Dec. 20, 1877] 



NATURE 



153 



francs. The association is supported solely by voluntary contri- 

 butions, and meets yearly at Paris. Many improvements are 

 contemplated by the new president. 



A CHIMPANZEE, about 2\ years old, has been recently placed 

 on view at the Westminster Aquarium by Mr. Farini. It is very 

 gentle indisposition, andlis'undergoing an education in the usages 

 of civilised life at the hands of its keeper, Mr. Zack Coup. For 

 some time it has been in one of the private houses at the Zoological 

 Gardens, and there it caught cold. On its removal to the room 

 at the Aquarium, where a temperature of about 70° is maintained, 

 it improved, but the fog of yesterday (Wednesday) seemed to 

 oppress it very much. It is suffering both in head and lungs, 

 though it still struggles very successfully to be cheerful and enter- 

 taining. It is curious that Pongo's lungs were found all sound, 

 though the few chimpanzees that have been exhibited in Europe 

 have succumbed to lung disease. With the chimpanzee are also 

 a very fine cynocephalus, a "sacred" monkey from India, and 

 a number of monkeys less rare. There are close by a python, a 

 1 oa, and two anacondas, and in order to insure that they hall 

 not be hidden in rugs when visitors want to see them, they are at 

 intervals exhibited by an Abyssinian girl, who goes through the 

 ceremony of an incantation each time. 



In his introductory address at the opening meeting of the 

 Royal Society of Edinburgh Sir Alexander Grant stated that the 

 society was an emanation from the University of Edinburgh, 

 from which it sprang on the suggestion of Principal Robertson 

 in the latter part of 1782. Thus, in the same year that the Uni- 

 versity would celebrate its tercentenary the society would be able, 

 perhaps conjointly, to celebrate its looth birthday. In one 

 essential particular it differed from the Royal Society of London. 

 From the first the promotion of literature as well as science was 

 the object of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, But it had been 

 observed that the literary element in their proceedings had been 

 gradually dwindling away. Sir Alexander had inquired as to 

 the number of papers not connected with philosophical science 

 which had been contributed during the last fifteen years, and it 

 appeared to be considerably less than forty, or little more than 

 two per annum. In the last fifteen years, out ot about 370 

 ordinary Fellows of the Society, only about twenty had come 

 forward to contribute papers other than philosophical or 

 mathematical. The Council of the Society have awarded the 

 Macdougall-Brisbane prize, consisting of a gold medal and 

 15/. 14J. 7^/., to Mr. Alex. Buchan, for his paper on "The 

 Diurnal Oscillations of the Barometer." Prof. Balfour reported 

 that the membership of the Society at present was 427, con- 

 sisting of 373 ordinary and fifty-four honorary or non-resident 

 Fellows. 



Adtices from the Howgate Arctic Expedition have been 

 received up to the date of October 2, at which time the vessel 

 had reached Niantitik Harbour, in Cumberland Gulf. The 

 passage of forty-three days from New London had been very 

 stormy, but, as far as reported, without any disaster. Mr. L. 

 Kumlien, the naturalist of the party, had gathered some speci- 

 mens, but did not find the promise of suitable collecting ground 

 in the immediate vicinity very good. He hoped, however, to 

 change his quarters to a better location. 



We learn from the Isvestia of the Russian Geographical 

 Society, that at the beginning of September M. Prshevalsky 

 had already started for Tibet. He is accompanied by an aid, M. 

 Ecklop, four Cossacks, and two soldiers. Having arrived at 

 the conclusion that it will be impossible to reach Tibet by way 

 of Lake Lob-Nor, he will try the route through Guchen and 

 Hami, and thence to Zaidam and the upper parts of the Blue 

 River. He expects to be at Lassa next year, about May or 

 June, and if he succeeds, he will remain in Tibet for a year. 



After having penetrated last year for 160 miles up the Amu 

 Daria, the Russian steamer Samarkand has penetrated this year 



as far as the 'fortified town Chardjui. A complete survey ol 

 the river was made, and considerable botanical and zoological 

 collections were brought back by the officers on board. 



Russian newspapers announce that the Morning Dawn 

 reached St. Petersburg on December r, having left the mouth of 

 the Yenissei on August 21. This ship, or rather boat,' 56 feet 

 long, 14 feet wide, and drawing only 6 feet water, was built for 

 the transport of wares up the Yenissei from Kureika. It was 

 never intended to go to sea, and "never," Prof. Nordenskjold 

 says, " so wretched a boat dared to enter the waters of the Arctic 

 Ocean." Nevertheless Capt. Swanenberg, with a crew of four men, 

 safely crossed on board this boat the Kara Sea, and reached the 

 Russian capital after a hundred days' cruise. With a com- 

 pass almost useless because of the deviation occasioned by the 

 iron on board, and struggling with ice, he reached, on August 

 30, the Kara strait, where he experienced a heavy gale. On 

 September 1 1 he was at Vardo. Thence, after a fortnight's stay, 

 the Morning Dawn went in tow of a Norwegian steamer to 

 Christiania, and further, in the same manner, to Goteborg, which 

 was reached on November 3, and to Helsingfors, and finally to 

 St. Petersburg The reception the gallant crew met with in the 

 Norwegian towns was everywhere the most enthusiastic. 



At the last meeting, December 7, of the Russian Geographical 

 Society, Col. Tillo read a report on the magnetical measurements 

 made by M. Smirnoff in Russia, These measurements, accom- 

 plished with the utmost accuracy, embrace no less than 548 

 places, the declinations and inclinations having been measured 

 at 287 places, and the former alone at 261. At the same meeting 

 the Society resolved to enter into relations with different govern- 

 ments in reference to the establishment of polar meteorological 

 stations, and to submit an elaborate scheme in connection with 

 that subject to the next International Meteorological Congress. 



Germany is still waging war against the illegal use of the 

 doctor's title. A " Dr." Harmuth in Berlin who received his 

 diploma from Philadelphia, was lately sentenced to pay 300 

 marks for using the prefix publicly. 



M. PoLYAKOFF, who was sent by the St. Petersburg Academy 

 of Sciences for the exploration of the mammoth remains in the 

 Government of Tomsk, has now returned to St, Petersburg after 

 having made a journey in the Western Altai, the Kirghiz 

 Steppe, and in the Seven Rivers' Province, where he visited the 

 lakes Alakul and Balkash. He brings back very rich collec- 

 tions of animals and plants, and the results of his varied obser- 

 vations will appear in the Memoirs of the Academy. 



The scheme for telegraphing without wires, the New York 

 Tribune states, by means of aerial currents of electricity, has 

 been revived by Prof. Loomis. He has met with success in 

 using kites for this purpose, a copper wire being substituted for 

 the usual kite string. Signals were transmitted thus between 

 kites ten miles apart. His new experiments are made in the 

 mountainous regions of West Virginia, between lofty peaks. 

 Continuous aerial currents are found at these altitudes, which 

 will serve the purposes of the telegraph, except when rarely inter- 

 rupted by violent disturbances of the atmosphere. A scheme is 

 now on foot to test the merits of aerial telegraphy in the Alps. 



The Journal of Forestry, which started in the month of May 

 last, in the interest of forest conservancy and management gene- 

 rally, maintains the reputation which the early numbers indi- 

 cated. In recent numbers. Prof. Boulger, F.L.S., has con- 

 tributed some papers, which are being continued, on "Cul- 

 tural First Principles," in which he considers (i) "climate," 

 (2) the "nature of the soil," and (3)/* theoretical considerations 

 (as to the treatment of the soil. " In this latter portion of the 

 subject drainage forms of course no inconsiderable part. Sloping 

 plantations, it is shown, will seldom require artificial drainage, 



