Sept. 19, 1878] 



NATURE 



553 



successful as usual. Every provision had been made by the 

 local authorities for the reception of the Association, and while 

 abundance of serious work has been done, a fair proportion of 

 the time has been given to enjoyment. Among the arrange- 

 ments, for example, are pei-formances of "Faust," "Mid- 

 summer's Night's Dream," "Comedy of Errors," " Taimhauser, " 

 and other classical pieces in the theatre, and among the excur- 

 sions is one to the Paris Exhibition.- The president. Dr. 

 Stilling, in his opening address, traced the history of the scien- 

 tific life of Cassel, showing that much good work had been done 

 there, and that the names of not a few eminent men of science 

 have been connected with the city. The title of Prof. Oscar 

 Schmidt's lecture seems sensational enough— " Darwinism and 

 Social Democracy,'' — but his treatment of it seems to have been 

 quiet enough ; he aimed at showing that Darwinism instead of 

 being a leveller, showed the tendency to be everywhere to hete- 

 rogeneity. Prof. Hueter, in his lecture on the Physician in 

 Relation to Research and Natural Science advocated a longer 

 cunriculum for medical students and a more thorough training in 

 science and in the experimental method. The numerous sections 

 were busy enough, and many good papers were read, but any 

 further account of the proceedings we reserve till we have 

 received a complete set of the Tageblatt. 



In the teriible panic which has seized the Southern States 

 under the epidemic of yellow fever, we are glad to see that 

 science has been pressed into service and stuck bravely to her 

 post. Every one who can is flying for life, but it has been 

 deemed advisable to retain the sergeants of the United States 

 Signal Service at their posts in order to keep up for the use of 

 the medical men regular obser\^ations of temperature, humidity, 

 and other atmospheric phenomena which may have any influ- 

 ence in the spread of the disease. One of these officers died at his 

 post and two others had been struck down, probably also fatally, 

 as we learn from the New York Tribune. It is encouraging to 

 eee that the United States authorities have kept their heads clear 

 •enough to perceive that the services of science are indispensable 

 to " the healing of the nations." 



M. BisCHOFSHEiM, the well-known Parisian banker, has sent 

 a sum of 10,000 francs to the French Bureau Central Meteoro- 

 logique to help in the construction of the intended Mont 

 Ventoux Observatory. We may remind our readers that he, at 

 the suggestion of his friend M. Leverrier, helped in the same 

 manner the construction of the Puy-de-D6me and Pic-du-Midi 

 •establishment. M. Bischofsheim has also agreed to pay M. 

 Eichens 1,000/. to complete within a year the construction of 

 the great refractor begun in Leverrier's time in 1870. 



' The fitting up of the Lyons Observatory is progressing 

 favourably ; the inauguration will take place in a few weeks. 



We noticed with regret a few weeks ago that a tax had been 

 imposed on the French communes to entitle them to receive the 

 daily meteorological telegrams of the Bureau Central. A new 

 delay has been granted for the subscription, and we are happy 

 to state that a large number of rural parishes, fully appreciating 

 the importance of the service rendered by the telegraphic warn- 

 ings, have already agreed to pay the yearly charge, which has 

 been reduced to forty francs. 



Vi. CocHERY, the director of the French postal telegraph, is 

 now in London studying the working of the English system and 

 hopes to introduce into the French service a number of im- 

 provements which the large traffic and progressive character of 

 he English service has brought into use. 



The meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute opened at Paris 

 en Monday, with a presidential address by Dr. C. W. Siemens, 

 who showed how comparatively well provided France is with 



institutions for scientific education, and refeired briefly to the 

 work carried on at some of the great industrial centres. We 

 have already given a list of the papers to be read, all of them of 

 more or less technical bearing. 



The fourth Congress of Orientalists commenced its sittings 

 this year at Florence on the 1 2th inst. The chief nationalities 

 Lave been well represented, and the reception by Florence and 

 by Prince Amadeo has been hearty. One attractive feature is 

 an extensive exhibition of objects connected with the subjects 

 with which the Congress deals. 



The Foiu-th Annual Conference of the Cryptogamic Society 

 of Scotland, will be held at Edinburgh on October 9, 10, and 11. 

 The programme includes excursions, a dinner, and an exhibition 

 of fungi. The meeting-place is the Botanic Gardens of Edin- 

 burgh, the president is Prof. Balfour, and the secretary Dr. 

 Buchanan White, Perth. 



An agricultural exhibition took place at Lockwitz, near 

 Dresden, on September 5-7. It formed part- of -the general 

 meeting of the Saxon Agricultiural Society which enjoys the 

 fepeciat patronage of the King of Saxony. ■ • 



The Congress for 1878 of the German Viticultural Society 

 was held at Wiirzburg on September 15-19. 



Great activity continues to be manifest in Vesuvius, and 

 volumes of lava are projected to a height of loo yards above the 

 new crater, accompanied by loud explosions. However, no 

 flames ace yet visible. 



Since M, du Moncel presented the Edison phonograph to 

 the Academy of Sciences electrical inventions of every descrip- 

 tion are sent to him for presentation. A large number of 'these 

 deserve notice, and no sitting passes without M. du Moncel 

 speaking on two or three different inventions. This state of 

 things has created some anxiety amongst members unable to 

 understand electrical matters. On Monday week one of them 

 proposed to the president that M. du Moncel be obliged to 

 execute all the experiments he was describing before the 

 Academy, in order to prove whether they were sound. M. du 

 Moncel replied that he was himself verifying them with much 

 care, but that a number could not be executed before the 

 learned assembly, as two different stations, situated at a great 

 distance, were required ; and he reminded them that, when he 

 brought the phonograph before the Academy, he had taken the 

 precaution to procure an able operator for the working of it. 

 The point of the reply is that a certain number of the mem- 

 bers said that the, phonograph was exhibited by a ventriloquist. 

 M. Fizeau, vho was in the chair, called the assembly to a 

 vote, and the discussion ended. It was not recorded in the 

 Comptes Rendus. 



At the meeting of the Botanical and Horticultural Congress 

 in Paris, the following were among the most interesting com- 

 munications and discussions : — On the influence of the age of 

 seeds on the plants raised from them. Prof. Baillon found that 

 Prof. Cazzuole's view, that the newer the seeds of Cucurbitacece 

 the larger the proportion of male flowers, and vice versd, was 

 not confirmed by his own experiments, in wliich he had sown 

 melon-seeds dating from 1870, and for comparison last year's 

 seeds. — On double flowers. Prof. Morren, in support of his 

 well-kno-wn theory of the incompatibility of truly variegated 

 leaves and double flowers, pointed out that in the camellia and 

 Kenia japonica normal flowers are only known to occur on 

 variegated stocks. In a Hibiscus, which imites these peculiari- 

 ties, the flower-buds fall m ithout opening ; in a variegated and 

 double wallflower, many of the branches revert and are quite 

 green. — Descriptions were given of the chief botanical labo- 

 ratories in St. Petersbiu-g, Amsterdam, Florence, and Paris. 



