444 



NA TURE 



\Scpt. 14, 1876 



Mr. Wyld, of the Strand, has published a map which will be 

 found very useful by those who desire to understand, in all its 

 bearings, the significance of the present unhappy war which is 

 being waged in the Turkish dominions. The object of the map 

 is to show the distribution of the various peoples which inhabit 

 the Turkish provinces and dependencies, this object being effected 

 by the use of various shades of colour for the various families of 

 people — Sclaves, Walachians, Albanians, Turks, &c. It shows 

 in what a comparatively small minority are the real Turks, and 

 how important is the Sclavic element, though the Mahommedans 

 are spread more or less over all the provinces ; still they are in a 

 decided minority. The variety of colouring used is at first rather 

 puzzling, as it is difficult to make the shades sharply distinct, but 

 after a little careful examination a very satisfactory general idea 

 will be obtained of the ethnology of the Turkish dominions. 



Dr. Michael Foster is preparing a Text-book of Physiology 

 for the use of Medical Students and others ; it will be published 

 in November by Messrs. Macmillan and Co. 



Messrs. Macmillan and Co. have published as a shilling 

 pamphlet Dr. Richardson's address, " Hygeia, a City of Health," 

 which he delivered last October at the Meeting of the Social 

 Science Association at Brighton. 



Mr. W. F. Husband has been selected as secretary and regis- 

 trar to the Yorkshire College of Science, and secretary to the 

 Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. Mr, L. C. Miall 

 retains the office of curator of the society's museum, also holding 

 the professorship of biology at the college. 



The Times Paris correspondent states that in digging the new 

 basin at St. Nazaire, animal remains, tools, weapons, and 

 utensils have been found in a sandy stratum six metres from the 

 surface. Last year a dolichocephalous skull was found near the 

 same spot, which Dr. Broca declared to belong to the age of 

 stone. 



The Council of the Paris Observatoiyhas resolved to attempt 

 the manufacture of object-glasses by machinery, instead of by 

 hand. The mechanical cutting of flint and crowm glass will be 

 executed by M. Lessautre, the well-known clock-maker, who 

 prepares the optical part of French lighthouses by machinery. 



We regret to see that the Italian African Expedition has been 

 so badly treated in its progress southwards, that Capt. Martini 

 has had to go to Rome, deputed by the Marquis Antinori, to 

 request assistance. Most of their baggage has been stolen or 

 destroyed, and every possible obstruction thrown in their way. 



The additions to the Zoological Gardens during the past week 

 include a Macaque Monkey (Macacus cynomolgus) from Mau- 

 ritius, presented by Dr. J. F. Blackley ; a Greater Black-backed 

 Gull {Larus marinus) European, presented by Mr. W. J. 

 Stebbing ; two Common Barn Owls {Strix flammea) European, 

 presented by Mr. Thomas May ; a Long-eared Owl ( Otus vul- 

 garis) European, presented by the Misses S. E. P. and A. 

 Warre ; two Salt-water Terrapins (Clemmys terrapin) from 

 Galveston, Texas, presented by Mr. J. R. Gillespy ; two Yellow- 

 billed Ducks {Anas xanthorhyncha) from S. Africa, two Plumed 

 Colins ( Callipepla picta) from California, received in exchange ; 

 two Bronze-winged Pigeons {Phaps chalcoptera) bred in the 

 Gardens. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, Aug. 28. — Vice- Admiral Paris in the 

 chair. — The following papers were read : — Theorems relative to 

 couples of segments having a constant length, by M. Chasles. — 

 Sixth note on electrical transmissions through the ground, by M, 

 Du Moncel. Placing two zinc plates in two wells i6l metres 

 apart, one in a farmyard, the other on the border of a wood, and 

 connecting them with wire and galvanometer, he got a strong 

 current. He next made a couple with the two waters, separated 



by a porous vessel, and got a deflection of 80", the electrode in 

 the water from the farm well being positive. This water con- 

 tained some sulphuretted hydrogen and organic matter ; the 

 other was pure ; neither showed acid or alkaline properties. The 

 action was peculiar to zinc electrodes (at least as regards direction 

 of current). From other experiments he concludes that beyond 

 336 metres the resistance opposed by the water of a river remains 

 nearly the same, whatever the distance of immersion of the plates ; 

 hence this resistance is probably indistinguishable from that of 

 the ground at a distance less than 336 metres. Under the best 

 conditions the resistance of the ground varies from 4 to 5 kilo- 

 metres of telegraphic wire, and if wells or the like do not inter- 

 vene in the communications it may sometimes be enormous. — 

 On the periodic comet of d' Arrest, by M. Leveau. He gives an 

 ephemerides to enable astronomers to observe this small comet on 

 its return in 1877. (It was first observed in 1851, and its period 

 is about 64 years.) — Letter from M. Wolf to M. Le Verrier. 

 M. Weber, at Peckeloh, on April 4 last, at 4.25 p.m., saw a 

 round spot on the sun, which was seen without spot on the 

 morning of that day, and also of the next day, at Peckeloh, 

 Zurich, and Athens. — Observations on the Planet 165 ; positions 

 of some variable stars, by Mr. Peters. — Stars near the pole star, 

 by M. de Boe. Besides the known companion there are two 

 others much nearer and fainter. He observed them first in 

 1869 and has this year verified their existence. They are probably 

 subject to varying brightness and rapid movements round the prin- 

 cipal star ; and they are perhaps best seen with small objectives. 

 — On alcoholic and acetic fermentation of fruits, flowers, and 

 leaves of certain plants, by M. de Luca. Fruits, flowers, and 

 leaves in a limited atmosphere of carbonic acid, hydrogen, or air, 

 or in vacuum, undergo slow fermentation, liberating carbonic acid, 

 nitrogen, and sometimes hydrogen, and forming alcohol and 

 acetic acid, without intervention of any ferment. In a close vessel 

 the phenomena are incomplete, owing to pressure of the deve- 

 loped gas ; but, with ordinary pressure maintained, neither sugar 

 nor starch will be found after the development of gas has ceased ; 

 in their place are alcohol and acetic acid in abundance. The 

 hydrogen liberated is doubtless from decomposition of mannite, 

 which is a sugar with excess of hydrogen. — Influence of pine 

 forests on the quantity of rain which a country receives on the 

 hygrometric state of the air and on the state of the soil, by M, 

 Fautrat. Comparing the rain-fall for fourteen months on a pine 

 forest and a sandy plain 300 metres off, he finds a difference of 

 83 mm. in favour of the former, or more than 10 per cent, of the 

 rain-fall on the open ground (the difference was only 5 per cent, 

 in the case of oaks and witch-elms). The annual difference in 

 saturation was (in favour of the air above the pines) tcn- 

 hundredths. Of 757 mm. of water which fell, the forest ground 

 received 471 ram. — M. Faye, in presenting Nos. 39 and 40 of 

 Aitronomische Miitheilungen, made reference to M. Wolf's re- 

 searches on sun-spots ani terrestrial magnetism. The last mini- 

 mum was in 1867, and as the period is 11^ years, we should 

 have looked for a minimum in 1878, instead of which it has 

 occurred between the end of 1875 and beginning of 1876, 

 showing a remarkable anomaly of more than two years. The 

 variations of the needle are shown to follow the sun-spots with 

 singular fidelity. 



CONTENTS PaGb 



George Smith. Bv the Rev. A. H. Savce 421 



The Norwegian Tourists' Association 422 



Our Book Shelf : — 



British Manufacturing Industries 423 



Lktteks to the Editdr : — 



Miniature Physical Geology. — Rev. T. G. Bonnev 473 



Visual Phenomena. — I. W. Ward ; Rev. J. F. Blake .... 423 



Antedated Books. — F.Z.S. 424 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Variab'e Stars 424 



An Intra-Mercurial Planet (?) 424 



Science in Schools 42s 



The British Association 425 



Section A. — Mathematical and Physical. — Opening Address by 



Prof. Sir William Thomson, F.R.S., D.C.L , &c , President . . 426 

 Section B. — Chemical Science. — Opening Address by William 



Henry Perkin. F.R.S., President 432 



Section C. — Geology 43s 



Section D. — Biology {Department of Zoology and Botany). — 

 Address by Alfred Newton, F.R.S., F.L.S., V.P.Z.S., Pro- 

 lessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the University 



of Cambridge, Vice-President 438 



The Norwegian Atlantic Expedition 441 



Notes ... 442 



Societies AND Academies 444 



