Dec. 19, 1878] 



NATURE 



159 



We are indebted to the kindness of Prof, Hayden for the 

 following obser\-ation made by his party on the day of the last 

 eclipse of the sun: — "Washington, D. C, November 18, 1878. 

 Observation on total eclipse of the sun. Camp No. 4, Little 

 Sandy, Wyoming Terr., July 29, 1878 : — 



Time of total eclipse as talcen by A. D. Wikon 



with telescope and theodolite 



Mr. James Eccles, with smoked glass 2 



W. H. Holmes, with smoked glass and telejcope \ 

 of theodolite \ 



27-5 

 26*0 

 27-0 



Approximate latititude 42 8 25 



,, longitude 109 9 52 



The weather was very clear and quite calm during eclipse, but 

 was preceded by a heavy wind." 



At the recent meeting of the United States National Academy, 

 we learn from Science News (the third number of which has 

 reached us), Prof. Davidson incidentally annotmced that he 

 hoped to be able to observe the intra-Mercurial planets without 

 waiting for eclipses. 



The Japan Mail states that an astronomical observatory is to 

 be established within the precincts of the Geographical Bureau 

 of Tokio. The same journal also announces that telegraphic 

 insulators, made at the >-illage of Imari, in the province of 

 Hizen, are of such good quality that they^find large sale in 

 Europe. 



A SCHEME for the extension of meteorological observations 

 throughout Russia is now being discussed by the Russian govern- 

 ment. The Central Meteorological Institution will be located at 

 St. Petersburg. Provincial meteorological institutions will be 

 created in connection with each Russian university, and these 

 provincial institutions will have under their superintendence all 

 meteorological stations of their respective districts, which stations 

 will be largely increased in number. 



We are informed that the Government of New South Wales 

 has requested Mr. William Forster, Agent-General for the 

 Colony, Prof. Liversidge, of the University of Sydney, and 

 Mr. E. Combes, M.P., C.M.G., to collect information in the 

 United Kingdom and on the Continent relative to the working 

 of English and foreign technological museums and colleges, with 

 a view to forming similar institutions in Sydney. A sum of 

 money has been placed on the Estimates by the Government of 

 the Colony, to enable the Committee to purchase suitable speci- 

 mens. We have no doubt that the Agent-General for New 

 South Wales (3, Westminster Chambers, S.W.) will be extremely 

 glad to receive from such institutions, or from any other source, 

 reports or any information which would assist the Committee in 

 its inquiries. 



A CORRESPONDENT writes : — A singular project is on foot at 

 Paris. M. Camille Flammarion, having published a number of 

 articles to prove that the moon is not destitute of inhabitants, 

 has been led to the idea of constructing a refracting telescope 

 which will be powerful enough to see them. He is now busy 

 organising a committee to collect the necessary funds. 



An unexpected difficulty has stopped the construction of the 

 works for the mounting of the great refractor at the Paris Obser- 

 vatory. This instrument is to be erected on the grounds which 

 the Municipal Council had let to M. Leverrier for the nominal 

 sum of 100 francs a year for a period of ninety-nine years. But 

 there is a law that the Government funds cannot be spent for 

 building purposes, except on grounds belonging to the Govern- 

 ment ; and the Municipal Council, who were so liberal as to the 

 rent, want a high price for the ground. 



M. LocKROY, the editor of the Kappel, and representative in 

 the French Chamber of Deputies, has introduced a bill to dis- 



pose of the money intended to be spent on the rebuilding of the 



Tuileries Palace, for the completion of the isolation of the 



French national library. 

 General Myer has sent orders to Sergeant Jennings to 



leave in Europe the collections of the works published by 

 the Signal Corps Central Office at Washington, exhibited at 

 Paris. This valuable set has been deposited in the hands 

 of M. Jarry, 46, Boulevard Magenta, Pari«, one of the 

 most active members of the Meteorological Society of France, 

 who will be ready to give any information relating to 

 them. It is expected that the series of publications of the 

 United States Signal Corps will be exhibited next spring at 

 the Palais de 1' Industrie, in the scientific exhibition, and an 

 improved weather indicator will be sent from Washington to 

 be practically tested by predictions adapted to the peculiarities 

 of the French climate. 



We notice the appearance of a Russian work, by M. Star- 

 chevsky — " Guide for the Russian in Central Asia " — being a col- 

 lection of vocabularies of the languages, viz., Turkish (Djagatay, 

 or Uzbeck), with an indication of the variations affi)rded by the 

 Kashgar, Khiva, and Turkoman idioms ; Kirghiz ; Tartarian 

 (Kazan and Orenburg idioms) ; Sart, or the town Uzbeck ; 

 and Tadjik (Bukhara idioms). The vocabularies also contain 

 sketches of the grammars of these languages, the words being 

 given in their Russian transcription. A second volume, contain- 

 ing the Russian, Uzbeck, Kirghiz, Tartar, and Tadjik part, will 

 appear shortly. 



It is probably now only a question of time for the electric 

 light to become an everyday institution in our large towns. For 

 several nights satisfactory experiments have been made on 

 Holbom Viaduct, and, under most unfavourable atmospheric 

 conditions, part of the Thames Embankment was illuminated 

 the other evening. 



i In Mr. A. S. Wilson's "Experiments on Turnip Seeds" 

 (reprinted from the Transactions of the Botanical Society of 

 Edinburgh), he follows cut Darwin's idea that "heavy and fine 

 seeds tend to yield the finest plants." Mr. WiLon's conclusions 

 are altogether in harmony with those of Darw in. The mean of 

 a large number of experiments gave a product of 2 lbs. 7 oz. per 

 seed in the case of large seeds, as against 2 lbs. l| oz. in the 

 case of small seeds. 



In his just published report on the trade of Chinkiang, on the 



i Yangtsze-kiang, H.M.'s Consul mentions that there are rumoiu^ 



j that the coal, iron, and plumbago mines in that neighbourhood 

 are to be opened without delay, under the auspices of the 

 Viceroy, Li Hungchang! A British engineer in the employ of 

 the Chinese Government has recently visited these mines and 

 reported on them to the Viceroy Shen, at Nanking. 



The limit of permanent snow in the Caucasus is very variable, 

 this moimtain-group, of 156 geographical miles, lying between 

 two seas and several steppe-regions, being consequently subject 

 to the most opposite meteorological conditions. The average 

 height of the snow-line on the Elburs, the highest point of the 

 Caucasus, is 10,885 feet The average height of the lower limits 

 of the glaciers on the Elburs is 8,216 feet. The Kasbek is the 

 centre of another region of glaciers and permanent snow-fields, 

 in which the true situation of the snow-line is not yet accurately 

 ascertained. A third region comprises the high ranges of the 

 schist-system of Perikitel and Bogoz in Daghestan. The fourth 

 region is the Schathdag, south of Daghestan, ten geographical 

 miles from the Caspian Sea. In this last region the snow-limit 

 reaches to 10,374 English feet above the sea-level. The average 

 height of the snow-limit within the Caucasus is 10,600 feet. 

 Local variations upwards and downwards are frequent, and there 

 may be a difference of 3,200 feet between the maximum and the 

 minimum. In the West Caucasian r^ons these conditions 



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