May 3, 1894J 



NATURE 



21 



to send in Iheir names. Another announcement made was that 

 Mr. Henry Tate would present to the Tate Library a collection 

 of standard books of the value of ;^5,5oo. The endowment of 

 the chairs of Anatomy and Pathology completes the provision 

 necessary in order to bring the medical department of the College 

 into rank with similar departments at the older Universities and 

 at Owens College, Manchester. 



The arrangements for the University Extension Congress, to 

 be held in London in June next, have been announced. There 

 are several reasons which render the present year opportune for 

 such a gathering. In the first place, the University Extension 

 movement attains its majority, the first Courses of Lectures 

 having been arranged by the University of Cambridge in the 

 autumn of 1S73. And secondly, University Extension work 

 has a defined place in the scheme for the establishment of 

 a Teaching University for London. In view of the anticipated 

 establishment of a Teaching University on the lines laid down 

 in the Report of the Royal Commission, it is important to sum 

 up and present the educational results of the twenty-one years' 

 work in University Extension, and to consider, in the light of 

 past experience, practical proposals and a general policy for the 

 future of the whole movement. 



The Congress, which will meet in the Lecture Theatre of the 

 University of London, will include three sessions, to b" held on 

 Friday afternoon, June 22, and Saturday morning and afternoon, 

 June 23. The Marquis of Salisbury, the Duke of Devonshire, 

 and Lord H;rschell, will preside at the three sessions 

 respectively. 



The subjects for discussion will be : — 



{1} The means of preserving and further developing the 

 educational character of University Extension work, and the 

 relation of the more popular to the more strictly educational 

 side of the movement. 



{2) The essentials of efficient central and local organisation, 

 and the relation, educational and financial, of the University 

 Extension .Movement to the State and to local authorities. 



(3) The educational possibilities of University Extension 

 work and methods in relation to regular University studies and 

 University degrees. 



The-e subjects will be considered beforehand by a committee 

 or committees of experts, who will present reports and formu- 

 late the resolutions to be submitted for discussion to the 

 Congress. The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor has intimated his 

 intention of inviting the members of the Congress to a recep- 

 tion at the Mansion House on the evening of Friday, June 22. 



.^T the last meeting of the Council of the Darham College 

 of Science, Mr. Henry Palin Gurney, formerly Fellow of 

 Clare College, and Deputy-Professor of Mineralogy in the 

 University of Cambridge, was appointed Principal. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



Aiitericiin Mcleorological Journal, April. — "Storms of the 

 Gulf of Mexico and their prediction," by W. D. Siearns. 

 Many of the storms which enter the United States from the 

 Gulf of Mexico are very destructive, and give scarcely any 

 indication of their approach by means of the barometer. The 

 author has made a special study of local conditions and cloud 

 movements which preceded a number of storms in 1S92 and 

 1893, and thinks that by those means their presence may be 

 detected in every case some hours in advance of their arrival. 

 Notes are given of the phenomena preceding several storms. — ■ 

 A new chart of equal annual ranges of temperature, by J. L. S. I 

 Connolly. The chart was constructed on the basis of Dr. 

 Buchan's " Challenger" isothermal charts. It shows that the 

 torrid zone is, on the whole, a region of moderate annual 

 range of temperature, while the north temperate zone has 

 extreme variations compared with the south temperate. The 

 effecls of solar and terrestrial radiation are well shown ; in 

 northern Asia there is a range of 120", and of So' in the 

 northern part of North America. 



Bulletins dc la Socicll d'Aiithropi^lorie de Paris, tome i». 

 No. i2.^This number contains a valuable memoir by M. L. 

 Manouvrier on the normal and abnormal variations of the nasal 

 bones in the human species. Whatever may be the original 

 cause of variation, it is interesting to observe that that cau-e is 

 sufficient to produce in one and the same race individual varie- 

 ties suggesting all kinds of ethnic types. In one case, figured by 



NO. 1279, VOL. 50] 



M. Manouvrier, the nasal bones are entirely suppressed, (heir 

 place being supplied by the frontal bone.— .M. G. de .Mortillet 

 proposes an important reform in chronology ; he points out the 

 inconvenience of using several different eras, such as the Foun- 

 dation of Rome, the Birth of Christ, the Flight of .Mohammed, 

 or the Proclamation of the Republic, and suggests that 10,000 

 years before the Christian era should be adopted as a general 

 starting point ; this would not only include all Egyptian chrono- 

 logy, as known al the present day, but would also leave 5000 

 years at the disposal ol future discoverers. — .\x. the Broca con- 

 ference. Dr. Capitan delivered a lecture on the role of microbes 

 in society. — M.J. Deniker has contributed a paper on the natives 

 of Lifou, one of the Loyally Islands. The average stature of 

 these islanders is .somewhat below middle height '1642 mm.), 

 although in the case of four individuals out of the ten examined' 

 by Dr. Francois, whose observations form ihe basis of this com- 

 munication, the stature was from 1670 to 1690 mm. ; the head is 

 dolichocephalic (cephalic index = 72'4), and the nose is platyr- 

 rhine (nasal index — 97'8); five out of the ten subjects were 

 hyperplatyrrhine (index lOi to 1 17). 1 he colour of the skin, in 

 the majority of those examined, resembled chocolate with a red- 

 dish tinge (28-29 Broca), while one of them had a light brown 

 skin, and two others were black. The colour of the iris varied 

 from brown to dark brown, the darker tinge predominating. 

 — In a paper on family property in Anam, M. Paul Denjoy 

 describes the organisation of the family, the prescriptions of the 

 law with regard to succession and wills, and the extensive 

 system of re.;istration employed. He gives a good general 

 idea of Anami'e legislation, and of the principles that underlie 

 it. The number inc'udes several short communications of much 

 interest. 



Wiidemann's Annalen der Piiysik und Chemie, No. 4. — On 

 the formation of floating metallic films by electrolysis, by F. 

 Mylius and O. Fromm. .\ zinc plate is laid on the bottom of a 

 glass jar, and is covered with a layer of 50 per cent, solution of 

 zinc sulphate. A platinum wire o'2 mm. thick touches the 

 surface of the solution vertically. On passing a current from a 

 3-volt battery through the solution, a bright film of metallic zinc 

 is formed round the platinum cathode, which gradually expands, 

 and exhibits an approximately circular form, but subsequently 

 becomes irregular. The phenomenon does not take place 

 unless the surlace of the solution is tainted with some substance 

 insoluble in water, such as oil of turpentine. This may form a 

 separate thick layer, and the film is produced at the separating 

 surface. It may also be produced at the lower surface of the 

 zinc sulphate solution by first pouring a layer of chloroform on 

 to the zinc anode. Other metals, sucn as iron, cobalt, cadmiu 11, 

 silver, show analogous phenomena. — On the elasticity and 

 tenacity of some new glasses as dependent upon their chemical 

 composition, by A. Winkelmann and O. Schitt. The co- 

 efficienis of elasticity, and those of resistance to tension and 

 pressure, were determined experimentally for eighteen kinds of 

 glass. The first lies between 4699 and 7592 kg. per sq. mm. 

 The second lies between 3'5 and 85 kg. per sq. mm , and the 

 third between 6o'6 and 120 8. These results may be repre- 

 sented by formula depending upon chemical composition, the 

 calculated values varying by 3 per cent, from the observed ones 

 in the case of elasticity, and about 8 per cent, in the case of 

 tenacity.— On the coefficient of thermal resistance of different 

 glasses as dependent upon chemical composition, by the same 

 authors. The thermal resistivity is the property enabling glasses 

 to withstand sudden cooling xvithout breaking. It depends upon 

 the elasticity, the tenacity, the thermal expansion and con- 

 ductivity, the specific heat, and the specific gravity of the glass 

 in question. In most cases the resistivity can be calculated wiih 

 fair approximation if these properties are known. 



Internationales Archiv fiir Ethnogra/'liic, vol. vii. pans i and 

 2.^The new volume of this useful journal is continued along 

 the same lines as the previous volumes ; the publisher only is 

 changed. Heer Trap still prims the letter-press, and turns out 

 the plates in his usual skilful manner. Prof. G. Schlegel gives 

 the first published illustration and full description of " A Canton 

 Flower-boat," or, as it should be called, " Gaudy Boat." These 

 are really floating cafc-chantants, in which the greatest decorum 

 prevails ; they are hired for evening festivals and suppers, by 

 wealthy officials and others. — Leo V. Frobeniushasan interest- 

 ing article, illustrated by three plates, on " Ceramics and their 

 origin from Wood-carving in the Southern Congo Basin." He 

 deals with the pottery trade, the form of clay vessels, wooden 



