Au£^. 31, 1876] 



NATURE 



379 



corrected figures the perturbations by Jupiter, Saturn, 

 and Uranus, were recalculated. Thus the value of the 

 semi-axis major at perihelion passage in 1790 was deter- 

 mined. Tischler's work, however, did not close here ; he 

 subsequently computed the planetary perturbations from 

 1858 to the last perihelion passage towards the end of 1871, 

 and hence derived elements for that appearance which 

 were found amongst his papers after his death. It may 

 perhaps be convenient, for the sake of reference, if 

 Tischler's orbits for the three perihelion passages at 

 which the comet has thus far been observed, are here 

 transcribed : — 



Jan. 



a 



i 



<P 



Log. o 



The motion is direct. T is the time of perihelion passage for 

 meridian of Greenwich ; that for 1871 hemg \\ie predicted 

 time, which appears to have required a correction of 

 + i'^'333 nearly. ^ is the angle of eccentricity {e = sin (fy), 

 and a the semi-axis major. 



It is stated that the calculation of the perturbations of 

 this comet to the next appearance in 1884 has been un- 

 dertaken by Mr. Stone, of Washington. 



FRENCIf ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE- 

 MENT OF SCIENCE 



M DUMAS in his presidential address made some 

 • striking remarks on the important place filled by 

 physical science in modern times as contrasted with its 

 former supposed inferiority to literature, philosophy, and 

 art. " Natural science is no longer content with the 

 contemplative attitude which sufficed for Newton and 

 Laplace. Science is now mixed up with all the personal 

 acts of our existence ; she interferes in all measures of 

 public interest ; industry owes to her its immense pros- 

 perity ; agriculture is regenerated under her fostering 

 care ; commerce is forced to take her discoveries into 

 account ; the art of war has been transformed by her ; 

 politics is bound to admit her into its councils for the 

 government of states. How could it be otherwise ? Have 

 not mechanics, physics, chemistry, the natural sciences, 

 become intelligent and necessary agents for the creation 

 of wealth by labour? Have they not opened the way to 

 all the institutions by which hygiene watches over the 

 health of workers and the salubrity of cities ? If com- 

 fort is more universal, the life of man more prolonged, 

 wealth better distributed, houses more commodious, fur- 

 niture and clothing cheaper, the soldier better armed, the 

 finances of the State more prosperous, is it not to the 

 sciences that all this progress is due ? It is they that 

 discover in the ground the first new materials, that show 

 to agriculture the most suitable productions, the most 

 efficacious manures, and the most appropriate imple- 

 ments ; they that, inventing new processes for industry, 

 put into its hands untiring machines, sometimes gigantic, 

 rivalling in brute force the giants of fable, sometimes 

 delicate, rivalling in nimbleness the hands of fairies. It 

 is the sciences, in fine, that have given to the world the 

 rapid means of communication by land and sea, by the 

 aid of which man takes possession of the terrestrial globe, 

 creating new peoples and flourishing cities where our 

 fathers knew only of barren deserts and uninhabited regions. 

 . . . Science follows you everywhere : breathe, there is 

 chemistry ; walk, there is mechanics ; at every moment, 

 without thinking of it, we cannot help having to do with 

 her. Whether we wish it or not it is necessary to accept 

 science as a companion, to possess her or to be possessed 

 of her ; if you are ignorant you are her slave, if you are 



skilled she obeys you. The future belongs to science ; 

 unfortunate are the people who shut their eyes to this 

 truth." 



The work of the various sections was carried on 

 actively throughout the week, and a fair average of good 

 papers seem to have been read, as usual, the section 

 devoted to the medical sciences filling a large space. In 

 the section of Anthropology, M. Tubino read an interest- 

 ing paper on the Iberian Peninsula, in which he brought 

 out strikingly the great differences which exist between the 

 inhabitants of the various provinces of Spain and Por- 

 tugal. There is found in the Spanish races no unity of 

 origin or of physique. There is not only dissimilarity, 

 but also antithesis and opposition. M. Tubino endea- 

 voured to show that the same diversity existed in the re-' 

 gion of morals, in language, in art, and in the ideas of right 

 and law, and that thus there is really no Spanish race 

 and no means of establishing in the Iberian Peninsula r. 

 centralised state. An interesting discussion followed i;; 

 which M. Broca, while agreeing with M. Tubino's main 

 statements, showed that the same diversities exist ir 

 every country that are found in Spain. The only great 

 barriers of states are geographical limits ; the idea of rac 

 is a delusion and a snare, and no doubt civilisation wil. 

 come to Spain as it has come to France. 



In the Botanical Section Prof. Lanessan explainer'' 

 the results of his organogenic and histologic researches 

 on the foliar appendages of the Rtibiacece. Prof 

 Haeckel spoke of some facts relative to the struc- 

 ture of the glands of some plants called carnivorous 

 The glands described by Darwin as dissolving and ab 

 sorbing, are found on the inferior face of Pingiiicula vul 

 garts and of Nuphar pumilum, where they are unicellular. 

 The cellules of these glands present the phenomenon o' 

 protoplasmic aggregation under the influence of sligh'. 

 solutions of ammoniacal salts (one-half per cent.). Thi 

 same facts are presented in the glandular hairs of Petimia 

 Sparmannia, and Pelargonium, which dissolve flesh aftei 

 hypersecretion of the glands. He regards the phenomc 

 non of protoplasmic aggregation as characteristic of ab 

 sorption, and thinks that there will, perhaps, be room for 

 distinguishing physiological aggregation from the morbiti 

 aggregation produced under larger doses of reagents. 

 M. Merget explained the result of his researches in the 

 production of phenomena of gaseous synthesis in vege- 

 tables. 



An excursion was made on Tuesday morning to the top 

 of the Puy-de-D6me, in which most of the distinguished 

 members of the Association, several ladies, and a numbei 

 of English men of science took part. An excelleni 

 banquet was provided in a small valley at a short dis- 

 tance from the top. Eleven hundred guests had been 

 invited by the Council- General ; eight hundred were pre- 

 sent. Many healths were proposed and speeches made. 



The construction of the observatory cost 225,000 francs, 

 and 100,000 more are required for the completion of the 

 work, although it is in working order. The expenses have 

 been sustained by the department, and the instruments 

 have been constructed by the government. The house 

 of the keeper and director is a massive building situated 

 at a small distance from the top, and partly protected by 

 rocks. Three lightning conductors have been adapted to 

 it. The observatory is a tower standing on a platform, 

 the communication between which and the house is by a 

 well-staircase seventeen metres deep, and a tunnel thirty- 

 five metres long. On the top of the tower is a movable 

 platform. The view is magnificent, but special precau- 

 tions will be required in constructing an anemometer 

 which will be able to bear the pressure of the storms. 

 It will be a self-registering one. 



The concluding sitting of the session took place at the 

 Hotel de Ville on Friday last, under the presidency of 

 M. Dumas. M. Kuhlman was nominated vice-president 

 for 1877 and president for 1878 ; M. FerieT: vice-secretary^- 



