56o 



NA TURE 



[October 7 1897 



duties, or what was commonly called " beer money." This con- 

 tribution from the Exchequer would be sufficient to pay the 

 interest on the outlay, provide a sinking fund, and leave a 

 balance of 1250/. per annum towards the annual expenditure. 



In an introductory address delivered at the Yorkshire College, 

 Leeds, on Friday last, Mr. T. R. Jessop described the magnifi- 

 cent provision made for the study and practice of medicine and 

 surgery in some of the cities in Russia. He said that he found 

 several of the Russian hospitals and cliniques far in advance of 

 our own. Of the recently completed Moscow cliniques it was 

 difficult to speak in adequate terms. Built at a cost of about 

 half a million pounds sterling, half of which was contributed by 

 a few wealthy ladies, whilst the remainder, as well as an endow- 

 ment of 43,000/ yearly, was guaranteed jointly by the Imperial 

 Government and the municipality, they consisted of a dozen or 

 more separate detached handsome buildings, erected on an open 

 estate of from forty to fifty acres, situated about a mile and a 

 half outside the busy city. Each building was a complete hos- 

 pital, with its own lecture room, laboratory, professor's room, 

 &c., and in those requiring it there was provided a suite of 

 operating rooms which might well serve as models for any hos- 

 pital. Each building was adapted for a special purpose, for 

 ■dealing, namely, with surgical or medical cases, children's 

 diseases, ophthalmic, contagious, nervous, nasal, and aural affec- 

 tions, and so on. And all this had been done for the sole pur- 

 pose of educating medical students, and providing the country 

 •with competent medical men.' 



The following entrance scholarships have been awarded in 

 medical schools -.—Gtiy's Hospital Medical School: Scholarship 

 for University students (anatomy and physiology), of the value 

 of 50/., to Mr. A. H. Davies, Caius College, Cambridge. Open 

 scholarships in science — First scliolarship, of the value of 150/., 

 to Mr. A. E. II. Parkes, Guy's Hospital Medical School ; 

 second scholarship, of the value of 60/., to Mr. W. H. 

 Harwood-Yarred, Dulvvich College. St. Marys Hospital 

 Medical School: Science scholarships. — 144/., Mr. M. F. 

 Kelly; 78/. 155., Mr. J. B. Albury ; 78/. 15^., Mr. D. E. 

 Finlay; 52/. loj-., Mr. J. H. Wells; exhibition of 26/. e,s., 

 Mr. H. R. Kidner and Mr. M. T. Williams. University 

 Scholarships —57/. 15^., Mr. F. C. Eve; 57/. 15^., Mr. C. 

 KilHck ; exhibition of 26/. 5^., Mr. A. Whitmore. St. Thomas's 

 Hospital Medical School: First entrance scholarship in natural 

 science (150/.) to Mr. W. H. Harwood-Yarred, and the second, 

 of the value of 60/.. to Mr. PVancis H. Whitehead. The 

 University Scholarship, of the value of 50/., to Mr. Frank 

 Cecil Eve, of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Charing- 

 cross Hospital Medical School : — Livingstone Scholarship (lOO 

 guineas), to Mr. S. A. Boyd ; Huxley Scholarship (55 guineas), 

 to Mr. W. L O'Brien ; Universities' Scholarship (60 guineas), 

 to Mr. W. G. Rogers. Entrance scholarships have also been 

 awarded to Mr. E. Bayley (60 guineas), Mr. C. L. Lakin 

 (40 guineas), and Mr. G. S. Welham (30 guineas). London 

 Hospital Medical College. — Price Science Scholarship (120/.), 

 Mr. J. Jones ; Price Anatomy and Physiology Scholarship 

 >{6o/. ). open only to competitors from Oxford or Cambridge, 

 Mr. C. Warren (Oxon.); science scholarship (60/.), Mr. R. T. 

 .Dolbey; science scholarship (35/.), Mr. M. T. Williams. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



Symonss Monthly Meteorological Magazine, September. — 

 ' Climatologicat records for the British Empire in 1896. A table 

 ■is given showing the chief climatological elements at eighteen 

 stations in various parts of the globe, and is accompanied by 

 interesting remarks upon the results. The highest shade tempera- 

 ture, 1 1 1°'2, occurred, as is most frequently the case, at Adelaide, 

 in January. A temperature of 104° '8 was recorded at Malta, in 

 August, which appears to be unprecedented. No station has 

 ever approached Winnipeg in respect of minimum shade tem- 

 perature, and the daily and yearly range, but the values for 1896 

 call for no special remark. The least daily and yearly range 

 were recorded at Grenada ; the values appear to be normal, and 

 are very similar to those obtained at Barbados in former years. 

 The highest mean temperature always occurs at Ceylon ; in 1896 

 it was 8i°-5, but the average for fifteen years at Bomba,y is less 

 than a degree below that for Ceylon. The driest station, viz. 

 that recording the lowest relative humidity, has for many years 



NO. 1458, VOL. 56] 



been Adelaide, while Esquimalt is the dampest. Tiie highest 

 temperature in the sun, 177°, was recorded at Trinidad, and the 

 lowest temperature on grass was - 23° '5 at Toronto ; the radia- 

 tion temperature is not registered at Winnipeg. The greatest 

 rainfall, loi '06 inches, occurred at Colombo, and the least, 15 "17 

 inches, at Adelaide, this value being much below the average. 

 The fall at Mauritius, 68' 17 inches, is the greatest since 1877. 

 The greatest amount of cloud was recorded at Esquimalt, which 

 slightly exceeds that of London ; the clearest sky was observed 

 at Grenada, where the average amount was 3 '6, the scale 

 being o to 10. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 27. — M. A. Chatin 

 in the chair. — On the hypocycloid with three inflections, by M. 

 Paul Serret. A continuation of a preceding paper,— On the 

 stability of the phosphorescent sulphides of strontium, by M. J. 

 R. Moureto. Specimens of phosphorescent strontium sulphide, 

 prepared by five different methods, and exposed to air and sun- 

 light at a temperature of 45° C. undergo a decomposition with 

 production of hydrogen sulphide, and a sulphate. — On para- 

 stannyl chloride, by M. R. Engel. Metastannic acid, if washed 

 with boiling water before drying in a vacuum, contains two 

 molecules of water less than the acid prepared with cold water. 

 This gives with hydrochloric acid an insoluble metastannic 

 chloride, SngOgCU.aHgO, which differs from the chloride pre- 

 viously known by" two" molecules of water. From this a new 

 stannic acid is obtained, to which the name of parastannic acid 

 is given. — On some double chlorides formed by cinchonamine, 

 by MM. Leon Boutroux and P. Genvresse. The alkaloid forms 

 double chlorides with cadmium, zinc, and copper chlorides, the 

 analyses and crystallographic characters of which are given. — 

 On the improvement of humous earths, by M. J. Dumont. The 

 application of potash manures, with a small proportion of lime 

 salts, or of phosphatic slag, is recommended. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Practical Electricity. By Prof. A. Gray, F.R.S. . . 537 



Primitive Frenchmen. By A. C. H 538 



Our Book' Shelf:— 



Haworth : "The University Geological Survey of 



Kansas" 539 



Howard and Small : " Set of Twelve Diagrams illus- 

 trating the Principles of Mining " 539 



Gadow : " In Northern Spain " 540 



Letters to the Editor:— 



The Highest Kite Ascent.— A. Lawrence Rotch 540 

 Outlying Clusters of the Perse'ids, {Illustrated.)— 



Prof. A. S. Herschel, F.R.S. 540 



A Colony of Highly Phosphorescent Earth- Worms. — 



J. Lloyd-Bozward 544 



Appearance of a Noddy in Cheshire. — F. Congreve 544 



The Etna Observatory. [Illustrated.) 544 



Fritz Mailer. By W. F. H. B 546 



Notes 548 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



New Divisions in the Rings of Saturn 552 



A New Meteor Photograph 552 



The Alleged Former Redness of Sirius 552 



The New Government Laboratories. By James 



■Woodward 553 



Zoology at the British Association 555 



Physics and Chemistry in Relation to Medicine , . 556 



University and Educational Intelligence 559 



Scientific Serials 560 



Societies and Academies 560 



