40 



HARDWJCKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



J\lR. J. B. StiTTON has recently shown that the 

 common opinion that roonkeys in confinement 

 -generally die of tuberculosis is not correct. 



Mr. R. M. Christy," in a communication to 

 " Nature," points out that the vast region known as 

 JNIanitoba and North-West Territories, comprising 

 about three million square miles, is remarkable for 

 the total absence of earthworms. He thinks this is 

 •due to the prairie fires which annually sweep over 

 great portions of the country. 



Professor Milne-Edwards has read a Report 

 before the Paris Academy of Science, on the " Talis- 

 man " Expedition made last year, to dredge the 

 coasts of Senegal, the Cape Verde, Canary, and 

 Azores Islands. They found a marvellous abundance 

 of marine life, and at depths as great as 1900 metres 

 numerous fishes (many of them possessing phos- 

 phorescent spots) were brought up. Among other 

 rarities the soft echinoderm Calveria was dredged 

 alive. Species of Arctic mollusca and Crustacea 

 were also obtained from the deeper parts of the 

 sea-bed. Magnificent sponges allied to Eiipkctclla 

 siiberca were discovered, together with Holtenia, &c. 

 In the deep waters of the Cape Verde Archipelago 

 life displayed surprising energy. A large number of 

 new species was discovered. 



Professor McIntosh, whose labours in cata- 

 loguing the marine fauna off the east coast of Scotland 

 are so well-known to naturalists, has made arrange- 

 ments to proceed once a fortnight for the trawling- 

 grounds off the east coast, in order to investigate the 

 fishing-grounds and their inhabitants. 



Hops have at length been successfully cultivated 

 in the Province of Wellington, New Zealand. Sin- 

 gularly enough, the chief want experienced now is 

 that of poles, and trees will have to be grown for the 

 purpose ! 



Every British naturalist will Lie delighted to hear 

 that natural science has been honoured in the person 

 of our distinguished scientific veteran. Professor 

 Owen, who, on his retirement from the post of 

 Superintendent of the British Museum, has been 

 made a K.C.B. 



Sir John Lubbock, in an article written for 

 "Nature," thinks that the reason why we know so 

 little about the mental condition of animals is because 

 hitherto we have tried to teach them rather than to 

 learn from them. Pie then narrates some very clever 

 experiments he has made with his dog. He had 

 some cardboards, with the word " Food," <S:c., legibly 

 printed. The card labelled "Food" was placed in 

 ithe saucer containing eatables, and plain cards on 

 saucers that were empty. The dog soon learned to 

 •distinguish between the two, and when he wanted 

 ifood learned to bring the card with the word printed 

 on it. 



A correspondent writes in reply to Sir John 

 Lubbock's experiments, suggesting that it would be 

 simpler to commence with drawings on the cards 

 instead of words. 



Dr. David Shier has published some very 

 interesting notes on Trichoncma coluinttcc in the 

 "Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art." 

 This plant is one of the few southern kinds which 

 reach their northernmost limit of distribution along 

 the southern shores of England. It is the smallest 

 representative of the order Iridic, and was found 

 near the Warren, near Exmouth. 



On January 21st Dr. J. E. Taylor, F.G.S., &c,, 

 Editor of Science-Gossip, delivered a lecture before 

 the Hitchin Natural History Society on " The 

 History and Origin of Earthquakes and Volcanoes." 



The brilliant after-glows have continued more or 

 less throughout January. Perhaps the most beautiful 

 was that on January nth, which filled the entire 

 western sky with crimson light. At the same time 

 in the east the full moon was rising. The fore-glows 

 of the sunrises have hardly been less noticeable on 

 many occasions. 



We much regret having to record the death of 

 Mr. C. W. Merrifield, F.R.S., at the comparatively 

 early age of fifty-five. The deceased gentleman was 

 an authority on most matters relating to naval archi- 

 tecture, wave-motion, atmospheric resistance to 

 projectiles, «S:c., and on one occasion was President 

 of the Mechanical Section at the British Association 

 Meeting. 



Earthquake shocks of some violence have been 

 reported lately from Bucharest, various parts of 

 France, and the Hautes- Pyrenees. 



Aciiard's continuous electric brake has been 

 successfully worked in competition with those of 

 Westinghouse and others. 



A very interesting discourse was given by the 

 Rev. W. S. Green before the Royal Geographical 

 Society on January 7th, on the subject of the 

 Southern Alps of New Zealand, which the reverend 

 gentleman has recently explored. Mount Cook 

 12,362 feet, is the highest point. The south-western 

 portion of New Zealand much resembles Norway in 

 its numerous fiords, but is more picturesque. In 

 latitudes equal to Florence, in the old world, glaciers 

 descend to within a few hundred feet of the sea-level. 



A good "find" of palreolithic and neolithic im- 

 plements is reported from l\Iaidenhead. The latter 

 were obtained from the bed of the river Thames. 



"Sunlight" (published by Simpkin, Marshall, 

 & Co.) is a new competitor in the world of popular 

 science. 



