Oct 25, 1888J 



NATURE 



623 



Thou art a shock to my aesthetic sense, 



And ofierest no kind of recompense 

 In way of use ; of every function shorn, 

 Except to act as basis for a corn. 

 When thou art gone I'll still maintain my grace, 



Still walk erect wherever I may be ; 

 Still I'll belong to the athletic race, 



Waltz with the fair, and kick mine enemy ! 

 So pace Schopenhauers, and pace Mallocks 

 When I've acquired a hypertrophied hallux, 



To monodactyle type thus simplified, 



Life shall be simpler too, and so— beatified. 

 * # * * 



When future science forgets thee in thy prime, 

 Methinks a great mind from a northern clime 



May then discuss thy remnants, and declare 



He finds a true prophetic organ there ! 



F. G. H. 



NOTES. 

 . We lately (Sept. 6, p. 437) printed an account of the formation 

 of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science. 

 If we may judge from the newspaper reports which have now 

 reached this country, the first general meeting of the Association 

 seems to have been remarkably successful. The session began 

 at the Sydney University on Tuesday evening, August 28. 

 Lord Carringlon opened the proceedings with a short speech, 

 and then an address was delivered by Mr. H. C. Russell, the 

 President. On the following day the sectional meetings began, 

 and their work went on during the remainder of the week. 

 About no papers were sent in by students of various branches 

 of science, and a considerable number of them will be published 

 in full in the first volume soon to be issued by the Association. 

 The members had an opportunity of taking part in several 

 pleasant excursions, and much hospitality was shown to visitors 

 by leading citizens. At the time of the meeting there were about 

 850 members, and it is confidently anticipated that next year 

 this number will be largely increased. The next meeting is to 

 be held in Melbourne, and Baron Sir Ferdinand von Midler, the 

 Government Botanist of Victoria, is the President-elect. In 

 1890 the Association will meet in New Zealand. 



The following is the list of names to be submitted, at the 

 annual meeting (November 8) of the London Mathematical 

 Society, for the new Council:— For President, J. J. Walker, 

 F.R.S. ; for Vice-Presidents, Sir J. Cockle, F.R.S., E. B. 

 Elliott, and Prof. Greenhill, F.R.S. The Treasurer and Hon. 

 Secretaries remain unaltered. The other members are : A. B. 

 Basset, Dr. Glaisher, F.R.S., Messrs. J. Hammond, H. Hart, 

 J. Larmor, C. Leudesdorf, and S. Roberts, F.R.S., Captain 

 P. A. Macmahon, R. A., and Dr. Routh, F. U.S. It is proposed 

 that the vacancies caused by the withdrawal of Lord Rayleigh, 

 Sec.R.S.. and the lamented recent death of Arthur Buchheim, 

 shall be filled up by Messrs. Basset and Routh, as above. 



II. M.S. Jackal, which has been engaged, under the direction 

 of the Scientific Committ-e of the Scottish Fishery Board, in 

 a cruise of physical investigation in the North Sea, recently re- 

 turned to Granton. The course was along the east coast to the 

 Orkney and Shetland Islands, and then to Bergen, Copenhagen, 

 and Kiel. The physical work was carried on by Dr. Gibson, of the 

 Chemistry Department of the Edinburgh University, assisted by 

 Dr. Hunter Stewart and Mr. F. M. Gibson ; and owing to the 

 exceptionally favourable weather a large number of stations were 

 formed at various parts of the route, at which series of tempera- 

 ture observations were taken, the density and alkalinity of the 

 water determined, and samples preserved for analytical examina- 

 tion. Dr. Gibson had interviews with most of those conducting 

 scientific fishery work in the countries visited, including Mr. 

 Buch of Bergen, Dr. Paulsen, Lieut. Drechsel, Dr. Pettersen, 



and Mr. F eddersen of Copenhagen, and Prof. Karsten of the 

 Kiel Commission ; and we understand these conferences may 

 result in closer cooperation between the various countries, in 

 regard to the method and scope of scientific fishery investigations- 



The members of the International Commission of Weights and 

 Measures have finished their session at the Pavilion de Breteuil, 

 Paris. The making of standard metres is progressing, and next 

 year they will be distributed to the various Governments. The 

 guarantee of the Bureau extends to the thousandth of a 

 millimetre and the ten- thousandth of a gramme. 



Therk are now on the books of the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers 1614 members, 2499 associate members, 458 asso- 

 ciates, 19 honorary members, and 939 students, together 5529, 

 being an increase at the rate of i\ per cent, during the past 

 twelve months. 



A specimen of the sword-fish {X-phias) was captured some 

 days ago in Long Reach, Milton Creek, Siltingbourne, by a 

 bargeman. The fish measured 5 feet 2 inches from end of tail 

 to tip of sword. 



An Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition was opened at 

 Mysore by the Maharajah on the 17th inst. 



AT a recent meeting of the Bombay Natural History Society, 

 the idea of starting a Zoological Garden in that city was mooted 

 by Mr. H. M. Phipson, the Honorary Secretary of the Society, 

 and was warmly taken up. It was stated that the Society has 

 been compelled to refuse large numbers of valuable specimens 

 of animals offered to it. All that is asked from the Government 

 is that they shall grant a site, and it is hoped that they may see 

 their way to do so. 



Dr. J. C. Cox lately described, at a meeting of the Linnean 

 Society of New South Wales, two very remarkable female 

 figures, modelled in wax, obtained in an aboriginal camp at 

 Miriam Vale, near the head of the Calliope River, Rockhampton. 

 These figures are said to be the only examples of plastic art 

 ever discovered among the Australian aboriginals. 



In the Report of the Superintendent of the Adelaide Botanic 

 Garden for the past year it is stated that the insect-powder plant 

 {Fyrethriun cincraricefolium, Trevir.), roseum, and car muni, 

 Bibrst. ), and the cheesemaker {Withania coagirfans, Dan.), 

 which were introduced into the Garden a few years ago, have 

 found a congenial climate there, and have prospered wherever 

 they were planted in the colony. Eland's Boontges (Elephant- 

 orrhiza Burcheilii, Benth.), which has also been recently intro- 

 duced, does fairly well. In winter nothing remains of this plant 

 but the roots, which contain tannic acid. A number of cuttings 

 from the Daira grape, a valuable species which comes from 

 Almeria, have thriven wonderfully in the Garden. There are 

 now in the palm house 180 species and varieties of palms. The 

 Museum of Economic Botany attached to the Garden has been 

 enriched during the past year by 1795 article-, amongst the 

 more remarkable of which was a collection sent by the Sultan of 

 Johore, one of the specimens being a sample of sugar prepared 

 from the cocoa- nui. 



Students of the Caucasian languages will be glad to learn 

 that the second volume of Baron Uslar's work, '"The Ethno- 

 graphy of the Caucasus," has been published at Tirlis. It con- 

 tains his " Tchetchen Language," and, in an appendix, several 

 articles on the epics of the Caucasian mountaineers, on the 

 study of the Caucasian languages and their alphabets, as also 

 a translation of Schiefner's " Tchetchensche Studien," and a 

 collection of Tchetchen proverbs and tales about Nasr-eddin, 

 by J. Bartolomei. 



In connection with the discussion on " Valency" at the Bath 

 meeting of the British Association, referred to in last week's 

 Nature, Prof. Meldola read a paper on the constitution of the 



