70 



NATURE 



[November 19, 1891 



UXfVERSirV AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Oxford. — The first election to a Geographical Studentship 

 will be held at the end of Hilary Term 1892. The student at 

 the time of his election must have passed all the examinations 

 for his B.A. deijree in the University of Oxford, hut must not 

 he of more than eight years' standing from matriculation. Pre- 

 vious to his election he must have attended the lecnires of the 

 Reader in Geography in at least two terms. Information as to 

 the conditions of tenure may be obtained from the Reader in 

 Geography. 



The Report of the Delejjacy of Non-Collegiate Students was 

 presented to Convocation on Wednesday. It shows that the 

 list of matriculations is ratlier larger than in the preceding year, 

 but the total numSer of undergraduates has somewhat decreased. 

 The total number on the hooks (440) is the largest which has 

 yet been reached. Thirty-six took the B.A. degree, and nine- 

 teen the M.A. during the year. The Delegates notify tliat they 

 admit, without examination, students in any special branch of 

 study who do not desire to pass through the Arts course, and 

 can show evidence of fitness for their special subject. Sixteen 

 students have availed themselves of this privilege during the 

 year. The balance-sheet appended shows that the financial 

 condition is satisfactory. The total receipts exceeded the ex- 

 penditure by ;i^550, and the accumulated balance in the hands 

 of the Delegacy at the close of the year was £22%^. 



CAMBRincE.— Mr. J. Macalister Dodds, of Peterhouse, has 

 been elected Chairman of the Examiners for the Mathematical 

 Tripos, Parti. 



A petition from 2689 pe sons residing in New Zealan 1 has 

 been received by the Vice-Chancellor, praying that the Senate 

 will grant degrees to properly qualified women. The signatories 

 include Sir George Grey, K.C.B., formerly Governor of New 

 Zealand, most of the Ministers of the Colonial G )vernment, 

 and many professors and graduates of the University of New 

 Zealand. 



Lord VVal-ingham, F. R. S., Hi.;h Steward of the University, 

 offers annually a gold medal to B.A.'s of not more than two 

 years' standing for the best monograph or essay giving evidence 

 of original research on any botanical, geological, or zoological 

 subject ; zoology being understood to include animal morphology 

 and physiology, and an essay on any subject of chemical physio- 

 logy being valued according to its physiological rather than its 

 chemical importance. 



Mr. R. W. Stewart, B.Sc. (Lond.), has been appointed 

 Assistant Lecturer and Demonstrator in Physics at the Uni- 

 versity College of North Wales, Bangor. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 

 The Amertcatz Meteorological Journal for October con- 

 tains : — A short memoir of the late Prof. W. Ferrel, by Prof. 

 A McAdie, with a complete list of his scientific contributions, 

 from 1853 to 1891 ; his last paper, which appeared in our 

 columns in April 1891, was entitled " The High-pressure Area 

 of November 1889 in Central Europe." — The mineral waters of 

 Y psilanti and other places in Michigan, by Dr. E. N. Brainerd. — 

 Cloud observations at sea, by Prof. C. Abbe. This is a pre- 

 liminary report relative to the principal features of the work 

 done by him during the recent cruise of the Pensacola to the 1 

 West Coast of Africa. A number of experiments were made to 

 determine the relative speed and direction of movement of the 

 various strata of air, by means of clouds and small balloons. 

 The experiments showed that the use of balloons is practicable 

 both on sea and land, and gives accurate results. The follow- 

 ing are some of the results of the author's observations : the 

 vertical circulation increases and the horizontal circulation 

 diminishes in the doldrums ; the horizontal movement is a 

 maximum at high latitudes ; the bases of the cumuli are lower 

 and their tops higher in the low latitudes ; if there be any 

 general east wind in the upper regions at the doldrum it is above 

 the clouds, and therefore not observable. — The last article is by 

 Dr. Leudet, on the action of climates at elevated stations on 

 of the chest. 



Bulletin de V Academie des Sciences de St. Petersbourg, new 

 series, vol. ii., No. i.— On the scales of Holoftychius found in 

 Russia, by Dr. Rohon (French). The histology of the same is 



NO. I 151, VOL. 45] 



described, as also two new species: f HjI. v irlu<: and Hoi. 

 superbus.—\c\A\iyo\og\ci\. notes from the Museum of the 

 Academy, by S. Herzenstein, being a description of the follow- 

 ing new species : Cottus nivnsus, Cenlridennichtkys alcicornis, 

 Hypsagonus gradiens, StichcBUS grigoriewi, St. dictyjgrainmus, 

 Chirolophus japonicus, Pleuronectes obscurus, PI. japonicus, PL 

 bicoloratus (incompletely described by Basilewsky), Hippoglossus 

 origorieivi, Alburnus charusini, and Ncinachilus ktischake- 

 zvitschi. — On the extraordinary phenomena presented by the 

 great comet of 1882, by Th. Bredichin. After having given in 

 a preceding paper his reasons for considering the interior tube 

 of that comet as an anomalous tail, the author applies the same 

 explanation to the exterior tube. — On two new laws of celestial 

 mechanics, by H. Struve. In addition to the previously com- 

 municated results of observations made on the satellites of 

 Saturn with the 30-inch refractor, Prof. Struve points out the 

 remarkable relations which exist between the satellites Mimas 

 and Tethys on the one side, and Enceladus and Dione on the 

 other side. The observations of Mimas have shown that its 

 orbit has an inclination of 1° 26' on the equator of Saturn, and 

 that its nodes have a motion of 1° every day, so that by 

 the end of the year the orbit returns to its previous position ; 

 moreover, a considerable acceleration has been noticed in the 

 rotation of Mimas during the last few years. From these facts 

 M. Struve deduces the following law: — "Four times the 

 average movement of Tethys, minus twice the average move- 

 ment of Mimas, is always equal to the sums of the average 

 movements of the nodes of the orbits of Mimas and Tethys on 

 the equator of the planet." The same law may also be ex- 

 pressed in this way: — " (i) The conjunctions of Mimas and 

 Tethys always take place about a point which is situated half- 

 way between the ascending nodes of their orbits on the equator 

 of Saturn. They may move off this point for about 48°, and 

 this libration is performed in sixty-eight years. (2) The con- 

 junctions of Enceladus and Dione always coincide with the peri- 

 saturn of Enceladus, or, at least, they must oscillate around this 

 point." Several important conclusions relative to the mass of 

 Rhea and that of the rings may be deduced from these laws. 

 — On the genus Obolus (Eichwald), by A. Mickwitz. — On a 

 personal equation in photometric observations of stars, by E. 

 Lindemann. — The mammals of the Gan-su expedition of 1884- 

 87, by Eug. Biichner (German). The few species of this very 

 interesting fauna which have been brought to St. Petersburg, 

 are described, the remainder being kept in the Museum of 

 Irkutsk. — On the rotation of Jupiter, by A. Belopolsky (in 

 German). From a perusal of all available data, the author finds 

 the rotation-period to be equal to gh. 55m. in the latitudes 

 from 10° to 45°, while in the zone 0° to 5°, it is only 9h. 50m. — 

 On the Ammonites of the Artinsk strata, by A. Karpinsky 

 (German). The collection is derived from North-East Russia ; the 

 new species are : Pronorites postcarhonicus, Pr. prcepci'inicus, 

 Parapronorites tenuis, Gastrioceras suessi, Agdthiceras uralicum, 

 Popanoceras krasnopolskyi, and Thalassoceras gemntellaroi. — On 

 anew process for separating iron-oxide from aluminium, by F. 

 Beilstein and R. Liither. — Chemical notes, by N. Beketoff. — 

 On the use of incandescent light for self-registering instruments, 

 by H. Wild. — On artificial amphibolite, by K. Khrustschoff. 



In the Botanical Gazette for September and October, Mr. T. 

 Holm continues his series of articles on the minute comparative 

 anatomy of American grasses. Brief abstracts are given of the 

 botanical papers read at the Washington meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science, and at 

 that of the Botanical Club of the same Association. Other 

 papers are chiefly of interest to American botanists. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



LoM>ON. 



Zoological Society, November 3.— Prof W. H. Flower, 

 F.R. S., President, in the chair. — The Secretary read a report 

 on the additions that had been made to the Society's Menagerie 

 during the months of June, July, August, and September, 1891, 

 and called attention to certain interesting accessions which had 

 been received during that period. — The following objects were 

 exhibited : — (i) On behalf of Mr. F. E. Blaauw, a stuffed 

 specimen of a young Wondrous Grass-Finch {Poephila viirabilis), 

 bred in captivity at his house in Holland ; (2) on behalf of 

 Prof. E. C. Stirling, a water-colour drawing of the new 



