NATURE 



{Sept. 26, 1889 



superintended by a large s'aT of officials. In the mountainous 

 regions the maintenance of the forests is an absolute necessity, 

 but, unfortunately, many slopes have become quite denuded 

 through reckless cutting in the past. The actual extent of forest 

 area has, however, increased since the sixteenth century, but 

 ■energetic measures are now needed to prevent many of the woods 

 deteriorating any further. Complaints are made by those who 

 ^are anxious to preserve the forests that the peasants are not 

 taught the value of them, and that in the elementary schools the 

 principles of woodcraft and agriculture are never taught. Of 

 the whole area under timber, the State owns only3"42 percent., 

 while the communes possess 79 '93 per cent,, and private owners 

 1 6 '63 per cent. Asa rule the communal management is very 

 reckless, and the forests have suffered so much that it has been 

 seriously considered that the woods should be divided up 

 amongst the peasants ; but it is more than probable that this 

 remedy would prove worse than the disease. The timber in the 

 •Cadore country is said to be the best in the world. Amongst 

 the trees of the region are — the common Norway spruce, which 

 ■flourishes at an altitude of 2400 metres above the level of the 

 Adriatic, and grows to a height of about 3ometres ; avariety of the 

 Norwegian spruce, resembling the beech in its fibres, with harder 

 wood, shorter leaves, and smaller cones than the common spruce ; 

 the common silver fir, which grows in the mountains 1500 metres 

 above the Adriatic, and reaches a height of 25 metres ; the 

 ■common larch, the Scotch fir, the Mugho pine, the Swiss stone 

 pine, the beech, and the walnut. 



From the general results of the Swiss census of December I, 

 1888, which have already been worked out, it seems that the 

 total population is 2,934,055, against 2,846,102 in 1880. The 

 German-speaking element increased from 2,030,792 in 1880 to 

 2,092,562, which, taking into account the normal growth of the 

 population, was no relative increase, the proportion in both 

 ■cases being precisely 71 '3 per cent, of the whole. The French, 

 on the other hand, increased from 608,007 to 637,940, which 

 was also a relative increase of 21 "4 to 217 per cent. ; while the 

 Italian declined actually as well as relatively, the numbers being 

 161,923 in 1880 and 156,602 in 1888, or 57 and 5*3 per cent, 

 respectively. The decline of the Italians in the Cantons of Uri 

 and Schwyz is explained by the return home of a large number 

 ■of Italian workmen engaged in the St. Gothard Railway ; but it 

 is not so easy to explain why there is a large decrease in the 

 Germans in the Cantons of Berne and Neuchatel, while the 

 French have increased. In general the French increase in 



Switzerland seems to be at the expense of the Germans, while 

 the German element recovers its place at the expense of the 



Italian. 



We have received a " Guide to Technical and Commercial 

 Education," drawn up by the executive Committee of the Dundee 

 and District Association for the Promotion of Technical and 

 Commercial Education. It is intended to fulfil one of the objects 

 for which the Association was promoted, viz. "To draw up a 

 syllabus for the district, in which shall be suggested such courses 

 ■of education as shall be most suitable for particular trades ; and 

 further, to indicate («) the number of years required for the com- 

 plete education, [b) the total cost, and {c) the institutions in 

 which the necessary instruction maybe obtained." We draw 

 special attention to this "Guide," as it cannot fail to be of the 

 utmost use to similar Associations elsewhere, especially as it is 

 •drawn up with reference to the Science and Art examinations and 

 those of the City Guilds. A definite order of study is suggested 

 and recommended in a 'number of subjects, such as commerce, 

 civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering, architecture, art 

 industries, textiles, ship-building, gas manufacture, &c. The 

 courses have evidently been compiled with great care and 

 patience, and with the aid of practical men in the various 

 subjects treated. 



Amongst the books to be published by Messrs. Crosby 

 Lockwood and Son during the coTiing publishing season 

 are :— " The Art of Paper Manufacture," by Alexander Watt ; 

 "A Hand-book on Modern Explosives," by M. Eissler ; " En- 

 gineering Estimates, Costs, and Accounts," by a General 

 Manager; "The Mechanical Engineer's Office Book," by 

 Nelson Foley, second edition ; " The Practical Engineer's 

 Hand-book," by Walter S. Hutton, third edition ; " Electric 

 Light, its Production and Use," by J. W. Urquhart, third 

 edition ; "The Fields "of Great Britain," a text-book of agri- 

 culture adapted to the Syllabus of the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment, by Hugh Clements, second edition. And the following 

 new editions in Weale's Rudimentary Scientific Series : — 

 "Metallurgy of Iron," by H. Bauerman ; "The Mineral 

 Surveyor and Valuer's Complete Guide," by W. Lintern ; 

 "Stationary Engine Driving," by Michael Reynolds ; " Irriga- 

 tion and Water Supply," by Prof. John Scott. 



Mr. T. J. P. JODRELL, of Yeardsley, Cheshire, sometime of 

 Stratton Street, London, whose death, as recently announced in 

 the Times, took place on the 3rd inst., in his eighty second year, 

 was the founder of the Jodrell Fund, a capital sum of ;^6ooo 

 having been given by him to the Royal Society in the year 1876 

 for scientific purposes. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a White-fronted Lemur [Lemur albifrons 6 ) 

 from Madagascar, presented by Mr. C. O. Pelly ; a Macaque 

 Monkey {Macactis cynotnolgus) from India, presented by Mr. 

 H. B. Wedlake ; a Brown Bear (Ursus arctus) from Russia, 

 presented by Mr. Frank Dugdale ; a Crested Porcupine {Hystrix 

 cristatd) from Africa, presented by Mrs. Lucas-Shadwell ; three 

 African Lepidosirens {Protopterus annectans) from the River 

 Gambia, West Africa, deposited ; a Burchell's Zebra {Equus 

 burchelli ? ), from South Africa, four Larger Tree Ducks {Den- 

 drocygna major), three Indian Tree Ducks {Dendrocygna 

 javanicd) from India, a Tuberculated Iguana {/guana tubercu- 

 lata) from Brazil, purchased ; a Red Kangaroo (Macropus 

 rufus i ), two Cockateels {Calopsitta novcB-hollandice'), a Crested 

 Pigeon {Ocyphaps lophotes), a Nicobar Pigeon {Calcenas ni co- 

 bar ica), bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Comet 1889 e (Davidson). — The following ephemeris for 

 Greenwich midnight for this object is in continuation of that 

 given in Nature for August 29 (p. 424) : — 



R.A. 

 h. m. 



Decl. 



Los ^• 



Log r. 



Bright- 

 ness. 



Sept. 29 ... 17 14 19 ... 32 6*5 N.... 0-1635 •• 0-1940 ... 0-03 



Oct. 3 .. 17 21 53 ... 32 385 ... 0-1829 ... 0-2064 ... 0-02 



7 ... 17 29 28 ... 33 8-2 ... 0-2011 ... o-2i86 ... 0-02 



ir ... 17 37 7 ... 33 36 I N.... 0-2182 ... 0-2306 ... 0-02 



The brightness at discovery is taken as unity. 



A.STRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1889 SEPTEMBER ic)— OCTOBER 5. 



/"POR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 ^-'- Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 

 is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on Septe7nher 29 

 Sunrises, 5h. 59m. ; souths, ilh. 50m. 11-75. ; daily decrease of 



southing, I9"5s. ; sets, I7h. 41m. : right asc. on meridian, 



I2h. 23-9m. ; decl. 2° 35' S. Sidereal Time at Sunset, 



i8h. i6m. 

 Moon (at First Quarter October 2, 2h.) rises, ilh. _8m. ; 



souths, I5h. 40m. ; sets, 2oh. 4m. : right asc. on meridian, 



i6h. i4-4m. ; decl, 18° 29' S. 



