'58 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Rising, Southing, and Setting of the Principal 

 Planets at intervals of Seven Days. 



was 19*0 hours against 33*1 hours at Glynde-place, 

 Lewes. 



For the week ending 1st of October, the highest 

 reading of the barometer was 30*24 in. at the be- 

 ginning of the week, and the lowest 29*10 in. on 

 Wednesday afternoon. The mean temperature of the 

 air was 49 *6 deg., and 5*7 deg. below the average. 

 The direction of the wind was variable. Rain fell 

 on four days of the week, to the aggregate amount of 

 0*32 of an inch. The duration of registered bright 

 sunshine in the week was 22*5 hours, against 42*5 

 hours at Glynde-place, Lewes. 



For the week ending 8th October, the highest 

 reading of the barometer was 30*21 in, on Monday 

 morning, and the lowest 29*67 in. at the end of the 

 week. The mean temperature of the air was 51*9 

 deg., and was 1*5 deg. below the average. The 

 direction of the wind was northerly during the first 

 live, and south-westerly during the last two, days of 

 the week. No rain fell during the week. The 

 duration of registered bright sunshine in the week 

 was 4*9 hours, against 4*5 hours at Glynde-place, 

 Lewes. 



The mean temperature in November is 48 , at the 

 Land's End, 46 , at Plymouth, 45 , along the greater 

 part of the South Coast, 45 , on a line drawn 

 through Taunton and Winchester to the coast of 

 Kent ; 43 , at Flamborough Head, and 42 at 

 Edinburgh. 



The average rainfall for November is 2 inches for 

 the greater part of England ; 3 inches on the South 

 Coast, and 4 inches on the West Coast. In parts of 

 Cornwall and North Wales, and also in the English 

 Lake District it is 5 inches and more. 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



The Annual Exhibition of the South London 

 Entomological and Natural History Society will be 

 held at the "Bridge House," London Bridge, on 

 the 1 6th November, and the Exhibition committee 

 will be pleased to receive exhibits in all branches of 

 Natural History. 



A CHANGE in the London University Matriculation 

 syllabus, as affecting the so-called "science " subjects, 

 has induced Messrs. Chapman & Hall to issue a 

 new work on Mechanics. This volume deals with 

 exactly so much of mechanics as is requisite for 

 matriculation at London under the new regulations. 

 The book is written by Edward Aveling, D.Sc, 

 Fellow of University College, London, whose work 

 on Natural Philosophy, to meet the requirements of 

 the former syllabuses well known. 



It was too late last month for us to notice the neat 

 and artistic little pamphlets which Mr. J. Cosmo 

 Melvill, F.L.S., of Kersal Cottage, Prestwich, got up 

 on the occasion of a visit by members of the British 

 Association to inspect his splendid collections of 

 Mollusca and Insecta. 



A noteworthy paper for geologists to study, is 

 Dr. Chas. Calloway's, in the "Quarterly Journal of 

 the Geol. Soc," for last August, entitled " A Pre- 

 liminary Enquiry into the Genesis of the Crystalline 

 Schists of the Malvern Hills." 



We cordially recommend Mr. S. A. Adamson's 

 pamphlet on the " Geology of the Skipton and Ilkley 

 Railway," a wonderful bit of carboniferous geology. 



No ^society is doing more good to the birds (and 

 even to the thoughtless women who are leading to 

 their extermination) than the Selborne Society. It 

 is now issuing a series of capital monthly " Letters" 

 at a penny each. The Hon. Robert Lowe thought 

 it time to "educate our masters," when the Reform 

 Bill of 1S67 was passed. It is now time to educate 

 our " missesses" ! 



We have received a reprint of Mr. T. M. Reade's 

 suggestive paper in the "Philosophical Magazine" 

 on the " Secular Cooling of the Earth in relation to 

 Mountain Building." 



The following instructions how to sensitise box- 

 wood are interesting : — Photographic etching upon 

 boxwood blocks, such as are used in wood engraving, 

 has been deemed a practical impossibility. We learn> 

 however, that it has recently been accomplished in 

 Russia, and by a method simple and ingenious. The 

 block in its natural condition is, of course, unsuitable. 

 The first step is to fill its pores with insoluble carbon- 

 ate of copper, by means of two separate solutions, in 

 which it is boiled sufficiently. A polish is then 

 imparted to its surface, asphalt in solution applied to 



