June 3, 1875J 



NATURE 



97 



blished ; for Man existed in Europe long before the extinction 

 j of the American Mastodon. 



An interesting innovation has been tried with great success at 



i tho National Libraiy of Paris. It has been suggested by M. 



Belliard, one of the principal librarians, who was appointed the 



j head of th« Receiving Office a few months ago, to publish a 



I monthly paper containing a descriptive list of the works which 



t havt been presented to the library, or purchased during the 



preceding months. The works sent by the Home Office for the 



d£p5t le^al are not registered in that paper : there is for these a 



special publication. The first number has been issued, and is a 



lithographed i2mo pamphlet of thirty-two pages, having about 



two hundred entries. A copy will be presented to the great 



libraries abroad and in France. 



Mr. A. J. Harvey, known to many as the advocate of various 

 schemes of social improvement, now propounds a scheme for a 

 "People's Museum of Physical Astronomy, to be erected and 

 endowed by Government." "The object and design of a 

 Museum of Physical Astronomy," Mr. Harvey states, "should 

 be to popularise, familiarise, enlighten, and instruct the people in 

 whatever can be illustrated, taught, and told, through the eye 

 alone and without the aid or necessity of books, &c., of Physical 

 Astronomy." It should be "a museum worthy of the intelli- 

 gence and wealth of this great country, in which the whole 

 visible universe is roughly presented to us, exhibited upon a 

 colossal yet exact scale, and wherein the actual motions of the 

 heavenly bodies are visible to the naked eye, wherein vast space 

 can be spanned by the hand and great epochs of time counted 

 with ease by the mind." 



We have received from Messrs. Blackwood and Sons an in- 

 teresting lecture by Dr. Page, entitled "Recreative Science; a 

 Plea for Field Clubs and Science Associations." It ought to be 

 circulated extensively among our field-clubs and other local 

 scientific societies. 



One of the most important of the many valuable U.S. Govern- 

 ment documents published during a few months past is the Annual 

 Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Snr- 

 vey of the Territories for 1873, as prepared by Dr. Hayden, 

 being a volume of 730 pages, profusely illustrated with plates 

 and sections, and exhibiting the physical geography, the sectional 

 geology, the mining, and the natural history of the country. 

 The volume consists of several sections. The first, that of 

 Geology, Mineralogy, and Mining Industry, was prepared by 

 Dr. Hayden, Mr. Marvine, Mr. Peak, and Dr. Endlich. The 

 second embraces special reports on Palaeontology, on the Fossil 

 Flora, by Prof. Lesquereux, and on the Vertebrates by Mr. 

 Cope. Part third. Zoology, contains articles on the recent In- 

 vertebrates, by Lieut. Carpenter, Dr. Packard, Baron Osten- 

 sacken, Mr. Ulke, Dr. Hagen, Mr. S. J. Smith, Prof. Verrill, 

 and Mr. WiUiam G. Binney. Part fourth, upon the Geography 

 and Topography, is from the pen of Mr. James T. Gardner, 

 geographer of the expedition. There is also an appendix by 

 Mr. A. R. Marvine. 



The Rev. G. H. Hopkins gives the following method for 

 fixing the curves which steel filings take when under the action 

 of a bar magnet. The filings having been prepared so as to be as 

 nearly the same size as possible, and that size very minute, are 

 pound into a mortar, and a small quantity of finely powdered 

 resin is added ; these are stirred together until the two sub- 

 stances are completely mixed, and then, considerable pres- 

 sure being exerted upon the pestle, they are rubbed until the 

 resin adheres to the filings in a very fine coating. The filings 

 can then be sprinkled as usual, and the curves formed. It is 

 best (after the curves are foinied) to heat the plane surface, glass, 

 paper, or wood, according to convenience, over a stove or in an 



oven, which easily allow it to be sufficiently as well as uniformly 

 heated. For projecting the curves on a screen, the following, 

 we believe, is a very effective method. Cover the glass with 

 thin gum-water, allow it to dry perfectly ; obtain the curves on 

 the dry gummed surface ; finally, breathe on the plate : the gum 

 is thereby softened and the curve permanently fixed. Substituting 

 corresponding shaped pieces of paper for the magnets (a pin- 

 hole can be used to indicate the N. pole), the curves can be 

 covered with a second plate of glass, and thus preserved as an 

 ordinary lantern slide. 



A VERY satisfactory report has been issued for the past year 

 by the committee of the Devon and Exeter Albert Memorial 

 Museum, &c. Several valuable additions in natural history have 

 been made to the Museum, and in the reference library there has 

 been an addition of eighteen per cent, in the issue of works on 

 science and art. The institution as a whole continues to work 

 so well that more room and better accommodation^are urgently 

 demanded. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Grey-cheeked Monkey (Cercocebus albi' 

 gena), a Marsh Ichneumon {Berpestes paludosus), an Angolan 

 Vulture {Gypohierax angolinsis) from W. Africa, presented by 

 the late Mr. H. Ansell ; a Syrian Bear {Ursus syriacus from 

 Western Asia, presented by Mr. W. Kirby Green ; an Aus- 

 tralian Cassowary {Castiarhis australis) from Australia, presented 

 by Mr. E. P. Ramsay ; a Black-necked Stork (Xenorhynchus 

 australis) from Australia, presented by Mr. C.Moore ; two Egyp- 

 tian Geese (Chenalopex ocgyptiaca) from W. Africa, presented by 

 Mr. R. B. N. Walker ; three Chestnut-eared Finches (Amadina 

 tastanotis) from Australia, presented by Mrs. G. French Angas ; 

 a Common Raccoon {Procyon lotor) from N. America, presented 

 by Mr, Wesson; a Reeves's Muntjac {Cervulus reevtsi) born in 

 the Gardens. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The American Journal of Science and Arts, May. — The first 

 article is a continuation (No. 5) of a series of notices on re- 

 cent earthquakes, by Prof. Rockwood. The second is an inquiry 

 by Prof. J. D. Dana on Dr. Koch's evidence with regard to the 

 contemporaneity of Man and the Mastadon in Missouri. (See 

 Note, p. 96.) — Mr. Carey Lea communicates a short note on 

 the influence of colour upon reduction of light, and Prof. 

 Rowland a description of a new diamagnetic attachment to the 

 lantern. — The geological articles are the Primordial Strata of 

 Virginia, by W.Fontaine, and the Age of the Southern Appala- 

 chians, by F. H. Bradley. — The contributions from the Physical 

 Laboratory of Harvard College are on the construction of 

 Gaugain's galvanometer, on a new form of magneto-electric 

 engine, by W. R. Morse, and some remarks by S. Newcomb on 

 the Transit of Venus. 



The Journal de Physique thcorique et appliquSe, April 1875, 

 contains the following original papers : — Researches on thermo- 

 diffusion, by J. Violle. — Determination of the velocity of light 

 and of the sun's parallax, by M. A. Comu.— On some polarisa- 

 tion experiments, by M. Bertin (last paper). — On an apparatus 

 destined to get glass penetrated by the electric spark, by MM. 

 Terquem and Trannin.— The number contains also several 

 abstracts from papers taken from other serials. 



Der Nahirforscher,^ March 1875.— From this part we note 

 the followmg papers : — On the influence of the densitjf of metals 

 upon their magnetisation ; new researches made by Herr Bom- 

 stein with iron, nickel, and cobalt.— On the meteorite of Roda 

 (in the Spanish province of Huesca), by Herren Tschermak and 

 Lang. — On the genetic classification of the flora of Australia, by 

 C. von Ettinghausen. — On the shooting stars observed on Nov. 

 13 and Dec. 10, 1874, at the Toulouse Observatory, under the 

 direction of M. Gruey. — On vegetable mucus, by Herren Kirch- 

 ner and Tollens. — On the action of hydrochloric acid upon lead- 

 antimony alloys, by Herr II. v. d. Planitz. — On the behaviour of 

 hydrocarbons under restricted oxidation, by M, Berthelot— On 



