Jan. 26, 1888] 



NATURE 



301 



on the entomology of Gibraltar, concerning which subject next 

 to nothing had previously been written. Mr. Walker, as an 

 officer of H.M. gunboat Grappler, stationed there, had ample 

 opportunities for studying the insect- fauna. His observations 

 are mainly confined to Lepidoptera and Coleoptcra. He says 

 there is scarcely a day throughout the year on which butterflies 

 may not be found ; and he enumerates fifty-five species for the 

 limited district, thirty of which have occurred on the isolated 

 r^ock itself. Coleopiera are very numerous, and he has already 

 found 900 species, and is almost daily adding to the number. 

 Apart from its purely entomological interest, the introductory 

 portion is of great value, being a lucid resume in a few pages of 

 the topography of the Rock and the immediate neighbourhood, 

 with sketches of the chief botanical, zoological, geological, and 

 meteorological features, not forgetting the Barbary apes, which, 

 reduced a few years ago to less than a dozen individuals, 

 are now so numerous as to cause serious depredations in the 

 gardens. 



We have received the volume for 1886 of the Journal and 

 Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales. Among 

 the contents may be noted the Presidential Address by Prof. 

 Liversidge, F.R.S. ; description of an unrecorded Ardisia of 

 New Guinea, by Baron von Mueller, F.R. S. ; a comparison of 

 the dialects of East and West Polynesian, Malay, Malagasy, and 

 Australian, by the Rev. G. Pratt ; preliminary notes on some 

 new poisonous plants discovered on the Johnstone River, North 

 Queensland, by T. L. Bancroft ; notes on the process of polish- 

 ing and figuring 18-inch glass specula by hand, and experiments 

 with flat surfaces, by H. F. Madsen ; notes on the theory of 

 dissociation of gases, by Prof. R. Threlfall. 



A LARGE number of new aromatic fluorine substitution pro- 

 ducts have recently been prepared by Drs. Wallach and Heusler 

 {Liehigs Annalen, Band 243, Heft i and 2), the properties of 

 which point to some interesting conclusions regarding the 

 physical nature of fluorine itself. It is found that in all cases 

 the specific gravity of a compound is raised by the introduction 

 of fluorine instead of hydrogen. Thus while benzene at 20° 

 has the specific gravity o'8846, fluorbenzene, CgHsF, at 20° 

 possesses a specific gravity of I '0236. But, on the other hand, 

 the substitution of fluorine is found to have a remarkably small 

 effect in raising the boiling-point ; for instance, fluorbenzene 

 enters into ebullition at 85° C., a temperature only 5° higher than 

 that of boiling benzene. What is, however, still more interest- 

 ing is the fact that the difference between the boiling-points of 

 corresponding iodine and bromine substitution products, and 

 again between those of bromine and chlorine is smaller than 

 that between the substitution derivatives of chlorine and fluorine. 

 Whilst this difference of boiling-point between corresponding 

 bromides and chlorides amounts to 20-23°, that between 

 chlorides and fluorides approaches 40°. This fact, coupled with 

 the small influence which the substitution of fluorine exerts upon 

 the boiling point, indicates the interesting probability that the 

 boiling-point of free fluorine itself lies very much below that of 

 chlorine ( - 33°'5), and that fluorine much more nearly approaches 

 the volatility of hydrogen. Indeed, it appears likely that 

 fluorine is one of the so-called permanent gases, and might form 

 a worthy object for the attentions of those who have been so 

 successful in inducing the other "permanent" gases to reveal 

 their boiling-points ; the difficulties in the way would of course 

 be immense, but, in face of what has been done, are not perhaps 

 insuperable. Under all circumstances fluorine attaches itself to 

 carbon with far greater tenacity than any of the other halogens, 

 as was clearly shown by leaving one of the new fluorides, brom- 

 fluorbenzene, C(,H4BrF, in cold ethereal solution in contact with 

 metallic sodium. After eight days a considerable quantity of 

 sodium bromide had formed, but not a trace of the fluoride of 



sodium. The fluor-compounds themselves form a most valuable 

 contribution to organic chemistry, and fill up a gap which has 

 long been noticeable in the literature of the subject. 



Mr. J. A. Crowe, Her Majesty's Commercial Attach^ for 

 Europe, reports to the Board of Trade that the French Legis- 

 lature has recently passed a law enacting that a prize will be 

 given to the discoverer of a simple and practical test to ascertain 

 the presence in spirits and alcoholic drinks of substances other 

 than pure and ethylic alcohols. The conditions under which 

 the award is to be made will be determined by the Academy of 

 Sciences of the French Institute. 



In the last number of the Zoologischer Anzeiger, Dr. Otto 

 Zacharias earnestly recommends the establishment of a zoological 

 station on a German lake for the observation and study of the 

 freshwater fauna. 



The other day three ladies in India received the degree of 

 B.A., — two at the University of Calcutta, and one at the 

 University of Bombay. 



A SEAM of good coal is reported to have been discovered in 

 Cashmere. An officer of the Indian Geological Survey is to be 

 sent to examine it. 



Recently an elk was shot in Galicia. It is now 130 years 

 since the last of these animals was killed in Austria. It is 

 believed that the one referred to had come from Lithuania. 



It is generally believed that the Polar bear cannot be tamed. 

 Last autumn, however, a Norwegian skipper brought one of 

 these beirs with him from the Arctic Sea toTromso, and it has 

 become quite tame. The bear plays like a dog with the crew 

 of the vessel, and follows its master everywhere. It is nearly 

 full grown. 



The Spitzbergen whale-fisheries have been more remunerative 

 during the last two years than at any time during the past 

 quarter of a century. Last year 131 1 animals were killed. The 

 whalers are English, Russian, and Norwegian. 



A magnificent gift has lately been received by the Ethno 

 logical Museum at Leipzig, from Dr. Alphonse Stiibel (Dresden), 

 Dr. Wilhelm Reiss (Berlin), and Consul-General Benedix 

 Koppel (London). It consists of a rich collection of articles 

 illustrating the culture and industry of ancient and modern 

 South American races. The collection is divided into two 

 parts : the first being objects belonging to the period before 

 the Spanish conquest, the second being modern. There are 

 many figures, vessels, weapons, and implements of stone 

 and clay, found in the old Columbian, Bolivian, and Peruvian 

 tombs, as well as ancient silver, copper, and bronze orna- 

 ments from Ecuador and Peru. The Columbian antiquities, 

 and the ancient gold objects of . the Chibchas, are specially 

 noteworthy. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include two Snow Finches {Montifringilla nivalis), 

 European, presented by the Lord Lilford ; two Cockateels 

 {Calopsitta novcE-hollandice) from Australia, two Pale-headed 

 Parrakeets {Platycerctts pallidiceps) from North-East Australia, 

 presented by the Hon. Stormont Finch- Hatton ; an African 

 Buzzard {Buteo desertorum) from Africa, presented by Mr. 

 Sydney H. Carr, four Barbary Turtle Doves (Titretir risorius) 

 from North Africa, presented by Mr. John Biehl ; two Herring 

 Gulls {Larus argentatiis), British, presented by Mr. Thomas A. 

 Cotton ; a Common Barn Owl {Strix flammea), British, by Mr. 

 Hugh Bromley; a Moorish Gecko (Tarcniola maitri(aiiica)hom 

 France, presented by Mr. J. C. Warbury ; two Viscachas {Lago- 

 stomus trichodactylus) born in the Gardens. 



