42 



NA TURE 



[May 10, 1888 



anhydrous, and yielded numbers corresponding to the formula 

 Na 2 S.iOg or NaS 2 4 . They dissolved in water with formation 

 of a neutral solution. On again evaporating this solution under 

 the receiver of the air-pump, crystals of a hydrate, Na 2 S 4 8 + 

 2ll 2 0, separated out. from the remarkable similarity in pro- 

 perties between oxygen and sulphur, it is probable that this 

 new acid by no means exhausts ail the possible combinations, 

 for it appears as if one is capable of replacing the other to any 

 extent, forming compounds which may perhaps be considered 

 as oxygen substitution derivatives of polysulphides. M. Villiers 

 has not yet completed his investigation of the properties and 

 constitution of the new acid, further details of which will be 

 . awaited with considerable interest. 



On April 2 a severe shock of earthquake was felt at Kalleli, 

 in the Lysefjord. It occurred simultaneously with one at Gjsesdal, 

 also on the west coast of Norway. In the former place three dis- 

 tinct shocks were felt, causing the windows to rattle, clocks to 

 stop, &c. A loud subterranean rumbling was heard. On the 

 other side of the narrow fjord no shock was felt, but a deep 

 rumbling detonation was heard. 



On the morning of April 18 a severe shock of earthquake was 

 felt at Vexio, in the south of. Sweden. It lasted fully two 

 minute-, and was followed by subterranean detonations. This is 

 the third earthquake observed in this district during the last six 

 months. 



The Calcutta Correspondent of the Times telegraphs that 

 India has been visited by a series of what he calls "pheno- 

 menal " storms, partaking very much of the character of the 

 Dacca tornado. At Moradabad, 150 deaths are reported, 

 caused chiefly by hailstones. Many of the houses were un- 

 roofed, trees were uprooted, and masses of frozen hail remained 

 lying about long after the cessation of the storm. At Delhi 

 there was an extraordinary hailstorm lasting about two minutes, 

 which was virtually a shower of lumps of ice. One of 

 the hailstones picked up in the hospital garden weighed 

 i£ lb. ; another, srcured near the Telegraph Office, was of the 

 size of a melon, and turned the scale at 2 lbs. At another 

 place the Government House suffered severely, 200 panes of 

 glass being broken by hail. In Lower Bengal, at Rayebati, 

 2000 huts were destroyed, while twenty persons are reported to 

 have been killed and 200 severely injured. Chudressur, close to 

 Serampore, was almost completely wrecked. The storm lasted 

 only three minutes, its course extending for a mile and a half, 

 and its path being 300 yards wide. Its advent was preceded , 

 by a loud booming noise. Large boats were lifted out of the 

 river, and in one case a small boat was blown up into a tree. 



According to an official report, the substance of which has 

 been given by the Calcutta Correspondent of the Times, an im- 

 mense amount of injury was done by the Dacca tornado. No 

 fewer than 118 persons were killed, excluding those drowned, and 

 1200 wounded had to be treated. The amount of the damage to 

 property is estimated at Rs.6, 78,428. Three hundred and fifty- 

 eight houses were completely destroyed, 121 boats were wrecked, 

 and 148 brick-built houses were partially, and 9 were com- 

 pletely, destroyed. Shortly after the Dacca tornado, another 

 visited part of the Murchagunje subdivision, and 66 deaths and 

 128 cases of injury are reported. All the houses struck were 

 completely destroyed. The Dacca tornado travelled altogether 

 3} miles. Its rate of speed varied from 12 to 20 miles, and its 

 greatest width was 20 yards. It was accompanied by a rumbling 

 hissing sound, the clouds over it were illuminated, and liquid 

 •mud was deposited along its track, and was ingrained in the 

 wounds of the injured. 



We are glad to be able to report, on the authority of Captain 

 de Brito Capello, Director of the Lisbon Observatory, that the 



Government of Brazil has established a Meteorological Service 

 there, by decree dated April 4 last. The Director is Senhor A. 

 Pinheiro, who has visited this country on several occasions. 



At the meeting of the French Meteorological Society, on the 

 3rd of April, M. Vaussenat presented and analyzed a long series 

 of photographs of clouds taken at the Observatory of the Pic-du- 

 Midi, froja 1880 to 1887, under all conditions of the atmosphere- 

 He drew special attention to the importance of the systematic 

 observation of clouds, at that mountain observatory, and stated 

 that by the aid of such observations he had been able to 

 issue local predictions of weather which hr.d acquired great 

 accuracy. M. Grad gave particulars respecting the present 

 meteorological organization in Alsace and Lorraine. In 1870, 

 the Meteorological Commission presided over by M. Him 

 established a complete network of stations, but this service was 

 interrupted by the war which broke out soon after. At present 

 there are twenty stations in the two provinces. One of these, 

 viz. Strasburg, possesses an unbroken series of observations since 

 1801. It has been decided to establish a service there for the 

 issue of weather forecasts for the benefit of agriculture. 



Mr. T. Wilson, of the Smithsonian Institution, gives in the 

 American Naturalist an interesting account of some recent disco- 

 veries made by Mr. Frank Cushing, who has not only been adopted 

 by the tribe of Zunis, but initiated into the order of their priest- 

 hood. While at Tempe, in Arizona, in the spring of 1887, Mr. 

 Cushing heard of a large truncated moun 1 in the desert 6 or 

 7 miles to, the south-east. He visited it, and declared it to be 

 of artificial formation. Workmen were brought from Tempe, 

 and in a short time they caaae upon the ruins of an immense 

 building. Mr. Cushing at once arrived at the conclusion that 

 this building had been used as an Indian temple. He observed 

 many things which corresponded in a remarkable degree with 

 the ZuHi religion, and which he was able to recognize in con- 

 sequence of the experience he had gained as a priest. Continu- 

 ing his explorations, he found the remains of a city 3 miles 

 lo.ig and at some places I mile wide. This city was somewhat 

 irregularly laid out, consisting principally of large squares or 

 blocks of houses surrounded by a high wall,. apparently for pro- 

 tection. The state of the buildings clearly indicated that the city 

 had been ruined by an earthquake. Many bodies crushed by 

 fallen roofs and walls were found. Mr. Cushing also discovered 

 a number of graves, believed to be the graves of priests. The 

 symbols and decorations on the pottery found in- these graves 

 resemble the symbols and decorations on modern Zuni pottery. 

 About 10 or 15 miles from this ruined city, which Mr. 

 Cushing calls Los Muertos, the City of the Dead, he has lately 

 found the remains of another prehistoric town, in connection 

 with which there are many traces of extensive works for 

 irrigation. 



The Boston Society of Natural History proposes to establish 

 a Zoological Garden in that city. The enterprise will be thoroughly 

 educational. The chief object will be to show specimens of 

 American animals, especially those of New England. 



According to a telegram from Sydney, the Conference upon 

 the means of dealing with the rabbit-pest in Australia has re- 

 sulted in the selection of an island where M. Pasteur's and other 

 methods of extirpation will be thoroughly tried. The liability 

 of other animals and birds to infection by the same means will 

 also be tested. 



During the month of July the following courses, for technical 

 teachers and others, will be given in the new buildings of the 

 City and Guilds of London Institute : — Elementary Principles of 

 Machine-Designing, by Prof. W. C. Unwin, F.R. S. ; Practical 

 Lessons in Organic Chemistry, intended mainly for teachers of 

 technological subject-;, by Prof. Armstrong, F.R. S. ; the Con- 

 struction and Use of Electrical Measuring Instruments, by Prof. 



