454 



NATURE 



[ApH/4, 1878 



NOTES 



Dr. Warren De la Rue, F,R,S., has just made a second 

 donation of 100/. to the Research Fund of the Chemical 

 Society, stipulating that the whole sum be devoted to a single 

 object. 



Mr. Romanes being prevented, by domestic affliction, deliver- 

 ing his lecture at the Royal Institution, on Friday, the 5th inst, 

 as announced, the Hon. Sec, Mr. W. Spottiswoode, Treasurer 

 of the Royal Society, has undertaken to lecture in his stead, 

 on " Quartz ; an old Chapter Re-written." 



Prof. A. Agassiz has returned from his cruise in the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and in spite of bad weather and the grounding of the 

 Blake, he has done fully as much as anticipated. As we have 

 already stated, he made use of steel rope for dredging ; the rope, 

 however, was only \\ inch circumference, not i^^ inch in diameter 

 as we were led to believe. This steel rope came up fully to his 

 expectations, and he is of opinion that hemp rope is not likely 

 to be again used for deep-sea work by any one who has no time 

 to spare. Prof. Agassiz is preparing a preliminary report to the 

 Superintendent of the Coast Survey of his trip. 



The Iceland mail brings intelligence of a great eruption of 

 Mount Hecla. On February 27, at 5 p.m., several smart shocks 

 of earthquake were felt at Reykjavik, and in the same evening 

 flames were visible behind the mountains, in the direction of 

 Hecla. The Rev. Gudmund Jonsson, who lives close to Mount 

 Hecla, states that at 4.30 P.M. of that day, slight shocks of earth- 

 qiake began to be felt, these gradually increased till about 5 p.m., 

 when two severe shocks occurre^^, creating a good deal of alarm, 

 but doing no real damage. At 8 P.M. a tremendous eruption of 

 flames appeared on the northern side of Hecla, the flames 

 gradually increasing in size till they appeared like gigantic 

 columns, double the height of the mountain. When the mail 

 left Iceland on March 22, the eruption still continued, but 

 apparently with diminished violence. 



Copious rains have fallen in the eastern districts of Cape 

 Colony, and hopes are now entertained of the speedy termina- 

 tion of the disastrous drought referred to in Nature, vol. xvii. 

 p. 436. The heat in the east of the colony during January last 

 is described as the most intense ever known in even that region 

 of recurring scorching droughts. 



The correspondent of the Scotsman at Ottawa describes a 

 curious phenomenon which occurred in the end of February at 

 Niagara Falls. In the vicinity of Table Ro:k the river-bed was 

 dry for hundreds of yards towards the centre of the Horse -shoe 

 Falls, whilst the river below the falls was about twenty-four feet 

 below high-water mark. For three days the appearance of the 

 river both above and below the falls led to the idea that 

 the falls would entirely cease for a time. This extraor- 

 dinary circumstance was attributed to Incessant high winds 

 from N.E. and an ice-gorge at the rapids above damming 

 the waters of the river till its bed was nearly dry. The 

 icicles which hung from the rocks over which the falls are wont 

 to pour, added to the remarkable character of the scene. 



A NOTE sent by the Portuguese Government to the French 

 papers states that a recent law has established in Mozambique 

 and Angola a central council of agriculture, a station for con- 

 ducting experiments, and a professorship of agriculture. In each 

 capital public lectures will be given by the Government professor 

 on zootechny and scientific agriculture. 



The educational authorities of Berlin possess an enormous 

 garden in one of the suburbs of the city for the purpose of 

 supplying all the schools with fresh botanical specimens. The 

 distribution takes place regularly after April i, and over 

 4,000,000 plants are required for botanical instruction during 

 the course of the year. 



Prof. Ossian-Bonnet has been appointed to the Chair of 

 Astronomical Physics in the Paris Faculty of Science and 

 Letters. 



A NUMBER of Algerian Arab chieftains have decided to visit 

 the Paris Exhibition, and establish there a complete camp. 

 They will bring with them a variety of Arab coursers. 



Some time since we called attention to the opening of a village 

 museum at Castleton, Derbyshire. The mode of its arrange- 

 ment has attracted a good deal of attention, and we are gUd to 

 hear that it is doing good work in the neighbourhood. A series 

 of scientific lectures in connection with it has been very 

 successful. 



The construction of the Tuileries captive balloon is attract- 

 ing much attention in Paris. The necessary excavations for the 

 rope-winding roller, the steam-engines, pulley, &c., &c., have 

 modified the appearance of the old Tuileries yard. A large 

 wooden saloon has been erected for the sewing of the canvas, 

 which is quite ready ; not less than loo girls will be required 

 for about a month. The work of making the rope, which is 

 almost finished, has been immense. The weight of the netting 

 will be 3,000 kilograms more than the displacement of the 

 largest balloon in use. Besides the netting, the other ropes 

 connecting the car, &c., will weigh 2,000 kilograms, and the 

 large rope for mooring the galloon" to the steam winding appa- 

 ratus will be 3,000 kilograms. Experiments will be made to 

 show that the rope can bear a traction of 50,000 kilogram^, 

 although it is not intended to ascend when the effort to move the 

 balloon will exceed 12,000 kilograms. The real steam power 

 required will be 300 horse-power. The displacement of the 

 balloon will vary according to its station ; on the ground it will 

 be 24,430 cubic metres, but, floating at 600 metres in the air, it 

 it will be 25,000. 



Sir George Airy sends "to the Times of Saturday a paper 

 giving an account of the public standards of length now mounted, 

 by authority of the Corporation of the City of London, in the 

 Guildhall, and of the care that has been taken to insure their 

 accuracy. The standards consist of a line of 100 feet divided 

 into tens of feet, and a line of 66 f.et divided into tens of links, 

 with some smaller divisions, on the floor of the Guildhall ; and 

 measures of three feet, two feet, and one foot, with subordinate 

 divisions, on the north wall of the Guildhall. The lengths have 

 been verified with the most scrupulous care by the officers of the 

 Standards Department of the Board of Trade, and there is 

 reason to believe that even the longest is not in error to the 

 amount of one-hundredth of an inch. Sir George Airy has 

 inspected these standard ■■, and is satisfied with the general 

 excellence of their construction. 



The meteor which was observed by Mr. Elliot at Hawick 

 (p. 425) on March 25, at 10 '20 a.m., was observed in various parts 

 of Scotland, at Dunbar, Dundee, Cupar- Angus, and different 

 parts of Fife. It is described as "apparently" several feet in 

 circumference, cone-shaped, and at Dundee was observed to 

 burst into a thousand fragments when near the earth. 



M. Krantz, the Director- General of the Paris Exhibition, 

 has been elected the president of a society for scientific excursions 

 and demonstrations at the Champ de Mars. A circular has been 

 issued by this organisation, which contains among its menabers a 

 large number of influential scientific, industrial, and literary men. 

 It is intended to organise a number of tours in the several 

 sections under the guidance of experienced and competent 

 teachers, the number of auditors admitted to each tour being 

 limited to thirty. The charges will be very low, the society 

 expecting to obtain for its professors and tourists a diminution of 

 the entrance fee. Any communication may be sent to M. La 

 Motte, editor, the secrelary of the Association d'Excursions 

 Scientifiques, Quai des Augustus, Paris, This society has been 



