July 1 8, 1889]] 



NATURE 



283 



Superintendent Sanderson. The same correspondent states 

 that there were 6000 deaths by snake-bites in the North-West 

 Provinces last year. In Madras, 10,096 cattle were killed by 

 wild animals, and the loss of human life by snakes and wild 

 animals was 1642. 



In a telegram from Tashkend, dated July 12, it is stated that 

 a .shock of earthquake had occurred at Djarkend, in the Govern- 

 ment of Semiretchinsk, by which half the town was destroyed. 



Prof. W. Forster, Director of the Berlin Observatory, states 

 m \\\& Reichsanzeigcr \kiz.X. shortly before midnight on the nth 

 inst.j undulatory motions were observed in two water balances 

 pointing north and south in the Berlin Observatory. These 

 motions, he believes, were a distant effect of the earthquake near 

 Tashkend. Similar motions were observed in Berlin, Breslau, 

 and Konigsberg on August 2, 1885, and it is concluded that they 

 were caused by an earthquake which, as was afterwards found, 

 had taken place at Tashkend half an hour earlier. 



A SLIGHT shock of earthquake was felt at Charleston, U.S.A., 

 at 9 47 on the evening of July 11. The disturbance lasted three 

 seconds, and was accompanied by slight subterranean rumblings. 

 The direction was from north to south. 



At a recent meeting of the German Meteorological Society 

 in Berlin, Dr. Lang, of Munich, read a paper on the velocity 

 of propagation of thunderstorms in South Germany in the ten 

 yeais 1879-8$. This is, on an average, 38 '4 kilometres per 

 hour ; but it has varied considerably from year to year, in- 

 creasing in the years to 1884, and thereafter decreasing. To 

 this corresponds a curious variation of van Bebber's fourth and 

 fifth depression-paths : which lay in the north at the beginning 

 of the period, then moved south to South Germany till 1884, 

 after which they retired northwards. Hail frequency has varied 

 in an opposite sense to the velocity ; but the rapidly moving 

 winter thunderstorms have most hail. The velocity is maximum 

 in winter ; it falls rapidly till May, slowly rising thereafter (with 

 a second depression in September) till winter. The velocity is 

 greatest in storms coming from the west. Dividing the region 

 into four zones from north to south, there is a decrease in the 

 velocity, at first slight, but getting very rapid on reaching the 

 Alpine region. The velocity is greatest about midnight, least 

 about midday. At the same meeting, thunderstorms and hail in 

 Bavaria in 1880-88 were the subject of a paper by Dr. Horn. 

 These phenomena in general correspond ; both have a maximum 

 early in July, but the hail has a second maximum, nearly as 

 great, in May. Both phenomena show a pronounced day 

 maximum about 3 to 4 (in winter about 2 to 3), and a minimum 

 in the morning from 7 to 8. Dr. Horn said hail never fell 

 in Bavaria without electric discharge, but Dr. Assmann main- 

 tained it did sometimes in Prussia. 



We have received from Mr. A. T. Rotch the observations 

 made at the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory in the year 

 18S7. This Observatory, which was established in 1885, is now 

 one of the best-equipped stations in the United States ; it is 

 situated in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, about 635 feet above 

 the level of the sea, being the highest point within ten miles of 

 the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, and commands an 

 unbroken view of the horizon in every direction. The value of 

 the station has been recognized by the Harvard College, and 

 the present volume appears as vol. xx. Part I, of the Annals of 

 the Astronomical Observatory of that institution, which is about 

 twelve miles distant. Arrangements have been made for the 

 continuation of this new form of publication, and the ultimate 

 consolidation of the two institutions is contemplated — a step 

 that will insure a more complete discussion of the observations 

 than has been possible hitherto. In addition to monthly sum- 

 maries, the present volume contains hourly values of all the 



principal elements. The hourly observations of rainfall, cloud, 

 (7h. a.m. to iih. p.m.), and sunshine are especially valuable. 

 The sunshine observations are given in a novel and convenient 

 form, showing the amount, in tenths, for each hour. The 

 appendixes contain interesting discussions on thermometer 

 screens, and on the differences of temperature between the base 

 and the summit, as well as tracings from the self-recording 

 instruments illustrating special meteorological phenomena. We 

 congratulate Mr. Rotch and his staff on the completeness of 

 their valuable work. 



Amongst the many beneficial measures which have taken 

 place in Mexico, during President Diaz's four years' administra- 

 tion. Sir Francis Denys, of the British Legation, Mexico, in 

 his last report, mentions those for the study and pr^ervation of 

 ancient monuments and historical remains. An inspector has 

 been appointed, the building for the National Museum im- 

 proved, and various collections relating to natural history, as 

 well as to archceology, have been added. An archaeological 

 map of the Republic has been made, and plans and photographs 

 of the palaces of Mitia have been obtained. Explorations of the 

 ruins of Xochicalco, and of the pyramids of Teolibuacan have been 

 undertaken, many interesting discoveries rewarding the explorers 

 of the latter. A wall, 360 metres long, 3 metres high, and 

 I metre broad, has been constructed around the palaces of Mitla 

 for the protection of these gigantic monuments. The Republic 

 now possesses a fine public library, where ancient documents 

 and a large collection of scientific and historical works are at the 

 disposal of the student. 



About fifty objects of various kinds from the early Iron Age — 

 swords, axes, arrow-heads, &c. — have lately been excavated 

 from a barrow at Hvideseid, in South-Eastern Norway. 



An ancient canoe, hollowed by fire from the trunk of a tree, 

 has been discovered in a moss at Thorsager (" Thor's Field ") in 

 Jutland, 4 feet below the surface. 



In the Report, just issued, of the trustees of the South African 

 Museum for the year 1888, reference is made to the unwelcome- 

 appearance in some number, in the entomological collections, of a 

 pest very prevalent in Europe and elsewhere, but hitherto of com- 

 paratively rare occurrence in South Africa, viz. the minute 

 neuropterous insects belonging to the genus Fsocus, and com- 

 monly known to collectors as "mites." It is not improbable 

 that the unusually wet weather of the latter half of the year 

 favoured the multiplication of these destructive insects. Naph- 

 thaline has been found very serviceable as a check to their 

 attacks. 



We notice the appearance of the second volume of the 

 " Ornitographia Rossica," by Th. Pleske, published by the 

 Russian Academy of Sciences. It contains a description of the 

 SylvitB of the Russian Empire. A new edition of N. Kaufman's- 

 " Flora of the Government of Moscow," has also been issued. 

 This remarkable work, which is regarded as classical by Russian 

 botanists, was out of print. It has been thoroughly revi>ed, and 

 may be considered the most trustworthy source of information 

 as to the flora of Moscow and the central plateau of Russia. 



The third volume of the " Ethnography of the Caucasus," now 

 being published at Tiflis, contains the researches of Baron Uslar 

 relating to the Avarian language. This language is spread in 

 Daghestan, over a territory which crosses the highlands from 

 north to south, and separates the eastern group of the Daghestan 

 languages from the western. It is used by most tril^es of the 

 highlands in their mutual relations. Although possessing in its ■ 

 alphabet a great number of consonants hardly distinguishable 

 from one another by the untrained ear, it is said to be very 

 agreeable on account of the excellent proportions between the 

 consonants and the.vowel^ in its words. 



