Oct. 



II: 



l88 3 ] 



NATURE 



565 



cannot be controlled either by any existing statute or 

 under by-laws. Thus, whereas a reasonable width of 

 street may be secured by means of a by-law, there is 

 absolutely no provision to prevent the erection of houses 

 of such a height as effectually to exclude sunlight, and 

 so it comes to pass that windows open, not on to 

 bright, dry, open spaces, but into comparatively narrow 

 thoroughfares which tend to remain damp and im- 

 perfectly lighted. Prof. Tyndall's experiments as to the 

 arrestation of infusorial life by solar light should alone 

 suffice to secure for the spaces about our dwellings ample 

 exposure to the rays of the sun, for he has clearly shown 

 that, after infecting certain sterilised infusions and expos- 

 ing one set where no sun could reach them and another 

 set to the influence of the sun, infusorial life was much 

 more rapidly developed in the former than in the latter ; 

 and this notwithstanding the fact that the temperature 

 of the flasks exposed to solar influence was far more 

 favourable to the development of low forms of life than 

 was the case as regards the others. It has also been 

 decided by the law officers of the Crown that the height 

 of rooms cannot be regulated either under any general 

 statute or by means of a by-law. As to this, however, we 

 note that Mr. John Honeyman, a well-known architect, 

 strongly advocated at the Congress the desirability of 

 low ceilings in small houses, alleging that such an ar- 

 rangement, by inducing economy in construction, facili- 

 ties for warming, and other incidental advantages, would 

 tend to prevent overcrowding and also add to the com- 

 fort of the lower classes. There can be no question that 

 wherever the height of a room is such that the upper 

 portion becomes a mere reservoir for overheated, stag- 

 nant, and vitiated air, and whenever adequacy of floor 

 space per head of the occupants is sacrificed on account 

 of an increased cubic space resulting from a high ceiling, 

 then distinct harm results from the loftiness of the apart- 

 ment ; but, due regard being paid to ventilation by means 

 of windows opening nearly up to the ceiling level and 

 other contrivances, a reasonably high apartment has 

 distinct advantages over many of the low ones which are 

 now constructed. 



Turning, however, to matters which are well within the 

 control of sanitary authorities, the members of the Con- 

 gress were unanimous in condemning the present system 

 by which dwelling-houses are now constructed. Thus, 

 instead of covering the ground surface of the sites of new 

 houses with concrete so as to prevent both moisture and 

 effluvia from any neighbouring leaky drain from ascending 

 into the dwelling, the builders round about London and 

 elsewhere either put their brick foundations directly on 

 to the clay or other soil, or else they provide a material 

 which can only be regarded as a make-shift in so far as 

 imperviousness is concerned, and even this is only placed 

 immediately beneath the house walls. Then again, 

 pieces of tarred felt are inserted in the place of adequate 

 damp courses, and so it comes to pass that, within a few 

 months of occupation, the residents are, apart from other 

 evils, exposed to one of the principal predisposing, if not 

 exciting, causes of phthisis. As for drainage, this work 

 can, as soon as completed, be hidden out of sight, and it 

 is notorious how much illness has resulted, and how many 

 lives have been sacrificed, to the want on the part of 

 builders of the most elementary knowledge in connection 

 with the construction and adequate ventilation of house 

 drains. 



In dealing with these and other allied subjects, the 

 several speakers paid a tribute of praise to the Model 

 By-laws which have been issued by the Local Govern- 

 ment Board, and which in their annotated form fully 

 explain, by means of diagrams and otherwise, how all 

 the various health and other requirements may be most 

 effectually provided. But even where such by-laws have 

 been adopted, we fear they are in many instances not 

 enforced ; and evidence was given at the Congress to the 



effect that the principal offenders are themselves often 

 members of the authorities whose duty it is to see the 

 several provisions carried out. As long as this is the 

 case, subordinate officers can hardly be expected to 

 perform their duties efficiently, and the principal remedies 

 needed are, firstly, by means of congresses, lectures to 

 working men, and such measures, to spread broadcast, 

 and in an easily acquired form, a knowledge as to the 

 elements of house sanitation ; and, secondly, a determi- 

 nation on the part of the public to elect as members of 

 local authorities only those who have such knowledge 

 and who will use it for the public benefit. 



THE ASTRONOMISCHE CESELLSCHAFT 



[From our Vienna Correspondent] 



H^HE meeting of the Astronomische Gesellschaft was 

 ■*• held this year on September 14, 15, and 16, in the 

 Academy of Sciences in Vienna. There was a good 

 attendance, and among others present we observed the 

 astronomers Auwers of Berlin, Gould of Cordoba, Pick- 

 ering of Cambridge, U.S., Elkin of the Cape, Loewy and 

 Janssen of Paris, Foli of Liege, Gylden of Stockholm, 

 Engstroem of Lund, Oudemans of Utrecht, Foerster of 

 Berlin, Vogel of Potsdam, Gautier, sen. and jun., of 

 Geneva, Thiele and Pechule of Copenhagen, Wagner, 

 Hasselberg, and Dubiago of Pulkova, Bruhns of Leipzig, 

 Wolf and Schbnfeld of Bonn, Gruey of Besancon. Eng- 

 land was represented by Prof. G. Forbes. The head 

 of the Ministry of Public Instruction in Austria, Dr. 

 Siedler, having welcomed the assembly in the name of 

 the Government, the president, Prof. A. Auwers, briefly 

 addressed the Congress. For the second time, he said, the 

 Congress held its sittings in those halls. The first time they 

 met there they found in this building the old observatory. 

 They now beheld an institution which in magnificence was 

 hardly matched by any other institution in the world and 

 surpassed by none. The President then thanked the 

 Government for their friendly welcome, and the assembly 

 for the large attendance present. The subjects which 

 were the order of the day were then taken up. From the 

 report of President Auwers on the great zone under- 

 taking, it appeared that the observations of all the obser- 

 vatories in connection therewith might be deemed com- 

 pleted, so that next year they would be in a position to 

 enter on the printing of the official catalogue. It was 

 further shown that the preparations for extending this 

 enterprise to the south as far as 23 d or thereabout, 

 southern declination, an object which for several years 

 had been in contemplation, were so far advanced that 

 the scheme might now be considered as secured. In 

 the course of the three sittings of the Society a 

 large number of interesting addresses were given and 

 demonstrations made, most of them followed by lively 

 discussions. 



Prof. Bruhns spoke on astronomical refractions, and 

 on the formula? according to which from the observed 

 refraction the law of reduction of temperature in the 

 atmosphere might be determined. Gylden referred to 

 investigations he had made on the subject of the pertur- 

 bation theory of planets, and to the labours of the Stock- 

 holm Observatory towards drawing up tables of planets 

 in accordance with his theory. Prof. Weiss (Vienna) 

 produced the two printed volumes of the annals of the 

 Vienna Observatory, as also the first sheets of his new 

 edition of " The Wonders of the Heavens " by Littrow, 

 and showed drawings of Jupiter and Saturn, executed by 

 help of the 27-inch instrument of the Vienna Observatory, 

 together with drawings of lunar maculae taken by means 

 of the 12-inch instrument of the same observatory. 

 Photographs of the sun's corona taken in full daylight, 

 sent by Dr. Huggins and laid before the meeting by 



