March 15, 1900J 



NATURE 



473 



climates, wet and dry climates, cold and warm climates, 

 but we shall also have to characterise a climate by its 

 electrification and define with greater exactness the 

 terms " relaxing " and "bracing." 



Perhaps we shall also be able to speak of a " spend- 

 ing " and a " saving ' climate. We must not separate one 

 characteristic of the climate from another and prefer it ; 

 in nature all phenomena work more or less together, they 

 depend on one another and exercise mutual influences on 

 one another. The electric conditions of the air are 

 indicated by other meteorologic records, and hence we 

 have important sources of information which ought not 

 to be neglected, as our methods of making direct electric 

 observations are not yet satisfactory. One can, from the 

 daily increase or diminution of pressure, warmth and 

 moisture of the air, say something of its electrification. 



In this connection it is of no importance whether the 

 barometer is high or low, but whether it rises or falls. It 

 is not important to know whether the moisture of the air 

 is great or not ; it is important to know whether the 

 moisturfe decreases or increases, whether the process of 

 condensation or of evaporation prevails. 



Dr. Schliep here described at length the meaning of 

 dew-point in hygrometric observations. He exhibited 

 also a reduction disc made by Lambrecht, of Gottingen, 

 a sort of circular slide rule, to facilitate the reduction of 

 observations. He showed that the atmospheric electri- 

 fication becomes negative if the average temperature and 

 dew-point rise and if the barometer falls at the same time. 

 If, however, the temperature and dew-point fall whilst 

 the barometer rises, one may assume a positive electri- 

 fication. He pointed out on the curves which repre- 

 sent his registrations at Baden during the previous ten 

 years, that the air-pressure on one hand, and the 

 temperature and moisture on the other, altered mostly 

 in opposite directions. It was noticeable also that an 

 exceptional steadiness for a few days was accompanied 

 by the reverse of these movements as soon as the lines 

 went far asunder. The graphic representations of 

 meteorological phenomena show more than one would 

 think at first sight. More plainly than lists of numbers, 

 they allow a comparison of climatic conditions of different 

 years or of certain periods with the statistics of the 

 prevalent diseases during those periods. 



Without a good graphic representation such statistics 

 are never complete, however valuable the material which 

 has been collected may be. Thus, for example, consider 

 the work of Hippius, published in the Archives fo7- Clin. 

 Medic, vol. xl., about dysentery and meteorological 

 influences upon it, in which there was an inquiry about 

 the relation between meteorological changes and bleed- 

 ings of the lungs with no apparent result. May not the 

 failure of this inquiry be due to the fact that the meteoro- 

 logic information was incomplete ? 



Dr. Schliep finishes his paper by pointing out the 

 importance of the general meteorological observations 

 at watering-places being under a central governmental 

 control. The health resorts ought not to rest until they 

 have obtained this aid from Government. But he dis- 

 tinguishes general meteorology from the simple kind of 

 observation which it is in the power, and ought to be the 

 duty, of every medical man to make for himself. 



John Perry. 



B 



PROFESSOR kMILE BLANCHARD. 

 Y the death on February ii, at the ripe age of 84 

 years, of Prof. Emile Blanchard, France has lost 

 the doyen of its zoologists, the French Academy one of 

 1^ its oldest and most esteemed members, and the Paris 

 Museum a famous entomologist. Blanchard's career was 

 a somewhat remarkable one, and at the same time a 

 noble example to others ; for he rose to distinction from 

 the ranks, and, when stricken by one of the most terrible 



NO. 1585, VOL. 61] 



of all afflictions, never swerved for an instant from the 

 course he had to run. \ 



Entering, at the age of fourteen, the department of 

 entomology of the Paris Museum, in the humble capacity 

 of what would be termed an "attendant" in our own 

 Museum, Blanchard soon developed such a capacity for 

 zoological work that he was transferred to the scientific 

 staff. His first great chance of distinguishing himself 

 occurred when he accompanied, in 1844, Prof. H. Milne- 

 Edwards on his celebrated expedition in the Santa 

 Rosalia to Sicily, for the purpose of studying the marine 

 fauna of the coasts. Shortly after this he was appointed 

 Professor of Entomology to the Museum; and in 1862 

 received the honour of election to the French Academy 

 of Sciences. Throughout life his chief study was ento- 

 mology, the Coleoptera being his especial favourites ; 

 but he also devoted a considerable amount of attention 

 to other branches of zoology, as well as to comparative 

 anatomy, and in his latter years entered on the study of 

 the geographical distribution of animals, both in past and 

 present times. His works on Madagascar and New 

 Zealand are well-known examples of his devotion to the 

 latter branch of science. As a token of the esteem in 

 which his labours were held by his fellow-workers, it may 

 be mentioned that a genus of Carboniferous Neuroptera 

 was named Blanchardia in his honour ; while several of 

 the fossil birds from the Miocene of France described by 

 Milne-Edwards, such as Anas blanchardi and Palaeortyx 

 blanc/tardi, received their specific titles after the subject 

 of this notice. In addition to purely scientific memoirs 

 (of which a long roll stands against his name) Prof. 

 Blanchard was a frequent and admired contributor to the 

 Revue des Deux Mondes on general subjects. 



But the most remarkable circumstance connected with 

 a large portion of his work yet remains to be told. In 

 early life Blanchard was gifted with extraordinary acute- 

 ness of vision, and was thus enabled to make dissections 

 of extreme delicacy (of which he has left numerous 

 drawings and sketches) without the aid of lenses. In 

 fact, his eyes were described by one of his early con- 

 temporaries as veritable microscopes. At the age of 

 forty his visual powers showed serious signs of weakening. 

 Year by year the failure of power increased, with the 

 result that at 45 he became nearly, and at 50 totally 

 blind. In the words of Professor Gaudry, " What more 

 frightful affliction could have befallen a man whose life 

 was passed in the investigation of Nature's secrets ? 

 The existence of a naturalist, who seemed specially 

 favoured by his natural gifts and by the honours received 

 at an age when they are obtained by few, was delivered 

 over to the misery of darkness. If only Blanchard could 

 have still enjoyed the delights of family life, if, while 

 unable to see them, he could have listened to the voices 

 of a devoted wife and beloved children ! But all was 

 gone ; he no longer saw, no longer heard anything ! The 

 visits of a few friends could alone, from time to time, 

 afford solace to his lonely existence." 



Amid the unfeigned sorrow of his confreres., his remains, 

 on February 14, were consigned to their last resting 

 place. 



Perhaps his best-known works are "Histoire des 

 Insectes," 1845; " Catalogue des Coleopt^res du Museum 

 d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris," 1850; and " Metamor- 

 phoses des Insectes," 1868. R. L. 



DRS. C. T. R. LUTHER AND G. RUMKER. 



WITHIN a few weeks, two observatories which have 

 played a worthy part in the past history of 

 astronomy have, by the death of their respective direc- 

 tors, suffered a notable loss, and science will deplore 

 the removal of two well-known names from the roll of 

 worthies, who are remembered with gratitude for much 

 indefatigable, if not brilliant, work. 



