Jtine 19, 



1879] 



NATURE 



179 



lies of superior quality. The chief vegetable productions 

 indigenous to the soil and growing wild in the forests are 

 india-rubber and gutta-percha, baroos camphor and gum 

 damar, and many valuable kinds of hard-wood timber. 

 Rice, millet, tapioca, Indian corn, sugar-cane, tobacco, 

 cotton, pepper, and many kinds of tropical vegetables 

 are cultivated by the natives. The sago palm is found in 

 abundance, cassia lignea is met with in some localities, 

 and cocoa-nuts, the areca palm, mangoes, limes, oranges, 

 bananas, and pine-apples are plentiful. Under the head 

 of animal productions the report mentions edible birds'- 

 nests, beeswax, hides and horns of cattle and deer, 

 mother-o'-pearl shell, seed pearls, beche de mer or 

 trepang, and tortoise-shell; elephants exist in the Kina- 

 batangan province in large numbers; rhinoceros, numerous 

 deer of large and small breeds, and wild pigs are met with 

 in many parts, but beasts of prey of the feline species 

 appear only to be represented by a small cheetah in the 

 interior. Minerals will, doubtless, be found in abundance 

 in Northern Borneo. Gold occurs in several localities. 

 Borneo diamonds are famous for their purity and water, 

 and it is believed that they exist in Sabah as well as in 

 Dutch territory. Tin, antimony, coal, quicksilver, iron, 

 copper, petroleum, and other valuable minerals and 

 metals, there is reason to believe, will be found in the 

 territory of the association, but there has not yet been 

 time for even a partial exploration of it from a geological 

 and mineralogical point of view. The labour question 

 may cause some little trouble. The population near the 

 coast consists of Malays, Lianuns, Bajous, Sulus, and 

 others of a mixed breed who are lazy, indolent, and averse 

 to manual labour of any kind. The aborigines in the 

 interior, Dusuns and Ida'an, are peaceful and docile, and 

 accustomed to a certain kind of labour. But the company 

 will not have to rely upon either for the development of 

 their territory, for, as the report puts it, "the enormous 

 amount of labour waiting for employment in the Chinese 

 Empire, not more than three or four days' distance by 

 steam from North Borneo, is at the disposal of intending 

 planters and others ... on reasonable terms." 



VULCANOLOGY IN ITALY IN 1878' 



A FEW years ago Cav. Michele Rossi, brother and 

 -'*- collaborateur of the well-known author of " Roma 

 Sotterranea," determined to try the experiment of collect- 

 ing together from all parts of Italy facts connected with 

 Vulcanology, and pubhshing an account of them in the 

 form of a monthly fasciculus. He hoped by this means 

 to found a new school for the study of endogenous me- 

 teorology, to be affiliated with the study of meteorology 

 proper. The experiment has succeeded admirably, and 

 we have before us a volume of 140 pages, recording all 

 the phenomena of internal telluric dynamics which have 

 been observed in Italy and Sicily during the past year. 

 The rulcanology of Sicily, notably of Etna and the eastern 

 sea-board, is also recorded in the Acts of the Accademia 

 Gioenia of Catania. In no other part of Europe, except 

 Iceland, would it be possible to have a journal solely de- 

 voted to the volcanic phenomena of one country. The 

 kingdom of Italy contains within it the two most 

 famous volcanoes in the world; it contains solfataras, 

 soffioni, and maccalube ; it is subject to earthquakes, 

 sometmies of great severity, and spread over large areas ; 

 the district between Naples and Cape Misenum embraces 

 almost every phase of volcanic phenomenon, excepting 

 only the geysirs, and the Stufe di Nerone belong to this 

 class of effects. Hence, obviously, there is no country of 

 equal accessibility in the world which is so well adapted 

 for the study of vulcanology. 

 The Bulletlino opens with a tribute to the memory of 



' Bulletino del Vulcanismo Italiano. Period'Co geologico ed archeoloeico 

 P!T 1 ossetvaiione e la storia dci f=enomeni cndogcni nel suolo d'ltalia. Re- 

 datto dal Cav. Prof. Michele Stefano dc Rossi. Roma, 1878. 



Padre Angelo Secchi, which is followed by a proposition 

 to erect a monument to his honour. We were glad, a few 

 weeks ago, to notice that a well-executed bust of the great 

 Roman astronomer had already been placed among those 

 of the many celebrities which adorn the Pincian Hill. The 

 new monument will probably take the form of a monu- 

 mento meieorolo^ico, to be erected in Rome. 



A list of twenty-six Italian observatories in which seismic 

 observations are recorded is given in tlie Bulletino, with the 

 names of the observers, who are in direct communication 

 with Prof, de Rossi. Among the minor notices we find 

 mention of the proposed railway to the observatory of Vesu- 

 vius ; of various new seismological observatories, including 

 that of the Solfatara at Puzzuoli ; and of the earthquake 

 which was simultaneously felt at Fiumalbo, Florence, and 

 Rocca di Papa. Bibliographical notices and correspond- 

 ence find a place at the conclusion of the fasciculus. In 

 the next number we find letters on the application of the 

 microphone to seismological studies, from Prof. Michele 

 Rossi and Count Giovanni Mocenigo, and later in the 

 volume a very interesting article by the former details his 

 experiments on the subject. The Umbrian earthquake of 

 September, 1878, receives full description at the hands of 

 Prof Arpago Ricci ; Silvestri gives an account of the 

 mud eruption which broke out on the sides of Etna 

 near Paterno in December ; and Palmieri continues his 

 " Cronaca Vesuviana" to the end of September, 1878. 

 An exact account of the time of occurrence of earth- 

 quake phenomeria in any part of Italy is entered in a 

 tabular form, and it is surprising to notice that not a day 

 passes in Italy without some indication of endogenous 

 dynamic action. This also proves to us the sensibility of 

 the instruments. The date is given, then the hour, the 

 place, and the nature of the observation, thus : — 



" 13. — 0.08 a. Messina, forte. — Reggio di Calabria, due 

 scosse. — Palmi, scosse. — Capo Spartivento, molto forte. — 

 Tropea, leggera ondul. 



1.15 a. Corleone, leggera E — O, rombo. 



5.50a. Tolmezzo, debole ; altra poco dopo. 



7.15 a. Nami, sensibile N O — S E. 



Mattina Rocca di Papa, leggerissima. 



11.15 a. Bologna, leggerissima." 

 At the conclusion of the volume there is a large table 

 showing at a glance the daily distribution of earthquakes 

 throughout Italy. Twelve vertical divisions correspond 

 to the twelve months of the year, and these are further 

 divided by small lines into days. The horizontal lines 

 serve to indicate : — 



1. In the uppermost portion of the diagram the height 

 of the barometer in millimetres. Thus we have the baro- 

 metric curve for each month. 



2. Here also is shown the variations during' each 

 month of the level of the water in the wells of Leghora 

 and Porretta. 



3. Earthquakes according to the latitude. 



4. Earthquakes according to the longitude, east and 

 west of the meridian of Rome. 



5. Daily maxima of the force of the shocks. 



6. Phases of the moon. 



7. Daily maxima of the number of the shocks. 



In Prof. Michele Rossi's seismological observatory in 

 Rome we saw at work a set of instruments devised by 

 himself for registering both vertical and horizontal shocks. 

 These are not the same as Palmieri' s instruments, and 

 are said to be more sensitive. In both sets of instru- 

 ments the general principle is the same. The shock, by 

 its movement, communicates motion to some appliance, 

 such as a pendulum, or a column of mercury in a bent 

 tube, which establishes electrical communication with a 

 recording instrument. In the latter a ribbon of paper is 

 drawn at a definite rate over a drum, and whenever elec- 

 trical contact is established a small electro-magnet be- 

 comes active and draws down an armature to which a pen 

 is attached, and for every contact a mark is made upon the 



