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NATURE 



[February 23, 1693 



America, as far south as Hatteras ; in Chesapeake Bay it was 

 reported to be thicker than for twenty-five years. 



The official report of the International Meteorological Con- 

 ference at Munich from August 26 to September 2, 1891, has 

 now been issued. It contains protocols of the various meetings, 

 with appendices and supplements. 



Thessaly was supposed to have got rid of the plague of field 

 mice, but it appears that the congratulations offered to her were 

 somewhat premature. The Athens correspondent of the Times 

 telegraphs that swarms of these troublesome creatures are begin- 

 ning to reappear both in Thessaly and in the neighbouring dis- 

 trict of Phthiotis. "It was hoped," he says, " that the severe 

 cold and heavy rains of the last few months had exterminated 

 them, but they seem to have.taken refuge in the mountains, and 

 are now returning in large numbers to the plains. The Prefect 

 of Phthiotis has applied to the Government for instructions as to 

 the best means of dealing with this destructive pests." 



According to a correspondent of the Scotsman, writing from 

 Borthwickbrae, Selkirkshire, the mice pest in Scotland has 

 greatly diminished, if it has not entirely disappeared, during 

 the last two months. " The great abundance of owls," he says, 

 "coupled with the very severe weather, has no doubt given 

 them a check." During the severe storm of last month the 

 owls, unfortunately, suffered also. The keeper at Alemoor 

 Loch counted over thirty of the short-eared or heather owl, and 

 eight kestrel hawks — some lying dead, others able to fly a few 

 yards only, while several sat until lifted in the hands. The 

 short-eared owls did not go to the woods to roost, which were 

 close to the loch, but were in the willows and reeds along the 

 edge of the loch. 



Sir Edward Birkbeck has accepted the presidency of the 

 British Sea- Anglers' Society, which was founded recently at a 

 meeting held in London. It is proposed that the Society 

 shall have branches in all parts of the United Kingdom, and the 

 members hope that they may be able not only to secure for 

 themselves certain advantages in connection with their favourite 

 sport, but to be of some public service. The chairman of the 

 preliminary meeting, Mr. C. H. Cook, touched on the question 

 of legislation for the protection of sea-fish. " I hope," he said 

 "that the anglers will take up the cause of immature sea-fish. 

 Already a movement, to which we may give a strong impetus, 

 is rolling forward in this direction, but it is checked by the traw- 

 lers' interests. The harm done by these men is almost incalculable. 

 I have seen their nets within a stone's throw of the shore, in less 

 than three fathoms of water, where they scoop up and destroy 

 the infant fish by the million. It may be that the evidence ten- 

 dered by trustworthy members of the Sea-Anglers' Society may 

 be the means of putting an end to inshore trawling. I hope it 

 will. It often happens that the information given to the Fishery 

 Boards is wilfully misleading, owing to it being given by fisher- 

 men, who fear they will lose their living." 



The Council of the Cremation Society of England, in its 

 Report for 1892, expresses much satisfaction with the progress 

 made by the cause which the Society represents. It seems that 

 within the year no fewer than 104 bodies were cremated, "in- 

 cluding a large proportion of individuals well known in society 

 by their connection with art, science, or literature, or by a 

 distinguished position of some other kind, ten having been 

 members of the medical profession." 



Mr. a. H. S. Lucas, who has edited the Victorian 

 Naturalist admirably since it was started nearly nine years ago, 

 has tendered his resignation in consequence of his election to 

 the head-mastership of Newington College, Sydney. The Field 

 Naturalists' Club, of Victoria, to which the magazine belongs, 

 NO. 12 I 7. VOL. 47] 



has expressed its cordial thanks to Mr. Lucas for his services. 

 Mr. F. G. A. Barnard, who has been both secretary and 

 librarian of the club, will act for the present as Mr. Lucas's 

 successor. 



A MOST interesting and suggestive paper on " pottery glazes : 

 their classification and decorative value in ceramic design " was 

 read by Mr. W. P. Rix at the meeting of the Society of Arts on 

 February 7. It is printed in the current number of the Society's 

 Journal. Mr. Rix tries to show that the relative merit of various 

 glazes is based upon certain optical principles, which have only 

 been partially examined by men of science, and that these prin- 

 ciples, underlying the pleasurable sensations to the eye, really 

 govern that which we are pleased to call good taste and ex- 

 cellence, so far as glazes are concerned, and are not mere matters 

 of opinion. The reading of the paper was followed 'oy a lively 

 discussion, in the course of which Mr. Binns quoted a saying 

 attributed to Mr. Gladstone, that a fine piece of glaze " feels 

 like the touch of a baby's hand." Mr. Binns had often been 

 struck with the aptness of the illustration. There was a peculiar 

 soft texture in a fine piece of glaze that only a connoisseur could 

 appreciate. 



The Times of Tuesday gives an account of a process by 

 which anthracite coal bricks are now being manufactured. The 

 bricks are made of grains of anthracite dust, which are forced 

 to cohere by means of a special cementing compound and by 

 great pressure. The coal dust is mixed with the binding mat- 

 erial in the proportion of 96 percent, of the former to 4 per cent, 

 of the latter. The compound is fed into a mixer, where it meets 

 a jet of steam, a stiff paste being formed, which is delivered 

 successively into a series of moulds under a pressure of 25 cwt. 

 As the mould plate revolves, the charge in each mould is brought 

 between two rams, which exert a pressure of two tons per square 

 inch on each side of the charge, forming a very dense and homo- 

 geneous coal brick. The brick, still in the mould, passes on to 

 the delivery ram, by which it is pushed out on to a table, and is 

 removed for the market. These coal bricks are said to make an 

 excellent fuel and to possess a very high efficiency for steam- 

 raising purposes. The liy/ies thinks that with such a fuel at the 

 disposal of the public there is room to hope for a reduction in 

 the pollution of the atmosphere of towns, as well as a reduction 

 in the coal bills of steamship companies and of steam users 

 generally. It adds that the invention is being worked by the 

 Coal Brick Syndicate, of 2, Trafalgar-buildings, Northumber- 

 land Avenue, London. 



It seems that serious depredations have been committed 

 among the recently-discovered Phoenician tombs at Gebel 

 Imtarfa, in Malta. The Mediterranean Naturalist says that 

 the manner in which not only these tombs, but many others, 

 have been rifled of their contents by irresponsible curiosity 

 hunters, and the state in which many of the ancient ruins of the 

 islands now are constitute a disgrace to European archaeological 

 science. More has been done to obliterate and destroy vestiges 

 of Malta's ancient history during the last two centuries than 

 was effected in the preceding two thousand years. Orders have 

 been issued from head-quarters, Valletta, to the effect that the 

 District Commanding Royal Engineer is to report immediately 

 any discoveries of ancient tombs, burial places, or pottery that 

 may occur in course of excavations for works, or come to light 

 in any way ; and that such objects are to be carefully preserved 

 until they have been inspected by an officer of the Civil Govern- 

 ment, and left untouched in situ until this inspection has been 

 made. 



A discussion on Mr. E. G. Carey's paper— to which we 

 lately referred— on the bridges of the Manchester Ship Canal is 



