NATURE 



\_yune I, 1876 



conferences, and representatives of theSci^^^^^^^^^^ 



^ent. Atnong ^j^^ J^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ Majors 



Clarence Page^^ b r Henry Col^ M Processors Allman 



^rC^BrttMr'^Nt^^^^^^^ 



S" .n rorwXell. Dr. Biedermann. and others. Luncheon 

 served iTthe Ward-room. but as there was not sufficient ac- 

 rrdSltall the visitors .any ^^^^^ ^^^^ 

 Chatham where lunclieon had been provided in the Engineers 

 Mes^o'm Invitations to visit the Ckalkn^^ have been sen 

 1 tVrAdmiralty to all the English and foreign members 

 thVKen"Loan Apparatus Committee, many of whom 

 have accepted them. The CAalUn.er will be open to inspection 

 L morrow The ship lies at present in the very spot she left 

 IhTn she set out on her cruise three and a half years ago. and 

 rr the is to be swung for the adjustment of her compasses 

 and tLtk ng o' r^etic observations. It is thought that ten 

 S t^^lve t/s will elfpse before all the stores can be taken out 

 to enable her to pay off. 



FROM the official list of visitors to the Loan Collection during 

 J we^k! ^hich we give below, it will be seen that full advan- 

 tage is being taken of the opportunity afforded :- 



, ... 1,822 



Monday ... ••• - - g^^ 



Tuesday •• 



Wednesday ... '' 



Thursc'ay .. - 



Friday - ^^ 



Satm-day .. ... J^ 



Total 



10,697 



DR. BONDERS, of Utrecht, and Prof, van Beneden, of Lou- 

 vain, are two of the latest arrivals in connection with the Loan 

 Collection Conferences. 



IT is proposed to hold an International Convention of Archae- 

 ologlts, at Philadelphia duringthe Centennial, and in connec on 

 S the Centennial Exposition, for the purpose of promoting 

 rclintance and increasing the means of information m Amer - 

 can Trch^ology and Ethnology. The Stale Arch^ological 

 SocieToTohS^-" P--«i« ^^^'"^ '''' ^'^ Convention, .nd he 

 first meeting will be held in the Ohio Building, at 2 o'clock. P. M. 

 Sept I 8?6. The American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science meets at Buffalo. N. Y.. Aug. 23, at which time a 

 Subsection of Anthropology will be formed. The ConvenUon 

 has been appointed near the close of the ^«^-°\°f f^\^/;;, 

 dalionin order that those who de.^ire may conveniently attend 

 bot^T meetings. Large collections, in Ethnology and Archre- 

 obgy.Tom theSmifhsonian Institution, the State Society of 

 Ohfo and other public and private sources wiU be on exh b tion, 

 and ;iU furnish a great incentive for Archaeologists to visit the 

 ExpSuon. The meeting of this Convention at Plnladelph.a, 

 mus^be regarded on that account as very opportune, and a large 

 Kendall e is expected. Addresses from prominent anthropolo- 

 Stsw^be divered. and it is hoped that a great impetus to 

 SvesSatior>s in America will be gained. Arch«.ologis s who 

 prpose to attend are requested to bring any articles or lUustra- 

 Son's whch they may have, as the opportunity for a temporary 

 Sion will be given. The Chairman of the Ohio Committee 

 Is the Rev. S. D Peet, of Ashtabula. O. European men of 

 in^e who intend to be present at the Buffalo -eating ^Mhe 

 American Association, should wr.u to Prof. F. W. Putnam 

 Salem. Mass., who might be able to make anangements, by 

 which their expenses would be kept down. 



IN connection with the great International Exhibition at Phila- 

 delphia, it is interesting to note that that city is one of the 

 healthiest in the world, so far as the death-rate is a test, m 



1874 according to an official circular just issued, with a popu- 

 lation of 775,000, the death-rate was only I9'3 per thousand. 

 This very favourable result is largely due to the abundant 

 and cheap water-supply, and to the opportunities given, even to 

 the poorest citizens, for the enjoyment of pure country air in the 

 great Falrmount Park, which contains 2,991 acres. The most 

 powerful influence of all, however, is the absence of that over- 

 crowding of the population, which is the most frmtful source of 

 sickness and death in many quarters of neariy all other large cities 

 This will be more clearly comprehended when it is remembered 

 that the 817,488 inhabitants of Philadelphia are spread over an 

 area of 129I square miles, which are traversed by ""O'-^^h^" °"« 

 thousand miles of streets and roads. The climate of Philadel- 

 phia is also, on the whole, a favourable one, although presenting 

 many of the peculiarities common to inland localities. I he 

 mean annual temperature of the last ten years is 5373 Fahren- 

 heit ; the average annual rain-fall is about forty-five mches. 



The Conversazione of the President of the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers takes place to-night in the South Kensington Museum 

 itself, instead of in the Galleries devoted to the Scientific Appa- 

 ratus' Exhibition, as was at first intimated. 



We are informed that the new Zoological Gardens of Calcutta 

 will be opened on the 6th of this month, and that Mr. J. C. 

 Parker has been appointed temporary Curator of the establish- 

 ment There is a fine show of Indian Ruminants and other 

 ordinary Indian animals ; a splendid pair of the Himalayan Bears 

 (Ursus tibitanus), and likewise examples of the other Indian 

 species Ursus labiatus, U. malayanus, and U. tsabeUinus. 

 Amon- J>e rarities is a cage full of the Indian Tupaia ( 7 V^''^ 

 elliottii a curious insectivorous form, of which the Zoological 

 Society of London had living examples not long since- 



The Pandora left Portsmouth on Saturday on her voyage 

 to the Arctic Regions. One of her main objects is to take out 

 letters, papers, &c.. for the officers and crews of the Alert and 

 Discovery; these will.be deposited in certain depots on the 

 chance of Capt. Nares being able to communicate with the 

 entrance to Smith's Sound. The Pandora takes out a very con- 

 siderable number of letters and packets of various kinds and 

 not the least interesting news to Capt. Nares will be that of the 

 successful conclusion of the Challenger Expedition. It is gene- 

 rally understood that, after depositing his mail, Capt. Young 

 will make another attempt to push his ship through Peel Straits, 

 or Bellot Straits, and Franklin Channel, and so on into Behring 

 Straits, and thus be the first to make the North-west Passage 

 by sea. 



It is encouraging to find our legislators and "leaders ol 

 industry" enlightened enough to realise and plainly state the 

 condiiion of this country with regard to scientific education. 

 The place which this country at present holds in the matter of 

 sci.nlific industry, as contrasted with Continental countries and 

 with America, has been frequently referred to of late both by 

 public men and in these columns. The case was again briefly 

 but pointedly stated by Mr. Samuel Moriey, M.P.. on Monday, 

 at the Annual Meeting of the Artisanb' Institute. " It was, 

 he said, " essential that our sons of toil should become humble 

 disciples of science if England was to keep pace with foreign 

 nations in the excellence of her manufactures. The competition 

 of industry was rapidly becoming a competition of mtellect ; and 

 Belgium. Germany, and America were fast treadmg upon our 

 heels in ihe quality of their manufactures. Seeing that at no 

 period for thirty years had there been so widespread a depression 

 in trade as at present, he thought the great importance of im- 

 parting scientific instruction, with a view to the maintenance of 

 our position, would be sufficiently obvious to all. Unless this 

 was brought to bear upon our manufactures, the situation of this, 



