October 20, 1892] 



NATURE 



593 



with anything less than twenty-six inches, and only with 

 that under first-class conditions. I give here the observa- 

 tions that 1 have so far obtained, and defer any sugges- 

 tions as to a name until a later paper. It' certainly 

 should not disturb the present harmony existing in the 

 Roman numerals already applied to the satellites. 



" It is so wholly different from any of the other moons in 

 physical aspect, that it ought, in a sense, to be considered 

 independent of them, and simply be called, say, the fifth 

 satellite, with a suitable mythological name. 



"It will be seen that on three of the dates of obser- 

 vation the east elongation is well covered in the 

 measures." 



Plotting the observations at elongation, the following 

 values of the distance were obtained : — 



From Jupiter's centre. 

 Mile<. 

 September lo (apparent) 6i"-04 log R =7-08267 -112250 

 '2 ,, 6i"-55 „ 7-08452-I12750 



>. ^^ .. 6i"-6o ,, 7 08324 -1 12400 



From these the following periods result, using 

 well-known formula : — 



the 



Mean 



II 4963 



The observations, all made in standard Pacific time 

 (eight hours slow of Greenwich) are given at length in 

 the Journal. 



The latitude measures show that the satellite's orbit 

 lies in the plane of Jupiter's equator, and Mr. Barnard 

 holds that it is consequently a very old member of Jupiter's 

 family, " since it would doubtless take ages for the orbit 

 to be so adjusted.' W. L. 



NOTES. 



The ordinary general meeting of the Institution of Mechanical 

 Engineers will be held on Wednesday evening, October 26, and 

 Thursday evening, October 27, at 25, Great George Street, 

 Westminster. The chair will betaken at half-past seven p. m. 

 on each evening by the President, Dr. William Anderson, 

 F.R.S, The ballot lists for the election of new members, 

 associates, and graduates having been previously opened by the 

 Council, the names of those elected will be announced to the 

 meeting. The nomination of officers for election at the next 

 annual general meeting will take place. The followiog papers 

 will be read and discussed, as far as time permits :— Second 

 Report of the Research Committee on the value of the steam- 

 jacket, by Mr. Henry Davey, Chairman (Wednesday) ; and ex- 

 periments on the arrangement of the surface of a screw-propeller, 

 by Mr. William George Walker, of Bristol (Thursday). 



We are asked to intimate that the late Prof. Adams has left 

 a number of separate copies of certain of his mathematical and 

 astronomical papers, and that Mrs. Adams will be happy to 

 distribute them to scientific friends who make application for 

 them by letter addressed to her at 4, Brookside, Cambridge. 



The Harveian oration was delivered on Tuesday afternoon by 

 Dr. J. H. Bridges. He presented an able and most interesting 

 sketch of the scientific influences amid which Harvey's work was 

 done, and the relation of his great discovery to later research. 



The controversy as to vivisection is still going on in the 



Times. For the present, therefore, it may be enouj^h for us to 



reproduce the letter which was signed by Sir Andrew Clark, 



Sir James Paget, Dr. Samuel Wiiks, and Sir George Humphry, 



NO. H99. VOL. 46] 



and printed in the Times on Saturday last. It is as follows :— 

 "Having already expressed our views, personally or by letter, 

 to the Church Congress, we decline to enter into any further 

 public discussion on the question of so-called 'vivisection,' for 

 the following reasons, the statement of which we make solely 

 because we think it is due to your readers :— Firstly, after full 

 consideration, we are satisfied that the scientific aspect of this 

 question cannot receive adequate and just treatment in the 

 columns of a ne w spaper. Secondly, because it is hardly possible 

 for us to name any progress of importance in medicine, surgery, 

 or midwifery which has not been due to, or promoted by, this 

 method of inquiry." 



Prof. Virchow was invested, on Saturday last, with the in- 

 signia of office as Rector of the University of Berlin. He chose 

 "Learning and Research" as the subject of his address. 

 He acknowledged that study had contributed greatly to 

 create a mutual basis of understanding and a common edu- 

 cational foundation for the peoples of Europe, strengthening 

 at the same time the idea of consanguinity. That state of 

 things, however, was, he thought, entirely changed, and he 

 contended that the turning-pomt in the supremacy of the clas- 

 sical languages had been reached. " A grammatical education 

 is not the means for progressive development demanded by our 

 youth. Mathematics, philosophy, and the natural sciences gi\e 

 young minds so firm an intellectual preparation that they can 

 easily make themselves at home in any department of learning.'' 



Prof. Berg has succeeded the late Dr. Burmeisier as director 

 of the National Museum in Buenos Ayre?. 



Dr. G. v. Lagerheim, at present director of the Botanic 

 Garden at Quito, Ecuador, has been appomted curator of the 

 museum at Tromso, Norway. 



Mr. W. G. Ridewoop, B.Sc, of the Royal College of 

 Science; South Kensington, Assistant to the Director of the 

 Natural History Museum, has been appointed Lecturer in 

 Biology to the St. Mary's Hospital Medical School. 



The October number of the A'ew Bulletin opens with a sec- 

 tion giving some interesting information as to Lao tea. Some 

 time ago a singular method of using the leaves of what has since 

 been proved to be the Assam tea plant of commerce {Camellia 

 theifcra) was brought before the Society of Arts by Mr. Ernest 

 Mason Satow. Amongst the Laos, a people inhabiting a di>trict 

 of Siam, in the neighbourhood of Chiengimai, the tea leaves are 

 not used for making an infusion as in other countries, Imt are 

 prepared wholly for the purpose of chewing. The leaves are 

 first steamed and then tied up in bundles and buried in the 

 ground for a period of about fifteen days. Leaves thus prepared, 

 called locally "mieng," are said to keep for two years or mure. 

 The habit of chewing "mieng" is almost univer.>al among the 

 Laos, and to men engaged in hard work, such as poling or 

 rowing, it is said to be almost indispensable. The Bulletin 

 prints a correspondence in which the result of an inquiry made 

 by Kew in regard to the plant )icldiiig "mieng" and the 

 method of preparation is detailed. 



The other sections in the October number of the Kew BulUtin 

 deal with Chinese silkworm gut ; mangrove bark and extract ; 

 Burme.se black rice ; Mauritius lea ; potato disease in Puona ; 

 British North Borneo ; and Allouya tubers. There are also some 

 miscellaneous notes. 



We learn from the [ournal of Botany x.hzX Dr. H. Trimen, 

 F.R. S., the Director of the Botanic Gardens at Paradeniya 

 Ceylon, has received the sanction of the Government to proceed 

 with the publication of the flora of that island. The woik will 

 be published in parts by Messrs. Dulau and Co., and will form two 

 vols, octavo, together with a quarto atlas of loo coloured plates. 



