Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

and one female. Reared by terrier bitch, all died within a year. They were exhibited to King George IV. at the Royal Cottage, Windsor, on November 1, 1824.

Second Litter-Born April 22, 1825, at Clapham Common; there were three cubs, sexes not recorded. Reared by the mother, as also were all the subsequent litters. They only lived a short time.

Third Litter.-Born December 31, 1826 or '27, at Edinburgh, one male and two females. As stated in the previous paper, the year is given as 1827 in the handbill of the menagerie from which I quoted, and the other references seem to support that date; but Mr. John Atkins says it is given as 1826 in a printed catalogue in his possession.

Fourth Litter.-Born October 2, 1828, at Windsor, one male and two females.

Fifth Litter.-Born May, 1831, at Kensington, three cubs, sexes not recorded. They were shown to the Queen, then Princess Victoria, and to the Duchess of Kent. The whole group performed in a specially constructed cage at Astley's Amphitheatre, and in 1832 were taken by Mr. Atkins for a tour in Ireland. To a separate account of this tour reference has been made in my previous paper.

Sixth Litter.-Bɔrn July 19, 1833, at the Zoological Gardens, Liverpool, one male and two females. One, the male, lived for ten years in the gardens. The young male lion-tigers when about three years old had a short mane something like that of an Asiatic lion; the stripes became very indistinct at that age.

Mr. Atkins informs me that there is a badly stuffed specimen of one cub which was about a year old in the Museum at Salisbury, and from Mr. Harmer's letter (see NATURE, p. 413) there is one also in Cambridge.

From the account quoted by him it would seem improbable that that particular specimen, had it survived, could have bred. As a matter of fact I learn from Mr. Atkins that none of them ever did breed, though he does not know of any reason why they should not have done so.

Mr. Atkins thinks that the cubs of the earlier litters died from over-feeding; when he adopted a different treatment he had no difficulty in rearing them.

In my previous paper, in the quotation from Griffiths, the word "superfineness" should read "superficies."

This record, it may be noted, while correcting so ne errors in the previously published accounts, also extends over a period subsequent to all of them. V. BALL.

Science and Art Museum, Dublin, April 15.

Soot-figures on Ceilings.

As the subject of dust-images was recently considered in some interesting letters in NATURE, I wish to record an example of a soot-image which was far more detailed and remarkable than any I have yet seen. The example is to be found on the ceiling of the billiard room in the Golf Club House at Felixstowe. Abundant soot has been deposited above the lamps by which the table is lighted, and this is distributed so as to map out on the ceiling not only the outline of the joists, but that of the laths and even of the nails by which the ends of the latter are secured. The mark corresponding to the nail-head is certainly mach larger

[ocr errors][ocr errors]

small dust-particles, in the direction of decreasing temperature. by the extra energy of the gas-molecules on one side papers by myself and the late Mr. Clark in NATURE (especially July 26, 1883, April 24, 1884, vol. xxix. p. 417, and Jazzy 22, 1885), and in Phil. Mag., 1884, Proc. R. I., &c.; also by Mr Aitken, Trans. R. S. Edin., 1884. And see the remarka theoretical paper by Prof. Osborne Reynolds on "* Dimenssinai Properties of Gases," Phil. Trans., 1879.

Dust gets bombarded out of hot air on to all colder surfaces The details of this effect are specially given by Mr. Aitken in NATURE, vol. xxix. p. 322. The badly-conducting player of ceiling is no doubt fully heated by contact with the air bele except in places where the conducting power of wood or ira keeps it comparatively cool; hence the picking-out of the pat tern. Solid deposit from warm air on to cool surfaces can occar without any actual smoke; .g. it can be noticed above incand escent lamps. OLIVER LODGE

The Use of Ants to Aphides and Coccide.

I HAVE just had an opportunity of seeing Dr. Romines' in teresting work, "Darwin, and after Darwin," and find therein (p. 292) the production of honey-dew by Aphides adduced as a difficulty in the way of the Darwinian theory. I have not pui any particular attention to Aphides, but have lately been much interested in the allied Coccide, which, since they produce a similar fluid attracting ants, may be considered to offer a parallel instance. Both Coccide and Aphides suffer from many predaceous and parasitic enemies, and there seems to be no dute that the presence of numerous ants serves to ward these off, and is consequently beneficial. There is an interesting Coccid, Jerrys rosa, which I find on Prosopi, here, and on more than one occasion I have been unable to collect specimens without being stung by the ants. At the present moment some of these Icery are enjoying life, which wali certainly have perished at my hands, but for the inconvenience presented by the numbers of stinging ants.

This

Belt and Forel have also written on the protection of Coccide by ants ("Naturalist in Nicaragua ;" and Bull. Soc. Vaad., 1876). Maskell has given an account of the honey-dew organ of Coccidæ, from which it appears that it is something more than a mere organ for the excretion of waste products. author also figures some of the fungi which grow on honey dew, and it may well be that these also serve to prevent the attacks of enemies. When, as we sometimes see in Jamaica, the leaves appear to be coated with soot (Antennaria röl sinn is the fungus). it cannot be so convenient for coccinellid larve, Chrysopa larvæ, &c., to crawl about on them in search of Coccide. Jamaica, April 3. T. D. A. COCK EX ILL

Blind Animals in Caves.

In his last letter (p. 537) Mr. J. T. Canninghan states that the "early stages" of the European Proteus have not yet been obtained. This assertion is incorrect. In 1888 and 1589 the oviposition and development have been described by E. Zeller (Zool. Anz., 1888, Na. 200, and Fairest. Ve. Naturk. Wurtt., xlv., 1889, p. 151. plate in, who gives a coloured figure of the larva, and particularly refers to the development of the eyes. As early as 1831 Oken's "* Isis," 1831, p. 501) Michahelles remarked that the eyes in young specimens are more distinct and somewhat larger than in the adult. G. A. BOULENGER.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

OBSERVATIONS IN THE WEST INDIES.

HERE we are back at Nassau for the third time, and thinking you might be interested to hear of my cruises, I send you a short sketch of our trip. The first time we left Nassau we entered the Bahama Bank at Douglass Channel and crossed the bank to North Eleathera, where we examined the Glass Window and the northern extremity of Eleuthera, we then sailed along the west shore of the island close enough to get a good view of its characteristics as far as Rock Harbour at the Bred Stun Yah

A letter from Alexander Agassiz JD Dama Wild Duck, Nassau, March, 193 Fad the science for April, and communicated to Na***igte a “we

southern end. through the Powell Channel and round the southern end We steamed out into Exuma Sound of Eleuthera to little San Salvador, and the north-west end of Cat Island, where are the highest hills of the Bahamas. We then skirted Cat Island along its western face, rounded the southern extremity and made for Riding Rocks on the Western side of Watling's Island. We circumnavigated Watling, passed over to Rum Cay, then to northern part of Long Island, visiting Clarence Harbour; next we crossed to Fortune Island, and passed to the east side near the northern end of the island on the Crooked Island Bank. From there we crossed to Caicos Bank, crossing that bank from French Cay to Long Island, passed by Cockburn Harbour and ended our eastern route at Turks Island; from there we shaped our course to Santiago de Cuba to coal and provision the yacht. We were fortunate enough to strike Cape Maysi a short time after daylight, and I thus had a capital chance to observe the magnificent elevated terraces (coral reefs) which skirt the whole of the southern shore of Cuba from Cape Maysi to Cape Cruz and make so prominent a part of the landscape as seen from the sea. We were never more than three miles from shore and had ample opportunity to trace the course of some of the terraces as far as Santiago, and to note the great changes in the aspect of the shores as we passed westward due to the greater denudation and erosion of the limestone hills and terraces to the west of Cape Maysi, which seems to be the only point where five terraces are distinctly to be seen. The height of the hills east of Pt. Caleta, where the terraces are most clearly defined, I should estimate at 900 to 1000 feet; though the hills behind the terraces, which judging from their faces are also limestone, reach a somewhat greater height, perhaps 1100 to 1200 feet.

After coaling at Santiago de Cuba we visited Inagua, and next steamed to Hogstey Reef, a regular horseshoeshaped atoll with two small cays at the western entrance. There we passed three days studying the atoll. This to me was an entirely novel experience; to be at anchor in 3 fathoms of water 45 miles from any land with water 900 fathoms within three miles outside, surrounded by a wall of heavy breakers pounding upon the narrow annular reef which sheltered us. lagoon and on the slope of reef outside. From there we I made some soundings in the returned to Crooked Island Bank to the westward of which I also made some soundings to determine the slope of the Bank. We next again visited Long Island, taking in the southern and northern ends which I had not examined. From there we passed to Great Exuma, stopping at Great Exuma Harbour and sounding into deep water on our way out to Conch Cut when we sailed west crossing the Bank to Green Cay. From there we made the southward face of New Providence, and before going into Nassau Harbour made some trials in deep water in the Tongue of the Ocean with the Tanner deepsea townet in 100 and 300 fathoms, depth being 700 fathoms after which we returned to Nassau. board a Tanner sounding machine kindly loaned me for I had on this trip by Colonel McDonald of the Fish Commission, and some deep-sea thermometers were also kindly sup. plied by him and by Prof. Mendenhall, the superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey. I supplied myself with a number of Tanner deep-sea townets and with a supply of dredge and of townets and carried on board a Yale and Towne patent winch for winding the wire rope which I used in my dredging and towing in deep water. yacht was provided with a steam capstan and by increasThe ing its diameter with lagging we found no difficulty in hauling in our wire rope at the rate of 8 min. to 100 fathoms. I carried 600 fathoms of steel wire dredging rope with me of the same dimensions which I had used on the Blake and which has also been adopted on the Albatross. During our second cruise from Nassau for Harvey Cay crossing the Bank we steamed NO. 1220, VOL. 47]

609

from north to south to Flamingo Cay, and then to Great Ragged Cay, from which we took our departure for Baracoa. At Baracoa I hoped to be able to ascend the Yunque; unfortunately I had to give up my touching at Port Banes, Port Padre, Cay Confites, Sagua, trip owing to the desperate condition of the roads. From Baracoa we steamed close to the shores to the westward, tions we made on the south coast of Cuba and enabled Cape Frances, Cardenas, Matanzas, and finally ending at Havana. This trip was a continuation of the observaMatanzas to Havana, from the same causes which evime to trace the gradual disappearance of the terraces from Baracoa to Nuevitas, and their reappearance from dently influenced their state of preservation from Cape Maysi west. I also got a pretty clear idea of the mode coast of Cuba to the eastward of Nuevitas, and of the of formation of the fine harbours found on the northern mode of formation of the extensive systems of cays reaching from Nuevitas to Cardenas and which find their parallel on the south coast of Cuba from Cape Cruz to Cape Corrientes. After refitting at Havana we left for Nassau. Both on going into Havana and on leaving we spent the greater part of a day in towing with the Tanner net. I thought I could not select a better spot for finally settling the vertical distribution of pelagic life than close to land, on the track of a great oceanic current, off Havana which is in deep water-900 fathoms the Gulf Stream, noted for the mass of pelagic life it carries along its course. We towed in 100, 150, 250, and

300 fathoms and on the surface at or near the same locality, and I have found nothing to cause me to change the views which I expressed in my preliminary reports of the Albatross expedition of 1891. Nowhere did I find surface. At 100 fathoms the amount of animal life was anything which was not at some time found also at the much less than in the belt from 100 fathoms to the surface. At 150 fathoms there was still less and at 250 fathoms and 300 fathoms the closed part of the Tanner contained nothing. At each one of these depths we the surface again. Thus we insured before the messenger towed fully as long as was required to bring the net to through water as the open part of the net would have to was sent to close the lower part of the bar as long a pull horizontal column of water at 100, 150, 250, and 300 travel till it reached the surface, giving the fauna of a fathoms of the same or greater length than the vertical column to the surface for comparison of their respective visited Cay Sal, Double-headed Shot Cays, Anguila Islands, richness. From Havana we steamed to Cay Sal Bank, and then crossed over to the Great Bank to the west of Andros Island. The bottom of this bank is of a most unially sloping to the west shore of Andros, so that we had to form level, 3 and 3 fathoms for miles and then very graduanchor nearly six miles from the " Wide Opening" of the central part of Andros which we visited. The bottom consists of a white marl, resembling when brought up in the dredge newly mixed plaster of Paris, and having about its consistency just as it begins to set. is low where we went on shore not more than 10 to 15 bottom extends to the shore; and the land itself, which This same inches above high-water mark, is made up of the same material, which feels under foot as if one were treading upon a sheet of soft india rubber; of course on shore the marl is drier and has the consistency of very thick dough. It appears to be made up of the same material as the æolian rocks of the rest of the Bahamas, only that it has become thoroughly saturated with salt water, and in that condition it crumbles readily and is then triturated into a fine impalpable powder almost like deep sea ooze which covers the bottom of the immense bank to the west of Andros. After leaving Andros we crossed the bank again to Orange Cay and followed the eastern edge of the Gulf Stream to see Riding Rocks, Gun Cay, and the Beminis. We then passed to Great Isaac, where we saw some huge

masses of æolian rocks which had been thrown up along the slope of the cay about 80 feet from high-water mark to a height of 20 feet. One of these masses was 15' 6" x 11" x 6'. We then kept on to Great Stirrup Cay coasting along the Berry Cays, crossed over to Morgan's Bluff, on eastward of Andros down to Mastic Point on the same Sound, and then returned to Nassau.

The islands of the Bahamas (as far as Turks Island) are all of æolian origin. They were formed at a time when the Banks up to the 10-fathom line must have been practically one huge irregularly shaped mass of low land, from the beaches of which successive ranges of low hills, such as we still find in New Providence, must have originated. After the islands were thus raised there was an extensive gradual subsidence which can be estimated at about 300 feet, and during this subsidence the sea has little by little eaten away the æolian lands, leaving only here and there narrow strips of land in the shape of the present islands. Inagua and Little Inagua are still in the original condition in which I imagine such banks as the Crooked Island Banks, Caicos Banks, and other parts of the Bahamas to have been; while the process of disintegration going on at the western side of Andros shows still a broad island which will in time leave only the narrow eastern strip of higher land (æolian hills) on the western edge of the tongue of the ocean. Such is the structure also of Salt Cay Bank which owes its present shape to the same conditions as those which have given the Bahamas their present configuration. reason for assigning a subsidence of 300 feet is the depth of some of the deep holes which have been surveyed on the bank and which I take to be submarine blow-holes or caverns formed in the æolian limestone of the Bahama hills when they were at a greater elevation than now. This subsidence explains satisfactorily the cause of the present configuration of the Bahamas, but teaches us nothing in regard to the substratum upon which the Bahamas were built. The present reefs form indeed but an insignificant part of the topography of the islands and have taken only a secondary part in filling here and there a bight or a cove with more modern reef rock, thrown up against the shores so as to form a coral reef beach such as we find in the Florida Reef. I have steamed now nearly 3300 miles among the Bahamas, visiting all the more important points and have made an extensive collection of the rocks of the group.

My

I hoped to have made also a larger number of deep soundings than I have been able to take; unfortunately the trades were unusually heavy during the greater part of my visit to the Bahamas, greatly interfering with such work on a vessel no larger than the Wild Duck-127 feet on the water line. For the same reason the number of deep-water pelagic hauls was also much smaller than I hoped to make, as in a heavy sea the apparatus would have been greatly endangered. It is a very different thing to work at sea in a small yacht like the Wild Duck or in such vessels as the Blake and the Albatross of large size and fitted up with every possible requirement for deep sea work. The Wild Duck, on the other hand, was admirably adapted for cruising on the Bahama Banks, her light draught enabling her to go to every point of interest and to cross and recross the banks where a larger vessel could not follow. I am under the greatest obliga tions to my friend Mr. John M. Forbes for having so kindly placed his yacht at my disposal for this exploration, and I hope soon after my return to Cambridge to publish more in detail the results of this examination of the structure of the Bahamas.

ARTIONYX-A CLAWED ARTIODACTYLE.

IF any further evidence were needed to disprove Cuvier's famous generalisation, it is found in the recently discovered hind foot of Artionyx. In this foot

each of the digits with all the phalanges are modified very much as in the primitive bears, and combined with metatarsals and an ankle joint almost identical with those : of the pigs. The termination of the limb in claws would have led Cuvier to predict that the whole skeleton and the dentition was of a clawed or carnivorous type, whereas in this animal we find the foot alone belongs to two types as widely separated as can be, and the probabilities are that the skeleton and teeth are also mixed in character.

The foot of Artionyx was found last summer by the American Museum party under Dr. Wortman, in the same beds with the remarkable Protoceras recently described in NATURE. It belonged to an animal about the size of a peccary. The terminal claws were firs: exposed, and although found uncleft, they at once suggested a reference to Chalicotherium, for which the party was keeping a sharp look-out; but a further removal of the matrix showed a pes of an entirely distinc: character. In the foot of Chalicotherium magnum of the Upper Miocene of France we find three toes, thus odd in number, but not strictly perissodactyle, for the largest is

[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

not the median but the outer toe. Above the toes is an ankle joint of a modified perissodactyle type, that is, the astragalus is grooved upon its tibial side, and flattened where it rests upon the navicular. The navicular and cuneiforms are also flattened, so that the foot must have been placed somewhat at an angle with the leg, as it is in the Sloths. In Artionyx, on the other hand, there are five digits; the first, or thumb, was a dew-claw, very much shorter than the rest; the remaining four, as shown in of the figure, are nearly symmetrically placed in pairs on either side of the median line, precisely as in the Artiodactyla. This has suggested the name of the animal, its even-numbered toes terminating in claws. Above these elements we have a coalescence of the outer and middle cuneiforms as in many Artiodactyla. The cuboid, navicular, astragalus, and calcaneum, are also modified precisely as in the artiodactyles. The fibula comes down upon the heel bone, and there is the characteristic double hinge. The tibia is strongly interlocked on the outer side of the astragalus. The three accompanying cuts exhibit the peculiar features of this foot; the side views showing that the animal was digitigrade like the cats, and not plantigrade like the bears, although the claws were more of the bear than the cat type.

This medal will be of gold, and will be accompanied by a duplicate impression in silver or bronze.

The treatises may be written in English, French, German, or Italian, and should be sent to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, before July 1, 1894, except those in competition for the first prize, the sending of which may be delayed until December 31, 1894.

The papers will be examined and prizes awarded by a committee to be appointed as follows:-One member by the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, one member by the President of the National Academy of Sciences, one by the President pro tempore of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the committee will act together with the Secretary of the Smith

The discovery of this foot is one of those complete surprises which render palæontological research so fascinating. The existence of such a type was not even suspected, for nothing at all similar has ever been found before. We were daily expecting to find remains of Chalicotherium in the Lower Miocene of America, but no one could have anticipated the complete counterpart in foot structure which this animal exhibits. Of course it will remain an open question whether Artionyx is actually related to the other type until we procure more of its skeleton, and especially of its teeth. This discovery seems to support Cope's opinion that Chalicotherium represents a distinct order-the Ancylopoda, including animals of an ungulate type of skeleton, with unguiculate phalanges. The writer has recently suggested that this order may have been given off from the most primi-sonian Institution as member ex officio. The right is tive hoofed mammals, the Condylarthra, at a period when they still exhibited many of the characters of their clawed ancestors. If this supposition is correct, and Artionyx proves to be a member of the Ancylopoda, it will very possibly present a unique double parallelism with the subdivisions of the Ungulata, Chalicotherium representing an odd-clawed division-the Perissonychia, and Artionyx an even-clawed division-the Artionychia - these divisions being parallel with the perissodactyle and artiodactyle ungulates. This is advanced as a provisional hypothesis, pending the discovery of additional remains. HENRY F. OSBORN.

THE HODGKINS FUND PRIZES.

IN October, 1891, Thomas George Hodgkins, Esq., of Setauket, New York, made a donation to the Smithsonian Institution, the income from a part of which was to be devoted "to the increase and diffusion of more exact knowledge in regard to the nature and properties of atmospheric air in connection with the welfare of man."

With the intent of furthering the donor's wishes, the Smithsonian Institution now announces the following prizes to be awarded on or after July 1, 1894, should satisfactory papers be offered in competition :

1. A prize of 10,000 dollars for a treatise embodying some new and important discovery in regard to the nature or properties of atmospheric air. These properties may be considered in their bearing upon any or all of the sciences-eg. not only in regard to meteorology, but in connection with hygiene, or with any department whatever of biological or physical knowledge.

2. A prize of 2000 dollars for the most satisfactory essay upon (A) the known properties of atmospheric air considered in their relationships to research in every department of natural science, and the importance of a study of the atmosphere considered in view of these relationships; (B) the proper direction of future research in connection with the imperfections of our knowledge of atmospheric air, and of the connections of that knowledge with other sciences. The essay, as a whole, should tend to indicate the path best calculated to lead to worthy results in connection with the future administration of the Hodgkins foundation.

3. A prize of 1000 dollars for the best popular treatise upon atmospheric air, its properties and relationships. (including those to hygiene, physical and mental). This essay need not exceed 20,000 words in length; it should be written in simple language, and be suitable for publication for popular instruction.

4. A medal will be established, under the name of "The Hodgkins Medal of the Smithsonian Institution," which will be awarded annually or biennially, for important contributions to our knowledge of the nature and properties of atmospheric air, or for practical applications of our existing knowledge of them to the welfare of mankind.

reserved to award no prize if, in the judgment of the committee, no contribution is offered of sufficient merit to warrant an award. An advisory committee of not more than three European men of science may be added at the discretion of the Committee of Award.

If no disposition be made of the first prize at the time now announced, the Institution may continue it until a later date, should it be made evident that important investigations relative to its object are in progress, the results of which it is intended to offer in competition for the prize. The Smithsonian Institution reserves the right to limit or modify the conditions for this prize after December 1, 1894, should it be found necessary. Should any of the minor prizes not be awarded to papers sent in before July 1, 1894, the said prizes will be withdrawn from competition.

A principal motive for offering these prizes is to call attention to the Hodgkins Fund and the purposes for which it exists, and accordingly this circular is sent to the principal universities and to all learned societies known to the Institution, as well as to representative men of science in every nation. Suggestions and recommendations in regard to the most effective application of this fund are invited.

It is probable that special grants of money may be made to specialists engaged in original investigation upon atmospheric air and its properties. Applications for grants of this nature should have the indorsement of some recognised academy of sciences or other institution of learning, and should be accompanied by evidences of the capacity of the applicant in the form of at least one memoir already published by him based upon original investigation.

To prevent misapprehension of the founder's wishes it is repeated that the discoveries or applications proper to be brought to the consideration of the Committee of Award may be in the field of any science or any art without restriction, provided only that they have to do with “the nature and properties of atmospheric air in connection with the welfare of man."

Information of any kind desired by persons intending to become competitors will be furnished on application. All communications in regard to the Hodgkins Fund, the Hodgkins Prizes, the Hodgkins Medals, and the Hodgkins Fund Publications, or applications for grants of money, should be addressed to S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, U.S.A. S. P. LANGLEY,

Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington, March 31, 1893.

THE SOLAR ECLIPSE.

THE telegrams relating to the total solar eclipse of
April 16 indicate that the observations at the various
centres were carried on under very favourable conditions.
The Senegal party-which will be home next week-was

evidently remarkably successful. Prof. Thorpe, who was in charge of this expedition, sent to Lord Kelvin the following telegram:-"April 19, 1893. Thorpe to President Royal Society, Burlington House, London. Eclipse successfully observed at Fundium. Position good, weather fine, very slight haze. Slit spectroscope good, but mainly prominence lines; calcium and hydrogen seen projected on moon. Thirty prismatic camera photographs, eighteen excellent; mainly prominence lines; corona lines doubtful. Ten coronograph pictures, six very good. Photometric work successful; twenty comparisons with equatorial, eleven with integrating apparatus. Deslandres and Colculesco also observed at Fundium, with good results. No word from Bigourdan at Joal. Health of expedition good. Blonde leaves for Teneriffe to-morrow.-Thorpe." With regard to the work of the same expedition, a correspondent of the Times telegraphed from Bathurst on April 19:-"The solar eclipse was successfully observed at Fundium, Senegal. The weather was fine, with only a very slight haze. The results of the slit spectroscope were good. Thirty prismatic camera photographs were taken, eighteen of which are excellent, while of ten coronograph pictures six are very good. photometric work was successful, and twenty comparisons were taken with the equatorial and eleven with the integrating apparatus. The French astronomers, MM. Deslandres and Colculesco also made observations at Fundium with good results. The health of the expedition is excellent."

The

The

Last week we gave the substance of a telegram regarding Prof. Pickering's observations at Minasaris. New York Herald has published a telegram from Valparaiso, containing the following supplementary information asto Prof. Pickering's work:-"The sunlight changed during the period of totality and presented a pale yellow hue. A faint chill was perceptible in the air. The photographic results with the differential spectroscope give twenty lines in the solar atmosphere at a time of 34 seconds previous to totality. Two rays of light were seen issuing from the cusps, their terminal points corresponding to the horns of the new moon. The cusps were in violent motion. The corona showed a conical structure with a network of fine filaments visible to the naked eye. Four light streamers from the corona were noticeable, and seven prominences were observed, which latter were estimated to attain a height of 80,000 miles. The integrating spectroscope showed one red, one yellow, and one blue line and two green lines in the corona. The prominences were well photographed."

The following is a Reuter's telegram from San Francisco, relating to the work of the American expedition to Chili:" Prof. Holden, the director of the Lick Observatory, has received a telegram from Prof. Schaebele, the leader of the American expedition to Chili, stating that his observation of the sun's total eclipse was successful. The drawings of the corona made a year ago by Prof. Schaebele were found to be a true representation of the corona actually visible in the present eclipse. Fifty photographs were secured by means of the three telescopes used by the observers. One of these gave an image of the sun 4 in. in diameter, and the corona covered a plate 18 by 22 in."

NOTES.

ALL the most essential arrangements have now been made for the Nottingham meeting of the British Association. The first general meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 13, at 8 p.m., when Sir Archibald Geikie will resign the chair, and Dr. J. S. Burdon Sanderson will assume the presidency and deliver an address. On Thursday evening, September 14, there will be a soirée; on Friday evening a discourse will be delivered by Prof. Arthur Smithells on "flame"; on Monday evening

Prof. Victor Horsley will deliver a discourse "on the discovery of the physiology of the nervous system"; on Tuesday evening there will be another soirée; and on Wednesday afternoon, Excursions to places of interest in the neighbourhood of September 20, the concluding general meeting will be held. Nottingham will be made on the afternoon of Saturday, September 16, and on Thursday, September 21. The following will be the presidents of sections:-A (Mathematical and Physical Science), Prof. R. B. Clifton, F.R.S.; B (Chemistry and Mineralogy), Prof. J. E. Reynolds, F.R.S.; C (Geology), Mr. J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S.; D (Biology), Rev. H. B. Tristram, F.R.S.; E (Geography), Mr. H. Seebohm; F (Economic Science and Statistics), Prof. J. S. Nicholson; G (Mechanical Science), Mr. Jeremiah Head; H (Anthropology), Dr. Robert Munro.

THE Chemical Society will hold on Friday, May 5, a Hofmann Memorial Meeting. Addresses will be delivered by Lord Playfair, Sir F. A. Abel, and Dr. W. H. Perkin.

THE annual dinner of the Royal Geographical Society will take place on Saturday, May 13, at the Whitehall Rooms, Hôtel Métropole, Sir Mountstuart E. Grant Duff in the chair.

AT the recent Graduation Ceremony of the University of St. Andrews the honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred on Prof. Henry E. Armstrong, Ph. D., F. R. S., in recognition of his eminent services to organic chemistry.

ON Thursday, May 4, the forty-first anniversary of the elec tion of the Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers as an Associate, the first "James Forrest" lecture will be delivered by Dr. W. Anderson, F. R. S., the subject being "The Interdependence of Abstract Science and Engineering."

THE City and Guilds of London Institute has forwarded to county councils throughout the kingdom, and to the secretaries of technical schools in connection with the Institute, a circular letter indicating various ways in which it has improved and enlarged the scope of its technological examinations. Among the alterations may be mentioned the addition of practical tests in photography, boot and shoe manufacture, goldsmiths' work, mechanical engineering, and other subjects; the subdivision of many subjects into sections to suit the requirements of different branches of the same trade; and the addition of examinations in such subjects as manual training and dressmaking. careful consideration of the difficult questions involved in the organisation, for the first time, of a system of inspection of technical classes, the Committee of the Institute have adopted a scheme, and are prepared to receive applications from county councils or school committees for the inspection of classes in technical (other than agricultural) subjects, and also for special reports on the results of the examination of the students of separate classes registered under the Institute.

After

It has been resolved by the Council of the Zoological Society of London to award the Society's Silver Medal to Donald Cameron, of Lochiel, and John Peter Grant, of Rothiemurchus, in recognition of the efforts they have made to protect the Osprey (Pandion haliatus) in Scotland. The osprey, formerly commen in many parts of the British Islands, has become so rare of late years that it is stated that only three pairs of this bird have been known to breed in this country for some years past.

THE hon. secretaries of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science are sending out invitations to the leading scientific societies in Europe drawing attention to the meeting of the Association, which will be held in Adelaide, commencing on September 25 next. Sydney, Melbourne, Christchurch, and Hobart are the places in which the previous meetings of the Association have been held. The meeting in

« AnteriorContinuar »