May 1 6, 1878] 



NATURE 



77 



Lieut. G. R. R. Savage, R.E., writing from Roorkee, 

 North-West Provinces, India, sends us an account of some 

 interesting experiments he has been making on long-distance 

 telephones. He constructed telephones expressly for long- 

 distance work, and succeeded in getting a bugle-call heard dis- 

 tinctly over 400 miles of Government telegraph line, the wire 

 being one of the four or five main up-country telegraph wires 

 which are carried on one set of posts. The telephones used, 

 Lieut. Savage constructed with about 400 ohms of No. 38 gauge 

 wire, vibrating disc about 2^ inches diameter, the sending 

 vibrating disc thicker a Utile than the receiving one. It seems 

 to him right to oppose the work done at the receiving end as 

 little as possible by having a very thin vibrating disc ; while he 

 had noticed that, cateris paribus, a thicker disc approached to 

 a telephone magnet gives a greater deflection on a distant very 

 sensitive galvanometer, so long, of course, as it is not too thick. 

 Lieut. Savage asks the reason for the following circumstance : — 

 Taking off the vibrating disc of a telephone, and tapping the 

 magnet with any diamagnetic substance, brass, glass, &c., the 

 tapping sound is heard distinctly at a distant telephone. This 

 cannot be caused in the same way as the current in Prof. Bell's 

 telephone ; it must be caused, he supposes, by the particles of 

 magnet being caused to vibrate longitudinally, and as the 

 coil does not vibrate in unison with the particles of the magnet, 

 the permanent lines of magnetic force must be cut by the coil, 

 and hence a current. Hence, he asks, if this is the case, might 

 not there be two causes combined producing the effect in Prof. 

 Bell's telephone, both approach of disc and also longitudinal 

 vibrations ? Lieut. Savage constructed a small induction coil 

 with soft iron core, the outer and inner ceil the same. He 

 heard and sent m.essages easily seventy or eighty miles by joining 

 the two coils separately in circuit with the sending and receiving 

 telephone. Of course there was no increase in any way, as no 

 energy was expended on the current by the simple induction 

 coil ; there was a slight decrease in the sound. He thinks about 

 350 ohms of No. 38 wire makes the best coil for a telephone 

 magnet i-inch diameter. 



Mr. C. F. Crehore, of Boston, U.S., sends us an amusing 

 incident, h p-opos of the subject of fetichism in animals re- 

 ferred to by Mr. Romanes recently in Nature. A brave, 

 active, intelligent terrier, belonging to a lady friend, one day 

 discovered a monkey belonging to an itinerant organ-grinder, 

 seated upon a bank within the grounds, and at once made a dash 

 for him. The monkey, who was attired in jacket and hat, 

 awaited the onset with such undisturbed tranquillity that the 

 dog halted within a few feet of him to reconnoitre. Both ani- 

 mals took a long steady stare at each other, but the dog evidently 

 was recovering from his surprise, and about to make a spring 

 for the intruder. At this critical juncture, the monkey, who 

 had remained perfectly quiet hitherto, raised his paw and grace- 

 fully saluted by lifting his hat. The effect was magical ; the 

 dog's head and tail dropped, and he sneaked off" and entered the 

 house, refusing to leave it till he was satisfied that his polite but 

 Eiysterious guest had departed. His whole demeanour showed 

 plainly that he felt the monkey was something " uncanny," and 

 not to be meddled with. 



The earthquake of April 26 in the vicinity of Constantinople 

 was felt even more severely farther inland. At Nicomedia 

 damage to the value of ;i^300,ooo was caused, and an entire 

 village was destroyed with a loss of forty lives. Three smart 

 shocks of earthquake were felt at 7 A m. on the 14th inst., 

 at Hennebout (Morbihan, France), the motion being from west 

 to east. 



The Society of Telegraph Engineers have appointed a special 

 meeting on Thursday, the 23rd inst., at the Institution of Civil 

 Engineer?, 25, Great George Street, Westminster, when a 

 paper will be read by Mr. W. H. Preece, on the connection 



between Sound and Electricity, illustrated by Prof. Hughes* 

 recent discoveries. 



JANEEV, McClurg AND Co., of Chicago, will shortly 

 publish a new and greatly enlarged and improved edition of 

 Prof. Jordan's "Manual of the Vertebrates of the United 

 States." The section on fishes, the Nation states, will be 

 entirely rewritten. 



A telegram from Adelaide, dated the 8th instant, intimates 

 that copious rains have fallen in South Australia. As heavy 

 rains have been previously reported from other parts of 

 Australasia and Cape Colony, the great drought which has 

 been so disastrous over the greater part of the Southern hemi- 

 sphere may now be regarded as at an end. 



The Rev. James M. Crombie, F.L.S., author of "Lichenes 

 Britannica," has been appointed to the Lectureship on Botany at 

 St. Mary's Hospital, recently held by Dr. H. Trimen. 



Among the scientific productions of Germany diu-ing the past 

 month, we notice a new edition of Liebig's classic " Chemische 

 Briefe," " Eeitrage zur fossilen Flora Schwedens," by A. G. 

 Nathorst (Stuttgart); " Astronomisch-geodatische Arbeiten ia 

 1876," by the Prussian Geodetic Institute (Berlin) ; " Die 

 Familien-diagramme der Rhocadinen," by F. Schmitz (Halle) ; 

 " Geologic der Insel Luzon," by R. von Drasche (Vienna) ; 

 ** Systematisches Verzeichniss der Macro-lepidopteren von Nord- 

 amerika," by B. Gerhard (Berlin); "Das Klima Ostasiens" 

 by H. Fritsche (Leipzig) ; " Die Kafer von Nassau und Frank- 

 furt," by L. von Heyden (Wiesbaden) ; " Die Figur der 

 Erde," by H. Bruns (Berlin) ; " Bericht iiber die I u. 2 Jahres- 

 versammlung der deutschen ornithologischen Gesellschaft," by 

 F. Cabanis (Leipzig); the fifth edition of Prof. Lenz's "Die 

 Reptilien, Amphibien, Fische und Wirbellosen Thiere;" "Der 

 Mensch und das Thierreich," by Professors Krass and Landois, 

 of MUnster ; " Was da kriecht und fliegt ! " by Prof. Taschen- 

 berg ; and " Europas Kriechthiere und Lurche," by Dr. Knatier, 

 of Vienna. 



Several correspondents wTite concerning a bright meteor 

 seen on Sunday night. Mr. Whitley Williams saw it when in 

 the open fields, about three-quarters of a mile west of Lillie 

 Bridge. The meteor bore i° or 2° to the west of north, and 

 elevated approximately 20" above the horizon. It was very 

 brilliant, even dazzling in appearance, its light having a bluish 

 shade like that of burning magnesium. It descended from right 

 to left at an apparent angle of 60° or more with the horizon, 

 and described an arc of 5° or 10°, at the latter end of 

 which it was hidden behind a cloud. The sky was overcast 

 with a few very black clouds, and only one or two stars 

 visible. The meteor gave the impression of being very near. 

 A correspondent at Higher Walton, near Preston, May 14, saw 

 it about 8.51 P.M. in a direction almost due north. It was 

 travelling from east to west ; altitude v hen first seen, about 60% 

 when last seen, about 15*. Its velocity was comparatively slow, 

 being visible for five or six seconds. During the motion a tail, 

 the length of which subtended an angle of about 3°, followed the 

 nucleus. When near the end of its motion the tail disappeared, and 

 the nucleus broke up into several pieces, and shortly disappeared. 

 No sound was heard. " D. R. S." saw it from Kirknewton, Edin- 

 burghshire. The meteor seemed to rise from a point about 30° 

 east of the moon at the time, and travelled in rather a leisurely 

 manner through an arc of about 73°, in a direction of about 

 north-west by north, leaving a trail of stars behind it, then 

 burst into pieces and disappeared, without any report. It was of 

 a fine violet colour. It seemed oblong in form and irregular in 

 outline from giving off'sparks so rapidly. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Jaguar {J^elis on(a) from South America, 



