470 



NATURE 



{April 13, 1876 



seals. 1 Dr. Dybowsky passed a year on the Ussour 

 River, and brought a beautiful collection of birds, fish, 

 and quadruped skeletons. His descriptions are sent to 

 the IBerlin Museum. Now he is occupied upon the 

 Baikal with soundings and observations on the Baikal 

 seals. He wishes to write a monograph on this particular 

 species of seals. This is nearly all that was done last 

 year, as far as expeditions are concerned, in this part of 

 the world." 



My correspondent refers me to the proceedings of the 

 Siberian Geographical Society for further details. It is 

 much to be regretted that this publication, as well as the 

 excellent Calendar of Eastern Siberia are so little known, 

 out of Asia. I further learn that earthquake shocks have 

 been felt at Irkutsk on the 4th of September last, at 2.55 

 A.M., and a slight one on the 4th of January. The first 

 one came from the east. A clock which was secured by 

 screws almost an inch long, was left leaning on one side, 

 and both of the screws drawn completely out of the wall. 

 The Baikal district is the spot in Northern Asia which is 

 most visited by earthquakes. 



.Since I am on the subject of Siberia, I may mention 

 two facts of considerable interest which I learnt last year. 

 I was told by inhabitants of Jenesseisk that in the re- 

 gions to the north of that town the compass is of no use 

 during an auroral display. It is not at all unlikely that 

 this should be the case in a country where auroral effects 

 are intense, and the horizontal component of the earth's 

 magnetism is small. The other interesting fact is that 

 Mr. Muller had reached Gauss' Siberian magnetic pole, 

 where he found the needle vertical. This was shortly 

 before I reached Irkutsk. His observations were to be 

 published in the Proceedings of the Siberian Geographi- 

 cal Society. I do not know whether a translation has 

 been published. George Forbes 



Andersonian University, Glasgow, April 4 



THE DUBLIN SOCIETIES 



■\1 TE have recently referred in several articles to the 

 • * efforts which are being made to introduce a more 

 satisfactory organisation among the various scientific 

 institutions in Dublin, which have hitherto been inde- 

 pendent of each other. It appears now to be proposed 

 not merely to unite museums, but to unite into one body 

 the Royal Irish Academy and the Royal Dublin Society. 

 This project would seem to have originated at a meeting 

 which a deputation from the latter body had with Major 

 Donnelly. It is evident that many difficulties would be 

 removed and many advantages result from the amalga- 

 mation of these two societies. Of course the arrangements 

 for such an amalgamation must be carried out entirely by 

 the societies, though it would no doubt tend to forward 

 such a scheme if the societies were assured of the approval 

 of Government, and of such aid towards taking the 

 necessary steps as the Government has in its power to 

 give. 



We understand further that there is some possibility of 

 an amalgamation of the Royal Agricultural Society of 

 Ireland with the Royal Dublin Society. It is most desir- 

 able that such an amalgamation should be effected, and 

 that the agricultural shows should be removed from the 

 present buildings beside Leinster House to the Phcenix 

 Park. 



From a letter which has been published in the Irish 

 papers, it appears that these points have been submitted 

 by Major Donnelly to Lord Sandon, who has informed 

 him that the Government are prepared to aid the amal- 

 gamation and to give the necessary space in the Phoenix 

 Park. 



Should the amalgamation be effected, it would probably 



I Lake Baikal is remarkable, among other things, for the presence of 

 these marine aoimals. The seals are grey, and have a very coarse fur. I 

 took a photograph last summer of one which was in the Mu'^supi at Irkutsk. 

 — G. F. 



take the form of a new Society with a limited number of 

 Fellows, ordinary members, and an Agricultural Section. 



It is possible enough that some of the members of 

 the Royal Irish Academy may object to the proposed 

 change, on the score that they would thus lose caste. 

 We cannot admit the validity of such an objection. The 

 Academy has no doubt done good work, but it has a large 

 number of members on its roll who are no more entitled 

 to any scientific or literary distinction than the general 

 body of the members of the Royal Dublin Society. If, 

 however, the Academy consent to the proposed change, 

 the Fellowship of the new Society would become a high 

 and much-coveted honour, and the reputation of the whole 

 body would be far higher than that of the separate so- 

 cieties is now. As to the objection that the large body of 

 general members are unfit to select Fellows, we think that 

 the Fellows may very well be entrusted with the selection 

 of Fellows ; the first Fellows under the new charter might 

 be, say Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, Professors and 

 ex-Professors of a College or University, and others with 

 similar positions, who should be empowered to choose 

 their successors. There need be no difficulty, while acting 

 with perfect fairness and openness, in choosing for the 

 inner circle and also for the governing body the best 

 men of the new society, men who would make a point 

 of maintaining its honour and dignity. The Royal Irish 

 Academy would thus become, under a new name, a select 

 body of Fellows chosen for their scientific and literary 

 merit ; in time, indeed, this fellowship might come to be 

 regarded as an honour little inferior to that of F.R.S. 



The union of the societies would remove many diffi- 

 culties as to ownership of property, and would place at 

 their disposal a much larger amount of funds for scien- 

 tific and literary work than they at present possess. 

 Indeed, it appears to us that from the union on the pro- 

 posed basis, nothing but good could result, great benefits 

 to the members, and much greater advantages than at 

 present exist for the promotion of science in Ireland. 

 Since government has promised to aid the United Society 

 as far as possible, we think it would be a pity if any 

 petty spirit of local jealousy should raise obstructions to 

 the accomplishment of a scheme which promises so well 

 for the country. 



GERMANY AND THE LOAN EXHIBITION 



THE German Committee for the London Loan Exhi- 

 bition of Scientific Apparatus has addressed a report 

 to the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Germany on 

 the success of their efforts. It results from this document 

 that 311 German exhibitors will be represented by 2,492 

 objects. The 19 classes will be represented as follows : — 



1. Arithmetic by 



2. Geometry by 



3. Measurement by 



4. Kinematics by 



5. Molecular Physics by 



6. Sound by 



7. Light by 



8. Heat by 



10. Electricity by 



11. Astronomy by 



12. Applied Mechanics by ... 



13. Chemistry^ by 



14. Meteorology by 



15. Geography by 



16. Geology by 



17. Mineralogy by 



18. Biology by 



19. Educational Collections by 

 The space claimed by the exhibitors will be 109 square 



metres floor, 442 square metres repositories (tables, &c.), 

 299 square metres wall. Considering that two months had 

 to suffice for bringing together this collection, that manu- 



' Exclusive of the collective exhibition of the German Chemical Society, 

 which will represent about 40 exhibitors with 300 objects. 



