lyo 



NATURE 



{Dec. 28, 1 87 1 



At a recent meeting of tlie Manchester Literary and Philoso- 

 phical Society, Mr. John Hopkinson, B.A., D.Sc, detailed 

 some experiments on the subject of the rupture of iron wire 

 by a blow, the results of which are — i. That if any phy- 

 sical cause increase the tenacity of wire, but increase the pro- 

 duct of its elasticity and linear density in a more than duplicate 

 ratio, it will render it more liable to break under a blow. 2. 

 That the breaking of wire under a blow depends intimately on 

 the length of the -vvire, its support, and the method of applying 

 the blow. 3. That in cases such as surges on chains, &c., tlie 

 effect depends more on the velocity than on the momentum or 

 rv'j viva of the surge. 4. That it is very rash to generalise from 

 observations on the breaking of structures by a blow in one case 

 to others even nearly allied, without carefully considering all the 

 details. 



We learii from the Lancet that all the English universities have 

 now accepted the draft scheme for a Conjoint Examination 

 Board, as proposed by the College of Physicians and the College 

 of Surgeons of England, and that it only now remains to submit 

 the matter to the standing counsel of the two latter bodies for 

 their opinion as to the practicability of carrying out the scheme 

 without in any way violating the provisions of their respective 

 charters. It is pretty well known that in the case of the Royal 

 College of Physicians no difficulty at all is apprehended. It is 

 probably so with the College of Surgeons, but of this we have 

 never had positive assurance. 



Attention has been called to the present disgraceful state 

 of the fine mausoleum erected to the memory of Sir John Soane, 

 in the cemetery of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, King's Cross. Tlie 

 tomb of the founder of the first art museum and architectuial 

 library in England is surely deserving of preservation. At 

 present, however, its balustrades are broken, its marble capitals 

 chipped, the inscription wilfully defaced, and the entrance filled 

 with brick rubbish. We commend this state of things to all art 

 students. 



In the current number of La riiilosophie Posifhe, Nov. — Dec, 

 1S71, M. Littre calls attention to the reorganisation of public 

 education in France. " If we are ever," he says, "to have a 

 public system guided by a sound general method, we must begin 

 tentatively and experimentally with private effort ; " he then adds, 

 " As for ourselves, it is intended among the writers in this review 

 to compose six treatises, one for each of the fundamental 

 sciences, mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and 

 sociology. They should be so subordinated one to another that 

 each science should form an introduction to the next above it in 

 the scale ; they should also be so far restricted to what is of es- 

 sential importance that the entire course might be mastered in a 

 time compatible with the necessities of life ; and complete 

 enough to raise the student to the main level of positive know- 

 ledge." There has been a good deal of discussion, especially in 

 this country, about the scientific value of Comte's classification 

 of the sciences. Perhaps a practical experiment like the above 

 is the best criterion of the question, and the wonder is that it has 

 not been applied before. 



After unexpected delays, the new Coast-Survey exploring 

 vessel, the Hasslcr, left Boston on December 4, bound for Cali- 

 fornia viA the Straits of Magellan. 'Y\\t personnel, which is under 

 the scientific direction of Prof. Agassiz, and the plans of this 

 expedition, have already been given. 



Harper s Weekly gives the following account of the labours of 

 Prof. E. P. Cope, of Philadelphia, mainly in the valley of the 

 Smoky Hill Tork of the Republican River in Kansas, where, 

 under the protection of an escort of seventy-five infantry, com- 

 manded by Captain Butler, and detailed by order of General 

 Pope, he spent seventeen days in the diligent prosecution of his 



labours. As is well known to American p.ila^ontologists, this 

 region is one of the richest of the world in fossil remains of 

 reptiles and fishes. Of these a large number of specimens wtre 

 obtained by Prof. Cope, many of extraordinary magnitude, and 

 some of them entirely new to science. More or less complete 

 series were obtained of the bones' of animals previously known 

 only by a few fragments, thus supplying much better information 

 as to their affinities and position in the system. Nearly the 

 entire skeleton of a large fish, provided with teeth of immense 

 power, was exhumed. This animal is to bear the name of Por- 

 theus molossiis ; and its remains occurred in such abundance as 

 to demonstrate that it must have been a characteristic and very 

 formidable inhabitant of the cretaceous seas. Another dis- 

 covery was that of a reptilian form related to or intermediate 

 between the tortoises and serpents. The ribs of this 

 animal were long and attenuated ; but instead of being 

 united in the carapace, as in the tortoise, remained sepa- 

 rate possibly united by membrane. If built at all on the 

 chelonian pattern the expanse would have been at least twenty 

 feet. This is to be called Protostcga gigas. During his explora- 

 tions in 1870 Prof. Marsh ascertained the existence of a species 

 of pterodactyl, or flying lizard, in the cretaceous strata of the 

 West, and additional specimens of the same or another species 

 were found by Prof. Cope during the expeditionjust referred to. 

 The most gigantic reptiles met with by him this year were species 

 of Liodoii, Polyeotylus, and Elasmosaurus. Of these Lioilon 

 was found most abundantly, and one specimen will probably 

 prove to be the largest of all known reptiles. Elasinosaii'-iis had 

 the most massive body, and must have presented an extraordi- 

 nary appearance, in consequence of the great leagth of its neck. 



We have already referred occasionally to investigations prose- 

 cuted during the past summer on thegreat lakes of North America, 

 into the fauna and physical condition of thedeeperwaters ; and we 

 find ill the last number of Silliman's Journal a more detailed ac- 

 count of that portion of the work carried on in Lake Superior upon 

 the U.S. steamer Searcli, under the direction of Gen. Comstock, 

 of the Lake Survey, as reported by Mr. Sydney J. Smith, the 

 zoologist of the expedition. The deepest water met with was 

 l6g fathoms, the bottom being there covered, as in all the deeper 

 portions of the lake, with a uniform deposit of clay or clay mud ; 

 and not the slightest trace of saline matter was detected in the 

 water in any part of the lake. The temperature, everywhere 

 below thirty or forty fathoms, varied very little from 39° F, 

 although in August it varied at the surface from 50° to 55°. The 

 fauna at the Iiottom was found to correspond to these physical 

 conditions. In the shallow waters the species vary down to 

 thirty or forty fathoms, after which the deep-water fauna begins, 

 and the species appear fo be uniformly distributed. The list of 

 species is meagre, and the deep-water regiou is characterised 

 rather by the absence of many of the shore species than by the 

 presence of any peculiar class. The same crustaceans and 

 marine forms met with in 1870 in Lake Micliigjn were also found 

 here abundantly, together \vith the same species of I'isiduun ; 

 and some of tlie crustaceans have so far been undistingiiishable 

 from those found in Lake Wetter, in Sweden. The detailed 

 account, of which tliat in the Journal of Science is an abstract, 

 appears in the report of the Chief Engineer of the army to the 

 Secretary of War just presented to Congress (Report of American 

 Secretary of War, vol. ii. p. 1020). 



M. Raoult states, in a paper read before the French Academy 

 of Sciences, that cane sugar becomes transformed into grape 

 sugar under the prolonged influence of light. Having dissolved 

 10 grammes of white sugar in 50 grammes of pure water, and 

 boiled the solution for a few minutes, he placed equal portions 

 in two white glass tubes, which were then hermetically closed. 

 One was deposited in a dark place, while the other was exposed 



