April 6, 1893] 



NATURE 



543 



On Tuesday next, April ii, Mr. J. Macdonell will begin at 

 the Royal Institution a course of three lectures on symbolism in 

 ceremonies, customs, and art ; on Thursday, April 13, Prof. 

 Dewar will begin a course of five lectures on the atmosphere ; 

 and on Saturday, April 15, Mr. James Swinburne will begin a 

 course of three lectures on some applications of electricity to 

 chemistry. The Friday evening meetings will be resumed on 

 April 14, when Sir William H. Flower will deliver a discourse 

 on seals. 



The Academy of Sciences in Turin announces that the ninth 

 6res.sa prize of 10,416 francs, for which all men of science and 

 inventors of all nations are free to compete, is now offered 

 (from January i, 1891, to December 31, 1894). The prize will 

 be given to whoever, in the judgment of the Academy, shall 

 have, within the period indicated, made the most important 

 and useful discovery, or shall have published the most profound 

 work in the domain of the physical and experimental sciences, 

 natural history, pure and applied mathematics, chemistry, phy- 

 siology and pathology, geology, history, geography, and sta- 

 tistics. Any one wishing to compete must send his printed 

 work (manuscripts are not accepted) to the President of the 

 Academy. Unsuccessful works are returned, if it be desired. 



At the meeting of the Chemical Section of the Franklin 

 Institute, on February 21, a resolution was passed to the effect 

 that the members had heard with deep regret of the death of 

 their distinguished fellow-member. Dr. F. A. Genlh, whose ser- 

 vices as an investigator had "added lustre to American science." 

 A committee was appointed to prepare a suitable memoir of 

 Dr. Genth for publication in the proceedings of the Section. 



.\RRA.Nr.EMENTS have been made for another series of 

 summer excursions by the London Geological Field Class. 

 The object of these excursions, which are planned by Prof. H. 

 G. Seeley, F.R.S., is the study of the physical geography and 

 geology of the Thames Basin. The first excursion will take 

 place on April 29, when the students will go from Edenbridge 

 to Westerham by Toys Hill. Each excursion will be under 

 Prof. Seeley's personal direction. 



A SCHEME for the organisation of the proposed University 

 for London was adopted at a general meeting of the Association 

 for Promoting a Professorial University for London on March 23, 

 and has been submitted to the University Commissioners. It 

 is printed in the Titnes of April 3. 



The Scottish Technical Education Committee — appointed 

 more than a year ago at a conference held in Edinburgh — has 

 issued a report, from which it seems that Scotland has still a 

 great deal to do before she can be said to possess a satisfactory 

 system of technical instruction. At a recent meeting the Com- 

 mittee passed the following resolution : — " That, in the opinion 

 of the meeting, it is desirable that the whole subject of higher 

 and technical education should be dealt with in a comprehensive 

 measure, and that the opportunity be not lost when the provi- 

 sion for secondary education is being inquired into in ail parts 

 of Scotland, to formulate a scheme for organising education 

 beyond the elementary, and reducing in some degree the com- 

 plications now existing, and the waste resulting from the 

 various authorities that now have a connection with various 

 parts of the educational system of Scotland, and that the 

 chairman (Lord Elgin) be requested to take the necessary 

 steps to bring the subject under the attention of the Govern- 

 ment." At the same meeting the future action of the Com- 

 mittee was under consideration. It was felt that in present cir- 

 cumstances it would be very desirable to continue its existence if 

 possible in some more definite shape, and a sub-committee was 

 instructed to inquire under what conditions it might be brought 

 into connection with the National Association for the promotion 

 of secondary and technical education, and, if the sub-committee 

 thought fit, to submit a form of constitution to the next meeting. 

 NO. 1223, VOL. 47] 



Shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of April i a 

 severe earthquake shock was felt at Catania, and other places at 

 the foot of Mount Etna. It was more especially pronounced 

 at Nicolosi and Zaffarana-Etnea, where the population fled 

 from their houses into the fields. 



The weather continued exceptionally fine over England dur. 

 ing the whole of last week, and in Scotland and Ireland the 

 weather was generally fair, although slight rain occurred at 

 times in a few places. The first few days of the period were 

 the warmest experienced as yet this season, and 70° was reached 

 in parts of England. In the suburbs of London the shade ther- 

 mometer registered 68° or upwards on four consecutive days, and 

 this is the average maximum temperature in June ; while on 

 Saturday, April i, the thermometer reached 71° in the outskirts 

 of the metropolis. The general indications on Saturday were 

 more favourable to a change than for some time past, but the 

 unsettled appearance suddenly gave way to an anticyclone, 

 which reached our islands from the Atlantic, and the conditions 

 again became settled, although the maximum day temperatures 

 during the last few days of the period were generally somewhat 

 lower under the influence of a gentle easterly breeze. The 

 mean temperature for March was several degrees in excess of 

 the average over the whole kingdom, and at Greenwich the 

 excess amounted to 5° ; while the mean of all the maximum day 

 readings, which was 57°, was higher than in any previous March 

 during the last half century. The total rainfall for March was 

 also small over the whole country, and at Greenwich the aggre- 

 gate amount was only 0*38 inches, which is the smallest fall in 

 March since 1854. The Weekly Weather Report for the week 

 ending April i shows that the duration of sunshine was 85 per 

 cent, in the Channel Islands, 76 per cent, in the south of 

 England, and 72 per cent, in the east of England. 



We recently referred to the unsatisfactory condition of practi- 

 cal meteorology in Spain. The Royal Observatory at Madrid 

 had for many years published results of observations taken at 

 various stations in the peninsula, which furnish valuable ma- 

 terials for climatology ; but daily telegraphic reports such as are 

 issued in most other countries were necessary to complete the 

 general synoptic view of weather conditions. We are glad to 

 be able to report that this want has now been supplied. The 

 first daily weather bulletin was recently issued, containing on 

 one side a map showing isobars, wind direction and force, &c. ; 

 and on the other the actual telegraphic observations at a number 

 of stations distributed over Spain and south-western Europe. 

 The bulletin is published by the Central Meteorological Insti- 

 tute, which was established some little time since under the 

 direction of Prof. A. Arcimis, to whose peisistent efforts we are 

 chiefly indebted for this new contribution to our knowledge of 

 current weather 



The Meteorological Institutes of Hamburg and Copenhagen 

 have issued their synoptic daily weather charts of the North 

 Atlantic Ocean for the year ending November 1888. These 

 charts contain the best materials for studying the various tracks 

 and positions of the high and low pressure systems over the 

 Atlantic ; it is at once seen from them that in different parts of 

 the ocean the storms take different routes, some follow a direct 

 easterly track, others a more northerly course, while 

 some form and others die out in mid-ocean. The great 

 difficulty in storm prediction at present is to determine 

 the routes that storms will take ; a serious study of the condi- 

 tions shown on such charts may eventually lead to the desired 

 end, by enabling us to establish characteristic types of weather 

 which accompany various depressions. 



Mr. W. H. Greene and Mr. W. H. Wahl have elaborated 

 a new process for the manufacture of manganese on the com- 

 mercial scale. A paper by them on the subject was read before 

 a recent meeting of the Chemical Section of the Franklin 



