230 



NATURE 



{July 5, 1888 



In the twenty-first Annual Report of the Provost to the Trustees 

 of the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, it is stated that whereas the 

 number of readers during the past year declined, the number of 

 books used increased. Thus the library "is being gradually 

 converted into that real reference library for scholars which its 

 founder intended to establish." A table included in the Report 

 gives some interesting and suggestive information as to the 

 subjects studied. Antiquities, philology, and theology seem to 

 be the most popular subjects. On the first of these subjects 

 2894 volumes were read ; on the second, 2336 ; on the third, 

 2212. Biography comes next ; but there were readers for only 

 1,964 volumes under this heading. 



The Register, for 1887-8S, of the John? Hopkins University 

 of Baltimore has been sent to us. In an introductory statement 

 it is explained that this University was opened in 1876 ; that 

 thus far the Faculty of Philosophy has alone been fully organized ; 

 and that the formation of a Medical Faculty has been begun, and 

 will soon receive further development. In the Faculty of Philo- 

 sophy, instruction is carried on by University methods and 

 by Collegiate methods corresponding with the requirements of 

 students at different stages of their advancement. University 

 instruction is offered to those who have already taken an aca- 

 demic degree, or who have otherwise fitted themselves to pursue 

 advanced courses of study. 



From the Report, just issued, of the trustees of the South 

 African Museum for the year ended December 31, 1887, we 

 learn that the condition of the collection generally has been 

 satisfactorily maintained by dint of regular and frequent inspec- 

 tion. The donations during the year numbered 3125 specimens, 

 presented by 78 donors, as compared with 1298 specimens, 

 presented by 58 donors, in 1886. The trustees make an urgent 

 appeal for the extension of the Museum buildings. " Each 

 year," they point out, "has of necessity increased the over- 

 crowding of the very limited available space, and this has now 

 become a most serious hindrance to the usefulness of the 

 Museum, and indeed an absolute barrier to its due develop- 

 ment. The trustees have been disappointed to find that their 

 repeated written representations on this important matter failed 

 to meet with the favourable consideration of the Government, as 

 they have thus been placed in the highly unsatisfactory position 

 of inability to promote the normal growth of the institution, or 

 even to insure the proper preservation of much of the valuable 

 public property for which they are trustees." 



The annual reports of the Aeronautical Society of Great 

 Britain for the years 1885-86 have baen issued in one small 

 volume. Among the contents are the following papers, read at 

 the annual meeting of the Society on December 11, 1886: — 

 Gravity and wind-pressure on auxiliary powers in flight, by 

 Sidney Hollands ; balloon-signalling in war, by Eric Bruce ; 

 experimental ballooning, by F. W. Breary ; an aerial boat, by 

 Mr. Green ; and jet-propulsion for aeronautical purposes, by 

 Captain Griffiths. 



We have received No. 5 of the first volume, fourth series, of 

 the Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and 

 Philosophical Society. It contains the following memoirs.: — 

 Descriptions of twenty-three new species of Hymenoptera, by 

 P. Cameron ; a survey of the genus Cypraea (Linn.), its nomen- 

 clature, geographical distribution, and distinctive affinities, with 

 descriptions of two new species and several varieties (with two 

 plates), by James Cosmo Melvill ; a catalogue of the species 

 and varieties of Cypraia, arranged on a new circular system, in 

 accordance with true sequence of affinity, by James Cosmo 

 Melvill; memoir of the late Prof. Balfour Stewart, F.R.S., by 

 Prof. A. Schuster, F. R.S. To the last of these memoirs a 

 list of the titles of papers by Prof. Balfour Stewart is appended. 



It 



A SIXTH edition of Mr. William Ford Stanley's "Ms 

 matical Drawing and Measuring Instruments" (E. and F. 

 Spon) has just been issued. It contains descriptions of twenty- 

 five new instruments mounted or brought out since the publication 

 of the fifth edition ten years ago. Among the instruments in- 

 vented by the author himself is the oograph, designed for the 

 purpose of enabling oologists to draw eggs of birds in their 

 natural sizes and proportions. 



A USEFUL little volume on " Landscape Photography," by 

 Mr. H. P. Robinson, has been issued as one of the series of 

 " Photographic Handy-Books " (Piper and Carter). It consists 

 of letters written to a friend "whose study of photography 

 enabled him to produce a technically perfect negative, but who did 

 not know how to put his knowledge to pictorial use." " They 

 were not intended, " the author explains, ' ' to point out a royal road 

 to art, but rather to act as a stimulus to activity in the search for 

 subjects for the camera, and to teach how readiness of resource 

 may help good fortune in turning them into agreeable pictures." 



An interesting pamphlet on Pallas's sand grouse, by Mr. \V. 

 B. Tegetmeier, has just been issued (Horace Cox). It is 

 illustrated with a coloured plate and woodcuts. "It is greatly 

 to be regretted," says the author, " that a bird so beautiful in 

 its form, harmless in its habits, valuable as an article of food, 

 interesting to the sportsman as a game bird, and to the naturalist 

 as the type of a most singular genus, should not be protected. 

 The present pamphlet has been compiled as an endeavour to 

 make the bird better known, to interest the public at large in 

 the species, and thus, if possible, to aid in its preservation and 

 naturalization as a British game bird." 



Science states that Mr. William Walter Phelps has introduced 

 into Congress a Bill to purchase from Stephen Vail, of Morris- 

 town, N J., the original telegraphic instrument, or recording 

 receiver, invented by his father, Alfred Vail, and used upon the 

 first telegraphic line ever constructed, — that between Washing- 

 ton and Baltimore, — and to transmit the fust message ever sent : 

 " What hath God wrought ? " The purchase of this instrument 

 is strongly recommended by the officers of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. The price is ten thousand dollars. 



According to an official notification of the Trustees of the 

 Schwestern Frohlich Stiftung at Vienna, certain donations and 

 pensions will be granted from the funds of this charity this year, 

 in accordance with the will of the testator, Miss Anna Frohlich, 

 to deserving persons of talent who have distinguished themselves 

 in any of the branches of scien:e, art, or literature, and who 

 may be in want of pecuniary support, either through accident, 

 illness, or infirmity consequent upon old age. The grant of 

 such temporary or permanent assistance in the form of donations 

 or pensions is, according to the terms of the foundation deed, 

 primarily intended for natives of the Austrian Empire, but 

 foreigners of every nationality — English and others — may like- 

 wise participate, provided they are resident in Austria. In- 

 formation as to the terms and conditions of the foundation deeds, 

 &c, may be obtained from the Austro-Hungarian Embassy in 

 London. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include two Tasmanian Wolves ( Thylacinus cyno- 

 cepkalus), two Bennett's Wallabys (Halmaturus bennettt), a 

 Black and Velio w Cyclodus (Cyclodus nigro-luteus) from Tas- 

 mania, nine Silky Bower Birds (Philonorhyruhus riolaceus) from 

 New South Wales, ten LaughiDg Kingfishers (Dacelo gigaiitea), 

 ten Blue-cheeked Parrakeets (Flatycercus cyanogenys), two 

 Cereopsis Geese (Cereopsis noviv-hollandiir), seven Maned Geese 

 Berniclajubata), two Black-backed Piping Crows {GymncrMm 

 tibicen), two Lace Monitors ( Varanus varius), two Gould's 

 Monitors {Vdramis gouldi), a Gaimard's Rat Kangaroo {Hypsi- 

 prynuius gaimardi) from Australia, deposited ; a Smooth 



