April 6, 1876] 



NATURE 



457 



nature. There are now about 900 members of the Institute, 

 the next meeting of which will be held in Leeds in September. 



The Institution of Naval Architects commences this year's 

 session to-day, and will continue its meeting to-morrow and 

 Saturday in the hall of the Society of Arts. Lord Hampton, 

 G.C.B., D.CL., president, will occupy the chair. Among the 

 many papers to be read are the following : — On the unequal 

 onward motion in the upper and lower currents in the wake of 

 a ship, and the effects of this unequal motion on the action of 

 the screw propeller, by Prof. Osborne Reynolds. — On the theory 

 of pitching, by W. Froude, F.R. S., Vice-president — On the 

 telegraph-ship Faraday, by C. W. Merrifield, F.R.S., Asso- 

 ciate Member of CounciL — On the propulsion of bodies, by R. 

 Griffiths, — On a new form of hydraulic propeller, by M. £. 

 Francois. 



At the conclusion of Prof. Huxley's Course ol Lectures at 

 Jermyn Street, which we are reporting, Mr. F. Wilson proposed 

 a vote of thanks to the lecturer, and alluded to the state of Prof. 

 Huxley's health. The vote was enthusiastically responded to, 

 and Prof. Huxley, in reply, remarked that the gentleman who 

 had kindly proposed the vote of thanks was under a mistake 

 about his health, he was never better in his life ; but, as it had 

 been truly said, " If you had been iU it took at least four years 

 to persuade your friends that you were well again." 



The Pandora, Capt. Allen Young's yacht, is now being pre- 

 pared at Southampton for another voyage to the Arctic regions 

 in search of despatches from the expedition under the command 

 of Capt. Nares. The yacht will be ready for sea in the course of 

 a few weeks. 



Ws are requested to state that Mr. E. B, Tylor gives his 

 lectuicon "Ordeals and Oaths" to morrow evening at the 

 Royal Institution ; there seems to have been some misunder- 

 standing as to the date. 



Wt believe there are a good many people who would wish to 

 visit the Challenger on her return to England, while all her 

 equif ments are in situ, before she is gutted. We are sure that 

 if th< authorities are made aware of the existence of such a 

 desirt on the part of the public, they will make arrangements to 

 gralii Y it. 



0> Easter Monday and following days the Geolc^sts* Asso- 

 ciati*^ ii .Till make an excursion to Nottingham and Belvoir 

 Castl \ 



It '5 stated as probable that the site of the proposed Inter- 

 national Exhibition at Paris in 1878 will be the Bois de Boulogne 



and I' ssy. 

 x 

 M. Balard, the well-known natural philosopher, who has 

 taker part in most of the International Exhibitions that have 

 been held, has died at Paris at the age of seventy-four. M. 

 Balaid was a member of the Academy of Sciences for more than 

 thirty years. He was Professor of Chemistry at the Sorbonne. 

 Heleaves no written book, but his teaching was much admired. 



On March 25 an earthquake was felt at Algiers and vicinity 

 at 6h. 34m. in the morning. The duration was three seconds. 

 A second movement, less intense, was felt at jh. 2m. in the 

 afternoon. In the evening a strong storm set in from the S. W., 

 and a deluge of water followed. 



We have received a copy of the rules recently adopted for the 



Cumberland Association for the Advancement of Literature and 

 Science. The Association consists mainly of a number of local 

 societies in Cumberland, and will hold an annual meeting, at 

 which reports will be read hrom the affiliated societies, and the 

 objects of the Association furthered by lectures, papers, ad- 

 dresses, discussions, &c The association intends to publish at 



its own expense such portions of its own or of any of the asso- 

 ciated societies' communications as may be deemed advisable. 

 The objects of the association are laudable, and we wish it 

 success. Its first annual meeting will be held at ^\'hitehavcn in 

 May. 



We would recommend to the notice of teachers, the Rev. 

 George Henslow's paper on " The Practical Teaching of Natural 

 Science in Schools," which is published in The Educational 

 Times of March i, and a paper in the April number by the Rev. 

 P. Magniss, on "The Teaching of Natural Philosophy in 

 Schools." 



At the College examination at Downing College, Cambridge, 

 in June, a Foundation Scholarship, of the value of 80/. per 

 annum, will be awarded for proficiency in Natural Science. 

 Particulars may be obtained from the tutors of the College. 



Several important German pubhcations have been forwarded 

 to us ; we r^ret that we are unable to do little more than give their 

 titles. They may all be obtained through Messrs. Williams and 

 Norgate, of London and Edinburgh. Dr. Hermann Hager has 

 published a fifth edition of his useful little work, " Das Mikroskop 

 xmd seine Anwendung" (Berlin : Sprengen). It is intended as a 

 guide to medical men, pharmacists, students, &c., and is largely 

 illustrated. — " Werden und Vergehen" (Berlin: Bomtrager) is 

 the title of a work by Carus Sterne, of Berlin, in which an 

 attempt is made to trace the development of the universe from 

 the nebulous " world-cloud " to man. Its tone may be inferred 

 from the fact that it is admiringly dedicated to Prof. Haeckel. — 

 Prof. J. C. G. Lucae has completed his work on the Anatomy 

 of the Seal and Otter, "Die Robbe und die Otter " (Frankfort : 

 Winter), Phoca vitiilina and Lutra vulgaris, a monument of 

 minute research. The first part of this work we noticed in vol. 

 viiL , p. 222 ; the complete work contains thirty-two fine plates. 

 — Dr. M. J. Schleiden has published a curious work on Salt — 

 " Das Salz " (Leipzig : Engelmann), its purpose being to trace 

 the history, the symbolism, and describe the various uses of salt to 

 man. Its main object is to show what an important effect salt 

 has had on human culture. — "Gnmdriss der anorganischen 

 Chemie" (Leipzig: Voss) is the title of a handbook by Dr. 

 Rudolf Arendt, intended for use in German Middle, Higher, 

 and Training Schools. — Under the title of " Physiologisches 

 Methodik" (Braunschweig : View^) Dr. Richard Gscheidlen, 

 of Br^Iau University, has published what seems an admirable 

 handbook of practical physiology. It is profusely illustrated 

 with beautifully-executed woodcuts. — Under the title of "Theo- 

 retische Kinematik, Grundziige einer Theorie des Maschinen- 

 wesens" (Braunschweig : Vieweg und Sohn), Prof. Reuleaux has 

 published a work on Mechanics which wUl, no doubt, take a 

 first place among treatises on this subject. Messrs. Macmillan 

 and Co. will shortly publish a translation of Prof. Reuleaux's 

 work. 



Messrs. Williams and Norgate have sent us "Nouveaux 

 Elements de Physiologie Humaine "(Paris : Bailliere), by Prof. 

 H. Beaunis, a work which, we believe, will take a high rank as 

 a text-book. — A French translation of the Guide to Analysis 

 of Water, by Dr. Reichardt, of Jena, has been made by Prof. 

 G. E. Strohl, of Nancy ; it is published by Reinwald, of Paris, 

 and sold here by Williams and Norgate. 



Under the editorship of Mr. R. Brough Smyth there has 

 been published a Descriptive Catalogue of Rocks, Minerals, and 

 Fossils, illustrative of the Geology, Mineralogy, and Mining 

 Resources of Victoria, Australia, intended for exhibition at the 

 Philadelphia International Exhibition. The list contains alto- 

 gether 8S0 specimens. 



Messrs. Parker and Co. have published Prof. Prestwich's 

 lecture " On the Geological Conditions affecting Water Supply 

 to houses and towns, with special reference to the modes of 

 supplying Oxford." 



