Aug. 24, 1876] 



NATURE 



361 



weather to health cannot be satisfactorily handled, unless not 

 only the number of deaths, but also the number of attacks, be 

 known. 



^: In the Hansa for July 23, at p. 143, appears the first of what 

 promises to be an interesting series of articles by Captain 

 Niejahr on the relation between the formation of clouds and the 

 direction of the wind on the coasts of Northern China and 

 and Japan, between 28' and 42% lat. N., and 121° and 142° 

 long. E. — a region peculiarly suitable for this practical in- 

 inquiry, inasmuch as it lies between the continent of Asia and 

 the expanse of the Pacific, and its southern portion is besides 

 within the region of the N. E. trade. Attention is more par- 

 ticularly drawn in this article to two disiinct kinds of cumulus 

 which suddenly appear in the form of a massive bank of clouds 

 in the western hoiizon, and are rapidly dissolved as they drift 

 eastward, disappearing before they sink to the eastern horizon, 

 often even before they reach the zenith. These two kinds of 

 cumulus, distinguished as wind-cloud and simple cumulus, differ 

 in their outlines, consistency, and height, in the direction of 

 their motion and the mode of their formation, and there can be 

 no doubt that thorough investigation of them would result in no 

 inconsiderable advantage to navigation. We look forward with 

 much interest for the continuation of this discussion in future 

 numbers of the Hansa. 



The Municipal Council of Paris has established a certificate 

 for the pupils of municipal schools ; the examinations are pro- 

 ceeding now at Luxembourg. The number of candidates is 

 about 4,cxx). 



In consequeiice of the appointment of Mr. L. C. Miall to the 

 Professorship of Biology in the Yorkshire College of Science, 

 the office of Assistant-Secretary to the Leeds Philosophical and 

 Literary Society is now vacant. Mr. R. Reynolds, the Honorary 

 Secretary of the Society, will, we believe, give every information 

 to candidates for the post. Prof. Miall will still continue to act 

 as general curator of the museum. 



In connection with the general introduction of the now cele- 

 brated Liberian coffee plants into most •f the coffee-producing 

 countries, as noticed by Dr. Hooker in his recently issued report 

 on Kew Gardens, we may draw attention to what our consul 

 says on the decrease of the production of coffee in Cayenne. 

 The kind there cultivated is the Mocha, which at one time was 

 an important staple of the colony, the country being especially 

 adapted for its cultivation. This valuable product of Cayenne, 

 although temporarily abandoned, is not lost to the world ; the 

 trees continue to thrive in a wild state, and may be reclaimed 

 hereafter. There are thousands of coffee trees interspersed in 

 the forests of the inhabitable part of the colony which have 

 been abandoned for years. They attain a height of about fifteen 

 or sixteen feet, with a circumference, a few feet from the ground, 

 of thirty inches ; they are rich in foliage, but do not bloom. 

 The coffee tree also appears to be safe from the ravages of in- 

 sects, whereas many other trees suffer vitally from this evil. 



The Ergebnisse der BeobacJitungssiatio7ten an den deutschen 

 Kiisttn, 1875, published monthly, have been received. In their 

 researches into the physical peculiarities and fisheries of the 

 North and Baltic Seas, the Ministerial Commission at Kiel con- 

 tinue to carry out with vigour and ability the comprehensive 

 system of observation established by them a few years ago, 

 under which the physical data necessary for the solution of many 

 questions affecting the fisheries of these seas are being gradually 

 accumulated These include physical observations at nineteen 

 stations on the daily height of the water of the seas, their tem- 

 perature, specific gravity, and currents, and the amount of cloud 

 and direction and force of the wind ; very full meteorological 

 pbservations at four stations ; and the details ',of the daily fish. 



ings in each of the seven districts of the coasts. It might be 

 suggested whether observations of daily maxima and minima of 

 the temperature of the sea by thermometers continuously im- 

 mersed, as suggested by Mr. Stevenson, and carried out by the 

 Scottish Meteorological Society in similar inquiries, might not, 

 from their great practical value, be added to their physical 

 observations by the Commission at Kiel. 



An account of the geology, physical geography, and botany 

 of the West Riding of Yorkshire, is now in course of prepara- 

 tion, and will shortly be published by subscription. The geolo- 

 gical portion of the work will be undertaken by Mr. J. W. 

 Davis, F.G.S. ; Mr. F. Arnold Lees, F.L.S., will be respon- 

 sible for the botany, while the division of physical geography 

 will be a joint production of the two authors. In this last 

 section, with the description of each locality, the flora of each 

 area will be given. We believe Mr. J. W. Davis, of Greet- 

 land, Halifax, will furnish particulars and receive subscriptions. 



The Mayor of Marseilles and the Prefect of Bouches du Rhone 

 have signed a contract obliging the city to pay a yearly subvention 

 of 15,000 francs to the Observatory, and to continue in perpetuo 

 the free grant of lands and buildings in the present site occupied 

 by it. M. Waddington will ask the Budget Commission for an 

 enlarged credit. 



We are glad to notice the advent of a new Norwegian journal 

 of science published at Christiania, and entitled Archiv for 

 Mathmiatik og Natm-videnskab, the editor being M. Albert Cam- 

 mermeyer. The following are some of the articles contained in the 

 first two numbers : — " On the Ancient Norwegian Coasts," by M. 

 Sexe ; " On the Fjords and Glaciers of Northern Greenland," 

 by Amund Helland, who visited this country during the months 

 of June, July, and August, 1875 ; a review by Worm Midler, of 

 Malassez's "La Numeration des Globules Rouges du Sang." 

 Besides these there are other papers on Geology and Meteor- 

 ology. We wish every success to this new periodical. 



The proposal to submerge a portion of North Africa by 

 means of a canal from the Gulf of Gabes, letting the water of , 

 the Mediterranean westwards over the lake region of Djerid, 

 seems from the facts detailed by MM. Roudaire and Dupuis to 

 be not only a practicable, but also likely to turn out a remune- 

 rative undertaking. Owing to the comparatively small area it is 

 proposed to submerge, the meteorological changes which the 

 submersion would occasion can only be sUght, strictly local, and 

 altogether beneficial in their general tendency — differing abso- 

 lutely in all these respects from the meteorological changes which 

 would result from the submersion of the western portion of the 

 Sahara, proposed some time ago. From this latter project it 

 would follow, owing to the great extent of the water surface 

 which would thus overspread the Western Sahara, and its proximity 

 to the Atlantic, that the present disposition of the lines of atmo- 

 spheric pressure would be seriously altered, a result necessarily 

 attended with changes in the prevailing winds and currents of 

 the North Atlantic, seriously affecting international interests in 

 a manner which our present knowledge does not enable us in 

 any way accurately to predict. But such an objection does not 

 apply, as aheady stated, to the project of submerging the region 

 of Djerid. 



The law for the International French Exhibition for 1878 has 

 been voted by the Senate. M. Krantz, the director, an engineer, 

 has established his offices at the Palais de ITndustrie, and sixteen 

 pupils of the School of Beaux Arts are executing building plans 

 under his direction. The work of construction in the Champ de 

 Mars is expected to begin almost immediately. 



On July 26 the shock of an earthquake was felt at Grenada, 

 the direction of the oscillations being north to south. As the 



