tance to receive the next hole; and thus, by successive depression of the respective punches, the holes are cut in the paper ribbon in the necessary sequences to represent letters and groups of letters to form words. The centre punch, besides mechanically spacing the perforations to ensure their proper passing through the "transmitter," also by individual pressure spaces the distance between the letters and words of the message. The appearance of the paper ribbon thus prepared is shown full size at Fig. 20. Thus the message is written away from the wire, and the time taken up in its preparation is independent of loss of revenue on capital incident to the unnecessary occupation of the circuit by the slow and protracted results of manual labour.

The second part, or "transmitter" of the automatic system, is the apparatus which automatically sends into the wire the sequence of currents, as prepared by the "perforator." In this process, performed much in the same manner as the perforated Jacquard card regulates the successive elevation or depression of the warp-threads in the loom, the perforated ribbon-paper strip is caused to advance step by step through the machine by the successive grip of an oscillating cradle, regulated to advance the paper a distance exactly corresponding to the spacing of the holes by the " perforator," so that by the action of

a rising pin, elevated and depressed alternately at each to-and-fro motion of the rocking frame, the message ribbon is automatically and mechanically impelled forward. Two other spring contact pins, representing respectively the contact with the positive (copper) or negative (zinc) currents of the battery (which may be either magneto- or voltaic-currents of electricity), are actuated by the same mechanical movement, by means of eccentric cam arrangements. Thus, when the perforated paper ribbon is carried automatically forward step by step in rapid succession by the action of the central pin, if a "current-passing" perforation is in position at the moment of passing the paper ribbon with either pin, the respective pin will rise through the hole and make a metallic contact with the battery through the instrument, sending a current into the line in the one or other direction, according to the position of the perforation and the rising of the respective pin. If no perforation in the paper ribbon is in position at the time of the automatic elevation of the respective pins, they fall back by the compensating influence of adjusting springs, and a mute movement is made by which no current from the battery is passed into the circuit. It will thus be understood that the action of the transmitter is also threefold as regards the passing of the current and the motion of the paper.

First, each rocking of the cradle carries the paper ribbon forward the exact distance that the depression of the key in the "perforating " machine advanced the message slip. Secondly, when the paper ribbon has been thus advanced, it is momentarily held in suspense to admit of the entrance of the respective pin, completing battery contact according to the position of the hole; and thirdly, if no perforation representative of the passing of a current into the line is in position, a mute movement of the pin is made, and the paper is simply automatically advanced forward by a regular step by step movement. In addition to these three mechanical cam and eccentric movements in connection with the advancement of the ribbon, the elevation of the pins, and the passing of a current into the circuit from the concurrence of a perforation in the paper ribbon and the rising of a pin, a fourth important electrical contact movement takes place at each successive motion of the rocking cradle, independent of the rising of the pins, namely, that of momentarily making contact between the line wire and the earth after each successive elevation of either current-passing pin. The importance of this discharge to earth to clear the line has previously been pointed out as arising from the sensible retention in the insulated wire of a portion of the transmitted current, which, unless drawn cut, would interfere with the integrity of the succeeding current, reducing the transmitting speed of the wire.

By a very beautiful arrangement of electrical contacts (perfected by Mr. A. Stroh, to whose great skill as applied to electrical problems of a mechanical nature Wheatstone is indebted for the absolute perfection of the mechanism in his automatic telegraph-the A B C telegraph-and the sympathetic electric clock movements), after each successive elevation of the pins, the circuit wire is connected momentarily to earth; this takes place at each motion of the rocking cradle, whether a pin enters a perforation in the paper ribbon or not. Thus the line is connected for discharge at regular intervals, irrespective of its charge by the elevation of a pin, a current only passing into the line by the contact made with the battery on the elevation of either pin.

In this mechanical arrangement, therefore, the necessary contacts with the battery and the regular discharge of the line are produced without recourse to manual labour; mistakes are avoided, for machinery never forgets its registers or makes false records, both of which errors are inseparable from the employment of the human hand and brain. Man, though a thinking being, is not a machine, and it is not possible ever to turn the human frame into an automaton; were this so, the value of invention would be at an end, and the accurate perform ance of machinery at a discount.

(To be continued.)

THE "ZENITH" BALLOON ASCENT

ON Monday, M. Gaston Tissandier read a paper before the Paris Academy of Sciences on the recent fatal balloon ascent, in which he expressed his deliberate intention of renewing the attempt. The real cause of the catastrophe was the throwing out of ballast at an immense height; Tissandier attributes it to the "vertigo of high regions." The pain felt is so small that one forgets the danger in wishing to reach a higher level; so that he who is not able to restrain himself is not fitted to be an aëronaut in high regions.

The carbonic acid tubes having been broken in the fall, no analysis could be made, and consequently it is necessary to make another ascent in order to complete the experiment.

The figures given by M. Tissandier in his paper are substantially the same as those given in last week's NATURE (p. 495). The height reached was 8,600 meters, as proved by maximum-barometers, which had been sealed up, and were opened in the laboratory of the Sorbonne.

I believe the rapidity of ascent, but mainly the gas which escaped from the balloon, were instrumental in the deaths of Sivel and Crocé-Spinelli.

The matter deserves to be carefully investigated, and I shall try to elucidate it by an ascent which I propose to make next Sunday from La Villette, with Duruof and the Times correspondent. Our intention is not to make a race for a high altitude, and we will do our best to resist the vertigo of high regions so vividly described by Tissandier in his paper. W. DE FONVIELLE

LECTURES AT THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS ON Thursday, April 15, the first of the ten lectures announced

for the present season was given by Mr. Sclater, F.R.S., "On Monkeys and their Geographical Distribution." After referring to the considerable series of monkeys in the Society's collection, from which a specimen of the Chimpanzee (Troglodytes niger), of an albino Macaque Monkey (Macacus cynomolgus), and others were exhibited, Mr. Sclater drew attention to the six zoological provinces into which the surface of the earth was generally acknowledged to be divided. These he had named and defined as follows:

1. Palearctic Region.-Europe, Africa north of the Atlas, and North Asia.

2. Ethiopian Region.-Africa south of the Atlas, and Madagascar.

3. Indian Region.-South Asia, Philippines, and Islands of Indian Archipelago to Wallace's Line.

4. Nearctic Region.

Tehuantepec.

- North America down to Isthmus of

5. Neotropical Region.-Central America, south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and South America.

6. Australian Region.-Australia, New Guinea, and AustroMalay Archipelago. No monkeys being found in the Australian or Nearctic regions, and none in the Palearctic, except the Macaque of North Africa and Gibraltar.

Commencing with the Anthropoid Apes, the Gorilla (Troglodytes gorilla) was shown to inhabit the tropical regions of West Africa only, not extending south beyond the River Gaboon. The same region is the home of the Chimpanzee, which, however, spreads to the east for a considerable distance, having been captured in Abyssinia. It is also found as far south as the north bank of the River Congo. Of the two other genera of Anthropoid Apes, the Orang Utan and the Gibbon, the former is confined to Borneo and Sumatra, the latter to the Malay Peninsula, Assam, and the islands of the Indo-Malay Archipelago.

Of the Catarrhine or Old World Monkeys, there is a peculiar long-tailed genus, Semnopithecus, found in India and the Malay region. This is represented in Africa by the similarly peculiar genus Colobus, which wants the thumb; it is found mostly in West Africa, extending east as far as Abyssinia. Of this group the Indian Entellus Monkey is best known. The genus Macacus is almost confined to the Indian region; a species (M. speciosus)

is, however, found in Japan; and the Barbary Ape (M. inuus) from Ape's Hill has crossed to Gibraltar. The genera Cerco

pithecus and Cynocephalus are confined to the Ethiopian region.

The Platyrrhine Monkeys, with an extra premolar on each Neotropical region only. side of each jaw, are inhabitants of the tropical portions of the Amongst them are included the genera Cebus, Ateles, Mycetes, Brachyurus, and others, some with, and others without, prehensile tails, many of which have, at one time or other, lived in the Society's Gardens. The Marmosets have one less molar in each half of each jaw, which makes the number of their teeth the same as in man, although this is the consequence of there being four more premolars and four fewer true molars.

monkeys, or whether they form an independent group, may be The Lemurida, whether they ought to be included with the considered with the quadrumana, as has been usually the case. They are distributed throughout the Ethiopian and Indian regions, nearly all the species, including Chiromys, being confined to Madagascar, which must be considered their true headquarters.

The following is an abstract of Mr. J. W. Clark's lecture on Sea Lions, delivered on April 22nd.-The Pinnipedia, comprising the Sea Lion, Sea Bear, Seal, and Walrus, are true mammalian animals, entirely differing from fish both in structure and habit. The Order naturally falls into two subdivisions, namely, the Eared and the Earless Seals; or, the Orariada, otherwise called Sea Lions, and the Trichechida (Walrus), together with the Cystophoridae (Bladder-nosed Seals) and Phocida (True Seals). The former of these groups, the Otariadæ, differ from the Seals, the Phocidæ, in other respects than the possession of ears. They can use their limbs freely to raise the body from the ground and to walk on the land. They can even run swiftly for a short distance. The Seals, on the contrary, always retain their hind feet stretched out backwards, the legs being so enclosed within the integument of the body that they have little or no independent motion. They consequently are only able to progress on land by a series of ungraceful bumps, wriggling on the stomach. The body of the Sea Lion is peculiarly flexible, whilst that of the Seal has but little motion on its axis, the animal progressing in the water in much the same manner as the Porpoise. The Sea Lion's head is also more elongated and narrow in proportion to its width than that of any Seal. Its ears are small, conical organs, projecting backwards, and so rolled up, scrollwise, that their concavity is rarely shown. But by far the most modified portions of the body of the Sea Lion are the hands and feet. the Seal the arm is wholly imbedded in the integument, the hand alone projecting. In the Sea Lion, on the contrary, nearly the whole of the upper half of the limb is free, and the thumb is much lengthened, this digit in the Seals being of the same leng h as the others. In the hinder extremity the lower part of the leg and the foot are free, the rest of the limb being bound up with the body.

In

With regard to the skin of the Sea Lion; on a superficial view the body appears to be covered with coarse stiff hair, which varies in length on different parts. Old males are said to develop a mane, whence the name given them by early voyagers, but it is not certain that this ornament is present in all the species. Beneath this hair there is a crop of under wool, distributed in delicate, short, fine hairs set at the base of the other larger ones. It appears to exist all over the body.

This part of the subject is rather involved. It is stated that of these Otarias, or Sea Lions, some species have under-furwhilst others have not, and attempts have been made to divide them into families accordingly. It is, however, highly probable that all Otarias have under-fur at some period of their lives. It is this under-fur of the Sea Lions which makes that sealskin in which all ladies delight.

The habits of the Sea Lion are among the most curious in the whole of the animal kingdom. Its food consists mostly of fish, mollusca, crabs, and penguins. Th molar teeth being small, it cannot masticate its food, and when it has caught a fish, too large to be swallowed outright, it has been seen to give its head a sudden twist, so as to break off a portion of the fish, which it swallows rapidly. It then dives into the water, picks up the other portion, and repeats the tearing process until the last fragment is devoured.

Their favourite places of resort are solitary islands, either far out at sea, or at any rate clear of an inhabited coast. Many return year after year to the same rock. The natives at the

Pribylov Islands* affirm that one old male seal, recognised by the loss of one of his flippers, returned seventeen years in succession. The ground they occupy, called a "rookery," is the space between the high-water line and the foot of the cliffs. The sandy beach forms the play-ground for the pups, the uplands being their sleeping places. Like the bees, they are

"Creatures that, by rule in nature, teach The art of order to a peopled kingdom." The arrangement of their dominions are adopted by common consent, and enforced by the elders with much severity. The old males and the full-grown females are alone allowed upon the rookeries; the young seals swim about during the day, at night retiring to the uplands. The natives of the Pribylov Islands called the old males "Married Seals," the old females "Mothers," and the young females "Bachelors."

During the winter months the rookeries of the Pribylov Islands are entirely deserted, except by a few stragglers; but Capt. Musgrave, who was wrecked on the Auckland Islands, south of New Zealand, tells us that there numbers remain all the year round. In the spring a few old veteran males-the chiefs of the herd-make their appearance near the islands, swimming about for several days. If all is safe, they land and examine the rookery; they depart for a few days, and return accompanied by a number of other veteran males. These land, each taking up a position, reserving for himself a space of about thirty square yards, which he defends against all comers. About two months later the females begin to make their appearance. It is the duty of the "Bachelors" to drive them on to the rocks, the nearest adult male going down to meet each female, coaxing her until he can get between her and the shore. His manner then immediately changes, and with an angry growl he drives her up to his resting-place. It seems to be the object of each of these polygamous sultans to attach to himself a harem of from fifteen to twenty wives. When the males nearest the water have made their choice, those in the next row higher up watch for an opportunity to steal the wives of their more fortunate neighbours. When all the females have landed and been distributed among the claimants, no further change takes place, each sultan walking round and round his family and driving off all intruders. This is the account given by Capt. Bryant, commander of the station at the Pribylov Íslands. Capt. Musgrave, in his account of the Seals of the southern hemisphere, does not indicate that this jealous distribution is so customary.

The cubs are born a few days after the arrival of their mothers, and always on shore. They have a great aversion for the water at first, and are taught to swim by their mothers. It is a most curious fact that during all the while these creatures are on shore they remain absolutely without food; they arrive excessively at, and, as is not surprising after a fast of two months, depart extremely lean. When the young can shift for themselves the rookeries are broken up.

Respecting the different species of these Sea Lions and their geographical distribution, Magellan, in 1519, was the first to notice their chief peculiarities. He found them on an island south of the River Plate, and called them Sea Wolves. No naturalist, however, distinguished them from the Seals proper, with the exception of the Russian Steller, who, visiting the Aleutian Islands in the middle of the last century, saw the two species which are found there, and described them as the Sea Bear and the Sea Lion. Linnæus, in 1758, nevertheless included them all in his genus Phoca, and it was not till 1800 that Péron again separated them. Subsequently, they have been minutely studied by Dr. J. E. Gray, and Dr. Peters of Berlin. Both these authors, however, have been far too fond of making new genera and species upon single skulls, or even single skins. It seems to me better to retain Péron's original genus Otaria for the whole group, the number of species of which amount to nine. True Seals inhabit the Arctic and Antarctic seas, as well as the temperate regions in both hemispheres, together with the Antilles and Madeira. The Otarias are more tolerant of warmth, and are apparently more susceptible to changes of climate. A remarkable fact about their distribution is that none are found in the Atlantic, except in its extreme south. From the mouth of the River Plate they extend all round the coasts of South America and the adjoining islands. Proceeding north, they are numerous upon the coast of California, and extend round by the Aleutian Islands to the coast of Japan. Their most northern known station is that of the Pribylov Islands; further investigation

will perhaps reveal their existence in some of the islands north and south of the equator in the Pacific Ocean. They are found all round the coasts of New Zealand, the Aucklands, Tasmania, and Southern Australia. They are said to inhabit Kerguelen's Land and the Crozets: we also know that there is one species at least near Capetown, a specimen from that locality being now alive in the Zoological Gardens.

(To be continued.)

NOTES

AN appeal is being made by the Committee for the Exploration of the Victoria Cave, Settle, for additional funds; the work, we much regret to say, being actually at a stop from want of means. This is not as it should be, and we feel sure that the state of matters only needs to be made known to the scientific public in order to have it remedied. The importance of these explorations need not be insisted on in these pages; results have been already achieved of the highest value to the geologist, the historian, and the antiquary. What further records may be found at the cave in lower and earlier deposits than those yet investigated, is a question which can only be solved by actual work. The bottom of the cave has never yet been reached. The series of bones obtained during the past year is exceedingly fine, and may challenge comparison with any in the kingdom; and altogether the work, besides bearing already many important results, is one of great promise. The British Association have given three several grants of 50%., but by far the greater share of the expense has fallen on a few individuals who have contributed liberally. This should be so no longer, and we earnestly hope that all our readers will do what they can to help forward an undertaking of so great importance. Subscriptions should be forwarded to John Birkbeck, jun., hon, treasurer of the "Settle Caves Exploration Fund," the Craven Bank, Settle, Yorkshire. A TELEGRAM dated Bombay, April 22, states that the members of the Solar Eclipse Expedition have left that place on their return to England.

NEWS is to hand of a recent volcanic eruption in Iceland; the 'following particulars we gather from the Icelandic correspondent of the Scotsman :--Shortly before Christmas 1874 earthquakes were experienced over the north-east part of Iceland. About Christmas, columns of smoke were seen rising, and therefore a party were sent from the My-vatn on the 15th of January to reconnoitre. They went straight southwards over Odadahravn, and made for the Dyngjufjoll. The Dyngjufj.li form a circle of mountains, and within this circle there is a lava stretch called Askja (The Box). Here the exploring party found the eruption to have taken place, and they state that a large crater has been formed, from which lava and clay are being thrown hundreds of feet upwards. They found many smal craters grouped round the big one, and from several of these water was flowing. All around the earth was rent into large fissures, and at some places it had subsided to a considerable extent. Since this visit, the column of smoke has been seen daily in clear weather, and slight earthquakes have been felt at intervals. On the night of the 18th February, the gleam of a great fire was seen from Grimsstodum, in a western direction. A new a

ploring party found the fire to be twenty miles from the inhabited district, to the west of the so-called Sveinagia, in the Austurfjollum. The eruption had taken place from several craters. Some have piled up the lava around them into shapes resembling castles; from others the lava had flowed in a stream, and formed a lava-field of large extent. Most of the craters were smoking when the party arrived. The lava stream from all the craters is between two and three miles long, and from 600 12 looking down through the fissures, and the crust was found to be 800 yards broad. At many places the glowing fire was seen an two or three feet thick. In two or three places small holow

cones had been formed, capable of containing two or three barrels inside. Explosions occurred at intervals in the crater, and lava, earth, and stones were thrown up to a height computed at 160 yards. The distance from My-vatn to the craters is calculated to be from forty to fifty English miles.

IN connection with the above, it is interesting to note that reports from Sweden and Norway state that during the night of March 29-30 last, a heavy rain of ashes or sand took place from the west coast of Norway to the Swedish frontier; the whole of the country was covered with grey dust to such an extent that from a pint of snow more than a tablespoonful of residue was left after the snow had melted. Some chemists of Christiania have examined the ashes, and one of them, Prof. Waage, states that the dust consists of little, irregular, but sharp-edged grains, almost all colourless-some few are of brown colour-and they consist principally of silicates. Acids extract some lime, iron, and alumina from their powder. The professor thinks it likely that the dust originates from an eruption in Iceland. This view is confirmed by a mineralogical investigation made on another sample of the dust at the Christiania University, by Profs. Kjerulf and Fearnley; they recognised the dust to consist of fragments of pumice-stone which is identical with the Hecla pumice-stone. According to Swedish newspapers, some traces of the dust-fall were observed even in the vicinity of Stockholm. Prof. Kjerulf also thinks it highly probable that an eruption took place in Iceland. The distance from the Iceland volcanoes to the Swedish frontier is about the same as that from Mount Etna to the Baltic,

THE following information regarding an eruption of the volcano of Ternate (Moluccas) we have received from Dr. A. B. Meyer-Mr. van Musschenbroek, Resident of Ternate, having made an ascent to the volcano, writes under date Feb. 5: "About fifty small new craters, or rather deep wells, have appeared along the walls of the large crater, and independent of the proper cone of eruption; they are all deep (but it is difficult to say how deep), and about twenty feet in diameter. On some spots, the 'Alang-alang' green was turned upside down. These new, small craters were surrounded by still smaller ones, and by stones thrown out from the interior. This happened at the same time as a rather heavy eruption of the volcano Roeang, near Tagoelanda." Tagoelanda, Dr. Meyer states, is an island in the north of Celebes. He witnessed part of a heavy eruption of the Roeang in 1871 (see NATURE, vol. iv. p. 286). This coincident action of the volcanoes of Ternate and Roeang in January 1875 is interesting, because the same coincidence happened in 1871. Then the eruption of the Roeang was felt in the form of earthquakes and thundrous sounds in the earth, as far as Gorontalo in Celebes to the south, and as far as Ternate (Moluccas) to the east. At a former eruption of the Roeang, in August 1870, the ashes are said to have been thrown to the north as far as Mindanao (Philippine Islands), about 200 miles distant. The Roeang, therefore, appears to be 'still now a formidable centre of volcanic action.

DURING the present term at Oxford, Prof. Lawson and Prof. Ray Lankester are conducting a class from 10 till 4 o'clock each day, which presents features of special interest on account of its novelty. The course is one of general biological instruction, devised so as to give a survey of the leading features of plants and animals. The practical work is preceded by a lecture. Great pains has been taken to get the types required, some being very difficult to procure, and quite novel as educational specimens. Among these may be included Ethalium, Gonium, Cordylophora, and Amphioxus. We hope that Profs. Lawson and Lankester will find that their enterprising attempt to raise the standard of biological study will be sufficiently appreciated to lead them to continue the course on the next seasonable opportunity.

THE Cambridge Museum and Lecture-rooms Syndicate have issued their Ninth Annual Report. They draw attention to the insufficient accommodation for examination purposes and the insufficiency of space for the students in comparative anatomy. Considerable use has been made during the past year of the Cavendish Laboratory, which is being rapidly fitted at the expense of his Grace the Chancellor, the Duke of Devonshire, with the apparatus required for physical research. The want of proper accommodation for Dr. M. Foster's classes in Physiology is painfully evident, as those rooms are neither sufficiently large nor sufficiently well lighted for class rooms. The donations made to the different collections have been numerous.

IN a Congregation at Oxford University on Tuesday, a statute, the principal effect of which would be that the examinations in the Natural Science Schools would be held only once a year, and that honours might be obtained in different subjects at different times-creating, in fact, independent Schools of Physiology, Chemistry, and Physics-was thrown out, after a sharp debate, by 25 votes to 23.

THE Council of the Senate of Cambridge University propose to offer a grace early this term for the appointment of a syndicate to consider the propriety of establishing a professorship of Mechanism and Engineering.

THE High School at Newcastle-under-Lyne, which will open after the summer, under Mr. Kitchener, is fortunate enough to have already met with a liberal and wise friend in Mr. Mayer. He has founded a 50%. exhibition from the school to the Universities, for Science and Mathematics, besides two minor exhibitions for Art.

WE are informed that Mr. A. R. Wallace has in hand a work on the Geographical Distribution of Animals, which will be looked for with great interest.

THE Annual General Meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute will be held in the rooms of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 25, Great George Street, Westminster, S.W., on Wednesday, May 5, and two following days; the president-elect being Mr. William Menelaus. Among the papers to be read are the following:-Notes of a Visit to Mines and Ironworks in the United States; and on the Sum of Heat Utilised in Smelting Cleveland Ironstone, by Mr. I. Lowthian Bell, F.R.S. The Estimation of Small Quantities of Phosphorus in Iron and Steel, by Spectrum Analysis, by Sir John G. N. Alleyne, Bart. The Manufacture of Bessemer Steel in Belgium, by M. J. Deby, Brussels. The Summer Meeting will be held at Manchester early in September.

SIR HENRY RAWLINSON, at Monday's meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, intimated that the Society had awarded the two medals of the year to the two great Arctic explorers, Lieut. Payer and Lieut. Weyprecht. With reference to the prizes the Society offered to the public schools, the following are the awards -Physical Geography-Gold medal, Henry Alexander Miers (Eton College); bronze medal, Archibald Edward Garrod (Marlborough College). Political Geography-Gold medal, Sydney H. B. Saunders (Dulwich College); bronze medal, W. C. Graham (Eton College).

THE Paris Geographical Society held last week its annual meeting in the great hall of the Société d'Encouragement, Rue Bonaparte; more than 3,000 persons were present. The number of members of the Society has largely increased since MM. Thiers and Barthélemy Saint-Hilaire joined it. Preparations are being actively made for the forthcoming International Geographical Meeting, which is to be held at the Tuileries, as we have already intimated, in August next. The offices of the Congress are already opened in the Pavillon de Flore, but all