204 



NA TURE 



[July i, 1897 



of refuse at a lower cost than is required for spreading it on 

 the ground or carrying it out to sea, but little has been done 

 in the way of using the heat of these dust-crematories for raising 

 steam. Shoreditch is the pioneer vestry in this respect. But 

 what has been done is only the small beginning of what will 

 be a much greater thing, for all dust refuse will soon be used 

 in the same way. 



The firing at Portsmouth on Saturday, on the occasion of the 

 naval review, was distinctly heard at Hungerford, Wilts, a 

 distance of forty-five miles, as the crow flies, and also at Great 

 Malvern. It would be interesting to know whether the salutes 

 were heard at greater distances than these. 



In accordance with the will of the late Prof. E. D. Cope, his 

 collection of fossils is to be sold, and the proceeds devoted to 

 •establishing a chair of Paleontology in the Philadelphia Academy 

 of Sciences, with which his name was so closely connected. 

 The appointment to the chair must be approved by the National 

 Academy, the duty being chiefly that of original research. 



It may interest some of our readers to know that the follow- 

 ing are among the portraits recently acquired by the Trustees 

 of the National Portrait Gallery : — Sir Francis Ronalds (1788- 

 1873), inventor of the first working electric telegraph. A small 

 plaster bust of Richard. Jeff'eries (1848-1887), naturalist and 

 author. A painting of Constantine Phipps, Lord Mulgrave, 

 R.N. (1744-1792), represented in the Arctic regions while 

 commander of H.M.S. Racehorse in 1773 on a voyage to the 

 North Pole. Sir Joseph Williamson, P.R.S. (1630-1701), 

 Secretary of State in 1674, and second President of the Royal 

 Society. 



A THUNDER-STORM of extraordinary violence passed over 

 London on Thursday last, and did an immense amount of 

 damage in Essex, every kind of crop over an area of about a 

 hundred square miles being ruined. A description of the storm 

 will be found in our correspondence columns. Hailstones of 

 unusually large size fell during the thunder-storm. Mr. F. 

 E. Allhusen, writing from Harrow-on-the-Hill, sends us a 

 •description of hailstones which fell there at about 1.50 p.m* 

 The hail continued for about twenty minutes, and was followed 

 by heavy rain. Referring to a number of hailstones picked up 

 and examined within five minutes of their fall, Mr. Allhusen 

 ■says : — "The majority were roughly spherical in shape, and had 

 an opaque nucleus about the size of a pea. Round this there 

 was a layer of clear ice, in several distinct concentric layers. 

 The ice was honeycombed with small air-bubbles, arranged 

 radially; many of these air-bubbles were much elongated. The 

 general appearance of the hailstones was rough, and somewhat 

 similar to that of the edible part of a walnut. . . . Twelve 

 fairly large stones were weighed ; they turned the scale at two 

 ■ounces." 



Mr. J. A. McMiCHAEL, Head-master of the Technical Day 

 School, Chester, informs us that on Sunday evening, June 20, 

 at 7.45, he saw a distinct solar halo. The angle subtended by 

 its radius was roughly estimated at 25". No second halo was 

 visible. The colours were easily seen, the red being inside. 

 Mr. McMichael thinks the appearance of such a phenomenon 

 four days before Midsummer Day is very remarkable, and would 

 like to know if any of our readers could give similar instances. 



It is stated in Science that a Bill has been introduced in the 

 Minnesota Legislature providing for the appointment of expert 

 witnesses, and that a similar Bill has been prepared to be pre- 

 sented to the New York Legislature. The object of the Bill is 

 to provide a list of experts from whom witnesses are to be 

 NO. 1444, VOL. 56] 



selected by the Court and paid by the State. The following 

 remark of our Transatlantic contemporary will find many sup- 

 porters : — "The employment of expert witnesses by the counsel 

 for the prosecution or defence has been unfortunate both for the 

 Courts and for science. It would certainly be desirable to de- 

 vise a plan by which the expert witness should be in the posi- 

 tion of a judge rather than that of a paid attorney." 



The number and variety of scientific exploring expeditions 

 in America this summer is surprising. The latest announce- 

 ment is that Prof. Wm. Libbey. jun., of Princeton University, 

 will in a few days lead a party of six explorers to Albuquerque, 

 New Mexico, to explore a mesa or sandstone tableland near 

 there. The outcroppings of red sandstone project from the 

 face of the walls, rendering it almost inaccessible. Cliff dwellings 

 have been seen along the edges, and fragments of pottery at the 

 base indicate occupancy by a pre-historic race ; but the tableland 

 has never been scaled in historic times, so far as known. Prof. 

 Libbey intends to throw a line over this tableland, which is 

 several acres in extent on top, by means of tandem kites ; or, in 

 case the wind should be too light, by means of a mortar which 

 will fire a life line across the top. Larger lines will be drawn 

 over, and the ascent made in a boatswain's chair. — Mr. Jesse 

 D. Grant, son of General Grant, is sending an expedition to 

 explore the islands in the Gulf of California, north of 29'', which 

 parallel intersects Tiburon Island, inhabited by the fierce and 

 little-known cannibal Ceris Indians. 



Two exploring expeditions are now on their way to Mount 

 St. Elias— one from the United States, the other from Italy. The 

 object of the American expedition is to make a survey of the 

 region, and settle the boundary dispute with Great Britain. The 

 141st meridian of west longitude is the boundary line, and the 

 summit of the mountain was found by the commission appointed 

 in 1891 to be approximately 60° 17' 51" N. and 140° 55' 30" 

 W. It is said to be thirty-three miles inland, whereas the 

 jurisdiction of the United States extends ten marine leagues or 

 34I miles ; thus, it would seem, taking in the summit. Mr. E. B. 

 Tatham, of the United States Coast Survey, will conduct this 

 work. The party will be led by Mr. Henry G. Bryant, of 

 Philadelphia, who explored the great falls of Labrador in 1891, 

 and was leader of the Peary Auxiliary Expedition in 1894. Mr. 

 Samuel J. Enterkin, who goes with the party, was with the 

 Peary party on its journey to the ice cap in March 1894. 



The Italian expedition to Mount St. Elias is led by Prince 

 Luigi Amadio of Savoy, who is accompanied by four aides. 

 Chevaliers M. Cagni, Francesco Gonella, Vittoria Sella, and Dr. 

 Filippo De Filippi. After the ascent, this party will attempt 

 to climb Logan's Peak. Mount St. Elias is over 18,000 feet 

 high, and was for a long time considered the highest mountain 

 on the American continent. The summit has never been 

 reached, though several attempts have been made, notably in 

 1891, when the surveying party reached the height of 14,500 

 feet. The reason of the failure of former parties is said to 

 be that the approach was made on the south side, where there 

 is a heavy fall of snow and tremendous avalanches, glaciers, 

 precipices, and chasms. The northerly side, from which the 

 ascent will now be attempted, is more approachable, owing to 

 a long ridge of mountains. 



We learn with regret that Mr. W. J. C. Millar has been 

 compelled by ill-health to resign the post of mathematical 

 editor of the Educational Times, which he has held for the 

 past forty years. Mr. Millar's labours have been purely 

 honorary, and his collections of problems and mathematical 

 riddles have inspired and directed the early efforts of many 

 mathematicians of the highest eminence, including such 

 names as Clifford, Cockle, Cayley, and Sylvester. It is now 



