Nov. 28, 1878] 



NATURE 



85 



famous institution is almost entirely deserted by students. The 

 report describes all the ^transformations the Jardin des Plantes 

 has undergone since it was taken out of the hands of the king's 

 physician and entrusted to the care of a special director. 



Although we are aware that the columns of Nature are 

 studied by a considerable number cf readers in Australia, New 

 Zealand, and Japan, it is with some pleasure that we find an 

 extract, however incorrect, from one of our articles (" On Cleo- 

 patra's Needle and the Wind Pressure "), inserted in the Bolton 

 Evening News. Before "A Constant Reader" (we presume 

 of the Evening News) took the trouble to multiply out the 

 supposed 80 lbs. to the square inch, obtaining the somewhat 

 alarming result of 11,520 lbs. to the square foot for a wind 

 pressure, it might have allayed his fears concerning his own 

 integrity and that of the Manchester houses, if he had consulted 

 the original article. 



The Dundee Naturalists' Society have just obtained posses- 

 sion of a very fine specimen of Pterygotus angliciis, which was 

 found at Carmyllie Quarries some months ago, and has now been 

 presented to the Society by Messrs. Duncan, Falconer, and Co., 

 the lessees of the quarries. Only fragments of thisanimal have 

 hitherto been found, and its general appearance has been shown 

 by what are known as restorations ; but the correctness of these 

 has been doubted by many palaeontologists. This specimen, 

 M hich is on a slab of the well-knowTi Carmyllie pavement, has 

 from head to tail the segmental plates all intact, with the ex- 

 ception of about an inch of the telson, which is wanting. The 

 length of the fossil is 4 feet 2 inches, and its widest segment 15 

 inches. The carapace or head plate measures 10 inches by S, 

 and the telson or terminal plate 8 inches by 7. The abdominal 

 aspect is presented, and the curious arrow-shaped plate, "epi- 

 stoma," is distinctly shown attached to themiddle of the second 

 abdominal segment. In many attempted restorations this plate 

 is figured on the under side of the anterior portion of the cara- 

 pace. 



The rich collection of insects of Dr. Moritz Isenschmied is 

 bequeathed to the Natural History Museum of Bern, together 

 with a sum of 3,200/. for the entomological part of the museum. 



A SCIENTIFIC society has been formed at Berlin imder the 

 title " Freie Akademie, wissenschaftlicher Central verein," with 

 the object of propagating scientific knowledge in wider circles 

 by means of lectures. The new society will begin its work in 

 January, 1879. Herr Eberty, the syndic of Berlin, and Dr. 

 Max Hirsch are its directors, and the number of members is 

 rapidly increasing. 



At the instigation of the "Society for the History of the 

 Lake of Constance and its Surroundings," the King of Wiirtem- 

 berg has requested the Statistical and Topographical Office of 

 Stuttgart to undertake a complete investigation of the lake in 

 question. It appears that the various depths of the different 

 parts of the lake have not been measured since 1826. The new 

 investigation will doubtless yield a number of highly interesting 

 data. 



An excellent geological map of Germany has just been pub- 

 lished by the Photolithographic Institute of F. Graaz at 

 Leipzig. It is drawn by Prof. Hirschwald, of Berlin, after the 

 relief of C. Raoz, and is specially intended for use at geolo<^ical 

 lectures. ° 



The Times cf yesterday contains an account of Dr. Schlie- 

 mann's further excavations on the site of Troy, the account being 

 evidently condensed from several letters of the enthusiastic 

 explorer. All Dr. Schliemann's previous conclusions seem to 

 t>e confirmed, and his already large collections have been greatly I 

 added to. Fortunately for his sceptical critics, some of his 



discoveries have been made in the presence of several British 

 naval officers stationed at Besika Bay. Among other things he 

 has found a steel dagger, the first iron obj ect found on the site, 

 but perhaps the most curious find are " the billions " of shells of 

 cockles and mussels "found in all the strata of the prehistoric 

 debris" and said to be no longer found on the shores of the 

 Hellespont and .^Egean. 



At some excavations recently made at Heidelberg a Romaa 

 well and several milestones were discovered, the inscriptions 

 upon the latter giving interesting details regarding the old Roman 

 colony on the banks of the Neckar. 



Mr. a. R. Wallace has reprinted from the Fortnightly 

 Review his valuable paper " On Epping Forest and how best to 

 deal with it." It proves how well qualified Mr. Wallace is to 

 have the care of what remains of the once extensive forest. 



Mr. de Wall, the Polytechnic Review states, has observed 

 that when two electric sparks are simultaneously produced at 

 the extremities of a short tube smoked inside, the two discharges 

 give figm-es in the form of a black ring at the middle of the 

 tube. When the sparks are not quite simultaneous, the ring is 

 slightly displaced. It is suggested by the author that this obser- 

 vation may afford a method of determining the velocity of 

 sound, and of the speed of propagation of electricity in a 

 conductor. 



Prof. Persifor Frazer reports, we learn from the Poly- 

 technic Review, the interesting observation that early in last Jime 

 he tried a telephone with a diaphragm mounted so as to vibrate 

 freely except in the circular line, where it was bound fast. With 

 several other telephones in circuit, but mufiled so that they could 

 not take up the direct vibrations of the voice, he found that the 

 over-tones produced in the diaphragm of one telephone, by a 

 musical note simg into the mouth-piece, were reproduced in the 

 others. This shows theextreme minuteness of the motion neces- 

 sary to produce sound by fluctuations in the transmitting power 

 of the line wire. 



We are glad to se that the Princetotvn Review, hitherto known 

 as a high-class theological journal, is enlarging its programme so 

 as to include subjects of scientific interest. In the November 

 number, for example, we have excellent papers on " The Rights 

 and Duties of Science," by Principal Dawson ; " Man's Place 

 in Nature," by Prof. Le Conte ; "Eclipses of the Sun," by 

 Prof. Simon Newcomb ; " The Recent Solar Eclipse," by Prof. 

 Young; and " Physiological Metaphysics," by President Pont er. 

 Besides these there are other good papers on a variety of non- 

 theological subjects, 



Z'£/iir/r/di'/ of November 20 contains a first paper by Count 

 du Moncel, on Lacour's' Phonic Wheel, and several important 

 papers on Electric Lighting. 



The Lancet announces the publication, next week, of a special 

 article, from the -pen of Dr. Richardson, on the remains of 

 Harvey. The author has recently visited the church at Hemp- 

 stead, in Essex, where Harvey lies, and has had photographed 

 all the important historical mementoes, copies of some of which 

 will be reproduced in the Lancet. The publication is intended 

 as a further contribution to the literature of the tercentenary 

 year of the birth of the greatest and most original of English 

 anatomists. 



At 6 o'clock on the evening of October 2 a severe ear th- 

 quake was experienced in the village of Jucuapa and neigh- 

 bouring towns, in the department of Usulutan, in the 

 southern portion of the Republic of Salvador. Nearly all the 

 houses in Jucuapa were destroyed and many families buried in 

 the ruins, particularly in the outskirts of the town, where the 



