eb. 6, 1879] 



NATURE 



NOTES 



The Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh has recom- 

 mended for the four vacancies in their list of Foreign Honorary 

 Members the names of Bonders of Utrecht, Asa Gray of the 

 United States, Janssen of Paris, and Listing of Gottingen. 



At the meeting of the Royal Society on Monday last the 

 Keith Prize was presented to Prof. Heddle of St. Andrew's for 

 his papers on the Rhombohedral Carbonates and the Felspars of 

 Scotland. 



Our readers will be glad to hear the latest news from Madeira, 

 that Prof. ClifiFord is certainly better, and able to be carried out 

 in the sunshine. 



The following are the lecture-arrangements at the Royal 

 College of Surgeons for the present season : — Prof. Parker com. 

 mences a series on Monday, " On the Evolution of the Verte- 

 brata," to be continued on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 

 to March 3. On the same days of the week, from March 5 to 

 24, Prof. Flower will lecture " On the Comparative Anatomy of 

 Man," in continuation of his coiurse of last year. In June, Prof. 

 Jonathan Hutchinson will give six lectures : " On Certain 

 Diseases of the Eye, Skin, and Joints which are produced 

 through the Influence of the Nervous System ; " and in the same 

 month Mr. B. T. Lowne, F.R.C.S., will give three lectures 

 "On the Physiology of the Nervous System," in continuation 

 of his coiu-se of last year. 



At the General Monthly Meeting of the Royal Institution of 

 Great Britain on Monday, Dr. Warren De La Rue, F.R.S., 

 was elected Secretary of the Institution, and Dr. William 

 Spottiswoode, Pres. R.S., was elected Manager. 



We learn from the Journal de St. PeUrsboiirg that the epi- 

 demic in Astrakan was discussed before the Russian Medical 

 Society at a gathering where 800 were present. It seems that 

 the people call it the plague, though it is not officially so 

 known. M. Botkine mentioned that at the time of the last 

 plague at Moscow in 1770, the question was discussed whether 

 it was the true plague or a marked form of typhus, and he 

 added that the diagnosis of the various forms of typhoid in- 

 fection in Russia is very difficult He believes that the spots 

 on the body and the quickness with which death follows indi- 

 cate that the present epidemic of Vetlianka is not a European 

 malady. Dr. Nicolaiew, describing the syinptomatology of the 

 plague, said that its action is both physical and moral, and 

 that to impose quarantine often helps rather than retards the 

 spread of the disease by the fear it awakens. 



Admiral Mouchez will soon resume, at the Paris Observa- 

 tory, the series of soirees scientifiques which had been commenced 

 by Leverrier. The first will be given at the end of the present 

 month or the beginning of March. M. Wolf will lecture on 

 astronomy. 



The second International Meteorological Congress wiU be 

 opened at Rome on April 14 next. At the same time an exhi- 

 bition of meteorological instruments will take place, and the 

 Italian Government in^•ites home and foreign institutions and 

 private men of science to participate in the Congress. 



We regret to announce the death of Herr Georg Peter 

 Winther, of Copenhagen, an eminent Danish naturalist, well 

 known through his excellent treatises on the fishes of Denmark. 

 He died on January 14 at the early age of thirty-five years. 



A CELEBRATION of the fourth centenary of the introduction of 

 the art of printing into Leipzig will take place during this year 



and will be coupled with an exhibition comprising all branches 

 of the graphic arts. 



The little to\\-n of Hohenstein in the Erzgebirge will celebrate 

 the centenary of one of its most celebrated sons on April 26, 

 1 880. The eminent naturalist and philosopher, Gotthilf Heinrich 

 von Schubert was bom at Hohenstein, in 1780, and died at 

 Munich on July i, i860. It is intended to erect a monument to 

 his memory and to establish a school under the name of Schu- 

 bert Institution. 



A BOTANICAL society is in course of formation at Strassburg. 

 Its object, apart from a special study of the botany of the 

 Reichsland, is to provide all the higher schools of the coimtry 

 \s4th complete herbaria. 



We hear that the coal-mining'experiments at Kaiping in the 

 north of the Chinese pro\ince of Chihli are proceeding success- 

 fully. The boring has reached a depth of nearly 500 feet, pass- 

 ing through six seams of good coal, one of which is three feet 

 and another eight feet thick. It is proposed to bore to a depth 

 of 550 feet. 



A CORRESPONDENT asks US whether the "microphone dec- 

 tromagnetique," said to be invented by Dr. Frank, rue St. 

 Honore, Paris, is really a useful invention for deaf persons, or 

 not ? We have not yet heard of any microphone which in any 

 way assists the deaf. 



On January 30, when the National Assembly of Versailles, 

 was voting on a successor to Marshal MacMahon, M. Paul Bert, 

 a representative of Yonne, was lecturing on Claude Bernard and 

 his works, in the large hall of the S or bonne, before more than 

 2,000 persons, belonging mostly to the high schools and learned 

 professions. The only reference made to political matters by 

 the lecturer related to the funeral of Claude Bernard, which 

 took place at the expense of the Government. M. Paul Bert 

 reminded his hearers that it was the first time such an honour 

 had been paid to a man of science. Up to that time they had 

 been exclusively reserved for men who had earned their reputa- 

 tion on the battle-field, or who belonged by blood to the reigning 

 family. 



In his lecture on Claude Bernard, M. Paul Bert narrated a 

 singular stratagem which was invented by Bernard during the 

 last Franco-German war, and might be utilised without diffi- 

 culty, under similar circumstances. It was proposed to 

 re-victual Paris, which was strictly blockaded by German 

 forces. A large number of cattle had been collected, wait- 

 ing for an opportunity to cross the German lines. But a 

 difficulty was to silence these animals, as their cries would attract 

 the attention of the enemy. Claude Bernard proposed to 

 practise upon them the section of the nene which enables 

 them to emit their usual cries. The operation is so easy that it 

 could be executed in a few seconds by an ordinary butcher. 

 None of the animals appeared to suffer in any way by the muti- 

 lation which had made them mute. But the military movement 

 proved a failiu-e, and for other causes the re-victualling could 

 not take place. 



Some of our readers may be interested to know that there 

 exists in Berlin an exceedingly efficient and comprehensive 

 scientific agency, that of Friedlander und Sohn. Not only do 

 they issue, at short intervals, catalogues of works and papers 

 in all departments of science, published all over the world, but 

 they undertake to assist individuals and associations in carrymg 

 out almost any scheme of a scientific kind. To any one, e.g, 

 anxious to pursue a particular line of research, they \till furnish 

 a methodical list of all the best researches that have been pub- 

 lished on the subject ; they assist museums, libraries, &c., in 



