May 31, 1888] 



NA TURE 



"3 



matter relating to the economic aid given by the institution to 

 planting in Ceylon and elsewhere. Referring to the gradual 

 decline in the cultivation of coffee, Dr. Trimen mentions, as one 

 of the causes, that it has suffered severely during the last few 

 years from the attacks of a scale-insect or "bug" which has in 

 some places actually killed out the bushes. Practical planters 

 think the insect different from either of the "bugs" familiar 

 hitherto as foes to coffee — Lecanium coffece and L. nigrum, the 

 brown coffee and black bugs. The distinctions between the 

 three have been pointed out by Mr. E. Green in a paper with 

 illustrations printed by the Government of Ceylon. He names 

 the new pest L. viride, it being generally known as the green 

 bug. Dr. Trimen mentions that his principal employment dur- 

 ing the past year has been the compilation, with the aid of the 

 library and herbarium, of a catalogue of the contents of the 

 gardens, for use by the staff, the public, and correspondents in 

 other countries. The list as now completed is brought down to the 

 end of 1886, and contains about 3000 species, mostly trees and 

 shrubs. He also reports the commencement of the long projected 

 museum of economic botany. 



A volume on the life and works of Lavoisier, by Prof. E. 

 Grimaux, of the Polytechnic School of Paris, has just been pub- 

 lished. It is illustrated by many interesting engravings, two of 

 which represent Lavoisier in his laboratory. A number of 

 hitherto unknown documents relating to Lavoisier have been 

 discovered by Prof. Grimaux. 



Messrs. Macmillan and Bowes, Cambridge, will have 

 ready in a week a " Bibliography of the Works of Sir Isaac 

 Newton, together with a List of Books illustrating his Life and 

 Works," by G. J. Gray. 



Messrs. Macmillan and Co. will shortly publish a work 

 on "The Theory and Practice of Absolute Measurements in 

 Electricity and Magnetism," by A. Gray, M.A., Professor of 

 Physics in the University College of North Wales. Though 

 nominally a second edition of the small book by the same author 

 published in 1884, it has been entirely rewritten and extended 

 in plan, so as to form a fairly complete treatise on the absolute 

 measurement of electric and magnetic quantities. This has 

 necessitated the division of the work into two volumes, of which 

 the first, extending to over 450 pages, is about to be issued. The 

 following is a synopsis of the contents : — Vol. I. contains a 

 sketch of the theory of electro-statics and flow of electricity, 

 chapters on units, general physical measurements, electrometers, 

 comparison of resistances, comparison of capacities, and measure- 

 ment of specific inductive capacities, and concludes with an 

 appendix of tables of units, resistances, and useful constants. 

 The chapter on the comparison of resistances contains full details 

 of the various methods of comparing high and low resistances, 

 calibration of wires, &c. ; the chapter on capacities discusses 

 methods generally, and contains an account, as full as possible, of 

 the principal determinations of specific inductive capacity made 

 up to the present time. Vol. II. will contain an account of 

 magnetic theory, units and measurements ; electro-magnetic 

 theory and absolute measurement of currents, potentials and 

 electric energy ; the definitions and realization of the ohm and 

 other practical units ; the relation? of electro-magnetic and electro- 

 static units and the determination of v ; practical applications of 

 electricity, and especially related points, of theory and measure- 

 ments. (This volume is in hand, and will be issued as soon as 

 possible after Vol. I.) An attempt has been made to arrange 

 the work so as to avoid any too sharp distinction between what 

 is theoretical and what is practical, and at the same time pre- 

 serve a logical order in the former and prevent the constant 

 introduction of digressions on theory into accounts of instruments 

 and processes of manipulation. 



A work of some interest and importance, " Excursions 

 zoologiques dans les lies de Fayal et de San Miguel (Acores), " 

 has just been producedby M. Jules de Guerne, at the expense 

 of Prince Albert de Monaco. Of the new species mentioned, 

 some, perhaps all, have been elsewhere recorded in con- 

 temporary periodicals. M. de Guerne concludes from his- 

 researches that the land fauna of the Azores has a definitely 

 European character ; that the fresh-water fauna has the same 

 character, many of the species composing it being probably 

 cosmopolitan, most of them provided with powerful means of 

 dissemination, which have enabled them to reach the Azores ; 

 that most of the species have been brought by the wind and by 

 birds, the wind playing only a secondary part ; that the lakes 

 in the craters are of modern origin, due to the accumulation of 

 rain-water, and have not taken long to people ; that the 

 character of the aquatic types and the absence of any great 

 struggle for existence suffice to explain this rapid peopling of the 

 waters ; that the land species, like those of the water, have been 

 fortuitously introduced from the nearest islands and continents, 

 though at a remoter epoch and more distant intervals, this 

 greater antiquity accounting for the greater differentiation of the 

 land fauna, and in especial of the Mollusca; that the alpine 

 character of the land fauna has not been demonstrated, and that, 

 on the theory of the gradual submergence of the islands, the 

 animals of the littoral region in retiring to the higher grounds 

 would have there produced a varied and numerous assemblage of 

 species, which, as a fact, is not found. Incidentally, M. de Guerne 

 points out a mistake which has crept into works of importance — a 

 sudden depth of 58 fathoms at a single spot being attributed to 

 the little Lagoa Grande in the Island of San Miguel, instead of 

 the true depth, which is about 17 fathoms. 



The Bancroft Company, San Francisco, announces that 

 there will shortly be added to the series of guide-books to the 

 Pacific Coast a hand-book of the Lick Observatory, which has 

 been prepared by Prof. Edward S. Holden, Director of the 

 Observatory. This book is intended to give all the information 

 which will be of value to each one of the many visitors to the 

 Lick Observatory, which possesses the largest and most powerful, 

 telescope in the world, and is situated in one of the wildest and 

 most, romantic portions of California. Besides the useful and 

 necessary information of a mere guide-book, the work is to con- 

 tain interesting and popular accounts of the various astronomical 

 instruments, and of the way in which they are made and used. 

 It will be illustrated by twenty or more woodcuts from photographs 

 and drawings. 



Mr. Henry Bedford, of All Hallows College, Dublin, 

 writes to us : — " I see among the notes in your last number (p. 

 87) that Herr Sander, in his paper on some recently deciphered 

 runic inscriptions in Sweden, says that ' in four of them appeared 

 the word Pirn or Piment {i.e. a strong drink composed of wine, 

 honey, and spice), which, as well as Klaret, was mentioned in 

 the Saga of Rollo the Ganger and the Normans,' and that 'all 

 these inscriptions were referred to the close of the pa^an age.' 

 Now if the word Klaret refers like Piment to some kind of 

 drink, does not this point to the direction in which we are to 

 look for some more satisfactory explanation of our modern word 

 Claret than that which our dictionaries give — as a derivation from- 

 the French clairet— although the word is not used in that 

 language to describe the French wine to which we apply it. 

 Perhaps you or some of your readers will throw some light upon' 

 the origin of this obscure word." 



The 800th anniversary of the University of Bologna will be 

 celebrated on June 12 next. An oration will be delivered by 

 the poet Giosue Carducci. There will also be a musical per- 

 formance, an ode having been written for the occasion by 

 Panzacchi, and set to music by Baron Franchetti. 



