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NATURE 



[December 22, 1892 



Cambridge Summer Meetings, Next year no less than five 

 practical courses are promised, viz. in physics, chemistry, 

 botany, physiology, and palaeontology, thus providing for a con- 

 siderable variety of taste, and for the accommodation in the 

 laboratories of a fairly large number of scientific students. 

 Another feature in the programme is an entire novelty. It is 

 proposed to give a series of short courses of lectures on the 

 growth of various sciences — astronomy, "physics, chemistry, 

 and geology — to illustrate from different points of view the 

 methods by which discoveries are actually made, and science 

 makes progress. These will be accompanied by a short theoreti- 

 cal course on scientific method. The sciences selected only 

 cover a small portion of the whole field, and some aspects of 

 scientific method — such as classification — will obviously scarcely 

 be represented. The organic sciences generally are left out, 

 and may possibly form the groundwork of a similar scheme on 

 some future occasion. The idea of illustrating scientific method 

 by the history of science is a familiar one, and is the basis, for 

 example, of Whewell's great books on "The Philosophy and 

 the History of the Inductive Sciences." Few men, however, pos- 

 sess the encyclopaedic knowledge of science which Whewell had, 

 and the progress of science since his day would make such a task 

 as he undertook well-nigh impossible for a more modern writer. 

 The Cambridge Syndicate do not attempt to find a Whewell, 

 but hand over the history of each science to competent special- 

 ists, and hope to give real unity to the whole by the lectures on 

 method, in which the lessons taught by the history of the 

 various sciences will be brought into a focus, and made to lead 

 up to general principles. The experiment is certainly an in- 

 teresting one, and we shall watch with some interest to see how 

 it succeeds. The programme includes also lectures on history, 

 literature, art, and other subjects. But we have dwelt only on 

 the science as being of special interest to our readers. 



In the Herz oscillator, as used hitherto, the spark discharge 

 of a Rhumkorff has been produced in air between two balls. 

 MM. Sarasin and de la Rive lately thought {Arch, de Sciences) 

 to place the balls in an insulating liquid, and they find that this 

 gives a more intense effect in the resonator. Olive oil does 

 best ; oil of turpentine, liquid paraffin, and petroleum were also 

 tried. Placed near the oscillator the resonator gives quite a 

 bright spark, and at about 30 ft. distance, with a resonator of 

 large diameter, the spark is strong enough to be visible a good 

 way off. 



Attempts are being made to create a silk-producing industry 

 in the district of Nicolaieff, in South Russia : and, according to 

 the British Vice-Consul at Nicolaieff, the result is not unlikely 

 to be satisfactory. He says that the mulberry tree, for the 

 growth of which the soil and climate are well adapted, flourishes 

 wherever it is planted, and that with ve'ry little trouble or ex- 

 pense every little plot of ground, now yielding nothing more 

 than a crop of weeds, might in a short time be transformed into 

 a remunerative feeding-ground for the silkworm. The matter 

 has been taken in hand by a society, and every encouragement 

 is given to the peasants and poorer classes to take advantage of 

 the opportunities provided for them. If seriously followed up, 

 the scheme may, the Vice-Consul thinks, prove a source of 

 revenue to many a poor family, and eventually be the means of 

 establishing a large and flourishing industry. 



At a recent meeting of the Trinidad Field Naturalists' Club 

 there was some discussion as to the question whether the bite 

 of the tarantula (Mygale) spider is poisonous. Mr. C. W. 

 Meaden, writing to the Club's journal on the subject, describes 

 an incident which came under his own observation. Early in 

 the present year he had a gang clearing some land after burning, 

 and on visiting them one afternoon he saw a black tarantula 

 dart from a heap of bush and deliberately bite one of the 

 NO. 1208, VOL. 47] 



prisoners on the heel and then scamper away, which it did with 

 safety to itself, although chase was made after it. The spider 

 seemed to be in an angry mood at being disturbed in a favourite 

 haunt for food and shelter. The bite drew blood, about two or 

 three drops. A Trinidad labourer's foot is thick enough almost 

 to resist an auger, yet the spider managed to penetrate, so it 

 may safely be asserted it was in earnest. Immediately the bite 

 was given a shout went up, " The man is bitten by a big black 

 spider — a tarantula ! " This made the bitten one almost frantic 

 with fright, and he cried out piteously, " Me God, me go die 

 in gaol, me God," &c. Mr. Meaden took him to the infirmary, 

 some 300 yards distant, and the sufferer carried his heel in his 

 hand, i.e. hopped all the way. His foot was fomented with hot 

 water, and spirits of ammonia were applied, with the addition 

 of a little liquid ammonia, and he received a dose of ether 

 mixture. About two hours afterwards he ate his dinner heartily 

 and slept well at night. He complained of no pain in the 

 morning, and went to work as usual. There was no local 

 swelling or inflammation, and but little pain at any time. Fright 

 was the only ill effect. 



Some interesting results in application of cold have been 

 recently recorded. Thus M. d'Arsonval has found that while 

 with rising temperature, microbes die before soluble ferments, 

 with lowered temperature the opposite occurs. The invertine of 

 beer yeast cooled to -40°C., does not lose its power, but it is 

 destroyed as a ferment at - 100°. On the other hand, the 

 yeast itself cooled to - 100° is still active. M. Raoul Pictet 

 has lately observed that at - 150° all chemical reaction is 

 suppressed. Thus, if sulphuric acid and potash are brought 

 together at this temperature, they do not combine. Litmus 

 paper,i introduced, keeps its colour. Curiously, it is possible to 

 restore their energy to these inert substances, by passing an 

 electric current, and the current passes readily whatever the sub- 

 stances ; at -150° all bodies are good conductors. The 

 disappearance of affinity at a low temperature can be utilized to 

 get absolutely pure substances, and M. Pictet has thus obtained 

 alcohol, chloroform, ether, and glycerine. 



Some good notes on the Shuswap people of British Columbia^ 

 read before the Royal Society of Canada by Dr. George 

 Dawson, F.R.S., are now printed in the Society's Transactions, 

 and have also been issued separately. In an interesting section 

 on the superstitions of the Shuswaps he notes that they have a 

 singular idea about certain small lizards. A man who sees one 

 of these creatures is supposed to be followed by it wherever he 

 may go during the day, till at length, when he i^ asleep 

 during the following night, it finds him, and entering his 

 body, proceeds to eat out his heart, so that he quickly dies. The 

 late Mr. Bennett, of Spallumsheen, told Dr. Dawson in 1877 

 that the Indians employed by him in making a ditch for pur- 

 poses of irrigation, on coming into camp in the evening, would 

 jump several times over the fire in order to lead the possibly 

 pursuing lizard to enter the fire and be destroyed in attempting 

 to cross. He also noticed that they carefully tied up the legs of 

 their trousers when retiring. If while at work during the day 

 they saw one of these little lizards, which appeared to be- 

 abundant in that locality, it would be caught in a forked twig, 

 the ends of which were then tied together with a wisp of grass 

 and the butt end of the twig afterwards planted in the soil. Thus 

 treated, the lizard soon died and become a natural mummy. If 

 during the progress of the work any one found and carelessly 

 tossed aside one of these lizards, the Indians would throw down 

 their tools and search diligently until they found it, and secured 

 it in the manner just described. Dr. Dawson thinks that this- 

 superstition must be widespread among the Indians, for it was 

 afterwards related to him in identical form by a man of the 

 Nicola River, who further pointed out a small lake, singularly 



