HARD WICKE ' S SCIENCE- G SSI P. 



39 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



At a recent sitting of the Paris Academy, Professor 

 Pasteur stated that out of 325 cases of inoculation for 

 hydrophobia, only one has failed, namely, that of the 

 youth Pelletier, who came too long after being bitten, 

 and under very unfavourable conditions. M. Pasteur 

 advocated the establishment of an international 

 hospital, to which patients would come from all 

 parts of the world. At the close of the meeting, 

 Professor Pasteur announced that he should next 

 investigate whether diphtheria could not be treated 

 by a similar process to that which he had found so 

 successful against hydrophobia. 



Mr. G. K. Vine has been contributing an excel- 

 lent series of papers to "The Naturalist," entitled 

 " Micro-Palseontology of the Northern Carboniferous 

 Shales." 



At the Society of Amateur Geologists, Mr. Henry 

 Fleck recently read a paper on the "Crag Deposits 

 of East Anglia." Professor Rudler has been kind 

 enough to give the members a " demonstration " at 

 the Jermyn Street Museum on "Common Rock- 

 forming Minerals." 



At a meeting of the Entomological Society, Mr. 

 H. Goss read an analysis of M. Brongniart's recent 

 work on " Les Insectes Fossiles des Terrains Pri- 

 maires " (Rouen, 1SS5), and expounded that author's 

 views on the classification of insects from geological 

 data. 



The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 

 are bringing out an excellent series of photo-relief 

 maps. We have received the map of Scotland. 

 The aim of this series is to present the various 

 divisions of the globe as if in actual relief, and thus 

 to render easily intelligible the distribution of moun- 

 tains, the water-sheds, the river valleys, and other 

 physical features. 



Mr. E. B. Poulton has just delivered two lectures 

 at the Royal Institution on "The Nature and Pro- 

 tective Use of Colour in Caterpillars." 



Professor Morre.n, the eminent Belgian bota- 

 nist, has died at the age of 53. 



Dr. Haast, F.R.S., Director of the Canterbury 

 Museum, New Zealand, has been appointed Commis- 

 sioner for the exhibits of that colony, and is now 

 in LondoD, arranging for the exhibition of the geo- 

 logy, fauna and flora, &c, of New Zealand, at the 

 forthcoming Colonial Exhibition. 



Professor Stokes, F.R.S., has been awarded 

 the Actonian Prize of one hundred guineas for his 

 lecture on Light. 



Professor Tacchini has published the results 

 of his observation of the solar protuberances at the 



Roman Observatory during 1885. The great pro- 

 tuberances were never seen in the neighbourhood of 

 the poles, but nearly always between the equator and 

 40 , corresponding almost invariably with solar 

 regions free from spots and faculse. As regards the 

 protuberances, solar energy may be considered as 

 having been more active in 1885 than during the 

 previous year. 



The analysis of some specimens of the air taken 

 at Cape Horn by MM. A. Muntz and E. Aubin gives 

 the mean result of 20-864, as compared with 20*960, 

 the mean for the atmosphere of Paris. The propor- 

 tion of oxygen appears to be also very nearly equal 

 to that of the air in various other parts of the globe, 

 so that the variations in the quantities of nitrogen 

 and oxygen in the atmosphere oscillate within very 

 narrow limits. 



Mr. Arthur Bennett, F.L.S., has published 

 in the March number of the "Journal of Botany" 

 a paper giving the " Recent Additions to the Flora 

 of Iceland." 



We have received Part I. (1883-5) °f tne " Transac- 

 tions " of the Leeds Geological Association, containing 

 good abstracts of papers read, and brief accounts of 

 excursions made. 



Mr. H. E. Quilter has published a paper in 

 the " Geological Magazine" on " The Lower Lias 

 of Leicestershire," and Mr. Thomas Beesley another 

 on "The Lias of Fenny Compton, Warwickshire," 

 in the "Proceedings " of the Warwickshire Natura- 

 lists' Field Club. 



We regret to have to announce the death, although 

 at the advanced age of 85, of Mr. Charles W. Peach, 

 A.L.S., the distinguished collector and observer, who 

 did more in the way of palseontological and zoo- 

 logical discovery than many men of much higher rank 

 in the world of science. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Preparation of Epidermis. — Would some 

 reader kindly inform me of the best way to procure 

 the epidermis of such leaves as the Urtica dioica, as 

 nitric acid is of no use ? — George Rovert. 



Mounting Pollen, etc. — Can any reader tell 

 me what is the best liquid for mounting the pollen of 

 flowers for the microscope ? Also is it best to mount 

 sections of stems of plants in Canada balsam? — A. 

 Vcrinder. 



Preparing Insects' Brains. — I am desirous of 

 preparing some brains of insects, and I found in an 

 old number of this volume a method given by Mr. 

 E. T. Newton in his paper on " Preparing a Model 

 of an Insect's Brain," in which he speaks of a solution 



