NATURE 



[jUNK 13, 1S95 



We learn from Science that nearly a thousand dollars have 

 been subscribe<I in the United States towards the memorial to 

 Helmholtz. 



This years conversazione of the Institution of Electrical 

 Engineers will be held in the ('■alleries of the Royal Institute 

 of Painters in Water Colours, on Wednesday, July j. 



The third International Congress of Physiology will be held at 

 Berne, from September 9 to September 13. An exhibition of 

 physiological apparatus will be held at the same time. Those 

 who desire to become members, or to read |)apers, should com- 

 municate with Prof. II. Kronecker, Berne, before August I. 

 The subscription is ten francs. 



Severai, clearly marked earthquake disturbances have been 

 felt at Florence during the past week. .\ strong shock, followed 

 by two slighter .shocks, was felt there at 1.36 a.m. on Thursday 

 last. The shocks have ilone no damage in Florence, nor, .so far 

 as can be learned, in the surrounding countr)'. The earthquake 

 was most violent at Pontassieve, Rignano, and San Casciano. 



Sir Samuel Wilson, whose death is announced, was greatly 

 interested in science an<l education. .\mong other generous [ 

 acts, he presented ^^30,000 to Melbourne University in 1S75. 

 He was Vice-President of ihe Melbourne Inlernalional Exhibition 

 of 1880, and a Royal Commissioner for tlic Fisheries Exhibition, i 



.\MONO the recent app:>intments abroad we notice the 

 following :— Dr. Celakovsky to be Professor of Pharmacolog}- 

 in the Bohemian University at Prague ; Dr. Rohde to be 

 assistant in the Zoological Institute at Breslau : Dr. F. Trendel- 

 enburg, Professor of .Surgery in Bonn University, to succeed 

 the late Prof. Thiersch at Eeip/.ig : Prof. |. v. Ivries to be the 

 late Prof. Ludwig"s successor at Leipzig: Dr. F. SchutI, of 

 Kiel, to Cireifswald University as Professor of Botany, and 

 Director of the Botanical Cardens and .Museum ; Dr. v. Knorre 

 to the new chair of Electro-chemistry in the Technical High 

 School at Charlottenburg ; Prof. .\. Overbsck, of ("ireifswald, 

 to be Professor of Physics in the University of Tiibingen ; Dr. 

 Hermann .Siruve to be I'rofessor of .Astrontmiy in Kiinigsberg 

 University : Prof. i:. Koken to be Professor of C.eolof^y and 

 .Minerali>gy in Tubingen ; Prof. R. Brauns to be Professor of 

 (Jeolug)- and Mineralogy in (liessen ; Dr. T. Smith to be 

 Profe-s-sor of Applied Zralogy in Harvard University. 



I.N all |iarts of Ihe British Islands, and especially over Eng- 

 and, Ihe weather has continued ixTsistently dry : in Ihe neigh- 

 Imurhood of London Ihe tolal fall during Ihe first eleven days of 

 June (lid not excee<l h.ilf a tenth inch, and Ihe aggregate fall 

 since the iK-ginning of May, a |)eri<Ml of six weeks, was but 

 little over half an inch. The IVeek/y IVeal/ur A'e/wrt of the 8lh 

 inst. showed that Ihe amount of rainfall since the beginning of 

 the year was l)clow Ihe average in all dislricls, except the notlh- 

 easl of England. In Ihe west of .Scotland the ileficiency 

 amounted to 10-4 inches. High summer Icmperalures have 

 occurred during the past week in many parts of the country, 

 Ihe .shaile readings having reached S4'' in the ea.st of Scotland, 

 and 83' in Ihe south of England. In London, readings of Ko° 

 were recorded iKilh on .Saturday and Sunday last. 



TllK Whitsuntide parly al the Porl Erin Biological Station 

 incluiled the following naturalists : -Mr. F. W. Camble ((Jwens 

 College), Mr. W. I. Beaumonl (Cambridge). Dr. H. O. Forlns 

 LivcrpiK)! Museum), Mr. A. Ixriccsler (South))orl), and Prof. 

 K. Boycc, .Mr. A. Scoll and Prof. Ilcrdman, from Liver|Hjiil. 

 Dredging. tf)w-nclting, shore collecting, ami lalioratory work 

 were carricti on much as usual. Amongst the more noteworthy 

 animals oblalneil were I'olyi^rdius -ip., Saicobnlrylloides »p., 

 limhltlomn liiilchra, lilyiia -.•irijis, ax\A Cyiilliia morns. The 

 low-ncis contained vtmc fish eggs, but fewer than al Easter. 

 NO. 1337, VOL. 52J 



Diatoms and gelatinous .Vlg.v were iiearlyabscm : Copcpod.i au.l 

 larval forms were present in great abundance. Prof. R. Boyce 

 and Prof. Herdman have commenced an investigation on the 

 efiect of surrounding conditions upon oysters, and their connec- 

 tion with disease. .\ numlwr of oysters have been laid down in 

 different parts of Porl Erin bay and on the shore, and others are 

 being experimentally treated with various fluids and food matters 

 in Ihe aquarium. .Mr. W. I. Beaumont slays on for some weeks 

 at the laboratory studying the Xemertines of the <listrict, and 

 the Rev. T. S. Lea goes to Port Erin shortly to assist Prof. 

 Herdman in working out the detailed "zoning" of ihe shore 

 and the distribution of the littoral animals. 



The general arrangements for the sixth International Geo- 

 graphical Congress, to be opened in London towards the end of 

 next month, are made known in a circular just distributed. The 

 Congress promises to be Indy international, for deleg.ites have 

 been appointed to represent Governments and Geograjihical 

 Societies in all parts of the world. The provisional programme 

 of the meelings is as follows : — The Congress will be opened on 

 •■"■'day, July 26, at 9 p.m., when short addresses of welcome 

 will be delivered by H.R.H. the Duke of York, Honorary 

 President, and by Mr. Clements R. .Markh:im, President. On 

 the following day, Mr. .Markham will deliver his inaugural 

 address, after which the Congress will meet in two sections to 

 discuss pajwrs on geographical education, by Profs. Levasseur 

 and Lehmann, and others ; and on mathematical geography, 

 especially the use of photography in surveying, by Colonel 

 Laussedat, Colonel Tanner, and others. (;)n Monday, July 29, 

 a general meeting of the Congress will discuss the subject of 

 Arctic and Antarctic exploration, introduced by Prof. Neumayer 

 and Admiral .\. M. .Markham. In the afternoon two .sections 

 will be formed, in one of which questions in geodesy will be 

 treated by General Walker and .M. Lallemand, while in Ihe other 

 papers will be re<id by Prince Roland Bonaparte on glaciers, and 

 M. .Marlel on sjK'heology. On July 30, report of Committees 

 and pai>ers on Ihe proposed map of the world on the scale of 

 I : 1 ,000,000, and on international geographical bibliography, will 

 be presented at the general meeting, and two sections will Ihen 

 deal with oceanography, and «ith the orthography of jilace names. 

 On Wednesd.iy, July 31, Sir John Kirk will iniliale a discussion 

 on Europeans in .\frica in the general nreeting, and in Ihe after- 

 noon the sections will consider applied geography (commercial 

 geography) and limnology, the latter to be introduced by Prof. 

 Eorcl. The general meeting on .Vugusl i will deal with the 

 terminology of land forms, and in the afternoon cartography and 

 other subjects will be treated. On Friday, August 2, Ihe fore- 

 noon will be devoted to papers by Baron Nordenskiiild, Prof. 

 Hermann W.igner, and others, on the history of maps ; and all 

 the remaining papers will be taken in the afternoon. < )n Augu,sl 3 

 I he votes proposed for consideration will ])robably be discussed, 

 Ihe dale and jilace of meeting of the next Congress considered, 

 and the President will deliver his ccmcluding address, .\flcr Ihe 

 close of Ihe Congress, a series tif excursions will be organised to 

 places of geological and geographical interest. 



TllK kcv. (). Fisher contributes a short paper on Ihe age of 

 the earth to the Geological Magazine for June. Arguing in 

 favour of a comparatively thin crust and a li<pii<l substratum, he 

 urges Ihal Ihe continual laving of the bottom of the crust by the 

 molten rock will retard Ihe cooling of the crusl, and will produce 

 an effect on the temperature-gradient at the surface similar to 

 that 111 which Prof. Perry has recently drawn attention (NaiI'RI:, 

 vol. li. pp. 224-227). If this be the ca.se, ihen, no trustworthy 

 estimate of Ihe earth's age, based on Ihe present temperattrre- 

 gradienl at the surface, has yet been made. 



Dr. -M. Ciski.i.i has recently compiled a valuable list of the 

 records of the X'icentini mieroseismograph at Siena between 



