198 



NATURE 



\jfune 26, 1879 



Hundreds of plates of fossils, exquisitely engraved, and 

 maps and sections, too numerous to recount, published 

 for the Geological Survey of Great Britain, amply testify 

 to Mr. Lowry's rare ability as a scientific engraver. Even 

 the familiar card-maps of each town visited year after 

 year by the British Association were inrented and pro- 

 duced by Mr. Lowry's skill and ingenuity. 



But the days of engraving seem drawing to a close, at 

 least so far as printirif; from engraved plates is concerned ; 

 but the beautiful plates prepared by Mr. Lowry cannot 

 well be surpassed by modern lithography, save in cheap- 

 ness. 



Much as Mr. Lowry's work was valued by scientific 

 men, his amiability of disposition and his modesty won 

 for him even higher esteem among his friends. Many 

 who knew him personally will recall his readiness on all 

 occasions, even at great personal sacrifices, to help those 

 who needed his assistance. His freshness of heart and 

 kindness to young people were marked features in his 

 character. He died on June 15. H. W. 



DA VID MOORE, PH.D. 

 'X'HE death of the Director of the Royal Botanical 

 ■*• Gardens at Glasnevin, near Dublin, on June g last, 

 has caused avery wide-spread sorrow among the botanists 

 and horticulturists of Europe. Although Dr. Moore had 

 attained the age of seventy-two, yet his physical strength 

 was but little abated, and his mental powers were as 

 strong as they were mature. A peculiarly severe attack 

 of acute cystitis of scarcely four days' duration deprived 

 us of a truly excellent and amiable man. 



A native of Dundee, his father, attracted by the fame 

 of Dr. MacKay, the Director of the Botanical Gardens 

 belonging to the University of Dublin, and well known as 

 the author of the "Flora Hibernica," sent David Moore 

 to Dublin to be MacKay' s apprentice. The apprentice 

 soon learnt all the master had to teach, and was not long 

 in qualifying himself to form one of the government staff, 

 to whom, under the superintendence of the late General 

 Portlock, was intrusted the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. 

 This was in 1834; the Survey began in the County of 

 Londonderry. In 1S37 the first volume of its Memoirs 

 was published, to which Moore contributed an essay on 

 the flora of the region surveyed. Shortly after this he 

 was elected by the then Council of the Royal Dublin 

 Society to the charge of their Botanical Gardens at 

 Glasnevin. These gardens are situated within a couple 

 of miles of Dublin, and present a pleasing alternation 

 of flat and gently rising ground, which then slopes to the 

 borders of the little trout stream called the Tolka. They 

 are associated with the memories of Tickell and Swift, 

 and one walk amid old yew trees is still pointed out as 

 the one much frequented by the Dean when inclined to 

 moody meditation. To enumerate the changes brought 

 about in these Gardens during the forty years' work of 

 Moore, would be to write his and their history. It might 

 almost be said that he found them a mixture of pleasure- 

 ground and herb-garden ; he has left them with all their 

 native loveliness shown off to its very best, and containing 

 for their size one of the best stocked collections in Europe. 

 As the stranger walked there he was told of the literary 

 men who sought for rest and quietness amid their shade ; 

 to the list of these sacred memories will now be added 

 the name of a scientific man, whose daily labour for just 

 forty years has resulted in making them known through- 

 out the world. Amidst the practical labours of Moore's 

 life science was not forgotten. He ably assisted MacKay 

 in compiling his list of Irish plants. But he also devoted 

 a great deal of attention to compiling a history of the 

 mosses, hverworts, and alga; of his adopted country, and 

 as the result of his maturer labours in this direction, he 

 published in 1872 an account of the mosses of Ireland, 

 and four years later an account of the Irish Hepaticas. 

 He, conjointly with A. G. Moore, F.L.S., pubhshed an 



account of the geographical distribution of plants in Ire- 

 land, under the title of "Cybele Hibernica." This is 

 scarcely the place to record the numerous [plants intro- 

 duced by him to our gardens and stores, or to refer to the 

 many interesting new hybrid forms brought into existence 

 through his skill. For such scientific labours he was re- 

 warded by being given the Ph.D. of Leipzig University, 

 and with what we know he regarded as nearly as great an 

 honour, in having the twenty-ninth volume of the third 

 series of the Kcw Journal of Botany dedicated to him by 

 Sir Joseph Hooker, as " to one who, maintaining a very 

 rich and beautiful botanic garden at a high standard of 

 excellence, has advanced botanical science by many 

 original observations and experiments." 



Long will the memory of David Moore dwell in the 

 minds of his many friends as that of one true and faithful, 

 genial and generous. 



THE RECENT ERUPTION OF ETNA 



PROF. SILVESTRI has, with most commendable de- 

 spatch, just issued his report to the Italian Govern- 

 ment on the recent eruption of Etna. It takes the form 

 of a quarto pamphlet of nineteen pages, entitled Sulla 

 doppia eruzivne dell' Etna scoppiata il 26 Maggio, 1879, 

 and it is accompanied by a capital map, showing the 

 exact extent and dimensions of the lava-streams. _ A 

 reference to the map accompanying the previous article 

 (p. 158) may help the reader to understand more clearly 

 what follows. 



At the end of our former article on the subject, we 

 mentioned certain anomalies in the accounts of the 

 eruption already transmitted by telegram from Rome, 

 and at the same time asserted that we must wait for 

 the Government Report before they could be explained. 

 It is satisfactory to find that Prof. Silvestri has com- 

 pletely removed these anomalies, and has given a de- 

 scription of the eruption, which is so connected, reason- 

 able, and precise, that it leaves nothing to be desired. 



Silvestri considers that preparations for this eruption 

 have been continu^ since 1874, and that this is the fulfil- 

 ment of the abortive attempt which was then made. On 

 August 29, 1874, a rift opened on the north-east side of 

 the mountain, between the great crater and Mojo, and 

 thirty-five small eruptive mouths were formed along its 

 course, together with one larger crateriform monticule, 

 which discharged lava. But after seven hours of activity, 

 the dynamic forces suddenly decreased in intensity, and 

 in two days' time nothing remained of the eruption save 

 a few secondary manifestations. For a fortnight after- 

 wards, however, earthquakes occurred on the north side 

 of the , mountain, and the great rift remained open. 

 Silvestri predicted that when the next eruption came,, 

 this rift would prove the point of least resistance, and 

 that the new lava would flow from it, or from craters 

 raised along its course. This prediction has been com- 

 pletely verified. 



The fissure of 1874 has extended itself— on the north- 

 north-east towards Mojo, on the south-south-west towards 

 Aderno. It is 10 kilometres (6-2 miles) in length, and passes 

 through the great crater of Etna. On May 26, the south- 

 western extremity discharged lava in the direction of 

 Aderno while simultaneously the north-eastern extremity 

 discharged lava in the direction of Mojo, thus presenting 

 the curious anomaly of twin eruptions on opposite sides 

 of the mountain. The craters on the south side of the 

 mountain were situated near the base of Monte Frumento 

 2,650 metres (8,743 feet) above the sea. There were eight 

 eruptive mouths, from 4 to 15 metres in diameter ; seven 

 of these were open, while over the eighth was raised a 

 monticule. The lava did not flow directly towards 

 Aderno, 13 kilometres distant, but towards a series of 

 monticules formed during a previous eruption, and known 

 as Monti Grotta degli Archi. It accumulated against the 



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