398 



NATURE 



[August 25, 1892 



Mr. RiSELY Griffiths, the Administrator of the Seychelles, 

 •visited the Island of Aldabra in May last. In a report to the 

 •Colonial Office communicated to Kew, he gives the following 

 (particulars respecting the gigantic land tortoises : — " The follow- 

 ing morning I went on shore to visit Mr, Spurs' establishment, 

 and observe some of the natural peculiarities of this extra- 

 ordinarily-formed island, which, except here and there, appears 

 to be one mass of very ancient coral, which has been washed 

 for so many centuries by the sea that all the softer portions have 

 •been washed out, and the remainder is hard and ragged, and 

 therefore is difficult to walk over. Curious to state, small trees, 

 shrubs and vines flourish over it, and in these inextricable places, 

 which are of vast extent, do the enormous land tortoises find a 

 .genial and apparently prolific existence. When Mr. Spurs first 

 went to Aldabra he was of opinion there were very few of theni 

 left ; but he now states that there cannot be less than one 

 thousand in all the island. I made him repeat this statement 

 more than once, as I was sceptical about so large a number ; 

 but he assured me that a few hundreds would not accurately 

 describe their number. " 



The Tuesday evening lectures at the Royal Victoria Hall, 

 Waterloo Bridge Road, will be resumed in September, and on 

 the evenings of September 6, 13, and 20, respectively. Prof. B. 

 J. Maiden will lecture on " The Wonders of the World, " ".A 

 Holiday in Sweden and Denmark," and " Australia." 



According to the North British Agriculttiralist the 

 plague of voles from which farmers in the Border districts have 

 for some time past suffered much inconvenience and loss, is, 

 notwithstanding the strenuous efforts put forward for the abate- 

 ment of the plague, on the increase. The grass lands are so 

 thickly set with the nests of the voles that much difficulty is 

 experienced in cutting them, and the vermin are no -v making 

 their abode in the corn-fields, which are in consequence also 

 being destroyed. 



Canovas and Traynor, 3 Callede Santa Catalin a, Madrid 

 invite subscriptions to a facsimile reproduction of the first geo- 

 graphical chart of America (1500), by Juan de la Cosa, 

 Columbus's sailing-master in his first and second voyages. It 

 will be printed in the original colours, from which black, by the 

 way, is absent. The work will be published in three forms, 

 one — the popular — at 12s., another in vellum at 205., and the 

 third in parchment at £20. The parchment edition will be 

 hand coloured. 



Prof. Fluckiger has sent to the President of the Pharma- 

 ceutical Society, as representing the British subscribers to the 

 Fluckiger testimonial, a bronze replica of the medal which was 

 presented to him, and expresses the hope that it will be ac- 

 cepted as a sign of his gratitude and a slight proof of his appre- 

 ciation of the friendship and encouragement he has always met 

 with in England. 



We extract from the Bollettino Mensile, of the Meteoro- 

 logical Observatory of Riposto, the following details respecting 

 the recent eruptions of Mount Etna. The crater had shown 

 ■extraordinary activity from the beginning of July, and on the 

 night of the Sth-gth, a severe shock in all the surrounding 

 region announced the probability of an approaching eruption. 

 At 1.20 p.m. on the 9th the south slope of the mountain burst 

 open, at about 5000 feet above the sea, forming at once several 

 mouths emitting lava, stones, and incandescent masses, as well 

 as enormous quantities of sand and black smoke. At times 

 large blocks were hurled to a height of about 1300 feet. Several 

 •of the mouths united, and formed three craters in an almost 

 direct line from north to south, from two of which the lava 

 encircled Monte Nero like an enormous river, while the third 

 •emitted masses of stones and cinders. The eruption continued 

 NO. I 191, VOL. 46] 



with more or less intensity all the month, but showed signs of 

 diminishing on the 31st. The lava devastated much fertile 

 country, but fortunately its course was checked by the deposits 

 of former eruptions ; if this had not been the case several of the 

 villages would have been in great danger. This eruption was 

 noteworthy for the enormous quantities of smoke and sand 

 emitted, and for the scarcity of seismic motions ; the lava 

 resembled physically that emitted in the eruptions of 1883 and 

 1886. 



The thirty-ninth Report of the Department of Science and Art 

 of the Committee of Council on Education is now ready, as is 

 also the Directory (revised to June 1892), with regulations for 

 establishing and conducting science and art schools and classes. 



Messrs. Gibbons, of Liverpool, have issued a small hand- 

 book respecting the Department of Engineering in connection 

 with University College, Liverpool, which should prove of much 

 service to intending students, who will find in it all the informa- 

 tion they are likely to require with reference to fees, subjects, 

 evening lectures and classes, scholarships, certificates, &c., &c. 



The twenty-fifth annual report of the Peabody Institute of 

 the City of Baltimore has been issued, and seems in every 

 respect highly satisfactory. Incandescent electric lamps and 

 appliances have been placed in the large hall and reading-room 

 during the year, accessions to the library have been numerous 

 and valuable, and the lectures were attended by larger audiences 

 than in the preceding year. Another encouraging item in the 

 report is that there was an increase in the number of applications 

 for books relating to science, amongst the subjects which appear 

 to have grown in favour being anatomy, astronomy, chemistry, 

 mathematics, medicine, and natural history. 



The annual announcement of Courses of Instruction in the' 

 Colleges at Berkeley, Cal., for the academic year 1892-93 has 

 recently been issued. 



The Calendar of Univeisity College, Bristol, for the Session 

 1892—93, has just been issued. 



The second edition of Mr. W. F. Kirby's " Elementary Text- 

 Book of Entomology " has been published within the last few 

 days by Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein and Co. The author has not 

 thought it necessary to make any extensive alterations in the 

 text or plates, but the following additions have been made to 

 the work : — An appendix, giving further particulars respecting 

 many of the insects mentioned or figured, and a complete 

 index. 



In the Board of Trade Journal for August are to be found 

 articles on "Chemical Industry in Germany," the "Sicilian 

 Sulphur Industry," and "Cinchona and Indigo Cultivation 

 in India." 



The current number oi \}s\& Journal of the Society of Arts is, 

 in the main, devoted to the publication of Prof. George Forbes' 

 first lecture on " Developments of Electrical Distribution." 



The June number of the Agricultural Gazette of New South 

 Wales contains the continuation of two articles by Mr. P. Tur- 

 ner, on "The Grasses of Australia," and "New Commercial 

 Crops for New South Wales," "Notes on Economic Plants," 

 "The Sugar Cane Disease on the Richmond and Clarence 

 Rivers," and many other items of interest. 



The Korean Repository for June, which has just come to 

 hand, has an interesting article by Rev. D. L. Gifibrd on 

 " Ancestral Worship as practised in Korea." 



Messrs. Crosby Lockwood and Son announce for early 

 publication a new work by Mr. J. E. Gore, entitled "The 

 Visible Universe, Chapters on the Origin and Construction of 

 the Heavens." 



