March 5, 1896] 



NATURE 



421 



by his metallurgical researches and the resulting development of 

 the iron and steel industries." 



The deaths are announced of Dr. G. Wagener, Professor of 

 Anatomy in Warburg University ; Dr. R. Benedikt, Professor 

 of Technological and Analytical Chemistry in the Technische 

 Hochschule at Vienna ; Dr. Laennec, Director of the Nantes 

 School of Medicine, and formerly Professor of Physiology ; and 

 Dr. Per Hedenius, Professor of Pathology, Hygiene, and 

 History of Medicine in the University of Upsala ; Dr. D. D. 

 '^hide. Lecturer on Comparative Osteology in Harvard 



niversity, and known for his contributions to osteology, 



ology and botany. 



We see from the Rendiconti of the Reale Istituto Lombardo, 

 that, at the recent annual meeting, one of the Cagnola prizes of 

 2500 lire and a gold medal of 500 lire was awarded to Prof. 

 Ferdinando Sordelli for his treatise entitled " Flora fossilis 

 Insubrice." The other Cagnola prizes were not awarded. Under 

 the Brambilla bequest a sum of 300 lire and a gold medal was 

 awarded to each of the following for having introduced useful 

 industrial processes : — Messrs. Macchi and Izar, Augusto 

 Stiegler, Anacleto Pastori, Fermo Coduri and Co., Casall 

 f rancesco and Sons, Carlo Galimberti and Co. ; and 250 lire to 

 Antonio Fusetti for his process of photo-engraving on copper. 

 The Fossabi prize of icxxj lire for a work on arterio-sclerosis was 

 awarded to a work sent in under the motto, Experientia 

 docet. The Ciani prize for the best Italian historical reading- 

 book was distributed among the following, who were awarded 

 500 lire each : — Prof. Francesco Bertolini, " Story of the Italian 

 Revival " ; Prof. G. De Castro, " The Mantua Processes and the 

 6th of February, 1853 "; Prof. Pietro Orsi, "How Italy was 

 made." Among the prizes proposed for 1897 are the following : — 

 An Institute's prize of 1200 lire for an experimental proof that an 

 electrified dielectric is in a state of tension in the direction of the 

 field and in a state of compression across it (last date, April 

 30, 1897). Cagnola prizes of 2500 lire each for works on the 

 orographical conditions of the Alps and the Italian peninsula 

 and islands ; and the history of the methods and instruments for 

 registering the phase of alternating currents (both April 30, 

 1896). Similar prizes for works on the comparative anatomy of 

 the innervation of trophic organs, and on the nde of pathogenic 

 microbes in human pathology (April 30, 1897). Secco-Com- 

 meno prize of 864 lire for a work on the genesis, symptoms, 

 effects, and cure of uremia (May I, 1897). The Tommasoni 

 prize of 500 lire will be given for the best work on the life and 

 w ork of Leonardo da Vinci, with especial reference to his pre- 

 cepts on the experimental method, and to a project of a national 

 publication of his entire works (May i, 1896). The competi- 

 tions enumerated are open to all nationalities, and the memoirs 

 may be written in Italian, French, or Latin. The last-named 

 nray also be written in English or German. They must be sent 

 lo the Secretary of the Institute, at the Palazzo di Brera, Milan, 

 I lefore the dates named, under a motto or pseudonym, and a 

 statement of the prize competed for. 



In reference to the tenacity of life in insects, Mr. J. C. 

 Warburg writes to the Entomologist. "When I was still new to 

 collecting in South France, I discovered one day, to my great 

 joy, a large female of Satitriiia pyri hidden away in some bushes. 

 The specimen was the first I had ever caught, and I decided, 

 on account of its large body, to stuff" it (a quite unnecessary 

 operation ; I have kept dozens since un.stuffed). The moth was 

 first apparently killed by being forced into a cyanide-bottle, 

 where it was left about an hour. The abdomen was then 

 emptied, and the cavity filled with cottonwool soaked in a 

 .saturated solution of mercuric chloride. The insect, pinned 

 and set, was discovered next day attempting to fly away from 

 the setting-board." 



NO. 1375, VOL. 53] 



The effect of thunder, or the firing of cannon, on pheasants 

 is very curious ; either of these sounds start the cock birds 

 crowing as if in defiance. Mr. G. T. Rope, writing to the 

 Zoologist, says that at a place between five and six miles distant 

 from the garrison town of Colchester, he has heard pheasants 

 close to him echoing each report of the artillery practising there, 

 and has on many occasions noticed the same thing elsewhere. 

 The crowing sounds more like the answer to a challenge than 

 the expression of fear. Mr. J. E. Harting points out that the 

 observation is not new. Gilbert White remarked a century ago 

 that the pheasants in his neighbourhood crowed when big guns 

 were fired at Portsmouth, and the wind was blowing from that 

 direction ; and, says Mr. Harting, Charles Waterton also, in his 

 " Essays on Natural History " (first series, 1837), makes the 

 following remarks on the subject : — " The pheasant crows at all 

 seasons on retiring to roost. It repeats this call often during the 

 night, and again at early dawn ; and frequently in the day-time, 

 on the appearance of an enemy, or at the report of a gun, or 

 during a thunder-storm." 



Our American correspondent writes under date February 

 21: — "J. Frank Elline, of Baltimore, has demonstrated that 

 ordinary calcium light will produce results similar to the rays 

 from a Crookes' tube. By combining the calcium light with 

 side X-rays, Mr Elline obtained a result directly the reverse of 

 ordinary X-ray pictures, the shadows being darker than the back- 

 ground. Dr. Wellington Adams and Prof. Nipher, of Washing- 

 ton University, St. Louis, have demonstrated that the X-rays can 

 be focussed. Edison is experimenting in the direction of taking 

 pictures by snap-shots, and has already succeeded in reducing 

 the time of exposure to seven seconds, getting clearly-defined 

 images of strips of metal after the rays had penetrated a heavy 

 piece of cardboard and a vulcanised plate. Trowbridge claims 

 to have secured instantaneous results already. Edison reports 

 that his eyes were sore after working for several hours with his 

 fluorescent tubes ; • but he is not certain that this result is 

 specially attributable to the X-rays. Dr. Wm. J. Morton re- 

 ports that he sees brilliant flashes of light after he has discon- 

 tinued work, and, as he has worked with electrical light for 

 many years without injury, he infers that the X-rays are injurious 

 to the eye. 



With reference to the statement in the foregoing note, as to 

 the effect of Rontgen rays upon the eyes, Mr. Swinton informs 

 us that though Mr. J. C. M. Stanton and himself have worked 

 continuously with the Crookes' tubes for hours together, neither 

 of them has experienced any ill-effects so far as their sight is 

 concerned. In fact, so far as Mr. Swinton has observed, the 

 X-rays do not,/c;- se, in any way affect the eye, either at the time 

 of the experiment or afterwards. With regard to Mr. Edison's 

 experiments, a few seconds are found to be ample for taking 

 pictures of pieces of metal. When it is a question of photo- 

 graphing a portion of the body, however, it is a different matter ; 

 but even then, with a good tube, thirty or forty seconds' 

 exposure will give a very fair result. 



Dr. W. J. VAN Bebber, of the Deutsche Seewarte, has 

 sent us a separate copy of an interesting paper " On the climates of 

 the earth and their influence on mankind," published in Globus 

 (vol. Ixix. Nos. 6 and 7). After giving a general description of 

 continental and ocean climates, and of the influence of mountains 

 and forests, he discusses in some detail the peculiarities of climate 

 of various zones, and traces their influence on diseases, especially 

 on malarial fever and cholera in the tropics. He finds that the 

 occurrence of the former is closely related to rainfall and tenqjera- 

 ture ; the fevers begin ^with- the rainy reason, usually reach their 

 maximum by the time the rain abates, and decrease as cooler 



