August 9, 1888] 



NATURE 



349 



expressed our approval of this method of dealing with con- 

 tinuous records, as opposed to the costly reproduction of the 

 curves in their entirety. 



THE "Annuaire" of the Municipal Observatory of Montsouris 

 for the year 1888, just published, a volume of 612 pages, i8mo, 

 contains a large amount of useful information, relating to the 

 meteorology of Paris, and the microscopical examination of the 

 organisms in the air and water. The report shows that the site 

 of the Observatory is favourable for determining the climate of 

 Paris with exactitude ; some of the thermometric differences 

 between Paris and Montsouris are very marked. The amount 

 of rainfall also is somewhat greater at Montsouris, owing probably 

 to better, exposure than at Paris, but the differences are not 

 greater than are frequently found with gauges placed near each 

 other. The tables contain monthly means of temperature from 

 the year 1806, and of rainfall since 1689 ; the values prior to 

 1873 are those referring to Paris. Self- registering thermometers 

 were first used in 1835 ; up to this date the minimum tempera- 

 tures were taken as the readings at sunrise, and the maximum 

 readings, as those at 3 p.m. The yearly extremes of temperature 

 date back to 1699. 



We learn from Science that the famous Bahia or Bendego 

 meteorite, described by Mornay and Wollaston in the Philosophical 

 Transactions for 1816, and by Spix and Martius in their 

 " Travels in Brazil," was landed in Rio de Janeiro on June 15, 

 and is now in the collection of the Brazilian National Museum. 

 The transportation of this great mass of iron, whose weight was 

 variously estimated from six to nine tons, and which has been 

 found to weigh 5361 kilogrammes, was rendered possible by the 

 recent completion of a line of railroad passing within 115 kilo- 

 metres of the Bendego Creek, where it has lain since the 

 unsuccessful attempt to remove it to Bahia in 1785. Credit for 

 the removal of the meteorite is due chiefly to Chevalier Jose 

 Carlos de Carvalho, who gratuitously took charge of the 

 technical part of the operation, and to Baron Guahy, who paid 

 all the necessary expenses. The Brazilian Government also 

 cordially associated itself with the undertaking. After about three 

 months spent in preparing material and in studying the route to be 

 traversed, the march began on November 25, 1887, and the 

 meteorite was placed on the railroad on May 14 of the present 

 year. A road had to be opened for this special purpose, as those 

 existing in the region are only mule paths ; and over one hundred 

 streams, one with a width of 80 metres, had to be crossed by 

 temporary bridges. The route lay over several chains of hills 

 and one mountain range, in which an ascent of 265 metres had 

 to be overcome with a grade of 32 per cent. 



The Canadian Institute, Toronto, has issued a "sociological 

 circular," asking co-operation in the task of collecting trustworthy 

 data concerning the political and social institutions, customs, 

 ceremonies, &c, of the Indian people of the Dominion. Suit- 

 able papers upon the topics indicated will be published in the 

 Institute's Proceedings. The Canadian Pacific Railway carries, 

 free of charge, packages intended for the Institute's Museum, 

 which is open daily. 



The Kew Bulletin for the months of November 1887 and 

 January 1888 supplied valuable information, derived from 

 official sources, respecting the capabilities of certain colonies for 

 the production of fruits. The Bulletin for November 1887 was 

 wholly devoted to a comprehensive report on the fruits of 

 Canada. The Bulletin for January 1888 was devoted to 

 reports furnished by their respective Governments on the fruits 

 of Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, 

 New Zealand, Cape Colony, and Mauritius. In the Bulletin 

 for August, just issued, the publication of such reports is con- 

 tinued. A summary of information is presented relating to the 



fruit productions and fruit resources of the West Indian colonies 

 —Jamaica, Bahamas Islands, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, 

 Grenada, Tobago, Trinidad, and British Guiana. 



The Report of the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs, 

 and Trade Marks for the past year states that the total number 

 of patents applied for was 18,051, being an increase of about 

 900 on the year before ; of designs, 26,000 as against 24,000 of 

 the preceding year ; and of trade marks, 10,586, being a decrease 

 of 91 from the preceding year. 



The American Statistical Association publishes some inter- 

 esting figures on the amount of water-power employed in the 

 United States. In 1880 there was- a total water-power equal to 

 1,225,379 horse-power used for manufacturing-purposes, this 

 being 35 '9 per cent, of the total power thus employed in the 

 States. The annual value of the water-power thus utilized is 

 set down at 24,000,000 dollars. The New England States 

 alone use 34*5 per cent, of the whole water-power of the coun- 

 try, and altogether the Atlantic States use over three-fourths of 

 the whole. 



According to a return of the Board of Trade on sea-fisherie s 

 in the United Kingdom, the total amount of fish landed on the 

 English and Welsh coasts, exclusive of shell-fish was, in 1887, 

 about 301,000 tons, of the value of about ,£3,780,000. Shell- 

 fish taken in that year were of the value of ^3 24,000. For the 

 year 1886 the figures were — fish landed, 320,000 tons, of the 

 value of ^"3,688,000, and shell-fish of the value of ^269,000. 

 Thus, while there was a decrease in weight of about 19,000 

 tons, there was an increase in value of about ^90,000, and in 

 the shell-fish an increase of £SS>°° ' 



In a Report of M. Renduel to the French Minister of Marine, 

 he attributes the gradual decline of the sprat-fisheries of France 

 to the methods hitherto pursued in fishing. The sprat seine- 

 net, he says, is most destructive. When thrown out fully, as is 

 usually the case, and then towed towards the shore, it drags the 

 bottom over an enormous area, and brings to land not only the 

 sprats, but shoals of other fish not yet fully developed, and quite 

 unsalable. The French newspapers say, with a little pardon- 

 able exaggeration perhaps, that thousands of cubic metres of 

 winter fry, which would give in summer millions of cubic metres 

 of edible fish, have been used as manure in the fields, in order 

 to force grass and cereals. So far has this been carried, that 

 the non-migratory fish are almost exterminated in many places. 



In the Report of the British Consul at Tunis to the Foreign 

 Office, he says that the sponge fishery is a very important branch 

 of industry in that country. There are in all about 400 Greeks, 

 7 500 Sicilians, and 1400 natives engaged in the pursuit. The 

 diving apparatus was formerly in use, but it has given way to a 

 kind of dredging instrument similar to that used in the oyster 

 fishery. The same Report says that the tunny fishery is a 

 monopoly of the State. The fish enter the Mediterranean in 

 the spring, and one body of them strikes the coast at Cape Bon. 

 Here the net-fishing begins. The boats gather around the nets, 

 and the fish are harpooned and dragged into the boats, as many 

 as 600 being thus frequently taken in one haul. They are then 

 cut up and preserved in olive-oil, packed in tins of various sizes, 

 and soldered up. About three-fourths of the fish are thus 

 treated, and sent away to Italy, where they meet a ready sale. 

 The rest are either eaten fresh, or salted and sent away to Malta 

 or Sicily. Between 200 and 300 men are engaged in this work, 

 which is of the annual value of ;£ 20,000. 



Avery rare fish, Plagyodus {Alepisawus) ferox, has just been 

 caught in the Karlsofjord, in Iceland. It is 5 feet 9 inches long, 

 with small shark-like fins, those on the back being about a foot 

 in length. The head is pointed, and the teeth, long and sharp. 

 It appeared to lie asleep on the surface of the water, and a fisher- 



