ytme 12, 1879] 



NATURE 



159 



June 3, and published in the Times for June 4, asserted 

 that " the lava has still half a metre to run before reaching 

 the Alcantara." The previous telegram asserted that the 

 lava had run eleven kilometres from the craters, had rolled 

 into the Alcantara, and had obliterated the Commune of 

 Mojo ; while the telegram of the following day made the 

 stream 350 yards from the Alcantara. The fact is, that 

 part of Etna is not thickly populated ; distances are often 

 guessed at ; the new craters are not easily reached ; and 

 the shower of ashes prevented accurate observation, hence 

 the discrepancies. But by a careful comparison of the 

 telegrams, with the Dcttagli suW eruzione deW Etna, 

 issued by the Prefect of Catania at frequent intervals, the 

 broadside sheets entitled Cuasti deW eruzione dell' 

 Etna, and the letter written, on May 29, from Taormina, 

 to the Times : — by comparing 'these' with the fine map 

 (scale = I '266 inch to the mile) of the Italian State 

 Maggiore, some of the discrepancies disappear, and a 

 just estimate may be formed of the position of the new 

 craters. 



All accounts agree in placing the new craters near 

 Monte Nero, but unfortunately there are two minor cones 

 near together which bear the name of Monte Nero. We 

 are helped out of this difficulty, however by the statement 

 that the new craters are 1,900 metres (6,233 feet) above 

 the level of the sea, that the higher of the two Monte 

 Neros is far above this level, while the lower of the two 

 has a little to the west of it a space marked by contours 

 1,900 metres. Here,accordingly, we shall place the new 

 craters without hesitation. 



The great crater, Randazzo, and Linguaglossa, form 

 the three points of a nearly equilateral triangle, within 

 which at present the eruption is completely confined. 

 Linguaglossa is 12 miles from Randazzo, and 11 from 

 the great crater, while Randazzo is only 10 miles from 

 the crater. The new craters are 5 miles from the great 

 crater, Jl from Randazzo, 7 from Linguaglossa, 7 from 

 Mojo, 6i from the River Alcantara, and 5 from Passa 

 Pisciaro. 



The lava has devastated the wood of CoUebasso, and 

 has crossed the main road at Passo Pisciaro, destroy- 

 ing the bridge there. Several vineyards have been 

 destroyed, and if the bed of the Alcantara is invaded, 

 the water supply will be cut off from a large tract of fer- 

 tile land. The lava stream at Passo Pisciaro is about 

 half a mile broad and 100 feet in depth. On May 30 it 

 flowed at a rate of one metre per minute. 



The last bulletin received to-day (June 6) from Catania 

 dated June i, 10 a.m., ends as follows: — " L'eruzione 

 continua al solito. La lava verso il fiume dilatasi sempre, 

 e scende insensibilmente. Stanotte un nuovo braccio 

 investi la vigna di Salvatore Cimino, che quasi distrusse, 

 producendo un danno di circa trentamila lire. La casina 

 prospiciente suUo stradale versa in imminento pericolo." 

 Signor Silvestri of Catania, together with two Germans, 

 have penetrated as near as possible to the new craters. 

 Silvestri, together with Prof. Blaserna of Rome, and 

 Prof. Gemellaro of Padua, have been appointed to report 

 on the eruption, in the interests of vulcanology. It 

 was asserted in the telegram of June 6 from Messina that 

 the stream of lava is only 100 metres from the Alcantara, 

 and that it is advancing at a rate of fifteen metres per 

 hour. Loud rumblings and dense smoke proceed from 

 the new craters. 



During the last few days the telegrams have stated that 

 the eruption is diminishing, and that although the lava 

 '■ •■! a.owly progressed, it has not yet reached the Alcantara, 

 bo ne curious errors have been propagated in the news- 

 papers. Thus the Times correspondent in Naples, 

 writing under the date of June 2 (published June 10), 

 asserts that "the side on the north-west is rent in 

 two, and the fiery mass is ejected to the height of 1,900 

 metres, or considerably more than a mile. The real 

 facts are that the new craters stand at an elevation of 



1,900 metres above the sea; while a fissure which does 

 not extend over even one-half the north-west side of the 

 mountain, has been formed near Monte Nero. It has 

 been asserted that saline mud has recently been ejected ; 

 also that the craters emitted on June 2, 450 cubic metres 

 of lava per minute ; also that the principal lava stream 

 has a front of 800 metres, and that it has flowed for six 

 or seven miles. But in regard to any exact statements, it 

 will be preferable to wait for the report of Professors 

 Blaserna, Gemellaro, and Silvestri ; or at least for the 

 very detailed account of the eruption, which is sure to 

 appear in the next number of Prof, de Rossi's Bolletino 

 del Vulcanismo Italiano. G. F. Rodwell 



NOTES 



We understand that by permission of the Statistical Com- 

 mittee of the India Office, the new tide-predicter, which has 

 been constructed for the Survey Department by Mr. E. Roberts 

 (Nautical Almanac Office), will be exhibited at the closing 

 meeting of the Royal Society on the 19th inst. The instrument, 

 although not yet out of the makers' hands, is sufficiently complete 

 to show its entire working; in fact, the tide-curves for the year 

 1880 for Bombay and Kurrachee, have been already run off, and 

 the results are now being tabulated for printing. Specimen 

 tide-curves of the Southern Indian, Pacific, and North Atlantic 

 Oceans, the English Channel, and the Mediterranean, will also 

 be exhibited to show the universality of the system of prediction 

 by the instrument. 



Among those on whom the honorary degree of LL.D. was 

 conferred in the Senate House at Cambridge on Tuesday were 

 Mr. Justice Grove, Dr. W. Spottiswoode, Prof. Henry J. S. 

 Smith, Prof. T. H. Huxley, and Mr. H. C. Sorby. 



Prof. Huxley has been elected a corresponding member of 

 the Paris Academy of Sciences, in the section of Anatomy and 

 Zoology, in succession to the late Prof, von Baer ; and M. 

 Schiaparelli in the Section of Astronomy, in place of the late 

 M. Tisserand. 



The death is announced, on the 9th inst., of Dr. Moore, who 

 for more than forty years has filled the office of Curator of the 

 Botantic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin. He was a native' of 

 Dundee, and commenced the study of botany under the late Dr. 

 Mackey, Curator of the College Botanical Gardens, whose place 

 his eldest son. Dr. F. W. Moore, now fills. He was for some 

 time employed on the geological survey of Ireland before he 

 was appointed Curator of the Royal Dublin Society's Gardens 

 at Glasnevin. He pursued the study of botany with great 

 ardour, not only at home, but in various parts of the Continent. 

 Among his works were "Notices of British Grasses," "Irish 

 Hepaticae," and " Irish Mosses." 



It is proposed immediately to establish a zoological station on 

 the Aberdeen coast, in connection with the natural history 

 laboratory of the University, similar to those already instituted 

 for the Universities of Paris, Vienna, and Leyden. The objects 

 of such a station are : — I. To supply the laboratory with fresh 

 animals for purposes of teaching and research. 2. To enable 

 students to become practically acquainted with natural history, 

 and to afford them opportunities of advanced study and inde- 

 pendent research, during the vacations. 3. To afford means for 

 the exhaustive study of the marine fauna. For the establishment 

 of such a station on the smallest possible scale it is necessary to 

 have— (l) A movable shed or house with suitable fittings ; (2) 

 a large fishing boat and a small two-oared boat ; (3) nets and 

 dredges ; (4) aquaria glassware and miscellaneous apparatus ; (S) 

 the services of a fisherman and a boy for p.art of the year. For 

 the purchase of boats and apparatus a sum of 250/. is required. 



