Sept. 12, 1878] 



NATURE 



533 



Observatory will give to the director the means of protecting 

 efficiently the interests of Government and science. 



Mount Vesuvius is showing visible signs of agitation. An 

 overflow of lava is considered probable on the side towards the 

 Observatory. 



At a meeting of the Snnday Society a report was read from 

 Mr. W. E. A. Axon, hon. secretary of the Manchester and 

 Salford branch, announcing that, after a debate which had ex- 

 tended over three meetings, the City Council had, by a majority 

 of 28 against 20, acceded to the memorial from the Sunday 

 Society, and decided to open the several free libraries of the 

 City on Sunday afternoons. Much satisfaction was expressed 

 with Mr, Axon's report, and on the motion of Mr. Mark H. 

 Jadge, seconded by Mr. Frederick Long, a resolution was 

 unanimously passed thanking the branch for the energy they 

 have exhibited, and congratulating them upon the success they 

 have achieved. The libraries were opened last Sunday for the 

 first time. 



One of the large monkeys at the Alexandra Palace had been 

 for some time suffering from the decay of the right lower 

 canine, and an abscess, forming a large protuberance on the 

 jaw, had resulted. The pain seemed so great it was decided 

 to consult a dentist as to what should be done, and, as the poor 

 creature was at times very savage, it was thought that, if the 

 tooth had to be extracted, the gas should be used, for the safety 

 of the operator. Preparations were made accordingly, but the 

 behaviour of the monkey was quite a surprise to all who were con- 

 cerned. He showed great fight on being taken out of his cage, 

 and not only struggled against being put into a sack prepared, 

 with a hole cut for his head, but forced one of his hands out, 

 and snapped and screamed, and gave promise of being very 

 troublesome. Directly, however, Mr. Lewin Mosely, who had 

 undertaken the operation, managed to get his hand on the 

 abscess and gave relief, the monkey's demeanour changed 

 entirely. He laid his head down quietly for examination, and, 

 without the use of the gas, submitted to the removal of a stump 

 and a tooth as quietly as possible. 



The Daily Neivs Roman correspondent writes that from his 

 villegiatura at Rocca di Papa, the archaeologist Pi-of. Michael 

 Stephen de -Rossi, sends to the Voce della Verita an account 

 of the earthquake that occurred there on the 3rd inst. At 

 1 1. 13 P.M. of that day the inhabitants of the village were 

 aroused by the very distinct shock of an earthquake, which was 

 at first jerking, then undulatory in its movement, in a north-west 

 south-east direction. The jerking lasted three seconds, but the 

 undulatory stage occupied a considerable interval of time. In 

 the seismographs the jerking stage of the phenomena was very 

 strongly registered. What merits attention is that this shock 

 coincided with a rise of the barometer, — at the close, that is to 

 say, of an atmospheric storm. It happened when the tempe- 

 rature had barely reached its maximum for the season, thereby 

 coinciding with the phenomena that took place on August 24 of 

 last year. This earthquake was not unforeseen, although it was 

 the first very perceptible one of Avhich they have had experience 

 this season. Already from August 24 there happened slight 

 shocks, and sometimes they were felt even in Rocca di Papa. 

 The instruments, particularly the tronometer, were continually 

 agitated. On September 3 between 11.30 A.M. and 12.30 p.m.. 

 Prof, de Rossi counted eleven slight shocks, the most percep- 

 tible of them being that which occurred at 12. 10 P.M. It was 

 jerking on the 4th, the instruments being agitated in the most 

 extraordinary manner, principally at 11.40 A.M. and between 

 2 and 5 P.M., at which time he also noticed two very tiny shocks. 

 In the interval between August 24 and September 6 there were 

 also felt some subterranean [murmurs, for the study of which 



Prof, de Rossi did not, he regrets to say, put the microphone in 

 operation. This wonderful instrument was scarcely dreamt of 

 when he published his opinion that it could be applied to the 

 observation of even the microphonic sounds which may accom- 

 pany not only earthquakes but also microseismic movements. 

 In fact. Count G. Mocenico, of Vicenza, tried for the first time 

 to apply it for this purpose, with the result of hearing the most 

 mysterious sounds which are produced under our feet in the 

 depths of the earth. Prof, de Rossi ventures on no speculation 

 as to the continuance and close of the actual seismic period. It 

 is certain, however, he states, that it is found in strict relation 

 with the extraordinary drought, of which, perhaps, as in the past 

 year, it is the result. 



We have received a neat and well-illustrated guide-book to 

 the new aquarium which has been opened in Princes Street, 

 Edinburgh, under the direction of Dr. Andrew Wilson. The 

 institution is intended to be utilised for instruction as well as for 

 amusement, and in winter it is Dr. Wilson's intention to deliver 

 occasional lectures of a popular kind adapted especially for 

 school-children, who will thus, it is hoped, be incited to study 

 natural history practically, or at least to take some interest in 

 their living surroundings. When the arrangements are thoroughly 

 completed it is hoped that a naturalist's table and small labora- 

 tory may be instituted. The directors, we are informed, appear 

 to encourage as far as possible the educational features of the 

 institution. We trust the institution will prove a success, and 

 turn out an important addition to the educational resources of 

 Edinburgh. 



We understand that Messrs. Chatto and Windus have in the 

 press a volume of Essays and Lectures on Biological Subjects, 

 by Dr. Andrew Wilson, of the Edinburgh Medical School. 

 The work, under the title of " Leisure Time Studies," will be 

 fully illustrated ; some of the more prominent essays dealing 

 with the relations of science teaching to ordinary education. 



Mr. W. S. Sonnenschein will publish this year an English 

 translation of NaegeU and Schwendener's well-known work, 

 "Das Mikroskop. Theorie und Anwendung desselben," made 

 by Mr. Frank Crisp, LL.B., B.A., Hon. Sec. to the Microscopic 

 Society, and the publisher himself. The translation will be 

 made from the last German edition, and will be supervised in 

 part by Prof. Schwendener himself. The last chapter of the 

 original (on Morphology) will be omitted, as having no reference 

 to the microscope. 



A Geneva correspondent sends us a photograph showing the 

 effects of lightning on an aspen {Populus tremula), situated in a 

 wood near the Chateau of Crans on the shore of the Lake of 

 Geneva. It was struck on August 9 last, in circumstances con- 

 firmatory of the views of Prof. CoUadon (Nature, vol. xvi. 

 p. 568). The lightning chooses by preference the poplar as a 

 conductor to reach the ground, and the case is striking here, 

 where the tree is surrounded by other kinds, particularly firs, 

 taller than it. Two great branches, of forty-five and fifty centi- 

 metres in diameter, which surmounted it, were struck by the 

 lightning, and led it to the ground without having received the 

 least apparent injury, while the trunk below them is absolutely 

 shattered. This is a fresh proof that the upper part of trees, 

 especially of poplars, is an excellent conductor of electricity, 

 which only rends or shatters the wood when it finds a passage in 

 the trunk. Other recent observations prove the preference of 

 lightning for trees situated near streams or reservoirs of water, 

 ' so that the best conductor for a house is a lofty tree, a poplar 

 especially, situated between the house and a well, a pond, or a 

 neighbouring stream. 



An interesting establishment was opened in the Champ de 

 Mars, Paris, close to the Ecole Militaire (within the precincts 



