132 



NA TURE 



\Pec. 13, 1877 



between both presentations. It should be remembered that 

 under the former organisation the appointment of the director 

 was in the hands of the Bureau des Longitudes, which had to 

 designate yearly their member to preside over the observations. 

 Arago and his illustrious predecessor held their office by a yearly 

 tenure, renewed up to the time of their death. It was only 

 Leverrier who was appointed by the Government ; under 

 the old monarchy the director was appointed by the Ung, 

 A proposal was made for suppressing the general assembly of 

 astronomers, which was established by M. Leverrier, and is to 

 be held at Easter at the Ministry of Public Imtruction. The 

 proposal was out-voted. At the next sitting the long-discussed 

 organisation of meteorology will be introduced ; the existing 

 order of things continues to enjoy the support of the majority. 



A TKLEGRAM from Alexandria states that Capt. Burton has 

 started from Suez for Moilah on a second expedition to Midia, 

 accompanied by many Europeans and a large number of native 

 workmen and troops. A depot will be formed at Moilah in the 

 Gulf of Akaba, and the expedition will extend to the second 

 range o^ mountains hitherto unexplored. Capt. Burton expects 

 to discover a rich mineral country between the two ranges of 

 mountains. He will be absent four months. 



The Montpouris Park, in the centre of which the Montsouris 

 Observatory has been erected, is almost ready for public use. 

 Admittance to the observatory grounds will be procured on 

 application to the secretary, for the purpose of inspecting the 

 instruments and the working of the meteorological observations. 



In Wiirteniberg a remarkable property of ripe grapes has been 



recently discovered, which the agricultural authorities have now 



i published, so that all proprietors of vineyards may derive benefit 



S from being acquainted with it. It appears that if ripe grape?, 



which have become frost-bitten, are kept for a little time in some 



j dry place, they entirely lose the bad effects caused by the frost. 



In the Bulletin of the French Geo,:Traphical Society for 

 October are some interesting notes from the Abbe Desjgodins, 

 on Tibet. The Abbe gives some information concerning the 

 Brahmapootra, which he obtained from an old lama, whom he 

 believes to be thoroughly trustworthy. This lama has travelled 

 much, and visited nearly the whole of Tibet. His information 

 j^oes to prove the identity of the Yar-tsiou-tsang-po with the 

 Brahmapootra. He has followed the great river from its source 

 in or near the lakes of Tso-ma-pang in the west of the province of 

 Ngare, the most western of Tibet, and in making his pilgrimages 

 he has reached the frontiers of the savage tribe of the Lhopa. 

 The lama states that some days to the east of Lassa the river 

 turns towards the south, making a great bend, and traverses the 

 well-peopled and rich district of Hia-zul, just to the north of the 

 Lhopa. Passing through the latter district, it flows among steep 

 and rugged r^cks, and after a certain distance forms a great 

 waterfall. This faU of the Yar-kiou-tsang-po, M. Desgodins 

 lias no doubt, is identical with the fall of Brama-Khoond, well 

 known to the Assamese. The lama affirmed that the river did 

 not reach so far as the Nahengs (Mishmis), but that it disap- 

 peared more to the west, among the Lhopa. The lama gave 

 the Abbe, besides, much information concerning the people and 

 the districts through which the river passes. The Bulletin con- 

 tains, besides, a learned article by M. E. Cortambert on some 

 of the geographical monuments of the middle ages in the 

 National Library, dwelling at considerable length on the well- 

 known Mappemonde of Beatu=, a beautiful facsimile of which is 

 given. 



The Italian Geographical Society has received letters from 

 Aden dated November 25, which confirm the arrival of the 

 second Italian (Martini-Cecchi) expedition at Far^e. There is no 

 news ?it all about the supposed de''eat of King Menelik of Schoa 



in connection with which the death of the Marquis Antinori was 

 reported. It seems, however, that King Kassa gained a victory 

 over a Prince Menelik (son of the late Kirg Theodor), who 

 had rebelled in Kassa's camp. The resemblance of names 

 explains the misunderstanding and deprives of any foundation 

 the news about the misfortune said to have happened to the 

 members of the first Italian (Antinori) expedition. 



The French Acclimatisation Society held its anniversiry 

 meeting on December 7 last, under the presidency of M. 

 Quatrefages. The Society lost recently M. Drouyn de Lhuys, 

 one of its founders, a former minister of the empire, well known 

 in France as well as abroad. 



In this month's Geographical Alagazine Mr. C. R. Markham 

 continues his valuable papers on Irrigation in Southern India, 

 and Mr. G. J. Morrison concludes his interesting description of 

 the island of Formosa. In criticisinT; Mr. Trelawney Saunders 

 on the question of ** Water-partings versus Ranges," Mr. R. B. 

 Shaw appears to have misconceived Mr, Saunders' statements ; 

 Mr. Saunders' knowledge is too extensive and accurate to allow 

 him to maintain the identity of the two terms. Sir George Nares 

 contributes an important article on the Greenland Foehn, recently 

 noticed in Nature. 



We are glad to learn from the Geographical Magazine that the 

 Dutch are making active preparations to resume Arctic explora- 

 tion, to which they have been able to do little since the days of 

 the brave but unfortunate Barentz, and nothing at all, we believe, 

 during the last century. A new schooner is to be built to be 

 sent out in May next year to make a summer cruise in the 

 Spitzbergen and Barentz Seas. 



The hygrometer devised by M. AUuard, described in Nature, 

 vol. xvii. p. 14, was constructei by M. L. Golaz, of 24, Rue des 

 Fosses St. Jacques, Paris, who contributed some beautifully- 

 constructed apparatus to the recent Loan Collection at South 

 Kensington. 



Dr. Schliemann, assisted by Mr. Streatfield, of the Science 

 and Art Department, is busy arranging his Trojan treasures in 

 the South Kensington Museum. Although a large space has 

 been assigned for their reception, it will take considerable in- 

 genuity to get all the interesting articles satisfactorily arranged. ■ 



M. Dahlander communicates to the Swedish Academy of 

 Sciences the results of his observations on the comparative 

 rapidity with which heated solid bodies are cooled by immersion 

 in various liquids. If the cooling power of water be taken as 

 unity, that of alcohol is 0*58, of mercury 2*07, of a concentrated 

 solution of salt, 1*05, and of a concentrated solution of sulphate 

 of copper, I 03. The rapidity of the cooling increases with the 

 increased temperature of the liquid. 



The twenty-first annual report of the committee of the PVee 

 Public Libraries and Museums of Sheffield, speaks favourably of 

 the progress of these institutions. We are glad to see that the 

 number of scientific works sought for both in the lending and 

 consulting libraries bears a fair proportion to the number in other 

 departments. 



According to the published reports of the Koenigsberg 

 Board of Trade, the total production of amber in the province of 

 Prussia amounted to 135 tons during the year 1876, of which 

 eighty-five tons were furnished by one mine alone, viz., the 

 mine of Palmnicken. This production considerably exceeded 

 that of the previous year. The amber was exported principally 

 to Austria, Fiance, Russia, America, China, and Japan, while 

 the export to India, Persia, and Australia does not pay the pro- 

 ducers, and is therefore extremely limited. The number of 

 workmen in the province who are employed in the production of 

 amber amounts to nearly 1,400. 



Now that the struggle in the East seems to be reaching its 

 crisis, the fine, large, clear map of the Bosphorus and the 



