August i8, 1892] 



NATURE 



371 



the pass from the foot of the Hispar Pass to the foot of the 

 Biafo glacier is about ninety miles. The mercury on the pass 

 stood at 15 '85 in. No one suffered perceptibly from the rare- 

 faction of the air. 



The latest news from Etna is that Monte Gemmellaro has 

 broken out afresh, and the great lava current that has been flow- 

 ing from it has now been divided into two arms, both of which 

 are rapidly advancing in the direction of Serra Pizzuto and 

 Pedova, completely covering en route the lavas of 1886. The 

 deluges of molten rock that have been emitted during the last 

 month have destroyed one of the finest and most fertile districts 

 in Sicily. 



Prof. Forel has recently prepared a table {Arch, de 

 Sci. July 15) showing the behaviour of the small lake at the 

 Great St. Bernard in regard to cold since 1S17. This lake is 

 at a height of about 8000 feet, is about 24 acres in surface, and 

 of small depth. It appears the mean duration of the frozen 

 state is about 268 days ; for nearly two-thirds of the year the 

 lake is imprisoned "under a carapace of ice and snow." This 

 justifies only too well the remark of the monk, " Nine months 

 of winter and three months of bad weather." Between the 

 earliest date of freezing (September 30) and the latest (Novem- 

 ber 6) are 36 days, the mean date being October 20. The 

 earliest date of thawing is June 12, and the latest September 

 15 ; difference 95 days (the mean date being July 13). By 

 grouping the dates in a series of decades (approximately) Prof. 

 Forel finds maxima of duration of the frozen state in 1840-49 

 and in 1880-91, and a minimum in 1860-69. This corresponds 

 fairly, he points out, with the phases of Briickner's cycle, 

 according to which a maximum of cold occurred about 1850, a 

 maximum of heat about i860, and a maximum of cold about 

 1880. 



By the election of the present holder — Mr. A. A. Kanthack 

 — to the Medical Tutorship of the Liverpool University College 

 Medical School, the John Lucas Walker Studentship in 

 Pathology at CambridiJe will shortly become vacant. The 

 studentship is of the annual value of ;,^25o, and is tenable for 

 three years. Candidates should send in their applications and 

 testimonials by October 25, to Prof. Roy, F.R.S., New Museum, 

 Cambridge. 



We learn from the British Medical Joiirnai \.\i2X the Library 

 of the British Medical Association has been presented with a 

 valuable gift of a series of important works, bearing chiefly on 

 hygiene and public medicine, from the library of the late Dr. 

 Alfred Carpenter. The books number upwards of 250 volumes, 

 and are the gift of Mrs. Carpenter. 



Ax interesting account of a visit by Mr. E. Satow to the 

 ruins of Sukkhothai and Sawankhalok, Siam, appears in the 

 Journal of the Society of Arts, for August 12. 



A NEW edition— the sixth— of " The Electric Light popularly 

 explained," by A. Bromley Holmes, has just been brought out 

 by Messrs. Bemrose and Sons, Limited. 



" Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 

 for 1891 " has just reached us, and we learn from the report that 

 during the year six meetings were held and thirteen papers were 

 read ; the income amounted to ;^393, and the expenditure to 

 ;^235 \s. Id. 



A Catalogue of Standard English and Foreign Books on 

 Chemistry and the Allied Sciences has just been issued by Mr. 

 W. F. Clay, Edinburgh. 



The Annual Report of the Superintendent, Mr. J. H. Hart, 

 on the Royal Botanic Gardens, Trinidad, for 1891, has lately 

 been published, and much good work seems to have been 

 accomplished during the year. 



NO. I 190, VOL. 46] 



We have received from the Australian Museum, Sydney, 

 Parts I. (Cephalopoda) and IL (Pteropoda) of the Catalogue of 

 the Marine Shells of Australia and Tasmania, which Mr. John 

 Brazier is compiling. 



A pamphlet on " The Dairy and its Equipment, with Prac- 

 tical Management of Milk and Cream," which has been written 

 by Dr. H. J. Webb (the Principal of the Aspatria Agricultural 

 College) in conjunction with Mrs. Edward Moul, and recently 

 issued, is full of information likely to be of use to those engaged 

 in dairy-work. 



In the American Naturalist for August, Dr. S. Lockwood 

 gives a geological reason "Why the Mocking Birds Left New 

 Jersey," and the report of Prof. Osborn's lectures on " Heredity 

 and the Germ-Cells " is continued. 



Naturae Novitates for July has reached us from the pub- 

 lishers, R. Friedliinder & Sohn, Berlin. 



Three new volumes have been added to the excellent series 

 entitled "Encyclopedic Scientifique des Aide-Memoire " 

 (Gauthier-Villars)— "Notions de Chimie Agricole," by J. 

 Schlcesing, Fils ; " Les Divers Types de Moteurs a Vapeur," 

 by E. Sauvage ; " La Biere," by L. Lindet. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Macaque Monkey [Macacus cynomolgus) 

 from India, presented by Mr. H. D. Bowditch ; a Puma {Felis 

 concolor), a Tayra {Galictis barbara) from Brazil, presented by 

 Mr. J. E.Wolfe ; three Martineta Tvd'sxaov&^Colodromus elegans) 

 from Bahia Blanca, Argentina, presented by Mr. F. W, Horn ; 

 a Slender-billed Cockatoo {Licmetis teiiuirostris) from Australia, 

 presented by Dr. J. G. Victor Sapp ; a Californian Sea Lion 

 {Otaria stelleri) {xom the North Pacific, an Indian Chevrotain 

 ( Tragulus meminna, 9 ) from India, deposited ; an Indian 



Ox\o\^ {Orioltis kundoo), two Himalayan Tree Pies (Z?<?«- 



drocitta himalayensis) from India, five Black-necked Tanagers 

 {Euphonia nigricollis), six Thick-billed Tanagers (Euphonia 

 laniiros(ris), a Violet Tanager {Euphonia violacea), a Greenish 

 Tanager {Euphonia chlorotica), a Lead-coloured Tanager 

 [Hypophcea chalybea) from Brazil, purchased ; a Magellanic Goose 

 {Bernicla magellanica) bred in Holland, six Himalayan 

 Tree Pies {Dendrocitta himalayensis) from India, received in 

 exchange. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The Perseids. — Mr. Denning, in the August number of 

 The Observatory, remarks, with reference to the radiant point of 

 the Perseids, that "the agreement of observation and theory is 

 not perfect, especially as regards the shower at its earlier stages 

 and at its termination, when the displacement appears to be 

 somewhat greater than theory requires." From observations 

 made on August 16, 1877, the radiant he deduced was 60° + 

 59°, the theoretical position, according to Dr. Kleiber, being 

 54' + 59°- In 1886, on the same date, from the path of a very 

 bright Perseid, Mr. Denning obtained a radiant point of 53^ + 

 59", a value closely approaching the theoretical one. As Mr. 

 Denning has reason to believe that the Perseids will continue to 

 fall until the 22nd of this month, and as the suspected radiant 

 for this date is about 77° + 56^^, our readers will have an 

 opportunity of either verifying this position or obtaining one 

 more accurate. 



The observations of the August meteors seem to have been 

 sadly interfered with by the weather. So far we have received 

 no communication respecting them. 



"Himmel und Erde." — The August number of Himmel 

 und Erde contains much that will be read with interest. Herr 

 J. Plassmann contributes an article, which will be continued in 

 the next issue, on variable and new stars, in which, after refer- 

 ring to the peculiar features of the late nova, he discusses the 

 light curves of many well-known variables. A supplement to 

 the note on the great February spot includes an illustration 



