532 



NATURE 



[Sept. 27, 188. 



The China Mail, in referring to the Hong Kong Observatory, 

 says that Dr. Doberck will first be instructed to draw up a report 

 for His Excellency the Governor, on the minor stations now in 

 existence. He will examine past records, and, if these are 

 found fairly accurate, will endeavour to furnish certain data as 

 to the climatic Condi ti ms prevalent throughout the colony during 

 the different moivhs of the year. When this is done, it will 

 proba !y be found feasible 10 make these stations coojerate with 

 the central station at Kowloon, especially i 1 observations con- 

 nected with typhoons. Another important item will be the de- 

 termination of the magnetic elements, and the investigation of 

 the magnetic attraction of the various mountains and hills 

 in the c dony and its neighbourhood. It is also possible 

 that, under instructions from the Governor, Dr. Doberck will 

 proceed to Manilla, Shanghai, and other place; on the coast of 

 China, to inspect the observatories there, and put himself into 

 communication with the directors of those institutions, with the 

 view of having their reports sent regularly to the Hong Kong 

 Observatory to receive careful discussi on here with the object of 

 eventtully furnishing trustworthy weather forecasts. 



Messrs. Allen, Coues, and Brewster, according to 

 Science, sign a call for a c invention of American ornithologists, 



to be held in New York City, beginning on September 26, 1SS3, 

 for the purpose of founding an American Ornithologists' Union, 

 upon a basis similar to that of the "British Ornithologists' 

 Union." The object of the Union will be the promotion of 

 social and scientific intercourse betweeu American ornithologists 

 and their co-operation in whatever may tend to the advancement 

 of ornithology in North America. A special object, which it is 

 expected will at once engage the attention of the Union, will be 

 the revision of the current lists of North American birds, to the 

 end of adopting a uniform system of classification and nomen- 

 clature, based on the views of a majority of the Union, and. 

 carrying the authority of the Union. It is proposed to h >ld 

 meetings at least annually, at such times and places as may be 

 hereafter determined, lor ihe reading of papers, and ihe discus- 

 sion of such matters as may be brought before the Union. Ihose 

 who attend the first meeting will be considered ipso /acta 

 founders. Active and corre. ponding members may be elected 

 in due course after organisation of the Union, under such rules 

 as may be established for increase of membership. Details of 

 organisation will be considered at the first meeting. 



AN enthusiastic meeting of 3000 working men was held in 

 Nottingham recently, at which resolutions were passed main. 

 taming the great importance of sound technical instruction for 

 the manufactures of the country. In connection therewith we 

 may say that it is expected that the technical schools which 

 are attached to ihe University College, Nottingham, will be 

 opened some time in October nexr. It is intended in these 

 schools to provide a complete course of instruction in mechanical 

 and eledrical engineering, and in the s.-iences most intimately 

 connected with these professions ; also to give instruction to 

 artisan classes in mechanics, and in ihe details and history of the 

 machinery employed in the lace and hosiery manufactures. The 

 students attending the school will be divided into day and 

 evening classes. It is expected that the day students will consist 

 of young men who intend taking up engineering as a profession, 

 or, being the sons of manufacturers, and looking forward to the 

 management of a manufacturing business, consider it desirable 

 to gain some knowledge of tne construction of machinery. For 

 these students the College pr >vides chemical and physical labo- 

 ratories, and lecture theatres, and class rooms for drawing, 

 mathematics, theoretical mechanics, &c. The workshops now 

 added will comprise tools and mechanism in all departments of 

 work. The shops will be supplied with steam power, and 

 lighted by thi electric bght. In the evenings classes will be 



held for artisans. On these occasions opportunities will be given 

 to engineers' apprentices and others to prepare themselves for 

 tne annual competition fo r Whitworth Scholarships. The Me- 

 chanical Museum will form a very important feature in the 

 means of instruction provided for lace-makers and hosiers. In 

 this museum will be exhibited models of all the mechanical 

 movements which are generally recognised, with short printed or 

 written descriptions pointing ont the special features of each, and 

 their function in lace and hosiery machinery when so employed. 

 Specimens of lace and hosiery machines which can be set in 

 moti jn, w.ll also be shown, their moving parts being labelled in 

 such a way as to point out their relati m to the models above 

 mentioned. The worksh ips are under the general direction of 

 Prof. Garnett. 



During the ensuing winter se>sion of the Liverpool Science 

 and Art Classes there will be conducted by Miss Helen Fryer 

 a class for the study of Hygiene. The lectures will follow 

 the course of the syllabus lately published by ijhe Govern- 

 ment Science and Art Department. Miss Fryer will also give 

 a course of lectures on Animal Physiology. 



The Directors of the Crystal Palace have completed arrange- 

 ments for holding an International Exhibit! m of A'ts, Manu- 

 factures, Science, and Industry dining 1SS4. It is intended lhal 

 the Exhibition should open on April 3 and close at the end of 

 October. All the arrangements will be under the control of Mr. 

 G. C. Levey. 



By the kindness of ihe Trustees of ihe G.lchrist Fund, the 

 Committee of the Victoria Coffee Hall have been able to arrange 

 for the delivery of six Penny Science Lectures by eminent lec- 

 turers on Tuesdays, beginning on October 2. T he Committee 

 are anxious that lectures such as these, which are rarely 

 within the reach of the London working men, should be made 

 widely knnvn beyond the circle of the usual frequenters of the 

 Hall, and the Hon. Sec e'ary would be glad to hear from any 

 one willing to help by getting a poster hung up, or distributing 

 handbills among working men in districts within reach of the 

 Victoria. The following are the lecturers and subjects : — Octo- 

 ber 2 and 9 : Lecture by Mr. Wm. Lant Carpenter, F.C.S., 011 

 "Ice, Water, and Steam." October 16: Mr. P. H. Carpenter, 

 on " Life under the Ocean Wave." October 23 : Mr. E. B. 

 Knobel, Sec.K.A.S., on "Comets." October 30 : Mr. C. A. V. 

 Conybeare, on "The Rights and Feelings of an Animal." 

 November 6: Dr. B. W. Richardson, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S , 

 on " Food and Feeding." 



We are glad to see that science has a place in the first number 

 of The English Illustrated Magazine (Macmillan and Co.), 

 which contains Prof. Huxley's Royal Institution lec*ure on the 

 oy-ter. Mr. Grant Allen contributes an interesting article with 

 some beautiful illustrations on "The Dormouse at Home." 



Two strong shocks of earthquake were felt on Sunday at 

 Ca-amicciola. A house situated in the upper town was wrecked 

 and fell in ruins. No lives were lost. 



Cai'T. Edward Ashddwn, Commander of the P. and O. 

 steamer Siom, writes as follows to the Times: — "It may be 

 in eresting to some of your scientific readers to know that the 

 steamship Statu, on her voyage from King George's Sound to 

 Colombo, on August I, when in lat. 6° S., long. 89 E., passed, 

 for upwards of four hours, through large quantities of lava, 

 which extended as far as could be seen (the ship was going 11 

 knots at the time). The lava was floating in a succession of 

 lanes of from five to ten yards wide, and trending in a direction 

 north-west to south east. The nearest land was the coast of 

 Sumatra (distant 700 miles), but as there was a current of fifteen 

 10 thirty miles a day, setting to the eastward, the lava could not 



