7 enn torrid ——— c ao ae anne ee, edn ee ons ee ppemeneg ieee apt ey fates fi wii ; deo ewe ee? ae aa NATURE A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE VQEU M Eee x1. NOVEMBER 1874 to APRIL 1875 “ To the solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.’--WORDSWORTH Fondon and Aietv ork : MACMILLAN AND-CO. 1875 a 4 LONDON : ' : 2e * Pe nt eae PR CLAY; & Aer R, PRINTERS Abbott (C. C.), American Stone Implements, 190, 215 ; Habits of the Belted Kingfisher, 227 5 Abel (Prof. F. A., F.R.S.), Accidental Explosions, 436, 477 Aberdeen University, 413, 457 Acari mounted for the Microscope, 406 _ Acclimatisation: Paris, New Zealand, Cape of Good Hope, 77, 98 ; of Plants, 135, 174; of Salmon, in Otago, 209 Acoustic Reversibility, Prof. Tyndall on, 239 Adams (Prof. A. Leith), Fossil Remains of Fallow Deer in Malta, 247 ** Aérial World,” by G. Hartwig, M.D., 385 _ AéGronautics (Sze Balloons) _ Africa: Explorations in, 116, 195, 293, 356, 457, 496; by Dr. } Lenz, 475 ; Livingstone’s ‘‘ Last Journals,” 142, 182; Lieut. Cameron’s Expedition, 153; Mr. H. M. Stanley’s Expe- dition, 153; Capt. Gordon’s Expedition, 435; Progress in, 435 _ Agassiz (Prof. A.), Embryology of the Ctenophorz, 76 siz Memorial Fund, 413 Agricultural Education, 104 Agricultural Society and the Potato Disease, 67, 109, 128 Agriculture in Victoria, 361 Allport (Samuel), Geology and the Arctic Expedition, 268 Aloes (Tree) of South Africa, 89, 254 Alpha Fibre (Esparto Grass), 333 Alpine Club Map of Switzerland, 8 ** Amazon and Madeira Rivers,” by Franz Keller, 241, 262 America : Bancroft’s ‘‘ Native Races of the Pacific States,” 442 ; Academy of Arts and Sciences, 203; Survey of Colorado, 154; of Texas, 155 ; Anderson School of Natural History, 167; Natural Phenomena in, 329, 386; Scientific Survey, 381 ; Temperature Chart, 267 American Society, Paris, 135 Amphibia, Development of the Columella Auris in, 68 Amu Expedition, 29 Amu Darya River, Cause of the Change of its Course, 229 Anabas scandens, or Climbing Perch, 109 Anatomy, Fournal of, 257 ** Anatomy, Human,” by W. Tumer, M.D., 464 Ancient Monuments Bill, 481 Anderson School of Natural History (U.S.), 167 Anderson (Prof. Thos.), Obituary Notice of, 35 Angell (J.), ‘‘ Elements of Animal Physiology,” 185 Animal Kingdom, Classification of the, ror *€ Animal Physiology,” by J. Angell, 185 ** Animal Physiology,” by J. Cleland, M.D., F.R.S., 504 Antares, as a Double Star, 249, 274, 287, 405 ; Occultation of, 30 ** Anthropological Contributions,” by George Gerland, 384 Anthelm’s Star, 407 Anthropological Institute, 60, 99, 139, 199, 239, 278, 379, 398, 459 Anthropological Society, Paris, 98 ; Munich, 496 Anthropology, Notes and Queries on, 226 “ Ants, Harvesting,” by J. T. Moggridge, F.L.S., 245} Ants and Bees, 306 Aguaria : Utilisation of, 87; Manchester, 36: Hastings, 216 ; Southport, Westminster, Plymouth, Edinburgh, Scarborough, Birmingham, 393, 396, 427 Arctic Exploration : Dr. Petermann on, 37 ; English Arctic Ex- pedition, 16, 55, 61, 75, 85,87, 114, 134, 153, 173, 235, 253, 293, 348, 355, 372, 474; German Arctic Expedition of 1869- 70, 63 ; Austro-Hungarian Expedition of 1872-74, 366, 396, 415 ; Geology, 268, 447, 467, 492, 508; Meteorology, 434, 467 ; Vegetation, 433 Argelander (Prof. F. W. A.), Obituary Notice of, 332 EN DEX, Argentine Republic, Science in the, 253 Ascherson (Dr.), Vegetation of the Libyan Desert, 137 Ashe (W. Percy), Kirkes’ Physiology, 227, 363 “ Assyrian Discoveries,” by Geo. Smith, 441 Astronomy: Our Astronomical Column, 228, 249, 269, 286, 308, 348, 365, 387, 407, 428, 446, 472, 489, 507; Brinkley’s ** Astronomy,” by Stubbs and Briinnow, 83; Drayson’s ‘*Proper Motion of the Fixed Stars,” 66 Atlantic Notes, 234, 290, 312 Atmosphere, Upper Currents of the, 457 Atomic Weights, Dalton’s Table of, 52 Attraction and Repulsion arising from Radiation, 494 Aurorz, Geographical Distribution of, 14 Austro-Hungarian North Polar Expedition, 396, 415 Australia : Exploration in, 93 ; Flora of, 254 (See Sydney, Vic- toria) Baker (Sir Samuel W., Pacha, F.R.S.), ‘‘ Ismailia,” 24 Baldwin (Prof. Thos.), Agricultural Education, 104 Balfour (F. M., B.A., and M. Foster, B.A.), ‘‘ Elements of Embryology,” 126 Balloons : Siege (French), 76; Ascent from Paris, 429 ; Experi- mental in America, 456 ; Fatal Ascent of the Zenith, 495, 513 Bamboo Poison, 18 Banbury, Science at, 310 Bancroft (H. H.), ‘* Native Races of the Pacific States,” 442 Barometer, Chameleon, 307, 365 Barrett (Prof. W. F.), Sensitive Flames, 129; Morse Code, 323 Basilisk, H.M.S., Survey of Coast Lines, 134 Baynes (Prof. S.), ‘‘ Encyclopzdia Britannica,” 343 Beaumont (Elie de), Obituary Notice of, 41 Beavers imported to the Isle of Bute, 216 Beccari (Dr. O.), Discoveries in Herpetology, 447 Becker (C.L.C.), Obituary Notice of, 455 Becquerel (M.), Solar Physics, 132 Bee, Tailor, 476 Bees and Ants, Sir J. Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S., on, 159, 306° Bees and Flowers, 248, 285 Beetroot Cultivation, 314, 395 Belfast Natural History Society, 155 Belgium ; Horticulture,154 ; Royal Academy of Sciences, 398 ; Roman Tombs, 435 ; Temperature of Brussels, 444 Bellot (Lieut.), Volunteer for the Arctic Expedition, 173 Bennett (Alfred W.), Flowering of the Hazel, 466 Berlin : Academy of Sciences, 114 ; German Chemical Society, 200, 240 Bessemer Steamer, 342 Bettany (G. T., B.A.), Practical Science at Cambridge, 131 Bidie (G.), Suicide of Scorpions, 29, 47 Biology, Results of the Po/arvis Expedition, 134 Bird (Isabella J.), ‘* The Hawaiian Archipelago,” 322; Vol- canic Action in the Sandwich Islands, 386 “ Birds of Europe,” by H. E. Dresser, F.Z.S., 485 “Birds of Northumberland and Durham,” by John Hancock, 281 ‘* Birds of Shetland,” by H. L. Saxby, M.D., 81 Birds : Flight of, 364; Migration of, 5, 135, 149, 234; Birds of Borneo, 407 ; Bird of Paradise, New, 208 ; Birds of Paradise in New Guinea, 248 ; Birds of Utah, 136 Birmingham and Midland Institute; Address by Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S., 21; Natural History Society, 274 ; College of Science, 331 Black (Dr. J. W.), Columnar Formation in Mud Banks, 285 ; Ocean Waves, 444 Blackbird, Ring, 187, 2v9, 228 Blake (Rev. J, F.), Sub-Wealden Exploration, 267 iv : INDEX Blanford (H. F.), Report on Indian Meteorology, 145 ; Mud Banks on Malabar Coast, 187 Blind Fish of the Mammoth Cave, 256 Blood Louse, 394 Boiling Lake in Dominica, 475 Boldo, a new tonic medicine, 36, 414 Bon (Dr. Gustave le), ‘‘ La Vie,” 246 Bonney (Rev. T. G.), Ice Caves, 327 Borneo, Birds of, 407 Borrelly’s Comet, 115, 229 Boston (U.S.): Society of Natural History, $80, Academy of Natural Sciences, 419 Botany: Botanical Locality Record Club, 175; “‘ Botanical Problems,” by Prof. Cohn, 261 ; Botanical Magazine, 317 ; « Botany for Home and School Use,” by Frances A. Kitchener, 147; Botany in Queensland, 271; ‘‘ Botany, Lessons in Ele- mentary,” 226; ‘‘ Botany, Manual of,” by R. Brown, M.A., Ph.D., 345 ; Botany of Galway Bay, 395 ; Botany, Systematic, Mr. Bentham on, 254 Bottomley (J. T., M.A.), Logarithmic and Trigonometrical Tables, 424 Boxwood, 254 Brady (H.P., F.L.S.), Fliickiger and Hanbury’s ‘‘ Pharmaco- graphia,” 42 Bramwell (F. J., F.R.S.), Protection for Inventions, 141 Brazil (Emperor of), elected Member of the French Academy of Sciences, 356 Brazil, Observatory at Rio Janeiro, 395 Bright Colour in Animals, 148, 208 Brinckley’s ‘‘ Astronomy,” by Stubbs and Briinnow, 83 British Museum, its Sanitary Condition, 174 Brooke (Victor), Fallow Deer in England in Pleistocene Times, 210 Brown (Robt., M.A.), ‘The **Manual of Botany,” 345 Brunton (T. Lauder, F.R.S.), Indian Venomous Snakes, 377 Buchan (Alex.), Climate of Scotland, 329 Buchanan (Andrew, M.D.), “ Circulation of the Blood,” 184 Buchanan (J. Y.), Vertical Distribution of Temperature in the Ocean, 157 Burnham (S. W.), Antares, 405 Butter, Artificial, 76 180, 273; Races of Mankind,” 128; Calcutta, Botanic Gardens, 18, 295 Cambridge : Science at, 17, 34, 35, 57; 92, 115, 131, 135, 196, 272, 294, 313, 333, 353, 373: 394, 413) 434) 474; 475, 5155 Philosophical Society, 140, 339, 400 Camels reared in Nevada (U.S.), 396 Cameron (Lieut.), his African Expedition, 153, 195; Map of Lake Tanganyika, 293 Campbell (Dr. A.), Obituary Notice of, 56 amaphor, Distillation of, 456 nada : Geological Discovery, 57; Science in, 414 a Rice, a new Material for Paper, 33 outchouc, Cultivation of, 355, 395, 436 on Cells and Plates for Galvanic Batteries, $ Carnuba Root, 414 Carpenter (W. B., M.D., F.R.S.), ‘‘The Microscope and its Revelations,” 283 ; Soundings taken by H.M.S. Challenger, 297 Carrier Pigeons, 237 Carter (H. J.), Calcareous and Siliceous Remains in Marine Strata, 186 Case (F.), Softening of Iron Pyrites, 248, 269, 285 “. Palestine Survey Expedition, 154. Paper, New Material for, 33 Paper-making, New Zealand Plants for, 212 Paris: Academy of Sciences, 17, 20, 40, 60, 75, 50, 120, 134, 140, 160, 174, 180, 196, 220, 235, 240, “999 100, 259, 280, 300, 320, 340, 356, 360, 380, 413, 440, 460, 480, 500, 520; Anniversary Meeting, 178; Election of Pre- sident, 273; its origin, 213: Acclimatisation Society, 56, 98, 219, 475; American Society, 135; Anthropological Society, 98 ; Easter Week at the Sorbonne, 516; Geographical Society, 80, 120, 140, 174, 196, 236, 254, 294, 515, 516; International Congress of Geographical Science, 232; Inter- national Metric Commission, 54 ; Monumental Fountain at, 36; Observatory, 36, 75, 154, 235, 272, 273, 294, 373, 457) 476; Science at the New Opera House, 349, 369 ; School of Medicine, 56 ; Telegraphic Administration, 394 Parker (Prof.), Hunterian Lectures on the Vertebrate Skull, 9, 314 Pasteur (Prof. L.), Royal Society’s Medal presented to, 155 Pathological Society, 373 Pavesi (Dr. Pietro), Sharks, 18 Perch, Climbing, 109 Petermann (Dr. A.), Arctic Exploration, 37, 85 “Peru, Two Years in,” by T. J. Hutchinson, M.A.I., 241, 262 “*Pharmacographia,” by Fliickiger and Hanbury, 42 Phenological Phenomena, 408, 476 Philadelphia : Academy of Natural Sciences, 20, 93, 99, 255, 419; Centennial Exhibition, 76 Phillips (J. A., C.E.), ‘‘ Elements of Metallurgy,” 266 Phoenician Characters in Sumatra, 228 Photographic Image of the Spectrum, Influence of Pigments on the, 505 Photographic Society, 236 Aylloxera vastatrix and the Vine Disease, 11, 48, 56, 286 ical Society, 35, 59, 99, 379, 399, 439, 479 ysics, Experimental,” by Prof. A. F. Weinhold, 482 Physiology : ‘‘La Vie,” by Dr. Gustave le Bon, 246 ‘Physiology, Animal,” by J. Cleland, M.D., F.R.S., 504 d-Cambridge (Rey. O.), ‘‘ Trap-door Spiders,” 245 on (D.), Struck by Lightning, 405 " ms, Carrier, 174, 237 nents, their Influence on the Photographic Image of the pectrum, 505 Pine-apples from Portugal, 254 Pipe Fish, a Propeller imitating the action of its Fin, 429 ae : New, 314; New Minor, 349; Mars, 387; Minor, 42 Planetary Theories, by M. Leverrier, 249 Plants, Discovery of Remains of, 88 Plarr (Mary J.), Bees and Flowers, 248 Poison in the Bamboo Cane, 18 Poisoning, Researches by Prof. Bohm, 334 Pole (Dr. W., F.R.S.), Alteration of Note of Railway Whistles, 232 ‘Pollen Grains, 286, 307, 328 Potato Disease, 56, 67, 109, 128, 149, 166, 355 Potato Beetle, 476 Prestwich (Prof, J., F.R.S.), Past and Future Work of Geology, 290, 315 Prideaux (E.), Kirkes’ Physiology, 248 Priestley Centenary, in Northumberland (U.S.), 136 Pringle (E. W.), Transit of Venus, 306 Protection for Inventions, 141, 190 Psychology of Cruelty, 149 Psychology: ‘*Mind ; a Quarterly Review,” 294 Pye-Smith (Dr.), Hzeckel’s ‘‘ Development of Man,” 22 Queensland ; Exploration in, 237; Botany in, 271 Quetelet (M. E.), Temperature of Brussels, 444 Race, its Relation to Species, 129 “ Races of Mankind,” by R. Brown, M.A., 128 Radiation, Attraction and Repulsion arising from, 494 Railway Accidents, 174 ) Railway Whistles ; Alteration of Note in Trains meeting each other, 232 Rain, its Action in Calming the Sea, 279 Rainfall, Periodicity of, 327 Rain of Ashes, Norway and Sweden, 515 Rayleigh (Lord, F.R.S.), Insects and, the Colours of Flowers, 6; Hamilton’s String Organ, 308 ; Dissipation of Energy, 454 Renshaw (A. G.), Ants and Bees, 306 Renshaw (S. A.), ‘* The Cone and its Sections,” 404 Reichenbach (Count O.), Gaussian Constants, 285 Research, Endowment of (.See Endowment of Research) Research, Scientific, The 77zes on, 102 Rhinoceros in New Guinea, 248, 265 Rhubarb, 314 Rhynchosaurus articeps, 8 Ribot (Th.), ‘‘ Heredity,” 503 Riga, Society of Naturalists, 459 Right-handedness, 140 Ring Blackbird, 187, 209, 228 Rivers, Alteration of Levels, 314 Rivers, Change of Course of, 229 Rocks, Disintegration of, 356 Rodwell (G. F., F.C.S.), Heat, 139 Rohlfs (Dr. G.), Exploration in Africa, 356 Romanes (G. J.), Locomotion of Meduside, 29 Romilly (Lord), Protection for Inventions, 190 Roscoe (Prof. H. E., F.R.S.), Dalton’s First Table of Atomic Weights, 52 “ Roses, Les,” by MM. Jamain and Forney, 85 Royal Institution, 411, 415, 456 Royal Society, 34, 55, 92, 138, 157, 258, 278, 296, 318, 334, 337, 377> 417, 439 458, 494, 496, 499, 518 ; Presentation of Medals, 155 ; its Present Condition (President’s Address), 175, 196; French Account of its Origin, 213 Rumford (Count), Complete Works of, 103 Russian Forests, 251 St. Andrew’s University, 76, 196, 333 “St. Helena,” by J. C. Melliss, F.G.S., 501 Salisbury (The Marquis of), Scientific Education, 241 Salmon, Acclimatisation of, in Otago, 209 Salter (S. J. A., F.R.S.), ‘‘ Dental Pathology and Surgery,” 147 Sandal-wood, Trade in, 395 “Sandwich Islands, The,” by Isabella J. Bird, 322; Volcanic Action in the, 386 Saxby (H. L., M.D.), “Birds of Shetland,” 81 Scheele, Monument at Stockholm to, 216 Schmidt (Oscar), “ Darwinism,” 267 Schreiber (Dr. Egid), ‘‘ European Herpetology,” 271 Schweinfurth (Dr. G.), African Photographs, 273; African Exploration, 496 Scientific Club, 356 Science Commission, 457 Scientific Education, The Marquis of Salisbury on, 241 Scientific Inquiry, German Manual of, 321 Scientific Surveys, 381 Sclater (P. L., F.R.S.), Zoological Gardens, 87; Lectures at the Zoological Gardens, 513 Scorpions, Suicide of, 29, 47 Scotland: Change of Climate, 329; ‘‘ Scotland, Post-tertiary Entomostraca, Monograph of,” 128; University Develop- ment in, 115 ; Scottish Cryptogamic Society, 497 ; Scottish Meteorological Society, 456; Scottish Naturalist, 257 Scott (Robert H., F.R.S.), Hoffmeyer’s Weather Charts, 208 Sea-horse, 429 Seals, Destruction of, 93, 373 “* Sensation and Intuition,” by James Sully, M.A., 44 Sensitive Flames, 45, 88, 129 Serpent, New American, 255 Settle, Caves at, 304, 514 Shadows, Coloured, 406 Sharks in Suez Canal, 174 “Sheep, History, Structure, and Economy of,” by W. C. Spooner, M.R.V.C., 106 Shell-Fish, importation of, 394 ‘* Shetland, Birds of,” by H. L. Saxby, M.D., 81 NN INDEX Siam; Invitation by the King to Royal and Astronomical Societies, 215 Silk-culture, 456 ** Silkworm Cocoon,” by M. Duseigneur-Kléber, 206 Simon (Eugéne), “ Spiders of France,” 224 Smith (A. Percy), Chameleon Barometer, 365 Smith (E. J. A’Court), Flint Celt, 466; Discovery of Kemains of Plants and Insects, 88 Smith (George), “ Assyrian Discoveries,” 441 Smith (Hermann), ‘‘Gamba” Organ-pipe, 325 ; Sounds of the String Organ, 425 Smith (W. G.), Pollen Grains, 286, 328 Smith (Dr. W. R.), Origin of the Jewish Week, 363 Snakes and Frogs, 167 Snake Poisoning, 377 Snow Storms, 334 Society of Arts, 35, 94, 141, 217, 237, 255 Social Science Association, 435 Solar Parallax, M. Puiseux’s Calculations, 474 Solar Physics, M. Becquerel on, 132 Solar Spectrum, White Lines in, 315 Sorby (H. C., F.R.S.), Medal of Royal Society presented to, 156 ; Diatomacez in Coal Ashes, 475 Sounding and Sensitive Flames, 6, 45, 88 South American Travel, 241, 262 Southport Aquarium, 393 Southwell (Thos.), Thermometer Scales, 286 Spain, Science in, 372 Spalding (D. A.), Sully’s “Sensation and Intuition,” 44 ; Jardine’s ** Psychology of Cognition,” 422 : Species, in relation to Race, 129 Spectroscopy: Transit of Venus, 171; Stars, 236; New Map of the Solar Spectrum, 238; Spectrum of Coggia’s Comet, 238 ; Influence of Pigments on the Photographic Image of the Spectrum, 505 ; White Lines in Solar Spectrum, 318 ‘Spider, Crane or Windlass, 476 Spiders, Ingenuity of, 8 “* Spiders of France,” by Eugéne Simon, 224 ** Spiders, Trap-door,” by J. T. Moggridge, F.L.S., 245 Spitzbergen, Natural History of, 22 Spooner (W. C., M.R.V.C.), ‘History, Structure, Economy, and Diseases of Sheep,”’ 106 Spottiswoode (W., F.R.S.), Presentation of Medals at Royal Society, 155 Standards of Weight and Measure ; Report of the Warden of the Standards, 270 Stanley (H. M.), his African Expedition, 77, 153 (Sve Living- stone’s ‘‘ Last Journals ”’) Starfish, Fossil, 476 Stars: Anthelm’s, 407; Binary, Bootis ; New Variable in Orion, 348; R. Hydrz, 349; Drayson’s ‘‘ Proper Motion of the Fixed Stars,” 66 ; Falling, 154 ; Red, 446; Southern Double, 428 ; Spectroscopic Observations of, 236; ‘‘ Temporary,” of Tycho Brahe and Kepler, 249; Variable, 269, 308, 328, 334, 365, 387, 428, 473; Weight of a Fixed Star, 314 Statistical Society, 294 peebbag (T. R. R.), Natural Phenomena in South America, 3 Stewart (Prof. B., F.R.S.), Dr. Lloyd’s ‘*Treatise on Mag- netism,”’ 221 Stigmaria, Structure of, 136 Stillman (W. J.), Influence of Pigments on the Photographic Image of the Spectrum, 505 Stockholm, Science at, 459 Stone (W. H.), ‘* Wolf” in the Violoncello, 466 Stone Implements from the United States, 190, 215 Storms in the Atlantic, 290, 312 Storm Warnings from the United States, 405 Strange (Lieut-Col. A., F.R.S.), Transit of Venus, 130 Stratford, Lectures at, 254 Stratification in Electrical Discharges, 518 String Organ, Hamilton’s, 308, 425 Sub-Wealden Exploration, 236, 267, 284, 313, 457 Sugar Cultivation in Porto Rico, 35 Suicide of Scorpions, 29, 47 Sully (Jas., M.A.), ‘‘ Sensation and Intuition,” 44 ay eee Characters in, 228 at un, The; Preliminary Inquiry into the Existence of t e- ments not previously traced, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., 334; Sun and Earth as Forces in Chemistry, 324; Sun’s . Parallax, 274, 489; Sun-spots, 416 Surveys, Scientific, 381 Switzerland, Government Map of, 116; Map of the Lake of Geneva, 372 Sydney Museum, 236 Symons (W.), Carbon Cells] and Plates for Galvanic Bat- teries, 8 Tea, Trade in, 435 Teeth of the Newt, Lizards, and Ophidia, 157 Telegraph, Progress of the, 390, 450, 470, 510 “Telegraph and Travel,” by Col. Sir J. F. Goldsmid, C.B., 347 Telegraphy, International Conference on, 457 Telescope for Paris Observatory, 272 fideo Equatorial, Inventor of Clock Movement applied to, I Temperature of Brussels, 444 Temperature of the Ocean, 157 Temperature Chart of the United States, 267 Texas, Survey of, 155 Thaw, Recent, 193 Thermometer Scaies, 286, 427 Thermometers, New Notation for, 457 Thibet, Exploration in, 293 Thomson (J., F.R.G.S.), ‘* Malacca, Indo-China, and China,” 207, 248 Thomson (Prof, C. Wyville, F.R.S.), Reports on the Challenger Expedition, 95, 120, 287, 297 Thresher, The, and the Whale, 234 Times, Weather Chart in the, 473, 497 Tissandier (Gaston), Aéronautics, 467 ; his Ascent in the Zezith Balloon, 495 Tobacco Cultivation in Algeria, 436 ; Indian, 373 Tobacco Smoke, 456 Tock-Tay, or large House Lizard of Bengal, 272 Topham (John), Ingenuity of a Spider, 8 Topley (W.), Sub-Wealden Exploration, 284 Trade Winds, 348 Traill (C.), Improvement of the Zoological Gardens, 65 Transit of Venus (See Venus, Transit of) Transit of Venus, A.D. 1631, 507 “Trap,” Fossils in, 129 Tree Aloes of South Africa, 89, 254 Tree Ferns, 254 Trees, Catalogues of, 154 Trieste, Scientific Society at, 372 Trigonometrical Tables, 424 Tunnel between France and England, 273 Turner (W., M.D.), ““ Human Anatomy,” 464 Tuscarora, U.S. Steamer ; Deep Sea Soundings, 295 Tyndall (Prof.), Acoustic Reversibility, 239 Typhoon at Hong Kong, 168 Umbellula, or Cluster Polyp, 252 ** Unionidz,” by Isaac Lea, LL.D., 246 University College, 355, 371 University Reform, Mr. Disraeli on, 292 Upper Currents over Areas of Frost, 269 Uranus, Satellites of, 395 Utah, Birds of, 136; Oyster Cultivation at, 217 ** Valleys, Fissures, Fractures, and Faults,” by G. H. Kinahan, M.R.LA., 403 Variable Nebula, 489 Variable Stars, 269, 308, 334, 365, 387 Vegetation of the Libyan Desert, 137 Ventilation, Theory of, 296 Venus, Transit of ; Reports of the Expeditions, 16, 36, 93, 102, 112, 121, 130, 134, 153, 171, 177, 194, 214, 234, 254, 306, 313, 332, 354, 395, 371, 387, 394, 417; 455 Venus, Transit of: A.D. 1631, 507 Victoria : Aborigines, 155; Agriculture, 361 ; Geological Sur- vey, 181 ; Royal Society, 91 Victoria Philosophical Institute, 76, 120, 199, 360, 418, 459 Vienna, Imperial Academy of Sciences, 420 Vine Cultivation, 274, 396 Vine Disease in the South-east of France, 11, 56 Violoncello, The ‘*‘ Wolf” in the, 406, 4! Volcanoes ; Sandwich Islands, 386; Iceland, 514; Moluccas, 515 Von Heuglin’s Trayels in Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, 22 x INDEX Walker (Alfred O.), Rhinoceros in New Guinea, 248, 268 Waller ap H., F.R.G.S.), Livingstone’s ‘‘ Last Journals,” 142, 182 Ward (J. C.), Ice Phenomena in the Lake District, 309 Ward (Dr. T. O.), Riynchosaurus articeps, 8 Watford Natural History Society, 196, 237, 274, 334, 419 Watson (Dr. Forbes), Education i in connection with India, 413 Watson (Wm., Ph. D.), “ Descriptive Geometry,” 265 Waves, Height of, 386, 427, 444 Weather Charts, 208, 312, 473, 497 Weinhold (Prof. A. F.), ‘‘ Experimental Physics,” 482 Wells, Circulation of Underground Water, 136 Werekha (P. N.), Russian Forests, 251 Wetterhan (F. D.), Flowering of the Hazel, 507 Weyr (Dr.), Mathematical Works by, 283 , Whale, The, and the Thresher, 234 * «Whaling Cruise to Baffin’s Bay,” by A. H. Markham, F.R.G S, Commander R.N., 404 White’s ‘ Selborne,” 423 White (Dr. F. B.), Accidental Importation of Molluscs and Insects, 427 Whitmee (Rev. Pacific, 405 Whitwell (C. T. L.), Shadows, 406 Whitworth Exhibitions, 272 Willis (Prof. R., M.A., F.R.S.), Obituary Notice of, 535 S. J.), Meteorological Observations in the Chameleon Barometer, 307; Coloured ’ Williams (W. Mattieu, F.C.S.), Arctic Ice Barriers, 87 ; on the “Complete Works of Count Rumford,” 203 ; Decomposition of Iron Pyrites, 269 Williamson (Prof. W. C., F.R.S.), Strveture of Stigmaria, 136 : Deep Sea Researches, 148; Medal of Royal Society pre- sented to, 156; Section Cutting, 167 Wilson (Prof. W. P. ., of Melbourne University), Obituary Notice of, 333 Winnecke’s Comet, 228, 295, 308, 349, 473 Wire (A. P.), Decomposition of Iron Pyrites, 269 “Wolf,” The, in the Violoncello, 406, 466 Wollaston (G. H.), The Phylloxera, 286 Wood (Major ae R.E.), Cause ot the Change in the Course of the Amu Darya River, 229 Wyman (the late Dr. Jeffries), Memorial of, 274. Zanzibar, Copal Trees, 414 “ Zenith”? Balloon Ascent, 495, 513 Zodiacal Light, 115, 249, 270, 349 Zoological Gardens : Additions to, 18, 36, 58, 77, 95, 116, 136, 155,175, 196, 218, 237, 256, 274, 295, 315, 334, 356, 373, 396, 439, 457, 476, 497, 516; Drainage, 115 ; Improvement of, 67, 87; Lectures, 333, 513 Zoological Society, 39, 78, 119, 219, 259, 298, 339, 379, 417, 500, 520 oe Zoology,” by Alfred Newton, F.R.S., 305 Zoology, Museum of Comparative, 175 “To the WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE solid ground Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.’’—WoRDsWORTH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1874 TAE PROSPECTS OF THE ENDOWMENT OF RESEARCH ITH this number a new volume of NATURE is commenced, and consequently it will not be inappropriate to take the opportunity of presenting some sort of review of the present position of a subject to- wards which we have always been ready to devote much of our space. We propose to show that the important evidence given before the Royal Commission on the Advancement of Science, and the Reports which that Commission has already issued, have not been without in- fluence in the matter, whilst the publication of the Report of the University Commissioners renders it the more necessary not to relax our efforts in pressing this question continually upon the public. It is most encouraging also to notice as another symptom that ordinary opinion is gradually coming round to the views we have so long advocated, that the daily and weekly press have during the past month opened their columns to articles and correspondence on this subject, and that journalists no longer regard the proposal to endow scientific research as a visionary and wild scheme, but now consider it worthy of much consideration and intelligent criticism. Even at the Universities considerable progress in the right direc- tion seems to have been made, which is the more deserv- ing of attention when it is recollected that the Colleges have in most cases great constitutional difficulties to overcome before that they can carry into execution the smallest reform. At the end of the first volume of the Report of the University Commissioners there is printed in the Appen- dix a comprehensive scheme for a redistribution of their revenues, which has in principle been unanimously adopted by the governing body of New College, Oxford. It represents a plan of reform, the most fundamental in its principles and the most elaborate in its details which has yet been offered to the public, and shows in all its features how willing the more enlightened Colleges are to adapt themselves to modern requirements. The date of the adoption of the report of a select committee embody- VOL, xI,—No, 262 ing this scheme is October 8, 1873, and the contents of the report prove no less certainly than the date of its adoption that the labours of the Royal Commission on the Advancement of Science have not been thrown away. “The encouragement of mature learning, as distinct from teaching,” is expressly recognised as one of the four objects which College Fellowships should serve ; and accordingly, “this purpose is met by provid- ing for the election to Fellowships, and for the retention in Fellowships, of persons who have given proof of real interest and aptitude in literary or scientific studies.” These Fellowships are else where described as “held merely on the general condition of study,” and the election may be without examination in the case of a person already eminent in literature or science. All the Fellowships to which no educational or bursarial duties are attached are limited to a period of seven years, and the proposed emolument is 200/. per annum ; but “the College shall have power to re-elect once or more times, for periods ot seven years, any Fellow who is engaged in literary or scientific study, which is likely to produce results of per- manent value in published writings.” These proposals form part of a scheme in which the College committee dispose in various ways of a total annual sum of 16,0002, at which amount they estimate their divisible revenue at the end of the present century ; and though there may be several details in the entire scheme which suggest criticism, yet New College will always deserve a high meed of praise for being the first college to break through the ancient traditions which have hitherto prevented the corporate revenues of these institutions from being directly utilised for objects disconnected with education. The revised statutes of University College, which have been approved by her Majesty in Council, also deserve notice in that they reserve power to the College to elect to a Fellowship without examination “any person of special eminence in literature, science, or art.” It is true that this clause is merely a modification of one which already occupies a place in the ordinances of the majority of the Oxford Colleges, which gives the same power, with the proviso that such person shall have received an honorary degree from the Convocation of the University. But as this clause has never yet, to our knowledge, been acted upon, the necessary inference is that the proviso, which B 2 NATURE [ Nov. 5, 1874 appears sound in principle, is found in practice an insuperable obstacle. It may here be noticed that the revised statutes of Balliol, to which College the outside world is wont to look as the leader in all reform, ordain that all Fellowships shall be filled up after examination, except only in the case of University Professors, or persons eminently qualified to be college tutors. It does not appear from the Report of the Commission that the Cambridge Colleges have yet taken any steps to appro- priate definitely any portion of their endowments to the encouragement of scientific research ; but it is a matter of common notoriety that at the October election to Fellow- ships at Trinity College, a candidate was successful whose chief qualification was that he had already accomplished good original work in embryological investigation ; and Cambridge men may therefore boast that this one fact is worth all the schemes of the sister University. Both Oxford and Cambridge, however, will have to do much more than they have yet attempted, or than most of (their members would appear to have yet conceived, before they can satisfy the public wants and justify the retention of their wealth as it now stands disclosed. In other respects also we are glad to observe that the | objectors to the endowment of research are growing less numerous and less violent, and that the details of a scheme by which this object may be furthered are be- coming more acceptable to the general public. The question was brought into prominence by an article in the last number of the /ortuightly Review, and the writer of that article has not been slow to strengthen his positions and answer all opponents in the daily and the weekly press. We must confess that we have been fairly surprised to see with what general acceptance his thoroughgeing views have been met, and they merely require the approval of persons eminent in their particular | sciences in order that they may carry conviction to all impartial minds, The evening organ of the Conser- vative party concludes a notice of them with the follow- ing judicious sentence, which could not have been written a bare twelvemonth ago :—“ The general principle of the need of some sort of endowment for science is generally admitted, and in the main features of the scheme there is much to recommend it to a prudent public.” The remain- ing evening papers, which have all called attention to the scheme, are, if not so laudatory, at least critical rather than hostile; forthe time seems to have passed when the matter can be thought deserving of being laughed down with a sneer. We feel bound to refer more particularly to a letter contained in the Sfecta‘or of October 24, written by the gentleman referred to above, and entitled, “A Draft Scheme for Endowing Research.” The intention of the letter is to show that it is practicable, by means of a judicious application of precarious salaries, to train up a class of scientific investigators, and that it is a safe invest- ment to give endowments to young men before they have reached eminence in their studies. This point deserves the more attention because it appears to be now widely granted that sinecure posts ought to be pro- vided for men of science who are already famous for their discoveries, and for this latter object the Colleges have at present sufficient power, if only the will also were there. The essence of this draft scheme is to be found in the principle, at once comprehensive and simple, that no candidate is to establish his claim to a permanent endowment until he has previously served an apprenticeship of some ten years, during which period he must furnish continual proofs of his aptitude and diligence, and will receive regular payment by results amounting to a continuous salary if his work is satisfactory. The can- didates would be originally selected on the nomination of the professor under whom they have studied, tempered by a moderate examination to exclude manifest incom- petence ; and during their long period of probation they will be continually liable to rejection, if it be found by the board to which this duty is entrusted that they are not worth the money they are receiving. This plan, no doubt, is well worthy of trial at a central University, where the prolonged course of study under the superintendence of professors naturally lends itself to its adoption, and it could scarcely be perverted to greater wastefulness than at present characterises the Fellowship system at Oxford and Cambridge. It may, however, be plausibly suggested that something less elaborate in system and more closely adapted to the wants of specific studies would be required in the pecuniary encouragement of research which it is the duty of the nation, independently of the Universities, to undertake. GRESHAM COLLEGE i the previous article we speak of the advancement of of scientific research, and here we wish to refer to an excellent article in Monday’s Daz/y News connected with the advancement of education, The misuse and idle- ness of the untold wealth of the London City Companies we have frequently referred to ; but until the Dazly News unearthed the facts contained in its article, few people were aware of the existence of an institution which is one of the most striking anachronisms of our time, and the uselessness of whose endowments is provoking, now that the importance of scientific education to all classes is beginning to be keenly felt, and when its progress is so much hampered by want of means. The writer in the Daily News deserves the greatest credit for the trouble he must have put himself to in obtaining the facts about the institution known as “Gresham College,” and for the uncompromising way in which he has stated the facts of the case. It is indeed a hopeful sign of the recognised importance of sound scientific teaching, when the daily press espouses its cause so heartily. The Dazly News article begins by referring to the admirable system of lectures to working men during the winter at South Kensington in connection with the School of Mines, and which are so popular that many are shut out from want of room in the lecture theatre. Each Pro- fessor now gives a course of six lectures in alternate years, an average of twenty-four lectures being thus given in the course of the year, in the plainest English, by Professors | of the first rank, for the nominal fee of one penny per lec- ture. “More thronged, more silent, or more attentive audiences,” to quote the Dazly News article, “than those which attend these lectures to working men it would be impossible to find, even in the halls of the most learned of learned societies.” This, combined with the results of some of the examinations in the Science and Art Depart- ment, seems to us to prove the readiness and eagerness Nov. 5, 1874 | NATURE 3 of working men to take advantage of instruction in science when there is some guarantee that such instruction is sound and earnest ; and it is a pity, when this is the case, that any time should be lost in devising some system of scientific and technical education suited for the wants of the whole country. At all events the pabulum provided at Gresham College is a sad mockery of this wide- spread craving for knowledge. Again, to quote the writer in the Dazly News: “While the West is thus enlightened by modern science, in the East a phan- tasm bedizened in the worn-out rags and tatters of scholasticism provokes contemptuous laughter. In the large lecture theatre which occupies the greater part of the building at the corner of Gresham and Basinghall streets, to an audience composed of perhaps half a dozen persons, who have drifted in from mere idle curiosity, an English divine will read a lecture on astrono ny in the Latin tongue, followed an hour later by an EF: vlish lecture but little better attended. This, with similar curious exhibitions during Term time, is the outcome of Sir Thomas Gresham’s bequest, and the functions of those who were once resident Professors have dwindled to the delivery of these almost unattended lectures.” The writer then goes on to tell the melancholy history of the Gresham Fund, and he tells it so well that we shall give the story nearly in his own words. “The atrophy of Gresham College is well worthy of notice. By the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, the great merchant of Elizabeth’s time, and the Founder of the Royal Exchange, were bequeathed, in moieties to the City and Corporation of London and to the Company of Mer- cers, under certain conditions, ‘the buildings in London called the Royal Exchange, and all pawns and shops, cellars, vaults, messuages and tenements, adjoyning to the said Royal Exchange.’ To the foundation of a col- lege, ‘myne now dweiling-house in the parish of St. Helens in Bishopsgate and St. Peters the Poor’ was devoted, and the ‘Mayor and Commonalty’ of the City of London were charged with ‘the sustentation, main- tenance, and finding’ of four persons to read lectures on Divinity, Astronomy, Music, and Geometry in the said dwelling-house—a stately mansion. The Company of Mercers was charged with the maintenance of three Pro- fessors to lecture on Law, Physic, and Rhetoric, and on both the City and the Company of Mercers was enjoined the performance of sundry charitable duties towards almsmen, poor prisoners, and the like. Celibacy was pronounced an absolute condition of professorship, and the seven lecturers were to reside in ‘myne now dwelling- house,’ and were each to receive fifty pounds yearly—no inconsiderable remuneration in the year of grace 1575, when good Sir Thomas set his ‘seal with the grass- hopper’ to his last will and testament.” For a considerable period after the founder’s death Gresham College appears to have remained an important institution. Here, on Nov. 28, 1660, the foundation of the Royal Society was decided upon by a knot of philosophers who had assembled to listen to a lecture on astronomy by Christopher Wren, at that time a resident Professor in the old Gresham Man- sion, where the chair of Geometry was filled by the cele- brated Hooke. Escaping the Great Fire of London, Gresham College, still a flourishing institution, served for a while as Guildhall and Exchange to what was left of the City, but within the following forty years fell into that decadence from which it has never since emerged. In 1706 a memorial was laid before the Lord Mayor and the Court of Aldermen, setting forth grave causes of com- plaint against the Professors. A dashing pamphleteer of the period also declared that the Professors, albeit ‘“‘ gen- tlemen of civility, ingenuity, and candour,” yet seemed to discover an “ unwillingness and reluctancy to perform their work, because it required some pains and attend- ance, and were so far from the ambition of being crowded with auditors that they seemed rather to desire to have none at all.” “This state of things was bad enough,” continues the writer in the Daz/y News, “but worse was to follow. In 1768, with the consent of the Grand Committee of the Gresham Trust—which consisted then, as now, of four aldermen and eight commoners of the City of London, and twelve commoners for the Company of Mercers—the Gresham Mansion and the site on which it was built were alienated to the Crown for the purpose of building a new Excise Office. ‘Myne dwelling-house’ had been scan- dalously neglected, and allowed to fall into such a dilapi- dated condition that its unworthy guardians parted with it in consideration of the payment to the City and the Mercers’ Company of a perpetual rent of 5007. per annum, the City and Company paying 1,800/7. down towards the cost of pulling down the ancient building and erecting the new office. By this transaction an estate of great value was sacrificed, the handsomest house in London torn down, and the collegiate establishment entirely subverted. A room at the Royal Exchange was set apart for reading the lectures, celibacy was no longer made a condition of professorship, and residence was dispensed with as a matter of course—the lecturers being each allowed 50/. yearly, in lieu of apartments, over and above the original salary of 50/7. Owing partly to the incapacity of the Professors and partly to the inconvenient hours at which the lectures were delivered, the attendance of the public diminished, until between the years 1800 and 1820 the average number of the audience was only ten at each English lecture and thirteen at all the Latin lectures for the whole year, On the burning of the Royal Exchange Gresham College became a nomad institution, the lectures being mumbled or gabbled over in any hole or corner, until 1841, when the Gresham Committee purchased the present site, and erected on it a handsome lecture theatre at a cost of 7,0007, On various occasions attempts have been made to modify the constitution of Gresham College; but although it was found possible to entirely overturn the provisions of the ‘pious founder’ in 1768, all subsequent interference has been met by the most determined oppo- sition, It will hardly be credited that a prolonged struggle ensued before the Professors could be brought to issue a syllabus of the lectures to be delivered in each term, Still greater difficulty was experienced in transferring the hours of lecturing to the evening. This innovation was firmly resisted, and it was only by waiting till the tough old irreconcileables were gathered to their fathers that it was at last carried out. “Very slight improvement has taken place under the new order of things. Shortly before six o’clock on the evenings designated in the syllabus the doors of Gresham College are opened, and a superb beadle looks out to see 4 NATURE [Mov. 5, 1874 if any human being will be weak enough to enter the hall of dulness. As the clock hands closely approach the hour a thrill of excitement passes through the lecturer and the beadle. Two misguided persons have strayed into the building, and on the arrival of a third depends the reading of the Latin lecture, which is not delivered to a smaller audience than three. Should the third unwelcome guest put in an appearance the deed must be done—the lecturer must make a show of earning the 4/. 3s. 42. he gets for reading the Latin discourse. Looking rather flustered— perhaps by the consciousness that three wicked wags have conspired to make him work—he opens a well-dog’s- eared manuscript, and, reading at a tremendous pace, dashes through a composition which, as a rule, sets criticism at defiance. The good old traditional policy of driving auditors away is well kept up. Long Greek quo- tations loosely patched together by a rigmarole of doubtful Latinity, and rattled over with an evident intention of getting to the final dixi as quickly as possible, are not calculated to enchain the attention of a modern audience. It is only fair to admit that the lecturer sometimes shows a keen appreciation of the dreary farce in which he is the chief actor, and on these occasions condescends to address a few words—in English—to such of the audience as may be ‘in at the death.’ Feeling that a lecture in Latin needs not, therefore, be either tedious, stupid, or confused, he acknowledges the miserable quality of the rubbish he has just rattled through, and excuses it on the ground that the attendance is not sufficiently great to encourage the production of a good lecture; adding, moreover, that if more people came more pains would be taken. This solemn mockery is repeated every term, so that if all the Latin lectures were read, the majority of the professors would each deliver twelve English and twelve Latin discourses for his 10o/. per annum—by no means an excessive rate of payment if the lectures really instructed anybody in anything. Unfortunately, as at present conducted, Gresham College is utterly and com- pletely useless to any human being save only the pro- fessors and the beadles, who draw their salaries with commendable punctuality. Another matter for regret is, that not only is the use of a commodious building lost, but that a collection of books, which if placed in the City Library would be accessible to students, lies buried in the unprofitable seclusion of the College. If the Gresham Committee take no interest in the important trust confided to them, it is indeed high time that public attention was directed to an antiquated and transparent sham, a disgrace alike to the age and to the city in which it is perpetrated.” We hope that this unsparing exposure will lead to an inquiry into the abuse, and an appropriation of the valuable funds to a purpose much more consistent with the spirit of the will of the benevolent and well- meaning founder. HECKEL’S DEVELOPMENT OF MAN Anthropogenie oder Entwickelungsgeschichte des Men- shen; gemeinverstandliche wissenschaftliche Vortrage, von Ernst Heckel. (Leipzig: Engelmann, 1874.) HE new volume of so-called popular lectures by Prof. Heeckel bears somewhat the same relation to “ The Descent of Man” which his “ Schépfungsgeschichte” did to “ The Origin of Species.” Few who are ac- quainted with Mr. Darwin’s writings will agree with the criticism lately put forth from the chair of the British Association that they need an expounder. Those, how- ever, who are dissatisfied with his patient analysis of facts and sober deduction of principles will find abundant exposition and extension in such works of his disciples as “ The Beginnings of Life,’ “ The History of Creation,” and the present volume. In criticising the vast system of dogmatic cosmogony which is here built up in lectures before a popular audi- ence, one would not for a moment confound it with the flippant confidence of sciolists who attack or defend the theory of evolution, not on its scientific merits, but because it seems to them to support some theological or antitheological prejudice. But it is a matter of deep concern that so justly eminent a biologist as Prof. Heckel should allow himself, in treating a subject which above all demands the dry light of im- partial judgment, to adopt the style of those “who are not of his school—or any school.” The fact is, that the extremely difficult subject of the philogeny of man, demanding an accurate knowledge of embryology and comparative anatomy, both recent and fossil, is not at all fitted for popular treatment. Popu- larising science ought to mean persuading people to work at some of its branches until they learn to love it not altering its character so as to make it please the itching ears of idlers. The really valuable parts of the “Schépfungsgeschichte” and the “ Anthropogenie” must be at once useless and distasteful to such readers; and if they accept all the “advanced” theories laid cut and dried before them, they will be learning a bad lesson in biology. If they happen to have one set of prejudices, they will denounce all science as an invention of the devil ; or if they have another, they will degrade it into a mere instrument to insult the feelings of their neighbours. Prof. Haeckel assures his hearers that the history of development con- tains more valuable knowledge than most sciences and all revelations ; but, whether more or less important, the secrets of nature, like those of revelation, can only be gradually learned with patient ear and reverent spirit : they are meaningless or mischievous when accepted with- out pains or preparation. Unfortunately, in these lectures the teacher frankly drops the character of the student of nature‘and assumes that of the combatant. Evenin the preface he attacks the “black International” of Rome, “jener unheilbriitender Schaar,” with which “at last—at last the spiritual war has begun.” We see “the banners unfurled,” we hear “the trumpets blown, which muster the hosts for this gigantic struggle.” We are shown “whole ranks of dualistic fallacies falling before the chain-shot of monistic artillery, and libraries of Kirchenweisheit and After- philosophie (szc) melting into nothing before the sun of the History of Development.” But when these meta- phors are dropt, we find that the objects of this gigantic strife are to prevent certain (unspecified) teaching in primary schools, to suppress convents and celibacy by law, to expunge Sundays and saints’ days from the calendar, and to forbid religious processions in the streets ! Nov. 5, 1874 | NATURE » After this extraordinary preface, Prof. Haeckel enters on the more serious part of the book by a history of the doctrine of development. Passing rapidly from Aristotle and the founders of biology in the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries, he describes at some length the dis- coveries of Wolff (published in 1759), which were so long and so unjustly neglected ; the scarcely less splendid researches of the now venerable Von Baer (1827), and those of Mr. Darwin, from the appearance of the “ Origin of Species” in 1859 to the present time. Among the ontogenists, beside Wolff and Von Baer, whom he justly places in the first rank, due mention is made of Pander, Rathké, Bischoff, Johannes Miiller, Kolliker, Remak, Fritz Miiller, and Kowalevsky. But while most English embryologists (and histologists too) will probably agree in substance with our author’s judg- ment on the doctrines of Reichert and of His, they would scarcely speak of a distinguished living anatomist as “dieser; auserordentlich unklare und wiiste Kopf.” Among the philogenists who preceded Darwin, particular attention is paid to the speculations of Lamarck, in his “ Philosophie Zoologique,” which were published in 1809, and thus exactly divided the century which elapsed be- tween the first great work on the subject, Wolff’s ‘‘ Theoria generationis,” and the last, Darwin’s “ Origin of Species ;” and also to those of Goethe, extracts from whose writings, both prose and verse, are scattered up and down the volume, not only in the text, but on the fly-leaves and other blank spaces. We venture to think that both here and elsewhere Prof. Hzeckel has put too high a value on these pre-Darwinian speculations. He discovers who proves: and neither “Lamarck nor Goethe could justify their guesses by facts. They happened to be right, just as among all the random guesses of the ancient Greek cosmologists Thales happened to have hit on the true relation of the sun to the earth, probably from his being less and not more philosophical than his fellows. If some of the assertions of modern spiritualists or phreno- logists should hereafter turn out to be true, they would no less deserve the condemnation of a future generation for believing what, on the facts within their knowledge, they had no business to believe. The chapters which succeed are devoted to a clear and tolerably full account of the development of the human embryo from the ovum-cell to the stratification of the blastoderm. The only fault to find with this part of the book (and its merits need no praise for those who are acquainted with our author’s skill in exposition of a diffi- cult subject) is the exaggeration of such phrases as this : “The process of fecundation is very simple, and involves nothing at all peculiarly mysterious.” In one sense, of course, this is true; the ultimate mystery of every func- tion, organic or inorganic, is equal: but fecundation, like other organic functions, has the peculiar mystery that we cannot yet rank it with other mysteries. Most of us believe that one day each movement of each particle of the ovum will receive its appropriate physical explana- tion, but till then we must be content to call them vital, just as we call other movements chemical: and even a popular lecture should not anticipate the advance of science. The most important position maintained in this part of the book is that in Vertebrata the two primitive blasto- dermic layers (epiblast and hypoblast of Huxley, exoderm and entoderm) differentiate each into two, as in Vermes, and that the mesoblast (motorgerminal layer of Remak) subsequently arises by coalescence of Von Baer’s Fleisch - schicht or Hautfaserblatt and Gefassschicht or Darm- faserblatt. The various opinions which have been put forth on this difficult subject are discussed, and the author’s view illustrated by some coloured figures. In the number of the Quarterly Microscopical Fournal for last April there is an article by Prof. Haeckel (very ill- translated) on the “ Gastraea” theory which was put forth in his valuable work on “Calcareous Sponges ;” and there he discusses the homologies of the secondary germ-layers. To it we may refer the English reader as an exposition of this part of the subject, and unfortu- nately as another instance in justification of what has been said of the dogmatic confidence and undignified personalities which disfigure the present volume. The description of the further development of the human embryo, including a short account of the origin of the various organs, is an excellent example of how a very complicated subject may be explained and illustrated. The figures from Bischoff, Kélliker, Gegenbaur, and other anatomists are somewhat coarsely reproduced, but are supplemented by some new drawings on stone. These chapters, however, on human ontogeny and organogeny are unexceptionable and somewhat commonplace. They seem to be chiefly introduced for the sake of the philogeny which occupies the third series of lectures. It is the close connection between the known development of the individual and the hypothetical development of the race which it is the merit or demerit of the book to expound to a popular audience, and to this subject we hope to refer in a future article. EBL LER LO CLALE “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. | Migration of Birds I HAVE to thank Mr. Wallace and Mr. Romanes for their remarks (NATURE, vol. x. pp. 459 and 520) on the article in which I drew attention to this subject. The former especially has laid all ornithologists under an obligation for the charac- teristic ski]l with which he has illustrated the way whereby migratory habits have most likely been brought about. I think it is very possible, as he suggests, ‘‘ that every gradation still exists in various parts of the world, from a complete coincidence to a complete separation of the breeding and subsistence areas,” and that ‘‘ we may find every link between species which never leave a restricted area in which they breed and live the whole year round, to those other cases in which the areas are absolutely separated.” Still, I cannot point out any species which I believe to be, as a species, strictly non-migratory. No doubt many persons would at first be inclined to name half a dozen or more which are unquestionably resident with us during the whole year, and evex inhabit the same very limited spot. But I think that more careful observation of the birds which are about us, to say nothing of an examination of the writings of foreign observers, will show that none of them are entirely free from the migratory impulse. Perhaps the nearest approach, among British birds, to an absolutely non-migrant may be found in our familiar Hedge Sparrow. Personally, I have never been able to detect any moyement in this bird, but one has only to turn to works on the ornithology of the extreme north and south of Europe to see that it is affected like the rest, and even in the Orkneys it is described as an occasional autumnal visitant. However, in most of the 6 NATURE | Nov. 5, 1874 British Islands and the more temperate parts of Europe it is very possibly only the young of this species which migrate, and the adults, having once fixed on‘a place of residence, may stick to it; so that here we have a case which will almost bear out Mr. Wallace’s supposition. With this, however, he stops, and I am sorry to say offers no suggestion as to the way in which migration is effected. The question which Mr. Romanes puts would be more ap- propriately answered by Mr. Tegetmeier, and I hope he will be induced to do so. I can only say that that gentleman has repeatedly urged his views on me in conversation and upon the public in his books (see ‘‘ Pigeons, their Structure,” &c., pp. $4, 85, and ‘‘The Homing or Carrier Pigeon,” pp. 37—42, 105 —118) which, being ready of access, I need not here quote. To limit myself to what I am alone answerable for, I would say that when declaring that sight alone cannot be much aid to birds while migrating, I had especially in mind the almost peculiar case of the Scandinavian form of Bluethroat (Ruticilla sarcica), which winters in Egypt and the Nile Valley,and summers in the northern or mountainous parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia; while, though no doubt passing regularly twice a year over the intervening countries of Europe, it is there so singularly scarce as to have been, until of late years, almost unknown to the best of German ornithologists. For the benefit of such of my readers as are unacquainted with the bird, I may add that the cock has a conspicuous and beautiful plumage, a fine song, and habits which, in the spring of the year, cannot be called unob- trusive. If, therefore, it did commonly occur in Germany— where I should state that a kindred form (Avé:cilla leucocyana) is very well known—it could not escape observation. Won- derful as the feat looks, it would therefore seem as though this. Scandinavian Bluethroat passed over Europe at a stretch, and if so, I cannot conceive its flight being guided by any landmarks. Furthermore, there is ground for believing that some of the migrations of many species, particularly of water-birds, are performed at night, when sight, one would think, can be of little use to them. But, to be honest, I must confess that dark, cloudy nights seem to disconcert the travellers. On such nights the attention of others besides myself has often been directed to the cries of a mixed multitude of birds hovering over this and other towns, apparently at a loss whither to proceed, and attracted by the light of the street-lamps. One other point only need I now mention; this is Mr. Romanes’s assertion that ‘‘in the case of all migratory birds, the younger generations fly in company with the older ones,” which is at variance with a statement (hitherto, I believe, un- controyerted) of Temminck’s :—‘‘ On peut pour un fait que les jeunes et les vieux voyagent toujours séparément, le plus souvent par les routes différentes.” (Man. d’Orn, ed. 2, iii. Introduc- lion, p. xliii. note.) ALFRED NEWTON Magdalene College, Cambridge, Nov. 2 Insects and the Colours of Flowers THERE is one point connected with Mr. Darwin’s explanation of the bright colours of flowers which I have never seen referred to. The assumed attractiveness of bright colours to insects would appear to involve the supposition that the colour-vision of insects is approximately the same as our own. Surely this isa good deal to take for granted, when it is known that even among ourselves colour-vision varies greatly, and that no inconsiderable number of persons exist to whom, for example, the red of the scarlet geranium is no bright colour at all, but almost a match with the leaves. RAYLEIGH Whittinghame, Preston Kirk Sounding and Sensitive Flames A SEVERE indisposition, which disabled me from correspon- dence during nearly the whole of last month, prevented me from acknowledging as soon as it appeared in NATURE (vol. x. p. 244) Prof. Barrett’s excellent communication on Sounding and Sensitive Flames, replying to my letter on the same subject at page 233 of this volume. Prof. Barrett supplied me with many useful references, and with one at least the want of which led me to misrepresent his connection with the discovery of sensitive properties in suit- ably adjusted wire-gauze flames, for which I had sought in magazines and journals for some months previously in vain. A note of the original description of Mr. Barry’s experiment in NATUuRE, vol. v. p. 30, had in the meantime been pointed out to me in another record of very similar experiments, which is itself also, I have no doubt, the same account of ‘‘ further expe- riments with the same kind of flame,” that Prof. Barrett cites as appearing in the Yournal of the Franklin Institute for April 1872, to which I have not been able to obtain access. ‘The nearer channel to which I was referred for its perusal is the Philosophical Maga- zine for June 1872, where a paper is briefly extracted from the Ame- rican Fournal of Science of the preceding month, describing new experiments with Barry’s sensitive flame, by Mr. W. E. Geyer, of the Stevens Institute of Technology, in the United States. By placing a wide tube over the flame at a proper height it became sounding, or, if silent, might be made sensitive in such a way as to sound at the slightest hiss or rustle, and on producing any jingling or tinkling sounds in its neighbourhood. Thus the flame sounded twice on pronouncing to it the word “sensitive,” showing its instantaneous affection even by mo- mentary sibilant sounds. By varying the experiment, an oppo- site condition of the flame was obtained, in which it continued sounding until checked by a hiss or rustle from without. It is observed by the editor of the American Fournal of Science, ina note to Mr, Geyer’s paper, that in the number for September 1871, of the AZoniteur Scientifique, a form of apparatus and experiment apparently identical with Mr. Barry’s is noticed as having been made by Prof. Govi at Turin, and this was a few months prior to the letter in which the account of his experi- ments is given by Mr, Barry to Prof. Tyndall. Thus the sen- sitive properties of certain wire-gauze flames, like the property of such flames to excite very readily musical vibrations, may have had many independent discoverers; the value of such dis- coveries is now, as it must have ever been, the new light which one is capable of throwing upon another. The rapid publication of results urgently requires their frequent collection and com- parison together ; and this process, pressing and urgent as it is, seldom fails in experienced hands to prove a connection, to bind together a chain of consequences, and to leave a subject in general better explored and embellished with new-found illus- trations than it was before. Such was the successful treat- ment, a few years ago, by Prof. Tyndall, of the question of sounding and sensitive flames, when it was shown by beautiful illustrations of Savart’s sensitive water-jets, and by equally ingenious and new experiments with smoke-jets as substitutes for flames, that sensitiveness is a residing property of liquid veins and gas-jets, independently, in the latter case, of their being lighted. The laws of fluid pressure and motion, and apparently foremost of all those of capillary attraction in liquids and of mutual friction and diffusion in gases, and not the energies of heat and combustion of a flame, preside prin- cipally over the observed phenomena. The bifurcated head, or low ruffled brush to which the tall wand-like sensitive jet is suddenly reduced, is but the glowing representation of the form which, if it were visible to the eye, the unlighted jet would, under the same circumstances, be observed to take. This is at least in general terms, and perhaps also in plain and fairly accurate statement of the real facts, the simple result which the collection and elucidation of the most brilliant then known experiments illustrating sensitive flames, led a philosopher of Prof. Tyndall’s enlightened sagacity and skill in physical investigations to adopt. There can be no doubt of its substantial correctness in the in- creasing array of cases to which it may be successfully applied. The flame is but an illuminated effigy of some of the lowest parts of the issuing gas column, whether tranquil or disturbed, whose upper parts it removes and replaces by products of combustion. The lower parts are also marred in their form by heat, but not so much as to obliterate the original character, shape, and dimensions of the part of the gas column that it represents, The flame terminates upwards, and ceases to represent the unlighted column further when it has found surface of contact enough with the outer air to effect the complete com- bustion of the gas. The up-draught of violently heated products of combustion near the base impedes the access of fresh air to parts near the summit of the flame, and it must, besides, deform them otherwise, sometimes even rhythmically, as in the unsteady throbbing flame of an ill-trimmed lamp or of a candle burning in its socket. The noisy roar with which flaring of gas-flames is attended tells us also of the uneven mix- ture of the gas and air supplies with each other in the flame, and reminds us of the rapid fire of small explosions that must probably introduce new sources of confusion in its form. If these explosions, however, are regularly timed, they can be made to maintain the simple musical note of harmonic flames ; and these flames again, wholly dependent as they appear to be Nov. 5, 1874 | NATURE , on their combustion for the musical sounds that they emit, must, it appears from Count Schaffgotch’s and Prof. Tyndall’s well- known experiments, when placed in certain circumstances of silence and indifference in an open tube, be aided by the voice at a distance to commence their song. The signal-note first raises certain mechanical vibrations in the gas-current of the narrow jet, that are necessary in the outset to produce commotions enough of the singing flame to make it able to continue and maintain them. The sensitive sounding-flame of Mr. Geyer bears a similar explanation, for not being regularly adjusted, although very nearly so, to continued sounding, a rustle sufficient to flurry the sensitive wire-gauze flame under the open tube creates in it so many brisk explosions, that the resonance of the sounding-tube is excited, and is at once exalted toa loud note by the rhythmical expansions of the flame ; but with the cessation of the external sound the maintaining impulse ceases, and the wire-gauze flame whose commotions must be kept up in order to maintain the note immediately becomes as silent as before. It is remarkable that the gas-pressure used to obtain Barry’s sensitive flame is not sufficient to produce visible sensitiveness in the taper-jet alone ; but if the gauze is raised and lowered over the unlighted jet, a proper position is soon found where the cone of blue flame bumming on the gauze above possesses a very high degree of sensibility. The use of smoke-jets instead of flames in this arrangement would perhaps give more positive proofs than may yet have been obtained of the cause of the impressi- bility. It appears, however, scarcely probable that in the short space of a few inches from the aperture the pin-hole current of un- lighted gas can increase its amount of air-mixture so much by the influence of external sounds, that this would account sufficiently for the descent of the conical gauze-flame from the pretty stately eminence of a tall and steadily-burning hill top, to little more than the elevation of a stormy bed of low struggling and bustling flame. The alternative supposition is that the disturbance com- mences in the meshes of the gauze itself, and that it extends upwards from them with such rapidly increasing agitation that a perfect mixture of the gas-current with the surrounding air, and its complete combustion, are thus enabled to take place at very short distances above the gauze. I have been led to offer these few reflections on some of the most remarkable examples of sensitive and sounding flames from a wish to distinguish in their action as well as possible between the part which purely mechanical forces, and that which the operations of heat and combustion play separately in their production. The mechanical part of the explanation appears to consist in supposing the sensitive jet, when it is properly ad- justed, as being in a state either bordering upon, or of actually existing undulation. The hissing sound ofall air-jets, if listened for attentively enough, is a proof of the reality of the disturbance ; and such sounds, it has been suggested by Sir G. Airy, indicate disruptions of continuity inthe air round the nozzle of the jet, arising, no doubt, from the rapidity with which particles of the quiescent external air are there carried off by friction with the gas-current of the jet. It is hardly possible that wacwa so complete (when they exist) should fail to supply the jet with a succession of smoke-rings encircling it and probably travelling up the jet with different speeds according to their magnitude and the depth to which they are involved in the upward current of the gas. If a disposition to regular periodic action exists in the jet (and the smoother its orifice, and the more steady the supply of gas to the jet, the more probable this appears to be), a succession of smoke-rings* of the same size, and of greater or less strength according to the uniform pressure of the gas, may easily be sup- posed to course each other up the flame, and being gradually consumed in ascending, to leave its tall column to the top with sides as smooth and even as a rod of glass. But if the gas- pressure is much increased, a phenomenon like that of companion cyclones observed in rotating storms, perhaps presents itself at the orifice of the jet, each strong smoke-ring as it is formed being * The word ‘‘smoke-rings,” as here used occasionally, is not intended to imply the presence of smoke in the jet or flame, but to denote by a familiar phrase an annular air-vortex having its rotation round a circular line or ring of lower pressure than that of the surrounding air. Such annular vortices are most easily seen in liquids by drawing a flat blade through them with its broad side in front; or, indeed, as was lately shown to me by Prof. James Thomson, who supplied me with their explanation, in a cup of tea, by drawing a spoon very gently through it. Only half of the annulus is formed, encircling the edge of the blade or spoon with a curved line of low pressure, round which the liquid spins as in a smoke-ring, and shows a little whirlpool on the surface, one at each point of intersection of the surface with the low-pressure line below it. If an oar-blade is drawn rather rapidly through water, groups of two or three of these ring-vortices following each other in its track can very readily be produced. probably followed by a weaker one (a residual offset from the first) travelling after it with less velocity on the outer surface of the flame. The companion rings are probably overtaken and destroyed at a certain height in the flame by the next following strong ring, and the succession being continuous, a puff at a certain height in the flame, where the companion rings collapse, throws it there into a permanent excrescence or confusion. Both rings may be broken by the shock, and if of oval forms, as they must probably be in some jets, the two projecting halves of the stronger ring when struck, on springing outwards may thus appear to divide the flame at a certain height above the jet into two pointed tongues forking outwards from each other to a cer- tain width. This form of sensitive flame was shown to be readily obtainable by Prof. Barrett by means of a tapering glass quill- tube jet, the edges of which on two opposite sides are slightly ground or snipped away into a V-shaped notch. Besides the secondary or companion ring, tertiary and higher orders of fol- lowing rings may possibly be formed ; and each strong primary ring may have to run the gauntlet of several weaker antagonists before it at last emerges safely, or else is destroyed itself in its conflicts with them. The flame is lowered to a bushy head in the latter case; but if the primaries outlive their shocks, and if, as might sometimes happen a'so, the secon- daries alone survive, it seems possible that a sensitive flame with a short continuation of steady flame overtopping the region of tumult and confusion, could in this way be obtained. The hypothesis seems equally applicable to gauze flames, as nothing can prevent smoke-rings after smoke-rings from rolling up the contiguous sides of parallel jets nearly in contact with each other. Indeed, the difficulty of access of the outer air to the spaces between the jets must favour the production of vacua round the orifices, and accordingly the occurrence of air-whirls. This is perhaps the reason why wire-gauze flames begin to show sensitive properties at gas-pressures so much lower than those found necessary in the case of a single flame burning at a taper jet. The whole array of jets, it may be, in a wire-gauze flame behaves very nearly alike, and the flame as a body burns, whether noisily or silently, in the same manner, but with greatly increased susceptibility, as a single flame-jet from one of the gauze-meshes alone would appear to do. Whatever mechanical distinction may really exist between the mode of action of the common taper jet and the wire-gauze sensitive flames, it appears, therefore, rather to be one of a higher degree of suscepti- bility at low pressures, than of any more distantly distinct or special kind. Even the mode of operation of external sounds upon them is probably very similar in the two cases, for by rapid vibrations of the external air, such as a hiss or shrill whistle produces, the gas-jet leaving an orifice is shifted bodily to and {ro over its edges, and nothing can moce certainly produce partial vacua, and consequently air-whirls round its circumference, than sudden displacements of an air-jet laterally over the sides of its aperture, even if the tendency to develop them more or less periodically did not exist already in the critical or “ sensi- tive”’ condition of the jet. Axial vibrations, also, or those im- pressed by outer disturbances on the gas: current in the orifice in the direction of its flow, cannot be altogether without effect in producing vacwa and air-whirls at its mouth; and among the multitudes of them thus occurring from the impressed action of external vibrations in all directions, a rhythmical selection is probably made depending on the form of the burner and the pressure of the gas. It is difficult to imagine how the partial air-vacuum or aspiration constantly existing round the nozzles of blast-apertures can bestow its energy when broken into dis- continuity, rhythmical or otherwise, by a turbulent condition of the jet otherwise than by producing, in the peculiar eddy of its position, ring-shaped vortices encircling the blast ; but it is evident that few jets and nozzles can be fashioned so smoothly in their inner and outer surfaces and edges that the ring vortices will often be complete; mere frag- ments of rings are scattered from their sides, which, having no stability, collapse with shocks and puffs that give the roaring and blustering character to the stream. With perfectly smoothed orifices there is probably every gradation according to the pressure of the gas, from full continuity of the partial vacuum or rarefaction round the jet, abating gradually and uniformly upwards to ulti- mate disappearance by friction with the surrounding air, through a condition of gentle undulations of this cone of rarefaction pursuing each other up the stream with slackening strength, and finally losing themselves also by friction as before, to the case of turbulence where the rings of rarefaction are quite intermittent, and separate ring-eddies more or less distinct from each other, 8 NATURE [Wov. 5, 1874 of greater or less strength, and travelling up the stream with different speeds, take the place of the more gentle undulations. The distinction between ring-vortices and ring-shaped undulations | is perhaps here too strongly and improperly overdrawn, as, be- sides the improbability that effects so exaggerated as perfect air- whirls are really ever attained in ordinary gas-jets, the properties of the undulations that correspond to and lead up to them in ordinary currents must evidently resemble theirs in all respects, so that the deeper and stronger interior undulations move up the jet more rapidly than open and weaker exterior ones on the sur- face ; for it seems probable that both vortices and ring-waves of strongest rarefaction will generally occur nearest to the centre or axis, and those of weakest rarefaction furthest from it, or nearer to the slow-moving outer surface of the jet. The effect of the collision and destruction of a weaker by a stronger ring-wave, when they overtake each other, is the same as that of perfect circulating whirls ; the balance of pressure in one part of the circular wave being broken by a shock, it collapses in every other part, and if both waves are destroyed, the further progress of the jet is intercepted at that point, and it scatters itself in a confused cloud at the point of concourse and disruption of the waves. The long-enduring smoke- or steam-rings often seen projected from the funnels of locomotive engines at starting, or when moving slowly and emitting separate puffs, illustrate appa- rently the mutual action of closely packed parallel jets like those of an ordinary gauze flame; for the impeded passage to the outer air offered by a number of such surrounding jets, just as by the funnel of the locomotive engine, favours the production of a strong vacuum round the jet-aperture or blast-pipe, and of a strong wave or steam-ring, the moment that the jet or blast takes a side-swing or a sudden leap upwards that calls the action of the partial vacuum into play. A. S. HERSCHEL ( To be continued.) A New and Simple Method for making Carbon Cells and Plates for Galvanic Batteries Some time since a correspondent asked for an easy method to construct carbon plates. A paper of mine was read in Section A at Belfast on the subject, and as it describes a process by which any experimentalist can construct not only plates but cells of carbon, I have thought a condensed account of the process may be appropriate for your columns. With a syrup made of equal quantities of lump-sugar and water, mix wood-charcoal in powder with about a sixth part of a light powder sold by colourmen, called vegetable black. The mixture should hang thickly on any mould dipped into it, and yet be sufficiently fluid to form itselt intoa smooth surface. The vegetable black considerably helps in this respect. Moulds of the cells required are made of stiff paper, and secured by wax or shellac. A projection should be made on the top of the mould fora connecting piece. These moulds are dipped into the carbon syrup, so as to cover the outside only, and then allowed to dry. This dipping and drying is repeated until the cells are sufficiently thick. When well dried they are then buried in sand, and baked in an oven sufficiently hot to destroy the paper mould. When cleared from the sand and burnt paper the cells are soaked for some hours in dilute hydrochloric acid, and again well dried, then soaked in sugar syrup. When dry they are then packed with sand in an iron box, gradually raised to a white heat and left to cool. Should some of the cells be cracked, they need not be rejected, but covered with paper or plaster and dipped in melted paraffin. Rods or plates of carbon can be rolled or pressed out of a similar composition, but made thicker. Carbon thus made will be found to have a good metallic ring and a brilliant fracture. Barnstaple, Oct. 26 W. Symons. Ingenuity in a Spider A SPIDER constructed its web in an angle of my garden, tke sides of which were attached by long threads to shrubs at the height of nearly three feet from the gravel path beneath. Being much exposed to the wind, the equinoctial gales of this autumn destroyed the web several times. The ingenious spider now adopted the contrivance here repre- sented. It secured a conical fragment of gravel with its larger end upwards, by two cords, one attached to each of its opposite sides, tothe apex of its wedge-shaped web, and left it suspended as a moveable weight to be opposed to the effect of such gusts of air as had destroyed {the webs previously occupying the same situation. The spider must have descended to the gravel path for this special object, and, having attached threads to a stone suited to its purpose, must have afterwards raised this by fixing itself upon the web, and pulling the weight up to a height of more thantwo feet from the ground, where it hung suspended by elastic cords. The excellence of the contrivance is too evident to require fur- ther comment, Torquay, Oct. 26 Joun Topadam Note on the Rhynchosaurus Articeps, Owen REFERRING lately to Prof. Owen’s description of the Rhyn- chosaurus (‘‘ Palzeontology,” p.264), first discovered by myself in 1838-39, in the New Red Sandstone of Grinshill, near Shrews- bury, I remarked that in speaking of the ichnolites supposed to belong to this animal he says there is an ‘‘impression corre- sponding with the hinder part of the foot, which reminds one of a hind toe pointing backwards, and which, like the hind toe of some birds, only touched the ground.” In this account nothing is said of any claw being attached to this hind toe, nor have I met with ary description of a claw in other authors. I have there- fore thought it worth while to mention that I possess a specimen from Grinshill that shows distinctly the impression of a straight claw pointing backwards. There is also, on the same slab, the impression of another smaller foot of only three toes with strong straight claws, which has behind it a slight impression corresponding with the hind toe of the larger footprints. It is a curious fact that the claws of the larger impression, though larger than those of the smaller footprint, are so much recurved as not to project much beyond the ends of the toes, while on another slab from Storeton there are reliefs with both straight aud re- curved claws, the latter giving the idea of a foot like that of the Great Anteater. In these Storeton ichnolites the hind toe exhibits no claw, nor am I sure whether certain rounded ele- vations represent the smaller footprint in the Grinshill specimen. Upon another slab of Storeton stone I have a mark resembling the tail-mark on the slab presented by Mr. Strickland to the Warwickshire Museum, but unfortunately the footmarks con- nected with it are too indistinct to decide its origin. Ina third slab from Storeton, besides several impressions with straight claws, there is one three inches long, the second toe of which has a straight claw $in. in length. I have also Cheirotherium foot- prints with long straight claws from the same quarries. I have put these few remarks together to fulfil the wish of Prof, Owen ‘‘ to obtain the means of determining the precise modifi- cations of the locomotive extremities of the Rhynchosaurus.” Perhaps by this time this object may have been attained, for at the Congres des Savans at Paris in 1868 the discovery of two almost perfect skeletons was announced, and drawings of them were exhibited by a professor from Lyons. T. OcierR WARD [So far as the photographs can be deciphered, they seem to bear out the writer’s statements.—ED. ] THE ALPINE CLUB MAP OF SWITZER- LAND* N NATURE, vol. vi. p. 203, we adverted to the non- existence of a map of the Alps on a scale sufficiently large for general purposes, and briefly’ referred to the map which was then being produced under the direction of a committee of the English Alpine Club with the view of supplying the want. This map, though not yet finished, has been recently published. Three sheets are completely finished, but the fourth is still in outline, and will be exchanged for perfect copies when the hill-shading is added. We believe this to be, so far as it extends, the most exact map of the Alps which has yet appeared, and pro- bably no map of its size has ever been produced in this country with more beautiful workmanship or with greater * The Alpine Club Map of Switzerland with parts of the neighbouring countries. Edited by R. C. Nichols, F.S.A., F.R.G,S., under the superin- tendence of a Committee of the Alpine Club, In four sheets. Scale asghou- (Stanford, 1874 ) Fe Nov. 5, 1874} NATURE F elaboration of detail. We could have wished, indeed, that details had been inserted somewhat less profusely, It can never be possible in maps of the scale of this one (about one-quarter of an inch to a mile) to render, with a sufficient degree of clearness, all the minutize which are inserted in the great Government Surveys of civilised countries ; nor can it ever have been supposed that this map would do away with the necessity of smaller maps of separate districts on a larger scale. Yet we find, in the map under review, in innumerable places, a mass of details which would have been amply sufficient had it been four times its dimensions, and a consequent want of clearness which is not a little perplexing. In some places, even the fantastic passes made in late years by the followers of the high art of mountaineering have been inserted, whilst in others (in the chain of Mont Blanc, for example) they have been almost entirely omitted, simply from want of space. Thus it appears, to those who are not informed, that in some places there are a great num- ber of such passes, and in others scarcely any, when the reverse is perhaps the case. We should have advocated, both for the sake of consistency and of clearness, the omission of all passes except those of distinct utility. In point of clearness it must be admitted that the English Alpine Club Map is scarcely equal to the reduc- _ tion of the Carte Dufour which was published last year in Switzerland,* and this is not surprising. The authori- ties at Bern had to produce a simple reduction of the twenty-five sheet map of Switzerland, which was intended to be useful for general purposes, and to be issued at a low price so that it might be within the reach of everyone, and in this they have succeeded admirably. They had at their command most of the members of the staff who had been employed upon the survey, and thus had little or no difficulty in determining what to omit. This was a great advantage ; for it must be obvious to all that, in reducing a map to amuch smaller scale, it is more easy to deter- mine what should be inserted than it is to know what should be left out. This simple fact, no doubt, accounts to some extent for the over-elaboration of the Alpine Club Map to which we just now referred. Its projectors also adopted the Carte Dufour as the basis of their map so far as Switzerland was concerned, but they had not the command of the very exact and minute topographical information which was possessed at Bern. The reduced Swiss map, like the Carte Dufour, is a map of Switzerland, and for the most part stops abruptly at the frontier. The English map, however, is a map of Switzerland with parts of the neighbouring countries. It extends everywhere sixteen miles more to the south than the most southern point of the Swiss boundaries, and in some places the country which it embraces (which is xo0/ included in the Swiss map) is as much as sixty-five to seventy miles from north to south. In the north and in the west the limits of the two maps are nearly the same, but in the east the English one includes the Orteler and several other important greups of mountains, which are not given in the Swiss one. The superficial area of the Alpine portion of the English map is altogether about one-half greater than that of the other, and the chief value of the map will be found to be in the part of it that represents this land beyond, but bordering the Swiss frontiers. It was a comparatively easy task, notwithstanding the complicated and exceedingly elaborate nature of the engraving, to render Switzerland after the Carte Dufour. The chief difficulty in the production of the map has lain in obtaining the material necessary for its completion towards the south. When it was commenced—now nearly ten years ago—there was no map, even respectably accu- rate, of the chain of Mont Blanc in existence ; and thence, right away to the furthest land in the east which is * Karte der Schweiz, in 4 blattern, reduciert unter der Direction des Herrn General G, H. Dufour. Maasstab, sg¢55- (Bern, 1873.) included, scarcely a square league could be adopted with confidence from any published survey. Hence it was necessary not only to examine every individual mountain and valley, but absolutely to re-survey several large districts. The chain of Mont Blanc, as it appears in the Alpine Club Map, is mainly taken from the special survey of Mr. Adams Reilly ;* and so, too, is the whole of the southern side of Monte Rosa, as well as the large district bounded on the east by the Val d’Ayas, on the south by the valley of Aosta, and on the west by the valley of Valpelline.; This last-named district alone includes more than 150 square miles. The Graian Alps were in a state of hopeless confusion when Mr. R. C. Nichols took them in hand, and anyone who compares the map under notice with the best which were published previously will see what radical changes and corrections have been effected. Altogether, there is in the Alpine Club Map not less than a thousand square miles which have been entirely remodelled, and, for the most part, re-surveyed ; this, moreover, being some of the most rugged and difficult country in Europe, containing numerous peaks from 12,000 ft. to 13,000 ft. elevation. Those who have been concerned in the production of the Alpine Club Map of Switzerland have a right to be proud of their work. We have tested it in the Alps, and it has stood the scrutiny extremely well. We cordially hope, though scarcely expect, that it will prove remune- rative toits publisher, and that he will be induced to com- plete it by adding sheets to the east and to the west, so that at length there may be at least owe map of the grandest and most picturesque chain of mountains in the world. In conclusion, a word is due to the engravers. The work was commenced by the late Dr. Keith Johnston, but the greater and the most difficult portions have been exe- cuted by Mr. John Addison. We have rarely seen better hill-engraving ; and the wonder is, not that the appear- ance of the map has been delayed so long, but that a work of such magnitude and extraordinary minuteness should have been completed so soon. ASAT REPORT OF PROF. PARKERS HUNTERIAN LECTURES “ON THE STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE VERTEBRATE SHULL? § VIII.— Skull of the Common Fowl (Gallus domesticus). HE skull of birds is remarkable for the great amount of anchylosis which takes place between its various constituents long before the period of adult life. So complete is this union, that the determination of the sepa- rate bones in a full-grown bird is a perfectly hopeless task, without first studying their relation at a period when they retain their original distinctness. It will therefore be convenient to describe the fowl’s skull, in the first instance, at the period of hatching, when the chief ossific centres are still separate, although most of the distinctive cha- racters of the adult are already assumed. In this stage the foramen magnum is surrounded by the four perfectly distinct elements of the occipital seg- ment, between which extensive tracts of cartilage still exist. The basi-occipital is comparatively small, and forms almost exclusively the rounded condyle (Fig. 27 O.C); the ex-occipital and supra-occipital are large and expanded, and into the latter extends the anterior semi- circular canal (Fig. 26, a.s.c.), so largely developed in birds. The prootic (Fig. 26, Pr.O) is well seen on the inner side of the cranial cavity, but outside is completely hidden by the great development of the squamosal, which takes a very considerable share in the formation of the side wall of the skull. Two other auditory bones have * This has also been published separately on a scale of syda0- + This has been published separately on a scale of youso0- 1 Continued from vol. x. p. 446. 10 NATURE [ Nov. 5, 1874 appeared—the opisthotic (Op.O) and the minute epiotic Ep.Q); the latter attains a much greater size before it fuses, in adult life, with the supra-occipital. The main part of the skull floor is formed by the large, laterally expanded basi-sphenoid, which above is excavated into a deep sel/a turcica for the pituitary body, and in front passes into the interorbital septum and the bony rostrum Fic. 25.—Skull of Fowl at the period of hatching (side view). p.p, pars plana supporting it, being, in fact, firmly anchylosed with the latter. A careful study of the earlier stages of develop- ment shows that only the upper part of this bone is really homologous with the basi-sphenoid, the lower part being the representative of the hinder part of the para- sphenoid. The basi-temporal (Figs. 26 and 27, B.T), as this large membrane bone is called, is firmly anchylosed with the basi-sphenoid, the greater part of the inferior surface of which it completely covers, but is at this period still partially distinct from the representative of the an- terior part of the parasphenoid (Figs. 26 and 27, Pa.S), the “basi-sphenoidal rostrum ” so characteristic of birds, which is, however, united with the basi-sphenoid. In front of the depressed basi-sphenoidal region the basis cranii becomes much compressed from side to side, forming alarge cartilaginous interorbital septum, the representative of the prepituitary part of the basi-sphenoid and the pre- sphenoid behind, and of the mesethmoid in front. The walls and roof of the brain-case are completed by the squamosals, alisphenoids, parietals, and frontals; the latter also affording support to the fore part of the base of the brain by means of their extensive in-turned orbital processes. The orbito-sphenoids are altogether absent at Fic. 26.—Sectional view of the same. B.T, basi-temporal. this stage, but ata later period are represented by two pairs of insignificant ossifications above the postero- superior edge of the presphenoid in the membranous space marked x in Fig. 26. A considerable portion of the anterior or ethmoidal pact of the interorbital septum is already ossified, forming the lamina perfendicularis, or mesethmoid (M. Eth). In front of this the cartilage is continued almost to the end of the beak as the sef/wm nasi (Fig 26, s.n), or wall between the nasal sacs, the upper margin of which is produced outward into a wing-like expansion, the alinasal cartilage (Fig. 25, Aln) pierced by the external opening of the nostrils (A. N). A further continuation of the same median cartilages is seen in the slender pre-nasal or basi- trabecular (Fig. 27, B. Tr). Within the nasal cavity are three pairs of cartilaginous folds, the alinasal turbinals represented by valvular pro- cesses of the ala nasi in some mammals, and the upper and lower turbinals, homologues of the structures bearing the same name in the higher class. The sole representa- tive of the middle turbinal is the flat hinder wall of the ethmoid looking into the orbit, and known as the favs plana (Fig. 25, p. p). There is one more point of importance to be noted with regard to the interorbital septum, namely, the cranio- facial notch’ (Fig. 26, c.f.n), a natural separation between the epi- and cerato-trabecular elements, and of great functional importance in the bird, where the beak is move- able upon a sort of! hinge formed by the premaxillz just above this point. The membrane bones of the face are yet to be con- sidered. The premaxille: are large bones partly fused Fic. 27.—The same from beneath. Mx.Pa, maxillo-palatine process. together in the third line, and provided with well-developed nasal, palatine, and maxillary processes. On either side of the former of these backward projections are situated the nasals, processes from which come downwards and forwards to bound the alinasal cartilage posteriorly. The lacrymal is a largeish bone lying in the upper part of the front wall of the orbit, articulating with the nasal, and directed outwards and backwards. The bones of the upper jaw, or palato-maxillary appa- ratus, consist of two sub-parallel series, each of which articulates in front with the premaxilla, and behind with the quadrate; in the outer series are contained the maxilla, jugal, and quadrato-jugal, in the inner the pala- tine and pterygoid. All the bones in the former category are extremely slender—almost filiform, in fact ; the pala- tines and pterygoids, on the contrary, attain a high degree of development, but neither they nor the maxilla develop palatine plates, the only rudiment of those structures being in the maxillo-palatine processes (Mx. Pa), flat plates of bone proceeding inwards from the maxilla beneath the palatines to meet the small, single vomer. The palate of the fowl is thus formed on the simplest schizognathous type. _S. Nov. 5, 1874] NATURE iE The quadrate is a stout bone, having three well-defined processes, one forming the articular surface for the man- dible ; a second, answering to the otic process of the primitive suspensorium, articulates with the squamosal ; and the third, or orbital process, projecting forwards and upwards, is the pedicle or true apex of the mandibular arch. The otic process, besides articulating with the squamosal, bears a small facet for the prootic ; this, in many birds, is developed into a distinct secondary head. Immediately behind the quadrate is seen the large tympanic cavity ; this is banded above by the supra-occi- pital and squamoid, below by the basi-temporal, behind by the ex-occipital, and in front by the basi-sphenoid ; it sends into the latter a diverticulum, the anterior tympanic recess, and a second or posterior recess into the supra- occipital, through the diplée of which it is continuous, as in the crocodile, with the tympanum of the opposite side. The fowl resembles the ostrich, and differs from most other birds in being wholly devoid of a tympanic bone. The lower jaw consists of the same elements as already described in the snake, except that the coronary is absent in the fowl, though present in most birds ; in this stage the five bones (articular, angular, supra-angular, dentary, and splenial) are perfectly distinct, and Meckel’s cartilage yet remains of considerable size. The upper part of the hyoid arch is separated, as in the snake and frog, to form with the stapes a columella auris. From the oval, irregular, plug-like stapes proceeds a slender rod of bone terminated by a triradiate cartilage, of which the slender antero-inferior bar is the infra- stapedial, the broad somewhat expanded central segment the extra-stapedial, and the postero-superior bar the supra-stapedial. The latter is connected by an oblique bar with the extra-stapedial. The stylo-hyal is repre- sented by the free end of the infra-stapedial. The tongue-bone consists of a body made up of glosso- hyal (formed by the union of the lesser cornua), basi-hyal, and basi-branchial (uro-hyal) arranged in a linear series; and of two pairs of cornua, the anterior or cerato-hyals, very small, and forming more lateral projections to the body, and the posterior or epi- and cerato-branchials (thyro-hyals), long and elastic, and embracing the occi- pital. The development of the fowl’s skull has been worked out as far back as the fourth day; but even at that early period, when chondrification is only just beginning to set in, it is impossible to demonstrate with certainty the distinctness of many regions which are perfectly separate at corresponding stages in the lower types. At the period mentioned, the indifferent tissue of which the trabeculz are formed is perfectly continuous with that of the invest- ing mass, and this again with that of the auditory cap- sules. When, however, the process of conversion into cartilage is complete, the apices of the trabeculae become perfectly distinct from the investing mass, and form a pair of backward-turned horns (often called the “xgule sphenoidales) on either side of the pituitary space. The ear capsules, on the contrary, remain as undistinguishable | from the para-chordal region after chondrification as before, and only acquire distinctness by ossification. This rapid process ot fusion which takes place equally between the masses of indifferent tissue constituting the primordial skull, in the subsequently formed tracts of cartilage, and in the various ossifications of a still later period, renders the study of the bird’s skull one of the most difficult problems of craniology. The manner in which the hyoid arch is developed has been worked out more exactly in the house-martin than in the chick, in which, however, the process is essentially similar. Ata very early period the upper end of the arch grafts itself on to the auditory capsule, and at the same time becomes split up into three portions. The proximal of these constitutes the columella, a plug of the auditory | capsule being before long cut out around its attached end to form the stapes. The middle is the stylo-hyal ; it is at first connected to the columella by a tract of tissue, but afterwards fuses with the infra-stapedial element of the latter. The distal portion never becomes chondrified in its upper portion, resembling in this respect the correspond- ing structure in man (the stylo-hyoid ligament), but below forms the lesser cornu of the hyoid bone, or cerato-hyal. The mode of formation of the complex basi-sphenoidal region is, perhaps, the most important point which yet remains for consideration. No endogenous ossification takes place in the cartilage of this part of the basis cranii, but a pair of symmetrical ossific centres make their appearance in the thick web of perichondrium which underlies it, a third (median) centre appearing at the same time in front of the other two in the fibrous tissue below the ethmoidal cartilage. These ossifications together represent the dagger-shaped parasphenoid of the frog; the anterior is commonly known as the basi- sphenoidal rostrum ; the posterior pair, coalescing, form the basi-temporal. Before they unite, however, ossification extends from them into the overlying cartilage, and thus the true basi-sphenoid is formed in a manner perfectly unique among vertebrata. THE NEW VINE-DISEASE IN THE SOUTH- EAST OF FRANCE * II, H AVING thus far studied the spread of the new vine- disease and the extent of the ravages committed by the Phylloxera, it is time to turn our attention to the insect itself, and to state the results of scientific observa- tion of the manner in which it attacks the vine rootlets, and the various circumstances and conditions which either favour or retard the development of the disease. The Phylloxera is a very minute insect, measurine when fully grown, not more than 1I-33rd of an inch in length. Its most striking feature is its proboscis, which lies in a sort of groove on the under-side of the insect, and with which it pierces the roots on which it feeds, This proboscis is very slender, and appears to be formed of three tongues, a greater one in the middle, and two more slender and shorter, on the two sides of it; it resembles a brown thread bending round and inserting itself in the tissue. The base of the proboscis is a sort of The Phylloxera. flat and sharp-pointed blade, composed of brown parts which prolong themselves into the tongues. The animal raises this blade a little in applying its proboscis to its food. The length of the sucker is equal to about half that of the body of the Phylloxera, which does not bury more than half of it in the bark of the roots. By this sucker the insect fixes itself to the spot which it has chosen, so that it can be made to turn upon it as on a pivot. In colour the Phylloxera, during the summer at least, is yellow, but in the late autumn it turns to a copper-brown tint, which lasts through the winter. The active life of the Phylloxera lasts from the beginning of April till the latter half of October. The insect hibernates through the other months, though previous to the commencement of hibernation the females who have laid eggs during the * Continued from vol. x. p. 506 12 NATURE [WVov. 5, 1874 past season, die off, leaving only young insects, which, as we have said, turn to a copper-brown colour at this period, renewing their light yellow tint in the spring. The Phylloxeras do not increase much in numbers during the months of April and May, but an extensive reproduction of the insect is clearly marked in June and July, while it assumes prodigious proportions in August and September, in the latter months often covering the root-shoots in a continuous mass, so as to make them appear completely yellow with their bodies. In observing the spots attacked by the Phylloxera, two varieties of the insect—a winged and a wingless—have been generally found ; but it would seem (though on this point the reports before us are not quite clear) that the one is but a later development of the other. The wings of the Phylloxera do not appear to be capable of sustained flight, but probably help to carry the insect along from place to place when exposed to the action of the wind, for several specimens of the winged variety have been discovered caught in spiders’ webs. Of course the winged Phylloxera spreads over the vineyards, which it attacks without any regard to the nature of the soil, whereas the wingless variety is much affected in its movements, and the extension of its ravages is largely determined by the quality of the ground and the nature of the obstacles to which it is exposed. Passing by, for the present, the observations made on this point, we may say generally that the insect would seem to have no burrowing power, but moves from place to place, from root to root, along the line of the fissures which the soil presents. M. Maxime Cornu, as a result of his observations, has come to a conclusion contrary to the most commonly accepted theory ef the cause of the disease of the vine, which attributes it to the absorption of the sap by the insect, and holds that the Phylloxera does not divert the sap to its own body, basing his conviction on his observa- tions as to the length of the portion of the sucker buried in the rootlet compared with the thickness of the bark. He considers that what the Phylloxera really feeds on is the contents of the cellules of the bark, and perhaps of the cambium layer. An exaggerated power of absorption has, in his view, been attributed to the Phylloxera, and it would rather seem that the flagging and ultimate decay of the vine arises, not from the absorption of the nutritive elements by the insect, but from the formation of new tissues, which divert them from their proper end to nourish abnormal growths. ‘These new tissues or swellings (renflements) of the roots are probably caused by an irritation of the cambium layer, the result of which is the hypertrophy of the excited part, while the formation of the swellings brings about the death of the rootlets, and through them the general decay of the vine. A natural conclusion from these observations is that the health of the vine may be improved by any means tending either to produce fresh rootlets or to increase the absorption of nutritive elements by those already in existence, though the only true and radical remedy is to kill or drive away the Phylloxera itself. When a vine is first attacked by the Phylloxera, a change occurs in the external appearance of the rootlets, which, instead of being nearly cylindrical, exhibit the swellings we have just mentioned of different shapes, which are the first symptoms of the disease. The Phylloxeras may often be seen on their surface. These swellings are hard, and of a greenish or yellowish, or sometimes of a deeper-coloured tint, according to that of the external coat of the root when they are full of sap, but when they rot they become black and flabby, and eventually dry up altogether. It is interesting to examine and compare in the same root the structure of the part above the swellings with that of the swelling itself, as by these means one can come to a definite opinion, by comparing the diseased with the healthy part, as to what are the new elements which are developed, and what are the characteristics of the altered parts. By making a transverse section above a swelling in the vine, the structure is found to be that of a normal root-shoot ; and, with the aid of a microscope magnifying 60 diameters, the following appearances may be observed :—(1) On the outside the external coat (couche subéreuse) composed of flattened cells, arranged in rows and brown on the outer side : this tissue peals off in layers of a brown colour, and it is this that gives the rootlets the yellow or brown tint they show according to its thickness. (2) The cortical parenchyma, composed of polygonal cells, full of starch, some of which, larger than the rest, scattered about here and there, contain bundles of raphides, long crystals parallel to each other. These two constitute the cortical coat. (3) The woody portion, composed of fibres and vessels, occupies the centre, and is divided into three, four, or five woody sectors, and between each two ofthese is a medullary ray—there is no definite pith. (4) Embracing the woody tissue and in contact with the cortical coat is the cambium layer, the flattened cells of which, with their thin walls, full of a thick plasma and always destitute of starch, form on the one side the cortical and on the other the woody tissue. The general contour of the section is circular, To turn to the swellings.—The increase in diameter is due to the formation of new elements, partly cortical, partly woody, the cortical parenchyma becoming much thicker, but otherwise resembling the healthy tissue. It is different with the woody tissue : the woody rays assume very irregular outlines, and swell in all directions unevenly beyond the limit of the single concentric circle which terminates them with its circumference, in the healthy state. The development of the cambium layer is also abnormally increased, and there seem to be no vessels in the new wood formed under these conditions. This altogether anomalous anatomical constitution is in itself a refutation of those who even now hold that the swellings are the result of normal growth. They really are a purely local hypertrophy produced by the direct action of the parasite. It is of great importance to the discussion of possible means of extirpating the new insect, to investigate the method it employs in getting from place to place and so spreading its ravages. Putting aside as obvious the movements of the winged variety, which, as we have said, seems to be borne to fresh spheres of mischief by the wind without any direct effort of flight on its own part, we come to the wingless insect. Observation shows that the wing- less Phylloxera progresses both along the surface of the earth and follows also the line of the roots cr the fissures of a crumbly or broken soil. And first, to deal with the surface-moyements of the insect, they appear to be extraordinary occurrences, the results of the concourse of altogether special circumstances, for the exposure to the air and tothe sun’s rays is very unfavourable to the Phylloxera, which in the dry air dies of desiccation, as may be easily shown by leaving exposed a root covered with Phylloxera. It would seem, therefore, and observation supports this idea, that the reason of the surface-movements of the insect lies in the fact that in getting from vine to vine, or sometimes from rootlet to rootlet, it encounters obstacles which, not being a burrowing insect, it cannot overcome, and therefore from unwelcome necessity it has to mount to the surface, though only to bury itself again when the next fissure shows itself, leading to a fresh and unattacked part. With respect to the movements of the parasite underground, some elaborate observations have been made by M. Duclaux, and it is worth while to examine his results. If one were to ask himself, a grzor7, which kind of soil among those that prevail in the south-east of France offers the greatest difficulty to the movements of the Phylloxera, the answer which would inevitably suggest itself would be that the sandy varieties are the least per- Nov, 5, 1874] NATURE 13 meable by it. A clayey soil offers, as observation proves no less than reason, great facilities to the passage of the insect, which is not hindered by its slippery nature when wet, for it can walk without difficulty up the vertical sides of a glass bottle. Such a soil cracks everywhere in drying, and forms fissures in all directions, vertical and horizontal, thus laying bare the roots of the vines in many places; moreover, the digging and dressing of the vine leaves the soil in lumps about the roots, sepa- rated by numerous chinks which afford every facility to the passage of the insect. A calcareous soil generally resembles a clayey one with respect to the means it affords for the movements of the Phylloxera; it is only when the limestone it contains is disseminated through it in the shape of sand or small gravel that a calcareous soil at all resembles in its properties a sandy formation. This latter kind it is, which, being always dry, always well settled, constantly enveloping the roots on all sides, puts great obstacles in the way of the circulation of the insect, which can find no chinks large enough for its purposes underground, while on the surface it gets entangled in its movements like a fly ina dish of honey. A soil formed of large pebbles cemented together with clay willnot, how- ever, be favourable to the Phylloxera, for it does not crack like the purely argillaceous formation ; and though the vine, which can push its way everywhere, does so there also, the insect cannot. A very little clay more or less serves to give very different properties to the earth from the point of view of the Phylloxera, and hence it is that one can explain a phenomenon often noticed, namely, a small portion of a vineyard rema‘ning in a flourishing condition in the midst of general decay. A close examination of the soil in these cases removes all cause for wonder, for a lump of damp earth taken from the diseased quarter and pressed between the fingers may be worked and moulded like dough, while a piece taken from the healthy part crumbles and is less tenacious. Were it otherwise at all doubtful, figures would show that the vines in the south- east of France are healthier or the reverse, according as the soil is less or more clayey. Thus a physical analysis of some earth taken from a vineyard of M. Faucon, at Graveson, where all but one little plot was subjected to the attacks of the Phylloxera, gives the following re- sults :— Healthy part. Diseased part. Water '... 2°25 3°20 ISTECORENY. v7 )sca) see O'll O12 Sulphate of calcium , 0°62 "42 Chloride of sodium I‘I5 os Carbonate of calcium 49°00 42°00 Siliceous sand... 23°50 10°20 (CIES Hones teleooc Ne aontanereco lesen 17°75 37°50 Organic substances and errors 55 6:38 of analysis ... rc. Bee 5 3 100°00 100'00 Among the different varieties of soil which are more or less favourable to it, the Phylloxera as one would suppose without observation shows traces of its presence in a poor dry and shallow soil first of all, then in clayey damp ground, and after that in calcareous tracts, according to the degree of difficulty which vines, planted in these soils, present to its operations ; eventually, in the same way, the disease shows itself in other kinds of earth, with arapidity or the reverse which is in proportion to the amount of strengthening juices which the vine can imbibe from them, and the obstacles which the insect meets with, till at last no vines are left intact but those which are planted on a soil impenetrable to the parasite. This phenomenon, if such it may be called, of the disease, will serve to explain, what we have already discussed in a former article (vol. x. p. 503), the spread of the disease in its earlier years, and the great and alarming in- crease of the extent of territory affected in 1867-1868. Regarding the observations just made, we can see that probably the Phylloxera was spread over the whole area of the two departments of Vaucluse and Bouches- du-Rhéne, which in the two last-mentioned years were so formidably damaged in their vineyards, as early as 1865, when the disease only affeared on the plateau of Pujaut. The alternative hypothesis, that the disease radiated from a central point at Pujaut, presents great difficulties, as it does not allow sufficient time for the emigration of the insect to the points where it ap- peared in 1867-1868, while it makes it leave a district not in any way exhausted, cisregarding the known habits of the Phylloxera. It would seem, therefore, that we may put aside any idea of a progressive irradiation of the disease around a single centre, and explain existing facts by attributing them to a general dissemination of Phyl- loxera, before 1866, over the territory lying along the valley of the Rhéne, between the Drome and the sea, though the insect only showed traces of its presence according to the nature of the soil in different parts, in some sooner, in others later. We may, indeed, regard it as almost certain that the disease began with the invasion before 1865 of a vast surface, in which different points have shown the traces of the insect’s presence suc- cessively, and that from a cause analogous to that which shows us, when an island emerges from the sea, its highest peaks appearing first, the others afterwards, in the order of their altitude. By the use of this illustration, supplied by M. Duclaux, we can set before ourselves a graphic picture of the history of 1865, 1866, 1867, and 1868 in the vineyards of South-eastern France, We will not dwell at any length on the different attempts at treatment of the disease, as they have more practical interest for those who live in vine-growing countries. Many of these attempts have been failures, owing to their having been based on false hypotheses as to the origin of the disease of the vine. When, in July 1868, M. Planchon discovered the Phylloxera, attention was naturally turned to the employment of insecticides, but the difficulty lies, not in the discovery of a substance fatal to the insects and harmless to the vine, but in its application underground to allthe parts attacked. It was soon found that those insecticides, at least, which are insoluble in water, cannot be applied generally to the seat of the disease, and this fact led to the trial of immersion, in the hope that, instead of being like many remedies suggested, only partial, serving merely to delay the death of the vine, it would prove a radical means of cure. M. Faucon was the first practical vine-grower to employ immersion, as distinguished from the mere watering of the vine ; but this method, though entirely successful in his case in the parts where it was applied, is obviously not capable of universal adoption. The physical con- formation of the soil, the absence of a water-supply from any river, and the fact that the finest vines grow on slopes, which are not of course amenable to this treat- ment, to which we may add its great expense, except in very conveniently situated districts, make it only practi- cable over limited areas. The remedy, therefore, which is to eradicate the Phylloxera and restore to France her full supply of wine, the national drink and the great source of national material prosperity, is still undis- covered. Science throughout France is striving its utmost to discover the potent method of destruction of the Phylloxera, little doubting that some such there is. The thought of thinking minds engaged on this subject should be like that to which M. Faucon so eloquently gives utterance :—“ When we feel that we are threatened, and see that we are already attacked, have we no other resource than feverish attempts, barren lamentations, or a resigned submission? Yet help never comes but to those who deserve it, and who, in wrestling with the plague by which they are attacked, are obeying, whatever bigoted minds may think of it, the strict call of duty—nay, we may say a command of heaven itself.” NATURE [WVov. 5, 1874 EARLY OPENING OF KEW GARDENS UR readers are no doubt aware that a movement has been set on foot for the earlier opening of Kew Gardens, a step which, if taken, would, we believe, wholly alter the character of that institution. It would, we feel assured, seriously interfere with all scientific work, and with the uses which we hope will one day be made of the gardens in the mornings by science schools. More- over, we doubt if there exists any general desire for their early opening,’ and are inclined |to believe that the movement is quite local in its origin and extent. On this subject we are glad to quote the remarks in a recent number of the Economist, both on account of their per- tinency and force, and because we rejoice to see the true interests of science advocated by papers not professedly scientific :— “The question has been mooted of late whether the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew could not be opened to the public at an earlier hour than the present time of Ip.m. A little reflection will enable those who ask this question to perceive that it can scarcely be answered in the affirmative without inflicting a serious injury on the real utility of the gardens and on the public service. In the first place, all the real work of the gardens has to be done during the hours when they are closed to the public. As it is, this time is barely long enough for the duties which have to be performed in it. To open the gardens in the morning would require a second staff of gardeners and workmen, as strong, or nearly so, as the existing one. Even with this extra assistance and this greatly increased cost, the work could not be as well executed as it is at present. In the next place, as the name of the gardens implies, they are dofanic gardens. Besides those who ordinarily frequent the gardens for pleasure, there are many artists and scientific men who visit them for purposes of study; the only time when they can do this with advantage is before the general public are admitted. “Of late the public has come in rushes of 12,000 to 60,000 in a day. If only 10,000 persons were in the gardens in the forenoon, all work would necessarily be at an end, and it would be impossible to maintain the exist- ing character of the place. As it is, the Botanic Gardens at Kew are more accessible to visitors than any other public institution, Week days and Sundays alike the gates stand open. At the British Museum and the National Gallery—between the hours of opening which and the gardens at Kew comparisons have been drawn— there are many hours and even days when those institu- tions are necessarily closed to the public for purposes of cleaning, putting in order, and making good the results of the wear and tear of the enormous traffic. But if the heads of those institutions had, like the Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, to ¢7ow what they exhibit, they would doubtless require many more close days than they do at present. “Nor is it merely the work of maintaining the gardens and grounds in their present efficiency which has to be carried on in those hours during which the gates are closed to the public. It should not be forgotten that the Royal Gardens at Kew have performed services to the British Empire which no other public institution could undertake, The successful introduction of the Cinchona tree into India (a resource to that country the importance of which cannot be over-estimated), the efforts being made at the present time to procure fresh and improved coffee for Ceylon—to single out only two from a host of similar instances in which the Director of Kew Gardens has freely placed his botanical science and invaluable practical knowledge at the service of the public—will show how diversified and extensive the operations of the gardens are. To prevent these being carried out as they are at present, would be a serious injury to the public service. The present Director, Dr. Hooker, and his father, Sir W. T. Hooker, who held the same office before him, have done everything in their power, consistently with the proper maintenance of the gardens in due working order, to facilitate the use of them by the public generally ; and in the interest of science as well as for the prosperity of the gardens, it is to be hoped that the public will see the desirableness of being satisfied with the present very ample allowance of opportunity for visiting the Botanic Gardens at Kew, and that they will not insist on acting over again the fable of the goose and the golden eggs for the sake of a little present pleasure.” THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF AURORA 1‘ an interesting paper in Petermann’s M7tthetlungen for October, Prof. Fritz gives the results of his extensive researches on this subject. The investigation is beset with difficulties, not only from the deficiency of observations, but from their irregularity. While some observers content themselves with noting only the more remarkable displays, others register the faintest light to the north as an aurora. One observer continues his observations for tens of years, while another, whose zeal has been roused during a period of maximum frequency, allows it to cool when a minimum, with its rare and feeble displays, again returns. The research is further complicated by the fact that the appearance is not only dependent on latitude, but undergoes a periodic change, which in the region of most frequent display manifests itself less in diminished number than in diminished intensity of aurora; and because in some places the phenomenon is far more frequently concealed by a cloudy sky than in others. As far as possible to eliminate these sources of error, Prof. Fritz compares the mean number of observations for any given place with the mean for mid-Europe be- tween 46° and 55° lat. (or between the English and Scotch boundary and the Alps) for the same period, by the following formula :— 2 CPE LIS 72 3h wee aE: where M is the mean calculated frequency for the given place, C the total number of aurora in the authot’s cata- logue for mid-Europe from 1700 to 1871=4830, B the number of aurorze for the period of observation for the given place, and E the number from the author's cata- logue for mid-Europe for the same period. Thus, for example, he calculates for Christiania :— 1837-1854 B=529 E= 581 M = 25'5 1855-1870 B=436 E= 568 M =2I‘9 1837-1870 B=0965 E=1,149 M = 233 As we have already remarked, a complete agreement of the different mean values is not to be expected, both on account of errors of observation, and from the various local influences of climate and situation. Professor Fritz gives tables of the numbers of observed aurore, and calculated values of M for upwards of 200 places in Europe, Asia, and America ; and from these, proceeds to lay down on a chart of the northern hemisphere a series of curves of equal frequency of auroral display, which he calls zsochasmen. He discusses with great care the probable value of the observations, and lays down the curves so as to include on either side of them as many observations above as below the required value. Buta few instances {will make his method clearer than any description. The zone M = o'r passes through the southermost part of Spain, through Calabria, and just north of the south coast of the Black Sea, through the Sea of Aral and Lake Balkchash, south of Saghalien and the Kurile ; Nov. 5, 1874] NATURE 15 Islands, north of the Sandwich Islands, through the - southern point of California, through Mexico and Cuba, and just north of Madeira. In fact, through its whole course it lies just south of the isoclinic line of 60° inclination and between this and that of 50°; a fact forcibly illustrating Prof. Fritz’s remark that the isochasmic curves lie nearly parallel to those of equal magnetic inclination. For this curve we have for the value of M in Madeira, Cadiz, Naples, Smyrna, Teneriffe, and Cuba o'r, for the Azores o’15, for Barnaul 0'7, and Nertschinsk o'6. It is well known that both in ancient and modern times polar lights have been seen occasionally south of this line, as for instance in ‘the year 502 at Edessa, in 1097, 1098, and 1117in Syria, in 1621 at Aleppo, and in 1872 over most of North Africa and India. North of this line their frequency rapidly increases, and we have M = 1 beginning at Bordeaux, through - Switzerland and north of Cracow, south of Moscow and Tobolsk, and north of Lake Baikal, through Udsk and the southern point of Kamtschatka, through northern Cali- fornia and the north of Florida. For the values of M for this zone we have for Perpignan, Marseilles, Bordeaux, La Rochelle, and Viviers, a mean of 1'1, for Moscow 1, for Tobolsk o'9, Barnaul 0°7, and Sacramento 0°8. Singularly enough, probably from climatic or other local causes, the value of M for New Orleans is only o'14. The zone for M = 30 passes through the north coast of Ireland, through Scotland near Edinburgh, through the White Sea and the Gulf of Obi, where it attains a lati- tude of 70°, and then tends a little southward through Werchni, Kolymsk, and the Bay of Anadyr, near Sitcha, Cumberland House, Quebec, and the north coast of Nova Scotia, to the north coast of Ireland. North of this the frequency of aurora rapidly increases. The zone of M = 100 passes through the Hebrides, Shetland, near Drontheim and Wardon, through Nova Zembla, across Behring’s Straits, just south of the Arctic Circle, south of Lake Athabasca, through Hudson’s Bay, and just north of Newfoundland, Only a little further north we reach a zone of maximum frequency, beyond which the intensity of auroral display again declines, contrary to the old idea that its intensity increased up to the poles. This zone passes just north of Faroe and of the North Cape, through the northern part of Spitzbergen, and just north of the Siberian coast, near Point Barrow, Great Bear Lake, and Nain on the coast of Labrador. Iceland, Spitzbergen, and Greenland lie con- siderably to the north of this zone, and auroree are not there so frequent, nor especially so brilliant as at Faroe, the north coast of Norway, and Labrador. Of this Prof. Fritz adduces much evidence, and in addition draws attention to the important fact, that while south of this zone of maximum frequency the arches are generally north of the observer, from the north of it they appear to the south, and upon it, indifferently, north, south, or overhead. It will be noticed that the system of curves tends strongly southward in North America, while in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans the curves pass rapidly northward and reach their highest latitudes in Central Asia. This is borne out by the fact that the great aurorz of Aug. 28 and Sept. 1, 1859, were not noted in the meteorological registers either of Nertschinsk, Barnaul, or Jekaterinburg, nor were they seen at Tigris in Yozgat (39° N.), Mosul (36° N.), or Kharput (33° N.); whilst in the Atlantic Ocean they were visible at least to 12° N., in Africa to St. George del Mina (28° N.), and in America during the maximum they were frequently observed in the Antilles (20° N.) The geographical extent of great displays of polar lights is very significant. That of Sept. 1, 1859, was visible in the Sandwich Islands (20° N.), Sacramento (20° N.), San Salvador (13° N.), in the whole Atlantic Ocean to 12° N., in Western Africa to 14° N., and in the were seen in Australia, South America to 33° S., and in the Indian Ocean to 39° S. For the southern hemisphere there are as yet too few observations to calculate the distribution as has been done for the north. For Hobarton (43° S.) M = 6, and for Melbourne 15. In low latitudes they have been seen at Cusco (12° S.) in 1744, at Rio Janeiro (23° S.), 1783, at Bloemfontein (29° S.), and Vaal-Fluss (28° S.); in Africa and at Réunion and Mauritius in 1870 and 1872. Dr. Fritz remarks that his zone of greatest frequency nearly coincides with that given by Muncke (in “ Gehler’s Worterbuch), and that the whole curve-system has great similarity to the zone-system of Loomis in S7//zman’s Fournal, vol. xxx. The curves cut the magnetic meridians in most places at right angles, and are very similar to the isoclinic curves constructed by Hansteen in 1780, while they noticeably deviate in places from those of Sabine of 1840, and approximate, at least in the best determined portions in East America, the Atlantic Ocean, and Europe, with the isobaric curves of Schouw. It may here be remarked that the curves of increasing frequency in the Atlantic Ocean tend towards the point of lowest baro- metric presure. It is also noticeable that throughout the greater part of the northern hemisphere the curves tend to follow the form of the continents, and the limits of perpetual ice which depend upon it ; and Prof. Fritz points out that in mean latitudes the magnetic meridians and the direction of visibility of the aurora are coincident, and are mostly (viz., from the Atlantic Ocean to the Asiatic Icy Sea) normal to the limit of ice. The greatest deviations from this rule exist in places where the ice-limit is most irre- gular, as, for instance, in Hudson’s Bay and the Gulf of Labrador. It may here be noted that at Fort Franklin, Fort Normann, and Wardochus the northern lights begin in spring to be seen most frequently in the south at the same time as the ice-limit deviates furthest in the same direction. At Bossekop, according to the report of the Scientific Commission, the northern appearances are to the southern ones as 3'6 to 1 during the four last months of the year, but only as 2 to 1 in spring. Wrangel, from his observations on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, concludes that the freezing of the sea is favourable to aurora; but remarks that in the east of Asia the appearance is more frequent as the coast is ap- proached, and is most so during the increasing cold of November, while it becomes rarer in January, when the coast ice extends further to the northward. M‘Clintock notices that aurora was most frequently visible when water was in sight; and Hayes, that it was more fre- quently seen in the direction of some piece of open water than of the magnetic north. These observations would rather support a belief common in Scotland that the fre- quency of the aurora varies with increase and decrease of the Greenland ice, and render it probable, at least, that ice-formation is one of the most prominent local influ- ences by which auroral distribution is affected. It seems not unlikely that the neighbourhood of the Alps may influence the frequent displays in North Italy. These and other points, however, require more systematic obser- vation, and it is especially desirable that some notice should be taken of the relative intensity of different dis- plays. Ise IRS EA T is with great regret that we have to announce the death, from diabetes, on Friday last (October 30), at Margate, of Dr. Lankester, the Coroner for Central Middlesex. Dr. Lankester was born April 23, 1814, at Melton, near Woodbridge, in Suffolk, at which latter town he received his early education and commenced his medical studies. whole of Europe. At the same time the southern lights | In 1834 he entered University College, London, as a 16 NATURE | Nov. 5, 1874 medical student, and took the membership of the College of Surgeons, as well as the licentiateship of the Apothe- caries’ Society, in 1837. In the year 1839 he graduated at Heidelberg, and was appointed lecturer on Materia Medica at St. George’s School of Medicine four years later. In 1845 he was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, and five years afterwards became Professor of Natural History in New College, London. In 1851 he received the degree of LL.D. from Amherst, U.S. ; in 1853 was made lecturer on Anatomy and Physiology at the Grosvenor-place School of Medicine; in 1858, Superintendent of the Food Collection, and in 1862 Examiner in Botany to the Science and Art Department of the South Kensington Museum. In 1859 he was Presi- dent of the Microscopical Society, and in 1862 he was, after a severe contest, elected Coroner for Central Middle- sex, which post he retained until his death. For about twenty-five years Dr. Lankester was secretary of Section D of the British Association, of which he was one of the originators, being a most intimate friend of Edward Forbes, with whom, in his younger days, as a bachelor, he lodged in London. In conjunction with Mr. Busk, he for eighteen years edited the Quarterly Fournal of Microscopic Science, after which he did so with his son, Mr. E. Ray Lankester, Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. Dr, Lankester’s contributions to scientific and medical literature are very considerable. He edited the Natural History portion of the “ English Encyclopzedia,” and con- tributed the article “ Rotifera” to Todd’s “ Encyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology.” In 1849 he published a translation of Schleiden’s “ Principles of Scientific Botany,” and, in 1859, of Kirchenmeister’s “ Animal Parasites.” In conjunction with Dr. Letheby he contributed the article on Sanitary Science to the “Encyclopedia Britannica.” Among his most popular works is the well-known “ Half- hours with the Miscroscope.” His contributions to this journal have been several, and, like all that he wrote, are marked by their admirable style and tone, as well as by the liberal spirit of modern scientific thought, which gives them an almost youthful freshness ; we have, not less than others, to deplore the loss that has been sustained by ourselves in his premature decease. To those who, like the present writer, were acquainted with him, and had the privilege of passing many pleasant hours in his company, Dr. Lankester was always genial and kindly, inspiring others with that hopefulness which was so marked a feature of his own character. He made many sincere friends, amongst whom was Henfrey the botanist, who named the genus of plants (which is grown in many nursery gardens) Lavkesteria, after him. It was his kindly spirit which directed his attention to questions of social organisation, and he always referred to the articles by himself, in the Daz/y Mews—when a young man—on Medical Reform, as having been of assistance in the passing of Mr. Wakley’s bill. His remains were interred in the churchyard of Hampstead Church on Tuesday last. NOTES News concerning three of the Transit Expeditions is to hand. Advices from Capetown of Oct. 6 state that the German screw corvette Gazc/e, bound to Kerguelen on the Transit Expe- dition, arrived in Table Bay and left on Oct. 4. The Gazelle will visit the Crozette Islands, and proceed from thence to Ker- guelen. If circumstances are favourable she will search for a warm current, supposed to exist between 60 and 80 east, * and endeavour to reach Wilkes Land. She will then visit the north and west coast of Australia, the coast of Guinea, and several island groups of the Pacific. Lord Lindsay had arrived out and left for Mauritius in his yacht, there to watch the transit of Venus. A Cairo correspondent of the Daily News, writing under date Oct. 20, sends a long account of the preparations made by the Egyptian party. General Stanton, the Consul-General, has taken the greatest interest in the expedition, and put himself to considerable trouble to make everything smooth for the party and enable them to make all the necessary arrangements. All the instruments have arrived safely, and Capt. Browne, the chief of the party, has determined to erect his observatories on the top of the Moquattam Hills, a distance of about three miles in a direct line from Shepheard’s hotel. They are about 600 feet in height and overlook the whole country. Capt. Browne, who has been carefully observing the atmosphere, finds it free of moisture, at least about sunrise ; which is most important, as the maximum altitude that will be observed will be only 15°. It is at present the intention to form a camp on the top of the hill, the tents having been furnished by the Egyptian Government. Mr. Dixon, a civil engineer in Cairo, has been of great assistance in the matter of transit. Capt. Abney was expected to leave for Thebes on the 26th. Admiral Ommaney had arrived at Alexandria, but to what party he would be attached was not known, Tue generally well-informed London correspondent of the Scotsman states that another Arctic Expedition will be despatched in the ensuing year under the auspices of the Government and the Royal Geographical Society. He believes that it is so far considered an accepted fact that the expedition will leave these shores in the spring of 1875, inasmuch as it has the approval of the Premier. Some time since we pointed out the extreme inconvenience of the form and manner in which our learned societies publish their ‘“* Transactions.” Anyone who is not a Fellow, for example, of the Royal Society, and who may wish to possess a memoir, say on some physiological subject published in the ‘‘ Philosophical Transactions,” is probably debarred from doing so by finding that he must purchase with the memoir which he wants a number of others belonging to the most diverse subjects, pure mathe- matics being almost invariably one. We advocated, as the common-sense remedy for this state of things, the sale of ~ separate copies of each memoir. We were not aware at the time that this was actually done by the Linnean Society. After the completion of the twenty-sixth volume of its ‘* Transac- tions,” it was decided by the Council that twenty-five separate copies of each memoir should be kept for sale. Probably because the arrangement is not generally known, the sale of the part of the ‘‘ Transactions”? is still as good, if not actually better than that of the memoirs which they contain. The price is, liowever, proportionally higher, which may have something to do with this. Thus the part of the ‘‘ Transactions” containing Prof Owen’s memoir on the King Crab is sold to Fellows for 9s., to the public for 12s, The corresponding prices of the memoir itself (of which no separate copies have been sold) are 7s. 67. and tos, But the part also contains another paper, the prices of which are 45. 6d. and 6s. In one case all the available spare copies were purchased by the author. WE are glad to be able to announce that a considerable portion of the galleries of the late International Exhibition at South Kensington, taken by the India Office, will be devoted to the display of Natural History collections of that department of the Government. The fact of the collections having been kept in an unavailable form for so many years past has always been a great grievance to working naturalists, and has called forth many remonstrances, from ourselves among others. Mr. RicHarp LypEekker, B.A., of Trinity College, Cam- bridge, second in the First Class of Natural Sciences Tripos in 1871, has been appointed to the Palzeontological Department of the Geological Survey of India in the room of the late Dr. Stoliczka. Mr, Lydekker left some months since for India, Wor. 5, 1874] NATURE 17 in company with some friends, their expedition having the combined objects in view of sporting and the pursuit of natural history, and has passed most of the interval in Cashmere and Thibet, where he is believed to have made very con- siderable collections—zoological, botanical, and geological. Mr. Marrin, Senior in the Natural Science Tripos of 1873, was last week elected to a Fellowship at Christ’s College, Cambridge. Goprrey’s Laboratory, Maiden Lane, Strand, in which the Hon. Robert Boyle worked out his phosphorus experiments, has been converted into a Roman Catholic chapel. SoME of the Paris newspapers announced that M. Wurtz, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Paris, would be obliged to resign ; the /%gav0 went so far as to give the name of the intended successor of the celebrated Professor of Chemistry —a M. Depaul. The rumour happily has proved false, and was maliciously spread because a clerk employed in the office of the Faculty had been dismissed for misdemeanour. There is, however, to be a demonstration among the students in honour of M. Wurtz, who is a great favourite with them. Tuer Professorship of Applied Mathematics and Mechanism in the Royal College of Science for Ireland (Science and Art Department), vacant by the appointment of R. Ball, LL.D., F.R.S., to the Professorship of Astronomy in the Dublin Uni- versity, has been filled by the appointment of H. Hennessey, F.R.S, Dr. JAMES APJOHN, F.R.S., has resigned the Professorship of Chemistry in the School of Physic attached to Trinity Col- lege, Dublin. Dr. Apjohn still holds the Professorships of Applied Chemistry and of Mineralogy in the University of Dublin. The Provost and Senior Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, will, pursuant to the School of Physic (Ireland) Act, proceed on the 3oth of January, 1875, to elect a Professor of Chemistry. There is a fixed salary of 400/. a year, with an additional payment of 1oo/, a year on condition that a number of Senior Sophisters nominated by the Bursar shall have free laboratory instruction. In addition the Professor has the fees for lectures and laboratory instruction, which ought to equal, at the lowest calculation, 400/. a year. The Professor will have the use of the college laboratory for analyses bearing on medical chemistry, such as medical and medico-legal investi- gations, and analyses connected with purposes of public health. Candidates are required to send their names, with the places of their education, the Universities where they have taken their medical degrees, and the places where they have practised, to the Registrar of Trinity College, Dublin, and to the Registrars of the King and Queen’s College of Physicians in Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin, on or before the 23rd of January, 1875. In accordance with the wishes of the Professors of the Medical School of Trinity College, Dublin, the Provost and Senior Fellows have resolved that a three months’ course of practical instruction in Human Histology shall be added to the curriculum for the degree of M.B., the same to be under the superintendence of Dr. Purser, King’s Professor of the Insti- tutes of Medicine. 110/. has been voted to buy twenty micro- scopes, and we presume a room will soon be built for the purpose. THE competitive system is making daily progress’ in France Four Commissaires de Folice being required, the Prefect of the Seine instituted a competition among the police-secretaries, and fourteen candidates offered themselves. A committee of exa- miners was appointed, the examinations have been held, and the candidates are awaiting the result, which will be issued very shortly. Up to the present time Commissaires de Police have been appointed at the discretion of the Prefect, only from amongst gentlemen holding the diploma of Licentiate in Law, and secretaries of police are obliged to possess that qualification before being admitted to the examination, EaAcu year the five Paris Academies—the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Fine Arts, the Academy of Inscrip- tions, the Academy of Moral Sciences, and the French Academy —hold a general meeting on the 25th of October, the anniversary of 3 Brumaire, an. IV. (25th October, 1795), the day when the French Republic published the law organising the National In- stitute. During the Restoration the meeting was held yearly on the 24th April, the day when King Louis XVIII. returned to France, with the foreign troops, after the battle of Waterloo. When the Republic was proclaimed in 1848, a decree changed the date of the annual celebration to the 25th October; but when Napoleon III. accomplished his cowp @’éat, he appointed the 19th of August, which was continued to be the date to 1870. The Republic being again proclaimed, the celebration was restored to the 25th of October. Each Academy or Class of the Institute appoints successively the president of the meeting. The turn of the Academy of Sciences having come round this year, M. Bertrand, who is the president in charge, was the chairman of the whole Institute. His being a candidate for the perpetual secretaryship has given much interest to his presidential address, which was printed at full length in all the papers, and largely approved. THE Prefect of the Seine has appointed a Commission to inquire into the state of lightning conductors—which fare ‘in a very imperfect condition on some public buildings—and the best method of testing their efficacy. The institution of this Commis- sion appears to have been suggested by the corresponding com- mittee which was appointed by the British Association, and which existed during two years without any result. It is to be hoped that the Parisian Commissioners will be more successful, TuE Municipal Council of Paris will very likely ask from the Government an authorisation to establish industrial schools in that city. ArT a meeting held a year ago in Islington, a large number of influential gentlemen were’’appointed a committee to obtain for that large and important district a Public Library and Museum, under the ‘* Public Libraries and Museums Act.” A requisition to the vestry and overseers of the parish was circulated for signa- ture, and the scheme has, we believe, met with general approval, so that we hope soon to see it carried into effect. M. Faye has officially announced himself a candidate for the post of Perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Sciences, but the chances of M. Bertrand do not appear to have been greatly altered. THERE will be an examination at Sidney College, Cambridge, on Tuesday, April 6, 1875, and three following days, of students intending to commence residence in the following October, when (provided fit candidates present themselves) two scholarships will be awarded for natural science, one of the value of 60/., and one of the value of 40/. The scholarships will be tenable, under certain conditions, until the time of taking the B.A. degree, or until promotion of others to greater value. A copy of the ceelometer, an instrument invented by Mr. W. Marsham Adams, B.A., late Fellow of New College, Oxford, for the purpose of illustrating elementary astronomy, is to be placed in the Examining Department of the Board of Trade at Tower Hill, and also on board her Majesty’s training-ship Conway, at Birkenhead. Rear-Admiral Sir A. Cooper Key has we believe, signified his intention of applying to the Admiralty for leave to purchase one for the Nayal College at Greenwich, of | which he is the president. 18 NATURE [NMov. 5, 1874 WE have just received a paper by Dr. Pietro Pavesi, Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the University of Genoa, entitled 5 ‘‘ Contribuzione alla storia naturale del genere Selaché,” in which that naturalist shows that the Rashleigh Shark (Polysprosopus rashleighanus) and the Broad-headed Gazer (P. macer), described as British by Mr. Crouch in his work on the fishes of our seas, are not, as Dr. Giinther suggests in his valuable Catalogue of Fishes in the British Museum, monstrosities of Se/ache maxima, but belong to a species found in the Mediterranean, Se/ache rostrata (Macri), in which the eyes are situated at the base of the elongate, narrow, nasal snout, instead of near the point of the short snout, as they are in S. maxima, WE have received a little book with a very long title, pub- lished by Messrs, Ward, Lock, and Tyler. Itis called ‘* Arcadian Walks and Drives in the North-west Suburbs of London, for the Pedestrian, Carriage, Horse, and Bicycle,” and contains a variety of hygienic and other hints to pedestrians, and forty-two schemes of walks and drives in the north-west district, together with notes on the fauna, botany, &c., of the localities visited. This “booklet” would be much improved and renderéd more generally useful by the addition of a map. A GREAT deal of interest is attached to the last report of Dr. King, the superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Gardens, for, besides the usual details as to the exchange of plants and seeds with the Royal Gardens at Kew, and other similar colonial and foreign establishments—-‘which exchange, by the way, has not been a light affair, inasmuch as from April 1873 to March 1874, 12,812 plants and 2,532 parcels of seeds were sent to various parts of the world—we have satisfactory accounts of the culti- vation of the mahogany tree, the ipecacuanha, and the Para rubber tree. The former, as is well known, is a native of Central America and the West Indies; but there are, as Dr. King tells us, a good many old mahogany trees about Calcutta, which, however, rarely if ever yield perfect seed, so that fresh plants have been obtained direct from their native country. He says, further, that ‘‘ it has been abundantly proved that the tree will thrive in most parts of Bengal, and_that the Indian grown timber is valuable.” There are fine mahogany trees in the gardens at Saharunpore and Madras, and Dr. King doubts not that it will grow admirably in almost any part of India in situations free from frost, and where a little moisture can be secured in very dry weather. Of the few trees that were left in the Calcutta Botanic Gardens after the last cyclone in 1867, the mahoganies are by far the finest ; they were planted about eight years since, and are now from8 to 11} ft. in circumference, 6 ft. from the ground. The quality of the wood of some of the trees blown down in the cyclones of 1864 and 1867 was found to be excellent. Such, then, are the prospects7of the successful acclimatisation of one of the most valuable furniture woods known : so valuable indeed is it in European commerce, that about 40,000 tons are annually imported into Great Britain from Honduras, Jamaica, and San Domingo. So far as the increase of the ipecacuanha plants is concerned, the propagation by root and leaf-cuttings has been so successful that there is at present a stock of 63,000 living plants ; whereas only four years since there were but twelve cuttings at the Cinchona Gardens, and seven out of these twelve were afterwards accidentally destroyed. Then again, with regard to the most valuable of all the india- rubber producing plants, namely, that of Para—the Hevea brasi- Ziensis—six plants of which Dr. King took with him from Kew on his return to India in November last, we are told that already a few plants have been raised from cuttings taken from these six plants, and before the lapse of another year Dr. King hopes “‘ to be able to report a considerable \increase.” The advantages to be obtained by the successful introduction of these trees into India are many, for besides the great superiority of the rubber over that obtained from the East Indian figs, the principal of which is Zicas elastica, and consequently a higher market value, it will add to the Indian revenue by establishing a course of regular industry by a systematic tapping of the trees, and it will perhaps, to some extent, relieve the figs from a continued strain upon them, and probable future exhaustion, In a recently issued report on the trade and commerce of Java, we read that the total amount of Cinchona trees of all sizes and ages growing in Government plantations at the end of 1572 was 1,705,542, and the bark crop for the same year amounted to 18,000 kilogrammes. Ir has recently been discovered that the bamboo contains a dangerous poison which the natives of Java extract from the cane in the following manner. ‘The cane is cut at each joint, and in the cavity is found a certain quantity of small fibrous matter of a black colour, which is covered with an almost imper- ceptible coating of tissue which contains the poison. If swal- lowed the filaments do not pass into the stomach, but remain in the throat and produce violent inflammation and ultimately death. Experiments are to be made with various kinds of bamboo, to test the existence and nature of this alleged poison. THE Syndicate appointed last June to collect information as to the space and accommodation required for a new Geological Museum have issued their report. They consulted the present Professor of Geology (Mr. Hughes), who considers it desirable that a very much larger number of specimens should be exhibited under glass than is the case at present ; that there should be larger intervals in the arrangement of the collection ; that more ample accommodation should be provided for students wishing to work at special points in detail, and for lecturers who wish to bring a class or private pupils ; that work-rooms, class-rooms, and library, together with private rooms for the Professor and a Palzeontologist, which are wholly wanting at present, should be provided. The estimated space for the museum and necessary offices would be 31,700 square feet. ‘The Syndicate do not re- gard the estimate as excessive, and there is no difficulty respect- ing a site, as the ground of the old botanic garden affords one of sufficient dimensions in proximity to the other museums of natural science. The sum of 10,500/., which has up to the pre- sent time been subscribed towards a new museum as a memorial to Professor Sedgwick, would be far from sufficient for the erec- tion of a museum such as is indicated by Professor Hughes. The cost of sucha museum, with suitable fittings and furniture for every department, could not be estimated at less than 25,0007, The Syndicate do not consider by the terms of their appointment that they are called upon to suggest any source from which this sum can be supplied. x THE ‘Origin of Species” controversy has been resumed by M. Blanchard, a member of the French Institute, in the Revie des deux Mondes, The learned naturalist supports strong anti- Darwinian theories. A TELEGRAM from St. Petersburg has been received at Paris, stating that the Imperial Commission appointed to survey the Sea of Aral has finished its work. The level of that large inland sea is about 165 ft. above that of the ocean. THE signature to the letter on ‘‘ Supernumerary Rainbow,” in NATURE, vol. x. p. 503, should not be Joseph, but Hugh Blackburn. THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Bonnet Monkey (AZacacus radiatus) from India, presented by Mr. S. T. Hughes ; a Black-backed Piping Crow (Gymnorhina leuconota) from South Australia, presented by Mr. F. Fuller; a Speckled Terrapen (Clemmys guttata) from North America, presented by Mr.'A. B. Duncan ; a White Stork (Ciconia alba), two Thicknees ((dicnemus crepitans), European, deposited. t \ ; Nov. 5, 1874| ; NATURE 19 SCIENTIFIC SERIALS THE Fournal of Mental Science, October 1874.—This number opens with the address of Thomas Laws Rogers, M.D., presi- dent at the annual meeting of the Medico-Psychological Associa- tion, Aug. 6, 1874. His object was to procure a fixed meaning for the terms ‘‘ restraint” and ‘‘ seclusion,” and the clear sense and practical aim of his remarks present a sharp contrast to the rather wandering discussion which followed.—Dr. J. Batty Tuke has a paper on a case in which the clinical history and Zos¢- mortem: examination will, he thinks, support its being designated one of syphilitic insanity.—Dr. Daniel Hack Tuke writes about the Hermit of Red-Coat’s Green, and finds him insane, an opinion from which there is little room for dissent. Probably also it would have been well had he individually ‘‘ been put under the protection of the Lord Chancellor and the inspection of his visitors ;” it ‘‘ would have been better for the neighbourhood, better for his family, and better for the Hermit of Red-Coat’s Green himself.” But could not those very considerations be urged, and often with greater force, in favour of a curtailment of the liberty of thousands of frivolous, reckless, immoral persons, who are a far greater pest to their family and neighbourhood than poor Lucas was after he became the hermit ?—Dr. H. Hayes Newington contributes a thoughtful paper On different forms of stupor.—In an interesting article on the mental aspects of ordi- nary disease, Dr. J. Milner Fothergill obtrudes his materialism in a way that will be distasteful to many, while to others the thing itself will appear shallow. Thought ‘‘is the product of the combustion of what was originally food.” The brain of “Robbie Burns transmuted his oatmeal porridge into Tam O’Shanter.”—In reviewing Dr. Maudsley’s ‘‘ Responsibility in Mental Disease,” Mr. J. Burchell Spring, chaplain to the Bristol Lunatic Asylum, while doing justice to the ability of the work, seems to have the advantage of the author in matters of history. He very cleverly cuts away the ground from under Dr. Maudsley’s rather uncalled-for assertion that the brutal treatment of the insane ‘“‘had its origin in the dark ages of Christian super- stition.” Journal de Physique, tome iii., No. 33, September.—This number commences with a description of the ‘‘ phonoptometer” by M. J. Lissajous. This apparatus consists of an ordinary terrestrial telescope, of which the eye-piece is broken across, and the third lens from the eye (the one which inverts the image formed by the objective) attached to the prong of a tuning-fork. The lens is thus capable of vibrating in a vertical plane, the vibra- tions of the fork being maintained by an electro-magnet and contact-breaker. The telescope being directed to a distant object presenting a brilliant point, and the electro-magnet put into action, the point becomes a luminous vertical line if at rest, but if vibrating in a direction transverse to that of the motion of the lens, then the composition of the two movements gives rise to the well-known optical sound figures. The author claims for this ingenious instrument the power of determining the velocity of a luminous point on its trajectory, such as luminous projec- tiles, bolides, &c.—Theory of the phenomena of Giffraction ob- served to infinity or in the focus of a lens, by M. J. Joubert.— On the mutual influence which two bodies vibrating in unison exercise upon one another, by M. A. Gripon. The author de- scribes several experiments illustrating this remarkable action, employing for the purpose collodion membranes, which vibrate in unison with the column of air in the resonance boxes of tuning-forks, organ-pipes, &c. A small pendulum composed of a pith ball suspended by a thread of cotton is attached to such a membrane, and the system is then brought near the resonant _ ease of a vibrating fork, with which the membrane is capable of vibrating in unison. The membrane vibrates strongly when at a distance of one metre, buf when brought to within four or five centimetres of the mouth of the case, the sound of the latter undergoes a considerable weakening, and the pendulum of the membrane is scarcely moved. If the vibrations of the fork have but small amplitude, the prox- imity of the membrane to the resonant case extinguishes the sound altogether. None of these effects are produced if the mem- brane is not capable of vibrating in unison with the fork. Ifa membrane of a lower note is placed in front of the case anda current of warm air directed upon it, the weakening of the sound only occurs when the note of the fork is reached. Ar- rangements for repeating the experiments with organ-pipes are also described.—Graphic representation of the constants of vol- taic elements, by M. A. Crova.—Some experiments concerning the effects of magnetism on the electric discharge thr rarefied gas when the discharge occurs in the abe Bite axis of the magnet, by MM. Auguste De la Rive and Edouard Sarasin. The authors employed in this research a eolumnar electromagnet. The tube through which the discharge is trans- mitted rests on the upper extremity of the magnet, the line of electrodes being a prolongation of the axis of the magnet. Va- rious gases sealed up in Geissler tubes have been experimented with, the discharge from a Ruhmkorff coil being allowed to traverse the gas. Changes occur in the appearance of the luminous discharge where the magnet is excited, these changes being accompanied by a change in the resistance offered to the current by the gas. Thus a tube containing hydrogen permitted the passage of an induced current marking 25° on the galva- nometer when the magnet was not excited, but when excited the galvanometer reading was 40°. It seems to be a law that the augmentation in the intensity of the current is greater with a gas which is a good conductor than with one which is an inferior conductor of electricity. The authors confine themselves in this paper to a description of the facts without entering into theo- retical considerations.—The number concludes with three papers reprinted from Poggendorff’s Annalen: On the stroboscopic determination of the intensity of sounds, by E. Mach 3 Re- searches on magnetisation, by Holz; O. E. Meyer and F. Springmuhl, On the internal friction of gases. Zeitschrift der CEsterreichischen Gesellschaft fiir Meteorolosie, Oct. 15.—In an article on the state of development or forward- ness of vegetation in Italy compared with that of Giessen, in Germany, Prof. H. Hoffmann expresses his regret that for the greater part of Italy we possess no observations of the kind to which he wishes to direct attention. A knowledge of the rela- tive state of vegetation at many different places would help invalids to the choice of a residence congenial to them, and dispel the false estimates of Italian climate now so common. In the course of a rapid visit to Italy in March and April, 1874, he took a number of observations, and compared them on his return to Giessen with like observations simultaneously taken at that place. The weather was fortunately fine and fairly uniform over Central and Southern Europe during the period of his travels. The average state of vegetation in open situa- tions can be roughly calculated under normal conditions by reckoning for every degree southwards an advance of 3% days. Direct observation shows this rule generally to hold good. Rome is 8° south of Giessen, Naples 9° ; this gives, at the rate above mentioned, an advance for Rome of 30, for Naples of 34 days. On looking at the map which accompanies Prof. Hoff- mann’s paper, we find the real difference to have been for Naples 35, for Rome 23 ; and so with many other places in Italy. If we have the number of days’ advance in the spring, by doubling it we obtain the relative length of summer, or the period of vegetation, The Riviera di Porrente is quite abnormal, having a warm and early spring. Prof. Hoffmann’s method consisted in taking the mean of the number of days’ advance before Giessen of the bursting into leaf or flower of several common kinds of trees in a certain place, and making this number the criterion of climate. In conclusion, he affirms that the extended observation of a single species of tree in the above manner, with regard also to the time of first fruits, would give us a new insight into com- parative climatology, and that after various species had been so dealt with, maps might be made, exhibiting for each month a fair example in the development of one of these species. A list of the plants observed is appended. Among the AZeizere Mittheilungen, in a communication from Dr. Hildebrandtson, director of the Meteorological Department of Upsala Observa- tory, we find that he arrives at results similar to those of Mr. Ley respecting the movements of cirrus, this cloud appearing to move away from the centre of a cyclone and towards the centre of an anticyclone. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES MANCHESTER Literary and Philosophical Society, Oct. 20.—Edward Schunck, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—E. W. Binney, F.R.S., stated that he had been so fortunate as to find a specimen of .Svie- maria which he exhibited to the Society, from the bullion coal af Clough Head, near Burnley, having the medulla perfectly pre- served.—Mr. R. D. Darbishire, F.G.S., exhibited and described the Paleolithic (French and English drift) implements collected 20 NATURE [Mov. 5, 1874 for the soirée at the Owens College.—Prof. Boyd Dawkins, l’.R.S., brought before the notice of the Society the conditions under which the palzeolithic implements are found in the river- strata and in the caves, in association with the extinct mammalia, such as the mammoth and woolly rhinoceros. Although the number of flint implements from the river-strata in various col- lections was very great, yet it is small when viewed in connection with the enormous quantity of gravel removed in their discovery. They are not evenly distributed, but cluster round certain spots. Their discovery in India along with the extinct mammalia proves that man was living, both in Europe and in Southern Asia from the Ganges to Ceylon, in the same rude uncivilised state, at the same time in the life-history of the earth. He also called atten- tion to the art of the hunters of the reindeer and mammoth in the south of France, Belgium, and Switzerland, an art eminently realistic, and by no means despicable ; and he inferred from their art and implements and the associated animals that they may be represented at the present day by the Eskimos.—On a colori- metric method of determining iron in waters, by Mr. Thomas Carnelly, B.Sc. ; communicated by Prof. H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S. PHILADELPHIA Academy of Natural Sciences, June 23.—Dr. Ruschen- berger, president, in the chair.—Mr. B. Waterhouse Hawkins gave his views on the construction of the pelvis of Hadrosaurus.— Prof. Cope described a species of Dipnoan fish of the genus Ctenodus, from the coal measures of Ohio. June 30.—Dr. Ruschenberger, president, in the chair.— Anatomical notes by Dr. Chapman were read, On the disposition of the Latissimus Dorsi,? &c., in Afeles geoffroyi and Macacus rhesus, and On the Flexor Brevis Digitorum in Aéedles geoffroyi. On report of the committee to which it was referred, the following paper was ordered to be published :—‘‘ On habits of some American species of birds,” by Thomas G. Gentry. July 7.—Dr. Ruschenberger, president, in the chair.—Prof. Persifor Frazer, jun., continued the account of his attempts to reconcile the results of the analyses of minerals by the best chemists with formulas which were constructed on the doctrine of quantivalence, z.e., the known atom-saturating power of the elements.—On change of habit in Syilacina bifolia. Mr. Thomas Meehan stated that he had recently seen a case where the stolons had advanced from the ground, and up the trunk of a large chestnut tree, to the height of about 2 ft. ; the original stolons for several years back having died away, and the plant taken in a purely epiphytal character. The roots and stolons mostly had penetrated the coarse rough bark of the chestnut tree, the leaves only being chiefly visible. July 14.—Dr. Ruschenberger, ‘president, in the chair.—Prof. Cope stated that the snakes of the genus Svorevza, B. and G., are viviparous like Zwéenia and other tropidonotine genera to which they are allied.—Prof. Cope gave a synopsis of the result of his work in connection with Hayden’s United States Geological Survey of the Territories during the season of 1873. He stated that the investigation covered principally the paleontology of the Cretaceous, Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene periods in Colorado. The whole number of species of vertebrata obtained was 150, of which 95 were at the time new to science. The Cretaceous species were both terrestrial and marine, and the Miocene were most numerous. These numbered 75 species, of which 57 were new. PARIS Academy of Sciences, Oct. 19.—M. Bertrand in the chair, —The following papers were read :—On series of similar tri- angles, by M. Chasles.—Observation of the solar eclipse of Oct. 10, 1874, with the spectroscope ; tables of the observations of solar prominences from Dec. 26, 1873, to Aug. 2, 1874, by P. Secchi.—On the dissociation of hydrated salts, by M. H. Debray. This is a reclamation of results published by M. G. Wiedermann in a memoir ‘‘ On the dissociation of the hydrated sulphates of the magnesian group.”—On magnetic condensation n soft iron, by M. A. Lallemand, The author describes a series of experiments illustrating this property of soft iron. The condensation appears to depend on the intensity of the mag- netism developed in the iron.—Hypothesis of the imponderable ether, and on the origin of matter, by M. Martha-Beker,—On the distribution of the sugar and mineral principles in beet, by M. Ch, Violette. The author has arrived at the following con- clusions :—1. The proportions of sugar contained in the saccha- riferous and cellular tissues of beet differ but little. 2. The sugar increases in arithmetical progression along the axis of the root, from the upper extremity to the tip. 3, The mineral con- stituents do not undergo any regular variation along the axis, but chlorides are more abundant towards the upper extremity than at the tip. 4. Mineral constituents are more abundant in the cellular than in the sacchariferous tissues. 5. Chlorides are considerably more abundant in the cellular than in the saccha- riferous tissues. 6. The chlorides are more liable to variation in the two kinds of tissues than the other mineral prin- ciples.—Experiments on the circular compass made on board the despatch-ship /aoz and the armour-plated frigate Savoie, by M. E. Duchemin.—Remarks concerning recent notes by MM. Signoret and Lichtenstein on the different known species of the genus Phylloxera, by M. Balbiani. The author points out that P. Lichtensteinii recently described by him is specifically distinct from P. Az/eyz, and again restates his belief that the species seen by M. Lichtenstein on Quercus cocci- Jera was not P. vastatrix.—Observations relating to a recent note by M. Rommier ‘‘ On experiments made at Montpellier on phylloxerised vines with M. Petit’s coal-tar,” by M. Balbiani.— Influence of temperature on the development of Phylloxera ; extract from a letter from M. Maurice Girard to M. Dumas. Other communications relating to Phylloxera were received from various authors.—Generalisation of Euler’s theorem on the curvature of surfaces, by M. C. Jordan.— Observations relating to arecent note by M. Lecoq de Boisbaudran on supersaturation, by M. D. Gernez.—Researches on the decomposition of certain salts by water, by M. A. Ditte.: When water is added to a solution of mercuric sulphate,a basic sulphate is precipitated. This basic salt forms the subject of the present research.i—The colouring matter of the blood (hzematosine) contains no iron, by MM. C. Paguelin and L. Jolly. ‘The authors describe the preparation and purification of hamatosine. By repeated macerations with alcoholic ammonia and subsequent filtration, hzematosine is at length obtained completely free from iron.—On the movement excited in the stamens of Synantherez, by M. E. Heckel.—M. F, Garrigou communicated an analysis of the stalactitic deposits found in the chimneys of iron forges. —During the meeting M. Le Verrier presented the meteorological atlas of the Observatory of Paris, containing observations for the years 1869, 1870, and 1871. BOOKS RECEIVED EnGutsu.—Elementary Treatise on Practical Chemistry : Frank Clowes, B.Sc. (Churchill). —Animal Mechanism (International Series): E. J. Marey (H. S. King and Co.).—A Treatise on Magnetism ; H. Lloyd, D.D. (Long- mans).—Brinkley’s Astronomy : Stubbs and Briinnow (Longmans).—A Peep at Mexico: J. L. Geiger, F.R.G.S. (Triibner).—Pharmacographia : Fliickiger and Hanbury (Macmillan).—Cave Hunting : W. B. Dawkins (Macmillan),— Telegraph and Travel: Col. Sir F. J. Goldsmid, C.B., K.C.S.I. (Mac- millan).—Sun and Earth great Forces in Chemistry : T. W. Hall, M.D., L.R.C.S.E, (Triibner).—Magnetism : H. Lloyd, M.D., D.C.L. (Longmans). —The Prctoplasmic Theory of Life; L. Beale (Baillitre and Co.)—Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, Annual Report, 1873-74.—Fiske’s Cosmic Philosophy (Macmillan and Co.) AMERICAN.—Butterflies of North America, Parts I. and II.: W. H. Edwards (Hurd and Houghton, New York). Foreicn.—Atti della Reale Accademia Dei Lincei, vol. xxvii—Mémoire sur la maladie de la Vigne, et sur son traitement: Louis Faucon (Paris).— Etudes sur la nouvelle maladie de la Vigne: Maxime Cornu (Paris).— Etudes sur la nouvelle maladie de la Vigne dans le Sud-Est de la France: M. Duclaux (Paris)..-Les Arachnides de France : Eugéne Simon (Paris).— Anthropogenie : Ernst Hackel (W. Engelmann, Leipzig). CoLoniAt.—Elementary Dynamics: W. G. Willson, M.A., &c. (Thacker and Co, Calcutta).—Report of the Meteorological Reporter to the Govern- ment of Bengal: H. F. Blandford (Calcutta),—Patent d Pat. : W. H. Archer (Melbourne). ( Saud a atentees CONTENTS Pace Tue ProsPECTS OF THE ENDOWMENT OF RESEARCH. . . . + «© « I GRESHAM: COLGEGE «(iis sce aeons ce omy Sere VECKEL’s| DEVELOPMENT OF MIAN © =: = . © © a) efienen penne Letters TO THE EDITOR :— Migration of Birds,—Prof. ALFRED Newton, F.R.S. . . . . . 65 Insects and the Colour of Flowers.—Iord Rayveicu, F.R.S. . . 6 Sounding and Sensitive Flames.—Prof. A.S. HERSCHEL... . . +. 6 A New and Simple Method for making Carbon Cells and Plates for Galvanic Batteries.—W. Symons. . . oe i Sead low 3 Ingenuity ina Spider.—JoHN TopHam .......... 8 Note on the Rhynchosaurus Articeps, Owen.—Dr. T. OclER WARD 8 Tue Avcpine CLus Map oF SwitTzeRLAND. 8 Report or Pror. Parker’s HunTertAN Lectures “ON THE STRUCTURE AND DgVELOPMENT OF THE VERTEBRATE SKULL,” VIII. Skutt or THE Common Fowt (With [élustrations) Tue New Vine-DisgASE IN THE SouTH-East oF France, II. (With 2 dblusremceoy) i Noles lets ivi ie tiepiten is. ©) Te. cs) a Me err EARLY OPENING OF Kew GARDENS. . . . - - . 2 6 se o © TG THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF AURORE © a) Nal ie) Den niita ty cma Epwin LAnKester, M.D.,F.R.S. . . . 2... «6 » ss ss FS INOTES UE IPs yet ie) sy 'e | tote eRe is! a's. 3° 6. <. (o 6) eee SCIENTIEIG SERIALS 5.) 2 EDT Lo) eG ied 19 SociETIES AND ACADEMIES Oe OUOMMEEG CFO. Gilg Ou nts) . . . . . . . . - BOOKS PRECHIVED |< yi) @=rs/ ue! « oes NATURE 21 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1874 STIR FOHN LUBBOCK AT BIRMINGHAM IR JOHN LUBBOCK, in his inaugural address as president of the Midland Institute, gave utterance to some wholesome truths which we sincerely hope the Government and people of the country will take to heart. Sir John, as a member of the Schools Commission and of the Science Commission, has had ample opportunities of ascertaining the exact state of our schools and univer- sities as to the teaching of science; and after all that has been said and done, he comes to the unhappy conclusion that, practically, science is ignored in the vast majority of our educational institutions of all classes—elementary schools, endowed schools, and universities. At the same time he is driven to the conclusion that a widespread interest in science already exists in the country. Of this we think anyone can assure himself who looks around and can read the signs of the times. There is undoubt- edly a widespread feeling that the present all but univer- sal system of education is inadequate and unsatisfactory and that science must, sooner or later, be allotted a place in all ourschools. Notwithstanding this feeling, the fact undoubtedly remains as Sir John Lubbock stated it, that the great fault of our present system of education is the neglect of science; some few years hence it will be deemed incredible that a boy should be allowed to pass through any good school and yet be entirely ignorant of any one branch of natural knowledge. Here, then, on one side exists a craving, becoming more and more defined, in the country, that science be given a place in our educational system, and on the other hand the fact that scarcely anything definite has yet been done to give science an established place in our schools and universities. In most cases where science has been ad- mitted into our schools, it has been only on sufferance as a kind of interloper for which any odd corner is good enough. In spite of all that has been said recently— again to refer to the address—about the advantage of science, notwithstanding the reports of Royal Com- missions and the action of Parliament, though the im- portance of science is generally admitted, still it is unfortunately the case that, with a few exceptions, it is either entirely ignored in our endowed schools or has allotted to it a space of time ludicrously inadequate, and, indeed, almost nominal, In some cases it is permitted, but only on condition of being taken out of playtime, which is not fair to the boy, and being paid for extra, which naturally does not recommend it to the parent. It is for parents and for the public to say whether this state of things is satisfactory; and Sir John called attention to it because he thought that parents were in general scarcely aware how little their sons were even now learning beyond the old routine. The present state of matters ought not, therefore, to be tolerated, and the only position in our schools and universities, for the teaching of science, is a position of, at ‘least, equality with all the other old-fashioned means of education. The only principle on which a satisfactory course of education can be constructed is, that it is essen- tial for the well-being of every man and woman that he VoL. x1.—No. 263 and she should start in life with a well-trained mind and a fair knowledge of the principles and the main facts of everyday life. Sir John Lubbock admits the importance of language as a means of education, but he thinks that it has hitherto been given a far too prominent place in our schools, and that the amount of time devoted to linguistic studies is out of all proportion to the results achieved. “We still,” he said, “indeed, teach the Latin grammar rather than the Latin language, for a man cannot surely be said to know a language which he cannot speak; and I cannot but believe that if our children were taught Latin and Greek as they are taught French and German, they would learn them in half the time. Mr. Arnold, in his report on German schools, tells us that it is common there for the master to address his boys in Latin, and for the class to speak Latin in reply. The German boys, he adds, have certainly acquired through this practice a surprising command of Latin.” ; It is well known that scholarship in Germany is far more widespread and accurate than in England, and we see that this scholarship is acquired with a much less expen- diture of time. The consequence is, that plenty of time remains in German schools for the teaching of science, which forms so important a part of education throughout that country, and which gives the German a starting- point in life so very much superior to that which the average Englishman has, even when educated at our public schools and universities. No one can deny the increasing importance of a knowledge of science in all departments of human activity, and we fear that if another two generations of boys be allowed to pass through our schools in their present condition, this country will be almost hopelessly behind certain countries on the Continent. This has been recently admitted as a truth by several practical men, whose position as such ought to be of some weight with our trading and manufac- turing community. But to this subject we hope to return in an early number. In the meantime, it is clear to all who have taken pains to inquire into the facts that a radical reform must soon be made in our present system of education, from the elementary schools upwards; that a rearrangement of subjects and a reform in methods must be made, so that science may be allotted a place of equal prominence with other subjects, and that Government must begin the reform by insisting that such a change be made in the programmes of all schools under its control. On this point Sir John said :— No doubt we had greatly increased the number of our schools and the attendances of the children, but while we had been disputing over the 25th clause and arguing about compulsion, we had somewhat lost sight of the character of the education given; and he was sorry to say that there was abundant evidence, not only that it had not improved, but even that it had fallen off in the last few years. The present system of payment practi- cally confined the instruction given to reading, writing, and arithmetic. No doubt a payment of 3s. per head was nominally offered for any two other subjects, but other grants amounted to 18s.—namely, 55. for attend- ance, Is. for music, and 4s, each for reading, writing, and arithmetic, which were obligatory. Now,as 15s. was the maximum granted, it followed that if three-quarters of the children pass in reading, writing, and arithmetic, the Ces 22 NATURE [Mov, 12, 1874 full grant would be earned, and nothing could be obtained from other subjects. It seemed to him, however, that the passes in reading and writing ought not to be made so difficult, but that three-quarters of the children should pass. No wonder that under those circumstances the Duke of Devonshire’s Commission had reported that the present system had “ unfortunately narrowed the instruc- tion given in elementary schools, and, together with the lower standard consequently adopted in the training and examination of pupil-teachers, and the curtailment of the syllabus of the training colleges, exercises a prejudicial effect on the education of the country.” As to the question of expense for apparatus, Sir John Lubbock showed that this need be no obstacle; fully recognising that the kind of science to be taught must be no word knowledge, but a practical acquaintance with the actual facts of nature. Schoolmasters had on more than one occasion said to him that.it was impossible for them to teach science, because they had not the funds necessary to purchase apparatus, set up a laboratory, &c. Now, no doubt, much money might be profitably laid out in this way, but it was not necessary to do so. Mr. Tuckwell, who spoke from personal experience, said in a paper read before the British Association in 1871, that “it ought to be more widely known for how very small a sum sufficient appa- ratus can be obtained to teach natural history and experi- mental science. A laboratory can be fitted up for twenty boys at a cost of little more than 20/., while each boy’s private stock of glass and test solutions need not cost more than 8s. per annum. Botanical flower-trays, con- taining eighteen bottles, may be bought for half-a-crown ; electrometers, telescopes, polariscopes, models of pumps, and pulleys, may be made, by a little instruction, by the boys themselves, who will learn in their construction far more of the principles which they involve than could ever be instilled into their minds by the choicest products of the shop.” After quoting the opinions of the late Prof. Fara- day, Prof. Henslow, Dr. Hooker, and Prof. Huxley on the importance of early scientific education, Sir John said it was often urged that in science the very methods of teaching were still under discussion. This, however, was an unavoidable incidence of a commencement. It would be remedied by experience, and could be remedied by experience only. Mr. Arnold truly said that “{when scientific physics have as recognised a place in public instruction as Latin and Greek, they will be as well taught.” Sir John Lubbock also referred to the miserable pittance which has as yet been allotted to research in science by our Universities ; but as we have referred to this point so recently, we need not dwell upon it here. Altogether, we hope that this moderate and wise, but uncompromising address may give one more strong impulse to the already widespread feeling that we cannot with safety delay much longer in giving to science the place which it ought to hold in the educational system of the country. the third part of his “travels” in those countries in 1870 and 1871. In it will be found a complete 7éswmé of the present state of our knowledge of the zoology and botany of those distant and inhospitable regions, and a chapter on what is known of their geology. The mammals of these northern climes are few in number, consisting chiefly of seals and whales. The terrestrial mammal-fauna comprehends only two species of lemming (Zyodes torguatus and M. obensis) + the arctic fox, common fox, and wolf and sea-bear among the carnivores, and a single ruminant—the reindeer— seven species in all. The birds are more numerous, though here again the marine species far predominate, the land-birds being only ten in number out of a total of fifty. Amongst the former we are surprised to see recorded as an accidental visitor the Hoopoe, usually considered as rather an inhabitant of the tropics, but of which a single straggler was captured in Southern Spitz- bergen by a merchant-vessel in August 1868. Reptiles are conspicuous only by their absence in Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, but of fishes thirty species are recorded as having been obtained on various parts of the coast, all belonging to known forms either of the Atlantic or of the waters of Northern Asia. The invertebrates of Spitzbergen are treated of more concisely by Herr v. Heuglin ; but lists are given of the species of the different orders, and many references to previously published papers and works bearing upon this subject are added. The account of the flora of Spitzbergen is mainly founded on Malmgren’s paper, published in 1862, in the Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Stock- holm, to which, however, additions have since been made by Anderson, Fries, and Nystrom. The Phanerogams enumerated are 117, the Cryptogams upwards of fifty. The botany of NovajZembla and Waigatsch Island is separately treated of. Our knowledge of this subject is based upon the excellent researches of Von Baer and Trautvetter, published at St. Petersburg, and a paper of Blytt’s, of Christiania. On these islands 146 Phanero- gams and 144 Cryptogams have been discovered. Among the latter a certain number of new species are described in the present work by Prof. Ahle, of Stuttgardt. The geological chapter, which concludes the volume, is based upon the well-known researches of the Swedish naturalists Lovén, Torell, Blomstrand, and Nordenskiold, who have laboured so long and so diligently upon this subject. We can recommend Herr v. Heuglin’s work as a very convenient handbook for the use of future visitors to the Northern Seas, and of explorers of those newly dis- covered lands of which we are now hearing so much. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SPITZBERGEN AND NOVA ZEMBLA* O much public attention is now directed to the polar regions and their inhabitants, that we do not hesitate to bring before the notice of our readers the important contribution to our knowledge of Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, recently published by Von Heuglin as © * © Reisen nach dem Nordspolarmeer in Cen Jahren 1870 und 1871," yo M. Th. von Heuglin. In drei theilen. Dritter Theil: Beitrage zur Fauna, Flora, und Geologie. (Braunchsweig, 1874.) HECKEL’S DEVELOPMENT OF MAN* Anthropogenie oder Entwickelungsgeschichte des Men- schen ; gemeinverstandliche wissenschaftliche Vortrége, von Ernst Heckel. (Leipzig: Engelmann, 1874.) Il. N tracing the genealogy of our race, Prof. Haeckel while availing himself of the gradual’ changes in the fauna of the earth during geological periods, and of the * Continued from p 5. fie Nov. 12, 1874 | NATURE 23 gradation of living animal forms, takes as the most im- portant clue in his difficult task the facts of human embryology. This close connection is constantly kept in view, and by its aid not only does he trace, as in the twenty-second chapter of his “ Schépfungsgeschichte,” the philogeny of man as a compound organism ( Persoz), but extends the same process to the separate organs of the human body and the faculties of the human mind. The chapters which are occupied by this investigation are the most interesting in the book, full of ingenious sug- gestions, and well repaying the reader who brings a sound knowledge of embryology and comparative anatomy to their study. The genealogical tree here constructed is briefly as follows :—First, a Cythode (JZower), itself the product of inorganic matter, passed in the Laurentian ages from being a component of primordial sea-slime (P/assov, represented by existing Bathybius) to a separate unicel- lular or amoeboid form. Several of these plastids next formed a colony by cell-division (Zorvula), which in sub- sequent ages became covered with cilia, differentiated into an ectoderm and entoderm, and provided with a mouth (Gas¢v@a), a form represented in sponges and other invertebrates and in Amphioxys, but omitted in the onto- genesis of man, or represented by the Blastosphere, Each of the primitive layers subdivided into two, and between the latter was formed the ce/umz, or body cavity (vermiform stage, protuchous or aproctous), Next was developed the notochord in a form related to the existing ascidian and amphioxous larva, The vertebral character being thus attained, our ancestors passed through stages now represented by the lampreys and the sharks, during the ages which ended the archzolithic period. While the Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian formations were taking place, the Amphibian stage was passed, and the succeeding development inthe Trias epoch was from this to a protamniotic form, distinct from that which gave birth to the sauropsidan stem, and leading directly to the mammalian. When the last strata of chalk had been laid down, a marsupial form was changing into one now represented by the lemurs. Lastly, the Tertiary period witnessed the development of various gradations of catarrhine Primates, from one of which the earliest men directly sprung. The genealogy thus constructed (which is almost exactly the same as those Prof, Heckel has before pub- lished) is plausible enough, and if such speculations come under what the late M. Elie de Beaumont called “Ja science mousseuse,” they certainly have their use in directing and stimulating inquiry. But is this the way to introduce the results of biology to a popular audience? - In the first place, the theory of evolution itself is neither so certain nor so complete as persons who take their knowledge from these lectures alone would be led to suppose. Our author is astonished at Riitimeyer’s com- parison of “Darwinism” to a religion, But as held by its illustrious author and by the ablest biologists both in Germany and England, it is very much like a rational theology : for it is a theory which only pretends to be a more or less probable explanation of facts, which is held liable to correction from fresh facts and with tolerance for less probable explanations. But in these lectures evolu- tion is no longer a reasonable belief, but a fanatical and intolerant Aderylaube. Again, granting that evolution by some means has taken place, and that natural selection is a true cause of evolution, it is not the only cause. Modifications of it, like the so-called “ Mimicry” of Bates and Wallace, have already been discovered, and no doubt others will be. The effect of Sexual selection, a struggle for existence of the race as distinct from the individual, would not have been guessed had not Mr. Darwin himself proved it: and it often modifies the working of Natural selection. Lastly, if we accept evolution and so-called materialism in its widest sense, the logical results will not be what Prof. Heeckel assumes. For these, like all other scientific theories, deal only with secondary causes ; and when we have traced back mind and matter alike to cosmic vapour, the question still recurs, to what was that matter with its potential functions due? In Profogenes, or in the im- pregnated human ovum, The thread of Life untwisted is Into its first consistences. Yet the mysteries of growth, of movement, and of genera tion are not less but more mysterious than when less nakedly exposed in higher organisms. Scientific investi- gation, in the hands of Darwin, Fritz Miiller, Dohrn, and Haeckel, has told us much and will tell us more of how this world has come about; but when men cease to inquire into its final cause, the human race will have made a step back towards its primordial slime. Leaving these general considerations, one is reminded by Prof. Heckel’s attempt at a human philogeny of the many fallacies which beset the application of the general theory of evolution to this particular instance, When the dogma is accepted that “ontogeny is a re- capitulation of philogeny,” we find that the individual development of man and his ancestors is far from com- pletely known. The embryology, for instance, of Mono- tremata and the Ganoids, including Ceratodus, is a blank. Only the other day Mr. Balfour’s admirable observations on the development of sharks came to disturb what seemed to be a universal law of vertebrate embryology, and the origin of the urogenital organs is still confessedly obscure, Yet Prof. Heckel, while candidly admitting this last difficulty, practically assumes one and not the best-supported view to be correct. On the strength of it he teaches that the kidneys are homologous with seba- ceous glands, with the segmental organs of Annulata,* and with the water-vascular canals of other worms ; and that sperm-cells belong to the exoderm, germ-cells to the endo- derm. Again, the placental classification which forms the basis of the genealogical tree on p. 493 has been always open to grave objection, and has now been de- cisively contradicted by the researches of M. Bipbatse Milne-Edwards and Prof. Turner. Again, even when the development of an animal is fully made out, it is often so abridged and distorted an epitome of its ancestry, that we may easily interpret it wrongly, and we have at presentino signs to tell us when the clue begins to fail. But a third and still more serious difficulty in con- structing philogenies is the well-known incompleteness * Whether this ingenious hypothesis of Gegenbaur will be confirmed on other grounds is, of course, a different question. 24 NATURE [ Vov. Pep 1874 of the geological record ; and, unluckily for the genealogy of man, the very chapter we most need, that of the Worms and primitive Tunicata, is the one most hope- lessly lost. All this does not prove that no attempt should be made to trace back the descent of man and other animals by such lights as we have, but it does seem to show that the results are too uncertain to be set forth as ascertained facts in popular lectures. Strange as it now seems, a generation ago many of the best zoologists spent their time in arranging animals according to various systems of metaphysical origin. The speculations of Oken and Geoffrey St. Hilaire, of Forbes and Macleay, read now like the controversies of the schoolmen. The archetypal skeleton was drawn in many forms (and often in several colours), and almost as many compound terms were invented as those of Prof, Heeckel ; but all these fancied systems have passed away, or only exist as relics to encumber the ground. Does not their fate suggest misgivings as to the fate of the genealo- gical trees which are now so luxuriant ? In conclusion I will quote the words of one who will not be suspected of sharing the prejudices of those eccle- siastical newspapers which appear to be responsible for many of the defects in Prof. Hzeckel’s lectures. “ Of all kinds of dogmatism the materialistic is the most dangerous, because it denies its own dogmatism, and appears in the garb of science; because it professes to rest on fact, when it is but speculation; and because it attempts to annex territories to the domain of Natural Science before they have been fairly conquered.” * P. H. PYE-SMITH ISMAILIA Tsmailia: a Narrative of the Expedition to Central Africa for the suppression of the Slave Trade, orga- nised by Ismael, Khedive of Egypt. By Sir Samuel W. Baker, Pacha, F.R.S., &c. &c. Two vols. (Lon- don : Macmillan and Co., 1874.) T must be difficult for any unhardened critic to keep his wits about him in reading this fascinating narra- tive, and we are sure no reader will wish that it had been shorter. There is not much in the book of directly scientific interest. Sir Samuel went over very nearly the ground he had traversed before, and which he has so well and fully described in his “Albert N’yanza” and “Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia ;” and he kept so faithfully and unswervingly in view the noble errand on which he set eut, that he had little opportunity to attend to the in- terests of science. The heroic Lady Baker, however, made large botanical collections throughout the journey, which she presented to the Khedive on her arrival in Cairo, and Sir Samuel informs us that Lieut. Baker made considerable topographical observations. Moreover, although the expedition had no scientific object in view, its purpose was eminently conducive to the interests of * I have endeavoured to represent the sense of the following passage from _ Virchow (“Gesammelte Abhandhungen,” p. 18):—‘‘ Es giebt einen mate- yialistischen Dogmatismus so gut wie einen kirchlichen und einen_ideal- ischen, und ich gestehe gern zu dass der eine wie die anderen reele Objecte haben kénnen. weilu. s. We” e Allein sicherlich ist der materialistische der gefahrlichere | science, seeing that until the demoralising traffic in slaves is suppressed, we can never hope to obtain a thorough knowledge of the interesting region around the Upper Nile—of its geography, its ethnology, and its natural his- tory ; and therefore, although the great object which Baker had in view seems to have been thwarted through the pusil- lanimity of the Egyptian Government, he deserves the greatest credit for having proved that with skill, deter- mination, and adequate means—and his means were very inadequate—the journey from Cairo to the Albert N’yanza might be accomplished ina very short time, We think it would be difficult to conceive of a leader better fitted than Sir Samuel Baker to accomplish the task which the Khedive commissioned him to do. His work is a practical commentary on the vigorous and truthful lines of Tennyson :— ‘© O well for him whose will is strong ! He suffers, but he will not suffer long ; He suffers, but he cannot suffer wrong : For him nor moves the loud world’s random mock, Nor all calamity’s hugest waves confound, Who seems a promontory of rock, That, compa:s’d round with turbulent sound, In middle ocean meets the surging shock, Tempest-buffeted, citadel-crown’d.” Sir Samuel estimates that at least 50,000 persons are annually captured to be sold as slaves, and it would be safe to say that several thousands more are massacred in effecting the capture of these; the atro- cities practised by the slave-hunters are almost incredible. It was to suppress this lamentable state of matters that Sir Samuel Baker was commissioned, on April 1, 1869, by the well-intentioned and enlightened Khedive of Egypt, who gave him full powers as to equipment. To accomplish this purpose it was necessary to annex the whole Nile basin, and to establish a legitimate trade in the barbarous countries which had hitherto been scourged with this infamous traffic. So far as Sir Samuel could carry out his plans, the equipment of the expedition was admirable in every detail, down to the magic lantern, the wheels of life, and the magnetic battery, which last was in constant requisition among the tribes of the Upper Nile, and was a perpetual source of amusement to the members of the expedition and of wonder to the natives. It would be impossible, in the space at our disposal, to give any adequate idea of the work of the expedition, From the very first Sir Samuel met with obstructions and delays that would have induced any less patient and less determined man to abandon it altogether. The Egyptian Government had undertaken to furnish a large number of ‘boats, besides steamers and an adequate mili- tary force, for the expedition, which, it was arranged, would start in June 1869. It was with the greatest diffi- culty that a start was made on the 29th of August, when two of the parties proceeded up the Nile, one to go direct by river to Khartoum, and the other to land at Korosko and march across 400 miles of desert to the same place ; with the latter was the heavy machinery and sections of steamers carried by aregiment of camels. Sir Samuel him- self set out from Suez on Dec. 11 for Souakim, thence to Berber on the Nile, and in a diahbeeah to Khartoum. Here, in accordance with orders which had been sent on months before, he expected a fleet of vessels to be ready Nov. 12, 1874 | NATURE 25 to convey the expedition up the Nile, but was coolly in- formed by the Governor-General that “it was impossible to procure the number of vessels required ; therefore he had purchased a house for me, as he expected I should remain that year at Khartoum, and start in the following season.” This was certainly disheartening ; it was evident that the expedition was unpopular, and that although the Khedive earnestly wished the suppression of the trade, there was scarcely another man in the country but thought it was his interest to support it ; thus the queller of the evil had to fight against tremendous odds. After inconceivable difficulty a small fleet was got together, a force of 1,400 infantry and two batteries of artillery mus- tered, and everything ready for a start by Feb. 8, 1870, although the desert party under Mr. Higginbotham had not yet come up. Out of the military force, Baker selected forty-six men, who were known as the “ Forty Thieves,” owing to their light-fingered propensity, of which, however, they were soon cured, and became ulti- mately a loyal band of well-disciplined braves, who con- tributed greatly to the success of the expedition. On Feb. 16 the expedition reached the Sobat junction, which river brings an immense body of yellowish water to the Nile, colouring the latter for a great distance. The Bahr Giraffe was reached next day, and here the expedi- tion met with new difficulties which seemed likely enough to compel it to turn back. Sir Samuel says— “The Bahr Giraffe was to be our new passage instead of the original White Nile. That river, which had be- come so curiously obstructed by masses of vegetation that had formed a solid dam, already described by me in ‘ The Albert N’yanza, had been entirely neglected by the Egyp- tian authorities. In consequence of this neglect an extra- ordinary change had taken place. The immense number of floating islands which are constantly passing down the stream of the White Nile had no exit ; thus they were sucked under the original obstruction by the force of the stream, which passed through some mysterious channel, until the subterranean passage becanie choked with a wondrous accumulation of vegetable matter. The entire river became a marsh, beneath which, by the great pres- sure of water, the stream oozed through innumerable smali channels. In fact, the White Nile had disappeared. A vessel arriving from Khartoum in her passage to Gon- doroko would find, after passing through a broad river of clear water, that her bow would suddenly strike against a bank of solid compressed vegetation—this was the natural dam that had been formed to an unknown extent : the river ceased to exist. “Tt may readily be imagined that a dense spongy mass which completely closed the river would act as a filter : thus, as the water charged with muddy particles arrived at the dam where the stream was suddenly checked, it would deposit all impurities as it oozed and percolated slowly through the tangled but compressed mass of vege- tation. This deposit quickly created mud-banks and shoals, which effectually blocked the original bed of the river. The reedy vegetation of the country imme- diately took root upon these favourable conditions, and the rapid effect in a tropical climate may be imagined. That which had been the river bed was converted into a solid marsh, “ This terrible accumulation had been increasing for five or six years, therefore it was impossible to ascertain or even speculate upon the distance to which it might extend. The slave-traders had been obliged to seek another route, which they had found wd the Bahr Giraffe, which river had proved to be merely a branch of the White Nile, as I had suggested in my former aro and not an indepen- dent river.” On Feb. 18 the fleet commenced to push its way against the strong current of the Bahr Giraffe, but had not made much progress when it was met by obstructions which had shut up the original channel ; day after day was the river found to be choked up with a mass of vegetation—“ sudd,” Sir Samuel calls it—which with infinite labour had to be cleared away by all hands working with cutlasses and knives, to allow the vessel to pass through. The cutting through of this was dreadfully trying to the men; the poisonous effluvia permanently disabled many; it was, besides, a sore hindrance to the progress of the expedi- tion. The end of it was that Sir Samuel was compelled to turn backand wait for a more favourable season when the river would be in stronger volume. The retreat was commenced on April 3. The distinguishing feature of the country at this part of the Bahr Giraffe is the innumer- able hills of the white ant, rising to heights of 8 and roft., and numerous herds of the antelope Damadis senegalensis are met with. - Avery well-organised encampment was formed some distance below the Sobat junction, which ultimately developed into a pretty town and busy market-place, to which Sir Samuel gave the name of “ Tewfikeeyah.” A start was again made on Dec. 11, and after scarcely less labour, which disheartened and told on the health of nearly everyone but Baker himself, who seems throughout to have hada charmed life, the broad bosom of the great White Nile was reached on March 11, 1871, and the fleet arrived at Gondokoro on April 15, having taken twenty months to do what on Sir Samuel’s return journey was easily accomplished in three. The powers of Baker Pacha were by his commission to expire in four years from April 1869, sothat he had now only two years in which to accomplish the great purpose of his mission. He had not, however, been idle on his route from Khartoum to Gondokoro, as by various means he had managed to inspire the slavehunters with a wholesome fear of himself, and had liberated several cargoes of slaves, to the great astonishment of the poor wretches themselves, Sir Samuel found a great change in the river since his previous visit. The old channel was choked with sand- banks, new islands had been formed in many places, and it was impossible for the vessels to approach the old landing-place. The country around had, moreover, been swept of villages and inhabitants, who had been driven for refuge on the numerous low islands of the river. All that remained of the old mission station of the Austrian missionaries was an avenue of large lemon- trees. Sir Samuel landed a little below the site of Gondo- koro, and lost no time in making himself and his com- panions as comfortable as circumstances would permit, forming a large encampment, and instituting an extensive system of cultivation. Indeed, wherever he went he attempted to instil a love of agriculture among the natives, as he did among his own people, giving away large quanti- ties of seeds, accompanying the gifts with instruction as to the enormous benefits to be derived from cultivation. But his troub!es multiplied upon him. He found the Baris, whose tribes occupy most of the district around his station, while professing the greatest friendliness, utterly hostile to the objects of the expedition ; their minds had been 26 NATURE | Mov. 12, 1874 poisoned against him by the machinations of the demo- niacal Abou Saood, the representative of the great slaving firm of Agad & Co. of Khartoum, who had obtained from the Governor-General of Soudan a monopoly of the trade of all the Upper Nile district, extending over an area of g0,000 square miles. The great majority of his own officers and men, moreover, he found to be hostile to the purpose of the expedition, some of them being even secretly in league with the slave-traders. It was only by the exercise of rigid discipline and almost superhuman patience that between the hostile and treacherous tribes around and the “ foes of his own house,” the whole expe- dition did not fall to pieces. He was at last compelled in self-defence to fight the native tribes, and one cannot but be struck with admiration at the skill with which he, with a handful of men—and the “Forty Thieves” were the only soldiers he could really depend upon— managed to keep his myriad enemies at bay. Happily he did ultimately succeed in convincing the natives that his intentions were earnest and disinterested, and before his return north he did succeed in thwarting the machina- tions of his great’ enemy Abou Saood, and clearing the country for many miles around his route of the slave- hunting brigands. In January 1872 Sir Samuel started southwards with a small force of only about 200 officers and men ; for the 1,200 with which he arrived at Gondokoro had by sick- ness, death, and desertion dwindled down to 500, 300 of Arrival at the Stoppage—The Baleniceps rex. whom he had to leave behind him to garrison Gondokoro. Amid incredible difficulties, the small force reached Fatiko in the beginning of February. Fatiko is on the third parallel N., about seventy miles east of the head of the Albert N’yanza. After a short stay here, Sir Samuel, leaving half of his men behind, marched southwards to Unyoro, the capital of which, Masindi, he reached after disheartening delays and treacheries and equivocations on the part of the native chiefs, on April 25,1872. The king of the district was Kabba Réga, a son of Baker’s wily old friend Kamrasi. He turned out to be a trea- cherous, greedy, drunken, utterly irreclaimable “ young cub,” who under the influence of Abou Saood did his best to crumple up the small party which had entrusted themselves to his mercy. Sir Samuel at this, the southern limit of his journey, did his best to plant the seeds of civilisation and a healthy commerce, but we fear suc- ceeded in making little impression on the besotted Kabba Réga, who in the end, we are glad to find, was beaten by his well-intentioned brother Rionga, with the assistance of Sir Samuel. Here the latter endeavoured to obtain news of and to communicate with Livingstone by means of emissaries from M’Tese’s country and other districts to the southward; and here he obtained reports which tended to confirm his conjecture that the Albert , N’yanza extends south to a great distance, and communicates with Tanganyika. Sir Samuel, in his map, has filled in many names of tribes between the two N’yanzas, and we hope that the result of his expedition will be the more thorough exploration of this interesting district. Nov. 12, 1874 | NATURE 27 At last the determined and cowardly hostility of Kabba Réga and the thousands at his command became so un- mistakable and dangerous, that after exercising astonish- ing forbearance and withstanding bravely several attempts at destruction, the handful of men, having set fire to all their property and their pretty little station, started on their march back to Foweera, the headquarters of Rionga, on June 14, 1872. This march of about fifty miles, we are sure, is unparalleled in history. It was mostly through thick grass reaching far above the head, through a con- tinuous ambuscade of thousands of savage enemies, who kept up an almost continuous shower of spears within a few yards on each side of the short line of weak, hungry, but courageous men, who, notwithstanding, managed to reach Foweera with comparatively little loss. The brave Lady Baker performed most of the journey on foot, and Sir Samuel in the end pays a just tribute to his noble wife, who in many ways showed herself the ever-watchful good genius of the expedition. We have only space to say further that Gondokoro was reached on April 1, 1873, when Sir Samuel found that his Englishmen had built a beautiful little steamer, and that the engineer, Edwin Higginbotham, was dead. Arrangements having been made to maintain Gondokoro asa station, Sir Samuel started homeward in the new steamer Khedive on the 25th of May, and after a swift and easy passage, reached Khartoum on June 29 and Cairo on August 24. Here the Khedive received Sir Samuel and his companions with well-merited honours, although we regret to say that he seems to have been powerless to act with the uncompromising decisiveness necessary to complete what Sir Samuel had so well begun. The latter had rid nearly the whole of the district through which the expedition journeyed, of the iniquitous slave-hunters, and justly expected that an end would have been put to the wickedness of the inhuman Abou Saood. The final sentence of the narra- tive is almost crushing :—‘ After my departure from Egypt, Abou Saood was released and was appointed assistant to my successor.” We can only hope that this may not turn out so disastrous as it seems, but that Colonel Gordon {may succeed, in spite of this suspicious companionship, in completing the work which it cost Sir Samuel and his party so much trouble to initiate. One shuts the book with but a Jow idea of the natives whom the courageous Englishman tried to benefit ; it would seem as if they had no single characteristically human quality which could be appealed to and used as a basis on which to rear the virtues of civilisation ; and one is very much inclined to believe with Sir Samuel that some modification of the method which he found so successful in training the “ Forty Thieves” might be more likely to succeed in raising these Africans from their slough than any appeal to their moral natures. 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. | | Endowment of Research In the article on ‘‘Endowment of Research,” in NATURE, vol, xi. p. 2, the following passage occurs :— “Tt does not appear from the Report of the Commission that the Cambridge Colleges have yet taken any steps to appropriate definitely any portion of their endowments to the encouragement of scientific research ; but it is a matter of common notoriety that at the October election to Fellowships at Trinity College, a candidate was successful whose chief qualification was that he had already accomplished ‘good original work in embryological investigation.” Although it may not appear in the Report, it is nevertheless the fact, that in December 1872 the Master and Fellows of Trinity adopted a revised set of statutes, wherein are distinct provisions for the endowment of research, very like those com- mended in the case of New College, Oxford. The Privy Council has, however, deferred since January 1873 the con- sideration of these statutes, until the late Commission should have reported. This delay seems now all the more vexatious and unjustifiable, inasmuch as it appears from the Appendix to the Report, that changes of statutes were proposed at Oriel and New Colleges five months after the date of our proposal, and that these changes were ratified by the Privy Council within a few months in the ordinary manner. If in the future the Government should desire to make any changes in this direction in the constitutions of the Colleges, it should be remembered to the credit of this College that two years ago a complete scheme was offered which made liberal provision for the endowment of research, It is due to external authority alone, that in the meanwhile vested interests have accrued, far heavier than any which would have arisen under the proposed statutes, and that nearly one-third of the University has been prevented from enjoying during the interval, statutes in accordance with the prevailing opinion inside, and certainly, as to scientific research, meeting with the approval of the outside world. GEORGE DARWIN Trinity College, Cambridge, Nov. 8 The University of London IN justice to the graduates of the University of London and to tue Annual Committee of Convocation, I trust you will allow me to offer a few remarks with respect to Prof. Foster’s opening address delivered at University College and published in your columns, vol. x. pp. 506 and 525} Prof. Foster very justly complains that in the present regula- tions for the Matriculation Natural Philosophy Examination there is not ‘‘a tittle of internal evidence to show that they were drawn up in the present century,” that there is a want of con- nection between the subjects required from candidates, and that the freedom of teachers in the instruction of their pupils is seriously interfered with, by the necessity of adapting lectures to the requirements of the examination. None have shown themselves more sensible of the justice of these views than the graduates of the University; and, in a report which was drawn up by a sub-committee and adopted by Convocation, with reference to certain proposed modifications of the matriculation, the attention of the Senate was respectfully called to this portion of the examination. That report states : ** Your committee are strongly of opinion that no revision of the matriculation examination would be satisfactory which did not effect some improvement in that part of it which relates to Natural Philosophy. In proposing the following alterations, their objects haye been to adapt this examination to the courses of lectures and to the most approved text-books on Physics.” It will be seen from this extract that Convocation was desirous that the examination should be brought into harmony with the best methods of instruction, and that the greatest possible freedom should be left to teachers. It was further suggested that the subjects of examination should include Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Heat, and Light, and that the first only of these subjects should be compulsory. In the new regulations issued by the Senate, which will come into operation in June 1875, some improvements in this examina- tion have been effected. The antiquated syllabus of subjects has been retained, but the whole character of the examination has been modified. Heat has been introduced ; and it has been resolved that in the Natural Philosophy paper double as many questions shall be set as are required to be answered, and that | candidates shall be free to choose azy of them up to the required number. This alteration will effect a great improvement on the old system, which encouraged superficial knowledge by re- | quiring candidates to answer one question at least out of certain 28 NATURE [Mov. 12, 1874 groups into which they were divided. The independence of teachers will, by these new regulations, be greatly increased ; for they will no longer be compelled to hurry as rapidly as possible over the elements of various branches of physics, but will be free to teach certain portions of the subject with greater thorough- ness, and will secure at the same time for their pupils a better chance of passing. Thus, supposing the questions to be equally apportioned, a candidate fairly acquainted with the elements of mechanics only would have no difficulty in succeeding. The examinations for the Science degree are at present under the consideration of the Senate, and we may hope, therefore, that before long many of Prof. Foster’s grounds of complaint will have been removed. London, Nov. 9 Puitie Macnus Gresham Lectures In NATURE, vol. xi. p. 2, appeared a very just and interesting article on the Gresham Lectures. I wish to endorse the opinion therein expressed of the misapplication of that institution, Last Friday evening, at twenty minutes past seven, I entered Gresham College from curiosity. The two superb beadles to whom you allude were seated in the hall in all the glory of official gold lace. I walked into the lecture theatre, which to my surprise was more than half filled. A jerky lecturer in scarlet silk M.D. robes was unfolding the mysteries of sound. He was explaining that sound consisted of vibrations /ike those of light. He said that the lowest note appreciable to human ears was produced by 16, the highest by 24,000 vibrations per second. Prompted by his assistant (in whom I recognised the professor of chemistry at one of our metropolitan hospitals, and a talented lecturer), he said the velocity of sound was 1,125 feet per second, but did not allude to the variations in the same medium under different conditions of temperature and pressure. Light, he said, travelled 135,000 miles per second. He probably mistook an 8 for a 3 in the book from which he obtained his information. The velocity of sound in water, he said, had been determined by an English gentleman, who fixed a bell in a boat at one side of the Lake of Geneva and stayed on the other side himself ; then he set the bell ringing by electricity, and plunged his head under the water at the same instant! This lucid ex- planation was received with all the seriousness with which it was delivered. He proceeded to explain the human voice, which he said resembled the harmonium ; and he showed what he meant by the harmonium, namely, a small Aaymonica, or instrument in which plates of glass suspended on tapes are struck with a hammer consisting of a piece of cork on a whalebone. This information was also received with self-satisfied gullibility. Choking with indignation, I left the building, never having heard in all my life, either in sermon or lecture, so many false statements publicly uttered in the space of half an hour. Iam no physicist myself, but the fact that I have heard such men as Tyndall, and seen such experimenters as Frankland and Guthrie, probably accounts for my non-appreciation of the Gresham lecturer, who I understand is a classical scholar—ce/a sexpligue, MAuRICE LICHTENSTEIN Clyde Wharf Sugar Refinery, Nov. 8 Insects and Colour in Flowers THE true Darwinian answer to my letter in NATURE, vol. x. . 503, has been fairly given by Mr. Boulger and Mr. Comber vol. x. p. 520); but if that answer had appeared to me to be sufficient, the letter would not have been written. Mr. Boulger correctly attributes to me the opinion that the development of beauty is an ‘‘ objectin nature.” He thinks it a fallacious opinion ; so I suppose does Mr. Darwin. I hold that opinion advisedly, however, and believe that the rejection of it is a constant source of error in Mr. Darwin’s books, for which otherwise I have the profoundest respect and admiration, Ido not dispute that colour may be attractive to insects, or that the reproduction of plants may be assisted by it ; but I reject the doctrine that the colour would have no raison @’ére if insects were exterminated, and I believe that Mr. Darwin’s theories upon this point are not sufficient to explain his own facts, or such other facts as are revealed by Mr. Comber’s curious researches into the dispersion of coloured flowers. Ido not see any reason to doubt that if all flowering plants had been propagated by buds and stolons only, as some plants practically are, the world at this epoch would still have known the beauty of flowers, although probably with less variety of form and colour. It is part of the natural development of the wave of life, as sure to b2 produced when the total conditions are ripe for it, as leaves in the spring, or as lycopods in the coal-age and conilers in the oolite. The law of natural selection expresses truly enough the inter- action of forces in the great heaving life-sea, but the forces are not increased or diminished by it, only modified in their lines of motion, the course made clear for one and obstructed for another : here a union of similars, and there a neutralisation of opposites ; whileeach works out a destiny of its own as an indi- vidual wave, and shares the co nmon destiny of some larger waye of which it is a constituent part. What insects do in relation to the colour of flowers is to modify the conditions, so that the force, which has already begun to show its tendency to develop colour, may get freer play, and in each generation approach nearer to its climax. The many instances in which colour is developed indepen- dently of insects seem to me to show quite conclusively that the colour-producing force which exists in the plant will break through all obstructions whenever the opportunity is presented. Sometimes increased richness of soil will furnish the necessary condition ; sometimes a hizher temperature ; sometimes cross- fertilisation ; sometimes the care and selection of man. This law holds good throughout the organic world, and accounts for colour wherever it is found. The Darwinian doc- trine of mere utilitarianism is driven to the strangest devices in its attempts to do the same thing. Mr. Boulger speaks of the development of corolla at the excense of stamens as a ‘* degradation of organs,” and regards it in the light of a disease. Many botanists would agree with him, no doubt. But where is the proof of this? Isa plant produced for the mere purpose of 7e-production? Is that even its highest purpose? Whatever dzauty may be, the reproductive process is assuredly a means, and not an end, There is some ground for the hypothesis that the flower of a plant represents its nervous centre, that it is the analogue, per- haps even the homologue, of the brain and countenance of the higher animals. In vegetables the reproductive organs are associated with this nervous centre. But they are not so placed in animals, and if they had been otherwise arranged in vege- tables the blossom might still have been the crowning beauty of the plant. I do not admit that the metamorphosis of stamens into corolla is a degradation at all. I am not sure whether the production of perfectly double and perfectly barren flowers ought not to be regarded as the final goal of every species of plant—the point at which reproduction becomes no longer necessary, because the life-wave of that species has reached its climax and needs no further to be carried forward from generation to generation. Finally, the point at issue amounts to this: Is colour in flowers a mere expedient for getting them cross-fertilised ? or is it a natural and necessary phase in the development of plant-life, which serves also the secondary purpose of securing the advan- tage of cross-fertilisation ; as the brain of man, which is primarily the great organ of thought and sentiment, serves also the secon- dary purpose of selecting wholesome food ? I hold to the latter view, which includes and accounts for all that the other does, and much besides, F. T, Morr Leicester Lorp RAYLEIGH, in NATURE, vol. xl. p. 6, questions whether the colour-sensations of insects are analogous to ours, _ As tending to illustrate this subject, let me quote the following parazraph from the scientific column of the ///ustvated News of April 2, 1870, p. 362 :— “The spectrum of the light of the firefly has been examined, and it is found to be perfectly continuous, without traces of lines either bright or dark. It extends from about the line C in the scarlet to F in the blue, and is composed of rays which act powerlully on the eye, but produce little thermal or actinic effect. In other words, the fly, in producing its light, wastes but little of its power.” This, it is true, tells nothing as to the colour-sensations of the insect, but it appears to show that the same rays are luminous to its eyes which are luminous to ours. JosEPH JoHN MurpHy Old Forge, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, Nov, 8 B Vou. 12, 1874 | Lecomotion of Meduside I po not think that ithe following remarkable observation has hitherto been made—or at least recorded—by anyone ; but as I am at present deprived of access to books, it is possible that I may be mistaken upon this point. It will be observed that it tends experimentally to confirm the opinion of Agassiz, M‘Crady, and Fritz Miiller, as to the presence of ganglionic centres in the situations they describe. Slabberia conica is, as its specific name implies, a medusid of a conical form, and its size is about that of a fully-developed acorn. Its polypite, which is of unusual proportional length, is highly con- tractile ; and its swimming-bell (zecfocalyx) supports four short slender tentacles, which are likewise highly contractile. These tentacles take their respective origins from four minute vesicular- like bodies (marginal vesicles), which are so situated in the margin of the nectocalyx as to mark off this circular margin into four exact quadrants. If any one of these vesicular-like bodies be excised, immediate and total paralysis ensues in the segment of the cone in which it is situated ; z.¢., a fourth part of the entire animal ceases to contract. If two adjacent vesicles are excised, one half of the entire animal becomes paralysed, the loss of motion being quite as decided, and the area of its occurrence quite as well defined, as in the case of hemi-section of the spinal cord. If two opposite vesicles are removed, cross paralysis results ; if three of these bodies are cut out, only one quarter of the cone continues to contract; and lastly, if they are all taken away, every vestige of contractility immediately disappears, not only in the nectocalyx, but also in the polypite. Now, as the bodies in question are not so large as are the dots over the letter ‘‘i” in this printed description, the extreme localisation of stimulating in- fluence thus shown to exist cannot but be deemed a highly remarkable fact, more especially as no amount of mechanical or chemical irritation will cause the slightest contraction in any part of the animal subsequent to the removal of these four almost microscopical points ; while, contrariwise, so long as any portion of tissue (no matter how small) is left united to one of these points, it will continue its rhythmical movements for an indefinite period of time, Thus, for example, when a section is made through the equator of the animal, while the upper half at once ceases to move, the lower half—now converted into an open ring—continues its contractile motions for days with unimpaired energy, notwithstanding the thus mutilated organism is, of course, unable to progress. It is well known that when the entire margin of the necto- calyx of a medusid is removed, the contractility of the remairing portion is destroyed. This fact is usually explained by supposing that the severance of all the contractile fibres produces what may be called mechanical paralysis, just as a man could not move his arm if all its muscles were divided. Experiments I have made on other species of Meduside have led me to doubt the truth of this explanation—at all events as the whole explanation ; but it is unnecessary to detail these at present. The instance above given is enough to show that in the case of this species, at any rate, such an explanation is clearly insufficient, and my object in now writing is to request that if any of your readers are acquainted with observations (whether published or not) similar to those described, they should kindly let me know, either through your columns, or by writing to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. GEORGE J. ROMANES Dunskaith, Ross-shire Suicide of a Scorpion I sHALt feel obliged if you will record in NATURE a fact with reference to the common Black Scorpion of Southern India, which was observed by me some years ago in Madras. One morning a servant brought to me a very large specimen of this scorpion, which, having stayed out too long in its nocturnal rambles, had apparently got bewildered at daybreak, and been unable to find its way home. To keep it safe, the creature was at once put into a glazed entomological case. Having a few leisure minutes in the course of the forenoon, I thought I would see how my prisoner was getting on, and to have a better view of it the case was placed in a window, in the rays of a hot sun. The light and heat seemed to irritate it very much, and this recalled to my mind a story which I had read somewhere, that a scorpion, on being surrounded with fire, had committed suicide. I hesitated about subjecting my ef to such a terrible ordeal, but taking a common botanical lens, I focused the rays of the sun on its back. The moment this was done it began to run hurriedly NATURE 29 about the case, hissing and s#ztting in a very fierce way. This experiment was repeated some four or five times with like results, but on trying it once again, the scorpion turned up its tail and plunged the sting, quick as lighining, into its own back. The infliction of the wound was followed by asudden escape of fluid, and a friend standing by me called out, “See, it has stung itself; it is dead ;” and sure enough in less than half a minute life was quite extinct. I have written this brief notice to show (1) That animals may commit suicide ; (2) That the poison of certain animals may be destructive to themselves. Bridge of Allan, N.B., Oct. 23 G, BIDIE THE AMU EXPEDITION WE give some extracts from a letter relating to the hydraulics of the Amt, sent us by an English engineer who was with the expedition ; the letter is dated “Nukus, at the head of Amt delta, Sept. 10, 1874 :”— The expedition only arrived in the delta at the end of June ; it is impossible, therefore, to say at what date the first spring flood of the river takes place, but probably between the 1st and 15th of May. The level of the river on June 23 was what may be called a low-level full river: it fell about twelve centimetres till June 29, and then rose rapidly till July 11, when it was 145 centimetres above the level of June 23. It then fell fifty centimetres up to July 17, and rose again to nearly the previous height on Aug. 4. Since that date the river has fallen steadily, and is to-day some fifty centimetres below the level of June 23. I judge the heights of July 11 and Aug. 4 to be the extreme flood levelof the Amt. At that flood level, the discharge at Toyu-boyin, “The Camel’s Neck,” 160 miles above the head of the delta, cannot be far short of 140,000 cubic feet per second. It is difficult to say what the low-water discharge is, but I should think it is at least 70,000 cubic feet per second.* On Aug. 25, by a rough observation, it was 110,000 cubic feet a second, the river then being 25 centimetres above the level of June 23. At Toyu-boyin the river has cut its way through a bed of shelly limestone of the age of the chalk. The limestone is very compact and hard, full of small shells, turritella and bivalves. Here the river is 1,000 ft. broad. The height to which the limestone bed has been tilted is about 25 ft. The river expands in breath immediately afterwards to 2,000 ft. or more, for about five miles; it then begins to contract again, having on its left a high bank of hard clay passing almost into an argillaceous schist. This high bank extends for above five miles, and ends in an eminence of 50 or 6oft. in height, crowned with sand. From Toyu-boyin downwards on the right bank, are ridges (of clay, I imagine) crowned with sand : no cultivation on that bank, but oppositeand downwards from Toyu-boyin irrigation canals are taken off, excepting where the high clay bank occurs. At the eminence spoken of the river immediately widens to 5,000 ft. or so ; this is caused by the first /arvge irrigation canal Polwdn. As these canals have a great effect on the river all the way down to the delta, I will here try and explain my theory on the subject. As the Amt runs in a soft soil from the south to north nearly in the direction of the meridian, I imagine what the Russians call the law of Bar (from his observations on the Volga) comes into action, The stream has therefore the tendency to run along the right bank, and, as a matter of fact, the deep-water channel is there found. If, then, an irrigation canal be opened on the left bank, the stream is disturbed and a subsidiary deep channel is formed towards the head of the canal (Fig. 1.) The head of the canal is only open during flood, say half the year. When it is shut, the river will run as in Fig. 2: silt will be found at the shaded parts, The river by Bar’s law will edge away to the right and become broader, and if this process is continued * Perhaps this is toohigh--I cannot make out from Wood’s ‘‘ Oxus ” more than 45,000 cubic feet or so per second for winter discharge. 30 NATURE [Vov, 12, 1874 nnn nnn nn EEE UnSnE San n year after year, the river bed is filled with islands. The deep-water channel is generally found on the right bank, but of course circumstances occasionally cause it to pass between two islands, Figs. 3 and 4 are two rough cross sections of the river. In the latter case the river has a breadth between its banks, sometimes from 5,000 ft. to 8,000 ft., especially opposite New Urgens and Shah Abbas Wali. The state of matters described has the effect of turning the river into a series of large pools, connected by short portions of stream; and this again probably has the effect of causing irregular floods in the river ; for as the quantity of water decreases and the velocity also decreases, silt is deposited and a gvvasz natural dam (Fig. 5) is formed, until | Trergation Canal Fic, 1. such time as sufficient water has been dammed up to burst through and sweep away this silt dam. Of the 140,000 cubic feet of flood-discharge, it is probable that the irri- gation canals take, at most, 30,000 cubic feet per second ; so that at Khodjeili, the head of the delta, say of a high flood, 110,000 cubic feet arrive. Of this quantity, 30,000 cubic feet flow by Kuwar Jerma, 30,000 by Chertambye, 20,000 by the next two branches, and the balance by Taldik. But of the whole quantity not more probably than 60,000 cubic feet at the most reaches Aral. The remainder floods the delta and Abougir.* Of the winter discharge, I should suppose not more than 40,000 cubic feet passes Khodjeili. 1 cannot account for the difference, unless it is ponded up in the upper reaches of the river. The irrigation canals are closed in Right Bank % », ; Fic. 4.—Ordinary Section, with irrigation canals. changed the course of the river. M. Barbot de Morny has recently examined the Usturt plateau, and, as far as I can gather, confidently asserts that Usturt has never been upheaved at all, but that it formerly formed an island in the united Caspian and Aral. As regards the eminences in the delta, and the ridge of Bish’yabye, which is a con- tinuation of Shaikjaili to the north, along the right bank of the river, he also says that there is not the least trace of any geological action having taken place in recent or historic times, so that it seems probable that here is an additional laurel for Lyell, plucked from the brow of Humboldt. If, therefore, the river will flow naturally to the Caspian, what Russia must do is to take, say, two- thirds of the Amt water for a canal to the Caspian, * And is used in irrigation near Kungrat. In my opinion the level of the Aral is rising, but others say not, winter. About 12,000 pass along Kuwar Jerma, and the same quantity along Chertambye. The rest passes mostly along Taldik; not more than 1,009 cubic feet a second passes along Ulkun Darya from Kungrat. In winter there is ice to a thickness of 15” on the Fic. 2. river, but certainly not everywhere; there is a thaw generally about the end of January, then a second severe winter in February. In the sketch (Fig. 6), I, 2, 3, 4 are old branches of the river which flowed into the Caspian * at different times ; 5 isan old bed which met a branch from Syr, on the east of Aral. These combined waters probably formed the delta Herodotus speaks of ; but I am going to take a look at this during my ride across the steppe to Fort Perofisky. The river, I believe, 1400 Fic. 3.—Ordinary Section—no irrigation canals. will naturally flow to the Caspian if it is allowed to do so; but the questions concerned are too large to be more than alluded to here. The Russian idea, fol- lowing Humboldt, is that the whole country east of the Caspian has been upheaved, and that this has z Fic. 5. running west from Toyu-boyin, for irrigating the country as well as for forming a line of water communication. The remaining third she must project along the old bed No. 5, or somewhere in that direction, to meet a branch from Peroffsky on the Syr. The water for this branch from Peroffsky must be obtained byreclaiming the swampy district of Karaouzak. This swamp was formed by the river breaking into an irrigation canal taken from the right bank. ‘The water feeding the swamp is that which formerly fed the Djani Darya flowing south-west from Peroffsky towards the point where I suppose the old delta mentioned by Herodotus to have been. I can tell you nothing about Shaikjaili, as I could * There is an old bed running due west to the Caspian from a point a little north of Tchardjui. A Russian officer, who spent many years between the Caspian and that place, is my informant. The river must have flowed in it before Arrian’s day. Nov. 12, 1874] NATURE 31 not find an opportunity of going there. However, M. Barbot de Morny is at the present moment on a visit to those hills. They are supposed to be of the same formation as the country adjacent to a place called, I think, Beresoff, in Siberia, where gold is found; perhaps this is the key to the problem of the Russian annexation of the Amt Darya district, which does not cost them less than 100,000/. per annum. In Khiva, all along the left bank, and between Petro Alexandros‘iya and Shah Abbas Wali on the right bank (Russian), there is a good deal of cultivation. Trees are cultivated all along the irrigation canals : willows, aspens, mulberries, planes, black poplars, apple-trees, peaches, &c., fruit of all kinds in great variety, and very good. Crops are maize, wheat, barley, cotton, madder, tobacco, poppy, lucerne, sesamum, &c. Everything is irri- Lake KUNGRAT € Nia ‘Dowkusa pb ° \ ~ AQ Wunya A 1 WU rgens ~. oe RHODJFILI © 2 ae /_ ShahAbbaswali, (| eShurakhan - YK $ Qe rate Alexandvoskiye ae se ggkH1ys Bazaasp? “YQ __ Camels Neck Ritnak p NX Meshekl (frontier) | Fic. 6. gated and raised with great labour. The islands in the river are grazed, the banks and islands are covered with the tall reedy grass (Lastagrostis sflendens), tamarisk, dwarf willow (E/@agnus* hortensis), an acacia, called, I * Eleagnus is cultivated, and the fruit is probably the Ponticum of Herodotus. Yule says Baker mentions incidentally the palm as growing on the banks of the Oxus. I have not Baker to refer to, but it would be inte- resting to know what word he uses; it is probable that he uses some word equivalent to date, and I cannot help thinking he means Edeagnus, the fruit of which is like a date. I have some fruit preserved in spirit—for Sir H. Rawlinsonif he would likeit. Curiously enough, the Russians call Eveagnus, Pphencke, i.e. date, instead of its proper name, Fidda. : As tothe name of the river Oxus, is it settled what was the meaning of this word? The legend on the map attached to the Grand Charter, com- piled 1584-1598 A.D., translated by the Russian historian Karemzin, says: ** And 170 versts (old versts of 700 sag.) from Bokhara, from Lake Oguz (which is 0% in our language), flows a river towards Khoralim (Caspian).” Here Lake Victoria is Lake Oguz—Lake of the Ox. Yule, in his Oxus Essay, has a note, p. Ixxxvi.: ‘‘It is worthy of notice that what has been regarded as a Yak. figured on the obelisk” (I suppose the one in the British Museum—the black obelisk) ‘‘of Nimroud is described in the accompanying inscription as Alap-Nahr-Sakiya, the ox ot the river Sakiya, a title which may probably characterise the Upper Oxus, rising among the hills of the Sakiya or Sace.” Did the name of the river come, then, from the Yak, which may have existed in Pamir, and is a sufficiently interesting animal to give its name toa stream it frequented? V¢de note on p. Ixiv. of Yule’s Oxus Essay. Cimbye, Mikus, and Petro Alexandroskiya are the three Russian posts or camps in the Am Darya district. think, Halimodendrou, and a creeper. The sandy tracts on the right bank haye a sparse vegetation of Lycium, Halostachys, and Aristida pennata. 1 do not think much of any consequence has been done in the botanical way. I found on an island in the central delta a fern which must have had its origin in some distant glen of the north slope of the Hindoo Koosh. M. Smymoff, the botanist of Kazan University, found a specimen of Sak Saul further to the south than it was supposed to grow. The flooded parts of the delta and the islands have a dense growth of Arundo phragmitis and Typha; the Arundo grows to a height of 20 ft. or so, in places. By the way, I forgot to mention that in the high ground of the delta I found beds of conglomerate, formed of bivalve shells chiefly with sharks’ teeth, cemented together in the vein. Thin beds of sand- stone also occur in the masses of sedimentary clay of which these hills and the Bish’yabye ridges are formed. At Bish’yabye I found very large ammonites (18” diam.) and similar univalves, as well as large bivalves. The crests of these hills and ridges are generally crowned with a shallow bed of ferruginous sandstones, the frag- ments of which strew the flanks and feet of the elevations. Selenite occurs in great quan‘ity and in large pieces, in the clay. I think I have sent you pretty nearly all of any interest. I have written this letter in a great hurry, as I am just about starting for my trip across the steppe to Peroffsky, along the old course of the Djani Darya. I look upon the canalisation of the Amti (somewhat in the way before suggested) as capital for the canalisation of Central Asia. It is a scheme which will certainly cost money, but the beneficial results will be so enormous to Russia herself, that I think it is all but certain to be en- tered on sooner or later. The climate is superb, MEMORIAL TO FEREMIAH HORROCKS 12 reply to the petition recently published in NATURE, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster have signified their willingness to permit the erection of a tablet within the Abbey, and in consideration of the very exceptional circumstances of the case, have reduced the fee ordi- narily payable to the Chapter to the sum of 25/, A subscription, which it has been thought well to restrict to the sum of one guinea for each subscriber, has been set on foot to defray the expenses incidental to the erection of the tablet and the fee of the Chapter. Should there be any surplus, it is proposed to invest it in the names of trustees, and to devote the interest to the purchase of books to be deposited in the library of the Royal Astronomical Society, the fund to be called “ The Horrocks Library Fund.” Subscriptions have already been received from— J. Couch Adams, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., Lowndean Prof. of Astronomy in the University of Cambridge, : President of the Royal Astronomical Society ...... ret Sir George Biddell Airy, K.C.B., V.P.R.S., &c., APSPEOMOMIECHN OVAL 239.20 500 ofsack ces setebaestseereecsts) Fk DO Theglon. Mrs. -Elenry Arindell,...¢..:c0e.---c-00 E TO Tay KO I ee W. H. M. Christie, Esq., M.A., &c., First Assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich inn O I o Ii) oo} sitygok Cambridge, F.RiS., &c. 86. 22.2. ...se.s eee eee Lend) 10 Edwin Dunkin, Esq , Secretary of the Royal Asitro- DGWMeAl SOCIcty wise. ence cic cek. corce te cael cupesite coceveeae 5a eC) Kenedy Esdaile, Esq., J.P., M.A., F.R.A.S. Lee) ProfaGladstones PhiDi, PARIS; &0. "sic tctseteconen os Tee I 170 Robert Grant, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S., Regius Professor of Astronomy in the University of Glasgow, & .., I I 0 32 NATURE [Wov. 12, 1874 Edward Hermon, Esq., M.P. for Preston ..... ........ Capt. J, vlerschel BUR. S., Sei 70.2. ie. dgeeeseee Whe Parishyohselople .25.ssxvecere- 39 yay sy 3. Prunella vulgaris :-— a. Ap. 8, Lep. 4, O.1. o species; Ap. 66, Lep. 33, OT. o per cent. i Vig ay ie Oo) » 66, 5 33 1) © » Coy Ty ny An vr on Dah aia ss IOF9 2) 27) euye * It should be noticed that as the flowers of Melianthemum vulgare do not secrete honey, Lepidoptera must either obtain a little of the juices of the flowers by boring, or are altogether deceived. Z + In the Alpine region my observations have been made on the var. grandi- orum. Noo. 12, 1874] NATURE 33 4. Thymus serpyllum :— a. Ap. 7, Lep. 5, O.I. 17 species ; Ap. 24, Lep. 17, O.1. 58 per cent. Be 55 5) 29 171 59 23 9 » I, 3, 38 5 50 » By 3» I» - O° » Fy se) a Gp RY mie och 5. Taraxacum officinale :-— a. Ap. 58, Lep. 7, O.1. 28 species ; Ap. 62, Lep. 7, O.I. 30 per cent. = ue ee a » O 5, 66, 5, 33 » ; , aeine 6, Valeriana officinalis :-— - a. Ap. 3, Lep. 0, O.I. 19 species; Ap 14, Lep. o, O.I. 86 per cent. mee 3) 93 2) oy 2 1 43. 9, 28, 5, 28 ,, All these species show evidently the predominant part which Lepidoptera play as visitors of flowers in the Alpine region. ihe same result is arrived at by comparing sister-species or sister-genera of flowers, provided with nearly the same contrivances and growing one or some of them in the Alpine region, another or some others in the lower mountainous region, or in the plain. 7. Geranium pratense (a, b), and sylvaticum (c) :— a. Ap. 9, Lep. 0, O.I. 1 species; Ap. go, Lep. o, O.I. 10 per cent. Bee yy Ty 59>, Ty ie ” 9 79% 55 6 4 8 4, E i3) » “2 Eh ODE. he 8. Veronica chamedrys (a), and saxatilzs (c) :— a. Ap. 5, Lep. 1, O.I., 7 species; Ap. 38, Lep. 8, O.I. 54 per cent. Ci Oy 45, 3 S77 43 9. Fasione montana (a), and Phyteuma micheltt (c) :-— a. Ap. 47, Lep. 7, O.1. 47 species; Ap. 47, Lep. 7, O.I. 47 per cent. CG yi 7 » 13, 9 4 »» 20) 9, 54, 1 16 yy 10. Carduus crispus (a), acanthoides (b), and defloratus (c) — ‘ @. Ap. 9, Lep. 3, O.I. 3 species ; Ap. 60, Lep. 20, O.I. 20 per cent. BS) 5) 9) sy 7% IX 19 MSs) 55) 850 7 ie) 5 2%y gy 42) 387 ws 11. Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (a), corymbosum (b), and alpinum (c) :— a. Ap. 12, Lep. 8, O.I. 49 species; Ap. 17, Lep. 12, O.I. 71 per cent. » 3 9 3» I » 12%, 5. 12h 5 75 » MO 4 SY rs) Oa, 445 55Y oy 12, Senecio Facobea (a), nemorensis (b), abrotanifolius, Doronicum and nebrodensis (c) :— a. Ap. 15, Lep. 2, O.I. 19 species; Ap. 42, Lep. 5, O.1 53 per cent. mes 077 93 yoy eae ” 4T, 55 47) 51 IZ yy PMMIETS 56 20)0y5> T4955 Ph Sppahuen COP The predominant part played by Lepidoptera in the Alpine region would doubtless appear considerably less striking if the more southern or eastern districts of Germany had been compared with the Alps ; for, accor- ding to Dr. Speyer,* the number of species of Lepidoptera continually increases in Germany from the north south- wards, and from the west eastwards, to such an extent that, for instance, the number of species of diurnal butter- flies (Rhopalocera) amounts, near Hamburg, to 72, near Dantzig to 89, near Freiburg (Baden) to 109, and near Vienna to 130. Hence Lippstadt, in consequence of its north-west situation, ranges among the poorest localities of Germany with respect to butterflies ; and the environs Vienna would possibly have afforded nearly double the number of Lepidoptera as visitors of the above- Named flowers. But if even in a and @ of the above sta- stical notes the number of Lepidoptera be doubled, in all cases, with the sole exception of Senecio nemorensis, the Alpine region would retain a decided preponderance as regards the frequency of butterflies that visit flowers, nd even Senecio nemorensis is not an exception to the eral rule, as my observations on this species have not een made near Lippstadt, but in the “ Waldstein,” one ' the summits of the ‘‘ Fichtelgebirge.” Hence, though further observations may be necessary, cannot doubt that the increasing proportion of Lepi- doptera which visit flowers in the higher Alpine region will hold good, even after the most extensive and thorough €xamination of the whole of Germany. Some peculiarities the Alpine flora to be discussed in my next article, will, hope, confirm this opinion. ara: HERMANN MULLER _* Die geographische Verbreitung der Schmetterlinge Deutschlands und Schweitz, Von Dr. Adolph Speyer und August Speyer. Leipzig, 1858, 29. THE CHEMISTRY OF CREMATION is a paper recently published in a German periodical,* on the chemical bearings of cremation, Prof. Mohr calls attention to a point which, so far as we know, has not yet been considered. He remarks that, in the first place, it is necessary that the combustion of the body should be complete. Any- thing of the nature of distillation gives rise to the pro- duction of fetid oils, such as were produced when in early times dead horses were distilled for the manu- facture of sal-ammoniac. Such a revolting process is surely not compensated by the small commercial value of the products obtained. To effect complete combustion we must have a temperature such that the destruction is final, nothing remaining but carbonic acid, water, nitrogen, and ash ; for which purpose a complicated apparatus con- suming large quantities of fuel will be necessary. The gases produced can only be destroyed by being passed through red-hot tubes to which excess of atmospheric air can gain access. On comparing the substances produced by such a total decomposition of the body with those produced in the ordinary course of subterranean decay, it will be seen that one compound is totally lost by burning —the ammonia which results from the decomposi- tion of the nitrogenous tissues. This ammonia, es- caping into the air or being washed into the soil, is ultimately assimilated by plants—goes to the formation of nitrogenous materials, and thus again becomes available for animals. In the ordinary course of nature a con- tinuous circulation of ammonia between the animal and vegetable kingdoms is thus kept up: if we stop one source of supply of this substance, we destroy the equili- brium—we draw upon the ammoniacal capital of the globe, and in the course of time this loss cannot but react upon animal life, a smaller amount of which will then be possible. There is no compensating process going on in nature as is the case with the removal of atmospheric oxygen by breathing animals—we deduct from a finite quantity, and the descendants of present races will, in time to come, have to bear the sin of our shortsightedness, just as we have had to suffer through the shortsightedness of our ancestors, who destroyed ruthlessly vast tracts of forests, thereby incurring drought in some regions and causing destructive inundations in others. Another loss of ammonia is entailed by civilisation in the use of gunpowder. Nitre results from the oxidation of ammonia, and is a source of nitrogenous compounds to plants, which again reduce the nitrogen to a form avail- able for ammonia. The nitrogen liberated by the explo- sion of gunpowder adds to the immense capital of the atmosphere, but is no more available for the formation of plants. Every waste charge of powder fired represents a certain loss of life-sustaining material against which the economy of nature protests. The same is to be said of nitro-glycerine, gun-cotton, &c., which contain nitrogen introduced by the action of nitric acid. Wood and coal are other illustrations of finite capital. Every pound of these substances burnt in waste—con- sumed, that is, without being made to do its equivalent of work—is a dead loss of force-producing material, for which our descendants will in the far-distant future have to suffer. The changes brought about by the cessation of one large supply of ammonia may be compared with geological changes which, though of extreme slowness, produce vast changes in tie lapse of ages. R. M. A NEW MATERIAL FOR PAPER VP ee grass known as Canada Rice (Z#zania aquatica, Lin., Hydropyrum esculentum, Link) is welt known to American botanists as a cereal. Linnaeus names it, as long ago as 1750, in his “ Philosophia Botanica,” under the * Dahem, No 44 34 NATURE | Wov. 12, 1874 class of Cerealia; it is mentioned under that name by Lindley in his “Vegetable Kingdom ;” and in the “ Treasury of Botany ” it is stated that “the large seeds yield a considerable amount of food to the wandering tribes of Indians, and feed immense flocks of wild swans and other aquatic birds. It grows well in Britain when it is once established, but it is liable to die away if not cared for.” It is asserted, indeed, that many of the wan- dering tribes of native Indians depend on the harvest of Zizania, known by them as “ Tuscarora,” as their principal source of food during the winter ; and that so palatable is the grain that people who, at the period when it is ripe, make their way into the region where it grows, never fail to bring home a sackful as a present to their friends. It is not, however, as an article of food that we now call attention to the plant, but in consequence of its alleged value as a material for the manufacture of paper.* If all that is stated respecting it is confirmed, it will be a formidable rival to Esparto in the manufacture of the various kinds of printing paper, yielding fully as much of the raw material, and possessing the great and peculiar merit of being comparatively free from silicates ; it is claimed, indeed, that paper made from it is quite as strong and flexible as that made from rags. It is easily bleached, economical in respect of chemicals, pure in colour, and the paper presents a surface of perfect evenness remark- ably free from specks and blemishes. The paper has the further merit of receiving a very clear impression from the printer’s types. It would appear, indeed, to possess all the merits, without any of the defects, of Esparto. The Zizania belongs to the tribe Oryzez, closely resem- bling the rice-plant both in structure and habit, except that the flowers, instead of being perfect, are unisexual, but moncecious. The number of stamens in both plants is six. It is an aquatic plant, growing in swamps, ponds, and shallow streams, filling them up, during summer, with a dense annual growth. The average height is from 7 to 8 ft., but it not unfrequently reaches 12 or 14ft. The district in which it appears to flourish most abundantly is the Canadian territory, on the shores of Lakes Erie, St. Claire, and Ontario, from whence it can easily be trans- ported to Montreal, and shipped to any European port. It is stated that there will be no difficulty in obtaining an annual supply of 100,000 tons; but that the chief obstacle to its conveyance to Europe is the great bulk it occupies, and the consequent heavy freight, which seems at present to act as an almost entire prohibition on its importation, NOTES PROFESSOR MASKELYNE has offered to give a short course of lectures on Crystallography to those members of the Chemical Society who may be desirous of studying this subject. It is proposed, if a sufficient number of members intimate their inten- tion of attending, that the lectures be delivered on Mondays and Fridays, at 8.30 P.M. during the months of November, December, and January, commencing on the 23rd inst. Professor Maskelyne hopes it will be understood that gentlemen attending those lectures will be prepared to devote some of their leisure to working at the subject in the manner to be indicated by the lecturer. Crystallography cannot be studied without geometrical reasoning, but it will be Mr. Maskelyne’s endeavour to treat his subject with as small an amount of mathematical detail as is consistent with its due development. The lectures will be open to anyone introduced by a Fellow of the Chemical Society. It is particularly requested that members intending to attend these lectures will communicate their intention, previously to the 20th inst., to Dr. Russell. We congratulate the Chemical Society in having initiated such a movement. We hope the lectures will be largely taken advantage of, and that other societies will soon follow this excellent example. * For the majority of the following particulars we are indebted to an article in the Gardener's Chronicle. _ giving an account of the voyage between the Fiji Islands and News has been received from the Challenger up to Sept. 8, Torres Strait. Occasional squalls were met with, and the usual sounding, dredging, and trawling operations were carried on, Shortly after leaving Api Island, New Hebrides, soundings were taken in 2,650 fathoms, giving a bottom temperature of 35°7, the same temperature being obtained at 1,300 fathoms. The same phenomenon occurred for some distance, leading to the | conclusion that a valley exists at the place, surrounded by a ridge. Several new specimens of fish were found, and the naturalists | explored Raine Island. From Cape York the ship proceeds through Torres Strait and Arafura {Sea, visiting Manilla and other places, and arriving at Hong Kong about the middle of the present month, where she will stay till the end of December. Letters should be addressed to Singapore till the mail of Jan. 22, 1875 ; then to Yokohama, Japan. On Tuesday evening the winter session of ‘the Royal Geogra- phical Society was opened by an address from the president, Sir | H. C. Rawlinson, who reviewed the progress of discovery during | the past year, and expressed a confident hope that a new polar | expedition would be despatched under the auspices of her Majesty’s Government in the course of the coming year. Lieut. Payer was present, and the secretary read his narrative of the Austrian Polar Expedition, the main details of which have appeared in NATURE. A letter was also read from Dr. Peter. | mann, strongly urging upon her Majesty's Government the expe- diency of starting another polar expedition: this will be found in another column. 4 THE following, we learn from the 77mes, is the list of the new Council to be proposed for election at the anniversary meeting of | the Royal Society on St. Andrew’s Day, 30th inst. :—President, Joseph Dalton Hooker, C.B., M.D., D.C.L., LL.D.; treasurer, William Spottiswoode, M.A., LL.D. ; secretaries, Prof. George Gabriel Stokes, M.A., D.C.L., LL.D., and Prof. Thomas Henry Huxley, LL.D. ; foreign secretary, Prof. Alexander William Williamson, Ph, D. ; other members of the Council—Prof. J. C. Adams, LL.D., the Duke of Devonshire, K.G., D.C.L. ; John Evans, Pres. G.S., F.S..A. ; Captain Frederick J. O. Evans, R.N., C.B.; Albert C. L. G. Giinther, M.A., M.D. ; Daniel Hanbury, Treas. L, S.; Sir John Hawkshaw, M.L,.C.E.5 Joseph Norman Lockyer, F.R.A.S.; Robert Mallet, C.E., M.R.I.A. ; Nevil Story Maskelyne, M.A. ; C. Watkins Merrie field, Hon. Sec. I. N. A.; Prof. Edmund A. Parkes, M.D.; Right Hon. Lyon Playfair, C.B., LL.D. ; Andrew Crombie Ramsay, LL.D. ; Major-General Sir H. C. Rawlinson, K.C.B., and J. S. Burdon Sanderson, M.D. ; Tue Cambridge Board of Natural Sciences Studies have nominated Mr. F. M. Balfour, B.A., Fellow of Trinity College, and Mr. A. W. Marshall, Scholar of St. John’s College, as students in the Zoological Station at Naples until the end of next summer. THE Worshipful Company of Clothworkers have offered to the Board for Superintending Non-collegiate Students at Cambridge three exhibitions of the value of 50/. per annum each, to be awarded to non-collegiate students for proficiency in physical science, each exhibition to be tenable for three years, so that one will be available for competition annually. There will be an examina- tion for one of these exhibitions on Thursday, January 14, | in the Censor’s Room, at 9 A.M. The exhibition will be open to all non-collegiate students who have already commenced residence, or those not in residence, provided they commence not later tha Michaelmas Term 1875. Each candidate will have to satisfy the examiners in at least two of the following subjects :—Statics and dynamics, hydrostatics and pneumatics, heat ; and may be examined in not more than two of the following :—Chemistry, — botany, physical geography, including meteorology. Candidates” Nov. 12, 1874] NATURE a must send their names to the Rey. R. B. Somerset, Cambridge, on or before December 1, of whom further particulars may be obtained, THERE will be an examination for Scholarships and Exhibitions at Christ’s College, Cambridge, on April 6, 1875, and three following days, open to the competition of students who intend to commence residence in October 1875. Scholars will be elected for proficiency in one or more of the following subjects :—(1) Chemistry and chemical physics ; (2) geology and mineralogy ; (3) botany ; (4) zoology, with comparative anatomy and comparative physiology. A candidate may select his own subjects, but will be required to show such knowledge of classics and mathematics as to afford reasonable expeciation that he will pass the Previous Examination without difficulty. Every candi- date must send his name to the tutor (Mr. John Peile, M.A.) on or before March 30, 1875, and if a candidate in natural science, must state the subject in which he is desirous of being examined. WE regret to have to record the death at Chiswick on the and inst. of Dr. Thomas Anderson, late Professor°of Chemistry in the University of Glasgow. Dr. Anderson was born in 1819, and was educated at the University of Edinburgh. On leaving college he visited Stockholm, where he studied for some time under Berzelius, and afterwards went to Giessen and studied under Liebig. Returning to Edinburgh, he acquired consider- able reputation by teaching chemistry in the ‘Extra Academic Medical School at Edinburgh, and whilst so engaged received the appointment of Consulting Chemist to the Highland and Agricultural Society. In 1852 he succeeded Dr. Thomas Thomson as Professor of Chemistry in the University of Glasgow, and discharged the duties of the chair with great acceptance until 1869, when he was incapacitated from work by a paralytic seizure. Having had another attack of paralysis in May of the present year, he resigned his professorship in July last. Dr. Anderson was the author of several papers on the organic bases, especially those bases obtained from opium and coal-tar, and in the destructive distillation of animal substances. In a paper on “The Chemistry of Opium,” read before the Chemical Society in 1862, he described a valuable method of extracting the alkaloids of opium, and determining their relative qualities. Dr. J. H. Siack, one of the leading fish-culturists of the United States, and also well known both as a physician and naturalist, died at Bloomsbury, New Jersey, on the 27th of August last. THE first part is just issued of the ‘‘ Proceedings of the Physi- cal Society of London,” forming a volume of fifty-two pages, illustrated by two plates, and comprising reports of eleven papers read between March 21 and June 20, 1874. Among them is the very important one by Mr, Crookes, “On attraction and repulsion accompanying radiation,” The Society meets fort- nightly in the Physical Laboratory of the Science Schools at South Kensington, and now numbers about 130 members. THE Society of Arts commences its winter session next Wednesday, and a busy and useful session it promises to be. There are the general evening meetings of the Society, the Cantor Lectures, the African, Chemical, and Indian Sections, and the Christmas Juvenile Lectures. This Society, as all socie- ties should, seems to be getting more vigorous the older it grows, and between its lectures, its technological examinations, and its prizes, must be doing a great amount of good. THE New Zealand Government has sent special agents over to England for the purpose of collecting a quantity of small birds of various kinds, and a colony of humble-bees, for introduction into that country. It is expected that the consignment will be ready for despatch in a few days. Another attempt will also be made this year to send a quantity of salmon over to the antipodes, only 135 salmon being now alive out of the 120,000 salmon eggs which were despatched two years ago. THE production of opium in Asia Minor, which in former years averaged annually from 2,000 to 3,000 baskets or cases, each containing 150 lbs., has of late years much in- creased, and the crop now ayerages from 4,000 to 6,000 baskets. Out of this quantity, which is shipped at Smyrna, the United States take above 2,000 cases. England at one time consumed a large proportion. The Dutch East India Company also for many years have purchased large quantities annually to send to the islands of Java, Batavia, and Sumatra, and of late years the consumption generally has largely increased, especially for North and South America and the West Indies, Turkey opium is always preferred,in England before that of India, as it contains a much higher percentage of morphia than either Indian or Persian; it is on this account that the greater portion of the opium used for medicinal purposes both in Europe and America is the production of Asia Minor. The price of this opium in the market has advanced much of late ; fifteen years ago the average price was about 15s. per lb., and it now realises about 1/. per lb,, though the fair character even of this product has been tarnished by a system of adulteration which has prevailed during the past two years. About 300 cases of this adulterated opium have been sold in the period mentioned, so that purchasers are now very careful from whom they obtain the drug. OLtVvE oil is produced in large quantities in Tunis. The olive crops during the’past two years have been so abundant that there is still a great deal of oil in the country, notwithstanding the immense quantities, amounting in all to 3,472 tuns, of the value of 125,893/., that have been shipped during the past year to Great Britain, France, and Italy. It is said that without a great reaction takes place in the oil trade in Europe, vendors in Tunis will be puzzled to know what to do with the supplies they will have on hand. The deposits, or tanks, in the town are said to be capable of containing 6,000 tuns of oil, but they were not clear of the old supplies be‘ore the new was ready to be brought in. So far as the working of the native oil-mills is concerned, it is stated that no improvement has taken place. An| Italian company contemplates the introduction of a steam mill. For this purpose the British vice-consular house and its premises have been bought, and are to be converted into a mill. Some years ago one was tried at Mehdia, but did not answer. A second was erected near Susa, with the view of buying up the refuse or oil-cake after passing the native mills, and sub- mitting it to further pressure ; but this in the hands of the natives blew up. Ir seems to be very probable that the cultivation of sugar in Porto Rico, which has to a great extent succeeded that of cotton, will eventually give place to the growth of ccffee on a large scale. Referring to this subject the British Consul says :—“ The geographical configuration of the island would almost lead to the anticipation that some less succulent plant than the cane should supersede it in the district of Guayama. Some of the most fertile lands of the island are situated in it, and in favour- able seasons no other part of Porto Rico can rival its fecundity ; but the island is divided from east to west by a range of moun- tains, the highest of which, Laquillo, is at the extreme east, and at the southern foot of this mountain Guayama issituated. The trade winds blowing from the north-east cause the rain clouds to strike the northern side of Laquillo,and they are carried along the northern face of the Sierra, a limited portion passing over their summits to the south side. Thus Guayama and Ponce are sub- ject to drought. In the rich and populous district of Ponce this natural impediment has been overcome by an efficient system of irrigation, but Guayama is less favourably situated in all respects ; 30 NARUORE | Mov, 12, 1874 its position immediately south of Laquillo too often occasions the drought to continue, the soil is burnt up and divested of all fertility, and the residents are neither sufficiently rich nor suffi- ciently numerous to artificially irrigate their lands as their neigh- bours in Ponce have done. The consequence is, that the crops are very uncertain in their yield, and it is expected that if some- thing is not done to ensure irrigation, there will very soon be no produce at all.” WE have received a copy of the rules of the Metropolitan Scientific Association, the object of which is announced to be ‘*the investigation and promotion of the study of the Physical Sciences, including Astronomy, Geology, Chemistry, the various departments of Natural History, and Biology.” Lectures are to be given, and meetings for discussion to be held. The subscrip- tion is fixed at 5s. a year for members and 3s. 6¢. a year for associates. Mr. W. R. Birt, F.R.A.S., is the president, and the hon. sec., to whom all communications respecting the Associa- tion should be addressed, is Mr. C. W. Stidstone, 13, Moorgate Street, E.C. THE ash of the better coals of the American carboniferous age appears to be derived wholly from the plants which formed them. According to analyses by many chemists (quoted by Prof. Dana, in the last edition of his ‘‘Geology’’), made on lycopods, ferns,’ equiseta, mosses, conifera, &c., there is in them an average quantity of silica and alumina, such \that if the plants were converted into coal it would amount to 4 per cent. of the whole, and the whole ash would be 4°75. Many analyses of bituminous coal show but 3 per cent. of ash and 4'5 is an average. Hence it follows:—(1) That the whole of the impurity in the best coals may have been derived from the plants ; (2) the amount ofash in the plants was less than the average of modern species of the same tribes ; (3) the winds and waters for long periods contributed almost no dust or detritus to the marshes. In that era of moist climate and universal forests there was hardly any chance for the winds to gather dust or sand for trans- portation. THE Afedical Press draws attention toa new tonic medicine under the name of olde. The tree is said to be found on iso- lated mountain regions in Chili; the bark, leaves, and blossoms possessing a strong aromatic odour, resembling a mixture of tar- pentine and camphor. The leaves contain also a large quantity of essential oil. The alkaloid obtained from the plant is called ‘‘ Bol- dine.” Its properties are chiefly as a stimulant to digestion and having a marked action on the liver. Its action was discovered rather accidentally—thus : some sheep which were liver diseased were confined in aninclosure which happened to have been recently hedged with boldo twigs. The animals ate the leaves and shoots, and were obseryed to recover speedily. Direct observations prove its action: thus, one gramme of the tincture excites appetite, increases the circulation and produces symptoms of circulatory excitement, and acts on the urine, which gives out the peculiar odour of boldo. Though we have not seen any specimens of the boldo as imported, there seems little doubt but that it is the Boldoa fragvans, a2 Monimiaceous tree, the Chilian name of which, however, is usually written Bo/du. The leaves, which are rough, are opposite, ovate, and are borne on short stalks, The plant is dicecious, and the flowers are borne in axillary racemes. All parts of the tree are fragrant ; hence its specific name. The little berries are eaten, the bark is used for tanning, and the wood is considered by the natives superior to any other for making charcoal. A LARGE monumental fountain, ornamented by the celebrated sculptor Carpeaux, has been erected on the Observatoire Place at Paris. It represents Europe, Asia, Africa, and America rotating the globe, which they carry on their heads, and is very effective ; but in spite of M. Le Verrier’s protestations, they are rotating the globe from east to west, according to the Ptolemean theory. THE Khedive of Egypt has given his cordial support to the English Government Transit of Venus Expedition in Egypt. He has furnished the principal station on Mokattam Heights, 600 ft. above Cairo, with tents, a guard, and a mounted escort, and is making a telegraph line to connect that station with Greenwich, through the Submarine, Gibraltar, and Malta Cable. His Highness has also sent a steamer to tow the Thebes branch of the expedition to their destination, and he has brought all the huts and instruments up by special train from Suez. Srr Doucias Forsytu’s Varkand curiosities, illustrative of the ethnology of the regions he visited, will be shortly sent from India to South Kensington. WE are glad to see that Mr. T. H. Ince, furrier, of Oxford Street, has entered the lists as a technical educator, having just issued a neat booklet containing well-compiled, and on the whole trustworthy, information concerning the animals whose skins he makes use of in his trade. Many who read Mr. Ince’s drochure will be surprised at the great variety of animals, both British and foreign, whose skins are, in one way or another, turned to the uses of an advanced and luxurious civilisation. AT its last sitting the Council of the Paris Observatory de- clared that the Meridian Service is not in a good condition. M. Leverrier,‘therefore, has written to the Minister for Public Instruction, advising him to ask M. Loewy, a member of the Institute, and the head of the Meridian Service, to resign if he does not give up the direction of the Connaisance des Temps— both offices being too much for one man, however zealous and learned, AN immense number of errors have been discovered by M. Leverrier in the stellar observations, which were ready for printing, and which were made before the reorganisation of the Paris Observatory was completed. All these observations will be sub- jected to a most careful scrutiny, and many will be rejected alto- gether. The correct observations will not be printed before further reductions are made. A special credit of 15,000f, will be asked from the National Assembly for that special purpose, and will certainly be granted. THE several French public administrations have received in- structions to favour men who have been non-commissioned officers in the army in making subsidiary appointments in their offices. In some cases competitive examiuations will be established for these places. THE tanks of the Manchester Aquarium have just been en- riched by a remarkably fine specimen of the Angler (Lephius piscatorius), over 4 ft. ia length. The fish is in the best possible condition, and was obtained by the curator, Mr. W. Saville Kent, from the Royal fish weirs at Colwyn Bay. It is the first and only example of the species on exhibition at any of the many aquaria now established, and many interesting data will no doubt be derived from the observation of its habits for the first time in confinement, Tue additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include a Nisnas Monkey (Cercopithecus pyrrhonotis) from Nubia, presented by Dr, R. F. Mayne; a Bengalese Leopard Cat (Zelis bengalensis) and an Egyptian Cat (Zé/is chaus) from India, a Leadbeater Cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri) from Aus- tralia, deposited ; a pair of Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus) from India, and three Night Parrots (.S“izgops habroplilus) from New Zealand, purchased. These last-named birds form the finest collection of the species ever seen in this country, Nov. 12, 1874| NATURE 37 THE EXPLORATION OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS * TEN years ago, when arctic exploration was sought to be re- vived by the Royal Geographical Society, all, I think, were agreed as to the main points of the subject, while a diversity of opinion arose regarding one point, which appears to me only of secondary importance now—namely, the route to be chosen. There was a great deal of discussion upon this point, and whether it would be more advisable for a new English expedition to proceed west of Greenland up Smith Sound, or east of it, anywhere in the wide sea between Greenland and Novaya Zemlya. From the results arrived at by actual exploration since 1865, and the light shed by it upon the subject, it appears to me that a real ground for any such diversity of opinion no more exists, as the most noteworthy fact brought out by the various recent polar expeditions is a greater navigability in all parts of the arctic seas than was formerly supposed to exist. For my part, I readily admit that the Smith Sound route has turned out to be a great deal more practicable and navigable than could formerly be surmised from the experience of Kane and Hayes. Certainly both these attempts were made with in- sufficient means, Kane’s Advance being only a sailing brig, heavily laden and blown about by unusually strong gales, and Hayes’ schooner, the Uzted States, a mere sailing vessel of 133 tons, not fit for navigation in the arctic seas. When, therefore, Hall in 1871 tried this route with the Po/aris, he achieved most astounding results, for he sailed and steamed from Tessiusak without interruption in one stretch through the ill-famed Melville Bay, Smith Sound, Kennedy Channel, and into new seas as far as 82° N. lat., a distance of 700 miles, with the greatest ease in seven days, and even reached beyond the 82nd parallel. Yet his vessel, the Polaris, was only a small, weak-powered steamer, by no means well fitted for the work, and manned by a motley crew, hampered by Eskimo families and little children. While I thus readily admit my expectations to have been far exceeded by recent experience, similar progress has also been made on all the other routes into the central area of the arctic regions, and a great deal has been achieved, even with small means. From the results already arrived at, it is evident that with appropriate steam-vessels, making use of the experience gained, that central area will be penetrated as far as the North Pole, or any other point. As I cannot but think that an English exploring expedition will soon leave for the arctic regions, I take this opportunity to state to you explicitly that I withdraw everything I formerly said that might be construed into a diversity of opinion on the main points at issue, and that I now distinctly approve before- hand of any route or direction that may be decided on for a new expedition by British geographers. For those expeditions which I myself have been able to set on foot since 1865, the most direct and shortest routes and the nearest goals seemed the most advisable, as only very small means could be raised, and these chiefly by promising to break new ground and open new lines of research never before attempted. With the same small means at our command, we could not have done as much as we did elsewhere. At my instance, more or less, seven very modest expeditions and sum- mer cruises went forth. The first one, a reconnoitring tour in 1868 under Captain Koldeway, consisted of a little Norwegian sloop of only about sixty tons, no bigger than an ordinary trawling smack; she was purchased at Bergen, received the name of Germania, and went towards East Greenland, then to the east of Bear Island, on to the north of Spitzbergen beyond the $1st parallel, and surveyed portions of East Spitzbergen not before reached by English or Swedish expeditions. Next year, 1869, started the so-called second Geiman expedition, consisting of two vessels, a screw steamer of 143 tons, called the Germania, and a sailing brig of 242 tons, called the Hansa, as a tender ; they went again to East Greenland, explored this coast as far as 77° N. lat., and discovered a magnificent inlet, Franz-Joseph Fjord, extending far into the interior of Greenland, navigable, and the shores of it enlivened by herds of reindeer and musk oxen, It was also shown that the interior of Greenland in this region consists not of a slightly elevated table-land, as formerly supposed, but of splendid mountain masses of Alpine character, The account of this expedition, which also wintered on the coast of East Greenland in 723° N. lat., is before you inan English dress. * A letter addressed to the President of the Royal Geographical Society, a copy of which has been forwarded to us by Dr. Petermann, Besides this, I got my friend Mr. Rosenthal, a shipowner, to allow two scientific men, Dr. Dorst and Dr. Bessels, to ac- company two of his whaling steamers, one to explore the seas east of Spitzbergen, the other those east of Greenland; both made highly interesting and valuable scientific observations, which have not yet been published. In 1870 my friends Baron Heuglin and Count Zeil went from Troms in a small schooner of thirty tons to East Spitzbergen, and collected most interesting in- formation on a region never before visited by scientific men ; and when Baron Heuglin had been out a second time, the next following year (1871), again with one of Rosenthal’s expeditions, he published a valuable work in three volumes. In the same year Payer and Weyprecht went in the /s47077, a sailing vessel of forty tons, from Tromso, to explore still further northward than Bessels the sea east of Spitzbergen, which was done with great success as high up as 78° 43’ N. lat. (in 42} E. long. Gr.) and as far east as 59° E. long. ‘The scientific results of this cruise have also not yet been fully worked out. Thus from the interior of Greenland, in 30° W. long. to 59° E. long. east of Spitzbergen, a width of about ninety degrees of longitude has been explored, and highly interesting results obtained. The cost of these seven expeditions and cruises was about 140,000 thalers, or altogether 20,000/., of which 5,000 thalers, or 750/., were contributed by the Government of Germany; all the rest by private individuals, my friend Rosenthal spending upwards of 30,000 thalers. Half of the results of these expe- ditions have not yet been published, but the woik of the second German expedition in four volumes, and that by Baron Heuglin in three volumes, are finished, and are, I think, a credit to the explorers. I have mentioned these details in order to show that such endeavours to extend human knowledge, improve the spirit of the navy, and foster ataste for the progress of science, are|not necessarily expensive. A really effective expedition will cost more, but also accomplish more; in this respect a reviewer in the Atheneum, in reviewing our second expedition, says that “to start on expeditions such as these in vessels ill-adapted, ill- strengthened, ill-found, and ill-provisioned, is but to court failure ;” to which I say Amen. One well-appointed English expedition of ore or two strong steamers may well be able to penetrate to the furthest points of our globe. Even the whaling ships, now furnished as they are with steam, penetrate as a rule to where it was thought impossible for such a fleet to pursue their valuable fisheries ; the ill-famed middle ice of Baffin’s Bay is to them no more impenetrable, and extreme points reached by former discovery expeditions in the course of a long series of years are now visited and passed by one whaling vessel in the course of a few summer months. Up to 1869 the general opinion was that from Bear Island in 742° N. lat. there extended the line of heavy impenetrable pack- ice eastward as far as Novaya Zemlya; that, working along this coast, the furthest limit of navigation was at Cape Nassau ; and that the Kara Sea was entirely and always filled with masses of ice, totally impracticable for any navigation. But the Nor- wegians, with their frail fishing-smacks of only thirty tons at an average, have for five consecutive years every year navigated all those seas hitherto considered as totally impenetrable ; they have repeatedly circumnavigated the whole of Novaya Zemlya, crossed the Kara Sea in every direction, penetrated to the Obi and Yenisei, and shown beyond the shadow of a doubt that navi- gation can generally be pursued there during five months of the year, from June to October, and moreover, that the whole of the Kara Sea and the Siberian Sea far to the north are every year more or less cleared of theirice, both by its melting and drifting away to the north. I have had the journals of many of these cruises sent to me from Norway, containing a mass of good ob- servations made at the instance of the Government Meteoro- logical Office under the superintendence of Prof. Mohn, at Christiania. If another proof of confirmation were wanting, it has been furnished by Mr. Wiggins, of Sunderland, who this summer also navigated through the Kara Sea as far as the mouth of Obi. As to the sea between Novaya Zemlya and Spitzbergen, the very first time in our days its navigation was attempted, namely, by Weyprecht and Payer in 1871, it was found navigable even in a small sailing vessel of forty tons up to 79° N. lat., and in the eastern half of it no ice whatever was met with. The experience of their last expedition in 1872 certainly has been the reverse, as they encountered much and dense ice, at least in the direction of Cape Nassau ; but it would lead to erroneous conclu- sions, if it were not taken into account that the Norwegians at 38 NATURE [NMov. 12, 1874 the same time found the western half of that sea quite free of ice, Iam not going to make any remark upon the late Austrian expedition, as its results and observations are not sufficiently before us, but I am authorised by a letter of Lieut. Weyprecht, the nautical commander, dated the 1st November, to state that, before he has published his extensive observations, he warns against all premature conclusions, and concludes the letter which I shall publish in the next part of the AZttthetlungen, and in which he expresses his own views on the arctic question for the first time, with the sentence ‘‘that he considers the route through the Siberian Sea as far as Behring Strait as practicable as before, and would readily take the command of another expe- dition in the same direction.” I believe myself that the navigability of the seas to the north of Novaya Zemlya can as little be called in question by this one drift of the Austrian expedition, as the navigability of Baffin’s Bay by the drifts of De Haven, M‘Clintock, and the crew of the Folaris. ‘These drifts by no means prevent others from pene- trating the same seas. And here I may be allowed to refer in a few words to the other end of this route, the seas north of Behring Strait. Capt. Cook in 1778, and his second in command, Capt. Clerke, in 1779, believed to have reached the extreme limit of navigation by attaining Icy Cape (in 70}° N. lat.) on the American, and North Cape (in 69° N. lat.) on the Asiatic side, and they con- sidered further attempts there as madness as well as to any practical purpose useless. Capt. Beechey, however, with his lieutenant, the present Admiral Sir Edward Belcher, penetrated already in 1826 as far as Point Barrow, and expressed the result of his experience in the weighty sentence: ‘‘ I have always been of opinion that a navigation may be performed along any coast ofthe Polar Sea that is continuous.” * And, true enough, many a follower has sailed along the whole of the northernmost coast of America, though exposed to the pressure of the immense pack- ice masses from the north impinging upon these coasts. Capt. Kellett, with the Herald, a vessel not intended for ice navigation, penetrated in 1849 with ease to 72°51’ N. lat. into the Polar Sea so much dreaded by Cook and Clerke, discovered Herald Island, and what is now called by some Wrangel Land, and found the ice not at allso formidable as supposed previously. Going over the similar experience of Collinson, Maclure, Rodgers, and others, we come to the time when the Americans established a highly profitable whale fishery in seas considered entirely useless by Cook and Clerke, gaining as much as $8,000,000 in two years, It was in one of these years that a shipmaster went as far as 74° N. lat., nearly due north of Herald Island, and saw peaks and mountain ranges far to the northward of his position. Another, Capt. Long, went a considerable distance along the Siberian coast to the west, and did more in a few days with a sailing vessel than Admiral Wrangel had been able to accomplish with sledges in winter in the course of four years, in the same region. Ina letter dated Honolulu, 15th January, 1868, he says :— “That the passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean will be accomplished by one of the routes I have indicated I have as much faith in as I have in any uncertain event of the future, and much more than I had fifteen years ago in the success of the Atlantic Telegraph. Although this route will be of no great importance to commerce as a transit from one ocean to the other, yet could the passage along the coast as far as the mouth of the Lena be successfully made every year (which I think probable) it would be of great benefit in developing the resources of Northern Siberia.” + To the north-east of Spitzbergen, also, an interesting cruise was recently made by Mr, Leigh Smith, who in 1871, with only a sailing schconer of 85 tons, reached as far as 27° 25/ E. of Greenwich in 80° 27’ N, lat., 4° of longitude further than any authenticated and observing navigator before him. At this point he had before him to the east—consequently in the direction of the newly-discovered Franz-Joseph Land—nothing but open water on the 6th of September, 1871, as far as the eye could reach. That land would be found in the locality where the Austrian Expedition actually found it, I have long predicted. Gillis Land, after Keulen’s map generally considered to be situated in 80° N, lat., 30° E. long., by the Swedish explorers erroneously put down in 79° N. lat., I have from the original text concluded to bein 813° N. lat. and 37° E. long. Greenwich, This approaches * Beechey : Voyage, vol. ii. p. 297. + Nautical Magazine, 1868, p. 242. to within eighty nautical miles of Franz-Joseph Land, which was sighted westward as far as 46° E. long. ; but in this longitude there was not as yet any limit of the land. The flight of im- mense numbers of brent-geese and other birds in the same direc- tion has long been observed by various voyagers, and it has also been noticed that not only migrations of birds but also of mammals take the same direction ; the Norwegian fishermen on the north of Spitzbergen have repeatedly caught immense numbers of walrus and ice-bears at the Seven Islands, and espe- cially on their north-eastern side, whereas at Spitzbergen the walrus is now very scarce and the ice-bear almost extinct. I consider it also highly probable that that great arctic pioneer and navigator William Baffin may have seen the western shores of Franz-Joseph Land as long ago as 1614, for in that year he proceeded to 81° N. lat., and thought he saw Jand as far as 82° to the north-east of Spitzbergen (which is accordingly marked in one of Purchas’s maps.* It is true the account of this voyage is very meagre, but so is the account of his voyage and still greater discovery of Baffin’s Bay two years after, which Sir John Barrow calls ,‘‘the most vague, indefinite, and unsatisfactory,” and on his map leaves out Baffin’s Bay altogether, and this, be it observed, in the year 1818!+ Barrington and Beaufoy, though inserting Baffin’s discoveries in their map dated March 1, 1818, describe them in the following words :—‘‘ Baffin’s Bay, according to the relation of Mr. Baffin in 1616, dut mot now be- Zeved!” Vith Barents’s important voyages and discoveries it is exactly the same. The Russians, who only navigated as far as Cape Nassau, also tried to erase Barents’s discoveries from the map and cut off the north-eastern part of Novaya Zemlya altogether. { But old Barents has been found more trustworthy and correct than all the Russian maps and pilots put together. Even the identical winter hut of that great Dutch navigator, nearly 300 years old, has been found by the Norwegian Capt. Carlsen on Sept. 9, 1871, and many interesting relics brought home by him ; so that the truth and correctness of those famous old Dutch voyages has been proved beyond all doubt. In like manner, Baffin’s voyage to within sight of the western shores of Franz-Joseph Land may be considered trustworthy until some substantial proof of the contrary is brought forward. Nay, it even appears to me that the report given of another remarkable voyage of a Dutch navigator, Cornelis Roule, merits attention and is to be considered in the same way as Baffin and Barents ; so that if it be as true as the voyages of these navigators, it may yet be found that Franz-Joseph Land was already discovered and sailed through up to 744° or 75° N. lat. nearly 300 years ago. This report runs thus :—‘‘I am informed with certainty that Capt. Cornelis Roule has been in 843° or 85° N. lat. in the longitude of Novaya Zemlya, and has sailed about forty miles between broken land, seeing large open water behind it. He went on shore with his boat, and from a hill it appeared to him that he could go three days more to the north. He found lots of birds there and very tame.” § Now, the m-.in longitude of Novaya Zemlya is 60° E. Greenwich, and passes sight through Austria Sound and Franz-Joseph Land ; the latter is a ‘‘ broken land” also, behind which Lieut. Payer saw ‘‘ large open water,” and found ‘lots of birds !” Be this as it may, we now come to Sir Edward Parry’s voyage north of Spitzbergen, regarding which it is an undoubted fact that he reached 82° 45’ N. lat., the furthest well authenticated point yet reached by any navigator, and a feat unsurpassed to this day. There is, however, no doubt that the northern coast of Spitz- bergen lies just in the teeth of one of the most formidable ice- currents, and one that summer and winter is sweeping its ice masses just towards these coasts. If, therefore, an English expedition should take Spitzbergen as a basis to start from, ‘it would require two vessels, one of which ought to go up the west coast, the other up the east coast; for when northerly and westerly winds prevail, the first vessel would probably be ham- pered by ice, and the second vessel find it navigable up the east coast, and if easterly and southerly winds prevailed, the reverse would be the case. * Barrington and Beaufoy, pp. 4oand qr. + Barrow, “Chronological History,” p. 216 and map. t This was actually attempted by a pilot of the ‘‘ Russian Imperial Marine,” and found its way also into vol. vili. of the Journal of the R. G. S., p- 411, where the map is spoken of as ‘‘ showing the acfwa/ outline of its works, as traced by the pilot Ziwolka, from the latest examinations, by which it will be seen that more than the eastern half represented on our maps has no existence in reality!” § Wilsen, N. and O. Tartarye, folio 1707, 2 decl., p. 920. See also Proc. R.G.S. ix. p. 178. of Nov. 12, 1874| It is by way of Smith Sound, however, that navigation has hitherto been pushed furthest, and here an English expedition, so long projected, may well operate. At the same time the east coast of Greenland seems still worthy of attention. The second German expedition did not proceed far to the north, it is true, but it was easy enough to reach the coast, and Lieut. Payer told me this was merely somcthing like a “cab drive.”” Capt. Gray, of Peterhead, a most experienced arctic navigator, wrote already in 1868 thus :— Having for many years pursued the whale fish- ery on the east coast of Greenland, and observed the sides, the set of currents, and the state of the ice in that locality at various seasons of the year, I think that little if any difficulty would be experienced in carrying a vessel in a single season to a very high latitude, if not to the pole itself, by taking the ice at about the latitude of 75°, where generally exists a deep bight, some- times running in a north-west direction upwards of 100 miles towards Shannon Island, from thence following the continent of Greenland as long as it was found to sound in the desired direc- tion, and afterwards pushing northwards through the loose fields of ice which I shall show may be expected to be found in that locality. The following are the reasons on which that opinion is founded :—In prosecuting the whale fishery in the vicinity ot Shannon Island there are generally found loose fields of ice, with a considerable amount of open water, and a dark water sky along the land to the northward ; the land water sometimes extending for at least fifty miles to the eastward ; and, in seasons when south-west winds prevail, the ice opens up yery fast from the land in that latitude. The ice on the east coast of Greenland is what is termed field or floe ice, the extent of which varies with the nature of the season ; but it is always in motion, even in winter, as is proved by the fact that ships beset as far north as 78° have driven down during the autumn and winter as far south as Cape Farewell. Thus there is always the means of pushing to the northward by keeping to the land ice, and watching favourable openings. ”” And quite recently, in communicating the result of his expe- rience the present year, he writes :—‘‘ During the past season I had too many opportunities of observing the drift of the ice. In May, June, July, and August, its average drift was fully four- teen miles a day ; in March and April it must have been driving double that rate. calculate that nearly the wh ole of the ice was driven out of the arctic basin last summer. I went north to 479° 45 in August, and found the ice all broken up, whereas down in 77° the floes were lying whole in the sea, clearly showing that the ice in $0? must have been broken up_by a swell from the north, beyond the pack to the north, which I could see over; there was a dark water sky reaching north until lost in the dis- tance, without a particle of ice to be seen in it. I was convinced at the time, and so was my brother, that we could have gone up the pole, or at any rate far beyond where anyone had ever been before. I bitterly repent that I did not sacrifice my chance of finding whale and make the attempt, although my coals and pro- visions were wearing down. Although I have never advocated an attempt being made to reach the pole by Spitzbergen, knowing well the difficulties that would have to be encountered, my ideas are now changed from what I saw last voyage. I am now con- yinced that a great advance towards the pole could occasionally be made without much trouble or risk by Spitzbergen, and some of our amateur navigators will be sure to do it and pluck the honour from the Royal Navy. I do not know if the Zc/ipse will be sent to the Greenland whale fishery next year ; if I go I shall be able to satisfy myself more thoroughly as to the clearing out of the ice this year, because it will necessarily be of a much lighter charac- ter than usual.” + Tf this important information should be considered worthy the attention of the British geographers and the Admiralty, there would, perhaps, be two steamers sent out to make success doubly certain, one to proceed up the west coast of Greenland by way of Smith Sound, the other up the east coast of Greenland. But whatever may be decided on, I trust that the British Government will no longer hold back to grant what all geogra- phers and all scientific corporations of England have been beg- ging for these ten long years, and afford the means for a new effective expedition to crown these, our modest endeavours, of which I have given an outline. We in Germany and Austria have done our duty, and I am happy to have lived to see that our humble endeavours, the work of our arctic explorers, have * Proc. R. G.S., vol. xii. p. 197 + Letter of Capt. David Gray to Mr. Leigh Smith, dated Peterhead, Sept. 21, 1874. NATURE 39 gained your approbation—that of the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain. We have done all we could in the private mannner we had to do it ; for, as a nation, we Germans are only now beginning to turn our attention to nautical matters. We have had no vessels, no means, and our Government has had to fight three great wars these ten years. But, nevertheless, we have had in this interval German, Austrian, . American, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian polar expeditions, of which even an Italian officer took part at the instance of the Italian Govern- ment. And England, formerly always taking the lead in these matters, is almost the only maritime power that has kept aloof. When, nearly thirty years ago, one man of science proposed that magnetical observations should be extended, it was at once answered by the Government then by sending out to the antarctic regions an expedition of two vessels, the Erebus and Terror, under that great navigator, Sir James Clarke Ross, which has never yet been eclipsed as to the importance of its results and the lustre it shed on the British Navy. I do not know the views held in England now, but I know that to us outsiders the achievements and work of a man like Sir James Clarke Ross or Livingstone has done more for the prestige of Great Britain than a march to Coomassie, that cost nine millions of pounds sterling. That great explorer, Livingstone, is no more; his work is going to be continued and finished by German and American explorers ; we shall also certainly not let the arctic work rest till it is fully accomplished, but it surely behoves Great Britain now to step in and once more to take the lead. AUGUSTUS PETERMANN, Hon. Cor. Member and Gold Medallist, Gotha, Nov. 7, 1874 Royal Geographical Society. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LONDON Chemical Society, Nov. 4.—Dr. Odling, president, in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On methyl-hexyl- carbinol, by Dr. C. Schorlemmer ; On the action of organic acids and their anhydrides on the natural alkaloids, Part I., by Dr. C. R. A. Wright ; On the action of bromine in the presence of water on bromopyrogallol and on bromopyrocatechin, by Dr. J. Stenhouse ; The action of baryta on oil of cloves, by Prof. ‘A. H. Church ; Observations on the use of permanganate of potash in volumetric analysis, and on the estimation of iron in iron ores, by Mr. E. A. Parnell ; Further researches on bilirubin and its compounds, by Dr. J. L. W. Thudichum. Zoological Society, Nov. 3.—Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—The secretary read a report on the additions that had been made in the Society’s menagerie during the months of June, July, August, and September, 1874. —Mr. Sclater gave an account of some visits he had recently made to several zoological gardens and museums in France and Italy, and made remarks upon some of the principal objects noticed therein. —Mr. G. Dawson Rowley exhibited and made remarks upon some rare birds from New Zealand, amongst which were fine examples of Afteryx haasti, and a living pair of Sceloglaux albifacies.—Mr. A. R. Wallace exhibited some rhinoceros horns obtained in Borneo by Mr. Everett, proving that this animal was still found living in that island.—Mr. J. Gould exhibited a new parrot, of the genus Aprosmictus, recently obtained on the Darling Downs, in Queensland. Mr. Gould proposed to call this bird Aprosmictus insignissimus.—A letter from Mr. Swinhoe was read respecting some bats obtained by him at Ningpo.—A communication was read from M. L. Taczanowski, conservator of the museum at Warsaw, in which he gave a list of the birds collected by M. Constantine Jelski in the central part of Western Peru. Amongst these were eighteen species described as new to science.—A communication was read from Mr. Frederick Moore, giving descriptions of some new Asiatic Lepidoptera.— A communication was read from Mr. George Gulliver, containing measurements of the red corpuscles of the blood of Wipfopo- tamus amphibius, Otaria jubata, and Trichecus rosmarus.— Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe read a paper entitled ‘‘ Contributions to a history of the Accipitres, or birds of prey.” The first of this series contained notes on the females of the common and South African kestrels.—A communication was read from Mr. Henry Adams, giving the descriptions of some new species of shells from various localities, also of a new genus ot Bivalves from Mauritius Mr. A. H. Garrod read a paper on points in the anatomy of the parrots which bear on the classification of the sub-order. This 40 NATURE : [Mov. 12, 1874 memoir was based upon the examination of a large number of in- dividuals belonging to seventy-nine species, chiefly from the So- ciety’s living collection, and contained a new arrangement of the group based principally upon the arrangement of the carotid arteries, and the presence or absence of the amiens muscle, the furcula, and the oil-gland.—A communication was read from Mr. G. B. Sowerby, jun., giving the descriptions of five new species of shells from different localities —A communication was read from Mr. E. P. Ramsay, wherein he described five new species of Australian birds, and of the egg of Chamydodera ma- culata. The birds described were—Cypselus terre-regine, Ailuredus maculosus, Plilotis frenata, Eopsaltria inornata, and Rhipidura superciliosa. Royal Microscopical Society, Nov. 4.—Chas. Brooke, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—A paper by Dr. Jas. Fleming, On microscopical leaf-fungi from the Himalayas, was taken as read ; it was illustrated by drawings, and many of the species described had been identified by Mr. M. C. Cooke as being the same as those known in Europe.—A paper by the Rev. W. H. Dallinger and Dr. Drysdale, in continuance of their series. On the life history of Monads, was read by the secretary. It minutely described a form repeatedly met with in macerations of the heads of codfish and salmon, and traced the development and reproduction in all stages, and was illustrated by drawings, which were enlarged upon the black board by Mr. Chas. Stewart. The observations had extended oyer several years, and had been conducted with the greatest care under various powers up to sin. The results of experiments were also given, and con- clusively showed that exposure to temperatures of 220° and 300° F. had failed to destroy the germs of these organisms. Some interesting living objects, stated to be larval forms of the common cockle, were exhibited and described by Mr. Wood ; but the similarity of these forms to some which were exhibited at the previous meeting, and presumed to be Bucephalus poly- morphus, having been pointed out by Mr. Stewart, an interesting discussion followed. Perryia pulcherima, Kitton, was exhibited under one of the Society’s instruments. PARIS Academy of Sciences, Oct. 26.—M. Bertrand in the chair, —The following papers were read :—Note on Dr. Zenker’s cometary theory, by M. Faye. The theory commented upon supposes that comets owe their movements in part to the attrac- tive force of the sun and in part to the evolution of gases from the surface of the comet by the action of the sun’s heat. The gases are supposed to consist of water vapour, and a hydro- carbon, and the motion produced by their rapid generation from the surface of the comet nearest to the sun is regarded as of an opposite nature to that produced by gravitation. M. Faye dis- sents from these views, and promises a further examination of the question in a future paper.—Note on the average ration of the French countryman, by M. Hervé Mangon. The author con- cludes, from a statistical inquiry into the subject, that the daily ration of the French labourer is not sufficiently high, and that for the welfare of the country this ration should be increased.— On the composition and physical properties of the products from coal-tar, by M. Dumas. The analyses and experiments were undertaken by the author with a view to test the insecticidal properties of coal-tar as applied to the destruction of Phylloxera. The hydrocarbons appear to have the most energetic action, the portion boiling below 110° causing death in five minutes. —Pre- sentation of the geographical programme forming part of the new plan of studies for the colleges, by M. E.. Levasseur. —On the analytical theory of Jupiter’s satellites, by M. Souillart. The author had given, in a previous memoir, the formule for calcu- lating the inequalities of longitude and of the vadzz vectores of the satellites. In the present memoir the problem has been solved for the latitudes and the secular equations of the longitudes.— Lighth note on the electric conductivity of bodies which are imper- fect conductors, by M. Th. du Moncel.—On the fermentation of apples and pears, by MM. G. Lechartier and F. Bellamy, The experiments described have been carried on since 1872, and are considered by the authors as a veritable demonstration of Pasteur’s deduction from his theory of fermentation, that ‘‘the formation of alcohol is due to the fact that the chemical and physical life of the fruit-cells is continued under new conditions in a similar manner to those of the cells of the ferment.”—Absorption of gas by iron wire heated to redness and thinned by immersion in dilute sulphuric acid during the operations of wire-drawing, by M. D. Sévoz. The author has not yet determined the nature of this gas.—On the isomerism of acetylene perbromide and the hydride of tetrabrominated ethylene, by M. E. Bourgoin. The last- named substance is obtained by the uction of bromine and water on bibromsuccinic acid, and is described as a crystalline substance melting at 54°5°. Perbromide of acetylene is a liquid formed when acetylene is passed into bromine heated to 50° under a layer of water. The author considers acetylene per- bromide to be an additive compound of the acetylene series, while the other substance is derived by substitution from ethylene or ethyl hydride.—Researches on the decomposition of certain salts by water; second note, by M.‘A. Ditte. The author has now studied the decomposition bismuthous and bismuthic nitrates and of antimonious chloride.—On electro-magnets ; a note by M. Deleuil. This paper refers to the use of electro instead of ordinary magnets for removing iron from the paste employed in the manufacture of porcelain.—Researches on the fleece of merino sheep, by M. A. Sanson. Geographical Society, Oct. 21.—President, M. Delesse.— Dr. Hamy communicated the result of his researches on the geographical distribution of the human race in Eastern Mela- nesia. He showed that the penetration of the Papuan populations by the Polynesians is much less exceptional than has been hitherto believed. It has been long known that there has been a con- siderable immigration of Tongans into Viti. Ouvea, in the Loyalty Islands, was invaded at the beginning of this century by Kanakes from the Wallis Isles, the eastern coast of New Caledonia containing a very large number of Melano-Poly-. nesian Metis, the yellow variety of M. Bougarel, who perhaps found them on Isabella Island, in the Solomon group. The recent discoveries of Captain Moresby show the Polynesians strongly established in the southern extremity of New Guinea, According to M. J. Verreau they had penetrated as far as Australia, where a small tribe having all the characteristics of Polynesians has been established for about thirty years in the neighbourhood of Cape Capricorn. BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED BritisH.—Tables for Travellers: Admiral Bethune (W. Blackwood),— Out of Doors: Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A., F.L.S. (Longmans).— Charts of Meteorological Data (Meteorological Office). — Remarks on Charts of Meteorological Data (Meteorological Office).—Insects Abroad: Rey. J. G. Wood, M.A., F.L.S. (Longmans).—The Races of Mankind, vol. ii. ; Robert Brown, M.A. (Cassell, Petter, and Co.)—The Earth as Modified by Human Action: G. P. Marsh (Sampson Low and Co.)—The German Arctic Expe- dition of 1873-74: Capt. Koldeway (Sampson Low and Co.)—The Sheep: W. C. Spooner, M.R.V.C. (Lockwood and Co.)—A Year's Botany: Frances Anna Kitchner (Rivingtons).—The Safe Use of Steam. By an Engineer (Lockwood and Co.)—Observations of Magnetic Declination: J. A. Brown, F.R.S. (H. S. King and Co.)—The Elements of Psychology : Robert Jardine (Macmillan and Co.)—Winter and Spring on the Shores of the Mediter- ranean: James H. Hennet (J. and A. Churchill).—Physiological Chemistry : S. W. Moore (Smith, Elder, and Co.)—Philosophy of History: Hugh Doherty, M.D. (Triibner and Co.) AMERICAN.— Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, vol. xvi. Part 1V.—Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, vol. ii. No. 3 —Address of Ex-President Joseph Lovering, American Institute for the Advancement of Science at Hartford. CONTENTS Sir Joun Luspock aT BIRMINGHAM .. « - . « + « » « Tue Naturat History oF SPITZBERGEN AND Nova ZEMBLA . . . 22 H&ckev's DEVELOPMENT OF Man, II. By Dr. PyE-SmMitH . . . . 22 IsmAWwIA (With Illustration) («oie t= 6 © ~~ s0ilel isi eeedl LeTTERS TO THE EDITOR — Endowment of Research.—GrorGE DARWIN . . . . . + «© 27 The University of London.—Puitip MaGnus . . . . . Gresham Lectures.— Maurice LICHTENSTEIN . . +... « 28 Insects aud Colour in Flowers.—F. T. Mott: Josern JouNn MURPHY 6. sje cs Bibi s fo cc eile lean nats an Ss Locomotion of Meduside.—Grorce J. RoMANES. . . - « « - 29 Suicide of a Scorpion.—G. Brpie. we) aay ce he: | ae ey eee ee Tue Amu Expepition (With Idlustyations). . . »« « «+ + « « iG MemortAL To JEREMIAH HORROCKS . ee ceOmtcw MEG: co 2 FERTILISATION OF FLowers By Insects, VII. By Dr, Hz2MANN WIULGER utes ap tevin cies nt eva! SSM Es cient eh oe 32 Tue CHEMISTRY OF CREMATION. . . . « . 0's ee aC i | AUNEW MATERIAL FORSDAPER.) Yes) 0) isi - «| s+) Set (ot Ae NOTES « . = = i Aol Kobe, ie iei>.b% *\ sof) s Le) ey a gteluel ee! 94 Tue EXPLORATION OF THE ArcTIC Recions. By Dr. PETERMANN . 37 SocrETIES AND ACADEMIES eS Gn CR Ot Books AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED. . . s+. e@ «© « ; NATURE 41 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1874 ELIE DE BEAUMONT HE life of the science of geology has been short ; that of many of its illustrious votaries has been long. There still survive a few whose recollections go back to the early triumphs of the science in the days of William Smith and Cuvier. But their number grows rapidly less. One by one the links which bind us personally with the glories of the past are being snapped asunder. The grand old oaks under whose branches the younger saplings have grown up are fast dropping down. Within the last few years we have lost in this country our Murchison, Sedg- wick, and Phillips; Austria her Haidinger ; Germany her Gustav Rose, Bischof, and Naumann; America her Agassiz, and France her D’Archiacand De Verneuil. To this list we have now to add the well-known name of L. Elie de Beaumont. To the expressions of regret with which the friends and pupils of that father in science have followed his remains to the tomb, geologists in every country will add their sympathy. Those who knew him best have eulogised his love of truth, his piety, and his generous feeling for younger and struggling men of science. The name of Elie de Beaumont is chiefly known out of France by its association with two theories—Crvatéres de soulduzment and the Résaw pentagonale--which he es- poused and vigorously defended, but neither of which has met with general acceptance, though no one can peruse the writings in which they are developed without ad- miring the wonderful industry of Elie de Beaumont in the accumulation of facts and the felicitous imagination with which he marshalled these facts in support of the theory to which he had pledged himself. It is not easy for geologists in other countries to understand the vast influence which for nearly half a century he has held in France. We must bear in mind the system of centralisa- tion which controls even scientific enterprise in that country, and the fact that Elie de Beaumont held official posts in Paris which gave him a powerful sway over geo- logical and mining matters, especially such as were under the guidance of the State. Hence it was not merely his great reputation, but his official position, which enabled him for so many years in great measure to control the progress of physical geology in his native country. This eminent geologist was born in the year 1798. In 1817 he entered the Ecole Polytechnique, where he greatly distinguished himself, leaving it in the first rank for the Ecole des Mines. At that institution he showed a strong tendency towards geological pursuits, and such capacity for their prosecution that he was soon chosen to perform one of the most onerous tasks which had ever been undertaken by the Mining Department of France. The publication of Greenough’s geological map of Eng- land, and the reception of a copy of it in the year 1822 at the Ecole des Mines, revived a project which political considerations had displaced, of constructing a geological map of France. When the decision to undertake this great work was formed, Elie de Beaumont, with his fellow-pupil and future friend and associate Dufrénoy, was selected to carry out the necessary surveys. With VoL. x1. - No. 264 the view of giving them still further training for their task, the authorities sent them over to study the geology of England, particularly the arrangement of the second- ary rocks of this country, which by the genius of William Smith had become a type for all parts of Europe. Six months were spent in this preliminary work, some portion of the time being devoted to a careful study of British mines and mining, on which the two young engineers furnished some voluminous and skilful reports. It was the year 1825 before they received orders to begin their sur- veys. France was separated into two sections, the eastern half being allotted to Elie de Beaumont. The two obser- vers, however, met frequently, and after the main part of their labours was concluded they went over portions of the ground together, so that in the end, agreeing on all main points, they produced a harmonious and magnificent work, In ten years they had completed their surveys. The engraving necessarily occupied some five years more, after which the indefatigable authors produced two large and exhaustive quarto volumes of explanations of the map, wherein the geological structure of their country was well described. Of all the achievements of Elie de Beaumont, this, his first, is probably that on which his fame will ultimately most securely rest. It was a great work, most conscien- tiously and skilfully performed, amid difficulties which can only be adequately realised by those who have essayed geological mapping, and who know the nature of the ground over which the French explorer had to trace his lines. During the twenty-three years (1825-48) which elapsed between the beginning and the completion of the map and its accompanying text, Elie de Beaumont had made his name widely known by other important contributions to science. A few years after the mapping had begun, and while engaged in exploring the high grounds in the east of France, he was ‘struck by the relations which could be traced between the direction of different lines of mountain and the nature and position of the strata along these lines of elevation. In 1829 he published the first sketch of the theory which afterwards grew into the well- known Réseau fentagonale. He likewise adopted and defended Von Buch’s Z7hebungs-krater theory, publishing in its support an elaborate essay on the structure of Etna (1836). One of his best essays was published in 1847, “Sur les Emanations Volcaniques et Métalliferes,’ a luminous exposition from the point of view of a cataclys- mist of the history of the volcanic phenomena of the globe. One of his best separate publications is his “Lecons de Géologie pratique,” a work full of knowledge and research, which may be usefully studied by all who take interest in dynamical geology. It would take some time to enumerate even the titles of his various contribu- tions to the transactions and journals of hisday. They include short notes and long memoirs of original research of his own, elaborate reports upon the writings of others (of this style he was a master), instructions to exploring expeditions, &c.; and they are not confined to physical geology, but embrace also the allied sciences—chemistry, mineralogy, and paleontology. One feature which cha- racterises them is the endeavour after exactitude. Their author had a mathematical mind, and sought for mathe- matical precision in his development of a subject. D 42 [Nov. 19, 1874 Elie de Beaumont in the course of his long career filled many offices of distinction. As far back as 1827 we find him lecturing for his master at the Ecole des Mines, and afterwards succeeding to the chair. In 1832, 0n the death of Cuvier, he was chosen to fill the only chair of Natural History at the Collége de France. He thus stood at the head of the geological tuition of the country. The mining engineers and others who required geological in- struction for State certificates or appointments passed through his hands. His fame likewise attracted many from a distance, so that as’a teacher his influence must be regarded as having been very great. Moreover, i.c became Inspector-General of Mines, member and per- petual secretary of the Academy of Sciences, and was an associate of many of the learned societies of Europe and America. His scientific renown and high personal cha- racter led to his being chosen as senator and raised to the rank of Grand-Officier of the Legion’of Honour. Full of honours, therefore, he has closed a long life with his faculties unimpaired to the last, and in the midst of the activity which had marked his long and honourable career. This is perhaps hardly the place or the time to pass any judgment on the work of the illustrious man who has just gone from among us. His name will ever be asso- ciated with the history of geology, linked with those of Cuvier, Brongniart, Dufrénoy, and others who led the way to all that has since been achieved in the geology of France. ARCH. GEIKIE FLUCKIGER AND HANBURY’S “PHARMA- COGRAPIHIA” Pharmacographia.: a History of the principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin met with in Great Britain and British India. By Friedrich A. Fliickiger, Ph.D., Professor in the University of Strassburg; and Daniel Hanbury, F.R.S., Fellow of the Linnean and Chemical Societies of London. (Macmillan and Co., 1874.) HERE was a stir of anticipation and inquiry amongst pharmacologists when it first became known that Prof, Fliickiger and Mr. Hanbury were engaged upon a work of joint authorship. Speculation was busy as to what was to be the nature of the book, to what particular objects it would be directed, what extent of ground it would cover, and so forth. Upon a single point all were agreed, namely, that it would o¢ be one of those com- posite treatises on drugs—organic and inorganic— thera- peutics, pharmacy, and toxicology, enlivened by traditional botany and old-fashioned chemistry, which have passed current amongst us as “ Manuals of Materia Medica.” One generation after another of compilers have pro- duced volumes supposed to be suited to the wants of the time, in which the same sort of information has been given, the same errors perpetuated often in almost iden- tical words, until the very term “ Materia Medica” has come to be looked upon with suspicion by scientific men. Perhaps the origin of the shortcomings of the general run of such works may be traced to the fact that they have often been written by practising physicians who were lecturers in medical schools, and have been designed primarily as handbooks for medical students, Nor need NATURE it be a matter of wonder that, with no special facilities for acquiring original information as to the history of drugs, and with few opportunities for verifying the statements of others, authors so situated were content to transcribe without examination what had been already recorded as fact, and to devote their better energies to the more purely medical relations of the subject—the aspect of chief inte- rest both to themselves and those for whom they wrote. The question has often been raised, and once at least on very high authority, why the overcharged curriculum of medical study should still be encumbered with Materia Medica ; why, in view of the separation which is gradually taking place between the practice of Medicine and that of Pharmacy and of the scientific education now received by the pharmaceutist, such matters as the physical characters sources, and chemistry of drugs should not be referred to those whom they primarily affect. This, perhaps, is scarcely the place to discuss such questions in detail, but they inevitably present themselves on a comparisoa of the present book with any of those to which allusion has just been made. It is generally no very difficult thing to give an intelli- gible account of a work embodying the results of scientific research. It is not requisite that the knowledge of the reviewer should be co-extensive with that of the author to enable him to form a just estimate of its strong and weak points, or even to exercise the critical faculty where opinions rather than facts are advanced. But the task of introducing suitably a closely printed volume of 700 pages, containing scarcely anything but facts—-an unusual pro- portion of which are stated for the first time, and those which are old assuming a new importance from their fresh verification, the whole given with a condensation of style that refuses page-room to a superfluous word—is not one that can be performed by the ordinary me.hod of sum- marising results. The-scope of the “ Pharmacographia” and the inten- tion of its authors can hardly be better told than by a few extracts from the Preface. After defining the word Pharmacographia as “a writing about drugs,” the authors state that “it was their desire not only to write upon the general subject and to utilise the thoughts of others, but that the book which they had decided to produce together should contain observations that no one else has written down, It is in fact a record of personal researches on the principal drugs derived from the vegetable kingdom, together with such results of an important character as have been obtained by the numerous workers on Materia Medica in Europe and America.” Restricting the field of their inquiry by the exclusion, of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, “the authors have been enabled to discuss with fuller detail many points of interest which are embraced in the special studies of the pharmacist.” “The drugs included in the work are chiefly those which are commonly kept in store by pharmacists, or are known in the drug and spice market of London. The work likewise contains a comparatively small number which belong to the Pharmacopeeia of India : the appear- ance of this volume seemed to present a favourable opportunity for giving some more copious notice of the latter than has hitherto been attempted.” Now as to the manner of treatment. A uniform sub- Nov. 19, 1874] NATURE 43 division into sections has been adopted throughout the work. In the first place, “ Each drug is headed by the Latin name, followed by such few synonyms as may suffice for perfect identification, together in most cases with the English, French, and German designation, “In the next section, the Botanical Origin of the substance is discussed, and the area of its growth or locality of its production is stated.” “Under the head of //és/ory, the authors have endea- voured to trace the introduction of each substance into medicine, and to bring forward other points in connection therewith, which have not hitherto been much noticed in any previous work.” “Tn some instances the Hormation, Secretion, or Method of Collection of a drug has been next detailed: in others, the section /zs¢orvy has been immediately followed by the Description, succeeded by one in which the more salient features of Microscopic Structure have been set forth,” The next division includes the important subject of Chemical Composition ; then follows a section devoted to Production and Commerce; and lastly, observations, chiefly dictated by actual experience, on Adulteration and on the Swéstztutes which in the case of certain drugs are occasionally found in commerce, though scarcely to be regarded in the light of adulterants. “The medicinal uses of each particular drug are only slightly mentioned, it being felt that the science of thera- peutics lies within the province of the physician, and may be wisely relinquished to his care.” The reader must not judge the Preface by the discon- nected sentences which have been quoted to serve a parti- cular purpose. Only sufficient has been copied to explain briefly, and as far as possible in the authors’ own terms, the general scheme of their work. The plan, as will be seen, is one of great comprehen- siveness, and the execution throughout is of characteristic thoroughness. A single article taken at random from the book would be better evidence than any criticism, of the exhaustive character of the treatment ; but unfortu- nately, considerations of space preclude anything more than a few general remarks suggested by a first perusal. The investigation of the botanical origin of drugs is one which Mr. Hanbury has made his own, and few writers have set at rest so many debated questions in this division of the subject. Completeness and accuracy of the information now collected is exactly what might have been expected. The student who knows only the British Pharmacopceia will find much to learn, and something to unlearn, concerning the origin of many common medicinal substances. In some cases the corrections necessary arise merely out of questions of priority in botanical nomenclature, but in others the errors are founded in the wrong identification of the plants. For instance, Yateorhiza palmata, Miers, is the name accepted, for reasons given in the text, for the plant yielding calumba root, rather than the alternative specific terms of the Pharma- copeeias. Oil of cajuput is assigned to Melaleuca leuca- denaron, L., whilst in the British Pharmacopoeia and the Paris Codex it is referred to WZ. minor, DC., and in that of the United States to WW. cajuputi, Roxb. Sumbul Root, the botanical history of which in our Pharmacopoeia is stated to be unknown, appears as the product of Euryangium Sumbul, Kauffman, a plant of the natural order Umbelliferee. On the other hand, in speaking of the botanical origin of Myrrh, which the Pharmacopceia, without show of doubt, assigns to Palsamodendron myrrha, Ehrenb., it is stated that “the botany of the myrrh trees is still encompassed with uncertainty, which will not be removed until the very localities in which the drug is collected shall have been well explored by a com- petent observer.” It would be easy to multiply examples, but beyond a passing allusion to Pareira Brava as the root of Chondodendron tomentosum, Ruiz et Pav., a fact determined by Mr. Hanbury’s researches, this portion of the subject need not be dwelt upon. Tke information given under the head of “ History ” has a general as well as a technical value. All sorts of writers, ancient and modern, have been laid under tribute ; and the glimpses one obtains, not only of the medical but of the domestic employment of drugs in past times, are full of interest. This running commentary need not be extended to all the headings under which the treatment of each substance is arranged. The term “Substitute” as distinct from “ Adulteration,” perhaps needs a word of explanation. It is employed to comprise substances occasionally met with in commerce, the product of plants more or less closely allied to the officinal one ; for instance, the wood of Quassia amara instead of that of Picrena excelsa, the occurrence of the root of Aristolochia reticulata in place of A. serpentaria, or of the dried plant of Piper aduncum in lieu of the true Matico. The notices of Indian officinal drugs have the interest of novelty to European students, but beyond this leave little room for present remark. In course of time some of them may be introduced at home, and in any case, with the amount of communication which exists between England and her Eastern possessions, nothing which concerns the one can be unimportant to the other. Indian medical men are largely drawn from this country, and by them, at least, they will be gratefully received. The only department of the book which does not yield unalloyed satisfaction is that which refers to “ Micro- scopical Structure.” The descriptive paragraphs are, no doubt, as good as words can make them, but mere words are insufficient for the purpose. If anyone doubts this, let him try to construct a drawing of microscopic struc- ture from a description, and then compare it with the reality; or, on the other hand, let him endeavour to identify one vegetable production out of a number closely allied, by means of a mere verbal definition of characters. Either task is difficult at best, some- times impossible. It is not to our credit that there should be no British work of reference containing a com- plete series of illustrations of the anatomy of drugs. What is wanted is not so much an elaborate atlas, like that of Dr. Berg, with large, ideal, diagrammatic drawings, suggested by the microscopic appearance of the various vegetable products usedin medicine, as a set of figures of charac- teristic portions of structure presented in a form in which the working student may recognise them. How welcome such an addition to the book would have been from Prof. Fliickiger’s skilful hand. It is only just to the authors to state that they make no claim for completeness in this division of the work; indeed, they are so fully aware of what is needed, that one might almost indulge in the M4 ' NATURE [Mov. 19, 1874 hope of seeing a second edition with a supplementary volume of plates. In a brief and imperfect notice like the ‘present but scanty justice can be done to a book like the “ Pharma- cographia,” a work which, from the amount of its original matter, the laborious verification of its facts, the accuracy of its references, and the extent of general erudition it reveals, will be received with no grudging welcome, and will be recognised at once and without misgiving as the standard of authority on the subjects of which it treats. HENRY B. BRADY SUOLLY’?S “SENSATION AND INTUITION” Sensation and Intuition: Studies im Aesthetics. By James Sully, M.A. aad Co.) YOUNG aspirant to the woolsack had as part of his first examination the question, ‘To whom was the Declaration of Rights presented?” To refresh his memory he cast his eyes on the paper of the gentleman on his left, who had written William I. ; willing to give himself every advantage, he next stole a glance at the paper of the gentleman on his right, where he saw William III. “Ah!” thought he, with a knowing twinkle of the eye, “Ill strike the happy medium ”—and down went William II. Mr. Sully, in the first of this collection of _ interesting essays, has struck the happy medium between the evolution and the individual experience psychologies. Mr. Sully has read and pondered all the learning of his subject ; but the thoroughgoing evolutionist is not unlikely to accuse him of having done more than “ shaded for a moment the intellectual eye from the dazzling light of the new idea.” If, as we are told, “it is far from improbable that a fuller investigation of the processes by which our conceptions of sface are built up, will render superfluous the supposition of their innateness,” it is not at all probable that ay other conceptions are inherited. And the evolutionist will not, we fear, be able to draw much comfort from the assurance that “the psychologist, when satisfied of the presence of distinct mental pheno- mena not traceable to the action of his own laws, will gratefully avail himself of the additional hypothesis supplied to him by the philosopher of evolution ;” for it not unfrequently is very difficult indeed to satisfy the psychologist of the presence of anything not traceable to the operation of his own laws. An authority in psychology writing in “ Chambers’s Encyclopedia,” says that the assertions with regard to the instinctive perceptions of distance and direction by the newly hatched chick are, “in the present state of our acquaintance with the laws of mind, wholly incredible.” We now know that the chick has not the least respect for those laws of mind; and we have already in these columns (NATURE, vol. Vii. p. 300) argued that we have no sufficiently accurate acquaintance with the alleged acquisitions of infancy to justify the doctrine that they are different in kind from the unfolding of the inherited instincts of the chicken. To what we then said Dr. Carpenter has replied on one point in his ““Mental Physiology” (p. 179). While admitting that human beings require no education to enable them “to recognise the direction of any luminous object,” he Psycholozy and (Henry S. King maintains “that the acquirement of the power of visually guiding the muscular movements is eaferiential in the case of the human infant.” In support of this somewhat inconsistent position, he gives facts within his own knowledge which we do not feel to bein the least inimical to the doctrine against which they are arrayed. Mr, Sully is more consistent ; he thinks it proveable that the eye has no instinctive knowledge of either the distance or the direction of a visual object. He relies greatly on “Recent German Experiments with Sensation ” (the sub- ject of his third essay), which, like Dr. Carpenter’s facts, appear to us in perfect harmony with the theory they are supposed to disprovg, Without doubt, there is no higher scientific authority than Helmholtz, and just for this reason is it specially instructive to observe how readily even he accepts as statements of fact what never could have been more than the suggestions of theory. In the last of his admirable course of lectures on “ The Recent Progress of the Theory of Vision,” he says: “ The young chicken very soon pecks at grains of corn, but it pecked while it was still in the shell, and when it hears the hen peck, it pecks again, at first seemingly at random. Then, when it has by chance hit upon a grain, {it may, no doubt, learn to notice the field of vision which is at the moment presented to it.” In this list of assertions, even the one that might seem most certainly true is a mistake. The chicken does not peck while still in the shell ; though that it does so is, we believe, the universal opinion, the actual mode of self-delivery having never been observed. —The movement is just the reverse of pecking. Instead of striking for- ward and downward (a movement impossible on the part of a bird packed in a shell with its head under its wing), it breaks its way out by vigorously jerking its head upward and backward, while it turns round within the shell, With the advance of knowledge, theories will have, though it may be reluctantly, to accommodate themselves to facts ; and after the din of the battle is over, it will be found that the real facts had never had any difference among themselves. Mr. Sully differs from Mr. Spencer as to the relation of the evolution hypothesis to the question ef realism and idealism. He is aware that Mr. Spencer “ distinctly affirms that the reality of an independent unknowable force is necessarily involved in his theory of evolutional progress. But this,” Mr. Sully observes, “can only mean that every distinct conception of subject and object involves this postulate ; and this assumption can hardly fail to strike one asa fetitio principit, inasmuch as able thinkers have undertaken to find the deepest significance of this antithesis in purely phenomenal distinctions.” Perhaps Mr. Spencer might be able to produce instances in which the facts of the ,universe have turned out not exactly what able thinkers had undertaken to find them. Considerable strain is put by Mr. Sully on Mr. Mill’s formidable definition of matter—that it is “a permanent possibility of sensation ;” but we greatly fear that when brought to close quarters the idealist that puts his trust in this verbal monstrosity will find himself left in the lurch. Somehow through “processes of repeated experi- ence and sharpened intellectual action, the mind comes,” we are told, “to conceive a possible impression as the originating cause of a present one, and soto arrive at that vast stream of objective eyents which flows on beyond, Nov. 19, 1874] NATURE: = 45 and independently of, the actual series of feelings making up its own individual life.” To follow this from the idealist’s point of view is quite beyond us. A belief in permanent possibilities of sensation that flow on independently of our feelings is in some danger of being mistaken for realism. Mir. Sully, however, is very sure that the realists are wrong ; and as apsychologist he must be able, by aid of his science, to explain their error, just as an astronomer accounts for an eclipse. sophers go wrong. sentiment of awe, they see what is not there. does this emotion “lead the mind to anticipate the presence of insoluble mystery where a calmer intellectual vision sees only clear regularity, but it serves to support conceptions of an unknowable where the closest obser- vation and most accurate reasoning fail to detect any signs of such an existence.” The superstitious terror of the rustic transforms a white calf into a ghost ; the awe of the philosopher sees a ghost where there is no calf. In a very suggestive essay Mr. Sully handles the difficult subject of “ Belief: its Varieties and its Condi- tions.” He finds “the primitive germ of all belief, the earliest discoverable condition that precedes in its in- fluence that of action, in the transition from a sensation to an idea.” In thus attempting to understand how the state of mind called belief resembles, differs from, and is related to other states of consciousness, Mr. Sully is, we think, on the right track, He is, however, by no means free from the crude, popular notion, that belief and | volition, considered as facts of consciousness, have some special causal connection with the bodily movements. Indeed, he thinks that Prof, Bain “has succeeded most completely in showing the will to be a secondary and composite state of mind, inferable from more rudi- | mentary states,” one of these so-called rudimentary states being spontaneous bodily movements, which occurring by “4 coincidence purely accidental” along with states of consciousness, these unlike things get somehow stuck together by “an adhesive growth, through which the | feeling can afterwards command the movement.” We have repeatedly maintained that while on the one hand | there are reasons which seem to compel the belief that on his physical side man is a machine whose movements can never escape by a hair’s breadth from the inexorable This is how our realistic philo- | Under tke influence of a refined ' Not only , rule of physical law, there is on the other hand no “ better | ground for the popular opinion that voluntary movements take their rise in feeling and are guided by intellect, than a superficial observer ignorant of the construction of the steam-engine might have for a belief that the movements of a locomotive take their rise in noise and are guided by smoke.”* That Prof. Huxley’s bold advocacy of this view at the recent meeting of the British Association has not called out more angry criticism is surely a most hopeful sign of the times. It is with regret that we must now take leave of this collection of essays, which we have read with pleasure and profit; and we hope that our mode of expressing our criticisms will not be misunderstood or supposed to indicate a want of appreciation. To touch on all the points we had marked for observation would more than double the length of this review. Especially do we regret not being able to say a few words about “ The A®sthetic * NaTurE, vol. ix, p. 179: “The Relation of Body and Mind.” | described to Aspects of Character.” If Mr. Sully could admit that conduct cannot be beautiful in so far as it involves struggle, mental effort, for example, in so far as it is moral or virtuous on the subjective side, very little would then stand between him and one commanding generalisation. DOUGLAS A, SPALDING LEER LES: (LO) RHE VE DIOR [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. ] Sounding and Sensitive Flames * 1 ANOTHER example of a highly sensitive flame was recently me which seems to show that air-currents flowing through gauze at a proper speed are sensitive without the intervention or simultaneous superaddition of a flame. A special kind of Bunsen burner was made with a spiral mixing tube coiled in an inverted cup, at the centre of which is asmall chamber covered with wire-gauze at the foot of a short tube or flame-p'pe. The gas is admitted by a single jet passing through a cap of wire- gauze covering the conical opening of the spiral tube, the object of this cap of gauze being to distribute the air in its approach, and to protect the gas-jet from ignition. The gas-flame burns with a small bright green cone, surmounted by a larger envelope of pale reddish flame, and it is intensely hot. The green cone indi: cates combustion of the most complete explosive mixture of air and coal-gas, and when the burner is properly adjusted it can only burn on the top of the flame-tube, where it finds the addi- tional required supply of oxygen ; but it descends to the wire- gauze at the foot of the tube if the air-supply exceeds, or the gas supply falls short of the right proportion. In some of these burners the slightest noise of the kind that commonly affects sensitive flames causes the cone of green flame to retreat into the tube and settle on the wire-gauze at its foot, whence it rises again imme- diately to the top of the tube, when the sound ceases. ‘The expla- nation seems to be that the air-current entering the mixing-tube through the outer gauze cap is in a sensitive condition, and that when thrown into disturbance by the external sounds, it is more quickly seized and is drawn into the mixing-tube more rapidly by the gas-jet than when it is flowing over the jet in a tranquil state. The inventor of these burners, Mr. Wallace, assures me that some of them exhibit the most sensitive of sensitive flames, and that he has more than once thought of sending one of them as a most singularly effective illustration of such flames to Prof. Tyndall. ; The explanation here given of the sensitiveness of Wallace’s Bunsen-flame appears to be in great part correct; but the behaviour of the flame, which by Mr. Wallace’s kindness I have seen since the above was written, differs consider- ably from that described; and some experiments connected with it lead me to modify to some extent the foregoing theory of the origin of sensitiveness in wire-gauze flames, and even, apparently, to except the gauze itself from any considerable share of mechanical action in the process. The gas in this burner is first turned low, until the green cone at the centre nearly disappears, and merges into the outer border of the flame from less effective mixture of air with the gas ata low speed of the jet. The flame is now sensitive to the smallest sound, mounting fully one-half higher at every word, or even syllable of a speaker, and at the stroke of a bell, or other acute sound, reaching about twice its ordinary height. It undergoes at the same time no change in its appearance, showing that the contents of the mixing-tube and chamber are merely urged out of the flame-tube with greater speed by some forward impulse cf the jet behind. If the sound is continued, as by constantly ringing a bell, the expanded flame gradually subsides, from the expulsion of all the inferior gas-mixture in the burner, reaches its first stature, and passes into a condition of more concentrated combustion corresponding to a fuller, and therefore more rapid admission of gas to the jet; when the sound ceases, the con- tracted flame gradually recovers its first size and diffuseness from the same cause, namely, the expulsion of all the well-aérated gas * Continued froin p. 6. 46 NATURE | Vou. 19, 1874 in the burner by an inferior mixture which succeeds it at a slower speed. From the following experiment and considerations I am in- clined to attribute the observed action of the disturbed flame almost entirely to direct influence of the sound upon the gas-jet, rather than to its effect upon the current of air passing through the conical cap of gauze that surrounds it. The current through the gauze is so slight that ascending smoke, slowly creeping round it, is not visibly drawn into its meshes. The sensitive action of the flame remains equally perfect when all but a very small aperture of the gauze is closely covered with thin sheet india- rubber. To determine if a naked jet, unsurrounded by wire- gauze, would by itself produce a flame so sensitive, I easily obtained with a Ladd’s tapering brass jet a flame of this descrip- tion. Laying it upon its side with its point inclining downwards, and inserting this into a brass tube about $in. wide and 15 in. long, also inclined, the flame at the lower end of this tube, when full gas was used, resembled a Bunsen-flame ; but if the gas-supply is lowered, it becomes luminous; and at the lowest point at which it will continue to burn, the slight current in the tube appears to consist only of nearly pure coal-gas, and is of course (a useful point in the manipulation) quite inexplosive. A stamp, a cough, or other deep-pitched sound, as the exclamations Oh ! and Ah! caused this flame to emerge from its hiding-place in the end of the tube into which it had retreated, and to rise ina tall tongue of light. It was not sensitive to notes of high pitch, to a hiss, nor to some of the acuter vowel-sounds of the voice, unless very strongly uttered ; but a short groan or growl called it forth at once. The lower the speed of a jet the slower, possibly, may be the vibrations required to affect and sensibly to disturb its equilibrium. With a very perfect gas-meter the question might also be decided how much of the large additional gas-volume in the flame which occasionally reached a height of about 2 in., and which could easily be maintained permanently at a height of about 1 in. by continued stamping on a stone floor, is derived from the gas-jet itself, and how much from increased admixture with it of the surrounding air. As the jet is constantly being bent, as it leaves the fixed nozzle, into the shape of a corkscrew, or of some other wave-curve by the air-vibrations, it probably draws more air along with it, in the same way that a coarsely twisted rope in hair-rope pumps raises more water than a smooth belt or a perfectly smooth and straight rope would do. Some- thing of this kind, perhaps, may be supposed to take place ; and contrary to the opinion which I at first entertained, above, of the cause of the sensitiveness at low gas-pressures of Barry’s sensitive wire-gauze flame, it seems more probable that the flurry and depression of the flame produced by external sounds is the result of their action upon the gas-jet below, mixing the gas more thoroughly with air, and giving it explosive properties before it passes through the gauze. The gauze-tlame must be regulated by lowering the gas-jet, until the brink of its stability and tendency to collapse and burn noisily on the gauze is nearly reached, in order to make this destruction of its equili- brium by external noises possible; and the explanation thus offered of the sensitiveness of the gauze-flame at lower gas-pres- sures than those used with other flames depends upon no assump- tion of mechanical actions of unusual delicacy, or indeed of any peculiar kinds of undulation taking place among the perforations of the gauze. I have quite recently seen an instrument connected very closely with the acoustical properties of flames burning on wire- gauze, showing how well instrument-makers have appreciated them, and how actively they are engaged in representing them in a convenient form. It resembles Geyer’s sounding modifica- tion of Barry’s sensitive flame so nearly, that but for its having received no such title from the maker, the source of its original invention might scarcely be considered doubtful ; but it appears more probable, as will be seen from a description in NATURE (to be shortly again referred to) by Dr. A. K. Irvine (vol. x. p. 273), of Glasgow, ot identically the same instrument patented many years ago for a very different purpose, that the designer of this singing tube may also have been guided by a knowledge of that invention. Even allowing for the general knowledge of the acoustical properties of wire-gauze flames that has for a long time existed, the instrument shows signs of originality of design that cannot easily be accounted for without some such considera- tion. It consists of a brass stand with two sliding brackets, one of which supports, in a split cork, a glass tube tapered above to a point to mix a jet of gas with air. The other arm supports a brass tube five-and-a-half inches high, and about an inch and three-quarters wide, closed at the bottom with a disc of gauze held there aguinst a fixed rim in the tube by a wire ring. The position of the gauze close to the bottom of the tube and that of the tapering gas-jet under it, as well as the dimensions of the tube, are the counter-part of Mr. Geyer’s experiments with Barry’s sensitive flame, only differing in want of adjustibility of the relative positions of the tube and diaphragm of wire-gauze from hisarrangement. The arrangement itself is, however, on the other hand, exactly that which Mr. Irvine patented, as will soon be seen, twelve years ago, for use in a new description of miner’s safety lamp. The sound produced, when the flame is lighted on the wire-gauze inside the tube and the jet below it is fixed at a proper height, is, as might be anticipated from its high pitch, answering to the short length of the open tube, an excruciatingly piercing note. Twas not aware that the effect of heat alone in gauze-diaphragms to produce musical sounds in open tubes had been observed and investigated, as it is stated to have been by Prof. Barrett, so thoroughly by Prof. Rijke, of Leyden; and a perusal of that author’s description of his experiments, and of his comments upon them, would undoubtedly be of exceeding interest. That the experiment has often been repeated since, and has been varied in many ways by those who were acquainted with it, is a conse- quence that [ was fully prepared to learn, from its great beauty, would follow very speedily upon the first publication of its dis- covery. I have never examined sounding and sensitive flames with revolving mirrors; but the result could scarcely fail to prove very instructive. The indications of his own essays in pursuit of this method contained in Prof. Barrett’s letter, both where I have been able to consult the original writings and drawings that he quotes, and where he offers us a short account of further results apparently more noticeable than those obtained before, of the appearance of a particularly active and impressionable sensitive flame affected by the vowel sounds, whea viewed in a moving mirror, show that the characteristic comportment of these flames is eminently adapted for examination and discussion by such a mode of observation. Similar experiments on the chirruping, whistling, trumpeting, and other sounding open flames, obtained by the collision of two jets, examined by Prof. Tyndall and Mr. Cottrell, here suggest themselves ; but I must hasten to bring this long excursive letter toa close. I cannot, however, do so without expressing my obligation to Prof. Barrett for the valuable references and infor- mation that he has been good enough to supply, and for the prompt and ingenuous manner in which he kindly rectified my oblivious association of his name with Mr. Barry’s in certain recent observations of the sensitiveness of wire-gauze flames. The notices contained in a short space in his most interesting letter gave me a better acquaintance with the progress of this wide and curious subject, than repeated and anxious inquiries concerning it for several months previously in the scattered pages of many recent scientific journals had enabled me to acquire. I must also add my acknowledgments to Mr. T. S. Wright and to Mr. A. K. Irvine for the interesting notes that they have furnished in NATURE (vol. x. p. 273, and p. 286) on the early use of wire-gauze flames to produce vociferously loud sounds in open tubes. That large iron tubes specially fitted inside with gauze-covered (or the so-called ‘‘smokeless”) gas burners, to produce a mighty sound, should be preserved as working instru- ments of a chemical laboratory in Edinburgh as long ago as the year 1842; and that as much as twelve years sincea kind of safety-lamp for mines was patented by Mr. Irvine in this and other countries, sounding a loud alarm note when the lamp-flame lights the explosive mixture of fire-damp entering the bottom of the wick-tube through a wire-gauze disc placed there to cover it, are facts that need no comments to show that the sur- passing power of such flames to excite and sustain musical sounds has long been known and used successfully. The excellent cha- racter and performance of the instruments used in 1842, as described by Mr. Wright, makes it probable that frequent illus- trations of the same kind must already have preceded them. On the other hand, from the well-known scientific eminence of their possessor, Dr. David Boswell Reid, as a skilful director of large works of ventilation, it may also be presumed that they probably presented to his views novelty of some special kind, either of invention or of construction, or of both combined, the result of which was the production of several such superior instru- ments. It may not be impossible from this consideration, at least if no evidence of considerably earlier origin could be pro- duced, to fix the time, and perhaps the authorship by Dr. Reid himself, or by his brother the chemist, Dr. William Reid of an of Nov. 19, 1874 | NATURE 47 Edinburgh, in whose laboratory Mr. Wright practised with them, of the first use of smokeless coal-gas flames in acoustical experi- ments as not long anterior to the date named by Mr. Wright as that of his practical experience of their use. But it must be borne in mind that of all highly inflammable and intensely heating gases next to hydrogen, the most easily procurable since the general extension of the use of coal-gas, is an explosive mix- ture of the latter gas with air; and the experiments of Sir H. Davy, in 1816, having demonstrated that such a mixture may be prepared safely underneath wire-gauze and may be safely burned above it, the use of the wire-gauze flame for laboratory heating purposes, and also to illustrate very suitably the chemical har- monicon, must have been a very early suggestion. Its unwieldy size and stentorian proportions for the latter purpose, however, have not impossibly led to its comparative abandonment and : \ ht \ Meh wb L440 { J. Watcace’s TasLe BuNSEN-BURNER. a.—Conical and spiral mixing-tube coiled inside the foot, terminating at the centre in a small chamber closed with wire-gauze at the top, at the foot of the flame-tube. 4.—Conical wire-gauze cap, strengthened by three wires to support the gas-tube, to protect the gas from ignition, to keep off draughts, and to distribute the current of air to the gas (Junctrons all soldered). c.—Short flame-tube, closed at the bottom with wire-gauze to prevent the flame from flashing back when the gas is turned on or off. Whole height about 24in. Height of flame, 1} in. or 2in. Height of central bright flame, exactly } in, disappearance from the scene of modern laboratory experiments, and to its general replacement, in coal-gas illustrations of the chemical harmonicon, by various modifications with different forms of jets, of the much more portable, convenient, and easily adaptable Bunsen-burner. Thus a long-recognised and important application of gauze-topped gas-burners in the student’s scientific practice might have fallen into oblivion, or into disuse and com- parative neglect, if contemporaneous experiments like those of Irvine, Barry, Govi, Geyer, Rijke, and it may safely be pro- phesied of many other active fellow-workers in the same field of discovery and research, did not revive the discussion, and con- tinue to develop the observation of these flames with multiplied results that appear to be in perfect accordance with the principles, and to furnish the most beautifully effective illustrations possible of important properties of effluent gas-currents, which would perhaps otherwise escape detection. The laws of the flow of escaping gas-jets, their powers of producing ventilation and exhaustion, and, on the other hand, the means of providing for their escape with as little waste of their energy as possible, are questions of practical importance in so many useful industrial applications, that they amply deserve the increased measure of scientific attention which the beautiful succession of modern dis- coveries of sensitive and sounding flames has been very materially instrumental in attracting, and apzears still further to be emi- nently capable of directing towards them. Newecastle-on-Tyne, Oct. 19 A. S. HERSCHEL Insects and Colour in Flowers In his second letter (NATURE, vol. xi. p. 28) Mr. Mott passes to the discussion of the general question whether beauty is an “object in nature.” On that point my feeling is that our know- ledge is as yet far too limited for us to presume to declare with any confidence what is an object in nature. Still less should we venture to assert what is #o¢ an object, and least of all have we any right to affirm that beauty is not an object, when we see developed, beauty of form, of colour, of sculpture and marking, so constantly throughout the organic world, and by such a great variety of means. Sometimes beauty of colour undoubtedly exists when, so far'as we can see, it confers no benefit whatever on its possessor. Mr. Darwin instances arterial blood and the autumnal tints of leaves. More frequently it is accompanied by some advantage, direct or indirect ; and the question is whether in swch cases it has been acquired through the operation of sexual or natural selection, more particularly whether in the case of flowers the selection has been effected through the agency of insects, which have favoured the most conspicuously coloured. It remains with Mr. Mott to show in what way the facts detailed in his original letter (I hope he will pardon me for taking him back to it) fail to harmonise with that doctrine. To my mind the fact that a cultivator, by carrying out a like selection, propa- gating from plants which bear the largest and brightest, double or showy sterile flowers, can produce like results, supports and corroborates the doctrine rather than militates against it. Nor. can I see anything discordant in the fact that the colour of fruits has been acquired through the medium of an entirely different selecting agent. One circumstance appears to me to present some difficulty ; and, although it is in no way connected with Mr. Mott’s letter, I should like to mention it in the hope that others may be able to supply a satisfactory explanation: it is the case of flowers that are coloured on the outside, but white within. Where such flowers from their position or form present to view principally their exterior, as Zw/ifa celsiana, this is an adaptation that can be readily understood ; but some display mostly their interior, and it is then difficult to understand the acquirement of colour vatside only. I would instance Simethis bicolor, Cypsophila cre- tica, Daphne jasminea, and several species of white-rayed Com- posite. Bellidiastrum michelii, for example, has frequently the inner surface of the ray floreis quite white, and when the flower is open nothing else is seen; the colour on their outer surface only becomes visible when they close over the disc, as in dull and rainy weather. THOMAS COMBER Newton-le- Willows, Noy. 16 WITH reference to this question, is cross-fertilisation so desirable for the plant as is stated ? In this country, and I believe as a rule elsewhere, brilliant flowers are produced by shrubs, climbing and herbaceous plants, while the inflorescence of trees is comparatively inconspicuous. Does it not seem probable that beauty of colour is gained at the expense of strength, majesty, and longevity ? JeeS Et. Drosere I FIND that during my absence from England many applica- tions have been made for plants of the Droserze and Pinguiculz, and from the replies which have been sent on receipt of the plants they seem to have given satisfaction. Lately, however, in consequence of the weather, there has been some difficulty in obtaining D. intermedia, but before this is printed in your columns, all existing applications will be cleared off. I wish to add, that in winter these plants can scarcely be expected to be as active as in spring and summer, and observers must wait patiently until spring before they may hope to obtain successful results fron their observations : it cannot be necessary, I think, to feed carnivorous plants artificially during the winter ; and a hot-house or conservatory cannot be absolutely necessary, as they have no such advantages in their native wilds. ’ G. I. Hopkins Suicide of Scorpions THAT scorpions do commit suicide, as described by your correspondent last week, is a well-known fact. My grandfather often related how he had seen these creatures, when surrounded by a circle of glowing embers, make for the inner side of their fiery prison, then deliberately move round the inside of the circle, and when arrived at the exact spot from which they started, turn back their tails and sting themselves to deith. Clyde Wharf, Nov. 16 M. L. 48 NATURE {Wov. 19, 1874 The Cry of the Common Frog In Nature, vol. x. p. 461, Mr. Mott notices the cry of the common frog when annoyed. One of the greatest enemies of this frog in the United States is the common striped snake (Zi opidonotus tenia, Dekay). We seizes the frog by the hind legs for the purpose of swallowing him, when the latter will utter a most pitiful cry. I have detected them in this condition at a distance by the frog’s note. I have amused myself by taking a frog by the hind legs and dragging him slowly back- wards on the ground in a serpentine direction, when he will exhibit his characteristic wail to perfection ; and, when released, he will frequently utter some apparently intelligent imprecations as he hops off out of reach. I have noticed the same effect pro- duced by a playful kitten amusing itself by teasing the frog, seem- ingly for the purpose of hearing him cry. Sliding a stick after him like a snake will produce the same results in a still more striking manner. Ny gale Oswego, U.S., Oct. 29 Phylloxera Vastatrix CAN any of your readers kindly inform me where a specimen of Phylloxera vastatvix can be obtained ? Ipswich A, Harwoop A Nest of Young Fish WHILE on the point of taking my accustomed morning plunge in one of the clear pebbly streams that find their way ito the plains from the northern mountan ranges of the island of Trinidad, my attention was attracted by the eccentric movements of a small fish of the perch tribe, In general this fish is extremely shy, scudding off into deep water or under some overhanging bank on the approach of man; on this occasion, however, on putting my hand into the water, the fish, to my astonishment, darted forward again and again, striking my hand with consider- able force. Rather at a loss to account for such temerity in a fish only 4 in. long, I watched its movements narrowly, and at last found out the cause. Ina small hollow close by, about the size of half an egg, artistically excavated from the bright quartz sand, a multitude of tiny fish were huddled together, their minute fins and tails in constant motion. They had apparently been only very recently hatched, and were no larger than common house flies; the parent fish kept jealous watch over her progeny, resenting any attempt on my part to touch them. Next morning, accompanied by my father and bro-hers, I returned to the spot which I had carefully marked the day | before. For some time, however, we searched in vain for the fish and her young ; at length, a few yards further up stream, we discovered the parent guarding her fry with zealous care in a cavity similarly scooped out of the coarse sand ; any attempt to | introduce one’s finger into the hollow was vigorously opposed by the watchful mother. This is the first and only instance that has come under my notice of a fish watching over her young, ani conveyirg them, when threatened by danger, to some other place. ‘the clear streams that flow along the vaileys among the northern mountain ranges of the island abound with fish of the variety I refer to ; they are in general of a bright yellowish brown, with two or more silvery stripes on the sides, and seldom exceed five inches in length ; but in the sluggish turbid rivers of the plains, the bright colours change to a dull brown ; the fish are larger, however, varying in size from eight to ten inches. Extremely tenacious of life, these fish, in common with several other species, have the power of exlsting in a semi-torpid state for weeks, and even months, buried during severe droughts in the mud of dry watercourses, where they are dug up by the Creole peasants, who prize them as food ; but from the peculiar earthy flavour common to many varieties of freshwater fish fre- quenting the muddy rivers of the low lands, they are not relished by the more fastidious palate of the European. Ropert W. S. Mircuei THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOLLUSCA R. RAY LANKESTER, in the current number of the Quarterly Fournal of Microscopical Science, gives the results of his examination of the embryo of the | which it appears. common Pond Snail (Lzmncaus stagnalis.) These are of great importance; first, because they show how much may be done by trained observation, with improved methods, of a very common form, which has already been studied by excellent anatomists,; and secondly, because Mr. Lankester’s previous investigations into the develop- ment of cuttles, Pésédiwm, and several marine gasteropods, enable him to form a sound judgment of the bearing of his discoveries upon questions of homology and of classification. In Limnzus, Mr. Lankester finds that the process of segmentation (which is well illustrated by drawings of the egg in various positions at the several stages) is fol- | lowed by the formation of a gastrula through a process of invagination. This gastrula (for Mr. Lankester adopts this | term from Prof. Haeckel instead of “ planula,” the one he himself invented), with its double layer of cells and single orifice, develops into the next ‘stage by the mouth closing and afterwards giving rise to the anus, while a fresh oral opening appears and a velum is developed. The presence of a velum in pulmonate Gasteropoda has not, we believe, been previously established, and is of great morphologi- cal importance. It is, Mr. Lankester believes, homo- logous with the trochal disc of rotifers, and he proposes the term “veliger” for the phase of development in Nay, he gives reasons for regarding the subtentacular lobes of the adult Lymnzus as a residue of the velum. If it be so, it is the only instance yet known of this embryonic structure persisting in the per- fect form. The “anal cone” of M. Lereboullet is shown to have nothing to do with the anus, which is developed in the pedicle left by the obliterated gastrula-mouth. The functional import of, the “anal-cone,” or rather gland-sac, is still obscure. It has been already recognised by Mr. Lankester in Péstdinm, Aphysia, and Neretina, and by Hermann Fol in embryo Pteropoda. It is possibly homo- logous with the basal gland described by Keferstein and Kowalevsky in Zoxosoma among Bryozoa, and with a similar structure in Zerebratula. The more diffi- cult questions of its homogeny with the rudimentary internal shell of the slug, and with the pen- sac of cuttles, are also discussed. One of the most curious facts about this “shell-gland” is that it frequently becomes filled with a homogeneous refracting secretion apparently chitinous in composition, which is a morbid, or at least an abnormal change, and associated with irregular development of the embryo. Not the least valuable point established in this interest- ing memoir is that the rotaticn of the embryo Lymneus is caused by numerous short cilia on the annular band which afterwards forms the velum. The discovery of these cilia, which were sought by Lereboullet without success, is probably due to Mr. Lankester having used perosmic acid, a reagent which is exceedingly useful in examining transparent Tunicata, and seems equally suited for displaying cilia anywhere. The gastrula form appears apparently in all groups of animals but the highest and the lowest, in some form or other ; but the “shell-gland” forms a valuable additional link between the Brachiopoda and Polyzoa on the one hand and the higher Molluscs on the other. If this be ad- mitted, it is probable that Tunicata may be again admitted to the same great stem in spite of their undoubted affi- nities to vertebrates by Amphioxys, and to worms by Balanoglossus. It is a most satisfactory sign of the revival of embry- ology in England, that in the same number of the Quar7- - terly Microscopical F ournal which contains this important memoir by Mr. Lankester, there is also the preliminary account of the development of Elasmobranchii, by Mr. Balfour, which excited so much interest at the late meet- ing of the British Association, Nov. 19, 1874 | NATURE 49 ON MIRAGE * HE name of “Mirage” is applied to certain illusory appearances due to excessive bending of the rays of light in their passage through the atmosphere. These appearances are by no means uniform. Sometimes, especially in hot countries, the observer loses sight of the ground beyond a certain distance from his position, and sees in its stead, what looks like a sheet of water, either calm or with movements resembling waves ; and if any distant objects are sufficiently lofty to be seen above this apparent lake, their images are seen beneath the objects themselves, inverted as if by reflection in this imaginary water. The dry and hot soil of Egypt is famous for the production of this form of the phe- nomenon. It is alsomentioned as of frequent occurrence in the plains of Hungary, in the plain of La Crau in the South of France, and in the fen districts of England when dried up by the summer heat. It is also common in Australia. The Deputy Surveyor-General of South Australia once reported the existence of a large inland lake, which on further examination turned out to be nothing but a mirage. Another class of appearances are known (especially among nautical men) under the name of Joong. Distant objects are said to loom when they appear abnormally elevated above their true positions. This abnormal eleva- tion not unfrequently brings into view objects which in ordinary circumstances are beyond the horizon. It is also frequently accompanied by an appearance of ab- normal proximity (though this may perhaps be rather a subjective inference from the unusual elevation and clear visibility of the objects than a separate optical charac- teristic), and it is further accompanied in many, though not in all cases, by a vertical magnification, the heights of objects being many times magnified in comparison with their horizontal breadths, so as to produce an appearance resembling spires, pinnacles, columns, or basaltic cliffs. Some beautiful descriptions of these latter appearances, with illustrative plates, are given in Scoresby’s “ Green- land,” the objects thus magnified being icebergs ; and a very full and interesting account of the phenomena of mirage, as observed in high latitudes, will also be found in the “ Arctic Regions ” of the same author. It is usually across water that looming is observed ; and as a surface of water stands naturally in contrast with a sandy desert or a surface of parched land, so also the optical effects produced are, in a manner, opposite. The inverted images which are often presented in looming are not beneath the object, as in the case of mirage on dry land, but above it, as is formed by reflection in the sky. The only examples that I haveanyself seen of mirage were of this kind. They were seen across sheets of calm water, the hills on the other side being seen with fictitious hills upside down resting on the tops of the real hills. In rare instances, two or even three of these images are seen one above another, vertically over the real object ; but these multiple images are usually too small to be seen without the aid of a telescope—the objects whose images they are being so distant as to appear mere specks to the naked eye. There is always more or less of change observable in the images formed by mirage, and the changes are greatest and most sudden when the images are most dis- torted, as compared with the true forms of the objects. The appearances also change with the height of the observer's eye. Looming is seen to the greatest advan- tage from an elevated position, such as the mast-head of aship. The mirage of dry land is sometimes visible at any moderate height, but in other cases—especially in countries which are not very hot—the range of height from which it is visible is extremely limited. A very fine mirage, recently observed in the fen districts, was only * A Paper read by Prof. J. D. Everett, M.A., D.C.L., before the Belfast atural History and Philosophical Society. | with the buildings, were perfectly discernible. seen when the observer was on the top of the marsh wall. But this case seems to have been peculiar. It was ac- companied by the further peculiarity that a strong wind was blowing—the general rule being that mirage is only seen in calm weather. Observers of mirage on the sands of Morecambe Bay, and of the Devonshire coast, state that it could frequently be only seen by stooping. Mirage is seldom seen in winter. The hot shining of the sun seems to be an invariable antecedent ; and th’s is true even of the polar regions, where Capt. Scoresby attributes the phenomenon to “the rapid evaporation which takes place in a hot sun from the surface of tte sea, and the unequal density occasioned by partial con- densations, when the moist air becomes chilled by passing over considerable surfaces of ice.” Time will not allow me to do much in the way of quoting the very numerous records which exist. Scoresby’s accounts alone would almost suffice to occupy the evening, and I would again refer to them as models of accurate observation and effective description. I will content myself with quoting nearly in full the account of a mirage observed at Hastings and neighbouring parts of the south coast of England in 1798, as given in the Phi- losophical Transactions for that year, the narrator being Mr. Latham, F.R.S. :— “On Wednesday last, July 26, about five o’clock in the afternoon, whilst I was sitting in my dining-room at this place (Hastings), which is situated upon the parade, close to the sea-shore, nearly fronting the south, my atten- tion was excited by a great number of people running down to the sea-side. Upon inquiring the reason, I was informed that the coast of France was plainly to be dis- tinguished with the naked eye. I immediately went down to the shore, and was surprised to find that, even without the assistance of a telescope, I could very plainly see the cliffs on the opposite coast, which at the nearest part are between forty and fifty miles distant, and are not to be discerned from that low situation by the aid of the best glasses. They appeared to be only a few miles off, and seemed to extend for some leagues along the coast. I pursued my walk along the shore to the east- ward, close to the waters edge, conversing with the sailors and fishermen on the subject. They at first could not be persuaded of the reality of the appearance, but they soon became so thoroughly convinced, by the cliffs gradually appearing more elevated and approaching nearer, as it were, that they pointed out and named to me the different places they had been accustomed to visit, such as the Bay, the Old Head or Man, the Windmill, &c., at Boulogne, St. Valéry, and other places on the coast of Picardy, which they afterwards confirmed when they viewed them through their telescopes. Their obser- vations were, that the places appeared as near as if they were sailing at a small distance into the harbours. “Having indulged my curiosity upon the shore for near an hour, during which the cliffs appeared to be at some times more bright and near, at others more faint, and at a greater distance, but never out of sight, I went upon the eastern cliff, which is of a very considerable height, when a most beautiful scene presented itself to my view ; for I could at once see Dungeness, Dover cliffs, and the French coast, all along from Calais, Boulogne, &c., to St. Valéry, and, as some of the fishermen affirmed, as far to the westward as Dieppe. By the telescope, the French fishing-boats were plainly to be seen at anchor, and the different colours of the land upon the heights, fepettier is curious phenomenon continued in the highest splendour till past eight o’clock, when it gradually vanished. The day was extremely hot, . not a breath of wind was stirring the whole of the day. A few days afterwards I was at Winchelsea, and at several places along the coast, where I was informed the above pheno- menon had been easily visible. 50 NARORE, | Mov. 19, 1874 “T should also have observed that when I was upon the eastern hill, the cape of land called Dungeness, which extends nearly two miles into the sea, and is about sixteen miles distant from Hastings, in a right line, appeared as if quite close to it, as did the fishing-boats and other vessels which were sailing between the two places. They were likewise magnified to a great degree.” I have stated that the phenomena which constitute mirage are due to the bending of rays of light in the atmosphere, and I now proceed to point out the princip!zs by which this bending is governed. dense all round it, it is deflected towards the side on which the density is greatest ; and that the sharpness of the curvature, as measured by the change of direction for a given length of the ray, is directly proportional to the rate at which the density varies along the normal. Strictly speaking, I cought, instead of “density,” to have said “absolute index of refraction, diminished by unity ;” but experiment has shown that the difference between these two statements, when there is no substance in question except air and aqueous vapour, is quite insignificant. Supposing the stratification of the air to be strictly horizontal, it follows that a ray tra- velling vertically will not be bent at all, since there is no variation of density in the direction of its normal; and of all rays which traverse the same point, those which are horizontal will be bent the most, because the whole change of density is normal to them, and has a direct tendency to bend them down- wards. For rays which are zearly horizontal, the curvature will be very nearly the same ; and, as it is by such rays that we see the images which con- stitute mirage, the maximum bending of atmospheric rays is available for the explanation of the phenomena. In the average state of the atmosphere, the curvature of rays which are hori- zontal, or nearly so, is about one-fifth or one-sixth of the curvature of the earth’s surface ; though it is to be re- marked, by way of caution, that the connection between these two curva- tures is merely accidental ; the curva- ture of the earth is not the cause, nor even a partial cause, of the curvature “of rays. Other things being equal, the curva- ture of rays should be greater in cold FIG.6. : =... a PLATE I. My esteemed colleague, Dr. James Thomson, has greatly contributed to the clearness of our knowledge, as _regards the d sturbing effect of the atmosphere upon the direction of a ray of light. He has recently published an investigation,* which, to say the least, is simpler and more satisfactory than any before given, of the precise law which determines the curved path of a ray through the air. Referring you for the details to the last chapter but one of my own recently published edition of Deschanel’s “Natural Philosophy,” I will merely say that when a ray is passing through a portion of air which is not equally * British Association Report, 1872, p. 41. LoS than in warm air, and greater with high than with low barometer; but these are not the Arincifal modifying ele- ments. ‘The circumstance which it is most important to know, at any time, in order to predict the degree of curva- ture, is the rate at which the tempera- ture changes with the height. The average change is a fall of about 335 of a degree Fahr. per foot of ascent. A fall of one fifty-third of a degree per foot of ascent would make the air equally dense at all heights, and would cause rays to travel in abso- lutely straight lines. A more rapid fall than this would render the air aloft denser than that below, and would cause rays to bend up instead of down. The existence of denser, and therefore heavier air aloft, is obviously incom- patible with stability of equilibrium ; but unstable equilibrium may endure for a time, even under statical conditions ; and when there is a powerful cause at work, tending to raise the temperature of the lower strata, it is quite conceivable that the lower air may be heated faster than it can get away (if I may be allowed a somewhat loose expression) ; so that, although there is a perpetual diffusion going on, the heated air ascending, and cooler air from above taking its place, there is, never- theless, a difference of temperature perpetually main- tained, exceeding one-fiftieth of a degree per foot. The circumstances under which the Egyptian form of mirage is observed are precisely such as are fitted to produce this state of things. A fierce sun scorching the parched ¥ Be Nov. 19, 1874] ground, while the air is excessively transparent to his rays —flatness of surface, eminently conducive to the main- tenance of unstable equilibrium—and absence of wind— such are the conditions under which this form of mirage appears. On the other hand, if the decrease of tempera- ture upwards is slower than usual, the ordinary downward bending of rays will be increased, and if any physical cause, such as warm winds commencing aloft, before they are felt at the earth’s surface, produces a reversal of the ordinary distribution of temperature, so that there is an zvcrease upwards, instead of a decrease, this change will favour the ‘downward bending of rays, which will, accordingly, be exaggerated; for the lower air, being not only under greater pressure, but being also colder than the upper air, will for a double reason be denser. Capt. Scoresby states that “the curious refractions of the atmosphere in the polar regions are most frequent on the com- mencement or approach of easterly winds,” and he elsewhere states that easterly and southerly winds are mild. An increase of temperature upwards, at the rate of about one-sixteenth of a degree Fahr. per foot, would make the curvature of rays equal to that of the earth, so that a ray might encircle the globe. Any increase in the downward bending of rays increases the range of vision, by enabling them to bend round the horizon, which previously limited the view. The visible effect is precisely the same as if the convexity of the surface of the earth were diminished. And not only will objects which were previously beyond the horizon be brought into view, but objects which were previously visible near the horizon will become plainer, inas- | much as the rays by which they are seen _will not pass so close to the intervening surface as before, but will traverse a higher portion of the air, which is less liable to be ob-cured by impurities. . Having now laid down the first prin- ciples, to which all effects of atmospheric refraction must be traced, we will proceed to some more particular applications. I have recently been considering the | question—what must be the law of density (or, more strictly, of refractive index) in a horizontally stratified atmosphere, in order that images formed by mirage may be perfectly sharp? and some of the diagrams placed before you will serve to explain the results which I have ob- tained. First.—Neglect the curvature of the earth, and suppose the surface of uni- fo1m index to be plane; then the law required is as follows :-There must be a plane of maximum index, at which the rate of variation of index with height must be zero; and as we ascend or descend above and below this plane of reference. of a horizontal, or nearly horizontal ray, will thus be simply proportional to distance from the plane of refer- ence, and the bending from either side will be towards this plane. Rays may accordingly pierce this plane (which is indicated by a dotted line in Figs. 1 and A again and NATURE _ from this plane of reference the rate of variation of index | must continually increase in direct proportion to the dis- | tance. The rate must also be the same at equal distances | The curvature | 51 again, any number of times, and every time that they do so they will undergo a reversal of curvature. The curva- ture at the point of crossing will be m7. The curves de- scribed will be what are called “harmonic curves,’ or “ curves of sines,” such as are represented in Figs. 1 and 2 ; subject to the restriction that we have only to do with rays which are so nearly horizontal that the cosines of their inclinations may be treated as unity. The distance betweea consecutive intersections will bz the same for all Piate II, the curves, and is easily computed in terms of the con- stant which enters into the expression for the variation of index. A pencil of rays diverging in the same vertical plane from a point in the plane of reference, will thus converge accurately to another point in the plane, as represented in Fig 1. Such a pair of points may be called principal conjugate foci. But this property of accurate convergence is not confined to pencils proceeding from points in the plane of reference. The same property attaches to pencils diverging from any point whatever; the conjugate focus 52 NATURE [ov. 19, 1874 being always a point at the same distance on the other side of the plane of reference, and the horizontal distance between the two being the same as in the preceding case. This property is illustrated by Fig. 2, It is obvious that the conjugate foci will occur not in pairs merely, but in sets of unlimited number ; that is to say, raised proceeding originally from any one point will converge in succession to an indefinite number of other points, which will be alternately on opposide sides of the plane of reference. As every point on the surface of an object will thus have its conjugates, we shall have a suc- cession of images of the object. The first image will be upside down, the second erect, and so on alternately. They will be what are technically called “real” images, and will be precisely equal and similar (except as regards inversion) to the object itself. It is of course to be un- derstood that the action here described is confined to one dimension only, resembling that of a cylindrical rather than of a spherical lens. Rays are bent to and from the plane of reference, but in no other direction. This theo- retically simple case is so important for the light which it throws upon the possibilities of atmospheric refraction, that we shall examine some of its consequences a little further. What will be the appearance presented to the eye of an observer in any given position ? The case differs greatly from that of the images in ordi- nary optics, where the refracting instruments are glass lenses, and the eye sees the image by means of rays which travel in straight lines. In the case now before us, the observer will in general see a virtual image, differing considerably, both in size and direction, not only from the object itself, but also from any one of the real images. The apparent direction of any point of the visible image is of course determined by drawing a tangent to the ray which enters the eye* (Figs. 6 and 7) ; and the visual angle, or, as we may call it, the apparent size of the object, will be the angle between two of these tangents. If the eye is a little distance (say a few feet) behind one of the real images, enormous mag- nification will be produced, for the image has the same linear height as the object, and is seen from a distance of a few feet, instead of from the real distance of the object, which we may suppose to be a few miles. We shall thus have enormous magnification of the vertical diameter of the object, while the horizontal diameter will of course be only of the natural size, since the rays have undergone no bending except up and down. An object whose breadth is equal to its height will thus be magnified into a tall column. Some appearances of this kind, copied from Scoresby’s “ Greenland,” are represented in the first two figures of Plate II, The following is Scoresby’s de- scription (“ Greenland,” p. 96) :— ““Hummocks of ice assumed the forms of castles, obelisks, and spires, and the land presented extraor- dinary features. In some places the distant ice was so extremely irregular, and appeared so full of pinnacles, that it resembled a forest of naked trees; in others it had the character of an extensive city crowded with churches, castles, and public edifices.” Again, on page 163 of the same work :— “ At one period the phenomenon was so universal that the space in which the ship navigated seemed to be one vast circular area, bounded by a mural precipice of great elevation, of basaltic ice.” The magnificent columns which constitute a portion of the wonders of the Fata Morgana, at the Straits of Mes- sina, are in like manner to be attributed to vertical mag- nification. And an appearance of the same kind, known as “the merry dancers,” is often seen by boatmen off the Giant’s Causeway, in looking over the Skerries towards Portrush. * The letter E, in all the figures, denotes the position of the observer's eye. If we could have density distributed symmetrically round an axis, instead of on the two sides of a plane, we might of course have magnification without distortion. Rut we can scarcely conceive of any arrangement at all resembling this existing in the atmosphere. It is further to be remarked, that the apparent distance of one of our columnar images from the observer's eye is an ambiguous quantity. If judged by left and right dis- placement, it is the real distance of the object. If judged by up and down displacement, it is much less, being approximately the distance of the real image. (To be continued.) SOME REMARKS ON DALTON’S FIRST TABLE OF ATOMIC WEIGHTS* BG the Society is aware, the first table, containing the relative weights of the ultimate particles of gaseous and other bodies, was published as the eighth and last paragraph to a paper by Dalton on the absorption of gases by water and other liquids, read before this Society on Oct. 21, 1803, but not printed until the year 1805. There appears reason to believe that these numbers were obtained by Dalton after the date at which the paper was read, and that the paragraph in question was inserted at the time the paper was printed. The remarkable words with which he introduces this great principle give us but little clue to the methods which he employed for the determination of these first chemical constants, whilst in no subsequent publication, as in none of the papers which have come to light since his death, do we find any detailed explanation of how these actual numbers were arrived at. He says,} “ 1 am nearly persuaded that the circumstance” (viz., that of the ditferent solubilities of gases in water) “depends upon the weight and number of the ultimate particles of the several gases: those whose particles are lightest and single being less absorbable, and the others more, according as they increase in weight and complexity. An inquiry into the relative weights of the ultimate particles of bodies is a subject, as far as I know, entirely new. I have been lately prosecuting this inquiry with remarkable success. The principle cannot be entered upon in this paper ; but I shall just subjoin the results, as far as they appear to be ascertained by my experiments.” Here follows the table of the relative weights of the atoms. Table of the Relative Weights of the Ultimate Particles of Gaseous and other Bodies. Hydrogen Azot rate 35) rox Ree Carbon ee oat es at Ammonia Oxygen Water ... to 535 Phosphorus... B90 Phosphuretted hydrogen Nitrous gas... 503 Hither ... ame 3 oa es 550 Gaseous oxide of carbon... 250 aot MABWOCS ENIGMA A NEW HAUS NUNN N Nitrous oxide... I Sulphur 33 #5 aa sae Nitric acid... ts 0 eee Mite sw Sulphuretted hydrogen 154 Carbonic acid... m0 : 153 Alcohol I5‘1 Sulphurous acid 19'9 Sulphuric acid 50 0 oa wae eA, Carburetted hydrogen from stagnant water... 6°3 Olefiant gas... ne 2c t Sis In the second part of his “ New System of Chemical Philosophy,” published in 1810, Dalton points out, under the description of each substance, the experimental evi- * By Prof. H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S. ; read before the Lit. iloso- phical Society of Manchester, Nov. 17 1874. was ies kere’ + Manch. Mem., vol. i., Second Series, p. 286. ) Tov. 19, 1874] NATURE 53 ‘dence upon which its composition is based, and explains, ‘jn some cases, how he arrived at the relative weights of the ultimate particles in question. Between the years 1805 and 1810, however, considerable changes had been made by Dalton in the numbers ; the table found in the first part of the “New System ” being not only much more extended, but, in many cases, the numbers differing alto- gether from those given in the first table published in 1805. It is therefore now, to a considerable extent, a matter of conjecture how Dalton obtained the first set of numbers ; all we know is that it was mainly by the con- sideration of the composition of certain simple gaseous compounds of the elements that he arrived at his conclu- sions, and in order that we may form some idea of the data he employed, we must make use of the knowledge which chemists at that time (1803 5) possessed concerning the composition of the more simple compound gases. As I can find no record of any explanation of these early numbers, I venture to bring the following attempt to trace their origin before the Society to whom we owe their publication. The first point to ascertain, if possible, is how Dalton arrived at the relation between the atomic weights of hydrogen and oxygen given in the table as I to 5°5 (but altered to 1 to 7 in 1808). The composition of water by weight had been ascertained by the experiments of “Cavendish and Lavoisier to be represented by the numbers 15 of hydrogen to 85 of oxygen, and this result was generally accepted by chemists at the time, amongst others doubtless by Dalton. Whether in those early days Dalton had actually repeated or confirmed these experi- ments appears improbable. At any rate, he formed the opinion that water was what he called a binary compound, Z.é., that it is made up of one atom of oxygen and one atom of hydrogen combined together. Hence, if he took the numbers 85 to 15 as giving the composition of water, the relation of hydrogen to oxygen would be 1 to 5°6, or nearly that which he adopted. It does not appear possible to explain why Dalton adopted 5°5 instead of 5°6 for oxygen ; it may, perhaps, have been a mistake, as there are two evident mistakes in the table, viz., 13°7 for nitrous oxide instead’of 13°9, and 9°3 for nitrous gas instead of Let us next endeavour to ascertain how he obtained the number 4°3 for carbon (altered to 5 in 1808 and to 54 later on). Lavoisier, in the autumn of 1783, had ascer- "tained the composition of carbonic acid gas by heating a given weight of carbon with oxide of lead, and he came to the conclusion that this gas contained 28 parts by weight of carbon to 72 parts by weight of oxygen. Now Dalton not only was acquainted with the properties and composition of carbonic acid, but he was aware that Cruikshank had shown in 1800 that the only other known compound of carbon and oxygen, carbonic oxide gas, yields its own bulk of carbonic acid when mixed with oxygen and burnt; and also that Desormes* analysed both these gases, finding carbonic oxide to contain 44 of carbon to 56 of oxygen, whilst carbonic acid con- - tained to 44 of carbon 112 of oxygen, being just double of that in the carbonic oxide. Dalton adds: “ This most striking circumstance seems to have wholly escaped their notice.” Hence Dalton assumed that one atom of carbon is united in the case of carbonic oxide with one atom of oxygen, whilst carbonic acid possessed the more complicated composition and contains two atoms of oxygen to one of carbon. Now, if carbonic acid contains carbon and oxygen in the proportion of 28 to 72, carbonic oxide must contain half as much oxygen, viz., 28 of carbon to 36 of oxygen; and assuming that the atomic weight of oxygen is 5°5, that of carbon must be ATE SALI Saar 4°3- Having thus arrived at the number 4'3 as the first * Ann. der Chemie, tome 39, p. 38. atomic weight of carbon, it is easy to see why Dalton gave 6'3 as the atomic weight of carburetted hydrogen from stagnant water, and 5°3 as that of olefiant gas. The one represents one atom of carbon to two of hydrogen, the other one of carbon to one of hydrogen ; or, olefiant gas contains to equal quantities of carbon only half as much hydrogen as marsh gas. This conclusion doubtless expressed the results of Dalton’s own experiments upon these two gases, which were made, as we know from him- self, in the summer of the year 1804. He proved that neither of these gases contained anything besides carbon and hydrogen, and ascertained, by exploding with oxygen in a Volta’s eudiometer, that if we reckon the carbon in each the same, then carburetted hydrogen contains exactly twice as much hydrogen as olefiant gas does, and that “just half of the oxygen expended on its combustion was applied to the hydrogen, and the other half to the charcoal. This leading fact afforded a clue to its consti- tution.” Whereas, in the case of olefiant gas, two parts of oxygen are spent upon the charcoal, and one part upon the hydrogen. The atomic weight of nitrogen (azote = 4°2) was doubt- less obtained from the consideration of the composition of ammonia, whose atomic weight is given in the table at 5:2. Ammonia was discovered in 1774 by Priest- ley, but the composition was ascertained by Berthollet in 1775 by splitting it into its constituent elements by means of electricity, when he came to the con- clusion that it contained 0193 parts by weight of hydrogen to 0 807 parts by weight of nitrogen. Dalton as- sumed that this substance is a compound of one atom of hydrogen with one of nitrogen, and hence he obtained for the atomic weight of azote art =4'2; and 42-+1=5°2 as the atomic weight of ammonia. It is also probable that Dalton made use of the composition of the oxides of nitrogen for the purpose of obtaining the atomic weight of nitrogen. If we take the numbers obtained partly by Davy and partly by himself, as given on page 318 of the “ New System,” as representing the composition of the three lowest oxides, it appears that the mean value for nitrogen is 4°3 when oxygen is taken as 5°5. In all probability the number in this table (4°2) was obtained from an expe- riment of Dalton’s made at an earlier date. It is not possible to ascertain the exact grounds upon which Dalton gave the number 7'2 for phosphorus ; its juxtaposition, however, in the table, to phosphuretted hydrogen, shows that it was probably an an alysis or a density determination of this gas which led him to the atomic weight 7°2, under the supposition that this gas (like ammonia) consisted of one atom of each of its com- ponents. In the second table, published in 1808, Dalton gives the number 9 as that of the relative weight of the phosphorus atom, and we are able to trace the origin of this latter number, although that of 7°2 is lost tous. On p. 460, Part II. of his “ New System,” Dalton states that he found 1co cubic inches of phosphuretted hydrogen to weigh 26 grains, the same bulk of hydrogen weighing 2°5 —— oe grains. Hence scat = phosphorus. It was probably by similar reasoning from a still more inaccurate experiment than this one, that he obtained the number 7°2. Sulphur, which stands in the first table of 1803 at 14°4, was altered in the list published in the ‘“‘ New System” to 13. These numbers were derived from a consideration (1) of the composition of sulphuretted hydrogen, which he m- garded as a compound of one atom of sulphur with one of hydrogen, and (2) of that of sulphurous acid, which he supposed to contain one atom of sulphur to two of oxygen. Dalton knew that the first of these compounds con- tained its own volume of hydrogen, and he determined its specific gravity, so that by deducting from the weight of one volume of the gas that of one volume of hydrogen, he g gives the atomic weight cf 54 NATURE [ Vou, 109, 1874 would obtain the weight of the atom of sulphur compared to hydrogen asthe unit. The specific gravity he obtained was about 1'23—corresponding nearly, he says (p. 451) to Thénard’s number, 1'23. Hence (as he believed air to be twelve times as heavy as hydrogen) he would obtain the atomic weight of sulphur as (12 X 1'23) — I = 13°76, which number, standing half way between 14°4 as given in the first table, and 13 as given in the second, points out the origin of the first relative weight of the ultimate particle of sulphur. So from sulphurous acid he would obtain a similar number, taking the specific gravity as obtained by him (Part ii., 389) to be 2°3, and remembering that this gas contains its own bulk of oxygen (p. 391), he obtained (2°3 — 1°12) X 12 = 14°16 forthe atomic weight of sulphur. As, however, we do not possess the exact numbers of his specific gravity determinations, and as we do not exactly know what number he took at the time as representing the relation between the densities of air and hydrogen (in 1803 he says that the relation of 1 : 0'077 is not correct, and that +) is nearer the truth), it is impossible to obtain the exact numbers for sulphur as given in the first table. In reviewing the experimental basis upon which Dalton founded his conclusions, we cannot but be struck with the clearness of perception of truth which enabled him to argue correctly from inexact experiments. Inthe notable case, indeed, in which Dalton announces the first instance of combination in multiple proportion (Manch. Mem. vol. i., series ii., p. 250), the whole conclusion is based upon an erroneous experimental basis. If we repeat the experiment as described by Dalton, we do not obtain the results he arrived at. Oxygen cannot as a fact be made to combine with nitric oxide in the proportions of one to two by merely varying the shape of the containing vessel ; although by other means we can now effect these two acts of combination. We see, therefore, that Dalton’s conclusions were correct, although in this case it appears to have been a mere chance that his experimental results rendered such a conclusion possible. INTERNATIONAL METRIC COMMISSION AT PARIS T HE Permanent Committee of the International Metric Commission, elected from among the mem- bers at their general meeting at Paris, in 1872, has just concluded a series of meetings, the first of which was held on October 6. The Committee were directed to meet at least once a year, in order, amongst other things, to examine the progress of the work of the French Section, to whom the construction of the new standards was entrusted, with a view to the concurrence of the Committee as the executive organ of the Commission, At their recent meetings, the Committee fully considered and discussed a detailed report of the proceedings of the French Section since the melting of the great ingot of plati- num-iridium on May 13 last, from which all the new Inter- national Metric Standards are to be made (an account of which was given in NATURE, vol. x. p 130) ; and, generally speaking, the Committee expressed their unanimous concurrence and satisfaction at the mode in which the French Section have hitherto executed the duties entrusted to them by the Commission, and they also gave their decisions on certain points’ submitted to them for the guidance of the French Section in their future operations. The first operation to which the great ingot of 250 kilo- grammes of platinum-iridium was submitted, when in its rough state, and cleansed from all extraneous matter, was to have all the inequalities on its surface, that had been in contact with the lime of the calcined furnace, removed with a cold chisel. The ingot with its surface thus ‘moothed was found to weigh 236330 kilogrammes. [a this state it was exhibited to the Académie des Sciences at their stance of July 2, 1874. A portion of this large homogeneous mass of metal, when analysed by M. Henri Saint-Claire Deville, showed the proportion of iridium to be 10'29 per cent. : The ingot was next forged by M. M. Farcot under a steam hammer weighing 5,000 kilogrammes, until by suc- cessive hammerings and annealings, ina single day, it was brought to the form of a bar five centimetres square in section. By similar operators this bar, divided into con- venient lengths, was afterwards further reduced to eight bars 2°5 centimetres square in section, and of a total length of 16405 metres. A remarkable phenomenon was observed by M. Tresca during the forging of these bars, and was communicated by him to the Académie des Sciences at their séance of July 9. At the moment when the hammer struck the bar, lines of light were seen to pass downwards from the edges of the hammer, and to cross each in the form of an X on each of the side surfaces of the bar. These lines continued afterwards distinctly visible in a certain light, appearing like slightly burnished marks. The next operation was to prepare the bars for drawing into the X form, by cutting longitudinal grooves along the middle of each of the four sides of the bars by means of a planing machine. A further object of cutting these grooves was to ascertain if there were any flaws on the surface of the metal so exposed, as it was found absolutely necessary to remove any such flaws, else they would remain as blemishes on the surfaces of the bars when drawn. ; The eight bars were next submitted by M. Gueldry, at the Audincourt foundry, to successive operations of drawing out and annealing, until they were accurately re- duced to the X form of the Tresca section, when each was extended to a length sufficient to make three or four metre bars. The first of the grooved bars was passed through the dies no less than 220 times, and was as often subjected to annealing. It was afterwards ascertained that the rigidity of the drawn bars was but little affected by the process of annealing, their co-efficients of elasticity being found as follows :— Before annealing wae Nac 21'2085 After annealing ... ae ts 21'0073 Their co-efficient of expansion was also found to be but very slightly changed, and in the opposite direction, viz.— Variation for mean t. 1° C, 0'00000880,2 0,84 After annealing ... sce 881,9 0,86 When divided into finished bars of the X section, I’o2 m, in length, each bar is made perfectly straight by special arrangements contrived for this purpose. Four straight edges of steel are made exactly to fit into the grooves of the X bar, and to form, when so fitted, a rectangular bar two centimetres square in section, This squared bar is then enclosed between the plane surfaces of four solid rectangular iron bars; and all being tightly compressed with iron clamps in the form of hollow squares and with iron wedges, the whole is heated ina furnace till red hot, when the clamps are further tightened and the mass of metal is left to cool. By this operation, each of the X metre bars is made perfectly straight. Up to the present time bars of the X section have been made sufficient for more than thirty metres. The polishing of the surface of the X bars next follows. This is effected by the use of polishing powder and powdered charcoal. Particular attention is given to the polishing and subsequent burnishing of that portion of the surface of the metal on which the defining lines are to be cut. Several experiments which have been made tend to show that the best surface for cutting the lines will be obtained by the final operation of slightly impressing a stamp of highly polished steel, of the dimen- sions of 3mm. by 2mm. By this means an identical Co-efficient of expansion for 1° C. at mean t. 40° C. Before annealing ... _ Nov. 19, 1874 | } NATURE 55 surface for receiving the defining lines may be given to every one of the new metres. ; The apparatus for cutting the lines is connected with _ the new longitudinal comparing apparatus, carrying a mi- croscope with its micrometer. The microscope is 0’8 m. in length and magnifies more than 200 times ; and the whole apparatus is placed in the cold chamber, which has been constructed at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, and can be maintained constant at the normal temperature of o° C. The polishing of the bars, as well as the cutting will define the length of the metre. or 3microns (yz). accompany each international standard metre. 4 of the defining lines, the position of which must necessarily be the result of the most precise comparisons with the primary standard metre, are both entrusted to M. Tresca and his son, M. Gustave Tresca. The lines are to be cut with a diamond point. Each transverse defining line will be crossed at right angles by two longitudinal lines ot mm. apart, and the portion of the transverse line so intercepted between the two lines The width of these lines will probably be about o’002, or at most 0’003 mm., This will be about one-fourth of the thickness of the defining lines of our standard yards, which are cut with a steel knife upon the polished surface of a gold stud, and are viewed through microscopes magnifying about sixty times. Great progress has been made in the construction of the series of new thermometers, two of which are to These thermometers are being constructed by M. Baudin. Their length is 0-45 m., and their external diameter 5 mm. The bulbs have the same external diameter, and the two ther- mometers can thus be placed in the groove of the X metre bar for determining the temperature of its measuring axis during comparisons under the microscopes. The scale of the thermometers ranges from —5 to+ 50°C, and each degree is subdivided into tenths. Every 1° corresponds with a lengthof about 7mm. Four standard thermometers have been constructed for the purpose of verifying the new metre thermometers. They have an arbitrary scale from 0° to 100° C., graduated in half-milli- metres by hydrofluoric acid on the glass tubes, and the value of the several graduations has been accurately de- termined by calibration. The length of these standard thermometers somewhat exceeds 0°50 m. The construction of the new international kilogrammes and of the standard métres-a-douts will be deferred until _ the completion of the number of aé¢res-a-trazts required. Meanwhile, several balances of the greatest precision have been obtained for the weighings, some of which are fitted with mirrors for observing the extent of the oscilla- tions through a telescope by means of a vertical graduated scale fixed to the telescope and reflected in the mirror, according to the principle adopted by Gauss for observing variations of the magnetic needle. For ascertaining the atmospheric pressure during the weighings, the standard barometer of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, constructed by Fastre, is proposed to be used, by which the height of the mercury can be read to oor mm. Aningenious apparatus has been constructed by M. Mendeleef, which shows the slightest variation of pressure during the process of weighing, by means of a small U-tube containing oil of petroleum, One end of this tube is closed and contains a certain volume of dry air Maintained at a constant temperature, whilst the other end is open to the air. The instrument being accurately adjusted by means of a mercurial plunger connected with the bottom of the U-tube, so that the petroleum is exactly on a level on the two branches of the tube, it is found to be so extremely sensible that the slightest variation of atmospheric pressure is shown by an alteration of the level, and the amount of this alteration can be measured with the greatest precision. It is expected that the whole series of new metres-a- traits will be completed by the French Section and ready to be handed over to the Comité Permanent by October | 1875, and that the construction of the new kiljogrammes and métres-a-bouts will also be far advanced by that date. During their late meeting, the question of the convoca- tion of a Diplomatic Conference at Paris with the view of providing the requisite means for enabling the committee to execute all the definite comparisons of the new metric standards, and for securing the due preservation of the new international metric prototypes and regulating their use for future comparisons, was further considered by the Committee. In pursuance of their resolution of last year upon this subject, the requisite communications were made by the French Government to the Governments of the several countries interested, and the Committee have now passed a resolution that considering the numbers of Govern- ments who have agreed to take part in such conference, the French Government be requested to convoke it with as little delay as possible. Information has been received of the willingness of the French Government to accede to the request, and the Conference will probably be held in the spring of next year. H. W. CHISHOLM NOTES Ir is with the greatest pleasure and with something like a sense of relief that we are able at Jast to announce definitely that at a Cabinet Council held last Saturday it was decided that there should be an Arctic Expedition, at the expense of Government, to sail next spring. The welcome intelligence was thus an- nounced by Mr. Disraeli toySir Henry Rawlinson :—‘‘ Her Majesty’s Government have had under consideration the represen- tations made by you on behalf of the Council of the Royal Geo- graphical Society, the Council of the Royal Society, the British Association, and other eminent scientific bodies, in favour of a renewed expedition, under conduct of Government, to explore the regiou of the North Pole, and I have the honour to inform you that, having carefully weighed the reasons set forth in support of such an expedition, the scientific advantages to be derived from it, its chances of success, as well as the importance of encouraging that spirit of maritime enterprise which has ever distinguished the English people, her Majesty’s Government have determined to lose no time in organising a suitable expedition for the purposes in view.” Steps have, we believe, been already taken to carry into effect this resolution, which reflects so much credit on her Majesty’s Government. Admiral M‘Clintock left for Dundee on Tuesday with an engineer and shipwright, to buy two steam whalers, which will be fitted out under the tried explorer’s superintendence at Portsmouth. Capt. A. H. Markham, who went to Baffin’s Bay last year, will probably occupy an important post in the expedition, the route of which will, of course, be Smith’s Sound. Now that the thing has been decided on, there is no doubt that it will be thoroughly well done ; and now that Englishmen have once more got the chance, we may expect something like real work, if, indeed, they do not take the last step in the solution of the Arctic mystery. Ve take the following from the Z7es :—The medals in the gift of the Royal Society for the present year have been awardeds by the Council as follows, and will be presented at the anniver- sary meeting on the 30th inst. :—The Copley Medal to Prof. Lonis Pasteur, of the Academy of Science, Paris, For. Mem. R. S., for his researches on Fermentation and on Pebrine. The Rumford Medal to Mr. J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., for his spectroscopic researches on the sun and on the chemical ele- ments. A Royal Medal to Prof. William Crawford Williamson, F.R.S., of Owens College, Manchester, for his contributions to zoology and paleontology, and especially for his investigations into the structure of the fossil plants of the coal-measures ; and a Royal Medal to Mr. Henry Clifton Sorby, F.R.S., for his 56 NATURE (Mov. 19, 1874 researches on slaty cleavage and on the minute structure of mi- nerals and rocks, for the construction of the micro-spectroscope, and for his researches on colouring matters. We are very glad to be able to announce that Prof. Maske- lyne’s lectures on Crystallography to the Chemical Society are likely to be well attended. The first lecture will be given on Monday evening next, at 8.30, at Burlington House. Last week some engineers visited the National Library, Paris, on behalf of the Japanese Government, to take measurements for the purpose of building a large public library in Japan on the same plan. The magazine and reading-rooms of Paris have, with some improvements, been built on the system of the British Museum. THE report of the Potato Disease Committee of the Royal Agricultural Society has been recently published. It will be recollected that three years ago Earl Cathcart offered a prize of roo/, for essays on the prevention of the disease. Although no fresh practical information was elicited, and it may perhaps be said no direct good came from this well-meant offer, the Society took the subject up and offered prizes for potatoes reputed to be proof against disease. Two prizes were offered for the com- mencement of this year, for potatoes of varieties already known, and two are to be awarded five years hence for varieties that may be produced by cultivation before that period. Six different varieties were sent in, 1 ton (twenty bags of 1 cwt.) of each, The Society arranged to have these practically tested. Twelve stations in England, four in Scotland, and four in Ireland were selected, and 1 cwt. of each variety sent for planting, of these so-called disease-proof potatoes. During the summer the botanic referee of the Society visited all the localities, and in all cases disease was found. Much valuable information is likely to arise from the statistics that have been collected, for although it seems that no indication is given of how the disease can be prevented, yet under certain conditions, principally iofluenced by moisture, its effect is but small. Prof. de Bary has worked cut the scientific questions that occur as to the origin of the disease. It is owing to a fungus (Peronospora infestans), which attacks the leaves first, and after absorbing the nutriment of them, utilises the petiole, and thus reaches the tubes. A further report of the Committee, based on the statistics sent in, is shortly to be expected. We greatly regret to announce the death of Mrs. Hooker, the wife of the Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, and Presi- dent of the Royal Society, which took place on Friday, Nov. 13, very suddenly. She was the translator of Le Maout and Decaisne’s ‘‘ Traité général de Botanique. She will be missed by a large circle of scientific friends. Tue death of Dr. Archibald Campbell will be regarded as a severe loss by his colleagues in scientific societies and by many of the Indian public. He was sixty-nine years of age, and till lately appeared hale and hearty. As Superintendent of Dar- jecling, he became a leading authority of reference oa the natural history, geography, and ethnography of Thibet, Nepaul, Sikkim, and Bhootan. He was distinguished as an admunistrator, and under his government and auspices Darjeeling has risen from an obscure sanitarium for invalid soldiers to be a settlement of some consideration. He was the author of several memoirs and notes. WE have to record the death, on Monday last, in his fifty- sixth year, of Dr. Edward Smith, F.R.S., Assistant Medical Officer, for Poor-law purposes, to the Local Government Board. Dr. Smith’s excellent observations on quantitative physiological cyclical phenomena, many of which were conducted cn himself, are too well known to require special mention ; they indicate an amount of energy and willingness to experience personal incon- venience for the sake of his favourite subject which is very rarely to be met with. His observations on dietaries, espe- cially with regard to the Manchester cotton famine, are also of considerable importance. We hear that a new method has been proposed for crossing the Channel; this is to construct an artificial isthmus between the French and English sides, leaving a very small space in the centre for the passage of ships. The expense would not be mu-h larger than that of boring a tunnel, and the advantages would in some respects be greater. Tue International Congress of Orientalists has been the means of originating in Paris a new society under the title of Société .d@’Etudes, Japonaises, Chinoises, Tartares, and Indo-chinoises. The number of members already amounts to sixty. Ata recent meeting of the Society, M. Bourset exhibited a game for teaching children in a few hours the elements of which Chinese letters are made—ommne tulit punctum gut miscuit utile dulci. MM. Bourset has also shown another invention for diminishing the number of letters which must be cut, and there- fore of diminishing the cost of printing Chinese works. M. Lrverrter is constructing, in the recently annexed garden of his observatory, a basis for comparing accurately, by super- position, standard measuces of length with the metre. The first comparison will be made between the Archives metre and the celebrated Boscowitz rule, which was used more than a century ago for determining the length of two degrees in the Papal States. IN a paper read before the Paris Société d’Acclima‘ation, Dr. Turrel suggests that the rapid spread of the Phylloxera vastatrix ia France may be due to the scarcity of small birds in that country. Forty years ago, he says, linnets, tits, &c., were numerous in Provence, ani in the autumn they could be seen posted on the vine braaches, carrying on a vigorous search after the insects, and larve and eggs of insects, concealed in the cracks of the stem and leaves of the plant. Since the com- mencement of the present cenuury, however, it is easy to perceive that the destruction of small birds has been carried on more and more generally ; and that, concurrently with this war of extermi- nation azainst the feathered tribes, the numbers of destructive insects have increased at an alarming rate. Dr. Turrel thinks that, though it cannot be absolutely maintained that the oidium and the Phylloxera, the two latest forms of vine disease (the one a vegetable, the other an insect parasite), owe their frightful extension to the scarcity of small birds, yct it is unquestionable tuat a plant like the vine, weakened by the attacks of insects, is less in a condition to withstand the ravages of parasites ; and that, deprived of its feathered proteciors and left to the succes- sive and unchecked onslaught of the vine grub aud other normal enemies, it has been predisposed to sucsuaib before the ravages of its new enemies. The obvious moral is that the French are tiemselves partly to blame for their indiscretion in killing the useful small birds, THE commotion created in th: Paris School of Medicine by the false rumour spread by the /zgavo has been beyond bounds ; not only was M. Wurtz, the Dean, cheered, but M. Chauffard, one of the professors belonging to the clerical party, was hooted, and unable to deliver his lecture. The disorder having been renewed in spite of all precautions taken by M. Wurtz, the School of Medicine has been closed for a month. If students again exhibit a riotous spirit, the ringleaders will be prosecuted before a Council of War; which is a lawful proceeding, Paris being placed under a state of siege. STROMBOLI is reported to have recently shown symptoms of revived action, ae Nov. 19, 1874] THE next Triennial Prize of 300/., under the will of the late Sir Astley P. Cooper, Bart., will be awarded to the author of the best essay or treatise on ‘‘ The Anatomy, Physiology, and Patho'ogy of the Sympathetic Nervous System.” WE learn from Hansa of the 15th inst. that the following amounts have been included in the estimates for 1875, presented to the Imperial German Parliament for the service of the “ Deutsche Seewarte ” :— A.—Salaries and Remunerations. 1. Central Station 39,000 marks 2. Branch Stations ... : os II,000 gy B.—Contingent Expenses. x. Central Station ... Re = 20,000 ,, 2. Branch Stations ... 4,800 ,, Total ... which, at the rate of twenty marks to the sovereign, amounts to 3,700/. Two new departments are to be added to that esta- Llished at Hamburg for Marine Meteorology, viz., for Storm- warnings and Magnetism. 74,800 marks A Hone Kone telegram of the 16th inst. states that the Challenger had arrived there from Australia. WE hear that a Horticultural Club is about ‘to be formed in London, and the preliminary steps that have been taken pro- mise well. Tue last number of the Gardener's Chroni-le states that a specimen of Aralia sieboldi at Kew is now in bloom, and that a new garden plant, Raphidophora lancifolia, is now in cultivation in this country. A sLiGHT shock of earthquake was feltin Carnarvonshire and Anglesea on Sunday morning. From a private letter dated Mauritius, Oct. 15, we learn that Lord Lindsay had not yet arrived at that island, that the Ger- mans were expected on the 25th, that the Dutch were at their post at Bourbon, and the English the same at Rodriguez. Tue Earl of Derby has been elected by the Edinburgh students as their Lord Rector, and Mr, Disrazli has been re-elected by the ingenui adolescentes of Glasgow University. Every term at Dulwich College a course of scientific evening lectures is given, open to the students and their friends. This term, for the first time, the applications for tickets have exceeded the accommodation of the lecture theatre. The present course is on Geology, by Prof. Harry G. Seeley, the titles of the lec- tures being, “ The Origin and Internal Structure of the Earth,” “The Origin and Succession of the Strata,” ‘* The Succession of Life on the Earth,” and “ The Influence of Geological Pheno- mena on Men and Animals.” Tue Committee of Directors of the Crystal Palace Company’s School of Art, Science, and Literature have made arrangements for the delivery of successive short series of lectures on special subjects by gentlemen of eminence in art, science, and literature. These lectures will be purely educational in charactcr, and, as far as possible, complete in themselves, but will not in any way supplant the permanent private classes, to which they are designed to be accessory. They are intended to stimulate independent thought, and to lead the student to a conception of some of the ulterior aims of the studies she pursues. They will be delivered | in the largest class-room of the school, generally on Fridays, in | the afternoon ; and the most moderate fee that is possible in each case will be fixed. Ladies only will be admitted. The frst course will be of six lectures on ‘‘ The Interpretation of Nature as it relates to Man and his Education,” by the Rev. Chas. Pritchard, M.A., F.R,S., Savilian Professor of Astronomy in | — NATURE Sif the University of Oxford. Fridays—November 13, 20, 27; December 4, 11, 13; to commence each day at half-past three. Avr Emmanuel College, Cambridge, there will be an exami- nation for open scholarships in natural science, commencing the 6th of April, 1875. There is no limit as to age, but all candi- dates will have to satisfy the examiners that they possess such a knowledge of mathematics and classics as will enable them to pass the Previous Examination. The subjects of examination are botany, chemistry, chemical physics, geology and mine- ralogy, zoology, comparative anatomy, and physiology. Candi- dates must send their names, with copy of register of birth and a certificate of good conduct from some M.A, of the University, to the tutor of Emmanuel, on or before March 31. A candidate for a scholarship may also be eligible without further exami- nation for a scholarship at Christ’s or Sidney Colleges, in default of properly qualified candidates at those colleges. A JOINT examination will be held at Clare College and Gon- ville and Caius College, Cambridge, on Tuesday, March 16, 1875, and three following days, when two scholarships for natural s-iences will be offered for competition to students intending to commence residence in October 1875, each of the value of 60/. per annum, tenable for two years, but subject to extension or exchange for scholarships of longer tenure. Candidates are required to send their names, with certificates of age and testi- monials of good conduct, to one or other of the respective tutors, the Rey. N. M. Ferrers, tutor of Caius, or the Rev. W. Raynes, tutor of Clare, stating at which college they prefer to be elected ; but if not elected at such college it will be under- stood that they are candidates also at the other college. Fur- ther particulars may be obtained on application to the tutor of Clare or the tutor of Caius. THERE was a meeting of the members of the Cambridge Uni- versity Senate on the 12th inst., to discuss the report issued last June of the Board of Natural Science Studies, recommending alterations in the examination for the Natural Science Tripos, Its main recommendations consist of a division of the Tripos. The recommendations met with the unanimous approval of the Senate, Tue following appears in the Zises :—Where the excavations for laying the water-pipes are being made near Rideau Hall, on the grounds of the Governor-General of Canada, the workmen have made a strange geological discovery. It is a stratum of fossil rock several feet thick, containing the most accurate and beautiful petrified winged insects. There are some like butter. flies, with the delicate fibre of the wings in a most perfect state of preservation. Several persons in New Edinburgh have secured excellent specimens. On Thursday, Noy. 5, the members of the Geological Society Club dined together at the Pall Mall Restaurant, to celebrate the fiftieth year of the meetings of the Club. There was a good gathering of the members, and among them were the Earl of Enniskillen, Sir Charles Lyell, Profs. Huxley and Ramsay, Mr. Godwin Austen, Mr. Prestwich, Capt. Galton, &c. ; some of the past retired members were also present. Letters apologising for absence were read from Mr. Jesse Watts Russell, an original member, the Duke of Devonshire, Earl of Selkirk, Lord Over- stone, Mr. Darwin, Sir C. Fox Bunbury, and others, The president of the Geological Society, Mr. J. Evans, took the chair, and the vice-chair was occupied by Mr. Mylne, the treasurer of the Club ; some toasts were given, and Sir Che»les Lyell, one of the only two original members now living, re- _ sponding in the name of the Club, took occasion to remark that | great as had often been the differences of opinion in the Geo- logical Society from the time of Buckland, Conybeare, De la 58 NATURE [ Mov. 19, 1874. Beche, Fitton, Sedgwick, and Murchison, down to the present day, there had always been perfect harmony in the Club. He further congratulated the younger men not only on the zeal and talent displayed among them, but on the progress of opinion and freedom of expression gained by scientific thought in the course of half a century. ICEBERGS are reported to have been met with in the Bay of Biscay during very rough weather, by the Mongolia, which arrived at Southampton on Monday last. Icebergs have been met with as far south, but generally well out in the Atlantic Ocean. WE invite the attention of all interested in technical education to the very excellent examination scheme of the Society of Arts, intended to promote such education among the working men of the country. No doubt a prospectus of the scheme will be forwarded to anyone writing for it to the Society’s offices in London. In one of its last sittings the Municipal Council of Paris will have to vote on a proposition, supported by forty of its members, asking the National Assembly to establish a system of public instruction, gratuitous, obligatory, and secular, The motion will probably be agreed to by the Municipal Council, but rejected altogether by the National Assembly. ° Tue additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the past week include eighteen Lancelets (Amphioxus lanceolatus) from the Mediterranean Sea, presented by the Director of the oological Station at Naples ; a Pine Marten (J/ar‘es abietum), British, presented by Mr. J. Francis; a Red-shouldered Starling (Agelacus phoeniceus) from N. America, presented by Mrs. Box- well) ; two Aztec Conures (Comurus aztec) from S. America, purchased. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES LONDON Linnean Society, Nov. 5.—G. J. Allman, M.D., president, in the chair—W. H. Archer, R. A. Pryor, and W. W. Wilson were elected Fellows. Mr. J. E. Howard read a pager on the appearances of Zodelia dorlmanna on the floating island in Derwentwater. —Mr. JA. Jackson exhibited leaves of Liqui- dambar and Perottia, exhibiting remarkably beautiful autumn tints.—Mr. J. G. Baker read a paper on Asparagec, a section of Liliacee. The author commenced by discussing the limits of the natural order Liliacezee. He proposed to regard it as con- sisting of three great series, and in addition several abnormal tribes, all of which have some claim to be regarded as distinct orders. The three series are :—Liliacez proper, characterised by capsular fruit with loculicidal dehiscence, united styles, and introrse anthers (1200 to 1300 species) ; Colchicaceze, marked by capsular fruit with septicidal dehiscence, free styles, and extrorse anthers (130 species) ; and Asparagaceze, marked by baccate fruit (260 species). The aberrant tribes are Liriopex (Ophiopo- gonez), Gillesiew, Conantheree, Stemonez (Roxburghiaces, Lindley), and Scoliopeae. All these have anatropous ovules : and he advocated the separating of Smilax from Asparagez, with which it has been commonly joined by recent writers, and the retention of it as the type of a separate order marked by orthotropous ovules, and by its habit of growth, woody often prickly stems, minute polygamous umbellate flowers, stipular tendrils, and decidedly stalked exogen-like leaves with venules reticulated between the palmate main nerves. The tribes and genera of Asparagee, which are as follows, toa considerable extent represent the non-bulhous tribes of the two capsular series :—(1) Jracenee : Shrubs with proper leaves, hermaphro- dite flowers, and introrse anthers ; genera, Draczena, Toetsea (= Cordyline, but used on ground of priority), and Colmia ; repre- sents Yuccoidez in Euliliaceze. (2) Sesevieree : Undershrubs with coriaceo-carnose leaves, hermaphrodite flowers, and extrorse anthers ; genera, Sanseviera, Lomatophyllum ; represents closely Aloinez in Euliliacez. (3) Convallariee: Herbs with proper leaves, gamophyllous hermaphrodite flowers, and introrse anthers; genera, Reineckia, Convallaria, Polygonatum, Hylo- nome; represents Hemerocallidez in Euliliaceze. (4) Zovarwe : Herbs with proper leaves, polyphyllous hermaphrodite flowers, and introrse anthers, dehiscing longitudinally ; genera, Theropogon, Speirantha (new genus founded on Albrica gardeni, Hook.), Maianthemum, Tovaria (an earlier name for Smilacina), Dry- mophila, Geitonoplesium, and Eustrephus. (5) Dianel/ee : Herbs with proper leaves, hermaphrodite flowers, and anthers dehiscing by terminal pores; genera, Dianella, Luzuriaga. (6) Aspidistree: Acaulescent herbs, with fleshy, often eight-lobed perianths, hermaphrodite flowers, introrse anthers with longitu- | dinal dehiscence, and large peltate complicated stigmas ; genera, Aspidistra, Plectogyne, Tupistra, Campylandra (new genus from East Himalyas), Gonioscypha (new genus from Bhotan), Rohdea. (7) Streftopee: Herbs with. proper leaves, herma- phrodite flowers, and extrorse anthers, with longitudinal dehiscence ; genera, Medeola, Clintonea, Prosartes, Streptopus, Callixene. Kruhsea; represents Colchicacee in the capsular series. (8) Asfaragee: Herbs or shrubs with leaves degraded down into spurred bract-like membranes, and their place filled by an abundant development of branches in their axils ; flowers often polygamous, with introrse anthers dehiscing longitudinally ; genera, Asparagus (including Asparagopsis and Myrsiphyllum), Ruscus, Semele, and Danae; the most specialised type of the baccate series, not represented by any tribe in the two capsular sets. The most noticeable points of structure in the series are that, in the first place, such a thing as a bulbous rootstock or a narrow fleshy Jorate leaf of the hyacinth type does not occur in Asparagez at all. As regards distribution, it is noticeable that whilst the bulbous tribes of Liliaceze possess a distinctly- marked geographical individuality, this does not hold good of the non-bulbous half of the natural order; and that the 260 species are scattered all over the world, and not concentrated in any particular geographical area. The most curious structural peculiarity in the grovp is the degradation of the leaf-organ which marks the tribe Asparageze. The leaves have ‘an alter- nate arrangement, and are invariably developed in the form of a minute membranous scale. This has a spur at the base, which in many of the shrubby species of Asparagus is developed out into a woody spine, as firm in texture as the indurated branchlet of the sloe or hawthorn. The function of the leaf is fulfilled by branches, which are developed singly or in fascicles in the axils of these bract-like proper leaves. Sometimes these branches are needle-like (cladodia), without any flattening, as in the common garden asparagus; and sometimes, as in Myrsiphyllum and Ruscus, they assume all the appearance of proper leaves (phyllo- cladia’. The flowers in the 100 species of the genus Asparagus are remarkably uniform, and it is principally upon characters furnished by the shape and arrangement of these barren branches that the species are marked. The stigma of the Aspidistrez isa very curious and complicated organ. It is a plate with eight troughs radiating from a raised central umbilicus, separated from one another by raised walls, and it closes in the tube of the perianth, in which the anthers are placed so thoroughly that it is difficult to tell how fertilisation is effected ; but upon turning it upside down four minute holes may be seen, through which it would be possible for a very small insect to creep. The paper was illustrated by plates of the three new genera, and one to show the structure of the stigma of these Aspidistreze ; and a large number of new species, especially in the genus Asparagus, were described. In the discussion which followed, Dr. Hooker, Dr. Masters, and others expressed their sense of the great value of - Mr. Baker’s labours. Geological Society, Nov. 4.—John Evans, F.R.S., presi- dent, in the chair.—The following communication was read :— Notes on the Comparative Microscopic Rock-structure of some Ancient and Modern Volcanic Rocks, by J. Clifton Ward. The author stated at the outset that his object was to compare the ~ microscopic rock-structure of several groups of volcanic rocks, — and in so doing to gain light, if possible, upon the original _ structure of some of the oldest members of that series. The first part of the paver comprised an abstract of what had been previously done in this subject. The second part gave details of the microscopic structure of some few modern lavas, such as the Solfatara Trachyte, the Vesuvian lava-flows of 1631 and 1794, and a lava of the Alban Mount, near Rome. In the trachyte of the Solfatara acicular crystals of felspar show a well-marked flow around the larger and first-formed crystals. In the Vesu- vian and Albanian lavas leucite seems, in part at any rate, to take the place of the felspar of other lavas ; and the majority of the leucite crystals seem to be somewhat imperfectly formed, as is the case with the small felspar prisms of the Solfatara rock ‘Nov. 19, 1874| a ‘The order of crystallisation of the component minerals was shown to be the following :—Magnetite, felspar in large or small distinct crystals, augite, felspathic or leucitic solvent. Some of the first-formed crystals were broken and rendered imperfect before the viscid state of igneous fusion ceased. Even in such oder laya-flows as that of the Solfatara considerable changes taken place by alteration and the replacement of one mineral y another, and is very generally in successive layers correspond- to the crystal outlines. ‘The frequent circular arrangement the glass and stone cavities near the circumference of the inute leucite crystals in the lava of 1631 was thought to point the fact that after the other minerals had separated from the itic solvent, the latter began to crystallise at numerous adja- at points ; and as these points approached one another, solidi- tion proceeded more rapidly, and these cavities were more erally imprisoned than at the earlier stages of crystallisation. the example of the lava of 1794, where the leucite crystals further apart, this peculiar arrangement of cavities was most unknown. The third part of the paper dealt with the and ashes of North Wales ; and the author thought that following points were established :—1I. Specimens of lava m the Arans, the Arenigs, and Snowdon and its neighbour- od, all have the same microscopic structure. 2. This struc- e presents a hazy or milky-looking base, with scattered par- of a light-green dichroic mineral (chlorite), and generally me porphyritically imbedded felspar crystals or fragments of sh, both orthoclase and plagioclase. In polarised light, on ing the Nicols, the base breaks up into an irregular- oured breccia, the colours changing to their complementaries rotating either of the prisms. 3. F inely bedded ash, when Aly altered, is in some cases undistinguishable in microscopic ucture from undoubted felstone. 4. Ash of a coarser nature, en highly altered, is also very frequently not to be distin- guished from felstone, though now and then the outlines of some the fragments will reveal its true nature. 5. ‘The fragments ich make up the coarser ash-rocks seem generally to consist of ne, containing both orthoclase and plagiocase crystals r fragments; but occasionally there occur pieces of a more talline nature, with minute acicular prisms and pla- ase felspar. 6. In many cases the only tests that_can be ed to distinguish between highly altered ash-rock and a fel- ne are the presence of a bedded or fragmentary appearance weathered surfaces, and the gradual passage into less altered unmistakable ash. In the fourth division of his paper the thor described some of the lavas and ashes of Cumberland of ver Silurian age. With regard to these ancient lavas, the lowing was given as a general definition :—The rock is gene- ly of some shade of blue or dark green, generally weathering hite round the edges, but to a very slight depth. It frequently umes a tabular structure, the tabula being often curved, and s with a sharp conchoidal and flinty fracture. Silica, 59-61 cent. Matrix generally crystalline, containing crystals of radorite or oligoclase and orthoclase, porphyritically im- edded, round which the small crystalline needles seem fre- ently to have flowed ; magnetite generally abundant, and agite tolerably so, though usually changed into a soft dark-green eral; apatite and perhaps olivine as occasional constituents. ‘asionally the crystalline base is partly obscured and a felsitic ture takes its place. The Cumberland lavas were shown to mble the Solfatara greystone in the frequent flow of the stalline base, and the modern lavas generally in the order in hich the variour minerals crystallised out. In external struc- are they have, for the most part, much more of a felsitic than a saltic appearance. In internal structure they have considerable malogies with the basalts. In chemical composition they are either true basalts nor true felstones. In petrological structure hey have much the general character of the modern Vesuvian ; the separate flows being usually of no great thickness, ng slaggy, vesicular, or brecciated at top and bottom, and ing often a considerable range, as if they had flowed in some es for several miles from their point of eruption, Their gene- microscopic appearance is also very different from that of h old basalts as those of South Stafford and some of those of arboniferous age in Scotland. On the whole, while believing in some cases the lavas in question were true basalts, the author was inclined to regard most of them as occupying an termediate place between felsitic and doleritic lavas ; and as felstone-lavas were once probably trachytes, these old Sumbrian rocks might perhaps be called Felsidolerites, answering a position to the modern Trachy-dolerites. A detailed examina- on of Cumbrian ash-rocks had convinced the author that in NATURE 59 many cases most intense metamorphism had taken place, that the finer ashy material had been partially melted down, anda kind of streaky flow caused around the larger fragments. There was every transition from an ash-rock in which a bedded or fragmentary structure was clearly visible, to an exceedingly close and flinty felstone-like rock, undistinguishable in hand specimens from a true contemporaneous trap. Such altered rocks were, however, quite distinct in microscopic structure from the undoubted lava-flows of the same district, and often distinct also from the Welsh felstones, although some were almost identical microscopically with the highly altered ashes of Wales, and together with them resembled the felstone-lavas of the same country. This metamorphism among the Cumbrian rocks increases in amount as the great granitic centres are approached e and it was believed by the author that it took place mainly at the commencement of the Old Red period, when the rocks in question must have been buried many thousands of feet deep beneath the Upper Silurian strata, and when probably the Esk- dale granite was formed, perhaps partly by the extreme meta- morphism of the volcanic series during upheaval and contortion. The author stated his belief that the Cumbrian volcanoes were mainly subaérial, since some 12,ocoft. of ash- and lava-beds had been accumulated without any admixture of ordinary sede mentary material, except quite at the base, containing scarcely any conglomeratic beds, and destitute of fossils. He believed also that oe of the chief volcanic centres of the district had been the present site of Kenwick, the low craggy hill called Castle Head representing the denuded stump or plug of an old volcano. The author believed that one other truth of no slight importance might be gathered from these investigations, viz, that neither the careful inspection of hand specimens nor the microscopic examination of thin slices would in a@// cases enable truthful results to be arrived at, in discriminating between trap and altered ash-rocks; but these methods and that of chemical analysis must be accompanied by oftentimes a laborious and detailed survey ef the rocks in the open country, the various beds being traced out one by one and their weathered surfaces parti- cularly noticed. Physical Society, Nov. 7.—Prof. W. G. Adams, F.R.S., in the chair.—A paper by Mr. G. F. Rodwell was read, on an instrument for multiplying small motions. It consists of a train of multiplying wheels, the first of which is moved by the bar whose elongation is to be measured, while the teeth of the last engage with the threads of an endless screw whose axis is ver- tical, and carries at its extremity a long index moving over a graduated circle. The multiplying power of the instrument is very great ; its defects are its want of steadiness, great internal strain, and the difficulty of bringing the index back to zero when the pressure on the lever connected with the first wheel is re- moved.—Prof. Foster, F.R.S., made a communication on’ the geometrical treatment of certain elementary electrical problems. The object of this communication {was to illustrate the facility and clearness by which certain of the electrical problems occur- ring in elementary instruction could be treated by easy geometri- cal methods. Its application was shown in the following cases : The calculation of the quantity of heat evolved in a galvanic circuit ; the calculation of the electromotive force and of the per- manent resistance of a voltaic battery from two deflections of a tangent-galvanometer ; the determiaation of the joint resistance of several conductors combined in multiple-arc; and the deter- mination of the distribution of potential and strength of the curreats forme1 by connecting the similar poles of two unequal batteries with the opposite ends of the same conductor.—Prof, Guthrie read a paper on salt solutions and water of crystallisa- tion. The absorption of heat which occurs when a sa't is dis- solved in a liquid was shown to depend not only on the relative specific heats of the salt and the liquid, but also on the molecular ratio of the resulting solution. This ratio declared itself optically (1) by the singularity of the refractive index when the critical ratio was obtained, (2) by the singularity of density at the same point, (3) by the heat absorbed when (a) a saturated solution was mixed with the medium, and (8) when the salt itselt was dissolved in a cer- tain quantity of themedium. The condition of maximum density of water was referred to the existence ofa definite hydrate of water. It was shown that every salt soluble in water was capable of uniting with water in a definite ratio (by weight), forming definite solid compounds of distinct crystalline form and constant melting and solidifying points. It was supposed that the ratios of such union are not incommensurable with the ratios of chemical weight, and that the new class of bodies which only exist below 60 o° C,, and may be called cryohydrates, are not discontinuous with the hydrated crystalline salts previously known. A few cryo- hydrates were described as being obtained from the saturated aqueous solutions of the respective salts on the withdrawal of heat. Thus chloride of sodium combines with 10°5 (? 10) mole- cules of water, and solidifies therewith at — 23° C. Chloride of ammonium combines with 12 molecules of water, and solidifies at—15°C. The combinations with water were given of the sulphates of zinc, copper sodium, and magnesium, also those of the nitrates of potassium, chlorate of potassium, and bichromate of potassium. As far as experimental results at present indicate, it appears that those cryohydrates which have the lowest solidi- fying point have the least water. Some suggestions were offered concerning the application of these experimental results to the explanation of the separation of the Plutonic rocks from one another, and the importance was pointed out of the use which these cryohydrates will have in establishing constant temperatures below o° as fixed and as readily obtainable as o” itself. Mathematical Society, Nov. 12.—Dr. Hirst, F.R.S., pre- sident, in the chair.—The President informed the meeting of the loss the Society had sustained by the recent death of one of its honorary foreign members, Dr. Otto Hesse, of the Polytechnicum, Munich, and mentioned that it was the intention of the Council soon to fill up the vacancies caused by the deaths of Drs. Clebsch and Hesse. — On the motion of Prof. Cayley, F.R.S., seconded by the Rev. R. Harley, F.R.S., it was ordered that the cordial thanks of the Society be presented to Lord Rayleigh for his munificent donation of 1,000/. to the Society, and the chairman was requested to convey the same by letter to his lordship. The money has been vested, as the treasurer’s report mentioned, in 870/. Guaranteed Indian Railway Stock, and the interest will be applied, as was stated two or three months since in NATURE, to the purchase of mathematical journals, and also to assist in defraying the expense of printing the Society’s Proceedings. The meeting then proceeded to the election of the new Council, and the gentlemen whose names were given in a recent number of this journal were declared by the scrutators to be duly elected.—Instead of giving the usual valedictory address, Dr. Hirst stated what results he had arrived at in the course of his investigations upon ‘‘ Correlation in Space.” The communication was an extension to space of results arrived at in his paper (read before the Society in May last), entitled the “* Correlation of Two Planes.” —Mr. J. H. Rohrs read an abstract of a communication on ‘‘ Tidal Retardation.” The problem dis- cussed is the superior limit to the tidal retardation in a globe, in all respects similar to our own, except that it is covered entirely by asea, the depth of which is constant for all places in the same latitude, and is therefore a function of latitude only—not longi- tude—a function supposed to be known.—A paper by Prof, Wolstenholme on a new view of the porism of the in- and circum- scribed triangle was taken as read. Anthropological Institute, Nov. 10.—Prof. Busk, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Reports were read by Mr. BF. W. Rudler on the Anthropological Department of the British Association at Belfast, and by Mr. Hyde Clarke on the Anthro- pological Section of the International Congress of Orientalists recently held in London.—A paper was then read by Col. Lane Fox on a series of flint and chert arrow-heads and flakes from the Kio Negro, Patagonia, with some remarks on the stability of form observable in stone implements. The series of specimens exhibited was selected from a collection of 500 gathered by Mr. W. H. Hudson on the margin of the river and over an extent of about ninety miles, and on the numerous lagoons, now mostly dry, with which the valley is everywhere intersected. The valleys in that region run through high. terraced table-lands ; and on the plateaus above there is no water and but very scanty vegetation, which would seem to indicate the improbability of their having been occupied by man. A great number of the implements were discovered by Mr. Hudson on the sites of villages in the valley and in circular flattened mounds of clay measuring from 6 ft. to 8 ft. in circumference. The different styles of workmanship observed in the different villages were not, in the opinion of Mr. Hudson, to be attribuied to the variety of material employed, but to the degree of skill possessed by the inhabitants of each village. The author drew attention to the interesting fact of the arrow-heads having long fallen into disuse among the Tehuelches NATURE and other Patagonian tribes, who now and for some centuries past employed the spear. Col. Fox proceeded to describe in detail the various weapons and their varieties of workmanship, and showed that they ail p,esented the same general features as H | Mov. 19, 1874 implements found in the United States. He believed that, owing to our inability to understand the uncultured mental condition of savages and prehistoric races, we often lose sight of the inferences deducible from the stability of form observable in their arts and implements, and attach less importance than should be the case to minute varieties of structure.—It was announced that the Council had resolved to publish in the Journal of the Institute bibliographical notices, abstracts and reviews of English and foreign works and papers, and other miscellaneous matter of anthropological interest and importance. PaRIs Academy of Sciences, Noy. 2.—M. Bertrand in the chair. —The following papers were read :—General results of observa-. tions on the germination and first developments of different lilies, by M. P. Duchartre.—Researches on the dissociation of crystalline salts, by MM. P. A. Favre and C. A. Valson,— Results of the voyage of exploration undertaken for the pre- liminary study of the general track of a railway connecting the Anglo-Indian with the railways of Russian Asia, by M. F. de Lesseps.—Rational treatment. of pulmonary phthisis, by M. P. de Pietra Santa. —On new apparatus for studying the phenomena of the combustion of powders, by MM. Marcel-Deprez and H. Sebert.—Theory of electrodynamics freed from all hypotheses relating to the mutual action of two current elements, by M. P. Le Cordier.—Monograph of the anguilliform family of fishes, by M. C. Dareste.—On the existence of a sexual generation in Phylloxera vastatrix, by M. G. Balbiani.—On the solution of numerical equations of which all the roots are real, by M. Laguerre.—On an apparatus for determining personal equations in observations of the transit of stars, arranged for the geodesic service of the United States, by MM. Hilgard and Suess.—On the laws of the vibratory motion of tuning-forks, by M. E. Mer- cadier.—Note on a modification of Fehling’s and Barreswil’s solutions for the determination of glucose, by M. P. Lagrange. — On the fermentation of fruits, by MM. G, Lechartier and F. Bellamy. The authors have now examined the products from cherries, gooseberries, and figs.—Application of the graphical method to the study of certain points in deglutition, by M. S. Arloing. The author concludes from his experiments that a decided difference exists between the swallowing of liquids and of solids.—On the mechanism of deglutition, by M. G. Carlet.— Results furnished by surgical op rations performed on patients in which anzesthesia has been produced by the intravenous in- jection of chloral, by M. Oré.—Note on a cyclone observed at La Pouéze (Maine-et-Loire) Sept. 30, 1874, at 4.30 P.M., by M. Al. Jeanjen.—The Report of the Commission appointed on August 17 for preparing a reply to the letter addressed by the Minister of Public Instruction concerning the organisation of a Physical Astronomical Observatory in the neighbourhood of Paris, was read at the conclusion of the meeting. BOOKS RECEIVED BritisH.—Meteorological Committee (her Majesty’s Stationery Office).— Beauty in Common Things, by the author of ‘ Life Underground” (Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.) American.— Monthly Report ot Department of Agriculture, October 1874 (Washington, U.S.) CoLoniaL.—Red Corpuscles of the Blood : R. H. Bakewell, M.D. (Mills, Dick, and Co., Otago, N.Z.)—Centrifugal Force and Gravitation: Join Harris (John Lovell, Montreal).—Prodromus of the Paleontology ot Vic- toria (Australia) : John Ferris (Melbourne). CONTENTS Pace Evie pE Beaumont. By Prof. Anco. Geikiz, F.R.S.. . 2. - . . 40 FiuckiGkR AND Hanepury’s **PHARMACOGRAPHIA.” By Henry P. BRADY, BLS.) eg ehie ge 2) ot Se Sl) ws) hol eee Sutty's “‘ SensaTion AND InTuITION.” By DouGtas A. SPALDING . 44 Lerrers TO THE EDITOR :— Sounding and Sensitive Flames, I].—Prof A S. HerscHet (With Lllustration) . ei a ie} 16) a cs jist Se) =: Mey Couette: Satan Insects and Colour in Flowers.—THomAs CoMBER . . » « «© © 47 Droserze.—Rev. GH. HOPKINS) (2) 27. se) ens 0 ole Suicide of Scorpions 74 i.) =e Fy lay Ye) cote 1a ee he/Gryof the Commion Hrog. eigay ys) ee) =) a) oc Phylloxera Vastatrix—A. HARWoop . . ... .... « « 48 A Nest of Young Fish.— Roperr W.S. MircHett . . .. . 48 THe DEVELOPMENT OF MOLLUSCA . - - . 6). « 5 + o te ae On Mirace. By Prof. J. D. Everett, D.C L. (With [/lustrations). 49 Some Remarks ON Davton's First Tab_e or Atomic WuiGcuts. By Profile Whe ROSCOE Ose) tae felicia fe sn nt eee oe Eels INTERNATIONAL Metric Commission AT Paris. By H. W. CHISHOLM, Warden ofithe’Standards S705 =<) .9 5: % ‘cists. jena) enna INCpN She eae OL tt Ce Om OM OME es) fe As Age he Fh SocieTIEs AND ACADEMIES Cee Me eee ry Gee PS Goa. BOOKS WeCHIVEDO ts Walieitel (elie + ceo