94 



NATURE 



[Dec. 2, 1875 



Many of the readers of Nature will be grieved to hear that 

 Prof. Friedrich Albert Lange died at Marburg, after severe suffer- 

 ing, on the 21st of November. A great career was opening 

 before him when he was smitten by the illness which killed him. 

 His principal work is the " History of Materialism," a second 

 edition of which he had completed shortly before his death. This 

 work will long remain a monument of honour to his memory — an 

 ensample alike of comprehensive learning and of profound and 

 elevated thought. 



The three vacant seats on the Senate of the University of 

 London have been filled by the appointment of Dr. Hooker, 

 Pres. R.S., and the Dean of Lincoln (Dr. Blakesley), directly 

 by the Crown, and Mr. J. G. Fitch on the nomination of Con- 

 vocation. 



With reference to Dr. Acland's late pamphlet on'the future site 

 of the Oxford Botanic Gardens, in the form of a letter to Dr. 

 Hooker, the Professor of Botany (Mr. Lawson) draws attention 

 to the fact that the question of retaining them upon their present 

 site or of removing them to the Parks is now stib Judice, and that 

 till Council deems fit to announce the result of their deliberations 

 it would be highly inexpedient for the Professor of Botany to 

 enter into any discussion on the matter, and he requests members 

 of the University to suspend their judgment until such time as 

 the question can be placed before them in all its bearings. 



Dr. L. S. Forbes Winslow has been appointed to the chair 

 of Psycliological Medicine at Charing Cross Hospital. 



Telegrams from Prof. Palmieri state that the interior of the 

 crater created by the last eruption of Vesuvius has given way. 

 A dark smoke issues from the volcano, and he thinks an erup- 

 tion is consequently to be expected, but perhaps not immediate. 



From additional notes on the Meteorological Congress at 

 Poitiers which we have received, we learn that nineteen depart- 

 ments surrounding Poitiers are formed into a permanent meteo- 

 rological union called " Quest- Oceanien," for the purpose of 

 organising weather forecasts in the interests of agriculture, and 

 of tracing the puths of thunderstorms. Another similar asso- 

 ciation will be established at Bordeaux for the south-western 

 provinces. Next year the " Ouest-Oceanien " will hold its second 

 yearly meeting at Tours. It has been decided that a barometer, 

 constructed on an improved plan by M. Redier, shall be sent to 

 each chief town of an arrondissement, as also the telegrams from 

 the Paris Observatory giving the meteorological news transmitted 

 by the international service. The resident meteorologists are to 

 take advantage of these general warnings in issuing special pre- 

 dictions. These efforts will promote the meteorological investi- 

 gations and multiply the number of observers. It is expected 

 that the Paris Observatory will commence to issue daily bulletins 

 and maps similar to those which for a long time have been issued 

 by the U. S. Signal Service, showing up to what extent their 

 predictions have been warranted by facts. M. Alluard, Director 

 of the Puy de Dome Observatory, was present at the Congress, 

 and gave interesting details as to the state of the works, which 

 are progressing favourably. In the course of a few months the 

 observations will begin at the top of the mountain, and by the 

 month of May next the works will be opened for inspection by 

 men of science of all nations. The presence of a large number 

 of delegates from various parts of France enabled the Congress to 

 pass resolutions of so general a character as to insure everywhere 

 uniformity of action, and the establishing, on a satisfactory basis, 

 of an Atlas Meteorologique de la France. 



The South Australian Register contains a short account of the 

 exploration of the large river in New Guinea referred to in our 

 last number. The details are given in connection with the report 

 of the return of Mr. Macleay's expedition in the Ckevert, which 



became disorganised, Mr. Macleay and Capt. Edwards having 

 disagreed. The scientific portion of the expedition proceeded to 

 New Guinea in a 'missionary vessel, probably the Ellangowan, 

 the same which is reported to have sailed up the Baxter River. 

 The details, evidently supplied by some one who had been on 

 board the Ellan^cnvan, published in the Register, are substan- 

 tially the same as those given in Mr. Smithurst's letter. Large 

 cloven hoof tracks are reported to have been seen, as also the 

 monstrous bird referred to by Mr. Smithurst. Lieut. Robert H. 

 Armit, R.N., writing to the Daily News, states that the position 

 of the supposed newly-discovered river in New Guinea, as given 

 by Mr. Smithurst^ — lat. 8'38 S., long. 141 "59 E. — clearly proves it 

 to be none other than the one discovered by the officers of her 

 Majesty's ship Fly, and which to this day bears the name of 

 that vessel. 



Prof. Henry's Smithsonian Report for the year 1874, the 

 New York Nation states, gives a good account of the manage- 

 ment and varied usefulness of the Institution. Among the pub- 

 lications in progress or contemplated are a ' ' complete index to 

 all the species of plants of North America, with their synonyms 

 and all descriptions and important references to them ; " a new 

 and enlarged edition of Schott's " Tables of Rain and Snow in 

 the United States ; " a general discussion of the winds of the 

 globe ; a discussion of all the observations made on the tempera- 

 ture of the U. S. from the earliest times ; and a work on the geo- 

 graphical distribution of American thunder-storms. The papers 

 which usually accompany the Report and give it a permanent 

 value are in this case Arago's eulogy on Laplace, Mailly's on 

 Quetelet, and Dumas's on De la Rive ; Prof. Hilgard's interest- 

 ing lecture on tides and tidal action in harbours ; De Candolle's 

 notable chapter advocating the English as a dominant language 

 for science ; a translation (continued from the previous report) 

 of Morin's elaborate treatise on warming and ventilation ; and a 

 letter, by Prof. Warren du Pre, on the so-called North Carolina 

 earthquakes, which literally "made so much noise" in February 

 and March of last year. Prof, du Pre attributes the shakes and 

 explosions to volcanic or earthquake energy, but Prof. Henrjr 

 inclines to think them caused by either a gradual depression or i 

 elevation of the mountain. The stories of issuing smoke and | 

 flame were fabulous. The last sixty pages of the Report are j 

 given up to Ethnology, with a view to presenting as complete \ 

 information as possible concerning the location and character of j 

 ancient earthworks in America. The accounts here given range j 

 from New York to Oregon in one direction, and to Florida and 

 Mississippi in others. 



M. Bonnat, a French explorer of the Gold Coast, who had : 

 been taken prisoner by the Djuabin, has managed to escape, , 

 and is continuing his work along the banks of the Volta, under \ 

 the protection of Ashantees, amongst whom he is said to have 

 become a favourite. j 



The Auricula is said to be the only Alpine plant which has : 

 come into general cultivation in the gardens of the rest of Europe. ; 

 In a pamphlet entitled " Die Geschichte der Aurikel," Pm'' 

 Kerner traces the history of the discovery and cultivation of t! 

 plant, from the time of L'Escluse(Clusius), who first transplant 

 this species and the hybrid P. /tdescms, JeLcq., in 1582 from l' 

 Tyrolese Alps to Belgium. The latter species, and not the ti 

 F. Auricula, L., which quickly disappeared from cultivation, 

 believed by Prof. Kerner to be the real ancestor of the culti- 

 vated auriculas of our gardens. The two were known at the 

 time of Clusius under the names of " Auricula- ursi I." and 

 *' Auricula-ursi II.," from the supposed resemblance in the 

 shape of the leaves to that of the ear of a bear. The hybrid 

 F. />udesccns,' which had been lost from the German and Austrian 

 Alps for nearly three centuries, was rediscovered by Prof. Kern 

 in 1867 in a single locality in the Tyrol. 



