Sept. 2 1, 1876] 



NATURM 



451 



An Intra-Mercurial Planet (?). — A second letter 

 from Prof. Rudolph Wolf, of Zurich, giving further par- 

 ticulars relating to M. Weber's observations at Peckeloh, 

 near Miinster, on April 4, 1876, was communicated by 

 M. Leverrier to the Paris Academy on the nth inst. The 

 sky had been cloudless up to noon, and neither spot nor 

 I'licida was remarked, though the sun's disk was examined 

 ihree or four times, according to M. Weber's custom. 

 After noon the sky clouded until between 4'' and ^, when 

 it cleared in places, and the sun was visible from twenty 

 to twenty-five minutes. Utilising this interval, " M. 

 ^Veber ne vit pas de.facule, quoiqu'il eut promend la lunette 

 sur toute la circonference du soleil. Tout k coup un 

 petit disque bien arrondi de 12 secondes d'arc se 

 montra. II se trouvait k 11 secondes de temps du 

 bord oriental, et a la meme distance au nord de I'equateur 

 cdleste isic). L'astronome eut le temps d'examiner de 

 tres-prfes le voisinage de la tache, et nuUe part il n'aper^ut 

 le plus imperceptible mouvement de facule, nulle part un 

 nuage avoisinant. Seul le petit disque foncd se detachait 

 sur le fond solaire." 



The sky soon after clouded, and it was only at five 

 o'clock on the following morning that it was possible to 

 ascertain that " the phenomenon had disappeared from 

 the surface of the sun." The Peckeloh observation was 

 made at 4h. 25m. P.M., mean time at Berlin. It will be 

 remarked that the observation leaves something to be 

 desired as regards clearness. 



The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of next month are dates when it is 

 desirable the sun's disk should be closely examined for 

 any abnormal spot. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION 



AMONG the later discussions of the meeting no doubt 

 that which has excited most general notice was the 

 debate on Prof. Barrett's paper " On Certain Abnormal 

 Conditions of Mind." There can be little question that 

 in one sense it dealt with subjects suitable for the depart- 

 ment of Anthropology, and the scientific repute of Mr. 

 Crookes, Mr. Wallace, Lord Rayleigh, and Prof. Barrett, 

 necessitates the careful examination of anything they 

 may bring forward. But it is doubtful whether the 

 interests of science are best served by the introduction of 

 subjects which are sure to provoke heated and unscientific 

 discussion at a mixed meeting like that of the Asso- 

 ciation. Dr. McCann did not obtain very much favour 

 for his ill-judged and extravagant scheme of endowed 

 research which he propounded. A good suggestion was 

 thrown out by one of the foreign visitors at the Lord 

 Provost's spendid banquet to the principal members of 

 the Association, in favour of close union and inter-com- 

 munication between the British and similar Associations 

 in other countries. 



The General Committee passed the following reso- 

 lution relative to the proposed museum of scientific 

 instruments : — " That the Council be requested to take 

 steps to urge upon her Majesty's Government the ad- 

 visability of forming a museum of scientific instruments 

 and chemical products, as suggested in the memorial of 

 June last to the Lord President of the Council." The 

 Committee also approved a recommendation that in 

 future the presidents-elect of the various sections be in- 

 vited to confer with the general secretaries, preparatory 

 to the issue of the first number of the daily Journal 

 at each meeting, to arrange the order in which the sec- 

 tional addresses shall be delivered. Thus members may 

 have an opportunity of hearing more than one sectional 

 address. 



The following is a list of the grants made at this meet- 

 ing for scientific purposes ; the name prefixed is in each 

 case that of the person entitled to call upon the treasurer 

 for the amount : — 



Mathematics and Physics. 



£ 



aEverett, Prof. — Underground Temperature 50 



aStokes, Prof. — Reflective Powers of Silver and other 



Substances (renewed) 20 



Thomson, Sir William. — Measurement of the Lunar Dis- 

 turbance of Gravity 50 



rtTait, Prof. — Thermoelectricity (renewed) 50 



flCayley, Prof. — Publication of Tables of Elliptic Func- 

 tions 250 



ajoule, Dr. — Determination of the Mechanical Equivalent 



of Heat 100 



aGlaisher, Mr. J. — Luminous Meteors 30 



Forbes, Prof. G. — Observation of Atmospheric Electricity 



in India 15 



Chemistry. 

 fl Allen, Mr. — Estimation of Potash and Phosphoric Acid.. 20 



Wallace, Dr. W. — Light from Coal Gas 20 



aClovves, Dr. F. — Action of Ethyl Bromo-Butyrate on 



Ethyl Sodaceto-acetate (renewed) 10 



^Armstrong, Prof. — Isomeric Cresols and the Law of Sub- 

 stitution in the Phenol Series (renewed) 10 



Hartley, Mr. W. N.— Double Compounds of Cobalt and 



Nickel 10 



Brown, Prof. Crum. — Quantitative Estimation of Atmo- 

 spheric Ozone 15 



Hartley, W. N. — Liquid Carbonic Acid in Minerals ... 20 



Geology. 



aEvans, Mr. J. — Kent's Cavern Exploration 100 



aLubbock, Sir J., Bart. — Exploration of Victoria Cave, 



Settle ... 100 



aEvans, Mr. J. — Record of the Progress of Geology ... 100 

 aHull, Prof. — Underground Waters in the New Red Sand- 

 stone and Permian 10 



aHerschel, Prof. — Thermal Conductivities of Rocks ... 10 



flBryce, Dr. — Earthquakes in Scotland 10 



Topley,^Mr. — Sub-Wealden Exploration 100 



Biology. 

 Gamgee, Pi-of. — Physiological Action'Jof Ortho-, Pyro-, 



and Metaphosphoric Acids 15 



Hooker, Dr. — Report on the Family of the Diptero- 



Carpese 20 



cStainton, Mr. — Record of Zoological Literature 100 



aHuxley, Prof. — Table at the Zoological Station at 



Naples 75 



aLane Fox, Col. — Exploration of Ancient Earthworks 



(renewed) 25 



Lane Fox, Col. — Instructions for the Use of Travellers ... 25 



Statistics and Economic Science. 

 aFarr, Dr. — Anthropometric Committee (partly renewed). 100 

 aHubbard, Right Hon. J. G. — Common Measure of Value 



in Direct Taxation 10 



Mechanics. 

 aFroude, Mr. W. — Instruments for Measuring the Speed 



of Ships (partly renewed) 50 



Thomson, Sir William — Secular Experiments on the 



Elasticity of Wires 100 



a Reappointed. 



^1,620 



At the concluding general meeting Mr. Griffith read 

 the list of grants, and stated that 2,731 tickets had been 

 sold, producing 2,983/, In detail, there had been present 

 211 old life members, 31 new life members, 318 old an- 

 nual members, 208 new annual members, 1,243 asso- 

 ciates, 696 ladies, and 24 foreign members. Sir John 

 Hawkshaw moved a general vote of thanks to the local 

 authorities and officials, especially mentioning Lord Pro- 

 vost Bain, Sir James Watson, Mr. Grahame, Dr. Blackie, 

 and Mr. J. R. Napier. He said that the Lord Provost's 

 kindness and geniality of disposition, his intelligence, 

 and his power of unlimited work, were most remarkable. 

 Capt. Galton, in seconding the motion, said he had never 

 come in contact with a more energetic local committee. 



