March 2, 1876] 



NA TURE 



357 



Thk Cincinnati Observatory, since its reorganisation, under 

 the charge of Mr. Ormond Stone, has again assumed a satisfac- 

 tory position among kindred institutions in the United Stales. 

 A School of Astronomy has been established, -with quite a 

 number of pupils. The double-star observations made by Prof. 

 Mitchell have been reduced, and are ready for the printer. 

 They embrace between 300 and 400 observations, made during 

 the years 1846, 1847, *nd 1848. A series of double-star mea- 

 surements has also been entered upon, restricted to those south 

 of the equator, with a result of bringing to light quite a number 

 of new close double stars. 



The first annual report of the Chicago Botanical Garden has 

 been published. A plan has been prepared for the permanent 

 arrangement of the entire ground. At the date of the report 

 living specimens of ninety-five species of native plants had been 

 placed in the garden, and seeds of 456 species collected in suffi- 

 cient quantity for exchange. 



We understand that Dr. J- Gray McKendrick intends oflfering 

 himself as a candidate for the chair of Physiology in Glasgow 

 University, when Prof. A. Buchanan's intimated intention of 

 resigning that chair has been carried into effect. 



M. Paul Bert has offered a prize for the best means of pro- 

 tecting the lives of aeronauts and mountain-climbers in circum- 

 stances where cold and rarefaction of the air become dangerous. 

 The prize offered by M. Bert is a 20/. gold medal, and the 

 competition is open up to December 31, 1876. 



The papers read on Monday evening at the Royal Geographi- 

 cal Society were, "On the Shueli Valley of Burmah," by Mr. 

 Ney Elias ; and "Afghan Geography," by Mr. C. R. Mark- 

 ham. The paper of Mr. Ney Elias described an alternative 

 route into China to that which Mr. Margary had unfortunately 

 taken, and been murdered. In introducing the second; paper, 

 on " Afghan Geography," Mr. Markham stated that its materials 

 had been collected from the journals of the late General Lynch, 

 compiled in Afghanistan. The paper gave full details of the his- 

 tor)', geography, and antiquities of Afghanistan. General Lynch 

 described the country through which he passed as being full of 

 lovely valleys, inhabited by a gentle and hospitable people, as 

 studded with mines of gold and silver and coal, as teeming with 

 fertility, and as being rich in ancient monuments, in inscriptions, 

 and in sculpture. A map of Afghanistan is being prepared 

 in the War Office, embracing all the existing materials, and that 

 map when_ published will show how many gaps in our geogra-. 

 phical knowledge of Afghanistan still remain to be filled up. 



The Bulletin of the French Geographical Society contains a 

 paper by M. V. A. Malte-Brun, giving an appreciative and 

 sympathetic account of the organisation of the English Arctic 

 Expedition and its progress up to the latest news received. M. 

 Malte-Brun hopes to see the day when a French Expedition will 

 set out for the , North Pole. Abbe David's Second Voyage of 

 Exploration in Western China, 1868-1870, is described, and 

 M. J. Codine gives an account of the discovery of the African 

 Coast from Cape St. Catherine to the Great Fish River by the 

 Portuguese during the years 1484- 1488. 



* According to the Annuaire for 1876, there appear to be 

 five English Academicians and twenty-nine English correspond- 

 ents of the Institute of France. As Academicians in Science 

 are Prof. Owen and Sir G. B. Airy ; as Correspondents in the 

 Class of Science are Professors Sylvester and Adams (Cam- 

 bridge), Sir T. MacLear, Rear-Admiral Richards, General 

 Sabine, Dr. J. P. Joule (Manchester), Dr. E. Frankland, Pro£ 

 A. W. Williamson, Prof. W. H. MUler (Cambridge), Dr. 

 Hooker (Kew), Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Dr. Huggins, and Mr. 

 Lockyer. 



The Morgenblad of Christiaiiia states that a singular pheno- 

 menon was observed there after a recent violent storm. A 



number of worms were found crawling on the snow, and it was 

 imposssible to find the places from which they had issued, every, 

 thing being frozen in the vicinity. Similar circumstances were 

 reported from several places of Norway. 



M. Cyboulsky, a mining proprietor in Siberia, is said to have 

 given a sum of ico,ooo roubles to help the Government to found 

 the Tomsk University. 



The number of students registered in the Paris Faculty of 

 Medicine this year is 6,500, the largest number yet reached. 

 On February 22, the Municipal Council of Paris voted a sum of 

 six millions of francs for the construction of new buildings round 

 the old ones belonging to the Faculty. The property of the 

 buildings now in existence has been given up by the State to the 

 City of Paris on the express condition that they should always 

 be devoted to the Faculty of Medicine. 



Many of our readers, we are sure, will rejoice to hear that a 

 movement is on foot in Germany to abolish the crabbed printed 

 German alphabet and adopt Roman type. We sincerely wish 

 the movement may lead to the desired result, and that it will 

 extend to the still more vexatious written alphabet. 



A new scientific periodical entitled Electriate hzs been issued 

 in Paris, under the patronage of Count Halley d'Arroz, director of 

 the International Electrical Exhibition of 1877. It will b; 

 profusely illustrated, and will be used by the Commission of 

 Organisation as one of its official organs. 



The Committee appointed by the Prefet de la Seine to superin- 

 tend the construction of lightning conductors in Paris has been 

 changed into a permanent one. A sum of 8, 000/. has been appropri- 

 ated by the Municipal Council for reconstructing all the lightning 

 conductors in Paris, or at least all those which may be found de- 

 fective or inefficient. This sum is a first instalment, as the whole 

 of the work, it is supposed, will cost 50,000/., although the 

 Committee has not recommended the use of copper conductors. 

 It is deeply to be regretted that the teachings of Sir Snow Harris 

 are not better understood in France, as the Committee has adopted 

 a number of excellent recommendations. Until the appointment 

 of the Committee lightning conductors were constructed by oidi- 

 nary blacksmiths, under the superintendence of architects who 

 knew nothing of physics. A competitive adjudication took 

 place on Feb. 19 between a number of competent electricians 

 for the construction of all the lightning conductors on the Paris 

 municipal monuments. ' The successful competitor is M. Grenet 

 the well-known electrician. A cahier des charges vaih. seventy 

 carefully -drawn provisions has been published. The electric con- 

 tinuity of conductors must be tested yearly, and the contractor 

 will be paid by instalments, so that his claim wiU be cleared up 

 only when the efficiency of his work shall have been tested during 

 a certain number of years. The platinum cone has been abolished 

 and replaced by a copper cone. The quality of the iron, as well 

 as of the copper and solder, is to be tested by chemical analysis. 

 The insulation of rods has been abolished as being useless. The 

 Commission has diminished the diameter of protection area, 

 which was supposed to be twice the height, and has reduced it 

 to I "45. The consequence is that rods are to be multiplied. 

 The principal provisions of the 1876 cahier des charges have been 

 drawn in accordance! with the instructions published by the 

 French Academy of Sciences in 1825. 



We have received 'a copy of the roles adopted at a' recent 

 meeting of the newly-formed Mmeralogical Society of Great 

 Britain and Ireland. The object of the Society is the study of 

 mineralogy and petrology, and it will be composed of ordinary 

 members, associates, and corresponding members. Besides 

 general and annual meetings, local meetings may be held at any 

 time and place as may be agreed upon by six members or asso- 

 ciates. The Society will publish a journal. The President is 



