5iS 



NATURE 



[March 31, 1892 



with which Von Graefe's operation of iridectomy for the cure 

 oi glaucoma was received by some authorities in this country. 

 He also devoted much attention to the treatment of obstructions 

 of the tear passages, and to improvements in the operation for 

 cataract. His microscopic work, so early as 1840, was recog- 

 nized as work of high value. He was elected a Fellow of the 

 Royal Society in 1841, and received one of the Royal Medals 

 in 1842. He was a member of many other scientific Societies 

 both at home and abroad, and honorary degrees were conferred 

 upon him by the Universities of Cambridge, Dublin, and 

 Edinburgh. 



Dr. R. Thorn e Thorn e, F.R.S., will succeed Dr. George 

 Buchanan, F.R.S., as medical adviser to the Local Government 

 Board. 



Prof. Lodge has, with the approval of the Senate, appointed 

 to the demonstratorship in electrotechnics at University 

 College, Liverpool, Mr. Francis Gibson Baily, late Scholar of 

 St. John's College, Cambridge. Mr. Baily took first-class 

 honours in the Natural Science Tripos, and is now in the 

 employ of Messrs. Siemens Bros, and Co. 



The Revue Scientifiqtie notes that at Kieff there is a chemist 

 who is nearly as old as the late M. Chevreul was at the time of 

 his death. This is Prof. Ignace Vonberg, who was born at 

 Vilna on January 17, 1791. He was one of the last Professors 

 of Chemistry at the old University of his native place, and after- 

 wards held, until 1866, a similar position at the University of 

 Kieff. He is said to enjoy excellent health. 



It has been decided, according to Norwegian newspapers, 

 that Dr. Nansen's North Pole Expedition shall start on January 

 I, 1893. He has selected as members of the Expedition a 

 young officer in the Royal Norwegian Navy, Herr Sigurd 

 Scott-Hansen, who will make the astronomical observations, 

 an experienced Arctic navigator. Captain J. Ingebrigtsen, from 

 Tromso, and Herr Sverdrup, by whom Dr. Nansen was accom- 

 panied in his journey across Greenland. 



Everyone who occasionally visits the Zoological Gardens 

 was sorry to hear of the death of the giraffe. Since May 24, 

 1836, the Gardens have never until now been without one of 

 these interesting animals. Dr. P. L. Sclater, writing to the 

 Times on the subject, says that during the past fifty- five years 

 there have been in the Gardens thirty giraffes, of which seven- 

 teen have been bred and reared there. A male born on April 

 22, 1846, lived in the Gardens nearly twenty-one years. These 

 facts prove, as Dr. Sclater says, that this animal (one of the 

 most extraordinary forms among recent mammals) is quite fitted 

 for captivity, and is well worthy of the expense and trouble in- 

 curred in its keep. The closure of the Soudan by the Mahdists 

 has prevented the importation of giraffes for some years, and 

 for the only individual now in the market (an old female) a 

 prohibitive price is asked. The Zoological Society hope that 

 the need may be supplied by some of their friends and corre- 

 spondents in Eastern or Southern Africa. 



Dr. B. W. Richardson will deliver at the Royal Institution 

 his Friday evening discourse on " The Physiology of Dreams " on 

 April 29, in place of Dr. William Huggins, who will give his 

 lecture on " The New Star in Auriga" on May 13. 



Prof. W. G. Owens writes to us from Bucknell University, 

 Lewisburg, Pa., U.S., that on March 15, at 2 o'clock p.m., a 

 series of halos and parhelia appeared and increased in brilliancy 

 until 4 o'clock, after which they faded gradually till sunset. 

 The circles, arcs, and spots around the sun were highly 

 coloured, sometimes showing almost the entire spectrum. 



The Report of the Meteorological Council for the year 

 ending March 31, 1891, has recently been issued. The foUow- 

 NO. II 70, VOL. 45] 



ing changes relating to organization were under consideration 

 during the year: (i) the purchase of a new house near 

 Cahirciveen, to which it is proposed to move the Observatory 

 from the island of Valentia, the former place being more 

 suitable for observations ; (2) the registration of the Council as 

 a corporate body, under section 23 of the Companies' Act, 

 1867 ; (3) examination of clerks, keeping as far as practicable to 

 the system followed in the Civil Service. The practice followed 

 by the Office with reference to observers at sea remains un- 

 changed. The number of voyages for which logs have been 

 returned during the year was 156 ; instruments have also been 

 supplied to various islands in the Pacific, &c. In the weather 

 forecasting branch, a comparison of the forecasts issued at 8.30 

 p.m. during the year with the weather actually experienced, 

 shows that the total percentage of success was 82. The results 

 were best, 88 per cent,, for the south of England, and worst, 77 

 per cent., for the south of Ireland. The hay harvest forecasts 

 were very successful ; as much as 95 per cent, of success was 

 attained in some parts. To add to the means of obtaining 

 warnings of stormy weather at exposed fishery 'stations, the 

 useful practice of lending trustworthy barometers, adopted by 

 Admiral FitzRoy, has been continued ; the number of stations 

 now supplied is 180. The subject of cloud photography has 

 continued to receive attention, and the system of observation 

 and reduction has been improved, so that there is reason to 

 expect that satisfactory determinations both of the heights and 

 the velocities of the various clouds will be made. The Council 

 have requested Mr. W. H. Dines to carry out a series of experi- 

 ments at Oxshott for the purpose of comparing the action of 

 various forms of anemometers, as well as experiments on the 

 resistances of curved plates and vanes. The work is nearly 

 finished, and the results will be published. 



The Deutsches meteorologisches Jahrbuch, Bavaria, 1891, 

 Heft 3, contains twelve cloud pictures, reproduced from photo- 

 graphs supplied by Hildebrandsson, Riggenbach, and others. 

 These photographs have been collected by Dr. Singer, of 

 Munich, who submitted some of them to the International 

 Meteorological Conference held there last autumn, where the 

 importance of the artistic representation of clouds was discussed. 

 The Cloud Atlas, published at Hamburg in 1890, was recog- 

 nized by a large majority as the first satisfactory attempt to 

 obtain uniformity in cloud nomenclature ; but a Committee was 

 framed to further consider the future production of pictures in 

 a cheap form, according to the types approved by the Con- 

 ference, and Dr. Singer was asked to join that Committee. 

 The pictures now in question may be considered as his con- 

 tribution to the subject. The forms are well defined ; the 

 names proposed differ materially from the classification by 

 Luke Howard, hitherto generally in use, more attention being 

 paid to the average heights of the various types. There are, 

 however, still distinct variations of cloud frequently seen, which 

 are not represented in Dr. Singer's collection, and his system 

 of classification, notwithstanding its merits, has defects which 

 must, sooner or later, be dealt with. 



The Times of March 24 printed the following communication 

 from a correspondent : — Under the direction of the Austrian 

 Government an interesting series of deep-sea explorations has 

 been conducted recently in the eastern parts of the Mediter- 

 ranean, by a scientific party on board the Pola. At one point, 

 about 50 nautical miles south-west from Cape Matapan, the 

 Pola found a depth of 4400 metres (2406 fathoms), followed 

 within a few miles further east by a depth of 4080 metres (2236 

 fathoms), which are the greatest depths recorded in the Mediter- 

 ranean. They have received from the Austrian Hydrographical 

 Board the name of Pola Deep. The great depression of the 

 Mediterranean must thus be shifted considerably east from its 

 former central position on the maps. Another deep area was 



