504 



NATURE 



{Sept. 5, 1878 



ta- (Zurich); " Lehrbuch der vergleichenden Anatomic, " Prof. 

 A. Nuhn (Heidelberg); "Handbuch der Erdkunde," G. A. 

 von Kloden (Berlin) ; "Beitxage zur Kenntniss der Orchideen," 

 Hv G. Reichenbach, Bd, 3 (Leipzig) ; " Die Alpenpflanzen nach 

 der Natur gemalt," J. Seboth (Prague) ; " Die Rose ; Behand- 

 limg, Zucht, und Pflege," Dr. A. Oehlkers (Leipzig); "Flora 

 im Garten und Hause," H. Jager (Hanover); " Anatomisch- 

 physiologisclier Atlas der Botanik," Dr. A. Dodel-Port (ZUrich); 

 " Lehrbuch der Botanik," Dr. C. Baenitz (Berlin) ; " Die 

 Vogel," D. Kompfe (Leipzig); "Die Raubvogel Deutschlands 

 und des angrenzenden Mitteleuropas," O. von Riesenthal 

 (Cassel). 



At the recent Congress of Hygiene in Paris the National Health 

 Society of London had three representatives. The National 

 Health Society is composed of those interested in sanitary work 

 of both sexes, and deals exclusively with matters affecting the 

 sanitary condition of all classes, leaving medical questions to 

 the doctors, and endeavouring to accomplish "prevention" 

 rather than "cure." 



Two guides and two German tourists recently lost their lives 

 in ascending Cevedole, a mountain of the Tyrolese Alps. One 

 of the victims was Dr. Sachs, the preparator of Prof. Dubois 

 Reymond. 



We would direct the attention of our provincial readers to a 

 useful article in this month's Science Gossip on "How to Start a 

 Natural History Society." The directions are thoroughly 

 practical and sensible. 



One of the most interesting handbooks in connection with the 

 Paris Exhibition is that to the British Indian Section, by Dr, 

 Birdwood, the second edition of which is before us. It contains 

 a great deal of geographical, antiquarian, and historical informa- 

 tion, the Introduction treating of the geographical and physical 

 features of the Indo-Germanic shore, on the Settlement of the 

 Old World by the Human Race, the Antiquity of the Indian 

 Trade, Routes of Indian Commerce, and of the Master Handi- 

 crafts of India. An Appendix contains much useful statistical 

 information, and the handbook ought to be of permanent value. 



The Cologne Gazette gives details of the earthquake of August 

 26, as observed in that city. The earthquake passed from east 

 to west. About three minutes to 9 A.M., a shaking and rising 

 and falling of the ground, after the fashion of waves, began to 

 be felt, and increased more and more until buildings rocked to 

 and fro in a formidable manner. Tables, chairs, beds, stoves, 

 &c., set up a dancing movement, which became so strong and 

 tremulous that figiures and ornaments resting upon them were 

 knocked against one another and thrown down. Several per- 

 sons declare that they felt as if an electric current were passing 

 through their legs, and as if the earth were withdrawn from 

 under their feet, and a sudden giddiness came over them. In 

 some places the pendulums of the clocks ceased to beat. 

 Towards the end of the vibration, which lasted about seven or 

 eight seconds, there was heard a dull sound like the roll of 

 distant thunder. Several persons state that soon after the first 

 series of shocks there was a second but much lighter one. 

 There was another (a third) shock at li.io a.m., which was not 

 equal to the first either in severity or duration. It may be re- 

 marked that no fall of the barometer was observed to follow the 

 earthquake. An interesting observation was made in the 

 neighbourhood of Muhlheim on the Rhine : — " A very distinct 

 curl was seen to cross the river obliquely, from south-south-west 

 towards north -north -east, quite undisturbed by the current, 

 while at the same time a deep roar of the water was heard. 

 Even still (the afternoon of August 27) there is an audible 

 rattling of the panes of glass, and domestic utensils, if close 

 together, knock against one another, while a dull rolling sound 

 is heard." The earthquake wave was felt from Hanover and 

 Utrecht to Mayence in the south. The motion was sensible at 



Brussels and Liege, as well as Bonn, Cologne, and Aix-la- 

 Chapelle. Some papers state that a seismograph at Cologne 

 has proved the shocks to have had a duration of three-quarters 

 of a minute. 



In the night of August 21-22 a meteor was seen to fall on a 

 house in the vicinity of Butzbach, a small town in Hesse. On 

 the following morning a small polished dark stone was dis- 

 covered on the spot, and will be sent to the Berlin Museum. 



In consequence of the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine, the 

 piscicultural establishment of HUningen, which had been 

 founded by the French government in the year 1852, passed 

 into the hands of the German government, which, since 1871, 

 has bestowed the greatest attention on the establishment, and 

 spared; no cost to make it as efficient as possible. Recent 

 statistical reports state that the establishment, while under. 

 German control, has sent away no less than 23,500,000 ova of 

 various species of fish, such as trout, salmon, carp, roach, &c. 

 Some two million young salmon have been placed in the Rhine, 

 and a similar number of other useful fish into the rivers of 

 Upper Alsatia. The result has been that fish are now plentiful 

 in those waters, that the rents paid for fisheries have consider- 

 ably risen, that salmon can now be bought at about 6d. per 

 pound in that neighbourhood, and that the time seems to have 

 returned when fish was in those districts a cheap food for the 

 people. 



A notable improvement in watches is reported from Chanx 

 de Fonds, Switzerland. By a peculiar process the figures on the 

 dial are rendered luminous, so that if exposed once dm-ing the 

 day to the sunlight they remain phosphorescent and visible 

 throughout the night. Preparations are being made for the pro- 

 duction of these watches on a large scale. 



The International Association for obtaining a uniform decimal 

 system of weights, measures, and coins is holding a Congress in 

 Paris at the Trocadero this week. Though an unofficial gather- 

 ing, several governments have sent representatives to it. On 

 Monday, M, Tresca gave a survey of the question all over the 

 world, and pointed out that the only countries which have as yet 

 made but little progress are England, the United States, and 

 Russia. It is thought the Congress will be able to agree on the 

 general adoption of the metric system for weights and measures, 

 and perhaps on a lof, gold piece, nine-tenths fine, as an inter- 

 national unit. 



At the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical 

 Society's meeting on Tuesday last, Mr. Bolton exhibited the 

 polyzoon, Cristatella vmcedo, and the grouped rotifer, Lacinu- 

 laria socialis ; Mr. Slatter exhibited the polyzoa, Fredericella 

 sultana and Paludicella ehrenbergi ; and Mr. Levick exhibited 

 the infusoria, Actinosphcerintti eichornii and Spirostomum 

 ambiguum. 



An interesting series of experiments was lately instituted by 

 Herr Muntz, in order to determine whether the living cells of 

 the more highly organised plants, when entirely cut off from 

 oxygen, are equally able, with the cells of fungi, to produce 

 alcoholic fermentation. For this purpose he experimented with 

 a variety of plants, beet, maize, cabbage, chicory, portulacca, . 

 nettles, &c. From each kind thi-ee equally healthy plants were 

 selected. One was left in the open air, and the other two were 

 placed with the accompanying soil, under capacious bell-glasses, 

 containing an atmosphere of nitrogen, the oxygen being removed 

 by pyrogallic acid. After a lapse of from twelve to forty-eight 

 hours, they were removed from the glasses. One was placed in 

 the open air in order to be certain that the power of development 

 was retained after the imprisonment, and the other was cut ofl 

 above the ground, distilled ^^•ith water, and tested for alcohol. 

 In all cases the plants which had been in an atmosphere free 

 from oxygen showed appreciable quantities of alcohol, amount" 



