278 



NA TURE 



[July 17, 1890 



The list of Civil List pensions granted during the year ended 

 June 20, 1890, includes the name of Dr. William Huggins to 

 whom has been awarded a pension of ^^150, As we have 

 already noted, a pension of ;^50 has been granted to Mrs. Jane 

 Eleanor Wood, widow of the Rev, J. G. Wood, and a pension 

 of ;if 20 each to the four unmarried daughters of the late Rev. 

 M. J. Berkeley, F.R.S. 



Mr. David S. Capper, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., has been 

 elected to the Professorship of Mechanical Engineering at 

 King's College, London. 



The annual meeting of the Botanical Society of Italy will 

 take place in Verona during the month of September. 



French papers announce the death of M. Paul Loye, at the 

 early age of 29. He was the author of a memoir on the physio- 

 logy of death by decapitation, and had published many short 

 notes on physiological questions. He had for some time been 

 engaged in an elaborate study of the excretory functions of 

 birds, concerning which he had collected many facts. M. Loye 

 was assistant to Prof. Brouardel, and Maitre Je Conferences in 

 the Faculty of Sciences of Paris, and had been Paul Bert's last 

 assistant. 



The death of M. Alphonse Favre, at the age of 77, is an- 

 nounced. He was formerly Professor of Geology at Geneva, 

 and was recognized as an authority on the geology of the Alps. 



The half-yearly' general meeting of the Scottish ■ Meteoro- 

 logical Society was held in Edinburgh on Monday, jjuly 14. 

 Lord McLaren presided. The following was the programme of 

 business: — (i) Report from the Council of the Society; (2) 

 address by the Chairman on the high and low level observa- 

 tories of Ben Nevis ; (3) on the meteorological conditions of 

 desert regions, with special reference to the Sahara, by Dr. 

 John Murray. In their report the Council express sincere 

 regret at the death of Dr. James Stark, who long held the 

 office of Superintendent of the Statistical Department in the 

 Register House, Edinburgh, and gave very effective aid in 

 founding the Society. The self-recording instruments, furnished 

 by the Meteorological Council for the low level observatory at 

 Fort William, arrived at the end of June, and it is contemplated 

 that the regular work of recording the continuous observations 

 will begin in August. The observations which have been 

 carried on in Fort William by Mr. Livingstone in connection 

 with those made at the top of Ben Nevis will be continued at 

 least till the New Year, in order that a comparison may be 

 made with them and the similar eye-observations made by Mr. 

 Omond at the Observatory adjoining. It is arranged that Dr. 

 Buchan's time will be wholly given, during next year, to the 

 examination and discussion of the observations of the Ben 

 Nevis observatories. In connection with this difficult and 

 laborious undertaking, Mr. Omond will receive from the 

 Meteorological Council three copies of their daily and weekly 

 weather maps, on which he will enter certain of the meteoro- 

 logical data from the high and low level observatories, together 

 with occasional remarks that may from time to time strike him 

 as bearing more particularly on forecasting weather. The 

 weather maps give two daily representations, with remarks, of 

 the weather of Europe at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thereafter, one 

 of the three sets of maps will be sent to the Society's Office, the 

 second to the Meteorological Office of London, and the third 

 will be retained by Mr. Omond. 



The Council also refer to the observations of Mr. Rankin on 

 the number of dust particles in the atmosphere, carried on with 

 the two sets of apparatus invented by Mr. Aitken. Though it 

 would be premature to offer a statement of positive results, 

 the Council think that some interesting conclusions appear to 

 NO. 108 1, VOL. 42] 



be indicated by the observations. The maximum number of 

 dust particles in a cubic centimetre hitherto observed is 

 12,862, on March 31, and the minimum 50, on June 15. On 

 March 31, at 4.30 p.m., the summit was clear, and the number 

 of particles was 2785, but shortly thereafter a thickness was 

 seen approaching from south-west, which by 6 p.m. reached 

 the Observatory, and the number of particles rose to 12,862. 

 On June 15 many observations were made during the day, when 

 the number of particles fell from 937 at midnight to 5° at 10.30 

 and 11.42 a.m. The observations point to a daily maximum 

 during the afternoon minimum barometer, and a minimum 

 during the morning minimum barometer — these being probably 

 intimately connected with the diurnal ascending and descending 

 currents of the atmosphere. Interesting intimate relations are 

 also indicated between the numbers of dust particles and the 

 cyclones and anticyclones over North- Western Europe at the 

 time. The observations also indicate that the dust particles 

 may vary enormously during- the presence of mist or fog, without 

 being accompanied by any difference in the apparent density 

 of the fog. The Council consider that the inquiry is an ex- 

 tremely hopeful one ; and in view of the relations with cyclones 

 and anticyclones, its bearings as regards the forecasts of the 

 weather will be very specially investigated. 



For several years past it has been the practice of the Indian 

 Meteorological Department to issue in the month of June a fore- 

 cast of the prospects of the monsoon rains, based partly on the 

 reported extent and thickness of the Himalayan snows, partly 

 on the distribution of the atmospheric pressure, the small varia- 

 tions of which are found by experience to be remarkably per- 

 sistent in India, and to serve as an indication of the probable 

 strength of the monsoon, and alternatively of the prevalence of 

 dry land winds. The forecast for the forthcoming season 

 announces that owing to the very slight snowfall of Afghanistan, 

 Baluchistan, and almost the whole of the Himalayan region, the 

 conditions are eminently favourable for a good strong monsoon. 

 The only unfavourable indication is that the past winter has 

 been very severe in Yarkand, and perhaps in other distant parts 

 of Central Asia. The pressure is unusually low this year in 

 Bengal, and above the average in Central India and the northern 

 half of Bombay, and the local pressure conditions considerably 

 resemble those of 1876. It is therefore considered probable 

 that while the eastern half of the Ganges valley, Assam, and 

 Burma will receive early and abundant rain, the rains maybe late 

 and scanty over a considerable area of North- Western India. 



The Rev. E. Colin, S.J., Director of the newly- established 

 Royal Observatory of Madagascar, at Tananarivo, has published 

 the monthly results of meteorological observations at that place 

 during 1889. As observations for Madagascar are scanty, we 

 are glad to learn that observations are now taken at four stations 

 in various parts of the island, and that others will shortly be 

 established. The maximum temperature at Tananarivo, 87° '4, 

 occurred on November 14, and the minimum, 4i°'0, on July 31. 

 Rain fell on 89 days ; by far the greatest quantity falls between 

 November and March. None fell in May 1889. The prevalent 

 wind direction is between south-east and north-east. The Re- 

 port contains summaries for the three other stations referred to, 

 during 1889, and for Tananarivo from 1872-88. Some of the 

 latter have never been published before, and form an important 

 addition to our knowledge, but, having been made by various 

 persons, may not be so trustworthy as those made at the 

 Observatory. 



The meeting lately held at the Mansion House, under the 

 presidency of the Lord Mayor, for the furtherance of the Inter- 

 national Congress of Hygiene, which will assemble in London 

 in 1 89 1, was attended by many influential medical men and 

 students of sanitary science. Sir Douglas Galton explained the 



