450 



NA TURE 



[Makcm 9, 1^93 



55°, and even reaching 59° in the eastern counties on Sunday ; 

 whereas the average maxima for the month, deduced from 

 twenty years' observations at the telegraphic reporting stations 

 of the Meteorological Office, range from about 45° in the north 

 to 50° in the south and south-east. During the latter part of last 

 week several depressions skirted our northwest coasts, and rain 

 fell generally every day, although the amounts measured were 

 not great ; but on Sunday the type of weather changed, 

 especially over tie southern part of the kingdom. An anti- 

 cyclone advanced over our south-west coasts from the Atlantic, 

 while the air became dryer and conditions more settled, 

 although there was little sunshine in any part of the kingdom. 

 There was a deep depression over Norway on Tuesday, while 

 secondary depressions in connection with it were approaching 

 'he north-west of Scotland, and occasioning a return of 

 stormy weather in the northern parts of these islands. From 

 the Weekly Weather Report it appears that for the week 

 ending the 4th instant the rainfall was above the average in all 

 districts except the north of Scotland and the south of Ireland. 

 Over the northern parts of England and the east of Scotland the 

 •excess was large, owing chiefly to heavy snowfall at the begin- 

 ning of the period. 



Among the various marine zoological stations which, on the 

 initiative of that at Naples, have sprung up in recent years, the 

 station at Trieste, on the Adriatic, holds an honourable place. 

 It has been in existence nearly eighteen years. Dr. Claus 

 states {Naturw. Rdsch) that for its double function of instruc- 

 tion and investigation opportunity is afforded both to students 

 and men of science. The students are, primarily, those of the 

 professors of zoology at Vienna University, to whom the manage- 

 ment is entrusted ; also those of the Graz professor, who has 

 a right to four places out of twelve. Students of other Austrian 

 Universities are also freely admitted to work, and Austrian and 

 foreign investigators. To each worker the ordinary reagents, 

 besides the table, are supplied gratis ; also the material, so far 

 as it can be provided without special cost. The station further 

 supplies living and preserved marine animals as specimens to 

 the Zoological Institutes of the Vienna and Graz Universities, 

 sending thither about 120 to 140 specimens annually. Other 

 institutes are supplied on payment as arranged. The number of 

 workers at the station has gone on increasing since it was 

 opened in 1875. Of foreign investigators who have used it may 

 be named MetschnikofT, Kowalevsky, A. Schneider, Selenka, 

 R. and O. Hertwig, Keller, E. van Beneden, Fromann, Braun, 

 and F. Cohn. The results of work carried on there are 

 sometimes published independently, but they chiefly appear in 

 the Arbeiten of the Zoological Institute of Vienna University, 

 and the Zoological Station in Trieste, of which ten volumes 

 have appeared. The Denkschriften and Sitzungsherichte of the 

 Vienna Academy and the German zoological journals also 

 witness to the activity of the station. The Austrian Govern- 

 ment has liberally aided this useful institution. 



The new number of the ^ jurnal of the Institution of 

 Electrical Engineers contains a report of some very interesting 

 speeches on a paper by Dr. Fleming on experimental researches 

 on alternate-current transformers. The same number includes 

 Mr. Preece's presidential address, from which we have given 

 some extracts. The vote of thanks to the president for his ad- 

 dress was proposed by Mr. Spagnolletti and seconded by Sir 

 Henry Mance. Sir Henry said there was one point in the 

 address which had struck him with dismay. That was the 

 gradual increase of the teredo in the neighbourhood of our 

 shores. This fact had been brought home to him that day by 

 specimens of cable recently attacked by "the insect, or 

 mollusc " ; and it should teach them— what Mr. Preece had 

 told them many years before— that they should not only survey 

 NO. 1219, VOL. 47] 



the bottom of the sea for rocks and shoals, but should also 

 examine it near the shores to find whether it was infested by 

 that pest, which had damaged hundreds of thousands of pounds 

 worth of cable. 



The results of the solar, meteorological, and magnetical 

 observations made during 1892 at the Stony hurst College Obser- 

 vatory have just been issued by Father Sidgreaves. They take 

 the commendable form of monthly and annual summaries, so 

 that the most interesting results can be seen at a glance, and 

 compared with the mean results of the last forty-five years. The 

 range of barometer readings was only i'724, or a quarter of 

 an inch lower than the mean, while the range of the thermo- 

 meter was seven degrees higher than the mean. The extreme 

 range of the barometer recorded at this observatory is 3 •13 

 inches. Sunshine was recorded for 207 hours in June, 202'i in 

 April, and only 172 in May. From January to April there is 

 a regular increase, and from June to December a regular decrease, 

 the falling-off in May being very conspicuous. 153 drawings 

 of the sun have been added to the already splendid Stonyhurst 

 series. An appendix contains the results of meteorological 

 observations made at St. Ignatius College, Malta. 



We learn from the Botanical Gazette that there are now as 

 many as thirty-two botanical stations in the United States carried 

 on by the various State Governments. The subject which 

 receives most attention at these stations is that of the fungus 

 and bacterial diseases of cultivated crops and of fruit-trees, and 

 their treatment and cure. Some of them give attention to 

 systematic botany, while others are investigating the life- 

 history of certain fungi, or carrying on physiological work, A 

 laboratory for the study of plant diseases has recently been fitted 

 up in connection with the agricultural experiment station of the 

 University of California at Berkeley. It has been arranged 

 that a botanical survey of Nebraska shall be undertaken by 

 the Botanical Seminar of the University of that State. The 

 almost unknown flora of the north central portions of Idaho has 

 recently been investigated, as we have already noted, by a com- 

 mission acting under the auspices of the Botanical Division of 

 the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 



In the first part of Dr. Millspaugh's Preliminary Catalogue of 

 the Flora of Western Virginia, published in the Bulletin of the 

 Agricultural Experimental Station of Morgantown, anew feature 

 has been introduced in a list of the rich fossil flora of the State. 



Prof. Angelo Heilprin, of the Peary Relief Expedition, 

 has presented to the .Museum of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences, Philadelphia, the valuable collection of moUusks 

 dredged by him in Greenland waters. They have not yet been 

 studied, but the conservator of the conchological section, in his 

 annual report, says he has ascertained the presence of a number 

 of species not before in the collection of the Academy, of the 

 genera Margarita, Buccitium, Sipho, and other Arctic groups. 

 The specimens preserved in alcohol are in excellent condition 

 for the examination of the soft parts. 



Mr. J. W. Salter, writing to the Zoologist from University 

 College, Aberystwith, says that on January 4 last he obtained a 

 polecat about six miles south of Aberystwith. There is reason 

 to believe, he says, that the species is by no means extinct in 

 Cardiganshire. 



The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has issued a 

 volume of papers, most of which describe the results of chemical 

 investigations carried on at its Research Laboratory. The 

 editor is Prof. W. R. Dunstan. The papers are reprinted 

 from the Transactions of the societies to which they were 

 communicated, namely, the Royal Society, the Chemical 

 Society, the Pharmaceutical Society, and the Physical Society. 

 Other volumes of a like kind are to follow. 



