April 19. 1894] 



NA TURE 



583 



A VOLUME containing the results of magnetic and meteoro- 

 logical observations made at the Government Observatory, 

 Bombay, during 1891 and 1892, under the direction of Mr. 

 Charles Chambers, F. R.S., has recently been issued. The 

 publication also includes a paper on the secular variation of 

 magnetic dip at Bombay. 



MM. Th, and E. Durand, of Brussels, are preparing for 

 publication, with.the assistance of other orchidologists, a Census 

 Orchidearum. In this work will be enumerated about 8000 

 species of orchids, with their synonyms, spontaneous or cult - 

 vated varieties, and natural or artificial hybrids. For each 

 species will be given the place and date of first publica- 

 tion, a reference to the figures, and the geographical distribu- 

 tion. The work will probably extend over more than 1000 

 pages, and is intended to be published in five fascicules, at six 

 francs the fascicule to subscribers. 



An interesting account, by Sir Archibald G^ikie, of the nature 

 and extent of the work carried on by the Geological Survey, is 

 contained in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of 

 England (vol. v. part i. March). The yournal also contains, 

 among other papers, one by Mr. C. F. Archibald, on useful 

 and injurious wild jbirds, the birds described being warblers, 

 tits, pipits, buntings, and finches. Mr. Archibald's contri- 

 bution should be read by all agriculturists who wish to be able 

 to distinguish their friends from their enemies. 



Prof. S. H. Gage's excellent work on " The Microscope 

 and Microscopical Methods " (Comstock Publishing Co., Ithaca, 

 N.Y,), reviewed by us in Sepiertiber 1892, has reached a fifth 

 edition. We have received part i., dealing with the microscope 

 and histology ; part ii. is in preparation, and will deal with the 

 application of the microscope to study and investigation in 

 vertebrate histology. The edition has been considerably en- 

 larged, the additions including a chapter on photo-micrography. 

 The expansions and emendations have been judiciously carried 

 out, thus adding to the value of one of the best elementary 

 works on the technique of the microscope. 



A BIOGRAPHICAL sketch of Dr. Marcellus Malpighi, the dis- 

 tinguished physiologist and investigator, whose researches have 

 figured iu medical treatises since the middle of the seventeenth 

 century, appears in The Asclepiad {yo\. x. No. 40), accompanied 

 by his portrait. Though he seemed to have worked with a simple 

 microscope not better than a half-crown lens of the present time, 

 he made some very important discoveries. He was elected a 

 Fellow of the Royal Society in 1668, and between 1671 and 

 1684 contributed eight papers to it. His complete works, very 

 copiously illustrated, were published by the Royal Society in 

 1686, in two volumes. Sir B. W. Richardson, the author of 

 the biography, summarises most of Malpigbi's work, comparing 

 it with other physiological and anatomical researches of the 

 seventeenth century, and with the knowledge that has since 

 been gained. 



A USEFUL journal for bacteriologists is Modern Medicine and 

 Bacteriological Revieiv, ihe " Bulletin of the Sanitarium Hospital 

 andLaboratory of Hygiene, Sanitarium, BattleCreek, Michigan." 

 It is edited by Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Superintendent of the Sani- 

 tarium and Hospital at Battle Creek, and the number before us 

 not only contains three original papers by him, but a translation, 

 also, of a paper by Prof. A. Charrin, M.D. A special section is 

 devoted to " Bacteriological Notes," whilst abstracts and notes 

 of medical and other papers are freely scattered throughout the 

 journal. Articles on special subjects also form an important 

 feature in this magazine. Amongst the twenty-two collaborators 

 whose names figure on the cover we note that of Prof. Metch- 

 nikoff, of Paris. Following the usual complement of advertise- 

 ments, we find a picture of the Sanitarium Hospital, and three 



NO. 1277, VOL. 49] 



pages setting forth its special objects, as well as its constitution 

 and management. 



An illustrated official handbook to the aquarium, picture gal- 

 leries, and museum collections under the control of the 

 Exhibition Trustees, Melbourne, has been compiled by Mr. 

 James E. Sherrard. The Melbourne Exhibition Aquarium was 

 opened in 1885, and was the first established in Australia. 

 Some useful experiments have been carried out by workers in 

 it, pointing the way to further developments of the fishing in- 

 dustries of the colony. Mr. Sherrard's little handbook contains 

 a large amount of information about the fish of Victoria, and 

 the aquarium equipment. He has made a number of experi- 

 ments with a view to keeping fish alive in artificial sea water, 

 but only with partial success. In sea- water, prepared 

 according to chemical analysis, the fish became blind and only 

 lived a few days. In water brought up to a standard strength 

 with refined salt made from sea-water, the more hardy kinds ol 

 fish did very well, and in water made with Southall's sea-salt 

 the fish seemed quite as much at home as in their natural 

 element. 



The volume of Transactions of the Sanitary Institute for 

 1893 has been received. It includes papers read at the sessional 

 meetings of the Institute, reports of a series of lectures on the 

 sanitation of industries, and two lectures delivered to sanitary 

 officers. We have also received the first number of the journal 

 of the Sanitary Institute, which it is intended to issue quarterly, 

 in place of the annual volume of Transactions. The journal 

 contains a paper on the etiology, spread and prevention of 

 diphtheria, by Dr. R. Thorne Thorne, C.B., F. R. S. ; one on the 

 sanitation of places where food is prepared, by Dr. F. J. Waldo; 

 and a report of a lecture on sanitary building construction, by 

 Mr. Keith D. Young. Mr. G. J. Symjns, F.R. S., contributes 

 a list of works and papers on sanitation, and Prof. A. Wynter 

 Blyth is the author of notes on legislation and some recent law 

 cases. As the journal is a new development, a short epitome of 

 the history of the growth of the Institute forms an appropriate 

 introduction to its contents. The next Congress of the Institute 

 will be held at Liverpool from September 24 to 29. The Health 

 Exhibition in connection with the Congress will remain open 

 until October 20. 



A REPORT, by Mr. F. V. Coville, on the botany of the ex- 

 pedition sent out in 1891 to make a biological survey of the 

 region of Death Valley, California, has been received from the 

 U.S. Department of Agriculture. The botanical work under- 

 taken by Mr. Coville was to collect and identify the plants of 

 the region traversed by the expedition, to collate those data 

 which had references to the range of species, and to arrange the 

 material accumulated in such form that it would be useful in 

 studying the facts and problems of geographical distribution. The 

 report contains an itinerary, a section on the principles of plant 

 distribution, and one on the distribution of plants in South- 

 eastern California. In the section devoted to the characteristics 

 and adaptations of the desert flora, a statement is given of the 

 environmental conditions of the Death Valley desert region, and 

 the resultant adaptive modifications of the flora are discussed. 

 The report also contains a systematically arranged catalogue of the 

 plants collected, a list of specimens, and a bibliography. We 

 note that the metric system of linear measurements is used 

 throughout the report, the itinerary excepted. The mass of 

 matter brought together by Mr. Coville, and the fine plates 

 which illustrate his descriptions, call for the highest commend- 

 ation. By making grants for the expedition, the United States 

 Congress has shown that it understands the importance of 

 accumulating scientific observations, while the organisation 

 of the work reflects great cred.t upon the Department 

 of Agriculture. 



