Dec. 30, 1875] 



NATURE 



175 



Capt. Mouciiez leaves Paris shortly to command the war 

 vessel which is to complete the Hjdrographical Survey of the 

 Algerian coast. The expedition is expected to be away for a 

 full year. 



Mr. Henry Willett, the hon. secretary of the Sub-Wealden 

 Exploration, has issued his 14th quarterly report. He states 

 that the contractors are laudably endeavouring, at their own 

 cost, to enlarge the bore-hole, so as to enable them to reach 

 2,oco feet and to produce cores undeniably satisfactory to the 

 promoters. Mr. T. Warner, of Brighton, is willing to contri- 

 bute 400/. in all for the next 500 feet after 2,000 feet. The ulti- 

 mate decision as to the continuance of the work will rest with 

 the central committee in London, who will, of course, be guided 

 mainly by the question of finance. 



Intelligen'CE received at Madrid on the 28th from the 

 Philippines announces that a terrible hurricane swept over the 

 provinces of Albay and Camarices, in the southern part of the 

 Island of Manilla, on the 30th of November, Two hundred and 

 fifty persons are stated to have been killed, and 3,800 inhabited 

 houses, the crops, and a considerable number of animals were 

 destroyed. General consternation prevailed in Manilla. 



The French Society of Ethnography has granted its great 

 medal to the memory of Doudard de Lagree, the organiser of a 

 scientific exploration on the banks of the Mekong in Indo- 

 China. 



TiiE official paper of the Governor-General of Algeria an- 

 nounces that the Algerine Meteorological Board has completed 

 its organisation and will be very shortly placed in communication 

 with the international service presided over by M. Leverrier. 

 Weather telegrams from various places will be sent daily. 



The Academy of Sciences held its anniversary meeting on 

 Monday. M. Bertrand delivered an eloge on General Poncelet, 

 the great geometer and mathematician, who died twelve years 

 ago, leaving a number of most valuable books, of which a 

 general edition has been published recently. Amongst the prizes 

 distributed was one to M. Denayrouze for his apparatus for work- 

 ing in mines and for submarine explorations. 



The cultivation of coffee in India is steadily progressing, and 

 although the introduction of the plarjj; into the eastern portions 

 of the country is of ancient date, it is only within the last twenty 

 years that much attention has been given to its production. The 

 principal plantations are situated in Mysore and the Neilgherry 

 Hills, at an elevation of 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the level of 

 the sea. The climate of these districts, besides being well 

 adapted to the cultivation of the coffee-plant, is not so injurious 

 to the health of Europeans as many other parts of the country, 

 and it is probable that the industry will be largely developed. 

 In 1842 the value of coffee exported from British India was 

 74>957'^- Ten years later it had advanced to 84,306/. ; in 1862 to 

 462,380/., till in 1872 it had increased to 1,380,410/. 



At the same time the cultivation of tea is advancing even 

 I more rapidly, though its introduction is much more recent. The 

 j Assam tree is celebrated for its fine quality. The existence of 

 .| this tea-producing country was only recognised in 1834, when 

 ; Lord Bentinck introduced some Chinese growers, and the trade 

 ! became firmly established. In 1842 the value of tea exported 

 ! was 17,244/. ; in 1852, 59,220/. ; in 1862, 192,242/. ; andjin 1872, 

 1,482,186/. 



The Journal oJ the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol xliv. part 2, 

 contains a paper by Capt. J. Waterhouse, Assistant Surveyor- 

 General of India, on " Photography in connection with the Ob- 

 servation of the Transit of Venus at Roorkee." 



The Report of the Dundee Free Library Committee is drawn 

 up with great care and considerable elaboration, and contains 



some very useful statistics as to the numbers of books issued in 

 various departments, and the classes to which the readers be- 

 long. As might be expected the books taken out in light and 

 miscellaneous literature are in an overwhelming majority, though 

 those belonging to the various sciences have a creditable amount 

 of patronage which we hope to see gradually increase. We 

 think a more satisfactory classification of the sciences might be 

 adopted than that contained in the Report. The Natural Ilibtory 

 Museum connected with the Library is evidently being enriched 

 with valuable specimens, and we are glad to see the Natura- 

 lists' Society is prospering. There is also a University Club 

 housed in the building, which numbers 140 members, and 

 "seeks in the first instance to foster Culture and the Higher 

 Education, with the ulterior object of cultivating public opinion 

 in the direction of University extension in Dundee." 



The ravages of the Phylloxera among the vines have caused 

 many attempts to be made to discover a new kind of beverage 

 which might take the place of the juice of the grape. The 

 Marquis de Villeneuve reports that in China a pseiido wine called 

 Tsien-ia is much used, which is concocted from a preparation ot 

 four plants, common in that country, and mixed together in 

 certain proportions. The plants are dried and powdered, and 

 made into a paste, which is sold in the form of balls or squares 

 at the rate of about 3^'. a pound. One square or ball will make 

 several pints of a fermented liquor, pleasant to the taste and much 

 resembling wine, which is much sought after by Eurooeans and 

 others living in China. A factitious brandy is also prepared in 

 the same way, and the manufacture is so simple that with a 

 capital of 5/. or 10/. to purchase the apparatus, a man may make 

 twenty-five gallons of " brandy " a day. The Marquis de Ville- 

 neuve affirms that the " wine " thus produced is of good quality 

 and possesses no injurious ingredients. 



Part 2 vol. i. of the " Transactions of the Watford Natu- 

 ral History Society " is to hand, containing the four papers read 

 on May 13 last, besides a number of miscellaneous notes and 

 observations. 



Mr. G. H, Kinahan has published a paper read by him at 

 the Royal Historical and Archseological Association of Ireland, 

 on some prehistoric antiquities in the neighbourhood of Drum- 

 darragh, Co. Antrim. 



About a year ago we noticed the publication by the New 

 England Society of Orange of the " Babbit Portfolio," contain- 

 ing some beautiful photographs of remarkable trees in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Orange. The same Society has recently issued the 

 " Haskell Portfolio " (after a well-known citizen of Orange), 

 containing photographs of other fine trees, even finer in execu- 

 tion, we ,think, than the previous ones. The trees represented 

 are the Condit Chestnut {Castanea vesca), the Sugar Maple 

 {Pyrtis mains), the Park Tulips {Liriodendron tidipifera), and 

 the Essex Maple {Acer rubrutn). 



We have received the Report of the first Annual Conference 

 and Exhibition of the Cryptogamic Society of Scotland, held at 

 Perth on Sept. 29, 3o,[and Oct. I ; both conference and exhi- 

 bition seem to have been a complete success. 



Statisticians [calculate" that there are now in work some 

 200,000 steam-engines, , with a total power of 12,000,000 horses, 

 corresponding to the muscular strength of 100,000,000 men. 



Almost all the Carthaginian antiquities which had been sunk 

 with the Magenta have been recovered by Denayrouze's diving 

 apparatus and submarine lamp. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Black Lemur {Lemur macaco) from Mada- 

 gascar, presented by Captain Burke ; a White-fronted Lemur 

 {Letnur albijrons) from Madagascar, a Night Parrot {Stringops 



