August 21, 1879] 



NATURE 



401 



the habits and for the light thrown on the geographical distribu- 

 tion of the species in Britain. Sir Thomas, who was Vice- 

 Lieuteiiant of Perthshire, died oa August 16, in his fifty-seventh 

 year. 



The death is announced of Dr. Immanuel Hermann von Fichte, 

 formerly Professor of Philosophy at Bonn and Tubingen Uni- 

 veroities, and son of the celebrated Jena professor. Dr. von 

 Fichte was born at Jena in 1797, and died at Stuttgart on 

 August 8 last. 



The fifth Russian Archaeological Congress will be held at 

 Tiflis in September, 1881, and will be specially devoted to the 

 investigation of ancient monuments. A committee meeting will 

 take place at Moscow in January, 1880, when the detailed pro- 

 gramme of the Congress will be arranged. 



In one of the recently submerged coal mines in the Dux dis- 

 trict (Bohemia) a remarkable phenomenon has occurred which 

 Dr. Braumiiller, an eminent Austrian mining engineer, describes. 

 It appears that in the subterranean waters of the " Fortschritt" 

 mine regular tides have been observed for the last six months. 

 Both the Berlin and the Vienna Academies of Sciences, are 

 devoting considerable attention to the strange phenomenon. A 

 satisfactory explanation has, however, not yet been arrived at by 

 either. 



The electric light has made its way to the highest hotel 

 of Europe, 'i.e., to the hotel which is situated at the greatest 

 elevation above the sealevel. The " Engadiner Kulm" Hotel 

 at St. Moritz, in the Upper Engadine, boasts of an elevation of 

 1,856 metres above the sea, and the proprietor announces that 

 the establishment now possesses eight Jablochkoff lamps. A 

 waterwheel is the motor of the electric machine feeding the 

 lamps. 



The National Water-Supply Exhibition was inaugurated at 

 the Alexandra Palace last Thursday by the Lord Mayor ; Mr. 

 Chadwick, C.B., Col. Bolton, Mr. Wanklyn, Prof. Seeley, and 

 others interested in the water-supply question, were present at 

 the luncheon. The exhibition, which covers a wide and varied 

 field of appliances and products in connection with the supply 

 and uses of water, is really interesting, and ought to attract the 

 attention of visitors. We trust it will have the educational effect 

 hoped for. It is intended to keep it open till the spring, and as 

 the object is to collect information as well as to spread it, it is 

 hoped that those who have any maps, or tables referring to 

 water-supply, will send them. Information respecting the aims 

 of the committee may be obtained from Mr. A. T. Atchison, 

 M.A., 34, Great George Street, Westminster. From the remarks 

 of Mr. Cross on Mr. Fawcett's motion last week, it w ould seem 

 as if Government had determined to deal with this all-important 

 question. 



The Giffard monster captive balloon burst on the 1 6th inst., a 

 little before six o'clock, when a moderate wind was blowing from 

 the south-east. It will be remembered that M. Henri Giffard 

 placed his balloon yn the hands of _a company of uneducated 

 aeronauts, who neglected to follow his advice, and for economy's 

 sake left his balloon partly uninflated. The wind acting on the 

 vacuum left in the lower part of the balloon, agitated the 

 canvas in so extraordinary a manner that it gave way. It will 

 not be restored this year, the season being too far advanced 

 for the purpose. 



The French Academy of Meteorological Ascents made two 

 successful experiments, one at St. Germain on the 9th inst., and 

 Hhe other at Cambrai, to test whether it was possible to prognosti- 

 |cate, with the help of pilot balloons, the path which the mounted 

 aerostat would follow. The rcstilts w ere satisfactory. At St. 

 Germain the wind was very light and uncertain, but at Cambrai 

 the velocity was forty kilometres an hour. A competent colom- 

 bophile had been placed in the car, and a 'number of carrier- 



pigeons were liberated from the balloon, and a narrative of the 



principal incidents of the journey was posted in the city before 

 the aerial travellers had landed. The system had been explained 

 by M. de Fonvielle in a lecture given in the morning in the 

 town-hall. 



The correspondent of a Swiss paper warns collectors of 

 antiquities to beware of fabricated specimens of articles purport- 

 ing to belong to the age of bronze and to have been found among 

 the remains of lake dwellings and in the beds of rivers. He 

 says there is a regular manufactory of these things near the Lake 

 of Bienne, and that bronze swords are being offered at loof. each 

 which are not worth as many centimes. 



Two streams of lava flowed on the 15th from Mount Vesuvius 

 to the base of the cone. There was no eruption on the i6th. 



M. Morel Fatro, who is conducting some extensive explora- 

 tions at the lacustrine station of Corcelettes, Canton A''aud, 

 announces the discovery of a large canoe in an excellent state of 

 preservation. It is formed of a single pine log 32 feet long and 

 2| feet wide ; and though the stern is slightly damaged, the 

 bow, which is carved and ornamented, is perfect. This interest, 

 ing find will be placed in the museum of Lausanne, w hich now 

 contains the richest collection of lacustrine relics in Europe. 



The new part of the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of 

 Japan contains much interesting matter ; the most important 

 paper, however, is one on the transliteration of the Japanese 

 Syllabary, by Mr. Ernest M. Satow, of H.M.'s Legation at 

 Yedo, who has industriously -applied himself to the study of 

 the language for _the past eighteen years, and is one of the 

 greatest authorities on the subject. There are also two papers 

 worthy of notice, the one on inscriptions in Shimabara and 

 Amakusa, and the other on the foreign travel of modern Japanese 

 adventurers. 



A PARTY recently visiting the Daly River, North Australia, 

 appear to have met with an alligator far larger than any liitherto 

 seen. Nothing but the head was visible, but this is described as 

 being about 4 feet in length and 2 feet 6 inches in w idth. On 

 being fired at the monster disappeared, and the precise size of its 

 body could not be ascertained. 



In a valley at the foot of the so-called Habichtsw aid, near 

 Cassel, a short distance from the castle of Wilhelmshohe, a 

 new ferruginous mineral spring has been discovered. The water 

 of the new spring belongs to the class of alkaline earthy iron- 

 waters, and besides salts of iron, contains a great quantity of 

 carbonate of lime. It strongly resembles the Schwalbach 

 waters both in taste and composition. 



The Government of Western Australia has offered a reward 

 for the discovery of new guano islands. Valuable deposits arc 

 believed to exist on the north coast between the Lacepedes and 

 Camden harbour. 



Mr. Wm. Hughes' " Outlines of Geology and Geological 

 Notes of Ireland " has reached a third edition, which the author 

 states has been almost rewritten. It contains a considerable 

 number of illustrations. Gill and Son of Dublin are the 

 publishers. 



" The Students' Catalogue of British Plants, arranged 

 according to the Students' Flora of the Briti^h Isles, by Sir J. 

 D. Hooker, C.B.," is the title of a useful list compiled by the 

 Rev. George Henslow, and published by Bateman, of Portland 

 Town, London. 



The Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists' Society contains as 

 u.sual several excellent papers. Mr. Stoddart's papers on the 

 geology of the Bristol coal field are continued ; Mr. Bucknall 

 contributes a list of the fungi of the Bristol district ; Dr. Fripp 

 an account of some experiments on insect hearing ; Mr. A. E. 



