NOTES. 



431 



its valley by the operation of the sinuosity 

 of its meanderings, and has covered the 

 "whole surface of the soil with detritus. The 

 production of gravel terraces may be attrib- 

 uted to slight, elevations of the soil ; and 

 many supposed bowlders of considerable 

 dimensions may have been formed by the 

 weathering away of angular blocks. The 

 disappearance of species is now regarded as 

 simply the natural result of the competition 

 of other species ; and evidence is not wholly 

 wanting that the introduction of new species 

 is still going on. Thus, a little lizard has 

 been observed quartered on a rock near the 

 Island of Capri which is manifestly derived 

 from a quite different lizard living in the 

 island itself. 



NOTES. 



Professor Farlow has, at the request of 

 the United States Fish Commission, inves- 

 tia:ated the cause of the red color which 

 sometimes appears on dried codfish during 

 hot weather, in connection with which it has 

 been noticed that the fish affected by it 

 decayed with comparative quickness. He 

 has found that the redness is owing to a 

 minute plant, the Clathrocystis roseo-persi- 

 cina, which is known in America and Eu- 

 rope, and may sometimes be found tingeing 

 the surface of damp ground with a purplish 

 hue, and in the macerating-tubs of anato- 

 mists. It does not appear to flourish or in- 

 crease very rapidly at a temperature below 

 65. It could have becu derived from many 

 sources, but Professor Farlow has traced its 

 origin particularly to the salt with which 

 the fish are cured. 



George B. Emersox, LL. D., author of 

 the " Report on the Trees and Shrubs grow- 

 ing naturally in the Forests of Massachu- 

 setts," died last March, in Boston. He was 

 born in Kennebunk, Maine, in 1797, became 

 known as a teacher, and a writer on educa- 

 tional topics, and has been president of the 

 Boston Society of Xatural History. 



*' Nature " notices a curious confusion 

 in the different senses in which the term 

 iraioling is used by British and American 

 fishermen. A trawl in Ensrland is a larrre 

 purse-net attached to a heavy beam raised 

 upon trawl-heads, or irons at either end, and 

 dragged along the bottom of the sea. In 

 Scotland it is simply a drift or seine-net. In ! 

 America it is a long line baited with hooks, ' 

 and left on the bottom of the sea. Each of \ 

 the three modes of fishing is objected to in 

 the different countries in which they are em- ' 



ployed by men who use one of the others. 

 In Scotland the drift-net fishermen object 

 to the trawl or seine-nets ; in England the 

 drift-net and the line fishermen object to the 

 beam-trawlers ; in America the hand-line 

 fishermen object to the set-line fishermen, 

 whom they call " trawlers." The complaints 

 are all due to the jealousy usually felt at the 

 introduction of new machinery in any indus- 

 try ; and the Governments of both countries 

 may safely disregard them, since they are 

 the most effective answers to one another. 



The fifty-first annual meeting of the 

 British Association will be opened at York, 

 on the 31st of August. The address will be 

 delivered by Sir John Lubbock, President- 

 elect. The presidents of the several sec- 

 tions are : A, Sir W. Thomson ; B, Pro- 

 fessor A. W. Williamson; C, Professor 

 A. C. Eamsay ; D, Professor Owen, in the 

 department of Zoology ; Professor W. H. 

 Flower, in the department of Anthropol- 

 ogy; Professor J. S. Burdon-Sanderson, in 

 the department of Anatomy ; E, Sir J. D. 

 Hooker ; F, the Right Honorable Grant 

 Duff ; G, Sir W. G. Armstrong. Evening 

 addresses will be delivered by Professor 

 Huxley and Sir W. Spottiswoode. 



The third meeting of the International 

 Geographical Congress is to be held at 

 Venice, September 15th to 22d. Represent- 

 atives from all geographical societies are 

 invited to attend, and they will be permitted 

 to speak in any language. The discussions 

 will be held in the eight sections of mathe- 

 matical geography, geology, and topogra- 

 phy; hydrography; physical, geological, me- 

 teorological, botanical, and zoological geog- 

 raphy ; anthropological, ethnological, and 

 philological geography; historical geogra- 

 phy; economical, commercial, and statis- 

 tical geography ; the study, teaching, and 

 diffusion of geography; explorations and 

 travels. An international geographical ex- 

 hibition, the schedule of which is very full, 

 and is divided into sections corresponding 

 with those of the Congress, will be held in 

 connection with it, and will be open during 

 September. 



Experiments were recently made at the 

 Grand Oi)era in Paris in the transmission 

 through the microphone of the musical part 

 of the representation, with results that are 

 described as marvelous. The modulations 

 of the voice and the concerted pieces were 

 distinct] V heard and distinguished, to the 

 admiration of the distant audience. A dem- 

 onstration of this character is expected to 

 form a regular feature at the coming Elec- 

 trical Exposition, where a special hall will 

 be provided, whence visitors will be able to 

 enjoy the representations at the Opera-House 

 without leaving the place. " La Nature " 

 foresees the day when music will be sent 



