2o8 



NA TURE 



[June 26, 1890 



found an interesting proof of it in the island of Sikok, in the 

 form of a small statuette of Buddha, having the characteristic 

 nose and hair of the Negritos. 



It is a well-known fact in biology that bacteria and bacilli 

 absorb anilin and are killed by it. Two German observers — 

 Stilling and Wortmann — have recently considered the possibility 

 of utilizing this property in medical treatment {Humboldt). The 

 diffusibility and harmlessness of violet anilin dyes (called, for 

 brevity, " methyl-violet ") without arsenic, in small doses, were 

 first demonstrated on rabbits and guinea-pigs. Then certain 

 eye-disorders were produced in those animals, and treated with 

 anilin solution, the results being excellent. The authors pro- 

 ceeded to operate on the human subject. A skin-ulcer on a 

 scrofulous child, which had been treated for a month with the 

 ordinary antiseptic agents without success, was gradually healed 

 by daily dropping a little anilin solution on the sore ; and similar 

 good results were had with bad cases of eye-disease. It soon 

 appeared that many surgical cases were open to successful 

 treatment in this way ; and that, in general, wounds and sores 

 developing suppuration could be sterilized w ith anilin. It is 

 also thought that cases of internal inflammation, as in pleuritis 

 and peritonitis, may prove to be not beyond the reach of this 

 order of treatment. 



Messrs. Friedlander and Son, Berlin, have issued an 

 important monograph, by Dr. Max Blanckenhorn, on the de- 

 velopment of the Cretaceous system in Central and Northern 

 Syria. The author devotes especial attention to palseontological 

 phenomena. 



A MONOGRAPH, by Dr. L. Tausch von Gloeckelsthurn, on 

 the fauna of the " gray chalk " of the Southern Alps, has been 

 issued by A. Holder, Vienna. The work is illustrated with 

 nine lithographic plates. 



In the Statistical Report of the Colony of Victoria, just 

 issued, the following are given as the latitudes and longitudes of 

 the capitals of the Australian colonies, corrected by Mr. Ellery, 

 the Government Astronomer of Victoria : — 



We are glad to learn that after eight years' cessation, Mr. 

 John Fryer, of Shanghai, has revived his Chinese periodical, 

 the title of which is best translated Science Quarterly. The 

 first number of the re- issue contains 128 pages of reading matter 

 of great variety. From a review in the North China Herald, 

 by Dr. Martin, of Pekin, we gather that the science articles 

 open with a chapter on appliances for illustrating the principles 

 of mechanics. This paper forms a connecting link with the 

 last number of the series, taking up the subject where it was 

 dropped, and promising to carry it on to completion. The 

 Second paper begins a treatise on the principles of mechanical 

 drawing, a subject in which the Chinese are beginning to take 

 much interest. This is followed by the great topic of the day — 

 railways. The steps necessary for the initiation and conduct of 

 a railway enterprise are pointed out, the question of gauge is 

 discussed, and statistics of cost are supplied. Then comes an 

 elaborate paper on the state of the silk trade in China, pointing 

 out the way to improvement, and stimulating the Chinese by the 

 NO. 1078, VOL. 42] 



example of Japan and Italy. There is a paper on the sanitary 

 conditions to be observed in the construction of dwellings, and 

 one on medicinal plants, one on several strange vegetable pro- 

 ductions, and one on entomology. Besides these, there are 

 short papers on Edison's phonograph, the Eiffel tower, and on 

 observatories and telescopes. The dessert which closes the feast 

 is a profound disquisition by Dr. Edkins on the evolution of the 

 Chinese language. It will no doubt surprise the natives to find 

 that a foreigner has something to teach them in respect to their 

 own language, both written and spoken. At the end are mathe- 

 matical problems, in the estimation of native scholars the first 

 essential of a scientific magazine. Nearly all the papers are 

 profusely illustrated. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include two Lions {Felis leo, juv. <J ?) from 

 Kattywar, India, presented by H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence 

 and Avondale ; a Grey Ichneumon {Herpestes griseus i ) from 

 India, presented by Mrs. H. F. Pollock ; a Common Badger 

 {Meles taxus), British, presented by Mr. W. H. B. Pain ; a 



Galago {Galago sp. inc.) from South Africa, presented 



by Mr. Walter Carlile ; a Spur-winged Goose {Plectropterus 

 gambensis) from West Africa, presented by Mrs. Quayle Jones ; 

 two Common Rheas {Rhea americana) from South America, 

 presented Mr. A. W. Neeld ; three Grey Sparrows {Passer 

 simplex) from West Africa, a Tintillon Chaffinch {Fringilla 

 tiniillon), two Yellow-throated Rock Sparrows {Petronia 

 petronella) from Teneriffe, a Rosy Bullfinch {Erythroipiza 

 githaginea) from the Canary Islands, presented by Mr. Edmund 

 G. Meade- Waldo ; a Roseate Cockatoo {Cacatua roseicapilla) 

 from Australia, presented by Mr. F. C. S. Roper, F.Z.S. ; a 

 Leadbeater's Cockatoo {Cacatua leadbeateri) from Australia, 

 presented by Mrs. Obbard ; two Common Barn Owls {Strix 

 flamviea), British, presented respectively by Mr. Charles 

 Faulkner and Mrs. Frederick Tibbs ; an American Box Tortoise 

 {Terrafene carinata), a Horned Lizard {Phrynosoma cornutum) 

 from Mexico, presented by Mr. John Pettit ; an Alligator 

 {Alligator mississippiensis) from the Mississippi, presented by 

 Mr. C. S. Morris; four Houbara Bustards {Houbara undulata 

 2 (J 2 ? ) from the Canary Islands, a Bonnet Monkey {Macacus 

 sinicus cJ ) from India, deposited ; six Speigel Ca.rp {Cyprinus 

 carpio, var.), European Fresh Waters, purchased ; two Bennett's 

 Wallabys {Halmaturus bennetti 9 ? ), a Derbian Wallaby 

 {Halmaturus derbianus ? ), two Four-horned Antelopes ( Tetra- 

 ceros qttadricornis 9 ? ), a Burrhel Wild Sheep {Ovis burrhel 9 ), 

 a Thar {Capra jemlaica), born in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Objects for the Spectroscope. 

 Sidereal Time at Greenwich at 10 p.m. on June 26 

 i6h. 19m. 54s. 



Remarks. 

 (i) This is the bright cluster of stars in Hercules which is 

 probably well known to every possessor of a telescope. Seeing 

 that it certainly consists of separate and distinct stars, no nebu- 

 losity being shown in Mr. Roberts's photograph of it, Dr. 

 Huggins's observation of its spectrum in 1866 is very remark- 

 able. He says:— " Spectrum of tne central blaze continuous. 



