5i8 



NATURE 



[April 2,> 1879 



bited a number of his ingenious apparatus illustrating the cir- 

 culation, working them with water. 



The " Sixth Annual Report " of the Michigan State Board of 

 Health is of much more than local interest. The Board seems 

 to be a body who have a very thorough and comprehensive idea 

 of their duty, which is very faithfully carried out by their 

 secretary, Mr. H. B. Baker. The Report contains inquiries 

 into all sorts of subjects connected with the sanitary condition of 

 the people of Michigan, and many of the results obtained are of 

 general interest. For example, with regard to earthen vessels 

 used for domestic purposes, we are told that to the glazing 

 material used for the inside the oxide of lead is sometimes added, 

 making, with the alkaline silicates, borates, &c., a very fusible 

 and closely adhering glazing. But its use is very dangerous, 

 especially if the vessel contains acid substances, such as pickles 

 with vinegar ; the glazing decomposes, and lead salts form, which 

 either dissolve or become mechanically suspended in the contents 

 of the jar, and there is great danger of chronic lead-poisoning. 

 The Report also contains some useful remarks on the various 

 substances used to enamel iron vessels. There is also a very 

 careful study of the climate and topography of the lower penin- 

 sula of Michigan, the meteorology of Michigan for 1877, and 

 other information of much value. 



A NEW form of water-level indicator, we learn from the 

 Society of Arts Journal, has lately been designed and constructed 

 by the India-rubber, Gutta-percha, and Telegraph Wcrks Com- 

 pany, Silvertown, and has been erected by them at the Leaming- 

 ton New Water- Works, where it is stated to be giving every 

 satisfaction. The reservoirs from which the supply of water is 

 distributed to the town are situated some half-mile from the 

 pumping-station, and it was therefore foxind necessary to have 

 some kind of indicator placed at the engine-house, in order to 

 enable the man in charge of the engines to see at a glance the 

 exact height at which the water stood in the reservoir, so that he 

 might be able to regulate the rate of pumping accordingly. 

 The indicator that has been placed at the engine-houses resembles 

 somewhat, in outward appearance an ordinary round metal case 

 clock ; the dial, instead of being divided into hours, minutes, 

 &c., is divided into twenty equal divisions representing feet, and 

 corresponding to the rise and fall that is required to be regis- 

 tered. A hand on the dial points to one of the divisions, which 

 at any particular instant corresponds to the height at which the 

 water in the reservoir stands. This hand, for every foot rise in 

 the level of the water, moves an equal number of divisions round 

 the dial ; whilst, as the water falls, the hand turns back in the 

 other direction, so that it always points to the exact height at 

 which the water stands in the reservoir. A single line of ordi- 

 nary telegraph wire communicates between the indicator and the 

 apparatus at the reservoir. This apparatus is so constructed that 

 at every foot rise of the water one pole of a battery is brought 

 into connection with the line for a certain space of time, and the 

 current from the the battery actuating the indicator at the engine* 

 house, causes the hand to move the requisite distance round the 

 dial. On, however, the water falling, the opposite pole of the 

 battery is brought into connection with the line, and this is made 

 to cause the indicator hand to move in a contrary direction. The 

 apparatus at the reservoir is actuated by an ordinary float and 

 weight in the water, and is arranged in such a manner that the 

 battery contacts are always of the same duration, irrespective of 

 the rate at which the water may be either rising or falling. A 

 variety of uses will at once suggest themselves to which this class 

 of electric indicator might be advantageously applied, as it can 

 be arranged, if required, to give a diagram on paper of the water 

 level at stated intervals of times, instead of using a hand to point 

 to the divisions on the dial, as in the present instance ; also it is 

 evident that it can quite as readily be made to give variations in 



inches as in feet. As a tide indicator it might be made very 

 serviceable on many of our large rivers,'and probably ere long 

 we shall hear of some further uses to which this novel applica- 

 tion of electricity has been applied. 



A SHOCK of earthquake was felt at Hetzdorf and Oederan, 

 Saxony, in the night from March 12 to 13. The shock had a 

 north-westerly direction, and a violent storm was raging at the 

 time. At Hall, in the Tyrol, a violent shock was felt on 

 March 13, at II. 15 P.M., in the direction from west to east. 



The Report of the Glasgow Industrial Museum for 1878 is 

 satisfactory, showing as it does that the institution, under the 

 care of Mr. Paton, is in a fair way of developing into something 

 worthy of a city of the first commercial importance. 



We have received a copy of the Hunterian Oration delivered 

 at the Royal College of Surgeons on February 14 last, by Prof. 

 Humphry. It is published by Macmillan and Co. 



The Spanish CrSnica Cientifica of March 25 contains among 

 other interesting papers a Catalogue of the Terrestrial Testaceous 

 Molluscs of the plain of Barcelona. 



Part I. has been sent us of "A Universal Dictionary for 

 Architects, Civil Engineers, Surveyors, Sculptors, Archaolo- 

 gists," &c., &c., by Mr. W. J. Christy. The London publishers 

 are Griffith and Farran. 



Prof. Virchow has left Berlin for Troy in acceptance of an 

 invitation from Dr. Schliemann. 



Bulletin No. i of vol. v. of the United States Geological 

 Survey of the Territories, contains the following papers : — Notes 

 on the Aphididae of the United States, with descriptions of 

 species occurring west of the Mississippi, by Chas. V. Riley and 

 J. Monell ; The relations of the horizons of extinct vertebrata of 

 Europe and North America, by E. D. Cope ; Observations on 

 the faunae of the miocene tertiaries of Oregon, by E. D. Cope ; 

 Notes on the birds of Fort Sisseton, Dakota Territory, by Chas. 

 E. McChesney, Acting Assistant Surgeon, U.S.A. ; Palseonto- 

 logical papers. No. 9 : Fossils of the Jura-Trias of South- Eastern 

 Idaho, by C. A. White, M.D. ; Jura- Trias Section of South- 

 Eastern Idaho and Western Wyoming, by A. C. Peale, M.D. ; 

 Fossil forests of the volcanic tertiary formations of the Yellow- 

 stone National Park, by W. H. Holmes ; Palseonto logical papers, 

 No. 10 : Conditions of preservation of invertebrate fossils, by 

 C. A. White ; Supplement to the bibliography of North Ameri- 

 can invertebrate palaeontology, by C. A. White and H. Alleyne 

 Nicholson. 



Dr. C. V. Riley has reprinted in a separate form the ento- 

 mological papers contributed by him to the last meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science. They 

 are : " The Philosophy of the Movements of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain Locust," "A New Source of Wealth to the United States," 

 "Notes on the Life-History of the Blister Beetles and on the 

 Structure and Development of Homia," "On the Larval Cha- 

 racteristics of Corydalus and Chauliodes, and on the Develop- 

 ment of Corydalm cornutus," Biological Notes on the Gall- 

 making Pemphigmn?." 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Green Monkey {Cercopithecus callitrichtis) 

 from W^est Africa, presented by Mr. J. N. T. Martheze ; a 

 Globose Curassow (Crax globicera) from South America, pre- 

 sented by the Rev. Ralph Cooper ; a Grey breasted Parrakeet 

 {Bolborhynchus vionachus) from Paraguay, presented by Miss 

 Maria Hilhouse ; a Common Peafowl {Pavo muticus) from 

 India, presented by Mr. F. B. Hopkinson ; a Laughing King- 

 fisher {Dacelo gigantea) from Australia, presented by Mr. F. 



