S4 



NATURE 



[May 24, 1894 



siological psychology ; Dr. Romer on zoology ; and Dr. Ghnge 

 on spectroscopic and polarising apparatus. This programme 

 shoald be sufficient to tempt many students of science to Jena, 

 and they may be assured that the German schoolmasters, who 

 attend similar summer meetings every year, will offer a cordial 

 welcome to their " englische Kollegen." 



The Friday evening discourse at the Royal Institution, on 

 June 1, will be delivered by Prof. Oliver Lodge, F.R.S. The 

 subject will be " The Work of Hertz." On Tuesday afternoon 

 Dr. Dallinger begana course of three lectures on " The Modem 

 Microscope, an Instrument for Recreation and Research," .ind 

 to-day Prof. Flinders Petrie commences three Thursday 

 afternoon discourses on " Egyptian Decorative Art." 



It has been decided to provide chambers in one of the light 

 towers which will be erected on either arm at the entrance of 

 Madras Harbour, when finished, for the purpose of a tidal obser- 

 vatory, the establishment of which has been approved of by the 

 Government of India. 



Prof. Vincenz Czerny, of Heidelberg University, has been 

 elected to fill the chair of Surgery left vacant in Vienna Uni- 

 versity by the death of Prof. Billroth. 



The Midland Railway Naturalists' Society has been estab- 

 lished at Derby. The first monthly meeting was held on 

 Monday, 7th inst. 



Miss North's Gallery of Flower Portraits in Kew Gardens 

 has been reopened to the public, the pictures having undergone 

 a thorough inspection and varnishing, under the advice of the 

 President of the Royal Academy. 



It is reported from Auckland, by Dalzlel's Agency, that two 

 shocks of earthquake occurred at Wellington on Monday morn- 

 ing. They were preceded by loud concussions, and all the 

 buildings in the town were violently shaken, the public library 

 being considerably damaged. Lesser shocks were also felt at 

 Nelson, Taranaki, and Chrislchurch. 



Dr. Gill, the Director of the Cape Observatory, has com- 

 municated to the Times some significant facts in connection 

 with the recent earthquake at Thebes. He says that the 

 observer on duty with the transit circle, on the evening of 

 April 27, found that the surface of the mercury used in making 

 observations for er.-ors of level was disturbed by continuous and 

 persistent undulations from 6h. 2m. to 6h. 32m. Greenwich 

 mean lime. It was not until 6h. 43m. that the undulations 

 ceased sufficiently to permit good observations of nadir and 

 level to be made. No general conclusion can be drawn from 

 these observations, but Dr. Gill thinks it probable that the deli- 

 cate disturbances of the mercury at the Cape of Good Hope had 

 iti origin in the disturbance which produced such disastrous re- 

 rails at Thebes. 



A COSSlliERAlii.E retrocession of temperature has occurred 

 over these islands during the past week, accompanied by strong 

 northerly and easterly winds, and causing much injury to fruit 

 »nd vegetable crops. Snow or hail fell over the whole of 

 Scotland and a large part of England and Wales on Sunday, 

 while the minimum shade temperature on Sunday and Mon- 

 day nights fell several degrees below freezing point, and on 

 the grass temperatures of 20' or less have been recorded. For 

 leveial days the maximum shade temperature did not exceed 

 45' at places in Scolland, and was below 50 in many other 

 parts. In the ncighl>ouihood of London it w,is below 50' on 

 Sunday, a value which is about equal to the average maximum 

 temperature of the middle of NLnrvh. The Greenwich tempera- 

 tures show that so low a maximum in the second half of May is 

 very rare, having occurred only twice in the last twenty years. 



NO 1282, VOL. 50] 



A " MONOCHROM.^Tlc rainbow " is rare enough to deserve 



record. Mr. Charles Davison writes : — " On the 28th of last 

 November rain was falling shortly before sunset, and a rainbow 

 was formed, though little more than the nearly vertical portion 

 of one limb was distinctly visible. In a few minutes the blue, 

 green, and yellow parts gradually faded away, and only a dull 

 red band remained." 



We have received several numbers of the British Central 

 Africa Gazette, published at Zomba, containing interesting 

 articles on the prevention of the coffee-disease, and on the ex- 

 port of india-rubber (La>tJo!phia) from the Wost Shire, Lower 

 Shire, and Ruo districts. 



TH^LXalurwissenscha/tliche IVochettschrifl for May 13 contains 

 an interesting article, with illustrations, on fossil-like structures 

 produced by the action of running water. Some of them present 

 a remarkable resemblance to alga: and to the leaves of ferns ; 

 and the author. Dr. T. Fuchs, questions the organic origin of 

 many so-called fossil remains from the older formations. 



In the form of a rectorial address to the University of Basel, 

 Dr. G. Klebs has published an interesting essay on the relation- 

 ship of the two sexes in n.tture. The first development and 

 gradual progress of sexual differentiation in the animal and vege- 

 table kingdoms are traced, and the connection between sexual 

 reproduction and the development of new forms of life is dis- 

 cussed. Dr. Klebs sums up strongly in favour of the theory of 

 the inheritance of acquired characters. 



At a recent meeting of the Societe Franijaise de Physique, 

 M. Curie read a paper on the magnetic properties of soft iron 

 It temperatures between 20' and 1350°, and for magnetising 

 forces of 25 to 1350 units. He has drawn a series of curves 

 showing the connection between the magnetising force and the 

 I intensity of magnetisation at different temperatures. For mag- 

 netising forces up to 1300 units the different curves do not differ 

 much, but for higher values of the magnetising force they 

 separate to a more marked degree. For temperatures between 

 756' and 1375° the curves obtained are straight lines passing 

 through the origin, showing that bjtween these temperatures 

 the susceptibility is a constant and independent of the magne- 

 tising force. The author has also plotted a series of curves 

 connecting the intensity of magnetisation (I) and the tempera- 

 ture, the magnetising force being constant. The value of I is 

 at first constant as the temperature rises, then it diminishes 

 faster and faster till the change becomes most rapid at a tempe- 

 rature of about 745°. Above this temperature the rate of change 

 of 1 diminishes. Between 950° and 1210° the value of I only 

 diminishes slowly, while at a temperature of 1 2S0 it increases 

 suddenly, and then as the temperature goes on increasing it 

 gradually diminishes. The .luthor finds that at any given 

 temperature the value of I obtained is independent of whether 

 this temperature has been reached by warming the body or by 

 cooling. 



An interesting paper by M. van Aubel, on the electrical resist- 

 ance of some new alloys, was recently read before the Socitit 

 Frani,iise de Physique. In the first place, the author gave 

 some particulars about a form of steel called kruppine, manu- 

 factured by Herr Krujip, at Esicn. This alloy has a specific 



resistance of 847 microhms \^}\ at 18° C. or of 855 if 



\cni-/ 



the sample has been heated for several d,iys. The mean co- 

 efficient of variation of the resistance with temperature de 

 creases slightly with increase of temperature, but is always 

 nearly ei|ual to + 00007. This body, altho«;;h it has a rela- 

 tively high specific resistance (that of gcrman silver being 

 20 76), can be heated to a temperature of 600' C. without 

 change of structure, and can be obtained in the form of wire 



