54 



NATURE 



{May 20, 1875 



We are informed that Mr, Chadwick, M.P., brought with 

 him from California, on his recent visit, a box of superior 

 Californian silkworm eggs. We understand that he is anxious 

 to distribute them to anyone having a supply of mulberry, 

 leaves and wishing to cultivate them. The eggs have been 

 entrusted to Mr. Loose, the secretary of the Chamber of Com- 

 merce, Macclesfield, from whom small quantities can be 

 obtained on application. Mr. Loose has also prepared a few 

 simple instructions for feeding and keeping the cocoons. 



The number of candidates at the recent General Exami- 

 nation for Women at the University of London was thirty-five. 

 Of these, twenty have passed, viz., seven in honours, twelve in 

 the first, and one in the second division. 



Prof. J, Sachs, of Wiirzburg, is engaged in the preparation 

 of a History of Botany, which is expected to be ready for pub- 

 lication in the course of the present year. 



In answer to a request made by the Paris Figaro, M. Dumas 

 has given the following details of the alleged effective remedy 

 against Phylloxera :— All remedies discovered up *to the year 

 1874 had the disadvantage that while destroying the ob- 

 noxious insects they did considerable harm to the vine itself ; 

 the experiments lately made with sulpho-carbonate of potash 

 were, however, perfectly successful, as they do not effect the 

 vine in the least ; they were made by M. Milne-Edwards, Du 

 Chartre, Blanchard, Pasteur, Thenard, and Boulay, in different 

 wine-growing districts, particularly in the environs of Avignon, 

 Cognac, Montpellier, and Geneva. The sulpho-carbonates are 

 strewed on the ground, the next rain helps them to penetrate 

 the soil, and the Phylloxera are completely destroyed by them. 

 These salts at present are still rather expensive, but in the dis- 

 tricts where the Phylloxera have only just appeared a very small 

 quantity is sufficient, and it is hoped that if Government under- 

 takes a larger production of the salts, the price will be consider- 

 ably reduced. 



The new Reptile House in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, has 

 sustained some heavy losses. A large turtle died from the shot 

 it had received many months ago when captured in the Atlantic 

 Ocean, and a large serpent from a wound inflicted by a rat. The 

 rat having been offered as hving food, resisted violently, and bit 

 his adversary so deeply that he died a few days afterwards. The 

 warders in the picturesque Reptile House will probably be more 

 cautious in future in showing visitors the spectacle of Ophidians 

 runnmg after their food. 



We are glad to say, however, that the above heavy loss will 

 be to a considerable extent compensated, as the Jardin des 

 Plantes will receive in a very few days a Boa more than eight 

 yards m length, which has just arrived at Havre. We believe it 

 takes a goat or a sheep to appease its appetite at one time. 



A Geographical Society has been established in Roumania 

 under the patronage of the present Prince. A great want has 

 been felt of such an institution, not a single original work having 

 been written by Roumanians on the geography of their native 

 land. All geographical school-books are merely translations of 

 foreign works, and are all full of errors, even as regards 

 Roumania. 



A CORRESPONDENT of the Pharmacmtical Journal, Mr. G. C. 

 Druce, suggests whether Saxifraga tridactylitcs is not a carni- 

 vorous plant. He states that the glands on the leaves present a 

 veiy similar appearance to those oi Drosera, and secrete a viscid 



exam,,,ed he found the d^ris of some insect attached to the 



The second of a series of industrial exhibitions projected by 

 the Manchester Society for the Promotion of Scientific Industry 

 was opened at Cheetham Hill, Manchester, on Friday last. The 

 present show has been arranged for the special encouragement of 

 appliances for the economy of labour. 



A LARGi deposit of amber has been discovered in' the 

 Kurische Haff, near the village of Schwarzort,*; about twelve 

 miles south of Memel. It had been known for many years that 

 amber existed in the soil of the Kurische Haff, from the fact that 

 the dredgers employed by Government for the purpose of clearing 

 away the shallow spots near Schwarzort that impeded navigation 

 had brought up pieces of amber, which, however, were appro- 

 priated by the labourers ; and no particular attention was paid to 

 the matter till recently. Some speculative persons, reports our 

 Consul at Memel, made an offer to the German Government, not 

 only to do the dredging required at their own expense, but als3 

 to pay a daily rent, provided the amber they might find should 

 become their own property. The proposal was accepted, and 

 the rent fixed at twenty-five thalers for each working day. The 

 dredging was commenced by four machines, worked by horses, 

 which have increased in number and efficiency till eighteen other 

 dredges and two tug-boats, with about 100 lighters or barges, 

 employing altogether 1,000 labourers, are,' now engaged in the 

 industry. The ground covers an area of about six miles in 

 length, and a yearly rent of 72,200 thalers is paid by the com- 

 pany to the Government. 



A NEW species of a new genus of serpents, collected by Lieut. 

 Wheeler's expedition in Arizona during the field season of 1874, 

 has just been identified and named by Prof. E, D. Cope. It is 

 called Monopoma rufipunctaUim. The rostral shield of this new 

 genus resembles that of Phimothyra, and the lateral head shields 

 those of Cydophis ccstirus. It is, however, more like Eutccnia 

 in general character. This is a very interesting discovery. 



For some time past the United States steamer Fortune, com- 

 manded by Commander F. M. Green, has been engaged in the 

 Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies, under the direction of the 

 Hydrographic Office, in determining the latitude and longitude 

 of certain points connected by submarine telegraph. Those so 

 far decided are Panama, Aspinwall, Kingston, Santiago de 

 Cuba, and Havana, in each of which places a portable observa- 

 tory and astronomical instruments were set up, and numerous 

 observations made. The longitudes M'ere determined by the 

 exchange of telegraphic 'signals, and the latitudes by the zenith 

 telescope observations. During the course of this work nume- 

 rous soundings were taken, and a very extensive series of speci- 

 mens of the sea-bottom brought up. These have been submitted 

 to Prof. Hamilton L. Smith, of Hobart College, Geneva, New 

 York, who finds among them many new species, and others pre- 

 viously considered as very rare, and scarcely met with since their 

 description by Prof, Bailey and others. 



The Manchester Field Naturalists' Society issues a very 

 EMdest Report for 1874, from which it seems that the Society is 

 <J<Hng quiet, steady, satisfactory work ; "the working members 

 -of the Society have steadily extended their knowledge, and latent 

 tagte for Natural History has been fostered and developed," 

 Thss Society is a field club, and during 1874 had twelve suc- 

 cessful excursions, interesting reports of which are given by Mr. 

 F, J, Faraday. 



Another Manchester society, and one that really deserves 

 honourable mention, is that known as the Manchester Scientific 

 Students' Association. From its Annual Report for 1874 it is 

 evident that the Society does much good work in which a com- 

 paratively large proportion of the members take part. Their 

 frequent excursion* are not mere pleasure-trips, as, besides a 

 leader, a lecturer is appointed, who generally takes up a parti- 



