May 19, 1887] 



NATURE 



63 



various stages of their development, obtained mostly from M. 

 WaiJIy. With very few exceptions, the British larvK, which 

 retain a most life-like appearance, and are placed upon models 

 of the plants upon which they feed, have been prepared and 

 mounted by Lord Walsingham himself; the process adopted 

 having been inflation of the empty skin of the caterpillar by 

 means of a glass tube and india-rubber spray- blower over a 

 spirit-lamp guarded by wire gauze. This has been found a 

 simpler and quicker process, and one admitting of more satis- 

 factory manipulation, than the alternative system of baking by 

 means of heated metal plates or ovens. The specimens have 

 mostly retained their natural colour, but in the case of the bright 

 green species it has been found necessary to introduce a little 

 artificial dry pigment. The whole collection consists of 2540 

 specimens of larvae, belonging to 776 species, together with a 

 series of the perfect insects of each species. As continued ex- 

 posure to light is, unfortunately, most detrimental to the colours 

 of insects, this collection cannot be exhibited permanently, but 

 for the advantage of those who would like to see it without any 

 restriction, it will be placed in the entrance hall of the Museum 

 for a period of six weeks, including the Whitsuntide holidays 

 and the Jubilee week in June. 



The Ladies' Soiree at the Royal Society will be held on 

 June 8. 



The following men of science have been elected Foreign 

 Members of the Linnean Society : — (botanists) Dr. George 

 A. Schweinfurth, Professor of Botany, Cairo, Egypt, whose 

 travels and botanical researches in Central Africa are widely 

 known ; Count H. Solms-Laubach, Professor of Botany, Uni- 

 versity of Gottingen, whose observations on the Corallines, Gulf of 

 Naples, and investigations in plant anatomy, especially that of 

 flowering parasites, &c. , are acknowledged biological contribu- 

 tions of merit ; M. le Dr. Melchior Treub, Director of the 

 Jardin Botanique, Buitenzorg, Java, whose studies among the 

 Lycopods, Cycads, Lichens, &c., and whose labour in editing 

 the " Annales du Jardin de Buitenzorg " are highly appreciated : 

 (Zoologists) Dr. Franz Steindachner, Conservator of Herpeto- 

 logy and Ichthyology, Royal Museum, Vienna, distinguished for 

 his very numerous and important memoirs on fish and reptiles 

 generally ; and Dr. August Weismann, Professor of Zoology, 

 University of Freiburg, Baden, noted for his studies on the 

 theory of descent, and embryological researches on insects and 

 hydroids. Mr. William H. Beeby and Mr. Adolphus H. Kent, 

 of London, and Mr. J. Medley Wood, of Durham, Natal, all 

 three worthy workers in various departments of botany, have 

 been elected Associates of the Society. 



A Linnean herbarium has just been presented to the Upsala 

 University by Prof. H. Sotherstrand, by whom it was inherited. 

 It has been found by comparison of names to be a duplicate of 

 that possessed by the Linnean Society of London, 



The Russian traveller, General Prjevalsky, is shortly to be 

 presented with a gold medal by the Imperial Scientific Society 

 of St. Petersburg, which has been specially struck, by order of 

 the Emperor, in his honour. The medal bears on the obverse 

 the initials of the recipient, and on the reverse the inscription 

 " To the first student of the Natural History of Central Asia." 



The Paris Society of Civil Engineers off"ers a prize of 3000 

 francs for the best eloge of Henry Giffard, the well-known 

 aeronaut and inventor of the injector. This competition is open 

 to foreigners, but the papers must be written in French. 



On Monday evening the session of the Institution of 

 Mechanical Engineers was opened at the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster. The President, 

 Mr. E. H. Carbutt, delivered the inaugural address, taking as 

 his subject, "Fifty Years' Progress in Gun-making." 



The sixtieth meeting of the German Association of Naturalists 

 will be held at Wiesbaden on September 18-24 next. A 

 number of new scientific instruments and preparations will be 

 shown. All inquiries are to be directed to Herr Dreyfus, 

 44 Frankfurterstrasse, Wiesbaden. 



The County of Middlesex Natural History and Science 

 Society will hold their first annual soiree on Monday, the 23rd 

 inst., at II Chandos Street, Cavendish Square. The chair will 

 be taken at 8 p.m. by Lord Strafford, Lord- Lieutenant of 

 Middlesex, and President of the Society. Objects of scientific 

 interest will be exhibited. 



The total value of the fish landed upon the coasts of Scotland 

 during the four months ended April 1887 was £,},M,in, being 

 a decrease of ;^io,59i upon the corresponding period last year. 



A COLLECTION of Indian cocoons is about to be sent by the 

 Indian Government to Manchester, where it will be open for 

 inspection. Infected cocoons are to be despatched to France for 

 examination by M. Pasteur's pupils, who, it is hoped, will be 

 able to suggest means for checking the disease which has nearly 

 rained the silk industry of India. 



The largest piece of amber ever discovered was recently dug 

 up near the Nobis Gate, at Altona. It weighed 850 

 grammes. 



The ravages of the May-bug in Denmark have become so 

 serious that a Bill is now under the consideration of the Danish 

 Parliament proposing that the cost of the destruction of these 

 insects shall be borne half by the State and half by local 

 authorities. 



The Dutch Government intends to construct a railway in 

 Sumatra, the cost of which will be nearly ;,^i, 400,000 

 (16,000,000 florins). The object is to faciUtate the working of 

 the coal-fields near the River.Umbili. The coal deposit in these 

 fields is reckoned to consist of about two hundred millions of tons. 



An interesting paper on "An Ideal Natural History 

 Museum," read lately by Prof. W. A. Herdman before the 

 Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, has been issued 

 as a pamphlet. Prof. Herdman calls attention to the strange fact 

 that the Darwinian theory of evolution has had, as yet, little or no 

 effect upon the structure and arrangement of museums of natural 

 history. He urges that a phylogenetic arrangement would have 

 the following advantages over the linear arrangement now em- 

 ployed in our museums : — (i) A phylogenetic arrangement would 

 give a much more accurate representation of Nature. (2) While 

 being more intelligible and instructive to the general public, it 

 would be more in accord with the present state of biological 

 knowledge, and could very readily be slightly altered from time 

 to time so as to keep abreast with the progress of science. 

 (3) It would be a perpetual illustrated lecture, of the best kind, 

 demonstrating to everyone with ordinary intelligence the great 

 doctrine of organic evolution. 



On April 14 about 9.15 p.m. a large meteor was observed at 

 Throndhjem, in Northern Norway. It went in a direction from 

 north to north-east, and during its passage the light was so 

 brilliant that the smallest objects in the snow were visible. It 

 burst, as it seemed, into thousands of fr^ments, but there was 

 no sound or report. Before bursting, the meteor was green, 

 but during that process it displayed colours of red, yellow, and 

 green, chiefly the latter. 



M. E. Ferri^RE has published a book called "La Matiere 

 et I'Energie," summarising the latest results of physical investi- 

 gation concerning matter and force. 



The second number of the " Jahrbuch der Naturwissenschaf- 

 ten " (a volume of nearly 600 pages) has just been issued. This 

 useful periodical is edited by Dr. Max Wildermann, and pub- 



