Sept. 23, 1875] 



NATURE 



461 



the nerve-fibres in the spinal cord. From his experiments the 

 author demonstrates, in opposuion to the results of many other 

 investigators, that the channels of motor and sensitive impres- 

 sions lie in the' lateral, and not in the anterior and posterior 

 columns of the cord. 



The International Congress of Physicians was opened at 

 Brussels on Sunday by the King of the Belgians with great 

 ceremony. 



In connection with the'/Science and Art Department, South 

 Kensington, the following candidates have been successful in 

 obtaining Royal Exhibitions of 50/. per annum each for three 

 years, and free admission to the course of instruction at the fol- 

 lowing institutions : — i. The Royal School of Mines, Jermyn 

 Street, London : John Gray, engineer ; Frederick G. Mills, 

 student ; Thomas E. Holgate, farmer. 2. The Royal College 

 of Science, Dublin : C. C. Hutchinson, engineer ; Henry Hat- 

 field, student ; Thomas Whittaker, clerk. 



Prof. Flower's important monograph on the structure and 

 affinities of the Musk-deer {Moschus moschifenis) has just ap- 

 peared in the new 3rd part of the Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society for this year. 



We commend to our readers a paper in Tuesday's Daily 

 News on the scientific work of the Valorous, by a member"of the 

 expedition. Under somewhat trying circumstances much good 

 work was done. Many new and valuable facts bearing upon the 

 very important question of the geographical distribution of parti- 

 cular forms have been added to those abready obtained by the 

 Porcupine and Challenger. 



In a letter in the Moriiing Post, signed "W. S. M.," atten- 

 tion is drawn to the provision in the New Code of the Privy 

 Council Committee of Education for instruction in cooking, 

 house management, &c., in elementary schools, and a very 

 happy suggestion is made. The writer can see no reason why 

 some portions at least of the subject should not at once be intro- 

 duced into all schools which are in connection with the Science 

 and Art Department. He then shows how very large a number of 

 students attend the classes for Animal Physiology, Organic and 

 Inorganic Chemistry, and Heat, and says : " There is thus already 

 given, though scattered over four subjects, much of the instruction 

 which would belong properly to the special subject of ' Food 

 and its Preparation.' To make the subject an efficient one, all 

 that is needed is to select certain portions from the subjects 

 already taught, 'Physiology,' 'Acoustics, Light, Heat, '{'In- 

 organic Chemistry,' ' Organic Chemistry ; ' to group these por- 

 tions as one subject, and to add to it some additional instruction 

 that is not at all more difficult than much that is already given.'' 

 We commend "W. S. M.'s " suggestion, indeed the whole of 

 his letter, to the notice of the South Kensington authorities. 



The Cryptogamic Society of Scotland will hold its first 

 Annual Conference at Perth on September 29 and 30, and 

 October i, the president being Sir T. Moncreiffe, of Mon- 

 creiffe, Bart,, President of the Perthshire Society of Natural 

 Science, and the secretary, F. Buchanan White, M.D,, F.L.S., 

 editor of the Scottish Naturalist. The following is the pro- 

 gramme of the meeting : — Wednesday, September 29, field- 

 excursions to Moncreiffe, Dupplin, and Scone. Thursday, 

 September 30, { i ) Arrangement and examination of specimens . 

 (2) Business meeting (reading of papers and communications, 

 &c.) ; (3) Fungus dinner. Friday, October i, show of fungi 

 and oiher cryptogamic plants in the City Hall, Perth. All fungi, 

 &c., intended for exhibition must be delivered (addressed to the 

 care of the " Keeper of the City Hall, Perth") not later than 

 10 A.M. on Thursday, September 30. Ferns in pots must be 



delivered between 8 and 10 a.m. on Friday, October i. Botanists 

 (especially in distant localities) who purpose attending the con- 

 ference are requested to give early intimation of their intention, 

 in order to facilitate arrangements. Further information may be 

 obtained on application to the general secretary. Dr. Buchanan 

 White, Rannoch, Perthshire ; or the local secretary, Mr, J. 

 Young, C.E., Tay Street, Perth. 



A French blacksmith has devised a perforated plate, put in 

 rotation by clockwork, and intended to place behind the lock of 

 a safe. The consequence is that the safe cannot be opened 

 except at certain times during business hours, when there is no 

 danger of any robber intruding into the offices. 



The patrons of the Lille Catholic University are trying to get 

 an hospital placed at their disposal in order to start a school of 

 medicine, and they have offered a sum of 1 50,000 francs to the 

 administration of public hospitals in order to have a clinique of 

 their own. The answer has not yet' been given,^but it is doubtful 

 whether the requisition will^be complied with. 



The death of M. Duchesne de Boulogne, one of the most cele- 

 brated practitioners who engaged themselves in studying medical 

 electricity, took place on Saturday, Sept. 18. M. Duchesne 

 de Boulogne was the author of several cleverly written books on 

 the subject. His death will be felt as a lo3s by those who are 

 organising the International Exhibition of Electricity, which is 

 to take place only in 1877, having been postponed owing to tlie 

 amount of work required to collect all the objects relating to 

 that immense science. 



The admirable " Report Jon the Progress of the Iron and 

 Steel Industries in ^Foreign Countries, " by Mr. David Forbes, 

 F.R.S., has been reprinted in a separate form in the Journal of 

 the Iron and Steel Institute. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Macaque Monkey (Alacaens eynomolgus) 

 from India, presented by Mrs. Kent; a Common Raccoon 

 [Procyon lotor) from North America, presented by Mr. W. 

 Binder ; a Coffin's Cockatoo ( Cacatua gofflni) from Queensland, 

 presented by Mrs. Barton ; an Egyptian Gazelle {Gazella dorcas) 

 from Egypt, a Green Monkey {Cercopithecus callitrichus) from 

 West Africa, a Brazilian Hangnest {Icterus famaicat) from Brazil, 

 a Sulphury Tyrant Bird {Pitangus sulphuratus), two Red-rumped 

 Hangnests (Cassicus hcemorrhous), three Blue-bearded Jay. 

 {Cyanocorax cyanopogon) from South America, deposited; a 

 Getulian Ground Squirrel {Xerus getulus) from Morocco, six 

 Houbara Bustards {Houbara nndulata) from" North Africa, pur- 

 chased; a Wapiti Deer {Census canadensis), and a Reeves's 

 Muntjac {Cervulus reevesi) bom in' the Gardens. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION 



REPORTS. 



Third Report on the Sub-Wealden Exploration.— M.T. W. 

 Toplcy made a statement on this subject, embodying the chief 

 points of the report drawn up by Mr. II. Willett and himself. 

 Up to the year 1872 nothing was known as to the beds which 

 lie below the Wealden strata in the south-east of f^ngland. The 

 lowest beds exposed were those on the north and north-west of 

 Battle, long worked for limestone. The age of these beds was 

 doubtful, some geologists correlating them with the Purbecks of 

 Dorsetshire, others regarding them as Wealden but of somewhat 

 exceptional character. In 1872, when the Association met at 

 Brighton, Mr. H. Willett proposed to commence a bore hole in 

 these doubtful strata, with a twofold object: (i) to determine 

 the order, thickness, and character of the Secondary rocks below 

 the Weald ; (2) to prove the Palreozoic rocks which were sup- 

 posed to lie beneath at a depth which could be reached. Judg- 



