May 17, 1883] 



NATURE 



63 



the small conducting power of the wire, as well as the 

 weak current from the atmosphere. 



Another inference may be drawn from these observa- 

 tions. If we take the average of the results on December 31 

 on Pietarintunturi, when the whole apparatus was used, 

 it will be 3'2 parts of the metre, and comparing this with 

 that of December 19 on Oratunturi, when the atmospheric 

 conditions were similar, which was 36 parts of the metre, 

 and transform these into minutes, the result will be as 

 follows : 3'6 parts of the metre at 2 ,- 2 = 7"o,2 ; 3"2 parts 

 of the metre at i''2 = 3'84, but the sensitiveness of the 

 galvanometer at Pietarintunturi was only CV36 of that at 

 Oratunturi = 0-37, and the area of the apparatus in the 

 former 200 square metres against 900 in the latter, and 

 further, assuming that the current increases in propor- 

 tion to the area of the apparatus, we shall have : 



£84 9?o = ,. a 

 036 400 



And the deflexion 3'-84 being reduced to the same galva- 

 nometer sensitiveness and the same area of apparatus, the 

 actual result is that the experiments at Oratunturi showed 

 a deflexion three limes greater than those at Pietarintun- 

 turi. The latter place is certainly situated a little higher 

 than the former, but in my opinion the increase of the 

 electric force lies in the fact that Oratunturi is in a higher 

 latitude than Pietarintunturi, i.e. nearer the plane of the 

 aurora borealis. Although the experiments recorded 

 above suffer from inaccuracy on account of the imperfect 

 insulation, I have come to the conclusion thai the electric 

 current from the atmosphere increases rapidly with the 

 latitude. 



The great deflexion which I obtained at Oratunturi 

 on December 13. 1882, I do not consider refutes this 

 inference, as the atmospheric conditions on this occasion 

 were exceptional, viz. the temperature high and the air 

 hazy. 



The experiments in both places have, however, un- 

 fortunately been of a somewhat provisional character, 

 which is due to the external impediments in our way. 

 Thus, when experimenting at Oratunturi, the writer had 

 to make a journey in the snow of 20 kilometres, viz. of 

 four hours' duration, then to examine the apparatus on the 

 summit, clean it from hoar-frost, and often repair it, with 

 the thermometer at — 30° C. Then only could the experi- 

 ments be commenced. It was only possible to work for 

 five to eight minutes at a time, as it was necessary to 

 thaw one's benumbed hands before a bonfire lit on the 

 snow. At Pietarintunturi the road was certainly shorter, 

 but, nevertheless, very fatiguing, as it was necessary first 

 to climb a ridge about 1000 feet, and then journey about 

 3 kilometres. 



These difficulties, and chiefly the imperfect insulations 

 and the weakness of the wires at my disposal, compelled 

 me to abandon experiments of this character. 

 Selim Lemstrom 

 Professor of the Helsingfors University 



( To be continued) 



NOTES 



Besides Prof. Huxley the following English men of science 

 have been elected Foreign Associates of the U.S. National 

 Academy of Sciences :— Prof. J. C. Adams, Prof. Cayley, 

 Prof. Sylvester, Prof. Stokes, Sir William Thomson, and Sir 

 J. D. Hooker. 



Mr. Herbert Spencer has been elected a Corresponding 

 Member of the Paris Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. 



The remarkable enthusiasm with which the project of the 

 memorial to Charles Darwin was received in Sweden has already 

 been noticed in our columns. The amount of the subscriptions 

 collected, as was said, from all ranks, has just been received by 



the treasurer of the Darwin Memorial Fund. It is a sum of 

 382/. 12*. 6d., the largest, we believe, that has been contributed 

 by any foreign country, and a proof of the zeal on behalf of 

 science that exists in the land of Linaseus. 



We are glad to learn that America has at length subscribed 

 for a table at the Zoological Station at Naples. In view of the 

 very considerable number of American students in European 

 biological laboratories some surprise has naturally been felt that 

 America has not hitherto been represented at Naples. President 

 Carter and the trustees of Williams College are to be congratu- 

 lated on having taken the lead in a matter the importance of 

 which must be apparent to all who are interested in the progress 

 of morphological study. 



Dr. William Chambers, the head of the eminent publishing 

 firm, well deserves the honour of a baronetcy which he has just 

 received, on account of the public services rendered by him to 

 education and to social improvement throughout a long life ; he 

 is ju-t the age of the century, we believe. 



The public sale of the late Prof. J. Decaisne's library will take 

 place in Paris from June 4 to 23 next. The catalogue of 480 pages, 

 published by Labitte, of Paris, contains more than 5000 entries, 

 classified according to subject by M. Vesque, assistant to the 

 late M. Dccaisne. It is probably one of the finest libraries 

 in botany, horticulture, and general natural history which has 

 been sold since the death of Jussieu. The catalogue contains a 

 portrait of Decaisne and a biography by Dr. E. Bornet. 



The death is announced, at the age of seventy-one years, of 

 Mr. James Young of Kellie, the "Sir Paraffin" of his old friend 

 Livingstone. Mr. Young is best known in connection with his 

 process of distillation of paraffin oil from bituminous coal, which 

 attained great dimensions, and from which he realised a fortune. 

 Mr. Young took a real and active interest in chemical research, 

 and founded the Chair of Economic Chemistry in Anderson's 

 University, Glasgow ; he was a Fellow of the Royal Society. 



The departure of the Swedish Expedition to Greenland has 

 been postponed to the 22nd, and Baron Nordenskjold will join 

 the Sofia at Gothenburg, instead of coming to Scotland. 



A hygienic exhibition was opened at Berlin on Saturday.. 



The Society of Arts conversazione will this year be held in 

 the buildings of the International Fisheries Exhibition ; the 

 Prince of Wales, the President of the Society, has intimated 

 his intention of being present. The date is not yet announced- 



In connection with the recent discussion on the opening of 

 picture galleries and museums on Sundays, the following facts 

 relating to the Whitechapel Fine Art Exhibition are full 01 

 interest. This exhibition, which as may not be known to all our 

 readers, is one which is open for thirteen days at Easter in one 

 of the most desolate parts of this great metropolis. It consists 

 of about two hundred pictures of the highest order of merit, which 

 are placed at the disposal of a responsible committee by ihe 

 artists or those who are fortunate enough to possess them. It 

 is open gratuitously from ten in the morning until ten at night, 

 except on Sundays, when the opening takes place at two o'clock, 

 after morning service. This year, it will be seen from 

 the numbers we give below, that no less than 34,644 of 

 the poorest of the poor visited the pictures ; and as they 

 were to a very large extent "personally conducted" round 

 the rooms by ladies and gentlemen who freely gave up their 

 time to the work, the way in which they appreciated the 

 pictures is thoroughly well known. The same men and 

 women came again and again, bringing their friends to show 

 them the pictures in which they themselves had taken the greatest 

 interest. One of the most important points that we wi-h to 

 urge now is, that on the last day the exhibition was open, which 



