March 6, 1879] 



NATURE 



42; 



ioformation he desires, not to mention the many published ob- 

 ■servations of our owti ornithologists, which are as reliable as 

 they are voluminous." ^^^^at is mainly wanted is, he thinks, 

 not so much new records as a tabulation and systematic arrange- 

 ment of those we already have. Mr. Harker refers to a com- 

 prehensive article on " The Migration of Birds," by Lieut -Col. 

 Drummond Hay, in the Scottish N'aturalist of last year, which 

 meets in some measure Col. Donnelly's suggestions. 



General Myer has presented M. W. de Fonvielle with an 

 improved weather-indicator in acknowledgment of the services 

 rendered by him daring the exhibition ' in 'popularising ^the 

 principles adopted by the U.S. Signal Office. This weather 

 indicator will be exposed in the shop of M. Secretan, the opti- 

 cian of Font Neuf, and forecasts daUy published according to 

 the method adopted by the Signal Office in the several American 

 farmers' post offices. 



The services rendered to meteorology by the observatories of 

 Puy de Dome and Pic du Midi are so great that it is proposed 

 to establish two others, as we mentioned in our last impression, 

 one on the top of Mont -Ventoux, in the south of France, and the 

 other on the top of Ballon de Ser\^ance (altitude 1,189 metres) in 

 the department of Vosges. A fort and an electric telegraph having 

 been established recently on the top of that mountain, the 

 expenses will be very small. Two other mountains in the 

 vicinity reach a somewhat higher altitude, but they are on the 

 new frontier, and only a part of them belongs to France. M. 

 Jules Ferry, the new Minister of Public Works, having been 

 bom in the Vosges, and being a representative of that department, 

 it is pretty certain he will exhibit the same zeal for this enter- 

 prise as M. Bardoux, his predecessor, did for the Puy de Dome 

 Observatory. 



Two companies are in competition for exhibiting the monster 

 Giferd's captive balloon. One directed by M. Tissandier con- 

 templates continuing the ascents on the site of Cour des Tuileries, 

 but there is some uncertainty whether the old palace will not be 

 restored next summer. A German company offers to establish 

 it at Berlin, on the occasion of the forthcoming International 

 Exhibition. 



Mdme. Sarah Bernhard, the' celebrated actress, has pub- 

 lished a volume on her captive balloon ascents. 



In his last report on the trade and commerce of New Cale- 

 donia, Mr. Consul Layard states that he has observed there a 

 great variety of apparently valuable fibres, woods, and oils, 

 which have yet to be developed. He also notes the discovery of 

 a large deposit of good guano on'some islands in the prolongation 

 of the reef at the northern end of the island. He considers this 

 somewhat remarkable, as it might have been imagined that the 

 rain which falls in these latitudes would deprive the deposits of 

 much of their valuable constituents. The guano, however, is 

 said to have been tested in Melbourne and Sydney, from which 

 places large orders for its supply have been received. 



In his just-published trade-report H.M.'s Consul at _Islay, 

 P€ru, mentions that some verj' rich lodes have been discovered at 

 Caylloma, a district about thirty leagues to the north of where 

 the railway passes at Pampa de Arriero, on the road from Are- 

 quipa to Puno. Several parties have sur\'eyed them, and they 

 are supposed to be equal in riches to the famous Caracoles mines 

 in Chile, which created so much excitement a few years back. 

 It has been found, however, that there will be great difficulty in 

 extracting the metal from some of the lodes, which are apparently 

 tvery rich in silver ore, owing to the damp nature of the ground 

 id the consequent necessity for powerful machinery to draw the 

 water from the mines. 



Arequipa, Peru, was visited on the night of January 9 by 

 the most severe shock of earthquake that has been felt there 



since that which destroyed the city on August 13, 1868. The 

 present shock occurred shortly before midnight and caused 

 general consternation. The people quickly left their houses, 

 and rushed frantically through the streets, fearing a repetition of 

 the shock. No other, however, followed at that time, but three 

 days later a long and violent single shock of earthquake occurred 

 also at midnight 



We are glad to notice that the Ancient Monuments Bill has 

 passed through Committee of the House of Commons, with 

 some slight modifications. We trust that the further stages 

 necessary before the Bill can become law will be got through 

 successfully during the present session. 



The German papers, the Times Paris correspondent states, 

 give the following account of an occurrence at Rappelsdorf, in 

 the Erfurt district, which, though dated the 2ist of last month, 

 is not uninteresting if true : — " Yesterday, at 5.45 p.m., the 

 water of the Todten Lake suddenly rose with a violent bubbling, 

 flooding the surrounding land for nearly 500 metres, and as 

 suddenly returning to its natural bed. One Rappelsdorf in- 

 habitant will have it that he saw a bubbling pillar of water rise 

 fifty feet out of the lake, and that it burst asunder and spread on 

 every side. During the rise of the water subterranean noises 

 were heard. All that is now to be seen is a deep, gaping rent 

 in the earth, from which from time to time vapour rises. The 

 whole land over which the water spread is covered with innu- 

 merable small shells and dead fishes." 



Further experiments were made last Thursday in lighting 

 the British Museum reading-room with the electric light. The 

 result showed that by proper arrangement and at a comparatively 

 moderate cost, there is good reason to believe that the end 

 desired can be obtained. The Paris Societe Generale d'Elec- 

 tricite have made the experiments at their own cost. 



We learn from the Colonies and India that experiments are 

 still being carried on at the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, 

 with the view of discovering a cure for the leaf-disease in the 

 coffee-tree. Mr. George Wall has devised an ingenious method 

 of applj-ing sulphur fumes to the trees for this piupose. A 

 paper umbrella with a curtain hanging from it, is dropped over 

 the tree, and fastened by the handle, a lighted sulphur fuse is 

 then placed underneath, and it is said that the fumes are retained 

 long enough to attack the spores of the fungus. 



An interesting account. The Colo7iies and India states, has 

 been published in the papers of Barker's Cave, Rosella Plains, 

 North Kennedy district, Queensland, to which place Sub- 

 Inspector Armit had followed the track of a white woman and 

 four black fellows. The tracks were followed for nearly three- 

 quarters of a mile in the cave and then out again. The opening 

 is about 25 feet high and 40 broad, and the average height 40 

 feet, with a breadth of 60 or 70. For about 180 yards from the 

 mouth some degree of daylight is visible, but after that there is 

 impenetrable darkness. The floor was almost perfectly level for 

 hundreds of yards. A root of ficus was found growing 800 

 yards from the mouth of the cavern. Some hundreds of yards 

 further on they came to water, and found that no further pro- 

 gress could be made without a canoe. An expedition, provided 

 with a canoe and tools and other implements, is to be sent to 

 make a thorough examination of the cave. 



The competition of Japan teas with those of China and Assam 

 have quite recently received a new impetus. In a recent report 

 on the tea trade of Hiogo we are told that efforts are being made 

 to stimulate this important native industry by the manufacture of 

 black tea ; this it is stated is of the greatest importance to Japan 

 in -s-iew of the strong competition that exists between teas pro- 

 duced in the country and those known in trade as Formosa 

 Oolongs, the only great market for both of these kinds being 



