514 



x.rrrRE 



[SEPTEMBER 



lo, I So 



:> 



there is a mountain callej Charchani, about io.ooo feet liii;h ; 

 aa obsenatorj- was established just below the snow-line, at the 

 height of 16,650 feet, in the years 1S92-3, but is now abandoned. 

 The article contains a graphic account of the ditticultjps of 

 establishing two obser\-atories on Mont Blanc, one at 14,320 

 feet, and the other on the summit, at 15,780 feet, by M. Vallot 

 and M. Janssen, respectively. The meteorograph for the 

 summit of Mont Blanc has been constructed by M. Richard at a 

 cost of ;£^75o, and the clockwork is calculated to remain in action 

 for eight months. 



Useful and practical publications continue lo issue from the 

 various botanical experiment stations in the United States. We 

 have on our table the following : — From Kansas State .\gri- 

 cultural Collide, BulUlin No. 50, comprising a list of Kansas 

 weeds, with descriptions, and figures of the seedling forms ; from 

 Cornell University, an essay, by Mr. G. F. Atkinson, on 

 " Damping Off," containing a description, with figures, of the 

 ^■arious parasitic fungi which accompany this phenomenon, in- 

 cluding a new species, i'olttUlla Uiicolricha ; and " Studies in 

 Artificial Cultures of Entomogenous Fungi," by Mr. R. II. 

 Pettit, also illustrated by plates. 



The Report of the Botanical Exchange Club of the British 

 Isles for the current year is issued, with a list of Desiderata. 

 The main portion of the very useful work <lonc by this Association 

 rests with two or three individuals. This work would be greatly 

 promoted by the addition of a few new subscribers, who should 

 address themselves to Mr. Charles Bailey, College Road, Whalley 

 Range, Manchester. 



The following colonial botanical publications have reached 

 us : — The Biilltlin of miscellaneous information of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Trinidad, for July, containing a numt)er of 

 notes on native and cultivated plants in the colony, by Mr. J. II. 

 Hart ; Botany BulUlin, No. 10, of the Department of .\gri- 

 cullure, Brisbane, consisting of contributions to the Queensland 

 flora, by Mr. F. M. Bailey; Proceedings of the Royal Society 

 of Queensland, vol. xi. pt. I, with the annual address of the 

 President, Mr. R. L. lack, on "The Higher Utilitarianism." 



.Messrs. G. Philw ani> Son have reprinted for Ur. Mill 

 the paper on " The English Lakes," which, under the title of 

 "On the Bathymelrical Sur>'ey of the English Lakes," the 

 author contributed to the July and August numbers of the 

 Geographical Jonrual. The book is nicely got up, and is 

 illustrated by numerous photographic views, maps, and 

 diagranvs. 



A .N'Ew edition — the third — of Clowes and Coleman's 

 " ( luantitalive Chemical Analysis " has been sent to us by 

 Mc&srs. J. and A. Churchill. The work has undergone certain 

 ch.inges since the publication of the second edition, the matter 

 having been increased, the text revised, and some new figures 

 added. 



The September part oi Science Progress contains the fnllowing 

 articles : — " Progress in the Study of the Ancient Sediments," by 

 J. E. Marr ; "On the Respiratory Function of Stomata," by F. 

 Frf»t Blackman ; " The Zoological Position of the Triloliitcs," by 

 II. M. liemard ; " .Some Metavjmatic Changes in Limestones," 

 by A. Ilarkcr ; and " The Decomposition Products of Proteids," 

 by Dr. T. Gregor Bro<lie. 



The .wries of small books, entitled " Encyclo|x'dic .Scicn- 

 lifiquc dcsAidc Mcmoire," which is Iwing brought out conjointly 

 l.v M'v^rs. <iauthicr-Villars and (i. Massrjn, of Paris, has had 

 .1:1 tin r ad'lition ma<le to it by the publication of " Culiature des 

 Tcrraucs et Mouvcmcnt des Terrcs," by G. Danes. 



The paper " On the Cost of Warships," which was read by 

 Dr. F. Elgat at ihU year's summer meeting of the Institution 



NO. 1 35 I, VOL. 53] 



of Naval Architects, has been issued in pamphlet form by the 

 Institution. The pamphlet also contains a report of the dis- 

 cussion on the paper which took place at the meeting. 



We have received the Memoirs and Proceedings of the Man- 

 chester Literary and Philosophical Society, fourth series, vol. ix.. 

 No. 3, 4, and 5, and the Journal of the Asiatic Society of 

 Bengal, vol. Ixiv. , part 2, No. 2. 



Mr. R. W. P.\fl., of Hatton Garden, has sent to us advance 

 sheets of his new catalogue of electrical testing and measuring 

 instruments. Many of the instruments are figured. 



The University Correspondence College has issued its Inter- 

 mediate .\rts Guide, No. x. , with the papers set at London 

 University, July 1S95, and articles on the special subjects for 

 1S96, and its London Inter. Science and Prel. Sci. Guide No. 

 vii., with the jxipers set at London University, July 1895. 



The August numbers of the Journal of the A'oyal Micro- 

 scopical Society and of Clinical Sketches have reached us ; also pari 

 vi. of the Katalogder Bihliothck der Kaiserlichcn Lcopoldinisch- 

 Carolinischen Deutschen Akademie der Natnrforschcr, Halle ; 

 and Messrs. Friedlander and Sohn, Berlin, have sent us Xo. x. to 

 xiv. of Natunt Novitates. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Rhesus Monkey {Macacus rhesus, i ) 

 from India, presented by Miss E. S, Cooper ; a Smith's Dwarf 

 Lemur (Microcebus smithi) from Madagascar, presented by Miss 

 Ruby Woolcott ; a Yellow-fronted Amazon (Chrysolis ochro- 

 cephala) from Guiana, presented by Mr. W. Page ; a Beautiful 

 Grass Finch (Paphila mirahilis, i ) from Australia, presented by 

 Mr. Gerard O'Shea ; a Brazilian Tortoise ( Testudo tahulata) from 

 Brazil, deposited ; three Boiis (Boa constrictor) from Brazil, 

 purchiised ; a Wapiti Deer (Ceifus canadensis, i), two Tri- 

 angular-spotted Pigeons (Columha guinea), a Spotted Pigeon 

 (ColuMiba maculosa), two Crested Pigeons (Ocyphaps lopholes), 

 two lIalf-collare<l Doves (Turlur semitorijuatus), twoVinaceous 

 Doves (Tnrtnr vinaceus), bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The Si'ErTRi'M OF MxRS. — In connection with the recent 

 discussion as to the presence or absence of the bands of water 

 vapour in the spectrum of Mars, Dr. Janssen has published further 

 particulars of the observations made by him in 1867 (CoW/cr 

 rendus, July 29). He points out that even with the quantity of 

 vapour in our own atmosphere, the Iwinds would be all but 

 invisible to an observer on Mars if the solar light were reflected 

 normally from the earth's surface, and since the general 

 conditions of the planet point to its atmosphere being less 

 im|xirlant than our own, it is easy to understand that the 

 detection of the bands is a very delicate observaliim. To reduce 

 the al)sorptive effect of the terrestrial atmosphere, observations 

 should be made at a high altitude, and the use of the lunar 

 sjiectrum as a term of com|)arison is also important. .'\s lo 

 the apparatus required. Dr. Janssen does not consider large 

 telescopes indispensable, as even with them the telluric 

 bands can only he observed in their totality. Previous to 

 observing the spectrum of .Mars, Dr. Janssen had been 

 engaged in an extensive study of the spectrum of waler 

 vaixjur as exhibileil by a tube 37 metres in length. The obser- 

 vations of Mars were made on May 12-15, '867, from a station 

 on Mount Etna .at an altitude of nearly 3000 metres ; at meridian 

 pa.ssage the altitude of the planet was 72°, and at sunset, when 

 the observations were commenced, it was still more than 60' 

 al)Ove the horizim, while the moon was a little lower. The cold 

 wiis excessive during the nights of observation, and the <|uanlity 

 of va|>OHr contained in the atmosphere overlying the place of 

 observation would not be alile lo give indications of the telluric 

 groups near C and D, according to the experiments with the long 

 tube. Under these highly favourable conditions. Dr. Janssen 

 found feeble but certain indications of the groups at C and I), 

 and he is confident th.at future researches will justify the con- 

 clusion at which he arrived. 



