Feb. 9. 1888] 



NATURE 



349 



Meyer, Zurich ; Prof. L. Riitimever, Basle ; Prof. H. 

 Strasser, Berne ; Prof. Otto Mohr," Dresden ; and Prof. 

 Albert Heim, of Zurich, representing the Committee 

 offering the prize. 



Art. 3. The judges are authorized to award a first 

 prize of two thousand francs ; and a further sum of one 

 thousand francs is placed at their disposal for distribution 

 in minor prizes according to their discretion. 



Art. 4. The work awarded the first prize becomes the 

 property of the Foundation of Schnyder of Wartensee, 

 which will arrange with the author regarding the 

 publication of the same. 



Art. 5. Each competing work must bear on the title- 

 page a distinguishing motto, and must be accompanied 

 by a sealed envelope containing the name of the author, 

 and bearing on the outside the same motto. 



Art. 6. Competing works are to be sent in by the date 

 named in Art. i, to the following address: "An das 

 Prasidium des Conventes der Stadtbibliothek in Zurich 

 (betreffend Preisaufgabe der Stiftung von Schnyder von 

 Wartensee fijr 1890)." 



NOTES. 

 The death of Sir Henry Maine, F.R.S., has created a great 

 blank in the serious literature of England. He was the first 

 Englishman who applied to the study of law and early institu- 

 tions the rigid methods of science, and the results at which he 

 arrived marked an epoch in the investigation of these subjects. 

 His literary style, combining as it did extraordinary vigour, 

 lucidity, and grace, was scarcely less remarkable than his 

 grasp of far-reaching principles. He died'suddenly, of apoplexy, 

 at Cannes, on Friday evening last. He was in his sixty-sixth 

 year. 



In a letter received from Mr. John Whitehead, dated Labuan 

 December 13, 1887, that gentleman writes :—" To-day or to 

 morrow I start for Kina Balu, and I hope to make this a 

 famous and last expedition into Borneo, for I really am in 

 wonderful health considering everything, but at the same time I 

 am rather tired of Borneo, with its fevers, heat, and mosquitoes. 

 I hope to be back in England in August and September. I do 

 not like to brag of what.l hope to do, as things are so uncertain. 

 Natives may refuse to help me, and may perhaps attack me, for 

 the country round this fine mouutain is by no means settled." 

 On the last occasion of his visiting Kina Balu a year ago, Mr. 

 Whitehead was only able to remain a month upon the moun- 

 tain, but he discovered nineteen new species of birds in that ' 

 short time, some of them being really wonderful novelties. He 

 now hopes to remain for at least six months, and this he will 

 doubtless be able to do, if he can secure supplies for his hunters, 

 and keep open his communication with Labuan. 



Mr, Whitehead's collections from the island of Palawan 

 have now arrived in this country, and a brief account of them 

 will appear in the April number of the Ibis. This island has 

 already been visited by Prof. Steere, Mr. Alfred Everett, and 

 Mr. E. Lempriere, all of whom made collections in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Puerto Princesa. Mr. Whitehead's labours were 

 also confined to the vicinity of this post, as he was prevented 

 from visiting the interior. He has succeeded, however, in pro- 

 curing specimens of every species met with by the three tra- 

 vellers above-mentioned, and has besides obtained about sixty 

 additional species, several being new to science. 



The Council of the Royal Meteorological Society have 

 arranged to hold, at 25 Great George Street, Westminster, on 

 March 20-23 next, an Exhibition of Apparatus connected with 

 Atmospheric Electricity, including lightning-conductors, photo- 

 graphs of lightning, and damaged objects. The Committee will 

 also be glad to show any new meteorological instruments or 



apparatus invented or first constructed since last March ; as well 

 as photographs and drawings possessing meteorological interest. 



A FRIENDLY meeting of employers and working men, to 

 discuss the best means of obtaining technical education, will be 

 held at the Royal Victoria Hall, Waterloo Bridge Road, on 

 Wednesday, February 15, at eight o'clock. The chair will be 

 taken by Sir Douglas Galton. This meeting has been arranged 

 in consequence of the great interest shown in a similar meeting 

 held at the same place on December 14, The speakers will be 

 limited to ten minutes, and those who wish to speak must send 

 in their names the day before the meeting. 



The new American Folk-Lore Society was definitely organized 

 at a meeting held at Harvard College on January 4. The object 

 of the Society is the study of folk-lore in general, and especially 

 of folk-lore in North America. The first President is Prof. 

 F. J. Child, of Harvard, and the acting Secretary is Mr. 

 W. W. Newell, of Cambridge, Mass. It is expected that 

 the first number of the Society's journal will be published in 

 April. 



The Duchess of Albany has become Patroness of the Parkes 

 Museum, of which the Duke of Albany was President until his 

 death; 



During the coining spring the construction of the North Sea 

 and Baltic Canal will be begun along the whole line. There 

 will be seven camps of workmen, and 4000 men employed. 



The Education Department of Scotland has issued a circular 

 to the various School Boards in that country, in which are 

 embodied the results of the careful inquiries that have recently 

 been made into the existing sy-tem of elementary scientific 

 teaching in Scottish schools. Technical instruction is dis- 

 couraged in primary schojls till the boys have reached the 

 higher standards, and even then, the Department thinks, no 

 attempt should be made unless skilled teachers and abundance 

 of scientific apparatus are available. In most instances the 

 thorough teaching of elementary science is beyond the reach of 

 the primary schools ; but by various School Boards uniting to 

 employ a trained staff of teachers much of the difficulty will be 

 overcome. School Boards are also recommended to seek the 

 aid of local committees consisting of manufacturers who know 

 what technical education is most needed in the district. The 

 Department also recommends the extension of the system of 

 giving evening lectures, which have been so successful in the 

 past, and the charging of fees low enough to be within the 

 reach of all. Nothing would tend to make technical education 

 more popular than a small rate of charge, combined, as it 

 should always be, with trained help and an abundant supply of 

 scientific instruments. 



A striking new experiment, exhibiting the terribly explosive 

 nature of chloride of nitrogen, is described by Prof, Victor 

 Meyer in the current number of the Berichte. A few drops of 

 the yellow chloride were prepared in the usual manner by invert- 

 ing an exceptionally thin flask filled with chlorine gas in a leaden 

 dish containing a solution of ammonium chloride. Instead, how- 

 ever of gently agitating the apparatus so as to cause the drops to 

 fall into a smaller leaden capsule placed beneath the mouth of 

 the flask, they were allowed to float freely upon the surface. 

 The whole apparatus was then inclosed in a cover-box fitted with 

 stout plate-glass sides, through the top of which was passed a 

 bent pipette, turning up below just under the mouth of the flask 

 and connected outside with a dropping funnel containing chloride 

 of ammonium solution and a few drops of turpentine. When 

 sufficient chloride of nitrogen had collected, the tap of the funnel 

 was carefully turned so as to allow a little turpentine to slowly 

 rise in the flask. After a moment or two it reached the surface 

 and mingled with the chloride of nitrogen, causing a brilliant 



