N(yu. 15, 1888] 



NATURE 



59 



some way b^ rendered generally accessib'e. The Rev, 

 Leonard Blomefield (formerly Jenyns), to whom thi manuscript 

 belonged, has given his consent to its being copied, and an 

 estimate has been obtained of the cost of copying it, and of 

 preparing a lithographed reproduction as a foolscap folio volume 

 of about 530 pages. This can be done, if sixty persons will 

 subscribe a guinea each. As the volume will be one of great 

 interest to all students of meteorology, Mr. Symons should not 

 have much difficulty in obtaining the necessary funds. The 

 sum of £,2\ has already been promised by various scientific 

 ■societies and individual subscribers. Not one copy more than 

 those subscribed for will be printed, so that the volume can only 

 be obtained by subscription, and can never become cheap or 

 nmon. 



The American Meteorological Journal ioxOcioh^x contains an 

 ^ticle by Mr, A. L. Rotch on the organization of the Meteoro- 

 logical service in Russia. Observations were first made there by 

 the Academy of Sciences in 1726, but it was not until 1833 that a 

 regular system was established. Weather telegraphy was begun 

 in 1864, but little was done until 1872, when a daily weather 

 report was commenced, but forecasts are not issued even now. 

 The same number contains a summary of experiments by MM. 

 ■C, Montigny and F. Dechevrens on the inclination of the wind, 

 in contradistinction to its horizontal motion usually referred to. 

 One interesting fact has come out of these experiments, viz. 

 that the positive inclination (ascent) of the wind increases in 

 proportion as the barometer falls, and vice versa. We regret to 

 see that the closing of the stations on Pike's Peak and Mount 

 Washington, at least for the winter season, is an accomplished 

 fact. The reason is said to be lack of funds, and the impossibility 

 ■of using the observations for weather predictions. The detailed 

 observations on Pike's Peak are about to be published by Prof. 

 Pickering in the Annals of Harvard College. 



The Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean for October, 

 -allows that the month of September was characterized by the 

 ■©ccurrence of three West Indian hurricanes. By far the 

 most notable of these was the great Cuban hurricane of 

 September 1-7, referred to in Nature, vol. xxxviii. p. 485. 

 The first indications of this disturbance were noticed in the 

 north-east trade-wind belt, east of the 60th meridian, on August 

 30 and 31. Taking a west by north course, the centre reached 

 the CulKin coast on the night of September 3, spreading devas- 

 tation on every side. After passing south of Haivana on the 5lh, 

 a most remarkable feature was developed by a change of direc- 

 tion to the south of west, in violation of the usual law of motion, 

 the storm reaching Mexico, near Vera Cruz, on the 7th. This 

 unusual change of direction was apparently due to the fact that 

 another well-defined storm originated in the same locality about 

 the same time. This storm was central over the Bahamas on 

 the 6th and 7th, while an area of very high barometer prevailed 

 over the middle Atlantic States. There was a marked decrease 

 in the amount of fog along the Transatlantic routes, which is 

 attributed to the fact that only three depressions of any extent 

 passed over those regions during the month. One of these, 

 which developed hurricane force 011 the 12th in longitude 37', 

 subsequently passed north of the British Islands, after having 

 crossed the entire ocean. 



The Kttssian Gazette of September 10/22, 1888, announces 

 that the CommiUee of the Caspian Fisheries has deposited in 

 the Astrakhan branch of the Imperial State Bank the sum of 

 , Sooo rmibles (about £soo) as a prize to be awarded for the dis- 

 covery of means for the protection offish against infection, and 

 f6r the treatment o£ people suffering from the effects following 

 the corsimption of poisonous fish. The prize will be awarded 

 »:6 the person who will accomplish the following : (i) determine 



by careful analysis the physical and chemical niture of fish 

 poison ; (2) investigate by experiments on animals the action of 

 fish poison on the heart, circulation of the blood, digestive 

 organs, and nervous system ; (3) determine the rapidity of the 

 absorption of the poison in the digestive channels ; (4) ascertain 

 and describe the symptoms which distinguish healthy fish from 

 those in a diseased condition; (5) indicate the measures to be 

 adopted for preserving fish against the developmsnt of fish 

 poison in them ; (6) discover an antidote for, and the nature of 

 the medical assistance to be rendered in cases of fish poisoninj^. 

 Both Russian and foreign men of science may compete for 

 the prize. Essays on the subject may be written either in 

 the Russian, Latin, French, English, or German languages, 

 and may be sent in print or manuscript not later than January 

 1/13, 1893, to the Ministry of Imperial Domains. The non- 

 solution of questions Nos. 4 and 5 of the foregoing ques- 

 tions will not be considered an obstacle to the award of the 

 prize in full, should the other four questions be satisfactorily dealt 

 with. In case it be considered that not one of the essays or 

 works submitted has solved the problem in its most essential 

 parts, the Commission to which the essays will be submitted 

 may award as a secondary prize the sum which shall have 

 accrued as interest during the five years on the sum of 50CX) 

 roubles to the author of the work which shall have satisfactorily 

 dealt with a portion of the programme, and which may facilitate 

 a further study of the nature of fish poison. 



The following figures give some idea of the number of 

 animals killed every year in Siberia for the sake of their furs. 

 At the last summer fair of Irbit, which is a market for only a 

 part of the furs exported from Siberia, no less than 3,180,000 

 furs of squirrels were offered for sale. Of these, 1,018,000 were 

 killed in the forests of Yeniseisk, 455,000 in the Altai Mountains, 

 200,000 in Yakutsk, and 300,000 in Transbaikalia. A consider- 

 able number of the furs of squirrels killed in the last two pro- 

 vinces are exported directly both to China and to Russia, without 

 passing through Irbit. It is worthy of note that this year there 

 was a considerable decrease in the furs of the black squirrel. Only 

 half a million of these furs were brought to the fair, as against 

 more than a million in 1887. Of other furs there were 11,000 

 blue fox [Catiis lagopus), from Obdorsk and Berezoff; 140,000 

 marmots, chiefly from the Altai ; 30,000 polecats, io,ooo 

 badgers, 1,300,000 hares, 2000 foxes, and numbers of bears and 

 wolves. The extermination of fur-bearing animals goes on with 

 such rapidity that there are whole regions where hunting has 

 been completely abandoned in consequence of the complete dis- 

 appearance of the Mustelida; and the rarity of the squirrel. 



The November number of the h'c~w Bulletin contains valuable 

 papers on Lagos rubber, Libcrian coffee at the Straits Settle- 

 ments, tea oil and cake, Demerara pink root, food grains of 

 India (continued), Yoruba indigo, Trinidad ipecacuanha, treat- 

 ment of vines in France, huskless barley, and ramie. 



The current number (vol. xxii. New Series No. 5) of the 

 Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 

 is who ly occupied by the first part of a paper, by Mr. A. Henry, 

 on the Chinese names of plants. This instalment contains 565 

 items. The names are those in colloquial use at Ichanj, a towrr 

 on the Yang-tsze, and the neighbourhood. First we get the 

 Chinese name in Latin letters, then in Chinese characters ; 

 these are followed by the scientific name, which is in nearly 

 every case taken from lists compiled at Kew, and by a general 

 description of the plant, and occasionally the use to which it is 

 put by the people. The second part will contain additions to 

 the list, and notes concerning the plant-names that occur in 

 Chinese botanical works. 



