486 



NA TURE 



{Sept. 



j> 



iSSi 



public opinion was not ripe for the change, and the result was 

 failure. In 1875 •* was proposed, not to instruct Chinese in 

 Western learning, but to teach foreigners the ancient lore of 

 China, and thus enable them to qualify for offi<!e. This plan was 

 not tried. Then students were sent abroad to be educated, 

 but they became demoralized, and returned totally out of 

 sympathy with their national traditions. Last year the Censors, 

 who till then were the opponents of all innovation, advocated 

 alterations in the educational system, and the Cabinet, presided 

 over by Prince Chun, the father of the reigning Emperor, there- 

 upon reported in favour of introducing mathematics into the 

 competitive examinations. For the first time, then, provision 

 has been made for spreading through the empire a knowledge of 

 Western science, and there can be no doubt that the ultimate 

 result must be a complete revolution in Chinese thought. The 

 influence of a remote past will be diminished, the necessity for 

 change recognized, and intimacy with "barbarian " learning will 

 do away with the present prejudices against the "barbarians" 

 themselves. But these advantages must not be over-estimated. 

 Though the necessity for studying foreign science is admitted, 

 widespread and intense prejudice has to be conquered, and a 

 new generation will probably have arisen before the full effect of 

 the innovation is felt. 



In the last number of the Essex Naturalist (vol. ii., Nos. 7 

 and 8, p. 113), Prof. Meldola announces that he has at length 

 detected the scent emitted by the male moth Herminia larsipen- 

 nalis. It has long been known that this insect possessed fan- 

 like structures on the front legs, and it had been surmised that 

 these were secondary sexual characters. The detection of the 

 scent now places the function of these organs beyond doubt, 

 and it is of interest to add that the odour has been recognized as 

 similar to that of artificial essence of jargonelle pear — that is, to 

 amyl acetate. Some of the males of South American butterflies, 

 which are provided with elaborate scent organs, according to 

 Fritz Midler, give off a distinct odour of vanilla. 



The Oderzeitung reports the finding in the Lossow district, 

 near Frankfort-on-the-Oder, of about thirty clay vessels of 

 various sizes and patterns, some urns, some pots, deep saucers, 

 flasks, &c. They were filled with the ashes of burnt corpses 

 mixed with sand. The colour was a brownish-yellow ; some 

 were broken, and the fractures showed that coal ashes had been 

 mixed with the clay of which they were made. Some bronze 

 needles were found with them, being finished at the top in a 

 semicircular shape. The vessels seemed to have been formed 

 on a lathe, tolerably smooth, regular in shape, and only slightly 

 baked. The largest were about 30 centimetres in diameter at 

 the widest part, and 26 centimetres high. The ornaments were 

 either triangles or semicircles, scratched on the surface with 

 points impressed on the surface. Possibly the site where they 

 were found was a refuge and a place of sacrifice in old German 

 times. 



We have received the Calendar of the University College, 

 Dundee, for the forthcoming session, together with reports on 

 the work of the past year. The progress seems to have been of 

 the usual satisfactory character. A department of dyeing and 

 bleaching has been added since the last session. 



An interesting article has been published in the Cologne 

 Gazette from the pen of Herr Gerhard Rohlfs, the African 

 explorer, in which the German plans for rescuing Emin Pasha 

 are subjected to an exhaustive criticism. Herr Rohlfs is of 

 opinion that the proposed expedition may attain its ends if the 

 preliminary preparations are properly and not too slowly con- 

 ducted, and if thei necessary sum of money is subscribed ; all 

 that Emin Pasha can want being guns, small cannon, ani 

 ammunition. The advance of the expedition must take place 

 slowly and methodically, and depots, commanded by Germans, 



should be established on the road at intervals from one another 

 represented by from six to eight clays' march. From Bagamoyo 

 to Mutansige a distance of 1500 kilometres has to be covered 

 without leaving German territory. From Mutansige to Wadelai 

 the distance is 400 kilometres. The expeditionary force need 

 not include more than 100 Germans, but, as it must be sent 

 out at once if it is to do any good, State aid becomes absolutely 

 necessary. A considerable sum is required. Herr Rohlfs esti- 

 mates that the expedition conducted by Stanley to the relief of 

 Livingstone cost 2,000,000 marks, and the process of obtain- 

 ing the sum needed by subscription is far too slow. As this 

 expedition, adds Herr Rohlfs in conclusion, is likely to assist in 

 consolidating German colonial enterprise in Africa, no sacrifice 

 should be spared for carrying it into execution. 



We have received from the Deutsche Seewarte at Hamburg 

 vol. ix. of Meteorologische Beobachtungen in Deutschland, con- 

 taining the observations, for 1886, made at twenty- five stations 

 of the second order, in accordance with the proposal of the 

 Meteorological Congress at Vienna, 1873, that each country should 

 publish the individual observations for a certain number of 

 places. We observe, however, from the preface that in future the 

 Central Office at Berlin will undertake the publication of some of 

 these observations. The volume also contains hourly observa- 

 tions for four stations, and a summary of the storms experienced 

 on the German coasts. These useful statistics of storms have 

 been regularly published since 1878. 



The Meteorological Section of the Report of the Governor of 

 St. Helena on the state of the colony for the past year is 

 interesting, if brief: — "The year under review was dry; the 

 rainfall at Longwood, .where Napoleon lived, was 2874 inches. 

 No lightning has occurred since 1878, and storms are unknown." 



We have received the Report and Proceedings of the Bristol 

 Naturalists' Society for the past year. The members number 

 224, which seems satisfactory all things considered, yet the 

 Council are far from content. They urge that more cordial 

 recognition and extended support might be expected in a city 

 like Bristol, at a time when science holds so commanding a 

 position for a Society which aims at promoting original 

 scientific research, and at the same time presenting its results in 

 a form intelligible to the general public, and accordingly members 

 are urged to make the benefits of the Society as widely known 

 as possible, while a conversazione is to be held next month with a 

 view to directing public attention afresh to its objects and claims. 

 Sic itur ad aslra : it is thus that a strong and successful Natural 

 History Society is founded. The contents of the Proceedings 

 are attractive and varied, chief amongst them being a "geo- 

 logical reverie " on the Mendips, by Prof. Lloyd Morgan. An 

 Engineering Section was last year added to the Society, and its 

 papers are also published. Looking to this number of the 

 Proceedings it appears to us that the Council have much reason 

 to be proud of the Society, although perhaps it would not be 

 quite prudent to say this in the Annual Report, when more members 

 are required, and the balance with the treasurer has fallen very 

 low. We cannot believe that so excellent a Society, which does 

 much" good work with such small funds, can lack abundant 

 support in a district such as Bristol and its vicinity. 



From the Parliamentary paper which has just been issued 

 on the British Museum, it appears that the total number of 

 persons admitted to view the collections has undergone a very 

 great diminution within the past few years. In the year 1S82 

 there were 767,402 visitors to the general collections, as against 

 501,256 in 1887. This diminution is more than accounted for by 

 the transfer of the natural history collections to South Kensing- 

 ton, for we find that in the latter year there were 358, 178 visitors 

 to the Cromwell Road collections, being an increase of 8o,oco 

 over the number admitted in 1882. With regard to the number 



