June 20,, 1875] 



NATURE 



153 



Board would do well in sending circulars to the engineers of our 

 principal railways, as well as to all others who are likely to be 

 able to give them help in their laudable and valuable work. 



' We are informed that H.M.S. Challenger will have com- 

 pleted her cruise and be back in this country by April of next 

 year. 



The library of Audubon, the ornithologist, was destroyed by 

 fire in April last. It was in the house of Mrs. Bakewell, the 

 sistar-in-law of Audubon, at Shelby ville, Ky. 



The twenty-fourth annual meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Learning will be held in Detroit, 

 Mich., beginning on "Wednesday, August ii next, under the 

 presidentship of Mr. J. E. Ililgard, of Washington. 



Dr. Horner, the medical officer on board the Pandora, 

 which left England yesterday for the Arctic seas, will 

 take upon himself all the meteorological duties of the expe- 

 dition. Lieut Banyan, of the Dutch navy, will act as 

 scientific officer, it being intended that botanical and marine 

 research will form a prominent duty of the expedition. Hall's 

 Esquimaux Joe also accompanies the expedition, and altogether 

 there are thirty-two souls on board. Capt. Allen Young topes 

 to get as far north as Carey Island, at the entrance of Smith's 

 Sound. On this island a "post-office" or cairn has existed for 

 many years, and, accordingly, all the letters Capt. Allen Young 

 takes with him for the Alert and Discovery will be deposited 

 here, unless he falls in with one of those vessels. The com- 

 mander of this new expedition will push to the north-west after 

 leaving Carey Island, and if tlie Pandora succeeds in forcing a 

 way through the north-west passage, as Capt. Allen Young 

 hopes, she will be the first steamship to accomplish the mar- 

 vellous feat. She may possibly return in November next. 



In Part X. of the Deutsche Rundschau there is an excellent 

 review of Capt. Lawson's wonderful book, " Wanderings in the 

 Interior of New Guinea " (which we noticed in our issue of the 

 3rd inst., vol. xii. p. 83). The review is by Prof. A. B. Meyer, 

 director of the Zoological Museum at Dresden. Like' every 

 sensible man, Prof. Meyer points out the absurdities with 

 which this book is crammed. Indeed, he owns that he 

 was almost of opinion that it was the author's intention to 

 write a satire on modern narratives of travel, and that on 

 the last page of the book the reader would be told of this ; 

 *' but, unfortunately, Capt. Lawson is constantly in earnest ; 

 indied, he left no stone unturned to make the book attractive, 

 and to pass off its contents as real facts." Prof. Meyer dwells 

 at some length on Capt. Lawson's marvellous mountain ascents, 

 on his wonderful hunting feats, and his most surprising disco- 

 veries in the animal and vegetable world. He points out that 

 with regard to the quadruped fauna it is well known that tigers 

 are not found further eastward than Java, monkeys not further 

 than Timor, and deer not further than Halmahera, and that it 

 is incredible that these species, besides buffaloes, foxes, and 

 hares, [exist in New Guinea. Prof. Meyer, in conclusion, 

 thinks it rather surprising that shortly after the publication of 

 this wonderful book of fiction a deputation led by the Duke of 

 Manchester should have waited upon the Colonial Secretary with 

 a view to induce the Government to annex New Guinea. He asks, 

 " Was this a consequence of the marvellous description of the 

 distant country, or has the sensation novel been manufactured to 

 order ? " 



A NEW steering balloon by Smitter is being exhibited, sus- 

 pended in the middle of the Alcazar in Paris. The measure- 

 ment is only 6,000 cubic feet, but ^the balloon is so light, 

 that when filled with pure hydrogen it must float. A consider- 

 able sum of money has been invested in it, and great ability 



has been displayed in the construction. Although no practicable 

 result in open air may be hoped for, it is a wonderful piece of 

 clockwork. In connection with this subject it is stated that for 

 several months past a firm of engineers have been experimenting 

 privately at the Crystal Palace with an aerial steamer of a novel 

 and promising character, weighing 160 lbs. Experiments are 

 stated to have proved the capability of two vertical screws, each 

 12 feet diameter, to raise a weight of 120 lbs. ; the steam-engine, 

 with water and fuel, forming part of the weight so raised to the 

 extent of 80 lbs. The power exerted by it is equal to two-and- 

 a-half horses. The communication of motion is given by a 

 vertical axis emanating from the car. 



At a Congregation held on Friday, the report of the Cambridge 

 Syndicate recommending the purchase by the University of the 

 collect-on of models, instruments, and tools used by the late 

 Prof. Willis was confirmed. 



~Capt. R. F. Burton writes to the Times stating that the 

 Italian African Expedition, under the Marchese Antinori, is 

 reported to have for its ultimate object the wholly unvisited 

 section to the south-west of Christian Abyssinia and the Abai 

 River, " coimecting known countries^with the so-called Victoria 

 Nyanza Lake." 



We regret to announce the death of M. Le Besgue, oldest 

 Correspondent to the^Geomttry Section of the Paris Academy 

 of Sciences. He died on June 12, at Bordeaux. 



On Tuesday a deputation from the Highland and Agricultural 

 Society of Scotland waited upon the First Commissioner of 

 Works, to ask the Government to proceed with the Survey of 

 Scotland, which had been for some years in abeyance, and also 

 to allow it to be done on a 25-inch scale of maps. A memorial 

 was handed in to show that the opinion of the Scotch people 

 was that the Survey should] be at once carried out. Lord Henry 

 Lennox promised to give the subject his best consideration, and 

 remarked that the applications for the same object from different 

 parts of the United Kingdom made it difficult to obtain from the 

 Treasury any grants for the purpose. 



An important Report of a Committee of Council appointed 

 to consider the requirements of Oxford University, as amended 

 and adopted by Council, has been circulated for the information 

 of members of Convocation. The " Requirements of the Univer- 

 sity" may be conveniently divided into Provision for Buildings and 

 Institutions, and Provision for Professors and Teachers. Under the 

 head of Buildings and Institutions, it is stated th* with reference 

 to the Botanic Garden, if it is to remain where it is, the lease 

 being renewed, considerable amount of ^reconstruction is re- 

 quired, estimated at 4,000/. If it is to be removed to the 

 Parks, a much larger outlay will be required. With regard to 

 the University Museum, the heads of the three chief depart- 

 ments (Chemistry, Biology, Physics) report that additional 

 buildings are required in each of the three, roughly estimated in 

 all at 30,000/. Under the head of Provision for Professors and 

 Teachers, the Committee find many demands which it is diffi- 

 cult to meet at once ; one of their principal suggestions is the 

 appointment of a Board for the following purposes:—!. To 

 appoint lecturers from time to time to deliver lectures in the 

 University on any subject that may seem to the Board to claim 

 attention, and to assign payment to such lecturers. 2. To make 

 occasional grants to individuals for the purpose of carrymg on 

 special work in connection with the studies or institutions of the 

 University. 3. To appoint Readers for limited periods, not 

 exceeding ten years, in subjects in which public teaching within 

 the University may seem to the Board to be desirable ; and to 

 assign the stipends to such Readers ; such appointments and the 

 stipends being subject to the approval of Convocation. The 



