:>58 



NATURE 



[Aug. 26, 1875 



THE FRENCH ASSOCIATION FOR THE 

 ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 

 ''PHIS year's session of this Association was opened last Thurs- 

 *- day at Nantes, under the presidency of M. d'Eichthal, who 

 i-; largely connected with French railways. The income of the 

 Association for 1874 was 37,126 francs, and its capital fund 

 amounts to 174,731 francs. In 1874, 5,350 francs were dis- 

 tributed for purposes of research, and already, owing to the 

 •:enerosity of three of the foundation members, 7,000 francs 

 have been allotted to other purposes without trenching on the 

 regular resources of the Association, This year 13 foundation 

 members and 500 annual members have been added to the 

 Association. 



The President in his opening address spoke of the intimate 

 connection between pure science and the various methods cm- 

 ployed to satisfy the wants of humanity. It would be almost 

 impossible, he said, to enumerate all the branches of human 

 activity which owe their success to the researches of pure science, 

 — Hygiene, Medicine, Surgery, the Fine Arts, Mechanics, 

 Industry in all its branches, Mining, Metallurgy, Textile 

 Industries, Lighting, Warming, Ventilation, Water Supply, &c. 

 He then referred in detail to several examples of the influence 

 which the results of science have had upon progress in the arts, 

 with the motive forces of water, air and steam, mentioning a 

 multitude of names of men eminent in pure science, from Pascal 

 and Boyle down to Faraday and Sir William Thomson, upon 

 the results of whose researches the great advances which have 

 been made in machinery of all kinds have depended. M. 

 d'Eichthal then spoke of electricity in connection with the 

 names of Oersted t. Ampere, Faraday, Becquerel and Ruhmkorff ; 

 passing on to speak at some length of the steam-engine in its 

 Various forms, of the progress which by means of scientific re- 

 search is being made in its construction and its uses, and of 

 the great services which this powerful application of a scientific 

 discovery renders to man. M. d'Eichthal advocated the esta- 

 blishment of local centres of culture as the best counterpoise 

 to that over-centralisation to which France owes so many of its 

 social misfortunes. " In our time," he said, "science, history, 

 literature, have great wants. Libraries, lecture-halls, labora- 

 tories, costly materials, instruments numerous and expensive, 

 are indispensable to pupils for learning and to teachers for carry- 

 ing on their researches ; it is by putting, on a large scale, these 

 resources at their disposal, that we can attract and fix in our 

 midst men eminent in all branches of human knowledge." 



M. Oilier, the General Secretary of the Association, gave a 

 detailed resume of the work done at Lille last year. 



M. d'Eichthal has been verv well received in Nantes, haAring 

 been greeted with a serenade on Wednesday night. 



The most notable foreigner present at the meeting, Admiral 

 Ommaney, was elected, pro honore, 'president of the Geo- 

 graphical Section. The Geographical Congress of Paris has 

 evidently diminished the attendance at the Nantes meeting, 

 although M. Dumas and M. Wurtz have displayed on its behalf 

 a most creditable zeal. Two ladies delivered addresses, on 

 *' Female Condition," and the "Sanitary Condition of Schools ; " 

 rather a novelty in France, ladies very rarely appearing as lec- 

 turers. 



The excursions, which are by far the most interesting part of 

 the proceedings, began on Saturday. A balloon ascent is con- 

 templated for to-day. The balloon will be exceptionally large, 

 4,000 metres, conducted by local aeronauts who have organised 

 an aerial sporting club. 



NOTES 

 Amongst the objects which have been recently added to the 

 galleries of the Paris Industrial Exhibition of Geography, and are 

 attracting public notice, we may mention a collection of French 

 birds exhibited by M. Bouvier, the collection of apes from the 

 Gaboon, by the Marquis de Compiegne, and a number of ante- 

 diluvian fossils from the Mentone Caves. The skeletons of two 

 children which had been buried together are in a splendid state 

 of preservation, exhibiting admirably the characteristics of pre- 

 historic cave-life. These two young people were buried in the 

 liome of their parents, very probably because it was the only 

 means of defending their bones against the teeth of ferocious 

 hjrsenas and other large carnivorous animals which were 



disputing with man the empire of the future Gaul. The 

 bones were covered with small shells, of which the loin cloth of 

 the departed youngsters had been made. Neither of them had 

 any ornaments in bone, jasp::r, or pearl, such as is generally dis- 

 covered under similar circumstances when the skeleton is that of 

 an adult. No child is buried with such objects in Polynesian 

 islands, as none are allowed to wear them even when belonging 

 to the regal families. 



In connection with the Exhibition and Congress, it is believed 

 that a series of proposals will be made to the French National 

 Assembly for the promotion of the study of geography. The 

 principal and most effective is to have a relief map of each 

 parish in the parish school, so that pupils may learn to understand 

 the purpose of geographical maps. 



The large reflecting telescope at the Paris Observatory is com- 

 pleted, although it will not be brought into use for two or three 

 months. The equilibrium of the tube is perfect, and it can be 

 directed with the utmost facility on any part of the heavens, 

 although it weighs about six tons. 



The Commission appointed by the Prefect of the Seine for 

 deciding on the improvements to be introduced in the construc- 

 tion of lightning conductors have just published their report. 

 They are of opinion that the conductors should terminate in a 

 point of copper instead of platinum as recommended by the 

 Academy, and propose to institute an annual inspection of 

 lightning conductors, as recommended by M. Wilfrid de Fon- 

 vielle in his pamphlet, " Lightning Conductors and the neces- 

 sity of controlling them." A series of measurements will be 

 presented to the Municipal Council in the next session. The 

 inspection is to take place in autumn, when the stormy season 

 is over. 



The annual provincial meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute 

 will commence, in Manchester, on Tuesday, September 7, under 

 the presidency of Mr. William Menelaus. The Council of 

 Owens College have granted the use of that building for the 

 business meetings. On Tuesday, the Mayors of Manchester and 

 Salford respectively will welcome the members of the Institute, 

 and the remainder of that and Wednesday morning will be 

 devoted to the reading and discussion of papers. On the after- 

 noons of Tuesday and Wednesday, various works in the 

 neighbourhood of Manchester will be open for inspection. On 

 Tuesday evening there will be a conversazione in the Town 

 Hall ; on Wednesday evening the members will dine together in 

 the Hulme Town Hall ; and on Thursday they will visit works 

 within easy reach of Manchester. On PViday, the whole day 

 will be devoted to North Staffordshire. 



During last week the British Archreological Association 

 made frequent excursions to places around Evesham., and in the 

 evenings a number of papers were read, mostly of strictly 

 antiquarian interest. The Cambrian Archreological Association 

 also held its annual meeting last week at Carmarthen, both 

 meetings being brought to a close on Saturday. Next year the 

 latter body meets at Abergavenny under the presidency of 

 Mr. Freeman. 



Mr. Henry Willett, writing with reference to the Sub- 

 Wealden Exploration, states that the committee have " succeeded 

 beyond their fondest anticipations in solving the original problem, 

 and can now state with certainty that palaeozoic rocks do not 

 exist at a depth variously estimated at from 700 ft. to 1,700 ft." 

 From 1,670 ft. to 1,750ft. — the depth now reached— the strata 

 are shattered and very soft, greatly retarding the work, and 

 seriously imperilling any prospect of attaining a much greater 

 depth. Although at any moment a change of strata may be 

 reached, Mr. Willett is not sanguine that he ever will be able to 



