256 



NATURE 



{July 14, 1887 



and observers can never see the people of Nev/ Guinea in the 

 stage of savagery in which he found them when he first went to 

 the island. This gives, of course, a peculiar interest to the record 

 of his impressions. The work contains a map and illustrations, 

 and is published by the Religious Tract Society. 



We have received the first eight numbers of " British Dogs " 

 by H. Dalziel (Upcott Gill). The book will supply admirers 

 of the dog with a trustworthy guide, and it provides in an 

 accessible form much information that will be of service to 

 professionals, as well as to amateurs. The descriptions and 

 plates, with slight exceptions, are very good. 



Prof. Ayrton's " Practical Electricity " is being translated 

 into the German and Spanish languages. 



The tenth volume, lately published, of the series entitled 

 "Monographs of the United States Geological Survey," con- 

 tains a full account, by Prof. O. C. Marsh, of the Dinocerata, 

 an extinct order of gigantic mammals discovered in the Eocene 

 deposits of " Wyoming Territory. The work is admirably 

 illustrated. 



The New York Industrial Education Association will begin in 

 the autumn the publication of a series of educational monographs 

 under the editorship of the President of the Association, Dr. Butler. 

 According to Science, the papers will treat of various educational 

 topics, historically and critically ; and some of the most influen- 

 tial educators, both in America and in Europe, have promised 

 contributions. It is expected that the first monograph will be 

 from the pen of President Gilman, of the Johns Hopkins 

 University. The arguments in favour of industrial education 

 and statements as to its proper organization and development 

 will occupy a prominent place in the series, but not at all to the 

 exclusion of other topics. 



On Friday, the 15th inst., a students' conversazione will be 

 held at the Technical College, Finsbury. There will be a con- 

 cert and exhibition, and lectures on "Church Bells" and 

 " Spectrum Analysis " will be delivered, the former by Prof. 

 Ayrton, F.R.S., the latter by Prof. Meldola, F.R.S. A de- 

 monstration on " The Use of the Secohmmeter " will be given 

 by Mr. W. E. Sumpner. 



In 1880 the Midland Union of Natural History and other 

 Scientific Societies founded the Darwin Medal for the purpose of 

 encouraging original research by members of the Societies form- 

 ing the Union. The medal is a handsome one, the dies for 

 which were engraved by Mr. Joseph Moore, of Birmingham. 

 On the obverse is the bust of Darwin, and on the reverse a 

 branch of coral, commemorative of one of the most famous of 

 his researches. The subjects for which the medal is awarded 

 are geology, zoology, botany, and archjeology. This year it 

 was set apart for archaeology, and at the annual meeting of the 

 Midland Union of Natural History Societies, held last week at 

 Malvern, it was awarded to Mr. Edward W. Badger, of King 

 Edward's High School, Birmingham, for a paper on "The 

 Monumental Brasses of Warwickshire." 



The second German Fishery Meeting will be held at Frei- 

 burg in Baden on July 29 and 30. An excursion to the Imperial 

 Piscicultural Establishment at Hiiningen (Alsace) will be made. 

 All inquiries are to be directed to the German Fishery Society, 

 Leipzigerplatz 9, Berlin. 



The Deutsche Seewarte has issued a second edition of its 

 ice chart (see Nature, vol. xxxvi. p. 41) compiled from the 

 semi- weekly Atlantic Ice Report, by F. Wyneken, of New 

 York, and from its own observations. The chart shows that the 

 state of the drift ice in April and May was nearly the same as 

 in February and March. Between 48° and 51° W., and north 

 of 42° N., icebergs were frequently met with, but there were 



very few to the south of this. It is not supposed that the ice 

 will disappear during July, so that vessels cannot yet safely take 

 a more northerly route. 



Towards the end of June very remarkable weather prevailed 

 in certain parts of Scandinavia. At Roros, in Central Norway, 

 for instance, it snowed so heavily that sledges might easily have 

 been used. Just before, the weather had been very warm for a 

 long while. In Sweden, on the other hand, several provinces 

 were visited by terrific cyclones, which tore up hundreds of 

 trees by the roots, and unroofed many houses. 



At the annual meeting of the Victoria Institute, to be held at 

 the Society of Arts House on Tuesday, July 19, at 8 o'clock, 

 an address will be delivered by the President of the Royal 

 Society. 



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

 during the six months ended June 1887 was ;^556,o58, being a 

 decrease under the corresponding period of last year of £l'^,ZZ'^i 

 a decrease under the corresponding month of last year of 

 jC34,2ig, and an increase over last month of ;iC9043. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include an Entellus Monkey {Semnopithecus entellus, 

 Q ) from India, presented by Capt. W. L. Prentice ; a Grey 

 Squirrel {Scitirtis cinereus) from North America, presented by 

 Mr. Percival Farrer ; two Weasels {Mtistela vulgaris <J ? ) from 

 Sussex, presented by Mr. Clement Wykeham Archer ; two Blue- 

 headed Pigeons {Starncenas cyanocephala) from Cuba, presented 

 by Mr. John Marshall ; two Common Gulls [Larus canus) from 

 Scotland, presented by Mr. T. A. Cotton ; two Lapwings ( Vanel- 

 lus vulgaris) from Essex, presented by Mr. Gervase F. Mathew ; 

 an Alligator Terrapin {Chelydra serpentina) from North America, 

 presented by Prof. Agassiz ; a Speckled Terrapin ( Clemmys 

 guttata), an American Black Snake {Coluber constrictor), from 

 North America, presented by Mr. Samuel Garman ; a White- 

 fronted Capuchin [Cebus albifrons) from Brazil, a Dingo {Canis 

 dingo q) from Australia, deposited ; two Gluttons {Gulo hiscus) 

 from Russia, a Redshank (Totanus calidris), two Lapwings 

 ( Vanellus vulgaris) from Suffolk, purchased ; a Mandarin Duck 

 {ALx galericulata), two Red-crested Pochards {Ftdigula rufina), 

 bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Researches on the Diameter of the Sun. — In continua- 

 tion of his investigations on the supposed changes in the sun's 

 diameter from year to year (Nature, vol. xxxv. p. 496), Prof. 

 Auwers publishes in the Sitzungsberichte der Koniglich Preus- 

 sischen Akademie der IVissenschaften zu Berlin, 1887, No. 

 xxviii. , the result of his researches on tlae yearly inequality of 

 the diameter. The existence of such an inequality has been 

 pointed out by Lindenau in his discussion of Maskelyne's 

 observations ; by Cesaris, Carlini, and Rosa in the Milan 

 observations ; and by Struve in the Dorpat observations. 

 More recently Rosa has discussed extensive series of Greenwich 

 observations of the sun, and also Madras observations ; New- 

 comb and Holden have discussed Greenwich and Washington 

 observations ; and Hilfiker has discussed transits of the sun's 

 diameter obtained at Neuchatel. To these must now be added 

 Prof. Auwers' careful discussion of the Greenwich transit- 

 circle observations, both of horizontal and vertical diameter, 

 obtained during the years 1851-83 inclusive, as well as of the 

 extensive series of Washington and Oxford observations col- 

 lected in his former paper, referred to above. These discussions 

 all show the existence of apparent inequalities in the sun's dia- 

 meter during the year, but do not appear to be at all conclusive 

 as to the reality of such variations in the sun itself. In Prof. 

 Auwers' opinion they are due to the effect of temperature on 

 the instrument, or to the effect of difTerence in the telescopic 

 image of the sun as observed at opposite seasons of the year. 

 Thus a most remarkable inconsistency appears in the results 

 obtained from the Greenwich observations, both of horizontal 



