Oct. 1 6, 1879] 



NATURE 



591 



" rieliaiinaiy Check-List of the Marine Invertebrata of the 

 Atlantic Coast from Cape Cod to the Gulf of St. Lawrence." 

 The pajier, however, 13 not a complete catalogue. The whole of 

 the groups Entomostraca, Nematoda, Rotifera, Trematoda, 

 Cestoda, Acanthocephala, most of the sponge?, and the proto- 

 zoans, have been omitted. This is due to the fact that Prof. 

 Verrill considers our knowledge of them too inadequate to justify 

 a place in this check-list. The amphipods are represented by a 

 blank, and the annelids leave room yet for many additions. 

 Moreover, species not found at a depth of less than 200 fathoms 

 are omitted, and likewise those from the Grand Banks of New- 

 foundland, which will be the snbject of a separate publication. 

 Despite these limited conditions of the work, a surprising number 

 of marine invertebrates is catalogued — no less than about 11, coo 

 species. Various signs and letters indicate the geographical dis- 

 tribution of many of the rarer species, and add value to the 

 paper, which serves, among other uses, as a partial record of the 

 zoological results of the Fish Commission's dredgings. As yet 

 only a small "author's edition" has appeared; but a revised 

 issue of a large number of copies will soon be sent out. 



On October i a double ascent, which produced some 

 stnsition at Taris, was made at La Villette gas-works. 

 The balloons European, 650 cubic metres, carrying two 

 afc'ronauts, and Obsa-valoirc Airicn, 350, carrying one, were 

 sent up connected by a telegraphic wire of 120 meters 

 weighing 1,500 grammes, and susceptible of a resistance of 15 

 kilogrammes without breaking. One aeronaut in each balloon 

 carried round his body an inversion element and a Morse tele- 

 graph. Telegraphic signals were exchanged successfully during 

 (lie connection, w hich lasted for thirty-three minutes, in spite of 

 tlic differential motions of the air, which was in a state of rather 

 great agitation. As it was very easy for the aeronauts to keep 

 up conversation, no regular messages were sent through the 

 w ires. Other experiments will be made shortly with telephones, 

 and a kilometre wire weighing 27 kilogrammes, and resisting a 

 traction of 100 kilogrammes without breaking. In the experi- 

 ment of October I the rope was disconnected only, because the 

 ai.Tonaut of the Ohervatoii-e Aerien expresi-ed the wish to ascend 

 to a greater height. As soon as the balloons were separated, 

 each of them parted. in a different direction. One of them 

 landed in the north-east of Paris, and the other in the north- 

 north-east. The separating force can be valued to the tenth 

 part of the propulsion. The idea of sending up a couple of 

 balloons connected by a telegraph or telephone wire must be 

 attributed to M. Jovis, who was tlie captain of the European. 

 M. Henry Mcnier, the maker of telegraph wires at the Crenelle 

 Works, has long entertained the idea of using the differentiation 

 of velocity of each balloon with the current of air in which it is 

 immersed for steering them with sail or nidder. He is to 

 construct for this purpose a special cast-steel wire, susceptible 

 of great resistance. It remains to be seen what is the practica 

 liility of these and other schemes; but the fact of sending up 

 two balloons so connected, and of keeping them in connection 

 at will, unquestionably opens up a large field for future observa- 

 tions and scientific explorations which must be noticed. 



Mr. James Paton, Curator of the Kelvingrove Museum, 

 Glasgow, has prepared an interesting report of an official visit 

 lie paid recently to the museums and art galleries of Holland and 

 Belgium. All the principal cities of these countries, he shows, 

 arc provided not only w iih magnificent art 'galleries, but with 

 txccllcnt scientific and technical museums, presenting an enviable 

 contrast to most of the large cities of this much « ealthier country. 

 Mr. Paton reads the citizens of Glasgow a lesson which might 

 well be taken to heart by other towns both in England and 

 Scotland. " In point of population, wealth, and resources," he 

 ooncludes, "not one of the towns alluded to in this report 



approaches the city of Glasgow. Taken altogether, their 

 industries are fewer, less diversified, and less extensive, and their 

 access to and command of markets, and consequently their 

 opportunities for commercial development, are not equal to those 

 enjoyed by our citizens. With less ability to maintain their great 

 public institutions, and with less urgent necessity for them, on 

 account of the limited industrial sphere of their inhabitants, 

 these cities have put forth efforts on a scale which, if equalled in 

 Glasgow, could not fail to have a most marked effect on the 

 industrial standing of the city, at once elevating and refining the 

 taste, stimulating thought and research, and suggesting new 

 inventions and combinations. These institutions raise the whole 

 mass of the population to higher level, and they broaden and 

 deepen the fertilising stream of industrial activity." 



Mr. Edward Whymper is about to issue a condensed and 

 cheaper edition of his " Scrambles Amongst the Alps " under 

 the title of "The Ascent of the Matterhorn." It will be pub- 

 lished by Mr. Murray. Among other forthcoming books to be 

 published by Mr. Murray we notice the following : — "A History 

 of Ancient Geography," by E. II. Bunbury, F.R.G.S., with 

 index and maps ; "The River of Golden Sand," being the narra- 

 tive of a journey through China to Buniiah, by Capt. Wm. Gill, 

 R.E. ; in two volumes, with a map and illustrations ; " A 

 Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains," by Isabella Bird; "A 

 Sketch of the Life of Erasmus Darwin," by Charles Darwin, 

 F.R.S. ; with a Study of his Scientific Works, by Ernest 

 Krause, translated by W. S. Dallas. — Messrs. Crosby Lockwood 

 and Co. have nearly ready for publication a " Treatise on Metal- 

 liferous Minerals and Mining," by D. C. Davies, F.G.S., Mining 

 Engineer. The book will be illustrated with numerous wood en- 

 gravings. — Mr. David Bogue has in the press a Manual of the In- 

 fusoria, by Mr. W. Saville Kent, F.L.S. The volume will com- 

 prise a descriptive account of all known Flagellate, Ciliate, and 

 Pentaculiferous Protozoa, and will be accompanied by numerous 

 illustrations ; it will |)robabIy be ready in March next. Mr. 

 Bogue will also pubUsh shortly a v/ork on the " Sphagnacea;, 

 or Peat-Mosses of Europe and North America," by Dr. R. 

 Braithwaite, F.L.S. This will be illustrated with twenty-nine 

 plates. — Messrs. Kegan Paul and Co. will publish during the 

 ensuing season the following books bearing upon science : — 

 "The Crayfish : an Introduction to the Study of Zoology," by 

 Prof. T. H. Huxley, F.R.S. ; with numerous illustrations; "The 

 Brain as an Organ of Mind," by H. Charlton Bastian, M.D., 

 F.R.S.; with numerous illustrations; "The Brain and its 

 Functions," by J. Luys, 1 hysician to the Hospice de la Sal- 

 petriere ; with illustrations ; " The First Principles of the Exact 

 Sciences explained to the Non-Mathematical," by the late Prof. 

 W. Kingdon Clifford ; edited by R. C. Rowe, M.A. The above 

 four books are new volumes of the International Scitntijic 

 Scries. " Hygiene and the Laws of Health," by Prof. Corfield, 

 M.D. ; "Chapters from the Physical History of the Earth: an 

 Introduction to Geology and Palaeontology," by Arthur Nicols, 

 F.G.S. ; with illustrations; " Matabele Land and the Victoria 

 Falls : a Naturalist's Wanderings in the Interior of South .\frica," 

 by C. G. Oates. "An Introduction to the Science of Lan- 

 guage," by the Rev. A. II. Sayce, Deputy Professor of Com- 

 parative Philology in the University of Oxford ; in two vols. 

 — The first volume of Prof. G. G. Stokes' " Mathematical and 

 Physical Papers," reprinted, with additional notes by the author, 

 from the Original Journals and Transactions, in which they 

 appeared, is now nearly ready. It will be published by the 

 Cambridge University I'rcss. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Macaque Monkey (Afacacus cynomolgus) 

 from India, presented by Mr. W. Leekie ; five Peregrine Falcons 

 (Fako peregrinus) from Scotland, presented by Sir Mathew W. 

 Risley, Bart., M.P. ; four Green Tree Frogs {Hyla arborea), a 



