March 6, 1890] 



NATURE 



427 



had been doubled during the last year. The Society's library 

 contains 200 books on Africa. Herr Schiller-Tietz was elected 

 President of the Society in place of Councillor Engelke. 



A CURIOUS phenomenon is reported from Batoum. On January 

 23, at 4 p.m., during a complete calm, the sea is said to have 

 suddenly receded from the shore, leaving it bare to a depth of ten 

 fathoms. The water of the port rushed out to sea, tearing many 

 of the ships from their anchorage, and causing a great amount 

 of damage. After a short time the sea assumed its usual level. 



An important addition to our knowledge of the meteorology 

 of Central America has been made by the publication of Parts 

 1-4 of the Boletin trimestral of the National Meteorological 

 Institute of San Jose, Costa Rica, for the year 1888, under the 

 direction of Prof. E. Pittier. The Observatory is situated in 

 latitude 9° 56' N., longitude 84° 8' W., and its importance may 

 be judged from the fact that no other station of the first order 

 possessing self-recording instruments is to be found between 

 Mexico, in latitude 19° N., and Rio de Janeiro, in latitude 23° 

 S. The bulletin contains observations made several times daily, 

 and hourly observations of rainfall for five months, also a sum- 

 mary of the observations formerly made in Costa Rica. The 

 older series of observations show that the mean yearly ex- 

 tremes of temperature at San Jose were 78°'8 and 56°7, while 

 the mean difference of the monthly means amounted only to about 

 4°. The daily period of rainfall is very marked. From sunrise 

 to noon scarcely any rain falls, while between noon and 6h. 

 p.m. about 75 per cent, of the whole amount falls. The mean 

 duration of rain on a wet day is 2h. 9m. Only two months of 

 anemometrical observations are given ; these show that the 

 maximum velocity at noon is twice as great as the mean velocity 

 during the night. An interesting summary of the observations 

 has been published by Dr. Hann in the Meteorologisc/ie 

 Zcitschrijt for February. 



x\.T a recent meeting of the Paris Geographical Society an 

 interesting lecture was delivered by Dr. Hamy, on the history 

 of scientific missions in France under the old monarchy. He 

 commenced practically with the reign of Francis I., and de- 

 scribed many missions abroad, with purely scientific aims, which 

 are now either forgotten, or the results of which have never 

 been published. Thus, the apothecary to Henri IV. went all 

 over the globe in search of the peculiar products of each country, 

 especially medicinal and food plants ; still earlier, another ex- 

 plorer went to Brazil to study dyeing woods ; and, in the last 

 century, Condamine, Dombey, Bougainville, and La Perouse 

 went on their well-known expeditions. The President, Comte 

 de Bisemont, mentioned that there were still in the archives of 

 the Ministry of Marine copies of the instructions given to 

 travellers and navigators in past centuries, and that these were 

 " positively models of their kind, which could not be followed 

 too closely now." Prof. Bureau, of the Museum of Natural 

 History in Paris, observed that a botanical collection made by 

 Paul Lucas in the reign of Louis XIV. still existed in the 

 Museum, and he referred especially to Tournefort, of the same 

 period, whom he described as the scientific traveller of former 

 times who perhaps most nearly approached moderns in his 

 methods of observation. He was sent by the King on a bota- 

 nical expedition to the Levant, with very precise instructions, 

 amongst others, to collect and observe the plants mentioned by 

 the ancients. He did not confine himself to this, but formed a 

 complete herbarium, which is still preserved at the Museum, 

 and is one of its treasures. He was accompanied by an artist 

 named Aubriet, who brought back a large collection of coloured 

 sketches, which forms an important part of the unrivalled col- 

 lection in the library of the Museum. 



A NEWand very simple method of measuring small elonga- 

 tions of a bar under any influence has been devised by Signer 

 Cardani {Cosmos). To one end of the bar is attached a metallic 



wire stretched so as to give a determinate number of vibrations^ 

 When the bar expands, the wire becomes less tense, and gives 

 fewer vibrations, and there is a simple relation between the 

 number of vibrations and the elongation of the bar. The author 

 cites a case in which a variation of one hundredth of a milli- 

 metre in a bar lessens the double vibrations from 99 to 96 "5. 

 Now, a practised ear will appreciate a difference of one vibration 

 per cent. ; hence it suffices to ascertain variations of length less 

 than 001 millimetre. With other methods of measuring 

 change of vibration, elongations of thousandths of a millimetre 

 may be ascertained. 



The first careful determination of latitude in Tokio (according 

 to the Japan Weekly Mail) was made in 1876 by Captain- 

 Kimotsuki, at that time Director of the Naval Observatory. 

 In 18S8, soon after the transfer of the Naval Observatory to the 

 Imperial University, and its reorganization as the Astronomical 

 Observatory of Tokio, the new Director, Prof. Terao, resolved 

 upon a redetermination of the latitude. The work was en- 

 trusted to Mr. Watanabe, a skilled observer, and the result has 

 been published as the first of the " Annales de I'ObservatOire 

 Astronomique de Tokio (Universite Imperiale du Japon, College 

 des Sciences)." The determination was madein two distinct ways : 

 first, by observations of the upper and lower transits of the 

 Pole star across the meridian ; second, by observations of the 

 zenith distances of 38 different stars, arranged in couples 

 according to Talcott's method. This latter method only was 

 used by Captain Kimotsuki in this earlier determination. The 

 earlier mean value for the latitude was 35° 39' 17" '492 ; while 

 the recently obtained mean values were 35° 39' 15" '05 by the first 

 method, and 35° 39' 15" '41 by the second method. This dis- 

 crepancy of fully 2" is, in the circumstances, too large to be 

 regarded as an accidental error, and mast be due to some 

 systematic error in either the earlier or the later determination. 

 More weight will be attached to the new determination, since 

 Mr. Watanabe had much superior instruments at his disposal. 



The stay of some 306 natives from various French colonies, 

 &c., for about six months, in Paris last year, in connection with 

 the Exhibition, was an interesting experiment in acclimatization. 

 Owing to wise hygienic measures (such as vaccination, good 

 water-supply, isolation of closets, and surveillance of food), 

 these Annamites, Tonquinese, Senegalese, &c., seem to have 

 escaped most of the common endemic disease. According to 

 the Seinaine Medicale, they had no typhoid fever, scarlatina, 

 or measles, though these were in Paris at the time. Some 68 

 natives were attacked by mumps. The fatigues of a voyage and 

 the change of climate led to a recurrence of intermittent fever, 

 with grave symptoms, in twenty cases. It was thought at first to- 

 be typhoid fever of a severe type ; but the rapid and durable 

 efficacy of sulphate of quinine, given in doses of 2 to 3 grammes 

 a day, proved the paludine nature of the disorder. It is note- 

 worthy that most illnesses of this population, especially that just 

 noticed, and those from cold, appeared during the first part of 

 the time, when the weather was mild ; while in the second 

 period, with unfavourable atmospheric conditions, the illness 

 diminished, whether owing to precautions in the matter of dress, 

 and food, or to more complete acclimatization. The negroes 

 of Senegal and the Gaboon seem to have been the greatest 

 sufferers, while the Indo-Chinese race acclimatized the best. 



The first Bulletin issued this year by the Academie Royale de 

 Belgique contains a note by M. Van Beneden, on a Ziphius 

 which was stranded in the Mediterranean, and a list of the prize 

 subjects for 1891. The subjects dealt with are architecture, en- 

 graving, painting, and music. Four gold medals are given, 

 having values looo, two 800, and 600 francs respectively. The 

 dissertations may be written in French, Flemish, or Latin, and 

 must be sent before June i, 1891, to M. J. Liagre, Secretary of 

 the Academy. 



