June lo, 1875J 



NATURE 



115 



SCIENCE IN GERMANY 

 {From a Germari Correspondent^ 



IT 'is not only due to the quantitative increase of 

 scientific Avork, but also to the exigencies of the 

 division of labour, that the German serials dedicated 

 to zoological and anatomical research have been aug- 

 mented by two new ones this year. 



The Morpholooisches Jahrbjcch, edited by Carl Gegen- 

 baur, Professor at Heidelberg, unites anatomy and the 

 history of the development of animals in their mutual 

 and intimate relation as animal morphology. It has for 

 its first object the recognition of the intimate relations 

 amongst different degrees of animal organisation, and 

 further, to consider the anatomy of man as illustrated by 

 the knowledge of the construction of lower organisms. 

 This programme evidently excludes all descriptions and 

 one-sided observations which cannot be used for the 

 above purpose. The first number contains papers on 

 the extreme ends of the animal world, viz., Man and 

 Infusoria, and thus illustrates the end in view most 

 perfectly. The Jahrbuch will be supplemented annually 

 by a yearly report of the progress of the anatomy of 

 Vertebrata. This serial appears quarterly in numbers of 

 from 6 to 10 sheets of text, with plates, at the price of 

 from 6 to 9 marks. 



Zeitschrtft fiir Anatomie und EntwickelimgsgescJiichte 

 ("Journal of Anatomy and History of Development"), 

 edited by W. His and W. Braur.e, Professors of Ana- 

 tomy at the University of Leipzig. The principal 

 object of this new serial is to be the knowledge of the 

 human body ; but papers will also be received which 

 touch upon this theme from a somewhat more distant 

 point of view. At the same time attention will also 

 be turned to the practical side of this subject as well as 

 the theoretical, and materials will be offered to the 

 medical man which will be of immediate use to him in 

 his sphere of action. The double number published of 

 this serial shows that its programme has very wide 

 limits and will eventually be of interest to the zoologist 

 and anatomist, as well as to the practical physician. 

 A number of this serial will be published every two 

 months, containing about five sheets of text and five 

 plates, at the price of from 6 to 8 marks. 



NOTES 



The Local Secretaries of the Bristol Meeting of the British 

 Association are doing all in their power to make it in every way 

 a success, and to secure the comfort and enjoyment of those 

 members who may attend ; and we think we may promise all 

 who do a pleasant time of it. Although the railway companies 

 have obdurately refused to grant any special concessions to those 

 who will attend the Bristol Meeting, we have reason to believe 

 that the usual complaints as to hotel charges will not have 

 to be made ; all the principal hotels have given assurance 

 that their tariffs will not be raised, except in the case of beds, 

 the charge for which, quite naturally, will be slightly increased. 

 There are many places of scientific as well as general interest in 

 and around Bristol ; and the Bristol Museum, one of the best 

 provincial collections in the kingdom, will be temporarily en- 

 larged for the occasion. Excursions to various places will be 

 arranged, and the Mayor and inhabitants of Bath have signified 

 their wish to receive a visit from the Association. At the soiree on 

 August 26 the Bristol Microscopical Society, assisted by the 

 Naturalists' Society and the Bath Microscopical Society, has 

 undertaken to give a systematic microscopic demonstration of 

 the natural history of the neighbourhood ; a novel feature will be 

 the number of living objects which will be exhibited. At the 

 second soiree, Aug. 31, a number of objects of great scientific 

 interest wUl be exhibited. \. A special Guide Book is being 



compiled, and a very useful map of the country for many miles 

 round Bristol has been prepared. 



The section of the Eclipse Expedition which went to Camorta 

 returned last week. No detailed news has been received from 

 the Siam party. 



At its last private sitting, the Paris Academy of Sciences 

 was apprised by its Administrative Commission that the expense 

 for the several Transit of Venus expeditions had exceeded by 

 80,000 francs the sum granted by the Government. A supple- 

 mentary credit will be asked for from the Versailles Assembly ; 

 and M. Leverrier proposed to offer to the Government the 

 instruments' used by the several|expeditions, which now belong 

 to the Academy. These 6-inch and 8-inch refractors are large 

 enough to be utilised in the establishment of local observatories 

 in several provincial towns of France and Algiers. The motion 

 was unanimously accepted on condition that the said instruments 

 should be lent to the Academy for the Transit expeditions of 

 1882. 



The number of Prof. Huxley's students in Edinburgh Univer- 

 sity now amounts to upwards of 350. 



The gentlemen whose names we mentioned in a previous 

 number (vol. xi, p. 497), were, at the annual election meeting 

 of the Royal Society last Thursday, elected Fellows. 



The Norwegian Government has granted a credit of 4,000/. 

 for an expedition to be sent out next yearunder the scientific 

 direction of Dr. Mohn, for the exploration of the sea between 

 Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Spitzbergen, and Jan Mayen. The 

 commander of this expedition will be Capt. Carr Wile, of the 

 Royal Norwegian Navy, who is now in England gathering 

 information as to the work done by the Challenger. 



We take the following from the Academy .-—Under the title 

 of the Belgian Society of Dredging and Marine Exploration, a 

 society has been formed for the systematic exploration of the 

 North Sea, The annual subscription is to be 15 francs. The 

 materials as collected are to be submitted to various scientific 

 men who have made the different departments their special 

 study, and are afterwards to go to form a central collection 

 accessible to all the members. Duplicate specimens not required 

 for this purpose are to be sold each year at one of the meetings 

 of the Society. The circular which has been issued suggests 

 that, by means of such a society, Belgium may be able to con- 

 tribute its share to the advancement of that branch of science for 

 which so much has been done by our own countrymen. We 

 need not say that we wish it every success. 



We are glad to learn that Capt. Hoffmeyer, director of the 

 Royal Danish Meteorological Institute at Copenhagen, intends 

 to continue the publication of his daily Synoptic Meteorological 

 Charts for the third quarter, June to August 1874. The charts 

 are constructed from every available source for the region em- 

 braced, viz., from about lat. 30° to 70° N., and from long. 40° W. 

 to 40" E. of Paris, The cost of subscription in this country is 

 I2J. 6^. for the three months, but as only a limited number is 

 printed, application should be made at once to Mr. R. PI. 

 Scott, director of the Meteorological Office, 116, Victoria Street, 

 London, S.W. 



We understand that Prof. Boyd Dawkins, of Owens College, 

 leaves this week for Sydney, vid the Suez Canal. After 

 conducting a geological exploration in Australia, he intends 

 returning by San Francisco, reaching England in October, 

 thus making the circuit of the world in about 120 days. 



At its last sitting the Council of the Paris Observatory passed 

 resolutions relating to the observation of intra-Mercurial planets 

 and the determination of the velocity of light by the sateUites 



