April s, 1888] 



NATURE 



543 



potatsium chloride, bromide, and iodide, as also for natrium 

 iodide, the weights of salt necessary to saturate a given amount 

 of water at 100" C. are proportionate to the cubes of densities 

 of the respective anhydride salts ; while for sodium chloride the 

 same law is true with regard to the saturation weights of water 

 at 0°. The saturation-weights of potassium chloride and 

 natrium iodide at 100° being the double of what they are at 

 zero, they belong simultaneously to both groups. 



M. LiNDELOF has contributed to the Proceedings of the 

 Scientific Society of Finland (tome xvi.), a paper on the tra- 

 jectory of a body moving over the earth's surface under the 

 influence of terrestrial rotation. The author considers that the 

 explanation of the movements of atmospheric currents, for 

 instance, as generally given, is far fi'om sufficient, and leads to 

 inexact ideas. The paper is divided into four parts : the first 

 three deal with the equations of the different movements of a 

 body, and with the forms taken by the trajectory ; in the fourth 

 part the theory is applied to the calculation of the passage of the 

 Umospheric wave observed after the Krakata~o eruption in 

 August 1883. 



Prof. W. Brogger lately submitted to the Swedish Geological 

 Society an account of the work done by the Committee appointed 

 for the purpose of obtaining reports on earthquakes occurring in 

 Sweden. It was decided that trustworthy reporters should be 

 appointed in all parts of the country, and that a number of 

 inexpensive seismographs should be purchased. At the same 

 meeting Baron Nordenskiold exhibited a new silicate of lead 

 from the Harstigs Mine, inVarmland. Among recent papers of 

 special interest published by the Society is one on the' meteors 

 observed in Sweden in 1887, by Dr. Svedmark. 



At a recent meeting of the Seismological .Society of Japan, 

 reported in the Japan Weekly Mail of February 4, Prof. Milne 

 read a paper on earthquake sounds. These frequently precede 

 the shock, are often heard during its progress, and sometimes 

 have been heard after the earthquake proper has ceased. Their 

 character is very varied, from a low, barely audible rumbling, to 

 a loud rattling, like a cart on a stony street, or a volley of mus- 

 ketry. They are heard better in some districts than in others ; 

 better probably where the earth's structure is hard and solid than 

 where it is loose and soft. After discussing some of the ex- 

 planations that have been given. Prof. Milne suggested that there 

 is a close connection between these sounds and the smaller 

 vibrations which invai iably precede the shock proper. He had 

 counted as many as seven per second of these sinuosities, and 

 we are warranted in assuming the existence of still smaller and 

 quicker vibrations preceding even these. With more delicate 

 seismographs we might be able to catch the very early infinitesi- 

 mal movements that herald the approach of an earthquake. 

 With thirty or forty vibrations per second we should have an 

 audible note of very low pitch. It was suggested in the sub- 

 sequent discussion that as seismographs show a tail-end of sinu- 

 osities very similar to the initial ones, we should expect to hear 

 sounds succeeding as often as preceding an earthquake. 



The Repo;t of Mr. Cautley, the Acting- Consul at Trieste, 

 on the forests of Austria, just issued by the Foreign Office, says 

 that perhaps Austria has a larger proportion of forest in com- 

 parison with its area than has any other country. The woods 

 cover about 3,500,000 acres, of which 80 per cent, is timber 

 forest, and the remainder of young growth. The Government 

 and the large land-owners own 69 per cent, of the total forest area, 

 the parish authorities 20 per cent., the clergy 5^ per cent., and 

 peasants about ij per cent. The forests are, in fact, the principal 

 source of wealth to Austria, and, calculating the cubic contents 

 of all the timber, and reckoning each cubic foot at nine-tenths of a 

 penny, the wealth of the whole country in this respect may be 



set down at close on ^^40, 000, 000 sterling. The yearly increase 

 in the value of the forests is said to be over half a million 

 sterling. 



In the Zoologist iox April, Mr. Postlethwaite, of Halltbwaites, 

 Cumberland, states that, last autumn, while netting for salmon 

 in the Duddon Estuary, fishermen brought to the surface some 

 massive horns of the red deer. One pair, with the skull 

 attached, must have had at least fifteen points ; the length of one 

 horn is 40 inches ; the distance apart at the top of the horns, 

 42 inches ; the circumference of the burr, 1 1 inches. In another 

 case, a skull was recovered with only a portion of one antler 

 attached ; and of a greater size than in the previous example. 

 The horn is broken just above the third tine, the length from the 

 base being 14 inches ; the length of one tine, 13^ inches ; and 

 the circumference of the burr, loj inches. A scapula was 

 dredged up and brought to shore at the same time. The weight 

 of each of these specimens was great, the first-named being 

 as much as a man could comfortably carry. Similar horns 

 were found some years ago, and in the neighbouring estuary of 

 the Ksk at various times many such antlers have been dis- 

 covered, most of which are preserved at Muncaster Castle. Mr. 

 Postlethwaite adds that the channel of the Duddon is shifting and 

 running close into the sides of an old peat moss, from which it 

 seems not unlikely that the horns have been washed. In an 

 editorial note appended to this interesting communication it is 

 suggested that the animals which possessed these fine horns may 

 have been wanderers from the great forest of Bowland, in 

 Lancashire, where red-deer lingered until the early part of the 

 present century ; and that they may have roamed over Martin- 

 dale Fell, in Westmoreland, ' ' where a few of their descendants 

 are still preserved, a pleasing link of association with the past." 



The whale fishery in the Greenland seas and Davis Straits 

 was very unprofitable in 1887. In an article on the subject in 

 the current number of the Zoologist, Mr. Southwell says that 

 whales are by no means exterminated. Capt. Gray saw 

 fourteen of them in Greenland, and Capt. Adams is reported to 

 have seen seventeen in Davis Straits ; but, from long persecution,, 

 they are now "simply unapproachable." 



The French Consul at Bilbao states in a recent report that 

 the pilchard or sardine fishery on the Atlantic shores of the 

 northern portion of Spain proved in 1887 a most disastrous 

 failure. During the three months of June, July, and August, 

 which are generally the most abundant in the year, nothing was 

 caught but sardines far too large for the boxes commonly used in 

 the trade. The amount taken in 1886 was 1650 tons, and 

 during the corresponding months in 1887, it was only 790 tons. 

 This large falling off is supposed to be due to the fact that the 

 fish do not find the food they require on this coast, formerly one 

 of their favourite habitats. Perhaps in a large measure it is 

 owing to their having been driven away by the reckless system 

 of fishing which has been adopted in the past. 



The Report of the Mason Science College, Birmingham, for the 

 yearendingFebruary23, 1888, has just been issued. TheChairnan 

 of the Academic Board testifies that, although the year was not 

 marked by any new or striking developments in the educational 

 policy of the College, or by any special additions to the existing 

 curriculum of the subjects taught, the general progress of the 

 College upon the lines laid down in previous years was eminently 

 satisfactory. Not only was the total number of day students 

 larger than in any previous year, but the increase affected, in 

 varying proportions, nearly all the different departments. The 

 year was also characterized by a marked increase in the number 

 of systematic students. By "systematic" students are meant 

 those who enter the College with the object of preparing for the 

 various University or medical examinations, for technical dip- 



