April 20, J 893 J 



NATURE 



585 



weather," and no doubt was entertained there that the British 

 expedition under Prof. Thorpe, at Fundium, on the Salum 

 River, had been equally fortunate. M. Bigourdan, one of the 

 astronomers sent by the Paris Observatory to observe the 

 eclipse in Senegal, has telegraphed to M. Tisserand, the 

 Direc or : " Foggy sky ; observed the four contacts ; Vulcan 

 not seen." Prof. Pickering has telegraphed to the New York 

 fferald V\A\. the atmospheric conditions prevailing at Miiiasaris 

 during the solar eclipse were perfect, and that the resulis of 

 his o'lservations v,cre very satisfactory. He observed four 

 streamers procee ling from the corona, two of which stretched 

 over a distance of more than 435,000 miles. Several dark 

 rifts were also visible extending directly westward from the 

 moon's limb 10 the utmost limit of the corona. Several solar 

 prominences attained great di^tincines-; and ijrilliancy. During 

 the eclipsi the surface of the moon appeared almost of an 

 inky blackness, by contrast wiih ihe dazzling brightness of the 

 inner corona. The observations showed very conclu^ively that the 

 present condition of the sun is one of great disturbance. The i 

 corona was whitish rather than red in tint. Many satisfactory i 

 photogiaphs weie taken. I 



The first Royal Society soiree of the present season will be 

 held at Barlingion House on Wednesday, May 10. 



The International Sanitary Conference closed its proceedings 

 on Friday last with the signing of a provisional convention by 

 the representatives of Germany, Austria- Hungary, Belgium, 

 France, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, 

 Russia, and Switzerland. The delegates of the other l'o^^ers 

 accepted the convention ad referendum. The ratification is to 

 take place in Berlin within six months. According to the 

 Berlin correspondent of the Times, the convention is divided 

 into two chief sections. The first contains the interna ional pre- 

 ventive measures to be taken against cholera as regards pas- 

 senger and goo Is traffic, as well as regulations for obviating a 

 dislocation -if trade in case of an epidemic. The second section 

 deals with the question of sanitation at the mouths of the 

 Danube. 



A. COMPLIMENTARY dinner was given by the Royal Meteoro- 

 logical Society, at Limmer's Hotel, on Saturday evening last, 

 to Mr. Henry Perigal, in celebration of his 92nd birthday, 

 and of the completion of forty years' service as treasurer. A 

 number of friends from other societies with which Mr. Perigal 

 is connected also joined in the dinner. The President, Dr. C. 

 Theodore Williams, in proposing the toast of the evening, 

 gave s>me interesting particulars of the Perigal family, tracing 

 their history back to some time before the Norman Conquest. 

 The family have been remarkable for longevity. Mr. Perigal's 

 father, who was 99J years of age when he died, was one of 

 thirteen children, nine of whom attained respectively their 

 64th, 67th, 77ih, 80 h, 88th, 90th, 94th, 97th, and loolh year 

 — the last five averaging 93 years loo days. Their father and 

 mother died in 1824, the former being nearly 90 and the latter 

 upwards of 80 years of age. Mr. Henry Perigal was the eldest 

 of six children, one of whom lived to the age of 85, and the 

 youngest, Mr. Frederick Perigal, now in his 82nd year, was 

 present at the dinner. Mr. Perigal briefly responded to the 

 toast, thanking all present for their congratulations and kind 

 wishes. 



The " Universitas Jurievensis," formerly known as Dorpat 

 University, celebrated the centenary of the birth of the 

 astronomer, Wilhelmus Struve, who was a professor in the 

 University, on Saturday last, the 15th inst., by an oration 

 delivered in the large hall of the institution. 



The Council of the Marine Biological Association has 

 decided that in future a table in the Plymouth Laboratory may 

 NO. 1225. VOL. 47] 



be rented for a single week, at a cost of thirty shillings. It is 

 hoped that advantage will be taken of this arrangement in the 

 shorter vacations. The other charges (^'5 for a month, £2^^ 

 for six months, £i,o for a year) remain the same. 



The Council of the Durham College of Science have 

 addressed to the governors and other friends of the institution an 

 urgent appeal for the means of relieving the college from its 

 financial difficulties. During the last three or four years the 

 college income has nearly balanced the expenditure, but this has 

 been brought about only "by the teaching staff placing the 

 financial interests of the institution in fiont of their own, some- 

 times going the length of surrendering their fees when it has 

 not been obvious how they were to be paid out of the funds 

 available, and in many cases providing, at their own expense, 

 apparatus or assistance which, under ordinary circumstances, 

 should have been supplied by the college." This is very 

 creditable to the teaching stafT, but it is absurd that such 

 sacrifices should have to be made by the officers of an institution 

 established and maintained for the benefit of the people of a 

 great and wealthy district. When the facts about the matter 

 are generally known, the authorities of the college ought to have 

 little difficulty in obtaining what funds may be necessary for the 

 full development of its work. 



Another terrible earthquake occurred in Zante at seven 

 o'clock on Monday morning. It was even more violent than 

 the earthquake by which so much damage was done in Feb- 

 ruary. Other shocks were afterwards felt. The town of 

 Zante was almost destroyed, the church of St, Dionysius, 

 the theatre, and the prefecture being among the buildings now 

 in ruins. According to the accounts telegraphed on Tuesday, 

 seventeen persons were killed in the town, and' many in- 

 jured. The villages in the islaad have not generally suff^rid 

 so severely, but one village, Gaetani, has been totally destroyed, 

 and there has been some loss of life. A correspondent of the 

 ! Tivtes, telegraphing from Patras, says that at the time of the 

 I principal shock the sea receded several feet from the shore, and 

 I that a severe shock was felt at Patras, at Pyrgos, and on the 

 western shore of the Peloponnesus. 



! During the past week several depressions have traversed the 

 extreme northern parts of our islands and Scandinavia, causing 

 ! unsettled weather in those parts, which on Sunday extended 

 : southwards, and on the following day disturbed weather became 

 I fairly general over the United Kingdom. The rainfall in Ire- 

 land and Scotland was somewhat heavy, but in the southern 

 districts the fall was slight, and at several stations no rain fell. 

 ! In the neighbourhood of London the drought had lasted thirty 

 j days, a period which has been unparalleled at any season of the 

 year during the last half century. The day temperatures have 

 I varied considerably in different parts, the maxima on several 

 days exceeding 60° and even reaching 67° in the midland and 

 south- eastern districts, while in the north they have ranged fiom 

 ! 40° to 50°. Sharp frosts have occurred during several nights, 

 the readings on the 14th being from 5° to 8° below the freezing 

 point in the shade over central England, and falling to 19° on the 

 ground. On Monday an anticyclone lay over the North Sea, 

 again bringing fine weather to the south-eastern portion of Eng- 

 land, but on the following day depressions were approaching 

 our north-west coasts, and a gale was blowing in the extreme 

 north, while the general conditions were of a more unsettled 

 type than for some considerable time past. During the week 

 ended the 15th inst. there was a considerable decrease in bright 

 sunshine, but still it exceeded the mean in nearly all districts. 



The Maryland State Weather Service publishes a monthly 

 report in connection with the U.S. Weather Bureau. That 

 for March contains an interesting article by Prof. W. B. 



