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NATURE 



[September 25, 1890 



The Congress of the United States has granted the sum of 

 40,000 dollars, to be employed, exclusively of salaries, in the 

 prosecution of botanical work by the Division of Botany of the 

 Department of Agriculture. The Section of Vegetable Patho- 

 logy has now been made a distinct division, and is at present 

 especially concerned in investigating the grape-vine disease 

 which is spreading rapidly in California. 



There has recently been added to the marine collection at 

 the Brighton Aquarium a specimen of the manatee, or "sea 

 cow," The specimen has been imported from Trinidad, and 

 was brought from Liverpool by Mr. Wells, the marine superin- 

 tendent, under whose careful supervision it was safely transferred 

 to its new home in the Brighton Aquarium. The tank in which 

 it has been placed has been specially fitted with heating appa- 

 ratus, it being necessary to keep the temperature to between 70° 

 and 80°, The manatee is 4 feet 6 inches in length, and feeds 

 principally upon lettuce, of which it consumes large quantities. 



The Lords of the Committee of Council on Education have 

 just sanctioned under Clause 8 of the Technical Instruction Act, 

 1889, a resolution passed on August 12, 1890, by the Council of 

 the city of Worcester. This resolution consisted in making 

 grants, under the powers conferred upon them by the Act, to 

 certain institutions in Worcester for the promotion of technical 

 instruction, and it was the opinion of the Council that such a 

 form of instruction is required by the circumstances of the 

 district. The instruction is to be given in the following subjects, 

 which are not included in the branches already recognized by 

 the Science and Art Department : French, German, type- 

 wntmg, shorthand, bookkeeping, commercial geography, com- 

 mercial arithmetic, and cookery. 



The Photographic News contains an account of the eleventh 

 annual Convention of the Photographers' Association of America, 

 which proved a great success. The chief part of the programme 

 was the unveiling of the monument to Daguerre at the city of 

 Washington. The work was after the design of Scott Hartley, 

 and is stated to be of a beautiful unique design, and worthy of 

 the admiration of every photographer in America. The sessions, 

 owing to the kindness of the United States officials, were held 

 in the National Museum, and under the very able management 

 of the executive officers an excellent programme was provided 

 and carried out successfully. There was an unusually large 

 number of papers presented, and the discussions were entered 

 into by the members in the most hearty and satisfactory manner. 

 Among other articles are those by Dr. H. W. Vogel on photo- 

 graphy in Germany, and by Colonel J. Waterhouse on the reversal 

 of the negative photographic image by thio-carbamides. 



The last two numbers of Cosmos contain some very interesting 

 information on various topics. Some new discoveries have been 

 made at Pompeii, near the Stabiana Gate, and a description is 

 given of them. Three bodies were found, two being those of 

 men and the third that of a woman. Not far from the resting 

 place of these bodies was found the trunk of a tree, 3 metres 

 in height, and measuring 40 centimetres in diameter. This 

 tree, together with its fruits that were found with it, have 

 been examined by the Professor of Botany, M. Pasquale, who 

 finds in it a variety of Laurus nobilis. By means of the fruits, 

 since they come to maturity in the autumn, he concludes that 

 the eruption did not take place in August but in November. 



The current number of La Nature contains an interesting 

 account of the ceremony of unveiling the new statue of Gay- 

 Lussac at Limoges. In the name of the Academy of Sciences, 

 M, P, P, Deherain gave a long discourse on the life and works 

 of this great man, extracts from which are given. Prince Roland 

 Bonaparte gives a description of the race of Somalis, some of 

 which are at present in the Acclimatization Gardens of Paris, 

 and which form a most curious ethnographical exhibition. The 

 NO. 109 1, VOL. 42] 



article is written from observations of the author and from other 

 sources, and deals with the country, food, habits, dress, &c,, of 

 these people who inhabit that country, "si affreux et si desole." 



It was observed a short time ago by Dr. Kremser, that the 

 curve of mortality in North Germany lagged about two months 

 behind that of the variability of temperature. An inquiry into 

 this matter in the case of Budapesth has been lately made by Dr. 

 Hegyfoky, taking the nine years 1873-81. Comparing the 

 months, he failed to make out a certain connection. But taking 

 into account other meteorological elements besides temperature, 

 and reckoning by seasons, he found the variability of weather in 

 the different seasons to give the following order from maximum 

 to minimum : winter, spring, autumn, summer. As regards 

 mortality, the order was : spring, summer, winter, autumn. 

 Thus it appears there is a displacement of three months. If a 

 connection of the kind referred to really exists between weather 

 and mortality, the effect, mortality, must appear somewhat 

 later than the cause, variation of weather. 



The National Review for September contains an article on 

 the progress of weather study, by H. Harries. The subject 

 dealt with refers chiefly to the wind, and the author traces the 

 history of the development of the law of storms and of the 

 practical application to weather prediction. He points to the 

 useful work of the Meteorological Department under Admiral 

 FitzRoy in collecting synchronous observations of the Royal 

 Charter storm of October 1859. The charts then published, 

 although too limited in their area, threw much light on the 

 movements of the atmosphere and formed a most important 

 step in the right direction. The later investigations of the 

 Meteorological Council of the United States Office, and of the 

 Deutsche Seewarte, &c., have contributed greatly to increase our 

 knowledge, and to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and 

 it is by such synchronous discussions, and by taking advantage 

 of the reports from rapid steam vessels, that we must hope for 

 an extension of our knowledge in the future. 



Mr. E. Nevill, the Government Chemist at Natal, in his 

 last report to the Colonial Secretary, notes that valuable 

 deposits of argentiferous galeno of copper and of bismuth exist 

 in the colony, and of such rich nature that they could be 

 profitably exported in bulk. In both Alexandra and Umvoti 

 Counties deposits of silver-bearing lead ore have been found, 

 containing from ten to fifteen pounds worth of silver per ton of 

 lead ore. Saltpetre has been found so rich as to be worth 

 more than three times as much as the best Peruvian deposits. 

 Plumbago, asbestos, and the mineral phosphates appear to be 

 of inferior quality. Several calcareous formations have been 

 examined, which are likely, under proper treatment, to yield 

 good hydraulic cement. 



Some chemical reactions can be started or accelerated by 

 sunlight, and an increased effect is to be expected where the 

 rays are concentrated by a lens or concave mirror. Herr 

 Briihl has recently described (in the Berichte) experiments made 

 in this way, in production of zinc ethyl from zinc and ethyl 

 iodide (a reaction difficult to start). The retort, containing zinc- 

 filings and several hundred grammes of ethyl iodide, was placed 

 at the focus of a concave mirror, about a foot in diameter, receiving 

 the sun's rays. The reaction soon began, and grew so vigorous 

 that cooling was necessary. In a quarter of an hour all the 

 ethyl iodide was consumed, and through the subsequent distilla- 

 tion in an oil-bath, a good yield of zinc ethyl was had. This 

 radiation process, it is suggested, might be variously useful in 

 actions on halogen-compounds, which tend to be disaggregated 

 by sunlight. A lens, owing to the athermanous property of 

 I glass, would be less powerful. 



