174 



NATURE 



\Augiist 1 8, 1887 



England, Dr, Copeland, of Lord Crawford's Observatory, and 

 Father Perry, of Stonyhurst, have accepted an invitation from 

 Prof Bredichin to two members of the Astronomical Society, 

 and have already joined him at Kineshma ; and Mr, Turner, 

 from the Greenwich Observatory, will occupy a station selected 

 by Prof. Struve. Prof. Young and Prof M'Neill, from America, 

 have gone to Tver ; and two other American astronomers will 

 also make observations. Prof. Tacchiui and Dr. Ricco, from 

 Italy, have gone to Viatka ; and two German delegates and one 

 French have als3 been sent." We may add that there will be 

 an American photographic and spectroscopic station in Japan. 



Several very good speeches were delivered last Saturday in 

 the course of the debate on the Education Estimates, Mr. 

 Mundella did excellent service by insisting, as he had often done 

 before, on the necessity for a higher standard of education in 

 our elementary schools. A great many people seem still to be 

 of opinion that the State discharges all its obligations in this 

 matter if it secures that children shall learn to read and write. 

 >'ut what is the good of teaching children to read and write if 

 they are not also taught how to put the power, when they have 

 acquired it, to a proper use ? The chances are that reading and 

 writing, if education goes no further, will soon be forgotten. 

 Long ago this was pointed out by M. Thiers, who showed that 

 children in France who could read and write at the age of eleven 

 ceased to be able to do either before they entered the army as 

 conscripts. If education is to be of real value, it must be carried 

 on to an age when boys and girls are capable of taking an 

 interest in " things of the mind," and they must receive instruc- 

 tion in subjects which they are likely to find attractive. This 

 was urged with much force by Sir John Lubbock, who argued 

 that history and natural science shoald receive far more atten- 

 tion than is now devoted to them in elementary schools, and that 

 manual instruction ought to be added to the list of the optional 

 class subjects. 



From the Aiken (South Carolina) RccorJer of the 19th ult 

 we learn that Dr. Henry William Ravenel died on July 17, after 

 a protracted illness. He was a native of the State in which he 

 died, and early in life botany was his favourite pursuit, and fungi 

 hfs specialty. Soon after graduating he engaged in cotton 

 planting, and continued it for twenty years. Subsequently he 

 devoted more time to botany, and during the last few years of 

 his life he was Botanist to the South Carolina State Department 

 of Agriculture. The infirmity of deafness prevented him from 

 taking any other post. He published a few short papers, chiefly 

 on the plants of his native State ; but he was more widely known 

 from his "Fungi Caroliniani Exsicoati," of which he issued a 

 number of fasciculi; and the "Fungi Americani Exsiccati," 

 which he prepared in conjunction with Dr. M. C. Cooke. He 

 was a member of several scientific Societies, and in 1886 the 

 degree of LL. D. was conferred on him by the University of 

 North Carolina. 



The Curatorship of the Natural History Department of the 

 Science and Art Museum of Dublin is now vacant, owing to 

 the resignation, through ill-health, of Mr. A. G. More. Mr. 

 More has been associated with the Institution for twenty years. 

 He succeeded to the Curatorship six years ago, on the death of 

 Dr. Carte, and the condition of that portion of the Museum 

 over which he presided testifies to-day to his abilities as an admin- 

 istrator, and to the exceptional skill of himself and those who 

 have been associated with him. As a botanist he is best known 

 as joint author with the late Dr. Moore of the " Cybele Hiber- 

 nica " ; as a zoologist his name is honourably associated with 

 British ornithology. Numerous notes and papers, scattered 

 throughout various journals, give evidence of his scientific at- 

 tainments and activity ; and by no means an inconsiderable 

 portion of his experience lies buried in publications on the 



Irish fauna and flora, for, with characteristic good-nature, he 

 has always been willing to help local naturalists with his expe- 

 rience and critical knowledge. His loss is greatly to be deplored, 

 and we wish the directorate good fortune in the choice of his 

 successor. 



The Autumn Congress of the Sanitary Institute of Great 

 Britain will be held at Bolton on September 20 and following 

 days, under the presidency of Lord Basing. The Council invite 

 papers on subjects included in the programme, and will be very 

 glad to receive the personal co-operation and support of all who 

 are interested in the diffusion of sanitary knowledge. 



On Saturday last, M. Jovis, accooapanied by M. Mallet, made 

 a balloon ascent from Paris, hoping that he might reach a height 

 greater than that attained by any previous aeronaut. The bal- 

 loon began to ascend at 7.15 a.m., and was visible until 8.10, 

 when it disappeared, having reached, as was supposed, a height 

 of between 7000 and 8000 feet. About eleven o'clock it came 

 down in Belgian Luxembourg, The altitude reached was 22,000 

 feet. This is far below the "record" of Messrs. Glaisher and 

 Coxwell, who rose to a height of 37,000 feet. 



The eighth Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information issued 

 from the Royal Gardens, Kew, has just been published. It 

 contains a series of valuable notes on the Tree Tomato ( Cypho- 

 mandra betacea), the Chocho {Sechium ediile), the Arracacha 

 {Arracacia escu'enta), and the Cherimoyer {Anona Cheritnolia). 

 All these food-plants have been recently introduced from the 

 West Indies to the East Indies. The notes are preceded by 

 the following statement : — "The introduction of the Arracacha 

 was first attempted, at the instance of the Government of India, 

 in 1879, but, after many failures, was only successfully accom- 

 plished in 1883, The Chocho was introduced to Ceylon by 

 means of a single plant, which survived the journey direct from 

 Jamaica to Ceylon, in January 1885. The Tree Tomato and 

 Cherimoyer were introduced by seeds, which travel well and are 

 more convenient for distribution than plants. In a few years, 

 no doubt, all these plants will be widely distributed throughout 

 the East, and they will be found useful additions to the veget- 

 able diet of both Europeans and natives. Already the Chocho 

 introduced to Ceylon as recently as 1885 is to be found in the 

 local markets ; and the Tree Tomato is mentioned ' as a most 

 valuable acquisition to Southern India,' All the four plants 

 here mentioned are likely to thrive at hill-stations in India and 

 in all districts suitable for coffee and cinchona cultivation. They 

 are sub-tropical rather than tropical in their requirements, and 

 hence no doubt they will be found of service in South Africa, 

 in certain parts of Australia, Northern New Zealand, and in 

 hilly districts generally throughout our tropical possessions. 

 The information here summarized will indicate their usefulness 

 as food-plants, and the sources both in the Old and New World 

 from which future supplies of seeds and plants may conveniently 

 be obtained." 



Some doubt has existed as to whether the Chinese have not 

 one or more kinds of plants in use as ginger that are unknown 

 elsewhere. In the Annual Report on the Botanical and 

 Afforestation Department, Hong Kong, for the year 1886, Mr. 

 Chades Ford, Superintendent, says he has talscn steps for culti- 

 vating all the kinds of plants generally included by the Chinese 

 as ginger, with the hope that he may be able to study them in 

 such a manner as to secure all possible information in connexion 

 with this subject. While at San Ui he was fortunate in ob- 

 taining from cultivated plants good flowering specimens. These 

 he dried, and, together with specimens of the roots (properly 

 rhizomes), forwarded to the Director of Kew Gardens for a study 

 of them to be made there, where they can be compared with 

 other kinds, or with specimens of the same kind from other 

 places. The specimens he procured were, without doubt, 



