April 27, 1893] 



NATURE 



613 



Adelaide will be presided over by Prof. Ralph Tate, of the 



University in that city. 



The late Admiral Marquis Ricci of Genoa, formerly Minister 

 of Marine of the Kingdom of Italy, has left a large sum, estim- 

 ated to amount to about three million lire (;^i 20,000) to the 

 authorities of his native city, for the purpose of founding a 

 Scientific Institution. It is believed that this is likely to be 

 devoted to a new site and building for the Museo Civico of 

 Genoa, an Institution which, under the directorship of the 

 Marquis G. Doria, has, as is well known to all naturalists, 

 carried on splendid work in zoology for many years. We are 

 sure that no belter object could be selected for the appropria- 

 tion of this munificent donation. 



Mr. G. W. Lichtenthaler, who died lately at San 

 Francisco, bequeathed to the Illinois Wesleyan University at 

 Bloomington — where he had lived during most of his life — his 

 very valuable natural history collection. It includes from 6000 

 to 8000 species of shells, 1000 species of marine algge, and 500 

 species of ferns, besides thousands of duplicates. Mr. 

 Lichtenthaler also bequeathed 500 dollars to put the collection 

 in suitable shape for preservation. 



In connexion with the International Congress of Medicine 

 and Hygiene, to be held in Rome next September, there will be 

 an exhibition opened (frOm September 15 to October 15) for 

 apparatus, plans, materials, models, &c., relating to the 

 following : Research in biology, therapeutics and hygiene, 

 medical practice, improvement of the soil, sanitation and 

 hygienic service of towns, hygiene of the interior of public and 

 private buildings, individual hygiene, the health of workpeople, 

 hydrology and balneo-therapeutics, &c. Diplomas and medals 

 will be awarded. For information on the subject application 

 is to be made to the President, Prof, L. Pagliani, Minister of 

 the Interior, Rome. 



A NEW^ scientific society has been organised in [Washington, 

 called "The Geological Society of Washington." There are 

 already more than a hundred members. The object of the 

 society is the presentation of short notes on woik in progress 

 rather than the reading of elaborate papers. At the first meet- 

 ing Major J. W. Powell, director of the U.S. Geological 

 Survey, presided, and papers were read by Mr. H. W. Turner, 

 on the structure of the gold belt of the Sierra Nevada, and by 

 Mr. S. F. Emmons on the geological distribution of ore 

 deposits in the United States. 



The disturbed weather conditions referred to in our last issue 

 resulted in a few thunder showers only, more particularly in the 

 southern districts, accompanied by slight rain at some stations. 

 With these exceptions and some local fogs, brilliant weather has 

 been experienced throughout the whole of the United Kingdom. 

 The temperature in the southern and midland districts has been 

 much above the average ; a considerable increase set in on the 

 17th inst., the maximum in London reaching 70", and since that 

 time some remarkably high readings have been recorded. On 

 the 20th the thermometer over the inland counties ranged from 

 80° to 84°, while at Yarmouth it read 30° lower, and for 

 several days the difference between these neighbouring districts 

 has been very considerable. In the night of the 22nd a sharp 

 thunderstorm occurred over South Devonshire, accompanied by a 

 local rainfall amounting to nearly three-quarters of an inch, 

 and another storm, with slight rain, occurred at Holyhead 

 in the night of Monday, 24th ; but in the early part 

 of the present week the conditions were anti-cyclonic 

 over a great part of the country, and the weather was 

 very dry. The Weekly Weather Report of the 22nd instant 

 states that rainfall was upon the whole less than the mean in all 

 the wheat-producing districts and in the south-west of England, 

 while in Ireland and the west of Scotland there was a slight 

 ^fO. I2i6. VOL. 47] 



excess. Bright sunshine was less prevalent than for some weeks 

 past ; the percentage of possible duration ranged from 24 in the 

 east of Scotland to 58 in the south of England. 



The meteorological authorities in the United States are doing 

 their utmost to utilise weather forecasts by adopting various 

 means for their wide and rapid dissemination. The American 

 Meteorological Journal for April contains accounts of two 

 methods recently inaugurated in New England. From 

 September 12 to October i, 1892, an electric search light 

 placed on Mount Washington was used for flashing forecast 

 signals over the surrounding country. Reports received from 

 persons in the vicinity show that the plan was quite successful, 

 and the flashes were reported to have been seen at a distance of 

 eighty miles. It is intended to resume this novel method next 

 summer. The local forecast official at Boston sends out 

 three hundred printed copies of forecasts daily by rail. The 

 bulletins are distributed from the trains, and posted immediately 

 on receipt in the various railway stations in neat frames provided 

 for the ipurpose by the Weather Bureau. In this way the fore- 

 casts are brought before the public in as short a time as possible. 



Prof. J. Mark Baldwin, of the University of Toronto, has 

 accepted the Stuart Professorship of Psychology in the Princeton 

 University, and will begin work there in September. Science 

 says that a suite of rooms has been set apart in North College 

 for experimental psychology, and that a liberal appropriation has 

 been made for its equipment. 



Mr. W. de Morgan, in accordance with the request of the 

 Egyptian Ministry of Public Instruction, has been making ex- 

 periments at Cairo with Egyptian clays with a view to determine 

 whether it would be possible to use them for the production of 

 glazed earthenware. A correspondent of the Times at Cairo 

 says that after about eight weeks' work Mr. de Morgan con- 

 siders that, whilst the production of porcelain and white 

 earthenware is quite out of the question, there exist abundant 

 materials for other descriptions of pottery, especially white ma- 

 jolica, similar to delft or della Robbia ware. But the cost of 

 fuel is a stumbling-block. Mr. de Morgan, says the corre- 

 spondent, considers that nothing can exceed the skill of the 

 native throwers, who, with the most simple contrivances, pro- 

 duce far better results than the European workmen with 

 elaborate apparatus. 



In his report for 1892 Dr. Trimen, the director of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Ceylon refers to the fact that of every 100 

 lbs. of tea consumed in England during the year 84 lbs. were of 

 British growth, viz. 53 in India and 31 in Ceylon, only 16 lbs. 

 being the produce of China. There was an increase of nearly 

 2,000,000' lbs. in the direct export of Ceylon tea to Australia, 

 viz. 5,i66,iS4;ibs. against 3,210,598 lbs. in 1891 ; and Dr. Trimen 

 thinks that the costly advertisement at the forthcoming Exhibi- 

 tion in Chicago may reasonably be expected to lead to a large 

 sale in the future in America. Ceylon, he says, urgently needs 

 this ; for while there is no reason to fear any drawback to con- 

 tinued success as far as cultivation and manufacture are concerned, 

 there is a real danger of over-production ; and its consideration 

 as a possibility, by no means remote, induces him earnestly to 

 recommend those concerned to devote some portions of their 

 land to other cultivations. In the low-country especially much 

 caution should be exercised in opening further land in tea 

 estates. One result of the enormous development of the tea 

 industry in the island is unfortunate. The industry so over- 

 shadows all other cultivations that there is now little room for 

 trial or experiment with smaller products on estates, and not 

 much stimulus to investigate them in the Botanic Gardens. 



A COMMITTEE called the School Gradation Committee is at 

 present being formed, the object of which, according to the 



