Dec. 7, 1876] 



NATURE 



129 



them taking the course of lectures for the first year of instruc- 

 tion. Amphitheatres and classrooms have"! been prepared for 

 them in one of the courts of the establishment. 



At a recent meeting of the United States National Academy, 

 Prof. Henry communicated some additional facts obtained in his 

 long-continued and elaborate researches concerning sound in 

 relation to fog-signals. His principal investigation this year 

 had reference to the divergence of sound, especially as to the 

 jhenomenon known as the Ocean Echo. To test the explana- 

 tion given by Prof. Tyndall, requiring reflection from the air, 

 the trumpet of a siren was turned directly to the zenith. The 

 blast was exceedingly intense, but no echo was heard from the 

 prolongation of the axis of the trumpet, i.e., from the zenith. 

 A loud echo was, however, heard from the whole circumference 

 of the horizon, half of which was on land, the other half on 

 water. This was repeated many times, and always with the 

 same result. In one case a small cloud passed directly across 

 I lie zenith, from which a few drops of rain fell into the mouth 

 of the trumpet ; still no sound was heard from the zenith, 

 although sound continued to be heard from around the horizon. 

 In this case, on account of the divergence of sound, portions of 

 waves in every direction must have descended to the horizon ; 

 and as some of these must have reached the plane of the ocean 

 in a path curving inward towards the source of sound, they 

 would, w hen they reached the ear of the observer in the vicinity 

 of the source, seem as if coming from a point in the horizon, 

 and hence would give rise to the phenomenon of the ocean echo. 

 Rays of sound a diflerent distances from the ear would be re- 

 flected from the surface of the ocean, and thus give rise to a 

 prolonged echo. This is in accordance with the fact observed 

 during last summer, that a blast of five seconds' duration gave 

 an echo that was prolonged twenty seconds. That could only 

 be produced by ordinary reflection from a series oi surfaces 

 placed at different distances, an arrangement of the material of 

 the atmosphere which (on the doctrine of probabilities) would 

 not be of frequent occurrence. 



In an address at the Manchester Literary and Philosophical 

 Society, Prof. Boyd Dawkins made some forcible remarks on 

 the position of museums in Britain. After speaking of the 

 necessity of museums and laboratories to the student of nature, 

 and of the few good museums in this country, he said : — " From my 

 exptrience of those abroad, I turn to those of our own country 

 w ith feelings of envy and regret. Here a museum is frequently a 

 large sort of advertising bazaar, or a receptacle for miscellaneous 

 curiosities unfitted for a private house, or it is composed of an 

 accumulation of objects valuable in themselves but valueless for 

 all practical purpose?, because they are crowded together, or 

 stowed away for want of room. They are generally under- 

 manned, starved for want of fund?, largely dependent on casual 

 benevolence, or a burden on the .cant resources of the various 

 societies. On the Continent, in America, and in Australia, they 

 are as a rule well officered, well arranged, and not dependent on 

 private resources for their sustenance. That our museums should 

 be allowed to be such a striking contrast to those of our neigh- 

 bours and kinsmen is a most singular oversight in the richest, 

 and, as we sometimes fancy ourselves to be, the most practical 

 people in the world. With regard to the arrangement of subor- 

 cinate parts in a museum, that which is now being carried 

 out in the new Imperial Museum, at Vienna, under Dr. Hoch. 

 stetter, seems to me the best ; to form one lineal series, inor- 

 ganic objects forming the base, then Palaeontological specimens, 

 illustrating the life which has been, and leading up to the illus- 

 trations of the life which is now on the earth. Botany, Zoology, 

 Anatomy, and the like. When this is completed, the Museum 

 at Vienna will present a more perfect and complete history of the 

 knowledge 01 the earth and its inhabitants than has as yet been 



presented. In the City of Lyons, which in its commercial 

 aspects resembles Manchester, the collections are lodged in a 

 magnificent building — the Palais des Beaux Arts — supported by 

 the municipality, and are being largely increased by the contri- 

 butions of local naturalists, who have banded themselves together 

 for that purpose under the title of ' Les Amis des Sciences 

 Naturelles.' There is one point in which the British Govern- 

 ment may learn a lesson from the German. When I was in 

 Berlin this autumn I had the pleasure of meeting gentlemen who 

 had been sent by the latter to make collections in the Americas, 

 in India, and in the China seas ; and I saw a valuable collection 

 made by German cruisers in the Pacific. Why should not our 

 ships of war, which are to be found in every sea, have orders also 

 to bring home collections from distant stations, and why should 

 not we send out travellers with the same object ? With our navy 

 and our wandering instincts, we ought rapidly to outstrip any 

 rivals, and that at a comparatively small expenditure of money." 



The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society possesses 

 a select and valuable library ; a catalogue of this, by Mr. 

 Nicholson, hon. librarian, has just been published. 



We have received the winter programmes of five Cumberland 

 Scientific and Literary Societies. They appear to us satisfac- 

 tory, and creditable to the intelligence and culture of the Cum- 

 berland folk. The towns to which these societies belon.::; are 

 Workington, Whitehaven, Maryport, Cockermouth, and Kes- 

 wick, and in some of them, besides lectures by well-known men, 

 and papers by member?, regular science classes are to be held 

 during the winter. These and other societies, as we intimated 

 some time since, are formed with the Cumberland Association 

 for the Advancement of Literature and Science, Part I. of the 

 Transactions of which is to hand, and contains some papers 

 worth perusing. 



A MAGNIFICENT work on the Yellowstone National Park is 

 about to be published by Prang and Co., Boston, U.S. The 

 description is to be by Prof. Hayden, and will be accompanied 

 by a fine series of chromo-lithographic reproductions of water- 

 colour sketches taken by the ariist to the expedition of 1871, 

 Mr. Thos. Morran. The work wiU be published simultaneously 

 in English, French, and German. 



In 1866 the students at the six Russian Universities— St. 

 Petersburg, Moscow, Kasan, Kharkoff", and Odessa — numbered 

 3,591 ; in 1871 they were 5,301 ; but in 1873-1874 there was a 

 large diminution, and in 1875-1876 they were only 4,492. It 

 appears tha^-, generally speaking, Russian students have no 

 resources of their own, and are obliged to give lessons to 

 support themselves. At Moscow many of them are said to be 

 in a miserable condition, principally amongst medical students. 

 Three or four students lodging in the same miserable room is a 

 usual occurrence. From 1870 to 1873 the University registers 

 show that 3,224 students left, having finished their course of 

 studies, but no less than 2,911 were obliged to desist without 

 having taken their degree. A good many scholarships 

 of the amount of from 19/. to 38/. yearly (which amount 

 it is proposed now to raise to 45/.) were founded by Go- 

 vernment, and yet more by private persons and institutions ; 

 but the number of them is yet far below the number of 

 students who have no other ^means of subsistence than 

 miserably paid lessons. After all, the Russian students are not 

 worse off than many of the students at the Scottish Universities. 

 A few years ago at St. Andrews it was no uncommon thing for 

 students to cover all the expenses of a six months' session, in- 

 cluding 10/. for fees, with from 16/. to 20/. ; they would simply 

 have stared had they been spoken of as miserably off. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Bonnet Monkey {Macacus radiatus) from 



