ii6 



NATURE 



\yune lo, 1875 



of Jupiter and by aberration. These last researches are intended 

 for the verification of the numbers obtained by the parallax of 

 the sun and by Cornu's direct experiments. A beginning will be 

 made as soon as the necessary funds have been granted by the 

 Ministry. The intra-Mercurial planets are to be observed photo- 

 graphically when crossing the disc of the sun. These researches 

 will be commenced as soon as the fitting up for photographic 

 purposes of the great Arago refracting telescope is finished. 



It is expected that the French Academy of Sciences will hold 

 its annual meeting for distribution of prizes on the 21st inst. 



M. Laboulaye, a Professor in the College of France and an 

 influential member of the French Assembly, read, at the sitting 

 of the latter on June 5, a report, drawn up by him] in the name 

 of a special commission, asking the establishment in France of 

 Free Universities. M. Wallon, the French Minister of Public 

 Instruction, is said to be greatly in favour of the scheme. 



A STRANGE case of poisoning is reported from Stettin. A 

 gentleman had bought a hat in a shop there, and, after having 

 worn it for one or two days, was troubled with unbearable head- 

 ache ; at the same time little ulcers formed upon his forehead, 

 his eyes were inflamed, and the whole of the upper part of his 

 head was much swollen. It was evident that these symptoms were 

 caused by the hat, and upon examination by a chemist it was 

 found that the brown leather ia the inside of the hat was 

 coloured with a poisonous aniUne dye. It appears that inflam- 

 mation is unavoidable when this dye is in contact with any part 

 of the skin. 



Dr. Oscar Fraas, director of the Natural History Museum 

 and Professor of Geology at Stuttgart, has arrived at Beyrut, 

 invited by Rustem Pasha ; he intends to study the Lebanon 

 geologically and miaeralogically, and to work out a geological 

 map of that range of mountains. 



The great meeting of German ornithologists took place at 

 Brunswick on May 20-23. Brehm, Cabanis, Homeyer, Blasius, 

 Reichenow, Pralle, and many other members of the two ornitho- 

 logical societies, were present. The first meeting led to the 

 union of the two societies. It was resolved to request all the 

 members to report to a Committee from time to time all obser- 

 vations of interest to science, agriculture, or the economy of 

 forests, that they may make, on the life, manners, use, &c., of 

 German birds. The Committee is to publish the materials thus 

 obtained, after due consideration and sifting. 



In a letter dated Constantinople, May 20, the Kdlnische 

 Zeitung gives some details on the earthquake which took place 

 on the west coast of Asia Minor. On the i rth of May, at 5 A. m. , 

 a severe shock was felt at Smyrna which lasted several seconds. 

 Two other shocks followed the same morning, and although 

 many houses were shaken, yet none fell. It is thought that the 

 centre of the earthquake was in the Sporades Islands. Accord- 

 ing to other reports on the dreadful earthquake of the 3rd-5th of 

 May in the interior, the sources of the Maeander river were indi- 

 cated as the centre of the volcanic action. This point is situated 

 in the canton of Ishikli, to the south of Ushak and Afium Kara- 

 hissar. The destruction was fearful at Ishikli : about 1,000 

 houses were completely destroyed and several thousand people 

 killed ; only about twenty dwelling-houses and two mosques are 

 now standing. In the village of Yivril not one of 300 houses is 

 left, and about 450 dead have been extricated from the ruins. 

 Not far from there an immense chasm has formed in the ground, 

 from which is running a stream of hot water. The village of 

 Yaka is likewise annihilated. In other villages, as Savasli, 

 Karayapli, &c., the inhabitants escaped with a violent shock. 



A Reuter's telegram, dated New York, June 7, states that 

 - an earthquake has occurred at the Loyalty Islands, a tidal wave 

 at the same time sweeping over three villages. 



At a meeting of the Upper-Rhenish Geological Society, which 

 took place at Donaueschingen on] May 23, Dr. Knop, of the 

 Polytechnic Institution of Karlsruhe, read an interesting paper 

 on the phenomenon of disappearance of the waters of the 

 Danube, in some rugged piece of ground over which the river flows 

 near Immendingen. Dr. Knop has been ordered by the Baden 

 Government to investigate the matter scientifically. It is sup- 

 posed that the little river Aach, which flows into the Lake of 

 Constance, and thus into the Rhine, is the result of this pheno- 

 menon, as there can be no doubt that the volume of the Danube 

 is considerably diminished after having passed over the spot in 

 question. The present, i.e. tke visible source of the Aach, is 

 near the village of the same name, and the river flows from a 

 cavern of several hundred feet in circumference, from underneath 

 overhanging rocks, with great velocity and force ; it turns several 

 waterwheels close to its source. A chemical analysis of its water 

 is now being made, with a view of ascertaining whether the 

 water is of the same composition, i.e. contains the same impuri- 

 ties as that of the Danube. 



Several writers in the Belgique Horiicole have given the 

 results of their experience in managing marine aquariums. A 

 certain Mr. Bauwens says that he has possessed a marine aqua- 

 rium now nearly ten years, and the sea-zvater has never been 

 renetved. All that he does is to add fresh water as the salt 

 water evaporates, the same degree of saltness being invari- 

 ably maintained. Various species of small seaweeds and several 

 molluscs thrive without further care, but some species of Actinia 

 raised in the same medium were starved to death when the 

 owner was absent from home for a considerable time. He made 

 it a practice to feed them with a little mould, worms, or even 

 raw meat. 



The quality ot water in relation to its fauna and flora has 

 been the subject of investigation by some of the French Acade- 

 micians. In substance the results seem to prove that water in 

 which animals and plants of higher organisation will thrive is 

 fit to drink ; and, on the other hand, water in which only the 

 infusoria and lower cryptogams will grow is unhealthy. If the 

 water become stagnant and impure, aquatic plants of the higher 

 order will languish and disappear, and the half-suflbcated fish will 

 rise near the surface'and crowd together in parts where there may 

 still be a little of the purer element trickling in, and if driven 

 from these places they soon die. Physa fontinalis will only live 

 in very pure water ; Valvata piscinalis in clear water ; Limncca 

 ovata and stagnalis and Planorbis marginatiis in ordinary water ; 

 and, finally, Cyclas cornea and Bithynia impura in water of 

 middling quality — but no mollusc will live in corrupt water. 

 Plants also exercise a reactive influence on the quality of water. 

 The most delicate appears to be the common watercress, the 

 presence of which indicates excellent quality. Veronicas and 

 the floating water-weeds flourish only in water of good quality. 

 The water-plantain, mints, loosestrife, sedges, rushes, water-lilies, 

 and many others, grow perfectly well in water of moderately 

 good quality. Some of the sedges and the arrow-heads will thrive 

 in water of very poor quality. The most hardy or least exacting 

 in this respect is the common reed, or Phragmites communis. 



Amongst the recent additions to the Southport Aquarium are 

 a Sturgeon, seven-and-a-half feet in length, captured at low tide 

 in the estuary of the Ribble, and a large specimen of the Wolf 

 Fish {Anarrhichas lupus), from Norway. 



The foundation-stone of an aquarium was laid at Rothesay, 

 in the Island of Bute, on Saturday. 



To-day, at the Mansion House, a public meeting will be held 

 in connection with the Cambridge University Extension Scheme; 

 the Lord Mayor will preside. 



