Sept. 22, 1887] 



NATURE 



501 



a sounding from the series of the Norwegian North Atlantic 

 Expedition taken 5 miles further out shows a depth of 593 

 Fathoms with similar bottom. The lines for the 150, 200, 250, 

 300, and 350 fathom depths seem to run nearly parallel ; but as 

 they approach closer to the loo-fathomline of depth northwards, 

 the bank apparently falls more abruptly into the ocean in this 

 direction. This is borne out by former soundings along the 

 coast of the Lofodden and Vesteraalen groups of islands. Thus 

 outside the Islands of Lango, Ando, and Senjen, the edge of 

 the bank will probably be found only 20 miles from the 

 shore, whilst north of the latter island we know it sheers rapidly 

 straight northwards from the shore. A provisional map, scale 

 I : 200,000, of the districts sounded has been prepared. The 

 discovery of the limits of this bank will, it is believed, be of 

 great importance to the Norwegian fisheries, as it is the spawn- 

 ing-ground of the herring and cod which descend every year in 

 immense shoals from the North Atlantic. 



The Report of the Trustees of the Australian Museum of 

 Sydney for the past year shows progress in most directions. The 

 number of visitors has increased, the collections are increasing 

 rapidly, especially in the natural history departments, and the 

 building is increasing in size, and is still too small. Catalogues 

 of Australian zoology are in course of preparation, and amongst 

 the new publications which will shortly be issued is a catalogue 

 of shells, one of eggs, one of sponges and Medusae, and one of 

 Australian birds. The Trustees also append a Report from the 

 Committee of Management of the Technological, Industrial, and 

 Sanitary Museum, which, like so many other institutions of the 

 same character, suffers sorely from want of adequate space. 

 "The Curator reports that the crowded state of the Museum is 

 inconvenient to visitors, and that, apart from locomotion having 

 become difficult, it is now impossible for a teacher or a parent 

 to gather young people around a show-case for purposes of 

 instruction." We are accustomed in this crowded country to 

 limited space and difficult locomotion, but what have they to do 

 1 with such things in boundless Australia ? The specimens are 

 increasing with great rapidity owing to many valuable donations, 

 j which is all the more reason why the Museum should be 

 properly housed. 



The last number (No. 28, vol. xii. ) of the Excursions et 

 Reconnaissances of Saigon contains the conclusion of P^re 

 Azemar's elaborate paper on the Stieng tribe, which was com- 

 menced in No. 27. It describes the forays, dress, ornaments, 

 manners, religion, houses, intoxicating beverage, food, hunting, 

 and industry of the Stiengs. The writer's knowledge of the 

 tribe may be judged from the circumstance that he has resided 

 amongst them as a missionary, as one of themselves, for five 

 years. The greater part of the number is occupied with the 

 second portion of his dictionary of the Stieng language. The 

 letters H to V occupy nearly a hundred pages in double 

 columns. 



We have received copies of two papers read by Mr. H. C- 

 Russell before the Royal Society of New South Wales — one on 

 floods in Lake George, the other on the history of floods in the 

 Darling River — both being accompanied by excellent maps. 

 Mr. Russell's object is to produce all the historical facts 

 accessible to him relitting to these floods, with the dates. He 

 believes that there is a cycle of nineteen years in the occurrence 

 of the floods. 



The Proceedings of the Liverpool Naturalists' Field Club for 

 Ithe year 1886-87 is largely occupied by a third " Appendix to 

 Ithe Flora of Liverpool," by Mr. Robert Brown. The second 

 [Appendix was published as far back as 1875, and during these 

 twelve years much additional information has been gathered 

 Irespecting the distribution of plants within the district of the 

 iPield Club. In Mr. Brown's present list special reference is 



made to about 168 species, while some species new to the neigh- 

 bourhood and new localities are mentioned. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a White-crowned Mangabey {Cercocebus 

 athiops) from West Africa, presented by Mr. C. Washington 

 Eves ; two Vervet Monkeys ( Cercopithecus lalandii) from South 

 Africa, presented by Capt. Archibald Douglas, R. N. ; a Bonnet 

 Monkey {Macacus sinicus) from India, presented by Mrs. La 

 Primandage ; a Brown Capuchin {Cebus fatuellus) from Guiana, 

 presented by Mr. W. R. Sheppard ; a Sharp-nosed Crocodile 

 {Crocodilus actitus) from Central America, presented by Mr. E. 

 H. Blomefield ; a Mississippi Alligator {Alligalor mississippi- 

 ensis) from Florida, presented by Mr. William J. Craig ; four 

 Common Chameleons {ChamcEleon vulgaris) from North Africa, 

 presented by Mr. H. Thornton ; six Aurora Snakes {Lamprophis 

 aurora) from South Africa, presented by Mr. Walter K. Sibley ; 



a Raven {Corvus corax), British, deposited; a Ichneumon 



{[/rva cancrivora) hom Nepal, two Tesselated Snakes (Tr^/i- 

 donotus tesselatus), four Dark-green Snakes {Zamenis ati-ovirens), 

 seven Common Snakes [Tropidonotus natrix, van), South 

 European, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



New Variable. — Prof. Lewis Boss, in Gould's Astronomical 

 Journal, No. 160, draws attention to the star DM. -f- 3° No. 766. 

 Its magnitude in the DM. is given as 9 "am., and Argelander, 

 who observed it twice with the Bonn meridian circle, gave it 

 the same magnitude in the "Bonner Beobachtungen." Prof. 

 Boss, however, was unable to find it with the Albany meridian 

 circle in 1880 and 1881, but has since picked it up with the 

 1 3-inch equatorial of the Observatory as an 11 '<,m. star. It would 

 therefore appear to be either a " temporary" star or a variable 

 of long period. 



The Dearborn Observatory. — The Report of the Director 

 of the Dearborn Observatory recently issued is for the two years 

 ending May 10, 1887. Prof. Hough's principal work is that with 

 the great i8J-inch equatorial, and includes observations of 

 difficult double stars and of Jupiter. During the period to which 

 the Report refers 130 new double stars have been discovered and 

 measured. Of these, 45 have a distance less than o"'5, 11 have 

 a distance between o"'5 and i"o, and the remainder belong to 

 the class of stars having very minute companions. The com- 

 panion to Sirius has been measured in 1886 and also in 1887. 

 The planet Jupiter has been systematically observed with refer- 

 ence to the physical phenomena on his surface, special attention 

 having been paid, as in former years, to the great red spot. 

 With regard to this remarkable object. Prof. Hough reports that 

 in outline, shape, and size it has remained without material 

 change since the year 1879. During 1885 the middle of the spot 

 was very much paler in colour than the margins, causing it to 

 appear as an elliptical ring. This ring-form has continued up to 

 the present time, although during the last three years the spot 

 has at times been so faint as to be scarcely visible. Four sketches 

 of the planet made in i886 are given in the Report. The appen- 

 dices to the Report contain : a catalogue of 209 new double 

 stars, and a description of a printing chronograph, by Prof. 

 Hough; nebulae found at the Dearborn Observatory 1866-68, 

 by Prof. Saffbrd ; orbit of the Clark companion of Sirius, and 

 motion of the lunar apsides, by Mr. Colbert. The last-named 

 paper is of a " paradoxical " character, and we much regret that 

 the Directors of the Chicago Astronomical Society should have 

 recommended its publication. 



The Spectra of Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Water 

 Vapour. — Prof. Griinwald, of Prague, has recently published 

 {Astr. Nachr. 2797), a brief account of a theory respecting the 

 relationship of the spectra of gases and their compounds, which, 

 if it should prove well founded, will be of the highest import- 

 ance in the light it promises to throw on the structure of many 

 of those substances we now call " elements." The fundamental 

 idea is as follows : — Let [a] be the volume occupied by a primary 

 chemical element, a, in the unit of volume of a gaseous substance, 



A. Let A be chemically combined with a second gaseous body, 



B, to form a third, C. The element a now takes the form a' and 



