HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



209 



Science has lately lost one of her oldest workers 

 in the person of M. Henri Milne-Edwards, who died 

 on July 29th, at the age of 85. He was known for 

 his Zoological researches on Crustaceans, and in the 

 anatomy and physiology of marine animals of the 

 French coast, for his Cours elementaire de Zoologie, 

 and his great work on the comparative anatomy of 

 man and animals, which was finished only a few years 

 ago. He succeeded Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire as 

 professor of Zoology in the Jardin des Plantes, besides 

 holding at various times other offices. He was the 

 father of M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards. 



It is understood that the Government will apply to 

 Parliament for State aid for the Marine Biological 

 Association on condition that the work is carried on 

 in conceit and harmony with the Scotch Fishery 

 Board. 



It appears, on the authority of Mr. A. W. Bennett, 

 inaletterto " Nature," that there are in the American 

 flora plants regarded as belonging to the same species 

 as European plants, but with a difference difficult to 

 define but yet recognisable. He instances Osmunda 

 regalis and Pteris aquilina, which are abundant in 

 Canada, but have a general habit which marks them 

 off from the English forms. The American Plantago 

 major is stated, he says, to be distinguishable by the 

 American horses from our wayside weed, though there 

 is scarcely any difference. Some English weeds 

 are turning out the native ones, but the daisy and 

 primrose, it appears, will not naturalise themselves 

 in America. 



The " Colonies and India" in an article on wool 

 growing, after speaking of the successful introduction 

 of the Angora goat into South Africa, suggests 

 the acclimatisation in new countries of the alpaca, 

 vicuna, and llama, at present restricted to South 

 America. The hair of these and other animals is, it 

 says, increasing in demand, and it considers the 

 mountainous districts of South Africa probably better 

 adapted for the alpaca than the plains of Australia, 

 where an attempt to introduce this animal did not 

 meet with the success expected. 



From a paper published in the same journal it 

 appears that Messrs. H. B. Dixon and H. F. Lowe 

 "have shown that by the ignition to a white heat of a 

 platinum wire in a well-dried mixture of carbonic 

 oxide and oxygen gases in the required proportions, 

 the gases may be made to combine. No flame was 

 visible round the wire and apparently no explosion 

 took place. 



In the same journal Mr. Thomas Turner describes 

 some experiments with relation to the influence of 

 silicon on the properties of cast iron. They lead, he 

 says, to the conclusion that, at all events under the 

 circumstances given, a suitable addition of silicon to 

 cast iron may considerably increase its tenacity, a 



result in accordance with previous opinion as quoted 

 by Mr. Turner. 



The result of experiments on the leaves of Euony- 

 mus japonka, by P. P. Deherain and L. Maquenne, is 

 said to indicate that the respiration of leaves is not 

 accompanied by a simple change of oxygen into 

 carbonic acid gas, but that an internal combustion 

 takes place in them similar to fermentation, the effect 

 being the evolution of more carbonic acid gas than 

 equals the oxygen supplied. An abstract of the 

 author's paper may be found in the Journal of the 

 Chemical Society for August. 



A new volume of the " Nature " Series (Macmillan) 

 is expected, the author being Sir John Lubbock, and 

 the subject "Flowers, Insects, and Leaves." 



It is said that Professor Huxley has been asked to 

 retain his post as Dean of the School of Science, South 

 Kensington, and to direct generally the course of 

 biological teaching there. 



The ability of salmon to jump up waterfalls is the 

 subject of some interesting details given by Professor A. 

 Landmark, chief director of the Norwegian Fisheries, 

 ofwhichanoticemaybe found in "Nature." He states 

 that under some circumstances salmon have been 

 found to jump sixteen feet perpendicularly, and that he 

 knows this by having seen them jump across two 

 masts three and a half feet apart which have been 

 placed across the river about sixteen feet above the 

 water, at the Hellefos, in the Drams River, at Haug- 

 send. He even says that some salmon when jumping 

 a perpendicular fall are able, if they strike the fall 

 straight with the snout, to remain for a minute or two 

 in the falling mass of water should they happen not 

 to clear the fall at one jump ; after which with a 

 switch of the tail the rest of the fall can be cleared. 



In a report by Mr. S. Stack, Director of Agriculture 

 in Assam, an extract from which may be found in the 

 " Entomologist " for August the author in considering 

 Assam as a source of supply for the English silk 

 market says the wild silkworms of Assam are out of 

 the question, being much too scarce. Of domesticated 

 worms there are the mulberry worm (Bombyx textor), 

 the muga worm {Antheraa Assama) and the castor- 

 oil worm {Attacus ricini). From the two latter Mr. 

 Stack thinks something might be done, in the export 

 not of the thread but of the waste~cocoons, those 

 from which the moth has been allowed to eat its 

 way. It appears that from waste cocoons imported 

 from India or China the manufacture of silk plushes 

 and similar fabrics forms a flourishing branch of the 

 English silk industry. 



It appears that the authorities at South Kensington 

 do not intend to appoint a successor to Professor Hux- 

 ley, as Professor of Biology at the School of Science, 

 but have considerably increased the salary of Mr. 

 Howes, Professor Huxley's assistant. 



