358 



NATURE 



[March 2, 1876 



Mr, H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., the Secretary, Mr, R, P. Grey, F.G.S., 

 and the Council is composed of men whose names are well-known 

 in science. 



The head of the publishing firm of Didot, died a few days 

 ago at the age of eighty-six. The deceased was a member of 

 the Academy of Inscriptions, and under his direction the firm 

 published a number of valuable scientific books.' The Didot 

 firm hold the office of printers to the French Institute, M. 

 Gauthier Villars being only printer to the Academy of Science. 



The second annual meeting of the members of the Scientific 

 Club was held at the Club House, Savile Row, on Thursday, the 

 1 7th Feb. Major F. Duncan, D.C.L., Chairman of the Com- 

 mittee, presided. The Report of the Committee, showing the 

 rapid progress the Club had made during the past year, was 

 unanimously adopted. 



We are asked to state that supplemental meetings forthe reading 

 and discussion of papers by students of the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers have been appointed for the following Friday even- 

 ings : — February 25, March 3, lo, 17, 24, and 31. The chair 

 will be taken at 7 o'clock on each evening, and successively by 

 Dr, Pole, F.R.S., Sir W. G. Armstrong, C.B., F.R,S,, Mr. 

 H, Hayter, Mr, Woods, Mr, Brunlees, and Mr. Berkley, Mem- 

 bers of Council. 



Among the papers in the published " Proceedings " of the 

 Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society for 1874-75 

 are the following : — Presidential Address on atoms and automata, 

 by Joseph J. Murphy, F.G.S.; On some Irish Palaeozoic fossils, by 

 Rev. John Grainger, D. D. ; On the water-bearing strata between 

 Moira and Lurgan, by Robert Young, C. E. ; On the geographi- 

 cal distribution of mammals, by R, O. Cunningham, M. D., 

 Professor of Natural History, Queen's College, Belfast ; A 

 suggestion on chemical notation, by the president, Joseph John 

 Murphy, F.G. S. ; Further notes on some of the swimming birds 

 frequenting Belfast Lough, with special reference to the Great 

 Northern Diver, by R, Lloyd Patterson. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Virginian Eagle Owl (Bubo virginianui) 

 from N. America, presented by Mr. H. Knight ; two Widgeons 

 {Mareca penelope), a Common Wild Duck {Anas boschas), a 

 Lesser Black-backed Gull {Larus fuscus), three Herring Gulls 

 {Larus argentatus), two Common Gulls {Larus canus), three 

 Black-headed Gulls (Lxirus rudibimdus), European, presented 

 by Mr, C. Clifton ; a Common Otter {Luira vulgaris), European, 

 received in exchange ; a Darwin's Pucras {Pucrasia darwini) 

 from China, a Rose-crested Cockatoo {Cacatua moluccensis) 

 from Moluccas, deposited ; a Zebu (Bos indicus) bom in the 

 Gardens. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The American Naturalist has changed its form this year. In 

 future it is to be published by Messrs, H, O. Houghton and Co,, 

 Cambridge, Mass., under the editorship of Dr. A. S. Packard, 

 jun. The amount of matter is increased, and the articles will be 

 of a more popular nature than previously, A department of 

 Geography and Travel is added, and Dr, R, H. Ward, of Troy, 

 N.Y,, will superintend the Microscopy, There seems to be 

 considerable difficulty in the production of a science journal in 

 America, and we think that there is still room for improvement. 

 The first paper in the January number is on " Burs in the Borage 

 family," by Prof. Asa Gray, in which a new form, named Harpa- 

 gonella, is described, having been obtained by Dr. E. Palmer, 

 from Guadalupe Island, off Lower California. — The Rev, S, 

 Lockwood describes the habits of the "Florida Chameleon" 

 {Anolis principalis). — Mr, David Scott writes on the proper 

 specific name of the Song Sparrow, Melospiza fasciata (Gondin), 

 not M. melodia (Wilson). — Mr. J. C. Russell shows of what 

 great value the New Zealand Flax [Phormium tenax) would be 

 if a method of cleaning it could be discovered. — Mr, J, A. Allen 

 discusses the availability of certain Bartramian names in ornith- 



ology, and opposing Dr, Coues' desire to establish some of 

 them, A list is given of those of Bartram's names which Dr, 

 Coues wishes to re-establish. — Prof. N. S. Shaler describes the 

 first session of the Harvard Summer School of Geology, — An- 

 cient ruins in S.W, Colorado are illustrated and described from 

 photographs taken by Mr, W, H. Jackson, the photographer to 

 Prof. Hayden's United States Geological Survey of the Terri- 

 tories, including a house, a round tower, and a square one of 

 Indian construction.— Reviews of Sach's " Botany " (English 

 translation) and Caton's "Summer in Norway," with badly- 

 engraved drawings, are given, together with notes, &c., which 

 conclude the number. 



Po^gendorfs Annalen der Physik und Chemie., No. il, 1875. 

 — The tuning-fork has become an important instrument in phy- 

 sical observations, and this number of the Annalen begins with 

 a description of experiments by Dr. Ettingshausen, with a stro- 

 boscopic tuning-fork apparatus, in which the motion of an elec- 

 tromagnetically excited fork is observed through slits arranged 

 in connection with another fork of nearly the same pitch placed 

 near it. The following are some of his results :— Compared 

 with pendulum motion, that of tuning-forks is somewhat retarded 

 in the inward course, and accelerated in the outward. The 

 vibration time considerably increases with increase of the time 

 of closure of the circuit. The electro-magnetically excited fork 

 vibrates (where the divergences are not too great) more quickly 

 than if the vibrations were caused by elasticity alone. With 

 equal amplitude the duration of vibrations increases slightly with 

 the time the apparatus has been in action ; and it decreases with 

 increasing density of the surrounding air. — Electric phenomena 

 occupy a large share of attention in this number, especially 

 various actions of the spark. M. Peters, extending the re- 

 searches begun by M. Antolik on "gliding" electric sparks, 

 describes effects obtained by letting the spark glide on smoked 

 paper brought near the machine on a glass table. The trace of 

 the flash showed three different parts, each about a third of the 

 whole length. In the positive third were numerous branchings 

 outwards from a middle part, which consisted of a succession of 

 parallel dark and bright strips (the darkest in the middle) ; the 

 negative third showed no branchings, and the parallel strips 

 were in reverse order ; the middle third was distinguished 

 by a greater width and brightness. M. Peters seeks to 

 account for these phenomena. In another note he points out 

 some differences between spark -forms from large inductors and 

 those from the Holtz machine. — A paper by MM. Mach and 

 Wosyka, also suggested by Antolik's experiments, furnishes reason 

 for thinking that the soot figures produced are due to air motions, 

 and especially sound motions. — Again, M. Riess gives an account 

 of the phenomenon of weak electric sparks (as he called them), 

 which differ froni the ordinary strong sparks in form, light, 

 sound, and other properties. A mode of producing them was 

 formerly described. He observes that the greater length of 

 the negative electrode has no essential connection with their pro- 

 duction, and that, in regard not only to length, but to light and 

 sound, they are independent of the composition of the circuit in 

 which they occur. — Some striking new light phenomena of 

 electricity are also described by M. Holtz, — In a note on the 

 dielectric constants of liquids, M. Silow furnishes experimental 

 proof of a proposition of Helmholtz with regard to attraction of 

 two electric masses situated in an insulating medium, and a 

 valuable paper by M, Herwig treats of the magnetisability of 

 cylindrical iron pipes in different directions ; he considers that in 

 addition to the forces hitherto taken into account, there are 

 further molecular magnetic forces which are of the greatest im- 

 portance. These act within a magnetic line in the direction of 

 the entire magnetisation, and in interrupted portions of a magnetic 

 line in the contrary direction. — MM. Hildebrand and Norton 

 endeavour to fill up some gaps in our knowledge of the pro- 

 perties of metallic cerium, lanthanum, and didymium ; having 

 obtained these elements by the help of the electric current, 

 according to Bimsen's method, in quantities of nearly fifty 

 grammes. — A note on impact machines is contributed by M. 

 Sedlaczek, 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Geological Society, Feb. 18.— Annual General Meetmg.— 



John Evans, F.R.S. president, in the chair.— The Secretary 



read the reports of the Council and of the Library and Museum 



Committee for the year 1875. The position of the Society was 



