NATURE A WEEKLY ^/ ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE VOLUME XIV. ^^ MAY 1876 to OCTOBER 1876 " To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for tf^^."— Wordsworth MACMILLAN AND CO. 1876 V. 1 + cap '2. LONr.ON R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BREAD STREET HILL, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET Nature, Ncn>. i6, 1876J INDEX Abbay (Rev. R.), Periodicity of the Fresh-water Lakes of Australia, 47 ; Coffee in Ceylon, 375 Abbott (Dr. Chas. C), American-Indian Stone Tubes and Tobacco Pipes, 154 Abney (Capt., F.R.S.), Photographic Processes, 239, 255 Academy, Natural History of the Royal, 105 Ackroyd (W. ), Selective Absorption, 163 Acoustical Phenomena, S. P. Thompson, 149 Acoustical Researche?, Mayer's Recent, 318 Adair (H. M.), Freezing Phenomena, 271 Adelaide, Gift to University of, 61 ; Botanic Gardens, 279 ^olian Formation on the Lancashire Coast, William Gee, 450 Aeronautical Society, 159 Aeronautics, W. de Fonvielle's Work on, 8 Africa : Stanley's Expedition, 279, 373 ; Largeau and Say's Exploration of, 300 ; Map of the Lake Region, 374 ; South African International Exhibition, 443 ; The Italian Expedi- tion, 444 ; Capt. Cameron's Journey through, 489 ; Col. C. Chaille Long's Travels in Central, 521 ; Mr. Lucas' Exploration of, 561 ; Dr. E. von Bary's Expedition, 582 ; Gerhard Rohlfs' Expeditions in, 582 Agassiz (A.), Changes in the Pacific, 217 Agricultural Weather Warnings in France, 266 Agriculture, Experimental Station of, in Connecticut, 419 ; The French School of, 419, 561 Air/ (Sir G. B., F.R.S.), The Sun-spot of April 4, 1876, 533 ; on Sumner's *' Method at Sea," 559 Airy (Hubert), Visual Phenomena, 392, 525 Aitken (John), The Dry River-beds of the Riviera, 148 Alai Expedition, General Skobelefl's, 560 Albert Nyanza, Lake, 200 ; Gesse's Circumnavigation of, 260 Alcohol, the Action of, on the Brain, 486 Aldini Medal, 320 Alexandria, Meteorological Station at, 16 Algse, Prof. Agardh's Work on, 418 Algebra, Mimn's Elementary, 147 Algeria, Rainfall of, 300 Alkali Waste, a Means of Suppressing, 455 Allmann (Dr. Geo. J., F.R.S.), The Basking Shark, 368 Alma Mater, the New School Journal, 496 America : American Association, 463 ; American Journal of Science and Art, 81, 162, 262, 321, 362, 491 ; American Naturalist, 80, 161 ; American Mocking Bird, 29 ; American- Indian Stone Tubes and Tobacco Pipes, Dr. Chas. C. Abbott, 154; International Congress of Americanists, 355. See also United States, Philadelphia, &c. Amphioxus, Langerhans on, 298 Anatomia dell' Ape, 139 Anatomy, Quain's, Eighth Edition, 129 Anderson's University, Proposed Incorporation of, 518 Andrews (Dr., F.R.S.), on Certain Methods of Chemical Re- search, 12; Opening Address as President of the British Association, 393 Anemometer, the Cmp, 61 "Angling Idylls," G. C. Davies, 270 Aniline and Chinoline, Prof. Dewar on, 455 Animal Movements, Apparatus for Measuring, 214 " Animal Morphology," Part I., Prof. Macalister's, 25 Animals, Dr. B. W. Richardson's Abstract Report to Nature on Experiments on, for the Advance of Practical Medicine, 149, 170, 197, 250, 289, 339, 369 Antedated Books, 309, 330, 351, 369, 392, 424, 474 Anthropological Institute, 18, 82, 243, 263 Apiary, a Model, in Paris, 260 Appalachian Mountain Club, 299 Apparatus for Measuring Animal Movements, 214 Aquariums, Westminster, 80, 159 ; Rothesay, 218; New York, 516 Arabs, Life with the Hamram, A. R. Myers, 190 Aralo-Caspian Region, 66 Archaeology, Convention at Philadelphia, 120 Archebiosis, Dr. Charlton Bastian on, 220 Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles, 182, 262, 519 Arctic Expedition, 36 ; Mails for, 61 ; The FatiJora, 120 Arctic Fossil Flora, Dr. Heer's, 336 Are we Drying Up ? 527 Argo, The Cruise of the, Rev, H. H. Iliggins, 48 Argyll (Duke of). The Physical Structure of the Highlands in Connection with their Geological History, 435 Arlberg Tunnel, Dr. G. A. Koch on the, 304 Asia, Central, Col Prejevalsky's Exploration of, 60 Asia, Russian Exploration of, 534 Asiatic Bats, G. E. Dobson, 472 Astronomical Column, 10, 29, 49, 71, 91, 131, 152, 192, 210, 231, 257, 277, 291, 311, 337, 357, 378, 417, 424, 450, 474, 507, 533, 545. 570 Astronomical Predictions, Method of Distributing, Charles de Littrow, 149 Astronomical Society, 163, 203, 299 Athens, Observatory at, 92 Atlantic Expedition, the Norwegian, 337, 441 Atlantic Ocean, Temperature of, 490 Atmosphere, Guldberg and Mohn on the, 561 August Meteors, 292 Australia, the Flora of South, 27 ; Fresh-water Lakes of, 47 ; Gift to Adelaide University, 61 ; W. Harcus on, 90 ; Todd's Observatory and Climate of, 536 ; Mr. Giles' Journey across, 560. See alio New South Wales, Melbourne, Vic- toria, &c. Auvergne, Rev. W. S. Symondson Ancient Glaciers in, 179 Aveling's Botanical Tables, 348 Axolotl, G. S. Boulger on the, 209 Axolotls at the Crystal Palace Aquarium, 36 Backhouse (Thos. Wm. ), Visual Phenomena, 474 Bahama Islands, the Natural History of, 561 Baird (CapL A. W.), Tidal Operations in the Gulf of Cutch, 480 Baird's Annual Record of Science and Industry, 543 Balloon, Radiometer in a, W. de Fonvielle, 508 Balloon Ascents and Meteorology, 517 Barometric Pressure, The Semi-diurnal Oscillations of, 314,350, 526 Barometric Variations, John Allan Broun, F.R.S., 162, 572 Barrett (Prof. W. F.), Spring Dynamometers,- 29 Basking Shark, Dr. E. Perceval Wright, 313 ; Dr. Gea J. Allman, F.R.S., 368 Bastian (Dr. Charlton, F.R.S.), Evolution and the Origin of Life, 44 ; Physico- Chemical Theory of Fermentation, 220 ; Fermentation of Urine and the Germ Theory, 309. Bath, Meteorological Observations at, 219 Bats of Asia, Dobson's, 472 Beaumont (Elie de). Statue of, 300 Beechy (F. S. ), Electro-Telegraphy, 524 Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, 201 Belgium, Hailstorm in, 210; Congress of Scientific Societies at Brussels, 259 Bennett (A. W.), the Pollen of the Cherry, 28 Bentley and Trimen's " Medicinal Plants," 139 Berlin Aquarium, death of the Orang-utang, 496 Berlin, German Chemical Society, 39, 63, 144, 183, 244, 283 Bermudas, Fishes of the, 261 Beryllium, Dr. Emerson Reynolds on, 455 IV INDEX [Nature, Nov. i6, 1876 Bessels' " Abhandlungen," 2lo Bettany (G. T.), The Missing Link between the Vertebrates and the Invertebrates, 195 ; Natural Science at Cambridge, 216 Bibliography, New Scientific Books, 538, 562, 583 Biden (H. B.), Visual Phenomena, 525 Biela's Comet, 10 Binary Stars, 29, 152, 474 Biological Notes, 571 Biology of Plants, Cohn on the, 326 Birds, Destruction of Flowers by, lo Birds of Kerguelen's Land, 317 Birmingham (J. ), Lunar Maps, 49 Birmingham and Midland Institute, 497 Blake (Rev. J. F.), Theory of Electrical Induction, 68 ; Visual Phenomnea, 423 Blandford, (H. F.), The two Semi-diurnal Oscillations of Baro- metric Pressure, 314, 526 Blanpain's Comet, 1819, 545 Blasema on Musical Sound, Dr. W. H. Stone, 502 Blowpipe, Quantitative Analysis by the, Major A. W. Ross, 130 Blyth (E.), Catalogue of the Mammals and Birds of Burma, 153 Bohemian Coal Beds, Feistmantel on the, 268 Bonney (Rev. T. G. ), Miniature Physical Geology, 423 Bonavia (Dr. E.), Moon- stroke, 545 Boomerang, A. W. Howitt, 248 Bora, the, at Noworosslsk, 200 Bosjes Skulls, 489 Bosnia and the Herzegovina, 230 Bosnia and Servia, Resources of, 277 Boston, U. S. Natural History Society, 499 Botanical Locality Record Club, 139 Botanical Tables, E. B. Aveling's, 348 Botany, Dr. Hooker's Primer of, 8 Botany, Journal of, 37, 518 Boulders, Erratic, The Distribution of, 476 Boulger (G. S.), The Axolotl, 209 ; The Origin of Variations, 393 Bourke (Rev. U. J.), "The Aryan Origin of the Gaelic Race and Language," 88 Brady (H. B,, F.R.S.), Zittel's Handbook of Pateontology, 445, 474 Brains, Proposed Dissection of the, of Eminent Men, 581 Bramwell (F. J., C.E., F.R.S.), Prime Movers, 140, 159, 175 Bristol University College, 121, 470 British Association : Glasgow Meeting, Preliminary Arrange- ments, 170, 381, 393 ; Officers, 241 ; Foreign Visitors, 393, 426 ; Inaugural Address of the President, Dr. T. Andrews, F. R. S. , &c. , 393 ; Number of Members, 425 ; Balance Sheet for 1875-76, 425 ; Conversazioni, 426 ; Excursions, 426 ; Place of Meetings in 1877 and 1878 ; Guide-books to Glas- gow, 447 ; Grants for Scientific Purposes, 451 ; Report on Ohm's Law, 452 ; Report on Kent's Cavern, 452 ; Report on Earthquakes in Scotland, 454, 456 ; Report on Under- ground Waters in the New Red Sandstone and Permian Formations of England, 454 ; Prof. Tail's Lecture on Force, 459 ; Report on a Comparison of the B.A. Units of Elec- trical Resistance, 476 ; Report of the Committee for effecting the Determination of the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat, 476 J Report on the Distribution of Erratic Boulders, 476 ; Report of the Close Time Committee, 476 ; Report on the Intestinal Secretion and Movement, 477 ; Report on the Metric System, 477; Report on the Use of Steel for Struc- tural Purposes, 477 ; Report of the Rainfall Committee, 477 ; Report on Mathematical Tables, 477 ; Report on the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching, 477 ; Sir C. Wyville Thomson's Address on the Challenger Expedition, 492 Section A {Mathetnatical and Physical). — Opening Address by the President, Sir William Thomson, F.R.S., &c., 426; Prof. Osborne Reynolds on the resistance encountered by Vortex Rings, and the relation between the Vortex Rings and the Stream-lines of a Disc, 477 ; Prof. Clerk-Maxwell on the Protection of Buildings from Lightning, 479 ; Mr. C. Mel- drum on a Cyclone Periodicity in connection with Sunspot Peiiodicity, 479 ; Mr. O. L. Lodge on the passage of elec- tricity through Metals, 479 ; Capt. A. W. Baird on Tidal Operations in the Gulf of Cutch, 480 ; Various Experiments and Papers in this Section, 480 Section B {Chemical Science). — Opening Address by the Pre- si lent, W. H. Perkin, F.R.S., 432 ; Mr. Ramsay's Paper ©n Picoline, 455 ; Papers and Discussion on the Sewage Question, 455 ; Mr. Allen's Report on Commercial Phos- phates and Potash Salts, 455 ; Dr. Gamgee's paper on Pyro- Meta- and Ortho-phosphoric Acids, 455 ; Dr. Emer- son Reynolds' Paper on the Specific Heat of Beryllium, 455 ; Mr. Johnstone Stoney's paper on Oxygen in Basic Salts, 455 ; Dr. Mac vicar's Paper on Matter, 455 ; Mr. E. H. Biges on a new Form of Voltaic Battery, 455 ; Sir William Thomson on Anthracene, 455 ; Mr. W. Welden's Paper on the Means of Suppressing Alkali Waste, 455 ; Mr. Kingzett on the Oxidation of Terpenes, 455 ; Prof. Dewar on Chinoline and Aniline, 455 Section C {Geology), — Opening Address of the President, Prof. J. Young, M.D., 399; Duke of Argyll's Paper on "The Physical Structure of the Highlands in Connection with their Geological History," 435 ; the Discussion thereon, 437 ; Dr. D. Milne-Home's Paper oil Terraces, Flats, and Haughs at High Levels in the Carron Valley, 456 ; Dr. James Bryce on the Earthquake Districts of Scotland, 456 ; Dr. D. Milne- Home's Paper on the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, 456 ; Mr. G. A. Gibson's Paper on the Geology of Foula, Shet- land, 456 ; Mr. E. Wiinsch's Paper on the Junction of Granite and Old Red Sandstone in Arran, 456 ; Prof. W. C. Williamson on the Plants of the Coal Measures, 456 ; Dr. Anton Fritsch on Labyrinthodont Remains in Bohemia, 457 ; Prof. Harkness and Prof. Nicholson on the Strata and Fossils between the Borrowdale Series and the Coniston Flags of the North of England, 457 ; Rev. E. Sewell's Notes on the Drifts and Boulders of the Valley of the Wharfe, Yorkshire, 457 ; Prof. James Thomson on Ridgy Structure in Coal, 457; on Basalts and other Igneous Rocks, by the same Author, 457 ; Prof. Hull on the Carboniferous Rocks, 480 ; C. E. de Ranee on the Coal Measures of West Lanca- shire, 480 ; G. A. Lebour on the Lowest Carboniferous Rocks, 480 ; Prof. Ferd. Roemer on the Mountain Lime- stone on the West Coast of Sumatra, 480 ; Prof. A, vou Lasaulx on a New Mineral, 480 ; Messrs. A. Russell and T. V. Holmes on the Raised Beaches of the Cumberland Coast, 480 ; Dr. James Croll on Tidal Retardation — Argu- ment for the Age of the Earth, 481 ; Mr. J, Young on Siliceous Sponges, 481 ; Dr. James Bryce on the Granite of Strath-Errick, 481 ; Prof. Hull on a Deep Boring for Coal at Scarle, 481 ; Mr. R. L. Jack on Tertiary Basaltic Dykes ia Scotland, 481 ; Mr. W. A. Traill on Pre-Carboniferous Rocks in North Mayo, 481 Section D {Biology). — Opening Address by the President, A. Russel Wallace, 403 Department of Zoology and Botany. — Address by Prof. Alfred Newton, F.R.S., 438; Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys on the Valorous Expedition, 459 ; Mr. John Murray on Oceanic Deposits, 459 ; Dr. I. H. Balfour on Mascarene Species of Pandanus, 487 ; Prof. W. C. Williamson on the Structure of Coal Plants, 487 ; Prof. Leith Adamson on the Fossil Remains of Malta, 487 ; Mr. C. W. Peach on Circinate Vernation of 'phenopteris affinis, 487 ; Mr. Spence Bates' Report on the Structure of the Crustacea, 487 ; Dr. Carmichael on Spontaneous Evolution, 487 Department of Anthropology. — Papers on the Highland Race and Language, 457 ; Dr. Phene's Paper on Recent Remains of Totemiom in Scotland, 458 ; Mr. W. J. Knowle's Paper on Prehistoric Discoveries at Port Stewart, near London- derry, 458 ; Capt. J. S. Hay's Paper on a Strange Mal- formation among People in Akem, West Africa, 458 ; Miss A. W. Buckland's Paper on Primitive Agriculture, 458 ; Mr. James Shaw on Righthandedness, 488 ; Mr. Hyde Clark on the Prehistoric Names of Men, Monkeys, and 1 izards, 488 ; Mr. Hartshorne on the Rodiyas of Ceylon, 488 ; Mr. W. Harper on the Natives of British Guiana, 488 ; Mr. Kerry Nichols on the New Hebrides, Banks, and Santa Cruz Islands, 488 ; Dr. Knox on Bosjes Skulls, 489 Department of Anatomy and Physiology . — Prof. J. G. McKen- drick's Address, 482 ; Papers on Special Poisons, 458 ; Prof. Gamgee on Changes of Circulation of the Blood, 458 ; Dr. Stirling on Nerve Ganglia in the Lungs, 458 ; Prof. Turner on the Placenta, 485 ; Mr. F. M. Balfour on the Development of the Protovertebrse and Muscle-plates in Elasmobranch Animals, 485 ; Prof. Haeckel on Hali- physema and Gastrophysema, 485 ; Dr. D. J. Cunningham on the Spinal Nervous System of the Cetacea, 486 ; Prof. Burdon Sanderson on Dionoea Muscipula, 486 ; Prof. Struthers on the Finger- muscles of Whales, 486 ; Mr. T. Nature, Nov. l6, 1876] INDEX C. Kingzett on the Action of Alcohol on the Brain, 486 ; Surgeon-Major Johnston on the Diet of the Natives of India, 486 ; Mr. Wanklyn on Drinking-water, 486 ; Dr. Paton on the Action and Sounds of the Heart, 487 Section E {Geography). — Opening Address by the President, Capt. F. J. Evans, C.B., F.R.S., 412 ; Mr. Octavius Stone on his Recent Journeys in New Guinea, 489 ; Mr. Kerry Nicholls on the Islatids of the Coral Sea, 489 ; Capt. Cameron on his Journey through Equatorial Africa, 489 ; Col, Playfair on Travels in Tunis in the Footsteps of Bruce, 490 ; Staff-Commander Tizzard on the Temperature ob- tained in the Atlantic Ocean during the Cruise of the Challenger, 490 ; Mr. J. Murray on the Geological Distri- bution of Oceanic Deposits, 491 ; Mr. Buchanan on the Specific Gravity of the Surface-water of the Ocean, 491 ; Prof. Porter on the Physical Conformation and Antiquities of the Jordan Valley, 491 ; Signor G. E. Cerruti on his Recent Explorations in North-west New Guinea, 491 Section F. {Economic Scitnce and Statistics). — Dr. William Jack on the Results of five Years' Compulsory Education, 491 ; Mr. J. Hey wood on the Memorial in favour of a Per- iranent Scientific Museiun, 491 ; Resolution on the same, 491 Section G {Mechanical Science). — Opening Address of the Pre- sident, Charles W. Merrifield, F.R.S., 491 ; Mr. Baldwin Latham on Hydro-Geological Surveys, 492 ; Mr. W. J. Miller on the Strength and Fracture of Cast Iron, 492 ; Sir William Thomson on Naval Signalling, 492 British Channel, Soundings in the, 581 British Guiana, the Natives of, 488 ; , Schomburgk's Botanical Reminiscences of, 568 British Manufacturing Industries, 145, 423 British Medical Association and the Vivisection Bill, 299 British Phannaceutical Conference, 381 Brodie (Sir B. C, F.R.S.), The Analysis of Chemical Events, 323 Brontotheridae, Prof. Marsh on the, 36 Broun (J. A., F.R.S.), Barometric Variations in India, 162; On Simulteneous Variations of the Barometer, 464 ; " Scott's Weather Charts and Storm Warnings," 565 ; Barometric Variations, 572 Brussels, Congress of Scientific Societies at, 259 ; Geographical Congress at, 443, 466 Bryce (Dr. James), Report on Earthquakes in Scotland, 454, 456 Bulletin International, 121 Bulletin de 1' Academic Royale des Sciences, 142 Bulletin de 1' Academic Imperiale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg, 583 Burma, Blyths Catalogue of the Mammals and Birds of, 153 Calcutta, Zoological Gardens at, 120 Calvert (Grace), Scholarship at Owens Collie, 581 Cambridge : Woodwardian Museum, 79 ; Philosophical Society, 83, 144; Natioral Science at, 216 ; Cavendish College, 580 Cambridge, U.S.A. Museum of Comparative Zoology at, 109 Cameron (Capt.), his Journey through Equatorial Africa, 489; Testimonial to, 561 Campen (S. R. van), " The Dutch in the Arctic Seas," 246 Canada, Meteorological Reports of, 536 Cape of CJood Hope University, 36 Cape Town, the South African International Exhibition, 443 Carboniferous Land Shells, J. W. Dawson, 317 Carboniferous Rocks, 480 Cardiographs, Prof. Marey on, 214 Carnarvon (Lord), Vivisection Bill, 65, 87, 172 Carnivorous Plants, Prof. Morren, 68 J Carpenter (Dr. W. B., F.R.S.), A New Laurentian Fossil, 8, 68 \ Cast Iron, the Strength and Fracture of, 492 Cats, Sagacity in, M. M. Pattison Muir, 192 Caumont (M. de). Statue to, 279 " Causeries Scientifiques," Rothschild's, 543 Cavendish College, Cambridge, 580 I Cavern Researches in New Zealand, 576 ' Centenarian, Death of a, 300 Central Asia, Col. Prejevalsky's Exploration of, 60 Cephalisation, 571 Ceratodus, Specimens of the Fish, 466 ;: Cerruti (Signor), Explorations in North-West New Guinea, 491 Cetacea, Dr. Cunningham on the Spinal Nervous System of the, 486 ■ Ceylon, Atmospheric Phenomena in Ceylon, 163 ; Coffee in, Rev. R. Abbay, 375 ; the Rodiyas^of, 488 Cezanne (M.), Death of, 243 Chacomac's Variable Nebula, 545 *' Challenger," the Cruise of the, 93 Challenger Expedition, 14, 119, 197, 199; Dred^ings of the, 214 ; Dinner to the Staff of the, 238; Sir C. Wyville Thomson's Address on, 492 ; Grerman Naturalists on the, 515 Channel Tunnel, 260 Chappell (Wm., F.S.A.), Early History of Magnetism, 147 Chemical ; Events, the Analysis of, Sir B. C. Brodie, F.R.S., 323 Chemical Research, Dr. Andrews on certain Methods of, 12 Chemical Research Fund, 217 Chemical Society, 18, 38, 143, 162, 203 ; Journal of the, 17, 261, 301, 467, 562 ; W. Noel Hartley, 169 Chemistry, the Organisation of the Profession of, 125 Cherry, the Pollen of the, A. W. Bennett, 28 Cherry Blossoms, Charles Darwin, F.R.S., 28 China, Magnetic Observations in. Rev. S. J. Perry, 196 Chinoline and Aniline, Prof. Dewar on, 455 Chiroptera, Asiatic, G. E. Dobson, 279, 472 Chloride of Sodium in a Coal Fire, 506, 570 Christie (Lieut., R.E.), Selenium in Telegraphy, 279 Chwolson (M.) on Magnetic Induction, 202 Cienkowski's Observations on Monads, 298 Cimbri, Ethnology of the, 82 Cirques and Sack- valleys, A. Helland on, 422 City Guilds, W. H. James, M.P., on the, 559 " City of Health," Dr. Richardson's, 301 Clark (J. Edmund), Meteor Observations, 331 Clerici, Anatomie dell' Ape, 139 Clermont, French Association at, 298 Clough (J. C), "The Existence of Mixed Language," 503 Coal Beds of Bohemia, Feistmantel on the, 268 Coal Measures, Prof W. C. Williamson on the Fossil Plants of the, 182, 487 ; the Plants of the, 456 Cohn on the Biology of Plants, 326 Coffee, 38 ; Coffee Production in Cayenne, 361 ; Coffee in Ceylon, Rev. R. Abbay, 375 Cole (Sir Henry), Freedom of the City of London Conferred on, 299 Colorado, U.S.A., Geological Survey of, 35 Comatula rosacea. Major Fred. H. Lang, 527 Comets, 357 ; Biela's, 10 ; of 1743, 49 ; of 1698, 152 ; Stephan's, 1867, 192 ; of 1698, 192 ; of 1686, 257 ; De Vico's, 277 ; Reissig's, 311; The Second of 1844, 337; of 1847, 357; Tuttle's, 378 ; Pigott's, of 1783, 475 ; Blanpain's, 545; Compass, the Early History of the, 147 Compulsory Education, 491 Conferences at the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus, 34, 72, 92, 140; Opening Addresse-s 54, 114 Congress, International, of Americanists, 355 Congress of Orientalists at St. Petersburg, 380, 442 Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 498 Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, Report on the, 325 Copal Tree, 38 Corals of Tasmania, 82 Coral Sea, the Islands of the, 489 Cordoba " Uranometria," 417 Comelissen (Lieut. J. E.), Death of, 16 Crab, Habits of Parasitic, 272 Cremation, the Dreiden Society for, 581 Creswell Caves Exploration, 381 Crimea, the, and Trans-Caucasia, J. B. Telfer, 368 CroU (Dr. James, F.R.S.), the Tidal Retardation Argument for the Age of the Earth, 481. Crookes's Radiometers and Actinometers, 16 Cruelty to Animals Bill, 65, 87, 172 Cubit of Kamak, the Harris, 168 Cuckoo, the, 210, 231, 250, 309, 369 D'Albertis' Exploration of New Guinea, 138, 157, 465 Darwin (Charles, F.R.S.), Cherry Blossoms, 28 Darwin (Frarcis), Protective Mimicry, 329 Daubenton's Herbarium, 382 Davies (G. C.)> *' Angling Idylls," 270 Dawson (J. W.), Carboniferous Land Shells, 317 Day's Exercises in Electrical and Magnetic Measurement, 129 Deaf-Muteness, Prof. Poplavsky on, 553 Dee, Physical History of tlij|, 38 VI INDEX {Nature, Nov. i6, 1876 Degrees, Science, of the University of London, 331 Delsaulx (Rev Joseph), the Direct Motion in the Radiometer an Eflfect of Electricity, 288 ; the Inverse Rotation of the Radiometer an effect of Electricity, 449 Descent, Palceontolopy and the Doctrine of, J. W. Judd, 275 De Vico's Comet of Short Period, 277 Deville (M. C. Sainte-Claire), Death of, 559 ; Obituary Notice of. 575 Diffusion of Gases through Absorbing Substances, Prof. Clerk- Maxwell, F.R.S., 24 Dionaa Muscipula, Dr. Burdon Sanderson on the, 486 Distant (W. L.), Species and Varieties, 392 D-line Spectra, Major W. A. Ross, 289 Dobson (G. E.), Asiatic Chiroptera, 279, 472 Dohm (Dr. A.), Missing Link between the Vertebrates and the Invertebrates, 195 Double Stars, 72, 152, 232, 337 Drach (S. M.), Williams (?) Thermometer, 210 Draper (Dr. J. W.), Presentation of Rumford Medals to, by the American Academy of Sciences, 138 Dresden, the Society for Incineration, 581 Dresser's Birds of Europe, 61 Drinking Water, Mr. Wanklyn on, 486 Dumas (M.). Presidential Address at the French Association, 379 Dumortier's " Hepaticje Europae, 121 Duncan (Prof. P. Martin, F.R.S.), Limestone Makers, 9 Dunlop (Dr. Andrew), a Rudimentary Tail, 450 " Dutch in the Arctic Seas," S. R. van Campen, 246 Dutch Society of Sciences, Prizes offered by the, 276 Dyer (W. T. Thistleton), on the Classification of the Vegetable Kingdom, 293 Dynamite, CapL I. Trauzlon, 367 Dynamometers, Spring, Prof. W. F. Barrett, 29 Dynamometers and Units of Force, Prof. Hennessy, 69 Earthquakes : at Vienna, 279 ; in Samoa, 270 ; in Nithsdale, Scotland, 369 ; in Scotland, Dr. Bryce's Report on, 454, 456 ; at Salonica, 497; at Digne, 517 ; at Bagneres de Bizarre, 561 ; at Corleone, near Palermo, 561 Eaton (Rev. A. E.), the Birds of Kerguelen Island, 369 Ebonite, Action of Light on. Prof. Herbert McLeod, 525 Eclipses, Solar, of 1878, 210 ; Solar, of 1882, 357 ; Solar, of 1885, 450 Edinburgh, University of, 200 Education, in France, 180; Compulsory, 491 Ehrenberg, Christian Gottfried, Death of, 443, 466 Elasmobranch Fishes, F. M. Balfour on, 485 Elbe, the Water of the River, 498 Electric Light Apparatus, Siemens', 1 33 Electric Light, a New System for dividing, 322 Electric Multiplier, Prof. G. Fuller's, 223 Electrical Induction, the Theory o*". Prof. Clerk Maxwell, F.R.S., 27 ; Rev. J. F. Blake, 68 Electrical and Magnetic Measurement, Day's Exercises in, 129 Electricity, Telephones and other Applications of, 353 Electricity, Velocity of, 358 •' Electro-Telegraphy," F. S. Beechy, 524 EUery (Robt. L. J.), Meteorology of Melbourne, 153 Ellis (Wm.), Extreme Temperature of Summer, 270 "Encyclopaedia Britannica," vol. iv., 390 Endowment of Research, E. Ray Lankester, F.R. S., 1265 and the Hopkins University, 181 ; and the Government, 185 Entomological Society, 82, 224, 282, 420, 499, 563 Entomology, Exhibition in Paris, 516 Equatorial, the Great, for the Vieana Observatory, 418 Etheric Force, S. P. Thompson, 18 Ethnology of the Papuans of Maclay Coast, New Guinea, 107, 136 Eucalyptus globulus, 80 Evans (A, J. ), Through Bosnia and the Herzegovina, 230 Evans (Capt. F. J., C.B., F.R.S.), Opening Address in the Geographical Section at the British Association, 412 Evans (John, F.R. S. ), Address in the Geographical Section at the Loan Collectioa Conferences, 114; "Petit Album de I'Age du Bronze de la Grande Bretagne," 517 " Evolution and the Origin of Life," Dr. Charlton Bastian, 44 Exercises in Electrical and Magnetic Measurement, R. E. Day, 129 Experiments on Animals, Dr. B. W. Richardson's Abstract Re- port to Nature on, 149, 170, 197, 250, 289, 339, 369 Falkenberg (Dr.), on Monocotyledons, 349 Famines in India, A. L. Williams, 209 Feistmantel on the Bohemian Coal Beds, 268 Fenland Meteorological Circular, 80 Fermentation, P. Schiitzenberger, 44 Fermentation, Dr. Charlton Bastian, F.R. S., on the Physico- Chemical Theory of, 220 Fernet's Physics, 327 Ferns, Smith on, 286 Fertilisation of Flowers, C. F. White, 250 Fertilisation of Flowers by Insects, xi v., Dr. Hermann Miiller, 173 Fertilisation of Plants, 475, 543, 570 "Field Geology," W. H. Pennings, 471 Field Voles, Plague of, 35 Fiji, Prehistoric Spectacle in, 466 Firths, Dales, and Lakes, Valleys, and CaKons, 230 Fishes, the Gills of, 519 Florida Shell Mounds, Prof. Jeffries Wyman, 531 Flower (Prof., F.R.S.), the Relation of Extinct to Existing Mammals, il Flowers (E. F.), Sequel to " Bits and Bearing Rebs," 219 Flowers, Destruction of by Birds, 10 Flowers, Fertilisation of, 250, 475, 543, 570 Flowers, Fertilisation of, by Insects, xiv.. Dr. Hermann Miiller, 173 Folborth (Prof.), Palseontological and Mineraloglcal Collections of, 517 , , , Fonvielle (W. de), " Aventures Aeriennes et Experiences Memor. ables des Grands Aeronautes," 8 ; New Meteorological Labo- ratories at Montsouris, 156; Experiments on the Spectro- scope and Radiometer, 181 ; the Radiometer in France, 296 ; the Museum of National Antiquities of France, 312; the Radiometer in a Balloon, 508 Force, Pro*". Tait's Lecture on, 459 , P. T. Main on, 505 ; Oa the Word, 568 Forel(Prof. Dr.), on "Seiches," 164 Forestry in India, 465 "Fortnightly Review" on Vivisection, 259 Fossil, Dr. W. B. Carpenter on a New Laurentian, 8, 68 Fossil Plora of the Arctic Regions, 336 France, Education in, 180 ; Agricultural Weather Warnings in, 266; the Museum of National Antiquities, 312; Interna- tional Exhibition of 1878, 443 ; the School of Agriculture, 561 ; the Salaries of Frencli Professori, 561 ; see also Paris, French, &c. Frankland (Dr., F.R.S.), Opening Address ia Chemistry at the Loan Collection Conferences, 73 ; on the Analysis of Potable Water, 467 ; on the Radiometer, 556 Freezing Phenomena, 271 ; Wilmot H. T. Power, 191 Fremy (E.), " Sur La Generation des Ferments," 44 French Botanical Society, 121 French Alpine Club, 279 French Association for the Advancement of Science, 278, 297, 320, 331, 357, 379 French Exhibition of 1878, 581 French Geographical Society, 582 Friswell (R. J.), Vogel's Chemistry of Light and Photography, 328 Frost (Percival), " Solid Geometry," 47 Frosts, Dr. Hamberg on, 261 Fungi Exhibition in Paris, 560 Gaboon Expedition, 158 Gaelic Language, Aryan Origin of, 88 Galileo and the Roman Court, Sedley Taylor, 226 Gatke's Ornithology of Heligoland, 582 Gallium, M. L. de Boisbaudran on, 62 Galton (J. C), Protective Resemblance in the Sloths, 91 ; Ethnology of the Papuans of Maclay Coast, New Guinea, 107, ^36 . . , . Galvanism, Aldint Medal for Memoir on, 320 Gardner (H. Dent), Principles of Time- Measuring Apparatus, 529, 554, 573 Gases, Diffusion of, through Absorbing Substances, Prof. Clerk Maxwell, F.R.S., 24 Gazzetta Chimica Italiana, 17, 122, 220, 302, 323, 562 Gebler (Karl von), "Galileo Galilei und die Romische Curie," 226 Gee (William), the iEolian Formation on the Lancashire Coast, 450 Gegenbaur's Morphologisches Jahrbuch, 383, 563 Nature, Nov. i6, 1876] INDEX Vll Geikie (Prof. A.), Geological Map of Scotland, 342, 567 Geneva, Physical and Natural History Society, 124, 344, 363, 383, 540, 564 ; Centenary of Society of Arts, 157 ; Meteoro- logical Observations at, 363 Gentilli's Tacheometer, 296 Geodesical Association, the International, 560 Geographical Congress at Brussels, 278, 443, 466 " Geographical Distribution of Animals," A. R. Wallace, 165, 186 Geographical Magazine, 36, 158 Geographical Society, 36, 78, 157, 200 Geological Magazine, 363 Geological Map of Scotland, 342 Geological Society, 38, 82, 163, 203, 282, 302 Geological Survey, Memoirs of, 545 Geological Survey of Newfoundland, 254 Geologists' Association, 83, 243, 282 Geology, Sharp's Rudiments of, 90; of Otago, F. W. Hutton, 146 ; Miniature Physical, 423, 526 ; Penning's Field, 471 ; " Geology : its Influence on Modem Beliefs," Dr. Page's, 504 ; Jukes' School Manual of, 504 ; " Geology of England and Wales," H. B. Woodward, 556 ; Geikie's Geological Map of Scotland, 567 Gerard (L. J. V.), "On the Comparative Method of Learning Foreign Languages," 503 Germ Theory, the Fermentation of Urine and the. Dr. H. Charlton Bastian, 309 Germany, Science in, 13, 119, 133, 252, 298, 358; German Chemical Society, 39, 63, 144, 183, 244, 283 ; German North Sea Commission, 307 ; German Expedition to Siberia, 358, 514, 579; German Naturalists, Meeting at Munich, 496; German Naturalists, Meeting of, at Hamburg, 535 ; Zoologico- Botanical Stations in, 535, 570 Germination of Seeds kept between Ice, 322 Gessi's Circumnavigation of Lake Albert Nyanza, 260 Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos Islands, 60 Giant Tortoises at the Zoological Gardens, 180 Giles (Mr.), Journey across Australia, 560 Gill (Prof. Theo.), Wallace's Distribution of Animals, 569 Gills of Fishes, 519 Girard's Les Insectes, 329 Glaciers, of the Swiss Alps, 163 ; in Auvergne, Rev. W. S. Symonds on Ancient, 179 ; Action of, 230 Glasgow, Handbooks of Zoology, Geology, and Manufactures of, 447 ; Proposed Incorporation of Anderson's University, 518 Gledhill (Joseph), an Unusual Optical Phenomenon, 29 Glen Roy, Parallel Roads of, 456 Gold, Thermo-Chemical Researches on, 498 Gorilla at Liverpool, 200, 242 Gottingen, Academy of Sciences, 20, 467 Gould (John, F.R.S.), Birds of New Guinea, 208 Gould (Dr.), the Cordoba " Uranometria," 417 Government Aid to Scientific Research, 185 Govi's (M.), Experiments with the Radiometer, 321 Graham, the late Mr., F.R. S., Apparatus employed by, in his Researches, W. Chandler Roberts, F.R.S., 511 Greenwich Time Signal System, 50, no Greenwood (Col. G.), "The Tree-lifter," 447 Griesbach (J. H.), his Collection of Acoustical Apparatus, 322 Gross (E. T.), Kinematics and Kinetics, 288 Grubb (Howard), the Great Equatorial for the Vienna Observa- tory, 418 Gscheidlen (Dr. R.), " Physiologische Methodik," 47 Guadeloupe, 279 Guldberg and Mohn on the Atmosphere, 561 Gymnospenns in Coal Measures, 182 Haast (Dr. J. von), New Zealand Prehistoric Skeleton, 90 ; Recent Cavern Researches in New Zealand, 576 Haeckel's New Theory of Heredity, E. Ray Lankester, 235 Haeckel (Prof.), on Haliphysema and Gastrophysema, 485 Hailstorm in Belgium, G. A. Newman, 210 Halos, Solar, 79 Ilamberg (Dr.), Night Frosts, 261 H anbury (Daniel, F.R,S.), Memorial to, 242; "Science Papers," 366 Harcus (W.) South Australia, 90 Harris Cubit of Kamak, 168 Hartley (W. Noel), the Chemical Society, 169 Harvest Bugs, Remedy for, 499 Hastings Naturalists' Field Club, 201 Hayden (Dr.), Geological Survey of the United States, 497 Heart, the Action and Sounds of the, 487 Heer (Dr.), Arctic Fossil Flora, 336 Heighway (Wm.), "Practical Portrait Photography," 448 Heligoland and Kiel, Proposed .Zoological Stations at, 535, 570 Heligoland, Gatke's Ornithology of, 582 Heliotropism, 261 Helland (A.), " Cirques and Sack-valleys," 422 Hell Gate, Removal of, 496 Helvetic Society of Natural Science, 259 Hennessy (Prof. H.), Djmamometers and Units of Force, 69 Henslow (Rev. George), the Self- Fertilisation of Plants, 543 " Hepaticse Europse," Damortier's, 121 Heredity, Habits of Animals Transmitted to Offspring, 544 Herring, Natural History of the, 352, 381 Higgins (Rev. H. H.), The Cruise of the Argo, 48 Highland Race and Language, Papers on the, 457 Highlands, the Duke of Argyll's Paper on the Physical Struc- ture of the, 435 Hind (J. R., F.R.S.), the Intra- Mercurial Planet or Planets, 469 "Historia Filicum," Smith's, 286 Hooker (Dr. J. D., F.R.S.), " Primer of Botany," 8 ; Report on Kew Gardens, 292 Hopkins University, Baltimore, U.S., and the Endowment of Research, 181 ; Prof. Huxley's Opening Address at. 546 Horizon, the Visible, B. J. Jenkins, 49 Horns, Ancient Reindeer, Use of, 61 Horsfall ( Wm. ), the Memoirs of the Geological Survey^ 545 House Flies, Death of, 1 7 Hovelacque on the Science of Language, Rev. A. H. Siyce, 306 Howitt (A. W.), the Boomerang, 248 Hull (Prof. E., F.R.S.), on Carboniferous Rocks, 480; on a Deep Boring for Coal at Scarle, 480 Hulsenstein (Madame), Death of, 300 Humboldt (Alexander von), the National Monument to, 496 Hungary, Volcanoes of, 39 Hunterian Lectures, See Prof. Flowers Huth's " Moving Star" of 1801-2, 291 Hutton's " Geology of Otago," 146 Huxley (Prof., F.R.S.), Origin of Vertebrate Animals, 33 ; on the Challenger Expedition, 238 ; in America, 320, 443, 463 ; Address on University Education at Hopkins University, 546 Hygienic Society of St. Petersburg, 517 Ibis, the, 202, 363 Ice, Action of, 230 Ice, Germination of Seed kept between, 322 Iceland, Volcanoes of, 83 ; Exploration of, 181 Incineration, the Dresden Society for, 581 India, J. A. Broun, F. R.S., on Barometric Variations in, 162 ; Proposed Museum for, 173 ; Famines in, A. L. Williams, 209 ; Forestry in, 465 Indian (American) Stone Tubes and Tobacco Pipes, Dr. Chas. C. Abbott, 154 Insane, the, and Asylums for them, Dr. Rothe on, 553 Insectivorous Plants, 218 Insects, Fertilisation of Flowers by, xiv., Dr. Hermann Miiller, 173 Insects of Missouri, 308 Institute of Civil Engineers, 39, 260 International Meteorology, 11 International Anthropological and Archaeological Society at Buda-Pesth, I2i International Congress of Americanists, 355 International Congress of Orientalists, 380, 442 International Geodesical Association, 560 Intestinal Secretion and Movement, 477 Intra-Mercurial Planet or Planets, 469, 505, 507, 570 Intra-Mercurial Observations, Cautions as to, 534 Inverness, Scientific Society at, 36 Iowa Weather Reports, 219, 382 Iowa, Academy of Sciences, 303 Iron and Steel Institute, 464 Islands, Influence of, on Colour of Animals, 527 Isle of Wight, Jenkinson's Guides to the, 349 Italian African Expedition, 444 Italy, Rainfall of, 158 ; Science in, C. Tomlinson, F.R.S., 333 Vlll INDEX [Nature, Nov. 16, 1876 Jack (R. L.), on Tertiary Basaltic Dykes in Scotland, 481 Jack (Dr. William), on Compulsory Education, 491 Jahrbuch der kaiserlichen-koniglichengeologischen Reichsanstalt, Wien, 301 James (W. H,, M.P.), on the City Guilds, 559 Janssen (M,), Solar Observations, 62, 79, 180 ; Automatic Pho- tographic Revolver, 534, 535 Japan, Meteorology in, 295 Jenisei, Nordenskj old's Expedition to, 16, 380, 497, 517 Jenkins (B. J.), Visible Horizon, 49 Jenkinson's Guides to the Isle of Wight, 349 Jordan Valley, Prof. Porter on the, 491 Journal of Botany, 37 Journal of the Chemical Society, 17, 261, 301, 562 Journal of Mental Science, 122, 301 Journal of Microscopical Science, 37 Journal de Physique, 18, 220, 302, 519 Judd (J. W.), Pal^^ontology and the Doctrine of Descent, 275 Jukes' School Manual of Geology, 504 Jupiter, Drawings of, by M. Trouvelot, 299 Jupiter's Satellites and Uranus, Relative Brightness of, 595 Xalmia, Stamens of, 231 Kent's Cavern, Report on the Exploration of, 452 Keratitis, Neuro-paralytic, 321 Kerguelen's Land, the Birds of, 317, 351, 369 Kew Gardens' Report, 292 Kew Museum, 241 Kidder (Pr. J. H.), Birds of Kerguelen's Land, 317 Kiel and Heligoland, Proposed Zoological Stations at, 535, 570 Kinahan (G. H.), Wind Driftage, 191 "Kinematics of Machinery," Reuleaux's, 213, 233 * ' Kinematics and Kinetics, " by E. T. Gross, 288 Kingzett (C. T.), the Action of Alcohol on the Brain, 486 Kirkv/ood (Prof. Daniel), the Meteors of April 20 ; the Clay- water and Meno Meteorites, 526 Lake Nyassa, Mr. E. D. Young's Paper on, 157 Lakes of Australia, Periodicity of the Fresh-water, 47 Lancashire Coast, the .^olian Formation on the, William Gee, 450 Land Shells, Carboniferous, 317 Lang (Major Fred, H.), Comatula rosacea, 527 "Language and its Study," Prof. Whitney's, 88 Language, the Science of, Rev. A. H. Sayce, 88 ; Hovelacque on the Science of, 306 Lankester (E. Ray, F.R.S,), the Endowment of Research, 126 ; Perigenesis v. Pangenesis, Haeckel's New Theory of Heredity, 235 Lasaulx (Prof. A. von), Discovery of a New Metal, 480 Laurentian Fossil. Dr. W. B. Carpenter on a new, 868 Laycock (Dr. Thomas), Death of, 497 Leech, Organs of Sense in the, 13 Leeds, Yorkshire College of Science, 217 Leipzig University Observatories, 300 Lemming, Migration and Habits of the Norwegian, 113 Le Verrier (M.), Tables of Saturn, 192 ; on the Intra- Mercurial Planet Question, 533, 570 Lewisham, the Geology of, 243 Lick (Mr.), Death of, 580 Liebig ]Memorial, 580 Life, Origin of, Douglas A. Spalding, 44 "Life with the Hamram Arabs," A. R. Myers, 190 Light and Photography, Vogel's Chemistry of, 328 Lightning, Men Struck by, at Valbonne, 158 ; Prof. Clerk Max- well on the Protection of Buildings from, 479 Limestone-makers, Prof. P, Martin Duncan, F.R.S., 9 Lindley Library, 200, 218 Linnean Society, 38, 81, 162, 202, 262 Liquids, Expansion of, to Lamellae, 498 Littrow (Charles D.), Method of Distributing Astronomical Pre- dictions, 149 Liverpool Geological Society, 583 Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus at South Kensington, i> 21, 34, 41, 52, 72, 76, 92, 114, 120, 138, 140, 157, 159, 231; Conferences, 72, 92, 114, 140, 159, 175 ; Science Lec- tures at, 138, 157, 180, 199 ; Photography of, 149 Logarithms, Prof. F. E. Nipht r on Writing, 321 London University, the Science Degrees of, 331 Long (Col. C. Chaille), "Naked Truths of Naked People," 521 Lunar Maps, J. Birmingham, 49 Lydekker (Richard), Wallace's Geographical Distribution of Animals, 544 Macalister (Prof.), "Animal Morphology," Part I., 2$ Machinery, Reuleaux's Kinematics of, 213, 233 McCoy (Prof. F.), Prodromus of the ^Palseontology of Victoria, 130 McKendrick (Prof., F.R.S. ), Modes of Demonstrating the Action of the Membrana Tympani, 253 ; Address on] Physio- logy at the British Association, 482 McLeod (Prof. Herbert), Action of Light on Ebonite, 525 McNab (Prof., W. R.), the Seychelles Islands, 113; Cohn on the Biology of Plants, 326 McVean (C. A.), Meteorological Observations in Japan, 295 Magnetic Induction, M. Chwolson on, 202 Magnetic Observations in China, Rev. S. J. Perry, 196 Magnetism, the History of. Rev. S. J. Perry, F.R.S., 10; Wm. Chappell, F.S.A., on the Early History of, 147 Main (Rev. Robt., F.R.S.), Sun-spots suspected to be identical with an Intra-Mercurial Planet, 473 Main (P. T.) on Force, 505 Mallet (R., F.R.S.), Volcanic Dykes, 302 Mallock (Arnulph), Visual Phenomena, 350 Mammalia, Prof. Flower's Hunterian Lectures on the, 1 1 Mammals and Birds of Burma, E. Blyth's Catalogue of, 153 Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 19, 83, 563 Manchester, a University of, 200, 225, 245, 265 Mansion House, Science at the, 59 Manufactiuring Industries, British, 145, 423 Marey (Prof.), Apparatus for Registering Animal Movements, 214 Margary's Journal and Letters, 229 Marsh (Prof. O. C), on the Brontotheridse, 36 Martin (Dr.), Appointment to Professorship at Baltimore, 79 Maskelyne (Prof. N. S., F.R.S.), the Rowton Siderite, 272 Massachusetts, Survey of, 36 Massachusetts Society of Agriculture, Prizes of the, 321 Mathematical Society, 123, 183, 581 ; Proceedings of the, 247 Mathematical Tables, 477 Matter, the Divisibility of, 537 Maudsley's " Physiology of Mind," Douglas A. Spalding, 541 Maxwell (Prof. Clerk, F.R.S.), Diffusion of Gases through Ab- sorbing Substances, 24 ; the Theory of Electrical Induction, 27 ; Whewell's Writings and Correspondence, 206 ; Report on Ohm's Law, 452 ; the Protection of Buildings from Lightning, 479 Mayer's Recent Acoustical Researches, 318 Medical Profession, Admission of Women into, 560 Meehan (Thos.), the Self- Fertilisation of Plants, 475 Melanophlogite, a new Mineral, 480 Melbourne, Meteorology at, 153 Meldola (R.),. Protective Mimicry, 330 Meldrum (C, F.R.S.) on Cyclones, 479 Membrana Tympani, Modes of Demonstrating the Action of the. Prof. McKendrick, F.R.S., 253 Memoria della Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italian!, 81, 281, 562 Mental Science, Journal of, 122, 301 Mesopotamia, Plague in, 218 Meteorites, in Shropshire, 79; Fall of, in Sweden, 304; Gases in, 498 ; the Claywater and Meno, 526 Meteorological Research, Pro''. Balfour Stewart, F.R.S., 388 Meteorological Society, 10, 143, 223 Meteorological Stations, Proposed Arctic, 200 Meteorologische Beobachtungen, 300 Meteorology, International, 1 1 ; Vienna Congress, 1 1 ; Weather Maps of the German Seewarte, 79 ; of Saxony, 121 ; at Mel- bourne, 153 ; New Laboratories at Montsouris, 156 ; Rainfall of Italy, 158 ; Lectures on, 169, 209 ; Prediction of Storms, 200 ; Observations at Bath, 219 ; in Japan, 295 ; Observations at Stonyhurst College Observatory, 299 ; Observations in New Zealand, 343 ; System of Telegraphic Warnings in France, 381 ; J. A. Broun on Variations of the Barometer, 464 ; " Rosser's Law of Stcrms," 504 ; Balloon Ascents and, 517 ; Observations of the Norwegian Scientific Expedition, 536 Meteors, 289, 292, 351 ; the November Meteor Stream, lo ; of April 20, 29; the August Meteors, 331 ; a Brilliant, 496, 505, 516 Metre Diagram, 280. Metric System, Report on the, 477 Meyer (Dr. A. B.), the Spelling of the Word "Papua," 90 Microscopical Science, Quarterly Journal of, 37 Nature, Nov. 16, 1876] INDEX IX Microscopical Society, 63, 183, 539 ; Soiree of, 12 Miller (W. J.), The Strength and Fracture of Cast-Iron, 492 " Mind," 81, 281 Miniature Physical Geology, 423, 526 Mineralogical Society, 360, 442 Minor Planets, 10, 50, 132, 257, 418 MiraCeti, 211, 277 Misfeing Link between the Vertebrates and the Invertebrates, G. T. Bettany, 195 Missouri, Insects of, 308 Mittheilungen der naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Bern, 584 Moabite Question, the, 6 Mocking Bird, American, 29 Modena, Temperature of, 261 Monads, Cienkowsky's Observations on, 298 "Mongolia," CoL Prejevalsky's, 3 Monocotyledons, Dr. Falkenberg on, 349 Montsouris, Lectures at the Naval Observatory, 138 ; Bulletin of the Observatory, 243 ; New Meteorological Laboratories at, 156 Moon, Neison on the, 305 ; Prot. S. Newcomb on the Longitude of the, 203 Moon-stroke, Dr. E. Bonavia, 545 Morphology, Animal, Prof. Macalister's, 25 Motor Nerves, G. J. Romanes on, 62 Mouchez (Capt), Wreck of his Vessel, 242 Mountain Club, Appalachian, 299 Muir (M. M. Pattison), Sagacity in Cats, 192 Miiller (Dr. Hermann), Fertilisation of Flowers by Insects, XIV., 173 ; the Self- fertilisation of Plants, 570 Munich, Meeting of the German Naturalists at, 496 Mvmn (David, F.R.S.E.), Elementary Algebra, 147 Munro (J.), the Telephone, Murphy (J. J.), Optical Phenomenon, 231 ; Protective Mimicry, 309 Mun-ay (Capt. Digby), Ocean Circulation, 177 Murray (J.), the Geological Distribution of Oceanic Deposits, 491 Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, U.S.A., 109 Museum, Physical Science, 257 Museum of National Antiquities of France, 312 Museums, our Natural History, 521 Mushroom Exhibition in Paris, 560 Mi\sical Notes, Instrument for Transmitting, by Electricity, 30^' Myers (A. R.), "Life with the Hamram Arabs," 190 Nachrichten von der konigl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Gottingen, 282 Natural History at the Royal Academy, 105 Natural History Objects, Notes on Collecting and Preserving, 168 Natural History Collections, 521 Natural Science at Cambridge, 216 Naturforscher, 202, 518, 584 Nebulae, New, 337 ; Chacomac's Variable, $45 Neison (Edmund), " The Moon," 305 Neuro-paralytic Keratitis, 321 New Guinea, Exploration of, 16, 36 ; Recent Discoveries in, 48 ; Papua or Pa^ooa (?), 48, 90 ; Ethnology of the Papuans of Maclay Coast, 107, 136 ; D'Albertis' Exploration of, 138, 157 ; Gould's Birds of, 208 ; Fauna and Flora of, 271 ; Octa- vius Stone's Journeys in, 338, 489 New Hebrides, Banks, and Santa Cruz Islands, 488 New Nebulae, 337 NewS'uth Wales, Linnaean Society of, 217, 537 ; Royal Society of, 467 New York Aquarium, 516 New Zealand, Prehistoric Skeleton, Dr. J. von Haast, 90 ; Meteorological Observations in, 343 ; University of, 465 ; Recent Cavern Researches in, 576 Newcomb (Prof. S.) on the Longitude of the Moon, 203 Newfoundland, Geological Survey of, 254 Newm n (Edward), Obituary Notice of, 180 Newman (L. A.), Hailstorm in Belgium, 210 Newton (Prof., F.R.S.), Address in the Department of Zoology and Botany at the British Association, Nicholls (Kerry), the Islands of the Coral Sea, 489 Nipher (Prof F. E.), Optical Experiments, 308; on Writing Logarithms, 321 Nithsdale, Scotland, Earthquake in, 369 Nobbe (Prof), Root-formation of Seed Plants, 301 Nordenskjold (Prof.), and the Jenesei, 16, 380, 497, 517 Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, 218 North Atlantic, the Norwegian Expedition, 337, 441 North Sea, the German, Commission, 307 Norway, Ice Fjords of, 282 ; Norwegian Lemming, Migration and Habits of the, 113 ; Norwegian-Atlantic Expedition, 232, 337, 441 ; Norwetjian Tourists' Association, 422 ; Norwegian Scientific Expedition, Meteorological Observations, 536 Notes on Collecting and Preserving Natural History Objects, 168 Nova Ophiuchi, 192 Noworossisk, the Bora at, 200 Nuovo Giomale Botanico Italia no, 220, 518 Nyassa, Lake, Mr. E. D. Young's Paper on, 157 Observatories, Athens, 92; San Francisco, 217; The Rad- cliffe, 278 ; I^eipsig University, 3X) ; Puy-de-D6me, 509 Ocean Circulation, Capt. Digby Murray, 177 Oceanic Deposits, John Murray on, 459, 491 Oersted (H. C. ), Statue to, 580 Ohm's Law, Prof. Clerk Maxwell's Report ^on, 452 Olber's Suppsed Variation in Virgo, 545 Ommanney (Vice- Admiral), a Brilliant Meteor, 289 Ovarof (Count), " Stone Age in Russia," 517 Optical Experiments, Prof. F. E. Nipher, 308 Optical Phenomenon, 29, 231, 271 Orang-utang in the Berlin Aquarium, ^Death of, 496 Organ, A Modern, 273 Organisation of the Profession of Chemistry, 125 Orientalists, International Congress of, 380, 442, 464 Origin of Life, Douglas A. SpaJding, 44 Orion, the Nebulae in, 10 Osservazioni Meteoroloijiche, 80 Otago, Geology of, 146 Owens College, Proposed Incorporation of, 200, 225, 245, 265 Oxford, Scholarships at Exeter College, 181 ; Rainfall of, 201 ; Scholarships at Merton College, 242 Oxygen, Evolution of, by ^Vallisneria Spiralis, 231 Oyster Fisheries, Our, 285 Pacific Islands, Fauna and Flora of, 271 Pacific Ocean, Changes in the, 217 Page (Dr. David), Introductory Text-Book of Physical Geo- graphy, 26, 131 ; "Geology : its Influence on Modem Belief," 504 Palaeolithic Implements of Inter-Glacial Age, S. B. J. Skertch- ley on the Discovery of, 448, 505 Palaeolithic Man, the Age of, 505 Palaeontology of Victoria, Prof. McCoy's Prodromus of the, 1 30 Palaeontology and the Doctrine of Descent, J. W. Judd, 275 Palaeontology, Zittel's Handbook of, 445, 474 Palermo, Solar Eruptions observed at, 562 Palmer (Rev.' A. S.), "Leaves from a Word-hunter's Note Book," 88 Pandanus, Mascarene Species of, 487 " Pandora," Expedition of the, 120; Letter from Capt. Young, 516 Papua or Papooa ? 48, 90 Papuans, Ethnology of the, of Maclay Coast, New Guinea, 107, 136 Parasitic Crab, Habits of, 272 Paris, Academy of Sciences, 19, 40, 64, 84, 124, 164, 184, 204, 224, 244, 264, 284, 304, 324, 344, 364, 384, 444, 468, 500, 520, 539» 564, 584 ; Observatory, 79 ; Bulletin International of the, 300, 320 ; Inundations of the Seine, 121 ; the Great Reflector at, 200 ; Exhibition of 1878, 497, 538 ; Entomo- logical Exhibition in, 516; Mushroom Exhibition in, 560 ; the £cole Monge, 561 Parker and Bettany's Morpho'ogy of the Skull, 562 Parkes (Dr.), Memorial to, 242, 260 Passerine Birds, 572 Paton (Dr.), the Action and Sounds of the Heart, 487 Pattison (Rev. Mark), on University Reform, 550 Peabody Museum, 343; Cambridge, U.S., AnnualjReport of, 300 Penning's Field Geology, 471 PerigenesLi v. Pangenesis — Haeckel's New Theory of Heredity, E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 235 Perkin (W. H., F.R,S)., Opening Address in Section B at the British Association, 432 X .NDEX {Nature, Nov. i6, 1876 Perry (Rev. S. J., F.R.S.), The History of Magnetism, 10; Magnetic Observations in China, 196 Persia, Eastern, 345 Persian Boundary Commission, Journeys of the, 345 Petermann's Mittheilungen, 36, 61, 121, 218, 300, 465, 582 Petrie (W. M. Flinders), the Harris Cubit of Karnalc, 168 Petrochovsky, Magnetic Apparatus of, 263 Pheasants of Borneo, 582 Philadelphia Convention of Archaeologists at, 120 ; Death-rate of, 120 ; Exhibition, 279 ; Academy of Sciences, 383 Philippines, Prof. Steere's Expedition to, the, R, Bowdler Sharpe, 297 ; Spanish Commission on, 360 Phosphates and Potash Salts, Report on, 455 Photographic Processes, Capt. Abney, F.R.S., 239, 255 Photography of the Loan Collection Apparatus, 149 Photography, Vogel's Chemistry of, 328 Photography, Heigh way's Practical Portrait, 448 '* Physical Geography," Dr. Page's Textbook o*, 26, 131 Physical Science Institute, Proposed, 205 Physical Science Museum, 257, 325, 341, 349 Physical Science in Schools, 365 Physical Society, 18, 143, 163, 223, 263 " Physiologische Methodik," Dr. R. Gscheldlen, 47 Pidgeon (D.), Influence of Islands on Colour of Animals, 527 Pig, the Ancient British, 254 Pigott's Comet of 1783, 475 Placenta, Turner on the, 287, 485, 517 Plague in Mesopotamia, 218 Planets: an Intra-Mercurial (?), 418, 424, 451, 469, 473 ; Minor, 10, SO, 132, 257, 418, 505, 507, 526, 533, 534, 570 Plant Growth, M. MUUer's Experiments on, 261 Plantamour (Prof.), Meteorological Observations at Geneva, 363 Plants, Cohn on the Biology of, 326 ; Self-fertilisation of, 475, 543. 570 Playtair (Col. R. L.), Travels in Tunis in the Footsteps of Bruce, 490 Plummer (John I.), Brilliant Meteor, 505 Poggendorff's Annalen der Physikund Chemie, 17, 37, 141, 182, 202, 281, 362, 465, 467, 499, 536, 538 Poinier (Porter), Death of, 360 Poisoning, Scientific, 130 Pola, Meteorological Observations at, 322 Polynesians, Decrease of the, S. J. Whitmee, 190 Potato Disease, Worthington G. Smith, 70 Potts (Thomas H.), Habits of Animals Transmitted to Offspring, 544 Power (Wilmot H. T.), Freezing Phenomena, 191; Protective Mimicry, 309 Pre-Carbonilerous Rocks, 481 «' Prehistoric Man," Prof. D. WUson's, E. B. Tylor, F.R.S., 65 Prejevalsky (Col. N.), "Mongolia," 3 ; Exploration of Central Asia, 60 ; the Thibetan Expedition of, 496 Press, the, on the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus, 41, 76 Prime Movers, F.J, Bramwell, C.E., F.R.S., 140, 159, 175 Protective Mimicry, 309, 329 Pryor (R. A.), Destruction of Flowers by Birds, 10 Puy-de-D6me Observatory, 509 Pyrology— Quantitative Analysis by the Blowpipe, Major A. W. Ross, 130 Pyroxidation, Major W. A. Ross, 289 Quain's Anatomy, Eighth Edition, 129 Quantitative Analysis of the Blowpipe, Major A. W. Ross, 130 Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, 37 Quekett Club, Journal of the, 539 Radcliffe (Dr.), "Vital Motion," 267 Radcliffe Observatory Report, 278 Radiometers, and Actinometers, 16 ; and Spectroscope, M. de Fonvielle's Experiments on, 181 ; Direct Motion in the, an Effect of Electricity, 288 ; in France, W. de Fonvielle, 296 ; M. Govi's Experiments with, 321 ; M. Jeannel's Observations on, 419 ; the Inverse Rotation of the, an Effect of Electricity, Rev. Joseph Delsaulx, 449 ; Dr. G, Berthold on, 465 ; in a Balloon, W. de Fonvielle, 508 ; Dr. E. Frankland, F.R.S., on, 356 Railway Carriages, Warming of, 581 Rainfall : of Oxford, 20 1 ; of Algeria, 300 ; of Great Britain, 477 Ray Society, Annual Meetmg of the, 442 Rayleigh (Lord, F.R.S.), Our Perception of the Direction of a Source of Sound, 32 Reale Istituto Lombardo, 323, 498, 563 Reflector, the Great Paris, 200 Refractor, Monster, 35 Reichert and Du Bois- Raymond's Archiv, 219, 539 Reissig's Comet, 311 Remington Type Writing Machine, 43 Research, Endowment o', E. Ray Lankester, F.R. S., 126 Reuleaux (F.), Kinematics of Machinery, 213, 233 Reunion, the Volcano of, 333 Revue des Sciences Naturelles, 37, 583 Reynolds (Prof. Osborne), on the Resistance encountered by Vortex Rings, 477 Rhinoceroses, 571 Richardson (Dr. B. W., F.R.S.), Abstract Report to Nature, on Experimentation on Animals for the Advance of Practical Medicine, 149, 170, 197, 250, 289, 339, 369 ; City of Health, 301 Righthandedness, James Shaw on, 488 Riley (C. V.), Report on the Insects of Missouri, 308 Rivers, the Windings of. Prof. James Thomson, 122 Riviera, the Dry River-Beds of the, John Aitken, 148 Roberts (W. Chandler, F.R.S.), on the Apparatus Employed by the late Mr. Graham, F.R.S., in his Researches, 511 Rodiyas of Ceylon, 488 RoUeston (Prof, F.R.S.), on the Ancient British Pig, 254 Romanes (G. J.), on Motor Nerves, 62 Rome, R. Accademia del Lincei, 499, 520 Ross (Major W. A.), Pyrology — Quantitative Analjsis by the Blowpipe, 130 ; D-line Spectra, 289 ; Pyroxidation, 289 Rosser (W. H.), "The Law of Storms Considered Practically," 504 Rothesay Aquarium, 218 Rowton Siderite, Prof. N. S. Maskelyne, F.R.S., 272 Royal Academy, Natural History at the, 105 Royal Society, 37, 62, 8i, 122, 142, 162, 182, 202, 220, 262, 323 Rundell (W. W.), the Diurnal Inequalities of the Barometer, 350 Russell (Hon. F. A. R.), a Brilliant Meteor, 289 ; an Intra- Mercurial Planet, 505 Russia, M. Ujfalvy's Scientific Mission to, 301 ; Wolves in, 381 ; Count Oovarof on the Stone Age in, 517 ; Education in, 518; Russian Exploration of Asia, 534; Russian Geographi- cal Society, 517, 536; Russian Naturalists, Meeting at War- saw, 497, 552 Sack-valleys, A. Helland on, 422 St. Louis Academy of Science, 498 St. Paul, the Malacological Fauna of the Island of, 322 St. Petersburg, Hygienic Society at, 517 ; Academy of Science?, 517 Salonica, Earthquake at, 497 Samoa, Earthquakes in. Rev. S. J. Whitmee, 270 Sanderson (J. Burdon, M.D., F.R. S.), Address in the Biology Section at the Loan Collection, 117 San Francisco Observatory, New Refractor for, 217 Saturn, Occultation of, 71 ; Leverrier's Tables of, 192 ; Mr. Trouvelot's Observations on, 262 ; Satellites of, 311 Saxony, Meteorology of, 121 Sayce (Rev. A. H.), the Science of Language, 88 ; Hovelacque on the Science of Language, 306 ; Obituary Notice of George Smith, 421 ; Books on Language, 503 Scarborough, Climate of, 223 Schiff (Prof.), Resignation of, 157 Schomburgk (Dr. R.), "Flora of South Australia," 27; "Bota- nical Reminiscences in British Guiana," 568 Schools, Physical Science in, 365 ; Science in, 425 Schorr (Dr. F.), "Der Venusmond," 193 Schiitzenberger (P.), Fermentation, 44 Science in Germany, 13, 119, 133, 252, 298, 358 Science of Language, Rev. A. H. Sayce, 88 Science Lectures at Loan Exhibition, 138, 157, 180, 199 " Science Made Easy," T. Twining, 189 Science at the Mansion House, 59 Science Museum, Proposed, 325, 341, 349 Science Degrees of the University of London, 33 1 Science, Physical, in Schools, 365 "Science Papers," Daniel Hanbury, F.R,S., 366 Science in Italy, C, Tomlinson, F.R.S., 333 Science in Schools, 425 Nature, Nov. 1 6, 1876] INDEX XI Scientific Apparatus, Loan Collection of, i, 21, 34, 41, 52, 72, 76, 92, 114, 120, 138, 140, 157, 159, 231 ; Conferences at, 72, 92, 114, 140, 159, 175; Photography of, 149; Prussian Scientists at, 442 Scientific Bibliography, 538, 562, 583 Scientific Missions, French, 278 Scientific Poisoning, 130 Scientific Research, Government Aid to, 185 Scientific Worthies, VIII., Sir Wyville Thomson (with Portrait), 85 ; IX., Sir William Thomson {with Portrait), 385 Scintillation of Stars, 562 Sclater (P. L., F.R.S.), Antedated Books, 351, 392 Scotland, Geological Map of, 342 ; Dr. Bryce's Report on Earth- quakes in, 454, 456 Scott (Robt. H., F.R.S.), "Weather Charts and Storm Warn- ings," 565 " Scottish Naturalist," 37 Scottish Meteorological Society, 219 Screw, Song of the, 30 Seeds, Germination of, when kept between Ice, 322 "Seiches," Prof. Dr. Forel on, 164 Seine, Inundations of the, 121 Selective Absorption, W. Ackroyd, 163 Selenium in Telegraphy, 279 Self-Fertilisation of Plants, 475, 543, 570 Servia and Bosnia, Resources of, 277 Sewage, Reports on the Treatment of, 455 Seychelles Islands, W. R. McNab, 113 Shark, the Basking, Dr. E. Perceval Wright, 313 Sharp (D.), Antedated Books, 474 Sharp's " Rudiments of (Jeology," 90 Sharpe (R. Bowdler), Prof. Steere's Expedition to the Philip- pines, 297 ; Antedated Books, 330, 392 Shell Mounds, Florida, Prof. Jeffries Wyman, 531 Shells, Carboniferous Land, 317 Shooting, the Wounded in, 501 Short's Observation of a Supposed Satellite of Venus, 231 Siberia, German Exploration of Western, 180, 358, 514, 579; the Orography of, 581 Siderite, the Rowton, Prof. N. S. Maskelyne, F.R.S., 272 Siemens (Dr. C. W., F.R.S.), Opening Address at the Loan Collection, 56 Siemens' Electric Light Apparatus, 133 Siemens (M. W.), Velocity of Electricity, 358 Silk-Culture, Congress on, 497 Simon (Dr.) of Heidelberg, Death of, 497 Sirocco in the Basses Pyrenees, 80 Sitzungsberichte der naturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft Isis in Dresden, 301, 538 Skeleton, Prehistoric, in New Zealand, 90 Skertchley (S. B. J.), on the. Discovery of Palaeolithiclmple- ments of Inter-Glacial Age, 448, 505 Sloths, Protective Resemblance in the, 91 Smith (C. Michie), the Flame of Chloride of Sodium in a Com- mon Coal Fire, 570 Smith (George), Death of, 418 ; Obituary Notice of, by the Rev. A. H. Sayce, 421 ; the Fund in Aid of his Family, 516; Pension to' his Widow, 580 Smith (John), " Historia Filicum," 286 Smith (Worthington G.), the Potato Disease, 70 Smithsonian Institution, 342 ; Meteorology at the, 382 Smyth (Prof. Piazzi), the Warm Rain Band in the Daylight Spectrum, 9 Snow Partridges, 180 Social Science Congress, 418, 559 Society of Arts, Medals ot the, 217 Sodium, Chloride of. Flame of, in a Coal Fire, 506, 570 Solar Eclipses, of 1878, 210 ; of 1882, 357 ; of 1885, 450 Solar Eruptions observed at Palermo, 562 vSolar Halos, 79 " Solid Geometry/' Percival Frost's, 47 Sollas (W. J.), Miniature Physical Geology, 526 Song of the Screw, 30 Sound, Our Perception of the Direction of a Source of, Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S., 32 Sound Waves, Dr. Konig on, 141 South Kensington, Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus at, I, 21, 34,41, 52, 72, 76, 92, 114, 12^, 138, 140, 157, 159, 231; Conferences at, 92, 114, 140, 159, 175; Science Lee- tures at, 138, 157, 180, 199; Prussian Scientists at, 442 Southport Aquarium, 279 Spalding (Douglas A.), the Origin of Li'e, 44 ; Maudsley's *' Physiology of Mind," 541 Spanish University, a Free, 132 Species and Varieties, W. L. Distant, 392 Spectroscope and Radiometer, M. de Fonvielle's Experiment on, 181 Spectrum, the Warm Raiuband in the Daylight, Prof. Piazzi Smyth, 9 Spirophore, M. Woillez's, 260 Sponge's, 162 ; Siliceous, 481 Spottiswoode (W., F.R.S.), Opening Address at the Loan Col- lection, 54 ; Stratified Discharges by Means of a Revolving Mirror, 142 Spring Dynamometers, Prof. W. F. Barrett, 29 Stanley's Expedition to Africa, 279, 373 Stars, Binary, 29 ; Star Lalande, 27,095, 49 ; New Red Star, 72 ; Double, 72, 152, 232, 337 ; Binary, 152, 474 ; Variable, 152, 211, 424, 507,533, 571; Mira Ceti, 277; Huth's Moving, 291 ; Scintillation of, 562 Statistical Society, 217 Stebbing (Rev. T. R. R.), Protective Mimicry, 330 Steel, the Use of, for Structural Purposes, 477 Steere (Prof. J. B.), Expedition to the Philippines, R. Bowdler Sharpe, 297 Stephans' Comet, 192 Stewart (Prot. Balfour, F.R.S.), Meteorological Research, 388 Stockholm Academy of Sciences, 144, 164, 184 Stone (O. C. ), Expedition to New Guinea, 338, 489 Stone (Dr. W. H.), Blaserna on Musical Sound, 502 Stonyhurst College Observatory, Meteorological Observations at, 299 Storms, 320; at Brussels, 158; at Valbonne, 158 ; Prediction of, 200 ; Rosser's Law of, Considered Practically, 504 Stratified Discharges by Means of a Revolving Mirror, W. Spottiswoode, F.R.S., 142 Struthers (Prof), the Finger-Muscles of Whales, 486 Sub-Wealden Exploration, Final Report on, 419 Sulina, Meteorological Station at, 16 Sumatra, the Mountain Limestone of, 480 Sumner's " Method at Sea," 346 ; Sir G. B. Airy and Prof. G. G. Stokes on, 559 Sun, M. Janssen's Photographs of, 62, 79 ; Photographing the, 534, 535 Sun-spots and a supposed Intra-Mercunal Planet, 473 Sun-spot of April 4, 1876, by the Astronomer-Royal, 533 Supplemento alia Meteorologia Italiana, 158 Sweden, Fall of Meteorites in, 300 Sweden and Norway, Thunderstorms in, 219 Sydney, Mr. Krefft and the Australian Museum, 157 Symons (G. J.), Meteorological Society, 10 Symonds (Rev. W. S.), Ancient Glaciers in Auvergne,'i79 Tacheometer, Gentilli's, 296 Tail, a Rudimentary, Dr. Andrew Dunlop, 450 Talt (Prof. P. G.), on Force, 459 Tasmanians, the, 211, 242 Taylor (Sedley), Galileo and the Roman Court, 226 Tea, Bad, 278 Telephone, on the, J. Munro, 30 Telephones and other Applications of Electricity, 353 I'elfer (Commander J. B.), the Crimea and Transcaucasia, 368 Temperature of Summer, the Extreme, 270 Tempered Glass, Curious Behaviour of, 561 Terpenes, Reports on, 455, 456 Tetraogallus tauricus, 180 Textile Industries, Schools of Instruction, 535 Theriodonts, Prof. Owen on, 163 Thermometer, Williams (?), S. M. Drach, 210 Thibet, M. Prejevalsky's Expedition to, 496 Thompson (Mr. B. A.), on the Supposed New Force, 143 Thompson (S. P. ), Acoustical Phenomena, 149 Thomson (Prof. James), on the Windings of Rivers, 122 Thomson (Su- William, F.R.S,), "Tables for faciUtating Sum- ner's Method at Sea," 346 ; Notice of (c^vUh Portrait), 385 ; on Science and Scientists in the United States, 426 ; Opening Address in Section A at the British Association, 426 Thomson (Sir C. Wyville, F.R.S.), Notes from the Challenger, 14 ; Notice of {^uith Portrait), 8$ ; Address on the Challenger Expedition, 492 Thunderstorm at Valbonne, 158 Tidal Operations in the Gulf of Cutch, 480 Xll INDEX [Nature, Nov. i6, 1876 Tidal Retardation Argument for the Age of the Earth, 481 Tiddeman (R. H.), the Age of Palseolithic Man, 505 Time-Measuring Apparatus, H. Dent Gardner on the Principles of, 529, 554, 573 Time Signal System, the Greenwich, 50, no Tizzard (Staff-Commander), the Temperature obtained in the Atlantic Ocean during the Cruise of the Challenger, 490 Tobacco Pipes, Dr, Chas. C. Abbott on American-Indian, 154 Todd (Charles), " On the Observatory and Climate of South Australia," 536 Todhunter (I., F.R.S.), "Whewell's Writings and Correspon- dence, 206 Tomlinson (C, F.R.S.), Science in Italy, 333 Topographical Association in Paris, 218 Tornado of September 28, 508 Toitoises, Giant, Dr. Samuel Haughton, F.R.S,, 149; at the Zoological Gardens, 180 Totemism in Scotland, 458 Transon (M. Abel), Death of, 381 Trauzl (Capt. I.)» Dynamite, 367 Tree-lifter, the, Col. G. Greenwood, 447 Troglodytes zoster, 383 Trouvelot (M.) , Drawings of Jupiter, 299 Tunis, Col. Playfair's Travels in, 490 Tunisian Chotts, Survey of the, 219 Turkey, Wyld's Map of, 444 Turner on the Placenta, 287, 485, 517 Twining (T.), *« Science Made Easy," 189 Tylor (E. B., F.R.S.), Wilson's Prehistoric Man, 65 Type-writing Machine, the Remington, 43 Tyrol, Holidays in, Walter White, 270 Ujfalvy (M.), Scientific Mission to Russia, 301 University of London, the Science Degrees ot, 331 University College, Bristol, 470 University Education, Prof. Huxley on, 546 University Reform, Rev. Mark Pattison on, 550 United States, Geological Survey of, 35 ; Museum of Compara- tive Zoology at Cambridge, 109 ; Weather Maps, 216 ; see also America, New York, Philadelphia, &c. Units of Force and Dynamometers, Prof. Heimessy, 69 " Uranometria," the Cordoba, 417 Uranus, Visibility of the Satellites of, 91 Uranus and Jupiter's Satellites, Relative Brightness of, 545 Urine, Fermentation of, and the Grerm Theory, Dr. H. Charlton Bastian, 309 Valboline, Thunderstorm at, 158 " Vallisneria Spiralis," Evolution of Oxygen by, 231 Valorous, the Voyage of the, 459 Vanadium and its Compounds, 458 Variabla Nebulse, Chacornac's, 545 Variable Stars, 152, 211, 424, 507, 533, 571 Varieties and Species, W. L. Distant, 392 Variations, the Origin of, G. S. Boulger, 393 Vaucanson, Statue of, 342 Vegetable Kingdom, Prof. W. T. Thiselton Dyer on the Classi- ficalion ot the, 293 Venus, the Rotation of, 29 ; the Secondary Light of, 91, 131 ; the Satellite of. Rev. T. W. Webb, 193 ; Short's Obser- vation of a Supposed Satellite of, 231 ; in Inferior Conjunc- tion, 292 Vertebrate Animals, Origin of, Prof. Huxley, F.R.S., 33 Vertebrates and Invertebrates, the Missing Link between, G. T. Bettany, 195 Vesta, Diameter of, 475 Victoria Institute, 63, 204 Victoria, Geological Survey of, 130 Vienna, Meteorological Congress, 11 ; Academy of Sciences, 204, 303, 363, 383, 420, 468, 540 ; Geological Society, 64, 84, 303 ; Earthquake at, 279 ; Observatory, the Gieat Equa- torijil for the, 418 Virginia, University of,'Gift to, 60 Virgo, Olber's Supposed Variation in, 545 Visible Horizon, B. J . Jenkins, 49 Visual Phenomena, 350, 392, 423, 474, 525 "Vital Motion," Dr. RaccUife's, 267 Vivisection Bill, Lord Carnarvon's, 65, 87, 172, 241, 248 ; Deputation from the British Medical Associjition, 299 Vivisection, Dr. B. W. Richardson's Abstract Report to Na- ture on Experimentation on Animals for the Advance of Practical Medicine, 149, 170, 197, 250, 289, 339, 369; Vivi- section in Florence, 157 j "The Fortnightly Review" on, 259 Vogel's " Chemistry of Light and Photography," 328 Volcanic Dykes, R. Mallet, F.R.S. , on, 302 Volcanoes of Hungary, 39 ; of Iceland, 83 ; of Reunion, 333 Voles, Field, Plague of, 35 Wallace (A. R,), Geographical Distribution of Animals, 165, 186, 544, 569 ; Opening Address in the Biology Section at the British Association, 403 ; Erratum in his British Asso- ciation Address, 473 Wanklyn (Mr.), on Drinking- Water, 486 Ward (I. W.), Visual Phenomena, 423 Warsaw, Meeting of Russian Naturalists at, 497, 552 Wasps' Eggs Deposited in a Penholder, 537 Waterspout near Tours, 320 Watson (Dr. Forbes), the Imperial Museum for India and the Colonies, 173 " Weather Charts and Storm Warnings," R. H. Scott, F.li.S., 565 Weather Warnings in France, Agricultural, 266 Weather Maps of the United States, 216 Webb (Rev, T. W.), the SateUite of Venus, 193 Weber (Wilhelm Edward), his "Doctor's Jubilee," 496 Wellington College Natural Science Society, 201 Westminster Aquarium, Additions to, 62, 80, 121, 159, 20I, 219, 243, 280, 382, 466 Whewell's Writings and Correspondence, Prof. J. Clerk Maxwell, F.R.S., 206 Whipple (G. M.), an Intra-Mercurial Planet, 526 White (Walter), " Holidays In Tyrol," 270 Whitmee (Rev. S. J.), Recent Discoveries in New Guinea, 48 ; Decrease of the Polynesians, 190 ; Earthquakes in Samoa, 270 J Fauna and Flora of New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, 271 Whitney (Prof. W. D.), "Language and Its Study," 88 Whitney (Prof. J. D.), Are We Drying Up? 527 Williams (A. L.), Famines in India, 209 Williams' (?) Thermometer, S. M. Drach, 210 Williamson (Prof. W. C, F.R.S.), Fossil Plants of the Coal Measures, 182, 456 Wilson's " Prehistoric Man," E. B. Tylor, F.R.S., 65 Wind Driftage, G. N. Kinahan, 191 Wolllez (M.), Spirophore, 260 Wolves in Russia, 381 Women and the Medical Profession, 560 Wood (Major H.), the Shores of Lake Aral, 66 Wood (H. T.), a Science Museum, 349 Woodward (H. B.), " Geology of England and Wales," 556 Wounded, the, in Shooting, 501 Wilght (Dr. E. Perceval), the Basking Shark, 313 Wright (Dr. Thomas StrethlU), Obituary Notice of, 580 Wroblewskl (Dr. v.), Diffusion of Gases through Absorbing Substances, 24 Wyman (Prof. Jeffries), Florida Shell Mounds, 531 Yorkshire, Proceedings of the Geological Society of the West Riding, 142 Yorkshire College of Science, 217, 278, 443; Professorship of Biology, 259 Young (Prof. J.), Opening Address in the Geology Section at the British Association, 399 Zeitschrift der oesterreichischen Gesellschaft fiir Meteorologie, 18, 122, 161, 220, 281, 323 Zeitschrift fur wlssenschaftllche Zoologle, 162, 323, 382, 539, 563 Zermatt, Geology of, 210 Zlttel's Handbook of Palaeontology, 445, 474 Zoological Gardens, Additions to, 17, 36, 62, 80, I2i, 139, 158, 180, 182, 201, 219, 243, 261, 280, 301, 322, 343, 362, 382, 444, 466, 498, 518, 538, 562, 583 Zoological Gardens of Calcutta, 120 Zoological Record, 1874, 139 Zoological Society, 15, 38, 123, 180, 183, 222 Zoological Society of France, 443 Zoologico-botanical Stations on the German Coast, 535, 570 A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE " To the solid ground Of Nature titists the mind tvhich builds for aye. " — WORDSWORTH THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1876 TBE PROGRESS OF THE LOAN COLLECTION^ THE investigation of the nature of those forces by which the material world is ceaselessly being moved and transformed, enlists in our day the energies of a host of scientific workers. It would be hard, per- haps, to mention a department of natural science for the study of which a good knowledge of the fundamental principles of what we now term physics is not at least a valuable aid and qualification, if not indispensably requi- site. To the geologist and the biologist, no less than to the astronomer and the chemist, will such knowledge seem imperative. Considering the widespread ramifica- tions of this division of science, it is not wonderful that the apparatus belonging to it should occupy so large a share of the available space in the present collection. The remark formerly made, that much of the interest awakened in this loan collection will centre in its histori- cal element — in the primitive forms of apparatus that represent, in some sort, the germs of some great develop- ment of scientific thought — holds good for the depart- ments of which we propose now to take a brief survey in continuation of our last week's article. On entering the room devoted to physics (exclusive of electricity and magnetism), attention is drawn to some aged- looking apparatus on the right. These are the cele- brated original Magdeburg hemispheres of Otto von Guerickd. They were exhibited by him in 1654 before the Princes of the Empire and the foreign ministers assembled at the Diet of Ratisbon. The force of two teams, each consisting of a dozen horses, made to pull in opposite directions (a portion of the rope is shown) was insufficient to separate the exhausted hemispheres. It was shortly after this date that the Burgomaster of Mag- deburg heard of Torricelli's great discovery. The original air-pump of Otto von Guerick^ is also exhibited. It con- sisted of a globe of copper, with a stop-cock, to which a pump was fitted. The pump-barrel was entirely im- mersed in water to render it air-tight. The improvements ' Continued from vol. xiii. p. 505. Vol. XIV. — No, 340 in the air-pump by Boyle and Hooke, Papin, Hawks- bee, and others, can be followed by the actual instru- ments they made. Among modern improved methods of producing a vacuum, is the pump of M. Deleuil, in which the pistons are solid cylinders of considerable length, without packing or lubricants, and not fitting tightly in the tubes. The internal friction of the air in the narrow space is so great that the rate at which it leaks into the exhausted part of the vessel, is not com- parable with the rate at which the pump is exhausting air from the receiver. In the well-known air-pump of Sprengel, air is drawn from the vessel to be exhausted into a vertical tube, through the descent of small succes- sive portions of mercury in the latter. Thilorier's appa- ratus for liquefying carbonic acid, the apparatus used by Dr. Andrews in his researches on continuity of the gaseous and liquid states of matter, and a small model of M. CoUadon's new air and gas compressor used for the St. Gothard tunnel, may also be noticed here. The musical commencement of sound is generally put at about thirty-two (single) vibrations, and the upper limit of audition at about 73,000. Here will be found apparatus illustrating both extremes ; including two organ pipes, the individual sounds of which are inaudible, but whose resultant tone or beat is within the limits of hearing. Helm- holtz's double siren, and various other instruments con- nected with his invaluable researches on sound, will repay examination. Among musical instruments we may note some models of ancient Egyptian pipes, from the British Museum and that of Turin ; an enharmonic harmonium, tuned according to the division of the octave into fifty- three equal intervals ; and the first of the now generally adopted upright pianofortes patented by Robert Wornum in 181 1. Mr. Baillie Hamilton contributes a series of apparatus illustrating very instructively the progress of the ^olian principle. The velocity of transmission of sound in water was experimented on by CoUadon, on the lake of Geneva, in 1826, and again in 1841, and some of his apparatus is shown in the present section. With the long tube like a speaking trumpet, it is possible, in calm weather, at the distance of more than a hundred kilometres, to hear the strokes on a bell of half a ton weight immersed in the water. Once more, the apparatus is to NATURE {May 4, 1876 be seen by which Prof. Tyndall recently illustrated the reflection of sound by heated air or vapours ; these, being made to stream up through six openings in the long chamber through which the sound is directed, are effectual in stopping its progress. Of historical interest in the section of Light are some early stereoscopes, comprising that of Sir David Brewster ; a camera- obscura said to have belonged to Sir Joshua Reynolds (which, when closed, has the form of a large folio leather-bound book), the original form of Brewster's kaleidoscope made by Bate, in 1 8 15, the first heliostat, invented by Gravesande, &c. The vigour of the young science of spectroscopy is indicated by the fine array of instruments belonging to it, constructed by Steinheil, Browning, and others. There is shown the spectroscopic apparatus which Sir John Herschel used in photographing actions of different parts of the spectrum, and in his investigations on some supposed new elements. For illustrating the theoretical side of the subject of polarised light, various forms of instrument have been devised, the most comprehensive of which is known as the wave machine of Wheatstone ; its object is to exhibit the results of the combination of various kinds of vibration meeting at various phases. Instruments based on the three different methods of producing plane polarisation are exhibited ; and the various phases of rotatory and other polarisation can be shown simulta- neously by means of an instrument which was invented independently by M. Mach and Mr. Spottiswoode. It is known that Wheatstone invented a " polar clock," based on the fact that the light from certain parts of the sky is polarised, and the plane of polarisation depends on the position of the sun ; this is included in the collection. It would take too long to refer in detail to the now nume- rous varieties of photometric apparatus, or the apparatus for observing phosphorescence, fluorescence, and other phenomena connected with light. Several specimens exhibited of the enigmatical radiometers recently devised by Mr. Crookes will doubtless excite lively interest and speculation. In the photographic collection is the first known photograph on glass, taken on precipitated silver chloride by Sir J. Herschel ; also the second daguerreo- type obtained by Daguerre in 1839. The Woodbury and other processes are fully illustrated. In the Heat department we cannot allow ourselves to linger at the fine collection of thermometric and other instruments. Among them is a milligrade thermometer, in which the interval between the freezing and boiling points of water is divided into one thousand degrees ; it obviates the use of fractions. Wedgwood's pyrometer and Lavoisier's calorimeter are here ; and many will feel interested in such apparatus as that by which Tyndall conducted researches on radiant heat, Regnault, De la Rive, and Marcet on the specific heat of gases, or Favre and Silbermann on the heat disengaged in combustion. In the room devoted to Chemistry we come upon some old apparatus which is of the simplest and even the rudest character ; it is a part of that with which John Dalton carried on his classical researches. Most of it was made with his own hands, and the articles here exhibited are chosen as illustrating this fact, and as indi- cating the genius which, with so insignificant an equip- ment, was able to produce such great results. The study of pneumatic chemistry was much advanced by the experiments of Black and Cavendish. Black showed that the difference between the caustic and mild alkalies was that the latter contained^ArrtT air, a kind of air iden- tical with that obtained from fermenting liquids. Caven- dish pointed out the difference between inflammable air, which we now call hydrogen, and fixed air, now known as carbonic acid gas. Black's pneumatic trough and balance, and Cavendish's balance, are among the col- lection. The latter is rude in exterior but of singular perfection. Here, also, is the balance, belonging to the Royal Institution, which was used by Young, Davy, and Faraday. The researches of Faraday on the conden- sation and liquefaction of gases are well known, and one may here see the apparatus he employed, along with a number of the original tubes containing gases which he liquefied. Thomas Graham's apparatus, also exhibited, is remarkable, like that of Dalton, for the contrast be- tween its simplicity and the great results that were achieved by means of it. The amateur or professional chemist will doubtless receive not a few happy hints in inspection of the large variety of apparatus connected with qualitative and quantitative analysis ; and the com- prehensive collection of chemicals contains many novel- ties. We further note some of the apparatus that Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert have used in their important re- searches in agricultural chemistry, and they exhibit a case of casts of white Silesian sugar-beet illustrating the influence of different manures on the amount of produce and on the percentages of dry matter and sugar in the roots. The great chemical industries of this country, in fine, are well represented by models of manufactories and by products. Coming to Biology, we may notice first an interesting collection of old microscopes. Here is the silver micro- scope that was used by Anthony von Leeuwenhoek, the Dutch philosopher, and probably made by him ; also the microscope used by Sir W. Hooker,in his description of the British Jungermannieae, &c. The microscopes of Dawson Turner, Robert Brown, Muschenbroek, and others, are also included. There is a compound microscope invented and constructed about the year 1590, by Jansens, the inventor of the telescope. This object, with its tin tube, is one of the most interesting things in the Collection. It is instructive to compare these instruments with their modern neighbours, of which there is a large variety. The older physiologists obtained only qualitative re- sults from their experiments ; but the present generation has witnessed a remarkable advance in the application of instruments of precision to the quantitative determination of the effects of physiological processes. From this point of view a singular interest attaches to the muscle balance, constructed and used just forty years ago, by the eminent anatomist and physiologist who laid the foundations of animal histology. It is intended to demonstrate that muscular contraction takes place in accordance with the laws of elastic bodies, and it may be regarded as the first of the class of instruments referred to. The department contains a rich collection of such instruments ; and no better illustration could be taken than the apparatus by which M. Marey has so successfully investigated the phenomena of animal locomotion and other physiological movements. The study of physiological optics has been May 4, 1876] NATURE greatly cultivated in Germany, and the instruments con- nected with it (whose nomenclature, by the way, seems unusually bristling and difficult) oflfer many novel points for consideration. The mechanism of circulation and respiration in the animal subject is studied by means of a variety of delicate apparatus, and we note also some good schematic representations in which the movements are reproduced mechanically. The anatomist and histo- logist will find many beautifully prepared specimens from animal ard plant life. Leaving the biological section we enter that of geogra- phy, geology, and the allied sciences. Here the instru- ments used by the late Dr. Livingstone in his last journey possess a melancholy interest ; they comprise a pocket chronometer, a sextant, hypsometrical boiling apparatus, and three thermometers. Specimens are shown of the dredging, sounding, and other apparatus that have been used on board the Challenger, the Porcnpine, and other exploring vessels. The collection of maps is a large one ; in it will be found a selection designed to illustrate the progress of cartography and surveying in India, the maps of the Geological Survey of this country, &c. ; also the MS. maps of Livingstone, Burton and Speke, Baker, Stanley, and others. In a glass case may be observed several open log-books. One is Capt. Cook's log of the Endeavour in his voyage round the world (1768-71), another is that of one of his later voyages ; another, the log of the proceedings of the Bounty, including an account of the mutiny. The subject of geology is largely illus- trated by sections, maps, models, and specimens. We only note here the illustrations of the recent Sub-Wealden boring. There are numerous fine models in illustration of crystallography, and one of the goniometers exhibited is that of the Abbd Hauy. Among the objects connected with mining may be noted the apparatus constructed by Sir Humphrey Davy in his researches on the safety lamp. The section of Applied Mechanics, which we have left to the last, might well claim a separate paper or a series of such. We can do no more than briefly refer to the collection of James Watt's models, which indicate, e.g., the progress of his thoughtful labour in connection with the idea of separate condensers, and the expansive work- ing of steam. In Watt's first engine great difficulty was experienced in fitting the piston accurately to the cylinder. Such difficulties exist no longer ; and a remarkable ex- ample of the skill now attained in metallic constructions is afforded in the fine surface plate lent by Sir J. Whit- worth ; this is probably the closest approximation to an absolutely plane surface that has yet been realised. Finally, the old " Rocket " constructed by Stephenson in 1829, and the original engine of Henry Bell's steamboat, appear in this collection, the venerable quondam pre- cursors of a great social revolution. PREJEVALSKY'S MONGOLIA MoTigolia, the Tangut Country, and the Solitudes of Northern Tibet. By Lieut.- Colonel N. Prejevalsky, Translated by E. Delmar Morgan, F.R.G.S. With Introduction and Notes by Colonel Henry Yule, C.B. (Sampson Low and Co., 1876.) WE have had occasion once or twice to refer briefly to Col. Prejevalsky's travels in Eastern High Asia, and some of our readers may have seen more or less detailed notices of his journey in the German and English geographical journals. These have been suffi- cient to show that the narrative of the Rus sian officer is of unusual value, and we are therefore thankful that not much time has been lost in making it accessible to the English public, to which Russian is practically an un- known tongue. The two volumes before us, however contain only Col. Prejevalsky's general account of his expedition ; and we regret that there seems to be no intention of making the special scientific results acces- sible to English readers. Judging from what is contained in the two volumes before us, these must be of the highest importance, and we hope that by some means they will be made known to English men of science. The present translation has been brought out with great care. Mr. Delmar Morgan has put the narrative into clear and idiomatic English, which, we have reason to believe, faithfully represents the original Russian. He has, moreover, added to the value of the narrative for English readers by numerous supplementary and foot notes. We consider that both Col. Prejevalsky and the English reader are particularly fortunate in having the advantage of Col. Yule's knowledge to supplement and correct the original narrative. In an introduction he connects the journey of the Russian officer with those of previous explorers in Central and Eastern Asia, and especially with that of the well-known Hue and his com- panion Gabet. Considerable discredit has been thrown on the narrative of Hue, but Col. Yule shows that in the main it may be regarded as trustworthy, allowance being made for the missionary's love of exaggeration and his desire to produce effect. Prejevalsky's journey from Pekin to the south-west into Tibet coincided to some extent with that of Hue, and the former on several occa- sions impugns the accuracy, if not the veracity, of the latter. Those who are familiar with the old Abbd's de- lightful narrative will be glad to know that so great an authority as Col. Yule thinks that after all he is in the main trustworthy. Col. Yule's numerous notes will, more- over, be found to add much to the value of the work, both as supplementary to the main narrative and as corrective of occasional statements by Col. Prejevalsky arising from imperfect knowledge or rashness. This narrative Col. Yule shows, is an additional confirmation of the remark- able accuracy of that of Marco Polo. The starting-point of Col. Prejevalsky's expedition was the town of Kiakhta, on the border of Siberia and Northern Mongolia, from which the small party set out in November, 1870, and returned to it after having done three years' hard and fruitful work, in October, 1873. The expedition seems to have been essentially a Government one, sent out at the instigation of the Russian Geographi- cal Society. It is, therefore, difficult to understand how Col. Prejevalsky should have been so seriously hampered from want of sufficient funds. Yet so it was ; the re- sources at the leader's command were a mere pittance as compared with the magnitude of the undertaking. The entire party consisted only of the Colonel, a companion, and two Cossacks, and the instrumental equipment was the most meagre possible. All things considered, it is marvellous that the resuhs achieved were so many and so valuable. From Kiakhta the party went by Urga across the desert of Gobi, probably the dreariest desert in the world, to NATURE \May 4, 1876 Kalgan, and hence to Pekin. From Pekin a preliminary tour was made to the north, to Lake Dalai-nor, one object being to observe the spring flight of the birds of passage. This is a subject in which Col. Prejevalsky takes great interest, and throughout the whole extent of his journey he continued to make observations on the migrations of birds, and the present volumes contain many valuable notes on the subject. Lake Dalai-nor, which like many other lakes in this region, is salt, is described as a great rendezvous for migratory birds. The flight and habits of these birds are described fully in the more strictly scien- tific part of Col. Prejevalsky's account of the expedition, v/hich is not included in the present translation. There is, however, a list of the various birds observed at this lake. In this, as in subsequent parts of his journey, Col. Prejevalsky noted as far as possible all the important features and products of the country as he proceeded. Surveying, however, was attended with many difficulties, on account of the suspicions of the natives, Chinese and Mongols, and it was only by stealth and by resorting to various artifices that Col. Prejevalsky could make use of his note-books. Another cause of difficulty and espe- cially of delay was the insurrection of the Chinese Mohammedans, who had overrun and devastated much of the country through which Col. Prejevalsky's expedi- tion passed. On returning to Kalgan the expedition commenced the serious part of the undertaking, proceeding westwards by the In-shan Mountains, and crossing the Hoang-ho at Bauta, near the centre of its great northern bend. Pro- ceeding along the left bank of the river through the country of the Ordos, the party recrossed the Hoang-ho at Ding-hu, into the Ala-shan country, and were well received by the prince at Din-yuan-ing. A number of days were spent here hunting and exploring among the Ala-shan mountains ; but want of funds compelled the expedition to return to Kalgan. The return route was along the left side of the northern bend of the Hoang- ho, through the Khara-narin-ula mountains, where the cold experienced was quite Arctic. After staying a couple of months at Kalgan, the party again set out, this time fortunately much better equipped. They followed Fig. I. — The Gobi Plateau. pretty much the same route as on their return, until they again reached Din-yuan-ing, where their reception was by no means so hospitable as on the previous occasion. Fortunately they fell in here with a caravan of Tangutans bound for the Lama Monastery of Chobsen, within a short distance of Lake Koko-nor, the great goal of Col. Prejevalsky's efforts. After many attempts to prevent it on the part of the prince of Din-yuan-ing, the party set out with the Tangutan caravan, and, notwithstanding the country being overrun with the Dungans or Moham- medan rebels, Chobsen was safely reached. This monas- tery is about forty miles north of Sining-fu, on the south- western slope of the mountains bordering on the Tatung river, which lie to the north-east of Lake Koko-nor, and form part of the southern boundary of the Desert of Gobi. Among these mountains a considerable time was spent in hunting and making collections in natural history. The party " also investigated, de visu, for the first time it is believed in modern history, the famous rhubarb plant in its native region." The inadequacy of his means com- pelled Col. Prejevalsky reluctantly to give up the idea of penetrating as far as Lhassa. The basin of Lake Koko- nor was, however, explored, and the travellers pushed on to the south-west, through the region of Tsaidam, which is described as a vast salt-marsh covered with reeds, as if recently the bed of a great lake, and is said by the Chinese to stretch west and north to Lake Lob. Col, Prejevalsky proceeded as far as the lofty and uninhabited desert of Northern Tibet, turning at the upper stream of the great Yang-tse-Kiang, here called by the Mongols the Murui-ussu. The party retraced their steps leisurely as far as Din- yuan-ing, where they arrived in a most worn and ragged condition. After a rest here they set out to attempt what was probably the most arduous part of their under- taking, the crossing of the heart of the great desert of Gobi from south to north, a feat never before attempted by any European. *' This desert is so terrible, that in comparison with it the desert of Northern Tibet may be called fruitful. There, at all events, you may find water and good pasture-land in the valleys ; here there is neither the one nor the other, not even a single oasis ; May 4, 1876] NATURE everywhere the silence of the Valley of Death." Kiakhta was reached on October i, 1873. Such is a very brief outline of the route traversed by the small expedition under Col. Prejevalsky. It gives no idea of the amount of work done, ayd the many diffi- culties which had to be overcome. Though the Colonel had a pass from the Chinese Government, it was not of much use to him. At almost every stage obstructions were thrown in his way, and had the party not been able to obtain a living by their guns they would either have had to starve or turn back. The whole distance traversed was upwards of 7,400 miles. Col. Prejevalsky's object was not simply to get over a certain amount of ground. In many respects he is well qualified to conduct a scientific exploring expedition. Not only is he skilled in all kinds of surveying work necessary to map a country, but has evidently a good Fig. 2.— Mongol Girl. knowledge of geology, and is above all an accomplished zoologist and botanist. At every stage he stops to de- scribe deliberately the natural features of the region, its inhabitants, its history, and to give long lists of the ani- mals and plants collected. Some idea of the import- ance of the expedition from a scientific point of view may be learned from the fact that the plants collected amounted to 5,000 specimens, representing upwards of 500 species, of which a fifth are new. But especially im- portant was the booty in zoology, which is Prejevalsky's own specialty, for this included thirty-seven large and ninety smaller mammals, 1,000 specimens of birds, em- bracing 300 species, 80 specimens of reptiles and fish, and 3,500 ot insects. It would be impossible within the space of a notice like the present to give any adequate idea of the kind and amount of information contained in these volumes. No such keen-sighted and accomplished traveller has been over the same ground before. We shall endeavour to indicate a few of the points referred to. In the Introduc- tion, besides the matters already referred to, Col. Yule adduces strong proofs for the existence of the wild camel en the north-west borders of China, and gives a few valu- able notes on the real nature of Tibetan Lamaism. The Gobi desert, both in its eastern and central positions, is at last described with something like adequacy ; it is probably one of the dreariest tracks on the face of the earth. One of the strong features of the book is its ethnology ; all the groups of people passed through are described in detail. A whole chapter is devoted to the Mongols, containing minute particulars as to their manners and customs. In the same way many important notes are given concerning the Chakhars, the Ordos, the Oluet or Ala-shan Mongols, the Tangutans, and the Dungans or Tungani. A large space is devoted to an account of the Mongol camel, in which some points are brought out that will be new to many ; and the Argali {Ovis argalt) and its habits are described in considerable detail, as also the White-breasted ArgaU of Northern Tibet {Ovis poli)- Geographers will find some valuable information con- cerning the present course of the northern bend of the Hoang-ho, which is many miles ^south of that which is found on many modern maps. There seems to be now only one main channel, the two northern ones being dry. Many evidences are adduced to show that much of the region through which the expedition travelled was at one time an inland sea ; most of the lakes are salt, and the country of Ala-shan seems to be one great desert of sand and clay mixed with salt. Col. Prejevalsky mentions an interesting fact showing how particular may grow into general terms. He tells us that the Mongols apply the term " Russian " to all Europeans, and affix " French " or " English " as they wish to designate either of these nations. They also believe the latter to be vassals and tributaries of the former, and Col. Prejevalsky mentions several circumstances tending to show the great opinion of Russian power held by the inhabitants of Central Asia. Lake Koko-nor and the region around it, as well as the province of Kan-su generally, in which the expe- dition spent many months, are described in all their aspects with the .greatest minuteness. But it is needless to attempt to give any adequate idea of the contents of these two volumes ; they are a perfect mine of information about the whole of the little-known region visited by Col. Prejevalsky and his companions. The work is a fine example of what the narrative of a scientific exploring ex- pedition should be, and although Col. Prejevalsky delivers " a plain unvarnished tale," his work is full of interest from beginning to end, even for the omnivorous "general reader." The map which accompanies the work is on a large scale and is filled in with such minuteness as to present a satisfactory bird's-eye view of the principal results of the expedition, and the illustra- tions are both attractive and usefiil. To quote the words of Col. Yule, " the journey and its acquisitions form a remarkable example of resolution and persistence amid long-continued toil, hardship, and difficulty of every kind, of which Russia may well be proud." NATURE [May 4, 1876 THE MOABITE QUESTION Die Aechiheit der Modbitischen Alterthiimer Gepriift. Von Prof. E. Kautzsch und Prof. A Socin. (Strassburg, 1876.) Moabitisch oder Selimisch ? Die Frage der Moabit- ischen Alterthiimer neu iititersucht. Von Adolf Koch. (Stuttgart, 1876.) IT was perfectly natural that the discovery in 1868 of the famous Moabite Stone, which created such a sensation all over the civilised world, should have made literary and scientific men wish to explore the dangerous eastern side of the Dead Sea. Hence, when Dr. Gins- burg set forth the importance of an expedition to Moabin his paper before the Geographical Section of the British Association (Liverpool, 1870), the Association willingly granted 100/. towards the contemplated expedition, and in the following year supplemented this grant by another 100/. But this expedition which took place in the be- ginning of 1872, contributed next to nothing to our former knowledge of the trans-Jordanic regions. The only thing which it did effect was indirectly to encourage the de- signing Arabs in their production of Moabite antiquities. Travellers in Syria well know the pertinacity with which they are pursued by the Arabs, who in every locality offer all sorts of relics for Bakshish. Hitherto these antiquities were principally confined to coins, chiefly of course shekels and half-shekels, bronzes, armour}', gems, wooden utensils, and pictures from the time of Christ, made by eye-witnesses of the scenes described in the Gospels. Since the discovery of the Sinaitic Codex and the Moabite Stone, however, which fetched so high a price, and which have created a perfect rage among a certain class of itinerant scholars for acquiring like precious relics, the finds have in a marvellous way corresponded to the desires of the inquiring travellers. A few months after the Tristram-Ginsburg expedition, in search for antiquities and specimens of natural history in Moab, was fitted out on such a pompous scale at Jerusalem, where the object of the journey became at once blazoned about, a number of inscribed stones were discovered, among which was one recording Psalm cxvii. As Herr Weser, the Chaplain to the German Consulate and Colony at Jerusalem, is the principal literary and scientific agent, who not only tested these Moabite anti- quities on the spot, but also forwarded drawings of them to Germany and finally, with Prof. Schlottmann, induced the Prussian Government to purchase them and deposit them in the Berlin Museum, we cannot do better than give this learned Divine's own words : — "The fourth stone is to me the most interesting. It contains Psalm cxvii. in magnificent ancient Hebrew characters, similar to those on the stone of Mesha. Who knows but that this stone contains the very original from which the Psalm was read and adopted into the collection of Psalms." {Die Aechthetf, p. 13.) As the famous Moabite stone records a biblical event, parallel to the one recorded in 2 Kings, iii., a discovery was at once made which should completely eclipse the narrative of this lapidary document, and at the same time vie with the celebrated Codex Sinaiticus. Prof. Scholz, who has been working for several years on the Massoretic text of Jeremiah in its relation to the Greek Septuagint, was in Jerusalem in 1870. Of course he visited Shapira's Anti- quarian establishment, and naturally enough inquired after MSS. of the Hebrew Scriptures, when lo, and behold ! this honest merchant showed the Professor, amongst other ancient Biblical documents, a remarkable manu- script of the very prophet on which Dr. Scholz was com- menting. Here again we must give the words of the learned German, but this time no less a person than " Professor of Exegesis of the Old Testament and the Biblical Oriental Languages at the University of Wurz- burg.'' In his work on Jeremiah which appeared at Regensburg, 1875, this learned Professor remarks:— " Perhaps it is not beyond all hope that science will come into possession of the text of Jeremiah which the Septua- gint translated. In 1870 the author visited the book- seller Shapira at Jerusalem, who showed him a manu- script of Jeremiah, written very beautifully, without vowels and accents, which he averred corresponded to the translation of the Septuagint. When I called again, afcer a few days, it was S0I4 to an Englishman. Accord- ing to Herr Shapira, who declared that he possessed evidence for his statement, the MS. is of about the time of Christ." But though savans like Pastor Weser and Prof. Scholz were easily deceived by the Psalm Stone and the Jere- miah MS., yet it was soon found that to continue dis- coveries in the department of Old Testament documents was both unprofitable and hazardous for very simple reasons. It is well known, even at Jerusalem, that no manuscript of any portion of the Hebrew Pible prior to A.E). 800 has as yet been discovered. If a MS. pretending to be of even 200—800 a d. were to be forthcoming, the science of palaeography is now so definite and unerring that it would be detected at once. Nor could discoveries of any lapidary documents which exhibited a continuous narrative in any known Semitic dialect be safe, since the science of language is now so exact that an attempt to impose upon philology or palaeography is almost certain to break down. Hence if the rage for inscriptions created by the discovery of the Moabite stone, and increased by the Tristram-Ginsburg Moabite expedition, which left England at the beginning of January, 1872, was at all to be gratified with any chance of safety and profit, nothing was left to the dealers in antiquities at Jerusalem but to open up new mines. This was easily done. Selim, who was in the service of the Due de Luynes and M. de Saulcy, when these French savans travelled in Moab, and who had also been employed by M. Ganneau to negotiate with the Arabs at Dibon for the Moabite stone, was out of employment. Such an indication of Providence was too plain to be mistaken by good Shapira. Accordingly Mr. Shapira employed him at a monthly salary, to go to Moab in search of antiquities, and in addition to his fixed pay promised him a premium on every discovery. With such a temptation before him, this unmitigated rascal whom Drake describes as " a well-known scoundrel and forger," set out for Moab. No wonder that the search conducted by such a man and with such prospects, was eminently productive. In May, 1872, that is about a month or six weeks after the Tris- tram-Ginsburg expedition returned from Moab, a few specimens of pottery appeared at Mr. Shapira's depot. In July the collection increased to 600 pieces, in October May 4, 1876] NA TURE to 700 pieces, and soon after it mounted up to i,8oo pieces. Shapira was now enabled to divide the finds into three collections, as follows : — Collection i. Containing 911 pieces, 465 inscribed ; „ 2, Containing 493 pieces, 60 inscribed ; and „ 3. Containing 410 pieces, 68 inscribed. These collections embrace urns and pots, figures, idols, and birds partly entire and partly broken. Some of these antiquities have found their way to Stuttgart, but the bulk, consisting of the choicest specimens and numbering in all about 1,700 objects, have been bought from Shapira by the Prussian Government for 22,000 thalers = 3,300/., and are now deposited in the Berlin Museum. Prof. Koch, the author of the second treatise under review, who visited Shapira's depot in 1875, tells us that this dealer has now another collection consisting of no less than 724 pieces, of which 133 are inscribed, containing in all 4604 letters (Dr. Koch, p. 3-22). The interest of science in these discoveries is immense. If these antiquities could be proved to be genuine, their contribution to ethnology, history, mythology, philology, and palceography could hardly be overrated. They would exhibit to us the history of the mental and moral condi- tion of a country, which has played an important part in ancient times, and about which we know next to nothing from the incidental and fragmentary allusions in the Old Testament. Literary and scientific opinion in England has almost unanimously declared these finds as forgeries. In Germany, however, where so many of the articles themselves are deposited, not a few men of eminent scientific attainments believe in their genuineness. Some of the results of these discoveries have even been em- bodied in no less a work than Riehm's " Dictionary of Biblical Antiquities," the distinguished editor of which professes to exclude everything that is controvertible, thus stamping this contribution as veritable history. The divided opinion in Germany may moreover be seen from the fact that of the two treatises which head this article, No. I, by Professors Kautzsch and Socin, is against, whilst No. 2, by Prof. Koch is for the genuineness of these discoveries. After a careful study of the question, we shall endeavour to describe as briefly as possible the arguments adduced by Professors Kautzsch and Socin against the finds, with which we fully agree, unless those scholars who believe in the antiquities can produce more conclusive evidence. 1. The Due de Luynes, M. de Saulcy, Palmer and Drake, Tristram and Ginsburg have more or less searched the country, and could find no traces of such articles, though the Moabites were perfectly alive to the value which Europeans set upon the most insignificant relic of any kind ; and though these Arabs, as we ourselves can testify, scraped together and offered for sale the most contemptible objects bearirg the semblance of a relic. 2. In consequence of the large sum which was paid for the original Moabite stone, manufactories were opened in Jerusalem and elsewhere which produced inscribed stones, pottery, and other reUcs. That such forgeries were con- stantly forthcoming is admitted even by those who believe in the genuineness of the pottery in question. Indeed, Prof. Koch himself gives a detailed description of some of them (p. 67, &c.). 3. There can be no doubt that Selim was perfectly qualified to design these articles, both by his previous occupation as a Christian artist of sacred pictures, and by his subsequent training under the Due de Luynes, M. de Saulcy, and M. Ganneau. That such an undertaking would be in perfect harmony with his well-known cha- racter as scamp and wholesale forger will likewise not bs questioned. 4. The extraordinary rapidity with which these Moabite antiquities were supplied by Selim, when nothing of the kind could be found before, goes far to show that they were made under his direction. Only a few months before, we ourselves visited and searched some of the spots where Selim pretends to have made thes2 dis- coveries, and could find no trace of such antiquities. The American exploration party have been there since (1873), and could likewise find nothing. 5. Drake and Ganneau traced the spot where these antiquities were made, and declared that they were manufactured in Jerusalem, transported to Moab, where they were buried, and then exhumed and sold to Shapira. 6. The intermixture of the earliest Phcenician with later forms of letters of which the inscriptions are made up, betrays the clumsy and unskilful manner in which they have been put together. That Selim and his com- panions knew these characters is perfectly certain. Not only did Selim copy for Ganneau some of the veritable Moabite inscription, but he and others possessed a fac- simile of the inscription ; and we ourselves have seen in the hands of Mr. Shapira and other dealers in Jerusalem parts of the Transactions of the German Oriental Society, Levy's " Phoenizische Studien," with fac- si miles of various inscriptions, the fac-simile of tha Eshmunazar Inscription, and the leaf from Madden's " History of Jewish Coins," which gives the different Semitic alphabets. These were carefully studied in Jerusalem. 7. But what confirms us in the belief that these inscrip- tions have been produced by individuals who simply knew the ancient alphabets but did not know hoy to compile a single sentence is the fact that, even under the immense pressure of Prof. Schlottman's great learning, the inscriptions have yielded no sense. So eminent an epigraphist, as the late Rodiger was forced to say, " that though these extensive Moabite texts are mostly written in characters, the value of which is perfectly fixed and certain, no connected sense can be discovered in them." (•'* Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morganlandischen Gesell- schaft," xxvi. 817.) The force of this remark will be felt all the more when it is remembered that the language of the real Moabite stone can be understood by every Semitic scholar. Prof. Schlottman, who is too scientific an epi- graphist not to see the strength of this argument is obliged to resort to the expedient that the inscriptions contain " strong abbreviations and permutations of letters." The most extraordinary part of the controversy is the indecision about the clay of the pottery. We should have thought there could not have been two opinions among experts upon this question. If the authorities in the keramic art cannot definitely decide whether a pot or urn is three years or three thousand years old, there is little encouragement for those who have lately paid such enormous prices for old China. But whatever be the result of the controversy, the treatises of Professors NATURE May 4, 1876 Kautzsch, Socin, and Koch which it has elicited will remain valuable contributions to palaeography, and if it should call forth any more such solid disquisitions, science will be permanently benefited. HOOKER'S ''PRIMER OF BOTANY" Science Primers. Edited by Professors Huxley, Roscoe, and Balfour Stewart.—" Botany." By Dr. J. D. Hooker, C.B., P.R.S. (London : Macmillan and Co., 1876.) IT is now almost universally admitted that the study of botany may be made an excellent training for children ; but the extent of the subject is so great, and the phrase- ology has become so overwhelmed with technical terms that even those who have been the most anxious to see the science generally introduced into our schools as a branch of education, are much perplexed when called upon to determine in what way it can best be taught. Some think it most prudent to confine the attention of children to such points as may be observed with the unaided eye, or at any rate to such points as only require the help of an ordinary magnifying-glass ; hence they limit the teach- ing of botany to a study of the more conspicuous parts of the higher groups of vegetable life, and leave the study of physiology and histology to a more advanced age. There is, no doubt, much that can be said in favour of this view, for in order to become fully acquainted with these branches of botany a much greater experience and skill in manipulation and experiment are required, as well as the use of high magnifying powers, than, it is quite certain, a child can be expected to possess. At the same time this limitation to so small a portion of botanical science has the tendency to produce in the mind con- tracted ideas respecting the true scope of the subject ; for to a large extent it only admits of facts being heaped upon facts, without their proper connection one with another being made manifest. It is owing to this want of concatenation in the teaching that has led many to think less highly of botany as a branch of education than they otherwise might have done, and that its introduction into schools has not met with so much success as its more sanguine advocates could have wished to see. The " Primer " of Botany by Dr. Hooker will go far to remove these difficulties, which have hitherto stood in the way of a more successful treatment of the subject ; for in the simplest language, and with an absence of all tech- nical terms but such as are absolutely necessary for a proper comprehension of the subject — and which, when they do occur, are always fully explained — the pupil is introduced to all the most important facts connected with structural and physiological botany. These facts, by means of a judicious arrangement and proper explana- tions, are made to exhibit their mutual dependence upon one another, and the work thus forms a continuous argu- ment from beginning to end. Although the book contains only 112 pages, and is profusely illustrated, there is hardly a point in structure or physiology that is not touched upon, and so far as the scope of the book will allow, fully explained. A further very noticeable charac- teristic of the " Primer " is that the pupil is instructed to draw conclusions from information derived from obser- vation founded upon experiment as well as from direct observation. To teachers the " Primer" will be of inestimable value, and not only because of the simplicity of the language and the clearness with which the subject matter is treated, but also on account of its coming from the highest autho- rity, and so furnishing positive information as to the most suitable methods of teaching the science of botany, and for the want of which the instruction given in schools has hitherto been too often of a most capricious description. Again, those who have the formation or management of gardens, set aside for botanical purposes, entrusted to them, will find the list of plants at the end of the book extremely useful, as it contains those which experience has shown to afford the best examples of the particular cha- racters it is desirable to illustrate ; they are also such as may be readily procured and easily grown. If the "Primer" has long been looked for, the high expectations which have been raised are not doomed to be disappointed, and it may be confidently anticipated that its introduction into schools will determine very largely the direction which the teaching of botany in this country will take for the future. M. A. Lawson OUR BOOK SHELF Aventures A^riennes et Experiences Memorables des Grands Ah'onautes. Par W. de Fonvielle. Ouvrage orn^ de 40 gravures. (Paris : E. Plon, 1876.) M. DE Fonvielle's name is no doubt familiar to our readers as that of an experienced scientific aeronaut and writer on aeronautics. In the work before us he has traced in an interesting and instructive manner the history of ballooning from the first rude attempts to rise in the air, down to the elaborate experiments and machines which have been devised at the present day. He has evidently spent considerable pains to obtain a complete knowledge of the history and methods of ballooning, and his scientific knowledge enables him to point out in the many experiments which have been made, the causes of failure or success. The work is evidently meant mainly for popular reading, and those who understand French will find it full of interest. The author attempts to show how practically to utilise a dis- covery which up to the present time has produced few practical results. He is quite opposed to all the fantas- tical projects which have been proposed and tried in aeronautics, and treats his subject, on the whole, in a sensible and moderate fashion, showing that those chimerical schemes have been really hindrances to the improvement of aerial navigation. He shows that im- portant meteorological results might be obtained by properly organised ascents, and that indeed in this respect results of some importance have already been obtained. The numerous illustrations are interest- ing, and altogether the work may be regarded as an im- portant contribution to the history of aeronautics. 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. N« notice is taken of anonymous communications.'] New Laurentian Fossil Mr. James Thomson, of Glasgow, who has been for some years on the out-look for fossils in the Laurentian rocks of Scot- land, and has searched parts of Argyleshire, Inverness-shire, Ross-shire, and Caithness with this object, has [lately been rewarded ^by the discovery, in the neighbourhood of Tarbert, May 4, 1876] NATURE Harris, of what is regarded by every Palaeontologist who has seen the specimen as an unquestionable organism. It forms part of a limestone bed intercalated with dark grey shale, and occurs in the midst of highly metamorphic rocks (among them a graphite granite), which were regarded by Sir Roderick Murchison as of Laurentian age, and which have ever since passed as such — no doubt being entertained as to their antiquity by Dr. Heddle, of St. Andrew's, who has geologised over the whole of Harris. Judging from the sections which Mr. Thomson has forwarded to me, the fabric seems to have consisted of superposed layers of calcareous shell-substance, whose continuity is frequently inter- rupted ; the spaces between these layers, which are much thinner than the lamellae themselves, being irregularly and imperfectly divided (very much as in Eozoon) into separate chambers, which are filled up with calcite. The state of preservation of the fossil thus corresponds exactly with that of the Silurian Strcmaiopora, to which, indeed, it bears a strong general resemblance, except in the larger proportion borne by the solid fabric to the chambers it encloses. The shelly layers are as distinct in character from the calcite contents of the chambers, as are those of the Nummu- lites of the pyramid-limestone, with which they agree in their remarkable hardness, corresponding with that of porcellanous shell. Altogether I have no hesitation in concurring with Prof. H. A. Nicholson, Prof. Geikie, and Mr. Etheridge in affirming it to be so unmistakeably organic, that, if it be claimed by mineralogists as a "rock-structure," a large number of uni- versally-accepted fossils will have to go along with it. As it is essentially calcareous in its composition, there is no room for the hypothesis of its production by the process of *' mineral segrega- tion," which is maintained by certain Mineralogists (others of at least equal eminence, however, entirely dissenting from them) to have been adequate to the production of the alternating layers of serpentine and calcareous shell-substance in the Canadian Eozoon, And though mineralogical analysis might not improbably detect small particles of various minerals in its substance, their presence no more establishes its claim to be regarded as a mere rock- structure, than does the presence of siliceous films (probably re- placing the soft parts of the animal) in a piece of coral-limestone. Not having made any other than a general examination of the structure of the Harris specimen, I do not feel able to give a positive opinion upon its affinities ; and it may be that these may long remain doubtful. But ;his doubt no more constitutes an adequate reason for refusing to accept its organic origin, than it does in the case of Stromatopora ; which no Mineralogist that I ever heard of claims as a mineral, though the Zoologist cannot say with certainty whether it is a foraminifer, a sponge, a coral, or a polyzoary. It is to be borne in mind that in very few Palaeozoic fossils is there a precise conformity to any existing type ; and such conformity is, of course, still less to be expected in a Laurentian than in a Silurian fossil. It is not a little singular that I should have received about the same time from Prof. Mobius of Kiel, specimens of a new Fora- miniferal organism, discovered by him in 1874 on a coral reef off Mauritius ; which presents more resemblance in its spreading and encrusting mode of growth to the indefinite expansions of Eozoon and Stromatopora, than does any Foraminiferal type previously known. Truly, as I have before had occasion to say, "there is no limit to the possibilities of Foraminifera. " I have only to add, in regard to the Harris fossil, that the further prosecution of the inquiry into its structure and relations has been placed by Mr. Thomson in the able hands of Prof. H. Alleyne Nicholson, and that it is at the joint request of these two gentlemen that I make the present communication. William B. Carpenter The Warm Rain Band in the Daylight Spectrum On taking my accustomed spectroscopic peep at the sky to- day, through a little garret window in the Royal Observatory here, I was instantly struck with the presence of the same dark band in the spectrum to which I called your attention last summer twice over (vol. xii. pp. 231, 25")' The band was very faint, but it was there, and this was its first appearance, to me at least, during the present year. I have not indeed been so persevering in that sort of observation as I perhaps should have been if furnished with better instruments, yet for weeks and weeks past I have scanned the sky, not only when it was heavily clouded, but also when rain was actually falling with west, south-west, and north-east winds, and some- times during dense, wet fogs,; when very little daylight at all was left, and under some preternaturally low barometric pressures. Yet, under all these circumstances, I put the spectroscope back into its box after each trial with the assurance that no rain-band had then been shown by it. This morning, however, and under a barometer not low, viz., 29*8 British inches, the band exhibited itself instantly ; and on my going out to look at the directi' n of the wind, behold it was from the south-east. Wherefore I had nb scruple in informing a professor whom I met in the afternoon at the College, and who, after his day's work there was going home to indulge in the amenities of horticulture, that his flowers were certain of presently having the luxury of warm rain. Such rain, too, did begin, within an hour of that interview, with large heavy drops, and the evening has ended with almost a soaking rain. It is rather too soon to attempt fully to describe the spectrum appearance, much less to explain it, before I have had the privi- lege of using anything in the way of a notable spectroscope upon it. But having been already written to for some practical infor- mation, even from St. Petersburg (where Nature is evidently read with attention), I may remark that the nebulous band cha- racter of the phenomenon is simply a result of want of light ; for when the quality to give the band was present in the air, and the sun has been prevailed on to shine for a moment through that air, and into the spectroscope, the band was instantly re- solved into a group, or groups, of fine and sharp black Imes, exquisitely visible. But as the sun is seldom to be seen in any weather threatening rain, whether warm or cold, in fact, cannot be consulted precisely at those times when he is most wanted, it is better to restrict such pluvio-spectroscopy to ordinary sky, i.e., clouds or air ; and if possible in a polar direction, so as to be equally di slant from the sun, whether visible or not, all the day through ; and not too low, in altitude, lest smoke, local moisture, and other impurities have too great and variable an influence. The Ob- servatory garret-window here, I regret to say, is not so unexcep- tionably situated in azimuth as it might be, for it looks out straight to the south, and the angle at which I usually look through it, on being measured to-day, turned out to be 23*. Nevertheless, at that altitude, keeping to it steadily on al^ occasions, and in that direction, avoiding always the garish spectra of actual sunshine, and depending not on any particular and absolute spectrum representation in the published maps of other observers, but chiefly or entirely attending to the differences observed by myself from day to day in my own manner with my own little tube, there was no difficulty in instantly pronouncing this morning that there was something in the air through which daylight was then passing different from what it has been for several months past. Whether that something is only watery vapour at a high tem- perature (seeing that watery vapour at a low temperature does not produce it), or whether the air is carrying something else with it, giving to the south-east winds here a slight approach to the quality of the siroccos of the Mediterranean, which are often transfused with fine dust along with their warm rain, and do produce some very noteworthy markings in the spectrum, is a matter for further and wider research by those who are instru- mentally and financially better able to follow it up ; and who should therefore be implored in the present state and needs of science to perform their part without further delay. Pjazzi Smyth, Edinburgh, April 24 Astronomer- Royal for Scotland Limestone Makers Mr. J. MUNRO'S interesting letter and sketch which appeared in Nature, vol. xiiL p. 510, show how much may be done in the Tropics by ordinary observers towards elucidating many geological problems. His sketch is that of one of the genus Corallina, a member of the Florideae, and it is a very common lime maker at the Bermudas. Although Mr. Munro will not find a list of the different limestone makers in books, still in the vast imwritten knowledge of geology it is well known that shells, foraminifera, serpulae in numbers, and huge masses of NuIH- pores, besides the corallines, contribute to the coral stock. The corallines present many and varied forms on our own coasts, but their beauty and construction are remarkable in the warm waters of the Gulf Stream and Caribbean Sea. Through the kindness of Mr. Henry Lee I have lately had the opportunity of examining the newly-started growth of the common Coral- lines officinalis, but curious as its cellular development is, it is lo NATURE [May 4, 1876 a dwarf in comparison with those seen by Mr. Munro and Mr. Quin. Doubtless the broken-down and pulverised corallines fill up many a crack in the reefs limestone. Should Mr. Munro be desirous of seeing some of his old West Indian corallines, I shall be glad to show him some microscopical results of work upon them. P. Martin Duncan Geological Society, May i History of Magnetism A PARAGRAPH in the article on ' ' The Early History of Mag- netism," in your last number, contains a passage which requires, I think, a note of explanation. The writer says : "A Latin letter ascribed to Peter Adsiger, 1269, preserved among the manuscripts of the University of Leyden, contains the following remark on the declination of the needle ..." Now Hum- boldt, on the authority of Libri, denies the existence of the passage in the Leyden MSS., affirming that it is only an inter- polation in a Paris copy. But what is of more importance, he also states that the title of the letter is "Epistola Petri P. de Maricourt ad Sigernum de Foucoucourt, " E. Walker, in his well-known essay on Magnetism, refers to Cavallo as quoting the supposed letter of Adsiger. S. J. Perry Meteorological Society While thanking you for your friendly notice of the Annual Report of this Society, I trust you will allow me to state that we have not made ' ' the mistake in science regarding the height of the thermometers above the ground," as very naturally ima- gined by you from the matter not having been mentioned. The fact is, we have been unusually strict on that point ; our ther- mometers are all 4 feet (within, perhaps, 2 in. -J- or — ), and as the uniformity was so strict, it was considered useless to repeat the statement for each station, and so, finally, it escaped mention altogether in the printed abstract. Of course the question (Report, p. 52), *' What is the height of the bulbs above grass ? " is duly answered on the MS. inspection forms deposited in the library of the Society. May I, in conclusion, express the hope that the example which we have set by publishing the lithograph ground-plans, and which you so highly approve, may be generally followed both in this country and abroad? G. J. Symons Meteorological Society, 30, Great George Street, Westminster, S.W., April 28 Destruction of Flowers by Birds The enclosed blossoms of the common "wild" cherry {Prunus avium, L.) have been mutilated in a precisely similar manner with those of the blackthorn noticed about a year ago in Nature (vol. xii. p. 26), the petals and stamens still adhering to the separated limb of the calyx, which has been cut through at the exact level of the ovary, which has perhaps been the object of attack. Orchard trees in the neighbourhood from the same stock have also suffered to a serious extent, but the wall- cherries (P. cerasus, L.), which are later in flowering, have hitherto been untouched. R. A. Pryor Hatfield, May 2 OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN The Nebula in Orion.— M. Tisserand, Director of the Observatory at Toulouse, commenced on Feb. 17 of the present year, a close examination of the small stars in the vicinity of the trapezium in the great nebula of Orion, with the Foucault telescope of o'"-8o aperture, which had been completely mounted at the beginning of the same month. To facilitate the study of this region, which it is intended shall form part of the work with this fine instrument, a chart was prepared on a large scale containing the 155 stars, the positions of which relatively to 6^ Orionis, were determined by M. O. Struve {Observations de la Grande Nebuleuse d' Orion in the St. Petersburg Memoirs, vol. v.); of these 155 stars it may be mentioned that 150 occur in Sir John Herschel's list in the volume of observations made at the Cape of Good Hope. Especial attention was directed at Toulouse during the few weeks that the nebula could be observed in the last season, to the stars which M. O. Struve had indicated as variable. The star IT (Aa . . — 7"-3, AS . . - 27"-6) which is not in Herschel's catalogue, was noted on Feb. 17 and 21 at the extreme limit of visibility : on following days, when the sky was more transparent, it could not be discerned ; at maximum according to Struve this star is of the twelfth magnitude, the smallest star which can be distinctly seen in the Pulkowa refractor being con<- sidered 13*5 — a very different scale of magnitude, it will be remarked, from that of Bessel ; No. 78 (Aa . . . --t-34"'5> AS ... + 9"7), varying, according to Struve, from 12*5 to invisibility, was not discerned ; No. 75 (Aa . . . + 21 '''•3, AS . . . 4- 39"'2) was 14-15 on March 14; Tisserand found No. V. of the Pulkowa list (Aa . . . + 378"'3, AS ... + 66"'3) extremely faint on Feb. 24, and quite invisible subsequently, whence he concludes this star to be also variable, and that its non-insertion by Herschel may have arisen from its bemg at a minimum at the epoch of his observations. Thirty-two stars have been remarked at Toulouse, which are not in the Pulkowa catalogue ; of these fifteen occur in Bond's catalogue, in vol. v. of " Annals of the Harvard Observatory " ; the remaining seventeen which have not, as it appears, been previously observed, are generally very faint, the only notable exceptions being in the cases of two stars, which have the following estimated co-ordinates relative to 6^. Ao ■\- 180" ... A5 - 180" » - 110" ... ,, - 480" The first star was 13 (an object termed tres belle with the Toulouse instrument) on February 17, but had become extremely faint on March 14 and 26. The second star is estimated 13, almost as bright as its neighbour, No. 55 of Struve's catalogue. M. Tisserand states that he has not been able to recognise all the stars in Bond's catalogue, more paiticularly in the neighbourhood of the trapezium. The numerous variable stars, which we have now reason to suppose exist in the nebula of Orion, certainly form one of the most significant and interesting features in the history of that grand object. It may be added here that M. Tisserand has also em- ployed the powerful optical means now at his command, upon observations of the satellites of Uranus. New Minor Planets. — Still another small planet is announced during the last week. It was found by M. Perrotin at Toulouse on April 26, in R.A. I4h. iim. 48s , N. P. D, 96° 24' ; twelfth magnitude. The planet detected by Prof. Watson at Ann Arbor on April 19 is called No. 161 in the Astronomische Nach- richten. These numbers, however, are now in much confusion, and names for those which are observed a sufficient length of time to allow of the determination of elements have an obvious advantage over the system of leaving these planets to be distinguished by a number only. As regards numbers there is even doubt as far back as No. 149, which has not yet been shown to be distinct from Frigga (No. 'j'j). Biela's Comet and the November Meteor-Stream. — If we take for the orbit of the November meteor-stream the elements calculated by Prof. J. C. Adams, and com- municated to the Royal Astronomical Society in April, 1867, and for Biela's comet a mean of the sets of elements for the two nuclei in 1866, given by Clausen in " Melanges Mathematiques et Astronomiques," &c., t. iii., of the Im- perial Academy of St. Petersburg, we find for the least distance between the tracks of the comet and the meteors, 0*054, the mean distance of the earth from the sun being taken as unity. This nearest point of approach is in heliocentric longitude 61° 30' (equinox of 1866), where we have — Comet. Meteors. Heliocentric latitude ... 0° 58' N. 2° 57' N. True anomaly 311° 44' 356° 24' Radius-vector 1*0266 0*9865 May 4, 1876] NATURE II The approximation of the orbit of Biela's comet to that of the November meteor- stream, and consequently to that of Tempel's comet, 1866 (I.), was first pointed out by Prof. Bruhns, of Leipsic, in Astron. Nach., No. 1681, but the heliocentrics there employed were deduced from the geocentric places of Santini's rough ephemeris. PROF. FLOWER'S HUNTERIAN' LECTURES ON THE RELATION OF EXTINCT TO EXIST. ING MAMMALIA "■ IX. THE disputed zoological position of the Lemurs, and the great importance which has been attached to them by some zoologists, who regard them as the direct transition between the lower and higher mammals, and as survivors of a large group now almost extinct, through which the higher Primates must have passed in the pro- gress of their development, give great interest to the consideration of their ancient history. Until very recently fossil Lemurs were quite unknown, at all events the affinities of certain remains provisionally assigned to the group were much questioned, but within the last few years the existence of Lemuroid animals in Europe during the early Tertiary period has been per- fectly established, and remains of a large number of animals attributed, though with less certainty, to the order, have been found in beds of corresponding age in North America. In 1872, a nearly complete skull of an animal some- what allied to the modern African Pottos and Galagos, though of a more generalised character both of cranial conformation and dentition, was described by M. Del- fortrie, under the name of Palceoiemur betillei. It was found in phosphatic deposits, probably of early Miocene age, in the department of Lot. It was soon afterwards discovered that certain more or less fragmentary speci- mens which had been long before described, and had been generally though doubtfully referred to the Ungulata, were really nothing more than animals of the same group, and probably even of the same species. These are Adapts parisiensis, Cuvier, frpm the Paris gypsums, Aphelothe- riuin diivenioyi, Gervais, and Ccenopithecus lemuroides, Rutimeyer. The recognition of these animals as Le- muroids shows how little reliance can be placed upon the characters of the molar teeth alone in judging of affinities, and should also lead to the re-examination of some of the smaller mammals of our own Tertiaries, such as Miolophus, as it is not improbable that Lemurs may be found among them. The same deposits in which M. Delfortrie's specimen was found, have since yielded two other skulls, one of smaller and the other of larger size, named by M. Filhol, Necrolemtcr antiqmis and Adapts mas;ntis respectively. It should, however, be mentioned that M. Filhol only admits the first to be a true Lemur, and considers the genus Adapts as the type of a hitherto unknown group of mammals, intermediate between the Lemurs and Pachyderms, to which he gives the name of Pachyletmir. Of the supposed low and generalised forms of Primates from the Tertiaries of North America, the existence of which was announced almost simultaneously by Professors Marsh and Cope in 1 872, it is difficult to speak with certainty at present, as the descriptions which have reached this country are not very detailed. As many as fifteen genera have already been named. They are nearly all from the Eocene formations, two only having been found in the lower Miocene. The remains of no true monkeys have hitherto been discovered in the Eocene, but several species have been found both in Miocene and Pliocene formations in ' Abstract of a course of lectures delivered at the Royal College of Sur- geons "On the Relation of Extinct to Existing Mammalia, with Special j Reference to the Derivative Hypothesis," in conclusion of the coiu^e of 1873. ' (See Report* iu Nature for that year.) Contiaued from vol. xiii. p. 514. Europe. The most abundant and best preserved are those from Greece, Mesopithecus pentelici, allied to the existing genus Semttopithecus, though with shorter and stouter limbs. Others have been found in the Siwalik Hills of India allied to the same form, and in France, the South of Germany, and Italy, related to the Macaques and to the Gibbons. The most interesting species is one known by the lower jaw only, from a Miocene bed at St. Gaudens, in France, described by Lartet under the xizxae oi Dryopitheais fontani. Its affinities have given rise to some discussion, but as far as can be decided from the evidence before us, it appears intermediate be- tween the chimpanzee and gorilla, and of the size of the former. Considering how nearly the Miocene fauna of Europe resembles in its general features the actual fauna of Africa, it is not surprising that an ape of the genus Troglodytes should have formed part of it. No remains of monkeys allied to the existing American forms have been found in the Old World, and conversely, all those discovered by Lund in the Brazilian caverns belong to the families now inhabiting the same part of the world. No monkeys have yet been found in the alluvial deposits of the plains, which are so rich in the great Edentates, nor in fact have they been met with in any older South American Tertiaries. The ancient history of the group, as revealed to us by palaeontology, is there- fore extremely incomplete. Further researches into the fauna of the North American Eocenes may throw some light upon it. No actual remains of man have been met with which can be said with certainty to be older than the Pleistocene period, though it is asserted that his existence upon the earth in the Pliocene and even Miocene epoch is proved by works of art found in deposits of those ages. These, however, are questions to be decided by the antiquary and the geologist, and are beyond the scope of the ana- tomist. The oldest known remains of man from Euro- pean caves (with perhaps the exception of the celebrated skeleton from the Neanderthal, the age of which is doubt- ful) do not differ more from modem Europeans than do several of the lowest modern races. In other words, no proof of the existence in former times of a race of men inferior in general organisation to the Australians, and forming any nearer approach to the lower animals, has yet been discovered. In reviewing our present knowledge of the palseontology of the Mammalia we see immense progress of late years, giving hopes for the future. Here and there we have tolerably complete histories of gradual modification of forms with advancing time, and adapted to the exigencies of changing circumstances, as among the Ungulata and the Carnivora ; and we have many instances of extinct forms filling the gaps between those now existing. But still there are great gaps or rather gulfs between most of the large groups or orders, without at present any trace of connecting links, or anything to indicate how they were once filled up, as must have been the case if they have all been gradually evolved from a common origin. We have very much to learn before we can speak with any con- fidence upon the manner in which all the diversities of form we see around us have been brought about, or attempt to construct pedigrees or phylogenies, except in the most provisional and tentative manner. INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGY T^HE Permanent Committee of the Vienna Meteoro- -'■ logical Congress has just held its third meeting in London, which lasted from the iSth to the 22nd April inclusive. The members present were Prof. Buys Ballot (Holland), president. Professors Bruhns (Germany), Can- ton! (Italy), Mohn (Norway), Wdd (Russia), and Mr. Scott. Prof. Jelinek (Austria) was unfortunately absent owing to ill-health. 12 NATURE {May 4, 1876 Among numerous subjects which came up for consi- deration, it appeared that the scheme for publication, in a uniform manner, of actual observations and monthly results from a limited number of stations in each country, which are to be considered as international, had been already accepted almost without exception or suggestion of amendment by all the countries which had been present at Vienna. It is hoped that this measure will ultimately tend to bring about unifonnity in hours and methods of observation. In weather telegraphy it was resolved to calculate gradients in the metric scale, as millimetres per one de- gree (sixty nautical miles). In this country they will be referred to English units. It was not found practicable to endeavour to introduce uniform hours for observations in weather telegraphy in Europe at present. As to weather charts, a proposal for the exclusion of all meridians except that of Greenwich was postponed to the next Congress. It was resolved to take advantage of that meeting to attempt to effect the comparison of the principal standard barometers by means of travelling barometers to be conveyed to the place of meeting, and left there for a considerable time. It was recognised as impracticable at present to create an International Meteorological Institute, and conse- quently it was decided that international investigations must be carried on at the expense of individual nations, other nations to be requested to furnish materials, as far as possible, in a usable form. A list of upwards of 200 subscribers to the international synoptic weather charts of Capt. Hoffjneyer was announced. Resolutions were adopted in favour of the establish- ment of stations on high mountains, and in distant locali- ties, and Lieut. Weyprecht's proposition for a circle of observing stations in the Arctic Regions round the Pole was recognised as scientifically of high importance and deserving of general support. With reference to universal instructions for observa- tions it was stated that no general form of instructions could be drawn up to suit all climates, and it appeared to the committee that the instructions recently prepared in the German, Russian, and English languages respec- tively, as well as in Italian (as soon as some contem- plated modifications shall have been introduced), were sufficiently in accordance with the requirements of the Vienna Congress. It was hoped that ere long French instructions of the same tenor would be issued. It was announced that the Italian Government was prepared to invite the next Congress to meet at Rome in September 1877, and the proposal was most gratefully accepted. In preparation for this meeting a number of reports on the present state of the different departments of the science are called for from various meteorologists. The questions to be treated in these reports are mainly instrumental, and they are of great importance in the present state of the subject. The detailed Report of the Committee will be published without delay. SOIREE OF THE ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY r\^ Friday, April 21st, Mr. H. C. Sorby, president of ^^ the Royal Microscopical Society, gave a large soiree in the apartments of King's College. Invitations had been issued for above 1,500, including the whole of the Fellows of the Royal Microscopical Society, the presi- dents and leading officers of many of the London Scien- tific Societies ; all the distinguished foreigners now in London as commissioners from the various foreign Governments to the Exhibition of Scientific Apparatus at South Kensington • and many of the President's pri- vate friends. About 800 were present, including about 300 ladies. After having been received by the President and one of the secretaries, the visitors passed into the various rooms of the College, in which were exhibited many objects connected with microscopical science. For the number, variety, scientific value, or general interest of the specimens, this exhibition has probably never been surpassed. Amongst the new instruments m^iy be men- tioned Mr. Sorby's arrangement for accurately measuring the wave-length of the centre of absorption-bands in spectra ; a new form of Stephenson's erecting binocular microscope, by Mr. Bevington, and another by Mr. Browning, of somewhat different construction. Mr. Browning also exhibited his new portable microscope, which is so constructed that the body can be turned on one side and reversed in such a manner as to reduce the height to about one half. The President also exhibited a large series of specimens illustrating his own special subjects, shown by means of fifty micro- scopes, lent to him by four of the principal makers in London (Becks, Browning, Crouch, and Ross), and about 150 first-rate instruments and objects were con- tributed by the Fellows of the society and other friends. These were so distributed over the large apartments of the College as to avoid crowding in any part. Almost every branch of science to which the microscope has been applied was well represented, and many of the finest specimens ever prepared were shown and described. Many very interesting living objects were sent direct from the Brighton Aquarium and elsewhere. In the lec- ture theatre were exhibited Dr. Hudson's most beautiful drawings of microscopic objects shown in a new man- ner as transparencies ; Mr. Spottiswoode's splendid pola- rising apparatus, and various objects shown with the oxy- hydrogen microscope by How and Company. The large entrance hall was decorated with plants and flowers, and used as a promenade. The two museums of the College were also thrown open. Refreshments were supplied by the steward of the College. The guests were provided with a classified catalogue of the objects exhibited, but they were so numerous that it was impossible for any one to examine more than a small part of the whole. One of the most satisfactory results of the soiree is the great im- pression produced by it on the foreign scientific men, who appear to have been quite unprepared for, and greatly surprised at, what they saw during the evening. ON CERTAIN METHODS OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH^ 'X'HE lecturer began by describing the simple form of -'- apparatus which he employed many years ago in his researches on the heat evolved in the combination of oxygen, chlorine, bromine, &c., with other bodies. In every case the bodies to be combined were inclosed in a vessel surrounded with water, and the combination was effected either by the ignition of a fine platinum wire, or where they acted directly upon one another, by the frac- ture of a glass capsule containing one of the combining bodies, the heat being measured by the rise of tempera- ture of the water. He next referred to the arrangement by which he had been the first to decompose water so as to render visible the hydrogen and oxygen, and to mea- sure their relative volumes by means of atmospheric electricity and of electrical currents from the ordinary machine. For this purpose fine platinum wires were hermetically sealed into fine thermometer tubes, which were then filled with dilute sulphuric acid by withdrawing the air by ebullition. The same current of frictional elec- tricity will decompose the water in almost an indefinite number such couples arranged in a consecutive series. Capillary tubes of this kind may be employed for eudio- metric experiments, which would be exceedingly tedious in wide tubes. Thus oxygen gas can at once be absorbed by passing the silent discharge through it while standing ' Abstract of a Lecture to the Chemical Society by Dr. Andrews, F. R.S., April 28. Communicated by the author. May 4, 1876J NATURE 15 over a solution of iodide of potassium. By means of the air pump it is easy with a gentle exhaustion to expand the gas so that it may fill the whole tube while the open end is immersed in the liquid which it is desired to intro- duce ; on removing the pressure the gas will be in contact with the new liquid. The lecturer exhibited some of the original tubes with which Prof. Tait and he first determined that ozone is a condensed form of oxygen, and explained a form of appa- ratus by means of which this important fact can be exhi- bited as a class experiment. A full description of this I apparatus will be found in his lecture on ozone, which was delivered some time ago before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and has since been published by the Scottish Meteorological Society. With this apparatus the lecturer has been able to determine that chlorine gas undergoes no change of volume from the prolonged action of the electrical discharge. His experiments on this subject have not yet been pubhshed, but they were made under singularly favourable conditions for discovering a very small change of volume in the gas if any such change had occurred. The lecturer in the next place briefly alluded to the method he formerly employed for determining the latent heat of vapours of which a detailed account was given in a former communication to the Chemical Society. The apparatus employed admits of exact experiments being made on a small scale, and consequently on substances in an absolutely pure state, an object of even greater im- portance in inquiries of this kind than in ordinary chemical analyses. He remarked that a large field for investigation in this part of the domain of science lay comparatively uncultivated and would yield a rich harvest of results to anyone who would enter upon it. Passing from this subject, the lecturer described a dividing and calibrating machine which he contrived some years ago for the special work in which he has been engaged, and which has given to many of his investiga- tions an accuracy otherwise hardly attainable. He has been enabled by means of it to construct thermometers whose readings are absolutely coincident throughout every part of the scale, and to calibrate with almost perfect accuracy the glass tubes used in his pressure experiments. It would be impossible in an abstract to describe the con- struction of this machine, but it may be important to mention that the screw which moves the microscope or divider is a short one of remarkable accuracy constructed by Troughton and Simms. The last subject treated was the lecturer's method of invesfigating the properties of gaseous and liquid bodies at high pressures and under varied temperatures. By means of his apparatus, which was exhibited to the meeting, pressures of 500 atmospheres can be readily observed and measured in glass tubes — in a word, a com- plete mastery obtained over matter under conditions hitherto beyond the reach of direct observations. This has been effected by a novel mode of packing a fine steel screw, so that while entering a confined portion of water no leakage whatever occurs under enormous pressures, and also by a peculiar method of forming a tight junction between glass and metal. The lecture was concluded by a short statement of the more important results lately communicated to the Royal Society on the properties of matter in the gaseous state, SCIENCE IN GERMANY {From a German Correspondent.) IN my last communication (Nature, vol. xiii, p. 75), I noticed the researches of Ranke on various organs of sense of the lower animals. A new series of these researches having since appeared, I will give some account of them in what follows. Ranke {Zeitschrift fiir Wissenschaftliche Zoologie, xxv., 2 Heft. Supplement.) has studied more closely, in their physiological relations, the organ of hearing of certain grasshoppers {Acridia) and snails {Pteroirachea), and the eye of the leech, which organs were previously known in general from the researches of Siebold, Leuckart, Leydig, Boll, and others. The Acridia carry their organ of hearing on the base of the hinder- most extremity. It consists essentially of a membrane, which is stretched within the body wall on a fixed ring, and an auditory nerve, which is connected from within to that membrane, and ends on it in a swelling or so- called ganglion. That membrane is undoubtedly to be compared with the membrane of the tympanum in the ear of the most highly organised animals ; inasmuch as, like this, it is put in vibrations corresponding to the sound- waves in the air, and transfers these vibrations to the parts lying within. In the higher animals, these parts consist of rigid lever arrangements (small bones of the ear), which, however, are connected with the acoustic nerve not directly, but through a transmitting apparatus, which separates the vibrations produced by various sound-waves, and specially prepares them for conveyance by the nerves. In the Acridia, the whole internal conduction of the sound-waves is more simply arranged ; the ganglion on the tympanic membrane consists of two different halves ; in the interior the finest nerve-threads proceeding from the auditory nerve unite with large round nerve-cells, from B I Ganglion of organ of hearing in Acridia (schema after Ranke). Eye of leech (schema after Ranke). which they proceed to the boundary of this half of the ganglion, and there end in smaller nerve-cdls. The outer half of the ganglion consists of a brighter and delicate ground mass, in which very fine rods, transparent like glass, and fixed, run parallel towards the tympanic mem- brane ; they spring out of those smaller cells, terminate on the tympanic membrane with longish thickenings, and may be regarded as the end-apparatus of the nerve-con- duction. But while thus the vibrations of the tympanic membrane are communicated to the rods and from these direct, without further intervention, to the nerve-appa- ratus, there is not entirely wanting a weakening or damping arrangement for the sound-waves ; for the ground-mass, in which the rods rest, may very well be regarded as such an arrangement. As the rods are all formed alike, the sensations of tone by the Acridia must be always homogeneous and simple ; and if we may suppose that the organ of hearing of these animals is adapted to their own production of tone, by which they excite sexual desire, then their monotonous rattle agrees with the arrangement of the auditory apparatus for a simple sensation. In other grasshoppers, the Locustida, the vocal organ produces a sound compounded of more tones ; and correspondingly, they have on their fore legs an organ of hearing, the rods in which are of various length and breadth, and, arranged like the wires in a 14 NA TURE [May 4, 1876 piano, evidently serve for excitation of different sensations of tone. The organ of hearing of the Acridia is then, simple, in a similar sense to that of the simple eyes which perceive light, but not colours and forms ; and therefore it closely approximates to the organs of touch, which like- wise render sensible simple mechanical stimuli, and are often arranged in a way similar to those organs of hearing. The eye of the leech consists of a cup-like inflexion of the skin, which is so lined with large transparent cells that only a narrow axial canal remains. The nerve-stem which enters at the bottom of the cup, fills this canal up to a certain height, and ends there with a ganglion, while the nerve-fibres pass into small cells, whose outer end runs out into a short rod ; the entire cup is coated round with a pigment skin and enveloped in muscles, which are directed partly parallel, partly at right angles to the skin surface, and therefore can draw the whole cup with its sheath inwards, or press the contents somewhat outwards. The former happens when the animal is surprised by sudden light, just as we close our eyes in like circum- stances. After some time, the leech opens its eyes, a part of the glass-like cells on the rim of the open cup being pressed out in form of a compact hemisphere. In this way a pretty perfect visual apparatus is arranged. The outer glass- like hemisphere corresponds to the light- refracting medium of a more perfect eye. The mosaic of rod-cells behind receives the separate rays and con- veys the stimulus to the nerves, while the pigment layer cuts off all round the light that has penetrated. Besides these eyes on the upper lip, the leech possesses on other parts of the body organs constructed quite similarly, only without a pigment skin, so that they cannot be visual organs. On the other hand, they are thrust out when the animal is feeling about, and are thus evidently organs of touch ; but at the same time the organs of sight are used in the same way ; and when the animal sucks in the liquids agreeable to it, it draws the upper lip with the open organs of sight into the mouth. It would appear, then, that these organs are at once the means of sensations of touch, taste, and sight. To conceive this rightly we must consider that in the lowest animals the special sensations of sense are not yet differentiated ; their body is in all parts alike sensitive, and sensation can only mean, quite generally, ease or uneasiness. In a higher form of organisation, certain body-parts are, by peculiar arrange- ments, rendered sensitive to pressure, heat, light, and chemical stimulation. But before such a simple organ of sense develops in one direction for a particular kind of stimulus, it can also communicate simple sen- sations of a different kind. We ourselves know such a combination of different sensations through the same organ of sense ; g.^. our ear, at the boundary of the tone- conductors, may feel, instead of tones, simply a vibra- tion or a tickling, and thus has a sensation of touch like that produced in a finger-point when a vibrat- ing tuning-fork is applied to it. Again, in our tongue, sensations of taste, smell, and touch are mixed together. Thus the organ of hearing of Acridia, which can only feel hissing noises, but no tones, may be compared, in the quality of its sensation, to an organ of touch ; and of the visual organ of the leech, it may perhaps be said that it receives somewhat of the sensation of touch and taste. In short, Ranke holds these organs to be of such a kind that the general feeling is not yet fully separated- into the categories of touch, hearing, seeing, &c. The ear of the Pterotrachea had long been known as a bladder, on whose inner wall are tufts of hair, the motions of which throw to and fro the otoliths or small spherical stones freely suspended within the bladder. It was believed that these continuous motions were connected with the sensation of hearing. Ranke proves, however, that they are merely due to convulsive movements of the animal in dying under the observation, and that the acoustical apparatus proper consists of a ganglion in the bladder wall, organised similarly to that in the Acridia. In the normal condition, the otoliths are pressed by the surrounding hair-tufts against the acoustical apparatus only in the case of stronger sound-stimuli, and they have then a damping action. NOTES FROM THE ''CHALLENGER" '^ pROF. THOMSON in this paper after briefly referring to a •^ visit to the Hawaiian crater of Kilauea, proceeds as follows : — In the section bstween Hawaii and Tahiti, except at one station close to Tahiti, where the depth was 1,525 fathotns, the depth ranged throughout the section from 2,000 to 3,000 fathoms with a mean of about 2,600 fathoms, and the nature of the bottom was very uniform. Except in the neighbourhood of the groups of volcanic islands, where it was found to be largely composed of volcanic de'dris and shore mud, it consisted mainly of red clay, in many of the soundings containing a large admixture of the decaying shells of Foraminifera, and in almost all including a large proportion of manganese peroxide in the form of concre- tions from the size of a nut to that of an OrbuUna, and passing into fine, almost microscopic granules visible under a low power in every sample of sounding. In two patches the siliceous skeletons of Radiolarians were so abundant as almost to entitle the deposit to the name of " Radiolarian ooze," and a patch between these, nearly halfway between Hawaii and Tahiti, in its abundance of surface Foraminifera approached a true "Globi- gerina ooze." The larger samples of bottom brought up in the dredge or trawl had of course generally the same character as the contents of the "Bailie" sounding-tubes; but in these large manganese concretions, up to the size of an orange, or even larger, were collected in quantity, the greater part of the red" clay being usually washed out. The surface-temperature naturally rose in passing southwards from Hawaii towards the equator, and again sank from the equa- torial belt towards Tahiti. The isothermobaths * between 14 C. and 24° C. gathered together and approached much nearer to the surface in the region of the trade-wmds, owing no doubt to the rapid removal to the hot surface-water by evaporation and the driving action of the wind. Thus the isotliermobathic line of 14° C, which is at a depth of 200 fathoms a little to the north of Tahiti, is at a depth of 100 fathoms on the line. In the Atlantic all the isothermobaths seem to participate in the rise in the region of the trade-winds ; it is not so in the Pacific ; the lines below 14° C. uniformly sink, forming a depression which extends from lat. 10" N. to lat. 10* S, ; thus the isothermobath of 5° C, which may be taken as a type of these deeper lines, is found in lat. 10° N. at a depth of 450 fathoms ; and in lat. 10° S. at the same temperature within the limits of error of observation, while in lat. 2° 34' N. it is found at 625 fathoms. The point where the isothermobaths gather together most markedly and approach nearest to the surface is a little to the north of the northern boi-der of the equatorial counter current. This fall of temperature is so decided as to indicate some special areas of cold water ; and it may possibly be to some extent due to the pressing up of deeper and therefore colder layers of the colder trade-current against the hot stream. In the equatorial region between lat. 10° N. and 10° S. there is a belt of water about 80 fathoms in thickness at a temperature generally over 25° C, and the whole of this water, with the exception of the narrow band of the counter current, is running to the westward at the rate of from forty to seventy miles a day. The bottom fauna over the whole of the manganese area is- very meagre, both as to number of species and number of indi- viduals. After a week's stay at Tahiti the Challenger left the harbour' of Papeete on the 3rd of October, and arrived at Valparaiso on the 19th. ' " Preliminary Report to the Hydrographer to the Admiralty, on some of the Results of the Cruise of H.M.S. Challenger between Hawaii and' Valparaiso," by Prof. Wyville Thomson, F.R.S., Director of the Civilian Scientific Staff on board. Paper read before the Roval Society. 2 The word Isotherm having been hitherto so specially appropriated to ' lines passing through places of equal temperature on the surlace of the earth, I have found it convenient, in considering these questions of ocean' temperature, to use the terms Isothermobath and IsabathytheriH ; the former to indicate a line drawn through points of equal temperature in a vertical section, and the latter a line drawn through points of equal depth at which a given temperature occurs. Isothermobaths are shown in a scheme of a vertical section, such as Plate II. Isobathytherms are of courie pro-' jected on the surface of the globe. . - May 4, 1876] NATURE 15 The section from Papeete to Valparaiso (Plate III.) is about 5,000 miles in length, and is naturally divided into two parts, the run southwards to the parallel of 40° S. , and the course along that parallel towards Valparaiso. Setting aside Station 279 in 680 fathoms close to Tahiti, the mean depth throughout the section was 2,139 fathoms, con- siderably less than that of the meridional section from Honolulu to Tahiti, and very much less than that of the section in the North Pacific, between Japan and San Francisco. The nature of the bottom is very much the same as in the meridional section, red clay imbedding nodules, and lumps of various sizes of man- ganese peroxide, and passing in the shallower soundings into more or less pure Globigerina ooze, and as in the section between Hawaii and Tahiti the fauna is generally meagre. The trawling between Juan Fernandez and Valparaiso (Station 298) was par- ticularly interesting ; animal forms were much more abundant than they usually are in the Pacific ; and the general character of the assemblage resembled in a remarkable degree that of the fauna of the Southern Sea in the neighbourhood of the Crozets and Kerguelen, many of the species, including some singular Urchin of the family Ananchytidse, being identical. The bottom at this station was a bluish mud, the surface layer con- taining little or no carbonate of lime, and curiously enough a deeper layer, with a considerable proportion of Globigerina shells. There was no considerable quantity of manganese in the sounding. Notwithstanding the considerable depth of 2,225 fathoms, the conditions in ihis locality seem much more favour- able to animal life than even the manganese area ; and I am inclined to think that we had struck upon one of the highways by which migration takes place to the northward from the Southern Sea. Although there are certain points which have yet to be worked out in detail, the general distribution of temperature in the Pacific seems sufficiently simple. In the first place, the whole mass of water consists of two well-marked divisions, an upper layer of no great depth, in which there is rapid cooliui^ from the surface downwards, and considerable vari- ation in temperature in different localities ; and a mass of water of incomparably greater amount, which extends to the bottom, and which may be said to have nearly the same temperature throughout. These two divisions shade into one another, but the isothermobath of 5° C. may be taken as indi- cating generally the limit between them ; below this Ime the isotherniobaths are still affected by surface thermal conditions, but comparatively slightly. Above the line of 5° C. the course of the isothermobaths is to all appearance entirely regulated by causes affectmg the surface-temperature, that is to say directly or indirectly by surface currents produced by permament, periodic, or variable winds. The equatorial current occupies the region of the trade-winds, approximately from lat. 20° N. to 20" S., and there is a strong but narrow counter current entirely comparable with the counter current in the Atlantic between the parallels of 5" and 8° N. The water of the equatorial current has no free egress to the westward, being intercepted by the peninsula of Malacca and the islands of tfie Malay archipelago ; but neither is it completely arrested, as the equatorial current is in the Atlantic by the unbroken coast of America ; consequently a return current less permanent and less defined than the return current in the Atlantic finds its way to the north-eastward along the coast of Japan. The course ot the Japan current is much the same as that of the Gulf-stream, and is due, as in the Atlantic return current, to the high initial velocity of the inter- cepted water ; its influence on the temperature of the ocean is, however, much sooner reduced and obliterated. The hot water of the Pacific equatorial current, instead of being gathered together and focussed by the form of the land- barrier, as it is in that of the Atlantic, spreads out in the middle and West Pacific in a vast sheet of abnormally warm water, extending to a depth of nearly 100 fathoms ; thus the isobathy- iherm of 25° C. at 80 fathoms passes near Hawaii and Tahiti, and near the parallel of 20* N. on sections between the Admi- ralty Islands and Japan, The lower isothermobaths of the upper layer are a little nearer the surface in lat. 40° N. than in lat. 40° S. ; and this I believe to be due to the banking of the Antarctic indraught against the Arctic land-barrier, and to be the only case in which the position of the lines of equal tempera- ture in the upper layer is not absolutely dependent upon the wind. The temperature of the underlying cold water is derived from another source, and its distribution is governed by other laws. Throughout the Pacific the isothermobath of 5° C. maintains on the whole a very even course, oscillating between the 400 and 500-fathom lines. These oscillations depend upon causes acting on the surface, for the line rises and falls in harmony with the higher isothermobaths. The line of 5° '_'. deviates sensibly on two occasions from its comparatively straight course. In the equatorial region it sinks to a depth of 625 fathoms, probably from the communication of heat from the upper layer of water by mixing ; and in lat. 40 it rises to 300 fathoms, probably, as I have already said, from the accumulation of cold water against the Arctic barrier. The next three degrees of temperature are lost with increasing slowness in the next 700 fathoms, the line of 2° C. making a very even course at a depth of l,loo fathoms, and the remaining degree or degrees and a fraction is lost between 1,100 fathoms and the bottom. The depth of the Pacific increases slowly from the south to the north, the mean difference between the depth of the South Pacific and that of the north being perhaps as much as 1,000 fathoms. Notwith- standing this increase in depth, we have satisfied ourselves, although the determination is one of great difficulty, that the bottom temperature rises sljghtly from the south northwards. We can scarcely say more than that it rises slightly, for the differences in the temperatures below 1,500 fathoms are so small that a result can only be arrived at by a careful combination and comparison of many observations, taking into full considera- tion the errors of the thermometers arising from all sources. There is a like very slight decrease in the bottom-temperatures from east to west. I think we can scarcely doubt that like the similar mass of cold bottom water in the Atlantic, the bottom water of the Pacific is an extremely slow indraught from the Southern Sea. That it is moving, and moving from a cold source, is evident from the fact that it is much colder than «he mean winter tem- perature of the area which it occupies, and colder than the meaia winter temperature of the crust of the earth ; that it is moving in one mass from the southward is .«hown by the uniformity of its conditions, by the gradual rise of the bottom-temperatures to the northward, and by the fact that there is no adequate northern source of such a body of water, Behring's Strait being only forty fathoms deep, and a considerable part of that area bting occu- pied by a warm current from the Pacific into the Arctic Sea, and by our knowledge fropi observations that one or two trifling currents from the Sea of Okotsk and the Behring Sea, which are readily detected and localised, and are quite independent of the main mass of cold water, represent the only Arctic influx. During its progress northwards the upper portion of the mass becomes slightly raised in temperature by mixture with, and pos- sibly by slow conduction from, the upper layers which are affected by solar heat. At the end of the Gulf, that is to say in the extreme north, furthest from the cold source, the temperature is, as I have already pointed out, influenced to the very bottom ; and the isothermobaths between 8" and 5° C. are obviously raised and pressed together, probably by the accumulation of the cold water against the land. The colder bottom-water to the westward might be expected from the lower initial velocity of the Antarctic water causing it to drag against the west coast. I am every day more lully satisfied that this influx of cold water into the Pacific and Atlantic oceans from the southward is to be referred to the simplest and most obvious of all causes, the excess of evaporation over precipitation in the northern portion of the land hemisphere, and the excess of precipitation over evaporation in the middle and southern part of the water- hemisphere. After what I have already said I need scarcely add that I have never seen, whether in the Atlantic, the Southern Sea, or the Pacific, the slightest ground for supposing that such a thing exists as a general vertical circulation of the water of the ocean depending upon differences of specific gravity. NOTES The forty-seventh anniversary of the Zoological Society was held on Saturday last. Viscount Walden, F.R.S., the Pre- sident, being in the chair. Mr. P. L. fc'clater, F.R.S., the Secretary, read the report, which showed that the income (28,738/.) was greater than it had been in any previous year since the foundation of the Society. The total number of visitors in 1875 had been 699,918. The new lion house had been, as far as its main portions were concerned, completed and opened to the public. The building contains fourteen dens, the i6 NA TURE \May 4, 1876 larger of which measure 20 ft. by 12 ft., the smaller being 12 ft. square. The out-door cages are to be completed by the end of July next ; they will measure 44 ft. by 29 ft. Mr. Sclater desired it to be known that of the larger Felidse, the Ounce {Felis tmcia) was a desideratum. The adoption of the report was moved by Prof. Huxley, seconded by Prof. Tennant, and carried unanimously. Our readers will regret the very sudden death of Lieut. J. E. Cornelissen, which occurred at Brussels in the month of March. Those who enjoyed the pleasure of his acquaintance will re- member the hearty sailor-like demeanour of the man, while all who have paid attention to maritime meteorology will be ready to recognise his high scientific merits and the practical turn of mind which made the marine publications of the Utrecht Insti- tute so eminently useful to seamen. He had been for sixteen years at the head of the marine branch of that establishment, having succeeded Andrau. He leaves a wife and four children utterly unprovided for. The following are the names of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into various matters connected with the Scottish Uni- versity : — Lord Justice-General Inglis, the Duke of Buccleuch, Lord Moncreiff, the Right Hon. Lyon Playfair, C.B., Sir William Stirling Maxwell, James Craufurd, one of the Senators of the College of Justice in Scotland, William Watson, her Majesty's Solicitor-General for Scotland, John Muir, D.C.L., James Anthony Froude, Archibald Campbell Swinton, LL.D , Prof. Huxley, Dr. James Alexander Campbell, LL.D. We learn from the Illustrated Australian News, of Feb. 23, that a party consisting of Mr. Lawes, M. O. C. Stone, F.R.G.S., Mr. Hargreave, of Sidney, and Mr. K. Broadbent, bird collector, together with several Southsea Islanders, have made a successful excursion into the interior of New Guinea from Port Moresby. They attained a village called Munikaihila, situated i,cxx3 feet above the sea-level, and were well received by the natives. The view from this point was very fine. " All around were moun- tains and hills of every shape and size, covered with trees to the very summits," and Mount Owen Stanley rose as a grand back- ground to the panorama apparently about twenty miles distant. We shall no doubt shortly receive a notice of Mr. Broadbent's discoveries. We have much pleasure in noting that in the monthly publi- cation of tri-daily meteorological observations issued from Vienna, Dr. Jelinek has this year included two stations the obser- vations at which, in addition to their climatological importance, cannot fail to be of the greatest value in constructing weather- maps, viz., Sulina, near the mouth of the Danube, and Alex- andria, in Egypt. In a further discussion of the temperature observations made at the Museum of Natural History, at Paris, the MM. Bec- querel point out that the mean temperature of the soil under grass is a little in excess of that under bare soil, and that under grass the temperature has not fallen below 32°, a fact of some importance in horticulture. Prof. Nordenskjold is to leave Gothenburg, on July 10, in a steamer of 163 tons for another cruise to the mouth of the Jenesei. He will sail up the river as far as Dudinko, when the steamer will take merchandise on board and return to Norway, the object of this expedition being to prove that there is a mari- time route between Norway and the Siberian coast. We learn from L' Explorateur, moreover, that a Russian steamer is to leave the Jenesei and proceed to St. Petersburg by the Kara Sea, the North Sea, and the Baltic. M. MARif: Davy, the Director of the Montsouris Observatory, is to tiry whether Crookes's rotating radiometer can be utilised for actinometric purposes. No establishment is in a better position to try the experiment, Montsouris being supplied with regular actinometers, and special tables having been calculated for regulating as far as possible, their daily use. It is announced that Sir Bartle Frere is to be made a baronet. The Queen has conferred upon Lieut. Cameron — who was presented to her Majesty last Friday — the honour of Companion of the Bath, in recognition of his distinguished services in Africa. At the Annual Meeting of the Royal Institution on Monday, a piece of plate and a purse containing 300 guineas, were pre- sented to Prof. Tyndall as a testimonial of congratulation on his recent marriage. During the siege of Paris experiments were tried to make use of the conductibility of the Seine in order to establish com- munications with the outer world in spite of the Prussian blockade. Paris, however, surrendered before the apparatus had been arranged on the Upper Seine. This scheme has not been totally abandoned, and M. Bourbouge a preparateur of the Sorbonne has tried to establish the telegraph without wire. According to M. Parville, the plan has succeeded at a small dis- tance by expending a large quantity of electricity, not less than forty elements being required to work a magnetic needle at a distance of a quarter of a mile. The same experimenter is said to collect spontaneous currents from the earth with large elec- trodes. The interest of these experiments is unquestionable. From the * ' Annual Report upon the Survey of Northern and North-western Lakes, in charge of C. B. Comstock, Brigadier- General, U.S.A.," we learn that the triangulation has been carried around the south end of Lake Michigan, and stations have been located for its extension south and east toward Lake Erie. On Lake Ontario the topc^raphy has been essentially completed from the head of the Saint Lawrence along the south shore. to within twenty miles of the Niagara River, and the off- shore hydrography has made about the same progress. Trian- gulation-stations have been located as far west as Erie, Pa,, and have been built as far as the Niagara River. Charts of Lake Saint Clair, and No. 2 of the Saint Lawrence River are com- pleted. It is proposed during the present fiscal year to complete the field-work of the survey of Lake Ontario and commence that of Lake Erie. In the estimate of $184,000 for the survey of the lakes for the next fiscal f.year, an item of $25,000 has been included for the survey of the Mississippi River, No complete and accurate survey of the river has ever been made. Part I., No. IV., for 1875, of the Journal of the Asiatic Sociity tf Bengal, contains papers on the Angami Nagas and their language, by Capt. J. Butler, on the Maiwar Bhils, by Mr. T. H. Hendley, and specimens of popular songs of the Hamirpur District, Bundelkund, by Mr. F. A. Smith. The fifth part of the Bulletin of the Bussey Institution of Harvard University for 1876, completing vol. i., has just been published, and contains a number of valuable papers, principally by Pi of. Storer, Dr. Farlow, and Mr. Sargent. Dr. Farlow's papers treat of the fungi found in the vicinity of Boston, of the olive and orange trees of California, of the American grape-vine mildew, and of the black knot. Mr, Sargent reports the addi- tion of 165 species of trees and shrubs to the arboretum during the past year, and that over 100,000 plants have been raised. The papers of Prof. Storer, as usual, are of much scientific value. On the loth of January last, Mr. Lancelot Studdert, LL.D., read a paper before the Royal Irish Academy (since published in the Froceedings of that learned body) on "The free and May 4, 1876] NATURE 17 albuminoid ammonia yielded by the stagnant waters of the Dub- lin streets, as compaied with the quantities of those substances obtained from the Liflfey water receiving the sewage." Twenty- nine street waters were examined ; the mud, also, left from some was examined for ammonia. The following are Dr. Studdert's deductions : — The average of free ammonia from the four sam- ples of the river was 00982, or under i-io of a grain in the gallon ; the average of albuminoid ammonia irom the same is 0"0779, or under 1-12 of a grain in th« gallon. The average of free ammonia obtained from the twenty-nine street waters is seventeen grains to the gallon ; that is, over 170 times the like average from the river. The average of albuminoid ammonia from the street water is three grains to the gallon, or thirty- eight times the Liffey average. The maximum of free ammonia from the river only reached 0*175, ^^ l^^s than 1-5 of a grain to the gallon ; whilst the maximum of free ammonia from the street waters was 105 grains to the gallon, that is exactly 600 times greater than the river maximum. The least impure of the twenty-nine street waters yielded nearly three times more albu- minoid ammonia than the most impure sample of the river water. The average of disintegrating animal refuse in the Liffey is 0779, or just 3-4 of a grain in the gallon ; whilst the average of such refuse in the street waters is twenty-nine grains to the gallon. That much of this animal matter must, if not rapidly removed, take forms that will vaporise, seems to the writer all but certain, since the conditions for spontaneous decomposition may be said to be always present ; and he concludes that the continued presence of so much dirt in the streets would go far to account for the high death-rate (33 to the 1,000, yearly), then lately recorded for Dublin, and that better scavenging and a level surface for the streets are at once required. The proposal for establishing a mountain exploration club in America, with similar objects to the Alpine clubs of England and Switzerland, is meeting with a good deal of encouragement, and several meetings have been held for the purpose of organ- ising it. Mr. Bryck M. Wright, of No. 90, Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, has just received a most perfect specimen of Fossil Turtle {Chf Ionia Hoffmantti) from the Upper Chalk of Maes- tricht. It is 4 feet i inch in length and 22 inches wide, more than twice as large as the largest English specimens from Harwich and Swanage, Dorset, and is indeed the largest known. The correspondent J. C, who last year sent us a query con- cerning the cause of death of the house-fly, writes that recently he noticed that a humble-bee had five small animals like yellow spiders on its neck, and two more on its body. He had pre- viously noticed a number of hive-bees lying dead on the green- house floor. Another correspondent explained that the death of the fly was caused by parasites, and J. C. wishes to know if those on the bee are the same, and if they cause the death of bees as well as flies. The Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress will entertain the President of the Royal Society, the Astronomer-Royal, the Pre- sidents of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, and other distinguished representatives of science, at a grand banquet in the Mansion House, on Saturday-week, the 13th instant. The opening meeting of the Northamptonshire Natural History Society and Field Club was held at Northampton on April 21, Lord Lilford in the chair. This Society starts under good auspices, with a roll of sixty members, and we hope it will soon get into vigorous working tiim. It is officially announced that the Philadelphia Exhibition will be opened on the loth instant. The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include two iiennett's Cassowaries {Casuarius bennettt) from New Britain, presented by the Rev. George Brown ; an Indian Gazelle {Gazella bennettii) from India, presented by Lieut. King, 76th Regiment ; a Common Badger {Melestaxus) Euro- pean, presented by Mr. W. Barneby ; a Dusky Ichneumon (Herpestes pulverulenius) from India, a broad-fronted Crocodile {Crocodilus frontatus) from W. Africa, presented by Dr. Alex. Jennens ; four Blackish Stemotheres (Sternotharus stibniqer) from Madagascar, presented by Mr. Lionel Hart ; two Protei {Proteus ansfuinus) European, presented by Sir Bartle E. Frere ; a White-fronted Capuchin {Cebus albifrons) from S. America, a White-throated Capuchin {Cebus hyfoleuctts) from Central Ame- rica, a Lyre Bird {Menura superba) from Australia, a Hoffmann's Sloth {Cholopus hoffmanni) from Panama, three Common Boas {Boa conslrktor) from S. America, deposited ; a Collared Fruit Bat {Cynonycteris collaris) born in the Gardens. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Journal of tkt Chemical Society, No. clix., March 1876. — This number contains a lengthy account of the researches of Dr. Wright and Mr. G. H. Beckett on narcotine, cotarnine, and hydrocotarnine, being the third of a series of papers read by them before the Chemical Society on their researches in this direction. — Mr. E. Nelson gives an account of the sebates of the alcoholic series and an additional note on the sebate of cobalt. — A paper by Mr. P. P. Bedson, B. Sc, on some com- pounds of ether with anhydrous metallic chlorides, and one by Mr. R. W. Emerson Maclvor, on the iodides of antimony, complete the list of those papers read before the Chemical Society. — Numerous abstracts of papers published in other journals on various bodies in the different departments of chemistry occupy the greater part of the work now before us. Gazzetfa Chimica Italiana, Fascicolo IX. e X., Anno V., 1875, These paits contain the following papers : — Action of anhydrous chloral, and of the hydrate on aniline, by D. Amato. The author has obtained by this reaction a new base formed according to the equation : — COjCOH -H 2CfiH5NH„ = H^O -»- CCI3CH j JJ^^'S'- Chloral Aniline New base. The new substance forms square tabular crystals melting at lOO", soluble in alcohol, ether, and benzene, and in-oluble in water. Distilled with excess of potash it yields phenyiic cyanide : — CCI3CH j NHC6H5 + 3KHO = 3H,0 -t- 3KCI 4- 2C6H5CN. TheauthordescribesaisothehydrochlorideCCl3(NHC,H5)„HCl, and the platino- chloride [CCl3CH(NHC,iH5)„HCl]„PtCl4". — Study of essence of Cubibs, by A. Oglialoro. The author shows that this substance contains : — (i) a small quantity of a hydrocarbon Cj^Hjg, boiling at 158° — 163°. 2. A hydro- carbon C15H24, boiling at 264° — 265°, forming with hydro- chloric acid the compound C15H24 2HC]. 3. A hydrocarbon boiling at 262" — 263° not forming a compound with HCl, the composition of which is at present doubtful. The action of these hydrocarbons on the polarised ray is also described. — On the natural poison of the extract of human bodies, by Prof. A. Moriggia and A. Battistini. The remainder of the part is occu- pied by extracts from foreign journals. Foggendorff'' s Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Erganzung. Band vii. Stiick 3. — In a paper in this number on the magnetism of steel bars, by M. Fromme, it is shown that tie temporary magnetism increases at first more slowly, then more quickly, and again more slowly than the magnetising force. M. Fromme also got the interesting result that when the remanent mag- netism, through repeated action of a force P, has reached its limit, (the saturation corresponding to this force), a smaller force, p, is not capable of altering it. For every permanent moment ol a steel bar there are, from zero onwards, a series of magnetising forces, in relation to which the bar has the properties of a bar of soft iron (without coercive force). Exact determinations were made of the function of magnetisation for forces having this effect ; and it is shown that the Neumann- Kirchhoff developments on this subject cease to hold good as soon as the steel is permanently magnetic. M. Fromme further finds that the temporary mag- netism of a steel bar, with repeated magnetisation by a constant current, decreases, but in such a way that the whole magnetism i8 NATURE \May 4, 1876 remains unchanged ; thus, what is gained in remanent mag- netism is lost in temporary.— Dr. Dibbit observes that ammo- nium-sulphate, ammonium-oxalate, and ammonium-acetate, in boiling solution, are partly decompose'!, on addition of equiva- lent quantities of the chloride or the nitrate of potassium, sodium, or barium ; that decomposition is greater, the greater the quantity of chloride or nitrate added ; and that in all cases the solution contains, at ioo°, four salts. From other experi. ments he infers that the presence of salts in ammonia solu« tion increases the quantity of evaporated ammonia in re- lation to the evaporated vi^ater (even where the salts are such as enter into known combinations with ammonia), and this both at the ordinary and at the boiling temperature. — M. Holtz calls attention to the polar electric attraction of fine par- ticles suspended in liquids when under the influence of electric currents. There is always, along with the movements of trans- lations, an attachment to one pole or the other ; very well seen with lycopodium powder in sulphuric ether. .Some substances seem indifferent, neither wandering nor clinging to the poles, but if the bottom of the vessel be clean and free Irom air moisture, they form into beautiful, regular, characteristic figures. These may be had, e.g., with finely-powdered manganese, or iron oxide, or sawdust, in petroleum, oil of turpentine, benzine, or sulphuric ether. The figures are rarely long stable ; they show various internal movements, not essentially altering the character of the figure; and there is sometimes rotation. — M. Sohncke advances a new theory of crystalline structure, based on un« limited regular point systems ; and Dr. Exner gives an account of his recent researches on galvanic expansion of metallic wires ; which are noticed elsewhere in our columns. Zeitschrift der Oesterreichinchen Gesellschaft fiir Meteorolo^e, Jan. 15. —Dr. Mohn contributes an article to this number on the causes of the greater depressions of the barometer in winter than in summer. His present views on this subject are dit erent from those given in his work on meteorology. He explains that in order that a barometric minimum may attain a great depth, the ascending current must develop itself with ease and rapidity. Therefore, besides high temperature and a large amount of vapour, the air supplying the ascending current must possess qualities unlike those of the surrounding atmospheric region, so that the ascended air may flow off easily at great heights. The easier barometric maxima can be formed, the easier the development of minima. In winter the strong continuous radiation over the Continent tends to create maxima ; the cool- ing of the air over the sea is moderated by the quantity of vapour always present and by the ocean temperature, so that minima are formed. In summer opposite conditions prevail, but no nightly radiation comparable to that of the land in winter can occur, and thus only small depressions are observed. In a similar way the low pressure of the antarctic zone between lat. 70° and lat. 75° may be understood to be caused by the position of this region between two districts with high pressure, the one northwards about the tropic of Capricorn, the other the great Frozen Antarctic Continent. Between these two maxima lies an unbroken sea developing conditions favourable to the exist- ence of minima. — The next paper is by Dr. G. Hellmann, on the daily period of rainfall at Zechen. Journal de Physique, January. — The substances used in thermo- meters are generally such as are not in the neighbourhood of their change of state ; but (as M. Duclaux here shows) by using liquids that are near critical periods, very sensitive instruments may be had. Thus, if we mix 10 c.c. of crystallisable acetic acid with 5, 10, 15 c.c. of benzine at about 20° we have, in each case, a homogeneous mixture ; and in cooling the three liquids we come, with each, to a point at which it is troubled, and at length divides into two layers. The upper layer is found nearly always to contain one-third of acetic acid for two-thirds of benzine ; while the lower contains two-thirds of acetic acid and one-third of benzine. There are few combinations of two liquids that show small variations so distinctly as this one (acetic acid and petroleum is another). But a good mixture miay be had by taking 10 c.c. of amy lie alcohol, 25 c.c. of alcohol at 50"", and adding enough water to produce a slight opalescence. The least fall of temperature divides the mixture into two layers of nearly equal volume. Such a mixture will serve to show, e.g., the cold produced by solution of marine salt in water. By varying the quantity of water the mixture may be so made as to become troubled at any temperature desired ; and so a series of minimum thermometers may be constructed. A little carmine may be used to make the changes more apparent. — M. Deprez, in this number, gives some useful directions on the construction of electro-magnetic registers ; and M. Branly describes the electro* meter he uses for measuring electromotive force, resistance, and polarisation. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Chemical Society, April 28. — Prof. Andrews, F!R.S., delivered a most interesting lecture on certain methods of chemical research (see p. 12). Anthropological Institute, April 25.— Col. A. Lane- Fox, president, in the chair. — Dr. Comrie, R.N., exhibited his collection of weapons and articles of domestic use from New Guinea, and added several particulars to his previous remarks. — Mr. A. Tylor, F.G.S., read a paper on the origin of numerals. He held that inventive thought had always an object origin, and mentioned measures of length, as pace, foot, hand, &c., as having such a source. Also in the Ptolemaic hieroglyphics, a minute or second was shown by an eye-winking, answering to " the twinkling of an eye." Illustrations of the Abacus and mode of calculating by it were exhibited, and shown to be in principle the origin of the modern calculating machine. The dream of a universal language has been realised, as far as numerals and arithmetical figures are concerned, and this is due to their origin. — A paper by Mr. A. L. Lewis was read on some apparent coincidences of custom and belief in Chaldsea and other countries. He alluded, amongst other points, to the marks of finger-nails upon the terra- cotta deeds that had been discovered at Nineveh. They appeared to him to answer to the practice of touching the seals of legal documents with the finger. As regards the belief of the Assyrians in immortality, souls were either united with the sun, or descended to " Bit-Edie." Annwn, the country of the dead, in like manner amongst the Kymry was situated in the lower regions, at the going down of the sun in the west. The children of Anu, or the Sky, in Assyria, may be compared with " Cum Annwn," spirits, believed in by the Kymry. Amongst the Assyrian gods, Hed answered to the Lycian deity "Hu." Civilisation appeared to originate with the Turanians, the Semitic race merely succeeding to it. — The President, Mr. A. Smee, Mr. Distant, and others, took part in the discussion. Physical Society, April 29. — Prof. Gladstone, vice-presi- dent, in the chair. — The following gentlemen were elected members of the Society : Prof. F. Fuller and Capt. E. H. White. — The Secretary read a communication from Sir John Conroy, Bart., on a simple form of heliostat. The defect of Fahrenheit's heliostat, in which the beam of sunlight is deflected by a mirror moved by clock-work in a direction parallel to the axis of the earth, and then in the required direction by a fixed mirror, consists in the great loss of light. The author substitutes two silvered mirrors for the looking-glasses usually employed, and he has shown that the loss of light with this arrangement is less than when the light is once reflected from a looking-glass. — Mr. S. P. Thompson then made a second communication on the so-called "Etheric Force," and described some experiments which he has recently made in the Physical Laboratory at South Kensington on the subject. The name was given by Mr. Edison, the inventor of the motograph, to the sparks obtained when a conductor is presented to the core of an electro-magnet, the coils of which are traversed by an intermittent current. The results of the experiments conducted as originally described not proving satisfactory, various other arrangements were tried, and it was found that if the secondary current from an induction coil be used, instead of a current direct from the battery, the effects are much more marked. When the induced spark was diverted either wholly or partially into a short coil which was insulated very perfectly from the core inside, a spark about half an inch in length, which had a decided effect on the nerves could be drawn off from the core, and this was sufficient to illu- minate a smaU vacuum tube ; the spark, however, does not ex- hibit the usual signs of polarity. It was shown by observing the illumination thus produced with a rotating mirror, that the discharge is in reality a reciprocating one, each spark returning on its path after a minute interval of time. Under certain con- ditions it is also possible to charge an electroscope either posi- tively or negatively by means of the spark, and Mr. Thompson has shown that the spark ignites a jet of gas but fails to deflagrate metallic wire or ignite gunpowder. From the above, and other May 4, 1876] NA TURE 19 I experiments which will be exhibited on a future occasion, the author concludes that the cause of the phenomena is obvious, ard that the hypothesis of a new force is unnecessary. — Prof. McLeod referred to a paper on the same subject which appeared ii; the Chemical News of April 28, by Messrs. Houston and Thomson.— Mr. David Ross, B.A., inquired the tension of the Lcyden jar arrangement used in the experiments, but Mr. liiompson pointed out that it would be very difficult of deter- mination on account of the rapid change of the spark from positive to negative. Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, Jan. 25.— Mr. E. W. Binney, F. R. S. , vice-president, in the chair. — On stannic arsenate, by Mr. William Carleton Williams, F.C.S., Demonstrator in the Chemical Laboratory of the Owens College. Feb. 8. — Ordinary meeting. — Mr. Edward Schunck, F.R.S., president, in the chair,— Prof. C. Schorlemmer, F.R.S., read a communication from Prof. Sadtler, of the University of Pennsyl- vania, on some of the natural gases from the gas wells in Butler County, Pennsylvania, in the midst of the oil region. — Notice of a recent discovery of a prehistoric burial place near Colombier, in Switzerland, by Mr. William E. A. Axon, M.R.S.L. — Mr. Brockbank, F.G.S., exhibited a large collection of granites from the Ravenglass district, and from Criffel, which he had got to- gether with a view to proving the origin of the large granite boulders recently found in the Glacial clay or till of this district. — On the formation of azuriteirom malachite, by Mr. Charles A. Burghardt, Ph.D.— On a direct-vision spectroscope of great dis- persive power, by Mr. Arthur Schuster. This instrument is made by Mr. A. Hilger, of London. The following are its chief advantages : — I. The compound prism has a very great dispersive power. The nickel line between the two sodium hnes is easily seen in the solar spectrum. 2. The cross wire is replaced by a very fine slit which can be illuminated from above to any degree of intensity. 3. The slit is moveable by means of a very fine micrometer screw ; the position of the slit can be read off" to within o-oooi inch. The measurement is made by bringing the line to be measured against the bright slit which comes down Ifrom the top to the middle of the field. The position of the lines can be easily measured to within the fifth part of the dis- tance between the sodium lines. — On a new absorptiometer, by Mr. Arthur Schuster. In some recent researches Prof. Vogel fovmd that the relative intensity of the red and blue part of the solar spectrum was subject to great changes. While working with the spectroscope at considerable heights on the southern slope of the Western Himalayas, I was struck by the same fact The instrument which I have now the honour to exhibit before the Society is constructed in order to measure the relative inten- sity of the red and blue hght in the solar or any other spectrum, by comparing the intensity of each ray with that given out by a standaid lamp. The photometric principle involved in the mea- surement is that first used by Prof. Zollner. The intensity of a certain part of the spectrum is brought to the same intensity as that of the standard light by a system of Nicoi's prisms. Prof. Zollner only compared the whole intensity ol two sources of light , and did not investigate the relative intensity of the different colours. Mr. D. Glau constructed another apparatus by which he could measure the relative intensity of different colours, but his instrument was constructed ior an entirely different object, and is not suitable for the purpose for which the present instru- ment is made. The instrument, which I have called absorptio- meter, because it is intended chiefly for the determination of the absorption of light taking place in our atmosphere, consists of a X table similar to that of a goniometer table, but being able to turn 1 round on a horizontal axis so as to give it any inclination to a horizontal surface. The telescope of the goniometer is replaced by a direct-vision spectroscope. Opposite the spec- troscope a tube is fixed to the table containing two Nicoi's prisms. One of the prisms is fixed, the other can be turned, and its azimuth read off on a graduated circle. The standard light is placed behind its tube. The intensity of the hght falling unto the slit of the spectroscope is — sin o, where a is the angle between two of the principal planes of the two Nicol prisms, and A the intensity of the light which would fall into the sht of the spectroscope if the Nicoi's were removed. A plane parallel piece of glass, acting as a mirror, is fixed unto the small table, the centre of which coincides with the centre of the large gonio- meter table. The parallel sides can be adjusted by means of three screws until they are vertical. This mirror reaches to such a height that the horizontal plane laid through the top of the plate would bisect the tube containing the two Nicols. The light which is to be examined falls through a tube containing one Nicol, and is reflected by means of the plane parallel mirror into the lower half of the spectroscope. If the ray of light is reflected at the angle of polarisation the intensity of this hght can be reduced to nothing by means of the rotation of the Nicol. On placing the standard light in front of the tube containing the two Nicols and allowing the light which is to be exammed to be reflected into the spectroscope on the mirror through the tube containing one Nicol, the mirror being placed at the angle of polarisation, we observe in the spectroscope the two spectra one above the other, and by turning the Nicols we can reduce the intensity of the brighter light to that of the weaker for any colour we like. The positions of the Nicols will enable us to find the relative intensity of the two lights for the differoit colours. Paris. Academy of Sciences, April 17. — Vice- Admiral Paris in the chair. — The following papers were read : — New researches on pyrogenous carburets and on the composition of coal gas, by M. Berthelot. Benzine is the most abundant carburet, after formene, in Parisian gas ; it is about 3 per cent, of the volume, and is, par excellence, the illuminating carburet. — On the direction of trees thrown down by tornados or trombes, by M. Faye. An observer in the central trajectory of the meteor (which turns from right to left in our hemisphere), and looking in the direction of the motion of translation, will distinguish, in the ravaged band, a right and a left region, and in the trombe an anterior and a posterior half. Then, in the right region, the trombe can throw down well rooted trees by the mere attack of its anterior part, but in the left region it overthrows them by the successive actions of its anterior and its posterior parts. The effects of a cyclone or tornado at sea are analogous. — On the carpellary theory according to the Amaryllideae (second part, Cliina nobilis), by M. Trecul. — Memoir on the existence, the optic and crystallo- graphic properties, and the chemical composition of microcline, a new species of trichnic felspar vidth base of potassium, by M. Des Cloizeaux, — Observations made at the Observatory of Toulouse with the large Foucault telescope, by M. Tisserand. It has been in use since the beginning of February ; the observa- tions described are on the nebula of Orion and on the satelUtes of Uranus and Jupiter. — Researches on M. Wirmerl's compen- sating balance for chronometers, by M. Caspari. — Conclusions from actinometric measurements made on the summit of Mont Blanc, by M. Violle. He obtains, for the effective temperature of the sun, the value of about 1,500° C, which gives, for the probable mean temperature of the surface, a number between 2,000° and 3,000°. — New researches on '.he effects of powder in arms, by M. Sarrau. He constructs new formulae for the velocities and pressures, and deduces the laws according to which these quantities depend not only on the conditions of charging, but on the nature of the powder and the form of the grains. — On the ozone of atmospheric air, by M. Marie-Davy. Comparison by means of ozonoscopic papers are very uncertain. The author sought to associate the rapidity of action of iodide of potassium with the stability of arsenical action ; mixing pure iodide with equally neutral and pure arsenite of potash. From observa- tions at Montsouris, March 15 to 31, it appears that the average proportion of ozone in the air by night was 0*76 mg. (per 100 cubic metres), and thus considerably less than that by day, viz., 1*13 mg. The volume of air operated on each time varied from 2 to 3 cubic metres. — The elephants of Mont Dol ; attempt at organogeny of the system of molar teeth of the mammoth (third communication), by M. Sirodot. — Note on the discovery of a human station, of the epoch of polished stone, near Belfott, by M. Ch. Grad. — Elements of the new planet Una, by M. Peters. — Elements and ephemerides of the planet (148) Gallia, by M. Bossert. — Generalisation of the theorem of Lame on the impossi- bility of the equation x' -ir y' ■\- z? = o, by M. Genocchi. — Note on the foci of a plane curve, by MM. Gibert and Niewenglowski. ' — Researches on the elasticity of the air under small pressures, i by M. Amagat. Under small pressure air still follows Mariottc's I law. The opposite has been asserted by MM. Mtndeleeff and Kirpitschoft, and that '.he departure from the law is in the same ! direction as that of hydrogen. — On the nerve terminations in the electric apparatus of the torpedo, by M. Rouget. — Undulations of the chalk in the north of France. Part III. Age of the undu- i lations ; by M. Hebert.— Daubreite (oxychloiiae ol bismuth), a new mineral species, by M. Domeyko. — On chronic caseous 20 NATURE {May 4, 1876 amygdalitis, by M. Bouchut. — M. Chapelas gave a r'esumi of observations of falling stars during March 1876. April 24. — M. Peligot in the chair. — The following papers were read: — Discovery of two new planets, 162 and 163; note by M. Leverrier. — On coal-gas and pyrogenous carburets, by M. Berthelot. — On the pyrogenous decomposition of nitrate of ammonia, and on the volatility of ammoniacal salts, by M. Berthelot. — Reply to a part of the criticisms of M. Hilde- brandsson (in letter of March 20), by M. Faye. — On the vegeta- tion of plants without chlorophyll, by M. Boussingault. The author affirms that if solar radiation ceased, plants without chlorophyll, as well as plants with it, would disappear from the globe. M. Pasteur asserts that some lower plant forms might continue. — Researches on sugar beet (second year of experimen- tation), by MM. Fremy and Deherain. Similar saline solutions act quite differently on the roots, according as the latter are im- mersed in them, or in porous substances impregnatedjwith them. An excess of nitrogenised manure diminishes the saccharine rich- ness of all beets, but those of excellent race retain so much sugar that their cultivation is advantageous. — Experiments made to explain the round alveoli very frequently presented by the surface of meteorites, by M. Daubree. These bodies, entering the air with high velocity, become incandescent and superficially fused. The part which, at a given moment, is in front, accumulates and compresses the air strongly, so that this is thrown into gyration, and bores a cavity. The mechanical action is generally accom- panied by chemical action. — Note on cellular grainage for pre- paration of the grains of silkworms, by M. Pasteur. — On the triturators and crushers of the Anduze system, by M. Resal. — On the means of substitution of vines in countries where they have been destroyed by phylloxera, by M, Mares. He recom- mends the wider separation of the stocks. — M. de Baer was elected Foreign Associate in room of Sir Charles Wheatstone. The other candidates were Sir W, Thomson, M. Bunsen, and Mr. Stokes. — Note on an operation of gastrototomy performed in order to extract a solid body (foik) from the stomach, by M. Labbe. The young man (eighteen) retained the fork in his stomach for more than six months, suffering, at intervals, extreme pain. M. Labbe first tried caustics (for extraction), but at length resorted to the knife. He attributes his success (i) to carefidly determining the points of operation ; (2) fixing the stomach against the abdominal walls before opening it ; (3) using a thick layer of collodion, which rendered motionless the abdominal walls and the digestive tube, producing strong compression. In about five days the man was almost in his normal health again. — On the exchanges of ammonia between natural waters and the atmosphere, by M. Schloesing. Having previously studied the exchanges in rain, dew, fog, he here deals with snow and hoarfrost. The aqueous vapour and ammonia of the air, after having probably a common origin, the sea, are precipitated together, but in very different proportions, as the air is cooled to zero. Under zero the association is broken ; water alone continues to be precipi- tated, and the ammonia remains in the atmosphere, which is then never entirely without it. — On various compounds of tita- nium, by MM. Friedel and Guerin. — On electric variations of the muscles, and the heart in particular, studied by means of Lippmann's electrometer, by M. Marey. The phases of electric variation of a muscle are similar to those of the work which it furnishes. — On electrical fuses, by M. Ris. He conceived the idea of rendering induction fuses conductive by incorporating with the detonating mixture (having a chlorate of potash base) a small quantity of pulverised spongy platinum. Such fuses are inflammable either by induction currents or by battery currents, and they can be tried without alteration of the elements com- posing.them. If the quantity of platinum be small the resistance of the fuse is considerable, and may reach 50,000 ohms. By increasing the platinum, the fuse is brought towards the condition of those appropriated to currents of quantity. — Fauna and flora of the peat bogs of Champagne, by M, Fliche.— Note on a new process of titration of astringent matters, by M. Jean. Solutions of various astringent principles, with a carbonated alkali added, absorb a solution of iodine with an energy comparable to that of arsenite of soda. This absorption is in direct ratio of the quan- tity of astringent matter used, and one part by weight of dry tannic acid absorbs four parts of iodine. This is the principle of the method. — Hatching of the .winter egg of phylloxera in the Gironde ; characters of the insect, by M. Boiteau. — On the chemico-legal investigation of arsenic, by M. Brame. — On the temperature of ebullition of spirituous liquids by M. Salleron. Salts and solid substances dissolved (sugars, tartrates, gums, &c. ) falsify considerably the indications of the ebuUioscope. — General theorem on the symmetric functions of any number of variables, by M. Jung. — On the cyanide-cyanate of chloral, by M. Cech. — Sulphur in coal-gas, by M. Verigo. The gas in Odessa, he found, contained about 2 grammes of sulphur per 100 English cubic feet. He notes some of its effects, e.g., a metallic part of a ball-shaped lamp, exposed some time in a gas-lit warehouse, had its surface corroded and covered with a greenish substance. The solution, from washing with distilled water, contained sul- phuric acid, and gave, on evaporation, crystals of sulphate of zinc. The metallic alloy of the ball consisted of copper and zinc. — On) the fructification of some silicified plants, from the beds of Autun and Saint Etienne, by M. Renault. — New meteorological researches on the circulation of the lower layers of the atmo» sphere in the North Atlantic, by M. Brault. — In studying the map of the North Atlantic for July to September, one perceives four chief meteorological points that are, in some part, the keys of the situation. These are, on the one hand, the Gulf of Mexico and the Sahara; on the other, the Azores and the maximum region of calms. The two former are the more important, and they are points of convergence of winds. About the Azores turns an immense cyclone. — Process for taking impressions of plants, by M. Bertol. — Geological and anthropological note on Mount Vaudois and the Cravanche Cavern, by M. Voulot. — Experimental researches on pulmonary respiration in the large domestic mammalia, by M. Sanson. Equidse eliminate more COj per unit of time than Bovidse, races of less weight more than those of great, males more than females, young more than old. Alimentation does not affect the respiratory function once it is sufficient to maintain the healthy state ; nor does muscular work, after it is done. The quantity of COj eliminated is directly proportional to rise of temperature, and inversely pro- portional to rise of pressure. GdTTINGEN Royal Academy of Sciences, January 8. — The following, among other, papers, were read : — On the organs of vegetation of the Marattiacese, by Dr. Holle. By the bilateral arrangement of the vascular bundles Marattia and Argiopteris diverge from the typical ferns, and agree with Ophioglossae and Osmundacese. — A new microscopical drawing apparatus, by Dr. Holle. The principle of this is to bring into view not the pencil itself or its reflected image, but the entire image thrown by lenses. The eyepiece of the microscope serves also as eyepiece of a telescope bent twice at right angles and having two mirrors. The first (transparent) is immediately under the eyepiece, the second under the object-glass of the telescope. The former is very thin (o'2 mm.) that the images of the drawing pencil, cast by the upper and under sides ol the glass plate, may fall on each other. , The other mirror is thicker; and between the two is a lens which again reverses the reversed image of the pencil. The microscopic image can thus be seen directly and without fatigue of the eyes. The drawing hand is immediately to the right, and so in the most convenient position. The image is unreversed. — Develop- ment of formulse for Abel's theorem, by M. Goran Dillner. — Some remarks on the representation of mountain deities in classic art, by M. Wieseler. CONTENTS Page Progress OF THE Loan Collection, II i Prijevalskv'i Mongolia (IVith Illustrations) 3 . The Moabite Question 6 Hooker's " Primer OF Botany." By Prof. M. A. Lawson . ... 8' Our Book Shelf : — De Fonvielle's Aerial Adventures 8 Letters to the Editor : — New Laurentian Fossil. — Dr. William B. Carpenter, F.R.S. . 8 The Warm Rain Band in the Daylight Spectrum. — Prof. PlAzzi Smyth ^ Limestone Makers. — Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S 9 History of Magnetism. — Rev. S J. Perry, F.R.S 10 Meteorological Society. — G. J. Symons 10 Destruction of Flowers by Birds. — R. A. Pkyor ,10 Our Astronomical Column : — The Nebula in Orion 10 New Minor Planets 10 Biela's Comet and the November Meteor-Stream 10 HuNTBRiAN Lectures on the Relation of Extinct to Existing Mammalia, IX. By Prof. Flower, F. R.S n International Meteorology n Soiree of the Royal Microscopical .Society 12 On Certain Methods of Chbmical Research 12 Science IN Germany {With Illustrations) 13 NoTHS from the " Challenger" 14 Notes . 15 Scientific Serials 17' SOCIKTIKS AND ACADEMTHS , ^g i NA TURE ii THURSDAY, MAY ii, 1876 THE LOAN COLLECT/ON THE Queen will on Saturday open to the public the magnificent collection of scientific instruments, the arrangement of which has for several months been task- ing the energies of the Science and Art Department and of the eminent men of science who have generously volunteered their assistance. This event may justly be regarded as an " epoch-making " stage in the progress of science, not only in this country, but in the world at large ; for, as our readers know, the collection is essen- tially an international one, the principal nations of the world having vied with each other in contributing to render it worthily representative of the present state of science, and of the progress of its methods from the time when man first began feebly to question Nature. England may well be proud that the idea of such a collection originated with the English Science Depart- ment, and that the first international scientific loan col- lection will be exhibited in her capital. It may be that this collection will not attract such a crowd of visitors as would flock to gaze on an exhibition of pictures, or musical instruments, or embroidery, or old china ; but, if the British public still retains its normal amount of curiosity, surely the magnitude of the present collection, the historical interest attaching to many of the objects exhibited, the number and eminence of the contributors, and the fact that the principal governments of Europe have enthusiastically seconded the efforts of the British Government, ought to excite that curiosity to the utmost. A great deal of mystery still bangs about science and scientific men and scientific methods in the eyes of many ; here then at last have people an oppor- tunity of inspecting for themselves these mysterious instruments by means of which men of science have reached those results that are stirring the minds of all thoughtful men, and have revolutionised ideas and methods in all departments of human activity. English- men must be duller and more incurious than we take them to be, if they do not show a fair amount of interest in that scientific collection which her Majesty will open on Saturday. But while many, no doubt, will be attracted to the galleries of the International Collection by mere curi- osity, we are sure that the scientific education of this country is sufficiently advanced to secure a large pro- portion of visitors animated by an inteUigent and edu- cated eagerness to gratify their scientific tastes by in- specting apparatus the importance and uses of which they are well enough taught to appreciate. Both to this latter class and to those who still lie in unscientific darkness, the two thick volumes ^ which have been issued — prepared at the request of the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education — as guides to the Loan Collection ought to be a welcome boon. Some idea of the extent of the collection may be obtained from the fact that these two volumes together number ^ " Catalogue of the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus at the South Kensington Museum." First Edition. — " Handbook to the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus." 1876. You Kiv. — No. 341 nearly i,ooo pages, and they are both at present incom- plete. With these in his hands as guides no visitor need * go empty away from the collection. A careful perusal of these two volumes combined with a systematic series of visits to the various sections of the) collection, would, like the acquaintance of a certain noble lady, be in itself a liberal education ; and indeed few better methods could be devised of rousing a love for science in the minds of intelligent people. In two previous articles we have attempted to give a general sketch of the nature of the collection ; in the present article we shall, with the two volumes referred to as guides, briefly give some idea of its extent and arrange- ment. The large Committee— and there is scarcely a scientific name of eminence absent from it — that met little more than a year ago at the request of the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education to confer on the organisation of a Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus ought to be proud of the results of that first conference as embodied in these two valuable pubhcations. The names on this Committee, and those on the Committees formed in foreign countries, number somewhere about 300 ; a glance at the lists shows that the names are those of the foremost scientific workers of our time. Specially gratifying must the result be to the staff of volunteers who have assisted in the arrangement of the collection, and whose names their Lordships justly record with "■ great satisfaction." They are : Capt. Abney, Dr. Atkin- son, Mr. Bartlett, Dr. Brunton, Dr. Biedermann, Prof. Crum-Brown, Capt. Fellowes, Prof. Carey-Foster, Dr. Michael Foster, Herr Kirchner, Prof. Goodeve, Dr. Guthrie, Commander J. A. Hull, Mr. Iselin, Mr. Judd, Mr. Norman Lockyer, Dr. R. J. Mann, Mr. Clements Markham, Prof. H. MacLeod, Prof. Roscoe, Prof. Shelley, Dr. Burdon Sanderson, Dr. Schuster, Dr. Voit, and Mr. R. Wylde. Their Lordships, we should say, are particular in calling attention to the fact that this is not an International Exhibition J the purpose and arrangement of this collec- tion are entirely different from those of such an exhibi- tion, which is always arranged according to countries and into which the commercial element largely enters. The arrangement here, on the contrary, is according to sub- jects, and the object is solely to illustrate the history and present condition of scientific apparatus. The transport of all objects has been undertaken by the English Government, and they have been handed over absolutely to the custody of the Science and Art Department. Prefixed both to the Catalogue and the Guide is a clear and useful plan of the buildings at Kensington, showing the arrangement of the apparatus in the various galleries. Fourteen galleries in all are occupied with the collection, embracing the ground floors of the entire south and west sides, and the upper floor of the latter. Entering, as the Queen will do on Saturday, by the entrance in Exhibi- tion Road, we come first upon A, the Educational Col- lections ; following which are B, C, Applied Mechanics ; D, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering ; E, Lighthouse Apparatus ; F, Magnetism and Electricity ; G, Arithmetic and Geometry ; H, K, Measurement ; L, Astronomy and Meteorology ; these are all on the ground floor. Ascending to the upper floor, we pass through M, Geography, Geology, and Mining; N, Biology; O, 22 NATURE [May II, 1876 Conference Room ; P, Chemistry ; Q, Light, Heat, Sound, and Molecular Physics. The number of exhibitors — governments, societies, de- partments, and individuals— amounts to about 1,000, and the collection contains altogether somewhere about 15,000 objects, arranged in this first edition of the catalogue, under 4,576 heads. The countries repre- sented are the United Kingdom, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, Russia, and Switzerland. The list from Spain is not yet received, and the fact that America is occupied with her own Centennial Exhibition sufficiently accounts for her absence, though the American Government heartily sympathises with the object of the collection. In the catalogue the objects are arranged under twenty- one sections ; the numbers enable the visitor at once to identify each object or group of objects, and in most cases the appended descriptions are sufficiently detailed to enable anyone to understand the purpose and construc- tion of the apparatus. In many cases the descriptions are as minute as in a special text-book. Under Section i,Arithmetic, are described various Slide- rules, 19 in all, 26 Calculating Machines, including Bab- bage's famous "Difference Engine," which is described in considerable detail, besides some interesting and ingenious miscellaneous apparatus. Under Section 2 are classed in- struments used in Geometrical Drawing, Instruments for tracing Special Curves, Models of Figures in Space, and a collection of Pliicker's models of certain quartic surfaces, contributed by the Mathematical Society. As might be expected in a collection of scientific appa- ratus, those connected with Measurement, Section 3, occupy a large space : there are upwards of 350 entries under this head, comprising, besides a variety of extremely interesting and curious special collections, apparatus for Measurement of Length (nearly 100 entries) of Area, of Volume, of Mass, of Velocity, of Momentum, of Force, of Work, of Angles, and of Time (80 entries) ; many of the objects in this section are of a remote antiquity, and not a few are con- nected with scientific discoveries of the highest import- ance. Section 4, Kinematics, Statics, and Dynamics, is a very full and instructive one ; it is impossible to give ■ here anything like an idea of the nature and variety of the apparatus exhibited under this head. It contains 22 sub-sections and sub-sub-sections, including several of 'sGravesande's apparatus, apparatus illustrating the Me- chanical Powers, Pendulums and Gyroscopes, Vibrations and Waves, Falling Bodies and Projectiles, and other departments of the very comprehensive section, includ- ing 54 Crank Trains, 50 Toothed-wheel Trains, and 67 Ratchet Trains. To many. Section 5, Molecular Physics, will be intensely interesting ; its six sections contain no entries ; the Air- pumps and Pneumatic Apparatus alone numbering 44. Osmose Dialysis and Diffusion, Condensation of Liquids and Solids, and Hydrometers, are some of the other subjects illustrated here. Sections 6, 7, and 8, Sound, Light, and Heat, are of course among the most important, the catalogue containing 410 entries under these heads. There are apparatus illus- trating the Sources, Measurement, and Interference of Sound, and a variety of other phenomena, including Musical Sounds ; in Section Light, under the head Selectors, there are 36 groups of apparatus connected with the Spectro- scope, and 30 to illustrate Polarisers, besides Photometers, Radiometers, apparatus bearing on Reflection, Refrac- tion, and Diffraction, Photography is a varied and in- teresting sub- section. The multitude of apparatus con- nected with Heat is classified under Sources of Heat, Thermometry (56 entries), Calorimeters, Pyrometers, Freezing Machines, Conductors, &c. Sections 9 and 10, Magnetism and Electricity, are likely to prove two of the most attractive, as they are cer- tainly among the most important. All departments of these subjects — and how varied they are even scientific men may be astonished to learn — are illustrated with great fulness ; the number of entries in the Catalogue is 650, commencing with the greatest natural magnet yet known, weighing, with armature, 152 kilograms, sent by the Teyler Foundation, Haarlem, and concluding with a minute description of the Polar Light Apparatus, by Prof, Lemstrom, Of apparatus connected with Elec- tricity the variety is astounding. Friction and Induction Machines, Galvanic Batteries (there are 32), Thermo- Electric Batteries, Induction Coils, Magnetic-Electric Machines, and other modes of producing Electricity or Electric Currents, are abundantly represented. So, also, apparatus for producing, collecting, observing, regulating, and measuring electricity ; of Galvanometers alone there are 43, In the Electrical Section, no doubt the most attractive department to the general public will be that devoted to apparatus for the application of Electrical principles to practical purposes, illustrating, as it does, every stage in the progress of the Electric Telegraph. The Catalogue in this department contains 204 entries of Telegraphic apparatus alone, not to mention the various other applications of electricity to military and other purposes. Astronomy, Section 11, is at the same time one of the oldest and one of the most popular of the sciences, and therefore the apparatus in the section will probably have more than an average number of visitors. The historical interest of this section is probably greater than that of any other, and it is significant of the importance attached by Italy to this Collection that she has parted with, even for a short time, those precious relics of Galileo that cannot fail to excite the veneration of all beholders. But besides these there are many other instruments of great historical interest, from the Suspension Astrolabrum, made in 1525, sent by Prof. Buys Ballot of Utrecht, down to the latest form of spe.troscope, and a relief landscape of the moon. Celestial photography is largely represented, both by its instruments and results, and teachers will be much interested in the varied and ingenious apparatus that have been devised for the practical teaching of astro- nomy. Of the multitude of objects in Section 12, Applied Mechanics, it would be impossible with our space to give any satisfactory idea. The catalogue contains under this head 470 entries in all, many of which, as indeed is the case in all the other sections, include a considerable number of separate pieces of apparatus. Of Prime Movers alone there are 66 groups, ranging through many forms from a collection of the Original Models of Steam Engines and other machines of James Watt, downwards. May II, 1876] NATURE -23 Under the comprehensive head of Application of the Principles of Mechanics to Machinery, as employed in the Arts, the catalogue gives a description of 136 varieties of apparatus, from the first type-composing machine invented by Alex. Mackie, which comes from Dundee, down to the latest forms of link-work. Chemistry, Section 13, is of course one of the most prominent and important sections in the whole collection. When we say that the catalogue contains 360 entries under this head, we give very little idea of the multitude and variety of objects which have been brought together to illustrate the methods and results of the all-pervading science. The first entry is the apparatus employed by John Dalton in his researches, and is accompanied by a long descriptive and historical notice by Prof. Roscoe. Cavendish, Davy, Faraday (" Original tubes containing gases liquefied by Faraday,'' must be an exciting entry to many chemists), Wollaston, are names attached to some 'of the apparatus of historical interest ; of Models, Diagrams, Apparatus, &c., em.ployed in teaching Chemistry there is no end, and all the infinite variety of special chemical apparatus is amply illustrated, there being upwards of 200 entries under this head, representing probably more than ten times that number of separate objects. The rapid advances and present complexity and compre- hensiveness of Meteorological science are shown by the catalogue to be illustrated with wonderful fulness in the collection. The endless variety of Barometers, Ther- mometers, Anemometers, Rain-gauges, Hygrometers, Self-recording Instruments, Ozonometers, and other ap- paratus used in meteorology, will excite the>stonishment of all but specialists. The Scottish Meteorological So- ciety is a large contributor in this section, and some of their intensely practical graphic results must appeal to the blindest utilitarian. - Geography is sure to be a popular section, and we can only say that in its various sub-divisions are objects cal- culated to rouse the interest of the most incurious. The m.ethods, apparatus, and results of the various surveys of this country and of India are illustrated in the greatest detail, and now that the Challenger is near- ing our shores, many will be curious to see some of the apparatus with which her important ocean-researches have been conducted. There is a vast variety of sur- veying apparatus with which Geography obtains her ap- parently simple results, and of Maps, Charts, and Plans of all kinds the list is endless. Everyone must inspect with very curious feelings the original Journals, Log- books, &c., kept by celebrated English navigators from Dampier downwards, not to mention the valuable MS. Maps of Livingstone and other celebrated explorers. Geology, Mining, and Mineralogy, Sections 16 and 1 7, are well represented. They include Geological Instru- ments and Apparatus ; Maps, Sections, Diagrams, &c., lent by the Geological Survey ; illustrations of the Sub- Wealden boring ; various Relief-maps and Models illus- trating Geological Phenomena all over the world; Fossils and Specimens of all kinds, natural and artificial ; Min- ing Instruments and accessories, including a case of 46 varieties of Safety-lamp ; Blowpipe Apparatus ; Minerals, Diagrams, Models of Crystals, &c. The Section of Biology has 500 entries, embracing pro- bably eight times that number of separate objects. Of microscopes and accessory apparatus, there are upwards of 150 from the Compound Microscope of Zacharias Janssen, spectacle-maker, at Middleburg, Netherlands, constructed about 1590, down to the latest and most com- plicated form of this now indispensable and powerful instrument. Then there are many specimens of the curious and ingenious apparatus employed in Physio- logical Optics, Weighing and Measuring Apparatus, Apparatus for investigating the functions of Circulation and Respiration, of Muscles and Nerves, and an endless variety of Diagrams, Models, Preparations, and other appliances for instruction in Biology. Wolf's Collection of 106 Original Water-Colour Drawings illustrating the new and rare animals in the Zoological Gardens will prove nearly as attractive as the originals themselves. Under Educational Appliances, Section 19, there are apparatus for practical instruction in Science in every department, including a very fine and large collection of apparatus for instruction in Physical Science, contributed by the Committee of the Pedagogical Museum, Russia, This section contains upwards of 550 entries. Last of all comes the Collection of Apparatus and Pho- tographs illustrating Italian Science, more especially in the departments of Physics, Mechanics, and Astronomy. There are many objects here desemng special mention, but our space forbids further detail. We have already referred to Galileo's instruments, and besides these there are many others of great antiquity and of much interest in connection with the progress of scientific apparatus. This rapid glance at the contents of the Catalogue will give but a faint idea of the rich feast in store for those who during the next few months will be attracted to the South Kensington galleries. To give anything like an adequate idea of the contents of the collection would take a long series of articles. We have said that the Catalogue, even in its present incomplete and rough form, is something more than a mere list of titles ; it is very largely descriptive. But something more was required to show the purpose and import and historical place of the multitude of sepa- rate instruments in the various sections. This want is supplied in the admirable Handbook, of 340 pages, con- sisting of a series of descriptive and historical articles on the various sections by some of the moat eminent living British men of science. It will be enough if we give here the names of the authors and the subjects of which they treat. In value the Handbook should be put alongside the Admiralty Manual issued to the Arctic Expedition ; though probably no such unique collection of scientific memoirs was ever before put within reach of the public. The first paper is by Prof. Clerk-Maxwell, being " General Considerations respecting Scientific Apparatus;" Prof. Maxwell has also a paper in his own special domain. Molecular Physics. Prof. H. J. S. Smith writes on "Arithmetical Instruments" and "Geometrical Instru- ments and Models." Prof. W. K. Clifford also contri- butes two papers, on " Instruments used in Measure- ments " and on " Instruments illustrating Kinematics, Statics, and Dynamics." Then there are papers by Dr. W. H. Stone, on " Acoustical Instruments," by Mr. W. Spottiswoode on " Optical Instruments," by Capt. Abney on " Photographic Printing Processes," by Prof. Tait on " Instruments employed in Heat Investigations ; " two w NATURE {May II, 1876 papers by Prof. Carey Foster on " Magnetic Apparatus " and " Electrical Instruments ;" a paper by Mr. J. Norman Lockyer on " Astronomical Instruments ; " by Prof. Good- eve on " Applied Mechanics," by Prof. McLeod on " Chemical Apparatus and Products," by Mr. R. H. Scott on " Meteorological Instruments." " Geographical In- struments and Maps" are illustrated historically and descriptively in four papers by Mr. C. R. Markham, and one by Capt. J. E. Davis. Prof. Geikie treats of "Geology," Mr. Warington Smyth of "Apparatus used in Mining," Prof. Story Maskelyne of " Crystallography and Mineralogy," Prof. Huxley of " Instruments employed in Biological Research," and Mr. H. C. Sorby of " Micro- scopes." Is not this strong enough evidence of the genuine interest which British men of science take in this Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus ? There is only one drawback to our joy in seeing this collection at last completed and ready to be thrown open to the public : it is after all only a " loan " collec- tion, and in a few months must be disorganised, and the apparatus returned to their^owners. We have some reason to hope, however, that this will not be the end of all the labours of the eminent men who have exerted themselves to make the collection a success ; we are persuaded that in time it will be succeeded by a permanent collection, which will form a Science Museum on an equal footing with the other Museums supported by Government. The Introduction to the Handbook says : — " The Lord-President of the Council, the Duke of Richmond, and the Vice-President, Viscount Sandon, in explaining the objects of the collection, took occasion to refer to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction, with regard to the creation of a Science Museum. Their Lordships stated their convic- tion that the development of the Educational and certain other Departments of the South Kensington Musf^um, and their enlargement into a Museum somewhat of the nature of the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers in Paris, and other similar institutions on the Continent, would tend to the advancement of science, and be of great ser- vice to the industrial progress of this country." We cannot doubt that neither Government nor the public, after having substantial evidence of the value and important results of a Science Museum in this Loan Col- lection, will rest satisfied until this country is at least on an equal footing in this respect with our neighbour France. It stems to us that a permanent Science Museum will be the natural outcome of the unexpectedly magnifi- cent collection which the Queen will open on Saturday ; it cannot fail to make the public at large conscious of a serious want which for long has been painfully felt by men engaged in scientific research, both pure and applied. DIFFUSION OF GASES THROUGH ABSORB- ING SUBSTANCES Ueber die Diffusion der Gase durch absorbirende Sitb- stanzen. Habilitationsschrift der Mathematischen und Naturwissenschaftlichen Facultat der Universitat Strassburg, vorgelegt von Dr. Sigmund v. Wroblewski, erstem Assistanten am physikalischen Institute. (Strass- burg : G. Fischbach, 1876.) THE importance of the exact study of the motions of gases, not only as a method of distinguishing one gas from another, but as likely to increase our knowledge of the dynamical theory of gases, was pointed out by Thomas Graham. Graham himself studied the most important phenomena, and distinguished from each other those in which the principal effect is due to different pro- perties of gases. The motion of large masses of the gas approximates ! to that of a perfect fluid having the same density and pressure as the gas. This is the case with the motion of a single gas when it flows through a large hole in a thin plate from one vessel into another in which the pressure is less. The result in this case is found to be in ac- cordance with the principles of the dynamics of fluids. This was approximately established by Graham, and the more accurate formula, in which the thermodynamic pro- perties of the gas are taken into account, has been verified by the experiments of Joule and Thomson. (Proc. R. S., May, 1856.) When the orifice is exceedingly small, it appears from the molecular theory of gases that the total discharge may be calculated by supposing that there are two currents in opposite directions, the quantity flowing in each current being the same as if it had been discharged into a vacuum. For different gases the volume discharged in a given time, reduced to standard pressure and ^temperature, is proportional to — where p is the actual pressure, s is the specific gravity, and 6 the temperature reckoned from — 274° C. When the gases in the two vessels are different, each gas is discharged according to this law independently of the other. These phenomena, however, can be observed only when the thickness of the plate and the diameter of the aperture are very small. When this is the case, the distance is very small between a point in the first vessel where the mixed gas has a cer- tain composition, and a point in the second vessel where the mixed gas has a quite different composition, so that the velocity of diffusion through the hole between these two points is large compared with the velocity of flow of the mixed gas arising from the difference of the total pressures in the two vessels. When the hole is of sensible magnitude this distance is larger, because the region of mixed gases extends further from the hole, and the effects of diffusion become completely masked by the effect of the current of the gas in mass, arising from the difference of the total pressures in the two vessels. In this latter case the discharge depends only on the nature of the gas in the vessel of greater pressure, and on the resultant pressures in the two vessels. It consists entirely of the gas of the first vessel, and there is no appreciable counter current of the gas of the other vessel. Hence the experiments on the double current must be made either through a single very small aperture, as in Graham's first experiment with a glass vessel accidentally cracked, or through a great number of apertures, as in Graham's later experiments with porous septa of plaster of Paris or of plumbago. With such septa the following phenomena are ob- served : — When the gases on the two sides of the septum are May II, 1876] NATURE 25 ! different, but have the same pressure, the reduced volumes of the gases diffused in opposite directions through the septum are inversely as the square roots of their specific gravities. If one or both of the vessels is of invariable volume, the interchange of gas will cause an inequality of pressure, the pressure becoming greater in the vessel which con- tains the heavier gas. If a vessel contains a mixture of gases, the gas diffused from the vessel through a porous septum will contain a larger proportion of the lighter gas, and the proportion of the heavier gas remaining in the vessel will increase during the process. The rate of flow of a gas through a long capillary tube depends upon the viscosity or internal friction of the gas, a property quite independent of its specific gravity. The phenomena of diffusion studied by Dr. v. Wro- blewski are quite distinct from any of these. The septum through which the gas is observed to pass is apparently quite free from pores, and is indeed quite impervious to certain gases, while it allows others to pass. It was the opinion of Graham that the substance of the septum is capable of entering into a more or less intimate combination with the substance of the gas ; that on the side where the gas has greatest pressure the process of combination is always going on ; that at the other side, where the pressure of the gas is smaller, the substance of the gas is always becoming dissociated from that of the septum ; while in the interior of the septum those parts which are richer in the substance of the gas are commu- nicating it to those which are poorer. The rate at which this diffusion takes place depends therefore on the power of the gas to combine with the substance of the septum. Thus if the septum be a film of water or a soap bubble, those gases will pass through it most rapidly, which are most readily absorbed by water, but if the septum be of caoutchouc the order of the gases will be different. The fact discovered by St. Claire- Ueville and Troost that certain gases can pass through plates of red hot metals, was explained by Graham in the same manner. Franz Exner ^ has studied the diffusion of gases through soap bubbles, and finds the rate of diffusion is directly as the absorption-coefficient of the gas, and inversely as the square root of the specific gravity. Stefan ^ in his first paaer on the diffusion of gases has shown that a law of this form is to be expected, but he says that he will not go further into the problem of the motion of gases in absorbing medium, as it ought to form the subject of a separate investigation. Dr. V. Wroblewski has confined himself to the investi- gation of the relation between the rate of diffusion and the pressure of the diffusing gas on the two sides of the membrane. The membrane was of caoutchouc, o"co34 cm. thick. It was almost completely impervious to air. The rate at which carbonic acid diffused through the membrane was proportional to the pressure of that gas, and was independent of the pressure of the air on the other side of the membrane, provided this air was free from carbonic acid. The connection between this result and Henry's law of absorption is pointed out I "Pogg. Ann.," Bd. 153. ^ " Ueber das Gleichgewicht u. d. Diffusion von Gasgemengen." Sitzb. der k. Akad. (Wien), Jan. 5, 1871. The time of diffusion of hydrogen through caoutchouc is 3'6 times that of an equal volume of carbonic acid. The diffusion of a mixture of hydrogen and carbonic acid takes place as if each gas diffused independently of the other at a rate proportional to the part of the pressure which is due to that gas. We hope that Dr. v. Wroblewski will continue his re- searches, and make a complete investigation of the phenomena of diffusion through absorbing substances. J. Clerk Maxwell MACALISTER'S ''ANIMAL MORPHOLOGY'' All Introductioti to Animal Morphology and Sysiematic Zoology. Part I.— Invertebrata. By Prof. Alexander Macalister, M.B. (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1876.) HOW many of those who are not of an extra syste- matic turn of mind, when they review their read- ing in any special line of research, have continually to regret that they have not had the industry to abstract as well as to classify the various monographs and papers they have perused, and to preserve them in a united form for future reference. Those of us who are zoologists may lay aside some of our misgivings on this score ; for one among us, an exhaustive reader and an acute appreciator of the relative importance of facts, has so widely distributed his literary investigations, at the same time that he has made it a principle to keep a memorandum of those points which have most impressed him, that he has felt justified —quite correctly, as all his readers we are convinc ed will agree — in placing his compilation at the disposal of the scientific public. The volume on the Invertebrata, now before us, fills between four and five hundred closely printed octavo pages. It is evident that a work constructed on the principles above indicated must be of too exhaustive and too abstruse a nature for the commencing student. It would be impossible for any author so to combine primary definitions and first principles with elaborate detail as to produce a book which would appeal to the tyro as well as the advanced zoologist. Prof. Macalister's "Introduc- tion to Animal Morphology " must be therefore looked upon as an introduction to the science proper, to be read by the second-year student, or to be interleaved for further annotation by the specialist. To teachers ot Zoology it will be found invaluable on account of the great fund of information it contains in a highly con- densed form, also because in nearly all cases the name of the authority for each important fact is associated (in brackets) with his observation. In such a work we think that no better method could have been employed. It would have greatly overloaded the pages if full references had been given ; and now that the invaluable Catalogue of Scientific Papers, published by the Royal Soc ety — in which the publications are arranged under the names of authors — is within reach of all, in the libraries of the learned societies, if not elsewhere, it is a matter of no great difficulty for anyone who is particularly inter- ested in any special detail, to find which is, and refer to the monograph or shorter communication in which the point in question is embodied. There is a small detail in association with the printing of the work, a modification of which in the second volume 26 NATURE [May II, 1876 would bean immense advantage. Prof. Macalister heads each page with the words, " Introduction to Animal Mor- phology." In so doing he seems to have entirely over- looked the fact that the object of the heading is to give some notion as to what is to be found below it, and not the title of the work itself. Why he has not followed the ordinary method of placing on the top of one of each two pages the subject of the chapter, and on the other further detail, we are at a loss to understand, and suffer accord- ingly in attempting to make any particular reference. The first seven chapters of Prof. Macalister's work are on general subjects : protoplasm, general morphology* histology, tectology (individuality and the formation of organs), reproduction, and the distribution of animals. There are certain statements in the last of these with which we cannot quite agree. That Patagonia should be entirely removed from the Neotropical Region and placed together with the Southern Circumpolar Land in a special Antarctic, seems very much at variance with known facts. Why the Polar Bear should be only men- tioned in association with the Nearctic Circumpolar Re- gion ; the Aard-vark, Manis, and Manatee with the Guinean ; the Catarrhine Monkeys with the Indian ; Bennett's Cassowary with the Austrahan ; the Birds of Paradise with the Indo-Malay, we are at a loss to comprehend. In association with the doctrine of the origin of species we are told that, " as a natural deduction from evolution^ we have Dr. Haughion's law, that all structures are arranged so as to give the maximum of work possible under the given external conditions." This law is, how- ever, a natural deduction from the theory of natural selec- tion, not from evolution ; it not being evolution, per se, but the struggle for existence which brings to the fore- ground the most economical animal machinery. It may also be mentioned that there are still wanting some im- portant links in the chain of reasoning which explains the diminution of organs, like the wings of birds, in small islands. These seem to' be lost on account of the reduction of the struggle for existence, mammals not being on the ground to contest the field. Dr. Haughton's law, therefore, no longer applies apparently. Why then are the wings lost ? The classification adopted is that of Haeckel modified, the Metazoa being primarily divided into the two sub- series, Polystomata (Sponges) and Monostomata ; the Coelenterata being removed from the Porifera, and in- cluded with the other forms in which there is but one aperture of ingress into the body-cavity. No very special stress is laid on the vertebrate affinities of the Tunicata, which are included in the sub-kingdom Vermes. Of their development we read that " in Ascidia and Phallusia the segmented yelk assumes its mulberry form, hollows within, and appears as a spherical, cellular body (blas- tula) ; a groove indents one side of this ; the lips of the groove rise and close it in, except in one spot, and thus the body becomes bicavitary, the dorsal groove contracts, and the nerve ganglion develops either within it or in its close vicinity. On a plane between the dorsal neural cavity thus formed and the ventral space, a double row of large cells appears, which extends into the tail, and forms an axis for that organ. These cells resemble those of the chorda dorsalis of Vertebrates, and have a similar relation to the neural and visceral cavities of the primarily bicavi- tary body to that possessed by the dorsal chord. Upon these phenomena, observed by Kowalewsky, Kupffer, and others, is rested the theory of relationship of Tunicates and Vertebrates, which is strengthened by the setting apart here of a portion of the digestive canal for respira- tory purposes." This quotation illustrates the condensed manner in which the whole work is written and the way in which single words are frequently modified to do the duty of whole sentences. As a second illustration of the same method when employed with reference to the sub- kingdom Coelenterata, one in which name-coining has arrived at a worse pitch even than in systematic botany — the following sentence will suffice : — " The alternation of generations may be binary (hydranth, gonophore, -f- hy- dranth, gonophore, &c.), or ternary (hydranth, blastostyle, gonophore, + /t, b, g, &c.), or quaternary (hydranth, blastostyle, blastocheme, gonocheme, -f //, b, b, g, Sec.) ; or even more complex if the hydranths be heteromor- phic." The Mollusca are treated of between the Vermes and Arthropoda, it being remarked of them that " their structure can be easily understood by regarding them as Vermes with no articulated appendages, modified by unequal lateral development, and by a fusion of the metameres," although "we know as yet of no absolute passage forms or direct synthetic types." This being the case, we cannot understand how each of these major groups can be regarded as a sub-kingdom. The author, in his preface, regrets that, owing to the long time that the work (written in 1873) has been going through the press, he has not been able to introduce into it references to recent discoveries, which explains several important omissions. Notwithstanding this, we are con- vinced that all zoologists will agree that the work is a most valuable addition to the literature of general animal morphology. OUR BOOK SHELF Introductory Text-book of Physical Geography. By David Page. Eighth Edition. (Blackwood and Sons, 1876.) Introductory text-books on Physical Geography are not numerous, and if we may judge by the calls for new editions, this one is growing in favour. It certainly gives in a short and handy form the most important facts of the subject — ^and in the descriptive part it is merely a question of the selection of the most important, and in this respect we think the selection judicious, as indeed it would appear to have been found. Dr. Page comes to Physical Geography from the side of Geology, and his readers reap the benefit of it, in the chapters relating to the structure of the earth, and to the work of rivers, and to the positions of mountain ranges, which are very good. In many other respects too, the book is worthy of the support it receives, the facts being told clearly, concisely, and for the most part truly. We cannot help, however, drawing attention to one or two points which we think would at least have been dif- ferently worded if the author had approached his subject from a physical side in his explanation of phenomena. Thus we are told with reference to water, that " when converted into steam it occupies 1,696 times more space with a specific gravity of only "622." The only standard of specific gravity mentioned is water at 62° F., and a physicist might ask at what pressure is the steam .'' Again, we read, " the atmosphere being the medium May II, 1876J NATURE 27 through which the sun's heat is conveyed to and from the earth, the lower and denser strata absorb the greatest amount, and are necessarily the warmer ; " a sentence of which a teacher would score almost every word. Again, on the subject of dew, we read that " substances like glass, &c., which rapidly lose their own heat and slowly acquire that of others are susceptible of being copiously bedewed." The italics are ours. And once more, " when the temperature of the air is reduced below that of the invisible vapour it contains, the moisture becomes visible." These extracts could be multiplied till we might wonder if it is really a book on Physical Geography we are read- ing. But these are serious defects, and we wish they could be altered. By the side of them it is of less conse- quence that while we read in the Preface that " this revision embraces all that is important in recent disco- very ; ■' yet on turning to the temperature of the sea, where the most important changes have taken place in our knowledge, we are still referred to Sir James Clarke Ross, and told that the ocean has below the surface a uniform temperature of 39^°, for which at the equator we must descend deeper than anywhere else. We can scarcely imagine that any amount of clearness will atone for these things ; let us hope they will be seen to before edition the ninth is required. The Flora of South Australia. By R. Schomburgk, Ph.D., Director of the Botanic Gardens, Adelaide. (W. C. Cox, 1875.) We have here a complete list of the indigenous flora of South Australia, both tropical and extra-tropical, with some general remarks prefixed. The most predominant natural orders in the colony are Leguminosae, Myrtacese, Compositas, Proteaceae, Cruciferas, Rubiacese, and Gra- mineae. The genera and species are remarkably circum- scribed in area ; many are found in one spot alone. The colony is singularly devoid of native edible fruits and roots ; on the other hand it produces abundance of valu- able timber-trees and of plants suitable for the manufac- ture of paper and other fibres, and for the production of dyes ; but most of the valuable crops are naturalised plants, introduced from Europe or other parts of the world. A. W. B. 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. \ Theory of Electrical Induction In Nature, vol. xiii. pp. 437, 475, Prof. Paul Volpicelli gives an exposition of the two theories of electric induction, containing copious references to the writings of electricians, and numerous experiments of his own. It is remarkable, however, that he has not only omitted all reference to the works of Poisson, Green, Thomson, Beer, Betti, &c., who have studied the mathe- matical theory of induction, but he has not even introduced the word potential into his exposition, unless we are to take the word tension in the sense of potential, where he says that a certain portion of electricity possesses tension while another portion does not. The result of this mode of treating the subject without calling in the aid of those ideas and phrases which the progress of science has developed, is to convey the impression that the whole theory of induction of electrification on the surface of conductors is still in a very imperfect and vague condition, whereas there is no part of electrical science in which we can trace more distinctly the correspondence, quantitative as well as qualitative, of the phenomena with the general laws of electricity. It appears, however, from what M. Volpicelli says, that an erroneous theory is still generally adopted in treatises on physics and electricity, and that it ought to be superseded by a more correct theory first proposed by Melloni. Both theories admit that if an insulated conductor, without charge, is acted on by a charged inductor, the siuface becoines electrified, oppositely to the charge of the inductor on the parts nearest the inductor, and similarly to the charge of the inductor on the parts farthest from it. The first of the two theories, how- ever, asserts that both these electiicities are "erdowed with tension," whereas the second, that of Melloni, asserts that the electricity of the same kind with that of the inductor is alone " endowed with tension," while the other kind of electricity is entirely "latent or dissimulated." The only sense which we can attach to the word "tension" as thus used, is that which modem writers mean by " potential," or potential function, the difference being that the word tension is often used in a vague manner, whereas potential is strictly defined. Thus a point in space is said to have a certain electric potential, and since all points of a conductor in electrical equilibrium have the same potential, we speak of the potential of the conductor. But we do not speak of the potential of a charge of elertricity, or of electricity being endowed or not endowed with potential. Such language would only lead us into error. Let U3 suppose the inductor to be charged positively and the induced body to be insulated and originally without charge. Then, since its insulation prevents any electric communication with other bodies, its total electrification must remain zero, or there must be as much positive electrification as there is negative. Hence for every line of electric force which proceeds from the inductor and falls on the induced body, there is another which proceeds from the induced body and falls on the walls of the room, or on some other body whose potential is zero. The potential of the induced body must therefore be intermediate between that of the inductor and that of the walls of the room, which is generally taken as zero. The potential of the induced body is therefore positive. There is thus on the surface of the induced body a region nearer the inductor which is negatively electrified, and a region further from the inductor which is positively electrified. These regions are divided by a neutral line on the surface, which is the section of the surface by an equipotential surface in space which has the same potential as the induced body. The total charges on these two regions are exactly equal but of opposite signs. If a small insulated conductor is placed in contact with any part of the surface and removed, it will be found to be electrified in the same way as the part of the surface with which it was in contact. A fine short needle point, or a burning pastille, placed on any part of the surface will dissipate the kind of electricity which exists on that part of the surface. See Riess, " Reibungs Elektricitat," Art. 247. If any part of the induced body is placed in electrical connec- tion with the earth by touching it with a fine wire, positive elec- tricity will be discharged, and the potential of the induced body will be reduced to zero. This will be the case whether the part touched be positively or negatively electrified. The quantity of electricity discharged will be the product of the potential of the induced body into its electric capacity. , After this discharge every part of the surface of the induced body will be negatively electrified, but the parts nearer the inductor more than those which are further from it. In the mathematical treatment of the subject Thomson has found it convenient to divide the electrification into two parts, each distributed over the induced body according to its own law. (o) The induced electrification when the induced body is con- nected to earth, and the charge of the inductor is E. This electrification is negative on every part of the smface, but the density is greatest next the inductor. (;8) The electrification when the induced body has a potential P, and the inductor, still in the same place, has no charge. This electrification is positive on every part of the surface. From a knowledge of these two distributions it is easy to determine a third, in which the total electrification is the alge- braical sum of (a) and (^8), and in which the value of /* is such that the total electrification is zero. We might then assert that the electrification (iS) is free, because it will be discharged if the body is connected to earth, but that the electrification (o) is latent or dissimulated, because it will not be discharged to earth. The only danger of this mode of exposition is that it may suggest to a beginner the notion that electricity, Uke water and other substances, may exist in different physical states, in some of which it is more mobile than in others. This idea of variation of quaUty once introduced into the 28 NATURE {May r r, 1876 mind will tend to prevent the student from forming any clear and distinct conception of the phenomena. Let us now examine how far M. Volpicelli's experimental skill and extensive reading have enabled him to give an accurate account of the phenomena, and how far he may have fallen into error from not availing himself of the idea of electric poten- tial, but continuing to employ that of latent electricity. Melloni, in his exposition, has represented the homonymous electrification (j8) as greater on the side of the induced body further from the inductor. The fact, however, is that the elec- trification is distributed in the same way as it would be if the inductor were in its actual position and insulated, but without charge. It will therefore be densest on the projecting parts of the induced body ; but if the two extremities ol this body are geometrically similar, and if the inductor is made of a conducting substance, it will be somewhat denser on the extremity (ib) next the inductor, because the surface of the inductor itself (c) will become electrified, and the electricity on the side next to b will be negative. But the inequality of the distribution of the negative electrifi- cation (a) is so much greater that it completely masks that of (;3), so that from an experimental point of view we must regard this error of Melloni as a very tiifling one. The next point we must notice is the mode in which objection (3) is expressed. It is as follows: — "(3) Because of the two kinds of electricity which coexist upon the induced insulated body, only the homonym of the in- ductor is dissipated by contact with the air," (The italics are our own.) We have no evidence whatever that electricity is ever dissi- pated by contact with air, whether dry or moist, unless the electric density is so great that a disruptive discharge takes place in the forms of " glow," " brush," or " spark," from sharp points connected with the electrified body. If the electrified body and the surrounding conductors have rounded surfaces, and if the potential is moderate, it appears from the experiments of Boltzmann^ that no measureable quantity of electricity passes through air or other gases, even when greatly rarefied, and when the experiment is continued for fourteen hours. I have myself been unable to detect any conduction through a stratum of still air of two millimetres thickness, even when the temperature was raised to a red heat, and when steam, or the vapour of mercury or of sodium was introduced between the oppositely elecirihtd surfaces. If, however, smoky air was intro- duced, there was a considerable effect arising from convection by the solid particles. The cause of the powerful electrical effects of the stream of heated matter rising from a Bunstn's burner or Irom a red-hot ball, as in Guthrie's experiments, requires a special investigation. The dissipation of the charge of insulated bodies which we actually observe seems to depend principally on the insulating supports on which they are placed, and if these are of good glass the conduction is almost entirely due to moisture on the surface of the glass. If the air which is in contact with the glass insulator is perfectly dry the dissipation of electricity will be ex- tremely small, even when the air in contact with the electrified body itself is loaded with moisture. It is not, therelore, by contact with the air that the electricity escapes, but by conduction to the earth along the so-called insu- lating supports, and the effect of this conduction is of course to reduce the potential to zero by discharging electricity of the same kind with that of the inductor. We come next to the fourth of the five facts mentioned under the head of the First Experiment. It is stated as follows : — " 4. Points applied to the extremity of the cylinder nearest to the inductor allow only the homonym of the inductor to escape, and not at all the opposite electricity." This will be the case it the point is electrically connected with the earth, and made to apj, roach any part of the surface of the cylinder ; but if, as the words seem rather to imply, the point is attached to the cylinder and projects into the air, then the statement is exactly opposite to that given by Riess in Art. 247 of his book, who corrtciiy tells us that if the cylinder has a sharp point at one end, then if the point is turned towards the in- ductor, the cylinder becomes charged simdarly to the inductor, whereas if the point is turned away from the inductor, the cylinder becomes charged oppositely to the inductor, the discharge from ;i Sitzb. der k. Akad. (Wien), April 23, 1874. .- ' the point being always of that kind of electricity which exists on the part of the cylinder where the point is placed. The fifth fact stated to be established by the experiment is — "5. Induced electricity of the first kind (opposite to that of the inductor) is not transferred from the induced body to the in- ductor, but the electricity of the inductor may certainly be trans- ferred to the induced body," For the sake of distinctness, let us say that the inductor is positive, then it is here asserted that negative electricity does not pass from the cylinder to the inductor, but that positive electri- city passes from the inductor to the cylinder. If M. Volpicelli can give us an experimental method of dis- tinguishing between the passage of negative electricity from B to A, and the passage of positive electricity from A to B, we may expect to learn more of the nature of electricity than any of our physicists have hitherto even hoped for. J. Clerk Maxwell Cherry Blossoms In the last number of Nature (vol. xiv., p. 10), Mr. Pryor states that the flowers of the wild cherry aie bitten off in large numbers in much the same manner as I formerly described in the case of the primrose. Some days ago I observed many cherry blossoms in this state, and to-day I saw some actually falling. I approached stealthily so as to discover what bird was at work, and behold it was a squirrel. There could be no doubt about it for the squirrel was low in the tree and actually had a blossom between its teeth. It is none the less true that birds likewise bite the flowers of the cherry tree. Down, Beckenham, May 6 Charles Darwin The Pollen of the Cherry The practice of the indefinite reproduction of woodcuts by means of clichh has frequently given rise to the repetition of erroneous drawings in one scientific text-book after another. Botanical text-books seem to have suffered especially in this way, in con- sequence of the great dearth of new and original illustrations by which they are characterised. Many botanical students must have been puzzled by the peculiar appearance presented by the pollen of the cherry in a very familiar drawing. It is hardly sufficiently explained that "the escape of the fovilla in an irregular jet," as there represented, has nothing to do with the process of fertilisation, but is an altogether abnormal pheno- menon depending on the bursting of the pollen-grain from arti- ficial moistening. The shape of the pollen-grain, as drawn, for example, in Balfour's "Class-book of Botany," Le Maout and Decaisne's "General System of Botany," and Dr. Hooker's Science Primer " Botany " ^ is also incorrectly indicated. The perfectly spherical form represented in these drawings is almost, if not altogether, confined to anemophilous plants, fertilised by the wind. The cherry is, on the contrary, entomophilous, and its pollen partakecs of the general character of this class of plants. Though somewhat variable in size and form, the grains are, I believe, never spherical, but ellipsoidal, with three longitudinal furrows, as represented in the longitudinal and apical aspects, a, b, in the accompanying figure. The pollen has, however, well-marked characters of its own, which distinguish it from that of allied plants, the ends often appearing truncated, as repre- sented in c, and some or all of the grains more gibbous on one face than another (d). Most poilen-grains assuma a more spherical form on being moistened with water, Alfred W, Bennett I In Hooker's Primtr there is the further complication of the accidental transposition of the figures of the cherry and evening-prinitose, the well- known triangular form of the latter being attributed to the lormer. May II, 1876] NATURE 29 Spring Dynamometers In a former brief communication of mine on the subject of dynamometers (Nature, vol. xiii. p. 385), suggested by an in- cidental remark made by Mr. Bottomley, I observed that "about three years ago Prof. Ball when introducing the C. G. S. system of units into the course of mechanics in this College had a series of dynamometers in absolute measure specially constructed for him." In reference to this statement, Dr. Ball's successor in the chair of mechanics, Prof. Ilennessy, points out, in a letter to NiVTURE (vol. xiii., p. 466), that "the system actually employed is not that referred to by your correspondent ; I generally employ the kilogram, metre, and second, and some- times the foot, pound, and second, to measure a dynam or unit of force." It is, however, evident that the few words in my former letter did not question the merits of any particular system of units ; whether the use of a mixed system of kilogram-metres and foot-pounds be an improvement upon a system now generally coming into use is a matter of opinion. And though the sub- ject can hardly be one of much interest to your readers, I may, perhaps, remark that so far as my statement concerns Dr. Ball it is perfectly accurate ; he was in the habit of using the C. G. S. system in his classes here, and I was unaware any change had been made in this respect, the following statement occurring in Prof. Hennessy's own syllabus for the present as well as last session : — "The unit of force employed is the 'dyne,' or that force which, acting uniformly upon one gramme for one second, will give it a velocity of one centimetre a second." Even if reference had been made to Prof Hennessy, one would naturally have concluded that the printed syllabus, authorised by the Department, was the one "actually employed." Passing on to Dr. Ball's dynamometers. Prof. Hennessy re- marks that " they cannot be depended upon to results within the tenth of a kilogramme " — finer readings when necessary could, no doubt, be taken by the eye, but that is really only a question for the maker, and the special purpose for which these instru- ments were designed : then follows the strong assertion that " spring dynamometers are totally unfit for measuring units on the C. G. S. system." As several instruments of precision depending on the tension of a spring recur to one's mind, instru- ments that only require proper precautions to yield extremely delicate and trustworthy results, it would be interesting to know upon what grounds Prof. Hennessy bases his emphatic and reiterated assertion. If it be merely a question of individual opinion, upon this subject hardly any authorities that could be quoted would carry such weight as Sir W. Thomson and Prof. P. G. Tait, who speak thus in their treatise on "Natural Philosophy," p. 127, "Spring balances we believe to be capable, if carefully constructed, of rivalling the ordinary balance in accuracy, while for some applications they far surpass it in sensibility and convenience." Royal College of Science, Dublin W. F. Barrett The Meteors of April 20th Between ten and twelva o'clock on the night of April i8th, Mr. W. L. Taylor, a member of the junior class in the State University, with several other gentlemen, observed an unusual number of shooting-stars. These gentlemen were returning in an open waggon from Ellettsville, eight miles north of Bloom- ington. No count was kept of the number of meteors observed, but the appearance was so frequent as to attract the attention of all the company. Mr. Taylor thinks the number noticed could not have been less than twelve or fifteen. From the descriptions given of the meteor tracks, I find that they were nearly conform- able to the radiant of the Lyraids. The meteors were remark- ably brilliant, apparently equal to stars of the first or second magnitude. At my request Mr. Benjamin Vail, a student of the University, made observations on the nights of the 19th and 20th of AprU. Both nights were so cloudy, however, that a continuous watch would have been useless. About eleven o'clock on the night of the 19th, three meteors were seen in the north-west, where the sky at the time was partially clear. Bloomington, Ind., April 26 Dahiel Kirkwood American Mocking Bird An American mocking-bird, about a year old, which I had brought from Tennessee, has, for the past three or four weeks, been affected with an irritation round the eyes, causing the feathers to fall off and the flesh to swell ; the bird is otherwise in a healthy condition, but has not sung since it has been affected with the soreness ; it has the proper food supplied, and its cage is kept in a clean state ; could any correspondent kindly inform me the cause and cure of the disease ? M. C. An Unusual Optical Phenomenon This morning, a little after nine o'clock, the ordinary solar halo, radius about 22°, was seen. It was bright, and the red very distinct. On turning to the north to find the direction of the cloud drift, a white band was seen extending to the north-east in one direc- tion, and on to the west and south in the other. Its width was about that of the halo near the sun. A pau: of compasses and a protractor gave the altitude of this circle about 45". This being about the sun's altitude, the plane of the circle was no doubt parallel to the horizon and passed through the sun. I believe the circle above described to be but rarely seen. Joseph Gledhill Mr. Crossley's Observatory, Halifax, May 3 OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN The Binary X Ophiuchi.— An examination of the re- cent measures of this star, shows that neither of the orbits computed some 25 or more years since by Madler and Hind at all represents the later course of the companion, a circumstance mainly attributable, as it appears, to error in one, if not in both, of Sir W. Herschel's measures. Struve at first considered that the angle of 1 783 required a correction of 180°, but at a later period he was inclined to apply a similar coiTection to the angle of 1802, and Dawes also believed it was the latter measure which re- quired alteration, in order to render any orbit possible. It is upon this supposition that the orbits of Madler and Hind have been calculated : the two sets of elements are subjoined : — Ma.Uer. Hind. Peri-astron passage 179031 1791*21 Period of revolution in years 8901 95 "88 Node 32"^ 42' 30° 23' Angle between the lines of nodes ) go , ^ / and apsides on orbit \ ^ '^S 24 Inclination 49° 25' 49° 40' Excentricity 0*4530 0*4772 Semi-axis major ... ©"842 o"'847 Midler's orbit was published in " Untersuchungen iiber dieFixsterne-Systeme, Erster Theil." The second orbit was founded upon observations to about the same year, 1849. The projection of the measures since this epoch, however, makes it apparent that the real orbit must be materially different from the above, and the star may be recom- mended to the attention of those who are interested m the determination of elements of the revolving double- stars. Sir W. Herschel's papers containing his nseasures of double stars communicated to the Royal Society, not being always of easy access, the following extracts from his notes on \ Ophiuchi may perhaps prove useful : — From the PhiL Trans., vol. Ixxv., p. 62 : — "I. 83; 1783, March 9. A very beautiful and close double-star, L. w. ; S. blue ; both fine colours. Con- siderably or almost very unequal. With 460, J- or ^ diameter of S. ; with 932 full \ diameter of S. Position 14° 30' n. following." From the memoir of 1804 — " May 20, 1802, position was 20° 41'. The position March 9, 1783, was 14° 30', north following. The difference in nineteen years and seventy-two days is 6" 11'. May i aod 2, 1 802, I could not perceive the small star, though the last of the two evenings was very fine. May 20, 1802, with 527, I saw it very well, but with great difficulty. The object is uncommonly beautiful, but it requires a most excellent telescope to see it well and the focus ought to 30 NA TURE May II, 1876 be adjusted upon e of the same constellation, so as to make that perfectly round." These remarks have an essential bearing upon the in- vestigation of elements. The components must have been very close at both Herschel's epochs — if there be no mistake in the register — and this is not at first sight readily explained by the curve exhibiting the motion of the smaller star from Struve's earliest micrometrical measures in 1825 to the present date. Herschel further remarked in 1802 that the appearance of the components was much like that of " a planet with a large satellite, or small companion," and strongly sug- gestive of " the idea of a connection between the two bodies, especially as they are much insulated." The Rotation of Venus.— In a note upon the time of rotation and position of the axis of Venus, which recently appeared in this column, reference was inad- vertently omitted to Flaugergues' observations at Viviers in July, 1 796, which, according to a communication from Valz to the Astronotnische Nachrichten (No. 278, vol. xi), seemed to favour Bianchini's period, and placed the north pole of Venus in longitude 321° 20', with an elevation of 16° 28'. Details of the observations are wanting, but Valz states that Flaugergues observed with " une ancienne lunette k deux verres de 18 pieds de long, amplifiant 105 fois qu'il ditfort bonne." He also employed one of 14 feet, and a telescope said to be good, which Legentil brought from India. Valz adds : "J'ai vu le dessein original de la tache, elle etait grande et de forme trapezoide arrondie, &c." Hussey's vigorous but prejudiced defence of the extra- ordinary period of rotation assigned by Bianchini will be found in Astronomische Nachrichten, No 248. Fritsch, of Quedlinburg, thought some observations of his in April 1801 indicated a period of 23h. 22m. (^Berliner AstronotnUches Jahrbuch, 1804, p. 213). SONG OF THE SCREW A moving form or rigid mass, Under whate'er conditions. Along successive screws must pass Between each two positions. It tzirns around and slides along — This is the burden of my song. Tht pitch of screw, if multiplied By angle of rotation. Will give the distance it must glide In motion of translation. Infinite pitch means pure translation, And zero pitch means pure rotation. Two motions on two given screws. With amplitudes at pleasure. Into a third screw-motion fuse ; Whose amplitude we measure By parallelogram construction (A very obvious deduction). Its axis cuts the nodal line Which to both screws is normal, And generates a form divine, Whose name, in language formal, Is " surface-ruled of third degree." Cylindroid is the name for me. Rotation round a given line Is like a force along. If to say couple you incline. You're clearly in the wrong ;— Tis obvious, upon reflection, A line is not a mere direction. So couples with translations too In all respects agree ; And thus there centres in the screw A wondrous harmony Of Kinematics and of Statics, — The sweetest thing in mathematics. The forces on one given screw, With motion on a second. In general some work will do. Whose magnitude is reckoned By angle, force, and what we call The coefficient virtual. Rotation now to force convert, And force into rotation ; Unchanged the work, we can assert. In spite of transformation. And if two screws no work can claim, Reciprocal will be their name. Five numbers will a screw define, A screwing motion, six ; For four will give the axial line. One more the pitch will fix ; And hence we always can contrive One screw reciprocal to five. Screws — two, three, four, or five, combined (No question here of sex). Yield other screws which are confined Within one screw complex. Thus we obtain the clearest notion Of freedom and constraint of motion. In complex III. three several screws At every point you find, Or if you one direction choose. One screw is to your mind ; And complexes of order III. Their own reciprocals may be. In IV., wherever you arrive. You find of screws a cone. On every line in complex V. There is precisely one ; At each point of this complex rich, A plane of screws have given pitch. But time would fail me to discourse Of Order and Degree, Of Impulse, Energy, and Force, And Reciprocity. All these and more, for motions small, Have been discussed by Dr. Ball. ON THE TELEPHONE, AN INSTRUMENT FOR TRANSMITTING MUSICAL NOTES BY MEANS OF ELECTRICITY IN/TR. ELISHA GRAY recently read a paper before ^^^ an American Society explaining his apparatus for transmitting musical notes by electricity. He showed experimentally how, by means of a current of electricity in a single wire, a number of notes could be reproduced simultaneously at a great distance, and how by this means also a number of telegraphic messages could be transmitted at once along a wire and separately received at the other end. One of Mr. Gray's apparatuses was exhibited in London at the last soiree of ihe Society of Telegraph Engineers by the president, Mr. Latimer Clark. The principle of the apparatus is as follows : — A vibrating reed is caused to interrupt the electric current entering the wire a certain number of times per second and the current so interrupted at the sending end sets a similar reed vibrating at the distant end. ■ <- May II, 1876] NATURE 31 The sending reed is ingeniously maintained in constant vibration by a pair of intermittent electro-magnets which are magnetised and demagnetised by the vibrating reed itself. Thus in Fig, i (which represents the transmitting part of the telephone and its connections for a single note), the current from the magnet battery flowing in the direc- tion of the small arrow passes through the pair of electro- magnets A to the terminal r of the reed R, and thence by the spring contact b and the wire bz to the battery again, completing its circuit without passing through the other pair of electro-magnets B, which are not therefore mag- netised. The reed R is consequently pulled over by the electro-magnets A. But on this taking place the spring contact b is broken and the circuit is no longer com- pleted through bz but through the electro- magnets B, which are consequently magnetised, and tend by their induction on the reed to neutralise that of B. The reed ( SENDING UEY OR •( INSTRUMENT ^^=0 A MAGNET BATTERY RECEIVING INSTRUMENT EARTH Fig. I. therefore springs back to its intermediary position, but in so doing the contact at b is again made and the electro- magnets B again short-circuited and the reed pulled over (or rather assisted over, for it has its own resilience or spring) towards A ; so this goes on keeping the reed in vibration between the electro-magnets and alternately making and breaking the spring contact b and also that of a, the number of contacts per second being dependant on the vibrating period of the reed. t; While this is going on the reed of course emits its mu- sical note. Two Leclanche or bichromate cells are sufficient to work the transmitter and give a good note. TO EARTH ^^^ Fig. 2. The spring contact b is to be adjusted by the screw there seen until the note emitted by the reed is both loud and pure. The magnets A and B are adjustable to or from the reed by the milled heads C and D. The spring contact a just mentioned belongs properly to the line circuit. It is the intermittent contact which interrupts the current sent into the line. As will be seen from the diagram the circuit of the sending battery is made through the key K, the reed, and the spring contact a. On holding down the key K the current flows into the line, being interrupted, however, by the contact a as many times per second as the reed vibrates, and this intermittent current flowing to earth at the distant station, s made to elicit a corresponding note from the receiving apparatus there. The receiving instruments are of two kinds, electro- magnetic and physiological. In the first there is a plain double electro-magnet with a steel tongue having one end rigidly fixed to one pole, the other end being free to vibrate under the other pole. This stands over a wooden pipe closed at one end. Thus in Fig. 2 / T is the steel tongue fixed at / and free at EARTH* — «^ 4^ LINE Fig. 3. T, while P is the sounding-pipe. The received current, coming from the line and passing through the electro- magnet M to earth, sets the tongue vibrating, and the pipe gives forth the same note as the reed at the sending I station. Ten Daniell cells working through 1,000 ohms, I give a good strong note, especially when the receiver is 32 NATURE {May II, 1876 held in the hand close to the head. The screw a, Fig. I, must be adjusted to give the best efifect. The other receiving instrument is the most interesting of the two. It consists of a small induction coil used in conjunction with a peculiar sounding-box, as shown in Fig. 3- Here the line-current is passed to earth through the primary circuit P of the small induction coil, and the in- duced current is led to the sounding-box. This consists of a flat hollow cylindrical wooden box B, covered by a convoluted face of sheet zinc with two air holes hh, per- forated in it, this box is attached to a metal axle A, turning in forked iron bearings, insulated from but sup- ported by an iron stand S. By this means the sounding- box can be revolved by the ebony handle E. The zinc face is connected across the empty interior of the box by a wire w to the metal bearings on the other side. One end of the secondary circuit of the induction coil is to be connected to the metal bearing by the terminal a, and the other to a short bare wire held in the left hand. On then striking a finger of the hand holding the wire smartly across the zinc face, the proper note is sounded by the box ; or, what is more convenient, on turning the box by the insulated handle and keeping the point of the finger rubbing on its face, the note is heard. The rough under side of the finger pressed pretty hard on the bulging part of the face is best. The instant the current is put on by the sending key K, Fig. i, the dry rasp of the skin on the zinc-surface becomes changed into a musical note. These " sounders " can be made to receive indifferently a variety of notes. I have under my care at present a telephone with four, transmitters tuned to give the four notes of the common chord, and two receivers, which interpret equally well any one of these notes or all together. But sounders are also made in the same way which will emit only one special note, and so are sensible only to the corresponding current. It is by their means that the telephone can be applied to multiplex telegraphy. As many as eight transmitters may be set to interrupt the line current according to the vibrations of eight different tuning-forks, and the resultant current can be made by means of eight special receivers to reproduce the same number of corresponding notes at the distant station. The current is controlled by eight keys at the sending end and sifted by eight sounders at the receiving end, each sounder being sensitive only to those portions of the current affected by its corresponding transmitter. The superimposed effect of the eight keys and transmitters on the hne current can all be separately interpreted at the receivmg end. Thus eight messages might be trans- mitted simultaneously along one wire in the same direc- tion. It would seem hitherto, however, that this method of telegraphy by the telephone is inferior to the ordinary ''methods in point of speed of signalling, and in the length of circuit which can be worked by a given battery power. J. MUNRO OUR PERCEPTION OF THE DIRECTION OF A SOURCE OF SOUNDS THE practical facility with which we recognise the situation of a sounding body has always been rather a theoretical difficulty. In the case of sight a special optical apparatus is provided whose function it is to modify the uniform excitation of the retina, which a luminous point, wherever situated, would otherwise pro- duce. The mode of action of the crystalline lens of the eye is well understood, and the use of a lens is precisely the device that would at once occur to the mind of an optician ignorant of physiology. The bundle of rays, which would otherwise distribute themselves over the entire retina, and so give no indication of their origin, are ' Abstract of a Communication to the Musical Association, by Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S. made to converge upon a single point, whose excitation is to us the sign of an external object in a certain definite direction. If the luminous object is moved, the fact is at once recognised by the change in the point of excitation. There is nothing in the ear corresponding to the crystaUine lens of the eye, and this not accidentally, so to speak, but by the very nature of the case. The efficient action of a lens depends upon its diameter being at least many times greater than the wave-length of light, and for the purposes of sight there is no difficulty in satisfying this requirement. The wave-length of the rays by which we see is not much more than a ten-thousandth part of the diameter of the pupil of the eye. But when we pass to the case of sound and the ear the relative magnitudes of the corresponding quantities are altogether different. The waves of sound issuing from a man's mouth are about eight feet long, whereas the diameter of the passage of the ear is quite small, and could not well have been made a large multiple of eight feet. It is evident therefore that it is useless to look for anything corresponding to the crystalline lens of the eye, and that our power of telling the origin of a sound must be explained in some diflferent way. It has long been conjectured that the explanation turns upon the combined use of both ears ; though but little seems to have been done hitherto in the way of bringing this view to the test. The observations and calculations now brought forward are very incomplete, but may perhaps help to clear the ground, and will have served their pur- pose if they induce others to pursue the subject. The first experiments were made with the view of find- ing out with what degree of accuracy the direction of a sound could be determined, and for this it was necessary of course that the observer should have no other material for his judgment than that contemplated. The observer, stationed with his eyes closed in the middle of a lawn on a still evening, was asked to point with the hand in the direction of voices addressed to him by five or six assistants, who continually shifted their position. It was necessary to have several assistants, since it was found that otherwise their steps could be easily followed. The uniform result was that the direc- tion of a human voice used in anything like a natural manner could be told with certainty from a single word, or even vowel to within a few degrees. But with other sounds the result was different. If the source was on the right or the left of the observer, its position could be told approximately, but it was uncertain whether, for example, a low whistle was in front or behind. This result led us to try a simple sound, such as that given by a fork mounted on a resonance box. It was soon found that whatever might be the case with a truly simple sound, the observer never failed to detect the situation of the fork by the noises accompanying its excitation, whether this was done by striking or by a violin bow. It was therefore necessary to arrange the experiment differently. Two assistants at equal distances and in opposite directions were provided with similar forks and resonators. At a signal given by a fourth, both forks were struck, but only one was held over its resona- tor, and the observer was asked to say, without moving his head, which he heard. When the observer was so turned that one fork was immediately in front and the other immediately behind, it was impossible for him to tell which fork was sounding, and if asked to say one or the other, felt that he was only guessing. But on turning a quarter round, so as to have one fork on his right and the other on his left, he could tell without fail, and with full confidence in being correct. The possibility of distinguishing a voice in front from a voice behind would thus appear to depend on the com- pound character of the sound in a way that it is not easy to understand, and for which the second ear would be of no advantage. But even in the case of a lateral sound May II, 1876] NATURE 33 the matter is not free from difficulty, for the difference of intensity with which a lateral sound is perceived by the two ears is not great. The experiment may easily be tried roughlf by stopping one ear with the hand, and turning round backwards and forwards while listening to a sound held steadily. Calculation shows, moreover, that the human head, considered as an obstacle to the waves of sound, is scarcely big enough in relation to the wave- length to give a sensible shadow. To throw light on this subject I have calculated the mtensity of sound due to a distant source at the various points on the surface of a fixed spherical obstacle. The result depends on the ratio (a) between the circumference of the sphere and the length of the wave. If we call the point on the spherical surface nearest to the source the anterior pole, and the opposite point (where the shadow might be expected to be most intense) the posterior pole, the results on three suppositions as to the relative magnitudes of the sphere and wave-length are given in the following table : — Intensity. ( Anterior pole '690 a = 7, "I Posterior pole "318 (Equator "356 ( An'erior pole... I < Posterior pole ( Equator •503 •285 •237 ! Anterior pole "294 Posterior pole "260 Equator "232 When, for example, the circumference of the sphere is but half the wave-length, the intensity at the posterior pole is only about a tenth part less than at the anterior pole, while the intensity is least of all in a lateral direc- tion. When a is less than ^, the difference of the inten- sities at the two poles is still less important, amounting to about one per cent, when a = j. The value of a depends on the wave-length, which may vary within pretty wide limits, and it might be expected that the facility of distinguishing a lateral sound would diminish when the sound is grave. Experiments were accordingly tried with forks of a frequency of 128, but no greater difficulty was experienced than with forks of a fre- quency of 256, except such as might be attributed to the inferior loudness of the formei". According to calculation the difference of intensity would here be too small to account for the power of discrimination. PROF. HUXLEY'S LECTURES ON THE EVI- DENCE AS TO THE ORIGIN OF EXISTING VERTEBRATE ANIMALS "■ VI. IN the highest group of Vertebrates, the Mammalia, the perfection of animal structure is attained. It will hardly be necessary, indeed it will be impossible, in the time at our disposal, to give the general characters of the group, but our purpose will be answered as well by devoting a short time to considering the peculiarities of a single well-known animal, the evidence as to the origin of which approaches precision. The horse is one of the most specialised and peculiar of animals, its whole structure being so modified as to make it the most perfect living locomotive engine which it is possible to imagine. The chief points in which its structure is modified to bring about this specialisation, and in which, therefore, it differs most markedly from other mammals, we must now consider. In the skull the orbit is completely closed behind by bone, a character found only in the most modified mam- mals. The teeth have a very peculiar character. There ' A course of six lectures to working men, lake, mainly to solve the question as to wild horses and camels. Next spring he will ob- serve the migration? of birds on Lob-nor and proceed to Lhassa. He will then explore the upper course of the Brahamapootra and the northern slopes of the Himalayas, as also Eastern Thibet and Southern Chiaa, and if circumstances permit, he will return by Western Thibet and enter Russia by Kashgar. The pro- gramme of the expedition is as follows : — I. Geographical and ethnographical descriptions. 2. An itinerary sketch at sight. 3. Astronomical determinations of places. 4. Meteorological, psychometric, and hypsometric observations. 5- Observations ol mammals and birds. 6. Botanical, zoological, and mineralo- gical collections. 7. Pnotographic ske ches. Tne Rusdm Geographical Society has expressed its emphatic approval of the programme, and the Emperor has ordered 24,740 roubles to be devoted to the expedition from the treasury. From Commander Cookson we hear that H.M.S. Petrel is bringing home two living specimens of the Giant Tortoise of the Galapagos Islands, from Albemarle Island. A large supply of food was provided, and if this does not fail, and at the same time if the cold in the region of Cape Horn has not proved too intense, we may hope to see the specimens alive, for the first time in this country, duriig next month. From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (U.S.) we learn that a gentleman of Rochester, New York, who does not wish his name to be published, has, through Prof. Henry A. Ward of that city, given to the University of Virginia, a sum of S»SO0^' to be expended in the formation of a fully appointed cabinet of the May 1 8, 1876] NA TURE 61 natural sciences, including mineralogy, geolc^, and ioology. The donor has also given a building, at the cost of more than 4,000/., for the collection, tobebuilt near Charlesville, four miles from Monticello. Prof. Ward, in making the collection, Will visit the principal European cities. In the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, p. 427, Dr. Robinson gives us a paper on the theory of the cup anemometer, and the determination of its constants. The paper is an ex- tremely valuable one, as indicating the line of research to be followed in prosecuting anemometrical experiments. So far as we are aware, Dr. Robinson is the first who has formed a just apprehension of the viscosity of the air in its bearings on such experiments, and adopted the necessary precautions in accord- ance therewith. At the meeting of the Edinburgh Botanical Society, held on the iithinst, an interesting communication was read from the Rev. D. Landsborough, on experiments in growing several Australian plants and trees in Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, including among others the great Australian tree-fern and other tree-ferns, acacias, and gum-trees. The blue gum grew ii^ inches the first year, 4 feet the second, and 6 feet the third. The Eucalyptus pendulosa also grows well in sheltered situations along the west coast, and Mr. Landsborough expects to see it generally introduced in a few years, and form a valuable addition to our evergreen shrubs. A CORRESPONDENT writes with reference to the " Plaster cast of portion of antler of reindeer from La Madelaine, Dordogne, France," in the loan collection, the original of which is preserved in France. The thicker end, the label states, is pierced with a hole. "There are as many as four holes in some specimens. Their use is unknown." Our correspondent states that these implements may have been used by former in- habitants of France in the same manner as a very similar tool usually made of deer-horn is now in use or was very recently, by Some tribes of the "Red men " of North America. Where bows and arrows are in use, the arrows are made of a very hard and tough willow. This willow may not always be quite straight, or is liable to get warped or crooked in the process of drying. If so, the bends or curves are straightened by the intended arrow being put through the hole in the horn, and a strong pressure applied in the proper direction to counteract the curve. This has sometimes to be done over and over again before perfect straightness is obtained. It may be asked why are three or four holes sometimes found in the same piece of horn ? If the holes are of different sizes the reply is not difficult. It is probable that the people who use these tools had wood of different thicknesses (say for arrows and spears) to manipulate ; if so, holes of different sizes would be required. It will, he thinks, be generally noticed that the edges^ of the holes are rounded ; this would be done to prevent the otherwise sharp edge injuring the fibre of the wood. Near the specimen referred to, there is one in which one side of the hole has apparently been broken away by a violent strain, possibly applied in the manner and for the purpose above stated. The able director of the Royal Zoological Museum of Lis- bon, Jose Vincente Barboza du Bocage, well known for his valuable researches on the natural history of the shores of Por- tugal, and especially on the Fauna of the Portuguese possessions in Africa, was unanimously elected a foreign member of the Linnean Society at their last meeting, May 4. Prof. William Nylander, of Helsingfois, a cryptogamic botanist of deservedly high reputation, also had the same honorary distinction con- ferred on him. Parts xlvii. and xlviii. of Mr. Dresser's "History of the Birds of Europe," completing the fourth annual volume of this important work, has just been issued with its usual punctuality. Nearly 400 species of birds have now been figured and described, and as the total European avifauna is probably between 600 and 700 species, three more volumes will be required. These will, almost certainly, be issued within three years from the present date, and we may therefore with great confidence anticipate the suocessfiil conclusion of a monograph, which, whether for the beauty of its illustrations, or for the fulness and accuracy of its information, will stand in the very first rank of ornithological literature. In Petermann's Mittheilungen for May is an article, accom- panied by a map, showing the number, classification, distribu- tion, &c., of the institutions for higher instruction in Germany. Following the continuation of the analysis of Prejevalsky's Mongolian travels is an interesting article on the recent travels of Dr. Emil Helub in South Africa, mainly in the Limpapo and Zambesi regions and the region of the salt-pans between Chris- tiana and Mamusa. The information seems to be mainly ob- tained from the Diamond News and Griqualand West Goverrk- ment Gazette of Feb. 23, 1875. Probably the most interesting article is a detailed account of Giles's expedition from Beltana in South Australia, to Perth in Western Australia, in May- November, 1875. Giles's route was on an average four degrees to the south of Forrest's, which, again, was about the same distance south of that of Warburton. GUes has.the same barren tale to tell as his predecessors. We believe he is to make a diagonal journey from north-west to south-east, though from this we can hardly expect many new results. A valuable map accompanies the paper in the Mittheilungen^ which is to be continued. The latest news received by the Russian Geographical Society from Dr. Miclucho Maclay is dated from Cheribon (Java) in March last. He announces that before leaving Batavia he sent to St. Petersburg many zoological collections, and will bring his anthropological and ethnographical collections to Europe on his return, in 1877, A BRANCH of the Russian Geographical Society will probably be shortly founded at Omsk, in Siberia. M. DE Mainof, Secretary of the Ethnographical Section of the Russian Geographical Society, has announced to the Society that he is preparing a complete treatise on Russian ethnography. It will appear in parts, each containing a description of a section of the people. M. L. EstouAgIES has been charged by the Belgian Govern- meat, in company with M. Sylvain Jacqueniin, civil engineer, to make a scientific journey through the Transvaal Republic. •There is to be a Congress of Alpine Clubs at Pistoja and Florence on June 10 and 11, Several expeditions have been arranged. Mr. J. H. Angus has made a gift^to the Adelaide University, of a scholarship of 2,000/. yearly, tenable for three years, to en- courage the training of scientific men, especially civil engineers, with a view to then: settlement in South Australia ; the winner of the scholarships to spend six months of the term in visiting the great engineering works of Europe or America, towards which the donor gives 100/. additional. Mails for the Polar ships Alert and Discovery will be made up for conveyance from Portsmouth on or about May 25, by the steam yacht Pandora, Capt. Allen Young having kindly con- sented to convey letters for the officers and crews of the Polai? ships to be deposited at the depots. All letters should be sent through the post-office prepaid the inland rate of postage, and addressed " Arctic Yacht Pandora, Portsmouth," No letters 62 NATURE {May i8, 1876 containing articles of value should be sent. No newspapers should be sent, as the Admiralty will send a sufficient supply. The University of Oxford is to confer upon Ur. Warren De la Rue the degree of M. A. by diploma. The Annual Meeting of the Victoria Institute is postponed from the 22nd to the 29th of May. Lieut. Cameron will, on Tuesday next, read to the Anthro- pological Society a paper on the Anthropology of Central Africa, in the theatre of the Royal School of Mines, Jermyn Street, at 8.30 p.m. DocENT Theel, zoologist, a member of the Swedish Expedi- tion of last year, to Novaya Zemlya, Docent Arnell, botanist, and Dr. Trybom, entomologist, have left Stockholm for Riga, whence they proceed overland to Siberia, where they will remain till autumn, making scientific observations and collections, and returning by the steamer Ytner, which Prof. Nordenskjold has chartered for a voyage to the Yenisei. M. Janssen, although he has not yet obtained possession of his regular observatory, has established large photographising telescopes at his residence at Montmartre. He found that during the cold period from the beginning of May up to the loth, the sun had no spots at all. The photographs are about twenty centimetres in diameter. C. M. Stuart, of Harrow School, has been elected to the Natural Science Exhibition at St. John's College, Cambridge. A second exhibition was at the same time conferred on J. Nail, of Manchester Grammar School. At a recent meeting of the French Academy, M. Lecoq de Boisbaudran communicated some further facts regarding the new metal gallium. The specimen he had formerly presented owed its solidity to the presence of a small quantity of foreign bodies. Pure gallium, of which he had now prepared nearly ten centi- grammes, melts at about 29°'5 C. ; hence it liquefies when it is seized between the fingers. It is very easily held in superfusion, which explains how a globule has been kept liquid for weeks in temperatures descending occasionally almost to zero. Electrolysed gallium from ammoniacal solution is identical with that obtained from potassic solution. Once solidified, the metal is hard and resistant, even at a few degrees under its melting point ; but it can be cut, and has a certain malleability. Melted gallium adheres easily to glass, on which it forms a beautiful mirror, whiter than that produced by mercury. Heated to a bright red in presence of air, gallium oxidises but very superficially, and does not volatilise ; it is not sensibly attacked in the cold state by nitric acid, but in heat the solution operates with liberation of nitrous vapours. The density'of the metal (determined approxi- mately from a specimen weighing sixty-four milligrammes) is 47 at 15°, and relatively to water at 15°. The mean of the den- sities of aluminium and of indium is 4*8 at zero. Thus the density confirms theoretical prevision, while the extreme fusi- bility is a fact completely unexpected. The Marine tanks of the Royal Aquarium, Westminster, are being rapidly filled with water brought from Brighton by Messrs. Hudson, who supplied the Crystal Palace. For some time past many of the fresh-water tanks have been stocked, but the first marine fish has but quite recently arrived. It is a somewhat rare one in captivity — the Motella tricerata ( Yarrell), commonly called the spotted leopard fish. It is placed in a central tank, so that the peculiarity of the " fin " in the neck can be well seen. Couch, in his " History of Fishes," refers to this fin as being always in rapid action, but with this particular specimen it is often at rest. He points out that while its intimate structure shows that it is destitute of any power of propulsion or of regulating motion, it is well furnished with nerves which render it acutely sensible to impression. The functions of the fin have, so far as we know, not been determined. Mr. WALPOtE, on Tuesday, moved for leave to introduce "A Bill for making further provision respecting the University of Cambridge and the Colleges therein." Following the recom- mendations of the Duke of Devonshire and the Oxford and Cam. bridge University Commissions, he indicated the nature of the changes desired as follows : — The extension of the professoriat, and a complete organisation of the system of inter-collegiate lee- tures and classes, for which provision would have to be made oAer and above that which had already been made, for museums, libraries,n ad the other apparatus which might be necessary for the prosecution of scientific investigation. The following are the names of the seven Commissioners it is proposed to appoint : — The Bishop of Worcester, Lord Rayleigh, the Lord Chief Justice, the Right Hon. E. P. Bouverie, Prof. Stokes, Rev. Prof. Light- foot, and Mr. G. W. Hemmings. Mr. Cross said the Bill might be regarded for all practical purposes as a Government measure. The animals deposited in the Gardens of the Zoological Society by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, include, among others, two Musk Deer {Moschus tjtoschiferus) ; two Thar Goats {Capra jemlaica) ; four Indian Elephants {Elephas indicus), aged about 7, 6, i| and i^ years; five Tigers, [Felts Hgris) ; a Cheetah {F. jubatd) ; a Viverrine Cat [^F. viverrina) ; five Leopards (F. par- dus) ; an Indian Civet Cat {Viuerricula indica); two Dwarf Zebus {Bos indicus) ; seven Indian Antelopes {Antilope cefvi- capra) ; three Axis Deer {Cervus axis) ; three Ostriches [Struthio camelus) ; several pairs of Impeyan Pheasants {Lophophorus im- peyanus) ; Cheer Pheasants (FAasianus wallichii) ; Horned Tragopans {Ceriornis salyra) ; Chukar Partridges {Caccahis chukar). Besides the Prince's specimens, the following are the most important additions of the week : — Two Secretary Vul- tures {Serpentariiis reptilivorus), presented by Mr. M. G. Angel ; an Egyptian^ Cobra (Naja haje), presented by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk; and a Maholi Galago {Galago maholi), presented by Dr. R. A. Zeederberg, all from S. Africa. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Royal Society, May 4. — On the Modification of the Excita- bility of Motor Nerves produced by Injury, by G. J. Romanes, M.A., F.L.S. It has long been known that when a nerve is cut, or otherwise injured, its excitability at or near the seat of injury undergoes a marked increase. No one, however, has attempted to determine the relative degree of this increase towards make and towards break of the current respectively. The author tound that when the nerve-section rested on the kathode, the increase of excita- bility was manifested towards make, and scarcely at all towards break ; while, conversely, when the section rested on the anode, such increase was manifested towards break, and scarcely at all towards make. These facts are of considerable interest in rela- tion to the theory of electrotonus. The degree of the latter increase, however, is out of all proportion greater than that of the former ; for while the ratio of excitability before and afcer cutting was represented by the numbers 36 ; 46 in the case of the kathodic make, such ratio was represented by 2 : 32 in the case of the anodic break. Mr. Romanes explains this dispropor- tion by the consideration, that as the sensitiveness to the kathodic make is so much greater than is that to the anodic break be/ore nerve-section, after the general sensitiveness of the nerve has been increased by section, the increase has not so much room to assert itself in the former as it has in the latter case, before it reaches zero of the stimulating current's intensity. Thus the figures 2 : 32 : : 36 : 46, though not expressing any numerical propor- tion, may yet express a ;va/ proportion, if the zero of the current's intensity be represented say by 50 in the above scale of nervous excitability, and if it be granted that the value as a stimulus of any given increment of current is determined by the proportion which such increment bears to the intensity of current that is required to produce adequate stimulation. This explanation is confirmed by a method of graduating the galvanic stimulus other than that of graduating the intensity of the current, viz., by May 1 8, 1876J NATURE 63 graduating its duration. In this way it was found that, in respect of voltaic stimuli of very short duration, the sensitiveness to the kathodic make is much more increased by cutting than is that to the anodic break. Mr. Romanci further observed that when a frog's gastrocnemius is subjected to a weak galvanic current, a part or parts of it will sometimes pulsate in a strictly rhythmical manner. This was proved to be a nervous effect by observing that it ceased when the attached sciatic was thrown into anelectrotonus. With minimal stimulation of curarised muscle, the author found that considerably more effect is produced by first laying on the anode and then the kathode, than is produced if this order is inverted. This fact is just the converse of what Hitzig found to be true of cerebral stimulation, and as such it may be taken as confirmatory of his views concerning the reversed rela- tions that subsist between central and peripheral voltaic ex cita- tion. ISIay II. — "On some Thallophytes parasitic within recent Madreporaria." By P. M. Duncan, M.B. F.R.S., President of the Geological Society. "Condensation of Vapour of Mercury on Selenium in the Sprengel Vacuum." By R. J. Moss, F.C.S., Chemical Labora- tory, Royal Dublin Society. Communicated by G. Johnstone Stoney, F.R.S. Royal Microscopical Society, May 3. — Mr. H. C. Sorby, F.R. S., president, in the chair. — Mr. Chas. Brooke, F. R.S., proposed a special vote of thanks to the president for the con- versazione given by him on the 21st inst. — A paper was read by Mr. Blake on the occurrence of what appeared to be Foramini- fera in the coralline oolite, and specimens in illustration were exhibited under microscopes in the room. — Mr. J. Glaisher com- municated a paper by Dr. Gayer, describing the apparatus em- ployed and the process adopted by him in India for the purpose of taking photo-micrographs with high powers. — A paper by Dr. J. J. Woodward on the markings of the body-scale of the English gnat and the American mosquito was read by the Secre- tary.—Some notes upon the same subject by Dr. Anthony were also communicated. — A short paper by Mr. Stodder on the identity of Frustulia saxonica, Navicula rhomboides, and N. crassmervis was read by the Secretary. — Mr. Chas. Stewart called attention to a curious living organism exhibited by Mr. Badcock, and which the Fellows present were requested to examine with a view to its identification. Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, May 8. — After the election of new members, of whom fifty were announced as having been admitted during the past four months, it was stated that Prof. Birks would deliver the Annual Address for 1876. — A paper on the metaphysics of Scripture was then read by Prof. Challis, F.R.S. Berlin German Chemical Society, March 27. — A. W\ Hofmann, president, in the chair. — A. Fliickiger has proved the presence o{ carvacrol'iw the oils of mentha viridis and of anethum graveolens by producing its characteristic combination with sulphuretted hydrogen. — O. Fischer described nitroso-acetanilide, NCgHg . C2H3O . NO, an unstable compound from which acetaniline is easily reproduced. — ^J. Diimmer, by the action of amidophenol, CgH40HNIl2, on sulphuret of carbon, has obtained an oxysul- phocyanide of phenyl, C^HgNSO. — W. Smith has observed, that by passing through a led-hot tube naphthaline-vapour together with terchloride of antimony or tetrachloride of tin, a good yield of dinaphthyle is formed — 6C10H8 + 2SbCl3 = Sb^ + 6HC1 + 3C20H14. W. Tlioerner has studied the action of hydrogen and of chlorine 01 tolylphenyl ketone. The latter gives rise to three crystallised substitution compounds : — CgHg . CO . CeH^ . CH2CI, CgHs . CO . CjH^ . C i\6. G being the result of the computation for Greenwich. Also L is latitude — 50°, expressed in degrees and decimals. And M is longitude from Greenwich, + if east, - if west, in minutes of time and decimals. Applying this method to the occultation of Saturn we have, by direct computation for Greenwich, Dublin, and Edinburgh (astronomical times at Greenwich, Aug. 6) : — Iiumersiou. Emersion. Angle N.Pc. Angle N.Pt. Immersion. Emersion. h. m. h. m. 0 Greenwich . • 17 753 ... 18 3-IO ... 946 ... 331,1 Dublin . 17 025 ... 18 2-35 ... 107-6 ... 319,0 Edinburgh . ■ 17 0-25 ... 18 2-38 ... III-2 ... 313,8 The necessa ry data being taken from the Nautical Almanac, and the angles expressed as usual in that work. Thus we find for Greenwich time of immersion and emersion at any place in this country, and for the angles on the moon's limb from north point : — h. m. Immersion ... Aug. 6 17 905 - i 03 L + 02 1 M. Emersion ... ,, 18 3 24 - 010 L + 002 M. Angle Imm 903 -I- 2 "9 L-03 M. Angle Em 336-3 -3-5 L + 02 M. The differences between the reiults of these equations and direct calculations for Exeter and Liverpool are : — Exeter. Liverpool. Immersion Emersion . - 0-2 + o-i + d-2 - 03 - 0-2 + o-i Angle Imm +03 ... Angle Em +0-1 ... In this manner have been derived the following parti- culars, as regards the occultation in question, which will illustrate the applicability of Mr. Woolhouse's method to such phenomena : — G.M.T. G.M.T. Angles ft om N. point of Immersion. of Emersion. Imm. Em. b. m. h. m. n o Aberdeen 16 59-9 • . 18 2-4 . . 113 • . 310 Cambridge . . • 17 6-9 . . 18 30 . 93 • 329 Exeter ■ 17 56 • . 18 2-7 . . 96 . • Z2,i Glasgow . 16 59-4 • . 182-3 ■ 112 . . 312 Liverpool . 17 2-8 . . 18 3-0 . . 104 . . 322 Manchester .. . 17 36 . . 18 2-7 . . 103 . • 322 Nottingham .. 17 5"9 ■ . 18 2-9 .. 99 • . 326 Oxford 17 6-1 . 1830 .. • 97 • • 329 Portsmouth .. 17 7*3 • . 18 3 I . • 94 • • 332 Yoik 17 4'9 •• . 18 2-8 .. 102 . . 322 72 NATURE \_May 25, 1876 New Red Star. — Mr. Birmingham, Millbrook, Tuam, mentions {A. N., 2,092) his having remarked an intensely red star, 8*5 magnitude, which is not in Schjellerup's catalogue {Vierteljahrschrift der Asiron. Gesellschaft, ix. Jahrgang, Heft 4). From the approximate position given the star appears to be No. 3,168, + 36° in Durch- tmisterun^, where it is also estimated 8"5, and its position 1855-0 is R.A. i8h. 27m. 19s., N.P.D. 53° 7'. It has not been found in any other catalogue. The Double Star 2 3,121.— This object well merits the attention of observers who are in the possession of large telescopes. Baron Dembowski seems to have given it up for the present as beyond his instrumental means. It is evidently a binary of no long period. For com- parison we have — Struve ... 1832 "31 Position 20'0 Distance 0-85 Dembowski.. 1866 22 ,, 1897 ,, 068 „ 1872-23 „ 2105 „ a wedge ,, i875'3i .. 2520 ,, oval. The place of this star for 18760 is in R.A. 9h. lom. 32s., N.P.D. 60^ 53'-8. THE LOAN COLLECTION CONFERENCES. 'T^HE work in connection with the South Kensington -*• Conferences has been carried on heartily and suc- cessfully during the past week. The number of visitors to the collection has been, all things considered, satisfac- tory, and the conference-room is always well filled. Of the papers in the Section of Mechanics read on the 17th inst., M. Tresca's, on the "Flow of Solids," possessed some novelty and interest. From his experiments he drew inferences as to the proper form and mode of appli- cation of tools, explained the theory of many of the ad- justments which workmen have found out by rule of thumb, and indicated extensions of the use of the principles no>v reduced into formula. He added that, in his belief, these mechanical laws ought to be pursued into physiology, and that the accretion of cell to cell was a mechanical pheno- menon. The conversazione given by the Physical Society the same evening was brilliant and successful. At the meeting of the Chemical Section last Thursday, Dr. Frankland gave a long and highly important address, mainly on eudiometric apparatus. This address we give this week in extenso. Dr. J.' H. Gilbert, F.R.S., then gave an interesting lecture on " Some Points connected with Vegetation." Mr. W. F. Donkin, M, A., then gave a description of the ozone apparatus of Sir B. Brodie, Bart., F.R.S., after which Prof. Andrews, F.R.S., concluded the meeting with an account of some experimental in- vestigations in connection with the physical constitution of gases. On Friday was held the second Conference in connec- tion with the Physical Section. The conference-room throughout the day was unusually well filled. The first communication was from Prof. Tyndall, F.R.S., on the "Reflection of Sound." With the help of Mr. Cotterell, his assistant, he reproduced some of the experi- ments with sensitive flames with which he has made scientific audiences so familiar. Dr. Stone spoke on the subject of " Just Intonation and the Limits of Audible Sound." Mr. R. H. M. Bosanquet, M.A., spoke on " Instruments of Just Intonation," and explained the construction of the enharmonic harmonium contributed by him to the collection. Mr. F. Galton, F.R.S., in his remarks "On the Limits of Audible Sound," spoke of experiments which he had been trying for some time past on the susceptibility of various animals to the highest notes, such as those of ex- tremely small whistles. He had arrived at the conclusion that no animals were so sensitive to sounds of the char- acter in question as cats, which, of course, were the ani- mals produced by natural selection to prey upon those other animals which in nature produced such sounds — namely, mice. Prof. W. G. Adams, F.R.S., spoke on the late Sir C. Wheatstone's acoustical discoveries, and Mr. W. Chappell followed with a discourse " On Ancient Musical Science." Mr. J. Baillie Hamilton spoke on ^olian instruments. He gave a history of the attempts in Europe to combine wind and string, and coming down to the present time he spoke of his own experiments. He has found that a metallic ring of suitable elasticity well supplies the place of a string's constraint on a vibrator. Variations in the shape of the ring produce differences of tone. Thus, passing from the circle to almond-shaped rings, all quali- ties from the flute to the horn are created. M. Tresca referred to the still existing monuments of the history of science. For various reasons, want of ap- preciation, want of care, &c., many instruments of his- torical interest are lost. France is relatively well ofif in its historical instruments, and it is well represented in this exhibition. M. Tresca then referred to the instruments in the collection France has sent over, giving a graphic sketch of their history and the history of the progress of the sciences they have helped forward. The Earl of Rosse, F.R.S., made a brief communication on the thermopiles which he is now using in connection with the telescopes belonging to the late Earl, after which Mr. De la Rue described his electric batteries of a novel construction. The Cavaliere Prof. De Eccher made a communication on the instruments sent over from Italy. 1 The conversazione given by the Geographical Society on Saturday evening was in all respects a successful one ; more than 2,000 persons accepted the invitations sent out. In the second meeting of the Mechanical Section on Monday, the first paper was by Prof. Kennedy, on. " Reuleaux's Collection of Kinematic Models." Prof. Kennedy explained the general principles and some of the details of these educational models designed by their constructor for the illustration of the theory of machines. Mr. W. Barnaby, C.B., then read a paper on "Naval Architecture," which we hope to publish in our next number. Mr. W. Froude, F.R.S. then gave a short lec- ture on " Fluid Resistance," detailing many of his experi- ments. The other papers read were by Mr. Thomas Stevenson, on " Lighthouses," M. le Gendral Morin on " Ventilation," Messrs. Dent on " Time-measurers," and Mr. J. N. Douglass, C.E., on " Instruments contributed by the Trinity House." The Chemical Section met again on Tuesday. The President, Dr. Frankland, F.R.S., read a communi- cation from M. le Professtur Fr^my, the French Chemist, on the Diminution of Scientific Research. M. Fremy has founded and carried on during the last twelve years a laboratory for the prosecution of original investi- gations by students who have completed their scientific studies. The experience which he has gained is such as to lead him to the conclusion that it is necessary to invoke state aid in order to restore research to that position which it should occupy. As the State chooses its officers and engineers after a severe course of study, and then ensures their regular advancement in its service, M. Frdmy claims a similar boon on behalf of pure science, which renders such invaluable services to the community. He proposes that the scientific service should consist of five grades, with salaries rising from a minimum of 120/. to 8co/. per annum, and that the fitness of candidates for entrance to it should be decided by a jury of men of acknowledged scientific reputation, independence, and integrity. This jury should make known in official reports the claims of the various candidates to advance- ment, thus securing public criticism, and removing all opportunities of intrigue or favour. Prof. Roscoe, F.K.S., then gave a lecture on Vanadium and its Compounds, exhibiting on the table the collection of these substances May 25, 1876] NA TURE 73 contributed by himself to the Loan Collection, repre- senting the results of his admirably conducted series of researches in connection with this particular one of those metals designated by the chemist as " rare." The President, in thanking Prof. Roscoe, remarked, in reference to the value of scientific research, that it could not be too widely known that all the greatest results to which it had conduced had been obtained primarily by devotion to purely abstract science — practical applications having unexpectedly followed upon discovery. Prof. Guthrie, F.R.S., then gave an account of his researches on " Cryohydrates and Water of Crystallisation," a sub- ject on which he has been working for the last three years. Prof. Williamson, F.R.S., gave an address on the " Manufacture of Steel," limiting his attention chiefly to the modes devised for the obviation and repression of the escape of carbonic oxide gas from molten steel during the casting and cooling process, after leaving the Bessemer or Siemens-Manin furnace. Mr. W. C. Roberts, F.R.S., subsequently read a paper, on the " Apparatus used by the late Prof. Graham in his Researches." The principal interest attaching to these pieces of apparatus was the simplicity of the means by which the late Master of the Mint established such important discoveries as the law of the diffusion of gases, the principle of the endosmotic action of fluids, and the consequent division of chemical substances into crystalloids and colloids. Mr. W. N. Hartley read a paper on the existence of *' Liquid Car- bonic Acid in the Cavities of Crystals," Dr. Gladstone, F.R.S., following with a short address on the electrolysis of organic compounds with the copper zinc couple. Dr. Frankland, in closing the Chemical Conference, con- gratulated the audience upon the success which had attended the proceedings throughout the two meetings. Yesterday the Section of Physics met for the third time, when the following papers were to be read : — Prof. J. Clerk Maxwell, "On the Equilibrium of Hetero- geneous Bodies;" Prof. Andrews, " On the Liquid and Gaseous States cf Bodies ;" M. Sarasin-Diodati, *' On M. de la Rive's Experiments in Statical Electricity;" M. Lemstrom, " Sur I'Aurore Bor^ale ;" Baron F. de Wrangell, *'' On a New Form of Voltameter ;" 11 Commendatore Pro- fessore Blaserna, " Sur I'dtat Variable des Courants Elec- triques ; " Mr. Warren de la Rue, " On Astronomical Photography ; " Mr. Ranyard, " On the Instruments lent by the Royal Astronomical Society ;" Mr. Brooke, " On Magnetic Registration, and on the Corrections of the Magnetometers;" Prof. Carey Foster, "On Electrical Measurements ; " Herr Prof. Dr. Rijke, " On the Historical Instruments from Leyden and Cassel;" the Rev. R. Main, " On a Telescope of Sir W. Herschel's." The third meeting of the Mechanical Section is held to-day. The first meeting in the Section of Biology will take place to-morrow, when the following papers will be read : — Dr. J. B. Sanderson, the President, "On Methods of Physiological Measurement and Registration ; " Prof. Marey " On various Instruments for Investigating and Pegistering Vital Movements;" Dr. Hooker "On the Plan of the New Laboratory for Investigations relating to the Physiology of Plants at Kew ; " Prof. Dyer " On various Apparatus for Investigating and Registering the Growth of Plants contributed by the Ph) siological Labo- ratory of Bremen ; " Dr. P. L. Sclater " On Drawings contributed by the Zoological Society ; " Dr. Brunton " On a new Myographic Apparatus ; " Dr. Klein " On Recording Apparatus exhibited by the Physiological In- stitute of the University of Prague ; " M. E. A. Schafer " On recent Improvements in Recording Apparatus." The Science and Art Department are organising a series of popular lectures to be given on the evenings of the free days. Demonstrations of the objects in the galleries are also now given by the exhibitors or other competent persons at frequent intervals during the day. SECTION— CHEMISTRY. Opening Address by the President, Dr. Frankland, F.R.S* The Conference which I have been requested to open to-day has for its object the discussion of the merits and defects of the various forms of chemical apparatus exhibited in these buildings ; and the criticism of the original investigations which are here illustrated, partly by the instruments used in them, and partly by the chemical compounds, to the discovery of which they have led. Various objects interesting to chemists have been dis- played in former international exhibitions, but it may be safely asserted that such a collection as this, which has been brought together in these buildings, has never before been seen ; neither has there before been the opportunity for discussion and criticism, by men eminent in science from all parts of Europe, which is now afforded. Such a collection of apparatus and products, gathered from all parts of Europe is useful in disclosing, to che- mical investigators and others, the best sources whence to procure apparatus ; it is interesting historically and as showing the improvements in chemical apparatus during the present century ; and it is instructive in the comparisons it affords of the various forms of instru- ments used for the same purpose in different countries, and by different experimenters. The entire novelty of such a collection as that belonging to this section has rendered the attainment of the object sought for, on the present occasion, exceedingly difficult. The workers in science have hitherto had no inducement to preserve the insiruments with which they experimented. When an investigation was finished the apparatus em- ployed was dismantled and converted to other uses. Still less inducement has there been to preserve the chemical compounds resulting from research, although their creation required, in many cases, a great expenditure of time and labour. The chief object of preparing such compounds has hitherto been, in most cases, merely to ascertain their existence, to show their molecular relations to previously known bodies, and to ascertain a few of their leading pro- perties such as colour, specific gravity, vapour density, melting point, boiling point, and chemical composition. They have been weighed and measured and then dis- missed out of existence. And thus the present collection of chemical preparations is but the merest skeleton of a complete exposition of all known chemical compounds. It is, indeed, remarkable, that whilst natural chemical compounds are exhibited in almost endlessly multiplied specimens in the mineralogical collections of our national museums, the artificial compounds which have resulted from research, or have been the foundation of important theories and generalisations, have nowhere been honoured by admission into national collections. The neglect, not to say contempt, with which these productions of the labo- ratory have been treated, cannot be justified on the ground of their want of national utility. It is true that from an exclusively commercial point of view, no one of them can lay claim to the importance of coal, iron, silver, and gold. Still, many of them, such as the paraffins, the coal-tar colours, and many of the compounds of sulphur, potassium, sodium, and ammonium, have con- tributed, in an important degree, to the wealth and prosperity of this and other states. Had these arti- ficial compounds remained undiscovered, how different would now have been the condition of the industries of bleaching, dyeing, calico-printing, glass-making, and the manufactures connected with the production of artificial light. Many of these artificial compounds have become of the most essential importance to the physician, the artist, the telegraphist, the engineer, and the manufacturer, and it cannot be doubted that many more would soon come into active service for such purposes if they were better known. 74 NA TURE {May 25, 1876 But not alone on the ground of utility and incentive to the further useful discovery of technical applications would I plead for the establishment of national museums of chemical preparations ; such collections would be of the highest interest both to the student and the investigator. They would call vividly before the mind the results of labours which can only otherwise become known by a tedious search through the transactions of learned so- cieties. An intelligent study of a properly arranged col- lection of artificial chemical compounds would show the progressive triumph of mind over matter — not over masses moved by mechanical agencies — for monuments of this the engineer and the architect need only bid the in- quirer, in the language of Wren's tablet, to "look around him " — but over the ultimate atoms which, in these com- pounds, are compelled to submit themselves to the will of man, and to form new structures, seen only, in most cases, by the discoverer himself, and the qualities and uses of which are but very imperfectly ascertained. Nine-tenths of these compounds are no better known than islands which have been seen only from the deck of a ship and whose position has been accurately marked upon a chart. But a collection of them, if properly kept up, would repre- sent the actual condition of our knowledge of chemical facts, and, if properly arranged, would suggest to the ob- servant student the direction of future investigation. I know of no other incentive to research which would be more likely to call original inquirers into existence. The student wishing to commence a chemical investiga- tion is always confronted at the outset by the difficulty of finding the boundary line between the known and the unknown, and this difficulty must obviously increase from year to year owing to the continued expansion of the circle of knowledge. It has led to a suggestion emanating from the British Association, that chemists who are inti- mately acquainted with particular departments of their science should suggest subjects of research for the benefit of students. Much maybe said no r'oubt in favour of such a scheme ; but it appears to mc that the develop- ment of original talent in the young investigator would be more surely promoted by giving him the means of selecting for himself a subject for experimental inquiry, rather than by inducing him to follow the less invigorat- ing plan of working out the suggestions of others. 1 ven- ture, therefore, thus prominently to call attention to thenon- existence, in any country, of a museum of artificial com- pounds, and to the great value, both economical, scientific, and educational, which such a museum would possess. I feel convinced that if such museums were established in the capitals of Europe, chemical investigators throughout the world would gladly contribute their new products to them, and thus keep them abreast of the discoveries of chemical science. Amongst the groups of objects in the Chemical Section, not the least interesting is that which consists of Appara- tus and Contrivances employed in the Generation and Application of Heat. The great advances which have been made in the modes of producing and applying heat for chemical purposes are strikingly- conspicuous. The cumbrous furnaces of the earlier operators, constructed in fireproof vaults, have gradually been replaced by simple and elegant contrivances, which would scarcely look out of place upon a drawing-room table. The time js still fresh in the recollection of many of tis, when the fusion of a silicate for quantitative analysis, or the heat- ing to redness of oxide of copper for the combustion of an organic compound, required in each case the expend- iture of much time and trouble in the lighting of a coke or charcoal furnace. Now these operations are performed in small gas furnaces with or without air blast. Conspic- uous amongst these inventions are the gas-burners of Bunsen and Hofmann, the oxy-coal gas furnaces of Deville, the blast gas furnaces of Griffin, and the hot blast gas fur- naces of Fletcher. Of these fundamental inventions many ingenious modifications for special purposes have been devised, amongst which I may mention the valuable con- trivances of Finkener, Mitscherlich, Wallace and Miincke. The blast gas-burners of Hofmann and Bunsen, the blast gas-furnaces of Deville, Griffin, and Bunsen, and the fur- naces for organic analysis by Hofmann, Bunsen, Finkener, Mitscherlich, and Miincke, are amongst the exhibits illus- trating the application of heat in chemical operations. These burners and furnaces command a range of tem- perature from the gentlest ignition up to the most intense heat procurable by chemical means ; but the temperature produced by such combinations as those of oxygen and hydrogen, or oxygen and cai'bon, enormously high though it be, now no longer suffices, and recourse must be had to the still more intense heat of the electric discharge. The electric current and the stream of sparks are now not un- frequently called into requisition by the chemist, and from this point of view the electric lamp and the apparatus of Hofmann and others for the decomposition of gases by the spark-stream must be classed with chemical furnaces. To apparatus for the application of heat belong the various forms of water, steam, and air baths, or drying closets. Convenient contrivances of this class invented by Bunsen, Mitscherlich, Habermann, and Miincke, are exhibited by Messrs. Warmbrunn, Ouilitz and Co., Mr. Johann Lentz, and Mr. Julius Schober all of Berlin, and by Mr. C. Desaga of Heidelberg. In the application of gas to chemical purposes, regulators of pressure and temperature are often of the utmost im- portance, in order that operations requiring the prolonged and regular action of heat may not require the constant attention of the operator. The ingenious and effective contrivances of Bunsen and Kramer, for this purpose are exhibited. Closely connected again with appliances for raising temperature are those intended for its reduction — the refrigerators or condensers. — The Liebig's condenser is still the refrigerator almost exclusively used, but few pieces of apparatus have been so much modified and refined, as will be seen on comparing the original design with the present construction — the final light and convenient form having been given to it by my late friend Mr. B. F. Duppa. Most manufacturers of chemical apparatus exhibit various forms of this condenser. Sprengel Pumps. — Of the comparatively recent appli- ances for facilitating chemical work, few can lay claim to higher merit than the invention of Dr. Hermann Sprengel, in the year 1865, for the production of vacua by the fall of liquids in tubes ; and yet this invention remained for many years dormant, until the late Master of the Mint applied the mercurial pump to the extraction and collec- tion of occluded gases, and Bunsen the water-pump to hastening the filtration of liquids. Without the mercurial pump the elements of the organic matter in potable waters could not be determined, and the highly interesting results which this pump has quite recently achieved in the hands of Mr. Crookes, come home to every one who has seen the various forms of the radiometer. Bunsen's application of the water-pump to filtration has done much to shorten one of the most tedious and trouble- some operations of gravimetrical analysis. Dr. Sprengel's invention has, moreover, nearly abolished the use of the air-pump in chemical laboratories, and I need not therefore, perhaps, bring under the special notice of this section the various improvements in air-pumps which are illustrated by the exhibits in the Physical Section. Models, diagrams, appa^ attis and chemicals used in the teaching of chemistry, mclude numerous exhibits of great interest. It is to be regretted, however, that models and plans of chemical laboratories are not more numerously represented. The important improvements which have been introduced of late years, and the numerous labora- tories of truly palatial proportions which have been built. May 25, 1876] NA TURE 75 in almost every case at the cost of the State, would have rendered a complete exposition of their plans and fittings most instructive and interesting. Dr. de Loos, has, however, sent us a model of the chemical laboratory in the secondary Town School of Leyden. And we have from Mr. Waterhouse plans of the Owens College labora- tories in Manchester. The latter were devised after the professor of Chemistry and the architect had visited all the great laboratories of Europe, and for com- pactness, economy of space, appropriateness of fittings, and ventilation, they are unsurpassed. In illustration of the permanent fittings of laboratories, we have from the Chemical Institute of the University of Strassburg a diagram showing elevation, section, and plan of a " digestorium," or iron closet, for use in dangerous operations in which explosions are liable to occur. This is a contrivance which ought never to be absent from a laboratory in which research is carried on. Prof. Roscoe exhibits a beautiful and effective series of diagrams and models illustrating the processes carried on in alkali works, and Mr. Henry Deacon a sectional model of his ingenious apparatus for exposing porous materials and currents of gases to mutual action. Dr. de Loos, of Leyden, has sent drawings of gas works used for teaching technical chemistry in secondary schools. We are indebted to Mr. Spence, of Manchester, for a series of specimens illustrating his process for the manu- facture of ammonia-alum. To Messrs. Roberts, Dale and Co.. for specimens illustrating the manufacture of oxalic acid. To Messrs. Calvert and Co. for similar illustrations of the manufacture of carbolic, cressylic and picric acids. Messrs. Hargreaves and Robinson exhibit plans and specimens in connection with their new process of manu- facturing sulphate of soda directly from sulphurous acid, steam, air, and salt ; whereby the intermediate production of sulphuric acid is avoided. A chemical factory is gene- rally conspicuous in the landscape by a series of huge and ugly leaden vitriol-chambers. Should the new process prove as successful as the inventors anticipate, these leaden chambers will almost entirely disappear, and the aspect of chemical factories will undergo a more pro- found modification than any which has occurred during the last half century. The splendid platinum apparatus of Messrs. Johnson and Matthey for the concentration of sulphuric acid, will also contribute much to compactness in chemical works, by the abolition of cumbrous leaden pans and long ranges of glass retorts. Not only is the sense of sight thus likely to be relieved, but that of smell, which, in the case of chemical works, is perhaps of even more importance, is also gradually being subjected to less offence by the adoption of Mond's process for the recovery of sulphur from soda-waste. The vast mounds of this material which surround alkali works, rot only pollute the air with sulphuretted hydrogen ; but also the neighbouring streams, with an offensive drainage which is very destructive to fi>h life. Herr Mond has succeeded in profitably extracting the sulphur — the offending constituent of the waste — and Messrs. John Hutchinson & Co. of Widness, exhibit specimens illus- trating this important process. Dr. Van Rijn, of Venlo, Netherlands, exhibits fine crystals of potash and chrome alums. One of the Octo- hedrons of potash alum weighs no less than 1 1 lbs. Messrs. W. J. Norris and Brother of Calder Chemical Works have sent specimens useful in teaching the tech- nology of lichen colours, sulphate of alumina, and bichromate of potash. Messrs. Brooke, Simpson, and Spiller contribute a fine series of specimens illustrating the technology of coal-tar colours. Lastly, several magnificent series of specimens have been sent over by members of the German Chemical Society. They comprise, firstly, some items of much historical interest. Thus, we have from Prof. Wohler the first spe- cimens of boron and aluminium ever prepared. And, from the same chemist, another historical specimen which, it is no exaggeration to say, is the most interesting now in existence, for, after the discovery of oxygen, it marks the greatest epoch in chemical science. I allude to this specimen of the first organic compound prepared synthe- tically from its elements by Wohler, without the aid of vitality. If the work of the army of chemists who have successfully attacked the problems of organic chemistry during the last quarter of a century were to be described in one word, that word would be synthesis. In this specimen of urea we have then the germ of that vast amount of synthetical work which has done so much to dispel the superstition of vital force and to win for che- mistry the position of an exact science. In the absence of a specimen of the first oxygen from Priestley's labora- tory in 1774, it seems to me that this soecimen of the first synthesised urea made in 1828 is, historically, the most interesting chemical the world has to show. Secondly, we have a beautiful collection of all the com- pounds discovered by Liebig, but I need not dwell upon them, as they have been so recently described by their exhibitor, Prof. Hofmann, in his Faraday lecture de- livered to the Fellows of the English Chemical Society. And thirdly, there are several interesting series of specimens illustrating the researches of Biedermann, Weltzien, Michaelis, Hiibner, Hofmann, Lieberman, Oppenheim, Pinner, Wichelhaus, Tiemann, and others. We come now to a review of that sub-division of the Chemical Section which illustrates original research, viz., chemical compounds discovered in certain specific inves- tigations, and apparatus used in the prosecution of re- search. Whilst the sub-division which I have been describing illustrates for the most part the training of the young chemist in habits of observation and in the use of apparatus and processes, the one we are now considering aims at representing, so far as it can be objectively re- presented, the highest outcome of this training— the additions to our knowledge acquired through the accurate methods of observation and experiment which it is the function of the chemical instructor to teach. I have already remarked on the interest and importance of ex- hibits of this class, and it is to be regretted that oat of so many chemical investigators so few have exhibited. It is characteristic of the direction long taken by chemi- cal research, that of about 25 exhibitors only two have con- tributed mineral as distinguished from organic products. Prof. Roscoe exhibits sixty-five compounds of vana- dium discovered and investigated by himself. This clas- sical research stands out as a model of thoroughness, and not only clearly discloses the habits of a comparatively rare metal, but brings to hght some new and interesting facts in connection with the theory of atomicity. As Prof. Roscoe has consented to deliver an address on these compounds, we shall have an opportunity of discussing the peculiarities and anomalies which have presented themselves in the course of this investigation. The water of crystallisation of salts has been the sub-, ject of some controversy amongst chemists of late. It is generally considered to be present in atomic proportions, however complex these may sometimes be, and most chemists are inclined to regard the bond of union between this water and the salt proper in the light of a moleadar, as distinguished from an atomic, attraction. Mr. Walcott Gibbs, however, has recently endeavoured to show that the union is strictly atomic, and subject to the ordinary laws of atomicity. The subject has attracted the atten- tion of Prof. Guthrie, who has attacked it from a new side, and obtained results which throw much light on this question. He has promised to give us an address on the subject at the next Chemical Conference. Prof. Guthrie also exhibits — 76 NATURE {May 25, 1876 Nitroxide of Amylen, — Discovered by the exhibitor. Of historical interest as being the first instance in which nitroxyl NO^ was shown to behave as a halogen in uniting directly with an olefine to form a body homologous with " Dutch liquid." The composition of the body is QHio(N02)2. Sulphide of Qinanthyl. — Discovered by the exhibitor, and of historical interest as being the first instance in which a term of a higher alcohol series was made from terms of lower alcohols. It is formed by the action of zinc ethyl on sulpho-chloride of amylen. And Nitrate of Amyl. — Discovered by M. Balard. Its therapeutic action was discovered, and its introduction into the pharmacopoeia recommended, by the exhibitor ; and it is now coming into use in tetanic and other nervous affections. A series of twenty-three specimens of hydrocarbons derived from Pennsylvanian petroleum is exhibited by Prof. Schorlemmer. They form a striking record of the skill with which a most laborious and difficult investigation has been conducted. Very interesting and important arc the ethyl com- pounds derived from the isolated radical methyl exhibited by Mr. W. H. Darling. The results of some experiments made by myself seemed to indicate that the products of the action of chlorine upon methyl were not ethyl compounds ; but the experiments of Schorlemmer and Darling conducted with much larger quantities of mate- rial, show that my conclusion was erroneous. Mr. Darling exhibits ethylic chloride, ethylic alcohol, ethylidenic chlo- ride and sodic acetate, all made from electrolytic methyl. Mr. Perkin has sent a large collection of specimens illustrating his researches on mauveine, aitificial alizarin, artificial coumarin, glyoxylic acid, and other subjects. His investigation of glyoxylic acid seems to have at last put an end to the controversy as to the possibility of two semimolecules of hydroxyl being united with one and the same atom of carbon. I will not, however, anticipate Mr. Perkin, who will, I trust, personally give us an account of his researches. Amongst the other exhibits in this department are nume- rous and important contributions from the laboratories of St. Petersburg, Louvain and Edinburgh. For several years past chemical research has been actively carried on in Russia. The apparatus usedin Research exhibited in the Chemical Section has suffered much from the depredations of the physicists, for although chemistry is essentially founded upon measurements of weight and volume, the instruments used for such determinations have been swept almost en masse into the section of measurement ; nevertheless, the chemical section contains several objects of unusual in- terest. The apparatus with which chemists, both ancient and modern, prosecuted their researches was generally of a simple description and often dismantled as soon as the necessary operations were completed, consequently it was far less likely to be preserved than the more expensive and elaborate contrivances of the physicist. Here, however, is Black's balance presented to the Science and Art Museum of Edinburgh, by the Right Hon. Lyon Playfair. Upon this balance Dr. Black ascertained in 1757, the loss of weight suffered by carbonate of magnesia and lime- stone when exposed to heat. Hales previously used a balance for this purpose, but the instrument before us was certainly one of the first employed for quantitative chemis- try. The balances used by Cavendish, Davy, Young, and Dalton are here, and each one of them has its own historical interest for the chemist The balance of Cavendish is probably the instrument with which in 1783 or 1784 he first ascertained that a globe filled with a mix- ture of oxygen and hydrogen gases underwent no altera- tion in weight when the mixture was exploded. From gravimetric instruments we are naturally led to volumetric apparatus used in quantitative chemistry, and I will now, in conclusion, briefly direct the attention of the conference to apparatus used in the analysis of gases, in the hope that a discussion of the merits and defects of the numerous instruments now before me may have the effect of directing a larger share of attention to eudio- metric chemistry than has hitherto been accorded to it. This branch of chemical analysis originated in the attempts of Fontana, Landriani, Scheele, Priestley, Cavendish, Gay Lussac, Dalton, and others, to determine the volume of oxygen in samples of atmospheric air taken from various localities. In these primitive instruments air was exposed to the action of some substance either solid, liquid, or gaseous, which combined with the oxygen and left the nitrogen unacted upon. The chief substances used were phosphorus, potassic sulphide, nitric oxide, a solution of nitric oxide in ferrous sulphate, and a mixture of sulphur and iron filings. Many of the instruments were of simple or even rude construction, and little calculated to inspire confidence in the results. Nevertheless, the accuracy cf a determination often depends much more upon the skill of the operator than upon the construction of the instru- ment used ; and thus Cavendish, with nitric oxide as his reagent and water as the confining liquid, made many hundred analyses of air, collected in various localities, in 1781, and found the percentage of oxygen to be invariably 2083, a number nearly identical with those obtained by Bunsen and Regnault with much more perfect means. But the average chemist of that day obtained the most dis- cordant results with the same apparatus and materials, and would doubtless also do so at the present day. By improved apparatus and methods the work of the average chemist is made to equal, or nearly so, that of the most skilful. Volta introduced a new reagent — hydrogen — for the determination of oxygen, and he was the first to employ the electric spark in eudiometry. The use of mercury instead of water for confining the gases eliminated, the source of fallacy caused by transfusion through the latter liquid, and lastly, Bunsen, in the year 1839, brought Volta's eudiometer to its highest degree of perfection. The President then proceeded to describe and criticise the various forms of apparatus for the analysis of gaseous mixtures, and poncluded as follows : — Such are the modern developments of the eudiometer now at the disposal of chemists. For rapidity of working and delicacy of measurement they leave nothing to be desired ; indeed, as regards delicacy, it may be doubted whether amongst all the instruments for measurement in this exhibition, there is one which can, like some of these eudiometers, give a distinct value in weight or volume to the one-fourteen-millionth part of a gramme of matter. Their drawback is their fragility, and any modifications to diminish this would doubtless be welcomed by chemists, since, chiefly for these reasons, eudiometry is still very rarely practised in chemical laboratories. THE PRESS ON THE LOAN COLLECTION T N continuation of our article in last week's number we ■*• proceed to give a few more selections from the prin- cipal organs of public opinion, indicative of the light in which they regard the scientific collection which has been brought together at South Kensington. Last week we confined ourselves mainly to the daily press ; this week we are able to cull the opinions of the principal weekly papers. Public opinion as thus expressed, it will be seen, all but unanimously approves of the collection as creditable to its organizers and to the country at large, as beneficial to the progress of science, and as calculated to have an im- portant educative influence on the British pubUc. We think the collection of public opinion as thus expressed will serve a good purpose. It will show to those men of science whp h^v? be?ji more or less connected with the May 25, 1876] NATURE 11 organization of the Loan Collection that their efforts have met with the approval of the intelligent and unprejudiced portion of their non-scientific fellow-countrymen, that these efforts have been unexpectedly successful, and that public opinion points to a permanent successor as the natural outcome of this temporary collection. The Saturday Review seldom gives way to unmeasured approval of any human effort ; it is therefore extremely gratifying to find so severe a critic having nothing but praise to bestow on the collection. The following are a few extracts from last Saturday's number : — *•' Mr. Spottiswoode, in his address as President of the first of the Conferences which have been arranged in con- nection with the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus at South Kensington, said that he was disposed to regard this Exhibition as marking an epoch in the history of science ; and there are undoubtedly reasons why it may be expected to exercise a deep and lieneficial influence on the prospects of scientific culture in this country. We have here brought together, not only a collection of re- markable instruments from all parts of the civilized world, and representing almost every school and period of re- search, but also a numerous galheiing of the men who are at the present moment engaged in extending still further the range of discovery, and the practical applica- tion of its results. It has often been a reproach against this country on the part of foreigners that it is indifferent to science except in the forms in which it can be turned to immediate commercial profit ; and this criticism, though unjust to the heroic self-sacrifice which has characterised many of our leading scientific pioneers, must be admitted to be in a certain degree true as to the general attitude of the public In this country the Executive usually hesitates to do anything unless there is a strong pressure of opinion, and it is tolerably certain that science will have little to hope for from that quarter until it has the public at its back ; and it is to it, therefore, that an appeal should be made. It may be hoped that the present Exhibition will be the beginning of a movement of this kind. The fact that it is opened under the auspices of a Government department would seem to show that there is not wanting a certain sympathy on that side ; but whether any large, substantial measures will ever be taken, will chiefly de- pend on the interest which such a presentation of science excites among the community at large. Again, an Exhi- bition of this kind is useful in bringing to light the actual operations of the scientific world, the problems which have been solved, and those others which are still in a nebulous condition, with just here and there a clue peep- ing out ; and thus the interchange of ideas is promoted. .... At present this sort of co operation is loose, frag- mentary, and disjointed ; but an Exhibition brings the scattered experimentalists into systematic communication. Thus, both in the world of science proper and outside of it, a keener interest is Hkely to be cultivated in regard to scientific matters, and researches will consequently be conducted with greater spirit and efficiency, and better prospects of success To persons of scientific train- mg, or with even a rudimentary taste for such things, it 'S easy to conceive what service such an Exhibition will ren- der. 1 hey will read the Handbook, an admirable sum- mary of the chief branches of scientific study by competent authorities, and examire the objects exhibited ; and thus lay up a store of suggestive information as a supplement to or a foundation for private studies. But there will also be a large body of people who will chiefly bring away from the galleries an impression of their own stupendous ignor- ance in such matters. This in itself, however, v;ill be a good thing, for it may be expected, in some cases at least, to stimulate a desire to know something, and after that to know more. Even the dullest and least imaginative minds can hardly fail to be touched by the sight of the instru- mei ts by which the old masters achieved their triumphs, pr of their earliest works On the other hand, this Exhibition displays in a striking manner the wealth and luxury of scientific apparatus at the present day." After giving examples of the intimate connection which subsists between the progress of science and the improvement of its mechanism, the article concludes thus : — " It is impossible here to go through such an Exhibition in detail, and we can only say that it reflects much credit on those with whom it has originated, and that it is to be hoped that it may not be a mere passing show, but may develop into some permanent organization." The Acadeiny of last Saturday has "a first cr introduc- tory notice" of some length on the collection. " The Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus," the Academy says, "which was honoured by a private visit from her Majesty on Saturday last, and thrown open to the public on Monday, is one of very great interest and value. The Lord President of the Council may well be congratulated on the success of the undertaking, and we must all feel grateful to him for having given us an exhi- bition in which, for once, purely commercial interests have been made to give way to the ' higher aim of disseminating as wadely as possible a knowledge of the different methods of science.' The Exhibition is in many respects the most instructive and remarkable that has been held at South Kensington, and though it may not have any great effect on the advancement of science or on the industrial pro- gress of this country, it cannot fail to awaken a very general interest in those methods of abstract scientific re- search of which the public know so little ; and it will afford an opportunity, which may never occur again, of examining at leisure under the same roof the rude, simple instruments used by the pioneers of science, and the com- plex, delicate apparatus with which investigators of the present day have made their discoveries. We trust, too, that the Exhibition may give an impulse to the cause of scientific education in this country, and that it may lead to a better appreciation of the reasons which have led men of science to advocate Government endowment of scientific research, and the establishment of Physical Observatories, at home and abroad, which may have the same beneficial influence on the progress of other sciences that Astronomical Observatories have had on the progress of astronomy. May we hope, too, that the Exhibition will lead to the creation of a museum for the illustration of physical, chemical, and mechanical sciences somewhat of the nature of the * Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers,' in Paris ? The formation of such a museum was one of the recommendations of the Commission on Scientific Instruction, and we believe it would go far, by affording adequate opportunities for study, to render the sciences alluded to as popular as those of botany, geology, and zoology." Last week we quoted the opinion of Irotij the same paper has another interesting article this week, on " Science at South Kensington," in which it says that the success of the Exhibition affords an additional in- stance of the certain, if tardy, fructification of a valu- able idea. "Years ago the conception of a great focus of science somewhere in the metropolis was formed in at least cne great mind." The article then refers to the original intention of making the Albert Hall an institu- tional memorial, its employment as a place of scientific meetings and conferences having been strongly advo- cated. With its present uses, " the building has lost all its signification, as its position at South Kensington has lost all its appropriateness. We therefore cordially wel- come the realisation of the spiritual part of the original plan, although it has been brought about by indirect means." The article then goes on to refer to the suc- cessful development of loan collections during the last few years, and the superior educational value possessed by special collections over large international exhibitions. As carried out at South Kensington, this value is largely ^8 NA TURE [May 25, 1876 owing to classification, " a point kept dibtincily in view in arranging the Exhibition of Scientific Apparatus," The article then proceeds :-^ " The problem of classification has been triumphantly- solved Success is absolute and complete. " The institution of conferences during the Exhibition can hardly be regarded as other than a most valuable innovation, and precisely what was wanted— not to popu- larise the Exhibition, but to give it that life and movement without which the best institutions are apt to become stagnant, and be passed heedlessly by in an age of hurry and bustle. . . . There is no slackness at South Kensing- ton, and conferences form an interesting and important part of the programme of the Scientific Exhibition which it is rumoured will probably prove the nucleus of a Scien- tific Museum analogous to the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers at Paris. It would certainly be shortsighted pohcy to allow the splendid collection of objects now brought together for the first time in the world's history to be redistributed— scattered all over Europe, in odds and ends which teach little or nothing apart, but are of inestimable value when togelher. The want of a perma- nent national institution devoted to science can now be suppHed in the least costly and most efficacious manner, that is to say, the vital part composed of the scientists and their instruments. As for the showy part— the out- ward and visible sign— the Central Hall of Science, it will come in time. If Albert Hall, after having failed as a music-hall, fails also as a circus and as a skating-rink, the country may one day be able to buy it up cheap, and convert it to a legitimate use." The British Journal of Photography says :— *' There is now open in the Exhibition Buildings, South Kensington, London, a large, varied, and most valuable collection of scientific apparatus and appliances. Its in- trinsic value is great, its historical value much greater, but in its educational importance is to be found the chief value of this unique collection." The Gardeners' Chronicle speaks thus :— " The splendid collections of Scientific Apparatus now on view at South Kensington may not have any great interest or attraction for the general pubUc, for whose taste the display is too technical and unintelligible. To the more thoughtful visitor, and especially to the student, the collection is rich in interest and suggestiveness. . . . The whole thing has been organised and got together so quietly that even among scientific men little or nothing was known about the proceedings till the last moment, and the extent and value of the collections has come upon them as a surprise." PubUc opinion thus far, it will be seen, has nothing but admiration for the Loan Collection. The Athenceum is on the other side. We give its article without note or comment, as the collection can hold its own. "The galleries containing the Loan Collection of Scientific Instruments are at length open to the public. Apparently no expenditure has been considered too great by those who have been engaged in bringing together in the course of a few weeks from every part of Europe all the relics of science that could be begged or borrowed from public institutions or private collections. Gentlemen have been sent on special missions from South Kensing- ton, and their movements have been duly chronicled in Renter's telegrams amongst the most important news from Italy and Germany. Where these gentlemen could not find time to go, ambassadors and their attaches have been pressed into the service of collecting. Special rail- way trains have, we are informed by our contemporary. Nature, been built for the transit of instruments, and the result is a collection of brass, glass, and old iron relics, which has driven the daily press wild with enthusiasm. " According to the ordinary law of chances, a certain proportion of these instruments will be returned to the places whence they came all the worse for their journey across Europe, and we feel inclined to inquire whether it is certain that the worker in science will be the wiser for having seen them. The old and celebrated instruments have been repeatedly described and figured, and the new instruments, if useful, a man engaged in scientific research knows better than he knows the way to South Kensington. As to the curiosity-loving public, it will surely not be pretended that it is worth while to form such a collection for its amusement, but if it be the duty of government to gratify the craving of idlers, let us by all means at once appoint a Barnum to be Minister of Science ; he will know how to make such exhibitions as this, and the School of Art needlework, a commercial success. But, no doubt, real instruction is intended, and if so, let us stop and ask whether the present is the best and cheapest plan of obtaining our object. The * general public,' so far as can be judged from the experience of the first few days, regards the whole affair with indifference. " In order to afford the means for studying the history of a science there is needed a continuous series of objects that will illustrate the development of thought step by step ; such a collection cannot be brought together in a few weeks. It needs the patient labour and study of a lifetime devoted to it ; but in this exhibition, as in col- lections made by the nouveaux riches, the extremely old and extremely curious have been brought side by side with the comphcated results of modern workmanship ; and we find none of the connecting links, to gather which requires a man well versed in the history of his subject, and the labour of a lifetime. ... In fact, the collection required the control of a hand familiar with the history of astronomy. Objects that would have illustrated the development of the telescope during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries should have been sought after more diligently than relics connected with great and popular names with which every one is familiar. " The general ' Handbook to the Exhibition,' which has been published, is a remarkably good shilling's-worth of information, but, as might be expected, it contains trea- tises of very different merit. After some general consi- derations on instruments by Prof. Clerk Maxwell, which will possibly be above the heads of most of his readers, follow some interesting though rather general disquisi- tions on various subjects, which have evidently in most cases been written without reference to the instruments brought together. The names of Prof Clerk Maxwell, Prof Smith, Prof. Clifford, Mr. Spottiswoode, Prof. Tait, and others, will be a sufficient guarantee of the trust- worthiness of the information given. The article on Astronomy is not equal to the others, and considering the opportunity that the author had of illu«^trating the history of his subject, it is particularly poor and superficial. The ' Handbook' in general will well repay more than a casual perusal." We did not state that " special railway trains" had been built for the purpose referred to above. NOTES The Challenger is expected home daily, and arrangements are being made for the ship being welcomed on its arrival at Sheerness by the Royal Society and the foreign men of science now in this country. The visitation of the Royal Observatory is fixed for Saturday, Junes. The Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society was held on Monday. The total number of ordinary Fellows on the list at the end of April was 3,125. Sir H. Rawlinson, the President, presented the Founder's Medal to Lieut. Cameron, and the Patron's Medal to Mr. Lowther for Mr. J. Forrest, the Australian explorer. The annual geogra>ph)cal medals offered by the Society to the chief public schools were presented to the May 25, 1876] NA TURE 79 following successful competitors, viz. : — In physical geography, gold medal, John Wilkie, Liverpool College ; bronze medal, Walter New, Dulwich College ; and in political geo^jraphy, gold medal, Thomas Knox, Ilaileybury College ; bronze medal, W. M. H. Milner, Marlborough College. The President then delivered the annual address on the progress of geography, in the course of which he announced that he had received a com- munication from the Chancellor of the Exchequer that morning, that, considering the very great importance of the discoveries of Lieut, Cameron, her Majesty's Government had decided to share the expenses of the Expedition. A sum of 3,000/. will be handed over to the Royal Geographical Society on that account. There is at present being erected in the Paris Observatory Gardens a house for the Bishofsheim transit instrument, which has been admirably constructed by Eichens. The house pos- sesses many peculiarities, and was designed by M. Leverrier for the better insuring of equality of temperature. The roof can be removed on horizontal rails, and the walls are so perforated that there is a continual circulation of air in all parts. The frame of the house may be said to be pneumatic, as it has been constructed on a system analogous to that of the bones of birds. It is sure to work admirably. The Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge has this week received an important accession in the rich collection of fossils presented by the veteran geologist, Mr. J. W. Walton, of Bath. In many respects, this collection, little known and studied by palaeontologists, corresponds for the Southern Jurassic rocks to that of Mr. Leckenby, already at Cambridge, for the contem- poraneous Yorkshire beds ; but in addition, the general series of fossils is very interesting. Mr, Walton's Cambrian fossils con- stitute one of the finest existing assemblages from these rocks. Mr. Keeping, who has superintended the transfer to Cambridge, estimates the number of specimens at a hundred thousand ; the entire weight is nearly two tons and a half Thus the oppor- tunities for palseontological investigation, at Cambridge already very great, are largely increased. Biological students at Cambridge, and many others, will regret the approaching departure of Dr. Martin, Fellow and Lecturer of Christ's College, who has accepted the Professorship of Natural History in the University of Baltimore. Dr. Martin has attained the highest honours both at London and at Cam- bridge in a wide range of subjects. He has been largely asso- ciated with biological instruction at University College, London, and at South Kensington, while his connection with Dr, Michael Foster in the development of biology at Cambridge has been of great value. His co-operation with Prof. Huxley in the pro- duction of the very successful ' ' Course of Practical Instruction in Elementary Biology," is well krown. Some compensation for Dr, Martin's loss at Cambridge may be found in the thought that biology in the United States will gain by the presence of a man so well versed in European methods, and especially ia the systems of instruction worked out by Prof, Huxley, Dr. Foster, and others in England, From the daily Weather Maps issued from Hamburg by the German Seewarte, which embrace the whole of Europe, except the extreme south and the extreme north, we observe a very remarkable distribution of the atmospheric pressure for some weeks back. Barometers have been constantly low in southern or eastern regions, and high in the west and north, resulting in a persistent prevalence of northerly and easterly winds over nearly the whole of the continent. The maps suggest that this state of things has probably extended far to north-westwards, and in accordance with this supposition letters from Iceland inform us that the Greenland and Spitzbergen ice descended, in the beginning of this month, on the north coast of that island to a very serious extent, filling the sea as far as the eye could reach. In this connection, the observations made by the Arctic Expedi- tion will have a peculiar meteorological value. M, HouzEAU has been appointed Director of the Royal Observatory of Brussels, The results of the daily photographs taken by M. Janssen at his observatory at Montmartre are rather interesting. In February a number of spots were visible and photographed ; this number was gradually reduced to two groups, each consisting of two large spots, which were vi.-ible on March 13. By March 18 only two spots were visible, the two others having disappeared owing to the rotation of the sun. The two last disappeared by March 25, and from that time up to May 20 not a single spot was recorded, the solar disc appearing quite homogeneous. Such a phenomenon is very rare, indeed, although we are nearing the minimum. The photographs taken by Janssen are 20 centimetres diameter on a collodion film, when the sky is clear. Under un- favourable circumstances, the diameter is reduced to 10 centi- metres. M; Janssen takes his photographs irrespective of the presence of clouds. He uses his celebrated revolver, and operates before ten o'clock in the morning. He is using not only the instruments taken to Japan for the last Transit, but the very canvas, with the canvas rotating domes. No doubt the Minister for Public Instruction will give him very shortly the means of building a permanent observatory, which is to be styled the Paris Physical Observatory. M. Janssen is also asking the means to build a large refractor worth 200,000 francs. The Nord- Deutsche Allgemeitte ZeUimg states that the German Imperial Government proposes to establish a Meteorological Institution, the meteorological department being up to the present moment merely a part of the statistical office. At a recent meeting of the Birmingham Natural History Society, the meteoiite which recently fell in Shropshire, and to which we referred at the time, was exhibited and described. The following resolution was very properly passed unanimously by the Society :— "That in the opinion of this meeting the meteorite exhibited should become the property of the nation, in order that it may be submitted to the fullest scientific investigation at the hands of the most competent authorities." The above reso- lution was passed in consequence of an application made to the finder of the meteorite en behalf of the Duke of Cleveland, V Explorateur of May 18 contains an account of the principal indigenous tribes of Eastern Siberia, taken from a recently- published work of M, Octave Sachot, "La Siberie OrientaJe et I'Amerique Russe. Le Pole Nord et ses Habitants," The information contained in the work seems to be mainly derived from the voluminous notes of an American engineer who sojourned for three years in the region in question, M, Th, Maureau, an assistant in the Meteorological Service at the Paris Observatory, has been promoted, at the request of M, Leverrier, to the position of "Physicien-adjoiut," by M, Waddington. Although a young man, he has rendered im- portant service in the provisional department of practical meteorology, Mr. a, Sutherland, writing from Invergordon, Ross-shire, May 13, states : — For the last fortnight almost daily iridescent halos, of more or less completeness, have been noticed round the sun, towards evening. Those on the 5th and loth were very bril- liant. The former consisted of a rainbow-coloured circle reaching almost from the zenith to the horizon, and continued for two hours. The halo visible on the loth was an almost complete example of the phenomenon, consisting of, when observed at 6.30 P.M., two iridescent circles (22° and 46°) with tangent arc and mock-stms. The inner circle of 22° showed more especially the red rays on its concavity, except at the parhelia, where it was 8o NA TURE {May 25, 1876 brightly iridescent. A pale light stretched through the sun from one parhelion to the other, and somewhat beyond these. The tangent arc of this inner circle was also very bright and well defined. The larger circle was complete except where the hills on the horizon hid a small portion. The tangent arc was not observed above it, the sky being clear where it would be pro- jected. The day had been very wirm, but towards evening a cold north-easterly wind blew, and the part of the sky where the sun was had become somewhat misty before the appearance of the halo. Lately the north-easter has plentifully furnished the conditions for the "icy cloud" which makes these appearances possible. The J^andora is expected to leave Portsmouth to-day for her Arctic cruise. Prof. O. C. Marsh, in a short paper on some characters of the genus Coryphodon, Owen, figures the skull of the American Bathmodon of Cope, which he shows to be undistinguishable from Coryphodon. This oldest known representative of the ungulate animals, found in the London clay of England, the Argile plas- iique of France, and the lower Eocene of Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico, possessed, besides the full complement of teeth (44), five digits on each limb, and a third trochanter to the femur. The oerebellum was peculiarly small, and the cere- brum very large in proportion. The Prefect of the Seine has appointed a Commission com- posed of M. Alphaud, the chief engineer of the city, two other engineers, and the head of the Public Gardens to study some of the public works of London, such as the Metropolitan Railway, the gardening of the public parks, the sewage and water system, &c. The French Minister of Public Works will be represented in that Commission by M. de Villiers, chief engineer of Ponts-et- Cbausees. A Commission has been appointed by the Prefect of the Stine to construct a number of primary clocks in Paris for the purpose of distributing the time by means of electricity. Up to the present time clockmakers have been obliged to make personal application at the Observatory to compare their chronometer with the standard chronometer, which is regulated by the obser- vation of the celestial bodies once a week. The numbers of the American Naturalist for P^ebruary and March contain, among other papers, one by Mr. A. Agassiz on Haeckel's Gastrseal theory, one by Mr. H. D. Minot on the Summer Birds of the White Mountain Region, one by Dr. H. A. Hagan on the Development of Museums, one by Dr. J. G. Cooper on Californian Garden-Birds. There is alsO a reply by Dr. E. Coues to Mr. J. A. Allen's "Availability of certain Bar- tranian names in Ornithology." Dr. H. A. Hagan describes the Goshawk from among the Game Falcons of New England. Mr. Scudder describes the nature of the chirp of the Mole Cricket. Mr. Abbot writes on the indications of the antiquity of the Indians of Notth America, derived from a study of their relics. We observe from the recent numbers of the Bulletin Inter' national of the Paris Observatory that the annual reports for 1875 are being received, and in considerable numbers, from the presidents of the departmental meteorological commissions, as was earnestly requested some time ago by M. Leverrier, in order that the Atlas Meteorologique for 1875, may appear with as little delay as possible. In proof of the activity and earnest- ness manifested by many of the departments, it may be stated that from the department of Bouches du Rhone tables of observations from thirty-one stations have been received — a number far from being too large if the meteorology of this part of France is to be prosecuted at all successfully with a view to its practical applications. In the same journal, of May 5, appears an interesting account by M. Piche, Secretary of the Meteorological Commission of the Basses-Pyrenees, of a sirocco which occurred in that department on September i, 1874. On that occasion the shade-tempe- rature near St, Jean-de-Luz rose from 78° '8 at 8 a.m. succes- sively to Sg'-e, 93°-2, 96°-8, and 101° -3. At Biarritz the tem- perature also roje to 101° "3, and the difference between the dry and wet bulbs at 4 P.M. amounted to 20° 7. The observations made at the nine meteorological stations of the department at the time, are given, but the number of stations is evidently too few to furnish the materials required for the investigation of this remarkable sirocco. An interesting point, however, is this — the almost unprecedented heat and drought at Biarritz occurred during a rapid and short-continued fall of the barometer, the heat and drought bdng at the maximum a little before the baro- meter fell to the lowest point. We have received Osservazioni Aleteorologiche, anno v.. No. 14, published under the direction of the well-known meteorologists, P. F. Denza and P. Maggi, by the Alpine Club of Italy. This number gives a full and detailed statement of the meteorological means and extremes during the second decade of April, 1876, at fifty-one stations situated on or in the immediate neighbour- hood of the Alps and Apennines, the stations bein^ at heights varying from 87 to 8,360 feet above the sea. The pub- lication worthily, occupies a well-marked sphere of operation, and its appearance thrice a month offers great facilities for tiie study of the meteorological changes in the course of the year along the slopes of these mountain ranges. It woull mu:h enhance the usefulness of the results if the barometric and ther- mometric means for 9 A.M. and 3 p.m. were given separately. In the Fcnland and Eastern Counties Meteorological Circular and Weather Report for May there appear, in addition to the usual matter, the first of a series of papers by the R-iv. VV. Clement Ley, on wind laws, and a second notice of Mr. Buchan and Dr. Mitchell's paper on the weather and mortality of L n- don, in which the author, Dr. J. M. Wilson, makes some inter- esting comparisons as regards a few of the most important diseases between the results obtained for London and those for Wisbeach. At a recent meeting of the Manchester Field Naturalists' and Archoeologists' Society, Mr. Faraday gave an account of a plan- tation of the Eucalyptus globulus, at Myeres, in the department of Var, in the south of France. Three years ago M. Cortambert planted 2,000 seedlings a few inches high over one hectare of land. The trees are now about thirty feet high, the stems having a circumference of about fourteen inches at three feet from the ground. It has of course been necessary to thin the plantation. A branch in flower was recently laid en the table at a meeting of the French Central Society of Horticulture. The wood of the Eucalyptus is extensively used in Algeria for carriage building. Plantations of this tree are becoming nume- rous in the south of France. The full complement of sea-water required for the filling and successful maintenance of the marine tanks at the Westminster Aquarium — over 500,000 gallons — has been delivered, and the importation of marine specimens will be rapidly proceeded with. Many interesting examples of ocean life are already on y\Q.ft in the smaller tanks stationed m the Eastern Annexe. The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the last week include a White-thighed Colobus {Colobus bicolor), from W. Africa, presented by Mr. A. J. Keason ; a White- backed Trumpeter {Psophia leucoptera), from S. America, pre- sented by Mr. H. S. Marks, A.R.A. ; two Javan P'iih Owls {Ketupa Javanica), received in exchange ; a Thar Goat ( Capra jemlaica) born in the Gardens, the mother belonging to the col- lection of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales ; a Falkland Island Thrush ( Turdus falklandicus) from Chili, deposited. May 25, 1876] NATURE 81 SCIENTIFIC SERIALS American Journal of Science and Arts, April 1876. — Prof. Wright, of Yale College, examined last year the gises obtained at moderate temperature from a stony meteorite of Iowa 'County ; their chief constituent was carbon dioxide. lie has further examined several other meteorites of both classes (stony and iron, five of each), and the results, here communicated, confirm his former conclusions. Not only do the stony meteorites give off much more gas at low temperatures than the iron, but the com- position is quite distinct. In no case of the latter was the amount of carbon dioxide more than 20 per cent, at 500°, nor than 15 per cent, from the whole quantity evolved, and the volume of carbonic oxide was, in every case but one, consider- ably larger. In the chondrites, on the other hand, the percentage of carbonic oxide is very small, while the carbon dioxide is (with one slight exception) more than half of the total quantity of gas obtained up to red heat. At a temperature of about 350° it constitutes from 80 to 90 per cent, of the gaseous products, in all cases, while at the heat of 100° it forms somewhat more than 95 per cent, in the two cases examined in this respect. The hydrogen, on the other hand, progres-ively increases in quantity with rise in the temperature of evolution, and in the last portions given off at a red heat is generally the most important con- stituent. The evolution of those large volumes of carbon dioxide may be taken as characteristic of the stony meteorites, and its relation to the theory of comets and their trains is cer- tainly of great significance. — Prof. Norton gives a succinct account of researches made with a view to determine the laws of the set of materials resulting from a transverse strain under various circumstances. He studied (i) sets from momentary strains, (2) sets from prolonged strains, and (3) duration of set, and variation of set with interval of time elapsed after the with- drawal of the stress. Some of the results are rather at variance, apparently, with the conception of the ultimate molecule, as made up of a limited number of precisely similar atoms endued with unvarying forces of attraction at certain distances and repul- sion at other distances. — ^According to Prof. Le Conte, mountain ranges are formed wholly by a yielding of the crust along cer- tain lines of horizontal pressure ; not, however, by bending of the crust into a convex arch filled and sustained by a liquid be- neath, but by a crushing or mashing together horizontally of the whole crust with the formation of close folds and a thickening or swelling upward of the squeezed mass. In an interesting paper he adduces evidence of this from the coast range of California, which is destitute of granite axes, and has been little changed by metamorphism or overlaid by igneous ejections.— Prof. New- comb criticises somewhat unfavourably the physical theories of climate maintainedin CroU's recent work on Climate and Time in their Geological Relations. — Prof. Mallet studies the consti- tutional formuh'^ of urea, uric acid, and their derivatives, and in an appendix Prof. Marsh describes the principal characters of the I3rontotheridae, with aid of some excellent plates. Mind, April. — In this number Mr. G. H. Lewes draws atten- tion to the absence of strictly defined technical terms in psycho- logy, and '' the deplorable and inevitable ambiguity " which in consequence clouds the discussion of psychological questions. After referring to various senses in which the words sensation, sensibility, consciousness are used, he puts the question: "are all changes in the sensitive organism to be included under the term consciousness, or only some changes ? "' We believe some psychologists would answer : no changes in an organism ought to be called consciousness. — Prof. W. Wundt of Leipsic contri- butes a solid paper on " Central Innervation and Conscious- ness." He accepts physical automatism as flowing from the doctrine of the conservation of energy. "If this principle lays claim to a universal validity, we cannot withdraw from it those movements which we are conscious of only as psychologically caused." What he meaui by psychological causation is not very clear. — M. Sidgwick's "Methods of Ethics "is ably re\ iewed by Prof. Bain, who while speaking of the work in terms of highest praise, finds, nevertheless, that justice has scarcely been done to utilitarian ethics, and when Mr. Sidgwick, finding no complete answer to the immoral paradox, "My performance of social duty is good not for me but for others," concludes that our cosmos of duty is in reality a chaos. Prof. Bain thinks that we have here " a sad ending to a great work ; " and he proceeds to give a solution of his own, which fome may consider little more than a restatement of the difficulty. The next paper is a criticism of Mr. Sidgwick's chapter on " Intuitionalism," by Mr. H. Calder- wood, who endeavours to show that Mr. Sidgwick has "largely failed in the attempt to give a clear and fair representation of intuitionalism." The editor. Prof Croom Robertson, reviews Mr. Jevons's " Formal Logic. " He praises the ability, ingenuity, and even success with which Mr. Jevons has laboured to con- struct a brand-new system, but is compelled at the same time to maintain the superiority of the methods of the traditional logic. — Mr. Shadworth H. Hodgson continues the work of distin- guishing between philosophy and science. His present paper, "As Regards Psychology," is delightfully hard reading. — " Philo- sophy at Cambridge," is treated by Mr. H. Sidgwick. — A short kindly biography of James Hinton is written by Mr. J. F. Payne. — Critical notices, reports, correspondence, &c., make up the number. Memorie della Societh Spettroscopisti Italiani, November, 1875. — Prof. Bredichin writes an article on the spectra of certaia nebulse relating how he has adopted the plan of comparing the lines of the spectrum of the nebula with the FraunhofTer lines of the sun. The spectrum of a Geisler tube of hydrogen is used as an intermediate means of comparison. The mean positions of the lines are 5oo3'9, 5957'9, 4859'2 respectively. The first two lines agree very closely with the iron lines 5005 o and 5956'5. — A comparison of the solar diameters as obtained by the spec- troscopic and transit methods by Secchi, Tacchini, and Rayet. The mean of the spectroscopic observations gave a diameter i ' "8 less than the latter method. December 1875. — Father Secchi contributes a note on his re- searches on the distribution of heat on the solar disc. — Prof. Ricco writes on the perception and persistence of the sensa'ion of colours. He throws a spectrum on a screen by reflection from an oscillating mirror, so that the spectrum is moved in a direc- tion at right angles to its length backwards and forwards, and the shape of the apparent envelope of the coloured band shows that yellow is the most rapidly perceived colour, and the others de- crease towards the red and blue. — Prof. Oudemanns writes ( n a method of heliometric measurement on the occasion of the transit of Verms. — Prof. Fergola writes on the dimensions of the earth, and researches on the position of the axis of figure with respect to the axis of rotation. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Royal Society, May 18. — " Picrorocellin," by John Sten- house, F.R. S., and Charles Edward Groves. " On the Polarisation of Light by Crystals of Iodine," by Sir John Conroy, Bart., M.A. Communicated by A. G. Vernon Harcourt, Lee's Reader in Chemistry in the University of Oxford. "Absorption-Spectra of Iodine," by Sir John Conroy, Bart., M. A. Communicated by A. G. Vernon Harcourt, Lee's Reader in Chemistry, University of Oxford. Linnean Society, May 4. — Mr. G. Bentham, vice-president, in the chair. —Mr. G. Dawson Rowley and Mr. G. H. Parkes were elected Fellows of the Society. — Two foreign savans were chosen to fill the vacancies caused by death among the honorary members. —Mr. H. Trimen called attention to the photograph of a remarkable example of fasciated inflorescence occurring in Fourcroya ciibensis. Haw. The specimen, coming under the ob- servation of A. Ernst, of Caraccas, is recorded as 6i feet high and 4 feet wide. — On behalf of Dr. Anderson there. were shown specimens demonstrating the extraordinary diminutive eye of the Indian River Whale {Flxtanista i^angetica), which animal to all intents and purposes must be well nigh blind ; and likewise spe- cimens of grasses {Ischamtun rugonim and Paspalum scrobicu- lalum) obtained from the stomach of the same creature, probably residual digesta of fish eaten by it — Dr. Cobbold read a paper on Trematcde parasites from gangetic dolphins. Three species were lucidly described, viz., Distoma lancea, D. campula, and D. Andtrsoni. The first of these was procured from the short- snouted Dolphin (Orcella breviroslris), a form more frequently captured in the Indian river estuaries. The last mentioned is entirely new to science. It and that immediately preceding (formerly designated Campula ohlonga) were both obtained by Dr. J. Anderson from different specimens of the fluviatile Ceta- cean (Flalanisla). The special interest attached to the parasites in question may be thus summarised, i. The circumstance of being obtained from Cetacean hosts not previously known to be 82 NATURE \May 25, 1876 infested by them. 2. D. lancea and D. campula have each only once before (forty and twenty years respectively) been seen by any observer, and in either case from a different kind of whale. 3. The localities whence hosts and the Entozoa have been pro- cared being situated regionally thousands of miles apart. 4. Verification of statements based on prior limited data. 5. The completion of our knowledge respecting the morphology and ar- rangement of all their more important internal organs. Tne author went on to generalise regarding the aberrance of host not pro- ducing departure of parasitic type, the relative periodic frequency and effects of such lowly organisms in wild and domestic animals, and the close alliance of the Planarians to the forms treated. — Mr. W. T. Thiselton-Dyer read a paper on the genus Hooiia, with a diagnosis of a new species. lie distinguishes three forms, viz., //. Gordoni, II. Currori, and//. Barklyi, and shows that in certain respects the genus Decabelore presents a close alliance. In the peculiarities of structure and recognition of parts of the floral envelope of Hoodia the author holds opinions diverging from those of Mr. Bentham, who previously had but a limited opportunity of examining this rare and interesting group of African plants. — Mr. W. Duppa Crotch read a paper on the migration and habits of the Norwegian Lemming. Specimens belonging to him and Mr. A. E. Alston, illus- trated certain moot points in the economy of these animals. — The Kev. M. J. Berkeley communicated a report on the fungi collected in Kerguelen I-ilmd, riuring the stay of the Transit of Venus Expedition of 1874-5. ^^''^ section of the Cryptogamic flora of the island appears to be poorly represented, in so far as number of species is concerned. — A note on Arctomys dichrous, an oddly-coloured kind of Marmot inhabiting Cabul, by Dr. J. Anderson, was announced. Geological Society, May 10.— Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.K.S., president, in the chair. — W. Borrer, James I'Anson, John William Jair.es, Mark Stirrup, and Charles Wilkinson were elected Fellows of the Society. — The following communications were read : — On some fossil reef-building corals from the Tertiarj' deposits of Tasmania, by Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F. R.S. The species described by the author were Hdiastraa tasmaw'enns, sp. n., Thamnastr(Ta sera, sp. n., and a second species of Thamnnstvcra. Both these genera are composed of reef-building corals, and the species here described undoubtedly belonged to that category. They required the natural conditions peculiar to coral-reefs. The author noticed the facts as to the distribution of land and water in the Australian region in Lower Cainozoic times, which are revealed by the deposits belonging to that age, and indicated that although the insular distribution of the land may have been unfavouraole to the growth of coral- reefs, the existence of a suitable sea-temperature in the latitude ot Tasmania is insufficiently explained. A single relic of the old reef-building corals survives on the shores of Tasmania in the Echinopora rosiilaria, I^am., but all the other forms have died off. The coral isotherm would have to be 15° lat. south of its present position to enable reefs to flourish south of Cape Howe, and this could be caused only by a change in the arrangements of land and sea, and in the jio«ition of the polar axis. The author indicated the general arrangements of land which seemed to have prevailed, and noticed that at that period and even earlier the coral isotherm of 74° reached fully 25* north of its present position in the portion of the globe antipodean to Tas- mania ; but it would seem to require more than mere geographi- cal changes to account for the existence of important reefs in western, central, and southern Europe and in Tasmania synchro- nously. The flora underlying the marine Cainozoic deposits of Victoria indicate tropical conditions, as do the Echinodermata of the succeeding strata (described in the following paper). The fossil plants of the Arctic regions, from the Carboniferous to the Miocene epoch, give evidence of the existence of higher tempera- tures and of other conditions of light than those now prevailing, but were the polar axis at right angles to the plane of the ecliptic, and were there no greater node than at present, there would be equal day and night at all points. The difficulty is to account for the piesent position of tiie axis on this supposition ; but the author suggested that the great subsidences of Miocene lands, the formation of the southern ocean, and the vast upheavals ot northern areas at the close of the Miocene epoch, may have sufficed to produce the present condition of things. — On the Echinodermata of the Australian Cainozoic (Tertiary) deposits, by Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S. In this paper, afttr noticing the history of our knowledge of Australian Tertiary Echinida, the author gave a list of the species at present known. amounting in all to twenty-three, and described the following as new species : — Leiocidaris australice, Temnechivus lincatus, Arach- noides Loveni, A. elongaius, Rhynchopygiis dysasteroides, Echi- nobrissiis australice, Holdsier aiisti-alitT, Maretia anomala, Enpa- tagtis rotundus, and E. Lauhd. The author remarked upon the characters and synonymy of the previously known species, his most important statement being that the so-called genus Hemi- patagus is in reality identical with the recent genus Loz'enia, Gray, as clearly shown by fine specimens in his possession. The most marked genera of the existing Australian fauna are not represented, but are replaced by numerous Spatangoids ; three species, however, are identical ; but two of these have a very wide range. Of the remainder, nine are allied to recent Aus- tralian species, mostly from the north of the continent ; six are allied to European and Asiatic Cretaceous forms ; five are closely related to Nummulitic types ; and one species appears to belong to a peculiar genus, namely, Paradoxechimis noviis, Laube. — On the Miocene fossils of Haiti, by Mr. R. J. Lech- mere Guppy, F.L.S. Anthropological Institute, May 9. — Col. A. Lane-Fox, president, in the chair. — In a paper, with copious tables, under the title of Prehistoric names of weapons, Mr. Hyde Clarke traced an early chapter in the history of culture, showing that the names of weapons and tools were widely distributed among the aborigines of Africa, Asia, Australia, and America. He illustrated the archreological relation to the stone age by citing conformities between axe and knife and stone. In Africa, where stone weapons are so far as is known rare, the evidence of names is strong in affirmation of its having passed through a stone epoch. — Canon Rawlinson read a paper on the ethno- graphy of the Cimbri. There were two theories respecting their origin — the one that they were Germans, the other that they were Celts. The evidence on both sides was slight, and very nearly balanced. The majority of the early writers were in favour of the Celtic view. Cresar, who pronounced the Cimbri to be Germans, may not have met with any of pure blood. Much would depend on the meaning of the term yellow hair, and the reason for the employment of Celtic spies in the Cimbrian camp. The name Cimbri has so near a resemblance to .Cymry (the l> in Cambria ^being a usual Roman addition), that this was perhaps as good evidence as any in favour of the Celtic affinities of the race. On the whole Canon Rawlinson inclined to this view.- — A short communication from Prof. Lubach, des'zribing the " Hunebedden," or stone monuments in Holland, was reid by the Director, Mr. E. W. Brabrook. Entomological Society, May 3. — Sir Sidney Smith Saun- ders, C. M.G., vice-president, in the chair. — M. Jules Lich- tenstein, of Montpelber, was balloted for and elected a foreign member. — The Rev. J. Hellins sent for exhibition various British I^epidoptera, recently submitted to M. Guenee for his opinion and determination. One of the most important was a Noctiia, bearing some resemblance to Xanthia ferruginea, not known to M. Guenee, taken at Qucenstown, flying over bramble blossoms, in July or August, 1872, by Mr. G. F. Mathew ; it was pIso unknown, as European, to Dr. Standinger. — Mr. Distant ex- hibited a series of six examples of the butterfly, Ithomca tittia, Ilewitson, from Costa Rica, showing a very considerable varia- tion in markings to which the species is evidently liable. He also communicated some remarks on the Rhopalocera of Costa Rica, with descriptions of species not included in the Catalogue of Messrs. Butler and Druce, published in the " Procesdtngs of the Zoological Society "for 1874. — Mr. Douglas exhibited speci- mens of the Corozo Nut {P/iyfelephas macrocarpa), the vegetable ivory of commerce, of wlfich the interiors were entirely eaten away by a species of Caryoborus (one of the Bnichides). A specimen of the beetle was shown, with nuts, from the London Docks, which had been recently imported from Guyaquil. — The Secretary read a letter he had received from the Foreign Ofiice Department, enclosing a dispatch from her Majesty's Minister at Madrid, relative to the steps taken to check the ravages of the locust in Spain. It appeared that considerable apprehension was felt in many parts of Spain that the crops of various kinds would suffer greatly this year from the locust, and the Cortes had already voted a large sum to enable the Government to take measures to prevent this calamity, and by a Circular addressed to the Provincial Governors by the Minister of "Fomento," published in the Official Gazette, they were directed to make use of the military forces stationed within their respective districts to aid the popu- lation in this object. It was stated that thirteen provinces were threatened with this plague. May 25, 1876] NATURE 83 Geologists' Association, April 7, — Mr. Wm. Carruthers, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — On the volcanoes of Iceland, with special reference to those mountains which have recently erupted, by W. L. Watts. The vast mass of the Vatna-Jokull rests upon a base of tuff and agglomerate traversed in many places by intruded basaltic and other lavas. This mountain and its immediate neighbours constitute the highest and probably the oldest part of Iceland, for its lava streams are in a state of ruin and decay unequalled in any other part of the country, and it is girt upon its southern base by sea- cliffs, which must have been washed by the ocean when many other parts of Iceland were under water, unless a very serious depression has taken place since the southern outlying hills of the Vatna and Skaptar Jokulls were washed by the sea. The fires in the Vatna are not yet extinct. Crossing the deserts to the north of the Vatna Jokull, on the west is a large tract of lava, the greater part of which has flowed from Skaldbreith ; whilst in front rise the DyngjufjoU or Cham- ber Mountains, the volcanoes which caused so much damage to the north of Iceland last spring. These mountains are com- posed of palagonitic agglomerate, and are in many places tra- versed by dykes and masses of lava, whilst numerous protruding scoriaceous crags suggest that lava streams may lie beneath. The sides have been fissured and cracked by the violent earth- quakes which preceded the eruption of last spring. In the lati- tude of 64° 45' N. , and extending eastward towards the sea shore, the country was found to be strewn with a light vitreous pumice, very vesicular, and assuming most beautiful shapes. The crater from which this was ejected is situated in the south corner of the Askja (oval wooden casket), the name given to an elevated piece of land enclosed upon all sides but the north-east by semi- detached sections of mountains. The fissures in this volcano were still in active eruption, sending forth vast volumes of steam, a dark granulated fetid earth which occasionally fell around in showers, and a little water. Copious floods of water had flowed down the sides of the volcano ; this is the more remarkable, as the Dyngjufjolls are neither glacial nor snow-capped mountains. The Oskja-gja (chasm of the oval wooden casket) is, moreover, at least thirty-eight geographical miles from the lake of Myvatn, and forty-five from the nearest sea-shore. The second centre of recent volcanic activity is situated in the Myvatns Oro^fi, where the volcanic fires first made their appearance last year. After the violent earthquakes which at Christmas, 1873, shook the north-east of Iceland, a fissure twelve miles in length, and vary- ing from one to thirty feet in breadth, opened in the west portion of the Myvatns Oroefi, and commenced to eject lava from four- teen or fifteen different points. Many of the smaller fissures formed by these earthquakes casfup stones and ashes, and lava welled up through them. The great discharge of lava, how- ever, was from the great fissure, which formed a lava streani some thirteen miles in length, and varying from one to tliree in breadth ; it has ovei flowed an older lava stream which had issued from a vent in the Myvatns Ora-fi, called the Svinagja. This fissure broke out again in March, and continued in a state of intermittent activity until the following April. The lava is basaltic, and differs from the ancient streams only in its not containing olivine. The fundamental rock of Iceland is the palagonitic tufa of sub-aqueous origin, disturbed and at times meta- morphosed by enormous masses of amygaloidal basaltic lava ; these are overlaid by sub- aerial lava streams, pumiceous tuffs, and agglomerates which have been formed by debacles and atmospheric influences. Trachytic lavas occur but sparingly, the trachytic band supposed to bisect the island from Cape Langaness to Rejkjaness being unsupported by investigation. Trachytes in a much altered condition have been found around and between Hekler and the geysers. Obsidian is seldom met with in situ ; Mount Paul, however, in the heart of the Vatna Jokull, consists of this rock, whilst the pumiceous outburst of the Oskja-gja must also be referred to it. May 5.— Prof. J. Morris, F.G.S., vice-president, in the chair. —On the section of the chloritic marl and upper greensand on the northern side of Swanage Bay, by H. George Fordham, F.G.S. — Notes on the geology of the neighbourhood of Swan- age, by W. R. Brodie. Institution of Civil Engineers, May 9.— Mr. W. II. Barlow, vice-president, in the chair.— The first paper read was on the construction of railway wagons, with special reference to economy in dead weight, by W. R. Browne, Assoc. Inst. CE.— ihe second paper read was on railway rolling-stock capacity, in relation to the dead weight of vehicles," by Mr. W. A. Adams, Assoc. Inst. CE. Cambridge Philosophical Society, Feb. 28.— The following communi- cation was made to the Society by Prof. Clerk Maxwell, on Bow's method of drawing diagrams in graphical statics, with illustrations from Peaucellier's cell :— A frame is a structure con« sisting of pieces jointed together at their extremities. India- grams the joints are represented by points, and the pieces by straight lines joining the points. A diagram of stress is a figure such that the forces acting at each joint of the frame are repre- sented in direction and magnitude by the sides of a polygon in the diagram of stress. When the diagram of stress is such that to the lines which meet in a point in the diagram correspond the sides of a polygon in the frame, the frame and the diagram are said to be reciprocal. Mr. R. II. Bow, C.E., F.R.S.E., in his " Economics of Construction in relation to Framed Structures," has pointed out a method of constructing reciprocal diagram! which applies to cases which I had formerly thought imprac* ticable. Mr. Bow assigns a letter to each enclosed space of the frame, and also to each division of the surrounding space as separated by the lines of action of the external forces. _ When two pieces of the frame cross each other without being jointed, Mr. Bow treats them as if they were jointed. The forces at the point of intersection are represented by a parallelogram. In the diagram of stress the letters are placed at the points which cor« respond to the enclosed spaces of the frame. In Peaucellier's cell the three external forces acting at the centre and the two bracing points meet in a point in the diagonal through the other two angles of the rhombus. To every positive cell in which the centre is outside the rhombus corresponds a negative cell in which the centre is inside the rhombus, and if the point of concourse of the forces is outside the rhombus in one case it is inside in the other. Every line in the one figure is parallel to the corre« sponding line in the other, and the only difference is that the acute angles of the rhombus, in one figure correspond to the obtuse angles in the other. These two frames have the same diagram of stress, so that the stress of corresponding pieces ia the two frames is the same. March 23.— Mr. Pearson made a communication on a set of lunar distances taken by him under rather peculiar circumstances last autumn, Oct. 8. March 27. — Mr. Anningson read a paper on the relation of the spinal cord to the tail in mammals.— On vital force, by Mr. H. F. Baxter. Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, Feb. 22.— Mr. E. Schunck, F.R.S., president, in the chair.— Notes on a collection of apparatus employed by Dr. Dalton in his researches, which is about to be exhibited (by the Council of the Literary and Philo- sophical Society of Manchester) at the Loan Exhibition of Scien- tific Apparatus at South Kensington, by Prof. Roscoe, F.R.S. — A letter from Mr. Arthur Wm. Waters, dated Naples, Feb. 9, 1876, was read by Mr. Baxendell, giving some account of the Naples Zoological Station.— On glacial action in the valley of the Wear, &c., by Prof. T. S. Aldis. Feb. 29.— E. W. Binney, F.R.S., in the chair.— An account of some early experiments with ozone, and remarks upon its electrical origin, by J. B. Dancer, F.R. A. S.— Results of rain- gauge observations made at Eccles, near Manchester, during the year 1875, by Thomas Mackereth, F.R. A.S. March 7.— Mr. E. Schunck, F.R.S., president, in the chair.— Mr. R. S. Dale exhibited specimens of crystals of sulphate of lead found in alum residue,— On the degree of accuracy dis- played by druggists in the dispensing of physicians' prescriptions in different towns throughout England and Scotland, by. Mr. William Thomson, F.C.S. , . March 13.— Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S. in the chain- Mr. Charles Bailey exhibited a series of slides illustrating simi- larities of structure in Dicotyledonous and Monocotyledonous stems.— Mr. R. D. Darbishire, F.G.S., exhibited a series of specimens of very young Rhombus vulgaris (Cuv.), showing (i), the two eyes on each side of the vertebral plane ; (2), the removal of the eye from the underside to the dorsal edge ; (3), the appear- ance of both eyes on the one (upper) side of the fish. He also communicated some notes made during a visit in the past summer to the Swedish shell-beds of Uddevalia and the neighbouring district, and exhibited a collection of the fossils of remarkable extent and beauty.— List of shells found in Cymmeran Bay, Anglesea. Corrections and additions, by Mr. John Plant, F.G.S. Addenda and corrigenda. March 21.— Mr. E. Schunck, F.R.S., president, in the chair. 84 NA TURE [May 2S, 1875 — Dr. Arthur Schuster exhibited an interesting collection of objects brought by him from Siam and the Western Himalayas. — On a graphical method of drawing spectra, by Mr. William Dodgson. — Evidence to prove that a bone from the Windy Knoll, Castleton, named by Prof. W. BoydDawkins, F.R.S., " Sacrum of young Bison," is a sacral bone of the Cave Bear {Ursus spelaeus), by John Plant, F.G.S. April 4. — Mr. E. Schunck, F.R. S., president, in the chair. — Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, F. R.S., called the attention of the Society to the depreciation of silver which is now under the notice of a select committee of the House of Commons, and in connection with this called attention to the enormous mining wealth of the Nevada silver-mining district, a part of which he had had the opportunity of examining last autumn. — On some isomerides of alizarine, by Edward Schunck, F.R. S., and Dr. Hermann Roemer. — Prof. Boyd Dawkins, F. R. S., said with reference to the Windy Knoll bone, spoken of by Mr. Plant at the last meeting, that he had re-examined the evidence, and con- sulted Mr. Davis, of the British Museum, and found that he was mistaken in referring it to bison. The evidence of the jaws and teeth proves that the bear of Windy Knoll is not the cave, but the great fossil grizzly bear ( U. ferox fossilis = U. priscus), as may be seen by a reference to the Quart. Geol. Journ., Lond., 1875, pp. 251-2. — The Eucalyptus near Rome, by Dr. R. Angus Smith, F.R.S., V.P. April 18. — Annual General Meeting. — Mr. E. Schunck, F.R. S., president, in the chair. — The number on the roll on April I, 1876, was 166. — Mr. Edward William Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., was elected President. — Mr. W. E. A. Axon read a note on a church bell, at North Wooton, Somersetshire, dated A.D. 1265, in Arabic numerals, and on a MS. dated A.D. 1276, in which they are freely used. Vienna * Geological Society, March 7. — M. F. Karrer examined, together with M. Linzow from Odessa, the limestones and lime- sand beds of the environs of Odessa, and found that nearly the whole mass of them is composed of Foraminifers belonging to the genus Nubecularia, which attach themselves to various other bodies, and therefore appear in many different forms. — Director Ruecker stated the most recent results obtained concerning ihe division of the coal-strata of Ajka, in Hungary, and presented to the Society a rich collection of fossils from this country.— M. F. Posepny referred to the salt-pits of Bex, near Geuf, and argues that neither the salt-beds of the Alps nor those of other countries are bound to a fixed geological horizon. — Dr. R. Homes on the remains of Anthracotherium from Zoveneedo. Paris Academy of Sciences, May 15. — Vice- Admiral Paris in the chair. — The following papers were read : — Meridian obser- vations of small planets at the Greenwich and Marseilles Obser- vatories during the first three months of 1876 ; communicated by M. Le Verrier. — Note on the theoretical and experimental determination of the relation of the two specific heats in perfect gases whose molecules are monatomic, by M. Yvon Villarceau. In the ideal case where each gaseous molecule consists of only one atom, the relation of the two specific heats would be inde- pendent of the chemical nature of the gas, and equal (the author showed) to i'666. Now MM. Kundt and Warburg have lately obtained for mei-cury vapour the number i "67. He suggests the possible existence of other monatomic gases. M. Berthelot re- served his assent to the conclusions regardmg mercury vapour. — On a working model of a new system ot navigation locks, applicable specially to cases where the surfaces of water of the canals are very variable, by M. de Caligny. — Second note on the bitter lakes of the Isthmus of Suez, by M. de Lesseps. Notwithstand- ing the solution of the bank of salt in the middle, and the evapo- ration, the saltness diminishes. This must be due to currents, produced through difference of density between the water of the lake and that of the extremities of the canal ; the heavy water Hows to the sea, while the surface currents bring in water that is less salt. Hence an orifice of small section may suffice to pre- vent large sheets of salt watei', though far from the sea, being concentrated by the heat. — Study of several questions relative to the Suez Canal, M. de Lesseps. Inter alia, rain now falls at least twice a month ; during the construction of the canal, pre- viously to 1870, M. de Lesseps observed rain not more than once in the year. — On the danger of introduction of certain American vines into the vineyards of Europe, by M. Mares. This is on account of the phylloxera found in galls on the leaves of American vines. — Mineralogical and geological researches on the lavas of the dykes of Thera, by M. Fouque. This memoir furnishes new data on the distinction of felspathic species, the simultaneous presence of several trichnic felspars in one rock, the structure of lava at the moment of effusion, and the bedding and production of tridymite in volcanic rocks. — On the phylloxera issue of the winter egg, by M. Boiteau. — Another note on the subject, by M. Lichtenstein. — On the presence of phylloxera in submerged vines, by M. Trou- chaud. — On the effects produced by absence of cultivation at the surface of the soil, in vineyards attacked by Phylloxera, by M. Fran9ois, — Ephemerides of the planet 162, by M. Rayet. — On determination of the temperature of solidification of liquids, and particularly of sulphur, by M. Gernez. The point of solidi- fication is sometimes substituted for the point of fusion, being supposed identical with it ; but the determination may be vitiated by phenomena of superfusion, M. Gernez utilises these pheno- mena to determine the temperature of solidification with great precision. He shows how the temperature of solidification varies in the different kinds of sulphur ; only insoluble sulphur being constantly solidified at one temperature, 114° '3, whatever the temperature at which it has been fused. — On calorific spectra, by M. Aymoimet. He used a Bourbouze lamp, and a refracting system of flint. The heat maximum approaches the less refran- gible part of the spectrum in proportion as the temperature of the source decreases. Flint becomes less diathermanous as the temperature falls ; a solution of iodine in chloroform, more dia- thermanous. (The distribution of heat in the spectrum is indicated by numbers.) — On the presence of selenium in refined silver, by M. Debray. It is nearly always present, and comes from the sulphuric acid used in refining. — Chemical researches on vegetation (continued). Inunctions of leaves. Origin of carbon, by M. Corenwinder. Not only can leaves acquire carbon by their surface, but they can assimilate the carbon contained in the carbonic acid which circulates in their tissues. — On the heart of Crustacea, by M. Dogiel. The muscular bundles of the peri- cardium act in the opposite direction to those of the heart itself (they are dilators). The blood of Crustacea is to be considered as lymph, and their heart a lymphatic heart ; its movements de- pending on the action of the nervous system on the muscular elements. — The limbs of the aquatic Salamander, fully extirpated, are not regenerated; notebyM. Philipeaux. The basilar bones must be completely removed. — On the signification of the filament of the stamen, by M. Clos. He thinks it the analogue, not of the petiole, but of the nervureor median portion of the petals. — On the crystalline system of several substances presenting optic anomalies ; theory of crystalline groups ; explanation of dimor- phism, by M. Mallard. — On a new mineral from the Pyrenees, by M. Bertrand. This, called Friedelite, is a hydrated silicate of protoxide of manganese. — On the flora of the sandstone of Fontainebleau, by M. Contejean. — On the antiseptic properties of borax, by M. Bedoin. — On a new motor based on the elastic force of salid bjdies, by M. Arnaudeau. CONTENTS p^^^ Lord Carnarvon's VivrfECTioN Bill g^ Wilson's "Prehistoric Man" By Edward B. Tvlor, F.R.S. . . 65 Thb Arai.o-Casi'ian Region (,=, Our Book Shelf 6S Letters to the Editor : — Supposed New Laurentian Fossil. — Dr. William B. CARPENfER, F.R.S ^68 Theory of Electrical Induction. — Rev. J. F. Blake 63 Dynamometers and Units of Force. — Prof. Henry Hennbssv . . 69 The Potato Disease, 1 1. By Worthington G. Smith {IVi'k Iliiis/rniion) yo Our Astronomical Column : — The Occultation of Saturn, August 7, A M 71 New Red Star 72 The Double Star 2 3,121 72 The Loan Collection Conferences 72 Section Chemistry. — Opening Address by the President, Dr. Frank- lanl, F.R.S 73 The Press on the Loan Collection 76 Notes 78 Scientific Serials 81 Societies and Acadbmiks 81 J./'atun, Ju.ru. FJ" 187 6. on -^Y' '■frca4zi^!AS^/ -v^ "^ fes^^', -^M?m. Cnfl<9fiaAn London BMishni bu M'licmilla.rL & C? NA TURE 85 THURSDAY, JUNE i, 1876 ' SCIENTIFIC WORTHIES VI 1 1. —Charles Wyville Thomson CHARLES WYVILLE THOMSON was born at Bonsyde, a small pioperty in Linlithgowshire, which had been long in his family, on the 5th of March, 1830. All his early associations were with Edinburgh ; his father was a surgeon in the East India Company's service, and spent most of his life abroad ; but his grand- father was a distinguished Edinburgh clergyman, and his great-grandfather was " Principall Clerke of Chancellary " at the time of the rebellion of 1745. Wyville Thomson got most of his schooling at Mer- chiston Castle Academy, at that time under the excellent management of Mr. Charles Chalmers, brother of the famous divine. He left school and began the medical course in Edinburgh University in the year 1845. After studying for three years he fell into somewhat delicate health from overwork, and while still scarcely more than a lad, in iSjo, to gain a year's rest, he accepted the lecturership on botany in King's College, Aberdeen. In the following year he was appointed lecturer on the same subject at Marischal College and University, which University conferred on him the degree of LL.D. He at this time was an indefatigable worker among the lower forms of animal Hfe, and pub- lished several papers on the Polyzoa and Sertularian zoophytes of Scotland. Even at this time some of his philosophical speculations as to the development of certain Medusoid forms attracted notice, though they appear to have been considered too daring by Johnston, of Berwick-on-Tweed, and Edward Forbes. What would these worthies say, if they were living now, about the study of Ontogenesis as it at present exists amongst us ? Towards the close of 1853 a vacancy arose in the Pro- fessorship of Natural History (Botany and Zoology) in the Queen's College, Cork, owing to the resignation of the Rev. W. Hincks, F.L.S., and on August 26 Wyville Thomson received the appointment. He had, however, hardly settled down to the duties of this professorship, when a vacancy occurred in the Professorship of Mineralogy and Geology in the Queen's College, Belfast, by the resignation of Fred. M'Coy, who had been elected to one of the professorships in the New University of Melbourne. W'yville Thomson applied ,to be transferred to the Belfast chair, and was appointed thereto in September 1854. The next five years were years of busy work for him. In addition to courses of lectures on Geology and Mineralogy, he laid the foundation and built up a good deal of the superstructure of the present excellent Museum of the Queen's College, Belfast. In addition to many papers on zoological subjects, published by him at this date, we may mention one on a genus of Trilobites, read before the London Geological Society, and on a new fossil Cirriped, published in the "Annals of Natural History." The study of fossil forms without a good knowledge of existing forms is in itself most useless, and a palaeonto- logist of this sort is after all little more than a cataloguer ; Vol. XIV.— No. 344 such was not Wyville Thomson. At this time, one fascinat- ing group of the Echinoderms (the Lily Stars) attracted his attention, and while investigating the immense assem- blage of extinct forms belonging thereto, he determined to know all that could be known about the life history of the few living forms. True, the illustrious Vaughan Thompson had some thirty years previously discovered and described a British Pentacrinus, and had determined that it was but the young stage of our common though beau- tiful rosy feather-star ; but a great deal remained to be done ere the history of even this form was complete, and it was not until the close of 1862 that Wyville Thomson's re- searches were sufficiently advanced to enable him to lay them before the Royal Society. They have since been published in the volume of the Philosophical Transac- tions for 1865, and it is not too much to say that this memoir will ever be a witness of the author's acute and accurate powers of research. The illustrations are all from exquisitely finished sketches by the author, and show a most enviable power of drawing, an art almost indispensable to the naturalist. These investigations into the pentacrinoid stages of Comatula were but part of a sei ies of observations on the genus Pentacrinus itself, and Wyville Thomson amassed a lot of material with the object of writing a memoir on the group. About 1864 the son of the illustrious Michael Sars, Professor of Zoology in the University of Christiania, was one of the Acting Commissioners of Fisheries for Norway, and as such was engaged in a series of scientific investi- gations as to the fisheries on the Lofoten Islands, situ- ated on the north-west coast of Norway. One day, dredging in water about 700 feet deep, for the purpose of determining the condition of the sea-bed, he obtained a number of specimens of a strange Crinoid, which at once struck him as being not unlike the pentacrinoid stage of Comatula Sarsii, with which he was familiar. Here it is but right to mention that almost up to this date, men of science seemed to have made up their minds that life did not and could not exist below a certain depth of the sea. There were, according to Edward Forbes, fixed zones of depth, ist, the Uttoral zone, between low and high water-marks ; 2nd, the Laminarian zone, from low water to a depth of fifteen fathoms ; 3rd, the Coralline zone, from the fifteen-fathom line to a depth of fifty fathoms ; and 4th, the zone of deep-sea corals extending from the edge of the Coralline zone to an unknown lower limit. " In this region, as we descend deeper and deeper, its inhabitants become more and more modified andfcA-er and fewer, indicating our approach towards an abyss where life is either extinguished or exhibits but a few sparks to mark its lingering presence." Though the very general idea entertained by naturalists was that the depths of the sea were destitute of life, yet from time to time remarkable specimens were without doubt brought up from very great depths, and these occurrences, some of which were known to Forbes, had the evident effect of making him, during the later period of his life, write cautiously on the subject. The reader who would care to know all that is known as to the records of the existence of life up to 1865, will find a full account thereof in Wyville Thomson's " Depths of the Sea." G. O. Sars lost no time in announcing to his father his interesting discovery, and, acting on Prof. Sars's advice, he 86 NATURE \yune I, 1876 went on dredging at depths of from 700 to 800 feet, finding an abundance of animal life. In the meanwhile the elder Sars, knowing that Wyville Thomson was working on the subject, sent him word of his son's discovery, of the sig- nificance of which he was still in doubt, and invited him to Ciiristiania to see the specimen. He went, and on going over the matter together they came to the conclu- sion that the new Lily Star seemed to be closely related to a genus called Bourgtieticrmus, a well-known fossil, and was consequently a degraded form of the family Apiocrinidae. This was a startling discovery ; it seemed now almost certain that there had been found not only a living representative of a long lost group, but a form that might be regarded as having lived on from the great Chalk epoch even into ours. In the train of thought thus excited, we think we see the material for speculation, then a fixed determination to prove — is this speculation true.? then the trial trip in ih^ Lightning, i)\Q more ex- tended survey in the Porcupitie, and lastly, all the bril- liant results of the most remarkable voyage of discovery ever made, in the Challenger. It is not right to antici- pate, and in pursuing our sketch we must not forget to mention that in i860 Dr. Dickie, who was then a colleague of Wyville Thomson's as Professor of Natural History in the Queen's College, Belfast, was appointed to the Chair of Botany at Aberdeen, and at first temporarily and afterwards permanently, Wyville Thomson lectured on zoology and botany, becoming thus in very deed Pro- fessor of Natural History in the Queen's College, Belfast. Prof. Wyville Thomson was, however, something besides a mere enthusiastic biologist ; he was not merely content with rapidly increasing the zoological treasures of the Queen's College Museum ; he did more. By interesting himself not only in what concerned the working of the Col- lege, but even in the welfare of the town in which it was located, he soon gathered round him a host of intelligent and warm-hearted friends. In social life it was but an accident that would reveal the Biologist, and one wit- nessed only the general culture and the artistic taste of a well-bred man. On one occasion of great moment in the history of the Queen's University in Ireland, Wyville Thomson's influence was felt, as we believe, for good. In 1866 a Supplemental Charter was given by the then Government to the Queen's University to enable it to confer degrees on students who might come up from any College that might be recognised as such by the Senate of the Queen's University. It seems hard to believe that such a charter should have been granted, for it might have given to any large school a position of equality to the three Queen's Colleges, and so have practically de- stroyed all middle-class education in Ireland. Wyville Thomson saw that the interests of education were at stake, and with commendable promptness and immense energy he initiated the formation of a committee and the collec- tion of a sum of several thousands of pounds to try the validity of the new Charter in a court of law. In this the committee were successful, for the Charter was rendered inoperative by an injunction granted in 1 867, after long and protracted arguments, by the then Master of the Rolls in Ireland. Wyville Thomson was vice-president of the jury on raw products at the Paris Exhibition in 1867; he took the lead in organising the very flourishing School of Art in Belfast under the Science and Art Department, and was the first chairman of the Board of Directors. He is a Conservative in politics, and a magistrate and Commis- sioner of Supply for the county of Linlithgow. In 1868 Dr. Carpenter, at that time one of the vice-presidents of the Royal Society, paid Prof. Wyville Thomson a visit in order that they might work out to- gether the structure and development of the Crinoids. As the friends discoursed about these Lily stars, Wyville Thomson told Carpenter of his own firm conviction that the land of promise for the naturalist, indeed the only remaining region where there were endless novelties of most extraordinary interest, was the bottom of the deep sea ; here were treasures ready to the hand which had the means of gathering them, and he urged him to use his influence at head-quarters in London to induce the Admiralty to lend to science, for a time, some small vessel properly fitted with dredging gear and the other necessary scientific apparatus, so as to definitely settle all these weighty questions. The Admiralty gave their sanc- tion to the use of a Government vessel for the investi- gation, and the surveying ship Lightning left Oban for a cruise in the North Atlantic Ocean in August, 1868, returning to Oban by the end of Septembei". For an ac- count of this cruise we must refer to the " Depths of the Sea." The results of the Lightning expedition were fairly satisfactory. It was shown beyond question that animal life was varied and abundant at depths in the ocean down to between 600 and 700 fathoms ; and it had been deter- mined that great masses of water at different tempera- tures were moving about, each in its particular course ; and, further, it had been shown that many of the deep- sea forms of life were closely related to fossils of the Tertiary and Chalk periods. In 1869 the Admiralty once again acceded to the re- quest of the Royal Society, and assigned the surveying vessel Porcupine for a survey to extend from May to September, 1869. The 1869 survey divides itself into three sections; the first when the Porcupine surveyed off the west coast of Ireland, Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys being in scientific charge ; the second in the Bay of Biscay, in charge of Wyville Thomson ; and the third, in which the track of the Lightning was carefully worked over, and all previous observations were duly checked. Once again, in 1870, the Admiralty placed the Porcti- pine at the disposal of the Royal Society, and it was arranged that the year's expedition should be divided as in 1869, into cruises. Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys was to undertake the scientific direction of the first cruise from Falmouth to Gibraltar, and Wyville Thomson and Dr. Carpenter were to relieve him at Gibraltar, and to superintend the survey of ^the Mediterranean. Unfortunately a severe attack of fever prevented Wyville Thomson from joining the Porcupine at Gibraltar, and Dr. Carpenter took charge of the scientific arrangements. In 1869 Wyville Thomson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1870 Dr. Allman resigned the Professorship of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh. Wyville Thomson was a candidate for the vacant chair, and amid the hearty congratulations of all men of science he was elected, vacating the chair in the Queen's College, Belfast, to which Dr. Cunningham was appointed. June I, 1876] NATURE 87 On the return of the Porcupine from her last cruise, so much interest was felt in the bearings of the new dis- coveries upon important biological, geological, and physi- cal problems, that a representation was made to the Government by the Council of the Royal Society, urging the despatch of an expedition to investigate each of the great oceans, and to take an outline survey of that vast new field of research, the bottom of the sea. The propo- sition of the Royal Society met with great and genCTal support, and the Challenger was fitted out as England never before fitted out a vessel for scientific research. The University of Edinburgh having given their con- sent, Prof. Wyville Thomson accepted the post of Direc- tor of the Civilian Staff; for this post none could have been better qualified ; through his energy was it that this question of what lived in the ocean depths came to be investigated at all ; the practical experience he had now gained could not be better utihsed, while the sub- jects to be worked out were all within his reach. Able as a biologist to hold a high position, he combined with this more than an ordinary knowledge of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, a knowledge far more than enough to enable him to encourage and sympathise with the labours of his staff. The Challens^er has now returned to our shores, her mission worthily accomplished, her officers and crew in the best of health and spirits. All England welcomes Prof. Wyville Thomson back again, and thanks him for his voluntary exile of three and a half years from home and wife and friends for Science sake ; and while we congratulate him on having laid a new realm at our feet and on having given us new food for thought, may we express in addition the hope that he will not long delay to give to the world the narrative of a cruise novel in its conception, successful in its results, and destined to live long in story. THE CRUELTY TO ANIMALS BILL IT is important that those who understand the national importance of science, as well as those who know how completely the art of medicine depends upon physio- logy should agree upon a common defence, now that both are so seriously threatened by legislation. We do not think that scientific investigators can fairly claim to be entirely free in their choice of methods, on account of the importance of their objects, tht purity of their motives, or the respectability of their character. Claims to absolute im.nunity from the interference of the State were maintained on precisely the same grounds by Churchmen in the Middle Ages, and the result proved how dangerous it is for any class of men to seclude them- selves from the healthy atmosphere of free criiicism and from contact with the popular conscience. A much better plea might be found in the small number of physiologists in this country', and in the important fact that, after many months of agitation and invective, their enemies were not able to bring before the Royal Commission a single authentic instance of cruelty. Still, considering the stiong popular feeling on the subject, there are probably few who will deny that some legislation is necessary, if only to save physiologists spending their whole time in writing newspaper articles and going on deputations to Ministers. What scientific men have a right to demand is that any regulations made should interfere as little with their legi- timate objects as is compatible with the purpose of legis- lation. No one except a few obscure fanatics pretend that it is never lawful to subject animals to pain, or even to death, for self-preservation forbids such a rule ; and no one can maintain that it is right to bleed calves and swal- low oyster-s alive, for luxury, to geld horses for convenience, and hunt hares to death for sport, and yet that it is wrong to give one animal a disease that we may learn how to prevent or cure the same disease in thousands, or to perform a well-considered experiment which will cer- tainly increase our knowledge of the laws of our being, and, more or less probably, tend to the relief of human suffering. It is, therefore, of great importance that none of the objects which justify experiments on animals should be sacrificed in the etlort to save the rest. Teachers of physiology in large and well-equipped schools might be content with a registration Bill which would leave them unmolested and forbid all research to outsiders ; phy- sicians and surgeons might demand liberty to do ariy- thing they choose which has a direct and immediace bearing on the relief of human suffering, and this appeal to self-interest would probably always be successful ; in- dependent investigators might see, without complaint, the teaching of physiology reduced to a study of words ani opinions, and the advance of medical knowledge brought to a standstill, so long as they were left in peace. But such short-sighted narrowness would bring its own punish- ment. The results of independent research can only be obtained by those who have themselves been trained in genuine workrooms and can only be properly criticised by a properly instructed audience. Teaching without any attempt at original observation soon becomes lifeless and inexact ; and medicine is far less indebted to experiment for the knowledge of tb ( effect of certain drugs or ope- rations, than for the broud basis of demonstrated facts as to the functions of the healthy organism on which all rational attempts to remedy them when disturbed must depend. The scientific objects, then, which rnust, if possible, be protected from the mischievous Bill now before Parliament are, first, freedom of original investigation by competent persons ; secondly, freedom of teaching by necessary demonstrations ; and thirdly, freedom of experiment with the definite aims of the practical physician. The best method of securing these objects while pre- venting the stain of cruelty from debasing the fair fame of science, would probably be that indicated by the Report of the Royal Commission. Laboratories would then be licensed under the contiol of responsible persons. Special certificates would be granted to competent investigators who, from distance or other causes, were notable to make use of these laboratories. The advance of sound phy- siological knowledge as well as the direct prevention or cure of disease, would be recognised as a legitimate object of experimental inquiiy. The general condition of the hcence or certificate would be that every experiment on a living animal should be rendeied free from pain by the skilled use of chloroform (or other ancesihetic better adapted to the animal), except when this would defeat the object of the inquiry, and happily these exceptions 88 NATURE \yune I, 1876 need be very few. Lastly, inspectors might fairly be appointed to see that not only in the actual experiments, but in the feeding, housing, and general treatment of the laboratory animals there was neither parsimony nor care- lessness. The licence would be given on suitable recom- mendation by the Home Secretary, with power of revok- ing it for abuse, subject to appeal, as suggested in the Poyal Commissioners' Report. Under such an Act physiologists might fairly be expected to make it a point of honour that its provisions were fully carried out in spirit as well as in letter. The framcrs of the present Bill, by their disregard of phy- siology as an independent science, to be taught like any other, do their best to render its progress impossible ; while, by their absurdly minute limitations, they would make original research almost as impossible as efficient teaching, and deprive the art of medicine of its only safe foundation. The efforts of all who care for the advance of human knowledge or the alleviation of human misery should be directed to bring the scope of the Government Bill back to that indicated by the Report of the Royal Commission. THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE Language and its Study. By Prof. Whitney ; edited by Dr. R. Morris. (London : Triibner and Co., 1876.) Leaves from a Word-hunter's Note-book. By the Rev. A. S. Palmer. (London : Triibner and Co., 1876.) The Aryan Origin of the Gaelic Race and Language, By the Very Rev. U. J. Bourke (London : Longmans, Green, and Co., 1875.) THESE three books are very fairly characteristic of the present position of comparative philology. The first is a reprint of the first seven chapters of Prof. Whitney's well-known work on the science of language, and has been admirably edited by Dr. Morris with notes and introduction, with special reference to a scientific study of English. The second is just what it professes to be, extracts from a commonplace book on the etymology of various words, and it illustrates very well the influence exercised by a comparative treatment of language upon what used to be the pastime of literary dilettanti. Mr. Palmer's derivations have been traced with full regard to the scientific method, and besides being accompanied by a wealth of quotations, rest for the most part on a secure foundation. " The Aryan Origin of the Gaelic Race," again, is one of those books which a few years back would have teemed with the wildest vagaries ; the author, it is plain, has little critical judgment, but a diligent study of works like those of Zeuss or Max Miiller has kept him in the right path, and though he startles us now and then with such assertions as that the Aryan is "the primeval language of man," or that " there had been only seventeen letters in Greek at the earliest period," his views are in general just and sound. We may doubt whether his theory of the Pagan origin of the Round Towers will be widely accepted, and complain of his prolixity, but the book is a striking example of the extent to which a knowledge of Comparative Philology has spread, and the wholesome influence its principles have exerted. When we consider that the science of language is a science of not more than fifty years' growth, as well as the vast amount of details that had to be collected and classified before its creation became possible, its present advanced condition must be a matter of surprise. No doubt there is still very much to be done ; some of the main questions connected with the study of language still remain unsettled, and new questions are starting up that will have to be answered hereafter. It is even possible that fresh knowledge and investigation will modify some of the hypotheses which have been accepted as funda- mental truths. Thus it might have been thought that the first question to be settled would be whether the science is to be includ- ed among the physical or the historical sciences, and yet this is even now a matter of dispute. There is much to be said in favour of both views. If we look merely to the fact that it lays dow'n the laws in accordance with which thought endeavours to express itself in speech, it must be regarded as a historical science ; if on the other hand, we consider that thought can only be expressed in speech by the help of physiological machinery, we are bound to class it among the physical sciences. If we make phon- ology not only the beginning, but also the end of linguis- tic science, linguistic science will differ but little from physiology in aim as well as in method ; but if we re- member that the various sounds which it is the province of phonology to determine and classify do not become lan- guage until they embody a meaning, the science of lan- guage will have to be grouped among those other sciences which deal with the history of human development. The same difficulty meets us again in the case of geology, which traces the history of the earth, and if with Prof. Whitney we prefer to regard the science of language as a historical science, while we call geology a physical science, it is because the element of mind enters more largely into the one, and the element of matter into the other. The laws which govern matter remain always the same ; those which govern thought and life are modified by a process of internal development. The science of language, otherwise called glotology or linguistic science, should, strictly speaking, be distin- guished from comparative philology. The latter, by com- paring words and grammatical forms within separate groups of languages, and thereby ascertaining the nature of these several groups and the laws which govern their growth and formation, provides the materials for the science of language. This takes the results obtained by comparative philology in the various species and genera or families of speech, and with the help of the comparative method determines from them the laws of speech gene- rally. Inasmuch as we have to compare phenomena belonging not only to the same period, but also to differ- ent periods in the history of language, that part of linguis- tic research which is not purely phonological has to assume a historical character, so that to discover the causes of the phenomena is to explain their origin and process of growth. Now the phenomena of language are words and sentences, phonetic utterances, that is, which are or have been significant. Perhaps the most important result of the science of lan- guage has been the demonstration that even language, even those " winged words " over which men once fancied they had the most complete control, are as much subject June I, 1S76] NATURE 89 to the aciicn of undeviating laws as the forces and atoms of material nature. We now know that what might seem at first sight the most arbitrary of all things, the phonetic change undergone by words in their passage from one dialect to another, is yet under the control of laws which have been discovered and for- mulated, and which act, unless interfered with by other laws, with unbroken regularity. The old haphazard guesses which once passed for etymologies are now impossible ; given a certain word in Greek or Latin and its phonetic analogue in the other branches of the Aryan family can be determined with certainty. The most plausible derivations, such as that which would connect the Greek KaXew and the Engli-h call, have had to be given up, and the rule has been laid down that if two words in two allied languages exactly resemble one another, we may safely conclude that there is no connec- tion between them. The reason why the laws of language can be deter- mined with such precision is that language is a social product, at once the creator and the creation of human society. Language exists for the sake of intercommuni- cation ; it is not what the individual man wishes to be significant that is so, but what the whole community, by a sort of unconscious agreement, determines to be so. Consequently, the arbitrary caprices of the individual have no influence upon the general character of speech. At the most, the individual can do no more than bring some word or phrase into fashion ; all his efforts would not avail to change the phonology, structure, or grammar of a single tongue. Hence it is that the records of speech reflect the ideas and knowledge of society at f ach successive epoch of its growth, just as surely as the fossil records of the rocks preserve the past history of our globe. In tracmg the gro^^th and hist, ry of language we are really tracing the growth and history of society and of human development. The science of language thus becomes of the highest value in testing the various theories that have been formed respecting the early condition and education of mankind. It is the only key which will un- lock the secrets of the prehistoric past of society with scientific certaiaty. Thus it bears unequivocal testimony to the belief that the history of humanity has been on the whole a progre s and not a retrogression. The further back we penetrate into the records of speech the more childlike and barbarous is the society that left them seen to be. The -.vo ds that came to represent moral and religious' ideas triginaliy had a purely sensuoL.s meaning; there was a time when abstracts of any sort did net exist ; and we even have faint glimpses of a period when men were painfully striving to create a lan- guage by the help of onomatopoeia, and of a still earlier period when language as such was not yet formed. Equally unequivocal is the testimony borne by the science of language to the antiquity of man. The three causes of change in language — phonetic decay, the desire of em- phasis, and the influence of analogy— are very slow in their action wherever society is sufficiently compact and settled to allow us to speak of its several forms of speech as dialects of the same farAily ; and yet the oldest monu- ments of language to which we can appeal, whether in Egypt, in Babylonia, in Assyria, or even in that parent- Aryan which it is one of the triumphs of comparative philology to have restored by a comparison of its derived languages, are all, linguistically speaking, late, and imply untold ages of previous development. Ethnologists, however, must remember that the science of language does not pretend to occupy their ovvn special province. Language is a social product ; it can tell us therefore nothing of races, only of communities. Members of the same race may speak unallied languages and members of unallied races may speak the same language ; identity of speech is a test of social contact, not of race. Compa- rative philology can throw no light on the physical, as opposed to the mental and moral, history of man ; that task must be left to other sciences. One of the chief elements in the mental and moral history of man is the history of his religious ideas, and under the guidance of a scientific study of language this has been to a considerable extent cleared up by compara- tive mythology. The original meanmg of the terms and phrases which embodied the earliest attempts to explain the phenomena of nature came to be forgotten with the increase of knowledge ; a new signification was put into them and an imaginary fairy-world built upon the mis- understood word. The term whereby the primitive savage had endeavoured at once to explain the move- ments of the sun by endowing it with human attributes, and to express his own intuitions of the supernatural, became an Apollo or a Phaethon to whom the shrine was made or the legend recited. The words in which men have, as it were, photographed their religious convictions in different ages and in different parts of the world are an enduring record of the convictions themselves. But the words must be interpreted before the record can be read, and the key to the interpretation is in the hands of the science of language. The science of language, however, has a practical as well as a purely theoretical interest. The practical object at which it aims is the creation of a universal language, one, that is, which may serve as the medium of commu- nication between civilised communities throughout the whole world. Another object is the reform of English spelling, at present the despair of teachers and pupils. The spelling of a language ought to represent its pronun- ciation ; our English spelling is a disgrace to a civilised community, a bar to a scientific appreciation of language, a hindrance to acquiring a conversational knowledge of fortign tongues, a cause of wasted time and brains in education, and a fruiiful source of pseudo-etymologies. If comparative philology effect this reform and nothing ebe it will have sufficiently vindicated its practical utiHty. Equally important is the reform which it urges in the matter of classical education. The method of nature and of science is to proceed from the known to the un- known ; this is reversed in our ordinary system of educa- tion which begins with the dead languages and ends with one or two living ones. By breaking down the monopoly of the two classical tongues and demonstrating that for purely linguistic purposes the modern languages of Europe are of greater importance, the science of language is doing a good work. In the study of the classical languages them- selves it has effected a revolution. By explaining the nature and reason of their grammatical forms and rules it has lightened the burden of the learner, since to under- stand is to remember. 90 NA TURE [Juve I, 1876 But we must not forget that the science of language is still a young science. Its followers are still engaged in laying its foundations and testing their strength. The problems that await solution are numerous and important. So far as our evidence goes at present, it tends to show that the languages of the world have sprung from an infinite number of separate sources, but it remains to be seen whether future discoveries will not reverse this con- clusion. Then, again, there is the question of roots. All comparative philologists admit that roots are the ultimate elements into which language can be decomposed, but it is still a question whether the roots discovered by the grammarian once formed a spoken language, or whether they are but grammatical figments which are the best representatives we can obtain of the early condition of speech. Equally disputed is the question whether the different classes of language — inflectional, agglutinative, polysynthetic, and isolating— are to be regarded as con- stituting separate streams of linguistic development from the first, or a single stream which has branched out into separate ones. It is unquestionable that a large part of flection can be shown to have had an agglutinative origin it is also unquestionable that the phenomena of isolation are to be met with in the inflectional language?, and the phenomena of flection in the isolating languages ; but it is asked whether this would have been possible if each class had not had a definite tendency to flection or isola- tion from its starting — a standard, that is, to which all foreign elements introduced into the language were made to conform. Such are some of the questions which still remain to be answered ; and if we are to judge from the rapid progress already made by the science of language, the answers will not be long in coming. A. H. Sayce OUR BOOK SHELF Rudiments of Geology. By Samuel Sharp, F.S.A., F.G.S. Second Edition. (London : Edward Stanford, 1876.) The author of this little manual, which is designed for the use of schools and junior students, has evidently taken considerable pains to make his work fairly represent the existing state of geological knowledge. He has, more- over, succeeded in conveying in simple language an idea, not only of the conclusions attained, but of the processes of investigation and reasoning, followed by the geologist in his researches, and we regard the book as well adapted to introduce a beginner to the study of the science, and to prepare him for the profitable perusal of more extended treatises. As compared with some of the similar introductory text-books of the science, which have recently been published, Mr. Sharp's manual labours under the disadvantage of being somewhat in- adequately illustrated, for we find in it only a {^^ dia- grams and no figures of fossils. This second edition, however, is certainly a considerable improvement upon the first, and the division of Physical Geology has received much more full and cartful treatment ; the extent of the additional matter being sufficient to increase the number of pages of the book from 126 to 204. South Australia : its History, Resources^ and Produc- tions. Edited by William Harcus. Illustrated with pho- tographs taken in the Colony. Published by authority of the Government of South Austraha. (London : Sampson Low and Co., 1876.) The nature of this handsome volume may be learned from the fact that it has been prepared to accompany the speci- mens of South Australian products and industries sent to the Philadelphia Exhibition. It contains a vast amount of the most useful information on nearly all matters connected with the colony, gives an excellent idea of its present condition, and is likely to be of great use to intend- ing settlers. Mr. Harcu?, who edits the volume, writes also one half of it, treating of the social, political, and industrial aspects of the colony. In a series of valuable appendices. Dr. Schomburgk treats of the flora of South Australia, Mr. Waterhouse of its fauna, Mr. J. B. Austen of mines and minerals, while Mr. Josiah Boothby contri- butes a statistical sketch of the colony, and Mr. Charles Todd treats of its observatory and meteorology. There are two very useful maps, while the illustrations are nearly all good and interesting. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [ The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his cotrespofidents. Neither ean he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.^ The Spelling of the Name "Papua" I QUITE agree with Mr. Whitmee's objections to English orlhography of foreign words (see Naiure, vol. xiv. p. 48), but in this case I intended to show at a glance to non- linguistic readers that the accent in the word Papua must be on the second syllable, and not on the first. The Germans write " Papua," and pronounce " Papiia" (as they pronounce " Manliia," "Padiia," &c.). This being wrong, and fancying that in Eng- land the same mistake is often made, I wrote " Papooa," which leaves no uncertainty in respect to pronunciation. I confess that it would have been more convenient to retain "Papua," and remark in a note that the accent must be on the "u." In a lin- guistic work I should never have proposed " Papooa," but it cannot be supposed that every reader of Naturk knows what Marsden pointed out in 1812. In German I write " Papi'ia," and perhaps the same mode would be the most convenient in English. It is known that the French use " Papoua," the Dutch " Papoea," the Malay " Papuwah." In these cafcs the pronunciation may not be questionable, as it is in German and English, if written "Papua." The most interesting point in Mr. Whitmee's letter is, no doubt, the announcement of a comparative grammar and dic- tionary of all the principal Malayo- Polynesian dialects; and those interested in these studies will certainly be anxious to receive such a valuable increase to their knowledge. Dresden, May 23 A. B. Meyer New Zealand Prehistoric Skeleton Among the " Notes" in Nature, vol. xiii. p. 196, just come to hand, you give an extract from the Order Paper of the Legis- lative Council of New Zealand concerning the remains of a bup- posed "prehistoric man," regarding which a motion for an inquest was tabled by Mr. Walter Mantell. As you correctly report, this skeleton was excavated under my direction in the so-called Moa-bone Point Cave, but it was not found in the lower beds containing Moa- bones, but in a much more recent formation, and to which I assigned a comparatively modern date. You itate that "I hold strongly to the pala;olilhic age of the deposits," but I am at a loss to conceive what ground you have for such an assertion, and as I can only conclude ihat you received your information direct from New Zealand, I beg to forward you herewith for your perusal a copy of my pajcr reporting the excavations and my views thereupon. With regard to the motion itself, which was treated through- out the colony as a joke, it is sufficient to stale that Mr. Walttr Mantell is the recognised jester of the Legislative Council, and that even science does not escape his attempted witticisms. I may add that the Hon. Dr. Pollen, the Premier of the Cokmy, also treated the motion as a joke, and offered Mr. Mantell the office of coroner for the proposed investigation. Although Mr. W. Mantell, F.G.S. , stated, when speaking' on his motion (see Hansard, 1875, p. 548), that '^ he glotied in the fact ihat he was not a scientific man, and he did hope he would be able to go to his grave without incurring ihat disgrace ;" never- June I, 1876] NATURE 91 theless, he is known to have his pet theories about the antiquity of the Moa, and is very impatient of any contradiction. I have thought it right to offer this explanation in order to prevent your readers being misled on a subject of considerable scientific interest. Julius von Haast Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, N.Z., March 14 Visibility of the Satellites of Uranus The question of the visibility of these satellites in telescopes of moderate dimensions has lately excited considerable attention, but it does not appear that this question can be settled by any amount of verbal discussion. I take the liberty, therefore, to propose two test objects by means of which any one can, I think, satisfy himself whether he can see these satellites or not. 1. The companion of Regulus, north, preceding, and distant about three minutes of arc, has itself a small companion, which was discovered by the late Prof. Winlock. Any one who can see this small companion may be certain that he can observe the two outer satellites of Uranus and the satellite of Neptune. 2. The star of fifth magnitude, A Leonis, has a companion discovered at the Naval Observatory by Mr. G. Anderson. Any one who can observe this companion can, I think, see the two inner satellites of Uranus when at their elongations. Of course in the case of such faint objects very much depends on the condition of the atmosphere, but the above tests are very nearly correct. Asaph Hall Washington, May 14 Protective Resemblance in the Sloths In a note upon the above subject, dated December 29, 1875, which appeared in vol. xiii. p 187 of Nature, I omitted to quote a passage from a letter wiitten by Dr. Berthold Seemann to the late Dr. J. E. Gray (rated April i, 1871), with regard to a speci- men oi Arctopithrcus, of a well-marked green colour, obtamed by the former naturalist in Nicaragua. Of this Sloth he i-ays, inter alia : — " It should be borne in mind that it has almost exactly the same greyish-green colour as Tillandsia usneotdts, the so- called 'vegetable horsehair' common in the district; and if it could be shown that it frequented trees covered with that plant (a point I hope to ascertain during my next visit in June next), there would be a curious case of mimicry between this Sloth's hair and the Tillandsia, and a good reason why so few of these sloths are seen." (Note on the species of Bradypodtda in the British Museum, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., Proc. Zool. Soc, May 2, 1871.) It would be interesting to know whether Dr. Seeman succeeded in solving this question ; I am, however, not awaie of any later reference made by him to this subject. I here take the opportunity of correcting two misprints in my former letter, both of them in the Latin quotations, viz., "cum" for "eum," after the woid "velleri," in the first, and " coque " instead of "eoque" after the woid "possint," near the tnd of the second passage. J. C. Galton OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN The Secondary Light of Venus. — During the next few weeks a very favourable opportunity will be afforded to observers in these latitudes for further examination of the planet Venus, with the view to a satisfactory solution of what must yet be regarded as a questio vexala—ihe visibility of that part of the disc, which is unillumined by the sun, as the planet approaches or recedes from the inferior conjunction. The subject is treated in detail in a communication to the Bohemian Acadeiny of Sciences, from Prof. Safarik of Prague, entitled " t)ber die Sichtbarkeit der dunklen Halbkugel des Planeien Venus, " which appears in Stlz- uns;sberichte der k. bohmischen Gesellschaft der Wissen- scha/len, July 18, 1873. The author has collected to- gether the many scattered observations extending over upwards of one hundred and fifty years, and presents also an outline of the various explanations which have been put forward. The earliest mention of the faint illumination of the dark side of Venus is by Derham, in a passage in his Astro-Theology, to which attention was first directed by Arago. Derham refers to the visibility of the obscure part of the globe " by the aid of a light of a somewhat dull and ruddy colour." The observation is not dated, but appears to have been prior to the year 1714. A friend of Dcrham's is also stated to have perceived the same illumination very distinctly. The next observations are by Christfried Kirch, second astronomer of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, June 7, 1 72 1, and March 8, 1726, and were found in his original papers and printed in Ast. Nach. No. 1586. The image on the first occasion was tremulous, but though he could hardly credit his vision, he appeared to discern the dark side of the planet. In 1726 he remarked that the dark periphery seemed to belong to a smaller circle than the illuminated one. Kirch observed with telescopes of six- teen and twenty-six feet focal length, powers 80 and 100. Two other persons confirmed his observation in 1726. The next observation in order of date, was found by Gibers, in " Observationes Veneris Grypiswaldensis," cited by Schroter in his observations of the great comet of 1807. It was made by Andreas Mayer, Professor of Mathematics at (ireiswald : on October 20, 1759, he observed the meridian passage of the planet, then at a south declination of 21^°, with a six-foot transit instru- ment by Bird, power not much over 50, and has the remark— " E^tsi pars lucida Veneris tenuis admodum erat, nihilominus integer discus apparuit, instar lunae crescentis quae acceptum a terra lumen reflectit." As Prof. Safarik justly observes, considering the circumstances under which Mayer's observation was made with the planet only 10" from the sun, and not more than 14° above the horizon, the phenomenon on this occasion must have had a most unusual intensity. It does not appear that Sir W. Herschel at any tirre perceived the secondary light of Venus, though he remarked the extension of the horns beyond a semi-circle. Von Hahn, at Remplin, in Mecklenberg, the possessor of excellent telescopes by Dollond and Herschel, was for- tunate in viewing the dark side of Venus on frequent occa- sions during the spring and summer of the year 1793, and he is considered by Safarik to have witnessed the illumi- nation of this part of the disk under more varying con- ditions than any other observer. The light is described as grey verging upon brown. Von Hahn's observations were made with various instruments and at different hours of the day. Schroter, at Lilienthal, on several occasions between the years 1784 and 1795, ^^^ remarked in full sun- shine the extension of the horns of the crescent many degrees beyond the semicircle, the borders of the dark hemisphere being faintly illuminated with a dusky grey light; but on February 14, 1806, at 7 P.M., he saw for the first time the whole of the dark side, as he ex- pressed it, " in ausserst mattem dunkeln Lichte." The sharply-defined contour had an ash-coloured light ; the surface was more dimly illuminated. Schroter, in recording this observation, expresses his surprise that during the many years he had observed the planet, part of the time with his 27-feet reflector, with the full aper- ture of 20 inches, he had not previously perceived the whole of the dark side, but he was satisfied there was no illusion. At this time one-eighth of the diameter of Venus, about 48", was fully illuminated, the planet casting a very sensible shadow. Harding, observing at Gottingen on January 24 of the same year, with a lo-feet Herschelian reflector, power 84, and full aperture of 9 inches, saw the whole dark side of Venus shining with a pale ash-coloured light, very dis- tinctly perceived against the dark ground of the sky. The appearance was too evident to allow of the suspicion of an illusion ; it was the same in all parts of the field of 92 NATURE \ytme r, 1876 view, and under various magnifying powers. Altogether the phenomenon was as distinct as in the case of our moon. On February 3, 16, and 21 it was not seen, but on the evening of February 28, it was again prominently visible to Harding; the illumination was now of a reddish grey, " like that of the moon in a total eclipse." Yet on the same evening Schroter looked in vain for the pheno- menon at Lilienthal, showing how cautiously negative evidence should be received. Observations of the secondary light were made by Pastorff in 1822 and by Gruithuisen in 1825. The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society contain many observations since the year 1842 by Messrs. Berry, Browning, Guthrie, Langdon, Noble, Prince, and others. Mr. Prince had favourable views of the illumination of the dark side in September 1863. Capt. Noble's observations, as remarked by Prof. Win- necke in his notice of Prof. Safarik's memoir, do not appear to refer to the secondary light as it has been per- ceived by other observers. He mentions that the hemi- sphere unilluminated by the sun has to him "always appeared distinctly and positively darker than the back- ground upon which it was projected," a statement which certainly gives the observations a distinctive character. There are also observations of the secondary light by Lyman, at Yale College in 1867, and about the same time by Sa<'arik at Prague, and in August, 1871, more decidedly. In September of the latter year the whole disk of Venus was seen by Prof. Winnecke as described in Ast. Nach., No. 1863. This astronomer has since stated that not- withstanding he has observed the planet many hundred times during the last twenty-four years, he has only suc- ceeded in perceiving this remarkable illumination of the dark side on two occasions ; and it should be added that Dawes, Madler, and other eminent observers, have never detected it. We shall revert to this subject next week. The Observatory at Athens. — The death is an- nounced of Baron Simon von 3ina, son of the founder of the Observatory at Athens, which has been successively under the direction of M. Bouris and Herr Julius Schmidt. The deceased Baron is mentioned as a liberal patron of this establishment, though not himself engaged in scien- tific pursuits, and Herr Schmidt writes doubtfully of the future of the Observatory. Every astronomer will enter- tain the hope that this most laborious and successful observer— distinguished not only by his great work upon the moon, but for his numerous discoveries and obser- vations of variable stars, his long and important series of observations of comets, of short period and otherwise, in which he has made excellent use of the advantages of his southern position, and many other valuable contributions to observational astronomy — may continue to hold, under favourable auspices, the direction of an establishment which his exertions have made so honourably known in the astronom-cal world. THE LOAN COLLECTION CONFERENCES OWING to the pressure on our space this week, we can only refer briefly to what has been done since our last notice at the Conferences in connection with the Loan Collection. We give, however, in another part of the paper the presidential addresses of Dr. J. Burdon San- derson, F.R.S., in the Section of Biology, and of Mr. John Evans, F.R.S., in the comprehensive Section of Physical Geography, Geology, &c. We hope in early numbers to be able to give at some length the principal papers which have been read in the various sections. On Thursday last the concluding meeting in the Section of Mechanics was held, when the following papers were read :— "On Prime Movers," by Mr. Bramwell, F.R.S. ; "The Construction of Furnaces," by Mr. Hackney; "A History of Electric Telegraphs," by Mr. Preece. The first meeting in the Section of Biology was held on Friday, when the papers of which we gave a list in our last week's notice were read. This Section met also on Monday, when the following papers were read : — Dr. Royston-Pigott, F.R.S., on a " Microscope with Complex Adjustments, Searcher, and Oblique Condenser Apparatus ;" Prof. Rutherford, F.R.S., " On a Freezing Microtome ; " Prof. Flower, F.R.S., " On the Osteological Preparations exhibited by the Royal College of Sur- geons ;" Herr Prof. Dr. Donders," Ophthalmological Appa- ratus ;" Dr. M'Kendrick, "Acoustical Instruments;" Prof. Yeo, M.D., and Dr. Urban Pritchard, " On Micro- tomes." On Tuesday the first meeting in the Section of Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Meteorology, was held, when, in addition to the President's Address, the following papers were read : — Mr. R. H. Scott, F.R.S., " Meteorological Instruments in the Loan Collection ;" Mr. G. J. Symons, " The Mea- surement of the Rainfall ;" Dr. R. J. Mann, "Lightning Conductors ; " M. le Professeur A. Daubr^e, " La Ge- ologic Synth^tique ; " Mr. J. E, H. Gordon gave an explanation of his Anemometer ; Mr. C. O. b < Cator " On Anemometers ; " Prof, von Oettingen give a description of his Anemometer ; Dr. R. J. Mann, " Lowne's Series of Anemometers ;" Mr. John Evans, F.R.S., " Dalton's PercoUtion Gauge." This Section meets again to-day and to-morrow, for which days the following programme has been drawn up : — For to-day. — Capt. Baron Ferdinand von Wrangell, " On Self-registering Tide-gauges ; " Lieut. Cameron, R N., " Physical Geography of South Tropical Africa;" Major Anderson, K.E , " Maps of Palestine ; " Col. Walker, R.E., or Col. Montgomerie, R.E., "Discoveries in Tibet ; " Mr. Francis Gallon, F.R.S., "On Means of Combining Various Data in Maps and Diagrams ; " Capt. Evans, R.N., C.B , F.R.S., Hydrographer of the Navy, " Hydro* graphy, its present Aspects;" Capt. J. E. Davis, R.N., " The various forms of Sounding Apparatus used by Her Majesty's Ships in ascertaining the depth of the ocean, and the nature of its bottom ; " Staff-Commander E. W. Creak, R.N., " Nautical Magnetic Surveys ;" Prof. Ros- coe, F.R.S., "Automatic Light Registering Apparatus." For to-morrow.— Prof. Ramsay, F.R.S., " The Origin and Progress of the Geological Survey of the British Isles, and the method on which it is conducted ; " Mr. W. Top- ley, F.G.S., " The Sub-Wealden Boring ; " Mr. C. E. de Ranee, F.G.S., " Sketch of the Geology of the known Arctic Regions ; " Mr. W. Galloway, " Colliery Explo- sions ;" Prof. Baron von Ettingshausen, " The Tertiary Origin of the actual Flora ; " Mr. J. S. Gardner, F.G.S., " The Tertiary Floras ; " M. des Cloiseaux, Membre de rinstitut, " L'emploi des propridtes birdfringentes k la determination des cristaux ; " Mr. Walter Rowley, F.G.S , " Description of his Transit Theodolite for Mine Survey- ing, and other purposes;" The Rev. Nicholas Brady, M.A., " Desirability of a Uniform International Notation for Crystallography." This will conclude these Conferences, which are admitted on all hands to have been a great success and to have added very much to the practical value of the collection. The popular expositions we referred to last week have been carried on with success, and apparatus may now be minutely inspected on Wednesdays, Thurs- days, and Fridays, on application to the Director of the South Kensington Museum on forms provided for the purpose. As we intimated last week, the Science and Art De- partment are organising a series of popular lectures in connection with the Loan Collection, to be given on the evenings of the free days — Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays. We believe that the first of these lectures will be given on Saturday by Prof. Roscoe, F.R.S., on Dalton's Apparatus, and what he did with it," jfune I, 1876] NA TURE 93 THE CRUISE OF THE "CHALLENGER" TUT ER Majesty's ship ChallengeryidiS despatched towards -*■ •*■ the close of the year 1872, round the world, on a surveying and discovery expedition of a very special character. Her principal object as laid down in her instructions was to determine, as far as possible, the physical and biological conditions of the great ocean basins, the Atlantic, the Southern Sea, and the Pacific. The voyage was undertaken, as we have already said in our short biographical sketch of Prof. Wyville Thomson, chiefly in consequence of remarkable discoveries made during the four previous years, in short cruises, in H.M. gunboats Lightning and Po7-n/pine, liberally detached by the Admiralty, at the instance of the Royal Society, for scientific research, under the direction of Dr. Carpenter, C.B., F.R.S., Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., and Prof Wyville Thomson, F.R.S. These discoveries seemed so important, not merely in a purely scientific point of view, but also in their bearings on ocean-telegraphy, that the Government determined to follow them up by a deep-sea survey on a more extended scale. The Challenger yvdiS fitted out under the superintendence of Admiral Richards, C.B., F.R.S., at that time Hydrogra- pher to the Navy, and in addition to a full naval surveying staff under the immediate superintendence of Capt. Nares, F.R.S., who was afterwards recalled to take command of the Arctic Expedition, a civilian staff of specialists in Natural Science and Chemistry was attached under the direction of Prof. Wyville Thomson. The expedition, although by no means sensational, has been thoroughly successful. The Challenger has steadily traversed a track of 69,000 miles, and dunng her absence of three years and a half from England has established 362 observing stations, at all of which the depth has been ascertained with the greatest possible accuracy, and at nearly all the bottom temperature has been taken, a sample of the bottom water has been brought up for physical examination and chemical analysis, a sufficient specimen of the bottom has been procured, and the trawl or dredge has been lowered to ascertain the nature of the fauna. At most of these stations serial soundings have been taken with specially devised instruments to ascertain by the determinations of intermediate temperatures and by the analysis and physical examination of samples of water from intermediate depths, the directions and rate of move- ment of deep-sea currents. The original arrangements for the cruise have worked in eveiy way smoothly ; the weather throughout has been on the whole favourable ; under the careful management of Staff-Commander Tizard not a shadow of mishap has ever befallen the ship ; there has been a perfect ban accord between the naval men and the civilians ; all the appli- ances for carrying on the different operations, liberally supphed at first, were renewed by the officers of the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty with the utmost liberality and precision. Two events only have seriously affected the interests of the expedition, one, the sad death at sea of Dr. v. Willemoes-Suhm, one of the ablest of the naturalists on the civilian staff, the other the recall of Capt, Nares ; for although Capt. Frank T. Thomson, who joined' the Challenger from the Modeste, did everything in his power to fill his place, Capt. Nares, from his previous scientific training was so eminently fitted to lead such an expedi- tion that his withdrawal in the middle of it was severelv felt. ' Leaving England on Saturday the 21st of December, 1872, some rough weather was encountered as the Chai- lenger stood for the mouth of the Channel, and crossed the Bay of Biscay. 1873 On the 3rd of Januarj', 1873, passing Cape Roca and the lovely heights of Cintra, she was quietly steaming up the Tagus, and cam6 to anchor off Lisbon. Lisbon was left on the 12th, and a series of dredgings and examinations of bottom temperatures were made off Cape St. Vincent in from 400 to 1,200 fathoms. Gibraltar was reached on the i8tb, and left on the 26th. The weather was now pretty moderate, and there was a very fairly successful week's sounding, trawling, dredging, and taking temperatures between the Rock and Madeira, which latter station was reached on the 3rd of February. Some of the dredgings made at this period appear to have been most successful, and a number of strange new forms of animal life were found, among these a fine new species of Venus's Flower-basket {Euplectella suberea). Fig. i, a Bryozoon {Naresia cyathus), (see figure, vol. vii. p. 387) of singular beauty, which was dedicated to Capt. Nares, some wondrous forms of Sea-Urchins and Lily-Stars, and specimens of a species of " Clustered Sea-polype," since described by Dr. Kolliker under the'name of Umbellularia thomsoni, an animal of great scientific interest. But two days were spent at Madeira, and the Chal- lenger was off Teneriffe early on the morning of the 7th, too early to attempt the ascent of the famous Peak, and rather too early for natural history work, still col- lections, both geological and zoological, were made, a series of dredgings were successfully tried between Tene- riffe and Palma, past Gomera and Hierro, and a great number of observations as to temperature were taken. In the matter of meteorological observations we may men- tion that the officers of the Expedition seem to have excelled ; the number of observations amounted during the first twelve months of the cruise to upwards of 50,000. Very considerable depths were found off the Canary Islands, extending sometimes to upwards of 1,700 fathoms } but the greatest depth found in this part of the Atlantic was one of 2,500 fathoms off Cape St. Vincent. At Teneriffe the regular work of the Expedition may be said to have commenced. All the time be^ tween leaving home and arriving off the Canaries had been more or less devoted to getting the varied machinery into order, and in settling the direction and scope of the parts the members of the civilian staff had to play ; so at Santa Cruz the old journals were closed, and the numbering of the stations and the other entries were comrnenced afresh, with some alterations the result of additional experience. A section was now to be carried right across the Atlantic from Teneriffe to Sombrero, the latter a little speck of an island north-west of Anguilla, and one of the group of Virgin Islands, themselves a portion of the West Indies. Sombrero was reached on the 1 5th of March, just a month from the time of leaving Santa Cruz. The distance between the two islands is about 2,700 miles, and along this line twenty-three sta- tions were selected, at which most careful observations were made as to depth, condition, and temperature of bottom. During one of these dredgings, ai.d at a depth of 1,500 fathoms, several specimens of a magnificent sponge .belonging to the Hexactinellidas were found at- tached to the branches of an Isis-Iike coral, and nestling among the fibres of the sponge were star-fishes, annelids, and Polyzoa. Often during this cruise, when the weather was calm and hot, the tow-net was used 011 the surface. It would seem that the greater number of the pelagic forms retire during the heat of the day to t'le depth of a few fathoms, and come up in the cool of the evening and in the morning, and in some cases in the night. The larger phosphorescent animals were frequently abundant during the night round the ship and in its wake, while none would be taken during the day. One day (the 26th of February), the morning being bright and clear and the swell not heavy, the ship being some 1,600 miles from SombrerOj and in lat. 23° 23' N., long. 32° 56' W., the sounding-line mdicated a depth of 3,150 fathoms, and the bottom was found to consist of a perfectly smooth red clay, containing scarcely a trace of organic matter. This was the greatest depth as yet met with, and the material from the bottom 94 NATURE {June I, 1876 was something quite novel to the explorers. At the mean maximum depth of some 2,200 fathoms the ooze was one vast mass of the calcareous shells of foraminifera, but as the soundings got deeper the ooze began to assume a darker tint, and showed, on analysis, a continually de- creasing quantity of calcareous matter. Now in this red ooze almost no calcareous forms were to be met with, and it was of extreme fineness, remaining for a long time in suspension in water, and proving on analysis to be almost pure clay, a silicate of alumina and the sesquioxide of Fig. I. — Eiiplectella suberea. iron, with a small quantity of manganese ; and at this depth there appeared to be an absence of animal life. Prof. Wyville Thomson considers it as quite proved that all the materials for such deposits, with the exception of the remains of those animals which are now known to live at the bottom at almost all depths, are derived from the surface ; and considering the very enormous extension of the calcareous ooze, it becomes important to know something of the minute foraminifera that produce it. In all seas, from the equator almost to the polar ice, the surface-water contains Globigerincp. They are more abun- dant and of a larger siz2 in warm seas ; several varieties attaining a large size, and presenting marked varietal characters, are found in the intertropical area of the Atlantic. In the latitude of Kerguelen they are less numerous and smaller, while further south they are still more dwarfed, and only one variety, the typical Globi- geiina biilloidcs, is represented. The living Globigerince from the tow-net are singularly different in appearance from the dead shells we find at the bottom (Fig. 2). The shell is clear and transparent, and each of the pores which penetrate it is surrounded by a raised crest, the crest round adjacent pores coalescing into a roughly hexagonal network, so that the pore appears to lie at the bottom of a hexagonal pit. At each angle of this hex- agon the crest gives off a delicate flexible calcareous spine, which is sometimes four or five times the diameter of the shell in length. The spines radiate symmetrically from the direction of the centre of each chamber of the cell, and the sheaves of long transparent needles, cross- ing one another in different directions, have a very beau- tiful effect. The smaller inner chambers of the shell are entirely filled with an orange-yellow granular sarcode ; and the large terminal chamber usually contains only a small irregular mass, or two or three small masses run together, of the same yellow sarcode stuck against one side, the remainder of the chamber being empty. No definite arrangement, and no approach to structure, was observed in the sarcode ; and no differentiation, with the exception of bright-yellow oil-globules, very much like those found in some of the Radiolarians, which are scattered apparently irregularly in the sarcode, and usually one very definite patch of a clearer appearance than the general mass coloured vividly with a carmine solution. The presence of scattered particles of bioplasm was indicated by minute spots here and there throughout the whole substance which received the dye. When the living Globigerina is examined under very favourable circumstances, that is to say, when it can be at once placed under a tolerably high power of the microscope in fresh still sea-water, the sarcodic contents of the chambers may be seen to exude gradually through the pores of the shell, and spread out until they form a kind of flocculent fringe round the shell, filling up the spaces among the roots of the spines and rising up a little way along their length. This external coating of sarcode is rendered very visible by the oil-globules, which are oval, and filled with intensely-coloured secondary globules, and are drawn along by the sarcode, and may be seen, with a little care, following its spreading or contracting move- ments. At the same time an infinitely delicate sheath of sarcode containing minute transparent granules, but no oil granules, rises on each of the spines to its extremity, and may be seen creeping up one side and down the other of the spine with the peculiarj^tiwz;;!^ movement with which we are so familiar in the pseudopodia of Gromia and of the Radiolarians. If the cell in which the Globi- geritia is floating receive a sudden shock, or if a drop ot some irritating fluid be added to the water, the whole mass of sarcode retreats into the shell with great rapidity, drawing the oil-globules along with it, and the outhne of the surface of the shell and of the hair-like spines is left as sharp as before the exodus of the sarcode. There is still a good deal of obscurity about the nature of Orbulina universa, an organism which occurs in some places in large proportion in the globigerina ooze. The shell of Oi'bidina (Fig. 3) is spherical, usually about "5 mm. in diameter, but it is found of all smaller sizes. The texture of the mature shell resembles closely that of Globi- gerina, but it differs in some important particulars. The pores are markedly of two different sizes, the larger about four times the area of the smaller. The larger pores are the less numerous ; they are scattered over the surface of the shell without any appearance of regularity ; the smaller pores occupy the spaces between the larger. The June r, 1876] NATURE 95 96 NATURE \yune I, 1876 crests between 'the pores are much less regular in Orbu- Una than they are in Globigerina ; and the spines, which are of great length and extreme tenuity, seem rather to arise abruptly from the top of scattered papillae than to mark the intersections of the crests. This origin of the spines from the papilte can be well seen with a moderate power on the periphery of the sphere. The spines are lioUowand flexible ; they naturally radiate regularly from the direction of the centre of the sphere ; but in specimens which have been placed under the microscope with the {greatest care, they are usually entangled together in twisted bundles. They are so fragile that the weight of the shell itself, rolling about with the motion of the ship, is usually sufficient to break off the whole of the spines and l:ave only the papilla; projecting from the surface in the c'urse of a few minutes. In some examples, either those in process of development, or a series showing a varietal divergence from the ordinary type, the shell is very thin and almost perfectly smooth, with neither papillae nor spines, nor any visible structure except the two classes of pores, which are constant. The Coccospheres and Rhabdospheres— these are suggested to be minute algas forms — live on the surface, and sink to the bottom after death. Many of them are extremely beautiful, as will be seen from Figs. 4 and 5, representing two forms first discovered by Mr. Murray. Taking the section from Teneriffe to Sombrero, first of all some 80 miles of volcanic mud and sand were passed ; then some 350 miles of globigerina ooze ; next about 1,050 miles of red clay; then again a rising ground for some 330 miles of globigerina ooze, a valley of 850 of red clay ; and nearing land some 40 miles of the globigerina ooze. Intermediate between the red cliy and the globi- gerina ooze, a grey ooze was met with, partaking of the cha- racters of both, and evidently a transitional stage. " There seems to be no room," writes Prof. Wyville Thomson, "left for doubt that the red clay is essentially the insoluble resi- due, the ash, as it were, of the calcareous organisms which form the ' globigerina ooze,' after the calcareous matter has been by some means removed. An ordinary mixture of calcareous Foraminifera with the shells of Pteropods, forming a fair sample of ' globigerina ooze ' from near St. Fig. 4 — Rhabdosphere. Thomas, was carefully washed and subjected by Mr. Buchanan to the action of weak acid ; and he found that there remained, after the carbonate of lime had been removed, about one per cent, of a reddish mud, con- sisting of silica, alumina, and the red oxide of iron. This experiment has been frequently repeated with different samples of * globigerina ooze,' and always with the result that a small proportion of a red sediment remains, which possesses all the characters of the ' red clay.' I do not for a moment contend that the material of the * red clay ' exists in the form of the silicate of alumina and the peroxide of iron in the shells of living Foraminifera and Pteropods, or in the hard parts of animals of other classes. That certain inorganic salts other than the salts of lime exist in all animal tissues, soft and hard in a cer- tain proportion, is undoubted ; and I hazard the specu- lation that during the decomposition of these tissues in contact with sea-water and the sundry matters which it holds in solution and suspension, these salts may pass into the more stable compound of which the ' red clay ' is composed." On this voyage Mr. Buchanan found the remarkable Fig 5. - Rhabdospliere. and unexpected result that the water has virtually the same specific gravity from the bottom to within 500 fathoms of the surface. From 500 fathoms the specific gravity rapidly rises till it usually attains its maximum at the surface. Nineteen dredgings were taken, and these yielded a large supply of animal forms. It is unfortunate that in the deepest haul of all, 3,150 fathoms, no living thing was brought up higher in the scale than a fora- minifer ; but this may be attributed to the nature of the bottom, an opinion borne out by the abundance, at scarcely a less depth, and on a bottom differing only in being somewhat less uniform, and containing sand-grains and a few shells of foraminifera, of tube building annelids of a very common shallow water type. The Crustacea do not appear to suffer from the peculiarity of the circum- stances under which they live, either in development or in colour. The singular fact of the suppression of the eyes in certain cases is already well known. The Echinoderms and sponges which enter so largely into the fauna of the zone ending at i,coo fathoms are not abundant at extreme depths. The Challenger next anchored off the harbour of Char- yune I, 1876] NA TURE 97 lotte Amalia, at St. Thomas, where a pleasant week was spent, and on the 25th of March she proceeded on her way to the Bermudas. On Monday the 26th, being then in lat. 19° 41' N., long. 65° 7' W., and nearly ninety miles north of St. Thomas, a sounding was made in the great depth of 3,950 fathoms, and a dredge was let down to see if it would prove serviceable ; heaving-in commenced at 1.30, and the dredge came up at 5 p.m. with a considerable quan- tity of reddish- grey ooze. No animals were detected except a few small foraminifera with calcareous tests, and some considerably larger of the arenaceous type. On the 4th of April she made her way through the intri- cate and dangerous "narrows " between the coral reefs, and by the evening was at anchor at Grassy Bay, Bermudas. A fortnight was spent at these Islands. Their geological structure was most carefully studied, and when the narra- tive of the cruise is published we may expect very valu- able information as to the formation of the various forms of limestone to be found on these islands. The principal islands are well wooded, but the g^eat preponderance of the Bermudian Cedar {Jimiperus bermiuiiana) gives a gloomy character to the woods, which in the annexed woodcut is somewhat relieved by the presence of some palm trees (Fig. 6). .The Admiral's official residence, Clarence Hill, is situated on an inclosed little bay called Clarence Cove. The garden was rich with a luxuriant tropical vegetation of which the group of papau trees, Carica papaya (Fig. 7), will give some idea. There is only one kind of rock in Bermudas. The islands consist from end to end of a white granular lime- stone, here and there becoming grey or slightly pink, usually soft and in some places friable, so that it can be broken down with the ferrule of an umbrella ; but in some places, as on the shore at Hungry Bay, at Painter's Vale, and along the ridge between Harrington Sound and Castle Harbour, it is very hard and compact, ahnost crys- [^ Fig. 6. — Swamp Vegetation, Bermudas. talliue, and capable of taking a fair polish. This hard limestone is called on the islands the '* base rock," and is supposed to be older than the softer varieties and to lie under them, which is certainly not always the case. It makes an excellent building stone, and is quarried in various places by the engineers for military works (Fig. 8). The softer limestones are more frequently used for ordinary buildings. The stone is cut out of the quarry in rectangular blocks by means of a peculiarly constructed saw, and the blocks, at first soft, harden, rapidly, like some of the white limestones of the Paris basin, on being exposed to the air. Immense masses of fine coral sand surround the shores, being washed in by ihe sea. It is then caught at certain exposed points by the prevailing winds, and blown into sand-hills often forty to fifty feet in height. Sometimes these sand-masses form regular sand-glaciers. One of these was found at Elbow Bay on the southern shore of the main island. The sand has entirely filled up a valley and is steadily progressing inland in a stream some five and twenty feet. It has, as will be seen in the wood- cut (Fig. 9), partially overwhelmed a garden, and is still flowing slowly on. When the photograph from which the woodcut is copied was being taken, the owner of the garden was standing with his hands in his pockets, as is too much the habit of his race, contemplating the approach of the inexorable intruder. He had, as will be seen, niade some attempt to stay its progress, by planting a line of oleanders and small cedars along the top of the slope, but this had been in vain. The botanists of the expedition paid a good deal of attention to the flora of the island, and we may expect a lot of new forms among the minute algae found in the so-called freshwater ponds or lakes. Bermudas was left on the 20th of April, and a section was carried out from the islands towards Sandy Hook, 98 NATURE \yune I, 1876 and then south and west of Little George Bank and into Halifax on the 9th of May. In this run several soundings were taken at depths of from 2,600 to 2,800 fathoms. The bottom yielded chiefly grey ooze, and the course of the Gulf Stream was crossed. Staying a week at Halifax to recruit, the next section was made in almost a straight line from Halifax to Bermudas, which was reached on the 30th of May, nine important stations having been selected and examined on the way. A short time was passed at Bermudas, and the next section it was determined to make, was one between lat. 35° and 40" to the Azores. Leaving Bermudas on the i-zth of June the Challenger \idcs> off Fayal on the ist of July, having successfully made obser- vations at seventeen stations en route.. A small-pox epi- demic having broken out at Fayal, it was not deemed prudent to land. San Mieuel was visited, and the straits between it and Santa Maria were explored, and the Challenger on the loth stood for Fauchal, reaching it on the 15th, having been now more than a month at sea. Having made two sections right across the Atlantic, all looked to enjoying a few days on land, but it was not to be so, for most unluckily a rather severe epi- demic of small-pox had broken out at Madeira also shortly before, and Capt. Nares did not think it prudent to give F!l?""^!ir- Fig. 7. — Carica iaj>aya. leave ; accordingly on the i8th of July they commenced to make a section along the West Coast of Africa. It was the rainy season ; each day would bring them nearer to the equator, and it was scarcely possible to look forward to other than disagreeable times. On the 19th they were off Palma Island, one of the Canaries ; then they bore down on S. Antonio, one of the Cape Verd islands, and were at St. Vincent on the 27th of July. The botany of this island, so noted in the old gazetteers for its wood, water, wild goats, turtles, and saltpetre, was carefully explored. As seen from the sea, the rocks pre- sented a singular appearance, owing to the presence of a thick incrustation at water-mark ot masses of calcareous algae, which either follow the forms of the rocks or occur in rounded masses, their delicate tints of white, light pink, or cream colour considerably heightening the effect. These incrustations are frequently bored by Lithodomus catidigerus and other molluscs, and small sponges and Polyzoa occupy the cavities between them and the rocks. Leaving the Cape Verd Islands, on the 13th of August they were off the Bissagos Islands, and found bottom at a depth of 2,575 fathoms. Continuing to cruise along the coast, on the 14th they were west of the Loss Islands ; on the 15th they passed Sierra Leone; on the 19th they June I, 1876J NA TURE 99 were off Cape Mesurado, still in depths of 2,500 fathoms : and on the 21st they had run as far along the Western Coast of Africa as they intended, being then off Cape Palmas, and the Challenger's course was shaped for St. Paul's Rocks. These rocks lie about 1° north of the equator, and in longitude 29° 15' W., being about mid- way between the South American and African coasts. Although rising to a height of some 50 to 60 feet above the sea-level, yet they are mere rocks, not more than a quarter of a mile long. The sea deepens quickly in the vicinity of the rocks to depths of from 1,500 to 2,200 fathoms. The wash of the waves is such that even sea-weeds cannot retain their positions on the rocks. Proceeding still in a south-west direction, the little group of islands called Fernando Noronha was reached on the 1st of September, and some days were spent exploring it. The group consists of a principal island about four miles long by three and a half broad, and several smaller ones ; it is situated in the Atlantic, in about lat. 3° 58' S., long. 32° 22' W., and about 200 miles from the nearest point of the American coast. The islands appear to be of volcanic origin ; the peak on the northern side of the principal island rises to a height of 1,000 feet ; it is a mass of bare rock, the summit of which is quite inaccessible. The cliffs are chiefly composed of columnar basalt. The sea-depth in the neighbourhood is from 1,000 to 2,000 fathoms. Trees abound on the higher parts of the island, and wondrous creepers cluster together in the branches of the trees. A species of Cereus was found by Mr. Mosely on the cliffs. Only one grass {Oplismenus colonus) was found on the main island, but although shady, moist places occur about St. Michael's Mount, neither on this nor on the main island were any ferns, mosses, or hepaticte found, and lichens were very scarce. Among the principal cultivated fruits are bananas and melons, the latter being very plentiful, and of a Fig. 8. — Blown-sand Rocks, Bermudas. peculiarly fine flavour. Sugar-cane, cassava, maize, sweet potatoes, were grown in large quantities. The species of land animals on the island are not numerous, but indi- viduals of several of them are most abundant ; two spe- cies of lizards are recorded from the islands, one being peculiar to the group. On the 4th of September the Challenger was some 90 miles south of Cape St. Roque, in 2,275 fathoms, with globigerina ooze. On the 8th she was off Parahyba, in 2,050 fathoms, with mud. On the 9th the sounding gave a depth of only 500 fathoms off Cape San Agostinho. The depth increased off Macayo (September 11) to 1,715 fathoms, diminishing off the mouth of the River San Francisco to 1,200 fathoms, and as the coast at this spot was approached to 7C0 fathoms. On the 14th the Chal- lenger was at Bahia, and stopping there a short time she proceeded for a section across the Atlantic from Bahia to the Cape of Good Hope. Owing to unfavourable winds and other causes, the little Island of Trinidad, an island whose vegetation was then totally unknown, had to be passed by, and the ship's course was directed to the little- known islands of Tristan d'Acunha, and on the i8th of October she was anchored on the north side of the large island which gives its name to the group. This island rises in a range of almost perpendicular cliffs of black volcanic rock, in appearance somewhat similar to that exposed in section on the Grande Curral,in Madeira. At their base are dt'bris slopes, and a narrow strip of low shore-land, on a portion of which lies the settlement. Unfortunately, before much even of these slopes could be explored by the landing party, a sudden squall came on ; the recall was hoisted from the ship, and they had to leave after a visit of only six hours. Grasses, sedges, mosses, and ferns were found growing on the cliffs, and hepaticae so abounded as to cover the earth with quite a green sheet ; occasional patches of Phylica arborea were lOO NA TUBE [yune I, 1876 seen. This tree, belonging to the family Rhamnaceae, is peculiar to these islands and to Amsterdam Island, in the South Indian Ocean. Lomaria alpina, when found in stony places, bore fertile fronds, while those growing in rich vegetable mould were barren. Some of our common weeds were finding themselves at home, such as the sow- thistle. That lovely little cinchonaceous plant, Nertera depressa, was very abundant. Growing round the island was a belt of that gigantic sea-weed, Macrocystis pyrifera, which abounds in the southern temperate zone. Single plants often grow to a length of 200 feet, and it is said that they sometimes are met with from 700 to i ,000 feet in length, forming cable-like masses nearly as thick as a man's body. There was no time to explore the high pla- teau ; but one interesting observation was made, indi- cating the presence of snow on the hills, for while the temperature of the fresh- water ponds at the sea-level gave a result of 54° F., that of the streams running down the cliffs was but 50° F. They had an opportunity of visiting the two other islands ofthis group, Inaccessible Island, about twenty-three miles W. by S. of Tristan d'Acunha, and Nightingale Island, about twelve miles from Inaccessible Island. On this latter two Germans were found, who had succeeded in cultivating the ground in the neighbourhood of their dwelling. On both islands Phylica arborea was found, and the trees were covered with fully-developed green fruits. A tussock grass, apparently very close to Dactylis ccsspitosa, of the Falklands, grew in immense, almost impenetrable masses on Nightingale Island, amid these countless penguins had established themselves. It was but with the greatest difficulty that a passage could be forced through such a thicket, the grass being too high to allow of the planning of any definite track, and the screaming and biting of the penguins was the reverse of agreeable. This island is never visited except during the sealing season, and is not over one square mile in extent, a veritable speck in the ocean. The ship's head was now turned for Simon's Bay. Five stations between these points were selected for observa- tion. The depth varied on this line from 2,100 to 2,650 fathoms, the bottom yielding red mud at the greater, and grey mud at the lesser depths. The 28th of October saw the Challenger at anchor off Capetown. Simon's Bay was left about the 14th of December, six weeks having been spent in recruiting and refitting. Even I TFiG. 9 — Sand-glacier, Berpiudas. in the comparatively well-worked-out district of Capetown new discoveries were made, of which by far the most im- portant was Mr. Moseley's discovery of the tracheal system in Peripatus capensis, an account of which has been pub- lished in a late volume of the Philosophical Transactions. This tracheal system, though conspicuous in the fresh con- dition, becomes scarcely visible when the animal has been some time in spirit, and the air has been thus removed, hence the failure of Grube, Saenger, and others to see it. The first soundings during the southern course were taken in the region of the Agulhas Current on the 17th and i8th of December. These soundings would have been naturally logged " greenish sand," but on examination were found to consist almost without exception of the casts of for- aminifera in one of the complex silicates of alumina, iron and potash, probably some form of glauconite ; this kind of bottom had been met with once or twice, but is evidently qu'te exceptional. Going still south, Marion Island was visited for a few hours and a considerable collection of pknts, including nine flowering species, was made. Dredg- ing near the island gave a large number of species, many representing northern types, but with a mixture of southern forms. On the 30th of December, being then between Prince* Edward's Island and the Croztts, the dredge was let down to a depth of 1,600 fathoms, and a vast number of species belonging to the well-known genera Euplectella, Hyalonona, UTnbellitla7'ia, Pourtalesia, as well as two new genera of stalked crinoids, several quite new spatangoids, and several remarkable Crustacea were taken. 1874 The new year opened with a storm, and they could not land on Possession Island, on account of the weather ; though a dredging in 210 and another in 550 fathoms about eighteen miles to S.W. of the island were made with satisfactory results. On the 7th of January Kerguelen Island was reached, and the Challenger remained there till the 1st of February. During that time Dr. v. Willemoes- Suhm was chiefly occupied in working out the land fauna, Mr. Moseley collected the plants, Mr. Buchanan attended to the geological features, while Prof. Wyville Thomson and Mr. Murray dredged in the shallow waters round the islands with the steam-pinnace. Many observations were' made, some on the development of the Echinoderms, and great collections were stored away. On one occasion the trawl yune I. 1876] NATURE lor net came up nearly filled with some large cup sponges, pro- bably belonging to the same species as was dredged up by Sir James Clarke Ross many years ago near the Ice-barrier. On the 2nd of February they were 140 miles south of Ker- guelen, and on the 6th they reached Corinthian Bay in Yong Island, and had made all arrangements for examining it, when a sudden change of weather obliged them to put to sea, though one or two of the party had succeeded in spend- ing an hour or two on shore. The most southerly station made was on the 14th of February in lat. 65° 42' S., long. 79"" 49' E., when the trawl brought up from a depth of 1,675 fathoms a considerable number of animals. Dredging so near the Antarctic circle was, however, not only a severe but a somewhat critical operation ; the temperature of the work-rooms for days averaged seven or eight degrees below freezing point, the ship was surrounded by icebergs, and snow-storms from the south-east were constantly blowing against her. On the 23rd of February the wind had risen to a whole Fig. 10. — Radiolarian. Melbourne was reached on the r7th of March, and some weeks were pleasantly spent, which were all the more re- freshing after the hardships of the tour to the Antarctic circle. Next Sydney was visited, and here everything was done by the inhabitants to welcome the members of the Ex- pedition that could be done, and there is no doubt that the memory of their visits to our Australian Possessions will linger among the pleasant ones that they will indulge in for years. A very careful survey of that portion of the Pacific Ocean that intervenes between the coasts of Australia and New Zealand was required for electric tele- graph purposes, and the soundings made by the Chal- le?i^er gave every reason to expect that it would not be long ere New Zealand would be in telegraphic connection with Europe — as indeed it now is. Until the end of June the Challenger was engaged on this work, but on the 6th of July, 1874, she set out once more on an ocean cruise. Leaving Wellington on the 7th she proceeded under sail along the east coast ot New Zealand. On the loth they were about forty miles to the east of East Cape, and continuing their course towards the Kermadec Islands, on the 14th they were off Raoul Island. The gale, the thermometer fell to 2 1° F., the snow drove in a dry blinding cloud of exquisite star-like crystals, which burned the skin as if they had been red hot, and none were sorry to turn northwards. This was a period of sore anxiety to all in charge ; still observations on temperature were carried on, the specific gravity of the water was taken daily by Mr. Buchanan, and some interesting observations were also made on sea-water ice. The soundings and dredgings, while they were among the ice in 1,675 to i>975 fathoms, gave evidence of a very distinct deposit of yel- lowish clay, with pebbles and small stones, and a con- siderable admixture of Diatoms, Radiolarians, &c., the former doubtless being a deposit from the melting ice- bergs. Soundings were made on the 26th of February, and 3rd and 7th of March in 1,800 fathoms, when some very remarkable large-sized star-fishes were met with. On the 13th of March, at a depth of 2,600 fathoms, with a bottom temperature of o°2 C. Holothuriae were abun- dant, as well as many other animal forms. Fig II. — Kadiolarian. specimens brought up from a depth of 600 fathoms were just such as one would have expected to find in a similar depth off the coast of Portugal. On the evening of the 19th they arrived at Tongatabu, one of the Friendly Islands. Two days were spent in visiting different parts of the island, and a few hauls of the dredge were made in shallow water off the coast. They next made a straight course for Matuku Island, the most southerly of the Fijis, where, on the 24th, a party of surveyors and naturalists landed ; some others explored the sea along the coast, trawling in some i to 300 fathoms, and procuring, among other fine things, a specimen of the Pearly Nautilus {Nautilus pofnpilius), which was kept alive in a tub of salt water for some time so as to watch its movements. Kandavu was reached on the 25th, Levuka was visited on the 28th, and the ship returned to Kandavu on the 3rd of August, to remain for a week. The natural history of the coral reefs surrounding the Fijis was examined by the civilian staff, who received every assistance possible from Mr. Layard, H.M. Consul. Between New Zealand and the Fiji group only two soundings had been taken to a greater depth than 1,000 fathoms ; one off Cape Turnagain, New T02 NATURE \June I, 1876 Zealand, gave a bottom of grey ooze at 1,100 fathoms, and the other, midway between the Kermadecs and Friendly Islands, gave red clay at a bottom of 2,900 fathoms ; the other dredgings and soundings were in depths of from 3 to 600 fathoms, and many of the former yielded an abundance of animal life. On the loth of August the Challenger left for Api, one of the least known of the New Hebrides, and on the 18th anchored off the island. Capt. Nares had given a passage from Fiji to eleven men of Api, and two or three of the officers, with an armed party of marines, took the returned labourers on shore. The natives appeared somewhat mistrustful, and were armed with clubs, speirs, and bows with sheaves of poisoned arrows ; so that it was not thought prudent to go into the forest. The natives were almost entirely naked, and were of rather a savage and forbidding aspect, Fiom Api the Challen^et's course was to the norch-westward, towards Raine Island, which is in a breach of the great barrier reef not far from the entrance to Torres" Straits, A sounding on the 19th, in lat, 16° 47' S,, long. 165° 20' E,, at a depth of 2,650 fathoms, with a bottom of red clay, gave a bottom temperature of i°7 C. (35 F.), A serial temperature sounding was taken to the depth of 1,500 fathoms, and it was found that the minimum temperature (i"7 C.) was reached at a depth of 1,300, and that consequently a stratum of water at that uniiorm temperature extended from that depth to the bottom. Serial temperatures were taken on the 21st. 24th, 25th, 27th, and 28ih of August, in 2,325, 2,450, 2,440, 2,275, ^i^^ 1,700 fathoms respectively, and in each case the minv- mam temperature of i°7 C. extended in a uniform layer, averaging 7,000 feet in thickness, from the depth of 1,300 fathoms to the bottom. The area over which this tem- perature existed has been called the " Melanesian Sea," and it is evident that there is na free communication between it and the outer ocean to a greater depth than 1,300 fathoms, the encircling barrier being complete up to that point. The animals procured in this sea were few in number, but sufficient to show that the existence of a fauna is not impossible in the still bottom-water of such an inclosed area, though, as in the Mediterranean, such conditions do not appear to favour life. On the 31st Raine's Island was visited, and found to be just as described by Jukes ; a collection of ihe birds breed- ing there was made, and the next day, the I st of September, the ship was at Cape York. Proceeding thence across the Arafura Sea to the Arii Islands ; Dobbo, a town on the Island of Wamma, was reached on the i6th. After a few days spent in shooting some birds of Paradise and getting an idea of the natural history of the place, they proceeded to Ke Doulan, the principal village in the K^ group, thence to the Island of Banda, where they remained a few days, and thence to Amboina, which was reached on the 4th of October, In some of the dredgings be- tween Kd and Amboina a wonderful assemblage of forms were met with, not only new Pentacrinoid forms, but many new vitreous sponges — Echinoderms, Crustacea, &.C. From Amboina they went to Ternate, and thence across the Molucca Passage into the Celebes Sea, by the passage between Bejaren Island and the north-east poiiit of Celebes. Crossing the Celebes Sea, Zamboanga was reached on the 23rd ; and the Sulu Sea on the 26th. Capt. Chimmo's observations on this basin-sea were confirmed. Hollo was visited on the 28th, and proceeding by the eastern passage round Mindoro, Manila was made on the 4th of November, and after a short Slay at the Philippines, Hong-Kong was made head-quar- ters for a time. During the Challenger's stay here Capt. Nares received a telegram offering him the command of the Arctic Expedition. This was a great blow to all of the party. Though sorry to part with one who had so far brought the expedition successfully on its way, the importance was fully recognised of having a man of his character and experience in command of the North Pole Expedition. Capt. Thomson, who v,'as already on the China Station in command of the Modeste, took Capt. Nares's place. 1875 Hong-Kong was left on the6ih of January, with the inten- tion of sailing to the region of the Equator, then making a series of stations parallel to it, for a distance of some 2 000 miles, and eventually going north to Japan. Proceed- ing to the middle of the China Sea, a series of tempera- ture soundings were taken, the temperature at the bottom of 1,200 fathoms being 36° F. This is accounted for by Chimmo's statement that the China Sea is cut otf, by a barrier rising to a height of 800 to 900 fathoms below the surface of the water, from communication with the waters of the Antarctic Ocean. Passing along the west coast of Luzon, the Challenger enitred the Panay Sea, where further observations were made ; visiting Zebu, the first known locality for the '• Venus Flower-basktt," where some fine spe- cimens of this sponge were obtained in the dredge. Next the ship made for the little island of Cainaguin — between Mindanao and Bohol — toinspect the activevolcanothereon. This volcano was ushered into existence on the ist of May, 1871, and presented at the time of the Challenger's visit the appearance of an irregular cone of 1,950 feet in height ; its base was gradually extending, and. had covered the town of Catarman. From Camaguin the Challenger went along the west coast ot Mindanao to Zamboanga, which was (for the second time) reached m the last week of January (29th). A little party of sportsmen were sent off to camp out in the forest within riding distance of the ship ; visits were paid to them from time to time, and they thoroughly enjoyed their brief sojourn in the heart of a most exquisite little bit of tropical scenery, and surrounded by multitudes of monkeys, galeopitheci, and many more of the strange denizens of such woods. Thus was a pleasant week spent, and with some regrets Zamboanga was left on the 8th of February. The following day was spent in the strait between Mindanao and basilan. The view of both islands from the strait was extremely beautiful from the luxuriance of the vegetation which filled up the gullies and mantled over every basalt ridge and peak up to their very summits. On the 9th the party were off Cape Sarangan and in view of Balat, the finest of the Sarangani Islands, with a fine volcanic cone thickly wooded to the top. On the loth they had a very successful haul of the dredge off the Island of Tulur, in 500 fathoms, getting many specimens of three or four species of Pentacrinus, with stems two or three feet high. About this time the wind felt very light and uncertain, and a strong current was setting them down towards the coast of New Guinea. The coal supply was running short, and was required for dredging and sounding up to Japan, the nearest place for a fresh supply ; so Capt. Thomson determined to make for Hum- boldt Bay. On the 21st of February, still drifting south- wards, they were opposite the delta of the great river Ambcrnoh, which rises in the Charles-Louis Mountains, a splendid range in the interior of New Guinea, upwards of 16,000 feet high, and falls into the sea at Cape D'Urville, to the east of the entrance of Geelvink Bay. N ight was faUing on the 23rd as the Challenger cast anchor just within the headlands of Point Caille and Pomt Bonpland. Next morning, shortly after daybreak, the ship was surrounded by about eighty canoes, each from 15 leet to 20 feet long, and with crews of from four to six men each. There were no women or children among them. The men were unusually good-looking for Melanesians, and wonderfully picturesque ; they seemed on an average about 5 ft. 4 in. in height, features tolerably good, nose rather thick and flat, eyes dark and good, expression agreeable, mouth large, and lips rather full ; betel and chinam- chewing had oer^troyed their teeth and dyed their gums crimson, and their ear-lobes were greatly lengthened by earrings. Their June I, 1876] NATURE 103 hair is frizzled, not woolly, very thick, and worn in the shape of a huge round mop ; it was partly bleached by lime, or coloured red by lime and ochre ; black and white feathers and coronals of scarlet Hibiscus flowers were worn on their heads ; the face was smeared with black or red pigment ; with the exception of a few ornaments the body was entirely naked ; the skin dark-brown in the shade, warmed to a rich red-brown m the sunlight. A band of tappa, variously ornamented, encircled the middle of the upper arm on both sides, and into this they stick, towards the outside of the arm, large bunches of the fresh green and white leaves of a beautiful narrow-leaved Croton. The natives were well armed with strong bows and arrows, the latter five to six feet long, with heads bristling with barbs. In almost every canoe there were stone hatchets mounted on hard-wood handles, closely resem- bling those found in Denmark ; they were made of a hard, close-grained green stone, taking a jade-like polish. The canoes had generally a grotesquely-carved prow, the paddles being of hard wood, leaf-shaped, and often prettily carved. In the course of the afternoon Capt. Thomson and Prof. Wyville Thomson went in the galley to an island where there was a village, to ascertain the temper of the natives, and see if it were safe to go about freely. They were rowed to a sandy beach, and made signs that they wished to land, but the whole po )ulation, consisting chiefly of women and boy s, all armed with bows, turned out with the most determined demonstrations of hostility. The women were not prepossessing, the young girls were perfactly naked, and wore no ornaments ; the matrons wore a fringe of rough bark-cloth round their loins. The village con- sisted of some twenty to thirty huts, some on land under the trees, but most of them built on a platform raised a few feet above the surface of the sea on piles, and communi- cated with the shore by planks removed at pleasure. An- other boat sent off to get sights had been caught hold of by the natives and plundered, but no attempt at retaliation had been made by the crews. Had things gone on well, the Chal/en(^er would have remained at Humboldt Bay for five days, but Capt. Thomson made up his mind not to submit to the pilfering that was going on, nor to risk the chance of a rupture, and after careful consideration and consultation, went on towards Admiralty Island the same evening. During the afternoon the Captain, Prof. Wyville Thomson, and Mr. Murray, managed to land on the shore of the bay by going in a canoe with some natives, and during an hour's ramble on shore, Mr. Mur- ray had the good luck to see three of the wonderful crested ground pigeons of the genus Goura, which are nearly as large as turkeys. During the next week the ship gradually made her way, with light winds and heavy rains, and close depressing, equatorial weather, past the Schouten Islands and Hermit Island towards Admiralty Island, where it arrived on the 3rd of March, and anchored in a lovely bay in eighteen fathoms ; this they called Nares Bay, in compliment to the head of the Arctic Expedition, their former captain. The natives are Papuan Melaresians, but partake more of the characters of the Papuans of New Ireland and New Britain than of those of New Guinea. Here bows were unknown and the natives used spears, with heavy heads of obsidian and light shafts 6 to 7 feet long ; they also use long sharp knives or daggers of obsidian, and almost every man had over his shoulder a neatly mounted little adze made of a small piece of hoop iron ; a few carried implements of the same form, but the cutting part made of a piece of a thick shell ground down. Here the natives made no great opposition to the party landing, only hurrying them past or away from their villages and warning their women to keep out of sight. Sometimes the curiosity of the women would overcome thoir discretion, and little groups would come out to see the strangers. These were anytning but pleasing-looking ; they wore no clothing except two fringes of grass or palm- leaves. In the course of a few days all the party were quite at home with the natives, and went and came as they pleased. The natives were found to be totally igno- rant of the use of tobicco and spirits ; but though they showed iT>any good points, yet there are the gravest sus- picions that they dispose of their dead in a very economi- cal though hideously repulsive way. Some ot the small islands literally swarmed with the beautiful large nutmeg- pigeons. On the loth of March, the Challenger steamed out of Nares Harbour, intending to call at one of the more western of the Caroline Islands, and perhaps at some of the Ladrone group, but the explorers were so very unfortu- nate in the wind-j that they were driven to the west of both groups, and never again saw land until they sighted the Japanese coast on the nth of April. This cruise was by far the most trying one during the commission. The weather for the greater part of the time had been exces- sively sultry and depressing, and before entermg on it Fig. 12. — Eadularian. they had been nearly a year in the Tropics. The section from the Admiralty Islands to Japan, 2,250 miles long, was practically meridional ; the observing stations were twelve in number and pretty regu'arly distributed. The greatest depth was found on the 23rd of March, in 4,575 fathoms. With the exception of two soundings taken by the Tuscarora off the east coast of Japan, in 4>643 2i"d 4,655 fathoms respectively, this is the deepest trustworthy sounding on record. A second sounding to check the first gave 4,475 fathoms, and in this the tube of the sounding- machme contained an excellent sample of the bottom, which was of a very peculiar character, consisting almost entirely of the siliceous shells of Radiolaria. In these the body may have a more or less fully developed external siliceous skeleton minutely fenestrated, and often presenting very remarkable and beautiful forms (Fig. 10), or the skeleton may be essentially internal and be formed of a number of siliceous spicules radiating fiom a centre round which the sarcode is accumulated as in Xiphacantha (Fig. 11), Or again they may give off a set of finely anastomosing branches which form one or several concentric lacey shells, which invest the sarcode nucleus as in Haliomma I04 NA TURE \yune r, 1876 {Fig. 12). These lovely forms occurred in such numbers in this sounding as almost entirely to mask the " red clay." The most marked temperature phenomenon observed in this part of the cruise was the presence of a surface layer of water at a depth of 80 fathoms and a tempera- ture above 77° F., extending northwards from the coast of* New Guinea, about 20°, and westward as far as the meridian of the Pelew Islands. The greater part of this vast mass of hot water is moving with more or less of rapidity to the westward. The travellers, weary and worn out by their assiduous labours in the Tropics, had a welcome and a well- deserved rest at Japan. The wonders of Yeddo and the freshness of the climate soon restored them to vigour. Short excursions were made and various towns and villages were visited. A cruise was made after a time to Kobe and along the south-west coast of Nipon, and on the i6th of June the Challenger Xoil Yokohama, and ran an easterly course between the parallels of 35° and 40° north latitude, as far as the meridian of 155° east. She then went nearly directly southwards and reached Hono- lulu, one of the Sandwich Islands, on the 27th of July. Between Japan and these latter islands twenty-four ob- serving stations were satisfactorily established. At the first station, just forty miles to the south-east of No-Sima Lighthouse, they had a successful trawl, and among a mass of starfish and other Echinoderms there was found a giant hydroid polyp, apparently referable to the genus Mottocaulus. The h>dranth was 9 inches across from tip to tip of the expanded (non-retractile) tentacles, and the hydrocaulus or stem was 7 feet 4 inches high, wiih a diameter of half an inch. This wonderful form was found once again nearer to Honolulu. The deepest sounding got off Japan was 3,950 fathoms, with a red clay bottom. The temperature observations gave a singular result ; the surface temperature had fallen to 65° F., and the belt of water above 50*^ F. was reduced in depth to considerably less than 100 fathoms, while all the isotherms, at all events to a depth of 400 fathoms, rose in proportion. There seems to be little doubt, from a comparison of the American temperature results with those of the Challenger, that this sudden diminution of temperature is due to a cold-surface flow from the sea of Okhotsk, and possibly attaining its maximum at the season of the melting of the snow over the vast region drained by the Amoor and Siberian Rivers with a southern overflow. The soundings from Yokohama to Honolulu were very uniform as to depth. The average of twenty-two being 2,858 fathoms, and the bottom was pretty gent rally red clay. In some cases the trawl came up half filled with large lumps of pumioe, which seemed to have drifted about till they became water-logged. The red clay was also found full of concretions, mainly consisting ot per- oxide of manganese, round, oval, or mammillated, and very irregular, varying in size from a grain of mustard teed to a large potato. On breaking these they are found to consist of concentric layers, having a radiating fibrous arrangement, and usually starting from a nucleus consist- ing of some foreign body, such as a piece of pumice, a shark's tooth, or such like. A delightful fortnight was spent on the Sandwich Islands ; numerous excursions were undertaken. In the Government Library at Honolulu there was a splendid collection of scientific books, which enabled many points in the natural history of some of the species found to be verified. On the nth of August Hawaii was visited, and the crater of Kilauea was explored. On the 19th Hawaii was left, and the course of the Challenger was due south to Tahiti. Many soundings and dredgings were made on ,the way, the average depth being 2,800 fathoms, with a bottom of red clay, and many things of great interest to the biologist were discovered. Tahiti was reached early in September, and amid the charms of this island, by some better known as Otaheite, the time sped quickly until October ; every opportunity was made use of to get acquainted with the productions, climate, geological structure, and inhabitants of the island. Leaving it on the 2nd a section was made across to the island of Juan Fernandez, a distance of about 4,000 miles, with an average depth of 2,160 fathoms. Juan Fernandez was reached on the 13th of November, and two days were spent explorinsr every corner of it, and large collections were made. The ship anchored in the harbour of Valpa- raiso on the 19th. Three weeks were here spent to recruit, and then the Challenger, leaving on the loth of December, started on a cruise round Cape Horn to the Falklands. 1876 The Falkland Islands were reached about the loth of January, and some three weeks being spent in explora- tions among the islands on the South American Coast, Monte Video was visited on the 15th of February, when, after a week's sojourn, homewards was the cry, and on the 23rd the Challenger left for her last section across the Atlantic in the direction of Ascension Island and St. Vincent. At the Cape de Verd Islands she once more was in familiar waters and had encircled the world. The former was reached on the 27th of March, and a week was spent at George Town, when stores were completed and a few supernumeraries taken on board. On the 18th of April St. Vincent was reached, and the final start for home made on the 26th ; her arrival at Spithead on the 24tli of May is now matter of history. We are glad to be able to report that all of both staffs are in the enjoy- ment of perfect health. This sketch of the Challengers cruise has, from the very necessity of the case, been an imperfect one ; time and space both failed, or we would have gladly told of visits to Heard Island, the strange breeding- place of the giant albatross, of fights with sea- elephants, and of many of the new and rare animals found in the depths of the three oceans. We would here also like to have subjoined a sketch of the chief scientific results of the voyage ; but perhaps it were better left undone, for we know that a " Narrrative of the Cruise of the Challenger" from the able pen of the head of her civilian statf, is already in an advanced stage of preparation. From the glimpses we have got of it, from the beauty of the illus- trations (some of which adorn this sketch) that will appear in it, we feel sure that it will be one of the most deeply interesting as well as fascinating books published. It will be not a mere narration of events, but contain, as well, descriptions and figures of all the new forms, form- ing a most worthy contribution to Physical Geography, to Ethnology, and to Zoology and Botany. In conclusion we append a tabular abstract of the voyage of the Challens^er : — Date 0 0 From To Sailing Arrival 51 Sheerness Portsmouth Sat Dec. 7, '72 Wed. Dec. 11, '7s 200 Portsmonth Lisbon Sat. Dec. 2r, '72 Fri. Jan. 3, '73 1091 Lisbon Gibraltar Sun. Jan. 12, '73 Sat. Jan. 18, 340 Gibraltar Madeira ... ... Sun. Jan. 26, Mon. Feb. 3, 655 Madeira Tcneriffe Wed. Feb. 5, Fri. Feb. 7 ... 255 Cruising off Teneri ffe 230 Teneriff"e St. Thomas Fri. Feb. 14, Sun. Mar. 16 2879 St. Thomas Bermuda Mon. Mar. 24 Fri. April 4 ... 870 Bermuda ... ... Halifax z/iiiN.Y. Mon. April 21 Fri. Mav 9 ... I2CI Halifax Bermuda Mon. May 19 Sat. May 31... 70 Bermuda St. Michaels Azor. Friday, June 13 Fri. July 4 ... 2031 St. Michaels ... Madeira Wed. July 9... ^A.ed. July 16 5^8 Madeira St Vincent Thur. July 17 Sliii. July 27... 1066 St..Viucent ,.. Porto Praya Tues. Aug. 5 Thur. Aug. 7 170 Porto Praya St. Paul's Rock Sat Aug. 9 ... Wed Aug 27 '955 St Paul's Rock Fernando Nor ha Fri. Aug. 29 ... Mon, Sept. i 342 tornando, N. ... Bahia Wed. Sept. 3 Sun. Sept. 14 8'5 Bahia C. of Good Hope I'tiur. Sept. 25 Tues. Sept. 2 S 3883 Total of First Section of Voyage 19367 yune I, 1876I NA TURE I a; From To C of Good Hope Melbourne Sydney Wellington 'ioDgatabu Ngaloa Bay Letuka Ngaloa Bay Port Albany Dobbo Kei Doulan Banda Amboina Ternati Samboangan ... ]lo Ilo Manila Hong-Kong. ... Manila Zebu Camaguin Islds Samboangan Humb )ldt Bay Admialty IsUnd Yokohama Kolu Miwarra Kolu Yokohama Hono ulu Hilo Tahiti Juan Fernandez Melbourne Sydney ... Wellington Tongatabci Ngaloa Bay Levuka Ngaloa Bay Fort Albauy Dobbo Kei Doulan Banda Amboina ... Ternati Samboangan Ilo Ilo Manila Hong Kong Date Saihn;; Wed. Dec. 17, ' Wed. April i, ' Mon June 8... Tues. July 7... Wed. July 22 Mon. July 27 Sat. Aug. I ... Moa. Aug. 10 Tues. Sep. 8... Wed. Sep. 23 Sat. Sep 26 ... Fri. Oct. 2 ... Sat. Oct. 10 ... Sat. Oct J 7 ... Mon. Oct. 26 Sat. Oct. 31 ... Wed. Nov. II Arrival Tues. Mar 17,'74 Mon. April 6 Sun. June 28 Sun. July 19 ■^at. July 25... Tues. July 28 Mon. Aug. 3 Tues Sep. i Wed. Sep. 16 Tnurs. Sep. 24 Tues, Sep. 29 Sun. Oct. 4 ... Wed. Oct. 14 Fri. Oct. 23 ... •ed. Oct. 28 Wed. Nov. 4 Mon. Nov. 16 Total of Second Section of Voyage Manila .. ... Zebu Camaguin Islds. Samboangan Humboldt Bay... Admiralty Island Yokohama Kolu ... ... ... Miwarra Kolu Yokohama Honolulu Hilo Tahiti luan Fernandez ValparaisB IWed. Jan. 6, '75 !Thur. Jan. 14 ISun. Jan. 24... [Tues. Jan. 26 IFri, Feb. 5 ... Wed. Feb. 24 [Wed. Mar. 10 JTues. May 11 Tues May 25 fFri. May 28 ... IWed. June 2 IWed. June 16 I Wed. Aug. II Thur. Aug. iq Sun. Oct 3 ... iMon. Nov. 15 Mon. Jan. 11, Mon Ian 18 Tues. Jan. 26 Fri Jan. 29 .. Tues. Feb 23 W. d. Mar. 3.. Sun. April 11 IS.t. May 15.., Wed. May 26 Sat. May 29 .. Sat. June 5 .. Tues. July 27 Sat. Aug. 14.. Sat. Sept. 18.., Sat. Nov. 13... Fri. Nov. 19... 7637 550 '432 ■547 400 120 120 2250 656 lOD 200 3"o 5" 220 350 650 17158 '75i 650 380 no 250 1333 403 2 33 350 120 120 400 4302 200 2630 4643 400 Total of Thifd Section of Voyage Valparai^o ... [Messier Channel In Magellan Straits Magellan Strts.., Falkland Islds., Monte Video „ Ascension St. Vincent Vigo , Portsmouth Falkland Islds... Monte Video ... Ascension St. Vincent Vigo Portsmouth Sheerness Sat. Dec. 11, '75 Sun. Jan. 2, '76 Thurs. Jan. 20 Sun. Feb. 6 ... Fri. Feb 25 ... Mon. April 3... Wed. April 26 Sun May 21... Fri. May 26 ... Sat. Jan. i, '76 Wed. Jan. 19 Sun. Jan. 23 Tues. Feb. 15 Mon. Mar. 27 Tues. April 18 Sat. May 20 Wed May 24 Sat. May 27 »»24 2033 710 400 1172 3720 1800 2846 700 200 Total of Fourth Section of Voyage Grand Total ... 13581 68930 NATURAL HISTORY AT ACADEMY THE ROYAL V^/E will leave to other journals the task of criticising '' * the present Exhibition of works of Art at the Royal Academy, and without entering deeply into the question of grouping composition, solidity of painting, chiaroscuro, perspective, viorbidezza of flesh treatment, or aerial effect, we will confine ourselves to a few remarks in a less ambitious key, on those pictures which portray animal life. Of this class there are several important ex- amples devoted entirely to the representation of wild or domesticated animals, with others in which the lower forms of creation play but a slightly inferior part ; and in these days when the public taste claims a far more con- scientious treatment of the subject than in former times, we may be allowed, without being taxed with unfair criti- cism, to examine how far the respective artists have suc- ceeded in fidelity of execution. In the first gallery the eye is at once attracted to a large work by Mr. F. Goodall, R.A., " An Intruder on the Bedouin's Pasture " (14), representing a Nubian riding on a dromedary accosting some nomads. The drawing 01 the cenire camel is excellent, although the animal is perhaps a trifle too clean and shiny ; the other camels are some- what unequal in point of execution. In the foreground are some capitally painted goats, and a scarabeus is crawling along the sandy bank, whilst on the left by a small pool of water, two wagtails are strutting, one of which was evidently drawn from a badly stuffed spe- cimen. The distance and atmosphere are admirably rendered, far better than in another picture where camels are also the prominent objects, that of Mr. R. Beavis, (85\ " Bedaween Caravan on the Road to Mount Sinai," in which the atmosphere is somewhat cold and grey. On the other hand, the action of Mr. Beavis's two advancing camels is perfect, whilst the position selected is one of extreme difficulty ; there is a roughness and vigour in these animals that make Mr. Goodall's drome- daries look by comparison like mere stuffed models. In his other contribution, " Ploughing in Lower Egypt " (484), representing a buffalo and a camel yoked together, Mr. Beavis has been less happy ; partly, perhaps, because the union of such an incongruous pair cannot look other- wise than ungainly. To the right, some way off, are several birds feeding by the side of the water, and we can just see that they are cranes of some species, which at that distance is all that could be required ; but unfortu- nately there is another bird with these which is only too plainly recognisable, and that is the sacred ibis, which we cannot believe that Mr. Beavis or anyone else has seen in Lower Egypt in the present century, although it was apparently more widely distributed in ancient times. It is indeed doubtful if it still exists in any part of Egypt proper, and the bird usually pointed out to travellers as such by the Nile dragoman, is the buff-backed heron. Mr. J. W. Oakes, A., in his "Sheltered" (36), gives some young gulls in the foreground which have at least the merit of being recognisable as young Lams rididundtts, but the drawing of the flying bird's wings and tail is sadly wrong. Mr. S. Carter's "Morning with the Wild Red Deer" (47), depicts a noble stag of twelve points lying down with a hind and fawn ; the rough hair is capitally rendered, but we are a little doubtful as to the accuracy of representing paterfamilias in such company. Of the same artist's " A Noble Victim " (74), a stag fallen dead by the side of a pool with a colly- dog showing his teeth at a young eagle perched on a neighbouring rock, we cannot speak so hijihly, for the work seems somewhat thin and scamped. His No. 1257, "A Little Freehold," is a family party of squirrels, the young one issuing from a nest like that of a dipper, placed in the large fork of a tree — utterly unlike any squirrel's cirail we ever saw The first of the works " The Temple of Diana comes within our scope. of Mr. J. E. Hodgsan, A., at Zaghouan " (84), hardly but it is a charming com- position, showing a sportsman, presumably the artist himself, intruding like a modern Actiieon upon a pool in which several Moorish maidens are washing; the savage glances of the black attendants and the curiosity of the girls are humorously given. The -spaniel in the fore- ground must be our excuse for noticing this picture at all, and we are sorry to say that the dog is the woist figure there ; but 301, " Following the Plough," comes within our lawful bounds, depicting as it does, a Moor ploughing, followed by several storks which are gathering worms and grubs from the newly turned furrows, whilst on the bushes to the right are perched a hoopoe and a goldfinch. None of these birds are really faultless, but a very conscientious effort has evidently been made to reproduce on canvas the grotesque actions of the storks, and we have no doubt that the artist could easily improve upon this first essay in bird-life. Of Mr. Millais' grand work, "Over the Hills and Far Away," (106), we need only remark the fidelity of the representation of the hovering kestrel to the left, and the distant pack of red grouse in the distance on the right, the old cock grouse stands crowing on the top of a rock. It has been stated that these birds are meant for black- game, but those who say so had better look again, and they will recognise the touch by which the master-hand has indicated the species. Mr. Hook's first work in the cata- logue is No. 44, " Sea- side Ducks," in which the ducks are by no means equal to the fish, cod, skate, whiting- pont, io6 NA TURE \yune I, 1876 and gurnard, which lie in well-arranged confusion at a little distance, whilst in No. 186, a carefully-painted dog- fish and skate are seen lying on some crab-pots. In No. 234, *' Crabbers," there is abundance of motion in the boat which is just taking in a wave over the bows as one of the fishermen hauls in the crab-pot, but what shall we say of the fine male crab which he is extracting } The face of the crustacean is towards the spectator, but will it be believed that an artist of Mr. Hook's experience has actually placed the huge cXk^s behind \hQ. legs, instead of in \\\e /ro7it / Think of the outcry there would have been, if in that over-discussed horse in the "Roll-call," about whose action nobody could agree, the artist had chosen to put the fore-legs where the hind-limbs should have been : it would have been treated as an insult to common sense, for every one knows, or thinks he knows, the points of a horse. But a mere crab, poor cancer pagurus, what does it matter where his nippers are placed ? We sincerely hope that when Mr. Hook has occasion to paint a live lobster he will not paint it red, although this would be by far the more trivial error of the two. It is needless to say anything of Mr. T. S. Cooper's cattle pictures, for we have seen the same kind of thing as long as we can remember. In 243, " An Inquisitive Magpie," Mr. Jones has some brown sheep in a brown atmosphere, contemplating a stuffed magpie on a hurdle ; the picture is hopelessly " skied," but it may be satisfac- tory to the artist and to Mr. P. V. Duffy, whose excellent " Flood in the Dargle" hangs next at a similar elevation, to know that their works help materially to tone down the too advancing brown of the tree trunks in Mr. Leighton's " Daphnephoria," hung immediately below. " Early Summer" (168), by Mr. H. W. B. Davis, A,, is a clever landscape with Devon cattle ; but by far the grandest work which has ever proceeded from his brush is '' Mares and Foals, Picardy " (557), a picture which may challenge comparison with any similar subject by Landseer. In the foreground a foal, bitten by a fly plainly visible on its neck, is plunging wildly over another foal which is lying down ; the centre figure is a large white mare, whinnying and showing her teeth at another member of a group which seems generally out of temper, whilst the mare and foal to the left, in repose, are simply perfection. The great mass of white in the centre is most difficult to manage, and in certain lights there is something not altogether satisfactory about the shoulder on the off-side, but when the direct glare of the sun does not fall on the picture, this apparent defect disappears. Mr. B. Riviere has not been fortunate with his Ducks in a "Stern Chase-" (313), and the art critics do not seem favourably disposed to his (496), " Pallas Athene and the Herdsman's Dogs ; " but putting the figure of the goddess out of the question, the dogs, which are uncom- monly like wolves, are really well drawn, and the atti- tude of the one rolling on its back is excellently given. There is much humour in the expression of the big mastiff looking down on the skye terrier in Mr. O. Weber's " How do you do " (416), and as they are stated to be portraits, we cannot quarrel with the head of the former, but his chance of a prize at a dog show would be small. In" Home Ties " (435), Mr. E. Douglas gives us a foxhound and litter in kennel, and in 556, "A Bagged Fox," a capital fox-terrier, standing on and watching intently the movements in a sack, from which the bagged fox is just gnawing his way out ; in the foreground are two red herrings tied to a cord, indicating that the hounds are generally hunted on the drag, and that a fox is an unwonted luxury — probably he has been purchased to give a brilliant wind up to the season. Two other sporting pictures 231, by W. H. Hopkins, and 357 by S. Pearce, are commendable. Mr. Ansdell has abandoned Spain this year, and all his pictures but one represent Scotch scenes. In 214 we have the well known black and white ponies, whilst 619 represents some half-drowned sheep recovered by the shepherds ; the fore-legs of the sheep standing upright are absurdly small and out of all proportion. The colly- dog which has just killed a hill-fox caught in the act of devouring a lamb (874), is painted in that artist's usual style, for in dogs he has now no rival, but we miss the life and expression which Landseer used to give to his canine friends. Mr. P. Graham's " Moorland Rovers" (S85), a couple of shaggy Scotch cattle, would look better if they were painted on a smaller scale, and the green of the reeds in the foreground strikes us as somewhat vivid in colour. Mr. Heywood Hardy's 899 is a somewhat ambitious attempt to represent an extremely difficult subject — the animals coming to Noah's ark. It would appear that the artist started with the intention of coafining his choice to members of the African or Ethiopian fauna ; there are ostriches, giraffes, African elephants and baffaloes, sable antelopes, Dorcas gazelles, and other species, whilst the most obtrusive figures are those of two hippopotami, one of which is opening its enormous jaws to their fullest extent. The deep red of the interior of the beast's mouth has unfortunately necessitated a very serious departure from the original plan, and led to the introduction on the right of the picture of two scarlet American ibises, whose office is clearly to tone down the red of behemoth's mouth. We are not altogether satisfied with the presence of the Syrian bear, the horse, and the wild ass, in such company. The foreshortening of the pelican's wing on the left is also incorrect, and, indeed, the birds in general are not satisfactory ; but we have to thank Mr. Hardy for clearing up a point which has hitherto been unex- plained. We never could understand why the raven never returned to the ark ; but after viewing the bird which is looking up wistfully at Noah's feet, and evidently wondering how he is to get up there without anything to walk upon, we see the reason only too plainly. From the moment that Noah inhumanly "sent him forth," his minutes were numbered ; a couple of despairing flops of his incapable wings, and unless Noah promptly lowered a boat, the corpse of the corpse-devourer must speedily have become the sport of the waves which then united the Black and Caspian Seas. But with all its defects, Mr. Hardy's picture is a most meritorious attempt at portraying animals as they really are ; nearly every species has evidently been drawn from the live specimens in the Zoological Gardens, and we sincerely trust that the artist will persevere in the line which he has selected. Miss A. Havers has been very fortunate in her delinea- tion of geese in " Goosey, Goosey-gander " (1266) : a girl sitting on a foot-bridge at evening, watching a flock of geese wading in the burn ; one of the flock is leaving the rest, and waddling off to the wrong side of the water. It is not everyone who can paint a goose, and it would be difficult to imagine a more accurate representation of the ungainly motions of that despised bird. Equally good in its way is the rendering of the action of a mule just at starting, in Mr. W. J. Hennessy's "En fete, Normandy" (523), which is moreover a charming composition. It is sad to have to notice such painful failures in animal painting as those of Mr. C. Landseer, R.A, "A Watch Dog" (420), and Sir F. Grant's "The Muckle Hart " (1341) ; in the latter the recumbent stag has hardly one of his tynes correctly drawn, and the hind in the distance is a fearful and wonderful beast. With regard to the Statuary, it is difficult to find a place in the lecture-room, whence a good view can be obtained of J. E. Boehm's enormous equestrian group of St. George and the Dragon ; but the dragon deserves notice as being a compound of several existing reptilian forms ; thus approaching reality as far as is possible with a semi- mythical monster. The body of the dragon is that of a crocodile, the neck and head are those of the Cerastes or horned viper, whilst the wings are modelled after those June I, 1876] NA TURE 107 of the small flying lizard. Mr. G. A. Carter's "Group of Red-deer" (1405) is not a great success, but it will pro- bably look better when executed in silver. There is much merit in Mr. W. Prehn's "Polar Bears" (1455), in which the artist has coloured the snouts and slightly washed the limbs of the animals with yellow to relieve the deadness of such a mass of white ; an excusable innovation in the present instance. And last in order we come to two admirable models of "A Wild Boar" (1501), and "A Bear" (1507), by Mr. Joseph Wolf, whose reputation as a delineator ofanimal life with the brush is unrivalled, but who has never till now turned his attention to modelling The attitude of the boar is excellent : his face is devoid of any expression, although he has evidently partaken of some vegetables whose remains lie at his feet, but withal there is no sign of enjoyment or satisfaction. It is other- wise with the bear, who has been devouring honey-comb, and who is now licking his chops with an expression worthy of a gourmand, showing that the good things of this life are by no means wasted upon a gentleman of his appreciation. And with this we close our notice of animal life at the Academy, congratulating artists in general upon the increasing tendency to paint their sub- jects from nature instead of evolving them out of their own inner consciousness. Two Naturalists THE ETHNOLOGY OF THE PAPUANS OF MACLAY COAST, NEIV GUINEA IN December 1873, when at Batavia, I received from the Russian traveller. Von Miklucho-Maclay, reprints of two articles upon the East Coast of New Guinea and its inhabitants, of which I made a short abstract for Nature (Feb. 26, 1874), during my voyage from Jara to Atchin. The following is the substance of one of two sup- plementary papers on the same subject,^ which have been lately sent to me, by Dr. Maclay, from Johore, on the Malay peninsula ; which, it would be imagined, should be all the more interesting, as much which is, to say the least, doubtful, has lately been published about New Guinea and its natural productions. The former papers dealt with the individual characters of the Papuans, while in the present article the food, weapons, dress, dwellings, and daily lite of this people will be treated of. The Food of the Papuan. — That of the inhabitants of Maclay Coast is principally of a non-animal nature, con- sisting of fruits and vegetables, of which a list is sub- joined in the order of their domestic importance. The Cocoa-nut {inunki). This plays a most important part m the economy, as it is obtainable all the year round. The trees are seldom to be met with in the mountain villages, but are numerous on the shores of the neighbour- ing islands, though here they are confined to plantations around the houses. A favourite dish which never fails at feasts is munki-la, a kind of porridge made of the grated kernel of the nut steeped in the so-called "milk." Curiously enough, the preparation of cocoa-nut oil is unknown. The Dioscorea {ajati) is much cultivated in the planta- tions, and is in condition for food from August till January. It is boiled m water, or when this is difficult of carriage, roasted in ashes. It forms the principal article of diet during the above-named months. The Collocasa [bati) is the main article of food from March to August. Like the ajaii, it is either boiled or baked. Pounded up with grated roasted cocoa-nut, it is made into a kind of cake, which is in great request at leasts. The leaves of the plant are also eaten. The fruit of the Convolvulus {degargol), of which there are two varieties, one red, the other white, is principally ' " Ethnologische Bemerkungen iiber die Papuas der Maclay-kuste in Neu Guinea." Reprinted from the Natuurkundi^ Tijcuchri/t of Batavia. in season in September and October, and is either stewed or baked. Although no less than eight or nine varieties of Banana {mog;a) were met with by Miklucho-Maclay, owing to its limited cultivation, the fruit is a comparative rarity. The lower part of the stem and the roots of the young plants are also eaten. On account of the rare occurrence of the Palm afford- ing it, sago {buaui) is rather a dainty, seen only at feasts, than an article of daily diet. The Sugar-cane {den), which attains a magnificent growth in New Guinea — the edible portion being not in- frequently fourteen feet high — is chewed with the greatest zest by men, women, and children, from October to February. The Bread-fruit {boli), though not particularly sought after, is collected and eaten stewed or roasted. The Orlan is the fruit of a tree which Dr. Maclay had no opportunity of seeing. This fruit is hung in great baskets upon the trees in the forests. From the pulp and the kernel of the crushed seed there is derived by fermen- tation an acid unpleasantly smelling sauce, which is con- sidered a great delicacy. The Canarium commune {ken^ar) is collected in May, June, and July, dried, and its seed stored. The fruit of the Pandanus (Screw Pine) and Mangifera (mango) also occurs, but very sparingly, on Maclay Coast. Animal food is of but rare occurrence. The following • animals are, however, the most usual sources of food : — The Pig. — This, a descendant from the wild New Guinea species, is bred in the villages. When young it is striped, but with age it becomes black. The ears are erect, the snout sharp, and the legs long. Pigs are only killed on festal occasions, and then one^ suffices lor two or three villages. Dogs are kept by the Papuans principally for the sake of their flesh, which, though of fairly good flavour, is, nevertheless, somewhat dry. The flesh of the Cuscus ^ {inav) is considered a great dainty, although it has a strong smell. Fowls, although they occur in the villages, are but sel- dom eaten ; and, as they exist in a semi-wild state, their eggs are not often to be obtained. During a stay of fif- teen months Dr. Maclay only saw two eggs in the various villages which he visited. From the large lizards (Monitors) a white and tender meat is obtainable. All insects without exception, especially large beetles, are eaten, either raw or cooked, by the Papuans. As regards fishes, the larger are caught in nets, while the smaller are killed by harpoon at night-time. Various molluscs and other shell fish are collected ori the coral reefs at low water by the women and children of the villages. As the existence of salt is unknown here, the Papuans cook their food with a little sea-water — generally one- third to two-thirds fresh water — and the inhabitants of the hills never omit to take away with them a bamboo filled with sea-water when they visit the coast. The Papuans have, nevertheless, a substitute for salt, for they collect the tree-trunks which, after soaking for a while in the sea, are cast up at high tides, dry and burn them, and thus procure therefrom a saltish tasting ash. The manufacture of intoxicating drinks is, moreover, not unknown among the Papuans. They take the stem, leaves, and especially the root, of a certain shrub called *• keu " {Piper vielhisticum f) : this they chew, and the resulting mass, when sufficiently masticated, is spat out with as much spittle as possible into a cocoa-nut shell. A little water is added to this, and, after the dirty green- looking brew has been filtered through some grass, the filtrate, which is very bitter and aromatic, is drunk off. This liquor does not taste particularly good, as is proved by ' A small marsupial confined to New Guinea. io8 NATURE \ymic T, 1876 thegrimnces of the natives as they drink ; very little, too, goes a long way, for a small wine-glassful suffices, in half an hour, to make a man unsteady upon his legs. Old people only are allowed to indulge, for it is strictly for- bidden by custom to women and children. The Papuan keu appears to be identical with the katua of the Poly- nesians, only these latter add more water. The cuisine is in every way more elaborate than among the Polynesian aborigines, both as regards variety of dishes and the use of earthenware. Though food is mostly prepared with sea-water, the Papuans, neverthe- less, know how to roast flesh or fish, or bake it, enveloped in leaves, in the ashes. As on account of the climate cooked food will rot keep Jong, the Papuans either roast (e.g. in the case of the CoUocasia and Dioscorea) on the morrow the remnant of that which is stewed to-day, or 7'!ce versd. as is the case with fish, which is fried imme- diately after it is caught, and stewed with vegetables on the following day. By this means the millions of mildew spores and mycelia which in a few hours invade and pervade all food, whether roast or boiled, are arrested in development, and so rendered harmless. The men help the women in the preparation of food ; in fact, on festal occasions and on the entertainment of an honoured guest, this is done entirely by the men alone. On ordinary occasions the husband cooks for himself alone, and the wife for herself and the children apart. The two sexes never eat at the same hearth, er o'.it of the same dish. The domestic utensils consist of earthenware pots of various sizes, and of wooden dishes. They are of the I following varieties : — ' Pots {wab). — These are usually of the same shape ; | being almost round, and tending somewhat to a point at the bottom. They are made in a few coast villages and j in the neighbouring islands, and, though generally pre- j pared with great care, show but few ornamentations — | these consisting either of straight lines, rows of dots, or \ small curves, evidently impressions of the nails.* The j mountain people do not understand this manufacture, and so must obtain their pots either by present or by barter. The wooden utensils {tabir) consist of large round or oval plates and bowls, and seem very cleverly made, considering that the only tools used in their construction are either of stone or of bone. They are finally smooth polished with fragments of shells, and a black dye is then rubbed in. The " tabir " forms, with the weapons, the most important possessions and articles of barter for the Papuans. The shells of the cocoa-nut {gamba) are used as plates by the lower members of a family, as it is only for the father of the family or for a guest that food is served in the large wooden bowl?. A kind of fork {hassen) is used at meals, consisting of a pointed stick. Three of these are sometimes tied together, and are then generally carried in the hair, as they also serve ihe purpose of head-scratchers. The kai is a kind of spoon made from a cocoa-nut or mollusc shell ; while the schilhipa is made from a flat splinter of kangaroo or pig's bone, and can be used either as a knife or shallow spoon, A very important implement — the jarur — is made merely from a smooth shell, in which teeth are cut with a stone. This is used to grate the albumen of the cocoa- nut, which is usually only eaten in this form. The implements and arms are as follow : — " If we look at," says Maclay, "their buildings, their ;?>z>s in America will be gained. Arch«.ologis s who prpose to attend are requested to bring any articles or lUustra- Son's whch they may have, as the opportunity for a temporary Sion will be given. The Chairman of the Ohio Committee Is the Rev. S. D Peet, of Ashtabula. O. European men of in^e who intend to be present at the Buffalo -eating ^Mhe American Association, should wr.u to Prof. F. W. Putnam Salem. Mass., who might be able to make anangements, by which their expenses would be kept down. IN connection with the great International Exhibition at Phila- delphia, it is interesting to note that that city is one of the healthiest in the world, so far as the death-rate is a test, m 1874 according to an official circular just issued, with a popu- lation of 775,000, the death-rate was only I9'3 per thousand. This very favourable result is largely due to the abundant and cheap water-supply, and to the opportunities given, even to the poorest citizens, for the enjoyment of pure country air in the great Falrmount Park, which contains 2,991 acres. The most powerful influence of all, however, is the absence of that over- crowding of the population, which is the most frmtful source of sickness and death in many quarters of neariy all other large cities This will be more clearly comprehended when it is remembered that the 817,488 inhabitants of Philadelphia are spread over an area of 129I square miles, which are traversed by ""O'-^^h^" °"« thousand miles of streets and roads. The climate of Philadel- phia is also, on the whole, a favourable one, although presenting many of the peculiarities common to inland localities. I he mean annual temperature of the last ten years is 5373 Fahren- heit ; the average annual rain-fall is about forty-five mches. The Conversazione of the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers takes place to-night in the South Kensington Museum itself, instead of in the Galleries devoted to the Scientific Appa- ratus' Exhibition, as was at first intimated. We are informed that the new Zoological Gardens of Calcutta will be opened on the 6th of this month, and that Mr. J. C. Parker has been appointed temporary Curator of the establish- ment There is a fine show of Indian Ruminants and other ordinary Indian animals ; a splendid pair of the Himalayan Bears (Ursus tibitanus), and likewise examples of the other Indian species Ursus labiatus, U. malayanus, and U. tsabeUinus. Amon- J>e rarities is a cage full of the Indian Tupaia ( 7 V^''^ elliottii a curious insectivorous form, of which the Zoological Society of London had living examples not long since- The Pandora left Portsmouth on Saturday on her voyage to the Arctic Regions. One of her main objects is to take out letters, papers, &c.. for the officers and crews of the Alert and Discovery; these will.be deposited in certain depots on the chance of Capt. Nares being able to communicate with the entrance to Smith's Sound. The Pandora takes out a very con- siderable number of letters and packets of various kinds and not the least interesting news to Capt. Nares will be that of the successful conclusion of the Challenger Expedition. It is gene- rally understood that, after depositing his mail, Capt. Young will make another attempt to push his ship through Peel Straits, or Bellot Straits, and Franklin Channel, and so on into Behring Straits, and thus be the first to make the North-west Passage by sea. It is encouraging to find our legislators and "leaders ol industry" enlightened enough to realise and plainly state the condiiion of this country with regard to scientific education. The place which this country at present holds in the matter of sci.nlific industry, as contrasted with Continental countries and with America, has been frequently referred to of late both by public men and in these columns. The case was again briefly but pointedly stated by Mr. Samuel Moriey, M.P.. on Monday, at the Annual Meeting of the Artisanb' Institute. " It was, he said, " essential that our sons of toil should become humble disciples of science if England was to keep pace with foreign nations in the excellence of her manufactures. The competition of industry was rapidly becoming a competition of mtellect ; and Belgium. Germany, and America were fast treadmg upon our heels in ihe quality of their manufactures. Seeing that at no period for thirty years had there been so widespread a depression in trade as at present, he thought the great importance of im- parting scientific instruction, with a view to the maintenance of our position, would be sufficiently obvious to all. Unless this was brought to bear upon our manufactures, the situation of this, June I, 1876] NATURE 121 country would be one of great peril, and he sincerely hoped that the advantages offered to the working classes would be thoroughly appreciated by those whom the organisation was intended to benefit." We hope that sentiments like these will have due weight in the framing of our Education Codes. We are glad to hear that the Duke of Cleveland has directed the Shropshire meteorite to be placed at the disposal of the authorities of the British Museum, In October next, we learn from the Wesitrn Daily Press, the Bristol University College will be an accomplished fact. Pro- fessors of Chemistry and of Modem History, and Literature are to be appointed for the opening of the first session and Lectures delivered on the following subjects : — Mathematics and Applied Mechanics, Experimental Physics, Political Economy, and Clas- sical History and Literature. It is gratifying to find that public spirit in Bristol has not only not allowed a great opportunity to pass, but has brought the College into existence, as a working institution, with praiseworthy rapidity. The council has ap- pointed Mr. F. N. Budd as chairman, Mr. W. Proctor Baker as treasurer, and Mr. Edward Stock, secretary. B. C. Dumortier's "Hepatic38 Europse," published by C. Muquardt of Brussells, is the only work which gives a com- plete account of the Hepaticae or Liverworts of Europe, and embraces the work of more than fifty years of a veteran botanist. For a limited period, until July i, the work is offered at a reduced price of 5fr., after which the published price will be 8fr. It is illustrated with four coloured plates. By authority of M. Waddington, the older pupils of the National School of Agriculture, established at Grignon, in France, left, on May 25, for the Netherlands, where, with their professors, they are to make an agricultural tour which is to last for three months. It is stated that they will come to England next year. Grignon was the first agricultural school established in France, and was purchased by the Government many years ago. The course of studies is for three years. Dr. Lelorrain, a Ucencie in'natural science, has just organised a series of scientific excursions in the vicinity of Paris. They are to take place each Sunday during the months of June, July, and August. The excursionists will receive practical in- struction in geology, boUny, and entomology, by competent teachers. On Monday June 26, an extraordinary session of the French Botahical Society will be held at Lyons. A number of botanists from Belgium and Switzerland will join the Society, and an important botanical exploration will be made, English botanists will be very heartily received. Particulars may be obtained by directing letters to the General Secretary, 84, rue de Crenelle, St. Germain, Paris. The eighth session of the International Anthropological and Archaeological Society will be held at Buda-Pesth, under the presidency of M. Francois Pulsky, General Inspector of the Public Libraries in Hungary. The General Secretary of the Buda-Pesth Congress is M. Florian Romer. An English com- mittee will be appointed. We are glad to see that a second edition of Mr. W. N. Hartley's "Air and its Relations to Life," has been published by Messrs. Longman and Co. In this edition Prof. Tyndall's recent experiments are described. We have received Dr. C. Bruhn's monthly reports of the meteorological observations made at twenty-four stations in Saxony dunng 1875. To the reports which briefly summarise the results for each month is appended an interesting risumi. pointing attention to the more striking features of the weather during the year, and comparing these with the results of previous years' observations, and giving the annual means and extremes of all the meteorological elements at each station, together with the dates of occurrence of several interesting phenomena, such as the day of heaviest rainfall, of greatest dryness of the air, and the latest and earliest frost and snow. In the Bulletin International of the Paris Observatory of May 17 to 19, there appears an importan; paper by M. Bel- grand, on the means of protecting Paris from the inundations of the Seine. The great flood of March 17 last marked 1074 feet on the river-gauge at the bridge of Toumelle, which is three feet less than the height to which the great flood of Jan. 3, 1802, rose, and 7^ feet less than that of Feb. 27, 1658, the greatest flood on record. With a view of protecting the parts of the city liable to suffer from such floods, M. Belgrand proposes to prolong the main drains and the embankments down the river as far as the fortifications, to isolate them completely from the river, and to keep them, by means of machinery, at their normal level. Further, to prevent the flooding of cellars, he proposes a system of drainage at a lower level than that of the cellars liable to be flooded, and having no communication with the river and the main drains, these drains to be kept at the proper level by centrifugal pumps and turbines driven by the water of the city. We have received the first part of the first voL of a " Hand- buch der Palseontologie," by Profs. Schimper and Zittel. It is published at Munich, by R. Oldenbourg. Mr. W. DiTTMAR has just published (Edmonston and Douglas) a collection of useful Tables as an Appendix to his " Manual of Qualitative Chemical Analysis," which we recently noticed. " Essay on the Use of the Spleen, with an Episode of the Spleen's Marriage, a Physiological Love-story," is the title of rather an original little work just published by Dr. Patrick Black (Smith, Elder, and Co. ). As Supplement 47 to Petermarn's Mittheilungen, has been published an account of Herr G. A. Haggenmacher's Travels in Somali Land. The author gives a systematic account of his observations in this region of Africa, under the headings of Narrative of the Journey, Physical Geography, Ethnography and Ethnology, Agriculture and Cattle-breeding, Industries and Trade, and a History of the Somalis. The latest additions to the Royal Westminster Aquarium include the following : — Elawksbill Turtles (Carelta imbricata), from the West Indies ; Picked Dogfish {Acantkias vulgaris), and Lesser Spotted Dogfish (Scyllium cantata), presented by the Yarmouth Aquarium Society ; Armed Bullheads {Agonus cataphractus). Greater Pipefish [Syngnathus acus), Sea Horses {^Hippocampus ramulosus et brevirostris), Venus's Ear-shells {Haliotis tuberculafa), from Guernsey ; Sea Mice {Aphrodite aculeala), Var^leUxchms^Echinas lividus). Sun Starfish (Waj/ir papposa), Mediterranean Corals {Balanophyllia verrucaria), Venus's Flower-basket Sponge (Euplectella aspergUlum), from the island of Zebu, Collected and presented by Capt W. Chimmo, R.N. The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Silver Pheasant {Euplocamus nychtkemerus) from China, presented by Mr. W. Miles ; a Common Barn Owl {Strix Jlamnua), European, presented by Mrs. Knight ; a Blue- faced Amazon {Chrysotis amazonica) from South America, pre- sented by Miss M. Jukes ; a Silky Marmoset (Midas rosalia), a Huanaco {Lama huanacos), an Azaras Fox {Canis azara:), three Chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigtra) from South America, deposited. 122 NATURE {June I, 1876 SCIENTIFIC SERIALS The Journal of Mental Science, April, 1876. — Reflex, auto- matic, and unconscious cerebration, a history and a criticism, by Thomas Laycock, M.D., is continued and completed in this number. The paper is very interesting. Dr. Laycock takes great pains, and is, we think, successful in making good his claim to priority over Dr. Carpenter in certain views of an ad- vanced nature, which, if they are not already, will soon be entirely absorbed in others much more advanced. — Dr. John M. Diarmid writes in high praise of morphia in the treatment of insanity, when administered subcutaneously. — Dr. Daniel Huck Tuke gives an historical sketch of the past asylum movement in the United States, doing full justice to the enlightenment and humanity of American physicians, while recording the outstand- ing difference between them and their English brethren in the principle and practice of non-restraint. — A modest but suggestive paper on the use of analogy in the study and treatment of men- tal disease, is contributed by Dr. J. R. Gasquet. — Dr. P. Maury Deas describes a visit to the Insane Colony at Gheel, where the accumulating experience of a thousand years has produced an instinctive aptitude to manage the insane worth more in practice than the best of our consciously-formed systems. — Dr. Isaac makes some interesting observations on general paralysis. — "Arthur Schopenhauer : his Life and his Philosophy," by Helen Zimmern, is reviewed in a manner worthy the book and its sub- ject.— The Journal contains other reviews, clinical notes and cases, news, &c. Zeitschrift der Oestcrreichischin Geselischa/t fiir Meleorologie, Feb. I. — In this number appears the first part of a paper by Dr. W. Koppen, on the yearly periods of probability of rain in the northern hemisphere. It is accompanied by a valuable diagram of curves. He begins by calling attention to the value of the system on which his calculations are based, namely, the mere registration of the days of which rain falls in each locality. Con- sideiing that in our latitudes changes of vapour tension and of relative humidity do not concur, it is simpler than measuring the quantity of rain or snow. The probability of a downfall depends upon two conditions, the degree of relative humidity between, say 100 and 3,000 metres altitude, and the favourable or unlavourable circumstances for the formation of an ascending current, or, firstly, on the rate of decrease of temperature with height ; secondly, on the slope of the ground towards the direc- tion of the wind, while the quantity depends also on the quan- tity of vapour contained in a volume of air, and so, cceleris farihus, on the temperature. lie then gives a detailed account of the authorities from whom he has derived his materials. The selected stations are well distributed over the greater part of the I'orthern hemisphere, including the North Atlantic, and have tno>t of them afforded records during more than ten years. As in his former writings on the subject, he represents graphically the means of groups of neighbouring stations having similar annual distribution of rainfall, but annexes a table showing the actual numbers for each station. The diagram exhibits the probability of rain in each month for each district. Feb. 15. — In this number Dr. Koppen concludes his remarks on the yearly periods of probability of rain. The paper, which is illustrated by elaborate tables, contains much valuable infor- mation respecting the times of year at which rain is most and least probable in a great number of countries and districts of the northern hemisphere. Gazzetla Chiviica Italiana, Anno VI., 1876, Fascicolo I. — Synthesis of the sulpho-tannic acids, by Hugo Schitf. The author in this paper treats of phenol-sulphuric anhydride, trichlorhydroquinone-sulphuric acid, sulphopyrogallic acid, sul- photannic and pentacetosulphotannic acids, the sulpho-acids of phoroglucin, &c. — On the elasticity of metals at different tem- peratures, by G. Pisati. In this paper the author investigates the elasticity of iron and steel, arriving at the following formula :— P.L^{\ -f-gQ ^ P.U _J 7 Trro^. /' I -f- a/ K-- where K is the modulus of elasticity of stretching force, P the weight which acting on the length of wire Z, produces the lengthening /, a is the co-efficient of linear expansion. — Modifi* cation of the process for the extraction of alkaloids in poisoning of the viscera, by F. Selmi.— On a method of detecting traces of phosphoric acid in toxicological researches, by F. Selmi. — Go the use of phyllocyanine as a reagent, by Guido Pellagri, — Action of iodide of allyl and zinc on oxalic ether, by E. Patemo and P. Spica. — Chemical researches upon twelve coloured solids found at Pompeii. — The remainder of the part is occupied by extracts from foreign journals. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Royal Society, May 4.— " On the Origin of Windings of Rivers in Alluvial Plains, with Remarks on the Flow of Water round Bends in Pipes," by Prof. James Thomson, LL.D., F.R.S.E, Communicated by Prof. Sir William Thomson. F.R.S. In respect to the origin ot the windings of rivers flowing through alluvial plains, people have usually taken the rough notion that when there is a bend in any way commenced, the water just rushes out against the outer bank of the river at the bend, and so washes that bank a-vay, and allows deposition to occur on the inner bank, and thus makes the sinuosity increase. But in this they overlook the hydraulic principle, not generally known, that a stream flowing along a straight channel and thence into a curve, must flow with a diminished velocity along the outer bank, and an increased velocity along the inner bank, if we regard the flow as that of a perfect fluid. In view of this principle, the question arose to me some years ago, Why dors not the inner bank wear away more than the outer one? We know by general experience and observation that in fact tLe outer one does wear away, and that deposits are often made along the inner one. Horw does this arise ? The explanation occurred to me in the year 1S72, mainly as follows : — For any lines of panicles taken across the stream at different places, as A^Bj, AgBj, &c., in Fig. 2, and which may \te designated in general as AB, if the line be level, the water pres- sure must be increasing from A to B, on account of the centri- fugal force of the particles composing that line or bar of water ; or, what comes to the same thing, the water-surface of the river will have a transverse inclination rising from A to B. The water in any stream line c d e ^ at or near the surface, or in any case not close to the bottom, and flowing nearly along the inner bank, will not accelerate itself in entering on the bend, except in con- • This, although here conveniently spoken ot as a stream-hne, is not lo be supposed as having really a steady flow. It may be conceived of as an average stream-line in a place where the flow is disturbed with ed dies or by the surrounding water commingling with it. i June I, 1876] NATURE 123 sequence of its having a fall of free-level in passing along that stream-line.^ But the layer of water along the bottom, being by friction much retarded, has much less centrifugal force in any bar of its particles extending across the river ; and consequently it will flow sidewise along the bottohi towards the inner bank, and will, part of it at least, rise up between the stream-line and the inner bank, and will protect the bank from the rapid scour of that stream-line and of other adjacent parts of the rapidly flowing current ; and as the sand and mud in motion at bottom are cariied in that bottom layer, they will be in some degree brought in to that inner bank, and may have a tendency to be deposited there. On the other hand, along the outer bank there will be a general tendency to descent of surface-water which will have a high Velocity, not having been much impeded by friction ; and this will wear away the bank and carry the worn substance in a great degree down to the bottom, where, as explained before, there will be a general prevailing tendency towards the inner bank. Now further, it seems that even from the very beginning of the curve forward there will thus be a considerable protection to the inner bank. Because a surface stream-line c D, or one not close to the l)ottom, flowing along the bank which in the bend becomes the inner bank, will tend to depart from the inner bank at D, the commencement of the bend, and to go forward along D E, or by some such cours?, leaving the space G between it and the bank to be supplied by slower moving water which has been moving along the bottom of the river perhaps by some such oblique path as the dotted line F G. It is further to be observed that ordinarily or very frequently there will be detritus travelling down stream along the bottom » and seeking for resting places, because the cases here specially under consideration are only such as occur in alluvial plains ; and in regiors of that kind there is ordinarily- on the average more deposition than erosion. This consideration explains that we] need not have to seek for the material for deposi- tion on the inner bank in the material worn away from the outer bank of the same bend of the river. The material worn from the outer bank may have to travel a long distance down stream "before finding an inner bank of a bend on which to deposit itself. And now it seems very clear that in the gravel, sand, and mud carried down stream along the bottom of the river to the place where the bend commences, there is an ample supply of detritus for deposition on the inner bank of the river even at the earliest points in the curve v/hich will offer any resting place. It is especially worthy of notice that the oblique flow along the bottom towards the inner hank begins even up stream from the bend, as already explained, and as shown by the dotted line FG in Fig. 3. The transverse movement comprised in this oblique flow is instigated by the abatement of pressure, or lowering of 'It must be here explained that, by the free- level for any particle, is to be understood the level of an atmospheric end of a column, or of any bar, straight or curved, of particles of statical water, having one end situated at the levtl of the particle, and having at that end the same pressure as the particle has, and having the other end, consisting of a level surface of wattr, freely exposed to the atmosphere, ex else having otherwise atmo- spheric pressure there ; or briefly we may say that the /ree-level for any particle of water is the level of the atmospheric end of its pressure column, or of an equivalent ideal pressure-column. " That is to say, except when by geological changes the causes which have been producing the alluvial plane have become extinct, and erosion by the river has come to predominate over deposition. free-level, in the water along the inner bank produced by centri- fugal force in the way already explained. It may now be remarked that the considerations which have in the present paper been adduced in respect to the mode of flow of water round a bend of a river, by bringing under notice, con- jointly, the lowering of free-level of the water at and near the inner bank, and the raising of free-level of the water at and near the outer bank relatively to the free-level of the water at middle of the stream, and the effect of retardation of velocity in the layer flowing along the bed of the channel in diminishing the centrifugal force in the layer retarded, and so causing that re- tarded water, and also frictionally retarded water, even in a straight channel of approach to the bend, to flow obliquely towards the inner bank, tends very materially to elucidate the subject of the mode of flow of water round bends in pipes, and the manner in which bends cause augmentation of frictional resistance in pipes, a subject in regard to which I believe no good exposition has hitherto been published in any printed books or papers ; but about which various views, mostly crude and misleading, have been published from time to time, and are now often repeated, but which, almost entirely, ought to be at once rejected. Mathematical Society, May 11.— Prof. H. J. S. Smith, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Dr. Login was elected a mem- ber of the Society. — Mr. Tucker communicated a paper by Mr. S. A. Renshaw, on the inscription of a polygon in a conic section, subject to the condition that each of its sides shall pass through a given point by the aid of the generating circle of the conic. The inscription of a polygon in a circle, subject to the like condition, has been accomplished by several eminent geo- meters, in a remarkably easy manner by the late Mr. Swale. The object of Mr. Renshaw's paper is to show how, by an easy transformation, effected by means of the generating circle, the construction of the problem in the circle can be rendered avail- able to the resolution of the same problem in the conic sections. The author draws figures exhibiting the inscription of a pentagon in an ellipse, and of a quadrilateral in a hyperbola. Mr. Renshaw also extends some other properties (for the circle) given by Mr. Swale in the Liverpool ApoUonius (p. 45) to the conic sections. — Prof Cayley then spoke on the representation of imaginary quantities by an («, «) correspondence. The Chairman and Dr. Hirst spoke on the subject of this paper. Prof^ Cayley having taken the chair, the President communicated two notes. The first was on a theorem relating to the Pellian equation. Let D be any integral number, let T and U be the least integral numbers which satisfy the Pellian equation T--D U"^ — i ; and let n^, fi^, flj, . . . fij„ be the period of complete quotients of the form '^L — g — ^ which is obtained in the development of the root of any quadratic equation of determinant Z? in a con- tinued fraction. The equality fii X n.2 X . . . X n^n = r+ U ^D was established in the note, and an expression for the number of non-equivalent quadratic forms of determinant D was deduced from it. The second note was on the value of a certain arith- metical determinant. Let (w, n) represent the greatest common divisor of m and n ; and let >^ (///) represent the number of num- bers prime to w, and not surpassing vi ; the equality 2±(I, I) (2, 2) . . . (w, m) =;f,(l)i|/(2) . . . ^(tn) was established in the note, and several consequences deduced from it. Zoological Society, May 16.— Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair. — Dr. P. Comrie exhibited and made remarks on the zoological specimens collected by him during the survey of the south-eastern coast of New Guinea by H.M. S. Basilisk, — Dr. Giinther exhibited and made remarks on a collection of Mammals from the coast of Borneo, opposite to Labuan. Among these were especially noticed a young example of a Monkey [Alacacus melanotis) of which the exact habitat was previously unknown, and a new species of Tupaia, proposed to be called T. minor. — Dr. Giinther also read an extract from a letter recently received from Commander Cookson, R.N., stating that he was bringing home from the Galapagos Islands a living pair of the large Land-tortoise, of Albemarle Island. Com- mander Cookson stated that the male of this pair weighed 270 lbs., the female 1 17 lbs. — Mr. Sclater exhibited the skin of a rare Pacific Parrot {Coriphilus ktikli), which had been obtained by Dr. T. Hale Streets, U.S. Navy, at Washington Is'and, of the Palmyra group, and had been sent to him for examinatiou 124 NA TURE \yune I, 1876 by Dr, E. Coues. — Prof. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., read the second portion of a memoir on the Madreporaria dredged up during the expedition of H.M.S Porcupine. — Prof. Duncan also read descriptions of new littoral and deep-sea corals from the Atlantic Ocean, the Antilles, the New Zealand and Japanese Seas, and the Persian Gulf.— Prof. W. H. Flower, F.R.S., read a paper on some cranial and dental characters of the existing species of Rhinoceroses. This paper contained the result of the examination of fifty- three skulls of Rhinoceroses contained in the Museum of the College of Surgeons and the British Mu- seum, and described the principal characteristics of the five forms under which they could all be arranged, viz. : i. Rhinoceros unicornis, Linn, (including R. stenocephalus, Gray) ,* 2. Rhino- ceros sondaicus, Cuv. (including R. flowen and R, nasalis of Gray) ; 3. Ceratorhinus sumatrensis, Cuv. (including C. ni^er Gray) ; 4. Alelodus bicornis, L'nn. (including A. keillon, A. Smith ; 5. Atelodus simus, Burchell. It was also shown that the skull of a Rhinoceros lately received at the British Museum from Borneo, was that of a two-homed species not distinguishable from C. sumatrensis. — A communication was read from Dr. Julius von Haast, F.R.S., containing some further notes on Oulodon grayi, a new genus of Ziphioid Whales, from the New Zealand Seas. Geneva Physical and Natural History Society, February 3.— - Prof. Marignac gave a risutnS of researches on the specific heats of saline solutions. This work, the result of a long series of experiments, does not lead to any general law enabling us to infer the specific heat of the solution from that of the con- stituent elements, bases, or acids. This paper is published in the Archives des Sciences. — M. Theod. Turrettini, who has to make frequent visits to the boring of the St. Gothard tunnel, gave an account of a phenomenon which is frequently produced during the progress of the work in the granitic mass of the mountain. When the rock is shaken by the explosion of a mine, the reports resulting from the explosion are not the only immediate ones produced. Afterwards, and at unequal intervals, other spontaneous explosions are produced, at considerable distances from the mine-hole, of which the cause is unknown, and which cause numerous accidents to the workmen. The phenomenon is new, and it appears to indicate in the very substance of the granite, a species of tension inherent in its for» mation, and which, agitated at one point, is transmitted to a distance so as suddenly to disengage large fragments of material. It may be compared with the experim'rnt daily made by the quarrymen who work the erratic blocks in the valleys of the Alps, to obtain building materials. In order to obtain them they use wedges of wood which they drive into holes pierced for the purpose, and which, being wetted, cause by their expansion the di>junclion of the granitic masses. This disjunciion is not produced by gradual fissures as in the case of mill-stones, for example. It is always accompanied by an explosion more or less violent, and the two disjoined surfaces cannot again be exactly fitted to each other. There is deformation of the mate- rial, leading to the presumption of a state of latent tension exist» ing in the consdtution of the rock itself, and which a point hitherto quite mysterious, may throw light on the mode of forma- tion of these ancient rocks. Paris Academy of Sciences, May 22. — Vice- Admiral Paris in the chair. — The following papers were read : — Second note on theoretical and experimental determinations of the ratio of the two specific heats in perfect gases whose molecules are mona- tomic, by M. Yvon Viilarceau. — M. Vulpian was elected Member in the Section of Medicine and Surgery, m room of the late M. Andial. — On photographic images obtained at the foci of astionomical telescopes, by M. Angot. The dimension of the image increases considerably with duration of exposure and in- tensity of tlie light. The phenomenon is the same, wheJier the collodion be dry or moist ; also when the intensity of light is varied, the time of exposure remaining constant. M. Angot was led to reject the idea of a travelling [cheminement) of the photo- graphic action. He deduces the effects from tlie ordinary theory of diffraction. — Action of organic acids on the tungstates of soda and potash, by M. Lefort. — On the physical properties of water supply, by M. Gerardin. He distinguishes two types — blue water and green water — represented at Paris by the Vanne and the Seine respectively. Tne blue is changed into green in many ways, but most powerfully by organic matter in decomposition. — On the lead contained in certain platinum point; used in lightning- conductors, by M. de Luca. Two such points were fused by lightning at the Vesuvius Observatory in March ; they contained 10 to 12 per cent, of lead. Platinum points for lightning rods should have at least a density = 21. — On the antiseptic pro- perties of borax, by M. Larrey. — On the preparation of a mixture containing cyanide of potassium, for destruction of phylloxera, by M. Milius. — On instrumental diffraction, by M. Andre. He draws some inferences from the fact that two observers with telescopes of different apertures do not perceive the moon's limb at the same instant ; the telescope with the smaller aperture will show it a little sooner than the other. — Modifications in electric piles, rendering their con-truction easier and more economical, by M. Onimus. He substitutes parchment paper for the porous vessel. Thus a simple and good sulphate of copper pile may be made by wrapping a zinc cylinder in parchment paper, winding spirally a copper wire round this and immersing the whole in a sulphate of copper solution. — New experiments on the flexibility of ice, by M. Bianconi. Ice expelled by constant pressure (by an iron plate e.s^.) rises in a crest about the compressing body. It has, manifestly, compressibility or plasticity, but slow and very limited. — On nitrides and carbides of niobium and tantalum, by M. Joley. — Normal pyrotartaric acid, by M. Reboul. — On elec- trolysis of derivatives of aniline, phenol, naphtylamine, and arthraquirone, by M. Goppelsroeder. — On the fixation of atmo- spheric nitrogen by mould, by M. Schloesing. M. Deherain's experiments to prove that gaseous nitrogen can be fixed in a state of combination by various organic matters, were repeated (with certain precautions) by the author, but with negative results. — On the nature of the mineral substances assimilated by cham- pignone, by M. Cailletet. The mycelium takes from the soil al- most the whole of the alkalies and phosphoric acid present. The ashes of champignons are simpler than those of chlorophyll plants. Silicon and iron, important elements in the latter, are absent in the former ; which are also poor in lime and magnesia. The author explains how fairy circles are formed. — On the ana- tomy of the musical apparatus of the grasshopper, by M. Car- let. He corrects, in some points, what has hitherto been taught about this organ. — On anew species of psorospermia {Lythocystis Schneideri) parasite of Echinocardium cordatum, by M. Giard. — On the deposits of quaternary fossils in Mayenne, by M. Gaudry. Tnis district, which has not yet attracted much of the attention of geologists, is one of the most interesting in France for study of quaternary palaeontology. — The Akkas, or dwarfs, of the interior of Africa, by M. Marictte. Dwarfs play an important part in the religions of the ancient Egyptians, and it is probable the latter knew the country of the Niams- Niams. — Traumatic tetanus treated successfully by intravenous injections of chloral, note by M. Ore. — On the erosions which must be attributed to action of diluvial waters, by M. Robert. There are, on hill-sides such as those in the valley of the Cise, two sorts of erosions, the one very old, reaching back to the cataclysm of geologists, the other more recent, and still in the process of being formed. CONTENTS ^I^ " Scientific Worthies," Vill. — Charlhs WrvjLLB Thom«om ( With Steel Engraving) 85 The Cruklty to Animals Bill 87 The SciENCB OF Language. By ihe Rev. A. H. Saycb 88 Our Book Shelf : — Sharp's " Rudiments of Geology " 90 Harcu 'i " Souih Australia " 90 Lbttkrs to thb Editor:— The Spelling of the Name " Papua." — Dr. A. B. Mbver .... 09 New Zealand Prehsio ic Skeletoa. — Dr. Julius von Haast . . 90 Visibili y of the Satellite » of Uranus. — Asaph H.\ll 91 PiOtec ive Res mblance in tha Sloths. — J C. Gai.ton .... 91 Our Astronomical Column : — The Secondary Light of Venus 91 The Observat ry at Athens 92 The Loan Collection Conferences 93 The Cruise OF THE '■ Challe.nger ' (/f'/Z/i ///«jMi//Vv;j) .... 93 Natural History at the Royal Acade.my. By Two Natu- ralists 105 Thb Ethnology of the Papuans of Maclay Coast, New Guinea Bv J. C. Galton 107 The Museum of Comp.\kative Zoology, Cambridge. U.S.A. . . 109 TH.i Greenwich Time Signal System, II. (/-K //j; ///?/j/r«.'?V«) . . no viigration and Habit.s of the ;vokwegian Lemming 113 Tue Seychelles Islands By W. R.. M'Nab 113 The Loan Collection Confukences Section — Physical Geography, &c. — Opening Address by the Presi- dent, John Evans, F.R.S 114 Section — Bio'ogy. — Opening Address by the President, Prof. J. Burdon Sanderson, M.D., LL.D., F.K S 117 Science in Germany. By W 119 Notes "9 Scientific Serials 132 SaciBTlES AND ACADBMIBS (With Illustrations) 122 I NA TURE 125 THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1876 ON THE ORGANISATION OF THE PROFES- SION OF CHEMISTRY IT has probably happened to many young men who have fallen within the attraction of chemistry at the Universities or elsewhere to receive from their elders the prudent warning— chemistry is not a profession. Nor has this warning, or the fact conveyed in it, been without influence upon the number of chemical students. The complaint is often heard that original research in chemistry is at a low ebb in England at the present time. Com- paratively few have both inclination and income enough to pursue chemistry as a scientific study without making it also in some way a means of livelihood. Contributions to biology come chiefly from members of the medical profession, contributions to mechanical science from engineers, contributions to chemistry from those who make a living by teaching or practising chemistry ; and in proportion as a knowledge of this science opens a career, and is recognised as the basis of a profession, will a twofold gain accrue. The character and attain- ments and number of those engaged in educational or practical chemistry will be raised, and as a consequence the quality and number of the contributions made to scientific chemistry will rise also. At the present time there is a considerable and an increasing demand for young men having a knowledge of chemistry, as teachers, as laboratory assistants, as ana- lysts or experimentalists on chemical and other works. But, partly because the importance of chemistry has not long been recognised, partly perhaps for want of organisa- tion, to be a chemist does not constitute a definite voca- tion, which a young man of the professional classes may choose with the same confidence as to be a doctor or a lawyer. A vigorous attempt is now being made to organise an Association, or Guild, or Institute of Chemists, member- ship of which should confer a professional status and imply fitness for duties requiring chemical knowledge and experience. Under the Act of Parliament for the prevention of adulteration of food and drink, and of drugs, passed in 1872, a number of persons have been appointed in all parts of the country as analysts. It must frequently have been a difficult task to find " persons possessing competent medical, chemical, and microscopical knowledge " to fill these posts. Where those with whom the appointment lay took pains to assure themselves of the fitness of their nominee, probably as good appointments were made as if professional chemists already formed a well-defined class. But a definition and separation of qualified chemists, such as membership ofthe proposed Institute might effect, would serve as a guide to those charged with the duty of making such appointments, and would be a barrier against the nomination of wholly unfit persons. On the other hand, it is worth remarking that the ex- istence of a technical qualification is sometimes unfavour- able to the selection of the best out of several candidates who possess it. The friends of an inferior candidate are apt to believe that all who possess the qualification are Vou XIV.— No. 345 capable of doing the required work properly, and that the particular choice may fairly be determined by other con- siderations. Employment of an unofficial kind, it may be thought, is not likely to be given to incompetent persons, since the employer has an immediate personal interest in being well served. But here also the existence of a distinct qualification, such as a licence to practice in chemistry granted after examination by an authorised body, would aid the choice of the employer, and would increase the chance of employment to those properly qualified. The duties which fall to the lot of men engaged in general chemical practice are perhaps less grave than those which are discharged by medical practitioners ; and the persons who consult or employ chemists are, as a class, more capable of selecting a qualified practitioner than the general public. The need of a professional stamp is therefore much less in chemistry than in medicine. With this limitation, the same Reasons which have led to the establishment of a legal distinction between the doctor holding a diploma and the quack doctor, would seem to favour the estabhshment of a similar distinction between the professional chemist and the amateur. At a meeting held recently in the apartments of the Chemical Society at Burlington House, which was at- tended by a large number of the leading members of the Chemical Society, it was unanimously resolved that it is desirable that an organisation of professional chemists should be effected, and that for this purpose a body should be formed, having authority to issue certificates of com- petence. The questions which next arose, as to the nature of the organisation, and as to the steps by which it might obtain legal recognition, led to the consideration of the advantages or disadvantages of connecting the proposed organisation with the Chemical Society. This Society includes among its Fellows the most pro- minent, and by far the greater number, of those who are following chemistry as a profession. It has also the advantage of long standing, having been founded in 1 841, of an established position, and, last but not least, of incorporation by Royal Charter. Probably the exist- ence of the Chemical Society might hinder the granting of a Charter of Incorporation to the proposed Institute. It is therefore clear that if the Chemical Society could undertake to issue licences to practise in chemistry, or certificates of competency, it occupies in some respects an advantageous position for doing so. Nor does it appear that such an undertaking would exceed the wide discretion which is granted to the Society by its charter. The objects of the Society were defined by its founders to be " the promotion of chemistry and of those branches of science imme- diately connected with it, by the reading, discussion, and subsequent publication, of original communications." Here we breathe the upper air of pure science, of knowledge for its own sake. But the objects which the Charter recites are : — " The general advancement of chemical science, as intimately connected with the prosperity of the manufactures of the United Kingdom, many of which mainly depend on the application of chemical principles and discoveries for their beneficial development, and for a more extended and economical application of the industrial resources and sanatory G 126 NATURE \yune 8, 1876 condition of the community." The Charter proceeds to constitute the Fellows of the Society one body politic and corporate, and empowers a General Meeting of the Fellows, inter alia, to "enter into any resolution and make any regulation respecting any of the affairs and concerns of the said body politic and corporate that shall be thought necessary and proper." It has been urged that it would be difficult to make a distinction between ordinary Fellows of the Chemical Society and qualified practitioners admitted and registered through the agency of that Society. This difficulty lies chiefly in the choice of an appropriate name. " Licensed Fellow " has an awkward sound, and " Licentiate " is, by analogy, a lower title than " Fellow." There seems to be nothing in the Charter to forbid such a distinction, which would be for external use only, and would not differen- tiate the holders of licenses in respect of eligibility to Council, or any other privilege, from ordinary Fellows of the Society. Indeed it does not appear that it would be ultra vires for the Chemical Society to grant certificates of competency as Chemists to those who are not Fellows of the Society. Leaving, however, the question of what is legally prac- ticable, we must confess that in spite of our sympathy with the proposed organisation, we doubt the expediency of effecting it through the instrumentality of a society which has hitherto occupied itself solely with the exten- sion and diffusion of knowledge. The first granting of licences would be presumably to those who have already an established position as practi- cal chemists. The task of selection would be invidious, and would involve a responsibility from which the Chemi- cal Society would naturally shrink. Subsequently, we presume, licences would be granted upon an examination, and it would seem to be a wide departure from the func- tions which the Chemical Society has hitherto performed, for it to constitute itself an examining body, or to under- take the appointment of a Board of Examiners. If no other plan were practicable we might hesitate to express our dislike to the proposal that the Chemical Society should enter upon this new career. But examining bodies, and bodies that issue certificates to those who pass their examinations, are ready to hand. It should not be difficult to obtain the co-operation of the Uni- versities in this matter ; and a Board of Examiners appointed by the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, without necessarily any restriction that those appointed should have received a University degree, would probably command and deserve confidence better than a Board nominated by a newly-formed Institute, or even by the Chemical Society. At least such a scheme might serve at the outset ; and when through its operation chemistry had begun to be consolidated and recognised as a profession, the proposed Institute of Professional Chemists might be formed, and undertake for the future the selection of its own members. THE ENDOWMENT OF RESEARCH Essays on the Endowittent of Research. By Various Writers. (London : King and Co., 1876.) IT is to the untiring exertions of Dr. Appleton in t4ie cause which is here pleaded, that we are indebted for this valuable combination of essays. The eminence and competency of the writers give it an overwhelming force of authority and reason. The list of contributors is as follows :— The Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, Mr. James Cotton, late Fellow of Queen's College, Dr. Apple- ton, Fellow of St. John's College, Mr. Sayce, Fellow of Queen's College, Mr. Henry Sorby, F.R.S., President of the Microscopical Society, Mr. Cheyne, Fellow of Balliol, one of the company for the revision of the Bible, Mr. Thiselton Dyer, late of Christ Church, Assistant- Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, Mr. Nettleship, Fellow of Corpus Christi College. These eight writers treat of various aspects of the Endowment of Research — such as the need for it, the applicability of college reve- nues to the purpose, the incompatibility of teaching and research — in ten essays. No doubt more remains to be written on the subject, more will have to be said, and what is said will need to be said a great many times before the public — even its more intelligent section — comprehend the importance of research or the necessity for its endowment. The present volume may be taken as a fair statement of some of the most important arguments in the matter, and should furnish the starting point for a determined and unwearying &^qx\. permanently to affect public opinion in the right direction. Widely as we should wish to see this book read amongst the laymen of science, the Philistines and those who prophesy to them, politicians and profes- sional reformers, it will certainly be found quite as valu- able as by any of these, by men of science. Men of science will find in the present volume data and sugges- tions which should aid them greatly, at this critical moment, to determine what they will urge upon the government, as the fit relationship betweeo. the State and scientific research. The substance of these essays may be summarised in the form of a series of questions and answers, the latter being frequently reiterated, as it were, by one after another of the essayists. I. What is this "research" which you propose to en- dow ? It is more fully described as " scientific research." It is the " disinterested pursuit of knowledge" (Pattison), the following up of "science for science sake "(Pattison), and " by the introduction of the utilitarian motive its strictly scientific character is destroyed " (Appleton). It is co-extensive with the whole range of human knowledge, and comprises such groups as "historical" science, "men- tal " science, " linguistic " science, (Sayce, Cheyne, Apple- ton), equally with molar and molecular physics, astronomy, geology and biology. It has its end and aim in itself, viz., the attainment of truth. We assume that it is neces- sary for man, necessary for his progress, for his happiness if you please, but inevitable whether for weal or for woe, > predestined by the noblest and most commanding passion of his nature — to know the truth. To the ignorant or unthinking some truths appear to justify this craving on account of the material gratification which their know- ledge enables mankind to obtain, whilst the acquirement of other truths appears to these persons superfluous. A consideration of any one department of knowledge is, however, sufficient to show us " that nature is one, and that no man dare put his finger on any of its secrets and say this is a mere field for ingenious curiosity " (Dyer). The narrower type of utilitarian, with his petty measure of what is and what is not for the happiness of mankind, June 8, 1 8 76 J NATURE 127 has r.o scope for discussion in this matter ; he must bow before the inexorable domination of an impulse planted in the very elements of our being. The importance to the community of mature study and scientific research has been recognised in the past both in our ovvn and ether countries ; at the present day it is very much less appreciated in England than elsewhere. The immense fields which He open to us, with their harvest of know- ledge waiting for reapers, are to some extent indicated in the essays by Mr. Dyer, " On the Needs of Biology," Mr. Cheyne, " On the Study of the Bible," of Mr. Sayce, " On the Needs of the Historical Sciences." Over and over again it will be necessary to explain, as these essays do, how great and of what kind are the stores of knowledge which students see within their grasp, and how dlfificult and all-absorbing is the task of reaching them. It is the duty of men of science incessantly to exert themselves in inducing the great public, even though this generation and its successor prove stiff-necked and hardened in heart, to believe their report of the promised land. 2. Granting that " scientific research " is a good thing and to be wished for as the highest development of the life of the community, why should it be endowed .? Why should persons be supported by public funds to carry on research ? Why not leave every man to follow research for his own delectation, and trust to the attractions which it possesses for its increased cultivation ? Because it cannot be successfully carried on, in the present conditions of society, by men who have to earn their bread in any of the usual avocations. Mr. Sorby, in hfs " Personal Experience " (Essay No. VI.), with con- vincing simplicity and candour, tells us how all absorbing is research, how much may be lost by withdrawing the man who is engaged in an investigation, even intermit- tently, from his pursuit, how necessary is ample time freedom from anxiety, health of body, " readiness of the mind to take advantage of every circumstance that may occur to press forward the inquiry in the line of truth." Fortunately Mr. Sorby is endowed with a patrimony, and he says, " I never could have done what I have been able to do if it had been necessary for me to attend to any business or profession as a means of support." Men who are capable of or disposed to engage in scientific research are not always thus situated. Unless we are prepared to lose the services which these persons might render — some of them perhaps the very ablest and most productive minds — and to rest our hopes on the chance coincidence of fortune and ability, as for instance in the cases of JLyell, Darwin, and Grote, we must accept a scheme for pro- viding such persons with pecuniary support out of public funds. To a certain extent we already do this, but very inadequately. The posts in the British Museum, the Greenwich Observatory, and a few others here and there, are of the nature of endowments for research. But these are so few in number and so meanly paid that they can- not be regarded as exercising any important influence in attracting men of ability into the career of research. Among Continental nations but especially in the Ger- man empire, in proportion to the wealth of the countries in question, very much larger provision is made for the encouragement of research— and with the most perfect success, as tested by results. In Germany, owing to the special view which is taken in that country of a " University," there are 1,250 posts de- signed for the. promotion of research with stipends varying in value from 80/. to 600/. a year. There is one such post to every 33,000 of the entire population, or to every 1,600 males between the ages of twenty and thirty years. The total cost of the support of these per- sons and the laboratories, libraries, &c., with which they are connected (leaving out of consideration such special institutions as are the exact counterparts of our British Museum, observatory, &c.) cannot be less than 600^000/. annually. An equivalent provision in England would necessitate the creation of 1,000 posts at an annual ex- pense of 800,000/., making allowance for the fact that money has at least double the value in Germany which it possesses in England, in relation to the purpose under con- sideration. It is curious to observe that this sum (800,000/.) corresponds very closely with the estimated value of the incomes of the ancient University institutions of Oxford and Cambridge — where, however, the money is not applied to the endowment of research. 3. The reference to Universities and to Oxford and Cambridge brings to mind a suggestion which at first sight appears admirable. " Granted that research must be endowed, there is yet great difficulty in persuading practical men to pay for it in the pure and unalloyed form. It can only be a pleasure to the investigator to communicate to pupils the results which he obtains in his researches, clearly it is his natural function to teach. In fact you have already got what you want in the Fellow- ships of Oxford and Cambridge, many of the holders of which reside in those Universities and teach — and doubt- less spend a large portion of their time in research. Abolish the non-resident Fellowships, remove the immoral condition of celibacy, give two or three Fellowships to the men who stay longest in the place, require them all to teach at a cheap rate (this will be well received by the public) and you may be sure that they will devote all needful energy to original research — is not your demr.nd for the endowment of research hberally met in this way ? " Certainly not. The deadly error embodied in the above bids fair at the present moment to destroy the good hope which we at one time possessed of seeing at Oxford at any rate (it is from Cambridge that the mischief has come) a portion of collegiate endowments applied to the support of research. The chief care of the Oxford men who write in Dr. Appleton's volume is to combat the insidious doctrine that research is compatible with teaching, in the narrow sense in which teaching is understood in Universities which like Oxford and Cambridge are carried on upon the plan originated by and worthy of the Jesuits (see Pattison, Essay No. i), viz., that in which competition by exami- nation for prizes formsj the pivot of all activity. The watchwords of the German Universities " Lehrfreiheit " and " Lernfreiheit," are (save to a very few) unknown, the idea which they express equally so, in this country. The suggestion that teaching and research should go hand in hand appears at first sight admirable, because there can be no doubt that in the wider and higher sense of the word "teaching," the investigator is and must be a teacher. In the German Universities it is a small tax Hpon the professor or holder of a research endowment to give a course of lectures upon the subject with the study 128 NATURE \yune%, 1876 of wkich he is occupied. He is entirely free from the influence of the Jesuit's examination system ; that has been long since abolished (where it existed) in German Universities. He is never concerned for one moment with the thought as to what place his hearers may take in an examination — such examination as thei'e is being entirely in his own hands — and having very little import- ance attached to it. Moreover, he cannot (at any rate in the early part of his career) make anything considerable by the fees of his hearers, and has to look for his promo- tion and increase of income solely to success in the occu- pation "li'Jtich his chair assigns to him, namely, original research. The preparation of students for an examination by the results of which they are to gain or fail to gain valuable money-rewards, is a business by itself; and the man appointed to carry oil this business, especially when his own income and his promotion depend upon his success in placing his pupils well in the examination, cannot pay much attention to other things. He is in a totally dif- ferent position from that of the German professor. He is in the position which Mr. Sorby deprecates, viz., that of having an anxious commercial pursuit. But, worse still, as Mr. Pattison and Mr. Nettleship point out in their essays, he deals with knowledge and the results of study in such a way (viz., for examination purposes) that he necessarily is liable to become less fitted than any other man of business to pursue knowledge for its own sake. He and his pupils take up a radically false position with relation to knowledge. The essays of Mr. Pattison and Mr. Cotton are particu- larly interesting as showing how the present enormous revenues of the Colleges and Universities of Oxford and Cambridge came to be employed, as they are for the most part, in the cheapening of cramming (as Mr. Sayce docs not hesitate to call it) and the reward of success in being crammed, or in the subvention of resident college-lec- turers and tutors on the one hand, and non-resident competition prize-men on the other. Originally this was not the case ; Fellowships were even founded for the express purpose of relieving their holders from the distraction of teaching, in order that they might devote themselves to study. It was unfortunately at a time when the Church was entering upon a new phase of its history, no longer to be the great representative of learning and science, but something very different, that Leicester and Laud handed over the University to the Colleges and the Col- leges to the Church. The Fellowships became so much capital, by means of which, in virtue of their monopoly of education, the Colleges were able to convert them- selves into what they have with general approval, but to the detriment of science and letters, become — proprietary schools ^ for the " finishing " of young gentlemen. Under the present system the resident Fellow doubles his income through the division cf the monopolised fees, whilst the young gentleman's parents pay half* what they would have to pay elsewhere for the same amount of constant supervision, cramming, and " direction." Whatever portion of the collegiate revenues is retained I See Prof. Max Miiller in the Academy, May 11. The Oxford undergraduat* pays on an average 20/. a year for being prepared for examination. A well-known "grinder" for the Indian Civil Service examinations charges, I believe, 100/. a year for similar prepara- tion. by the new University Commissioners for the College tutors, or as the Oxford Hebdomadal Council has ex- pressed it, for " education " (as that word is understood at the English Universities) is clearly enough lost to research. This proposition is perhaps the main result of the arguments adduced in the essays of the rector of Lincoln, Dr. Applcton, Mr. Sayce, and Mr. Nettleship. 4. All this being admitted, namely, that it is a matter of urgent importance to provide an extensive series of fairly-remunerated posts to be held by persons constantly engaged in research, unencumbered even by the plausible condition of preparing young men for examination, the practical questions come — which with Englishmen arc generally the first questions — namely. Whence is the money to be obtained for this purpose, and how are you to ensure that true "research-men" will get the posts supposing that they are once created ? These are two distinct questions. As to the first the answer is simple. It is only through the direct inter- vention of the Government that the thing can be done. Government may assign for this purpose a large part of the revenues of Oxford and Cambridge, of City Com- panies, or of the Irish Church ; or the sum required may be met annually by the taxes. The " Essays " have chiefly in view, no doubt, the appropriation of a part of the revenues of Oxford and Cambridge to this purpose. At the same time we must remember that even were some 200,000/. a-year detached from those institutions and deliberately and simply assigned to .the promotion of research under State control, yet even then only a portion of the national requirements would be met. A larger sum than this is needed to carry out even a moderate scheme. When, however, it is proposed to leave the 200,000/. a year under the control of its present administrators with general directions to them to employ it in the encourage- ment of research, we must contend that there is very strong reason, indeed, for an additional altogether inde- pendent and strictly national endowment of research — such as has been hinted at by Lord Derby — and such as is carried out by continental Governments. The second question as to the means to be adopted in order to avoid jobbery and sinecurism in connection with the proposed series of posts, is not discussed in any way in the volume under review. It is, however, one of the most serious questions, and we shall therefore venture very briefly to furnish , an answer which is, as far as we can sec, completely satisfactory. In a question like this, of serious practical importance, the most conclusive answer is to be found in an existing solution of similar difficulties in a very closely similar case. This we possess in the great German University sys- tem. Whatever objections Englishmen may have to German Universities as teaching bodies, the fact remains that as an arrangement for the endowment of research on a triily national scale they are the most unqualified success. Research is endowed by this system and is abundantly carried on, and this without (to the writer's knowledge) a suggestion or imputation of jobbery or sine- curism in connection with it. The elements of this success in the German system are the following : — i. The appointments are held by twenty- one groups of men engaged in research. 2. By custom and the conditions of society (legislative prohibition would JuncZ, 1876] NATURE 129 have to be called into use in England) these corporations are not allowed to make money by engaging in com- mercial pursuits or the keeping of boarding-schools. (3) The appointments are graduated in value from 80/. to 400/. per annum. (4) New members are chosen in any one corporation by co-optation. The promotion of exist- ing members is effected by the same process — one cor- poration often inviting a member of another to leave his old associates in order to enjoy an increased salary, or increased facilities for research. This co-optation is carefully supervised but not directed by the State Government. (5) Since commercial operations, such as the acquirement of a large revenue by any corporation from the fees of pupils or wards committed to its care, are out of the possibilities of the case — the sole motive which affects the various corporations in their choice of colleagues is a desire to secure colleagues of eminence in the avocation which is assigned to the corporations, namely, research, and in this way to maintain a high reputation for the corporation and congenial association for its members. (6) The result of this is, that the whole stimulus which the prospect of a step-by-step accession of income from 80/. to 400/. or 600/. per annum can bring to bear upon the nature of man is constantly at work in urging those who enter upon this career to give their full energies to research, and research alone. The habit of research so stimulated and fostered, remains even after a career of twenty or twenty-five years — the length of service which entitles the German professor to retire upon full pension. The enormous fertility of Germany in all kinds of research is the outcome of this simple and healthy system. There does not appear to be any reason why a parallel system applied in this country should not produce parallel results. E. RvY Lankfster QU AIM'S ANATOMY Quain's Elevients of Anatomy. Eighth edition, edited by Dr. Sharpey, Dr. Allan Thomson, and Mr. E. A. Schafer. Two Vols. (Longmans, Green and Co., 1876.) THE seventh edition of Quain's " Anatomy " appeared nine years ago under the conjoint editorship of Dr. Sharpey, Dr. Thomson, and Dr. Cleland ; in the eighth Mr. E. A. Schafer's name is found on the title page instead of that of the last-named anatomist. The new edition contains much new matter, and with a larger as well as a clearer type, covers nearly an extra hundred and sixty pages. The arrangement of the subject-matter is considerably modified in the direction of improvement ; the descriptive account of the bones, joints, muscles, vessels, and nerves, together with the surgical anatomy, occupying the first volume ; the second, containing the general anatomy or histology, the structure of the different viscera, the organs of special sense, and the embryology. A much-needed advance has been made in the sections devoted to osteology and myology, which consists in the introduction of paragraphs on general morphology. Teachers of anatomy are too apt to entirely neglect those great strides that have been made in zoology, many of which have an important bearing upon the way m which the human skeleton and soft parts should most certainly be regarded. We, upon this view of the ques- tion, are therefore glad to find among other innovations, a classified list of the bones of the head, and their typical component parts, the nomenclature adopted being that employed by comparative anatomists. The introduction of nitrate of silver, osmic and chromic acids, logwood, &c., as adjuncts to histological manipu- lation, as well as the efforts of many able investigators, have rendered corresponding changes necessary in the sections of the work devoted to the microscopic structure of the tissues and organs ; and Mr. Schafer has here introduced several fresh illustrations, and much new matter, which makes the '"'general anatomy" by itself an invaluable summary of the most modern aspect of histolog}'. The development of blood corpuscles, the ground- sub stance of connective tissue, the ultimate nature of muscle, the serous membranes and their lymphatics, have received the greatest additions in this portion of the work. Dr. Allen Thomson has entirely re-written the chapter on embryology, having embodied all the more recent results in this rapidly advancing department of biolo- gical science, arrived at by Foster and Balfour, Parker, Mihalkovics, Waldeyer, and others. The whole forms a most excellent account of human embryology, as far as it can be known from the incomplete direct, and the much indirect evidence which can be brought to bear upon it. The editors acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Gowers, Assistant-Physician to University College, in the revision of the paragraphs on the Cranial Nerves ; and in the chapter on the Brain and Spinal Cord, Dr. Gowers has introduced a valuable account of the cerebral convolu- tions, together with some excellent drawings, more elaborate than those of Ecker. The nature of the many layers of the cerebral cortex is fully discussed, at the same time that a careful abstract of the terminology of Meynert is given, with additional figures. There is one minor zoological error which we have not seen corrected in any anatomical or physiological text- books. It is in the nomenclature of the animals with peculiarly small blood-discs. The " Napu Musk Deer" is said to possess the smallest blood corpuscles of all mammalia. It is now known that the Musk Deer has no special kindredship with the Chevrotains, or Tragulidae, to which group the Javan Chevrotain {Tragulusjavamcus), which formerly went by the name of the " Napu Musk Deer," belongs. A reference to Mr. Gulliver's more recent paper ^ also shows that in the Indian Chevrotain (7><7- gulits 7neminna) the discs are equally minute. With reference to the typography we think it much improved in all respects, but of the figures we cannot help remarking that sufficient care has not been taken by the printers in doing justice to the artists or the engravers. Several of the older woodcuts are, no doubt, much worn, but they, as well as the more recent ones, are printed much too black, considerably darker than in the previous edition. OUR BOOK SHELF Exercises in Electrical and Magnetic Measurement. By R. E. Day, M.A. (London : Longmans, Green, and Co., 1876.) Mr. Day's little book on Electrical and Magnetic Measurement seems to us likely to be of considerable J Proc. Zoolog. Soa, 1873, p. 492. I30 NATURE [yuneS, 1876 service both to teachers and to students. The best proof of knowledge of any branch of physics, and the most practical result of the study of any such branch is the acquisition of the power of applying numerical calcula- tion to every question where a numerical result can be obtained. The student knows that he understands a sub- ject thoroughly when he can write down numbers to express definitely the amount of every effect observed and measured by experiment. The importance of numerical calculations in absolute measure is becoming daily more and more appreciated : and in the best English text-books numbers expressing quantities in absolute measure are now to be found, instead of the relative numbers that were alone obtainable from the text-books of only a few years ago. Mr. Day's book brings very fairly together such questions as are likely to present themselves to the student of electricity and magnetism. Anyone who has acquired sufficient knowledge to work through a consider- able part of the exercises cannot fail to find them extremely useful. We have observed some slips that ought to be cor- rected in future editions. Among them may be men- tioned some of his exercises on the tangent galvanometer. No practical experimenter would think of using the tangent galvanometer in such a way as to bring the deflection to 89° 30', as Mr. Day does in Ex. 23, p. 47, or to the high numbers that he refers to elsewhere. We find readings of Thomson's reflecting galvanometer given in degrees, minutes, and seconds. This seems rather absurd, to say the least of it. In a few of the exercises, as in Ex. 9, p. 33, the data are insufficient. A few more definitions would, we think, be found useful. Some of the terms employed are uncommon, and some appear to be used somewhat ambiguously. Thus in Ex. 2, p. 17, the word density is wrongly used for quantity. Again density of an electric current is a term so unusual that some explanations regarding it seem all but necessary. The definition, given in Ex. 2, p. 72, as Bunsen's defi- nition, appears a very incomplete one. According to it, a current of nnit density is a current of unit streti^th passing throus;h a voltameter between two electrodes each one square millimetre in diameter ; and^from this it would follow, we presume, that the so-called density of the current is the same at every part of the voltameter ar.d independent of the form of the voltameter. If so we cannot think of any possible use of such a name. The terms Farad and Weber, given by some of the practical electricians seem to be used indifferently in more senses than one. It is simply unpardonable, in the present state of the science, to introduce ambiguities of language. On the whole, however, we are much pleased with Mr. Day's little book, and can warmly recommend it both to teachers and to those who are studying electricity and magnetism without the aid of a teacher. Geological Survey of Victoria. Prodromus of the Palce- ontology of Victoria. Decade 3. By Frederick McCoy. (Melbourne. — London : Triibner and Co., 1876.) We are glad to find that in spite of the unpromising news which has recently reached England concerning the pre- sent condition of the Geological Survey of Victoria, the palaeontological work, which is in the hands of such a well-tried and indefatigable naturalist as Prof. McCoy, continues to make satisfactory progress. The present decade of the Prodromus is of more than local interest, containing as it does interesting new details concerning Owen's marsupial lion, the Thylacoleo carnifex. The re- sult of Prof. McCoy's examination of more perfect speci- mens than those on which the first description species was based, is to suggest modifications in some of the views published by Prof. Owen, but to add confirmation to that author's main position concerning the carnivorous habits of the animal, a conclusion which was called in question by Dr. Falconer and Prof. Flower. Scarcely less interesting at the present time is the illustration and description of a species belonging to the sub-genus of Nautilus, known as Aturia. A similar form has been found by Dr. Hector in New Zealand, but in rocks of far older date, and the facts which have already come to light concerning the distribution in space and time of this remarkable genus are such as to invest it with the very highest interest both to the geologist and biologist. On similar grounds the new species of Tertiary Tri- gonia and Plcurotomaria — genera which were so abundant during earlier periods of the earth's history, but which, except in Australia, appear to have become almost wholly extinct at the close of the Mesozoic epoch — are especially worthy of the attention of the paleontologist. The ether new forms illustrated in this dtcade, including a number of Trilobites and Tertiary Mollusca, do not call for any special remark. Prof. McCoy's scientific descriptions are admirably clear and exact, and his general remarks on the relationships and distribution of the species very valu- able and suggestive. The engraving and printing of these decades afford evidence alike of the progress made by our Austrahan colonies and the liberality with which scientific research is supported in them. The plan of publication by decades, illustrating the palasontology of the countries geologically surveyed, was commenced in the United Kingdom by Sir Henry de la Beche, and has been followed both in Canada and India. The decades of the Victoria Survey are quite worthy to take rank, both as regards matter and form, with those of either of the older surveys we have mentioned ; and higher praise than this it would scarcely be possible to add. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [ The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his cotrespondents. Neither can kt undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. \ Scientific Poisoning' For giving instruction to one person in the art of poisoning without detection, the medical student, Vance, is lusderyoing the very lenient punishment of eighteen months' imprisonment. What would hi the appropriate penally to indict upon the responsible editors of nevvspapeis who initiate the ptd)lic generally into Vance's secret ? Chemist Pyrology — Quantitative Analysis by the Blowpipe The estimation of constituents in compounds by the blowpipe has leen hitherto, as is well known, limited to the process of metallic (or, in the case of cobalt, srsenidal) reduction of oxides, &c., and that with regard to a very few metals only. I now piopose to inaugurate a new plan, by which this rapid, elegant, and accurate method of analysis may (apparently) be applied far more generally, and, as I hope, successfully. In my published work ''Pyrology, or Fire Chemistry," I have, with the exception of a few indications (as in the case of the insoluble balls formed by lime in boric acid), confined myself to qualita- tive research only, but many methods will suggest themselves to the attentive student of that book, by which qualitative may be readily extended to quantitative examination. I propose to proceed more in the direction of a kind of volu' metric analysis than of analysis by means of the successive sepa- ration of constituents, as in the " wet way," and I trust that the consideration usually accorded to novelty and the difficulties always inseparable from useful novelties will not now be refused by scientific Englishmen to my feeble initiatory researches, espe- cially as I am (1 believe) the first Englishman who has published much original matter on this subject. It seems likely that the operator who can, by reason of the rapidity of his methods, obtain the 7nean 0/ a number of approximate analyses of a parti- cular substance in the same or less time than that required by the employer of an abstractedly more correct but practically more yune%, 1876] NATURE 131 dangerous mode (from the failure of any one of the delicate manipulations introduced) for one analysis, will probably arrive in the end, at a result more closely appro.iching to the truth. Blowpipe Assay of Ores, Furnace Products, &'c., for Cobalt. I. The rationale of this process depends upon the observa- tions (a), that a trace (say '5 mgr.) of cobalt oxide affords, when dissolved in a bead of microcosmic salt, the same colour (violetish blue) which is afforded by the addition to a similar bead ol five times as much oxide, or 2-5 mgrs. ; and {b) that these relative quantities of cobalt oxide afford, when dissolved in phosphoric acid beads of the same weight (say 60 mgrs.), perfectly different colours ; v\z., pink as regards the smaller proportion, violet zs regards the greater. 3. The corollary derivable from these premises seemed to me, therefore, that, the quantity of phosphoric acid being kept con- stant, it would require the addition of more soda to turn the pink bead than the violet bead blue; first, because violet already contains blue, and fecond, because the cobalt might be presumed to have already saturated, as a chemical base, part of the phos- phoric acid. 3. I was exactly wrong in this assumption. Different quantities of soda were, indeed, required to azurise the two beads, but the violet bead required more than the pink one, 4. Without troubling the reader with ttdious details, I may state here that each of three assays constantly showed the neces- sity of an addition cf 14 mgrs. of fused sodium carbonate in order to azurise a 60-mgrs. bead of phosphoric acid, made pink by the solution in it of '5 mgr. of pure cobalt oxide ; and (by three other assays) an addition of 20 mgrs. of soda to azurise a 60 mgrs. bead made violet by 3 '5 mgrs. of cobalt oxide. The ratio, therefore, stood thus : — NaC 20 NaC 14 CoO 3 '5 CoO •5 or the violet standard of cobalt was to the pink standard, as 2'4S : 071. It would, by these assays, seem that every half milligramme between those extremes of cobalt oxide dissolved, requires the addition to the bead of one milligramme of fused sodium carbonate, in order to azurise a 60 mgrs. bead of pure phosphoric acid. 5. The way to operate is to compare, by reflected and trans- mitted light, the blue colour thus obtained, with that of two 60 mgrs. beads of microcosmic salt, having the above-named quantities of pure cobalt oxide respectively dissolved in them. Space does not allow me here to describe the mechanical details of operatic ns, which must be conducted with the utmost care. 6. From these facts, the following analytical table, as regards ctbalt, is deduced : — CoO mgri. NaCos mgrs. o*5 requires 14 = 083 per cent, of a 60 mgrs. phosphoric acid bead. 10 15 = 1-6 I'S 16 = 2-5 20 17 = 3'3 25 18 = 4"i 30 19 = 50 3-5 20 = 5-8 The use of this table is shown in the following example : — 7. Assay {for Cobalt only) of Smaltine, from a Freiberg Cabinet. a. Weight of powdered ore crushed be- tween agates = j3. Weight of powdered ore after roastirg on aluminium plate = Therefore the loss in arsenic and vola- tile constituents = y. Weight of a new platinum wire with a ring of I diameter 1 = 5. Weight of the same platinum wire with a bead of phosphoric acid fused on it = 6. Weight of the bead and wire after 2*5 mgrs. of (i8) had been dissolved in the former = I24'0 ipgrs. per cent. 50 - 18 56 32 71-5 134-5 64 This refers to the " ringing forceps." mgrs. per cent. C. Weight of the bead and wire after the addition of fresh phosphoric acidi = 132-5 — (This bead being rose colour,' fused sodium carbonate was cautiously taken up from an agate slab and dissolved in it under O.P.). 7j. Weight of soda required to colour to the >/Mf of mic. salt with 2"5 CoO... = 16 "5 — Now, by the above table (6), 16 '5 mgrs. oi soda correspond to 3 per cent, of a 60 mgrs. bead in pure CoO ; and 2*5 mgrs. of pure CoO, requiring 18 mgrs. of soda, constitute 4'i per cent, of the bead. Therefore we have the ratio — 4" I : 3 :: 100 = |jths of 100 = 75 per cent. But, as this is the percentage of the roasted powder, or " regulus,' we have — Regulus Percentage Mgrs. in of regulus. of 100 mgrs. mgrs. ore. 36 : 75 : : 100 = 20*08 per cent, cobalt. Several assays were made with a similar result, but one oiher example is given here, with a different platinum wire. mgrs. a. Weight of a platinum wire = 610 j8. ,, ditto with bead of phosphoric acid =1310 7. ,, roasted smaltine dissolved in (/3). = 25 8, ,, this wire with bead coloured rose pink with (7) = Ii8'5 c. ,, bead and wire with fresh phos- phoric acid = 1210 f. ,, sodium carbonate required to colour (e) 3/?<(f = 165 8. These data would, of course, give a similar result Roast- ing before O. P. on aluminium plate is so rapid ana efficacious that the whole process only occupies about half an hour ; with the roasted powder, about a quarter of an hour. A drop of water is placed on the powder to retain it under the blast In roasting, nickel oxide appears, yellowish green, on the sur- face, and might possibly be mechardcally separated at this stage of the procedure. W. A. R( ss Page's Introductory Text-book of Physical Geography It has been pointed out to me that the same errors which I noted in this book (Nati'RE, vol. xiv. p. 26). had betn corrected as regards Prof. P ge's "Advanced Text-book " by Mr. Wallace three years ago. 'J'hey can scarcely, therefore, be anything but wilful, and it is difficult to understand how they could be allowed to leappear. We do expect teachers of posi- tion at least to do their best to teach rightly ; and when one has fallen into error it is certainly more manly to correct it than to stick to it, because it has once been cf mmitted. It is a good thing to teach science, but it is just the opposite deliberately to teach false science. The Reviewer OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN The Secondary Light of Venus.— By way of sup- plement to the historical notes on the luminosity of the " dark side " of the planet Venus in last week's " Astro- nomical Column," a brief enumeration of the various explanations of the phenomenon which have been offered from time to time may not be out of place here. These resolve themselves into (i) reflected earth-light analogous to the lumi^re-cendr^e exhibited by our moon, an explanation advanced by Schroter, Harding, and many others ; (2) phosphorescence of the planet's atmosphere, suggested by Sir W. Herschel to account for the appear- ances remarked by Schioter, though looked for without success by himself, with which may be mentioned Pas- torflf 's idea of a self-luminous atmosphere ; (3) visibility by contrast — "might not a plausible explanation be given," asks Arago, " by referring it to a class of objects which are negatively visible, or which are rendered apparent by way of contrast ?" (4) luminosity, similar to our polar-light (aurora borealis) ; (5) natural light-deve- lopments, as luminosity of the ocean ; (6) a condition of » This is necessary to make up the weight of the bead to 60 mgrs. After the addition of soda, thtre is no loss from volatilisation. * From the interference of iron and nickel oxides in the assay. 132 NATURE \7une%, 1876 glowing-fire, or intense heat of the surface; and (7) the Kiinstliche Feuer of Gruithuisen. There is one characteristic of the phenomenon abun- dantly verified by the numerous observers who have recorded it, which cannot be overlooked in our endeavours to arrive at its true cause, viz., its intermittent or only occasional visibility. This alone appears to render more than one of the explanations which have been advanced highly improbable if not wholly inadmissible. There are also isolated observations which seem rather to favour one or other of the hypotheses. Thus Schroter con- sidered that the change in the colour of the faintly illu- minated disc from reddish to ashy-grey remarked by Harding, indicated a connection with our aurora borealis, in exhibitions of which similar rapid changes or alterna- tions of colour are observed, and a very curious observa- tion by Madler has been cited in the same direction. On April 7, 1833, at 8 P.M., in a sky of extraordinary clear- ness and tranquillity, Venus, then in crescent-phase, appeared to him accompanied by a beautiful radiating appearance ; seven or eight straight rays, at times very bright and sharply defined, at others fainter and more diffused, occupied the north-west quadrant, and were gradually lost in the general ground of the sky. The longest ray extended about 1 5', the shortest was about half that length ; neither turning round the eye-piece, nor viewing the planet in different parts of the field of the telescope, at all affected the phenomenon, which continued unchanged as long as Venus was observed that evening. A figure of this appearance is attached to Madler's account of his observation. Zollner has expressed his conviction that under spectro- scopic examination, the ash-coloured secondary light of Venus will be found to present bright lines, and it may be hoped that opportunities for such observations may occur during the present summer. By closely watching the form of the crescent towards the extremities, further evidence of rotation in rather less time than is occupied by the earth in her diurnal revolution, may also be obtained. But with this object, observations must be made at very short intervals. In illustration of this may be quoted Madler's experiences on June 6 and 10, 1836. h. June 6, 10 41 Sid. T. June 10, 10 36 38 56 14 26 38 Both horns equally pointed, and the curvature quite elliptical. The same. The northern horn appears to be the more pointed. The northern horn certainly more pointed : also at iih. 43m. Again uncertain. Both horns ahke. The northern is more pointed. Again doubtful. Madler referring to these and other observations of a similar character, in May and June 1836, expresses his opinion that they are quite irreconcilable with Bianchini's period of rotation, but may be compatible with the shorter one of Cassini and Schroter. The Minor Planets. — The following summary is founded upon elements of 153 members of this group, which appear to be sufficiently well determined to afford reliable results. It exhibits the distribution of the peri- helia, nodes, inclinations, and excentricities, and will be seen to offer several very decided characteristics. I. Longitudes of the Perihelia. Number of Number of 0 0 Orbits. 0 0 Orbits. 0- 30 ... 18 ibo-210 ... 7 30- 60 ... 22 210-240 ... 9 60- 90 ... 11 240-270 ... 10 90-120 ... 15 270-300 . . . 7 120-150 ... 12 300-330 ... 19 150-180 ... 7 300-360 ... 16 2. Longitudes of the Ascending Nodes. Number o: Number of 0 0 Orbits. 0 0 Orbits. 0- 30 ... 15 180-210 ... 19 30- 60 ... 13 210-240 ... 8 60- 90 ... 19 240-270 - 5 90-120 ... 6 270-300 ... 7 120-150 .. 16 300-330 ... 13 150-180 .. 16 330-360 ... 16 3. Iticlinations to the Ecliptic. 0- 5 .. 52 20-25 ... 6 5-10 .. 58 25-30 2 10-15 26 30-35 1 15-20 8 4. Excentricities. o'oo-o'o5 7 O-20-O25 ... 31 005-0- 10 23 0-25-0-30 ... 6 010-015 41 1 0-30-0-35 6 0-15-0 '20 38 ; 035-0-40 1 A FREE SPANISH UNIVERSITY OUR readers will easily understand what sort of a foster-mother a 'Government like that of Spain will prove to education generally, and to scientific education and inquiry in particular. Any educational institution connected with such a state must necessarily be ham- pered and hindered in many ways, and the only chance of obtaining perfect liberty in scientific education and instruction is in being rid of all state interference. This has been so strongly felt in Spain by some of the foremost Spanish men of science and letters that they have formed an association to found an institu- tion for free education. A prospectus of the institution has been forwarded us, and the difficulties which beset a liberal education in Spain may be learned from the fact that it is signed by ten ex-professors of the highest standing, all of whom have been removed from their chairs by Government on account of their liberal opinions. Among these are the names of Augusto G. de Linares, ex-Professor of Natural History at the University of Santiago, and Laureano Calderon, ex-Professor of Organ'c Chemistry at the same University. The object of the Association, as stated in the prospectus, is to found at Madrid a free institution dedicated to the culture and propagation of science in its various branches, specially by means of education. A sort of joint-stock company will be constituted by shares of 250 francs, payable in four instalments between July next and April 1877. A preliminary meeting was to be held on the ist inst, to constitute the Society, and we earnestly hope that a suc- cessful start has been made. The Association will be directed by a Council representing all parties interested. The Institution itself will, of course, be perfectly free from all religious, philosophical, or political restrictions, its only principles being the "inviolability of science" and the perfect liberty of teaching. There will be established, according to the circumstances and means of the Society (i) studies for general, secondary, and professional edu- cation with the academic advantages accorded by the laws of the State ; (2) superior scientific studies ; (3) lectures and brief courses, both scientific and popular ; (4) competi- tions, prizes, publication of books and reviews, &c. The greatest precautions will be taken to obtain as professors men of undoubted probity and earnestness and of the highest competence. We need say nothing to our readers in recommenda- tion of the above scheme. All who sincerely desire the welfare of Spain and the spread of scientific knowledge must sympathise with its promoters, who, we have every reason to believe, are men of the highest character and competency. We hope that not a (ew of our readers will show their sympathy with the object of the Association by sending the moderate subscription which constitutes a shareholder to M. Laureano Figuerola, Calle de AlcaM, 72, Madrid. June 8, 1876J NATURE 13; SCIENCE IN GERMANY {From a Gerfnan Correspondent^^ TOURING the past year some interesting observations ■*-^ have been published with reference to the altera- tions in animals through external influences. One series of these researches is by Weissmann, on the transforma- tion of the Mexican Axolotl into an Amblystoma {Zeit- schrift fiir Wissenscha/iliche Zoologie,xxv., 1875, Supple- ment). It refers, of course, to a phenomenon which is not now new ; but it includes a number of original experi- ments and observations, and is especially important for the conclusions drawn from these. The Axolotl {Siredon Mexicatiiis) and its allies in Mexico retain there, during life, in the natural state, the form and organisation of the larvas of our Tritons ; but, in artificially breeding them in Europe, they sometimes undergo a metamorphosis into an Amblystoma, i.e. an animal of the form of our fully developed Tritons. These peculiar departures from the natural behaviour of the Mexican Siredon, Weissmann desired to produce artificially, and with this view he en- trusted the breeding of five eight-day larvae to a lady, Fraiilein v. Chauvain. All five actually underwent the de- sired transformation, having been put for six toeight months in water that was quite shallow, so that they were compelled frequently to leave the water, and become used to lung- breathing. Now, since, besides the Mexican Siredon species, which are never transformed in the natural state, there occur in the United States of North America quite similar animals, which, however, represent merely the temporary larva stage of various species of Amblystoma, the Mexican Siredon species have hithertobeen regarded as forms that have remained at a lower stage of development, and, in the rare cases of metamorphosis by the action of changed conditions of life, have been incited to progres- sion towards a higher stage. Weissmann, however, is now of a different opinion. He believes that the sudden and very remarkable transformation of the Siredon, which affects a whole series of organs, cannot be fully explained by the direct influence of changed conditions of life ; and that should one see in such a transformation the leap-like {sprunj^weise) development of a new species or even genus, the hypothesis of a kind of life-force would be necessary. This teleological hypothesis should be avoided, according to Weissmann, and the transforma- tion of the Siredon conceived as a not real but only appa- rent new formation of species, viz., as a reversion to a form which previously existed among the ancestors of the Siredon. Since the Pejrennibranchiata, at all events, re- present the older form of the tailed amphibians, as it is indi- cated for the Amblystomas of North America in their Sire- don-like larvae, all Siredons are to be regarded as the descendants of Amblystomas, which were permanently depressed to that older form, and in their occasional metamorphoses have realised a reversion to the second phylogenetic stage (Amblystoma). Such a conception Weissmann supports by the following reasoning : — The possibility of Siredon having come from Amblystoma is proved by the fact that we sometimes see Triton-larvaa, which attain the full size and sex-forms of an adult Triton without being transformed ; now the Tritons and Ambly- stomas are very similar animals, and their larvae are again extremely similar to the Siredon. But it is possible also to indicate the probable causes which forced the Ambly- stoma-like ancestors of the Siredpn to reversion into the Perennibranchiate form. According to Humboldt's view, the high table-lands of Mexico were formerly covered with extensive lakes, and the evaporation of such large water-surfaces must then have produced a very moist atmosphere, which is necessary to the naked amphibia livtag on land. Consequently, Amblystoma forms could at that time live in Mexico quite well. With disappearance of the waters, however, came the present extreme dryness of the air on the Mexican highlands, which allows only the Amphibia living in water to survive, and is therefore probably the reason why the Amblystoma larvae have gradually quite ceased leaving the water and being trans- formed, and thus have constituted the present Siredon species. If, then, the occasional transformation of Siredon to Amblystoma may be explained as a reversion, the necessity ceases of supposing for so sudden a change a special life force, which in Weissmann's opinion is neces- sary, should his theory be rejected. Similar experiments on the change of organisation through action of external influences have been made by Scbmankewitsch on low Crustaceans of the order of Branchiopoda. He also was led to experiment by natural occurrences. In the neighbourhood of Odessa (in Southern Russia) there is a salt lake which, with a view to salt production, was divided by a dam into two halves, so that in the lower, shut off part, salt was deposited in solid form, while the less salt upper portion alone, at the com- mencement, contained the Branchiopod Artetnia salina in large number. In the year 1871 that dam burst ; the very salt water of the lower half of the lake was diluted to about 8* of Baiime's areometer, and at the same time there were carried into it large masses of Ariemia salhia. After the dam was repaired the concentration of the same water rose in 1872 to 14°, 1873 to 18", 1874 to 25°. At the same time the Artetnia salina present underwent a re- markable change. In 1871 they still had their charac- teristic form of tail. In 1874 the two lobes of it, as also their bristles, had entirely disappeared. Simul- taneously the gills were enlarged, in correspondence to the smaller proportion of oxygen in the very salt water. The body as a whole, however, decreased in size, so that the new form corresponded almost exactly to that of Artemia Miihlhausenii, formerly regarded as a distinct species. This fact was tested experimentally, and the same results were obtained by artificial breeding in salt water of in- creasing degrees of concentration. Further, by the reverse experiment, the Artemia Miihlhausenii was, even in a few weeks, altered in the direction of Artetnia salina j and this last form was, by continued dilution of the salt water, transformed into a Branchipiis ; i.e. a genus which, of larger dimensions than Artemia salina, has a some- what different tail, and one abdominal segment more, and which also is propagated sexually, whereas partheno- genesis is the rule with Artemia. In natural water-pools,, with various proportions of salt, Scbmankewitsch found (in accordance with his experiments) various traiisition stages between the forms named, so that the increase of the amount of salt reduces the Branchipus form in size, segmentation, and initial form of the post-abdomen, and, with corresponding change of the gills, essentially modi- fies also the propagation, so that the strongest sale solutions harbour only Artemia MiiJilhausenii. From all these facts it appears that the direct influence of changed conditions of life may, in course of a few generations, transform one species, or even one genus, into another, and this in both directions ; so that there can be as little question of the reality of a reversion as of that of im- perceptible small changes, which, accumulating through long periods of time, suffice for the formation of a new form. Such facts, however, seem little fitted to give support to the opinion of Weissmann, viz., that rever- sion only is capable of working a rapid and remarkable change. SIEMENS* ELECTRIC LIGHT APPARATUS THE comparatively infrequent employment of electric light, considering the great success achieved in its pro- duction, would at first sight appear to be due to something in the application of the electricity itself. It has been re- peatedly and satisfactorily proved that a continuous and powerful light can be produced by electricity, and the 134 NATURE {June 8, 1876 question naturally arises, Why is it not more frequently employed for practical purposes ? Unquestionably the first experiments with electric light were not successful, but this is generally the case with new inventions. Unfortunately, however, a feeling seems to have arisen directly against the application of elec- tricity for lighting purposes, or at any rate against the employment of the existing apparatus in the hope that more perfect may soon be invented. The numerous cases in which powerful electric lights would be of service may be divided into two kinds : first those where a great number of lights are required at dis- tant places, either simultaneously, or at intervals, and in varying numbers, such as lighting streets, extensive pre- mises, &c. Second, those where only one or a few power- ful lights are required, such as illuminating harbours and public places, as well as for lighthouses, signalling, and diving operations. June 8, 1876] NATURE 135 Great difficulty is experienced in properly adjusting the resistances and dividing the current, for the production of such a number of lights as is required in the cases of the first kind, and extensive experiments to overcome this difficulty have as yet been attended with only partial success. It is to those of the second kind that we purpose to draw attention. Here the circumstances are quite altered, the cases of application are numerous, and the apparatus employed is perfect and proportionally cheap, and yet it is adopted not nearly so frequently as might be expected. A constant light equal to that of from 9,000 to 10,000 stearine candles can easily be produced, with a motive force of from eight to nine horse-power, and this at a cheaper rate than any other artificial light. Such apparatus have lately been employed in various countries for various purposes, such as for engineering works, torpedo defences, signal lights, and in military field operations. It is to be hoped that its adoption in this country will soon be more general. The following is a description of Messrs. Siemens Elec- tric Light Apparatus, one of many that have been adopted in various countries. Comparative experiments have proved it to be the most powerful and at the same time the least expensive of all apparatus yet employed in the production of continuous electric light. It is a com- plete apparatus by itself, in which the core of the armature is fixed and the wire-helix alone caused to rotate. By fixation of the armature core great inductive power is obtained, and consequently powerful currents. Fig. 2. — End Elevation and Longitudinal Section of Dynamo-electric Light Machine. With about 380 revolutions of the wire-helix per minute, and nine to ten horse-power, a light equal to 14,000 candles is obtained. The principle in this and all other magneto-electric machines is, that when part of a closed electrical circuit is passed between the poles of a stationary magnet, a cur- rent is generated in the circuit the direction of which depends upon the position of the magnetic poles and direction of motion of the conductor. In this machine (shown in Figs, i and 2) the conductor, by the motion of which the electrical current is produced, is of insulated copper wire, coiled in several lengths, and with many convolutions on a cylinder of thin German silver, and in such a manner that each single convolution describes the longitudinal section of the cylinder. The whole surface of the metal cylinder is thus covered with wire, forming a second cylinder closed on all sides {a, b, c, d, Fig. 2). This hollow cylinder of wire incloses the stationary core of soft iron (« s s' «' Fig. 2) which is fixed by means of an iron bar in the direction of its axis, prolonged at both ends through the bearings of the wire cylinder to standards. Surrounding the wire cylinder for about two- thirds of its surface, are the curved iron bars (n n' s s' Fig. 2), separated from the stationary iron core by space only sufficient to permit the free rotation of the wire cylinders. The curved bars are themselves prolongations of the cores of the electro-magnets (e E E e) and the sides of the two horse-shoe magnets (Naccharuin spontatieiivi), which soon takes root, the opposite stems being fastened together with lianas, and the intervening space between the rows filled with rough-hewn logs. In less than a month's time a new plantation is put in full order and planted with bananas, sugar-cane, and the CoUocasiaand Dioscorea. The tools which are used for this purpose are very simple, being the tidja, a strong stick about two yards in length, and sharpened at one end — the implement of the men ; and the udja-sab, which is used by the women, a kind of small spade. The Papuans have throughout the year a rotation of fruit and vegetables. Every day the women go forth to fetch from the plantations what is necessary for the same evening and the following morning. The coast people have the most property in cultivated land, while the islanders are chiefly employed in the manufacture of pots, dishes, and canoes. Among the Papuans of Maclay Coast there exists neither trade nor a regular system of barter. If, for instance, the coast people visit their neighbours or the people of the hills, or the islanders, they bring with them as a present all the superfluous articles which they possess, and on their departure receive as presents productions of the village which they have visited. Maclay has never seen one single present given or demanded in return for an equivalent gift. Not many villages are in possession oi pirogues (canoes), because most of those on the coast are situated in the neighbourhood of a surf so strong as to make landing impossible. The canoes are hewn out of a single tree- trunk, and have an outrigger (Aussengestell), and are manned by two rowers. The inhabitants, however, of Bili-BiU and of the " Archipelago of Contentment," build larger canoes, provided with two masts, " raking " one fore, the other aft. In these canoes the aborigines can sail with the most unfavourable winds. The large sail consists of a pandanus * mat, and split bamboo and ' Patidaiius is the generic term for the family of Screw-palms. — J. C. G. lianas serve as sheets and shrouds. The anchor is a piece of a tree-trunk, of which four or five branches encircling it, after being cut short and sharpened to a point, serve as the " flukes," and is weighted by means of a number of stones r.ttached to the shank by a sort of basket-work. Neither the coast people nor the inhabitants of the hills undertake voyages of any considerable extent. With a few words on the daily life of the Papuans this article must be brought to a close. The Papuan of Maclay Coast marries early, and leads, morally speaking, a most model life, extra- connubial alliances being seldom, or never, formed. The marriage settlements are very simple, the bridegroom making, on agreement with the bride's family, a few presents, such as dishes and dyed cloths. A few days after, a pig or a dog is slain, the marriage feast is celebrated, and the young man takes his bride off to his hut. There is a much simpler procedure, the event being marked by no feast, when a man divorces his wife because she is unable to work, perhaps on account of lameness, for he simply sends her off and takes another. In other respects the men treat their wives well, for it is very seldom that a wife is beaten ! The women, however, do all the hard work and carry heavy burdens, so that the freshness and healthiness of youth soon passes away. The children are very cheer- ful, and seldom scream. They are more petted by the father than by the mother, and Maclay has actually seen, what is very uncommon among savages, toys, in the shape of model canoes, and a kind of top. They, however, in childhood learn all the pursuits of manhood, and early accompany their father into the plantations or on his fishing excursions. It is a comical, though not uncom- mon sight, to see a boy of four years old gravely tend the fire, fetch wood, clean the dishes, help his father to peel fruit, and then, on the entrance of his mother, run to her and begin to take the breast. The women suckle for far too long a time, which, more than even overwork, is the cause of their having such small families. The day of the Papuan begins with the early dawn, and he loves the crow of the cock which heralds the approach of day. Even it he has nothing particular to do, off he goes to the shore, while it is yet dusk, enveloped in his mal, and with chattering teeth awaits the sunrise. When his wife is already off to the plantation, he lingers over his breakfast, and then either chews betel or smokes a green cigar. About ten o'clock the men depart to their various occupations ; and if a visit be paid to a village at noon, not a human being will be seen, but a dog or a pig or two will come out and in- spect the intruder, and then disappear again. About four or five in the afternoon the men return, dripping from their daily bath. In spite of numerous skin diseases the Papuans can scarcely be termed dirty, for they daily, often several times a day, take a bath and rub their skin with sand or grass. Later on in the evening come their wives, sweating and staggering under their heavy burdens. Supper is then made ready. Into the pot-au-feu are emptied the most incongruous food stuffs, reminding us almost of the " ingredients " of the witches' caldron in " Macbeth," e.^. beetles, snails, crabs, caterpillars, and small lizards ! On these collocasia or dioscorea are put, and over all water, a third part being sea-water, is poured, and the pot, covered with green leaves, is then set on the fire to boil. When all is ready, the master of the house distributes the portions, the worst morsels to his wife and children, reserving the best for himself and his guests. In order to obtain a so:ip<^on of saline flavour, the brine is drunk in which the food was cooked. After a cigar or a quantum of betel, the men retire to rest, previously taking care to light a fire under their bedsteads. So passes away the day of the Papuan, varied only by an occasional excursion, or a feast, or a preparation for war, John C. Galton 138 NATURE \yune 8, 1876 NOTES The first of the series of the free science lectures in connec- tion with the Loan Collection of Scientific Instruments was given on Saturday evening at eight o'clock. The notice issued was but short, yet the room was not only as full as it could be, but the crowd was such that if space for 1,000 had been provided, all the places would have been occupied. The lecturer, as we announced, was Prof. Roscoe, and his subject was "Dalton's Instruments, and what he did with them." The following gfntlemen have already volunteered to give their valuable assist- ance for future lectures, which will take place on Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday evenings at 8 o'clock : — Prof. F. A. Abel, F.R.S., President of the Chemical Society, Capt. Abney, R.E., F.R.S., Prof. Roscoe, F.R.S., Dr. Warren De la Rue, F.R.S., Prof. G. Carey Foster, F.R.S., President of the Physical Society, Dr. J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S., Prof. Guthrie, F.R.S., Mr. J. Baillie Hamilton, Mr. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., Rev. R. Main, M.A., F.R.S., the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigb, F.R.S., Dr. W.J. Russell, F.R.S., Mr. W. Spottiswoode, M.A., F.R.S., Dr. W. H. Stone, Rev. S. J. Perry, F.R.S., the Right Hon. Lyon Playfair, M.P., F.R.S., the Right Hon. the Earl of Rosse, F.R.S., Mr. C. V. Walker, F.R.S., Mr. W. C. Roberts, F.R.S., Mr. W. H. Preece. The next lecture will be given on Saturday evening by Prof. Guthrie, On Cold ; on Monday the Rev. S. J. Perry will lecture On the Transit of Venus Instru- ments. It is proposed to give the following demonstrations on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday next: — il A.M., Marine Engines in Motion ; ir.30. Fog Horns, Electric Light, Spectrum of Electric Light ; 12.45 P.M., Time Gun ; 1.30, Radiometers ; 2 to 5, Pictet's Ice-making Machine ; 2.30, Orreries ; 3, Sir J. Whitworth's Millionth Measuring Machine and True Planes (Monday only) ; 3.30, Electric Light, Musical Instruments (Monday only). Ancient Musical Instruments (Tuesday only) ; 4.30, the Times Type-Composing Machine; 7.30, Telegraphic Apparatus (Monday and Tuesday only) ; 8, Sir J. Whitworth's Machines (Monday only) ; 8 to 9, Little Basses' Lighthouse ; 8, Lecture in Conference Room (Saturday and Monday). In the list of papers read on Tuesday week we omitted to mention those of Dr. C. B. Fox, "On the Employment of Aspirators in Atmospheric Ozonometiy," and Mr. J. Allan Broun "On Barometiic Variations and their Causes." On Thursday, besides the papers already mentioned, Dr. Rae made a communication on Arctic Maps. On Friday Mr. W. S. Mitchell read a paper on the MS. tables and maps of William Smith. On Whit Monday 11,964 people visited the Collection; on Tuesday the number was 5,656. At the meeting of the American Academy of Science, on March 8, the president, Hon. Charles Francis Adams, presented the Rumford medals (in gold and silver) to Dr. John W. Draper, for his researches in radiant energy. In presenting the medals, the president alluded, among other matters, to Dr. Draper's discovery, in 1840, of the peculiar phenomena commonly known as Moser's images, to his method of measuring the intensity of the chemi- cal action of light, afterwards perfected and employed by Bunsen and Roscoe in their investigations, and especially to his elaborate investigation, published in 1847, in which Dr. Draper established exferimentally several important facts in spectrum analysis. On Thursday, June I, M. Dumas, the eminent chemist, delivered his inaugural address, as the new member of the Academic Fran9aise. M. Dumas read in a clear and im- pressive tone. His task was to deliver an eloge on M. Guizot, whose career touched science at very few points. M. Dumas accomplished his duty with perfect tact, and used language which his hero would have wholly approved. At a meeting recently held, in Sydney it was resolved to obtain subscriptions to enable Signor D' Albertis to carry out a scheme for the exploration of New Guinea. This well-known naturalist and explorer proposes to ascend the Fly river to the centre of the island, where very probably the river has its sources, and to find his way back by land to Yule Island or Port Moresby. The journey altogether will probably last from eight to twelve months, and he would require a steam-launch, 35 or 40 feet long, with furnaces for burning wood, besides a small contingent of men. He will obtain all possible information as to the geography, fauna, flora, and mineralogy of the district traversed. Signor D'Albertis offers himself to subscribe at least 200/. to the expedition. The New South Wales Government, we are glad to see, has put the steam-launch Nroa at Signor D'Albertis' disposal, and we have no doubt that by this time the very moderate sum required has been subscribed. Sir Joseph Whitworth was on Thursday last presented with the freedom of the Turners' Company. At the last meeting of the Lisbon Commercial Association it was proposed to ask the Government to send an expedition to carry out Lieut. Cameron's projects, starting from Angola. The suggestion was made that scientific men should accompany the expedition. The President and Council of the Geological Society hold a reception on Saturday evening at the Society's rooms, Burlington House. Among the passengers in the mail steamer Artuasus, which sailed from Leith on the 2nd inst. for Iceland, are Prof. Jonstrup, M. Fieldberg, surveyor, and M. Gronlund, botanist. On arriving at Iceland these gentlemen are to be joined by Lieut. Njdal, of the Danish gunboat on the station, and an expedition is to be formed to proceed to the scene of the recent volcanic eruption. On Saturday afternoon the annual meeting of the Board of Visitors of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, was held, at which the report of the Astronomer Royal, Sir G. B. Airy, was read. Regular courses of lectures have been established at the Naval Observatory, Montsouris, for the officers of the French national navy attached to the establishment. The general principles of Astronomical Observations are lectured upon by M. Loewy ; Special Naval Methods, by Capt. Turquet, the Director of the establishment ; Terrestrial Magnetism, by M. Marie Davy, Director of the Montsouris Observatory ; Spec- troscopy, by M. Comu; Photography in its Application to Astronomy, by M. Angot, of the National Observatory of Paris. All the observations made by the pupils are submitted to cor- rection, and will be utilised as far as possible for the improve- ment of Connaissance des Temps, The Municipal Council of Paris voted some time since money for organising a number of meteorological observatories, to be modelled after the Montsouris pattern, and to be located in the several districts of Paris. The Prefect of the Seine has appointed a Commission, to organise these observatories on the top of several public buildings, divided as far as possible from amonp the several districts. A TESTIMONIAL was recently presented at Wisbech to Mr. S. H. Miller, F.R.A.S., F.M.S. The testimonial, subscribed for by a large number of gentlemen in the district, is of the value of about 100/., and the inscription on the plate states that it is " presented as some acknowledgment of the value of the services he has rendered to the interests of education, science, and agriculture." yune%, 1876] NA TURE 139 The French Senate and the French Chamber of Deputies, are both of them busy with educational matters. The Government has proposed to the Senate to restore the National Institute of Agriculture, which had been established at Versailles by the second Republic but was abolished by the Empire. The Chamber of Deputies has voted, after a very interesting address delivered by M. Waddington, the Minister for Public Instruction, the first reading of a Bill restoring to the Govern- ment the right of appointing examiners for granting honours to the pupils of the so-called Free Universities. The volume of the Zoological Record for 1874 has just reached us. Under the editorship of Mr. E. C. Rye, Librarian to the Royal Geographical Society, Mr. E. R. Alston has undertaken the Mammals, Mr. R. B. Sharpe and Dr. Murie the Birds, Mr. O'Shaughnessy the Reptiles and Fish, Prof. E. von Martens the Molluscs and Crustacea, Rev. O. P. Cambridge the Arachnida, Mr. Rye the Myriapoda and Insects, whilst Dr. C. F. Liitken has taken the lower Invertebrata. Mr. Rye acknowledges a grant of 100/. from the British Association and 50/. from the Zoological Society towards the expenses of the Record. The Watford Natural History Society now numbers 170 members of all classes. The conductors of the' Botanical Locality Record Club have shown themselves amenable to criticism, and have rendered their proceedings muchless obnoxious to the objection at one time raised against them, that they were doing their best to promote the ex- tirpation of rare plants. Their Annual Report for 1875, j^^t issued, is a valuable publication. It is divided into five parts. In the first division they give new " County Records " of various species and sub-species, very few special localities being given ; in the second, a "General Locality List," including all observa- tions of interest made during the year ; in the third, a list of "Extinctions, Reappearances, and Confirmatory Records ; " in the fourth, a list of " Aliens, Casuals, and Escapes ; " in the fifth, "County Catalogues of Plants;" those in the present month being Merioneth and Montgomery and Stirling. In the case of three counties. North Lincoln, Stirling, and Roxburgh, there is in the present Report an addition of upwards of fifty species of flowering plants and Vascular Cryptogams to those previously recorded. The divisions of counties are those adopted by Mr. H. C. Watson. There ought soon to be but little addition pos- sible to our knowledge of the distribution of British plants. During the coming summer (July and August) opportunity will be given at Cincinnatti Observatory, University of Cincin- nati, for the study of Higher Analysis, Spherical and Practical Astronomy, and Celestial Mechanics. These advantages are in- tended, primarily, for teachers who may desire to spend their vacation in the pursuit of studies connected with their own work. Special attention will be paid to the art of computing, in order to give an insight into the practical application of mathematics to astronomy. Opportunity will also be afforded to learn the use of instruments. The Americans certainly seem to be ahead of us in the opportunities they devise for varied practical scientific work. Messrs. Jarrold and Sons will shortly publish " Rambles of a Naturalist in Egypt and other Countries,'' by Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun. On the 29th and 30th inst. an interesting trial of the sagacity, activity, and docility of Collie dogs will take place at the Alexandra Palace. The dogs will be tried successively in the management of one hundred Welsh wethers. To those of our readers who are fond of either the rod or the gun, and who intend to spend their holidays in Scotland, we strongly recommend Mr. Watson LyaU's "Sportsman's and Tourist's and General Guide to the Rivers, Lochs, Moors, and Deer Forests of Scotland." It contains a vast amount of in- formation, including trequent details as to the natural features and objects of antiquarian interest in the various districts. Those who cannot take a holiday will be quite lefreshed by an occa- sional dip into it at the season when " everybody " is supposed to be out of town. A special large-scale extremely well -constructed map of Scotland accompanies the "Guide," as also a map of England. Bentley and Trimen's " Medicinal Plants " has now ad- vanced as far as the seventh part. Each part contains seven or eight coloured plates, with full descriptions of plants which are officinal in the pharmacopoeias of England and the United States. The quality of both letter-press and figures is well maintained ; and when complete the work will be an absolutely indispensable one to the pharmacologist. " The Work and Problems of the Victoria Cave Exploration " is the title of an interesting paper read recently by Mr. R. H, Tiddeman before the Geological and Polytechnic Society of the West Riding of Yorkshire. 1 c is printed by McCorquodale and Co., Leeds. A WORK entitled the " Anatomia dell' Ape," by Clerici, has been recently published at Milan under the auspices and special supervision of the Central Italian Bee-keepers' Association. This highly interesting publication consists of a series of thirty beautiful chromo-lithographic plates, 8 inches wide by 12 inches high, artistically produced, with admirable frontispiece for bind- ing. ■ We understand that the execution of this anatomical work his occupied considerable time, and that prizes have been awarded to it at the Vienna Exhibition and elsewhere. In con- nection with this we may note the receipt of a useful little "Manual of the Apiary," by Mr. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan State Agricultural College. We are glad to see from the 62nd Annual Report of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall that that Society continues to be prosperous and useful. The Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Brighton and Sussex Natural History Society, which is in a prospei-ous condi- tion, contains the following among other papers :— • " On Recent Excavations at Cissbury," by Mr. Ernest Willett ; "On Wing- less Birds," by Mr.T. W. Wonfor ; " What is a Brachiopod?" by Mr. T. Davidson, F.R.S. ; and on "The Birds and Mammals of Sussex," by Mr. F. E. Sawyer. An English translation has been published of'Lieut. Wey- precht's admirable address given at Graz last September, on the " Fundamental Principles of Arctic Exploration," of which we gave an abstract at the time. We believe it may be obtained in London from Triibner and Co. The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include an Ocelot {Felts parda lis) from Para, presented by Mr. W. A. Sumner ; a Vulpine Phalanger {Phalangista ziil- pind) from Australia, presented by Mr. C. H. A. Forbes ; four Fawn-coloured Field Mice {Mtis cez'vicolor) from India, pre- sented by Col. C. F. Sturt; a Blue Jay ( ^j'^wcr/V/'a crutatd) from North America, a Chinese Jay Thrush {Gartulax chincnsis) from China, presented by Mr. E. Hawkins; two Barnard's Parrakeets [Flatycercus barnardi) from Australia, deposited ; a White- throated Capuchin {Cebus hypoleuci(s) from South America, a White-bellied Sea Eagle {HaliaHus lauogastcr) from Australia, a Derbian Screamer (Ckauna derbiand), two Green-billed Curas- sows {Crax viridirostris), a Red-billed Tree Duck {Dmdrocv^na autumnalis) from Cartagena, purchased; a Bonnet Monkey (^^acacns radia(us), born in the Gardens. 140 NATURE \yune 8, 1876 LOAN COLLECTION OF SCIENTIFIC APPARA TUS SECTION— MECHANICS PRIME MOVERS^ HTHE subject on which I have now the honour to address you, ■*- the subject which is to occupy our attention to-day, is that of prime mover?, that is to say, we are about to consider that class of machines which, to use the words of Tredgold, "enable the engineer to direct the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man." Although machines of this kind are, in truth, mere converters or adapters of extraneous forces into useful and manageable forms, and have not any source of life, power, or motion, in themselves, nevertheless they impress us with the notion of vitality ; and it is difficult to regard the revolving shaft of a water-wheel or turbine, set in motion by some hidden stream, or to {;aze upon the steam-engine actuated by an unseen vapour, without, as I have said, the idea being raised in our minds that the machines on which we are looking arc really endowed with some kind of life. The invention of such machines marks a very great step in the progress of mechanical science in the world, as it com- mences an era distinct from that in which mere machines to be acted on by human or animal muscular force were alone in existence. Machines such as these, hi^jhly useful as they may be, are, after all, only tools or implements more or less ingenious and more or ks3 complex. Mankind could not have been very long upon the earth before they must have found the reed and must have discovered the utility of some kind of tool or implement ; they must soon have found that the direct action of the power of the arm, which was not enough by itself to break up some obstacle, became sufficient if that aclion wtre applied by the wielding of a heavy club, or through ihe putting into motion of a large stone, and thus the hammer or its equivalent must have been among the earliest of inventions. Sucti an implement must soon have taught its users that muscular force could be exercised through a considerable space, could be stored up, and could be delivered in a concen- trated form by a bl jw. Simiiarly it could not have been long before it must have been found that to rai^e water in the hollow of the hand by repeated efforts was not so convenient a mode as to raise it in a bent leaf or in a shell, and in this way another implement would speedily be invented. We might pursue this line of speculation, and doing so we should readily arrive at the conclusion that (without attributing to the early inhabitants of the earth any profound acquaintance with mechanics) the hammer, the lever, the wedge, and other simple tools and utensils, must soon have come into existence ; and we should also be led to believe that when, even with the aid of tools such as these, a man singly could not ac- complish any desired object, the expedient of combining the power of more than one man to attain an end would soon be thought of, and that the requisite appUances, such as large beams uted as levers, numerous ropes (which must very early m the history of the world have been iwisied from filaments) and matters of that kind, would come into use. For a corroboration of this view, ii one wtre wanted, the Jatt may be cited that on the discovery of any isolated savage community it always is found to have advanced thus far in mechanical art. But passing from such machines as these, which are rather of the character of tools and implements, than machines, as we now popularly use the word, one knows that even complicated mechanism for the purpose of enabling muscular force to be more readily applied, is of very ancient date. On this point I will quote from only one book, that is the Bible, where, at the loth and nth verses of the nth chapter of Deuteronomy, a state- ment is made clearly indicating that in Egypt irrigation was carried on by some kind of machine v. orked by the foot; whether the tread wheel with water-buckets round about it mentioned by Vitruvius, cr whether the plank-lever with a bucket suspended at one end and worked by the labourer running along the top of the lever to the other end (an apparatus even now used in Inaia), we do not know ; but that it was some machine worked by the foot is clear, the statement being that when the Israelites had reached the I'romised Land they would find it was one abound- ing in streams, so as to be naturally watered, and that it would not require to be watered by the foot as in Egypt. Again, in I Address delivered by F. T. Bramwell, C.E., F.R.S., one of the vice- presidents of the Section, May 25. Chronicles it is related that King Uzziah loved husbandry, and that he made many engines, unhappily not in connection with agriculture, but for warlike purposes, "to shoot arrows and great stones withal." Fuither, in the yth chapter of the Book of Job, we have the comparison of the life of man passing away swifter than a weaver's shuttle ; this points unmistakeably to the fact that there must in those days have been in existence a loom capable of weaving fabrics of such widths that the shuttle required to be impelled with a speed equal to a flight from one side of the fabric to the other, and no doubt such a fabric must have been made in a machine competent at last to raise and depress alternately the halves of the warp threads. The potter's wheel also is frequently mentioned in the Bible. Such instances as these arc sufficient to show that considerable progress must have been made in the very earliest days of his- tory in the construction of machines whereby muscular force was conveniently applied to an end ; but if we leave out of account, as we fairly may, the action of the wind in propelling a boat by sails, and the action of the wind in winnowing grjiin, I think we shall be right in considering that in the times of which I have been speaking there did not exist any machine in the nature of a power-giver or prime mover. Doubtless the want of a greater force than could be obtained from the muscles of one human being must have soon made itself felt ; and intelligent men, conscious of their own ability and of their mental power of directing a large amount of work, must have been grieved at finding the use of that power circumscribed by the limited force of their own bodies, and therefore early in the world's history there must have been the attempt, by the offer of some consideration or reward, to induce other men (men gifted with equal or stronger muscles, but probably not with equal minds) to work under the directions of these men of supe- rior intelligence. But when such aid as this became insufficient, the way in which, in all probability, the people of those days endeavoured to satisfy the further demand would be to make captives of their enemies and to reduce them into a state of bondage, to grind at the mill, to raise water, or, yoked by in- numerable cords and beams to some heavy chariot or sledge, to draw along the huge blocks required in the foundations of a temple, or for the building of a pyramid, or to act in concert on the many oars of a galley, although by what means this last- named operatiun was performed is not very clear. Doubtless under this condition of thin-s there must have been an amount of human suffering which is too Irightful to be contemplated. Such machines as those to which I have called attention could not have been invented and brought into use without the exer- cise of much mechanical skill ; but considerable as this skill must have been it had never originated a prime mover ; it had given no source of power to the world, but had left it dependent on the muscular exertions of human beings and of animals. Great, then, was the step, and a most distinct era was it in mechanical science, when for the first time a prime mover was invented and a machine was brought into existence which, utilising some hitherto disregarded natural force, converted it into a convenient form of power, by which as great results could be obtained as were obtainable by the aggregation of a large number of human beings, and could be obtained without bondage and without affliction. There are probably few sights more pleasing to one who has been brought up in lactones than to watch a skiltul workman engaged in executing a piece of work which requires absolute mastery over the tools that he uses, and demands that they should have the constant guiding of his intelligent mind. Handi- craft work of such a kind borders upon the occupation of the artist, and to see such work in the course of execution is, as I have said, a source of pleasure. But when descending from this the work becomes more and more of the character of mere repe- tition, and when it is accomplished by the aid of implements which, from their very perfection require but little mind to direct them, and demand only the use of muscle, then, although the labour, when honestly pursued, is still honourable, and therefore to be admired, there comes over one a feeling of fear and of regret that the man is verging towards a mere implement. But when one sees, as I have seen in my time, in England, and as I have seen very recently on the Continent, men earning their living by treading within a cage to cause it to revolve and thereby to raise weights, an occupation demanding no greater exercise of intelligence than that which is sufficient to start, to stop, and to reverse the wheel at the word of command, one does indeed regret to find human beings employed in so low an June 8, 1876] NATURE 141 occupation, an occupation that places them on a level with the turnspit. It is one which is most properly meted out in our prisons as a punishment for crime, accompanied, however, with the degradation that the force exerted shall be entirely wasted in idly turning a fan in the free air, and thus the prisoner, in addi- tion to the fatigue of his body, undergoes the humiliation of, as he expresses it, " grinding the wind." If they played no other part than that of relieving humanity from such tasks as these, prime movers would be machines to be hailed. Tiue it is that the labourers who were thus relieved would not thank their benefactors, and indeed so far as the individuals subjected to the change were concerned they would have cause not to thank them, because tbey having been taught no other mode of earning a livelihood, and finding the mode they knew set on one side by the employment of a prime mover, would be at their wit's end for a means of subsistence, and would be experiencing those miseries which are caused by a state of transition. But in some way the men of the transition state must be relieved, and in the next generation, it no longer being possible to subsist by such wholly unintelligent labour, the energies of their descendants would be devoted to gaining a livelihood by some occupation more worthy of the mind of man. Early prime rroveri', from their comparatively small size, probably did little more than thus relieve humanity ; but when we come to consider the prime movers of the present day, by which we are enabled to contain within a single vessel and to apply to its propulsion 8,coo indicated horse-power, or an equi- valent of the labour of nearly 50,C!00 men working at one time, we find that the prime mover has another and most important claim upon our interest : it enables us to attain results that it would be absolutely impossible to attain by any aggregation of human or ether muscular effort-, however brutally indifferent we might be to the misery of those who were engaged in that effort Excluding from our consideration li^ht and even electricity, as not being, up to the present time, sources of power on which we rely in practice, there remain three principal groups into which our prime movers may be arranged, viz., those which work by the agency of wind, those which work by the agency of water, and those which work by the agency of heat. But some of these great groups are capable of division, and indeed demand division into various branches. Water power may be due to the impact of water, as in some kinds of water-wheels, turbines, and hydraulic rams, or to water acting as a weight or pressure, as in other kinds of water-wheels, and in water-pressure engines ; or to streams of water inducing currents, as in the case of the jet -pump, and of the "Trombe d'eau," or to its undulating movements, as in ocean waves. The ability of water to give out motive force may arise from falls, from the currents of rivers, from the tides, or, as has been said, from the oscillation of the waves. Prime movers which utilise the force of the wind are few in number and in all cases act by impact. As regards those prime movers which work by the aid of heat, we may have that heat developed by the! combustion of fuel, and being so developed applied to heating water, raising steam, and working some of the numerous forms of steam-engines ; or, as in the case of the Giffard injector, performing work by in- duced currents, by the flow of steam ; or we may have the heat of fuel applied to vary the density of the air, and thus to obtain motion as by the smoke-jack ; or the fuel may be employed to augment the bulk and the pressure of gases, as in the numerous caloric engines ; or we may have heat and power developed in the combustion of gases, as in the forms of gas-engines ; or in the combustion of explosives, as in gunpowder, dynamite, and other like materials, used not only for the purposes •f artillery and of blasting, but for actuating prime movers in the ordinary sf nse of the word. Again, we may have the heat of the sun applied through the agency of the expansion of gases or surfaces to the production of power, as in the sun-pumps of vSolcmon de Caus and of Belidor, and as in the sun-engine of Eiricsson. Finally, we may have the sun's rajs applied direct, as in the radiometer of Mr. Crookes. A consideration of the foregoing heads, under which prime movers range themselves, will speedily bring us to the conclusion that the main centre of all mechanical force on this earth is the sun. If the prime movers be urged by water, that water has attained the elevation from which it falls, and thus gives out power by reason of its having been evaporated and raised by the heat of the sun. If the power of the water be derived from the tidal influence, that influence is due to the joint action of the sun and the moon. If the prime mover depend upon the wind for its force either directly, as in windmills, or indirectly, as in macliines worked by the waves, then that wind is caused to blow by variations of temperature due to the action of the sun. If the prime mover depend upon light or upon solar heat, as in the case of the radiometer and of the sun engine, then the connection is obvious ; but if the heat be due to combustion, then the fuel which supports that combustion is, after all, but the sun's rays stored up. 11 the fuel be, as is now sometimes the case, straw or cotton stalks, one feels that they have been the growth of the one season's effect of the sun's rays. If the fuel be wood, it is equally true that the wood is the growth of a few seasons' exer- cise of the sun's rays, but if it be the more potent and more general fuel coal, then, although the fact is not an obvious one, we know that coal also is merely the stored up result of many ages exercise of solar power. And even in the case of electrical prime movers, these de- pend on the slow oxidation, that is burning, of metal which has been brought into the metallic or unburnt state from the burnt condition (or that of ore) by the aid of heat generated by the combustion of fuel. The interesting lecture-room experiment with glass tubes charged with sulphide of calcium, or other analogous sulphides, makes visible to us the fact that the sun's rays may be stored up as light ; tut that they are as truly stored up (although not in in the form of light) in the herb, the tree, and the coal we also now know ; and we appreciate the far-seeing mind of George Stephenson who astonished his friend by announcing that a passing train was being driven by the sun. We know that Stephenson was right, and that the satirical Swift was wrong when he irstanced as a type of folly the people of Laputa engaged in extracting sunbeams from cucumbers. The sunbeams were as surely in the cucumbers as they are in the sulphide of calcium tubes, but in the latter case they can be seen by the bodily eye, while in the foraer they demand the mind's eye of a Stephenson. Athough the sailing of ships and the winnowing of grain must from very early time have made it clear that the wind was capable of exercising a moving force, nevertheless, being an in- visible agent, it is not one hkely to strike the mind as being fit to give effect to a prime mover, and therefore it is not to be won- dered at that prime movers actuated by water are those of which we first have any record, imless indeed the toy steam-engine of Hiero may be looked upon as a prime move anterior to those urged by water. It would appear that in the reign of Augustus water-wheels were weil known, for Vitruvius, writing at that time, speaks of them as common implements, but not so common as to have replaced the human turnspit, as we gather from his writirgs that the employment of men within a tread- wheel was still the most ordinary mode of obtaining a rotary force. It wou'd seem, however, that water-wheels driven by the impact of the stream upon pallet boards were employed in the time of Augustus not merely to raise water by buckets placed about the circumference of the wheels, but also to drive mill- stones for grinding wheat, ard Strabo states that a mill of this kind was in use at the palace of the King of Pontus. {To be continued.) SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Poggendorff^ s Annalen der Phynkund Chemie, No. 2, 1876. — In the opening paper of this number Dr. Konig describes a series of researches in which he sought to study more closely the phenomena which occur when two sets of sound-waves meet in air ; using sources of sound that were entirely isolated and could not act directly on each other, nor in common en a third body ; he also chose sources that would give as simple tones as possible. The paper is in four parts, treating, severally, of pri- mary beats and beat- tones, secondary beats and beat-tones, diffeT?nce-tones and summation tones, and the nature of beats and their action, compared with the action of primary impulses. On the last head he finds, inter alia, that beat-tones cannot be explained by the cause of difference and summation tones, and that the audibility of beats depends only on the number and intensity of the primary tones, not at all on the width of the interval. The number of beiats and primary impulses with which both may be 142 NATURE [yuneS, 1876 perceived as separate impulses is the same ; so, too, with the number at which beats and primary impulses pass into a tone. Intermittences of a tone, as well as beats and primary im- pulses, may pass into a tone, and the periodic maxima of vibra- tion of a tone, when in sufficient number. The beat tone formed by two primary tones must be always weaker than these, though separate beats are stronger than the tones forming them. — In M. Grotrian's researches on the constants of friction of some salt solu- tions, and their relations to galvanic conductivity, the method for ascertaining the constants was that of observing the oscillations of a suspended disc with attached magnet (under the influence of a neigh- bouring magnet) in air and in the liquid examined. The observed generally similar course of temperature coefficients for fluidity and galvanic conductivity, with change of concentration, leads the author to conclude that the overcomingof internal friction forms an essential part of the work done by a current in passage through an electrolyte. In the case of chloride of potassium, it is found that the increase of conductivity is almost exactly proportional to the per-centage proportion (in the liquid) ; and M. Grotrian infers that the chemical changes he conceives generally to occur in chemical constitution of electrolytic molecules, on altering the concentration, do not occur here, but that with varied concentra- tion, at the same temperature, the conductivity is only condi- tioned by the proportion of salt and the viscosity. With the numbers obtained in the experiments, it is possible to estimate for variously concentrated solutions of a salt, the temperatures for which the constants of friction have some determinate constant value ; then to calculate the numbers for the conductivity at this temperature, and inquire according to what law these alter with the concentration. He thus shows that in the case of NaCl, KaCl, CaCh,, and BaClg, the concentration and the viscosity are the principal factors which determine the amount of the conduc- tivity.— In the next paper M. Wiedemann makes some adverse criticism on the recent researches of some French physicists in the domain of magnetism. — M. Holtz shows that wire-net is very well suited for proving that in the interior of conducting surlaces there is no electrostatic action. In one experiment, a bell-shaped cover, made of the net, is brought down by an insu- lating handle on an insulated metallic disc connected with an electric machine, and on which stands a pith-ball electrometer. The two balls do not diverge in the least on working the machine ; but if the bell be removed, they do so at once. He shows further, how such a bell is like a filter or sieve, holding back the electricity while it affijrds partial passage to gaseous matter or dust. If a metallic point connected to earth be brought near the electrified bell, the balls are moved, but do not diverge, &c. — Dr. Wichmann studies the properties of doubly-relracting garnets ; and we note a paper by Dr. Sohncke on the figures eaten out by dissolving liquids on blocks of rock salt, and Exner's method lor producing solution- figures. — There is an account of an interesting inquiry, lately conducted by Dr. W. Siemens, on the velocity of propagation of electricity in suspended wires. /Proceedings of the Geological and Polytechnic Society of the West Riding of Yorkshire, New Series. Part 2. Pp. 57 to 112. — This part contains several very interesting papers on various points of local geology. Some of the papers will be of use to a wide circle of readers, such as Mr. C. Bird's on the red beds at the base of the carboniferous limestone in the north-west of England, and Prof. Green's on the variations in thickness of the Silkstonc and Barnsley coal seams in the southern part of the Yorkshire coal- field, and the probable manner in which these and similar changes have been produced. Mr. Bird considers it better to regard the red beds in question as basement beds of the carbo- niferous limestone than to attempt to draw any arbitrary line in a series whose members appear so closely linked together. Mr. Tiddeman's concise account of the work and problems of the settle Victoria cave exploration will also be welcome. Five good plates accompany this number of the Proceedings. Bulletin de V Academic Royale des Sciences, 2 ser. tome 40, No, 12. — M. van Beneden contributes a long paper divided into six chapters on the early stages of the embryological development of mammals. In 1874 M. Beneden published his paper, in which he showed that in Hydractinia spermatozoids are derived from the ectoderm and ova from the endoderm. He suggested that the same law probably applied to vertebrata. Observations supporting his view with regard to Ccelenterata have been made by Koch and Fol, and M. Beneden has made embryological studies on the rabbit. A monograph with plates is promised. This paper is a resume.— Qxv the skeleton of a fossil whale in the museum at Milan, by P. J. van Beneden. Following up the descriptions of Pachyacanthus and Aulocetus already given, M. Beneden proceeds to describe the fossil found in 1806 at Mount Pulgnasco, preserved in the Milan Museum, figured by Cortesi and described by Cuvier. The description is accompanied by a plate, and there are references to fossil whales in the museums at Turin, Florence, Bologna, Parma, and Pisa. — On the period of cold of the month of December, 1875, by M. E. Quetelet. — On the Devonian sandstones of Condroz, in the Ba-in of Theux, in the basin between Aix-la-Chapelle and Ath, and in the Boulon- nais. The paper is illustrated with a folding plate giving nine coloured sections, and its scope is to show that the beds of the different localities mentioned have the same relative stratigraphi- cal relations as at Condroz. All of the subdivisions show a remarkable constancy in their petrological and palseontologica aspects. — On the description of some new birds, by M. Alph. Dubois. They belong to Cyanscitta and Icterus. — The theory of carnivorous and sensitive plants, by E. Morren. The article is a /-CJ-wwi? of observations that have been made, and is well furnished with foot-notes. The index accompanies this number. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Royal Society, May 18.—" Observations on Stratified Dis- charges by means of a Revolving Mirror, by William Spottis- woode, M.A., Treas. R.S. In a paper published in Poggendorff''s Annalen, Jubelband, p. 32, A. WUliner has described a series of observations made, by means of a revolving mirror, upon the discharge of a large induction-coil through tubes containing ordinary atmospheric air at various degrees of pressure. Wiillner's observations appear to have been directed rather to the nature of the coil discharge than to that of the stratifications. For some time prior to the publication of the volume in ques- tion I had been engaged upon a series of experiments very similar in their general disposition, but with a somewhat different object in view, viz., the character and behaviour of the striae ; and of these, together with some recent additions, I now pro- pose to offer a short account to the Society. My general instrumental arrangements appear to have been similar to those of Wiillner ; in fact, they could hardly have been very different. The tubes were attached to the coil in the usua.1 way, and a contact-breaker of the ordinary form with its own electro-magnet was in the first instance used. For this and some other intermediate forms there was finally substituted a mercu- rial break (successfully arranged by my assistant, Mr. Ward), the plunger of which works on a cam attached to the axle of the mirror, so that the action of the contact-breaker is regulated by that of the mirror, instead of the reverse as in the former arrange- ment. With the broader tubes a slit was used ; with the nar- rower this adjunct was less necessary ; while with capillary tubes, such as are used for spectrum-analysis, it could be dispensed with altogether. Striae, as observed by the eye, have been divided into two classes, viz., the flake-like, and the flocculent or cloudy. Of the former, those produced in hydrogen tubes may be taken as a type ; of the latter, those produced in carbonic tubes. But upon examining some tubes especially selected for the purpose, it was found that, while to this apparent a real difference corresponds, a fundamental feature of the striae, underlying boih, was brought out. The feature in question was this : that the striae, at whatever points produced, always have during the period of their exist- ence a motion along the tube in a direction from the negative towards the positive terminal. This motion, which I have called for convenience the proper motion of the striae, is for given cir- cumstances of tube and current generally uniform ; and its varia- tions in velocity are at all times confined within very narrow limits. The proper motion in this sense appertains, strictly speaking, to the flake-like stride only. The apparent proper motion of the flocculent striae is, on the contrary, variable not only in velocity, but also in direction ; and on further examina- tion it turns out that the flocculent striae are themselves com- pounded of the flake-like, which latter I have on that account called elementary strice. Elementary striae are in general produced at regular intervals along the tube. The series extends from the poiiiive terminal in the direction of the negative to a distance depending upon the actual circumstances of the tube and current. The length of yune'^. 1876] NATURE M3 the column, and consequently the number of the striae, depends mainly upon the resistance of the tube, the duration of the entire current, and to a certain extent upon the amount of the battery surface exposed, and in that sense upon the strength of the cur- rent. The velocity of the proper motion, other circumstances being the same, depends upon the number of cells employed. The paper next gave descriptions of the phenomena exhibited by several tubes ; and drawings illustrative of the descriptions were added. The following are some of the general conclusions to which the experiments detailed in the paper seem to lead : — I. The thin flake-like stria;, when sharp and distinct in their appearance, either are short-lived or have very slow proper motion, or both. 2 The apparent irregularity in the distribution of such strias during even a single discharge of the coil, is due, not to any actual irregularity in their arrangement, bat to their unequal duration, and to the various periods at which they are renewed. The striae are, in fact, arranged at regular intervals throughout the entire column. The fluttering appearance usually noticeable is occasioned by slight variations in position of the elementary strife at successive discharges of the coil. With a view to divest- ing the coil discharge of this irregular character, as well as for other purposes, I devised two different forn»s of contact break- ers (one of which is described in the Royal Society's Proceed- ings, 1874) ; but I postpone a description of the second, as well as of the experiments arising from its use, to another occasion. 3. The proper motion of the elementary striae is that which appertains to them during a single discharge of the coil. This is always directed from the positive towards the negative ter- minal. Its velocity varies generally within very narrow limits. It is greater the greater the number of coils employed. In some tubes it may be seen to diminish towards the close of the dis- charge, and even in rare instances alternately to increase and to diminish during a single discharge. 4. Flocculent striae, such as are usually seen in carbonic acid tubes, are a compound phenomenon. They are due to a suc- cession of short-lived elementary striae, which are regularly re- newed. The positions at which they are renewed determine the apparent proper motion of the elementary striae. If they are constantly renewed at the same positions in the tube, the floccu- lent striae will appear to have no proper motion, and to remain steady. If they are renewed at positions nearer and nearer to the positive terminal, the proper motion will be the same as that of the elementary striae ; if they are renewed at positions further and further from the positive terminal, the proper motion will be reversed. 5. The velocity of proper motion varies, other circumstances being the same, with the diameter of the tube. This was notably exemplified in the conical tube. In tubes constructed for spectrum analysis the capillary part shows very slight, while the more open parts often show considerable proper motion. 6. Speaking generally, the discharge lasts longer in narrow than in wide tubes. In spectrum tubes the capillary part gives in the mirror an image extending far beyond that due to the wider parts. 7. The coil discharge appears, in the earlier part of its deve- lopm.ent at least, to be subject to great fluctuations in extent. In all cases there is a strone outburst at first. This, although sometimes appearing as a bright line, is always, I believe, really stratified. Immediately after this there follows a very rapid shortenir.g of tlie column. The extent of this shortening varies with circumstances ; but when, as is often the case, it reaches far down towards the positive terminal, a corresponding diminu- tion of intensity is perceptible in the negative glow. The column of striae, after rising again, is often subject to similar fluctuations. These, which are sometimes four or five in number, are succes- sively of less and less extent, and reach only a short distance down the column or striae. The rifts due to these fluctuations then disappear, and the striae either continue without interrup- tion, or follow broken at irregular intervals, until the close of the discharge. 8. The effect of the proper motion, taken by itself, is to shorten the column of striae. But, as we have seen, the striae are in many cases renewed from time to time. In regard to this point, the head of the column presents the most instructive features. After the cessation of these rifts, the general appear- ance of the field is that of a series of diagonal lines commencing at successive points which form the bounding limit of the column at successive instants of time. If the points are situated in a horizontal line, the striae are renewed at regular intervals at the same place ; and the length of the column is maintained by a periodic renewal of striae, a new one appearing at the head 01 the column as soon as its predecessor has passed over one dark interval. If the boundary of the illuminated field rises, the length of the column increases ; if it descends, the column shortens. In every case, however, the growth of the column takes place by regular and successive steps, and not irregularly. The intervals of the new striae from one another and from the old ones are the same as those of the old ones from one another. 9. The principal influence of a change in the number of cells used appears to consist in altering the velocity of proper motion. A change in the amount of battery-surface exposed produces a corresponding change in the duration of the entire discharge, as well as apparently in the development of some of the minor details of the striae. 10. When the proper motion of the elementary striae exceeds a certain amount, the striae .appear to the eye to be blended into one solid column of light, and all trace of stratification is lost. When this is the case the mirror will often disentangle the indi- vidual strife. But there are, as might well be expected, cases in which even the mirror is of no avail, but in which we may still suppose that stratification exists. A variety of experiments have led me to think that the separation of the discharge into two parts, viz. , the column of light extending from the positive ter- minal, and the glow around the negative, with a dark space in- tervening, may be a test of stratified discharge ; but I cannot affirm anything certainly on this point. Chemical Society, May 18 — Prof. Abel, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — The first paper read was on the action of malt extract on starch, by Mr. C. O'Sullivan, showing that under these circumstances it is converted into a mixture of maltose and dextrin, the proportion of which varies with the temperature at which the reaction takes place. — A communication was then made by Dr. H. E , Armstrong and Mr. Gaskell on metaxenol, the metadimethylated phenol. — There were also papers on the gases enclosed in cannel coals and in jet, by Mr. J. W. Thoma=, on phenomena accompanying the electrolysis of water with oxidisable electrodes, by Dr. J. H. Gladstone and Mr. A. Tribe, and on the estimation of hydrogen occluded by copper, with special reference to organic analysis, by Dr. J. L. W. Thudichum and Dr. H. W. Hake. Meteorological Society, May 17, — Mr. H. S. Eaton, president, in the chair. — ^James Lloyd Ashbury, John Broun, John Brown, Edmund Cruise, James Eldridge, George Gamett, John Hopkinson, Robert Pick well, William Ford Stanley, Rupert Swindells, Charles Tarrant, Thomas Taylor Smith, were elected fellows of the Society. The following papers were read : — Remarks on the present condition of maritime meteoro- logy, by Robert li. Scott, F.R. S. This paper gives a history of all that has been done in maritime meteorology since the Brussels conference in 1853, up to the present time. — In the mean temperature of every day at the Royal Observatory, Green- wich, from 1814 to 1873, by James Glaisher, F.R.S. This paper, which is a continuation of former ones on the same subject, contains the observations for the ten years, 1864 to 1873, which being combined with the previous ones, give the mean for sixty years. On the meteorology of Mozufferpore, Tinhoot, for 1875, by C. H, Pearson. — New wind chart, by Lieut. -Col. G. E. Bulger. Physical Society, May 13. — Prof. G. C. Foster, president, in the chair. — The following candidates were elected members of the Society : — Prof. T. Andrews, Rev. R. H. M, Bosanquet, M.A., and David Howard. — Mr. Thompson, B.A., B.Sc, con- cluded the communication on the supposed new force, which he commenced at the last meeting of the Society. In the arrange- ment which he has adopted for obtaining the spark, the secon- dary current of a Rhumkorff's coil is made to traverse a short coil of wire which is thoroughly insulated from the internal core, and into the circuit an arrangement is introduced by means of which the current may be made to traverse a variable thickness of air in its course round the short coil. It is found that if this spark is very short the spark obtained from the internal core is also short, but as we increase the thickness of air to be tra- versed, the spark which may be drawn off increases ; the great- est effect, however, is produced when one terminal of the coil is connected with the earth, the spark then obtained being about half an inch in diameter. Mr. Edison considered that the spark was retro-active, but Mr. Thompson showed, by an experiment, 144 NATURE {Jtme 8, 1876 that deficient insulation might lead to such a conclusion. He then proceeded to show that just as the charge given to a gold- leaf electroscope is at times positive and at times negative with- out any apparent reason for the change, so if the core of the arrangement employed be connected with a Thomson's galva- nometer, the needle will be found to wander irregularly about the scale on both sides of the zero. In order to show that these experiments are identical with those conducted as originally described by the discoverer, the terminals of the induction coil were connected with the coil of an electro-magnet, the same means of including a layer of air in the circuit being introduced. The effect in this case was found to be precisely similar to that obtained with the special arrangement previously used ; with a brush discharge a Geissler's tube could be illuminated, and, when the layer of air was infinitesimal, the spark produced was also infinitesimal. It was then shown that, if the spark at the point of contact in the key when a direct battery current traverses the coil be done away with by shunting the extra current which gives rise to it, no spark can be obtained from the core. It thus ap- pears that no spark is obtained when there is no necessity for an inducing current to accumulate until it has sufficient tension to leap over a resisting medium, and that, as the thickness of this resisting medium increases, the spark obtained becomes greater. Evidently on these occasions the current has time to attract un- like and repel like electricity in the core, and if a conductor in connection with the earth be presented to this core, the like electricity will escape ; hence a spark will result As soon, however, as the tension has become sufficient to leap over the layer of air, it will be necessary to restore equilibrium in the core. Hence there will be a return spark in the opposite direc- tion. From these experiments it will be seen that the pheno- mena observed may be explained by the ordinary laws of induction. Institution of Civil Engineers, May 23. — Mr. Aber- nethy, vice-president, in the chair. — The paper read was on the permanent way of railways, by Mr, R. Price Williams. Cambridge Philosophical Society, May 8. — Mr, W, M. Hicks drew attention to some experiments of Messrs. Stewart and Tait on the heating of discs by rapid rotation in vacuo, and which they referred to the friction of the ether. It was shown that it was not necessary to have recourse to this explanation ; that nearly all the effects could be accounted for if it is supposed that the disc, through the rapid rotation, has expanded and consequently been lowered in temperature ; that whilst rotating it is raised to the temperature of the surrounding region ; and therefore when the rotation is stopped, and the disc has shrunk to its former size, it will give out the heat it had taken in whilst rotating. In the case of silver it was shown that the disc ought to show a rise of '4° C. if the rotation had been continued for some time, and this was compared with the rise of '47° C. which Messrs Stewart and Tait had observed in an aluminium disc, thus showing that the effect was of the same order of magnitude in the two cases. It was also shown that if the whole heating were due to ethereal friction, that this friction would be '0006 lbs. per square foot, and that if we suppose this amount to act on the surface of the earth, the day would be lengthened in the course of a century by something like '006". — Prof. Maxwell afterwards made a communication on the equilibrium of hetero- geneous substances, Stockholm Royal Academy of Sciences, Feb, 9. — Herr Gylden com» municated a transformation of the formula — n { I + a/i Cos PaaOT ?5 + ^1 -h /^s j » which plays an important rS/ein the method of deducing a general formula of perturbation for periodic comets worked out by him. This transformation is mainly grounded on the relation — »/ — 1 am —- -v/ — J .r 7) ( - ^) The final result is specially applicable when a comet comes to that part of its path which lies nearest the perturbing planets ; in this case / becomes inconsiderably less than i, and a "^^y ^^ taken to fall within exceedingly narrow limits in the neighbour- hood of o. The following papers were given in : — Myriopoda from Siberia and Waigat's Island, collected during Ndrdensk- jold's expedition, 1875, by Anton Stuxberg. Eighteen species are described, of which only one was previously known to exist in Siberia, and fifteen are new to science, viz. — Lithobius 10, lulus I, Polydesmus 2, and Craspedosoma 2. Of the twenty- seven Siberian species now known only two are European. — Determinations of geographical position during the Swedish expedition to Novaya Zemlyaand the Kara Sea, 1875, calculated by E. Jiiderin. — On monoecism in fishes, by A. W. Malm. — Prof. Borenius communicated magnetic observations made at Helsingfors simultaneously with ttiose made by the Swedish expedition at Spitzbergen during the winter 1872-3. Berlin German Chemical Society, May 8. — A. W. Hof- mann, president, in the chair. — E. Schunck and H, Romer by fusing Anthraflavinic and isoanthraflavinic acids with potash, have obtained two isomeric purpurines Ci^HgOj, Anthr*pur- jjurine is identical with a substance formerly obtained by Mr, l^erkins ; ilavopurpurine obtained from the second of the two substances is the fourtla isomeric purpurine. — A. Boettinger in studying anew the decomposition of tartaric acid by heat, believes that the formation of pyruvic acid is preceded by that of glyceric acid. — Dr, T, Stenhouse and C, E. Groves in treating pure naph- thaline with sulphuric acid, obtained not only j3-napbthaline-sul- phurous acid, but also two napthaline-sulphones C20H14S02, easily separated by sulphuret of carbon. They yield by oxidation two isomeric naphthaline-sulphuric acids, — T. Annaheim described dibromonitrooxysulphobenzid (CgH2BrN020H)2S02 and the corresponding iodo-compound. The same chemist 0 escribed a red colouring substance obtained by the action of fuming sul- phuric acid on cresol. — W, Rimarenko described jS-chloronaph- thaline obtained from j8-naphthol and from )8 naphthaline-sul- phuric acid with PCI5, — the method formerly described by M, Clare, — E. v, Gorup Besancy and H.Will have investigated the liquid secretion of insectivorous plants (Nepenthes phyllaniphera). Albumine, fibrine, &c,, are transformed into peptone. This digestion takes place in a very short time, when tiie secreting organ of nepenthes has been excited by contact, — the liquid having under these circumstances an acid reaction. The secretion of non-excited glands is rendered equally active by the addition of any acid, particularly of malic and citric acids. — H. Vogel published researches on tiie influence of different rays of light on bromide' of silver, — F, Tiemann and N, Matsnold have pre- pared nitro-protocatechic acid and some of its derivatives, also nitro-vanillinic acid and acetyl-nitro-vanillinic acid. — F. Tiemann and C, Reimer have obtained paraoxybenzoic aldehyde by treating phenate of potassium with chloroform. — E. Hoffmann described derivatives of hesperidine, particularly an acid C10H10O4, which with potash yield protocatechic acid. where and upon certain algebraic relations between different Tj-functionS. CONTENTS Page On ths Organisation of the Profession of Chemistry . . , 125 The Endow.ment of Research By Prof. E. Ray Lankester F.R.S 126 Quain's Anatomy 129 Our Book Shelf : — Day's " Exercises in Electrical and Magnetic Measurement " . ' 129 McCoy's " Prodromus of the Palseontology of Victoria " . . 130 Letters to the Editor : — Scientific Poisoning. — Chbmist 130 Pyrology — Quantitative Analysis by the Blowpipe. — Major W. A. Ross 130 Page's Introductory Text-book of Physical Geography. — The Reviewer 131 Our Astronomical Column :— The Secondary Light of Venus 131 The Minor Planets 132 A Free Spanish University 132 Science in Germany 153 Siemens' Electric Light Apparatus (/^iVA ////^j/ra/w«j) . . . 133 The Ethnology of the Papuans of Maclay Coast, New Guinea. By John C. Galton 1-5 Notes ... 138 Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus — Section— Mechanics. — Prime Movers . • 14.0 Scientific Serials 141 SociKTiKS and Acadbmtrs 142 NA TURE 145 THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1876 BRITISH MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES British Mamifacturing Industries. By Various Authors. Edited by G. Phillips Bevan. (London : Edward Stan- ford.) IN this scries we have presented to us an account of the origin and development of those industries which have given this country her pre-eminence among nations. As stated by the editor, the object of the various treatises is simple and unambitious ; no attempt is made to render them technical guides to the industries to which they relate ; the main idea is to give, in as readable a form as is compatible with accuracy and a freedom from superfi- ciality, the main features and present position of the leading industries of the kingdom, so as to enable general readers to comprehend the enormous growth of the last quarter of a century. The editor has been singularly fortunate in the selection of his co-operators. For example, Prof. Warington Smyth tells us all about the mines and collieries of the country ; Prof. Hull discourses on quarries and building stones ; Capl. Bedford Pirn on shipbuilding ; Mr. Mattieu Wiliams finds congenial themes in iron and steel, gunpowder and explosives. The article on cotton by Mr. Isaac Watts, the Secretary of the Cotion Supply Association, is remarkably full and complete ; Mr. Felkin's little treatise on hosiery and lace is a perfect mine of infor- mation, and forms amost interesting record of perseverance and effective skill ; the stories of Jedediah Strutt and John Heathcoat will ever be two of the most thrilling chapters in the history of the industrial progress of this country. Ir-deed this series might have been fitly called the Romance of British Industry. We are told of Lee and the stocking-frame ; of Wedgwood and Herbert Minton ; cf Hargreaves, Arkvvright, and Crompton ; of Dud Dudley and poor Cort ; and of numbers of others, whose peaceful victories have done more for this country than all the machinations of her statesmen or the valour of her armies. Apropos of the invention of the stocking-frame it may be remarked that Elmore's well-known picture, representing Lee, after his expulsion from his college, intently watching the lissom fingers of his wife as she knits for the support of the household, in order that he might imitate their motion, is founded on a myth. Lee was a decent country curate in easy circumstances ; he was never married, nor was he expelled from his college. But little is known of his history, beyond that, becoming greatly discouraged with the reception of his invention in this country, he passed over to France, where he died, neglected and in misery, in 1610. The history of the im- provement of the stocking-frame is not less interesting than that of its origin. Since the time of Strutt, nearly 300 changes and adaptations have been patented, the vast majority of which are due to men who commenced life at the forge or bench, or at the frame itself. The history of the rise and development of the lace manufacture is scarcely less remarkable, and Mr. Felkin has much to say concerning the personal history of its founders and of the trials and struggles of the inventors and improvers of lace-making machinery'. Few trades have probably given rise to such an amount of litigation : Vou xnr.— No. 346 indeed one can have no real conception of the immensity of the barrister's theme, or how eloquent he must have seemed to the beaver when — "he proceeded to cite A number of cases where the making of laces Had proved an infringement of right." until he has read this essay. The story is painfully sad, and its moral is not lost on Mr. Felkin. "We cannot but remark," he says, " the extraordinary amount of latent inventive skill brought into operation by men entirely uninstrur.ted in the science of mechanics ; and be struck with the time and thought that the knowledge of sound mechanical principles would have saved them. . . . It is painful to notice how many of these men, possessing fine natural talents, from the want of self government failed to use aright even the measure of profit that reached them. . . . Genius was to them rather a curse than a blessing. Here are strong arguments for higher scientific and moral education to be placed within reach of these classes." Mr. Mattieu Williams concludes his capital little treatise on steel with a similar refleccion. He indignantly protests against the fallacy of attributing our industrial success to coal or iron-stone, or to any other mere minera- logical or geographical accident. "It is not British minerals, but British industrial energy which has given us our industrial supremacy. It is not true that we are so exceptionally rich in coal. Many other nations possess vastly greater stores than ours ; but while theirs has lain buried undcrtheir feet, ours has been brought to the surface and wonderfully used ; to such an extent indeed, that we are actually approaching the limits of our supply before other and older people have tapped theirs. . . The same energies which have thus seized upon and utilised the rudest source of power to supply the coarser wants of ourselves and the rest of mankind, will if properly directed, similarly turn to account the more refined and recondite energies of nature which science is revealing, and which will supply in like manner the higher wants of more advanced civilisation. To succeed in this we must prepare at once, by affording to all classes the largest attainable amount of knowledge of the raw materials and powers of nature ; of human means of turning these to profitable account ; of the social organisation in the midst of which we live, and by which we are to co-operate industrially with each other and all the peoples of the earth ; and above all, of the individual moral qualities, habits, and attain- ments that are necessary for each man's industrial success." It is because other nations arc actually turning to account "the more refined and recondite energies of nature " that our industrial supremacy is threatened. In chemical manufacturing, for example, the pre-eminence of the alkali trade belongs to us, but, as Prof. Church tells us, German, Austrian, and French manufacturers are far ahead of us in the production of the finer and more delicate preparations of the chemist, and still continue to make remarkable progress. " If a rare and curious substance, discovered by a scientific chemist and made in his laboratory painfully grain by grain, be found useful in medicine or dyeing, or some other art, straight- way the foreign manufacturing chemist makes it, not by the ounce or pound merely, but by the hundredweight or 146 NATURE \ytine 15, 1876 even by the ton." Much of the crude material which yields these beautiful and costly products of the conti- nental martufactories is exported from England to be worked up and reimported. The reason of this lies in the more intimate union of science and manufactures which prevails abroad. The chemical manufacturer on the continent finds it to his interest to attach a sound and properly-trained chemist to his works to improve the established methods of production and to seek to discover new processes. With the space at our disposal it is impossible to do more than merely indicate the scope and character of this series of excellent treatises. There are one or two little matters which need revision, and which the editor will doubtless set right in future editions : for example, the combining proportion of tin is not usually stated as 58, nor that of zinc as 32-6. Perhaps the most serious draw- back is the very sparing use of illustrations. When given they are generally very good ; nothing could exceed the beauty and finish of the cuts accompanying Mr. Watts' article on cotton. We are sorry that the example thus set has not been more generally followed. T. MUTTON'S " GEOLOGY OF OTAGO" Report on the Geolosry and Gold-fields of Otae^o. By F. W. Hutton, F.G.S., Provincial Geologist, and G. H. F. Ulrich, F.G.S., &c. (Dunedin : Mills, Dick, and Co. ; London : Sampson Low and Co., 1876.) 1"'HE Southern Province of New Zealand is one of great interest from the variety of its physical fea- tures which faithfully indica:te the wide range of geo- logical formations of which it is built up. The snow-clad ridge of " The Southern Alps," with numerous pointed peaks and serrated ridges, runs along the western coast, and is penetrated by deep *' sounds," or fiords, not unlike some of those on the west coast of Norway. Mount Aspiring, at the northern border of the province, reaches an elevation of 9,940 feet, while several other points rise upwards of 8,000 feet above the sea, forming altogether a grand background, from which the rest of the country descends towards the eastern coast in a series of rolling downs, diversified by deep valleys and numerous lakes. The rivers are remarkable for, in several cases, and with much perversity, cutting through ridges, and crossing the boundaries of the formations, in a way that not long ago would have been attributed to the effects of mighty " convulsions of Nature," but which the physical geologist is now able to account for on very different prin- ciples. The Southern Alps contain glaciers which, as Mr. Hutton shows very clearly, extended considerably beyond their present bounds on two occasions in later Tertiary times, and to this agency he refers the excavation of the rock basins which now constitute nearly all the lakes of the hilly districts. An excellent view of this chain of snowy mountains will be found in Dr. von Hoch- stetter's elaborate work on New Zealand ; in which Mount Cook, Mount Tasman, and the adjacent mountain giants are seen towering to an elevation of 13,200 feet above the waters of the ocean. The work before us is a very carefully prepared, and scrupulously accurate, report on the physical features and geological structure of the district of Otago which, under the direction of Dr. Hector, the author has explored and mapped. The arrangement of the matter is go:)d, and the descriptions succ net, while the writer is careful to notice the labours of others in the same field of research. The roughness of some of the woodcut illustrations, which one cannot fail to notice, is perhaps inseparable from a work brought out in a young colony, and is not to be laid to the charge of the author. As already observed, the geological formations of Otago have a wide range in time, extending from the crystalline masses of the New Zealand Alps (possibly referable lo the Laurentian period) through the repre- sentatives of the Lower Silurian, Carboniferous, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary times down to the present day. The thickness of some of these older forma- tions is doubtless very great, but the difficulty which the author feels in estimating the apparent thickness of some of these formations at the amount deduced from the dip of the beds may probably be overcome by supposing that the beds are folded over on themselves — a phenomenon of very common occurrence in such districts as that of the New Zealand Alps. The Otago formations have very properly received names derived from localities where they are well represented. The reference to the equivalent formations in Europe is given with some hesitation ; never- theless, it cannot be doubted that on the whole these determinations are substantially correct — even if we sup- pose a relative, rather than an absolute, synchronism owing to the vast intervening space between Europe and New Zealand ; and for all purposes of comparison it is not of the slightest importance whether it is one or the other. The great oscillations of level through which New Zealand has passed are well described and illustrated by Mr. Hutton under the head of " Historical Geology." These correspond to some extent with the movements which in Britain and Europe have enabled us to define the limits of the three great divisions of geological time. Towards the close of the Palaeozoic period " New Zealand probably formed a subordinate part of a large continent, which, judging by the similarity of the shells and plants, joined in the following formations with those of Aus- tralia, India, and Europe, probably stretched far away to the northward" (p. 75). At the commencement of the Triassic period this con- tinent began in New Zealand to be submerged ; and with one or more slight oscillations this subsidence continued till towards the middle of the Jurassic period, when the whole country was again elevated, and the chain of the New Zealand Alps was formed. Great denudation of the upraised beds ensued, as they remained expased to the atmosphere till the later Cretaceous period. Hence the unconformity between the Upper Cretaceous and the Lower Jurassic rocks (the Warpara and Putataka forma- tions), and the entire absence of the intervening strata. Since the great upheaval here referred to, the New Zealand Alps have never been totally submerged, though some- times deeply depressed. The Upper Cretaceous period was one of submergence to all but the higher elevations, and at its close there was another elevation, accompanied by disturbances of the strata, resulting in an unconformity between the Tertiary beds and all those of older date. These former are found June 15, 1876] NATURE 147 filling in the depressions and old valleys of the Mesozoic and Palaeozoic rocks, and often containing valuable beds of lignite resulting from the decay of the vegetation which found a congenial soil and climate amongst the lakes and lagoons of the period. Mr. Hutton considers that there was a " Glacier period" during older Pliocene times, and another of less importance just before the Pleistocene epoch. Both of these are of earlier date than " The Glacial period " of the northern hemisphere, and in the view of the author, as well as of Dr. von Hochstetter and Dr. Haast,* were due not to climatical influences extending over the southern hemisphere and differing from those of the present day, but solely to the greater elevation of the land in New Zea- land at those periods, and the consequent extension of snow and ice over a larger area than at present. In Mr. Hutton, "The Theory of the Glacial Origin of Lakes," at least as far as it applies to the province of Otago, finds a new and welcome advocate; and his observations on this question are opportune at this time, as Prof. Ramsay's theory has been challenged by an able writer in the pages of the Geological Magazine} Mr. Hutton first examines the views of those who have re- ferred the origin of these lakes in Otago to subsidences? or terrestrial movements, and considering them inade- quate, falls back on that of glacial erosion, in support of which he can appeal to the evidence of former glacial action along the shores of the lakes themselves. The latter portion of the volume before us is taken up with the report of Mr. Ulrich upon the gold-fields of Otago, which is of much local interest, and will doubtless prove of value in guiding future adventurers, but does not appear to call for special observation in a short review. OUR BOOKSHELF Elementary Algebra, with Numerous Exercises, for Use in Higher and Middle- class Schools. By David Munn, F.R.S.E, (Collins' School Series, 1876.) The chief justification, perhaps, for the production of this work is that the exigencies of a " school series " demanded the publication of an elementary algebra. There is not much more in it than is to be found in a half-dozen similar works, and the explanations of rules seem to us to fall short of those given elsewhere. We do not like the frequent use oi evidently in an elementary work ; our own extended experience with English school- boys is that these elementary details are by no means evident to the ordinary schoolboy mind. On p. 70 " the L.C.M. of d"b'C and aH^c^ will evidently be d-^b'^c'-^" is evi- dently wrong, for it evidently ought to be d^/?^c^. Art. 8 on p. 45 (to show that when a certain algebraical polyno- mial is divided by {x — a), the remainder is what the polynomial becomes when in it x is changed to a) is useful, and we teach it to advanced pupils, but we are disposed to think that few beginners could grasp the truth and apply it. On pp. 173 to 176 we have some interesting Miscellaneous Propositions on the progressions which we do not remember to have seen in previous text- books. The most important mistakes we have found are on pp. 66, 96, 107, 151, 153. Here we may remark that there is a very plentiful crop of typographical blunders ; many of these we are disposed to attribute to a hasty ' See Hochstetter's " New Zealand," English translaiion, p. 504. ' No. 139, January 1867. The statements of Mr. Judd have called forth several rejoinders in the ensuing number of the Magazine for February. examination of the "proofs;" frequent instances, too, occur in which 2, 3, or 5 have got interchanged. There is a large collection of exercises, but happily no answers are given at the end, or the list of errata would doubt- less have been greatly enlarged. From the fact that (<2»«)« = (rt«)'» for positive integers, "it follows that {aq)'} =aPy This, we think, will hardly be admitted; we should prefer to assume that the result holds, P and thence derive an interpretation of aq . The book takes in Indeterminate Equations, Permutations, Ratio, Proportion, Variation, and the Binomial Theorem, The only Scoticism we have noticed is one that frequently occurs : it is, " we will find," &c. 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 Early History of Magnetism Permit me to supplement "K.'s" excellent sketch of the " History of Magnetism " (Naturf, vol. xiii. p. 523) by two notices of the "Mariner's Compass," which seem to beef earlier date than any hitherto found in Europe. They possess particular interest from showing the compass in so rude a state as to lead to the inference that we owe it to a re-discovery rather than to an importation from China. The author of the notices is Alexander Neckam, an English writer of the twelfth century, and they are now included in a book which was privately printed in 1857, entitled "A Volume of Vocabularies," illustrating the condition and manners of our forefathers from the tenth to the fifteenth century, edited from MSS. in public and private collec- tions, by Thomas Wright, M.A., F.S.A., Hon. M.R.S.L., &c. It was through the zeal and the liberality of Joseph Mayer, F.R. A.S., F.S.A., of Bebington, that thesenotices were brought to light, and a most useful volume was produced, of which he bore the charge. As the discovery was made by Mr, Wright, it shall be reported in his own words. In referring to the many points of interest upon which new light is thrown by the vocabularies, he says : — "None of these, perhaps, is cf more importance than the curious early allusion to the use of the mariner's compass by the navigators of the western seas. It is well known to all readers that this invaluable invention has been formerly supposed to have been brought from the East, and not to have been known in the West until the fourteenth century, when it was used by the Italian mariners. Allusions to it have, however, been dis- coveie 1 by the students of medireval literature in works which date as far back as the thirteenth century. In the following pages we find this invention not only alluded to in the twelith century, but described in such a manner as to show that it was then absolutely in its infancy, and to leave little doubt of its having originated in the West, Alexander Neckam, in his tieatise ' De Utensilibus,' enumerates among the ship's stores a needle which was placed on a pivot, and when turned round and left to take its own position in repose, taught the sailors their way when the polar star was concealed from them by clouds or tempest. I have discovered and printed in the note to this passage, a passage in another of Neckam's works, the in- edited treatise ' De Naturis Rerum,' which gives a more distinct account of this invention. ' Mariners at sea,' he says, ' when through cloudy weather in the day which hides the sun, or through the darkness of the night, they lose the knowledge of the quarter of the world to which they are sailing, touch a needle with the magnet, which will turn round till, on its motion ceasing, its point will be directed towards the north.' A comparison of these two passages seems to show pretty clearly that at this time the navigators had no regular box for the compass, but that they merely carried with them a needle which had been touched with the magnet (perhaps sometimes they carried the magnet also, and touched the needle for the occasion), and that when they had to use it they merely placed it upon some point, or pivot, on which it could turn with tolerable freedom, and then gave it a motion, and waited until it ceased moving. This mode of 148 NATURE \yune 15, 1876 using the needle was, it must be confessed, rude enough. The passage in the treatise * De Utensilibus ' contains one particular which is very obscure, as Neckam informs us that when the needle ceased moving it pointed towards the east {donee cusp's aetts respieiat orientefJi) ; and as all the manuscripts agree in this reading, and it is glossed by est, this must be the intention of the vriter. I know no way of explaining this, unless it be by the supposition that as in the twelfth century, the East was the grand object of most voyages from this part of the world, an attempt had been made to improve the magnetic needle, by adding to it a limb at right angles, which should point to the east when the needle itself pointed to the north, andthatthiswas what Neckam called the cuspis acus. Between this and the date — whatever it may be — of the poem, also quoted in my note on the passage of Neckam, which contains the first allusion to the mariner's com- pass in the thirteenth century, an attempt had been made to facilitate its use.' This was done by thrusting the needle through some substance which would not sink, and placing it upon the surface of water. Guiot de Provins, the author of the poem alluded to, calls this substance ^fesiu, a stick or straw (the Latin festuea). The mariners, he tells us, have a contrivance depend- ing on the magnet, which cannot fail. The magnet, he adds, is an ugly brownish stone, to which iron is attracted. 'After they have caused a needle to touch it, and placed it in a stick, they put it in the water, without anything more, and the stick keeps it on the surface. Then it turns its point towards the star with such certainty that no man will ever have any doubt of it, nor will it ever for anything go false. When the sea is dark and hazy, that they can neither see star nor moon, they place a light by the needle, and then they have no fear of going wrong ; towards the star goes the point, whereby the mariners have the knowledge to keep the light way. It is an art which cannot fail.' According to another poet, the substance through which the needle was usually thrust was cork. He tells us that ' the mariners who went to Friesland, or to Greece, or Acre, or Venice' were guided by the polar star ; but when at night, or in obscure weather, it was invisible, they discovered its position by the following contrivance: — ' They thrust a needle of iron through a piece of cork, so that it is almost buried in it, and then touch it with the loadstone ; then they place it in a vessel full of water, so that no one pushes it out until the water is calm, for in whatever direction the point aims, there without doubt is the polar star,' The MS. in which this latter poem was found is undoubtedly of the fourteenth century j but the poem itself is evidently of somewhat older date of the beginning of that century, cr not improbably of the century preceding. It is possible there- fore that this rudely constructed marmer's compass may have continued unimproved until the fourteenth century." ^ \lntro- duclion, pp. 16-18.) 1 In this interval we meet with another slight but very curious allusion to the use of the magnetic needle for the purposes of navigation. Jacques de Vitri, one of the historians of the Crusadec, who wrote about the year 1218, says (" Hist. Hieros," cap. 89):— "Acus ferrea, postquam adamantem con- tigerlt, ad stellam septentrionalem, quse velut axis firmamenti, aliis vergen- tlbus non movetur, semper convertitur ; unde valde necessarius est navi- gantibus in mari." 2 This very curious poem, a sort of song, is preserved in a manuscript formerly in the collection of M. Barrois, of Paris, and now in that of Lord Ashburnham. It was first pointed out by M. Fr Michel, who printed the portion relating to the mariner's compass in the preface to his " Lais Inedits " (Paris, 1836). As this is now a rare book, 1 have thought it desirable to give here the w hole passage, as a complement to the extracts given in the note on p. 114 of the present volume. It is as follows ; — " La tresmontaine est de tel guise Qu'ele est el fiimament asisse Oil ele luist et reflambie : Li maronicr qui vont en Frise, liii Gres^e, en Acre, ou ea Venisse, Sevent par li toute la voie ; Pour nule riens ne se desvoie. Tout jours se tient en uue moie, Tant est de li grans li servisse, Se la mers est enflee ou koie, Jk ne sera c'on ne le voie, Ne pour galerne ne pour bise Pour bise, ne pour autre afaire Ne laist sen dout servise a faire La tresmontaigne clere et pure ; Les maroniers par son esclaire Jete souveat hors de contraire, Et de chemin les asscure. Et quant la nuis est trop oscure, S'esc ele encor de tel nature, Ca I'aimant fait le fer traire, Si que par forcha et par droiture, Et par ruille qui tous jours dure, Sevent le liu de son repaire. The following is the text of Neckam with the interlinear gloss : — >"e une pere faut naute "Qui ergo vult habere navem, albestum habeat, ne desit ei fu agiiyl mis beneficium ignis, -^ Habeat etiam acum- jaculo suppositam, turne _ e enunin aguyl poynt agardet rotabitur enim et circumvolvetur acus donee cuspis acus respieiat est tali modo i. ubi mariners orientem, sic que comprehendunt quo tendere debeant nautc cum cinossura" [the cynosure, Kwoa-ovpa, or constellation popularly atapist de I'eyr tempeste cinossura called Charles's wain] "latet in aeris turbacione, quamvis ad achecement circle petit occasum nunquam tendat propter circuli brevitatem." ("De Utensilibus," p. 114.) Mr. Wright adds : " The earliest account of the mariner's compass, before known, was contained in the following lines of a satirical poem, entitled the ' Bible Guiot de Provins,' composed in the thirteenth century." (Barbazan, "Fabliaux," tom, ii. p. 328.) " Un art font qui mentir ne puet Par la vertu de la maniete, Une pierre laide et brunete, Ou li fers volontiers se joint, Ont : si esgardent li droit point, Puis c'une aguile i ont touchi6, Et en un festu I'ont couch'd. En I'eve le metent sanz plus. Et li festuz la tient desus ; Puis se torne la pointe toute Contre I'estoile, si sanz doute, Que i^ nus horn n'en doutera, Ne jh por rien ne fausera. Qant la mers est obscure et brune. Con ne voit estoile ne lune, Dont font h I'aguille alumer, Puis n'ont-il garde d'esgarer ; Contre I'estoile va la pointe, Por ce sont li marinier cointc De la droite voie tenir. C'est uns ars qui ne puet failler." The language ot the last extract fully bears out Mr. Wright's estimate of it as not earlier than the thirteenth century. Wm. Chappell The Dry River-beds of the Riviera Mr, H, T. Wharton's letter (Nature, vol, xiii., p. 448) does not seem fully to explain the difficulty expressed by Mr. R. E. Bartlett (Nature, vol. xiii., p, 406), a difficulty which is often felt by many of the visitors to the Riviera, Mr. Wharton is quite correct with regard to the Paglione, This stream has, I believe, within the last few years been often in high flood, and has been more than once within a foot or two of the top of the arches of the bridge which Mr. Bartlett seems to think is unnecessarily large. The Paglione, where it passes through Nice, is not, however, a fair representative of the river-beds of the Riviera, When the river-walls were built, which now retain the Paglione, the river-bed was, in all probability, made much narrower than it previously was, on account of the value of the land for build- ing purposes, and only so much of the river-bed retained as was necessary to carry away the water, so that the Paglione now completely fills its channel when in flood. This is far from Son repaire sevent a route. Quant li tans n'a de clarte goute, Tout chil qui font cost maistrise. Qui une aguille de fer boute Si qu'ele pert presque toute En .i. pel de liege, et I'atise A la pierre d'ainiant bise ; En .i. vaissel plain d'yave est mise. Si que nus hors ne la deboute. Si tost com I'iave s'aserise ; Car dons quel part la pointe vise. La tresmontaigne est la sans doute." 1 It was beiieved that the a&bestus, when once lighted, could never be extinguished, and hence Neckam recommends it to be carried on shipboard, that the sailors may never be without fire. ' This rather obscure description of the mariner's compass, belonging certainly to the twelfth century, is the earliest allusion to the use of that important instrument in the middle ages. Alexander Neckam has, however, given a rather fuller description of it in another of his books, the treatise " De Naturis Rerum," lib. 2, c 89 (MS. Reg. 12 G. xi., fol. 53 v"> : " Nautae etiam mare legentes, cum beneficium claritatis solis in tempore nubilo non sentiunt, aul etiam cum caligine nocturnarum tenekrarum mundus obvol- vitur, et ignorant in quem mundi cardincm prora tendat, acum super mag- netem ponunt, qux circulariter circumvolvitur usque dum, ejus motu cessante, cuspis ipsius septentrionalem respieiat." [Here the error about pointing to the east is corrected.] June 15, 1876] NATURE 149 being the case with most of the Riviera torrents. For instance, the channels of the streams near Menton, Vintimiglia, and else* where, are far out of all proportion to the work they have to do. Take the case of the principal stream at Menton. At a distance of less than two miles from the sea where its bed is formed of rock, it has only a breadth of a few yards, and has no high flood-marks indicating that there is ever a great depth of water. If the stream is followed downwards from this point for less than a mile, the bed is found to open out to a breadth of from sixty to seventy yards. Between these points there are no tributary streams adding their waters to account for this increase. These large river-beds are caused by the nature of the country which these rivers drain. The country is very mountainous, the hill slopes are rocky and steep, large areas have no covering of soil, and what soil there is does not retain the water well. The result of this is, that when rain falls the water rapidly finds its way to the streams, and the same amount of rainfall is discharged by these streams in a few hours as is discharged in weeks by an English river draining the same area. This ac- counts for these torrents rising so " high " and falling so " low." It also accounts for them " rising " and " falling " rapidly. But further^ the great and unnecessary breadth of these torrent- beds where they approach the sea seems to be produced somewhat in the following way : — The valleys through which these streams flow descend rapidly from the mountains, but as they approach the sea their slope becomes much slower; the result of this is, that the gravel brought down by the river from its higher and more rapid reaches, is here deposited, on account of the water losing its velocity, and the bottom of the valley becomes filled with a bed of gravel, through which the stream winds sometimes in one part, sometimes in another. A very small cause being suffi- cient to make the stream " cut " into the gravel and alter the position of its bed, and cause it to flow in different parts of the channel at different times, but it almost never covers at one time the whole breadth of it. That the bed of the principal stream at Menton is unneces- sarily large, is evident from the fact that now, on account of the increased value of land, they are building a retaining-wall near the centre of the stream, and filling up about one-half of the river-bed for the purpose of cultivation. Rivers similar to those of the Riviera are common to all moun • tainous countries, Britain not excepted. There is at least one salmon river in Scotland, which during the dry season may be walked across without wetting the soles of one's boots, all the water finding a passage among the gravel. Yet in Autumn, when it has lallen to " fishing condiuon," it is a stream of about thirty yards broad, and an average depth of about two feet on the fords. This river is also subject to great floods:, which " come down " rapidly, and " fall " rapidly. It also has gravel deposits similar to those of the Riviera torrents, but in this case they are covered with soil and cultivated, and it is with the greatest difficulty and at great expense that the river is pre- vented from widening its channel to the proportions of those of the Riviera torrents. John Aitken Bellagio, Lago di Como, Italy t Method of Distributing Astronomical Predictions I BEG leave to observe that the very useful method of dis- tributing astronomical predictions over a given geographical area alluded to in Nature, vol. xiii., page 71, and ascribed there to Mr. W.lS. B. Wool house, was already proposed by my father, J. J. von littrow, in his treatise, " Darstellung der Sonnen- finstemiss vom 7 September, 1820," Pest, 1820, 2S> well as in the Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch, for 1821, page 1 16, and 1822, page 145; subsequently in his " Theoretische und prac- tische Astronoroie," Wien, 1821, part ii., page 280 ; and last in his " Vorlesungen iiber Astronomic," Wien, 1830, part i., page 306. Since then numerous applications have been made thereof. .My father expressed the well-founded desire that in the astro- nomical almanacs formulae might be given similar to that com- municated in Nature. Charles de Littrow Vienna, June I Acoustical Phenomena In connection with Doppler's disputed theory of the colours of stars, the illustration usually employed to assist the mind in forming a conception of the hypothesis is that of the whistle of a passing locomotive. The note of the whistle, which, as it approaches, seems shriller than its normal pitch, owing to the greater number of vibrations impinging upon the ear in the unit of time, falls half a tone more or less, as the engine passes and recedes. To unmusical ears the difference in the note is a very doubtful fact, only to be taken on hearsay. There is, however, another fact of kindred nature to which attention has not, I beheve, been generally drawn. Almost all railway engines, and especially those drawing heavy goods' trains, have, owing to the manner in which the valve-gearing is set, the property of pro- ducing the well-known staccato puffs of steam, audible to the ear as well as evident to the eye. Anyone who will listen to these puffs as the train dashes by will be aware of a very distinct and well-marked change in their apparent rapidity of succession at the moment of passing. So distinct is the change that almost invariably the first effect on the mind is the illusory suggestion that the train has suddenly slackened speed. This change is heard best at night, and when the passing train is a heavy one, not running too quickly. It cannot fail to be appreciated even by non-musical ears. As an illustration of a scientific principle it is, perhaps of the greater value, as a popular error seems to exist on the subject of the change of the note of the whistle, to the effect that the lowering in pitch is very gradual during the approach and recession of the engine, an opinion obviously incorrect if the observer be close to the train. London, June 7 S. P. Thompson Giant Tortoises In Nature, vol. xiv. p. 60, it is stated that Commander Cookson, of H.M.S. Petrel, is bringing home two live specimens of the giant tortoise of the Galapagos ; that ij their food lasts, and if they are not killed by the cold off Cape Horn, they will be the first specimens seen alive in this country. Even should the tortoises survive the two ifs above given, they will not be the first living specimens seen in this country. A large speciu en brought from the Galapagos Islands by one of the ships of the late S. R. Graves, M.P,, lived in good health for nearly ten years in our Dublin Zoological Gardens. This animal was examined, after death, by Dr. Giinther, who states that it is not identical with the Indian species, as supposed by former naturalists. Samuel Haughton, Secretary Royal Zoological Gardens, Dublin Trinity College, Dublin, June 2 Photography of the Loan Collection Apparatus The Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus at South Ken- sington contains many apparatus, as for instance the first air- pump of Otto von Guericke, the first boiler of Papin, the first locomotive, &c. , which for the friends of science will ever be of great historical interest. Therefore I cannot refrain from ex- pressing the wish that opportunity should be given to take photo- graphs of convenient size of some of the most interesting appa- ratus. I believe many visitors will feel with me greatly gratified if such a more enduring remembrance could be taken home ot an exhibition that perhaps for ever will remain unequalled. The Hague, June 12 L. B. ABSTRACT REPORT TO ''NATURE" ON EX- PERIMENTA TION ON ANIMALS FOR THE ADVANCE OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE THE courteous request of the editor of Nature that I should contribute to his pages an abstract of my experience of the value of experimentation on animals and on the most useful applications of that method of research to the alleviation, directly or indirectly, of animal suffering in all the higher classes of animals is responded to in the subjoined notes. I have already expressed my views on this subject on two occasions at large pubhc meetings of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and in 1 862 I made a report on the same subject to the inde- fatigable secretary of that society, Mr. Colam, which report he has recently published, and which on the points it refers to is in harmony with the conclusions of the late Royal Commission. I have not, however, entered into ! the discussion that for some months past has been in I50 NATURE {June 15, 1876 progress, and this for the simple reason that in the violence, I had almost said distemper, of the contro- versy, I felt I could take no part. In what I am now about to record I shall merely bear witness of what I know without prejudice to either side. I state this at once because I feel morally sure that if I had not been a physician, and if I had not from that circumstance studied the question in connection with human suffering in its most poignant aspects, I should have been one of the strongest partizans amongst those who are most strongly opposed to experimentation. I differ indeed only from them in that I have been obliged to consider the pains of men, women, and children in my daily labours, and have been forced to the conviction that the actual suffering of the inferior animals bears no comparison with that which is borne by the human family; that the mental sufferings alone of man exceed the physical pains of the lower creatures ; and that his physical pain is greater in amount, in intensity, and in appreciation. For my part, the experience 1 have gained from experi- mentation has, from the beginning to the end, through a long period of twenty-six years — during which it has at intervals been sought — sprung in almost every instance, directly from the desire to apply scientific research to the instant use of the practising physician. With rare exceptions every inquiry has been prompted by some painful diffi- culty that has been suggested at the bedside of the sick, or by the sight of operation on the human subject. If, therefore, experiment on animals can be vindicated by its application to practice, my experience may be of use in settling doubts in the minds, at least, of those who are not unduly biassed on either side. Expei-imcntation 011 Death from CJiloroform The first series of experiments I remember to have made were commenced in the years 1850 and 51, and had leference to the mode and cause of death under chloro- form. At the time named chloroform had been in use a little over two years, for preventing the pain of surgical operations, and already nineteen deaths in man had occurred from it. These calamities had produced very painful and anxious feelings amongst medical men, and my researches had for their intention the elucidation of many points of prac- tical importance. The mode of procedure was to narco- tise the animals with varying degrees of rapidity, with vary- ing percentages of chloroform vapour in the atmosphere, and during various atmospherical conditions : to notecare- fully the phenomena produced on the heart and on the re- spiration, and the duration of the four stages of narcotism. In some instances the animals — rabbits were usually sub- jected to experiment — were allowed to recover ; in other instances the narcotism was continued to death. When the narcotism was made to be fatal the immediate cause of death was noted, and the body was left until the rigidity of death could be recorded. Then all the organs were care- fully inspected in order to see what was the condition of the lungs, the heart, the brain, the spinal cord. The results obtained by these inquiries were of direct practical value. By them I showed in various lectures and papers the following major facts : — 1. That the cause of the latality from chloroform does not occur, as was at first supposed, from any particular mode of administration of the narcotic. 2. That chloroform will kill, in some instances, when the subject killtd by it exhibits, previous to administra- tion, no trace of disease or other sign by which the danger of death can be foretold. 3. That the condition of the air at the time of adminis- tration materially influences the action of the narcotic vapour. That the danger of administration is much less when the air is free of water vapour and the temperature is above 60° but below 70° Fahr. 4. That there are four distinct modes of death from chloroform, and that when the phenomena of death from its application appear, they are infinitely more likely to pass into irrevocable death than from some other nar- cotics that may be used in lieu of chloroform. 5. That all the members of the group of narcotic vapours of the chlorine series, of which chloroform is the most prominent as a narcotic, are dangerous narcotics, and that chloroform ought to Idc replaced by some other agent equally practical in use, and less fatal. 6. That so long as it continues to be used there will always be a certain distinct mortality arising from chloro- form, and that no human skill in applying it can divest it of its dangers. That knowledge of this kind respecting an agent which destroys one person out of every two thousand five hundred who inhale it was calculated to be useful no reasonable mind, I think, can doubt. To me who, many hundred times in my life have had the solemn responsi- bility of administering chloroform to my fellow-men, it was of so much value that I should have felt it a crime if I had gone blindly on using so potent an instrument with- out obtaining such knowledge.; Experimentation with reference to the Deposition of Fibrine iti the Heart, and Prevention of Death from that Cause. From 1 85 1 to 1S54 I was closely occupied in the study of that mode of death which is caused by the separation of the fibrine of the blood in the cavities of the heart. At the time named a medical controversy which had been all but silent for a hundred and fifty years, on the ques- tion whether the separations of fibrine which are often found in the heart after death are formed before death and are a cause of death, or are formed after death and are a mere consequence, was revived and was carried on, with much activity, by physicians of different schools. I took a leading part in supporting the view that the sepa- rations of fibrine took place, as a rule, before death, and were the cause of death. I did a great deal to prove the tru'h of this then controverted, and now universally admitted, position, and 1 gave the first detailed description of the symptoms which indicate the formation of the clots in the cavities of the heart. The result was that I soon became too sadly familiar with this class of case, for I found that the symptoms, whenever they were fairly pro- nounced, indicated the certain death of the sufferer. These observations led me, naturally, to look for a remedy ; to an endeavour to find a means by which the clot of fibrine in the heart could be made to undergo solution. Taking clots that had been removed from the dead and had been causes of death, I subjected them to different solutions to determine their solubility. I found them soluble in some alkaline solutions, and amongst other solutions in ammonia. I also observed that ammonia added to blood held the fibrine of the blood, from which these clots are formed, in solution. The fact led me to expect that by the use of such alkaline solutions a true solvent rem.edy might be found. A case occurred in which symptoms of fa'.al character were fully developed, and in the hope of producing solution of the coagulum in the heart, full doses of bicarbonate of ammonia were re- peatedly administered. To my great satisfaction the signs of oppression at the heart ceased, life Avas evidently prolonged, and a fair chance of recovery was presented. The hope of recovery was in a few hours, however, de- stroyed ; coma supervened, and the patient died from that added cause of death. The post-mortem revealed that the blood throughout the body was fluid, and that the clot which had been in the heart had undergone all but complete solution. But the red corpuscles of the blood were found also to have undergone the extremest disintegration, and the brain and other vital organs were intensely congested. The inference I drew at this time, it was in 1854, from June 15, 1876] NATURE 151 the example in question, was that the remedy which had caused solution of the coagulum had saved life by that prcccFS to destroy life by the extension of the solvent action to the blood corpuscles, and this opinion was so fully confirmed by experimentation, that I gave up further inquiry on the subject, from the feeling that its continu- ance was not warranted. A period of seventeen years now elapsed, in every year of which I had occasion to see from five to six instances of deafh from this one cause. Some of the deaths from the cause named occurred after surgical operations, such as ovariotomy, some from croup and other inflammatory affections, others before or after childbirth. In 1870 I computed that I had wit- nessed ninety- seven of these fatal catastrophes. Mean- time there had been found no remedy, but I had learned from the added experience one new fact, viz., that in three instances, although no ammonia or other solvent of the blood had been employed in treatment, the symptoms of coma supervened precisely as in the case where ammonia had been administered. At last I obtained one clear evidence that the reason of the symptoms was a separation of fibrine in the sinuses of the brain. Eecurring once more to the use of ammonia as a solvent of the deposited fibrine, I thought it justifiable now to renew experiment. It might, I felt, be the best course to administer the simple liquid ammonia instead of a salt of that substance, by which means I hoped the solvent action would be obtained by an agent that was more easily eliminated from the body when the administration of it was withdrawn. To what extent I might administer the solvent, how far I might venture to produce disintegration of the cor- puscles of the blood and hope for recovery, was the point to be arrived at. It could only be arrived at by one of two methods — by trying the experiment on the inferior animals, or by waiting for the opportunity of testing the remedy directly on man in some extreme case of the diseased condition specified. I chose, and I think cor- rectly, the first of these alternatives. I subjected an animal, a guinea pig, to the administration of ammonia diluted as it might be for the human subject, and I continued the administration until I found, firstly, that life was possible and safe under a degree of solution of blood which in the absence of such a direct test would have been thought impossible ; and secondly, that on the withdrawal of the solvent agent the natural state was slowly but completely restored. I repeated the research in order to test the best mode of administration. I tried on myself the doses that could be swallowed without actual pain, and then I planned the measure I would adopt when another instance of obstruction of the blood in the heart came under my care. I need not repeat here, in any detail, the satisfactory results of this inquiry. The facts have been recorded at length before the Medical Society of London, have been made widely known in the profession of medicine, and have gathered confirmation from others. It is sufficient for me to state that in 1872, in an example of this fibrinous obstruction in the heart, when the sufferer was to all known observation in extremis, the treatment by am- monia, in doses which would have been considered poisonous had not experiment on animals proved the contrary, was pushed to the full ; that the evidence of solution of the obstructing mass in the heart was perfect ; and that complete recovery, I have no doubt the first recovery of the kind, was the result. Since then I know of eight more examples in which the same rational method of treatment has been applied, with the result of six re- coveries. Experimentation for Surgical Learning. — Ovariotomy. I have sometimes had occasion to perform, or take part in experiments on the lower animals in order to learn some important detail of surgical practice. The following ex- perience of this nature is worthy of special note. When Mr. Spencer Wells was beginning his career in performing the operation of this centur}', — the removal of ovarian tumours, — a difficulty arose on the point whether in closing up the wound in the abdomen the peritoneum ought or ought not to be included in the stitches. At the present time, when so much is known, this subject may appear of little moment ; then it was of vital moment. The peritoneum had been held by all authorities to be of such importance in the an'mal economy that to cut or in- jure it was thought to be actually a deadly act, and a man who intentionally injured the peritoneum, in operation, was considered, by many, as little better than a wanton and wicked experimenter on human life. Ought any one, therefore, to venture to put two rows of stitches through this structure ? Mr. Wells wished to ask the ques- tion of nature, by experiment, and I helped him. Eighteen animals of three classes— guinea-pigs, rabbits, and dogs — were first thoroughly narcotised. Then the same incision was made into the abdominal cavity as is made in ovariotomy. Afterwards the incision was neatly and closely sewn up, in one set of experinents with the peritoneum included in the stitches, in the other set with the peritoneum excluded. The anima'.s, on coming out of their sleep, were attended to and treated with as much care as if they had been human until their recovery, which in each case was rapid and easy. When they had entirely recovered and the wound healed, they were submitted to painless death, under anaesthesia, and their bodies were examined to determine the results of the different modes of operation. These were the steps of the proceeding. The lessons taught were of vital value. The experimentation proved beyond dispute that the introduction of the stitches through the peritoneum added no danger to the operation. They proved further that when the peritoneum was in- cluded in the stitches, the wound healed much more firmly and safely, a fact which could only have been Icarnea from an operation on a subject that could be killed after operation. From that time of probationary learning on to this time of matured experience, Mr. Wells has per- formed the great operation, with which his name is for ever identified, 770 times. In every instance the patients who have come under his care for operation would, presum- ably from past experience, have died from the disease. Of his patients operated on an average of three out of four have recovered. He has, therefore, by his own hand saved between five or six hundred women from one form of certain and lingering death. Towards this result — a result grander than has ever before fallen to the lot of any operator of any age — he w^as fortified by the experi- ments I have described to an extent which no one but an operator himself can fully appreciate. I am aware there are some who would urge that he might have learned the facts he wanted to obtain by experience, that is to say he might have waited for the results from his operations on women. This plan would have made several women in the prime of life subjects of experimental inquiry. I am aware that some would say it were better the operation had been dropped than that any animal whatever had been subjected to suffering for its sake. This plan would have been an obstacle to the saving of over five hundred women from early and certain death in the practice of Mr. Wells alone. But when it is I remembered that his teaching and example have been j followed wherever surgery is practised, the numbers of I women saved from death and suffering during the last fifteen years in consequence of what was learnt by sacri- I ficing some eighteen dogs, rabbits, and guinea-pigs, it is obvious that those who estimate human life at its real I value and observe human suffering in its most distressing ' forms are compelled, however painful to their own feelings, to think and act first for the best interests of the j human family. What Lord Selbome, one of our most distinguished 152 NATURE {June 15, 1876 Chancellors, thinks of the results of Mr. Wells's work may be gathered from one of his published speeches. He calls it " one of the most splendid triumphs of modern surgical art and modern philanthropy, one of the greatest achievements of medicine or surgery in any age." Mr. Wells himself has repeatedly urged that what he learnt by the result of the experiments we performed together has been of the utmost importance for the success of the operation, and in a note addressed to me to-day he re- peats and permits me to publish his views in his own words : — " The few experiments we made on the narcotised animals taught in a few weeks, in the early days of ovario- tomy, what I could not have learned to this hour, after many years' observations on suffering women. To my mind, the loss to the world by the few animals sacrificed, when compared with the gain by the lives of the thou- sands of suffering women already saved, wherever the im- proved methods of operating learned by these experi- ments has been followed, is so utterly disproportionate as not even to be worthy of consideration." Benjamin W. Richardson {To be continned) OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN The Comet of 1698. — The orbit of the comet of 1698, which appears in our catalogues was calculated by H alley from the observations of Lahire and Cassini at Paris. In his " Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets " he remarks that the comet " was seen only by the Parisian observers who determined its course in a very uncommon manner. This comet was a very obscure one, and although it moved swiftly, and came near enough to our earth, yet we, who are not wont to be incurious in these matters, saw nothing of it." The comet was detected on Sept. 2, between ^3 and k Cassiopea;, and thence pursued a southerly course until on the 28th of the same month it was last observed between ^ and -^ Scorpii. On calculating geocentric places from Halley's orbit, it appears that the elements as originally published by him, and as they have been successively copied into all our catalogues, give an apparent track in the heavens which is totally different from that recorded by Lahire and Cassini, and described in Aftciens Mdmoires de V Academic des Sciences, t. x., and which is traced on the chart in the M'emoires for 1702. Employing positions deduced as closely as practicable from the somewhat imperfect details in our possession, for Sept. 2, 15, and 28, the following orbit results : — Perihelion Passage 1698, Ircpt. 17 '02 14 Paris mean time. Longitude of the perihelion . . . 274° 42' ) Equinox ,, Ascending node ... 65 53 J of 1699. Inclination ... ... ... 10 55 Log. Perihelion Distance ... 9 '86252 Heliocentric motion — retrograde. On comparing these elements (which very fairly repre- sent the apparent track of the comet) with Halley's, it is at once evident that the cause of the failure of the latter is the substitution in the " Synopsis " of the longitude of the descending, instead of that of the ascending node, an oversight which appears to have escaped detection hither- to. Making this change in Halley's elements they will stand as follows : — Perihelion Passage 1698 Oct. 18 at i6h. 57m. Greenwich Longitude of Perihelion ... 270° 51' 15" time. ,, Ascending Node 87 44 15 Inclination ... ... ... 11 46 o Log. perihelion distance ... 9 "83966 Motion — retrograde. The first orbit appears to agree better upon the whole with the path of the comet laid down in the above men- tioned diagram. The Binary Star « Leonis. — In the " Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. 26, Dr. Doberck has given the details of a very elaborate determination of the orbit of this star, on measures extending to the spring of the present year. Madler had previously given two orbits, Villarceau one, and Klinkerfues three, so that the object had not been neglected, but a longer course of measures than had been employed by these calculators was required for a trustworthy approximation to the orbit. Dr. Do- berck presents the following elements as definitive for the present : — Peri-astron passage 1 841 -81 Node 148° 46' Angle between the lines of nodes and apsides (A.) 121° 4' Inclination ... ... ... ... ... 64° 5' Excentricity ... ... ... ... ... 0*5360 Semi-axis Major ... ... ... ... o"'890 Period of revolution ... ... ... 11082 years. From these elements we deduce the following angles and distances, exliibiting the course of the companion during the present century : — 1878-0 82-0 86 -o Pos, 75-1 „ 86-0 » 95 'o Some remarks Dist. ©•56 ,, 0*62 „ 068 Dist. 075 082 o-8q 1890-0 Pos. 102 '4 940 „ 108-5 98-0 ,, 113-6 on the correction of orbits of double stars, appended by Dr. Doberck to his paper on w Leonis, one of the most complete of the series emanating from Col. Cooper's Observatory at Markree Castle, may be useful to those who are occupied with these orbits. Variable Stars.— (i) Olbers' supposed variable, near 53 Virginis. Mr. J. E. Gore, writing from Umballa, Punjab, on May 13, says he examined the place of this star a few nights previous with a 3-inch refractor, and found it about 9 m., being about equal in brightness to Olbers' star c, and brighter than his star d, which latter appeared more nearly 9^ or 10 than 11, as given by Olbers. With an opera-glass the suspected variable was " about the faintest star in the immediate vicinity of 53 Virginis." (2) 5 Ceti,. — Recent observations afford a suspicion of variability to a small extent in this decidedly reddish star, which, by the way, is not found in Schjellerup's second catalogue of objects of this class. It may be advan- tageously compared with its neighbours 4 Ceti and B.A.C. 5. (3) The Companion of Algol. The small star near /S Persei, appears to have been first remarked by Schroter, on October 12, 1787, with a 7-feet telescope, power 160 ; on November 3 the distance was estimated I' 30". On April 9, 1788, he could not find the small star, and hence concluded it to be variable. Observations during the last two or three years have rather indicated fluctuation of brightness, the star being sometimes caught at once, and at others only perceived with difficulty, em- ploying the same telescopes and on nights not differing materially in transparency. It would not be without interest to ascertain definitely by systematic observation whether there is any ground for the suspicion first enter- tained by Schroter. The Double-Star y Centauri.— Will one of our southern readers put upon record the actual angle of position and distance of this object, to decide upon the direction and amount of the motion, which at present are by no means obvious ? Capt. Jacobs' measures in December, 1857, showed that the star was widening, as compared with his estimate in March of the preceding year, but he found a retrograde change of angle to the amount of 7°, whereas the angle of 1856, compared with Sir John Herschel's measures in 1835-36, rather poitn to direct motion. Capt. Jacobs says, in 1857, " Has opened sensibly since 1853, being now an easy object, whereas then, under the most favourable circumstarices, it could only just be discerned as not round." June 15, 1876] NATURE 153 D^ THE MAMMALS AND BIRDS OF BURMA 1 ^URING the last few years of his life, the late Mr, Edward Blyth— whose death on December 27th 1874 we referred to on the following week — devoted much of his time to the production of a Catalogue of the Mam- mals and Birds of Burma. This he had originally com- menced as a sketch of the Natural History of Burma, to form a chapter in a work on that country by Sir A. Phayre ; but as he had gone too exhaustively into the subject for that purpose. Sir Arthur, on receiving the manuscript after its author's death, handed it over to Mr. Arthur Grote, with the view of its being published in the '•Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal." To this the Council of the Society willinjily assented, the result being that Blyth's posthumous " Catalogue of the Mammals and Birds of Burma " has appeared as an extra num- ber of that journal, with an interesting and detailed biography by Mr. Grote. Different authors, with notes and additions, edit the different sections. Dr. John Anderson, the present curator of the Indian Museum of Calcutta, has undertaken the Mammals, with the excep- tion of the Bats, which have been placed under the charge of Dr. G. E. Dobson ; whilst Lord Walden edits the Birds. The editorial notes are all inclosed within brackets, so that there is no difficulty in distinguishing the author's own views. Without the notes and additions the work would not have been a complete one ; as it now appears, it is an exhaustive account of the mammali- and avi-faunae of the Burmese portion of our Indian Empire. Mr. Blyth's peculiar power of perceiving specific differ- ences, together wiih his general scientific acumen, had full opportunity of displaying themselves when he in 1841 undertook the charge of the mass of unassorted material, in the forms of skins and bones, accumulated at Calcutta by the labours of Messrs. Hodgson, Cantor, and others. His thorough study of these enabled him to employ to the greatest advantage the opportunities which occurred to him of visiting Burma, which he did on several occa- sions, between i860 and 1862. The results of these are embodied in the work under consideration, which as a simple catalogue would have been valuable, but is made doubly so by the extremely instructive comments which accompany many of the descriptions, and indicate how acute were the powers of their author as a naturalist. This may be further proved by the fact that of the 129 species of mammals known to inhabit Burma, thirty are recognised by names given by him. As a point to which we would take exception we must refer to the name by which the author designates the " Ear-fringed Rhinoceios," first described by Mr. Sclater, from a unique specimen now living in the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park, as Rhinoceros lasiotis. It happened that Dr. Gray had given the name R. crossii to the owner of a rhinoceros horn, 17 inches in length, the shape of which was different from that of any known species. Why, when a new species is discovered, the horn should be assumed to be one of those belonging to it, is far from easy to understand, and Mr. Blyth gives no reasons for his nomenclature. He does place a note of interrogation after the name. If we remember correctly, the stuffed specimens of R. sumatrensis in the British Museum bear the name of Ceratorhmus crossii, METEOROLOGY AT MELBOURNE"" THESE first three volumes of the new issue of the results of the meteorological observations carried on in Victoria under Mr. EUery's direction, give copious ' "Catalogue of Mammals and Birds of Burma." By the late E. Blyth, C. M Z.S. '•Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal," new series, vol. xliii Part 2. * Results of Observations in Meteoro'ogy, Terrestrial MaKnetism, «c., taken a. the Melbourne Observatory du.ring the year;, 1872, '73. '74, with Abs r^ctsfrom Meteorological Observations obtained at various Localities in Victoria, under the supeiintendence of Robert L. J. Kilery, Government Astronomer. details of all the work done at Melbourne, the chief observatory of the colony, the means and extremes of barometer and thermometer at from six to ten stations, and the amount and days of the rainfall at from twenty- six to thirty-four stations, the latter being the number of rainfall stations in 1874. To these are added, copious and very valuable resumes from all the thirty-four stations, of electrical phenomena, hail, frost, snow and sleet, fog, hot winds, storms of wind, auroras and earthquakes, most of which form so important elements in the climatology of Victoria. The daily results for pressure, temperature, and evapo- ration, which are printed for Melbourne from obser- vations made at 6 and 9 A.M., and 3 and 9 P.M., have been " corrected" so as to render their values, and those derived from them, equivalent to those deduced from hourly observations, presumably from the hourly values determined by Dr. G. Neumayer. This method of pub- lishing results is objectionable particularly as regards daily observations ; and even as regards monthly means, it is not free from serious objection, because, owing to the varying limits of the daily oscillations, this method of correcting observations must frequently mislead. The anemometrical results for Melbourne are extremely valuable. In the summer months southerly winds and in the winter months northerly winds largely prepon- derate. Thus in 1874 — while in January northerly winds (N.E., N., N.W.) showed a percentage of 11-3, southerly winds ',S.E., S., S.W.) showed a percentage of 74-0; in July, on the other hand, the numbers were, northerly, 589, and southerly, 23*2. Again, in July, the three hours of the day showing the least velocity of the wind are 4 to 7 A.M., the mean being 7-2 miles per hour, and the three hours of greatest velocity noon to 3 P.M., the mean being 1 1'8 miles. But in January the three hours of least velocity are 3 to 6 A.M., the mean being 63 miles, and the three hours of greatest velocity 2 to 5 p.m., the mean being 15 8 miles. Hence in summer, even though storms of wind are then least frequent, the maximum daily velocity of the wind which occurs two hours later, is 4 miles greater an hour, being the direct result of the powerful action of the sun on the healed plains of the interior of Australia. It is to be hoped that in future issues Mr. Ellery will be able to add to these invaluable tables, a table showing the mean hourly variation in the direction of the wind for each month, a climatological datum of the first importance in Meteorology to which we have recently drawn attention in reviewing the reports of Toronto and Habana. To each month's results are added the barometric, ther- mometric, hygrometric, and rain averages for eight of the stations, and since nearly all these averages are for periods varying from eleven to sixteen years, some interesting conclusions of a general character may now be drawn applicable to the whole colony. Thus in January the average pressure at 32° and sea-level is 29-962 inches at Cape Otway, on the coast, and 29-893 inches at Sand- hurst, in the interior; but in July the averages are respec- tively 30042 and 30-110 inches. These results show a diminution of pressure d-iring summer in advancing inland, and an increase in winter, a distribution of atmo- spheric pressure in accordance with the prevailing winds in these seasons. In January the mean temperature varies from 6o°-6 at Cape Otway to 70° 8 at Sandhurst ; and at Beechworth, which is still more decidedly inland, the mean temperature is 2°-o above that of Sandhurst, though it be fully 1,000 feet higher. At Cape Otway the difference between the coldest and warmest months is i3°-4, whereas at Sandhurst it is 25°- r. The mean annual temperatures of Cape Otway S4°-7, and Portland 6i°-5, call for examination. Cape Otway and Portland, whicn are nearly in the same latitude, both on the coast and only about fifty miles apart, show thus a difference in their mean temperatures of 6°-8, or a differ- 154 NATURE {June 15, 1876 ence equal to that between Greenwich and Montpellier in the south of France — a difference which might possibly arise from extraordinary and diverse ocean-currents — but to such a supposition current charts give no sup- port. The publication might be rendered even still more useful by including among the means those of the maxima and minima of temperature, and those at the hours of 9 A.M. and 3 P.M. for pressure and temperature at all the stations, and by indicating on the map the whole of the stations from which observations are given in each year's publication. AMERICAN-INDIAN STONE TUBES AND TOBACCO-PIPES TPVURING the summer of 1873, I found a single speci- -*-^ men of a stone tube, that had been split throughout its entire length, as seen in Fig. i. Since then, I have had an opportunity of examining several specimens found in New Jersey, and fortunately found two in the locality of my principal labours, in gathering up the scattered relics of the aborigines. Fij^. I is made of beautiful veined green and black slate, is six and one-eighth inches in length, slightly oval, and has been highly polished. The bore, which is exactly half-an- inch in diameter, is circular, uniform and direct. The drill- ing has evidently been accomplished by the use of a reed with sand and water, and the circular striae are visible throughout the length of the perforation. This drilling is the more interesting from the fact, that the work, com- menced at one end, has been continued to the other, and not from either end to the middle, which latter method (and much the more common one) produces an hour-glass contraction at the point of juncture of the two drillings Six or seven inches, however, was not the maximum depth atiempted at drilling in one direction. Prof Wyman, in " Fifth Report of the Peabody Museum of Archseology," Fig. I. — One-half natural size. p. 13, describes " a cylindrical tube of soap-stone, twenty- two inches long and two inches in diameter, tapering somewhat at either end. This had been drilled from op- posite ends, but the two perforations not coinciding, they passed by each other, the bores communicating laterally." We have in this implement, therefore, a single bore at least twelve inches long ; which is probably the maximum length, for it is difficult to conceive of a stone to be of greater length than two feet, being of any use.' This is about the maximum of the non-perforated cylindrical stones called pestles ; but which probably bad oti-er uses than that name implies. Fig. 2, represents a quite common form of ornamental stone implement, but which, unfortunately, are seldom found except in very fragmentary condition. This speci- men measures six and seven-eighths inches in length, by eight inches, lacking three-sixteenths, in breadth. The mineral is a soft sandstone, smoothed but not polished, and free from all attempt at ornamentation. Such speci- mens, when of less dimensions, have ordinarily been classed as badges of authority, gorgets, or if narrower, as double-edged axes, which could never have been their use, considering the soft material of which they are invariably ^ Mr. Evans, in his "Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain," re- marks that ■' the lubes of steatite one foot in length, found in some of the mmor mounds of the Ohio Valley, must probably have been bored with metal" This depends altogether upon their age. New Jersey specimens oi tubes have been found of nearly that length, which undoubteOly were made before the introduction of metal. made. As the perforation of this specimen exceeds in length that of the preceding, I am led to consider this simply as a " winged " tube, and to have had a use iden- tical with such as above described (Fig. i). While cylin- drical tubes, plain or onamented, are quite abundant in Fig. 2. — One-fifth natural size. the southern and western states, these winged tubes appear to replace them in the northern and middle states. Figs. 3 and 4 represent two specimens of tubes, that are of much interest, in that, while of the same general character as the preceding, they have not been bored ; but are made of clay which has been moulded when soft, about a straight cylinder, presumably cf wood, and then baked very hard. The exposure to fire would necessarily char, if not consume, the encased wood, and so leave a perforation in the clay when baked. This tube has then been brought to its present shaoe by scraping, and the ornamentation lastly carved upon it. In both specimens, the projective figure has been broken off, but the remain- ing fragment in Fig. 3 suggests the figure of a mammal, and that of Fig. 4 possibly a human head. On the tube, Fig. 3, will be noticed fi^e short parallel lines. Such rows flti. 3. — One-third natural size. of short deeply engraved lines are very characteristic of the relics found in New Jersey (see figure of Marriage Emblem in Nature, vol. xi., p. 436), and are probably record marks, but of what, on an implement like this, it is difficult to conjecture. The general shape of these tubes, and their diameters render it quite certain that they are not simply the stems of clay smoking- pi pes. These two specimens were found in the same grave, associated with the ordinary weapons of the aborigines ; axes, spears, and arrow-points. Fig. 5 represents a stone tube of a pattern quite differ- ent from any of the preceding. It is made of very solt soap-stone, is quite smooth, and accurately outlined. It is four and three-fourths inches in length ; one and one- fourth inches in width at the broad, trumpet- mouthed end, and half-an-inch in diameter, where broken. The Fig. 4. — One-third natural size. perforation is one-fourth of an inch in diameter, and of uniform size throughout. Such trumpet-shaped speci- mens occur elsewhere. Prof. Jeffries Wyman describes one in the Report above quoted, same page. He writes : " A fragment of another tubular instrument of the same ma- yune 15, 1876J NATURE 155 terial (soap-stone) appears to have had a long cylindrical body, and ends in an enlarged and trumpet-shaped mouth, and possibly was used as a horn," Fig. 5 has faintly engraved upon it a serpent, or what appears to have been one. This representation of a ser- pent, and the figures on the specimens, Nos. 3 and 4, have probably the same object. Either they represent the owner, the name of the object beiiig that of the possessor of the tube ; or, if they were used solely by the sorcerers as " medicine tubes," ^ wherewith they blew away disease, then the serpent in the one case, and the figures, now un- determinable, on Figs. 3 and 4, were the "gods" or " devils," through whose inspiration the " doctors '' effected their cures. How to explain the meaning of the " wings," of Fig. 2, is certainly difficult, if I am correct in my surmises concerning the other specimens ; but these may simply be meaningless ornamentation, just as the broken speci- men. Fig. I, when entire, was just as effectual as any in blowing away disease, provided the suffering patient was made to believe so, by entertaining faith in his physician. A few words in conclusion upon the use of stone drills in boring through stone. There is, in the museum of the Peabody Academy at Salem, Massachusetts, several hun- dred specimens of stone-drills, all of jasper, and varying greatly in length. These specimens, collected by the writer, have been frequently experimented with, and they are found capable of very rapidly drilling in the minerals of which these tubes and "gorgets" usually are marie. And when sand and water are used in addition, it is not extremely difficult to drill in mineral of hke or greater density. Stone-drills, such as here referred to, are not flat, like a slender arrow-point, but quadrangular (diamond- shaped) when viewed in section. The points of the few Fig. 5. — One-half natural size. perfect specimr ns I have found, were mostly very highly polished, and the bides showed clearly, in bome specimens, the action of sand. These drills vary from one to seven inches in length, and from three-sixteenths to over an inch in diameter ; or rather the bores they made, had these measurements. Figures of such drills are given in vol. vi. of "Amtrican Naturahst," pp. 205—214; also by Mr^ Evans, in " Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain,' p. 290, Fig. 230. None of the drills, however, mentioned by Mr. Evans, are large, and are capable only of perfor- ating thin plates of stone. While convinced that a reed, with^sand and water was most frequently used in deep bore=, I can see no reason for doubting that stone-drills were also used ; for such specimens are by no means rare, and no other use can be suggested for them. The various forms of stone implements found in New Jersey, however specialised, appear to be all traceable to others, far less elaborate, and these ruder patterns, as I have endeavoured to show, are now found at such depths, as a mile, that they may safely be considered as of greater antiquity and the forerunners of the more finished types, the true surface-found specimens. From this fact 1 have concluded that the red man of the Atlantic coast of North America reached our shores a palaeolithic savage, and when discovered by the Europeans had attained to the neolithic stage of culture. There is one form of stone implement (and only one) that oflers an exception to the assumed rule that the ruder antedate the more finished specimens ; that is, the I Veneeas (Nat. and Civil Hist, of California, vol. i., p. 97. London, i7Sg) stages : " Thev (medicine men) applied to the suffern'g part of the patient's body the chcuuaco, or a tube of a very hard bUck stone ; and throuah this they sometimes sucked, and other times blew. Quoted by C. C Jones, junr., in " Antiquities of Southern Indians, p. 36^. smoking pipes. There are no rude or palaeolithic pipes occurring in New Jersey, nor, I believe, in any portion of the country. They are all more or less polished and so wrought that they must be classed as a neolithic form of stone implement. Among the chipped unpolished imple- ments of the river gravels I have been unable to find any specimen that could be imagined even to be connected with the custom of smoking. There is, however, abundant evidence of improvement in the flint-chipping art having been attained by the red man while an occupant of this country, readily traced in the axes, arrowpoints, and other forms of weapons and domestic implements ; and such advance is not seen in the fashioning of pipes. For the reasons already stated, I conclude that the custom of tobacco smoking was introduced or established after the red man had attained to the higher division of the Stone age ; and that the first pipes were of perishable materials. Such pipes must, I think, have been of wood. Succeeding the use of this, which was necessarily incon- venient, there is reason to believe that a rude clay bowl was attached to the stem, a mere shapeless lump of clay that they would soon learn was rendered somewhat more durable by the exposure to heat. The use of clay bowls might have arisen, too, by the hardening of the earth simply, if the first receptacle for the tobacco was simply a depression in the ground, to the bottom of which was Fig. 6. — Plain Pipe Bow!, natural size. placed one end of the reed, through which the smoke was drawn to the mouth. However this might have been, I believe I have found fragments of pipes so rude in their shape and coarse in their composition as to warrant the belief that such specimens were the forerunners of the durable stone pipes that now occur in scanty numbers among the relics of the red men of New Jersey. Inasmuch as the use of clay for pipe bowls was not abandoned, there of course exists a vast range of excel- lence in the workmanship displayed in their manufacture, and many of the fragments that I have found were as artistically ornamented and made of as carefully prepared clay as others were rude and of the coarsest material. These rudest specimens are never found in graves, and seldom met with except when deeply embedded in the soil, suggesting that they were in use before the custom of burying the smoking pipes of the dead with them was established, and therefore that they antedate the more elaborately finished specimens, which are occasionally found among the deposited relics of " grave-finds ; " but such an occurrence is rare in comparison with the pre- sence of stone pipes under similar circumstances. While the pipe bowls of stone exhibit a considerable range in the excellence of their finish, there is not suffi- cient variation to warrant one in considering the more rudely finished specimens as the older. They are all well; 156 NATURE yjune 15, 1876 made and admirably adapted to their peculiar use. Orna- mentation was confined, in the vast majority of cases, to the natural markings of the mineral, and not derived from any carving as is so marked a characteristic of the pipes of the mound-builders. Fig. 6 represents a perfect speci- men of such plain pipe bowls as I have described. There is no line, straight, curved, or zigzag upon it. The red man who made this specimen had utility solely in view ; unless the choice of mineral was considered, as giving beauty to the finished pipe. The material of the speci- men figured is a pale green slaty rock, veined wiih black. The variation in shape of such pipe bowls is of course considerable ; and supposing each individual to have made his own pipe, the shape was in each case decided by the maker's fancy solely. As in the case of arrow- points, of which a score of patterns occur, so with pipe bowls. One will scarcely find two precisely alike ; yet the "family likeness" is very strongly marked. There does occur, however, a second form of smoking pipe, but much more sparingly than the preceding, differ- ing greatly, both in size and shape. While the two patterns occasionally approach in general outline, they do not do so sufficiently to warrant our considering the one to pass into the other form. This variety of pipe, of which Fig 7 is an example, is well known as the calumet or " peace-pipe." The bowl Fig. 7.— Calumet, natural size. in this case, as a lule, is much smaller, and the labour of the maker has been expended upon the stem-like base, which in every specimen I have seen has been quite elaborately ornamented. The specimen figured is not as much carved as many, but being quite perfect, is repre- sented in preference to fragments of others. I believe no specimens of " animal pipes," such as are found in the Mississippi valley, have been found in New Jersey, which fact is interesting, as there is much reason for believing that when the mound-builders occupied the western valleys the red man was already occupying the Atlantic coast ; and doubtless some tradmg was carried on between the two peoples. Therefore, it would be natural to expect that such pipes should occur among our Indian relics ; or at least that there was sufficient knowledge concerning them to suggest to the coast Indians the idea of imitating them ; but there is no trace of such imitation I believe. It is their smoking pipes alone, of all their productions in the flint-chipping art, that are dissimilar. Through the writings of the earlier missionaries we learn of the peculiar uses and significance of these calumets, which formed so prominent a feature on all important occasions ; but whether they were introduced by some other race with whom the red man came in con- tact, or originated de novo, it is impossible to determine ; but it is quite certain that the specimens so far brought to light do not enable us to trace the evolution of the calumet from the simpler form of pipe. Trenton, N.J., U.S.A., May 6 Chas. C Abbott NEW METEOROLOGICAL LABORATORIES AT MONTSOURIS TV/r MARI6 DAVY, Director of Montsouris Observa- ■'•''-'■ • tory, has organised, partly at the expense of the French Government, partly at the expense of the City of Paris, a chemical and microscopical laboratory for the analysis of all the matters in suspension in the air of Paris, both quantitatively and qualitatively. A certain quantity of air is constantly aspired by an aspirator in continued operation. The ozone acting on iodide of potassium and starch liberates iodine. The quantity of ozone liberated is measured by a titrated solution of arsenite of sodium. The matters in suspension are col- lected on a glass plate, and the crop is placed under the object-glass of a powerful microscope magnifying 1,000 times. The principal forms are drawn and plates are executed and published monthly in the Transactions of the establishment. The analysis of rain-water is conducted on the same principles, and the results of chemical analysis are calculated and compared with the wind and other atmospheric circumstances. We are indebted to M. Marid Davy for the principal results of the month of February, the first period for which the whole system has been put into complete operation. The electrical department has been fitted up, after a preliminary trial, and has been in working order for some time. In order better to illustrate the importance of these researches we take the liberty of altering the figures in order to give the results in round numbers for the whole area of Paris within the fortifications. The surface is about 80,000,000 square metres. In February 1876 the quantity of atmospheric water was 4,500,000 cubic metres. This is about double the average, but in some years on record the quantity was even larger, in 1776 a century ago, it was more than 6,500,000 cubic metres. In taking as an average the analyses of rain-water at Montsouris, the 4,500,000 cubic metres contained 4,700 kilogrammes of nitric acid and 10,700 kilogrammes of ammonia. This mass of nitric acid is supposed to have been pro- duced by electrical reactions in the atmosphere, and ammonia only partly, as Montsouris is in the southern part of the city, close to the fortifications. The 4.500,000 cubic metres of rain water were also proved to contain 172,000 kilogrammes of organic matter, and 88,400 kilogrammes of metallic salts or products. A number of organic matters have been found June 15, 1876] NATURE 157 to be composed of spores, parts of animalculae, and even living infusorias. Amonjest the metallic salts we must mention particles of meteoric iron, evidently of cosmic origin. It is contemplated by the city of Paris to estab- lish similar observations in several parts of the city, and the careful comparison of these analyses will prove invaluable for establishing a number of most interesting facts having a bearing on the welfare of inhabitants, as well as on the elucidation of important scientific problems. It is also contemplated to make use of aeronautical ascents to test the air at any altitude accessible to a balloon with horizontal glass plates covered with glycerine. The moisture of the clouds is to be condensed on glass tubes which will be refrigerated. The ozone testing and measuring has produced also startling facts. Although the quantity of ozone is very minute, amounting to only a few milligrams per i,ooo cubic metres, it has been proved that on Feb. 27, the day of the ozone maximum, a quantity of 900 kilog. was floating over Paris, if we suppose that the quantity was the same as at Montsouris in the whole stream of air passing above up to the altitude of 1,000 metres. These results are only a sample of those which may be expected from the constant application of the magni- ficent system which is now brought into operation for the first time, and of which it will be possible to say. Vires acquirit eundo. W. DE FONVIELLB NOTES The following are the arrangements for the Free Lectures in connection with the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus for the next if^ weeks. The lecture hour is eight p.m. Saturday, June 1 7, Mr. W. H. Preece on Telegraphic Instruments ; Monday, June 19, Mr. Kempe on the Application of Linkages to Machinery ; Saturday, June 24, Capt. Abney, F.R.S., on Photographic Printing Processes ; Monday, June 26, Dr. Schuster on Ampere's and Faraday's Instruments ; Saturday, July I, Mr. W. C. Roberts, F.R.S., Graham's Apparatus and what he did with it; Monday, July 3, The Right Hon. Dr. LyonPlayfair, C.B.,F.R.S., Otto von Guericke's and Black's Instruments ; Saturday, July 8, Dr. Gladstone on the Instruments lent by the Royal Institution. On the ist inst. the Society of Arts of Geneva celebrated the first centenary of its existence. Founded in 1776 by H. B. De Saussure and some of his friends, it has continued ever since to render real service to Switzedand in the departments of Arts, Industry, Commerce, and Agriculture. Without having any direct connection with science, it has always, however, been associated with it, and all the scientific men of Geneva have from time to time taken a share in its proceedings ; the Pictets, De Candolles, De la Rives, and other well-known names, have at various times been presidents. A prize founded by Aug. De la Rive, to be awarded to the discovery most useful to Gene- vese industry, is intrusted to the care of the Society. In order v/orthily to celebrate the centenary, the Society had announced various competitions in the different branches with which it is connected, and which appealed to all manufacturers of horolo- gical instruments. The nature and terms of this competition we announced last October (vol. xii., p. 525). It was an inter- national competition in chronometry, in which there was a large number of competitors, and of which the results have been now made known. A Prize of Honour was awarded to M. Ulysse Nardin, of Locle, Neuchatel ; six equal First Prizes were awarded to M. H. R. Ekegrin, of Geneva, Messrs. Parkin- son and Frodsham, of London, Messrs. Badollet and Co., Geneva, Predard et Fils, Geneva, M. Ed. Perregaux, of Locle, and M. Fritz Piguet, of Geneva ; other awards were likewise made. After the general meeting and the distribution of prizes, a ban- quet was held, at which about four hundred members of the Society were present ; this was followed by a conversazione on the terrace of M. Th. De Saussure, grandson of the celebrated naturalist, the founder of the Society, on the very pi ace where the first meeting was held a century ago. At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on Monday, Sir Rutherford Alcock, the new president, in the chair, a paper by Mr. E. D. Young, R.N., was read, on a journey to the northern end of Lake Nyassa. The cruise round Lake Nyassa had occu- pied a month, and the area was much larger than Dr. Living- stone thought, the north end extending to 9*20 S. lat. In most parts it was very deep, and in several places no bottom coold be found with loo fathoms of line. A range of mountains nearly 100 miles in length, extended above the lake, some reaching an elevation of 10,000 or 12,000 feet. There were also numerous rivers running into the lake, but none navigable for any dis- tance. At some parts there were numbers of villages built on piles in the lake ; many people in other parts living on barren rocks. Mr. Young added that he intended to be back to England in a few months, and would in the meanwhile make a more perfect survey of the lake and give the results to the Geo- graphical Society on his return, A paper on "The Valley of the Tibagy, in Brazil," by Mr, T. B. Wither, C. E., was also read. The author of the paper was engaged in conjunction with others, in August, 1 87 1, in exploring that section of the Ivahy Valley which lies between Colonia Theresa and the Corredeira de Ferro, or " Iron Rapid," The University of Oxford proposes to confer the degree of D. C. L. upon the following, among others : — Prof. W. H. Miller, F.R.S., Prof. J. Clerk Maxwell, F.R.S., Dr, Samuel Birch, and Lieut, V. L, Cameron. The Oxford University Bill was read a second time in the House of Commons on Monday. In the debate which followed there was nothing worthy of comment. The annual conversazione of the Society of Arts will be held at South Kensington Museum on Friday, the 23rd inst. In a recent issue of the Itahan medical journal Vlmparziale laments that the unjust and ridiculous accusations of a number of strangers resident in Florence and of an exceedingly small minority of the inhabitants should have induced Prof. Schilf to accept the chair which has been offered to him at Geneva. The loss to physiology in Italy will be so great that, according to a communication in the Daily News, the Bersagliere believes that the Minister of Public Instruction will use every endeavour to make the illustrious physiologist withdraw his resignation. Excellent accounts have been received from the German North Asiatic Expedition, which^has arrived as far as Semi- palatinsk, in Siberia, and has obtained living specimens of the large Argali sheep {Ovis ammon) of Linnaeus. The veteran ornithologist, Dr, Hartlaub, has in preparation a new work upon the Ornithology of Madagascar and the adja- cent islands. Since Dr. Hartlaub's original memoir on this subject was published in 1861, since which time Pollen, Van Dan, Crossley, Grandidier, and others, have done much to increase our knowledge of the avifauna of Madagascar. We hear from Sidney that the sum of 800/. had been raised towards Signer D'Albertis' expedition up the Fly River, New Guinea ; and that he was intending to start from that city on the 19th of April with the steam-launch loaned to him by the Government of New South Wales. We regret to hear that the strife at Sidney about the dismissal of Mr. Krefft from the post of Curator and Secretary of the Australian Museum is not over. The subject came before the Legislative Assembly on the 6th of April, and provoked an 158 NATURE IJMne 15, 1876 angry discussion. Mr. E. P. Ramsay has been installed by the trustees as Mr. Kreiift's successor, and is in full work ; but the Supreme Court has decided that the trustees had no real autho- rity to remove Mr. Krefft. Whatever the issue may be, every- one acquainted with the case must hold that Mr. Krefft deserves fair and liberal treatment as one of the few naturalists in Australia that have done good original work in spite of many surrounding difficulties. On June 7 a violent thunderstorm occurred at Valbonne, a large plain at a little distance from Lyons. The only objects struck were huts full of soldiers and arms, and the occurrence furnishes a good instance of the "power of points" and the attracting power of metals and living beings for lightning. Three tents were struck in succession. The occupant of the first was absent at the moment, and the effects were relatively slight, pro- ducing only the breaking of stones and dispersing of dust. In the .second instance a soldier who was standing erect in front of one of the tents was struck ; but the tent being located in the vicinity of an e'cctric telegraph the lightning escaped by it, fired the wires, and broke a dozen poles. This may suggest a very easy method for protecting an encampment. The third flash struck a number of tents placed in a zig-zag line, doing much damage, several of the occupants being either killed or wounded. In one tent three men were killed and seven wounded. All of them were either touched in both legs or on the right side except one, who was wounded in the right eye. In another tent four men were wounded, all of them in both legs or in the left one. In other instances men were turned round in or heaved out of their beds. In all the instances referred to the men were lying on Iheir beds, made of iron, and the sentry standing in front remained unhurt. In one tent a man, who was lying between two men who were killed, escaped unhurt. The uniforms of the soldiers were perforated and exhibited small spots ; one, four centimetres in diameter, entirely sulphurised. A chemical analysis will be made of this part of the uniform, and the result communicated to the Academy of Sciences. At a meeting of the Cymmrodorion Society held last Friday, in the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, Prof. F. W. Rudler, F.G.S., read a paper on "Natural History Museums, with Suggestions for the Formation of a Central Museum in Wales." The boring of the shafts for the Anglo-French tunnel is pro- gressing favouiably. A pump has been erected for the draining of the works. Water has been already met with in abund- ance, although the depth reached is only 40 feet. The intended level is 60 feet further down. The Edinburgh Town Council, it is stated, have agreed to apply to the Government for aid to the building fund of the University extension scheme, and to memorialise in favour of a parliamentary grant. The Council had previously subscribed 1,000 guineas to the fund on their own account. The Geographical Society of Paris has received good news from the Gaboon expedition. Lieut. Brazza and M, Marche have located themselves at Okanda, 500 miles from the mouth of the ^Ogowe, and are establishing permanent settlements and ready means of communicating with the factories on the coast. They lost a part of their baggage and goods in crossing rapids, but having been enabled to send messengers to the French Gaboon settlement they will recover from their losses and will proceed further in the untrodden region. On June 8 the French Society of Amis des Sciences held its annual meeting at Paris. M. Bert gave a lecture on the Zenith balloon catastrophe in connection with the inhalation of oxygen. This Sociely was founded by the Baron Thenard for assisting scientific men in their work and their families after their death. The French Society for Encouragement of National Industry had to vote this year the great Prony prize for the most use- ful invention in mechanics discovered during a certain number of years. The award was made to M. Henry Giffard, of Pari?, the aeronaut, for the invention of his injector, used in all locomotives. The invention is fifteen years old, and ihe patentee has realised through this his single invention a fortune falling very little short of half a million sterling. We take the following from the Geographical Mas^azine : — Dr. P. Ascher?on left Benisutf for Medinet-el-Fayum, en March 16, and started from the latter place on the 24th, en route for the Little Oasis, the botanical exploration of which consti- tuted the object of his journey. On April I he reached Bauiti, the present capital of the Oasis parva, by the same route as that followed by Belzoni in 1816. This journey proved that no " Bahr bela ma" or old river-bed exists ia that portion of the Libyan Desert. After an exhausiive exploration of the oasis, Dr. Ascherson started on May i on his return journey, travelling by an entirely new route, and reaching the Nile at Samalut. The botanical exploration of the oases of the Libyan De?ert begun two years ago by Dr. Ascherson, whilst a member of Rohlf's expedition, has thus been terminated, and several facts of great interest have been ascertained during this last journey as regards the Fayum, as well as the L'ttle Oasis. Several .<:pccies of plants, met with far to the east and south-west, in Asia, but not in the Valley of the Nile, or in the deferts to the east of it, occur also in the oases. Some of the more remarkable of these f\zr\i% art Dianihus Cyri, Populus euphratica (= P. divcrsifdia of Mongolia), and Prosopsis Stephaniatta. The Society of Ethnology of Paris has proposed, frr 1876, a prize to the best memoir on "The Slavonic Race, and Maps of the Countries inhabited by Slavonians." The prize will be awarded in December, and the memoir may be written in English as well as in French and in several other language^, not excluding Po ish and Russian. The twenty-fifth Annual Educational Conference of the Society of Arts will take place on June 23, at 11 o'clock. The chair will be taken by Sir Henry Cole, K.C.1). With the view of giving special interest to the Conference this year, the Council have decided that the subject of adult education, especially in reference to technical instruction and its promotion by the action of the Government, shall form the principal subject for dis- cussion. Prof. E. Quetelet has written a brief notice in the Bulletin of the Royal Academy of Belgium, of the storm of March 12, 1876, which was the most violent hitherto observed at Brussels, the wind having reached the enormous pressure of X44 kilo- grammes per square metre, or nearly 30 lbs. per square foot, and the barometer fallen to 28 '560 inches at sea-level, having cnly once fallen below this point since the founding of the Obser- vatory in 1833. We are glad to see that Dr. Buys Ballot is also examining this remarkable storm, which he will be able to do very fully owing to the number of registering barometers in operation at the Dutch Meteorological Station?. In the Supplenitnto alia Meteorologia Italiava, anno 1875, fasc. ii., there appears a very valuable paper, by P. F. Denza, on the distribution of the rainfall in Italy during 1872. The paper, which is one of great ability, details the rainfall of that year, comparing it where possible with the averages of past years ; and in consideration of the singular diversity with season of the rainfall of the different pans of Italy, the stations are classed according to five zones, viz., Alpine, Pre-alpine, East Apennine, West Apennine, and Sicilian. The details of the great rains of October 1872 are very interesting, the amount for the month being 40 iiiche-s at Pallanz^', 41 inches at Crabbia, June 15, 1876] NA rURE '59 49 inches at Scopello, and 69 inches at Oropa. The two abso- lutely largest daily falls occurred on the 5th, viz., 89 inches at Crabbia, and 9-1 inches at Mesma. Tart iv. of the paper deals j with the general causes determining the lainfall of Italy and the application of the results in explanation 'of the mode of the peculiar distribution of the rainfall over Italy during 1872. Macmillan and Co. will shortly publish the second part of Mr. Pickering's " Physical Manipulation." The annual meeting of the Aeronautical Society was held on the 7th inst., Mr. Charles Brook, F.R.S., presided. A paper was read by Mr. D. S. Brown on the advantage of applying power for aerial propulsion in an intermittent manner, and on the soaring of birds. Another paper by Mr. Armour, C.E., on air compression under wing-planes, was read. The fiftieth anniversary of the Socle'te Industrielle de Mul- house has been celebrated by an Exhibition of ihe Arts and Manufactures of Alsace. M. Perrot, one of the original founders, read the report, which showed that the Society has had a pros- perous and useful career. Papers were read on the electric light, illustrated by the illumination of the banquet hall by electricity ; on steam-engines ; on borings at a great depth executed in Alsace ; on electro-chemical experiments made on benzol. The meeting was a most successful one. The following additions have been made to the Royal West- minster Aquarium during the past week : — Young Green Turtle {Chelonia viridis) from the Island of Ascension, presented by officers of the Challenger expedition ; Monk-fish (Rhina squatina) ; Blue and Red Wrass {Labrus tnixius) ; Greater Weever [Tta- chinus draco) ; Horse Mackerel {Trachurus trachnrus) ; Angler- fish {Lophius piscatorius) ; Gattoruginous Blenny {Blennitis gatloruqini) ; Red Gurnard ( Trigla lyra) ; Grey Gurnard (T. gurnardus); Streaked Gurnard [T. lineaia) ; Lump-fish (Cyclopterus luinpus) ; Sea Lamprey Pdromyzcn marinus) ; Mud Lamprey {Ammoccetes branchialis). The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include among others, a Mexican Deer {Cervus mexi- canus) from S. America, presented by Mr. Thos. B. Forwood ; two Spur-winged Geese {Plectropierus gambensis) from S. Africa, four Galapagan Tortoises ( Tediido elephanio/us) from the Gala- pagos Islands, deposited ; a Humboldt's Lagothrix {Lagothrix hiimboldti), an Ocelot {Fdis pardaiis), a Tayra [Galiciis barbara) from S. America; a Great Barbet {Megahvma vhens), from the Himalayas, purchased. LOAN COLLECTION OF SCIENTIFIC APPARA TUS SECTION— MECHANICS PRIME MOVERS^ U AVING thus mentioned the earliest record of hydraulic (or -*^ indeed of any) prime movers I will not endeavour to trace iheir history down to modern times, as it would be impossible to do so usefully within the limits of an address. I will therefore now ask you to join me in considering what are the conditions which govern the application of water to hydraulic prime movers. After all water must be looked upon as a convenient form of descending weight. When the fall is not great it is always prac- ticable by means of water-wheels having buckets which retain the water to employ, as I have said, its mere gravity, and pro- bably it is by this mode that the highest result is procured from any given quantity of water falling through a given height. By the use of a backshot wheel as much as 75 per cenf. of the total power is obtainable. The 25 per cent, ot loss arises from the friction of the axle of the wheel and of the gearing transmitting the force to the machine which is to utilise it, from some of the I Address delivered by V. I. Bramwell, C.E., F.R.S., one of the vice- presidents of the Section, May 25. Continued from p. 141. water being discharged out of the buckets before the bottom of the fall is reached, from the necessary clearance between the wheel and the tail water, from the eddies produced in the water as it enters the buckets, and (to a certain small extent) from the resistance of the air. When the difference of level between the source of water and its delivery exceeds, however, 40 or 50 feet, the water-wheel becomes so unwieldy and expensive and revolves so slowly that it ceases to be a desirable prime mover ; recourse can then be had to water-pressure engines, engines wherein pistons move in cylinders and being pressed alternately in opposite directions by the head of water set up rotary motion in the machine in the same way as if the pistons were acted upon by steam. In the construction of such water-engines great care must be taken to have ample inlets and outlets in order that the loss . incurred either by the power requisite to drive the water through restricted orifices, or by surface resistance caused by a too speedy flow along the various passages may be a minimum. Care has to be taken also in the arrangements of the valves that the engines, when employed for rotatory movement, may be able to turn their cen- tres without producing an injurious pressure upon the water within the cylinders. Water-engines employed for pumping, but without rotatory movement, are mentioned by Belidor in his "Architecture Plydraulique," published in 1739, article i, 156. In England Sir William Armstrong has brought these machines to great perfection. The first of these, erected many years ago, is still working most successfully at the Allan Head Lead Mines. This machine is driven by a natural head of water and not from an accumulator, and is employed in the mine as a winding engine. An extremely useful feature in engines of this kind is their adaptability to be driven by the pressure of water derived from an ordinary water-work?, and in this manner small manufac- turers carrying on business in their own houses are enabled to obtain a prime mover with great ease, and, all things considered, at small cost. Not only is advantage taken of such machines for the purpose of driving m aiufactories, but water cylinders are now largely employed for working the bellows of church organs, for which purpose an overshot water-wheel is shown as being employed as far back as Solomon de Caus's book, date 1615. Large water-wheels, or even water-engines, are comparatively costly machines, and as large water-wheels make but few revolutions per minute, they require, as has been said, expensive and heavy gearing to get up speed ; thus it is that it frequently becomes a desirable thing to dispense with such machines and to resort to other modes of making available high falls of water. In former times this was done by suffering the impetuous stream of water to beat upon the pallets of v.ater-wheels, but from such machines only a poor effect could be obtained, as a large portion of the energy m the water was devoted to the formation of eddies and the generation of heat, and to the production of lateral currents, leaving but a small percentage available as motive power. Much of the evil effect, however, attendant upon using the im- pact of water as a means of driving water-wheels is obviated by the construction invented by the distinguished French engineer Poncelet. For high falls, however, the implement now gene- rally employed is the turbine, of which the well-known Barker's mill may be looked upon as the germ. I have got before me No. 1,983, a model of Fourneyron's turbine. This is not an apt model for my present purposes, inasmuch as it is one to be employed with a comparatively low fall of water, but even in such instances the turbine gives most excellent results, and it has the advantage over the water-wheel of being able to work with great efficiency although there may be a considerable rise in the " tail water," a rise which would materially check the action of an ordinary water-wheel. In this turbine every care has been bestowed to give a proper form to the pallets on which the water acts so as to take up step by step as it were the whole of the energy residing in the sircam, so that the water may pass away from the turbine in an inert condidou, and s- that in acting upon the vanes of the turbine, eddies may not be formed and thus energy may not be wasted. There are probably few sights more surprising to the old- fashioned mechanic, who has been used to see water-wheels of 50 or even 70 feet diameter employed for the utilisation of a high fall, than that of a turbine occupying only a few cubic feet of space but running at such a velocity as to consume the whole of the water of a considerable stream, and so to consume it as to deliver nearly as large a percentage of useful etTect as would the cumbrous water-wheel iticl'. i6o NATURE \yune 15, 1876 If the object is merely to raise water this can be done without the employment of either water-wheel or turbine. Wlien a small quantity is required to be raised to a considerable height the Montgolfier ram is employed. No. 1,996, which I have before me, is a glass model of such a ram, but I fear it is too small to be visible, except to those who are very near to the table. You are, however, all aware that the principle of action consists in the sudden arrestment of a column of water flowing with a velo- city due to the head. The water on being arrested performs two functions, a small portion raises an outlet valve, and thereby passes into an air-vessel against a pressure competent to drive the water up to the desired height ; while the main body recoils along the supply pipe ; then, the escape valve having opened the water that has recoiled, returns, a large portion passes out of the valve, and thus the velocity being fully established the escape valve shuts and causes another arrestation and a repetition of the working. This is an implement by which a large volume of water coupled with a low fall, can be made to raise a portion of itself to a great height. But there is a converse use of water, wherein the employment of a small stream of water moving rapidly (owing to its having fallen from a considerable height) is caused to induce a current in other water and to draw it along with itself at a diminished velocity but still with a velocity com- petent to raise the united stream to a less height, and in this manner many swamps and marshy lands have been drained. This employment of the induced current as a prime mover is described by Venturicr in the record of his experiments made at the latter end of the eighteenth century, and within the last few years Mr. James Thomson has applied the same principle with great success in his jet pump. The next mode I shall notice of obtaining motive power from water, is also one where it operates by an induced current ; this is the " Trombe d'eau," an apparatus wherein water falling down a vertical pipe, induces a current of air to descend with it. The lower end of the vertical pipe being connected with the upper side of an inverted vessel, the bottom of the sides of which vessel is sealed by a water joint, then the water dashing upon a block placed below the mouth of the pipe, is separated from the air, so that while the water descends and escapes from under the sides of the vessel, the air rises and accumulates in the upper part from whence it can be led away to blow a forge fire. These machines are described in Belidor's work. The utilisation of the rise and fall of the tide is also fully described byBelidor, who gives drawings of channels so arranged that during both the rise and fall of the tide the wheel, notwith- standing the reversal of the currents, revolves in one and the same direction. The tide is a source of power which it is highly desirable should be utilised to a greater extent than it is ; if we consider the enormous energy daily ebbing and flowing round our shores, it does seem to be a matter of great regret that this energy should be wasted, and that coal should be burnt as a substitute. The last mode in which power may be obtained from water, to which I have to allude, is that of the employment of the waves. Earl Dundonald, better known as Lord Cochrane, proposed by his patent of 1833 to utilise this power for propelling a vessel; this he hoped to accomplish by the use of cylinders containing mercury, the oscillations of which were to cause a vacuous con- dition in the cylinders, and thereby give motion to an air- pressure engine. Lately we have had produced before the Institution of Naval Architects, and also before the British Association at Bristol, the apparatus of Mr. Tower, by which the motion of the waves is to be utilised ; a model constructed on this principle has driven, it is said, a boat against the wind at some two or three miles an hour. The next kind of prime-movers in order of date to be con- sidered, are those that are worked by the wind. Although undoubtedly the propelling of a ship by sail.^, and even the winnowing of grain, must have long preceded the invention of a prime mover driven by water, yet the employment of the wind as a source of motive power for driving machinery, appears to be but of comparatively recent date. It is said that the knowledge of this kind of prime mover was communicated to Europe by the Crusaders on their return from the East, but it is difficult to see what foundation there is for this statement. It appears to be certain, however, that wind -motors were com- monly employed in France, Germany, and Holland in the thir- teenth century. We can easily understand that in countries where water falls in quantities and rapid streams are abundant, the windmill would not, owing to its uncertainty, be resorted to ; on the other hand, in inland countries and in countries like Holland, where the streams are sluggish, and where there is a large amount of land to be drained, the wind, although still uncertain, would never- theless be a valuable power, and therefore would be utilised. Prime movers to be worked by the wind appenr to have been made practically in only two forms, viz , the common ore, wherein a nearly horizontal axle carries four or more twisted radial sails, and that one wherein the axle is vertical and the arms project from it laterally either as radial fixed arm's, as curved fixed arms, or as arms having a feathering motion similar to that of paddle-wheels. Where the arms are straight and fixed, some contrivance must be resorted to to obtain a greater pres- sure of wind on one side than on the other. Bessoni, in his work " The Theatre of Instruments and Ma- chines," published at Lyons in 1582, describes a windmill with vertical spindle and curved horizontal arms, placed in a tower with a wind-guard, and by the drawing shows it working a chain- pump. Belidor also says in Article 852 that windmills with vertical axles were well known ii Portugal and in Poland, and he describes how that they work within a tower the upper part of which was fitted with a movable portion to act as a screen to one side of the mill. I will not detain you by an allusion to the sailing chariot men- tioned by my Uncle Toby in "Tristram Shandy," nor will I pause to describe the very modem one, that is to say, not more than about thirty years old, which was employed upon Heme Bay Pier. In fact this Exhibition gives but little encouragement to pursue the subject of prime-movers worked by wind, as I have not as yet come across in the Catalogue any apparatus illus- trative of the subject. It is to be regretted that the use of this kind of prime mover, the windmill, is on the decline. It is a power that costs nothing ; the machinery can be erected in almost any situation ; and although such a motor cannot by itself be depended on, being of necessity " as uncertain as the wind," it nevertheless might be commonly employed as an auxiliary to steam-power, dimi- nishing the load upon the engine in exact proportion as it was urged by any wind which might happen to blow. 1 may say, to the credit of our American brethren, that they employ on their sailing-ships a windmill known by ihe sailors as " The Sailor's Friend," to pump, to work windlasses, and to do all those matters which in a steam-ship fall to the lot of the donkey-engine and steam winch, unless, as in a recent voyage ii which all Englishmen have been so much interested, these duties were imposed upon the baby elephant. There is one motor which may be put either into this class or into the next, where we consider the application of heat ; I allude to the smoke-jack, but beyond recognising its existence as a prime mover, and a very early one indeed (it is to be found in Zoncas' work published in 1 621), attention need not be bestowed upon it. We now come to consider those prime movers which are worked by the immediate, and not by the secondary, action, of heat. The direct rays of the sun have, for a very long time pist, been suggested as a means of obtaining motive power. Solomon de Cans in his work, published in 1615, describes a fountain which is caused to operate by the heat of the sun's rays expand- ing the air in a box and expelling thereby, through a delivery valve, the water from the lower part of the box. When the sun's rays have been withdrawn, the air, cooling, contracts a suction valve, opens and admits more water into the box to be again displaced on the following day. He also gives a drawing of an apparatus where the effect of the sun's rays is to be intensi- fied by a number of lenses in a frame. Solomon de Cans pro- poses these machines as mere toys to work an ornamental fountain, but Belidor, by Article 827, describes and shows a sun pump consisting of a large metallic sphere, fitted with a suction pipe and valve, and a delivery pipe and valve and occupied partly by water and partly by air, the suggestion being as in the case of Solomon de Caus, that the heat of the sun in the daytime expanding the air should drive up the water into a reservoir, while the contraction of the air in the night-time should elevate the water by the suction pipe and re- charge the sphere for the next day's work. In modern times, as we know, some attempts to obtain practical motive power from the direct action of the sun have been made, and notably by Capt. Ericsson. The temptation to endeavour to bring into practical use a machine of this character is very great. We were told by our June 15, 1876] NATURE 161 President, in a lecture delivered by him to the Biitiih Associa- t:on at Bradford, that the solar heat, if fully exercised all over the globe, supposing that globe to be entirely covered with water, would be sufficient to evaporate a layer 14 feet deep of water per annum. Now assuming 10 lbs. of water evaporated from the temperature of the air into steam by the combustion of I lb. of coal (a much larger result than unhappily is got in regular work), this would represent an effect obtained from the sun's rnys on each acre of water equal to the combustion of 1680 tons of coals per annum, or to about 92 cwt. of coal per acre per twenty-four hours ; or enough to maintain an engine of 200 gross indicated horse-power day and night all the year round. When, however, we consider the effect of the sun, not upon the surface of water but upon the earth, and deal with its power of pro- ducing beat-giving material, the result compares very unfavour- ably with the work done by the sun itself ; and this, no doubt, arises first, from the fact that the sun is frequently obscured, and second, from the fact that a large portion of the energy of the sun is spent in evaporating moisture from the ground, and not in the direct production of combustible material. - I have found it extremely diffi cult to obtain any reliable data as to the weight of fuel grown per acre per annum. If we take the sugar cane, we find that in extremely favourable cases as much megass and sugar together are produced as would equal in calorific effect about five tons of good Welsh coal. Coming to our own country and dealing with a field of wheat, the wheat and straw together may be taken as being equal probably to about two tons of coal as a maximum. The statements made to me with regard to the production of timber per acre per annum, when grown for the purpose of burning, are very various ; but the best average I can make from them is that in this country there is produced as much wood as is equal in calorific effect to about i^ tons of good coal per acre. Comparing these productions of heat-giving material with the energy of the sun, as shown in the evaporation of water, one shows how tempting a field is that of the direct employment of the solar rays as a source of power ; more especially, when it is remembered that those rays are obtained from week to week, and ytar to year, without having to wait the tardy growth of the fuel-destined tree. I will now ask you to consider with me the prime movers that owe their energy to the heat developed by the combustion of some ordinary kind of fuel — coal or wood. Passing by as a mere toy and not an actual prime mover, the reactionary steam sphere, the eoliopile of Hero, I will come at once to those simple forms of heat-engine (whether worked by steam or the expansion of air), by which water was to be raised. Solomon de Caus, in his work of 161 5, already mentioned, says that if you fill a globe with water and have in its upper part a pipe dipping nearly to the bottom, and if you put the globe upon the fire the heat will cause the expansion of the contents, and the water will be delivered in a jet out of the tube. The Marquis of Worcester in his " Century of Inventions," published in 1659, makes, as is well known, a similar proposition, but it does not appear that these machines were seriously con- templated for practical use. Papin (I take Belidor's Article No. 1,276 as my authority) in 1698 {as appears in his pamphlet of 1707) experimented by order of Charles the Landgrave of Hessen Cassel with the view of ascertaining how to raise water by the aid of fire. But his experiments were intemxpted and he did not resume them until Leibnitz, by a letter of Jan. 6, 1705, called his attention to what Savery was doing in England, send- ing him a copy of a London print of a description of Savery's engine. This engine, which of course is well known to you, is illustrated by a model in this collection, and now on the table before me. Savery employed a boiler, the steam from which was admitted into a vessel furnished like the sun-pump of Belidcr with a suction pipe and clack and a delivery pipe and clack ; the steam being shut off', cold water was suffered to flow over the vessel, a vacuum was made and water raised into the vessel, which was expelled out of the delivery pipe upon the next ad- mission of steam, the cocks being worked by hand. This machine came into very considerable use and was undoubtedly the first practical working steam-engine. It had, however, the defect of consuming a large quantity of steam, as the steam not only came into contact with the cold vessel but also with the surface of the water in that vessel. Papin, as we know, obviated a portion of this loss by the employment of a floating piston placed so as to keep the steam from actual contact with the surface of the water. We have in the collection. No. 2,007, a cylinder from Hessen Cassel, said to be of the date of 1699 and to have been intended for employment in Papia's machine, but it is difficult to say for what part of the apparatus it could have been designed, inasmuch as the cylinder is provided with a flange at one end only and no means, so far as I can ascertain, exist for closing the other end. You will see from the diagram that which no doubt is already well known to you; Papin did not propose to condense the steam, and by its condensation to " draw up " the water (to use a fami- liar expression) but intended that the vessel should be charged by a supply from above, and, that the steam should be employed only to press on the floating piston and to drive the water out. Papin, however, hoped to use his engine, not merely as a water- raiser, but as a fource of rotary power by allow-ng the water to issue from the air vf srel, ro as to impinge upon the pallets of a water-'wheel and thus produce the required revolution. {To be continued.^ SCIENTIFIC SERIALS American Journal of Science and Aits, May. — Mr. Hold en here collates various observations made en nebula M 17 (the figure of which is like that of a Greek capital Omega) from 1833 to 1875. The drawings show that the western end has moved relatively to its contained stars, and always in the same direction. It may be a veritable change in the structure of the nebula itself or the bodily shifting of the whole nebula in space. — Mr. Trow- bridge states that the application of thin plates of soft iron on the poles of two straight electro-magnets, wiih bundles of fine iron wires for cores, increases the strength c f the spark at the poles of two secordary coils surrounding the electro-magnets, 400 per cent. The length of the spark is increased 100 per cent, (but this is only manifested by using Leyden-jars of large capacity with the secondary circuit). Instead of distributing the fix e wire of a Ruhmkorff" coil on a straight electromagnet, as at present, it should be distributed equally on two straight electro-magnets whose poles are provided with armatures of bundles of thin plates of soft iron. — Mr. Wilson having applied infusorial earth to land sown in wheat, afterwsrds treated some of the wheat straw with nitric acid, and found that the siliceous remains consisted almost wholly of the shields of diatomacese, the same as found in the infusorial earth (only the larger discs, in their perfect form, being absent). It would appear that simple or compound silicates are useless as fertilising agents, and that silica can enter the plant only in the free state. — In the first portion of a paper on the sohd carbon compounds in meteorites, Mr. J. Laurence Smith, after noting that in carbonaceous meteorites the mineral con- stituents are mainly the same as in the so-called common type of meteoric stones (viz., olivines, and pyroxenes, differing oiily in the more or less compact form of these minerals), shows, that even in the carbonaceous constituent they are strongly linked even to the iron meteorites. — Mr. Fontaine continues his account of the conglomerate series of West Virginia ; Mr. Dana describes new forms of staurolite and pyrrholite ; and we also find chemical notes on phosphorus oxychloride, and the oxydation product of glycogen with bromine, silver oxide, and water. — A simple and very accurate method of testing the unison of two forks is (according to Mr. Spice) by holding them together over their proper resonant column ; it the forks be very nearly in time, beats will be perceived succeeding each other at long intervals, or the sound will merely swell out again very slightly after it has nearly died away. When the forks are absolutely alike, there will be a gradual decrease of sound down to silence, without any reinforcement at any time. The American Naturalist for May commences with an article by the Rev. S. Lcckwood, on Animal Humour. Prof. Asa Gray writes on Wild Gooseberries. Hon. J. D. Cox describes multiplication by fission in Stentor mtilleri. An article on Primi- tive man follows, after which Mr. A. S. Packard, jua, describes and figures the Cave-beetles of Kentucky. Prof. Farlow writes on University Instruction in Botany. General Notes and a few short reviews follow, the number being completed by notes and notices of meetings. Zeitschrift der Oesierreichischen Gesellschaft filr Meteorolo^ie, March I. — This number contains a long article on the relations of temperature and moisture in the lowest atmospheric strata during the formation of dew, by Dr. R. Rubenson, of Stockholm. Observations made by Dr. Hamberg, at Upsala, on temperature at different heights on frosty nights led him to conclude that in the lower strata temperature iccreases with height, and that the l62 NATURE \yune 15, 1876 absolute moisture is less on the ground than a few feet above it. The chief results obtained by Dr. Rubenson during the summer of 187 1, by a method of observation differing from that of Dr. Hamberg, may be summed up as follows : — Before the fall of dew the absolute moisture continues to increase and is greatest on the ground, diminishing with height. As soon as dew begins to fall, moisture decreases on the surface of the ground, and this decrease keeps pace with the decrease of tem- perature. The decrease of moisture extends upwards rather rapidly, and can be detected at four feet just after the first depo- sition of dew. On the ground the decrease per hour amounts to a maximum of about o 73 mm,, while half a foot above it the decrease only reaches 0"65 mm., which is less than one corre- sponding to the lowering of temperature. The higher the in- s' lament the later does the decrease of moisture show itself, and the less the change per hour. It appears that owing to a fall of temperature on the ground, the air imnediately above it becomes saturated, dew falls, and temperature and moisture diminish. At a certain point, owing either to diffusion or a descending current, fresh vapour supplies the place of that condensed as dew, and part of the loss of each stratum is successively made up by the moister stratum above it, but not the whole, for the diminution continues in all the strata. Time being required for the propagation of the decrease upwards, the lowest stratum loses more of its moisture than any of the strata above it. Zeitschrift fiir Wissenschafcliche Zooloqie, 1875. 2nd Supple^ ment. — This part contains a memoir by Oscar Schmidt, on the embryology of calcareous sponges, in which Haeckel's observa- tions and conclusions are attacked, and his Gastraea theory is destroyed, as far as calcareous sponges are concerned. Unfor- tunately, at a critical point Oscar Schmidt failed to follow his embryos, and the real purport of his observations remained un- certain until the publication of ScJmlze's researches hereafter mentioned. — Dr. William Marshall contributes a long memoir on the hexactinellid sponges, figuring and describing new spe- cies, with their characteristic spicula. His most interesting new form is one in which the central cavities of the spicula coalescing to form the meshes of the skeleton become perfectly continuous by their protoplasmic contents. The 3rd Supplement (1875) commences with F. E. Schulze's memoir above referred to, on the structure and development of Sycandra raphanus. His beautiful figures give the various stages of segmentation, and the arrangement of the segmentation spheres into groups of different sizes, one set of these giving rise to the invagination by which the Gastrula form is consti- tuted. This sponge is now accepted by Haeckel as exemplifying his Amphiblastic type, while other calcareous sponges form archiblastic embryos, in which the segmentation spheres remain similar to one another until after the Gastrula is formed. — August Weissmann contributes a philosophical paper on the transformation of the Axolotl into Amblystomas. He believes that this transformation is to be regarded as a retrogression, and that the present Axolotl represents a former Amblystoma whose structure has been modified by changed conditions of life. — Prof. Nitsche continues his valuable memoirs on the Bryozoa, the present instalment being devoted to the process of gemnia« tion. He shows that all the structures in the new zooid are produced from the ectoderm of the parent, and insists on the important morphological consequences of this fact, while depre- cating the precise schemes of embryogeny and phylogeny now so much ni voeue. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Royal Society, May 11. — On Simultaneous Barometric Variations in India, by J. A. Broun, F.R.S. — After Pascal showed that the mercury in the barometer tube stands lower at the top than at the foot of a mountain because the mass of air above the barometer is less in the former than in the latter case, it was a natural conclusion that the variations in the height of the mercury observed with a stationary barometer are due to the same cause. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain how the aerial mass is increased or diminished, none of which, however, can satisfy the facts now known, being either insufficient or untrue. The author, after referring to the latest of these hypotheses, gives results which he has deduced from observations made at three stations in India ; namely, at Simla, 7,000 feet above the level of the sea, on a spur of the Hima- layas, at Madras, and at Singapore, near the sea-level, the last being 2,700 miles from the first, and 1,800 miles from the second station. When the daily mean height of the barometer is taken, a large movement is found occupying nearly twenty-six days, a move- ment attributed by the author to the sun's rotation on his axis ; but it is the smaller oscillations of the daily mean atmospheric pressure, the secondary maxima and minima, which are espe- cially examined. The present discussion has been limited to three months, during which there were eighteen of these maxima and minima. The author finds that the mean interval between the times of maximum pressure at any two stations is less than seventeen hours, and between the times of minimum pressure less than ten hours. In four out of eight cases of minima the lowest pressure was attained at all the three stations within six hours. The results of these comparisons is shown to extend even to St. Helena. It was pointed out that though in general maxima and minima happened at the three stations near the same hour, there were one or two marked exceptions to the rule ; one of these, a fa]l in the height of the mercury of three-tenths of an inch within thirty-six hours, at Simla, was not perceived at any of the other stations. This, the greatest of all the disturbances of atmo- spheric equilibrium during the period examined, was shown to be connected with a great thunderstorm at Simla (not felt at the other places), ana was thus due to a local cause, while the other variations, some of about one-thirtieth the amount of that just mentioned, happened nearly simultaneously over an area of at least a million square miles. The au'hor suggests that another cause is required to explain these facts than variations of mass through thermic or other actions, the whole climatic conditions being different at the various stations ; in other words, that the attraction 0/ gravitation is not the only attractive force concerned hi the variations of atmospheric pressure. Linnean Society, May 24. — Annual General Meeting. — Prof. Alhnan, F. R.S., president, in the chair. — There were pre- sented by Mrs. J. J. Bennett, and a vote of thanks accorded, thiee medal«, memorials of Linnaeus — one of silver, struck in 1746, given by Linnajus to Haller in exchange for his portrait; one of gold, dated 1747, struck at the expense of Count Tessin ; and a large silver one, deiigned by Lynberger, struck by com- mand of the King of Sweden in commemoration of the death of Linnaeus, Jan. 10, 1778. — Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, treasurer, read his statement of the accounts, &c., of the Society for the year 1875. These showed its financial position to be very favour- able, and, indeed, prosperous. The increase in the number of Fellows was very marked, and everything augured the So- ciety's retaining their well-earned reputation and usefulness as a scientific body. — The President then delivered his anniversary address, choosing as a topic the department of biology, treating of those remarkable forms, the border-land between vegetable and animal life. He began by allusion to De Bary's researches on Myxomyceles and its curious transformations ; then referred in detail to Cienkowski's remarkable observations on Vampy- rella and the marine sarcodous organisms, Labyrinthuloe. Dr. Archer's Chlamydomyxa, Haeckel's Myxastrum, and Ma- gosphaerica, were each passed in review, and a comparison of all these forms entered into, with their peculiar phases and rela- tions to each other. He observed that in them protoplasm was reduced to its simplest nature, evincing what might be con- sidered vegetative or animal life, according to stage, &c. He summed up by regarding life as a property of protoplasm, but very different from conscience and will, or indeed any of the psy- chological phenomena. The following Fellows were elected into the Council : — ^J. G. Baker, Dr. W. P. Carpenter, Henry Lee, Prof. W. K. Parker, and S.J. A. Salter, M.B., in the room of the subjoined, who retired : W. T. T. Dyer, J. E. Harting, W. P. Hiern, M.B., Dr. J. D. Hooker, C.B., and J. J. Weir. Chemical Society, May 18. — Prof. Abel, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — A paper on hemine hematine and a phosphorised substance contained in blood corpuscles, by Dr. J. L. Thudichum and Mr. C. T. Kingzett, was read by the latter. — Prof. W. N. Hartley then made a communication on the natural carbon dioxide from various sources, being a continuation and extension of his former paper on the presence of liquid carbonic anhydride in the cavities of quartz and other minerals. — Mr Kingzett sub- sequently read a note on some trials of Frankland and Arm- strong's combustion process in vacuo, by Dr. Thudichum and himself. — Mr. T. Fairley gave a short account of three papers en yune 15, 1876] NATURE 163 peroxides, in which he described various reactions with hydrogen peroxide, and also the preparation of sodium and uranium per- oxides, on chromic and perchromic acids, and on the estimation of nitrogen. — The Secretary read a paper, by Prof. J. W. Mallet, on aluminium nitride and the action of aluminium on sodium carbonate at a high temperature. The nitride forms small crystalline particles of a yellow colour. — Lastly, Mr. E. Neison gave a short account of a process for the estimation of mercury. Royal Astronomical Society, May 12. — Mr, \V. Huggins, president, in the chair. — The Rev. Frederick Ilowlett presented to the Society five volumes of sunspot drawings made between the years 1859 and 1874. They contain several drawings of sun- spots on a large scale, some of which have already been figured in the pages of the Monthly Notices, and other places. A letter was read from Mr. Birmingham informing the Society that Dr. Schmidt's great lunar map of six French feet diameter will soon be issued by the Prussian Government. It has been the labour of thirty-four years, andjcontains 34,000 craters besides rills and other objects. — A paper by Mr. Dunkin was read on the con- junction of Venus with \ Geminorum, on August 18, 1876, when there will be an excellent opportunity for making micro- metrical measures of the planet's parallax with respect to the star. Its nearest approach will be seen from stations in North and South America a little before sunrise. — A paper by Mr. Hind was read on the transit of the great comet of 1819 across the sun's disc. The transit happened on its approach to perihelion, and the comet was not observed until some days afterwards, when it was receding from the sun. After a few weeks Olbers calculated the elements of its orbit, and announced the fact that on the pre- vious 26th of June it must have passed at its ascending node between the earth and sun. Some five years afterwards Pas- torlT wrote to the Baron de Zach to inform him that he had seen the comet upon the sun's disc, and had, upon the day of its transit, made a drawing of it and a measure of its distance from the sun's limb. He describes it as a nebulous body 6' in dia- meter with a bright centre. His original drawing is preserved in the library of the Astronomical Society. Mr. Hind has care- fully recalculated the elements of the comet's orbit, and has found thatatthetimementionedby Pastorff the cometmusthave appeared much nearer to the sun's centre than the position indicated by Pastorff. Canon Stark of Augsburg, also published an account of a nebulous body seen upon the sun's disc at 7h. 5m. on the morning of June 26. The measures given by him of the position of the black spot do not agree with the position calculated by Mr. Hind, although there is less discrepancy between them and the calculated position than there is in the case of Pastorff's observa- tion. Mr. Hind is disposed to think that neither Stark's nor Pastorff's observations are to be depended upon. — Mr. Christie read a note on the displacement of lines in the spectra of stars, from which it appearea that the discrepancies between the results of his observations and those of Mr. Huggins only amounted in the case of most of the stars which had been given by him to some three or four miles per second. The meeting adjourned till June 9. Geological Society, May 24. — Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — The following communications were read : — " On the old glaciers of the northern slope of the Swiss Alps," by Prof. Alphonse Favre. The author said that in existing glaciers two parts may be recognised, — an upper one, the reservoir or feeding glacier, and a lower one, the flowing glacier. Applying this division to the old glaciers, it appears that in the glaciers of the Rhone and Rhine the flowing glacier which occupied the plain had a surface nearly equal to that of the feeding glacier which was situated in the mountains. He showed (i) that the Rhone glacier passed over several of the chains of the Jura, and that the ice covering these, far from being an obstacle to the extension of the glaciers of the Alps, actually reinforced them, and served them as relays, the glaciers of the Jura having carried far on the Alpine erratic blocks ; (2) that the slopes of the upper surface were variable, and were null, or nearly so, over considerable spaces. During their greatest exten- sion the Swiss glaciers came in contact with those of central France near Lyons ; they united with those of the Jura, the Black Forest, and the Austrian and Italian Alps ; they stretched from the plain of the Po to that of the Danube ; and further, for distances of 50 or 100 kilometres they nearly approached horizontality. Hence they resembled the glaciers of the interior of Greenland and Spitzbergen, so far as can be judged from the descriptions. ^Evidences of Theriodonts in Permian deposits elsewhere than in South Africa, by Prof. R. Owen, F.R.S. In this paper the author noticed some described reptilia which he believes to belong to his order Theriodontia. The genus Euro- saiirus was founded in 1842 by Fischer von Waldheim upon some fragments of bone, including a humerus with a broad proximal end as in Kutorga's Orthopus ; and Fischer also noticed a humerus showing characters like those of Kutorga's Britkopus, from the same locality as the portion of a jaw described under the name of Rhopalodon IVangenheimii, Fischer, In 1858, H. von Meyer described a skull from the Permian of the Oural, under the name of Mecosaurus uraliensis, as a Labyrinthodont ; and Eichwald referred this genus, with Kutorga's Brilhopus and Orthoptic, to Fischer's Eurosaurus. The author regarded Mecosaunts as truly Labyrinthodont ; whilst the Permian forms constituting Kutorga's genus were referred to the Theriodont order. From the same locality as the above Kutorga describes Syodon biarmicum as probably a Pachyderm. Its teeth resemble those of Cynodraco. Eichwald's Deuterosaurus biar- micus is founded upon the fore part of both upper and lower jaws of a reptile, containing teeth with denticulate or crcnulate trenchant borders, the canines being large, especially in the upper jaw. Deuterosaurus closely resembles Cynodraco, and stiil more the Lycosaurus of the Karoo beds of the Sneewber"' range. All the above are from the Permian beds of the Oural^ and the author regards them as furnishing important evidence of the Palaeozoic age of the Karoo series, in which the Theriodont reptiles are best represented. The author further noticed a Theriodont allied to Lycosaurus from a red sandstone, probably of Permian age, in Prince Edward Island. The remains include the left maxillary, premaxillary, and nasal bones ; the teeth, implanted in distinct sockets, have sub-compresied, re-curved, conical, pointed crowns, with minutely crenulated borders. This fossil has been described by Dr. Leidy under the name of Bathygnathus borealis. Thus, supposing the affini ties of the fossils from the Oural and Prince Edward Island to be correctly deter- mined, the reptilia distinguished by mammalian character? are shown to have had a very wide range. Further, the author thinks that the Theriodont reptiles of the Bristol Dolomitic conglomerate may also prove to constitute a family in the Therio- dontic order. Physical Society, May 27.— Prof. Gladstone, vice-president, in the chair. — The following candidates were elected members of the Society : — Herbert Taylor, Rogers Field, and Channell Law. — Mr. W. Ackroyd read a paper on selective absorption. Two typical experiments were shown upon which a division of selective absorption may be based. In the first, light is trans- mitted through bichromate of potash at the normal temperature and again at about 200° C. ; and the spectrum of the transmitted light is examined. The widening of the absorption-bands which takes place at the higher temperature is traced to structural alterations. In the second experiment light is sent through two thicknesses of the same coloured solution, as, for example, sul- phate of copper, and in the greater thickness the absorption- band has widened out, but this is plainly not owing to any struc- tural alteration. That in the first experiment he proposes to term structural, and that in the second tra?tsverse absorption, and he considers that these two kinds have not hitherto been suffi- ciently distinguished. Certain colour relations which exist among anhydrous binary compounds led the author to the con- clusion that the width of a structural absorption-band bears a direct relation to interatomic distance. The necessity for sepa- rating high temperature spectra from low was shown, and the bearing of the subject on the study of organic colouring matters briefly alluded to. — The Secretary then read a communication from the Rev. R. Abbay, on certain remarkable atmospheric phenomena in Ceylon. The most striking of these is witnessed from the summit of Adam's Peak, which is a mountain rising extremely abruptly from the low country to an elevation of 7, 200 feet above the sea. The phenomenon referred to is seen at sunrise, and consists apparently of an elongated shadow of the mountain projecting westward to a distance of about seventy miles. As the sun rises higher it nxpidly approaches the mountain and ap- pears at the same time to rise before the observer in the form ot a gigantic pyramid of shadow. Distant objects may be seen through it, .so that it is not really a shadow on the land, but a veil of darkness between the peak and the low country. It con- tinues to rapidly approach and rise until it seems to fall back upon the observer, like a ladder which has been reared beyond the vertical, and the next instant it is gone. Mr. Abbay sug- gests the following explanation cf the phenomenon : — The average temperature at night in the low country during the 164 NATURE \June 15, 1876 dry season is between 70" and 80'' F. and that at the summit of the peak is 30° or 40° F. ; consequently the low strata of air are rnuch the less dense, and an almost horizontal ray of light pass- ing over the summit must be refracted upwards and suffer total internal reflexion, as in ordinary mirage. On this supposition the veil must become more and move vertical, as the rays fall less horizontally, and this will continue until they reach the cri- tical angle, when total internal reflexion ceases and it suddenly disappears. Its apparent tilting over on the spectator is pro- bibly an illusion, produced by the rapid approach and the rising of the dark veil withoi\t any gradual disappearance which can be watched and, Citimated. It will be evident that the illumina- tion of the innumerable particles floating in the atmosphere causes the aerial shadow to be visible by contrast. Another in- teresting phenomenon visible in the mountain districts admits of an equally simple explanation. At times broad beams appar- ently of bluish light may be seen extending from the zenith downwards, converging as they approach the horizon. The spaces between them have the ordinary illumination of the rest of the sky. If we suppose, as is frequently the case, that the lower strata of air are colder than the upper, the reflexion i-pokea of in the case of Adam's Peak will be downwards instead of up- wards. If several isolated masses of clouds partially obscure the sun, we may have several corresponding inverted veils of dark- ness like blue rays in the sky all appareiitly converging towards the same point below the horizon. This latter phenomenon is called by the natives "Buddha's Rays." — Prof. Dr. Forel of Morges, Switzerland, then give, in French, an account of some interesting observations which he has recently made on the periodic waves which take place on the S wiss lakes and are there called "Seiches." It was long since observed that the waters of most of these lakes are subject to a more or less regular rise and fall, which at times have been found to be as much as one or two metres. M. Forel has studied this phenomenon in nine dif- ferent lakes, and finds that it varies with the length and depth of the lake and that the waves are in every way analogous to those already studied by Prof. Guthrie in artificial troughs, and follow the laws which he has deduced from his experiments. Most of -the observations in Switzerland were made on the lake of Geneva, but that of Neucha.el was found to be best fitted for the study of the subject, possessing as it does an extremely regu- lar geometric form. The apparatus he employed was very sen- sitive to the motion of the water, being capable of registering the waves caused by a steamboat half an hour after it had passed, and five minutes before its arrival, and was so constructed as to eliminate the effect of common waves, and to register the motion side by side with a record of the state of the barometer, on paper kept in continuous motion. While he found the duration of waves to be ten minutes at Morges it was seventy minutes at Geneva, and this is explained by the narrowness of the neck of the lake at the latter place. This period he proved to be inde- pendent of the amplitude, and to be least in the shortest lakes. For shallow lakes the period is lengthened and his observations show that the period is a function of the length and depth and that longitudinal and transverse waves may coexist, just as Prof. Guthrie has shown to be the case in troughs. Stockholm Academy of Sciences, March 12. — Ilerr' Rubenson com* municated a paper entitled " Monthly and yearly averages of Temperature at the State Meteorological Stations during the Years 1859-1872." — Herr Smitt gave an account of a visit paid by Herr P. Olsson, assisted by a grant from the Academy, to Norr« land for zoological research. — Herr Th. M. Fries gave an account of two reports made to the Academy — one by Docent Berggren, who had gone to New Zealand for the purpose of studying its flora, and the other by Dr. Hellbom, who had made a lichenological visit to Norrland. — The following papers were communicated ;— On the Influence of inequalities with long p,:riod on the expression for the absolute perturbations of periodic comets, by Herr Gylden. — Narrative of an expedition to Novaya Zemlya and the mouth of the Jenesei in 1875, with map, by Prof. Nordenskjold. — On the simultaneous covariants of the fourth order and fourth class of two conic sections, by Prof. Bjorling. — On sulphonaphtholid, by Prof. Cleve, — On the action of pentachloride of phosphorus on /3 naphthol, by Prof. Cleve and Candidate Julin-Dannfclt. — On the estimation of nickel in nickeliferous magnetic pyrites, by Herr Ekelund. — Contribu- tions to the knowledge of the development of Rajae, by Intendent Malm.— Contributions to the Orthopttr-fauna of South Africa, b/ Prof. Stal. Paris Academy of Sciences, May 29. — Vice-Admiral Paris in the chair. — The following papers were read :— On the atomic constitution of bodies, by M. de Saint- Vcnant. There is nothing contradictory in regarding atoms as material points having all the properties of visible and tangible bodies, less extension. — New remarks on the real existence of a matter formed of isolated atoms comparable to material points, by M. Berthelot. He gives reasons for withholding assent to MM. Kundt and Warburg's view. — On the salts formed by peroxide of manganese, by M. PVemy, — Observations on a basking shark recently caught at Concarneau, by MM, Gervais. This species {Squalus maximus) is found but rarely in temperate waters. It has a number of flexible, elastic filaments (of osseous nature) attached to the branchiae ; these sift the water, retaining the small animals as food. — Examination of the possible mechinical action of light. Study of the radioscope of Mr. Crookes, by M. Ledieu. The author's theory (implying a special action of polarised light) was submitted to the test of experiment by M. Fizeau, but with negative results. Further experiments are promised. — The Caucasus and its mineral waters, by M. Franfois. — Intensity of gravity in the island of St. Paul, by M. Cazin. The apparent acceleration of gravity there exceeds the theoretical acceleration by -z^^ of its value. May not this affect astronomical observations ? — On the radiometer of Mr. Crookes, by M. de Fonvielle. He describes experiments, whence he infers an impulsive action of light. M. Fizeau says that if a bundle of solar rays fall on the instru- ment, limited by a screen so that they strike only the pohshed surfaces, the rotation is such that each vane comes to meet the rays instead of escaping from them, as would be the case if the light had impulsive force. — On the Phylloxeras of the leaves of the French vine, by M. Delachanal. — On the laws of matter, by M. de Marsilly. — On a compressed air filter for water, by MM. Chanoit and Midoz. — On the transformation of elliptic functions, by M. Laguerre, — On the development in series of the functions Al(x), by M. Joubert. — On the charge taken by the disc of the electrophorus, by M. Douliot. He describes an arrangement by which he verified the theoretical conclusion that the charge of the disc is proportioned to its radius. — Theory of spectra ; observations on Mr. Lockyer's last communication, by M. Lecoqde Boisbaudran, All spectral lines change in relative intensity when the temperature is raised ; Mr, Lockyer's theory would imply that each element is decomposed into as many more simple substances as its spec- trum has lines. Considering the immense number of lines in certain spectra, such a view seems little probable. — On the con- stitution of prophylenic monochlorhydrines, and the law of addition of hypochlorous acid, by M. Henry. — On a quino- acetate of calcmm, by M. Gundelach. — Variations of the electric state of the muscles in voluntary contraction and artificial tetanus, studied with the aid of the galvanoscopic limb, by MM. Morat and Toassaint. — Anaesthesia by the method of intravenous in- jections of chloral ; amputation of the thigh ; absolute insensi- bility ; consecutive sleep for six hours ; cure without any accident ; by M. Ore. — On frauds met with in the points of lightning conductors, by M. Francisque Michel. CONTENTS Page British Manufacturing Industries. 13y T 145 Hutton's ''Geologvof Otago." 146 Our Book Shelf : — Munn's " Elsmentary Algebra " 147 Letters to the Editor : — The Early History of Magaetism. — Wm. Chai'PELL 147 The Dry River-beds of the Riviera. — ^John Aitken 148 Method of Distributing Astronomical Predictions. — Charles de Liitrow 149 Acoustical Phenomena. — S. P. Thompson 149 Giant Tortoises. — Dr. Samuel Haughton, F R.S i4y Photography of Loan Collection Apparatus. — L 13 149 Abstract Report to "Nature" on Experimentation on Ani- mals for the Advance of Practical Medicine. By Dr. Benjamin W. Richardson, F.R.S 149 Our Astronomical Column : — The Comet of 1698 152 The Binary Star « Leonis 152 Variable Stars . 152 The Double-star 7 Centauri 152 The Mammals and Birds of Burma 153 Meteorology at Melbourne 153 American-Indian Stone Tubes and Tobaccb-pipes. By Dr. Charles C Abbott {With Illustrations) 154 New Meteorological Observatories at Montsouris. By W. DE Fonvielle 156 Notes 157 Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus— Section— Mechanics.— Prime Movers 159 Scientific Serials i6i Societies and AcADBMiBS • i6s NA TURE 165 THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1876 WALLACE'S GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS The Geographical Dist7-ibtition of Animals, with a Study of the Living and Exilnct Faujias, as Elucidatiiij( the Past Changes of the Earth^s Surface. By Alfred Russel Wallace. Two ^'ols. 8vo. (London : Mac- millan and Co., 1876.) THE question of the number and boundaries of the primary zoological regions of the Globe has recently been discussed by Prof. Newton in his article on "Birds," in the new edition of the " Encyclopcedia Britannica." After remarks on the failure of previous writers to solve this problem in a satisfactory manner, Prof. Newton comes to the conclusion that the outlines of distribution laid down in 1857 by Mr. Sclater, although founded only upon the study of the erratic class of birds, have " not merely in the main, but to a very great extent in detail, met with the approval of nearly all those zoologists who have since studied the subject in its bearing upon the particular classes in the knowledge of which they them- selves stand pre-eminent." In point of fact, Mr. Wallace himself was one of the first naturalists to accept Mr. Sclater's views on this subject. Writing from the remote island of Batchian, in the Indian Archipelago, in March 1859, after perusing Mr. Sclater's well-known memoir on the Geographical Distribution of Birds,^ Mr. Wallace says, in a letter to Mr. Sclater published in the first volume of the Ibis^ " With your division of the earth into six grand zoological provinces I perfectly agree, and I believe they will be confirmed by every other department of zoology as well as by botany." In the two excellent volumes now before us, in which are embodied the results of several years continuous labour upon this and kindred branches of the same subject, it will be seen that Mr. Wallace has not altered his opinion. The six great primary zoological regions of the globe proposed by Mr. Sclater in 1857 are fully adopted, and form the basis of Mr. Wallace's whole treatment of the subject. But one slight change even in their nomenclature is made — that of substituting " Oriental " as the name of the Region embracing South Asia and the adjacent islands for Mr. Sclater's term " Indian." In fact, after discussing the general principles and pheno- mena of distribution and what little we as yet know con- cerning the distribution of extinct animals, the main portion of Mr. Wallace's volumes is occupied by an elaborate sermon on Mr. Sclater's text, and on its appli- cation to other classes of animals. The various pheno- mena of life exhibited in the Palaearetic, Ethiopian, Oriental, Australian, Neotropical, and Nearctic regions are treated of in succession, and their similarities and their differences are discussed. To this is added a sketch of the geographical distribution of the principal families of terrestrial animals arranged systematically, which forms the fourth part of this important work. Of this last portion, which is, in fact, a book of reference contain- ing an account of the distribution of all the families, and * See " Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society," Zoology, ii. p. 130. " Letter from Mr. Wallace concerning the Geographical Distribution of Birds. {Ibis, 1859, pp. 449.) Vol. XIV. — No. 347 of most of the genera of the higher animals arranged in systematic order, we propose to speak in a subsequent article. For the present we will confine our attention to the first three parts of Mr. Wallace's work. The introductory chapter, with which the first volume of the " Geographical Distribution of Animals " is com- menced, although it states the object of the work plainly enough to the mind of the scientific reader, seems a little too brief and concise to explain the nature of the problem under discussion to the general public. It must be borne in mind that the very idea of the existence of any regular laws of distribution is a novelty to most people— §vw, we regret tQ say, to many who call them- selves naturalists. It is to be regretted, therefore, we think, that Mr. Wallace has not devoted a few more pages to the general explanation of the subject of which he treats, to the pointing out of the many subordinate problems which it involves, and in particular to the further explanation and definition qf such technical terms as " habitat," " stMlppa,'' ♦* range," and " representative species," which confront us in some of the very first pages of his work. In his second chapter Mr. Wallace discusses the means by which animals are dispersed, and devotes a good deal of space to the question of migration. Now, migration is, m doubt a very important pheno- menon, but whether it has much to do with the general theory of distribution appears to be rather doubtful. It occurs only in one or two groups of animals ; and, as Mr. Wallace himself observes, " we must, except in special eases, consider the true range of a species to com- prise all the area which it occupies regularly for any part of the year." Migration, therefore, primarily affects the distribution of a species within its own specific area, and only has to do with the general question of distribution so far as it may increase the tendency of a species to vary its range. With Mr. Wallace's views on the subject of dispersal generally wc cordially agree. There can be no question that, in the ** glacial epoch " and in the more recent geological changes which have taken place on the earth's surface, the key of the present complicated phenomena of distribution should be sought, although many of them have had a much earlier origin. "Almost every mile of land-surface has been again and again depressed beneath the ocean ; most of the great mountain chains have either originated or greatly increased in height during the Tertiary period j marvellous alterations of climate and vegetation have taken place over half the land-surface of the earth ; and all these vast changes have influenced a globe so cut up by seas and oceans, by deserts and snow-clad mountains, that in many of its more isolated land-masses, ancient forms of life have been preserved, which, in the more extensive and more varied continents have long given way to higher types." Mr. Wallace now proceeds to enter upon the grand question of Zoological Regions, entirely ignored, as he truly says, by the older school of naturalists. To them, provided they got the object, it little mattered whence it came. " The Brazils," the " East Indies," or the " South- sea Islands," was considered ample information as to the locality of any specimen, even if it were thought neces- sary to give such information at all. How could such men appreciate the idea of Zoological Regions ? They I 1 66 NATURE \ytme 2^, 1876 had a sort of vague notion that certain forms were pecu- liar to hot climates, and that certain others were only found in cold countries, but that was about all they knew or cared to know. Of the necessity of precise knowledge on the subject of locality they were absolutely incre- dulous. " To the modern naturalist, on the other and," as Mr. Wallace most truly observes, "the native country (or 'habitat' as it is technically termed) of an animal, or a group of animals, is a matter of the first importance ; and as regards the general history of life upon the globe, may be considered to be one of its essential character?. The structure, affinities, and habits of a species, now form only a part of its natural history. " We require also to know its exact ringe at the pre- sent day and in prehistoric times, and to have Fome Fig. I. — Forest in Borneo. knowledge of its geological age, the place of its earhest appearance on the globe, and of the various extinct forms most nearly allied to it. To those who accept the theory of development as worked out by Mr. Darwin, and the views as to the general permanence and immense antiquity of the great continents and oceans so ably deve- loped by Sir Charles Lyell, it ceases to be a matter of surprise that the tropics of Africa, Asia, and America should differ in their productions, but rather that they should have anything in common. Their similarity, not their diversity, is the fact that most frequently puzzles us." Yet, in spite of the increased attention paid to locality by Swainson, Waterhouse, Strickland and all the more m June 2 2, 1876] NA TURE 167 highly educated class of naturalists within the last fifty years, it was not until 1857 that the plan of determining the great zoological regions of the earth's surface not from ct priori reasons of heat and cold, nor from the ordi- nary views of geographers, but by the minute study of the actual ranges of the more important and best known groups of animals was suggested. Mr. Sclater's Regions, then originally established from consideration of the ranges of the principal families and genera of birds, were quickly applied by Dr. Glinther to reptiles and batra- chians, and subsequently by Mr. Sclater himself to mammals. Working from the same stand-point, various naturalists have of late years tried to improve upon them, amongst others Mr. Blanford, Mr, Blytb, and Fig. 2. — Scene in New Guinea. Prof. Huxley. Mr. Wallace will have none of these— nay, so convinced is he of the correctness of Mr. Sclater's original " happy thoughts "^ — that he will not even listen to the inventor's own emendations of his original regions. "So that we do not violate any clear affinities" — he observes, " or produce any glaring irregularities, it is a positive, and by no means an unimportant advantage to have our named regions approximately equal in size, and with easily defined and easily remembered boundaries." He therefore condemns "all elaborate definitions of inter-penetrating frontiers " and " regions extending over three-fourths of the land-surface of the globe" as "most inconvenient — even if there were not such differences of opinion about them." He admits that the "most radical 1 68 NATURE \Jtme 2 2, 1876 zoological division of the earth " is made by '* separating the Australian regions from the rest," and that the best natural division of the remainder is effected by cutting off the Neotropical region. We should then have three primary zoological regions, which first Prof. Huxley, and afterwards Mr. Sclater, in his oral lectures on geogra- phical distribution seemed to consider as of nearly equal importance. On this Mr. Wallace remarks that " in isolation and speciality, determined by what they want, as well as by what they possess, the Australian and Neotropical regions are undoubtedly each comparable with the rest of the earth. But in rlchhess and variety of forms they are both very much inferior, and are much more nearly comparable with the separate regions which compose it." After discussing this subject at some length, and disposing shortly of Mr. Allen's system of "circumpolar zones," Mr. Wallace comes tt) the conclusion that a con- sideration of all the facts zoological and palaeontological, indicates that the great northern division, or Arctogced^ is as much more important than either Australia or S8Ulh America, as its four compotient parts are less impdrtanti He therefore reverts to the six original regions proposed by Mr. Sclater in 1857, as the most workable, and most conveniently adapted for the study of zoological distri- bution. Thus much having been settled, Mr. Wallace proceeds to point out the limits of the six great regions, and to indicate the sub-regions into which they inay be best divided. As regards the latter part of this task there is much difficulty. It must be confessed that the sub- regions in many cases are as yet only approximately determined, and that those adopted by Mr. Wallace aire in several instances open to serious questions For example, " the great central mass of South America, froiti Venezuela to Paraguay" is constituted in the present work as a single division of the Neotropical region under the name of the " Brazilian Sub-region." But there can be no doubt that within this area there are two, if not three, distinct sub-regions which deserve recognition. The fauna of south-eastern Brazil, so adtnirably investi- gated by Prince Max. of Neuweid, Burmeister, Rein- hardt, and other well-known naturalists^ is very distinct from that of the great Amazonian valley, and the adjacent flats of Guiana and the Orinoco. Many genera are pecu- liar to each of them, and a whole host of representative species perform similar functions withih the respective areas. Herr von Pelzeln's divisions of the Neotropical region, and those employed by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin in their papers published in the Zoological Society's Proceedings, are much more natural than those suggested by Mr. Wallace. We fear that in spite of what he says on the subject our author has rather allowed a hankering after uniformity to lead him astray and to induce him to restrict his sub-regions to four in each case. The chapter on Classification which next follows, and concludes the first portion of the work, contains some very apposite remarks. A natural classification of animals is, as Mr. Wallace observes, of first-rate importance in discussing matters of distribution. But, except in the case of a few groups, we have by no means yet attained to a natural classification of animals, and even as regards these we are, in the opinion of many naturalists, still very far from it. It is only therefore some few of the classes of animals that ate sufficiently known to be useful for the study of distribution. As such Mr. Wallace selects the Vertebrata, the butterflies, and six families of Coleoptera amongst the insects, and the terrestrial and fresh- water land-shells amongst the Mollusca. Of these better-known groups he gives us tables of the arrangement which he proposes to adopt for the illustration of his remarks on their geographical distribution. {To be continued. ) OUR BOOKSHELF Notts OH iaoiiecting and Preserinng Natural History Objects, fiy J. E. Taylor, E. F. Elwin, Thos. South- well, Dr. Knaggs, E. C. Rye, J. B. Bridgman, Pro^ Ralph Tate, Jas. Britten, Prof. Buckman, Dr. Braith- waite, Worthington t*. Smith, Rev. Jas. Crombie^ W. H. Grattann. Edited by J. E. Taylor, Ph.D., F.L.S., t'iGiS., &c. (London : Hardwicke and Bogue, 1876.) This is a republication of a scries of papers from Science Gossip J and the names of the respective authors is a sufficient guarantee for the value and accuracy of the ihforttiation it affords. It is a very useful book to put into the hands of young persons with some taste for natural history but quite ignorant of how to collect and what to observe ; since it devotes as much space to the latter branch as to the former, and is thus a more instruc- tive work than its title indicates. The subjects discussed are — geological specimens, bones, birds' eggs, lepidoptera, beetles, hymenoptera, land and fresh-water shells, flower- ing plants, grasses, mosses, fungi, lichens, and seaweeds. It is a pity that a few other essays were not obtained — on birds, mammals, reptiles, fresh-water fishes, Crustacea, spiders, and sea- shells — so as to make the book somewhat more complete as regards " Natural History Objects ; " but so far as it goes it is an excellent little work, and is perhaps belter adapted to encourage an incipient taste tor the study of nature than niany more pretentious volumes. I'he chapters on birds' eggs, butterflies, and beetles, are especially full and interesting ; while those on bones arid fungi are valuable, as likely to incite the reader to take up the study of these somewhat neglected objects. A. R. W. Letters ti) the editor \The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his cotrespondenis. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.\ The Harris Cubit of Karnak As tte measures of this Cubit hitherto published are more or less incomplete, the following series may be worth attention. For permission to examine this relic, I am indebted to Dr. Birch, mider whose care it is placed in the British Museum ; and who, with his usual courtesy, gave every facility for its measurement. The readings were taken by laying this wooden cubit on a brass standard scale, divided to tenttis of an inch and to milli- metres, with its divided face at right angles to that of the scale. Two observers then read the values of the divisions in both inches and metres, giving four readings in all, at about 66* F. The standard scale has since been kindly verified by Mr. H. W. Chisholm, Warden of the Standards, and its error is not of such an amount as to aflfect the figures here given ; it is now in the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus (200), the sole repre- sentative at South Kensmgton of Kater's standards. The readings were mapped on divided paper, and the mean result for each line caieiuUy es.timaled, with its probable error, by the two observers : and though the following readings of the divisions are of course far from the limit of attainable accuracy, yet as their errors are but a small fraction of those of the gradua- yune 22, 1876] NATURE 169 tions of the cubit, farther accuracy would be nearly useless, especially in view of the width and deficient symmetry of the dividing lines. The zero point of the series is adjusted so as to fit the normal scale of equal spaces deduced from it, with equal errors + and — , on the series of palms, BritUh Inches. End of rod Palms Digit ... Condyle ... Digit ... Palm Condyle ... End of rod Cubit Divisions, ... — '026 i 2-952 5 91 1 8-873 1 1 -820 H779 17735 20 702 23-665 26-605 29-582 32-516 ,35-481 36-195 36-922 37-694 38-417 39-910 41 -402 Normal Scale. -000 2956 5-913 8869 11-826 14-785 17-739 20-695 23-652 26608 29-565 32-521 35-477 36-217 36-956 37-695 38-434 39-912 41-390 The average probable error of these determinations of each line (omitting the ends) is -oooS inch, so that it may be called I on the last place of figures here given. The total length of the rod is 41 -428 with a probable error of -t -0025, Sir Gardner Wilkinson (and Queipo from him ?) states it as 41 -30 ; John Taylor, 41 -46 ; and Col. Sir Henry James, 41-398. Thus the above determination falls between these three authorities, and is in fact about reached by the pro- bable error of the mean of them. Besides the total length of the rod, the divisions must be con- sidered as giving a value for the cubit. Leaving, therefore, for separate consideration the lesser subdivisions and ends, we will look only to the series of palms. As these were probably copied mechanically from another standard, and were apparently not produced by stepping lengths on the rod, we should ascer- tain the mean value they give for a Normal scale, and their errors from it. This carefully computed from these palm divi- sions is 41 '390 for the cubit, or 2-956 for each palm ; and the average error of the palm divisions is -007 (the maximum error is -018), so the probable error of this value for the mean cubit is about -002. This average error of yVir inch is rather large, but not worse than would probably be made at the present time in such work. By having a standard scale for comparison, hand dividing maybe done on a still longer rod with a quarter of the error of this cubit, or even less ; but as a mason's measure, this cubit is at least as accurate as modem examples. The digit divisions are remarkable ; the two last fit the Normal scale as accurately as the palms, but in makii^ the divisions 36-195 and 36-922, the scale has apparently shppol away from that end of the rod about -028 ; and thus these have an average — error of that amount. The ends appear to have been left rather long, perhaps to allow for wear, being -026 and -on too long respectively, giving an average surplus of -019. This may be intentional, or may result from being copied from a longer standard than the subdivided prototype, or may be merely an error. In any case, the tolerable equaJity of the surplus at each end, seems to show that the subdividing was from another standard, and not by stepping successive distances, as the differ- ence is only -5-^^^ of the total length. In Queipo's Metrology the value of each palm of this exam- ple of the cubit is stated to the millionth of a metre, two places farther than really measured, as they are merely reduced from English inches and hundredths, with an occasional half-hun- dredth. These values are all about -^\j; too short (their sum being 41-3, as Sir Gardner Wilkinson's statement), but otlierwise they agree closely with the series given above ; and their mean ditference from it (when corrected for their general shortness) is -oil, or but little more than the hundredth of an inch to which they were originally read. If from the other eight or nine examples of the Kamak cubit the mean cubit was deduced from the subdivisions, and the iu- temal errors of it thus obtained, we should have more knowledge of the accuracy of the earliest known civilisation, a datum of pauch interest from a scientific and historical point of view, A similar examination of the measures of classical and mediaeval times, including our ancient national standards of all kinds, would also give an idea of the accuracy which in various ages, and for various purposes, has been considered to be the utmost requisite ; a maximum datum very different to that obtainable from other remains, which only show the amount of accuracy usually employed. As a chapter of the history of science, now so much considered, this subject should not be longer neglected, Bromley, Kent W. M, Flinders Pktrie The Chemical Society The article which appears in Nature, vol, xiv, p, 125, on the Organisation of the Profession of Chemistry throws doubt on the expediency of effecting the proposed organisation through the instrumentality of a society which has solely occupied itself with the extension and diffusion of knowledge, viz,, the Chemical Society, It farther proposes that as it would be a wide depar- ture from the functions which the Chemical Society has hitherto performed to undertake the appointment of a Board of Exa- miners, the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London should be asked to co-operate in the matter, being already formed examining bodies, which would probably command and deserve greater confidence than a board nominated by a newly formed Institute, or even by the Chemical Society, On these remarks I beg to offer the following comments : — 1, The Chemical Society never has promoted the acquisition of such knowledge and skill as are necessary for the discharge of such duties as a professional chemist is required to undertake, 2, If the Chemical Society has performed all other functions but this— the fact is no argument against it appointing a Board of Examiners, or of conferring some distinction on those who are capable of acting in the service of the public as chemists ; indeed, if this may conduce to the "general advancement of chemical science," the Society, by not taking such steps, is scarcely fulfilling the duties for which it was originally foimded, and by opposing any such scheme it may actually retard the progress of chemistry in this country. 3, The writer of the article is apparently unaware of the fact that it would be very difficult to make any examination answer the purpose of testing a man's skill and technical as well as scientific knowledge in a satisfactory manner. An organisation scheme has been designed by a few gentlemen in conjunction with myself, so as to obviate examination as far as possible, or, in other words, to extend the examination over a period of six years. Those of us who are teachers in medical schools, and particularly those who at times have had to take to " coaching " for a livelihood, see the defects of a system which entirely de- pends upon examination as a test of qualification. Certainly no University examination would have the confidence of profes- sional chemists. There are many business details besides granting certificates of competency which an organisation of chemists would be obliged to undertake, as, for instance, im- posing such observances on the members as would tend to sup- press objectionable practices which are somewhat too common at the present time. The Chemical News for June 9 contains a sketch of an organi- sation scheme, and the conditions of admission for original members are there set forth. If the Chemical Society as a body agrees to accept such a scheme, by all means let it do so, but it does not appear clear whether the qualified Fellows of the Society could constitute a separate body, managing their own affairs, within the Society, without the interference of other Fellows not of the same class. British chemists are now in request all over the world, Japan, India, China, Canada, and California, and some mark of dis- tinction as *' chemists " which those who go abroad might carry with them would be valuable to them and enhance the value of the science in this country. Walter Noel Hartley Scientific Club, 7, Saville Row, W. Lectures on Meteorology In these days of the rapid development ot the standard sciences, and the multiplication of their offshoots into con- siderable sections nearly as big as their originators, it may not be inappropriate to represent the claims of meteorology for a separate existence apart from others. As geology and mineralogy have been developed out of the natural history of former times, so it may obviously be suggested that meteorology might be detached from natural philosophy with which it has been lyo NATURE \yune 2 2, 1876 hitherto connected, and be 'taught as^a separate science on its own merits and usefulness, and extent of practical application. It is therefore proposed that meteorology might constitute a separate course of lectures, theoretical and practical, at our col- leges, where might be expounded its bearings on navigation, agriculture, human health, and engineering. To it might also be attached the sciences of ventilation of buildings, as barracks, factories, and mines, and hydrology, or a knowledge of ocean and sea currents, and ice drifts. The foundations for such a professorship in scientific materials have, it is suggested, now reached a sufficient weight and bulk as to furnish ample occupation, and to be of universal interest and general application. Weather observatories, now numerously established, will require superintendents and assistants, captains of ships would be benefited by some scientific knowledge of the winds and waves, and fanners would find meteorology useful for the suc- cessful tillage of the soil. Again, overseers of mines would derive some good from a knowledge of the mechanism of the currents of the air they have to regulate in ventilation, and engineers of waterworks would require to know the variability and extent of rainfall for the sites and construction of their reservoirs. Finally, the science of the weather is of most importance of all to those who have to fulfil the duties of health officers in our gieat towns, and climatology is more than ever studied by the physician having to give advice to the numerous invalids who now travel abroad for the sake of restoration of health by change of air and scene. In order to facilitate the accomplishment of this object, it is suggested that some means should be taken to originate a fund to defray the expenses of such a course of lectures, either in London or Edinburgh, t)0th of which cities have meteorological societies which might lend their influence to promote such schemes of scientific development. The class of men to whom resort might be suggested for patronage of this proposition would most likely be shipowners, landowners, and boards of health, either for the study of their self-interest or for the benefit of the public. SPES Edinburgh, June THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION— GLASGOW MEETING I^HE arrangements for the reception of the British Association are fast progressing towards completion. The Executive Committee met on Tuesday, and the fol- lowing is a brief sketch of the work which has been done : — Finance Contmittee. — The total sum subscribed to the Guarantee Fund amounts to ^6,559 \os. Mtisetim Cominlitce. — This Committee|has arranged as follows :— The Geological Exhibition will be accommo- dated in the Corporation Galleries, Zoology and Botany in the lower Queen's Rooms, and Archaeology, &c., at the University. These exhibitions will be large and complete, and arrangements havebeen made for keeping them open, if desired, for some time after the meeting of the Association, Local Industries Committee. — This Committee has three sub-committees — one for Machinery, one for Che- micals, and one for Textile Fabrics — and the materials for a highly instructive exhibition are being collected, which will be held in Kelvingrove Museum, where there is already a general museum of considerable size and variety. Beception Cominittee. — Already a number of distin- guished persons have been invited and have accepted invitations. Among these are the President-designate, Prof. Andrews, of Belfast, who will be the guest of Sir William Thomson, the present President, Sir John Hawkshaw, who, with Lieut. Cameron, the African ex- plorer, will be the guest of the Lord Provost. The Duke of Argyll, one of the Vice-Presidents, will be the guest of Prof. Blackburn. Arrangements have been made with all the leading railway companies in England and Scotland to facilitate the visits of strangers and their stay in Glasgow. A guide and handbook for Glasgow and the West of Scot- land is being prepared under the general editorship of Dr. Blackie. The following places have been secured for the use of the Association : — The University, where, as at present arranged, all the Sections except the Geographical and Ethnological Section (Section E) will meet, Section E meeting in the large upper hall of the Queen's Rooms. At the University, also will be the Reception and Refreshment Rooms. Kelvingrove Museum. — This will be the recep- tacle for the exhibitions of machinery, of chemicals, and textile fabrics. Queen's Rooms. — Here will be held an exhibition of the zoological and botanical collections of the district, and here also the meetings of Section E will take place. The upper Corporation Galleries will be filled with a geological exhibition, there being no room at the museum at the University to accommodate more than the Archaeological Section, in addition to the permanent and temporary exhibits already arranged there. The City Hall and the Botanic Garden Palace have also been secured for the use of the Association. The Chambers of the Association, where all inquiries may be made, will be found at 135, Buchanan Street. A great many of the citizens have indicated their wish to receive guests, and a list is being drawn up of expected visitors, from which guests may be selected. Notice of its completion will be given by advertisement in the news- papers. Excursion Committee. — It has been arranged that ex- cursions will take place on Saturday, the 9th, and Thurs- day, the i4ih of September, to the following among other places : — Arran, Lochlomond, Loch Fyne, and the Holy Loch, Coatbridge, and Paisley. Mr. A. 13. Stewart has placed his yacht at the disposal of the Association, as has also Mr. Duncan of Benmore, for dredging expeditions. It is intended that there will be at least one dredging excursion to the Firth of Cl)de, or other suitable place. Mr. Duncan will also receive at Benmore a party of 100, who go the round by Loch Fyne, for whom he has arranged a delightful excursion. Mr. Martin of Auchendennjn will receive a party at dinner there, and Mr. Campbell of Tulliechewan and Mr. Matheson of Cordale have also intimated their desire to show hospitality to members of the Association visiting Dumbartonshire. Mr. Ellis will entertain a party at luncheon at Coatbridge after inspec- tion of the North Biitish Wireworks, and Sir Peter and Mr. Thomas Coates are expected to do the same at Paisley. ABSIRACT REPORT TO ''NATURE" ON EX- PERIMENTA TION ON ANIMALS FOR THE ADVANCE OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE^ II. Experimentation with the for7ns 0/ Lycoperdoti gigan- teum, or common Ptiff-Ball. TN 1853, while the study of the att of producing safe ^ anaesthesia was fresh upon me, my attention was directed by my friend, Mr. H. Hudson, to the fact that in the country the owners of bees rob the bee-hive of its con- tents of honey and wax after they have stupefied the bees by driving into the hive the smoke of the common puff- ball — lycoperdon giganteum. It struck me at once that I ought to ascertain whether the stupefying agent which is given off in the smoke would act as an anesthetic on the higher animals and on man, and whether a new and safer anassthetic than chloroform was contained in it. The results of this research, seme of which I published in the Association Medical Journal in 1853, showed that the narcotic agent present is indeed a true anaesthetic, and that all animals may be narcotised by it, but that owing to the mode in which it has to be administered, it cannot conveniently be applied to man. All the lower animals about to be subjected to operations of any kind, surgical I Continued from p 152. June 2 2, 18 76 J NATURE 171 or physiological, could, I found, be rendered insensible by this agent safely and inexpensively. I invented a room or chamber in which animals could be placed so as to be exposed to the anassthetic, and I introduced the use of this method of anaesthesia. From time to time during the past twenty- five years, many necessary sur- gical operations have been painlessly performed on domestic animals under this anaesthesia, and almost all my own physiological experiments which would have been painful have been conducted under it without pain. Some other physiologists have followed me in this procedure, and have introduced the puff-ball narcotising box into their laboratories in order to save pain from experiment. In these v/ays the simple experimental research derived from the observation on the bees has proved doubly useful. While these researches were first being pursued a friend of mine came to me in great distress because his splendid and favourite retriever dog had been bitten by a rabid dog and was now stricken with rabies. He asked me to destroy his dog in the kennel, as nobody dared to remove the animal. I carried out the request at once by simply closing the door of the kennel, covering it with a horse- cloth, and letting the clarified and condensed fumes from the burning lycoperdon pass into the kennel. The animal lapsed quickly into sleep and died without a struggle. I believe this was the first time in the history of science in which anaesthesia had been employed inten- tionally and systematically for the painless extinction of the life of the inferior animals. I shall show in a future note the singular importance of this application. Research with Carbonic Oxide. The observation that the smoke of the burning lyco- perdon would produce ansesthesia in the higher animals led naturally to an inquiry after the agent that was at work in creating the insensibility. I commenced to make an analysis of the smoke in order to determine the question, but was forestalled in discovery by two other experimenters, ihe late Dr. John Snow, — so well known for his researches in anaesthetics, and as the author of the water theory of cholera, — and by the late Thornton Herepath, one of our most promising young chemists. These two gentlemen almost simultaneously discovered that the gas called carbonic oxide is present in the smoke of the lycoperdon. This was a new light, and led me to study the action of carbonic oxide on animal life. I found that this agent, a colourless and inodorous gas, produced insensibility in precisely the same way as the purified smoke of the puff-ball. I found that when the combustion of the puff-ball was made so perfect that no carbonic oxide was formed, there was no anaesthesia in- duced by the purified fumes, and so the fact was rendered clear that the special anjesthetic in the smoke is the gas in question. I estimated also the proportions of carbonic oxide that could be breathed in the atmosphere, and the effects ol the gas in larger and smaller proportions on the lower animals and on myself. Experintentation in Relation to Diabetes from Breathing Carbonic Oxide. In conducting iht observations on the action of carbonic oxide on living bodies, I was led to examine the animal secretions, and to my surprise I found that the renal secre- tion of an animal subjected to the gas yielded evidence of glucose or grape sugar. The faci was of such import- ance I was compelled to follow it up until I had quite established it, and had proved that by the inhaling ot this active gas, a temporary attack of the disease known commonly as diabetes, which in the human subject is often fatal, could always be artificially induced in the dog. In a further experiment I found that the inhalation of common ccal-gas diluted with air would produce the same condition, an effect caused by the carbonic oxide which is always present in coal-gas. The same has sub- sequently been observed in a human subject accidentally exposed to the gas. The ultimate value of these obser- vations has yet to be proved. When I first published, in the Medical limes and Gazette, on March 22, 1862, the fact of the artificial production of diabetes by carbonic oxide, nine years after I had first observed it, it was looked upon rather as a curious than a practical demon- stration. I have always felt that though it did not seem to offer any immediate practical result, it must some day be useful in throwing light on the origin, or at least on one origin of a fatal malady. Quite recently Dr. Pavy has published some valuable details on the production of diabetes by the same means, that is to say, by making animals inhale carbonic oxide, and he has been able to arrive at some clear ideas on the question of the chemical changes that are involved in the process. We may fully expect to receive from him further valuable information. I wait a moment at this point to observe that the history of experimental research given in the last note illus- trates forcibly the value of what may be called the acci- dental observations that are picked up in the course of experiment. Who ever would have dreamed that from a practice cf stupefying bees in order to rob them of their honey, a practice which has been carried on by the vulgar for many centuries, would come the discovery that the higher animals, and even man himself, can be made to produce glucose, and that they may become afflicted with the symptoms which characterise a destructive disease from a simple perversion in the animal chemistry induced by the smoke of the burning puff-ball ? Experimentation with Oxygen Gas. The experiments with carbonic oxide led me to a series ot experiments with oxygen gas. The late Sir Benjamin Brodie and Mr. Broughton, in their experiments on this same sub- ject, had observed that when animals are placed in pure oxygen they die,with symptoms of sleep, as if they were narcotized, although the products of respiration are re- moved. Hence for many years oxygen gas, on which we depend for life, was believed to be a narcotic or sedative poison. In my experiments many new facts came out which modified this view. In the first place I found that some animals, such as frogs, will live in oxygen as readily as in common air ; that herbivorous animals will live in it if it be kept supplied to them in fresh current, but the carnivorous animals will not live in the pure gas for a long time without becoming drowsy and insensible and without undergoing changes of their blood, which are fatal to life owing to separation of the fibrine within the vessels. The most important observation, however, which I made on the subject of the effects of oxygen, is the following : — I found that a narcotic action of the oxygen is produced, however pure from the products of respira- tion the oxygen is maintained, whenever it is breathed over and over again by being passed backwards and for- wards through the chamber in which the animals breathe it. Subjected three times to this passage through the chamber, though it be purified so fully from carbonic acid that it contains less ol this gas than the common air, it fails to support the active life of all common animals excepting frogs. In a word, the oxygen assumes a negative condition in which it will not support living function. In a report on these researches, made to the British Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, at the Oxford meeting in i860, I defined this state as one in which no new poison was produced, but in which the oxygen lost some principle or property by which in its fresh state it sustained the animal life. The lessons taught by these observations extend to the human family. They show that if the oxygen of the great atmospheric sea in which we all breathe should from any cause assume this negative condition, it will fail to sustain the active life. They explain the depressing effect of breathing over again the same air in close and badly ventilated rooms. They throw a distinct light on that " epidemic condition " of' the atmosphere, which, since J72 NATURE \June 2 2, 1876 the time of Sydenham has been noticed, but never ex- plained, in which diseases of spreading type extend uncontrolled when once they are started on their course. In the artificial negative atmosphere which I produced in the manner described above, I observed that dead animal and vegetable substances underwent rapid decomposition, and that slight wounds on living bodies became foetid. There followed upon these observations other series, in which the effect of the forces of heat and electricity were tried in order to determine whether they would modify the condition of the negative oxygen in respect to its life- sustaining power. The result of these inquiries was to prove that cold added to the negative effect and quickened the narcotism, while a raised temperature, a temperature of 75" F., delayed the narcotism. I also discovered that the passage of electrical sparks through the negative gas restored it to its full activity. In yet another series of inquiries oxygen, under the influence of the forces of heat and electricity, was rendered active until its sustaining power was destroyed by an opposite process, viz., by the activity with which it entered into combination with the blood. In this manner the action of ozone was observed on animal bodies, and the quickened state of the circulation and over-action which the oxygen in this active state produces were defined. The local action of ozonized air on the air-passages and nostrils in the human subject was tested on Dr. Wood and myself, and the peculiar catarrh and headache which follow the inhalation of ozonized air were described from our own personal experiences. The whole of these inquiries on the effects of differing physical conditions of oxygen were full of the most useful practical information in reference, if not actually to disease, to the mode in which surrounding atmospheric conditions modify the course of disease. They indicated how men and animals living in the large atmospheric sea are influenced by the action of the great forces of nature on the vital oxygen. They have taught me so much that I could, if I had the means, build a hospital with such appliances for modifying the air, that the course of some diseases might be governed towards recovery by the simple management of the physical conditions of the atmospheric oxygen. In a future and more advanced day of science, this method, the basic principles of which are here sketched out, will be an approved and positive method of treatment. Even now, under the greatest dis- advantages, from want of organised plans, I have been able to render useful service to the sick from the expe- rience gained by the experimentation. Benjamin W. Richardson {To be continued^ THE CRUELTY TO ANIMALS BILL IN the House of Lords the Government " Vivisection Bill " was discussed in a full Committee on Tuesday. The Marquis of Lansdowne began by a very temperate remonstrance against the Government going so far beyond the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the subject. His speech (which is fairly reported in the Times) is by far the best for knowledge and for sense that has yet been made on the Bill, but the provision against which he especially protested — the licensing of places as well as of persons — though warmly supported by Lord Kimberley, still remains part of the Bill. This pro- vision scarcely affects physiologists as such, but may be a means of serious annoyance and hindrance to strictly medical experiments, on, for instance, the contagion of disease or the action of drugs, and would have made the experiments by which Jenner freed the world from the plague of small- pox impossible. On the first clause Lord Carnarvon stated that the title will be altered from " An Act to Prevent Cruel Experi- ments upon Animals" to "An Act to Amend the Law relating to Cruelty to Animals," i.e., the Bill no longer pretends to prevent alleged cruelty by scientific men in this country, inasmuch as the charge has net been in a single instance maintained, and only provides that inflic- tion of pain on an animal shall not be screened by the excuse of a scientific object, if the delinquent does not hold a certificate from the Secretary of State that he is a competent person to conduct experiments on animals with all possible humanity and with ability to make them useful. After some desultory conversation on the definition of the word " animal " (in which one Minister of the Crown committed himself to the opinion that some creatures can feel when their heads are off), the first important amend- ment was moved by Lord Rayleigh, supported by Lord Cardwell, and accepted, after discussion, by the Ministry. The Bill now, therefore, actually recognises the pursuit of knowledge as equally worthy of respect with that of medicine, and both as entitled to some small share of the immunity accorded to the pursuit of wealth or of amuse- ment. In other words^. while the members of the House of Lords have all their lives been vivisecting their animals without anaesthetics for fim, they are now pleased to allow physiologists to do the same under many limit- ations for the advancement of science. This admission was actually opposed by Lord Coleridge in a speech which was forensic and sentimental in the worst sense of the words. In the fifth clause, exempting cats and dogs from all experiments (even when painless) if undertaken for phy- siological or medical purposes, the Government accepted the amendment of the Earl of Harrowby, to include horses, asses, and mules under the same provision ; but admitted a proviso for these animals being available on special certificate from the Secretary of State when absolutely necessary for some special investigation. On this clause the Earl of Airlie made a sensible speech, but he was not supported by the peers on the Royal Commission, whose report was implicitly condemned. The other clauses v/ere rapidly run through, the Earl of Portsmouth making a successful attempt to obtain some recognition of the necessity of studying the diseases of animals as well as of man. The absurd regulation which, appa- rently by an oversight, subjected registered and inspected laboratories to the police visitation intended to prevent experiments in unregistered places, was amended without discussion, and the Bill is now probably in the form in which it will be laid on the table of the House of Commons. Some of its most glaring contradictions and absurdities have been remedied ; and, if worked by a reasonable Home Secretary, competent inspectors, and physiologists as humane as the ten or twelve gentlemen who now possess laboratories in the three kingdoms, it will probably do good. But the whole discussion shows the folly of legis- lating to satisfy unreasoning clamour, and the hopeless- ness of Parliament dealing in detail with a subject of which almost all its members are profoundly ignorant. The reasonable plan would have been to register labo- ratories, and give certificates to persons duly recom- mended ; to inspect them carefully ; to withdraw the licence on any abuse being proved ; and then to extend " Martin's Act " so as to apply to all cruelty to animals, whether domestic or wild, whether performed with a bad object or a good one, so long as the delinquent did not hold a certificate. This would have been in accordance with the recommendations of the Royal Commission, would have given far less trouble to Home Secretaries and to physiologists, and would have been a more effectual provision against cruelty. But Parliament has nothing important to do, the Government are in want of popular applause, and very few have the patience or the candour to learn the true state of the ^case'; so that we must be content to hope that the Bill will do less harm than was at first inevitable. June 2 2, 1876] NATURE 173 l\' } A MUSEUM FOR INDIA AND THE COLONIES T the meeting of the International Congress of Orientalists in London in 1874, Dr. Forbes Watson read a paper in which he described (see Nat URE, vol. x. p. 421) the plan of an Indian Museum, Library, and Institute. This paper was afterwards published (see Nature, vol. xi. p. 413). Dr. Watson has just published a pamphlet 1 in which the proposed India Museum and Institute has very naturally expanded into an Imperial Museum for India and the Colonies. What Dr. Watson proposes is . that on the site of the old Fife House, on the Victoria Embankment, at the Thames end of the new Northumberland Avenue, a large and suitable build- ing should be erected, to consist of two divisions, one devoted to the interests and products of India, and the other to those of the various British Colonies. The hbrary and collections which already exist in connection with India are acknowledged to be of great value and import- ance, and their location in an appropriate building in a central position would greatly increase their usefulness. The arrangement at South Kensington is of course only temporary. Now that Dr. Watson has proposed a plan for an institution which would do for the other colonies what the India Museum and Library attempt to do for India, one wonders why steps have not been taken long ago to supply what appears to be a real want. The sub- ject has, however, engaged for years the attention of those who take an active interest in the Colonies, and several of the Colonies have gone so far as to vote money for the establishment of a Colonial Museum in London. Few people realise the importance of the Colonies to Britain ; their extent, population, and the value of their com- mercial transactions are forcibly exhibited by Dr. Wat- son in his pamphlet, which we would recommend those to read who wish to have some idea of the value of the Colonies to the mother country. From a scien- tific point of view such an institution as is proposed would be of great interest and value. British Colonies are to be found everywhere over the surface of the globe, and embrace all climates and every variety of natural productions. Students of natural science would find a properly arranged collection of our colo- nial productions of great use, especially if combined with a proper library, and no better method could be devised of educating the public generally as to the extent, importance, physical condition, and natural pro- ducts of " Greater Britain." Dr. Watson shows that from every point of view, political, commercial, and scientific, the establishment of such an all-embracing Imperial Institute would be of the greatest benefit both to this country and her Colonies, and would no doubt serve to bind them more closely together. We are sure his scheme needs only to be known in its details to recommend itself to the pubhc, and we are confident that if steps were taken to move the proper quarter, the accomplishment of the scheme would be only a question of time. The Colonies themselves are willing to bear a share of the expense necessary, and it would only be fair that this country, through the Government, should meet the Colonists as far as it can. Into the details of Dr. Watson's plan we have not space to enter. There would, as we have said, be virtually two museums under one building. In the division devoted to the extra- India Colonies, the museum representative of each Colony would be kept distinct, so that the whole would be rather a federation of museums than one museum. Then there would be a Colonial Library and Reading-room ; provision would be made for giving a home in the Insti- tution to the Asiatic Society and the Colonial Institute ; by means of " Trade Museums," a full representation would be given of Colonial produce, and in the proposed I "The Imperial Museum for India and the Colonies" By J. Forbes Watson, M.D., &c.. Director of the India Museum. (Allea and Co.) institution the offices of the various Colonial agents now dispersed over London could be established. The advan- tages of such an Institution are well summed up by Dr. Watson in the following paragraph : — " The combined India and Colonial Museums, estab- lished according to the above plan, would in every way become a living institution worthily representing the past history and the present resources of the British Empire throughout the world. Such an institution would afford not only exhaustive materials for study and research, but would likewise be suitable for reference by the Indian and Colonial authorities, by men of business or of letters, and by officials or emigrants intending to proceed to India or the Colonies, Thus it would be instrumental in furthering actual work or business, whether scientific, political, or commercial. At the same time, through its co-operation with the Asiatic Society and the Colonial Institute, through its reading-room, its lectures and publications, through the Trade Museums and other typical collections distri- buted all over the country, as well as throughout the most important places in India and the Colonies, all the infor- mation would be rendered available to the whole Empire." FERTILISA TION OF FLO WERS B Y INSECTS 1 XIV. Flowers Fertilised by the Wings of Butterflies. IN my former articles many plants are referred to which are fertilised by butterflies, whose proboscis, head, legs, or whole underside comes into contact with the anthers and stigmas of the flowers visited ; but hitherto no plant has been known which is fertilised by the fluttering wings of butterflies. My brother, Fritz Miiller (Itajahy, Prov. St. Catharina, Brazil), has lately observed a species of Hedychium (Piperaceas) whose bright red scentless flowers, opening in the morning, are wonderfully adapted to this manner of fertilisation. I give his description, as far as possible, in his own words. The flowers of this Hedychium are collected in groups of 4-6, which are enveloped by a common bract ; in every group only one flower is ever developed at the same time, this commonly fading before the next one has opened. The groups of flowers are arranged in aliernating whorls, each consisting of three groups (Fig. 89) ; the spike thus formed reaches 0*25 metre in length, and is composed of six longitudinal rows of flowers, each row containing about ten. The corolla-tubes, about o"o3 m. long, 0*5 and i mm. wide, are completely enclosed by the very firm common bract ; moreover, each by its calyx closely embracing it, by its special bract and partly by the bracts of the older flowers of the same group. Thus the honey, which on the morning of the first day fills up about one-third, on the morning of the second day about two-thirds of the length of the tube, is excellently protected from being stolen by piercing the tube, of which some Apidae, especially Hylo- copa, are exceedingly fond. The flowers are placed nearly horizontally, the stamen a httle above, the lip a little below a horizontal plain intersecting the entrance of the honey-tube. The lip, which in other species of He- dychium is expanded level and almost sessile, is here long stalked, and rolled up into a channel of 001 m. in length provided with a funnel-shaped entrance. The entrance of the lip-channel (Fig. 89 A) being about equally distant from the two longitudinal rows of anthers and stigmas Fig. 89 {B, C) between which it is situated, both rows are aJike struck by the wings of the butterflies flying on and off. The filament is 47 mm. long on the forenoon of the first day and somewhat bent upwards, so that the pollen- covered side of the anther looks outwards or even a little > Continued from voL xiii. p. 294. 174 NA TURE \June 2 2, 1876 upwards (hence the stigma looks upwards or even obliquely backwards) ; on the morning of the second day it is 50 mm. long, straight, and the stigma looking forwards ; by the morning of the third day the flowers bend aside and wither. Consequently on the first day the anthers, on the second day the stigmas are more liable to be struck by the wings of the butterflies, although the stigmas seem to be capable of being pollinated already during the opening of the flower. The pistil, as in other species of Hedychium, is inclosed in a completely closed channel of the corolla tube (Fig. 90) and of the filament (Fig. 91) ; the funnel-shaped stigma (Fig. 92), secreting plenty of fluid and bordered with hairs (Fig. 93), slightly overtops the anther (Fig. 89, St). By the morning of the second day all bees and butter- flies with a proboscis of more than 10 mm. long would be enabled to obtain at least a little portion of the very sweet honey from out the opening of the corolla- tube ; whereas from the more conveniently situated opening of the lip-tube the full store of honey can be reached only by a single species cf the butterflies of Itajahy (as far as their proboscides have been measured Fie. 89. — Hedychium. Two alternating whorls, each consisting of three groups, each group containing from four to six flowers, of which only one or two are developed. Half natural size. i. Flowers on the first day. 4. Flowers on the second day. In most flowers only the lip and the stamen with the stigma are drawn, a, anther ; .;/, stigma. by my brother), namely, the males of Callidryas Philea, with a proboscis from 36 to 43 mm. long.-^ This was indeed the most assiduous of all visitors. It was always sucking out of the lip. Scarcely less frequently were the flowers visited by Callidryas Etibule $ , always sucking in the same way, with a proboscis from 27 to 30 mm. long (a female, caught on these flowers, had a proboscis only 24 mm. long). Callidryas Trite ^ , on the contrary, with a proboscis 18 to 20 mm. long, seems always to suck immediately out of the corolla-tube. Callidryas Statira ^ (19 to 21 mm.) mostly sucks in the same way ; but sometimes also from out the lip. Callidryas Argante being very rare during the flowering time of this Hedy- chium (towards the end of January) was only occasionally seen visiting its flowers, and it was not observed in what way it reached the honey. Dark yellow, orange, scarlet, red, are the favourite colours, not only of the Callidryas but likewise of the Agraulis{Dione) and of some ' The proboscis of the female seems to be not so long ; in two females measured by my brother it did jiot exceed 35 mm. species of Papilioj of the former, Agraulis vanillce (pro- boscis 15 mm.) visited the flowers several times, but soon flew away again. Of species of Papilio, P. Thoas (26 mm.) appeared especially frequently, as also several times P. Palydamas (24-25 mm.), P. Cleotas 22-23 mm.) three times, and once P. Protodamas (?) (22 mm.) ; these mostly fluttered upwards along the rows of flowers without settling down ; it was not distinctly seen from which opening they obtained the honey. Another adaptation of the flowers to cross-fertilisation by butterflies must be mentioned. A wing of a butterfly is a tolerably smooth plain, moving rapidly when flying ; the pollen-grains of Hedychium are likewise smooth ; these peculiaiities are ill adapted to each other ; but this incon- venience is removed by the anthers not bursting, but their anterior- surface dissolving into a 1 lyer of slime which covers the pollen-grains and glues them to the wings. Of Apidae my brother once saw Xylocopaj it attempted to suck from the lip, but after having made some fruitless trials flew away again. He repeatedly met with Bombus violaceus and Cayennensis, rarely, however, compared with their frequent visits to other flowers, for instance, the neighbourin;; bushes of Buddleia, They sucked from out the corolla tube. B. violaceus was several times ob- served to alight on the lower flowers of a longitudinal row, climbing from there up the row more or less completely, then flying to another spike. In consequence of this systematic manner in which the most intelligent bees ex- plore the flowers of a plant, the fertilisation by bees of a plant with such a number of flowers as our Hedychium Fig. 90. Fig. 91. Fig. 92. Fig. 93. Fig. 90. — Transverse section of the coroila-tube, 15 : i. Fig 91. — Trans- verse section of the filament enclosing the pistil. Fig. 92. — The stigma bordered with hairs. Fig. 93.— A single one of these hairg. must be by far less advantageous than the fertilisation by butterflies. Suppose a specimen of this Hedychium bearing twenty spikes, each with fifty flowers, a humble-bee would be likely to visit 1,000 flowers without effecting a single cross-fertilisation between different plants, consequently without any profit for the plant, which is sterile with its own pollen. On the contrary, on flowers copiously visited by butterflies, the same butterfly will rarely visit a greater number of flowers of the same plant continuously ; and this holds good, not solely, as Delpino has already re- marked, with females which are followed by the males. On a Hedychium, males of Callidryas only were flying (females being then very rare), but, nevertheless, as soon as any butterfly was approached by another of the same or even of a different species, it flew up, ran and whirled with it about in the air, and then alighted commonly on another bush. Lastly, there appeared repeatedly several species of humming-birds, one of which was so absorbed in sucking the honey that it could be caught with a net, which my brother had never before succeeded in doing. In the corolla-tube of this Hedychium small insects have never been found by my brother ; the perseverance with which the humming-birds made use of its flowers proves, there- fore, in case such a proof should still be needed, that these birds were here searching for honey. It may be remarked in addition that humming-birds are far less exclusively attracted by the bright red colour of flowers than Callidryas ; and, as these butterflies are June 2 2, 1876] NATURE 175 those which are found in greatest numbers in Itajahy {Acrcea Thalia only perhaps equalling or even surpassing them in number), the frequent occurrence of orange- coloured or scarlet flowers in that country is probably less an adaptation to humming-birds than to this fondness of Callidryas. The red Salvia, Canna, the orange-coloured species of Lantana, Epidendron cinnabarimim, &c., are assiduously visited by Callidryas. Lippstadt, May 13 Hermann Muller LOAN COLLECTION OF SCIENTIFIC APPARA TUS SECTION— MECHANICS PRIME MOVERS'- 'll/E now come to Newcomen, who I think may fairly be looked * * upon as the father of the steam-engine in its present form. No. 1,942 is a model of his engine, which is further illustrated byia rare engraving (of 1712), the property of Mr. Bennet Woodcroft. Here we have the steam boiler, the cylinder, the piston and rod, the beam working the pumps in the pit, the injection into the cylinder and the self-acting gear, making altogether a power- ful and an aucomatic prime mover. That conscientious writer, Belidor, to whom I have already frequently referred, says, that he hears of one of these machines having been set up in the water-woiks on the banks of the Thames at York Buildings. I may say to those who are not aware of it, that those works were situated where the Charing Cross Station now stands. On a Newcomen engine being erected in France at a colliery at Fresnes, near Conde, Belidor paid several visits to it in order that he might understand its construc- tion thoroughly, and be thereby enabled to explain it to his readers. He has done so with a minuteness and faithfulness of detail, in description and in drawings, that would enable one to repeat the engine. This engine had a 30-inch cylinder with a 6-feet stroke of the piston and of the pumps. The boiler was 9 feet in diameter and 3I feet deep in the body ; it had a dome which was covered with masonry 2 feet 6 inches thick to hold it down against the pressure of the steam. It had a safety valve (the Papin valve) which Belidor calls a " Ventouse," and says that its object was to give air to the boiler when the vapour was too strong. It had double vertical gauge cocks the function of which Belidor explains ; it made fifteen strokes in a minute ; and he says that being once started it required no attention beyond keeping up the fire, that it worked continuously for forty-eight hours, and in the forty- eight hours un watered the mine for the week, whereas previously to the erection of the engine the mine was drained by a horse-power machine, working day and night throughout the whole week and demanding the labour of filty horses and the attendance of twenty men to keep the water down. I should have said that the pumps worked by the steam- engine were 7 inches bore and were placed 24 feet apart verti- cally in the pit which was 276 feet deep, and that each pump delivered into a leaden cistern from which the pump above it drew. After having given a most accurate description of the engine, Belidor breaks out into a rhapsody and says (I will give you a free translation) " It must be acknowledged that here we have the most marvellous of all machines, and that there is none other of which the mechanism has so close a relation to that of ani- mals. Heat is the principal of its movements ; in its various tubes a circulation like that of the blood in the veins is set up ; there are valves which open and shut j it feeds itself, and it per- forms all other functions which are necessary to enable it to exist," Smeaton employed himself in perfecting and in properly pro- portioning the Newcomen engine, but it was not imtil James Watt that the next gieat step was made ; that step was as we all know the doing away with condensation in the cylinder, the effecting it in a separate vessel and the exclusion of the atmos- phere from the cylinder. These alterations made a most important improvement in the efficiency of the engine in relation to the fuel consumed ; but they were so simple that I doubt not if ex- aminers into the merits of patents had existed in those days Mr. • Address delivered by K. J. Bramwell, CE., F.R.S., one of the vice- presicents of the SectioD, May 25. Continued from p. i6i. Watt would have had his application for a patent rejected as being "frivolous." We have here from case No. 1,928, a model made by Watt which appears to be that of the separate condenser and air-pump ; we have also 8b which is a wooden model made by Watt of a single acting inverted engine, having the top side of the cylinder always open to the condenser, and a pair of valves by which the bottom side of the piston can be put into alternate connection with the boiler and with the condenser, the contents of which are withdrawn by the air-pump. 3B from the same case is a model of a direct acting inverted pumping engine, made in accordance with the diagram 8b. i b is a model of Watt's single acting beam pumping engine, while 2B is a model of Watt's double acting beam rotary engine. lOB from the same case is Watt's model of a surface condenser. To Watt we owe, con- densation in a separate vessel, exclusion of the air from ".the cylinder, making the engine double acting, employment of the steam jacket, and employment of the steam expansively, the patallel motion, the governor, and in fact all which made New- comen's sirgle acing reciprocating pumping engine into that anachine of universal utility that the steam-engine now is, and not only so, but Watt invented the steam-engine indicator which enables us to ascertain that which is taking place within the cylinder and to see whether or not the steam is being economi- cally employed. I have on the table before me a vevy excellent model of German manufacture, No. 2,137, illustrating an inverted direct acting pumping engine in its complete form, and I have also a model of French manufacture, the cylinder and other working parts of which are in glass ; this shows a form of Watt rotary beam condensing engine at one time in common use. I do not say, however, that Watt was the first to make the suggestion of attaining rotary motion from the power of steam. Leaving out of consideration Hero's toy, Papin, as I have re- marked, hoped to get rotary movement second-hand by working a water wheel with the water that had been ra sed by his steam- engine ; moreover, as early as 1737, Jonathan Hulls proposed to obtain rotary motion from a Newcomen engine and to employ that motion in turning a paddle-wheel, to propel a tug-boat which should tow ships out of harbour, or even against an ad- verse wind. I have before me one of the prints of his pamphlet and in order that you may better appreciate his iiivention I have put an enlarged diagram upon the wall, and I think I may take this as the starting-point for saying a few words about the steam- engine as a prime mover in steam vessels. We have in the collection, No. 2,150, Symington's engine tried upon the Lake at Dalswinton in 178S. Here a pair of single acting vertical cylinders give, by the up and down motion of their pistons, reciprocating movement to an overhead wheel ; this wheel gives a similar motion to an endless chain which chain is led away so as to pass round two pairs of ratchet wheels loose upon two paddle shalts. By the use of a pair of ratchets the recipro- cations of the chain are converted into rotary motion in one direction only, and that the driving direction of the two paddle wheels placed one behind the other. Symington's arrangement for obtaining the rotary motion always in one direction of his two paddle-wheels is very similar to that proposed by Jonathan Hulls for his single stem-wheel. Want of time forbids me to do more than just to allude to the names of Homblower and Wolff in connection with double cylinder engines, engines where- in the expansion of steam is commenced in one cylinder and con- tinued in another and a larger one. I wish to say a few words which will bring before you the changes that have been made within a very few years in the con- struction of the marine engines. I may observe that when I was an apprentice the ordinary working pressure of steam, except in the double cylinder engine, was only 3 lbs. above atinosphere, and that there was in a marine boiler more pressure on its bottom when the steam was down, due t j the mere head of water in the boiler, than there was pressure in the top when the steam was up, due to the force of the steam ; whereas now condensing marine engines work commonly at 70 lbs., and there is a boat under trial where the steam is, 1 believe, as high as 400 lbs. To those who are curious on the sabject, I would recommend a perusal of two blue books, one being the evidence taken before a Parliamentary Commission in 181 7, and the other before a Pariiamentary Committee in 1839 ; they will find there the weight of evidence to be that the only use of high pressure steam is to dispense with condensing water, and that as a steamboat must always have plenty of condensing water in its neighbour- hood, no engineer knowing his business, would suggest high pressure for a marine enjjine. I have before me a model of a pair of engines which, although 176 NATURE {June 22, 1876 they were made not so very long ago (for I saw them put into the ship), have nevertheless an historical interest. This model shows Maudslay's engines of the Great Western, the first steamer built for the purpose of crossing the Atlantic. I think I am right in saying that 7 lbs. steam was the pressure employed in that vessel, and in order to extract the brine from the boiler it was necessary to use pumps as the pressure of the steam was not sufficient to expel the brine and to deliver it against the pressure of the sea. Time does not permit of my touching upon the various im- provements in boilers, condensers, expansive arrangements, and other matters which have gradually been introduced into our best engines for land and for ocean purposes. I have hung upon the wall a rough diagram showing a pair of oscillating^ engines as applied to driving a paddle steamer, and another showing a pair of inverted compound cylinder engines to drive a screw propeller ; a model of such a pair of engines with surface condensers and all modern appliances (being Messrs. Rennie's engines for the P. and O. Company's S.S. Pera, by which I have had the pleasure of travelling) is now before me. I will conclude this part of the subject by saying that to the combination of science and sound practice is due the fact of the consumption of coal having been reduced from 5 lbs. per gross indicated horse-power per hour to an average of 2\ lbs. and, in exceptional instances, to as small a quantity as i4 lbs. per horse per hour. Let us now devote a little of the time that is left to the con- sideration of the locomotive on the common road as well as on the railway. I have before me No. 2,145, ^ model of the actual engine of Cugnot, in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, which, in 1769, journeyed — slowly, it is true, but did journey and did carry pas-sengers — along the roads in Paris. It is a most ingenious machine ; it has three wheels, and the motive power is applied to the front, the castor, or steering wheel, so that engine and boiler turn with the wheel precisely as, within the last few years, Mr. Perkins has caused the engine and boiler to turn with the steering-wheel of his three- wheeled common road locomotive. The steam causes the pistons in a pair of inverted single acting cylinders to reciprocate, and their rods, -by means of ratchet wheels, give rotary* motion to the castor wheel, and thus propel 'the carriage. I think there is no doubt but that we must look ii'pon 'this engine of Cuqnot as the lather of steam locomotion, as we must regard Symington's engine as the parent of marine propulsion. I have before me No. 1,926, Trevethick's engine of 1802 ; I have also before me a Blenkinsop rail, one that has been in actual use for many years, provided, as you will see, with teeth, into which a cogged riange on the side of the driving-wheel is geared to insure that tractive force should be obtained. This plan has been revived, within the last few years, to enable the steam locomotive to climb the Righi. A sketch of the Righi engine and rail is on the wall. It will be seen that the teeth instead of projecting from the sidefof the rail, are ranged between two parallel bars like the rungs of a ladder. On the ground-floor of the exhibition we have the veritable " Pufhng Billy," an engine which began work in 1813, and got along without the aid of cogs by mere adhesion upon plain rails ; it is a rude-looking machine, but it laboured up till the date of the last Exhibition, doing its work for forty-nine years on the railway belonging to the Wylams Colliery, and, as tra- dition says, interesting George Stephenson, who, as a boy, saw it in daily operation. On the ground-floor, also, we have 1,954, the "Rocket," with which seventeen years after the starting of "Puffing Billy" George Stephenson carried off the prize in the Manchester and Liverpool Railway competition. The leading particulars of this engine are as follows : — A pair of 74 inch cyhnders l' 5" stroke, placed at a slight inclination driving 4' 6" wheels, the boiler, multi-tubular, having twenty-four three and a half-inch tubes, while the fire is urged by the waste blast. Before alluding to this I ought to have mentioned that in one of the Blue Books to which I have called your attention — that which gives the evi- dence before the Commission in the year 1817 — there is a state- ment by a witness that in those parts there are machines called locomotives, &c. Once more I am compelled to say that time will not admit of my entering into any detail in respect of the modern locomotive, except to remark that by the aid of excellent boilers, of high- pressure steam (140 lbs. to the inch) of considerable, although rather imperfect expansion effected by the link motion, there is provided for the use of our railways a machine which in the " passenger " form is competent to travel with ease and safety sixty miles an hour, and in the * ' goods " form is competent to draw a load of 800 to i,cx)0 tons, and to attain these results with a very commendable economy in fuel. I have put on the wall two diagrams of locomotives of the convenient form for local traffic that we call tank engines, and I have before me No. i,957r. f inscu s icwitu. fa n™e very instructive and interesting if ^j^^^X^":; ^ratlrmlrJ tS ran"-toT:;:r ; cLany in corn- ea; They arl expected back in the course of the autumn. DF W. PETERS has lately communicated to the Royal Acad;m;;f Sciences of Berlin a description ^^ f/^'^y ^f ^^^" fpedes o^- wild sheep which is.found in Eastern Mongolia north of Pekin Dr. O. von Moellendorff, of the Imperia German LegatnatPekin. has forwarded to tl^e Zoolog.a Museu-f Berlin an adult male specimen of this animal, which Dr. Pete s proposes to call Ov.s Uata, from the long hairs which adorn Us chest. Ar the meeting of the Zoological Society on Tuesday last Mr H E. Dresser, F.Z.S.. exhibited a series of spec - last. Mr. n. 1^ . Partridge, col- w."dt%rc G^D-Sta the T.u,us Mountains, This bird which seems to be restricted to the Taurus range, ^h»eU Inhabits the higher and -« '""— J Hr'S is nearest allied to Tetraogallus caspms, but differs in Dein^ Ic^:: er, in having the upper parts -h Pa " an w^^^^ with buff, the hinder portions of the '^-^;^f Abroad pectoral the back ashy buff, almost unverunculated. a broad peciora band o ashy buff spotted with black; the flank feathers c ear birerey in the cenfre. with a chestnut stripe on each side, and an ousTde margin of black; and the lower breast, instead of being boldly marked with black, is ashy buff, finely veruncu- atolwUh blLkish grey. This makes the ^^^^J^^^^^^:;^^ Partridge now known to inhabit different parts of the P^he^^^ egion,L others being T. casp.us, iror. the ^---' J/^^^^; lavenis from the Himalayas, T. altaicus, from the Alta range irTtib^tanus, from Thibet. Mr. Dresser also exhibited and described, under the name of Umicola sMrica . new species o bVoad-billed Sand-plper from China, which differs from L platyrhyncha in having the upper parts rich rufous, as la Wn/aminuta, instead of deep blackish brown, as in the former species. THERE are now living in the Zoological Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, four specimens of the Giant Tortoises of the Gafapagos Archipelago, two having been brought home by the ChMenger, and deposited by Prof. Wyvil'e Thomson, and wo by Commander W.E. de Cookson. of H.MS. PetereL They were all obtained from Albemarle Island, and are of the species known as Testudo ekphantopus. These, together with the even larger specimens of Testudo indica, from Aldabra, form an unequalled series of living Giant Tortoises. The Very Rev. Principal Tulloch, D.D., Vice-ChanceUor of the University of St. Andrews, was entertained ^t dinner 011 Monday night at St. James's Hall, by a large and influential gaLring of the members of the St. Andrews Graduates Associa- fion. Dr. Richardson, F.R.S., Assessor of the General Counci in the University Court, presided, and was.supported by the Ear of Elgin, Mr. Lyon Playfair, M.P., Dr. Lush, MP. Sir Joseph Fayrer K.C.S.I., and a large number of members of the asso- yune 2 2, 1876] NATURE 181 ciation. The reception given to Principal Tulloch was enthu- siastic. The Principal spoke of the past and present of the University with which he is connected. Sir Joseph Fayrer replied for the toast of the University of Edinburgh, and Mr. Danby Se)rmour eloquently proposed the health of the chair- man. It is gratifying to find that this Scottish University is represented by so many eminent men of science in London ; we vrould wish to see the example followed by other Uni- versities. Under the title of "Endowment of Research in America," the Academy, at President Oilman's request, gives publicity to the following circular : — "The trustees of the Johns Hopkins University hereby offer to young men from any place ten fellow- ships, or graduate scholarships to be bestowed for excellence in any of the following subjects : — Philology, literature, history, ethics, and metaphysics, political science, mathematics, engi- neering, physics, chemistry, natural history. The object of this foundation is to give scholars of promise the opportunity to prosecute further studies, under favourable circumstances, and likewise to open a career for those who propose to follow the pursuit of literr.ture or science. The University expects to be benefited by their presence and influence, and by their occasional services ; from among the number it hopes to secure some of its permanent teachers. — Conditions :— i. The applications must be made in writing prior to June I, 1876. The decision of the trustees, will, if possible, be made before July i. 2. The candi- dates must give evidence of a liberal education (such as the diploma of a college of good repute) ; of decided proclivity towards a spcc'al line of study (such as an example of some scientific or literary work already performed) ; and of upright character (such as a testimonial from some instructor). 3. The value of each fellowship will be $500, payable in three sums, viz. : $100, Oct. I ; 8200, Jan. i ; $200, June i. In case of resig- nation, promotion, or other withdrawal from the fellowship, payments will be made for the time during which the office may have been actually held. 4. Every holder of a fellowship will be expected to render some services to the institu'ion as an exa- miner, to give all his influence for the promotion of scholarship and good order — and in general to co-operate in upholding the efficiency of the University, as circumstances may suggest. 5. He will be expected to devote his time to the prosecution of special study (not pro''essional), with the approval of the pre- sident, and before the close of the year, to give evidence of progress by the preparation of a thesis, the completion of a research, the delivery of a lecture, or by some other method. 6. He rnay give instruction, with the approval of the pre- sident, by lectures or otherwise, to persons connected with the University, but he may not engage in teaching elsewhere. 7. He may be re-appointed at the end of the year. 8. These regula- tions are prescribed for the first year only." For further informa- tion inquiries may be addressed to D. C. Oilman, president of the Johns Hopkins University. Iron, on the authority of the Icelandic paper Nordlingr, states that two enterprising Icelanders, named Jow Thorkellsson and Sigindur Kraksson, have explored the volcanic region of the Dygyur Jelden. They started on their hazardous expedition from the Bardadal on Feb. 7, and in the course of their two days' exploration they succeeded, under great difficulties and dangers, in descending into the crater of the volcano Asya, where, at about 3,000 feet below the upper margin, they reached the bottom, and found themselves on the brink of a lake of seething hot water, which was apparently of great depth. Near the southern extremity of this lake the ground was broken up by fissures and pools, which prevented further progress in that direction, while the entire space resounded with the noise of loud subterranean thunder. North of the great crater the ex- plorers found an opening about 600 feet wide, which appeared to be of about equal depth, from which issued dense masses of sulphurous smoke, accompanied by loud and deafening sounds. The Royal Society gave on Wednesday last week a conver- sazione, to which, for the first time, ladies were invited. The experiment was eminently successful. The members of the Birmingham Natural History and Micro- scopical Society propose to visit on Saturday next the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus, the South Kensington autho- rities having promised to afford them every facility. On the same day, under the guidance of Mr. W. R. Hughes, the members of the Society will visit the Crystal Palace Aquarium. W. B. Lowe has been elected to a Foundation Scholarship at St. John's College, Cambridge, for proficiency in Natural Science. Houghton, Marr, and Slater to Exhibitions. An examination will be held at Exeter College, Oxford, in October next, for the purpose of filling up a Natural Science Scholarship tenable for four years during residence, and of the annual value of 80/. There is no limit of age for this Scholar- ship. The examination will be in biology, chemistry, and physics. The Society of Oeography of Paris, appointed some time since, a special committee on Commercial Oeography. We learn from the Explorateur that this Committee is starting a new and independent Geographical Society. We have also received a prospectus announcing the foimation of a Paris Society of Zoology. The Academy of Zurich has granted a doctorship in Medicine for the first time to a young lady. Miss Francisca Tiburtias, aged 23. M. W. De Fonvielle has had a spectroscope constructed with a graduated screen permitting the quantity of light admitted to be diminished in a known ratio. The moving force being regulated at will, the radiometer can be put in a state of rotation under the rays of the most fcorching sun and record taken of the motion very easily. With such an apparatus it was shown by comparison with a standard oil-lamp burning forty-two grammes an hour, that on June 9, at 4 o'clock precisely, the radiating force of the sun was equal to fourteen lamps at a dis- tance of twenty-five centimetres from the axis of the radiometer. The apparatus is tried daily at La Villette gas-works, and results of the comparisons will be tabulated and discussed. Prof. O. C. Marsh has discovered a new sub-order of Pterosauria from the Upper Cretaceous of Western Kansas, North America, differing from the typical Pterodactyles in that no teeth were present in either jaw. The name given to the genus, Pteranodon, signifies this. The species was of large size, the skull ot Pteranadon longiceps being thirty inches from the occipital crest to the end of the pre-maxilla. It must be remem- bered that the absence of teeth in a Pterodactyle need not lead to the inference that it is any way more nearly related to birds than the tooth-possessing species, because the character may have been acquired quite independently. The April number of the Bulletin of the French Geographical Society contains a memoir of the late Jules Duval, by M. E. Levasseur, an Account of a Journey in Herzegovina, by M. E. De Sainte-Marie, and Notices of the Basques, by Major V. Derrecagaix. Reinwald and Co., of Paris, have just added to their "Bibliotheque des Sciences Contemporaines " a work on Anthro- pology, .by Dr. Paul Topinard, with a Preface by Prof. Paul Broca, Williams and Norgate are the Englbh publishers. l82 NATURE \yune 2 2, 1876 In the Monthly Notices of the Royal Society of Tasmania for 1874 occur some interesting abstracts of papers read before the Society, including notices of the Angora goat, some species of Tasmanian birds, introduction of the salmon into Tasmanian waters, the Silurian fossils of Tasmania, the Tertiary basin of Launceston, and a list of the plants of Tasmania, prepared in 1875 by Baron Fred, von Mueller. To the notices are appended the meteorological observations made during the year by Mr. F. Abbott at Hobart Town, and by Mr. W. E. Shoobridge at New Norfolk. From the monthly nofs we observe that meteorological observations are also made at Port Arthur, Mount Nelson, King's Island, and other places, and sent to the Society, but the results are not published, nor so far as we are aware have they been published since 1866. We hope the Society may soon be in a position not only to publish these results, but also results from a sufficient number of stations, so as to represent adequately the meteorology of the island. The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Cariama {Cariama cristata) frona South- east Brazil, presented by Capt. W. C. Chapman, H.M.S. Zy/r/c? ; two Black -eared Marmosets {Hepalc penicillata) from Brazil, pre- sented by Mr. G. Newton ; a Rose-ringed Parakeet ( Pahcornis docilii) from West Africa, presented by Mrs. Haywood ; a Hya- cinlhine Maccaw {Ara hyacinlhina) from Brazil, presented by Mr. II. Wilson ; a Moor Monkey {Seninopitheais inatiriis) from Java, a Bay Antelope {CephaUphus dor salts) from West Africa, purchased ; two Vulturine Guinea Fowl (Nu/iiuia viilturina) from East Africa, a Puma {Fdis concolor) from Central America, deposited. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS PoqgenJorff's Annalen der Physik und C/innu; No. 3. — Ac- cording to the kinetic theory of gases, supposing the j;aie jus molecule to consist of only one atom, the 1 elation of ihe two specific heats (as Clausius has shown), would be i"666. The lower number obtained by experiment for several gases may probably be explained by the complex constitution of their molecules. It seemed c^esirable to MM. Kundt and Warburg tj determine cxperiraei)tally the .specific heat of mercury vapour, which has been considered by chemists to cons'st of monatomic molecules. Their method was to produce a sound in two glass tubes placed end to end, and containing, the one mercury vapour, the other air. Plaving introduced powder into the lubes, they obstrved the distances between the nodes of vibration. Apply- ing a formula of acoustics which comprehends, among other things, the densities, the temperatures, and the relation of the specific heats, and taking, as value of this relation in the case of air, the number l'405, they ol>tain, for mercury vapour, the number i"67, which maybe considered as fully in acord with the number 1666 furnished by theory. — In an intereating paper which follows, M. CoUey, of Moscow, examines a particular case of work done by the galvanic current. Suppose a current to pass through a vertical column of some salt, e.g. nitrate of silver ; both electrodes being in this case of silver. In a given time a certain c\uantity of silver is liberated and deposited. Now, if the current pass up the column, it lifts this i^ilver against the force of gravity, and so does mechanical work, which, in the opposite case (of the current passing down) is not done. It appeared, then, as theory anticipated, that the downward current in such a column (ais measured by the galvanometer), was stronger than the upward, and the difference was not greater than theory indicated. But both with a battery current and with that from a Clarke mag- neto-electric machine, it was considerably les?. The autho', seeking an explanation, legards as untenable the general views regarding passage of currents through liquid conductors, the phenomena of passage from the .solid to the liquid conductor being generally ignored ; and he thinks the facts favour Ilelm- holtz's view, which regards the liquid, with the electrodes im- mtr.-ed in it, as a condenser of very great capacity. Weak carients which caimot pass through the liquid yet produce a polarisation of the electrodes (charge of the condenser). With strong currents the only difference is that as soon as the differ- ence of tension has reached a certain limit (maximum of the electromotive force of polarisation), all newly arriving quantities of electricity can unite through the liquid. M. Coliey shows how his results are deducible from the state of things thus supposed. — A number of experiments on electric clocks (with Tiede's pendulum) are described by Dr. Joseph Brunn. — Of the few remaining original papers we note one by M. Chwolson on the theory of interference-phenomena. — A good experiment for illustrating the explosive character of a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen gases is described by M, Rosenfeld. Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles, Jan. 15. — In the opening paper of this number M. de CandoUe inquires into the causes of unequal distribution of rare plants on the Alpine chain (See Nature, vol. xiii. p. 516).— M. Favre fol- lows with a note on the glacial and post-glacial strata of the southern slope of the Alps, in the canton of Tessin and in Lom- bardy. — M. Pictet discusses the application of the mechanical theory of heat to the study of volatile liquids, and finds some simple relations between the latent heat?, atomic weights, and tension of vapours. — A series of meteorological observations from the coast of Labrador, by Moravian missionaries, is com* municated by M. Gautier (See Natuke, vol. xiii., p. 60). SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Royal Society, May 18. — "On the Organisation of the Fossil Plants of the Coal-measures. — Part VIII. Ferns con- tinued, and Gymnospermous Stems and Seeds." By Prof. W. C. Williamson, F.R.S., Professor of Natural History, Owens College, Manchester. The author described the stem of a new ftrn, in which the principal vascular axis formed a cylinder enclosing a medulla, as in some Lepidodendra. This vascular cylinder gives off secondary bundle.-, to petioles, and rootlet?, and each vessel is filled. with tylose. Two kinds of Fern-sporangia were described — one Polypodiaceous, with a straight, vertical annulus; the other, with the annulus horizontal and subterminal, exhibits a type seen in the recent Schizeaceoe and Gleicheoiaceas. But the cluef subjects of the memoir are the stems and seeds of Gymnosperms. Of the former various modifications of the Stcrnbergian Dadoxylons are de>cribed, and shown to correspond very nearly to many iccent conifers, thourh with distinctive features of their own, especially in the structure of their woody fibres, and in the leaf- bundles of some species biing given off in pairs. The author still excludes the Sigillarice fro;n the Gymnospermous group. The most important novelties are the (xymnospermous seeds, exhibiting their internal organisation, found in France by M. Grand- Eury, and by the author in this country. Of these he describes a number of new genera and species in addition to the Trigonocarpons previously described by Mr. Binney and Dr. Hooker. Th'i most remarkable of these is one designated Lagin.'stoim oroides, in which a large flask -shaped cavity, inclosed within a crenulateJ canopy, occupies the apical end o the s,ed, between the apex of the endosperm and the exostome. Brongniart believed, with reason, that such cavities have origi- nated in the absorption of the apex of the nucleus, leaving the corresponding part of the nucular membrane to form the cavity or "lagenosiome." In this lagcnostome large pollen-grains are found in many cases. Brongniart designates it the " Cavite polli- nique." Examples of several other seeds presenting generic and sptcific modifications of the same type, as well as several species of the well-known genus Cardiocarpum and of Trigonocarpum. In all these the primary nucleus seems to have been absorbed, being now only represented by the investing nucular membrane. Within this is an inntr structureless bag, which, in some of the Cardiocarpa, is filled with parenchyma, and which appears to represent the secondary perispermic membrane, or what is really the endospermic membrane, or primary embryosac of the Gym- nosperms. The intimate structure of Trigonocarpum agrees with Dr. Hooker's description of it so far as the longitudinal sections are concerned, save that here, also, a " cavite pullinique " exists. Transverse sections show that the well-known sandstone casts of Trigonocarpum do not; represent the external form of these fruits, but are casts of the interior of the hard endotesla. This latter was not trigonous externally, like the common speci- mens, but had twelve longitudinal ridges, three of which, corre- sponding with those of the sandstone casts, were more prominent than the rest. The endutesta was invested by a delicate paren- chymatous sarcotesta. All these seeds appear to have Cycadean yune 2i, 1^76] NATUM 1S3 rather than Coniferous affinities. One winged seed alone (Polyp- terospermum), from the uppermost coal-measures at Ardwick, resembles a true conifer. In conclusion, the author calls atten- tion to the number of yet unknown stems and leaves of Phanerogams, which must have belonged to the numerous seeds now known to exist in the coal-measures of England, France, and North America. Mathematical Society, June 8.— Prof. H. J. Smith, F.R.S., president, in the chair.— Mr. A. B. Kempe spoke on a general method of describing'plane curves of the «th degree by link-work. He first described what he calls the revtrrsor and the m7tlti- flicaior. (These were first described by him in the " Messenger of Mathematics," vol. iv. pp. 122-3, i" ^ paper " On some New Linkages.") He then explained the additor and the translator. Let <^{x, jj/) = # be the equation to any plane curve of the Mth degree, and let P be any point on the curve ; construct the link- work parallelogram O A PB in which OA=BP = a, OB = AP = b, and let the angle A o X = 0, and the angle B 0 X — <(>, then — X = a cos 0 + ^ cos (p y = a cos (o - ~\ + d cos ( — -\ Substitute these values of .r and y in 4>{x,}'), expand and convert powers of cosines into cosines of multiple angles, and ?hen the products of cosines into the cosines of the sums and differences of angles, we shall then get — (x,}') = -Z[A ccs{rip ^ SO :k a)]+ C, where r, s are positive integers, and a = — or o and A and C 2 are constants. The author then proceeded to show how the constructions could be effected by his link-work, and he pointed out that his method would not be practically useful on account of the complexity of the link-work employed, a necessary conse- quence of the perfect generality of the demonstration. The method has, however, an interest as showing that there is a way of drawing any given case ; and the variety of methods of expressing particular functions that have already been discovered renders it in the highest degree probable that in every case a simple method can be found. There is stil', therefore, a wide field open to the artist to discover the simplest link-woiks that will describe particular curves. Mr. Kempe further poin'ed out that the extension of the demonstration to curves of doable curvature and surfaces clearly involves no difficulty. — Mr. S Roberts then gave an account of a further note on the motion of a plane under certain conditions. (The former paper was read June 8, 1871). — Mr. J. J. Walker communicated a method of reducing the equation of a nodal plane cubic curve to its canonical form, in which the lines of reference are the nodal tangents and axis of inflexion. — Prof. Cayley described a surface connected with the sinusoid. Its edge of regression was given by the equations x = r cos , and 2= r cos a . 186. this " spectrum," as he calls it, was near the edge ; as he moved his eye round, or up and down, the image moved the same way, generally disappearing in the neighbour- hood of the planet. A set of experiments instituted in consequence satisfied him that this image was formed by rays reflected first from the convexity of the " pupil " (cornea), and a second time from the concave face of the meniscus lens which in this case formed the eye-glass, though it would be shown by any eye-piece possessing a surface concave towards the retina. Cases were even possible, but difficult in management, when an image might be seen, though the object was not in the field ; but this was formed by rays passing outside the telescope, and the ghost would be inverted and of much smaller dimensions. The magnitude of the image would depend on the proportion of curvature of the reflecting surfaces. This being once understood, the Abbot found that he could always produce, for himself or others, a spurious satellite of Venus, or Mars, or Jupiter, under the followmg essential conditions : — That the power should not be less than 50 or 80, or the image would be too minute to be visible, or would only resemble a small star ; — that the eye must be placed at a definite distance from the eye- glass, and be moved most deliberately and cautiously backwards and forwards to find that point, the limit of visibility being sometimes only a quarter of a line either way ; — and that the eye must be a little on one side of the optical axis, or the image will coincide with its primary. And it becomes readily intelligible why an observer, ignorant of these conditions, may never be able to recover an image which he had once accidentally seen. Thus far, in substance, the astronomer of Vienna, who certainly deserves credit for his ingenious and careful investigation. His reasoning is, nevertheless, a curious and instructive exemplification of the way in which a pre- conceived opinion may block up the mental view, and prevent a sound argument from being carried out to its legitimate consequences. We are now in a position to examine how far this criterion is applicable to the recorded phenomena. Of these. Dr. Schorr has enumerated sixteen, in a table taken apparently from Lambert, but with the additioa of an observation by Andfeas Meier (Mayer). Hell had given three from Fontana, but Lambert seems to have thought one only of any consequence, and even this may well be omitted, leaving the following for our considera- tion. The name of Cassini at the head of them at once com- mands attention, but there is nothing in his two obser- vations in 1672 and 1686 that does not lend itself to Father Hell's hypothesis, excepting the care and expe- rience of such an observer, who must have been familiar with every telescopic defect. The observation of Meier, which seems to have lain unnoticed in the Astron. Jahr- buck, 1788, till brought forward by Schorr, is on that account worthy of being cited in full " 1759, May 20, about 8h. 45m. 50s., I saw above Venus a little globe ot far inferior brightness, about i^ diam. of Venus from her- self. Future observations will show whether this little globe was an optical appearance or the satellite of Venus. The observation was made with a Gregorian telescope of thirty inches focus. It continued for half an hour, and the position of the little globe with regard to Venus re- mained the same, although the direction of the telescope had been changed." During so lengthened an obser- vation it seems natural to suppose that the eye must have been repeatedly removed and replaced, which could not have occurred without the detection of an optical illusion. In 1761, when the expected transit drew attention to Venus, Montaigne, at Limoges, was persuaded to under- take the inquiry, though he had little faith in the existence of the satellite, and was not greatly disposed to enter upon an examination in which so many great men had failed. However, on May 3 he saw a small cresce.it 194- NATURE \yu7ie 29, 1876 20' from Venus ; it is expressly stated that the obser- vation was repeated several times, and that after all he was not certain if it was not a small star ; which, with a power of between forty and fifty, was not surprising. The next evening and on the 7th and nth it was again seen, rather more distant, and each time in an altered position, but with the same phase as its primary ; and on the 7th it was seen, and even much more distinctly, when Venus was not in the field. The improbability is obvious of such persistency in an illusion so readily detected. The cause may indeed have lain in the object-glass ; such telescopes have been known. Wargentin, at Stock- holm in the same year, found that his instrument pro- duced a deception from this cause ; and the 6- inch Cauchoix achromatic at Rome showed minute comites to bright stars a little too frequently for the credit of those who trusted it. Montaigne's changed position-angles may be thought to indicate this cause of error, as his 9-ft. refractor probably admitted of rotation in its bearings, but it is a singular coincidence that these changes should all have been m the direction of orbital revolution, and still more, in such proportions as to be reconcilable with Lambert's calculated period of about eleven days ; and it is quite unintelligible that he should not have subsequently detected the fault in his telescope, as from his estimation of angles and distances he was evidently not a novice in observation. Three years later, in 1764, Rodkier, in Co- penhagen, saw such an appearance on two evenings with a power ot thirty-eight on a 9^ ft. refractor ; on the latter occasion with a second telescope also. There is little in this to contravene the Vienna theory, especially as this second telescope had a coloured meniscus eye-glass, and he failed in finding it with two other instruments : but it is more remarkable that on two evenings a week later the same telescope told the same tale to four different observers, one of whom was Horrebow, the Professor of Astronomy, and who, we are assured, satisfied themselves by several experiments before the second observation that it was not a deception. That the necessary conditions for its being such could have been maintained before so many eyes, is, notwithstanding its admitted pale and uncertain aspect, what could not possibly have been anti- cipated. But we have not yet done with this temporary outbreak, so to speak, of visibihty. Before this month of March was ended, Montbarron at Auxerre, far removed from all possibility of communication, and with a very different kmd of telescope, a Gregorian reflector of thirty- two inches, which of course was fixed as to its optical axis, perceived on three separate evenings, at different position-angles, something which, though it had no distin- guishable phasis, was evidently not a star, and which he never could find again. There remains still the observation of the celebrated optician Short. It is indeed chronologically misplaced here, but has been intentionally deferred as affording the strongest point in the whole affirmative evidence. As his own account is an interesting one, and has seldom, if ever, been reprinted, our readers may not be displeased to see it here as it stands in Phil. Trans, vol. xli. : — " An Observation on the Planet Venus (with regard to her having a satellite), made by Mr. James Short, F.R.S., at sunrise, October 23, 1740. — Directing a reflecting tele- scope ot i6'5 inches focus (with an apparatus to follow the diurnal motion) towards Venus, I perceived a small star pretty nigh her ; upon which I took another telescope of the same focal distance, which magnified about fifty or sixty times, and which was fitted with a micrometer in order to measure its distance from Venus, and found its distance to be about 10° 2' o" {sic). Finding Venus very distinct, and consequently the air very clear, I put on a magnifying power of 240 times, and to my great surprise found this star put on the same phasis with Venus. I tried another magnifying power of 140 times, and even then found the star under the same phasis. Its diameter seemed about a third, or somewhat less, of the diameter of Venus ; its light was not so bright or vivid, but exceed- ing sharp and well defined. A line, passing through the centre of Venus and it, made an angle with the equator of about eighteen or twenty degrees. I saw it for the space of an hour several times that morning ; but the light of the sun increasing, I lost it altogether about a quarter of an hour after eight. I have looked for it every clear morning since, but never had the good fortune to see it again. Cassini, in his Astronomy, mentions much such another observation. I likewise observed two darkish spots upon the body of Venus, for the air was exceeding clear and serene." It has been justly asked by Schorr whether this observer, who was the greatest optician of his time> must not have known his telescopes better than to mistake the reflection of Venus on the eyeglass for a satellite ? And Lambert puts the case very strongly, remarking that Short had the object before him for a whole hour with greatly varied powers, and it is not probable that he kept his eye immovable all the time, and after every change in the telescope replaced it at the precise point where the apparent position and distance from Venus would con- tinue unaltered, especially as he used so high a power, with which the slightest change would have been remarked, and a micrometer, the employment of which would have necessarily implied movement in the eye. Lambert might have further strengthened his argument had he had an opportunity of consulting the original record, which shows that another telescope was employed, making in all four eye-pieces, and that Short viewed it not con- tinuously, but at intervals during an hour, increasing every time the chance of detection ; nor should the im- portant consideration be overlooked that, with the higher powers, the apparent motion of the planet through the field would be rapid enough to give the illusion a move- ment in the reverse direction, which would unmask it at once. An examination of one of Short's reflectors might be necessary to decide whether with his power of 240 (he was said to have considerably over-rated his magnifiers) the field would have included the attendant with the primary. The evidence against Father Hell's explanation had even previously become very formidable. The conditions under which his "ghost" is visible are so restrained, the limits so narrow, that there is considerable presumption in any individual case against such an illusion having been formed, or at least against its having passed unchal- lenged, when a trifling change in the supposed obliquity of indirect vision would at once shift the position of the false image with respect to its origin, and an equally minute alteration in the distance of the eye would deface or obliterate it. But if this is so in each separate instance, the enumeration of so many, with instruments and observers so varied, increases the improbabihty afresh at every remove, and the careful observation of a man like Short is peculiarly conclusive against the possibility of deception, at least from the assigned cause. Thus far the advocates of a satellite have it their own way ; and to what has been said they would add some curious facts as corroborative evidence. The object, when its size has been remarked, has always been recorded of the same magnitude, one-fourth, or less than one-third, of its primary. It showed itself seven times in one month (March 1764), at a period when telescopes were no longer in their infancy, and in two places at a great distance from each other. And its position-angles, which chance would have placed anywhere, agree sufficiently well with orbital revolution to admit of the calculation of a period, which Lambert has given at i id. 5h., to which, however, Schorr prefers his own of I2'i7d. Many astronomical details are probably accepted among us for which there are no stronger grounds of belief. But it is one thing to invalidate an opponent's conclu- yune 29, 1876] NATURE 195 sion — another, to establish one's own. As we have already remarked, the abandonment of Hell's solution is not the demonstration of a satellite ; and we have yet to hear the opposite side. Some adverse points we have noted as we have passed along ; and we might have added the fact that at the epoch of Rodkier's second observation Uranus and Venus were not far apart ; per- haps " within blundering distance." But of course the main strength of the denial lies in the fact that, though the alleged appearance can require but little optical advantages, it has been so frequently sought in vain through a long series of years. During that very spring of 1764, when the primary occupied an especially favour- able position, it was very carefully looked for by many observers — among others, the acute and experienced Messier, but nowhere seen except at Copenhagen and Auxerre. Cassini and Short, with interest awakened by their own apparent success, could never with all their diligence recover it ; and the latter, twenty-three years after his own striking observation, was thought by Lalande, then in London, to disbelieve the satellite's existence. Not to mention Bianchini and others, the elder Herschel never saw a trace of it ; nor Schroter, the close observer of Venus during fifteen years ; nor Harding, nor Struve, nor Lament, Smyth, De Vico, Secchi, or any other of the first ob- servers armed with the first telescopes of modern times. And though the subject has now ceased to attract atten- tion, yet, in the unprecedented multiplication of observers and instruments, it would hardly have had a chance of escape. On the whole, therefore, though the evidence may exclude the intrusion of an ordinary "ghost," it seems irresistible against the reality of a satellite. What, then, was that which was seen ? for that some- thing really has been seen, the character of some at least of the witnesses renders a certainty. A reflection in the telescope independent of the position of the eye would have been always visible as a permanent defect ; and the fact of its never recurring is equally adverse to the idea of a satellite, and that of an instrumental deception. The only alternative which remains would seem to be that of atmospheric reflection, or "mirage." There would certainly be some difficulty in finding a parallel among recorded facts, though Brewster, if I recollect aright, speaks of having once seen two images of the crescent moon ; but the known instances of atmospheric illusion are so ne of them so very strange and inexplicable, and yet so abun- dantly attested, that we may possibly, though with little confidence, seek in this direction a solution of the ancient mystery. Before concluding these remarks, I may be permitted to relate something which fell under my own notice many years ago, and which may perhaps have some connection with the present subject. The observation which I am about to describe took place in the year ] 823 ; it was not reduced to writing till nine years afterwards, but the recollection of it was then very vivid and fully to be trusted ; and a small diagram of the relative position of the objects made at the time in the margin of a pocket- book of that year fixes the date to May 22. Until that evening I had never seen the planet Mercury, but finding that he was then in a favourable position I looked out for him with a little common hand-telescope (my near sighted- ness and the want of an eye-glass preventing me from detecting him otherwise), and soon found him low in the sunset horizon. The telescope in question had a good achromatic object-glass ol v^ inch aperture and i4iQches focus, and was fitted with a terrestrial eye-piece, magnify- ing perhaps thirteen or fourteen times \ it was a favourite instrument in those early days, and I had succeeded in detecting with it several ot the brighter nebulae and clusters, especially, at the extreme limit of visibility, the large nebula in Triangulum (M. 33). When I had looked at Mercury, I turned to Venus, then high in the S.W., and saw a star, exactly resembling Mercury, or a minia- ture Venus, p or s p the planet, at fa short distance, perhaps 20' or 30', and \ or ^ oi its diameter, or rather its impression on the eye, as of course with so low a power the disc of the planet could not be well made out. I had, when 1 wrote, a very distinct recollection of its great resemblance to Mercury, My mother, who had an excellent sight, coming into the garden, I showed her Mercury and this appearance with the glass, and she not only saw it readily, but we both believed afterwards that she perceived it without that aid. On the next evening, or more probably on the next but one, I could not find it again. As far as I can ascertain, I had in those early days no knowledge of the suspicion that had been enter- tained of a satellite : and I did not enter it, as in that case I should have done, in a little note-book of remarks able phenomena that I kept. Through the kindness of Mr. Lynn I have been enabled to ascertain that the star ( Geminorum was not far from the planet on that day, only about 30j' further S., which would agree very fairly in that direction, but lying 6^ m. more to the E. Inde- pendently of this discrepancy — a serious one, for I have no doubt of the/ or sp position of the satellite, not onfy clearly remembered but shown in the little diagram — it does not seem probable that a star of 3-4. mag. should have been so conspicuous in such an instrument in the twilight. I have no note of the hour, but as Mercury had not sunk into the smoke of the town (Gloucester) in the W. horizon, it must have been comparatively early, and at that time of year the twilight is strong. It may be too hazardous under all the circumstances to include this with the other observations of the pseudo-satellite, but there seems no reason why it should pass into entire oblivion. T. W. We&b THE MISSING LINK BETWEEN THE VER- TEBRATES AND INVERTEBRATES^ THE views which Dr. Dohrn has recently put forth as to the details of the steps by which the verte- brate stock arose out of an ancestry not very much unlike the existing Annelids, are of such interest that, notwith- standing previous reference to the subject, no apology is needed for presenting the readers of Nature v/ith a con- densation of the main argument contained in " The Origin of Vertebrata." Dr. Dohrn first draws attention to the correspondences between vertebrate and insect embryos, which have been too little regarded in consequence of our designating the nervous side in the one as dorsal, in the other as ventral. Yet the facts that, in both, the nervous system is developed on the convex side of the embryo and acquires a strong convex flexure anteriorly, and that the body-cavity is finally closed up on the side of the body opposite to the nervous system, point to a common origin at a compara- tively high level. The surface of the animal which is called ventral is determined by the presence of the mouth on that surface ; and if any Vertebrates had a mouth- opening between the brain and the spinal cord on the dorsal surface, that dorsal surface would necessarily become ventral. Since, moreover, the ancestirs of the Vertebrata must have had a nervous ring surrounding their gullet, it would appear more reasonable to suppose that the mouth-opening had been changed in the course of development than that the situation of the nervous centres had been altered. We are thus led to look for traces of an old mouth-opening on that surface of the early Vertebrates which corresponded to our dorsal sur- face, and to seek reasons for regarding our present mouth as a comparatively modern development. Dr. Dohrn believes that the old mouth passed through the nervous centres between the crura cerebelli, or more • Der Uf'prung der Wirbelthlere und das Princip des Fiinctionwechscls : Genealogische Skutzen von Anton Dohrn. (Leipzig : Eiigcluiann). 196 NATURE \yune 29, 1876 accurately, in the fossa rhomboidea, or fourth ventricle, which is remarkable for being of greater proportionate size early in development, and afterwards undergoing retrogression. At an early stage we only need to con- ceive a slit to be made in the nerve tube at the bottom of the fossa rhomboidea, in order to furnish a suitable pas- sage into the alimentary canal. His first reason for regarding the vertebrate mouth as a modern structure is that it arises so extraordinarily late in development. The embryonic body is almost completely framed, all the great systems are established, the circulation is in active opera- tion, while as yet there is no mouth. Again, the mouth does not arise in the position in which it permanently remains in the great majority. It undergoes considerable shifting forwards. Only in the Selachians and Ganoids does it retain its primitive situation. Moreover, the study of development is steadily tending to establish the idea that the mouth of Vertebrates is homodynamous with the gill-clefts. It is limited, like them, by a pair of arches, lies just in front of the first pair of gill-clefts, arises simul- taneously with them in the embryo, and opens into the alimentary canal. A glance at the ventral surface of a Ray shows the likeness of the mouth to a pair of coalesced gill-clefts. Consequently, it becomes probable that the present mouth-opening once existed and functioned as a gill-cleft ; that at a certain period in the ascending deve- lopment, both the old and the new mouths supplied nourishment, that the latter gained the predominance, and that finally the old mouth became aborted. The next problem attacked is the origin of the gill- clefts. A very elaborate account is given of the supposed process by which the external gills and segmental organs of Annelids were metamorphosed into the gills and gill- clefts of Vertebrates and the skeletal elements connected with them. The great difficulty which Dr. Dohrn con- fesses in this matter is the connection of the inner extre- mities of the segmental organs with the wall of the alimentary canal. But if this be granted it is compara- tively easy to understand how the shortening and widening of the segmental organs might give rise to gill-cavities such as those of the Selachians. The process by which Dr. Dohrn conceives that the limbs of Vertebrata might have been developed from two pairs of gills in Annelids is a great evidence of ingenuity, though it is to be ex- pected that it will be viewed rather incredulously. It follows from the view of the origin of Vertebrates thus expounded that Amphioxus loses much of its interest, for there is no place for Amphioxus among Annelids, nor among the primordial Vertebrates ; it lacks almost all that they possess. Yet nothing can be gained by excluding Amphioxus from the Vertebrates ; for it is so connected with the Cyclostome fishes that it cannot be placed at any great distance from them ; while on the other hand it is so related to Ascidians, that the latter must be included among the Vertebrata. Dr. Dohrn then proceeds with along argument to show that the Cyclostome fishes are degenerate from a higher type of fishes, and that Amphioxus is a result of still further degeneration. He shows how their mode of life necessitates many of the modifications they have under- gone ; and that the diversities of the details of structure in Cyclostomes are inconsistent with their being viewed as representing stages in upward development. Finally, the larva of Ascidians is represented as a degenerate fish — a degenerate Cyclostome possibly — which carries to the extreme Otll the departures of the latter from the fish-type. The most important element in this degeneration results from the fact that Ascidians, instead of being attached to fishes or to any objects from which they can derive nutri- ment, are fixed to stones, plants, &q., or to such parts of animals (cephalothorajc of crabs, tubes of tubicolous annelids) as do not afford them nourishment. Conse- quently they have lost the old mouth in the organ of attachn^ent, homologous with that of all Vertebrates, and have developed a new one, homologous with the nasal passage of Myxine. Thus we can explain the astonishing fact that the mouth-opening of the Ascidian-larva has a communication with the fore-wall of the so-called cere- bral vesicle. It is the last vestige of the openings in the nasal sacs by which the olfactory nerves entered. The most patent objection to Dr. Dohrn's view about Amphioxus is that it fails to account for the development of a many-segmented respiratory apparatus as a de- generation from a higher animal with a small number of gill-arches. It would appear far more reasonable to suppose Amphioxus to be a degeneration from a much lower elevation than the Cyclostome type, viz., from some stage where the respiratory apparatus retained the multi- serial character derived from its Annelid forefathers. The keynote of the author's reasonings is to be found in the principle of Transformation of Function {Functiotis- wechsel), on which he lays great stress. He states it as follows : — The transfoamation of an organ happens through a succession of functions being discharged by one and the same organ. Each function is a resultant of several components, of which one constitutes the chief or primary function, while the others are lower or secondary functions. Diminution of the importance of the chief function with increase of the importance of a secon- dary function, alters the entire resultant function ; the secondary gradually rises to be the chief function, the resultant function becomes different, and the consequence of the whole process is the transformation of the organ. This principle is considered to be a complete answer to the difficulty so strongly insisted on by Mr. Mivart, the incompetency of natural selection to account for the in- cipient stages of subsequently useful structures. Dr. Dohrn's statement of his principle does not strike us as very different from Mr. Darwin's (" Origin of Species," 5th edition, p. 251), though a little more definitely stated. Mr. Darwin says : " The same organ having performed simultaneously very different functions, and then having been in part or in whole specialised for one function ; and two distinct organs having performed at the same time the same function, the one having been perfected whilst aided by the other, must often have largely facilitated transitions." The illustrations given by Dr. Dohrn of the steps by which the anterior extremities of Crustacea became applied to mastication, how the mouth of Verte- brates originated from a pair of gill-clefts, how the respi- ratory apparatus of Tunicates originated from that of Vertebrates, &c., are, however, exceedingly interesting. An English translation of Dr. Dohrn's pamphlet could not fail to be serviceable to the large number of students who take an interest in the genealogical problems of morphology. G. T. Bettany MAGNETIC OBSERVATIONS IN CHINA ' 'T^HE first annuul report of the magnetic observations at this new observatory has just reached Eufope, and it contains results of considerable interest to those engaged in the study of terrestrial magnetism. The position of Zi-ka-wei is 31° i'2' 30" N., and 8h. 5m. 45s. E. of Greenwich, being rather less than four miles to the S. W. 0/ Shang-Hai. The observatory is in possession of an excellent set of instruments for determining the absolute values of the magnetic elements, procured by the kind assistance of the Director of Kew Observatory, and a set of self-recording magnetographs by Adie, verified at Kew, have just been erected in a suitable building. The observer, the Rev. M. Dechevrens, S.J., spent a consider- able time at Stonyhurst Observatory previous to his departure for China, in order to make hicnself thoroughly acquainted with the methods of observation, and with the use of the instruments. The observations in the report extend from April 1874 to March 1875, and furnish the following data for the epoch Oct. 1, 1874:- ■ ■ " Observatoire Met^orologique et Magndcique de Zi-ka-wei." Chine, Magn^sffle Terrestre, 1874-5. yune 29, 1876] NATURE 197 Declination . . . Dip Total Force . . . 1° S4'72 W. 46° 15' 10 04850 The value of the declination is very reliable, as it depends on observations taken every half hour from 6 A. M. to 6 p. M. on four days each month in 1874, and on eight days a month in 1875. The dip results from six complete observations, and the horizontal component of the intensity was determined twice a month in 1S74, and every week in 1875. Previous dip observations at Shang-Hai, by Sir E. Home in 1843, and by Capt. Shadwell in 1858, give - 2''2 and — 3' -4 as the secular variation for 1851 and 1862, the latter differing but slightly from the present variation in England. Comparing the monthly means of the horizontal force for the winter and summer of 1874-75, we find an excess of o "00074 in favour of the winter, when the sun is nearest the earth. The extreme variation is only 000577, and both maximum and mini- mum occur in the summer months. From a limited number of night observations it appears that the range of the declination needle is much more confined, whilst the sun is below the horizon than during the day hours. The diurnal variation is regular throughout the year, but the daily changes in winter are less simple than those of summer. The following are the mean results for the separate seasons : — Mean. Min. at Max. at Spring I 50 49 ... 9 A.M. i 47 33 ... 2 p.m. i 54 3 Summer i 49 39 ... 8 „ i 45 45 ... 2 „ i 53 3 Autumn i 59 35 ... 9 „ i 58 9 ... i „ 2 I 10 Wmter i 58 51 ... 9 .. i 57 32 ••• i ..205 The timo of the principal minimum is more constant than that of the maximum, the latter being anticipated by one hour in winter. A sudden change from 1° 50' 13" on Sept. 21 to 1° 56' 51" on Sept. 26, 1874, seems to require further confirmation (which it did not receive in 1875) before it can be considered as more than accidentally connected with the passage of the sun through the autumnal equinox. The monthly mean value of the declination is greatest in November and least in June, and the absolute maximum and minimum were : — 2° 3' 49" at iih. 15m. A.M. on November 8, and 1° 41' 58" at 9 A.M. on June 29. giving a yearly range of only 21' 51", whilst the secular variation amoun'.s to + 5''85. The value on Nov. 8 was also evidently increased by some irregular disturbance. The comparison of the yearly means for the different hours with the hourly means for each season, shows that the sun's posi- tion with regard to the equator has a decided effect on the mag- netic declination, as increase and diminution in summer invariably correspond with diminution and increase in winter. In discussing the hourly velocity of the needle, it is found that the acceleration is greatest between 10 and 11 A.M., when the magnet is near its mean position, and that the A. M. max'mum velocity is an hour earlier, and the p.m. maximum an hour la'er in summer than in winter, the greatest velocity being about l"'5 p;r minute. The mean amplitude of the daily excursions of the declination magnet is 7' '88 in summer against 3' '68 in winter, June giving the maximum mean amplitude of 9' '06, and December the mini- mum of 2'-95. The value of i'*92 in February appears to be exceptional. The greatest extent of a daily oscillation in the course of the twelve months was ii'-o5 on June i, and the least i'*i3 on Feb. 20, giving a maximum yearly variation of 9' '92. The changes of the magnetic elements appear to be remarkably small throughout, and very free from irregular disturbances. The cire with which the observations are taken, and the efficient way in which they are discussed, are an earnest of the plentiful harvest we have every reason to expect from this land once so famous, but hitherto so neglected by modern science. Stonyhurst Observatory, April 13 S. J. Perry THE CHALLENGER EXPEDITION VITE have great pleasure in availing ourselves of the per- * ' mission to publish the following correspondence which has passed through our hands, and in congratulating the staff of the Challenger, on having deserved so weighty a testimonial of success. It is an additional assurance that their three years' labour has not been in vain, that so many distinguished men of science have been impelled to speak of it in such terms, as well as a guarantee to the British Government that they did a wise thing in equipping the expedition ; we hope it will be an encouragement to the latter to continue to deserve such golden opinions. To the Editor of ''Nature " Vienna, Jime 12, 1876 Sir, — After having followed the reports of the naturalists of H. M. S. Challenger with the utmost interest, we beg leave to ask you kindly to transmit this simple but sincere expression of a hearty welcome and of thankful admiration to these distin- guished gentlemen, as well as to the officers and the crew of this gallant ship, which has been called to render such prominent services to science. Yours most respectfully, Edw. Suess, M. p. Prof. University, Vienna, C. Claus, G. TSCHERMAK, F. Steindachner, Director of the Imper. Zoolog. Museum, Dr. Fr. Brauer, Custos of the Imper. Zoolog. Museum, E. v. Marenzeller, Prof. Dr. J. Hann, F. Karrer, Th. Fuchs, Custos am k.k. Hof. Min. Cab., P«lzeln, Custos am k.k. Zoolog. Cabinete. . To this the following reply has been made by Sir C. Thomson : — To the Editor of ''Nature'" 20, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh, June 23, 1876 My dear Sir, — I received your note and enclosure last evening. Will you allow me through you to express on my own part and on that of my colleagues Civilian and Naval on board the Chal- lender, our deep gratification at the kind way in which the leaders of Natural Science in Vienna have expressed their approval of our efforts to extend the limits of knowledge in Physical Geography ? We hope that the Empire, which by the most instructive voyage of the Novara immediately preceded us in a similar line of research, may be among the first to aid in filling up the rich details of the new zoological region of which we have been able hitherto to supply only an outline. I am, my dear Sir, yours very faithfully, C. Wyville Thomson, Director of the Civilian Scientific Stafif of the Challenger Expedition. ABSTRACT REPORT TO "NATURE" ON EX- PERIMENTATION ON ANIMALS FOR THE ADVANCE OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE^ III. Experimental Researches on Ancesthesia Local and General. THE revival of methods for rendering surgical ope- rations on men and animals perfectly painless, while it has been one of the greatest of the advances of modern medical art, has not been without its alloy. The present generation can scarcely appreciate what were the scenes of the operating theatre before the introduction of anaesthesia. The present generation that is not medical cannot appreciate now what is the scene at an operation when the agent employed to prevent pain proves an agent of death. One surgeon I know has been present at six of these fatal catastrophes under and from anaes- thetics. Such an experience shakes the strongest heart. Here is a human being talking cheerfully and resigning himself with full confidence to his medical friends. The operation to be performed may be the act of seconds ' Continued irom p. 152. 198 NATURE \yune 29, 1876 only, but the dread of the pain enforces on the ope- rator the necessity of administering the ana^sthetic. A few inhalations of the narcotic vapour are made, and in an instant the body, a moment or two ago animated and full of life and energy, is lifeless in the hands of the administrator of the narcotic. There is no more painful agony to a practitioner of me- dicine than a catastrophe of this character. He feels as if the whole beneficent art of anaesthesia were, after all, a mockery ; as if it were better that tens of thousands should suffer pain than that one should die under his directing hand merely to save a brief period of pain. From the first of the reintroduction of anaesthetics these unhappy fatal failures from them have occurred to darken with the shadow of death the retreat of pain from the earth. What more natural, what more humane a labour than that which is devoted to the discovery of a means by which this shadow of death may also be made to fade from the picture ? To me this labour has been a life's work. I have pursued it in two directions. {a) By endeavouring to discover anaesthetic methods which shall carry with them no danger to life. ip) By endeavouring to discover means that shall restore safety when danger is incurred from the use of the present imperfect anaesthetics. In conducting both these lines of research it has been necessary to experiment on the inferior animals. There is no other method. If the most promising new chemical agent for anaesthesia were put into my hands to-day by the scientific chemist, I could not administer the agent direct to the human subject on mere speculation. It is true I have, from long experience, been able so to under- stand the characters of anaesthetics that I can formulate them theoretically. If the chemist gives to me a sub- stance and tells me its atomic composition, its physical properties of solubility, of weight, vapour density, and boiling point, I know at once whether it is or is not an arK5thetic, and I can reject on the spot some substances from and by reason of this knowledge, all of which, by the way, has been acquired by experimental research. But if the chemist gives to me the very thing I want it is still impossible to proceed to apply it to practice on man before testing its action on animals inferior to man, for I have found that some of the very simplest and seemingly most innocuous of substances are most fatal. Qne of the pioneers of anaesthesia with whom I had the privilege to live and work, did once introduce into practice a new, effective, and, in atomic construction, very simple anaesthetic, In the course of a compara- tively few administrations of this agent to man, two deaths resulted. To the end of the useful life of this, my friend, he never ceased to regret that he had not first subjected the agent to more vigorous tests of action on animals inferior to man. Once in my researches I got under observation another ansesthetic which seemed per- fect. I should have introduced it into practice, had not the lesson I had learned above corrected the error. For on submitting the new agent to the required strain of experiment, I found it so fatal to animals that had I put it forward I should certainly have deepened the shadow of death on the picture of retreat of pain. Twice in the same manner I have prevented other men from intro- ducing anaesthetics which did not bear the full test of proof of experiment on the inferior animal. The reason- able mind will take in all these practical points, and, I think, will come to the conclusion that for no application to the necessities of man and of all other animals could the lives of inferior animals be more justly applied. To kill animals for food, to apply them to works of useful labour, is not more just. Method of Experimentation. The method of experimentation I have pursued has taken two courses : — , {a) The subjection of animals to narcotising gases or vapours for the purpose of inducing in them anaesthetic sleep, observing the action of the narcotic through all its degrees of action, and the mode in which it destroys life when it is pushed to the point of destruction of life. {b) The subjection of animals to local methods of abolishing pain, or, more correctly, of destroying pain in parts of the body locally, so that operations may be per- formed painlessly while the general consciousness re- mains, and without any danger at all to life. In carrying out the first of these inquiries, the plan pursued was as follows : — A narcotising chamberl was used, the precise capacity of which was determined. The chamber, made of glass and iron, was, when closed, air-tight, but it was furnished with openings through which it could be charged with the precise measures of the narcotic vapour or gas required. It was also so arranged that the temperature and dryness, and when necessary, pressure of the atmosphere within it could be moderated. Briefly, the chamber was so constructed that the action of every volatile narcotic substance could be tested in it under all known external conditions. The animals subjected to experiment have as a rule been of two kinds — rabbits and pigeons. Rabbits have been used because when they are allowed to sleep to death in the vapour, or when they accidentally sleep to death, they are good subjects for examination after death, and tell clearly the reason of death. Pigeons have been used for two reasons : first because they succumb more easily to anaesthetics than any other animals, easier even than man ; secondly because during sleep they give indications of dangerous or troublesome effects, such as rigidity and vomiting, quite as easily as man. If, therefore, a pigeon will go safely and easily through an anaesthetic sleep, the inference is fair that a man will do so ; and in all cases where I have found the anaesthesia so safe and satisfactory on these animals — rabbits and pigeons — as to commend the anaesthetic which produced it, I have always proceeded to try the effect on the human subject by inhaling the anaesthetic myself until it produced the insensible sleep. In experimenting on the animals, they have been gently introduced into the narcotic chamber from above, and as they have passed into insensibility, each of the stages of narcotism — usually four in number — have been carefully recorded by their phenomena. The facts have been tabu- lated in set form so as to show, per-centage of vapour diffused, time required to produce insensibiliiy, period of each stage, muscular disturbance, state of the respiration, state of the heart pulse, change of animal temperature, and condition of the pupil. In cases of recovery from the anaesthetic, the signs and period of recovery have been recorded ; in cases of death in the anaesthetic sleep, the time and mode of death whether by the heart or by the respiration, have been recorded. I should remark that these researches have not been made at any regular times. They have been suggested by the study of some chemical substance which presented some promising qualities for the object in view. I believe no new substance of this kind has for the last twenty-five years escaped my observation. On the animals themselves no pain can be said to have been inflicted. The worst that has happened to them has been that they have passed into deep sleep and have waked again just as a human being who has taken chloroform successfully for an operation, sleeps and wakes. Or else they have passed into sleep and from sleep into death, a mode of dissolution so serene, so painless, as to be an enviable imitation of natural euthanasia. In the researches on local means of relieving pain, the part to be anaesthetised has been simply subjected to the action of the anaesthetic. At first I used lower animals for this method of inquiry, but owing to their comparative low sensibility they proved unsatisfactory. A mode of local anaesthesia which on a dog or rabbit seems abso- June 29, 1876] NATURE 199 lutely perfect may, I found, be most imperfect on a man or woman. I once thought I had established a perfect local anaesthesia byapplyingtoanimalsnarcotic solutions locally, in combination with a gentle continuous electric current. It seemed to me that the current caused a rapid absorp- tion of the narcotic, or so acted with it on the minute blood-vessels as to produce contraction of them and destroy local insensibility. Under this plan I performed a number of operations on the lower animals without exciting the slightest evidence of pain. When I came to man the process broke down ; some insensibility was, without doubt, produced, and seventeen operations were performed by the local plan. But the more exalted sensi- bility of the higher animal was not satisfied, and I learned that what would do perfectly for a dog was quite ineffi- cient for a human being. It is a curious episode in this research and worthy of record, that one of my scientific critics, the late Dr. Waller, a man of great genius, actually showed that he could perform on dogs without any anaesthesia at all, the same operations that I performed wiih this local anses- theiia, and with similar apparent freedom from pain. The result was that I continued all my after experiments on local anaesthesia, first on my own body, and then on other human subjects who required such ansesthesia for operation. All my experiments with sprays to produce insensibility by intense cold, on Dr. James Arnott's most original design were first performed in this manner, and the process was only applied to the inferior animals after it had been made perfect for the surgical purposes for which they required it. In this instance therefore man became the subject of physiological experiment for the benefit of the inferior animals as v.'ell as for his own. Primary Results of the Experimentation with Ancpsthetics. The primary results of these experiments on different modes and processes for inducing anaesthesia may be put forward in a few sentences. They were all of them results which could not have been reached by any other line of research. 1. The experimentation has enabled me, as a physician, to keep on a level with the chemist in applying to the services of man all those agents for the relief of pain which the chemist produces. The chemical bodies of the methyl, ethyl, bulyl, and amyl series with several others which have promised to be of any service have been tested, and their respective values carefully chronicled. 2. For general anaesthesia I have been enabled, by the research to add many new and useful anaesthetics. Bi- chloride of methylene, which has been very largely used, and which Mr. Spencer Wells invariably uses with signal success for ovariotomy, came from this research. Me- thylic ether, the safest anaesthetic I have yet known, was proved by this research. Methylal, another very valuable agent of the same kind, and which has to be practically applied, is another good anaesthetic added by these in- quiries ; while several agents tried for araesthesia which have not answered, have been accidentally discovered to possess other and valuable curative properties. The in- troduction of the etherial solution of peroxide of hydrogen, an exceedingly useful remedy, and the local use of butylic alcohol for toothache, are two instances amongst many more of this kind. 3. The researches have enabled me to formulate the physiological properties of the organic bodies that produce anaesthesia, so that the value of the aniEsthetic compounds maybe calculated from their phy sical characters and com- position. I have been able to show that some elements — such as chlorine — are objectionable parts of an anaesthetic agent, others favourable ; that certain degrees of solubility are objectionable, others favourable ; that certain vapour- densities are objectionable, others favourable. I have beeja able to point out a distinct theoretical standard of qualities which, being found, will yield a safe, manageable, and agreeable anaesthesia. Lastly, I may add, from an experience in the study of anEesthetics extended from the time when they were first introduced until this hour, the positive assurance that careful and steadily pursued expe- rimental research must result in the discovery of all the laws relating to anaesthesia, and to the further discovery of an absolutely safe mode of producing it. For I have learned that no man, no animal, ever yet has died because it was rendered insensible to pain, and the deaths which have occurred have invariably been due to some property of the substance used that had no relation to the anaes- thetic property — some independent bad quality which we may fairly expect science to eliminate for the benefit of man. 4. While striving to apply the results of experimenta- tion to the advantage of the human family, I have not forgotten the inferior creation, and in nothing have I been more successful than in their behalf. For operations on animals I have been able to make the application of local anaesthesia so perfect that there is no necessity whatever that any lower animal should ever feel a pang from the knife of the operator for any external cutting operation it may have to undergo. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has itself published the facts of an operation, for removal of a large tumour from a horse belonging to Sir Wm. Erie, that was performed by my method of operating under ether spray while the animal stood in the stable without halter or bridle, oblivious of all pain. That fact, — one of a hundred similar, — I put for- ward, not as in itself peculiar, but because of the record from which it is taken. It could not have been recorded even there but for the experimentation that gave it birth. Beniamin W. Richardson NOTES Her Majesty has been pleased to confer on Prof. Wyville Thomson the honour of knighthood. It is stated that Sir C. Wyville Thomson and the members of the scientific staff of the Challenger will be entertained at dirmer in Edinburgh on July 7. The Lord Provost has consented to take the chair. We notice from the official announcement in connection v/ith the Loan Collection, that during the present week, fourteen demonstrations of apparatus were given on Monday, eleven on Tuesday, four on Wednesday and Thursday, while seven will be given on Saturday. With regard to the com- plaint in the Tunes as to the occasional non-attendance of the lecturers, it should be remembered that these demonstrations are given out of pure good-will by some of the most eminent and busy of the scientific men of the day, who are not alwayrs masters of their own time. The Department's arrangements are entirely dependent on the convenience of these men, and it should not therefore be blamed if its proposed pro- grammes are not always rigidly carried out. The following arrangements have been made for future free evening Lectures on the Instruments in the Collection : — Saturday, July I, Prof. Tyndall, P\R.S., on " Faraday's Apparatus, " in the Lecture Theatre, South Kensington Museum ; Monday, July 3, the Right Hon. Lyon Play fair, C.B., M.P., F.R.S., on "Air and Airs," as illustrated by the Magdeburg Hemispheres and Black's and Cavendish's Balances; Saturday, July 8, Dr. Gladstone, F.R.S., "The Work of Davy and Faraday," as illustrated by the Apparatus lent by the Royal Institution ; Monday, July 10, Rev. R. Main, M.A., F.R.S., on "The Instrumental Foun- dations of Practical Astronomy ; " Saturday, July 15, Dr. W. H. Stone on "Modes of Eliciting and Reinforcing Sound ;" Mon- day, July 17, Mr. C. V. Walker, F.R.S., on "Galvanic Time Signals ; " Saturday, July 22, Mr. W. Chandler Roberts, F.R.S., 200 NATURE [yune 29, 1876 on "Graham's Apparatus;" Monday, July 24, Mr. J. N. Douglass, " The Lighthouses on the Great and Little Basses Rocks, Ceylon." We would draw the attention of our readers to a leader in yesterday's Daily News, in which a proposal is referred to for obtaining a charter to incorporate Owens College, Manchester, into an University. The subject is one of the greatest import- ance, and now that France is following the lead of Germany in the matter of University reform, we are glad to see some signs that this country is also beginning to feel the necessity of exten- sion and reformation in this direction. We read in the Scotsman of June 26 that " the prediction of Capt. Saxby that a great storm might be expected last week had a very prejudicial effect on the fishing of Anstruther, and the fishermen suffered a loss of at least 500/. from their too ready acceptance of the prophecy." The point to be wondered at is, not that the fishermen of Anstruther, where a terrible loss of life took place in November last, accepted the prediction and acted upon it, but that such a prediction, when made, should be gravely and generally circulated broadcast over the country by the news- paper press, even though, in the present state of our knowledge, two, or at the very utmost three days' forecast of a storm is all that can be attempted, any more distant prediction being the merest guess-work. At Monday's meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, a letter from General Stone (Cairo), on " The Circumnavi- gation of the Lake Albert Nyanza," by M. Gessi, was read. The points of importance in M. Gessi's paper were that the Lake Albert Nyanza is one hundred and forty miles long and fifty broad, and that in the east there is a river flowing into the lake which is now confidently believed to be one of the sources of the Nile. This, Sir R. Alcock said, was a most important result of M. Gessi's expedition, as it made it quite clear that the White Nile issued from the Lake Albert Nyanza. Sir Samuel Baker had written to him (Sir R. Alcock) endorsing the importance of M. Gessi's discoveries, which had established a fact that for eighteen centuries had baffled all the geographers of the world. The secretary read a letter which had been forwarded to the Society by the Earl of Derby, giving a summary of information which had reached her Majesty's go- vernment in regard to the movements of Col. Gordon, who expects that within a very short time the interior of Africa will be sufficiently secure to allow both merchants and tra- vellers to traverse the country in perfect safety. A paper was read by Capt. Hay describing the district of Akem in West Africa. He had found the country rich in minerals and stwided with well-built towns. The men had a peculiar forma- tion of the cheek-bones which closely resembled horns, the chief executioner having this peculiarity so largely developed as seriously to interfere with the performance of his official duties. The women of the country were free from this deformity. During last week a young living male gorilla was seen at Liverpool for a few days on its way to Hull, and thence to Germany. It had been brought from the West Coast of Africa by the German African Society's Expedition, and measured three feet in height. This is the second specimen of a gorilla which has, with certainty, been seen living in this country. The first during its lifetime, twenty years ago, was mistaken for a chimpanzee. The Dublin Corporation have resolved to co-operate with the Royal Dublin Society to invite the British Association to that city in 1878. The Italian naturalist Signor Odoardo Beccari has arrived at Genoa, from his fourth journey into New Guinea, and brings with him a valuable collection of objects illustrating the natural history of the country. Last week a deputation from Scotland waited upon the Prime Minister to urge that grants should be made out of the Imperial Exchequer to extend and improve the buildings of the University of Edinburgh. They presented a memorial showing that this was very much wanted ; that Scotland had already sub- scribed 81,000/. out of a total of 261,000/. required ; that the University conferred benefits upon the whole country, and on that ground they asked for Imperial funds. Mr. Disraeli said that the subject should occupy the thorough attention of her Majesty's government, with, he was sure, a desire on their part to meet any reasonable expectations. The Rev. A. H. Sayce has been appointed Deputy-Professor of Comparative Philology in the University of Oxford. Mr. Max Miiller still holds the professorship although absent from Oxford. Lieut. Weyprecht and Count Wilczek have proposed to the Geographical Society of Paris to co-operate in the establishment of meteorological stations under the polar circle. Nine stations are to be located at Point Barrow, Uperniavik, mouth of Lena, Novaya Zemlya lat. 76°, Spitzbergen lat. 80", Eastern Green- land, and Finmark. The French Geographical Society is willing to lend its assistance, but very likely will insist upon postponing the establishment of these observatories till 1878, when it is expected news from the English Arctic Expedition will have been received, and advantage may be taken of any facts thus elicited. Probably few of our readers are aware that at the rooms of the Horticultural Society, at South Kensington, exists a valuable botanical and horticultural library, free alike to Fellows and non-Fellows of the Society. This is known as the Lindley Library, having belonged to the late Dr. Lindley, and since it was purchased by the Society it has received valuable additions. From want of sufficient funds and proper accommodation it is not, however, so useful as it might be ; and the Society will be glad to receive additions of books, pamphlets, periodicals, &c. Such gifts, we are sure, would be well bestowed. Communica- tions should be addressed to Mr. W. B. Hemsley, librarian and secretary to the trustees. The French geographical journal, L' Explorateur, for June 22, has an article on the last cruise of the Challenger, in which several of the illustrations in our Challenger number for June i, are reproduced, including a very good woodcut copy of the steel portrait of Sir C. Wyville Thomson. M. Leverrier has appointed a Commission to report on the working of the great reflector, and to suggest improvements. The investigations have been first directed on the mechanical work, which is admirable, and a reward is to be proposed to be given to M, Lichens, the maker. But the optical part is said to admit of improvements in respect to the mirror, which does not appear quite so good as was supposed at first. No pains will be spared to approach perfection as far_as possible, as the observatory is to be considered as an annexe of the International Exhibition, and foreign astronomers will be admitted to use the great reflector under certain regulations. A PHILOLOGICAL novelty in American literature is furnished by the appearance in German of the annual report of the Natural History Society of Wisconsin (Jahresbericht des natur- historischen Vereins von Wisconsin) for 1876, this being, so far as known to us, the only scientific serial published in that lan- guage in America. Canada has one or two French scientific journals, and Mexico several, of course published in Spanish. In the Repertorium fur Meteorologie, vol. v., No. 4, St. Petersburg, Baron F. Wrangell has written a very suggestive paper on the causes of the bora at Noworossisk, a local wind characterised by peculiar violence and destructiveness to ship- ping in that part of the north Caucasus coast. The author 1 yune 29, 1876] NATURE 201 rests his explanation exclusively on the physical peculiarities of the district and recognised physical laws. To the north-east of the bay, where the bora is most severely felt, and at a distance of about two miles, lies the mountain range of the Waradah, about eleven miles in length, which, as regards winds, cuts off all communication between the coast and the interior, except over the ridge of the chain ; and, further, has several valleys on the landward side of the range looking to north-east. It follows that on particular occasions, notably when the wind is in the north-east and light, the air resting on the bay and shore adjoining will te widely different in temperature, humidity, and consequently density, from the air on the other side of the range. Observations render it highly probable that it is just on such occasions that the bora occurs. Baron Wrangell's hypothesis regarding the bora is that it is occasioned by the overflow, by way of the ridge, of the dry, cold, and dense air of the interior down upon the moist, warm, and light air which fills the basin of the bay — a supposition in accordance with all the known phenomena accompanying the bora, including the hour of the day and the general weather conditions under which it occurs. In the neighbouring bay of Gelendschik, on the other hand, which has a deep valley opening directly into it from the north, and there- fore does not afford such facilities as Noworossisk does of bring- ing together, with only a ridge between them, two widely different masses of air, the bora is much less sudden and violent. From the practical and scientific importance of the inquiry, we hope Baron Wrangell's suggestion will be carried out, and several stations be established in addition to the present station?, at different heights on both sides of the Waradah chain, for obser- vations of pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind?, so that the causes from which the bora and other violent local winds take their origin and attain their greatest intensity, may be determined. The Rev. R. Main, of the Radcliffe Observatory, has pub- lished a short paper on the rainfall at Oxford for the past twenty- five years, with tables of the monthly and annual amounts, the summer rainfall of each year, all the days on which an inch of rain or upwards fell, and the daily amounts during October and November, 1875. ^^ every way in which the figures can be looked at, October is the month of greatest, and February that of least, rainfall, as holds generally over nearly all the south of England. June, which in the north-west of Great Britain is the month of least rainfall, has at Oxford a rainfall exceeded only by that of October, a result doubtless due to the much greater pre- valence of thunderstorms at this season £t Oxford, and of those weather condition* out of which thunderstorms originate. Another noteworthy feature of the Oxford rainfall is the small amount in December as compared with January. The average annual amount is 25775 irches, the least i7'564 inches in 1870, the greatest 40 "4 16 inches in 1852 ; the greatest monthly fall 7"53i inches in October 1875 ; the largest daily fall 2*050 inches on July 25, 1861 ; and i "180 inch appears to have fallen in two hours on July 20, 1859. A Russian scientific congress. Iron states, is to meet at Warsaw next September, at which the question of adopting the Gregorian calendar in Russia will be discusjed. The Municipal Council of Paiis has resolved to support a resolution of the Societe Frar faise de Navigation Aerienne, which has petitioned the French Government to be recognised as an Estabhshment of Public Utility. This step is necessary according to the French laws, to give to the Society a legal existence and enable it to hold property and receive legacies. The Quarterly Bulletin of the Nuttall OrnitJiologUal Club'\% the title of a new ornithological periodical published at Cambridge, Massachusetts. It forms twenty-eight pages and contains a plate. The size of the future parts will depend to a great extent upon the number of subscribers, and a plate cannot be promised in future unless the means assure it. Vol. i. No. i, contains a description and figure of a new species of Helminthophaga, by Mr. Wm. Brewster ; the account of a specimen of the Common Buzzard in North America, by Mr, Maynard ; note on the nestling of the Golden-winged Warbler in Massachusetts, by Mr. J. Warren ; notes on the Rough-winged Swallow in Penn- sylvania, by Mr. W. van Fleet ; and on the breeding of the Black-throated Blue Warbler in Connecticut, by Mr. C. M. Jones. Mr. Henshaw writes on Empidomax traillii and E. acadicus, Mr. R. Deane on Albinism and Melanism among North American birds, and Mr. H. B. Bailey ends the volume with notes of birds found breeding on Cobb's Island, Virginia. To judge from the Second Annual Report of the Hastings University School Naturalists' Field Club (1875-6), that Society is in a healthy condition. It consists of forty-eight members, and its object is to study and collect specimens to illustrate the Natural History of Hastings, and to compile a list of its flora and fauna, and to form a museum representing its zoology, geology, and botany. The Society is divided into five sections, and seems to be animated with a laudable enthusiasm for its objects, which we hope will be maintained. A large proportion of papers read at the meetings of last session were by members. The principal papers in part iii. of vol. xiv. of the Transac- tions of the Manchester Geological Society is on ** Fires in Coal Mines," by Mr. J. Thompson, F.G.S. We are only able to note the receipt of the Sixth Annual Report of the Wellington College Natural Science Society. The work done by the Society, the Prefacestates, has been up to the average of former years, though evidently not what it might be with increased energy. We hope, with the Preface, that now that science has become an integral part of school work, a cor- responding increase of interest will be manifested by the pupils in the Natural Science Society. From the Annual Report of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club (1874-5), we learn with pleasure that that society is mate- rially in a prosperous condition. It was this Society, our readers may remember, who got up the admirable " Guide to Belfast and Adjoining Counties," in view of the meeting of the British Association in Belfast. There are a number of good papers in the present Report, of which we may mention the following : — " On the Origin of Eskers," by Mr. Harbison, and *' Notes on the Rudely- worked Fhnts of Antrim and Down," by Mr. William Gray. Messrs. Sampson Low & Co. have published in a separate form from the large work on South Australia, edited by Mr. Harcus, and recently noticed by us, Mr. J. Boothby's " Statistical Sketch of South Australia." The additions to the Royal Aquarium, Westminster, during the past week, include the following : — Smooth Serranus (Ser- ranus cabrilla). Small-mouthed Wrass {Acantholabrus exoletus), Jago's Goldsinny {Ctenolabrus rupestris), Lesser Weever (7>a- chinus vipera), Gemmeous Dragonet {Callionymus lyra), Corn- ish Suckers [Lepado^aster cornubiensis), Chub {Cyprinus cepha- lus), BsxhtX {Barbus Jiuviatilis), Whitebait ( C/«/«z alba, Yar.), Octopus {Octopus vulgaris), thirty specimens. The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Malbrouck Monkey ( Cercopiihecus cynosurus) from East Africa, presented by Dr. Stirling ; two Tigers {Felis tigris) from Amoy, China, presented by Dr. Marchant Jones ; five Red-headed Weaver Birds (Foudia madagascaricnsis) from the Isle of France ; a Pine Martin {Martes abietum), European ; a Sclater's Muntjac (Ce>-vulus sclateri) and two Darwin's Pucras Pheasants (Pucrasia datwini) from China, deposited ; an Eland (Oreas canna), bom in the gardens ; a Central American Agouti (Dasyptocta punctata) from Soutli America. 202 NATURE \yune 29, 1876 SCIENTIFIC SERIALS The current number of the Ibh commences with two papers on the ornithology of the Fiji Island?, by Mr. E. L. Layard, in which the following species are described : — Platycercus taviun- insis, Myiolestes macrorhynchus, M. conipressirostris, Pachycephala torquata. Additional notes on other birds are given, including Lamprolia victories. — Mr. H. Durnford has ornithological notes from the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres, in which the habits of the birds of the district are briefly described. —Mr. R. Ridgway writes on the genus Helminthophaga, precisely defining the dis- tribution of the ten species and their specific characters. — Mr. H. E. Dresser continues his notes on Severtzoff's " Fauna of Turkestan," the species of birds most lengthily noticed being Leptopoecile sophics, Anthus pratensis, and Lanius isabellinus, together with Caprimulgus palltns and C, arenicolor. — Mr. F. Barratt gives ornithological notes made during trips between Bloemfontein and the Lydenburg gold-fields, figuring Bradypterus barrati. — Messrs. H. Seebohm and J. A. Harvie Brown con- tinue their notes on the birds of the Lower Petchora, figuring the eggs of Squatarola helvetica. — Mr. J. H, Gurney continues his nules on Mr. Sharpe's " Catalogue of the Accipitres in the British Museum," devoting himself on this occasion to the American Buzzards. — Mr. P. L. Sclater gives an interesting account of the recent ornithological researches of Beccari, D'Albertis, and von Rosenberg in New Guinea, and Count Salvadori writes on two New Guinea species, Sericulus xantho- mster and Xanthomdus aureus. — Canon Tristram describes a collection of birds from New Hebrides, among which is a new species of Porphyria, P. aneiteiimensis. Po^gcndorff^ s Annalen der Physik uiid Chemie. — Ergdnzung, Band vii., Stuck 4. — We have here a valuable second memoir by M, Chwolson on the mechanism of magnetic induction, which process he seeks to explain by the supposed existence of mole- cular magnets that are turned by the external force in one direc- tion. In his former paper he dealt with the case of temporary induction in soft iron ; he here treats of magnetic induction in steel. The paper is in five chaptejs : in the first are summa- rised the refcults obtained by previous observers, those of Jamin being given with special fulness. In the second the author describes his experiments, which require a modification of Jamin's theory. Of Jamin's two laws relating to the action of positive and negative currents on permanently magnetised bars, M. Chwolson finds the first absolutely correct ; the second incor- rect. Jamin's mistake he considers to be in the supposition that the negative current only acts on the surface layers, leaving those below untouched ; ic is shown, on the contrary, that the least negative current acts on all the layers and diminishes the^r inten- sity. Then he gives a mathematical theory of induction in steel ; supposed the first attempt of the kind (if Maxwell's but partly successful one be excepted). In the fourth chapter he explains, on the basis of theory, the various experimental results got by different observers ; and in the fifth, sriows how certain results that might h priori be foreseen, from the theory, have been verified. — M. Holtz has a paper on some changes of form of the Leyden battery (with a view to extending the length of spark), and its use with influence-machines ; and he describes some good phenomena of discharge. The remaining papers are extracts. Der Natur/orscher, February. — In this number we may note an account of observations by M. Mallard on the velocity of inflammation in a mixture ot fire-damp and air. The various mbctures were set in motion with different velocities, and that velocity at which the zone of combustion remained stationary measured the velocity sought. The highest velocity of inflam- mation was 0'56o metres in a second, and it occurred in a mix« ture of 0"io8 vol. of fire-damp in one volume of the mixture. On increasing or diminishing the proportion of fire-damp, the velocity in question diminished very rapidly, becoming nil with a proportion of 0^077 vol. on the one hand, and 0"I45 vol. on the other, below which the mixtures are neither explosive nor iaflammable. It is notable that a variation of even O'Oi in the proportion of fire-damp is sufficient to convert an absolutely indif- ferent mixture into a highly dangerous one. — In geology there is an adverse criticism of Mr. Mallet's theory of volcanic action, by M. Roth, and an experimental inquiry by M. Hoppe-Seyler into the formation of dolomite. The latter points out that wherever, on a sea-bottom covered with chalk or limestone, eruptions of lava occur, dolomite is a necessary product, the lava supplying the temperature (which must be high), the lime. stone the calcium and carbonic acid, and the sea-water the magnesium. — From twenty years' observations in St. Petersburg, M. Rikatcheff draws some conclusions as to the influence of cloudiness on the daily variations of temperature. — We further note an abstract of a recent brochure by Prof. Lommel, on the inter- ference of reflected light (the author developes variously a well- known experiment of Newton), and a summary of an interesting lecture by M. Lowe to the Physiological Society of Berlin, on the theory of descent. March. — The formation of cheese has lately engaged the attention of Prof. Ferd. Cohn in connection with his researches on the lowest forms of plant life ; and he has made personal observations on the manufacture, as carried on in Switzerland. The phenomena accompanying the process are thus described ; The rennet contains a liquid ferment which causes coagulation of the milk ; also ferment-organisms (Bacillus), which probably bring on butyric-acid fermentation, and cause the slow maturing of the cheese. It is their resting-spores that, enclosed by the dry cheese substance, resist boiling heat for a long time, and, in a suitable nutritive liquid, may afterwards develop to bacillus rods. (One of Dr. Bastian's results is thus explained.) — In a paper by M. Rosenthal, the action of the automatic nerve-centres is explained as dependent, not on some immanent property of the nerve apparatus, but on the nature of the blocd. To account for the rhythmusof the movements in breathing, he supposes a constant resistance opposed to the constant excitation, and illustrates the case by supposing a vertical tube closed below by a plate which is pressed against it by a spring, while a constant stream of water flows in from above. VVhen the liquid reaches a certain height the spring yields, and some water escapes ; then the spring forces back the plate, and the process is repeated, thus giving a rhythm. From experiments made by M. Bartoli, in Italy, it is inferred that aU solid and liquid substances, whatever their nature, have, in air, a damping influence on the oscillations of a magnetic needle suspended over them, and that this action depends on the air that is between the two surfaces. Among other subjects handled in this number may be mentioned those of irregularities of the sea-level (Hann), the molecules of isomeric andallotropic bodies (Smit), the physical properties of litter in woods (Eber- mayer), and decomposition of albuminous matter in animal bodies (Drechsel). SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Royal Society, May 4. — Supplementary note " Oa the Theory of Ventilation " (see Nature, vol. xi. p. 296). By Francis S. B. Fran9ois de Chaumont, M.D., Surgeon- Major, Army Medical Department, and Conjoint Professor of Hygiene, Army Medical School. Communicated by Prof. Stokes, Sec. R.S. In his previous paper the author endeavoured to establish a basis for calculating the amount of fresh air necessary to keep an air-space sufficiently pure for health, taking the carbonic acid as the measure. The results showed that the mean amount of carbonic acid as respiratory impurity in air undistinguishable by the sense of smell from fresh external air was under 02000 per 1000 volumes. His object in the present note is to call attention to the relative effects of temperature and humidity upon the con- dition of air, as calculated from the same observations. Linnean Society, June i. — Prof. AUman, president, in the chair. — An interesting series of photographs illustrating coffee cultivation in Ceylon, an enormous banyan tree and other tropical vegetation, were shown by Mr. J. R. Jackson, of the Kew Museum ; Mr. W. Bull's exhibition of several fine healthy, growing plants, and the seeds of his lately introduced Coffea liberica and of C. arabica for comparison came in most h propos to the above. — The Rev. G. Henslow read a paper on floral jEStivations, in which, after giving the eight kinds, viz., distichous, tristichous, pentastichous, half-imbricate, imbricate proper, con- volute, valvate, and open, he explained their origin, and specially dwelt upon the new term half-imbricate, which he applied to a very large number of cases ranging from perfect regularity to extremely irregular and zyomorphic flowers of the pea and snap-dragon. The author then showed how that, as well as the fitth and sixth kinds were successively deducible from the third or pentastichous (quincuncial) by merely shifting one edge of the second part under the adjacent edge of the fourth part. The author added a note on a new theory of the cruci- yune 29, 1876] NATUkE 263 ferous flower, based on a quinary type, and which, by sym- metrical reduction {i.e., the fifth part of each whorl would be suppressed) the remaining fours would, by further arrest, due to adaptations to insect agency, form the normal flower. He also disputed the tenability of Chorisis in the pairs of long stamens, regarding their occasional union as indicative of evolutionary advance and not retrogression ; as cohesion is a subsequent stage to freedom, except in the rare cases of atavism indicated by solu- tion and dialysi". The author called in question the justness of Pfeflfer's view of the corolla of primula, being an outgrowth of the Androecium, by showing (a) the position of the stamens to be explained by the staminodia of Samolus, (b) that the corolla appearing subsequent to the stamens is no anomaly, (c) that the fibro-vascular bundles are ten in number, of which five are inter- mediate, and {d) that phyllo tactical aestivation were those of true leaves ; so that all these facts conspired to render the theory untenable. Mr. J. G. Baker read a paper on a collection of ferns made by Mr. Wm. Pool in the interior of Madagascar. Altogether 1 14 species have been obtained, of which fifteen are entirely new and twenty- eight prove to be varieties of already known forms. Some examples, e.^., Asplenium trichomanes, Nephrodium felix-mas, and Aspidium aculeatum, are thoroughly temperate types. — Mr. Francis Darwin read an account of some researches of his on glandular bodies on Acacia spheerocephala and Cecropia peltata, serving as food for ants. The structures in question were discovered by Mr Belt (Nicaragua), and subse- quently further observations made by Fritz Miiller (Brazil), while Mr. Darwin has more particularly entered into their minute composition. In Acacia they are of two kinds (a) nectar- secreting glands situate at the base of the petiole, {b) small, somewhat flattened, pear-shaped bodies, which tip six or seven of the lowermost leaflets of the bipinnate leaves. In Cecropia cylindrical bodies are developed in flat cushions at the base of the leaf-stalk. Mr. Darwin shows the microscopical structure of all of these to be homologous in kind, cellular, protoplasm, and containing oil globules. He infers, moreover, they bear a relation to the serration-glands of Reinke, in certain cases after- wards being converted into stores of nutriment, which un- doubtedly the ants live on, and in their turn protect the trees from the ravages of the leaf-cutting ants. — A notice of the lichens of Madagascar collected by Mr. W. Pool, by the Rev. J. M. Cerombie, was taken as read. — Prof. Wyville Thomson, of the Challenger Expedition, addressed the meeting, giving the results of two communications by him ; one on new living Crinoids belong to thelApiocrinedae, the other on some peculiarities in the mode of propagation of certain Echinoderms of the Southern Seas. Royal Astronomical Society, June 9. — William Huggins, D.C.L., president, in the chair. A paper by Prof. Simon New- comb was read on a hitherto unnoticed apparent inequality in the longitude of the moon. The inequality was, it appeared, brought to light in the course of an investigation which has recently been made by Prof. Newcomb, of the corrections to be applied to Hansen's " Tables de la lune," in order that they may be used for the determination of the longitudes of the transit of Venus stations. Prof. Newcomb set himself to compare the places derived from Hansen's Tables with the series of lunar observations made at Greenwich and Washington between the years 1862 and 1874. The residual errors of the moon's place showed a systematic inequality which could not be got rid of by any new assumption as to the value of the corrections of the lunar elements. There can be no serious doubt about the exist- ence of the inequality, because both the Greenwich and Wash- ington observations agree in showing it, and a close investigation shows that the crors are periodic and depend upon the moon's longitude. In „rder to make the investigation more complete, Prof. Newcomb has determined the corrections for the years 1847 to 1858, for which period the residual errors of Hansen's Tables are given in the Greenwich observations of 1859. A table of the resulting corrections is given in the paper, and it appears that the period of the chief term of the new inequality i-i l6| years with a probable error of half a year. The corre- sponding period of the inequality in longitude is 27-4304 days T 0*0040 days, and there is a large preponderance of probability against the real period being less than 27*42 days, or more than 27*44 days. No known term in the moon's longitude falls within these limits. The moon's sidereal period is 27*32 days and the anomalistic period is 27*55 days, so that the new term falls half way between the two. The non-accordance of this period with any term heretofore sought for, is the probable reason why this term has not before been noticed ; a term if un- known would not be remarked unless its value was such as visibly to effect the individual comparison of theory with observation, and Hansen's tables as corrected are the first of which the residual errors are so small that a term of l"*5 would be remarked in the comparison with observations. Prof. Adams said that he was at a loss to imagine what the cause of this inequality can be, he was rather inclined to suppose that it may have something to do vrith the effect of the figure of the earth on the motion of the moon, but this was only an idea thrown out on the spur of the moment. — Lord Lindsay exhibited an adaptation of the ordinary altazimuth instrument designed to give a rough equatorial motion ; to the base of the altazimuth pillar is fixed an iron bar, through a hole in which a string or wire is attached to the object- glass end of the telescope. The only adjustments that are neces- sary are that the horizontal bar shall be placed approximately north and south, and that the distance from the base of the alta- zimuth pillar to the hole in the bar through which the string passes shall be equal to the height of the pillar into the co- tangent of the latitude of the place 01 observation. — Mr. Plumber read a paper on photometric experiments upon the light of Venus. By comparing the shadow of a wire cast by the light of the planet with the shadow of a similar wire cast by a candle at a known distance, and again by comparing the light of the candle with the light of the full moon, he came to the conclusion that the light of Venus at its greatest brilliancy was equal to — of the brightness of the full moon, and by a similar method 799-5 ^ ^ found that the light of Jupiter at mean opposition was equal to 2 of the light of the mean full moon. 6430 ^ Chemical Society, June 15, Dr. J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair. — A large number of communications were read, this being the last meeting of the season. The first paper, by Prof. Dewar, entitled "Chemical Studies," was chiefly devoted to an account of several interesting lecture expe- riments. — Dr. H. E. Armstrong then gave a short account of his elaborate researches on the reduction of nitric acid and on the oxides of nitrogen, part i., on the gases evolved by the action of metals on nitric acid, made in conjunction with Mr. Accworth. — Mr. C. T. Kingsett then read a paper on the composition and formula of an alkaloid from Jaborandi. — There were also papers on the simultaneous action of iodine and aluminium on ether and compound ethers, by Dr. J. H. Gladstone and Mr. A. Tribe ; on compounds of antimony pentachloride with alcohols and with ethers, by Mr. W. C. Williams ; on the volatility of barium, strontium, and calcium, by Prof. J. W. Mallet ; on the action of chlorine on acetamide, by Dr. E. W. Prevost ; note on the per- bromates, by Mr. M. M. P. Muir, and a communication on a new and convenient form of areometer for clinical use, by Dr. J. G. Blackley. Geological Society, June 7.— Prof. P. M. Duncan, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — ^John Thos. Atkinson, Edmund Clark, Frederick Deny, Walter S. Gervis, Thos. Jones, Baldwin Latham, and Edward Sewell, were elected Fellows of the Society. — On the British fossil cretaceous birds, by Prof. H. G. Seeley, F.L.S. In this paper the author gave an account of the remains of birds which have been collected from the Cambridge Upper Green- sand. The bones are so fragmentary that the size of the animal can only be given roughly as similar to that of the Diver, but with a shorter neck. The affinities of the animal are strongest with Colymbus. It also closely resembles Prof. Marsh's creta- ceous genus Hesperornis, and like that genus may be supposed to have had teeth. The species were described as Enaliornis Bar- retti and E. Sedgzuicki. Some bones were also described thought to indicate birds in which the extremities of the bones remained unossified throughout life. — On two chimseroid jaws from the Lower Greensand of New Zealand, by E. T. Newton, F.G.S., of H.M. .Geological Survey. The two jaws which were the subject of this communication form part of the collection of fossils from the Lower Greensand of New Zealand deposited in the British Museum by Dr. Hector. One of the specimens, a right mandible, was referred by the author to Ischyodus brei'iros- iris, Ag., a species from the Gault of Folkestone, hitherto known only by name, no description or figure of it having been as yet published. The second specimen, a small right maxilla, possess- ing but one tooth, and this of a peculiar form, was compared with the corresponding form in Ischyodus, Edaphodon, Elasmodus, Ganodus, Chimcera, and Callorhynchus. ResCsons were given for 204 NATURE \yune 29, 1876 believing that it differed genetically from all other known forms of Chimseroid jaws ; and the author therefore proposed to call it, in allusion to the form of the tooth, Upsilodus Hedori. — On a bone-bed in the Lower Coal-measures, with an enumeration of the fish-remains of which it is principally composed, by J. W. Davis, F.L.S. In this paper the author described a thin bed composed chiefly of remains of fishes, which rests immediately upon the " Better-bed coal " of the Lower Coal-measures in Yorkshire. — Note on a species of Foraminifera from the Car- boniferous formation of Sumatra, by M. Jules Huguenin. Com- municated by Prof Ramsay, F.R.S., V.P.G.S. The author described some globular Foraminifera, belonging or allied to Fusulina, from a carboniferous deposit containing Producii and PhillipsicE, which occurs north-east of Padang and south of the lake of Singkarak in Sumatra. The author described the struc- ture of these fossils, which he compared with Fusulina cylin- dnca and F. depressa, and arrived at the conclusion that they belong to a new genus, to which perhaps the North American Fusulina robusta also belongs. — On the Triassic rocks of Somer- set and Devon, by W, A. E. Usher, F.G.S. The author stated that the Trias of Devon and Somerset was divisible into three groups, occujjying distinct areas. The first lies north of the Mendip Hills, where the Trias is thinnest and assumes its simplest characters, consisting of marls and Dolomitic conglo- merate. The second area embraces the country south of the Polden Hills as far as a north and south line through Taunton. The chief portion of the Trias in this area, as in the northern, consists of marls. The third area, bounded on the north by the Bristol Channel, on the south by the English Channel, on the east by the Blackdown range, and on the west by the Culm and Devonian highlands, presents the most complex relations of the Trias in the south-western counties. Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, June 19.— A paper by Prof. Morris, M.D., of Michigan University, on the theory of unconscious intelligence as opposed to theism, was read. The paper discussed the theories which have been put forward on the subject. The professor laid down the proposition that con- sciousness and intelligence imply one another, and that, there- fore, " unconscious intelligence " is a self-contradictory phrase. Paris Academy of Sciences, June 12. — Vice- Admiral Paris in the chair. — ^The following papers were read :— Experimental critique on Glycemia (continued). Physico-chemical and physiological conditions to be observed in searching for sugar in the blood, by M. CI. Bernard. The sugar found normally in blood of animals ranks among glycoses. M. Bernard shows how its properties may be demonstrated after coagulation of the blood, by superheated steam, by alcohol, or by sulphate of soda. He then details his mode of finding the amount of sugar. — On the absorption of free and pure nitrogen and hydrogen by organic matters, by M. Ber- thelot. White filter paper, slightly moist, placed in pure nitro- gen, under influence of the effluve or silent discharge, absorbs a considerable quantity in eight or ten hours. Oxygen does not hinder this (in 1 00 vols, air, 2 '9 hundredths of nitrogen and 7*0 of oxygen were absorbed in about eight hours). Hydrogen is absorbed even more rapidly than nitrogen by benzene, tereben- thene, acetylene, &c. — On the formation and the decomposition «f binary compounds by the electric effluve, by M. Berthelot. In principle the reactions are the same as those with the spark, but the longer duration of the spark and the heating it produces are adverse to the formation of condensed products, such as arise under the effluve. — Presentation of solar photographs of large dimensions, by M. Janssen. In these the disc is 22 centi- metres in diameter, yet there is great distinctness. M. Comu hopes shortly to have photographs from the focus of a telescope of 36 centimetres aperture. — On electric transmissions through the ground, by M. du Moncel. From experiments he shows how unequal moisture about the electrodes, unequal heating of these, and unequal size, are physical causes which intervene, more or less, causing variations in intensity of currents trans- mitted through the ground. A general conclusion is, that it is not advantageous to interpose earth in a circuit unless when its resistance exceeds 10 or 15 kilometres of telegraph wire. — On some new experiments made with Crookes's radiometer, by M. Ledieu. In the first experiment rotation was obtained from a beam of luminous rays falling parallel to the axis (though less rapid than when it falls at right angles). In the second, the two sides of the vanes were kept bright ; and here the vanes moved as if repelled by the luminous ray meeting them. (The ray should be made to strike the vane next the light at a small angle, and the two opposite vanes, with reference to the plane of the ray and the axis, be shaded by a screen. The place should be quite dark. )— On amber, by M. Reboux. — On the law of Dulong and Petit, by M. Terrell. The product of specific heat by chemical equivalent is a constant, provided all the bodies are taken with the same gaseous volume, and before any condensation. The specific heat of simple bodies, taken with the same volume and gaseous state, is inversely proportional to their chemical equi- valents ; so is that of compound bodies, and it is pro- portional to the condensation of the gaseous volumes of the constituent simple bodies in combining. Simple or com- pound bodies which have lost the gaseous state have a specific heat d»uble that which they have in this state. — Letter to M. Dumis on Phylloxera, by M. Fatis. The cycle of metamorphoses may, in certain circumstances, occur entirely under ground without intervention of the perfect winged form. — On the employment of sulphide of carbon against Phylloxera, by M. Allies. — Another on the same subject, by M. Marion. — On the pantanemone, an apparatus acting in all winds, without orientation and without reduction of surfaces, by M. Sanderson. — Ephemerides of the planet (103) Hera, for the opposition of 1877, by M. Leveau. — On the presence of magnesium in the sun's limb, by M. Tacchini. The magnesium gains in iatensity and elevation where the flames of the chromosphere present most vivacity. While there is at present a minimum of spots, protuberances, hydrogenic clouds, and metallic eruptions, the circulation of magnesium still retains a certain energy capable of rising to a maximum as in previous years. — Phenomena of electric oscillation, by M. Mouton. — On the propylenic chlorhydrines and the law of addition of hypochlorous acid, by M. Henry, — Elementary analysis of electrolytic aniUne black, by M. Goppeh- roeder. — On anthraflavone and an accessory product of the manu- facture of artificial alizarine, byM. Rosenstiehl. — On the internal membrane of a chicken's gizzard as an osmotic partition, by RL Carlet. Interposed between water and alcohol in the normal conditions of osmose, this membrane is always traversed by a dominating current from the water to the alcohol ; it is there- fore not (as generally supposed) an exception among animal membranes. • Vienna Imperial Academy of Sciences, Feb. 17. — The following (among other) papers were read : — Further observations on the formation of a rational space curve of the fourth order, on a conical section, by M. Weyr. — On the distribution of the colour, ing matter in ovules during the process of division, by M. Schenk. The ovaries and testicles ol Echinus saxatilis are commonly yel« lowish, but some species have reddish violet ovaries ; M. Schenk studies the changes wrought by artificial fecundation of the ovules in these latter with sperma from the yellow testicles. CONTENTS Pagb GovHRNMBNT Aid TO Scientific Research 185 Wallace's Geographical Distribution of Animals (With Illus- traiions) 186 Twining's "Science Made Easy." By W. T 189 Our Book Shelf : — Myers's " Life with the Hamran Arabs " 199 Lbttkrs to ths Editor : — The Decrease of the Polynesians. — Rev. S. J. Wmitmee . . . 190 Wind Diiftase. — G. Henry Kinahan 191 Freezing Phenomenon. — Wilmot H. T. Power 191 Sagacity in Cats. — M. M. Pattison Muir 193 Our Astronomical Column :— Le Verrier's Tables of Saturn igj 36 Ophiuchi xg2 Nova Ophiuchi, 1848 192 Stephan's Comet, 1867 (I) 192 The Comet of 1698 19a The Satellite of Venus. — Rev. T. W. Wbbb 193 The Missing Link between the Vertebrates and Inverte- brates. By G. T. Bettany 195 Magnetic Observations in Chin.a.. By Rev. S. J. Perry . . . 196 The " Challenger" Expedition 197 Abstract Report to "Nature" on Experimentation on Ani- mals for the Advance of Practical Medicine, IIL By Dr. Benjamin W. Richardson, F.R.S 197 Notes 199 Scientific Seriai.s 702 Socibtibs and Acadbmibs s«t NA TURE 205 THURSDAY, JULY 6, 1876 A PHYSICAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE PROBABLY the present generation knows little of the conditions under which the great exhibition of 185 1 was organised, or of the important results which followed it. After clearing all the expenses of that enterprise, a large surplut remained, to administer which a Royal Charter was granted to the Commissioners who managed the Exhibition. Since 1852 the Commissioners have held numerous meetings, and quietly done a large amount of work from which the nation has reaped great benefit. Much of the success of the various departments connected with the South Kensington Museum is due to the help they have been able to give, and now they propose a scheme whereby a large proportion of the property at their disposal will be allotted for the benefit of science and art. The Commissioners recently held a meeting, under the presidency of the Prince of Wales, at which their Special Committee reported on various schemes for making use of their funds and property. The Commissioners started with a clear capital of 186,000/. They have given to the Government, for the use of the South Kensington Museum, property valued at 14,000/., and 60,000/. in land. They have sold to the Government, at half the value, land for the Natural History Museum, worth 240,000/. They have given the site of the Royal Albert Hall, worth 60,000/, and retain property m it to the extent of 80,000/. They have invested 100,000/. in the galleries lent to the India Museum and Science Loan Exhibition. Notwithstanding these very consider- able contributions, the Commissioners still possess out of the Kensington Gore estate, which they purchased with the surplus funds of the 1851 enterprise, landed property of very great value. We believe that the whole of the site of the International Exhibition buildings, including, the Horticultural Gardens, and some adjacent properties are in the trust of the Commissioners. Five schemes have been thought of for the utilisation of this valuable property. By one of these the Commissioners could realise one million sterling, and yet retain a square of ten or twelve acres in the centre of their property. But this they do not think of adopting. The one which they seem to regard most favourably is to lease or sell the ground outside the arcades, called the East and West Annexes, and retain the Horticultural Gardens and Exhibition Buildings, by which means they would realise upwards of 350,000/., free from all liabilities. Whichever scheme is adopted — and the Commissioners seem to think the time is ripe for making the best of their trust in " the interests of science and art " — a very large sum will be at their disposal. Various objects, all in accordance with the purpose for which they were originally appointed, seem to have suggested themselves to the Commissioners for the appropriation of these funds. Scholarships in science and art, it is suggested, might be founded in connection with central institutions and provincial colleges of science and art, such as those at Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, and elsewhere. It would be a great benefit, it is thought, to these new institutions if their more promising students could be brought up to the Vol. XIV,— No. 349 laboratories of chemistry, physics, and biology, which are in active work at South Kensington. A portion of the funds might also, it is thought, be devoted to the promo- tion of museums of science and art throughout the country, and in making grants in aid of the British Section at International Exhibitions ; also in supplying several existing wants in connection with the South Ken- sington Museum, and erecting other buildings on the estate to be devoted to science and art. The Commissioners are naturally anxious for the wel- fare of their own child, the South Kensington Museum, and for the proper exhibition of the treasures it contains, and the proper housing of its educational and other libraries. This has engaged much of their attention, more especially as the executors of the late Mr. Dyce insist on the carrying out of the provisions of his will with regard to the display of his bequest. Since the subject, however, has been under the consideration of the Commissioners, Government has made a grant of 80,000/. for the purposes of Art, part of which will, no doubt, be devoted to the proper location of the Dyce and other collections, and to some of the other purposes concerning which the Com- missioners are naturally anxious. Had they been aware of this grant, no doubt they would have spoken more fully and decidedly of another scheme which appears to have come under their consideration. The scheme to which we refer was briefly described by Mr. Cross recently in the House of Commons, and has reference to the establishment of " a museum and scien- tific institute, which would comprise a library of works in science and art, for the use of students at South Kensington, and public examination rooms." From the way in which the library is here mentioned we may consider that it is a matter of secondary im- portance in the eyes of the Commissioners, and that the main idea is to build a museum and laboratory. We confess we cannot see the immediate appropriate- ness of attaching a library to a laboratory and mu- seum of this kind. At present no library of science exists, and there will be a library attached to the Natural History Museum which is now being erected on the Commissioners' grounds, and there are various places in London where the best works and serials in all depart- ments of science can be easily consulted. There is at least no pressing need at present for a science library, while the necessity for the organisation of a laboratory and museum was never more urgent. It is known that if only a suitable receptacle were provided, many of those who have contributed to the Loan Collection are willing to leave their apparatus permanently as the nucleus of an English Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers. No better opportunity could be afforded for the commencement of a science museum ; but if the Commissioners do not resolve without delay to carry out the scheme that has apparently been engaging their attention, a golden oppor- tunity will be lost that is not likely to occur again soon. As to the proposal to provide rooms in the Science Museum for examinations in connection with the Science and Art Department, we think the Commissioners would be doing a quite unnecessary and rather mischievous thing in carrying out such a proposal. Government has started these examinations, and is no doubt quite prepared to provide examination-rooms for itself. I I. 2o6 NATURE [July 6, 1876 needs no leading in this matter, though it certainly does need, encouragement to take under its wing a science museum and laboratory. This then it seems to us ought to be the first care of the Commissioners, leaving the examination rooms out of the reckoning, while the library can easily afford to wait for future con- sideration. If the idea of a library is brought too prominently to the front, we fear the building will come to be known by this and no other name, and come in the end to be mainly, if not only, what its name purports. We believe the Commissioners could spare 100,000/. for a Science Museum ; and we are sure the great success which has attended the Loan Collection will tend to con- firm them in their intentions, and induce them without delay to set about providing a permanent successor. We have no doubt that the Commissioners are quite alive to the value of a Physical Science Museum and Laboratory, and feel strongly the great need there is in this country for such an institution. They have on the whole done their work conscientiously and well, and South Kensington testifies to the highly important and beneficial results which they have accomplished. By erecting an insti- tution for the promotion of physical science, they will show their anxiety to make their work complete in all the departments with which they have had to deal. Twenty years ago they started the Museum of Art at Kensington ; if twenty years hence a Museum of Science has made equal progress, the nation will have reason to congratulate itself on the result, and be grateful to the Commissioners for the faithfulness with which they have done their work. WHEWELLS WRITINGS AND CORRE- SPONDENCE William Whewell, D.D., Master 0/ Trinity College, Cam- bridge. An Account of his Writings, with Selections from his Literary and Scientific Correspondence. By L Tod- hunter, M.A., F.R.S., Honorary Fellow of St. John's College. (London ; Macmillan and Co., 1876.) WE frequently hear the complaint that as the boundaries of science are widened its cultivators become less of philosophers and more of specialists, each confining himself with increasing exclusiveness to the area with which he is familiar. This is probably an inevitable result of the development of science, which has made it impossible for any one man to acquire a thorough knowledge of the whole, while each of its sub-divisions is now large enough to afford occupation for the useful work of a lifetime. The ablest cultivators of science are agreed that the student, in order to make the most of his powers, should ascertain in what field of science these powers are most available, and that he should then con- fine his investigations to this field, making use of otb er parts of science only in so far as they bear upon his special subject. Accordingly we find that Dr. Whewell, in his article in the " Encycloptedia Metropolitana," on " Archimedes and Greek Mathematics," says of Eratosthenes, who, like him- self, was philologer, geometer, astronomer, poet, and anti- quary : " It is seldom that one person attempts to master so many subjects without incurring the charge and per- haps the danger of being superficial." It is probably on account of the number and diversity of the kinds of intellectual work in which Dr. Whewell attained eminence that his name is most widely known. Of his actual performances the "History "and the "Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences " are the most characteristic, and this because his practical acquaintance with a certain part of his great subject enabled him the better to deal with those parts which he had studied only in books, and to describe their relations in a more intelligent manner than those authors who have devoted themselves entirely to the general aspect of human knowledge without being actual workers in any particular department of it. But the chief characteristic of Dr. Whewell's intel- lectual life seems to have been the energy and persever- ance with which he pursued the development of each of the great ideas which had in the course of his life pre- sented itself to him. Of these ideas some might be greater than others, but all were large. The special 'pursuit, therefore, to which he devoted himself was the elaboration and the expression of the ideas appropriate to different branches of knowledge. The discovery of a new fact, the invention of a theory, the solution of a problem, the filling up of a gap in an existing science, were interesting to him not so much for their own sake as additions to the general stock of know- ledge, as for their illustrative value as characteristic in- stances of the processes by which all human knowledge is developed. To watch the first germ of an appropriate idea as it was developed either in his own mind or in the writings of the founders of the sciences, to frame appropriate and scientific words in which the idea might be expressed, and then to construct a treatise in which the idea should be largely developed and the appropriate words copiously exemplified— such seems to have been the natural channel of his intellectual activity in whatever direction it over- flowed. When any of his great works had reached this stage he prepared himself for some other labour, and if new editions of his work were called for, the alterations which he introduced often rather tended to destroy than to com- plete the unity of the original plan. Mr. Todhunter has given us an exhaustive account of Dr. Whewell's writings and scientific work, and in this we may easily trace the leading ideas which he successively inculcated as a writer. We can only share Mr. Tod- hunter's regret that it is only as a writer that he appears in this book, and it is to be hoped that the promised account of his complete life as a man may enable us to form a fuller conception of the individuality and unity of his character, which it is hard to gather from the multifarious collection of his books. Dr. Whewell first appears before us as the author of a long series of text-books on Mechanics. His position as a tutor of his College, and the interest which he took in University education, may have induced him to spend more time in the composition of elementary treatises than would otherwise have been congenial to him, but in the prefaces to the different editions, as well as in the intro- ductory chapters of each treatise, he shows that sense of the intellectual and educational value of the study of first principles which distinguishes all his writings. It is manifest from his other writings, that the composition of these text-books, involving as it did a thorough study of the fundamental science of Dynamics, was a most appro- July 6, 1876] NATURE 207 priate training for his subsequent labours in the survey of the sciences in their widest extent. " It has always appeared to me," says Mr. Todhunter, " that Mr. Whewell would have been of great benefit to students if he had undertaken a critical revision of the technical language of Mechanics. This language was formed to a great extent by the early writers at an epoch when the subject was imperfectly understood, and many terms were used without well-defined meanings. Gradu- ally the language has been improved, but it is still open to objection." In after years, when his authority in scientifi:. termi- nology was widely recognised, we find Faraday, Lyell, and others applying to him for appropriate expressions for the subject-matter of their discoveries, and receiving in reply systems of scientific terms which have not only held their place in technical treatises, but are gradually becoming familiar to the ordinary reader. " Is it not true," Dr. Whewell asks in his Address to the Geological Society, "in our science as in all others, that a technical phraseology is real wealth, because it puts in our hands a vast treasure of foregone generalisations.'"' Perhaps, however, he felt it less difficult to induce scientific men to adopt a new term for a new idea than to persuade the students and teachers of a University to alter the phraseology of a time-honoured study. But even in the elementary treatment of Dynamics, if we compare the text-books of different dates, we cannot fail to recognise a marked progress. Those by Dr. Whewell were far in advance of any former text-books as regards logical coherence and scientific accuracy, and if many of those which have been published since have fallen behind in these respects, most of them have introduced some slight improvement in terminology which has not been allowed to be lost. Dr. Whe well's opinion with respect to the evidence of the fundamental doctrines of mechanics is repeatedly inculcated in his writings. He considered that experi- ment was necessary in order to suggest these truths to the mind, but that the doctrine when once fairly set before the mind is apprehended by it as strictly true, the accuracy of the doctrine being in no way dependent on the accuracy of observation of the result of the experi- ment. He therefore regarded experiments onthe laws of motion as illustrative experiments, meant to make us familiar with the general aspect of certain phenomena, and not as experiments of research from which the results are to be deduced by careful measurement and calculation. Thus experiments on the fall of bodies may be re- garded as experiments of research into the laws of gravity. We find by careful measurements of times and distances that the intensity of the force of gravity is the same what- ever be the motion of the body on which it acts. We also ascertain the direction and magnitude of this force on different bodies and in different places. All this can only be done by careful measurement, and the results are affected by aU the errors of observation to which we are liable. The same experiments may be also taken as illustra- tions of the laws of motion. The performance of the experiments tends to make us familiar with these laws, and to impress them on our minds. But the laws of motion cannot be proved to be accurate by a comparison of the observations which we make, for it is only by taking the laws for granted that we have any basis for our calcu- lations. We may ascertain, no doubt, by experiment, that the acceleration of a body acted on by gravity is the same whatever be the motion of that body, but this does not prove that a constant force produces a constant ac- celeration, but only that gravity is a force, the intensity of which does not depend on the velocity of the body on which it acts. The truth of Dr. Whewell's principle is curiously illus- trated by a case in which he persistently contradicted it. In a paper communicated to the Philosophical Society ot Cambridge, and reprinted at the end of his " Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences," Dr. Whewell conceived that he had proved, a pt tori, that all matter must be heavy. He was well acquainted with the history of the establishment of the law of gravitation, and knew that it was only by careful experiments and observations that Newton ascer- tained that the effect of gravitation on two equal masses is the same whatever be the chemical nature of the bodies, but in spite of this he maintained that it is contrary not only to observation but to reason, that any body should be repelled instead of attracted by another, where- as it is a matter of daily experience, that any two bodies when they are brought near enough, repel each other. The fact seems to be that, finding the word weight employed in ordinary language to denote the quantity ot matter in a body, though in scientific language it denotes the tendency of that body to move downwards, and at the same time supposing that the word mass in its scien- tific sense was not yet sufficiently established to be used without danger in ordinary language, Dr. Whewell en- deavoured to make the word weight carry the meaning of the word mass. Thus he tells us that " the weight of the whole compound must be equal to the weights of the separate elements." On this Mr. Todhunter very properly observes : — "Of course there is no practical uncertainty as to this principle ; but Dr. WheweU seems to allow his readers to imagine that it is of the same nature as the axiom that ' two straight lines cannot inclose a space.' There is, however, a wide difference between them, depending on a fact which Dr. Whewell has himself recognised in another place (see vol. i., p. 224). The truth is, that strictly speaking the weight of the whole compound is not equal to the weight of the separate elements ; for the weight depends upon the position of the compound par- ticles, and in general by altering the position of the particles, the resultant effect which we call weight is altered, though it may be to an inappreciable extent." It is evident that what Dr. Whewell should have said was : " The mass of the whole compound must be equal to the sum of the masses of the separate elements." This statement all would admit to be strictly true, and yet not a single experiment has ever been made in order to verify it. All chemical measurements are made by comparing the weights of bodies, and not by comparing the forces required to produce given changes of motion in the bodies ; and as we have just been reminded by Mr. Todhunter, the method of comparing quantities of matter by weighing them is not strictly correct. Thus, then, we are led by experiments which are not only liable to error, but which are to a certain extent erroneous in principle, to a statement which is universally 208 NATURE \yuly 6, 1876 acknowledged to be strictly true. Our conviction of its truth must therefore rest on some deeper foundation than the experiments which suggested it to our minds. The belief in and the search for such foundations is, I think, the most characteristic feature of all Dr. Whewell's work. J. Clerk Maxwell GOULD'S BIRDS OF NEW GUINEA The Birds of Neio Guinea and the Adjacetit Papuan Islands, including any new Species that tnay be Dis- covered in Australia. By John Gould, F.R.S., &c. Parts I., II., and III. (London : Published by the Author,. 1 875-76.) NOT long ago we had the pleasure of recording in these columns the completion of one of Mr. Gould's great series of illustrated works on ornithology. We have now to notice the commencement of another work belonging to the same category, of not less import- ance, on the origin of which we propose to say a few words. The "Birds of Australia" must be known to most of our scientific readers as one of the most import- ant ornithological works ever produced in this or any other country. Defects it has, no doubt — nothing is per- feet in this world — but, whereas before its existence the birds of that great continent were almost unknown to naturalists, the termination of Mr. Gould's labours left us with such a history of the feathered inhabitants of this portion of the globe as hardly any other country at that time possessed. Some years after the completion of his " Birds of Australia," Mr. Gould issued the first number of a supplement to the same work, undertaken for the purpose of illustrating the new species discovered by his various agents and correspondents, as new portions of Australian territory were explored. This was completed in 1869, and gave us an account of 81 species, in addi- tion to 600 already included in the original " Birds of Australia." The work of which the two first numbers are now before us — though a different title is given to it — is, in fact, a second supplement to the " Birds of Aus- tralia." New Guinea, as is now well understood by naturalists, in spite of a certain amount of idiosyncrasy, belongs'essentially to the same fauna as Australia. Long ago it was known that many peculiarities are common to the animal and vegetable products of these two countries. Since Northern Australia has been explored, and further investigation made of the rich fauna of New Guinea, the mjmy points of contact between the natural productions of these two lands have been greatly augmented, and there can be little question that we have in New Guinea an exaggerated reproduction of many of the chief peculiari- ties of the Australian type. Looking to the great interest that is now more than ever attaching itself to the pro- ducts of New Guinea, Mr. Gould has very naturally determined to combine his illustrations of the many won- derful birds of that country with the new additions that he still continues to receive from Australia, and this is, in fact, the object of the present work. The great feature in the ornithology of New Guinea is, as is well known, the Paradise-Birds, which are mostly confined to that country and the adjoining islands, though some of the members extend far into North Eastern Australia. The splendid metallic colouring of these birds and the ornamental tufts and plumes that adorn the adult males, afford welcome subjects to the artist's pencil, and are naturally objects on which Mr. Gould is desirous of showing his habitual skill. We have not, therefore, to turn over many leaves of his first number, before we come across representations of two of the finest members of this group, namely the Six-plumed Paradise Bird, known to naturalists since the days of Linnaeus, and D'Albertis' Paradise Bird, one of the most recent additions to this remarkable group. In the second number Mr. Gould gives us figures of the three species oiDiphyllodes, another remarkable member of the same family. Some of the splendid parrots of New Guinea are likewise depicted. In the third part of his work, which has only been istued within these last few days, further illustrations of the magnificent group of Paradise-Birds are given. The singular species of Diphyllodes, so remarkable for its bare head, which the late Prince Charles Bonaparte, in his democratic ardour, dedicated to the Republic, is among the most striking forms yet discovered even in this wonderful group, and both sexes are admirably figured in the present number. Although originally described from a single im- perfect specimen, this striking bird has recently been dis- covered by Dr. Bernstein living in the islands of Waigion and Botanta, and no less than ten specimens obtained by this zealous but unfortunate explorer ornament the gallery of the Leyden Museum. The King Bird of Paradise {Cicinnurus regius) is another species selected by Mr. Gould for illustration in the present number. Although known to us since the last century, it is only of late years that perfect specimens have reached the collections of Europe. Our countryman, Mr. Wallace, was one of the first naturalists to observe it in its native forests, and his eloquent account of the specimens obtained by him in Aru will be known to many of our readers. Still more recently, the naturalists in the employ of the Leyden Museum and the Italian explorers D'Albertis and Beccari have sent to Europe a large number of specimens of it. Five charming parrots of the most brilliant and strongly contrasted colours, several of which are hitherto unfigured, are likewise depicted in Mr. Gould's third number. The part terminates with figures of two recent additions to the Avifauna of Australia. Of these the two named Sternula placens is perhaps rather a doubtful species as regards its norelty to science, though doubtless new to the Australian list. The second Glyciphila subfasciata is one of Mr. E. P. Ramsay's interesting discoveries in Northern Queensland, and is one of the smallest and most plainly coloured of the great and characteristic of the Australian family of Honey-eaters. In concluding our notice of this important work, we may venture to say that those who are acquainted with the author's failing health, cannot but admire the spirit which he has displayed in commencing it, while every one will, we are sure, heartily join with us in wishing him complete recovery and a successful accomplishment of his arduous task. When one of our Italian friends has recently described fifty-two new species of Papuan birds in a single memoir, even Mr. Gould's well-known energy will have to exert itself considerably in order to keep up with what is going on. July 6, 1876] NATURE 209 OUR BOOKSHELF Fatmnes in India ; their Causes and possible Prevention. Being the Cambridge Le Bas Prize Essay, 1875. By A. Lukyn Williams, B.A. (London : Henry S. King and Co., 1876.) We have in this prize essay a very creditable digest of a mass of blue books touching on a subject of the greatest importance to India, and to ourselves. Mr. Williams has first sought to interest his readers by recalling famines nearer home and their dreadful consequences ; he has then divided his subject into two parts, the first occupied with the causes, the second with the possible prevention of famines in India. The chief causes producing a failure of crops are to be found in the land having too little or too much water, — in the failure of the seasonal rains, or in floods from overcharged rivers ; to which must be added the wants due to the difficulty of conveying food from places where it is abundant to those where its production has been destroyed. There can be little doubt as to the common causes of famines in India ; the important question is how they are to be prevented. Is it possible to be prepared for a failure of the seasonal rains, that is, can we foresee by ©ur present knowledge, that a year, half a year, or even three months hence there will certainly be a great deficiency of rain over a given district or country ? This, we have to confess, is at present beyond our power. Meteorology cannot yet be called a science ; it is a series of fragmentary facts ; a mass of undigested observations ; a groping after laws through false hypotheses which have gained their position through celebrated names. As long as men like Galileo were satisfied with the hypothesis that nature abhorred a vacuum, all progress in hydrostatics was impossible. Although we have got over that, the spirit which kept Aristotle alive is still above ground, and meteorology will scarcely advance unless facts are studied independently of the views of any master as to their causes. What here- after may be possible in the way of prediction is too wide a subject for this notice. Failing the foreknowledge required to be prepared for the want of rain, there remains the very practical process of being provided with water, through canals and aque- ducts connected with the many perennial sources of India. Mr. Williams appears to have referred little to the views of Sir Arthur Cotton on this part of the subject, though these are of the highest value. When both rain and aqueducts are wanting, good means of communication with more favoured districts are essential (these are indeed essential in any case), great central railways are required for our hold, and proper government of the empire, but these are too costly to satisfy for many long years the real requirements of such a people and of such a country. Wherever they can be made, canals, which serve as great lines of communication and feeders of aqueducts for irri- gation, are apparently best suited to the present wants of India : these, with large reservoirs, which could frequently be constructed at moderate expense, would diminish to a great extent the possibility of famine. That forests retard the discharge into rivers of the fallen rain, and diminish the height of floods, is a fact now so well known that the planting of trees and the preserva- tions of woods, especially on steep slopes, has been recognised as essential to the protection of every land subject to inundations. Mr. Williams has treated of these and many other matters, including the improvement of agriculture and land tenure, in a way which shows he has mastered the reports of several highly distinguished officers who have studied these questions on the spot ; and the essay will give readers interested in its sub- ject a. very satisfactory idea of the facts connected with it. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor dots 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 J\ Lectures on Meteorology Most people conversant with the subject will agree with '' Spes " (vol. xiii., p. 169) that meteorology should now be con- sidered as much a separate science as mineralogy or geology, and be taught as such ; but I would suggest whether without waiting for the foundation of sp ;cial chairs in the colleges, im- mediate steps might not be taken with advantage to bring it before the class of persons not usually to be found in colleges, to whom it is of essential importance, by means of the Science and Art Department Organisation. Physical Geography, which may be considered as a somewhat kindred science, is, I believe, one of the most popular amongst the candidates for the South Kensington certificates, and by Sie directory for 1875 it appears that in that year this subject was taught in 686 classes to 17,720 students, thus heading the list of science schools, for the next two subjects in popularity ; Ele- mentary Mathematics and Electricity, only numbar 537 and 485 classes, with 10,502 and 12,515 students respectively. Dr. Hooker, P.R.S., the learned director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, in arranging the science lessons given during the winter to the young gardeners training in that establishment has, for the past two years, caused a course of lectures on Meteoro- logy to be delivered in addition to the lectures on Botany, Chemistry, &c., and examinations have been held and certificates awarded for proficiency in this science equally with the others. The movement to spread the knowledge of the principles of meteorology must be a strictly educational one, for experience proves that it is useless to attempt to popularise it by means of lectures to institutions, &c. ; for although offered gratis to com- mittees and managers, these are as a rule very reluctant to accept them, as from the absence of brilliant experiments or optical illustrations, they fail to attract large audiences. The steps taken by the British Meteorological Society during their last and previous sessions, which have resulted in the addition to its ranks of so many ofiicers of health and civil engineers, show that interest is not wanting in the science j and it is only to be regretted that "Spes "has brought forward his proposal so late in the season, that no opportunity can occur for bringing it before the society before their next winter session. The want of text books on the science now felt would soon disappear, as pubUshers would at once bring out works on the subject, were a demand for them to arise. Richmond G. M. Whipple The Axolotl When, in 1873, Mr. Mivart published in your pages, in his papers on "The Common Frog," an account of the Mexican Axolotl, I arrived theoretically at conclusions which are, I think, identical with those reached by Weissmann, whose re- searches, recorded in the Zeitschrift fUr Zoologie, you published in abstract on the 8th inst. Mr. Mivart says : "Its mature con- dition was considered to be established by the discovery that it possesses perfect powers of reproducing its kind ;" thus seeming to admit that its metamorphosis from the Siredon to the Ambly- stoma form proves it to have been really a fertile, persistent, larval form. He then used this metamorphosis of a larval into a mature form as a fact in favour of his hypothesis of sudden development ; as if the Axolotl and Amblystoma were actually of distinct genera, and not merely the subjects of a mistake arising from partial knowledge, analogous to those by which the larval Nauplius and Zoea were constituted into genera. Sir John Lubbock's remarks on Chironomus ("Origin and Meta- morphosis of Insects," p. 76) are relevant He says : "It seems to me possible, if not probable, that some larvK which do not now breed, may, in the course of ages, acquire the power of doing so." Persistent larval forms would seem to have origi- nated from adaptational causes, which. Sir John Lubbock remarks, may act through natural selection ; and the power of reproduc- tion to have been in time acquired. Any subsequent cases of perfect development from a previously persistent larval form, such as the metamorphosis in question, would seem, as indi- cated by the absence of sexual power in the resultant A*nbly- 2IO NATURE {July 6, 1876 stoma forms, to be analogous to cases of degeneration, or return to an abandoned course of development, rather than to the commencement of a new stage of progress. The adaptational advantages, which caused the larval form to become persistent, ceasing to operate, the Ambly stoma form may very possibly, in time, reobtain its reproductive powers and its position as the normally perfect ammal of which the Siredon is the larva. June 28 G. S. Boulger Remarks upon a Hailstorm which passed over Belgaum on April 21, 1876 About 1.30 p.m., after some light rain, large hail-stones com- menced falling one here and there, and gradually thickening for ten minutes, were followed up by a sharp shower of rain. The first stones which fell were of a compressed oval shape, with sides slightly rounded or bulging, about I inch in length and f inch in breadth, the centre being about \ inch thick. The centre or nucleus of the stone was about the size of a large pea, and appeared to consist of a mass of infinitesimally minute air- bubbles. Surrounding this nucleus were two collateral tracings — not rings, for they were far from being round — unlike in form, the one occasionally bulging beyond the other : — Towards the end of the storm the hail-stones decreased in size and assumed a rounded shape, about \ inch in diameter, with the same internal conformation, but proportionately small com- pared with the size of the stones. G. A. Newman Williams' (?) Thermometer As the Physical Loan Collection at South Kensington includes a new (?) thermometer by Mr, John Williams — I presume the son of the late Secretary of the Astronomical Society — I hereby beg to vindicate my priority therein, as printed in the London Philosophical Magazine for Junvmry 1850, vol. xxxvi. My com- munication is dated Dec. 6, 1849, wherein I proposed making the common — 40° F. or C. to be the zero, and the boiling-point of water 1000 ; being 252° F. or 140° C. interval. Also putting zero at — 38° F. to have 250° F, for the extreme difference. This would generally avoid negat. deg. (and even the decimal pointing), mere, freez. — 39 = + 4 or — 4 according to the scale 252 or 250 : — F. o = 1587 32*= 2857 39 =- 313*5 50 = 357-1 84 = 492*1 98 = 547-6 152 280 308 352 488 544 150 = 174 = 212* = 655 = 672 = 754-0 849*2 1000 'O 2758-0 2825-4 752 848 1000 2772 2840 In a tract on the Limits of the Atmosphere, printed in 1840, I showed that the absolute zero of cold is unattainable. Pour any fluid substance in a cylinder, and mark the dilatation points for 32" and 212° F,, it is obvious that by carrying thS scale down- wards to the bottom of the cylinder, that the fluid cannot con- dense to the very bottom of the vessel, else its density would be infinite. At or before this lowest degree of the scale the said fluid will therefore remain stationary or begin to expand upwards, as water does at 32°. I enclose copies printed at the time of my said papers. S. M. Drach June 26 The Cuckoo There is a saying in Somersetshire : — " The Cuckoo sings in April, The Cuckoo sings in May ; The Cuckoo sings the day before But not on Midsummer- day." This year, the cuckoo sang cheerily on the 24th, and is still sing- ing on the 28th with undiminished vigour. H. M. Adair Taunton Geology of Zermatt Being about to spend some time in the Zermatt district, I should be much obliged if any of your readers could give me through your pages (as the information would doubtless be serviceable to others) the titles of such works on the geology and mineralogy of that portion of the Alps as they can recommend from their own use of them. Viator OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN The Total Solar Eclipse of 1878, July 29.-011 March 26 of the present year an anmilar eclipse passed over British Columbia, the sun being high in the heavens and near the meridian when the annulus was formed. On July 29, 1878, the still more interesting phenomenon, a total solar eclipse, will be visible in the same district, the track of the central line passing thence over the western states of America to the Gulf of Mexico. Our American confreres will no doubt give a good account of it. The duration of totality attains a maximum in British Columbia, and the present remarks will be confined to the passage of the total eclipse over this country. Em- ploying the Nautical Almanac elements, which as regards the moon's place are in very close agreement with those of the American ephemeris founded on the tables of Prof. Peirce, and making a direct calculation for longitude 123° 30' W., latitude 53° 30' N,, we find the following particulars : — h. m. s. o Totality begins July 29, at i 32 24 local M.T. at 61 from N.Pt. towards W. ,, ends „ ,, I 35 36 ,, „ 118 ,, „ E. The duration is therefore 3m. 12s. The sun's altitude at the middle of the eclipse is 52°. A similar calculation gives for the commencement of the partial eclipse oh. 19m. 47s. local M.T. at 62° from the sun's north point towards the west, altitude 56°. For any other point not far from the above- assumed position the times of beginning and ending of totality may be deduced from the following formulas : — Cos. iu = 51-5275 - [i 846J2] sin. / + [1-67405] COS. /, cos. [L + 203° 44'-5) i = 9h. 59m. 4-6s. ^ [1-98350] sin. i» — [3-56410] sin. / — [3 86142] COS. /, COS. (L + 245° 6'-7). The beginning of the partial eclipse will be given by — Co«. TV = 0-98476 — [0-19431] sin. / + [0-00582] COS. /, COS. (L + 184° 34''7) / = loh. 19m. 43s. — [3-65657] sin. iv — [3-55998] sin. / — [3 88264] COS. /, cos. (Z + 227° i9'-4). In the above formulae L expresses the west longitude from Greenwich taken negatively, I the geocentric lati- tude, and the quantities within the square brackets are logarithms. Upper sign for beginning of totality, lower sign for ending. The following figures should define pretty accurately the limits of the belt of totaUty in British Columbia : — Geographical Latitude of W. longitude. N. Limit. Central Line. S. Limit. 126 30 .. 56 22-1 .. 55 ii'o .. • 54 i'*4 123 30 .. 54 42-6 •• 53 307 • • 52 20-5 122 0 .. 53 50-5 .. 52 38-4 . ■ 51 27-9 120 30 .. 52 56-9 • • 51 446 .. • 50 33-9 117 30 .. 51 5-3 •• 49 52-5 •• . 48 41-4 Fort Fraser, it will be seen, is very nearly on the line of central eclipse. At a point, longitude 121° 37' W., latitude 52° 27', just south of Lake Quesnelle, the central lines of the annular eclipse of March, 1876, and the total eclipse of July, 1878, intersect. At New Westminster, the capital of British Columbia, the eclipse is partial only, commencing at oh. 30m. and ending at 2h. 59m. local mean times, magnitude 0-95. Bessel's " Abhandlungen."— The second volume of the reprint of Bessel's astronomical and other memoirs, under the editorship of Dr. Engelmann, of Leipsic, has appeared. The contents relate to the theory of instru- ments, including the treatises of the great Konigsberg July 6, 1876] NATURE 211 astronomer on the heliometer, which in his hands acquired so universal a reputation ; to sidereal astronomy, with the memoirs relating to the parallax of 61 Cygni, the measures of the principal members of the Pleiades, to which Dr. Engelmann has added a chart of the group containing stars visible in a telescope of lo'ii cm. aperture, or to " about lo'ii magnitude," the stars not found in Argelander's DurcJwtusterun^ having a distinguishing mark. Several mathematical essays follow. MiRA Ceti. — Reference is often made in treatises on astronomy to the unusual degree of brilliancy attained by this variable star at the maximum of 1779. From the observations of Bode, Herschel, and Wargentin, we have the following particulars of the augmentation and diminu- tion of brightness in that year. Aug. 22.— Invisible in an ordinary 2-feet telescope. Sept. 8. — Seen with the same instrument but very faint. Sept. 18. — Immediately visible to the naked eye ac- cording to Herschel. Bode estimated it 4m. Oct. 5 and 6. — Already much brighter than Menkar (a Ceti). Oct. 15-19. — Equal to a Arietis on iSth, and still brighter on the 19th ; the light reddish. Oct. 30. — According to Wargentin, it was equal to Aldebaran and of the same colour, or even of the redness of Mars which was observable the same night. In a 10- feet achromatic Mira shot out vivid red rays. Herschel considered it midway in brightness between a Arietis and Aldebaran. Nov. 2. — There was even an increase, in the judgment of Herschel. Nov. II. — Visible as early as Aldebaran and Mars. Nov. 20. — As bright as, but not brighter than stars of the second magnitude, according to Herschel, but on the 25th much brighter than Menkar, though less than Alde- baran, according to Wargentin. Dec. 4. — Only equal to a Arietis. Dec. 7 and 10. — So much diminished since Nov. 25, that it was now hardly equal to Menkar, and its colour was now whiter. Dec. 25. — Before the moon rose, equal to y Ceti, or of the third magnitude. Dec. 29. — Only a little brighter than the fourth magni- tude ; not equal to y or 8 Ceti. Argelander gives for the date of maximum 1779, Nov. 6. THE TASMANIANS THE historical -^triodi of this singular race of mankind has lasted no longer than a centuiy, for up to one hundred years ago they had unimpeded sway in the island of Van Diemen. Once invaded by Europeans, they had inevitably to succumb, and they gradually but speedily dwindled away, the last of them having died about two years ago, so that now they are completely extinct. The island when discovered by Tasman contained about 7,000 inhabitants. In the year 1803 it was annexed by Britain for a penal settlement. Hatred, amounting to display of violence, broke out between the aborigines and the criminal occupiers of the soil. The scattered remnants of the native tribes were subsequently gathered together, and provided for by the Government at various retreats, until the last of the race in course of time passed away. Dr. Barnard Davis, F.R.S., the well-known ethnologist, in a recent paper,' endeavours to prove by the comparison of a skeleton, and some skulls of an Australian and a Tasmanian, that these two people belonged to two dis- tinct races of man, having been previously erroneously confounded together. I "On the Osteology and Peculiarities of the Tasmanians, a Race of Man Recently become Extinct." Reprint 4to from the " Natuurkundige Verhande- lingen der HoDandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen." 3rd Verz, Deel II., No. 4. Illu-trated by four splendid lithographic plates. Almost the only relics which the Tasmanains have left behind them are their bones. Fortunately before the entire extinction of the race, men of science had begun to see the importance of the study of craniology, so that a few skulls, but still only a fttvf, have been collected and preserved. One chief reason of the scarcity of crania is the manner of the disposal of the dead — by fire. These were often placed in a hollow tree, surrounded by spears, so that on the occurrence of any bush fire the bones even were certain to be consumed. Two out of the twelve skulls in Dr.' Davis' collection have been rescued from fire. Up to the last three years there was not a single Tasmanian skeleton in any European collection. At the present time there are four in England — two, one a male and the other a female, being in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. Two skeletons, also of opposite sexes, are in the Museum of the Royal Society of Tasmania, Hobart Town. The chief works of art, of which, unfortunately, but few are preserved, consist of beautiful necklaces made by stringing the iridescent shells of Purpura elenchus upon thin sinews, also of very rude implements, chippings of a dark-coloured chert, exactly like that used by the Kanakas of the Sandwich Islands, and, lastly, fishing nets. The natives on the south and west coasts make a kind of "catamaran" from rushes. The spears, about ten feet long, are made of the heavy, hard wood of the '' tea tree " pointed and hardened in the fire, and straightened by being passed from end to end between the teeth. For long the Tasmanians ani Australiins were con- founded together, and Europeans who visited the country did not improve matters by calling both races, without distinction, " black," though the colour of their skin was removed from a negroid blackness, being of a "dull dark" colour in the Tasmanian, and "chocolate, coffee-coloured, or nutmeg-coloured" in the Australian.^ There was, moreover, a striking difference between the two people, the Tasmanian being stout and broad- shouldered, while there was such a degree of lankness in the Australian as to cause the former to appear stout. Prof. Huxley, who visited both countries, says of the former people that they " are totally different from the Australians." The Tasmanians were rather short, being below the average of Europeans in stature. The mean height of twenty-three men was found to be 5 ft. 3|^in., or 1,618 mm. ; that of twenty-nine women was only 4 tt. 11 J in., or 1,50'? mm. There are, however, instances, as in othc races, of tall stature among the Tasmanians, for several have been foimd to be 6 fc. in height by measurement. The Austra- Hans are a taller people. Out of thirteen Shirk's Bay natives who ware measured twelve were 5 ft. 10 in. in height, but "there seems," observes Mr. Oldfield, "as much variation among these savages as there is among civilised nations, the mean height being no greater than it is in England." The Tasmanians differed strikingly from the Australians in being robuster ; and that this is no superficial character, but one of race, can be proved by reference to their bones. A question, now unfortunately too late to solve, is — What was the amount of difference between the diiTerent tribes of Tasmania ? For it is known that there were tribes in the island ditTfering to the extent of the possession of dialects mutually unintelligible. With regard to the Australians, some ethnologists main tain that they have physical characters so distinct as to admit of being divided into a woolly-haired and a flowing- haired race. There is, moreover, a striking difference in the structure of the hair in the two races respectively ; that of the Australians growing in flowing ringlets, while the hair of the Tasmanian, being excentrically elliptical on section, has a tendency to twist, and thus comes to grow in small » It is to be hoped that in future, in order to avoid such vagueness of terminology, travellers will adopt M.Broca's useful colour-types. Vide the British Association's " Anthropological Notes and Queries." 212 NATURE \yuly6, 1876 corkscrew locks. This peculiarity allowed them to load their hair with red ochre, so that it hung down in separate ringlets. In colour it is of a very dark brown, popularly called black, approaching in tint to No. 41 ^ of Prof. Broca's " Colour Types." It was difficult to investigate the hair of the women, as, from an idea that it added to their charms, they shaved their heads either with a sharp stone or with broken bottles, on the advent of civilisa- tion ! The women among the Mincopies of the Andaman Islands have the same custom. It is a curious coinci- dence also that the latter race, as did the Tasmanians, were in the habit of carrying fragments of the bones of their relations, as a mark of affection, suspended necklace- wise round their necks. The peculiar growth of hair in spiral tufts is natural to these races, which have peculiar crisp excentrically elliptical hair, and is no work of art, being of spontaneous growth, contrary to the assertions of those whose ideas of race are founded on missionary models. The hair on all the other parts of the body, of which there was no deficiency, was of the same character, there being even on the borders of the whiskers little pellets of hair on the cheeks, " like pepper-corns." The nose of the Tasmanian was not elevated, but very broad across the alas. The upper lip was long, and the mouth wide, but of a pleasant, calm expression. In the strength of the jaws, moreover, the size of the teeth, and the large area of the grinding surface of the molars, the Tasma- nians agree with the Australians, and contrast strikingly with European races. There is a peculiarity in the physiognomy of the Tas- manians which is difficult to describe to others, but which is obvious to those, who, like Dr. Davis, have long studied their crania. It consists in " a particular round- ness, or spherical form, which manifests itself in all the features." Dr. Paul Topinard, too, states (" Etude sur les Tasmaniens," M^ra. de la Soc. d'Anthrop. de Paris, iii. 309) that there are certain marks in the cranium which would " enable him to recognise it anywhere." The thickness and density of the bones of the skull, even in women, is very striking, and " constitutes a de- cided peculiarity of the race." The frontal and parietal bones, for instance, of a small woman's skull, from which the calvarium had been sawn off, was 0*4 inch, or 6 milli- metres, in thickness. The orbits in the Tasmanian skull are, according to Dr. Topinard, small. He says, more- over, that the skull has a sinister expression, while, on the other hand. Dr. Davis regards the countenance of the Tasmanian as a " benevolent, if not mild," one. With regard to prognathism, both in superior alveolar • and in inferior alveolar, or mental prognathism, the Aus- tralfan cranium much exceeds that of the Tasmanian.^ This is well seen in Dr. Davis's plates (Tab. II. III.). Touching cranial capacities, Dr. Topinard concludes that " the anterior lobes of the brain have nearly the same relative development in the two series of skulls, i.e., the Tasmanians and others" [that is, Parisian and Breton skulls taken for comparison]. " The anterior part of the posterior cerebral lobes is a little less developed in the Tasmanians. The posterior part is much less developed. The cerebellum is more voluminous in the Tasmanians, by a quantity approximately equal to the loss which the posterior cerebral lobes undergo." On examining the skeleton of a Tasmanian it will be observed that the bones have the usual robustness seen in European skeletons, differing thus quite from those of the Australian, which are slender. In two skeletons each belonging to one of these races, the last rib was in both three inches long, while in those of an Australian woman described by Prof. Owen this rib was but little more than one inch in length. The ilia are decidedly more everted ' The darkest. ^ In a skull, however, of a male Tasmanian about thirty years o age, belongmg to Dr. Davis, the prognathism, both mental and supra-alveolar, is greater than in that of an Australian youth about twenty years old. in the Tasmanian than in the Australian. The patellse are also larger in the former. There is no olecranon foramen in the humerus of either skeleton. The tibias are, moreover, straight in both, and not of sabre form. In twenty-four Australian skulls of both sexes, there was a mean weight of brain of 41 "38 ounces, or a mean internal capacity of 8ri cubic inches, while in eleven Tasmanian skulls of both sexes the mean cerebral weight was 42*25 ounces, or a corresponding cranial capacity of 82'8 cubic inches. From this it may be deduced that the Tasmanian excels the Australian in having a brain 'Z'j oz., or twenty-four grammes heavier, or an internal capacity of skull superior to the extent of 17 cubic inch. This squares with Dr. Topinard's observations. This being the case, we should suppose that the inven- tive powers of the Tasmanians would exceed those of the Australians ; but this, possibly owing to some extra sti- mulus to the invention of the latter race, is not the case. It seems, indeed, probable that it was the abundance of food in Tasmania which was the cause of the non-inven- tion of two of the implements so necessary to the Aus- tralian when engaged in the chase, to wit, the " boom- erang " and the " wommera," or throwing stick, by which spurs were hurled, both of which are indigenous to Aus- tralia, not being known elsewhere. The Tasmanian had, indeed, the " waddy," a short stick of hard wood, which they threw with a rotatory motion so as to kill a bird on a tree, but this was a far less elegant weapon than its Australian representative, the boomerang. As evidence that the invention of implements is not commensurate, wholly and simply, with cerebral development, we must bear in mind that the bow and arrow, so useful to the Asiatics, Pacific Islanders, and American Indians, was never discovered either by the Tasmanian or Australian. A surprising deficiency among the Australian and Tas- manian tribes is a total absence of pottery, and this among many races that had no substitute in the pericarp of fruits. This is a hard fact for those who would fain believe in the derivation of Australian and Tasmanian from other races. In some parts of Australia where long drought has been suffered the natives have actually used the dried calvarium of a deceased person, cementing the sutures with a vegetable gum, upon which they stick the shell of an oyster to protect the resin from being rubbed off. The Tasmanians were further quite unacquainted with the shield. Nothing is so demonstrative of the complete isolation of the Tasmanians as the fact that, though separated from Australia by a strait but little more than 300 miles wide, there had been no intercommunica- tion from either side between the two countries until the advent of Europeans. This fact tells strongly against those who believe in the almost universal spontaneous diffusion of races. The Tasmanians further had no native dogs, nor was the practice of circumcision known among them, facts tending further to prove the isolation of the two races. Neither this race, moreover, nor the Australians of the south, were in possession of boats, so that even the intermediate islands in the straits were quite uninhabited. There is reason, however, to believe that, like the Australians, some tribes of the Tasmanians were accustomed to punch out the front teeth. This rests only on osteological evidence, as no account has ever been given of the prevalence of the custom among this race. Finally, " all that can be said with truth is that the Taynanians are not Austrahans, they are not Papuans, and they are not Polynesians. Although they may present resemblances to some of these, they differ from them sub- stantially and essentially." From this it may be concluded that the Tasmanians were one of the most isolated races of mankind which ever existed. They have been one of the earliest races to perish totally by coming in contact with Europeans, and '* their record now belongs wholly to the past." - J. C. G. July 6, 1876] NATURE 213 THE KINEMATICS OF MACHINERY THE study of pure mechanism, a branch of kinematics, in general consists of the solution of the following problems : — Given the mode of connection of two or more points or bodies with each other, required their compa- rative motion, and conversely given their comparative motion to find their proper connection. Now the compa- rative motion of two points is determined, as laid down by Willis, when (i) the velocity ratio or the proportion which their velocities bear to each other, and (2) their directional relations, are known ; the latter requiring for its complete determination {a) the angle between the directions com- pared, {b) the angle which the plane containing the two directions makes with a plane hxed in space, and [c) the angle the intersection of the two planes makes with a fixed line on the latter plane. In " Kmematics of Machinery," the English translation by Prof. A, B. W. Kennedy of Prof. Reuleaux's " Theoretische Kinematik," 1 the study is confined within narrower hmits, causing the translator not a little difiSculty, as he expresses in his preface, to translate the word kinematic, carrying as it does a more extended signification here than on the Continent. Starting with the condition that the change of position is definite at each instant, and determined by the form and connection of the fixed and moving parts, Prof. Reuleaux proceeds to investigate the directional relations of the motion and the arrangements of the parts by which the motion is best brought about without any reference to the idea of velocity. On turning to the Appendix, pp. 585-589, we find a most interesting historical collection of the definitions of a machine, one of which definitions ve remark includes equally an adhesive fly-paper and the red-hot poker of the clown; that given by Reuleaux, p. 35, is more concise and certainly nearer the point than most of these. " A machine is a combination of resistant bodies so arranged that by their means the mechanical forces of nature can be compelled to do work accompanied by certain deter- minate motions." Thus the prevention, by the resistance of the different parts, of all motion other than that desired, as well as the conversion into useful work of as much of the energy expended as its efficiency permits, is the function of the machine. " Those parts of a machine transmitting the forces by which the moving points are caused to limit their motions in the definite and required manner, must be bodies of suitable resistant capacity ; the moving parts themselves must belong also to similar bodies." But the determination of the suitable form and sectional area of the resistant parts, though indispensable in the construc- tion of the machine, belongs to another part of the study of machine design, and cannot be included in the kine- matic discussion. We now come to the conception of a pair of elements. In order that a body B (Fig. i) may prevent all ether motion in the body A than that desired, A being ' "The Kinematics of Machinery : Outlines of a Theory of M»chines." By K. Reuleaux, Director of and Professor in the Kiiniglichen Gewerbe- Akademie in Berlin, Member of the Konigl. technischen Deputation fur Gewerbe. Translated and edited by Alex. B. W. Kennedy, C.E., Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering in University College, Loodon. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1876.) assumed to move in a plane, B must be given a form such that it always remains in contact with A in all its required positions ; when that has been done no other motion can be given to A with respect to B. This geometrical form of B is called the envelope of A, and it is plain that the motion of B with respect to A, considered fixed, is the same as that of A with respect to B, and that no other motion of B with respect to A is possible ; that is, A is also the envelope of B. The relation is thus seen to be reciprocal. A combination of this sort is called a pair of elements, and a machine consists solely of such elements, corresponding reciprocally in pairs. " The shaft and the bearing, the screw and the nut are examples of such pairs of elements. We see here that the kinematic elements of a machine are not employed singly, but always in pairs, or, in other words, that the machine cannot so well be said to consist of elements as of pairs of elements. If a kinematic pair of elements be given, a definite motion can be obtained by means of them if one be held fast or fixed in posiiion. The other element is free to be moved, but only in the one particular way allowed by the consti- tution of the pair." In order to combine two pairs of elements ab and cd, we must unite each element of one pair with one of the elements of the other pair. If this is effected as in Fig. 2, no new motion is obtained, as also when they are in the same straight line ; but if a and d are united in such a manner as not to be parallel or in one straght line, the motion is entirely altered, and any points between b and c will describe a curve. In either of these two cases having united a to d and b to c, we have only two resistant bodies each limiting and determining the relative motion Fro. 2. of the other ; thus the two pairs of elements are reduced to one pair, in one case with the same, in the other with a different motion. " Accordingly, the reciprocal combination of the ele- ments of two pairs gives us again a pair of elements which may differ from either of the single pairs of which it is composed." Again, a combination of three, four, or more pairs of elements may be made, each element of each pair being combined with one element of another pair, thus forming a linkage returning upon itself, or a so- called closed kinematic chain. Fig. 3 shows this com- bination. As a good example of this, the beam, connecting rod and crank of a beam-engine may be taken ; a and b are the Plummer blocks of the crank shaft and main centre rigidly connected together by the bar a/i, which represents in the engine the rigid connection of these two by the frame, supports, and bed ; b the crank-shaft rigidly con- nected by the crank with the crank-pin c; de the connect- ing rod rigidly connecting the crank pin c with the gudgeon f, and lastly, the beam eh rigioly connecting the gudgeon / with the main centre g. In this closed chain of four pairs of elements the only motions of each part with respect Xo ah regarded as fixed are readily seen. Thus we are led on to the result that " the mechanism is a closed kinematic chain ; the kinematic chain is compound or simple, and consists of kinematic pairs of elements ; these carry the envelopes required for the motion which the bodies in contact must have, and by these all motions L 2 214 NATURE [yuly 6, 1876 other than those desired in the mechanism are prevented." When one of the mechanical forces of nature, such as that of falling water, moving air, or expanding steam, is applied to one of the movable links in such a manner as to cause it to change its position, mechanical work is performed accompanied by certain determinate motions, and the whole is called a machine. The relative motion of two bodies in a plane is next considered, and the con- ceptions of the instantaneous centre and of centroids Fig 3. introduced. At each instant of the motion in a plane of one body with respect to another considered as fixed, the motion can be accurately represented by a rotation in the plane about a fixed point, which, however, in each suc- ceeding instant may occupy a dififerent position ; this point is called the instantaneous centre, and the positions it occupies in successive instants trace the centroid. Space will not permit us to 'show the formation of the reciprocal centroid, or how the motion of the moving body can be represented at each instant by the rolling on one another of the centroids, and the motion of any points connected rigidly with the moving body determined when the centroids are known, but the example given as illus- trating the determination of relative motion from the known centroids will speak for itself. The centroids given are a circle and straight line which roll on each other. All points rigidly connected with the circle Fig. 4. describe trochoids, the line being regarded as fixed ; all points rigidly connected with the straight line describe involutes, the circle being considered fixed, aad all these paths are determinate, and can be constructed if the position of the moving point with respect to the moving element, circle or line, and the centroids, the line and circle are given. From motion in a plane and the determination of centroids. we pass to motion in space. If the position of three points in a rigid body not in the same straight line are known, the position of any other point in it may be determined from them, and if the three points are fixed in space the body is also fixed. Thus, to determine the relative motion of two rigid bodies in space, we have only to consider the motion of two triangles fixed one in each of them ; or the motion of one triangle fixed in the moving body with respect to the other reduced to rest. The change of position of the moving triangle may take place in many ways, but it may in every case be effected by its translation parallel to itself in a line joining the old and new positions of one of its angular points, and then by a rotation about an axis through the new position of that angular point. Thus any change of position of a rigid body may be effected by a simple translation and a simple translation about an axis. The simplest case is when the translation takes place along a line parallel to the axis of rotation, when, if the change of position of the moving body be taken indefinitely small, the instan- taneous axes of rotation along which sliding simulta- neously takes place become indefinitely near each other ; the motion is then a simple twist. " Consider a pair of bodies having conical rolling, in which both cones have a motion of translation in space. The rotation then takes place through the conical rolling, and the sliding through the translation of the pair ot bodies." Next " consider the consecutive positions of the axes as forming a pair of ruled surfaces, one for each body, so that the motion is reduced to the rolling of the two ruled surfaces upon each other with a simultaneous endlong sliding upon each other of the generators which are in contact. The surfaces of these solids being the loci of the axes, are called axoids. Thus all relative motions of two bodies may be considered as the twisting or rolling of ruled surfaces or axoids." The ruled sur- faces roll on each other without sliding, when all the axes meet in a point as in a pair of cones or a cone and cylinder ; also when the point of intersection is at any infinite distance, as in the case of two cylinders with parallel axes. These are, however, only particular and more obvious cases of the general condition of rolling without sliding, viz., that the two ruled surfaces are deve- lopable on each other. APPARATUS FOR REGISTERING ANIMAL MOVEMENTS^ 'T'HE registering apparatus which have enabled us to carry so far the investigation of the functions in living animals are applicable to the analysis of movements of every kind in health and in disease. It is to this important application that I desire to draw your attention at the present time. Most of the movements whose various phases we have to esti- mate must be transmitted to a distance, preserving at the same time all their characteristics. It is by the medium of the air that this transmission is effected, and its principle is as follows : — Upon the organ (muscle, artery, heart) whose movements are to be investigated an apparatus called the exploring drum is applied. It is a small metal basin closed by a caoutchouc mem- brane, and communicating by a longer or shorter tube with a similar drum, upon the membrane of which is supported a re- cording lever. The pen with which the extremity of this lever is provided inscribes the curve of the movement impressed on the membrane of the first drum on a cylinder covered with smoked paper and turning on a horizontal axis. I. Let us at once apply the process of analysis to the muscular movements of man. For this purpose we may either grasp the muscles of the ball of the thumb between the flattened jaws of the pincers which I show you, or apply to the fleshy substance of any muscle an exploring drum, the knob of which rests upon the muscle. When by means of electricity we cause a contraction or tetanus of the muscle to be studied, the curve of the contrac- tion or that of the tetanus is recorded at a distance upon the revolving cylinder. This apparatus shows the thickening which a muscle undergoes » Paper read in the Biological Section at the Loan Collection Conferences, by Pro£ Marey. July 6, 1876] NATURE 215 during contraction, and it furnishes results identical to those obtained by investigating the shortening of the muscle during contraction in living animals. We are then quite authorised to interpret in the same way the curves obtained in both cases. It is needless to insist on the numerous services which the myo- graphy of man may render to physiology and medicine. The study of the forms of movement, of the latent period, of muscle, and perhaps even the rate of transmission of impulses along motor nerves, by means of this apparatus may be as easily pur- sued in healthy or unhealthy men as in animals. 2. Without quitting the investigation of muscular movements, let us examine that ot the respiratory movements, and we shall obtain valuable information as to the means by which the im- portant function of respiration is effected. We apply to the chest this apparatus formed of an elastic plate and furnished with two lever arms, to the extremity of which is attached a band which surrounds the thorax. Each dilatation of the chest causes the spring to bend, and it resumes its position during res- piration. This double movement is accompanied by a rising and falling of the membrane of the drum which forms part of the apparatus, and which therefore becomes a regular bellows, causmg the elevation and depression of the inscribing lever placed beside the cylinder. The respiratory curves thus obtained present certain normal characteristics susceptible of being greatly modified when any obstruction interferes with the respiratory functions either by impeding the entrance or the exit of the ait, or even by opposing its passage in both directions. In all these cases the curves have a special physiognomy, and their simple inspection enables us to recognise the seat of the obstacle to respiration. Clinical research will yet discover here many points for investigation. 3. But above all there are the phenomena of circulation, which have been minutely investigated both in man and animals. The apparatus by means of which we can completely analyse the movement of the heart, the arterial pulse, &c., have already rendered great service ; we are, however, right in expecting yet more from it, by making use of it in clinical investigations. Of various cardiographs, that on which I wish to dwell differs little from the explorer of which I have already spoken. The knob with which it is provided is applied to the region of the apex of the heart, and each beat of the organ is transmitted to the recordmg lever. There is seen in this pulsation of the heart the same elements which the physiological cardiograph has re- vealed in the higher animals. This beating of the heart is then a complex act, and the numerous details which have been dis- covered by graphic analysis have each a considerable importance from the point oT view of functional investigation. One part of the tracing shows us how the ventricle is emptied into the artery ; another enables us to appreciate the play of the auricle, the beating of the sigmoid valves, &c. You will easily see that the precise diagnosis of affections of the heart, already carried so far, thanks to auscultation, will be greatly improved by the application to man of the cardiograpti applied to the study of the pulsation of the heart The arterial pulse cannot be separated from the pulsation of the heart in the study of the phenomena of circulation in man. Already numerous researches have been undertaken by means of the direct sphygmograph ; but much more may be expected from the use of the air sphygmograph {sphygmographe d, transmission). I place this apparatus upon my wrist, and the artery raising a spring connected with the membrane of the exploring drum, transmits its movement to a distance by means of the tube filled with air, which enables this sphygmograph to communicate with the dram to which the recording lever is attached. By record- ing simultaneously the traces of the pulse and those of the heart much information may be obtained and many errors avoided. 4. I shall present to you, in conclusion, a new method of investigating the peripheral circulation. This method is based on the principle that the variation of the calibre of the blood- vessels in any part of the body is faithfully indicated by the varia- tions of the volume 01 that part. Without dwelling on the history of these investigations, I may tell you that they originated many years ago. Dr. Piegu, of Paris, having pointed out in 1846 the alter- nate expansion and contraction of the tissues in connection with the dilatation and contraction of the blood-vessels. Since that time Chelius and Fick in Germany, Mosso in Italy, Franck at Paris, have carried on and extended these researches. The recording of the movements of a column of water inclosed in a tube communicating with a receiver filled with water and into which the hand and forearm is plunged^ was first eifecied by Fick by means of a float armed with a pen. Ch. Buisson hit on the happy idea of transmitting to a distance, by means of tubes filled with air, the oscillation of the column of water, and it is with his apparatus that M. Franck, in my laboratory, has executed a series of researches. You see the apparatus in action. The hand is plunged into this jar filled with water and hermetically closed. A vertical tube, furnished with a bulb to avoid the effects of the speed acquired by the liquid, serves to transmit to a recording lever the oscillation of the column of water. You will remark that these oscillations are rhythmical with the heart, and if we record them by the side of the cardiac pulse registered by the transmitting sphygmograph, we can establish the identity of the variations in size or, as we may term them, the pulsations of the hand and of the pulsations of a single artery. With this apparatus we may perform numerous experi- ments on the mechanical effects of compression of the arteiies or veins, the action of the vaso-motor system of nerves, direct or reflex, &c. I shall not explain to you by the side of this method of investi- gation, that which we owe to Mosso, of Turin. His plsthysmo- graph, which ought soon to be presented to you, permits the estimation of changes of volume of the hand, and, assiaredly, the combination of these two processes ought to lead to important results in the investigation of the phenomena of peripheral circii- lation. I have sought to submit to you some of the points more immediately applicable to man, without dwelling on the investi- gation of the movements among animals. But these two orders of researches complement eacii other. We may say that most of the data furnished by experimentation on animals are now susceptible of rigorous verification on man, healthy or unhealthy. This verification we owe to investigation by means of precise apparatus and to the recording of the smallest movements, thanks to the registering instruments, the principal specimens of which are sho ^n in this Collection. DREDGINGS OF THE " CHALLENGER", pROF. WYVILLE THOMSON had not set foot long in Old ■^ England before presenting in person a preliminary quota of his results to the learned bodies. Two papers read by him at the Linnean Society on June i, embodied observations on Echinodermata, a group to which, as is well known, he pre- viously had paid much attention. One of the communications described some new living Crinoids belonging to the Apio- crinidse. Of deep-sea forms the stalked crinoids are extremely rare, and have a special interest on account of their palseon- tological relations ; it was therefore with satisfaction that neat" St. Paul's rocks at 1,850 fathoms, the trawl brought up, among other things, an entire specimen of a new crinoid, Bathycrinus Aldrichianus, and fragments of another, Hyocrinus bethellianus. At other stations and on different occasions, were obtained an- other species of Bathycrinus {B. gracilis) and an undetermined beautifid little species of Hyocrinus, besides examples of the Rhizocrinus lofotensis of Sars ; all of these being referable to the Apiocrinidae. In pointing out their structural peculiarities and alluding to Bathycrinus, he mentioned that the stem barely enlarges at its junction with the cup, the ring formed by the basals is very small, and the first radials are free from the basals and often free from one another, while the oral plates are absent. This genus appears to possess an assemblage of characters in some respects intermediate between Rhizocrinus and the pen- tacrinoid stage of An'.edon. Hyocrinus bethelltanus has much the appearance, and in some prominent particulars it s6ems to have very much the structure of the palaeozoic genus Platycrinus or its sub-genus Dichocrinus, The stem is much more rigid than that of Bathycrinus ; the cttp consists of two tiers of plates only, the lower is to be regarded as a ring of basals, and the upper consists of fine spade-shaped radials. There are five arms wbich are pinnulated. The proximal pinnules are very long, running on nearly to the end of the arm, and the succeeding pm- nules are gradually shorter, all of them, however, running out to the end of the arm. Distally the ends of the tive arms, and the ends of all the pinnules meet nearly on a level. Thij arrangement is unknown in recent crinoids, although we have something close to it in species of the fossil genera Pottriocrinus and Cyathocrinus ; with this, however, their resemblances end. Rhizocrinus finds its ally in the cretaceous genus Bourgueiicrinus ; Bathycrinus and Hyocrinus are evidently related to the former, but the characters of the Apiocrinidae are nevertheless obscure in 2l6 NATURE \July 6, 1876 the two latter. In his second paper Prof. Wyville Thomson drew attention to peculiarities in the mode of propagation of certain Echinoderms of the Southern Sea. He passed in review examples of the Sea-cucumbers {Holothuroids), Sea Urchins (the circular Cidaroids, and heart-shaped, Spatangoids), Star-fish (Asteroids), and the Brittle Stars [Ophiuroids). In allusion to their phases of development he stated the majority of these pass from the egg without the intervention of a locomotive pseudembryo. Among other data in support of this view he said, that while in warm and temperate seas " plutei" and "bipinnari " were constantly taken in the surface-net ; yet during the southern cruise between the Cape of Good Hope and Australia, only one form of Echinoderm pseudembryo occurred, and which was considered with some little doubt as the larva of Chirodota from the presence of dermal, calcareous, wheel-shaped spicules. Furthermore Prof. Wyville Thomson described in detail the almost constant occurrence among the majority of the foregoing groups a curious, receptacular pouch wherein the young are carried until arriving at a certain maturity. This marsupium is situated on the dorsal portion of the body, is composed of a series of plates which meet centrally and permit of the young creeping about and returning to it for shelter. The young derive no nutriment from the parent while contained in the " nursery," other than it may be a mucous secretion. THE U.S. WEATHER MAPS^ I N this fourth contribution to meteorology, Prof. Loomis dis- cusses certain points of a miscellaneous nature which have been either very slightly or not at all examined in his three previous contributions. The movements of areas of high baro- meter, which are of so great importance in their relations to weather and climate, have been examined with the result that while the average track of areas of low pressure across the United States is nine degrees to the north of east, the track of areas of high barometer advance toward a point several degrees south of east, and with a velocity somewhat less than the former. As regards the conditions under which the monthly minima of temperature occur, it is shown that these conditions, viz., winds very light, sky clear, and pressure above its mean height, are substantially the same at Jakutsk, Siberia, as at New Haven. Prof. Loomis is of opinion that it is true universally that periods of unusual coM are generally accompanied by a barometer above the mean, and by a descent of air from the upper regions of the atmosphere. These areas of high barometer have a broader significance than is here implied. It is the still, clear, and dry atmosphere accompanying them, and its relations to terrestrial and solar radiation, which afford the conditions of extreme tempera- tures. The monthly minima of the cold months of the year and the maxima of the warm months both frequently occur under the conditions afforded by areas of high pressure. On the other hand, in North-western Europe it is often observed that the minima of temperature during the warm months repeatedly occur within areas of low pressure where very I'ght easterly and northerly winds prevail. In discussions of the relations of tem- perature and pressure, it is seldom kept steadily in mind that the given temperature is merely the temperature observed within a few feet of the earth's surface, which, as regards areas of high pressure, will nearly always mislead if it be used as a basis from which to estimate the temperature of the higher strata vertical to it ; the surface temperature being abnormally low in winter from contact with the cooled surface, and in summer abnormally high from contact wiih the heated surface of the earth. The examination of storm paths in America, the Atlantic, and Europe is important from the bearing of the subjects on climatology and weather-forecasting. Some interesting results of such an examination are given by Prof Loomis in the average paths marked on the chart accompanying the paper. The results, however, are not calculated to be practically useful until the average paths be laid down for each month in the year, owing to the very great differences in these paths as regards different months. Thus, in North-western Europe, during the spring months, when east winds are most prevalent in Great Britain, many storm tracks, or the course of barometric depressions, are more southerly, and during the winter months more northerly than that indicated on the chart. If the track of storm-centres in Results derived from an examination of the United States Weather Maps and ether sources. By Prof. Elias I o .mis, Ya'e College. Fourth Paper. From \\\.ti American "Journal of Science and Arts, soV xi,, }3.n. 1876. winter generaUy took the line of The Channel, our winters would, on the average, be much more severe than they are, owing to the greater frequency of easterly and noitherly winds, which would necessarily follow. But open winters are the rule in these islands, and even as far north as Faroe, where, during winter, southerly and westerly winds largely preponderate, thus showing that the central tracks of the majority of our winter storms lie to the nor..h of Faroe. The exact determination of the average monthly tracks and the more marked deviations from them would throw light on several important questions affecting the climatology of the whole of North-western Europe. Since the average velocity of storms over the United States as deduced by Prof. Loomis from 485 cases, is twenty-six miles per hour, and over the Atlantic, as deduced from 134 cases, is 19 '3 miles per hour, ard the average velocity of European storms as deduced by Prof. Mohn is 26 "7 miles per hour, it follows that storms travel less rapidly over the ccean than over continents. If further inquiry confirms this result, we have here a valuable contribution to the theory of storms which will likely lead to a clearer insight into the causes which regu- late their rate of propagation over the earth's surface, accelerat- ing it in some cases, and in others retarding it as is frequently seen off the coast of Newfoundland and in the Bay of Biscay. NATURAL SCIENCE AT CAMBRIDGE THE Cambridge Natural Science Tripos has just entered upon a new phase of existence. The recent examination is the first in which a division into two parts, elementary and advanced, is carried out, the former being held in June and the latter in December. Candidates who do not satisfy the examiners in the first part are not permitted to compete in the second. The final class-list is to be based on the alphabetical principle, but the first class will consist of two divisions, each arranged alpha- betically, and the subject or subjects for which a man is placed in the first class are to be indicated, while a spe- cial mark will reward superior proficiency. This system removes some of the worst faults of the competitive system, and is of especial benefit to the more able men. One subject will not be pitted against another as regards marks, an accumulation of cramming in several subjects will not serve an inferior man, and clear testimony will be given that a man has a competent knowledge of a subject, or that he is specially proficient in it. With such arrangements, the value of the examination will largely depend upon the wisdom of individual examiners. It will be obvious that there should be at least two examiners in each subject instead of one. Also the pittance they re- ceive should be transformed into fair remuneration, which will, no doubt, be done as soon as the University has more funds at its disposal. It was to be expected that a new system, by which no man receives any credit in a subject unless he shows satisfactory knowledge of it, and by which the examina- tion is limited to three days, would produce a large number of failures to attain honours. The number of candidates in June was forty- four, a large increase ; of these only thirty-one obtained honours, while ten others received the ordinary degree. On scrutinizing the papers, it appears that there is a difficulty in equally adjusting the questions which probably have affected the result. Two questions in each subject, except human anatomy, are given in every paper ; one question only is set in human anatomy, which is introduced for the first time. I will quote some of the questions in geology and in physio- logy, giving fair samples ; and it will be plain that they are not equivalent in difficulty, and that students of moderate ability and reading might gain honours by answering the former much more easily than the latter. " In which of the three great divisions of stratified recks do fossils of the genera Ichthyosaurus, Phacops, Calamites, Voluta, Terebratula, Ostrea, and Micraster respectively occur ? " " Volcanic rocks have been di- vided into two classes, acidic and basic. Give the name and mineralogical composition of a common rock of each July 6, 1876] NATURE 217 class." " To what conditions of deposit do fossils of the following groups of genera respectively point? — i. Unio, Paludina, and Cyrena. 2. Nautilus and Globigerina. Illustrate this by reference, in each case, to a British example." "Explain what is meant by 'arterial tonus.' State generally what is the origin, course, distribution, and mode of termination of the nervous channels by which the brain and spinal cord influence arterial tonus." " Describe the rhythmical respiratory movements of the glottis in mammalian animals, referring to the mode of action of the most important muscles which are concerned in their production." I only wish to point out the contrast in difficulty be- tween the above sets of questions, without offering any opinion as to the suitability of either. In zoology and comparative anatomy the following question seems rather unusual for such an examination. — " Briefly describe the internal economy of a beehive, and the mutual relation- ships of its inmates." Here is a question in geographical distribution : — " In what countries are the following ani- mals found. — the orang-utan, vampire-bat, tapir, leopard, elk, emu, and python ? State what principles of zoo- geography are deducible from their distribution." It seems to me that a knowledge of the distribution of all the more important species is far beyond the pass qualification for an honours' examination. In admitting men to such a qualification, tests should rather be applied which every student of a subject ought to be able to respond to ; but it is questionable whether we can yet expect every student of zoology and comparative anatomy to " state concisely the doctrine of evolution as employed in biology." It is not stated in how many subjects a candidate must pass in order to obtain honours ; nor are any named as essential. There is a strong feeling that elementary chemistry and physics should be made compulsory on all, and that students should be allowed to present them- selves in these subjects at an earlier period of their course. G. T. Bettany NOTES We are glad to learn that upwards of 1,000/. has been sub- scribed towards the Chemical Society Research Fund, so that the Council are now in a position to accept Dr. Longstaff's generous oiTer of 1,000/. to form a permanent fund. We only hope that the fund may still be largely increased. The Albert Medal of the Society of Arts for "distinguished merit in promoting Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce," has this year been unanimously awarded to Sir George B. Airy, K.C.B., the Astronomer Royal, for "Eminent Services rendered to Commerce by his Researches in Nautical Astronomy, and in Magnetism, and by his Improvements in the Application of the Mariner's Compass to the Navigation of Iron Ships. " A prize of a Gold Medal was awarded to Mr. Hearson for the best " Revolution Indicator," which should accurately inform the officer on deck, and the engineer in charge of the engine, what are the number of revolutions of the paddles or screw per minute without the necessity of counting them. For papers read before the Society medals have been awarded as follows: — To Mr. Clements R. Markham, C.B., for his paper "On the Cultivation of Caoutchouc-yielding Trees," Mr. W. T. Thornttn for his paper " On Irrigation Works in India," Mr. E. Hutchin- son for his paper "On the Development of Central Africa," Mr. W. Valentin for his paper " On Dextrine- Maltose, and its use in Brewing." Mr. H. N. Moseley, M.A., has been elected to an Extra- ordinary Fellowship at Exeter College, Oxford, tenable for five years under a special ordinance sanctioned bylhe Visitor. Mr. Moseley, who was educated at Exeter College, proceeded to his B. A. degree in 1868, having obtained a "first class" in natural science in Trinity term of the same year. He was elected in 1869 Radcliffe Travelling Fellow, and has recently been one of the scientific staff of the expedition of H. M. S. Challenger. M. Waddington intends to establish Fellowships in the several French Academies in imitation of the Fellowships of the English Universities. The French Fellowships are to hold good only for a limited period, and will not be subject to the restric- tion of celibacy. The credits will soon be asked for from the French Assemblies. In the University of London D.Sc. Examination Mr. Thomas Carnelley and Mr. Frank Clowes have passed in Inorganic Che- mistry, Mr. James Gordon MacGregor in Electricity (treated ex- perimentally), Mr. Edward Bibbins Aveling in Vegetable Physi- ology, and Prasanna Kumar Ray in Logic and Moral Pkilosophy. On Thursday last the master and other members of the London Clothworkers' Company visited Leeds, in order to inspect the working of the Textile Industries' department of the Yorkshire College of Science, which was founded and endowed by the munificence of the Company. The visitors expressed their satisfaction with the results of the endowment, and the master, Mr. Wyld, in replying to the toast of the Company, showed that he had an unusually high idea of the duties which devolved on the London Companies as trustees of the large funds which belonged to them. While placing a high value on technical education, moreover, he expressed the opinion that any special education divorced from, or not based on, wide general ctdture, would be defective and inefficient. Mr. Lloyd, the president of the trustees of the Fisk donation for the construction and fitting up of the San Francisco Obser- vatory, arrived in Paris at the end of June. His first visit was to M. Leverrier, who gave him every assistance in his power to enable him to fulfil the object of his mission. Mr. Lloyd is at liberty to use the observatory grounds for any experiments in connection with his large refractor, which it is intended to con- struct. M. Leverrier concurred with him in not attempting to construct a lens of more than one metre in diameter. The money at the disposal of Mr. Lloyd is 200,000/. The law-suit is at an end, and the donation of a siir.ilar sum for the museum is cancelled, but the astronomical donation has been confirmed. Prof. H. G. Seeley has been appointed Professor of Geo- graphy at the Queen's College for Ladies, Harley Street. The Geologists' Association are to make an excursion to the North Wales Border on Monday, July 17, and five following days. The forty-second annual meeting of the Statistical Society was held on June 27, at the Society's Rooms, the President, Mr. James Hey wood, F.R.S., in the chair. The report read showed that the Society continues to advance steadily in numbers and in public estimation. We have before us the commencing number of " The Pro- ceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales," which contains papers by Mr. Brazier, C.M.Z.S., on a new species of Australian and Solomon Island shells ; by Mr. Ramsay on a new species of Ptilotis from the Endeavour River, with some remarks on the natural history of the East Coast Range near Rockingham Bay, and by Mr. Maclean, the President of the Society, on a new species of Dandrophis from Cleveland Bay. We are convinced that a work so well commenced has the good wishes of all interested in the diffusion of science. Mr. Alexander Agassiz, in his recent trip to Peru, found occasion to conclude that the Pacific, within a comparatively recent time, extended through gaps in the Coast Range, and made an internal sea which stood at a height of not less than 2,900 feet, and probably much above this. This is proved by the fact of the occurrence of coral limestone 2,900 or 3,000 feet 2l8 NATURE \7ulye, 1876 above the sea level, about twenty miles in a straight line from the Pacific. The corals are of modern aspect, although the species are undescribed. The fact that there are extensive saline basins at a height of even 7,000 feet on the coast of Peru would seem to indicate that the submergence was at one time still greater than that suggested. Indeed, eight species of Allor- chestes, a salt-water genus of amphipod crustaceans found in Lake Titicaca, would seem to indicate that this lake, 12,500 feet above the sea, must have been at one time at the sea-level. We have received Part II. of vol. ii. of the Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, The Society, which has just completed its seventh year, has gradually been increasing in numbers, and there are now 150 members, many of whom are well known to the scienti6c world. The Society's efforts to carry out the objects for which it was established have been, on the whole, successful. Of the papers printed in extcnso, a series of twenty letters forming a most interesting corre- spondence between Gilbert White and Robert Marsham, is by far the most important. This is rendered still more interestintr by the valuable notes contributed by Mr. Harting and Prof. Newton. Of the other original papers, we may mention the Meteorological Report and the Ornithological Report, by Henry Stephenson, F.L.S. (author of the "Birds of Norfolk"); also the concluding portion of Mr. Geldart's list of the plants known to occur in Norfolk. The latter forms a portion (the sixth) of the Fauna and Flora of the County, which the Society is printing. Among the occasional notes and observations some interesting facts are recorded. Lieut. Mintzer, of the U.S. Navy, we learn from VExplora- teur, is organising a scientific expedition to the Arctic Seas, at Norwich, Connecticut. A very destructive earthquake was felt at Corinth (Greece) on June 26, and another of the same date in Aastria. At the Loan Collection during the present week, twelve demonstrations of apparatus were given on Monday, the same number on Tuesday, and six on Wednesday ; four will be given to-day, four to-morrow, and ten on Saturday. Two handsome works have just been published by Masson of Paris — " Le Microscope, son Emploi et ses Applications," by Dr. J. Pelletan, with 278 figures and four plates, and " Traite d'Electricite Statique," by Prof. E. Mascart, two vols., with 298 figures. Petermann's Mitthcilungen for June contains a considerably detailed account of the results of the discovery of Franz-Josef Land by the Payer- Weyprecht Expedition, founded on the work recently published at Vienna by Lieut. Payer. Accompanying the paper is the first satisfactory map yet published of the newly- discovered land, in which all the details of the sea and land are shown, as well as all the names imposed by the leaders of the expedition. Dr. Couto de Magalhaes' " Travels in Ara- guaya " are concluded, and a brief synoptical summaiy is given of Walker's new statistical atlas of the United States. The Lindley Library, to which we referred last week (p. 200), does not belong to the Horticultural Society, nor was it bought by it. It was purchased with part of the surplus of the pro- ceeds of the International Horticultural Exhibition and Botani- cal Congress held in London in 1866, and is vested in the hands of sundry trustees, who will be grateful for any donation. By permission of the Horticultural Society the library is deposited in its rooms. The twenty-eighth annual meeting of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society will be held at Bath on July 18, 19, and 20, under the presidency of Mr. Jerom Murch. Several excursions have been arranged. The first aquarium erected in Scotland was opened at Rothesay, in the island of Bute, last Thursday. I The situation of the aquarium is in every respect favourable, and there is a large amount of tank accommodation, which has been arranged so as to contain both salt and fresh-water fish. The fresh-water tanks are perhaps the largest of the kind in the country, one of them containing over 20,000 gallons of water. A seal-pond is being constructed, and an eight-horse power engine sends the fresh and salt water from the reservoirs below to the tanks above. The reservoir for the former is capable of containing 90,000 gallons, while that for the latter has a capacity of 150,000 gallons. It is hoped that the aquarium will do good service as a school for practical natural history. Various sanitary measures (according to Dr. Tholozan) have recently been adopted by the Turkish and Persian Governments with reference to the outbreak of plague, which commenced in Mesopotamia in the early part of the year. Since the beginning of March a sanitary cordon has been established on the north of the invaded territory, on the most frequented route of Kurdistan and Syria, between Tecrit and Kifri. On the south a quarantine of fifteen days is obligatory since April i on all vessels sailing on the Tigris and the Euphrates. It is at Kouma, at the confluence of these rivers. The ports of the Persian Gulf are protected by a quarantine which vessels from infected localities have to undergo at the island of Kezzer, formed by junction of the Chotel Aral and the Karoun. Since April 10 all communications by land between Persia and Mesopotamia are subject to a quaran- tine of fifteen days. For three years, it may be added, all pil- grimages into the infected country, by Persian subjects, have been interdicted. To fully comprehend this system of protection it should be remembered that on the west and north-west, for an extent of three degrees of latitude, no artificial barrier has been or can beTestablished against the plague ; but there are, happily, natural obstacles, which prove much more efficacious, the infected region being there bounded by the deserts of Syria and Meso- potamia. The greater rarity of communications there renders restrictive measures, on the arriving caravans, easier. Judging from past outbreaks of plague, it was anticipated that the present would decline in June (after reaching its acmS in the end of May), and disappear from Mesopotamia in July. But it may send offshoots to Bussora, Bouchere, and Arabistan, and a still greater danger is the introduction of germs of the plague into the high plateaux of Anatolia, Kurdistan, and Persia. An interesting addition to the literature of insectivorous plants is furnished by a reprint, by Casimir De Candolle, from the Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles, " Sar la Structure et les Mouvements de Feuilles de Dioncea muscipula." Wiih regard to the power of digestion, M. De Candolle comes to a conclu- sion opposed to that of Darwin, that the absorption of animal substances is not directly utilised by the leaves, and is not neces- sary to the development of the plant. He considers their ana- tomical structure favourable to the hypothesis that the movement of the two valves of the leaf results from variations of turgidity of the parenchyma of their upper surface. A SINGULAR and useful society is in the way of formation at Paris. Seventy-two institutions of France have met in the Hotel of the rue de Crenelle to organize a general topographi- cal association. Each institution becoming a member engages to prepare a topographical map of its commune, with roads, streams, mountains, &c. As the number of institutions in France exceeds 40,000, the number of registered adherents is veiy small indeed ; but more are expected to join, especially if the Govern- ment takes interest in the association. The scientific value of such maps may not be great, but the result in the diffusion of geographical methods and promotion of knowledge is unques- tionable. , Capt. Roudaire has delivered before the Geographical Society of Paris a lecture on the results of the survey of the Tunisian July 6, 1876] NATURE 219 Chotts. The measures taken last year on the Algerian side have been verified. The same level has been found for the connecting station with an immaterial difference of 2 'So metres in favour of the operation. The altitude at Gabes is only 46 metres, which is no obstacle to the channel being opened. Every objection raised by an Italian Commission has been set aside. MM. d'Abbadee and de Lesseps promised their help and testified their satisfaction. The half-yearly general meeting of the Scottish Meteorological Society will be held to-morrow. The business before the meet- ing will be — I. Report from the Council of the Society. 2. No- tice as to observations of the velocity of the wind at different heights, by Thomas Stevenson, F.R.S.E., F.G.S. 3. Me- teorological Register kept by James Hoy, at Gordon Castle from 1781 to 1827, communicated to the Society by His Grace the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, with remarks thereon by Mr. Buchan, secretary. This, we believe, is a very valuable r^;ister. Mr. E. F. Flower has published "A Sequel " to his much- needed pamphlet on "Bits and Bearing Reins." We are glad to see that his efforts to abolish the useless and cruel bearing- rein, and to introduce a rational and humane, and therefore scientific, way of managing horses has been largely successful. We cannot see how any man who wishes to be "merciful to his beast " can, after reading Mr. Flower's pamphlet, persist in the use of the bearing-rein, which after all is quite unnecessary, and no doubt tends to make a horse contract vices. Nos. 4 and 5 of the loiua Weather Revieiu give a very good summary of the weather of the State of Iowa during December, January, and February last, dividing the season into nine decades. The winter was unusually mild, being 10° '5 above the average of Iowa winters, while during the third decade of December the excess rose to I9°'7. Less than an inch of rain fell in the north-west of the State, but in the central countries the fall was large, amounting to 9*60 inches at Davenport. Several interesting practical tables are added showing the days of thaw when the maximum exceeded 32°, days of frost when the minimum fell below 32°, and days of cold when the tempe- rature fell to zero or lower. Sudden colds following in the wake of storms are also detailed, together with the barometric rise, and the velocity and direction of the wind, accompanying these great falls of temperature, which form so marked a feature in the climate of America. The alleged change of climate from the cultivation of the soil and the destruction of forests by which the summers, as stated, are becoming warmer and the winters colder, is a question which deserves to be carefully examined. We have received " Results of Meteorological Observations made at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution during the Ten Years ending February, 1875," by the Rev. Leonard Blomefield. The pamphlet, which is an extract from the " Pro- ceedings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club," is a conscientious piece of work, evidently got up with the greatest care. The instruments appear to be fairly placed, except the rain-gauge, which is fixed in a faulty position, viz., at the top of a building. The monthly and yearly mean tempera- tures have been deduced from the 9 a. m. observations corrected for diurnal range, though it may well be doubted whether *' means" can be calculated from observations made at only one hour of the day and whether any diurnal range corrections yet exist applicable to Bath. Some very interesting comparisons are drawn between the climate of Bath and other parts of England, with on the whole a just apprehension on the part of the author of the misleading nature of data when based on the observations of different years. Some of the differences, how- ever, pointed out by Mr. Blomefield, such as the higher tempera- ture of Bath as compared with Exeter during January and February disappear when a comparison is made from observa- tions taken during the same years at each place, or from results obtained by the method of differentiation. Among the interest- ing results arrived at is the higher temperature of the river as compared with that of the air at Bath amounting to 2° -5 on a mean of the year, rising in June to 4° "6, and falling in February to d'-<,. In many respects the pamphlet is a valuable contribu- tion to the meteorology of the south-west of England. Dr. H. Hamberg, Assistamt Professor of Meteorology at the University of Upsal, has written in the " Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences," Stockholm, a very interesting paper on the development of the barometric minimum accom- panying the thimderstorms which occurred in Sweden and Norway from July 14 to 20, 1872. From the data before him. Dr. Hamberg concludes that the barometer fell most where the sky was cloudless, and that the fall of heavy ra'n was generally attended with a rise rather than a fall of the barometer, much in the same way as Dr. Hann has shown to take place within the tropics at Batavia. The question is as difficult as it is important in meteorology, and the investigation of the behaviour of the barometer during our summer thunder- storms is likely to lead to most valuable results. The additions made to the Royal Aquarium, Westminster, during the past week are as follows : — A large collection of fresh-water fish, including Carp, Bream, Chub, Perch, Roach, and Trout, presented by the Earl of Aylesford ; Sand-eels {Am- modytes lancea), Gemmeous Dragonettes {Callionymus lyra\ Lump-fish (Cy^/<7//^rMj lumpus). Five-bearded Rocklings {Motella musiela), Sea Bream {Cantharus lineatus), a shoal of young Lobsters {Homarus vulgaris), hatched in the tanks. The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during last week include eleven Lineated Pheasants {Euplocamus line- atus), nine Amherst Pheasants {Thaumalca amherstia:), nine Gold Pheasants {T. picta) and two Peacock Pheasants {Poly- plectron chinqtiis), bred in the Gardens ; a Cape Buffalo (Bubalus caffer). SCIENTIFIC SERIALS The January number of Reichert and Du Bois-Reymond's Archiv opens with the conclusion of L. Dittmer's lengthy com- munication on double monsters. — Carl Sachs describes and figures the terminations of nerve fibres in certain tendons. — In a long controversial article. Prof. Hitzig defends his own and Fritsch's conclusions with respect to the functions of the cere- bnim against Hermann, Braun, Carville, and Duret. — F. Boll's article on the Savian vesicles found in the torpedo about the nasal orifices and between the external edges of the electrical organs and the limb-cartilages, is very interesting, because he demonstrates the existence in their epithelium of spindle-shaped cells corresponding in character to tho?e so commonly found in special sense organs. — Dr. Colasanti, of Rome, gives an account of the results of section of the olfactory nerve in the frog. He finds that there is no consequent alteration in the nutrition or appearance of the olfactory cells or of the peripheral ramifica- tions of the pale nerve-fibres. — Dr. Colasanti, in another short memoir shows that the fertilised hen's egg may be reduced in temperature to from — 7° to - 10° C. without its vitality being destroyed or in any way inteifcred with. — Rabl-Riickhard con- tributes an elaborate account of the brain and cerebral nerves of the black ant {Camponotus ligttiperdus). The March number of the Archiv contains a very interesting account by P. Guttmann of his new experiments on respiration. Investigating the respiratory pause following on inspiration, he found that in vagotomised rabbits this pause does not occur. The possible reasons for this are discussed. In rabbits, in whom apnoea has been produced, it is always found that when the apncea terminates, an inspiration, not an expiration, is the first phenomenon. — Bernstein and Steiner contribute an important paper on the transmission of contraction and the negative varia- tion in the nni«cles of mammalia ; l)ut the i-itricacv of ilie sub. 220 NATURE {July 6, 1876 ject does not admit of a brief abstract.— Another valuable paper on this subject, by Du Bois-Reymond himself, is commenced in this part. It constitutes the second part of his researches 00 negative variation of the muscular current during contraction, and must be consulted by all workers in this difficult branch of research. — Dr. Wenzel Grliber has five papers, some of consider- able length, on various anomalous muscular dispositions. Such papers should be condensed as much as possible. The two last numbers of the Nuovo Giornale Botanico Ualiano are chiefly occupied with Italian botany. — Among papers of more general interest we have a description by A. Mori, of the structure of the wood of Periploca grceca ; and two by Prof. Caruel : — On the flowers of Ceratophyllum, in which he describes the peculiar contrivance for the fertilisation of the female flowers, the rigid leaves apparently serving as the channel of transport for the pollen ; and observations on Cynomorium, in which several points in the structure of the flower are detailed, and the author gives his adhesion to Dr. Hooker's suggestion of a possible genetic connection between Balanophoreae and Halo- rageae. Zeitschrift der Oesterreichischtn Gesellschaft fiir Meteorologies March 15. — The first article is by Prof. Tomaschek, of Briinn, on mean temperatures as thermal constants for vegetation. The law, formerly pointed out by him, of the dependence of the commencement of blooming, on the height of daily mean tem- peratures, appears not only not to be shaken, but to be sup- ported by an mvestigation of the results for the exceptional year 1862. — The next article is by Dr. Hann, on the results of observations on Mount Washington and Pike's Peak. During very cold weather, the change of temperature with height is less than usual, amounting only to about 0*3° C. for each loo metres, so that the equilibrium of the air vertically must be at such times very stable. The mean decrease with height in the dry climate of Pike's Peak is somewhat greater than in the Alps and at Mount "Washington. The daily and monthly ranges are exces- sive on the elevated plains. Dr. Hann greatly regrets the im- practicable form in which the reports have been published, considering the desirabihty of having the actual observations for Pike's Peak and Colorado Springs, tWo stations better situated for meteorological purposes than any others in the world, accom- panied by the proper data and corrections, which are here Wanting. — In the Kleinere Mittheilungen we find a description of Redier's self-registering barometer. yournalde Physique, February. — This number commences with the first part of a paper by M. Jamin, describing his recent researches on magnetism. He gives an account of his methods of observation, offers some theoretical ideas on the nature of magnetism, and discusses magnetic conductivity and distribution in a thin plate. — In a note on meteorology applied to agriculture, M, Marie Davy gives some interesting tables with reference to changes observed in wheat at different dates (the relation of transpired water to the temperature and actinometric degree, the weight of constituent substances, proportion of nitrogen in stalk, &c. ). He considers that by the end of May or beginning of June, according to locality, one may generally deduce from meteorological data the probable value of the coming harvest, save in the case of exceptional perturbations, whose injurious action is circumscribed. — M. Duter investigates the distribution of magnetism in circular and elliptical steel plates. Gazzetta Chimica Italiana, 1876, fascicolo ii. — This part commences with a paper by G. Pisati in continuation of former researches entitled : — On the elasticity of metals at different tem- peratures. In this paper the author treats of the elasticity of torsion at various temperatures of wires of silver, iron, steel, copper, brass, gold, platinum, and aiuminium. The apparatus employed is figured, and the results shown in many cases graphically by means of curves. — On the production of ozone during the evaporation of water, by G. Bellucci. — The modifica- tions of starch in plants, by M. Mercadante. — Synthesis of propyl-isopropyl-bcnzene, preliminary note by E. Paterno and P. Spica. This hydrocarbon, of v/hich the formula would be SO TT CH ^C H ^^^ ^^^'^ prepared by the aition of zinc ethyl on cumene chloride. It is a liquid a little lighter than water boiling at about 205° — 208°. Other hydrocarbons boiling at a high temperature are also produced during the reaction. The authors propose to continue their researches. — The absence of leucine in the product of the germination of graminacese, by M, Mercadante. — The remainder of the part is devoted to abstract! of papers from foreign sources. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Royal Society, June 15. — " Researches illustrative of the Physico- Chemical Theory of Fermentation, and of the conditions favouring Arcbebiosis in previously Boiled Fluids." By H. Charlton Bastian, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Patho- logical Anatomy in University College, London, and Physician to University College Hospital. The author first calls attention to the fact that no previous investigator has professed to have seen well-marked fermentation set up in urine that had been boiled for a few minutes, if it has thereafter been guarded from contamination. The previous in- variable barrenness of this fluid after boiling has been ascribed by germ-theorists to the fact that any organisms or germs of organisms which it may have contained were killed by raising it to the temperature of 212° F, (100° C). In executing some of the experiments with urine described in this communication, two chemical agents have been brought into operation under novel conditions, and an ordinary physical in- fluence has been employed to an entirely new extent. In several respects, therefore, these new experiments differ much, as regards the conditions made use of, from those hitherto devised for throwing light upon the much-vexed questions as to the possible origin of Fermentations independently of living organisms or germs, and as to the present occurrence or non-occurrence of Archebiosis. The chemical agents employed under new conditions in these experiments were liquor potasses and oxygen — both of them being well known as stimulants, if not as promoters, of many fermenta- tive processes. It has been recognised by several investigators of late years that neutral or slightly alkaline organic fluids are rather more prone to undergo fermentation than slightly acid fluids. This fact may be easily demonstrated. As the author pointed out in 1870, if two portions of an acid infusion are exposed side by side at a temperature of 77° F. (25° C.) fermentation may be made to appear earlier and to make more rapid progress in either of them by the simple addition of a few drops of liquor potasste ; on the other hand, if a neutral infusion be taken and similarly divided into two portions placed under the same conditions, fer- mentation may be retarded, or rendered slower in either of them at will, by the simple addition to it of a few drops of acetic or some other acid. A neutral or faintly alkaline organic solution can in this way be demonstrated to possess a higher degree of fermentability than an otherwise similar acid organic solution. It seems, there- fore, obvious that the changes capable of taking place in boiled acid and neutral solutions respectively should also vary consider- ably. Numerous experiments by different observers have demon- strated the correctness of this inference. Boiled acid infusions guarded from contamination mostly remain pure and barren it kept at temperatures below 77° F. (25° C. ), though other in- fusions similarly treated and similar in themselves, except that they have been rendered neutral by an alkali, will oftentimes become corrupt and swarm with organisms. The latter result follows still more frequently with neutral infusions when they are exposed to a higher generating temperature in the warm-air chamber ; and under this stronger stimulus a small number of boiled acid fluids will also ferment. On the other hand, the influence of oxygen in promoting fer- mentation has been fully appreciated since the early part of the present century. Formerly an influence was assigned to it as an mitiater of fermentation as all-important as some chemists assign to livmg gerais at the present day. But this was a very exaggerated view. In some fluid.i, as the auttior has shown, fermentation may be initiated just as freely, or even rather more so, in closed vessels from which the air has been expelled by boiling, as in others in which atmospheric air, and consequently oxygen, is present. The explanation of this fact is probably to be found in the sup- position that, in starting the fermentation of these fluids, diminu- tion of pressure may be of as much, or even of more importance than contact with free oxygen. In respect to other organic fluids, however, the influence of oxygen seems decidedly more potent as a co-initiater of fermentation than that diminution of pressure which is brought about by hermetically sealing the vessel before the fluid within has ceased to boil. Urine will be found to be an example of this latter class of fluids. The physical influence which has been employed in unusual intensity in the present researches is heat. July 6, 1876] NATURE 221 Previous experimenters have never designedly had recourse to a generating or developing temperature above 100° F, (38° C). The heat employed has frequently been below 77° F. (25° C), though a temperature between this and 95° F. (35° C.) has been regarded both by chemists and biologists as most favourable to the occurrence and progress of fermentative changes generally. Early in the month of August, 1875, the author ascertained the fact that some boiled fluids which remained barren when kept at a temperature of 77°-86° F, (25°-30° C.) would rapidly become turbid and swarm with organisms if maintained at a temperature of 115° F. (46° C). More recently he has discovered the sur- prising fact that a generating temperature as high as 122° F. (50° C. ) may be had recourse to with advantage in dealing with some fermentable solutions. Fluids which would otherwise have remained barren and free from all signs of fermentation have, under the influence of this high temperature, rapidly become turbid and corrupt. This discovery is regarded as of great im- portance in reference to the questions now under discussion, and it is one which was quite unexpected. The author had pre- viously shared in the generally received opinion that tempera- tures above 100° F. (38° C.) were likely to impede rather than promote fermentation. In maintaining the experimental fluids at the high temperature above-named, the vessels containing them were placed in the hot-air chamber of an incubator, such as physiologists employ, to which one of the very ingenious gas- regulators of Mr. F. S. Page had been fitted (see Journal of the Chemical Society, January, 1876). In this way the fluids may be kept at a known and practically constant temperature for an indefinite time. Liquor Potassa as a Promoter of Fermentation in Boiled Urine. In the autumn of 1875 the author instituted some experiments to ascertain whether the fermentability of boiled urine, like that of many other fluids, could be increased by previously mixing with it a quantity of liquor potassae sufficient for its neutraliza- tion. The experiments answered this question in the aifirmative. It was found that urine to which the above-named amount of liquor potassse had been added, would constantly ferment and swarm with organisms vnthin a few days after it had been boiled ; though some of the same stock of urine in the acid state (that is, without the addition of any alkali) would when similarly treated in other respects, remain barren. The fact of the production of an increased fermentability in boiled urine by previous neutralisa- tion was thus established. Further experiments were then instituted to throw light upon the cause of such increased fermentability. It was desirable to ascertain whether (i) it was due to survival of germs in the boiled neutralised fluid, or (2) to the chemical influence of potash in initiating or helping to initiate the molecular changes leading to fermentation in a fluid devoid of germs or other living matter. The mode of testing the relative validity of these rival inter- pretations seemed easy. It was only necessary to ascertain what the effect would be of adding boiled liquor potassse, in proper quantity, after the acid urine had been rendered barren by boiling it instead of adding it previous to the process of ebullition. If fermentation occurred in the fluid thus neutralised without ex- traneous contamination, the first interpretation would obviously be negatived. This crucial experiment was at first tried with flasks plugged with cotton-wool, the plug in each of them being penetrated by a closed glass tut)e containing the measured amount of liquor potassse. The tubes having been drawn out to a capillary por- tion at the lower end, and bent at an obtuse angle, they could be easily broken by slight downward pressure against the bottom of the flask whenever it was desired to mix the liquor potassse with the boiled urine. This apparatus was very similar to that first made use of by Dr. William Roberts in some experiments with hay-infusion (Phil. Trans, vol. clxiv. p. 474), in which he ob- tained opposite results from those now about to be recorded with urine. The latter fluid is, however, for several reasons more suitable than hay-infusion for trying such experiments. Several trials made with urine in this apparatus showed that its fermentability was just as much increased by adding boiled liquor potassse after the urine had been boiled in the acid state, as by adding the alkali previous to the process of ebullition. Such a result was therefore quite opposed to the first interpreta- tion as to the cause of the increased fermentability of neutralised urine. The definite overthrow or establishment of this interpretation was so important that it seemed desirable to try such experi. ments again by some more rigid and certain method. The author, therefore, devised a new mode of experimentation in which sealed retorts replaced the flasks plugged with cotton- wool, and in which the contents of the enclosed liquor-potassse tubes could be more efTectually heated. It was first of all ascertained that accurately-neutralised urine boiled in a retort and sealed whilst boiling, would ferment in a day or two if kept at a temperature of 122° F. 1 This fact having been established, other retorts were charged with a measured amount of urine, and also with a small glass tube containing liquor potassse in quantity almost sufficient to neutralise the urine employed. 2 The glass tubes containing the liquor potassse had been drawn out at one end, sealed, and then immersed in boiling water for different periods before introducing them into the retovts. After each retort had been charged with urine and a liquor potassse tube, its neck was drawn out to a capillary point, the urine was boiled, and the retort was her- metically sealed before ebullition had ceased. Thus closed, the vessel was at once immersed with its neck downwards in a can of boiling water for from four to fifteen minutes, so as to expose it and its contents for an additional period to a temperature of 212° F. (100° C). The urine was thus boiled in, its unaltered acid state and sterilised. After the retorts had cooled the liquor potassse was liberated from its tube in all but one of the batch, which was kept as a control experiment. The liberation was easily effected. It was only necessary to give the retort a sudden shake so as to drive the capillary neck of the enclosed tube against its side. The tube was thus broken and immediately (owing to the com- parative vacuum within the retort) the liquor potassse was sucked out and mixed with the fluid which it was destined to neutralise. The result of these experiments was similar to those executed with the plugged flasks and liquor-potasste tubes. The boiled caustic potaf^i added afterwards within the sealed retorts, caused the previou::!/ barren fluids to ferment and swarm with Bacteria. The fluid in the control experiment remained pure, though after several days, or longer, it also could be made to ferment by breaking the liquor-potassse tube, and replacing the retort in the warm chamber. Effects of liberating Oxygen by Electrolysis within the Close i Retorts. — A few other experiments were made with retorts to which platinum electrodes had been fitted. These contained, as before, measured amounts of urine, together with liquor potassa; tubes. All the preliminary'stages were similar to those of the experiments above recorded; but just before breaking the liquor-potassse tubes in these further experiments, oxygen and hydrogen were liberated from the boiled urine by electrolysis. The result in the few experiments made was very remarkable. Under the combined influence of liquor potassse, oxygen, and the high temperature of 122° F. (50° C), the sterilised urine fermented and swarmed with Bacteria within the closed retorts in from 7-12 hours — that is, in a much shorter time than would suffice for the occurrence of similar changes in unboiled urine freely exposed to the air. Behaviour of some specimens of unaltered Acid Urine under the influence of the High Generating Temperature of 122° F, (50° C). In the course of the previous experiments it was found that occasionally a specimen of boiled urine would ferment at a tem- perature of 122* F. without the addition of liquor potassse. This was afterwards ascertained to occur invariably (with the urine experimented upon) when the acidity of the fluid was not higher than would be represented by six minims of liquor potassse to the ounce (or about i^ per cent.). Urines slightly more acid than this sometimes did and sometimes did not ferment without liquor potassse ; but when the acidity exceeded what would be equivalent to two per cent, of liquor potassse, the fluid did not ferment under the influence of the high generating temperature alone. Urines of all degrees of acidity, however, were found to ferment under the combined influence of heat and liquor potassse added afterwards, in the manner already detailed,^ * Though the boiled urine will ferment in retorts from which the air has been expelled by boiling, it will undergo this change more quickly if it is in the presence of purified or sterilised air. lu the experiments now about to be described, however, it was much more convenient to use airless retorts. 2 As a slight excess in the amount of liquor potassae has been proved to have a most restrictive influence when dealing with urine, it was found safer in these experiments not to provide liquor potassa; sufficient for full neutrali- zation. Many details on this subject are given in the memoir itself. 3 In the uiine of highest acidity with which experiment has been made, twenty minims of licjuor potassx to the fluid ounce (about 4 per cent.) was required for neutralisation. 222 NATURE \7uly6, 1876 It was further ascertained that the acidity of some specimens of urine was lessened during the process of ebullition (owing to the deposition of acid phosphates) ; and such urines boiled for six minutes were found to ferment in a much shorter time than when they were only boiled for three minutes. The pro- longation to this extent of the germ-destroying temperature actually hastened the subsequent process of fermentation. Interpretation of Results. The generally received belief that all Bacteria and their germs are killed by exposing them even for a minute or two to the tem- perature of 212° F. {loo°C.) has of late been strongly reinforced by Prof. Tyndall. The fact, therefore, of the fermentation of some specimens of boiled acid urine, with the appearance of swarms of Bacteria, under the influence of the high generating tempe- rature of 122° F. (50° C),'.is inexplicable except upon the suppo- sition that fermentation has in these instances been initiated without the aid of living germs, and that the organisms first appearing in such fluids have been evolved therein. If the author's further position (Proceedings of Royal Society, Nos. 143 and 145, 1873), that Bacteria and their germs are killed in fluids whether acid or alkaline at a temperature of 158° F. (70° C), is correct, then the occurrence of fermentation in the previously neutralised boiled urine would similarly disprove the exclusive germ-theory of fermentation and establish the occurrence of Archebiosis. Any difficulty which might have been felt by others in accept- ing the above interpretation of the results of these latter experi- ments— in face of the view held by M. Pasteur that some Bacteria germs are able in neutral fluids to survive an exposure to a heat of 212° F. (100° C.)— has been fairly met and nullified by the experiments (devised for the purpose), in which the urine was boiled in the acid state and subsequently fertilised by the addition of boiled liquor potassae. If we look at these latter experiments from an independent point of view, it will be found that this fertilisation of a previously barren fluid by boiled liquor potassre must be explained by one or other of three hypotheses : — 1st Hypothesis. The boiled liquor potassa: may act as a fer- tilising agent because it contains living germs. — However improb- able this hypothesis may seem on the face of it, it has been actually disproved by many of the experiments recorded in this memoir. These experiments show that boiled liquor potassse will only act as a fertilising agent when it is added in certain proportions. If it acted as a mere germ-containing medium, a single drop of it would suffice to infect many ounces, a gallon, or more of the sterilised fluid. This, however, is never the case ; it only fertilises the barren urine when it is added in a proportion dependent upon the precise acidity and quantity of the fluid with which experiment is being made. 7.nd Hypothesis. The fertilising agent may act by reviving germs hitherto p-esumed to have been killed in the boiled acid urine. — The acceptance of this hypothesis would involve a general recantation of the previously received conclusion that Bacteria and their germs are killed by boiling them in acid fluids. But such a recantation would be scarcely justifiable or acceptable unless based upon good independent evidence. The possibihty, however, of accepting this second hypothesis is still further closed by the results of experiments in which a slight excess of liquor potassse was added to the boiled urine. Such fluids invariably remained barren. Yet it can be easily shown that the mere development and growth of Bacteria-germs may take place both quickly and freely in boiled urine containing a very large excess of liquor potassse.^ It would seem that this agent mixed with boiled urine in quantity slightly more than is needed for neutralisation, prevents the origination of living matter therein, although even when in considerable excess the same agent affords no obstacle to the development, growth, and multi- plication of germs purposely added thereto. In the face of these facts it would seem impossible to accept this second hypothesis, even if it had not been independently negatived by the great mass of evidence — lately reinforced by the experiments of Prof. Tyndall— to the effect that Bacteria and their germs are really killed in fluids raised for a few minutes to the boiling-point (212° F.). Zrd Hypothesis. The fertilising agent acts by helping to initiate chemical changes of a fermentative character in a fluid devoid of A mixture of one part of liquor potassse to seven of boiled urin« poured into a bottle which has been washed with ordinary tap-water will, within Jorty-eight hours, swarm with Bacteria if it is kept at a temperature of living organisms or living germs. ~\i the cause of the fermenta- tion of the fluids in question does not exist in the form of living organisms or germs either in the fertilising agent itself or in the medium fertilised, then it must be found in some chemical reactions set up between the boiled liquor potassce and the boiled urine. The experiments in which liquor potassse is added to urine in definite proportions before and after it has been boiled with the result of inducing fermentation in the otherwise barren fluids, as well as those in which unaltered urine ferments under the influ- ence of the high generating temperature of 122° F. (50° C.), all alike, therefore, point to the same conclusion. They show, as other experiments have done, that an exclusive germ-theory of fermentation is untenable ; and they further show that living matter may and does originate independently during the progress of fermentation in previously germless fluids. As a result of the fermentative changes taking place in boiled urine or other complex organic solutions, many new chemical compounds are produced. Gases are given off", or these with other soluble products mix imperceptibly with the changing and quickening mother-liquid, in all parts of which certain insoluble products also make their appearance. Such insoluble products re\;eal themselves to us as specks of protoplasm, that is of "living " matter. They gradually emerge into the region of the visible, and speedily assume the well-known forms of one or other variety of Bacteria. These insoluble particles would thus in their own persons serve to bridge the narrow gulf between certain kinds of " living" and of "dead" matter, and thereby afford a long-sought-for illustration of the transition from chemical to so-called '* vital" combinations. Zoological Society, June 20.— Prof. Flower, F.R.S., vice- prscident, in the chair.— The Secretary exhibited a drawing of a fine species of Fruit-Pigeon of the genus Carphopoga, living in the Society's Gardens, which apparently belonged to C. paulina, Bp. of Celebes and the Sulu Islands. — Mr. Sclater read extracts from letters received from Signor L. M. D'Albertis and Dr. George Bennett, respecting M. D'Albertis' proposed new expe- dition up the Fly River, New Guinea, and exhibited a small collect-.on of bird skins made at Yule Island and on the adjoining coast of New Guinea, by the last-named naturalist. — Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S., read a letter from Commander W. E. Cook- son, R.N., respecting the large tortoises obtained in the Gala- pagos Islands which had been recently deposited in the Society's Gardens by Commander Cookson. The living specimens had been obtained in Albemarle Island, those obtained in Abingdon Island having died before reaching this country. Dr. Giinther added some remarks on the specimens of tortoises and other animals collected by Commander Cookson, and promised a more detailed account on a future occasion. — Mr. G. E. Dobson read a paper on peculiar structures in the feet of certain species of mammals by which they are enabled to walk on smooth per- pendicular surfaces, especially alluding to Hyrax and the bats of the genus Thyroptera. — A communication was read from Dr. J. S. Bowerbank, F.R.S., being the sixth part of his monograph of the silicio-fibrous sponges. — A communication was read trom the Rev. O. P. Cambridge containing a catalogue of a collection of spiders made in Egypt, with descriptions of new species and characters of a new genus. — A communication was read from Mr. W. T. Blanford containing remarks on the views of A, von P«lreln as to the connection of the faunas of India and Africa and on the mammalian fauna of Tibet — A second communi' cation from Mr. W. T. Blanford contained remarks on some of the specific id«ntifications in Dr. Giinther's second report on col- lections of Indian raptiles obtained by the British Museum. Mr. Howard Saunders read a paper on the Sternina: or Terns, with descriptions of three new species, which he proposed to call Sterna tibetana, Sterna eurygnatha, and Gygis microrhyncha. —Dr. Cunningham, of the University of Edinburgh, described a youag specimen of a dolphin, caught off" Great Grimsby, in Sep- tember, 1875. After pointing out the great difficulty expe- rienced in referring it to its proper place amongst the dolphins — thit difficulty arising chiefly from the unsatisfactory and even unreliable descriptions which have been given in this country by former observers — he came to the conclusion that he was justified in referring it to Delphinus albirestris, the differences being, in his opinion, merely those of age. — Mr. J. "W. Clark read some notes on a dolphin lately taken off the coast of Norfolk, which he was likewise induced to refer to the same species. — A July 6, 1876] NATURE 223 communication was read from Mr. R. B. Sharpe, containing the description of an apparently new species of owl from the Solo- mon Islands, which he proposed to call Ninox solomonis. — Mr. A. H. Garrod some notes on the anatomy of certain parrots. — Mr. H. E. Dresser read the description of a new species of broad- billed sandpiper, from North-Eastern Asia, to which he gave the name Liviicola sibirica. — A second communication from Mr. Dresser contained the description of a new species of Tetraogallus, discovered by Mr. Danford in the Cilician Taurus, which he pro- posed to call T, tauricus. — Dr. A. Giinther read some notes on a small collection of animals brought by Lieut. L. Cameron, C.B., from Angola. — A communication was read from Lieut. R. Wardlaw Ramsay, giving the description of a fine new species of Nuthatch from Karen-nee, which he proposed to call Sitta magna. Meteorological Society, June 21. — Mr. H. S. Eaton, M.A., president, in the chair. The following papers were read : — On the climate of Scarborough, by F. Shaw. The thermometers used were placed in a louvre-boarded case fixed to the north side of a wooden structure, having an open grass plot in front of them. The garden is about midway between the north and south sides of the town, and 150 yards from the shore; and as both residents and visitors are continually passing along this line, the observations may be taken as fairly representing the temperature of Scarborough as a watering-place. The mean monthly temperatures based on the average of the past eight years are : — 0000 Jan., 38 "8 April, 46 "o I July, 60 "4 Oct., 48*2 Feb., 397 May, 50-5 Aug., 58-9 Nov., 42-2 Mar., 41-6 June, 55-9 | Sept., 55-1 Dec, 39-0 The mean for the year is 48°* I. The maximum temperature on any day in July, the warmest month, does not exceed on the average, 78° 'O ; the highest in the eight years being 85°*5 in 1868. The mean of the extreme minimum temperature in the eight Januarys is 24°'2 ; the lowest being I3°'3, which occurred on January i, 1875. The moderate and agreeable summer temperature is due to the close proximity of the town to the sea, which in the warmest month of the season is about 5° below that of the air. The autumn and winter temperatures are also much influenced by the sea on the one hand, and the shelter afforded by the surrounding hills on the other. The sea is about 5" warmer than the air in the autumn, and 3° in the winter, while, the prevailing winds are south-westerly and not felt in their full force. The annual rain- fall, on the average of the past ten years, is 28*29 inches, which falls on 167 days. — Notice of upward currents during the forma- tion and passage of cumulus and cumulo-stratus clouds, by Rev. J. Crompton. On Nov. i, 1866, the day after the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Norwich, when the city was profusely decorated with flags, the author, when walking close to the cathedral, was struck with the unusual fluttering of the flags on the top of the spire, which is 300 feet high. They were stream- ing with a strained, quivering motion, perpendicularly upwards. A heavy cloud was passing overhead at the moment, and as it passed the flags followed the cloud and then gradually dropped into comparative quietness. The same phenomenon was noticed several times. As the cloud approached, the upper banners began to feel its influence, and streamed towards it against the direction of the wind, which still blew as before, steadily on all below ; as the cloud came nearer the vehement quivering and straining motion of the flags increased, they began to take an upward perpendicular direction right into the cloud, and seemed almost tearing themselves from the staves to which they were fastened ; again, as the cloud passed they followed it as they had previously streamed to meet its approach, and then dropped away as before, one or two actually folding over their staves. All the other flags at a lower elevation did not show the least symptom of disturbance. — Suggestions on certain variations, annual and diurnal, in the relation of the barometric gradient to the force of the wind, by Rev. W. Clement Ley. The author finds that the mean velocity of the wind corresponding to each gradient is much higher in summer than in winter. This is the case at all stations (though not equally) with all winds, with all lengths of values of radius of isobaric curvature, and with all values of actual barometric pressure. The general character of the mean diurnal variations of velocity, as these occur at the stations in the British Isles, may be fairly inferred from mean horary velocity curves, and may be thus described : — At the inland stations, in summer, a slight increment of velocity occurs about midnight. This is succeeded [by the morning minimum, which takes place in most of the months examined a little after sunrise. The mean velocity then rises until i p.m., when the diurnal maximum is sometimes attained. A slight subsidence then commonly occurs, but the mean velocity rises again at 3 or 4 P.M., and this second increment frequently forms the diurnal maximum. A great fall then takes place, which is more rapid than the rise in the morning ; and the evening minimum, which is in most months the diurnal minimum, is attained about 10 P.M. The mean velocity at i p.m. is, in fine and hot weather, more than double the 10 p.m. velocity in miles per hour, and exceeds the diurnal mean by about one-third. In winter the inflexions are very greatly modified. The mid- night rise is not in all months traceable, and the subsequent diminution is not very great. The morning maximum occurs about sunrise. The diurnal maximum takes place about i p.m., is less than double the minimum in miles per hour, and exceeds the mean of the day by about one-fifth only. — Average weekly temperature of thirty years (1846-75) at Cardington, by John Maclaren. — De la vulgarisation par la presse des Observations meteorologiques, by M. Harold Tarry. Physical Society, June 10. — Prof. G. C. Foster, president, in the chair. — Mr. W. J. Wilson exhibited and explained a reflecting tangent galvanometer which he has recently designed for the purpose of exhibiting the indications of the instrument to an audience, and so arranged that the divisions on the scale show witkout calculation the relative strengths of different currents. It should be observed at the outset that this object cannot be attained by attaching a mirror to the needle as in the ordinary galvanometer, as the angle passed over by the reflected ray is double that through which the needle is deflected. In the arrangement exhibited, the beam of light after passing through a small orifice traversed by cross wires, is reflected vertically by a fixed mirror : the ray then passes through a lens, and is again reflected from a smsdl plane mirror parallel to the irst, which is rigidly fixed below a small magnetic needle. By thi s means the ray becomes again horizontal, and, since the light now falls on the second mirror always at the same angle, the extent of motion of the ray is identical with that of the needle, and, if the scale be one of equal parts placed in the magnetic meridian, the indications on it will be proportional to the tangents of the angles, and therefore to the strengths of the currents. The needle and mirror are suspended by a silk fibre, and a bent strip of aluminium, the ends of which dip into water in an annular trough, is attached to the needle in order to check its oscilla- tions. A series of observations taken with varying resistances introduced into the current, showed that the indications are very reliable. — Mr. S. P. Thompson then exhibited an electromotor clock made by Mr. W. Hepworth, of York, and provided with a commutator of Mr, Thompson's design. This part of the instrument is veiy simple, and reverses the current at each single oscillation by means of two light springs resting on inclined planes. The motion of the pendulum drives the train of wheels by a modification of the gravity-escapement, and a very small battery -power is sufficient. — Prof. G. Fuller, C. E., exhibited and described his "electric multiplier," an in- strument which may be looked upon as an automatic electro- phorus. An insulated plate of vulcanite is supported in a vertical position, and on each side of it is an insulated metallic plate, and these can be moved together to and from the vulcanite by rotating a handle. When these plates are far apart, two metallic arms provided with points are made to pass one on each side of the vulcanite plates. One of these is insulated, and is provided with a rod terminating in a knob, which at a certain point in its path almost touches the metallic plate on the oppo- site side of the sheet of vulcanite. The other arm is in connec- tion with the earth. The action of the instrument is as follows. A charge of, say, negative electricity, having been given to the insulated arm, it is passed over its face of the vulcanite, while positive is drawn up from the earth and thrown upon the oppo- site face by the uninsulated series of points. These arms are then removed, and the two metallic plates are brought into con. tact with the vulcanite. Call the side of the plate charged with negative electricity A, and the other B. The negative of A in- duces positive on the near face of its metallic plate and repels the negative. This passes, by a strip of tin-foil joining the two faces of the vulcanite, to the other metallic plate neutralising its free positive, and when the plates are moved away from the vul- canite, that from A is charged with positive, and that from B with negative. Before reaching its extreme position this latter 224 NATURE \yuly 6, 1876 communicates its charge to the insulated arm by the brass knob, and the electricity is then distributed over the face A. At the end of its path B is momentarily connected to earth. It will be evident that the effect of again bringing the plates in contact is to increase the charge of positive electricity on the metallic plate opposite the face A. With the small model exhibited, Prof. Fuller has frequently obtained sparks an inch in length. — Prof. Guthrie then exhibited and employed Prof. Mach's appa- ratus for sound reflexion, w^hlch is one of an interesting series of appliances designed by him for the demonstration of certain fundamental principles in physics. -It consists of a mathemati- cally exact elliptical tray, which is highly polished and provided with a close-fitting glass cover. The tray is covered with pul- verised dry silicic acid, and a Leyden jar frequently discharged between two small knobs at one of the foci, when the silicic acid arranges itself \x> fine curves around the other focus. Entomological Society, June 7. — Prof. Westwood, presi- dent, in the chair. — Messrs. A. A. Berens, A. H. Swinton, and C. M. Wakefield were elected ordinary members. — Mr. Douglas made some further remarks on the "Corozo Nuts," known as " Vegetable Ivory," exhibited by him at the last meeting, which were attacked by a beetle of the genus Caryoborus. Mr. McLachlan, in connection with the above, exhibited the nuts of a species of Caryoborus (C. bactris) forwarded to him by Prof. Dyer. In this case each nut served as food for a single larva only, which bored in it a cylindrical hole of consider- able size and depth ; whereas the former nuts were infested with several larvae in each nut. — The President exhibited the larva of an Australian species of Hepialus, from Queensland, bearing a .lingular fungus, with four or five branches issuing from the back of the neck and the tail ; also a fungus growing out of the back of a Noctua pupa. — Mr. McLachlan, on behalf of Dr. Ather- stone of South Africa, exhibited a couple of very singular Orthopterous insects (belonging to the Acrydiid»e), which in colour and in the granulated texture so exactly mimicked the sand of the district as to render it almost impossible to detect them when at rest. The insect was supposed to approach the Trachyptcra scutellaris. Walker. — The President read descrip- tions and exhibited drawings of two very singular forms of Coleoptera from Mr. A. R. Wallace's private collection. For the first, which belonged to the Telephoridae, he proposed the generic name Astychina, remarkable for the form of the terminal joints of the antennas in one sex, which were modified with what appeared to be a prehensile apparatus, differing from anything known in the insect world, but of which some analogous forms were found to occur among certain Entomostracous Crustacea. The other pertained to the Cleridse, and was named Aniso- phyllus, differing from all known beetles by the extremely elongated branch of the ninth joint of the antennae. — Mr. Smith read descriptions of new species of Hymenopterous insects from New Zealand, collected by Mr. C. M. Wakefield.— Mr. J. S. Baly communicated descriptions of new genera and species of Halticinae. — Dr. Sharp communicated descriptions of a new genus and some new species of Staphylinidae from Mexico and Central America, collected by Mr. Salvin, Mr. Flohr, and Mr. Belt. — Part I. of the Transactions for 1876 were on the table. Paris Academy of Sciences, June 19. — Vice- Admiral Paris in the chair. — The following papers were read: — Theorems relative to curves of any order and class, in which are considered couples of rectilinear segments having a constant product, by M. Chasles. Experimental critique on glycemia (continued), by M. CL Bernard. He illustrates these three points : — i. Sugar is rapidly destroyed in the blood after its extraction from the vessels. 2. Within the vessels, after death, sugar disappears rapidly. 3. In the living animal, the saccharine richness of the blood oscillates constantly. — On the cause of the movements in Crookes's radiometer, by M. Govi. He rejects the idea of an impulsive force of light, and of thermal currents of gas in the receiver ; the causes he assigns being the dilatation by heat, or condensation by cold, of gaseous layers which all bodies retain at their surface, even in an absolute vacuum. It should be possible to obtain insensible radiometers, by heating the vanes, during the action of the mercury pump. M. Fizeau said the constant motion, for as long as an hour, of a radiometer placed in the centre of a circle of candles, was against this hypothesis. — Examination of new methods proposed for finding the position of a ship at sea, by M. Ledieu. — On the existence of mercury in the Cevennes, by M. Leymerie. In 1843 he had evidence that liquid mercury had been met with near a village at the foot of the Jurassic plateau of Larzac, was injurious to vegetation, was used to cure sheep disease, &c. — The plague in 1876; prophylactic measures, by M. Tholozan. — M. Pasteur presented a work entitled " Studies on Beer : its Maladies, and their Causes ; Process for rendering it Unalterable, with a New Theory of Fermentation." — Influence of temperature on magnetisation, by M. Gaugain, AUevard steel and Shefheld steel undergo nearly the same per- manent modification when subjected to the same alternations of temperature, but the temporary modification is much greater for the Sheffield steel than for the other. The coercive force is diminished by variations of temperature. The inductive action on a bobbin diminishes when the temperature increases. — Extension of the principle of Carnot to electric phenomena ; general differential equations of the equilibrium of the movement of any reversible electric system, by M. Lippmann. — Letter to M. Dumas on experiments on the use of sulphide of carbon and sulphocarbonates, by M. Delachanal. — A letter from MM. Weyprecht and Wilczek was read, explaining their project for scientific exploration of the arctic regions. — Differential electro- actinometer, by M. Egoroff. Two of Edmond Becquerel's actinometers are arranged one above another in a common box, so that the current of the one is neutralised by that of the other, and a mirror galvanometer is interposed in the circuit. Each actinometer is a parallelopipedal box of glass with two opposite sides of hardened caoutchouc, and slits with silver plates in them. The outer box has slits to correspond, the width of which can be varied. The absorbing body to be studied is placed betweei^ the light and the slit corresponding to one of the actinometers, and the galvanometer noted when one and when both of the actinometers are in action. — Researches on the com- mercial analysis of raw sugars, by MM. Riche and Bardy. — On a new class of colouring matters, by M. Lauth. The first source of these has been the aromatic diamines obtained in reducing the nitrated derivative of acetylic combination of organic bases. — On some derivatives of isoxylene, by M. Gundelach. — On the spiro- phore, an apparatus for recovery of the asphyxiated, especially/or drowning persons and new-born infants, by M. Woillez. (We notice this elsewhere.) — Graphic study of movements of the brain, by M. Salatre. Into an orifice of the cranium is inserted a glass tube, with caoutchouc stopper above, traversed by a smaller glass tube, which is connected with a lever and drum arrangement (of the Marey type). Water is poured in till it reaches about the middle of the small tube ; its oscillations (from the brain surface) affect the registering lever. Among other results, the respiratory oscillations, observed simultaneously in the brain and the vertebral column, are synchronous. Artificial respiration reverses the order of oscillations, the liquid rising in inspiration, falling in expiration. Attitudes have a great influ- ence. In efforts of any kind the oscillations are much increased. — Contractile vacuoles in the vegetable kingdom, by M. Maupas. The contractile vacuole has been regarded as a characteristic of animality. But various recent facts are against this. M. Maupas describes contractile vacuoles he has found in macrospores of the algae, Micrtspora floccosa, Thuret, and Ulothrix variabilis, KUtiing (both in Algeria). — The mineral of nickel, in New Caledonia, or " Garnierite," by M. Gamier. — On nitrated aliza- rine, by M. Rosenstiehl CONTENTS Page A Physical Science Institute 205 Whewell's Writings and Correspondence. By Prof. J. Clerk Maxwell, F.R.S 206 Gould's Birds of New Guinea 208 Our Book Shelf : — Williams's " Famines in India " 209 LSTTKRS TO THE EDITOR :— Lectures on Meteorology. — G. M. Whipple 2«g The Axolotl.— G. S. Boulger 209 Remarks upon a Hailstorm which passed over Belgaum on April 21, 1876. — G.A.Newman [With 1 Ihistratioti) aio Williams' (?) Thermometer. — S. M. Drach 210 The Cuckoo. — H. M. Adair 2'io Geology of Zermatt. — Viator 210 Our Astronomical Column : — The Total Solar Eclipse of 1878, July 29 210 Bessel's " Abhandluugen " 210 Mira Ceti 211 The Tasmanians .. «. 211 The Kinematics OF Machinery (^22^A ///wf/ra^'wBj) 213 Apparatus for Registering Animal Movements 214 Dkedgings OF the "Challenger" 215 The U.S. Weather Maps 216 Natural Science at Cambridge. By G. T. Bettany .... 216 Notes • 217 Scientific Serials '19 socibtibs and acadbmibs z20 NA TURE 225 THURSDAY, JULY 13, 1876 THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER I. WE have already alluded to a recent movement for procuring a University Charter for the Owens College, Manchester. While this took its origin in the teaching stafif of the college, it has now, we believe, spread beyond these limits, and is at present engaging the earnest attention of the governing body of that institu- tion. A pamphlet, drawn up by the members of the senate, and embodying their views, has likewise been sent to some of the most eminent men of the country, and replies have been received on the whole decidedly favourable to the object. Under these circumstances we may be pardoned an attempt to discuss, however imperfectly, the present state of the higher education of this country, and to point out in what direction, and according to what principles, an improvement of the system may, in our opinion, most properly be brought about. We shall therefore begin by a definition. Let it be understood that when we use the word University, we mean an institution in which, as far as training is con- cerned, the higher education of the whole man is contem- plated. Now this means more than mere intellectual training — far more than mere intellectual instruction — for it means such a training as will turn out a man of high cultivation in all his powers — one able to take a leading part in the progress of his race. Such a cultivation has a four-fold aspect, moral, intellectual, social, physical. It may perhaps be giving undue prominence to this latter element, to insist upon the neighbourhood of a consider- able river as a sine qua iion in founding a University, but this is only an extreme expression of the views enter- tained, we doubt not, by the authorities of Oxford and Cambridge, that a University should contemplate the physical training of its undergraduates, as well as what we call training in its higher forms. If these be the true functions of a University, it is almost superfluous to say that such an institution, in common with everything possessing vitality, must be constantly reforming itself, so as to adapt its training to the ever- varying and ever-advancing requirements of the age; and it is most certainly the part of a wise Government to consider how far the present institutions of our country meet its educational wants, and if they do not, to consider whether they cannot with propriety do something to supply these legitimate requirements. Now this at once leads us to ask in the first place. What are the most distinguishing characteristics of the present age, or rather, perhaps, in order to limit our inquiry, of the British citizen of the age? what are, in fine, the essential conditions which the statesman must not ignore, but by which he must consent to be guided in all his attempts to legislate on the question ? In the first place, he cannot ignore what may be termed the religious difficulty. Perhaps, roughly speaking, about half the inhabitants of the country may be regarded as attached more or less to the Church of England, while the other half differ more or less widely from the tenets of that Vol, XIV.— No. 350 Church. Here it is evident that this difference of opinion does not imply any want of interest in religion, but the very reverse. What it does indicate is the line that must be pursued in all future legislation on the subject. The statesman must deal with men as they are, and in conse- quence of this difference he cannot afford, and indeed he will not attempt, to place the higher education of the country in the hands of one religious body, however powerful, whether this be the Church of England on 'the one hand or the positivists on the other. Such a policy may have been possible, perhaps even desirable, a couple of centuries ago, but it is neither possible nor desirable now. In the next place, the statesman cannot ignore the fact that certain branches of knowledge and their appli- cations have developed of late years in a very wonderful manner, so as almost to fix a new epoch in the progress of our race. The present is eminently the scientific age of the world. Again this wonderful progress of scientific knowledge has added greatly to the wealth of the nation, especially in its larger centres of industry, and there is in conse- quence a very persistent and most praiseworthy cry for increased facilities for higher cultivation. Nor is this cry limited to scientific culture alone, in which case it would be less praiseworthy ; but it embraces general cultivation, having, however, especial reference to these recently- developed branches of knowledge which have made our great cities what they are, and in which progress is neces- sary to a continuance of their well-being. Now these inevitable conditions are not merely destined to regulate all future steps that may be taken for the spread of higher education, but they have already modified the position of the present institutions of our country, and besides this they are even now deter- mining the action of Government in a variety of ways. The increased endowment of research, the loan collec- tion of scientific instruments, and other developments which these will inevitably bring about, are indications that our present rulers are very much alive to the true welfare of the country. We are, however, here engaged rather with the future of the higher education, and we shall now show in what manner the principles we have dwelt upon have already modified our existing Uni- versities. To make this clear, let us begin by a brief description of the chief Universities of England and Scotland, and for this purpose we may confine ourselves to the two great English Universities, the four Scotch Universities, and the University of London. The two great English Universities have come down to us from a time when the people of England practically thought aUke on religious matters. Until recently these institutions bore all the marks of 'this ancient unity, inas- much as they only gave their degrees and Fellowships to members of the Church of England. But it is well known that by recent enactments, not only degrees, but Fellow- ships may be held by those who are not members of the national Church. Nevertheless, while open to all, these Universities yet retain an especial relation to the Church of England, and we believe there is no widespread wish to see the connection violently altered. In many respects these Universities are institutions 226 NATURE [July 13, 1876 of great excellence, while in some respects they are altogether unique. In principle they embrace a very complete system of culture, in practice, however, it is found that their system is more especially adapted to the wealthier classes of the community. Judging of a tree by its fruits, we must not forget what a brilliant galaxy of statesmen, divines, philanthropists, and men of the highest general culture, have owed their training to these great Universities. It is when we come to strictly scien- tific professions, such as medicine and chemistry, that the deficiencies of these institutions begin to appear ; neither Oxford nor Cambridge has turned out an appreciable number either of distinguished physicians or distin- guished chemists. Those who are desirous to become proficient in these branches of knowledge almost in- variably go elsewhere. The same may perhaps be said of the science of engineering. It has been proved a great misfortune to the country that these two Universities have unwarrantably neglected the scientific training of their graduates. Nor is it un- true to say that in the past generation they have produced statesmen of unquestionable eminence, but yet profoundly ignorant of the scientific requirements of their country. It is only now, after a somewhat prolonged agitation, that the minds of the rulers of this country are becoming awake to the paramount value of science in the development of our resources. Let us now briefly consider the four Universities of Scotland. These institutions educate a far larger propor- tion of the people of Scotland than Oxford and Cam- bridge do of the English people. They are the training- schools rather of the middle than of the upper classes of the community. They excel in those branches in which Oxford and Cambridge are deficient, and they are defi- cient in those respects in which Oxford and Cambridge excel. Good medical men and men of good acquirements in various branches of science are produced by these Universities, but the accomplished scholar or mathema- tician is not produced — at least to any great extent. Nor, so far as we are aware, is any attention given to the physical training of the undergraduates. The Scotch Universities are not now connected with the Established Church of Scotland, except in the fact that there is a theological faculty attached to each of them, and that the Church of Scotland looks to that faculty alone for the theological training of its ministers. They are in the habit, however, of giving theological degrees with praise- worthy impartiality to eminent divines in all the some- what numerous divisions of the Presbyterian Church, and occasionally to English Nonconformists. The University of London is different from all these, inasmuch as it is entirely unconnected with any religious denomination. It had its origin, if we mistake not, in the wish to give degrees to those who, from adverse circum- stances, had been unable to receive a University education, but who were yet possessed of the requisite information implied in a degree. At the present moment a large number take advantage of this institution, and we believe that nearly 700 can- didates presented themselves at the recent matriculation examination. Of these, however, the great majority are not unattached students, but are probably connected with some metropolitan or provincial college that has not the power of granting degrees. Thus the University of London is at present the degree-giving body for the alumni of a considerable number of colleges scattered throughout the country, and in virtue of this position it has a very great influence in regulating the studies at those institutions. We have thus briefly described the present position of the higher education of this country, and it remains to consider in what respect the present system is deficient and how this deficiency may be remedied, consistently, of course, with those conditions which we have stated, and which no legislation can possibly ignore. This, however, must be reserved for a future occasion. GALILEO AND THE ROMAN COURT Galileo Galilei und die Romische Curie. Von Karl von Gebler. (Stuttgart, 1876. London : Triibner and Co.) '"T^HIS work supplies a continuous and detailed narra- -■- tive of the circumstances under which Galileo in- curred the hostility of the dominant party at Rome at the opening of the seventeenth century, and was by their influence denounced to, and ultimately tried and con- demned by, the supreme tribunal of the Inquisition. An Appendix contains the text of the principal documents referred to in the body of the work. The whole forms a volume of rather more than 400 pages. Such an undertaking, though it may, at first sight, appear a mere piece of surplusage to those who know how extensive is the already existing Galileo literature, is yet abundantly justified by recent events. Within the last ten years original documents published in France and Italy, and German critical researches based upon them, have completely overthrown the view hitherto held by the most competent writers on this subject, and com- pelled the adoption of a diametrically opposite conclusion. All previous narratives of the trial of Galileo are thus necessarily superseded, and its history must be entirely re-written. Without attempting to explain the nature of the evidence which has brought about this change of view, a task much beyond my present limits, I propose to state wherein the change itself consists, and to what extent the opinions hitherto held concerning the conduct of the prisoner and of the Court are affected by it. The essence of the charge against Galileo was, as we learn from the sentence finally pronounced, that after having been formally prohibited by the Inquisition from defending the Copernican theory, he had, in his Dialogues on the two rival systems of the universe, openly contra- vened this order, and so committed a clear act of contu- macy, or, as we should call it, contempt of Court. On the question whether the accused had actually defended Copernicanism in his Dialogues, modern writers were able to form an independent judgment by the study of his incriminated work ; but the statement about the injunc- tion personally laid upon him by the Inquisition rested solely on the assertion of the Court itself, unsupported by one tittle of corroborative evidence. It is therefore a remarkable circumstance, and no bad illustration of how much may be done by strong asseveration, that the best historians, including some by no means antecedently inclined to repose a child-like confidence in the veracity of the Holy Office, one and all accepted its statement July 13, 1876] NATURE 227 on this decisive point as representing an undoubted historical fact. As Galileo's advocacy of Copemicanism was indisputable, the gratuitous admission of the second premiss of the Court necessarily also involved its con- clusion, viz., that it had a right to punish the philosopher for his transgression of its command. Such accordingly was the practically unanimous verdict of historians. Up to 1867 no portions of the proceedings in the case, except the sentence and form of recantation, had been made public in a trustworthy shape ; but in that year M. de I'Epinois was permitted by the Roman authorities to publish in extenso the greater part of the original trial- record preserved in the archives of the Inquisition, A mass of fresh evidence thus became generally accessible, and was further increased by the publication in 1870, by Prof. Gherardi, of a second set of original documents bearing on the trial. It now became possible to check the statements of the tribunal by reference to the docu- ments which it employed, and to the defence and deposi- tions of the accused. This was done by Dr. Emil Wohlwill, of Hamburg, who, in a pamphlet published in 1870, showed that such a comparison led straight to the conclusion that the personal injunction asserted and relied on by the Inquisition had never been actually delivered to Galileo. Wohlwill supports this position by a mass of corroborative testimony extracted, with singular acuteness and ability, from Galileo's works and letters, and thus renders his case perfectly irresistible. These new results, striking and interesting as they obviously are, have attracted but little notice on the Continent, and an account of them given by me in a Friday evening lecture at the Royal Institution ^ constitutes, I believe, the only public attention they have received in this country. Ai the charge advanced against Galileo v/as, after all, only formal and technical, his exoneration from it will hardly be considered as affecting in any considerable degree the estimate hitherto formed of his conduct in the matter, except indeed by those persons who consider unhesitating obedience to the will of a Roman Congrega- tion as the duty of every right-thinking man. Unfor- tunately too, the nature of his answers under examination must influence opinion more considerably in an unfavour- rable direction. Not only did Galileo deny on oath having ever held the Copernican doctrine ; he actually offered to write another Dialogue in refutation of the arguments in favour of the condemned tenet to be found in his former work, and protested his belief in the old Ptolemaic hypo- thesis as " most true and indubitable." Much allowance ought unquestionably to be made for an infirm and terror- stricken old man, but, even so, there remains an amount of really gratuitous insincerity on which it is painful to dwell, though it would be disingenuous to pass it over in silence. As to the course pursued by the condemning tribunal, there can be little or no doubt that it deliberately lent itself to perhaps the most nefarious practice of which a judicial body can be guilty, namely, the admission of evidence known both to be false and to have been fabri- cated for the express purpose of securing a conviction which could not be compassed by fair means. The theo- logical antagonists of the Holy Office have, no doubt, over » On May 8, 1874. and over again charged it with atrocities of this and of every other description, but I know of no instance save the present in which it has been convicted of such an enormity out of the mouth of its own records. Thus much of introduction appeared indispensable in order to define the point of view from which the volume in hand is written, Herr von Gebler regards the con- clusions of Wohlwill as so firmly established, that his duty as an historian is no longer to discuss or defend them, but to weave them, together with the pre- viously known facts of the case into a succinct narrative arranged in the order of time. Even to summarise the contents of his volume would be to attempt a fresh Life of Galileo. All that can be done here is to draw attention to a few of the salient incidents as they are presented in Von Gebler's pages. It would seem that it was the Jesuits who, from beginning to end, were responsible for the persecution of the philosopher ; and, most unfortunately for him, he quitted the service of the only State in Italy which could have enabled him to defy their machinations at the very time when its protection began to be urgently needed. Oppressed by the amount of lecturing and teaching in- cumbent upon him as Professor at Padua, and anxious, as it would seem, to illustrate in his own person the benefits to be derived from the " endowment of original research," Galileo applied for, and after some negotiation obtained, the post of first Mathematician about the person of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, which he hoped would secure him uninterrupted leisure for the prosecution of investi- gation and discovery. Von Gebler comments as follows on this calamitous step : — " In spite of all the great advantages which this new post brought him, Galileo made a thoroughly bad exchange when he quitted the free territory of the Venetian re- public in order to commit himself to the doubtful protec- tion of a sovereign who, though personally very well disposed towards him, was young, vacillating, and, more- over, completely under the control of Rome. It was essentially the first step in the course which led Galileo towards his doom. Complete freedom of teaching existed actually in the Venetian Republic ; nominally only in Tuscany. In Venice politics and science appeared guaranteed against Jesuit intrigues, for when Paul V. bad thought fit to lay the uncompliant Republic under an Interdict (April 13, 1606), the Fathers of the Society of Jesus had to submit to immediate and permanent expul- sion from its territory. In Tuscany, on the other hand, where the Order was thoroughly at home, its mighty influence lay heavy on all that touched its interests, and especially therefore on politics and science. Had Galileo never forsaken the fresh healthy air of the Free State, in order to breathe a close Rome- infected Court atmosphere, he would, there is every reason to believe, have escaped the subsequent persecutions of Rome, inasmuch as that same republic which, but shortly before, had not allowed itself to be intimidated by the papal cxcommunicaticn pronounced against its Doge, its Senate, and its entire Government, would assuredly not have delivered up one of its University professors to the vengeance of the Roman Inquisition." The period of private controversy during which the question at issue between the old and the new astronomy was forced, against the wish of Galileo, from a scientific to a theological mode of discussion, is very fully described by our author, who gives many amusing instances of the 228 NATURE \7nly 13, 1876 ludicrous manner in which the Aristotelian philosophers attempted by d, priori logical considerations to disprove the reality of the celestial appearances revealed by the telescope, and " as by magical enchantments to conjure them out of the heavens." So far as the truth of the Copemican theory was concerned, these individual skir- mishes were put an end to by the peremptory decree of the Index Congregation (March 5, 1616), which reduced the revolutionary theory, for all Roman Catholic astro- nomers, to the level of a mere hypothesis, convenient indeed for the representation of phenomena, but not corresponding to actual external facts. This, the un- doubted scope of the decree, which has escaped most previous writers, is carefully stated by von Gebler. The point is one of much interest, since the repressive atti- tude then taken up was not finally abandoned until as late as 1820. Two hundred years of astronomical research were needed to break down the unyielding Papal non possunius. The appearance in 1632 of Galileo's Dialogue on the Ptolemaic and Copemican systems was the signal for the final catastrophe. Its high significance is well brought out in the following extract : — " The book contains far more than the title promises, for the writer has, in connection with his discussion of the two great systems of the universe, introduced a record of almost every important result obtained by him during nearly fifty years of scientific research and discovery. The author shows himself determined to adopt a style which should appear not exclusively calculated for scholars, but, on the contrary, intelligible and even highly attrac- tive for every really educated man. The essential object of the book was to spread abroad as widely as possible a clear recognition of the constitution of nature in its absolute and final form. That this object was so suc- cessfully achieved is attributable not merely to Galileo's philosophic, but, in the first instance at least, perhaps even more to his literary eminence. The external form of the work was in itself most happily chosen. There is not a trace of the dryness of a systematic treatise in which proof succeeds proof with a wearisome monotony, hardly relieved by a single pause. On the contrary, the facile lively form of dialogue so tolerant of digression, gave the author full opportunity to develop his impetuous elo- quence, his singular power of reasoning, his biting satire — in short, his special and brilliant style." Next let us observe the effect of the work on the ene- mies of its author : — " Galileo, as one of the most momentously effective of pioneers, was in a high degree obnoxious to the Jesuits, and members of the order had repeatedly been signally worsted in scientific conflicts with the great philosopher, a circumstance by no means fitted to dispose the Fathers of the Society more favourably towards him. As soon as they recognised that in his latest work he had em- ployed an immense array of facts and an overwhelming force of argument for the destruction of the fundamental principles of the old school, in order to build up with an inexorable logic the modern edifice upon its ruins, the Jesuits set all their levers to work to secure the suspen- sion of the revolutionary book, and later, to bring about the ruin of its dangerous author. A prosecution before the Inquisition was their most convenient, indeed pro- bably their only possible weapon." The notion, still entertained by some writers, that nothing really serious was meant by the trial, but only the settlement of a point of ecclesiastical etiquette, is totally dispelled by the evidence stated in von Gebler's narrative. We see Galileo completely panic-stricken on first receiving the summons of the terrible tribunal, en- deavouring in every possible way to keep out of its grip, and only finally complying when the Court had actually issued its writ to have him brought up to Rome in irons. We see the Grand Duke of Tuscany writing autograph letters to the Cardinals who were members of the Holy Office, begging for a favourable consideration of his servant's case. We see the Pope himself in a fit of un- governable fury against Galileo ; — fury so intense that the Florentine Ambassador, who had provoked it by defend- ing the philosopher, precipitately dropped the subject, " lest he too should be charged with heresy by the Holy Office." During the slow progress of his case in Rome, Galileo was unquestionably treated with quite exceptional favour, in being allowed to reside in the house of the Ambassador except during the days of his actual examin- ation,;and even then lodged in comfortable rooms in the apartments of the Commissary Fiscal, instead of in the ordinary prison. Of what took place during the examin- ation we are not completely informed. That the prisoner was threatened with the torture is certain ; whether it was actually inflicted is still a moot point. Von Gebler very confidently maintains that it was not, and his reasoning at least proves that, if employed at all, it must have been but slightly. The closing portion of the narrative presents a dismal picture of years lingered out amid severe physical suffer- ing under the stony-hearted supervision, constant petty interference, and reiterated threats of the Holy Ofifice. And when at last the old man dies, blind and helpless, but surrounded with a glory destined to outlive that of popes and cardinals, the Inquisition is seen nervously bustling about to prevent any memorial being erected to the great astronomer, " lest the good be scandalised," or if that could not be achieved, at least to secure that neither in the inscription nor in the oration pronounced at the grave, " words should occur injurious to.the repu- tation of this tribunal." " The feeble Duke of Tuscany did not venture to dis- regard in the smallest degree these unamiable Papal wishes. Even the last directions of Galileo, that he should be laid in the tomb of his ancestors in the church of Santa Croce at Florence, were not respected. The insignificant side chapel of that church, called the capella ' del noviziato, received the mortal remains of the great departed. His body was there buried quietly and with- out public ceremonial in accordance with the will of Urban VIII. No memorial, no inscription marked his last resting-place. But, do what Rome would to wipe out the memory of the famous philosopher, she failed in her attempt to bury in the same grave with his lifeless corpse, the immortal name of Galileo Gahlei." Herr von Gebler has performed his task with meri- torious zeal and conscientious labour. He is scrupulously accurate in his use of authorities, and shows a fixed deter- mination— no small merit in a biographer of Galileo— not to exchange the standing-ground of histrry lor the quick- sands of ecclesiastical controversy. His narrative is clear and readable, though not free from a tendency to ditTuse- ness and verbal redundancy which are more sharply criticised in England than in Germany. On one point only does he appear to me open to any serious censure, July 13, 1876] NATURE 229 viz., in the amount of recognition which he has assigned to the principal pioneer in the department of history on which he writes, I mean, of course, Dr. Wohlwill. Without wishing to imply that von Gebler has inten- tionally minimized the credit he has given to Wohlwill, I certainly think that a person acquainted with the latter's pamphlet only by the former's references, would form an inadequate conception of the extent to which its few and unassuming pages have supplied both materials and suggestions since incorporated and turned to account in the present work. Sedley Taylor MARGARY'S JOURNALS AND LETTERS The yoiij-ney of Augusttis Raymond Margary from Shanghae to Bhamo, and back to Manivyne. From his Journals and Letters. With a brief Biographical Preface, and concluding Chapter, by Sir Rutherford Alcock, K.C.B. Portrait and Map. (London : Mac- millan and Co., 1876.) THE publication of these journals and letters can only serve to confirm and deepen the general regret felt at the untimely fate of Mr. Margary. After looking at the manly, genial, and determined face which Jeens has so faithfully reproduced, and reading the hurried but able and invariably interesting notes which have been preserved of the now famous journey, one burns with vexation that through some possibly preventible misunderstanding or ignorant blunder, so promising and noble a youth should have been sacrificed, just when he had shown of how great things he was capable. We need not here enter into details with which, doubtless, all our readers are familiar through the daily press, and to which we have already referred in connection with Dr. Anderson's recent work (vol. xiii., p. 422), to which the present publication is the fitting complement. The Indian Government had determined to make another attempt — Sladen's in 1868 was a failure — to open up a trade route between Burmah and China. A party was to leave Bhamo in January, 1875, cross the frontier, and make its way to Shanghae. It was thought advisable that some one should traverse the rotite in an opposite direction, so as to meet this party on the frontier ; Mr. Margary, who had been for some years in our Consular Chinese Service as interpreter, was selected for the criti- cal but honourable duty, and in accordance with instruc- tions set out from Shanghae in A.ugust, 1874. The energetic youth — he was twenty-eight years of age — eager to be of use in the world, and naturally eager for distinction, rejoiced to have such a splendid opportu- nity, dangerous though he knew the task to be, and with speed and secrecy made his preparations, and set out furnished with a pass from the Chinese Government. He had a journey before him of not far short of 2,000 miles, right through the heart of the Chinese Empire, a large portion of the distance over ground not previously traversed by any European. About one half of the distance was in steamer and by boat up the Yang-tse-Kiang, and its tributary, the Yuan. At Chen-Yuan-Fu, in the Kwei Chou province, he was furnished with carriers and baggage animals, and thus safely made his way to his destination, Bhamd, in Burmah, a short distance on the other side of the Chinese frontier. Probably no one ever made a journey of such length through any part of China and met with fewer obstructions. It was not the pass he was provided with that alone did it, for in one or two instances the officials of towns could annoy him in spite of it. It was his humanity, his toleration, his geniality and sense of humour and disposition to see the best side of everything and everybody ; it was these qualities com- bined with his perfect acquaintance with the language and knowledge of and respect for Chinese customs, along with a determination to make his mission a success, that carried him safely and happily through circumstances in which ninety-nine others would have come to grief. During a great part of his journey, Mr. Margary was almost prostrated by illnesses of various kinds ; yet those are mistaken who think that the book before us contains merely a few meagre scraps thrown together to make up a volume. In spite of illnesses and of the fact that as in duty bound he made all haste to get to the end of his journey, Mr. Margary contrived, by observation and intercourse, to obtain a substantial amount of really valuable information about the country and the people through which he passed. He had of course no time for minute exploration, though a fair acquaintance with geology and botany qualified him for profitable work of this kind ; but his journals and letters contain many im- portant notes on the physical geography and resources of the extensive tract through which his journey lay. He kept eyes and ears open, and his notes show that in this part of China there is plenty of scope for mining and commercial enterprise, and a fruitful field awaiting the scientific explorer. Many important observations will also be found in these remains concerning the people of the various districts and their ethnological relations. Especially do the notes of his intercourse with officials, and non- officials as well, serve to shed a light on Chinese character that we are sure will be new to many. Mr. Margary set himself from the first to understand the Chinese, a task of the greatest difficulty, and came to the conclusion that the common notions on this curious people are far from correct. The brief biographical sketch and a few early letters enable one to trace the growth and training of the unfor- tunate youth from his school-days. He was evidently made of excellent stuff to begin with, and took the best possible advantage of his educational opportunities. When only about twenty he was appointed as interpreter to China. Here he speedily acquired a mastery of the language, and did duty at various places before his last settlement at Shanghae. While on the island of Formosa he supplemented his defective scientific education by, as we have said, the acquisition of a knowledge of botany and zoology. On several occasions, moreover, before his final feat, he showed his readiness of resource, bravery, determination, and skill in dealing with men. And yet, through some yet unexplained blunder, this splendid young fellow, so well adapted for long service to his country and to science, was obscurely and brutally mur- dered in a petty Chinese village. The mission under Col. Browne had proceeded on its way some little distance beyond the Burman frontier, when Margary volunteered to go forward with one or two attendants to remove some seemingly small obstruction at Manwyne. No more was 230 NATURE \7uly 13, 1876 seen of him alive by his party ; his murder at Manwyne was evidently part of a scheme to attack and murder the whole party, who of course returned frustrated in their object. It is not for us to enter into any discussion as to who are the real authors of the treacherous affair ; so far as data permit, Sir Rutherford Alcock discusses the whole question, as well as shows the value of Margary and of his journey, in an Appendix. Whoever was to blame, Margary himself was blameless : it is difficult to regard his death as anything but an unrelieved loss : we trust her Majesty's Consular Service contains many like him. OUR BOOK SHELF Through Bosnia and the Herzegovina on Foot during the Insurrection, August and September, 1875. By Arthur J. Evans, B.A., F.S.A. With a Map and 58 Illustrations. (London : Longmans and Co., 1876.) This is an opportune publication, and we recommend it to our readers as one that will give them a good and lively idea of the countries referred to and their various peoples — of much interest at present in connection with the Servian rising. Mr. Evans entered Bosnia at Brod on the Save, went leisurely south, with various divergences, through the country, reaching the sea near the mouth of the Narenta and coasting along to Ragusa. Mr. Evans mixed freely with all classes of the people wherever he went, is well acquainted with Bosnian, and indeed with general European history, is a discriminating ethnologist, and has a good knowledge of botany. He studied the features and habits of the people closely as he sojourned among them, and gives many notes that might be found of value to those who take interest both in Aryan and Turanian ethnology. The people are evidently capable of good things if they bad the chance and were free from oppres- sion ; but Mr. Evans's observation confirms all that has been said as to the impossibility of the Turk ever treat- ing a Christian subject with justice or even humanity, unless compelled. The book contains a map and many attractive illustrations, is interestingly written, and will give English readers a fair idea of a country that is almost as little known to the generality as the heart of Africa. 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. \ Firths, Dales, and Lakes, Valleys and Cafions In Nature, vol. xiii. p. 481, you honoured me by printing a notice of some writings on glacial subjects, and since then many pamphlets have been sent to me. I would gladly show that I have studied them. Though I do not believe in a " glacial period," I have convinced myself that local glacial climates, like the existing climate of Greenland and the " Arctic current " have prevailed in different regions at different times, and that marks of these " local glacial periods " include " valleys " of certain forms, with " firths " and " lake basins." Glaciation occupied the attention of the Geological Society at their last meeting, when Prof. Ramsay read an abstract of a paper, in which a foreign writer compared Green- land and Norway. So far as I understand that writer's views as to glacial action in general, I agree with him. Many writers hold opposite opinions as to " the usual evidence of power- ful ice erosion," and "the alleged power of a glacier to excavate a depression in the earth's surface" (Judd), as to "abrasion," and "the inability of glaciers to excavate except under peculiarly favourable circumstances " (Bonney). Truth is learned by ob- servation and by perseverance. A drop hollows a stone, not by force, but by frequent falling, and that truth has become pro- verbial. A stream of water by flowing-, and by rolling stones, makes a watercourse, and that truth is proved by every shower and in every gutter. By perseverance flowing water makes a deep watercourse. According to the latest official report of Dr. Hayden (June 4, 1876), streams which began to flow about the sources of the Mississippi, when the Rocky Mountains were raised, have gone on flowing ever since in the same channels, and some have worn caiions "from half a mile to a mile deep," not by force, but by frequent flowing. A glacier also flows. It is acknowledged that it wears and grooves rock, but still it is denied that a wide deep stream of flow- ing ice can make a wide deep furrow. It is said that ice " abrades," but does not "erode," that it cannot "excavate," unless under favourable circumstances. It is maintained that flowing ice cannot hollow out a basin, though flowing water does it on a small scale A^herever it flows. Much is done by perseverance. As a drop hollows a stone, and water a watercourse, so ice makes an ice-channel slowly ; and much repetition by glacialists may in time convince sceptics of that truth. Icebergs are the ends of glaciers pushed out into the sea, and there launched. Some of them are 3,000 feet thick. They prove their size by grounding in soundings off" Newfoundland, and Labrador, and Greenland, and by their rate of flotation when they float with 300 feet above water, as "flat-topped islands of ice" in southern seas. A "glacier" cannot easily be measured on shore, but these vagrant fragments roughly measure parent glaciers. A pressure of 3,000, or of 1,000, or of 500 feet of ice upon sand]or stone moving in an ice- channel is great abrading force. At the base of every ice-fall, or ice-rapid, the plunging ice-river must tend to " excavate," because falls and rapids of water excavate pools of various size proportioned to their power. The area of Greenland nearly equals that of India, and that area, so far as it is known, is covered with thick ice which is slowly moving seawards. The coasts are furrowed by deep hollows, of which most contain flowing glaciers, of which many enter the sea, and launch "islands of ice." Some "bergs" now float to the lowest latitude reached by northern drift-stones on shore in Europe and in America. I say nothing here about marine glaciation. The Greenland glaciers are flowing from an area where water generally falls frozen ; they flow as rivers now flow from India, and all of them are slowly wearing their channels at some rate, and working up stream like Niagara Falls. There is no measure for the time during which these powerful ice-rivers of Greenland have been slowly hollowing stone by frequent flowing, unless it be the work of erosion done. It is denied that the woik was done by the glaciers. Yet no rivers flow where ice fills the dales, and these Greenland dales have been " eroded," and bear " the usual evidence of powerful ice erosion," according to photography and descriptions. According to the clearest marks the whole Scandi- navian peninsula, and the whole of Finland have at some time been covered by ice on the scale of Greenland ice. Sermitualik glacier, photographed by Mr. Bradford before 1870, is near Cape Desolation in Greenland, opposite to Shetland, Bergen, Christiania, St. Petersburg, &c. It is from three and a half to four miles wide where it enters the sea, and there it is about 800 feet thick. It extends inland as far as the eye can reach, and probably comes from the watershed of Greenland. Taking the ice to weigh only 55 lbs. per foot cube, the pressure above the sea-level on the ice channel is about 44,000 lbs. on the foot square. Between ice and rock are large stones, grit, and mud ; and the rock is rounded where it is visible at the edge of the glacier, near the sea-level. The slopes between the lakes of Finland, and the gulf near Viborg, at the side of the Saiamen canal, and elsewhere, are polished, striated, and rounded. I took rubbings in September, 1865, and recognised the work of ice on the scale of Greenland ice. In Norway the old marks are plain on the sides of firths and dales, and some lead back to glaciers, which still flow from large areas upon the watershed, which still are covered by considerable sheets of ice. In Greenland this engine is seen at work ; in Scandinavia the work of the engine is better seen. That work is, first a rounded worn plateau about the v.atershed called the " fjeld ;" second, a series of slopes much glaciated ; and third, below these slopes, long grooves hollowed out of the solid, called "dales." In these dales rivers now flow to lakes and to firths. Of these nvers some have worn deep water- courses, and canons proportioned to their size and age. At the bottom of the dales are hollows which are called lakes, and firths when they hold fresh or salt water ; in the rivers are smaller July 13, 1876] NATURE 231 pools, which become ponds in dry weather. This northern country opposite to Greenland has been "carved" in this fashion by ice on the large scale, and afterwards by water- streams, and by the frequent falling of rain drops. It has also risen from the sea. The ice-cover has been taken off Scandinavia and Finland, and there it is possible to test theories about the work which an ice- cover is now doing on the present chief gathering grounds of snow throughout the world. But that Scandinavian work is the same kind of work which is found with small glacial marks elsewhere. Hollows have rounded sections ^^ ^, or when deep they are like U' Hills between hollows commonly are hog-backs .-— v , and generally the land is rounded, except where peaks rise, and cliffs have broken. But this kind of rounded sculpture exists only in some regions cf the world, and it marks the site of local glacial periods, as I believe. Elsewhere the section of valleys is angular like V» or in canon countries like Y- These angular grooves are known to be the work of streams, because every stream of water carves on the same plan. Rounded hills and dales are at first sight evidence of powerful ice erosion, but some kinds of rock weather in bosses. If it be admitted that a drop wears a stone, that a stream makes a deep cation in a long time, and that a glacier "abrades "or makes any mark at all, it seems to follow that an ice-engine as large as India or Scandinavia has in fact done the large work which it might be expected to do by perse- verance in working, as it is known to work, wherever snow now gathers in large masses. Given the hardly perceptible wearing of water and time, a cation a mile deep and many hundreds of miles long has resulted from the flowing of a stream. Given glacial "abrasion" and time enough, than valleys of rounded section, and firths and lake-basins of a particular kuid probably resulted from the flowing of ice. There are plenty of hollows in the earth's surface which are not the result of erosion but of other causes with which I am not now concerned. Where a stream flows from source to mouth on a gradual slope, there has been no great disturbance of level since the stream began to work. Where ice fills the dales there are no canons. Where ice has filled dales and has left fresh marks, canons are short and small. In mountain regions where ice- marks are rare or absent, canons are of great depth and length, apparently because their streams have flowed in the same channels ever since the mountains were raised. But where canons are marked features, these lakes, firths, and dales of rounded section are very rare, or do not exist. It seems there- fore that hoUows which have, in fact, been carved out of the earth's surface may be known for water- work, or for ice-work by their shape, and that firths, dales, and lakes may mark the sites of local glacial periods ; and cations the sites of climates that have not been glacial since the streams began to flow. Persever- ance may accomplish great results insensibly like ice in dales, water in water-courses, and drops on stone. Let me counsel those who wish to study the works of ice on a large scale to abandon the retiring glaciers of Switzerland and study Nature in Norway. This is the best season for travelling there. J- C. June 23 The Loan Scientific Collection at South Kensington As a science teacher, privileged to attend the special demon- strations upon the extraordinary assemblage of apparatus now filling the galleries of the exhibition buildings, a list of some of which appeared in last week's Nature, would you allow me to call attention to the provision of the department by which the general public may be admitted, if room, at a nominal charge. Within the past few days my note-book shows that the original instruments of Sir Isaac Newton, Faraday, Fizeau, Wheatstone, Watt, Savery, Black, Cavendish, Guericke, and others employed in their classic researches, have been shown and explained (and used, so far as experimentalists would presume to touch such now almost venerated relics). The spacious and well-appointed lecture-theatre has not been always crowded ; but I have the impression that if the above regulation were widely understood there would be such a gathering, not of the merely curious, who would attend as at an entertainment in natural magic, but of those deeply interested in the topics discussed, as would prove too large for the accommoda- tion at present provided ; and, whilst scientific enrichment of the public would be more largely secured, a compliment would at the same time be paid to the directors for their great efforts to promote the success of this important undertaking. The School of Science, July 6 William Gee Evolution of Oxygen by "Vallisneria Spiralis" Have any of your readers noticed the rapid evolution of oxygen by a blade of Vallisneria spiralis ? If a blade is cut or broken and held under water, the bubbles of gas are rapidly noticed issuing from the broken end, and by a simple arrange- ment of placing the broken blade or several blades into a test tube filled with water the water is displaced and the gas col- lected. After forty-eight hours the pores of the broken end of the blade close up and a fresh fracture is necessary to restore the evolution of gas, which also ceases at night only to recommence when the sunlight reappears. I have collected about a cubic inch of gas in eight hours from one blade of the plant. A con- firmation of my experiment would please me. Stroud, July 3 Walter J. Stanton Stamens of Kalmia If the beautiful spring trap formed by the stamens of the Kalmia, by which insect fertilisation is secured, has not yet been noticed, I may perhaps be allowed to call attention to it Cahirmoyle, Ardagh, Co. Limerick C. G. O'Brien Optical Phenomenon For more than half an hour after sunset this evening there was a broad band of light rising vertically through a clear sky imme- diately above where the sun had set. It moved as the sun moved northward below the horizon, retaining its vertical position. It must have been formed at a very great height in the atmosphere, fer it outlasted all the other sunset tints, which were very beau- tiful. It would be interesting to know whether this was seen from many places far apart. Joseph John Murphy Old Forge, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, June 27 The Cuckoo With regard to the letter of Mr, Adair, in last week's Nature, p. 210, on the cuckoo, I have only to observe that if it does not sing in Somersetshire after Midsummer it does /lere, in Middle- sex ; I heard it, to my astonishment, early in the morning of the 6th inst., in the woods and hills to the north. I never recollect its note so late, not after the 3rd. Harrow, July 10 Henry St. John Joyner OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN Short's Observation of a supposed Satellite of Venus. — This observation which, as it appears in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. xli. (Nature, vol. xiv., p. 194), is mystified by a typographical error, is also found in " Histoire de I'Academie des Sciences, 1741," p. 125, where the micrometrically-measured distance of the sus- picious object from Venus is given in what seems to be a more correct form, and as it was used by Lambert in his calculations. After referring to the observations of the elder Cassini in 1672 and 1686, the writer — probably Cassini II., author of "Elemens d'Astronomie " — states that Mr. Short had again seen the satellite, real or appa- rent, in the preceding year (1740), under similar circum- stances, and with the same phase as Cassini had described ; he had been informed of this in January, 1741, by M. Coste, " auteur de la Traduction du livre de I'Entende- ment Humain de Locke, et de plusieurs autres ouvrages ;' and having communicated the observation to the Academy of Sciences, had been charged by that body to inquire more particularly concerning it, and report the resulf. But as Short had not seen the satellite again up to June, 1 74 1, nothing further was ascertained than had been notified in the letter addressed to M. Coste, which was from " Mr. Turner, written from London, June 8." Short's observation was " made in London, November 3, 1740, in the morning, with a reflecting telescope of 16^- English inches, and which magnified the diameter of the object from fifty to sixty times. He perceived at first what appeared to be a small star ver>' near to Venus, upon which, having applied to his telescope a stronger eyepiece and a micrometer, he found the distance of the 232 NATURE {July 13, 1876 small star from Venus, 10 minutes 20 seconds. Venus then appeared very distinctly, and the sky being very clear, he took eyepieces three or four times more power- ful, and saw, with an agreeable surprise, that the small star showed a phase, and the same phase as Venus ; its diameter was rather less than a third of that of Venus, its light not so vivid but well defined ; the great circle which passed through the centres of Venus and of the satellite, which it would be difficult to designate otherwise, made an angle of about 18 to 20 degrees with the equator, the satelHte being a little towards the north, and preced- ing Venus in right ascension. Mr. Short examined it at different times and with different telescopes during the space of an hour, until the light of day or of the twilight obliterated it entirely." It will be seen that Short's observation, divested of the typographical error in the Phil. Trans., by which it was confused, is intelligible enough, and it may not be without interest if we examine the circumstances under which it must have been made. Taking the place of Venus with sufficient precision for the purpose in view from the tables of Le Verrier, we have the following figures : — It may be premised that the date given in Nature last week from the Phil. Trans, is the morning of October 23, but it is to be remembered that the Gregorian style had not then been introduced in this country ; in the present mode of reckoning, it becomes the morning of November 3, as slated in the " Histoire de I'Academie." Venus, App. Dist. of Venus ^ G.M.T. App. R.A. N.P.D. from the Earth. 1740, Nov. 2, at i8i» 30™ 175° 21' 11" 87° 12' 21" 07007. Hourly motion in R.A. + 2' 28" ; in N.P.D + o' 49". The apparent diameter of Venus (Le Verrier) was 23"7, and her heliocentric longitude being 86° 11', and her geo- centric longitude 174° 38'; the breadth of the illuminated portion of her disc was 0*514 ; elongation, W. 46^°. Short says the daylight put a stop to his observations " about a quarter of an hour after eight," which we may assume to imply apparent time, and as the correction from apparent to mean time was then i6™'i subtractive, his observation may be supposed to have terminated at 8 A M., and as he had viewed the object during the space of an hour, we find Venus must have been at an altitude of 36" when he first perceived it, and further, it should be noted, the sun rose at i^ o™, so that Short's observations must have been made entirely in daylight, with the planet particularly well situated. The suspected satellite was i8''-20° north-preceding Venus, which implies a mean angle of position of 289°, and as the distance was 10' 20", we have for the difference of right ascension, 39^"i, and for the difference of N.P.D., 3' 22". Supposing these differences to apply to 7'' 30"^ A.M., the position of the object would be R.A. 1 1'' 40'" So^'6, N.P.D. 87° 9' 23"; whence, bringing forward to the epoch oi ih.Q Durchmustening, its R.A. is 11'' 46™ 46% N.P.D. 87* 47'-5 for 1855-0. Unless we had been able to correct the misprint in the Phil. Trans, by the French account of the observation, it might, perhaps, have been inferred that the distance was intended to be i" 2' or 1° 12', and in this case the 3.4 magnitude star jS Virginia would have fallen very nearly upon Short's position ; at 7 A.M. this star preceded Venus 1° 5', and was N. 26'. It will be found that our examination of Short's obser- vation does not tend to explain it. Though Lalande thought when conversing with him on the subject in 1 763, that he doubted his having observed a satellite of Venus, he appears to have been sufficiently impressed with his observation to have had the appearance engraved, and to have " carried it with him as a seal." The observation of Andreas Mayer at Greifswald, mentioned in Nature last week in the notice of Schorr's " Der Venusmond," was communicated to Lambert after the appearance of his memoir " Essai d'une thdorie du satellite de Vdnus," in the Berlin Memoirs, 1773, of which an abstract is found in the Astronotnisches Jahrbnch, 1777. It is printed at p. 186 of the Jahrbuch for 1778, where also appear the two letters from Abraham Scheu- ten to Lambert, referring to his observations of what he believed to be a satellite of Venus, after the planet had left the sun's disc in the transit of 1761, June 6, which at noon at Crefeld was near the centre of the disc and at 3 p.m., near the limb. Lambert follows with a particular examination of Scheuten's observation in connection with the observations of Montaigne at Li- moges in May preceding. y Argus. — Gilliss, in the notes to the 1850 " Catalogue of Double Stars observed at Santiago," remarks of this object : " The cluster deserves special attention for its evident changes since Herschel's observations." From a comparison of the observations it is not obvious to what changes reference is here made. Perhaps some reader of Nature who can favourably command this star's position will describe the actual configuration, &c., of the principal star and vicince. Mr. S. M. Drach writes with reference to views of binary stars from Venus and Mars : " Has it ever been noticed by cosmographists tkat an observer at these planets must see our moon at a maximum elongation- angle from our earth, ranging from Venus from StS: to 315- minutes of degree, and from Mars from 3 J to 16^ minutes of degree, whence follows that o\xx present century's certi- tude of Binary Stellar Systems is a primitive feature of naked-eye astronomy to the Venus or Mars observers. This elongation diminishes to zero in about seven days of either planet, since their rotation periods nearly equal the earth's." THE NORWEGIAN-ATLANTIC EXPEDITION THIS Expedition left Bergen June i for the Sognefiord, where the first week was spent in preparatory work — sounding, dredging, and trawling in 600 fathoms. The temperature at the bottom was found exactly the same as in former years, 43°7 F. The fauna was a mixture of Atlantic and Arctic. There were found several specimens oi Brisinga coronata {^vc%), Munida tenuitnana, one large Actinia and a sponge, Tisiphonia as^ariciformis., and, among other moUusca, Aximus etintyarius (Sars), Kel- liella abyssicola (Sars), Malletia obtusa, and Taranis Aiorchi. The second week was spent at Hiiso, a small island at the mouth of the Sognefiord, where magnetical base-observations were made on shore and on board, ship swung for deviation, &c. June 20 the Expedition left this place, and steered along the deep channel surrounding Southern Norway from the Skagerrack up to Cape Stadt. The first sound- ings and dredgings showed a very flat bottom at a depth of about 200 fathoms, and with a fauna mainly Atlantic. About 150 miles N.W. of Cape Stadt the temperature began to fall, the depth remaining unchanged. At the next sounding the depth increased and the bottom tempera- ture was still falling, until at last the Miller- Casella ther- mometer showed 32° at 300 fathoms, and 30° at the bottom in 400 fathoms. This is exactly like what the Porcupine found in the Lightning Channel. Off Stadt the fauna was Arctic and Glacial. Among the specimens brought up was a gigantic Umbelhilaria, 5 feet high, a Nymphon, 10 inches between the ends of the feet, a new large Archaster, and many other characteristic forms. No less than eight forms of Hydroids were also found at this depth, three different species of Arctic Fusus, and several specimens of Yoldia intermedia, &c. The Expedition ran into Christiansund June 23, and was to leave that port in a feiv days for the Faroes and Iceland. July 13, 1876] NATURE 233 THE KINEMATICS OF MACHINERY' II. A FTER the discussion of lower pairs of elements, -^ *- higher pairs are considered, such, for instance, as that of the duangle and triangle, the motions of which with respect to each other are thoroughly described. One of the most useful sections of the book, and which we strongly recommend to the attention of engineers and machinists, is that on the General Determination of Pro- files of Elements for a given Motion (p. 146). To the practical mechanic who has read the discussion ou the different pairs of elements, it must appear that there are some motions taking place in machines in the required manner that are not constrained completely by the resist- ance of the parts of the machine, such, for example, as the motion of the bed-plate of a planing machine in the V guides, and it is obvious that this motion would not be constrained to take place in the required manner if the machine were turned upside down. The constraint only in certain positions of the pair of elements is called force chsuft', and the pair is called an incomplete pair of elements, the determination of the motion in the required Fig. 5. manner being effected only with the assistance of the weight of one element, which must be greater than any disturbing force tending to cause motion in the direction opposite to that in which its weight acts. As examples of force-closed pairs are mentioned the plummer block of a water-wheel, which, owing to the weight of the wheel, constrains the motion without the complete closure of the pair by the addition of the cap, also railway wheels with the metals on which they roll. We pass now to the History of Machine Development. " At the commencement of a study of machine develop- ment it is first of all necessary to know distinctly what it is that makes a machine complete or incomplete. It is only possible to judge of the completeness of a machine from the excellence of the work produced by it, if we are able to estimate separately what part of the result ' "The Kinematics of Machinery : Outlines of a Theory of Machines." By K. Reuleaux, Director of and Professor in the Kiiniglichen Gewerbe- Akademie in Berlin, Member of the Konigl. technischen Deputation fiir Gewerbe. Translated and edited by Alex. B. W. Kennedy,^ C.E., Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering in University College, London. (London : Macmillan and Co., 1876.) Continued from p. 214. is due to the skill of the workman. Certain Indian fabrics, for instance, are of extraordinary excellence and delicacy, although they have been made in most defective looms ; throughout the whole manufacture of these it is the weaver's dexterity that plays the most important part. In no machines can we absolutely do away with human action, if it be for no further purpose than to start and stop the process. It appears, therefore, that the most complete machine is the one fulfiUing best its own work, and having for this share the greatest proportion of the whole task." The great use of tracing the history of the development of machines is, that the more clear the path along which real advance has come to pass can be laid down, the more clearly we are enabled to see the direction that must be taken by succeeding advances. Piobably the earliest machine known is the fire-drill, used in very early days of the development of the human race for producing fire by its rapid rotation between the hands, being at the same time held in firm contact with another flat piece of wood. The improvements on this appear to have been pointing the fire-drill at the other end, en- abling the vertical pressure to be supplied by an assistant by means of a flat piece pressed on the top of the drill, and communicating the rotation to the drill by means oi a cord wrapped once or twice round it. The applications of this tool seem to have been numerous, as with it hard woods, bone, horn, and even hard stones, appear to have been drilled, no doubt with the assistance of a supply of sand and water. From the fire-drill, probably after a very long interval, sprang the potter's wheel, and the earliest forms of turning-lathe turned in a similar manner ; the principle is preserved to the present day in the bow- drill used for light metal-work. The origin of the screw and nut is lost in obscurity, but this pair of elements was certainly known to the Greeks and Romans ; Prof. Reuleaux's suggestion of its origin, tracing it to the fire- drill, is very ingenious, even if it is not the right one ; that with long-continued use of the drill, the' cord may have worn spiral groves on the spindle, forming a screw-thread while the cord itself formed the nut. " The forms of the word screw in the Germanic languages greatly strengthen my suggestion. We cannot take into account the fact that in English and the Romance languages the charac- teristic portion of the screw is called ' thread' {flo, filet), 23^ NATURE \yuly 13, 1876 for this name may have been subsequently given to it. Again, "The bow of the archer is a machinal organ in which energy is stored; the sensible force of the muscles is made latent in it, and it is this latent energy stored in the elastic bow which actually propels the arrow. In the ballista and catapult this principle receives still more extended application, for in them kinematic means are employed to store the energy of many men, so as to employ it concentrated with correspondingly increased effect. Later on the same principle extends itself to primary forces, and it is to-day more used than ever, from the tiny watch-work or the spring of a gun-lock, through innumerable mechanisms, up to the Armstrong accumu- lator or the air-vessels of the Mont Cdnis borers." But it is from the kinematic point of view that the progress of the development of the machine is most accurately mea- sured. What is the fundamental characteristic of the improvement that has been effected in the various stages of advance in the development of a machine? Prof. Reuleaux answers : " The line of progress is indicated in the manner of using force-closure or more particularly in the substitution of pair closure and the closure of the Fig. 7. kinematic chains obtained by it for force-closure." In the fire-drill, which is an early form of turning-pair, we have not only force-closure by the action of the hands in the longitudinal direction, previous to the intro- duction of the bearing-piece on the top, but also force- closure in the transverse direction by the hands. The invention of the string for turning the drill, itself a great advance, introduces another kinetic pair of elements, but still the string is constrained to keep in contact with the stick by the force- closure of the tension produced by the hands. In the earliest form of lathe with double head- stocks, the force-closure of the double element is changed to pair-closure, marking a great advance in the develop- ment of the machine, and the string is worked in a more definite manner by one end being fastened to a bow or spring- beam, whilst the other is worked by the foot (Fig. 5). " Thus simplicity or fewness of parts does not itself constitute excellence as a machine, but increased exact- ness in the motions obtained, with diminished demands on the intelligence of any source of energy." In more recent machinery, such as Newcomen's engine (Fig. 6), we see the connection of the beam D and the pump-rod E, affected by the force-closure of the weight F acting on the chain, the connection of the piston C, and the beam D, afifected by force-closure also, by the same weight, whilst the valve-gear was worked by hand. By the invention of his nearly perfect parallel motion, Watt introduced kinematic pair and chain-closure into the steam-engine, as well as by the introduction of auto- matic valve-gear. Space will not permit us to give an account of the systems of kinematic notation proposed by Prof. Reuleaux, but it certainly is one of the most im- portant chapters in the book, and will well repay a careful study, although some little time and trouble is evidently required to get the meaning of the various symbols im- pressed on the memory. When this has been done we have no doubt that it will amply compensate the learner for his pains, by the much more ready comprehension he will obtain of complex mechanisms. We can only say, in the words of our author, " The reader need not fear that any continual alteration of his accustomed ideas will be demanded from him in making himself familiar with the system of contractions. For a scientific symbolic •Fig 8. notation is in essence nothing else than a systematised method of contraction — it is not a hieroglyphic system mysterious to the uninitiated." Under the head of ana- lysis of chamber-crank chains, the various disc-engines, rotatory engines and blowers, of which such a larj^e and varied assortment has been from time to time invented, are described and figured, and our author states at the end of the long list so formed that the whole of the forms that have appeared are probably not exhausted, and that " a comparison of the machines described shows, indeed, that there are many easily constructed inversions of exist- ing mechanisms which have not yet been proposed, and many analogies to existing forms which have not been tried ; so we may look forward still to the pro- duction of whole series of chamber-crank trains by the never- resting empirics. In Chapter xi, we come to the machine considered as a combination of constructive elements and the complete enumeration of them, and their systematic classification deserves particular atten- tion. As an example of this classification we may give the double-acting ratchet train (Fig, 7) and the double- July 13, 1876] NA TURE 235 acting pump (Fig. 8) ; these are classed together, and a closer examination of the function and elements of each will immediately show the correctness of so doing. The twobarsrandf in the ratchet train correspond with the two pump rods and buckets. The pumpbarrels ^^^ correspond with the guide frames d d ol the ratchet train, the valves b and b correspond with the pawls b and b, while the water in the two barrels is the exact equivalent of the ratchet a a. As the bar c descends the pawl b would pass over a certain number of teeth of the ratchet equal to the number in the length of stroke of r, if the bar c was dis- connected with the lever but as it is, during the descent of c, through a certain distance the ratchet is lifted an equal distance by the other pawl bj thus we see that each pawl passes over twice as many teeth of the ratchet as correspond to the length of its stroke. This has an exact parallel in the double-acting pump, for there also each bucket in its down stroke moves through a length of water equal to double the length of its stroke. The fol- lowing is the outline of Prof. Reuleaux' Classification of Constructive Elements : — Rigid Elements — Joints (for forming links) such as rivets, keys, keyed joints. Elements in pairs or in links, such as shafts and axles, levers, cranks, &c. Flectional Elements — Tension organs by themselves and used with chain- closure, such as belts, cords. Partners of pressure organs such as pistons and plungers, steam cylinders and pump barrels. Springs. Trains — Click-gear. Brakes. Movable couplings and clutches. In conclusion we must say that the cuts illustrating the book, are much superior to those generally to be found in theoretical books on machinery, but they do not, of course, equal the elaborate working drawings to be found in certain books on machine design. In Fig. 169^ p. 218, the rope ap- pears to have somewhat lost its way. The translator has done his work most admirably, and great must have been the ingenuity required to manufacture some of the names here presented for the first time to the English reader. In fact we could hardly imagine a book more difficult to translate, on account of the great number of specially- constructed words in it, nor do we rertfember havmg read one in which the duties of the translator have been more successfully carried out. The book appears at a par- ticularly suitable time, now that the beautiful and exten- sive collection of kinematic models by Prof. Reuleaux, designed by him and constructed especially to illustrate his treatment of the theory of mechanism, is to be seen at the Loan Collection of Scientific Instruments at South Kensington. PERIGENESTS v. PANGENESIS— HAECKEUS NEW THEORY OF HEREDITY T T NDER the title " Perigenesis der Plastidule oder die ^ Wellenzeugung der Lebenstheilchen," Prof. Haeckel has published quite recently a pamphlet containing an attempt to furnish a mechanical explanation of the ele- mentary phenomena of reproduction which shall be more satisfactory than Mr. Darwin's ingenious and well-known theory of Pangenesis. I shall endeavour to show that Prof. Haeckel's theory is essentially that with which both English and German students of Mr. Herbert Spencer's works have long been familiar ; and that it does not fur- nish a clearer explanation than does Mr. Darwin's Pan- genesis, of the special facts of heredity which Mr. Darwin had in view. Haeckel commences with a very concise statement of what is at present known as to the visible compo- sition of " plastids," those corpuscles of life-stuff called "cells" by Schleiden and Schwann, " elementary organ- isms" by Briicke, "life-units" by Darwin. Most plas- tids possess a differentiated central kernel or nucleus, which again possesses one or more nucleoli. The sub- stance of which the body of such a nucleated plastid or true cell is mainly composed is generally known by von Mohl's term, " pro oplasma." Haeckel proposes to dis- tinguish the substance of the nucleus by the name " coccoplasma." In the simplest form of plastid, the " cytod," which is devoid of nucleus, and is exhibited by those lowly organisms known as Monera, by the young Gregarina (Ed. van Beneden), by the hyphae of some Fungi, and by the ripe egg of all organisms (if we may judge from the results of the most recent researches), coccoplasm and protoplasm are not differentiated, but exist as one substance, which Haeckel, following Ed. van Beneden, distinguishes as " plasson." Whether these distinctions have a real value or not, is of no moment for the question in hand. It is a widely-accepted doc- trine— in fact, the fundamental generalisation on which Biology as a science rests — that the excessively complex chemical compound which forms the substance of plastids or life-units is the ultimate seat of those phenomena or manifestations of energy which distinguish living from lifeless things — to wit, growth by intus-susception, repro- duction, adaptation, and continuity or hereditary trans- mission. Leaving Prof Haeckel's pamphlet for a time, let us go back thirteen years. As long ago as July, 1863, Mr. Herbert Spencer, in his " Principles of Biology," pointed out at considerable length (vol. i., p. 181) that the assumption of definite forms, and the power of repair exhibited by organisms, is only to be brought into relation with other facts (th it is to say, so far explained) by the assumption that certain units composing the living substance or protoplasm of cells possess " polarity" similar to, but not identical with, that of the units whijh build up crystals. Mr. Spencer is careful to explain that by the term " polarity " we mean simply to avoid a circuitous expression, namely, the still unexplained power which these units have of arranging themselves into a special form. He then points out that the units in question cannot be the molecules of the proximate chemical compounds which we obtain from protoplasm — such as albumen, or fibrin, or gelatin, or even protein. Further he shows that they cannot be the cells or mor- phological units, since such organisms as the Rhizopods are not built up of cells, and since, moreover, "the forma- tion of a cell is to some extent a manifestation of the peculiar power " under consideration. "If then," he con- tinues, " this organic polarity can be possessed neither by the chemical units, nor the morphological units, we must conceive it as possessed by certain intermediate units, which we may term physiological. There seems no alternative but to suppose that the chemical units combine into units immensely more complex than them- selves, complex as they are ; and that in each organism, the physiological units produced by this further com- pounding of highly compound atoms, have a more or less distinctive character. We must conclude that in each case, some slight difference of compcsition in these units, leading to some slight difference in their mutual play of forces, produces a difference in the form which the aggre- gate of them assumes." Further on Mr. Spencer applies the hypothesis of physiological units to the explanation of the phenomena of heredity, introducing the subject by the following admirable remarks, which appear to me to assign in the most judicious manner, their true value to such hypo- theses and to be as strictly applicable to later specula- tions as to his own. " A positive explanation of heredity is not to be expected in the present state of biology. We 236 NATURE {July 13, 1876 can look for nothing beyond a simplification of the problem, and a reduction of it to the same category with certain other problems which also admit of hypothetical solution only. If an hypothesis which certain other wide- spread phenomena have already thrust upon us, can be shown to render the phenomena of heiedity more intel- ligible than they at present seem, we shall have reason to entertain it. The applicability of any method of inter- pretation to two different but allied classes of facts is evidence of its truth. The power which organisms dis- play of reproducing lost parts, we saw to be inexplicable except on the assumption that the units of which any organism is built have an innate tendency to arrange themselves into the shape of that organism. We inferred that these units muse be the possessors of special polari- ties, resulting from their i^pecial structures ; and that by the mutual play of their polarities they are compelled to take the form of the species to which they belong. And the instance of the Begonia phylloma7iiaca left us no escape from the admission that the ability thus to arrange themselves is latent in the units in every un- differentiated cell. , . . The assumption to which we seem driven by the ensemble of the evidence, is that sperm-cells and germ-cells are essentially nothing more than vehicles, in which are contained small groups of the physiological units in a fit state for obeying their pro- clivity towards the structural arrangement of the species they belong to. . . . If the likeness of offspring to parents is thus determined, it becomes manifest, a priori, that besides the transmission of generic and specific pecu- liarities, there will be a transmission of those individual peculiarities which, arising without assignable causes, are classed as * spontaneous '. . . . "That changes of structure caused by changes of action must also be transmitted, however obscurely, from one generation to another, appears to be a deduction from first principles — or if not a specific deduction, still, a general implication. . . . Bringing the question to its ultimate and simplest form, we may say that as on the one hand physiological units will, because of their special polarities, build themselves into an organism of a special structure, so on the other hand, if the structure of this organism is modified by modified function, it will impress some corresponding modification on the structures and polarities of its units. The units and the aggregate must act and re-act on each other. The forces exercised by each unit on the aggregate, and by the aggregate on each unit, must ever tend towards a balance. If nothing prevents, the units will mould the aggregate into a form in equilibrium with their pre-existing polarities. If contrariwise, the aggregate is made by incident actions to take a new form, its forces must tend to re-mould the units into harmony with this new form ; and to say that the physiological units are in any degree so re-moulded as to bring their polar forces towards equilibrium with the forces of the modified aggregate, is to say that when separated in the shape of reproductive centres, these units will tend to build themi^elves up into an aggregate modi- fied in the same direction." (P. 256.) Thus, then, Mr. Herbert Spencer definitely assumes an order of molecules or units of protoplasm — lower in degree than the visible cell-units orplastids — to the "polar forces" of which and their modification by external agencies and interaction, he ascribes the ultimate respon- sibility in reproduction, heredity, and adaptation. I am unable to say whether Mr. Darwin was acquainted with or had considered Mr. Herbert Spencer's hypothesis of physiological units, when in 1868 he published his own provitional hypothesis of Pangenesis. But an examma- tion of ihe bearings of the two hypotheses shows that the former does not render the latter superfluous, nor is the one inconsistent with the other. Mr. Darwin wished to picture to himselt and to enable others to picture to them- selves a process which would account for (that is, hold together and explain) not merely the simpler facts of hereditary transmission, but those very curious though abundant cases in which a character is transmitted in a latent form and at last reappears after many generations, such cases being known as " atavism " or '* reversion ; " and again those cases of latent transmission in which characteristics special to the male are transmitted to the male offspring through the female parent without being manifest in her ; and yet again the appearance at a par- ticular period of life of characters inherited and remaining latent in the young organism. According to the hypo- thesis of pangenesis, " every unit or cell of the body throws off gemmules or undeveloped atoms, which are transmitted to the offspring of both sexes and are multi- plied by self-division. They may remain undeveloped during the early years of life or during successive genera- tions ; their development into units or cells, like those from which they were derived, depending on their affinity for, and union with, other units or cells previously deve- loped in the due order of growth." In an essay ("Comparative Longevity," Macmillan, 1870, p. 32) published six years ago, I briefly suggested the possibility of combining Mr. Herbert Spencer's and Mr. Darwin's hypotheses thus : " The persistence of the same material gemmule and the vast increase in the number of gemmules, and consequently of material bulk,^ make a material theory difficult. Modified force-centres, becoming further modified in each generation, such as Mr. Spencer's physiological units, might be made to fit in with Mr. Darwin's hypothesis in other respects." In fact in place of the theory of emission from the constituent cells of an organism of material gemmules which circu- late through the system and affect every living cell, and accumulate in sperm-cells and germ-cells, we may substi- tute the theory of emission of force, the two theories standing to one another in the same relation as the emis- sion and undulatory theories of light. It may, however, be very fairly questioned whether our conceptions of the vibrations of complex molecules, or in other words their force-affections, are sufficiently advanced to render it desirable to substitute the vaguer though pos- sibly truer undulatory theory of heredity for the more manageable molecular theory (Pangenesis). How are we to conceive of the propagation of such states of force- affection or vibration (as they are vaguely termed) through the organism from unit to unit ? In what manner, again, are we to express the dormancy of the pangenetic gem- mules in terms of molecular vibration .? It is true that molecular physics furnishes us with some analogies in the matter of the propagation of particular states of force- affection from molecule to molecule, as, for example, in the various modes of decomposition exhibited by gun- cotton, in contact actions and the like'; but it will require a very extended analysis of both the phenomena of heredity and of molecular phenomena similar to those just cited, to enable us to supersede the admittedly pro- visional hypothesis of Pangenesis by a hypothesis of vibrations. And it is necessary here to remark that in the fundamental conception of Pangenesis, namely, the detachment from the living cells of the organism of gem- mules which then circulate in the organism, there is nothing contrary to analogy, but rather in accordance with it. It is quite certain that in some infective diseases the contagion is spread by specific material particles. This seems to be established, although it is far from settled as to whether these particles are parasitic organ- isms or portions of the diseased organism itself. Mr. Darwin's pangenetic gemmules may, even if not accumu- lated and transmitted from generation to generation, be called upon to explain the solidarity of the constituent cells of one organism ; they may be assumed as agents of \ On this subject see Mr. Sorby's recent Presidential Address to the Royal Microscopical Society, in " Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science," April, 1876. July 13, 1876] NATURE 237 a peculiar kind of infection,^ by means of which the mole- cular condition or force- affection of one cell is communi- cated to others at a distance in the same organism. It is difficult without some such hypothesis of an active mate- rial exchange of living molecules between the various cells of the body, to conceive of the way in which " change is propagated throughout the parental system," or a modified part is to " impress some corresponding modification on the structures and polarities " of distant units, such, for example, as those contained in the mam- malian ovum. In the human ovary no egg-cells are produced after the age of two and a half years. Each of the many hundred eggs there contained reposes quietly in its follicle, whilst the growth and development of other organs is proceeding. Then a renewed per.od of activity for the ovary com- mences, but the majority of the originally-formed egg-cells retain their vitality and form-individuality for more than forty years. How, we may ask, during that time are they subjected to the influence of new polar forces acquired by the other units of the body ? We know that they are so impressed, or have such influences propagated to them. Is it by " action at a distance," or by the contact action of circulating infective gemmules ? Such being the state of speculation, in England at any rate, with regard to the mechanical explanation of heredity, we return to Prof. Haeckel's recently enunciated theory of the Perigenesis of plastidules. It is clear, to begin with, that Prof. Haeckel has either never studied or has forgotten Mr. Herbert Spencer's writings. His attempt to substitute something better for Mr. Darwin's provisional hypothesis of Pangenesis, as he tells us, has its origin, to a great extent, in the admirable popular lecture of Prof. Ewald Hering of Prague, " Uber das Gediichtniss als eine allgemeine Function der orga- nisirten Materie" [On Memory as a General Function of Organised Matter], published in 1870, and to some extent, including terminology, is based on an essay by Elsberg, of New York, published in the Proceedings of the American Association, Hartford, 1874. With the latter of these publications I am only acquainted through Prof. Haeckel's citations, but with the former at first hand. Prof. Hering gives a brief outline in the lecture in question, of the fundamental doctrine of physiological psychology, which had been previously worked out to its consequences on an extensive scale, by Mr. Herbert Spencer. Prof. Hering has the merit of introducing some striking phraseology into his treatment of the sub- ject, which serves to emphasise the leading idea. He points out that since all transmission of " qualities " from cell to cell in the growth and repair of one and the same organ, or from parent to offspring, is a transmission of vibrations or affections of material particles, whether these qualities manifest themselves as form, or as a facility for entering upon a given series of vibrations, we may speak of all such phenomena as " memory," whether it be the conscious memory exhibited by the nerve-cells of the brain or the unconscious memory we call habit, or the inherited memory we call instinct ; or whether again it be the reproduction of parental form and minute structure. All equally may be called " the memory of living matter," From the earliest existence of protoplasm to the present day, the memory of living matter is continuous. Though individuals die, the uni- versal memory of living matter is still carried on. Prof. Hering, in short, helps us to a comprehensive conception of the nature of heredity and adaptation by giving us the term " memory," conscious or unconscious, for the continuity of Mr. Herbert Spencer's polar forces or polarities of physiological units. ^ It is a sinking exemplification of the unity of biological science that we should have to look to the pathologist for the next step in this region of speculation, and that fermentations, phosphorescence, fevers, and heredity, should be simultaneously studied from a common point of view with psychology. Elsberg appears (though this is only an inference on my part) to be acquainted with Mr. Herbert Spencer's hypothesis of physiological units. Adopting Haeckel's useful term '' plastid " for a corpuscle of protoplasm (cell or cytod), he designates the physiological units " plasti- dules,'' a name which Haeckel has accepted, and which may very possibly be found permanently useful. But Elsberg does not appear to have helped on the discussion of the subject to a great extent, since he proceeds no further than is implied in adopting Mr. Darwin's theory of Pangenesis, whilst substituting the " plastidules " for Mr. Darwin's " gemmules." It appears to me that Elsberg, in his combination of the Spencerian and Darwinian hypotheses, has omitted the sound element in the latter, and retained the more questionable. He should have conjoined Mr. Herbert Spencer's conception of " plasti- dules " possessing special polarities or force affections which they are capable of propagating as changes of state {i.e., force-waves) to associated plastidules, and so to off- spring with Mr. Darwin's conception of a universal and continuous emission of such changes from all the cells of an organism, and the frequent occurrence of a per- sistently latent condition of those changes — a condition which Hering's happy use of the term '' memory " enables us to illustrate by the analogous (or we should rather say identical) "latent" or "dormant condition" of mental impressions. This i?, in fact, the position which Prof. Haeckel takes up — though independently of what Mr. Spencer has written on the suljject, excepting so far as the influence of the latter is to be traced in Elsberg's essay. For Haeckel, living matter, protoplasm, or plasson consists of definite molecules — the plastidules — which cannot be divided into smaller plastidules, but can only be split into lower chemical compounds. What Mr. Spencer calls polarities or polar forces Haeckel speaks of as '' undulatory movements " — a symbol which has the advantages and disadvantages of analogy, but which, like '• polarity," is only a symbol, and covers our incapability of conceiving more definitely the character of the pheno- menon it designates. The undulatory movement of the plastidules is the key to the mechanical explanation of all the essential phenomena of life. The plastidules are liable to have their undulations affected by every external force, and once modified the movement does not return to its pristine condition. By assimilation they continu- ally increase to a certain point in size, and then divide, and thus perpetuate in the undulatory movement of successive generations the impressions or resultants due to the action of external agencies on individual plasti- dules. This is Memory. All plastidules possess memory — and Memory, which we see in its ultimate analysis is identical with reproduction, is the distinguishing feature of the plastidule ; is that which it alone of all molecules possesses in addition to the ordinary properties of the physicist's molecule ; is in fact that which distinguishes it as vital. To the sensitiveness of the movement of plasti- dules is due Variability — to their unconscious Memory the power of Hereditary Transmission. As we know them to- day, they may " have learnt little and forgotten nothing " in one organism, " have learnt much and forgotten much " in another, but in all, their Memory, if sometimes frag- mentary, yet reaches back to the dawn of life on the earth. E. Ray Lankester Addendum. — It will interest many readers to know that Prof. Haeckel takes an opportunity in this pamphlet of referring to Bathybius. He does not allude to the report from the Challenger, to the effect that Bathybius is a gelatinous precipitate of sulphate of lime, but speaks of it as of old. He draws attention to the recent observations of an excellent naturalist, Dr. Bessels, who, I find, in the Jenaische Zeitschrift, 1875, vol. ix. p. 277, writes as lollows : — " During the last American expedition to the North Pole, I found, at a depth of ninety-two fathoms in 238 NATURE [July 13, 1876 Smith's Sound, large masses of free, undifferentiated, homogeneous protoplasm which contained no trace of the well-known coccoliths. On account of its truly Spartan simplicity, I called this organism, which I was able to observe in the living state, ' Protobathybius.' It will be figured and described in the Report of the expedition. 1 will merely state here that these masses consisted of pure protoplasm, with only accidental admixture of calcareous particles, such as formed the sea-bottom. They formed exceedingly viscid, net-like structures, which exhibited beautiful amoeboid movements, took in carmine- particles as well as other foreign bodies, and showed active granule- streaming." This is certainly a very deliberate and definite state- ment on the part of Dr. Bessels, who is a well-known and accomplished observer. It will be interesting to see how these observations can be reconciled with the view taken by Sir C. Wyville Thomson and Mr. Murray. DINNER TO THE ''CHALLENGER" STAFF ON Friday last, Sir C. Wyville Thomson and other members of the Challeni;er si&H vftrt entertained at dinner in the Douglas Hotel, Edinburgh, by a large and distinguished company. Besides the civilian chief him- self, the other members of the staff present were Mr. J. Y. Buchanan, Mr. J. Murray, Lieut. Balfour, Dr. Crosbie, and Paymaster Richards. The Lord Provost occupied the chair, the croupiers, as the vice-chairmen are called in Scotland, being Professors Huxley and Turner. The speeches were unusually happy and spirited, but we have space to give only a few quotations from that of Prof. Huxley in proposing the health of the scientific staff of the Challenger, and their director. Sir C. W. Thom- son. After referring to previous Government expeditions for ocean exploration, Prof. Huxley pointed out that the peculiarity of the Challenger Expedition was that in her case the cruise became secondary and the scien- tific object primary ; that she was, in fact, fitted up and instructed with the view of obtaining certain scientific data which were requisite for the further progress of natural knowledge. In her case the duty of geographical exploration was reduced to nil, and the duty of scientific investigation had become paramount. After showing the great importance of a knowledge of the nature of the sea-bottom, Prof Huxley went on — " Thirty years ago it would have been absolute mad- ness for anyone — I was going to say — to have hoped to obtain any knowledge of the nature of the sea-bottom or of the things which lived there at depths of 5,000, 6,000, 15,000, or 20,000 feet. But then here comes one of those admirable examples of the way in which the theoretical life of this world and the practical life interlock with one another, and interact with one another. Theoretical science, abstract investigation, carried on without re- ference to any practical aim whatever, that sort" of abstract investigation which recent Acts of Parliament have endeavoured to throw a slur upon in this country, though I am happy to say that that has been removed in the House in which it originated — that kind of abstract in- vestigation without immediate practical result, gave us the electric telegraph. When the electric telegraph was got, practical men desired to use it as a means of connecting remotely removed countries. For that purpose it was necessary to lay submarine telegraphs. For that purpose it was necessary to improve our means of sounding ; and so out of the electric telegraph came those means of sounding at great depths of the sea, which have enabled us, for the first time, to bring up from the bottom, from a depth of two or three, or it may be four miles of sea- water, the actual things which are to be found at that enormous depth. That took place twenty years ago. In 1858, my friend Commander Dayman was engaged in the survey of the Atlantic for the purposes of the cable ; and the Americans, who joined in the like service, had in- vented means by which specimens could be brought up from that depth. So that, if I may so say, ten years ago it was in the air to apply those new methods supplied by practical life to scientific purposes, to apply the methods of sounding, the methods of dredging, and the methods of ascertaining temperature which had been devised for the purposes of the telegraph engineer, to further investi- gation of the contents and nature of the sea. But it is all very well for ideas to be in the air. It needs clear brains to get them out of the air, and in this case there were two very clear brains at work on the subject — one of them the brain of our distinguished guest of to-night, Sir C. Wyville Thomson — and the other the brain of my friend Dr. Carpenter, who is well known to the scientific world." Prof Huxley then referred briefly to the history of recent deep-sea exploration and to the influences brought to bear on the Admiralty to send out the Challenger. He spoke of the object of the expedition and of the important results which have been achieved. " It was a very con- siderable task," he said, " it was a task which would have been absolutely chimerical thirty years ago, but it was a task which had been rendered possible, and which has been actually performed in the most satisfactory manner. The Challena^er has brought home, I am informed, the records of such operations performed at between 300 and 400 stations— that is to say, at 300 or 400 points along that 70,000 miles, we know exactly the depth of the sea, the gradations of temperature, the distribution of super- ficial life, and the nature of what constitutes the sea- bottom ; and such a foundation as that for all future thought upon the physical geography of the sea up to this moment not only had not existed, but had not even been dreamed of. I won't detain you by speaking of the great results of the expedition, for one very good reason, that I don't know them. They are in the breast of my friend at the opposite end of the table. But he has been good enough to favour us at the Royal Society from time to time with reports of what he has been about, and some of the discoveries which have been made by the Chal- letiger are undoubtedly such as to make us all form new ideas of the operation of natural causes in the sea. Take, for example, the very remarkable fact that at great depths the temperature of the sea always sinks down pretty much to that of freezing fresh water. That is a very strange fact in itself, a fact which certainly could not have been anticipated d. priori. Take, again, the marvellous dis- covery that over large areas of the sea the bottom is covered with a kind of chalk, a substance made up entirely of the shells^ of minute creatures— a soit of geological shoddy made of the cast-off clothes of those animals. The fact had been known for a long time, and we were greatly puzzled to know how those things got to be there. But the researches of the Challenger'hz.vt proved beyond question, as far as I can see, that the remains in question are the shells of organisms which live at the surface and not at the bottom, and that this deposit, which is of the same nature as the ancient chalk, differing in some minor respects but essentially the same, is absolutely formed by a rain of skeletons. These creatures all live within 100 fathoms of the surface, and being subject to the fate of all living things, they sooner or later die, and when they die their skeletons are rained down in one continual shower, falhng through a mile or couple of miles of sea-water. How long they take about it imagination fails one in supposing, but at last they get to the bottom, and there, piled up, they form a great stratum of a substance which, if up- heaved, would be exactly like chalk. Here we have a possible mode of construction of the rocks which com- pose the earth of which we had previously no conception. But this is by no means the most wonderful thing. When they got to depths of 3,000 and 4,000 fathoms, and to 4,400 fathoms, or about five miles, which was the greatest depth at which the Challenger fished anything from the July 13, 1876] NATURE 239 bottom — and I think a very creditable depth too— they found that, while the surface of the water might be full of these calcareous organisms, the bottom was not. There they found that red clay so pathetically alluded to by my friend on the right [Commander Stewart, who replied for the Navy] as the material to which when glory called him he might be reduced. This red clay is a great puzzle — a great mystery — how it comes there, what it arises from, whether it is, as the director has suggested, the ash of foraminiferae ; whether it is decomposed pumice-stone vomited out by volcanoes, and scattered over the surface, or whether, lastly, it has something to do with that meteoric dust which is being continually rained upon us from the spaces of the universe — which of these causes may be at the bottom of the phenomenon it is very hard to say ; it is one of those points on which we shall have information by-and-by. I will not detain you further with speaking of the matters of interest which have come out of this cruise of the Challenger; I will only in con- clusion remind you that work of this kind could by no possibility be done without the zealous aid of an intelli- gent executive. That is the first condition, but our thanks have already been rendered to the executive officers of the Challenger. In the second place, it could only have been done by the aid of such a scientific staff, composed of picked men as was sent out in the Challenger, such men as Buchanan, Murray, and Moseley, and Wild, and Suhm ; and I can hardly mention the name of the last gentleman without, in passing, lamenting that he alone of all the staff" who left our shores, — he who certainly was the last person we should have imagined we should not see again — that a man of his accomplishments and pro- mise and geniality and lovability should be the only one not to be welcomed back by the friends who loved him, and by the country which would have been glad to adopt him. But, again, a work such as has been done by the Challenger could only have been effectively carried out under the direction, not only of a man who mtellectually knew what he was about, but whose moral qualities were such as to get the people with whom he was associated to work with him." Prof. Huxley concluded by referring to the harmony which throughout prevailed among the staff" of the Chal- lenger. " When men are shut up together in a limited society, whether it be a cathedral town or a ship, they begin to hate one another unless the bishop is a very wise person. In this case I do not doubt that the bishop was a very wise person, and I do not believe that the whole course of the Challenger afforded occasion for any such trian- gular duels as one hears of in the novels of Captain Marryat." Sir C. Wyville Thomson made a suitable reply to the toast, giving a brief account of the various operations of the Challenger, and referring to the great amount of work yet to be done ere all the results could be given to the world. PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES 1 TT is not my intention to enter into the history of any of the ■*■ processes to which I propose to call your attention to-night, as I somewhat dread to enter upon such controversial ground. Probably the demonstration of the production of photographic prints by various methods will be of greater interest than any history. Astronomy was the religion of the world's infancy, and it can hardly be a matter of surprise that untutored yet inquiring minds, unaided by any distinct revelation, should have attributed to the glorious orb, the centre of our solar system, the possession of divine attributes, and as they gazed upon the wondrous effects of his magical painting, that they should have offered to him their adoration and worship, and carefully noted any phenomena ' Lecture by Capt. Abney, R.E., F.R.S., at the Loan Collection, South Kensington. due to him. Thus probably the first photographic action noticed would be at a very early period of human existence, when the exposure of the epidermis to his rays caused what is known to us as tan, whilst the parts of the body covered would remain of their pristine whiteness. A photographic action which would be remarked at a later date would be the fading of colours in the sunlight. Ribbons, silks, curtains, and similar fabrics of a coloured nature undergo a change in tint when ex- posed to it. I have here a specimen of a pink trimming used by the fair sex, and the lady who presented me with it informed me that it was "a most abominable take in," as the colour "goes" after two days' wear. Her ideas on the subject and my own somewhat differed, for to me it presented a capital opportunity of using the material as a means for obtaining a photographic print in a moderate time. I have here two results of the exposure of this stuff to the sunlight. One was exposed beneath a negative of an anatomical subject, and we have the image represented as white upon a pink ground. The other subject is a map. An ordinary map was superposed over a square piece of the stuff, and placed in sunlight whilst in contact. We have in this case the lines of the map represented as pink on a white ground, from which the colour had faded. The general opinion is, I believe, that the colour is given off somewhat similarly to the scent from a rose. Were this entirely the case, the light would not act as it does, but beneath the negative or map, the colour would bleach uniformly. The bleaching seems to be a really chemical change in the dye due to the impact of light. There are many other bodies besides dyes which change in light, and some of them are of the most un- likely nature. I had intended to show you to-night the change that takes place in glass by expoiure to light for long periods. My friend, Mr. Dallmeyer, has in his possession specimens of brown and flint glass, which have markedly changed colour in those halves of the prisms purposely exposed to solar influences. In some cases there is a " yellowing " of the body, and in others a decided " purpling." It is, however, only those bodies which change rapidly in the light that are utilised in photography. The most common amongst these are various compounds of silver, for they are peculiarly sensitive to the action of light. Nearly every silver compound is more or less changed by it, and when I say changed I mean altered in chemical composition. When we reflect what light is we can better understand its action. Light, as experiment, confirmed by mathematical investigation, tells us, is caused by a series of waves issuing from the luminous source, not, indeed, trembling in our tangible atmosphere, but in a subtler and in- finitely less dense medium, which pervades all space, and which exists even in the interior of the densest solids and liquids. These waves of ether, as this medium is called, batter against and try to insinuate themselves amongst the molecules of any body exposed to their action, a'good many millions of millions of them impinging every second against it. Surely it is not sur- prising to think, small though the lengths of these waves be, that this persistent battering should in some instances be able to drive away from each of the molecules some one of the atoms of which they are composed. Take as a type that salt of silver which was, perhaps, the first known to change in the presence of light-silver chloride. For our purpose v/e may represent each of its molecules as made up of two atoms of silver locked up with two atoms of chlorine. Let us consider the action of the light on only one molecule. The waves strike against it energetically and persistently ; the swing that the molecule can take up is not in accord with the swing of the ether. It is shaken and battered till it finally gives up one atom of chlorine ; the vibration of the remaining two atoms of silver and one of chlorine are of a different period, and are not sufficiently in discord to cause a further elimination of an atom. The molecule which contains the two atoms of silver and one of chlorine is called a sub-chloride of silver or argentous chloride, and is of a grey violet colour. If, then, I place silver chloride (held in position by a piece of paper) beneath a body, part of which is opaque and part transparent, and expose it to sunlight, I shall find that where the opaque parts cover it, there the white chloride will remain unchanged, whilst on the portions beneath the transparent parts, the dark silver sub-chloride will have been formed. Of course were the paper, after removal of the body, to be further exposed to light, the image obtained would disappear, as a blackening over the whole surface would ensue. In this state, then, the print is not permanent. Fortu- nately for photography, a ready solvent of silver chloride was 240 NATURE \yuly 13, 1876 found by Sir John Herschel in sodium-hyposulphite. On apply- ing this salt to the image, it was removed, and also one atom of silver and one of chlorine from the sub-chloride molecule, leaving the atom of metallic silver behind. The chemical change that takes place on the silver chloride can be very dis- tinctly shown by exposing it perfectly pure benfeath water. The presence of the sub-chloride is shown by the colour, and that of the chlorine can be exhibited by the usual chemical tests. In making an ordinary silver print on paper, we have, how- ever, something more present than silver chloride ; we have an organic salt known as the albuminate of silver, that is, a com- bination between albumen and silver. I have in this test-tube a little dilute albumen — the solid constituent of the white of an egg. Into it I drop a little silver nitrate ; a flocculent precipitate is at once apparent. The silver from the nitrate has combined with the albumen, and on burning a piece of magnesium wire before it the outer surface shows a darkening ; evidently, then, the albuminate of silver is decomposed by light. For silver printing purposes, paper is coated on one surface with a solu- tion of albumen and sodium chloride, and the production of the silver chloride and albuminate is effected by floating that surface on a solution of silver nitrate. When dry, the paper •which is now sensitive to light is ready for exposure beneath a negative. Here we have two prints produced on paper so prepared. If now I take one of them and disselve away the insoluble salts in sodium hyposulphite, you see that the colour is of a disagreeable foxy-red tint. To show you how this want of a pleasing tone may be overcome, the other print is immersed in a weak solution of gold, and by a well-known chemical action the metallic gold is deposited on the darkened portions of the picture. Now when gold is precipitated, it has not the well- known yellow colour, but is of a bluish purple ; thus the depo- sited gold mixes its peculiar tint with that of the silver, and after immersion in the hyposulphite we obtain a print whose beauty cannot be surpassed. I daresay that many of you may have been charmed with the production of magic photographs, as they were called. Some few years ago the sale of such was enormous, but now the curiosity of the public seems to be satiated. The magic, as you may be aware, consisted in being able to produce on a white piece of paper a photograph of some unknown object. These mysterious pieces of paper were generally supplied in packets, containing with them a piece of blotting-paper. The directions stated that the blotting-paper was to be damped, and whilst moist, to be applied to the surface of one of the accompanying pieces of blank paper, and then a photograph would shoot out. I will endeavour to show you one method of their production. Here I have an ordinary photographic print which has not been treated with gold, but merely immersed in sodium hyposulphite and then washed. I immerse it in a solution of mercurous chloride which I have in this dish, and immediately a bleaching action is set up. The action continues, and the paper is appa- rently blank. What has happened ? Simply a white compound of silver and mercury has been formed, which is indistinguish- able from the paper. If I wash the paper and dry it, it is in the state of the paper supplied in the packets. I have one here washed and dried, and I immerse it in the sodium hyposulphite. The image immediately reappears, a combina- tion has taken place between the constituents of the hyposul- phide, the mercury, and the silver. Need I say that the blotting-paper supplied is impregnated with the same sodium salt ? In damping it the molecules of the latter are so separated and mobile, that they are free to combine with the white image. By similar treatment the picture may be made to again disappear and once more reappear. Besides silver there are various other metals which will give a photographic image. This paper, which has a slightly yellow tint, h?s been brushed over with ferric chloride, more commonly known as perchloride of iron, in which we have the maximum number of colours of chlorine combined with metallic iron. Allowing ordinary white light to act upon it, the waves cause a disturbance between the iron and the chlorine atoms, and one of the latter is shaken off, leaving ordinary ferrous chloride, or muriate of iron behind. A piece of paper, similarly prepared, has been exposed beneath a negative, and the reduction of the ferric chloride to the ferrous state can be demonstrated by floating it on a solution of potassium ferricyanide. The com- binatioii between the lowest type of the iron salt and this salt results in the formation of a deep blue precipitate known as Tumbull's blue. You see, after applying It, we have the lines of this map, of which this is the negative, of an intense blue. Instead of demonstrating the change of the iron salt by this means, I may float it on a weak solution of silver nitrate. The ferrous salt of iron will reduce the silver, whilst the ferric salts are wholly inoperative to produce the same effect. Here we have such a print. The principal investigator of the action of light on iron com- pounds was Sir John Herschel, and he employed a variety of different combinations. Perhaps one of the most interesting exhibits in the Photographic Section is that old list of Fellows of the Royal Society on which were pasted, by the hand of that distinguished philosopher, the actual solar spectrum prints made during his researches on these and other metallic salts. Uranium salts are also capable of being reduced to less com- plex forms by the action of light. I will not enter into a de- tailed description of the decomposition, but will simply exhibit the method of producing a print with the salt. The paper has been coated with uranic nitrate and exposed to light, beneath the same negative before shown to you. The image is made visible by a solution of potassium ferricyanide, as in the case of the iron salt. In the cases of photographs are shown some interesting speci- mens of iron and uranium prints, made by Niepce de St. Victor. I believe they were presented to Sir Charles Wheatstone by that ardent experimentalist. The subdued br«wn tones of the latter were probably obtained by the admixture of a little iron with the uranium. Within the last couple of years the salts of iron have been put to practical photographic printing purposes by Mr. W. Willis, jun., of Birmingham, and a valuable process has resulted from his labours. The sensitive salt employed is an organic salt of iron known as ferric oxalate, and Mr. Willis made the discovery that amongst other metals platinum could be reduced to the metallic state from a double chloride of potassium and platinum, by ferrous oxalate in the presence of a potassic oxalate. A piece of paper is floated on a weak solution of silver nitrate and dried ; and over the surface is brushed a mixture of the platinum salt and the ferric oxalate. After exposure to light (which produces the ferrous salts) beneath a negative, the paper is floated on a solution of neutral potassium oxalate, when the image at once appears formed of platinum black, a substance at once durable and incapable of being acted upon by atmo- spheiic influence. Such an exposed paper I have here, and floating it on oxalate solution, you see the image is imme- diately developed. The unreduced iron salt can be eliminated by soaking the print in the oxalate solution, and a rinse and hyposulphite removes all traces of silver nitrate. After a few changes of water, the print may be dried, and is permanent. I should explain that the paper is first coated with silver nitrate in order to cause the platinum to adhere firmly to the surface of the paper. When omitted, the fine black powder formed is apt to precipitate in the bath. Before dwelling upon that metallic compound which in photo- graphy is next in importance to silver, I must call your atten- tion to the first vanadium print ever produced. Prof. Roscoe, who has already delighted an audience in this room with an admirable lecture on Dalton's apparatus and what he did with it, has made a classical investigation of the compounds of this metal, and amongst other interesting facts, has noticed that the vanadium salts are reduced by light in a somewhat similar manner to the uranium salts. We now have to consider the printing processes which are due to the action of light on the dichromates of the alkalis in the presence of organic matter. For our purpose to-night we may take as a type potassium dichromate, a salt which readily parts with its oxygen to those compounds that have an avidity for it, more especially to certain carbon compounds under the influence of the ether waves. To show that this salt is thus easily reducible by light in the presence of organic matter, I have here a piece of paper which has been brushed over with it, and exposed beneath a print. For a moment I float it on a weak solution of silver nitrate. The brilliant crimson colour of the part not exposed to light tells us that silver dichromate has been formed, but where the solar rays have acted, the colour remains un- changed. A slight modification of this process now exhibited to you is known as the chromatype, the offspring of Mr. Robert Hunt, so well known in the scientific world for his researches on light. Whilst experimenting with the chromatype process, Mr. W. Willis, the father of the gentleman I have already men- tioned, discovered what is known as the aniline process. It is based on the fact that an acid in the presence of potassium yuly 13, 1876] NATURE 241 dichiomate strikes a blackish green or red colour when brought in contact with aniline. You will see the modus operandi when I say that paper is floated with potassium dichromate and a trace of phosphoric acid. Aniline is dissolved in spirits of wine, and the mixed vapours allowed to come in contact with the sen- sitive paper that has been exposed beneath a positive print, such as a map or plan. The impact of the light has so changed the potassium salt, that the aniline vapour causes but little colora- tion, whilst where the paper has been protected from it, the dark colour indicates that the dichromate is unchanged. The forma- tion of this black colour is familiar to the manufacturers of aniline colours, being, I believe, similar in composition to the residue left after the formation of aniline purple by Mr. Perkins's method. Tt should be noted that for copying engineers' tracings and drawings this process is extremely valuable, as there is ro occa- sion to take a negative on glass before obtaining a print. All that is requisitels that the original should be iaitly penetrable by light. A piece of paper prepared as indicated, a sheet of glass to place over the plan, and a box in which to place the exposed print to the aniline vapour are the only necessary plant for the reproduction of a design. {To be continued.) NOTES The following are the officers of the forty-sixth annual meet- ing of the British Association which will commence at Glasgow on Wednesday, September 6, 1876 : — President-designate — Prof. Thomas Andrews, M.D., LL.D,, F.R.S., Hon. F.R.S.E., in the place of Sir Robert Christison, Bart., M.D., D.C.L., F.R.S.E., who has resigned the Presidency in consequence of ill health. Vice-Presidents elect — His Grace the Duke of Argyll, K.T., F.R.S., &c., the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Sir William Stirling Maxwell, Bart., M. A., M.P., Prof. Sir William Thomson, D.C.L., F.R.S., &c., Prcf. Allen Thomson, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S., &c., Prof. A. C. Ramsay, LL.D., F.R.S., &c. General Secretaries — Capt. Douglas Gallon, C.B., D.C.L,, F.R.S., &c.. Dr. Michael Foster, F.R.S. Assistant General Secretary — George Griffith, M.A., F.C.S. General Treasurer — Prof. A. W. Williamson, Ph.D., F.R.S. Local Secretaries— Dr. W. G. Blackie, F.R.G.S., James Grahame, J. D. Mar- wick. Local Treasurers — Dr. Fergus, A. S. M'Clelland. The Sections are the following : — Section A : Mathematical and Physical Science. President — Prof. Sir W. Thomson, D.C.L., F.R.S. Section B : Chemical Science. President — W. H. Perkin, F.R. S. Section C : Geology. President— Prof. J. Young, M.D. Section D : Biology. President — A. Russell Wallace, F.L.S. Department of Anthropology, A. Russell Wallace, F.L.S. (President), will preside. Department of Zoology and Botany, Prof. A. Newton, F.R.S. (Vice- President), will preside. Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Dr. J. G. M'Kendrick (Vide-President), will preside. Section E : Geography. President — Capt. Evans, C.B., F.R.S., Hydrogiapher to the Admiralty. Section F: Economic Science and Statistics. President — Sir George Campbell, K.C.S.I., M.P., D.C.L. Section G: Mechanical Science. President— C. W. Merrifield, F.R.S. The First General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 8 p.m. precisely, when Sir John Plawkshaw, C.E., F.R.S., will resign the chair, and Prof. Andrews, F.R.S., President Designate, will assume the Presidency, and deliver an Address. On Thursday evening, Sept. 7, at 8 p.m., there will be a soiree ; on Friday evening. Sept 8, at 8.30 p.m., a Discourse; on Monday evening, Sept. il, at 8.30 p.m., a Discourse by Prof. Sir C. Wyville Thomson, F. R. S. ; on Tuesday evening, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m., Visoirie ; on Wednesday, Sept. 13, the Concluding General Meeting will be held at 2.30 p.m. The Local Com- mittee, as our readers wiU have seen from a previous report, have made unusual exertions to render the Glasgow meeting a success. A variety of interesting collections will be exhibited. and the excursions which have been already arranged for will doubtless form one of the most attractive, and not the least instructive, feature of the meeting. It is with sincere regret that we notice the announcement in V Explorateur of the death of the eminent and well-known geo- grapher, Dr. August Ileinrich Petermann, at the early age of fifty- four years. He was bom April i8, 1822, at Bleicherode, in Prus- sian Saxony. In 1839 he became a pupil of the special Academy founded at Potsdam by the geographer Berghaus, whose secretary and librarian he was for six years, as well as collaborateur, for he took an active part in the preparation of the great Physical Atlas of liis master ; the English edition, which appeared at Edinburgh in 1847, even bore his name. In 1845 be left Ger- many for Edinbui^h, after two years' stay in which city he went to London, where be became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, lie wrote many valuable articles on the Progress of Geography, in the Athenceum and the " Encyclopaedia Britan- nica," published the " Atlas of Physical Geography" in con- junction with the Rev. Thomas Milner, and a Tableau of Central Africa according to the most recent explorations. It was greatly due to his influence that the English Government entrusted to the German travellers Barth, Overwes', and Vogel, missions fruitful in results both to science and commerce. Petermann also, as our readers know, paid great attention to questions con- nected with the Arctic regions, though his opinions on certain points connected with Arctic geography are not likely to be confirmed. Still he did excellent service in this department by advocating the equipment of expeditions private and govern- mental, and by recording speedily and accurately the results from time to time obtained. In 1 854, Petermann accepted the chair of geography in the University of Gotha, and in 1855 received from the University of Gottingen the degree of Ph.D. It was at this time that he undertook the direction of the great geographical establishment of Justus Perthes, of Gotha, and commenced to edit the well-known Mittheilungen, the monthly geographical review, whose scientific value has been long recognised. Petermann had a comprehensive idea of what is included under geographical science, and it wUl be diffi- cult to supply his place either as editor of the Mittheilungen, or in the department of scientific geography. Mr. Cross on Monday received a very numerous deputation from the British Medical Association, who laid before him their views with regard to the Vivisection Bill now before Parliament. These opinions were conveyed by Mr. Ernest Hart, Mr. John Simon, Dr. Wilks, senior physician of Guy's Hospital, and Sir W. Jenner, who raised his voice against a measure which would place men of science under police supervision, and wotild lay a ban upon them for inflicting cruelties on the lower animals when ten thousand times greater cruelties were inflicted by those who were going to pass this Bill. Such conduct would make those who passed it objects of scorn to all the scientific men in Europe. The Home Secretary, in reply, pointed out that the Bill was framed practically in accordance with the views of the Royal Commission, and that whether the Bill passed now depended entirely upon the line of conduct pursued by the medical pro- fession. We are compelled by a pressure on our space to postpone the continuation of Dr. Richardson's articles till next week. The Kew museums have recently acquired some interesting additions to their already unique and valuable collections by the presentation, by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, of the botanical specimenscollectedduringhisrecentvisittolndia. These specimens consist of a number of seeds and fruits of economic or medicinal value, as well as of condiments, drugs, gums, &c., from Southern India, and a series of named woods from Kanara. Though most of the seeds, fruits, and gums are already contained 242 NATURE \yuly 13, 1876 in the Kew collection, so rich is it in Indian and Colonial pro- ducts, some are nevertheless absolutely new, and many of them are fresher than those which have been contained in the Museum for some years. M, Raffray, we learn from V Explorateur, 'entrusted with a scientific mission by the French Minister of Public Instruction, proposes to explore the Sunda Islands and New Guinea, espe- cially in relation to their natural history. He takes with him as assistant, M. Maurice Maindrow, of the Entomological Labora- tory of the Paris Museum. The explorers will embark at Toulon on the 20th inst. for Singapore, in a government vessel. From Singapore, M. Raffray will proceed by Batavia to Ternate and the island of Waigiou, where the two explorers intend to so- journ till the spring of next year. Proceeding then to Dorey, Ihey will endeavour to land on the coast of the Aropin country, on the south of Geelvincks Bay, a region which has not been visited by the Italian explorers, Beccari and D'Albertis. M. Raffray expects his expedition to last for two or three years, according to the state of his health. SiGNOR D'Albertis and party have left Somerset on their way to New Guinea ; they have a steam launch with them. Mr. Ernest Giles, the Australian explorer, was last heard of at Mount Murchison on April 10, when all was well. Mr. Giles expected to reach Beltana, South Australia, about September. In reference to our article on the Tasmanians last week, we learn that that people are not quite extinct, though nearly so. It appears by a letter from M. Castelnau, French Consul at Sydney, to the Geographical Society of Paris, read at its last sitting, that the only four Tasmanians living were presented at the last levee held by the Governor of Tasmania. The Times of last Thursday intimated the death of another last,Tasmanian ; but evidently we have not yet seen the end of them. We are glad to see that the subscription for the proposed memorial to the late Mr. Daniel Hanbury is progressing ; there is already a considerable list of subscriber?, but there is room for many more. The memorial, as we have already intimated, is to be a gold medal, to be awarded for high excellence in the prosecution or promotion of original research in the natural history and chemistry of drugs. Subscriptions should be sent to the hon. secretaries to the fund, 17, Bloomsbury Square, W.C. A MEETING has been held to promote a memorial to the late Dr. Parkes, F. R. S. It is hoped that a sufficient sum of money may be collected to establish a museum and laboratory of hygiene similar to those now existing at Netley. The Council of the Royal School of Mines have awarded the Royal Scholarships for first-year students to T. E. Holgate and F. G. Mills ; the Royal Scholarship for second-year students to A- N. Pearson ; the De la Beche Medal and Prize for Mining to H. Louis ; the Murchison Medal and Prize for Geology, and the Edward Forbes Medal and Prize for Natural History and Palaeontology, to W. Hewitt. The following have obtained the Associateship of the school during the past session (1875-76) : — W. Plewitt, C. V. Boys, J. de Goncer, F. E. Lott, H. Louis, E. F. Pittman, E. B. Presshnd, J. H. Barry, A. J. Campbell, P. de Ferrari, M. H. Gray, H. Gunn, W, Howard, A. B. Kitchener, W. F. Ward. Capt. Mouchez sent to Amsterdam and St. Paul Island, some time since, a trading-vessel, in order to collect specimens of natural history to complete the collections made during the Transit of Venus expedition. The ship was wrecked on Amsterdam Island, and the crew were drowned, the captain only being saved. He remained for two months on the island, and was rescued by a Norwegian whaler. But during his forced stay in that solitude, Capt. Herman did not lose sight of the objects of his mission, and devoted to it all the time he was not obliged to devote to obtain food and shelter. All the objects collected under such peculiar circumstances have been sent to France by the Mes- sageries Nationales, and are expected to arrive by their next steamer. Mr. Floyd (not Lloyd), the President of the Board of Trus- tees for the Lick Donation, has come to an arrangement with M. Leverrier for the better execution of the contemplated instru- ments for the Paris and San Francisco Observatories. The masses of glass required are to be made in Paris, at Fell's glass- works, and the object-glasses very likely by an English optician. The French refractor is to have a double set of object-glasses, the necessary money having been given to M. Leverrier by M. Blshofsheim, one of the richest Parisian bankers, the donor of the Bishofshelm transit instrument nt)w constructing at the Paris Observatory. . The following are the numbers ressus pyramidalis, by M. Hartsen. — Process of registration and repro- duction of colours, of forms, and of movemeats, by M. Cros. CONTENTS Page The UNivERiiTV OF Manchester, 1 225 Galileo and the Roman Court. By Sedley Taylor 226 Margary's Journals and Letters 229 Our Book Shelf : — Evans's " Through Bosnia and the Herzegdvina " 230 Letters to the Editor : — Firths, Dales, and Lakes, Valleys and Canons. — J. C 230 The Loan Scientific Collection at South Kensington. — William Gee 231 Evolution of Oxygen by. " Vallisneria Spiralis." — Walter J. Stanton 231 Stamns of Kalmia.— C. G. O'Brien 231 Optical Pheaomenon. — J«seph John Murphy 231 The Cuckoo. — Henry St. John Joyner 231 Our Astronomical Column :— Short's Observation of a supposed Satellite of Venus 231 7 Argus 232 The Norwegian-Atlantic Expedition 232 The Kinematics of Machinery, H. (With Illustrations) ... 233 . Perigenesis v. Pangenesis— Haeckel's New Theory of Heredity. By Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R8 235 Dinner to the "Challenger" Staff 238 Photographic Processes. By Capt. Abnev, R.E., F.R.S. ... 239 Notes ^4i Societies AND AcADBMiBS 243 NA TURE 245 THURSDAY, JULY 20, 1876 THE ' UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER 1 II. WE have already discussed in last week's Nature the present position of the higher education of this country, and we shall now endeavour to point out in what respect this is deficient, and in what way this deficiency may best be remedied. One of the most important replies called forth by the pamphlet of the Senate of Owens College is that by Prof. Huxley, and this is alluded to in the following terms in a second pamphlet drawn up by members of the Senate : — "Prof. Huxley, while holding that the increase of universities — in the proper sense of the term — is in itself desirable, questions whether the granting of degrees is essential to the character of a university. With the true honour and highest functions of a university, associated, as these are, not with its ordinary but with its choice products — with the flower of its students as they prove themselves in university and in the general national life — the power of granting degrees and the number of degrees granted are indeed not essentially concerned. But it can at the same time hardly be denied that examinations, and the preparation for examinations, are the proper channels through which the influence of teaching is brought home to the great bulk of students at any university, and that without examinations the efficiency of its teaching cannot be tested in reference to its average pupils. It is for this reason that the degree-granting power, in Dr. Carpenter's words, * is usually held in this country to be the essential attribute of a university,' The degree is the outward sign of a standard reached ; this test the public has a claim to demand, more especially in fields of study to which no other practical test is applicable under ordinary circum- stances, and this test it will continue to demand till brands go out of fashion, and till the public is composed of competent independent appraisers of proved merit." These words embody a powerful argument in favour of keeping to our present system. When a man styles him- self M.A. of Cambridge, for instance, this denotes unques- tionably a certain intellectual training and acquirement, but it implies also a certain moral, social, and even physical training. It implies that during his residence at Cambridge his character was such as to satisfy the college authorities, while his social capacities must have been developed by the numerous influences of under- graduate life. The public has surely a right to demand this outward sign of a standard reached in the case of such a man — we may therefore take it for granted that in the future of this country the degree-granting power will be retained by the higher educational institutions. This preliminary question being settled in this way we must next ask whether the present degree-giving bodies of this country are, as they stand now, doing enough for our higher education, and if not, whether they can be made to do so by a legitimate extension of their present powers ; for clearly if bodies now in existence can be made suffi- cient for all the purposes of a higher education it would be impolitic and unnecessary to call a new institution into existence. Now we think it cannot be denied that the present number of graduates turned annually out by the Universi- ties of Oxford and Cambridge bears but a small proportion » Continued from p. 226. Vol. XIV.— No. 351 to the whole population of England ; nor will this be greatly modified by adding thereto the yearly result of the University of London — England will still be found deficient in comparison with other countries. One reason for this arises from locality, for even in these days of easy locomotion the element of locality retains an influence ; and we believe it has been found that the two English Universities draw the greatest relative proportion of pupils from counties in their immediate neighbour- hoods, and the same may be said of the University of London. Nor is this to be wondered at, for the connec- tion between a student and his University does not cease when he gets his degree. He only then truly begins to form a part of the institution and to take an interest in its proceedings, and he will on this, as well as on other grounds, attach himself, if possible, to a University in his immediate neighbourhood. At present, therefore, the whole north of England may be said to be without a University. Again, it may be taken for granted that the large and influential class of men residing in the great cities of the north of England who have become wealthy through the industries of the country, do not consider that their sons have at present sufficient facilities for a higher education. They wish their sons to be graduates of a University and to retain a connection with it in after life ; nevertheless, it is only a few of them that are dis- posed to take advantage of the old English Universities. They probably feel that the social training at these Uni- versities, with all its excellence, is hardly such as to fit the majority of its graduates for success in industrial occupations ; and, on the other hand, they know that their scientific training is very much below the mark. As a matter of fact, therefore, a number of men, forming a very important section of the community, do not avail themselves of these old institutions, nor will they be per- suaded to do so. They want a more suitable kind of education for their sons. Such an education is furnished by the various provincial colleges which are rapidly spring- ing up, and of which Owens CoUege is the oldest and best known representative — but none of these institutions have the power of granting degrees. We must therefore conclude that sufficient facilities are not afforded to the inhabitants of the north of England in respect of the higher education, and this is especially felt by comparison with the manufacturing districts of Scotland as represented by Glasgow, a city which is the seat of a well-known University with all the privileges of granting degrees. As one means of overcoming this deficiency, affiliation with one of the older Universities has been suggested. Regarding this scheme it is only necessary to quote the words of the Owens College pamphlet embodying the views of the Senate, that " where a college has already attained to a life and a character of its own it is impos- sible to accommodate it to institutions of an altogether different historical growth." There is yet, however, another alternative. Why, it may be said, should not the University of London be definitely and finally recognised as the degree-giving body for all the provincial colleges .? The great objection to this arrangement is its inconsistency with the true theory of a University, and besides as a matter of fact it does not work well at the present moment. N 246 NATURE \ytdy 20, 1876 Before proceeding to prove this, let us make a {^^ft remarks upon the general system of examination, A great deal has been said and written against this system, as if examinations in themselves were rather to be avoided than otherwise. This, however, is surely a mistake. The University of London does not, in our opinion, err in respect of its examinations being excessive, but rather in respect of its examinations being incomplete. A properly conducted examination system tests the power of the pupil for p7-odticing his knowledge when occasion re- quires. If it be the case that the Jesuits excel in this art, so much the more credit to them, for the art of producing one's knowledge is something desirable, which ought certainly to be taught. Now the fault we have to find with the University of London is that, at least in its junior examinations, it does not test the excellence of the manner in which a candidate produces his knowledge, and can hardly be expected to do so. The London examination is not led up to by previous class examinations, in which the knowledge-producing power of the various pupils is carefully tested and com- mented on. If the candidate passes in, let us say, the ma- triculation examination, he may get credit for the quantity of his knowledge, but none for the excellence of his method of producing it. If he fails to pass from want of this facility, nothing is said — he is simply told that his knowledge has proved insufficient. If his power of producing knowledge is to be rectified, it must be done at his college, and under the eye of his teacher, but if he has no college and no teacher, it will not be done at all. And yet the University of London, from its privilege of granting degrees, has very great power over the various provincial colleges, and not only tells them by means of its calendar what things they must teach, but also the manner in which these things are to be taught. True freedom of teaching is incompatible with this system, and unquestionably the teaching that would pay best in an institution absolutely bound to the University of London would be of a style prejudicial to all originality. Indeed it would be a mistake for such institu- tions to have at the head of their departments teachers of originality and power of research. Teaching of the kind to suit this system is incompatible with research. But if the University of London be deficient in this respect, it is even more so in the other functions of a University. It can hardly be said to take any account of the moral, the social, or the physical training of its alumni. In fine it has the paramount power of granting degrees, but without any corresponding responsibility, for it leaves the most important parts of its graduate education to be done by other institutions, or even not to be done at all. In this article we have endeavoured to show that an extension of the system of the present Universities is in- adequate to the educational wants of the country. In a future article we shall discuss in what way these wants may, in our opinion, be most properly remedied. THE DUTCH IN THE ARCTIC SEAS The Dutch in the Arctic Seas. By Samuel Richard van Campen. Two vols. With Illustrations, Maps, and Appendix. Vol. I. — A Dutch Arctic Expedition and Route. (London : Triibner and Co., 1876.) MR. VAN CAMPEN is a native of the United States, evidently of Dutch descent, and is enthusiastic on behalf of the past and future glory of his native country. The two volumes, of which the first has just been pub- lished, have been written for the express purpose of inducing the Hollanders to reassume their place in the field of Arctic exploration, which as a nation they have deserted since the last voyage of the famous Barents, now nearly 300 years ago. The prominent position which the Netherlanders once held as navigators and discoverers all the world over, is well known, and as seamen they still occupy as good a position as ever. Their addition to the list of, happily increasing, Arctic explorers would certainly be an acquisition ; and we are glad to see that a move- ment has been commenced by the Dutch Society for the Promotion of Industry to induce the Government to enter into this matter in friendly rivalry and co-operation with other civilised countries. We hope the Society, backed by the arguments urged in Mr. van Campen's work, will be successful in their endeavours. The work referred to — including the volume which is published and the one to come — is the expansion of two articles in the Transatlantic Magazine. The author endeavours to rouse the spirit of Hollanders by insisting on the glories which their nation achieved in the past, by pointing out how much yet remains to be done ere the Arctic problem be solved, by showing them what other nations are doing, and by pointing out that the Spitz- bergen-Novaya-Zemlya route belongs to them by in- heritance. Mr. van Campen rather boldly, but no doubt with considerable justice, compares the Dutch in the earlier days of their history to the Phoenicians, who in the pursuit of trade penetrated into the most distant parts of the earth, making many discoveries of which the record is lost. He brings our own country to the front as the " grand exemplar " in the matter of Arctic explora- tion, and shows that the motives which now actuate nations in the pursuit of this field of enterprise are nobler than those which led in the old days to the quest for a north- west or north-east passage. Mr. van Campen is strongly of opinion that the Dutch in these old days made many discoveries which have dropped out of sight, and that not improbably even the Franz- Josef Land of the Payer- Weyprecht Expedition was long ago discovered and some of its points named by the Dutch whalers who used to frequent these seas in great numbers. Dr. Petermann seems also to be of this opinion ; and we are sure if the Dutch can make good their claim to any discoveries which have been renamed, everyone will rejoice to reimpose the old Dutch names. Mr. van Campen urges many arguments in favour of Arctic Exploration, and especially in favour of its resump- tion by the Dutch. These arguments we need not recount here, as all our readers have been made familiar with them in connection with the expedition, which may by this time have found the secret of the Pole. The author devotes considerable space to a discussion, or rather a comparison of opinions, as to the nature of the unexplored region round the Pole. The map prefixed to this volume shows Dr. Petermann's continuation of Greenland right across to Kellet Land, somewhat N.W. from Behring Strait. We fear few geographers will agree with this conjectural Polar continent of Petermann ; all that we know points to the likelihood of the undiscovered region being broken up into an archipelago. Mr. van Campen also devotes considerable space to the question of an open Polar July 20, 1876] NATURE 247 sea, a question which now seems to us out of date. We think, considering the object of his work, the author has made a mistake in filling up so much space with a com- parison of opinions on these questions ; he has done the same with the Gulf Stream and Ocean Current question, introducing large quotations from the well-known authors who have discussed it. We do not see that all this matter is quite relevant to the object for which the book has been published. The English readers, for whom the work must be meant, are already familiar with all that Mr. van Campen has brought forward, and so, we should think, are the Dutch readers who are likely to take an interest in the work. For both English and Dutch readers great compression would here have been advisable ; and, in- deed, we think the whole work might have been con- tained in one volume. All these conjectures as to the nature of the Polar region and the extent of the Gulf Stream seem to us waste of energy, as the only method of solution is to go and see. And this is what Mr. van Campen wants the Dutch to do. He also discusses the — to English readers, at least — somewhat threadbare ques- tion of routes, and with justice shows that the route for the Dutch is their old one by Spitzbergen or Novaya Zemlya. He thinks they might try either a route to the north-east by Novaya Zemlya somewhat on the traces of the Payer- Weyprecht expedition ; or — and he seems to prefer this — they might make Spitzbergen a basis of ope- rations, and with two ships establish a depot, and by taking plenty of time, might in this way, partly by ship partly by sledge-boat, reach the Pole. Happily, however, Mr. van Campen does not hold up the Pole as the only and chief goal of Arctic exploration ; he shows forcibly and fully the many great gains to science and humanity which are to be obtained by a perfectly equipped Arctic expedition. It would, we think, be fortunate both for the Dutch and for science if they could be persuaded again to occupy the field on which of old they reaped so much glory ; and now that there is every likelihood of an inter- national system of stations being established around the Polar regions, we cannot see that so important, though so small a nation, can any longer withhold itself from doing its share of the wodd's work in this matter. No doubt the Dutch have for long had much to do in looking after the affairs of their own household, but now there are signs that they have leisure and wealth enough to take a substantial part in cosmopolitan work. Mr, van Campen's arguments have already been brought under the notice of several prominent Dutchmen, and we think his object would be better served by the publication of a compressed Dutch edition, than it seems likely to be by this lecture read to the nation in the hearing of the English. "As certainly as the North Pole exists is it necessary to our command of the forces of nature, in the interests of mankind, that we should know in what way the ice and snow, the long nights and day, the tides and the geological formation of lands and islands about that mysterious summit of the Polar axis, react upon more favourable and fully inhabited climes. The Alert and Discovery have gone forth, then, at the call of England only, not to serve England only, but the entire world. And not less important, we may add, would prove a Dutch Arctic expedition for the service of science and man- kind." For English readers who want, in short space, to get a knowledge of the arguments in favour of Arctic explora- tion, of the discussion on the subject of the various routes, of an " open Polar sea," and the configuration of the un- known region, and on the question of ocean currents and the Gulf Stream, Mr. van Campen's first volume will prove useful. The second volume will, however, possess for us more of novelty and interest, as it will contain a history of Dutch Arctic enterprise. As there are no cuts in this volume, we presume Volume II. will be well supplied with illustrations and maps. We hope soon to have it before us. OUR BOOK SHELF Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society. Vol. VI. (London : Messrs. Hodgson, 1876.) Prof. Cayley contributes to this volume several memoirs bearing on the theory of attraction. References to some of his earlier papers on the subject are given in Tod- hunter's " Histoiy." The titles of the present papers are " On the Potentials of Polygons and Polyhedra," " On the Potentials of the Ellipse and the Circle," " Determina- tion of the Attraction of an Ellipsoidal Shell on an Exterior Point," " Note on a Point in the Theory of Attraction." The order of the papers will indicate' the direction of growth the subject took in the author's hands. Mehler has treated of the attraction of polyhedra, but Prof. Cayle/s results " are exhibited under forms which are very different from his, and which give rise to further developments of the theory." He finds general formulae for the potentials of a cone and a shell, he then takes the case of a polyhedron or a polygon, obtains results for rectangular pyramid, rectangle, and cuboid, and verifies some of these results. The attraction of an indefinitely thin ellipsoidal shell was shown by Poisson to be in the direction of the axis of the circumscribed cone, this pro- perty was also demonstrated geometrically by Steiner. The geometrical investigation was subsequently com- pleted by Prof. Adams so as to obtain from it the finite expression for the attraction of the shell, a result which had also been obtained analytically by Poisson. Prof. Cayley states the geometrical theorems, proves them, and obtains analytical expressions for the attraction of the shell and for the resolved attractions. The law of attrac- tion throughout is that of the inverse square. The same writer also contributes a paper " On the Expression of the Co-ordinates of a Point of a Quartic Curve as Func- tions of a Parameter." This last is the development of a process of Prof. Sylvester's. Dr. Hirst's remarks on " Correlation in Space" are a mere abstract of results, a fuller statement of which is reserved for a future commu- nication. Prof. Wolstenholme contributes a neat piece of analysis called "A New View of the Porism of the In- and circum-scribed Triangle." Prof. Sylvester contributes two interesting notes from M. Mannheim with reference to Peaucellier's cells and their application. The Rev. W. H. Laverty supplies an " Extension of Peaucellier's Theorem." Mr. Routh has a paper " On Laplace's Three Particles, with a Supplement on the Stability of Steady Motion ; " Mr. Samuel Roberts contributes a paper " On a Simplified Method of obtaining the Order of Algebraical Conditions." This method is illustrated by various geometrical applica- tions. Further papers of an analytical character are " On the Solution of Linear Differential Equations in Series," Mr. J. Hammond ; " Note on some Relations between Certain Elliptic and Hyperbolic Functions," Mr. J. Griffiths ; " Notes on Laplace's Coefficients," Mr. J. W. L. Glaisher. In mixed mathematics we have papers " On the Application of Hamilton's Characteristic Func- tion to the Theory of an Optical Instalment symmetrical 248 NATURE \7uly 20, 1876 about its Axis," and " On Hamilton's Characteristic Func- tion for a Narrow Beam of Light," Prof. Clerk- Maxwell ; " On the Vibrations of a Stretched Uniform Chain of Symmetrical Gyrostats," Sir W. Thomson. The Presi- dent (Prof. H. J. Smith) contributes papers " On the Higher Singularities of Plane-curves" and " On the Inte- gration of Discontinuous Functions;" Major J, R. Camp- bell gives an account of " The Diagonal Scale Principle applied to Angular Measurement in the Circular Slide Rule." Shorter papers are " On the Method of Reversion applied to the Transformation of Angles," Rev. C. Taylor (the basis of the communication of which an abstract only is given in the " Proceedings," the full paper being printed in the Quarterly Journal of Mathe7natics, No. 53, is a work on Conic Sections, by G. Walker, 1794) ; "On some Proposed Forms of Slide Rule," and " On the Me- chanical Description of Equipotential Lines," Mr. G. H. Darwin ; and " On the Mechanical Description of a Spheroconic " and " a Parallel Motion," by Mr. Hart. From this enumeration of the contents of the volume before us, it will be seen that its contents range over nearly the whole domain of pure and applied mathe- matics. 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 correspottd with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.'\ The Government "Vivisection" Bill Allow me supply an omission in the paragraph in last week's Nature which states that Mr. Cross *' pointed out " to the deputation on this subject, "that the Bill was framed practically in accordance with the views of the Royal Commission. " This astonishing assertion was of course contradicted at once, but the fact does not appear in the paragraph in question ; and, though the discrepancy between the Royal Coma:ission Report and the Government Bill is notorious and acknowledged on all sides, so few people read either the one or the other, that a statement to the contrary may be believed, if allowed to pass. Those who have given attention to the Blue-book in question know that while the evidence on which Legislation was recommended went beyond the facts, the Report beyond the evidence, and the recommendations beyond the Report, the Bill actually introduced by Lord Carnarvon did not so much exceed as contradict the re- commendations of the Royal Commissioners. If a reasonable registration Bill in accordance with the Report of their own nominees had been framed by the Government, they would have spared themselves and others a good deal of trouble. P. H. P. S. The Boomerang I OBSERVE a letter in Nature (vol. xiii., p. 168) asking for information about the "boomerang." I have now taken the occasion of a number of the aboriginal natives of this district being here with me for a time, to make inquiries on the subject which might confirm or correct my own previous observations. The information I have gained as to the ' ' boomerang " I now condense, preserving, however, as much as possible the language made use of by my informant. I have also seen the boomerang thrown by one of their best performers, a short account of which I will add in conclusion to this letter. Two kinds of boomerang are made, one called "marndwullun wunkun/' that is the "boomerang," as I may translate the term "wunkun," which turns round; "marndwullun" is equally applied to the returning flight of a bird as to a boomerang. The second kind of boomerang is called "tootgundy wunkun," that is the boomerang which goes straight on, " toot " meaning some- thing "straight" or " erect." The two boomerangs differ in their construction. The second (straight) kind being thicker, longer, and less curved than the first, I shall call, as a matter of convenience, the "marnd- wullun" No. I, and the "tootgundy" No. 2. With No. I there is no certainty of hitting the mark. It may come back too quickly, and may hit your own friends standing I near you. In choosing a boomerang like No. 2, in preference, it will be more sure to hit the object, and vaW generally pene- trate the mark with the point which has been held in the hand. A black fellow will prefer one of the kind No. 2, if required for fighting. That is, he can make more sure of hitting his enemy. With No. I he will probably miss or even injure his friends, as it is difficult to tell where it will come back to. If No. i strikes an object it will never return ; besides, it is generally too light to do much execution. These statements, which I have recorded as nearly as possible as given to me to-day, quite confirm my own observations made during the last twenty years in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, the Queensland Back country, and Central Australia. In Cooper's Creek I have seen boomerangs No. i used by the natives to kill ducks and birds in general which fly in flocks. They seemed unable to calculate where its course would be among them, and some were hit ; the boomerang and the bird both fell. I have often seen these weapons thrown but never saw one return after striking an object. If slightly touch- ing an object in its course, such as the small limb of a tree, it might continue a curve to the ground, but no longer in the same plane as before, and the impetus would be destroyed. A third kind of boomerang is usrd in Central Australia, as far at least as near to the tropics about the 141st meridian (north of Sturts Desert), which I think is only used for fighting at close quarters. Speaking from memory this variety is probably about 4 or 5 feet in length and of very heavy wood. I have rarely seen them carried, but have found them concealed near to or lying in the huts of camps from which the natives had fled at my approach. Finally, I have great doubt whether any of the natives can tell beforehand whether a boomerang No. i will, when finished, be a good " marndwullun wunkun " or not ; and it is not uncommon for an aborigine, if he finds his boomerang to return instead of going straight to its mark, to heat it,in the ashes and straighten it, so that the blade lies in one plane. It naay perhaps be not uninteresting to your correspondent if I record an instance or two in which the boomerang has been used in the settlement of quarrels in this district. I write as follows, using the first person, and as much in the words of my informant as is possible : — " Once I had a quarrel with one of our Kuml (black fellows). I was angry and called him ' barrat-dun.' ^ He was very cross. I had word from a friend that Daly was going to fight me. I was obliged to go, or be called ' jeeragan ' (coward). A number of Kurni who had quarrelled had to fight each other at the same time. " Our friends decided we were to fight with boomerangs. Both of us had ' tootgundy wunkun.' ' MarndwuUan wunkun ' would be no use, it is too light, and you can't take sure aim. Our friends stood round to see which was best man, just as I have seen the * lowan ' (white men) do. Daly threw the first boome- rang because I had called him 'barrat-dun.' We threw turn and turn about. You can see the boomerangs coming. I dodged them as well as I could or turned them oft with the shield. They passed me likg a wind. I had a shield. If you turn the boomerangs they slide off. If you stop them they either break your shield or carry it away. One ' wunkun ' passed me and stuck three or four inches into a dargan tree (Box = one of the Eucalypts). When the ' wunkuns ' were all thrown we went towards each other with the ' culluck ; ' he put down the * bama- rook ' (shield against the boomerangs or spears) and took up the ' turnmung' (shield against culluck = club). We had each a ' cul- luck' and a ' turnmung.' We both hit and warded off as I have seen white men do with their big knives (sword). At last Billy the Bull, one of our friends, ran in and cried out, * moondanna ' (that will do, or enough). Then we stopped. We were then friends. Daly said to me, * Why did you call me that name ? ' I said, ' I am sorry.' There was no more. " A few years ago ' Bamy ' woke up in his camp in the night and saw ' Lamby ' standing by his fire. He was frightened, and said, 'What do you want?' Lamby said, 'Only some fire.' But Bamy thought he had been ' ngarrat bun ' (made sick). Per- haps it was with the ' yertung,' the little leg-bone of the kan- garoo. If you point that at a sleeping man and sing a song he will be sick. I don't know the song, I never heard it ; it might be, perhaps, beginning, ' Yertung, yertung, goombaft, goom- bart.' ^ If he could do this without being seen the Kurni believe I Barrat = sickness or disease. The whole term implies having acquired a loathsome form of disease, for which the aborigines have to thank the whites. ^ Goomtart is the large leg-bone, and is ground down with a sharp point at each end and worn in a hole through the septum of the nose. It is believed to have magical powers. Jtily 20, 1876] NATURE 249 the man would become sick and die. I have never seen it done.^ _ " Soon after Bamy died. News went about that Latnby had killed him. Then went about also ' Laywin a ngangata ' (news of war) . Word was sent by the dead man's relations to come and fight at some place. It was near the mouth of the Nichol- son River at the Lakes. All the Kurni from Baimsdale to the Snowy River came. The women sate down, beat the 'possum rugs with their hands, and called the other side names for 'njarrat bun a Kurni' (bewitching or making sick a black fellow). The two brothers of the 'poor fellow' (the term com- monly used in speaking English for dead man) threw boome- rangs and ' kunnin ' (a straight steel pointed at each end and about 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet in length). Lamby had a shield. At last a ' kunnin ' went through his right leg just above his knee. He drew it out behind and threw it back. But he missed, it was too slippery with blood. Then they wanted to throw spears at him, but some ' Kurni ' men and women stood up before Lamby, and the fight stopped. Then they were friends. Lamby had two shields (tummung), one in his hand and one on the ground before him to be ready. " The above narratives will, I think, throw some light on the use of the boomerang, and are characteristic of the customs of the aborigines, which it is much to be regi-etted are going to oblivion. A careful record of these — in fact a faithful record of the customs, the beliefs, the systems of consanguinity of the Australian abori- gines would throw much light on the probable early condition even of the now civilised races. I have for some years treasured Fig. I.— Side view of Turnmung; made apparently of stringy bark (Euca- lyptus obliqud). Height 28 inches, circumference at handle 8 inches, circumference at end 2 inches. Fig. 2. Front view of Turnmung, Fig. 3. Side view of Bamarook, made apparently of stringy bark wood. Height 29J inches, width across (Fig. 4) a to ^ (s\ inches. The slight! / convex surface is marked with angular or dotted incised patterns in opposite quarters. Fig. 5. — CuUuck drawn from memory, a X.o b rounded handle ; b Xo c flattened and .somtwhat edged along the inside curve. up for future use everything I could gather on these subjects. This mine of strange information is immense, and I regret to say not only unworked, but I fear destined to remain so — while the aborigines are rapidly fading away before the advancing wave of settlement. To anyone who has not endeavoured to collect such information through others, the utter apathy which exists throughout the Australian colonies may seem inconceiv- able. I regret to say that sad experience has shown me that it exists. As an instance I may mention that of some 400 or 500 circulars which I have, together with my colleague in the inquiry, the Rev. Mr. Fison, sent out asking for information as to the systems of kinship obtaining, certainly not five per cent. ' As an example I may give the snake-charm which is sung to a mono- tonous chant. The blacks tell me they sing this and suck the wound for snake bite ; — " Yane thay, gaylunga, gaylunga, Yane thay, gaylunga, gaylunga, Willeba, wirreba, wirribiyow " repeated indefinitely. It may be translated— " Oh, the jaw of the gaylung, the gaylung. Oh, the jaw of the gaylung, the gaylung, Go and hide yonrselt in the bush-rat's nest." Gaylung is, I believe, a Hoplocephalus, and very deadly. It is said to fre- quent the rats' nests, which are made of grass. have produced leplies, and scarcely more than one per cent. yielded results. This is, however, a digression, and I now give, as illustrating the two above narratives, slight sketches of the "bamarook," the " tummung," and the " culluck." The boomerang throwing to which I have referred took place on the open flat lying between the River Mitchell and its branch known as the Backwater. It was open and well suited for the purpose, but a sea-breeze was blowing. There were pre- sent eight black fellows from different localities, extending from the Mitchell River to the Snowy River. Among them was Lamby, the hero of the fight which I have narrated, Toolabar, a brother of the man Bamy, and Long Harry, the acknowledged boomerang-thrower of the whole district ; so much so that when I suggested that he should be called for thefuture " Bungil Wunkun," i. e.," He of the Boomerang, " the term was received with acclama- tion, and it is not improbable that for the future this may be his native name. The only boomerang we had was one of the " marndwuUun, " or returning sort. Throws were made by all, and the defects of the throws as well as of the instrament pointed out by one or the other almost in the same terras. One arm of the boomerang was held to be too much curved for the instrament to return near the thrower. The throws proved this to be the case, as it was evidently impossible for the thrower or the spectators to tell exactly what the course of the missile would be in returning. In some cases it flew past over our heads and fell in the rear, at others flew in the opposite direction far to the front. The explanation of this given me was that it was partly due to the uncertainty of the boomerang's return flight unless of rare perfection in make, and partly due to the wind which affected its course. I found that the throws could be placed in two classes, one in which the boomerang was held when thrown in a plane perpendicular to the horizon, the other in which one plane of the boomerang was inclined to the left of the thrower. In the first method of throwing, the missile proceeded, revolv- ing with great velocity, in a perpendicular plane for say 100 yards, when it became inclined to the left, travelling from right to left. It then circled upwards, the plane in which it revolved indicating a cone, the apex of which would lie some distance in front of the thrower. When the boomerang in travelling passed round to a point above and somewhat to the right of the thrower, and perhaps ico feet above the ground, it appeared to become stationary for a moment ; I can only use the term hovering to describe it. It then commenced to descend, still revolving in the same direction, but the curve followed was reversed, the boome- rang travelling from left to right, and the speed rapidly increasing, it flew far to the rear. At high speed a sharp whistling noise could be heard. In the second method, which was shown by " bungil wunkun," and elicited admiring ejaculations of *'ko-/5?" from the black fellows, the boomerang was thrown in a plane considerably inclined to the left. It there flew forward for say the same dis- tance as before, gradually curving upwards, when it seemed to ** soar " up — this is the best term — ^just as a bird may be seen to circle upwards with extended wings. The boomerang of course was all this time revolving rapidly. It is difficult to estimate the height to which it soared, making, I think, two gyrations ; but judging from the height of neighbouring trees on the river bank, which it surmounted, it may have reached 150 feet. It then soared round and round in a decreasing spiral and fell about 1 00 yards in front of the thrower. This was performed several times. The descending curve passed the thrower, I think, three times. £)ther throws were spoiled by the wind, which carried the boomerang far to the front. I observed, and some of the abori- gines confirmed it, that the thrower preferred throwing with the wind. Another method of throwing was mentioned, namely, to throw the boomerang in such a maimer that it would strike the ground with its flat side some distance in front of the thrower. It would then rise upwards in a spiral, returning in the same. This was not attempted as it was decided the boomerang was not strong enough. A final throw in a vertical plane so that the missile struck the ground violently fifty or sixty yards in advance terminated the display. It ricocheted three times with a twang- ing noise and split along the centre. My black friends said they should soon manufacture a number of the best constructed "wunkun" to show me. I observed that the spectators stood about a hundred yards on one side of the thrower, and when the boomerang in its gyrations approached us every blackfellow had his eyes sharply fixed on it. The fact stated by them that it was dangerous was well shown in one instance, where it suddenly wheeled and flew so close over us that I and Toolabar fell over 250 NATURE \yuly 20, 1876 each other in dodging it. The expression used by them was " Marndwullun no good for fight ; if he no hit 'em man, might come back and hit your friend beside you." I questioned the black fellows as to whether they thought a boomerang could be thrown so as to return to the hand of the thrower. Seven said "no," and characterised the statement as "jetbollan," i.e. a falsehood ; the eighth said he once made a boomerang that when thrown on a calm day with great care would gyrate round and round until it descended to the ground not far from him, moving as slowly as a leaf falling from a tree, and that he once ran for- ward and nearly caught it. He said also "no Kumi (black fellow) can catch a wunkun when he flying — he would cut his hand open." All the black fellows were unanimous in stating that a boome- rang when it has struck anything ceases its course. I have now stated all that at present suggests itself as to the boomerxng. I fear that I may have trespassed too much on your space and on the patience of your readers. Bairnsdale, Gippsland, Victoria, Alfred W. HowiTT March 3 Fertilisation of Flowers. — The Cuckoo As a fact interesting in connection with the fertilisation of flowers, I have observed that in Scabiosa arvensis the stamens are elongated and the anthers ripened successively — not simul- taneously— in each individual floret, the first having fallen off the filament, while the fourth is yet colourless and curled up in the tube of the corolla, the other two being in intermediate stages of development. May I also state in reference to the Cuckoo, that a ihyme well known in Somersetshire, runs thus : — " In April, come he will, In May, he sings all day, In June, he alters his tune. In July, he prepares to fly, In August, go he must." By which it is clearly not meant that the Cuckoo ceases to sing in that part of the country at Midsummer. This break of note in June is generally to be noticed about the middle of the month. I, this year, heard it for the first time on the 28th May. Ealing Chas. Fred. White The Cuckoo In connection with the notes of Mr. Adair and Mr. Joyner in Nature of July 6th and 13th, let me record that the Cuckoo has not even yet left us in the Midlands. I heard it only last evening near to my own house. There is a popular rhyme, long current in Derbyshire, concerning this bird. One couplet tells us the Cuckoo may be heard " In April, May, June, and July, If she sings any longer she'll tell a story ;" so that even this rude rhyme shows that it is not expected to depart earlier than this month. Llewellynn Jewitt Winster Hall, Derbyshire, July 15 ABSTRACT REPORT TO ''NATURE'' ON EX- PERIMENTA TION ON ANIMALS FOR THE ADVANCE OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE'' IV. Experimentation for Determining the best means ^ Restoring Animation after some Forms of Accidental Death. THE frequent occurrences of death from the adminis- tration of chloroform and other agents of the ansesthetic series led me very early to experiment for the purpose of discovering the best means of restoring life after such accidents. I commenced this research in 1851, and have continued it up to the present time. I consider it to have been one of the most fruitful in useful prac- tical results. The details of the work have been com- municated at various times to the world of science, and at considerable length. They formed the subject of a special report to the British Medical Association at its meeting in London in 1862. They formed the subject of a report to the Royal Society in 1865. They were con- ' Continued from p 199. tinned in the Croonian Lecture delivered before the same Society in 1873, and they were introduced into various lectures on experimental and practical medicine, and into reports on the physiological action of organic chemical compounds made to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. As the account of these inquiries covers a great deal of ground and brings into light many curious and interesting topics, I shall devote a little extra time to the abstract of the experimentation. Method of Experinie7ital Research. The mode of experiment in this research has consisted chiefly in testing the action of the narcotic vapours ; the vapours of chloroform, ether, nitrous oxide, carbonic acid, choke damp, carbonic oxide, hydrocyanic acid, methylal, chloral hydrate, and others similar. Some inquiries have also been made relative to instant death by mechanical and electrical shocks, and to death by drowning and cold. In every case the animal has been submitted as pain- lessly and rapidly as possible to the process which we call death. The rapidity and painlessness were essential to the experimental inquiry ; because the more rapidly and the more placidly the animation is suspended, the less is the body exposed to the risk of organic injury. In the course of observation two steps have been fol- lowed. I. In the first line of inquiry the animals have been allowed to die without any attempt to restore life, the object being to ascertain why death took place. After death the organs of the body have been examined in order to deter- mine what was the action of the destroying agent on them. How did it arrest the living action .'' The first question asked had relation to the condi- tion of the lungs : — Were they left bloodless, containing some blood, or congested with blood ? The second question had relation to the heart : — Were its cavities left full, or empty of blood ; were they distended or collapsed ; was the blood left in the cavitits of natural or unnatural colour ; were the muscular walls of the heart still excitable to motion, or were they quite in- active ; if the muscular walls were inactive were they rendered inactive by rigidity of contraction or by relax- ation ? The third question bad relation to the blood : — Had the blood undergone coagulation, and if it had not at the time when the examination was made, how long a time elapsed for the completion of the process? What was the condition of the blood corpuscles ; were they scat- tered or massed together, were they perfect in outline or irregular ? What was the colour of the blood on the two sides of the circulation ; was the venous blood darker than the arterial, or were the two kinds of blood mixed in respect to colour? Were any gases escaping from the blood or had any escaped ? Had the fibrine escaped from the other constituent parts ? Had the blood accumulated in any of the vascular organs, or had it exuded from its vessels in whole or in part? The fourth question related to the state of the nervous organs, the brain and spinal cord : — Were these organs congested or free of congestion ? Was there any effusion of blood or of serum into them ? Was the appearance of the white and grey matter natural or mor- bid ? Were the membranes vascular or pale ? The sixth question had relation to the state of the visceral organs in the cavity of the abdomen : — Were the kidneys free of congestion, or were they congested ? Was the colour of the intestines natural ? Were the liver and spleen congested or free of congestion ? The seventh question had regard to the muscular system : — How long a period elapsed before the muscles became spontaneously rigid ? After what modes of death from the different agents did the muscles con- tinue most active under the influence of the galvanic current ? What sets of muscles first ceased to respond to the current, the muscles of respiration or the muscles of July 20, 1876] NATURE 251 locomotion ? What other stimulants than galvanism would excite muscular movement after systemic death ? The above-named questions follow in series in relation to the condition of the animal body and its parts after death. In addition other observations were made to which it is necessary to refer. The influence of the narcotics on the temperature of the body immediately before and after death was studied with much care. The variations of the animal tempera- tures under different degrees of natural atmospheric tem- peratures, from summer heat to extreme of winter cold, were noted. The different modifications of temperature that occurred in different organs of the body, brain, stomach, lungs, heart, liver, and abdominal cavity imme- diately after death were also observed. The influence of the anaesthetic vapours on the minute or capillary circulation of the blood was determined by microscopical obseivation. In these experiments the web of the foot of the frog was made the field of observation. The animals were narcotised with the different vapours, and while narcotised the state of the circulation through the minute vessels, arterial and venous, was recorded during every stage of narcotism, and was compared with the state of the same parts that existed previous to the induc- tion of the narcotic condition. The information sought for in this part of the inquiry related to the action of the narcotic vapour on the circulation of the blood corpuscles through the minute vessels ; the changes of form in the cor- puscles, red and white, if any changes occurred in them ; the changes in the calibre of the vessels on the arterial and venous side ; the point of arrest of the circulation through the vessels when the circulation finally stopped ; the point of return of motion if the circulation were restored ; and, the effect of various changes of external conditions such as warmth, cold, and moisture on the circulation during the stages of narcotic sleep. One other important part of this line of inquiry was the determination of the conditions in which an animal body assumed to be dead could be best kept so as to retain those states of organs and parts which are favourable to the re-establishment of living motion. Should the body be left in a warm or a cold atmosphere ? What circum- stances determine the suspension of the process of coagulation of the blood and of cadaveric rigidity ? Briefly stated these were the points of inquiry sought for under the first direction of research. By them I have been able to distinguish the conditions in which all the known anaesthetics leave the organs of the body when thev kill. II. In the second line of inquiry the objects sought after were the rational means, suggested by the previous inquiries, for recalling animation after the signs of life have ceased. In this direction the following questions were asked : — 1. What is the precise value of artificial respiration f What is the most perfect method of carrying out artificial respiration ? How long should the process of artificial respiration be continued, and what are the proofs that its continuance will be useless ? When it has proved useful in restoring natural respiration, how long should it be continued ? What dangers are connected with its em- ployment ? 2. Is it possible when the phenomena of suspended animation are present, to restore the circulation ? By this process, to which I have %\wtr\.\hQTi2XCit. oi artificial circti- lation {British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review, April, 1863), I tried to restore the current of blood through the vessels, by transfusion of other blood ; by mechanically pumping the blood within the veins of the dead body, over the lungs into the arterial circuit ; by attempting to draw the blood over into the arterial circuit from the venous circuit ; by altering the position of the body in alternate motion up and down. 3. Is it possible to combine artificial respiration with arti- ficial circulation ? In this endeavour I tried the combination of the two methods, and with the hope of being able to drive or draw a current of blood over the lungs while the blood remained fluid, and of being able also to aerate the blood in its passage by keeping up artificial respiration. 4. Is it possible to utilise the galvanic current so as to restore animation ? In this inquiry the galvanic current was employed so as to call into play the action of the muscles of respiration : the heart : the voluntary muscles. 5. Can the heart, after it has stopped, be excited into motion by injecting into it agents which stimulate it to contraction? In this inquiry ammonia and other ex- citants were injected into the heart, while artificial respiration was maintained. 6. What is the value of external warmth in various degrees for restoring animation ? In this research the effects of warm external applications, warm sand, moist warm air, dry warm air, moist warm straw, and oTher similar means were carefully tested. In the briefest terms I have thus sketched out the mode of inquiry adopted in the course of experimentation now under notice. Fuller details are rercided in the paper published in 1863 in the Medico-Chirurgical Re- view, but these now given are sufficient for this abstract. Results. The practical results which have followed on these researches are very numerous, I will write those which seem to be most practical and useful. On Artificial Respiration. — In respect to artificial respiration the followmg facts were learned : — If artificial respiration be sustained, even with an at- mosphere of chloroform that is sufficiently narcotic to keep up deep narcotism, the action of the heart continues and recovery of life is possible. In brief, the mode of death from chloroform and perhaps from all the other narcotic vapours is actually due to the arrest of the current of blood through the minute vessels in the circuit of the lungs. Artificial respiration, when perfectly carried out, was found sufficient to restore life after natural respiration had entirely ceased, and when all external evidence of motion of the heart had also ceased. To make this fact matter of direct application, I invented a double- acting elastic hand-bellows, which performed when in action the double purpose of emptying the lungs of their contained air by one movement, and of filling them with fresh atmospheric air by another movement. I also arranged the instrument in such manner, that on emptying the lungs of air a current of blood is mechani- cally drawn upwards from the right side of the heart, by which the oppression of the right side of the heart from tension is removed, and its muscular contraction is re- called into play. My latest instrument for this purpose is now so graduated, that measured quantities of air can be withdrawn and introduced, and the physico- chemical action of the lungs can be imitated with the greatest refinement, and with results that are different to any that have been gained before. Thus, after death from some of the narcotic vapours I have been able to restore life as long as eleven minutes after all the external signs of life have ceased. The results of the experiments proved also that when once the natural respiration is esta- blished the artificial ought to cease, so that the enfeebled circulation and respiration may return into play together. Further, the experimentation showed that artificial respi- ration, while it may be made, by delicate using, an all but certain means for the restoration of life after death from narcotic vapours, it may by bad use be made the certain means of ensuring death ; that in performing it any rude movement of the body, or any violent inflation of the lung, or any attempt to inflate the lung while the lung is full of air, and the right side of the heart, full of blood, is sufficient to complete the process of destruction of balance and to cause unavoidable death. In a word, the experimentation 252 NATURE \yuly 20, 1876 showed that as with a fire that is well-nigh burned out we can restore action by laying new fuel lightly on the remaining flame, and then by gentle blowing can communi- cate the flame to the new fuel, so in artificial respiration the same delicacy of procedure will reproduce the vital flame. In the absence of experimentation these facts could never have been learr ed. It was necessary to see the effects of various methods under various conditions, and under various circumstances in order to arrive at certain conclusions. A century of observations on men subjected to accidents that destroy life would not have taught so much as was learned in a few hours from the observations on the inferior animals. Artificial Circulation. — The inquiry on the subject of artificial circulation proved that the attempt to establish the circulation by injection into the vessels, or by forcing the blood over the lungs, or by drawing it over in com- bination with artificial respiration, failed by reason of the coagulation of blood which followed such attempts. Some countenance was given, by the experiments, to the attempt to encourage a current of circulation by the process of raising and depressing the body so as to place the head at one moment below the level and at another moment above the level of the body ; but on the whole the effort to restore the circulation through the lungs was most expedient by the simple plan of artificial respiration carried out as above stated. Use of Galvanism. — The research instituted to test the value of galvanism as a means of restoring animation had a most important practical bearing. By regulating the intermittent current with a metronome I found it possible to make the respiratory muscles, of an animal recently dead act in precise imitation of life. I also found that the heart could be excited into brisk contrac- tion by the same means. But the result came out that by this method the muscles excited by the current dropped quickly into irrevocable death through becoming exhausted under the stimulus, and that in fact the galvanic battery, according to our present knowledge of its use in these cases, is an all but certain instrument of death. By subjecting animals to death from the vapour of chloroform in the same atmosphere, and treating one set by artificial respiration with the double-acting pump, and the other set by artificial respiration excited by galvanism, I found that the first would recover in the proportion of five out of six, the second in proportion of one out of six. Further, I found that if during the performance of mecha- nical artificial respiration the heart were excited by gal- vanism, death was all but invariable. The explanation of these experimental truths is illustrated by a simple simile. If an animal reduced in power to the last degree from want of food be carried to a place of succour, it may recover ; but if it be stimulated or forced to walk to the place it will possibly die on the way. So with a man or animal under prostration from shock or narcotism ; if the surgeon uses his own force for the restoration of the enfeebled muscles of the man before him he may restore the muscles to power ; but if he uses up the last remaining force in the rnuscles of his patient by stimulation he will kill them out- right. Considering that in the large number of instances of sudden death by accident, the first thing " tried " for restoring life is the galvanic battery, the information on the subject thus yielded by experiment, and which could have been got in no other way, is a result which, though un- expected, is none the less valuable. Indeed the peculiarity of experimental pursuit is that something unexpected in result is always learned, and is almost always useful. Injection of Stimulants. — The effect of injecting am- monia, and other stimulants into the heart for the pur- pose of exciting the walls of the heart into contraction, ■was found to be as faulty as the application of galvanism for the same purpose. It produced a final contraction which was fatal. Use of External Warmth. — The research on the action of warmth on animals under suspended anirnation was singularly interesting. I found that when an animal under a narcotic is still breathing, however faintly, the restoration of the animal warmth is often alone sufficient to r°store life. This came out of the observation of the action of narcotics in reducing temperature, and in my first researches on chloral hydrate I showed that of two animals under the same lethal dose one was safe to recover in a warm air, while the other in a cold air would die. These facts relate to animals which are still breathing though all but dead. On the other hand, I discovered that if an animal had actually ceased to breathe, the most certain way of ensuring its death is the exposure of it to heat ; the most certain way of retaining it in a condition for possible recovery and of retaining its muscular irritability under stimulus is the exposure of it to cold. Heat I found excites the final muscular contraction and causes coagulation of the fibrine of the blood ; cold suspends both. Thus in a warm-blooded animal exposed, after its death from chloro- form, to extreme cold in a dry air, I found every muscle in the body that I could reach vigorously active under re-applied warmth and galvanism three hours after death ; while in fish and batrachians I found it possible to restore life altogether after they had been accidentally inclosed, that is to say, frozen up in ice. As we arrive at clearer knowledge of the means of restoring animation in man, these facts will have a bearing of the extremest value. Already they indicate that in the death of the human subject by drowning and cold, attempts to restore life are demanded even hours after the occurrence of the accident. Lastly, on this head, the experimentation taught me that while in the process of resuscitation it is very bad practice to immerse the body in a heated medium like hot water, it is of the utmost importance to establish the artificial respiration with a warm and dry air. Such an air prevents condensation of water in the bronchial tubes, quickens the process of oxidation of blood, and allows the body to become warm from its own natural centres of vital heat. Practical Applications. The experimental inquiry herewith briefly stated is too new to have brought forth much fruit. The grand practical results for which it was pursued have to follow in course of years. Some results have, however, already been realised. Immediately after chloral hydrate came into use, the dangers from its use were found to be imminent. I was able to point out even before such dangers had occurred that the cause of danger was reduction of animal tempera- ture from the agent, and that in treating a person poisoned with chloral two things were required, viz., to maintain a high atmospheric temperature, and to give warm food. Twice I have been summoned to these accidental poison- ings, and in both instances I have saved life by these simple and purely scientific modes of cure. Probably after a number of deaths of men from chloral, it might have been learned that the cause of death was the reduction of animal heat. The fact gained instantly by observation on the lower animals supplied the knowledge in advance of the accident. In two instances in the human subject in which after the performance of the operation of tracheotomy, life has become suspended from obstruction to the entrance of air into the lungs below the artificial opening, the obstruction has been removed, and afterwards by means of artificial respiration carried out with the instrument I have described above, fife has been restored after all the ordinary evidences of death were manifested. In one of these examples of restored life the recovery was complete and the patient is now as well as ever he was. But for the long period of eleven minutes he lay in all the character of death, depending solely for returning life on the surgeon who supplemented his respiratory power and who gently fanned back into life a flame which had ceased for ever if scientific experimentation on the lower animals had not shown the possibility of its return by the hand of science. {To be contimied) July 20, 1876] NATURE 253 SCIENCE IN GERMANY {From a German Correspondent) IT is known to have been first discovered theoretically by Maxwell, that the co-efficient of friction of a gas is independent of the pressure. This law has been tested and confirmed by Maxwell and O. E. Meyer, and more recently by Kundt and Wz.rhVirg{Philosophical Mas^asine, 4, vol. iv. ; and fully in Poggendorff's Annalen, Bd. 155 and 156) with reference to the sliding of gases in limits, between 760 and i mm. pressure of mercury. The latter experimenters observed, as Maxwell did, the decrease of vibrations of a round glass disc suspended bifilarly between two fixed plates. At pressures under i mm. Kundt and Warburg were unable accurately to investigate the friction. They could perceive, however, that with continued pro- gressive evacuation by the friction apparatus, the damping force exerted by the rarefied gas on the motion of the oscillating disc, decreases ; still, even in the best vacuum which could be produced, it had still a considerable value. Thus, e.g., in the best hydrogen vacuum which Kundt and Warburg could produce, the damping force was not less than one-third of the value obtained with full hydrogen-pressure (760 mm. mercury). To demonstrate the fric- tion in such a vacuum before a large audience, Prof. Kundt recently constructed an ap- paratus, which he employed when giving a lecture on the gas theory before a scientific society in Berlin in March last. The essential part of the apparatus consists of two small discs of mica, sus- pended one over the other in an evacuated space. When the under disc, which, like Crookes's radiometer, is fur- nished with four light vanes blackened on one side, is set in rotation by the action of light, the upper disc be- gins to rotate in the same direction (though much more slowly) in conse- quence of the friction of some traces of air still pre- sent in the apparatus. (The upper disc of course no- where touches the lower.) The description of this ap- paratus with drawings, will shortly appear in Poggen- dorff's Annalen. Here we content ourselves with the representation of a smaller apparatus not meant for objective demonstration (see annexed figure) which the eminent glass-artist, Geissler, of Bonn, has constructed at the instance of Prof. Kundt. Tnis apparatus, like the ordinary radiometer, Is entirely inclosed in glass. On a fine steel point rests, by means of a cap, the lower mica disc, with the radiometer cross fixed to it. The upper disc rests likewise on a fine steel point. This point is fixed to an arm which reaches over the lower disc, but without being in contact with it. On the upper disc a small mark is made (not shown in the figure), which enables one to perceive whether the disc rotates or not. Illuminated by the sun or candles, the radiometer cross with the mica disc fastened to it, enters into quick rotation, and the upper disc begins gradually to rotate in the same direction as the lower one. S. W. ON MODES OF DEMONSTRATING THE ACTION OF THE MEM BR AN A TYMPANI 'T^HE movements of the bones of the tympanum in •*■ connection with sound-waves were first observed and their excursions measured by Buck (" Archiv. of Ophthalmology and Otology," vol. i., 1870), and more recently by Dr. Charles H. Burnett of Philadelphia, as recorded in the same Journal for 1872. The method fol- lowed in these researches was to expose the bones and membrane by chiselling away a portion of the wall of the tympanum, sprinkling on the chain of ossicles a little powdered amylum, so as to secure bright vibrating points, throwing I'ght into the cavity by means of a condenser, and observing, with a microscope of low power, the ex- cursions of the vibrating points when sound was conducted into the external ear. Various interesting deductions were drawn from these experiments as regards the amplitude of the excursions of vibrating points on dif- ferent portions of the conducting mechanism, and as to the effect of variations of the fluid pressure within the labyrinth on the extent of movement. In the last number of the same journal an interesting paper appears from Dr. Clarence J. Blake of Boston on " the use of the Membrana Tympani as a Phonautograph and Logo- graph," accompanied by a plate. Dr. Blake's method consists of exposing the membrane and chain of bones, and fixing a light style (made " by splitting long wheat straw, scraping the inner cortical substance away, and separating single fibres ") to the membrane. This style is caused to record its movements on a plate of smoked glass which is " carried smoothly and at a uniform speed in a direction at a right angle to the direction of the excursion of the style." ..." The membrana tympani being set in vibration, and the carriage [bearing the smoked glass] drawn by its weight, moving at right angles to the excursions of the style, a wave-line, corre- sponding to the character and pitch of the musical tone sounded into the ear, is traced on the smoked glass." There is still a third method which I have recently devised, chiefly for class illustration. It consists in con- verting the tympanic cavity into a manometric capsule, according to the method of Dr. Koenig {Philosophical Magazine, 1873, vol. xlv. pp. 1-18, 105-114), and of view- ing the oscillations caused by sound in a revolving mirror. A preparation is easily made from the ear of the cat. After sawing out the temporal bone, clearing away all loose tissue, and exposing the tympanic bulla, I make two small holes in the latter by means of a fine trephine. Into these holes two glass tubes, of corresponding diameter, are cemented with sealing wax— the one for leading gas into the tympanic cavity, and the other out of it. The preparation (which may be preserved in a moist state in a well-stoppered jar for a long period, and be used over and over again) is firmly fixed in a vice, one tube is connected with the gas supply, and the other with one of Kcenig's small burners. By means of a third tube inserted into the external auditory meatus, sound-waves are conducted to the membrane of the drum, the mirror is rotated, and the usual pictures corresponding to the pitch and quality of the sound are seen with exquisite delicacy. I have found tones of medium pitch (ut 3 to sol 4) produce the most distinct effects, and the vowels, if uttered with sufficient intensity, produce pictures which are quite characteristic. By using a preparation in which the auditory apparatus on each side is present, it is easy to devise an arrangement for showing the ;effects of 25 + NATURE {July 2C, 1876 interference, in a manner similar to Kcenig's well-known apparatus for that purpose, constructed on the method of Wheatstone. ^ ,, t^ John G. McKendrick THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW- FOUNDLAND DUE no ice of the Report for 1874, of Mr. Murray, the Director of the Newfoundland Geological Survey, has been delayed until the appearance of the map and sections referred to in that Report. These we have now received, and as they deserve more than ordi- nary attention from geologists, we propose to give some account of the recent work of the Survey. The able and indefatigable Director, who, like his late chief. Sir William Logan, has grown grey in the service of the Dominion, divides his Report into two parts, one of which narrates his own labours during 1 874, while the other is furnished by his assistant, Mr. J. P. Howley, of whose surveys for the same period it gives rhe mam results. Mr. Murray's Report is marked by that quiet practical good sense which formed so characteristic a feature of his contributions to the Canadian Geological Survey. It is more occupied with plans and advice for opening up the country to settlers, and developing the great resources of the island in timber and as a cattle- grazing district, than with geological matters. The latter are treated, too, with an eye to luture mineral industries. Mr. Murray, in short, is doing the solid and useful work of pioneering. That work may make no brilliant display at the time, but if, as he hopefully anticipates, there is a prosperous future before Newfoundland, the colonists will look back upon his labours as those which largely guided and stimulated that prosperity. But Mr. Murray is too true a geologist to let any chance escape him of advancing the purely scientific treatment of geology. And he is fortunate in possessing in Mr. Howley a geologist who can carry out his views with admirable skill. From Mr. Howley's Report and Map geologists in other countries will learn some particulars not only important as regards the geology of the colony, but of general interest as bearing on the question of the nature and modus operandi of the metamorphic action to which the origin of such rocks as dolomite and serpentine is attributed. Mr. Howley's labours during 1874 were, m accordance with Mr. Murray's plans, given to the survey, topo- graphical and geological, of the western coast of New- foundland, about the peninsula and bays of Port-a-Port, and St. George's Bay. In tracing the Lower Silurian formations of the Newfoundland coast, Mr. Murray and his colleagues have been able to identify them with more or less precision as equivalents of the Quebec and Birdseye and Black River groups of Canada. But in the course of their surveys they have at different times encountered intercalated sheets of metamorphic rocks in the Lower Silurian series overlying unaltered and fossiliferous strata. Thus at Bonne Bay, in 1862, Mr. Richardson found highly metamorphosed rocks, including white talcose slates and serpentine, in some portion apparently of the Quebec group. Four years afterwards Mr. Murray observed further south, in the Bay of Islands, that sand- stones believed to represent the Sillery zone of the Quebec group passed below the serpentine of the Blowmedown mountains. Mr. Howley has now confirmed and ex- tended these observations by mapping the country between the Bay of Islands and St. George's Bay. He has traced Mr. Murray's serpentine rocks southwards to Bluff Head, and finds that they pass unconformably over different horizons of rocks which are taken to represent the Sillery and Levis subdivisions of the Quebec group of the Lower Silurian system. The striking character of this unconformable junction is well brought out upon the map, where two large cakes of the overlying rocks are seen to sweep over both anticlinal and synclinal folds of the lower formations. These cakes consist of brecciated dolomite or limestone, chlorite-slate, diorite, and serpen- tine, having a total thickness of perhaps 1,500 feet. Their exact geological horizon seems not yet quite satisfactorily fixed, but they are placed provisionally between the Sillery and Birdseye and Black River formations. Doubtless further details will be given in future reports regard- ing this remarkable feature of Newfoundland geolojjy, and till they appear it may be well to avoid any discussion of the theoretical aspect of the subject. It is not the first time that an instance has occurred of the higher rocks of a district being more metamorphosed than the lower, but there has probably never been observed so remark- able a case, for here the metamorphosed and contorted series is described as actually overlying unmetamor- phosed strata. . , t^ tu Other questions of interest occur in the Report. 1 hus a centre of pre-carboniferous volcanic action is indicated as existing along a line north of Fox Island and on the coast to the south head of the Bay of Islands. The coal- measures, of which a few patches occur in the district surveyed, overlap from the Millstone Grit on to the Car- boniferous Limestone. The latter formation contains, according to Mr. Davidson, brachiopoda which all belong to well-known British species. In another respect there is a curious analogy between the base of the Carbo- niferous system in Newfoundland and in some parts of Britain. In the former country the lower members of that system consist largely of red and green sandstones clays, and conglomerates, with traces of plants, beds of gypsum, and occasional limestones full of ordinary Carbo- niferous Limestone fossils. Anyone who has looked at the base of the Carboniferous system in Cumberlarid, Westmoreland, Dumfriesshire, and other parts of Britain, will recognise these lithological features as characteristic also in this country. It would seem that the same physical conditions preceded the deposition of the Carbo- niferous Limestone on both sides of the Atlantic— inland seas or lakes, not far separated from the sea, in which red sediment with gypsum and occasionally common salt was laid down, but which were not usually well suited for the support of moUuscan hfe, though liable now and then to inroads of the sea outside and to invasions of moUusca, corals, and other marine forms. . , • The map, on a scale of four miles to an inch, is evi- dently a piece of most careful work. It shows the arrangement of the rocks from the Laurentian group up to the Coal-measures, though, partly from vast uncon- formabilities and partly from faults, great portions of the geological series are not represented in this part of New- foundland. It may be mentioned, in passing, that the largest fault traced on the map— that which flanks the Laurentian range from Table Mountain north-eastwards to Grand Pond— is not coincident with the line of any river but is crossed by all the chief rivers and brooks m the district which it traverses. Hence the same relation between fracture and erosion exists there which has been so extensively traced and keenly discussed in this country. To the completion of this important map geologists will look forward with not less interest than must be taken by those who see in the labours of Mr. Murray and his asso- ciates one of the best pledges for the early development of the colony. ^' ^* THE ANCIENT BRITISH PIG PROF. ROLLESTON has recently been making some researches on swine, the discovery of some remains buried m the alluvium, near Oxford, having directed his attention to the subject. In illustration of a paper " On the Prehistoric British Sus, read by him at the Linnean Society, June 15, the following specimens were exhibited :— I. Skull of Sus scrofa, var. domesitcus, from a late Celtic interment. 2. Skulls of Sus scroja, var. fetus, from July 20, 1876] NATURE 255 alluvium near Oxford, and from Germany 3. Skull of Sus andamanensis, forwarded him by J. Wood Mason. 4. Skull of Sus cristatus, lent by Sir Walter Elliott, K.C.S.T. 5, Skull of Sus barbahis wrongly named 5. verrucosus, and needlessly Euhys barbatus in some mammalogical catalogues. Froni these and other data the author bases the subjoined conclusions : — 1. The domesticated pig of Pre-Roman times, as exemplified at least by the specimens from the interment referred to, appear to resemble Sus scrofa, van ferus, rather than S. cristatus, or the domestic variety, S. indicus. 2. On the other hand, .5. cristatus, the Indian wild bog, appears to him, whilst being readily and always distinguishable from S. scrofa, van Jerus, to differ from it, mainly by the retention permanently of certain structural conformations which were only temporarily represented in the European wild species. The third molars of the male, S. cristatus, varied, however, con- comitantly with its canines, and showed a much larger develop- ment of their posterior lobe, than either S. scro/a, van /ems, or the females of their own species. The rearmost lobe, however, of the posterior molar, varies a good deal in S. scro/a, van ferus, irrespective of sex. 3. Bearing in mind the elasticity of the swine type and the power for changing which their domestication has shown to possess. Dr. Rolleston has less difficulty in conceiving that the so-called .5". indicus was really a modified S. cristatus, than that ic had been evolved fiom any Sus, such as S. Icucomystax, from countiies farther away from Europe than India. S. cristatush&d the malar border of the lachrymal alwajs marked by the rela- tive shortness insisted on by Nathusius. It had not the lelatively wider palate ; but upon this point too much weight had been laid. 4. A skull of a Vv^ild sow, from the alluvium, later in date than the "river gravels," near Oxford, combmed the short lachrymal characteristic of young pigs and of S. cristatus, with the worn down teeth, elongated lacial skeleton, and dis- proportionally small size of an old wild sow, S. scro/a, \a.r./erus. Such a combmation of characteristics tended to suggest careiul- ness as to accepting the Torf-Schwein S. scrofa, yax. palustris, of Rlitiinejer, as a distinct species, or taking even such a point as the shortness of the lachrymal as constituting a specific differ- ence. 5. The simplicity of the third molars in the very large skull of S. barbatus appear to be of greater value, as the rugose condition might have been expected to be forthcoming in so large, so well armed, and so well fed a Sus as this from Borneo. 6. The true S. verrucosus differs from S. barbatus in having the lachrymal's malar edges long, relatively to its orbital, as well as in the peculiarities v/hich its specific name implies. These peculiarities were reproduced in the old Irish " Greyhound P'g" figured by Richardson "Domestic Pigs," p. 49, Ed. Warne. 7. The often-quoted paper by Dr. Gordon, Medical Times and Gazette, May 2, 1857, p. 429, led us to suppose that Taenia solium of man, infested the domestic pig of India, as it does those of other parts of the world. The facility with which the pig lends itself to domestication enables us to under- stand how the many-sided commensalism which now exists between man and that animal may have set up in very early times. Indeed the particular results of their commensalism which their solidarity, as regards the alterations of the genera- tions of Taenia solium represents, suggests that their co-existence in lime must have been more extensive than even the co-exist- ence in space ascribed to them, not quite correctly, by Gibbon ("Decline and Fall," chap. ix. note 9, p. 392, Smith's edition). PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES 1 II. W ^E next pass on to other applications of the dichromates for the production of prints, and the first I shall demonstrate is that known as carbon printing, but which is perhaps more cor- rectly termed the autotype process. It is dependent on the oxida- tion of gelatine, one of the substances which you may have already guessed would be capable of being acted upon by the dichromates. ii, then, we have a film of this gelatine impregnated with potas- sium dichromate, and after drying it be exposed to light, it will be found that all the portions acted upon will become insoluble * Lecture by Capt. Abney, R.E., F.R.S., at the Loan Collection, South Kensington. Continued from p. 241. in hot water ; that is, supposing the duration of the expo:.ure be of sufficient duration, and if the light be sufficiently intense. Imagine now that beneath a negative of delicate gradations of light and shade we place a film of sensitive gelatine, supported for convenience' sake on paper, and allow sunlight to act upon it:. After a time, in what condition will the gelatine be? It will be partially insoluble, more particularly on the surface next the negative, and the lights and shades will be represented by dif- ferent depths of insoluble matter, according to the intensity of light penetrating through the various parts of the negative. I must here pause, and try and explain why this is. Ac fiist sight it might seem that the whole of the tfUchiess of t lie film ought to possess different ratios of solubility. Tnis is not true, however • the solubility is affected to different depths. Tnat coloured component of white light which is principally effective in producing the chemical change is blue, and which conse- quently finds a difficulty in piercing through the orange- cqloured dichromate. The amplitude or heigut of the blue wave is continually diminished, till finally it is almosc extinguished. Now the intenser the wliite light the greater will be the original amplitude of this wave, and it is at once apparent that the limit of amplitude, which is effective to cause the chemical change, will be reached at a gteater depth by those rays of light which were originally the brightest. A little reflection, then, will show you that the soluble part of the gelatine will principally be next the paper, and on immersion in hot water the viscous unaltered gelatine would remain imbedded between it and the outer insoluble surface. Though several ingenious methods have been tried to render the support on which the gelatine rested sufficiently porous to allow the occluded parts to be washed away, yet, so far, no attempt has been com- pletely successful. To get over the difficulty the principle has been adopted of transferring the gelatine film to a temporary support, the outside surface being caused to adhere to it. Evi- dently, by this means, the soluble gelatine can be washed away when the paper is peeled off, and a raised image insoluble in water would remain, which eventually may be transferred to its final support. The temporary supports, usually employed are metal plates, glass, paper coated with an insoluble com- pound, &c. A picture in gelatine alone, however, would be, comparatively speaking, of little value, as it is almost colour- less ; but if pigments be mixed with it the objection disappears.. In the autotype process the gelatine is mixed with colouring matter and a coating is given to a piece of papen When dried the gelatine can be rendered sensitive by floating its surface on a solution of potassium dichromate, and after again drying is ready for printing. Such a piece of prepared paper, or carbon tissue as ic is technically called, we have here. It has already been exposed beneath a negative, but no trace of any image is appa- rent, as the dark colour of the pigment masks it entirely. In order to judge of the amount of hght received during exposure resort then is had to what are called actmometers. The detail of the instruments I will not enter into ; suffice it to say it is usual to judge the depth of printing by the colour given to silver chloride. Placing then the exposed tissue, gelatine side down- wards, beneath water in which a zinc plate has already been immersed, and bringing the surfaces of the two together, they are withdrawn from the water with a film of moisture between. You will notice that I left the print in the dish but a very short time, for a reason which you will presently understand. By passing this "squeegee" (which is a bar of wood from which a thick strip of india-rubber projects) over the back of the paper I drive out all the water from between the surfaces, and you see how the gelatine film clings to the zinc. And why is this ? You will find that it is not naturally adhesive, the light has changed the ■quality of the gelatine in this respect, then why does it hold so- tight to the metal plate ? Simply owing to the moisture left in the paper ; the soluble gelatine soaks it up and expands. It cannot well expand laterally, so it expands upwards, and a partial vacuum is created between the gelatine and the plate. Now you see why I left the print in the water such a short time. Had 1 left it in longer the total expansion would have taken place, and the necessary vacuum coiild not have been created when it was pressed on to the zinc plate. Now that it is firmly held, I can place it in hot water and remove the papen It easily peels off, and the solvent action of the fluid can have fair play. As I move it up and down in the trough, you can see the gelatine running over the surface. After a few mmutes it is clean, and the development is finished. On this plate I have another print which has already undergone similar treatment, but has been allowed to dry. This piece of 256 NATURE \yuly 20, 1876 transfer-paper is now heated in very hot water, and applied to the surface. It is " squeegeed " on to it, and you see it adheres, this time, however, by its "stickiness." Here is another print in the same stage, but the adhering paper is dry. Raising one corner of it by my nail, I can grasp it in my fingers, and the finished print strips off the plate held in position by the paper. Such are the usual manipulations in autotype printing, and the pictures produced by this method should be permanent, and they must be as permanent as leather, or as the pigment which is employed to give visibility to the gelatine image. As I men- tioned before, there are various modifications of the process ; for instance, one is to develop the picture on the permanent sup- port destined to bear it, using this instead of the zinc plate. A little consideration will show you that in this case the negative employed must be reversed. We now come to a large class of printing processes known as photo-mechanical. And here I should state that the term photo-mechanical is applied to such processes as are independent of light for production of prints, after that agency has once fur- nished a plate or means of producing a plate. The first of these that I shall attempt to describe is that known as the Woodbury type, after the inventor, Mr. Walter Woodbury. The following outline will give some idea of the methods resorted to : — A skin of gelatine is prepared somewhat in a similar manner to that which I shall describe in the heliotype process, only for this it receives a tough film of collodion on one surface. This surface is placed next a negative on glass, and the light from an unclouded sun or from a luminous point (such as the electric light) is allowed to fall on it. Owing to the thickness of the gelatine employed, this method of exposure is necessary in order to secure sharpness. The print is developed as in the autotype process, and we get an image in great relief, formed by the in- soluble gelatine, resting on the tough collodion film. When dried, this relief picture is placed on the surface of a flat, soft metal plate, and, by hydraulic pressure, is forced into it, fur- nishing a mould, perfect in all its parts. The wonder is at first excited that the gelatine does not break under the enormous weight brought to bear upon it, but when it is recollected that ferns and grasses can be made to furnish similar impressions, the astonishment is diminished, in that the substance employed is no V in a leathery condition. Apparently it matters little as to which side of the relief is pressed into the plate. In one case we should have to use a reversed negative, whilst in the other any ordinary negative may be employed. This is important to the photographer, as may be surmised. Before us we have the negative, a relief from it, and a mould taken from the relief. This mould is now placed in this press, which consists of a flat plate (which can give slightly in any direction, and is capable of being raised or lowered) and a flat hir ged top, to which is affixed a perfect plane of glass. When this lid is brought dov/n on to the mould, the lower lid gives till perfect contact is got between the two surfaces ; a species of clamp enables the lid to be kept in position. You see on placing this piece of paper m the mould, the clamp closes with difficulty, but a little mechanical contrivance attached to it causes a great pressure to be brought to bear. Opening the press once more, a little warm gelatine, which has been impregnated with colour, is poured on the mould, and a piece of resinised paper placed over it ; the press is again closed. The mass of cold metal soon cools the gelatine, and on opening the lid, it is found that the excess of gelatine has been squeezed out beyond the mould, and on lifting off the paper, a picture is found adhering to it. This image is really formed in precisely the same way that a cook forms her jelly in a mould, though the colouring matter in this case is somewhat different. When dry, the picture is rendered insoluble in water by passing it through an alum bath. At first sight, this process might seem to be slow, but when it is remembered that half a dozen moulds can be made from the same relief, it requires no great exercise of the imagination to surmise that the pictures may be produced almost as rapidly as a lithograph. I referred to the relief necessary to produce the mould. From what I have described it will be seen that the dried relief must be as great as the wet prhtt of the autotype process in order to produce the same gradations. The last process I shall describe is known as the heliotype process, and I have chosen it for demonstration as I am prac- tically acquainted with its working at Chatham, and not from any inherent superiority it may possess. It is a type of all the photo-mechanical processes, if we except Woodbury, type, and it is to such as these that we must look for our book illustrations, though I am still in hopes that we may have a really good process for surface printing from a metal block, capable of being set up with type. We have a promising ex- ample of this lattter process in what is known as Dallastint, the offspring of Mr. Duncan Dallas ; but as it is a secret process I cannot say anything regarding its production. In the heliotype process there are various operations. To begin with, there is the preparation of the gelatine film on which the image is printed. The manner of preparing it is as follows : — Gelatine is dissolved in water by aid of heat, and to it is added a sensitiser which con- sists of potassium dichromate, to which a small quantity of chrome alum is added. Now here I must remark that this chrome alum forms an important part of the process. Gelatine we know ordinarily dissolves in hot water, but if it be impreg- nated with chrome alum, not only d les it render the gelatine insoluble, but it also tous;hens it in a marked manner when it is wetted. When the subsequent operations are explained, the importance of th's property bestowed on the gelatine will be manifest. The solution of gelatine (with this sensitiser mixed in it) is flowed over a carefully levelled glass plate to such a depth that in drying it has the thickness of a piece of Bristol board. The glass plate may be ground and very slightly waxed ; or it may be coated with a dilute solution of india-rubber to facilitate the gelatine leaving it, when it is required to be employed for printing purposes. A negative (which must be what is known as a reversed negative) is placed in a pressure frame, the gelatine is stripped off the plate, and the surface, which was next the glass, is in contact with the taken image. The necessary exposure may be estimated by an aclinometer or by examining the image in the printing frame. When judged to be sufficiently printed, the back of the print is hardened by exposure to lighf. This operation gives toughness to the gelatine and renders it capable of resisting the treatment it has sut)sequently to undergo. The skin of gelatine is next taken, and immersed for a few seconds in cool water (in practice a temperature of over 60° F. is found to be the best). A pewter or other metal plate, coated with india-rubber, is now placed underneath it, and the film caused to adhere to it by the use of the squeegee. The pressure of the atmosphere causes the adhesion as it does in the autotype process. For convenience' sake the edges are now run round with a solution of india-rubber in benzole and paper pasted round them, to prevent the water getting beneath the skin. The plate is then immersed in cold water for about half- an-hour, to soak out the unaltered dichromate, and it is ready for use as a printing surface after the superfluous water is blotted off. The gelatine skin is all in an insoluble state owing to the presence of the chrome alum ; but further, the part where the light has acted fully will not absorb water, whilst that which only partially absorbs water has only been partially acted on by light, and the part wholly unacted upon absorbs it greedily. When a roller con- taining greasy ink is passed over it, those parts which contain a great deal of water take no ink, particularly if it be stiff ink. The parts containing a little water take the ink lightly, whilst those parts which have refused to imbibe any moisture take it greedily. Evidently here we have a means of obtaining a picture of half-tone subjects in printers' ink. Another point is that thin ink takes better in a partially exposed portion than does a thick ink, hence to bring out the half tone it is customary to use two or even three inks of different consistency. The printing plate is generally placed in the bed of an ordinary printing-press and rolled up with a soft roller or rollers, charged with the printing inks. The impressions are pulled off as f.r Liter press, though more force is necessary. In order to ha^•e clean margins a mask is cut of the proper dimensions, and brought to certain register marks. The paper, usually employed for receiving the impressions, is enamelled, the enamel being formed of barium sulphate and gelatine. Any ordinary paper, however, may be used, if it have the power of taking up the mk. On the walls of the exhibition are some photographs printed on ordinary drawing paper, and they are effective in their way. Mr. Edwards, the patentee of this process, proposed to use a series of gelatine printing surfaces from the same negative, to form a species of photo-chromotype, [and I have seen some specimens which are very successful. Little seems to have been done, however, in this direction at present. When drawing your attention to the manufacture of the gelatine sl / 0 0 + 011 ... +0 14 0 0 + 011 ... — 0 27 ... -f I 32 ... -0 8 ... — 0 32 0 0 -I 3 -0 4 Sept. So that from these eight days' observations only it would be difficult to give a decided preference to either orbit. But it fortunately happened that before the comet was seen in Europe, it had been a very conspicuous object in more southern latitudes ; at Para, in Brazil, it had been observed during the whole month of August, the nucleus as bright as stars of the first magnitude, with a tail 18° in length ; in Siam by the French Jesuit missioniiries, who fixed its position approximately between August 17 and 23, and at Amboyna on August 15, a little south of the belt of Orion. On comparing the two orbits with the Siam observations, it is at once evident that they decide in favour of Halley's elements, and on making a further calculation in which the August positions, which are only rough ones, are introduced, the following orbit finally results : — Perihelion Passage, 1686, September 15-8249 G.M.T. Longitude of Perihelion 75 58-4 ) Equinox ,, Ascending Node ... 354 3-8 j of 1686. Inclination 34 55-7 Log. Perihelion Distance 9*52636 Motion . . . Direct. On the morning of August 17 the comet was distant from the earth 0*316, and at the time of Richaud's last observa- tion, 0-973. While writing on a cometary subject, we are reminded of what appears to be an unusual dearth of comets not of known period, in these parts of the system since the last one was detected by M. Borrelly on December 6, 1874, or more than eighteen months ago. It is true that generally the weather during this interval has been abnormally bad for such work as comet-hunting ; still considering that several of the observers who of late years have given most attention to the search for these bodies, are located in very favoured climates, this appears hardly to explain the absence of any discovery. It may be anticipated that a systematic search for comets in the southern heavens will soon be organised by some zealous amateur in the other hemisphere ; it is certain that he would in this way be likely to render material assistance in the advancement of cometary astronomy, and as we have before urged, he might succeed in bringing to light again one or two comets which were assuredly moving in ellip- tical orbits of short periods when last observed, but from one cause or another have since got adrift, and are not so likely to be recovered in the northern as in the southern hemisphere. New Minor Planet.— M. Leverrier's Bulletin Inter- national of July 13 notifies the discovery by M. Paul Henry, at the Observatory of Paris, on the previous evening, of another small planet in R.A. 156. 56m., N.P.D. 111° 59'. This planet, whi^h is estimated I2'5m., is called No. 164, but it is to be remembered that we do not knoiv the actual positions of so many as 164 of these bodies, and until the elements of any newly-detected one are well determined, there is the chance of identity with one or other of several which have been previously observed and even calculated, but for want of continuous observation are now lost. A PHYSICAL SCIENCE MUSEUM 'T^HE President of the Royal Society, Dr. Hooker; -'■ Mr. Spottiswoode ; Dr. Burdon Sanderson ; and Dr. Siemens, had an interview on the 17 th inst. with the Lord President of the Council, the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, and presented the subjoined memorial from gentlemen who have been connected with the Loan Col- lection of Scientific Apparatus at South Kensington. H is Grace discussed the subject of the proposed perma- nent Science Museum with the deputation, and stated that he would consult his colleagues. My Lord Duke, We, the undersigned, beg to submit for your Grace's consideration the importance of establishing a Museum of Pure and Applied Science ; that is to say, a Museum to contain Scientific Apparatus, Appliances, and Chemi- cal Products, illustrating both the history and the latest developments of Science ; where the methods and re- sults of investigations which have marked important stages in the advancement of Science may be studied, and where also the most highly perfected instruments of the day may be found. Among the various advantages which in our opinion would accrue from the establishment of such an Institution, 258 NATURE {July 20, 1876 we would mention the following. Investigators would be saved much time and labour by being enabled to see how far, and by what processes, others have advanced in the line of research which they may be pursuing : thus leading them to a knowledge of the facts and laws already esta- blished. From an educational point of view such a collection would assist teachers, by enabling them to select, or by showing them how to construct, the best apparatus for illustrating the subjects of their lessons. Great benefit would also accrue to the constructors of Mechanical and Philosophical Apparatus from being able to refer to the original Apparatus which they might be required to reproduce or to improve. To every one con- nected with Experimental Science, it would be of great service to see the actual instruments, many of which could otherwise be only known to them by description, and, under proper supervision and instruction to learn their actual manipulation and performance. We would also contemplate lending to investigators, under suitable re- strictions, such instruments as might be profitably employed in the researches they were pursuing. In considering this subject our attention has naturally been directed to the existmg Museum of Patents. While fully recognising the value of many of the objects now belonging to that collection, we are of opinion that, as standing alone and purely as subjects of a patent, their value is far less than if they formed part of a general col- lection, and were placed in juxtaposition with instruments of a similar nature, some of which, though not patented, are better adapted to their purpose, and of greater in- structional value. The object of a Scientific Museum is the promotion of knowledge, and the establishment of the scientific principles which must underlie all invention ; and it would not only prove of great advantage to both scientific investigators and the public if the two objects could be combined in one undertaking, but we believe that the objects of a Patent Museum would be better served by a museum of the character here proposed than by a special collection, such as has hitherto subsisted. We are decidedly of opinion that the state of knowledge in reference to any invention would be only very imper- fectly represented by the exhibition of patented instr u- ments and products only. In support of the views which we have ventured to submit, we would draw your Grace's attention to the Fourth Report of the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction, §§ 80-94. In § 93 the Commission state : — " We accordingly recommend the formation of a Collec- tion of Physical and Mechanical Instruments ; and we submit for consideration whether it may not be expedient that this Collection, the Collection of the Patent Museum, and of the Scientific and Educational Department of the South Kensington Museum should be united and placed under the authority of a Minister of State." We understand that the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 185 1 has offered to erect a building for the purpose contemplated in this memorial, and we would desire to point out that the purchase of objects need not entail any large outlay of public money. We contem- plate the gradual forniation of a collection of such objects as might be voluntarily left at the close of the existing Loan Collection, and others which might be contributed from the existing Patent Museum and other public departments, from the parliamentary grants administered at the request of Government by the Royal Society, and from such private societies and individuals as might be disposed to avail themselves of the Museum as a deposi- tory of scientific apparatus, appliances, and chemical products. We have the honour to be, my Lord Duke, Your Grace's obedient Servants, (Signed) J. D. Hooker, President of the Royal Society. John Evans, F. R. S. , Chairman of the Conferences in the Geographical Section. E. Frankland, F.R.S., Chairman of the Conferences in the Chemical Section. J. Burdon Sanderson, F.R. S., Chairman of the Con- ferences in the Biological Section. C. W. Siemens, F.R.S., Chairman of the Conferences in the Mechanical Section. W. Spottiswoode, Treasurer -and Vice-President R.S., Chairman of the Conferences in the Physical Sec- tion. Cha'Jcs Brooke, F.R.S. Alfred S. Churchill, Chairman of the Society of Arts. William Kitchen Parker, F.R.S. H. W. Bristow, F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of England. William B. Carpenter, F.R.S. Latimer Clark, late President Soc. Tel. Engineers. W. H. Flower, F.R.S., Conservator Hunterian Mu- seum. J. H. Gilbert, F.R.S. Robert Main, F.R.S., Radcliffe Observer. Fredk. Jno. Evans, V.P.R.S., Capt. R.N., Ilydro- grapher of the Navy. P. de M. Grey Egerton, F.R.S. Hampton, F.R.S., President of the Institute of Naval Architects. Joseph Prestwich, F.R.S. T. M. Good eve, M.A. W. de W. Abney, Capt. R.E., F.R.S. G. W. Royston Pigott, M.A., M.D., F.R.S. Robert H. Scott, F.R.S., Director Meteorological Office. George Robert Stephenson, F.R.S., President Institute Civil Engineers. F. H. Wenham. George Bentham, F.R.S. Nevil S. Maskelyne, F.R.S. H. S. Eaton, President of the Meteorological Society. E. Atkinson, Treasurer of the Physical Society. F. A. Abel, F.R.S., President of the Chemical Society. T. Hawksley, President of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, past President of the Institute of Civil Engineers. William H. Stone, F.R.C.P., &c. W. J. Russell, F.R.S. David Forbes, F. R. S. Richd. Collinson, Vice- Admiral, Deputy Master of the Trinity House. B. Woodcroft, F.R.S., late Superintendent of Patent Office Museum. C. W. Merrifield, F.R.S. Andw. C. Ramsay, F.R.S., Director General Geo- logical Survey. C. P. B. Shelley. James Baillie Hamilton. F. Eardley-Wilnaot, F.R.S., Major- General. Henry Cole. Warren De La Rue, F.RS. Frederick Guthrie, F.R.S., Prof. Physics, Royal School of Mines. C. O. F. Cator. Thomas Savage. Alfred Barry, D.D., Principal of King's College Wm. Chappell, F.S.A. A. J. Mundella, M.P. William C. Unwin, Prof. Engineering, Indian C. E. College. George T. Clark. Joseph Woolley, LL.D. John F. Twisden. Richard Strachey, Major- General, F.R.S. Prank Bolton. D. Glasgow. William Rutherford, M.D., F.R.S. Henry E. Rcscoe, F.R.S. J. Hopkinson. A. W. Reirold. John Tyndall, F.R.S. JohnTorr, M.P. Aberdare, President of the Royal Horticultural Society. Robert James Mann, M. D. Albert Giinther, V.P.R.S. July 20, 1876] NATURE 259 H, C. Rawlinson, F.R.S., late President Royal Geo- graphical Society, W. B. Baskcomb. James K. Shuttleworth. Geo. Busk, F.R.S. Geo. J. Allman, F.R.S., President of the Linnean Society. J. Arthur Phillips. T. H. Huxley, Sec. R.S. E. Ray Lankester, F, R. S . H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., President of the Royal Micro- scopical Society. W. T. Thiselton Dyer, Assistant-Director, Royal Gardens, Kew. Henry W. Acland, F.R.S., President of Medical Council. H. W. Chisholm, Warden of the Standards. D. T. Ansted, M.A., Cant., F.R.S. J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S., Fullerian Professor, Royal Institution. J. Scott Russell, F.R.S. A. Lane Fox, Colonel, F.R.S. Rayleigh, F.R.S. Robert S. Ball, LL.D., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal, Ireland. H. C. Seddon, Major, R.E. Charles V. Walker, F.R.S., President of the Society of Telegraphic Engineers. Joseph Whitworth, F.R.S. G. Carey Foster, F.R.S., President of the Physical Society. Balfour Stewart, F.R.S. R. B. Clifton, F.R.S., Professor of Experimental Philosophy, Oxford. W. F. Barrett, Prof. Physics, Royal College of Science, Dublin. J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. Francis Galton, F. R. S. J. Cameron, F.R.S., Major- General, Director Ord- nance Survey. M. Foster, F.R.S. E. A. Scbiifer. B. Samuelson, M.P. E. Klein, F.R.S. W, N. Hartley. Francis Guthrie, LL.B. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., President of the Geo- logical Society. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S. J. E. Davis, Capt. R N., Hydrographic Department, Admiralty. H. Dent Gardner, John Allan Brown, F.R.S. William Hackney. Ettrick W. Creak, Staff Commander, R.N. W. H. Preece. W. Chandler Roberts, F.R.S. A. B. Kempe, B.A., Barrister-at-Law, Western Circuit. Alex. Crum Brown, Professor of Chemistry, Edinburgh University. James Dewar, Professor of Mechanism, Cambridge. Urban Pritchard, M.D. R, H. M. Bosanquet, M.A., F.R.A.S., F.C.S., Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford. Sydney H. Vines. Alfred E. Fletcher. Herbert M'Leod, Prof, of Experimental Science, Indian C.E. College. Alex. B. W. Kennedy, C.E., Prof. Engineering, Uni- versity College. Arch. Geikie, F.R.S., Director, Geological Survey, Scotland. Cornelius B. Fox, M.D., F.M.S. Nicholas Brady, M.A. Thomas Stevenson, F.R.S.E., F.G.S., M. Inst. C.E. Johnjellett, D.D., F.R.S. Thomas Pigot, Prof. Engineering, Royal College of Science, Dublin. J. P. O'Reilly, Prof. Mineralogy and Mining, Royal College of Science, Dublin. T. Lauder Brunton, M,D., F.R.S. J. E. H. Gordon. \V. Galloway, Prof. Chemistry, Royal College of Science, Dublin. Henry E. Armstrong, F.R.S. Thomas Andrews, LL.D., F.R.S., President of the British Association. James Thomson Bottomley, M.A., F.R.S.E. W. F. Donkin. Claude R. Conder, Lieut. R.E. Charles E. De Ranee, F.G.S,, H.M. Geological Survey. Nathl. Barnaby, Chief Constructor of the Navy. W. Topley. J. Clerk Maxwell, F.R.S., Prof, of Experimental Physics in University of Cambridge. G. G. Stokes, Sec. R.S. Lucasian Professor, Cam- bridge. NOTES The current number of the Fortnightly Review contains an article by Dr. Bridges, in which he tries to prove that Harvey did not discover the circulation of the blood by vivisection. Harvey's owm statements are so explicit, and the methods he employed have been so often expounded, that there is little new to be said on the point. Harvey, as Dr. Bridges admits, dis- covered the true functions of the heart, and inferred the existence of the complete systemic circulation by observations on living animals, interpreting the facts observed by aid of the faculty of reasoning. Malpighi demonstrated the capillary part of the circulation by other observations on living animals, dealing with his new facts by aid of the same faculty. But to say that the movements of the heart were discovered by vivisection and the brains of Harvey, but the circulation of the blood ' ' by the mi- croscope of Malpighi " is as absurd as to ascribe the glory of the former discovery to Harvey's scalpel and that of the other to Malpighi's brains. The following are the numbers of visitors to the Loan Collec- tion of Scientific Apparatus during the week ending July 15 : — - Monday, 3,464; Tuesday, 3,300; Wednesday, 602; Thursday, 495 ; Friday, 451 ; Saturday, 3,403 ; total, 11,715. During the present week 13 demonstrations of apparatus were given on Monday, 1 1 on Tuesday, 5 on Wednesday ; 6 are to be given to-day, 5 on Friday, and 5 on Saturday. The annual meeting of the Helvetic Society of Natural Sciences wiU take place at Basle, on August 20-23. Scientific men of all countries are cordially invited to the meeting ; and those who wish to make any communication are requested to write, before August i, to Dr. H. Christ, 5, Baumleingasse, Basle. The Scientific Societies of Belgium held their first united Congress at Brussels this week, from the i6th to the i8th. The following, we learn from the Society of Arts yournal, are some of the subjects which have been discussed : — Greater facilities for the transmission of scientific objects ; as to the opening of public scientific institutions at convenient hours, and especially in the evening; the organisation of libraiies and scientific collec- tions in the towns and communes ; the publication of elementary treatises on various branches of science ; establishment at one of the littoral towns of a collection of works concerning the coast ; a study of the geological formation of the district round Brussels ; the part played by molluscs in nature ; the malaco- logical zones of Belgium. On the i8th there was to be a scien- tific excursion into the environs of Brussels. At a meeting of the Council of the Yorkshire College of Science, held last Friday, an offer by Mr. George Salt, of 150/. a year for three years as a temporary provision for a professor- ship of Biology, was accepted, Mr. Salt's stipulation that Mr. 2 6o NA TURE \yuly 20, 1876 L. C. Miall, F.G.S., be appointed profes;r to those projects that have already come before the public in a manner more or less definite. To begin with the American system. This is one of nearly abso- lute liberty. A number of men agree together to found an educational establishment, and they obtain, without any difficulty, by application to Government, the power of granting degrees. It can hardly, we think, be said that this system has worked so well in America as to encourage the hope that it may solve the educational difficulties of this country. As a rule American degrees are not highly thought of on this side the Atlantic, and we even question whether many of them command much respect on the other side. The cause of this failure is, we think, to be found in the motives which often induce men to combine together with the view of founding an educational institution. In some cases these are of the most praiseworthy character. The inhabitants of a large and influential district, while they, perhaps, differ from one another in their religious views, are yet convinced of the great importance of the higher education, and agree together to found an institution which is truly unsectarian, and which represents those good things upon which they are all agreed. But in other cases the motives of the promoters have reference not so much to the points on which they agree with the rest of the community as to those in which they differ from it ; and in consequence, the institution founded partakes of a denominational character to a greater or less extent. In the one case the institution succeeds ; the constituency is a large one ; they possess sufficient means, and are enabled to com- mand the services of the most eminent men — chosen only with reference to their acquirements. But, in the other case, the institution is a failure ; the constituency being a limited body, is net possessed of sufficient means, and the field from which they must select their lecturers is limited by this as well as by religious considerations. They are, however, able to obtain a charter, but their degrees are of very little value. It cannot be supposed that the British Government will ever consent to the introduction of such a system ; this alternative may, therefore, be dismissed, as we see it has been (very summarily in a foot-note) by the pro- moters of the Owens College scheme. The second proposal requires discussion becauue it appears to have commended itself to some of the leading statesmen of this country. It is the scheme for founding one great examining-board or degree-giving body for the entire country to which the various provincial colleges shall be affiliated. This scheme is alluded to in the following terms in the Owens College pamphlet : — " Without dwelling on the experience of such systems > Continued from p. 346. Vol. XIV.— No. 352 as that till recently obtaining in France, or contrasting its results with those of systems like the German, it may be remarked that a centraUsation of this description is at the present time, and must long remain, practically impos- sible in England, where neither are Oxford and Cam- bridge likely to surrender their self-government, nor public opinion to require them to do so." It is probable that a central board of this nature while confining itself to the province of examination might yet require, unless under exceptional circumstances, the pre- vious training implied in a college education. But even then its faults would be those of the present University of London carried out to their logical climax. At the risk of repeating ourselves we shall again state what we believe to be the faults of such an institution. In the first place we have the paramount power — that of granting degrees possessed by a body which does not take the responsibility of itself imparting or seeing im- parted by others a true education in the complete sense of that word. This education may no doubt be imparted by the various colleges, but the degree is given by a body which is virtually ignorant of the previous educational training of its candidates in a moral and social aspect. In the next place the degree-examinations, as they are unconnected with any previous class examinations, form only a rough test of the amount of knowledge which each candidate can produce. There is absolutely no attempt to test the quality and excellence of the producing power of each candidate. In fine the moral and social training is not tested, and the intellectual training only imperfectly tested by the central board. - Thirdly, and this is a point of the utmost importance, the Calendar of the Central Board must inevitably embody only the best known and most widely diffused results of knowledge — not that which is growing and plastic, but that which has already grown and hardened into shape — the knowledge in fact of a past generation which has become sufficiently well established to be worthy of this species of canonisation. A very powerful inducement is thus offered to the professors of the various colleges to teach their pupils according to this syllabus, and a very powerful discouragement to attempt to alfer it. They may be men of great originality and well quali- fied to extend and amend their respect've spheres of knowledge, but they have no inducement to do so — their interest is to adhere to the syllabus as rigidly as a priest of the Church of Rome adheres to the syllabus of the Pope. It is the old and time-honoured custom of killing off the righteous man of the present age in order the more effectually to garnish the sepulchres of his predecessors. Our readers are well aware that the natural philosophy course has changed its character very greatly of late years, and, that for this we are much indebted to Pro- fessors Sir W. Thomson and P. G. Tait. But could these men have done this under the system of a central board ? If they had succeeded it must have been, as Galileo suc- ceeded, against the attempt made by the ruling authorities of his day to stop his voice and strangle his originality. The next proposal is a modification of this. It does not propose that the system of the University of London should swallow up all other systems, the impossibility of this consummation (however desirable in itself) being recognised. It rather proposes that the University of 266 NATURE [yuly 27, 1876 London, being a good and desirable thing of which we cannot have enough, should split itself up into two parts — a southern and a northern one — a province of Canter- bury and a province of York, and that the various pro- vincial colleges in the north should form members of the great University representing the northern province. Our reply to this proposal is that believing the Uni- versity of London to represent an incomplete system we are unwilling to contemplate its universal extension whether this be brought about by the process of absorp- tion or by that of fission. It is alleged by some who favour this system of grouping colleges together into one University, that a healthy principle of competition is introduced into the teaching departments of the various colleges, and they quote in favour of their views the success of the University of Cambridge in producing eminent mathematicians by this system. We shall here confine ourselves to showing that this supposed analogy is delusive. What the various colleges do, and do extremely well, is to impart a moral and social training to their pupils ; but it is well known that in Cambridge the real rivalry as regards mathematical honours is not between the various colleges, but between the various private tutors. The chances are in favour of a certain tutor turning out the next senior wrangler, and accordingly the inmates of the various colleges rush off to this tutor in the hope of gaining the great prize. What this system demonstrates is rather the necessity of a thorough system of tutors in addition to that of profes- sors, in order to secure the high proficiency of a few in any department. Thus by a species of exhaustion, and by discussing the various alternatives suggested, we come to see that we must look to the various individual provincial colleges to become the future Universities of our country ; and tha only question that remains is whether Owens College be yet rips for the change. Let us present the claims of this College to our readers in the language of the pamphlet already alluded to : — " It remains to inquire whether Owens College may be fairly considered equal to the assumption of such a posi- tion, and whether the present period is a suitable one in its history for the College to advance such a claim. The history of the College may in any case be said to have prepared it for a University future. Owens College was founded to provide instruction * in such branches of learning and science as were then and might be there- after usually taught in the English Universities,' and it has uniformly sought to pursue a course and maintain a character consistent with this intention on the part of its founder. The support given to it in the district has indisputably been largely given as to an institution desiring to hold an academical level ... As to curricula and branches of teaching, the Senate, while unwilling to enter into details, have no hesitation in asserting their opinion that Owens College may, taken as a whole, fairly challenge comparison with any academical institutions of this and with some of other countries. We have here a ready-formed and — in essentials — complete University organisation as regards the Faculties of Arts, Science, and Medicine, together with a newly-formed School of Law. . . , The Faculty of Divinity is indeed absent ; but apart from the reasons which, in Owens College as well as elsewhere, have caused its absence, it may be worth observing that the conception of a University by no means involves the necessity that it should possess chairs and grant degrees in all the faculties. This posi- tion it would be easy to prove from the history of several Universities of European fame." This is an era of great educational activity ; attempts are being made to reform our great English institutions, and a Commission is at present engaged in discussing the future of the Scotch Universities. We are convinced that an enlightened government will best complete its efforts in this direction by giving a University Charter to Owens College, not, however, as a last and crowning concession, but rather as the first of a series of concessions, all of which, let us hope, will, when the time is ripe for them, be frankly and graciously made. Let there be no disguising the fact that Owens College is but the eldest of a large and rapidly increasing family, others of whom may, we hope, in the course of time, make their appearance before the state. It may, however, be twenty or thirty years hence before any of the recently established institutions is sufficiently ripe to receive the crowning honour of a University Charter. At present no other college can hope to present similar claims representing something like 500 day students, 800 evening students, and a very large amount of voluntary endowment. This is in truth the work of a generation. We do not think it probable that any opposition to this movement will arise on the part of the two great English Universities. Their office is rather to lend their distin- guished graduates as teaqhers in these new institutions, and by dint of their own practice and their great influence to see that moral, social, and even physical training are encouraged, as well as training in its merely intellectual aspect. And while they themselves may in the future be probably induced to give a greater prominence to the professorial element than they have yet done, they may in their turn induce the other Universities to encourage the tutorial element to a greater extent. In fine, these two old Universities will, whatever happens, always retain a powerful voice in the educational councils of the nation. Nor must it be supposed that we advocate the doing away with the University of London, for whatever be the plan adopted there will always be colleges which not having attained to the rank of Universities, must look to that institution as their degree-giving body. But the function of such an institution is to redress a hardship in the case of pupils rather than to cause and perpetuate a hardship on the part of teachers. The Uni- versity of London will be heartily welcomed as a channel for imparting a degree that could not othewise be procured, but it ought not to be tolerated as a Procrustean bed for the education of the country. In fine, it was founded as the most available means of redressing a grievance, and for this very reason it is necessarily incomplete. So long as we continue to progress — so long as colleges multiply and are not yet able to grant degrees, — so long must we retain an institution similar to the present Uni- versity of London. AGRICULTURAL WEATHER-WARNINGS IN FRANCE AN important step has been taken by Le Verrler in the application of meteorology to practical matters by the inauguration of a system of weather-warnings spe- cially designed for the benefit of agriculturists. The July 27, 1876] NATURE 267 chief features of this system of warnings are briefly sketched in a recent number of the Bulletin Hebdoma- daire of the Scientific Association of France. Weather-warnings intended to be useful to the agri- cultural interest are essentially different from those issued for the benefit of navigation. What sailors require almost exclusively to know is, the force and direction of the wind in approaching storms. On the other hand, what agriculturists require to know is a knowledge of coming rains and of thunderstorms, especially the de- structive hail which often accompanies them ; whilst the wind, save in rare exceptional cases, little affects them. The ability to foretell rain, the causes of which depend on conditions absolutely different in different parts of France, is unquestionably one of the most intricate problems of science, and therefore demands the closest study, wide knowledge, and sound judgment in working out its successful solution. When, eighteen years ago, the Paris Observatory, esta- blished a system of warnings for the French Marine, the conditions for carrying them out successfully were not known. Now, however, owing to the experience ac- quired, the observatory is able to issue warnings of so useful a nature, that no serious storm makes its appear- ance in the Channel, or on the shores of the Bay of Biscay, or of the Mediterranean, which has not previously been announced to the seaports menaced by it. To-day the difficult question of agricultural warnings presents conditions of uncertainty similar to those which warnings for navigation presented in 1858. The present difficulty, therefore, is no reason for doing nothing, but only a reason for greater care and more strenuous exertion. Mistakes will necessarily be made at the first, probably numerous during the first year, seeing that there is still no precise basis on which to rest ; they will, however, diminish as experience is acquired, and doubtless the time will by and by come when warnings for agriculture will be attended with a like success as now characterises warnings for navigation. §P Agricultural warnings cannot, then, as in the case of warnings for navigation, be issued to the provinces by the Paris Observatory in an absolute form. It is, at this early stage, indispensable that the warnings sent to the chief places of the departments be of a general character to be supplemented and modified by local meteorological experts, who, in doing so, must be guided by their know- ledge of the local peculiarities of their particular districts. I This mode of procedure will furthermore lead to a I thorough examination and a more exact knowledge of the meteorology of France. The points to be more specially investigated by the departmental Meteorological Commissions at the outset, are these : — i. To follow and investigate the march of the rainfall, not only as regards quantity, but as regards the mode in which it is successively propagated from canton to canton, and from department to department, particu- larly when, after a season of drought, rainy weather begins to set in. 2. As regards thunderstorms {orages), the chief point to be attended to is that information of their first appearance be sent to the chief place of the department in which they occur, which, in its turn, will tele- graph the fact to the Paris Observatory, so that the officials there may, in view of the whole circumstances, send timely warnings to those departments which appear to be threatened by the storm. 3. Since little is yet really known of hailstorms, which are often so disastrous to agriculture, it will be necessary to give instant attention to collect such data as may likely lead to some knowledge of the influence of woods, hills, and river-courses on the origin and progress of the hailstorm. 4. In connection with the late frosts of spring, which are productive of such enormous loss to agriculture, the often-alleged effect of smoke in counteracting* their blighting influence will be brought to the test of experiment on a large scale, say over the whole extent of a valley. 5. Lastly, warn- ingsrelative to inundations cannot but excite the liveliest interest, in consideration of the national disasters of recent years, which might have been to a large extent lessened, if not in many cases averted altogether, if a proper system of such warnings had been in operation. To the civil and mining engineers to whom these warn- ings have been entrusted, the service of the agricultural warnings will necessarily lend much valuable assistance. Agricultural weather-warnings began to be issued by the Paris Observatory, on May i, to the three depart- ments of Vienne, Haute- Vienne, and Puy-de-D6me, the telegraphic authorities giving the free use of the wires in the transmission of the messages. In order to give a fair trial to this initial experiment the system will be continued daily till October i, 1876, after which the whole matter will be submitted to a careful reconsideration. The following example will show the method employed in carrying out the system : — On May 7 the Observatory, to show the general course of the isobarics over Europe, telegraphed that the barometer at 32° and sea-level was 29"6o7 inches at Palermo, 29725 at Naples, Florence, Perpignan, and Madrid, 29*922 at Moscow, Berne, Li- moges, and Bordeaux, 30'i 19 at Petersburg, Paris, and Lorient, 30*316 at Helsingfors, Helder, and Greencastle, and 30*5 12 at Hernosand, and Skudesnes. Attention was further drawn to the fact that pressure was not only high in Sweden, but that it had risen 0*393 inch, and not only low in Sicily, but had fallen 0*196 inch ; and that since under this two-fold influence a polar current was flowing over Europe towards the Mediterranean, northern and easterly winds would continue to prevail, bringing with them generally clear skies and, owing to the strong sun- heat, an increase of temperature during the day. This pre- diction, it is needless to add, was verified by the event. We most heartily wish every success to this bold and novel system of weather-warnings, designed for the benefit of great national interests. It may be added that it is on a sound practical knowledge of the thunderstorm, considering the term in its widest significance, that the success of these warnings will depend ; and it is, there- fore, singularly fortunate that in no country hsa so much well-directed labour and expense been bestowed on the investigation of thunderstorms as in France. RADCLIFFE'S " VITAL MOTION" Vital Motion as a Mode of Physical Motion. By Charles Bland Radcliffe, Doctor ot Medicine, &c. (London : Macmillan and Co., 1876.) AS there is a growing conviction of the importance of studying physiology from the side of physics, so we may be led to value more the efforts made in this line 268 NATURE \7uly 27, 1876 by observers who have for long been content to work on, httle cheered by recognition by the great body of physi- ologists, but finding their reward in honest search after truth. Among such Dr. Radclifife has for some years main- tained the proposition that the contraction of muscle is not an acquired condition determined by the reaction of a vital property of irritability with certain stimuli, but a natural condition resumed after the removal of an elec- trical charge by which extension had been previously effected and maintained. In this view, for ideas re- lated to the older terms "vitality" and "contractility," ideas related to electricity and elasticity must be substi- tuted. Again, whereas the electrical phenomena mani- fested in muscle and nerve have been generally regarded — notably by Du Bois-Reymond— as phenomena of cur- rent electricity. Dr. Radcliffe has held that so far as they are functionally important, they are phenomena of static electricity, of charge and discharge. This contention is once more set before us in the book just published under the title heading this notice, with many new arguments and with several material changes in the interpretation of facts. In former papers Dr. Radcliffe imagined muscle and nerve to be charged with electricity after the manner of a Leyden jar ; the coat (neurilemma or sarcolemma) of each fibre doing the work of a dielectric. Many serious diffi- culties opposed the acceptance of this notion, and now another, certainly much more accordant with the facts, is substituted. According to this later notion, the condition of each muscular or nervous fibre while alive and at rest is one and the same with that of an electromotive element, such as a Daniell's cell, in the state of open circuit. In the polarity of the electromotive element is found the ex- planation of the apparent existence of a current running from longitudinal to transverse or cut surface, in mutual repulsions of molecules charged with electricity, the ex- planation of the lengthening, after contraction, of fibres at rest ; in variations of electrical charge, and in hypo- thetical closures of circuit the explanation of the con- traction of muscle, of the return of a perfectly elastic substance to the form from which it had been distorted by the charge. Dr. Radchffe argues that the instan- taneous extra and induced currents set up at the opening and closing of circuits are important agents in discharge, and that such instantaneous currents " may be through inductive interaction greatly intensified a.nd might prove to be very powerful " if they were not in great measure lost by being " short-circuited " within the body. As regards the mode in which circuits may be closed and nerve-muscle discharge caused by the will no clear expla- nation is set forth, though it is remarked that " there is no difficulty in beUeving that electricity, the slave of the will in this case, may have been ordered out of the way " and muscular electricity left to its own devices. This theory of nerve-muscle charge and discharge finds important outcome in the book, having application to inhibition, rhythmical movements, rigor mortis, the influence of artificial electricity on vital motion, the work of the blood in vital motion, and many reactions of disease. The chapters relating to these are all most interesting and full of valuable suggestions, but our space will not allow of any analysis of them. A chap- ter on the " Electrophysics of Vital Motion " demands however a few remarks. Here are recorded observa- tions on the electrical condition of living protoplasm, and here are made inductions to the following effect : (i) that there are no more indications of intrinsic development of electricity in vessels containing living protoplasm, of amcebaj and the like, than in vessels containing distilled water ; (2) that living and lifeless bodies are equally under the sway of an electrical poten- tial which varies from hour to hour, so that they are differently charged from hour to hour ; (3) that charge will produce expansion which will be greater in aeriform bodies than in bodies which are fluid like water, and greater in these latter than in bodies which are of th2 nature of solids ; (4) that the expansions will operate unequally in bodies which (like amcebae) are made up unequally of portions which are more or less solid, and portions which are more or less liquid. Amoeboid movements are therefore, " as far as their electrophysics are concerned," the results of variations of electric potential. The parenthesis is important in free- ing the author from the charge of forgetting that there may be other forces at work. Granting even that " elec- tric potential " may mean the sum of the operation of a number of cosmical influences — of heat, of gravitation, of lunar and planetary perturbations ; all extrinsic, all vary- ing at any point from hour to hour — and this is granting a great deal — there are still left to be considered all the intrinsic influences which may affect molecules and de- termine movement, such as osmose, chemical affinity, colloid dynamis, and the like. Dr. Radcliffe's colligation is as follows : certain movements are observed to take place in small bodies composed of a mixture of semi-fluid protoplasm with more solid matter ; it is conceivable that variations of electrical charge may affect these unequally and produce movement ; certain variations of electrical potential are going on at the same time and in the same place in which the bits of protoplasm are moving ; the bits of protoplasm do not generate or possess independent or original electricity ; therefore the movements are probably produced by the variations of charge conse- quent on the variations of potential. Surely much more than the "hint" which the author finds in the coinci- dence is necessary for the establishment of wide induc- tions. Fortunately the position taken with reference to the " electrophysics " of nerve and muscle rests upon a much firmer ground of observation and inference. The position is worthy of attentive study, and the argument generally commends itself to our acceptance. At least it invites further examination, and offers many possibilities of proof or trial by collateral observation. We may confidently hope to see the original and acute reasoning of the author generally acknowledged, and, better still, justified and am- plified by future followers and observers. W. M. O. FEISTMANTEL OiV THE BOHEMIAN COAL BEDS Studun in Gebiete des Kohlengebirges voti Bohmen. Von Mdr. Ottokar Feistmantel. (Prag, 1874.) AMONG the additions which extended research is every day making to the stock of our geological knowledge, none are perhaps so welcome as those which July 2J, 1876] NATURE 269 enable us to bridge over the gaps and fill in the blanks which are unfortunately at present so numerous in the geological record. The work that has been done in this direction of late on the borderland between the Carboni- ferous and Permian formations promises before long to be productive of very important results. Even in so small an area as Great Britain the order of events that happened between the depositions of these two groups must have varied very much from place to place, as will appear from the following table, in which some of the more important sections are shown in a condensed form : — +- , >< z ++ H 4> 0 CO B V c 0 b Z 0 u Z! CO CO 0 OS ^2 s u a in 3 ><* > ++ 1 c bio- 4; . to 3 i <« Bi c «) S « g 0 fl C Put 0 U ^J5 z 0 u z t3 a 0 >■ i a Lh s * « 4J 5 ,0 »• ji rt 0 b z 0 0 z P4 S u « a ►3 ^ <■ s 0 j^ a H » 0 >< •s 9 0 C/3 i PL, IS CIS 0 u. Z 0 u z as ^ in -a c« TJ 4) in i-^ .H , 1 1 i j3 '6 M U Oh * a "SI S3 a Col 0 « ju 3 13 c4 i ^rS 25 Whatever be the value of the identifications ventured on in the above table, it serves at least to establish one fact ; that, in the interval which it covers, there are at some spots two stratigraphical breaks, at others only one, and at others, perhaps, none at all ; for in the North Staffordshire instance it is very likely that we have not a mere case of deceptive conformity, but may be a true passage. There would be nothing strange in this if we were dealing with the equivalent deposits of the whole world, or even of a large continent, but the fact that such a variety of changes went on within so small an area is worth notice, for it shows how variable were the physical conditions of what may be called the Permo-Carboniferous period ; suggests to us that its oscillations, important as they are locally, may have been only local ; and so paves the way for a favourable reception of any fresh discoveries that point to an absence of any break between these two formations, which are with us for the most part so sharply marked off from one another. And indeed our home experience is quite sufficient to suggest the possibility of such cases turning up ; setting aside the North Staffordshire instance, which is not be- yond question, the general lithological character of the Upper Coal Measures and their markedly red colour seem to point to a commencement of what may be called Permian conditions before the close of the Carboniferous period, and to establish something of a bond of union between the two formations, in spite of the unconformities which locally separate them. And when we go beyond our home circle we soon meet with cases where a passage from Carboniferous into Permian seems to exist ; such, for instance, as those described by Dr. Dawson in Nova Scotia (" Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc." xxx. 209), and by Dr. Toula in Spitzbergen ("Leonhard and Geinitz' Jahrbuch," 1875, p. 225). In the monograph before us. Dr. Feist- mantel treats of what he believes to be a similar instance in the coal-fields of Bohemia. The coal-bearing beds of that country and their asso- ciated strata are broken up into a number of detached basins, and the exact correlation of the members of the different patches is, of course, open to some uncertainty ; but Dr. Feistmantel thinks he can establish the following general order of succession, and three main sub-divi- sions : — fRed sandstone, with Araucarites Schrolliamis. P J Strata, with Carboniferous plants. ■ \ Bituminous shale (Schwarte), with fish ; very few (, indistinct traces of plants. ' Strata, with Carboniferous plants. Gas-shale of Niirschaw, fish, and abundance of Carboniferous plants. Strata of Radovenz, with Carboniferous plants. Red sandstone, with Araucarites, on the north- east Bohemian Basin. A. Strata, with Carboniferous plants. Of these sub-divisions, A yields 232 reputed species of plants, of which lor pass up into B ; all are species usually looked upon as Carboniferous. But as we ascend in the measures, there is a gradual decrease in the plant remains, specially among the arborescent forms, which disappear in the Upper Permian, Stigmaria Ficoides alone surviving to the last. The animal remains of A are five in number and rare : they comprise a scorpion and spider, a grasshopper, and two crustaceans ; all are con- fined to the group. Among the beds of the groups B and C the author lays special stress on the gas-shale of Niirschaw and the Schwarte, the animal remains of which he describes as characteristic Permian forms ("exquisit permische Thier- reste "), and he infers from the intercalation of these beds with others containing only Carboniferous plants, that no hard line can be drawn between the Permian and Car- boniferous formations. This conclusion, to say the least, rests on somewhat slender evidence ; the genera of fish, quoted in his lists, on which we must mainly rely, are only seven in number, and the species are determined in four cases only ; of these, one comes from a deposit the Permian age of which may be admitted, some from beds reckoned Permian by some authors and Carboniferous by others, and some genera are common to both formations. Such an amount of evidence can scarcely be accepted as conclusive. There is also a little inconsistency in the B.^ 270 NATURE \7uly 27, 1876 author's final results ; after having, to his own satisfaction at least, broken down the old land-marks, he proceeds to establish new ones where, according to his own showing, no hard and fast lines exist ; he classes the group C as Lower Permian, A as Carboniferous, and parallels B with the Ottweil beds of the Saarbruck coal-field, which by the way are distinguished by the absence of Permian forms. It is further a matter for regret that so pains- taking an observer has so little of the gift of lucid arrange- ment, and that he indulges so largely in what De Quincey calls the carpet-bag treatment of sentences. But faults like these will not detract from the real value of the work ; when the time comes for a rectification of boundaries on the Permo- Carboniferous frontier, the vast mass of carefully-observed facts which it furnishes will form no unimportant contribution to the body of evidence by which the question must be decided. The author may have been premature in his conclusions, but his industry and application have produced a work that will have a permanent value. A. H. G. OUR BOOK SHELF Holidays in Tyrol — Kuf stein, Klobenstein, atidPanvef^gio. By Walter White. (London : Chapman and Hall, 1876.) This volume may be regarded as the complement to that published a good many years ago by Mr. White, " On Foot through Tyrol," in which the Brenner was the eastern limit. The present one takes us to souch-east Tyrol, occasionally overstepping the boundary that divides Austria from Italy. Mr. White is a leisurely tourist, with no ambition to rival the feats of an Alpine clubbist, but with what may be called an epicurean taste for scenery of all kinds. It is this taste which keeps him to the lower heights, for from such vantage-ground alone it is found can all the varied features of the Alpine scenery be fully appreciated and enjo)ed. The volume contains the results of several summer sojourns in southern Tyrol, and while its main feature is pleasant chat about the principal scenes that are presented throughout its length and breadth, there is much interest- ing gossip about its towns and villages, their antiquities, history, and, above all, about the people, with all sorts and conditions of whom the author came much into contact. He has the faculty of making himself at home and liked wherever he goes a pleasuring, and thus has learned much about the sentiments and ways of the people that an ordinary tourist would never discover. There is no excitement, no sensation, no hair-breadth 'scapes in the book ; the chapters are very short, and the reader will feel no difficulty in laying it down at the end of any one of them ; but at the same time Mr. White's pleasant chit-chat never wearies, but keeps the reader in a constant r.tate of placidity and quiet amusement. The region described is out of the way of the ordinary tourist, but we should think Mr. White's volume ought to make it popular. The work will form a useful guide to the Southern Tyrol, and is interspersed with occasional notes on geology, which gives it a claim to be regarded as not altogether unscientific. Ane;ling Idylls. By G. Christopher Davies. (London : Chapman and Hall, 1876.) Mr. Davies is already favourably known to anglers and natural history amateurs, and many lovers of healthful and refreshing reading, by his " Mountain, Meadow, and Mere," and his " Rambles and Adventures of Our School Field Club." The present volume contains a number of charming pictures of country scenes and country life grouped round angling adventures. The Idylls— prose in form we may say — are put together with great art, which seldom makes itself felt, are simply told, and full of the un- mistakable freshness of " out-of-doors," to use the author's synonym for Nature, To a jaded mind they will be found almost as refreshing as a day by a river side with rod and line is to a jaded body. Mr. Davies has a good know- ledge of natural history, and knows how to observe and tell what he sees, and both the botanist and zoologist will find something to interest them in the book. Under the title of " Angling Acquaintances" he describes graphically the habits of the otter, water-vole, heron, and other animals to be found in the neighbourhood of water, and does the same in another chapter for " Waterside Plants." For lovers of the country and especially of ihe gentle craft the book possesses many attractions. 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. \ Extreme Temperature of Summer On Saturday, July 15 last, the temperature (in the shade, four feet from the ground) at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, rose to 93° 'o ; on Monday, July 17, to 94°*o ; and on Saturday, July 22, to 90° -2. Since the establishment of the Magnetical and Meteorological Observatory in the year 1840, higher readings than 94° 'o have been recorded on two occasions only; 94'"5 in 1858, June 16, which was very early in the year for so high a temperature ; and 96° -6 in 1868, July 22. The following further particulars collected from the Green- wich records may interest some of your reader?. It appears that the temperature has risen to or above 90°, out of thirty-six years, in twelve years only. The annexed list gives the particular days on which such extreme tempcratute was shown : — 1842, Aug. 10 1846, June 20 ,, July 4 5 Aug. I 1852, July 5 1857, June 28 1858, ,, 16 1859, July 12 M 13 „ 18 ,, Aug. 25 1868, July 16 The years 1846 temperature ; in 1} 90 '5 9I-I 91 -8 93 '3 91 '3 92 o 903 927 94 '5 92-5 92 o 93 'o 9' 3 92-0 1868, July Aug. Sept 1869, July 22 1870, June 22 1872, July 25 9 20 1874 1876 15 22 90 'O 92 2 966 90- 1 90-5 921 909 90*2 90-9 92 o 91 -8 93 'o 940 90 '2 and 1868 were remarkable for high summer ), 9i°'i was registered as early as June 20, and in 1868 92''*i, as Jate as Sept. 7. Throughout the whole period of thirty-six years, the earliest summer maximum occurred in 1862, on May 6, and was 8i°'5. The latest summer maximum occurred in 1875, <^n Aug. i6, and was 85°'4. The year i860 was remaikable tor depressed tfrn- perature ; the highest summer reading having been 75° 'o only, on July 17. The year was one which agiiculturists will well remember. It was in violent contrast to 1859, as the table above given shows. Selecting the highest recorded temperature in each year, from 1841 to 1876, with the day of its occurrence, it appears, on the average of the thirty-six years, that the mean of such highest readings is 88°'3, the corresponding mean day of occurrence being July II. "William Ellis Royal Observatory, Greenvnch, July 24 Earthquakes in Samoa DtJRiNG the months of December and January last there was much local seismic disturbance on the north side of the island of Savaii. Loud underground reports were heard in one particu- lar spot near the coast. They were at irregular intervals, but July 27, 1876] NATURE 271 were sometimes very frequent. I could not ascertain from any of those resident in the neighbourhood the exact number in any definite time, but for several days they must have been almost hourly. The concussion was felt for a distance of four or five miles only around the focus of action ; but it was so severe in the nearest village, that the people deserted their homes during its continuance. On February I, at 4.30 p.m., we had a very long shock of earthquake, which was lelt all over the group. It lasted within a few seconds of two minutes. The oscillation was very great. The islands seemed to be in the hands of Mafui'e (the earth- quake god), and he shook us with a vengeance. I took my watch in hand when I felt the first indication of an earthquake, and sat for a minute amidst the clatter of windows, lamp-glssses, and everj- thing movable (a gentleman writing to me about it next day said his house seemed turned into a factory, with the clatter of machinery), but as it appealed to increase in severity, I deemed it prudent to go outside the house. I then noticed that the thatched roof presented the appearance of waves running rapidly across from south to north. After it was over I found two clocks — one facing north, the other south — had been stopped ; one facing west was still going. In three parts of my house the plaster at the angles of walls had been broken down. Bottles were thrown down and broken. In my study, books on a shelf facing north were shaken forward ; those on shelves run- ning north and south were not affected. The screw of a copying- pnss, which I had used just before the earthquake, and which was standing up at the time, had been run down. I found by experiment afterwards that it required a vigorous shake with both hands for half a minute to make the screw run down. Immediately after the earthquake I went to see if there was any oscillation of the sea. There was nothing perceptible on this — the north — side of the island. I have learned, however, from various sources that there was much oscillation on the south side. Directly after the shaking was over the reef was seen to be bare, and fish were lying exposed on it. The natives rushed to secure the fish, and while they were busy picking them up they were overtaken by a wave, which would have proved fatal to many had they not been expert swimmers. I have heard of only one life lo^t — a child, who was found next day jammed between two masses of growing coral. It was low water at the time, but low-lying villages were flooded by the wave. During the following night we had four slight shocks of earth- quake, but have had nothing severe since. Upolu, Samoa, April 3 S. J. Whitmee P.S. — I wish to correct a misprint in my letter on "The Degeneracy of Man," which appeared in Nature, vol. xii., p. 47. In speaking of the language of the Polynesians, I said there are many refineirents, a large proportion of which are ««known to most of the present generation. Unknown is, how- ever, printed known, and thus the point of the illustration is lost. Fauna and Flora of New Guinea and the Pacific Islands I HAVE just read, with very great interest, some anthropo- logical and zoological notes on a trip up the "Fly River" in New Guinea, by Signor D'Albertis. From these notes it appears that the " heaps of dung " which have been supposed to indicate the presence of a rhinoceros in the island, are probably the excre- ment of the Casuarius. Signor D'Albertis also reduces the " tracks of buffaloes" to those of wild hogs ; and the fabulous bird " with a spread of wings of 16 feet " (which, in a former letter, I corijectured might have been a Casuarius, with propor- tionately large wings added by the incagination of the explorers under the influence of excitement), turns out to be nothing more than 2> Buciros luficolUs with a spread of wings of "4 or 5 feet." We have, therefore, no reason for modifying our views as to the relation which the fauna of New Guinea bears to the rest of the world. Signor D'Albertis mentions a few examples only of the New Guinea flora, but some of these are specifically identical with common South Pacific Island plants. In connection with this subject, it may be interesting to some of your readers to know that I have just entered into an arrange- ment with a Danish botanical collector — Mr. Fritz Jensen — under which he wrill start from Samoa during the present month on a voyage through the Union, Ellice, and Gilbert Islands (Atolls), to collect for me in botany and zoology. On his return to Samoa in July, he will accompany me to the Loyalty Island?, where he will make a stay of four or five weeks collecting chiefly in botany. At the close of that period Mr. Jensen will proceed to the south-east coast of New Guinea (I have some hope of accompanying him), where he will spend about two months collecting. Mr. Jensen has been residing with me for several months working at the Samoan flora, of which I have about 700 species in my collection. By the time he completes his trip I hope the collection will be of some value as material towards the prepara- tion of a Flora of the Pacific Islands. S. J. Whitmee Samoa, April 3 Optical Phenomenon I BEG leave to send you a brief account of a striking atmo- spheric phenomenon which was visible in this neighbourhood on the evening of the 27th ult. Hoping that some of your usual correspondents from the North of Ireland would have sent you a notice of it before this, I delayed writing to you (see voL xiv. p. 231). The phenomenon consisted of a pillar of light which rose vertically from the horizon, over the spot where the sun, then set, presumably was at the time, and reached an altitude of some 8°, or perhaps more. I first saw it about 8.45 p.m., when the sun was set about a quarter of an hour, but it was, no doubt, visible earlier, probably before sunset. As the sun moved under the horizon towards the north, the pillar moved in the same direction, still retaining its vertical position, but becoming gradually lower, until at last it disappeared about 9.40 p.m., the sun being then about 6° 30' below the horizon. The breadth of the pillar was equal to the apparent diameter of the sun. Its colour when first seen was a pale yellow, which as time advanced changed to a golden yellow, and finally to a deep red. The pillar was brighter near the horizon than at a greater altitude, and its upper end was not well defined, but gradually faded away. My son, who was with me, observed that the edges of the pillar were slightly scolloped. The sun had been clear and very hot during the day, but there was a cool air from the north-east, which became colder towards sunset. I have heard that this pheno- menon was also visible at Portadown and Tynan, in the County Armagh, and at Aughnacloy in this county. I presume there can be no doubt that the pillar consisted of a succession of images of the sun overlapping one another, but it is not easy to see how these images were produced. A nearly horizontal stratum of dense air, whose surfaces were slightly inclined to one another, with a rarer medium above and below, might form such a muhiple image, by successive reflections and partial refractions at the lower surface, the sun-beam which fur- nished the direct or principal image to any observer, A, furnish- ing the second, third, &c., images to observers behind him, so to speak, and sun-beams behind the former, successively furnish- ing A with the images forming the upper part of the pillar. I understand that German physicists give this phenomenon ■the name of Sonnensaule — sun-pUlar — and that they have pub- lished some speculations as to its origin. I hope some of your readers will kindly contribute information on this subject. " Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas." Omagh, Co. Tyrone R. V. D. P.S. — Since writing above I have learned that the "sun- pillar " was visible over a district of the north-east of Ireland, extending from Portrush in the north to Armagh in the south, and from Bangor (Belfast Lough) on the east to Omagh on the west. I have also heard from two intelligent correspondents that it was visible at simset, when it attained an altitude of 30° ; and from two others that it presented to them the appearance of being crossed by bands, alternately of a brighter and darfcer shade. Freezing Phenomenon I HAVE waited to see whether anyone else would notice a letter that appeared in Nature, vol. xiv. p. 191, from Mr. Power, under the above heading. Failing such notice, may I point out that the phenomenon to which he refers has aheady been described. Plumes produced by the crystallisation of water form the frontispiece to Dr. Tyndall's Lectures on Light (Longmans, 1873), and a description of them is given in p. 257 of that volume. 272 NATURE IJuly 27, 1876 Mr. Power suggests that the brittleness of iron in cold weather may perhaps arise from somewhat similar molecular groupings occurring within the metal whilst it contracts in cooling. One must, however, recollect that water expands when cooled from 39° Fahr. down to the freezing-point. To this the action of cold upon iron affords no parallel, for cold renders the metal more dense. Cold brings the atoms into closer connection ; hence cold will (presumably) tend to augment the strength of their mutual attraction. H. M. Adair July 18 Habits of Parasitic Crab Some days since I obtained in the trawl a large specimen of the common Ascidian {A. Virginea) and kept it alive for about a week. It contained a specimen of the small Parasitic Crab {Pinnotheres pisum) about the size of a threepenny piece. The crab came out every night to feed about the floor of the tank, and found lodging during the day, as I afterwards proved by dissection, in the branchial cavity of the Ascidian. The crab is commonly found in the mussel, but I was not aware before that it ever wandered abroad, or sought food except within its tenement. W. S. G. Kenmare THE ROWTON SIDERITE "AN addition of exceptional interest has recently been ■**- made to the collection of meteorites in the British Museum, by the presentation, on the part of the Duke of Cleveland, of a siderite (iron meteorite) which fell on his Grace's property at Rowton, near Wellington, in Shrop- shire, about seven miles north of the Wrekin, on the 20th of April last. At about twenty minutes to 4 o'clock on the day mentioned, a strange rumbling noise was heard in the atmosphere, followed almost instantaneously by a startling explosion resembling a discharge of heavy artillery. There was neither lightning nor thunder, but rain was falling heavily, the sky being obscured with dark clouds for some time both before and after the incident narrated. About an hour after the explosion, Mr. George Brooks, stepson of Mr. Bayley, had occasion to go to a turf field in his occupation adjoining the Wellington and Market Drayton Railway, about a mile north of the Wrekin, when his attention was attracted to a hole cut in the ground. Probing the opening with a stick, Mr. Brooks discovered a lump of metal of irregular shape which proved to be a meteorite weighing 7f lbs. It had penetrated to a depth of eighteen inches, passing through four inches of soil and fourteen inches of solid clay down to the gravel — conclusive evidence of the force of its impact with the earth. The hole (which has been protected for further investigation) is nearly perpendicular, and the stone appears to have fallen in a south-easterly direction. Some men were at work at the time within a short distance, and they, together with many other people in the neighbourhood, heard the noise of the ex- plosion." The above account is taken from the Wolverhampton Chronicle, and a further notice is given in the Birming- ham Daily Post of a meeting of the Natural History Society of Birmingham, at which meeting Mr. Brooks, accompanied by Mr. Gibbons, of Wolverhampton, and Mr. Wills, exhibited the meteorite. Mr. Wills described the circumstances attending the fall, stating that the "sound was heard as of something falling during a heavy shower of rain accompanied by a hissing and then a rumbling noise;" he further stated, "that when Mr. Brooks found the mass it was quite warm." Mr. Wills described it as " being black on the surface, and appa- rently covered with a scale of metallic oxides ; but at the point where it impinged on the earth the oxides had been removed, and the metallic character of the mass had been revealed." To these interesting and accurate observations, made by the "gentlemen of the locality, I have the pleasure of adding that I believe it was very much owing to a reso- lution passed by this valuable local society, at the sug- gestion of the gentlemen whose names have been men- tioned, to which must be added that of the well-known petrologist, Mr. Allport, of the Rev. H. W. Crosskey, and Mr. Woodward, that Mr. Ashdown, the agent of the Duke of Cleveland, took action in the matter, and ob- tained his Grace's assent to the meteorite being presented to the trustees of the British Museum. On its arrival in this department it was with no small pleasure that I found the description of Mr, Wills was in all points accurate. It is, indeed, an iron meteorite, and the special interest of this statement lies in the fact that though our great collection of 311 distinct meteorites at the museum contains 104 indubitable iron meteorites, the falls of only sevc n of the latter were witnessed. The collection contains eight stony melforites that have fallen in the British Islands ; but the Rowton meteorite is only the second iron meteorite known as having been found in Great Britain. It is thus not without a keen curiosity that one inspects a freshly fallen fragment of iron just arrived from space in our own country. One hastens to ask of it what impression the action of the atmosphere has made upon its surface during its brief transit, since most of our vfovi meteorites have undergone long weathering in the earth. Mr. Wills, however, has given that answer. The meteo- rite was covered with a very thin pellicle of the jet-black magnetic oxide of iron, and only where this had been rubbed off by abrasion with the soil is the bright metallic surface of the nickeliferous iron revealed. The little meteorite has all the usual appearance of being a frag- ment. Irregular and somewhat angular in form, with its edges rounded, no doubt, by the fusion and removal of no inconsiderable part of its material in its encounter with the atmosphere, it presents but very slight traces of the finger-and-thumb marks which so characteristically pit the surfaces of most stone and of some iron meteorites. Furthermore, there are fissures which penetrate deeply into the iron mass and bear testimony which there can be no gainsaying to the action of disruptive forces of tre- mendous strength durins^ the hot encounter of the original mass with the atmosphere, and of which one explosion, and the rumbling echoes, possibly, of others, recorded by the witnesses bear evidence. The form of one of these fissures throws instructive light on the cause of the pitted surface of meteorites. The depth to which the little mass penetrated a stubborn soil is proof of how much momen- tum still remained to it, partly due, no doubt, to the approximately vertical direction in which it penetrated the atmosphere, and in some degree, too, to the higher density of an iron mass as compared with one of stone, the stony meteorites rarely penetrating to so considerable a depth. This depth of penetration and the direction of the little mass in space near north to south offer close resemblance between this iron and the iron meteorite of NedagoUa, in India. There are indications on the metallic surface of the composite crystalline structure revealed by etching iron meteorites with acids, and known as the Widmannstattean figures, the results of the separate crystallisation of dif- ferent alloys, often demarked in some of their surfaces by plates of metallic phosphides. The development of this structure and the consequent determination of the particular type of iron meteorite to which the Rowton siderite belongs, as also the analysis of the iron itself, can only be carried out after a small por- tion of the meteorite shall have been carefully cut off by the aid of a lapidary's wheel, a process requiring in this particular case some careful precautions to prevent rust being hereafter formed and to reduce the loss of material to a minimum, N. S. Maskelyne July 2 J, 1876] NATURE 273 A MODERN ORGAN T T has been hitherto chiefly on the Continent of Europe ■*- that connoisseurs in the majestic tones of the king of instruments have had to seek for a grand organ. Though London, the mistress of the world for weahh and magni- tude, has churches and chapels innumerable, and organs by hundreds, scarcely one is of sufficient importance (xc merit to attract the attention of a stranger. Church organs are, as a rule, small, and built without individuality or character of tone, and generally so placed in the building as to effectually mar in acoustical effect any special merit they might otherwise possess. Of the two or three instruments that have any pretensions to magni- tude to which the public has access — at the Albert Hall and the Alexandra and Crystal Palaces, no very lasting impression remains upon the audience beyond that 01 noise and a distressingly harsh volume of sound, utterly devoid of musical depth and grandeur of tone, and quite different from the pleasing reminiscence? that dwell upon the memory from hearing some of their more musical Continental rivals at Haarlem, Freiburg, or Lucerne. To successfully construct a large organ is a work of exceed- ing difficulty, for not only does size greatly complicate the mechanical action, but the proper distribution and apportionment of the wind to each stop, and the har- monious blending of the whole together in the full organ, demands great kno^wledge and skill upon the part of the builder. It is for these reasons that very few large organs rise beyond mediocrity, or are noted for the beauty of their tone or the perfection of their mechanism. The great advance in the general taste for organ music within the last few years has necessitated an improvement in the mechanical construction of the oigan, so as to enable the performer rapidly to command the entire resources of the instrument at will, and give him absolute control over the various sound-combinations and tone-colouring of the different stops, according as they are brought on or off by means of the apphances placed at his disposal. We give a brief description of the very remark- able organ recently erected at Primrose Hill Road, Regent's Park, remarkable alike for its size, being larger than the great Haarlem organ, its beauty, richness, and grandeur of tone, and the completeness of its mechanism. At present this superb instrument is almost entirely unknown to the musical section of the public. The annexed illustration shows that this organ is one of the first magnitude. It possesses what is known as a 32-feet metal speaking front, with a cor- responding weight of tone throughout the pedal organ, and several organs which together constitute the instru- ment, and give it its place in the scale of magnitude as compared with the more celebrated of the con- tinental instruments. The instiument in question has several novelties not to be found in other organs. It possesses seven distinct organs : pedal, great, choir, sweh, solo, echo, and carillon organs, each extending the full compass of 5 octaves (61 notes) with the exception of pedal organ, 30 notes. These various organs are under the control of the performer by means of four manual key- boards, which together comprise sixty-seven speaking- registers, and these are combined together with various acoustical effects by means of thirty-one mechani- cal movements, making a grand total of ninety-eight sound-controlling registers, worked by hand and foot. The entire mechanical action necessary to control these registers and accessory movements is carried out by a novel application of atmospheric vacuum pressure. Two distinct systems of main air trunks extend through- out the interior of the organ in connection with the wind ar/angements situated in the basement of the building. One of these systems of trunks is for the purpose of con- veying the wind at different pressures to the sound boards of the various organs in connection with the musical speech of the several groups of pipes. Thus the wind supplied to the solo organ, swell reeds, and Urge pedal reeds, is the heaviest pressure employed in the instrument for producing the musical mtonation of the pipes, namely, 6 inches. The wind pressure to the sound-boards of the great organ and swell flue work is 4 inches, that of the choir organ 2 inches, and the pressure of wmd is again reduced in connection with the sound-boards of the echo organ to half an inch, the lightest wind upon which any organ has ever yet been attempted to be voiced. This question of wind pressure as afifectmg the voicing and musical intonation of the pipes of an organ is one of great irnporlance, and upon the skilful adjustment to the size, diameter, and materials of which the pipes are constructed, depends the sweetness and quality of the musical tones produced. In the organ under notice the very light pressure of wind adopted affords an example for careful study and examination First, for the mellow sweetness and beauty of tone produced ; secondly, for the prompts ness of speech obtained, as rapid as the articulation of a pianoforte string ; and thirdly, for the immense volume of sound and power that can be produced from these light pressures, the combined effect of the full organ rivalling almost the artillery of heaven as thunder crash after crash bursts upon the ear. Much of the harsh unmusical tone of modern organs arises from this desire to obtain power at the expense of music by the employment of an ov^er-. pressure of wind. That age is not requisite to mellow an organ is demonstrated by listening to the diapasons and foundation stops of the Primrose Hill organ, which have all that ripe and fascinating sweetness of tone characr teristic of Silbermann's finest instruments. These ligfit pressures of wind constitute a remarkable feature ia the construction of so large an organ. The second series of air trunks which permeate the interior of the instrument are in connection with two. large vacuum exhaust be'lows which, being continually actuated by the steam-engine used for blowing, maintain a constant vacuum pressure throughout the entire system of trunks, so that at any part of the organ an available mechanical power (that of the pressure of the atmosphere 15 lbs. to the square inch of surface) is at hand to be employed for the multitude of purposes required in a lar^^e instru- ment. To be obliged to have recourse to the old system of wooden rods, trackers, levers, and squares iu endless complications, would have so weighted and im- peded the action of the organ as greatly to destroy its musical capabilities. In most of the large organs con- structed both at home and abroad, many parts of the mechanism are far from being so perfect as to leave no room for anything further to be desired, and the execu- tant upon the instrument rarely is able to portray as rapidly his musical creations mechanically at his finger- ends as those creations in tone.-coloar flash through his mind. By the introduction of atmospheric vacuum pres- sure as the " motor " power, there is no complication of mechanical parts ; an almost endless system of tubes being carried from the key-board registers to the sound- board sliders of the several organs. These tubes are in connection with powerful exhaust bellows and vacuum power-bellows attached to the sliders, so that any re- quired stop is brought on or off instantaneously, how- ever distant from the key-board. These tubes may be bent and twisted round corners in any direction, and the parts of the organ most difficuU of access easily reached. No mechanical force is thtrefore necessary to be exerted at the keyboards, the mere touch of a key, register, pedal, or finger-button, at once brings its special tube and ex- haust arrangement into operation. The wonderful com- pleteness ot this system of vacuum-tube action is beauti- fully illustrated by means of the echo organ — a complete instrument of 16 feet tone, situated some 100 feet from the key-boards of the great organ — and supported on corbels against an opposite wall ax an elevation of some 30 274 NATURE \yuly 27, 1876 View of "The Great Organ" recently erected at the HaU, Primrose HiB, Lowkw. 7«/k27, 1876] NATURE 275 feet from the floor. The action of this organ is electrical, that is, there is no mechanical communication between the performer at the key-board 100 feet distant and the organ pallets which admit the wind to the pipes, save a small rope of 61 insulated copf>er wires — one wire for each note of the five octaves. The various stops of this distant organ are likewise controlled without mecha- nism— a series of vacuum tubes alone extending from the registers at the great organ to the sliders of the echo organ — which are thus brought on or off at the will of the performer by a silent action — at once accurate and instan- taneous in its manipulation. The effect of this echo organ, is that of a large organ heard at a great distance. Without the aid of the electric action, and vacuum pressure, such an organ could not have been designed. Mechanical action would never have successfully developed such efff cts at such an extended distance. The same vacuum system is also applied to the various pneumatic lever arrangements interposed between the keys at the consol and the wind-valves at the sound- boards to relieve the performer from any undue mecha- nical pressure that might detract from the promptness of repetition and delicacy of touch of the key action, the keyboards being thus rendered as light as that of a grand pianoforte. Such results cannot be obtained so efficiently by the employment of compressed air for a pneumatic power action ; compressed air will always prove to be more or less sluggish, a " creeping on " and " creeping off" movement being the result, besides a limit to the aggregate of the instantaneous power that is at com- mand. The pneumatic drawstop action of the St. George's Hall organ, Liverpool, is a fair illustration of the defects of the compressed air system. In the Primrose Hill organ upwards of forty registers can be simultaneously drawn on or shut off as easily and with the same precision as though only a single stop were drawn. The consol or keyboards of this organ, as will be seen by the engraving, are reversed, that is, the performer faces the audience, the organ being behind, and the echo organ opposite him. The lowest keyboard manual is the " great organ ;" the next, or second from the bottom, the "choir organ ;" the third in :he series the " swell organ ;" and the fourth, or upper row of keys, the " solo organ." By a simple me- chanical arrangement this fourth keyboard is also used for the electric '' echo organ," and also for the carillon, or " bell" organ, otherwise it v/ould have been necessary to have introduced a fifth set of keys, an arrangement at all times objectionable from the increased compHcations im- posed upon the performer. The touch of the carillon organ on the fourth row of keys is expressive like that of the pianoforte key, and gradations of tone and dis- tance are therefore capable of being expressed upon the bells. In this organ the French ventil system of shutting off or bringing on the wind to a complete family or group of stops by the depression of a pedal has not been adopted, such a system being found inadequate to effect rapidly the almost endless combinations that such a large instru- ment has at command, the pneumatic combination foot pedals and finger buttons at the keyboards being intro- duced as a more convenient form of manipulatmg the registers. The wind supply of this gigantic organ is furnished from four large reservoirs in the basement, which again supply seventeen reservoirs in connection with the various sound-boards of the organ ; the vertical feeders for pro- ducing the wind to these reservoirs, as well as for creating the vacuum pressure, are set in motion by an eleven horse- power steam-engine. The wind supply is so ample, that with the power of the full organ it is impossible to exhaust or create unsteadiness in the wind ; few organs are projierly constructed in this important respect. An ingenious automatic lever engine for regulating the motion and the supply of wind from the vertical feeders into the reser- voirs according to the demand of the organ, is placed between the steam-engine and the wind reservoirs, so that the regulation of the wind supply is independent of the speed of the engine, which remains constant. This instrument, which occupied three years in its construc- tion, and was opened in January, 1876, has been erected under the personal supervision of Mr. W. T, Best, of Liverpool, by the eminent organ builders Messrs. Bryceson Brothers, and Morten, of London, for Mr. Nath. J. Holmes, and is erected in the large music-room at the Hall, Prim- rose Hill Road, built expressly to receive it. The instru- ment, which stands 50 feet high, 30 feet broad, and 30 feet deep, suffered severe injury from the effects of con- cussion, in common with the building in which it is erected, at the time of the disastrous explosion of gun- powder on the Regent's Park Canal, near Primrose HilL PALEONTOLOGY AND THE DOCTRINE OF DESCENT " 'T'HE great biological question of the day is the •*- problem of evolution ; but geologists, as Kant says, are the archaeologists of nature, and the sole direct and irrefragable evidence of the method whereby living things have become what they are is to be sought amone fossil remains." Such were the words spoken by Prot Huxley on a recent occasion, when receiving from the hands of the president of the Geological Society the WoUaston, medal ; and the assembled geologists, calling to mind his masterly review of the whole question in his address to them in 1870, rejoiced to hear their former president expressing the hope that much of his future labour would be concentrated on this aU-important palae- ontological problem. The discoveries of such abundant mammalian remains in the Tertiary deposits of the Western territories of America have added much valuable material to that already obtained from the Paris basin, the Sivalik Hills, Pikermi, and many other districts ; and we may look forward with confidence to the labours of vertebrate palaeontologists for bringing to light many interesting relations between the members of the existing fauna and their ancestral representatives in the later geological periods. In the meanwhile it may not be uninteresting to point out that among the invertebrata similar evidences of the transitions between life-forms which at first sight appear to constitute perfectly distinct groups, are constantly being detected by palaeontologists. No opportunity for doing this more effectively could possibly be desired than that which is afforded by the publication of a most suggestive and valuable monograph by the distinguished palaeontologist of Vienna, Dr. Neumayr, in conjunction with M. Paul of the Austrian Geological Survey, a work which has just apppeared in the seventh volume of the Abhandlun^en der k. k. geolos^ischen Reichsanstclt. The title of this memoir is " Die Congerien- und Palu- dinen-schichten Slavoniens und deren Faunen ; ein Bei- trag zur Descendenz-Theorie ; " and its authors have earned the thanks alike of geologists and biologists, for the important evidence on the great question of evolution which has been the fruit of their patient researches. The geological formation which has afforded the evi- dence in question is the grand series of lacustrine beds forming the highest portion of the magnificently developed Tertiaries of Eastern Europe, and which constitute the approximate equivalent, in all probability, of our Pliocene ; and it is a district on the southern limits of the Austrian Empire, the border-land of that area to which the atten- tion of all Europe has been so painfully drawn for many months past, that has furnished the vahiable sections of this formation and the abundant fossil remains, the 276 NATURE [7uly2T, 1876 discussion of which is tlje object of the memoir we are noticing. On the northern bank of the Save there rises from the " diluviuim " of the vast Hungarian plains an " island " composed of various crystalline, Triassic, and Tertiary rocks, and on the southern side of this tract of older deposits and upheaved along its flanks, between the towns of Alt Gradiska and Turkish Brod, stretches a vast mass of strata, constituting probably the most mag- nificent representative of the latest stage of the Tertiary period which geologists have as yet had the good fortune to discover. The strata in question consist of sands and clays, with numerous beds of lignite, and it is to the value of the latter as fuel that we are indebted for those excavations which have afforded such excellent opportunities for studying the successive series of faunas of the formation. The whole of the beds appear to be of lacustrine origin, and have been accumulated, doubtless through the long- continued subsidence of the area, to the enormous thick- ness of about 2,000 feet ; the lower division of the strata known as the " Congerien-Schichten," appears to have been formed under brackish-water conditions, but their upper and by far their thickest portion was certainly accumulated in fresh water. This upper fresh-water series, the. " Ealudinen-Schichten," is divided by our authors into three principal groups, comprising eight zones, each of which exhibits a well-marked and charac- teristic fauna. The group of shells which affords the most interestinf evidence of the origin of new forms through descent with modification is that of the genus Vivipara or Paludina, which occurs in prodigious abundance throughout the whole series of fresh w^ter strata. We shall not, of course, attempt in this place to enter into any details concerning the forty distinct forms of this genus (Dr. Neumayr very properly hesitates to call them all species) which are named and described in this monograph, and between which, as the authors show, so many connecting links, clearly illustrating the mode of derivation of the newer from the older types, have been detected. On the minds of those who carefully examine the admirably engraved figures given in the plates accompanying this valuable memoir, or still better the very large series of specimens from among which the subjects of these figures are selected, and which are now in the museum of the Reichsanstalt of Vienna, but little doubt will, we suspect, remain that the authors have iully made out their case, and have demonstrated that, beyond all controversy, the species with highly complicated ornamentation were variously derived by descent — the lines of which are in most cases perfectly clear and obvious — from the simple and unornamented Vivipara achatinoides of the Con- gerien-Schichten. It is interesting to notice that a large portion of these unquestionably derived forms depart so widely from the type of the genus Vivipaj'a that they have been separated on so high an authority as that of Sand- berger, as a new genus, under the name of Tulotoma. And iience we are led to the conclusion that a vast number of forms, certainly exhibiting specific distinctions, and, according to some naturalists, differences even entitled to be regarded of generic value, have all a common ancestry. The vast Tertiary lake-basins of Eastern Europe, in which similar conditions were maintained during such an enormous period, and in which such an unbroken sequence of deposits was accumulated, offer, of course, a particularly favourable opportunity for investigating the relations existing between successive life forms. The disturbing elements, arising from rapid variations in physical conditions attended with the circumstance of the immigiation of forms from other areas, and the con- sequent retreat of the older fauna, the evidence of which is .so constantly detected in the case of geological formations of marine origin, are here to a very great extent eliminated ; and henge we are ^ble to trace with marvelloys precision tl^e exact pedigree of an immense number of diverse forms. We may, however, be permitted to add that much of the failure in recognising the undoubted ancestral relation- ships which exist between many marine invertebrate fossil forms, appears to arise either from prejudice on the part of the observers, or from that unfortunate divorce between the work of the physical geologist and the palaeontologist, which, in this country at least, tends to confine the former entirely to the fi.eld, and the latter as absolutely to the museum. In no way can the admirable results which may be expected to ensue from the combined study of the physical and palasontological characteristics of a formation be better exemplified than by an appeal to the publications of the Geological Reichsanstalt of Vienna. In the same volume of the Abhandlungen, which contains the valuable memoir to which we have alluded in the former part pf this article, is published a second in- stalment of Dr. E. Mojsisovics' splendid monograph, " Die Mollusken-Faunen der Zlambach und Halls'a'.ter- Schichten," in which the wonderfully- varied mollusc m forms of the Alpine Trias are so admirably described, their derivation traced, and their relations to the Palaeo- zoic and Mesozoic types clearly indicated. While the study of such exceptionally well-preserved faunas as those we have alluded to cannot but impress us with that incompleteness which is undoubtedly the usual charac- teristic of " the geological record," it nevertheless leads us to entertain the hope, and even to express the cer- tainty, that in the hands of the palaeontologist lies the key to that mystery which at present envelopes the laws that have governed th^ appearance of the successive forms of lif?. J. W. JUDD PRIZES OFFERED BY THE DUTCH SOCIETY OF SCIENCES T^HE following subjects for prizes have been proposed by the •*• Dutch Society of Sciences, Haarlem. 1. To make a complete experimental study of the question whether a Daniell element can decompose water, and to submit to a critical examination the theories according to which it does or does not possess this power. 2. What are the meteorological and magnetic phenomena which there are sufficient reasons for believing to be connected with sun-spots ? 3 It seems to result from certain experiments of M. Bunsen {Ann. der Chem. und Pharm. Ixxxv. p. 137, et. siq., 1863), that when mixtures ol hydrogen and carbonic oxide are inflamed in a eudiometer with a quantity of oxygen insufficient for complete combustion, there always remains a part of the two combustible gases, and that the quantities of water and of car- bonic dioxide which are formed have the relation to each other of simple multiples of their molecular weights. The same will hold good for the quantities of carbonic monoxide and carbonic dioxide which are generated by the combustion of cyanogen by means of a limited quantity of oxygen. The Society requires that these experiments be repeated on a more extended scale, with gaseous mixtures of very diverse composition, and by varying consider- ably the proportions of the constituents. 4. The researches of Mr. Lockyer concerning the difference of the spectral lines which calcium gives by means of electricity at different temperatures, have excited in a high degree the interest of the Society which requires that these iinportant researches be extended to other elements. 5. Give a critical rhume oi the observations and experiments concerning the existence of Bacteria in the contagious diseases of man, followed by original researches on the same question, studied in one or more of these diseases. 6. The society requires a simple instrument by which tempe- ratures above 350° C. may be measured in degrees of the air- thermometer. 7. Make researches on the influence which the different colours of the spectrum exercise on the life of the lower animals. 7«/)/ 27, 1876] • NATURE 277 OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN De Vico's Comet of Short Period. — According to the limits for the value of the mean diurnal motion of this comet when it was last observed, in 1844, assigned by Prof. Briinnow from his later researches, the results of which are published in the Astronomical Notices issued during his direction of the Observatory of Ann Arbor, Michigan, it would appear that in the absence of any great perturbation a perihelion passage may be expected to occur some time in the twelve months following the beginning of December next, and those who occupy themselves in searching for comets might advantageously institute during that interval a systematic examination of the parts of the sky in which the comet must be situate according to different suppositions as to the date of arrival at perihelion. The comet of De Vico is most favourably placed for observation when the perihelion falls about Sept. 4, in which case it approaches the earth within o'2 of our mean distance from the sun. It follows therefore that in 1844, when the comet was in perihelion about midnight on Sept. 2, the conditions were nearly at their best. The comet was detected at Rome on August 22, and was observed by O. Struve at Pulkowa, till Dec. 31. In a masterly discussion by Prof. Briinnow, entitled Memoire stir la Co7nete Elliptiqne de De Vico, which gained the prize offered by the Royal Institute of the Netherlands, the elements for 1844 are determined by the most refined methods, and are accurately perturbed not only to the next return in 1850, when from the position of the comet in the heavens there appeared no possibility of its being observed, but to the second return in 1855, when the perihelion is fixed to August 6, ephemerides to facilitate Its re-discovery being added to the memoir. From what- ever cause, however, the comet was not found in 1855. The mean motion finally adopted in Briinnow's memoir for the perihelion passage in 1844 corresponds to a revo- lution of I996"3 days. In the subsequent calculations to which reference is made in the Ann Arbor Notices, he finds a value which diminishes the period of revolution to 1994*0 days, and, as regards the probable error of this determination of the amount of daily sidereal motion (649''"936), he shows that his work rather tends to exclude a greater one than 2". Nevertheless he particularly insists that too much stress should not be placed on this indication, pointing out the possible influence of a small but variable error in the sun's places, which were taken from Carlini's Tables, and likewise the effect of variation in the form of the comet during the time it was under observation, upon the deduced positions. It does not appear upon what authority Briinnow assumes the reality of material changes in the aspect of the comet. The writer of these lines had the comet under frequent obser- vations particularly after the middle of October, when, as it was receding from the earth, variation of figure by influencing the judgment as to the point to be observed would have had most effect, and well remembers that even to the last week in December, when it had become little more than a glimpse-object with 7 inches aperture, there was still an extremely minute nuclear point, which, with a larger instrument, would admit of very accurate bisection. The comparison with the Pulkowa observations {Memoire. p. 29) affords no evidence of any effect of the kind suggested by Briinnow. Now there is one point, hitherto it is believed un- noticed in the astronomical periodicals, which bears upon the non-recovery of the comet of late years. Briinnow drew attention to the close approximation of the orbit of De Vico's crmet to the orbit of the planet Mars at two points falling near 42° and 287° of heliocentric longitude. If we adopt his later elements, we find that at the first point the distance between the twc^orbits was 0-0226, and at the latter point 0*0104, distances which, as Briinnow remarks, are " assez petites, pour produire des perturba- tions sensibles, quelque petite que soit d'ailleurs la masse de la plan^te perturbatrice ;" and it is to be borne in mind that the above distances, small as they are, may have been diminished very sensibly by the effect of accu- mulated perturbation since 1855, beyond which we have no calculation of the effects of planetary attraction. If the mean diurnal motion in 1855 were as large as 652""o5, a value considerably within Briinnow's suggested limits, the comet might have come into extremely close prox- imity to Mars at the end of August, 1866, in about 42°*3 heliocentric longitude. While, however, the above appears a certainly possible contingency, it is not, perhaps, necessary to suppose the existence of any unusual cause for the non-recovery of the comet. As occurs with most of these bodies, there are certain periods of the year at which observation would be impracticable ; in the case of the comet of De Vico, this disadvantageous period would fall chiefly in the first four months of the year, the perihelion point then falling on the opposite side of the sun to the earth, and the incli- nation of orbit being very small. How far this may bear upon the question may be judged from the fact of there being ' no record of this comet having been observed between the year 1678, when Le Verrier iden- tifies it with the comet discovered by Lahire at Paris, and the re-appearance in 1844 ; and it is worthy of remark that the perihelion passage in 1678 fell only one week earlier than the date which may be considered the most favourable. A more particular examination of the comet's track in the heavens at different periods of the year is deferred for a future column. MiRA Ceti. — The minimum for 1876, calculated by Argelander's formula of sines from the epoch of Schon- feld's last catalogue, i.e., by applying the same pertur- bations to minimum as to maximum, falls September i '2, and may therefore be observed under favourable circum- stances. There are comparatively few good deter- minations of the minima epochs, or of the magnitude of the star at these times, which will justify a hint that it should be watched on this occasion. RESOURCES OF SERVIA AND BOSNIA npHE small extent of country upon which the eyes of -^ Europe are now centred lies too far out of the beaten tracks of travellers for much to be generally known as to its capabilities or natural resources ; nevenheless the country is described in the few existing works as being very fertile, and the soil might be made much more productive were it not for the idle and dirty hab.ts of the people. In these days of " Special Correspondents," the breaking out of a war, even in the remotest parts of the world, is a signal for the dispatch of men of observation, whose duty it is to chronicle the movements of the opposing parlies, and, in some cases — we wisii it were more often so — to give us glimpses into the habits of the people and the natural features of the country. Thus, we may in the course of a few weeks learn from the public press more about these matters in connection with the small districts now at war with Turkey than we are able to gain from books. The mines of Servia and the forests of Bosnia are two of the principal sources of revenue to the countries. Both iron and copper can be obtained, not only in large quantities, but also of ex- cellent quality. The best Bosnian iron resembles that of Sweden, and is largely used in the manufactories of Gratz, in Styria ; quantities also pass into Dalmatia and Servia. These mines are mostly worked by English companies under concessions from the authorities. In the forests are several species of oak, including the ever- green, or Holm Oak {Quercus Ilex), the Turkey Oak {Q. Cerris), Q. ^Egilops, Q. infectoria, and others. The 278 NATURE [July 27, 1876 first two are of little or no use economically, except perhaps, for their woods, and these are not so highly valued as those of other species]; the Q. JEgilops,\\o\v&\zr, which produces large acorns seated in very large cups, is valuable for the sake of these cups, which contain a large quantity of tannin, and are extensively used by tanners and dyers, being imported to a considerable extent from the Levant under the name of Valonia. Q. infecioria is also a valuable species, producing, most abundantly, the large shining brown galls known as Mecca galls, used for dyeing purposes, in the manufacture of ink, and in the preparation of tannic and gallic acids. The principal value of the oaks in Bosnia seems to be in their timber, the staple use of which is in the manufacture of staves for casks, immense quantities of which are exported. Amongst the pines occurring in the forests are Pinus Laricto. P. tnaritima, P. halepensis, and others, as well as the Scots Fir, P. sylvestris. Besides these are other forest trees of more or less value, so that if the forests were properly worked, they would not fail to prove of great value. At present, however, the right of cutting timber is held chiefly by foreign speculators, and has proved a source of wealth to many Austrians and Frenchmen who have embarked in it. One of the most valuable products, both of Bosnia and Servia, as at present developed, lies in their plum crops, many of the peasantry depending entirely on these fruits as the means of subsistence through a great part of the year. The plums, after being gathered, are mostly dried in the form of prunes, the secret or art of drying being known only to themselves. The Bosnian plums are con- sidered of a better quality than those either from Servia, Croatia, or Austria. A quantity of spirit is likewise pre- pared from these fruits. Amongst other vegetable pro- ducts of the country may be included tobacco, potatoes, flax, hemp, walnuts ; and amongst cereals, wheat, maize, barley, oats, rye, millet, &c. Wheat and maize are the principal food plants consumed in the country, some of the other products being exported in comparatively large quantities. A notice of the resources of Servia, however brief, could not be closed without a reference to the remarkable traffic in pigs, the value of which amounts to nearly one- half of that of the entire exports of the country. In one year 472,700 of these animals were exported from Servia, the bulk of which are fattened at Steinbruch, near Pesth, in Hungary, where more than 500,000 pigs from various parts are fattened yearly. Their value is not on account of their flesh as an article of food, but exclusively for melting down for their fat. From these notes it will be seen that in Servia and Bosnia are numerous undeveloped natural resources, and, under a different system than that which now prevails, both forests and mines might be made much more pro- ductive. J. R. J. NOTES The French Association for the AdvaKcement of Science will meet this year at Clermont-Ferrand. This meeting will possess unusual interest, as the Puy- de-Dome Observatory will be opened for inspection for the first time to visitors. That establishment is now in operation, and the results of observations taken are regularly registered in the Bulletin de V Observatoire. A large subvention has been voted by the Municipal Council of Clermont and by the Puy-de-D6me department, a local Com- mittee has been appointed for the reception of visitors, and the arrangement of excursions to the surrounding mountains, Mont Dore, and others. The session will be presided over by M. Dumas. The Council of the Yorkshire College of Science have added another subject to those taught at the College, by providing for a chair of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. They have elected as Professor, Mr. George Frederick Armstrong, M.A., F.G.S., Asso. Inst. C.E., who has for the past five years occupied the chair of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics in the McGill University, Montreal. The French Minister of Public Instruction, V Explorateur informs us, is occupied with the organisation of scientific mis- sions having for their object the study of certain determinate points in philology, geography, history, and commerce, both in France and the rest of Europe, as well as in Africa and America. The number of these missions will be thirty-two ; twenty-eight are already completely organised. Nine missions will be occu- pied with natural history ; one of these will investigate specially the fauna and flora of Switzerland ; four will undertake researches connected with medicine and hygiene, four others dealing with languages; twelve will be occupied with the history and special investigations relative to peoples which have disappeared, or nearly so, as well as to their remaining monuments. Finally, three missions will undertake astronomical and meteorological investigations. Tat following are the numbers of visitors to the Loan Collec- tion of Scientific Apparatus during the week ending July 22 : — Monday, 2,275 ' Tuesday, 2,466; Wednesday, 486; Thursday, 393 ; Friday, 441 ; Saturday, 2,770 ; total, 8,831. During the present week 12 demonstrations were given on Monday, 12 on Tuesday, 5 on Wednesday ; 7 are to be given to-day, 5 to- morrow ; and 4 on Saturday, including the daily lectures to science teachers. M. ScHUTZENBERGER has been appointed to succeed the late M. Balard in the Chair of Chemistry in the College de France. An International Congress of Geography will be held at Brussels on Sept. 11. All the governments have been invited by the King of the Belgians to send delegates. The object of this Congress is the organisation of an international scientific expedition to Central Africa. The " Report of the Radcliffe Observer " for the year ending June 30 last, shows that the work of the Observatory has been carried on with efficiency. In all departments much good work has been done, and it is satisfactory to notice that the " Third Radcliffe Catalogue " has been commenced at last. Mr. Main's observations confirm those of other observers with regard to the recent remarkable absence of spots from the sun. A LETTER in the current number of the Planter^ Gaxette draws attention to the continued importation and sale of filth, under the name of tea, which trade is carried on under the eyes, so to speak, of the Government officials themselves. The writers say : — " We have recently seen samples of mouldy refiise and dust which is now being retailed at the east-end at the rate of 2 oz. for \d., or equal to ?>d. per pound, duty paid. We sub- mitted the samples to an official occupying a responsible position in the city, but were informed that the Government could not interfere, as the rubbish had passed the Custom House. Three or four hundred packages of ' Maloo mixture ' have been de- livered from one of the up-town warehouses during the fortnight for shipment, we understand, to Rotterdam." In connection with the recent Thunderer disaster, we would draw attention to a lecture given to the Engineering Class in the University of Glasgow by Prof James Thomson, " On the Principles of estimating Safety and Danger in Structures ia respect to their Sufficiency in Strength." It is pubhshed by Maclehose of Glasgow. A French barrister who died recently left by his will two large houses to the city of Paris, for the purpose of establishing a new municipal college. The houses have been sold for the sum July 27, 1876] NATURE 279 of 1,600,000 francs', and the municipal council is now busy carrying out the conditions of the will. It is said many improvements will be carried out in the new establishment. A STATUE has been erected at Bayeux (Calvados) to M. de Caumont, who originated forty-two years ago the Congress of the French learned societies of the provinces. This year the meeting will take place at Autun (Haute-Mame) in the beginning of September. Lieut. Christie, R.E., writing to us from Madras with re- gard to the use of selenium in telegraphy, says that if we could do away with the man (or woman) signaller, and substitute a commu- tator actuated by a current of electricity generated by the action of light upon a piece of selenium, we should (supposing the sensitiveness of the selenium to be adequate) have a combination capable of enormously increased rapidity. The message to be transmitted would be first set up (by mechanical means) in the Morse character, in long and short slits in an opaque screen ; and this perforated screen being passed rapidly between the selenium and a source of light, the currents of electricity would be generated which are required for actuating the commutator. The possibihty of such a combination depends on the sensitive- ness of selenium to the influence of light. Assuming the com- bination to be possible, the rapidity of signalling would seem to be limited only by either the mechanical conditions of the com- mutator (or relay), or the power of the printing instrument at the receiving station. Everyone will be glad to hear of Mr. Stanley's safety, and of the success of the African Expedition, of which he is head. From the brief notice in yesterday's Telegraph, we learn that several despatches have been received from Mr. Stanley, the last dated April 24, 1876, from Ubagwe, in Unyamwezi, within fifteen days of Ujiji. Mr. Stanley further explored the Victoria Nyanza, and inflicted one of his regrettable " severe punish- ments " upon the people of Bambireh, for a former attack. The district between Victoria and Abert Lakes was explored, and a " strange tribe of pale-faced people" was met with in the " cold uplands " of a remarkable mountain, Gambaragara. He returned to Uganda, whence he set out to Ujiji, exploring the Kagera River, Speke's " Lake Windermere," and the hot springs of Karagwe. We regret to notice from a Daily Ne^vs telegram that the Italian African Expedition has been badly treated by the " Emir of Zeila." The number of denizens of the Southport Aquarium has been lately increased by the birth of no less than 1,000 sea-horses in one of the tanks. In Prof. Loomis's "Contributions to Meteorology," fifth paper, just published in the American Journal of Science and Arts, an important point suggested is that when barometers are low and temperatures high in Iceland, barometers are high and temperatures low in Central Europe, and similarly that a like relation exists between the barometers and temperatures of the Aleutian Islands and those of the United States — the influence in both cases being most decided during the cold months of the year. The idea here thrown out is deserving of a thorough in- vestigation by the facts of observation owing to its important bearings on weather-forecasting. It is shown in the same paper that, in the course of storms, the amount of rainfall is least when the pressure at the centre of the storm is increasing, or when the storm is diminishing in intensity ; and the amount of rainfall is greatest when the pressure at the centre of the storm is decreas- ing, or when the storm is increasing in intensity, the effect being also mo?t decided during the colder months of the year. The French Alpine Club will hold a General Congress at Annecy on August 13, 14, and 15. All the sections of the French Alpine Club will be present, and the English, Italian, and Swiss Alpine Clubs are expected to send a large number of representatives. The Vienna earthquake, to which we referred last week, occurred on July 17 at 1.22 P.M. The principal seat of the commotion was Scheibbs, a small country place forty miles west of Vienna ; almost every house in Scheibbs has been damaged. The area of the commotion was very large, equal to about two- thirds of England. It reached Austria proper, Moravia, part of Bohemia, and Hungary. The last earthquake in Vienna was on January 3, 1873. Fifteen instances of earthquake have been recorded in Vienna from the ^beginning of the thirteenth to the end of the eighteenth century. None of them produced any real damage, except those of September, 1590, and December 4, 1689. That International Exhibitions have not quite failed to attract the attention of the world, is proved by the success which is attending the great undertaking at Philadelphia. A pamphlet of sixteen pages ' ' The Forest Products of Michigan at the Centen- nial Exposition," by Prof. W. J. Beal, of the State Agricultural College, just received, is one of a shoal of similar essays which always emanate from these great shows, and which are often valuable contributions to the knowledge of the natural resources of the countries upon which they treat. Michigan, as is well known, is the head-quarters of the American timber trade ; of this fact we are reniinded that two-thirds of the best timber known in the New York, Philadelphia, and Boston markets is .obtained from Michigan, besides which a good deal comes to Great Britain and Germany. Of North American building woods much in demand in the country may be mentioned pitch- pine, and the timbers of other species of the genus Finus, while among ornamental woods that of Acer saccharinum, the sugar or bird's-eye maple, as well as the black walnut, jfuglans nigra, are extensively used. With the natural charactei istic belief in his own country's greatness the author compares unfavourably not only the forests of Great Britain but also those of every other part of the globe, South America included. Mr. G. E. Dobson, of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, has just issued a very useful monograph of the Asiatic Chirop- tera, founded upon a personal examination of almost all the materials available for the study of the Asiatic members of this group both in India and in Europe. To it is added a catalogue of the specimens of bats contained in the collection of the Indian Museum, Calcutta. The confusion hitherto existing in this difficult group of mammals is very great, and Mr. Dobson has done excellent service in putting them to rights. The catalogue is printed in London by order of the Trustees of the Indian Museum. The veteran naturalist. Dr. R. Schomburgk, sends us his Report on the Progress and Condition of the Botanic Garden and Government Plantations at Adelaide, South Australia, for the year 1875. The Garden seems to be in a most flourishing condition, the copious and wide-spread rains of the past year having had a most beneficial influence upon it, as upon the country generally. The Zoological branch of the establishment has received many accessions, and a long list is given of plants added during 1875, to those already in cultivation in the Botanic Garden. The American naturalists have lately devoted their attention to " Guadeloupe " — not the West Indian Island commonly known by a similar name, but a small bland lying off the coast of Lower California, 220 miles south-west of San Diego. Eleven land birds were found "by Dr. Palmer upon Guadeloupe Island, and specimens of them were transmitted to the National Museum at Washington. It is a most noteworthy fact that every one of these land birds is distinct from those found on the neighbouring 28o NATURE {July 27, 1876 mainland, although each of them has a ccniinental representative more or less nearly related. Variation in Guadeloupe seems to proceed at a rapid pace. We hare received the Ninth Annual Report of the Peabody Institute of Baltimore, from which we are glad to see that all departments of the Institute have been doing their work satis- factorily during the past year. We notice, from the librarian's report, that of the books tpken out of the library a large pro- portion belonged to the various sciences. Messks. Stanley of New York and New Britain (U.S.), have devised a metre diagram, intended to supply a want long felt by all who undertake to study or teach the metric system. The diagram contains a full metre, with its various divisions and sub-divisions clearly indicated, and also an English yard with its sub- divisions, so that the two measures can be at once compared. To these are added explanations of the system, a variety of tables, equivalents, rules, &c., the whole forming an excellent apparatus lor the effective teaching of this scientific method of measure- ment. The series of the Bulletins of the United States National Museum, prepared at the request of the Smithsonian Institution, and published by the authority of the Secretary of the Interior, already embraces some very interesting and important memoirs relating to the collections in the National Gallery. The first of the series, by Prof. Cope, contains generalisations as to the geo- graphical distribution of reptiles. The second Bulhtin, prepared by Dr. J. H. Kidder, U.S.N., consists of a history of the birds collected by him during the transit of Venus expedition on Ker- guelen Island. This, besides describing new species, gives a great deal of information as to the habits of the gulls, petrels, penguins, &c., of that little-known region. The third Bulletin completes the notices of the natural history of Kerguelen Island by an article describing the eggs of the birds, together with a list of the plants, rocks, mammals, fishes, molluscs, and other representatives of the peculiar animal life of the South Seas. In the pamphlet is also an enumeration of the specimens collected by Dr. Kershner, of the navy, in New Zealand. The pamphlet concludes with a critical investigation, by Dr. Kidder and Dr. Coues, of Chionis minor, the lesser sheath-bill. The third edition of Prof. Snow's catalogue of the birds of Kansas has lately been published by the Kansas Academy of Science, and contains some important additions to the previous list. The present enumeration amounts to 294 species, making an addition of twenty-three species and one variety sines the publication of the second edition in October, 1872. Tlie number of species mentioned as breeding in the State is 136. Prof. Marsh continues to find objects of interest in the immense collection o! fossil vertebrates gathered by himself and his assistants in the West during the past ten years. We have already referred to his discovery of a new form of pterodactyl, characterised by the entire absence of teeth, and their probable replacement by a horny sheath like that of the bill of modern birds. He now announces two additional fossil birds possessing teeth implanted in sockets. One is a new species of the first division, Hespo-ornis, and the other forms the type of a new genus, Lcstornis [L. crassipes), the remains of which indicated a large swimming bird, fully six feet in length from the bill to the end of the toes. The Catholic Universities seem to have been a failure in France. According to an official account published by Govern- ment, about a hundred pupils have been registered in law. The number of medical students is limited to a few dozen in medicine, and there are only eight in science. However, the Catholics are collecting funds with unabated spirit, and 3,000,000 francs are iaid to be in hand for opening a Law Academy at Marseilles. From the Report of the Auckland Institute (New Zealand) for 1875-76, we are glad to see that that society will soon have a new Museum building of its own. The Report contains a list of important papers which have been read at the Institute during the session. From New Zealand also comes the Report of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, which, amid many discouragements, is doing good work by the introduction of salmon, trout, and various birds into the country. The Report of the Rugby School Natural History Society is the largest yet issued, and contains several papers highly creditable to the young members, and showing that their writers are in a fair way of training themselves to be good observers. Among other papers worthy of mention, are the following : — "On the Symmetry of Flowers and Inflorescence," by V. H. Velej ; " On Drops," " On Sound," and " On Impressions," by H. F. Newall ; "On the Effects produced by Shadows under Water," by H. N. Hutchinson, Appended are various sec- tional reports and ten plates illustrating the papers, eight of which are drawn by members of the Society. Altogether the Society is to be congratulated on the Report. A LIST of papers read before the Priestley Club, Leedp, during its first session, October to June, 1875-76, has been pub- lished. Thirty-six papers have been read, all of them on subjects of great scientific importance. Mr. G. H. Kinahan has published in a separate form bis paper on "The Lagoons on the South-east Coast of Ireland," read before the Institution of Civil Engineers. The Proceedings of the Liverpool Naturalists' Field Club, for 1875-6, shows that that Society continues to do good and steady work. There is an interesting address by the President, the Rev. H. H. Higgins, on "The Names of Plants." Part 4 of Vol. I. of the Transactions of the Watford Natural History Society contains a lecture, by Prof. Morris, on " The Physical Structure of the London Basin considered in its relation to the Geology of the neighbourhood of Watford ; " a paper by Mr. R. A. Pryor on " The Supposed Chalybeate Spring at Wat- ford, and on the Medicinal Waters in Herts," besides the rain- fall in 1875, and miscellaneous notes and observations. In reference to Mr. C. G. O'Brien's letter (vol. xiv. p. 123), on the beautiful spring-trap arrangement of the stamens of Kalmia, a correspondent writes that the point has already been noted by Dr. Robert Brown, in his " Manual of Botany," p. 440. The following varieties have been added to the tanks of the Royal Westminster Aquarium during the past week : — Toper, or White Hound {Galeus cam's), Sting Ray {Trjygon pastinaca). Red Mullet {Mullus surmulletui), Boar-fish {Capros aper). Comber, or Smooth Serranus {Serranus cabrilla), Pope, or Ruff {Acerina cernua). Barbel {Barbus fluviatilis), English Carp {Cyprinus carpio), presented by Mr. W. R. KilHck ; Sea Cucumbers {Hoiothuria niger). The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include eight Jameson's Gulls {Larus jamesoni) froai Australia, presented by Mr. A. H. Jamrach ; a King Vulture {Gyparchus papa) from Tropical America, two South American Little Bitterns {Butorides cyanurus) from South America, a Green-billed Toucan {Ramphastos discoltrus), four Sayaca Ti.- nagers {Tanagra sayaca), six Festive Tanagers {Callisle /estiva), six All-green Tanagers {Chiorophonia viridis), two Violet Ta- nagers {Euphonia violacea) from Brazil, a Brown Howler {Mycetes fuscus) from Panama, a Madagascar Squirrel {Sciurus madagascarensis) from Madagascar, purchased ; two Australian Bustards {Eupodotis austfalis) from Australia, deposited ; an Eland (Oreas cannd), nine Amherst's Pheasants {Thaumalta amherstice), thirteen Gold Pheasants ( Thaumalea picta), bred ir( the Gardens, July 27, 1876] NATURE 281 SCIENTIFIC SERIALS Mind, July. — This number has very little of interest for the general reader. Helmholtz, on the origin and meaning of geometrical axioms, maintains that geometrical axioms, in the form in which it may be maintained that they are not derived from experience, represent no relations of real things, that they have real import only when certain principles of mechanics are conjoined with them, and that then they are amenable to expe- rience, and may be matters of inference. — Prof. Flint makes a clever fight for the non-derivative origin of moral ideas. lie is very hard on the associationist philosophers. The laws of associa- tion, he says, will not explain how virtue, if at first loved merely as a means to happiness, comes subsequently to be loved for its own sake, apart from happiness. He denies that transformations of this kind are ever performed, and tries to show that in the case of avarice, the typical instance of the associationists, there is no such thing as the love of money for its own sake. — Mr. Pollock attempts to show, in reply to Mr. Sidgwick, that the doctrine of evolution is not quite without ethical value. He doubts whether the problem of the ultimate sanction of ethics in individual thought can strictly be deemed even rational. This is rather sad from our moral philosophers ; with theology it has always been rational and simple enough. — Under the title, "The Original Intention of Collective and Abstract Terms," Max Mliller endeavours to make out that Mill in his definitions of mind and of matter lost himself among word?, and only jumped out of the frying-pan into the fire. — Mr. Shadworth H. Hodgson concludes his papers on philosophy and science. He opposes to pure ontological speculations the psychological im- possibility ot ever transcen^ling the duality of subject and object. He retains for philosophy, however, a region avowedly beyond science, the same supra -sensible that Lewes rejects. — Mr. Lindsay gives an appreciative account of the Philosophy of Hermann Lotze, whom we are called on to admire as taking account of the spiritual no less than of the mechanical side of the universe. The history of philosophy at Dublin is written by Mr. Monck. — Among the Critical Notices is a reply by Prof. Bain to the arguments by which Mr. Alexander tries, in his " Moral Causation," to establish the doctrine of human freedom. Prof. Bain is exactly in his element, and the argument is exqui- sitely neat. — In each of the three numbers of Mind there have been notes on a question between Mr. Lewes and Prof. Bain, as to the warrant for our belief in the uniformity of nature, which show how difficult it is for philosophers to make themselves understood by one another. Poggendorfs Annalen der Physik und Chemie, No 4, 1876. — In this number we find the second part of M. Winkelmann's memoir on heat conduction in gases ; treating chiefly the subject of the relation of heat-conduction to temperature. The experi- ments were made with three apparatuses of different dimensions, consisting essentially of a spherical glass vessel with the bulb of a thermometer at the centre. The vessel could be filled with the gas to be examined ; it was then placed in melting ice, boiling water, &c., and the time of cooling was observed. The theories of CJausius and Maxwell differ in the law they assign for vari- ation of heat-conduction with the temperature. According to Clausius, the conduction increases proportionally to the square- root of the absolute temperature ; according to Maxwell, pro- portionally to the temperature itself. The experiments of M. Winkelmann so far favour Maxwell's view of the law (though he does not regard them as confirming Maxwell's theory, in. which the hypothesis of a repulsive force between the molecules acting proportionally to the filth power of the distance, does not agree with experience, Thomson and Joule having shown that attractive, and not repulsive forces, act between the molecules). If the heat-conduction of air or hydrogen at o" be made equal to I, then at 100" it is equal to I "364. The co-efficient for carbonic acid is considerably greater ; the conduction at lco° (that at 0° being = i) is l '593 ; but it is less than the theoretical value (i'69i), the variation of the specific heat of this gas with temperature being taken into account. M. Winkelmann further points out that the temperature co-efficient of friction of gases does not agree with that of the heat conduction. — In a contri- bution to the theory of the galvanometer, by M. Weber, will be found some useful directions in construction. Among other things he shows that galvanometers with " current-curve " of the form of two parallel lines connected by semicircles will, with only about a tenth expenditure of wire, show one-third greater sensi- bility than corresponding galvanometers with circular current curve. — M. Neesen offers an explanation of elastic reaction based on views furnished by the mechanical theory of heat as to the constitution of bodies. — M. Holtz describes a good apparatus for rendering visible the duration of the retarded discharge through rotation of the place of passage of the spark. It is only for sparks of long duration, and is meant in some sort as sup- plementary to the Wheatstone mirror arrangement as improved by Feddersen. The objections to which that apparatus is open, that it involves a weakening of the already weak light of the short discharges for which it is used, and that the extent of air to be broken through by the discharge is not invariable, here fall away. — In a new form of tuning-fork described by Dr. Konig the arms are penetrated by canals, which are connected below, and mercury is pressed up in them to any required height, from a neighbouring reservoir of the liquid ; thus the tone is varied. The arms are excited by electrical means, as mere drawing of the bow would give sounds of too short duration. — Among other apparatus described are models of inclined planes, and an arrangement for illustraticg the laws of parallelogram of forces. — M. Klein, from the Mineral ogical Museum at Kiel, makes some contributions to a knowledge of gypsum. Memoria della Societh degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, January, 1876. — Statistics of solar eruptions in 1871, by Prof. Tacchini. It appears from these statistics that the number of eruptions on the western limb was double that on the eastern, the numbers being 66 and 31 respectively, observed on 122 days. The num- ber on the southern hemisphere was one-third less than that on the northern, and the zone on which the most eruptions occurred is between 70° and 80° N.P.D., one only was seen north of 30° N.P.D. — Notes on spectroscopic observations in 1875, by Prof. Bredichin. — Researches on electro-static induction, by G. Pisati. — Researches on magnetism, by G. Pisati and S. Secchiloni. February. — Daily notes of spots and faculse near the limb of the sun, observed spectroscopically and directly, commencing February, 1874, by Prof. Tacchini. The reversal of the lines b, b^, b^, P, 1474, 4923, and 5017 appears frequent. The same observer gives the posuions on the limb of the sun at which magnesium was seen from March to June, 1874. March. — On the direction in space of the taU of Coggia's comet, by Prof. G. LorenzonL Tables accompany the paper, showing co-ordinates for the period from May 18 to July 14, 1874. — Prof. Schiaparelli gives a table of dates for 1876 and 1877, on which falling stars should be looked for. Table of solar spots observed in February and March last at Palermo. Statis- tics of solar eruptions observed in 1874. It appears that the number of eruptions on the western limb were three times that on the eastern, the number on the north being about one-fourth greater than those on the south. April. — On the influence of eosin on the photographic action of the solar spectrum upon the bromide and bromo-iodide of silver, by Capt. Waterhouse. The watery solution of eosin gives by absorption two bands at about £ and P, the alcoholic solution gives the bands rather nearer the red end of the spec- trum. The action of this substance when added to the bromised collodion, or when a watery solution is poured over the sensitive plate, is to give greater sensibility to the plate for the green rays than to the blue, indigo, or violet, the maximum action being below £, extending to about half way to £>. Ordinary wet collodion plates prepared with bromo-iodised collodion contain- ing eosin prolongs the spectrum nearly to Z>. — Solar eruptions observed in 1872 by Tacchini, and spectroscopic observation on the sun in April, 1876. — The transparency of the air, by Prof, Ricco, Zdtschrift der Oesterreichischen Gesellschaft fiir Meteorologif, April I. — A paper lately appeared in this periodical, by Director Mohn, on the cause of the deeper barometrical depressions in winter than in summer, giving the author's reasons for having changed his opinion on the subject since the publication of his "Grundziigen der Meteorologie." In the present number we have a letter from Dr. Gustav Hellmarm, upholding Herr Mohn's first explanation. Having shown how difference of barometric pressure depends upon difference of temperature and differences in the heights of the differing columns of air, and upon differences in humidity, and how these give rise to ascend- ing currents, he states that the up-draught must be stronger in winter than in summer, because (i) the differences of tempera- ture between two places are greater in winter than in summer, or the isotherms are nearer together ; (2) decrease of temperature with height is half as great in winter as in summer ; (3) the air is more saturated with moisture in winter. He lays stress upon 282 NATURE \yuly 27, 1876 the fact that the barometer can only fall beyond the level due to the above-named differences when more air is carried awray in the upper regions than comes in below. In this case the gra- dient is steeper at great altitudes than on the earth's surface, depending upon the strength of the up-draught, which is strongest in winter. — In the Kleinere Mittheilungen there is an article by Dr. Hann, on the cyclone of October 15, 1874, in Bengal, and one by Baron v. Friesenhof, on barometric maxima and minima in 1873 and 1874. Nachrichten von der Konigl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, GottingeiJ, Nos. 22, 23, 24, 1875. — In these numbers will be found an account of some comparative experiments by M. Marme, on the poisonous action of arsenious acid and of arsenic acid. Doses of the two acids containing equal amounts of arsenic (or with a little more in the arsenic acid dose), and diluted with water, were given to animals as similar as possible in age, weight, &c., being introduced directly into the circula- tion, or into the stomach, or the connective tissue. The symp- toms are detailed. Without exception, the doses of arsenious acid proved more rapidly fatal than those of arsenic acid. The acid salts behaved similarly to the free acids. The fact is against Munck and Leyden's view, that arsenious acid in the blood is oxidised to arsenic acid, and that only as such it dissolves the blood-corpuscles, and causes fattening of various tissues and organs. The authors think it probable that when arsenic acid is mtroduced into the blood it is reduced to arsenious acid, and therefore its action appears more slowly. They further describe some experiments on the use of toxical substances to counteract arsenic acids. — M. Wohler describes the properties of a fluorine mineral from Greenland, named " Pachnolith." — The remaining papers are mostly on chemical subjects, the principal one being by M. Hubner, on two nitro-salicylic acids and their employ- ment in determining the nature of the hydrogen atoms in benzol. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Geological Society, June 21. — Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Mr. Hector Maclean and Mr. Samuel Trickett were elected Fellows, and Dr. L. Riitimeyer, of Basle, a Foreign Correspondent of the Society. — The follow- ing communications were read : — i. On the Ice-fjords of North Greenland and on the formation of fjords, lakes, and cirques in Norway and Greenland, by M. A. Helland. Communicated by Prof. A. C. Ramsay, F.R.S. The author described in great detail his observations on the glacial phenomena of Greenland, and applied their results to the consideration of the traces of glacial action exhibited in Norway. His view of the course of events in Norway is as follows : — Before the Glacial epoch thousands of streams commenced the work of erosion and pro- duced valleys. During the Glacial epoch these valleys were enlarged and lake-basins were hollowed out. The descending glaciers ground out fjords to their full length wlien the Glacial epoch was at its highest, but as it declined the glaciers ground out the inner part to a still greater depth, producing the present characters of the marine fjords, and giving rise to lake-hollows in other places. That the glaciers once extended beyond the fjords is shown by moraine-matter being dredged up. Some of the sea-banks and islands off Christiania-fjord are old moraines ; and if Norway should be raised 400 metres, these banks would show as moraines and plains before the lake-basins of the fjords. 2. On the drift of Brazil, by Mr. C. Lloyd Morgan. The author described the position and mode of occurrence of large boulders of gneiss and granite in the red drift of Brazil and on the slopes of hills even at considerable elevations, and stated that, like Prof. Agassiz, he could not see how these could have been transported to their present positions except by the agency of ice. He is inclined to believe that the drift, if of glacial origin, was not formed by glaciers taking their rise in any of the peaks indicated by him, but by an almost universal South- American ice-sheet. — 3. Recent glacial and aqueous action in Canada and the drift-uplands of the Province of Ontario, by the Rev. Wm. Bleasdell. Communicated by the President. The author described the glacial action which takes place every winter in Canada, especially on the River St. Lawrence and its large lakes. — 4. The glacial climate and the Polar ice-cap, by Joseph John Murphy. The author agrees with Mr. CroU in thinking that a Glacial epoch must be one of maximum eccen- tricity of the earth's orbit, and that the northern and southern hemispheres during such an epoch must be glaciated alternately ; but he maintains in opposition to that writer that the glaciated hemisphere must have its summer in aphelion. He intends this paper to be a reply to Mr. CroU's objections to this theory as put forth in his work on " Climate and Time." — 5. On the dis- covery of plants in the Lower Old Red Sandstone of the neigh- bourhood of Callander, by R. L.Jack and R, Etheridge, jun., of the Geological Survey of Scotland. The plant-remains are described as being of a very fragmentary nature. The authors discuss the relationships of these remains with other described Devonian forms, and regard them as most nearly allied to Psilo- phyton princeps, Dawson. They describe the plant with doubt as a species of Psilophyton. — 6. On an adherent form of Pro- ductus and a small Spiriferina from the Lower Carboniferous Limestone Group of the East of Scotland, by R. Etheridge, jun., E.G. S., of the Geological Survey of Scotland. From the con- sideration of the characters presented by the more mature valves, the author stated that the nearest affinity of the species of Pro- ductus appears to be with P. wrightii, Dav., but that it shows peculiarities allying it to P. longispimis, Sow., P. scabriculus. Mart., and P. undatus, Defr. He was not prepared to describe it as a distinct species, but suggested for it the name of Pro- ductus complectens, in allusion to its embracing habit, in case of its proving to be distinct. The Spiriferina described by the author was compared by him with S. cristate, Schl., var. oclo- plicata, Sow., and with S, insculpta, PhilL, from both of which it differs in certain characters ; but as only one specimen has been met with, he refrained from founding a new species upon it. The specimen is from Fullarton Quarry, near Temple, Edinburghshire. — 7. Notice of the occurrence of remains of a British fossil Zeuglodon {Z. wanklyni, Seeley) in the Barton Clay of the Hampshire coast, by Harry Govier Seeley, F.L.S. In this paper the author described the remains of a species ef Zeug- lodon obtained by the late Dr. A. Wanklyn from the Barton Cliff, consisting of a great part of the skull, about the same size as that of Zaiglodon brachyspondylus, Miiller. The species, named Z. wanklyni in memory of its discoverer, differs from all known species of the genus in the shortness of the interspaces between the teeth. — 8. On the remains of Emys hordwellensis, from the Lower Hordwell beds in the Hordwell Cliff, contained in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge, by Harry Govier Seeley, F.L.S. The remains described by the author consist of some fragments constituting the greater part of the plastron and carapace of a species of Emys, for which he proposes for the species the name of Emys hordwellensis. — 9. Ou an associated series of cervical and dorsal vertebrae of Polyptycho- don from the Cambridge Upper Greensind in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge, by Harry Govier Seeley, F. L. S. The author described in detail the structure of the atlas and axis and of the five succeeding (cervical) vertebra ; nine dorsal vertebrse were also described. — 10 On Crocodilus icenicus (Seeley), a second and larger species of crocodile from the Cam- bridge Upper Greensand contained in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge, by Harry Govier Seeley, F.L.S. ir. On Macrurosaurus semnus (Seeley), a long-tailed animal with proccelous vertebrse, from the Cambridge Upper Green- sand, preserved in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge, by Harry Govier Seeley, F.L.S., F.G.S. (To be continued.) Geologists' Association, July 7. — Mr. William Carruthers, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Part ii. of the geology of Brigh- ton, by Mr. Howell. — On the British Palaeozoic Arcadse, by J. TiOgan Lobley, F.G.S. — It was admitted that any classification of the Lamellibranchiate fossils of the Palaeozoic rocks must be liable to considerable subsequent modification since the generic position ofmanyspecies onaccountofimperfectpreservation cannot be given with certainty. American palseontologists had added largely to our knowledge of Palaeozoic Arcadse, and the recent investigations of Mr. Hicks had extended the known stratigraphical range of this family as well as of the class Lamellibranchiata. The author, objected to the retention in Arcadae of sinupallial genera, and proposed that these should constitute a new group, the Ledidcc. After eliminating several of the generic names which had been employed by authors, the genera allowed to stand were separately described, and the species by which they were represented in British Palaeozoic rocks enumerated. The stratigraphical distri- bution of these species was shown by two tables, with which the paper concluded. Entomological Society, July 5. — Prof. Westwood, presi- dent, in the chair. — Mr. Douglas exhibited some rare British July 27, 1876] NAtURIi 2B3 Psyliidae taken by himself near Lee, Kent, amongst which was Aphalara renosa, Forst., new to the British fauna, now first identified as living on Achillea millefoliutn. — The President showed some microscopic slides containing specimens of Diptera, &c., prepared with extraordinary care by Mr. Enock. He also brought for exhibition twigs of horse-chestnut from Oxford, that had been attacked by some kind of larva, which bad eaten away the inside of portions of the stem, causing the buds to drop off. He was in doubt whether the insect was Zeuze^a A^sculi, or some other, but he would be glad to know if the destruction to the trees had been noticed elsewhere. He also exhibited two species of Coccus, one of them on Camellia leaves in his green- house which he had previously described in the Gardener's Chronicle under the name of C. Camellia, and which had after- wards been observed by Dr. Verloren in his greenhouse in Holland. The female, which is i line in length, discharges a white waxy matter having the appearance of the excrement of a young bird. The other species had been sent to him by the Rev. T. A. Preston, of Marlborough, on a species of Euphorbia obtained from Dr. Hooker, of Kew. The leaves were covered with small scales, to which on close examination he observed two small filaments attached ; and these proved to be the caudal extremities of the males. These insects emerge from the pupa backwards, and in consequence they make their appearance with the wings drawn forwards over the head. — Mr. Stevens exhibited varieties of some British Geometras and what appeared to be a small variety of Lyccena adonis, taken near Croydon. — Mr. Baly communicated descriptions of a new genus and of new species of Halticinse ; and Mr. Peter Cameron communicated descriptions of new genera and species of Tenthredinidse and Siricidie, chiefly from the East Indies, in the collection of the British Museum. — Part II. of the Transactions for 1876 was on the table. Berlin German Chemical Society, June 26. — H. Vohl proved that inosite by fermentation yields ordinary, and not para- lactic acid. — \V. Moslinger has obtained several octyl-compounds from octylic alcohol (derived from the seed of Heracleum spon- dylium), viz., octylene, iodide of octyl, octylic and octyl-ethylic ether, oclyl-sulphate of barium and mono-octyl phosphine. — H. Brunner and R. Brandenburg have found succinic acid in sour grapes. — E. Klimenko, by treating lactic acid with bromal, has obtained lactid-bromal Q,^\{^x^O^ identical with the pro- duct obtained by acting with bri.mine on Inctic acid. — H, Wiligerot has replaced chlorine in dinicro-chlorobenzol by NH2, by SH and by the residues of aniline and of benzidine. — L. Barth and H. Sennhofer, by treating CgHjCN benzonitril with a mixture of oil of vitriol and phosphoric anhydride and after- wards with water, have transformed it into crystals of diben- zamlde (C7H50).2NH, the hydrogen of which can be replaced by different metals. — The same chemists have obtained the third isomeric or meta-phenol-sulphurous acid by fusing benzol-disul- phurous acid with potash, and interrupting the fusion before both groups SO3H have been replaced by OK. The result is a potash salt soluble in alcohol — CgHjOK.SOgK. — A. Fleischer, in treating diphenyl sulphurea with fumingnitric acid, has obtained tetranitroazoxy benzol — Ci2Hg)N02)4N20. — The same chemist described springs containing free sulphuric acid which occur in caverns of the Budos Mountain in Hungary. July 10. — A. W. Hofmann, president, in the chair. — F. KrafTt has transformed iodide of hexyl CgHjsI into perchloro- benzole CgClg by treating it with chloride of iodine. The same chemist, conjointly with F. Becker, described the formation of two isomeric dichloro-napthalenes, which, according to these experiments, is always preceded by the formation of an addi- tion'product C10H5CI4. — V. Merz has transformed a number of aromatic substances into CgClg by treatment with ICI3. — Th. Zbller communicated further researches on the preserving proper- ties of bisulphuret of carbon, and its application for preserving meat, fruit, and vegetables. — E. de Souza described amalgams of the formulae NagHg, KjHg, Au^Hg, AugHg, Ag^Hg, AgiiHg, Ag4Hg, CuigHg, Cuj^Hg, PbgHg.— H. Welde has established the following reaction : — 3(csOg.H Xanthogenate of ') ^^OCaHs _ / g /CSOC2H5 \ . + 2CU(^j - 2 ^ ^XCSOCjH J potassium. Chlorocarbonic ether. Dibulphodicarbothionate of ethyl. C0q^«^5-H2KC1. etbylcarbonate of potassium. Disulphodicarbonate of ethyl forms splendid yellow needles. — C. Bottinger has transformed pyroracemic acid C3H4O3 into CjHgSOa thiolaciic acid. Dissolved in alcohol and treated with zinc pyroracemic acid CH3.CO . CO2H, yields dlmethyl- CH3~C(0H)— COOH tartaric acid | forming well crystallised CH3— C(OH)— COOH salts with baryta and potassa. — W. Kelbe has treated chloride of phosphorus with mercury-dinaphthyl, obtaining CioH^PClj, which with chlorine yields CjoH^PCl^. The latter with water yields naphthylphosphinic acid CioH7PO(OH)g.— H. Kdhler and A. Michaelis have dissolved sulphur in phosphenylic chloride, obtaining phosphenylic sulphochloride CgHgPSCla, an oily liquid yielding diatomic ethers with alcohol and phenol. — C. Liebermann showed specimens of Mr. Rosenstiehl's nitro- alizarine and of cotton dyed with this new colouring- matter ; its alumina lake is of a deep orange tint. — A. Oppenheim and H. Precht described the following deriva- tives of dehydracetic acid : a soluble silver-salt, C8H7Ag04, its methylic and ethylic ethers fusing at 90°*8 and 91° '6 respec- tively; its amide, CgH^OsNHg, fusing at 208° '5 ; its anilide, CgHyOsNHCgHg, fusing at 115°; monobromodehydracetic and monochlorodehydracetic acids fusing at 134° and 93° respectively. With PCI5 dehydracetic acid forms the chloride, CgHgOjCl^, which, heated with water to 180°, regenerates dehydracetic acid. Hydrogen in statu nascendi does not simply unite, but replaces the oxygen of the acid, forming a compound which will form the subject of further investigations. — The same chemists have found that aceto-acetic ether and aniline form alcohol, acetone and diphenyl-urea — CH3— CO— CHjj— CO2C2H5 -H NH^CgHs = C0(NHCgH,)2 + CaHgO + CsHgO. — O. Emmerling and A. Oppenheim subjected the same ether to oxidation with permanganate of potassium, which divides its molecule into oxalic and acetic ethers. The same chemists have prepared aceto-acetate of isobutyl, CH3.CO.CH.COOC4HJ,, boiling at 203°. As this substance by distillation yields dehy- dracetic acid, while with sodium and chloroform it yields oxyuvitic acid, it is fully proved that neither ethyl nor any other alcoholic radical enters into the formation of these acids, which are equally well produced by all aceto-acetic ethers. — Oxyuvitic acid, CgH2(OH)(CH3)(C02H)2, has been submitted by the same chemists to the action of nitric acid, which, when diluted, yields hydro-oxybenzoic acid, C^HgOj ; when concentrated, and par- ticularly when mixed with sulphuric acid, it yields trinitrocresol, CgH(OH){CH3)(NO.^)3, fusing at 106°. With sulphuretted hydrogen, its alcoholic solution yields dinitro-amido-cresol, CgH(OH)(CH3)(N02)2NHo, brilliant dark yeUow needles, fusing at 1 56°. With nitrous acid this substance is transformed into dinitro-diazo-dinitro-amido-cresol — CgH{OH)(CH3)(NO)2 - N = N -NH.CgH(OH)(CH3){NOj2, yellow scales, which at 160° decompose with explosive violence. — H. Wichelhaus has studied the action of naphthylamine on nitro-naphthaline, which may be expressed by the equation — CioH^NO^+zCioH^NHo-lCjoHgjgNo -h NH3 -(- H^O. The resulting diamine corresponds to violaniline. The same chemis-t has tried in vain to repeat the synthesis of indigo published by Emmerling and Engler, 120 experiments in test tubes yielding sub- limates consisting of zinc and cadmium only. — W. Hill has pre- pared methylated allantoin, and transformed methylated uric acid into methylated parabanic acid. — T. Miurdoch, by heating alloxantin, has transformed it into hydurylic acid. Paris Academy of Sciences, July 10. — Vice-Admiral Paris in the chair. — The following papers were read : — Theorems relating to couples of rectilinear segments having a constant ratio, by M. Chasles. — Philosophy and teaching of mathematics ; on the re- duction of demonstrations to their most simple and direct form, by M. de Saint- Venant. — On a communication of M. Sacc, entitled " Panification in the United States, and the Properties of Hops as Ferment," by M. Pasteur. He asserts (contrary to M. Sacc), that hop has no influence in raising the dough, and it does not contain a soluble alcoholic ferment. The dough rises because of the development of microscopic organisms ; hop may favour or hinder the production of some of these. It gives bread a slight bitterness, which is often liked. — On the carpeilary theory according to the Amaryllidese (fourth part, Narcissus), by 284 NA TURE \July 27, 1876 M. Trecul. — Note on the "Study of the Hurricanes of the Southern Hemisphere " of Commandant Bridet (third edition), by M. Faye. The work contains many curious observations on cyclones, but its advocacy of centripetal aspiration is condemned. — New remarks on the question of displacement of spectral lines due to proper motion of the stars, by P. Secchi. — Objections to the last communication of M. Him, on the maximum of possible repulsive pressure of the solar rays, by M. Ledieu. — Examination of nev? methods proposed for finding the position of a ship at sea (continued), by M. Ledieu. — Pliocene man, by M. de Quatrefages, This refers to an Italian work on " Pliocene Man in Tuscany," by M. Capellini. — M. de Lesseps presented a summary report from M. Roudaire on the results of his mission to the isthmus of Gabes and the Tunisian Chotts. These labours have been quite successful, and prove the possibility (M. de Lesseps thinks) of forming an internal lake of 25 to 40 metres in depth, and 400 kilometres in length from east to west, having its entrance at the Gulf of Gabes, and cover- ing a space of about 16,000 square kilometres. — M. Tisse- rand reported on observations made at Kompira-Yama (near Nagasaki, Japan), during his transit-mission. — M. Fave was elected free member in place of the late M. Seguier. — Experi- mental researches on magnetic rotatory polarisition (third part). Dispersion of the planes of polarisation of luminous rays of different wave-length, by M. Henri Becquerel. The positive rotations of diamagnetic bodies in:rea5e approximately in inverse ratio of the squares of the wave lengths, the negative rotations of magnetic bodies in iaverse ratio of the fourth power of the wave- lengths.— On cellulosic fermentation of cane-sugar, by M. Durin. Cane-sugar is decomposed into equivalent weights of cellulose and coulose, under the influence of a special ferment, which is of dias- tosic nature. — On the aerial Phylloxera, by M. Boiteau. — On the development of elliptic functions and their powers, by M. Andre. — Experiments of measurement of velocity (of water in canals) made at Roorke, in British India, by Mr. Allan Cunning- ham, by M. Bazin. — On the difference of potential in the insu- lated extremities of an open induction bobbin after rupture of the inducing current, by M. Mouton. He seeks to measure the successive values of these differences of tension, and establish some laws of their variations. — On the reactions of chlorine under the influence of porous carbon, by M. Melseas. A re- clamation of priority. — On a new butylic glycol (continued), by M. Milan-Nevalo. — Explanation of the impression ability of the black faces of a radiometer by means of the theory of emission, by M. Biot ; note by M. de Fonvielle. — On the crystallisation of sugar, by M. Flourens. — Anatomical characters of the blood in the anaemic (continued), by M. Hayem. — Influence of fatigue on the variations of the electric state of muscles during artificial tetanus, by MM. Morat and Toussaint. — On a remarkable case of reduction of nitric acid and oxidation of acetic acid, with pro- duction of alcohol, under the influence of certain microzymes, by M. Bechamp. — Influence of physico-chemical forces on the phenomena of fermentation, by Dr. Bastian. — On a new meteorite that fell on March 25, 1865, at Wisconsin, ani whose character is identical with that of the meteorite of Meno, by Mr. Smith. — History of natural wells, by M. Meunier.— Mineralogical notices, by M. Pisani. July 17. — Vice- Admiral Paris in the chair. — The following papers were read : — On the fermentation of fruits, and on the dif- fusion of germs of alcoholic yeast, by M. Pasteur. — On M. Durin's note concerning cellulosic fermentation of cane-sugar, by M. Pas- teur.—On the alteration of urine, apropos of a note by Dr. Bastian, by M. Pastear. The facts do not prove spontaneous generation, but only that certain germs resist a temperature of 100 in neutral or slightly alkaline media, their envelopes, doubtless, not being penetrated in this case by the water, — On the intercellular gene- ration of alcoholic ferment, by M. Fremy. Fruits placed in an atanosphere of CO2 or H undergo alcoholic fermentation, and an organic ferment is generated which may cause ferment ition of sugar. — Fourth note on electric transmissions through the ground, by M. du Moncel. He compares the currents got from couples made with silex of Heronville and electrodes of zinc, platina, &c, with those of a Daniell. — Examination of new methods for finding the position of a ship at sea (continued), by M. Ledieu. — On the measurement of the electric resistance of liquids by means of the capillary electrometer, by M. Lippmann. One special advantage of this method is that the sensibility does not diminish even when the resistance increases indefinitely. The method is independent of polarisation of electrodes. — Oa a rock of vege- table origin, by MM. Bureau and Poisson. This was found by M. de risle on the bottom of a grotto in the Island of Reunion ; it seemed entirely made up of spores or grains ot pollen, probably spores of Polypodese. — On the transformation of saccharose into reducing sugar, in the operations of refining, by M. Girard. — Detection and determination of fuchsine and arsenic in wines artificially coloured with fuchsine, by M. Husson. — On a new compensator pendulum, by Mr. Smith. He utilises the dilata- bility of vulcanite. — On three sand boxes on the savane of Fort- de-France, Martinique, by M. Berenger-Feraud. — On the par- thenogenesis of Phylloxera compared with that of other pucerons, by M. Balbiani. — Results obtained at Cognac with sulphocar- bonates of sodium and of barium applied to phylloxerised vines, by M. Mouillefert. — Results obtained in using iron pyrites against oidium,by M. Franfois.— Discovery and observation of Planeti64 at Paris observatory, by MM. Henry. — Observations of the same planet at Marseilles, by M. Stephan. — On the circumstances of pro- duction of two varieties of sulphur, prismatic and octahedric, by M. Gernez — Critical researches on certain methods employed for determination of the densities of vapour, and consequences that are drawn from them ; by MM. Troost and Hautefeuille. — Action of hydracids on selenious acid, by M. Ditte. — Observa- tions on iodine as reagent for starch, by M. Puchot. Its sensi- bility is at fault in presence of certain azotised organic matter, such as albumen. — On rhoiine, a new reaction of aniline, by M. Jacquemin. — Study of the action of water on glycols, by M. Milan-Nevalo. — On the existence, in Spain, of a bed of nickel ores similar to those of New Caledonia, by M. Meissonnier. This is in Malaga. The first works of exploration recently com. menced, have furnished several hundreds of tons. — Anato- mical characters of blood in the anaemic ; third note by M. Hayem. The weakening of colour and the failure of agreement between this colouring power and the number of coloured elements are the two essential characters of anaemia. — On some phenomena produced by faradisatio.i of the grey matter of the brain, by M. Bochsfontaine. If it be admitted that there are motor centres of the Hubs in the grey substance, yet the same stimulation (which causes limb-motion) puts in action the muscles of organic life and the glands. But the facts do not prove the cortical substance excitable by faradic currents ; the stimulation probably affects the subjacent white matter. — Cutaneous respiration of frogs with regard to the influence of light, by M. Tubini. Frogs deprived of their lungs excrete CO3 in darkness and in light, in quantities having the proportion 100:134.— On disease of the ox through the inermous taenia of man, by MM. Masse and Pourquier. The rabbit, dog, and sheep are not a favourable soil for development of this taenia, but the ox is. — On vesical microzymes as cause of the ammo- niacal fermentation of urine, by M. Bechamp. — Oa meteoric iron, by M. Yung. — On a vertical column seen abo/e the sun, by M. Penou. — On traces of the presen:e of man in grottoss in various parts of Provence, by M. Jaubert. CONTENTS Pack The Univer;itv OF Manchsster, III 265 Agricultural Weather- Warnings in France 266 Radcliffe's "Vital Motion " 267 FEisrM/vNTEL ON THE Bohemian Coal Beds 26S Our Book Shelf : — White's "Holidays in Tyrol — Kufstein, Klobenstein, and Pan- veggio " 270 Davies' "Angling Idylls" 270 Letters to the Editor:— ExtremeTcmperatureof Summer.— William Ellis 270 Earthquakes in Samoa.— Re ;r. S.J. Whitmee 270 Fauna and Flora of NewGuiieaand the Pacific Islands. — Rev. S. J. Whitmee 271 Opticil Phenomenon.— R. V. D 271 Freezing Phenomenon— H. M. Adair 271 Habits of Parasitic Crab.— W. S. G 272 The Rowton SiDERiTE. By Prof. N. S Maskelyne, F.R S. . . 272 A Modern Organ 273 Paleontology and the Do:trine of Descent. By J W. Judd , 27s Prizes OFFERED BY THE Dutch Society OF Sciences 276 Our Astronomical Column : — De Vico's Comet of Short Period 277 MiraCeti 277 Resources of Shrvia and Bosnia 277 Notes =7^ Scientific Serials '^^ Socihtibs and Academies 282 NA TURE 285 THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1876 OUR OYSTER FISHERIES THE Select Committee appointed by Parliament "to inquire what are the reasons for the present scarcity of oysters," have issued a short but very sensible Report on the Oyster Fisheries, containing a recognition of the fact that the supply of oysters has for some years steadily decreased, and laying down recommendations for the future regulation of natural scalps. The Committee have not given much weight to the " theory of heat and tran- quillity," which some naturalists consider essential to the fertile spatting- of the oyster, but have come to the con- clusion that the principal cause of the diminution of our once plentiful supply of oysters is to be found in the con- tinual over-dredging for them in open waters, without allowing any sufficient " close time." In France, as the Committee have found by making careful inquiry, the regulations which hedge round the close season are stringently observed, and in consequence of that exercise of vigilance, the supply of oysters has increased ; the Committee therefore recommend that a " general close time" (? for open waters) should be established, and that it should extend from May i to September i. This is just the old popular close time, as it used to be considered that oysters were only good for food in the months which had the letter r in their spelling — the months from September to April inclusive. With regard to this regulation of a "general close time," the Committee offer the suggestion, that it ought in some degree to be permissive, as there are portions of the sea, especially the estuary of the Thames, where it is doubtful whether any close season for dredging would be required ; therefore, power ought to be given to the Board of Trade, after inquiry, to shorten, vary, or determine this close season in any par- ticular case. It is also a recommendation by the Com- mittee that the Board of Trade should have authority in certain districts to prevent dredging for a given time. As regards the deep-sea oyster fisheries, the Committee do not propose any alteration of the present close time, which extends from June 1 5 to the end of August. The infliction of penalties for buying or selling oysters for consumption during the close season is recommended. The proposed regulations, it is thought, should be enforced under the superintendence of inspectors aided by the services of the Coastguard. The Committee approve the practice of giving grants of foreshore and of sea-bottom to pri- vate individuals and companies for the purpose of breeding and feeding oysters. These recommendations of the Select Committee will, in all probability, be introduced to the House of Com- mons next session in the shape of a " bill," which will probably in due time become law. The oyster is certainly one of our marine products which we can protect by means of a close time, seeing that the bivalve is a fixture and remains during its lifetime in one place, unless vio- lently removed. There is one point in the economy of oyster life which has not yet been so thoroughly investigated as it ought to be, namely, the age when an oyster becomes reproductive. The period at which the oyster breeds Vou XIV.— No. 3S3 might, we think, be set down with more certainty than it is at present. Some persons say it breeds in its third year; others, that it is not gifted with the power of reproduction till it is at least four years of age. It is a recommendation of the Committee that " no oyster should be sold from the deep-sea fisheries under 2J or three inches in diameter ; " such oysters, in our opinion, would not, on attaining that size, have reached the reproductive age ; and it is a fact, we believe, that enormous numbers of the edible bivalve reach the market before they have had an opportunity of repro- ducing their kind, which is, of course, one cause of the present scarcity. It is laid down as a rule by those practically engaged in the cultivation of oysters, that oysters transplanted for fattening purposes do not breed, or, to put the case in other words, do not get an oppor- tunity of doing so. It is perfectly obvious that, if a large per-centage of our oyster supply is sold before it has been given an opportunity of spatting, that that of itself, must tend to abridge the supplies. At one time the French oyster growers were in danger of exterminating the oyster. From their eager- ness to make money they rushed to the market with the produce of their artificial pares before they had been afforded an opportunity of breeding ! The natural scalps which produce most of the oysters laid on private fattening beds, never cease in their season to re- produce, but the spat which they exude does not always fall on proper bottom. Without a good holding-on place, a " coign of vantage," the infant oyster is of no account. It may get buried in a muddy bottom, or it may be landed high and dry by the waves of the sea on a place where it wiU assuredly die, or it may fall on good rocky or stone-covered ground, in which case only it will thrive. "Heat and tranquillity" are not at all neces- sary, in our opinion, to ensure a good fall of oyster spat, because the oyster obeying the laws of nature spats at its own season, and there are hundreds of oyster scalps yet to be discovered, which owe their formation and subsequent growth to the wafting, by the wind, of a " spot " of spat to some particular place, where the in- fantile bivalves find a holding-on place ; a holding-on place is all that is necessary for the healthy growth of the oyster. This " theory " was promulgated in the Times newspaper some years ago, and we are not aware of anything having occurred since to prove it erroneous. What is really wanted for the protection of the oyster is the assurance that these animals will not be sold before they have a chance of reproducing their kind. Since the introduction of the railway system, the demand for oysters in distant places has become so great, and the price has risen so high, that oyster culturists are tempted to send immature animals to market, and it is this fact, more than any failure of spat, that is leading to the scarcity. There are not, in consequence of the unceasing demand, and coniiequent high price, so many full-grown oysters left to spat as there ought to be, hence the scarcity. Any act of parliament that decrees two oysters to grow where only one grew before, will be greedily welcomed both by oyster culturists and by the public, and we hope that the issue of the present Report will lead to some effective measures being taken for the preservation of the delicious creature ere it be too late. 286 NATURE \Aug. 3, 1876 SMITH ON FERNS Historia Filiciimj an Exposition of the Nature., Number, and Organography of Ferns. By Jno. Smith, A.L S., Ex-Curator of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kevv. With Thirty Lithographic Plates by Fitch. 8\ro, 429 pp. (London : Macmillan and Co.) THE main and most valuable part of this work is a full account of Mr. Smith's scheme of fern-classifica- tion, with a complete catalogue of all the known species, arranged according to his views and diagnostic characters of all groups of a higher grade. The author is the patriarch of living fern writers, having worked at ferns with unwearied perseverance and enthusiasm for now upwards of fifty years. In 1823, when he first took charge of the living collection at Kew, it contained only forty species. Sir Wm. Hooker also, as is well known, made ferns his favourite department of botany for the last twenty-five years of his life. In 1846 the living collec- tion had increased to 400, and in 1857 to 600 species. In 1864, when in consequence of failing eyesight Mr. Smith was compelled to resign his appointment, he estimated the number of ferns in cultivation in the country at up- wards of 1,000. The whole number of species now known in the world, taking a broad view of what constitutes a species, is not far short of 3,000, and during the last year certainly not less than fifty new ones have been added to the list. The great peculiarity in Mr. Smith's plan of fern-classifi- cation is that at the outset he divides ferns into two groups, which he calls Desmobrya and Eremobrya, an account of which will be found at p. 65. The difference between them depends mainly upon whether the stipes are continuous with the caudex, or jointed at the base, so that they become detached when the frond withers, like the leaf of one of our deciduous trees. The Eremobrya, which are comparatively few in number, are such ferns as Folypodi- um vulgare, and Davallia canariensis, in which the fronds are produced singly from the sides of a creeping rhizome and are jointed at the base. The Desmobrya, which are perhaps three quarters of the family, and have unjointed stems, may have either the fronds produced in a crown from the summit of an erect caudex, as in the tree-ferns and Nephrodium Filix-mas, or produced alternately in a single series from a creeping rhizome, as in Pteris aqui- lina and Nephrodium Thely pteris. These last, which are comparatively few in number, are like the Eremobrya in habit, but want the joint. The old Swartzian and Willdenerian genera, founded upon the shape and position of the sori, and the absence or presence and position of the indusium, fall many of them partly into one of these groups, partly into the other, and this holds good also with ferns in which sori and veining also coincide. So that there are substantially three plans of fern-classification and fern-nomenclature, each of which is represented by a recent work in this country, and their relation to one another is as follows : — All systematists agree in recognising a substantial differ- ence in the shape and structure of the sporangia, the shape and position of the sori, and the absence or presence of an indusium as constituting a genus. In Hooker and Baker's " Synopsis Filicum," now in its second edition, only genera are admitted which rest on these characters, and their number is 76, Polypodium, containing about 400, and Asplenium about 300 species. There is great variation in the arrangement of the vascular bundles in the fronds of ferns. Sometimes they do not join again after once branching. In other cases they join and form meshes of various shapes. A second school, represented in Britain by Moore's " Index Filicum," regard any app^reciable difference in veining as constituting a generic character, and this increases the number of genera between two and threefold. The total number of genera admitted by Moore is 178, and of these, twelve go into the Polypodium of Hooker. Mr. Smith's plan carries us a decided step further in the direction of subdivision, and by using the character already explained as a ground of generic separation, raises the number of genera admitted to 220. But in point of fact all the ferns in which the sporange is surrounded by an incomplete ver- tical ring (Polypodiaceae), v/hich are three-quarters of the whole order, agree completely in the essential struc- ture of their organs of nutrition and reproduction, so that a large proportion of the genera even of those that admit the fewest number are separated from one another by very unimportant characters, and the great difference that there is in the nomenclature of ferns according to the three different systems does not repre- sent any deep-seated divergence of view, because the systematists of the first school willingly accept the further subdivisions of those that multiply the number of genera, as being the best possible groups that can be devised of subgeneric or sectional value. The book, therefore, is worthy of careful study by everyone who is interested in the subject ; it is a complete gathering together in one view of the author's work in the field to which it relates. Remembering how the book has been written, no one can study it without strongly sympathising with the author in the difficulties under which he has rested in thus placing before the world the matured result of his labours, and admiring the energy with which he has achieved so diffi- cult a task in such trying circumstances. In the way of criticism we have two observations to make : the first, that whoever has undertaken the correct- ing for the press has done his work the reverse of well. Names of well-known genera, species, authors, and books are frequently misspelt. At p. 65 we have the essential character of Desmobrya made to depend upon venation, and at pp. 98 to loi we have under both Nipho- bolus and Colysis all the three genders represented in the adjectival specific names. Secondly Mr-. Smith, fre- quently under a genus, compares the number of species as given in Hooker's " Species Filicum " with that given in Hooker and Baker's " Synopsis Filicum," as if the two numbers represented the same thing. Under Adian- tum, for instance, he expressly says that where Sir W. Hooker has made 109 species Mr. Baker has reduced them to sixty-two. He has evidently forgotten that, as was fully explained in the preface to the later work, the plan of the two books is different — that the more con- densed " Synopsis " only includes the species known with certainty by the authors ; but the " Species," in addition those that have been described by others, but not identified, a large mass of doubtful plants in addition to those that are known fully and clearly, so that the two sets of figures cannot be fairly compared unless this be constantly borne in mind. J. G. B. Aug. 3, 1876] NATURE 287 TURNER ON THE PLACENTA Lectures on the Comparative Anatomy of the Placenta. First Series. By Wm. Turner, M.B, Lond. Pp. 122, Woodcuts, and Three Coloured Plates. (Edinburgh : A. and C. Black, 1876.) THE anatomy of the Placenta has been studied by the best anatomists from Fabricius and Harvey to Hunter, Von Baer, and Sharpey ; but much remained to be done when Prof. Turner took up the investigation; and those who are acquainted with his admirable memoirs, which lie hidden in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, know how much he has done to correct and extend our knowledge. The present volume con- tains a series of lectures delivered before the Royal College of Surgeons last year, and illustrated by speci- mens from their magnificent Hunterian museum, as well as from that of the University of Edinburgh. Prof. Turner has also been liberally aided by Dr. Sharpey, Mr. Huxley, and other anatomists with material, so that he is able not only to compare the placenta in man with that in the cat, bitch, cow, sheep, and mare, but also in the hyrax, elephant, seal, giraffe, alpaca, lemur, sloth, grampus, and narwhal. The present volume deals only with the diffuse, cotyledonous, and zonary forms of placenta ; a second series of lectures will complete the subject by a similar discussion of the discoid placenta, and we shall then have the most complete monograph on this important structure which has yet appeared. Prof. Turner begins with a short introductory account of the mucous membrane of the unimpregnated uterus, and especially of its glands, and of the chorion and other foetal membranes. In describing the amnion, he gives the best account yet published of the curious brown or yellow appendages of this membrane found in various forms and in different species by Bernard, Owen, RoUes- ton, and others, which are probably identical with the " hippomanes " of veterinary surgeons. The structure of the diffuse placenta in Stis^ Eqmis, Orca, and other genera is then described. The villi of the chorion do not fit into the orifices of uterine glands, but into inter-glandular crypts, which do not exist in the unimpregnated uterus, and only appear as gestation ad- vances. In Cetacea, as in the pig and mare, the villi do not persist over the whole chorion, but die off from the two poles, having only a certain amount of vascular tissue to represent the mesoblast of the allantois. Bui in the mare and the grampus there is also a third bare spot which corresponds with the os uteri, and is unrepresented in the pig. In the latter there are numerous bare spots scattered over the chorion, which were described by Von Baer and are now found by the author to correspond to parts of the uterine mucosa without crypts, and sparingly supplied with vessels. Dr. Turner has had the oppor- tunity of dissecting two pregnant Lemurs [Propithecus diadcma and Lemur ru/ipes), and finds that the form of the placenta in the former species is what M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards described as bell-shaped {placenta en cloche), i.e. the villi cover the whole chorion except at the OS uteri ; but in the Red-footed Lemur there are two other bare spaces at the poles of the ovum, so that the placenta en cloche is a mere generic, or accidental, variety of the diffuse form. Moreover, the villi came away from the crypts of the uterine mucosa in which they lay, without taking any maternal tissue with them. Thus the placenta of lemurs is neither discoid nor deciduate, and one more link of connection between this group and the true Primates is broken. In his account of the placenta of the cow. Dr. Turner confirms the description by Von Baer and Weber, of the small pouches scattered over the chorion between the cotyledons, and is disposed to agree with the latter ana- tomist that they serve as receptacles for the secretion of the uterine glands during pregnancy. Similar " pocket- hke " depressions were discovered by the author in the giraffe's placenta which was described by Owen in 1842. In this animal, as in the red deer, the cotyledons are arranged in longitudinal rows, and between them are not only much smaller tufts, but also short club-shaped villi, scattered separately or in minute groups over the chorion, which thus approximates to the diffuse form found in the camels and the chevrotains. In the account of the deciduate placenta, the most im- portant fact established by Prof. Turner is that there are several degrees in the amount of maternal tissue which is detached in parturition. If the ovum is stripped off the pregnant uterus of a cat, it carries with it the whole of the mucosa (decidua serotina) with which the chorion is in contact ; but on careful examination of the placenta after its natural detachment at birth, it is found that a considerable amount of the vascular corium has been left behind, and that only the superficial part with the epi- thelial layer has come away with the chorion. In the bitch, as was pointed out by Prof. RoUeston in 1 863, the pla- centa is still less " deciduate," for there is not enough mucosa detached with the ovum to form a continuous layer on the uterine surface of the placenta. Dr. Turner found that the placenta of a vixen agreed precisely with that of the bitch in this respect ; the foldings of the uterine mucosa were so minute as to produce a reticulated struc- ture of the placenta, and a similar arrangement was dis- covered in a specimen from Halichoerus gryphus, A re- examination of the placenta of the hyrax described by Prof. Huxley confirms his account of it, and contradicts the assertion of two French anatomists that it is non- deciduate. The poles of the chorion in the Carnivora are often well-supplied with blood-vessels, though no trace of villi can be found at full term beyond the equa- torial region. In the otter and the weasel bare gaps occur in the placental zone, as described by Bischoff in 1865. The most important points established by Prof. Turner seem to be the following : — 1. That the uterine glands are all compound and tubular, and cannot be divided into two groups, as they were by Sharpey, confirmed by most German anatomists. In this Dr. Turner agrees with Prof. Ercolani, of Bologna. 2. That the uterine glands do not open into the funnel- shaped crypts which receive the foetal villi, but on the surface between them, and that the crypts are only deve- loped during the progress of gestation. Here also the observations of Ercolani and of Eschricht are supported. 3. That the deciduate character is one of degree. The detached diffuse placenta consists entirely of foetal struc- tures ; in the sheep and cow a large amount of maternal epithelium lining the walls of the uterine crypts comes oflf 288 NATURE \_Aug. 3, 1876 with the ovum, and possibly some of the vascular corium in addition ; and even in Canidce and Pinnipedia less of the decidua comes away at parturition than in the cat. 4. That the secretion of the uterine glands is absorbed by the intervillous parts of the chorion, and serves as " uterine milk or chyle," the comparison originally made by Harvey. The important bearing of these researches on the classification of Mammaha is obvious, and they suggest scarcely less important questions as to the nutrition and respiration of the foetus. P. S. OUR BOOK SHELF An Elementary Treatise on Kinetnatics and Kinetics. By E. T, Gross, M.A., Fellow of Gonville and Caius Col- lege, Cambridge, &c. (London : Rivingtons, 1876.) Mr. Gross says, in his preface to the book before us, that it "is intended to contain as much as is required, under the head of Dynamics, of candidates for honours in the first three days of the mathematical tripos." This object has no doubt determined to a great extent the form which the work has taken, and we see no reason to doubt that it is well suited for the purpose mentioned, and will prove useful to students working for Cambridge examinations. The first five chapters are devoted to the Kinematics of a point, the conception of Velocity being taken up at the outset, along with that of Motion ; motion as change of position, and the theorem of the instantaneous centre is only briefly mentioned in a short chapter (the sixth) chiefly devoted to the " Geo- metry of the Cycloid." The remaining ten chapters of the book are given to Kinetics. The author has taken great pains to put the fundamental conceptions of his subject clearly before his readers, and the parts of his book most valuable to the general student will certainly be those in which he endeavours to crystallise the vague notions too often picked up, at the commencement of a study, as to velocity, force, &:c. At the same time we must say that the arrangement of the book is not such as to fit it for general purposes as an elementary text-book on its own subjects. Perhaps this was unavoidable, considering the main object with which it was written, but it is certainly to be regretted. For most purposes it seems better to commence the study of Kinematics by considering motion as change of position only, leaving velocity to be brought in later. This certainly makes it more easy for the student to realise the matter, and obviates such difficulties as occur for instance at pp. 16 and 20, where "change of velocity " means in one place a change of velocity both in direction and in magnitude, and in the other a change in magnitude only. The same treatment also would allow of portions of the Kinematics of rigid bodies being taken up in an elementary manner, while in Mr. Gross's work this part of the subject, the most important one, is prac- tically left untouched. No motion, in fact, is considered, except the motion of a point in a plane. The treatment by the method of instantaneous centres is merely men- tioned, although the development of this method certainly furnishes excellent means for the elementary treatment ot the more important problems connected with the kine- matics of rigid bodies. Similar remarks might be made in reference to the second part of the work, but perhaps it is not fair to criticise from this general point of view a book written chiefly for a special and hmited purpose. Mr. Gross has used geometric illustrations freely and with great advantage throughout his book. We regret that he has adhered throughout to the parallelogram of velocities, forces, &c. Surely it is more elegant and in every way better to use three lines than five. Culmann's science can be very little known in this country if we have not yet got even as far as this. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [The Editor does not hoid himself responsible for opinions expressea 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 Direct Motion in the Radiometer an Effect of Electricity I HASTEN to communicate to Nature some new facts which are destined, I believe, to throw some light on the theory of the radiometer : — 1. The glass globe becomes negatively electrified upon the whole of its exterior when the instrument is submitted to solar, or even obscure heat radiations of sufficient intensity, and this electricity is more intense upon the hemisphere facing the radiant source than that opposed. It was by means of a proof- plane of large surface and a Bohnenberger's electroscope that I was able to determine the presence of this free electricity. By touching the globe several times in different places with the proof-plane, and then applying it to the electroscope, the effects are very sensible. This electricity cannot be attributed to the friction of the radiometer vanes with the rarefied air of the globe, since the electroscopic indications are not modified when the instniment is inverted, and the vanes thus prevented from moving. Neither, as several experiments show, can it be attri- buted to feeble evaporation on the exterior. This development of electricity upon the exterior surface of the globe is of course necessarily accompanied by the development of positive elec- tricity upon the inner surface. 2. When exposed to radiation, the black face of the vanes is electrified positively, and the bright face negatively. This I have proved in the following manner :— I took a strip of mica two decimetres lone, and having coated one of the sides with lampblack, I suspended it in a Coulomb's Torsion Balance, having previously electrified the metallic disc of the balance-needle with positive electricity. The blackened side faced the disc. I then allowed the radiations from a gas-flame to fall upon the black- ened surface of the mica strip. Notwithstanding the light was at some distance, and had to penetrate the thick glass shade inclosing the balance, the needle was rapidly repelled several degrees, showing that the blackened face was positively electri- fied under the influence of radiation. I then turned the strip of mica so that the bright side faced the disc and allowed the radiation to fall as before upon the blackened surface. The needle indicated an attraction between the disc and the mica, proving that the bright surface was negatively electrified. 3. To anticipa'e the objection that these electrical manifesta- tions are too feeble to account for the rapid revolution of the vanes, I gently rubbed the globe with a brush composed of glass threads ; the electricity developed on the globe acting by induc- tion upon the nearest mica disc of the radiometer caused a brisk oscillation. I then measured the intensity of this electricity by means of the proof-plane and electroscope, and there were no indications of greater intensity then when the globe was electri- fied by radiation. 4. From the above facts the following theory, if I mistake not, necessarily flows. The radiometer is electrified as repre- sented in the figure. At c the black face of the vane is turned towards the radiant source, and in this position the vane will be forced to move in the direction a c B ; when it arrives at D, the direction of the rotation which the attractive and repulsive forces A7ig. 3, 1876] NATURE 289 necessarily produce will not change. It will be that indicated by the arrows, namely, B D A, The direct and ordinary move- ment in the radiometer is thus explained in the simplest manner. Joseph Delsaulx, S. J. II, rue des Recollets, Louvain, Belgium, July 22 A Brilliant Meteor Last Tuesday evening, July 25, at three minutes past 10 p.m., a magnificent meteor was observed here. Its first appearance was hidden from me by a tree, but the rest of its long course was open to view. It travelled straight from S. to N. between the directions S.S.W. and W. Its apparent size was that of Jupiter. When first seen it was of a brilliant violet colour. This changed to bright green and red, and towards the end it was, I think, green in front, red behind, and where a number of globules which broke off seemed to follow it. The body of the meteor was pear-shaped. No luminous train was left after its disappearance. The motion was much slower than that of common aerolites, and probably the phenomenon lasted about two seconds. It would be interesting to know what was seen of it in the West of England and in Ireland. Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park, F. A. R. Russell July 28 On Tuesday, the 25th, I was seated with my eyes looking westward, when at 10.5 p.m. a most remarkable meteor passed before my vision, which exceeded in brilliancy of colour and in dimensions any phenomenon of the kind that I ever witnessed in the whole course of my life. The main body of the meteor was a vivid emerald green, with a large spherical head tapering away into a tail of fiery red colour, followed up by a luminous track. Its trajectory was almost horizontal, emanating from the constellation of Aquila, passing through that of Hercules, curv- ing slightly downwards, and passing a few degrees beneath Arcturiis ; a short distance northward of that great star the meteor suddenly collapsed with a bright effulgency, and vanished from sight. Its velocity appeared as being somewhat slower that what I have observed on similar occasions. It was present to the ob- server for more than five seconds of time, sufficient time to leave on the mind of the observer a distinct impression of the meteor's various aspects. Owing to the dry condition of the atmosphere, the apparent proximity of the meteor was very striking ; the brilliant flash of colour at first sight produced the effect that a large rocket had been fired off in the vicinity, for it was very similar in colouring and shape to many rockets displayed by pyrotechnists. Soon after the meteor had disappeared I observed three very faint shooting-stars to fall from a high altitude downwards to the track which the meteor had taken. I furnish you with these observations, which may interest your readers, especially those who were fortunate enough to observe this splendid phenomenon. Eras. Ommanney 6, Talbot Square, W., July 29 D-line Spectra Last March you were good enough to publish in Nature (vol. xiii., p. 366) a request for some explanation of the ex- tremely different, and indeed opposite, reactions afforded to boric add by the yellow or D-line spectral flame emitted from soda or its salts, and from platinum respectively, when treated with the blowpipe. No explanation has been vouchsafed ; and it may be now added to that fact that, among the millions of substances in nature emitting this D-line producing-flame when heated before a blowpipe, sodium salts are the only ones which give the reac- tions of sodium ; all others affording extremely marked reactions of an exactly opposite character. W. A. Ross July 24 Pyroxidation Will any of your chemist contributors be so kind as to afford in your columns an explanation of the following phe- nomenon ? If we heat before a blowpipe on a piece of aluminium plate (which has a side of four inches perpendicular to the blowpipe flame) a fragment of pure antimony, we have three sublimates deposited on the perpendicular side of the plate in the following order : — {a) Sb^^Og (strongly reddening litmus paper) highest. (b) Sb^O^ (faintly „ „ „ intermediate. {c) A black sublimate (?) lowest. I want to know why a substance similar to another, except that it contains two more atoms of oxygen, and has therefore a higher specific gravity, travels perpendicularly up the plate to a more elevated position ? W. A. Ross July 24 ABSTRACT REPORT TO "NATURE" ON EX- PERIMENTA TION ON ANIMALS FOR THE ADVANCE OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE'- V. Results of Experiments on Resuscitation. TN my last communication I described a method of ■•■ practical study by experimentation which was in- tended to demonstrate the best means of restoring to life those human beings who by accident are thrown on the confines of death. To thoughtful and feeling minds this study is subUmely solemn, but I see that a writer in one of the contemporaries of Nature has found it possible, in his zeal against experimentation on animals, to make my observations on the subject the matter of a jest at my expense. In order to render his jest applicable, the writer has also perverted my statement so as to make a simple illustration of a discovered fact appear as if it were presented in the light of the fact discovered. It will be remembered by the readers of these articles that after I had described, in my last essay, the observations relating to the effect of galvanism on expiring muscular power, I enforced the lesson by illustrating the difference of effect that might be expected to occur from carrying an exhausted animal to a place of succour and of making it travel to the place. The writer I refer to states this illustration as the fact which I have arrived at by experi- ment, and thereupon founds his joke, which he borrows from Gil Bias. The circumstance of this criticism has an interest for which I am thankful. It has suggested to my mind something which might not have occurred to it, viz., that in my desire to be very brief in these abstract reports I have neglected to introduce a few detailed arguments of first importance, which ought not, perhaps, to have been omitted in any case, but which I am now compelled to supply. After the discovery of the process known as galvanism, and the researches conducted by Galvani, Volta, and Aldini on the influence of the galvanic current on animal hfe, the application of the current for the purpose of resuscitating persons who were apparently dead became the common practice of medical men. The extraordinary experiments conducted by Aldini at the College of Sur- geons during the day of January 17, 1803, on the body of a malefactor named Forster, made an impression on men of science which was probably without parallel. The malefactor, after being hanged and after being exposed for a whole hour to a temperature two degrees below freezing-point, was carried to a house near to Newgate, and, in pursuance of the sentence, was delivered over to the College of Surgeons. The master of the College, Mr. Keate, here re-delivered the body over to Aldini, who was the nephew and devoted follower of Galvani, and the action of the galvanic current upon the dead man was demonstrated. I need not describe minutely the strange phenomena that were observed during the demonstration. Carpue, the anatomist, took share with his pupil Hutchins in the anatomical part ; Cuthbertson, an eminent mathe- matical instrument-maker, the Browning of that day, directed and arranged the galvanic apparatus, which con- sisted of three troughs of forty elements each; Mr. Keate took duty in observing, and Aldini directed the operations. Fifteen experiments were carried out, and such were the muscular movements excited in the dead man by the current that the most sanguine expectations » Continued from p. 252. 290 NATURE [Aug. 3, 1876 were afterwards expressed as to the power of galvanism to restore suspended life. Aldini, indeed, made a kind of apologetic observation that his " object in applying the treatment to the dead malefactor was not to produce re- animation, but merely to obtain a practical knowledge how far galvanism might be employed as an auxiliary to other means in attempts to revive persons under similar circumstances." The observations of Aldini were as im- piessive as they were remarkable. They opened a new line of inquiry and of research ; but in their very wonder lay a source of many errors, and from these errors sprang a false rule of practice, which was unfortunate in its results for a very long time. One error consisted in attributing to the action of galva- nism something more than its power of calling forth the natural remaining irritability of the muscles of those in whom the signs of life are suspended. It was noticed that the muscles of the malefactor retained their irrita- bility and power of contraction under the galvanic stimulus for seven hours and a half after the execution. The credit of this, which was due entirely, as my experi- ments have since explained, to the cold to which the dead body was exposed, was given to the galvanism ; here was a second error. The greatest error was conveyed in an inference drawn, and I think naturally drawn, by Aldini, at that time, that the " application of galvanism gives new energy" to the muscles, and therefore that galvanism ought to have first place in the practice of resuscitation. " The well-known method," he says, " of injecting atmo- spheric air (artificial respiration) ought not to be neglected ; but here, likewise, in order that the lungs may be pre- pared for its reception, it would be proper previously to use galvanism, to excite the muscular action, and to assist the whole animal system to resume its vital functions." It was all but impossible that teaching such as this, backed as it was by experiment so remarkable, should fail to exert an influence on the practice of medicine in the treatment of suspended animation. It did, in fact, exert the most potent influence. It threw artificial respi- ration, which had been projected by Hcoke, from experi- ment on animals, and which had been strongly urged by Fothergill and John Hunter, into the shade, and it gave to galvanism for nearly half a century the first place as the means, not simply for calling into motion the remain- ing energy of the dying muscles, but, as Aldini imagined, for " giving new energy " to the muscles. From the date of that theory, the battery, and after it was discovered, the electro-magnetic machine became the instruments of instruments for resuscitation. Thirty years ago, when I was commencing my medical career, the application of the galvanic battery in cases of sudden death from drowning, from suffocation, and from other similar forms of sudden accident, was still the approved practice. The mode of operation was to place one pole of the battery at the nape of the neck, and the other pole below the diaphragm, and by passing shocks through the inclosed parts, to excite the muscles to contraction, so as to restore the movements of respira- tion. The effect was for a little time very startling ; it seemed as if the natural function were called again into play ; but in the end the motion excited became feebler and feebler ; at last the stimulus failed, and the patient was declared to be dead. I recall many instances of this kind. I know of one instance of suspended human life from accidental suffocation, in which, when the natural breath- ing was just becoming restored by artificial inflation of the chest, the arrival of a battery and the application of it to expedite recovery was followed by complete cessa- tion of all motion in response to the stimulus, and by absolute death. I know of another instance in which a needle from one pole of the battery was carried down to the heart, under the hope of exciting motion from the centre of the circulation, but, as it was said, " without avail." In this position the method of resuscitation by means of galvanism stood until my experiments on animals recently dead from anaesthesia commenced. In experi- menting with the galvanic current I was desirous of making it more precise in action, my original idea being that the constant failure of it as a means of recovery was due, not to fault in principle, but to some mistake of detail. With the research in this direction came the observation, altogether unexpected, that galvanism, even when it is made to reproduce the natural movements of respiration with such precision that they tally completely with the natural respiratory acts of the animal as those were counted and measured while the animal was in health, not only fails to restore the natural respiration in the majority of cases, but in the majority of cases destroys the respiratory power altogether. In brief, the experiments showed that the theory of Aldini, that galvanism " gives new energy " to the muscles was wrong, while the fact came out that the effect of the gal- vanism is only to whip into silence the muscles that are already well-nigh dead. This, which was found true in respect to the muscles concerned in respiration, was found to be equally true in respect to the heart. The correction in matter of principle deduced, the comparison followed between artificial respiration carried out with a perfect instrument and the effect of galvanism, in the same forms and modes of death. Therewith fol- lowed the result that in extreme states where recovery is nevertheless all but certain by the process of artificial respiration supplied from the hand of the operator, death is all but certain from the application of the galvanic stimulus. The lesson taught by experiment was thus doubly valuable ; it exposed the failure of a deceptive and fatal agency for means of restoration ; it prompted the improvement of rational and successful mfans of restoration. As the experiment with galvanism on the failing muscles of the lower animal opened my eyes to read the real facts, thj reason came vividly enough before me, why in the human subject I had seen, with pain beyond measure or expression, the vigorously stirred muscular mechanisms sink under galvanic stimulation into irre- vocable rest. Then I could point out and correct the error. In the absence of the experiment, the correc- tion had been impossible. No man on a mere specu- lation would have dared to withhold from a dying patient the application of galvanic stimulation, until the danger of the practice was proved by experi- mental science. Yet how solemn is the issue let one example tell ! Before the experiments I have related Avere performed and the new order cf facts were elicited by them, I should — in the case of that child, whose his- tory was told in my last communication, and who recovered by means of artificial respiration when the natural respira- tion had ceased and all the signs of death were developed — have tried, from the practice I then knew, to excite the respiratory power by galvanism, and should have be- lieved, whatever had been the result, that the practice was, under the circumstances, the best that could have been employed. Now I know that the galvanic current would have killed the child outright, as surely as I know that the artificial respiration raised him back into life. Aldini reports that after the observations on the male- factor, Forster, were concluded, Mr. Keate, the Master of the College of Surgeons, proposed to make comparative experiments on animals. If this had been done at that time and the relative merits of artificial respiration sup- plied by the power of the operator, and of artificial respira- tion excited by galvanism from the muscles of the affected subject had been compared, the original error of Aldini that the galvanic current "gives new enei'gy " would at once have been detected, and it would have been seen that the current does no more than disperse the flickering power which the dying muscles retain. As far as I Aug. 3, 1876] NATURE 291 can ascertain no such comparison was instituted, and so, for nearly half a centur>', a practice prevailed which must have been constantly taking away the last chances of human life, while a truly saving practice, — artificial respi- ration,— remained without an improvement from the time of John Hunter, in last century, to that of Marshall Hall, who, in our own days, gave it new and prominent import- ance. A dozen painless and carefully-conducted experiments made on inferior animals which were exposed at any mo- ment to be knocked on the head for food, to be killed or mortally maimed with shot, or to be hunted to death in the field or warren, would have taught, in 1803, that the passage of a galvanic cm rent through the muscles of a body recently dead confers on those muscles no new energy ; that the current in its passage only excites tem- porary contraction ; that the force of contraction resident in the muscles themselves is but educed by the excitation, and that to strike the life out of the muscles by the galvanic shock without feeding the force, expended by contraction, from the centre of the body is a fatal principle of practice. The experiments unfortunately were not performed, and the error, therefore, fatal as it was, continued without question, until my own unexpected observations revealed it in the light of an error and made it so self-evident that the illustration through which it may best be explained, admitted of being treated, by one who was wise after the event, as a subject for jest. " Vidi ego, naufragium qui riserat, requore mergi." I will not copy the comment of the poet : far more con- genial to me were it to save the endangered life. . It is from experiences such as I have given above, and in many instances, that the necessity for experimentation on the lower animals forces itself on the minds of the members of the medical profession, and especially on the minds of those who are most earnest to remove fatal errors of practice and to devise saving methods. If it were only kept steadily in view that we medical men are always dealing with fatal accidents and fatal diseases ; if it were only kept steadily in view that we are always asking ourselves — Is this we are doing for the best? Or, as new light dawns on us : — May this we are doing be for the worst rather than for the best, and may the old practices taught to us have rested on a false foundation ? If these things were thought of, then our position would be better understood and our actions more correctly appreciated. I believe those who are most severe upon us would be most considerate under this discipline of reason if they would give it trial, and that the very impulses of kindness, I will even say of tenderness, that lead many to oppose experimental inquiry would actually make them experi- mentalists if they could once realise the highest re- sponsibilities that devolve on the medical scholar. Nay, I am not without hope that my jesting critic himself, if he ever had to stand, as we physicians have to stand, over the body of one of his fellow men, who, in the midst of health had just passed into doubtful death : if this critic, I say, had to stand there wondering what he should do to recal the life, uncertain whether what he was about to do were for the best or the worst ; he, I think, would lay aside Gil Bias, would be humanely tempted, to risk the sacrifice of the life of a lower for that of the higher animal, and would transfer the rabbit he had provided for his dinner, to the experiment room instead of the kitchen. Benjamin W. Richardson {To be contimted.) OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN Huth's "Moving Star" of 1801-2.— At the be- ginning of the present century, when, although Bode and some few others had been looking forward to such a discovery, astronomers generally were startled by Piazzi's accidental detection of the small planet Ceres, we read of observations of more than one so-called "moving star," which, after progressing slowly for a short interval, finally disappeared. The most singular 'narrative refers to an object said to have been remarked by Hofrath Huth, at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, on the night from December 2 to 3, 1 801, particulars of which were communi- cated to Bode in several letters during the ensuing five weeks. If the observations are bond fide, there is yet a mystery attaching to the object to which they relate. Huth was one of the three independent discoverers of the periodical comet now known as Encke's, on October 20, 1805, Pons and Bouvard sharing with him an almost simultaneous discovery, and he did other astronomical work. Writing to Bode on December 5, he says : " In the night from the 2nd to the 3rd of this month, I saw with my 2|-feet Dollond, in a triangle with 6 and 8 Leonis to the south-west, a star with faint reddish light, round, and adrnitting of being magnified. I could not discern any trace of it with the naked eye ; it had three small stars in its neighbourhood." He writes again on the 15th, that unfavourable weather had allowed of his observing the object only on three occasions, which appear to be on the early mornings of the 3rd, 13th and 14th, and he con- cludes from his observations that it had a slow retrograde motion to the south-west. From the 13th to the 14th, by eye-estimate, it had retrograded 4' of arc, and from the 3rd to the 13th at most 30'. He forwarded to Bode at this time a diagram of the neighbouring telescopic stars. On December 21 he writes again that he had only succeeded in observing his moving star on one addi- tional night, that of December 19-20, when he found it " near four stars apparently situate to the westward, about half a diameter of the full moon below a smaller one." Its path appeared directed towards i Leonis and towards the ecliptic. He adds : " Of the motion of this planet-like star I can now no longer doubt, since I have observed a difference of |° nearly, between its positions on the 3rd and 20th." In a fourth letter, dated 1802, January 12, he informs Bode that he had seen the star on two later nights, those of the ist and 2nd of the same month from iih. to I4h,, with many telescopic stars in its vicinity, of which he enclosed a diagram, by eye-estimate only, with the path of the object. He mentions that on January i the star was even smaller than one of the sateUites of Jupiter, and on the following night he had difficulty in perceiving it in close proximity to a star towards which it was moving. On the 5th he could discern only now and then, to the right of the star, on the left of which it was situated on the I St and 2nd of January, and at a very small distance from it, a glimmer, but the star's former place on the left was vacant. He concludes that the object must have been receding from the earth, and might perhaps have been more distinct and larger before December 3. On the night of January 6 there was no trace of it. He closes this final letter by saying that he would have gladly learned that some other astronomer had observed this star and confirmed its motion, and express- ing his regret that Bode had not succeeded in finding it. On the latter point Bode remarks that the weather during December had been but very rarely favourable for obser- vation, and in the few moments that the sky was clear he had occupied himself with his "Seeker" and Dollond, partly in giving attention to the neighbourhood of Huth's star, and partly to the region in which Ceres was expected to be recovered on her second appearance. He also remarks on the imperfect manner in which the star's positions had been communicated to him, but concludes that " without doubt it was a distant comet," and its great distance caused it to appear without nebulosity. He supposes it on December 3 to have been in longi- tude 156° 20', with latitude 10° 40' north, and on January 2 in 154° 20', with latitude 8° 50'. Huth's rough dia- grams are reproduced in the Berliner Jahrbtich, 1805, 292 NATURE {Aug. 3, 1876 but they are on a very small scale, and no two persons are likely, perhaps, to agree as to the inferences to be drawn from them. We may remark, however, that the arc of great circle between Bode's extreme positions exceeds the length of the path, as described in Huth's letters. The following places result from an examination of the figures with the particular view to identify several of the telescopic stars entered in the larger diagram : — o o 1801, Dec. 3. Longitude ... i57"o Latitude + 10*5 5, 14- ,. ••• 1567 „ -r 9'9 1802, Jan. I. ,, ... I56"2 ,, + 9-1 Calculations founded upon the deductions from Huth's diagram lead to no satisfactory, indeed no probable, results. The ordinary formulae fail, but the distance of such an object could hardly have been great. With regard to the boita fides of Huth's observations, it is worthy of remark that he wrote several letters to Bode, while according to his own showing, observations would have been very practicable, but for the unusual preva- lence of clouded skies ; while there is no doubt of the looseness with which he gave its positions. Next week we shall refer to a similar astronomical puzzle, or myth, as perhaps some readers may be dis- posed to consider it. Venus in Inferior Conjunction. — Mr. J. Birming- ham,Millbrook,Tuam, writes : — "In a careful measurement of Venus at the late inferior conjunction, I found propor- tionally that the full diameter was no more than 200, while a perpendicular from centre of line between cusps to the limb was from 145 to 150." The August Meteors. — The earth arrives at the descending node of the third comet of 1862 in the track of which the August meteors are supposed to circulate, about midnight, on the 9th inst. The comet itself is distant from the earth 27*8 times the distance of the earth ffom the sun, requiring yet some forty-seven years before the aphehon point will be reached, and it once more begins to approach these parts of the system. Though it will soon attain a distance from the sun equal to the mean distance of Neptune, its heliocentric latitude is so large, there cannot be any near approach to the planet. The ascending node falls not far from midway between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus, while as is well known at the opposite node, its path almost meets the track of the earth, less than two distances of the moon separating them. THE KEW GARDENS REPORT DR. HOOKERiS report on the celebrated gardens under his direction contains this year some facts that will be noted as starting-points in the history of scientific progress at Kew. Thus at the outset we are reminded that a sum of money was included by the Government in the estimate of last year for the purpose of erecting a new building for the herbarium in which will be deposited not only the unrivalled collections of dried plants, but also the valuable library, MSS., and collection of drawings of plants. The great importance of a fire-proof building in which to deposit these valu- able treasures, cannot be over-estimated. The old house once occupied by the late King of Hanover, in which the herbarium is now and has been contained for nearly a quarter of a century, has become literally crammed ; therefore, both on the score of safety and convenience, the new building which has been commenced since Dr. Hooker wrote will be welcomed by botanists of all nationalities. Another point in the future history of the Gardens is the erection of a laboratory. Dr. Hooker points out that one of the recommendations of the Commission on Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science was, " That opportunities for the pursuit of investigation in physiological botany should be afforded at the Royal Gardens at Kew." To carry this out, T. J. Phillips Jodrell, Esq., M.A., generously placed the sum of 1,500/. at the disposal of the authorities, out of which the build- ing has been erected, and will be fitted with apparatus for chemical, physiological, and microscopical work. The design for this building, in which we anticipate a great deal of interesting work will be conducted, is exhibited in the Loan Collection at South Kensington. It is pleasing also to note that " the lessons given to the young gardeners in the evening, in chemistry, meteorology, struc- tural and economic botany, and upon which the attend- ance is voluntary, continue to give satisfactory results." These lessons, with demonstrations from such rich collections as those of Kew, cannot fail to impart a sound knowledge on those subjects immediately con- nected with botany, and to prepare the etnployes for important posts in India and the Colonies. Many plants of botanical interest, as well as of economic value, have flowered in the Gardens during the past year for the first time in this country, and have been figured for the most part in the Botanical Magazine, With regard to the Blue Gum {^Eucalyptus globubis),^o\3X which so much has recently been written, Dr. Hookerpoints out that the plant having been so largely distributed and planted, will probably prove to be useful in another way — that of a timber tree, in countries not too hot for its growth. " On the Neilgherries, where Australian trees have been largely introduced, one of the most valuable, the Acacia Melanoxyton, proves to be all but, valueless, owing to the ravages of various Loranthaceous parasites. The Eucalyptus globulus is, however, reported by Dr. Bidie to entirely escape their attacks. He attributes this immunity to the * deciduous bark, the seeds ' (of the para- site) ' thereby being dislodged before they can germinate and gain a hold.' " Liberian coffee, which is of a more robust habit, and produces larger seeds than the Coffea arabica, has oeen distributed with uniform success to most of the coffee-growing countries, foreign or colonial, foremost among them being Bahamas, Bangalore, Barba- does, Bermuda, Calcutta, Ceylon, Dominica, Jamaica, Java, Madras, Mauritius, Montserrat, Natal, New Grenada, and Rio de Janeiro. The introduction into India of the South American rubber-producing plants has occupied, and is still occupy- ing, considerable attention. The successful acclimatisation of the Para rubber-tree {Hevea brasilieusis), as well as of the Central American plant {Castilloa elastica), is a matter of great importance, affecting as it does our future supplies of this invaluable substance. Of the peculiar and inter- esting plant, Pringlea autiscorbutica, or Kerguelen's Land cabbage. Dr. Hooker announces the receipt of seeds both from the \Challenoer and Transit of Venus expeditions, although, however a number of fine young plants were raised, they have nearly all since perished, a similar fate having befallen those at the Botanic Gardens of Paris, Cape-town, and Edinburgh, showing that the plant is very intolerant of warmth. In the Museums where the collections are constantly increasing, one new feature is specially noticed, that of the separate collection illustrating vegetable terato- logy and pathology. This collection has rapidly in- creased since its formation two years since, and will, no doubt, in course of time, prove valuable to students in these interesting branches of botanical science, the more so as no public collection has hitherto existed of this kind, the materials consequently being scattered far and wide. The herbarium has been considerably enriched during the past year, notably by the collections of the late John Stuart Mill, who, besides his other achievements was a diligent collector, and a good botanist ; also from other private collections, as well as those of the Challenger and Transit of Venus expeditions. ^ug. 3, 1876] NATURE 29:^ ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE VEGE- TABLE KINGDOM"- I. CLASSIFICATION is a natural propensity of the human mind. If our attention finds itself directed to a large number of objects, about which we desire to inform ourselves, a desire to economise our labour, or even render it possible, at once leads us to endeavour to throw the assemblage into subordinate groups. The result, and indeed end, of this process is to enable us to frame general statements about these groups which cover all the things comprised within them. In the case of a naturalist it is desirable that the groups should be so constituted as to admit of as many general statements as possible being made with regard to them ; and in proportion as our classification allows us to do this successfully, we say it is a natural one — one conformable to the order of nature — and such as nature herself would indicate if the task were assigned to her rather than undertaken by us. The question, however, immediately arises, What is the cause which brings about this possession of common Figs. 1-5. — Development of colonies of Bac/erzumru6etcfHs alter hankesltr (•' Quart. Journ. Micr. See," 1876, Plate III ). characters by each member of a group of organisms, and renders their natural classification possible .-' We are now able to answer with a very high degree of probability of the explanation being the true one, " that propinquity of descent — the only known cause of the similarity of organic beings— is the bond, hidden as it is by various degrees of modification, which is partially revealed to us by our classifications."* The earliest attempts at classification seized upon the most striking superficial distinctions. When Solomon " spake of trees from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall," it is quite evident that mere size was the point of comparison which aided the process of passing them under review. And till the time of Ray and the beginning of the eighteenth century the classification of plants into trees, shrubs, under-shrubs, and herbs held its ground, though nothing is now better understood than that size, which is a mere matter of habit and mode of growth, is ' Notes of four lectures delivered at the Royal Institution during February and March. ' Darwin, " Origin of Species," .jth Ed. p. 489. no clue at all to the real affinities of plants. It is easy to see in point of fact when we have once grasped the principle of descent as the cause of resemblances, that those characters which are most valuable for classificatory purposes, are generally those which are least prominent. From age to age organisms may vary in response to the changes of the external conditions to which they are ex- posed. Nevertheless, underlying the most manifold modi- fications, some apparently insignificant detail of structurtt or development will be handed on unchanged, because it has never happened to conflict with the stress of existence, and such a detail will reveal the story of relationship which the comparison of more striking, but really le.'^s essential (because adaptive) external modifications would perhaps completely obscure. Thus, comparing the two great departments of activity, into which the life of plants is divisible — nutrition, i.e., all that concerns the growth or multiplicatioa of the same individual, and reproduction, i.e., all that concerns the production of a new individual, while characters drawn from nutritive structures (such as branching and tex- ture of stems, form of leaves, &c.), have proved of little value, those taken from reproductive structures have proved of the highest importance for purposes of classi- fication. And the reason is that a plant must live before it can reproduce. The stress of competition is harder on the nutritive side of its life than on the reproduc- tive. Habit of growth, which is the expression of the plant's attempt to adapt itself to the conditions of exist- ence prescribed to it, must vary as the conditions vary ; Fig. 6. — Zooglcea. stage of BacieriutH ruifscens »ftcr Lankester ("Quart. Journ. Micr. Soc," 1873, Plate XXIII.). but the development of ovules and homologous organs comes when the battle of life, so to speak, is won. Their details of structure, and the development of the embryo- plants which proceed from them are, at any rate, in a great measure relieved from the necessity of undergoing adaptive changes. They undergo, no doubt, progressive modifications, but these are comparatively slow and are perhaps brought about in part by the correlation of growth, which causes a changing part of an organism to effect alterations in other parts which are not at first implicated in or directly benefited by the original modi- fication, and yet cannot help participating in it because the organism must alter more or less as a whole. Thus, then, as amongst human beings, whether we consider the family or the race, similitude or family like- ness impHes blood-relationship or community of descent ; in all organisms resemblances in structure which are constant in large groups or vary very slowly, imply origin from a common ancestor. The real problem of classifica- tion is nothing less than to group organisms as we should see them grouped if we could inspect the mighty family trees of the plant or animal worlds. This mode of regarding the facts of natural history is termed phylogeny. In undertaking the actual task of classification, we pro- ceed on the assumption that as in a tree the twigs which form the growth of any one year belong to branches of all ages— from the very earliest to the very youngest — the 294 NATURE lAtig. 3, 1876 living constituents of the vegetable kingdom represent, more or less modified, various successive grades of deve- lopment which plants have passed through. Some of the branches of the family tree have now no living representa- tives, and as to these we must seek for such evidence as palaeontology affords us. To trace out the family tree in all its details must obviously be always a matter of extreme difficulty, and may never be completely possible. Our f resent information does not extend to much more than «' -4' Fig. 7. — Successive stages in development of spores of yeast (after Reess). a knowledge of the closely-packed exterior formed by the ultimate twigs. We cannot see very far how these p'jrsue their course, nor get more than an approximate notion of the way in which the main branches are given off. Clearly, however, we may assume that organisms have in the main proceeded from simple and generalised forms to those which are specialised and complex. The simpler existing plants will therefore be the representatives of the oldest forms of all. As long ago as 1 836 Endlicher divided the vegetable kingdom into Thallophyta (leafless plants) and Cormo- phyta (leafy plants). The one exhibits the presence, and the other, if we may say so, the absence of the contrast of leaf and stem. Leafless plants are clearly the simpler, and come nearer, therefore, the base of the family tree. Now Thallophyta have long been held to fall into two great groups — >1/^ we get, per unit of area, W of the mass of the terres- trial atmosphere. The force of gravity on the moon's surface being about ^ of that on the surface of the earth, the pressure of the atmosphere at the surface will be about ^^ of the pressure of our atmosphere ; correcting this for the probable effects of temperature, we get somewhere about ^V ^s the surface density. The author explains the absence of water and the disappearance of a great portion of the above small quantity of atmosphere by drawing a parallel between the surface of the moon and earth, and stating that " the joint effect of the action of the terrestrial surface oceans and atmosphere has been to form the present crust of the earth, where is to be found locked up an immense mass of water and of the constituents of our atmosphere which originally formed part of the early terrestrial oceans and atmosphere, and by this means probably a very considerable portion of these must have been by now removed. A similar action would have ensued on the moon with this important difference, that as, relatively to these masses the lunar surface is more than six times as great as the earth's, this absorption of the oceans and of the atmosphere would have been not only more rapid, but have been carried to six times the same extent under the same conditions." The present surface density, he therefore argues, may be now \ of its original state, or about -^^ of the density of that of the earth. The estimated density of Bessel and others from re- fraction, of about loVa of ^^^t on the earth, is referred to, coupled with a remark that the temperature was assumed by him to be uniform and a factor depending on the dif- ference of the form of gravity at the surface of the earth and moon omitted, and if correction is made for these, the result should be uItt as the surface density. From observation of occultations it has long been known that a difference of some 2 " existed between the semi- diameter of the moon as determined by occultations and that determined by direct measurement ; irradiation accounts for a part of this, leaving the rest to be accounted for by horizontal refraction, and this, we read, renders a surface density of ^^ of that of the earth's atmosphere possible, but from other considerations the author puts the probable density at jJq. The effect of such an atmo- sphere in mitigating the climate is shown, but it is not quite easy to see from the present evidence that such an atmosphere, having a pressure of about one terrestrial ounce to a square inch, will account for lunar appearances, or even if we take the pressure at one time to have been ^V of that on the earth, or six ounces. This will require future observations to settle. We are inclined to think that the author is rather over-zealous in his cause when he states to the effect that the mass of atmosphere over a square mile in area must be estimated in millions of tons. This can scarcely be the case, judging from the above- estimated pressure. The occultations *of stars, the blue halo occasionally seen around isolated craters, and Lord Rosse's experiments upon radiation from the surface of the moon are all discussed. The author, however, candidly acknowledges that no definite results can be obtained from them either one way or the other, but is convinced that the balance of evidence is in favour of an atmosphere of considerable magnitude, although of slight Q 3o6 NATURE \Atig. lo, 1876 density ; and " to neglect this is to render nugatory all attempts to explain the phenomena presented by the moon." In treating of the physical condition of the lunar sur- faces, it is pointed out that Beer and Madler's frequent quotation, " The moon is indeed no copy of the earth, much less a colony of the same," is not so well founded as it would appear to be ; for although the first impression gained from the general appearance of the surface is that it contains neither oceans, seas, nor river systems, with the accompanying formation, but a desert containing innumerable craters and surface irregularities, still on a closer investigation with adequate means, more points of resemblance become manifest. The more level regions of the moon, especially the shores, though known to have been long destitute of water, are pointed out as appearing to show many traces of its action, as the for- mation of diluvial deposits recognised by Sir John Herschel ; whilst Prof. Phillips traced many analogies between the apparent volcanic formations of the earth and moon, and found many indications of the action of a disintegrating atmosphere. The greater craters apparently existing on the moon when examined with powerful telescopes, the author tells us, appear less and less like volcanic orifices or craters ; their inclosing walls lose their regularity of outline and form, and appear as confused masses of mountains broken by valleys, ravines, and depressions, crossed by passes, and surrounded by low plateaus and an irregu- larly broken surface ; whilst the seemingly smooth floors generally appear as diversely interrupted as the environ- ing surface. These formations are thus seen in their true character, not as craters, but as low-lying spaces sur- rounded by mountain regions or disturbed highlands. The author appears to think that the ring plains and wall-plains are not volcanoes, in the ordinary sense of the term, but depressions surrounded by mountain ranges, and that the great number of apparently small craters are mere shallow hollows, such as are not uncommon on the earth. The fact that gentle slopes and valleys, like many of our river valleys, would not, except under most favourable circumstances, be shown in relief, is a matter which may easily escape notice, and is here referred to ; and further, any small abrupt feature may cast a shadow completely masking much more extensive formations. Attention is called to the fact that Madler pointed out that formations possessing a north or south direction are much more easily seen upon the moon than those extending east and west, a pecuharity tending to give an imperfect idea of the true nature of the surface, and accounting in some measure for the general meridional direction of numbers of the smaller formations of the moon, such as the ridges, land-swells, and rills, as matter very noticeable on a glance at a lunar map. The variation of the appearance of lunar formations during the course of a lunation is very forcibly described, as also is that due to libration. The effects of the changes in temperature are referred to as causing a physical varia- tion of the surface, and the changes in the crator Linne, and the ring-plains of Messier are referred to as probable instances of physical change. The various formations on the lunar surface are enumerated and described with considerable minuteness. With regard to the rills or clefts, Mr. Neison seems to incline to the belief that the majority of them are ancient river-beds, though at present their nature is purely con- jectural. Some thirty pages are devoted to an abstract of the work done upon the moon by various astronomers from the earliest times ; but we find no mention of Nasmyth's and Carpenter's excellent book in this list, a work which surely deserves some notice. The book, of 576 pages, is illustrated by five drawings of craters, and possesses no less than twenty-two maps, containing together the whole of the moon's surface, each of which is accompanied by a full explanation, taking up at least three-fourths of the book, the scale of the maps being 24 inches to the moon's diameter. Three of the craters— Gassendi, Maginus, and Theophilus, are drawn upon an enlarged scale. This work will, no doubt, be of considerable service to those who make our satellite their chief study, since, besides the objects enumerated by Beer, Madler, and Schmidt, it contains a large amount of new work. HOVELACQUE ON THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE La Lingnistique. By A. Hovelacque. (Paris : Reinwald and Cie., 1876.) IN speaking lately of the Science of Language we alluded to the question that is still being debated among its students as to whether it ought to be classed with the physical or with the historical sciences. Its method is that of the physical sciences, while phono- logy, which forms so integral and fundamental a part of comparative philology, is purely physiological in cha- racter. On the other hand, since phonetic sounds do not become language until they have been made signi- ficant, the science of language may be regarded as a his- torical one. M. Hovelacque is a warm supporter of the first opinion, and his book is an attempt to treat the science of language as a physical science pure and simple. In this respect he is a follower of Schleicher, as he is also in applying the Darwinian hypothesis to the history of speech and in holding at the same time that the various languages of the world have branched off from a number of independent centres. His work is a valuable contribu- tion to the literature of the subject. M. Hovelacque starts with the assertion that man is man solely in virtue of language, or rather of the capa- bility of language. Following M. Broca he holds that this capability is a function of the third frontal convolu- tion of the left, more rarely of the right, hemisphere of the brain, and that it was first acquired by a primate which thereby became a man. A certain number of the same primates, " less favoured by circumstances, were checked in their development, and relapsed into a re- gressive change of character ; their remains are to be recognised in the anthropoid apes, gorillas, chimpanzees, orangs, and gibbons." Those primates which by a pro- cess of natural selection acquired the capabiUty of speech and with that the characteristics of man, gradually im- proved upon their new possession, wherever external circumstances were favourable, and with the development Aug. lo 1876] NATURE 307 of speech came also the development of conceptual thought and a corresponding progress in culture and civilisation. A morphologic investigation of language enables us to trace the several stages of its development, and by supply- ing intermediate forms furnishes an important verification of the Darwinian theory. Thus we begin with isolating languages and monosyllabic roots, and then pass on through the agglutinative to the inflectional family of speech, each family, together with the members of each family, gradually increasing in complexity of organism. The roots themselves can be shown to be of onomatopoeic or interjectional origin, and the interval between them and the six distinct sounds emitted by the cebus azarcB of Paraguay is far less than that between the several stages of linguistic development. Linguistic development itself depends upon the changes brought about in the pronun- ciation of words by natural causes, and since the laws which regulate these changes fall ultimately under the province of physiology, the "historical life" of language is as much a subject of natural science as the more special phenomena of the physiologist. The main objection which offers itself to this theory is the necessity it involves of explaining the development of speech by the accidents of phonetic decay. No doubt the meaning of words is largely influenced by the forms they may assume in pronunciation under the action of phonetic laws which ultimately go back to such controlling conditions as climate, food, and the like ; but just as often it is the meaning which determines the form. After all, it is not the particular phonetic sound which consti- tutes language, but the signification put into it by the joint but unconscious action of a community. Without language, it is true, there can be no thought ; but it is equally true that language without thought would be only the gibberish of a parrot. Another objection which holds against the view of M. Hovelacque is the undue limitation which it im- poses upon the science of language. M. Hovelacque's work is little' more than a catalogue of the various languages of the world, classified morphologically and genealogically, with a description of the chief phonetic and grammatical peculiarities of each. No place is left for that inner life of language which stands nearer to psychology than to physiology, and the science of language is accordingly made almost synonymous with phonology alone. One misses an account of the nature of language and the causes of its change and growth ; one misses equally any reference to comparative grammar and syntax, to the changes of signification undergone by words, and the light they throw upon the history of the human mind. In short, in M. Hovelacque's hands the science of language appears as a classified collection of existing phenomena, while the causes and complex history of these phenomena are left untouched. In assuming, too, that the inflectional languages have once been isolat- ing, M. Hovelacque assumes much more than can be proved. The Indo-European tongues may once have resembled Chinese ; but there is no proof of the fact, if fact it be, and the " Parent-Aryan," as restored by Schleicher and Fick, is as thoroughly inflectional as Sanskrit itself. On the other hand, M. Hovelacque does good service in showing how fully all the evidence now at our disposal tells against the theory which would refer the manifold languages of the globe to only two or three original sources. On the contrary it would seem that the be- ginnings of speech were as numerous as the independent communities of primitive man. It is strange, however, that an author who hesitates about admitting the relation- ship of the Mongolian to the Finnic-Tatar group should yet accept without questioning the Indo-European affini- ties of Lycian and Etruscan- To sum up, M. Hovelacque is a good scholar, and his book is a useful summary of the relationship and charac- teristics of the various languages of the world. It is also a valuable contribution on the side of those who hold that the science of language must be included among the physical sciences. But it exhibits the defects as well as the advantages of this view ; and thus while it proves the difficulty of distinguishing between a physical and a his- torical science at least so far as the science of language is concerned, it yet shows that to regard the science of language as a merely physical one leads to an unsatis- factory inadequacy of treatment and an unjustifiable narrowness of view. A. H. Sayce THE GERMAN NORTH SEA COMMISSION J ahresbei'icht der Coinniission zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung der deutschen Meere in Kiel fiir die Jahre i2>y2, iZjT,. Im Auftrage des Koniglich Preus- sischen Ministeriums fiir die landwirthschaftlichen Angelegenheiten, herausgegeben von Dr. H. A. Meyer, Dr. K. Mobius, Dr. G. Karsten, Dr. V. Hensen, Dr. C. Kupffer. (Berlin, 1875.) THE second portion of the Report of the North Sea Expedition, just published, contains Article VI., Bryozoa, edited by Dr. Kirchenpauer. Like most of his countrymen, the author accepts Ehrenberg's name for this group, although there is no doubt that, as urged by Allman and Busk, Vaughan Thomson's name (Polyzoa) has the priority. The number of species met with is but small ; we make it 55, the author 54, but perhaps he excludes Pedicellina echinata. A most interesting account is given of the Flustra of the Northern Sea, and we wel- come the account of the geographical distribution which is appended to each species as a valuable addition to our knowledge. From the richness of Dr. Kirchenpauer's collections, he was peculiarly well able to give a long list of habitats. Among the very complete list of authors quoted, we miss a paper on New Zealand Polyzoa by Sir C. Wyville Thomson, published in the NaturalHistory Review for 1858. The Tunicata are described by Dr. C. Kupffer. Twenty- four species (not twenty-three) of Simple Ascidians are enumerated, belonging to the following genera : — Ciona, 3 sp. ; Phallusia, 6 sp. ; Corella, i sp. ; Cynthia, 8 sp. (i new) ; Molgula, 5 sp. (3 new) ; Pelonasa, i sp. The author describes as occurring in some species of Cynthia and Pelonsea certain nipple-shaped bodies met with in the water chamber. These are regarded as standing in close relationship with the circulatory system, and are called Endocarps. All of the species, except those for the first time described, are to be met with in Great Britain ; some of them are among those recently described by Alder and Hancock from the West of Ireland, and five of them are 3o8 NATURE \Aug. lo, 1876 represented in a coloured plate. Of the MoUusca, the Gymnobranchs are described by Dr. H. A. Meyer. The number of species met with is but twenty-three ; there is not much that is noteworthy in the list, but that " singular and gaudy animal" of Montagu, Thccacera pcnnigera, so rare on the British coasts, was met with. The list of the Brachiopods, Lamellibranchs, and Gasteropods is a very elaborate one, drawn up quite after the fashion of our British Association Dredging Reports ; the locality, depth in fathoms, and nature of the ground in which each species was found is given, and a sketch of its geographi- cal distribution is added. The greatest depth reached was about 365 fathoms. Crania anomala and TerebraUi- lina caput- serpentis appear to have been met with in quite shallow water; Malletia {Yoldid) obticsa, Szxs., Kelliella abyssicola, Sars., and other deep-sea species were met with at depths of from 50 to 360 fathoms. The following species are described as new : — Lacuna vestiia, off Yar- mouth ; LaeococJilis p07n}neranice, nov. gen. et sp. ; Fusics viabli, and Laihyrus albellus. These three latter species are figured. Article IX., by Dr. Mobius, describes the Copepoda and Cladocera. Euchceta carinata, sp. n., is described and figured. The remaining orders of Crustacea are describ.d by Metzger. We note the appearance in the North Sea of an Erichthus form, thus indicating the presence of a Squilla. Galaihea Andrewsii, Kin., is placed as a synonym of G. into-media, Lilljb. ; Thia polita, Ntka edulis, Bythocaris simplicirostris, and other interesting forms, were met with. Sergestes Meyeri, Byblis crassi- cornis, and Dulichia monocantha are described and figured as new. The list of fish taken is most meagre, containing but thirty-two species. The meteorological investigations of Prof. Karsten are exceedingly interesting, and records are appended as to the temperatures of the sea at various depths. Dr. Hensen appends a Report on the Fisheries of the German Coast, in which we find elaborate statistics of the number of fishing-stations, of the fishermen, and the amount of assistance given to them. The off-shore fisher- men are distinguished from the deep-sea trawlers. The number of fishermen on the German coasts is 17,195, with say 8,130 boats ; the number of English fishermen, is given as 134,000, with 36,000 boats. In France, the number is 73,757 men, with 16,819 boats ; in Italy, 60,000 men and 18,000 boats; in Austria, 7,196 men and 1,852 boats. These numbers are based on reports dating between 18 71 and 1874. A portion of the Report is devoted to the subject of the possibility of estimating the take of fish. According to the official return of the German Treasury on the import and export of fish during 1873, it would appear that these equalled on — m. River fish and cray- fish 342,000 Sea fish in general 3,150,000 Herrings 27,798,600 Shellfish 387,000 Caviar 973,000 Total ... 32,650,000 This portion of the Report of the North Sea Commis- sion ought to be studied by all those interested in our own fisheries. E. P. W. OUR BOOK SHELF Eiiihth Annual Report of the Noxious, Beneficial, and other Insects of the State of Missouri. By Charles V. Riley, State Entomologist. The perusal of Mr. Riley's yearly reports is one of the pleasures to which the entomologist looks forward with undiminishing eagerness. Each succeeding volume throws open to the student of science fresh fields of discovery in the realms of both nature and art. Mr. Riley's ready appre- ciation of the practically useful in invention, accompanied by that quick discernment which enables him at once to reject or rectify what is useless or cumbersome, renders him especially fitted for the responsible position which he occupies. The report now before us is devoted to the considera- tion of five noxious insects, and one innoxious — the Colorado Beetle, the Canker-worm, the Army-worm, the Rocky Mountain Locust, the Grape Phylloxera, and the Yucca-borer, the greater space being given to the third and fourth of the above-mentioned species, in conse- quence of the ravages which they have committed in Missouri during the past year. In the chapter on the Canker-worm an illustrated de- scription is given of a very simple and ingenious contri- vance (p. 20) for arresting the progress of the insect at the time of oviposition ; it consists of a circle of tin which surrounds the trunk of the imperilled tree at a few inches distance, and which is held in position by a circle of muslin attached to the tin at its lower edge, and drawn closely round the trunk, with a cord, at the top ; the tin is then covered with a mixture of castor oil and kerosene on its inner surface, which forms an effectual barrier to the insects. Other interesting inventions are described ; and not only are careful figures prepared of the noxious species in all stages, but also of their natural enemies ; so that it is the agriculturist's own fault if he fails to distinguish between his friends and foes. The Report concludes with the life-history of the Yucca- borer {Megathymus yuccce), an insect hitherto referred to the moths, but which Mr. Riley determines to be a butterfly. Judging by the figure of the adult larva it might be ques- tioned whether the insect is not as nearly related to the moths ; it has the aspect of a Sphinx larva with the wrinkled and (apparently) shining character and general coloration of a Cossus ; ^ the pupa bears out the resem- blance ; the rapidity of its flight quite accords with what is notoriously the character of a Hawk-moth, and the form of its antennas in no way militates against such an affinity ; still it must in fairness be admitted that Mr. Riley adduces much evidence in favour of the Rhopulo- cerous character of the species, the value of which cannot be contradicted until we can bring forward proofs that some undoubted moth possesses the same structural peculiarities. A. G. B. 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. \ Optical Experiments I. Fold a sheet of writing-paper into a tube whose diameter is about 3 cm. Keeping both eyes open, look through * the tube with one eye, and look at the hand with the other, the hand being placed close by the tube. An extraordinary phenomenon will be observed. A hole the size of the tube will appear cut through the hand, through which objects are distinctly visible. That part of the tube between the eye and hand will appear ' Mr. Riley notes its resemblance to this genus (p. 177). ^ It is necessary to focus the eye upon any object seen tJirough the tube. —Ed. Aug. lo, 1876] NATURE 309 transparent, as thoujjh the hand were seen through it. This experiment is not new, but I have never seen it described. The explanation of it is quite evident. 2. Drop a blot of ink upon the palm of the hand, at the point where the hole appears to be, and again observe as before. Unless the attention be strongly concentrated upon objects seen through the tube, the ink-spot will be visible within the tube (apparently), but that part of the hand upon which it rests will be mvisible, unless special attention be directed to the hand. Ordinarily the spot will appear opaque. By directing the tube upon brilliantly illuminated objects, it will, however, appear transparent, and may be made to disappear by proper effort. By concentrating the attention upon the hand, it may also be seen within the tube (especially if strongly illuminated), that part immediately surrounding the ink>spot appearing first. 3. Substitute for the hand a sheet of unruled paper, and for the ink-spot a small hole cut through the paper. The small hole will appear within the tube, distinguishing itself by its higher illumination, the paper immediately surrounding it being invisible. Many other curious experiments will suggest them- selves. For example : if an ink-spot somewhat larger than the tube be observed, the lower end of the tube will a;ppear to be blackened on the inside. 4. While making these experiments, an improvement upon the experiment described in Nature, vol. xii., p. 502, was suggested, as follows : — Look through a paper tube with one eye at green paper, and through another tube with the other eye, at red paper. The paper should be illuminated by the direct solar ray. The two colours, at first vivid, are rapidly enfeebled. After half a minute, transfer both eyes to either one of the papers, say red. To the eye fatigued by green, the red colour is very brilliant, and the effect is the more striking on account of the simultaneous impressions now received by the two eyes. Washington University, St. Louis F. E. NiPHER Antedated Books The evil practice of issuing antedated periodicals has long been a matter of complaint amongst naturalists. The editor of the ^Journal Jiir Ornithologie is a well-known sinner in this respect — the quarterly number of that journal, although in- variably dated on the first day of each quarter, being always several months in arrear. But a still more flagrant instance of this practice is now before me in the third number of the new edition of Layard's "Birds of South Africa," which, although only issued to the subscribers within these last few days, is dated on the cover "May, 1875 !" As two new genera {A'cthocichla and Neocichla) are instituted herein, the result is to give these names an unjust priority of fifteen months over what they are legally entitled to. This seems to be a still easier method of gaining precedence than the American practice of publishing telegraphic bulletins of new discoveries, and will not, I trust, be persevered in, if attention is called to it. F;Z.S. August 7 Protective Mimicry I HAVE been reading over in the file of Nature the contro- versy that arose out of Mr. Alfred Bennett's paper at the British Association in 1870, on "Natural Selection from a Mathematical Point of View," in which he attacked Darwin's theory on what seems to be one of its strongest points, namely, protective mimicry. I do not feel certain whether he is right or not in denying that natural selection is adequate to produce mimicry. The argument really depends on a question of fact, namely, whether the first variation could be great enough to be useful to its possessor ; and from the great comparative variability of colour, I see no decided impossibility in this. But the writers m that controversy neglected other facts of colour which it seems impossible for natural selection to pro- duce, from the infinite improbability of a first variation ever occurring. One of these is the change of colour with the seasons in such animals as the ermine, which is brown in summer and white in winter. Had the ermine been either permanently brown or permanently white, there would have been nothing wonderful in it, but it seems impossible that the cha- racter of becoming white in the winter and brown in the summer could ever have originated in ordinary spontaneous variation, without a guiding intelhgence. Another case of at least equal difficulty is the case of change of colour for the purpose of protection, from moment to moment. The chameleon is the best known instance of this, but I believe there are many such cases among fishes. It seems utterly im- possible for such a character to originate in spontaneous un- guided variation. Joseph John Murphy Old Forge, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, July 20 A REMARKABLE instance of this phenomenon is shown in a small crustacean, of the genus " Rypton" (Mr. Spence Bate has not yet determined whether it be a new species or no). This very delicate little animal is found only in holes in the coral inhabited by the common "Echinus" of Mauritius; its colour is a deep purple, with four longitudinal stripes of a much lighter tint ; and this is precisely the pattern of the spiiies of the said Echinus. WiLMOT H. T. Power \ Ophiuchi I AM going to undertake the calculation of elements of X Ophiuchi, which you proposed to calculators in Nature, vol. xiv. p. 29. I shall also within a short time give orbits of 7 Coronge, which has not been separated as far as I know since spring, 1867, when it was obseived in Harvard College, and of I Libree (Scorpii). About the latter binary star we know but very little. Madler has given a circular orbit with a period of over 100 years, while Thiele gives a highly eccentric orbit with a period of about fifty years. It may very likely be found that the older determination is the most trustworthy, but the case deserves a thorough examination, which I am going to make. I have been engaged in a re-determination of elements of 6 Coronse, by which the long period has been re-ascertained. There are different other double stars which with advantage might be inquired into, and thus prevent different investigators from confining themselves to the same objects, while others remain uncared for. I hope that you will be kind enough to publish the above remarks in your widely circulated paper. Markree Observatory, CoUooney, William Doberck Ireland, July 17 The Cuckoo The cuckoo is still singing in this part of the country. I may mention, as a point of some interest, that the note of this bird in South Germany is precisely the same in pitch as it is here, the observations in both cases having been made with a tuning-fork in the month of May. Can any of your readers inform me whether the cuckoo in all parts of the country is in the habit of occasionally singing the cue without the koo ? George J. Romanes Ross-shire, July 24 THE FERMENTATION OF URINE AND THE GERM THEORY CAN Bacteria or their germs live in liquor potassze (Pharm. Brit.) when it is raised to the boiling-point (212° F.) ? Such is now the simple issue to which cer- tain great controversies have been reduced. If Bacteria germs cannot resist such an exposure, then, by M. Pasteur's own impHcit admission, his exclusive germ- theory of fermentation must be considered to be over- thrown by the broader physico-chemical theory. The truth or not of M. Pasteur's germ-theory is the central question in dispute, but standing on either side, or in close juxtaposition, are two dependent subjects of contro- versy whose importance for biological science and for medicine is even greater. The question whether living matter can or cannot originate de novo, for example, depends upon the answer which is to be given to the question whether Bacteria and their germs are or are not killed in boiling liquor potassae. This, also, is practically admitted by M. Pasteur in his comments {Comptes Rendus, July 1 7) upon my recent experimental evidence. The other subordinate problem, the solution of which 3IO NATURE [Aug. lo, 1876 depends upon the same issue, is the truth or falsity of an exclusive germ-theory in explanation of the origin and spread of the communicable diseases. If the germ-theory of fertilisation can be proved to be untrue, and if living ferments can be proved to originate spontaneously, we should soon cease to hear much about an exclusive germ- theory of disease. This derivative doctrine would not long survive the death of its parents. Thus M. Pasteur's theory of fermentation, the popular doctrine omne vivum ex vivo, and the germ-theory of disease, must all be simultaneously overthrown if it can- not be proved by M. Pasteur, or some of his followers, that Bacteria germs are not killed when they are im- mersed in strong liquor potassze raised to 212° F. (100" C). How matters have been brought to this desperate predi- cament may be explained in a very few words. Since the year 1862, M. Pasteur has defended four main positions, on the strength of which he has based his germ-theory of fermentation, his repudiation of " spon- taneous generation," and his support to the germ-theory of disease. In the year 1870 and subsequently, I have many times submitted these four positions to an inde- pendent criticism by means of experiment, and the result has been a confirmation of two of them, and a rejection of the remaining two — the rejection being necessitated rather on account of facts obtained by new methods than from any implied defect in the particular range of expe- riments from which so distinguished an investigator as M. Pasteur deduced his opinions. Our respective views on these four points may be thus tabulated : — Pasteur Bastian 1. That all boiled organic I. That some boiled organic infusions havingan acid reaction infusions having an acid reac- will, when protected from con- tion will, when protected from tamination, invariably remain contamination, ferment and pure. swarm with Bacteria. 2. That all Bacteria and their 2. Do. germs are killed in such boiled acid fluids. 3. That sotne boiled organic 3. Do. infusions having a neutral, or slightly alkaline reaction, will not remain pure even when protected from contamination. They will, on the contrary, ferment and swarm with Bac- teria. 4. That all Bacteria and their 4. That all Bacteria and their germs are not killed in such germs are killed in such neu- neutral or slightly alkaline tral or slightly alkaline fluids fluids raised to 212° F. (100° raised to 212° F. (100° C). C). Omitting, for the present, all intermediate stages of the controversy which has now been carried on for several years between one or other of M. Pasteur's followers and myself, I will proceed to show how the questions between us have been affected by my latest researches. The results obtained in these researches have been embodied in a memoir communicated to the Royal Society on June 15, of which an abstract was published in Nature, vol. xiii., p. 220. Avery short "Note" on the subject of these researches was also submitted to the Acadimie des Sciences on July 10, and subsequently pub- lished in the number of the Cotnptes Reiidus bearing that date. M. Pasteur replied to this note at the next meeting of the Academy {Cojnptes Rendus, July 17), at a time when he would appear not to have seen the fuller abstract of my researches published in Nature. This will ac- count for an error into which he seems to have fallen in regard to one of the most important conditions prescribed for some of my experiments, to which I shall have occa- sion presently to refer. In the first place, however, I must call attention to a different part of the subject. One of the most notable results of my recent work is this : — I have ascertained that a moderately acid urine will, after it has been boiled, remain pure when kept free from contamination at a temperature of 77°-86° F. (25°- 30° C), though the same specimen of " sterilised " urine will ferment and swarm with Bacteria in less than three days, if it is maintained at the higher temperature of 122° F. (50° C). Many acid vegetal infusions will behave in precisely the same manner. Here, then, is a ready means by which any careful experimenter may ascertain whether M. Pasteur is not wrong in maintaining his proposition No. i. And if this is the case, then there is nothing for M. Pasteur to do but to renounce his exclusive germ-theory of fermenta- tion, and to adopt the doctrine of "spontaneous genera- tion," since he still declares that Bacteria and their germs are killed in acid fluids raised to 212° F. (100° C). His words are {Coinptes Rendjts, July 17, p. 179) : — "J'ai prouvd directement qu'ils perissent dans un milieu acide h. 100 degrcs." But there is another means ot establishing the truth of my conclusions derived from these recent researches to which I will now allude. This is the point principally referred to in my " Note " to the Academy, and upon which M. Pasteur dwells in the above-mentioned com- munication. As regards the frequent fertility of boiled organic fluids having a neutral or faintly alkaline reaction (No. 3) it will be seen that M. Pasteur and myself are thoroughly agreed, notwithstanding Prof Tyndall's representations to the contrary, made in the columns of this journal in the early part of this year. M. Pasteur now says {Comptes Rendus, July 17, p. 178) : — "Je m'empresse de declarer que les expdriences de M. le Dr. Bastian sont, en effet, tres exactes ; elles donnent Ic plus souvent les rdsultats qu'il indique ... II n'y a donc^entre M. Bastian et moi qu'une difference dans I'interprdtation d'expdriences qui nous sont maintenant communes." The difference of interpretation to which M. Pasteur alludes depends upon our difference of view in regard to position No. 4. It was specially with the hope of dissipating any doubt remaining upon this part of the question that one section of my new experiments was undertaken. I determined to submit M. Pasteur's interpretation to the test of direct experiments, conducted in a way likely to yield decisive results. If the fertility of the boiled neutralised fluids or infu- sions were really due to the survival of germs, as M. Pasteur supposes, then the boiling of the fluid in its acid state (when its germs would by admission be destroyed), and the subsequent addition to it of a sufficient amount of boiled liquor potassse, without extraneous contamination, should be attended by negative results — that is, the fluid should remain pure, according to M. Pasteur, if it were really germless. But numerous experiments performed in this manner have shown me that sterilised urine, to which boiled liquor potassse, in proper quantity, is added, will ferment and swarm with Bacteria in a few days — and all the more quickly if the experimental vessels and their fluids are maintained at a temperature of 122° F. (50° C). M. Pasteur, whilst admitting che facts, says that this addition of boiled liquor potassae to sterilised urine causes the mixture to ferment because such added liquor potassEe contains germs which were not killed when this fluid was raised to 212° F. (100° C). This, truly, is an astounding hypothesis. My reply, however, is simple. It was an objection already antici- pated and met by me, as any one may see by referring to the concluding portion of my abstract, as published in Nature. The answer is this : — If boiled liquor potassa; were a germ- containing medium, then one or two drops of it (as of other germ-containing media) would always be capable of contaminating many ounces, or even a gallon or more of sterilised acid urine. This, however, is never the case. Ang. lo, 1876] NATURE V^ The boiled liquor potassae is only capable of imitating fer- mentative changes, and of leading to the appearance of Bacteria when it is added in quantities strictly regulated by the quantity and degree of acidity of the specimens of urine with which experiment is being made. Another fact, just as strikingly opposed to M. Pasteur's view that Bacteria germs can survive in boiled liquor potassK has been revealed by my researches on the fer- mentation of urine. It is this : — A very slight excess of liquor potassas over and above the quantity needed for exact neutralisation almost always yields negative results. This, of course, would be quite inexplicable if the liquor potassaj really acted as a mere germ-containing medium. An en-or of procedure of this kind, unwittingly made by M. Pasteur, because he was not forewarned, was in all probability the reason of his obtaining negative results when he operated with solid potash raised to 110° C. or higher. M. Pasteur says {loc. cit., p. 179) : The potash was dropped into the urine in quantity sufficient to render it "alkaline." The negative results obtained in these trials he attributes to the fact that the potash had been heated to 230° F. (110° C), whilst I feel certain that they were rather due to the addition of an excess of potash, seeing that the addition, as he himself says, ren- dered the fluid " alkaline." Briefly, then, M. Pasteur admits me to be correct in staling that boiled liquor potassas, in proper quantity, will fertilise sterilised urine, and I prove that his inter- pretation of this fact is wrorg by referring him to the totally different effects which would result from the addi- tion of one or two drops, or of a slight excess of boiled liquor potassas. These effects are wholly irreconcilable with the notion that living germs are capable of surviving after they have been boiled in strong liquor potassas. H. Charlton Bastian OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN Reissig's Comet (?) of 1803.— The following particu- lars of a stellar-looking object, with considerable retro- grade motion, were communicated to Bode — at the time the centre of general astronomical correspondence — by Reissig, of Cassel, son of a well-known optician at that place. He stated to Bode that on the morning of Feb. 2, 1803, he perceived with a 30-inch comet-seeker, near the double- star 148 Ophiuchi B. (36 Ophiuchi Fl.), a star of from 5th to 6th magnitude, which he had not remarked on Jan. 28, with a 7-feet reflector. " The star or comet," under a power of 400, appeared without sensible nebulosity, and somewhat magnified. On the early morning of Feb. 4, the stranger appeared to have moved to the westward. The weather was not clear again till the morning of the 7th, when the object was faint from presence of the full moon, and it was difficult to fix its position. On the 9th it was found near 139 Scorpii B. (25 Scorpii Fl.) ; at 3.2 A.M. it occulted this star, and at 4.9 there was first perceived a space between them. Unfavourable weather following, further observa- tion was prevented. Reissig sent Bode a small chart of the path of the object " between tt Ophiuchi arid Antares," and the four following places, from observations with a 3-feet Gregorian reflector and an annular micrometer. h. m. o / • / Feb. 2 at 4 51 a.m. ... R.A. 253 48 ... Decl. 26 19 S. „ 4„ 3 49 M - » 252 4 ... „ 25 49 „ 8„ 4 4 „ ... „ 249 30 ... „ 25 12 „ 9„ 4 4S .. ••• .. 248 51 ... „ 25 II With regard to these places, Bode remarked that they do not lie in a regular curve, which may well be attributed to the observations (apparently rough). He observed, further, that the elongation of the object from the sun on Feb. 2 was 56° 34' W., that as seen from the sun its motion must have been retrograde, and hence it was " a ■ :ant comet." On attempting to found a parabolic orbit upon the positions given by Reissig, taking, however, the place of 25 Scorpii for the place of the object at 3.2 A.M. on the 9th, it is soon apparent that the distance, instead of being very great, as Bode surmised, must have been very small, so small, indeed, that the earth's perturbations during the week's observations, might, and probably would, greatly distort the apparent track as deduced from the orbit. In fact, after a number of trials, in which, as was to be ex- pected, the elements resulting therefrom differed but slightly and yet gave large differences in the geocentric places, we find that, assuming the elements to be — Perihelion Passage, 1803, February 10 "164 G.M.T. Longitude of Perihelion 146 15 ,, Ascending Node 307 45 Inclination o 55 Log. Perihelion Distance 9 '98234 Heliocentric Motion — Direct, the following apparent track of the comet results — oil G.M.T. 1803, Jan. 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Feb. I Longitude. 62 35 60 52 57 44 49 56 10 29 278 57 262 2 256 2 Latitude. O / + 2 17 + 26 + I 47 + o 57 - 3 I -5 18 -4 6 - 3 40 Distance from the Earth. , 00336 . 00258 . 0'0l82 . o'oio6 . o'0040 . 00065 . 0-0137 . 00214 No further weight is to be attached to these inferences from calculation than as tending to render possible such positions of an object moving under the laws of gravita- tion, but duly regarding the rough character of Reissig's observations, his last place differing some ten minutes of arc from what we might judge it to have been, if 25 Scorpii were occulted an hour previous. If a comet were really moving in an orbit with elements resembling the above, it might have passed in twenty-four hours (January 29-30) from Pisces to Sagittarius, and the circumstance of the object not being found by Reissig near the place it occupied on February 2, with a much larger telescope on January 28, would be accounted for. We are met never- theless by the difficulty, that for a body at so small a distance from the earth, to appear like a star of the fifth or sixth magnitude, devoid of nebulosity, it is necessary to assign it very small dimensions, while the appearance described is quite irreconcilable with the aspect presented by the few comets which have been seen in close proximity to the earth, particularly that of 1770, which at its perigee was upwards of two degrees in diameter according to Messier. Reissig claimed to have discovered the comet of i8oi some twelve days before it was detected by Pons, but the account he sent Bode of his observations is a singularly lame one. (B. J., 1805, p. 129.) It must be admitted that the examination of such observations as those of Reissig and of Huth, as treated in this column last week, is mainly a matter of curiosity, still if it be possible to show that the observations are not necessarily to be regarded as impositions upon the astro- nomical world, it will be granted that something is gained thereby. Satellites of Saturn. — Mr. Marth's elaborately constructed ephemerides of the satellites of Saturn appear in the Astronomische Nachrtchtai, Nos. 2,098-2,100, with some remarks on the advantage of careful esti- mations of conjunctions with the ends of the ring and the limbs of the ball over micrometrical measures during the next two or three years. The preparation of these ephemerides must involve an amount of labour and care of which few but those who have attempted such calcu- lations can form any adequate idea, and their value is I proportionally great- 312 NATURE \Atig. lo, 1876 THE MUSEUM OF NATIONAL ANTIQUITIES OF FRANCE A LL the French national museums are located in Paris •^^ with the exception of the Museum of National Anti- quities, which is at some distance from Paris, in a small town of the banlieue. Although the Chateau de Saint Germain, which has been allotted to that interesting and really national collection, is a very picturesque monument, and the forest round a favourite pleasure-ground for Parisian families, the site allotted to the museum about ten years ago was not selected with the view of giving an additional attraction to the place. But the very idea of collecting relics of prehistoric ages in order to demonstrate that our ancestors lived in the age of the so-called diluvian ani- mals was opposed' by a formidable number of influential people. Napoleon III., personally a believer in the new theory, insisted upon the creation of the museum, but he assented to place it at St. Germain in order not to oftend directly the prejudices of a formidable number of his sup- porters. The St. Germain chateau was elegantly built in brick- work by Francis I., the king chevalier, who dedicated it to his fair dame, Diane de Poitiers. It was within its walls that Louis XIV. was born, and the government of the Mazarin was sitting in its elegant precincts when Paris was in the hands of the Fronde. Louis XIV. disregarded the building where his cradle had been sur- rounded by such dangers, and built Versailles with all its magnificence at a small distance of six miles. So St. Germain sank gradually from the dignity of a regal resi- dence into the degrading condition of a prison for soldiers condemned to penal servitude by the Council of War of the First Military Division. The site was only famous as being the favourite spot where Alexander Dumas built his celebrated villa of Monte Christo, and the first place connected by a railway with Paris, as early as 1837. The opening of the museum was the inauguration of a new era for the castle of St. Germain. Reparations and restorations were begun with activity, and are proceeding with such zeal that in the course of two years hence they will be completed. During the Franco- German war St. Germain was a stronghold of the German armies be- sieging Paris, but the museum remained unmolested, having been taken by the Emperor William under his special protection, and M. Gabriel de Mortillet, the conservateur, who had remained at his post, took advantage of his influence to protect the inhabitants of the city with much energy. His superior, the then Director of the Museum, is M. Alexandre Bertrand, a brother to M. Joseph Bertrand, the present Perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Sciences. The museum is now placed under the control of the histori- cal commission for constructing the Map of Gaul. This learned body is publishing a magnificent series of maps and engravings in order to illustrate the progress of the science of the prehistoric period, as well as of the Gallic, Roman, Gallo- Roman, and Merovingian. They are also manufacturing in the establishment models of the objects exhibited which cannot be sold for money, but are sent by the Government to the several pro- vincial museums, or presented to learned men in con- sideration of objects given to the museum, so that they may be acquired by way of exchange. There is also in the establishment a special Hbrary in which have been collected by M. Gabriel de Mortillet all the books re- lating to prehistoric antiquities, and which is open free on certam days to the public. A carefully compiled cata- logue has been prepared, and is to be published. The establishment is in some respects connected with the Prehistoric Congress, M. Gabriel de Mortillet having origmated the idea at La Spezzia, and M. Alexandre Bertrand or he having been delegated by the Govern- ment to all similar meetings which have taken place since that period. M. Alexandre Bertrand was delegated to Stockholm last year. The objects collected in the galleries are very numerous, arranged in excellent order, and accompanied by inscrip- tions sufficient for the perfect understanding of their his- torical bearings. A catalogue has been issued, and is sold at a small price by the porters. In the basement have been located casts from the Trojan column for showing the arms and manner of the Romans when practising warfare. In the same part of the building are to be found the models of Roman arms which were tried in the Polygon of the forest before the members of the Congress of Geography, as mentioned in our " Notes." These apparatus were constructed by a French officer in order to elucidate questions raised by the publication of "La Vie de Ce'sar," edited by Napoleon III., who had secured the collaboration of a number of eminent members of the Acaddmie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. Two volumes of that altogether interesting and well-written book (although the theories of Caasarism cannot be said to have borne the severe test of facts) have been pub- lished by M. Plon, the ^editor of his Imperial Majesty. The first sold immensely, as Napoleon III. was then at the zenith of his power ; but the circulation of the second, issued a few months before the Franco-German war broke out, was very limited indeed— so limited that the editor prosecuted the Emperor to recover the money spent by him ; but the petition was discharged with costs. It is for the publication of " La Vie de Cdsar " that the siege of Alesia, the ciossing of the Rhine, &c., have been expeditiously and carefully executed. The building of bridges over powerful streams, encampments established, assaults given, cities defended, all the warlike operations of the Romans, can be understood by a visit paid to the Museum of St. Germain. All this would have remained a mystery for thousands of visitors, as the museum is fast becoming a place of resort, if Napoleon III. had not felt it necessary to justify by historical arguments his theories on the advantages of the government of societies by men with a special destiny. The large hall in the second floor may be said to be the most essential part of the museum. It contains the famous Moulin Guignon jaw and other human fossils dis- covered by Boucher de Perthes. In a glass case have been exposed seriatim the celebrated bones embellished by prehistoric artists with sculptures of the then hving ani- mals. A magnificent bust of Boucher de Perthes, and another of Christy, the famous English banker and amateur geolo- gist, have been erected side by side in a conspicuous place. It is a justice paid to their joint labours in the foundation of prehistoric science. It was due to the moral courage displayed when resisting the authorities, of such men as Cuvier, Elie de Beaumont, Buckland, and a number of other official geologists, and to the in- genuity displayed in the demonstration of such important facts. On the walls have been painted magnificent maps ex- hibiting the distribution of caves and places where stone or bronze implements have been discovered, and the limits of the several Gallic tribes in existence when Caesar iiivaded Gaul. A number of pictures alfresco are ex- hibited showing the several phases of prehistoric life, prin- cipally in lake-dwellings. No such institution is to be found in England, although cave-hunting is becoming an important pursuit in the country of Lubbock, Lyell, Huxley, and Dawkins. A visit to St. Germain is a very usef^ul way of spending a holiday, especially if the visitor has previously written a note to M. Gabriel de Mortillet, who is always ready to give kindly personal explanation to foreign visitors. W. DE FONVIELLE Aug. lo, 1876] NATURE 3'3 THE BASKING SHARK TO many it may be a quite new and strange fact that the Basking Shark, almost the largest fish now living, is to be commonly met with at certain seasons around the western part of the British Islands. The fine specimens recently added to the zoological collections of the British Museum and the Royal Dublin Society have excited some wonder ; but the popular mind, while it associates sharks with tropical seas and coral reefs, seems as yet hardly to have taken in the fact that if it wants to 5>ee about the biggest of all sharks in small shoals, playfully gambolling, it need wander no farther than to the Atlantic coast of Ireland. There, towards the end of April, and often all through May, these Basking Sharks will be met with. They have even been counted off Tory Island in shoals of from sixty to a hundred, bask- ing in the bright morning suns of June. It is about no years ago since the esteemed Bishop Gunnerus (bom 17 18, died 1773) pub- lished an account of this big fish in the Trondhjem Society's Journal, and a great number of authors have written on the subject since then. Under many local names — Basking Shark, Sun-fish, Pelerin — it has been well known to fishermen ; it reaches a length of 40 feet, although average-sized speci- mens do not measure more than between 20 and 30 feet in length ; of large size, and 5hark though it be, it would appear, like many other big animals, to be of a gentle, mild, and placid disposition, to be fond of sunning itself on bright days, and to never interfere with mankind unless when they interfere with it ; and yet with all these facts in its favour, the animal being, so to speak, common, having local names, being of a size not easily overlooked, and not being, like its cousin the Blue Shark, a man-eating devil, this Selache maximus was very little heard of and less known until the other day. Twelve months ago Dumeril, in his " Ichthyologie G^n^rale," could with truth write about the specimen in the Museum at Paris : " II semble etre, jusqu'k present, le seul repr^- sentant dans les Musses de I'Europe centrale de cette ^norme esp^ce des Mers du Nord.'' To this moment nothing very exact is known as to its food. Pennant thought it fed on marine plants, Linnaeus considered its food to be medusae ; some fishermen foolishly think it lives on herrings ; and as to its times and seasons nothing is known. Why does it come from north to south, and why then go north again ? So little being known about its form and habits, it is not much to be wondered at that very little is known about its anatomy ; and yet Sir Everard Home wrote an anatomical account of it, which is to be found in the Philosophical Transactions for 1809, in which he tells us that he found in the stomach of this fish structures showing a link in the gradation of animals between the whale tribe and the cartilaginous fishes. Why, to work out this idea alone ought to send the comparative anatomists off at once to Tory Island or Bofin.^ We would, however, refer to another anatomical peculiarity, which, had it been known to Sir E. Home, would doubtless have clenched his argument, namely, the presence of rays or fringes of a whale- bone-like substance along the gill-openings. It is true that Gunnerus in 1766 refers to these strange fringes ; it is true that in the museum of that far north city of Trondhjem — and within view of the wondrous old cathedral where Gunnerus lies buried, and where to this day Norway's kings are crowned — there is to be seen a piece of one of them ; that other Northern Museums, those of Christiania, Kiel, and Copenhagen also possess pieces, and equally ' Islands off the west aoast of Ireland — well known localities for this shark. true, that during all these days Gunnerus's statements had been overlooked, and these fringes were a puzzle to every- one who examined them. Prof. Hannover, indeed, in 1867, from their minute structure, described them, and thought they were planted on the outside of the fish's skin, like the long spines of certain rays. Prof. Steenstrup, in whose charge the specimen we figure is, and to whose kindness we are indebted for the figure (i), having made up his mind that it did belong to the Basking Shark, proceeded to work out us history, and so came upon Gunnerus's description, which enabled him Fig. I. to suggest that this shark must have the interior of its mouth furnished with branchial fringes of a peculiar nature. He further argued that these must act as strainers ; that the shark takes in whole volumes of minute food, catches it on these fringes, and then swallows it. He declares it to be a great mistake to call this fish a carnivore, that is, if he eats flesh at all, it is small flesh, not big flesh. He then objects to the writer of these lines, when describing a shark found in the Sey-^ chelles — " which is, the north whale excepted, the largest of living animals" — saying, "contrary to the habits of sharks, this one is not a carnivorous, but a herbivorous fish," as being too much on the other extreme. My excellent friend is right, and I have now no doubt that both these big, lubberly beasts — which in their mouth have scarcely more than the name of te^th — feed on all sorts of minute oceanic creatures, frequently taking in with them floating algae. And he will be glid to know that, acting on the hint in his p^per, when Mr. Cullen, the assistant in the Trinity College Dublin Museum, went down to Bofin in May of last year, to preserve for Fig. 3. Dr. Carte the specimen now in the Dublin Museum, the first thing he did was to put his hand into the still quite fresh branchial openings, when he at once felt what Gunnerus had felt in 1766 — the whalebone-1 ke fringes. It is to be hoped that my colleague. Prof. Macalisier, wiU ere long give an account of this specimen ; m the mean- while a description of the annexed (fig. 2) drawng of these fringes — now for the first lime figured in situ — will not be without some interest. The gill-openings are five in number on each side of the neck. The first pair almost meeting on the top of the back. A thought here strikes us. As a rule these gill Q2 314 NATURE \Aug. lo, 1876 slits in the large sharks are small, here they are of immense size. Their function is to allow of sufficient water to flow in and over the gills to oxygenate the fish's blood ; but in Selache they serve also as supports to the strainers ; and as so big a body must require a great lot of food, the in-takings and out-puttings must be many, and might account for the gradual increase in the size of these slits until they reached their present immense proportions, where they have to subserve both the functions of nutri- tion and circulation. The convexity of the gill-openings is towards the shark's mouth, the concavity of these fringed rays is in the same direction. The edge repre- sented in the drawing as jagged — an appearance assumed in drying— is attached to the inner edge of the flaps covering the gill-openings, being somewhat more firmly attached towards the central portion, which in the draw- ing is far too cartilaginous-looking. The gills are outside the whalebone fringes. There seems little reason to doubt but that the free points of the fringes of the one row can be so erected from its gill ray edge as to bend forwards and join, and perhaps slightly interlace with those of the opposite row, and thus there would be a series of arches of whalebone protruding into the neck cavity of the fish. When these fringes are applied to the sur- face of the gill rays, the water could flow without resistance. The gills were quite free from parasites, in this respect differing from the gills of the Rhinodon of the Seychelles. Although this is not the place to enter into minute details, there is little doubt that Dr. Fleming is wrong in stating that the skin seems smooth when the hand is passed from the head to the tail ; and yet though the scales are, as described by Dr. J. E. Gray, armed with small curved points bent in all directions, so that the skin feels rough each way, the hand can be rubbed several times more eisily from head to tail than frorri tail to head, indicating that a larger number of the curved points are directed towards the tail. The oil from the liver of a medium-sized Basking Shark is worth nearly 40/. sterling ; but the difficulties and danger of capturing these sharks seem altogether to be greater than those attending the whale-fishery. The same was true at the Seychelles. Men engaged at the sperm-whale fishery off St. Denis often told me they dreaded to harpoon by mistake a Rhinodon. A whale must come up to breathe or else choke itself. But there were stories told me of how a harpooned Rhinodon, having by a lightning-like dive exhausted the supply of rope, which had been accidentally fastened to the boat, dived deeper still, and so pulled pirogue and crew to the bottom — there, in spite of the harpoon in its neck and its attendant incumbrances, it was at home for a great length of time. Ed. Perceval Wright ON THE PHYSICAL EXPLANATION OF THE INEQUALITY OF THE TWO SEMI-DIUR- NAL OSCILLATIONS OF BAROMETRIC PRESSURE "■ THERE are, perhaps, few phenomena in the domain of terrestrial physics which have received more attention than the diurnal variation of barometric pres- sure, and on the causes and explanation of which, never- theless, there is more diversity of opinion even at the present day. Dove, Sabine, Herschel, Espy, Lamont, Kreil, Broun, and many others have in turn engaged in the discussion of this vexed problem, and at the present time Mr. Alexander Buchan is publishing an elaborate and most valuable resum'e of the existing data in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh as a preliminary to a renewed investigation. The general features of the diurnal variation of pressure are familiar enough to every one who has ever observed the rise and fall of the barometer for a few days in India, and most other tropical countries. From about 3 or 4 in the morning the pressure increases gradually towards sunrise, then more rapidly, and culminates generally between 9 and 10 a.m. A fall then sets in, which becomes rapid during the hottest hours of the day, and the pressure reaches its minimum generally between 4 and 5 p.m. The pressure then increases till about 10 p.m., but in general does not attain the same height as at the corresponding morning hour. Lastly, a second fall brings it to a second minimum between 3 and 4 a.m., which, except on moun- tain peaks and at such stations as Simla and Darjiling, is, as far as my own experience goes, never so low as the afternoon minimum.^ Thus, then, the pressure rises and falls twice in the tvfenty-four hours, attaining, in general, its absolute maximum about 9 or 9.30 A.M., and its absolute minimum between 4 and 5 p.m. This may be taken as a general description of the phenomena as exhibited in the tropics ; but it presents many striking variations at different places, and at one and the same place at different times of the year. These variations affect — the hour at which the pressure attains its maximum and minimum values, the absolute ampli- tude of the oscillations, and lastly, their relative ampli- tude. It is this phenomenon — the variation in the relative amplitude of the day and night oscillations — the probable physical explanation of which I have now to bring to notice. It was observed by Arago, apparently some years prior to 1 841, that in Europe " the proximity of the sea has the effect of diminishing the amplitude of the interval during which the diurnal fall lasts, viz., that which occurs between 9 a.m. and 3 P.M. ;" and considering the whole pheno- menon as made up of a single and double oscillation, it may easily be shown that this interval is determined mainly by the relative amplitude of these two elements. The latest notice on the subject is given in the following extract from Mr. Buchan's Memoir, a copy of the first part of which (for which I am indebted to the author) has reached me only within the last week. In summing up the characteristics of the midday fall of pressure, he says : — " Whatever be the cause or causes on which the diurnal oscillations of the barometer depend, the influence of the relative distribution of land and water in deter- mining the absolute amount of the oscillation in particular localities, as well as over extended regions, is very great. From the facts detailed above, it will be seen that this influence gives a strong local colouring to the results, particularly along the coasts, and that the same influence is extensively feJt over the Channel, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and other sheets of water on the one hand, and on the other over the inland portions of Great Britain, Europe, and the other continents ; " and farther on he adds : " While, as has been pointed out, numerous illustrations can be adduced showing a larger oscillation over the same region with a high temperature and a dry atmosphere than with a low temperature and a moist atmosphere, the small summer oscillation on the coasts of the Mediterranean and those of the Atlantic adjoining is in direct opposition to the idea that any such conclusion is general. For over those parts of the Medi- terranean and Atlantic the temperature is hottest in summer and the air is driest — so dry, indeed, that no rain, or next to none, falls ; and yet there the amplitude of the oscillation now contracts to its annual minimum. On the western coasts of the Atlantic, from the Bahamas north- wards to Newfoundland, the temperature is at the annual maximum, but the air is not dry, being liberally supplied with moisture, and the rainfall is generous. But with these very different meteorological conditions there occurs, equally as in Southern Europe, a diminished oscillation during the summer months in the islands and near the ' Possibly some coasts may furnish an exception. Aug. lo, 1876] NATURE 315 coasts of North America ; and in the south of Europe the oscillation reaches its annual maximum just at the season when the annual minimum occurs near the sea- coasts, even although the general characteristics of the atmosphere be substantially the same in both cases." I am not at present aware whether Mr. Buchan has been led by these observations to any definite conclusions as to the physical cause of the variation he so clearly summarises in the passages above quoted. In the part of his memoir which has reached me all theoretical dis- cussion is deferred. But these passages afford such remarkable confirmation of an explanation at which I arrived some weeks since, on approaching the subject from an entirely different quarter, that J do not think it necessary to withhold longer the publication of my view. If Mr. Buchan's conclusions are the same as mine, the facts that I have to bring forward will seem to afford independent confirmation of that view. Any person glancing over a series of curves illustrating the diurnal rise and fall of the barometer cannot fail to be struck with the characteristic difference of those of places with a continental and those with an insular climate. The case of the Mediterranean described by Mr. Buchan seems, perhaps, to be an exception ; but, as I I. Diurnal oscil'ation of barometer at \.h n Ladakli. 2. Do. Squares N. Atlantic. shall presently show, it is an exception of such a kind as most strongly to confirm the rule. The accompanying curves are striking, perhaps extreme, examples of this characteristic difference. The first is that of Leh-in- Ladakh,^ situated in the Indus valley (the observatory being 11,538 feet above the sea), and is for the month of September. The climate is characteristically dry and the summer heat excessive, notwithstanding the elevation. The curve for Yarkand and Kashgar, still further north, and only 4,000 feet above the sea, is of similar character but smaller amplitude. The second curve figured is that for the northern half of square 3, of North Atlantic, pub- lished by the London Meteorological Office. In the former the double oscillation has almost disappeared, the nocturnal fall of pressure being represented by little more than a halt for some hours between two periods of rising pressure ; and nearly the whole fall of the day takes place between 9 a.m. and 5 P.M. In the case of the Atlantic curve the day and night oscillations are almost exactly alike, the night oscillation being only slightly less than that of the day. These characteristic differences are perhaps best expressed by the ratio of the constant coefficients U' and U" in Bessell's interpola- tion formula — x=M+ U' sininB-^t u') + U" sin («2 (9 + «") -f- , &c., since the magnitude of U' determines the inequality, and that of £/", though variable under different conditions of climate, is so to a much less extent than the former term, " and chiefly depends on the latitude. The following are the values of U' and U" in English inches, and their * This is computed from the hourly observations, recorded during six days, by Capt. E. Trotter, R.E., and of one day by Dr. J. Scully, together with six days' observations by the latter at the hours 4 and to a.m. and p.m. ratios for the mean diurnal curves of a few stations (chiefly Asiatic). The arcs «' u" corresponding thereto are also given : — c. U' w U" «" U' : U" Yarkand (9 months) ... •0348 4 33 -0215 lii 59 16 : 1 Leh (September) •0517 343 9 '0254 143 19 2:1 Lucknow (year) •0265 341 30 -0355 168 53 075 : I Hazambagh, do •0193 1349 46; -0343 14s 45 0-56 : I Calcutta, do •0265 341 24 •0391 151 7 068 : I Bombay, do •0179 337 17 •0385 157 13 046 : I Batavia, do •0240 24 7 •0369 159 34 0 65 : I Square 3, Atlantic, do. •0055 354 51 •0319 159 26 o'i7 ; 1 As a general rule the more humid the station and the smaller the range of temperature, the smaller is the value of V, and hence it has sometimes been spoken of as the temperature element of the oscillations ; the double oscil- lation which is superimposed on it being referred by Dove, Sabine, and Herschel to the varying tension of water vapour, by Lamont and Broun to some solar influ- ence other than heat ; and by Espy and Kreil to the oscillation of pressure produced by heat in an elastic fluid expanding and contracting under the influence of gravity. To me it seems that there can hardly be a doubt that the last explanation is the true one, and that this has not been generally recognised I attribute to the fact that the consequences of the theory as a purely physical problem have never yet been traced out and verified by such a mass of facts as Mr. Buchan is now bringing together. So long as the whole phenomenon is not satisfactorily accounted for, some doubt may reason- ably attach to the explanation offered of one only of its elements. My own attention was first drawn to the subject of the explanation which I am about to give by a paper of Mr. F. Chambers in the P/izV. Trans, for 1873, in which that gentleman showed, as the result of an analysis of the diurnal variation of the winds at Bombay, that one element of this variation is a double rotation of the wind direction of such a character that the southerly com- ponents attain their maximum value at the epoch of the most rapid semi-diurnal rise of pressure, the easterly components at the epoch of maximum, the northerly with the most rapid fall, and the westerly with the epoch of minimum. On these facts Mr. Chambers based a sug- gested explanation of the barometric tides ; regarding them as a phenomenon of static pressure ; and assumed (as now appears, on insufficient grounds) that the pheno- menon in the northern hemisphere is generally of the same type as at Bombay. There was indeed one feature in his explanation, which it seems difficult to reconcile with mechanical laws, since he supposed air to flow from both east and west towards a region where the pressure is rising above the mean, and by its accumulation to produce a maximum of static pressure. But apart from this, the discovery was an important one, and since it clearly showed that a regular horizontal transfer of air corresponded to the oscillations of pressure, it held out a promise that further steps in the same path might clear up what appeared to be anomalous, and possibly lead to a complete explanation of the diurnal oscillation. Some time before this paper reached me, the Rev. M. Lafont had placed in my hands four years traces of a Secchi anemograph, erected on St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, and these having been measured off, tabulated, and reduced, I was interested to find that the diurnal wind variation at Calcutta showed the double diurnal oscillation quite as distinctly, and relatively even more prominently than that of Bombay. But one important difference presented itself. The north and south elements of the oscillation, while agreeing in epoch with those of 3i6 NATURE \Aug. lo, 1876 Bombay, were reversed in direction and taken together with the latter, showed a tendency to a cyclonic circula- tion of the atmosphere around the Peninsula during falling pressure, and an anticyclonic circulation with rising pressure. Moreover, the east and west components agreed almost exactly in epoch with the north and south components, the result being a movement of air from the north-west, with falhng pressure, and from the south-east with rising pressure. These facts, taken in conjunction with the positions of Bombay and Calcutta, on opposite sides of the Peninsula, seemed to point to the differential conditions of land and water being probably concerned in the phenomenon. Another and not less important fact connecting the winds with the diurnal oscillation of the barometer appeared at the same time. When the wind variation was analysed by Bessel's method, there appeared an east and west oscillation of considerable magnitude, corresponding in epoch with the barometric inequality expressed by the first periodical term of the barometric formula. This was easily distinguished from the oscilla- tion of the sea and land winds, since the latter is nearly north and south at Calcutta. At Bombay where the sun and land-breezes are nearly east and west, such an oscil- lation would be undistinguishable, even if it really exists. The east and west oscillation of diurnal period indicates an outflow of air to the eastward during the daytime, an inflow from the east during the night, and the former phase of it evidently corresponds to the hot winds of the Gangetic plain and northern India, and indeed to the day- winds of the dry months of the greater part of India. They blow towards the sea from the eastward, only in the western portion of the Dakhan, Mysore, &c. This system of day- winds consists of an outflow «f air from the Peninsula towards the sea on both coasts, the westerly direction greatly predominating. The next step in the inquiry was to ascertain what general cause would operate to produce this efflux and influx of air ; and the obvious suggestion was that it must consist in the differential action of the sun's heat on dry air and water. Let V be any volume of dry air at pressure /*, and absolute temperature 7", and let t units of heat be com- municated to it, raising its temperature from Z" to Z -f /, while the volume remains constant. The pressure will be thereby increased from /* to /• -+- /, wherein (0 Also t^p{T+>-,)^P -V'^^f'c, (2) ^X wherein r is the density of air at the standard pressure P and temperature T^, and c its specific heat at constant volume, compared with water as unity. If now the same quantity of heat t be employed in evaporating water at temperature T (the whole being con- sumed as latent heat), and filling the volume of air V with vapour at pressure /', the total pressure will become P +/', and P T where s is the hypothetical density of water vapour at P and Toy and X its latent heat at temperature T. Sub- stituting for f its approximate equivalent f s r=r|.|'rx (3) and equating (2) and (3) and eliminating common factors, Ptc = p%\ i^ = P% (4) From (i) and (4) p.p' =P p tc 1^ t • P tc T ^A ^ Tc (S) which gives the ratio of the increase of pressure pro- duced by the same quantity of heat, employed in the one case simply in heating dry air, and in the other in charg- ing it with vapour. At a temperature of 80° Fahr. = 2" =541, P = 7*36/; that is to say, when a given quantity of heat is employed in heating dry air at the temperature of 80° it raises its pressure more than seven times as much as when it simply charges it with vapour without altering the tempe- rature. With lower values of T the difference will be still greater. This great difference is no doubt much reduced in nature by the effects of radiation ; and while some evapo- ration is effected on the land surface, there is some increase of temperature over the sea, but it may be expected that some part of this difference will manifest itself in the greater intensity of the forenoon pressure in the lower strata of the atmosphere on the land as com- pared with the sea, and in fine clear weather as compared with cloudy weather, when banks of clouds present an evaporating surface. With regard to this latter point, it has been shown by Lamont and Kreii's investigations, that between clear and cloudy days, there is a difference of this kind, and that it is manifested not only in the greater magnitude of the diurnal co-efficient W, but also, although to a much less degree, in that of the semi- diumai co-efficient U" of the barometric formula. Fur- ther evidence of the same kind is afforded by the values of these co-efficients for the several months at Calcutta. I/' It' U" u" January •0287 330 1 8 •0415 151 34 February •0319 327 12 •0423 146 48 March •0343 329 27 ■0437 146 44 April •0361 336 53 •0425 146 38 May •0325 344 43 •0385 148 13 June •0218 357 28 •0336 146 23 July •0192 2 6 •0396 150 30 August •0218 0 5 •0372 144 29 September ■0232 354 41 0400 151 25 October •0234 343 12 *0393 160 59 November •0250 337 38 •0399 164 22 December •0270 335 18 •0411 15855 The driest months in Northern India being March and April, while July is the wettest and most cloudy. On Espy and Kreii's hypothesis of the cause of the double oscillation, there is no apparent reason why the evening maximum, arising from contraction and dynamic pressure, should be equal to the morning maximum, which seems unquestionably due to the increased tension of the lower atmosphere in consequence of heating and the introduction of vapour ; and any inequality will, of course, appear in the value of U', or of the co-efficients of other terms of odd periodicity. But the fact esta- blished by the anemometer that an outflow of air from a heated land area takes place during the day-time, at once assigns a cause for the greater part of the equality, viz., an alteration of the static pressure. This is not an overflow in the upper regions of the atmosphere, but an outflow of the lower strata, or a tendency in that direc- tion. It does not, of course, follow that to produce a reduction in the mass of air over a continent, there should be an actual motion of the air outwards in all directions. The very small forces in action will be manifested even more in retarding in-flowing currents than in accelerating efflux ; and it is only in very dry and highly-heated regions, such as India, that they produce well-marked diurnal surface winds, blowing outwards towards the sea ; Aug. lo. 1876] NATURE 317 winds of elastic expansion, such as are the hot winds of India and Australia ; winds which are distinct from con- vection currents, though, it may be, coexisting with and accelerating them. The relations of these winds to the barometric tides are very marked, but it does not seem that the differences of tidal pressure would suffice to generate them, were there not a movement of the air in the same direction arising from more persistent differ- ences of pressure. They probably also depend much on local and irregular differences of pressure. The air thus removed in the day-time from continental areas must, of course, collect over the nearest areas of evaporation, with the effect of diminishing the mid-day fall of pressure over those tracts ; and thus seems to be explained those apparent anomalies in the magnitude of the mid-day semi-oscillation of the barometer to which, in the passages quoted from Mr. Buchan's memoir, he has drawn attention, viz., in the case of the Mediterranean area and the Atlantic coast of North America. The direction in which this movement of the air takes place will, of course, vary with the locality, but there will always be, on an average, a greater diurnal movement towards cast coasts than towards those facing to the west. This may be illustrated by the case of Calcutta and Bombay, and it is more extensively illustrated by the pre- dominant westerly direction of the land-winds of India, and the cold westerly diurnal winds ^ that blow across the high plains (17,000 to 19,000 feet) of the Changchenmo and Rupshu in Western Tibet. The reason is sufficiently obvious. As the great waves of pressure advance from east to west, the local barometric gradient of any place (in so far as it is determined by the diurnal oscillation) will be expressed by a tangent to the existing phase of the wave. During the hottest part of the day, viz., from 9 or half-past 9 to half-past 4 or 5, this gradient (which is the steepest and most prolonged of the four) inclines to the eastward, and increases the declivity towards east coasts arising from the excess of pressure over the land. In the opposite direction, viz., towards west coasts, it goes to diminish that declivity. At night the case is reversed. The west to east barometric gradient from 10 P.M. to half-past 3 or 4 A.M. is in the same direction as that tending to produce an influx of air from the sea towards the land on west coasts; this, however, is opposed to the land wind of the coast line, which is a true convection current, and arises from quite different causes ; and, although traceable in the wind variation at Bombay, it there manifests itself only by decreasing the velocity of the former. There are, moreover, indepen- dent grounds for the inference that this compensating in-flow chiefly affects the higher strata of the atmosphere, while the day wind is chiefly produced in the lower and more heated strata. At Calcutta the easterly (or negative westerly) tendency of the wind at night is very prominently exhibited in the curve of diurnal variation, but although of longer duration it is at no time so intense as the westerly tendency in the early afternoon hours. In like manner may be explained the difference of epoch of the corresponding phases of the semi-diurnal east and west variation at Calcutta and Bombay. The gradient of pressure, in so far as it depends on the semi- diurnal oscillation, will, of course, be to the west with a rising pressure, and to the east with a falling pressure, and this normal tidal gradient is affected by the small difference of amplitude over land and sea, in such manner that its changes will be accelerated as affecting east coasts, and retarded as affecting west coasts. Now if we sup- pose that the acceleration in the one case and the retar- dation in the other amount to an hour or an hour and a half, and that the interval between the change in the direction of the gradients, and their effects on the wind, as manifested by the anemometer, is also about an hour ' This I state on the authority of Dr. Cayley, who assures me that on the high plains these afternoon winds are always from the west. and a half, we should roughly reproduce the conditions shown to exist at Calcutta and Bombay respectively. According to this view, the local static pressure of the atmosphere, apart from irregular movements, is shown by the height of the barometer at the hours of minimum pressure, and the difference of these expresses the weight of the atmosphere removed and restored by the oscillatory movements chiefly between land and sea. I should add, in conclusion, that this communication is merely a risume of some of the more salient topics dis- cussed in two papers, " On the Winds of Calcutta," and " The Theory of Winds of Elastic Expansion," which will shortly be published in extenso elsewhere. H. F. Blanford CARBONIFEROUS LAND SHELLS IN a recent visit to the South Loggius, in Nova Scotia, in which I was assisted in the examination of the cliff by Mr. Albert J. Hill, Manager of the Cumberland Coal Mine, we found a number of well-preserved shells of Ptipa vetusta, in the indurated clay, filling an erect sigil- laria, in a bed considerably higher than those in which the shell was previously known. It is nearly in the middle of group xxvi. of my section of the South Loggius, 222 feet above the main coal-seam, 842 feet above the bed in which the species was first recognised by Sir C. Lyell and myself, and about 2,000 feet above the lowest bed in which I have yet found it. It thus appears that this little pul- monate continued to flourish in the carboniferous swamps, after its remote ancestors had been covered with 2,000 feet of sediment, including many beds of coal, and nearly the whole thickness of the productive coal-measures. CoJiulus prisats, the only other land-snail found in this section, on the other hand occurs only, so far as known, in the lowest of the beds above-mentioned. Two other carboniferous land-shells, Picpa verviilioneiisis^ Bradley, and Daivsonella Meekt, Bradley, have been found in the coal-field of Illinois ; "and it is worthy of remark that, according to Dr. P. P. Carpenter, all the four species belong to distinct generic or sub-generic forms, and that all these forms are still represented on the American Continent. On the same visit, we were so fortunate as to find another large sigillarium stump, rich in reptilian remains, which it is hoped may, on examination, afford new specier> and further information on those already known. J. W. Dawson THE BIRDS OF KERGUELEN'S LAND 1 AS regards the publication of results achieved by the naturalists accompanying the recent Transit expe- dition, our American friends appear to be getting the start of us. While we are engaged in issuing " prelimi- nary reports," they have already arranged and classified their collections, and are beginning to publish their dis- coveries. The specimens of birds obtained by Dr. Kid- der, surgeon and naturalist attached to the astronomical party at Kerguelen's Land, or Desolation Island, have been placed for determination in the hands of Dr. E. Coues — one of the most competent zoologists in the United States — and the result has been the very interesting me- moir now before us. We knew already that Kerguelen's Land was not an inviting place of residence for the more highly organised animals, and that few birds were to be found there. We know now what those few are, and have full particulars about most of them, their lives, and habits. According to Dr. Coues' determination, Dr. ' " Bulletin of the United States National Museum," No. 2. Contribu- tions ta the Natural History of Kerguelen Island, made in connection with the American Transit of Venus Expedition, 1874-75. By J. H. Kidder, M.D. I. Ornithology. Edited by Dr. Elliott Coues, U.S.A., 8vo. 52 pp. (Washington, 1875.) 3i8 NATURE {Aug. lo, 1876 Kidder's collection contains examples of twenty-one species of this class, belonging to six families, namely, eleven Petrels, four Penguins, three Gulls, a Cormorant, a Duck, and a Sheath-bill. Of these, the two last-named are " the only partial vegetable feeders observed, all the other birds feeding exclusively on flesh, fish, or marine invertebrates," Of the Chionis, or Sheath-bills, a singular abnormal form related to the Plovers, of which there are (or were lately) living specimens in the Zoological So- ciety's Gardens, Dr, Kidder might well have sung, in the words of the old song, " their tameness is shocking to me." "They would scarcely get out of my way," says the Doctor, " and seemed greatly interested in my movements. When I sat on a stone, keeping perfectly still, the whole party, twelve in all, came up to examine the intruder. They walked all around me, coming almost within reach ; others flying up from more distant rocks to join them, and finally stopped, almost in a semi-circle, for a good stare. After watching the birds for a time, I shot four specimens, not without compunction, on account of killing such trustful acquaintances. When I walked off to get a sufficient distance away for a shot, the whole troop started to follow me, making little runs and stopping, as if filled with curiosity. I shot all four without moving from the spot, reloading for each, the birds not all flying out of range even after the gun had been fired. On subsequent occasions, various members of the party captured speci- mens by hand ; all that was necessary to attract them within reach being to remain perfectly still. After one had been caught it served as a lure for others. When taken home alive they still showed no fear, but when let loose in the house took food readily." Another curious fact observed is that in the absence of true birds of prey in Kerguelen's Land, the Skua of the Southern Seas (which Dr. Coues, widely departing from the ordinary binomial system designates as " Buphagtis skua aiitarcticus (Les.), Coues "), appears to have taken upon itself all the habits and practices of a Buzzard or Kite. " It was at first taken for a hawk by all of us ; its manner of flight, watchfulness of the ground over which it flew, and habit of perching on spots com- manding a wide view, all suggested this impression. It was, indeed, difficult to believe the evidence of my own senses when I found a web-footed bird avoiding the water and preying solely, so far as my observations extended, upon other birds. When any of the party went out shooting he was pretty sure to be followed by one or two ' sea-hens,' as the sealers call them, and had often to be very prompt to secure his game before it should be carried off in his very presence." Many details are likewise given respecting the habits of the other nineteen species observed, and great credit is due to Dr. Kidder and Dr. Coues for the speedy manner in which they have put together this interesting memoir. But what Mr. Eaton, the English naturalist at Kerguelen, and Mr. Sharp, who, we believe, has been, or is working out his birds, will say to it, we cannot tell. We fancy they will not be very much pleased at being thus forestalled. MAYER'S RECENT ACOUSTICAL RESEARCHES 1 '"PHIS communication is merely a preliminary note, to be ■^ followed by an elaborate paper on the above subjects. For conciseness and clearness, I present the few facts I have now to offer in the form of notes of experiments : — I " On the Obliteration of one Sonorous Sensation by the simuUaneous action of another more intense and lower Sound, and on the discovery of the remarkable fact that a Sound, even when very intense, cannot obliterate the sensations of another Sound Lower than it in Pitch ; with Applications of these Discoveries to Measures of the Intensities of Sounds, and to the Proper Method of Conducting Orchestral Music." By Alfred M. Mayer, Ph D., Member of the National (American) Academy of Sciences, and Pro- fessor of Physics in the Stevens Institute of Technology. Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S. America. Read before the National (American) Academy of Sciences, in Washington, April 20, 1876, and now first prmted from the manuscript sent through Mr. Alex. J. Ellis, F.R.S. Experimental Observations on the Obliteration of one Sound by another. — Several feet from the ear I placed one of those loud-ticking spring-balance American clocks, which make four beats in a second. Then I brought quite close to my ear a watch (made by Lange, of Dresden) ticking five times in the second. In this position I heard all the ticks of the watch, even those which coincided with every fourth tick of the clock. Let us call the fifth tick of the watch which coincided with one of the ticks of the clock, its fifth lick. I now gradually removed the watch from the ear, and perceived that the fifth tick became fainter and fainter, till at a certain distance it entirely vanished, and was, so to speak, *' stamped out " of the watch. ^ Similar and more striking experiments were made with an old silver watch, beating four times to the second, by causing this watch to gain about thirty seconds an hour on the clock, so that at every two minutes the ticks of the watch and clock ex- actly coincided. When the watch was held near the ear, every one of its ticks was heard distinctly ; but on gradually removing it from the ear, the ticks of the watch became fainter and fainter at the coincidences, and when the watch had been i-emoved to a distance of nine inches from the ear, the ticks of the watch were utterly obliterated during three whole seconds of its ticks about the time of coincidence. On removing the watch to a distance of twenty-four inches, I found that I lost its ticks during nine seconds about the time of coincidence. It is here impor- tant to remark that the ticks of the clock are longer in duration, as well as lower in pitch, than those of the watches. With the watch remaining at the distance of twenty-four inches from the ear, I listened with all my attention, as tick by tick the watch approached the time of coincidence. Since the ticks of the watch are shurter in duration than those of the clock, they are overlapped by the other about the time of coincidence. Hence as, so to speak, the short ticks of the watch glided, tick after tick, under the long ticks of the clock, I perceived that more and more of the duration of each successive watch-tick became extinguished by the tick of the clock, until only the tail end of the short tick of the watch was left audible, and at last even this also crept under the long tick of the clock, and the whole of the ticks of the clock were rendered inaudible for nine seconds, at the end of which time the front or head of the watch-tick, as we may call it, protruded beyond the clock-tick, and then slowly grew up into a complete watch-tick as before. In this succession of events the tick of the old silver watch (made by Tobias) dis- appears with a sharp chirp, like a cricket's, and re-appears with a sound like that made by a boy's marble falling upon others in his pocket. By this experiment, therefore, a gradual analysis is made of the effect of the tick of the clock on the tick of the watch, affording a beautiful illustration of the fact that one sono- rous sensation may overcome and obliterate another. Experiments to determine the relative intensity of the Clock- ticks which obliterate three Watch-ticks. — The clock was placed on a post in the middle of an open level field in the country, on nights when the air was calm and noiseless. The ticks of the clock became just inaudible when my ear was removed to a distance of 350 feet. The ticks of the watch became just inau- dible at a distance of twenty feet. The ratio of the squares of these numbers makes' the ticks of the clock about 300 times more intense than those of the watch. On the same nights that I made the above determinations I also put the clock on the post, and placing against my zygomatic process a slender stick gra- duated to inches and tenths, I stood with my ear at distances from the clock of from eight to sixteen feet, and then slid the watch above and along the stick (taking care that it did not touch it) until it reached such a distance from the ear that its fifth tick just disappeared. Knowing the relative intensities of the ticks of clock and watch when placed at the same distance from the ear, the law of the reciprocals of the squares gives the relative intensities when the clock and watch are at the several distances obtained in the above experiments. Large numbers of such experiments have been made, and the results agree per- fectly well when we take into consideration first, the difficulty I The precise number of ticks in a second here mentioned are not neces- sary for roughly observing and understanding these phenomena. I observed them by a common American pendulum clock placed on a table, which in- creased the power of its half-second ticks, and a watch beating five times in two seconds. Rev. Mr. Haweis informs me that he has often noticed a similar effect at night with ordinary watches. The sensation produced by the obliteration of the tick, when the proper distance of the watch from the ear has been attained, and the consequent sudden division of the ticks into periods separated by silences, is very peculiar. It is difficult not to believe that some accident has not suddenly interfered with the action of the watch, instead of merely with our own s.nsat'ons.— A. J. E. Aug. lo, 1876] NATURE 19 thrown in the path of the determinations by the gradual fading away of the watch-ticks as they approach coincidence with the clock-ticks ; and, secondly, the impossibility of arriving at any result at all, if the slightest noise (the rustle of a gentle breeze, the piping of frogs, the bark of a distant dog) should fall on the ear of the observer when engaged in making an experi- ment. The general result of the numerous experiments thus made shows that the sensation of the watch-tick is obliterated by a CO ncident tick of the clock, when the intensity oT the clock- tick is three times that of the watch-tick. This result, however, must be regarded as merely approximative, not only from the manner in which it was obtained, but from the complexity of the sounds on which the experiments were made. It is interesting, however, both as being, I believe, the first determination of this kind that has ever been made, and as having opened out a new and important field of research in physiological acoustics. Expa-imeuts on Musical Sounds. — Reserving the further deve- lopment of my discoveries to a future paper, I will now briefly describe some of the more prominent and simple phenomena, which I discovered in experimenting with musical sounds. At the outset I will remove an objection always made by those versed in acoustics, but unacquainted with these new phenomena. It is as follows : — " You say that one sound may obliterate the sensation of another ; but are you sure that the real fact is not an alteration of the quality of the moie intense sound by the action of the concurrent feebler vibration?" I exclude this objection by experimenting as follows : — An op;n or c'osed organ-pipe is sounded forcibly, and at a few feet from it is placed the instrument emitting the sound to be obliterated, which may be either a tuning-fork on its resonance box, or a closed organ- pipe communicating with a separate bellows. Suppose that in the following experiment both tuning-fork and closed organ-pipe produce a note higher in pitch than the more intense or extin- guishing sound of the open organ-pipe. Now sound the fork alone strongly, and alternately shut and open its resonance box with the hand. We can thus obtain the sound of the fork in a regular measure of time. When the ear has well apprehended the intervals of silence and of sound thus produced, begin the experiment by sounding the open pipe and tuning-fork simul- taneously. Now, if any change is thus effected in the quality of sound emitted by the open pipe, this change cannot occur except when the pipe is sounding, ai.d hence, if it occurs at all, it must occur in the regular measure in which the fork is sounded. The following are the facts really observed. At first every time that the mouth of the box is open, the sound of the fork is distinctly heard, and changes the quality of the note of the open pipe. But as the vibrations of the fork run down in amplitude, the sensa- tions of its effect become less and less, till they soon entirely vanish, and not the slightest change can be observed in the quality or intensity of the note of the open organ-pipe, whether the resonance box of the fork be open or closed. Indeed at this stage of the experiment the vibrations of the fork may be sud- denly and totally stopped without the ear being able to detect the fact. But if instead of stopping the fork when it becomes inaudible, we stop the sound of the open organ-pipe, it is impos- sible not to feel surprised at the strong sound of the fork which the open pipe had smothered and had rendered powerless to affect the ear. If we replace the tuning-fork by a closed organ- pipe of the same pitch, the results will be the same, but in this case I adjust the intensity of the higher closed pipe to the point of extinction by regulating the flow of air from the bellows, by a valve worked with a screw. The alternation of sound and silence is obtained by closing and opening the mouth of the closed pipe by the hand. High Sounds cannot obliterate Low Sounds.— S. new and re- markable fact was now discovered. No sound, even when very intense, can in the slightest degree diminish or obliterate the sensation of a concurrent sound which is lower in pitch. This was proved by experiicents similar to the last, but differing in having the more intense sound higher (instead of lower) in pitch. In this case, when the ear decides that the sound of the (lower and feebler) tuning-fork is just extinguished, it is generally dis- covered on stopping the higher sound, that the fork, which should produce the lower sound, has ceased to vibrate. This surprising experiment must be made in order to be appreciated. I will only remark that very many similar experiments have been made, ranging through four octaves, and have been observed by a score of different ears, with the same invariable result. It is important to understand that this phenomenon depends solely on the difference of pitch, and not at all on the absolute pitch of the notes. Thus a feeble c'" (1024 double vibrations) is heard as distinctly through au intense e" (1280 double vibration^) as a feeble ^ (128 double vibrations) is heard through an intense g (192 double vibrations) or an intense c' (256 double vibrations). The development of the applications and of the further illustra- tions of these discoveries would occupy too much space ; I mu-^t therefore restrict myself to mentioning some of the most inter- esting. Let a man read a sentence over and over again with the same tone and modulation of voice; and while he is so doing forcibly sound a c pipe (256 double vibrations). A remarkable effect is produced, which varies somewhat with the voice experi- mented on, but the ordinary result is as follows. It appears as though two persons were reading together, one with a grave voice (vvhich is found by the combination of all the real reader's vocal sounds below c in pitch, or having less than 256 double vibrations), the other with a high-pitched voice, generally squeaky and nas.il, and, 1 need not add, very disagreeable. Of course the aspirates come out with a distressing prominence. I have observed many curious illustrations of this change in the quality of the tone of the vo'ce, caused by the entire or partial oblitera- tion of certain vocal components, while listening to persons talking during the sound of a steam -whistle, or in one of our long, resonant American railway carriages. Experiments similar to those on the human voice, can be made, with endless modili- cations, on other composite sounds, as those of reed-pipes, of stringed instruments, of running water, &c. With one of my c (128 double vibrations) free Grenie reeds, I get very marked results. Using as a concurrent sound an intense c (256 double vibrations) I perceive the prime or fundamental simple tone c to be unaffected in intensity, while all the other partial tones (higher harmonies or overtones, as they are sometimes called) are almost obliterated, except the fifth partial (or fourth upper partial) e", of 640 double vibrations, and the sixth partial (or fifth upper partial) q' (of 768 double vibrations), which come out with wonderful distinctness. The fact that the lowest, or prime partial tone in the majority of ordinary compound musical tones is the strongest, is due (among other reasons) to the fact that the sensation of each partial tone of which the whole musical tone is composed, is diminished by the action on the ear of all the com- ponents or partial tones, below it in pitch. Thus the higher the pitch of any component or partial tone, the greater the number of lower components which tend to obliterate it. But the prime, or lowest component partial tone, is not afTected by any other. Another illustration I cannot resist giving. At the end of the street in New York, in which I now reside, there is a large fire- alarm bell, the residual sound of which, after its higher com- ponents have disappeared, is a deep simple tone. This bass sound holds its own with total indifference to the clatter of horses, or to any sounds above it in pitch. It dies out with a smooth gradient, generally without the slightest indentation or break produced by the other sounds of the street. Indeed in this case, as in all others where one sound remains unaffected by intense higher notes, the observer feels as though he had a special sense for the perception of the graver sound — an organ entirely distinct from that which receives the impress of the higher tones. That one sonorous sensation cannot interfere with another which is lower in pitch, is a remarkable physiological discovery, and next after the demonstration of the fact that the ear is capable of analysing compound musical sounds into their constituent or partial simple tones, is probably the most important addition yet made to our knowledge of the nature of hearing. It cannot fail to introduce profound modifications into the hypotheses heretofore framed respecting the mechanism and functions of the ear. Application to Orchestral Performances. — We have seen how an intense sound may obliterate, entirely or in part, the sensa- tions of certain partial tones or components of any musical tone, and thus produce a profound change in its quality. In a large orchestra I have repeatedly witnessed the entire obliteration of all sounds from violins, by the deeper and more intense sounds of the wind instruments, the double-basses alone holding their own. I have also observed the sounds of the clarinets lose their peculiar quality of tone and consequent charm from the same cause. No doubt the conductor of the orchestra heard all his violins, ranged as they always are close around him, and did not perceive that his clarinets had lost that quality of tone on which the composer had relied for producing a special character of ex- pression. The function of the conductor of an orchestra seems to be threefold. First, to regulate and fix the time. Secondly, to regulate the intensity of the sounds produced by the individual instruments, for the purpose of expression. Thirdly, to give the 320 NATURE \Aug. lo, 1876 proper quality of tone or Jeeling to the whole sound of his orchestra, considered as a single instrument, by regulating the relative intensiiies of the sounds produced by the various classes of instruments employed. Now this third function, the regula- tion of relative intensities, has hitherto been discharged through the judgment of the ears of a conductor who is placed in the most disadvantageous position for judging by his ears. Surely he is not conducting for his own personal gratification, but for the gratification of his audience, whose ears stand in very diffe- rent relations from his own in respect to their distance from the various instruments in action. Is it not time that he should pay more attention to his third function and place himself in the position occupied by an average hearer ? This position would be elevated, and somewhere in the midst of the audience. The exact determination of its place would depend on various condi- tions which cannot now be considered. That the position at present occupied by the conductor of an orchestra has often allowed him to deprive his audience of some of the most deli- cate and touching qualities of orchestral and concerted vocal music I have no doubt, and I firmly believe that when he changes his position in the manner now proposed the audience will have some of that enjoyment which he has too long kept to himself. During the past winter, in the Academy of Music at New York, I fully confirmed all the foregoing surmises, by placing myself in different parts of the house to observe the different results, and my opinions were fully shared by others who have a more deli- cate musical organisation than I can lay claim to. In large orchestras, these interferences of sonorous sensations are so riiultiplied and various as to be beyond our mental con- ception. By taking them up in detail, some general laws may, however, be evolved. But it will be impossible to formulate such laws until, firstly, we are in possession of a quantitative analysis of the compound tones of all musical instruments (that is, until we know the relative loudness of the partial tones of which they are composed at all parts of their compass), and secondly, we have determined throughout the musical scale the relative intensities of the sounds (of simple tones) when oblitera- tion of the sensations of higher (simple) tones supervenes. The powerlessness of one sound to affect the sensation due to another sound lower than itself in pitch greatly simplifies this problem. Quantitative analysis of the compound tones of musical instru- ments is now the great desideratum of the composer. It is only after we know the relative intensities of the components of typical musical tones used in orchestral performances, that we can so regulate their intensities as to give those qualities of sound which the composer desires to be heard. Tfius, it at once becomes evident that the instruments used in orchestral music should be very differently constructed from those used for solos or quartets. In orchestral instruments certain characteristic upper partials (overtones, harmonics) should predominate, in order to find expression in the midst of other and graver sounds. Such orchestral instruments will therefore have exaggerated peculiari- ties in their qualities of tone, which will render them unfit to be played on alone, and iminfluenced by other orchestral notes. It is surely not hopeless to anticipate that empirical rules may be attained, which will guide the musical instrument-maker to the production of those special qualities of tone required in orchestral instruments. It is fortunate that the very phenomena of the interferences of sonorous sensations will assist in the much desired solution of the problem of measuring the intensity of a sound (simple tone), either when existing alone or as component of an ordinary musical (compound) tone. On this subject I am now engaged. It is evident (by way of illustration), that so far as concerns the measure of the relative intensities of sounds 0/ the same pitch, this problem has already received the simplest solution by merely placing these sounds at various distances, and obliterating the sensations tliey excite by means of a constant and standard sound of a lower pitch. But I reserve a descrip- tion of this work for a more formal publication. NOTES i Prop. HxjXley, -who has recently left for America, has accepted an invitation from Prof. W. B. Rogers to attend the Buffalo meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Science, and also to deliver a course of lectures before the Johns Hopkins University. His stay, however, in the country will be but short. The Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna announces an open competition for the Aldini Medal, to be awarded to the author of the memoir of greatest experimental and scientific value in galvanism. The medal is of gold, of the value of 1,000 liras, and is open to all works whicli profess to have extended our knowledge in any department of galvanism, and which may be sent to the Academy expressly for the compe- tition, during the two years comprised between June i, 1876, and May 30, 1878. Memoirs must be written in Italian, Latin, or French. The usual conditions of such competitions are to be observed, and memoirs should be sent in before the last-men- tioned date, addressed " Al Segretario perpetuo dell' Accademia delle Scienze dell' Istituto di Bologna." We notice in the Revue Scientijique further particulars regard- ing the meeting of the French Association for the Advancement of Science, to be held at Clermont-Ferrand on the i8lh inst. A list of the papers to be read is also given. This is a very useful arrangement for those who may anticipate taking part in the proceedings, and others, and might with advantage, we think, be copied in this country. In the group of physics and chemistry we note the following among the subjects to be treated : — Dif- fraction in optical instruments ; new volumetric determinations of arsenic ; new salts of bismuth ; experiments made to determine if the ether is ponderable ; observations in celestial and terrestrial physics in Japan and Siam (by M, Janssen) ; thermo-diffusive properties of cast-iron ; the idea of unity in chemical and cosmic phenomena ; the radiometer, &c. In the group of natural sciences : — Vichy waters, from a physiological and hygienic point of view ; recent prehistoric discoveries in Medoc ; animal heat ; influence of the want of air and li^ht in the streets and houses on health ; functions of leaves and roots of plants in tropical countries ; cure of paralysis by continuous currents ; operations for cataract ; the bite of vipers ; ophthalmia in the North of Africa ; proof of the existence of ferment-germs in the organism as in the air ; a new sesthesiometer ; production of phenomena of synthesis in plants ; sporadic and endemic goitre in Puy-de- Dome J on measles in beef and inermous taenia ; resources of France as regards war-horses ; various points in local arche- ology, geology, paloeontology, &c. In the group of economical sciences : — Teaching of living languages, from the economical point of view ; remedies for phylloxera ; depopulation of the country and emigration to America ; workmen's dwellings and morality of France; economical consequences of the war indemnity, &c., &c. The storm of August 3 will be long remembered not only as being about the heaviest summer gale that has occurred for many years, but also as having been most disastrous to life and pro- perty among the fishing population. It broke out on the fisher- men on the east coast just when their nets had been shot for the night at distances of twenty miles, and upwards, out at sea The value of the nets lost at Aberdeen alone is estimated at 4,000/. The rate of the fall of the barometer being nearly an inch in twenty-four hours, the point to which it fell being about 29 'o inches at sea-level over a wide district in the north, the time during which it remained low, and the large and com- paratively rapid rise which followed are rather the characteristics of our more marked winter storms. A storm of this nature is, therefore, deserving of a very careful investigation, chiefly with the view of ascertaining how far it might have been possible to have given the fishermen some intimation beforehand of its peculiarly destructive character. In the Bulletin International of August 3, M. de Tastes relates some interesting particulars of a waterspout (trombe) which was observed near Tours, on May 25, 1876. It first ap- peared as a mass of whitish vapour against a background of Ai^g. lo, 1876] NATURE 321 dark-coloured clouds, which gradually assumed the form of an inverted cone pointing to the ground, and terminating in a long sinuous band. A whitish sinuous column soon appeared sud- denly between it and the ground, and rapidly enlarged upwards, the whole phenomenon soon assuming the appearance of two cones united at their summits. The lower cone, at first lightish-coloured and in a certain degree transparent, gradually assumed a darker shade, which was propagated from the base towards the summit. When passing over the right bank of the Loire, a dense mass of sand, mud, and fine gravel, was observed drawn towards it ; in crossing the river a jet d'eau broken into spray appeared in the form of a cone ascending the waterspout, with its base resting on the water, the spray on all sides being drawn inwards to^^■ards the axis in spires. It is said that an undefined glimmering appearance preceded the column of as- cending spray. On reaching the extensive sandy shore of the left bank, clouds of sand were drawn violently in upon it, just as happened with the spray of the river. From the value of several of these points in tMe theory of waterspouts and other aerial movements, it is desirable, as opportunity offers that they be tested by observations made with the greatest accuracy and skill. Mr. F. E. Nipher writes to the American Journal of Science and Arts, that not long since, while writing lo.^a- rithms that were being read to him, he observed that the probability of error in writing the numbers appeared to be much less at the extremities of the number than in the middle. This he investigated at length in numbers of from five to tea digits. It was found that the probability of error is in all cases expressed by the terms of the expanded binomial {a + (J)", where ti is a function of the number of digits, a and b were, so far, always unequal with all the persons that had been experimented on. The probability of error is greatest just after the middle of the number. This led to an interesting investiga- tion on the power of memory. Allowing definite intervals {t) of time to elapse between the giving and the writing of the number, it is evident that the number of errors will increase with the value of t. In order to aid the experimenter in abstaining from mentally repeating the number which he is to write, he is allowed to determine the value of / by counting the beats of a seconds pendulum. The investigation is yet in progress, but enough has been done to develop the fact that the relation between the number of figures (per 100) written correctly, and the values t, is a logarithmic one. It is the same as the function expressing the decrease in the amplitude of the beats of a pendulum in time, as due to a resisting medium. We learn from the same journal that the trustees of the Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture have offered some very handsome prizes for special plantations within the State of Massachusetts. In the first place, for the best plantation of not less than five acres of larch, or on the Cape, &c., of Scotch or Corsican pine, originally of not less than 2,700 trees to the acre, on poor, worn-out, or otherwise agri- culturally worthless land, a prize of §1,000. For the next best, a prize of $600; for the third best, §400, Next, for the best plantation of the same extent with American white ash, not less than 5,000 trees to the acre, a prize of §600 ; for the next best, $400. Intending competitors must notify the Secretary of the Society, E. W. Perkins, Jamaica Plain, Boston, as early as December i, 1876, and plant in tlie spring of 1877. Special directions, not only for planting and caring for, but also for procuring trees for the purpose, are given in a recently-published pamphlet by Prof. Sargent, of Harvard, " A Few Suggestions on Tree-planting," which the Society has reprinted for gratuitous distribution j and a citizen of Boston patriotically offers to look after the importation of the seedling trees, which, in such quantities, and for next year's planting, would have to be obtained mainly in Europe, at least the pincj and larches. The ashes, probably, would have to be raised from seed ; and the time, if need be, would doubtless be ex- tended. The prizes are to be awarded in the summer of 1877. Among various experiments with the radiometer which have lately been described to the French Academy, is one in which M. Govi inclosed a very sensitive instrument (the vanes of which were of polished aluminium on the one side and blackened mica on the other) in a glass cylinder, into which was continuously passed steam from boiling water. The radiometer began quickly to rotate (the aluminium face first) immediately the steam commenced to raise the temperature of the inclosure. Ere long, however, the temperature becoming invariable, the rotation diminished, and after a few minutes ceased altogether. On stopping the entrance of steam, the instrument rotated anew, but in the opposite direction, and did so for a long time before stopping. Every motionless radiometer, IM. Govi points out, is like the instrument stopped at 100° iii the above experiment. To make it turn in the inverse direction, you have merely to put it in a vessel of cold water ; the black faces then move first, and the instrument only stops after a new state of thermal equilibrium has been established On being brought out of the cold water it turns as though it were struck by light, although it may be in complete darkness. A radiometer motionless in the inclosure at 100°, or at zero, will turn anew if the light of a bright flame be directed on the blackened face of its vanes ; ' ' because in both cases the light absorbed by the blackened face then becomes heat, which is added to that which the vanes possess already, and may consequently further liberate gas from them." In an experiment described by M. Ducretet, ether is poured on the enve- lope of a radiometer which moves with direct rotation (black surf- aces repelled) in moderate daylight. The motion is arrested and changed to that in the inverse direction. This reaction pre- sently ceases, and the vanes resume the original direct motion, notwithstanding the evaporation maintained on the envelope by a light sprinkling of ether. The rotation now becomes more rapid than it was at first, the evaporation apparently acting as a source of heat, and yet the lowering of temperature through evaporation is very perceptible. When the sprinkling with ether ceases, the motion resumes its normal velocity and ttmaxas direct. M. Ducretet also tried the effect of phosphorescent powders on the radiometer, but got no motion. The number of visitors to the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus during the week ending August 5 was as follows : — Monday, 2,951 ; Tuesday, 3,377; Wednesday, 488; Thursday, 441 ; Friday, 441 ; Saturday, 3,422 ; total, 11,120. An interesting contribution to the study of the eye affection known as neuro-paralytic keratitis, by Dr. Decker, has just appeared in the Archives des Sciences. He arrives at the follow- ing conclusions :—(i) It is not an ordinary traumatic keratitis. (2) It results from the combined action of two orders of things, a. determining causes, which are the exterior modifying agents ; b. a predisposing cause, consisting in diminution of the resistance of the eye, the most exposed parts of which (cornea), become easily altered by the determining causes. (3) This vulnerability is the result of lesion of nerve fibres in the internal side of the trigeminus. 4. These are neither sensitive nor vasomotor nerves. 5. The hypothesis that they are trophic nerves best accounts for the facts observed. 6. Anatomically, neuroparalytic keratitis consists of a primary necrosis of the central part of the cornea (if the latter be left open), followed in a short time by a secondary inflammation of the peripheric parts, and of the con- junctiva. MM. Becquerel give a brief notice in the Bulletin Heb- domadaire. No. 456, of the Scientific Association of France, of the observations of temperature made at the Museum of 322 NATURE {Aug. 10, 1876 Natural History, during 1875, with electric thermometers placed in the air, and in soils covered with grass and soils cleared of vegetation. From the results of the last four years, it is shown that the mean annual temperature of the two soils, at a depth of 39 inches, and that of the air, is nearly alike ; that at depths of from 4 to 24 inches the influence of vegetation is to raise the annual mean o°7 above that of soils clear of vegeta- tion ; and that during these four years the temperature of soils covered with grass or any other vegetation has not fallen to freezing (32°), a fact of no little importance to horticulture. Experiments were made at Paris recently, before M. Baron, Director of the Electric Telegraph, on a new system for dividing the electric light. A single generator has fed with an admirable regularity not less than eighteen lamps, having each a power equal to 100 gas-jets. The effect was wonderful, and the apparatus will be tried shortly at the Lyons railway terminus. The principle is very simple, and was discovered by a working shoemaker. The current derived from a Gramme machine, slightly modified, is sent to a second machine, which rotates before forty-eight electro-magnets, four of these electro-magnets having a force sufficient to give a light equivalent to lOO gas-jets. Twelve electric lamps can be fed at any distance. By a very simple commutator any number of these twelve lamps can be grouped together, so that one, two, or more can be set in the same apparatus. Twelve working on the same point give a real burning sun. The force required for working both machines (the prime mover and the distributor) is derived from a 4 horse-power steam-engine. The experiments at the Lyons railway will be tried with sixteen lamps and an engine of from 6 to 7 horse- power. The light will be equal to 1,600 gas-jets. The French Society of Agriculture and Insectology will, as usual, hold its bi-annual exhibition at the Orangerie des Tuileries in September. The exhibition being universal, some contributions are expected from England, The last having been a success, left a large surplus in the hands of the Society, which will enlarge the scale of its operations. Some details regarding the malacological fauna of the Island of Saint Paul have been furnished by M. Velain, in a note to the French Academy, and will doubtless interest zoologists. Little was previously known of this fauna. The island, it is known, is more than 500 leagues distant from any continents, and the tranquil lake in the old crater of the volcano seemed likely to favour the development of embryos brought by oceanic currents. The list of Gasteropoda and Lamellibranchia comprises forty species, distributed in twenty-nine genera, five of which are new. This fauna, notwithstanding the small latitude of the island, is remarkable for its austral forms. The species are mostly of small size, rarely exceeding 3 mm. ; among them appear as a giant the Ranella described by Frauenfeld, which sometimes reaches 8 cm. in height. The island maybe said to have two dis- tinct fauna, that of the interior of the crater and that of the exte- rior ; the latter is less rich ; the abrupt sides, environed with reefs on which the sea incessantly breaks with violence, being hardly favourable to the thriving of marine molluscs. The species here have short, rounded forms, with thick shells. Within the crater the littoral zone is extraordinarily rich in individuals, though not in species. The conditions are : a rocky bottom exposed to the light, weak pressure, temperature kept nearly constant by thermal springs (13" to 14° C.), agitation almost nil, marine vege- tation extremely abundant. As for deep fauna, there is none of it ; the abundant liberation of carbonic acid gas at the bottom of the crater prevents life being manifested below 20 to 25 metres. The deep fauna of the exterior, on the other hand, is very rich, as indicated by the shells thrown up on the beach. The fauna of Amsterdam Island is identical with that of the exterior of Saint Paul, only the proportion of the different species varies. There is, however, a gasteropod of the genus Helix, which is peculiar to the island. It was proved, a short time ago, that several kinds of seeds will germinate between pieces of ice. A full investigation of the lower limit of temperature at which plants may germinate has recently been made by M. Haberlandt {Centrall'latt fiir Agricultur chemie). The experiments were upon wheat, rye, barley, red beet, rape, lucerne, poppy, and many other seeds. Several hundred seeds were employed of each species, and every fourteen days the seeds were taken out of the ice-chest, whose temperature was kept constant between 0° and 1°, and examined in a space whose temperature was under freezing-point. In forty-five days a decided beginning of germination was observ- able in eight different species (which are named). In four months it had continued to progress in a minority of these ; the rest had stopped. In fourteen species there was no germination. M. Haberlandt is of opinion that those seeds which can ger- minate at a lower temperature than others of the same species, win give plants that require a less amount of heat for their com- plete development than the others, and thus by artificial sowing in cold spaces a means is to hand of obtaining species soon ripe and needing little heat. Of all the seeds which had remained for four months in the ice-case, only a few were found capable of development when brought into a warmer temperature of 16° C* A Universal Congress for hygienic purposes and salvage will be held at Brussels on the occasion of the Exhibition. Tlie Congress will meet from Sept. 27 to Oct. 4. A French com- mittee has been formed of M. Claude Bernard, Admiral Paris, and others. A programme of the questions that are to come before the meeting will be found in the Sanitary Record for August 5. The Meteorologische Beobachtungen made at the hydrographic office of the Austrian navy at Pola during June last have been received. They are interesting from the position of Pola being near the southern extremity of the peninsula at the head of the Adriatic. The hourly observations show a strongly-pronounced maximum of wind force from 11 a.m. to 6 P.M., when it is nearly double the force registered from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The daily variation in the direction of the wind is equally well inarked. Starting from a point east of south at 5 a.m., it gradually veers to westward, the most westerly point (nearly due j west) being reached at 5 — 6 p.m., after which it gradually shifts back to its starting-point in the morning. The most interesting point in the diurnal curve of the barometer is the occurrence of • the morning maximum at noon, being the time when this phase of the pressure occurs at places situated close to the sea-shore. The maximum temperature occurs as early as from noon to I P.M. Mrs. Griesbach has presented to the Lord President of the Council, for the proposed scientific museum, a valuable collec- tion of acoustical apparatus, invented and made by her late husband, John Henry Griesbach. This apparatus is now exhi- bited in the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus. In a supplement to the Gardener's Chronicle for Aug. 5, is given a well- illustrated description of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, including views in the centre of the palm-stove, the succulent house, the temperate house, &c. The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Racoon-like Dog I^Nyctereutes procyonides) from Eastern Asia, presented by Capt, W. H. Bingoym ; seven Common Guillemots (Uria troile) and a Kittiwake Gull {Rissa tridactyla), British, presented by Sir H. Dalrymple, Bart. ; a Brown Coati (Nasua nasica) from South America, presented by Mr. R. C. Corfield ; two Hairy Armadillos {Dasypus villosns), bom in the Gardens. Atig. lo, 1876] NATURE 32, SCIENTIFIC SERIALS ZeUsckrift der Oesterreichischen Gesellschaft fur Meteorolo^ie, April. — This number contains an article by Signer Denza, direc- tor of the Observatory at Moncalieri, on an inspection by him of observatories of the second order, according to the recom- mendations of the Leipzig and Vienna Conferences, for the correction of barometers. He has found that a safe verification can only be made when all the rules and precautions are ob- served, and recommends that the barometer taken in travelling from place to place should not be too narrow in bore, and should be carefully compared with the standard before and after the journey. — The next article is by Dr. Hann, on the results of observations made by the Swedish Arctic Expedition of 1872 in Spitzbergen and East Greenland, published in Stockholm, The observations are of great value, and deserve the full notice here given them by Dr. Hann. Reale Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere. Rendiconti. Vol. IX. Nos. I, 2, 3 (1876). Among the papers contained in these numbers we note the following : — Singular structure of the leaves in the Empetrocese, by M. Gibelli. — Sketch of Dr. Cantor's recent studies on the history of land-surveying, by M. Schiaparelli. — Researches on the action of oxygen, at the ordi- nary temperature on sulphur, on alkaline and terralkaline sul- phides, and on hyposulphite of calcium, by M. Pellogio. — Report on the vine-disease of Phylloxera, by a Committee of the Institute. — On a new disease of chestnuts, by M. Gibelli. — On the constitution of veratric acid and veratrol, by M, Korner. — On the temperature of flames, by M. Ferrini. Gaszeita Chimica Italiana, anno vi., 1876, fasc. iv. — E. Patemo and G. Briosi contribute a paper on hesperidin. These two investigators studied hesperidin derived from the common orange {Citrus aurantium, Risso). About 4,000 ripe oranges were found to yield 180 grammes of impure hesperidin. They experienced much difficulty in their endeavours to purify this substance. — G. Pisati contributes the only two original papers in addition to the one we have already noticed. His first paper details some experimental researches made by the author on electro-static induction. The second treats of the elasticity ot metals at different temperatures. — The remainder of this number is filled up by summaries of the contents of foreign chemical journals, and a review of a book by T. Schutzenberger, " On Fermentation." In the Zdtschrift Jilr Wissenschaftliche Zoologie, vol, xxvi. , part 2 (December, 1875), W, Repiachoff continues his contribu- tions on the Chilostomous Bryozoa, giving many interesting par- ticulars about the development of the amphiblastic ovum of Lepralia and Tendra. — Ludwig GrafT describes the anatomy of the Sipunculoid ChcFtoderma nitidulum. — Dr. Hubert Ludwig writes on the interesting Gastrotrichous Rotifers, established as a separate order by Metschnikoff. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Royal Society, May 18 — " The Calculus of Chemical Operations. — Part II. On the Analysis of Chemical Events," by Sir B. C. Brodie, Bart,, F, R. S,, late Professor of Chemistry in the University of (Oxford, Introduction. — An account is here given of the origin of our views of the constitution of ponderable matter, regarded as con- stituted of units compounded of " simple weights," These considerations lead to two systems, and two only, in which the unit of hydrogen is respectively expressed by the symbols a and or. Between the systems we have no absolute means of selec- tion, but a preference is here given to the system a as imme- diately leading to the law of even numbers. The exception presented by the binoxide of nitrogen is then considered, and a hypothesis suggested to account for this anomaly. The object of the work is then defined — namely, given a chemical event, how are we to determine the events of which it is compounded? Section I. — The Question of the Multiplication and Division of Chemical Equations is here considered. It is shown that we may multiply and divide a chemical equation of the form n — o, by any chemical function, if the sum of the numerical coefficients in that equation is equal to zero, but otherwise not. A method is given by which every chemical equation may be brought under this form. Such an equation is termed a " normal " chemical equation, for it is an equation on which we may ojSerate by the rules of elementary algebra. It is then shown that every chemical expression of the form A {x-a)y-b, and also h.{x-a) {y- b) (^z-c) . . . (that is, the continued product of any number of such factors more than one), necessarily — o. As regards the interpretation of normal chemical equations. Normal equations express the identity of the two members of the equation, not only as regards matter, but as regards matter and space also. Thus the equation i + 2a| = 20 + |^ asserts not only that the matter of two units of water is identical with the matter of two units of hydrogen and a unit of oxygen, but also that an empty unit of space and the space occupied by two units of water are identical with the space occupied by two units of hydrogen and a unit of oxygen. It is further shown that in any chemical equation any one of the prime factors of the equation may be substituted for another, and the equation will still be true. Section II. — Our knowledge of the identity of matter is de- rived from chemical transmutations or events ; and every chemi- cal equation may be regarded as the record of such an event or some number of such events. Chemical events may be regarded as compound or simple. A compound event is defined as an event which is regarded in the system of events under our con- sideration as constituted of two or more events. A simple event is an event which is not so regarded. Thus, for example, take the system of the four events : — (1) o?v + Q?K^(i3 = aw + a^K^v, (2) a*K^\) + d^K^u = aw + a'^K*v, (3) o®K*ii+ a^K^o) = aai + a^K*v, (4) a^v + ;^a.^K^w — 300) -)- o.^k'^v. The event 4 is a compound event, being the aggregate of the events i, 2, 3 ; whereas the events I, 2, 3 are in that system simple events, being incapable of such a construction. Section III. — On the Catises of Events. — The cause of an event is given when the operations are defined by the agency of which the event occurs. Def. If in any chemical event the change in the arrangement of the symbols, by which the composition of the units of matter before and after the event respectively is symbolised, be of such a nature that where in the arrangement before the event the symbol x appears, the symbol a apfears after the event, and where a appears before x appears after, so that the two arrangements differ in this respect and this re- spect alone, then the event occurs by the substitution of a for X, which is the " cause" of the event. Hence the same event may arise from more than one cause. Thus, for example, the event Kyx + Kab — Kya + Kxb occurs by the substitution of a for x and of b for y, for these symbols satisfy the condition given in the above definition. It is similarly shown that the event Kxyz -J- Kabz + Kayc + Kxbc = Axyc + Aabc + Aayz ■{■ Axbz occurs by the substitution of a for x, b for y, z for c ; and, further, that if the equation to any chemical event be of the form A {x - a) {y - b) {z - c) (v - d) {w - e) , . . — o, that event occurs by the substitutions of a for x, b iox y, c for z, d for v, efor w . . . . If in these substitutions any symbol, say "a" = i, the event occurs by the transference of the simple weight thus symbolised. The following event occurs in three ways by the substitution of I for X, the hydride of propyl, aV, being constant, a'K'x^ + 3«'«3|^x = «'«'«' + 3«'«^rX, the equation being of the form Similarly the event is an event occurring in three ways by the transference of x» the equation being of the form aMx-0^ = o. I submit the following equation to the consideration of the reader : — aV|(;8-|)(a/c2|-i)=o. Section IV. Elementary Analysis oj Events. — If the equation {0 a chemical event be capable of expression as the continued 324 NATURE {Aug. lo, 1876 product of rational factors of the form previously given {x -a), X and a being prime factors of the equation, the event is a simple event incapable of further resolution ; but occasionally the equa- tions to events may be expressed by rational factors, although not of this form. In this case they admit of an easy analysis into other events of which they are the aggregates. Take, for example, the equation ax" + 2ax + o« = ao)^ + 0X1 Again, the following event is the action of chlorosulphuric acid- upon water : — a9{2^2 + 2af = a9|* + 2ax. This equation is of the form a {ee + e^^ - 2) (x - 0, whence a{flrx-i){x-|) + «(e|'-i)(x-a the constituents being aOf'X^ + a| = ae^^x + «X. oOl^x + «? = aH* + «X. The analysis of these two phenomena here indicated has actually been effected by experiment. Section V. — In this section the doctrine of Chemical Con- gruity is discussed, two chemical functions being said to be congruous to one another in reference to a special substitution if they assume the same value when that substitution is respectively effected in them. Further, a method is] given for the Development of Chemical Functions, and for the complete theoretical analysis of any chemical event whatsoever — the theoretical analysis of a chemical event occurring by any number of specified substitutions, namely, of a for X, b for jj', c for 2, being here said to be effected when all the different chemical events occurring in any way what- ever by these substitutions are enumerated, the aggregate of which constitutes the event in question. Paris Academy of Sciences, July 31.— Vice- Admiral Paris in the chair. — The following papers were read : — On the carpellary theory according to the Loasete (first part : Mentzelia), by M . Trecul. — Oscillations of temperature of half May, half June, and half July, 1876 ; non-synchronic parallelism of the barometric pressure and the temperature, by M. Sainte-Claire Deville. A minimum of temperature on the loth, nth, and 12th respec- tively; and maxima, on either hand, about the 7th and the i6th. — Filth note on electrical transmissions through the ground, by M. du Moncel. The conductivity of hard stones, as also, doubtless, that of the ground, with regard to plates buried in it, is far from being uniform throughout their mass. The metals used as electrodes with his silex may be ranked thus as to electro- motive force, each being electro-negative to those which follow — platina, copper, brass, iron, tin, lead, zinc. — Re- searches on the development of the chestnut, by M. Baillon. These throw some light on the disputed point of development of the cupule in the acorn. — On the disease called diarrhoea of Cochin China, by M. Normand. It has wrought great havoc among the troops there. It is caused by a parasitical worm in the tissues of the intestine. Milk has been the best remedy hitherto. — On the general theory of regulators, by M. Wischne- gradski. — On globular lightning, by M. Plante. He describes a case of it at Paris, July 24. He thinks it due to spherical aggregation of air and steam through suction and rarefaction by the electric fluid, and condensation of positive electricity in this envelope of rarefied matter. — Radiometer with vanes formed of a metal and of unblackened mica, by MM. Alvergniat Freres. On heating and exhausting to a certain point, it became very little sensitive to light ; would only turn with sunlight ; but it had great sensibility to obscure heat. — Observations on vines having galls in large quantities, by M. Laliman. — New confirma- tion of phylloxerian migrations, by M. Lichtenstein. — Nebulas discovered and observedat Marseilles Observatory, by M. Stephan,' Twenty- three are described. — Note on dissociation of the vapour of calomel, by M. Debray. Calomel undergoes a commencement of decomposition at 440°. He heated it in a platinum tube, and held in the vapour a U-tube of gilt silver, through which circulated cold water. There was a greyish deposit containing a little mercury so divided in a fine powder of calomel that it could not attack the gold. — On the laws of compressibility and the coefficients of dilatation of some vapours. — Action of hydracids on tellurous acid, by M. Ditte. — On new salts ot bis- muth and their use in testing for potash, by M. Carnot. These are distinguished by their complete solubility in water. They are double hyposulphites of bismuth and of alkalies. — On the isomery of rotatory power in the camphols, by M. de Mont- golfier. — On a case of spontaneous alteration of anhydrous hy- drocyanic acid, and a new case of total transformation of this acid, by M, de Girard. — On the decomposition of cyanide of potassium, cyanide of zinc, and formiate of potash into carbonic acid, air, and pure hydrogen, by MM. Naudin and Montholon. — On two new sulphurised ureas, by MM. de Clermont and Wehrlin. — On the industrial employment of vanadium in manufacture of aniline black, by M. Witz. This proves a simpler and more economical mode of preparation. — On the manufacture of dyna- mite, by M. Sobrero. He recommends moulding the sihceous matter, after moistening with water, into blocks, then drying, then dipping slowly in the liquid. He experimented thus with fossil meal of Santa Fiora and olive oil, and was convinced that dynamite with 75 per cent, of explosive matter could be made by this method ; danger from friction is avoided. — On the agro- nomic map of the Arrondissement of Rethel (Ardennes), by MM. Meugy and Nevoit. — On fermentation of fruits placed in carbonic acid, by MM. Joubert and Chamberland. — Cellulosic fermentation by means of vegetal organs, and probable utilisa- tion of the sugar in the vegetation for the formation of cellulose, by M. Durin. — On the microzymes of germinated barley and sweet almonds as producers of diastase and synaptase {apropos of note by MM. Pasteur and Joubert), by M. Bechamp. — Rectifica- tion in a former note on panificalion in the United States, and the properties of hops as ferment, by M. Sacc. — On the fermen- tation of urine, apropos of a communication of M. Pasteur, by Dr. Bastian. Boiled solution of potash can fertilise sterile urine only when used in a proportion con-esponding to the acidity and quantity of the hquid. The author asks M.Pasteur for direct proof that germs of Bacteria can survive in a liquid as caustic as the solution of potash made in the pharmaceutical proportions, when it is raised even for only a few instants, to 100°. — Observa- tions on opinions attributed by Prof. Bastian to Prof. Tyndall, apropos of the doctrine of spontaneous generation ; extracts from two letters from Prof. Tyndall. He expresses surprise at being cited as guaranteeing the exactness of Dr. Bastian's experiments, and his entire concurrence with M. Pasteur. — On metallic powders in the atmosphere, by M. Phipson. CONTENTS Page The Moon 305 HOVKLACQUE ON THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE. By Prof. A. H. Savce 306 The German North Sea Commission 307 Our Book Shelf : — Riley's " Eighth Annual Report of the Noxious, Beneficial, and other Insects of the State of Missouri " 308 Lbtteks to the Editor : — Optical Experiments.— Prof. F. E. Nipher 308 Antedated Books. — F.Z S 309 Protective Mimicry.— Joseph John Murphy ; Wilmot H. T. Power 309 \ Ophiuchi. — William Doberck 309 The Cuckoo.— Prof. George J. Romanes 309 The Fermentation of Urine and the Germ Theory. By Dr. H. Charlton Bastian, F.R. S 309 Our Astronomical Column : — Reissig's Comet (?) of 1803 311 Satellites of Saturn 311 The Museum of National Antiquities of France. By W. de Fonvielle 312 The Basking Shark. By Dr. Ed. Perceval WrightCJ^V^A nius- / : traiions) 313 On the Physical Explanation of the Inequality of the two Semi-diurnal Oscillations of Barometric Pressure. By H. F. Blanford (]Vith Illustration) 314 Carboniferous Land Shells 317 The Birds of Kerguelen's Land 317 Mayer's Recent Acoustical Researches - . 318 Notes ,. 320 Scientific Serials 323 SOCIBTIBS AND ACADBMIBS 323 NATURE 325 THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1876 A PHYSICAL SCIENCE MUSEUM MANY of our readers will, no doubt, entertain the belief that the proposal to establish a Museum of Pure and Applied Science, to include what is known as the Patent Museum, recently laid before the Duke of Rich- mond and Gordon by the President of the Royal Society and other distinguished men of science, has been a thing of sudden growth. Some justification for such a belief may seem to be derived from the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus now being exhibited at South Ken- sington, and many of those who have witnessed its suc- cess would like to see it developed into a permanent in- stitution. No doubt, this Collection has helped to bring into practical shape the desire which for years many men of science in this country have possessed of seeing this country possessed of an institution similar to the Paris Conservatoire des Arts et Mdtiers, which desire has at last taken the form of the all but unanimous memorial on the subject which was recently presented to the Lord- President of the Council, and which we published in a recent number. But the truth is that this memorial is strictly in accordance with an official recommendation made to the Earl of Granville, then Lord- President of the Council, as far back as the year 1865. At that time the Secretary of the Science and Art Department and Direc- tor of the South Kensington Museum, Mr. (now Sir) Henry Cole, along with the late Capt. Fowke, were in- structed by the Lord-President to proceed to Paris and report upon the relations between the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers and the French Patent system. The results of this official visit to Paris were given in a report by Mr. Cole and Capt. Fowke to the Lord-Presi- dent, which will be found in the " Twelfth Report of the Science and Art Department" (1865), and was laid before Parliament. As few of our readers can have access to this Report, and as those with whom the decision as to the memorial will rest, cannot be expected to know all that has been previously said and done in this matter, and as, moreover, the subject is one of prime importance to the country and to science, we believe we shall be doing good service by exhuming from this old blue-book the special Report to which we refer : — Report on the Conservatoire des Arts et MiferiERS AND Brevets d'Invention. To THE Lord President of the Council. South Kensington Museum, yanuary 1865. My Lord, — In obedience to your Lordship's instructions that we should proceed to Paris and examine into the re- lations which exist between the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers and system of French patents, we have prepared and have now the honour of submitting, the following report. 1. The Conservatoire of late years, under the able direction of General Morin and M. Tresca, has become one of the most popular institutions in Paris. 2. This establishment, first created in 1788, has passed through many phases of constitution and management. At the present time it has three predominant features : (rt), the public exhibition of machinery, manufactures, and models of an industrial and scientific nature ; {b\ a scien- tific library open gratuitously to all ; and (f), courses of Vol. XIV.— No. 355 gratuitous lectures given dui'ing the autumn and winter in the evening by the most eminent professors in France. These lectures are attended by several hundred persons. A prospectus of the courses for the present session is appended (p. 280). 3. Besides these three features, the Conservatoire is the repository for the Brevets cT Inventions and the models deposited with them, which have exceeded the age of 15 years from the first issue of them. This connection of the institution with extinct Brevets (f Invention is a sub- ordinate feature to its chief operations. 4. The Conservatoire consists of a series of ancient and modern buildings. The ancient, belonging to the abbey of St. Martin des Champs, date from ad. 1060, and are highly interesting to the archceologist. They have been well adapted to the purposes of the establishment, espe- cially the old refectory, now- converted into the library. 5. The principal fagade is now opened to the new Boulevard de Sevastopol, fronting a large square. Addi- tional parts of the old monastic buildings of the convent of St. Martin are being restored and brought into use, whilst new buildings are being constructed to aff"ord additional space. The ground already occupied by the estabhshment is 5"i78 acres (or 20,956 metres carres), and this is being extended to 6558 acres, or 26,540 metres carres de terrain. The buildings themselves occupy at present 8,383 metres carrds, or io,o26'346 square yards, which will be enlarged to i6,744's65 square yards. 6. The laying out of the ground and the divisions into which the collection is arranged are shown by the accom- panying plan (App. C). 7. The divisions are — machinery in motion, hydraulics in motion, agricultural implements, locomotives, horology, building models, &c. 8. These plans show the position of the two chambers, the lower of which contains the specifications of Brevets d'Ifivention, whilst the upper contains the models. These chambers are on the opposite side of the court to the library, and have no connection with it. These rooms are about 60 feet long by 20 feet wide. The contents are very miscellaneous, and covered with dust, such as old hats, and woven fabrics, traps, tin ware, surgical appli- ances, and broken wooden models. It is not surprising that they are not considered of sufficient value or public interest to be kept with the general collection. They are never consulted. M. Tresca, the sous-directeur, has kindly answered some questions which we put to him (see p. 287). He shows that they do not influence the extent of the general collection of machinery, &c., and their value to it is explained to be nothing. 9. On Thursdays and Sundays the galleries are open free, and are crowded. On other days, reserved for stu- dents, the principle of admitting the public by a moderate charge, as at South Kensington, has been adopted, and visitors pay one franc each. 10. Four separate authorities throughout France are concerned in the issues and searches of Brevets d'In- vention, a. The Ministry of Finance. b. The Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. c. The Prefecture of the Department. d. The Conservatoire. The necessary instructions, &c., for obtaining a brevet are given in a paper appended (page 282). It will be observed that the instructions make no mention of models as any part of a Brevet d* Invention, and, as M. Tresca shows, they are of no value whatever. 11. In Paris all Brevets d'' Invention are kept and registered. Those under 15 years of age are preserved in the Rue de Varennes, on the south side of the Seine ; those above that age in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers on the north side, about two miles apart. 12. The steps necessary to be taken in Paris for ob- 326 MATURE {Aug. 17, 1876 taining a Brevet d'' Invention are as follows : — The appli- cant for a patent must first apply to No. 24, Rue de Mont Thabor. This is a subordinate bureau of the Minist^re des Finances, not very readily found or publicly indicated. He passes through a gateway between the Caf^ des Finances and a stable for remises. He ascends to the second stage up narrow stairs, dark and odorous. Here is the bureau for the first stage of proceeding. He pays 5 francs, and obtains the necessary forms to be filled up ; fills them up and pays 100 francs. 13. These forms being filled up, he takes them with the receipt to the Hdtel de Ville, and there he deposits his specification. 14. This specification is sent to a third bureau, which is on the opposite side of the Seine, No. 78, Rue de Varenne, the Minist^re de I'Agriculture et du Commerce, and is also up two pairs of narrow dark stairs. Here the specifications are kept during 15 years, whilst the patent lasts ; after that period they are transferred with any models accidentally accompanying them to the Conserva- toire des Arts et MHiers. The room for searches is about 60 feet long and 16 feet wide. The specifications are arranged in carton boxes on shelves. It is rather crowded. Anyone enters and searches in the printed catalogues and calls for the brevet without let or hin- drance ; but he is not permitted to make notes even in pencil. Copies must be ordered of the office at a given tariff, and if a copy of a drawing is required, he must bring his own draughtsman. 15. The catalogue of the specifications is printed, and may be bought at V. Bouchard Huzard, Rue d'Eperon, No. 5. 16. It has been already pointed out that the law does not require that any models should be made, but some are sent. The officers kindly showed us what they possessed. We were conducted up back stairs into a little room about 10 feet wide by 20 feet long. The floor was covered with models unarranged, and very dusty. On a shelf were some models in tin, also very dusty. A model of a shoe was here, a candlestick there, &c. The officer said that they were very rarely looked at, and the accuracy of the statement was fully borne out by the condition of the room. He said that all the models in this small chamber were the products of some 20 years. 17. These facts show that the Conseivatoire des Arts et Metiers did not arise and is not at all dependent on any connection with models accidentally delivered with the Brevets d'' Invention, which are not recognised by the French law. The Conservatoire is a great educational institution, teaching the general public through its exhi- bitions, and a special public through its lectures. It seems to us to afford an example which our own country might imitate with advantage generally as to scope and also in many of its details. — We have, &c. (Signed) Henry Cole, Francis Fowkk, Capt. R.E. A map accompanies this Report which shows the build- ings then occupied by the Conservatoire and those which it was proposed to build in addition. If the Commis- sioners of the 1 85 1 Exhibition, to whose laudable scheme we recently referred, have not already consulted this map and the Report, we think they might do so with great advantage. There are many points in common between the scheme which they are considering and the plan which was then being carried out by the French Government, and which resulted in an institution that has been in work- ing order for years, with, it is universally acknowledged, the best results to science and to France. In the same Appendix M. Tresca furnishes answers to a number of questions with reference to the actual use made of the models of patents in the Patent Museum of Paris. The information thus afforded we would recom- mend to the notice of the Treasury Commission which has for some time been cogitating as to what course to pursue with regard to our own Patent Museum. The analogy between the two cases is very complete, and it suggests that the best solution lies in a course similar to that which has been followed in France. From M. Tresca's answers we learn that in the Catalogue of Patents there were 7,300 entries of models, only 10 of which are accompanied by specifications. While 1,400 specifica- tions had been consulted during 1864, not a single model had been examined or asked for, thus showing that the models were a practically useless part of the Patent Museum. M. Tresca states that the place of a model can be supplied by a drawing, leading to more complete, exact, and certain results, and thus avoiding useless ex- pense. Their loss, therefore, would really be a gain to the Conservatoire ; they cause, M. Tresca states, em- barrassment by their compulsory preservation, the objects rarely representing the final idea of the inventor. They for the most part get destroyed by time without having been consulted by any one. Might not a somewhat similar report be made of our own Collection of " Patents " .'' The same blue-book contains some valuable informa- tion with regard to the lectures which were then given in the Paris Conservatoire, which is worth consulting. Later and more complete information in this department may, however, be found in the appendix to the Report of the Duke of Devonshire's Commission. From what we have said, it will be seen that the idea of a Govern- ment Science Museum is by no means of recent growth, but that, on the contrary, it has taken many years to come to a practical issue ; and that, moreover, we have a ready-made example which has stood the test of years, and is now doing work of the highest practical value in the Paris Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers. COHN ON THE BIOLOGY OF PLANTS Beitrdge zur Biologie der PJlanzen. Herausgegeben von Dr. Ferdinand Cohn. (Breslau, 1875.) Drittes Heft. THE third part of Cohn's " Beitrage," now before us, completes the first volume, and let us express the hope that we may have another volume before very long. Curiously, each of the three parts has been separately paged, an arrangement which renders it necessary to note the part as well as the page when the index is consulted. If we may judge from the size and price, each part has increased in importance, so that the third part has more papers and is nearly double the size of the first. In all the parts there have been papers of great interest and value, and those in the present part are in no way behind their predecessors. Dr. Cohn himself contributes three papers to the present part. Dr. J. Schroeter two, while Drs. L, Just, A. B. Frank, Richard Sadebeck, and Eduard Eidam, each one. The first paper is by Dr. Schroeter on the Development of certain Rust-Fungi. On Carex hirta, one of the Uredineae was observed which Dr. Schroeter believes to be Puccinia caricis of De CandoUe ; and as he had reason to suspect that jEcidium urticcE of Schum was only a stage in the life history of P. caricis, experiments were made to ascertain definitely whether P, caricis was hetercecious, and if so, whether jEcidium Aug. 17, 1876] NATURE 327 vertices was one of the stages. Details of the experiments are given, and Schroeter concludes that AUcidium nrticcB is a stage of Puccinia caricis. In a note to his paper, Dr. Schroeter mentions that Dr. Magnus, of Berlin, has made similar experiments with the same result, an important confirmation of the remarkable habit these curious plants have of changing from one host to another, and at the same time changing the form of their spores, a condition described by De Bary long ago in the rust of wheat. A second form noticed by our author is a species of rust common on many grasses. It has many names, and Dr. Schroeter calls it Uromyces dactylidis, Ottli, {Uromyces graminis, Cooke). One stage is spent in our common grasses, such as Dactylis glofnerata, Poa iiemoralis, P. trivialis^ P. annua, P. praiensis, &c. The other stage occurs on Ranunculus bulbosus, R. repens, and 7?. polyanthemos, and is known as j^Ecidiuni Ranunaclacearum, D.C. The yEcidia occurring in other Ranunculaceae {Clematis, Thalicirmn, &c.) seem to belong to other species. Dr.L. Just's paper is a physiological one, showing the efifect of the epidermis of the apple in preventing loss of water by transpiration. The third paper, by Dr. J. Schroeter, on the efifect of disinfectants in lower organisms, shows markedly the value of carbolic acid in destroying germs. In the fourth paper Dr. A. B. Frank shows how light influences the relative time of development of the flowers in a catkin, those flowers opening first which receive the most light. Next follow two papers by Dr. Ferdinand Cohn, one on the " Function of the Bladders of Aldrovanda and Utricularia," the other on the " Development of the genus Volvox." English readers are already acquainted with the more important facts recorded in the first paper, as they have already been made use of by Mr. Darwin in his work on *•' Insectivorous Plants." The second paper is of especial interest in relation to the re-distribution of the Thallophytes, by Prof. Sachs, in the fourth edition of his justly celebrated " Lehrbuch." The structure of volvox is carefully described, and its modes of reproduction both sexual and non-sexual. The non-sexual reproductive cells Cohn calls Parthenogonidia. Non-sexual reproduc- tion seems to take place during the whole year, and the alternation of generations is completed by the occurrence of sexual reproduction in the spring. The volvox-colony, or caenobium, is either monoecious or dioecious, the female cells, or Gynogenidia are either produced along with the male cells, or Androgonidia, in the same colony, or they are not. Cohn proposes to divide the Linnaean Volvox globator into two sub-species, namely, {a) Volvox vionoicus, and ib) Volvox dtoicus, the former having both andro- and gynogonidia, the latter either one or other. The structure of Volvox is very like that of Pandorina, but the reproduction is like that of Sphaeroplea, and it belongs, not to the Zygosporeae, which have conjugating zoospores, but to the Oospores. Cohn, however, does not consider the Zygospores and Oosporeae to be separate classes of the Thallophyta, but only to be subdivisions of one class, to which he gives the name of Gamosporeaj. The next division Cohn calls the Gamocarpeas, a division quite equivalent to Sachs' Carposporese. In the Gamo- carpese there are two methods of fertilisation. One by means of the Pollinodium, analogous to the conjugation in the Gamosporene, the other by Spermatia, resembling the Spermatozoids. In the higher plants a somewhat similar arrangement exists ; the MuscinCcC and Vascular Crypto- gams having Spermatozoids, while the flowering plants have pollen and pollen-tubes, showing a certain analogy to the pollinodium of some of the Carposporeae. Dr. Richard Sadebeck contributes a paper on the re ■ markable parasite living in the cells of the prothallium of Equisetum, and called Pythium equiseti. It belongs to the Oosporeae, and its structure and life-history is here well described. The part concludes with two papers, " Researches on Bacteria," Parts II. and III. The first is by Dr. Cohn, and is a continuation of his paper with the same title in the second part of the " Beitrage," while the other is by Dr. Eduard Eidam. In the latter paper Dr. Eidam gives details of a series of very interesting researches on the action of different degrees of temperature and of drying on Bacterian Termo. The Bacteria were cultivated in Prof. Cohn's normal nutrient fluid, and the solution kept at definite temperatures for definite periods of time. The activity of Bacteria does not begin until the temperature rises above -4- 5° C. -|- 5^°, being the temperature at which they begin to multiply, although very slowly. Between 30° and 35° C. the multiplication is most rapid, but at 40° the activity again diminishes, and the Bacteria in the nutrient fluid are killed by exposure for fourteen hours to a temperature of 45° C, or for three hours at a temperature of 50° C. "When dried the Bacteria can retain their vitality for a long time at high as well as at low temperatures. All these experiments are of especial interest at the present time and seem to have been con- ducted with great care. Prof. Cohn's paper deals chiefly with descriptions of new or imperfectly known genera and species, and concludes with an attempt at grouping the different genera of Bacteriaceae according to their natural affinities. The close relation of Bacteria to the Phyco- chromaceas is pointed out, and it is shown to be impos- sible to erect the Bacteriaceae into a family separate from the Phycochromace?e. Naegelis' name of Schizomycetes is objected to on the ground that Bacteria are not fungi, and the term Schizophyta proposed for the group instead. This group is nearly equivalent to and would take the place of Sachs' first class of Thallophyta, namely, the Protophyta. The Schizophyta includes two tribes : (i) Gloeogena?, in which the cells are either free or united by gelatinous substance ; and (2) Nematogenae, which are filamentous. To the first tribe belong such genera as Chroococcus, Micrococcus, Bacterium, Aphanocapsa, Gloeocapsa, Clathrocystis, Sarcina, Polycystis, &c. ; while to tribe 2 belong Beggiatoa, Oscillaria, Vibrio, Spirulina, Anabasna, Nostoc, Rivularia, Cladothrix, Scytonema, &c. The paper is an exceedingly interesting one, and has most important bearings on the classification of the Thallophytes. W. R. McNab FERNETS PHYSICS Cours de Physique. Par E. Fernet. (Paris : G. Masson, Editeur, 1876.) FROM the great success which attended the publica- tion of Prof. Ganot's " Elements de Physique," due in a great measure to the excellence of its illustrations, and followed as it was a few years later by the splendidly got up "Traitd" of M. Deschanel, which has been so ably 328 NATURE \Aug. 17, 1876 translated into English by Prof. Everett, there has been an almost continuous stream of works upon Physics from our neighbours across the Channel. French publishers of technical works appear to be of opinion that the production of a " Traitd de Physique" is an indispensable part of their duty, and that their good name will suffer unless they bring one out. France is fortunately rich in physicists, so that there are always good men to be found to do the work. The result is that each Paris season in- troduces one or more new books upon Physics, which are in most cases well written, and generally abound with excellent illustrations. The " Cours de Physique " of Prof. Fernet is at once both ably written and singularly incomplete. It is in- tended as a text-book for the Classe de Maihe/naiiques Speciales, and as such cannot altogether be classed with the books of which we have been speaking. It is written for a special purpose, and its value to the general student is much impaired thereby. The chapters treating of the molecular construction and of the various forms of matter is a concise digest of the modern theories of this most speculative subject, and the definitions of the solid liquid and gaseous states of matter are particularly clear. On the other hand, no reference whatever is made to the all-important subject of gravitation, so that the laws of falling bodies and pro- jectiles, centre of gravity, and even the pendulum itself, are necessarily cut out. Again, hydrostatics is both fully and ably treated, the law of Archimedes and the determination of specific gravities being very clearly explained. The whole subject of heat is confined to the expansion under its influence of solid, Hquid, and gaseous bodies, which occupies one-fourth of the whole book. The reader looks in vain for some reference to the laws of freezing and evaporation or of conduction and specific heat. More extraordinary still is that the entire subject of radiant heat is conspicuous by its absence, no reference being made to diathermancy or to the reflection and refrac- tion of heat, and the dynamical theory is ignored altogether. In Optics the laws of reflection and refraction are more fully treated than any other subject in the book, the pro- perties of mirrors and lenses of various forms being thoroughly and mathematically considered. No reference is, however, made to dispersion, and the question of colour is left out altogether, necessitating of course the omission of the important subject of spectra and of the Fraunhofer lines. Again, double refraction and all the phenomena connected with polarisation are not even alluded to, nor are the interesting subject of the velocity of light and the beautifiil experiments of Foucault, of Fizeau, and of Cornu for its determination. Acoustics is entirely left out, and statical electricity occupies but a short chapter, in which induction is fairly treated, and the various forms of electrical machines are well described. What is perhaps the most remarkable omission of all is that of the entire subject of Electro-dynamics. No mention is made of the voltaic battery, of the great sub- ject of electro-magnetism and the electric telegraph, of electrolysis or of induced currents as exemplified in the Ruhmkorff coil, neither are magneto-electricity or thermo- electricity referred to. The only explanation offered for the omission of so important a branch of physical science in a " Cours de Physique " is the following foot-note to the chapter upon Statical Electricity : — " By the rules for admission into the J^cole polytcclmique — which are identical with those for the Classe de Mathd- vialiques Spdciales — candidates are required to possess an elementary knowledge of statical electricity and of magnetism only. The importance, therefore, of these two subjects in the present course does not admit of their being treated as fully as those in the preceding chapters. The further study of them must be reserved for the course in the Ecole, where students are required to work up the subjects of both dynamic electricity and electro- magnetism." We may assume from this note that the other omissions to which we have referred are due to the same regula- tions. It is difficult to understand how such rules can exist, or what considerations could have guided those who framed them when they required candidates for admission to read up statical electricity, leaving the more important subject of electro-dynamics alone, as well as the science of electro-magnetism, notwithstanding its important ap- plications. From what has been said it will be seen that Prof. Fernet's "Cours de Physique" is evidently a "cramming" book for students seeking admission to a particular class which has very exceptional requirements. For that pur- pose it is no doubt of value, but it is practically unavail- able to the general student of Physics by reason of the number and the importance of its omissions. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIGHT AND PHOTO- GRAPHY The Chemistry 0/ Light and Photography in their Appli- cation to Art, Science, and Industry. By Dr. Hermann Vogel, Professor in the Royal Industrial Academy, Berlin. New and thoroughly revised edition, with 100 Illustrations. (London : H. S. King and Co., 1876.) LAST year, in reviewing in the columns of Nature this volume of the International Scientific Series, it became our duty to point out the very serious errors in chemistry with which the translation abounded. We are happy to find that in this " new and thoroughly revised edition," the whole of the objectionable passages have been corrected, and that the same measure of cor- rection has been extended to the English throughout, so that the work is now a very creditable translation. With regard to the author's share of the work, we can, on a re- perusal, recommend it as a thoroughly good resume of the principal photographic processes, and we note that the very numerous variations of the photo-printing and lithographic processes have been very fully noted and their chief points described, for, although this description of what are, as a rule, trivial variations of one or two processes may seem useless, it cannot fail to call the reader's atten- tion to some of the vagaries permitted by patent laws in various countries. We also notice that some considerable space has been given to astronomical photography (in connection with which we would note that the name of the eminent American astronomer who produced the negative of the moon from which the frontispiece of the book is taken is Rutherfurd, and not Rutherford, as A7ig. 17, 1 8 76 J NATURE 329 W/ printed). Slight notices have also been given of spectrum- photography, which we hope to find fuller in a new edi- tion, and of the effect of colouring matters in modifying the action of light on various reagents, the study of which latter point appears to be undergoing considerable deve- lopment both at home and abroad. Taken as a whole, the book is an admirable guide to one who has some considerable knowledge of the subject, or for giving the general points of the art to an ordinary reader, but we do not think that it is equal to Van Monckhoven's book as a practical treatise on the art. It abounds, however, in valuable hints and suggestions, and we would recommend Chapter XII., " On the Correctness of Photographs," to the attention of everyone who wishes to become a competent photographer, whether for the purposes of Science or of Art. With regard to the latter we cannot do better than conclude with the following quotation from the chapter in question, page 129 : — " It may, perhaps, excite surprise that the writer ascribes greater truth to painting than to photography, which is generally regarded as the truest of all methods of producing pictures. It must be self-evident that this remark can be made only of the works of masters . . . the picture of the photographer is not self-created. He must test, weigh, consider, and remove the difficulties which oppose the production of a true picture. If his picture is to be true he must take care that the charac- teristic is made prominent and the accessories subor- dinate. ... To do this he must, of course, be able to detect what is characteristic and what accessory in his original. The sensitive plate of iodide of silver cannot do this ; it receives the impression of all that it has before it, according to unchangeable laws. . . . The photographer will not, indeed, be able to control his matter like the painter, for the disinclmation of models and optical and chemical difficulties often frustrate his best endeavours ; hence there must always be a difference between photography and a work of art. This difference may be briefly summed up by saying that photography gives a more faithful picture of the form, and art a more faithful picture of the character." R. J. Friswell OUR BOOK SHELF Lcs Insectes J Traite Elcinentaire (VEntomologie^ coinpre- nant PHisioife des Especes utiles et de leurs Produiis, des^ Especes nuisibles et des Moyens de les detruite, P Etude des Metamorphoses et des Mceurs, les Precedes de Chasse et de Conservation. Par Maurice Girard. (Paris : Bailliereet Fils, 1873-76.) As a compilation this work evidences a considerable amount of industry; judging, however, by the various memoirs quoted in the first 240 pages, it would appear that the author's researches have not extended to a much later date than the year 1868, a fact which will unquestionably detract very greatly from the value of his generalisations. The author's object being to unite in one book the classification, geographical zoology, and economy of insects, he divides his introduction into the following heads : — i. Anatomy and Physiology ; 2. Instinct and Intelligence ; 3. Collecting and Preservation ; 4. Palae- ontology ; 5. Geographical distribution ; 6. Species and Classification ; the consideration of which subjects occu- pies 229 pages. Owing to the bulk of the work (which, although up to the present time it has only dealt with three orders of insects, nevertheless extends to 840 pages), we cannot strongly recommend it as a pocket companion ; still the student of entomology, particularly if he has a taste for preserved viands warmed up, should certainly find a place for it upon his library shelves. The plates are clearly defined and abound in instructive details, the only drawback being that they are for the most part reproductions of the illustrations to Guerin's " Iconographie du R6gne animal j " it is, however, satisfactory to note additional representations of an anatomical character, as also of certain highly interest- ing cave-inhabiting species. A. G. B. 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 manuscritts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. "X Protective Mimicry In the last number of Nature Mr. Murphy brings forward the following argument against natural selection, with reference to protective mimicry. He advances two classes of cases in which he urges the improbability of the occurrence of a first variation in the requisite direction. " One of these is the change of colour with the season of such animals as the ermine, which is brown in summer and white in winter. Had the ermine been either permanently brown or permanently white, there would have been nothing wonderful in it, but it seems impossible that the cha- racter of becoming white in the winter and brown in the summer could ever have originated in ordinary spontaneous variation, without a guiding intelligence." Now Pallas as quoted by my father ("Descent of Man," second edition, p. 22^ and 542) states that wolves, horses, and cattle, as well as nine other kinds of mammals become lighter coloured during the winter ; and several well maiiied cases of a similar change of tint in the winter coat of horses in England have either been brought under my father's notice, or have been observed by himself. It is impossible to suppose that these instances of a similar change occurring in widely distinct animals can be put down as partial reversions to an ancestral habit of turning completely white during the winter months. We may therefore presume that they are due to the "direct action of the conditions of life ; " we might perhaps compare them to the greyness accompanying the impaired nutrition of old age ; or to that caused by injuries, e.g. in the hair about old sores on the withers of horses ; or again to the extraordinary recorded case of temporary greyness of the eyebrow accompanying frontal neuralgia. But to whatever cause these slight changes of colour In certain quadrupeds taking place at the beginning of winter are due, there can be no question that they supply the identical "first varia- tions," whose occurrence Mr. Murphy thinks so "infinitely im- probable." It is impossible to doubt that with such material to work on, a process of rigorous natural selection might develop almost any degree of seasonal change of fur. "The roe, for instance, has a red summer and a greyish white winter coat ; and the latter may perhaps serve as a protection to the animal whilst wandering through the leafless thickets, sprinkled with snow and hoar-frost." If the roe "were gradually to extend its ran^e into regions perpetually covered with snow, its pale winter coat would probably be rendered through natural selec- tion, whiter and whiter, until it' became as white as snow." ("Descent of Man," p. 542). Mr. Murphy also adduces the manner in which the chameleon, and certain fish, protect them- selves by rapid changes of colour. He remarks that it seems ' ' utterly impossible for such a character to originate in spon- taneous variation." It would be taking up too much space to enter into this subject ; it may, however, be worth noting that according to Pouchet, under certain conditions the changes of colour are only developed in the turbot in several days. Again J. Bedriega asserts that various parts of the body in certain lizards are permanently altered in tint by exposure to the sun ; and he states that the mechanism by which this change is effected is precisely the same in principle, as that to which the variations in pigmentation are due in the chameleon. Briicke and others have shown that in the chameleon the changes of tint may be produced by agencies having no connection with protec- tion ; for example, by the excitements of anger and sexual passion, by illness, and by local Irritants and nerve-stimulation. 330 NATURE \_AMg. 17, 1876 An accurate observer related to me the case of a lady whose iris changed colour in bright sunlight. These few instances seem to show that the behaviour and properties of pigment-cells are independent of the protective functions for which they have, in some cases, been specialised and augmented by the action of natural selection. It seems a pity that Mr, Murphy should write on a question in natural history without making himself better acquainted with what is known on the subject. Francis Darwin Down, Beckenham, Aug. 14 In the last number of Nature Mr. J. J. Murphy states the difficulty which he finds in accounting for the rise of inter- mittent variations upon the theory of natural selection. He can understand the origin of a white species from a brown one or vice vend, but not of a species which, like the ermine, is at one season brown and at another season white. He speaks of "facts of colour which it seems impossible for natural selection to produce, from the infinite improbability of a first variation ever occurring." From this mode of expression one might fancy that Mr. Murphy had for the moment forgotten that natural selec- tion is in no way concerned with producing, but acts only by preserving, variations. As in a great number of instances we are Ignorant of the precise antecedents which produce variation, whether chronic or recurrent, in such instances, we must be left at liberty, if we choose, to invoke the special action of "a guiding intelligence." The case, however, of an animal which changes its colour with the season does not seem to be one of very exceptional difficulty. It is only necessary to suppose that the animal became possessed of pigments liable to be acted on in the required direction by the seasonal changes of light and heat. It might well be that with some animals the influ- ence of the same changes would be in a direction just the oppo- site of what was useful to them. In thatcase the variety would stand but little chance of being preserved. Similar explana- tions hold with regard to the vegetable kingdom. I have now before me drawings of Sempcrmvum spinoitim. The summer rosette is bright green in colour, with the leaves expanded, while the winter rosette is a compact little ball of a dull purple. Thus the plant prepares itself against the cold of winter and the dearth of nourishment which that season brings, but it is likely enough that cold and dearth in the first instance led to the variation in the plant from its summer habit. In human beings the hair is said sometimes to turn white from sudden grief or terror. Liability to such a change does not probably carry any such advantage to the human species as would make it likely to spread and develop itself further. But in the little shrimp commonly known as Mysis chamccleon, we can at least conjecture that a very solid advantage might follow from a similar characteristic. I have sometimes bottled live sjiecimens of this little creature while it was of a dark purple colour, and presently after lost sight of it, the fact proving to be upon closer inspection that it had become almost completely transparent. Among its ordinary enemies the loss of colour might often save its life, in which case natural selection would tend to preserve the aptitude, although the aptitude itself, like the bleaching of human hair from grief, has no connection at the outset with the advantage of the species. Torquay, Aug. 14 Thomas R. R. Stebbing Mr. Murphy's letter (Nature, vol. xiv. p. 309) opens up a wide field for speculation. The class of cases to which he directs attention constitutes what I have designated ^* variable protective colouring," and in a paper communicated to the Zoological Society (Proc. Zoo. Soc, 1872), I attempted to show that such cases came to a certain extent within the scope of natural selection. The line of argument pursued is briefly as follows : — Natural selection, working solely for the good of a species takes advantage of all beneficial variations, no matter how they may originate. In but very few cases can the cause of any particular variation be assigned. Natural selection works only on the variations presented to it, the causes of such varia- tions appearing to us, in the absence of observational or experi- ipental evidence, mysterious. If, then, a species deriving advan- tage from protective colouring under one set of conditions, finds that the conditions vary periodically or irregularly, thus rendering that mode of colouring useless or even disadvantageous, it clearly becomes advantageous to the species to possess a power of adapta- tion. By this means only can vaiying external conditions he met, and it is upon this adaptive power that I venture to think the action of natural selection has in these cases been exerted. That the particular cause of such variation cannot be assigned, no more weakens thi natural selection argument in these cases than in ordinary instances of permanent protective colouring, the possibility of which having been brought about by the '* survival of the fittest," Mr. Murphy seems disposed to admit. One argument in favour of the natural selection theory of pro- tective colouring appears, so far as I am aware, to have been overlooked. It has been urged that granting the power of natural selection to produce a general resemblance in colour, &c., to inanimate objects, it is difficult to see how the highly perfect finishing touches (instances of which are familiar to all naturalists) could have been imparted by this same agency. To thi? it may be replied that the marvellously perfect resemblances which we witness have not been brought about to deceive our visual sense, but that of far keener-sighted foes whose very means of subsistence may depend upon acuteness of vision. Aprvpos of Mr. Power's letter in the same number of Nature, I have recently had an opportunity of observing how closely the larva of Trachea piniperda resembles in the longitudinal green stripes the needle-shaped leaves of the pine on which it feeds. I observed also an equally good adaptation in a larva of Agriopis aprilina, which when resting on a lichen-covered oak trunk was barely discernible from the lichen on which it rested. Belle Vue, Twickenham, Aug. 12 R. Meldola Antedated Books The grievance pointed out by your correspondent " F.Z.S." is a real one. Nevertheless I trust that the writer is himself free from the charge that he so glibly brmgs against a brother natu- ralist of endeavouring to obtain for his generic titles an " unjust priority of fifteen months over what they are entitled to." I am sorry that there should be a Fellow of the Zoological Society who believes me capable of doing this, but, as the charge has been thus publicly made, I lose no time in flinging it back upon my anonymous accuser. The new edition of Layard's "Birds of South Africa " was announced to appear in six parts, and the first was published in May, 1875. The number of wrappers required for the six parts was printed off at the time, and "F.Z.S." will find that Part 2, which was published last autumn has precisely the same wrapper as Part i, and this is the case with the part now issued. I admit that it would have been belter to have altered the date on each wrapper in writing ; but this, probably, did not occur to my publisher, who is doubtless not aware of the importance attached to the law of priority by " F.Z.S.," your correspcndent, who, apparently, in his hurry to attribute an unworthy motive, has scarcely taken the trouble to look beyond the, cover of the book. Had he done so he might have been satisfied that the letterpress contained abundant evidence of having been written long after the date which he would have the scientific world believe I had endeavoured to claim for its publication. Such an attempt would be absurd when docu- ments are quoted in the letterpress which were not in existence in the year 1875. May I at the same time reply to a paragraph of your reviewer (p. 318) on the "Birds of Kerguelen Island." This pamphlet deserves all the praise which the reviewer bestows on it, but in his endeavour to disparage his own countrymen, and to trumpet the superior energy of American ornithologists, he seems to have done an injustice to Mr. Eaton and myself. Two new species were mentioned by Dr. Coues, viz., ^strelata kidderi, which Mr. Salvin {Orn. Misc., p. 235) shows to be ^. brevirostrts (Less. ), and secondly, Querquedula eateni (Sharpe). This latter name looks as if the English ornithologists had not been so far behind their American brethren, after all, if the description of the new Teal was available for quotation in Dr. Coues' work ! R. Bowdler Sharpe British Museum Fully agreeing with "F.Z.S." in reprobating the evil practice of which he complains, I think that in the particular instance he cites, of the recently published third part of the new edition of "The Birds of South Africa," he will, on looking again at its wrapper, see that the information it affords is so contradictory as to be worth nothing. The first words upon it are "To be completed in Six Parts ;'" but on its second page we read that the publisher "has decided upon issuing this work in y^iz^r parts !" Which of these statements is to be believed? In justice to the publisher, however, it is to be observed that the number " 3 " is not printed, but inserted with the pen, in the Aug. 17, 1876] NATURE 331 copy I have received, and also that the " May, 1875," has a line drawn through it. While on the subject let me add that the Zoological Society itself, in its ''Transactions," sets a bad example in this respect. Each paper bears a date at the foot of its first page, but the date is likely to be misleading in years to come, for it is that of the printing off the sheet — an essentially private matter, with which the public has nothing to do — and not that of the publication. Another F. Z. S. Meteor Observations A BRIEF summary of the August (Perseid) meteor observa- tions at York may be of interest. Watch was kept on the loth, lith, I2th, and 14th. The night of the i ith was very hazy, the nights before the loth cloudy. There was also much moonlight, except on the 14th. Yet, after making all due allowances. Prof. Herschel thinks that this year's shower indicates a minimum ; the last decided minimum being in 1862. The hourly number on. the four nights mentioned were, for one observer, 22, 8, 12, 15, respectively. Perseid radiant and sub-radiants gave 18, 6, 9, 7. Thus, as the shower progressed, there was a regular decrease in the number of Perseids. The apparent exception of the loth was due to the haze. Prof. Herschel gives 15-20 as the hourly number in Kent. On the 14th half the Perseids came from Mr. Greg's sub-radiant at 7 Cassiopeicc. In the south large meteors appear to have been scarce. Here eight, brighter than ist mag. stars, were seen. One, a bolide, low down in the N. W. was very fine. A meteor in the south-west, brighter than Jupiter, was observed by Mr. Waller at Birming- ham as a very brilliant object. The total number observed at York was 105, and 90 of these were mapped. Of the latter 66 were Perseids, 43 with trains. On the loth five other radiants produced eight meteors out of 53; viz., Cygnus, three; Pegasus, two; Polaris, one; Draco (Hercules), one ; and Ursa Major, one. Fifteen meteors on this night were as bright, or brighter, than a i mag. star. Only two of 4th mag. brightness were seen, in consequence of the moonlight. Of meteors stationary, or nearly so, three were mapped: — A Perseid on the 12th at M 32^ and 5 + 58f, its train lasting ■i\ sees. ; on the 14th a Cygneid at I^ 306° 5 +35°, and an unknown radiant, probably near 5 Vulpeculse, gave the third at M. 295° S -J- 28, Three meteors unmistakably confirm Mr. Greg's sub-Perseid radiant by 7 Cassiopeia:, whilst several others probably radiate from the same. The radiant, Greg 83, by i? Draconis, gave two meteors on the 12th and one on the 14th. It is put down, how- ever, as lasting only from July 12-31. Six Perseids on the loth, and four on other nights, seem pretty clearly to indicate a sub-radiant at M. 50°, 5 + 40°, near a Persei. The rest, as Prof. Herschel also noticed, shot very constantly from the chief radiant, between rj and x Persei. Here, however, rj Persei seemed the most central point. York, Aug. 15 J. Edmund Clark THE FRENCH ASSOCIATION IN addition to the notes already given with regard to the forthcoming meeting of the French Association at Clermont, the following particulars relating to the Puy- de-D6me (furnished by our correspondent there) will doubtless be found interesting : — Clermont, Atigust 13 The Puy-de-D6me is connected with most important scientific events, which render it notable amongst more lofty mountains. Pascal, in 1644, then quite a young man, was apprised by Pere Mersenne, the celebrated friend of Descartes, that Torricelli had invented his tube. The then admitted explanation was that nature abhorred a vacuum. He entered into a correspondence on the subject with Father Noel, a Jesuit professor of natural philosophy in the College of Clermont. Father Noel contended against the very existence of the vacuum, and asserted that the so-called vacuum was filled by luminous matter enter- ing through the glass. Pascal answered by arguments worthy of his genius, and to be recommended for con- sideration in the discussion about radiometers. He said, "As the nature of light is known to neither you nor me, and as it is very likely it will always be so, I see it will be long before your reasoning acquires the force which is necessary to its becoming the source of any conviction." After having uttered this opinion he re- flected more fully upon the subject, and was led to believe that the surplus height of mercury in the tube was equivalent to the weight of the air which could not reach the molecules, being intercepted by the resistance of the glass. This led him to inquire if air-pres- sure was not lessened by taking the Torricellian tube to the top of a mountain. The experiment was made in Paris first on the top of St. Jacques la Boucherie Tower and Notre Dame. As the difference was found to be only a few lines, Pascal sent his brother-in-law, Perrier, who was a counsellor in the Cour-des-Aules at Clermont, to the top of Puy-de-D6me with a Tor- ricellian tube. Clermont was supposed to be at an altitude greater than Paris by 400 toises ; Font-de-l'Arbre is a village in the vicinity of the mountains where car- riages are obliged to stop, at 250 toises from Clermont, and 250 toises from the top of the mountain. All these mea- surements are incorrect ; a toise being v<^\ metres, we find the following differences : — Paris, 60 metres, Clermont, 407 ; difference, 347 metres, instead of 776, as assumed by Pascal ; Puy-de-D6me, 1,465. Difference between Puy and Clermont = 1,058 metres ; according to Pascal only 952 metres. The loss of mercury from Convent des Minimes to the top of Puy was found to be 37^ lines ; at Font-de-l'Arbre a diminution of 14^ Hnes from Minimes. A line is equal to 2j mm. Perrier discovered no difference, owing to the wind or state of the atmosphere. Such was not the opinion of Pascal, who discovered that the mercury varies ac- cording to the atmospheric conditions of the air. But Perrier was only an amateur experimentalist, and his spe- cial ideas had little weight with his clever brother-in-law. In order to ascertain the fact, continuous observations were made at Clermont, by Perrier, during the years 1649, 1650, and 165 1. They were simultaneously made at Paris and at Stockholm, where Descartes was then living at the court of the famous Queen of Sweden. They were continued by Descartes up to the time of his demise. It is strange that the Pascal experiments were made the very year when Torricelli died, and the results pub- lished only in 1664, two years after Pascal's death. W= THE SCIENCE DEGREES OF THE UNI- VERSITY OF LONDON E have received from the Registrar of the University of London a copy of the Report of a Committee, and the new regulations which have been introduced in harmony with that Report, in the examinations for the science degrees. From a perusal of the Report, which we subjoin, all will feel how much is gained by the prompt action of the Senate of the University in so speedily modifying the plan of their examinations in accordance with the experience which they have ob- tained during the last seventeen years. It is not, however, only experience in the examination of science students which has led to the necessity for change, but the stimulus which has been given to the teaching of physics and biology, by the founding of science degrees and otherwise, has so altered the method of teaching these subjects that what was expected to be known formerly is quite different from that taught by the most able ex- ponents of the subjects at the present time. No change has been made in the Examination for the Doctor of Science degree, which we regret, because in the Report of the Duke of Devonshire's Committee on Scien- tific Education great stress was laid on the importance of obtaining an original thesis from each candidate. The Report of the Committee runs as follows :— 332 NATURE \Aug. 17, 1876 " In accordance with the reference made to them by the Senate (Minute 128, May 13, 1874), the Committee, after having revised the regulations relating to the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, have given a long and serious considera- tion to those relating to the Degree of Bachelor of Science. It will be remembered that when those regulations were first framed in the year 1859, no guidance was afforded by previous experience, the degrees in science instituted by this University being the first of their kind in the United Kingdom. The Committee by which they were drawn up desired to encourage science students, who might intend to devote themselves to some particular department of science as the pursuit of their lives, to base their special study upon a broad foundation of scientific knowledge ; and while the regulations for the Doctorate were framed in such a manner as to permit a high degree of specialisation, the regulations for the Bachelor's Degree were d.esigned to secure the possession of such general culture as should be likely to prevent its holder from becoming a mere specialist. " Eighteen years' experience of the working of these re- gulations, however, has made it obvious that the present system is not well adapted to the requirements of scien- tific education as now conducted. Almost every depart- ment of science has undergone a higher development, so as to render it more difficult for a student to obtain an adequate mastery of its fundamental principles and con- ceptions. Again, it has come to be generally felt that scientific knowledge, to be real, must \iQ practical, as well as theoretical ; and that a thorough knowledge limited to a comparatively small range, is preferable to a slighter acquaintance spread over a more extended area. And it is the general experience of teachers, that there is from the commencement of their academical course such a decided preference on the part of nearly all students of science for either the physical or the biological group of subjects, that the attention of each student is given to one group almost to the exclusion of the other. It was further urged that the hiatus is too wide between the almost elementary knowledge of the several departments of science required in the Bachelor's Examination, and the very high attainment in some limited department which is required as the qualification for the Doctorate ; and that it would be extremely desirable that this hiatus should be narrowed, by limiting the number of subjects to bs brought up by candidates for the B.Sc. Degree, and proportionally raising the standard of proficiency required. " Several of the ablest teachers in institutions connected with the University, and of its most experienced examiners (past and present), concurred, therefore, in recommending to the Committee, that, keeping the First B.Sc. Examina- tion nearly as it is, an optional divarication should be allowed at the Second between the mathematico-physical an'd the biological subjects ; and the Committee, feeling satisfied that such a limitation would be advantageous, proceeded to carry it out, by framing (with the assistance of their examiners and other distinguished men of science) new programmes in the several departments of study, that should suit what are now felt to be their respective requirements. But when these new programmes (in which, wherever feasible, practical were combined with •wi'itten examinations) were put together, the gonclusion was forced on the Committee, that, even when the whole aggregate of subjects it was deemed right to include was divided into two groups, the acquirement of the proficiency expected in the several subjects thus grouped, would be a task too severe for the average capacities of science students. And after much consideration and communi- cation with their scientific advisers, the Committee have arrived at the conclusion that it would be desirable rather to diminish the number of subjects which each candidate should be required to bring up at the Second B.Sc. Exa- mination, than to exact anything short of the "competent knowledge " of each subject for which these programmes provide. They are further of opinion that each candidate, instead of being required to include either the whole or a part of the subjects he selects in one or other of the before-mentioned groups, should be allowed a free option among all of them, so as to combine them in any way that may best suit his taste and ulterior objects— thus leading him onwards to the still higher specialisation of the Doctorate. "Acting on this principle, the Committee have framed a new set of regulations for the Degree of Bachelor of Science, which they now submit to the consideration of the Senate. In the First Examination, which every can- didate will be required to pass, while the programmes in mathematics, experimental physics, and inorganic che- mistry have been carefully revised, little fundamental change has been made in them. In place of the super- ficial acquaintance with both Zoology and Botany for- merly required at this examination, the Committee now recommend a single examination (written and practical) in General Biology ; in which a more thorough knowledge shall be required of the simplest forms and elementary phenomena of animal and vegetable life, such as is now made the basis of the teaching of some of the most dis- tinguished professors in each department. Thus the student who may be intending to devote himself specially to physical or chemical science, will be brought to appre- hend the general conceptions common to the two great organic kingdoms, without being required to master the specialities of either. And the student who intends to present himself at the Second B.Sc. Examination in either physiology, zoology, or botany, or all combined, will have laid the best foundation for those special studies in the study of general biology. "The regulations for the Second B.Sc. Examination, on the other hand, are framed with the view of allowing the candidate to bring up a7i.y three of the following nine subjects : — 1. Pure Mathematics. 2. Mixed .Mathematics. 3. Experimental Physics. 4. Chemistry. 5. Botany, including Vegetable Physiology. 6. Zoology. 7. Anima) Physiology. 8. Physical Geography and Geology. 9. Logic and Psychology. "It is intended by the Committee that the examinations in these several subjects should be, as nearly as may be, on the same grade, as to the amount of attainment they require. They have learned from the examiners in mathe- matics, that their experience justifies them in stating that any candidate who has thoroughly mastered the mathe- matics of the First B.Sc. Examination, and who has such an aptitude for the study as would lead him to select pure mathematics as one of his subjects at the Second, would find no difficulty in mastering the requirements of its programme, by such an amount of study, carried on tlhrough an eight months' academical session, as would leave him free to bestow the same amount of time and attention on two or even three other subjects. And the Committee would wish it to be understood, therefore, that in proposing that each candidate should have his choice of a7iy three out of the nine subjects just specified, the amount of proficiency expected in each would be that which he might attain by the steady devotion to it of about one-third of the sessional work of a diligent student. " With the further recommendation of the introduction of an efficient practical examination in each of the sub- jects in which it is feasible, the Committee now place the mature result of their deliberations before the Senate, with considerable confidence that it is the plan most suited to meet the pecuhar requirements of the case, and to promote the best interests of scientific education. Aug. 17, 1876] NATURE 333 SCIENCE IN ITALY ^ I N reviewing a number of scientific pamphlets, &c., from Italy, we took occasion to remark (NATURE, vol, xiii., p. 1 10) that " the restoration of political unity and freedom in Italy has also brought about a revival of that intellectual vigour which we are accustomed to associate with the names of Dante and Tasso, of Galileo and Torricelli. When Italy was divided and each state politi- cally oppressed, her best men were in exile, and their best scientific work was expressed in a foreign tongue." In forwarding to us a copy of the handsome volume, the title of which is given above, the editors have written to us, quoting the foregoing passage with approval, while the introduction to the volume is written in the spirit of those remarks. It is gratifying to learn what progress Italy has made during the last ten or fifteen years in education, literature, science, commerce, and industry. "An air more propitious to study is now breathed by united Italy." New scientific schools, institutions, and societies have sprung up, and the old have been renovated. The best men, returned from exile, have resumed their place among the explorers of nature ; and the present state of intellectual activity only renders more evident the condition of mis- rule and division which so long afflicted that noble country, when all free inquiry, whether in nature or in politics, was forbidden, or at least discouraged. In singular contrast to all this, her best minds have at length found that intellectual repose and encouragement at home which are so essential to the carrying on of grave studies. As an exponent of this new state of things, the editors conceived the idea of publishing a half-yearly report of the scientific progress of Italy ; and taking advantage of that wide spirit of tolerant liberality which pervades all true science, they appealed for support to such of their countrymen as were distinguished in the various depart- ments of physics, chemistry, mineralogy, geology, botany, zoology, physiology, anthropology, and geography. This appeal was most liberally and heartily responded to, and the result is a large octavo volume of about 450 pages, well written and carefully edited, very few mistakes occurring, even in the spelling of well-known names, al- though we find at p. i5,"Poulliet,"atp.68, "Bences Jones," at p. 84, " Edvard Hull," and this odd mode of division at p. 15, " Hel-mholtz." The contributors to these various departments have performed their respective tasks nobly and well. They have not only contributed voluminous abstracts of papers, notes and memoirs, but in many cases have furnished more or less elaborate reports on the state of their respective branches of science, and have also given, in some cases, reviews of the best books by Italian authors. For example, the reporter on mineralogy, in addition to some sensible remarks on the backward state of science in Italy, devotes thirty full pages to a review of Bambicci's " Corso di Mineralogia" (second edition, 1875), and refers to it again and again in terms of such high praise as would seem scarcely to belong to a compilation from standard writers in other languages. Indeed the superlative terms of laudation which occur in many parts of the volume strike our colder northern temperament as being at least exaggerated. "Why refer to the chiarissinio Signer Professore, So-and-So, while foreign savans, whether living or departed, are simply and properly men- tioned, as Ampere, Faraday, Helmholtz, &c. When Lord Castlereagh appeared in plain evening dress at a brilliant party at Vienna, amidst a crowd of highly- decorated gentlemen, a lady, asking Mettemich who he was, said, " Mais il n'est pas distingu^ ! " that statesman replied, " Ma foi ! c'est etre bien distingu^." Although we are bound to bestow cordial praise on this volume, yet we should not perform our duty ' Half-yearly Review of the Physico-Natural Sciences in Italy. Edited and published by Drs. G. Cavaona and G. PapasoglL Anno 1., 1875, vol. i. Florence, 1875. {Rassegna Semestrale, &.c.) honestly if we omitted to point out a certain back- wardness on the part of some investigators in read- ing up their subjects before they attempted to make what to them appear to be new researches. For ex- ample, at p. 66 is an abstract of a memoir by Pelloggio, entitled " Contribution to the Phenomena of Supersatu- ration," in which the author appears to have no more, recent information of his subject than that derived from Lowel. He points out that salts isomeric with the one in solution act as nuclei to it. This was shown to be the case many years ago by Violette. He also insists that porous bodies, such as sponge, charcoal, &c., are powerful nuclei ; whereas it has been shown by Tomlinson that such bodies, boiled with the solution which is then left to cool, are purely passive. So also when MM. Mercadante and Colosi affirm (p. 47) that carbonic acid is not emitted by the roots of plants, they are evidently unacquainted with Broughton's researches. We may also point out what seems to be an inaccurate observation on the part of PoUacci (p. 50), namely, that sulphur moistened and exposed to the air absorbs oxygen and becomes converted into sulphuric acid. At p. 126 there is an interesting account of the fall of a meteor at Supino in the district of Frosinone on Sept. 14, 1875. It was accompanied by a trail of fire and smoke ; and after reaching the earth it took a horizontal direction, passed through a house without striking it, thanks to an open passage, and so disappeared. A number of frag- ments were found in the passage, the heaviest of which weighed 364-2 grammes. The fragments were warm. At p. 1 34 is a paper on red chalk, which would deserve attention did our space permit. Anthropology and ethnology are comparatively new to Italy, but they have begun a life of apparent vigour under the auspices of a new society, a museum, and a journal. There are some interesting details respecting the skulls of Dante, Petrarch, Ugo Foscolo, and Volta, the last being of extraordinary capacity. In the skull of Petrarch the Etruscan type is said to be evident, namely, a voluminous brain, strongly developed in all its parts, and of superior psychological power ; but the posterior predominates over the anterior portion, leading to the conclusion that the sentiments and the instincts prevailed over the intel- lect, although this is of the highest order. We look out with much interest for the second part of this volume, which the editors promise shall appear shortly. C, TOMLINSON THE VOLCANO OF REUNION^ THE volcano of the Island of Reunion, surrounded and defended as it were by great circular walls perpen- dicular for more than 100 metres, forming what is known as the inclosure, is hardly accessible except on two sides, by the high plain of the interior or by the Grand-Brul^ ; that is, setting out from the coast to climb directly the slopes of the crater itself. Far from becoming extinct, as has been supposed, this volcano is on the contrary in great activity, and almost every year torrents of lava overflow in that western part of the island known as the great burnt country; its streams sometimes reach the sea, and there form, at a height of more than 2,000 metres, a regular cascade of fire, which may reach a length, as in 1844, of from 900 to 1,000 metres. But these great eruptions are happily very rare ; they are only seen at intervals of six or eight years, and very often the lava is arrested 1,000 or 1,500 metres from the mouth of the crater. Towards the end of August, 1874, loud detonations, sudden tremblings of the ground presaged an eruption of great violence ; but the flow lasted only two days ; directed towards the rampart of the Tremblet, it was happily arrested at 1,500 metres without causing much damage. It was then that I arrived ' From an article in La Nature, No. 160, by M. Ch. Ve'ain. K2 334 NATURE lAug. 17, 1876 in the harbour of St. Denis ; and on landing I organised, with MM. Rochefort, Cazin, and De I'lsle an expedition to the volcano in the hope of arriving in time enough to witness the end of the eruption. We set out from St. Benoit on Sept. i, and made for the plain of Palmistes, our first stage. This plain is surrounded on all sides, except the north-east, by perpendicular ramparts, which may reach a height of 200 metres, and whose sides, covered with vegetation, form a semicircular curtain of verdure that shuts out the horizon. From the plain of the Palmistes we had to climb to that of Cafres by crossing the rampart of the Grande-Montde, a long and difficult ascent on account of the abruptness of the rampart. We reached the summit about an hour after mid-day, and found the temperature to be 14° C, less than half that of the lower part of the island. The plain of Cafres, at a mean height of 1,600 metres, forms a declivity, a sort of saddle-back or pass between the two parts of the island which we have distinguished under the names of Ancient Mass and Recent Mass. It is a very uneven plain, inclined towards the south-west, i.e., in a direction opposite to that of the Palmistes, and formed by a succession of small echeloned plateaus crossed by rounded hillocks covered with vegetation. The soil which results from the disintegration of the lavas is here very argillaceous, as all that savannah presents fresh pasturage during the dry season, and is changed into a vast marsh during the rainy season ; it is about two leagues in length. Night surprised us near the source of the river of the Ramparts before we could reach the end of our journey, and we had to sleep on the bare ground ; the thermometer reached 3°, and during the night sank to — 2°. Map of the Island of Reunion (after M. L. Maillard). At eleven on the next morning we reached the Cavern of the Lataniers, after having visited the vast crater named Commerson, singularly situated on the very edge of the magnificent escarpments which form the great section at the foot of which flows the river of the Ram- parts ; from thence we directed our steps towards the pass of the sands (2,386 metres), in order to cross the first inclosure of the volcano. The present volcanic cone is, in fact, preceded by two great circles produced by sub- sidences which have given place to veritable circular walls cut perpendicularly for more than 100 metres from the top, and which are named the inclosures. Of the first there remains only a small part ; on the north-east its wall overhangs the river from the east, and on the east the plain of sands ; but on the south it is not so easily traced ; it is prolonged on this side of the great section of the river Angevin, the formation of which is later. The plain of sands (about 2,300 metres) which thus circumscribes a basaltic rampart, is formed by a black compact lava covered by a layer of small angular very regular fragments of vitreous lava, often two metres in thickness. In the bottom of the little ravines is noticed, moreover, an accumulation of crystals of olivine and augite which come from the disintegration of certain rocks thrown out by the volcano, and composed almost solely of these two minerals. It is intersected by cones of scoriae regular in form, terminating in little craters, the limited overflows from which appeared consolidated on the ledge. We had to pass round many of them before arriving at the ridge of the second inclosure, which had Aug. 17, 1876] NA TURE 335 I to be crossed at the Belcombe pass (2,400 m.). The diameter of the latter is about 5,000 metres ; it is disposed in horsehoe form, and is prolonged eastwards by two great parallel walls, which are named respectively the Rampart of Bois Blanc and the Rampart of Tremblet, and which surround the great burnt region ; here is the mass of the present volcano. When we reached the top of the rampart the descent The Formica leo and the Bory Peak (extinct crater) from above the Pass of Belcombe. looked dreadful, and appeared perpendicular to a depth of 250 metres. Below, sombre-coloured lavas stretched out m a sort of platform which serves as a base to the volcanic mountain, whose slopes they cover to an equal height all round ; there is detached from the foot of the rampart a little cone of scoriae in admirable preservation, The Inclosure and the Cone of the present Crater. which Bory de St. Vincent has named the Formica-leo (Ant-lion). Attempting the descent by the help of some shrubs which had lodged themselves in the interstices of [ peared quite near, was more than 300 metres from us. the wall, we reached with difficulty the base of the escarp- ment. The Formica-leo, which, seen from above, ap- 13^ NA TURE [Att^. 17, 1876 It is a very flattened cone, perfectly regular, 15 metres high on a base of from 1,000 to 1,200 metres, presenting at the summit an opening of about 80 metres, with a depth of 6 metres. It is formed entirely of bright- coloured scoriae, black, yellow, but mostly red. On the morrow, after having passed the night under a break in the lava of the rampart, exposed to the moisture and to a glacial wind, we ascended the slopes of the Bory Peak, in order to reach the burning crater. On our arrival at the mouth of the crater all the volcanic phe- nomena had ceased ; on the slopes of the cone, formed of scoriae and heaps of ashes is detached a black stream of vitreous lava which made its way by numerous fissures to about 100 metres from the summit. The cooled lava formed at the bottom of the crater a circular shaft about 80 metres in depth, like a solid crust much fissured. Abundant vapours escaped from various points in the walls, which presented alternate streams of lava and scorias, covered, especially towards the summit, by a whitish coating, formed of the crystals of gypsum. The lava of the last eruption had flowed to the north-east towards the plain of Osmondes ; it was not very exten- sive, very scoriaceous, bluish-black, and entirely vitreous. It must have been accompanied or followed by numerous ejections and particularly by a rain of those volcanic threads so frequently thrown out by the volcanoes of the Sandwich Islands, and known as Pelt's Hair ; for these brown filaments, which are simply wire- drawn obsidians, bedecked all the irregularities of the lava. In the crevasses which crossed the last flow, the temperature was 5o°7 near the surface, and about 72" at 2 metres below. The vapours of water and of hydro- chloric acid were given off at frequent intervals here as well as at various points of the escarpment which directly preceded the volcanic cone. A small inclosure, not hitherto referred to, surrounded the crater ; its precipices were about 60 metres high. The mass of the volcano is thus composed of two peaks, the highest of which (2,625 metres) supports the crater Bory, extinct since the be- ginning of the century ; while the other (the Foumaise peak, 2,5 i 5 metres), which is of later formation, supports the active crater. The products of this volcano are com- posed mainly of basaltic or vitreous lavas rich in chry- solite ; this mineral, so characteristic of modern eruptions, is often ejected in voluminous and compact masses. The products of the old volcano, which must at one time have occupied the centre of the three valleys of Cilaos, Salazie, and Mafatte, are quite different ; they are scattered over a trachytic mass which is only seen, however, in the beds of the torrents which drain the three circles above re- ferred to. Our porters, whom the sight of the volcano deeply im- pressed, were unwilling to follow us on to the lavas ; they remained at the Belcombe Pass, and would not on any account on our return take charge of the rocks and vol- cano products which I had collected. Some maintained that stones were plentiful enough on the shore, and that it was useless to carry them from such a height ; others, affecting a gross superstition, would not touch what came from the " fire of the good God." I had to use a little trickery, and take advantage of the darkness to slip into their sacks my day's collection. ARCTIC FOSSIL FLORA ^ 'y HIS third volume of Dr. Heer's " Fossil Flora of the ■*■ Arctic Regions " contains four very distinct chapters. The first of these relates to the Plants of the Coal-mea- sures of the Arctic Zone ; the second to the Plants of the Chalk Formation of the same Zone ; the third gives an ' " Flora Fossilis Arctica." Die Fossile Flora der Polarlander von Dr. Oiwald Heer. Dritter Band. (Zurich, 1875.) account of the Miocene Flora of Greenland ; and the fourth is a review of the Miocene Flora of the Arctic Zone. For the material for the first three chapters of this volume the author has the Swedish naturalists alone to thank, and in addition, the Swedish Academy of Sciences has been at the expense of the several parts composing it, which will also be found in Vols. 12 and 13 of their " Abhandlungen." The fourth chapter is added at the expense of Dr. Heer, and not only notices the Miocene plants referred to in the three first volumes, but also those collected during the summer of 1873 in Spitz- bergen by Prof. Nordenskjdld. It would not be desirable here to do more than notice the general contents of this quarto volume, which contains notices of four species of plants found in the lower coal- measures of Spitzbergen ; of seventy-five species from the lower and of sixty-five species from the upper chalk of Greenland, of sixteen species from the chalk of Spitz- bergen, and of thirty-four species from the Miocene of Greenland, most of these species are illustrated in the forty-nine plates which accompany the volume. One remarkable fern, Protopte7-is punctata, Stbg., is referred to in the text as a proof of the occurrence of the coal- measures at Ujarasusuk at Disco. It was originally described from specimens found in the sandstone of Kaunitz, in Bohemia, which had been most generally described as belonging to the coal-measures ; it would seem, however, from the researches of Herr Feistmantel that the Kaunitz sandstone really belongs to the chalk formation, thus doing away with the only point which for a moment seemed to favour the existence of the coal for- mation in Greenland, seeming to prove that on both sides of the Waigat, at Disco, and at Half Island, Noursoak, the oldest sedimentary formations are chalk deposits. These from the former locality apparently belong to the Upper Cretaceous period, while the dark-brown rocks and sandstones of the north side of the latter locality belong to the Lower Cretaceous period. Higher up succeed the Miocene deposits, which are covered and penetrated by intrusions of the mighty basalt rock. From the many various localities now known in the Arctic regions for fossil plants, none indicating a marine origin have occurred to Dr. Heer. Steenstrup, jun., how- ever, has detected the remains of some marine animals from the district of Atane, between Patut and Niick Kiterdlek ; here, in several places at an elevation of some 2,000 feet over sea-level, he found Echinoderms and marine shells. Cyclostis^ma Nat/wrsti, very near C. Kil- torkense, Haughton, is described as new from the coal of Spitzbergen. A glance at the list of the Miocene plants shows how changed the seasons in the Arctic Zone must be fiom the time when these plants were living and bearing the leaves which have been so well preserved. Hawthorn and brambles, walnuts, magnolias, and vines, not to allude to planes, Macclintockias, and many of the more delicate Conifers, seemed to have flourished ere the reign of ice came and burnt them up. The list of cretaceous fossil plants from North Greenland is accompanied by a list of the localities where they were collected. The collection, a very large one, is for the most part in the museum at Stockholm ; many of the species are described as new. The absence of insect life amid all this plant life is note- worthy, but two species, probably weevils, being described in this volume. Many countries have contributed the material for Prof. Heer to work out the history of the " Flora of the Arctic World," A great deal still remains to be done. Now that England, Denmark, and Sweden have done so much, we must look to Russia to contribute according to her means and the extent of her Arctic possessions ; she has done nobly in tracing out the contour line of her northern coast. We would now know more of the rocks that form it. E. P. W. Aug. 17. 1876] NATURE 337 OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN The Double-Star B.A.C. 1972.— Capt. Jacob, review- ing the measures of this object, first registered double by Dunlop with his 9-feet reflector at Paramatta (No. 23 of the Catalogue of 253 stars), remarked of it in 1858 : "the angle is, on the whole, evidently advancing, and the dis- tance decreasing, but the measures are strangely wild, considering the easiness of the object, and seem to indi- cate the presence of some perturbing body." For com- parison the following may be selected : — Dunlop ... 1826 'GO Position 329 o Distance 3'oo Herschel ... 1835 02 „ 342-5 „ 3 86 Jacob ... 184694 „ 3485 „ 3-22 ... 185273 „ 3507 „ 2-8i ... 185817 „ 3547 ,, 2-i8 Jacob's measures of 1858 are the last we find ; he con- sidered an appulse would take place about 1875. Dunlop says of the results in his catalogue similar to the above, the " positions and distances are only estima- tions while passing through the field of the 9-feet tele- scope," and no great stress, therefore, need be placed upon them. If we assume that the change of angle and distance is the effect of proper motion, a comparison of Sir John Herschel's measures of 1835, with the later ones at Madras, leads to the following formulas : — A o = — 07876 + [8-80975] (t — 1850) A 3 = + 2-6926 - [88 1 900] {t - 1850) Whence we find for 187675, position 34°-4, distance i""i3, showing a considerable change since the last published measures, which should render it easy for one of our southern readers to decide upon the cause of the apparent motion. In the case of rectilinear motion the nearest approach would fall in 1881 or 1882, on an angle of from 5o°-55°, and in 1891 the component which we are taking tor the companion (though the stars appear of equal magnitude — the seventh) would be upon the parallel fol- lowing i"-2. So much is to be gathered from the data at present in our possession. The position of the star for 1876 is in R.A. 6h. im. 35s., N.P.D. 138° 27'.— It should be added that the above formulae give an angle of position for 18260, differing 11° from Dunlop's estimation and the distance greater by 2\ seconds. The Second Comet of 1844. — The period of revolu- tion assigned to this comet by Prof. Plantamour, of Geneva, after a most minute discussion of the observa- tions, is upwards of a thousand centuries, with a probable error cf about thirty centuries ! Such a result may be regarded with suspicion by many, but let us see upon what grounds it has been founded. The second comet of 1844 was independently discovered by Mauvais, at Paris, on July 7, and two nights later by D'Arrest, at Eerlin. It was observed before the con- junction with the sun and perihelion passage until September 7, and was found at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, on October 27, and observed with great precision on forty-eight days at that establishment until March 10, 1845, when it was distant from the earth 2-9, and from the sun 2-4. The later European observa- tions are those taken at the Royal Observatory, Green- wich, on March 4, and at Berlin on March 6. 545 observations of position were available for the deter- mination of the orbit, and are discussed in the Mhnoire S7ir la Comete Mauvais de Vajwee, 1844, by Prof. Plai.t- amour. He started with the parabolic elements of Nicolai, which had led to the re-discovery of the comet in Europe after the perihelion passage, on January 27, 1845. The i perturbations due to the action of Venus, the Earth, \ Jupiter, and Saturn, during the whole interval of obser- ; vation, were rigorously determined and taken into account, ; and after a double solution of equations of condition ^ founded upon normal positions, thus freed from the slight distortions due to planetary attraction, the devia- j tion of the eccentricity from unity was found, with a probable error of only j'jjth part of the amount of this deviation. The resulting definitive orbit is an ellipse with a semi-axis major = 2183-8 ; the corresponding period is 102,050 years ± 3,090. This value of the time of revolution is founded upon an arc of the comet's orbit, extending to 204^, described in eight months. The aphelion distance of the comet is 4,366 times the earth's mean distance from the sun, a space which light would require twenty-five days to traverse, and yet little more than a fiftieth part of that of the nearest fixed star according to our present knowledge, a suggestive fact when the visits of comets to other systems are under discussion. New Nebul.^. — M. Stdphan, Director of the Observa- tory at Marseilles, has communicated to the Paris Academy a list of twenty-three new nebulae detected with the Foucault telescope of o-8o m. aperture, which raises the number of such discoveries, so far published, to 120 ; but M. St^phan mentions that he has approximate posi- tions of about 400 new nebulze, between 45° and 100° N.P.D., and hopes yet to considerably increase this number. As might be expected, the twenty-three new nebulae are mostly very faint ; one only is called " pretty bright— very small — round" in R.A., I7h. 6m. 47s.; N.P.D., 48° ii'-7, for 18760. THE NORWEGIAN NORTH ATLANTIC EXPEDITION Reikiavik, July 27 T N continuation of our last account we hear that the ex- •*■ pedition has been not at all favoured by the weather. Since it left Christiansund, June 27, it has met with no less than five storms (wind velocity, forty- five miles an hour) ; two in the' " Lightning " Channel early in July, one at Thorshaven, one north of Faroe, and one at the Westman Islands (off the south coast of Iceland). It has been only in the short intervals between these storms that any deep-sea work has been done. The last days of June were fine, so the expedition sounded, dredged, and trawled off Christiansund on the bank called " Storeg- gen." Here the fauna was quite Atlantic ; on the outer edge of the bank the water deepened to 300, 400, and 500 fathoms, and the ice-cold water was met with, yielding an Arctic fauna. Two large specimens of Umbellularia (the same as earlier) were found, with a new star- fish and an animal which is quite new to the naturalists on board. Of smaller organisms there were also several new ones. In lat. 63" 10' N., long, i" 30' W., a sounding in 1,050 fathoms gave a temperature under 32° below 300 fathoms. The Voringeti had to leave this station to refit, as a sea had carried away the two fore-hatches. The course was shaped for Thorshaven, where the expedition stayed eight days to refit (July 8-15). The stay there was very interesting, especially for the geologists. The formation of caverns at sea-level was an operation visible in all stages of progress. In the zoohte caverns of Naalso a rich harvest of minerals was secured. The inhabitants of Thorshaven received the expe- dition very hospitably, and remembered, with great plea- sure, the stay of the Lightning and Porcupine. After a trip round the main island to Westmanhaven, the Voringen left Faroe, July 16, and steered for its last station. Bad weather brought work here to a speedy conclusion ; however, a series of temperatures were ob- tained, indicating ice-cold water at a depth of 300 or 400 fathoms. On the north-eastern corner of the Faroe bank the depth increases very rapidly. In lat. 63° 22' N., long. 3° 30' W., soundings gave 1,180 fathoms. A series of temperatures gave 32" -4 in 400 fathoms, 3i°*8 in 500 fathoms, and the bottom temperature was 29°-8. In lat. 63° 55' N., long 7° 10' W., 30°-2 in 677 fathoms ; in lat. 63'' 3' N., long. 10° 15' W., 37°'2 in 256 fathoms. Further 33« NATURE \Aug. 17, 1876 west the bottom temperature was found to be 46°'2. Bad weather prohibited dredging, so the course was laid for Reikiavik, but heavy S.W. winds and sea made the pro- gress very slow. July 22, Iceland was made in the morning, but in the afternoon the weather got so wild and thick that shelter was sought at the Westman Islands, a group of small islands off the south coast of Iceland. Here a stay of three days was made ; during one of them there was a heavy gale, in which steam was kept up. The visit here proved very interesting. The whole of the islands are volcanic ; a large old crater, with perpendicu- lar walls 400 to 500 feet high, is visible ; one side is standing, the other has been washed away by the sea. Two miles off is a more recent cone, 770 feet above sea- level, in full preservation, with a hollow 50 feet deep on top. The base of the cone is lava ; the cone itself, whose outline is beautifully geometrical, is composed of loose stones. The sea-birds are very numerous, living in the countless hollows in the cliffs, where they were hatching at the time of the visit. Whales, large and small, were about the ship. Westmaney was left July 26, and Reikiavik reached that evening. On the south coast of Iceland the current was very strong to the eastward, and from Cape Skagi to Reikiavik its violence was fearful. The Icelanders reported that they have very seldom had so bad a summer as this one — perpetual storm and rain. This has not been favourable to the expedition except as regards meteorology. In this branch hourly observations have been regularly taken when at sea. The expedition was to stay at Reikiavik five or six days for coaling and for magnetic base observations. Hardly any magnetic observations have been obtained at sea, the weather having been so boisterous. It was intended to give up making the circuit of Iceland (the ice on the north side went away in June), and to take up a line south of Iceland, and then straight across to Norway, about to Namsos. The scientific staff is very well con- tented with the results gained, in spite of the bad weather. {From another Correspondefit.) The Atlantic Expedition, under the leadership of Prof. Mohn and Prof. Sars, sent by the Norwegian government for the exploration of the North Atlantic and for making a toi(r round Iceland, give some intelligence as to their proceedings in a letter from Thorshavn (Faroe Islands), dated July 1 1 and 14, printed in the Christiania newspaper, Morgenbladet, of Aug. 2. This letter, the substance of which we reproduce, gives information on the cruise of the expedition in open sea, after its having left Christian- sund. On June 27 the steamer left Christiansund and went westward. In the evening soundings were taken at a depth of 87 fathoms, and the temperature of the water proved to be as high as 7° C, between 10 fathoms and the bottom. The following day, the island Storeggen was reached ; the temperature of the water was here y\° C, at a depth of 230 fathoms, and the animal life, belonging all to the " warm region," was of the highest interest. On the 29th, the steamer going further westward, the depth still increased and soon reached 418 fathoms, where the thermometer showed an icy-cold sheet of water, sharply divided from the upper warmer sheet, the temperature at 300 fathoms being + 6°, and - 1° at the depth of 418 fathoms. On the 30th the weather was very fine, and the trawl-net was used, an English fishing-net, which brought some remarkable forms {e.g. large UmbellifercB) from the depths of the cold sheet of water. On July i the ther- mometer showed — 1° C. at the depth of 570 fathoms. In the afternoon the weather changed, the wind began to blow very strongly from S.S.E., the barometer fell, and the steamer took a S.E. direction. On July 2 the wind reached the strength of a storm, the waves had a height of 18 feet, which height diminished afterwards to 12 and 10 feet. The bad weather continued until July 4, and it was not till the 5 th that the steamer could return to her former route, and the soundings and the fishing could be continued. On the 5th soundings were taken at a depth of 1,050 fathoms, temperature at the bottom — 1° C. The dredging apparatus was sent to this depth, and dragged for six hours : it brought up a very interesting collection, which proved that even at this depth, and in such cold water, animal life is very variable at different parts of the bottom. But the zoological labours were soon interrupted anew by a gale coming from the south ; the height of the waves was measured and found to be 25 feet, and the steamer received some damage, which forced the expedi- tion to go to the Faroe Islands. On the 8th the expedition landed at Thorshavn, and it was not till July 14 that, necessary repairs being made, the steamer could go further. These circumstances, and the reports of much ice round Iceland made it very probable that the expe- dition will not make, this year, the proposed tour round that island. The scientific results of the expedition — says the writer of the letter — are already considerable. The depths of the sea, and the distribution of temperature with the depth are certainly such as might be supposed, but the animal life exhibits a much greater variety of forms than could ever have been expected, so that the explorations of the summer will give a very general idea as to the organic life of this latitude. MR. O. C. STONE'S EXPEDITION TO NEW GUINEA A GOOD deal of speculation has been rife as to the -^"^ above expedition of Mr. Stone (Cf. Ibis, 1876, p. 363) into south-eastern New Guinea, as the collections sent by the Italian traveller, D'Albertis, had by no means answered the expectations of naturalists as regards novel- ties, and as Mr. Stone was known to have engaged the services of two good ^rcparaieurs in the persons of Messrs. Petterd and Broadbent, it was confidently ex- pected that a great deal that was new to science would be brought to light. After a cursory examination of the birds obtained during the expedition, it becomes quite evident that the neighbourhood of Port Moresby is a very unproductive one as regards ornithology, when compared with the rich fields in the north-western part of New Guinea, which have lately yielded as many as fifty-two undescribed species of birds to the Italian traveller. Dr. Beccari. At the same time Mr. Stone's collection has taught us some very interesting facts by proving that the Papuan element in the avifauna of south-eastern New Guinea, consists rather cf Aru forms than of Salwatti or Dorey species. Many birds are, as might be expected, j specifically the same as those of Cape York, but the large f number of Aru birds is very striking. I am preparing a full account of the collection for publication, but mean- while I send a notice of the expedition for the readers of this journal, and add short details of one or two species which appear to be new to science. Mr. Stone started from Somerset, Australia, on October 21, 1875, and after remaining a few days at Yule Island, where Signor d'Albertis was then collecting, he reached Port Moresby, New Guinea, about sixty miles further to the south-east, on the 29th of the same month. Although his principal object in visiting the island was to gain ethnological and geographical information, he took with him, as mentioned above, two taxidermists. Anua- pata, where he erected his tent, is situated upon the shores of Moresby harbour, in long. 147° 7' E., and lat. 9^ 28' S., and from here several preliminary excursions were made. At first the natives showed some fear, but on seeing that the object of the visitors was peaceable, they soon gained confidence, and the younger members of the community frequently assisted in carrying back the game shot. During the months of December and Aug. 17, 1876] NATURE 339 January rain fell in considerable quantities, and both the collectors were laid up for many days with fever and ague, which retarded collecting, but altogether about 450 skins of birds were obtained from a radius of about thirty miles inland from Port Moresby. In the immediate neighbourhood of Port Moresby birds were plentiful, but the beautiful Bird of Paradise {P. ra^giana) is only found in the thick forests on the mountains of the interior. Parrakeets, parrots and cockatoos, pigeons and doves, were numerous among the jungle, and the belts of tall trees along the rivers Laroki and Vetura. The farthest point reached inland was Munikaira, situated about thirty miles to the north-east, the difficulty in procuring natives as carriers preventing Mr. Stone from proceeding further; at this point he made a camp for several days, but the wet season and consequent unhealthiness of the place precluded further exploration. The following birds appear to be undescribed : — ALbircedus stonii. Stone's Cat-bird, like jE. btiscoides, of N.W. New Guinea, but distinguished by a black head and unspotted abdomen. Hab. Laroki River. Diccctim rubro-coronatum (Red-crowned Flower-pecker). Although having a red spot on the breast, like D. vul- netatum, D. schistaceiceps, &c., this species differs from them all in having the back purplish, with a scarlet crown and rump. I cannot find any species agreeing with it. Hab. Port Moresby. JanthcE7ias rawlmsoni, closely allied to J.hypcenochrous, but differing in its crown being of a ruddy violet, the under tail-coverts being black, and the under-surface also ruddy violet, without the strong chestnut appearance of /. hypccnochrous, Hab. Laroki River, R. BOWDLER ShARPE ABSTRACT REPORT TO ''NATURE'' ON EX- PERIMENTA TION ON ANIMALS FOR THE ADVANCE OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE' VI. Experimentaiio7i with Nitrite ef Amyl. N the progress of scientific therapeutics no addition to the curative resources of medicine has of late at- tracted more attention than the nitrite of amyl. This agent is now one of the useful agents in the hands of the physician, and, what is most to the purpose, it is one of the most useful for relieving the cruellest and painfullest diseases. The discovery of the properties it possesses resulted in the purest way from experimental study, the record of which I am entitled to write as the one who introduced the agent into medicine, defined its mode of action, and thereby determined its place in the Hsts of curative chemical substances. Nitrite of amyl was discovered by Balard thirty years ago. It was examined afterrt'ards by Kieckher. It was made by the action of nitrous acid on amylic alcohol, and the vapour of it was said to produce headache when it was inhaled. Many years passed before any further observation was made upon the substance, and indeed, Gregory, in his edition of " Organic Chemistry," published in 1852, merely refers, and that incidentally, to the nitrate of amyl. He passes over the nitrite in silence. The observation that the vapour of nitrite of amyl causes headache, or rather a sense of fulness of the head than headache, rested, I believe, on the observations of Rieckher, and was not improved upon until Prof. Guthrie, of Edinburgh, and now of the School of Mines, London, noticed, while distilling the nitrite, the further facts that the vapour, after being inhaled, induces flushing of the face, rapid action of the heart, a peculiar breathlessness such as occurs from fast running, and disturbance of cerebral action. These facts, published by the learned professor, ]3ecame known to Mr. Morison, a dentist practising in ' Continued from p. 291, I Edinburgh. Mr. Morison thought that the vapour of nitrite of amyl might be a powerful stimulant, and might be made use of in cases of syncope and exhaustion. He brought a specimen of the compound to London, and placed it before the College of Dentists, of which he was a member. The Council of that Institution thereupon submitted the specimen to mc for investigation and re- port, with the request that I would fully inquire into its physiological and therapeutical properties by experiment. The first public record of my researches, commenced in this manner, was read to the physiological section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at the meeting of the Association held at Newcastle-on- Tyne in 1863. It is unfortunate that by some accident the original paper as it was read at the meeting was not included in the volume of Transactions of the Associa- tion. A short and fair abstract of it was, however, pub- lished in the Medical Times and Gazette (Sept. 26, 1863, pp. 334-5). The first remarkable effect I observed upon the living body from the vapour of the nitrite was the peculiar redness of the skin. On the face a deep blush was excited by inhalation of the vapour, which blush soon became a perfect crimson. With this there was a rapid increase in the motion of the heart, and following upon the same there was quickened respiration and panting. These observa- tions, which resembled those noted by Prof. Guthrie, were taken in a systematic manner from symptoms produced on myself. A piece of paper was rolled into the form of a funnel, the nitrite was dropped into the open mouth of the funnel, and then I inhaled vapour from the funnel until distinct objective and subjective symptoms were re- cognised. Dr. Gibb, afterwards known as Sir George Duncan Gibb, took notes of these signs as they were developed in me, and then he himself inhaled while I re- corded symptoms. Afterwards Mr. Kempton, a member of the Council of the College of Dentists, submitted him- self to experiment. The result was the confirmation of certain very extraordinary phenomena induced by the nitrite, but what the nature of those phenomena could be was unknown. One thing was certain, that here was an agent of great potency in its action on the animal economy, and therefore of promise as an agent for cure. The question was what disease would it cure or alleviate .' Towards the relief of what class of human maladies could it be applied ? I should have been well content if I could have pursued this inquiry solely by observation on man. But soon I found that the experimental pursuit on the human animal was far too dangerous a risk to be ventured upon. An enthusiastic adventurous experimentalist in my laboratory made a few inhalations too many, and well nigh paid the penalty with his life. The rapid action of his heart was followed by confusion of the senses and by sudden prostra- tion, and extreme pallor and faintness from which there was not a safe recovery for two hours, nor a complete recovery for two days. The only lesson taught by this experience was that the original idea of using nitrite of amyl for the cure of syncope was false. All else was as dark as ever, and if I had had no other means of research at command, I should have laid this now valuable remedy aside as a dangerous substance, a substance not to be added to the armoury of practical medicine. In this dilemma it seemed to be justifiable to test the action of the agent on animals inferior to man. The first point to be ascertained was whether this sub- stance acted after the manner of an anaesthetic. Animals therefore of different classes, frogs, guinea pigs, cats, and rabbits, were subjected to its vapour as I had been ; but the inhalation in their case was carried further, and they were allowed to pass into insensibility. The insensibility appeared to be death, and in the warm-blooded animals was death. The consciousness of external impressions remained until the moment of collapse, then there was insensibility, but then also in the warm bloods the 340 NATURE {Aug. 17, 1876 life had ceased. Thus it was shown that nitrite of amyl was not an anaesthetic. It did not produce sleep. After the life of the animals of warm blood was sud- denly extinguished by the vapour, — and apparently the extinction was without pain, — I remarked that the in- ternal organs of the body after the death were in some instances exceedingly congested with blood. The lungs and the brain were commonly in this state ; but it struck ine, though I could not explain the fact at the moment, that exceptionally these organs, when the death of the animal was instantaneous, were left quite bloodless, and actually white in their texture. Further, I observed that in the warm bloods the muscular irritability remained for a very long time after death, often for many hours. These phenomena were strange on the warm-blooded animals, but they were trifling in comparison with what was ob- served on cold-blooded animals. I discovered that in the frog the complete insensibility, and, as it seemed, absolute death, produced by the nitrite was not death really, but a suspended animation, a condition like that which has been called trance in the human subject. A condition of simulated death so perfect that no sign of life could be obtained, and yet from which, after so long an interval of time as nine days, the animal would wake up and enter again into life as if nothing had been done to derange its life. During all this time the limbs of the animal re- mained mobile ; not a muscle was stiffened into the rigidity of death. There was induced, in fact, not only the trance of the human subject, but the corresponding cataleptic state of the muscular fibre. In addition I learned that during this state of suspense of life, the blood, though it was darkened and deprived of its capacity of becoming oxidised, and otherwise changed, was held in the fluid state. Like the muscles, it remained free of the change called pectous ; it did not coagulate. The next step in the investigation had relation to the action of the nitrite on the vessels which constitute the minute circulation. The change in the circulation in the web of the frog under its influence was carefully in- vestigated ; the condition of the circulation through the semi-transparent ear of the rabbit while the animal was breathing the vapour was also carefully investigated. The result of these inquiries was to discover that nitrite of amyl exerts a direct action on the nervous function, and that the action consists of a paralysing influence on the nervous mechanism by which the minute arterial system is controlled and governed. To repeat the words of the report I made to the meeting at Newcastle, " the action of the nitrite was directly on the nervous system, and that such action, transferred to the filaments of nerves surrounding the arteries, paralysed the vaso nerves, on which the heart immediately injected the vessels, causing the peculiar redness of the skin and the other phenomena that have been narrated." In this preliminary inquiry I advanced the new propo- sitions that we had in our possession a chemical sub- stance which, being introduced into the body, overcomes the arterial tonicity, and causes phenomena analogous to those changes in the vascular current which follow upon division of the sympathetic nerve. I further suggested that in cases of trance and cata- lepsy in the human sutyect, some substance analogous in its action to the nitrite is produced in the body by some error of secretion, some modification of the animal che- mistry, and that the foreign substance so engendered is the cause of the disease. The first of these propositions is, I consider, proven ; the second is not proven by any new research, but is still the most reasonable exposition of the phenomena to which it refers. In continuation of experiment on the action of the nitrite of amyl on the nervous system, I studied next its local action, and came to the conclusion that its action on the nervous matter is not through the blood, but by direct impression through the nervous cords to the vas- cular motor nervous supply. I compared other bodies of the nitrite order — such as nitrite of methyl, ethyl, and butyl — with it in their operation. I compared it in its action with emotional shocks, and correlated the blush on the cheek or the pallor of the cheek which it produces with the blush or pallor induced by the impressions creating shame, fear, or other similar passions. I traced, through the whole of the phenomena induced by the agent, the action of the base amyl, and the effect of the addition of the elements, nitrogen and oxygen ; and I showed that when oxygen and nitrogen are brought into combination with the base, the physiological effect is modified and the specific influence of the substance on the vascular sys- tem is declared. I was led to compare the action of nitrite of amyl with other chemical bodies, and, using it as a key, was enabled to show the analogical action of many other compounds. Notably, I pointed out from the observations collected during this inquiry, that alco- hol produces its influence on the extreme vascular system by the same paralysing process. By investigating the effect of the agent after its long- continued inhalation, I was able to show that it induces changes in the circu- lation of the lung which lead to congestions and even to haemorrhages like those which occur in some forms of pulmonary consumption, and thus the nervous origin of consumption of the lungs was brought fairly under notice as a new element of study in the clinical history of that fatal disease. In yet another series of observations I learned that rabbits afflicted with a singularly loath- some skin disease — resembling lepra in man — re- cover rapidly in an atmosphere containing the nitrite vapour ; that the dry and colourless and scaly skin of the animals become suffused with blood ; that with this increased capillary circulation the scales fall off and healthy skin begins to appear ; that the fur of the animals begins to grow ; that the general nutrition of the animals is soon improved, and that within a month their cure is completed. From my point of view the disclosure of these facts alone were a sufficient vindication of the line of research by experiment on living animals pursued with the nitrite of amyl. They were, however, very poor indeed, when they are compared with another disclosure of fact which came out of the same experimental research. In 1863 I had learned that the influence of the nitrite of amyl was on the nervous vascular supply, that it para- lysed temporarily the nervous action, and that the vascu- lar redness it induces is due to this paralysis. In the succeeding year I followed up this subject more closely, and by an extension of observation I was led to the con- clusion that in the nitrite of amyl we had found the most potent chemical agent that had ever been discovered for overcoming muscular spasm generally. The singular cataleptic and passive state of the voluntary muscles was an evidence of this fact, and it tallied with the earlier observation of the effect on the vascular tension. In addition, I saw that in this nitrite I held a sub- stance which would not fix itself with the tissues of the animal and require to be eliminated by the slow process of fluid excretion through the kidney ,or skin, but that, owing to its insolubility and volatility, it would escape by the organs of respiration as well as by the other channels of elimination. I had learned, indeed, that in animals like frogs, from the bodies of which, owing to the thick- ness of the cutaneous tissue, the transpiration is easy, the spontaneous evaporation of the nitrite, extending over the long period of nine days, was sufficient of itself to lead to restoration of vital function. The study of the whole series of facts, when the facts were carefully collected and weighed, led to the demonstration that the original view as to the nitrite of amyl being a stimulant and an extreme excitant was wrong ; it disclosed that the phenomena of excitation, as they at first seemed, were phenomena really of suppressed nervous function, that the vascular injeCT Aug. 17, 1876] NATURE 341 tion meant loss of vascular resistance, and that the sup- posed stimulant was indeed a paralyser of the most active kind. In turn this reading of the true physiological action of the nitrite of amyl led me safely to its true therapeutical value, and the result was that its exact place in therapeutics was fixed correctly before ever it was used for the treat- ment and cure of disease. At the meeting of the British Association for the Advan:ement of Science held at Bath in 1S64, I pointed out its therapeutical position. The application of nitrite of amyl as a new remedy for the use of the physician was clear : it was a remedy to be applied in controlling muscular spasm. It was, I said, selecting for my illustration the most terrible and typical of all the spasmodic diseases, it was the remedy even for tetanus or lockjaw, and this view I afterwards demonstrated by the direct experiment of neutralising strychnine tetanus in the frog by the application of the nitrite, of suspending the tetanic symptoms by the agent until the strychnine was eliminated, and of physiologically curing a disease which had been physiologically produced and which, but for the antidote, would have been irrevo- cably fatal. So soon as the therapeutical position of nitrite of amyl had been discovered by experiment the practical adapta- tion of it was comparatively easy. I had only to learn how it had best be administered ; how to administer it, by inhalation, by the mouth, by subcutaneous injection ; how to make it combine with other medicinal substances, and how to select the most suitable substances with which to join it in combination. The researches in these direc- tions were all conducted on human animals, or rather on one animal — the experimentator himself. The modes of administration were also recorded for the guidance of practitioners, and the remedy was in time fairly launched on a true scientific basis, its action explained, its use described, its effects predicated. I spent three years in research on the physiological properties of nitrite of amyl in order to discover its place as a means of cure of human maladies. If I had spent thirty years instead of three the tim^e and labour had not been badly repaid. The practical results of my work in the benefit conferred on mankind in mitigation of suffer- ing and in cure of diseases of an intractable nature have been rapid in their course beyond expectation. Dr. Lauder Brunton first tried the application of the nitrite of amyl for the relief of one of the most acutely painful of the spasmodic diseases, the disease known as angina pectoris, and gained an immediate success. Dr. Anstie came to me for the remedy in a case where a man was in the pangs of death from acute spasmodic asthma, and after five minutes of the inhalation of the vapour found his patient breathing with the most perfect freedom, or, as he expressed it to me, " the man became conscious and natural in a few seconds so soon as the physiological action of the remedy took effect ; it was like dragging a drowning man out of the water." Dr. Farquharson ad- ministered the vapour to a man in excruciating agony from colic, and witnessed the same relief so soon as the physiological effect was produced. A little later came the application of the nitrite of amyl for the treatment of tetanus, the crucial trial of the agent which I had originally proposed. Mr. Foster, of Huntingdon, was the first surgeon to put it to the test in this disease. A man, after an injury, was seized with tetanus. In the spasmodic grasp of the malady he " was rolled up hke a ball." Under the inhalation of the vapour of the nitrite of amyl his muscles relaxed, and whenever the spasm threatened to recur the adminis- tration of the vapour of the paralysing agent relaxed the contraction. So for nine days, during which an ounce of the remedy was given by inhalation, the death from the spasm was prevented ; by that holding on, the cause of the spasm became inactive, as I had anticipated, and the recovery was secured. Two other equally successful instances of this same kind have been recorded, and recently Dr. Fowler, of New York, has pubhshed a fourth experience identical in character, but with a remarkable additional fact appended. The sufferer who was, as we should once have said, fatally stricken with tetanus, made a primary recovery under the administration of the nitrite of amyl. Unfortunately the supply of the remedy ran out, and before a new supply could be obtained the tetanic spasms returned and continued with increasing vio- lence. At last the remedy was reobtained, and after a lapse of sixty hours was re-administered. The relaxation of the tetanus was again secured, the return of the spasm was controlled over a period of several days, and once ' more the art of the physiologist was rewarded in the re- covery of that stricken patient from one of the most terribly excruciating forms of painful death. I have put no word of my own experience on the use of nitrite of amy], long and successful though it has been, on the present record. I have supplied but a few typical facts from the experiences of other observers, and if I could put in all it would be but the record of the uses of a remedy which is as yet but beginning to be applied for the cure of painful diseases not only of men, but of lower animals also, especially of dogs and horses. The point I want to keep in mind is that the results already obtained are the fruits of experimental inquiry. I stood at the gate of the place where this new remedy came from. I took it first as a physician, from the hand of the chemist. I de- termined its place in medicine. Then other men took it from me, and confirmed my estimate. Thus the history of this remedy is made clear from its beginning, and it is most just to say that if I or some one else, given to like method of research by experiment, had not tested the agent in the same way, the results that have already been obtained from it had been lost. Whether the results are worthy the method — whether, for instance, the experiment of pro- ducing and curing tetanus in a frog is warrantable in order to discover a plan by which tetanus induced in man by natural disease can be cured by art — these are the serious kind of questions on which opinion is now divided. It is my duty to show the practical arguments in favour of the experimentation. Benjamin W. Richardson {To be continued.) NOTES On Friday last, in the House of Commons, Mr. Reed asked whether the memorial, already printed in our columns, signed by many of the most eminent men of science in the kingdom in favour of the establishment of a permanent Museum of Science had been presented to the Lord President of the Coimcil ; if so, whether he had any objection to laying it upon the table of the House ; and whether the Government propose to take any action in the matter. — Lord Sandon in reply stated that he was glad the hon. gentleman had called at- tention to the important memorial to the Lord President of the Council, which had been signed by, he might almost say, all the most eminent men of science in the kingdom, in favour of the establishment of a permanent Museum of Science at South Kensington. He added that it was one of the many gratifying results of the remarkable exhibition of scientific apparatus which we have had the satisfaction of getting together at South Ken- sington, with the assistance of the leading men of science both of this country and of almost every civilised State. Lord Sandon promised to at once lay the paper on the table of the House. He was not in a position to say what action will be taken respecting it, but assured the hon. gentleman that it was receiving the best consideration of Her Majesty's Government. 342 NATURE \Aug. 17, 1876 A MOVEMENT at last has been made by Lord Aberdare, late Lord President of the Council, to obtain statistics relating to Secondary Education. On the 4th he asked the Duke of Rich- mond, the present Lord President, whether he had the means of making a return of the number of schools in England and Wales in which instruction was given to children above thirteen years of age, and if he had not, whether he would take any measure to supply such deficiency. There had been exhaustive inquiry into the universities, public schools, and elementary schools, followed by legislative action, but there had been no inquiry into the state of the schools — such as the endowed schools throughout the country — which occupied a position be- tween the elementary and higher-class schools, and he believed that on inquiry it would be found that large districts were insuf- ficiently supplied with the means of obtaining such education. He knew it would be impossible for the Lord President, how- ever well disposed, to furnish the same amount of information on this subject which would be supplied through the medium of a Royal Commission. We certainly want not only these statis- tics, but town and country organisations, which are impossible without them. No occasion has before drawn together so many distinguished men of science from abroad, in various departments, as the Centennial Exhibitition at Philadelphia. Without attempting to enumerate all who might be mentioned in this relation, Sillu malt's Journal recalls, from Great Britain, Sir William Thom- son, the well-known physicist, who is President of the Judges on the XXVth Group — Instruments of Precision and Research ; Sir John Hawkshaw, the eminent engineer who was last year President of the British Association ; Sir Charles Reed, Presi- dent of the XXVIIIth Group of Judges— for Education and Science ; Capt. Douglas Galton, President of the Judges under the XVII Ith Group — Railway Plan«, &c. ; Mr. Isaac Lowthian Bell, the most eminent iron metallurgist in Great Britain, and author of the well-known treatise on the " Chemistry of the Blast Furnace," President of the Judges of Group I. — Minerals, Mining, Metallurgy, &c. ; Dr. William Odling, Waynflete Pro- fessor of Chemistry in the University of Oxford, Secretary of the Board of Judges on Group III — Chemistry and Pharmacy, &c. ; from Sweden, Prof. Adolf E. Nordenskjold, Prof. C. A. Ang- strbtn, Polytechnic Institute, Prof. O. M. Torrell, Chief of the Geological Survey of Sweden, and Richard Akerman, of the Royal Swedish School of Mines, all from Stockholm, under whose immediate superintendence the excellent geological, mineralogical, and metallurgical display of Sweden, at the Exposition, has been made ; from Russia, Major- General Axel Gadoline, an eminent Russian engineer, and Prof. L. Nicholsky, Mining Engineer and adjunct Professor at the Mining School of St. Petersburg, who is in charge of a systematic col- lection of Russian minerals — the only systematic mineral collec- tion in the Exposition ; from Germany, Dr. Wedding, Royal Prussian Counsellor of Mines , Dr. Rudolph von Wagner, the well-known editor of Wagner's Jahresbericht, and Dr. G. Seel- horst, of Nuremberg ; from France, M. L. Simonin, J. F. Kuhlman (fils), M. E. Levasseur, and M. Emile Guimet, of Lyons ; from Italy, Prof. Emanuel Paterno, of Palermo ; from Mexico, Mariano Barcena, the mineralogist. The Emperor of Brazil, without claiming the position of a man of science, mani- fests the most intelligent and cultivated understanding of all that is most worthy of notice in scientific methods, his inquiries ex- tending to everything which should interest the head of a great Continental empire. Prof. Nordenskjold, on July i, left on his return to join a new expedition of discovery to the seas of Northern Siberia. The number of statues erected by the French to their men of science is fast enlarging. Lately we had to mention the inauguration of M. Elie de Beaumont's monument in Normandy. We learn from the papers of Dauphine (in the south-east corner) that Grenoble has just rendered the same honour to the celebrated Vaucanson, one of the greatest mechanicians of the last century. It was he who invented the chain for com- municating motion at a distance. He used it with an ad- mirable sagacity for constructing the first spinning machine and automata. Vaucanson's automata were deemed a century ago a wonder of the age. He was a candidate for admission to the Academy of Sciences, but was rejected by the influence of the Court party, to whom he was obnoxious. Louis XV. was highly pleased with the result of the election, and he was heard saying, "We will ask him to construct for us an automaton Academician." It was Vaucanson's own collection which formed originally the primitive stock out of which the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers was grounded. The number of visitors to the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus during the week ending August 1 2 was as follows : — Monday, 8,991; Tuesday, 3,458; Wednesday, 424; Thursday, 388; Friday, 359; Saturday, 3,372; total, 16,992. A NEW geological map of Scotland by Prof. Geikie, Director of the Geological Survey of Scotland, is about to be published by Messrs. W. and A. K. Johnston. It is on the scale of ten miles to one inch, like the tourist map which the same firm published some years ago, and which has been found so useful by all travellers in Scotland. The new map has been engraved with special reference to the requirements of the geologist. It is not too crowded with names, and instead of the old meaning- less hill-shading, it has the heights marked by small triangles and reference figures. The geological information includes the most recent observations. The chief lines of dislocation are marked in strong black lines ; the general dip of the formations is,shown by arrows. In addition to the older recks, the map shows the position of the more important raised beaches, river alluvia, tracts of blown sand and glacier-moraines. Rour.d the edge of the sheet a series of sections has been engraved to illus- trate the geological structure of each great division of the country. We understand that the map is to be ready for the meeting of the British Association next month in Glasgow, and therefore in time for the geological tourists, who will, no doubt, spread themselves over Scotland at the close of the meeting. We learn from the New York Tribune that Prof. Henry took the opportunity at the last meeting of the National Academy of Sciences, to say a few words about the Smithsonian Institution. Its funds at present, having been increased by donations and judicious management, amount to $717,000, although $600,000 has been expended on the building, and the original legacy pro- duced only $541,000. Congress has enacted several liberal measures which have been of great service to the Institution and have relieved it of many expenses, such as the cost of caring for the grounds and library ; and latterly an appropriation of $20,000 per year has cleared the expense of the National Museum. This liberality has enabled the Smithsonian to devote a larger share of its income towards publishing works of original research, and to defray the expense of its system of scientific exchanges, which has the whole world for its field. The publications already issued and under way were enumerated. Prof. Henry said that it was contemplated to authorise a series of experiments to deter- mine accurately the rate of increase of the earth's temperature at progressive depths. This was now rendered more practicable than before by the number of artesian wells in the country. Another project included new and careful experiments on the velocity of light ; that furnishing one of the means for ascertain- ing the distance of the sun. Some steps had been taken to carry out this project, and a gentleman had promised to give a special fund for the purpose. The work of obtaining accurately the Aug. 17, 1876] NATURE 34; weight of the earth by the method devised by Cavendish vrould also probably be undertaken anew, there being at the present day better means for this purpose than those of the old experi- ments. Prof. Henry alluded to his own advancing years and his anxiety to have the Smithsonian in a position of permanent security before the close of his li'e. The accumulations of the museum already overstock the building, and when the collec- tions that have been sent to Philadelphia are returned there will be no room for them. Conversing on the subject with a pro- minent memb:r of Congress, he had recently stated his firm con- viction that the problem could best be solved by abandoning the present building to the National Museum and erecting a new structure, to cost §100,000. The new building could be adapted solely to the needs of the Smithsonian in its proper work, and should contain besides accommodation for tlie system of ex- change, a chemical, a physical, and a biological laboratory with a lecture-room. Messrs. Williams and Norgate have sent us the following new foreign publications : — " Die Dynamite, ihre Eigenschaften und Gebrauchsweise sowie ihre Anwendung in der Landwirth- schaft und im Forstwesen," by Isidor Trauzl (Berlin, Wiegand and Co.) ; "Die Leitungsbahnen in Gehim und Ruckenmark des Menschen, auf Grund Entwickelungsgeschichtlicher Unter- suchungen," by Dr. Paul Flechsig (Leipzig, Engelmann) ; " Sludien iiber die ersten Entwickelungsvorgiinge der Eizelle die Zelltheilung und die Conjugation der Infusorien,"by O. Biitschli (Frankfurt, Ch. Winter). In a reference to Eessels' Protobathybius, in Nature, vol. xiv., p. 238, the statement is made that it has not been described and figured. This, it would appear, is erroneous, for Mr. A. S. Packard, jun., of Salem, Mass., has published a drawing and brief description of it, furnished to him by Dr. Bessels, in his little work entitled " Life Histories of Animals, including Man," which appeared a few months since. The following is the title of the essay to which the Howard medal of the Statistical Society will be awarded in Nov. 1877 (the essays to be sent in on or before June 30, 1877). " On the con- dition and Management — past and present— of the Workhouses and similar Pauper Institutions in England and Wales, and their effect on the Health, Intelligence, and Morals of the Inmates." Further particulars at the rooms of the Society in Somerset House Terrace, Strand, W.C. Mr. Charles Dabwin has been elected an Plonorary Vice- President of the Birmingham Natural History Society. With regard to the statement in our recent paper on Oyster Fisheries, that some fix three, others four, years as the age at which an oyster becomes reproductive, Mr. W. Fell Woods, a Director of the South of England Oyster Company, writes us that it has been known to many that oysters breed when two years old, and in the course of his own investigations (as stated in his evidence before the Select Committee), he had found them to spat when twelve months and even barely twelve months old. The conditions then have, no doubt, been somewhat exceptional, whilst at two years it is comparatively frequent. The Abstracts of Meteorological Obser%'ations made in New Zealand during 1875 have come to hand. They show for fourteen places the monthly results of pressure, temperature, humidity, rain, wind, and cloud, compared with previous years' averages, together with notes descriptive of the general character of the weather and the unusual phenomena at each station, and a rapid and graphic summary for the whole of New Zealand, the earthquakes being specially recorded. The publication might be made still more valuable if pressures were given not reduced to sea-level, if the methods of computing the different averages were clearly stated, and if some of the more important results were also published for different hours. In the June number of the American yournal of Science and Arts, there appears a short article on " The Curve of Eccentri- city of the Earth's Orbit," by Mr. R. W. McFarlan-1, of the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, Columbus, Mr. McFarland has performed the self-imposed task — one of great labour — of testing the accuracy of the tables given by Mr. CroU and by Mr. Stockwell. Mr. Croli, it will be remembered, com- puted the values by Le Verrier's formulae, and Mr. Stockwell by formulae of his own. Mr. McFarlani has now re computed the values by Le Verrier's formulae, and finds " Croll's figures correct in most cases, and not in error to the amount of 'ooi, except in one instance." The operations of the United States Fish Commission in the way of stocking the Connecticut and other rivers of the United States with shad, promise to be very successful during the present season, unless the great heat should bring up the tempe- rature of the water to such a degree as to interfere with the proper hatching of the eggs. More than a million and a half of eggs were taken during the first week of the work, and a large number of the fish therefrom were placed in the river at Bellows Falls. As the hatching establishment is below the Holyoke Dam, the fish are introduced above it, so that in their return from the sea they may proceed up the fish-way to their starting- point, instead of remaining below it, as would otherwise be the case. It appears from reports brought from Iceland and the north by Capt. Ambrosen, of the Arcturus, that boisterous weather has been experienced within the whole navigable portion of the Arctic circle, the high winds driving the field-ice southward in large quantities. It is thence inferred that the ice within the polar basin has been broken up to a larger extent than usual, thus probably favouring the Arctic Expedition in carrying out its objects. The ninth annual report of the trustees of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, presented in April of the present year, has been published, and gives an account of the additions to this extremely extensive and im- portant collection. Since the death of the lamented Prof. Jeffries Wyman, the museum has been under the charge of Prof. F. W. Putnam, who has continued the cataloguing and arrange- ment begun by his predecessor, and brought the whole estab- lishment to a condition of thorough efficiency. Many valuable additions are recorded during the year, the most important, and, indeed, the largest donation ever made to the museum, being that from Peru and Bolivia, collected at the expense of Mr. Alexander Agassiz, and presented by him, embracing nearly six hundred specimens. These consist largely of objects from the ancient burial-places at Anton, Chancay, Pasagua, Pacas« mayo, and the island of Titicaca. The total number of addi- tions to the museum, amounts to over eleven hundred speci- mens. The report as published contains a general index to the nine annual reports of the museum, which are arranged to form volume one of the collective series. It is accompanied by por- traits of Mr. George Peabody and Prof. Wyman. The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Grizzly Bear {Ursus /erox) from California, two Black Iguanas {Metopoceros cornulus) from San Domingo, purchased ; two Booted Eagles {Aqtiila fennata), three Common Bustards {Otis tarda) European, a Leopard Tortoise {Testudo pardalis) from Port Elizabeth, deposited ; five Gold Pheasants ( Thaumalea picta), an Amherst Pheasant ( Thaumalea amkerstia:), a Siamese Pheasant {Euplocamus pralatus), a Crested Pigeon {Ocyphaps lophotes), a Porto Rico Pigeon {Co/umba cortnsis), bred in the gardens. 344 NATURE \Aug, 17, 1876 SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES Geneva Physical and Natural History Society, March 2. — M. Casimir de Candolle gave the result of his researches on the movements of the leaves of Diont^a muscipula, undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining if the anatomical constitution of these leaves furnished a sufficient explanation of these movements. His investigation has confirmed this hypothesis and has proved to him that the movements referred to, as well as those of the sensi- tive, for instance, are the result of the turgescence of the tissues and not of electric currents or other causes. The leaf of Dionaea is composed of two essential parts ; one part petiolary, and at the extremity of that a limb or circular leaf, whose two halves are movable around the central nerve. Each of these two valves carries three hairs, which it is sufficient to touch very gently, with a human hair for example, to cause the valves to close. Having investigated the internal structure of these valves, M. de Candolle has found that they are composed of two different kinds of tissues. The upper layer is composed of parenchymatous cells, relatively young and yet turgescent ; the inferior layer of cells much older, which are no longer turgescent. At a given moment, and in consequence of the shock communicated to the upper layer, the water which it contained is expelled, a contraction is produced, and the leaf closes. All the arrangements of the leaf and especially that of the secondary nerves, which are per- pendicular to the great nerve, contribute to bring about this niaximura movement. The gradual development ofthese leaves is in favour of this theory ; the valves of all the young leaves are at first rolled up and they are stretched out at the moment of complete expansion. The leaf does not close if one simply touches the leaf ; it is necessary to touch one of the hairs. Their anatomical structure was then examined and M. de Caiidolle found that they are composed of very elongated cells, forming a rigid cone, which rests on an articulation formed by two great cells, round which it turns very easily. The least shock com- municated to this long arm of tlie lever, is transmitted with great readiness to the internal layers of the leaf, and develops the phenomenon of turgescence, which is not produced when simply the epidermis of the leaf is touched. These hairs are not true hairs, but excrescences in intimate relation with the interior paren- chyma ; hence their energetic action in the internal portions of the leaf. Paris Academy of Sciences, Aug. 7.— Vice- Admiral Paris in the chair. — The following papers were read :— Experimental critique on glycffimia (continued), by M. Claude Bernard. He illustrates three statements:— I. Glyccemia does not differ in carnivorous and in herbivorous animals ; it is independent of alimentation. 2. In traversing the arterial system the blood contains nearly the same proportion of sugar. 3. In the general venous system the proportion of sugar is variable, but always inferior to that of the arterial blood.— Observations of M. P. Thenard with reference to M. Bernard's communication. He calls attention to capillary affinity, and a mode he found of destroying it. He left a large vessel of gelatinous alumina in a chamber where it froze during winter. In spring he found the vessel filled with water, and, at the bottom, a thin layer of an alumina, which as to its capillary affinity, shared but little the properties of the frozen alumina. _ He has practised the method artificially in purification of his black acids. Now M. Bernard pours into a maximum solution of sulphate of soda an equal volume of blood. The blood coagulates, then by evaporation and coohng, crystallisation of the salt is effected. This crystallisation, the author points out, is virtually the same as his congelation.— On the alteration of urine ; reply to Dr. Bastian, by M. Pasteur. He considers Dr. Bastian's reply as aside from the point in discussion. The difference is solely with regard to interpretation of the facts.— On the carpellary theory according to the Loaseae (second part), by M. Trecul— Reply to the last communication of M. Him, by M. Ledieu.— On radio- meters of intensity, by M. de Fonvielle. The dissymmetry of action necessary to rotation may be obtained by substituting a dis- symmetry of figure, relatively to the axis, for dissymmetry of substance or of coloration. The arrangement of feather mills might be imitated, or that of cup anemometers, or that of screws actuated by an air current, or that of the orreries turned by the current from a Holtz machine.— On a new process for preparing tinder wicks without poisonous substances, by M. Monier._ Oxide of manganese is substituted for chromate of lead. The wicks are impregnated with sulphate of manganese, which is decomposed by caustic soda, or they are simply immersed in a solution of per- manganate of potash. — On the'phylloxerised spot (4 hectares) of Mancey (Saone-et-Loire), by M. Rommier. The facts show that in its progress northwards, the phylloxera is not prevented by the greater coolness of climate, and that application of sulpho- carbonates to advanced spots at the proper time, may reduce the swarming, and save, for a long period, tlie neighbouring unat- tached vineyards. — On determination of the carbonic acid con- tained in waters (of irrigation, of drainage, of springs, of rivers, &c.), by M. Houzeau. The method is to liberate successively, in the gaseous state, the free and the combined carbonic acid, and absorb by 5 cubic centimetres of a concentrated solution of soda with addition of ^^^„ of oxide of zinc. The carbonic acid is then estimated volumetncally by a method the author described in Ann. de Chimieetde Physique. — On a new process of qualitative testing and determination ot potash, by M. Carnot. He uses the new reaction given by salts of potash in presence of hypo-sulphite of soda and a salt of bismuth in a charged solution of alcohol. — On the^different rotatory powers possessed by sugar-cane according to the process employed for measuring them, by M. Calderon. — Pro- cess for determining hydrocarbons, and especially fire-damp in mines, by M. Coquillion. He composes a certain number of mix- tures of air and protocarbonised hydrogen, introduces agiven quan- tity of the mixture into a tube in which is soldered a palladium spiral, reddens the wire, awaits cooling, then measures the remaining gas. (Platinum wire gives frequent detonations in hydrocarbons with air, but palladium does not. ) By comparison, the quantity of fire-damp in a given atmosphere may be esti- mated.— On the employment of chloride of calcium in watering of streets, promenades, and public gardens, by M. Couste. He calls attention to his experiments on the subject, previous to those of M. Houzeau. — On some peculiarities of reflex move- ments produced by mechanical excitation of the cranial dura mater, by M. Rochefontaine. Such excitation on one side will cause contraction of one or of several muscles of the face on the same side, and for this a slight excitation suffices, or the animal may be but partly anaesthetised. A stronger mechanic si stimu- lation causes also movement of the limbs on the same side, and a still stronger one movements of all four limbs. In the second case the excitation must be transmitted directly to the corre- sponding half of the chord ; and in the third there is bqth direct and cross transmission ; the direct being more intense, how- ever, for the movements on the corresponding side are stronger. — Botanical affinities of the genus Neuropteris, by M. Renault. — On the annual revision of the magnetic map of France, by MM. Marie Davy, and Decroix. Table of declinations given. From June, 1875, to June, 1876, the mean annual variation of Paris was about — 0° 2' 12". CONTENTS Page A Physical Scihnck Museum 325 CoHN ON THB Biology of Plants. By Prof. W. R. McNad . . . 326 Fernkt's Physics 327 The Chemistry of Light and Photography. By R. J. Friswell 328 Our Book Shelf : — " Les Insectes " 329 LsTTERS to the Editor :— Protective Mimicry.— Francis Darwin ; Thomas R. R. Steb- BiNG ; R. Meldola 329 Antedated Books. — R. Bowdler Sharps ; Another F.Z.S . . . 330 Meteor Observations. — J. Edmund Clark 331 The French Association 331 The Science Degrees of the University of London 331 Science in Italy. By C. Tomlinson, F.R.S 333 The Volcano OF Reunion [With Illustrations) 333 Arctic Fossil Flora 336 Our Astronomical Column : — The Double-Star B.A.C. 1972 337 The Second Comet of 1844 337 New Nebulae 337 The Norwegian North Atlantic Expedition 337 Mr. O. C. Stone's Expedition to New Guinea. By R. Bowdler Sharps 338 Abstract Report to "Nature" on Experimentation on Ani- mals FOR the Advance of Practical Medicine, VI. By Dr. Benjamin W. Richardson, F.R.S 3-9 Notes 341 Societies and Academies 344 NATURE 345 THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1876 EASTERN PERSIA Eastern Persia. An Account of the Journeys of the Persian Boundary Commission. Published by the Authority of the Government of India. Two vols. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1876.) IN the year 1837 a Treaty was concluded at Paris between the English and Persian Governments, under the provision of one of the articles of which it was arranged that the Shah should " refer for adjustment to the friendly offices of England" any differences that might occur " between Persia and Herat or Afghanistan." During his Indian viceroyalty one of the questions which attracted the serious attention of Lord Mayo was that of the relations of Sistan, a province on the eastern frontier of Persia, which, though at the time properly belonging to Afghanistan, was being gradually encroached upon by its western neighbours. Both Governments ap- pealed to England, and to settle the question at issue — the boundary-line — an arbitrator was appointed in the person of Sir Frederic J. (then Colonel) Goldsmid, who was at the time Director-in-Chief of the Government section of the Indo-European Telegraph. His instruc- tions were, after he had decided the Sistan boundary, to proceed to Baluchistan and also settle the disputed fron- tier between that country and Persia, a point of special interest to ourselves, as it affects the facility of retaining in an efficient condition the telegraphic communication through Persian territory. Though this was the plan originally proposed, unexpected difficulties were the cause of its being considerably modified ; the result was, how- ever, the same in the long run. Sir F. Goldsmid left this country on his special mission at the end of August, 1870, and had finally returned from it in the middle of September, 1872. He was accom- panied by Major Euan Smith, his secretary, who, in the work under consideration, gives a most interesting and detailed account of both the Perso-Baluch Frontier Mis- sion which was undertaken in 1870-71, and of the Perso- Afghan Mission of 1871-72. The Introduction to the whole work is by Sir F. Gold- smid. In it the author briefly, but clearly, explains our relations with Baluchistan and Afghanistan, the internal government (or lack of government) in those countries, and the most important events of recent date in their his- tory which bear upon, together with the steps which have been taken by this country to assist in, their consolidation. Majors Oliver St. John and Lovett, of the Royal Engi- neers, and Major Euan Smith, of the Madras Army, are the authors of the first volume of the work. Major St. John, who had previously been employed in the Telegraph Department at Tehran, has a valuable chapter upon the Physical Geography of Persia, followed by an account of his journey with Mr. Blanford through Baluchistan and Southern Persia, undertaken with the object of further investigating the topography of the district through which Sir F. Goldsmid had been compelled from various reasons to fix the Perso-Baluch boundary rather precipitately. Major St, John gives three maps of Persia in association with his valuable account of the nature of the country — the first hydrographical, the second orographical, and the Vou XIV.— No. 356 last showing the routes of the different members of the mission. Major Beresford Lovett, who accompanied the Arbi- trator during both his missions, and performed the pre- liminary survey of the Makran region, gives a narrative of his journey in Baluchistan, laying special stress on those places not referred to by Major St. John. Major C. B. Euan Smith, as above mentioned, describes the journeys performed by Sir F. Goldsmid and himself, undertaken with the object of deciding the Perso-Baluch and Perso-Afghan boundaries. His narrative possesses all the interest which is inherent in the accounts of the habits and customs of people not well known by most of us, as told by an able and observant traveller. The second volume is devoted to Mr. Blanford's account of the zoology and geology of Persia. Mr. Blanford's great experience as a field naturalist both in India and Abyssinia enabled him to undertake the study of the fauna of Persia with a feeling of confidence that he would do justice to the subject which few others could have possessed, and we are sure that all who carefully peruse the work before us will fully appreciate the advan- tages which have accrued to biological science from his efforts. Besides his own collection, Mr. Blanford has had the opportunity of studying that made by Major St. John between the years 1869-71, whilst he was employed in superintending the construction of the telegraph line through Persia. To the information given us by Gmelin, Pallas, De Filippi, and others on the fauna of Persia, Mr. Blanford greatly adds. His brief re'sum^ of the physical geography of the country, fully described by Major St. John in the first volume of the book, gives an excellent idea of the region. " The country consists of a number of desert plains at various elevations of from about 1,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea, separated from each other, from the lower country to the east, north, and west, and from the coast to the south, by ranges of mountains varying much in height and breadth, but often of considerable elevation. The Persian plateaux, or highlands, consist of plains and ranges of hills, for the most part destitute of vegetation, agriculture being only possible where water can be obtained from springs or the small streams which descend from the higher ranges to lose themselves in the various deserts of the interior. Along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea is a damp region covered with dense forest, and the western slopes of the Zagros Mountains are also wooded, though less thickly, than the northern slopes of the Elburz. The Zagros belt of wood- land extends south to the neighbourhood of Shiraz, where, from the prevalence of a species of oak, the tract is often spoken of as the Oak Forest. This tract is crossed on the road from Shiraz to Bushire, but it does not extend much farther to the south-east. There are, however, in the broken country, extending along the shores of the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, and forming part of Fars, Laristan, and Baluchistan, a i^w plains and valleys which support a rather thin forest, the trees being different from those of the Zagros and Shiraz forests, and consisting chiefly of tropical forms, among which tamarisk and mimosa are conspicuous. These comparatively fertile tracts are however seldom met with, the greater part of the country being as barren as the Persian highlands." 34^ NATURE \Aug. 24, 1876 On account of the differences in the physical condi- tion of the country above indicated, its fauna corre- spondingly varies ; and, according to Mr. Blanford, five zoological sub-regions may be defined with tolerable accuracy. Each of these deserves brief reference upon the present occasion. The first is that of the Persian plateau or highland, which forms by far the greatest and most characteristic part of the country. Although this district, and all the others except the last, are Palsearctic in their nature, nevertheless several types characteristic of the desert tracts of North Africa and Central Asia are in- cluded, such as the genera Gasella, Gerbtlhis, Dipiis, Gyps, and Buteo. The second sub-region is that of the Caspian provinces Ghilan and Mazandaran, which form the forest-covered, humid southern shore of the Caspian Sea. The fauna is almost identical with that of South-east Europe. The tiger is found there, however, and a Deer {Cervus caspius) closely aUied to the Axis Deer of India, as well as a Pit- viper {Halyx). The third sub-region is that of the wooded slopes of the Zagros, running from Shiraz, as a strip, in a north- westerly direction. It differs, as far as is known of it, but little from the last, with which it may be confluent. The lion inhabits it, as well as a new species of Woodpecker {Picus saiicti-johannis). The fourth sub-region is that of Persian Mesopotamia, which is the eastern portion of the Tigris plain. It closely resembles Syria in fauna. The last is that of Baluchistan and the sliores of the Persian Gulf, which differs greatly from the rest of Persia, Indian or Indo-African forms prevailing. Mr. Blanford enumerates eighty-nine species of mam- mals, three hundred and eighty-three of birds, ninety-two of reptiles, and nine of amphibia, as found in Persia ; and he mentions as a general characteristic of the fauna, that the specimens are paler in colour than their European allies. This paleness frequently makes it difficult to decide whether the species are new or only varieties of those already known. In some cases, however, as, for instance, that of the Persian Badger, the author tells us that he would not have proposed a new name for it had not the skull, when compared with a series of skulls of M. iaxus, presented decided differences. The number of fresh species determined by Mr. Blan- ford and others from the collection made by Major St. John round Shiraz between 1869 and 1871, and by both these naturalists in their journey through Baluchistan and Southern Persia, is too large to beenumerated here. Of new genera Mr. Dobson determined the Phyllorrhine Bat {Tri- aenops petsiais), with its very complicated nose-leaf and peculiar third alar digit, in 1872 ; and Mr. Blanford has, from an exhaustive study of the reptiles, made the genera Bunopus, Ceraniodactylus, Agamura, and Zygnopsis. Curiously, no crocodiles are known to occur in the country, though they are common in the neighbourhood of Sind, and are to be found in Palestine ; their absence is associated with the inconstancy of the supply of water in the small rivers. The Agamoids and Lacertians are much more abundant than the Geckos and Scincids. Of the placental mammals the Quadrumana, Pro- boscidea, Hyracoidea, and Edentata, are the orders which are not represented in Persia. Bats are not numerous, as far as species are concerned. Of Insec- tivores another species of hedgehog is described and figured. Vuipes persicus is the name given to a fresh Fox, and Meles canescens to the Pale Badger above men- tioned. Among the Rodentia several new species have been discovered, including a squirrel, a dormouse, a mouse, two jumping-rabbits, a jerboa, and a hare. No specimen of the male of the new Gazella fuscifrons was obtained, although Major St. John, in his narrative, tells us that he lost the only one he saw from his cartridge missing fire. Of new birds we find a Woodpecker {Piais sancii- johaimis), a Robin {Eryihacus hyrcaftus), a Warbler {Syl- via rubescens), a. Sun-bird {Nectarinia brevirostris), a Nuthatch {Sitia fupicola), a Tit {Parus phaeonolus), as well as a second (P. persicus), and a Jay {Garrnlns hyr- canus). Besides the new genera of reptiles above men- tioned, there are many fresh species, the descriptions of all of which, as of the mammals and birds, are accom- panied by excellent figures from the pencil of Mr. Keule- manns or the late Mr. G. H. Ford, whose recent death will be felt as a great loss t o naturalists generally and students of the Reptilia especially, because of the extreme care which he was always accustomed to take in the accu- rate delineation of the most minute detail. What will strike the readers of the work before us most forcibly is the great pains which Mr. Blanford has taken in the accurate determination of the species he describes, and the trouble he has put himself to — by a reference to the original types — in whatever part of Europe they may be — to insure their correct identification. In many cases he has been able to give his measurements from unskinned specimens, and in several instances among the birds he has recorded the essential lengths of a large number of specimens. As an instance of this may be taken the case of Hypolais pallida and its allies, in which a lengthy series of measurements is given to show the complete gradation between that species, H. rania and H. caligata^ forms whose specific identity is based upon slight differ- ences in size only. In the geological section of the volume no complete account of the geology of Persia is attempted, but Mr. Blanford adds his own experience to that of Messrs. Loftus, Bell, Grewingk, Carter, and others. In concluding this brief notice of the valuable work before us, we feel that it is only by a detailed perusal of its contents that its value in a geographical, zoological, i geological, and poUtical point of view can be fully appre- ' ciated. SUMNER'S ''METHOD AT SEA"* Tables for Facilitating Sumner's Method at Sea. By Sir William Thomson, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Glasgow, and Fellow of St. Peter's College, Cambridge. (Lon- don : Taylor and Francis, 1876.) THE reforms which SirWiUiam Thomson has effected or suggested in the art of navigation are neither few nor unimportant. His invention of deep-sea sound- ing by pianoforte wire, and his improvements in the construction of the mariner's compass, are specimens of what he has done in the instrumental part of the subject. In the book now before us he again comes forward as a Au§^. 24. 1876J NA TURE \\1 nautical reformer, this time in another section of the field, that, namely, which treats of the calculations fol- lowing on the astronomical observations of the sun or stars, which form part of the daily routine work of every navigator. Innocent as the title of the book ap- pears, the general adoption of the method which it advocates would amount to little short of a revolution in nautical practice — a revolution which is urgently needed, and which would unquestionably be of immense advan- tage to sailors in more ways than one. When an observer takes the ahitude of the sun or of a star at a known instant of Greenwich mean time, he learns two things. His knowledge of the time, when brought to bear upon the information which he finds in his nautical almanac, tells him that the sun or star was vertically overhead at a certain known point on the earth's surface at the time of the sight. His knowledge of the altitude tells him that the ship was at the same time some- where on an imaginary circle drawn on the earth's surface, the centie of which is the point wh.re the sun or star was vertically oveihead, and which lies at an angular distance from this centre (measured on the terrestrial globe) equal to the complement of the altitude. On what part of this imaginary line he is, his sight does not tell him, but he can easily make a guess to within sixty miles or so. If, then, he can draw a portion of this circle, short enough to be taken without sensible error as a straight line, in that part of his working chart in which he knows his ship to be, he will have obtained from his sight all the information which that one sight can give him, and no more. This is so very obvious, that it seems strange that no one should have pointed it out before 1843, Nevertheless, it appears to be the case that Capt. Thomas H. Sumner, of Boston, Mass., was the first to do so, and to publish a practical method of drawing the line we have spoken of. The circle on any part of which the ship may be is now com- monly called a Sumner circle of equal altitude, for from every point in it the altitude of the body observed is the same at the time of the sight. The short straight portion of it which in practice is drawn on the working chart, is called a Sumner line. To illustrate the drawing of Sumner circles we can- not, perhaps, do better than quote the example given in the preface to Sir William Thomson's book : — "Suppose that the altitude of the sun's centre was observed to be 50° at ih. 17m. 48s. p.m., Greenwich mean time, on the 27th August, 1874. From the Nautical Altnanac we learn that the sun ' southed' at Greenwich at iih. 57m. 48s. A.M. on that day, therefore at the instant of the observation he was due south of a place one hour and twenty minutes in time, or twenty degrees in angle west of Greenwich. His declination at the time of the sight was 10° N. Hence he was overhead in lat. 10° N., long. 20° W. If one point of a pair of compasses be put on this point on a globe representing the earth, and a circle be drawn by the other point running at 40° (that being the zenith distance or complement of the altitude) from this point, this circle will be such that at any point on its circumference the altitude of the sun was 50° at the instant of the observation. The chart given below shows this circle drawn on Mercator's projection, which, of course, draws out the north and south parts and prevents it from appearing like a true circle. The circle corre- sponding to the example just given is the eastmost one on the chart. " Suppose now that 2h. 40m. later the altitude of the sun is again taken and found to be 40°. At the moment of this second observation the ship was somewhere on the other circle, the westmost of the two given on the chart. What we learn from the two observations, then, is 110 100 80 60 40 20 lo 40 63 that at the time of the first observation the ship was some- where on the circle to the right, and at the time of the second observation she was somewhere on the circle to the left. If, therefore, she did not change her place between the two observations, she must have been at one or other of the two points in which the circles intersect." It is, of course, as impracticable as it is unnecessary to draw the whole of the Sumner circle corresponding to each observation. Sumner's method may be defined as any practical method by which the short straight portion called a Sumner line can be drawn. This may be done in either of two ways. Here, again, we may quote Sir W. Thomson : — " Every part of the Sumner circle is perpendicular to the true bearing of the body observed, and therefore the azimuth of the body observed is equal to the angle which the Sumner hne makes with the parallels of latitude.' Hence, if we know the latitude and longitude of one po'nt in the Sumner line, and also the true azimuth of the body observed, we are able to draw the line on the chart. This brings us to the consideration of practical methods of drawing the Sumner line for an observation. Let the latitude be estimated to (say) the nearest degree, and let the longitude be calculated corresponding to this latitude. This gives us the latitude and longitude of one point on the Sumner line. Next calculate the true azimuth of the body observed at the time of the sight. Then through the point draw a line making an angle with the parallels of latitude equal to the true azimuth, and so as to be per- pendicular to the true bearing of the body. The line so drawn is the Sumner line, and all that any one sight tells us is that the ship is somewhere upon it. " It is, however, more usual to calculate the longitude of two points on the Sumner line corresponding to two esti- mated latitudes, differing by half a degree or more, and then to draw on the chart the line passing through the two points so determined. This last is the plan given by Captain Sumner." Each of these plans is a little tedious, for each involves two distinct calculations. But since the Sumner line is really the only true statement of what any sight tells, we might expect that, spite of its tediousness, Sumner's method would be found in general use. Unfortunately it is not so. The usual practice among sailors is not to work out every sight independently, but to complicate the conditions of the problem by the introduction of some new element in order to shorten the work of calculation. Sum- 348 NATURE \Aitg. 24, 1876 ner's method gives,aswe have seen, a line on'which the ship is, and in doing so it gives us all the information which any one sight can yield. But if we possess some other informa- tion, such as a knowledge of the true latitude, the position becomes completely determinate ; each condition gives a locus, and the intersection of the two loci gives a point. By introducing this foreign element into the calculation of the original sight, we may obtain at once the definite information that the ship is in a certain latitude and lon- gitude, and we may do so by a single calculation. This is the practice of ninety-nine navigators out of a hundred, but it is a practice much to be deprecated. It makes the sailor imagine that a knowledge of the latitude, got either by dead reckoning or by taking a meridian altitude, is neces- sary in order that he may get any information at all out of a single observation of altitude and time. If he trusts to obtaining this knowledge by dead reckoning he is likely enough to estimate the latitude wrongly, and by so doing to vitiate the whole calculation. If he trusts to observing the meridian altitude, he is often disappointed by the sun's being clouded over at noon. Many a captain has lost his ship through not knowing how to avail himself (by Sumner's method) of the information which he might have derived from a short glimpse of the sun on a cloudy day. Another danger in the ordinary practice is that it tempts the navigator not to work out each sight as soon as it has been taken, for he must often wait until he is able to obtain the other information, without which he is helpless. But when Sumner's method is used, every sight tells its own tale, and there is no reason whatever why it should not trell it at once. The limits of a review do not admit of our describing the manner in which Sir William Thomson has contrived to facilitate Sumner's method. A full explanation of how it has been done will be found in the preface to his book. At first sight it appeared that, in order that tables might be of any use, they would require to contain the solutions of 157,464,000,000 spherical triangles, to calculate which, at the rate of 1,000 per day, would take 400,000 years. This did not seem promising, but Sir William Thomson was not dismayed. He soon saw that by dividing the problem into the solution of two right-angled spherical triangles he could give all the required information in a table containing the solutions of only 8,100 triangles. These 8,100 calculations have been made under the super- intendence of Mr. E. Roberts, of the Nautical Almanac Office, and the results are tabulated in the volume before us. Full instructions for their use are appended, along with some auxiliary tables which add greatly to the com- pleteness of the work. Not to go into details, we may say that by an admirable application of the second of the two plans given above for drawing the Sumner line, the author has so shortened the time required to reduce an observation, as to convert what was formerly an objection to Sumner's method into a positive recommendation, and so has deprived sailors of their only possible excuse for not adopting it universally. Such a general adoption, besides its direct benefits in increasing the safety of ships and men at sea, could not fail to have a great indirect eff"ect for good in assisting the sailor to a clear perception of the fundamental prin- ciples underlying the processes which he daily employs, too often, we fear, in blind routine. A seaman using Sumner's method can hardly help understanding what he is about, but he may work for a lifetime with the hack- neyed formulae in common use, and have no notion from first to last of why he should add a quantity rather than subtract it, or indeed of why he should deal with it at all. We have heard of a captain who used a plus instead of a minus sign for two or three weeks, and first suspected that something must be wrong when he found himself on a coral reef hundreds of miles off his supposed course. When a landsman with a smattering of mathematics goes to sea and is admitted to the privacy of the chart-room, his wonder is, not so much that some ships are lost, as that any ships escape. It is not the masters or the mates that are chiefly to blame for this state of things. Before they enter the service their utmost immediate ambition is to get the needed certificate of competency from the Board of Trade, and they naturally study only to pass the required examination. Then after- wards their professional life is not exactly that calm repose which conduces to progress in a scientific know- ledge of their art. There are no doubt exceptional men whose love of their profession is so strong as to override the barriers of circumstance. Such men deserve all praise, but we can hardly blame the rest. For a remedy we must look not to the individual officer but to the authorities who have the making of him. It is strange that the Board of Trade should not have seen it to be a duty to let no British seaman obtain its certificate without showing himself to be thoroughly acquainted with Sumner's method. Until the Board does this it will be mainly, we might say almost wholly, responsible for the prevailing neglect of this method. The position of the nautical reformer seems to us to be anything but enviable. His virtue is perhaps its own reward, certainly he seldom meets with any other. The Board of Trade and the Admiralty will have none of him, j and he cannot make much way against the conservatism bred of ignorance that he finds elsewhere. It is still fresh in the memory of every one how Mr, Plimsoll at last com- pelled a reluctant government to take legislative action on behalf of seamen. Unfortunately, Sir William Thomson must confine himself to milder methods : he has no opportunity of shaking his fist in the face of a prime minister. OUR BOOK SHELF Botanical Tables for the Use of Students. Compiled by Edward B. Aveling, B.Sc. Second Edition. (London : Hamilton, Adams, and Co.). Any attempt to compress the facts of nature within the arbitrary limits of a defined tabular statement must ne- cessarily be misleading from a scientific, that is, from a philogenetic, point of view. Classificatory tables have nevertheless their use to the student, in aiding his memory by bringing a large number of facts within a small compass. Dr. Aveling is careful to disavow any inde- pendent value for his tables, and frankly states that they will not only be useless, but positively injurious, if allowed in any way to be a substitute for practical field-work. With these limitations the tables may be recommended as pro- bably as good, or nearly so, as any that could be drawn up. They have been compiled carefully, and on the whole successfully. Defects can no doubt be pointed out. Thus the description of certain inflorescences as " centripetal arranged centrifugally " requires a foot-note to explain its Aug. 24. 1876] NATURE 349 meaning ; the class Gyinnospermce is given on one page as of superior value to Incompletce, on another as included within it ; and it is difficult to understand how the terms " loculicidal" and " septicidal" can be applied with pro- priety to a mono-carpellary capsule like that of the prim- rose. The statement that " the tables on classification have been compiled from Dr. Hooker's ' Student's Flora of the British Islands ' " is rather misleading, when we find, on p. 14, the Gamopetalous orders with inferior ovary included in " Calycifloras." But defects of this sort are incidental to any attempt of the kind. Dr. Aveling may be congratulated on the success of his effort, if it be not of a very high order. Vergleichende UntersucJmngen iiber den Bate der Ves,eta- ttonsorgane der Monocotyledonen. Von Dr. P. Falken- berg. Mit drei Tafeln. (Stuttgart : F, Enke, 1876.) Our knowledge of the anatomical structure of the stem of Monocotyledons has hitherto been pretty much con- fined to that of palms, and has been founded to a great extent on the researches of Mohl and Mirbel. It has hence been assumed, perhaps somewhat rashly, that the type of structure is far more uniform in the stem of Mono- cotyledons than of Dicotyledons. For the purpose of investigating this point Dr. Falkenberg has submitted to very careful examination the stem of one or more species belonging to as many as seventeen orders or sub- orders of Monocotyledons, and shows that our previous concep- tions must be modified in several respects. The stem of Monocotyledons, he states, is divided into an inner central cylinder and an outer cortical layer by a sepa- rating sheath which is developed in some cases from the internal, in other cases from the external tissue. As regards the course of the fibrovascular bundles in the central cylinder, and the degree to which they are differ- entiated from the fundamental tissue, he finds three different types of structure. Perhaps the most important correction of ideas previously accepted is his complete refutation of the statement found in so many text-books, that Monocotyledons have none but adventitious roots. Dr. Falkenberg asserts that the existence of a normal tap- root is general in Monocotyledons, with the exception of those that are altogether destitute of a root. The adven- titious roots which subsequently, in many cases, supplant the original tap-root, do not differ from it in an ana- tomical point of view. A. W. B. Jenkinson's Practical Guide to the hie of Wight. By Henry Irwin Jenkinson, F.R.G.S... &c. Also Smaller Practical Guide. (London : Stanford, 1876.) Mr. Jenkinson, by his practical guides to the Lake District, Carlisle, and the Roman Wall, has already proved himself possessed of a rare faculty for the work of guide-book making. The handy volumes before us are quite equal to those prevnously published. The " Guide to the Isle of Wight" is evidently the result of conscientious work and minute painstaking ; the author has gone over all the ground described, and made himself well acquainted with all the historical and antiquarian knowledge which adds interest to the various places referred to. The in- troduction to the larger " Guide," covering upwards of eighty pages, contains a resume of the scientific know- ledge which bears on the island— its geology, its flora, and its fauna. This part seems to us carefully and accu- rately compiled, and by the scientific visitor will be con- sidered a valuable addition to the volume. Mr. Jenkin- son divides the text of his " Guide " into six sections, grouped round the chief towns of the island, each section being accompanied by a full and clear and carefully exe- cuted map. Altogether Mr. Jenkinson's " Guide '' is a thoroughly good, and we believe trustworthy, one ; and while it deserves the title " practical," and will be of the greatest use to the visitor, the general reader might read it through with interest and profit. 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.^ A Science Museum The fact that the Science and Art Department have had before them for at least ten years the proposal to establish a science museum, is shown conclusively enough in Nature for last week. May I be allowed to draw attention to a still earlier suggestion of the same character ? As far back as 1859, two years after the establishment of the Patent Office Museum, the Commissioners of Patents laid a Report before Parliament, in which the following passage occurs : — " It is intended to make the Patent Office Museum an historical and educational institution for the benefit and instruction of the skilled workmen employed in the various factories of the king- dom, a class which largely contributes to the surplus fund of the Patent Office in fees paid upon patents granted for their valuable inventions. Exact models of machinery in subjects and series of subjects, showing the progressive steps of improvement in the machines for each branch of manufacture, are to be exhibited ; for example, it is intended to show in series of exact models each important invention and improvement in steam propellers [steam- boat propulsion] from the first engine that drove a boat of two tons burden to the gigantic machinery of the present day, pro- pelling the first-rate ship of war or of commerce. The original small experimental engine that drove the boat of two tons burden, above referred to, is now in the museum, and is numbered one in the series of models of propellers." Unhappily this brilUant project rested unfulfilled. "No. i " of the series of models of steamboat propellers had but few fol- lowers, while other branches of mechanical science did not get so far as to have even a " No. i." The conception was excellent, the execution lamentably deficient. Thus the collection which was to have expanded into a museum of mechanical and indus- trial science degenerated into an old lumber-room, and, instead of expanding over the ground originally allotted to it, contracted into its present dimensions. Into the causes of this failure there is no need to enter. The thing has failed, and there is an end of it. Luckily there is a chance of something better now, and it is to be hoped tfiat we shall soon have the collection belonging to the Patent Office divided into two parts — one part to be sent to the Science Museum, and the other to the nearest dust-heap. So long as it belongs to the Patent Office, the aggregation of rubbish will be sure to continue. The Commissioners have never exercised a power of selection, and any foolish invention, so that it is only the subject of a patent, has the right of entree. Naturally it is not the important inven- tions which make their appearance at South Kensington. As part of^ Patent Office, a museum is practically worthless. It is hardly possible to imagine an invention which — at least to an expert — cannot be as clearly explained by descriptions and draw- ings as by a model. For purposes of experiment and instruction models are obviously invaluable. By no other means, for in- stance, can motion be rendered intelligible to a class of students or a popular audience. When the object, however, is simply to de- fine what an inventor has discovered or constructed, so that it can be understood by an expert, a drawing and a description are nearly always much better — always as good — as any model. The only reason why the Patent Office should have charge of such a museum is that the officials of the office are in constant communication with the particular class likely to contribute to the museum. Patent cases are fruitful in models, constructed, not for the engi- neers, but to enable the engineers to explain to those who have no special mechanical knowledge the action of the different apparatus before them. Many such models are of no public in- terest, but many are well worth preservation, and it was thought that from these and like sources the Patent Office Museum would soon grow rich. The event has hardly justified the hope, but that is no reason why, under better management, the promises held out fifteen years ago should not now be realised. With all its deficiencies, the Patent Office Museum has done one good ser- vice. It has preserved some quite invaluable examples of early mechanical science which would otherwise have been scattered to the four winds — most of them to the west wind and the States. These are ready to form the best possible foundation for Uie mechanical section of the Science Museum, a section 350 NATURE \Aug. 24, i8j?6 which, in a great manufacturing country like this, ought cer- tainly not to be the least injportant of all. H. T. Wood. Society of Arts, Aug. 22 The Diurnal Inequalities of the Barometer Like the author of the interesting paper on the daily in- equalities of the barometer in Nature, vol. xiv. p. 314, I am one of those who are waiting for the appearance of the second part of Mr. Buchan's essay on this subject. Perhaps the coming meeting of the British Association at Glasgow may elicit from Mr. Buchan the result of his laborious investigations. I own that I am not only anxious to ascertain if his views coincide with my own,i but desire very much to have at my command the thorough discussion of the data for the eighty-six stations which Mr. Buchan has collected. So far as a correct explanation of the inequalities is con- cerned, I believe it must be one that can dispense with the lateral movements of the air proposed by Mr. Blanford, and be applicable alike during the calm days of the "doldrums," and during periods of great wind disturbance. It must explain, too, seasonal differences in their amount, and we may infer that what will explain a seasonal difference will probably explain also a geographical difference of the same kind. In the barometric co-efficients for Calcutta, supplied by Mr. Blanford, the semicircular one U' is nearly twice as great in April as it is in July, and the quadrantal co-efficient U" is one third greater m March than it is in June. The hour angle u' does not vary so much as it does in this country, and the angle u" shows its usual very remarkable constancy. In England the co-efficient U" seems to have a greater proportionate range than at Calcutta. This will be seen by the following monthly means obtained from Mr. Main's discussion of the observations made at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford. Mean Daily Quadrantal Oscillation of the Baromettr for each month at Oxford for the sixteen years, 1858- 1873 inclusive. In units of •0001 of an inch : — March April , May June July August The epochs of maximum effect seem here to correspond with the greatest thermometric range rather than with epochs of greatest heat. I think it will also be found in this country that this inequality is as large, if not larger, during continuous strong westerly winds as during quiet anticyclonic periods. Like Mr. Blanford I was led to this subject by a study of the daily inequalities of the wind. My having arrived at a very different result must be my excuse for pointing out what seem to me to be points of difference between the conditions which he theoretically investigates and those which exist in nature* Mr. Blanford shows that "when a given quantity of heat is em- ployed in heating dry air at the temperature of 80°, it raises its pressure more than seven times as much as when it simply charges it with vapour without altering the temperature." Mr. Blanford very properly premises that this occurs "while the volume remains constant." It is also implied that the; volumes of air are of equal tension throughout. But where do these conditions obtain in volumes of the atmosphere? Such a volume, for example, as rests on a square yard, a square mile, or a hundred square miles of the earth's surface. This volume may easily be supposed to remain perfectly constant, while the tension of its parts may vary enormously. No ordinary addition of heat to the base of this volume will increase its total weight or sensibly add to the tension of the air at the surface of the earth. The added heat vnll alter the relative tension of portions of the lower third or half of the volume, and will be expended in raising to a small extent the centre of gravity of the whole. When this is done, that is, when the dynamical effect of the added heat is completed, the barometer at the base of the volume of the atmosphere will in reality read a little lower, instead of showing the greater tension required by Mr. Blanford's investi- gation. And this will be the case whether the added heat has expanded dry air only, or has evaporated particles of water already in the atmosphere. In either case I apprehend that during the upward movement of the warm air or of the lighter ' On the Diurnal Inequalities of the Barometer and Thermometer. Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological Society, Oct., 1874 120 September 120 118 October . . . 109 101 November 90 98 December 92 94 January 74 108 February ... III vapour the barometer would read lower than at the moment when the movement was completed. An elevation of the centre of gravity of the atmosphere equal to two-thirds of a mile, barometer at 30 inches, would reduce the weight of the atmosphere by about the one-hundredth of an inch. The centre of gravity of the air over an elevated station like Leh in Ladakh would have to be raised several miles to produce so large a change of pressure as '1034 of an inch, the difference between the maximum night and day value of co- efficient U' as given by Mr. Blanford — so many miles as, in my opinion, to compel one to look for some other cause for the pro- duction of part of the observed effect, and that cause, I believe, will be found in the dynamical one already indicated, W. W. RUNDELL Visual Phenomena Although most people are familiar with the appearances which surround, or perhaps I should say form, the image on the retina of a luminous point, their origin, I believe, is not so generally known, and it is not uncommon to hear there) ascribed to reflection from the eyelids and eyelashes, which in reality plays no part in their production. There are three distinct phenomena which go to make up the appearance of a luminous point, but they are not generally all visible at once. I will describe them for convenit nee of reference as phenomena A, b, and c. (a). The luminous point appears to be surrounded by short rays, seldom more than a degree in length, generally much less, the length depending on the brightness of the point and the size of the pupil at the time. These rays are what make a bright point look star-shaped (Fig. I). (1). Upwards and downwards from the point proceed two bujidles of rays, each often 20° or more in length, and inclined to one another at an obtuse angle (Fig. 2). riff. 2 Fig. I. (c). Coloured rays such as are shown in Fig. 3, which are only seen when the eyelids are nearly closed. These perhaps it is hardly necessary to say are produced by diffraction through the eyelashes. (b) is due to refraction through the small band of tears, which is retained by capillarity in the angle between the inner edge of the eyelid and the eye (shown at t and t', Fig. 4), and which acts as a curved prism, although its effect is only visible when the lids are advanced far enough over the cornea to allow light which passes close to them to enter the pupil. The following simple experiments show that this explanation is the right one. I. While looking at a bright point so as to see (b), draw down the lower eyelid, the upper bundle of rays will then disappear. This shows that the upper rays are caused by the lower eyelid, and also that as the image on the retina is inverted, the light must take some such course as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 5. Now in no conceivable way could reflection from the Aug. 24, 1876] NATURE 35i lower eyelid produce this effect, whilst it is evident that a prism of the shape taken by the liquid in the angle must produce it. 2. If the bright point be examined in front of a looking-glass, so that the eye, its reflection, and the point are in a straight line, it will be found that (b) does not begin to be visible till the eye- lid is just beginning to eclipse the pupil, showing that it is the light which grazes the lid that produces the effect. I have accu- rately reproduced the phenomenon by fitting a lens of short focus Fig.^ £iff.4 into a pair of artificial eyelids, moistening the angle between the lens and lid, and photographing a bright point with the combina- tion thus made. The diffraction effect (c) was also reproduced in this manner when the lids were brought close together. The phenomenon (a) may be studied in the following manner :— Throw into the eye, by means of a lens or mirror, a pencil of light so widely divergent as to form a luminous patch on the retina, whose border is the shadow of the iris. If the pencil £rg.e proceed from a point, this border is well defined and dust on the cornea and any small irregularities in the distribution of moisture on its surface are rendered clearly visible by the diffraction rings and bands which surround their shadows. But what is most striking is the star-shaped figure (Fig. 6) which occupies the whole lighted area. If now the divergence of the pencil be gradually diminished, which it may be by withdrawing the eye further from the focus of the lens, this area dimi- nishes in size and increases in bright- ness towards the ctntre, leaving, how- ever, the rays of the star still bright, and protruding into the region which has now become unilluminated ; and when the luminous point is far enough off to enable the eye to focus rays proceeding from it, the phenomenon (a) is seen to be the limiting form of this star-shaped figure. The rays in the figure correspond wiih the stellate structure of the crystalline lens, to which, therefore, I conclude that (a) is due. Arnulph Mallock Antedated Books As Editor of the Zoological Society's Transactions, I must maintain, in direct opposition to " Another F.Z.S.," that we set a good, and not a bad, example in dating our books. The parts of the Transactions not being issued at regular dates, I haye adopted the plan of placing the date at which the paper is going finally through the press at the foot of each sheet, for the very purpose of giving its correct date as nearly as possible. The part is always on sale within a month at least, I think I may say, after this date ; so that this date and that of publication are to all practical purposes identical. P. L. Sclater, Secretary to the Zoological Aug. 22 Society of London Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe makes a singular defence to my comments on his " evil practice " of issuing, in August, 1876, a work dated on the cover May, 1875. He says that if I had looked into the interior I should have found "abundant evi- dence " to convince me that the date on the cover was a false one. Seeing that when I wrote.my former letter I had only just received the number from the publishers, I had no need to search for further evidence of such being the fact. Mr. Sharpe must be aware that the covers of works issued in parts are often bound up for the express purpose of preserving a record of the date of issue. How will this plan operate in the case of the second edition of the " Birds of Africa ? " "Another F.Z.S." states that in his copy the date "May, 1875 " has a line drawn through it. This is not the case with my copy, nor is it so in others which I have examined. F.Z.S. Kerguelen's Land If Mr. R. Bovv^dler Sharpe considers that, having published a description of the new Teal from Kerguelen's Land, he has done all that is necessary in relation to the collection of birds made by Mr. Eaton in that distant island, he will, I fear, find but i^^ persons to agree with him. Most of his brother naturalists will side with me that our American friends have shown much greater energy in getting out a complete account of the ornithology of this interesting island at an early date than Mr. Sharpe in issuing a short notice of the single undescribed species. The Reviewer of "The Birds of Kerguelen's Land " A Large Meteor I have just seen a large meteor. It fell vertically in a line passing half-way between the pole-star and the nearer pointer, disappearing about 15° above the horizon. Where it came from I did not see. At disappearance it seemed a very elongated pear- shape, and changed colour from red to violet (commencing at the edges). Its horizontal diameter was about 20'. Time 8. 10 P. M. about ; my point of view, 4 miles due south of the dome of St. Paul's. I may add, that on the night of Thursday, loth, between half- past 11 and I, while on a long drive in the neighbourhood of York, and looking up at the clear sky only as circumstances permitted, I counted twenty, and saw more, the moon shining brightly at the time. Richard Verdon London, Aug. 21 [Mr. Paul Robin, writing from Sheerness, states that on Mon- day evening, at 8.10 P.M., he saw a meteor brighter than Jupiter, with a white luminous train of about 5 deg. Its course crossed a line from the pole-star, joining the pointers.] THE ''CHALLENGER'' EXPEDITION WE have already published (vol. xiv. p. 197) the weighty testimony borne to the value of the Challenger Expedition by the leaders of science in Vienna. The following no less valuable address to Sir C. Wyville Thomson has been sent us for publication : — To Prof. Sir C. Wyville Thomson, F.R.S., Director of the Civilian Staff of the " Challenger" Expedition, Ediitburgh. R. Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale di Firenze, Florence, July 7, 1876 Sir, — The professors of the Natural Science Section of the Royal Institute of Florence have followed with the most intense interest the researches on the deep-sea fauna initiated by you during the Lightning and Porcupine expeditions, and so splen- didly followed up during the voyage round the world of the Challenger. With anxious expectation we have followed the 152 NATURE \_Ano. 24, 18^6 results of your dredgings across the great ocean-basins of both hemispheres, and now that you and your able assistants have completed your great task so satisfactorily and are safely returned, we beg you to accept our most hearty congratulations and the expression of our united sentiments of admiration ; for you have, indeed, revealed a New World to Biological Science and opened a new and most important field lor physical research. Ph. Parlatore, Ad. Targioni-Tozzetti, Prof, of Zool. and Comp. Anat., A. Glegni, Enrico Hillyer Giglioli, Prof, of Zool. and Comp. Anat. Verte- brates, Dr. GuELFO Cavanna, Mgr. Guiseppe Grattarola (Mineralogy), Prof. Pietro Marchi, Giovanni Arcangeli (Crypto- gamic Botany). The following is Sir C. Wyville Thomson's reply to the above : — To the Professors of the Natural Science Section of the Royal Institute of Florence. 20, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh, Aug. 12, 1876 Gentlemen, — Allow me in my own name and in that of my colleagues on the Civilian Scientific Staff on board the Challenger to thank you most cordially for your kind letter of congratulation on our return to England, and on the success of our labours. Owing chiefly to the manner in which throughout the whole of this undertaking the Admiralty have uniformly accorded the first place to the purely scientific work, and to the heartiness with which the objects of the scientific specialists have been seconded by the naval officers on board, we have certainly been enabled to carry cut our investigations almost more fully and completely than we had a right to hope. We are well aware, however, that we have only now entered upon the most difficult if not the most important part of our task, and I can only say that we will do all in our power to justify the liberal encourage- ment which we have received from Government by working out juUy the mass of data and materials which we have accumulated, and publishing our results as soon as possible in an appropriate form. I need scarcely add how great a gratification it has been to us to receive assurances of sympathy and approval from so many of our most distinguished fellow-workers, but it seems to me that such assurances are more specially welcome from Italy, the wonderful country whose language and modes of thought have been before us as a model from our childhood, and which perhaps above all others commands our interest and regard. I have the honour to be. Gentlemen, Yours gratefully and respectfully, C. Wyville Thomson A CONTRIBUTION TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 7 HE HERRING THE Meteorological Society of Scotland has made an important contribution to the natural history of the herring [Cbipea haretigtcs), the capricious movements of which have recently attracted attention and been dis- cussed in the columns of NATURE. It is often asserted by the more observant persons who assist in the capture ot the herring, that the Chipea family are lovers of very cold water, and it is, doubtless, from a knowledge of this fact, that the story of the herring being a native of the Arctic regions took its rise. Pennant's tale of these fish coming annually in a vast heer from the high latitude of the northern seas has been discussed and settled again and again. There need now be no hesitation in saying that Pennant erred ; indeed, he only gave literary life to the fables of the fishermen, and, so far as we know, he made no personal effort to deteimine whether or not the herring was a migratory fish. It has been ascertained beyond doubt that the herring is a local animal, the different varieties of which can readily be identified. Pealers or fishermen are able to distinguish between a Loch Fyne herring and one captured in the Frith of Forth or in the Bay of Wick, or any other sea or frith. As a matter of fact, the herring is found on British shores all the year round, and there is no authority for supposing that the varieties taken indifferent locahties are members of any great general body of these fish, or that there is one great shoal in existence every year, which, at a cer- tain season divides and then subdivides itself, a la Pennant. To come back, however, to the new discovery. We are indebted to the Meteorological Society of Scotland for some interesting experiments which have been made as to the temperature of the waters in which the herring can live with the greatest amount of comfort to itself, and, when known, with the greatest benefit to its captors. It has been determined by the experiments of the Society that the take of herrings is most abundant where the temperature of the sea is lowest. It was found in 1874 and 1875 that "the temperature of the sea, off the east coast of Scotland, from the middle of August to the close of the fishing season, was continuously and considerably higher in 1875 than in 1874, and that the catch of herrings was continuously and considerably lower during 1875 than during the same period of 1874." As re- gards the difference between surface and bottom tem- perature and their relation to the fishery, it has been noted that when the temperature of the surface of the sea is high, the fish are found in the deeper parts of the water. " The fish prefer, apparently, so far as the in- quiry has gone, the lower to the higher temperature." When a thunder-storm has prevailed on any of the days de%oted to the fishing a good take of herrings maybe expected by the fishermen, " but, on the following day, few, if any fish are caught over that part of the coast, unless at the extreme vers;e of a deep part of the sea as if the fish were retreaiing thither." The Meteorological Society of Scotland are desirous of extending their in- quiries and observations, and they wish the fishermen to aid the inquiry by taking the trouble of " observing the temperature of the sea at the surface and also at the depth at which the fish strike the nets." In other countries than ours observations of a relative kind to those prosecuted by the Scottish Meteorological Society of Scotland have been successfully accomplished. The Dutch have ascertained many interesting facts regarding the effects of temperature on fisheries. The Norwegians have also been prosecuting similar inquiries. Herr von Freeden, of Hamburg, Director of the German See- warte, has also made observations, both as regards tem- perature and direction of wind. As regards the latter, he has come to the conclusion that north-west winds are the best for large catches, and northerly winds better than southerly, westerly better than easterly ; also, that mode- | rately strong winds, sufficient to ruffle the surface of the * sea, are better than calm weather, and light winds almost as unfavourable as stiff breezes ; a ruffling of the sea being in his opinion of considerable importance to success of fishing. These are important discoveries, so far as they go, and must ultimately exercise considerable influence on the practice and lesults of the herring fishery. Hitherto the men have fished as in the dark, so far as regards the kind of knowledge which has just been found for them. That the month of August is a good time to seek the herring is about all that fishermen do know ; the most likely part j of the water in which to find them, or the depth at which 1 they may be lying, they cannot tell. When the fishermen * shoot their nets they may not fall in the path of the fish ; the herrings they .seek may be either above or below the snare which the men have let into the water for their destruction. By a fruitful continuance of the observations we have referred to, we shall be able to conduct the herring fishery with greater exactitude and likewise with more economy of time. I Aug. 24, 1876] NATURE 353 TELEPHONES AND OTHER APPLICATIONS OF ELECTRICITY IN a recent number we gave some account of the telephone of Mr. Ehsha Gray; in the present article we propose to refer to another form of this instrument, as also to the so-called electric telegraph without conductors, and its relation to electric tuning-forks. For our infor- mation, as well as for the illustrations, we are indebted to papers by M. Ch. Bontemps, in our French contemporary. La Nahwe. To begin with the last-mentioned applica- tion of electricity. For this new process of telegraphy it is claimed that we may communicate with any person at any distance with- out having taken the precaution of previously establish ing a continuous wire between the two stations. M. Bourbouze, in 1870, in continuation of previous experiments, attempted at Paris to utilise the Seine as a conductor between two stations, the Jena and Austerlitz bridges. This attempt, if successful, would then have been of great practical value, as it would have enabled besieged Paris to communicate with the outside world. An electric pile placed on the Jena bridge sent alternative currents to Austerlitz bridge. These currents were re- ceived in a galvanometer invented by M. Bourbouze, and read by the oscillation of the needle to right or left. The experiment appeared successful ; the elements of a lan- guage were proved in this attempt. There was no oppor- tunity, however, of further testing its utility ; a mission was organised for the purpose of establishing a station beyond the lines, but ere it could be carried out the armistice rendered further experiment unnecessary. M. Bourbouze tas, however, again taken the matter up ; but it is necessary to be on our guard against cherishing hopes which seem premature. M. de Parville points out very well the objection which common sense suggests, " Suppose," he says, " that we should all wish to speak by this means from one end of a city to the other. Each possesses his talking-needle and his pile. Each needle goes marching ceaselessly to right, to left, obeying everybody at once. It will speak for all correspondents at the same time. Messages will get en- tangled and completely mixed up. Here is a new Tower of Babel, We won't be able any longer to understand each other. The electric wire of the ordinary telegraph, on the contrary, serves as a track of union, and shuts the door to indiscretions. Thus, yes, we may communicate to a distance without a wire ; no, we should not be able to supply by this new system, since we should find ourselves in the condition of a crowd speaking at once miscellane- ously, without being able to make itself understood. For the new system to become applicable, it would be neces- sary to find the means of giving to each ciirrent an indi- viduality which would enable a correspondent to recognise it among the thousands of currents which may circulate at one time. We have no right to doubt the future, and we may hope that some day such a means will be dis- covered ." In this connection let us explain the remarkable work of a Danish engineer, M. Paul Lacour. How can we give to each current an individuality which will enable us to recognise it ? When we consider the most common acoustical pheno- mena, for example, the transmission of an air played by an orchestra, which is perceived by all the audience at considerable distances from the executants, we have some difficulty in analysing this effect. Physics tells us that the sounds produced by each instrument have their proper tone and their distinct measure ; in other words, the notes which come from a violin, a flute, a trombone, correspond to different vibrations transmitted by the atmosphere and characteristic of each note. Besides, the rhythm in the succession of the notes, which makes the measure in music, produces the cadence, constituting with the tonality and the timbre of the instruments the general effect of the air which impresses itself upon us. The transmission is so precise that an ear detects in this assembly of performers a mistimed note, anything out of tune in the midst of the harmony of the air. In our ex- position it is the mistimed note which will serve us as a landmark. Suppose a series of three tuning-forks vibrating con- tinuously and producing — the first, 100 vibrations per second ; the second, 300 ; and the third, 500. It is easy to conceive that each of these tuning-forks may interrupt and establish an electric current with intermissions regu- lated by the number of its vibrations. If we have three tuning-forks identical with the three former, we can con- ceive each group to be placed at the extremity of an electric hne serving as a medium of connection. We shall see reproduced the phenomenon of the musical air transmitted to a distance : the three transmitting tuning- forks act respectively on the three receiving forks by means of the medium which connects them. Let us admit, meantime, that by an effort of the will we may either set a-going or stop any one of these tuning- forks in accordance with a cadence that will not neces- sarily coincide with its regular action, we shall find at the other extremity in the symmetry of the perturbed instru- ment, the same discordant manifestations. The mis- timed note will be as faithfully transmitted as the har- monic vibrations. The bearing of a practical realisation of this conception will be easily understood ; it opens the way to the indefinite multiplication of diverse transmis- sion by the same conductor ; it is also the germ of a solution of transmission by multiple conductors, with the power of individualising each current. Fig. I. — Transmitting tuning-fork. What is necessary to the fulfilment of this condition ? I, It is necessary to construct tuning-forks whose move- ment is maintained by an electric current ; this problem has been solved. 2. It is necessary that these forks emit currents whose phases correspond exactly with their movement, a problem which has also been solved. 3, Finally, we must be able, in a very small interval of time, say one second, to arrest and put in action a great number of times (100 at least) each of these forks. This last point is the only one which presents any difficulty. We see that this difficulty is only a problem of construction ; it is necessary to operate with very small masses in order easily to overcome inertia. The success of M, Marcel Deprez authorises us in thinking that the third condition may be realised. We shall conclude this part of the subject by a reference to figures. We shall show how a diapason vibrating con- tinuously can send currents of the same intermittence along an electric line. Fig. i represents the necessary apparatus. The arm n of the tuning-fork encounters alternately the platinum of the tongue c, whose opening is regulated by the screw v. A current entering by 4 is closed every time that the extremity « touches the slip c, and is opened when the vibration of the tuning-fork is away from the extremity ny there is only required for this that by the wire /j issuing by the exterior conductor, the line, there be propagated a series of electric undulations reproduced exactly in the material vibrations of the arm of the tuning-fork. We have, however, to show how we can determine and mark the character of an intermittent current arriving by the telegraphic wire. Fig. 2 represents the arrangement 354 NATURE \Aug. 24, 1876 of the intermediate station traversed by the line L L ; A, B, C are three tuning-forks similar to those of the transmitting station. The fork B, for example, which is in unison with the current, v/ill enter into vibration while the others remain mute. This fork B will then touch the platinum tongue (shown in Fig. 3), and there will be estab- lished in the circuit bb' 2^ local current of the pile u whose poles are applied respectively to a, b, c, and to a', b', d. This local current will be intermittent in pro- Fig. 2.— Intermediate station. portion to the time of the tuning-fork, but on account of the rapidity of the pulsations it will shoiv itself in many cases as a constant current either by etifecting chemical decomposition, by causing the deviation of an electric needle, or by energising an electro-magnet. Fig, 3 shows the arrangement which has been estab- lished to produce interruptions for correspondence by means of the regulated vibrations of the tuning-fork. The 4©-^ Fig. 3. — Manipulator. manipulator C, which can oscillate around a central axis, rests sometimes on c sometimes on c". Acording as the lever c is supported on c' or ion, Nancy, 1875. (Paris, Maisonneuve et Cie.) 356 NATURE {Aug. 24, 1876 unsatisfactory result. Fortunately there were some solid men at the congress who were able to perceive the utter futility of discussions of this kind. M. de Rosny, for example, had frequent occasion to recall the attention of the congress to its main purpose, and to remind the members that while we knew comparatively so little of the American aborigines and of their remains, it was a waste of time and energy to discuss the civilisa- tion of any other country. " Our duty," he said, " is to establish formally, against all the crotchets which have hitherto infested the domain of Americanism, a method. Every hypothesis which is not based on certain proofs is of no scientific value ; " and Dr. Dally justly re- marked that there is no special " Americanist method," but that there is a scientific method, whose rules are quite sufficient for this new department of science. " No docu- ments," Dr. Dally continued, " are adduced in support of these connections between the Old and the New Worlds ; we must, therefore, provisionally consider them as non- existent. All the alleged analogies are only vain appear- ances. The presumptions are, on the contrary, against the hypotheses of an analogy or a filiation between the religions of Mexico or of Peru and those of Eastern Asia. The solution of the question is that the Americans are neither Indians, Phoenicians, Chinese, nor Europeans ; they are Americans." "All these hypotheses," M. de Rosny remarked again, "of Asiatic influences in America are very piquant : it is the proof which is always wanting." What a pity a few men like M. de Rosny and Dr. Dally were not appointed beforehand to decide on what papers were deserving of the serious attention of the congress ! However, wisdom comes by experience. The fairly mode- rate paper on Fu-Sang, by M. Lucien Adam, might have been admitted, as might also that of M. Gravier on the Deighton Rock inscription, but we are sure that all the papers thus admitted could have been published in one- third of the space of these two volumes. M. L^vy-Bmg brought much learning to bear on the Grave Creek inscription for the purpose of proving it to be Phoenician, with the usual unsatisfactory result, we are sure, on all unbiased listeners. Perhaps the most deliberate and cold-blooded attempt to prove an intimate connection between America and Old World civilisation was made by Prof. Campbell, of the Theological College, Montreal, in his paper, " The Traditions of the Ancient Races of Peru and Mexico identified with those of the Historical Peoples of the Old World." His object is to prove that the Peruvians and Mexicans had " their origi- nal home on the banks of the Nile, and that their tradi- titions relate primarily to an early national existence either in Egypt or the neighbouring region of Palestine ; " and besides various other conclusions, " that there is the strongest reason for finding the affinities of the civilised races of ancient America, not among the Turanian or Semitic, but among the Aryan or Indo-European families of the world." This is rushing to a conclusion with a vengeance, and some of the more sober members of the congress had good reason to animadvert on the " haste to conclude '' manifested by many of the Americanists, and the want of patience to wait for more light. An idea of the value of the " facts " on which Prof. Campbell builds his sweeping conclusions may be gathered from the following extracts : — " Animal worship prevailed in Peru, and it is worthy of note that flies, called cuspi (a word of the same origin as the Semitic zebub, the Latin ■uespa, and the English wasp) were offered in sacrifice, thus recalling the Baal-zebub of the Phtli-sheth." " In Manco I find the first monarch of universal history, the Egyptian Menes, the Indian Menu, the Greek Minos, the Phrygian Manis, the Lydian Macon, the German Mannus, the Welsh Metiev, the Chinese Min^-ti, and the Algon- quin Manitou " — and so on through endless ingenuities. Is not this comparative philology playing at "high jinks?" and is it not one more striking proof that to trust to lan- guage alone in questions of ethnography is to trust to a chain of sand ? While the Baron de Bretton's paper on the Origins of the Peoples of America contains some suggestions of value, it also, like the one just mentioned, is disfigured by many etymological fantasies. It is quite legitimate to try to show that America may have been in part peopled from Europe, but to base such a theory on arguments like the following makes one almost despair of the progress of scientific method : — " The first invaders from whom, according to the tradition of the Toltecs, that people were descended, were called Tans, Dans (Danes !). Their god, Teoti, strongly resembles linguistically the Greek iheos, Latin deus" &c. The temples of this god were called tescabli, " a word which comes from Greek theos and Celtic ca-cas, house." A god, Votati, is probably IVodin, and Thara, Thor-as Asa-thor. Azlan, the sup- posed original home of the Aztecs, is, according to Baron de Bretton, evidently Scandinavian Asaland, country of the Ases, of the Asiatics, of the Aztecs themselves. What answer can be made to such etymological leger- demain ? The Abbd Petitot has been for many years a zealous missionary in the Athabasca-Mackenzie region of North America, and has made some valuable contributions to a knowledge of the geography of that region ; not con- tent with this, however, he is eager through the medium of language to prove the unity of origin of the human race. He argues that because certain North American Indian words have a more or less distant resemblance to Chinese, Malay, Tamul, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Japanese, German, English, &c. , therefore all these are descended from one common stock. We shall give only one specimen of the Abba's easy-going comparisons: English each, Y^^ tells us, is the same word as Hebrew isch. He gives pages of this sort of thing. It is easily done ; any ignoramus with the dictionary of a dozen different lan- guages before him could do it. The " Tower of Babel " is the Abbd's starting-point in tracing the diversities of human speech. It seems to us a pity that the reputation of an interna- tional congress that might do much good should be endangered by puerilities such as those we have referred to. We hope that in this their first meeting the froth has come to the surface, and that in future meetings means will be taken to prevent middle-age word-puzzles being foisted on the congress. The two volumes, however, contain some papers of real value ; these we have space only to name. Prof. Luciano Cordeiro's (of Coimbra) paper on the part taken by the Portuguese in the discovery of America is of considerable interest, and shows great research. A paper by M. Paul Broca on two series of crania from ancient Indian sepulchres in the neighbourhood of Bogota is a model of careful observation and reasoning. M. J. Ballet, of Gua- daloupe, has a long memoir on the Caribs, full of infor- mation. A paper by M. Julien Vinson on the Basque language and the American languages is able and scholarly and cautious. He shows that in structure and grammar they have many points of resemblance, but that on this ground there is no reason whatever for concluding that they or their speakers have a common origin. Other papers of value are Dr. Cornilhac's on the Anthropology of the Antilles, Mr. Francis A, Allen's on the Origin of the Primitive Civilisation of the New World, an elaborate paper, the result of great research, and M. Oscar Comet- tant's paper on music in America before the discovery of Columbus. On the whole, we cannot think that these two volumes show that this International Congress of Americanists has done much in furtherance of the object for which it met, and we shall look with interest for the results of the second congress, which will meet at Luxembourg in September, 1877. Aug. 24, 1876] NATURE 357 OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN The Total Solar Eclipse of 1882, May 17.— The following elements of this eclipse depend upon the lunar tables of Damoiseau and the solar tables of Carlini, and are therefore not intended to be used in a calculation of the precise circumstances for any place. They will, never- theless, ^serve to afford a better idea of the character of the eclipse near the central track than can be obtained from Hallaschka's map in h\s Elementa Eclipsium, where by an error of calculation the eclipse is shown broadly annular. Conjunction in R.A., 1882, May 16, at igh. 42m. 25s. G.M.T. R-A 5°3 5^ 53-3 Moon's hourly motion in R, A. ... 36 14 "4 Sun's „ , 2 28-6 Moon s declination 19 38 41 'gN. Sun's „ 19 19 42 'oN. Moon's hourly motion in dec!. ... 36 I4'4 N. Sun's ,, „ ,, 2 286 N. Moon's horizontal parallax ... ... 58 1 5 ' i Sun's ,, ,, ... ... 8'8 Moon's true semi-diameter ... ... 15 52*4 Sun's ,, ,, 15 48*8 The equation of time is 3m. 50s., subtract! ve from apparent, and the sidereal time at mean noon. May 17, 3h. 40m. 192s. Instead, therefore, of being broadly annular, the eclipse will be narrowly total on the central belt. h. m. , , , , Central eclipse begins 17 55'0 in Long. 3 26 W., Lat. 10 32 N. » M at noon „ 63 27 E., ,, 38 27 N. „ „ ends 21 208 „ 138 29 E., „ 2517N. The eclipse is total in Upper Egypt and the Peninsula of Sinai, points on the central hne being 32° 25' E., 26° 57' N., and 34° 23' E., 27° 57' N. These elements also give totality for about twenty seconds at Shanghai : middle at jh. 21 •2m., local mean time, sun's altitude, 1 7°. Comets of 1847. — In the last number of the ^j/r<7- nomische Nachrichten, Dr. Schur, of the Observatory at Strasburg, has given definitive parabolic elements for the comet discovered by Schweizer at Moscow, on Aug. 31, and last seen at Pulkowa on Nov. 28 — an isolated obser- vation. Elliptical elements had been assigned to this body, but the more complete computation by Dr. Schur shows that there is no sensible deviation from the parabola. Greater interest attaches to another comet of the same year — that detected on July 20, by Brorsen at Altona, which was observed by Riimker till Sept. 12. The observations can hardly yet be considered as having been thoroughly discussed, though it may be presumed that D'Arrest used the last Hamburg observation in calcu- lating his second elHpse {Ast. Nach., No. 662), and Dr. Gould investigated elements with the whole, or nearly the whole, of the observations before him. D'Arrest, by his second calculation, found the period seventy-five years ; Dr. Gould gave eighty-one years ; hence this comet has been considered to form one of the singular group which appear to revolve in something less than the period of Uranus ; it must, however, at present be regarded as the least certain of the number, with respect to length of revolution. It presents a case where, as Dr. Gould remarks, very small changes in the funda- mental places, even the slight change of the parallax due to more accurate determination of the comet's distance is " sufficient to change materially the form of the result- ant orbit and the period deduced." His final elements exhibit a decided preponderance of sign in the errors when compared with the August observations, though he ap- pears to have suspected the cause to have been mainly the difficulty attending exact computation from the ele- ments in such a case. The observations will be found in a collective form in his paper concluded in vol. i., No. 19, of the Astronomical Journal — a periodical, by the way, of which it is difficult now to procure complete sets. The greater number are also found in Astrotiomische Nach- richten, vol. xxvi. D'Arrest furnishes no particulars of his second calculation, but gives the elements the preference over his first set, in which the period of revo- lution was considerably longer. A further calculation may possibly lead to a more de- finitive value for the major axis ; at present it appears that when the comet is re-discovered it is likely to be by accident rather than from any approximate knowledge of the epoch of ensuing perihelion passage and organised search, A still more worthy matter of investigation, however, is the orbit of Olbers' Comet of 18 15, due, according to Bessel, in less than eleven years. It is pretty certain that, with the introduction of improved solar tables and star- places for new reduction of such original observations as we possess, the fundamental positions might furnish a still more reliable orbit for 181 5, while the re- calculation of the perturbations from more exact values of the masses than were at Bessel's command, may lead to a nearer determination of the time of next perihelion passage, which he has fixed to 1887, February 9. FRENCH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE- MENT OF SCIENCE HTHIS year's Congress was opened at the Hotel de -*■ Ville, Clermont, on Friday, August 18, under the presidency of Prof. Dumas, the well-known chemist and the perpetual secretary of the Academy of Sciences. M. Dumas praised in warm terms the spirit of individual initia- tive so largely developed in England, and he compared the British Association with her younger sister, the French Association. He spoke in high terms of English men of science, and referred to the Exhibition of 1 851, and the important results which have followed it in the develop- ment of permanent scientific institutions in England. M. Dumas acknowledged the zeal of the French Govern- ment in helping science, and he showed that science must be promoted not only by benevolent and intelligent indi- viduals, but also by the State. He, in eloquent terms, presented to the assembly the testimony of his long-con- tinued labours extending over a period of more than sixty years, as a proof that science was conducive only to happiness. He advised men of science not to meddle either with theology or with philosophy, but to leave all questions in these regions in the hands of theologians and philosophers. The province open to science is large enough to give every satisfaction to the widest ambition. The address was received with enthusiasm. The mayor of Clermont, M. Moinier, a barrister by profession, de- livered a very sensible address, making allusion to the so- called " grands jours d'Auvergne," when many centuries ago legislators held their meetings in the very place where a parliament of science was then assembled. He said, moreover, that science, which was ignored in those days, was supposed now to have the duty of ruling the rulers of mankind. M. Cornu then addressed the assembly on the present condition of the Association, which is eminently satis- factory. One of the most important announcements he had to make was that the Association, since its last meet- ing, has been recognised by Government as " of public utility," which is equivalent to the granting of a charter in England, and which will not only be of advantage to the Association, but, we believe, wiU enable the Associa- tion to be of greater benefit both to France and to science. To celebrate this episode in its history, M. d'Eichthal, to whose efforts it was largely owing that the privilege was 358 NATURE \Aug. 24, i87«j conferred, has presented the Association with a gift of 10,000 francs. The Association has been able to distri- bute assistance to those engaged in scientific research to the extent of 7,000 francs during the past year ; of this sum S,ooo francs was accorded to Dr. Janssen as a con- tribution to the expenses of his recent voyages, and 2,000 francs to M. Chapelas-Coulvier-Gravier, to enable him to continue his researches on shooting stars. M. Cornu referred to the great importance of the Puy-de-D6me Observatory, of which we have frequently spoken, and the formal opening of which had been deferred in antici- pation of the present meeting. He concluded by eloquently urging the Association to continue to be animated by the spirit in which it was begun in the days of France's sore distress, to keep free from all party spirit, and to seek to be spoken of only and always as the friend of science and of the country. The treasurer, M. Masson, gave an account of the state of the funds, which is very satisfactory. The Asso- ciation is prosperous, numbering 2,200 members, including 200 ladies. The receipts for the Nantes meeting were greater by 400/. than the expenses. The funds of the Association amount this year to 7,000/. In the evening a reception was held at the Hotel de Villa by the mayor, which was perfectly successful. On Saturday, at two o'clock, the several sections met to appoint their officers. Among the strangers present were Lord Houghton, Dr. Gladstone, the Rev. S. J. Perry, Mr. Eaton, Prof. Boyd Dawkins, and several other Englishmen. M. de Mortillet, the sub-director of St. Germains Museum, has been nominated the president of the section of Anthropology. He delivered an address on the origin of superstitions. He showed that the present superstitions must be mostly connected with old Celtic populations. — M. Tchebycheff, the Russian geometer, has been appointed president of the Section of Mathematics. M. Tchebycheff exhibited a machine for performing addition and sub- traction with extraordinary rapidity. — M. de Lucas pre- sented the designs for the construction of a machine intended for the fabrication of prime numbers. The places of interest in and around Clermont are open to the inspection of the members of the Congress, as is the case at meetings of the British Association, consequently the Sunday excursions have been numerous and highly attractive. The prehistoric archaeologists visited the palaeolithic habitations recently discovered at Issoire. A pleasure trip was made to Vichy, and a large number of members went to Thiers. The excursionists to Vichy were welcomed by the Mayor, Dr. Cornil. Among the toasts proposed was that of Lord Houghton, as a Vice- President of the British Association, who made a suitable reply. In the city of Clermont are located the celebrated in- crusting fountains, which convert into stone, wood and even animals. A rich collection of specimens has been opened for inspection, and will be visited officially by the Section of Geology this week. An incident has occurred which created a little sensation. The members were assembled in a general meeting to hear a lecture on the mountains of Auvergne, when an intimation was received that the lecturer had been taken ill. M. Claude Bernard, the well-known physio- logist who was present, was therefore invited to deliver an address. He lectured on the sensibility of plants, a subject which he has been investigating. SCIENCE IN GERMANY {Froin a German Correspondent) TV/T "W. SIEMENS has recently endeavoured to determine * the velocity of propagation of electricity in suspended wires. His method of observation consists in the employment of two insulated Leyden jars (or two charge tables), the outer coats of which are metallically connected together. The inner coating of one jar is directly connected by a short wire with a metallic point ; that of the other is also connected with this point, but by a long circuit line. Opposite the point stands a rotating metallic cylinder connected with earth. When the outer coats of the jars are connected with earth, the electricity of the inner coating of both jars at that moment becomes free, and is discharged through the point and the rotating cylinder to earth. If the rotation is sufficiently rapid, and the line long enough, there are produced on the smoked cylinder two marks with an interval between them, which is the measure of the time the electricity took to pass through the wire line from the jar to the point. This arrangement was also modified by placing two points, instead of one, opposite the metallic cylinder ; the one being connected directly with one jar, the other by the line with the other jar. A discharge of the jars was first obtained while the cylinder was at rest, and then the discharge was made with the rotating cylinder. M. Siemens thought at first that the velocity of propagation of electricity must be proportional to the specific conductivity of the material. In discharge of a jar through a caoutchouc tube filled with water, or through a wet thread, no time difference could be perceived between the mark of the direct discharge, and that of the first partial discharge through the liquid. It was the same with discharge of the jar through a strong caoutchouc tube, 100 feet long, and 20 mm. clear diameter, which was filled with zinc vitriol solution. Now, since a difference of five millionths of a second might be distinctly perceived, it is thus proved that the velocity of electricity in liquids must be over 800 geographical miles per second. As the conductivity of copper is at least 200 million times greater than that of the zinc vitriol solution, the velocity of electricity in copper must be at least 160,000 geogra- phical miles if the specific conductivity were synonymous with the velocity of electricity. From experiments with longer telegraph lines it appeared that the propagation of electricity in conductors occurs with a determinate velocity independent of the length of the con- ductor ; this is, in iron wires, between 30,000 and 35,000 geographical miles per second, (The length of the line was in one case 25*36 kilometres, in others 23 37 and 7*35 kilometres.) M. Siemens proposes to make similar experiments with a copper circuit in order to decide, by direct experiment, the ques- tion whether the velocity of electricity depends on the nature of the metallic conductor or not. From the experiments made with the caoutchouc tube filled with zinc vitriol solution, he considers the latter the more probable. We may further remark that Prof. Kirchhoff (in establishing Weber's fundamental law for the motion of electricity) already previously obtained the number, 21,000 miles, for the velocity of electricity in conductors, and at the same time came to the result, that this velocity must be equally great in all conductors. Siemens's measurements come much nearer to Kirchhoff's values than to that obtained by Wheatstone, viz., 61,900 geographical miles. S. W. GERMAN EXPEDITION TO SIBERIA A S a sketch of the present state of Central and Northern ■^~*- Asia, it may perhaps not be uninteresting to our readers to have laid before them the following extract from a letter written by Dr. Finsch, who, together with Dr. Erehm and Count Waldburg-Zeil, is at present engaged in the scientific ex- ploration of Southern Siberia, under the auspices of the German Arctic Society. The letter dates from Lepsa, near the Bal- kash-lake. May 13. " We started for Lepsa on May 3, and camped the first night in ' yurts ' — tents — ready for us at the foot of the Arkat Moun- tains. The yurt destined for our own use was splendidly deco- rated [for, thanks to the orders of the Czar, the travellers found at each station everything requisite for their comfort and the prosecution of their journey ready for them ; in addition they were always accompanied by a picket of Cossacks, who had to provide horses for them, and to see them safely from station to station.] •* Many Kirghiz chiefs, dressed in their picturesque attire, were awaiting our arrival, and we found a repast of pillaf, lamb, and kumis, ready for us. The Arkat Mountains are a mass of Aug. 24, 1876] NATURE 359 bare, grotesque-looking rocks of granite, about 1,000 feet high. It is a solemn sight to see them gradually rise before your eyes out of the vast treeless steppe. Numbers of Argali were seen running on the mountains, and we proposed for the next day an Argali-hunt. The hunting party offered a strange picture on the next morning ; there were fifty Kirghiz chiefs on horseback, many of them holding golden eagles on their hands. These birds are trained here to catch the wolf and the fox, and they acquit themselves excellently of their task, except in spring, when, their minds being taken up by love-thoughts, they are unfit for work. It is wonderful to see how the Argali dash along the rocks, and the young ones as quick, or perhaps still quicker, than the others. Several Argali and Argali kids were killed ; we saw also a wolf, but failed to kill him. On the next day was a race of the Kirghiz boys ; they rode 20 versts in 54 minutes. After that there was a wrestling match. The Kirghiz formed two divisions, each having its champion, who, dressed in shirt and drawers, was ready for the match. They stood with their shoulders together, and tried to throw each other down by seiz- ing each other's girdle. The combatants were fine, muscular fellows. They showed also some equestrian feats, such as riding at full gallop standing. At about seven o'clock we continued our journey, and arrived the next morning in Sergiopol, for- merly called Ajacus, a small town of about 1,000 inhabitants. The road to Sergiopol leads altogether through the steppe, which from time to time is covered with small mountain-ranges ; on the last station before Sergiopol we saw for the first time the snowy tops of the Targabatai. "Interspersed everywhere through the steppe are the yurtsand peailiar tombs of the Kirghiz, whose herds wandering over the steppe help to animate it. The town lies in a treeless plain ; before reaching it we were received by a picket of Cossacks in their gala-uniform, who conducted us to our quarters. Here we were welcomed by the district chief, CoLFriedrichs, who for ten days had awaited us in Sergiopol. Here we obtained some fine specimens of fishes from the Balkhash-lake, and we continued our road accompanied by Mr. Paul, a German telegraph official, and the commander of the town. Major Politzky. The line of Cossacks is here at an end. From time to time there Is a mise- rable mud hut called " picket," where Cos?acks ought to be. Horses are generally to be had there, vehicles but seldom. Our road led us always through the steppe, which began to show a white salty incrustation, and which everywhere is bordered in the most picturesque manner by the Tarbagatai. W\ along the road we were accompanied by^Cossacks and chiefs of the Kirghiz. We took our first station on the banks of the Karakol, where we had a splendid view of the Tarbagatai and the more distant snowy heights of the Ala Tau, in the south. Here we found new speci- mens of the fauna of the steppe ; the sandpiper, the eastern turtledove ( Turtur ^elastes), the white-throated lark of the Alps, the grey-headed wagtail During the night we heard a strange cry, and found it to proceed from a frog, of which we obtained a specimen. Beetles were very scarce in the steppe, nor did we see any butterflies ; perhaps it was still too cold. Our tea gets worse and worse, as now the water contains more and more salt ; our principal beverage is, therefore, kumis, which, after all, is not so bad ; it tastes a little sour, like buttermilk, and has a strange smell and after- taste. The major and Mr. Paul remained behind in Karakol, and so did our baggage- cart, therefore our baggage had now to be carried by three camels. Behind Karakol are the first Kirghiz who cultivate the soil ; they grow wheat in vast fields, irrigating them by damming the river, and turning over the fertile soil with a miserable plough that penetrates only to a depth of a few inches. The labourers were surrounded by numbers of Larus ridibundus. The first 12-15 versts we had to ride, because, from this forward, only the wild horses of the steppe were to be had, which up to this time had never seen a vehicle. It was most interesting to see the wild animals harnessed to the tarantassa ; five fellows had at times enough to do to hold a single horse, and then off we went with shouts and blows, away like the wild huntsman in the story-book. As long as the vehicle held together everything went on well, but very often traces and reins broke at the first start. The steppe is covered with rhubarb, hemlock, and spiraea just beginning to flower. "Where the alkali earth begins the ground was bare, and the plants which grew there had a grey, sombre colour. We f aw sometimes the great and little bustard, also many kites, and here and there a golden eagle — kulans (wild horses) and antelopes (saigas) were not seen. On May 8 we entered upon the genuine salt steppe, and our horses sank up to their fetlocks in soil covered with a crust of white salt. The dust was awful ; our way led through immense beds of reeds, and we found ourselves most probably in the dry bed of the lake Ala Kul. At night we reached the banks of the actual lake from the west side. At first there is nothing but a dense mass of reeds, only here and there is a narrow strait visible. Many geese, ducks, and swans were heard ; we obtained here a specimen of the land tortoise. The next day we continued our road on the south side. It was very hot, and splendid mirages were dancing in the air ; our way led continually through the salt steppe ; the lake was mostly covered by reeds ; only at two places was it to be seen. In the afternoon we reached a camp of yurts situated at the foot of a hill on the south side of the lake. The scenery before us was splendid ; in the foreground the vast surface of the lake of a greyish blue bordered in the background by the Tarbagatai, and behind it rose the snowy summits of the Ala TaU. Numbers of birds are at the lake, innumerable grey geese with their young ones, ducks, swans, grey cranes, gulls, amongst these the beau- tiful grey fisher-gull {Larus ichthyatus). The waterfowl were unfortunately very shy and scarcely to be approached. Near the lake on the steppe we found for the first time rose-starlings {Rosenstaare) and black-headed wagtails, amongst these some with white eye stripes, and a peculiar lark. We did not obtain any specimen of the reed-pipers, because shooting was impossible among the dense reeds. I got all the Kirghiz to help me to collect, and so we obtained beetles and two varieties of lizard, one most interesting, a kind of gecko, with pink and blue spots. It was very hot, 79° F. in the shade, and many gnats appeared. After having made a small raft out of the trunks of trees we went fishing and caught many fishes, but only three to four varieties, all unknown to me, most interesting, and by no means belonging to the European kinds, with the exception of a sort of Cobitis. There was a peculiar fish about 2 feet long called Marinka, and said to be poisonous, but we tasted it and found it quite palatable. For two days we remained near the lake, living in a yurt belonging to the Sultan Abin Dair, who traces his pedigree from Jenghis Khan, and belongs to the "nobility of the white bone" ; he possesses 2,000 yurts in his dominions. We collected many plants and some snails near the Ala Kul, and took samples of the soil, salt and water. We continued our road, passing through the steppe, onward to the Ala Tau, at the foot of which we took a night's rest in a yurt, whence we saw many Kirghisian tombs of unbumt bricks. The next day we were obliged to ride, because one of the horses objected altogether to be harnessed, and the others ran away with the vehicle. After some time, however, they became quieter, and we could again get into the vehicle. Meanwhile, the tem- perature had changed ; it was very chilly ; we were cold in spite of the furs, and happy to reach another yurt camp at about midnight. The road was scarcely perceptible ; the Cossacks had to hold the carriage with ropes, and we heard con- tinually the cry of "derschdi," r.if. hold fast. Dr. Brehm had an upset On the next morning our road led through the green steppe interspersed with many " Auls" of the Kirghiz, whose herds, consisting chiefly of goats and fat-tailed sheep, were pasturing here and there. In the south the steppe was bordered by green hillocks, with masses of red outcropping rocks ; in the west by bare sand hills, in the north and east by a hijher range of mountains, covered with fresh-fallen snow, behind which rose the high summits of the Ala Tau. And on we went more into the mountains. We passed over the river Dschindschilla, where red bole is to be found, and then on without interruption through ravines and over mountains, on through the green but treeless landscape. We collected magnificent wild, red peonies, blue campanulas, and other plants ; ajid here we saw for the first time the bee-eater. At length we saw Lepsa before us in the plain, surrounded by green but bare mountains ; except in the south where they were covered with trees, behind which rose the picturesque peaks and cones of the Ala Tau, half their height covered with snow. Lepsa has nearly 3,000 inhabitants, con- sisting mosdy of Cossacks and Tartars. Some Kirghiz live near. Broad streets planted with birch trees run through the town and give it a pleasant appearance. The houses are nearly all small and built of wood. Besides the Cossacks there is a regular battery stationed there. The town was founded since the conquest ol Turkestan, and is growmg rapidly. The Cossacks cultivate the ground and keep bees ; the honey is very fine, and cuts like lard. We live very comfortably in the house of a rich Cossack, who possesses 2,000 hives, and only regret that we have to leave so soon," 36g NATURE {Atig. 24, 1876 NOTES Mr. J. W. JUDD has been appointed Professor of Geology in the Royal School of Mines in succession to Prof. Ramsay, who resigned some time since. Mr. Judd has been a frequent con- tributor to our pages and has already taken a very high place in the field of original geological research. His appointment as Prof. Ramsay's successor must give universal satisfaction. Prof. Ramsay has been called away to Gibraltar to report on the water-supply there ; his place as a lecturer at the British Asso- ciation will be taken by Prof. Tait. Mr. Porter Poinieb, a most promising young physicist, died in New York on June 11, aged 23 years. In the Poly- technic Institutes of Troy and Hoboken, he had thus early developed a very remarkable genius in the department of applied science. His studies had led him, with great success, into original investigations of heat as a force in nature, and his thorough and accurate and independent researches in this direc- tion had attracted the favourable notice of the faculties under whom he studied. He attained to such important results as ■were found worthy of public notice, and he was engaged in the preparation and publication of an original work on the Dynamics of Heat, with the approval of his professors. His enthusiasm drank up his spirits, and utterly exhausted his physical force. Before he was aware, he was in the advanced stages of an in- curable disease, and while labouring to put his work through the press at Cambridge, he was pronounced beyond recovery .His very rare attainments and his extraordinary promisein the field of research, had been brought to the notice of the Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, and the day after his death, only too late for his noble ambition, came the certificate from the heads of the university appointing him to a fellowship in that institution. As a lecturer in the department of his special and successful study he had become familiar with the best French and German works in modem science, and his accuracy, and perseverance, and thirst for knowledge, gave him promise of a very eminent future. We believe that there is good ground for hoping that Mr. Pointer's work on thermodynamics may be found to have been sufficiently advanced before his death to be still a valuable contribution to science. A very touching letter from a relative states that " he begged his physicians to keep him alive just to finish his book, and then he would be willing to go," The British and the Cambrian Archseological Associations held their Annual Congresses last week, the former in Cornwall and the latter in South Wales. The members of the former were occupied mainly with visits to the various architectural remains in which Cornwall is so rich, and especially to the localities which are identified with the Arthurian legends. Mr, W. C. Borlase exhibited on Sunday afternoon to a large number of the members, his valuable collection of objects of prehistoric and antiquarian interest. On Monday a visit was paid to St, Just, in the neighbourhood of Land's End, and on the road ihither, a number of Cromlechs and an old hill-castle were visited. The meeting, during which a considerable number of antiquarian papers were read, was brought to a close on Tuesday. In the latter, which was opened at Abergavenny, the President was Dr. E, A. Freeman, who gave a valuable address on the im- portance of Welsh history, referring to the fact that there is no really good history of Wales, and urging upon the Association the advisability of a competent member at once undertaking to •upply the want. The members visited several places in the neighbourhood of architectural interest. Both Congresses seem to have been successful. There seems to be some doubt about the Social Science Con- gress meeting this year in Liverpool, on account of the difficulty in finding a building large enough to contain the many objects which it is intended to exhibit. The Statistical Congress opens at Buda-Pesth on Sept. i, A Congress of Archaeology and Anthropology will also be held at Bada-Pesth in the beginning of September. A proposition will be discussed for making the French language the only one to be used at such international meetings. The 25th meeting of the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science commenced at Buffalo, N,Y., yesterday. The University of Upsal, Sweden, will, says the Rtfvtu Scien- (ijique, celebrate next year, in September, the 400th anniversary of its foundation. The Madrid Official Gazette states that the Spanish Govern- ment has appointed a commission to inquire into the situation and the resources of the Philippine Islands. A botanist will accompany the expedition for the purpose of reporting on the nature of the flora of the interior, the extent of the forests, &c. The Commission will explore carefully the whole group, in order to prepare a map on a large scale. The mountain-chains will be the object of special investigation ; the height of all the salient points will be determined with the greatest precision. The officers of the expedition will take notes and make observa- tions for the purpose of preparing a complete monograph of all the islands explored. The number of visitors to the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus during the week ending August 19 was as follows :— Monday, 2,710; Tuesday, 2,180; Wednesday, 280; Thursday, 270; Friday, 228; Saturday, 3,250; total, 8,918, Mr. T, a. Dillon, writing to Tuesday's Times in reference to the proposal to blow up the Vanguard, shows that such a course would be quite wanton. He states that he has proved by varied and ciiiical experiments, that by covering the ship tightly with a sheet of canvas a diving-bell would be formed, from which air-pumps could easily expel the water, and the ship would recover her buoyancy and instantly rise and tloat. Judging from the experi- ment described by Mr. Dillon, the attempt ought to be made, and that, too, with the greatest hope of success, A General Meeting of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland will be held at Glasgow on the afternoon ot Wednesday, Sept. 6, after the meeting of the General Com- mittee of the British Association. The exact time and place will be posted up in the British Association Reception Rooms. The chair will be taken by Prof. M. Forster Heddle, M.D., F.R G.S, All papers intended to be read should be forwarded to Mr. J. H. Collins, at 57, Lemon Street, Truro, Cornwall, not later than Saturday, Sept. 2. From the " Report of the Manchester and Salford Sanitary Association for 1875," we observe that this influential book con- tinues in full activity the good work it has long done in pro- moting public interests. The pollution of rivers, hospital accommodation, and the control of noxious vapours, are some of the subjects affecting the pubhc health which have occupied the Association during the year. Three of the winter lectures, viz., those on the causes reducing the effects of sanitary reform, on the preservation of health, and on the seeds of disease, have been published at a penny each, and tracts on such subjects as typhoid and scarlet fevers, vaccination, personal cleanliness, clothing, houses, and the feeding, clothing, and nursing of children, have been distributed to a large extent. But what distinguishes this from all other similar societies are the returns of disease in public practice which are published weekly, no other statistics of the kind being published in the kingdom. We earnestly hope that the Association will soon be in a position to discuss the invaluable material they have now accumulated under this head, and publish the results in the form of weekly averages for the different diseases, since the important question of the relation of Aug. 24, 1876] NATURE 361 weather to health cannot be satisfactorily handled, unless not only the number of deaths, but also the number of attacks, be known. ^: In the Hansa for July 23, at p. 143, appears the first of what promises to be an interesting series of articles by Captain Niejahr on the relation between the formation of clouds and the direction of the wind on the coasts of Northern China and and Japan, between 28' and 42% lat. N., and 121° and 142° long. E. — a region peculiarly suitable for this practical in- inquiry, inasmuch as it lies between the continent of Asia and the expanse of the Pacific, and its southern portion is besides within the region of the N. E. trade. Attention is more par- ticularly drawn in this article to two disiinct kinds of cumulus which suddenly appear in the form of a massive bank of clouds in the western hoiizon, and are rapidly dissolved as they drift eastward, disappearing before they sink to the eastern horizon, often even before they reach the zenith. These two kinds of cumulus, distinguished as wind-cloud and simple cumulus, differ in their outlines, consistency, and height, in the direction of their motion and the mode of their formation, and there can be no doubt that thorough investigation of them would result in no inconsiderable advantage to navigation. We look forward with much interest for the continuation of this discussion in future numbers of the Hansa. The Municipal Council of Paris has established a certificate for the pupils of municipal schools ; the examinations are pro- ceeding now at Luxembourg. The number of candidates is about 4,cxx). In consequeiice of the appointment of Mr. L. C. Miall to the Professorship of Biology in the Yorkshire College of Science, the office of Assistant-Secretary to the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society is now vacant. Mr. R. Reynolds, the Honorary Secretary of the Society, will, we believe, give every information to candidates for the post. Prof. Miall will still continue to act as general curator of the museum. In connection with the general introduction of the now cele- brated Liberian coffee plants into most •f the coffee-producing countries, as noticed by Dr. Hooker in his recently issued report on Kew Gardens, we may draw attention to what our consul says on the decrease of the production of coffee in Cayenne. The kind there cultivated is the Mocha, which at one time was an important staple of the colony, the country being especially adapted for its cultivation. This valuable product of Cayenne, although temporarily abandoned, is not lost to the world ; the trees continue to thrive in a wild state, and may be reclaimed hereafter. There are thousands of coffee trees interspersed in the forests of the inhabitable part of the colony which have been abandoned for years. They attain a height of about fifteen or sixteen feet, with a circumference, a few feet from the ground, of thirty inches ; they are rich in foliage, but do not bloom. The coffee tree also appears to be safe from the ravages of in- sects, whereas many other trees suffer vitally from this evil. The Ergebnisse der BeobacJitungssiatio7ten an den deutschen Kiisttn, 1875, published monthly, have been received. In their researches into the physical peculiarities and fisheries of the North and Baltic Seas, the Ministerial Commission at Kiel con- tinue to carry out with vigour and ability the comprehensive system of observation established by them a few years ago, under which the physical data necessary for the solution of many questions affecting the fisheries of these seas are being gradually accumulated These include physical observations at nineteen stations on the daily height of the water of the seas, their tem- perature, specific gravity, and currents, and the amount of cloud and direction and force of the wind ; very full meteorological pbservations at four stations ; and the details ',of the daily fish. ings in each of the seven districts of the coasts. It might be suggested whether observations of daily maxima and minima of the temperature of the sea by thermometers continuously im- mersed, as suggested by Mr. Stevenson, and carried out by the Scottish Meteorological Society in similar inquiries, might not, from their great practical value, be added to their physical observations by the Commission at Kiel. An account of the geology, physical geography, and botany of the West Riding of Yorkshire, is now in course of prepara- tion, and will shortly be published by subscription. The geolo- gical portion of the work will be undertaken by Mr. J. W. Davis, F.G.S. ; Mr. F. Arnold Lees, F.L.S., will be respon- sible for the botany, while the division of physical geography will be a joint production of the two authors. In this last section, with the description of each locality, the flora of each area will be given. We believe Mr. J. W. Davis, of Greet- land, Halifax, will furnish particulars and receive subscriptions. The Mayor of Marseilles and the Prefect of Bouches du Rhone have signed a contract obliging the city to pay a yearly subvention of 15,000 francs to the Observatory, and to continue in perpetuo the free grant of lands and buildings in the present site occupied by it. M. Waddington will ask the Budget Commission for an enlarged credit. We are glad to notice the advent of a new Norwegian journal of science published at Christiania, and entitled Archiv for Mathmiatik og Natm-videnskab, the editor being M. Albert Cam- mermeyer. The following are some of the articles contained in the first two numbers : — " On the Ancient Norwegian Coasts," by M. Sexe ; " On the Fjords and Glaciers of Northern Greenland," by Amund Helland, who visited this country during the months of June, July, and August, 1875 ; a review by Worm Midler, of Malassez's "La Numeration des Globules Rouges du Sang." Besides these there are other papers on Geology and Meteor- ology. We wish every success to this new periodical. The proposal to submerge a portion of North Africa by means of a canal from the Gulf of Gabes, letting the water of , the Mediterranean westwards over the lake region of Djerid, seems from the facts detailed by MM. Roudaire and Dupuis to be not only a practicable, but also likely to turn out a remune- rative undertaking. Owing to the comparatively small area it is proposed to submerge, the meteorological changes which the submersion would occasion can only be sUght, strictly local, and altogether beneficial in their general tendency — differing abso- lutely in all these respects from the meteorological changes which would result from the submersion of the western portion of the Sahara, proposed some time ago. From this latter project it would follow, owing to the great extent of the water surface which would thus overspread the Western Sahara, and its proximity to the Atlantic, that the present disposition of the lines of atmo- spheric pressure would be seriously altered, a result necessarily attended with changes in the prevailing winds and currents of the North Atlantic, seriously affecting international interests in a manner which our present knowledge does not enable us in any way accurately to predict. But such an objection does not apply, as aheady stated, to the project of submerging the region of Djerid. The law for the International French Exhibition for 1878 has been voted by the Senate. M. Krantz, the director, an engineer, has established his offices at the Palais de ITndustrie, and sixteen pupils of the School of Beaux Arts are executing building plans under his direction. The work of construction in the Champ de Mars is expected to begin almost immediately. On July 26 the shock of an earthquake was felt at Grenada, the direction of the oscillations being north to south. As the ;62 NAfURk \Aug. 24, 1876 duration was only a few seconds no real damage has been recorded. An interesting series of papers is commenced in the August part of the Geographical Magazine, giving Sketches of Life in Green- land, by a lady who was born and passed several years of her life in the country. The papers are likely to show life in Green- land in somewhat new aspects. In the same number is a long and valuable letter from Dr. Beccari on New Guinea, dealing chiefly with its ethnology ; he holds firmly to the opinion that the Papuans are a mixed people. Mr. H. P. Malet contributes a paper on the Sta-Level, and Mr. Ravenstein continues his paper on the Census of the British Isles. In the last issued number (May) of the Bulletin of the French Geographical Society, is a long and valuable Report on the Progress of the Geographical Sciences during the year 1875, by M. Ch. Maunoir. In the same number is the conclusion of M. De Sainte-Maire's Itinerary in Herzegovina, and the address of the President, Baron De La Ronciere Le Noury, at the last general meeting of the society. The *' concours general," or competition between the pupils of the several colleges of Paris, is an old institution established by the University of Paris about thirty years before the' French revolution. In 1730 a Parisian bourgeois, called Legendre, be- queathed to the University a large sum of money under that con- dition. The University was put in possession only after a long law-suit instituted by the heirs, who urged insanity, but at last were defeated. A number of celebrated litterateurs have been successful candidates. This year the prix d'Jionneur was taken by young Remach, who for the first time since the "concours general " was established, took all the other prizes of his class. The success of the "concours general" for the colleges of Paris was so large that M. Duruy established in the last years of the Empire a competition for all provincial colleges, Paris and Versailles excepted. This year the most successful college was Grenoble, which took eight nominations. Lyons took only seven. Some interesting particulars of the great rains which occurred in the north-east of Switzerland in the middle of June last are communicated by M. F. Zurcher to \\\q Bulletin Hebdomadaire oi the Scientific Association of France. From 8 p.m. of the 13th to the morning of the 14th the enormous quantity of 12 "4 inches of rain fell at Zurich — a quantity greater than any monthly fall since the observations began in the end of 1863, the largest monthly rainfall having been 1 1 '3 inches during March, 1876. Owing to so unprecedentedly large a rainfall and the melting of the snows which occurred at the same time. Lake Constance rose nearly 10 feet above its usual level. It may also be noted that heavy rains have prevailed since the beginning of February, so much so that on the morningof June 14,, the amount collected, reckoned from the beginning of the year, was 45 "67 inches, being nearly 2 inches above the annual average rainfall of Zurich. Whence came the aqueous vapour which was discharged from the clouds in such deluges of rain on the night of June 13-14 ? In the same number of the Bulletin Hebdomadaire it is stated that Dr. Grzygmala, of Podolia, in East Russia, where hydro- phobia is very prevalent, has successively treated, without a single failure, more than a hundred cases of hydrophobia with the leaves of Xanthium spinosum. It is necessary that the remedy be applied shortly after the person has been bitten and before the symptoms of hydrophobia become manifest — the treat- ment consisting of 9J grains of the leaves of Xanthium in the form of a powder, thrice a day for three weeks. For animals the treatment is the same except that the dose is larger. The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Spotted Eagle {Aquila ncevia), European, presented by Mr. W. Prodham j two Common Barn Owls {Strix Jlammea), European, presented by Miss M. A. Hicks; a Yellow- bellied Liotbrix {Liothrix luteus) from India, presented by Mr. W. Prehn ; a Common Cuckoo {Cuculus canorus), European, presented by Mr. J. Paddy ; an Egyptian Vulture {Neophron perc- nopterus) from North Africa, deposited ; two White-crested Laughing Thrushes {Garrulax leucolophus) from the Himalayas, a Sun Bittern {Eurypyga helias) from South America ; a Hawk's- billed Turtle {Chelone imbricata) from the West Indies, pur- chased. SCIENTIFIC SERIALS American yournal of Science and Arts, July. — Prof. Loomis here gives some interesting results obtained from observa- tions of the United States Signal Service. Whenever an area of low barometer is formed in the United States, there seems to be always an area of high barometer about 1,200 miles to the south-east. The same thing was found to hold for the Atlantic Ocean and Europe, the average distance between the areas being here 1,700 miles, and the direction rather more southerly. Areas of high pressure are probably formed from air that is expelled from those of low. Low barometer is generally associated with high temperature, so we might conclude that a temperature above the mean in Iceland would be accompanied by one below the mean in Central Europe ; this was verified. An unusually high barometer in Central North America may be the result of storms i ,500 or 2,000 miles to the north-west. Prof. Loomis found the average forms of the isobars about an area of maximum pressure, an oval with major axis nearly double the minor. The forms about minima were nearly the same ; as were also the directions of the major axes in both cases (N.E). The rainfall is least when the pressure at the centre of a storm is increasing (or the storm diminishing in intensity), greatest in the opposite case. The jtationariness for several days of storms near Nova Scotia or Newfoundland, seems due to unusual rainfall there. Prof. Loomis lastly furnishes data as to the course and velocity of storms in tropical regions. — Prof. Farlow has studied a disease which caused much loss of olive and orange crops in Cali- fornia last summer. He says that though first attracting the eye by the presence of a black fungus, the disease is not caused by it, but rather by the attack of some insect, which deposits some gummy substance on the leaves and bark, or so wounds the tree as to cause some sticky exuda- tion on which the fungus especially thrives. The fungus greatly aggravates the trouble, but in seeking a remedy, it is necessary to look further back. — Mr. Gilbert gives a description of the Colorado Plateau Province as a field for geological study ; it offers valuable matter in an advantageous manner. — Drs. Blake and Genth describe a vanadium mica found on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, and to which the name of Roscoelite is given, in honour of Prof. Roscoe. It contains quite a large per-centage of vanadium (20'i6), which is present as VgO^. This mica is found in the hanging wall of a small quartz vein, the country rock being porphyry ; fine scales of gold occur be- tween the crystals. — We may further mention a series of notices of recent American earthquakes (1874-76), by Prof. Rockwood. — Mr. Grinnell describes, in the Appendix, a Crinoid from the Cretaceous formation of the West. Poggendorff's Annilen der Physik und Chtmie, No. 5, 1876. — • In this number we have the first portions of two valuable papers on electrical subjects — one by M. Root on dielectric polarisation, the other by M. Wiedemann, on the laws of passage of electricity through gases. We shall return to these. — M. Edlund passes under review some researches on what he had termed galvanic expansion; confirming and extending the observations of Streintz in reply to objections urged by Wiedemann against the results from which M. Edlund inferred that there was such expansion (distinguishable from that by heat). From the fact that it disap- pears pretty much accordingto the same laws as heat, the author and M. Streintz supposed that it was caused by molecular oscillations which are gradually communicated to the surrounding medium ; and anything furthering this communication must so diminish said expansion. Now, M. Exner lately experimented by keep- ing the wire through which the current was sent, in cold water ; and the result was an entire disappearance of galvanic expansion, as might have been expected, but the phenomenon was not thereby proved (as M. Exner thought) to have no existence. — In Atig, 24, 1876] NATURE 3<53 experimenting as to the influence of current strength, tempera- ture and concentration of solution, on the transference of ions, M. Kirmis met with a peculiar regular arrangement of silver crystals in the platina dish of a silver voltameter. The result is best obtained with a considerable electromotive force. The intensity should not exceed a certain limit (not more than 028 mgr. of silver being separated out per square ctm. and minute). The concentration of the solution should be between 5 and 10 per cent, and a positive electrode with sharp points should be used. The deposited strips appear as accumulations of moss-like dendrites, which, under the microscope, are found to be made up of cubes and octahedra. — In works which describe the process that occurs in sounding an open or closed pipe, it is usually represented that the air current from the slit at the bottom, breaking against the upper hp, imparts shocks to the air column of the pipe, and these are the cause of the air- column being thrown into vibrations. M. Sonreck, an organ- maker of Cologne, here questions this hypothesis, and supposes instead a pendulum-like to and fro motion of the blast-current, which has the widest amplitude at the edge of the upper lip, is dependent on the elasticity of the air-column of the pipe and the pressure of the outer air, and so is subject, to the laws of vibra- tion of the air-column. He explains the process in some detail, and some interesting forms of experiment are described. For complete determination of any colour it is necessary to know three things, viz., the colour-tone, purity, and brightness. The first is found by ascertaining that spectral colour by whose mixture with white the colour in question is had. M. von Bezold describes two methods of doing so simply and without trouble. They are closely related to a plan suggested by Vierordt for producing mixtures of pigment and spectral colours. — M. Gieseler de- scribes a simple apparatus for measuring small intervals of time by a determination of the time of fall of a freely-falling body. — We further note papers on the specific heat of cerium, lan- thanum, and didymium, by M. Hillebrand ; and on experiments on the electro-motive forces induced in unclosed circuits through motion, by M. Helmholtz. The current number of the Ibis commences with a paper by Prof. Newton and Mr. Edward Newton on the Psittaci of the Mascarene Islands, in which the Seychellian Palaornis wardi is figured, and the species peculiar to each of the islands are de- scribed, four of the eight being extinct, one barely surviving, and the remainder diminishing in number. — Mr. H. Seebobm and Mr. J. A. Harvie Brown continue their notes on the birds of the Lower Petchora, figuring the eggs of Ttinga minuta from Dvoinik. — Mr. D. G. Elliot in his notes on the Trochilidai dis- cusses the genera Cyanomyia and Heliotrypha, describing seven species of the former, one, C. microrhyncha, being new, and three of the latter, H. squamigularis, of Gould, being shown to be H. barrali, of Mulsant and Verreaux. — Mr. H. E. Dresser con- tinues his notes on Severtzoff's " Fauna of Turkestan, " specially referring to Ciconia viycteriiarhyncha, a species with the bill shaped like that of C. boyciana, but red. — Mr. R. Swinhoe describes a collection of birds from Hakodadi, in Northern Japan, sent by Mr. T. W. Blakiston. Two new species are described and figured, Arundinax blakistoni and Sch«eniclus pyrrhulinus. — Lord Walden makes notes on the late Colonel Tickell's manuscript work entitled " Illustrations of Indian Ornithology." The work was presented by the author in 1874 to the Zoological Society. It is beautifully illustrated and fully annotated, forming seven small folio volumes. Figures are given of Picus atratus, Zosterops siamensis, and Dicaum trigonostigma, together with a brief account of the contents of each volume. — Mr. P. L. Sclater records further ornithological news from New Guinea, describing results arrived at by Beccari, Bruijn, and D'Albertis. The collections of the two first- named contain 4,600 specimens, referable to 350 species, of which 58 are said to be new to science. — Mr. J. H, Gurney continues his criticism of Mr. Sharpe's " Catalogue of the Accipitres in the British Museum." — Lord Walden describes and figures a new species of Trichosloma from Celebes, T. finschi, and finally Mr. Salvin describes a new Odontophorus, O. citutus. Geological Magazine, Nos. 141, 142, 143, 144, 145. — The articles that are running through several numbers are ; — Sketch of the geology of Ice and Bell Sounds, Spitzbergen, by Prof. A. E. Nordenskjold, with woodcuts. — The probable conditions of deposit of the Palaeozoic rocks in the northern hemisphere, by Henry Hicks, with a folding plate comparing Europe with North America — Cretaceous Gasteropoda, by J. Starkie Gardner. — There are several papers on glaciers and ice-action : among them are Mechanics of Glaciers, David Bums. — Ice-work in Newfoundland, John Milne (of the Mining School, Japan). — Glacial events in England and Wales, D. Mackintosh. — The erosion of lake-bisins by glaciers, Osmond Fisher. — Notes on glaciers, T. G. Bonney. — Sub-aerial denudation versus glacial erosion, W. Gunn. — There are also many letters on the subject of the origin of lake-basins from Prof. Ramsay, James Geikie, Prof. Hull, Prof. Green, J. W. Judd, T. V. Holmes, Hugh Miller.— The other papers are : On the Carrara marbles, by G. A. Lebour, showing why they are now regarded as of Carboniferous age instead of Jurassic, as recently they have been. — The transport of vol- canic dust, by Prof. Nordenskjold. This is a record of the pas- sage of volcanic dust from Iceland to the east coast of Sweden, a greater distance than has ever been known before. — A paper on the vertical range of graptolites in Sweden, by G. Linnarsson, is accompanied by one on the correlation of the graptolitic de- posits of Sweden with those of Britain, by Prof. H. A. Nichol- son.— On the exhumation and development of Omosaiirus arma- tus, Owen, by W. Davies, of the British Museum. This is a popular description of how the remains were removed from the Kimmeridge clay of Swindon to the British Museum. — On the volcanic outbursts which preceded the formation of the Alpine system, by J. W. Judd. — In connection with Mr. Hick's papers on Palseozoic rocks is one by Prof. Linnarsson, criticising some of his conclusions. — There are also some minor papers and a number of miscellaneous articles. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES Vienna Imperial Academy of Sciences, Feb. 3. — Contributions to a knowledge of interstitial inflammation of the liver, by M. Miiller. — On the ending of nerves in the epidermis of mammals, by M. Mojsisovics. He examined (after Eimer) the snout of the mole, and of some foreign related species ; and he comes to adifferent conclusion regarding the "Eimer organs." M. Riegler exhibited an osteophyte, weighing I,l20gr., that had been found in the skull of an ox. The animal had seemed quite fresh and healthy. Feb. 10. — On the colours of thin crystal plates, by M. Dit- scheiner. These arise through interference of the internally reflected light rays, and are seen in crystal plates (gypsum) of much greater thickness than that which simply refracting plates must hjiYe in order to show the ordinary colours of thin plates. — • On the changes in arterial blood pressure after closure of all the arteries of the brain, by M. Mayer. There is at first great in- crease of arterial biood pressure, which is not due either to the mechanical closure, nor to increased activity of tho heart, but to intensive stimulation of the cerebral vasomotor centre, through deficient access of arterial blood. In five or ten minutes this excited state of the brain centre passes into that of complete paralysis, indicated by low blood pressure. The author drawi some inferences for the doctrine of the vasomotor centres in the brain and spinal cord. Geneva Physical and Natural History Society, March 16. — Prof. Plantamour, fifteen years ago, gave a resume of the results of the meteorological observations rr.ade at Geneva since 1826. Disposing, to-day, of fifty years' observations, he examined the modifications made on his conclusions by that new period of fifteen years, and other results which may be deduced. The mean of temperature has been in general greater during the last fifteen years, and enables us to increase by 3-^ of a degree the annual mean previously deduced. All the monthly means must be slightly augmented, if they are to be derived from fifty years of observation instead of thirty-five ; except in the case of the month of December. The following is the table of means (in centigrade degrees) according to the two series : — Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. 1826-1860 ... -034 + 132 4"48 861 1288 16-78 1853 17-80 1826-187S ... -008+160 4-60 897 13-20 1681 18 8i 17-91 Difference ... +0-26 +028 +012 +036 +032 +003 +0-28 +0-1 1 Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 1826-1860 ... 14 29 9 81 4 45 + o"86 1826-187S ... 14-66 9-88 4-55 + 080 DiflFercnce ... + o 37 + 007 + 0-10 + 006 The same result appears if we divide the year into seventy- three periods of five days, or pentades, according to the 3^4 NATURE \Aug. 24, 1876 system of Dove. The comparison of the temperatures of the seventy-three pentades, observed and calculated by the formula, may serve for studying the question raised by M. Ch. St. Claire-Deville, viz., whether there exist certain days or certain epochs of the year when the temperature is lower or higher than is consistent with the regular progress, ascending or descending, of the said temperature. The greater the number of years on which this comparison is based, the more the difference between observation and calculation diminishes, rot only absolutely, but in comparison with the mean error. This is contrary to the theory of M. St. Claire Deville, for if there existed a cause of errors at certain determined epochs, they ought to become more pronounced the greater the number of years. By calculating for each pentade the probable error, we may deduce from it the periodical formula representing the varia- bility of the temperature at the various epochs, a variability which differs much in the various months. Thus it is about ± 2° "53 at the beginning of January, it diminishes to ± i°77 towards the end of March, rising to ± i°'84 at the beginning of May ; it falls again to ± i°'38 at the beginning of October, and increases rapidly afterwards to the end of the year. The first days of May, dreaded for a return of cold, correspond closely to a period of very great variability ; but these returns of cold do not take place at a fixed period ; they may occur from the end of April to the end of June. In relation to the succession of warm years and cold years, there will be recognised incontestably in the fifty years of observations at Geneva, series in which the one or the other predominate in a striking manner. Thus between 1829 and 1834 we find seven warm and two cold years ; between 1835 and i860, twenty-two cold, and four warm years ; during the fifteen last years, thirteen warm and two cold. But there is no trace of periodicity in this return of warm or cold years. By establishing four categories for the years, M. Plantamour has found that there has been during the period of half a century, fouiteen very cold years, twelve cold, ten warm, and fourteen very warm. The denominations " very cold" and " very warm " are applied to negative and positive divergences surpassing the limit of pro- bable divergence. These figures are very near to the probable figure 1 2 "5 for each category. In the case of a periodic return of warm and cold series, every eleven years taken, for instance, as in the case of the solar spots, as some meteorologists have presumed, the succession of warm and very warm, cold and very cold years, ought to be the most common ; on the other hand the succession of years very different in temperature ought to be very rare. But nothing of this kind has been observed ; on the contrary, a very cold year may follow a very cold year, or vice versd. It is then impossible to deduce any periodicity in the succession of cold and hot years. Paris Academy of Sciences, Aug. 14. — Vice- Admiral Paris in the chair. — The following papers were read : — Experimental critique on glycsemia (continued). Glycsmia has its source in the glyco- genesic function of the liver ; by M. CI. Bernard. i. The blood of the sub-hepatic veins is more saccharine than the arterial blood and the blood of the vena porta. 2. The blood of the inferior vena cava is suddenly enriched in sugar (before entering the heart), at the part where the sub-hepatic veins join it. — On the thermal formation of two isomeric propylic aldehydes, by M. Berthelot. The transformation of a primary and normal aldehyde into a secondary isomeric aldehyde liberates very little or no heat. Isomeric bodies of the same chemical function are formed with almost the same liberations of heat, and this similarity subsists in the formation of theirisomericderivatives. — Thermal researcheson hydrosulphurous acid, by M. Berthelot. Systems are so much the more stable, other things equal, as they have lost a greater pro- portion of their energy. — On the dynamical theory of regulators, by M. Rolland. — On a hydrated aluminous silicate deposited by the hot spring of Saint-Honore (Nievre) since the Roman epoch, by M. Daubree. This deposit is characterised by the great pre- dominance of silica over alumina and the small quantity of water. — On trepanation of the bones in various forms of osteo-myelitis, by M. Oilier. — Results obtained in treatment of phylloxerised vines with sulpho -carbonates, by M. Mares. He applies to the attacked parts sulpho-carbonate of potassium (i decilitre per stock) dissolved in wa.teror absorbed in powdered soda- residuum, then hardens the ground by rolling or beatmg. This proves successful. It should be done before the stock has become stunted ; otherwise two or three seasons* treatment may be necessary to recover it, or it may not recover. — Observations on the development and the migrations of Phylloxera, by M. Boiteau. — Employment of a distributing pale to convey sulpho-carbonates to the roots of phylloxerised vines, by M. Gueyraud. The sulpho-carbonates diluted with three or four times their volume of water and distributed at a depth of 25 cm. to 50 cm. destroyed in three days the Phylloxera on the roots, and restored vigour and verdure to the vines. — Treatment of phylloxerised vines at Aimargues (Gard). Em- ployment of a subterranean projector for distribution of the insecticide liquid, by M. Roussellier. With this projector he applies sulphide of carbon, in very small doses, repeated all the summer, to the roots. — On the destruction of Phylloxera by means of decortication of the vine-stocks, by M. Sabate. In thirty hectares of vines decorticated last winter, not only the old centres of infection had not extended, nor had new ones been formed, but many vines, thought to be gone, had recovered their vigour. In forty non-decorticated hectares, tlie reverse was the case. The process is accomplished easily with steel gloves. — Discovery of a planet (165), by Mr. Joseph Henry, at Washington, Aug. 10, by M. Leverrier. — Observations of the Perseides, at the Observatory of Clermont-Ferrand, on Aug. 10 and II, by M. GxMcy.—Kestcme of practical rules of the new navigation, by M. Fasci. — Influence of sonorous vibrations on the radiometer, by M. Jeannel (see note). — Action of hydracids on tellurous acid, by M. Ditte. — On rho- deine from the analytic point of view, by M. Jacquemin. A drop of pure aniline, then of hypochlorite of soda, added to a certain volume of alcohol diluted with water, gives a yellowish colour, passing into green or persistent bluish green. This reaction should prove useful in testing for phenol. — Researches on the derivatives of acetyl valerianic ether, by M, Demar^iy. — Exami- nation of the minerals of Chili, by M. Domeyko. — Alterations of the urine in athrepsia of the newly-born ; applications to diagnostic, prognostic, and pathogeny, by MM. Parrot and Robin. — Investigation of animal organic matter in ancient strata, by M. Husson, From his comparisons he concludes : — I. That bitumens with tarry odour are of essentially vegetable origm. 2. That those with fetid odour, recalling Dippel oil, are of animal origin. 3. That these are, in secondary and tertiary strata, the last remains of the animal substance which is found already profoundly altered in the diluvium, and which exists in great part in the state of osseine in the ground of our bone- caverns. — Experiments on mechanical reproduction of the flight of a bird, by M. Tatin. He obtained much better effects with his mechanical birds (worked by caoutchouc springs) by always placing the centre of gravity before the centre of suspension, — Stratified bfeds of massive sdex observed near Digrin (Saone-et- Loire) in a formation considered as cretaceous, by M. Canat. CONTENTS Pagb Eastern Persia 345 Sumner's "Method at Sea" [With Illustration) , 347 Our Book Shklf : — Aveling's " Botanical Tables for the Use of Students " .... 348 Falkenberg on Monocotyledons 349 " Jenkinson's Practical Guide to the Isle of Wight " ' , . . . 349 Letters to the Editor : — A Science Museum. — H. T. WeoD 349 The Diurnal Inequalities of the Barometer.— W. W. RuNDELi. . 350 Visual Phenomena. — Arnulph Mallock (With Ill-ustrations) . 350 Antedated Books.— P. L. Sclater, K.R.S. ; F.Z.S. ; The Re- viewer of " The Birds of Kerguelen's Land " 351 A Large Meteor. — Richard Verdon 351 The " Challenger" Expedition 351 A Contribution to the Natural History of the Herring . . 352 Telephones and other Applications of Electricity {IVith Illustrations) 353 International Congress of Americans 355 Our Astronomical Column : — The Total Solar Eclipse of 1882, May 17 357 Comets of 1847 357 French Association for the Advancement of Science .... 357 Science in Germany 358 German Expedition to Siberia 338 Notes . . 360 Scientific Serials 362 Societies and Academies 363 Erratum.— Vol. xiv. p. 338, col, i, line 9 from bottom, for " Umbelli- ferse " read " Umbellulari?e." NA TURE 365 THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1876 PHYSICAL SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS AT a meeting of the British Association five years ago, the subject of science teaching in our higher schools excited unusual interest. Not only were papers read and followed by enthusiastic discussion, but a com- mittee was privately formed, including more than twenty leaders of the association, all of whom undertook to combine in pressing the claims of science on our head- masters, and in offering counsel as to systems and methods, apparatus, and expenditure. Technical diffi- culties prevented the formal nomination of the committee in that year ; and before the next meeting came round the Science Commission was in full work, and the ground was covered. Five years have passed ; the Commission has reported ; and the British Association, if it deals at all with the problem that lies at the root of our scientific progress, will have to face the fact that only ten endowed schools in England give as much as four hours a week to the study of science ; in other words, that in spite of ten years of talk, the hlat of a Royal Commission, a complete consensus of scientific authority, and the loud demands of less educated but not less keen-sighted public opinion, the organisation and practical working of science in our higher schools has scarcely advanced a step since the Schools Inquiry Commission reported in 1868. Are the causes of this strange paralysis discoverable, and are they capable of present remedy ? We believe that they are notorious, and that it is in the power of the British Association at the present moment to overrule them. It is therefore in the hope of rekindling a produc- tive enthusiasm at a critical moment in the history of our science teaching that we appeal with all the earnestness of which we are capable to the leaders of the great parliament, whose session will have opened before this day week. The first obstacle to be understood and reckoned with, is the amazing confusion in the minds of unscientific leaders of opinion as to the very nature of education. An ex- Lord Chancellor gives away prizes to a school, declares in stately terms that Greek and Latin must always form the backbone of high intellectual training, and that the sciences can only be tolerated as a sort of ornament or capital to this great central vertebral column. On the following day an ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer gives away prizes at another school, assures the boys that modern scientific teaching is their being's end and aim, and envies them by comparison with himself, who at Winchester and Oxford basked only in the " clarum antiqucE lucis jubar." In all such public utterances chaos reigns supreme. Men take side with one or other branch of mental discipline, unconscious of the Nemesis which waits on the divorce of literature from science, or of science from literature, forgetful of the fundamental truths that all minds require general training up to a certain point, and that the period at which special education should supervene is the problem which awaits solution. The hostility of the clergy ranks high among the diffi- culties we have to recognise. To the great public schools Vol. XIV.— No. 357 this is matter of indifference ; but the vigorous head- master of a young and rising county school, who attempts, being himself a clergyman, to make real science com- pulsory in his school, is rattened by the vulgar heresy- hunters, who swarm in every diocese. The hint and shrug in society, the whisper at clerical conferences, the warning to parents attracted by the school against " athe- istic tendencies," keep down his numbers and wear out his energies, till his enterprise becomes a warning instead of an example to his admirers at other schools. In a neighbourhood of rural squires and clergy, untempered by a large town's neighbourhood, and unchecked by any man of education and intelligence holding sovereignty by virtue of superior rank and wealth, a school which treads doggedly in the ancient paths and is flavoured with gentle " High Church tendencies," will certainly succeed even in second-rate hands, while a school which under superior chieftainship asserts the claims of science, and whose theology is therefore suspect, will as certainly long struggle for existence, if it does not finally succumb. The head-masters, with no inveterate intention, but by the force of circumstances, are potent allies upon the side of nescience. Their position is peculiar. Enlightened, able, high-minded, and most laborious, to speak of them with disrespect would be to forfeit claim to a hearing. But of their v/hole number not more than two or three know anything at all of science ; they have gained honours and supremacy by proficiency in other subjects ; to teach well these subjects which they know, forms their happiness and satisfies their sense of duty ; and they feel natural dis- may at the proposal to force upon them new and untried work which they have not knowledge to supervise, and which must displace whole departments of classical study. Bifurcation they do not mind, for they hope that the dunces will be drafted into the modern school, and the clever boys retained upon the classical side ; but the mo- mentous recommendation of the Royal Commission that six hours a week of science teaching should be given to every boy in every school has taken away their breath ; it was only once alluded to at the last head-masters' meet- ing, and then with something between a protest and a sneer. They are too clear-sighted not to see that the demand for science teaching is real, and too liberal not readily to accede to it, if some central authority, which they respect, at once puts pressure on them, and tenders such assistance and advice as they can trust. But, until these two things are done, they will pursue a policy of inaction. Nor is there any hope that this reluctance of head- masters will be stimulated by exuberant energy on the part of governing bodies. The instances in which these pet creations of the Endowed Schools Commission have appeared before the public hitherto, make it evident that absolute inactivity is the service they are best calculated to render to the cause of education ; but their probable devotion to science may be guessed from an incident reported in our columns some months ago, where a body of trustees, composed of country gentlemen of local mark, having to arrange a competitive examination under a scheme of the Charity Commission, adopted the machinery of the University Leaving Examination, but inserted a distinct proviso that no scientific subject recognised by the University Regulations shotild imder any circum- T 366 NATURE [Aug, 31, 1876 stances be taken up by the candidates, either as an alter- native or a positive branch of vork. Will the Universities help or impede the spread of school science teaching? The Universities adhere at present to their fatal principle that only one-sided know- ledge shall find favour within their walls. A boy who knows nothing but classics, nothing but mathematics, nothing but science, may easily win a scholarship ; a boy who knows all three must seek distinction elsewhere ; and this rule shapes inevitably the teaching of the schools. The science scholarships at Oxford, of which we hear so much, fall mainly to three distinguished schools ; two so large and wealthy that they can overpower most com- petitors by their expenditure on staff and apparatus, the third planted in Oxford, with access to the University museum and laboratory, and with a pick of teachers from the men of whom examiners are made ; and these schools ensure success in science by abandoning other subjects almost or altogether in the case of the candidates they send up. No school which should carry out the recom- mendations of the Commissioners, by giving six hours a week to science, and the rest of its time to literature and mathematics ; no school which should realise its function as bound to develop young minds by strengthening in fair proportion all their faculties of imagination, reason, memory, and observation, could offer boys for any sort of scholarship under the present University system with the faintest chance of success. What these institutions are powerful to avert or help- less to bring about is, we repeat, within the scope of the British Association to effect. All institutions, political or educational, will bow to a strongly formed committee of scientific men, formally commissioned by the Associa- tion and speaking with authority, delegated as well as personal, on scientific subjects. Let such a Committee be revived as died on paper in 1871, including the acknow- ledged leaders of pure science, and weighted with the names of such educationalists as have shown them- selves zealous for science teaching. Let their func- tions be — first, to communicate with the head-masters and governing bodies, calling attention to the re- commendations of the Duke of Devonshire's Commis- sion, asking how far and how soon each school is prepared to carry these out, and tendering advice, should it be desired, on any details as to selection and sequence of subjects, teachers, text-books, outlay. Secondly, let them appeal to the Universities, to which many of them belong, as to the bearing of science scholarships and fellowships upon school teaching, and the extent to which such influence may be modified or ameliorated in that re-arrangement of College funds which next session will probably be commenced. Thirdly, let them be instructed to watch the action of Government in any proposal made either in pursuance of Lord Salisbury's bill, or as giving effect to the Duke of Devonshire's Commission, and let them be known to hold a brief for school science in refer- ence to all such legislation. A single meeting of such a committee before the Association separates would settle a basis of action and compress itself into a working sub- committee. The time for papers and discussions is past ; they have done their work. What the schools and the head-masters want is authoritative guidance ; the guidance not only of a blue-book, but of a living leader- ship, central, commanding, and accessible, to which they may look with confidence, and bow without loss of prestige. The precision of its dicta will clear up public confu- sion ; its ability, conscientiousness, and popularity will overawe the clergy ; schools and universities will listen respectfully to suggestions echoed by their own best men ; and the three great departments of intellectual culture, equal in credit, appliances, and teaching power, will bring out all the faculties, and elicit the special apti- tudes of every English boy. " Hinc omne principium, hue refer exitum ! " H ANBURY'S REMAINS Science Papers; chiefly Pharmacological and Botanical. By Daniel Hanbury, F.R.S., &c. Edited, with Memoir, by Joseph Ince. (London : Macmillan and Co., 1876.) A NOT inconsiderable contingent to the army ot workers in science has been furnished by London trade. The ranks of our geologists, zoologists, and biologists, have been recruited to a larger extent than many might suppose from city counting-houses. But one would still hardly expect to find the same wholesale chemist's shop in an obscure court out of Lom- bard Street send forth, in two successive generations, two Fellows to the Royal Society. Except, however, in their common love of science, Daniel Hanbury was a very different man from William Allen, the druggist and Quaker preacher, the lecturer on chemistry and inter- cessor on behalf of the rights of conscience with almost all the " crowned heads " of Europe.^ Retaining through life a warm attachment to the religious body in which he was born, H anbury's religion was nevertheless of the closet rather than the forum ; few of his friends ever heard him speak on religious subjects ; and anything in the shape of proselytising was altogether alien to his mental constitution. Essentially a specialist, he was at the same time, what the best specialist must always be, an educated gentleman. From the time when, as a very young man, he con- tributed his first essays to the Trattsactions of the Phar- maceutical Society, till his death at the early age of forty-nine, when a long career of usefulness seemed to be before him, the object to which Hanbury set himself was the clearing up of uncertain or disputed points regarding the botanical origin of drugs known to the pharmaco- poeias of this and other countries. Notwithstanding what he and fellow-workers on the Continent have done, it is surprising to find in bow great obscurity the history is still involved of many medicinal substances which are daily prescribed by physicians and dispensed by druggists. The larger portion of the present volume is occupied with papers bearing on questions of this nature ; those which will probably be found of the greatest value to posterity are : — " On the Different Kinds of Cardamom used in Commerce," " On Liquid and Solid Storax," " On the Source of Balsam of Peru," " Historical Notes on the Radix galangce of Pharmacy," and " On the Determina- tion of Pareira hravaP Hanbury's inquiries were characterised, above all things, by extreme thoroughness. No amount of research, « Mr. Luke Howard, F.R.S., the emineut meteorologist, was also, for a short time, a partner with Allen. Aug, 31, 1876] NATURE 367^ no amount of personal labour, was spared to clear up or elucidate the smallest point bearing on the sub- ject he was engaged in investigating. A good illus- tration of his mode of working is furnished by a paper read before a meeting of the British. Pharmaceutical Con- gress held at Brighton, in 1872, " On Calabrian Manna." Manna is stated, in the " British Pharmacopoeia " of 1867, to be " a concrete saccharine exudation from the stem of Fraxititis Ornus, L., and F. roiimdi/olia, D. C, which trees are cultivated for the purpose of yielding it chiefly in Calabria and Sicily." Never having heard of manna plantations in Calabria, nor seen Cala- brian manna, Hanbury determined, after having ac- quainted himself with the literature of the subject, ancient and modem, to visit Italy himself in order to set the question at rest. At Florence he found the article almost unknown. Reaching Rossano, a town in Calabria Citra, he there found that the manna trees grow on some of the adjacent mountains, but are not cultivated ; and that the collecting of the manna is a very small and in- significant branch of industry. " The habits of the Calabrian peasantry," he naively observes, " are such that it is impossible for travellers to quit the high roads with- out personal danger." At Corigliano, which, according to Murray's " Handbook," produces " the finest manna in Calabria," the industry is altogether extinct. At Co- zensa, the capital of the province, anciently renowned for manna, he found the substance almost unknown to the druggists, one of whom assured him that its collection had been prohibited for the last six or seven years. Finally, a prominent English merchant at Messina was ignorant of the existence of such a commodity. '.The con- clusion to which Mr. Hanbury came was that Cala- brian manna has practically ceased to exist as an article of commerce, and that its collection in that part of Italy is on the verge of extinction. With regard, also, to De Candolle's species of manna-ash, Fraxinus roimidifolia, Hanbury's observations on the spot induced him to believe that while the F. Or7ius is a very variable plant, there is no special form of it, and still less any distinct species, answering to the characters of F. rotiindifolia. By similar exhaustive investigations, Mr. Hanbury determined various other pharmacological questions of greater or less importance, of which two may be specially mentioned. In his paper on Storax, he shows that while the substance known under this name in ancient times was obtained from the Styrax officinale, L., it has alto- gether disappeared from the commerce of modem days, the resin now known as liquid storax being — notwith- standing erroneous assertions to the contrary in some writings of high authority — the product of a totally dif- ferent tree, Liquidatnbar orientate, Mill., a native of the south-west of Asia Minor, where the drug is collected. The drug known in the British Pharmacopoeia as " Pareira brava" was referred by most writers, with- out question, to the stem and root of Cissampelos Pareira, L., a climbing plant of the order Meni- spermaceae, growing in the tropical regions of both the Old and New World. A scarcity of the article in- duced Mr. Hanbury, some years ago, to endeavour to obtain a supply from the West Indies. Having been fur- nished with the stems and roots of the plant in question, not only from Jamaica, but aLio from Trinidad, Ceylon, and Brazil, he soon discovered that the accepted state- ment was altogether erroneous. He then set himself to discover what " Pareira brava " really is ; and a careful examination of the different descriptions by botanists and travellers, and of specimens obtained from various cor- respondents, led him to identify it with Chondodendron tomentosum, Ruiz et Pav., a native of Brazil, belonging to the same natural order. Mr. Hanbury was in the habit of preserving and carefully labelling, in his own museum, specimens of anything that could bear on the subjects of his inquiries ; and his investigations were greatly assisted by unusual opportunities for growing foreign plants fur- nished by an extensive garden with abundance of glass, cold and heated, in one of the suburbs of London. Here was a true " botanic garden " to delight the heart of a pharmaceutist. Mr. Hanbury's presence is sorely missed by his fellow- members of the various learned societies to which he belonged, especially of the two from the meetings of which he was seldom absent — the Pharmaceutical and the Lin- nean ; where his varied information was constantly giving life to the discussions, his urbanity of manner smoothing down any difference of opinion, and his business habits ready to assist at a critical moment. The last few months of his life saw the publication of his most sub- stantial contribution to literature, the " Pharmacogra- phia," brought out in joint authorship with his friend Prof. Fliickiger, of Strasburg, to the importance of which these pages have already called attention. DYNAMITE Die Dynamite, ihre Eigenscha/ten nnd Gebraiicksiveise. Von Isidor Trauzl. (Berlin : Verlag von Wiegandt, Hempel, und Parey, 1876.) THE instructive brochure published under the above title affords an interesting illustration of the wide- spread applications now received by those violent explo- sive agents, nitroglycerine and gun-cotton, the practical value of which was regarded as doubtful even twelve years ago, by all but the few who devoted themselves in- defatigably to the development of the manufacture, purifi- cation, and application of those substances. Capt. Isidor Trauzl has for some time past been intimately connected with the dynamite industry on the Continent, and is a very intelligent exponent of the properties and uses of the nitroglycerine preparations which owe their origin to the sagacity, ingenuity, and untiring labours of Alfred Nobel. The endeavours of Nobel to overcome the uncertainty and danger attending the application of nitroglycerine in its undiluted condition as an explosive agent, were even- tually crowned with success by his elaboration of the plastic nitroglycerine preparations known as dynamites, of which the earliest, and that specially known as Nobel's dynamite, consists of the infusorial earth, kieselguhr, mixed with about three times its weight of nitroglycerine, which it holds absorbed, even under considerable varia- tions of temperature, if the preparation be carefully manu- factured. This material is the most violent nitroglycerine preparation now in use ; it closely resembles Abel's compressed gun-cotton in explosive power as well as in regard to its action, and it is now very extensively used in all parts of the world, for mining, engineering, and other industrial purposes. 368 NATURE \Aug. 31, 1876 Capt. Trauzl's volume is specially and mainly devoted to the consideration of one particular class of operations to which dynamite, like gun-cotton, has recently been applied with considerable success, namely, to the removal of tree- stumps from forest-ground which is being cleared, as also to the felling of trees, the removal of piles, and similar operations. By the judicious application of these explo- sive agents, tree-stumps may be removed with much greater expedition than by manual labour, and the experimental results collected by the author, with special reference to this utilisation of dynamite, will be found valuable to large landowners or to those engaged in clearing land in new settlements. Many of the data given by him in regard to this application of dynamite, are confirmed by corresponding results obtained in this country in extensive experiments with both gun-cotton and dynamite. The special information with regard to the removal of tree-stumps, &c., is prefaced by a concise account of the properties of dynamite and of the methods of preparing and exploding dynamite charges. Capt. Trauzl has done well to direct special attention to the necessity for care in handling dynamite, and especially in carrying out the essential operation of thawing frozen dynamite, the careless or ignorant performance of which has given rise to many frightful accidents. It has unfortunately been the practice with many whose interests are identified with the sale of explosive preparations of this class, to lay undue stress upon their great safety in transport and use, as compared with gunpowder, and thus to foster, to a very lamentable extent, the tendency to recklessness which is specially prevalent among the class of people who have to employ those explosive agents. Capt. Trauzl concludes with a chapter on the appli- cation of dynamite to the breaking up of ground for agricultural purposes. It appears doubtful whether even the less violent forms of dynamite, the employment of which is suggested for this purpose (for which a com- paratively gradual explosive effect is most advantageous) are likely to prove superior to gunpowder for this special application. OUR BOOK SHELF The Cnmea and Transcaucasia j being the Narrative of a Journey in the Kouban, in Gouria, Georgia, Armenia, Ossety, Imeritia, Swannety, and Mingrelia, and in the Tauric Range. By Commander J. Buchan Telfer, R.N. Maps and Illustrations. Two Vols. (London : King and Co., 1876.) The author of this work took advantage of a three years' residence in Southern Russia to make acquaintance with the region to which his work refers, and which is pretty adequately indicated in the title. He does not, however, give a regular narrative of the visit he made to various places at various times, but arranges all the information he has collected along a route supposed to occupy ninety- two days. In this way a large tract of ground is gone over systematically, commencing at Sevastopol, visiting the surrounding district, coasting and touching at several places in the Crimea, crossing over to Circassia, coasting south to Poti, and penetrating through Mingrelia, Imeritia, and Georgia, south to Mount Ararat, and as far north as the country of the Ossety and the Swannety. Although no doubt many travellers pass through these countries, yet they have really been little explored, and in Commander Telfer's work will be found much informa- tion that, we are sure, will be new to the majority of readers. His account of the Swannety, especially, a curious mongrel, half savage people, to the north of Mingrelia, will be somewhat of a surprise to many. But the author has trusted not only to his own observations ; he has taken evidently great pains to make himself master of all that is known of the history and antiquities of the region to which his work refers. This information he judiciously mixes up with his own observations, and the result is a work which may be regarded as a standard book of reference for the extremely interesting districts to which it refers. With its two good maps and its many illustrations, and its substantial and attractively put to- gether information, it ought to take a prominent place among works of travel. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [TTie Editor does not hold himself responsible for of inions expressed by his cotrespondents. Neither can he undertake to return^ or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. \ The Basking Shark In Nature, vol. xiv. p. 313, Prof. E. Perceval Wright gives some account of the Basking Shark, with especial reference to the curious pectinated appendages which lie along the branchial arches of tliat huge fish. His paper is illustrated by a charac- teristic woodcut from a drawing by Prof. Steenstrup, who had recently described these appendages, and who finds that they were alluded to by Bishop Gunnerus, about lOO years ago. Prof. Wright also gives a very interesting original figure of one of the branchial arches with the appendages attached. Prof. Wright's notice will be welcomed as a further contribu- tion to the history of a very remarkable and little-known struc- ture. In one point, however, his description will need correc- tion, for he speaks of the appendages in question as composed of a whalebone-like substance. They are nevertheless essentially different from whalebone, and were it not for their whalebone- like colour and for their pectinated 'arrangement, somewhat like that of- the balene-plates of a whale, their comparison with whalebone would scarcely have suggested itself. Though elastic, they are hard and brittle, dnd when bent beyond a very limited angle, they snap like a plate of steel. In consequence of the rarity of the opportunities afforded to anatomists for the examination of the Basking Shark, the pecti- nated appendages have hitherto received but little of the notice which is due to such a singular anatomical character, and the readers of Dr. Wright's communication might easily believe that since the days of Bishop Gunnerus no one but Prof. Steen- strup and himself had called attention to their existence. It is now more than thirty years ago that in a communication to the Dublin Natural History Society I placed on record the capture of a Basking Shark on the south coast of Ireland and described the pectinated appendages as fully as the mutilated state of the specimen would allow. Since then I have in vain watched for an opportunity of further investigating the anatomy of the great shark. The following is the abstract of this communication, published at the time in Sdunders's Newsletter, which was then the vehicle for the proceedings of the Society. It contains perhaps little which has not been since noticed by Prof. Steenstrup and Prof. Wright, but I may nevertheless be permitted to quote it in order to show that the subject has not been so entirely ignored as the readers of Dr. Wright's paper might suppose : — ' ' A paper was read by Mr. AUman upon the recent occurrence on the Irish coast of the great Basking Shark, Selachus maximus. Guv. This fish had been entangled in the trammels of the fishermen, and towed into the strand at Coolmain, on the southern coast of the county of Cork, when it was almost imme- diately cut in pieces by the country people with the expectation of obtaining oil from it. . . . The principal object of Mr. Allman's communication was to notice an interesting fact in the anatomy of this fish, which had not been hitherto described. The fact alluded to was the existence along each of the branchial arches of a very curious and beautiful pectinated structure con- sisting of a series of narrow elastic laminae arranged vrith great Aug. 31, 1876I NATURE 369 regularity, and constituting along each gill a kind of grating bearing a close resemblance to the teeth of a comb. The laminae of which this grating is composed become gradually narrower from their fixed to their free extremities ; they are of a dark olive colour, of a hard texture, and highly elastic, but at the same time brittle, and easily snapping off when urged beyond a certain point. " The office which Mr. AUman assigned to these branchial appendages was that of strainers, by which the water before coming in contact with the branchioe is freed from extraneous bodies, which would otherwise interfere with the functions of respiration. The objection which might be urged to this view, namely, that the other sharks are without any such arrangement appeared to him of no weight, as we know but little of the habits of the Basking Shark, and as those which we do know would lead us to believe that the structure just described is admirably adapted to the fish's peculiar mode of life. The Basking Shark must be entirely free from the voracious disposition so charac- teristic of the allied genera. Its teeth are little more than tubercles, and quite unfit it for the life of carnage led by other sharks. Its food must accordingly be found among the less resisting inhabitants of the ocean ; and as the Basking Shark will therefore be driven to feed near the bottom and among sea- weeds the existence of the branchial appendages will admit of an easy explanation. We must thus at once perceive the admirable adaptation of this interesting arrangement to the habits of an animal which would otherwise be subjected to the constant annoyance of having its branchiae clogged with the floating fronds of sea- weeds, a circumstance which the anatomical struc- ture alone would otherwise render more liable to occur in this than in the other sharks, as the openings to the branchiae in the Selachus maximus are of enormous size, and the branchiostegous membranes particularly loose." Geo. J. Allman The Birds of Kerguelen Island f" My attention has been called to a review of Dr. Kidder's " Report on the Ornithology of Kerguelen Island," in Nature of the loth instant (p. 317, supra). Will you kindly permit me to express regret that the reviewer should have alluded to pri- ority of publication of the results of the American and English expeditions to that island ? To many persons his remarks on this point will appear to be ungenerous and needlessly sarcastic to the foreign naturalists. The subject is a delicate one, and I am sorry to have occasion to mention it, especially as an Englishman should be the last to approach it. The reviewer will doubtless admit that when three naturalists are simultaneously sent to work independently of one another in the same neighbourhood, it is almost inevitable that one will anticipate the work of the others, and yet that there is nothing to boast of if he does. In the present instance, being bound to regard the interests of my employers in my collection, I hastened the issue of preliminary diagnoses of the novelties contained in it, to secure their types from alienatian to foreign museums. The result of this was the acquisition by the English of the types of all the new species in my collec- tion excepting those of one bird (which has recently been de- scribed as new by the Germans), and those of two Annelids, and three lichens, and perhaps a moss pre-occupied by the Americans. We could well have afforded to lose nine or ten times as many, and should still have retained a fair proportion of the whole number for English museums. The reviewer, therefore, might have done well if he had censured the rapacity of the English in grasping the lion's share of the type-specimens ; but it was rather too bad of him to attribute to my fellow- workers small feelings of jealousy with reference to the Americans being the first in the field with their final reports, of which they are not conscious. The Americans have kept us fully informed as to the progress of their reports during the period of their preparation, by letter and by the transmission of advance sheets; and the English final reports will no doubt be ready at the time appointed by the Royal Society. If the Germans publish their results in the meanwhile, we shall have the advantage of including references to their work among our citations. The reviewer is perhaps unaware of the publication of another Bulletin by the Americans, containing, amongst other informa- tion relating to Kerguelen Island, further ornithological parti- culars. It was issued more than a month ago. A. E. Eaton Naturalist accompanying the English Transit of Venus Expedition to Aug. 24 Kerguelen Island in 1874 Antedated Books I AM ready to give the Editor of the Zoological Society's Transactions credit for desiring to set a good and not a bad example ; but, since a man seldom thinks that which he does to be wrong, the simple assertion of his opinion that it is the former and not the latter is not enough. Whether the papers in those Transactions are antedated by one month (as he admits) or by several months is merely a matter of detail. The practice of antedating is equally faulty in principle. If their editor would add the correct date of publication on the covers of the several parts, as is done with the Proceedings of the Royal and the yournal of the Linnean Society, he might give whatever date he pleases anywhere else as that of his latest revision. Another F.Z.S. Earthquake in Nithsdale, Scotland On the morning of the 12th current, at 3 o'clock, Mr. Robson, of the schoolhouse of Penpont, Dumfriesshire, was awakened by a sharp shock of earthquake and heard its detonations. On inquiry the same shock had been felt at the schoolhouse of Tyn^. ron, by Mr. Laurie ; and over an area of several parishes around the upper course of the Nith the shock was felt, causing walls to vibrate and cupboard dishes to tingle. Two concussions of less violence were felt between 11 and 12 o'clock on the previous evening. The morning papers of the 14th report that a severe shock of earthquake had been felt at Athens on the morning of the 12th. It would be interesting to know the exact time when the shock was felt in Greece. On April i6th, 1873, at 9.55 P.M., a similar shock to that experienced last week was felt in the same districts of Nithsdale. I recollect communicating a short notice of it to Nature at the time, as I had heard the strange sound, but on this occasion I did not hear it. Tynron Schoolhouse, Aug. 23 James Shaw P.S. — Since writing the above I have received confirmation of the event from several other reliable witnesses. It seems to have been most plainly felt in the parishes of Morton, Penpont, Keir, Tynron, and Glencaim, to the west of the Nith. J. S. The Cuckoo The usual maimer in which the cuckoo in June "alters his tune," is by doubling his first syllable, and the "cuc-cuckoo, cuc-cuckoo " is then usually, if not always, followed by the single This is certainly the case both near London and in the Midlands. E. H. ABSTRACT REPORT TO "NATURE" ON EX- PERIMENTA TION ON ANIMALS FOR THE ADVANCE OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE'- VIL THERE occur to me a few other illustrative series of researches, in which scientific and practical medi- cine have been advanced by experimentation on the lower animals. Some of these I will state in terms as brief as possible in the present paper. Experime7itation in respect to the Disease called Cataract. Dr. Weir Mitchell, of Philadelphia, in the year 1869, made the original and remarkable observation that if a part of the body of a frog be immersed in simple syrup, there soon occurs in the crystalline lens of the eyeball an opaque appearance resembling the disease called cataract. He extended his observations to the effects of grape sugar, and obtained the same results. He found that ne could induce the cataractic condition invariably by this experiment, or by injecting a solution of sugar with a fine needle, subcutaneously, into the dorsal sac of the frog. The discovery was one of singular importance ini the history of medical science, and explained immediately a number of obscure phenomena. The co-existence of the two diseases, diabetes and cataract, in man, had been observed by France, Cohen, Hasner, Mackenzie, Duncan, von Graafe, and others, and von Graafe had stated that after examining a large number of diabetic patients in different hospitals, he had found one-fourth affected with cataract. Before Mitchell's observation there was not ^ Continued from p, 341, 370 NATURE [Aug. 31, 1876 a suspicion as to the reason of this connection, and a flood of light, therefore, broke on the subject the moment he proclaimed the new physiological fact. Still more Mitchell showed that the cataract he was able to induce by experiment was curable also by experiment, a truth which will one day lead to the cure of cataract with- out operation. Then, but not till then, the splendid character of this original investigation, and the debt that is due to one of the most original, honest, laborious workers that ever in any age cultivated the science and art of medicine, will be duly recognised. When the news of Mitchell's discovery reached us here, I took up the investigation at the point where he had left it. The fact he had announced was found to be in- disputable. From a patient in one of our large hospitals, who was suffering from diabetes and double cataract, a specimen of the sugar excreted was obtained, and from that specimen the cataractous disease was induced in the frog, and afterwards removed. The experiment was con- ducted with the animal kept in an aneesthetic atmosphere, and was found to answer just as well as in the ordinary atmosphere ; in fact, the experiment succeeded best with frogs when it was rendered free of all pain, as spas- modic movements, which may occur if the process of pro- duction of cataract is rapid, and which may suddenly kill, are prevented. Since the introduction of chloral hydrate, that anaesthetic has become a still more useful agent in this research, since its own action runs in line with the experiment, and the ansesthetic can be introduced in actual combination with the substance producing the cataract. In warm-blooded animals I learned that the cataractous change could be brought about immediately after death. Several of the experiments were made therefore on the head of the sheep after the animal had been killed at the slaughter-house in the ordinary way, the fluid being in- jected through an artery. In other warm bloods the death was first induced by one of the anaesthetic vapours, and the fluid used was either injected into the peritoneal cavity or through the aorta. The line of research which I carried on in continua- tion of Dr. Mitchell's discovery was for the purpose of determining the cause of the cataractous change and the influence of other agents in producing it. It occurred to me that the change was possibly due to the influence of saline matter on the pure colloidal lens, and if this were true the cataract ought to be induced by other substances than sugar. Any of the soluble crystalloids might pro- duce it, and as there are many of these in the blood, there might be other cataracts than such as are produced by sugar in the diabetic subject. The research was therefore pursued with all the soluble salts belonging to the blood, and with the result of producing cataractous change with them all. In the end it was deduced that whenever the specific gravity of the blood is raised, by the presence of saline matter in it, to 10 degrees above the normal standard, and is sustained in that state for a short time, cataract is the result, and is maintained so long as the blood con- tinues of the same specific weight. It was also found that the cataractous condition caused by the soluble blood salts was removable on the elimination of the added saline and the reduction of the blood to its natural equi- librium. At the same tiine there was observed to be a difference in the characters of the cataracts produced. Some of the saline cataracts were harder than the sugar cataracts and less easily curable. Those salts which are most fixed in their chemical constitution and at the same time are most soluble, produce the hardest cataracts. Those salts which are most easily decomposed, such as urea, are least effective in inducing the pathological change. The change was found to commence, as a rule, in the posterior part of the lens, and after beginning as an im- perfectly defined hazy spot it extended gradually through the whole structure, causing a pearly whiteness and com- plete opacity. In the process of cleaning of the lens the posterior part was the last to become transparent, but without exception the whole structure of the lens regained its crystalline clearness and its perfect function when the specific weight of the blood was reduced to its natural standard, if the circulation of fluid through the lens con- tinued. In these experiments two illustrious scholars, now lost to science, took the warmest interest, the late Pro- fessor Graham and the late Sir David Brewster. Both lent to me their valued observation. Graham saw in the experimental facts the first application in physiological pathology of his great discovery of the mutual action of colloidal and crystalloidal substances. Sir David drew some most ingenious inferences as to the physical cause of the opacity, tracing it to a process of crenation on the margins of the fibres of the lens. The greatest interest was naturally excited throughout the medical profession. In this production of cataract the first visible demon- stration was offered of the synthesis of a well-known disease. It is now certain that if the specific gravity of the blood be raised rapidly a few degrees by a crystal- loidal substance, cataract is the direct result. Recently Dr. Sansom saw this event in the case of a young woman suffering from diabetes, who became, in a few days, stone blind from cataract in both eyes ; and, indeed, the cause of diabetic cataract is now made quite plain. But the end of the discovery is not reached with this fact, im- portant though it be. The mode of production, in man and the lower animals, of the slowly advancing cataract, from which so many persons are rendered permanently blind, is after the same process, with a different saline, acting in a slower degree ; and the inference is fair that some particular forms of diet are conducive to the disease. When the whole series of facts which Mitchell com- menced to unfold are completed, the disease cataract will be understood in full. Its physical pathology is already understood, and if the operative art of the sur- geon be not quenched by another mode of cure resulting from his discovery, it will be by the better art of preven- tion of the disease. Experimentation on Pectons Changes. The observations on cataract above described led me to follow out other lines of inquiry in respect to the action of saline substances on living and dead colloidal matter. I thus found that when a saline solution of a colloid, such as albumen, is brought into contact with a living colloidal structure like the peritoneum, the saline solvent is rapidly removed into the circulation, and the colloidal plastic substance is left on the true membrane as a false membrane, by which contiguous membranes are agglu- tinated together. I found further that if the blood or serous part of the blood in a fluid saline condition exudes into a serous cavity, the same simple physical pro- cess goes on, the saline and watery parts, including the colouring matter of the blood, passes back into the circu- lation through the membrane and the colloidal fibrine and albumen are left in form of false membrane or of band, on the true membrane. The experiment illustrates how inflammatory exudations, as they are called, are pro- duced, and how adhesions and adhesive constrictions are formed after inflammatory serous diseases. The experi- ments on animals by which these results were arrived at, were all conducted under anaesthesia, and were perfectly painless. In another analogous series of inquiries conducted in the same manner, I found that if the blood were sur- charged with urea, a portion of albumen would pass out of the body by the urinary secretion without the institu- tion of any marked morbid change in the structure of the kidney. This fact led me to ask whether albumen diluted with water and charged with urea would pass through a Aug. 31, 1876J NATURE 371 dead membrane, by dialysis, and I found it would. These facts have bearings of the most singular kind on the disease albuminuria. They show, amongst other things, that the presence of albumen in the renal secretion is not, of necessity, a sign of structural disease of the kidney as has been supposed, and they account for the anomalous illustrations that are met with of temporary albuminuria as a disease. The experiments explain also the cause of that coagulation of the blood which occurs during those exhaustive diseases, such as cholera, in which the saline and watery parts of the blood are drained away. The same line of research suggested to me a new experimental reading, conducted by experiment on dead animal matter, of the cause of the pectous change called, commonly, coagulation. This change I find is always produced in fluids containing soluble crystal- loidail matter, colloidal matter, and water, whenever the relationship between the colloid and the water is disturbed by modification of the crystalloid. The crystalloid forms the connecting link by which the water is held in fluid combination with the colloid. If the crys- talloid be withdrawn, then the molecular attraction of the colloid for its own parts commences, and the contraction called coagulation is set up with expulsion of water from the clot by the contraction of cohesion. If, on the other hand, crystalloid be added in excess, so as to absorb an excess of water, coagulation is also set up. Or again, if water held by condensation in a saline solution of a col- loid— as the fibrine is held in the living blood for ex- ample— be allowed to escape, coagulation is the result. Connected with these studies, but carried out long before them, are some experiments I made with urea, in which, by hypodermic injection of that animal salt, in free quantities, into the body of an animal, symptoms of un- consciousness and convulsion, like the symptoms of uraemic poisoning which occur in some cases of scarlet fever, were induced. The result to practice from these researches was to discover that the symptoms were re- movable by the abstraction of a little blood, and the application of this practice in examples of uraemia in man, has been the means of directly saving several lives. The result to physiological science was the fact that when from any circumstance the living blood is charged with a soluble saline body much beyond what is natural, the effect is a convulsion which recurs at intervals, as if the blood surcharged with the salt were conducting some exciting current to the muscles so rapidly that the reserve store of force in the nervous centres ran down or was com- pletely discharged at once and had to wait to be re-sup- plied, at the end of each discharge, before another convul- sion could be excited. Dilution of the Blood and Feeding by the Veins. In two great epidemics of cholera which I observed, it was impossible not to see that the cause of rapid death was, in most cases, the sudden reduction of the amount of water in the body. In some instances where all con- sciousness appeared to have passed away and death was declared, the recurrence of movements in the limbs of the apparently dead, suggested that in the strict sense of the word there was remaining life. In some instances the effect of injecting saline solutions into the veins had such an astounding temporary effect in bringing back the con- sciousness, it seemed as if we had in our hands a sure remedy, if we knew how to use it, for the worst forms of the fearful malady. The practice led me to experiment on the possibility of introducing water into the body by other channels than the veins, so that it.might be gradu- ally absorbed and might re-supply what was being lost by the watery discharges from the bowels. I therefore, in 1854, injected distilled water into the cellular tissue of anaesthetised animals subcutaneously, and also into the peritoneal cavity. The difficulty of introducing any suffi- cient quantity into the cellular tissue prevented that method from being followed ; but with the peritoneum it was different. Into the peritoneal cavity I found not only that water, at the temperature of the body, can be intro- duced, through a hollow needle, without any danger what- ever, but that the fluid is rapidly absorbed, and may be absorbed until as much as amounts to the fifth part of the weight of the animal is introduced into the organism. The difficulty I encountered in bringing into practice this simple means of re-supplying the body with water in cholera, lay in the fear that was expressed respecting injuries to the peritoneum. The plan was nevertheless once tried in a hopeless case in the human subject in 1854, and with perfect success in promoting recovery. At the present time, with our improved instruments for injection, and better knowledge of operations on the 'peritoneum, the method would be certainly applied in another outbreak of acute cholera, and I believe with most successful results. Beyond the directly practical, physiology gained a point by these researches. The experiments showed that when the blood is diluted by the addition of water, beyond a fifth of the weight of the animal, i.e., by the addition of a pound of water to the blood of an animal weighing five pounds, an unconscious condition of the body is in- duced, with sleep, with paralysis of muscle, with reduc- tion of temperature, and with death, if the natural balance be not'quickly restored. Still further by pursuing the in- vestigation into a comparison of the specific weight of the blood, and the specific weight of a fluid excretion such as the urine, I found that in some forms of serous dropsy attended with a very low specific weight of the fluid excretions, the blood when reduced in specific weight approaching to the specific weight of the secretions, is thrown out with the utmost ease into the serous cavities by the pressure of the circulation, is not returned by the osmotic ingoing current back into the circulating channels, and so accumulates in the serous sacs, giving rise to the phenomenon of serous dropsy. Experimentation on the Action of Alcohol. A very large number of my researches by experimenta- tion have had reference to the action of medicines or of chemical substances intended to be applied as foods or as medicines to the animal body. Some of these, such as chloroform, methylene-bichloride, and nitrite of amyl, have already been noticed, but they are a small number compared with all that have been physiologically investi- gated. By subjecting animals of different species to the action of alcohol, I made clear what had only been sur- mised previously, that alcohol reduces the animal tem- perature. I also found that, like nitrite of amyl, alcohol produces what is called its stimulant action, by paralysing the vessels of the minute circulation. By the same course of experiment I learned that the exposure of an animal to a degree of cold that is perfectly harmless when the animal is free of alcohol, is certainly fatal when the animal is narcotised from the action of alcohoL By pur- suing the research so as to include in it the heavier alcohols, such as butylic alcohol and amylic alcohol (fusel oil), I learned for the first time that the more injurious effects of some of the common alcoholic diinks sold for the uses of man are due to these exceedingly poisonous compounds ; and by observing the action of alcohol, when the action is long- continued, on the visceral organs, the various organic changes it specifically engenders, in- dependently of all other coincidental causes of disease, were accurately determined. In a word, all my researches of a physiological kind on the action of alcohol, from which so much has been gathered in respect to the utter uselessness and the great harmfulness of that potent poison, have been made from observation of its effects on the inferior animals. Its effects in reducing tempera- ture, in reducing vascular tension, in reducing muscular power, in destroying the action of the animal mem- branes, in impairing the structures of vital organs, could 372 NATURE \Aug, 31, 1876 never have been certainly demonstrated if the lower animals had not formed the field of experimental in- vestigation. In these experiments the lower animals suffered neither more nor less than millions of those human animals who indulge in alcohol, and I am sorry to say that, like the human animals, many of them became too fond of the agent that was producing their certain deterioration. I can but feel sure that a great number of facts of the most practical kind sprang from these researches on alcohol. To them also should be added one other addition to physiology. I traced out, in watching the effects of the heavier alcohol from the lighter of the series, the singular law that the physiological action of an organic chemical substance is intensified by the increase of its specific weight. Thus butylic alcohol is more pronounced in its action than methylic, chloroform than chloride of methyl, and so on through all the series of organic compounds. Experimentation on Septine. In 1864 the death from diphtheria of one whose life was dearer to me than my own, led me to study more carefully than I had before, the process of secondary absorption of secretions from diseased abraded surfaces. In the case in question I felt sure that the death was due to the absorption of poisonous secretion from the ulcerated throat and from the nasal passages. There was at that time no light to guide me to he truth except the experiments of Gaspard, Majendie, and Sedillot, which bore rather on the action of purulent matter and of decomposing blood upon the body, than on secretions formed during disease. I felt it right, therefore, to seek for further information by experi- ment, and this gave rise to the first steps of a research which has since assumed great importance. In the latter part of 1864 some fluid secretion had to be re- moved from the peritoneum of a patient suffering from surgical fever, on whom Mr. Spencer Wells had performed ovariotomy. The fluid, which was quite free from decom- position, was applied by inoculation to a healthy lower animal — a rabbit. It produced a special form of disease analogous to that from which the human patient was suffering. The secretions of the infected lower animal were tested in turn on another healthy animal, and were found to be equally and specifically poisonous. The same was extended through four series with like results. Some of the original fluid was next treated with the view of ascertaining if the poisonous principle in it could be isolated, and a series of salts were obtained which were found to possess a poisonous and progressive poison- ous action like the original fluid. A poisonous organic base seemed, in fact, to be present in the peritoneal secre- tion, to which poison, whatever its nature might be, I gave the name of septine. I afterwards made a series of experiments to determine what agents destroy the activity of the poison, and from the whole of the inquiry, I was brought to a theory of the epidemic diseases which I have specially announced, and which will, I believe, hold its own, viz., that these diseases, are all glandular diseases, and that their poisons are specifically nothing more than ihe secretions of the glandular structures in a modified condition ; that they may be produced with or without infection, and that they act in producing the acute symp- toms of disease, after their absorption, by their effect, primarily, on the nervous system, and secondarily, on the blood. Recently, I have endeavoured to demonstrate that the fever which the septinous poisons produce is brought about by their power of liberating oxygen from the blood, and that those agents which counteract this action most effectively are the true febrifuges. As yet all such counteracting agents — one of which, quinine, is the< best example— are clumsy and slow in their neutralising effect. But chemistry has agents much more potent, and the day, I am quite sure, is not far off when we shall have given to us neutralising agents for the contagious fevers which will be as refined and potent as the poisonous agents that produce the fevers, and which will cure fevers by inoculation from the lancet-point, as cer- tainly as small-pox, or other infectious malady, is now producible by the process of inoculation of small-pox septine. By-and-by, and this will probably be the earliest step, we shall find a vapour, to inhale which will have the desired effect, and will be rapid in operation. This prin- ciple made perfect, there will be no such thing as a necessary death from an infectious disease. At present, the view that the poisons of the spread- ing diseases are merely animal secretions, like the poisonous secretion of the cobra or the changed saliva of the dog under rabies (canine madness), removes all the mystery that surrounds them, and the various plans for preventing the distribution of the poisons and of infection is rendered common sense and simple to the extremes! degrte. Experimentation on Painless Extinction of Animal Life The latest experimental researches which I have con- ducted on lower living animals have had for their object the discovery of a ready, cheap, and innocuous method for killing without pain those animals which are destined, as yet, for the food of man. If the labour of the physiologist be allowed to progress, the day will soon arrive when the slaughter of animals for food will become unnecessary, since he will be able to so transmute the vegetable world as to produce the most perfect and delicious foods for all the purposes of life without calling upon the lower animal world to perform the intermediate chemical changes. But until this time arrives, animals will have to be slaughtered, and my research has been directed to make a process which at present is barbarous and painful, painless in the most perfect degree. For this purpose the various modes of rapid destruction of life — by powerful electrical dis- charges, by rapid division of the medulla oblongata, and by the inhalation of various narcotic vapours, have been carried out. The experiments, which have been exceed- ingly numerous, have led me to the conclusion that the most perfect of the painless methods of killing is by the inhalation of carbonic oxide gas. So rapid and complete is the action of this gas, that I may say physiological science has done her part, as far as it need be done, for making the painless killing of every animal a certain and ready accomplishment, an accomplishment also so simple that the animal going to its fate has merely to be passed through the lethal chamber, in order to be brought in senseless sleep into the hands of the slaughterer. The application of teaching and the putting into practice this humane process lies now with the world outside science ; but to insure its acceptance, all the force of selfishness, of prejudice, and of practical apathy for the sufferings of the animal creation, have to be overcome. There is a great deal of talk and a great deal of sentiment abroad on the question of the sufferings of the lower animal kingdom, but when an attempt is made to relieve those sufferings by the invention of methods for operat- ing, surgically without the infliction of pain, or for painless killing, the true and vital sympathy which one would expect in support of such practical and humane efforts, until they are made perfect and universal, can scarcely be said to be found at all. With the exception of a few, not a dozen altogether, of really humane ladies and gentlemen, I have found no one, out of the ranks of science, in the least interested in the saving of sufferings to which I am now directing attention. The man of science stands and wonders at the strangeness of the psychological problem before him ; and, in spite of him- self, is forced to the conclusion that, practically, the noise that is made at him in the name of humanity is, after all, sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. Benjamin W, Richardson Aug. 31, 1876] NATURE 373 STANLEY'S AFRICAN DISCOVERIES ■jV/r R, STANLEY, in the work he has already done, has ■^*^ made a substantial contribution to African geo- graphy, and the last letters from him which have recently appeared in the Daily Telegraph raise eager hopes that shortly we shall hear of his having accomplished work of even greater value. We do not propose to recapitulate the narrative with which most of our readers must be familiar from the interesting letters in the Telegraph, but briefly to point out, with the aid of the accompanying map, how much Mr. Stanley has in these letters added to our knowledge. Of course our map does not pretend to rigid accuracy, its object being simply to show Mr. Stanley's route, the amended outline of the Victoria Nyanza, and the main features of the country traversed by him. It is not our desire to take up space with conjectural geography, nor to reconcile Mr. Stanley's statements with those of previous travellers, nor to discuss what is likely to be the tendency of future discoveries. All this seems to us unnecessary at present, as there is every probability that we shall not have long to wait for accurate and full in- formation from the various travellers that are now in the field. One of the most satisfactory parts of Mr. Stanley's work is undoubtedly his circumnavigation of the Victoria Nyanza, and the filling in of its outline with something approaching to accuracy. Previous to Mr. Stanley's visit we were dependent mainly on conjecture for the configura- tion and dimensions of this important lake, supplemented by the observations at one or two points of Speke, on whose name Mr. Stanley's discoveries have shed addi- tional glory. Anyone comparing the map which we have drawn up from Stanley's information with that of Speke will be able to see how much the latest traveller has done. The outline of the shore all round is given with what we must regard as a fair approach to accuracy, to be supplemented ere long, we hope, by careful survey. The long branch lake on the north-east has been cut off, probably to become a separate lake or marsh further east ; the eastern shore has been brought considerably westwards, while the southern and western shores have received important modifications. The " numerous islands " of Speke's map have many of them been visited and most of them been seen and named, and are found to extend almost all round the lake at a short distance from the shore. The names at least of many of the tribes that inhabit the shores and the islands have been obtained, and not a few details concerning their customs and physique. Stanley's account of his visits to Mtesa are in the highest degree interesting, and cannot but raise our admiration of the excellent diplomacy of the determined commissioner of the Telegraph and the Herald. As to the extent of the lake, the conjecture that it is about 1,000 miles in circumference is probably not far from the mark ; from the observations of Stanley its height above sea level is calculated to be 3,800 feet, very near to one, at least, of the observations obtained by Speke. Probably after the circumnavigation of the Victoria Nyanza, the most satisfactory piece of work done by Stanley has been the tracing of a large portion of the lacustrine river Kagera, the same which Speke had under 'an apparent misconception named the Kitangule. Stanley during his circumnavigation ascended the mouth of the river and found it to enter the lake about twenty miles further north than was conjectured by Speke. What is, however, of more importance, is the careful exploration of this curious river further up its course, confirming and extending the discoveries previously made by the careful Speke. Speke's Lake Windermere has been found to be only one of a series of at least seventeen lakes, which are in reality one, which are fed and drained by the river Kagera, and which Stanley with considerable reason regards as "the real parent of the Victoria Nile," and along with the Shimeeyu I River on the south, the main feeder of the Victoria Nyanza, Stanley's account of his exploration of this laice-river is of such importance that we shall quote his own words : — " While exploring the Victoria Lake I ascended a {^^ miles up the Kagera, and was then struck with its great volume and depth— so much so as to rank it as the prin- cipal affluent of the Victoria Lake. In coming south, and crossing it at Kitangule, I sounded it and found fourteen fathoms of water, or 84 feet deep, and 120 yards wide. This fact, added to the determined opinion of the natives that the Kagera was an arm of the Albert Nyanza, caused me to think the river worth exploring. I knew, as all do who understand anything of African geography, that the Kagera could not be an effluent of Lake Albert, but their repeated statements to that effect caused me to suspect that such a great body of water could not be created by the drainage of Ruanda and Karagwe, and that it ought to have its source much further, or from some lake situate between Lakes Albert and Tanganyika. When I explored Lake Windermere I discovered, by sounding, that it had an average depth of 40 feet, and that it was fed and drained by the Kagera. On entering the Kagera, I stated that it flashed on my mind that it was the real parent of the Victoria Nile ; by sounding I found 52 feet of water in a river 50 yards wide. I pro- ceeded on my voyage three days up the river, and came to another lake about nine miles long and a mile in width, situate on the right hand of the stream. At the southern end of this lake, and after working our way through two miles of papyrus, we came to the island of Unyanyubi, a mile and a half in length. Ascending the highest point on the island, the secret of the Ingezi or Kagera was revealed, Standmg in the middle of the island I per- ceived it was about three miles from the coast of Karagwe, and three miles from the coast of Kishakka west, so that the width of the Ingezi at this point was about six miles, and north it stretched away broader, till beyond the horizon green papyri mixed with broad grey gleams of water. I discovered, after further exploration, that the expanses of papyri floated over a depth of from 9 to 14 feet of water, that this vegetation, in fact, covered a large portion of a long shallow lake ; that the river, though apparently a mere switt-flowing bi'dy of water, confined seemingly within proper banks by dense tall fields of papyri, was a current only, and that underneath the papyri it supplied a lake varying from five to fourteen miles in width, and about eighty geographical miles in length. Descending the Kagera again some five miles from Unyanyubi, the boat entered a large lake on the left side, which, when explored, proved to be thirteen geographical miles in length by eight in breadth. From its extreme western side to the mainland of Karagwe east was fourteen miles, eight of which was clear open water ; the other six were covered by floating fields of papyri, large masses or islands of which drift to and fro daily. By following this lake to its southern extremity I penetrated between Ruanda and Kishakka, I attempted to land in Ruanda, but was driven back to the boat by war-cries, which the natives sounded shrill and loud. Throughout the entire length (eighty miles) the Kagera maintains almost the same volume and nearly the same width, discharging its surplus waters to the right and to the left as it flows on, feeding, by means of the underground channels, what might be called by an ob- server on land seventeen separate lakes, but which are in reality one, connected together underneath the fields of papyri, and by lagoon-like channels meandering tortuously enough between detached fields of this most prolific reed. The open expanses of water are called by the natives so many " rwerus," or lakes ; the lagoons connecting them and the reed-covered water are known by the name of " Ingezi." What Speke has styled Lake Winder- mere is one of these " rwerus," and is nine miles 374 NATURE \Aug. 31, 1876 in extren^e length and from one to three miles in width. By boiling point I ascertained it to be at an altitude of 3,760 feet' above the ocean, and about 320 feet above Lake Victoria. The extrenie north point of this singular lake is north by east from Uhimba, its extreme southern point. Karagwe occupies the whole of its eastern side. South-west it is bounded by Kishakka, west by Muvari, in Ruanda, north-west by Mpororo, north-east by Ankori. At the point where Ankori faces Karagwe the lake con- , • T^f ^ '* evidently an inconsistency between this statement and the height (3,800 feet) above given for the Victoria Lake. The latter, however, is •I?'' J """p * computation from Stanley's readings. Stanley's observations will no doubt be revised when his readings for Lake Windermere are sent Home. Meantime we must let his statement stand. tracts, becomes a tumultuous\noisy river, creates whirl- pools, and dashes itself madly into foam and spray against opposing rocks, till it finally rolls over a wall of rock ten or twelve feet deep with a tremendous uproar — on which ac- count the natives call it Morongo, or the Noisy Falls." Aug. 31, 1876] NATURE 375 \ Mr. Stanley does not exaggerate the importance of this discovery. That the river has any connection with Tan- ganyika is in the highest degree improbable, as the V^ic- toria into which it drains is more than 500 feet above the level of Tanganyika ; but the question of the connections of this lake Mr. Stanley, we hope, has by this time solved. He afterwards traced the Kagera upwards in a south and west direction, the direction in which trend all the ranges in this region, as, indeed, run all the great ridges, troughs, basins, and valleys from Alexandria to the Nyassa Lakes. In Southern Kishakka, however, a valley struck in from the north-west, through which he found issuing into the Kagera, a large lake-like river called Akanyaru. Above the confluence the Kagera was seen to be a swift-flowing stream of no great depth or breadth. From the Mlagata hot springs Stanley ob- tained a good view of the region to the north-west, including the Ufumbiro mountains, two sugar-loaf cones and a ridge -like mass, reaching a height of 12,000 feet. From this point of view, also, he saw three other lofty ridges separated by broad valleys. Between two of these ridges flows the Nawarongo river rising in the Ufumbiro mountains, and flowing south by west to join the Akanyaru lake-river. Another large lake he heard of as lying to the westwards, but of this he could obtain no certain information. Of Stanley's visit to Lake Albert Nyanza little need at present be said, as he succeeded in obtaining only a glimpse of it, when he felt himself compelled to return. Some important obsei-vations, however, he did succeed in making, and collected many scraps of information. His statements about "the king of mountains," Gam- baragara, and its pale-faced, brown-haired inhabitants, the chief medicine-men of the notorious Kabba Rega, have roused curiosity to the utmost. This mountam, which appears to be situated somewhere on the north of Unyampaka, in height between 13,000 and 15,000 feet, Mr. Stanley conjectures to be an extinct volcano, as " on the top of it is a crystal-clear lake, about 500 }ards in length, from the centre of which rises a column-like rock to a great height. A rim of stone like a wall surrounds the summit, within which are several villages, where the principal medicine-man and his people reside." Stanley's route to the Albert Lake was partly through Unyoro and partly through an uninhabited tract of Ankori, his camp being pitched near the edge of the plateau which borders the lake, in the district of Unyam- paka. During his march he made important observations on the contour of the plateau which separates the two lakes, the structure of the mountains and ridges, the courbe of the watersheds and of the rivers Katonga and Rusango. The general correctness of Baker's map, so far as the east coast is concerned, has been confirmed, and although the actual lake may not extend south of the equator, it is probable that there are long stretches of papyrus swamps at its head. The kingdom of Unyoro, under Kabba Rega, occupies a large extent of the eastern shore of the lake, and includes many minor states, the names of which, and of others on the west side, Mr. Stanley succeeded in collecting. The extensive pro- montory of Usongora, forming Beatrice Gulf, on the shores of which Mr. Stanley encamped, is the great salt- field whence all the surrounding countries obtain theij salt, and rumour makes it a land of wonders, with a moun- tain emitting fire and stones, a salt lake of great extent, hills of salt, and a breed of large savage dogs and long- legged natives. Mr. Stanley gives the latitude of his camp on Lake Albert as 0° 25' N. and longitude 31° 24' 30" E. It is difflcult to reconcile this last datum with previous observations, and indeed with the length of Stanley's own march between the two lakes. If his own map of Vic- toria is correct, the two lakes must be within thirty miles of each other. It is probable, we believe, that Sir Samuel Baker's map places the east coast of the lake too far west, and that its position will have ultimately to be changed, but if to so great an extent as is indicated by Stanley's statement, must be solved by further observations. At present we cannot reconcile Signor Gessi's narrative wit a that ef Stanley. Gessi states that he was stopped ia his navigation by a " forest of Ambatch," some thirty miles to the north of Stanley's Beatrice Gulf, and that the natives declared the lake extended no farther south. The state- ments of the two travellers are equally positive, and we have no reason to distrust either, and therefore we can only wait for more information, which, it is likely, will now soon reach us, either from Mr. Stanley or Mr. Lucas, an independent traveller, who is actuated purely by a love of exploration, and who, by last accounts, was on his way to the lake. On his return from this expedition Mr. Stanley set out southwards through Karagwe for Ujiji,his purpose being, if possible, to reach Lake Albert from the west and make as thorough an exploration of it as he has done of the Victoria Lake. The chances are that he will be success- ful. It was while in Karagwe that, by the assistance of the hospitable old king Rumanika, he was able to explore the Kagera lacu-.trine region. On completing this explora- tion he visited the hot springs of Mlagata, two days' march from Rumanika's capital, in a deep-wooded gorge clothed in the most luxuriant vegetation. These springs reach a temperature of about 130° Fahr., and are greatly resorted to for their supposed curative effects, which Mr, Stanley seems to doubt. Mr. Stanley's last letter is dated April 24, 1876, from Ubagwe, Western Unyamwezi, fifteen days' journey from Ujiji, which, if all has gone well, he will have reached long ago. Before setting out for Lake Albert again, he pro- posed to explore the hitherto un visited portion of the north-west shore of Tanganyika. From this exploration some authorities expect important results to follow ; it is indeed thought possible that in this direction will be found the real outlet of Tanganyika, and that Cameron's river Lukuga may ultimately be discovered to be after all only an indentation of the lake, and that moreover a con- nection will be found between Tanganyika and the Albert Nyanza. However this may be, both explorers have done work of the highest importance in African geography, and the last published letters of Stanley must be regarded as a really valuable contribution to the solution of the great Nile problem and to an accurate knowledge of Central Africa. He has proved himself an explorer of the greatest capability, and the expedition he leads reflects credit on the enterprise and public spirit of the proprietors of the two newspapers who have sent him out COFFEE IN CE YLON CEYLON is perhaps best known to Europeans through being one of the chief coffee-growing countries in the world, and indeed, after its production of cinnamon, which gives it a position that is quite unique, its chief claims to notice from the ordinary untravelled English- man are derived from its coffee. The plant is supposed to have been introduced into the island by Arabs Irom the Persian Gulf more than 200 years ago, as there are traditions extant among the Singhalese of its flowers having been offered at the shrine of the sacred tooth of Buddha in Kandy at a remote date. The art, however, of preparing any beverage from its berries was unknown to the natives, or at least unpractised by them until recent times, and it was only in 1827 that the first plantation was opened — by Sir Edward Barnes, the then Governor — with the idea of exporting coffee to the European market This estate was situated not far from Kandy, and at an elevation of some 1,800 feet above the sea. Thirteen years afterwards the first rush of speculators in coffee occurred, when the average quantity exported was 54,000 376 NA TURE \Aug. 31, 1876 cwts., and its value about 150,000/. The effect of this sudden impulse to the enterprise was seen six years after- wards, in 1846, in the export rising to 178,000 cwts. In 1855 it was close upon half-a-million, and in 1868 some- what over a million cwts., valued at the low rate of about 50J. per cwt., and grown on an area, including native coffee gardens, of about 200,000 acres. In the (ollowing year ^'leaf disease" {Hemileia vastati'ix), a species of fungus covering the under surface of the coffee-leaf with an orange-red coloured dust composed of the ripe spores of the fungus, appeared on a newly- opened estate in Madulsima, and within a very short time spread over all the coffee-producing districts in the island. The ravages of the pest have been so great that the annual production of cofiee has been reduced to less than two-thirds of what it ought to have been, and the loss to the colony can only be estimated at many millions of pounds ster- hng. But this subject will be referred to later ; at present we must attempt to give some idea of the character of the country in which the great staple of the island grows. Ceylon, as is pretty generally known, consists, roughly speaking, of a large central mass of mountains, attaining an elevation in one case of more than 8,000 feet, and surrounded on all sides by low country. This moun- tain region, as well as the low country, is composed al- most entirely of primary rock (gneiss), and bears such a striking resemblance to the Western Ghaut Range of Southern India, that the island may be considered as an isolated portion of that continent, separated, perhaps, during the upheaval of both by the strong monsoon currents that set continually along the coasts of India, ac- cording as the sun is north or south of the line. It is not im- probable that other stratified rocks have once overlaid the ancient gneiss, but no rock less tough could long withstand the torrential rains of the south-west monsoon and the injurious effects of a tropical sun. If any such have formerly existed, every trace of them has long ago been washed down to the low country or the sea. It is true that at one spot on the western coast, apparently pro- tected from the violence of the monsoon rains, and where, , consequently, the rainfall is very slight, the remnant of a fossiliferous limestone of very limited extent is to be met with, but this, I believe, is the one solitary exception, and its relation to the gneiss formation of the rest of the island and to the coast of Southern India, has not, 1 imagine, been sufficiently explained. At the present time the soil of Ceylon is formed exclusively jjy the disintegration of gneiss rock, the debris of which settles in protected spots and on slopes not too steep for its accumulation. In its natural state it is nearly always very strongly tinged with red, and to an ordinary observer appears to be of a very poor character. This no doubt is really the case, but it affords standing-ground for trees and other forms of vegetable life, and a forcing climate does the rest. With a rainfall over the greater part of the mountain zone of more than 100 inches, in some places more than 200 inches in the year, distributed chiefly between the middle of May and the end of December and with such a rapid descent from the upper mountain slopes to the low country — the great river of the island, the Mahawelli- ganga, descends at the average rate of ninety feet per mile lor the first sixty or seventy miles of its course — it was only to be expected that extremely deep valleys, steep slopes and precipices, and a general waterworn aspect should be met with on every side. These features are so marked throughout the coffee- producing districts, that it is by no means unusual to find the upper portion of a block of 300 acres some 1,800 or 2,000 feet above the lower, and the whole estate nothing more than a series of rounded spurs and deep ravines, with here and there a precipice of con- siderable height, with an accumulation of rocks about its base. It is at the foot of these cliffs that the best soil for any purpose of cultivation is found, whilst the worst is gene- rally on the most exposed parts of the spurs. This is no doubt due to the accumulation of vegetable mould, and the nutritive properties of the decaying rocks, which is possible in the one case, but not in the other, to any great extent. It is to the former of these substances, to the result of ages of forest growth and decay, that coffee estates owe their chief value ; without it they are almost worth- less, as may be seen in the case of old estates, whose surface- soil has been washed away through want of drainage or on the grassy slopes of ^«/««rtJ, where jungle has never grown, and where of course there is no humus. On either it is next to impossible to grow coffee profitably. As these patanas or patches of poor grass land in the midst of luxuriant forest form one of the most striking features of the mountain scenery of Ceylon, and as no satisfactory explanation has as yet been given of them, it may be well to mention that a band of quartzite (meta- morphosed sandstone) several hundred feet in thick- ness, occupies a definite place in the gneiss series of the mountain zone, and that wherever this is found cropping out, and by its disintegration forming the surface-soil, there we are certain to fini the ground of such miserable quality that nothing but a coarse and all but worthless grass will grow. This, however, does not fully explain the phenomenon. It may be noticed as against the theory that these patanas are due to the frequent burnings by the natives after the land has once been cleared of jungle, and then allowed to fall into grass, that, however land that has once been jungle may be exhausted by bad cultivation, its tendency is not to run into grass, but to relapse into a kind of scrub, and thence in time into jungle — a tendency which is never seen in patana land. The best estates, the climates being similar, are where the humus is deepest, or where its constituents have been carried furthest by percolation into a friable soil. The protection of this humus and upper soil is the first and most important duty of the planter on a new estate, and the drainage, therefore, at the outset, is rendered as com- plete as possible. An idea of the rate at which the surface soil even of old and well-worn estates is carried away, may be formed from the fact that sVth part by weight of the surface- water passing down a stream in Puisellawa — one of the oldest and best coffee districts— alter a heavy shower was found by the writer to be earthy matter ; a startling obser- vation indeed, but one that fairly agrees with an estimate made, after considerable experience, that one of the above- mentioned old estates had suffered denudation since it was opened more than thirty years ago, at the rate of about one-third of an inch per annum. This is a startling fact and suggests the inquiry, When will the land available for coffee in Ceylon be used out or washed away ? It is already nearly all occupied, and it seems that before long, that is, within a score or two of years, in spite of all the exertions of the modern planter, all its fertile properties will be irrecoverably lost. Forest growth and decay have created the wealth of the Kandyan Province, and the ignorant or careless planter of the past has as truly wasted the natural resources of the country as if he had destroyed all its coco-nut trees, only in the one case the evil would be temporary— twenty years would repair it ; in the other ten times that period Of abso- lute rest would probably not restore the fertility to the mountain slopes and bring them again to the state in which the European found them. Land suitable for coffee lies generally between 2,000 and S,ooo feet above the sea, but the climate of the district and the aspect count for a good deal. Estates from 3,000 to 4,000 feet in altitude are considered the best, the plants then being neither burnt up by the hot sun of lower elevations nor ruined by the black- bug — really a fungus, Capnoaium, thriving on the honey- dew secretion of the bug Lecanium Coffece, and often m.istaken for it — which is a sure visitor of high and wet estates. An eastern slope is generally preferred, but what effect the early sun produces I have never been able to Aug. 31, 1876] NATURE 377 discover — unless it saves the plant to a great degree from the chills of early morning. As to climate the variety in this respect is most marked. On one side of a small range the coffee exposed to the south-west monsoon is mostly ripe about November. On the opposite side, four miles away, where it is subject to the influence of the north-east rains, it is generally picked three if not four months later, whilst in the most favoured districts in the southern part of the mountain zone where the rainfall is considerably influenced by mountains that lie in the track of the monsoon the crop time lasts through nine months, i.e., from September to May — buds, flowers, green and ripe fruit, being on the tree all at the same time. Young plants are generally put into the ground soon after the rainy season has commenced, stumps being used in the southern part of the province and where the weather is uncertain. Under the influence of a plentiful supply of moisture and an average temperature of 70° to 75° F., the roots soon strike and the tree grows so rapidly, that at the end of two years a small quantity of fruit may sometimes be gathered. In its fourth year the tree bears a good crop, and two years later it may be considered to be in its prime. About 1,200 to 1,600 are generally planted on an acre, and each tree, when it attains a height of four or five feet, is cut down to 3 ft. 6 ins , and even lower in exposed places and on poor soil, according to the taste of the planter. The lateral branches are kept most care- fully pruned, and the tree thus cared for forms a cylin- drical mass of foliage into the centre of which the sun's heat can penetrate and ripen the fruit. The trees are planted six feet by five feet or six feet apart, and when fully grown in good soil, present a mass of intervening branches through which it is somewhat difficult to make one's way. When an estate has attained an age of twenty years it is considered to be well past its prime, and only to be kept profitable by means of a plentiful supply of manure, and indeed the main question with planters now is not so much how to treat the tree itself, but how to obtain good fertilising material and apply it in the best manner possible. The tree responds to kindly treatment with the utmost readiness, and will bear almost any ill- usage and yet recover and yield good crops. Ten cwts. to the acre, or nearly one pound per tree of prepared coffee, used formerly to be considered a good crop, but now, owing to the ravages of the " leaf disease," it is regarded as extraordinary, and half the amount only is more frequently obtained. At present prices this represents about 25/. per acre with which to pay all the working ex- penses of the estate. Amongst these is the cost of Tamil coolies from the south of India, who have to be main- tained during the greater part of the year at the rate of one labourer to every acre of coffee in full bearing, their pay averaging ()d. per day of ten hours, viz., from 6 A.M. to 4 P.M. Besides this main charge there are artificial ma- nures, tools, bullock-waggons, bullocks specially kept for making manure, road-making, &c., to be paid for, together with assessments for grant-in-aid roads, and other public purposes, so that to manage an estate well is a very ex- pensive affair, and can only be done where there is a large incoming of gross profits. No mention has yet been made as to how the land is acquired by the planter and under what title it is held. When the English took possession of the Kandyan pro- vince in 1 81 5, they agreed, by a convention, to respect both the religion and the private property of the natives. This latter consisted chiefly of rice-fields, whilst the jungle- covered mountains having never been considered of any value were not claimed, and consequently passed into the hands of the British Government. As soon, then, as their value began to be appreciated for coffee cultivation, they were put up for public sale at an upset price of ^s. per acre, and many estates were purchased at that rate. At the present time the upset price is i/., and the land not unfrequently realises as much as 15/. or 20/. per acre, so prosperous has been the enterprise of late years and so great the influx of English capital. The blocks of land when put up for sale are mostly of convenient sizes — 200 or 300 acres — and the competition is frequently very keen for the more suitable pieces. As none but jungle land, except in very rare instances, is planted with coffee, the forest and undergrowth have to be cleared away and the ground thoroughly opened before the plants can be put in. This is done in November or December by Kandyan woodmen, who are very skilful with the axe, and the remains of the forest having been dried by an eight or ten week's exposure to the sun during the hot season are burnt off about February. As soon as the rainy season comes, holes 18 inches square and deep 'are dug, and the plants, having had their rootlets carefully trimmed, are deposited in them. At this period of its formation the estate is generally quite free from weeds on account of the recent fire, and very great care is used to prevent any, especially ageratum or couch grass, getting a hold on the soil. As to the general statistics of the enterprise I find by Mr. Ferguson's very valuable directory that there are at" the present moment 257,000 acres of cultivated coffee, divided into slightly more than 1,200 estates, and giving employment to 1,050 managers and superintendents, nearly all of whom are Europeans. Some 50,000 acres of these estates are not in proper bearing, through being either too young or too old, and therefore 210,000 acres may be taken as the extent of the plantations of the island, which are accountable for the present year's crop (ending in September}, estimated at 630,000 cwts. Last year the yield, with SjOoo acres less in cultivation, was 873,000 cwts. The value of the whole plantation interest is roughly estimated at nine millions sterling of English money. The extent of native coffee, i.e., of the gardens of the Singhalese, which are generally situated in the immediate neighbourhood of their villages, where the trees are allowed to grow as they will, is probably between 40,000 and 50,000 acres, and the average annual production may be estimated at from 140,000 to 150,000 cwts. The value of this native property is set down roughly at three-quarters of a million sterling. In 1849 the value of the former variety of coffee when prepared was 33^., and of the latter i8s. per cwt. At the present moment so great has been the rise in the prices of both kinds that plantation fetches as much as 100^. and native 85^. per cwt. A comparison of the statistics of the coffee enterprise for the year 1852 (the earliest for which I have any reliable information) and the present year furnishes several points of interest both to the planter and the European con- sumer. The former was a fairly good year, better than 1853, but not to compare with any of the immediately succeeding years. The latter year is distinctly a bad year, but whether exceptionally so or not is the chief point of interest and anxiety. In 1852 about 40,000 acres were under plantation cultivation, and 255,000 cwts. were produced, nearly 6| cwts. per acre. In the present year about 257,000 acres are cultivated — one-fifth perhaps not being in full bearing, as was probably the case in 1852 — and 630,000 cwts. are expected to be obtained, an average of less than 2^ cwts. per acre. The native coffee pro- duced in the same two years will most probably be about the same in quantity, viz., 150,000 cwts. A fairer mode of comparison, no doubt, is that of taking the last five years, say from 1872 to 1876 inclusive, and comparing the average annual production per cultivated acre during that period with that of the five precedkig years from 1867 to 1871, for it was in 1872 that the falling-off due to the " leaf disease " began to be seriously felt. During the earlier five years the rate of production per acre was 4"6 cwts. During the later period only 2*9 cwts., a decrease of somewhat more than one-third. It may 378 NATURE [Aug. 31, 1876 naturally be asked, What is the cause of this falling-off in the average production ? One reason, no doubt, is that some estates are becoming old, and when an unfavour- able season occurs their cultivation is temporarily un- profitable. But the main cause is most certainly the fungus {Hemileia vastatrix) on the leaves of the plant. This appeared first in 1869, and in 1872 was recognised as a firmly-established cofifee pest. It is generally ad- mitted that the injury is caused through the weakening of the tree by the absorption of the juices of the leaf, for no plant has ever been known to be absolutely killed by the attack or even by a succession of them. The first symptom of the disease is a palish discoloration in spots or patches, easily detected when the leaf is held up to the light. These quickly assume a faint yellow colour, and presently become covered with yellow dust, which soon turns into a rich orange. These are the ripened spores of the fungus aggregated in little clusters, and attached to branching filaments, that have found their way from the air-spaces within the leaf, where they have been feeding on its juices and ruining its vitality. It is estimated that there are sufficient of these spores on a badly diseased leaf to infect 100,000 plants, and therefore it is no wonder that the pest, when once it had come to maturity under the favourable conditions of a coffee estate, should spread in an incredibly short space of time over the whole mountain zone, and that probably within less than two years from its first appearance every coffee- tree in the island had been more or less affected by it. The injury in the first instance appears to be done solely to the leaf, which, at a certain stage of the attack, dies of exhaus- tion, and the tree being an evergreen has to throw out another mass of foliage, which also in its turn becomes affected and dies. Consequently the strength of the plant, which ought to be spent in bearing fruit, is chiefly devoted to putting out new flushes of leaves, whilst a certain per- centage of the crop that is at last ripened is found to have suffered from the general weakness of the tree. For a disease of this kind it is impossible to suggest any remedy, such as sulphuring the leaves. Imagine such an operation as sulphuring more than 250,000,000 trees, and then only obtaining a temporary relief ! Manure gives a tree strength to bear fruit as well as leaves, and therefore is the most approved of all the remedies tried as yet. With regard to the origin of the disease, nothing is known, except that it first appeared on a new estate in Madulsima, a district in the south-east of the mountain zone, and bordering on the low country. Mr. Thwaites, the botanist, believes that it has been introduced into the island in imported manure, which is a probable explana- tion of its origin, so far as Ceylon is concerned. Against this supposition, however, is to be set the fact, according to the writer's belief, that Hemileia vastatrix is found in no other country in the world except Southern India, and on no other tree except the coffee-tree. It is, therefore, possible that it may have existed in a modified form, and without attaining any great development on some of the trees in the low country jungle to the eastward, and from them may have been carried by the wind to a neighbour- ing coffee estate. Be this as it may, it is not now likely that its origin will ever be known, unless future research into the nature of fungi throws a light on the subject which it is impossible to anticipate. As to the future of the coffee enterprise in Ceylon, it is useless to predict. Let us hope that the same Providence which has ordained that masses of plants, animals, or men, may not be unnaturally aggregated together without some disease becoming epidemic among them, may also in this case apply the same law for the destruction of the disease itself, by developing among its countless myriads of spores a principle of death, which may cause the plague to disappear as suddenly and mysteriously as it came. Since the above was written, the blossoming season has proved so favourable that it is estimated that the crop for the year ending September, 1877, will exceed a million cwts., but whether the plants have suffered so seriously from the attacks of the " leaf disease " as to be unable to bring this crop to maturity time alone can prove. June, 1876 R. Abbay OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 61 Cygni. — The following formulae for the difference of right ascension and declination of the components of 61 Cygni are founded upon a comparison of Bessel's measures with the Konigsberg Heliometer (mean epoch, i835'47) and Baron Dembowski's between 1871 and 1875, on forty-two nights : — Aa = + 22-I727 + [874448] [t — 1870) A 5 = — 7-4928 — [9*27780] {t - 1870) If the angles of position and distances are calculated from the differences of right ascension and declination thus obtained for the epochs of the older observations, collected by Bessel in his earlier memoir, it will be found that there remains but a very doubtful deviation from rectilinear motion. Bradley's observations, 1 753*8, exhi- bit the largest difference, 3°'9, but having regard to the discordance between the result from Piazzi's observations for i8o6*3 and Bessel's for i8i2"9, both of which can hardly be correct, this difference is not excessive. It appears that the only suspicion of curvature of path must depend upon these early and more uncertain data, as, indeed, was inferred by Mr. Wilson, of Rugby, some time since. Tuttle's Comet. — The calculations of Clausen and Tischler have placed the theory of this comet upon a very satisfactory foundation. Discovered in the first in- stance by Mechain, at Paris, on January 9, 1790, it was observed until February i ; a parabolic orbit was com- puted by the discoverer, which subsequently figured in all our catalogues, but there appears not to have been at that time any suspicion of its comparatively short period ; indeed, the short extent of observation might well pre- vent this. On January 4, 1858, the comet was re-detected by Mr. Tuttle, of the U.S. Navy, at the Observatory of Harvard College ; the first elements calculated in this year presented so great a resemblance to Mechain's for the comet of 1790, that the identity of the bodies was immediately inferred, and successive approximations to the period of revolution by Pape and Bruhns, showed that in the sixty-eight years' interval there must have been performed several revolutions, the latter finally con- cluding that the comet had returned to perihelion four times since 1790, though on every occasion it passed un- observed. Clausen (Dorpat Observations, vol. xvi.) cal- culated the perturbations due to the attraction of Jupiter between 1858 and 1790, and thus carrying back the elements deduced from the observations of 1858 to 1790, found but small differences from those obtained from observation in the latter year, which difference was still further reduced after he had included the effect of Saturn's attraction from 1805, January 30, to 1816, August 24, and from 1831, July 17, to 1843, October 22. Tischler's re- sults are published in his " Inaugural Dissertation " — Ueber die Bahn von Tuttl^s Cojiiet, Konigsberg, 1868. In this able investigation of the young astronomer (who unfortunately lost his life before Metz) elements founded upon the observations of 1858 were used for the calculation of the perturbations, on the -method adopted by Bessel for the comet of 1807, from 1858 to 1844, in- cluding the effect of Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, and for all the remainder of the interval the effect of Jupiter and Saturn for every 100 days. With these perturbations of the first order, the elements were found for every 6ooth day, and with these Au£^. 31, 1876] NATURE 379 corrected figures the perturbations by Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, were recalculated. Thus the value of the semi-axis major at perihelion passage in 1790 was deter- mined. Tischler's work, however, did not close here ; he subsequently computed the planetary perturbations from 1858 to the last perihelion passage towards the end of 1871, and hence derived elements for that appearance which were found amongst his papers after his death. It may perhaps be convenient, for the sake of reference, if Tischler's orbits for the three perihelion passages at which the comet has thus far been observed, are here transcribed : — Jan. 1790 n. 30-8702 1858 Feb. 23-5169 1871 Nov. 30-4642 115 42 0 268 36 34 54 6 26 55 I 4 0-7619723 115 50 56 269 3 4 54 24 30 55 12 9-9 07585361 0 1 II 116 4 36 269 17 12 54 17 0 55 II 256 0 7601603 a i

.... 368 Letters to the Editor : — The Basking hark.— Dr. Geo. J. Allm AN, F.R.S 368 The Birds ot Kerguelen Island.— Rev. A. E. Eaton 369 Antedated Books. — Another F.Z.S. , 369 Earthquake in Nithsdale, Scotland. — James Shaw 369 The Cuckoo.— E. H 369 Abstract Report to "Nature" on Experimkntation on Ani- mals FOR THE Advance of Practical Medicine, VII. By Dr. Benjamin W. Richardson, F.R.S 369 Stanley's African Discoveries (J^«y/iY)/rt» 373 CoFFiiE IN Ceylon. By The Rev. R. Abbay 375 Our Astronomical Column :— 61 Cygni 378 Tuttle's Comet , , . , 378 FitENCH Association for the Advancement of Science .... 379 No«oenskiold's Expedition to Jenisej. By A. E. NordenskiOld 380 Notes 380 SciBKTiFic Serials s8z Societies AND Academies 383 Jfatur^. Sept':7t!'I876. Sr^^ t^€ tenth meeting in this ancient city, and twenty-one years have elapsed since it last assembled here. The representatives of two great Scottish families presided on these occasions ; and those who had the advantage of hearing the address of the Duke of Argyll in 1855 will recall the gratification they enjoyed while listening to the thoughtiul sentiments which reflected a mind of rare cultivation and varied acquirements. On the present occasion I have under- taken, not without anxiety, the duty of filling an office at first accepted by one whom Scotland and the Association would alike have rejoiced to see in this Chair, not only as a tribute to his own scientific services, but also as recognising in him the worthy representative of that long line of able men who have upheld the pre-eminent position attained by the Scottish schools of medicine in the middle of the last century, when the mantle of Boerhaave fell upon Monro and Cullen. The task of addressing this Association, always a difficult one, is not rendered easier when the meeting is held in a place which presents the rare combination of being at once an ancient seat of learnmg and a great centre of modern industry. Time will not permit me to refer to the distinguished men who in early days have left here their mark behind them ; and I regret it the more, as there is a growing tendency to exaggerate the value of later discoveries, and to underrate the achievements of those who have lived before us. Confining our attention to a period reaching back to little more than a century, it appears that during that time three new sciences arose, at least as far as any science can be said to have a distinct origin, in this city of Glasgow — Expe- rimental Chemistry, Political Economy, and Mechanical Engi- neering. It is now conceded that Black laid the foundation of modern chemistry ; and no one has ever disputed the claims of Adam Smith and of Watt to have not only founded, but largely 394 NATURE [Sept. 7, 1876 built up the two great branches of knowledge with which their names will always be inseparably connected. It was here that Dr. Thomas Thomson established the first school of Practical Chemistry in Great Britain, and that Sir W. Hooker gave to the chair of Botany a European celebrity ; it was here that Graham discovered the law of gaseous diffusion and the properties of polybasic acids ; it was here that Stenhouse and Anderson, Rankine and J. Thomson made some of their finest discoveries ; and it was heie that Sir William Thomson conducted his phy- sico-mathematical investigations, and invented those exquisite instruments, valuable alike for ocean telegraphy and for scientific use, which are among the finest trophies of recent science. Nor must the names ot Tennant, Mackintosh, Neilson, Walter Crum, Young, and Napier be omitted, who, with many others in this place, have made large and valuable additions to practical science. The safe return of the Challenger, after an absence of three and a half years, is a subject of general congratulation. Our knowledge of the varied forms of animal life, and of the remains of animal life, which occur, it is now known, over large tracts of the bed of the ocean, is chiefly derived from the observations made in the Challenger and in the previous deep-sea expeditions which were organised by Sir Wyville Thomson and Dr. Car-, penter. The physical observations, and especially those on the temperature of the ocean, which were systematically conducted throughout the whole voyage of the Challenger, have already supplied valuable data for the resolution of the great question of ocean-currents. Upon this question, which has been discussed with singular ability, but under different aspects, by Dr. Car- penter and Mr. Croll, I cannot attempt here to enter ; nor will 1 venture to forestall, by any crude analysis of my own, the nar- rative which Sir W. Thomson has kindly undertaken to give of his own achievements and of those of his staff during their long scientific cruise. Another expedition, which has more than fulfilled the expec- tations of the public, is Lieut. Cameron's remarkable journey across the continent of Africa. It is by such enterprises, happily^ conceived and ably executed, that we may hope at no distant day to see the Arab slave-dealer replaced by the legitimate trader, and the depressed populations of Africa gradually brought within the pale of civilised life. From the North Polar Expedition no intelligence has been received ; nor can we expect for some time to hear whether it has succeeded in the crowning object of Arctic enterprise. In the opmion of many, the results, scientific or other, to be gained by a full survey of the Arctic regions can never be of such value as to justify the risk and cost which must be incurred. But it is not by cold calculations of this kind that great discoveries are made or great enterprises achieved. There is an inward and irrepressible impulse— in individuals called a spirit of adventure, in nations a spirit of enterprise — which impels mankind forward to explore every part of the world we inhabit, however inhos- pitable or difficult of access ; and if the country claiming the foremost place among maritime nations shrink from an under- taking because it is perilous, other countries will not be slow to seize the post of honour. If it be possible for man to reach the poles of the earth, whether north or south, the feat must sooner or later be accomplished ; and the country of the successful ad- venturers will be thereb* raised in the scale of nations. The passage of Venus over the sun's disc is an event which cannot be passed over without notice, although many of the cir- cumstances connected with it have already become historical. It 'was to observe this rare astronomical phenomenon, on the occa- sion of its former occurrence in 1 769, that Capt. Cook's memo- rable voyage to the Pacific was undertaken, in the course of which he explored the coast of New South Wales, and added that great country to the possessions of the British Crown. As the transit of Venus gives the most exact method of calcu- lating the distance of the earth from the sun, extensive prepara- tions were made on the last occasion for observing it at selected stations — from Siberia in northern, to Kerguelen's Land in southern latitudes. The great maritime powers vied with each other to turn the opportunity to the best account ; and Lord Lindsay had the spirit to equip, at his own expense, the most complete expedition which left the shores of this country. Some of the most valuable stations in southern latitudes were desert islands, rarely free from mist or tempest, and without harbours or shelter of any kind. 1 he landing of the instruments was in many cases attended with great difficulty and even personal risk. Photography lent its aid to record automatically the progress of the transit ; and M. Janssen contrived a revolving plate, by means of which from fifty to sixty images of the edge of the sun could be taken at short intervals during the critical periods of the phenomenon. The observations of M. Janssen at Nagasaki, in Japan, were of special interest. Looking through a violet-blue glass he saw Venus, two or three minutes before the transit began, having the appearance of a pale round spot near the edge of the sun. Im- mediately after contact the segment of the planet's disc, as seen on the face of the sun, formed with what remained of this spot a complete circle. The pale spot when first seen was, in short, a partial eclipse of the solar corona, which was thus proved beyond dispute to be a luminous atmosphere surrounding the sun. Indi- cations were at the san-e time obtained of the existence of an atmosphere around Venus. The mean distance of the earth from the sun was long supposed to have been fixed within a very small limit of error at about 95,000,000 miles. The accuracy of this number had already been called in question on theoretical grounds by Hansen and Leveirier, when Foucault, in 1862, decided the question by an experiment of extraordinary delicacy. Taking advantage of the revolving-mirror, with which Wheatstone had some time before enriched the physical sciences, Foucault succeeded in measuring the absolute velocity of light in space by experiments on a beam of light, reflected backwards and forwards, within a tube little more than thirteen feet in length. Combining the result thus obtained with what is called by astronomers the constant of aberration, Foucault calculated the distance of the earth from the sun, and found it to be one-thirtieth part, or about 3,000 000 miles, less than the commonly received number. This conclu- sion has lately been confirmed by M. Cornu, from a new deter- mination he has made of the velocity of light according to the method of Fizeau ; and in complete accordance with these results are the investigations of Leverrier, founded on a comparison with theory of the observed motions of the sun and of the planets Venus and Mars. It remains to be seen whether the recent observations of the transit of Venus, when reduced, will be suffi- ciently concordant to fix with even greater precision the true distance of the earth from the sun. In this brief reference to one of the finest results of modern science, I have mentioned a great name whose loss England has recently had to deplore, and in connection with it the name of an illustrious physicist whose premature death deprived France, a few years ago, of one of her brightest ornaments — Wheatstone and Foucault, ever to be remembered for their marvellous power of eliciting, like Galileo and Newton, from familiar phenomena the highest truths of nature ! The discovery of Huggins that some of the fixed stars are moving towards and others receding from our system, has been fully confirmed by a careful series of observations lately made by Mr. Christie in the Observatory of Greenwich. Mr. Huggins has not been able to discover any indications of a proper motion in the nebulae ; but this may arise from the motion of translation being less than the method would discover. Few achievements in the history of science are more wonderful than the measure- ment of the proper motions of the fixed stars, from observing the relative podtion of two delicate lines of light in the field of the telescope. The observation of the American astronomer Young, that bright lines, corresponding to the ordinary lines of Fraunhofer reversed, may be seen in the lower strata of the solar atmosphere for a few moments during a total eclipse, has been confirmed by Mr. Stone, on the occasion of the total eclipse of the sun which occurred some time ago in South Africa. In the outer corona, or higher regions of the sun's atmosphere, a single green line only was seen, the same which had been already described by. Young. I can here refer only in general terms to the observations of Roscoe and Schuster on the absorption-bands of potassium and sodium, and to the investigations of Lockyer on the absorptive powers of metallic and metalloidal vapours at different tempera- tures. From the vapour of calcium the latter has obtained two wholly distinct spectra, one belonging to a low, and the other to a high, temperature. Mr. Lockyer is also engaged on a new and greatly extended map of the solar spectrum. Spectrum analysis has lately led to the discovery of a new metal — gallium — the fifth whose presence has been first indicated by that powerful agent. This discovery is due to M. I-ecoq de Boisbaudran, already favourably known by a work on the appli- cation of the spectroscope to chemical analysis. _ Sept. 7, 1876] NATURE 395 Our knowledge of aerolites has of ate years been greatly in- creased ; and I cannot occupy a few moments of your time more usefully than by briefly referring to the subject. So recently as i860 the most remarkable meteoric fall on record, not even ex- cepting that of L'Aigle, occurred near the village of New Con- cord in Oliio. On a day when no thunder-clouds were visible, loud sounds were heard resembling claps of thunder, followed by a large fall of meteoric stones, some of which were distinctly seen to strike the earth. One stone, above 50 pounds in weight, buried itself to the depth of 2 feet in the ground, and when dug out was found to be still warm. In 1872 another remarkable meteorite, at first seen as a brilliant star with a luminous train, burst near Orvinio in Italy, and six fragments of it were after- wards collected. Isolated masses of metallic iron, or rather of an alloy of iron and nickel, similar in composition and properties to the iron usually diffused in meteoric stones, have been found here and there on the surface of the earth, some of large size, as one defcribed by Pallas, which weighed about two-thirds of a ton. Of the meteoric origin of these masses of iron there is little room for doubt, although no record exists of their fall. Sir Edward Sabine, whose life has been devoted with rare fidelity to the pursuit of science, and to whose untiring efforts this Association largely owes the position it now occupies, was the pioneer of the newer discoveries in meteoric science. Eight and filty years ago lie visited, with Capt. Ross, the northern shores of Baffin's Bay, and made the interesting discovery that the knife-blades used by the Esquimaux in the vicinity of the Arctic highlands were formed of meteoric iron. This observation was afterwards fully confirmed ; and scattered blocks of meteoric iron have been found from time to time around Baffin's Bay. But it was not till 1870 that the meteoric treasures of Baffin's Bay were truly discovered. In that year Nordenskiijld found, at a part of the shore difficult of approach even in moderate weather, enormous blocks of meteoric iron, the largest weighing nearly twenty tons, imbedded in a ridge of basaltic rock. The interest of this ob- servation is greatly enhanced by the circumstance that these masses of meteoric iron, like the basalt with which they are associated, do not belong to the present geological epoch, but must have fallen long before the actual arrangement of land and sea existed — during, in short, the middle Tertiary, or Miocene period of Lyell. The meteoric origin of these iron masses from Ovifak has been called in question by Lawrence Smith ; and it is no doubt possible that they may have been raised by upheaval from the interior of the earth. I have, indeed, myself shown by a magneto-chemical process, that metallic iron, in particles so fine that they have never yet been actually seen, is everywhere diff'used through the Miocene basalt of Slieve Mish, in Antrim, and may likewise be discovered by careful search in almost all igneous and in many metamorphic rocks. These observations have since been verified by Reuss in the case of the Bohemian basalts. But, as regards the native iron of Ovifak, the weight of evidence appears to be in favour of the conclusion, at which M. Daubree, after a careful discussion of the subject, has arrived — that it is really of meteoric origin. This Ovifak iron is also remarkable from containing a considerable amount of carbon partly combined with the iron, partly diffused through the me- tallic mass in a form resembling coke. In cocnection with this subject, I must refer to the able and exhaustive memoirs of Maskelyne on the Busti and other aerolites, to the discovery of vanadium by R. Apjohn in a meteoric iron, to the interesting observations of Sorby, and to the researches of Daubree, Wohler, Lawrence Smith, Tscheimak, and others. The important services which the Kew Observatory has ren- dered to meteorology and to solar physics have been fully recog- nised ; and Mr, Ga^siot has had the gratification of witnessing the final success of his long and noble efforts to place this ob- servatory upon a permanent footing. A physical observatory for somewhat similar objects, but on a larger scale, is in course of erection, under the guidance of M. Janssen, at Fontenay, in France, and others are springing up or already exist in Germany and Italy. It is earnestly to be hoped that this country will not lag behind in providing physical observatories on a scjJe worthy of the nation and commensurate with the importance of the object. On this question I cannot do better than refer to the high authority of Dr. Balfour Stewart, and to the views he expressed in his able address last year to the Physical Section. Weather telegraphy, or the reporting by telegraph the state of the weather at selected stations to a central office, so that notice of the probable approach of storms may be given to the sea- ports, has become in this country an organised system ; and con- ! sidering the little progress meteorology has made as a science, the results may be considered to be on the whole satisfactory. Of the warnings issued of late years, four out of five were justi- fied by the occurrence of gales or strong winds. Few storms occurred for which no warnings had been given ; but unfortu- nately among these were some of the heaviest gales of the period. The stations from which daily reports are sent to the meteoro- logical office in London embrace the whole coast of Western Europe, including the Shetland Isles. It appears that atmo- spheric disturbances seldom cross the Atlantic without being greatly altered in character, and that the origin of most of our storms lies eastward of the longitude of Newfoundland. As regards the velocity of the wind, the cup-anemometer of Dr. Robinson has fully realised the expectations of its discoverer ; and the venerable astronomer of Armagh has been engaged during the past summer, with all the ardour of youth, in a course of laborious experiments to determine the constants of his instru- ment. From seven years' observations at the Observatory of Armagh, he has found that the mean velocity of the wind is greatest ift the S.S.W. octant, and least in the opposite one, and. that the amount of wind attains a maximum in January, after which it steadily decreases, with one slight exception, till Juiy, augmenting again till the end of the year. Passing to the subject of electricity, it is with pleasure that I have to announce the failure of a recent attempt to deprive Oerstedt of his great discovery. It is gratifying thus to find high reputations vindicated, and names which all men love to honour transmitted with undiminished lustre to posterity. At a former meeting of this Association, remarkable for an unusual attend- ance of distinguished foreigners, the central figure was Oerstedt. On that occasion Sir John Herschel in glowing language com- pared Oerstedt's discovery to the blessed dew of heaven which only the mastermind could draw down, but which it was for others to turn to account and use for the fertilisation of the earth. To Franklin, Volta, Coulomb, Oerstedt, Ampere, Faraday, Seebeck, and Ohm are due the fundamental discoveries of modern electri- city— a science whose applications in Davy's hands led to grander results than alchemist ever dreamed of, and in the hands of others (among whom Wheatstone, Morse, and Thomson occupy the foremost place) to the marvels of the electric telegraph. When we proceed from the actual phenomena of electricity to the molecular conditions upon which those phenomena depend, we are confronted with questions as recondite as any with which the physicist has had to deal, but towanis the solution of which the researches of Faraday have contributed the most precious mate- rials. The theory of electrical and magnetic action occupied formerly the powerful minds of Poisson, Green, and Gauss ; and among the living it will surely not be invidious to cite the names of Weber, Helmholtz, Thomson, and Clerk Maxwell. The work of the latter on electricity is an original essay worthy in every way of the great reputation and of the clear and far-seeing intellect of its author. Among recent investigations I must refer to Prof. Tail's dis- covery of consecutive neutral points in certain thermo-electric junctions, for which he was lately awarded the Keith prize. This discovery has been the result of an elaborate investigation of the properties of thermo-electric currents, and is specially interesting in reference to the theory of dynamical electricity. Nor can I omit to mention the very interesting and original experiments of Dr. Kerr on the dielectric state, from which it appears that when electricity of high tension is passed through dielectrics, a change of molecular arrangement occurs, slowly in the case of solids, quickly in the case of liquids, and that the lines of electric force are in some cases lines of compression, in other cases lines of extension. Of the many discoveries in physical science due to Sir William Grove, the earliest and not the least [important is the battery which bears his name, and is to this day the most powerful of all voltaic arrangements ; but with a Grove's battery of 50 or even 100 cells in vigorous action, the spark will not pass through an appreciable distance of cold air. By using a very large number of cells, carefully insulated and charged with water, Mr. Gassiot succeeded in obtaining a short spark through air ; and lately De La Rue and Miiller have constructed a large chloride of silver battery giving freely sparks through cold air, which, when a column of pure water is interposed in the circuit, accurately resemble those of the common electrical machine. The length of the spark increasing nearly as the square of the number of cells, it has been calculated that with 100,000 elements of this battery the discharge should take place through a distance of no less than eight feet in air. 39^ NATURE l[Sept. 7, 1876 In the solar beam we have an agent of surpassing power, the investigation of whose properties by Newton forms an epoch in the history of experimental science scarcely less important than the discovery of the law of gravitation in the history of physical astronomy. Three actions characterise the solar beam, or, indeed, more or less that of any luminous body — the heating, the physiological, and the chemical. In the ordinary solar beam we can modify the relative amount of these actions by passing it through different media, and we can thus have luminous rays with little heating or little chemical action. In the case of the moon's rays it required the highest skill on the part of Lord Rosse, even with all the resources of the observatory of ParsonstowD, to investigate their heating properties, and to show that the surface of our satellite facing the earth passes, during every lunation, through a greater range of tempera- ture than the difference between the freezing- and boiling-points of water. But if, instead of taking an ordinary ray of light, we analyse it as Newton did by the prism, and isolate a very fine line of the spectrum (theoretically a line of infinite tenuity), that is to say, if we take a ray of definite refrangibility, it will be found impos- sible, by screens or otherwise, to alter its properties. It was his clear perception of the truth of this principle that led Stokes to his great discovery of the cause of epipolic dispersion, in which he showed that many bodies had the power of absorb- ing dark rays of high refrangibility and of emitting them as luminous rays of lower refrangibility — of absorbing, in short, darkness and of emitting it as light. It is not, indeed, an easy matter in all cases to say whether a given effect is due to the action of heat or light ; and the question which of these forces is the efficient agent in causing the motion of the tiny discs in Crookes's radiometer has given rise to a good deal of discussion. The answer to this question involves the same principles as those by which the image traced on the daguerreotype plate, or the decomposition of carbonic acid by the leaves of plants, is referred to the action of light and not of heat ; and applying these prin- ciples to the experiments made with the radiometer, the weight of evidence appears to be in favour of the view that the repulsion of the blackened surfaces of the discs is due to a thermal reaction occurring in a highly rarefied medium. I have myself had the pleasure of witnessing many of Mr. Crookes's experiments, and I cannot sufficiently express my admiration of the care and skill with which he has pursued this investigation. The remarkable repulsions he has observed in the most perfect vacua hitherto attained are interesting, not only as having led to the construc- tion of a beautiful instrument, but as being likely, when the subject is fully investigated, to give valuable data for the theory of molecular actions. A singular property of light, discovered a short time ago by Mr. Willoughby Smith, is its power of diminishing the electrical resistance of the element selenium. This property has been ascertained to belong chiefly to the luminous rays on the red side of the spectrum, being nearly absent in the violet ©r more refrangible rays and also in heat-rays of low refrangibility. The recent experiments of Prof. "W. G. Adams have fully established the accuracy of the remarkable observation, first made by Lord Rosse, that the action appeared to vary inversely as the simple distance of the illuminating source. Switzerland sent, some years ago, as its representative to this country, the celebrated De la Rive, whose scientific life formed lately the subject of an eloquent eloge from the pen of M. Dumas. On this occasion we have to welcome, in General Menabrea, a distinguished representative both of the kingdom of Italy and of Italian science. His great work on the determination of the pressures and tensions in an elastic system is of too abstruse a character to be discussed in this address ; but the principle it contains may be briefly stated in the following words : — " When any elastic system places itself in equilibrium under the action of external forces, the work developed by the internal forces is a minimum." General Menabrea has, however, other and special claims upon us here, as the friend to whom Babbage entrusted the task of making known to the world the principles of his analytical machine— a gigantic conception— the effort to realise which it is known was one of the chief objects of Babbage's later life. The latest development of this conception is to be found in the mechanical integrator of Prof. J. Thomson, in which motion is transmit ed, according to a new kinematic principle, from a disk or cone to a cylinder through the intervention of a loose ball, and in Sir W. Thomson's machine for the mechanical integration of differential equations of the second order. In the exquisite tidal machine of the latter we have an instrument by means of which the height of the tide at a given port can be accurately predicted for all times of the day and night. The attraction-meter of Siemens is an instrument of great delicacy for measuring horizontal attractions, which it is proposed to use for recording the attractive influences of the sun and moon, upon which the tides depend. The bathometer of the same able physicist is another remarkable instrument, in which the constant force of a spring is opposed to the variable pressure of a column of mercury. By an easy observation of the bathometer on ship- board, the depth of the sea may be approximately ascertained without the use of a sounding-line. The Loan Exhibition of Apparatus at Kensington has been a complete success, and cannot fail to be useful both in extending a knowledge of scientific subjects and in promoting scientific research throughout the country. Unique in character, but most interesting and instructive, this exhibition will, it is to be hoped, be the precursor of a permanent museum of scientific objects, which, like the present exhibition, shall be a record of old as well as a representation of new inventions. It is often diiticult to draw a distinct line of separation between the physical and chemical sciences ; and it is perhaps doubtful whether the division is not really an artificial one. The chemist cannot, indeed, make any large advance without having to deal with physical principles ; and it is to Boyle, Dalton, Gay-Lussac, and Graham that we owe the discovery of the mechanical laws which govern the propenies of gases and vapours. Some of these laws have of late been made the subject of searching inquiry, which has fully confirmed their accuracy, when the body under examination approaches to what has not inaptly been designated the ideal gaseous state. But when gases are examined under varied conditions of pressure and temperature, it is found that these laws are only particular cases of more general laws, and that the laws of the gaseous state, as it exists in nature, although they may be enunciated in a precise and definite form, are very different from the simple expressions which apply to the ideal condition. The new laws become in the turn inapplicable when from the gaseous state proper we pass to those intermediate conditions which, it has been shown, link with unbroken continuity the gaseous and liquid states. As we approach the liquid state, or even when we reach it, the problem becomes more complicated ; but its solution even in these cases will, it may confidently be expected, yield to the powerful means of investigation we now possess. Among the more important researches made of late in physical chemistry, I may mention those of F, Weber on the specific heat of carbon and the allied elements, of Berthelot on thermo-che- mistry, of Bunsen on spectrum analysis, of Wiillner on the band- and line-spectra of the gases, and of Guthrie on the chryo- hydrates, Cosmical chemistry is a science of yesterday ; and yet it already abounds in facts of the highest interest. Hydrogen, which, if the absolute zero of the physicist does not bar the way, we may hope yet to see in the metallic form, appears to be every- where present in the universe. It exists in enormous quantity in the solar atmosphere, and it has been discovered in the atmo- spheres of the fixed stars. It is present, and is the only known element of whose presence we are certain, in those vast sheets of ignited gas of which the nebulae proper are composed. Nitrogen is also widely diffused among the stellar bodies, and carbon has been discovered in more than one of the comets. On the other hand, a prominent line in the spectrum of the Aurora Borealis has not been identified with that of any known element ; and the question may be asked : — Does a new element, in a highly rarefied state, exist in the upper regions of our atmosphere ? or are we, with Angstrom, to attribute this line to a fluorescent or phosphorescent light produced by the electrical discharge to which the aurora is due ? This question awaits further obser- vations before it can be definitely settled, as does also that of the source of the remarkable green line which is everywhere con- spicuous in the solar corona. I must here pause for a moment to pay a passing tribute to the memory of Angstrom, whose great work on the solar spectrum will always remain as one of the finest monuments of the science of our period. The influence, indeed, which the labours of Angstrom and of Kirchhoff have exerted on the most interesting portion of later physics can scarcely be exaggerated ; and it may be triily said that there are few men whose loss will be longer felt or more deeply deplored than that of the illustiious astro- nomer of Upsala, I cannot pursue this subject further, nor refer to the other terrestrial elements which are present in the solar and stellar Sept. 7, 1876] NATURE 397 atmospheres. Among the many elements that make up the ordinary aerolite, not one has been discovered which does not occur upon this earth. On the whole, we arrive at the grand conclusion that this mighty universe is chiefly built up of the same materials as the globe we inhabit. In the application of science to the useful purposes of life, chemistry and mechanics have run an honourable race. It was in the valley of the Clyde that the chief industry of this country received, within the memory of many here present, an extra- ordinary impulse from the application by Neilson of the hot blast to the smelting of iron. The Bessemer steel process and the regenerative furnace of Siemens are later applications of high scientific principles to the same industry. But there is ample work yet to be done. The fuel consumed in the manufacture of iron — as, indeed, in every furnace where coal is used — is greatly in excess of what theory indicates ; and the clouds of smoke which darken the atmosphere of our manufacturing towns, and even of whole districts of country, are a clear indication of the waste, but only of a small portion of the waste, arising from imperfect combustion. The depressing effect of this atmosphere upon the working population can scarcely be ovei rated. Their pale — I had almost said etiolated — faces are a sure indication of the absence of the vivifying influence of the solar rays, so essential to the maintenance of vigorous health. The chemist can furnish a simple test of this state of the atmosphere in the absence of ozone — the active form of oxygen — from the air of our large towns. At some future day the efforts of science to isolate, by a cheap and available process, the oxygen of the air for industrial purposes may be rewarded with success. The effect of such a discovery would be to reduce the consumption of fuel to a frac- tional part of its present amount ; and although the carbonic acid would remain, the smoke and carbonic oxide would disappear. But an abundant supply of pure oxygen is not now within our reach ; and in the meantime may I venture to suggest that in many localities the waste products of the furnace might be carried off to a distance from the busy human hive by a few horizontal flues of large dimensions, terminating in lofty chimneys on a hill-side or distant plain? A system of this kind has long been employed at the mercurial mines of Idria, and in other smelting- works where noxious vapours are disengaged. With a little care in the arrangements the smoke would be wholly deposited, as flue- dust or soot, in the horizontal galleries, and would be avail- able for the use of the agriculturist. The future historian of organic chemistry will have to record a succession of beneficent triumphs, in which the efforts of science have led to results of the highest value to the well-being of man. The discovery of quinine has probably saved more human life, with the exception of that of vaccination, than any discovery of any age; and he who succeeds in devising an arti- ficial method of preparing it will be truly a benefactor of the race. Not the least valuable, as it has been one of the most successful, of the works \oi our Government in India has been the planting of the cinchona-tree on the slopes of the Himalaya. As artificial methods are discovered, one by one, of preparing the proximate principles of the useful dyes, a temporary derange- ment of industry occurs, but in the end the waste materials of our manufactures set free large portions of the soil for the production of human food. The ravages of insects have ever been the terror of the agri- culturist, and the injury they inflict is often incalculable. An tnemy of this class, carried over from America, threatened lately with ruin some of the finest vine districts in the south of France. The occasion has called forth a chemist of high renown ; and in a classical memoir recently published, M. Dumas appears to have resolved the difficult problem. His method, although imme- diately applied to the Fhylloxeia of the vine, is a general one, and will no doubt be found serviceable in other cases. In the apterous state the Phylloxera attacks the roots of the plant ; and the most efficacious method hitherto known of destroying it has been to inundate the vineyard. After a long and patient investi- gation, M. Dumas has discovered that the sulphocarbonate of potassium, in dilute solution, fulfils every condition required from an insecticide, destroying the insect without injuring the plant. The process requires time and patience ; but the trials in the vineyard have fully confirmed the experiments of the laboratory. The application of artificial cold to practical purposes is rapidly extending ; and, with the improvement of the ice machine, the influence of this agent upon our supply of animal food from distant countries will undoubtedly be immense. The ice machine is already employed in paraffin-works and in large breweries ; and the curing or salting of meat is now largely conducted in vast chambers, maintained throughout the summer at a constant temperature by a thick covering of ice. I have now completed this brief review, rendered difBcuIt by the abundance, not by the lack of materials. Even confining our attention to the few branches of science upon which I have ventured to touch, and omitting altogether the whole range of pure chemistry, it is with regret that I find myself constrained to make only a simple reference to the important work of Cayley on the Mathematical Theory of Isomers, and to elaborate memoirs which have recently appeared in Germany on the reflection of heat- and light-rays, and on the specific heat and conducting- power of gases for hea^, by Knoblauch, E. Wiedemann, Winkel- mann, and Buff. The decline of science in England formed the theme, fifty years ago, of an elaborate essay by Babbage ; but the brilliant discoveries of Faraday soon after wiped off the reproach. I will not venture to say the alarm which has lately arisen, here and elsewhere, on the same subject will prove to be equally ground- less. The duration of every great outburst of human activity, whether in art, in literature, or in science, has always been short, and experimental science has made gigantic advances during the last three centuries. The evidence of any great failure is not, however, very manifest, at least in the physical sciences. The journal of Poggendorff, which has long been a faithful record of the progress of physical research throughout the world, shows no sign of flagging ; and the Jubelband by which Germany celebrated the fiftieth year of Poggendorff 's invaluable services was at the same time an ovation to a scientific veteran who has perhaps done more than any man living to encourage the highest forms of research, and a proof that in Northern Europe the phy- sical sciences continue to be ably and actively cultivated. If in chemistry the case is somewhat weaker, the explanation, at least in this country, is chiefly to be found in the demand on the part of the public for professional aid from many of our ablest chemists. But whatever view be taken of the actual condition ot scientific research, there can be no doubt that it is both the duty and the interest of the country to encourage a pursuit so ennobling in itself, and fraught with such important consequences to the well-being of the community. Nor is there any question in which this Association, whose special aim is the advancement of science, can take a deeper interest. The public mind has also been awakened to its importance, and is prepared to aid in carrying out any proposal which offers a reasonable prospect of advantage. In its recent phase the question of scientific research has been mixed up with contemplated changes in the great Universities of England, and particularly in the University of Oxford. The national interests involved on all sides are immense, and a false step once taken may be irretrievable. It is with diffidence that I now refer to the subject, even after having given to it the most anxious and careful consideration. As regards the higher mathematics, their cultivation has hitherto been chiefly confined to the Universities of Cambridge and Dublin, and two great mathematical schools will ^ probably be suffi- cient for the kingdom. The case of the physical and natural sciences is different, and they ought to be cultivated in the largest and widest sense at every complete university. Nor, in applying this remark to the English Universities, must we forget that if Cambridge was the alma matiroi Newton and Cavendish, Oxford gave birth to the Royal Society, The ancient renown of Oxford will surely not suffer, while her material position cannot fail to be strengthened, by the expansion of scientific studies and the encouragement of scientific research within her walls. Nor ought such a proposal to be regarded as in any way hostile to the literary studies, and especially to the ancient classical studies, which have always been so carefully cherished at Oxford. If, indeed, there were any such risk, few would hesitate to exclaim — let science shift elsewhere for herself, and let literature and philosophy find shelter in Oxford ! But there is no ground for any such anxiety. Literature and science, philosophy and art, when properly cultivated, far from opposing, will mutually aid one another. There will be ample room for all, and by judicious arrangements all may receive the attention they deserve. A University, or Studium Generale, ought to embrace in its arrangements the whole circle of studies which involve the material interests of society, as well as those which cultivate intellectual refinement. The industries of the country should look to the universities for the development of the principles of applied as well as of abstract science ; and in this respect no institutions have ever had so grand a possession within easy 398 NATURE [Sept. 7, 1876 reach as have the universities of England'at this conjuncture, if only they have the courage to seize it. With their historic repu- tation, their collegiate endowments, their commanding influence, Oxford and Cambridge should coatinue to be all that they novi' are ; but they should, moreover, attract to their lecture-halls and working cabinets students ia large numbers preparing for the higher industrial pursuits of the country. The great physical laboratory in Cambridge, founded and equipped by the noble representative of the House of Cavendish, has in this respfect a peculiar significance, and is an important step in the direction I have indicated. But a small number only of those for whom this temple of science is designed are now to be found in Cam- bridge. It remains for the University to perform its part, and to widen its portals so that the nation at large may reap the advantage of this well-timed foundation. If the Universities, in accordance with the spirit of their statutes, or at least of ancient usage, would demand from the candidates for some of the higher degrees proof of original powers of investigation, they would give an important stimulus to the cultivation of science. The example of many continental universities, and among others of the venerable University of Leyden, may here be mentioned. Two proof essays recently written for the degree of Doctor of Science in Leyden, one by Van der Waals, the other by Lorenz, are works of unusual merit ; and another pupil of Professor Rijke is now engaged in an elaborate experimental research as a qualification for the same degree. The endowment of a body of scientific men devoted ex- clusively to original research, without the duty of teaching or other occupation, has of late been strongly advocated in this country ; and M. Fremy has given the weight of his high authority to a somewhat similar proposal for the encouragement of research in France. I will not attempt to discuss the subject as a national question, the more so as after having given the proposal the most careful consideration in my power, and turned it round on every side, I have failed to discover how it could be worked so as to secure the end in view. But whatever may be said in favour of the endowment of pure research as a national question, the Universities ought surely never to be asked to give their aid to a measure which would separate the higher intellects of the country from the flower of its youth. It is only through the influence of original minds that any great or enduring impression can be produced on the hopeful student. Without original power, and the habit of exercising it, you may have an able instructor, but you cannot have a great teacher. No man can be expected to train.otbers in habits of observation and thought he has never acquired himself. In every age of the world the great schools of learning have, as in Athens of old, gathered around great and original minds, and never more conspicuously than in the modern schools of chemistry, which reflected the genius of Liebig, Wohler, Bunscn, and Hofmann. These schools have been nurseries of original research as well as models of scientific teaching : and students attracted to them from all countries became enthusiastically devoted to science, while they learned its methods from example even more than from precept. Will any one have the courage to assert that organic chemistry, with its many applications to the uses of mankind, would have made in a few short years the marvellous strides it has done, if Science, now as in mediaeval times, had pursued her work in strict seclusion, Semota ab nostris rebus, seiunctaque longe Ipsa luis pollens opibus, nil indiga nostri ? But while the Universities ought not to apply their resources in support of a measure which would render their teaching ineffective, and would at the same time dry up the springs of intellectual growth, they ought to admit freely to university positions men of high repute from other universities, and even without academic qualifications. An honorary degree does not necessarily imply a university education ; but if it have any meaning at all, it implies that he who has obtained it is at least on a level with the ordinary graduate, and should be eligible to university positions of the highest trust. Not less important would it be for the encouragement of learning throughout the country that the English Universities, reniembering that they were founded for the same objects, and derive their authority from a common source, should be prepared to recognise the ancient Universities of Scotland as freely as they have always recognised the Elizabethan University of Dublia buch a measure would invigorate the whole university system of the country more than any other I can think of. It would lead to the strengthening of the literary element in the northern, and of the practical element in the southern Universities, and it would bring the highest teaching of the country everywhere more fully into harmony with the requirements of the times in which we live. As an indirect result, it could not fail to give a powerful impulse to literary pursuits as well as to scientific investigations. Professors would be promoted from smaller positions in one university to higher positions in another, after they had given proofs of industry and ability ; and stagnation, hurtful alike to professorial and professional life, would be effectually prevented. If this union were established among the old Universities, and if at the same time a new University (as I myself ten years ago earnestly proposed) were founded on sound principles amidst the great populations of Lancashire and Yorkshire, the uni- versity system of the country would gradually receive a large and useful extension, and, without losing any of its present valuable characteristics, would become more intimately related than hitherto with those great industries upon which mainly depend the strength and wealth of the nation. It may perhaps appear to many a paradoxical assertion to maintain that the industries of the country should look to the calm and serene regions of Oxford and Cambridge for help in the troublous times of which we have now a sharp and severe note of warning. But I liave not spoken on light grounds, nor without due consideration. If Great Britain is to retain the commanding position she has so long occupied in skilled manu- facture, the easy ways which (owing partly to the high qualities of her people, partly to the advantages of her insular position and mineral wealth) have sufficed for the past, will not be found to suffice for the future. The highest training which can be brought to bear on practical science will be imperatively required ; and it will be a fatal policy if that training is to be sought for in foreign lands because it cannot be obtained at home. The country which depends unduly on the stranger for the education of its skilled men, or neglects in its highest places this primary duty, may expect to find the demand for such skill gradually pass away, and along with it the industry for which it was wanted. I do not claim for scientific education more than it will accomplish, nor can it ever replace the after-training of the work- shop or factory. Rare and powerful minds have, it is true, often been independent of it ; but high education always gives an enormous advantage to the country where it prevails. Let no one suppose I am now referring to elementary instruction, and much less to the active work which is going on everywhere around us, in preparing for examinations of all kinds. These things are all very useful in their way ; but it is not by them alone that the practical arts are to be sustained in the country. It is by edu- cation in its highest sense, based on a broad scientific foundation, and leading to the application of science to practical purposes — in itself one of the noblest pursuits of the human mind— that this result is to be reached. That education of this kind can be most effectively given in a university, or in an institution like the Polytechnic School of Zurich, which differs from the scientific side of a university only in name, and to a large extent supple- ments the teaching of an actual university, I am firmly con- vinced ; and for this reason, among others, I have always deemed the establishment in this country of Examining Boards with the power of granting degrees, but with none of the higher and more important functions of a university, to have been a measure of questionable utility. It is to Oxford and Cambridge, widely extended as they can readily be, that the country should chiefly look for the development of practical science ; they have abundant resources for the task ; and if they wish to secure and strengthen their lofty position, they can do it in no way so effectually as by showing that in a green old age they preserve the vigour and elasticity of youth. If any are disposed to think that I have been carrying this meeting into dream-land, let them pause and listen to the result of similar efforts to those I have been advocating, undertaken by a neighbouring country when on the verge of ruin, and steadily pursued by the same country in the climax of its pros- perity. " The University of Berlin," to use the words of Hof- mann, " like her sister of Bonn, is a creation of our centuiy. It was founded in the year i8ro, at a period when the pressure of foreign domination weighed almost insupportably on Prussia ; and it will ever remain significant of the direction of the German mind that the great men of that time should have hoped to de- velop, by high intellectual training, the forces necessary for the regeneration of their country." It is not for me, especially in this place, to dwell upon the great strides which Northern Ger- many has made of late years in some of the largest branches of Sept. 7, 1876] NATURE 399 industry, and particularly- in those which give a free scope for the application of scientific skill. " Let us not suppose, ' says M^ Wurtz ;n his recent report on Artificial Dyes, "that the distance is so great between theory and its industrial applications. This report would have been written in vain, if it had not brought clearly into view the immense influence of pure science upon the progress of industry. If unfortunately the sacred flame of science should burn dimly or be extinguished, the practical arts would soon fall into rapid decay. The outlay which is in- curred by any country for the promotion of science and of high instruction will yield a certain return ; and Germany has rot had long to wait for the ingathering of the fruits of her far-sighted policy. Thirty or forty years ago, industry could scarcely be said to exist there ; it is now widely spread and successful." As an illustration of the truth of these remarks, I may refer to the newest of European industries, but one which in a short space of time has attained considerable magnitude. It appears (and I make the statement on the authority of M, Wurtz) that the arti- ficial dyes produced last year in Germany exceeded in value those of allthe rest of Europe, including England and France. Yet Ger- many has no special advantage for this manufacture except the training of her practical chemists. We are not, it is true, to attach undue importance to a single case ; but the rapid growth of other and larger industries points in the same direction, and will, I trust, secure some consideration for the suggestions I have ventured to make. The intimate relations which exist between abstract science and its applifations to the uses of lite have always been kept steadily in view by this Association, and the valuable Reports, which are a monument to the industry and zeal of its members, embrace every part of the domain of science. It is with the greater confidence, therefore, that I have ventured to suggest from this chair that no partition wall should anywhere be raised up between pure and applied science. The same sentiment animates our vigorous ally, the French Association for the Advancement of Science, which, rivalling, as it already does, this Association in the high scientific character of its proceedings, bids fair in a few years to call forth the same interest in science and its results, throughout the great provincial towns of France, which the British Asso- ciation may justly claim to have already effected in this country. No better proof can be given of the wide base upon which the French Association rests than the fact that it was presided over last year by an able representative of commerce and industry, and this year by one who has long held an exalted position in the world of science, and has now the rare dis- tinction of representing in her historic Academies the hterature as well as the science of France. Whatever be the result of our efforts to advance science and industry, it requires no gift of prophecy to declare that the boundless resources which the supreme Author and Upholder of the Universe has provided for the use of man will, as time rolls on, be more and more fully applied to the improvement of the physical, and, through the improvement of the physical, to the elevation of the moral condition of the human family. Unless, however, the history of the future of our race be wholly at va- riance with the history of the past, the progress of mankind will be marked by alternate periods of activity and repose ; nor will it be the work of any one nation or of any one race. To the erec- tion of the edifice of civilised life, as it now exists, all the higher races of the world have contributed ; and if the balance were accurately struck, the claims of Asia for her portion of the work would be immense, and those of northern Africa not insignifi- cant. Steam-power has of late years produced greater changes than probably ever occurred before in so short a time. But the resources of nature are not confined to steam, nor to the combustion of coaL The steady water-wheel and the rapid tur- bine are more perfect machines than the stationary steam-engine; and glacier- fed rivers with natural reservoirs, if fully turned to account, would supply an unlimited and nearly constant source of power, depending solely for its continuance upon solar heat. But no immediate dislocation of industry is to be feared, al- though the turbine is already at work on the Rhine and the Rhone. In the struggle to maintain their high position in science and its applications, the countrymen of Newton and Watt will have no ground for alarm so long as they hold fast to their old traditions, and remember that the greatest nations have fallen when they relaxed in those habits of intelligent and steady industry upon which all permanent success depends. SECTION C. GEOLOGY. Opening Address by Prof. J. Young, M.D., F.G.S., President of the Section. When the British Association met in Glasgow twenty-one years ago, Sir Roderick Murchison presided over Section C, and was surrounded by a brilliant company, whose names, now historical, were even then familiar for their accuracy of observa- tion, for philosophic generalisation, and for the eloquence with which their science was clothed in words that charmed while they instructed. Lyell, Hugh Miller, Sedgwick, Jukes, Smith of Jordan Hill, Thomas Graham, Agassiz, Salter, Leonard Homer, John Phillips, Robert Chambers, H. D. Rogers, Charles Maclaren, Sir W. Logan. The list is a heavy one even for twenty-one years, and the changed circumstances wdl be fully realised by Nicol, Harkness, Egerton, Darwin, Ramsay, and others when they find Murchison's place occupied by one who holds it rather by the courtesy of the Council to the Insti- tution in which we are assembled than by any claim he has to the honour. It would be out of place for me to do more than refer to the geological advantages which have given to Glasgow its com- mercial greatness. In the Handbook prepared at the instance of the Local Committee will be found gathered together all the positive knowledge we possess regarding the mineralogy, strati- graphy, and palseontology of the west of Scotland. The speci- mens themselves' are exhibited in the Hunterian Museum and in the Corporation Galleries ; and I take it upon me to say the Glasgow geologists are as ready as ever to assist the investigations of students in special departments with all the material which richly fossiliferous strata yield and the careful skill of assiduous collectors can secure. Thus relieved from entering into local details, I would ask your attention for a short while to some of the difficulties which a teacher experiences in?summarising the principles of geology for his students. I may be pardoned for reminding you that as yet there are in Scotland only two specially endowed teachers of geology. In the Universities, that science for which Scotsmen had done so much received only the odd hours spared from zoology. In 1867 the two courses were separated in Glasgow; in 1870 Sir R. J. Murchison founded the Chair of Geology in Edinburgh ; in 1876 Mr. Honyman Gillespie endowed a Lectureship on Geology in Glasgow, not separating it from zoology, but rather desiring the two to remain associated, while means were pro- vided for tutorial instruction in the elementary work of the class. When next the Association meets in Glasgow, I hope that the services which science has rendered to mining and metallurgy may have been recognised by those who have reaped the benefit. During the efforts of years to obtain provision for systematic teaching in mining and metallurgy, practical and scientific have always been set in opposition by those whom I addressed. In another twenty years it may have become apparent that it is possible for a man to be both practical and scientific, and that the combination is most conducive to economy. Geology occupies the anomalous position of being a science without a special terminology — a position largely the result of its history, but to some extent inherent in its subject-matter. Treated of by Hutton and Playfair and their opponents in the ordinary language of conversation, current phrases were adopted into science not so much acquiring special meanings as adding new ambiguities to those already existing. Every one seemed to understand them at once ; and thus, as no one was obliged to attach very precise meanings to them, the instruments of research became its impediments, and the phrases in common use at the beginning of the century have transmitted to the present day the erroneous ideas of those by whom they were first employed. When Lyell, in 1832, methodised the knowledge accumulated prior to that date, he had, in organising the science, to choose between inventing an appropriate terminology and adopting that in common use. By doing the latter he promoted the popularity of the science, though at the cost of some subsequent confusion ; by attempting the former he would have set in arms against him those who would, according to the pedantry of the time, have denounced his neologisms and formed in them a decorous veil for the objections which they entertained on other grounds to his views. Lyell was not the man to face the latter difficulty, nor can it be charged against him that he was wittingly neglectful of the interests of science. But to the use of conversational language are traceable certain assumptions to which I desire to draw your 400 NATURE [Sepi. 7, 1876 attention. In venturing criticism of this kind, I am not un- mindful of the Nemesis which has overtaken my colleague, Sir W. Thomson, for his comments on Lyell's language. Thomson took exception to language wrhich implied a kind of perpetual motion — a circulation of energy at variance with the teaching of physics ; and behold, two or three years after, Lockyer has published, as a physical astronomer, and Prestvvich has approved, as a geologist, the opinion that the temperature of the sun may have fluctuated — that, in fact, changes of chemical combination may from time to time have refreshed the heat of the planet, whose uniform rate of cooling Sir William had assumed. When stratigraphical geology first received due attention, the notion was prevalent that each formation terminated suddenly by cataclysm ; it was therefore natural that the British succession — the earliest to be tabulated in detail— should be taken as a standard for other countries, and that the enumeration of the series should be a generalised section in which were incor- porated those strata not present in Britain. The "intercalation" of beds thus practised to make an "incomplete" series "com- plete " still survives, as do the terms, though the notions which underlie them are formally denied by those who use them. A patriotic fellow-countryman once surprised us by his vehement denunciation of a treacherous Scot who called the Lanarkshire limestones meagre and incomplete as compared with the English. With knowledge he might have made his criticism useful ; as it was he only gave a' fresh example of the national peculiarity which, if it cannot prove Scotland to be better off than its neighbours, is content to make it out to be no worse. The abundant fossils of the Mesozoic strata of England and France rendered comparison easy, and created the impression that con- chology was the A B C of geology, physical being subordinated to palseontological evidence. The balance has been somewhat restored by the Geological Survey, the precision of whose physical observations enables them to guide the paleontologist as often as guided by him. But one legacy from our predecessors we have not got rid of, nor indeed has its value been much called in question. The process of intercalation had at first to do only with observed gaps into which obvious equivalents could be received. But as the needs of speculative biology rapidly increased, in the same ratio did belief in the imperfection of the geological record increase, till now we have that record described as a most frag- mentary volume, nay as the remains of the last volume whose predecessors are lost to us. Sir W. Thomson did good service by calling in question, on physical grounds, the indefinite extension backwards of geological time. The first fruits of his crusade were the definitions of Uni- form itarianism and Evolution which Prof. Huxley gave. Hence- forth no one will maintain the onesided notions regarding these two opposing views of the earth's history which were adopted in ignorant misconception or dictated by conceit and bigotry. But the service done was even greater, for while it became clear that a knowledge of physics was indispensable to him who would promulgate sound notions, it was further apparent tha.t both biological and geological evolution had a limit in time ; that in fact, on the assumption of the primitive incandescence of our globe, the date might be at least approximately fixed when the mechanical processes now at work commenced, and when the surface of the earth became habitable. Nothing more has yet been done than to point out the way ; for, though Prof. Guthrie Tait indicates a limit of from fifteen to ten millions of years, that statement can only be regarded as in effect, though not perhaps in intention, as a protest against the liberality and vague- ness of Sir W. Thomson's allowance, which gave geologists a range of one to two hundred millions of years. Ihe reconciliation of physicists and geologists is not likely to come through Mr. Lockyer's researches, even if the earth's history be shown to have been identical, unless the renewal of the earth's heat be shown to be compatible with con- tinued life on the surface. If the reconciliation is looked for through the prolonged duration of the sun's life, that being the gauge of the earth's duration, the expectation is still based on the supposed need of very great time for geological processes, or rather on the supposed need of very great time for biological evolution, to which geological evolution has been squared. There is another direction in which these results may help us to meet the limitation assigned by the physicists ; the intervals of variation of temperature may be shorter than those which separate the maxima of eccentricity of the earth's orbit, and thus the repeated cold periods of which we have suggestions in the stratified rocks, may have recurred within a shorter total period than is at present claimed. It is scarcely within the compass of this address to enter into the questions involved, but it is permissible to indicate the reason for delaying meanwhile acceptance of any precise limit of time. There is as yet too much diversity of opinion as to the elements of the problem. Physicists are by no means at one as to the conditions which permit or prohibit shifting of the earth's axis. Calculations are based on the assumption of the regularity of the earth's form under a certain constant relation of the masses, albeit of diverse specific gravity, which compose it. It is more- over assumed that the ratio of land and water has been uniform, though the formation of the grand features of the land by con- traction of the cooling mass has not yet been considered as affect- ing this assumption by altering the disposition of the water. On the one hand it has been shown that the existence of uniform temperatures over the earth's surface is a gratuitous hypothesis ; on the other hand it is clear that the existing distribution of light and heat is incompatible with the flourishing of an abundant Carboniferous and Miocene flora within a short distance of the North Pole. One expects that astronomers will look to the shifting of the axis of rotation as the possible explanation of the difficulty, taking into account likewise the shifting of the centre of gravity necessarily following those displacements of matter which, on the contraction theory, have determined the positions of the main continents and oceans. Mr. Evans, in his address to the Geological Society, referred to the deviation of the magnetic axis as perhaps due to such shifting of the materials composing the inner mass of our globe. .May not the conjectures of M. Elie de Beaumont be after all in the right direction ? May not the change of trend which led him to classify the mountain-chains by reference to the age at which they had been elevated, be associated with movements which did not in all cases result in shiftings of the earth's axis, so pro- nounced as those which permitted the Carboniferous and Miocene floras to invade successfully the Arctic Regions, or the pheno- mena of the glacial epoch or epochs, to manifest themselves in the low latitudes when their traces have been recognized ? Waiving, for the present, inquiry into the influence which the admission of a possible shifting of the earth's axis might have on our estimate of geological time, I shall return to the phrase- ology whose amendment seems advisable. The confusion which exists is well illustrated in a remark by an eminent writer to the effect that the progress of geological research tends to prove the "continuity of geological time." The phrase in itsen involves an absurdity ; but what is meant is, that the successive so-called formations pass into each other by imperceptible gradation ; and that, as time goes on, we sbaU be more and more able to intercalate strata so as to present a con- tinuous scale of animal and vegetable forms. This is one out of many samples of the extreme length to which the thirst for strict correlation may go. We find in Murchison's writings and else- where pointed protests against the succession of strata in one district being held to rule that in other districts ; but these are rather concessions wrung from their author by the pressure of particular instances than acknowledgments of a rule applicable to contiguous and to distinct localities alike. I could not per- haps take a better example than the strata which contain the remains of the fossil Eqtiidce. If we arrange the fossils in any series representing the modification of particular structures, or averaging the modifications of all the structures, we shall find that the terms of the series are met with, now in Europe, now in America ; yet no one would venture to intercalate the European in the American Tertiary series so as to square the geological record with an assumed zoolo.ical standard. The notion of gradations, the extreme view of correlations has led to results which are, to put it mildly, of doubtful value. Yet it was a natural result of the work of Cuvier and other paleontologists among the Mesozoic and Eocene fossiliferous deposits. The statistical method invented by Lyell is simply a mode of grada- tions. Intercalation of strata is therefore a survival from an earlier stage of the science, and carries with it a distinct echo of the catastrophic notion that strata were formed simultaneously and generally over the earth's surface, if not universally. The geological record has been compared to a volume of which pages have here and there disappeared ; and the iucompletene.-s of the record has been inferred from the frequency of pronounced gaps in the succession of strata. Of these gaps, these unconfor- mities, Prof. Ramsay has shown the importance by demonstrat- ing that they represent the lapse of unknown, but varying, and Sept. 7, 1876] NATURE 401 in all cases, considerable periods of time. The intercalation of strata, assumed to fill up the gap, and hereby to give symmetry to systematic classifications, can only be done by an appeal to the statistical method, a fauna containing forms characteristic of higher and lower beds being assumed to represent an intermediate point in time, whereas it might be equally well claimed as re- presenting an intermediate area in space, and as being possibly representative of the whole gap and of some of the strata above and below it. The definition of a formation as representing a certain period of tiire, still repeated with various modifications, is to blame for this and several other curiosities of procedure. But the climax of symmetrical adjustments is reached when we find "natural groups" established — when, in other words, an attempt is made to show a regular periodicity of phenomena in geology. Dawson proposed a quarternary, Hull a ternary classification, to neither of which should I now refer, but that the deserved estimation of these writers is apt to perpetuate what seems to be an unsafe view of geological succession. Hull's arrangement has the merit, by force of its simplicity, of bringing the vainness of the attempt into prominence. Dawson has complicated his classification so as to render it impracticable. A natural group of strata, one in which elevation, deep depres- sion, elevation, record themselves in rocks so as to establish geo- logical cycles, implies several things for which we have no evidence. Most important of all does it imply, that the events above noted should recur in every area in the same order, that they should recur at equal intervals of time, and therefore yield equal masses of strata, and above all that the superior and in- ferior limits of each natural and coterminous group should consist of a mass of similar strata, one portion of which shall belong to the earlier, the other to the later group. Here then we have implied, not catastrophic simplicity as regards the strata, but something very like it as regards the subterranean forces. Mr. Hull has not, however, been able to surrender^imself wholly to his speculation. He has admitted "gaps," breaks, that is to say, for which he finds no equivalents in the British series ; the strata that should occupy these gaps having been either removed by denudation or never deposited, the British area being at these times above water. The concession is fatal to the scheme. But the very use of the word gap recalls the phrases " complete and incomplete," and their nearest of kin "base of a formation." Prof. Ramsay used the word " break " to mark his unconformities, but no term, has been proposed for "the base of a formation." The term was in constant use when such base was always claimed to be a conglomerate. That notion is now exploded, but no distinction is drawn between the lowest bed of a group of conformable strata, and the bed or beds which repose unconformably on those below them. Thus, the London basin has the Thanet beds, the Reading beds, and the London clay successively resting on the chalk, and each of these is the base for its proper locality, unless it be asserted that in this and similar cases the lowest beds once covered a wider area, and were then removed. But a more important case is presented by the great calcareous accumulations of the Carboniferous and Chalk series. The Lower Greensand is to the latter series in England what the lowest stratum of the Chalk would be if we could get at it. The Carboniferous Limestone rests directly on the Red Sandstone in central England, farther north it rests on the Calciferous Sand- stones. Thus the base of the formation varies according to locality, or rather according to the circumstances of deposition, and we need a term which would indicate a difference between the conformable and unconformable succession. Mr. Judd has lamented the equivocal use by English writers, of the term for- mation, which etymologically is as well applied to the Chalk without flints as to the whole Cretaceous series. He advocates "system" as applicable to the larger groups, the Cretaceous system for example. But it seems as if the time were come for still further restrictions of either or both terms. The analogy of the geological record to an incomplete volume is, like most analogies, at once imperfect and misleading. Rather might the record be compared to the fragments of two volumes which have come to be bound together, so that it is not possible to recognise the sequence. Or perhaps it might be better com- pared to a universal history in which, by omission of dates, tke chronology is thoroughly obscured, and the necessary treatment of each nation by itself conceals the contemporaneity of events. We have the aquatic record and the terrestrial record, and these two are going on simultaneously. It is as yet, and probably always will be impossible to recognise the marine deposits which correspond to the terrestrial remains, save perhaps in the most recent geological times. We now know that the life of the Cretaceous seas is not wholly extinct in the existing Atlantic Ocean, but exists there to an extent which would entitle the deposits of that area to rank by the statistical method as inter- mediate between the Cretaceous and the Tertiary. It is obviously impossible to include under one term deposits which are asso- ciated with geographical changes so important as those commonly accepted as having prevailed during the Tertiary epoch. The Meosozoic forms pass gradually into the Tertiary, how gradually we cannot say, since the deep sea equivalents of the European Tertiaries are not certainly known to us. But as a portion •survives to the t^resent day, and as, presumably, the extinction was not rapid (for it is only in the case of land animals that sudden disappearances are as yet probable), it is obvious that the successor, the heir of the Chalk, was not the Eocene, nor necessarily the Miocene known to us, but probably deposits still buried under the Atlantic. My object is to show that, even the limitation of time which Prof. Tart prescribes for us, may not after all be too narrow for the processes which have resulted in our known stratigraphy. Mr. Darwin speaks of the geologic record being the imperfect record of the last series of changes, the indefinite extension of time anterior to the earliest fossiliferous rocks being necessary for the full evolution of organic forms. But is there any ground for the assumption 2 True that the Laurentians contain fragments of antecedent rock, but were these fossiliferous? Are they the remains of land surfaces on which living baings flourished, or are they only the debris of the first consolidated portion of the earth's crust on which if organisms existed they may have been the most primitive of our organic series ? Mr. Jukes refers to the possi- bility of such earlier strata having existed, but he wrote when geologists were dominated with the belief in the indefiniteness of geological time. Now we are brought by physicists, like Shr W. Thomson and Captain Dutton, to face the question — is there evidence of such earlier masses of stratified deposits ? If we allow to the physical argument all the weight to which its advocates deem it entitled, if we accept fifteen millions of years, nay, even if we admit one hundred millions of years as our limit, it follows that we may still regard the earth as in its first stage of cooling. But when we turn to the geological evidence, all that can be advanced is that the Laurentian strata contain fragments pre- sumably derived from earlier strata ; but metamorphosed frag- ments among metauiorphic rocks ai'enot the most reliable guides, and there is the positive evidence that the Laurentian area has not been covered to any extent, if at all, by later deposits. So far as direct proof goes, therefore, we have none that the earliest known stratified rocks are not also the earliest deposited after cool- ing. Even if we disregard the limiis imposed by the philosophers, liberal though they are in Sir W. Thomson's hands, the absence of proof that later deposits covered Laurentian areas seems entitled to greater weight than is usually allowed to negative evidence. At best the assertion of antecedent strata is an arbitrary one, which any of us is at liberty to contradict, and in favour of which no physical evidence, and only zoological pre- judices can be adduced. The earliest stratified deposits known are the Laurentian, and they are, so far as we know, the earliest to have been deposited. But apart from these possible though improbable earlier deposits, geological time is said to be lengthened by the missing strata of later periods. Mr. Croll has given great prominence to ttiis, which is another of the things taken for granted in geology, commenting on Mr. Huxley's remark that if deposit went on at the rate of i foot for 1,000 year.-, the 100,000 feet of strata assumed by him to form the earth's crust, would be laid down in the 100 millions of years which Sir W. Thomson had given as the limit. But, says Mr. Croll, what of the missing s'rata ? It is commonly said that we have only a part of the deposits of any period, that the last have been denuded away, an 1 that thus the time needed for their deposit and for their sub- sequent removal are out of our knowledge. This is based on what we see on the shore when the tide rises and falls and washes off at each turn a part of the sand and mud laid down in the interval. But the older deposits were laid down in deeper water than that between tide-marks, and were for the most part laid down during subsidence. Even admitting removal of part of the strata to have taken place during re-emergence, the quantity so withdrawn cannot be proved to represent more than a small fraction of the total. To provide the needed elongatioa of geological time by an appeal to arbitrary speculations is not admissible. Belief on belief is, as Butler says, bad heraldry. The denudation to which importance is justly ascribed is that 402 NATURE \SepL 7, 1876 represented by unconformity. Re-elevation has been accompanied by disturbance of the area from a different centre than that around which subsidence took place. The strata are worn obliquely, and thus thickness of the mass at one place is greatly diminished, though it does not follow in all cases that the maximum thick- ness of the strata has been effected. The importance, as I deem it, the excessive importance which is attached to the missing strata is asserted by biologists who, apparently unconsciously, seek to gain, by prolonging the interval between successive groups, the time which ought rather to be sought for in tracing, were that possible, the migrations of the species which seem to have suddenly died out. In other words there is a reversion to the older ideas regarding the succession of strata which are embodied in such phrases as the Age of Fishes, the Age of Reptiles, and the like. But the inequality of surface which unconformity involves, entails that other consequence that the maximum thicknesses of the two masses of deposits do not coincide in position. Hence the thickness of the strata in the area will be exaggerated, the time spent in deposit also exaggerated, if the two thicknesses are put together. Ihis has been done by Mr. Darwin in drawing inferences from the measurements given him by Prof. Ramsay, measurements which, on the face of them, do not represent a continuous pile of rock. Mr. Darwin assumes either that the Welsh Hills (not to speak of the Hebrides) were covered by all the later strata now denuded or that if we sink a bore, say on the east coast, we should go through the whole series as tabulated. "When Prof Huxley took 100,000 feet as the thickness of the sedimentary series, the same notion was unconsciously present, the same survival of catastrophism, the onion-coat theory as Herbert Spencer named it. The Geological Survey has corrected its tables in one im- portant direction ; it has shown the contemporaneity of unlike groups in different parts of Britain, the distinct types of the old red sandstone, carboniferous, permian, and purbecks being placed in parallel columns. To some extent this is a curtail- ment of the thickness of the rock series, the dissimilar strata are not piled on each other. But the curtailment might be carried still farther. The marine and terrestrial conditions are simul- taneous ; if we could identify the dry land for each deep sea we should have possibly the overlap of periods producing extraordi- nary combinations, though not perhaps of Mesozoic and Palaeozoic faunas contempoia leous. But the British series may be tabulated as follows : — Land Siirfaces. Lacustrine and Fluviatile. Cambrian. Old Red Sandstone. Calciferous Sandstones. Coal Measures. Permian. Trias. PurbecTc. Wealden. Miocene. Pleistocene. Marine. Laurentian ? Silurian. Carboniferous Limestone. Jurassic. Neocomian. Cretaceous. In the case of the Cretaceous Series, Mr. Ramsay has given illustration of the ingenious views of De La Bcche regarding the contemporaneity of deposits superposed one on the other. The Lower Greensand is contemporaneous with part of the Chalk, so were parts of the Wealden : nay, even of the Purbecks a porUon must have been forming while the Cretaceous sea was gradually deepening southward and eastward. It may be said that the recognition of the parallelism would not make very much difference after all ; that it would not one whit lessen the time spent in forming 500 feet of rock to know that there was elsewhere another 500 feet formed at the same time. But the shortening of the geological list by striking out the over- laps of the formations and thus counting them only once is of itself a matter of some consequence, since the maximum thick- ners of the Cretaceous being nearly 3,000 feet and that of the Weald 1,500 feet, even the partial coincidence, in time, of these masses, would, on Mr. Croli's calculation of i foot of deposit per 1,000 years, make a considerable difference in the chrono- logy, still more if the Carboniferous Limestone be set against its probable contemporaries the Upper Old Red Sandstone and Coal-measures. Mr. Jukes' bold erasure of the Devonians was of itfelf a very important change on the chronological table, and I doubt not others may yet be achieved. But, it may be said, the Cretaceous still rests on the Wealden ; the vertical thickness still remains. But is the ordinary method of estimating the thick- ness quite reliable ? In some cases, as in the productive coal- measures", there is tolerable uniformity ; but among the lower coals and the Mesozoic strata, where the strata or groups of strata are not regular, the maximum thicknesses of all are, as has been already shown, apt to be taken, and^thus an aggregate more or less in excess of the real thickness results. But recurring to an objection already referred to, arrange it as you like, you get, say in Wales, a known thickness of 50,000 feet. But the rocks there are tilted, and the absolute depth which they attain in this position is unknown. In North America the Laurentians are estimated at 30,000 feet ; but though there is every reason to believe that they have not been covered to any extent with later deposits, the total thickness of sedimentary crust is, for the same reason as in Wales, unknown. B'gsby has showm how varied are the surfaces on which the later deposits are laid down ; how great, therefore, must be the deductions from the same total of maximum or even average thickness of all formations before we approximate to the actual thickness of sedimentary deposits at any one point. But take the actual thickness in Wales as given in Jukes's Manual from the Survey data : for the Cambrians we have from 23-28,000 feet ; Silurians, Upper and Lower, not counting breaks by un- conformities, 20,000. If denudation takes place at the rate of I foot in 6,000 years, and deposit at the same rate, we should have for the Silurians alone 120,000,000 of years needed. If, however, deposit takes place at the rate of I foot in 14,400 years, 288,000,000 millions of years would be needed for the accumu- lation of the surviving strata. It is obvious that the rate of deposit or denudation, or both is misunderstood. The stratified rocks equal in amount the material denuded ; if we knew the total amount of denudation we should know, not merely the residuum of rock open to our inspection, but the total amount of stratified deposits which had been formed, or at least approxi- mately, for the deposit of materials removed is not synchronous with their removal. Obviously these elements are not known, and cannot be known to us. Mr. Croll, who has investigated the question theoretically, assumes that deposit and denuda- tion take place in equal times, and assumes further a uniform distribution over the whole or over a part of the sea- bottom. But Prof. Geikie's table shows that, if we are to take averages as a safe guide, the land is lowered at the rate of two in 6,000 years. Moreover, if, as Mr. Croll points out, deposit was less during the glacial epoch, the process must have been more rapid since, and thus an irregularity is introduced which impairs the value of the calculations. Prof. Hughes, in the brief abstract of his Royal Institution address, which alone I have had the opportunity of seeing, contests the validity of any estimates of time on the basis of our existing knowledge. I do not mean to enter into this question, but I may be allowed to remark that any conclu- sions, founded on mean thickness of sedimentary formations are of no value. It is not the time necessary for the building up of a mean thickness, but that necessary for the formation of the maximum thickness in particular regions which we have to consider. If the Laurentian rocks and their equivalents are to be re- garded as the earliest stratified deposits, or rather, if there is no reason for believing that they were preceded by other stratified rocks, the relation of Huxley's homotaxis to any classification of strata having the Laurentians as a fixed point is worth investi- gating. The universal diffusion of species in the earlier strata was first the accepted creed of geologists. Then it was denied, though the language of the earlier faith continued current. Again, we return towards the doctrine of extensive simultaneous diffusion, but under a very much modified form. The Chmllenger reports bear testimony to the wide distribution of forms in the deepest oceans, and when we turn from these and compare the lists of fossil species so found widely distributed, it appears that here again we have oceanic forms, or at any rate those found in such limestones as are safely assigned to a deep water origin. Ramsay has shown that the continental epochs in Western Europe overlasted considerable periods of time. The antiquity of the Atlantic and Pacific is certain ; even their primitive character is possible. Thus there are two conditions — land and deep sea — reasoning regarding which must be quite different from that applicable to the intermediate conditions. It is exactly these intermediate states which present practical and speculative diffi- culty. Theories which account for mountains and oceans fail to explain the " oscillations " which were wont to be appealed to when terrestrial and marine surfaces succeeded each other. But the assumed movement of the land is by no means a certainty, and as in the kindred case of faults, we need terms which shall be neutral, whether the land has moved upwards or the sea shrunk downwards. The terms Palreozoic, Mesozoic, and Cain- Sept. 7, 1876] NATURE 403 zoic have long held their places from the reluctance to disturb established nomenclature, as well as from the difficulty of in- venting appropriate substitutes ; but if retained at all, we know now that the relations they represent are not the same for the terrestrial, the deep oceanic, and the intermediate areas, any more than the life is the same under those three conditions. I have ones before called attention to a grave difficulty in the physical geography of Scotland ; and as Mr. Seeley has since then raised the same question without obtaining an answer, I would again state the case as one which seems to involve the revisal of some definitions. The Silurian hills of South Scotland are commonly said to have been'covered by Old Red Sandstone and even by Carboni- ferous strata, patches of these rocks being met with on the south side of the fault which defines these hills with their abrupt, coast-like margin seen from Edinburgh, or from Symington sta- tion on the Caledonian line. But the surface of these Silurians was denuded before the Old Red times, as Mr. Geikie has showed. Nay, valleys existed as now, and in the same positions as now. At the present time the rivers flow in identically the same valleys, in at least the cases of the Nith, the Annan, the Lauder, and the Liddell ; and the boundaries of the areas are so well known that we can safely assert no buried channel to exist such as we find on the tributaries of the Clyde. That the channels were occluded in glacial times we may take for certain ; that the obstruction has been washed away and the courses cleared is equally certain. The surface contours were not materially altered, so that the retreating ice lefc hollows in the position of the old valleys. But the case is qui*e differeat when we deal with the older rocks. Their succession is marked by unconformities and overlaps, which it is impossible to picture as associated with full preserva- lion of the surface features on which they were laid down ; and when the thickness comes to be as much as i,oco feet or more, and of that thickness a part at least made up of marine strata, the relapse of all the streams to their old causes is an event of the highest improbability. Mr. Topley has pointed out how the dip of strata may, under certain circumstances, coincide with their thinning out to the margins of their area of deposit, changes of angle in highly inclined strata pointing in the same direction. The ordinary rule of protracting strata, and thus restoring their thickness over the adjacent high ground, is, in the case, at least, of South Scotland, a method which imposes on atmospheric denudation, even if aided by the sea, a most complicated task. Had time permitted, it might have been interesting to note the changing phraseology regarding faults, and the pertinacity with which phrases involving the most unsatisfactory and im- probable causation continue to be used. Upcast and down- cast, upthrow and downhrow, displacement upwards or down- wards— these it may be said are of small importance ; they are only symbols. But in the first place they are mischievous so far as they give students confused ideas with which to contend, and in the second place the continued acceptance of loose phraseo- logy is peculiar to geology ; even in metaphysics, where the sub- ject matter is much more conveniently discussed in ordinary lan- guage, new terms are employed to a great extent. Bat important as I therefore regard these terms from the teacher's point of view, the greater importance attaches to the accuracy of the notions which underlie our language regarding the processes and rates of deposit aifd denudation. So far as our present knowledge goes, we must accept it as certain that there is some limit to the duration of the earth in the past. Neither philosophers nor astronomers are agreed on the essential points of the problem, nor have they considered all the possible changes in the position of the earth's axis, and in the rate at which the earth loses heat. The limits hitherto prescribed are so discrepant that we cannot as yet accept any as fixed. Neither have geologists so accurate a knowledge of geological processes that they can speak with confidence either of the abso- lute or relative rates at which rock formation has advanced. The geologist has hitherto asked for more time, not because he himself was aware of his need, but from a generous regard for the difficulties in which his zoological brother found himself when he attempted to explain the diversity of the animal series as the result of slowly-operating causes. The geologist asked for more time simply because he could form no just estimate of what was needed for the physical processes with whose results he was familiar. But paloeontological domination is now at an end ; and the increasing number of geologists, who are also competent physicists and mathematicians, seems to mark a new school, which will strive to interpret more precisely the accumulated facts. Such at least seems the history of the past fifteen or I twenty years. Such seems the direction in which speculation now tends, and in the foregoing remarks I have endeavoured faithfully to represent the drift of our science. To many here present much of what I have said is already familiar ; I therefore give place to the more legitimate business of the Section, looking to receive elsewhere "such censures as may be my lot." SECTION D. Biology. Opening Address by the President, ALFREt' Russel Wallace. Introduction, The range of subjects comprehended within this Section is so wide, and my own acquaintance with them so imperfect and fragmentary, that it is not in my power to lay before you any general outline of the recent progress of the biological sciences. Neither do I feel competent to give you a summary of the present status of any one of the great divisions of our science — such as Anatomy, Physiology, Embryology, Histology, Classification, or Evolution— Philology, Ethnology, or Prehistoric Archceo- logy ; but there are fortunately several outlying and more or less neglected subjects to which I have for some time had my atten- tion directed, and which I hope will furnish matter for a few observations, of some interest to biologists, and at the same time not unintelligible to the less scientific members of the Associa- tion who may honour us with their presence. The subjects I first propose to consider have no general name, and are not easily grouped under a single descriptive heading ; but they may be compared with that recent development of a sister- science, which 'nas been termed Surface-geology or Earth-sculp- ture. In the older geological works we learnt much about strata, and rocks, and fossils, their superposition, contortions, chemical constitution, and affinities, with some general notions of how they were formed in the remote past ; but we often came to the end of the volume no whit the wiser as to how and why the surface of the earth camcj to be so wonderfully and beautifully diversified ; we were not told why some mountains are rounded and Jothers precipitous ; why some valleys are wide and open, others narrow and rocky; why rivers so often pierce through moun- tain-chains ; why mountain lakes are often so enormously deep ; whence came the gravel, and drift, and erratic blocks, so strangely spread over wide areas while totally absent from other areas equally extensive. So long as these questions were almost ignored, geology could hardly claim to be a complete science, because, while professing to explain how the crust of the earth came to be what it is, it gave no intelligible account of the varied phenomena presented by its surface. But of late years these surface-phenomena have been assiduously studied ; the mar- vellous effects of denudation and glacial action in giving the final touches to the actual contour of the earth's surface, and their relation to climatic changes and the antiquity of man, have been clearly traced, thus investing geology with a new and popular interest, and at the same time elucidating many of the phenomena presented in the older formations. Now, just as a surface-geology was required to complete that science, so a surface-biology was wanted to make the science of living things more complete and more generally interesting, by applying the results arrived at by special workers, to the inter- pretation of those external and prominent features whose endless variety and beauty constitute the charm which attracts us to the contemplation or to the study of nature. We have the descrip- tive zoologist, for example, who gives us the external characters of animals ; the anatomist studies their internal structure ; the histologist makes known the nature of their component tissues ; the embryologist patiently watches the progress of their development ; the systematist groups them into classes and orders, families, genera, and species ; while the field-naturalist studies for us their food and habits and general economy. But till quite recently, none of these earnest students, nor all of them combined, could answer satisfactorily, or even attempted to answer, many of the simplest questions concerning the external characters and general relations of animals and plants. Why are flowers so wonderfully varied in form and colour? what causes the Arctic fox and the ptarmigan to turn white in winter ? why are there no elephants in America and no deer in Australia ? why are closely allied species rarely found together ? why are male animals so frequently bright coloured ? why are extinct animals so often larger than those which are now living ? what has led to the 404 NATURE [Sept. 7, 1876 production of the gorgeous train of the peacock and of the two kinds of flower in the primrose ? The solution of these and a hundred other problems of like nature, was rarely approached by the old method of study, or if approached was only the subject of vague speculation. It is to the illustrious author of the " Origin of Species " that we are indebted, for teaching us how to study nature as one great, compact, and beautilully adjusted system. Under the touch of his magic wand the count- less isolated facts of internal and external structure of living things — their habits, their colours, their development, their distribution, their geological history, — all fell into their approxi- mate places ; and although from the intricacy of the subject and our very imperfect knowledge of the facts themselves, much still re- mains uncertain ; yet we can no longer doubt that even the minutest and most superficial peculiarities of animals and plants either, on the one hand, are or have been useful to them, or, on the other hand, have been developed under the influence of general laws, which we may one day understand to a much greater extent than we do at present. So great is the alteration effected in our comprehension of nature by the study of variation, inheritance, cross-breeding, competition, distribution, protection, and selec- tion— sliowing, as they often do, the meaning of the most obscure phenomena, and the mutual dependence of the most widely- separated organisms, that it can only be fitly compared with the analogous alteration produced in our conception of the universe by Newton's grand discovery of the law of gravitation . I know it will be said (and is said), that Darwin is too highly rated ; that some of his theories are wholly and others partially erroneous, and that he often builds a vast superstructure on a very uncertain basis of doubtfully interpreted facts. Now, even admitting this criticism to be well founded— and I myself believe that to a limited extent it is so — I neveitheless maintain that Darwin is not and cannot be too highly rated. For his greatness does not at all depend upon his being infallible, but on his having developed, with rare patience and judgment, a new system of observation and study, guided by certain general principles which are almost as simple as gravitation, and as wide-reaching in their effects. And if other principles should hereafter be dis- covered, or if it be proved that some of his subsidiary theories are wholly or partially erroneous, this very discovery can -only be made by following in Darwin's steps, by adopting the method of research which he has taught us, and by largely using the rich stores of material which he has collected. The " Origin of Species," and the grand series of works which have succeeded it, have revolutionised the study of biology. They have given us new ideas and fertile principles. They have infused life and vigour into our science, and have opened up hitherto unthought of lines of research on which hundreds of eager students are now labouring. Whatever modifications some of his theories may require, Darwin must none the less be looked up to as the founder of philosophical biology. As a small contribution to this great subject, I propose now to call your attention to some curious relations of organisms to their environment, which seem to me worthy of more systematic study than has hitherto been given them. The points I shall more especially deal with are — the influence of locality, or of some unknown local causes, in determining the colours of insects and, to a less extent, of birds ; and the way in which certain peculiarities in the distribution of plants may have been brought about by their dependence on insects. The latter part of my address will deal with the present state of our knowledge as to the antiquity and early history of mankind. On some Relations of Living Things to their Environment. Of all the external characters of animals, the most beautiful, the most varied, and the most generally attractive, are the bril- liant colours and strange yet o'ten elegant markings with which so many of them are adorned. Yet, of ail characters, this is the most difficult to bring under the laws of utility or of physical connection. Mr. Darwin — as you are well aware — has shown how wide is the influence of sex on the intensity of colouration ; and he has been led to the conclusion that active or voluntary sexual selection is one of the chief causes, if not the chief cause, of all the variety and beauty of colour we see among the higher animals. This is one of the points on which there is much diver- gence of opinion even among the supporters of Mr. Darwin, and one as to which I myself differ from him. I have argued, and still believe, that the need of protection is a far more efficient cause of variation of colour than is generally suspected ; but there are evidently other causes at work, and one of these seems to be an influence depending strictly on locality, whose nature we cannot yet understand, but whose effects are everywhere to be seen when carefully searched for. Although the careful experiments of Sir John Lubbock have shown that insects can distinguish colours — as might have been inferred from the brilliant colours of the flowers which are such an attraction to them — yet we can hardly believe that their appre- ciation and love of distinctive colours is so refined as to guide and regulate their most powerful instinct — that of reproduction. We are therefore led to seek some other cause for the varied colours that prevail among insects ; and as this variety is most con- spicuous among butterflies, — a group perhaps better known than any other — it offers the best means of studying the subject. The variety of colour and marking among these insects is something marvellous. There are probably about ten thousand different kinds of butterflies now known, and about half of these are so distinct in colour and marking that they can be readily distin- guished by this means alone. Almost every conceivable tint and pattern is represented, and the hues are often of such intense brilliance and purity as can be equalled by neither birds nor flowers. Any help to a comprehension of the causes which may have concurred in bringing about so much diversity and beauty must be of value, and this is my excuse for laying before you the more important cases I have met with of a connection between colour and locality. Our first example is from tropical Africa, where we find two unrelated groups of butterflies belonging to two very distinct families (Nymphalidte and Papilionida) characterised by a pre- vailing blue green colour not found in any other continent.^ Again, we have a group of African Pieridse which are white or pale yellow with a marginal row of bead-like black spots, and in the same country one of the Lycsenidse {Liptena erastus) is coloured so exactly like these that it was at first described as a species of Pieris. None of these four groups are known to be in any way specially protected so that the resemblance cannot be due to protective mimicry. In South America we have far more striking cases. For in the three sub-families — Danainae, Acraaniae, and Heliconiinse — all of which are specially protected, we find identical tints and patterns reproduced, often in the greatest detail, each peculiar type of coloration being characteristic of distinct geographical subdivisions of the continent. Nine very distinct genera are im- plicated in these parallel changes — Lycorea, Ceratinia, Mecha- nitis, Ithomia, Melincra, Ttlhorea, Acrcea, Heliconius, and Eueides — groups of three or four (or even of five) of them ap- pearing together in the same livery in one district, while in an adjoining district most or all of them undergo a simultaneous change of coloration or of marking. Thus in the genera Ithomia, Mechanitis, and Heliconius, we have species with yellow apical spots in Guiana, all represented by allied species with white apical spots in South Brazil. In Mechanitis, Melincea, and Heliconius, and sometimes in Tithorea, the species of the Southern Andes (Bolivia and Peru) are characterised by an orange and black livery, while those of the Northern Andes (New Grenada) are almost always orange-yellow and black. Other changes of a like nature, which it would be tedious to enumerate, but which are very striking when specimens are examined, occur in species of the same groups inhabiting these same localities, as well as Central America and the Antilles. The resemblance thus produced between widely different insects is sometimes general, but often so close and minute that only a critical examination of structure can detect the difference between them. Yet this can hardly be true mimicry, because all are alike protected by the nauseous secretion which renders them unpalat- able to birds. In another series of genera {Catagramma, Callithea, and Agrias), all belonging to the Nymphalidre, we have the most vivid blue ground, with broad bands of orange-crimson or a different tint of blue or purple, exactly reproduced in correspond- ing, yet unrelated species, occurring in the same locality ; yet, as none of these groups are protected, this can hardly be true mimicry. A few species of two other genera in the same country (Eunica and Siderone) also reproduce the same colours, but with only a general resemblance in the marking. Yet again, in Tropical America we have species of Apatura which, sometimes in both sexes, sometimes in the female only, exactly imitate the peculiar markings of another genus [He'-erochroa) confined to America. Here, again, neither genus is protected, and the similarity must be due to unknown local causes. ' Romaleosonta and Euryphene (Nymphalida:), Papilio zalmoxis, and several species of the Nireus group (Papilionidse). Sept. 7. 1876] NATURE 405 But it is among islands that we f.nd some of the most striking examples of the influence of locality on colour, generally in the direction of paler, but sometimes of darker and more brilliant hues, and often accompanied by an unusual increase of size. Thus, in the Moluccas and New Guinea we have several Papilios (/'. euchenor, P. ormenus, and/*, tydms), distinguished from their alii s by a much paler colour, especially in the females, which are almost white. Many species of Danais (forming the sub- genus Ideopsh) are also very pale. Eut the most curious are the Euplaeas, which, in the larger islands, are usually of rich dark colours, while in the small islands of Banda, Ke, and Matabello at least three species not nearly related to each other {^E. hoppferi, E. euripon, and E. assiviilata) are all broadly banded or suffused with white, their allies in the larger islands being all very much darker. Again, in the genus Diadema, belonging to a distinct family, three species from the small Aru and Ke islands (Z>. deois, D. hewitsonii, and D. polymena) are all more conspicuously white-marked than their representatives in the larger islands. In the beautiful genus Cethosia, a species from the small island of Waigiou (C cyrene), is the whitest of the genus. Frothoe is represented by a blue species in the continental island of Java, while those inhabiting the ancient insular groups of the Moluccas and New Guinea are all pale yellow or white. The genus Dntsilla, almost confined to these islands, comprises many species which are all very pale ; while in the small island of Waigiou is found a very distinct genus, Hyantis, which, though differing completely in the neuration of the wings, has exactly the same pale colours and large ocellated spots as Drusilla. Equally remarkable is the fact that the small island of Amboina produces larger-sized butterflies than any of the larger islands which surround it. This is the case with at least a dozen butter- flies belonging to many distinct genera,^ so that it is impossible to attribute it to other than some local influence. In Celebes, as I have elsewhere pointed out,^ we have a peculiar form of wing and much larger size running through a whole series of distinct butterflies, and this seems to take the place of any specialty in colour. From the Fiji Islands we have comparatively few butterflies, but there are several species of Diadema of unusually pale colours, some almost white. The Philippine Islands seem to have the peculiarity of deve- loping metallic colours. We find there at least three species of Euplcea ^ not closely related, and all of more intense metallic lustre than their allies in other islands. Here also we have one of the large yellow Ornithopterse ( O. magellamis), whose hind wings glow with an intense opaline lustre not found in any other species of the entire group ; and an Adolias* is larger and of more brilliant metallic colouring than any other species in the Archipelago. In these islands also we find the extensive and wonderful genus of weevils, Pachyrhynchtis, which in their bril- liant metallic colouring suipass anything found in the whole eastern hemisphere, if not in the whole world. In the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, there are a considerable number of peculiar species of butterflies differing slightly from those on the continent, and generally in the direc- tion of paler or more conspicuous colouring. Thus, two species of Papilw, which on the continent have the tails black, in their Andaman representatives have them either red- or white-tipped.^ Another species ® is richly blue-banded where its allies are black; while three species of distinct genera of NymphalidDe^ all differ from their allies on the continent in being of excessively pale colours, as well as of somewhat larger size. In Madagascar we have the very large and singularly white- spotted Papilio aiitenoy, while species of three other genera * are very white or conspicuous, compared with their continental allies. Passing to the West Indian Islands and Central America (which latter country has formed a group of islands in very recent times), we have similar indications. One of the largest of the Papilios inhabits Jamaica,** while another, the largest of its ' Oriiithoptera priamus, O. Jielena, Papilio deiphobus, P. ulysses, P. gambrisuts, P. codrus, Iphias leucippe, Euplcea prothoe, Hestia idea, Athy7na jocoiie, Diadema pandarus, Nyniplialis pyrrhus, N. euryaliis, Drusilla jairus. » " Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection," pp. 168-173. 3 Euplcea hewitsonii, E. diocletiana, E. latijica, E. duprsnii. ^ Adolias callipJwt 71s. 5 Papilio rlwdi/er (near P. doubledayi) and Papilio chariclcs (near P. mevinoii). 6 Papilio viayo. 7 Eupltea andamanensis, Cethosia biblis,'Cyresiis codes. 8 Danais uossima, Melaiiitis massoura, Diadema dexithea. 9 Papilio homer Hs. group, is found in Mexico. ^ Cuba has two of the same genus whose colours are of surpassing brilliancy ; * while the fine genus Clothilda — confined to the Antilles and Central America — is remarkable for its rich and showy colouring. Persons who are not acquainted with the important structural diff'erences that distinguish these various genera of butterflies, can hardly realise the importance and the significance of such facts as I have now detailed. It may be well, therefore, to illustrate them by supposing parallel cases to occur among the mammalia. We might have, for example, in Africa, the gnus, the elands, and the buffaloes aU coloured and marked like zebras, stripe for stripe over the whole body exactly correspond- ing. So the hares, marmots, and squirrels of Europe might be all red, with black feet, while the corresponding species of Central Asia were all yellow, with black heads. Inr North America we might have raccoons, squirrels, and opossums in parti-coloured livery of white and black, so as exactly to resemble the skunk of the same country ; while in South America they might be black, with a yellow throat patch, so as to resemble with equal closeness the tayra of the Brazilian forests. Were such resemblances to occur in anything like the number, and with the wonderful accuracy of imitation met with among the Lepidoptera, they would certainly attract universal attention among naturalists, and would lead to the exhaustive study of the influence of local causes in producing such startling results. One somewhat similar case does indeed occur among the Mammalia, two singular African animals, the Aard-wolf {Prc- teles) and the Hyasna-dog (Pycaon), both Jstrikingly resembling hyjenas in their general lorm as well as in their spotted mark- ings. Belonging as they all do to the Carnivora, though to three distinct families, it seems quite an analogous case to those we have imagined ; but as the Aard-wolf and the hysena-dog are both weak animals compared with the hyseaa, the resem- blance may be useful, and in that case would come under thj; head of mimicry. This seems the more probable because, as a rule, the colours of the Mammalia are protective, and are too little varied to allow of the influence of local causes pro- ducing any well-marked effects. When we come to birds, however, the case is diff'erent ; for although they do not exhibit such distinct marks of the influence of locality as do butterflies— probably because the causes which determine colour are in their case more complex — yet there are distinct indications of some effect of the kind, and we must devote some little time to their consideration. One of the most curious cases is that of the parrots of the West Indian Islands and Central America, several of which have white heads or foreheads, occurring in two distinct genera,* while none of the more numerous parrots of South America are so coloured. In the small island of Dominica we have a very large and richly-coloured parrot {Chrysotis augusta) corr^sponimg to the large and richly-coloured Papilio homerus of Jamaica. The Andaman Islands are equally remarkable, at least six of the peculiar birds differing from their continental allies in being much lighter, and sometimes with a large quantity of pure white in the plumage, * exactly corresponding to what occurs among the butterflies. In the Philippines this is not so marked a feature, — yet we have here the only known white-breasted Kingcrow (Dicrurus mirabilis),— \hG newly discovered Eurylcemus Steerii, wholly white beneath,— three species of Diceuvi, all white beneath, — several species of Parus, largely white-spotted, — while many of the pigeons have light ashy tints. The birds generally, however, have rich dark colours, similar to those which prevail among the butterflies. In Celebes we have a swallow-shrike and a peculiar small crow allied to the jackdaw,' whiter than any of their allies in the surrounding islands, but otherwise the colours of the birds call for no special remark. In Timor and Flores we have white-headed pigeons, "^and a long-tailed flycatcher almost entirely white.'^ In the small Lord Howe's Island we have the recently extinct white rail {Motornis alba), remarkably contrasting with its allies in the larger islands of New Zealand. We cannot, however, lay any stress on isolated examples of white colour, since these occur in most of the great continents, 1 />. daunus. " P- gundlachianus , P. villiersi. 3 Pionus albifrons and Chrysotis senilis (C. America), Chrysotis sallai (Hayti). , . , ' . * Kittariiicla albiventris, Geocichla albigularts, Sturnta andatnaneusts, Hyloterpe grisola, var., Janthanas palumboides, Osmotrcron chloroptira. 5 Artamus nionachus, Corviis advefta. 6 Ptilopus cinctus, P. albocinctus. ' Tchitrca ajptiis, var. 4o6 NATURE {Sept. 7, 1876 but where we find a series of species of distinct genera, all differ- ing from their continental allies in a whiter colouration, as in the Andaman Islands and the West Indies ; and among butterflies, in the smaller Moluccas, the Andamans, and Madagascar, we cannot avoid the conclusion that in these insular localities some general cause is at work. There are other cases, however, in which local influences seem to favour the production or preservation of intense crimson or a very dark colouration. Thus in the Moluccas and New Guinea alone we have bright red parrots belonging to two distinct families,' and which, therefore, most proliably have been inde- pendently produced or preserved by some common cause. Here too and in Australia we have black parrots and pigeons -^ and it is a most curious and suggestive fact that in another insular sub- region — that of Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands — these same colours reappear in the same two groups." Some very curious physiological facts bearing upon the pre- sence or absence of white colours in the higher animals have lately been adduced by Dr. Ogle.* It has been found that a coloured or dark pigment in the olfactory region of the nostrils is essential to perfect smell, and this pigment is rarely deficient except when the whole animal is pure white. In these cases the creature is almost without smell or taste. This, Dr. Ogle believes, explains the curious case of the pigs in Virginia adduced by Mr. Darwin, white pigs being poisoned by a poison- ous root which does not affect black pigs. Mr. Darwin imputed this to a constitutional difference accompanying the dark colour, which rendered what was poisonous to the white-coloured animals quite innocuous to the black. Dr. Og'e however observes, that there is no proof that the black pigs eat the roat, and he believes the more probable explanation to be that it is distasteful to them, while the white pigs, being deficient in smell %nd taste, eat it and are killed. Analogous facts occur in several distinct families. White sheep are killed in the Tarentino by eating Hypericum criscum, while black sheep escape ; white rhinoceroses are said to perish from eating Euphorbia candel- abrum ; and white hories are said to suffer !rom poisonous food where coloured ones escape. Now it is very improbable that a constitutional immunity from poisoning by so many distinct plants should in the case of such widely different animals be always correlated with the same difference of colour ; but the facts are readily understood if the senses of smell and taste are dependent on the presence of a pigment which is deficient in wholly white animals. The explanation has, however, been carried a step further, by expeiiments showing that the absorption of odours by dead matter, such as clothing, is greatly affected by colour, black being the most powerful absorbent, then blue, red, yellow, and lastly white. We have here a physical cause for the sense-inferiority of totally white animals which may account for their rarity in nature. For few, if any, wild animals are wholly white. The head, the face, or at least the muzzle or the nose, are generally black. The ears and eyes are also often black ; and there is reason to believe that dark pigment is essential to good hearing, as it certainly is to perfect vision. We can therefore understand why white cats with blue eyes are so often deaf — a peculiarity we notice more readily than their deficiency of smell or taste. If then the prevalence of white colouration is generally accompanied with some deficiency in the acuteness of the most important senses, this colour becomes doubly dangerous, for it not only renders its possessor more conspicuous to its enemies, but at the same time makes it less ready in detecting the presence of danger. Hence, perhaps, the reason why white appears more frequently in islands where competition*is less severe and enemies less numerous and varied. Hence, also, a reason why albiiioism, although freely occurring in captivity never maintains itself in a wild state, while melanism does. The peculiarity of some islands in having all their inhabitants of dusky colours — as the Galapagos — may also perhaps be explained on the same principles, for poisonous fruits or seeds may there abound which weed out all white or light-coloured varieties, owing to their deficiency of smell and taste. We can hardly believe, however, that this would apply to white-coloured butterflies, and this may be a reason vhy the effect of an insular habitat is more marked in these insects than in birds or mammals. But though inapplicable to the lower animals, this curious relation of sense-acuteness with colours may have had some influence on I Lorius, Eos (Trichoglossidsc), Eclectus (Palaeornithidae). Microglossus, Calyftorhynchus, Turacc^na. 3 Coracopsis, Alectranas. * Medico-ChirurgLcil Transactions, vel. liii. (1870). the development of the higher human races. If light tints of the skin were generally accompanied by some deficiency in the senses of smell, hearing, and vision, the white could never com- pete with the darker races, so long as man was in a very low or savage condition, and wholly dependent for existence on the acuteness of his senses. But as the mental faculties became more fully developed and more important to his weKare than mere sense-acuteness, the lighter tints of skin, and hair, and eyes, would cease to be disadvantageous whenever they were accompanied by superior brain-power. Such variations would then be preserved ; and thus may have arisen the Xanthochroic race of mankind, in which we find a high development of intellect accompanied by a slight deficiency in the acuteness of the senses as compared with the darker forms. I have now to ask your attention to a few remarks on the peculiar relations of plants and insects as exhibited in islands. Ever since Mr. Darwin showed the immense importance of insects in the fertilization of flowers, great attention has been paid to the subject, and the relation of these two very different classes of natural objects has been found to be more universal and more complex than could have been anticipated. Whole genera and families of plants have been so modified, as first to attract and then to be fertilized by, certain groups of insects, and this special adaptation seems in many cases to have deter- mined the more or less wide range of the plants in question. It is al-o known that some species of plants can be fertilized only by particular species of insects, and the absence of these from any locality would necessarily prevent the continued existence of the plant in that area. Here, I believe, will be found the clue to much of the peculiarity of the floras of oceanic islands, since the methods by which these have been stocked with plants and insects will be often quite difterent. Many seeds are, no doubt, carried by oceanic currents, others probably by aquatic birds. Mr. H. N. Moseley informs me that the albatrosses, gulls, puffins, tropic birds, and many others, nest inland, often amidst dense vegetation, and he believes they often carry seeds, attached to their feathers, from island to island for great di-tances. In the tropics they often nest on the mountains far inland, and may thus aid in the distribution even of mountain plants. Insects, on the other ban), are mostly conveyed by aerial currents, especially by violent gales ; and it may thus often happen that totally unrelated plants and insects may be brought together, in which case the former must often perish for want of suitable insects to fertilise them. This will, I think, account for the strangely fragmentary nature of these in- sular floras, and the great differences that often exist between those which are situated in the same ocean, as well as for the preponderance of certain orders and genera. In Mr. Pickering's valuable work on the Geographical Distribution of Animals and Plants, he gives a list of no less than sixty-six natural orders of plants unexpectedly absent from Tahiti, or which occur in many of the surrounding lands, some being abundant in other islands — as the Labiat8e at the Sandwich Islands. In these latter islands the flora is much richer, yet a large number of families which abound in other parts of Polynesia are totally wanting. Now much of the poverty and exceptional distribution of the plants of these islands is probably due to the great scarcity of flower-frequenting insects. Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera are exceedingly scarce in the eastern islands of the Pacific, and it is almost certain that many plants which require these insects for their fertilization have been thereby prevented from establishing themselves. In the Western islands, such as the Fijis, several species of butterflies occur in tolerable abundance, and no doubt some flower-haunting Hymenoptera accompany them, and in these islands the flora appears to be much more varied, and especially to be characterized by a much greater variety of showy flowers, as may be seen by examining the plates of Dr. Seeman's " Flora Vitiensis." Darwin and Pickering both speak of the great preponderance of ferns at Tahiti, and Mr. Moseley, who spent several days in the interior of the island, informs me that "at an elevation of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet the dense vegetation is composed almost entirely of ferns. A tree-fern (Alsophila tahitensis) forms a sort of forest, to the exclusion of almost every other tree, and, with huge plants of two other ferns i^Angiopt.ris evecta and Aspelenium nidus), forms the main mass of the vegetation " And he adds, " I have nowhere seen ferns in so great proportionate abundance." This unusual proportion of ferns is a general feature of insular as compared with continental floras ; but it has, I believe, been generally attributed to favourable conditions, especially to equable Sept. 7, 1876] NATURE 407 climate and perennial moisture. In this respect, however, Tahiti can hardly differ greatly from many other islands, which yet have no such vast preponderance of ferns. This is a question that cannot be decided by mere lists of species, since it is probable that in Tahiti they are less numerous than in some other islands where they form a far less conspicuous feature in the vegetation. The island most comparable with Tahiti in that respect is Juan Fernandez. Mr. Moseley writes to me — " In a general view of any wide stretch of the densely-clothed mountainous surface of the island, the ferns, both tree-ferns and the unstemmed forms, are seen at once to compose a very large proportion of the mass of fohage." As to the insects of Juan Fernandez, Mr. Edwyn C. Reed, who made two visits and spent several weel?s there, has kindly furnished me with some exact information. Of butter- flies there is only one {Pyrameis carte), and that rare — a Chilian species, and probably an accidental straggler. Four species of moths of moderate size were observed — all Chilian, and a few larvse and pupae. Of bees there were none, except one very minute species (allied to Chilicola), and of other Hymenoptera, a single specimen of Ophion hiteus — a cosmopolitan ichneumon. About twenty species of flies were observed, and these formed the most prominent feature of the entomology of the island. Now, as far as we know, this extreme entomological poverty agrees closely with that of Tahiti ; and there are probably no other portions of the globe equally favoured in soil and climate and with an equally luxuriant vegetation, where insect-life is so scantily developed. It is curious therefore to find that these two islands also agree in the wonderful predominance of ferns over the flowering plants^ — in individuals even more than in species, and there is no difficulty in connecting the two facts. The excessive minuteness and great abundance of fern-spores causes them to be far more easily distributed by winds than the seeds of flowering plants, and they are thus always ready to occupy any vacant places in suitable localities, and to compete with the less vigorous flowering plants. But where insects are so scarce, all plants which require insect fertilisation, whether constantly to enable them to produce seed at all, or occasionally to keep up tlaeir constitutional vigour by crossing, must be at a great dis- advantage; and thus the scanty flora which oceanic islands must always possess, peopled as they usually are by waifs and strays from other lands, is rendered still more scanty by the weeding out of all such' as depend largely on insect fertilisation for their full development. It seems probable, therefore, that the pre- ponderance of ferns in islands (considered in mass of individuals rather than in number of species) is largely due to the absence of competing phenogamous plants ; and that this is in great part due to the scarcity of insects. In other oceanic islands, such as New Zealand and the Galapagos, where ferns, although tolerably abundant, form no such predominant feature in the vegetation, but where the scarcity of flower-haunting insects is almost equally marked, we find a great preponderance of small, green, or otherwise inconspicuous flowers, indicating that only such plants have been enabled to flourish there as are independent of insect fertilisation. In the Galapagos — which are perhaps even more deficient in flying insects than Juan Fernandez — this is so striking a feature that Mr. Darwin speaks of the vegetation as consisting in great part of *' wretched-looking weeds," and states that '* it was some time before he discovered that almost every plant was in flower at the time of his visit." He also says that he "did not see one beautiful flower" in the islands. It appears, however, that Compositse, Leguminosae, Rubiacese, and Solanaceje, form a large proportion of the flowering plants, and as these are orders which usually require insect fertilisation, we must suppose either that they have become modified so as to be self-fertilised, or that they are fertilised by the visits of the minute Diptera and Hymenoptera, which are the only insects recorded from these islands. In Juan Fernandez, on the other hand, there is no such total deficiency of showy flowers. I am informed by Mr. Moseley that a variety of the Magnoliaceous winter's bark abounds, and has showy white flowers, and that a Bignoniaceous shrub with abundance of dark blue flowers, was also plentiful ; while a white- flowered liliaceous plant formed large patches on the hill-sides. Besides these there were two species of woody C«mpositse with conspicuous heads of yellow blossoms, and a species of white- flowered myrtle also abundant ; so that, on the whole, flowers formed a rather conspicuous feature in the aspect of the vegeta- tion of Juan Fernandez. But this fact — which at first sight seems entirely at variance •with the view we are upholding of the important relation between the distribution of insects and plants — is well explained by the existence of two species of humming-birds in Juan Fernandez, which, in their visits to these large and showy flowers fertilise them as effectually as bees, moths, or butterflies. Mr. Moseley informs me that " these humming-birds are extraordinarily abundant, every tree or bush having one or two darting about it." He also observed that " nearly all the specimens killed had the feathers round the base of the bill and front of the head clogged and coloured yellow with pollen. " Here, then, we have the clue to the perpetuation of large and showy flowers in Juan Fernant'.ez ; while the total absence of humming-birds in the Galapagos may explain why no such large-flowered plants have been able to establish themselves in those equatorial islands. This leads to the observation that many other groups of birds also, no doubt, aid in the fertilization of flowers. I have often observed the beaks and faces of the brush-tongued lories of the Moluccas covered with pollen ; and Mr. Moseley noted the same fact in a species of Artatnus, or swallow-shrike, shot at Cape York, showing that this genus also frequents flowers and aids in their fertilisation. In the Australian region we have the immense group of the Meliphagidse, which all frequent flowers, and as these range over all the islands of the Pacific, their presence will account for a certain proportion of showy flowers being found there, such as the scarlet Metrosideros, one of the i^"^ conspicuous flowers in Tahiti. In the Sandwich Islands, too, there are forests oi Metrosideros ; and Mr. Charles Pickering writes me, that they are visited by honey-sucking birds, one of which is captured by sweetened bird-lime, against which it thrusts its extensile tongue. I am also informed that a considerable number of flowers are occasionally fertilised by humming-birds in North America ; so that there can, I think, be little doubt that birds play a much more important part in this respect than has hitherto been imagined. It is not improbable that in Tropical America, where this family is so enormously developed, many flowers will be found to be expressly adapted to fertilisation by them, just as so many in our own country are specially adapted to the visits of certain families or genera of insects. It must also be remembered, as Mr. Moseley has suggested to me, that a flower which had acquired a brilliant colour to attract insects might, on transference to another country, and becoming so modi- fied as to be capable of self-fertilisation, retain the coloured petals for an indefinite period. Such is probably the explanation of the Pelargonium of Kerguelen's land, which forms masses of bright colour near the shore during the flowering season ; while most of the other plants of the island have colourless flowers in accord- ance with the almost total absence of winged insects. The presence of many large and showy flowers among the indigenous flora of St. Helena must be an example of a similar persistence. Mr. Melliss indeed states it to be "a remarkable peculiarity that the indigenous flowers are, with very slight exceptions, all per- fectly colourless ; " ^ but although this may apply to the general aspect of the remains of the indigenous flora, it is evidently not the case as regards the species, since the interesting plates of Mr. Melliss's volume show that about one-third of the indigenous flowering plants have more or less coloured or conspicuous flowers, while several of them are exceedingly showy and beautiful. Among these are a Lobelia, three Wahlenbergias, several Compositce, and especially the handsome red flowers of the now almost extinct forest-trees, the ebony and redwood (species of Melhania, Byttneriaceie). We have every reason to believe, however, that when St. Helena was covered with luxuriant forests, and especially at that remote period when it was much more extensive than it is now, it must have supported a certain number of indigenous birds and insects, which would have aided in the fertilisation of these gaily-coloured flowers. The researches of Dr. Hermann Midler have shown us by what minute modifications of structure or of function many flowers aref adapted for partial insect- and self-fertilisation in varying degrees, so that we have no difficulty in understanding how, as the insects diminished and finally disappeared, self-fertilisation may have become the rule, while the large and showy corollas remain to tell us plainly of a once different state of things. Another interesting fact in connection with this subject is the presence of arborescent forms of Compositse in so many of the remotest oceanic islands. They occur in the Galapagos, in Juan Fernandez, in St. Helena, in the Sandwich Islands, and in New Zealand; but they are not directly related to each other, representatives of totally different tribes of this extensive order becoming arborescent in each group of islands. The immense range and almost universal distribution of the Compositas is due to the combination of a great facility of distribution (by their seeds), I Melliss's St. Helena, p. 226, note. 4o8 NATURE [Sept. 7, 1876 with a great attractiveness to insects, and the capacity of being fertilised by a variety of species of all orders, and especially by flies and small beetles. Thus they would be among the earliest of flowering plants to establish themselves on oceanic islands ; but where insects of all kinds were very scarce it would be an advantage to gain increased size and longevity, so that fertilization at an interval of several years might suffice for the continuance of the species. The arborescent form would combine with increased longevity the advantage of increased size in the struggle for existence with the ferns and other early colonists, and these advantages have led to its being independently produced in so many distant localities, whose chief feature in common is their remoteness from continents and the extreme poverty of their insect life. As the sweet odours of flowers are known to act in combination with their colours, as an attraction to insects, it might be antici- pated that where colour was deficient scent would be so also. On applying to my friend Dr. Hooker for information as to New Zealand plants, he informed me that this was certainly the case, and that the New Zealand flora is, speaking generally, as strikingly deficient in sweet odours as in conspicuous colours. Whether this peculiarity occurs in other islands I have not been able to obtain information, but we may certainly expect it to be so in such a marked instance as that of the Galapagos flora. Another question which here comes before us is the origin and meaning of the odoriferous glands of leaves. Dr. Hooker in- formed me that not only are New Zealand plants deficient in scented flowers, but equally so in scented leaves. This led me to think that perhaps such leaves were in some wry an additional attraction to insects, though it is not easy to under- stand how this could be, except by adding a general attraction to the special attraction of the flowers, or by supporting the larvae which as perfect insects aid in fertilisation. Mr. Darwin, how- ever, informs me that he considers that leaf-glands bearing essential oils are a protection against the attacks of insects where these abound, and would thus not be required in countries where insects were very scarce. But it seems opposed to this view that highly aromatic plants are characteristic of deserts all over the world, and in such places insects are not abundant. Mr. Stainton informs me that the aromatic Labiatae enjoy no immunity from insect attacks. The bitter leaves of the cherry -laurel are often eaten by the larvae of moths that abound on our fruit-trees; while in the Tropics the leaves of the orange tribe are favourites with a large number of lepidopterous larvae ; and our northern firs and pines, although abounding in a highly aromatic resin, are very subject to the attacks of beetles. My friend Dr. Richard Spruce — who while travelling in South America allowed nothing con- nected with plant-life to escape his observation — informs me that trees whose leaves have aromatic and often resinous secre- tions in immersed glands abound in the plains of tropical America, and that such are in great part, if not wholly, free from the attacks of leaf-eating ants, except where the secretion is only slightly bitter, as in the orange tribe, orange-trees being sometimes entirely denuded of their leaves in a single night. Aromatic plants abound in the Andes up to about 13,000 feet, as well as in the plains, but hardly more so than in Central and Southern Europe. They are perhaps most plentiful in the dry mountainous parts of Southern Europe ; and as neither here nor in the Andes do leaf-eating ants exist. Dr. Spruce infers that, although in the hot American forests where such ants swarm the oil-bearing glands serve as a protection, yet they were not originally acquired for that purpose. Near the limits of per- petual snow on the Andes such plants as occur are not, so far as Dr. Spruce has observed, aromatic : and as plants in such situations can hardly depend on insect visits for their fertilisation, the fact is comparable with that of the flora of New Zealand, and would seem to imply some relation between the two phenomena, though what it exactly is cannot yet be determined. I trust I have now been able to show you that there are a number of curious problems lying as it were on the outskirts of biological inquiry which well merit attention, and which may lead to valuable results. But these problems are, as you see, for the most part connected with questions of locality, and require full and accurate knowledge of the productions of a number of small islands and other Imiited areas, and the means of com- paring them the one with the other. To make such comparisons IS, however, now quite impossible. No museum contains any fair representation of the productions of these localities, and such specimens as do exist, being scattered through the general collection, are almost useless for this special purpose. If, then, we are to make any progress in this inquiry, it is absolutely essential that some collectors should begin to arrange their cabinets primarily on a geographical basis, keeping together the productions of every island or group of islands, and of such divisions of each continent as are found to possess any special or characteristic fauna or flora. We shall then be sure to detect many unsuspected relations between the animals and plants of certain localities, and we shall become mUch better acquainted with those complex reactions between the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and between the organic world and the inorganic, which have almost certainly played an important part in deter- mining many of the most conspicuous features of living things. Rise and Progress of Modern Views as to the Antiquity and Origin of Man. I now come to a branch of our subject which I would gladly have avoided touching on, but as the higher powers of this Asso- ciation have decreed that I should preside over the Anthropological Department, it seems proper that I should devote some portion of my address to matters more immediately connected with the special study to which that Department is devoted. As my own knowledge of, and interest in, Anthropology, is confined to the great outlines, rather than to the special details of the science, 1 propose to give a very brief and general sketch of the modern doctrine as to the Antiquity and Origin of Man, and to suggest certain points of difficulty which have not, I think, yet received sufficient attention.- Many now present remember the time (for it is little more than twenty years ago) when the antiquity of man, as now understood, was universally discredited. Not only theologians, but even geologists, then taught us that man belonged altogether to the existing state of things ; that the extinct animals of the Tertiary period had finally disappeared, and that the earth's surface had assumed its present condition, before the human race first came into existence. So prepossessed were even scientific men with this idea — which yet rested on purely negative evidence, and could not be supported by any arguments of scientific value — that numerous facts which had been presented at intervals for half a century, all tending to prove the existence of man at very remote epochs, were silently ignored ; and, more than this, the detailed statements of three distinct and careful observers were rejected by a great scientific Society as too improbable for pub- lication, only because they proved (if they were true) the co- existence of man with extinct animals ! -^ But this state of belief in opposition to facts could not long continue. In 1859 a few of our most eminent geologists examined for themselves into the alleged occurrence of flint implements in the gravels of the North of France, which had been made public fourteen years before, and found them strictly correct. The caverns of Devonshire were about the same time carefully examined by equally eminent observers, and were found fully to bear out the statements of those who had published their results eighteen years before. Flint implements began to be found in all suitable localities in the South of England, when carefully searched for, often in gravels of equal antiquity with those of France. Caverns, giving evidence of human occupation at various remote periods, were explored in Belgium and the South of France, — lake dwellings were examined in Switzerland — refuse heaps in Denmark — and thus a whole series of remains have been discovered carrying back the history of mankind from the earliest historic periods to a long distant past. The antiquity ot the races thus discovered can only be generally determined by the successively earlier and earlier stages through which we can trace them. As we go back, metals soon disappear and we find only tools and weapons of stone and of bone. The stone weapons get ruder and ruder ; pottery, and then the bone implements, cease to occur ; and in the earliest stage we find only chipped flints, of rude design though still of unmistakably human workmanship. In like manner domestic animals disappear as we go backward ; and though the dog seems to have been the earliest, it is doubtful whether the makers of the ruder flint implements of the gravels possessed even this. Still more important as a measure of time are the changes of the earth's surface — of the distribution of animals — and of climate — which have occurred during the human period. At a comparatively recent epoch in the record of prehistoric times we find that the Baltic was far Salter than it is now, and produced abundance of oysters ; and that Denmark I In 1854 (?) a communication from the Torquay Natural History Society confirming previous accounts by Mr. Godwin-Austen, Mr. Vivian, and the Rev. Mr. McEnery, that worked flints occurred in Kent's Hole with remams of extinct species, was rejected as too improbable for publication. Sept. 7, 1876] NA TURE 409 was covered with pine forests inhabited by Capercailzies, such as now only occur further north in Norway, A little earlier we find that reindeer were common even in the South of France, and still earlier this animal was accompanied by the mammoth and woolly rhinoceros, by the arctic glutton, and by huge bears and lions of extinct species. The presence of such animals implies a change of climate, and both in the caves and gravels we find proofs of a much colder climate than now prevails in Western Europe. Still more remarkable are the changes of the earth's surface which have been effected during man's occupa- tion of it. Many extensive valleys in England and France are believed by the best observers to have been deepened at least a hundred feet ; — caverns now far out of the reach of any stream must for a long succession of years have had streams flowing through them, at least in times of floods — and this often implies that vast masses of solid rock have since been worn away. In Sardinia land has risen at least 300 feet since men lived there who made pottery and probably used fishing-nets ;^ while in Kent's Cavern remains of man are found buried beneath two separate beds of stalagmite, each having a distinct texture, and each covering a deposit of cave-earth having well-marked differential characters, while each contains a distinct assemblage of extinct animals. Such, briefly, are the results of the evidence that has been rapidly accumulating for about fifteen years as to the antiquity of man ; and it has been confirmed by so many discoveries of a like nature in all parts of the globe, and especially by the comparison of the tools and weapons of prehistoric man with those of modern savages, so that the use of even the rude=t flint implements has become quite intelligible, — that we can hardly wonder at the vast revolution effected in public opinion. Not only is the belief in mau's vast and still unknown antiquity universal among men of science, but it is hardly disputed by any well-informed theologian; and the present generation of science-students must, we should think, be somewhat puzzled to understand, what there was in the earliest discoveries that should have aroused such general oppo- sition and been met with such universal incredulity. But the question of the mere " Antiquity of Man" almost sank into insignificance at a very early period of the inquiry, in comparison with the far more mopaentous and more exciting problem of the development of man from some lower animal form, which the theories of Mr. Darwin and of Mr. Herbert Spencer soon showed to be inseparably bound up with it. This has been, and to some extent still is, the subject of fierce con- flict ; but the controversy as to the fact of such development is now almost at an end, since one of the most talented represen- tatives of Catholic theology, and an anatomist of high standing — Professor Mivart — fully adopts it as regards physical structure, reserving his opposition for those parts of the theory, which would deduce man's whole intellectual and moral nature from the same source, and by a similar mode of development. Never, perhaps, in the whole history of science or philosophy has so great a revolution in thought and opinion been effected as in the twelve years from 1859 to 1871, the respective dates of publication of Mr. Darwin's " Origin of Species " and " Descent of Man." Up to the commencement of this period the belief in the independent creation or origin of the species of animals and plants, and the very recent appearance of man upon the earth, were, practically, universal. Long before the end of it these two beliefs had utterly disappeared, not only in the scientific world, but almost equally so among the literary and educated classes generally. The belief in the independent origin of man held its ground somewhat longer, but the publication of Mr. Darwin's great work gave even that its death-blow, for hardly anyone capable of judging of the evidence now doubts the derivative nature of man's bodily structure as a whole, although many believe that his mind and even some of his physical characteristics may be due to the action of other forces than have acted in the case of the lower animals. We need hardly be surprised, under these circumstances, if there has been a tendency among men of science to pass from one extreme to the other, from a profession (so few years ago) of total ignorance as to the mode of origin of all living things, to a claim to almost complete knowledge, of the whole progress of the universe, from the first speck of living protoplasm up to the highest development of the human intellect. Yet this is really what we have seen in the last sixteen years. Formerly difficulties were exaggerated, and it was asserted that we had not sufficient knowledge to venture on any generalizations on the subject. Now difficulties are set aside, and it is held that our theories are ' Lyell's Antiquity of Man, fourth edition, p. iij. SO well established and so far-reaching, that they explain and comprehend all nature. It is not long ago (as I have already reminded you) %va.zQ facts were contemptuously ignored, because they favoured our now popular views ; at the present day it seems to me that facts which oppose them hardly receive due consideration. And as opposition is the best incentive to pro- gress, and it is not well even for the best theories to hi^ve it all their own way, I propose to direct your attention to a few such facts, and to the conclusions that seem fairly deducible from them. It is a curious circumstance, that notwithstanding the attention that has been directed to the subject in every part of the world, and the numerous excavations connected with railways and mines which have offered such facilities for geological discovery, no advance whatever has been made for a considerable number of years, in detecting the time or the mode of man's origin. The Palaeolithic flint weapons first discovered in the North of France more than thirty years ago, are still the oldest undisputed proofs of man's existence ; and amid the countless relics of a former world that have been brought to light, no evidence of any one of the links that must have connected man with the lower . animals has yet appeared. It is, indeed, well known that negative evidence in geology is of very slender value, and this is, no doubt, generally the case. The circumstances here are, however, peculiar, for many converg- ing lines of evidence show that on the theory of development by the same laws which have determined the development of the lower animals, man must be immensely older than any traces of him yet discovered. As this is a point of great interest we must devote a few moments to its consideration. 1. The. most important difference between man and such of the lower animals as most nearly approach him, is undoubtedly in the bulk and development of his brain, as indicated by the form and capacity of the cranium. We should therefore anticipate that these earliest races, who were contemporary with the extinct animals and used rude stone weapons, would show a marked deficiency in this respect. Yet the oldest known crania — those of the Engis and Cro-Magnon caves — show no marks of degra- dation. The former does not present so low a type as that ot most existing savages, but is — to use the words of Prof. Huxley — " a fair average human skull, which might have belonged to a philosopher, or might have contained the thoughtless brains of a savage." The latter are still more remarkable, being unusually large and well formed. Dr. Pruner-Bey states that they surpass the average of modern European skulls ^in capacity, while their symmetrical forms, without any trace of prognathism, compares favourably not only with the foremost savage .races, but with many civilised nations of modern times. One or two other crania of much lower type, but of less antiquity than this, have been discovered ; but they in no way invalidate the conclusion which so highly developed a form at so early a period implies, viz., that we have as yet made a hardly perceptible step towards the discovery of any earlier stage in the development of man. 2. This conclusion is supported and enforced by the nature ot many of the works of art found even in the oldest cave-dwellings. The flints are of the old chipped type, but they are formed into a large variety of tools and weapons — such as scrapers, awls, hammers, saws, lances, &c., implying a variety of purposes for which these were used, and a corresponding degree of mental activity and civilisation. Numerous articles of bone have also been found, including well-formed needles, implying that skins were sewn together, and perhaps even textile materials woven into cloth. Still more important are the numerous carvings and drawings representing a variety of animals, including horses, rein- deer, and even a mammoth, executed with considerable skill on bone, reindeer-horns, and mammoth-tusks. These, taken to- gether, indicate a state of civilisation much higher than that of the lowest of our modern savages, while it is quite compatible with a considerable degree of mental advancement, and leads us to believe that; the crania of Engis and Cro-Magnon are not ex- ceptional, but fairly represent the characters of the race. If we further remember that these people lived in Europe under the unfavourable conditions of a sub-Arctic climate, we shall be in- clined to agree with Dr. Daniel Wilson, that it is far easier to produce evidences of deterioration than of progress in instituting a comparison between the contemporaries of the mammoth and later prehistoric races of Europe or savage nations of modern times.* 3. Yet another important line of evidence as to the extreme * "Prehistoric Man," 3rd cd. vol. i. p. 117. 4IO NATURE {Sept. 7, 1876 antiquity of the human type has been brought prominently forward by Prof. Mivart.^ He shows by a careful comparison of all parts of the structure of the body, that man is related, not to any one, but almost equally to many of the existing apes — to the orang, the chimpanzee, the gorilla, and even to the gibbons — in a variety of ways ; and these relations and differences are so numerous and so diverse that on the theory of evolution the ancestral form which ultimately developed into man must have diverged from the common stock whence all these various forms and their ex- tinct allies originated. But so far back as the Miocene deposits of Europe, we find the remains of apes allied to these various forms, and especially to the gibbons, so that in all probability the special line of variation which Jed up to man branched off at a still earlier period. And these early forms, being the initiation of a far higher type, and having to develop by natural selection into so specialised and altogether distinct a creatuie as man, must have risen at a very early period into the position of a dominant race, and spread in dense waves of population over all suitable portions of the great continent — for thi?, on Mr. Darwin's hypothesis, is essential to rapid developmental progress through the agency of natural selection. Under these circumstances we might certainly expect to find some relics of these earlier forms of man along with those of animals which were presumably less abundant. Negative evidence of this kind is not very weighty, but still it has some value. It has been suggested that as apes are mostly tropical, and anthropoid apes are now confined almost exclusively to the vicinity of the equator, we should expect the ancestral forms also to have in- habited these Fame localities — West Africa and the Malay Islands. But this objection is hardly valid, because existing anthropoid apes are wholly dependent on a perennial supply of easily accessible fruits, which is only found near the equator, while not only had the south of Europe an almost tropical climate in Miocene times, but we must suppose even the earliest ancestors of man to have been terrestrial and omnivorous, since it must have taken ages of slow modification to have produced the perfectly erect form, the short arms, and the wholly non-prehen- sile foot, which so strongly differentiate man from the apes. The conclusion which I think we must arrive at is, that if man has been developed from a common ancestor, with all existing apes, and by no other agencies than suck as have affected their development, then he must have existed in something approach- ing his present form, during the tertiary period— and not merely existed, but predominated in numbers, wherever suitable condi- tions prevailed. If then, continued researches in all parts of Europe and Asia fail to bring to light any proofs of his presence, it will be at least a presumption that he came into existence at a much later date, and by a much more rapid process of develop- ment. In that case it will be a fair argument, that, just as he is in his m.ental and moral nature, his capacities and aspirations, so infinitely raised above the brutes, so his origin is due to distinct and higher agencies than such as have affected their development. There is yet another line of inquiry bearing upon this subject to which I wish to call your attention. It is a somewhat curious fact, that, while all modern writers admit the great antiquity of man, most of them maintain the very recent development of his intellect, and will hardly contemplate the possibility of men equal in mental capacity to ourselves, having existed in pre- historic times. This question is generally assumed to be settled, by such relics as have been preserved of the manufactures of the older races showing a lower and lower state of the arts ; by the successive disappearance in early times of iron, bronze, and pottery ; and by the ruder forms of the older flint implements. The weakness of this argument has been well shown by Mr. Albert Mott in his very original, but little known presidential address to the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool in 1873. He maintains that "our most distant glimpses of the past are still of a world peopled as now with men both civilised and savage" — and, "that we have often entirely misread the past by supposing that the outward signs of civilisation must always be the same, and must be such as are found among our- selves. " In support of this view he adduces a variety of striking facts and ingenious arguments, a few of which I will briefly summarise. On one of the most remote islands of the Pacific — Easter Island — 2,000 miles from South America, 2,000 from the Mar- quesas, and more than 1,000 from the Gambier Islands, are found hundreds of gigantic stone images, now mostly in ruins, often thirty or forty feet high, while some seem to have been " Man-and Apes," pp. 171-193. much larger, the crowns on their heads cut out of a red stone being sometimes ten feet in diameter, while even the head and neck of one is said to have been twenty feet high. ^ Thtse once stood erect on extensive stone platforms, yet the island has only an area of about thirty square miles, or considerably less than Jersey. Now as one of the smallest images eight feet high weighs four tons, the largest must weigh over a hundred tons, if not much more ; and the existence of such vast works implies a large population, abundance of food, and an esta- blished gov. rnment Yet how could these coexist in a mere speck of land wholly cut off from the rest of the world ? Mr. Mott maintains that this necessarily implies the power of regular communication with larger islands or a continent, the arts of navigation, and a civilisation much higher than now exists in any part of the Pacific. Very similar remains in other islands scattered widely over the Pacific add weight to this argument. The next example is that of the ancient mounds and earth- works of the North American continent, the bearing of which is even more significant. Over the greater part of the exten- sive Mississippi valley four well-marked classes of these earth- works occur. Some are camps, or works of defence, situated on bluffs, promontories, or isolated hills ; others are vast inclo- sures in the plains and lowlands, often of geometric forms, and having attached to them roadways or avenues often miles in length ; a third are mounds corresponding to our tumuli, often seventy to ninety feel high, and some of them covering acres of ground ; while a fourth group consist of representations of various animals modelled in relief on a gigantic scale, and occurring chiefly in an area somewhat to the north-west of the other classes, in the plains of Wisconsin. The first class — the camps or fortified inclosures — resemble in general features the ancient camps of our own islands, but far surpass them in extent. Fort Hill, in Ohio, is surrounded by a wall and ditch a mile and a half in length, part of the way cut through solid rock. Artificial reservoirs for water were made within it, while at one extremity, on a more elevated point, a keep is constructed with its separate defences and water- reservoirs. Another, called Clark's Work, in the Scioto valley, which seems to have been a fortified town, incloses an area of 127 acres, the embankments measuring three miles in length,, and containing not less than three million cubic feet of earth. This area incloses numerous sacrificial mounds and symmetrical earth- works in which many interesting relics and works of art have been found. The second class — the sacred inclosures — maybe compared for extent and arrangement with Avebury or Carnak — but are in some respects even more remarkable. One of these, at Newark, Ohio, covers an area of several miles with its connected groups of circles, octagons, squares, ellipses, and avenues, on a grand scale, and formed by embankments from twenty to thirty feet in height. Other similar works occur in different parts of Ohio, and by accurate survey it is found not only that the circles are true, though some of them are one-third of a mile in diameter, but that other figures are truly square, each side being over 1,000 feet long, and what is still more important, the dimensions of some of these geometrical figures in different parts of the country and seventy miles apart, are identical. Now this proves the use, by the builders of these works, of some standard measures of length, while the accuracy of the squares, circles, and, in a less degree, of the octagonal figures — shows a considerable knowledge of rudimentary geometry, and some means of measuring angles. The difficulty of drawing such figures on a large scale is much greater than any one would imagine who has not tried it, and the accuracy of these is far beyond what is necessary to satisfy the eye. We must therefore impute to these people the wish to make these figures as accurate as possible, and this wish is a greater proof of habitual skill and intellectual advancement than even the ability to draw such figures. If, then, we take into account this ability and this love of geometric truth, and further consider the dense population and civil organisation implied by the construction of such extensive systematic works, we must allow that these people had reached the earlier stages of a civili- sation of which no traces existed among the savage tribes who alone occupied the country when first visited by Europeans. The animal mounds are of comparatively less importance for our present purpose, as they imply a somewhat lower grade of advancement ; but the sepulchral and sacrificial mounds exist in vast numbers, and their partial exploration has yielded a quantity of articles and works of art, which throw some further light on the peculiarities of this mysterious people. Most of these mounds ' Journ. of Roy. Geog. Soc, 1870, pp. 177, 178, Sept. 7, 1876] NA TURE 411 contain a large concave hearth or basin of burnt clay, of per- fectly symmetrical form, on which are found deposited more or less abundant relics, all bearing traces of the action of fire. We are, therefore, only acquainted with such articles as are practi- cally fire-proof. These consist of bone and copper implements and ornaments, discs, and tubes — pearl, shell, and silver beads, more or less injured by the fire — ornaments cut in mica, orna- mental pottery, and numbers of elaborate carvings in stone, mostly forming pipes for smoking. The metallic articles are all formed by hammering, but the execution is very good ; plates of mica are found cut into scrolls and circles ; the pottery, of which very few remains have been found, is far superior to that of any of the Indian tribes, since Dr. Wilson is of opinion that they must have been formed on a wheel, as they are often of uniform thickness throughout (sometimes not more than one-sixth of an inch) polished, and ornamented with scrolls and figures of birds and flowers in delicate relief. But the most instructive objects are the sculptured stone pipes, representing not only various easily recognisable animals, but also human head>, so weil exe- cuted that they appear to be portraits. Among the animals, not only are such native forms as the panther, bear, jotter, wolf, beaver, raccoon, heron, crow, turtle, frog, rattlesnake, and many others, well represented, but also the manatee, which perhaps then ascended the Mississippi as it now does the Amazon, and the toucan, which could hardly have been obtained nearer than Mexico. The sculptured heads are especially remarkable, be- cause they present to us the features of an intellectual and civi- lised people. The nose in some is perfectly straight, and neither prominent nor dilated, the mouth is small, and the lips thin, the chin and upper lip are short, contrasting with the pon- derous jaw of the modern Indian, while the cheek-bones pre- sent no marked prominence. Other examples have the nose somewhat projecting at the apex in a manner quite unlike the features of any American indigenes, and, although there are some which show a much coarser face, it is verj' difficult to see in any of them that close resemblance to the Indian type which these sculptures have been said to exhibit. The few authentic crania from the mounds present corresponding features, being far more symmetrical and better developed in the frontal region than those of any American tribes, although somewhat re- sembling them in the occipital outline ; ^ while one was described by its discoverer (Mr. W. Marshall Anderson) as " a beautiful skull worthy of a Greek." The antiquity of this remarkable race may perhaps not be very great, as compared with the prehistoric man of Europe, although the opinions of some writers on the subject seem affected by that " parsimony of time " on which the late Sir Charles Lyell so often dilated. The mounds are all overgrown with dense forest, and one of the large trees was estimated t» be eight hundred years old, while other observers consider the forest growth to indicate an age of at least 1,000 years. But it is well known that it requires several generations of trees to pass away before the growth on a deserted clearing comes to correspond with that of the surrounding virgin forest, while this forest, once established, may go on growing for an unknown number of thousands of years. The 800 or 1,000 years estimate fiom the growth of existing vegetation is a minimum which has no bearing whatever on the actual age of these mounds, and we might almost as well attempt to deter- mine the time of the glacial epoch from the age of the pines or oaks which now grow on the moraines. The important thing for us, however, is that when Norih Anierjca was first settled by Europeans, the Indian tribes inhabiting it had no knowledge or tradition of any preceding race" 'o/, higher civilisation than, themselves. Yet we find that *S^clt* a race existed ; that they must have been populous and have lived under some established government ; whi'e there are signs that they practised agriculture largely, as indeed they must have done to have supported a popula- tion capable of executing such gigantic works in such vast profusion — for it is stated that the mounds and earthworks of various kinds in the state of Ohio alone amounts to between eleven and twelve thousand. In their habits, customs, religion, and arts, they differed strikingly from all the Indian tribes ; while their love of art and of geometric forms, and their capa- city for executing the latter upon so gigantic a scale, render it probable that they were a really civilised people, although the form their civilisation took may have been vcy different from that of later people subject to very different influences, and the inheritors of a longer series of ancestral civilisations. We have here, at all events, a striking example of the transition, over an I Wilson's "Prehistoric Man," 3rd ed. vol. ii. pp. 123-130. extensive country, from comparative civilisation to comparative barbarism, the former having left no tradition, and hardly any trace of influence on the latter. As Mr. Mott well remarks : — Nothing can be more striking than the fact that Easter Island and North America both give the same testimony as to the origin of the savage life found in them, although in all circumstances and surroundings the two cases are so different. If no stone monuments had been constructed in Easter Island, or mounds, containing a few relics saved from fire, in the United States, we might never have suspected the existence of these ancient peoples. He argues, thertfore, that it is very easy for the records of an ancient nation's life entirely to perish, or to be hidden from observation. Even the arts of Nineveh and Babylon were unknown only a generation ago, and we have only just discovered the facts about the mound- builders of North America. But other parts of the American continent exhibit parallel phenomena. Recent investigations show that in Mexico, Central America, and Pen., the existing race of Indians has been pre- ceded by a distinct and more civilised race. This is proved by the sculptures of the ruined cities of Central America, by the more ancient terra-cottas and paintings of Mexico, and by the oldest portrait-pottery of Peru. All alike show markedly non- Indian features, while they often closely resemble modem Euro- pean types. Ancient crania, too, have been found in all these countries, presenting very different characters from those of any of the modern indigenous races of America.^ There is one other striking example of a higher being suc- ceeded by a lower degree of knowledge, which is in danger of being forgotten because it has been made the foundation ot theories which seem wild and fantastic, and are probably in great part erroneous. I allude to the Great Pyramid of Egypt, whose form, dimensions, structure, and uses have recently been the subject of elaborate works by Prof. Piazzi Smyth. Now, the admitted facts about this pyramid are so interesting and so appo- site to the subject we are considering, that I beg to recall them to your attention. Most of you are aware that this pyramid has been carefully explored and measured by successive Egyptolo- gists, and that the dimensions have lately become capable of more accurate determination owing to the discovery of some of the original casing-stones and the clearing away of the earth from the corners of the foundation, showing the sockets in which the comer-stones fitted. Prof. Smyth devoted many months of work with the best instruments in order to fix the dimensions and angles of all accessible parts of the stmcture ; and he has carefully determined these by a comparison of his own and all previous measures, the best of which agree pretty closely with each other. The results arrived at are — 1. That the pyramid is truly square, the sides being equal and the angles right angles. 2. That the four sockets on which the four first stones of the corners rested are truly on the same level. 3. That the direction of the sides are accurately to the four cardinal points. 4. That the vertical height of the pyramid bears the same proportion to its circumference at the base, as the radius of a circle does to its circumference. Now all these measures, angles, and levels are accurate, not as an ordinary surveyor or builder could make them, but to such a degree as requires the very best modem instruments and all the refinements of geodetical science to discover any error at all. In addition to this we have the wonderful perfection of the work- manship in the interior of the pyramid, the passages and chambers being lined with huge blocks of stones fitted with the utmost accuracy, whle every part of the building exhibits the highest structural science. In all these respects this largest pyramid surpasses every other in Egypt. Yet it is universally admitted to be the oldest, and also the oldest historical building in the world. Now these admitted facts about the Great Pyramid are surely remarkable, and worthy of the deepest consideration. They are facts which, in the pregnant words of the late Sir John Herschel, "according to received theories ought not to happen," and which, he tells us, should therefore be kept ever present to our minds, since "they belong to the class of facts which serve as the clue to new discoveries." According to modem theories, the higher civilisation is ever a growth and an outcome from a pre- ceding lower state ; and it is inferred that this progress is visible to us throughout all history and in all the material records of human intellect. But here we have a building which marks the ^ Wilson's " Prehistoric Man," 3rd ed. vol. iL pp. 125, 144. 412 NA TURE {Sept. 7, 1876 very dawn of history — which is the oldest authentic monument of man's genius and skill, and which, instead of being far inferior, is very much superior to all which followed it. Great men are the products of their age and country, and the designer and constructors of this wonderful monument could never have arisen among an unintellectual and half-barbarous people. So perfect a work implies many preceding less perfect works which have disappeared. It marks the culminating point of an ancient civilisation, of the early stages of which we have no record whatever. The three cases to which I have now adverted (and there are many others) seem to require for their satisfactory interpretation a somewhat different view of human progress from that which is now generally accepted. Taken in connection with the great intellectual power of the ancient Greeks — which Mr, Gallon believes to have been far above that of the average of any modern nation — and the elevation, at once intellectual and moral, dis- played in the writings of Confucius, Zoroaster, and the Vedas, they point to the conclusion, that, while in material progress there has been a tolerably steady advance, man's intellectual and moral development reached almost its highest level. in a very remote past. The lower, the more animal, but often the more energetic types, have however always been far the more nume- rous ; hence such established societies as have here and there arisen under the guidance of higher minds, have always been liable to be swept away by the incursions of barbarians. Thus in almost every part of the globe there may have been a long succession of partial civilisation, each in turn succeeded by a period of barbarism ; and this view seems supported by the occurrence of degraded types of skull along with such " as might have belonged to a philosopher " — at a time when the mammoth and the reindeer inhabited southern France. Nor need we fear that there is not time enough for the rise and decay of so many successive civilisations as this view would imply ; for the opinion is now gaining ground among geologists that palseolithic man was really preglacial, and that the great gap — marked alike by a change of physical conditions, and of animal life — which in Europe always separates him from his neolithic successor, was caused by the coming on and passing away of the great ice age. If the views now advanced are correct, many, perhaps most, of our existing savages, are the successors of higher races ; and their arts, often showing a wonderful similarity in distant con- tinents, may have been derived from a common source among nwre civilised peoples. I must now conclude this very imperfect sketch of a few of the offshoots from the great tree of Biological study. It will, perhaps, be thought by some that my remarks have tended to the depreciation of our science, by hinting at impcrfec.ions in our knowledge and errors in our theories, where more enthu- siastic students see nothing but established truths. But I trust that I may have conveyed to many of my hearers a different im- pression. I have endeavoured to show that even in what are usually considered the more trivial and superficial characters presented by natural objects, a whole field of new inquiry is opened u > to us by the stu ly of distribution, and local con- ditions. And as regards man, I have endeavoured to fix your attention on a class ot facts which indicate that the course of his development has oeen far less direct and simple than has hitherto been supposed ; and that, instead of resembling a single tide with its advancing and receding ripples, it must rather be compared to the progress from neap to spring tides, both the rise and the depression being comparatively greater as the waters of true civilisaiion slowly advance towards the highest level they can react'. And if we are thus led to believe that our present knowledge of nature is somewhat less complete than we have been accustomed to consider it, this is only what we might txpect ; for however great may have been the intellectual triumphs of the nineteenth century, we can hardly think so highly of its achievements as to imagine that, in somewhat less than twenty years, we have passed from complete ignorance to almost perfect knowledge on two such vast and complex subjects as the origin of species and the antiquity of man. SECTION E. GEOGRAPHY. Opening Address by F. J. Evans, C.B., F.R.S,, Captain R.N., President. Two events, notable in the annals of Geographical Science have to be recorded since the last meeting of the British Association ; and these events as bearing materially on the advancement of our knowledge of geography are deserving the special commen- dation of this Section. I refer to the successful issue of Cameron's land journey across the tropical regions of Southern Africa and to the successful completion of the sea voyage of the Challenger ; a voyage which in its scope included the circumnavigation of the globe, the traversing the several oceans between the 50th parallel of North latitude and the Antarctic circle, and the exploration throughout, by the medium of the sounding line and dredge, of the contour features, the formation, and the animal life of the great oceanic bed. The general results of the notable African land journey have already, through our parent society in London, been brought largely under public review ; and at our present meeting many details of interest will be placed before you by the intrepid traveller himself. The courage, perseverance and patient atten- tion to the records of this long travel have been dwelt on by our highest geographical authorities, and so far it might appear super- fluous to join in praise from this chair ; nevertheless, it is to that part of the proceedings of Cameron, the unvarying attention and care he bestowed on instrumental observations, in order to give those proceedings a secure scientific basis, to which I would direct your attention as being of a high order of merit. With this example before us, remembering the country and climate in which such unremitting labours were carried out, distinction to the future explorer cannot rest on the mere render- ing of estimated topographical details, but can alone be fully merited when those details are verified by instrumental obser- vations of an order sufficient to place numerically before geo- graphers the physical features and characteristics of the explored region. Turning now from the results of the land journey of Cameron to those of the sea voyage of the Challenger we are again re- minded of the value of repeated and methodically arranged instrumental observations in geographical research. With our present knowledge of the sea-board regions of the globe, little remains, except in Polar areas, for the navigator to do in the field of discovery, or even of exploration, otherwise than in those details rendered necessary by the requirements of trade or special industries. It is to the development of the scientific features of geography that the attention of voyagers requires to be now mainly directed ; and in this there is an illimitable field. The great advance in this direction resulting from the two leading events of the past year, to which I have referred, foreshadows geographical research of the future. Communications of special value from some of those voyagers whose good fortune it was to leave and return to their native land in the ship Challtnger will doubtless be made to this and other Sections. I trust nevertheless, as one ofhcially interested in the expedition from its inception, and as having in early days been engaged in kindred work, and also as I hope without being considered to have trespassed on the scientific territories of these gentlemen — ground indeed so well eai'ned, — this meeting will view with indulgence my having selected as the leading theme of my address to it, a review of that branch of our science now commonly known as the " Physical Geography of the Sea ; " combined with such suggestive matter as has preiented itself to me whilst engaged in following up the proceedings of this remark- able voyage. It has been well observed that "contact with the ocean has unquestionally exercised a beneficial influence on the cultivation of the intellect and formation of the character of many nations, on the multiplication of those bonds which should unit*; the whole huinan race, on the first knowledge of the true forrii>o_f th<* earth and on the pursuit of astronomy and of all the mathe- matical and physical sciences." The subject is thus not an ignoble one, and further, it appears to me appropriate, assembled as we are in the commercial metropolis of Scotland, from among whose citizens some of the most valuable scientific investigations bearing on the art of navigation have proceeded. As a prefatory remark, I would observe that the distinctive appellation "Physical Geography of the Sea" is due to the accomplished geographer Humboldt ; it is somewhat indefinite though comprehensive, and implies that branches of science not strictly pertaining to geography, as commonly understood, are invaded ; but this intrusion or overlapping of scientific boun- daries is inevitable with the expansion of knowledge : and it is difficult to see how the term can be wisely amended, or how the several included branches of physics can be separated from pure geographical science. We are indebted in our generation to the genitis and untiring Sept. 7, 1876] NA TURE 413 energy of Maury, aided originally by the liberal support of his Government, for placing before us in the two-fold interests of science and commerce an abundant store of observed facts in this field ; accompanied, too, by those broad generalisations, which, written with a ready pen and the fervour of an enthusiast gifted with a poetic temperament, have charmed so many readers, and in their practical bearings have undoubtedly advanced navi- gation in practice. In our admiration, however, of modern progress we must not in justice pass by without recognition the labours of earlier workers in the same field. So early as the middle of the seven- teenth century we find in Holland, Barnard Vanerius describing with commendable accuracy the direction of the greater currents of the Atlantic Ocean and their dependence on prevailing winds ; the unequal saltness of the sea, the diversity of temperature as the causes of the direction of the winds, and also speculating on the depths of the sea. Vanerius's geographical writings were highly appreciated by Newton, and editions were prepared at Cambridge under the supervision of that great man in 1672 and i68i. To Dampier the seaman, and Halley the philosopher, we owe graphic descriptions of the trade winds as derived from personal experience ; while the investigations by Hadley of their causes, and the conclusions he arrived at, that they were due to the com- bined effects of the diurnal revolution of the earth on its axis, and the unequal distribution of heat over different parts of the earth's surface, in substance still remairt unchallenged. To Rennell we owe a masterly investigation of the currents of the Atlantic Ocean, an investigation, which for precision and a thorough conception of the conditions affecting the subject will long serve as a model for imitation. His period covered some thirty or forty years during the end of the last and the begin- ning of the present century. At that epoch, chronometers — though very efficient — had scarcely passed the stage of trial, but had nevertheless commended themselves to the first navigators of the day, whose aim it was to narrowly watch and test this, to them, marvellous acquisition. Rennell thus commanded nautical observations of a high order of merit ; these he indi- vidually verified, both for determining the ship's position abso- lutely and relatively to the course pursued; and our knowledge of surface-currents was established on the secure basis of diffsr- ential results obtained at short intervals, such as a day or parts of a day, instead of the previous rude estimation from a ship's reckoning extending over a whole voyage, or its greater part. At a later date we have by Redfield, Reed, Thom, and others, solidly practical investigations of the gyratory and at the same time bodily progressive movements of those fierce and violent stoims which, generated in tropical zones, traverse extensive districts of the ocean, not unfrequently devastating the narrow belt of land comprised in their track ; and on the sea baffling all the care and skill of the seaman to preserve his ship scathless ; while the clear and elegant exposition by Dove of their law and its application as one common general principle to the ordinary movements of the atmosphere must commend itself as one of the achievements of modern science. ' While for the moment in the aerial regions, we must not forget the industry and scientific penetration of the present excellent secretary of the Scottish Meteorological Society. His more recent development of the several areas of barometric pressure, both oceanic and continental, bids fair to amend and enlarge our conceptions of the circulation of both the aei-ial and liquid coverings of our planet. Looking then from our immediate stand-point on the ex- tent of our knowledge, as confirmed by observational facts of the several branches of physics pertaining to the geography of the sea, just rapidly reviewed, we find that, resulting from the methodical gathering up of " ocean statistics" by our own and other maritime nations, in the manner shadowed forth by Maury and stamped by the Brussels Conference of 1853, we are in pos- session of a goodly array of broad but nevertheless sound results. The average seasonal limits of the trade winds and monsoons, with the areas traversed by circular storms are known ; also the general linear direction and varying rates of motion of the several ocean currents and streams ; together with the diffused values of air and sea surface temperatures, the areas of uniform baro- metric pressure, and the prevalent winds, over the navigable parts of the globe. Thus far the practical advantages that have accrued to the art of navigation — and so directly aiding commerce — by the gradual diffusion of this knowledge through the medium of graphical rendering on charts, and concise textual descriptions, cannot be over-rated ; still much is wanting in fulnesi ind precision of de- tail, especially in those distant but limited regions more recently opened out by expanding trade. Science views, too, with increasing interest these advances in our knowledge of ocean physics, as bearing materially on the grand economy of nature : essays brilliant and almost exhaustive on some of its subjects, have been given to us by eminent men of our own day ; but here one is reminded, by the diversity in the rendering of facts, how much remains to be done in their correlation, and what an ex- tensive and still expanding field is before us. The dawning efforts of science to pass beyond the immediate practical requirements of the navigator are worthy of note. We find — from an admirable paper on the " Temperatures of the Sea at different Depths," by Mr. Prestv/ich, just published in the Philosophical Transactions — that in the middle of last century the subject of deep-sea temperatures first began to attract atten- tion, and thermometers for the purpose were devised ; but it was not till the early part of the present century that the curiosity of seamen appears to have been generally awakened to know more of the ocean than could be gleaned on its surface. John Ross, when in the Arctic seas in 1818, caught glimpses of animal life at the depth of 6,000 feet ; other navigators suc- ceeded in obtaining the temperature of successive layers of water to depths exceeding 6,000 feet, but, so far as I can ascertain, James Ross was, in 1840, the first to record beyond doubt that bottom had been reached, "deeper than did ever plummet sound," at 16,060 feet, westward of the Cape of Good Hope. The impetus to deep sea exploration was, however, given by the demand for electric telegraphic communication between countries severed by the ocean, or by impracticable land routes, and the past twenty years marks its steady growth. Appliances for reaching the bottom with celerity, for bringing up its water, for bringing up its formation, for registering its thermal condi- tion in situ, have steadily improved, and thus the several oceans were examined both over present and prospective telegraph routes. Science, aroused by the consideration that vast fields for biological research were opening up — as proved by the re- turns, prolific with living and dead animal matter, rendered by the comparatively puny appliances originally used for bringing up the sea bottom — invoked, as beyond the reach of private enterprise, the aid of Government. Wisely, earnestly, and munificently was the appeal responded to, and thus the Challenger Expedition has become the culminating effort of our own day. We have now reached, in all probability, a new starting-point in reference to many of our conceptions of the physics of the globe, and our own special branch may not be the least affected. There is opened up to us, for example, as fair a general know- ledge of the depression of the bed of large oceanic areas below the sea level, as of the elevation of the lands of adjacent conti- nents above that universal zero line. We learn for the first time by the Challenger's results — ably supplemented as they have recently been by the action of the U.S. Government in the Pacific, and by an admirable series of soundings made in the exploratory German ship of war Gazelle — that the unbroken range of ocean in the southern hemisphere is much shallosver than the northern seas, that it has no features approaching in character those grand abyssal depths of 27,000 and 23,500 feet found respectively in the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, as the greatest reliable depths recorded do not exceed 17,000 or 17,500 feet. The general surface of the sea bed presents in general to the eye, when graphically rendered on charts by contour lines of equal soundings, extensive plateaux varied with the gentlest of undulations. There is diversity of feature in the western Pacific Ocean, where, in the large area occupied by the many groups of coral islands, their intervening seas are cut up into deep basins or hollows, some 15,000, some 20,000 feet deep. In the Northern Oceans one is struck with the fact that the profounder depths in the Pacific occupy a relative place in that ocean with those found in the Atlantic ; both abyssal areas have this, too, in common, the maximum depths are near the land, the sea sur- face temperature has the maximum degree of heat in either ocean, and two of the most remarkable ocean streams — Florida Gulf and Japan — partially encompass them. In the Atlantic Ocean, from a high Southern latitude, a broad channel with not less than some 12,000 to 15,000 feet can be traced, as extending nearly to the entrance of Davis Strait : a dividing undulating ridge of far less depression, on which stand the islands of Tristan d'Acunha, St. Helena, and Ascension, separates this which may be named the Western Channel from a 414 NATURE {Sept. 7, 1876 similar one running parallel to the South African Continent, and which extends to the parallel of the British Islands. It is possible that certain tidal and, indeed, climatic conditions, peculiar to the shores of the North Atlantic, may be traced to this bottom conformation, which carries its deep, canal-like cha- racter into Davis Strait, and between Greenland, Iceland, and Spitzbergen, certainly to the 80th parallel. There is, however, one great feature common to all oceans, and which may have some significance in the consideration of ocean circulation, and as affecting the genesis and translation ol the great tidal wave and other tidal phenomena, of which we know so little ; namely, that the fringe of the seaboard of the great continents and islands, from the depth of a few hundred feet below the sea-level, is, as a rule, abruptly precipitous to depths of 10,000 and 12,000 feet. This grand escarpment is typically illustrated at the entrance of the British Channel, where the distance between a depth of 600 feet and 12,000 feet is in places only ten miles. Imagination can scarcely realise the stupendous marginal features of this common surface depression. Vast in extent as are these depressed regions — for we must recollect that they occupy an area three times greater than the dry land of the globe, and that a temperature just above the freezing-point of Fahrenheit prevails in the dense liquid layers covering them — life is sustained even in the most depressed and coldest parts ; while in those areas equivalent in depression below the sea-level to that of European Alpine regions above it, animal life abundantly prevails : structural forms complicated in arrange- ment, elegant in appearance, and often lively in colour, clothe extensive districts ; other regions apparently form the sepulchral resting-place of organisms which when living existed near the surface ; their skeletons, as it has been graphically put, thus, " raining down in one continuous shower through the intervening miles of sea-water." Geological formations, stamped with the permanency of ages, common to us denizens of the dry land, appear, in these regions, to be in course of evolution ; forces involving the formation of mineral concretions on a grand scale aie at work ; life is abundant everywhere in the surface and sub- surface waters of the oceans ; in fine, life and death, reproduction and decay, are active, in whatever depths have been attained. As a question of surpassing interest in the great scheme of nature, the economy of ocean circulation, affecting as it does the climatic conditions of countries, has of late attracted attention. The general facts of this circulation in relation to climate have been thus tersely summarised: "Cold climates follow polar waters towards the equator, warm climates follow warm equato- rial streams towards the poles." We can all appreciate the geniality of our own climate, especially on the western shores of the kingdom, as compared with the Arctic climate of the shores of Labrador, situated on the same parallels of latitude ; or indeed, with the vigorous winter climate of the adjacent North American seaboard, even ten degrees farther to the south. These, and kindred features in other parts of the globe, have led to the summarised generalisation I have just referred to, but the rationale of these movements of the waters is by no means assured to us. That ocean currents were due primarily to the trade and other prevailing winds, was the received opinion from the earliest in- vestigation made by navigators of the constant surface movement of the sea. Rennell's views are thus clearly stated — "The winds are to be regarded as the prime movers of the currents of the ocean, and of this agency the trade winds and monsoofts have by far the greatest sliare, not only in operating on the larger half of the whole extent of the circumambient ocean, but as possessing greater power by their constancy and elevation to generate and perpetuate currents " . , . "next to these, in degrees, are the most prevalent winds, such as the westerly wind beyond, or to the north and south, of the region of trade winds." Maury, so far as I am aware, was the first to record bis dissent from these generally received views of surface currents being due to the impulse of the winds, and assigned to differences of specific gravity, combined with the earth's rotation on its axis, the move- ment of the Gulf Stream, and other well defined ocean currents. A writer of the present time, gifted with high inductive reason- ing powers and with observed facts before him in wide extension of those investigated by Rcnnell, regards the various ocean currents as members of one grand system of circulation ; not produced by the trade winds alone, nor by the prevailing winds proper alone, but by the continued action of all the prevailing winds of the globe regarded as one system of circulation ; and that without exception, he finds the direction of the main cur- rents of the globe to agree exactly with the direction of the prevailing winds. Another writer of the present day, distinguished for intellec- tual power, and who personally has devoted much time to the acquisition of exact physical facts bearing on the question both in the ocean near our own shores and in the Mediterranean sea, without denying the agency of the winds, so far as surface drifts are concerned, considers that general ocean circulation is de- pendent on thermal agency alone ; resulting in the movement of a deep stratum of polar waters to the equator, and the movement of an upper stratum from the equator lowards the poles : the "disturbance of hydrostatic equilibrium" being produced by the increase of density occasioned by polar cold and the reduc- tion of density occasioned by equatorial heat ; and that polar cold rather than equatorial heat is the primum mobile of the cir- culation. Analogous views had also be(n entertained by Conti- nental physicists from sea temperature results obtained in Russian and French voyages of lesearch in the early part of this century. We have here presented to us two distinct conceptions of ocean circulation — the one to a great extent confined to the surface and horizontal in its movements, the other vertical ex- tending from the ocean surface to its bed, and involving, as a consequence, " that every drop of water will thus [except in confined seas] be brought up from its greatest depths to the surface." With these several hypotheses before us, it may be fairly con- sidered that the problem of "ocean circulation " is still unsolved. Possibly, the real solution may require the consideration of physical causes beyond those which have been hitherto accepted. In attempting the st lution, it appears to me impossible to deny that the agency of the winds is most active in bringing about great movements on the surface waters : the effects of the opposite monsoons in the India and China seas furnishing corro- borative proof. Again, the remarkable thermal condition of the lower stratum of the water in enclosed seas, as the Mediter- ranean, and in those basin-like areas of the Western Pacific cut off by encircling submarine ridges from the sources of polar sup- plies, combined with the equally remarkable conditions of cold water from a polar source flowing side by side or interlacing with warm water from equatorial regions — as in the action of the Labrador and Gulf Streams— points to the h)poihesis of a vertical circulation as also commanding respect. The time may be considered, however, to have now arrived forgathering up the many threads of information at our disposal; and by fresh combinations to enlarge at least our conceptions, even if we fail in satisfying all the conditions of solution. To this task I will briefly address myself. A grand feature in terrestrial physics, and one which I appre- hend bears directly on the subject before us, is that producing ice movement in Antarctic seas. We know from the experience gained in ships — which, to shorten the passages to and from this country, Australia and New Zealand, have followed the great circle route, and thus attained high southern latitudes — that vast tracts of ice from time to time become disrupted from the fringe of southern lands. Reliable accounts have reached us of vessels frequently running down several degrees of longitude, sadly hampered by meeting islands of ice ; and especially of one ship being constantly surrounded with icebergs in the corresponding latitudes to those of London and Liverpool, extending nearly the whole distance between the meridians of New Zealand and Cape Horn. Indeed, accumulated records point to the conclusion that on the whole circumfeience of the globe south of the 50th parallel, icebergs, scattered more or less, may be constantly fallen in with during the southern summer. The Antarctic voyages of D'Urville, Wilkes, and James Ross assure us of the origin and character of these ice masses which dot the Southern seas. Each of these voyagers were opposed in their progress southward — D'Urville and Wilkes on the 65'.h parallel, Ross on the 77ih, by barrier cliffs of ice. Ross traced this barrier 250 miles in one unbroken line ; he describes it as one continuous perpendicular wall of ice, 200 to 100 feet high above the sea, with an unvarying level outline, and probably more than 1,000 feet thick — "a mighty and wonderful object." Ross did not consider this ice barrier as resting on the ground, for there were soundings in 2,500 feet a few miles from the cliffs ; Wilkes also sounded in over 5, coo feet, only a short distance from the barrier. There is singular accord in the descriptive accounts by Wilkes and Ross of this ice region ; they both dwell on the difference in Sept. 7, 1876] NA TURE 415 character of Antarctic from Arctic ice formation, on the tabular form of the upper surface of the floating icebergs, and their striated appearance ; on the extreme severity of the climate in midsummer ; of the low barometric pressure experienced — and express equal wonderment at the stupendous forces necessary to break away the face of these vast ice barriers, and the atmo- spheric causes necessary for their reproduction. From the drift of this disrupted ice we have fair evidence of a great bodily movement of the waters northward ; for it must be remembered that icebergs have been fallen in with in the entire circumference of the southern sea?, and that they are pushed in the South Atlantic Ocean as far as the 40th parallel of latitude ; in the South Indian to the 45th parallel ; and in the South Pacific to the 50th parallel. In the discussion of ocean circulation, it has been assumed that water flows from Equatorial into Antarctic areas ; there is no evidence, so far as I am aware, that warm surface water in the sense implied is found south of the 55th parallel. Surface stream movement northward and eastward appears to be that generally experienced in the zone between the Antarctic circle and that parallel. With, then, this great bodily movement north- ward of Antarctic waters included certainly between the surface and the base, or nearly so, of these tabular icebergs (and thus representing a stratum certainly some thousand feet in thickness), the question arises. How and from whence does the supply come to fill the created void ? Sir Wyville Thomson, the leader of the Challenger scientific staff", in one of the later of the many able reports he has forwarded to the Admiralty, furnishes, I think, a reasonable answer. Stating first his views as derived from study of the bottom temperature of the Pacific Ocean generally, he writes : — "We can scarcely doubt that, like the similar mass of cold bottom-water in the Atlantic, the bottom- water of the Pacific is an extremely slow indraught from the Southern Sea." He then gives the reason. " I am every day more fully satisfied that this influx of cold water into the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from the southward is to be referred to the simplest and most obvious of all causes, the excess of evaporation over precipitation of the land-hemisphere ; and the excess of precipitation over evaporation in the middle and southern parts of the water-hemisphere." Before following up the great northward movement of Ant- arctic waters, I would draw attention to a physical feature in connection with tidal movements, which possibly may be one of the many links in the chain of causes affecting ocean circu- lation. The mean tide level (or that imaginary point equi- distant from the high and low water-marks as observed through- out a whole lunation) has bten assumed as an invariable quantity ; our Ordnance Survey adopts it as the zero from whence all elevations are given : the datum level for Great Britain being the level of mean tide at Liverpool. For practical purposes, at least on our own shores, this mean sea -level may be considered invariable, although recent investigations of the tides at Liver- pool and Ramsgate indicate changes in it to the extent of a few inches, and which changes are embraced in an annual period, attaining the maximum height in the later months of the year ; these have been assumed as possibly due to meteorological rather than to the astronomical causes involved by tidal theory. From an examination of some tidal observations recently made near the mouth of Swan River, in Western Australia, during the progress of the Admiralty survey of that coast, there appears to me evidence that in this locality — open, it will be remembered, to the wide southern seas — the sea-level varies appreciably during the year : thus, the greatest daily tidal range in any month very rarely exceeds 3 feet, but the high and low water-marks range during the year 5 feet. The higher level is attained in June, and exceeds the lower level, which is reached in November, by one foot or more. At Esquimalt in Vancouver Island, fairly open to the North Pacific Ocean, there are indications of the sea-level being higher in January than it is in June ; and a distinct excess of the mean level of the tide by several inches in December and January, as compared with the summer months, was traced by the late Captain Beechy, R.N., at Holyhead (see FMl. Trans. 1848). If this surface oscillation is a general oceanic feature, and some further proofs indirectly appear in the Reports of the Tidal Committee to this Association for 1868, '70, '72, to which I have just referred — for mention is also made of a large annual tide of over three inches, reaching its maximum in August, having been observed at Cat Island, in the Gulf of Mexico ; — we may have to recognise this physical condition, that the waters of the southern hemisphere attain a high level at the period of the year wjien the smi is to the north of the equator, and that the northern waters are highest at the period when the sun is to the south of the equator. This is a question of so much interest that I propose again to revert to it. Variations in the sea level have been observed, notably in the central parts of the Red Sea, where the surface water, as shown by the exposure of coral reefs, is said to be fully two feet lower in the summer months than in the opposite season j these differ- ences of level are commonly assigned to the action of the winds. Rennell, in his " Investigation of the Currents of the Atlantic Ocean," states, on what would appear reliable authority, that on the African Guinea coast the level of the sea is higher by at least six feet perpendicular in the season of the strong S.W. and southerly winds — which winds blow obliquely into the Bay of Benin between April and September, the rainy season also — than during the more serene weather of the opposite season ; the proof being that the tides ebb and flow regularly in the several rivers during the period of strong S. W. winds, but that in the other season the same rivers run ebb constantly, the level of the sea being then too low to allow the tide waters to enter the mouths of the rivers. Ic is possible the cause, here and elsewhere, may, in part be cosmical, and neither meteorological nor astro- nomical in a tidal sense. These several facts in relation to the variations in levels of the surface of the ocean are interesting, and point to new fields of observation and research. Another physical feature connected with the ocean level is deserving consideration ; I refer to the effect of the pressure of the atmosphere. On good authority we know that the height of high water in the English Channel varies inversely as the height of the barometer ; the late Sir John Lubbock laid it down as a rule that a rise of one inch in the barometer causes a depres- sion in the height of high water amounting to seven inches at London and to eleven inches at Liverpool. Sir James Ross when at Port Leopold, in the Arctic seas, found that a difference of pressure of "668 of an inch in the barometer produced a differ- ence of 9 inches in the mean level of the sea, the greatest pressure corresponding to the lowest level. These results appeared to him to indicate " that the ocean is a water-baro- meter on a vast scale of magnificence, and that the level of its surface is disturbed by every variation of atmospheric pressure inversely as the mercury in the barometer, and exactly in the ratio of the relative specific gravities of the water and the mer- cury." When we consider the exceptionally low barometric pressure prevailing in the southern seas, and the comparatively low pressure of the Equatorial Ocean zones as compared with the areas of high pressure in the oceans north and south of the Equator — the latter features a late development by Mr. Buchan — these characteristic conditions of atmospheric pressures cannot exist without presumably affecting the surface conditions of adjacent waters. There is yet one more point in connection with the ocean circulation which I venture to think has not received the atten- tion it demands ; this is the economy of those currents known as "counter equatorial." Their limits are now fairly ascertained, and are found to be confined to a narrow zone ; they run in a direction directly opposite to, and yet side by side with, the equatorial streams of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. We know that they run at times with great velocity (the Challenger experienced fifty miles in a day in the Pacific Ocean), and occa- sionally in the face of the trade wind ; and that they are not merely local, stretching as they do across the wide extent of the Pacific ; and in the Atlantic, during the summer months of our hemisphere, extending nearly across from the Guinea Coast to the West India Islands. They have too this significant feature that their narrow zone is confined to the northern side alone of the great wect-going equatorial currents ; this zone is approxi- mately between the parallels of 7° and 10° N., and thus corre- sponds with the belt of greatest atmospherical heat on the earth's surface. That the functions of the counter currents in the physics of the ocean are important must, I think, be conceded. They appear to act on their eastern limits as feeders to the equatorial cur- rents ; and from the seasonal expansion, which has been well traced in the Atlantic, are probably more immediately associated with some oscillatory movement of the waters following, though perhaps only remotely connected with, the sun's movements in declination. A brief summary of the thermal conditions of the oceanic basins will now enable us to review the salient features of ocean circulaiion, and the more immediate scientific position the ques- tion has assigned. 4i6 NATURE \Sept. 7, 1876 In all seas within the torrid and temperate zones, provided any given area is not cut off by submarine barriers from a sup- ply of polar or glacial water, the sea bed is covered by a thick stratum of water, the temperature of which is confined between 32° and 35° F. In the Pacific Ocean this cold stratum must be derived from Antarctic sources, for the opening of Behring Strait is too small to admit of an appreciable efflux of Arctic waters. In this ocean the cold stratum obtains generally at depths below 9,000 feet from the surface, with an almost invari- able isothermal line of 40° F., at from 2,500 to 3,000 feet from the surface. Similarly, in the Indian Ocean basin, the cold stratum at the bottom is derived from Antarctic sources, for the temperature of 33°'5 F. underlies the hot surface waters of the Arabian Gulf. In the South Atlantic, Antarctic waters, with a bottom tem- perature of 31° to 33°"5 F., certainly cross the equator ; the bed of the North Atlantic basin then warms up to 35° — marked diversities in both the temperatures and thickness of the succes- sive layers of water from the surface downwards are found — and in the central parts of the basin it is not until the vicinity of the Faroe Islands is reached that Arctic waters of an equivalent emperature to those from Antarctic sources are experienced. Turning now to the scientific aspect of the question : — The doctrine of a general oceanic thermal circulation assumes two general propositions — i, the existence of a deep under-flow of glacial water from each pole to the equator ; and 2, the movement of the upper stratum of oceanic water from the equa- torial region towards each pole, as the necessary complement of the deep polar under-flow — this double movement being de- pendent "upon the disturbance of hydrostatic equilibrium con- stantly maintained by polar cold and equatorial heat," Proposition 2, in its general application as to the movement of surface waters, is unquestionable ; but that of a deep under-flow from the poles, as a necessary complement, remains open to doubt. Proposition i, in its wide generality, must, from what we know of the Pacific, be confined to the Atlantic Ocean ; and it appears to me that it is on the interpretation of the movement of the waters in its northern basin that the hypothesis of a ver- tical circulation and the potency of thermal agency in bringing it about must be judged. We have followed the movements of Antarctic waters in the Atlantic to the 40th parallel, as illustrated by the progress of icebergs ; we know that the movement deflects the strong Agulhas current, and that the cold waters well up on the western shore of the South African continent, cooling the equatorial current near its presumed source ; the thrusting power of this body of water is therefore great. About the equator it rises comparatively near to the surface. But we now come to another and distinct movement — the equatorial current — and on this, I apprehend, the material agency of the winds cannot be denied, in forcing an enormous mass of surface-water from east to west across the ocean. The Gulf Stream results, and the compara- tive powers of this stream, as especially influencing the climate of our own and neighbouring countries, together with the forces at work to propel its warm waters across the Atlantic, has be- come the controversial field for the upholders of horizontal and vertical circulation. The one hypothesis assigns to the Gulf Stream all the beneficent powers of its genial warmth — extending even beyond the North Cape of Europe — which has teen con- ceded to it from the time of Franklin. The other hypothesis reduces its capacity and power, considers that it is disintegrated in mid- Atlantic, and that the modified climate we enjoy is brought by prevailing winds from the warm area surrounding the stream ; and to this has been more recently added, "by the heating power of a warm sub-surface stratum, whose slow north- ward movement arises from a constantly renewed disturbance of thermal equilibrium between the polar and equatorial portions of the oceanic area." Without denying the active powers of this disturbed thermal equilibrium — although in this special case it is an abstraction difficult to follow — and giving due weight to the many cogent facts which have been brought forward in support of both views, there appears to be still a connecting link or links wanting to account for the southern movements of Arctic waters ; which movements to me are even more remarkable as physical phe- nomena than the translation of the warm waters from the Gulf Stream area to a high northern latitude. This movement of Arctic waters is forcibly illustrated by the winter drifts down Davis Strait of the ships Resolute, Fox, Ad- vance, and part of the crew of the Polaris, when enclosed in pack ice, exceeding in some cases a thousand miles j similarly of tjie winter drift of a part of the German expedition of 1870 down the east side of Greenland, from the latitude of 72° to Cape Fare- well. If to these examples we add the experience of Parry in his memorable attempt to reach the North Pole from Spitz- bergen in the summer of 1827, it must be inferred that a perennial flow of surface water from the polar area into the Atlantic obtains ; and, judging from the strength of the winter northerly winds, that the outflow is probably at its maximum strength in the early months of the year. When we further know that the northern movement of warm waters gives in winter a large accession of temperature to the west coast of Scotland, to the Faroe Islands, and extending to the coasts of Norway as far as the North Cape ; the conside- ration arises whether this onward movement of waters from southern sources is not the immediate cause of displacement ofth water in the polar area, and its forced return along the channels indicated by those winter drifts to which I have referred. That some hitherto unlooked-for and unsuspected cause is the great agent in forcing southern waters into the Atlantic polar basin has long forced itself on my conviction, and I now suspect it is to the cause producing the annual variations in ihe sea level — for, as I have mentioned, indications exist of the seas of the northern hemisphere having a higher level in winter than in summer, — that we must direct our attention before the full solu- tion of ocean circulation is accepted. The facts of the annual changes of sea level, whatever they may ultimately prove, have hitherto ranged themselves as a part of tidal action, and so escaped general attention. Physicists well know the complication of tidal phenomena, and if one may be permitted to say, the imperfection of our tidal theory ; certain it is that the tides on the European coasts of the Atlantic are so far abnormal that one of our best authorities on the subject (Sir William Thomson) describes them, in relation, I assume, to tidal theory, as "irregularly simple," while the tides in all other seas are comparatively complicated, but " regular and explicable." However this may be, specialists should direct their attention to the disentanglement of the variations in the sea level from tidal action simple ; and our colonies, especially those in the southern hemisphere, would be excellent fields for the gathering in of reli- able observations. I am unwilling to leave the subject without tracing some of the consequences that might be fairly considered to follow this assumed change of level in the North Atlantic basin. We can by it conceive the gradual working up of the warmed water from southern sources as the winter season approaches, including the expansion of the Gulf Stream in the autumn months ; the con- sequent welling up of a head of water in the enclosed and com- paratively limited area northward of Spitzbergen, Greenland, and the broken land westward of Smith Sound ; the forced return of these glacial waters, their greatest volume seeking the most direct course, and thus working down the Labrador coast, charged with ice, and passing the American coast inside the Gull Stream ; while the smaller volume, reaching the higher latitudes in mid-Atlantic, interlaces with the warm barrier waters, causing those alternating bands of cold and warm areas familiar to us from the Lightning and Porcupine observations, and which are now being worked out by the Norwegian exploring expedition in the government ship Voringen. We can further conceive that the larger function of the " counter currents " on the north margin of the great equatorial streams is to act as conduits for the surcharged waters of the Northern Oceans consequent on the gradual changes of level. The Atlantic counter-current we know expands markedly in the autumnal season, and there may be some connection between this expansion and the high level of the waters said to exist in the Gold Coast and Guinea bights at the same season. We are thus, as it appears to me, now only on the threshold of a large field of inquiry bearing on the physical geography of the sea ; but we have this advantage, — the admirable discussions which have taken place in the past few years, productive as they have been of the marshalling hosts of valuable facts, will lighten the labours of those who engage in its prosecution. Science is deeply indebted to, and I am sure honours, those who have so earnestly worked on the opening pages of the coming chapter on Ocean Circulation. Unwillingly I turn from this interesting subject ; but the demands on my time and your patience are imperative : as, fol- lowing precedent, it is incumbent on me briefly to bring under the review of the Association the latest unrecorded incidents in geographical progress or research. There is one absorbing topic which, in the potirse of a fe\7 Sept. 7, 1876] NATURE 417 weeks, or even days, may attract gereral interest. I refer to accounts of our Arctic expedition. It is possible that while I am now addressing you, the ships Alert and Disccn'ery, favoured by fine seasons, may have, in their endeavours to reach high noithern latitudes, accomplished all that human skill and energy can dc, and by fortuitous circumstances secured their return southward through Smith Sound, with the same facilities, as we have reason to hope, they entered what we suppose to be that notable gateway to the Pole. If so, they are now fairly in Davis Strait, homeward bound. We must not regard this estimate of progress as visionary, for, the conditions being favourable, the time at the disposal of the voyagers is ample. It is the varying conditions of Arctic seasons, we must remember, that baffle the forecasts of the most experienced Arctic experts. Should unfavourable conditions, or the decision of the chief, detain the ships another year in their icy quarters, we have rea- son to hope that advices will reach us of their whereabouts in the spring of next year. The spirited enterprise of the well- trained Arctic navigator, Allan Young, supported as he has been by the Government, offers a sure guarantee that theleaders, Nares and Stephenson, will be ably seconded in their efforts to keep up communication with their countrymen. Here, again, we must not forget that baffling conditions may defeat the intentions of the commanders to communicate in time with the depots at the portals of Smith Sound. This prolonged banishment from intercourse with the outer world was, however, a contingency anticipated and provided for by that able. CoiKmittee of Arctic Officers who, with a full sense of their responsibility, so fully advised the Government in every phase of this national undertakirg. A parliamentary paper, published during this session, [gives the fullest particulars relating to the progress of the expedition and the stei s which have been taken to communicate with their depots. There is a long chain of contingencies to be attended to, as will be seen on reference to the interesting details therein given, but I venture to think that not a litk is missing, either in the conception, or in the means provided to bring the undertaking to a successful issue. There is one feature to be kept in view, which from the excep- tional conditions of ship navigation in the icy regions of the far north is rarely realized, unless by those who have had actual experience in polar service, and it is this, that between the time of the disruption of the old ice in August and the formation of the new in September, there exists a very short period when ships are free to move. This period of open or partially open water may be shortened by unfavourable circumstances, and vice versA ; it may be assumed, however, that in a straight fairway channel such as Smith Sound it almost always does occur, and as the return southward, on account of the drift, is alw ays more easily accomplished than the advance north, the great probability is that, if the ships remain out another year, it will be the result of design rather than accident. By the parliamentary papers relating to the expedition it will be seen that, in the event of the non-arrival of the Alert and Discovery during the autumn of this year, a relief ship will be despatched to a rendezvous in Smith Sound during the summer of 1877. With regard to Africa, exploration and discovery have pro- ceeded with accelerated strides during the past few years. Even since the recent date of Cameron's remarkable journey across the continent, important additions have been made to the rapidly filling-up map of the interior. Most of these additions relate to the great lakes, regarding which our knowledge was previously very incomplete and unsatisfactory. Thus, Mr. Young, the experienced Zambesi traveller, who undertook last year to lead the Scotch Missionary party to Lake Nyassa, has succeeded, after establishing the missionary settlement " Livingstonia," at the southern end of the lake, in reaching in a steam-launch the northern end of this great fresh-water sea, finding it to be fully one hundred miles longer than was previously believed. His journey was made in February of the present year, and in the following month the still more imperfectly known lake, Albert Nyarza, was successfully navigated by two boats under Signor Gessi, who was despatched for this purpose by Colonel Gordon, the present Governor of the new Equatorial Province of the Khedive's dominions. The details of Signor Gessi's interesting exploration, communicated by himself to the President of the Royal Geographical Society, have only recently reached England, and it is proposed to read them in the course of the present meeting. A third, and equally important exploration of the same class is that perfoimed during the same early months of the present year by that energetic traveller Mr. Stanley. After circumnavi- gating the much larger neighbouring lake, Victoria, and proving Speke's much disputed estimate of its dimensions to be approxi- mately correct, he pushed his way across the difficult tract of country separating the Victoria and the Albert lakes, reaching the shores of the latter in the middle of January. Less fortu- nately situated than Signor Gessi, who embarked on the lake two months later, Stanley was unable to launch his boat on the then unexplored southern portions of its waters. A comparison of the accounts of the two travellers shows that we are yet far from knowing the true dimensions of this great sheet of water. Signor Gessi in fact did not reach its southern extremity ; and as Mr. Stanley appears to have struck its shores at a point about thirty miles further south than the limits marked by the Italian traveller, the lake must be considerably longer than 140 miles, as estimated by the latter. Stanley subsequently proceeded south and explored the Kitangule river of Speke ; thence striking for Lake Tanganyika, the examination of which he intended to complete. New Guinea has of late attracted some attention both at home and in the Australian colonies ; rather, however, from political than geographical considerations. Our interest is of course in the latter, and I am glad the meeting will have the advantage of the presence of a gentleman, Mr. Octavius Stone, recently arrived in England, who has distinguished himself in the ex- ploration of the south-eastern shores of this distant, little known, and barbarous region ; to him we must refer for the latest geo- graphical facts. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN The Cordoba " Uranometria." — Dr. Gould has in- formed us, during his flying visit to this country in the last week, on his return to Cordoba from the United btates, that he intends to give his Uranomeiria first and undivided attention, with the view to its early publication. It contains 8,000 stars to seventh magnitude inclusive, the whole estimated by not less than two observers, and often by more, each observer making his determination on not less than two nights, and often more, all cases of discord- ance between different observers being subsequently exa- mined. The greater number of the stars have been observed with the meridian circle, and always in cases of doubt as to identification. The magnitudes are intended to be given to o'lm by comparisons with previously established standards, on a most care- fully-considered system. The manuscript charts are drawn to the scale of a globe of one metre radius, and the magnitudes of the stars are represented by dots of size proportional to the brilliancy to nearest two-tenths of a magnitude. Though this part of the work appears to have been completed to Dr. Gould's entire satisfaction, he expresses himself much disturbed as to the means of reproducing these manuscript charts with the necessary accuracy and delicacy ; his hopes of success from the use of photography having been thus far disappointed. The Uranometria will include every star to the seventh magnitude inclusive, from the south pole of the heavens to ten degrees of north declination. Great care has been taken to secure accurate delineation of the course of the Milky Way and of the Magellanic Clouds. The Zones, another most important work to which attention has been directed at Cordoba, are complete ; they are 754 in number, and contain 105,000 stars. In addition, materials have been obtained for the formation of a numerous catalogue of the brighter stars, each one observed several times with the meridian circle. Dr. Gould is to be congratulated on the extraordinary energy he has displayed in his management of the new Observatory of the Argentine Republic, and the discri- minating skill with which he has selected and worked his subjects of observation, which must undoubtedly result in his leaving a name lastingly associated with the astronomy of the southern hemisphere ; and not less is the Govern- ment of that comparatively new country to be honoured for the constant and unstinted support they have afiforded 4i8 NA TURE \Sept. 7, 1876 to their national Observatory, and its distinguished and indefatigable director. AN Intra-Mercurial Planet (?).— At the sitting of the Paris Academy of Sciences on the 28th ultimo, M. Leverrier announced that he had received a letter from Prof. Rudolf Wolf, of Zurich, in which it was stated that three observers situated in three different places had witnessed, on April 4, the passage of a round spot over the sun's disc. The three localities were— in Germany (near Miinster), Greece (Athens), and Switzerland (Zu- rich). The date is subsequent to the observation of Dr. Lescarbault by 6,219 ^^^^, which figure is the product of 148 into 42*02 (printed 4002 in L'Ifistiiut, whence this notice is taken), and it may be conjectured that, if the object were a planet, it had made this number of revo- lutions of 42'02 days. Such a body would have a mean distance from the sun equal to 0*2365 of the earth's mean distance, with a maxi- mum elongation in a nearly circular orbit of about 13^ degrees, the period of revolution being almost precisely half that of Mercury. We await details of the observations before examining how far the date 1876, April 4, can be made to agree with similar ones already upon record, supposing all to refer to a single body revolving under the conditions named. New Minor Planet. — The Bulletin Intei-national of the Paris Observatory notifies the discovery of No. 167, by Prof. Peters, at Clinton, U.S., on August 28. R.A. 21^ 57™., N.P.D., 101° 30', motion south, twelfth mag- nitude. NOTES We notice, with extreme regret, the announcement of the death of Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum, the accom- plished Assyriologist. A telegram received on Monday at the British Museum from Constantinople stated that Mr. Smith died at Aleppo, on the 19th ult., and that further particulars would be ultimately sent. Faint hopes are entertained that the s ad announcement will be contradicted. The Turkish Govern- ment and officials had thrown so many difficulties in his way that Mr. Smith was on his road home in disgust. It will be remem- bered that he started in February last on his third archseological expedition to the East. The high value of Mr. Smith's work in a department of research of great importance has bean univer- sally acknowledged, and it will be difficult to over-estimate his loss to science and to the British Museum. He has earned an enduring place in the important domain of Eastern archaeology. Mr. Howard Grubb, of Dublin, has presented to the Scientific Committee appointed to superintend the work, his Report on the. Progress of the Great Equatorial for the Vienna Observatory, the contract for which was concluded in June last year with the Austro-Hungarian Government. The work, we are glad to say, has gone on smoothly and successfully. To enable him to carry on his important undertaking Mr. Grubb has con- structed a spacious dodecagon chamber, forty-two feet in internal diameter, the roof of which is so constructed as to allow the great steel dome to be erected over it. Mr. Grubb had contracted with Feil of Paris for the supply of the discs of glass for the great objective, and the flint disc is already in Dublin, where it is now undergoing a rigid examination. The crown disc M. Feil expects to have ready in a few weeks ; meanwhile active pre- parations are being^made for the grinding and polishing of the objective. Parts of the general framing have been cast ; the polar pillar is completely finished ; the polar axis has had most of its parts adjusted. The cross-head and declination axis are completely finished, and the declination circle and adapter nearly so. The clockwork and many of the other parts of the elaborate apparatus necessary for the working of the telescope are also complete, and Mr. Grubb is preparing a traveUing gantry across the observatory, and proposes commencing shortly to put together the general ramework and erect the larger portions of the mounting. A communication from Prof. Newcomb has induced Mr. Grubb to take means to obviate the temporary spherical aberration in the objective produced by the difference of temperature outside and inside the tube. Altogether Mr. Grubb is to be congratulated on the progress he is making in his great undertaking. From the Deutsche Zeitung we learn that the new observatory itself is making rapid progress towards completion, and may be ready by the beginning of winter, though it will take two or three years to complete the internal arrange- ments. The telescope, a refractor with a 26-inch objective and 30 feet focal distance, is expected to be ready by the autumn of 1878. ALaoLOGTSTS will be glad to hear that Prof. Agardh of Lund, Sweden, has just published a new volume (vol. iii. ) of his work entitled "Species, Genera, et Ordines Algarum." (Epicrisis Systematis Floridearum. Auctore, J. G. Agardh. Lipsiae : apud T. O. Weigel, 1876.) In it he treats of the Floridese only ; the whole of which, with the exception of the orders Corallines and Rhodomelea:, are included in it. The Floridese, it will be remembered, formed the subject of the second volume of "Species Algarum." Since it was published immense numbers of Algse, in excellent condition, have been submitted to scientific observation ; many new species and genera have been added to the list of marine plants ; old observations have been verified or corrected ; unexpected affinities between plants sup- posed to be far apart in the system of classification ; or dis- crepancies, equally unexpected, between plants supposed to be closely allied, have been perceived. Improved methods of study have led to the discovery of former errors of classification and description ; and the necessity has long been felt by algologists of a work, the arrangement of which should be more in accord- ance with the present state of knowledge, and in which old errors should be corrected, and new forms described. Such a work Prof. Agardh has now given us, and we are sure it will meet with a welcome reception. The present classification is based on a thorough examination of the internal structure of the frond and of the fruit ; and the Professor tells us that no species has been admitted into the text which he had not previously examined. Species, which in the former work had been accu- rately described, are merely referred to in the present, which must therefore be considered supplementary, and as in no wise super- seding the former volume. The present work contains upwards of 700 pages 8vo. Among the questions down for discussion at the Social Science Congress to be held in October, nth to i8th, at Liverpool, are the following : — In the Education Section — What methods are best adapted to secure the efficient Training of Teachers of all grades, especially in the art of teaching ? How can the due con- nection between Secondary (Grammar) Schools, Elementary Schools, and the Universities, by means of exhibitions, scholar- ships, or otherwise, be most effectually maintained ? How can Professional and Technical Instruction be best incorporated with a sound system of general education ? In the Health Section — What is the best mode of making provision for the Supply and Storage of Water — (a) in large towns such as Liverpool and Manchester ; {U) in groups of urban communities of lesser size, such as exist in the manufacturing districts of Lancashire and Yorkshire ? What amendments are required in the legislation necessary to prevent the evils arising from Noxious Vapours and Smoke ? At Pesth, on Monday, the International Prehistoric Congress was opened in presence of the Archduke Joseph, by Herr Tre^ fort, the Minister of Public Instruction, who welcomed the Sept. 7, 1876] NATURE 419 guests on behalf of the Hungarian Government. The President of the Congres?, Herr Pulszky, then gave an address, in which he enlarged on the prehistoric periods of Hungary. The secre- tary also read an address treating on the development of prehis- toric studies in Hungary, and commenting on the fine collection of prehistoric articles now exhibited. There are over one hundred foreign guests of all nations. Among them are Mr. Franks, of the British Museum ; M. Broca, delegated by the French Govern- ment ; Signor Pigorini, by the Italian Government ; and Herr Virchow, of Berlin. Mr. Willktt has published his fourth and final Report to the British Association on the Sub-Wealden Exploration. After giving a brief history of the enterprise, he states that he resigned the hon. secretaryship on May i, when Major Beaumont, M. P., chairman of the Diamond Boring Company, offered to take his place and raise funds to continue the work, which had been carried to 1,894 f'^et. Mr. Willett then says : — " Four months have elapsed. No committee have been summoned. No fresh funds have been raised, and, in my opinion, it is quite time that the whole affair be wound up, and that the exploration be finally abandoned in this locality." His reasons for this conclusion we shall give when his Report comes up at the British Association meeting. Letters received from Baron A. von Hiigel announce his arrival in Fiji, where he has already made considerable collec- tions of birds. A full account of his work in New Zealand, with details of his future plans, has unfortunately been lost in transmission to England, but it would appear that he still intends to visit some more of the Pacific T'^lands, and perhaps New Guinea, before commencing his work in Western Australia. The investigation of the natural history of the latter country was his principal object on leaving England. The Iron and Steel Institute commences its autumn meeting at Leeds on the i8th inst. It has been observed by M. Jeannel that certain sonorous vibrations cause rotatory movement in the radiometer. In half obscurity, three radiometers were placed on the interior tablet of a chamber organ. The bass notes, those of the three first octaves, produced rotation, the most bass acting most, but 7^ and fa sharp of the lower octave (especially with the bourdon stop) produced more rapid rotation than ut, re, and mi, though these are more grave. Radiometers do not all act in the same manner, as to rapidity and direction of their rotation. Thus, to the low/a or fa sharp radiometer A, the less sensitive to light, made about one turn per second. The black faces first (j..e. a direction opposite to that produced by light), whilst radiometers B and C, which were more sensitive to light, turned more slowly and in the direction of the movement produced by light. M. Jeannel explains these effects by circular or angular vibrations of the supporting needle transmitted from the tablet of the organ. By applying the finger to the top of the radiometer, one may prevent the vibration and also the rotation. The board of a piano pro- duces similar effects, but in less degree. If the experiments indicated be made where the diffuse light is nearly sufficient to drive the radiometer, grave sounds, even the weakest, cause rotation in the ordinary direction (bright surfaces first) ; the rumble of a vehicle will suffice. Here the light is at first insufficient to overcome the friction, but when the vibrations intervene, friction is lessened during certain intervals, and the apparatus is thus rendered more sensitive to light. M. Fron has given, in the Bulletin International of Aug. 12, a short note of the thunderstorms in France on June 9, 1875, on which day they occurred in forty-three departments. The baro- metric depression accompanying this remarkable development of thunderstorms amounted to 0"630 inch at Valentia, 0*472 inch in Brittany, and 0*276 inch at Paris. An illustration is given showing that the barometer fell to its lowest point at Paris at the time the thunderstorm broke over the city, and that at the same time in the centre of this depression the barometer suddenly rose and as suddenly fell through about 0*033 inch, the whole of this brief-continued oscillation occupying less than an hour. It would be a valuable piece of work if the French meteorologists could, from an examination of the changes in the direction and force of the wind, the aqueous precipitation, the electrical and other meteorological phenomena which occurred at the time, trace this singular barometric fluctuation to its physical causes. The number of visitors to the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus during the week ending Sept 2 was as follows : — Monday, 3,200; Tuesday, 2,977; Wednesday, 468; Thursday, 355 ; Friday, 332 ; Saturday, 3,925 ; total, 11,257. A prof OS 'oi the meeting of the British Association, Sdetice Gossip for September contains an interesting article on the Geology of Glasgow and the neighbourhood, by Mr. R. L. Jack, F.G. S., of the Geological Survey. The first number of The Mineralogical Magazine andyournal 0/ the Mineral0gical Society of Great Britain and Ireland has just been issued. It contains eight papers on subjects of mineralogical interest. Lake and Lake of Truro are the publishers. The General Meteorological Council of the Gironde have passed a resolution asking the French Government to establish the Meteorological Service on the basis adopted in the United States ; other general councils will do the same, and the result will very likely be an increase in the sums voted for the me- teorological service. M. Waddington has published a curcular organising an improved system for obtaining school statistics in France. The number of pupils admitted into primary schools has been, up to the present time, determined merely by the names of children hiscribed on the school register, though the attend- ance of many is merely nominah The roll will be called hence- forth twice a-day, morning and afternoon, so that the real state of things may be known, and no compliment paid to national pride. The Municipal Council of Perpignan voted, at its last sitting, a sum of 15,000 francs for the purpose of erecting a statue to Fran9ois Arago, who was bom in the department of Pyrenees Orientales, of which Perpignan is the chief town. His native place was Estagel, a small village, where a monument has already been erected to him. The City of Grenoble inaugurated, on August 14, a statue in honour of Vaulanson, a celebrated mechanician bom there in the beginning ot the eighteenth century. The programmes for admission to the newly-created French Na- tional School of Agriculture have been officially published. The examination will take place very shortly, and the first promotions will be announced in the beginning of next year. The ex-imperial Vincennes farm has been devoted to the new establishment, which, besides those who have passed examinations, will admit a number of pupils free. No charge will be made for education. After repeated efforts an agricultural experimental station in Connecticut was successfully established, under the charge of the trustees of the Wesleyan University. The preliminary report of less than half a year's labours has just been published, and shows the enterprise to have been a legitimate one in view of the amount and character of the work accomplished. The establish- ment is in charge of Prof. W. O. Atwater, an agricultural chemist of eminence, under whose direction a considerable number of analyses of fertilisers have been made. The result of the labours of this experimental station has already been to define with precision the percentage of nitrogen to the ton in the 420 NA TURE [Sept. 7, 1876 various fertilisers offered for sale, and the withdrawal from the market of several worthless articles. M. DuRUOK the aeronaut made an ascent at Cherbourg on the occasion of a recent launch. He ascended to 12,000 feet, and came down in the bay at twenty miles from Cherbourg. A number of steamers had been sent out to help if needed, and M. Duruof was taken on board one of them unhurt. The manseuvre was most cleverly executed with the help of an appa- ratus which M. Duruof had immersed in the sea to diminish the velocity of the balloon, and permit the boat to board the car. A CORRESPONDENT, writing from Waterloo, near Liverpool, asks if there are any works published on the iEolian Drift or Wind Driftage, its cause and cure. The Institution of Civil Engineers has published its list of subjects for papers and prizes for session 1876-77. A copy may be obtained by applying at 25, Great George Street, West- minster, S.W. The third number of the Bothkamper Beobachtungen, recently published, contains exclusively M. Lohse's researches in the years 1872 and 1873. The volume is in three parts: — I. Re- searches on the physical nature of the sun's surface. 2. Photo- graphic registration of the sun-spots. 3. Meteorological obser- vations in the year 1873. The promised fourth volume will contain M. Vogel's researches during the same period. We have received the second part of the second volume of the "Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Glasgow," which contains numerous papers by Prof. John Young, Messrs. Harvie Brown, James Lumsden, Robert Gray, D. Robertson, P. Cameron, jun., and others. The most important of the com- munications are ornithological and entomological ; some are peculiarly briefly noticed. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES London Entomological Society, Aug. 2. — Sir Sidney Smith Saun- ders, vice-presdent, in the chair. — Messrs. Harold Swale and T. S. Hillman were elected ordinary members. — Mr. Stevens exhibited Tillns tini/asciaius and Xylotrogus brunmus taken on an oak-ience at Upper Norwood ; and Mr. Champion exhibited Harpubis /^-punctatus, Dendrophagus crenatus, and other rare Coleoptera from Aviemore, Inverness-shire. — Mr. Forbes exhi- bited a specimen of Quedius dilataius taken by him with sugar in the New Forest. — From a despatch from H. M. Charge d' Af- faires at Madrid, a copy of which was forwarded to the secre- tary through the Foreign Office, it appeared that the damage done this year by the locusts was considerably less than that of last year, owing to the number of soldiers which the Government had been able to employ since the war was over, in assisting the inhabitants of the districts where the plague existed, in destroy- ing the insects. Specimens of the locust, as well as a number of earthen tubes containing the eggs, were forwarded to the society, and on examiaation they were found to be the Locusta albifrons. Fab. {Decticus albifrons, Savigny). — Mr. M'Lachlan exhibited a series of thirteen examples of a dragon-fly (Diplax meridionalis, Selys), recently taken by him in the Alpes Dau- phines, remarkable for the extent to which they were infested by the red parasite described by De Geer as Acarus libel- lulce. They were firmly fixed on the nervures at the base of the wing, almost invariably on the underside, and being arranged nearly symmetrically, had a very pretty appearance, the wings looking as if they were spotted with blood-red. He considered that the Acari must have attained their position by climbing up the legs of the dragon-fly whtn at rest — Mr. F. Smith read a note on Nematus gallicola, Steph., the Gall-maker, so common on the leaves of species of Salix, but of which the male had, apparently, not previously been observed. From 500 or 600 galls collected by him in 1875, he had obtained a multitude of females, but only two males ; and he thought that by per- severance in this way it would be possible to obtain the males of this and other allied species, of which the males were practically unknown, the female being capable of continuing the species without immediate male influence ; and he argued from this that the long-sought males of Cynips might some day be found by collecting the galls early in the year. He expressed his belief that Mr. Walsh had proved, beyond question, the breeding of a male Cynips in America, although the precise generic rank of the supposed Cynips was disputed by some of the members present. — The president (Prof. Westwood), who was unable to be at the meeting, forwarded some notes of the habits of a Lepi- dopterous insect, parasitic on Fulqora candelaria, by J. C. Bow- ring, with a description of the species and drawings of the insect in its different stages, by himself. It appeared that the Coccus-like larvae were found attached to the dorsal surface of the Fulgora, feeding upon the waxy secretion of the latter, and covering itself with a cottony substance. From its general appearance the Professor was disposed to place the insect among the Arc- tiidce. It was discovered many years ago by Mr. Bowring, and he (Mr, Westwood) had noticed it at the meeting of the British Association at Oxford, in i860, under the name of Epipytots anomala. — The Rev. R. P. Murray forwarded a paper by Mr. W. H. Miskin, of Brisbane, containing descriptions of new species of Australian Diurnal Lepidoptera in his own collection. — .Mr, Edward Saunders communicated the third and concluding portion of his synopsis of British Hemiptera-Heteroptera. Vienna Imperial Academy of Sciences, June 16. — The following, among other papers, were read : — On an earthquake in Canea, Crete, on April 25, by M. Micksche. The waves of impulse came from the north. The sea was quiet, and there was no sound. The last earthquake was in January last year, and was more violent. — Communications from the laboratory of Prague University, by M. Linnemann. These relate to reactions with propylene. — On a gas battery of convenient form, by M. Mach. It consists of sixteen jars connected in pairs, by their like coat- ings. By a simple commutator the pairs can be connected together to an ordinary jar battery, or successively to a Franklin jar battery, and this combination can be quickly changed. Long and powerful sparks are had (16 ctm. e.g.). — Body- measurements of various peoples, made during the Austro- Hungarian expedition to Eastern Asia, by Dr. Janka, and ex- tended, by personal observations, by Dr. Weisbach. Dr. Weisbach distinguishes— I. Short heads ; II. Medium heads; III. Long heads. Each of these divisions fall into a, prognathous, and b, orthognathous, and each of these sub-divisions into i, Long-armed ; 2, Equal-limbed ; 3, Short-armed. In this system the short-headed prognathous human races, whose arms are longer than the legs, stand lowest, i.e. , nearest to the apes ; and the long-headed orthognathous and short-armed, stand highest. — A contribution to knowledge of Mediterranean fauna, by M. Homes. — On a constant winding in the human brain, observed by M. Heschl. — On the development-history of the ganglia, and the Lobus electricus, by M. Schenk. June 22. — On an earthquake in Canea, Crete, on May 23, by M. Micksche. The disturbance may have come from Cyprus or Syria, or may be an awakening of the old volcanic action of Crete itself. — On the occurrence of the foraminiferal species, Nubecularia, in the Sarmatian sand of Kischenew, in Bessarabia, by MM. Karrer and Sinzow. CONTENTS Pagb " Scientific Worthies," IX. — Sir William Thomson (IVith Steel Engraving) 385 MttTKOROI.OGICAL RESEARCH. By Prof. BaLFOUR StKWART, F.R.S, 388 The " ENCYCLOPiEDiA Brittanica " 390 Litters to the Editor : — Visual Phenomena. — Hubert Airy 392 Species and Varieties. — W. L. Distant ^92 Antedated Books. — Prof. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S. ; R. Bowdler Sharpe • 392 The Origin of Variations — G S. Boulger 393 The British Association : — Inaugural Address of Thomas Andrews, M.D., LL D., F.R.S., Hon. F.R.S E, M.R. I. A., &c.. President 393 Section C. — Geology. — Opening Address by Prof. J. Young, M.D., F G.S., President of the section 399 Section D. — Biology — Opening Address by the President, Alfred Russel Wallace 403 Section E. — Geography. — Opening Address by F. J. Evans, C.B., F.H.S., Captain R.N., President 412 Our Astronomical 1 '.olumn : — Tne Cordoba " Uranometria " 417 An Intra- Mercurial Planet (?) 418 New Minor Planet 418 Notes 418 Societies anp Academies ... t • i •••••.•.. « 4^0 NA TURE 421 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1876 GEORGE SMITH I'^HE untimely death of Mr, George Smith at the early age of thirty-seven, is a loss that can ill be repaired. Scholars can be reared and trained, but hardly more than once in a century can we expect a genius with the heaven- born gift of divining the meaning of a forgotten language and discovering the clue to an unknown alphabet. The marvellous instinct by which Mr. Smith ascertained the substantial sense of a passage in the Assyrian inscrip- tions without being always able to give a philological analysis of the words it contained, gave him a good right to the title of " the intellectual picklock," by which he was sometimes called. The pioneer of Assyrian research, and the decipherer of the Cypriote inscriptions, he could be all the less spared at the present moment, when a key is needed to the reading of those Hamathite hieroglyphics to which the last discoveries he was destined to make have given such an unexpected importance. Mr. Smith was born of poor parents, and his school- education was consequently broken off at the age of fifteen, when he was apprenticed to Messrs. Bradbury and Evans to learn the art of engraving. While in this employment he often stole half the time allowed for dinner for visits to the British Museum, and saved his earnings to buy the works of the leading writers on Assyrian subjects. Sir Henry Rawlinson was struck with the young man's intelligence and enthusiasm, and after furnishing him with various casts and squeezes, through which Mr. Smith was led to make his first discovery (the date of the payment of tribute by Jehu to Shalmaneser (he proposed to the trustees of the Museum that Mr. Smith should be associated with himself in the preparation of the third volume of the "Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia." This was in 1867, and from this year Mr. Smith entered upon his official life at the Museum and definitely devoted himself to the study of the Assyrian monuments. The first fruits of his labours were the discovery of two inscriptions, one fixing the date of a total eclipse of the sun in the month Sivan or May, B.C. 763, and the other the date of an invasion of Babylonia by the Elamites in B.C. 2280, and a series of articles in the Zeitschrift fiir yEgyptische Sprache, which threw a flood of light upon later Assyrian history and the political relations between Assyria and Egypt. In 187 1 he published the "Annals of Assur-bani-pal," or Sardanapalus, transliterated and translated, a work which involved immense labour in the preparation of the text and the examination of variant readings. This was followed by an excellent little pamphlet on the chronology of Sennacherib's reign and a list of the characters of the Assyrian Syllabary. About the same time he contributed to the newly-founded Society of Biblical Archaeology a very valuable paper on " The Early History of Baby- lonia " (since republished in the " Records of the Past "), as well as an account of his decipherment of the Cypriote inscriptions which had hitherto been such a stumbling- block and puzzle to scholars. The Cypriote Syllabary as determined by him has been the basis of the later labours of Birch, Brandis, Siegismund, Deecke, Schmidt, and Hall. Vol. XIV.— No, 359 It was in 1872, however, that Mr. Smith made the dis- covery which has caused his name to be a household word in England. His translation of the " Chaldean Account of the Deluge " was read before the Society of Biblical Archaeology on the 3rd of December, and in the following January he was sent to excavate on the site of Nineveh by the proprietors oi\}[i& Daily Telegraph. After unearthing the missing fragment of the Deluge story, he returned to England with a large and important collec- tion of objects and inscriptions. Among these were frag- ments which recorded the succession and duration of the Babylonian dynasties, a paper on which was contributed by the discoverer to the Society of Biblical Archaeology. It was in connection with these chronological researches that Mr. Smith's invaluable volume on the "Assyrian Eponym Canon " was written for Messrs. Bagster in 1875. Shortly afterwards he again left England to continue his excavations at Kouyunjik for the Trustees of the British Museum, and in spite ot the difficulties and annoyances thrown in his way by the Turks, he succeeded in bringing home a large number of fragmentary tablets, many of them belonging to the great Solar Epic in twelve books, of which the episode of the Deluge forms the eleventh lay. An account of his travels and researches was given in his " Assyrian Discoveries," published at the beginning of 1875. The remainder of the year was occupied in piecing together and translating a number of fragments of the highest importance, relating to the Creation, the Fall, the Tower of Babel, &c. The results of these labours were embodied in his book, "The Chaldean Account of Genesis." The great value of these discoveries induced the Trus- tees of the Museum to despatch Mr. Smith on another expedition in order to excavate the remainder of Assur- bani-pal's library at Kouyunjik, and so complete the col- lection of tablets in the British Museum. Mr. Smith accordingly went to Constantinople last October, and after some trouble succeeded in obtaining a firman for excavating. He set out for his last and fatal journey to the East in March, taking with him Dr. Eneberg, a Finnic Assyriologue. While detained at Aleppo on account of the plague, he explored the banks of the Euphrates from the Balis northward, and at Yerabolus discovered the ancient Hittite capital, Carchemish — a discovery which bids fair to rival in importance that of Nineveh itself. After visiting Devi, or Thapsakus, and other places, he made his way to Bagdad, where he procured between two and three thousand tablets discovered by some Arabs in an ancient Babylonian library near Hillah. From Bag- dad he went to Kouyunjik, and found, to his intense dis- appointment, that owing to the troubled state of the country it was impossible to excavate. Meanwhile Dr. Eneberg had died, and Mr. Smith, worn out by fatigue and anxiety, broke down at Ikisji, a small village about sixty miles north-east of Aleppo. Here he was found by Mr. Parsons, and Mrs. Skene, the consul's wife at Aleppo, and a medical man having been sent for, conveyed him by easy stages to Aleppo, where he died August 19th. He has left behind him the MS. of a " Historj' of Baby- lonia," intended to be a companion volume to his " His- tory of Assyria," published by the S.P.C.K. last year. Mr. Smith's obliging kindness was only equalled by his modesty. Shortly after his return from his first expedition 422 NATURE {Sept. 14, 1876 he was showing the present writer some of the tablets he had found, when a lady and gentleman came up and asked various questions, to which he replied with his usual courtesy. They thanked him and were turning away when, hearing his name pronounced, the lady asked : " Are you Mr. Smith ? " On his replying " That is my name, madam," she exclaimed, " What, not the great Mr. Smith ! " and then, like the gentleman with her, insisted upon having "the honour" of shaking hands with the distinguished Assyriologue, while the latter crim- soned to the roots of his hair. His loss is an irreparable one to Assyriology, even beyond his powers as a deci- pherer, as his memory enabled him to remember the place and nature of each of the myriad clay fragments now in the Museum, while his keenness of vision made his copies of the minute characters of the tablets exception- ally trustworthy. It is distressing to think that he leaves behind him a wife and large family of small children, the youngest of whom was born but a short time before his last departure from England. A. H. Sayce THE NORWEGIAN TOURISTS' ASSOCIATION Year-book of the Norwegian Tourists Association for 1875 {Den Norske Turistforenings Arbog fof 1875.) (Kristiania : Cammermeyer). THIS year-book, which is the eighth of a series issued by the Association, contains some information likely to be useful to those who intend to visit the /jelds of Norway, and two papers at least of scientific interest by Mr. A. Helland. The indefatigable mountain-climbers, Mr. E. Mohn and Mr. Wm. Cecil Slingsby, have each contributed a paper on their adventures during short ex- cursions made on the Jotunheim-f jeld ("Adventures on the Fjelds," and "An English Lady in Jotunheimer "). These accounts, written in a lively, pleasant style (the last in English), will be read with interest by tourists who are in search of new fields of exploration. In the paper of O. A. C. " Bagatelles from a Journey in the Nord- land," the reader will find some fine description of nature and life in the northern parts of the Scandinavian peninsula. The paper by Mr. A. Helland, " On ' Cirques ' and Sack-valleys,' ^ and on their importance in the theories of the Formation of Valleys," will certainly be perused with profit by the geologist.^ After a description of cirques, and sack- valleys, and of the forms intermediate between the two, Mr. Helland remarks that the openings of the cirques are generally directed towards the north. This law, he says, is well illustrated by a large scale map of the Jotunfjelds, constructed by Capt. Hertzberg ; and from a table, in which the author gives the directions of thirty-seven cirques of different magnitudes (from 0*3 to 4 kilometres long), it is seen that twenty-five cirques are directed towards points lying between north-west and north-east, eleven between north-west and south-west or north-east and south-east, and one points towards the south-east. Certainly in other localities there are cirques 1 '' Om botner og saekkedale, samt deres betydning for theorier om dalenes dannelse." A " botn," a semi- circular indentation in the mass of the field, is what is called in the Alps a " cirque." A " SEekkedal," i.e., a valley, the head of which presents a semi-circular enlargement, or a "cirque," a valley which ends in a cul-de-sac, might be called a "sack- valley," a literal translation of the word " saekkedal." ^ This paper is reprinted from the valuable periodical, Geologiska Foren- in^fus i Stockholm Forhandlins;ar. pointing even due south, but these are only exceptions to the general rule. Besides, when a valley has a west-east direction, or when the slope of a f jeld follows this direc- tion, it is on the slope which faces to the north that semi- circular indentations or little cirques are found. A second law which may be established for the cirques of the parts of Norway explored by the author, is, that the largest are generally found in the neighbourhood of the highest peaks of the country. As to the origin of the cirques, Mr. Helland refers to a note of Mr. Lorange, which he gives in extenso^ and in which the author, though not a geologist by pro- fession, makes some very valuable observations on the cirques, on their close relations with glaciers, existing and extinct, and with old moraines. His notes on the transport of blocks from the interior of the cirques, and on the directions of their transit, show how im- portant was the part played by ice in the excava- tion or in the clearing of cirques. The conclusions arrived at . by Mr. Lorange, and supported by Mr. Helland are, that cirques, as well as sack-valleys, were necessarily excavated with the aid of glacier-ice. But the ice did not act as a direct excavating agent ; it only cleared away the debris which had accumulated in the cirques, the rock being disintegrated by the incessant intermittence of the freezing and thawing of water in the fissures. Doing little to excavate the valley, the glacier acts as a powerful means of transport of the disinte- grated parts of the rock, where such a means is want- ing, as on the tops of mountains, there the debris accumulates and protects the underlying rock from further disintegration. The tarns, so numerous at the bottoms of cirques and of sack-valleys, were formed, the author supposes, by the same process, the rocks being disintegrated when the water freezes under the glacier during winter. This theory of the transport power of glaciers is supported by some authorities in England, but we think that it meets with two great difficulties. It is in contradiction with the well-known fact, that in the valleys of the Alps the ice has acted as a sheet, protecting the rock from disintegration ; that the disintegration proceeds far more rapidly above the glacier than beneath it. And secondly, the theory does not explain why the disintegra- tion should go on so rapidly in the head of the valley and so slowly in its lower parts (the dififerences of height and climate being trifling), as to produce a very great semi- circular enlargement at the head of the valley. We believe, therefore, that so long as it is not admitted that a glacier, charged on its lower surface with a mass of debris, is really a mighty excavating agent, we cannot come to a satisfactory explanation of the cirques. The observation of Mr. Helland that the openings of the cirques are generally directed to the north, i.e. to the part of horizon fi'Otn which came the ice in many instances, suggests a question which we will simply refer to without entering into details. Were not some cirques, or a part of the enlargements of some cirques, excavated by the ice during its ascending motion from the valley on the fjeld? Those who accept the molecular motion of glacier-ice, i.e. its perfect plasticity or vis- cosity, with all the consequences of this theory, certainly will not find the question extravagant ; they will remem- ber that the motion of ice up the valleys, and even a motion on slopes from 20° to 63° is an established fact. Sept. 14, 1876J NATURE 423 In the valleys which have, for example, a west-to-east direction, and which were crossed by the ice moving from north to south, the plastic ice ascended the slopes which faced towards the north ; and also did it ascend on the f jelds when it moved up a valley, a phenomenon which, we know, is not at all uncommon. A second short paper, by Mr. Helland, gives a table of the dimensions, heights above sea-level, and depths of twenty Norwegian lakes, from which it is seen that these lakes are, as in the case of the Italian lakes, deeply excavated below the sea-level ; thus, for example, the bottoms of the Horningsdalvand and of the Mjosen lie respectively 432 and 331 metres below the level of the sea. Without speaking of other short papers, we will note that the " Year-Book" contains some practical information on guides, on the regulations relative to hunting and fish- ing, and finally, the Annual Report of the Committee of the Society. It will be seen from this Report that the Association is rapidly developing ; during 1875 the num- ber of Fellows increased by 230, and reached, at the end of the year, the number of 1,247, of whom i66 are foreign Fellows, 63 belonging to England. A. L. OUR BOOK SHELF British Manufacturing Industries. Edited by G. Phillips Bevan, F.G.S. Shipbuilding, by Capt. Bedford Pim, R.N., M.P. ; Telegraphy, by Robert Sabine, C.E. ; Agricultural Machinery, by Prof. Wrightson ; Railways « and Tramways, by D. Kinnear Clark, M.Inst. C.E. (London : Stanford, 1876.) This ought to be one of the most popular volumes of this instructive series, the contents are so varied, the subjects so generally interesting, and the amount of information conveyed so large. The various writers, moreover, have managed to treat their subjects in a manner that will be understood and enjoyed by even the most general readers. Capt. Pim is evidently quite at home in his subject, which he writes about in the spirit both of a sailor and a Mem- ber of Parliament. Of course only the merest sketch of so large a subject can be given in the space at his dis- posal, but in that space he contrives to convey a sub- stantial amount of information, commencing with the log which conjecture makes the first form of boat, down to the latest armour-plated ship-of-war. He writes in rather a desponding tone of the present condition of British shipping, both in the merchant service and in the navy, and thinks our country behind others in modes of con- struction. Our navy is evidently far from perfect, and those who have its control, if they have also the welfare of our country at heart, would do well to weigh Capt. Pirn's criticism. One of the surest remedies is un- doubtedly the rigid application of scientifically-conducted experiment to shipbuilding. Mr. Sabine gives a very complete sketch of telegraphy as an industry, of the various forms of telegraph, their construction, the instru- ments in use, and the materials employed. He, too, in- dulges in some wholesome criticism, which those who provide the means for constructing telegraphs would do well to peruse. Prof. Wrightson (of Cirencester Agricul- tural College) gives a very instructive account of the multifarious machinery now used in the various opera- tions by which agriculture is carried on, from clearing and ploughing the land to preparing crops and stock for market and consumption. Mr. Clark gives much valuable infor- mation on the construction and working of railways, showing the progress made since they were first started, describing some of the latest improvements and most important enterprises, and entering into details as to cost, revenue, and other points, which all who are interested in railways will find useful. His short notice of Tramways is also interesting ; their cost of construction will surprise many, if not the large earnings which they make. Altogether, the volume is one of varied and genuine interest. 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. \ Miniature Physical Geology Under this title there is a brief but very interesting article in Nature, vol. xiii. p. 310, describing, among other things, some miniature earth-pillars at Bournemouth. These are due to the slight protection afforded by a hard seam in the sandy rock to a more friable layer beneath, when the whole is undergoing denu- dation by rain. It is a thing which I have seen more than once j but in the district of Luchon (Pyrenees) during the present summer, I have come across instances of earth pillars in minia- ture, yet more perfect than the above. The most striking case was on a slope in the wood on the right bank of the Cascade d'Enfer (Val de Lis). This slope consisted of a rather tenacious clay, filled with small angular fragments of granitoid rock. A slip, or the action of rain, had formed a Uttle corrie half a yard or so wide, and on both sides of it the slope was studded with earth pillars, more or less perfect, each capped by its httle stone. These caps were rather tabular in shape, generally from a quarter of an inch to an inch broad. Several of the pillars were so exactly models of those at Botzen, that, if drawn on the same scale, they could not be distinguished. The sides of the large pillars are furrowed and fluted by little rills of rain ; so were these. Boulders smaller than the great capstone are imbedded in the matrix of the pillars, and, themselves exercising a protec- tive influence are supported on brackets or pilasters of earth ; fo was it here ; yet all this on the tiniest scale, for the largest and best-formed pillar had r. general height of only about i| inches, rising on one side about as much again above the bed of a minia- ture ravine. I also saw a large number of similar but more stumpy pillars by the side of the path from the Port de la Picade to the Hospice de France. T. G. Bonney St. John's College, Cambridge Visual Phenomena The letter of Mr. Amulph Mallock (Nature, vol. xiv. p. 350) has very much interested me, having recently found that my vision is an exception to that of other persons whom I have tested in the matter. For instance, I see the light of distant street lamps clearly defined without any diverging rays proceeding from the points of light. Possibly this peculiarity of vision may partly account for my having glimpsed the two outer satellites of Uranus with a refrac- tor of only 4 "3 inches in aperture, during the last opposition of the planet, and which caused some discussion when my obser- vations were read before the Royal Astronomical Society. I have also been successful in detecting very faint stars close to brighter ones with comparatively small telescopic aid. I may remark that I am long-sighted, as I can read the columns of Nature readily between the distances of twelve to thirty inches, though my more convenient reading distance is about sixteen inches. It would be interesting to ascertain whether there are many such exceptions to the " visual phenomena " pointed out by Mr. Mallock. I. W. Ward Belfast, Sept. 5 Although there can be little doubt that the explanation of the long streaks of light seen on examining a bright point through a half-closed eye, which is given in Nature, voL xiv. p. 350, is the right one, and may be proved to be so in other ways than those noted, yet I think the Fig. 5, which is sup- posed to represent the course of the rays of light, ought not to 424 NA TURE [Sept. 14, 1876 remain uncorrected. It will be seen in that figure that the eye, and particularly the front convex surface of the crystalline lens, makes the rays diverge, instead, of course, of making those that catch the watery prism converge a little less. J. F, Blake Antedated Books I AM sorry to have to trouble you again under this heading, but Mr. Sharpe's second letter necessitates a short reply. I did not accuse Mr. Sharpe, in my original letter, of having wilfully misdated his book, I never even mentioned his name. I merely stated the facts and added a few comments to show that the date was a matter of some importance. Mr. Sharpe is now angry because I do not withdraw a charge which I never made. If he had simply explained in his first letter that the misdate was an error of his publisher and promised that it would not occur again, the matter would have been ended. When he proceeded to attack me for doing what I believed to be my duty, he naturally provoked an unpleasant answer. F. Z. S. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN Variable Stars (i), Mira Ceti. — Herr Julius Schmidt, Director of the Observatory at Athens, by a mean of three sets of comparisons with S and y Ceti and a Piscium, fixes the first maximum of 1876 to February 37, the date inferred from Argelander's formula of sines being Janu- ary 1 7'o. The minimum by the same formula occurred on September i. (2) R HydrjE. Of this object, so difficult to observe satisfactorily in these latitudes, Herr Schmidt observed a maximum 1876, April I2'5. (3) The same observer refers to a secondary minimum of the well-known variable star R Leonis, discovered by Koch in 1782. For the present year his observations have given the principal maximum May 77, the secon- dary minimum May 217, a maximum June 17. (4) 16 Eridani. There appear to be grounds for add- ing this star to the list of variables. It was considered as high as 3-4 by Piazzi, 43 by Heis, 4 by Flamsteed, and in the Washington general catalogue it is 4*4. Brisbane calls it 6, Argelander, once 5, and once 6. Smyth says, " it appeared more than once diminished to nearly a fifth magnitude." — This star is also r* Eridani of B.A.C., but as Bayer's map has no fewer than nine stars to which this letter is applied, it appears preferable to adopt Flam- steed's number. (5) We learn from Dr. Gould, that the variable star in Musca, to which he has already directed attention, has certainly a period shorter than that of any other known variable star — or about thirty hours only. Its variation is such that at minimum it is fairly beyond unassisted vision in the sky of Cordoba, though distinctly seen at maximum. (6) In a short list of variable stars stated by Dr. C. H. F. Peters, of Hamilton College, Clinton, U.S., to have been recently detected, which appears in Comptes Rendns, 1876, August 28, and in M. Leverrier's Bulletin Inter- national, of Sept. 6, is ore in R.A. (i860), i5h. 13m. 21s., N.P.D. 109° 53', said to vary between the sixth and eleventh magnitudes. This star, however, is not new ; it is No. '](i of' Schonfeld's last catalogue, and was dis- covered by M. Borelley in 1872. Schonfeld's limits are S'o and 12*5, the latter doubtful, and he assigns, as a rough approximation to elements : Maximum 1874, June 17+ 193** E. The first star on the same list is No. 6 of Schonfeld's list in the introduction to his second catalogue (S. Libras). An Intra-Mercurial Planet (?). — The account of the observation of a round spot on the sun's disc, re- marked on April 4, but not seen either on the preceding or following morning, which was quoted last week, from ninstitut of August 30, appears not to have been there given accurately. By the Comptes Rendus of August 28, we learn that M. Leverrier made the statement on the authority of a letter from Prof. Rudolph Wolf, Director of the Observatory at Zurich, dated August 26. Prof. Wolf says : — " It will doubtless interest you to learn that M. Weber, at Peckeloh, saw- on the 4th of April last, at 4h. 25m. M.T. at Berlin, a round spot upon the sun, which was seen without spot on the same morning and on the following one, not only by M. Weber, but also by me and by M. Schmidt at Athens. (For the observation of M. Weber, see No. 34 of the Wochenschrift fiir Astronoinie) I remark that the date of M. Weber's observation follows that of M. Lescarbault by 6219 days = 148 X 42'i'02, which is curious enough on comparison with what I have published on the subject at the time. See my * Hand- buch der Mathematik und Astronomic,' vol. ii., p. 327." So that instead of the spot having been noticed in three different and distant places, it was remarked at Peckeloh, near Miinster only, though the observations by Prof. Wolf, at Zurich, and Herr Julius Schmidt, at Athens, establish the fact of the sun having been without the spot in question shortly before and after its observation by Herr , Weber, who is well known by his observations on the zodiacal light and other phenomena. At present the particulars of the observation are not to hand, but it is singular that Prof. Wolf's period of 42-02 days not only accords with the observation of M. Lescar- bault, so far as regards an inferior conjunction of the body with the sun on March 26, 1859, but it also agrees with that of Mr. Lummis, March 20, 1862, and with the one recorded by Decuppis at the CoUegio Romano, on October 2, 1839, at the opposite node, at least within probable transit-limits. Particulars of Mr. Lummis's observation will be found in vol. xxii. of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ; that of Decuppis was thus mentioned at the sitting of the Paris Academy of Sciences, 1839, December 16 : — " M. De- cuppis announces that on October 2, continuing the ob- i servations which he had been making upon the spots 01 1 the sun, he saw a black spot, perfectly round, and with border sharply defined, which advanced upon the disc, with a rapid proper motion, such that it would have tra- versed the diameter in about six hours. M. Decuppis thinks that the appearances which he has observed can only be explained by admitting the existence of a new planet." If we were to accept the particulars of the various ob- servations of a similar character as they are recorded, it would be impossible to refer them to a single body, no matter what the excentricity of the orbit might be assumed to be, but most unfortunately these observations have on no one occasion so far been taken by a practised astronomer with proper micrometrical assistance. On the contrary, they have mostly fallen to the lot of occa- sional observers, who have contented themselves with eye- estimations of position on the sun's disc, from which little can be definitely ascertained. The Peckeloh observation of April 4 naturally suggests frequent observation of the sun's disc from the middle of the present month to the middle of October, particularly about October 10. [Since the above was in type, we learn from a Paris correspondent that M. Leverrier has made a further com- munication to the Academy on the subject of an intra- Mercurial planet or planets. Instead of a period of forty- two days, as suggested by Prof. Wolf, he thinks one of twenty-eight days more probable ; and this, it may be observed, is an aliquot part of Prof. Wolf's period. But notwithstanding a period of twenty-eight days accords w^ith a number of the observations referring to round black spots upon the solar disk, M. Leverrier is stated to Sept 14, 1876] NATURE 425 have expressed an opinion in favour of the existence of two planets at nearly the same mean distance. With respect to a period of twenty-eight days, we remark that reckoning from 1876, April 4, it will agree with the observations of Lescarbault and Lummis, but not with that of Decuppis ; while it also agrees with the obser- vation of Stark, 1819, October 9, a very definite one, which is not brought in with a period of forty-two days. The shorter period will be found to correspond with a mean distance of o"i8.] SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS 'T^HE accompanying letter, signed by several men of -*■ Science and Head-masters, has been sent to the General Committee of the British Association : — Dear Sir, — It is hoped that a Committee may be formed at this year's meeting of the British Association for the promotion of Science Teaching in Schools. Its proposed functions would be — 1. To communicate with head-masters and governing bodies as to carrying out the recommendations contained in Report VI. of the Science Commission, and to offer advice, if required, on all necessary details of selection, arrangement, and outlay. 2. To press upon the Universities such steps in connec- tion with the pending Bill in Parliament as may bene- ficially influence school teaching of science. 3. To watch the action of Government in any proposal made by them either in pursuance of Lord Salisbury's Bill or in giving effect to the Duke of Devonshire's Com- mission, and to hold a brief for science-teaching at schools in reference to all such legislation. We desire to bespeak your attention to and interest in this proposal, which appears to us in all respects a timely one. THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION Glasgow, Ttcesday THE Association finds a fitting home in Glasgow, which has few rivals either in earlier or later scien- tific reputation. The force of long-continued scientific traditions, added to the present encouragement given to science, and I must also say, to the nearness of the finest holiday localities, makes this one of the most brilliant of recent meetings. Not only is the total number of members and associates attending very high, over 2,700, but the true chiefs of science are present in great strength. It cannot be said that the Association itself is this year at all below its high aims. The majority of papers are really scientific, and do not emasculate the truth in the effort to popularise it. Discussions have been very interesting, judging from the perseverance with which they have been listened to. The reception given by the people of Glasgow is worthy of the city, although it is possible that in the details and refinements of arrange- ment, Bristol excelled. This was especially manifested in regard to some of the excursions. But it is evident that the very best efforts of the north have been put forth in every way, and the general result is undeniably suc- cessful. The charming situation of the University Build- ings, in which all the sections but one hold their meetings, is a very great advantage. From the Report of the Council it will be seen that " grants in aid of scientific objects have been made during the year to the amount of 1,092/. The income of the year has reached 3,743/., and the cash balance, 764/., exceeded that of last yeai by 624/. The President's Address did not excite general en- thusiasm among the audience, partly because the great size of the building and the comparative weakness of the speaker's voice prevented many from hearing well, partly, also, because it was such as to impress most those \yho think most. The address manifested the combina- tion in its author of qualities seldom marching together ; deep regard for elder times and their achievements, wide knowledge of the position of science at the present day, perception of the true relationships, the real connexus of pure and applied science, a realisation, founded on care- ful study of the way in which the scientific cultus affects human nature, and the rise and fall of nations. It would be vain to seek for scientific arrogance and conceit in Dr. Andrews's deliverance, and if one may forecast, it may be expected to have as much influence on future thought and public action as almost any recent utterance from the presidential chair of the British Association, without any tendency to provoke the hostility of the unscientific. Among the presidential addresses, that of Mr. Wallace to the Biological Section seems to have attracted much notice ; and there is no doubt of its great value, for, scarcely occupying any ground covered by his recent great work on " The Geographical Distribution of Animals," he may be said to have laid the foundations of a new science out of " waste materials " already existing. Thus another group of scattered fragments is beginning to be sought by right processes, in order that a coherent edifice may be erected. Sir William Thomson returned again to the charj^e against the exorbitant demands of geo- logists for " time." If he is right, of course some geological theories must be altered; but perhaps Sir William will not have to wait long for an answer. It was singular that Prof Young, in the Geological Section, should have chosen a subject agreeing so largely with Sir William Thomson's. His views, carried out into more geological detail, imply that we are to look for a general reconstruction of much that is held to be settled in geological theory. He calls loudly for precision in geological phraseology, believing that there is nothing more urgently needed to secure progress in the science than some of that accuracy of conception and expression which distinguishes mathematical and physical science. Capt. Evans's address on Geography will perhaps disap- point some who think the questions of oceanic circulation are practically settled, but an open confession of diffi- culties and ignorance is better than any false security. Such confessions have been very general among the best men at this meeting — a favourable augury of coming victories for science. On the whole the sections have done hard work, and comparatively little sacrifice of scientific rigour and form has been made for the sake of making subjects popular. The Duke of Argyll's address on the Geology of the Highlands was a bonne bouche for the untechnical, and was much run after. The Duke has shared " lionship " with Commander Cameron and Sir C. Wy ville Thomson ; consequently the heart of Africa and the depths of the sea are among the favourite subjects here. Sir William Thomson has, of course, been at home on the great Tide question, denouncing the British Hydrographic Depart- ment for its supineness, by which very laborious and ex- pensive efforts are left to private individuals. One of the most lively encounters has concerned the junction of the granites and Old Red Sandstone in Arran. It was suggested that Mr. Wiinsch and Dr. Bryce should adjourn to the locality to fight it out, but without hammers. The chemists had a field-day on the disposal of the sewage of towns. Irrigationists and precipitationists continued 'their controversies, giving excuse to great towns still to postpone dealing with the subject While the doctors, or rather chemists, differ, the sewage is emptied into the river. Prof. Tait's discourse on Force was ^ ery characteristic. One important advantage gained by th ;\udience would probably be an impression of the necessity of accuracy in the use of words. Sir C. Wyville Thomson's address on the Results of 426 NATURE {Sept. 14, 1876 the Challenger Expedition was very successful, and highly- appreciated. A good voice was added to a most agree- able and flowing delivery, and as little as possible of com- plicated ideas or reasoning was introduced. Two conversaziones took place on Thursday evening, for what reason is not apparent. One was under the superintendence of the local committee, in the Royal Exchange. There was a little pretence at science, but the assembly was converted into a ball. Is it right that money raised by the local committee in the name of the British Association should be devoted to such a pur- pose ? If a ball is wanted, let there be a separate sub- scription for that avowed purpose. The other assembly, under the auspices of the Philosophical Society (of which Sir William Thomson is president), took place in the Corporation Galleries and the rooms of the Society. Art and science were here fitly combined. Physical appa- ratus received considerable illustration. Sir William Thomson's demonstration on smoke rings and his new patent syphon recorder being especially interesting. Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., attracted attention by his exhi- bition of a series of sections of fossil corals, beautifully shown by Birrell's new oxyhydrogen apparatus. The great special collection of carboniferous fossils in these galleries was exceedingly creditable to the geologists of the Glasgow district ; Mr. James Thomson's very large collections, including his splendid Labyrinthodont re- mains (Pteroplax, &c.), formed a considerable proportion of the whole. The museums of Glasgow are numerous and scattered. To a considerable extent the same things are displayed over again in the Hunterian Museum at the University, the Kelvingrove Museum in the park of that name, the Andersonian at Anderson's University, the Museum of the Society of Naturalists in the Queen's Rooms, and the Museum in the Corporation Galleries. Very great labour has been expended in the formation of special collections at these places, but we can only notice a very few of these. In the University Museum the display of Mr. John Young's private collection of fossils was most interesting by reason of the great number and beauty of the pre- parations of minute forms, especially of Foraminifera, Sponges, Echinoderms and Polyzoa. Unfortunately the great roof of the Museum has no light in it whatever, an inconceivable detraction from its value. Other most no- ticeable collections were a splendid series of Labyrintho- donts and Fishes from Carluke Collieries, the exhibitor of which desired his name to be unknown, and Mr. David Robertson's collection of recent and Pleistocene invertebrates. The great special exhibition of mechanical inventions and industrial processes at the Kelvingrove Museum must, we regret to say, be dismissed with a single word of high commendation. Rare plants and animals were to be seen at the Queen's Rooms, including many unique specimens from Scottish habitats. Utricularia and Drosera are of course brought forward. The assembly of foreigners on this occasion is very notable. Section A includes in its forces Prof. Cremona, of Rome ; M. Janssen, of Leyden ; Prof. Wiillner, of Aix-la-Chapelle ; Prof. Eccher, of Florence ; Prof. Fischer, Prof, von Quintus Icilius, of Hanover ; Profs. Stoletow and Wladirmiosky. Section B has the aid of Dr. Biedermann, of Berlin. Section C, Dr. A. Fritsch, of Prague ; Prof, von Lasaulx, of Breslau ; Prof. F. Roemer, of Breslau ; Section D rejoices in the presence of Fer- dinand Cohn and Grube, of Breslau ; Ernst Haeckel, of Jena ; Kronecker, of Leipsic ; and Prof. Morren, of Lidge ; the Chevalier Negri reinforces Section E ; and M. Bergeron, of Paris, Section G. The excursion programme, as might be expected in this neighbouiiiood, has been only too embarrassing. Saturday was . cry generally devoted to pleasure, although the matheni aicians and physicists cleared off a long list of papers, uud two other sections sat during part of the day. Those who could not devote the whole day to ex- cursions had abundant entertainment provided for them in Glasgow. Cameron's lecture to working men was naturally very successful, and Dr. Carpenter subsequently spoke at length on the humane treatment which should be accorded to savages. One of the most interesting trips was made by Mr. Duncan and a small party of zoologists to Loch Fyne and the coast of Bute for the purpose of dredging. Many successful hauls were made, bringing up abundance of Comatulas, Aphrodites, As- cidians, and Echini. Another dredging party went with Mr. A. B. Stewart to Wemyss Bay. An attempt at dredging in Loch Lomond only gave " a beggarly account of empty bags." A geological party went to Ballagan, Finnich Glen, &c., under the guidance of Mr. Wilson, of Aucheveck. No very special scientific interest appears to be included in the excursions for Thursday next, when Paisley Abbey, Arran, Rothesay, and Loch Long, are to be visited. So we are to meet in Dublin in 1878. Leeds pleaded hard, claiming that there was a sort of understanding in their favour last year. But the idea of alternating the meetings between a university town and a great manu- facturing town prevailed, in addition, no doubt, to the eminence of the Dublin academicians attending the meeting. Scarcely less interesting was the choice of a president for the Plymouth meeting. The nomi- nation of Prof. Allen Thomson by Dr. Hooker was at once an honour to Glasgow and a demonstration of regard for those studies of anatomy and embryo- logy which do not always secure public renown. The personal qualities of Dr. Allen Thomson make him all that could be desired for a president. Of course his nomination was unanimously accepted. The vice-presi- dents appointed were the Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe, the Earl of Devon, Lord Blachford, Mr. W. Spottiswoode, F.R.S., Mr. W. Froude, F.R.S., and Mr. C. Spence Bate, F.R.S. ; local secretaries, Prof. W. G. Adams, Mr. W. Square, and Mr. Hamilton Whiteford. Mr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S. , was elected one of the general secretaries, in the place of Dr. Michael Foster, F.R.S., who has resigned. We meet again in Plymouth on August 15, 1877. SECTION A. mathematical and physical Opening Address by Prof. Sir "William Thomson, F.R.S., D.C.L., &c.. President. A conversation which I had with Prof. Newcomb one evening last June, in Prof. Henry's drawing-room, in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, has forced me to give all my spare thoughts ever since to Hopkins's problem of Precession and Nutation, assuming the earth a rigid spheroidal shell filled with liquid. Six weeks ago, when I landed in England after a most interesting trip to America and back, and became painfully conscious that I must have the honour to address you here to- day, I wished to write an address of which science in America should be the subject. I came home, indeed, vividly impressed with much that I had seen both in the Great Exhibition of Philadelphia and out of it, showing the truest scientific spirit and devotion, the originality, the inventiveness, the patien'. per- severing thoroughness of work, the appreciativeness, and the generous openmindedness and sympathy, fiom which the great things of science come. &e\a) \4yeiv 'ArpeiSas 0eAco Se KaSfiou i^Seij'. I wish I could speak to you of the veteran Henry, generous rival of Faraday in electromagnetic discovery ; of Peirce the founder of high mathematics in America ; of Bache, and of the splendid heritage he has left to America and to the world in the United States Coast Survey ; of the great school of astronomers which followed, Gould, Newton, Newcomb, Watson, Young, Alvan Clarke, Rutherford, Draper, father and son : of Commander Belknap and his great exploration of the Pacific depths by pianoforte wire, with imperfect apparatus supplied from Glas- gow, out of which he forced a success in his own way; Sept. 14, 1876] NATURE 427 of Captain Sigsbee, who followed with like fervour and resolution, and made further improvements in the apparatus by which he has done marvels of easy, quick, and sure deep- sea sounding in his little surveying ship Blake; and of the admirable official spirit which makes such men and such doings possible in the United States Naval Service. I would like to tell you too of my reason for confidently expecting that American hydrography will soon supply the data from tidal observations, long ago asked of our Government in vain by a Committee of the British Association, by which the amount of the earth's elastic yielding to the distorting influence of the sun and moon will be measured ; and of my strong hope that the Compass Department of the American Navy will repay the debt to France, England, and Germany so appreciatively acknow- ledged in their reprint of the works of Poisson, Any, Archibald Smith, Evans, and the Liverpool Compass Committee, by giving in return a fresh marine survey of terrestrial magnetism, to supply the navigator with data for correcting his compass without sights of sun or stars. Can I go on to precession and nutation without a word of what I saw in the Great Exhibition of Philadelphia? In the U.S. Government part of it. Prof. Hilgard showed me the measuring-rods of the U.S. Coast Survey, with their beautiful mechanical appliances for end measurement, by which the three great base Imes of Maine, Long Island, and Georgia, were measured with about the same accuracy as the most accurate scientific measurers, whether of Europe or America, have at- tained in comparing two metre or yard measures. In the United States telegraphic department I saw and heard Eli>ha Gray's splendidly worked-out electric telephone actually sounding four messages simultaneously on the Morse code, and clearly capable of doing yet four times as many with very mode- rate improvements of detail ; and I saw Edison's automatic telegraph delivering 1,015 words in 57 seconds : this done by the long-neglected electro-chemical method of Bain, long ago condemned in England to the helot work of recording from a relay, and then turned adrift as needlessly delicate for that. In the Canadian department I heard "To be or not to be, ... . there's the rub, " through an electric telegraph wire ; but, scorn- ing monosyllables, the electric articulation rose to higher flights, and gave me passages taken at random from the New York newspapers: — "S.S. Cox has arrived" (I failed to make out the S.S. Cox) ; " I'he City of New York," " Senator Morton," ' ' The Senate has resolved to print a thousand extra copies ;" *' The Americans in London have resolved to celebrate the coming 4th of July." All this my own ears heard, spoken to me with unmistakable distinctness by the thin circular disc arma- ture of just such another little electro-magnet as this which I hold in my hand. The words were shouted with a clear and loud voice by my colleague-judge. Prof Watson, at the far end of the tel^raph wire, holding his mouth close to a stretched membrane, such as you see before you here, carrying a little piece of soft iron, which was thus made to perform in the neigh- bourhood of an electro-magnet in circuit with the line motions proportional to the sonorific motions of the air. This, the greatest by far of all the marvels of the electric telegraph, is due to a young countryman of our own, Mr. Graham Bell, of Edinburgh and Montreal, and Boston, now becoming a natu- ralised citizen of the United States. Who can but admire the hardihood of invention which devised such very slight means to realise the mathematical conception that, if electricity is to convey all the delicacies of quality which distinguish articulate speech, the strength of its current must vary continuously and as nearly as may be in simple proportion to the velocity of a particle of air engaged in constituting the sound ? The Patent Museum of Washington, an institution of which the nation is justly proud, and the beneficent working of the United States patent laws, deserve notice in the section of the British Association concerned with branches of science to which nine-tenths of all the useful patents of the world owe their foun- dations. I was much struck with the prevalence of patented inventions in the Exhibition : it seemed to me that every good thing deserving a patent was patented. I asked one inventor of a very good invention "Why don't you patent it in England?" He answered, "The conditions in England are too onerous." W^e certainly are far behind America's wisdom in this respect. If Europe does not amend its patent laws (England in the oppo- site direction to that proposed in the BUls before the last two sessions of Parliament) America will speedily become the nursery of useful inventions for the world. I should tell you also of "Old Prob's " weather warnings. which cost the nation 250, cxx) dollars a year ; money well spent say the western farmers, and not they alone : in this the whole people of the United States are agreed, and though Democrats or Republicans playing the "economical ticket " may for half a session stop the appropriations for even the United States Coast Survey, no one would for a moment think of proposing to starve " Old Prob ; " and now that 80 per cent, of his probabilities have proved true, and General Myers has for a month back ceased to call his daily forecasts ' ' probabilities " and has begun to call them indications, what will the western farmers caU him this time next year? And the United States Naval Observatory, full of the very highest science, under the command of Admiral Davis ! If, to get on to precession and nutation, I had resolved to omit telling you that I had there, in an instrument for measuring photographs of the transit of Venus — shown me by Prof. Hark- ness, a young Scotsman attracted into the United States Naval Service — seen for the first time in an astronomical observatory a geometrical slide, the verdict on the disaster on board the Thunderer, published while I am writing this address, forbids me to keep any such resolution, and compels me to put the ques- tion, Is there in the British Navy, or in a British steamer, or in a British land boiler another safety-valve so constructed that by any possibility, at any temperature, or under any stress it can jam ? and to say that if there is it must be instantly corrected or removed. I ought to speak to you, too, of the already venerable Harvard University, the Cambridge of America, and of the Technological Institute of Boston, created by William Rogers, brother of my late colleague in this university (Glasgow), Henry Rogers, and of the Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore, which with its youthfid vigour has torn Sylvester from us, has utilised the genius and working power of Roland for experimental research, and three days after my arrival in America, sent for the young Porter Poinier to make him a Fellow. But he was on his death- bed in New York ' ' begging bis physicians to keep him alive just to finish his book, and then he would be willing to go." Of his book, "Thermodynamics," we may hope to see at least a part, for much of the manuscript, and good and able friends to edit it, are left ; but the appointment to a Pellowship in the Johns Hopkins University came a day too late to gratify his noble am- bition. But the stimulus of intercourse with American scientific men left no place in my mind for framing, or attempting to frame a report on American science. Disturbed by Newcomb's sus- picions of the earth's irregularities as a Time-keeper, I could think of nothing but precession and nutation, and tides and mon- soons, and settlements of the equatorial regions, and melting of polar ice. Week after week passed before I could put down two words which I could read to you here to-day : and so I have nothing to offer you for my Address but — Review of Evidence regarding Physical Condition of the Earth ; its Internal Temperature ; the Fluidity or Solidity of its In- terior Substance ; the Rigidity, Elasticity, Plasticity^ of its External Figure ; and the Permanence or Variability of its Period and Axis of Rotation. The evidence of a high internal temperature is too well known to need any quotation of particulars at present. Suffice it to say that below the uppermost ten metres stratum of rock or soil sensibly affected by diurnal and annual variations of tempera- ture, there is generally found a gradual increase of temperature downwards, approximating roughly, in ordinary localities, to an average rate of 1° C. per thirty metres of descent, but much greater in the neighbourhood of active volcanoes, and certain other special localities of comparatively small area, where hot springs and, perhaps, also, sulphurous vapours prove an intimate relationship to volcanic quality. It is worthy of remark in passing, that, so far as we know at present, there are no localities of exceptionally small rate of augmentation of under- ground temperature, and none where temperature diminishes at any time through any considerable depth downwards below the stratum sensibly influenced by summer heat and winter cold. Any considerable area of the earth of, say, not less than a kilo- metre in any horizontal diameter, which for several thousand years had been covered by snow or ice, and from which the ice had melted away and left an average surface temperature of 13*, would during nine hundred years, show a decreasing tem- perature for some depth down from the surface : and thirty- six hundred years after the clearing away of the ice would still show residual effect of the ancient cold, in a half rate of augmen- 428 NATURE [Sept. 14, 1876 tation of temperature downwards in the upper strata, gradually increasing to the whole normal rate which would be sensibly reached at a depth of 600 metres. By a simple effort of geological calculus it has been estimated that 1° per 30 metres gives 1000° per 30,000 metres, and 3333" per 100 kilometres. This arithmetical result is irrefragable, but what of the physical conclusion drawn from it with marvellous frequency and pertinacity that at depths of from 30 to lOO kilometres the temperatures are so high as to melt all substances composing the earth's upper crust ? It has been remarked, in- deed, that if observation showed any diminution or augmentation of the rate of increase of underground temperature in great depths, it would not be right to reckon on the uniform rate of l° per 30 metres, or thereabouts, down to yj or 60 or 100 kilometres. "But observation has shown nothing of the kind, and therefore surely it is most consonant with inductive philosophy to admit no great deviation in any part of the earth's solid crust from the rate of increase proved by observation as far as the greatest depths to which we have reached ! " Now I have to remark upon this argument that the greatest depth to which we have reached in observations of underground temperature is scarcely one kilo- metre ; and that, if a 10 per cent, diminution of the rate of augmentation of underground temperature downwards were found at a depth of one kilometre, this would demonstrate ' that within the last 100,000 years the upper surface of the earth must have been at a higher temperature than that now found at the depth of one kilometre. Such a result is no doubt to be found by observation in places which have been overflown by lava in the memory of man, or a few thousand years farther back : but if, without going deeper than a kilometre, a 10 per cent, diminution of the rate of increase of temperature downwards were found for the whole earth, it would limit the whole of geological history to within 100,000 years, or, at all events, would interpose an absolute barrier against the continuous descent of life on the earth from earlier periods than 100,000 years ago. Therefore, although search in particular localities for a diminution of the rate of augmentation of under- ground temperature in depths of less than a kilometre may be of intense interest, as helping us to fix the dales ef extinct volcanic actions which have taken place within 100,000 years or so, we know enough from thoroughly sure geological evidence not to expect to find it, except in particular localities, and to feel quite sure that we shall not find it under any considerable portion of the earth's surface. If we admit as possible any such discontinuity within 900,000 years, we might be prepared to find a sensible diminution of the rate at three kilometres depth : but not at anything less than 30 kilometres if geologists validly claim as much as 90,000,000 of years for the length of the time with which their science is concerned. Now this implies a temperature of 1000° C. at the depth of 30 kilometres, allows something less than 2000° for the temperature at 60 kilometres, and does not require much more than 4,000° C. at any depth, however great ; but does require at the great depths a temperature of at all events not less than about 4000° C. It would not take much "hurrying up " of the actions with which they are con- cerned, to satisfy geologists with the more moderate estimate of 50,000,000 of years. This would imply at least about 3000° C. for the limiting temperature at great depths. If the actual substance of the earth, whatever it may be, rocky or metallic, at depths of from 60 to too kilometres, under the pressure actually there experienced by it can be solid at temperatures of from 3000° to 4000°, then we may hold the former estimate (90,000,000) to be as probable as the latter (50,000,000) so far as evidence from underground temperature can guide us. If 4000° would melt the earth's substance at a depth of 100 kilometres, we must reject the former estimate, though we might still admit the latter ; if 3000" would melt the substance at a depth of 60 kilometres, we should be compelled to conclude that 50,000,000 of years is an over-estimate. Whatever may be its age, we may be quite sure the earth is solid in its interior : not, I admit, throughout its whole volume, for there certainly are spaces in volcanic regions occupied by liquid lava ; but what- ever portion of the whole mass is liquid, whether the waters of the ocean or melted matter in the interior, these portions are small in comparison with the whole, and we must utterly reject any geological hypothesis which, whether for explaining under- I For proof of this and following statements regarding Underground Heat I refer to " Secular Cooling of the Earth" Traiisactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1862, and Thomson and Tail's " Natural Philosophy," Appendix D. ground heat or ancient upheavals and subsidences of the solid crust, or earthquakes, or existing volcanoes, assumes the solid earth to be a shell of 30, or 100, or 500, or 1,000 kilometres thickness, resting on an interior liquid mass. This conclusion was first arrived at by Hopkins, who may therefore properly be called the discoverer of the earth's solidity. He was led to it by a consideration of the phenomena of pre- cession and nutation, and gave it as shown to be highly probable, if not absolutely demonstrated, by his confessedly imperfect and tentative investigation. But d rigorous application 01 the perfect hydrodynamical equations leads still more decidedly to the same conclusion. I am able to say this to you now in consequence of the con- versation with Professor Newcomb to which I have already alluded. Admitting fully my evidence for the rigidity of the earth from the tides, he doubted the argument from precession and nutation. Trjing to recollect what I had written on it fourteen years ago in a paper on the Rigidity of the Earth, published in the Transactions of the Royal Society, my con- science smote me, and I could only stammer out that I had convinced myself that so and so, and so and so, at which I had arrived by a non-mathematical short cut, were true. He hinted that viscosity might suffice to render precession and nutation the same as if the earth were rigid, and so vitiate the argument for rigidity. This I could not for a moment admit any more than when it was first put forward by Delaunay. But doubt entered my mind regarding the so and so, and so and so ; and I had not completed the night journey to Philadelphia which hurried me away from our unfinished discussion before I had convinced myself that they were grievously wrong. So now I must request as a favour that each one of you on going home will instantly turn up his or her copies of the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1862, and of Thomson and Tait's " Natural Philosophy," vol. i., and draw the pen through §§ 23-31 of my paper on the " Rigidity of the Earth " in the former, and through everything in §§ 847-849 of the latter, which refers to the effect on precession and nutation of an elastic yielding of the earth's surface. When those passages were written I knew little or nothing of vortex motion ; and until my attention was recalled to them by Prof. Newcomb, I had never once thought of their subject in the light thrown upon it by the theory of the quasi-rigidity induced in a liquid by vortex motion which has of late occupied me so much. With this fresh light a little consideration sufficed to show me that (although the old obvious conclusion is of course true, that if the inner boundary of the imagined rigid shell of the earth were rigorously spherical, the interior liquid could experience no precessional or nutational influence from the pressure on its boundmg surface, and therefore if homogeneous could have no precession or nutation at all, or if heterogeneous only as much precession and nutation as would be produced by attraction from without in virtue of non-sphericity of its surfaces of equal density, and therefore the shell would have enormously more rapid precession and nutation than it actually has — forty times as much, for instance, if the thickness of the shell is sixty kilometres) a very slight deviation of the inner surface of the shell from perfect sphericity would suffice, in virtue of the quasi- rigidity due to vortex motion, to hold back the shell from taking sensibly more precession than it would give to the liquid, and to cause the liquid (homogeneous or heterogeneous) and the shell to have sensibly the same precessional motion as if the whole constituted one rigid body. But it is only because of the very long period (26,000 years) of precession, in comparison with the period of rotation (one day), that a very slight deviation fiom sphericity would suffice to cause the whole to move as if it were a rigid body. A little further consideration showed me — (i) That an ellipticity of inner surface equal to ^ ^ 26000 X 365 would be too small, but that an ellipticity of one or two hundred times this amount would not be too small, to compel approximate equality of precession throughout liquid and shell. (2) That with an ellipticity of interior surface equal to -^^ if the precessional motive were 26,000 times as great as it is, the motion of the liquid would be very different from that of a rigid mass rigidly connected with the shell : (3) That with the actual forces and the supposed interior ellipticity of -^^ the lunar nineteen-yearly nutation might be affected to about five per cent, of its amount by interior liquidity. (4) Lastly, that the lunar semi-annual nutation must be largely, Sept, 14, 1876] NATURE 429 and the lunar fortnightly nutation enormously, aflFected by in- terior liquidity. But although so much could be foreseen readily enough, I found it impossible to discover, without thoiough mathematical investigation, what might be the characters and amounts of the deviations from a rigid body's motion which the several cases of precession and nutation contemplated would present. The investij^ation, limited to the case of a homogeneous liquid enclosed in an ellipsoidal shell, has brought out results which I confess have greatly surprised me. When the interior ellipticity of the shell is just too .<;mall, or the periodic speed of the dis- turbance just too great to allow the motion of the whole to be sensibly that of a rigid body, the deviation first sensible ren- ders the precessional or nutational motion of the shell smaller than if the whole were rigid, instead of greater, as I ex- pected. The amount of this difference bears the same pro- portion to the actual precession or nutation as the fraction measuring the periodic speed of the disturbance (in terms of the period of rotation as unity) bears to the fraction measur- ing the interior ellipticity of the shell ; and it is remarkable that this result is independent of the thickness of the shell, assumed however to be small in proportion to the earth's radius. Thus in the case of precession the effect of interior liquidity would be to diminish the periodic speed of the precession in the propor- tion stated ; in other words, it would add to the precessional period a number of days equal to the multiple of the rotational period equal to the number whose reciprocal measures the ellipticity. Thus in the actual case of the earth if we still take Ti\-f, as the ellipticity of the inner boundary of the supposed rigid shell, the effect would be to augment by 300 days the pre- cessional period of 2,600 years, or to diminish by about -^" the annual precession of about 51" — an effect which I need not say would be wholly insensible. But on the lunar nutation of i8"6 years period the effect of interior liquidity would be quite sensible; l8 '6 years being 23 times 300 days, the effect would be to diminish the axes of the ellipse which the earth's pole describes in this period each by ^\ of its own amount. The semi-axes of this ellipse calculated on the theory of perfect rigidity from the very accurately known amount of precession and the fairly accurate knowledge which we have of the ratio of the lunar to the solar part of the precessional motive are 9" '22 and 6" "86, with an uncertainty not amount- ing to one-half per cent, on account of want of perfect accuracy in the latter part of data. If the true values were less each by ^^ of its own amount, the discrepance might have escaped detection, or might not have escaped detection ; but certainly could be found if looked for. So far nothing can be considered as absolutely proved with reference to the interior solidity of the earth from precession and nutation ; but now think of the solar semi-annual and the lunar fortnightly nutations. The period of each of these is less than 3CX) days. Now the hydro- dynamical theory shows that irrespectively of the thickness of the shell, the nutation of the crust would be zero if the period of the nutational disturbance were 300 times the period of rotation (the ellipticity being ^j) : if the nutational period were anything between this and a certain smaller critical value depending on the thickness of the crust, the nutation would be negative ; if the period were equal to this second critical value, the nutation would be infinite : and if the period were still less, the nutation would be again positive. Farther the 183 days period of the aolar nutation falls so little short of the critical 300 days, that the amount of the nutation is not sensibly influenced by the thickness of the crust — is negative and equal in absolute value to |-| (being the reciprocal of \^ — i ) times what the amount woidd be were the earth solid throughout. Now this amount as calculated in the Nautical Almanac makes o"'55, and o"'Sl the semi-axes of the ellipse traced by the earth's axis round its mean position ; and if the true nutation placed the earth's axis on the opposite side of an ellipse having "86 and "-81 for its semi-axes, the discrepance could not possibly have escaped detection. But lastly, think of the lunar fortnightly nutation. Its period is ^\ of 300 days, and its amount, calculated in the Nautical Almanac on the theory of complete solidity, is such that the greater semi-axis of the approximately circular ellipse described by the pole is o" "0325. Were the crust infinitely thin this nutation would be negative, but its amount nineteen times that corresponding to solidity. This would make the greater semi-axis of the approximately circular ellipse described by the pole amount to 19 X o"*o885, which is i"7. It would be negative and of some amount between i"7 and infinity, if the thickness of the crust were any- thing from zero to 120 kilometres. This conclusion is absolutely decisive against the geological hypothesis of a thin rigid shell full of liquid. But interesting in a dynamical point of view as Hopkins's problem is, it cannot afford a decisive argument against the earth's interior liquidity. It assumes the crust to be perfectly stiff and unyielding in its figure. This of course it cannot be, because no material is infinitely rigid ; but, composed of rock and possibly of continuous metal in the great depths, may the crust not as a whole be stiff enough to practically fulfil the condition of unj ieldingness ? No ; decidedly it could not : on the contrary, were it of continuous steel and 500 kilo- metres thick, it would jaeld very nearly as much as if it were india-rubber, to the deforming influences of centrifugal force and of the sun's and moon's attractions. Now, although the full problem of precession and nutation, and what is now necessarily included in it — tides, in a continuous revolving liquid spheroid, whether homogeneous or heterogeneous, has not yet been coherently worked out, I think I see far enough towards a complete solution to say that precession and nutations will be practically the same in it as in a solid globe, and that the tides will be practically the same as those of the equilibrium theory. From this it follows that precession and nutations of the solid crust, with the practically perfect flexibility which it would have even though it were 100 kilometres thick and as stiff as steel, would be sensibly the same as if the whole earth from sur- face to centre were solid and perfectly stiff. Hence precession and nutations yield nothing to be said against such hypotheses as that of Darwin, ' that the earth as a whole takes approximately the figure due to gravity and centrifugal force, because of the fluidity of the interior and the flexibility of the crust. But alas for this ' ' attractive sensational idea that a molten interior to the globe un- derlies a thin superficial crust ; its surface agitated by tidal waves and flowing freely towards any issue that may here and there be opened for its outward escape," as Poulett Scrope called it ! the solid crust would yield so freely to the deforming influence of sun and moon that it would simply carry the waters of the ocean up and down with it, and there would be no sensible tidal rise and fall of water relatively to land. The state of the case is shortly this : — The hypothesis of a perfectly rigid crust containing liquid violates physics by assum- ing preternaturally rigid matter and violates dynamical astronomy in the solar semi-annual and lunar fortnightly nutations ; but tidal theory has nothing to say against it. On the other hand the tides decide against any crust flexible enough to perform the nuta- tions correctly with a liquid interior, or as flexible as the crust must be unless of preternaturally rigid matter. But now thrice to slay the slain ; suppose the earth this moment to be a thin crust of rock or metal resting on liquid matter. Its equilibrium would be unstable ! And what of the upheavals and subsidences ? They would be strikingly analo- gous to those of a ship which has been rammed : one portion of crust up and another down, and then all down. I may say with almost perfect certainty, that, whatever may be the relative densities of rock, solid and melted, at or about the temperature of liquefaction, it is, I think, quite certain that cold solid rock is denser than hot melted rock : and no possible degree of rigidity in the crust could prevent it from breaking in pieces and sinking wholly below the liquid lava. Something like this may have gone on and probably did go on for thousands of years after solidification commenced ; surface portions of the melted mate- rial losing heat, freezing, sinking immediately, or growing to thicknesses of a few metres when the surface would be cool and the whole solid dense enough to sink. "This process must go on until the sunk portions of crust build up from the bottom a sufficiently close- ribbed skeleton or frame, to allow fresh incrus- tations to remain bridging across the now small areas of lava, pools, or lakes. " In the honey-combed solid and liquid mass thus formed, there must be a continual tendency for the liquid, in consequence of its less specific gravity, to work its way up ; whether by masses of solid falling from the roofs of vesicles or tunnels, and causing earthquake shocks, or by the roof breaking quite through when very thin, so as to cause two such hollows to unite or the liquid of any of them to flow out freely over the outer surface of the earth ; or by gradual subsidence of the solid owing to the thermodynamic melting, which portions of it under intense stress must experience accoiding to my brother's theory. The results which must follow from ttiis tendency seem sufficiently great and ' "Observations on the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy and other Parts of Lochaber in Scotland, with an Attempt to prove that they are of Marine Origin." — Transactions of the Royal Society for Feb. 1839, p. 8i, 43^ NA TURE [Sept 14, 1S76 various to account for all that we learn trom geological evidence of earthquakes, of upheavals and subsidences of solid, and of eruptions of melted rock." ^ Leaving altogether now the hypothesis of a hollow shell filled with liquid, we must still face the question, how much does the earth, solid throughout, except small cavities or vesicles filled with liquid, yield to the deforming (or tide-generating) influences of sun and moon ? This question can only be answered by observation. A single infinitely accurate spirit-level or plummet far enough away from the sea to be not sensibly affected by the attraction of the rising and falling water, would enable us to find the answer. Observe by level or plummet the changes of direction of apparent gravity relatively to an object rigidly con- nected with the earth, and compare these changes with what they would be were the earth perfectly rigid, according to the known masses and distances of sun and moon. The discrepance, if any is found, would show distortion of the earth, and would afford data for determining the dimensions of the elliptic spheroid into which a non-rotating globular mass of the same dimensions and elasticity as the earth would be distorted by centrifugal force if set in rotation, or by tide-generating influence of sun or moon. The effect on the plumb-line of the lunar tide-generating influence is to deflect it towards or from the point of the horizon nearest to the moon, according as the moon is above or below the horizon. The effect is zero when the moon is on the horizon or overhead, and is greatest in either direction when the moon is 45° above or below the horizon. When this greatest value is reached, the plummet is drawn from its mean position through a space equal to i-jsoo^ooott of the length of the thread. No ordinary plummet or spirit-level could give any perceptible indi- cation whatever of this effect ; and to measure its amount it would be necessary to be able to observe angles as small as TaTTooftoou of the radian, or about ^^". Siemens' beautiful hydrostatical multiplying level may probably supply the means for doing this. Otherwise at present no apparatus exists within small compass by which it could be done. A submerged water- pipe of considerable length, say twelve kilometres, with its two ends turned up and open might answer. Suppose, for example, the tube to lie North and South, and its two ends to open into two small cisterns, one of them, the southern, for example, of half a decimetre diameter (to escape disturbance from capillary attraction) ; and the other of two or three decimetres diameter (so as to throw nearly the whole rise and fall into the smaller cistern). For simplicity suppose the time of observation to be when the moon's declination is zero. The water in the smaller or southern cistern will rise from its lowest position to its highest position while the moon is rising to maximum altitude, and fall again after the moon crosses the meridian till she sets ; and it will rise and fall again through the same range from moonset to moonrise. If the earth were perfectly rigid, and if the locality is in latitude 45°, the rise and fall would be half a milli- metre on each side of the mean level ; or a little short of half a millimetre if the place is within 10° north or south of latitude 45°. If the air were so absolutely quiescent during the observations as to give no varying differential pressure on the two water surfaces to the amount of y^^ millimetre of water, or xv^ts of mercury, the observa- tion would be satisfactorily practicable, as it would not be difficult by aid of a microscope to observe the rise and fall of the water in the smaller cistern to 1^ of a millimetre ; but no such quies- cence of the atmosphere could be expected at any time, and it is probable that the variations of the water-level due to difference of the barometric pressure at the two ends would in all ordi- nary weather quite overpower the small effect of the lunar tide- generating motive. If, however, the two cisterns instead of being open to the atmosphere were connected air-tightly by a return pipe with no water in it, it is probable that the observa- tion might be successfully made : but Siemens' level or some other apparatus on similarly small scale would probably be pre- ferable to any elaborate method of obtaining the result by aid of very long pipes laid in the ground ; and I have only called your attention to such an ideal method as leading up to the natural phenomenon of tides. Tides in an open canal or lake of twelve kilometres length would be of just the amount which we have estimated for the cisterns connected by submerged pipe ; but would be enormously more disturbed by wind and variations of atmospheric pressure. A canal or lake of 240 kilometres length, in a proper direction and in a suitable locality, would give but ten millimetres rise X- V'l^^^'il^'^ Cooling of the Earth." Transactions of the Roj'al Society of iidinburgh, 1862 (W. Ihomson), and Thomson and Tait's " Natural Philo- sophy," §§(««), (//). and fall at each end, an effect which might probably be analysed out of the much greater disturbance produced by wind and differences of barometric pressure ; but no open liquid level short of the ingens cequor, the ocean, will probably be fcund so well adapted as it for measuring the absolute value of the dis- turbance produced on terrestrial gravity by the lunar and solar tide generating motive. But observations of the diurnal and semi-diurnal tides in the ocean, do not (as they would on smaller and quicker levels) suffice for this purpose, because their amounts differ enormously from the equilibrium values on account of the smallness of their periods in comparison with the periods of any of the grave enough modes of free vibration of the ocean as a whole. On the other hand, the lunar fortnightly declinational and the lunar monthly elliptic and the solar semi-annual and annual elliptic tides have their periods so long that their amounts must certainly be very approximately equal to the jequilibrium values. But there are large annual and semi-annual changes of sea level, probably both differential on account of wind and differ- ences of barometric pressure and differences of temperature of the water, and absolute depending on rain-fall and the meU- ing away of snow and return evaporation, which altogether swamp the small semi-annual and annual tides due to the sun's attraction. Happily, however, for our object there is no meteorological or other disturbing cause which produces periodic changes of sea-level in either the fortnightly declinational or the monthly elliptic period ; and the lunar gravitational tides in these periods are therefore to be carefully investigated in order that we may obtain the answer to the interesting question, how much does the earth as an elastic spheroid yield to the tide- generating influence of sun or moon ? Hitherto in the British Association Committee's reductions of Tidal Observations we have not succeeded in obtaining any trustworthy indications of either of these tides. The St. George's pier landing-stage pontoon, unhappily chosen for the Liverpool tide gauge cannot be trusted for such a delicate investigation ; the available funds for calcula- tion were expended before the long-period tides for Helbre Island could be attacked, and three years of Kurrachee gave our only approach to a result. Comparisons of this, with an indication of a result with calculations on West Hartlepool tides, conducted with the assistance of a grant from the Royal Society, seem to show possibly no sensible yielding, or perhaps, more probably some degree of yielding, of the earth's figure. The absence from all the results of any indication of a i8'6 yearly tide (according to the same law as the other long-period tides) is not easily explained without assuming or admitting a considerable degree of yielding. Closely connected with the question of the earth's rigidity, and of as great scientific interest and even of greater practical moment, is the question — how nearly accurate is the earth as a time- keeper ? and another of, at all events, equal scientific interest — how about the permanence of the earth's axis of rotation ? Peters and Maxwell, about thirty-five and twenty-five years ago, separately raised the question, how much does the earth's axis of rotation deviate from being a principal axis of inertia ? and pointed out that an answer to this question is to be ob- tained by looking for a variation in latitude of any or every place on the earth's surface in a period of 306 days. The model before you illustrates the travelling round of the instantaneous axis relatively to the earth in an approximately circular cone whose axis is the principal axis of inertia, and relatively to space in a cone round a fixed axis. In the model, the former of these cones, fixed relatively to the earth, rolls internally on the latter, supposed to be fixed in space. Peters gave a minute investiga- tion of observations at Pulkova in the years 1841-42, which seemed to indicate at that time a deviation amounting to about /^" of the axis of rotation from the principal axis. Maxwell, from Greenwich observations of the years 1851-1854, found seeming indications of a very slight deviation — something less than half a " second — but differing altogether in phase from that which the deviation indicated by Peters, if real and permanent, would have produced at Maxwell's later time. On my begging Prof. New- comb to take up the subject, he kindly did so at once, and undertook to analyse a series of observations suitable for the purpose, which had been made in the United States Naval Ob- servatory, Washington, A few weeks later I received from him a letter referring me to a paper by Dr. Nysen, of Pulkova Ob- servatory, in which a similar negative conclusion as to constancy of magnitude or direction in the deviation sought for is arrived at from several series of the Pulkova observations between the Sept. 14, 1876] NATURE 431 years 1842 and 1872, and containing the following statement of his conchisions : — " The investigation of the ten month period of latitude from the Washington prime vertical observations from 1862 to 1867 is completed, indicating a co-efficient too small to be measured with certainty. The declinations with this instrument are sub- ject to an annual period which made it necessary to discuss those of each month separately. As the series extended through a full five years, each month thus fell on five nearly equidistant points of the period. If x and y represent the co-ordinates of the axis of instantaneous rotation on June 30, 1864, then the observations of the separate months gave the following values of .^ zxiA.y : — y weight. weight. January • - 0-35 10 + 032 February . . - 003 14 ■^ 0-09 March . + 0-17 10 + o-i6 April... . . + 0-44 5 + 005 May . + o-o8 16 + 0-02 June ... . - 001 14 - O'OI July ... . - o'o5 14 - o-oo August - 0'24 14 -J- 0-29 September.. . -f o-i8 J4 + 0-2I October .. . + 013 14 - o-oi November . . -^ o-o8 17 - 0"20 December .. . - 008 16 - 008 Mean .. . o"-oi ± "-03 -h o"'05±"-o3 Accepting these results as real they would indicate a radius of rotation of the instantaneous axis amounting, at the earth's sur- face, to 5 feet and a longitude of the point in which this axis intersects the earth's surface near the north pole such that on July II, 1864, it was 180° from Washington, or 103° east of Greenwich. The excess of the co-efficient over its probable error is so slight that this result cannot be accepted as any- thing more than a consequence of the unavoidable errors of observation. " From the discordant character of these results we must not, however, infer that the deviations indicated by Peters, Maxwell, and Newcomb are unreal. On the contrary any that fall within the limits of probable error of the observations ought properly to be regarded as real. There is in fact a vera causa in the tem- porary changes of sea-level due to meteorological causes, chiefly winds, and to meltings of ice in the polar regions and return evaporations, which seems amply sufficient to account for irre- gular deviations of from ^" to -^■^' of the earth's instantaneous axis from the axis of maximum inertia, or, as I ought rather to say, of the axis of maximum inertia from the instantaneous axis. As for geological upheavals and subsidences, if on a very large scale of area, they must produce, on the period and axis of the earth's rotation, effects comparable with those produced by changes of sea- level equal to them in vertical amount. For simplicity, calculating as if the earth were of equal density throughout, I find that an upheaval of all the earth's surface in north latitude and east longitude, and south latitude and west longitude, with equal depressions in the other two quarters, amounting at greatest to 10 centimetres, and graduating regu- larly from the points of maximum elevation to the points of maximum depression in the middles of the four quarters, would shift the earth's axis of maximum moment of inertia through i" on the north side towards the meridian of 90° W. longitude, and on the south side towards the meridian of 90° E. longitude. If such a change were to take place suddenly, the earth's instantaneous axis would experience a sudden shifting of but ^^' (which we may neglect) and then, relatively to the earih, would commence travelling, in a period of 306 days, round the fresh axis of maximum moment of inertia. The sea would be set into vibration, one ocean up and another down through a few centimetres, like water in a bath set aswing. The period of these vibrations would be from twelve to twenty- four hours, or at most a day or two ; their subsidence would probably be so rapid that after at most a few months they would become insensible. Then a regular 306 days' period tide of 1 1 centimetres from lowest to highest would be to be observed, with gradually diminishing amount from century to century, as through the dissipation of energy produced by this tide, the instantaneous axis of the earth is gradually brought into coinci- dence with the fresh axis of maximum moment of inertia. If we multiply these figures by 3,600, we find what would be the result of a similar sudden upheaval and subsidence of the earth to the extent of 360 metres above and below previous levels. It is not impossible that in the very early ages of geological history such an action as this, and the con- sequent 400 metres tide producing a succession of deluges every 306 days for many years may have taken place ; but it seems more probable that even in the most ancient times of geological history the great world wide changes, such as the upheavals of the continents and subsidences of the ocean beds from the general level of their supposed molten origin, took place gradually through the thermo-dynamic melting of solids and the squeezing out of liquid lava from the interior to which I have already referred. A slow distortion of the earth as a whole would never produce any great angular separation between the instan- taneous axis and axis of maximum moment of inertia for the time being. Considering, then, the great facts of the Himalayas and Andes, and Africa and the depths of the Atlantic, and America and the depths of the Pacific, and Australia, and considering far- ther the eliipticity of the equatorial section of the sea-level esti- mated by Capt. Clarke at about yV of the mean eliipticity of meri- dional sections of the sea-level, we need no brush from the comet's tail, a wholly chimerical cause which can never have been put forward seriously except in ignorance of elementary dynamical principles, to account for a change in the earth's axis ; we need no violent convulsion producing a sudden distortion on a great scale with change of the axis of maximum moment of inertia followed by gigantic deluges ; and we may not merely admit, but assert as highly probable, that the axis of maximum inertia and axis of rotation, always very near one another, may have been in ancient times very far from their present geographical position, and may have gradually shifted through ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or more degrees without, at any time, any percep- tible sudden disturbance of either land or water. Lastly, as to variations in the earth's rotational period : — You all, no doubt, know how in 1853 Adams discovered a cor- rection to be needed in the theoretical calculation with which Laplace followed up his brilliant discovery of the dynamical explanation of an apparent acceleration of the moon's mean motion, shown by records of ancient eclipses ; and how he found that when his correction was applied, the dynamical theory of the moon's motion accounted for only about half of the observed appa- rent acceleration ; and how Delaunay in 1866 verified Adams's result, and suggested that the explanation may be a retardation of the earth's rotation by tidal friction. The conclusion is that since March 19, 721 B.C., a day on which an eclipse of the moon was seen in Babylon, commencing "when one hour after her rising was fully passed," the earth has lost rather more than aoooooo of her rota- tional velocity, or as a timekeeper, is going slower by ii^ seconds per annum now than then. According to this rate of retardation, if uniform, the earth at the end of a century would, as a time- keeper, be found 22 seconds behind a perfect clock, rated and set to agree with her at the beginning of the century. Newcomb's sub- sequent investigations in the lunar theory have on the whole tended to confirm this result, but they have also brought to light some re- markable apparent irregularities in the moon's motion, which, if real, refuse to be accounted for by the gravitational theory without the influence of some unseen body or bodies passing near enough to the moon to influence her mean motion. This hypothesis Newcomb considers not so probable as that the apparent irregu- larities of the moon are not real and are to be accounted for by irregtilarities in the earth's rotational velocity. If this is the true explanation it seems that the earth was going slow from 1850 to 1862, so much as to have got behind by 7 seconds in these 12 years, and then to have begun going faster again so as to gain 8 seconds 1862 to 1872. So great an irregularity as this would require some- what greater changes of sea-level, but not many times greater, than the British Association Committee's reductions of tidal observations for several places in different parts of the world, allow us to admit to have possibly taken place. The assumption of a fluid interior, which Newcomb suggests, and the flow of a large mass of the fluid "from equatorial regions to a position nearer the axis," is not, from what I have said to you, admissible as a probable explanation of the remarkable acceleration of rota- tional velocity which seems to have taken place about 1862 ; but happily it is not necessary. A settlement of 14 centimetres in the equatorial regions with corresponding rise of 28 centimetres at the poles, which is so slight as to be absolutely undiscoverable in astronomical observatories, and which would involve no change of sea-level absolutely disproved by reductions of tidal observa- tions hitherto made would suffice. Such settlements must occur from time to time ; and a settlement of the amount suggested might result from the diminution of centrifugal force due to 150 or 200 centuries' tidal retardation of the earth's rotational speed. 432 NATURE [Sept. 14, 1876 SECTION B. CHEMICAL SCIENCE. Opening Address by William Henry Perkin, F.R.S., President. There can be no doubt that chemistry and the allied sciences are now being recognised to a much greater extent in this country than in former years ; and not only so, the workers at research, though still small in number, are more numerous than they were. In 1868, Dr. Frankland, in his address to this section at the meeting at Norwich, commented upon the small amount of original research then being carried on in the United Kingdom ; but, judging from the statistics of the Chemical Society, this state of things became even worse; for in 1868 there were forty- eight papers read before the Society, but in 1872 only twenty- two. Since then, however, there has been a considerable increase in the number ; and at the Anniversary Meeting in March last it was shown that the number of communications for the session had risen to sixty-six, or three times as many as in 1872, Of course these figures only refer to the Chemical Society ; but I think they may be taken as a very safe criterion of the improved state of things, though it would be very gratifying to see much greater activity. It is also very pleasing to find that the aids to, and opportuni- ties for, research are increasing, because it must be remembered that, in a pecuniary sense, science is far from being its own rewarder at the time its truths are being studied, although the results very often become eventually of the greatest practical value ; hence the wisdom of a country encouraging scientific research. But little, however, has been done in this direction in past years. The grants made for general science by this association and that of the Government of 1,000/. annually to the Royal Society being the most important. The Chemical Society has also been in the habit of giving small grants for the purpose of assisting those engaged in chemical re- search. In the luture, however, it will be able to do much more than hitherto. One of the original members of the society, Dr. Long- staff, offered in the early part of the year to give 1,000/. provided a similar sum could be raised, the united amount to be invested, and the interest applied for the encouragement of research. I am happy to state that rather more than the required sum has been raised, and it is hoped that it may be still further supple- mented. In addition to the Royal Society grant, the Government have given this year a further annual sum of 4,000/. Of course this is for science generally. Mr. T. J, Phillips Jodrell has also placed at the disposal of the Royal Society the munificent sum of 6, coo/, to be applied in any manner that they may consider for the time being most con- ducive to the encouragement of research in physical sciences. When we consider how much of our science is of a physical nature, we must be grateful for this bequest ; and it is to be hoped that these helps will more and more stimulate research in the United Kingdom ; and if we have any hope of keeping pace with the large amount of work being now carried on in other countries we must indeed be energetic. The employment of well trained chemists in chemical works is now becoming much more general than heretofore, especially on the Continent, where in some cases a considerable staff is em- ployed and provided with suitable appliances, &c. , for the purpose not only of attending to and perfecting the ordinary operations which are in use, but to make investigations in relation to the class of manufacture they are engaged in. A conviction of the necessity of this is gaining strength in this country, though not so quickly as might be desired ; nevertheless these things are encouraging. With reference to the progress of chemistry and what have been the fruits of research of late years, it will be impossible for me to give even a general outline, the amount of work being so large ; in fact, to recount the list of investigations made during the past year would take up most of the time at my disposal. Amongst the most interesting, perhaps, are those relating to isomerism, especially in the aromatic series of organic bodies; and It is probable that a more intimate knowledge of this sub- ject will be found of really practical value. As I am unable to give an account of the work done during the pa't year on account of its extent and diversity, I propose to refer to sonae of the practical results which have already accrued from organic chemistry, as a plea for the encouragement of research ; and those I intend to speak of are of special interest also on account of their close connection with the textile manufactures of Great Britain. I need scarcely say I refer to the colouring matters which have been obtained from the products found in tar. It was in 1856, now twenty years since, that this industry was commenced by the discovery of the "mauve" or "aniline purple," and it may be of interest to state that it was in Scotland in the autumn of the same year that the first experiments upon the application of this dye to the arts of dyeing and calico-printing were made at Perth and Maryhill. I need scarcely remind you of the wonderful development of this industry since then, seeing we now have from the same source colouring matters capable of producing not only all the colours of the rainbow, but their combinations. I wish now, however, briefly to refer to the date and origin of the products which have served to build up this great industry. It was in 1825 that Faraday published in the Philosophical Transactions his research on the oily products separated in com- pressing oil-gas, and described a substance he obtained from it — a volatile colourless oil — which he called bicarburetted hydrogen. Mitscherlich some years afterwards, obtained the same substance from benzoic acid, and gave it the name it bears, viz. "Benzol." This same chemist further obtained from benzol nitrobenzol, by acting upon it with nitric acid. Zinin afterwards studied the action of reducing agents upon nitrobenzol, and obtained "aniline," which he at that time called benzidam. Again, Pelletier and Walter discovered the hydrocarbon toluol in 1837. Deville produced its nitro-compound in 1841, and Hofmann and Muspratt obtained from this "toluidine," by the process used by Zinin to reduce nitrobenzol. I might mention other names in connection with these sub- stances, such as Rungc, Unverdorben, &c., but I would now ask, did any of these chemists work at these subjects for the hope of gain ? was it not rather from the love of research, and that alone ? and now these products, which were then practically use- less, are the basis of the aniline colours. But to go further : Doebereiner a long while ago obtained from alcohol a substance which he called "light oxygen ether," now known as aldehyd. Gay-Lussac produced iodide of ethyl in 1815. Dumas and Peligot discovered the corresponding substance iodide of methyl in 1835 ; but, as in the cases I have previously referred to, these bodies had no practical value, and were never prepared but in the laboratory. Hofmann, in his researches on the molecular constitution of the volatile organic bases, in 1850, discovered the replacement compounds of aniline containing alcohol radicals. All these compounds have now been manufactured on the large scale, and used in the further development of the industry of these aniline colouring-matters. Other substances might be mentioned, but I think these are sufficient to show how the products of research which, when first discovered and for a long period afterwards, were of only scien- tific interest, at last became of great practical value ; and it is evident that had not the investigations and discoveries I have referred to been made as they were solely from a love of science, no aniline colours would now be known. The colouring-matters I have hitherto spoken of are nitro- genous, and derived from benzol and its homologues ; there are a few others, however, of the same origin which contain no nitrogen, but they are of secondary importance. I now pass on to another class of colouring-matter which is obtained from anthracene, a coal-tar product differing from ben- zol and toluol in physical characters, inasmuch as it is a magnifi- cent crystalline solid. The first colouring-matter derived from anthracene which I wish to draw your attention to is alizarin, the principal dyeing agent found in the madder-root. This substance was for a long time supposed to be related to naphthaline, inasmuch as phtlialic acid can be produced from both of them ; and many were the experiments made by chemists in this direction ; it was not, however, until 1868 that this was proved to be a mistake, and its relationship to anthracene was discovered by Graebe and Liebermann, who succeeded in producing this coal-tar product from the natural alizarin itself. Having obtained this important result, they turned their at- tention further to the subject, hoping to find some process by which alizarin could be produced from anthracene ; in this they were soon successful. The discovery of the artificial formation of alizarin was of great interest, inasmuch as it was another of those instances which have of late years become so numerous, namely, the Sept. 14. 1876] NATURE 433 formation of a vegetable product artificially, but the process used by Graebe and Liebermann was of little practical value on account of the difficulty and expense of working it. Having previously worked on anthracene derivatives, it oc- curred to me to make some experiments on this subject, which resulted in the discovery of a process by which the colouring- matter could be economically produced on the large scale : Messrs. Caro, Graebe, and Liebermann at about the same time obtained similar results in Germany ; this was in 1869. Further investigation during the same year yielded me a new process, by which " dichloranthracene " could be used in place of the more costly product anthraquinone, which was required by the origi- nal processes. I mention this as most of the artificial alizarin used in this country up to the end of 1873, and a good deal since, has been prepared by this new process. It was observed that when commercial artificial alizarin pre- pared from anthraquinone, but more especially from dichloran- thracene, v/as used for dyeing, the colours produced differed from those dyed with madder or pure alizarin, and many per- sons therefore concluded that the artificial colouring-matter was not alizarin at all. This question, however, was set at rest by separating out the pure artificial alizarin from the commercial product and comparing it with the natural alizarin, when it was found to produce exactly the same colours on mordanted fabrics, to have the same composition, to give the same reactions with reagents, and to yield the same products on oxidation. But whilst examining into this subject it was found that a second colouring-matter was present in the commercial product, and in somewhat large quantities, especially when dichloranthra- cene had been employed in its preparation, and to this was due the difference in shade of colour referred to. This substance, when investigated, was found to have the same composition as " purpurin," also a colouring-matter found in madder, but of very little value on account of the looseness and dulness of some of the colours it produces. This new sub- stance, being derived from anthracene, was named anthrapur- purin ; unlike its isomer purpurin, however, it is of great value as a colouring-matier. I do not think I shall be going beyond the results of experience if I say it is of as great importance as alizarin itself ; with alumina mordants it produces reds of a more scarlet or fiery hue than those from alizarin. In fact, so fine are the colours produced that, with ordinary alumina- mordants on unoiled cotton, it gives results nearly equal to Turkey-red produced with madder or garancine, and I believe the rapid success of artificial alizarin was greatly due to its pre- sence. Most of that consumed at first was for Turkey-red dyeing, and the colours were so clear and brilliant that it was mostly used in combination with madder or garancin, to brighten the colours produced by these natural products. The purple colours anthrapurpurin produces with iron mor- dants are bluer in shade than those of alizarin, and the blacks are very intense. Its application is practically the same as alizarin, so that they can be used in combination. As noted just now, the commercial product called "artificial alizarin " first supplied to the consumer was always a mixture of alizarin and anthrapurpurin, and various mixtures of these two colouring-matters are still sent into the market ; but owing to the investigations that have been made, and the study and atten- tion that have been given to it by manufacturers, nearly pure alizarin and anthrapurpurin are also sent into the market ; the first being known as " blue shade alizarin," and the second as red or "scarlet alizarin." The formation of anthrapurpurin in the manufacture of alizarin may to some extent be said to have arisen from a want of know- ledge oi the true conditions required for the production of the latter. It is now well known that alizarin is a dioxyanthraquinone, or, in other words, anthraquinone, in which two atoms of hydrogen are replaced by hydroxyl. C14H8O2 Ci4H6(HO),03 Anthraquinone. Alizarin. If we want to introduce hydroxyl into a compound, there are several processes which can be used, but I will only refer to those connected with the history of this colouring matter. The first process which I will refer to has been used by che- mists for a long period. It consists in first replacing the hydro- gen by bromine, and then treating the resulting body with potassic or other metallic hydrate ; and according as one, two, or more atoms of hydrogen have been replaced by the bromine, so on its removal by the metal of the metallic hydrate, a com- pound containing a corresponding number of atoms of hydrogen replaced by hydroxl is obtained. Graebe and Liebermann acted upon this principle in their ex- periments on the artificial formation of alizarin ; and as it was necessary to replace two atoms of hydrogen in anthraquinone, they first of all prepared a dibrominated derivative, called dibro- manth raquinone, CuHgBrgOs, By decomposing this with potassic hydrate at a high tempera- ture, they obtained a violet-coloured product, which, when acidified to remove the alkali, gave a yellow precipitate of alizarin, Ci4H6(HO)202. The second process I wish to speak of for the replacement of hydrogen by hydroxyl in a compoimd is by converting it into a sulpho-acid (usually by means of sulphuric acid), and subse- quently decomposing this with potassic or other hydrate ; and according as a mono- or disulpho-acid is employed, it yields on decomposition a compound with one or two atoms of hydrogen replaced by hydroxyl. The discovery of sulpho- acids of anthraquinone, and their use in place of the brominated derivative originally employed by Graebe and Liebermann, constituted the great improvement in the manu- facture of alizarin already referred to. From what has just been stated, it was naturally supposed that a disulpho-acid of anthraquinone would be required to pro- duce alizarin ; and this was believed to be the case for some time ; but further experiments have proved it to be a mistake, and shown that the monosulpho-acid is required to produce alizarin, the disulpho-acid yielding anthrapurpurin. But how are we to explain this apparent anomaly ? It would take up too much time to enter into a discussion respecting the constitution of the sulpho-acids of anthraquinone in reference to the position of the HSO3 groups. I will therefore confine my remarks to their decomposition. Monosulphoanthraquinonic acid, Ci4H,(HS03)02, when heated strongly with caustic alkali, as potassic or sodic hydrate, decomposes in the ordinary way, and we get "monoxy- anthraquinone, " Ci4H,(HO)02, which is a yellow body possessing no dyeing properties. On further treating this, however, with caustic alkali it changes, being oxidised, and yields alizarin, Ci4H6(HO)202. Disulphoanthraquinonic acid, Ci4H«(HS03)02, when subjected to the influence of caustic alkali, at first changes into an intermediate acid, CnH6{HO)(HS03)02, and then into a dioxyanthraquinone, Ci4H6(HO)202, now known as " isoanthraflavic acid " — a substance having the same composition as alizarin, but being only an isomer of that body, and possessing no affinity for mordants ; like monoxy- anthraquinone, however, when further heated with alkali, it becomes oxidised and yields a colouring-matter, which is " anthrapurpurin," Ci4H5(HO)30,. Looking at these reactions, it appears rather remarkable that Graebe and Liebermann should have succeeded in preparing alizarin from dibromanthraquinone. It can only be explained on the assumption that the hydrogen atoms replaced in the disulpho-acid are different in position to those replaced in the dibromanthraquinone ; and of course it is possible that a disul- pho-acid isomeric with that now known may be discovered that will yield alizarin as a first product on treatment with alkali. In the reaction which takes place when monoxyanthraquinone or isoanthraflavic acid become oxidised and change into alizarin and anthrapurpurin, nascent hydrogen is formed ; and this causes a reverse action to take place, ordinary anthraquinone or its hydrogen derivative, being formed, and a loss of colouring- matter resulting. A small amount of potassic chlorate is now used with the caustic alkali, just sufficient to overcome the 434 NATURE \Sept. 14, 1876 reducing action which has resulted in an increased yield of colouring-matter, the percentage obtahied .being now not very much below the theoretical quantity. _ _ When the process for making commercial artificial alizarm by treating anthraquinone with sulphuric acid was first adopted, the product from that treatment was a mixture of the mono- and disulpho-acids of anthraquinone. Consequently the colouring- matter prepared in this manner was a mixture of alizarin and anthrapurpurin ; and the reason why dichloranthracene, when used in place of anthraquinone, yields a product very rich in anthrapurpurin, is on account of the readiness with which it forms a disulpho-acid of dichloranthracene which afterwards changes into the disulpho-acid of anthraquinone. At°first it was supposed by many that the quantity of coal-tar produced would not yield a sufficient supply of anthracene for the manufacture of artificial alizarin. Experience has, however, proved that this supposition was groundless, as now the supply is greater than the demand. Moreover some very interesting experiments have lately been made, by which anthraquinone and its derivatives have been obtained without the use of anthracene. The most interesting are those in which phthalic anhydride is employed with benzolic derivatives ; for example, this anhydride gives with hydroquinone a colouring-matter having the same composition, as well as most of the other properties of alizarin. It is called quinizarin, Baeyer and Caro have also obtained from phthalic anhydride and phenol oxyanthraquinone ; and by using pyrocatechin in place of phenol they got alizarin itself. Although these products have not been obtained in sufficient quantities by these processes to be of any practical value, we do not know what further research may do. Already one of the substances used is being prepared on the large scale for the manu- facture of that beautiful colouring-matter "cosine;" I refer to phthalic anhydride. Now with reference to the origin of the products which are used for the manufacture of artificial alizarin. We find the first researches made in reference to anthracene were by Dumas and Laurent in 1832 ; subsequently Laurent further worked upon this subject, and obtained, by the oxidation of this hydrocarbon, a substance which he called anthracenuse ; he also obtained dichloranthracene. Dr. Anderson also made an investigation on anthracene and its compounds in 1 863, and assigned to it its correct formula ; he re-examined its oxidation product, which Laurent called anthracenuse, and named it oxyanthracene, this substance we now know as anthraquinone. All these substances were without any practical value until 1868 ; but we now find them of the greatest importance, and used in very large quantities. But to bring out more clearly the practical importance of these fruits of research, it will be well perhaps to see what has been their influence on the colouring-matters which were in use before them, and also the extent of their present consumption. The influence of the so-called aniline colours on the old colouring matters, has been remarkably small. It is true that at first magenta had a depreciating influence upon cochineal ; but this has passed away, and now the consumption of that dye is as great as ever ; certainly its price is much lower than it used to be ; but this is due to a variety of causes, especially the great increase in the cultivation of the insect at Teneriffe. And perhaps this want of influence is not so very remarkable, when we consider the aniline colours are entirely new products, differing in composition and properties from the old colouring-matters, &c., and therefore could only displace them to a certain extent. But whilst this is the case the aniline colours have been more and more used, until at present it is computed that their annual sale in the United Kingdom and on the Continent exceeds 2,000,000/. This is probably due to new applications and in- crease of trade. When, however, we come to consider the influence of the anthracene colours alizarin and anthrapurpurin, more generally known as " artificial alizarin," we find we have a very different tale to tell. Here, in the case of alizarin, we have a competition not between two colouring-matters, but the same from different sources ; the old source being madder-root, the new one coal-tar. And when we introduce the consideration of anthrapurpurin, which produces such magnificent reds, much brighter than alizarin or ordinary purpurin, we see we have not only a replacement but an improvement, so that these new colouring-matters throw the pld ones into the shade. The products being purer, the clear- ing processes for goods dyed with them are also necessarily easier and simpler. It will be interesting to examine into the statistics of the madder and garancine trade in a brief manner, to see what has been the influence of artificial alizarin on their consumption. The following figures are mostly calculated from the Board of Trade returns. During the ten years immediately preceding the introduction of artificial alizarin the average annual imports of madder into the United Kingdom were 15,292 tons, and of garancine 2,278 tons, Estimating the value of the former at 2/. zs. 6d., and the latter at 8/. per cwt., which were about the average prices during that period, the annual value in round numbers was about one million sterling. The introduction of artificial alizarin has, however, so influ- enced the value of madder that its price is now less than one- half ; and thus a saving of over half a million sterling per annum has been effected to the manfacturers of the United Kingdom, one half of which may be put down to Glasgow. So much for its effect in reducing prices ; but what has been its influence on the consumption of these dye-stuffs ? I have already stated the average quantity of these substances imported per annum prior to the discovery of the artificial pro- duct, and will now compare it with tlie imports of last year and this. That for the present year of course is an estimated quan- tity, and calculated from the returns for the first seven months. Average annual imports. 1859-1868. 1875. 1876. tons. tons. tons. Madder 15,292 Garancine 2, 278 5.014 1,293 3,653 813 These numbers speak for themselves. The money value, which was formerly 1,000,000/. per annum, is now, calculating from the estimated quantity for this year, only 138, 105?., say 140,000/. taking garancine at 4/. per cwt. and madder at i/. per cwt., prices slightly in excess of their present value. At the present prices the cultivation of madder-roots is unre- munerative, so that it is to be expected that madder growing will soon be a thing of the past, thousands of acres of land being at the same time liberated for the growth of those products we can- not produce artificially, and without which we cannot exist. The quantity of madder grown in all the madder-growing countries of the world prior to 1868 was estimated to be 70,000 tons per annum, and at the present time the artificial colour is manu- factured to an extent equivalent to 50,000 tons, or more than two-thirds of the quantity grown when its cultivation had reached its highest point. I might have referred to other subiects besides the coal-tar colours which have resulted from scientific research ; but I know of no other of such interest and magnitude. From the brief history I have given we see that the origin of these colouring matters is entirely the fruit of many researches made quite inde- pendently by different chemists, who worked at them without any knowledge of their future importance ; and on looking at the researches which have thus culminated in this industry, it is interesting to notice that many, if not most of them, were con- ducted for the purpose of elucidating some theoretical point. These facts certainly ought to be a great encouragement to chemists, and stimulate them to greater activity. It would be very pleasing to see more work emanating from the chemical schools of the United Kingdom ; and I think no student should consider his chemical curriculum finished until he has conducted an original research. The knowledge obtained by a general course of instruction is of course of very great value, but a good deal of it is carried on by rule ; in research, however, we have to depend upon the exercise of our judgment, and in fact of all our faculties ; and a student having once conducted even one investigation, under the guidance of an efficient director, will find that he has acquired an amount ot experience and knowledge which will be of the greatest value _to him after- wards. It is hoped these remarks will encourage young chemists patiently and earnestly to work at whatever subject they may un- dertake, knowing that their results, although sometimes appa- rently only of small interest, may contain the germ of some- thing of great scientific or practical importance, or may, like a keystone in an arch, complete some subject which before was fragmentary and useless. Sept. 14, 1876] MATURE 435 SECTION C. GEOLOGY. The Duke of Argyll read a paper On the Physical Strtulure of the Highlands, in connection with thiir Geological History. He said : — The questions dealt with by geological science have now become so vast and various that no one district of country can be expected to furnish illustrations of more than a very few of them. The West of Scotland, in the capital of which we are now assembled, is not rich in deposits which illustrate the passage of animal life from the types which have bepome extinct to those which are of more modern origin and which still survive. No bone caverns have been discovered of importance, and, with one exception, even our river gravels and estuarine deposits have not been especially productive. That exception is, indeed, a feature. It was in this valley of the Clyde that the late Mr. Smith, of Jordan- hill, first discovered those indications of Antarctic climate recently prevailing, which have ever since constituted a large and important branch ot geological inquiry, and the full interpretation of which still presents some of the most curious problems with which we have to deal. But our Palseozoic areas, except the Coal Measures, are to a large extent singularly unfossiliferous ; neither the Scottish Oolite nor Lias have yielded any remarkable additions to the curious fauna of which in England and elsewhere they have yielded abundant specimens. But, on the other hand, perhaps no area of country of equal extent in any quarter of the world presents more remarkable phenomena than the West of Scotland in connection with those causes of geological change which have determined the form of the earth's surface, and have given to its physical geography those features of variety and beauty which are the increasing delight of civilised and instructed men. We cannot descend the course of this river Clyde to the noble estuary in which it ends, without having presented to us mountain outlines and an intricate distribution ot sea and land which raise questions of the highest interest, and of the greatest difficulty. From the northern shores of that estuary to Cape Wrath, in Sutherland, the country is occupied mainly by rocks of the Silurian age, but so highly crystalline as to be almost wholly destitute of fossils, and so upheaved, twisted, contorted, and folded into a thousand difterent positions that, except in one great section, it is most difficult to trace any persistent succession of beds. It is one great series of billowy undulations, traversed by glens and valleys, some of which are high above the level of the sea, but many of which are now so deeply submerged that the ocean is admitted far into the bosom of the hills. These glens and valleys lie in many different directions, but there are so many with one prevalent direction as to give a general character to the whole — a direction from north-east to south- west, or parallel to the prevalent strike of the Silurian rocks. The shapes of the hills and mountains are not by any means wholly without relation to geological structure, because in a thousand cases the sloping outlines will be found to be determined by the inclination of the beds, and the precipitous or steeper outlines to be determined by the upturned or broken edges. In like manner there are cases where a crumpled or knotted outline is the index of beds deeply folded and counteracted along anti- lineal axes ; but, nevertheless, there are also innumerable cases where no such relation can be traced, where the mountains seem to have been cut off some solid mass, all the rest of which has been removed by some agency which left these great fragments standing by themselves, and of which the contours cut across the lines of the structure at every variety of angle. Along the whole western face of this country it is guarded from the open ocean by an archipelago of islands, some of which are separated from the mainland uy submerged valleys no broader than those which separate one hill from another in the inland glens. Many of these islands are wholly occupied by the debris and the outbursts of extinct volcanoes . The mountains which are thus composed bear in many cases the characteristic forms of lava streams, but many others are not readily distinguishable in outline from the mountains of whoUy different material which are near them. They reach the same general average level of height, here and there rising into peaks very similar to others of a widely different age and of a widely different material. More- over, all the islands partake largely of the general character of the mainland in having their deeper valleys submerged, and in being thus deeply indented by arms of the sea similar to those whicii give its peculiar outline to the adjacent coasts. It may serve to bring more vividly before you the facts of the physical geography of the country (for which it is one of the duties of geologists to account if they can) if I give you some statistic^ fac's affecting the single county of Ar,'yll, which begins on the northern shore of the Firth of Clyde. Following the coas"- line of that county from the head of Loch Long, which is its southern and eastern boundary, to Loch Aylort, which is its northern and western boundary, and, including its islands, we find it measures no less than 2,289 miles in length, of which about 840 represent the sinuosities of the mainland, and 1,449 represent the coast-line of its larger islands. There are, besides, valleys, which are now inland, and are occupied by fresh-water lakes, which evidently at a recent period were arms of the sea, and these represent a further line of coast measuring 276 miles. There are eleven principal arms of the sea, each of them measur- ing from one to thirty-six miles in length. Two of these arms of the sea exceed the 100 fathoms line in depth— Loch Fyne and the Linnhe Loch ; and it is very remarkable that these deep soundings do not occur near the points where these lochs join the more open sea, but, on the contrary, far up their course or bed among the mountains. The ridges dividing these and the other valleys vary in elevation from hills of very moderate height to the ranges of Cruachan, which immediately beyond the boundary of the country culminates in Ben Nevis, which rears its head almost on a level with Ben Macdhui, now ascertained to be the highest summit in the British Isles. But no statistics can give an idea of the intricacy with which sea and land are inter- folded on the western coasts comparable with that which is gained by some of the many beautiful views that abound on the heights in the vicinity of Oban, whence the visitor can command the entrance of Loch Etive, with the course for many miles of the Linnhe Loch, of the Sound of Mull, the Sound of Kerrera, and the Firth of Lome. Now, the question naturally arises — to what geological ages and to what geological causes do we owe in its main features this curious distribution of land and sea? I say in its main features, because, of course, the more superficial sculpturing of every mountainous country is undergoing incessant modification, and this modification may have been, and probably has been, very considerable indeed, in the times which, geologically speaking, belong to the existing age ; but the quesli m I put has ^ reference to the epoch of past time when the main ou' lines of hill and valley were determined, when the great mass of the country (which has been, I believe, correctly identified as com- posed of metamorphosed Silurian beds) was elevated into the various mountain chains which now constitute its characteristic features. If the question had been asked some five-and-twenty years ago I should have said that the evidence pointed to an age ot great geological antiquity, for the central group of highland mountains was in some shape like that in which we see them. All round the edges of the country there are the remains of the Old Red Sandstone, which often fit into the contour of the valleys and have left fragments in nooks and recesses of the hills. It would almost seem as if they had been the shores of the seas and great lakes in which that great system of deposit was lai'l down ; and that they had lifted their heads above those waters in forms not wholly unlike those in which we now see ihem. The total absence over almost the whole country of any other or later rocks, the absence among the debris of any material other than that of which the hills are themselves composed, would seem to confirm the same general conclusion. Some doubt, however, may seem to have been thrown on this conclusion, since it has become certain that it cannot be true of, at least, one district of our western mountains, which is, nevertheless, closely related to all the rest, havin.. the same general elevation, partaking of the same general trend of coast-lines, cut up by similar valleys, and fitting into the same contours of denudation. The district to which I refer is that of the volcanic islands which stretch from the south end of Mull to the north end of Skye. Since the discovery which I was fortunate enough to make in 185 1 of the leaf-beds in Mull, it has become clearly ascertained that these islands are the remains of volcanoes of that geological age to which an ever- increasing interest seems to attach— that middle age of the great Tertiary division of geological time to which Lyell gave the name oi Miocene. The mountains of Mull and of Eigg and of Rona and of Skye, in all their valleys and intricate Imes of coast, have unquestionably an origin later than the Miocene — how much later is the question of physical geography which geologists are called to solve. It is possible, indeed, to suppose that the hills of the mamland might be of a very different age from those of the adjacent islands, and against this, until some two years ago, there would have been nothing to advance except the suspicious similarity and adjust- 436 NATURE [Sept. 14, 1876 ment between the two groups, the coincidence of their outlines, and of the way in which they had been cut and carved ; but the admirable researches of Mr. Judd have, in 1874, brought one little fact to light which speaks volumes for the enormous changes which must have taken place since the volcanoes of the Miocene over a portion at least of the Highland area, and which may therefore have taken place over the whole of it. The land upon which the Miocene vegetation flourished and upon which the lava streams of the volcanoes were poured out, seems to have been for the most part a land consisting of Cretaceous and Secondary rocks. The fragments of that country which remain are gener- ally consistent with the supposition that they were deposited in a sea which washed round the bases of the Highland mountains, but which never covered them. Like the fragments of the Old Red Sandstone, the remains of the Secondary rocks lie along the margins and fringes of the Silurian hills ; but Mr. Judd has made the startling discovery of an outlier of the whole series of the Secondary rocks, including representative beds of the Trias, Lias, Green Sand, and Chalk, together with deposits, probably lacustrine — all lying on the top of one of the mountains of metamorphic gneiss which constitute the district of Morven. This fragment has been preserved by having been covered by a sheet of lava from some great neighbouring volcanic centre, the position of which is indicated by Ben More in Mull ; but the mass of volcanic trap which was covered up and preserved this relic of the Cretaceous land is itself a frag- ment occupying the top of a mountain of gneiss separated from the remainder of the sheet of lava to which it belongs by deep valleys precisely similar to those which divide the hills from each other throughout the whole area of the Highlands. The position of an outlier of the Cretaceous rocks on the summit of a moun- tain of gneiss is rendered still more curious by the circumstance that in that position the beds are not tilted, or in any way apparently disturbed. They are arranged horizontally, as if the ocean floor on which they were deposited had occupied that level, or as if its deposits liad been lifted up over so large an area that any small section of that area could retain its original horizon- tality. The lower Silurian gneiss beds on which these Secondary deposits have been laid are violently twisted and contorted, and this structure must have belonged to them when they constituted the floor of the Cretaceous sea ; the position of the Miocene basalts capping the Secondary deposits proves that the whole mountain, as a mountain, is of later date than the Miocene age — how much later we cannot tell, and thus that the causes of geo- logical change which have cut up the country into its present form, though they doubtless began in very remote epochs, have at least been prolonged into a comparatively late age in the history of the globe. It would, I think, be aff'ectation to pretend that our science enables us to follow with anything like distinctness of conception the exact nature and sequence of operations which through such a vast lapse of time have brought about the final result, but 1 believe in something like the following outline of events : — First, that subsequent not only to the consolidation, but pro- bably also to the metamorphism of the Lower Silurian deposits, the whole area of the Western and Central Highlands became an area of that kind of disturbance which arose from lateral pressure, due to secular cooling, and consequent contraction and subsidence of the crust of the earth. Second, that the crumpling, contortion, and tilting of the Silurian beds which we now see, arose from that disturbance. Thirdly, that then were determined those great general lines of strike running from south-east to north- west which are to this day a prominent feature in the physical geography of the country. Fourthly, that during that period of disturbance, and as part of the movement which then took place, the disturbed rocks fell inwards upon materials at a great heat, which rose in a pasty state along lines ol least resistance, and thus came to occupy various positions sometimes inter- calated among the sedimentary beds. Fifthly, that to this period, and to this method of protrusion, we owe some at least of the measures of granitic material which are abundant in the Highlands in particular ; that to this period belongs the porphy- ritic granites on the north shores of Loch Fyne. Sixthly, that during the later ages of the Palseozoic period volcanic action broke out at various points, accompanied by great displacement and dislocation of strata, and that to this, witli the utnudation which followed, we owe much of the very peculiar scenery of the south-western coasts, especially in the district of Lome, in Argyllshire. Seventh, that we have no prooi that the Central Higtdands were ever under the seas which laid down the deposits of the later Palaeozoic age. Eighth, that such evidence as we have, points rather to the conclusion that they were not under such seas, since such fragments as remain of the Old Red and of the Carboniferous rocks appear to have been deposited round the bases and in the marginal hollows of the Silurian hills. Ninth, that, in like manner, we have no evidence that the great mass of the Central or Western Highlands were ever under the seas of the Secondary ages, which, on the contrary, appear to have deposited their sediment upon an area outside of, but probably surrounding, the area of these Central Highlands, and certainly upon those north-eastern and western flanks. Tenth, that the whole area of the Inngr Hebrides and of the water dividing them, together with some portion of the mainland, as in Morven, was an area occupied by Secondary rocks. Eleventh, that in the Tertiary ages — probably in the Eocene and certainly in the Mio- cene— those rocks formed the bases of a great land of unknown extent, very probably extending for a great distance both to the east and west of the present coasts of Scotland and embracing the north of Ireland, Tweltih, that this country became in tlie Miocene age, and possibly earlier, the scene of great volcanic outbursts, which covered it with vast sheets of lava and broke up its Sedimentary rocks with every form of intrusive plutonic matter. Thirteenth, that later in the Tertiary periods and per- haps as late as the Pleiocene, this volcanic country was itself broken up by immense subsidences and upheavals, giving both occasion and direction to the agencies of denudation and to enormous removal of material. Fourteenth, that this Tertiary country had been thtis broken up and nothing but its fragments left when the glacial epoch began, and that the main outlines of the country as we now see it had been already determined when glacial conditions were established. Fifteenth, that thus the work of the glacial period has been simply to degrade and denude pre-existing hills and to deepen pre-existing valleys. Sixteenth, that during the glacial epoch there was a subsidence ot land to the depth of at least 2,000 feet above the level oi the present sea, and again a re-elevation of the land to its present level. Seventeenth, that this re-elevation has not restored the land to the level it ttood at before the subsidence began ; but has stopped greatly short of it, and that the deep arms of the sea, or lochs, which intersect the country and some of the deeper fresh-water lakes, such as Loch Lomond, are the valleys still submerged which at the beginning of the glacial epoch were high above the sea and furrowed in flanks of loftier mountains ; that during the glacial period the work of denudation and degra- dation was done, and done only, by ice in the three well-known forms — first, of true glaciers.descending mountain slopes ; second, ot icebergs detached Irom the termination of these glaciers where they reached the sea ; and third, by floe or surface ice driven by currents which were determined in direction by the changing contours of the land during the processes of submersion and re- elevation. It would be impossible on this occasion to illustrate or support these various propositions by going into the evidences on which they rest ; but as those of them which relate to the operations of the glacial epoch express a decided opinion upon questiorrs now involving much disptite, 1 must say a lew words in explanation or defence of that opinion. It will be seen that I disbelieve altogether in this theory of what is called an ice-cap, or, in other words, I hold that there is no evidence that there ever existed any universal mantle ot ice higher or deCf^er than all the existing mountains, covering them and moving over them from distant western regions. In the first place, this theory presupposes conaitions of climate which must have prevailed universally over the whole northern hemisphere, whereas over a great portion of that hemisphere, west 01 a certain meridian on the American continent, all traces of general glaciation and of any gencial distribuiion of erraiics disappear. In the second place, tnc theory assumes ttiat masses of ice lying upon the surface 01 the earth more than mountain deep, would have a proper motion of its own capable of overcoming the friction not only of rough level surfaces, but even of the steepest gradients, for which motion no adequate cause has been assigned and which has never been proved to be the natural consequence of any known force as to be consistent with the physic