March i, 1894] 



NA TURE 



415 



these have raised ,'i host of questions at various times, 

 which even yet are not fully answered. The question 

 as to the form of the planet itself is also one full of 

 interest, and observers, from Beer and Miidler down to 

 Trouvelot, have made numerous drawings of the different 

 appearances. Observations have shown that the surface, 

 or whatever it is that we look at, is by no means level, 

 but extremely uneven or irregular. Such irregularities 

 can be best detected naturally at the terminator and 

 limb. Fig. i indicates a bulging at the lirnb, while 

 Fig. 3 shows a similar phenomenon at the terminator at 

 two different times— February 5, 2h. and 5h. 43m. 

 (Perhaps this is one of the best proofs of a "short 

 duration" period for rotation). 



Fig. 4, which we also owe to Prof. Trouvelot, shows 

 a more decided case of irregularity, and on perhaps a 

 much larger scale. 



Much remains, however, to be done before we are on 

 anything like a footing with this planet as we are with 

 Mars. With this latter we can observe directly the land 

 and water markings, time to a second the period of rota- 

 tion, observe local storms, and many other details ; but 

 with the former the case is different. Here the planet 

 is for the most part lost in the rays of the sun, or at other 

 times not very easy for observation. 



That Venus has an atmosphere is a fact which has long 

 been known, and that this is denser than the earth's enve- 

 lope is also very probable. The part this atmosphere plays 

 in the determination of the period of rotation seems to be 

 of great importance, and it is rather a question of whether 

 we have been observing real rigid markings on the planet 

 itself, or only what has been described as " a shell of 

 clouds, the appearances interpreted to signify the exist- 

 ence of lofty mountains, snow-caps, vast chasms, and 

 crater-like depressions, are really nothing but the varying 

 features of cloud scenery." 



Whichever the case may be, future observation has 

 still to show ; but it seems that with the rapid advance 

 now taking place in large instrument-making, such 

 a question as this could be settled, given a few 

 fine evenings or mornings near a favourable time of 

 observation, a clear and still air, and a large aperture. 

 Such occasions, perhaps, may be rare, but the point at 

 issue is important, and should be settled as soon as 

 possible. W. J. L. 



NOTES. 



All the arrangements have now been made for the eleventh 

 International Medical Congress, shortly to be held in Rome. 

 The inauguration of the congress will take place on March 29, 

 in the presence of the King of Italy. On the following day 

 will commence the work of the scientific sections, which will 

 be continued till April 5, 



A CONGRESS of chemistry and pharmacy will be held in 

 Naples at the beginning of next September. The congress will 

 be divided into two sections — the one scientific, the other 

 professional, 



M. EuGKNE Catalan, a member of the Sciences Mathema- 

 tiques section of the Paris Academy of Sciences, died at Liege 

 on February 14. 



On March 18, Prof. J. Bertrand, the popular perpetual Secre- 

 tary of the Paris Academy of Sciences, will have spent fifty 

 years in expounding science. In order to celebrate this jubilee 

 in a fitting manner, a committee has been formed, consisting 

 chiefly of his old students at the Ecole Polytechnique, the Sor- 

 bonne, the College de France, and the University, and a circular 

 has been issued asking for subscriptions towards a commemora- 

 tive medal which it is proposed to have struck for the occasion. 



NO. 1270, VOL. 49] 



The committee appeal not only to the eminent professor's old 

 pupils, but also to his colleagues and friends who desire to do 

 him honour. Among the members of the committee are Profs. 

 Cornu, Marcel Deprez, Jordan, Maurice Levy, Mascart, Mer- 

 cadier, Picard, Poincare, and M. Tisserand, the Director of the 

 Paris Observatory. Subscriptions may be sent to any of these 

 names, or to M. le Trtjorier, de I'Ecole Polytechnique, 2i Rue 

 Descartes, Paris. 



An offer made by Miss Marian Brockhurst, to build a museum 

 in the public park of Macclesfield, and endow it with ^^loo a 

 year, has been accepted by the park committee. 



Among the bequests of the late Mr. Thomas Avery, of Bir- 

 mingham, is the sum of ^^2000 to the Midland Institute, and 

 ;^iooo to Mansfield College, Oxford. 



The Malte-Brungold medal of the Paris Geographical Society 

 is to be awarded to M. A. Delebecque, for his researches on 

 the French lakes, of most of which he has constructed detailed 

 bathymetrical maps. 



We learn from the Chemist and Druggist that the centenary 

 of the birth of Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, whose name is con- 

 nected with the discovery of aniline, carbolic acid, and the 

 paraffines of coal-tar, was celebrated at Oranienburg, near Berlin, 

 on February 6, by the unveiling of a memorial tablet in the wall 

 of the present Royal Seminary, which occupies the place where 

 Range's laboratory formerly stood. 



The Council of the Society of Arts attended at Marlborough 

 House on Friday, when the Prince of Wales, President of the 

 Society, presented to Sir John Bennet Lawes the Albert medal, 

 and a like medal to Sir J. Henry Gilbert, awarded to them in 1893 

 "for their joint services to scientific agriculture, and notably for 

 the researches which, throughout a period of fifty years, 

 have been carried on by them at the Experimental Farm, 

 Rothamsted. " 



WElearnthatthe collection of fossil plants, got together by Mr. 

 James M'Murtrie, of Radstock, has passed away from the county 

 where it was chiefly collected to the Natural History Museum 

 at South Kensington, where it has found a permanent home. 

 The Somerset coal measures generally, and especially the Rad- 

 stock seams, have long been known for the richness and variety 

 of their fossil flora, which is found in a state of preservation 

 probably not equallei in any other coal-field in the country, and 

 a residence of more than thirty years amidst such surroundings, 

 with the aid of many willing assistants, had enabled Mr. 

 M'Murtrie to accumulate one of the finest private collections in 

 the country. The collection, consisting of more than 300 speci- 

 mens, includes every variety of plant life of the Carboniferous 

 age, from the smallest variety of fern to the largest tree ferns. 



A FINE egg of the gare-fowl or Great Auk was put up for 

 auction by Mr. Stevens, on Thursday, and, after a keen compe- 

 tition, was purchased by SirVauncey H. Crewe for 300 guineas. 

 The egg originally belonged to the late Mr. William Varrell, 

 and the facts relating to its purchase are stated by Prof. Newton 

 in another column. In 1856 the late Mr. Frederick Bond 

 purchased the specimen for twenty guineas. It remained in 

 this gentleman's possession until 1875, whenit was soldto Baron 

 Louis d'Hamonville. Of the sixty-eight true specimens of the 

 Great Auk's eggs known to be in existence, Great Britain is 

 said to possess forty-eight ; Prance, ten ; Germany, three ; 

 Holland, two ; Denmark, Portugal, and Switzerland, one each ; 

 and the United States, two. 



The origin of gold nuggets is a question about which much 

 controversy has arisen. Dr. A. R. Selwyn long ago suggested 

 that the nuggets grow in alluvial deposits by the deposition of 



