484 



NATURE 



[Sept. 30, 1875 



and the writing distinct. Barent passed the winter 1596-97 in 

 the Arctic regions. This journal, tlierefore, relating presumably 

 to 1580, will give no information of his stay, but will, neverthe- 

 less, be of great interest. ' " 



We learn from Harper's Weekly i\ia.t the Kirtland School of 

 Natural Sciences, established in Cleveland, Ohio, for summer 

 instruction in natural history, concluded its course on the 9th of 

 August last. The school consisted of twenty members, of 

 whom thirteen were ladies, and lasted for five weeks, during 

 which time gratuitous instruction was given by lectures and 

 otherwise, and shorty excursions were made in connection with 

 the subjects of study. Dr. ;^Newberry, Prof. Theodore B. Com- 

 stock. Prof. Albert Tuttle, and Dr. William K. Brooks were the 

 instructors. The operations of the school were mainly conducted 

 by Prof. Comstock. Facilities were extended by railroad and 

 steamboat companies in the transportation of the school and in 

 various interesting excursions. 



In a recent number of the Philadelphia American Times, Dr. 

 W. W. Keen proposes the employment of a solution of chloral 

 as a preservative for objects of anatomy and natural history, its 

 special advantage being said to be that the colour of objects is 

 perfectly preserved, and all the parts retain their natural con- 

 sistency, at the same time that no special precaution is neces- 

 sary in stoppering the bottles containing the preparations. It is 

 tised by injecting it into the blood-vessels, or by immersion. 



In a recent number of the Journal de la SociHe centrale d' Horti- 

 culture de France, there is an article by M. Ch. Royer, " On the 

 Causes of the Sleep of Flowers." The sleep of flowers has been 

 attributed to various causes, including heat, light, moisture, 

 dilatation of the epidermis of the inside of the perianth, contrac- 

 tion of the outside of the perianth, &c. The writer of the 

 article in question endeavours to prove that expansion of the 

 flowers in the morning is due to a turgescence of the parenchyma 

 of the flower, brought about by heat, certainly ; but .the same 

 agent indirectly causes the same flowers to close up again, after 

 the disappearance of the swelling through evaporation. This, 

 he contends, accounts for the early closing of flowers under a 

 high temperature, or in dry soils. We have always understood 

 that this phenomenon was governed by the hygrometrical condi- 

 tions of the atmosphere. 



The Revue des Eaux et des ForSls, 1875, gives some statistics of 

 the constituents of the forests of Denmark. The beech is now 

 the most universal, having gradually succeeded in displacing the 

 oak and pine. Next in order are the birch, alder, aspen, hazel, 

 &c. Although at a very remote period pines appear to have 

 formed the principal forests of Denmark, they are not now indi- 

 genous, nor [have they been for many centuries j indeed, they 

 do not thrive when introduced. According to the celebrated 

 Danish geologist, M. Forchhausmer, the beech grows best in 

 the formation which he calls argile caillouteuse, or ai-giles d blocs 

 erraiiques ; whereas the oak prefers the sable caillouteuse, or sable 

 d blocs crratiques. An examination of the vegetable remains in 

 the bogs so common in Denmark reveals the fact that the 

 earliest forests were composed of pines, followed by the sessile- 

 fruited variety of the oak, now to a great extent superseded by 

 the beech, &c. It is supposed that the pine forests flourished 

 during the Age de la pierre a eclats ; and the oak was at its greatest 

 development at the commencement of the bronze age. 



Amongst the several ameliorations which are in preparation 

 at the Ministry of Public Instruction in France, is the remodel- 

 ling of the haccalaureat in a manner which is likely to benefit the 

 study of medicine and the spread of the study of science. The 

 haccalaureat of sciences is to be required as formerly from 

 students in medicine ; but after having passed a general exami- 

 nation for their first haccalaureat they will be examined in a 



second haccalaureat of sciences physiques, which includes not only 

 physics, but general notions of botany, zoology, mineralogy, 

 &c. The general haccalaureat is common to students in medicine 

 and in mathematics, the students of the latter branch having to 

 pass a special examination of their own entitled Baccalaureat 

 des Sciences Mathemaliques. 



We believe that the Belgian Government is about to establish 

 tide gauges on the Escault, and to undertake complete researches 

 on the tides and currents of the coasts of Belgium generally. 

 Prof. Van Rysselberghe, the inventor of the self-recording meteor- 

 ograph, to which we have already called attention, has been 

 attached to the -Hydrographic Department, with a view of 

 aiding in these researches. 



W^E would direct the attention of our biological readers to a 

 translation from the Berliner Klinische Wochenschrijt, in the 

 current number of the now monthly London Medical Record, of a 

 paper by Dr. Scheele, of Dantzig, on two cases of complete 

 transposition of the viscera, together with valuable observations 

 and references on the subject generally. 



An interesting ceremony recently took place at Estagel, a 

 small country town in the Department of the Pyrenees, where 

 the great Arago was born. The local authorities and an 

 immense number of people have celebrated the tenth anniversary 

 of the erection of a statue of that astronomer. No scientific 

 speaker was present, and Arago was merely eulogised in general 

 terms for his science as well as for his patriotism. 



The vanilla plant has lately been attacked by a disease 

 which has greatly interfered with its cultivation. Chemistry 

 has been brought to bear in the production of a new 

 substance] from which the "vanilla essence" is produced. 

 Messrs. Hartig and Kubel, two German chemists, have found in 

 the cambium of conifers a species of resin which, after certain 

 processes, produces an aroma exactly similar to that of the 

 vanilla, and which possesses the same composition as that of the 

 true vanilla essence itself. This pseudo vanilla is sold largely in 

 Germany for the real aracle ; its price is about two-thirds that 

 of the true vanilla essence. 



On Tuesday last there was a private view of the works of the 

 Westminster Aquarium and Winter Garden. From their un 

 finished state it was not possible to form an accurate idea of the 

 contemplated arrangements, but the considerable area already 

 occupied or (o be covered with buildings struck everybody. At 

 the luncheon subsequently given the Managing Director made a 

 speech, in which much was said about science and intellectual 

 enjoyment. Undoubtedly the Company will have a powerful 

 engine at its disposal either for instruction or amusement. 



No. 3, vol. iv., of the Proceedings of the Geological Associa- 

 tion, contains, besides pleasant descriptions of some excursions, 

 the following papers : — " On the deposits now forming in British 

 seas," by G. A. Lebour ; " Notes onspecimens of Phosphorate 

 from the Department of the Lot, France," by F. W. Rudler ; 

 " A probable origin of the perforation in sharks' teeth, from the 

 Crag," by H. A. Burrows ; and " On the conditions of animal 

 life in the Deep Sea bottom," by Dr. W. B. Carpenter. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include two Bonnet Monkeys {Macacus radiatus) from 

 India, presented by Mr. TurnbuU ; a Macaque Monkey [Ma- 

 cacus cynomolgus) from India, presented by Mrs. Knight ; two 

 Common Wolves {Canis lupus) from Russia, presented by Mr. 

 Charles Bell ; a Chinese Mynah {Acridotheres cristatellus) from 

 China, presented by Mr. J. R. France; two Rattlesnakes {Cro- 

 ialus durissus) from N. America, a Long-nosed Crocodile {^Cro- 

 codilus cataphractes) from W. Africa, received in exchange ; five 

 Russell's Vipers ( Vipera russelli) born in the Gardens. 



