376 



NATURE 



\Fcb. 20, 1879 



dome is a hemisphere with an outside diameter of twenty-nine 

 feet. The framework is of pine properly seasoned, and the 

 covering is of paper, such as is used by Messrs. E. Waters and 

 Sons for the construction of paper boats. The entire weight of 

 the dome and appurtenances, as completed, is about 4,000 

 pounds. It can be easily revolved by a moderate pressure with- 

 out the aid of machinery. 



The director of the Postal Telegraph Service of the French 

 Republic has been made a member of the Cabinet and placed on 

 the same footing • as the Postmaster-General of the British 

 Government. The present holder of that office is M. Cochery. 



The Royal Institute of Sciences at Venice offers three prizes 

 of 3,000 lire each (about 115/.) for three monographs containing 

 (l) an account of the advantages which the application of physics 

 to medical science has brought about ; (2) a simmiary of the 

 most recent investigations made in the field of theoretical hydro- 

 dynamics, as well as a statement of the true and essential pro- 

 gress made by this branch of scientific mechanics ; (3) a treatise 

 on the commercial and industrial conditions of the city of Venice. 

 Further particulars may be learnt by applying directly to the 

 *' Istituto Reale Veneto " at Venice. 



The petrified remains of a Dinotherium belonging to the 

 miocene period have just been discovered at Schoneg, near Salm- 

 hausen (Swabia), at a depth of 13 metres in a sand-hill. 



We recently referred to the all-embracing scientific agency of 

 Friedlander and Son of Berlin, and this week we have received 

 the first three parts of a new fortnightly publication from that 

 house, likely to be of the greatest service to students in all 

 departments of science. It is entitled Natures Novitates, and is 

 a fortnightly bibliographical list of current literature of al| 

 nations, methodically arranged, in the various departments of 

 science. The publication deserves encouragement ; it may be 

 had through Messrs. Williams and Norgate. 



The first part has reached us of an important German under- 

 taking, an Encyclopaedia of the Natural Sciences, constructed 

 somewhat after the method of the old " Encyclopaedia Metro - 

 politana." It is to consist of methodical treatises in the various 

 departments of science, followed by an index, which will give it 

 all the advantages of an alphabetical cyclopaedia. Each depart- 

 ment has a separate editor, and some of the best men in Gcr- 

 many are engaged upon it. The first part is an instalment of a 

 " Handbuch der Botanik," edited by Prof. A. Schenk, and con- 

 tains a treatise on " Fertilisation of Flowers," by our friend Dr. 

 H. Miiller, and another on "Insectivorous Plants," by Dr. O. 

 Drude. Trewendt of Breslau is the publisher. 



The Rev. W. A. Leighton has nearly completed the printing 

 of the third edition of his " Lichen-Flora of Great Britain, 

 Ireland, and the Channel Islands," which, it is expected, will 

 be ready for issue early in March. This new edition is rendered 

 necessary by the recent important discoveries in the west of 

 Ireland, the north of Scotland, and the author's own researches in 

 North and South Wales, whereby the number of our lichens, in 

 the former editions amounting to 1,156, has been raised to 

 1,706, thus rendering our lichen-flora quite equal in number, 

 rarity, and novelty, to that of any country in Europe. 



Among recent deaths is that of M. Chauffod, Professor of 

 Zoology at the Paris School of Medicine. M. Chaufford during 

 his whole career opposed M. Claude Bernard's determinism, and 

 advocated the existence of a vital principle and final causes in a 

 number of books largely circulated. 



For some time past the well-founded fear of trichina has led 

 to a microscopic examination of much of the meat, especially 

 pork, sold in Berlin. Recently the occurrence of this pest there 



has been more frequent, and Dr. Luedtge (who claims the inven- 

 tion of the microphone) has consented to give a course of instruc- 

 tion in this branch of microscopy, which began February 17. The 

 course, with practical exercises, will occupy five hours, and is 

 open to ladies and gentlemen at the price of 5^. The instruction 

 is to be given in the old Mint, at the Microscopic Aquarium, of 

 which Dr. Luedtge is the director. 



Dr. Aub, one of the oldest Rabbis in Berlin, recently received 

 from the University of Munich a new doctor's diploma, com- 

 memorative of his having received that degree there fifty years 

 ago. It was conferred by Dr. Steinthal in the name of the 

 philosophical faculty. 



It is stated in the Diario de Manila that a mine of amianthus, 

 or earth flax, has been discovered in the Island of Luzon. 

 Several specimens of the mineral have been taken to Manila, 

 and have been pronounced by competent judges to be of excel- 

 lent quality. 



In December last a convention between Spain and China was 

 signed in Spanish, French, and Chinese at Peking relating to 

 the treaty which regulates the emigration of Chinese to the 

 Island of Cuba. 



A CORRESPONDENT to the Times of India, who lately rode 

 through the Kohat Pass, gives a somewhat curious description of 

 an Afridee village, or, rather, an Afridee family home. The 

 first thing seen is a mud wall oddly slit and pierced, and over its 

 summit rise a number of mud and generally round-shaped projec- 

 tions, on the tops of which may be seen a few children and 

 women. These projections are the roofs of the little rooms or 

 mud inclosures in which the family live during the day ; but what 

 immediately strikes the attention on approaching is the loop- 

 holed mud tower overshadowing the mud inclosure. The house 

 proper is reached by passing through a very narrow entrance 

 between the family fort and the mud inclosure. Inside are 

 winding lanes between high mud walls, loop-holed at every turn. 

 The writer found the inhabitants of the village he visited exceed- 

 ingly hospitable. "The men around him," he says, "had a 

 curiously frank, inquiring, and manly look. Nothing in their 

 demeanour as they stood examining me and watching me eat, could 

 have embarrassed^the most sensitive stranger ; but as I attentively 

 watched some of their countenances, I could not help observing 

 how often their expression changed, and how often there flitted 

 across their faces a look that made one insensibly shudder," It 

 is worth noting that the women of the Afridees, although 

 Mohammedans, do not cover their faces. 



We understand that Mr. J, R. Gregory, the well-known 

 mineral dealer, has several specimens of that extremely rare 

 mineral, Percylite, of which the only known specimen, till quite 

 recently, was the example in the British Museum j he also has, 

 we hear, specimens of another rare mineral, named Schrvarizen- 

 bergite, both from the same locality — a new one for these 

 minerals — in Bolivia. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Ring-tailed Lemiu: {Lemur catta) from 

 Madagascar, presented by Mr, Thos. G. Mann ; a Cape Hyrax 

 (Hyrax capettsis) from South Africa, presented by Mr. A. H, 

 Jamrach ; two Black-headed Gulls {Larus ridibundus), a Common 

 Gull [Larus canus), European, presented by Mr. Harry W. 

 Preston ; a Wood Owl {Syrnium aliico), European, presented by 

 Mrs, George Blagden ; a Garnett's Galago {Galago garnetti) 

 from South-East Africa, two Yellow-billed Sheathbills (Chionis 

 alba) from Antarctic America, purchased ; a Yellow-footed Rock 

 Kangaroo [Peirogale xanihoptis), bom in the Gardens. 



