21st inst., accompanied by a loud subterraneous rumbling. A slight shock, lasting six seconds, was also felt at Madrid on the same day. The shock was stronger in the centre of the city than in the outskirts, and shocks occurred in several towns of the province of Zamora, but no damage has beendone. On the same date a shock, the after effects of which were felt in almost every part of the country, occurred both at Lisbon and Coimbra, without however doing any damage. Iv is stated that at the National Exhibition to be opened at Milan next year there will be a captive balloon, on the model of the one which was so successful in Paris in 1878. It will measure not less than 180 feet in circumference, 84 feet in height, and contain 15,000 cubic feet of gas. To it will be 616 NATURE [ Oct. 28, 188 attached a safe and solid car, capable of containing seats for at least eight persons. A steam-engine is to regulate the ascent and descent, and it will rise to a height of about 900 feet, affording a splendid view of Milan and the plains of Lombardy. The balloon will be constructed at Milan, M. Henri Beudet, the well-known and experienced aéronaut, having been sent for to direct the work. THE coal-beds on the Souris River, Manitoba, have proved very rich, and are to be developed during the winter, THE Japan papers call attention to the almost limitless mineral wealth lying dormant in the country, and which is only waiting for development to become a profitable source of revenue, Of coal there is an abundant supply, but only the Takashima mine has been fitted with modern appliances. There are several other coal mines which are only unprofitable because improperly worked, and now it is averred that Prof, Atkinson during a sojourn in the Mitake Mountains of the Koshu Province has discovered another valuable deposit of coal. Mr. Nortu, who was sent by the Natal Government to examine the Newcastle coal-fields, has reported favourably on the quantity and quality of the coal. On Friday evening, October 22, previous to distributing at the Manchester Mechanics’ Institute the prizes and certificates gained by the students at this year’s Science and Arts, Society of Arts, City and Guilds of London Institute, and Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Institute’s examinations, Prof. Ayrton delivered an address on Technical Education and on the future of Mechanics’ Institutions, Of the two original objects for which Mechanics’ Institutions were established fifty years ago, to provide clubs for artisans and places for giving popular scientific lectures, it was shown that the latter had to a great extent been abandoned ; also that the mere novel utility of such institutions in furnishing the means for the holding of science and art classes would also be taken away from them when the teaching of elementary science became the duty cf our elementary schools. There remained, however, for Mechanics’ Institutions a great new field of activity in the teaching of applied science to me- chanics, not the teaching of abstract scientific principles and the applications only perhaps afterwards, but the teaching of these scientific principles ¢hrough the apparatus in use in daily life ; in fact, that Mechanics’ Institutions could well furnish the machinery by means of which numerous technical classes throughout the country which were somuch needed could be rapidly established, the money voted by the City and Guilds of London Institute as payment on the results of the technological examinations, together with funds locally subscribed, furnishing the motive power. What the lecturer thought technical teaching should consist of was illustrated by the kind of work now going on at the temporary laboratories of the City Guilds Institute at Fins- bury ; stress was laid on the fact that there were no distinct students’ fees there for laboratory work and for lectures, but that every fee, small as it was, entitled each student to at least two hours’ practical work in the laboratories for every one hour of lecture ; so that in fact all the 150 students had laboratory. work which did not consist in the mere repetition of qualitative lecture experiments, but in the making of accurate quantitative measure- ments, all bearing as far as possible directly on each student’s trade, Of this practical illustrations were given. Prof. Ayrton concluded by warning technical iastructors from attempting to follow ordinary college methods of syzfhetical teaching, which, although most valuable for a young lad prepared to spend several years at college, was quite unsuitable for an artisan engaged all day in following his trade. Technical education, he considered, must be distinctly aalytical—the complete machine as the artisan knew it must be taken at once, and the science developed, so to say, from the machine itself; and that it was men with a good practical knowledge of their trade and with an aptitude, for science rather than men versed in science, but with only a: mere book knowledge of industries, that were wanted both as candidates for the technological examinations and as students to! be trained up as technical instructors. ' IN the note on the late Dr. Sparks in NATURE, vol. xxii. P- 591, for Dr. King’s ‘Therapeutics’ read Dr. Binz’s. ‘« Therapeutics.” THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past fortnight include a Macaque Monkey (MJacacus cynomolgus) | from India, presented by Mr. W. B. Tustin; two Polar Bears) (Ursus maritimus), an Ivory Gull (Larus eburneus) from the Arctic Regions, presented by Mr, Leigh Smith, F.Z.S.; a Crested Porcupine (/Zystrix cristata) from India, presented by Mr. W. Middleton ; three Gaimard’s Rat Kangaroos (Aypsi- prymnus gaimardi) from Australia, presented by Mr. A. B., Gow ; a — Brocket (Cariacus sp. inc.), a White-bellied Opossum (Didelphys albiventris), a Brazilian Hare (Lepus brasiliensis) from Quipapa, Pernambuco, a White-bellied Guan (Ortalida allbi- ventris), a Black Tortoise (Zestudo carbonaria) from Garanhuns, presented by Mr. W. A. Forbes, F.Z.S.; a Frigate Bird (Zregata aguila) from Fernando de Noronha, presented by the Rey. G, Bayldon ; a Yellow-headed Conure (Conurus jendaya) from Pernambuco, presented by Mr. C. A. Craven ; two Ame- rican Black-backed Geese (Sarcidiornis carunculata) from the Sertoes of Pernambuco, presented by Miss Davis; a White- throated Finch (Sfermophila albogularis) from Pernambuco, presented by Mr. S. Jones; a Herring Gull (Zarus argentatus), British, presented by Mr. J. Palmer; a Horrid Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) from Quipapd, Pernambuco, presented by Mr, H, E. Weaver ; a Bonnet Monkey (Aacacus radiatus) from India, a Black Iguana (Metopoceros cornutum) from Galapagos (?), deposited; a Rock Cavy (Ceredon rupestris), a Green-winged Trumpeter (Psephia viridis), a White-bellied Parrot (Cazca leucogaster), a Red vented Parrot (Pionus menstruus), two Golden-headed Parrakeets (Brotogerys tui), two Toco Toncans (Ramphastos toco), an Orinoco Goose (Chenalopex jubata) from Brazil, a Rufous Pigeon (Columba rufina), a Varrell’s Siskin (Chrysomitris yarrelli), two Scaly Doves (Scardafella sqguamosa) from Parahyba, three Picazuro Pigeons (Columba picazuro), a Black Tanager (Zachvphonus melaleucus), a Black-headed Tanager (Ovchesticus ater), a Passerine Ground Dove (Chameapelia fasserina), three Yellow-shouldered Hangnest (Zcteras ¢ibialis), from Pernambuco, a Brazilian Tanager (Ramphocelus brasilius), a Blue and Black Tanager (Calliste brasiliensis) from Bahia, a White-eyebrowed Guan (Penelope superciliaris) from Panellas, four Cactus Conures (Conwzrus cactorum), two Banded Tinamous (Crypturus noctivagus), seven Tataupa Tinamous (Crypturus tataupa) from Garanhuns, a Great-Billed Rhea (Rhea macro- rhyncha) from Agoas Bellas, Pernambuco, two Orchard Hang- nests (/clerus spurius), a Baltimore Hangnest (Lcferas baltimore) from North America, purchased ; two Squirrel-like Phalangers (Lelideus sciureus), born in the Gardens ; a Macaque Monkey (Macacus cynomolgus) from’ India, presented by Mr. F. W. Manley; a Dunlin (Zyinga cinclus), a Sanderling (Cahdris arenaria), British, presented by Mr. Edmund Elliot, M.R.C.S. ; a Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) fcom Texas, presented by Mr. W. C. Boyd ; a Waxwing (Ampelis garrulus), European, deposited ; a Black Saki (Pithecia satanas) from Lower Amazons, a Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), a Great-billed Rhea (2hea macrorhyncha) from South America, purchased. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN CERASKI’s VARIABLE oF SHORT PERIoD.—It will be seen from a letter which Prof. Pickering, the Director of the Obser- vatory of Harvard College has adéressed to us, that, contrary to Oct. 28, 1880] } the opinion expressed by Dr. Julius Schmidt from his earlier observations, the true period of this notable variable star, instead of being a little less than five days, appears to be a little less than half this interval, otherwise minima observed at Harvard College, will not accord with those of May and August observed in Europe. It is probable that Schwerd observed the star near a maximum at meridian transit at Speyer on March 11, 1828, when he estimated its magnitude 6°7, and near a minimum at transit on May 12 in the same year, when he rated it only 1om. If we compare the observation of March 11 with that of Dr. Schmidt, who fixed a minimum to August 12 at 6h, mean time at Athens, and assume 7662 periods to be included in the interval, we get for the duration of one period 2°49084d., or 2d. 11h. 46°S1m., which closely accords with half the period assigned by Schmidt from his own observations and those of Ceraski. This reckoning from August 12°1841 Greenwich mean time, and correcting for the light-equation, will give the following times of geocentric minima observable in this country :— h. m. h. m. Oct. 28 ORs. G. Mala | ENovs x7; 7 47 G.M.T. Nov. 2 Ch #/ 3 22 TA 6 Ties 8 40 9 27 6 54 ” 12 SeT Aas Dec: 2 e235 ares And for the times of visible maxima, supposing this phase to occur midway between the minima, we find— h. m h. m. Oct. 29 15 27 G.M.T. | Nov. 18 13 40 G.M.T. Nov, 3 TO ap 23 TOU Aa es Sheree L433 op 28 L2eAS0 ees 13 14 7 OF DEC 1202 Toes If S be the sun’s longitude, and R the earth’s radius-vector, the correction for the light-equation (geocentric—heliocentric) for 1880 may be found from Cor. = 2240s R, sin (S + 19° 17'4). We have received from Lord Lindsay a circular containing the same information that is given in Prof. Pickering’s letter, with the addition of a diagram showing the Durchmusterung stars in the vicinity of the variable, which for 18$1°0 has R.A. oh, 51m. 48s., N.P.D. 8° 46"0. [Mr. Knott’s observation on October 23, received’ since the above was in type, as compared with Athens August 12, seems to require a somewhat longer period, with minima a half hour or so later than we have computed. ] _THE ROTATION OF JuPITER.—In No. 2,342 of the Astrono- mische Nachrichten (to which we refer for numerical details) Dr. Julius Schmidt has a communication wherein he finds, from observations of the red spot upon the disk of Jupiter by himself and others in 1879-80, an interval of gh. 55m. 344s. for the time of the planet’s rotation upon its axis, a result that he con- siders may be adopted until the observations generally have attained a greater degree of precision than they appear to possess at present. With due care and practice, however, he believes that such observations will be found to admit of much greater accuracy, and illustrates this by his own experience at Athens in the present year. In the same communication he also discusses observations of a dark oval spot (a more favour- able object than any used by Airy and Madler) during 104 rota- tions in 1862 ; these observations give gh. 55m. 2568s. for the period of rotation, a result closely agreeing with those of 1834-35. CHEMICAL NOTES A NEW method of preparing acetylene is described by Dr. W. Suida in Wien. Akad. Ber. The method consists in heating iodoform and mercury ethide in sealed tubes to 120° ; the pro- ducts of the reaction are acetylene, ethylene, ethylic iodide, and mercury ethyliodide. THE same Berichte contains a paper by Herr y. Dumreicher on the relative stabilities of nitrous and nitric oxides, and of nitrous and nitric oxides when acted on stannous chloride. Nitrous oxide is not reduced even at 100°; nitrous acid is re- duced to nitrous oxide ; nitric oxide and nitric acid:are reduced to hydroxylamine, and subsequently to ammonia, ‘The reaction may be applied to the estimation of nitric acid. In the Proceedings of the Academy of Rome Signor Cossa communicates the results of experiments on didymium tungstate : he has determined the specific heat of this salt to be o70$31— NATURE 617 temperaturature limits are not given. Taking the atomic heat of tungsten as 6'4, and that of oxgen as 4, this result points rather to the formula for didymium tungstate, DiWO,(Di = 98), than to that now generally accepted, Di,(WO,)3(Di = 147). He) A NEW organo-metallic compound containing the divalent radicle (CH.,)” is described in the Yournal of the Chemical Society by Sakurai; the formula of the new substance, for which the name Monomercuric methylene iodide is proposed is I(CH,)HgI. This is the first known metallic, compound con- taining a divalent hydrocarbon radicle. G. BoucuarDaAT claims, in Compt. rend., to have converted amylene, by successive removals of hydrogen, into cymene. Hitherto attempts to pass, by a simple series of reactions, similar to those by which the passage from one isologous group to another is effected, from the paraffin to the aromatic group of compounds, have not been successful, ACCORDING to the experiments of Macagno (Bizd. Centralbatt) the mellowness of old wine is due more to an increase in the amount of glycerine present, than to a decrease in the tannin ; there must also be a certain proportion between the amounts of alcohol and tannin, in order that the wine may keep well. In the Annales Chim. Phys. Berthelot describes an apparatus in which the combination of two gaseous constituents to form a gaseous compound may be conducted, so as to allow of an accurate measurement of the thermal change which accompanies the chemical change. A DISCUSSION as to the value to be assigned to the atomic weight of antimony is at present being carried on. From analyses of the bromide and other salts, Prof. Cooke of Harvard concludes that the generally-accepted number, 122, is too large, and that 120 is more nearly correct. Herr Schneider, whose experiments had been criticised by Cooke, replies in the Fournal fiir Pract. Chem, "le sharply criticises Cooke’s methods, gives the details of new experiments, and asserts strongly that 122 1s much more nearly correct than 120, No results of special importance have lately been published regarding the densities of the vapours of the halogen elements. An objection made by Pettersson and Ekstrand to V. Meyer’s method, viz. that solid bodies condense air on their surface, which air they again give up when strongly heated, has been shown by Meyer, in the last number of the Berlin Berichte, to have no weight against his experiments. Two important papers on atmospheric ozone have been pub- lished in the Berichte by E. Schéne. This observer, who has given much careful study to the subject of ozone, says that the smell of ozonised oxygen does notat all resemble the peculiar odour noticed after a lightning flash. The true smell of ozone is, however, frequently noticeable in ordinary air, and coming from the clothes of persons who may enter a room from the open air in winter. The ordinary potassium iodine papers are valueless as ozone measurers, according to Schone, A small amount of ozone in moi+t air produces a greater depth of colour on these papers than a larger amount of ozonein dryair. The humidity of the air and the hygroscopic character of the material from which the paper is made therefore largely influence the depth of colour produced. It has been supposed that much ozone is produced in the neigh- pourhood of waterfalls, but the increased depth of colour of the potassium iodide papers is only due, says Schone, to the great humidity of the air. Schénbein’s ‘‘ozonometer ” serves as a very rough hygrometer. Paper coated with thallous hydrate is recommended as a measurer of the relative amount of ‘‘ oxidising principle” in the air: the paper is coloured brown—owing to production of thallic oxide—by ozone or hydrogen peroxide. A table is given showing the variations in oxidising principle during 1879. The general conclusions are briefly these :—I. The papers are coloured more deeply during the day than during the night ; this difference is more apparent during the long days of the year. 2. Increased wind-force causes increased colora- tion, because a greater amount of oxidising substance is brought in contact with the paper during the time of exposure. 3. Cloudiness and rain especially influence the coloration ; _the heavier the rain the smaller the coloration of the paper. Direct determinations of hydrogen peroxide have shown that when the thallium papers are much coloured this compound is present in the atmosphere in comparatively large quantity. Herr Schone regards the actual existence of ozone in the atmosphere as at present an open question. Mr. A. VILLIERS publishes in the September number of Annales Chim. Phys. a lengthy and important paper on the 618 conditions of equilibrium of mixtures of alcohols and mineral acids. He considers in detail the velocity, and limits of etherifi- cation of the more important mineral acids, and arrives at many valuable results. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES AT the last meeting of the Berlin Geographical Society news was received through a German trade house in Tangier that Dr. Lenz had reached Timbuctoo, and that he hoped to be at St. Louis, in Senegal, in the month of July. If this is correct Dr, Lenz has made a rapid journey in this direction, as he only left Tangier on December 22 last. Caillé, however, in 1828, travelled from Timbuctoo to Fez in four months. The last letter received from him by the Society was from Tenduf, in the beginning of May, twenty days’ journey from Timbuctoo, THE Zeitschrift of the Berlin Geographical Society, Nos. 88, 89, has a valuable map by Herr Richard Kiepert, showing the work done in Angola in 1876 by Dr. H. von Barth in the region of the Bengo and Lucalla, and of Herr Otto Schiitt in 1877-79 on the Lower Quanza. Dr. von Mollendorff discusses the methods of transcribing Chinese geographical names, and con- cludes that the Pekin form of the Guan-hua, or so-called Man- darin dialect, would be best for general purposes. But Dr. von Mollendorff asks whether, while selecting this form generally, it is advisable to make exceptions in certain cases. Such names, for example, as already exist in familiar forms might be excepted, as Pekin, Canton, Hongkong, Swatow, &c. With other names, especially for special maps, a change from the uniform method of writing might be adopted. Maps of districts for the use of travellers would evidently be of greatest service when the local forms of names were given. Perhaps the Guan-hua might be used for the names of great towns, large rivers, and mountains, while smaller places might haye the local forms of their names, For a map of the whole of China, or of the greater part of it, containing little more than the district towns, evidently the Guan-hua would be the preferable form. In books it would perhaps be best to give both forms. It is, no doubt, high time that some attempt at uniformity should be made, but the difficulty is by no means easy of solution, owing partly to the letters of the alphabet not being sounded uniformly in all European languages. Herr von Méllen- dorff instances the absurdity of the present want of system by the ways in which the Chinese name of the Yellow River is spelled, These are confusing enough, but what will he say when he sees ‘‘Houan Hé” (for Hwang-ho) at the head of the interesting communication just received from Col. Prejevalsky ? We cannot entirely concur in Herr yon Millendorff’s definition of ‘* Kwan-hwa,” popularly translated ‘ Mandarin dialect,” and he himself makes the orthographical jumble much worse by writing “‘Guan-hua,” which we should imagine few sinologues would attempt to defend. The vexed question, however, may find a solution before long in an unexpected quarter, for the Statistical Department of the Chinese Maritime Customs at Shanghai, we believe, have under consideration a system of spelling for adoption in their reports and other publications, and this, if adopted, will probably come by degrees into generai use, Dr. Hildebrandt gives an account of a visit he made to the Amber Mountains in the north of Madagascar ; Herr K. Himy continues his elaborate paper on the region around the Kara-Kul, and much of the number is occupied with the journal in North Africa of the late Dr. Erwin von Bary. THE new number of the Lyons Geographical Society’s Bulletin contains several items of interest. M. Morice’s paper on French Cochin-China is published with a sketch map, followed by some notes by the Abbé Desgodins on the hydrography and orography of Tibet, and a communicatioa by the Abbé Faure on Potosi in Bolivia. Among the other contents are Pére Brucker’s notes on the geographical positions in Eastern Turkistan and Jungaria determined in 1876 by two Jesuit missionaries, and the report on Col. Flatters’ explorations in the Central Sahara last spring. M. VENUIKOFF has just published at Geneva an historical sketch of the geographical discoveries made in Asiatic ‘Russia from the most remote times to our own days, illustrated by Perthes’ map of North and Central Asia. THE China Inland Mission have been informed by Mr. Samuel Clarke, one of their agents in the Chinese province of Szechuen, that, in company with Mr. Mollman, of the British and Foreign NATURE | [ Oct. 28, 1880 Bible Society, he lately made a journey from Chungking, on the Upper Yangtsze-kiang, to Chéngtu-fu, the capital of the province, on which he travelled by unfrequented roads, where, so far as he could learn, no foreigner had ever been seen before 3 several previously unvisited towns were also entered. Mr. Clarke calls especial attention to the commercial activity prevailing along his route, and the frequency with which markets were held. THE Asiatic Society of Bengal have just published, as an extra part of their Yournal, a “‘ Vocabulary of the Language of Eastern Turkistan,” by the late Mr. R. B. Shaw, the well-known traveller, supplemented by two Turki vocabularies of birds and plants by Mr, J. Scully, lately on special duty at Kashgar. From the Vienna Allgemeine Zeitung we gather that Dr. Emil Holub contemplates undertaking another lengthened journey in Central South Africa, provided that he can obtain the neces- sary funds. It is estimated that 50,000 florins will be required for the purpose, and it is proposed to raise this sum by a public subscription, the Austrian Geographical Society heading the list. THE September number of the Boletin of the Madrid Geo- graphical Society contains a detailed account of the Marquesas Islands, with map, by D. Ricardo Beltran of Rézpide. Ir is stated that the Gudnare, with Capt. Howgate’s expe- dition, landed at Rittenbank in Greenland, Dr. Pavy and Mr, Clay, whose intention is stated to be to make natural history collections and explore the northern limits of Greenland. This, we believe, is the same M. Pavy (a Frenchman) whose projected polar expedition suddenly collapsed in San Francisco seven years ago, THE Austrian Monatsschrift fiir den Orient for October con- tains an article by Prof. Vambéry on the commercial importance of the Upper Oxus, in which he endeavours to show that there, and not on the Lower Oxus, is trade likely to be developed. Dr. Paulitschke gives an interesting sketch of the progress of African exploration during the past seventy years. ON MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM ENERGY IN VORTEX MOTION} Te YN FINITE volume of incompressible inviscid fluid being given, in motion, filling a fixed, simply continuous, rigid boundary, the fact of its being in motion implies molecular rota- tion, or (as it may be called for brevity) vorticity. Helmholtz’s law of conservation of vorticity shows that, whether the boundary be kept fixed as given, or be moved or deformed in any way, and brought back to its given shape and position, there remains in every portion of the fluid which had molecular rotation a definite constant of vorticity; and his formula for calculating energy for any given distribution of vorticity allows us to see that the energy may be varied by the supposed operation on the boundary, II. The condition for steady motion of an incompressible in- viscid fluid filling a finite fixed portion of space (that is to say motion in which the velocity and direction of motion continue unchanged at every point of the space within which the fluid is placed) is that, with given vorticity, the energy is a thorough maximum, or a thorough minimum, or a minimax. The farther conditition of s/adiZity is secured by the consideration of energy alone for any case of steady motion, for which the energy is a thorough maximum or a thorough minimum ; because when the boundary is held fixed the energy is of necessity constant. But the mere consideration of energy does not decide the ques- tion of stability for any case of steady motion in which the energy is a minimax, III. It is clear that, commencing with ay given motion, the energy may be increased indefinitely by properly-designed opera- tion on the boundary (understood that the primitive boundary is returned to). Hence, with given vorticity, there is no thorough maximum of energy in any case. There may also be complete annulment of the energy by operation on the boundary (with return to the primitive boundary), as we see by the following illustrations :— : 1. The case of two equal, parallel, and oppositely rotating vortex columns terminated perpendicularly by two fixed parallel planes, which, by proper operation on the boundary, may be so * By Sir William Thomson, British Association, Swansea, Section A, Saturday, August 28. ct. 28, 1880] ixed (like two eggs *‘ to any portion of either, there shall be some of the other. | 2. The case of a single Helmholtz ring, reduced by diminution a its aperture to an infinitely long tube coiled within the nclosure. 3. The case of a single vortex column, with two ends on the ae bent till its middle meets the boundary ; and farther ent and extended, till it is broken into two equal and opposite eS columns; and then farther dealt with till these two are whipped together to mutual annihilation. | IV. To avoid for the present the extremely difficult general question illustrated (or suggested) by the consideration of such cases, confine ourselves now to two-dimensional motions in a space bounded by two fixed parallel planes and a closed cylindric surface perpendicular to them, subjected to changes of figure (but always truly cylindric and perpendicular to the planes). It is obvious that, with the limitation to two-dimensional motion, the energy cannot be either infinitely small or infinitely great with any given vorticity and given cylindric figure. Hence, under the given conditions, there certainly are at least two stable steady motions. We shall, however, see further that possibly in every case except cases of a narrow, well-defined character, and certainly in many cases, there is an infinite number of stable steady motions. V. In the present case, clearly, though there are an infinite number of unstable steady motions, there are only two stable steady motions—those of absolute maximum and of absolute minimum energy. VI. In every steady motion, when the boundary is circular, the stream lines are concentric circles, and the fluid is distri- buted in co-axial cylindric layers of equal vorticity, In the stable motion of maximum energy, the vorticity is greatest at the axis of the cylinder, and is less and less outwards to the circumference. In the stable motion of minimum energy the vorticity is smallest at the axis, and greater and greater out- wards to the circumference. To ex: ress the conditions symbo- lically, let 7 be the velocity of the fluid at distance 7 from the axis (understood that the direction of the motion is perpendicular to the direction of 7); the vorticity at d’stance 7 is— (E442) Ze dr If the value of this expression diminishes from x = 0 tov =a, the motion is stable, and of maximum energy. If it increases from 7 = 0 to y = a the motion is stable and of minimum energy. If it increases and diminishes, or diminishes and increases, as 7 increases continuously, the motion is unstable. VII. As a simplest subcase, let the vorticity be uniform through a given portion of the whole fluid, and zero through the remainder. In the stable motion of greatest energy, the portion of fluid having vorticity will be in the shape of a circular cylinder rotating like a solid round its own axis, coinciding with the axis of the inclosure ; and the remainder of the fluid will revolve irrotationally around it, so as to fulfil the condition of no finite slip at the cylindric interface between the rotational and irrotational portions of the fluid. The expression for this motion in symbols is :— T = ¢r fromr = otor = 34; | and T=" from r = dtor = a, VIII. In the stable motion of minimum energy the rotational portion of the fluid is in the shape of a cylindric shell, inclosing the irrotational remainder, which in this case is at rest. The symbolical expression for this motion is— é T = 0, when x A/(a* — 2). IX. Let now the liquid be given in the configuration VII. of greatest energy, and let the cylindrical boundary be a sheet of a real elastic solid, such as sheet-metal with the kind of dereliction from perfectness of elasticity which real elastic solids present ; that is to say, let its shape when at rest be a function of the stress applied toit, but let there be a resistance to change of shape depending on the velocity of the change. Let the un- stressed shape be truly circular, and let it be capable of slight deformations from the circular figure in cross section, but let it always remain truly cylindrical. Let now the cylindric boundary be slightly deformed and left to itself, and held so as to prevent it from being carried round by the fluid, The central vortex NATURE whipped” together) that, infinitely near | 619 column is set into vibration in such a manner that longer and shorter waves travel round it with less and greater angular velocity.' These waves cause corresponding waves of corruga- tion to travel round the cylindric bounding sheet, by which energy is consumed, and moment of momentum taken out of the fluid. Let this process go on until a certain quantity of moment of momentum has been stopped from the fluid, and now let the canister run round freely in space, and, for simplicity, suppose its material to be devoid of inertia, The whole moment of momentum is initially— y (02 (a? — 462); It is now a0? (a2 — 22°) — AG, and continues constantly of this amount as long as the boundary is left free in space. The consumption of energy still goes on, and the way in which it goes on is this: the waves of shorter length are indefinitely multiplied and exalted till their crests run out into fine laminze of liquid, and those of greater length are abated. Thus a certain portion of the irrotationally revolving water becomes mingled with the central vortex column. The process goes on until what may be called a vortex sponge is formed ; a mixture homogeneous on a large scale, but consisting of portions of rotational and irrotational fluid, more and more finely mixed together as time advances. The mixture is, as indicated above, altogether analogous to the mixture of the substances of two eggs whipped together in the well-known culinary operation. Let 2’ be the radius of the cylindric vortex sponge, J being as before the radius of the original vortex column— M Co X. Once more, hold the cylindric case from going round in space, and continue holding it until some more moment of momentum is stopped from the fluid. Then leave it to itselt again. The vortex sponge will swell by the mingling with it of an additional portion of irrotational liquid. Continue this process until the sponge occupies the whole inclosure. After that continue the process further, and the result will be that each time the containing canister is allowed to go round freely in space, the fluid will tend to a condition in which a certain portion of the original vortex core gets filtered into a position next to the boundary, and the fluid within it tends to a more and more nearly uniform mixture of vortex with irrotational fluid. This central vortex-sponge, on repetition of the process of preventing the canister from going round, and again leaving it free to go round, becomes more and more nearly irrotational fluid, and the outer belt of pure vortex becomes thicker and thicker, The final condition towards which the whole tends is a belt consti- tuted of the original vortex core now next the boundary ; and the fluid which originally revolved irrotationally round it now placed at rest within it, being the condition (VIII. above) of absolute minimum energy. Begin once more with the condition RO2=EP 4 (VII. above) of absolute maximum energy, and leave the fluid to itself, whether with the canister free to go round sometimes, or always held fixed, provided only it is ultimately held from going round in space; the ultimate condition is always the same, viz., the condition (VIII.) of absolute minimum energy. XI. That there may be an infinite number of configurations of stable motions, each of them having the energy of a thorough minimum as said in IV. above, we see, by considering the case, in which the cylindric boundary of the containing canister con- sists of two wide portions communicating by a narrow passage, as shown in the sketch. If such a canister be completely filled with irrotationally moving fluid of uniform vorticity, the stream- lines must be something like those indicated in the sketch. See Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for 1880, or Philo. sophical Magazine for 1880; Vibrations of a Columnar Vortex; Wn- Thomson. 620 * Hence if a small proportion of the whole fluid is irrotational, it is clear that there may be a minimum energy, and therefore a stable configuration of motion with the whole of this in one of the wide parts of the canister; or the whole in the other ; or any proportion in one and the rest in the other; or a small portion in the elliptic whirl in the connecting canal, and the rest divided in any proportion between the two wide parts of the canister. ON THE SPECTRA: OF THE COMPOUNDS OF CARBON WITH HYDROGEN AND NITROGEN MESSRS. LIVEING AND DEWAR have made a long series of observations on this subject, of which the follow- ing is a brief abstract! by the authors :— The first experiments were made with a De Meritens dynamo- electric machine, arranged for high tension, giving an alternating current capable of producing an are between carbon poles in air of from 8 to 10 millims, in length. The carbon poles used had been previously purified by prolonged heating in a current of chlorine. The arc was taken in different gases inside a small glass globe about 60 millims, in diameter, blown in the middle of a tube. The two ends of the tube were closed with dry corks, through which were passed (1) the carbons inserted through two pieces of narrow glass tubing; (2) two other glass tubes through which currents of the gases experimented with were cent. The are taken in a globe of air gave a tolerably bright con- tinuous spectrum, above which the green and blue hydrocarbon bands were seen, also the seven bands in the indigo (wave-lengths 4,600 to 4,502, Watts) as in the flame of cyanogen, and much more brightly the six bands in the violet (wave-lengths 4,220 to 4,158, Watts) and five ultra-violet. Carbonic acid gas, hydrogen, nitrogen, chlorine, carbonic oxide, nitric oxide, and ammonia were then successively substituted for air in the globe, with the result that in carbonic acid, hydrogen, chlorine, and carbonic oxide, the above-mentioned bands in the indigo, violet, and ultra-violet died away, while in nitrogen, nitric oxide, and ammonia, they were always well seen. These different gases were used in order to eliminate toa large extent the influence of electric conductivity on the character of the spectrum ; and the green and blue hydrocarbon bands were seen, more or less, in all of them. Next observations were made of the spectra of flames of sundry compounds of carbon. 3 In the flame of cyanogen, prepared from well-dried mercury cyanide, passed over phosphoric anhydride inserted in the same tube, and burnt froma platinum jet fused into the end of the tube, the hydrocarbon bands were almost entirely absent, as Pliicker and Hittorf had found ; only. the brightest green band was seen, and that faintly. The. indigo, violet, and ultra-violet bands, on the other hand, were well developed. These three sets of bands in the indigo, violet, and ultra-violet are in the sequel referred to as the “ cyanogen bands,” though it is possible that they may be producible by other compounds of carbon with nitrogen, The flame of hydrocyanic acid burning in air much the same as that of cyanogen. In the flame of a mixture of purified hydrogen and carbon disulphide no hydrocarbon bands at all could be detected, Nor could they be detected in the flame of a mixture of car- bonic oxide and hydrogen burnt in air. When a mixture of hydrogen or of carbonic oxide with carbon tetrachloride vapour was burnt, hydrocarbon bands made their appearance, but were weak. On the other hand, chloroform, when mixed with hydrogen, gave, when burnt in air, the hydrocarbon bands very strongly. On a review of the whole series of observations, certain points stand out plainly. In the first place, the indigo, violet, and ultra-violet bands, characteristic of the flame of cyanogen, are conspicuous in the arc taken in an atmosphere of nitrogen, air, nitric oxide, or ammonia, and they disappear almost, if not quite, when the are is taken in a non-nitrogenous atmosphere of hydrogen, carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, or chlorine. These same bands are seen brightly in the flames of cyanogen and hydrocyanie acid, but are not seen in those of hydrocarbons, carbonic oxide, or carbon disulphide. The conclusion seems irresistible that they belong to cyanogen ; and this conclusion * For fuller details see Proc. R.S., xxx. pp. 152, 494. showed very NALORE a Se... ee | [Ocdz. 28, 1880 does not seem to be at all invalidated by the fact that they are seen weakly, or by flashes, in the are or spark taken in gases supposed free from nitrogen by reason of the extreme difficulty of removing the last traces of air. They are never, in sucha. case, the principal or prominent part of the spectrum, and in a. continuous experiment they are seen to fade out in proportion as the nitrogen is removed. This conclusion is strengthened by the observations that cyanogen (or hydrocyanic acid) is generated in. the arc in atmospheric air in large quantity. am | In the next place, the green and blue bands, characteristic of the hydrocarbon flame, seem to be always present in the are, whatever the atmosphere. This is what we should expect if they be due, as Angstrém and Thalén suppose, to acetylene ; for the carbon electrodes always contain, even when they have been long heated in chlorine, a notable quantity of hydrogen, In the flames of carbon compounds they by no means always appear ; indeed it is only in those of hydrocarbons or their derivatives that they are well seen. Carbonic oxide and carbon disulphide, even when mixed with hydrogen, do not show them ; and if seen in the flames of cyanogen, hydrocyanie acid, and carbon tetrachloride mixed with hydrogen, they are faint, and do not form a principal or prominent part of the spectrum. This is all consistent with the supposition of Angstrém and Thalen. The fact that the bands are not produced even in the presence of hydrogen, when it is not present in the flame in the. form of a compound with carbon, is very significant ; for we know that acetylene is present, and can easily be extracted from the flame of any hydrocarbon, and that it is formed as a proximate pro- duct of decomposition of hydrocarbon by the electric discharge, but we have no evidence that it is producible as a product of direct combination of carbon with hydrogen at the comparatively low temperature of the flames described. The hydrocarbon bands are best developed in the blowpipe flame, that is under conditions which appear, at first sight,. unfavourable to the existence of acetylene in the flame. How- ever, by the use of a Deville’s tube, acetylene may readily be withdrawn from the interior of such a flame, and from that part. of it which shows the hydrocarbon bands most brightly. The question as to whether these bands are due to carbon itself or to a compound of carbon with hydrogen, has been somewhat simplified by the observations of Watts, Salet, and others on the spectrum of carbonic oxide. It can hardly be doubted now that that compound has its own spectrum quite distinct from the hydrocarbon flame spectrum, The mere presence of the latter spectrum feebly developed in the electric discharge in compounds of carbon supposed to contain no hydrogen, weighs very little against the series of observations which connect this spectrum directly with hydrocarbons, : In the next place, it appears conclusively from the experi- ments, that the development of violet bands of cyanogen, or the less refrangible hydrocarbon bands, is not a matter of temperature only. For the appearance of the hydrogen lines C and I, observed by the authors in the are taken in hydrogen, indicates a temperature far higher than that of any flame. Yet the violet bands are not seen in hydrogen at that temperature, while the green bands are well developed. The violet bands are, nevertheless, seen equally well at the different temperatures of the flame, are, and spark, provided cyanogen be the compound under observation in the flame, and nitrogen and carbon are present together at the higher temperatures of the are and spark, : The accompanying diagram (Fig. 1) shows approximately the relative position of the bands in that part of the spectrum of the flame of cyanogen fed with a jet of oxygen which is more refrangible than the Fraunhofer line F. Only those bands which are less refrangible than the solar line L have been before described, but photographs show two shaded bands slightly less refrangible than the solar line N accompanied by a very broad diffuse band of less intensity on the more refrangible side of N ; also a strong shaded band, which appears to be absolutely coincident with the remarkable shaded band in the solar spec- trum, which has been designated by the letter P; and near this, on the less refrangible side, a much fainter diffuse band, which also seems to coincide with a part of the solar spectrum sensibly less luminous than the parts on either side of it. This spectrum is remarkably persistent at all temperatures of the flame. Watts found that it did not disappear when the flame was cooled down as much as possible by diluting the cyanogen with carbonic acid; it retains its characters when the cyanogen is burnt in nitric oxide. ‘The flame in the last case must be one . f ct, 28, 1880] pf the hottest known, from the large amount of heat evolved in jhe decomposition of cyanogen and nitric oxide, namely, 41,000 nd 43,300 units respectively. There is in the case of cyanogen, ps in the case of so many other substances, a difference in the james intensities of the different parts of the spectrum of the | ame at different temperatures, but no other change of character. n the upper part of the flame where much or all of the cyanogen § oxidised or decomposed the spectrum is continuous, but at the nase of the flame where it is issuing from the nozzle the cyanogen ands are always seen both when the cyanogen is burning in yxygen and when it is burning in nitric oxide. This is what we Should anticipate, provided intermediate, and not the final, fompounds are the active sources of the banded spectrum. Each of the five sets of bands shown in the diagram is attended |, its more refranzible side by a series of rhythmical lines ieee to a considerable distance, not shown in the diagram, yut easily seen in the photographs. | Coal gas burning in oxygen gives no bands above that near G avithin the range of the diagram, Fig. 1; but beyond this Photographs show a spectrum of a character quite different from that at the less refrangible end, which the authors have traced to be due to water and described elsewhere (Proc. R. S., No. 205). The authors then describe experiments with carbon tetra- thloride, conducted with great care and numerous repetitions because of the prominence given to an experiment with this compound by Mr. Lockyer in a recent ‘‘ Note on the Spectrum of Carbon,” and because their results in every case differ from those which he obtained. _ The form of sparking tube employed was similar to that used by Salet. This was attached by thick rubber tubing to a straight glass tube of which one half, about 6 inches long, was filled with phosphoric anhydride, and the other half with small fragments of soda-lime to prevent any chlorine from the decom- position of the tetrachloride by the spark from reaching the Sprengel pump. The tetrachloride used had been fractionated until it had a constant boiling point of 77° C. Sufficient of it was introduced into the sparking tube to fill nearly one quarter of the bulb at the end, and the whole interior of the tube thoroughly wetted with it in order to facilitate the removal-of the last traces of air. When the tube containing the tetrachloride had been so far exhausted that little but condensible vapours were pumped out, the bulb was heated so as to fill the apparatus with vapour of tetrachloride, the pump still going, and this was repeated as long as any incondensible gas was extracted. Sparks were then passed through the tube for a short time, the pump still being kept going. After a short time it was unnecessary to keep the pump going, as all the chlorine, produced by decomposition of the tetachloride was absorbed by the soda-lime. On now examining the spectrum, no trace of any of the cyanogen bands could be detected, either by the eye or by photography, however the spark might be varied. The violet lines of chlorine described by Salet were more or less visible, coming out brightly when a condenser was used. Several tubes were treated in this way, and many photographs taken, but always with the same result ; no trace appeared of either the seven blue, the six violet, the five ultra-violet, or of the still more refrangible bands of the cyanogen flame. It is true that all the photographs showed three lines in the ultra-violet, but these do not at all closely resemble the cyanogen bands, they are not shaded like them. The least refrangible of the three is coincident with the middle maximum in the ultra-violet set of five bands, but the other two do not coincide with other of these maxima. When a condenser is used, these three lines come out with much greater intensity, and two other triplets appear on the more refrangible side, as well as other lines. The general character of the violet part of the spectrum of the spark in carbon tetrachloride taken without a condenser, but not the exact position to scale of waye-lengths of all the lines, is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows the brightest of the additional lines which come out with the use of a condenser. Photographs of sparks taken in hydrochloric acid showed a precisely similar group of ultra-violet lines, so that there is no doubt that the three lines which the photographs show near the place of the ultra-violet cyanogen bands are due to chlorine. Repeated trials in which the arrangements were varied having shown that pure carbon chloride, if free from nitrogen, does not give any of the bands ascribed to compounds of carbon with nitrogen, the next step was to determine whether the addition of nitrogen would bring them out, and if so what quantity of NA TORE, | 621 nitrogen would make them visible. For this purpose the binding of the rubber tube connecting to the pump a sparking tube con- taining tetrachloride and found to give no cyanogen bands, was loosened, and, after letting in very little air, immediately closed again. On now passing the spark the six violet bands at once appeared, and the seven blue bands also were in a short time well seen. condenser Ss SS A After trying some other experiments of a similar kind which indicated that a very small quantity of nitrogen was sufficient to develop the cyanogen bands in one of these tubes, a minute frag- ment of bichromate of ammonia, carefully weighed and wrapped in platinum foil, was introduced into the neck of one of the 622 sparking tubes containing carbon tetrachloride, the tube con- nected to the Sprengel pump, and the air removed as before. On examination of the spark with the spectroscope no trace of any cyanogen band could be detected. A pinch-cock was now put on the rubber tube, and the bichromate was heated by a spirit lamp to decomposition (whereby it is resolved into nitrogen, water, and oxide of chromium). On now passing the spark the six violet bands were well seen. There was no change in the condition of the coil or rheotome, so that the spark was of the same character as it had been before when no cyanogen bands were visible, and the change in the spectrum cannot be attributed to any change in the spark, The weight of the bichromate was between ‘ooo5 and ‘0006 grm., and the nitrogen this would evolve would fill just about =; of a cubic centimetre at atmo- spheric pressure. The tube held 30 cub. centims., so that vapour of carbon tetrachloride when mixed with 54, part of its volume of nitrogen, gives under the action of the electric spark the cyanogen bands distinctly, Other similar experiments confirmed this result. Similar experiments with carbon bisulphide, benzo], and well- purified naphthaline, gave like results when care was taken to remove air completely. As Watts laid much stress on the occurrence of the cyanogen bands in the spectrum of the spark taken in carbonic oxide at atmospheric pressure (though they do not appear in carbonic oxide at reduced pressures), as a proof that these bands were due to carbon only, the authors made a series of careful experi- ments with carbonic oxide at atmospheric pressures. In the first experiments with this substance the gas was made by the action of sulphuric acid on dried formiate of sodium, and it was found that the cyanogen bands disappeared as air was expelled from the apparatus, reappearing brightly when air, not exceeding z=}, of the whole gas in the apparatus, was admitted, Carbonic oxide was next generated by:heating, in a tube of hard glass in an ordinary combustion furnace, a mixture of pure and dry potassium oxalate with one quarter of its weight of quicklime, the mixture having been previously heated for some time so as to expe] traces of ammonia. The tube was connected with a Sprengel pump, and the air exhausted before heating the oxalate. The distant end of the tube with the oxalate was then heated, and the whole apparatus filled with carbonic oxide ; it was then again exhausted with the pump, refilled by heating more oxalate, and the gas allowed to stream out through the pump for some time. The heat was then lowered, sparks were passed, and the spectrum observed. No trace whatever of the cyanogen bands could be detected, however the spark might be varied. The pump was now set going again, and the pressure of the gas reduced to one inch of mercury, while the spectrum was observed from time to time. Still no trace of the cyanogen bands could be detected. More of the oxalate was next heated, and the observations repeated again and again, always with the same result. The conclusion was that carbonic oxide, if quite free from nitrogen, does not give, at the atmospheric or any less pressure, the cyanogen bands. From Dr. Watts’s account of his experiments, it appeared that he had used carbonic oxide prepared by the action of sulphuric acid on ferrocyanide, and it was probable that it might have been contaminated with nitrogen, or with nitrogenous compounds, from the ferrocyanide. The authors accordingly repeated their experiments with carbonic oxide so prepared, and found that the cyanogen bands were then always distinctly seen. 3 They have also repeated Angstrom and Thalén’s experiments with the spark between carbon poles in nitrogen and carbonic acid gas. ‘They observed that in nitrogen the cyanogen bands were plainly visible through a great range of variations of the character of the spark; even the use of a condenser of moderate size did not diminish them. Photographs were taken with and without the use of the condenser, and these showed the violet and ultra-violet cyanogen bands, including those near N and P, The nitrogen was then swept out by a current of carbonic acid gas, and on now passing the spark the cyanogen bands could no longer be detected, and photographs taken as before showed no trace of any of them, Other experiments showed the sensitiveness of the spectro- scopic tests for compounds of carbon with nitrogen, and that all traces of water can hardly be removed from apparatus and reagents which do not admit of being heated red hot. The first point the authors had before them in these investi- NATURE [ Oct. 28, 188¢ gations is whether the groups of shaded bands seen in the mo refrangible part of the spectrum of a cyanogen flame are due t/ the vapour of carbon uncombined, or, as they conclude, to / compound of carbon with nitrogen, Now the evidence that carbon uncombined can take the stat of vapour at the temperature of the electric arc is at present ver’ imperfect. Carbon shows at such temperatures only incipien fusion, if so much as that, and that carbon uncombined shoule be vaporised at the far lower temperature of the flame o cyanogen is so incredible an hypothesis that it ought not to bj accepted if the phenomena admit of any other probable expla’ nation. On the other hand it has been shown that cyanogen o§ hydrocyanic acid is generated in large quantity in the electric arc taken in nitrogen, and Berthelot has shown that hydrocyani(' acid is produced by the spark discharge in a mixture of acetylen( and nitrogen, so that in the cases in which these bands shine ou! with the greatest brilliance, namely, the arc in nitrogen and th cyanogen flame, we know that nitrocarbon compounds ar} present. Further, the authors have shown that these band! fade and disappear in proportion as nitrogen is removed fron the arc. Angstrom and Thalén had previously shown the sam thing with regard to the spark discharge between carbon elec trodes; and the conclusion to which they have come would probably have commanded universal assent if it had not been 5 the fact that these bands had been seen in circumstances where nitrogen was supposed to be absent; but where, in reality, the difficulty of completely eliminating nitrogen, and the extreme sensibility of the spectroscopic test, had been inadequately apprehended, To clear up the question from this point of view, the experi" ments last described have been made, and they appear to the authors quite conclusive. Were the evidence less conclusive than it is, it would still be as rash and as illogical to conclud¢ from the appearance of the cyanogen bands in a case where nitrogen was presumed, not proved, to be absent, that they were not due to a compound of carbon with nitrogen, as it would be to deny that the well-known yellow lines were due to sodium, because they had been seen in cases where sodium was supposed to be absent. The argument of the authors is an induction from, a very long series of observations which lead up to one conclusion, and hardly admit of any other explanation. But Mr. Lockyer attempts to explain the disappearance of the bands when nitro- gen is absent by the statement ‘‘that the tension of the current used now brings one set of flutings into prominence, and now another.” This is no new observation. It is well known that variations in the discharge produce variations in the relative in- tensities of different parts of a spectrum. Certain lines of mag- nesium, cadmium, zine, and other metals, very brilliant in the spark, are not seen, or are barely seen, at all tin the are. His remark might be applied to the spectra of compounds as well as to those of elements, Variation in the discharge accounts very well for some of the variations of intensity in the bands if they be due to a compound of carbon with nitrogen ; it will not, how- ever, account for the fact that the bands, or those of them which have the greatest emissive power, and are best developed by the particular current used, come out on the addition of a minute quantity of nitrogen, when there is every reason to think that no variation of the current occurs. ; Much the same may be said with regard to the changes of the spectrum produced by changes of temperature. We cannot infer from any of these changes that the spectrum is not due to a com- pound. ‘The bands in question are singularly persistent through a great range of temperatures, from the temperature of a cyano- gen flame cooled by admixture with carbonic acid gas, as related by Watts (P27. ag’, 1869, p. 258), to that of the spark of an induction coil with condenser, But again, Mr. Lockyer attempts to get over the difficulties of his case by the supposition that ‘‘the sets of carbon flutings represent different molecular groupings of carbon, in addition to that or those which give us the line spectrum.” Now, until independent evidence that carbon can -exist at all in the state of vapour uncombined at the temperature of a cyanogen flame can be adduced, and further independent evidence of the existence of different groupings in such vapour, the hypothesis here enunciated is a gratuitous one, so long as any other hypothesis for which independent evidence can be adduced, as is true of the existence of nitrocarbon compounds in the flame, arc, and spark, will sufficiently explain the facts. The authors have not expressed any opinion whether or no the cyanogen bands are visible in the solar spectrum, The observa- ct. 28, 1880} ion above recorded that there is in the spectrum of cyanogen a ong shaded band coincident with the very characteristic dark aded band P, strengthens materially the evidence in favour of e existence of these bands in the solar spectrum ; the more so the series of lines at P has far more of the distinctive character the cyanogen spectrum than any other series in the ultra- olet part of the solar spectrum, However that may be, they contend against the hypothesis at if present the bands can be due to any vapour of carbon combined in the upper cooler region of the chromosphere. ne object of their investigations has been to determine the ermanence of compounds of non-metallic elements and the sensi- iveness of the spectroscopic test in regard tothem. Itappeared robable that if such compounds existed in the solar atmosphere heir presence would be most distinctly revealed in the more efrangible part of the spectrum, and it seems sufficieatly clear hat the presence of nitrogen in the solar atmosphere may be ecognised through cyanogen when free nitrogen might escape etection. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE OxrorpD.—The Millard Scholarship in Natural Science lately ounded at Trinity College has been awarded for the first time. The successful candidate is Mr. R. Bodey, from the Mining school, Bristol, and from the Royal School of Mines. At Exeter College the Natural Science Scholarship has been warded to Mr. B. Spencer, from King’s College, London. According to the report of the Delegates for unattached tudents, the number of students not attached to any college or 1all has increased by twenty during the past year. Seventy inattached students have become members of colleges or halls luring the year. CAMBRIDGE.—The University of Cambridge Commissioners Jave apparently proposed their final arrangements as regards the Jniversity. There are many modifications from the original cheme in the direction of giving more freedom to the University, ind on the whole in favour of scientific objects. A general inancial board is to manage all University property and expendi- ure, and to control especially the college contributions, The ating of the colleges for University purposes is modified in the lirection of increased fairness. The common University Fund lerived from the colleges is to provide for all classes of Uni- versity teachers, for the salaries of demonstrators, superin- endents, and curators, for the erection, maintenance, and ‘urniture of museums, laboratories, libraries, lecture-rooms ; and n addition grants of money may be made from it for special work in the way of research, and for investigations in any sranch of learning or science connected with the studies of the University. The amount of payments for buildings, and their maintenance, furniture, and apparatus, is not to exceed one-third of the income of the fund in any one year. Practically speaking, there may be available in each year to the snd of 1884, 2,000/. a year for these latter purposes and 4,000/. for investigators and teachers, and the college payments will rise lefinitely to 30,0007., of which 10,000/, may be used for the pur- poses of buildings, and 20,000/. for teachers of all kinds. It is no longer sought to force particular professors on particular colleges ; the college may, if it prefers, pay the income of a Professorial Fellowship to the common fund. ‘There are to be twenty-nine Professorial Fellowships, not assignable to par- ‘icular professors, but distributed among the colleges. The stipends of the Professors, payable by the University, are © have 200/, deducted from them if the Professor holds a Professorial Fellowship or a Headship. ‘The ‘stipends of Pro- Fessors as now proposed are not so unequal as in the first proposed statutes. The payments (subject to the above-men- joned deduction) to the Regius Professor of Physic would be 7oo/., Professor of Chemistry and the Cavendish Professor of Physics 850/. each, Physiology 800/., Pathology Soo/., Botany, Zoology, and Woodwardian of Geology 7o0/. each, Anatomy 6007, The new Professorships are to be for (1) Physiology, (2) Pathology, (3) Mental Philosophy and Logic. The first two professors are not to undertake the private practice of medicine and surgery. When these shall have been established, the University may establish any other professorships it pleases, or has funds for. The proposals for readerships are also to be remarkably modi- NATURE 623 fied ; the minimum number of readers is now twenty. The sub- jects are to be within the control of the University; the readers are to be appointed as soon as funds can be provided conveniently from the common University Fund or from other sources. Readerships may be suppressed or created, according to the needs of study. The stipend is to be 400/. The readers are to be appointed by grace of the Senate on the recommendation of the General Board of Studies now to be created; but in each case the special Board of Studies with which the readership is connected must concur in the appointment, or it will lapse to the Council of the Senate. University Lecturers (the next grade of teachers) may be college lecturers who throw open their lectures to the University, or they may be other persons approved by the Boards of Studies. The payment to these lecturers from the University must be not less than 507, The University may also appoint lecturers on subjects not immediately connected with any special Board of Studies, for shorter or longer terms. The separation of the Board of Studies in Physics and Chemistry from that of Biology and Geology is maintained. The constitution of the General Board of Studies is carefully and completely defined; but it is to do such work as the Senate commits to it, and in future a general University budget is to be prepared and submitted to the Senate. 2« The Cambridge Museums and Lecture Rooms Syndicate find the increase of annual grant from the University from 1,500/. to 2,000/, a year inadequate, owing especially to new outlay on new departments. They now have a balance of $21/. against them’; and they ask for an additional 1,000/, per annum at once, feeling quite unable otherwise to maintain the museums in moderate efficiency with strict economy. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Fournal of the Franklin Institute, September.—Experiments on the compression of air by the direct action of water, by J. P. Frizell.—Experiments on the strength of yellow pine, by R. H. Thurston.—The absolute economy of electric lighting, by R. Briggs.—Note on the artificial production of diamonds by the processes of Despretz, by E. J. Houston. October.—Motion of viscous fluids, by T. Craig.—The steam yacht Anthracite and the Perkins system of high pressure steam, by G. Deane.—Coal gas engineering, by R. Briggs.—Holman’s new illustration of cell-formation, by J. M. Child.—Joseph Henry, by A. M, Mayer. American Naturalist, October.—S. A. Forbes, the food of the darters.—J. C. Russell, on the former extent of the triassic formation of the Atlantic slates.—C. C. Abbott, notes on stone implements found in New Jersey.—S. Lockwocd, some note- worthy birds.—W. K. Higley, on the microscopical crystals contained in plants.—The editor’s table. —Biology at the Ameri- can Association at Boston.—Recent literature.—General notes. —Scientific news. Reale Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere. Rendiconti, vol. xiii. fasc. xvi., July 29.—On a particular univocal corre- spondence between elements of space with three dimensions, by F. Aschieri.—Case of unproductivity of corn, by G. Cantoni.— On the thermal and luminous phenomena manifested by the Leyden jar at the moment of its discharge, by E. Villari.— Transformation of aspartic acid into fumaric acid, by G. Korner and A. Menozzi.—First case of repeated peritoneal transfusion, with new and happy success, in an oligocitemic insane person, by C. Golgi and A. Raggi.—On the infirmity of Torquato Tasso, by A. Corradi.—Meteorological summary of the year 1879, from meteorological observations at the Brera Observatory, by P. Frisiani. Rivista Scientifico-Industriale, September 1 5.—Further experi- ments with a Crookes’ tube, by A. Righi.—Histology of the skin of Teleostean fishes, by A. Batelli. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LoNDON Entomological Society, October 6.—H. T. Stainton, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Sir Arthur Scott of Birmingham and Mr. F. E. Robinson were elected as ordinary Members.—Mr. McLachlan stated that last year he had exhibited 624 specimens of Anthocoris nemorum, an hemipterous insect sup- posed to be damaging the hops grown near Canterbury, but had then expressed his opinion that the insect was not the true culprit, its habits being probably carnivorous. This year he had received from the same correspondent some small larvee which had been found in the cones, and these he considered were not only the true enemy of the hops, but were also the food of the Anthocoris.—Sir Sydney Saunders exhibited a series of apterous females of the new species of Setevoderma, adverted to at the previous meeting, and read remarks thereon,—Messrs. Kirby, Fitch, Ralfe, and the Rev. E. N. Gilbert exhibited several varieties of lepidoptera taken in this country and on the Continent, some of which, from the structure of the antennz, were consi- dered ‘‘hermaphrodite” forms.—Mr. Hildebrand Ramsden communicated a note on Pyrophoris causticus, a Cuban fire-fly.— Mr. Swinton read two papers entitled Some Experiments on the Variability of Lepidoptera undertaken during the year 1880, and exhibited specimens and figures in illustration.—Mr, Butler com- municated a paper entitled Observations on the Lepidopterous Genus Zeyias, with descriptions of hitherto un-named forms from Japan.—Mr. Waterhouse communicated a paper on the Bupres- tidee from Madagascar.—-Messrs. Kirby, Distant, and McLachlan called the attention of :the Society toja method of publishing descriptions of new species pursued by M. Andre in recent parts of his work on European Hymenoptera. These were not only inserted on the cover of his quarterly parts, but even at the end of sheets of advertisements laid loosely between the pages of a part. It was regretted that no other course than that of protest and disapprobation could be applied in the interest of science to such a practice, PARIS Academy of Sciences, October 18.—M. Wurtz in the chair. —M. Faye presented the Connats:ance des Temps for 1882 (204th volume), and indicated several improvements, viz., tables giving, for all points of the globe where the next Venus transit will be visible, the instants of all phases of the transit, a table for determining the direction of the meridian from the Pole star, the positions of 300 important stars every ten days, and of ten polar stars daily, and empiric corrections of ephemerides of the moon.—Longitude of the coast of Brazil, by M. Mouchez, A scientific mission from the United States under Messrs. Green and Dayis has, with the aid of the Transatlantic cable from Europe, fixed the position of the six points, Para, Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and Buenos Ayres; and the results show that the author’s figures for the same places, obtained in 1860 and following years, by astronomical and chronometric methods, were nearly exact, the greatest error being 2*34s. (The Connaissance des Temps had adopted different numbers, which are shown to be in error 27°4s.) ‘The author’s errors being all of the same sign, a mere shifting of the Brazil coast about 2 sec, westwards (nearly 1km.) would make the longitudes exact to a few tenths of asecond. Hecompares the chronometric and astro- nomical methods, showing that chronometers, in absence of the telegraph, offer the surest and most simple means of determining longitude. The influence of temperature he corrected by means of a simple coefficient.—On the saccharine matters contained in the fruit of the coffee-tree, by M. Boussingault. He analysed some berries (from Brazil) that had been put in alcohol immediately after plucking, also the aleohol. The berry is poor in saccharine pulp compared with cherries and other stone fruit from which alcohol is got (it has 66 per cent. as against 90 for cherries and 95 for prunes). ‘The distillation of the berries of coffee would hardly be lucrative or practicable (as Humboldt imagined).— Order of appearance of the first vessels in the inflorescence of Mibora verna, by M. Trécul.—On the resistance of animals of bovine species to splenic fever, and on the preservation of these animals by preventive inoculations, by M. Chauveau. He men- tions that, contrarily to what is observed in France, it is in animals of bovine species that anthracoid diseases are more frequently met with in Algeria. He is inquiring what it is that favours the effects of spontaneous infection in the bovine species, so resistant to provoked infection, and hopes soon to be able to furnish the explanation. The preventive effect of inoculation he has proved in eight subjects of bovine species (four of which were Algerian).—On the photophone of Prof, Bell and Mr. Sumner Tainter, by M. Breguet. A drawing is given of the arrangement found most effective. At M. Breguet’s place the phenomena have been obtained with the electric light over a dis- tance of 15m. The articulation, though not perfect, was demon- NATURE [ Oct. 28, 1886 strative.—Spectroscopic studies of the sun at Paris Observatory, by M. Thollon. The sun has entered on a period of activity. M ‘ Thollon gives figures of several striking recent protuberances,, He frequently observes protuberances '1’ in height, and has see several exceeding 2’ and 3/, and one about 8’, Some of them may nearly reach the limits of the corona. He indicates his new method of ascertaining the direction of the solar equator. ; Principles of an algebraic calculus which contains, as particula species, the calculus of imaginary quantities and of quaternions by M. Lipschitz.—On algebraic equations, by M. West.—Vii bratory forms of circular pellicles of saposaccharic liquid (second note) byM. Decharme. This refers to the relative position the nodals of each system. One finds identical laws for vibrator forms of any circular liquid surfaces, and for those of soapi pellicles ; only the width of the zones is about six times smalle in the case of the former.—On the presence of cerium in th coal-formation of the valley of Saint-Etienne, by M. Mayencon —On a very perfect reptile found in the Permian formation, b M. Gaudry. M. Roche found it at Igornay, and has presentec it to the Paris Museum. M. Gaudry proposes to call it Stereo rachis dominans. ts vertebra are in striking contrast with those of other reptiles in the same bed ; the centrums are in one piece, which adheres to the neural arc, Another mark of superiorit; is that its humerus has, in the distal part, a neuro-arterial canal, The Stereorachis was a pretty large carnivore, It has affinities with the Ganocephali and Labyrinthodonts, and perhaps still more with some of the animals in Mr. Cope’s group of Pelyco saurians, in North America.—On the existence of a reptile of ophidian type in the Ostrea columba strata of the Charentes, b M, Sauvage. BERLIN Geographical Society, October 9.—President Dr. Nachtigal, who congratulated Dr. Bastian on his return from his two years” exploration.—A letter from Dr. Buchner was read, dated Sep tember 27 of last year from Kimbundo. Since then, it has been learned, he has not only reached the residence of Muata Janvo, but has carried his exploration much farther. It is probable that he has gone northwards.—News was received from Dr Lenz, which we refer to in our Geographical Notes. By the last news Herr Flegel had reached the confluence of the Niger and Binué, and his expedition was doing well.—The German expedi- tion to East Africa was, according to the last news, at Muhatta, with Capt. Ramaeker’s Belgian expedition, on the way to Tabora, —Prof. Credner of Halle read a paper on the glaciation o North Germany during the glacial period. CONTENTS PAGE Batrour’s ‘COMPARATIVE EMBRYOLOGY.” By Prof. E. Ray Lan- KESTER,| PURISS ri oe) SN Toei telt ogo ts ae Tue Sieve-Tuses oF Dicoryteponous Pants. By F. ORPEN eho ee cs i aon OMONSUNOMO. OD SS 0 - Our Boox SHELF :— 4 Taylor’s ‘‘ Elementary Geometry of Conics”. . . - + « « = Lerrers TO THE EpIToR :— Ceraski’s New Variable Star.—Prof. EpmMuNp C. PickERING; Grorce KnotT ..... Lyhe) Uneale eteien camel “ Solid Ice at High Temperatures.””—JoHN LECONTE. . 2. - Wire Torsion.—Professors JoHN Perry and W. E. AyrRTON, . « On the Skin-Furrows of the Hand.—Dr. Henry Fauitps .. ~- Metamorphic Rocks, Ireland.—G. H. KINAHAN . . « - s The Number of Known Species of Hemiptera-Heteroptera.—Dr, FE. BUCHANAN WHITE? So o)t. G2) 20-bit On the Classification of Rivers.—Surgeon H. B. Guppy . . .» Yuccas under Cultivation—Consul E. L. Layarp . 5... = « Intellect in Brutes.—Consul E. L. Layarp; Prof. W. WmiTmMan BATLEY st) Val eo ta Fel aot as Mies ei aitto! el etn eda me Atmospheric Phenomenon.—B.. ... . at Senate Temperature of the Breath.—F. J. M. P. - © + + «© s - Crossing Rapid Streams.—C. . . » - + +--+ + » Construction of Telescopes and Microscopes.—P. C. . BENJAMIN PEIRCE, EURiS. 5 vaistie ce be bs > ls eines RecENT Cuemicat Researcu. By M.M. Pattison Murr . . Japan, I. (With Illustrations) » + « « + © © © © © © « «© NOTES. 5 se. (ey (a. slope ene Our AsTRONOMICAL COLUMN :— Ceraski’s Variable of Short Period The Rotation of Jupiter . CyHEmMIcAL NOTES .°. «, « « + GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. «.! 5-43) 5 0 «je. sot ol, Shred [a =) feel On Maximum anp Minrmum Enercy IN VORTEX Morion. By Sir Wittram Tuomson, F.R.S. (With Diagram) . + « seth On THE SPECTRA of THE ComrouNDs OF CARBON WITH HypROoGEN AND NITROGEN. By Professors Livernc and Dewar (With Dia- ACL) ee CR ae Tea omek lee LON eC O OMI Oo ty /D UNIVERSITY AND EpucATIONAL INTELLIGENCE « Screntiric SERIALS. . - 2 © 2 2 8 2's « SociETIES AND ACADEMIES «+ © © © «6 « » a) Meyy eh etre) Ot che lc) e © 8 6 US vy a | dates atu Le vith aT Thre zeroes oan IM ] HMM +f @ ~~ Be os fo2) w o i=) oo i2) =) oa oe)