August io, 1893] 



NA TURE 



351 



migration of birds. Dr. J. G. McPherson gives a popular 

 description in Good Words of Mr. John Aitken's fog- 

 counter and the results that have been obtained with it. 

 Finally, Miss Agnes Giberne expatiates upon celestial 

 photography and spectroscopy in the Monthly Packet. 

 The article is in continuation of an easily-worded series 

 she is contributing under the title of " Sun-rays and 

 Star-beams." 



D^ 



MARIE-DA VY. 



(R. G. H. MARi:6-DAVY, who died at Clamecy on 

 July 16, distinguished himself in various branches 

 of physical science. Astronomy, electricity, general 

 physics, and meteorology, all occupied his attention from 

 time to time, and to all of these branches of knowledge 

 he made important contributions. Born at Clamecy in 

 1820, Marit'-Davy entered the Higher Grade Normal 

 School in 1 840. Five years later he was appointed to the 

 Chair of Physics at the Montpellier Faculty of Sciences, 

 and also to the Professorship of Medicine. In 1862 Marid- 

 Davy began his connection with the Paris Observatory. 

 At first he had charge of the terrestrial magnetism ser- 

 vice, but in 1863 he became the head of the international 

 meteorological department that he had organised. 

 While occupying this position he published a large 

 number of meteorological memoirs and initiated the 

 periodic distribution of reports and bulletins. He 

 devoted himself chiefly to the study of the atmosphere and 

 its changes, with special reference to the bearing of such 

 mattersupon agriculture andhygiene. In i857Marid-Davy 

 invented a mercurous sulphate battery which was adopted 

 by the French telegraph authorities, and also by some 

 of the services in other countries. About this time he 

 contributed numerous papers on statical, dynamical, and 

 physiological electricity to various scientific societies 

 and journals. During the revolution of 1870 he left 

 the Paris Observatory and accepted a Professorship at 

 the Polytechnic School — a post that he retained until the 

 return of the Government to Paris. In 1887 he was nom- 

 inated honorary director of Montsouris Observatory. 

 Marid-Davy was a doctor of medicine and a doctor of phy- 

 sical and mathematical science. Among other honours he 

 was a corresponding member of the Bureau des Longi- 

 tudes, and an honorary president of the Socidtd d'Hygiene. 

 He was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 

 1877, and possessed the Brazilian Order of the Rose, as 

 well as a number of other orders and dignities. The 

 many and varied researches carried on by him, alone 

 and in collaboration with other workers, testify to 

 his greatness. He had a keen sense of right, and dared 

 to give his opinion even when his material welfare was 

 likely to be injuriously affected by so doing. A life so 

 rich in results and void of dissimulation is one well 

 worthy of being imitated. 



NOTES. 

 M. Pasteur has been elected an honorary member of the 

 Vienna Academy of Sciences. 



On August 4, at about 6.45 in the evening, a distinct earth- 

 quake tremor was felt in Leicester and the neighbourhood. The 

 wave passed from about south-west to north-east, and produced 

 the maximum effect in Charnwood Forest. It is reported that 

 the shaking lasted for about five seconds, during which a loud 

 rumbling noise was heard. 



A Reuter's telegram from Vienna reports that a disastrous 



cloudburst occurred in Middle Styria on August $. A number 



of houses were wrecked and several persons lost their lives. 



Two railway bridges were thrown down on the Grazkoeflach 



NO. I 24 I, VOL. 48] 



Railway. At about half-past ten in the morning of August 8 

 two shocks of earthquake were felt in the Mur Valley. The 

 tremors travelled from north to south. 



A SINGULAR occurrence has recently been reported from 

 Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire. What appeared to be a dense 

 cloud was observed, but to the astonishment of the villagers the 

 cloud suddenly broke up and showered myriads of ants and 

 flies upon them. So numerous were the insects that they 

 almost covered the ground like a carpet. 



The southern counties are suffering from a plague of wasps. 

 Judging from the correspondence in the newspapers, the in- 

 sect has been unusually abundant, and has done a large amount 

 of damage in certain districts. At Heathfield, Sussex, more 

 than a thousand nests have been destroyed this summer, and the 

 work of destruction is still going on. 



A GOLD medal of the value of 1000 Italian lire is j offered by 

 the Royal Academy of Science of the Institute of Bologna, to 

 tile author of the best memoir describing a new and efficacious 

 system, or a new apparatus, for preventing or extinguishing 

 fires. The memoir may be written in Italian, Latin, or French, 

 and must be sent in before May 7, 1894. 



The Report of the Postal and Telegraph Conference held in 

 Brisbane in March last has just reached us. At one of the 

 meetings Sir Charles Todd strongly urged the desirability of 

 adopting a uniform method of reckoning time, and after a short 

 discussion the following resolution' was passed :—" That it is 

 desirable in the public interests that the hour zone system 

 should be adopted in a modified form, so that there should be 

 one time throughout Australia, viz. that of the 135th meridian 

 or nine hours east of Greenwich." 



Mr. Edwin E. Howell describes in Science a meteorite ob- 

 served to fall on May 26, 1893. The meteorite entered the ground 

 to a depth of about three feet at an angle of 58° with the 

 horizon. It is an aerolite of very pronounced chondritic struc- 

 ture, and has the usual black glazed appearance. The weight 

 of the mass is 224 pounds, and dimensions 6 x 7 x 9J inches 

 Mr. Howell proposes to give it the name of Beaver Creek, from, 

 the stream by the banks of which it fell. 



The ReaU Accadentia dei Lincei has issued a circular in which 

 is given a list of the published papers of the late Prof. E. Betti. 

 In honour of his memory it has been decided to collect and 

 publish the whole of his scientific works, with an account of his 

 life, written by the president of the Academy, Prof. F. Brioschi. 

 In order that the collection may be as complete as possible, the 

 circular asks all who have any unpublished letters of the famous 

 geometrician, or a knowledge of works not included in the list, 

 to communicate with Signore V. Cerruti, R. Accademia dei 

 Lincei, Roma. 



The Society for Promoting Agricultural Science in Vienna 

 will hold an international exhibition between April 20 and 

 June 10, 1894. The exhibition will include specimens of 

 economical food for the people, army supplies, appliances for 

 saving life, means of transport, and sport in all its branches. 

 This exhibition is being promoted by the Archduke Francis 

 Ferdinand. Detailed information on the subject can be obtained 

 from the Consul-General for Austria- Hungary, II, Queen 

 Victoria Street. 



The Board of Agriculture have been authorised by the 

 Treasury to make arrangements, by way of experiment, for the 

 transmission by telegraph of the weather forecasts, issued each 

 afternoon by the Meteorological Council, to the telegraph offices 

 in the rural districts of two typical counties, for exhibition in the 

 office windows. The experiment will extend over the months of 



