Sept. 28, 1876] 



NATURE 



497 



The fifth meeting of Russian Naturalists, which takes place 

 this year at Warsaw, was opened on the I2th inst. It was well 

 attended, the number of members having been on the opening 

 day nearly 250, which number increased daily afterwards. 



Dr. Thomas Laycock, Professor of the Practice of Physic 

 and Clinical Medicine in the University of Edinburgh, died at 

 Edinburgh, on Thursday last. 



The number of visitors to the Loan Collection of Scientific 

 apparatus during the week ending September 23 was as fol- 

 lows : — Monday, 3,082; Tuesday, 2,622; Wednesday, 375; 

 Thursday, 345 ; Friday, 296; Saturday, 3,991. Total, 10,711. 



The Congress on Silk-culture, at its Milan Session, declared 

 *^hat its next bi-annual meeting should take place at Paris on the 

 occasion of the general exhibition. 



The Champ de Mars has been quite closed for the works of 

 the 1878 exhibition. A number of deputies, senators, &c., 

 have been appointed by a recent decree members of the Adminis- 

 trative Commission. All the expenses of building, &c., will be 

 supported by the public exchequer. The great undertaking is 

 exclusively in the hands of the public administration. 



Dr. Petermann has received a telegram, dated from Ham- 

 merfest, September 19, announcing the safe arrival at that port, 

 from thejenisei River, of Prof. Nordenskjold's trading expedition 

 which, it will be remembered, started from Tromso as late as 

 June 25, on its voyage through the Arctic Ocean of Siberia to 

 the mouth of the Jenisei. The voyage out to the latter and back 

 was performed in about five weeks only, during sixteen days of 

 which the expedition stayed at thejenisei. The expedition found 

 the sea perfectly navigable and free from ice ; thus the practica- 

 bility of a trade route from Europe through the Arctic Ocean to 

 Siberia seems to have again been demonstrated. 



The British Association grant for the investigation of the 

 constitution of the double compounds of nickel and cobalt was 

 given to Mr. John M. Thomson, not to Mr. W. N. Hartley, as 

 sta ted in our last week's lis^. 



The French Franklin Society, established for the creation of 

 popular libraries, received a silver-gilt medal from the Brussels 

 Exhibition for services rendered to public instruction. 



The direction of primary instruction in Paris is preparing 

 plans for the establishment in that city of a normal school of 

 gymnastics. 



M. TissERAND, Inspector-General of Agriculture in France, 

 has been appointed director of the Agronomical Institute. The 

 lectures will be given at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, 

 and the authority of General Morin will be paramount over the 

 new institution. A notice to the public has been published in 

 the official paper reminding them that the course of lectures will 

 be opened on November 15. Pupils are obliged to present a 

 diploma of Baccalaiireat-is-Sciences, or to pass an examination to 

 prove that they are conversant with the subjects of the said 

 examination. Tuition fees are 300 francs a year, but free pupils 

 are admitted at a reduced fee of 25 francs. Foreigners are ad- 

 mitted without any limitation. 



The University of Heidelberg as well as medical science and 

 practice, has recently sustained a great loss in the death of Dr. 

 Simon, for fifty-three years a professor of surgery therein and a 

 skilful operator. 



The ordinary professor of mathematics in Vienna University, 

 Dr. Ludwig Boltzmann, has been appointed professor of physics 

 and director of the Physical Institute in the University of Graz. 



Dr. Topler has been appointed Professor of Experimental 

 Physics in the Polytechnic School of Dresden, 



Mr. William Mathews, jun., M.A., F.G.S., of Birming- 

 ham, has, in consequence of ill health, resigned the office of 

 local Secretary to the Ray and Paloeontographical Societies, which 

 he has held for upwards of twenty years, and Mr. W. R. Hughes, 

 the Treasurer of the Borough, succeeds him. 



Session 1876-7 of the Birmingham and Midland Institute will 

 be opened on Oct. 5 by an address by Mr. Joshua Morley. Among 

 the lectures to be given during the Session are the following : — 

 Oct. 13, Recent Explorations in Africa, by Lieut. Cameron, 

 D.C.L. J Oct. 16, Antarctic Discovery, and its Connection with 

 the Transit of Venus, 1882, by Capt. Davis, R.N. ; Oct. 23, 

 The Early Forms of Animal Life, by Prof. W. C. Williamson, 

 F.R.S. ; Oct. 30, The Early Forms of Vegetable Life, by Prof. 

 W. C. Williamson, F.R.S. ; Nov. 20, Spectrum Analysis 

 applied to the Heavenly Bodies, by Wm, Huggins, F.R.S. ; 

 Dec. II, The Ancient Inhabitants of the Caves of Derbyshire, 

 by Prof. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S. ; Jan. 22 and 29, 1877, Rots 

 and Ferments, our Unseen Enemies, by E. Ray Lankester, 

 F.R.S. ; March 12, The General Results of the Challenger Ex- 

 pedition, by Prof. Sir C. Wyville Thomson, F.R.S. ; March 19 

 and 26, Radiation and Radiometers, by Prof. W. F. Barrett, 

 F.R.S.E. 



Earthquakes were felt' on the night of September 12-13, 

 at Salonica, and in South Italy, at Reggio. Two motions were 

 observed in the last city, the first one being the most notable, 

 both having taken place on the 13th, between 12 and i o'clock, 

 local time. Another earthquake was felt at Salonica, on the 

 14th, at 5 o'clock in the morning. The Reggio commotions 

 were propagated to Messina and vicinity. They produced quite 

 a sensation, although not destructive. 



In the Bulletin Mensuel of the Observatory at Montsouris for 

 July is given an interesting comparison between the amount of 

 atmospheric ozone observed by Schonbein's test-papers and that 

 ascertained by the more exact method employed for some time 

 at the Observatory, with the result that, setting aside all anoma- 

 lies due to excessive moisture and excessive drought, and to the 

 velocity of the wind, there is a pretty fair agreement between 

 the amounts obtained by the two methods. It must, however, 

 be added that while this result is in a sense gratifying, the obser- 

 vation of this important element by the ordinary method of test- 

 papers is far from being satisfactory. 



As the U.S. Congress has made the necessary appropriations 

 to meet the expense of various Government geological and geo- 

 graphical surveys of the Territories, the parties have taken the 

 field, and hope to accomplish a good deal, although the delay 

 on the part of Congress in supplying the means will lessen the 

 period of active work materially. Dr. Hayden's expedition 

 will be divided into four parties. The first will be in charge of 

 Mr. A. D. Wilson, with Dr. Endlich as geologist and Mr. 

 Atkinson as topographer, and will complete the exploration of 

 the small portion of Colorado lying near the Utah line, and 

 then move northward on the west side of the Rocky Mountains. 

 Mr. Henry Gannett will have charge of the second division, 

 with Dr. Peale as geologist, and James Stevenson as executive 

 officer. This division will revisit the region in which a portion 

 of Prof. Hayden's party had an encounter with the Indians and 

 was driven off, last year, with the loss of their implements. 

 Mr. G. R. Bechler will be in charge of the third division, with 

 the necessary assistants. He will pass westward through the 

 Middle Park, working along the north-western part of Colorado. 

 The fourth division will be in charge of Dr. Elliott Coues, with 

 an assistant, and will be especially devoted to zoological work, 

 visiting such portions of Dr. Hayden's region of investigation as 

 have not been examined in previous years. Dr. Hayden himself 

 will visit all the parties in the course of the summer and 

 autumn, and co-ordinate their work. 



