:!=iO 



NA rURE 



[July ii, 189- 



of the Society, empowering any six Fellows to convene a s|)ecial 

 general meeting, and suggests that such a meeting should be 

 summoned, and the foUowinj; resolutions submitted to it: (I) 

 That this meeting is of opinion that the present form of publish- 

 ing the Transactions should be continued. (2) That this meet- 

 ing is of opinion that the present form of publishing the Pro- 

 ceedings should Ik- continueJ. The resolutions are drawn up 

 separately, so as to obtain the votes of Fellow s who approve 

 of a change being made in the form of one kind of publication, 

 but disapprove of any change as regards the other. 



Is the recent death of Prof. N'erneuil, France has lost one of 

 her most eminent surgeons. His name is intimately connected 

 with the history of conteniixirary surgery. At first, .Assistant of 

 Anatomy, Prosector, as well as Professor of Anatomy to the 

 Faculty of Medicine, he devoted himself to anatomical and 

 physiological studies, and left his mark by important works, 

 chiefly on the heart, and on the anatomy and physiology of the 

 venous system. Later, he formed part of thai noted phalanx 

 which, under the auspices of Leberl, with Kobin, Broca, Follin, 

 introduced histological studies into F'rance. I'rom this time 

 date a scries of original memoirs, notably on the demoid cysts 

 of the face, and on the scrotal enclosure, in which he expounded 

 new views, and established the scientific theory which is now 

 generally adopted. Later still, when hospital surgeon and pro- 

 fessor in the Faculty of Medicine, he introduced important 

 methods of operation. Animated by the most ardent love of 

 science, he knew how to communicate his enthusiasm to those 

 around him ; he had all the requisite qualities of a founder 

 of a school. His activity showed itself by a great number 

 of communications to learned societies of which he was a 

 member. 



The extensive science laboratories and buildings recently 

 opened at Lille are described in detail in the Rcvtu G<!>it'ra/e dcs 

 Sciences. The buildings comprise a physical institute, an insti- 

 tute of natural science, and an institute of chemistry, erected at 

 a cost of ;^65,C)0O. The cost of the whole work was nearly 

 ^140,000, and this has been borne by the Municipal Council 

 anil the Academy at Lille, assisted by a gift of ^4000 from M. 

 Philip|>art. The town of Lille has guaranteed an annual grant 

 >>f £,iioa lot twenty years, to be used in the interests of higher 

 education, and has shown the greatest interest in the work of 

 the new institute. The de|iarlmenl of chemistry is divided into 

 two parts, in which general chemistry and applied chemistry are 

 respectively dealt with ; and in e.ich section laboratories are pro- 

 vided for research as well as for instruction. The physical de- 

 jidrtment occupies a se|)arate building, in which .iccommodation 

 is provided for ex|Jeriments of extreme delicacy as w ell as routine 

 work. On account of the great stability now demanded by many 

 l>hysical investigations, all the research laboratories are on the 

 ground floor ; for the same reavm, numerous large isolated pillars 

 of mavmry have lieen provided, and strong slate slabs have been 

 lixcd into the comers of the laboratories. The natural science 

 buil'ling provides accommodation for geology, zrxilogy, and 

 Iniiany ; and a room is reserved foi the ( leological Society of the 

 North of France. Every facility for study under gotxl con- 



■ n, appears to l)c offered by the new lalK>ratories, and 

 n;i ■ r education in France will <lcrivc benefit from the increased 

 <>p|»>rtunilieH now offered it at Lille. 



TliK third International Agricultural Congress will take place 

 at Bni.McK from September 8 to 16 ; hence it will clash with the 

 nii-'.Ming of the Ilritish Association at Ipswich, which begins on 

 ^' l'i>nil>er II. The Congress will l»e held unfler the imtronage 

 of the King of the Ik'lgians, and embraces twelve sections. In 

 the section of agricultural education the subjects for discussion 

 include niral schooli, fields for ex|>eriment and demonstration, 

 the [Hrt^ibility of devising an international programme of superior 



NO. I 34 I, VOL. 52] 



agricultural study, and the professional training of farmers" sons 

 by interchange of the young |>eople of different districts. The 

 section of agricultural science will embrace chemistry and 

 physiology as applied lo agriculture ; the utilisation and conserva- 

 tion of natural manures ; agricultural meteorology : experiment 

 stations and laboratories of control for manures, foods, and 

 seeds. The third, fourth, and fifth sections deal respectively 

 with co-operation, legislation, and currency. The section oi 

 animal production will discuss i)r.ictical (juestions relating to 

 stock-breeding, selection and crossing, the improvement of 

 breeds, and the feeding of slock in times of drought. The 

 veterinary section will concern itself with the organisation of 

 veterinary sanitary police and the contagious diseases of animals, 

 including pleuro-pneumonia, anthrax, and tuberculosis. The 

 section of jjlant production is lo discuss the selection of seed, 

 the cultivation of malting barley, "sideralion," the cultivation 

 of peaty and mossy soils, drainage, and irrigation. The ninth 

 section — southern agriculture and colonisation — embraces grape 

 and silk culture ; the cultivation of flowers for perfume, of oil- 

 yielding plants, and of coffee, tea, and sugar-cane ; the agricul- 

 ture of the Congo and of Tunis : and the conditions of countries 

 to which emigrants might be sent. The tenth section takes in 

 forest economy, the eleventh deals with pisciculture, and the 

 twelfth with agricullur.1l industries, such as dairying, brewing, 

 and bee and poultry culture. 



Thk results of a competition organised ,at Paris last inontli, by 

 the Petit Journal., are of some scientific interest. Sixty thousand 

 carrier pigeons from all parts of I'rance, and from some places in 

 Belgium, were released from the ICiffel Tower at known intervals 

 and times. The first jiigeon travelled a distance ol 150 kilo- 

 metres (93! miles), with a velocity of 76 kilometres (47 miles) per 

 hour. The highest average rates of flight ranged between this 

 and 43 miles per hour for a distance of 264 miles. These rales 

 are low compared with previous records. .V distance of 600 

 miles, has been covered at an average rate of 50 miles an hour, 

 and in June i860, a pigeon travelled from Blois to Dijon, a 

 distance of 290 miles, in 4h. 46m., which gives a rale of about 

 60 miles per hour. There is also evidence that much higher 

 average velocities than these have been reached. 



Dr. J. Han.n, Secretary of the Vienna Academy of Sciences, 

 laid before it, on the 20th ull., an investigation on the daily 

 range of the barometer on clear and cloudy days, esjiecially on 

 mountain summits. Il was known that at ordinary stations the 

 daily barometric range in clear and cloudy weather only ex- 

 hibited a diflerence in the single iluily oscillation, while the 

 double daily oscillation remaineil unchanged. Hut a similar in- 

 vestigaliim for mountain stations had not yet been made. With 

 this object the author undertook the tedious operation of 

 calcuUaling the ilaily barometric range at a number of mountain 

 stations for the .summer season, and found that al these the 

 double daily oscillation remained the same in both kinds of 

 weather. At the earth's surface the daily curve showeil a nuich 

 greater amplitude in clear than in cloudy weather, and a lolally 

 different c|X)ch. The average form of the daily curve for the 

 mountain stations is represented by the formula : 0"4S sin 

 (353° + x)on clear days, and o'26 sin(loi'' + .v) (m cloudy days. 

 On clear days the maximum of the single <laily oscillation occurs at 

 6h. 30m. a.m., while on cloudydays il occurs at I ih. p.m. The 

 author also fi>und that the diflerences in the daily range on clear 

 and clou<ly days corresponded entirely to the diflerences which 

 exist over the land, as compared with those over adjacent seas. 



A RKII'KN h.as been issued showing the number of licensed 

 ex]K-riments performeil on living animals during 1894. The 

 total number of persons h>)lding licences during Ihe year was 

 185, and of these 56 performed no exDerimenls. The tables 

 given afford evidence that licences and certificates have been 

 granted and allowed only upon the recommendalion of persons 



