March 12, 1896J 



NA TURE 



447 



Blackheaded gull, common buzzard, kestrel, merlin, owls (all 

 species), bittern, curlew, dipper, dotterel, dunlin, golden plover, 

 goldfinch, heron, hawfinch, kingfisher, martins (all species), 

 nightjar, nuthatch, pied flycatcher, peregrine falcon, raven, ring 

 ouzel, snipe, swallow, treecreeper, water rail, wagtails, wood- 

 peckers (all species), woodcock. It is also ordered that the 

 Wild Birds Protection Act, 1880, shall apply throughout the 

 county of Durham to the following species of wild birds : — 

 Bearded tit, buzzards (all species), hobby, kestrel, martins (all 

 species), merlin, osprey, peregrine falcon, swallow, swift, wry- 

 neck. 



In the Entomologist'' s Monthly Magazine{oxM.z.xch, Dr. T. A. 

 Chapman records an experiment on the artificial prolongation of 

 the lar%al stage in Lepidoptera, which, although brief and in- 

 complete, indicates an important line of research in connection 

 with metamorphosis. Caterpillars of Agrotis comes, on reaching 

 the last normal stadium, were starved so as to delay growth, and 

 after six weeks were then placed on abundant diet. Some died, 

 several turned normally to pupae, and others endeavoured to 

 prolong the larval condition. Two alone succeeded, and as- 

 sumed a further larval instar, accompanied by modifications in 

 the antennce, maxillae, legs and eyes. Those which failed were 

 shown by dissection to be endeavouring to accomplish similar 

 changes. In this way an aberrant larva, with certain pupal or 

 imaginal characteristics, was obtained. These experiments have 

 some analogy with the production by Grassi of intermediates be- 

 tween the normal forms found in a nest of Termites, and perhaps 

 with certain phenomena of hypermetamorphosis. Further and 

 more complete experiments will be awaited with interest. 



Cremation as a means of disposal of the dead is steadily 

 gaining favour. From the report of the Council of the Crema- 

 tion Society for 1895, we see that 150 cremations were carried 

 out at Woking during the year, and fifty-eight at Manchester. 

 When the Society commenced operations in 1885, only three 

 bodies were cremated, but this number has continuously 

 increased since that year. At the present time, the crema- 

 torium at Manchester is the only one in operation in England 

 besides the one at Woking. Another is, however, being erected 

 near Liverpool, and will shortly be opened for use ; and last 

 November, a building, comprising a crematorium, chapel, and 

 waiting-rooms, situated on the outskirts of Glasgow, was opened 

 by Sir Charles Cameron. 



We have on our table the sixth edition of M. P. Schiitzen- 



berger's well-known work on " Les Fermentations," published 



by M. Felix Alcan in the comprehensive Bibliotheque Scienti- 



figue Internationale. The whole of the text has been revised, 



and numerous additions have been made. The " Resultats de 



I'examen de dix mille observations de hernies," communicated 



to the last French Congress of Surgery, by Prof. Paul Berger, 



has been published in volume form by M. Felix Alcan. Mr. 



T I nest Hart's criticism of "Hypnotism, Mesmerism, and the 



\v Witchcraft" (Smith, Elder, and Co.) has blossomed into 



-econd edition. A chapter has been added, embodying the 



iifessions of a professional medium, and some new matter has 



en placed in an appendix, but no other changes have been 



made. 



A .NEW monthly magazine — the Ornithologist, edited by Mr. 

 II. K. Swann — has just appeared, its claim to distinction among 

 the periodical literature of natural history being that it is the 

 < 'uly monthly journal of ornithology published in the British 

 Islands, though there are several which devote a large share of 

 their space to the subject. The first number of the new publi- 

 cation contains, among other contributions, notes on birds seen 

 during a continental tour, by Mr. O. V. Alpin, notes on the 

 NO. 1376, VOL. 53] 



nesting habits of the oyster-catcher, by Mr. F. B. Whitlock, and 

 on British birds at Wiesbaden, by Mr. Graham W. Kerr. There 

 is also a full-page plate showing the nest of a wheat-ear, built in 

 an old tin can, and a portrait of the late Mr. Seebohm. We 

 welcome this addition to the ranks of scientific journals, and 

 hope that it will long live to encourage observation and research. 



The recent discovery of argon in atmospheric air, by Lord 

 Rayleigh and Prof. Ramsay, aroused such great interest, that it 

 has been resolved, on the repeated request of the "general 

 public," to prepare a volume containing an account of the 

 methods of extracting the new gas from air, and of its properties, 

 explaining, where necessary, in popular language, the basis of 

 the reasoning employed in drawing conclusions relative to argon. 

 But the whole history of the determination of the gases in air is so 

 closely related to this recent discovery, that it would hardly have 

 been possible to present the subject in its entirety without a pre- 

 liminary sketch of the discoverers and their work. The little 

 work, which has been written by Prof. Ramsay, and will be pub- 

 lished by Messrs. Macmillan and Co. , therefore treats of all the 

 progress made in this fascinating branch of chemistry by a 

 number of men, almost all of them English. In this sense, 

 England may be said to " rule the air," as in another she rules 

 the sea. The volume will contain portraits of Cavendish, Boyle, 

 Lavoisier, and other early discoverers. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Hairy Armadillo {Dasypiis villosus) from 

 La Plata, presented by Mr. A. II. Robinson ; two Fennec 

 Foxes (Cauis cerdo) from Egypt, presented by Mr. Dixon Bey ; 

 a Pale Genet {Genetta senegalensis), two Home's Cinixys 

 (Cinixys homeana), an Eroded Cinixys {Cinixys erosa), a 

 Delalande's Gecko {Tarentola delalandii) from West Africa, 

 presented by Mr. W. H. Boyle; a Lesser Kestrel {Tinnunculus 

 cenchris) captured at sea, presented by Mr. A. J. Leith ; a 

 Greater Black-backed Gull {Lams Marinus), British, presented 

 by Mr. G. Smith ; one Slender-billed Cockatoo [Licmetis 

 teniiirostris) from Australia, presented by Mr. John J. Sapp ; a 

 Laughing K\ngfi%hQr {Dacelo gigantea) from Australia, presented 

 by Mrs. Hillier ; a Hawfinch (Coccothraiistes vulgaris), British, 

 presented by Mr. C. Bates ; two Black Swans (Cygnus atrattis, 

 <J ? ) from Australia, purchased ; a Gorilla {Anthropopithectis 

 gorilla, 9 ) from Naove or Iquela Congo Fran9ais, four Short- 

 Death Adders {Hoplocephalus curttis) from Australia, deposited; 

 an Eland ( Oreas canna, i ) bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Perrine's Comp:t (1895). — Some interesting photographs 

 of Perrine's comet were taken at Prague by J. and J. Fric, 

 during its appearance in November last {Acad. Sci. de fEmp. 

 Fr. Jos. , 1896). One of the photographs was taken on November 

 23 with an exposure of thirty minutes, and another a week later 

 with an exposure of twenty minutes. The nucleus resembles an 

 ordinary star in both cases. The tail proceeds from the head in 

 the form of a fan opened out to about 30°, and is clearly 

 divided into two parts. In the first photograph the northern 

 part of this double tail is curved, and has a length of about 30', 

 while the other is straight, and can be traced through about 3^', 

 the width being about 5'. Notwithstanding the shorter ex- 

 posure of the second photograph, both tails are extended, the 

 curved one being 50' m length, and the other very nearly 7°. 

 The principal tail is only 3' wide for the first degree of its 

 length, but it suddenly widens out and forms a band 10' broad. 

 We seem to have here the long straight ' ' hydrogen " tail and the 

 strongly-bent " iron " tail which Bredichin's theory attempts to 

 explain. 



Photographs taken at the Lick Observatory also exhibit the 

 double tail, and Prof. Campbell's observations show that the 

 spectrum of the comet was one consisting of carbon bands. The 

 comet is still visible, and rises some hours before the sun. Dr. 



