564 



NATURE 



[October 6, 1898 



At a Congregation of Cambridge University held on 

 Saturday, Dr. Hill, the retiring Vice-Chancellor, delivered a 

 valedictory address, in the course of which he made the follow- 

 ing remarks: — "The admirable and central sites which have 

 been purchased by the University during the last three years 

 are still entirely unoccupied, although many departments of the 

 University are either overcrowded or most inadequately housed ; 

 but, at the desire of our Chancellor, steps have been taken 

 which may, it is hoped, bring in the funds necessary for the 

 erection of the buildings which are so urgently required. A 

 very influential committee of University men has been formed 

 for the purpose of organising a ' Cambridge University Associ- 

 ation,' the members of which will be kept informed of, and 

 will be pledged to make known, the needs of the University. 

 It is hoped that through the influence of this association the 

 University may be placed in possession of the means of main- 

 taining her position in the ever- widening and ever- changing 

 educational life of the nation. The legal and medical schools, 

 feeling that it is impossible to wait until the general resources 

 of the University allow of the provision of new buildings, have 

 opened subscription lists on their own account, and it is 

 significant of their sense of the pressing need for such accommo- 

 dation that of the 6000/. already subscribed a large proportion 

 has been given by the teachers of law and medicine and other 

 residents in the University. Among gifts to the University 

 during the past year were a very valuable collection of minerals 

 given by the Rev. T. Wiltshire, Professor of Geology and 

 Mineralogy in King's College, London, a collection of polyzoa 

 given by Miss E. C. Jelly, a skeleton of the elephant seal given 

 by Sir W. L Buller, K.C.M.G., a MS. of de proprietatibus 

 rerum of Bartholomaeus Anglicus given by Lieut. Archibald 

 Stirling, and a collection of Malay native objects given by 

 W. W. Skeat. The University has also received a bequest of 

 10,000/. under the will of the late A. W. G. Allen for the 

 establishment of a scholarship or prize in memory of the Right 

 Rev. Joseph Allen, formerly Bishop of Ely, and grandfather of 

 the donor. Not a few gifts for the foundation of scholarships 

 and prizes have been received by the University during recent 

 years. Such gifts are always acceptable ; but at the present 

 time there is a greater need for the endowment of teaching 

 posts and the provision of buildings for University purposes 

 than for the encouragement and stimulation of students." Dr. 

 Hill was re-elected Vice-Chancellor for the ensuing year. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 26.— M. v&n Tieghem 

 in the chair. — On the changes occurring in the large nebula in 

 the belt of Andromeda, by M. G. Rayet. The brilliant point 

 announced by M. Seraphimoff is probably the central point of 

 the nebula, the brightness of which is variable, and is now tem- 

 porarily increased. The position of the point does not coincide 

 with that of the temporary star whose position was measured by 

 M. Bigourdan in 1885. — On a geometrical theory of the marine 

 compass, by M. S. L. Ravier. — On the convergence of some 

 reduites of the exponential function, by M. H. Pade. The 

 term reduite is applied to a function (regular in the neighbour- 

 hood of the origin) of the rational fractions which, near this 

 point, represent this function with close approximation. — Action 

 of lime and chalk upon certain natural humic materials, by 

 M. G. Andre. The earths were heated at 100° for fifteen hours 

 with lime, chalk, or water, and determinations made of the 

 nitrogen volatilised as ammonia, the nitrogen rendered soluble, 

 and the ammonia present in the filtrate. — On the composition 

 of oeolosomine, by M. A. B. Grifiliths. CEolosomine is 

 the name given to a colouring matter, green in acid, 

 ' purple in alkaline solutions, found in CEolosoma tenebraruni. 

 — Chlorophyll assimilation in plants growing by the sea-shore, 

 by M. Ed. Griffon. The leaves of maritime plants under the 

 influence of sea-salt undergo a reduction of chlorophyll, acquir- 

 ing by way of compensation a greater thickness and a more 

 marked development of the assimilating tissues. But this 

 modification of structure, although having a tendency to com- 

 pensate the injurious action of the salt, is insufficient, since the 

 assimilation per unit of surface is always less for the leaves of a 

 maritime species than for comparable leaves of the same species 

 growing inland. — Observations of an aurora borealis at Gottin- 

 gen (Hanover) on September 9, by M. B. VioUe. — On an 

 observation of the green ray at sunrise, by M. H. de Maubeuge : 

 The phenomenon was noticed from the steamer Ernest Simons, 

 by several people simultaneously, over Mt. Sinai. 



NO. I 5 10, VOL. 58] 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books.— Arithmetical Chemistry : C. J. Woodwaid, Part i. new edition 

 (Simpkin).— The Campaign in Tirah : Colonel H. D. Hutchinson (Mac- 

 millan).— The Telephone: Prof. W. J. Hopkins (Longmans).— An Intro- 

 duction to Practical Quantitative Analysis : H. P. Highton (Rivingtons).— 

 Diet and Food : Dr. A. Haig (Churchill).— Beitrage zur Physiologie des 

 Centtalnervensystems : Prof. Max Verworn, Erster Theil (Jena, Fischer).— 

 The Living Organism : A. Earl (Macmillan). — Catalogue of Chemical and 

 Physical Apparatus and Chemicals (Leeds, Reynolds and Branson).— 

 Eclipses of the Mcon in India : R. Sewell (Sonnenschein).— Cape of Good 

 Hope: Report of the Marine Biologist, 1897 (Cape Town, Richards).— The 

 Gold Coast, Past and Pre-.ent : G. Macdonald (Longmans). — Psychology in 

 the Schoolroom : T. F. G. Dexter and A. H. Garlick (Longmans). 



Pamphlets.— The Witness of Science to Linguistic Anarchy : Lady 

 Welby (Grantham, Clarke).— Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical 

 College : Reports on Experiments on the Manuring of Oats, Hay, and 

 Turnips and Potatoes (Glasgow).— The Wanton Mutilation of Animals : 

 Dr. G. Fleming (Bell). 



Serials.— Chambers's Journal, October (Chambers).— Good Word.*, 

 October (Isbister) —Sunday Magazine, October (Isbister).- Longman's 

 Magazine, October (Longmans).— Monthly Weather Review, June (Wash- 

 ington). — National Geographic Magazine, September (Washington). — 

 Century Magazine, October (Macmillan).— Humanitarian, October ( Duck- 

 worth).— Contemporary Review, October (Isbisier).—Fortnightly Review. 

 October (Chapman).— Reliquary, &c., October (Bemrose) — Himmel und 

 Erde, September (Berlin, Paetel).— J.inus, July-August (Williams).— 

 Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Vol. 9, Part 3 

 (Murray).— Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, August (Stanford). 

 — National Review, October (Arnold). — Knowledge, October (Holborn). — 

 Observatory; October (Taylor). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



North American Birds. By R. L 541 



The Case against Vaccination 542 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Donkin : "The Heat Efficiency of Steam Boilers: 



Land, Marine, and Locomotive." — H. B 543 



Hayford : " A Text-book of Geodetic Astronomy " . 543 



Jones and Jones : " Machine Drawing " 543 



Fergusson : " A Student of Nature " 543 



Letters to the Editor :— 



Undercurrents in the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. — 

 Rear-AdmiralSir W.J. L. Wharton, K.C.B., 



F.R.S. 544 



Fourier's Series. — Prof. Albert A. Michelson . . 544 

 Helium in the Atmosphere.— E. C. C. Baly : 

 Prof. William Ramsay, F.R.S., and Dr. 



Morris W. Travers 545 



Chance or Vitalism ?— Prof. Geo. Fras. Fitz- 



Gerald, F.R.S. ; Clement O. Bartrum ... 545 

 The Moon's Course.— J. Hughes Hemming . . 545 

 A Case of Inherited Instinct.— Prof. T. D. A. 



Cockerell • . . . 546 



Maggots in Sheep's Horns. — W. H. McCorquodale 546 

 "Luminous Clouds" or Aurora? — ^J. Edmund 



Clark 546 



A Hairless Rat.— T. V. Hodgson 546 



The Dynamical Theory of Refraction, Dispersion 

 and Anomalous Dispersion. By Lord Kelvin, 



G.C.V.O., F.R.S 546 



A Fourth ^•pt.zym.&n oi Notornis mantelli,Ovi^n. By 



Prof. W. Blaxland Benham 547 



A Living Representative of the Old Ground- 

 Sloths ... 547 



Report on a National Physical Laboratory .... 548 



Notes • . . 549 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



The Large Sun-spot 553 



New Teaching (Observatory for the Californian Uni- 

 versity 553 



Annual Report of the Cambridge Observatory . . . 553 

 Annual Publication of the (Observatory of Rio de 



Janeiro for 1898 553 



Recent Advances in Science, and their Bearing on 

 Medicine and Surgery. By Prof. R. Virchow, 



For. Member R.S 554 



Chemistry at the British Association 556 



Geology at the British Association 558 



Phosphorescence. By Herbert Jackson 559 



University and Educational Intelligence 563 



Societies and Academies 564 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 564 



