S6 



NATURE 



[November 23, 1899 



of 8000 horse-power to Buffalo, for the use of the Cataract 

 Power and Conduit Company. It must not, however, be con- 

 cluded that long distance transmission will not enter largely 

 into the ultimate utilisation of the energy of Niagara. The 

 remarkable installation recently opened in Southern California, 

 where a transmission of eighty-three miles has been successfully 

 accomplished, suggests that a large part of the 7^ millions of 

 hydraulic horse-power available at Niagara Falls may yet be 

 transformed and transmitted to the large cities of the eastern 

 States. The present indications are, however, that for some 

 time to come transmissions are not likely to be attempted for 

 distances of over 100 miles. » 



The success of the Naples Zoological Station in preserving 

 marine animals for the purposes of both exhibition and study is 

 so well known to all interested in museum work, that they will 

 be prepared to welcome the translation by Mr. E. O. Hovey, 

 which has recently appeared in the Bulletin of the U. S. Museum 

 (No. 39), of Dr. Salvatore Lo Bianco's memoir on the methods 

 employed in such preservation. It is to Dr. Lo Bianco him- 

 self that the exquisite results obtained are chiefly due ; and 

 the translator appends the following remarks on the secret of 

 this success. " One reason for the beautiful appearance of the 

 material sent out by the station is that it is properly caught in 

 the first place ; another is that, for the most part, the animals 

 are alive when the process of preservation begins. With many 

 forms it is indispensable that they be alive at the beginning of 

 operations ; with some it is not so necessary, but with all it is 

 highly desirable. . . . The best methods have l>een determined 

 for each species by itself, different species of the same genus 

 often requiring different handling. . . . When new species are 

 encountered, the best method of procedure must be deter- 

 mined by experiment." It is interesting to note that the 

 author assigns to alcohol the first place as a preservative 

 medium ; adding that although formalin is a very useful liquid 

 for keeping animals temporarily, it is less well suited for their 

 permanent preservation. 



Local scientific societies often have a tendency to develop 

 into societies for the promotion of penny readings and popular 

 lectures ; but the committees should always bear in mind that 

 though interesting accounts of the scientific work of others may 

 create a desire to know more of the facts of nature, the real 

 value of a local scientific society must be judged by the facilities 

 afforded for original observations, and the use the members 

 make of them. The Preston Scientific Society, to judge by the 

 annual report presented last week, not only encourages interest 

 in science by means of lectures, but in each of its sections 

 systematic studies and individual investigations are organised. 

 A scheme for identifying and recording the flora of Preston and 

 the neighbourhood was drawn up three years ago, and has been 

 actively carried out during the past summer. Much new in- 

 formation has thus been gained, and in regard to the flowering 

 plants it appears that the flora of the district was never so com- 

 pletely known as it is now. Mr. E. Dickson, who has been 

 elected president for the ensuing year, pointed out in his address 

 that this is the kind of work that can usefully be done by a local 

 society, namely the investigation of local facts and phenomena. 

 There is much to be done in the way of working out details of 

 the natural history in every district, and the societies which 

 stimulate activity in the required directions will assist in the 

 advancement of scientific knowledge. 



The Bulletin of the Cracow Academy for July contains an 

 important note of a mathematical character by Dr. Ladislaus 

 Natanson on the thermokinetic properties of solutions. The 

 present investigation appears to furnish a thermodynamical 

 interpretation of Van 't Hoffs molecular theories of osmotic 

 pressure. 



NO. 1569, VOL. 61] 



We have received the fourth report of the International 

 Commission of Glaciers. The report is entirely devoted 

 to records of glacier measurements made in various parts 

 of the world during 1898 ; it forms a substantial addition to our 

 knowledge of glacier movements and their periodic variations. 



The new Bulletin de la Societi de Geographie contains a 

 number of papers of more than average interest. Mr. F, J. 

 Clozel contributes a historical paper on the Ivory Coast ; Captain 

 Chanoine writes on the Voulet-Chanoine Mission ; Dr. Iluguet 

 describes the physical geography of Southern Algeria in a paper 

 illustrated by some rough but suggestive sketches of sand-dunes. 

 There is an account by Dmitri Klementz of travels in Western 

 Mongolia in 1885 and 1897, and the first part of an important 

 paper on the Meteorology of Palestine and Syria, by Father R. 

 P. Zumoffen, S.J. 



We have received parts 1-3 of vol. xxi of the Transactions 

 and Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (1897- 

 1899), which contain several interesting articles, especially on 

 the structure and microscopical examination of woods, recent 

 and fossil, viz. : — On the histological structure of fossil woods, 

 by Mr. R. A. Robertson ; on a method of injection-staining 

 plant vascular systems ; on contact negatives for the com- 

 parative study of woods ; and on the histology of some fossil 

 woods, by the same writer. Mr. R. Stewart McDougall has a 

 paper on the bacteria of the soil, with special reference to soil 

 inoculation ; Mr. R. Turnbull, one on Apodya lactea, a fungus 

 belonging to the Saprolegniaceis ; Mr. Percy Groom, one on 

 the fusion of nuclei among plants, and Mr. R. A. Robertson, 

 one on abnormal conjugation in Spirogyra. 



Our German contemporary Globus is always interesting, and 

 it is a great pity that there is no journal on similar lines in the 

 English language. The following articles in recent numbers are 

 well worth reading : " The Philipponens of Ostpreussen " (vol. 

 Ixxvi. No, 12) gives an account of the houses, mode of life, and 

 religious beliefs of a strange Christian sect that was established 

 about 1700 by Philip Pustoswiat. "The Onondaga Indians of 

 New York State, and the Sagas of the foundation of the con- 

 federation of the five nations by Hiawatha " (Nos. 13, 14). 

 "Indian and Singhalese Children and their Games" is a wel- 

 come addition to a neglected subject ; there are several illus- 

 trations (Nos. 14, 15). R. Schumacher gives (No. 15) an 

 illustrated ethnographical account of a recent travel among the 

 uncivilised Tschin-huan who live in the high and hard-to-reach 

 mountains of Formosa ; the author does not believe that they 

 are an aboriginal population (No. 14). " Fcdk-tore among the 

 Huzulen " (Nos. 15, 16, 17). Dr. H. Jansen gives (No. 17) a 

 valuable illustrated restimi of recent ethnographical, anthro- 

 pological, and archaeological work in Portugal, We would call 

 attention to the illustrations of existing pile dwellings. 



Messrs. William Wesley and Son have sent us a cata- 

 logue of books and pamphlets on modern astronomy, which is 

 a model of clear and orderly arrangement. The catalogue is 

 limited to astronomical literature of the nineteenth century, and 

 includes 2240 titles, arranged under thirty-three heads and sub- 

 heads. The classification adopted is particularly convenient, 

 and it enables an astronomer to find at once the works in the list 

 bearing upon the branch of celestial science in which he takes 

 special interest. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Diana Monkey {Cercopithecus diana, i) 

 from West Africa, presented by Mr. E. F. Martin ; a Spotted 

 Ichneumon {Herpestes auro-punctatus) from Busreh, presented 

 by Mr. B. F. Ffinch ; two Dusty Ichneumons {Herpestes pul- 

 verulentus), a Cape Crowned Crane {Balearica regulorum) from 



