November 28, 1895] 



NA TURE 



87 



Monograph of the Asiatic Chiroptera," 1876; "Catalogue of 

 the Chiroptera in the British >ruseum," 1878, a complete natural 

 liistory of the order ; and " Monograph of the Insectivora, 

 Systematic and Anatomical,"' in which the zoology and 

 anatomical structure of the species were concurrently investi- 

 gated ; and he was the author of numerous other articles, 

 published in the Proceedings of various scientific societies and 

 in scientific journals. He was elected into the Royal Society in 

 1883, and was a corresponding member of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and of the Biological Society 

 of Washington. 



A GREAT Frenchman has just passed away in the person of 

 M. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire. He was born so far back as 

 August 19, 1805, and the fiftieth anniversary of his election into 

 the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences was celebrated in 

 1S89 at the Institute of France. Like many other men in 

 1 ranee, he was lx)th philosopher and statesman. He translated 

 the complete works of Aristotle, and was the author of numerous 

 original works. He spent some time in a journey to Egypt with 

 M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, to explore the Isthmus of Suez ; and 

 he shared to the full the firm belief of the creator of the Suez 

 Canal in the feasibility of the undertaking. After his return 

 from Eg>'pt he published his " Letters on Egypt," 1856, and 

 "Egypt and the Great Suez Canal," 1857. In i860 M. Saint- 

 Hilaire published his work on " Buddha and his Religion" ; in 

 1865 appeared his " Mahomet and the Koran," preceded by an 

 introduction on the Mutual Duties of Philosophy and Religion, 

 and in 1866 his " Philosophy of the Two Amperes." He 

 was Secretary-General of the Presidency of the P'rench 

 Republic, after the war of 187 1. Upon the fall of M. Thiers, 

 he resumed his great translation of Aristotle. In 1880, at the 

 age of seventy-five, he became Minister for Foreign Affairs in 

 the Jules Ferry Cabinet, from which he retired on the accession 

 to power of Gambetta in 1881. 



A coMi'i.ETE change in the type of weather took place over the 

 liritish Islands during the latter part of last week. The Daily 

 Weather Report of the 23rd inst. showed that an area of high baro- 

 metric pressure was spreading over our western coasts from the 

 Atlantic, while an area of low barometric pressure, which had 

 formed over the North Sea, was crossing the Netherlands. 

 During the following days this disturbance passed to the 

 south of Italy, and, in connection with very high barometer 

 readings in Scandinavia, its passage caused strong north- 

 easterly and easterly gales in the south and east of England, 

 and very liigh seas in the English Channel, while on the 

 continent it was accompanied by much snow and sleet. 

 Although the force of the wind was not so strong inland, the 

 pressure recorded at Greenwich Observatory on Sunday was 

 16 lb. on the square foot, which by the revised factor for the 

 conversion of wind pressure to velocity is equivalent to a rate of 

 about 76 miles in the hour. 



The terms of the competition for the Thousand Guinea Prize 

 •offered by the Engineer for mechanical road carriages are pub- 

 lished in the current number of our contemporary. The limit 

 of weight has been fixed at two tons, and the speed at ten miles 

 an hour ; while in the case of oil being used as the motive 

 power, the flashing point is fixed at 73° F. The competi- 

 tion, it is thought, cannot take place before October 1896, 

 when the various vehicles — two classes of two tons each, and 

 two of one ton each — will be required to run 200 miles, and Sir 

 F. Bramwell, Mr. J, A. F. Aspinall, and Dr. John Hopkinson 

 will act as judges. 



• The convention between Italy and Switzerland for the con- 

 «tniction of the Simplon Tunnel was signed at Berne on 

 •Monday. The programme of the works to be followed is that 

 NO. I361, VOL. 53] 



already approved by the Jura-Simplon Company, the Swiss 

 Federal Council, and the Italian Government. When the tunnel 

 is completed, the nearest seaport for French Switzerland, 

 Haute Savoie, and the \'alais will no longer be Marseilles, but 

 Genoa, and the shortest route from Milan, Piacenza, \'enice, 

 Genoa, and Trieste to Paris will be through the tunnel. 



We learn through the Times that the United States Nicaragua 

 Canal Commission, appointed by President Cleveland last 

 spring, has reported that it is neither advisable nor practicable 

 to attempt the construction of a canal upon the data at present 

 available. New surveys are needed before any final judgment 

 can be formed, but the provisional estimate of the cost by this 

 Commission is about ^{^27, 000,000, nearly double the Maritime 

 Canal Company's conditional estimate. That Company's report 

 is very strongly criticised in detail and in general, to the effect 

 that it is not based on a thorough knowledge of the physics of 

 the site. Their proposed dam in Ochoa is regarded as unsafe, 

 dangerous, and subject to floods, the proposed entrance to Grey- 

 town Harbour is deemed wrongly placed, and the canal itself is 

 considered inadequate in width and depth. The numerous 

 technical criticisms of this report all point in the same direction 

 — -namely, that no such canal as that contemjilated by the 

 Maritime Company can be built in the way which they design, or 

 for the money which they would expend upon it. 



The opening meeting of the Conference convened by the 

 Board of Trade on the subject of the revised regulations proposed 

 to be made under the Electric Lighting Acts, 1882 and 1888, 

 was noted in our last issue (p. 60). We extract from the Times' 

 report of the second day's proceedings the more important 

 decisions arrived at. The Chairman, Sir Courtenay Boyle, 

 stated that he had carefi.tliy considered the very important repre- 

 sentation made the previous day on the subject of the definition 

 of low pressure, and he thought it would be for the convenience 

 of those interested if a decision were reserved for a short time, 

 so that the Board of Trade might appoint a small committee, 

 not exceeding three, of expert advisers, carefully to consider the 

 scientific aspect of the question, and to make a suggestion to the 

 Department. This was approved by the meeting. The dis- 

 cussion of Clause 35 of the revised regulations relating to street 

 boxes, pointed to the need for a definition of street boxes, and 

 led the Chairman to suggest that the clause should apply only to 

 street boxes containing transformers. It was agreed that the 

 clause should read thus : " In the construction of street boxes 

 used as transformer chambers reasonable means shall be adopted 

 to prevent as far as possible any influx or accumulation of gas or 

 water either from the adjacent soil or by means of pipes ; and 

 ample provision shall be made by ventilation or otherwise for the 

 immediate escape of any gas which may by accident have 

 obtained access to the box, and for the prevention of danger from 

 sparking." The Chairman promised to consider whether the 

 Board of Trade could make a regulation for the ventilation 

 of street boxes of a certain dimension. Opposition was 

 off"ered to Clause 37, which provided that "the casing 

 of any high-pressure electria lines shall be continued 

 within street boxes," and the Chairman said the clause would be 

 struck out on the understanding that it might be necessary to 

 continue the old regulation, so as to prevent danger arising by 

 high-pressure lines passing through transformer chambers not 

 being properly cased. Objections having been raised to Clause 

 38, relating to converting stations, the Chairman said he thought 

 the old regulation would better meet the case. That regidation 

 was as follows : " Converting stations, or points in a system of 

 distribution to which a high-:pressure supply is given from gene, 

 rating stations, and from which a low-pressure supply is given to 

 one or more consumers, and which are not on the consumer's pre- 

 mises, shall hz established in suital)le places, which are in the sole 



