572 



NA TURE 



[Oct. ii, 1881 



subject under the len<;, into groups, exemplifying the intimate 

 structure of each of the cla ses into which animals and plants 

 have been divided, the chief points of structure being briefly 

 described under each head in the "programme," which thus 

 formed a biological text-book of twenty pages with real objects 

 for illustration. This society, founded by Canon Kingsley, is 

 doing exceedingly good work in limiting its operations to the 

 natural history and geology of its own district, scrupulously de- 

 fined on an ordnance map. The study of local biology ii 

 encouraged by the annual grant of to/., known as the Kingsley 

 Memorial Prize, open to any resident within the Society's dis- 

 trict ; that of next year is offered for the best collection of 

 "Slides of the Freshwater Alga? of the Society's District, omitting 

 the Diatoms." The Kingsley Memorial Medal this year was 

 awarded to Mr. Shrubsole, F.G.S. 



The report on the progress and coidition of the Botanic 

 Garden and Government Plantations in South Australia for 18S2 

 by the Director, Dr. Schombnrgk, contains the usual amount of 

 information on the introduction and cultivation of useful and 

 ornamental plants. Dr. Schombnrgk draws attention to the 

 snail rainfall for the year. He says that during 1881 it 

 amounted to 18 192 inches, bat during 1882 it only amounted to 

 15742 inches, which was 5 -469 inches below the general average 

 (21 inches odd) of the previous forty-three years, the only years 

 during which the rainfall was less than that of last year. During 

 May and June severe frosts prevailed. The temperature was on 

 several nights as low as 29° and 30°. These frosts had, of 

 course, a disastrous effect upon plants in the gardens. "The 

 tropical and subtropical trees and shrubs which had scarcely 

 recovered from the frosts of 1S81, especially the tropic 1] Fuus, 

 constituted the chief bulk of the sufferers ; they have suffered 

 materially, and they have been sadly reduced— from 30 

 feet and 40 feet in height, to 6 feet and 10 feet." As 

 early as the latter end of September some very hot days were 

 experienced, the thermometer showing 96° in the shade, and 

 120° in the sun, the highest temperature experienced in any 

 former September. During December and January three slight 

 showers of rain alone fell. Notwithstanding these checks to 

 vegetation a considerable amount of work seems to have been 

 done of a varied character. In the matter of useful plants we 

 quote the following paragraph as an example :— " The demand 

 by invalids for medical herbs becomes more frequent, and it is 

 gratifying to be able to supply them. Inquiries are especially 

 made for the following, viz. : the common English broom 

 (Cytisus scoparius), of which a decoction is used in c'ropsy ; the 

 leaves of the mullein or shepherd's club ( Verbasaim tl'mpsus) 

 a decoction of the leaves being recommended by some of the 

 American papers a; a remedy against consumption ; the 

 globular sponge (Euphorbia piluliferd), a native of the tropical 

 regions of the New and Old World. It is found growing in 

 Queensland, and a decoction of the plant is said to be used with 

 the best results in asthmatic complaints." 



Mr. F. S. Moselev, F.Z.S., writes to the Times to state 

 that a Marmoset (HapaU jacchus) in his possession gave birth 

 to two young ones on the 4th inst. ; Mr. Moseley supposes this 

 to be the first case of the kind in Europe. 



A telegram received at Paris on Tuesday night from Algiers 

 states that a strong shock of earthquake was felt at Philippeville 

 at half-past one o'clock that morning. The oscillation was in 

 the direction from north to south. At Jammasses the church 

 and barrack walls were cracked; at Stora a house was also 

 damaged. 



A correspondent residing at Accra, West Coa-^t of Africa, 

 sends some particulars of the recent earthquake at that place :— 

 " It was at 2.30 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, August 12, 

 that several shocks of earthquake were experienced. The 



evening previous had been cool, with slternate periods of thick, 

 hot air, which rather presaged a thunderstorm, it being the 

 season of the year when tornadoes pass over the coast. On the 

 night in question it was observed that the surf was particularly 

 violent until half an hour prior to the first shock, when the 

 water seemed to subside and become comparatively calm. The 

 first shock was f dlowed by a second and more violent shock, 

 shaking the foundations. In each case the shock was preceded 

 by an explosion resembling in a great degree the sound usually 

 caused by the discharge of a gun from ships lying in the road- 

 stead. Christiansborg Castle, which in 1863 was wrecked by 

 an earthquake at the same time of year, felt the force of the 

 disturbance severely. Several of the castle walls and those of 

 the neighbouring European houses were found to be cracked the 

 next day. The critical phase lasted, as far as could be calcu- 

 lated, from thirty to forty seconds. During the period— 2.30 

 a.m. to 3.30 a.m. — there was a variation of temperature of 3° — 

 viz. from 71 to 74°, and vice versa". In this interval the wind 

 had completely died away, the atmosphere being hot and almost 

 stifling. It was very difficult to trace the direction of the earth 

 quake, but my own opinion is that it travelled from the south- 

 west, and this i-s somewhat confirmed by the reports since re- 

 ceived from that quarter. Small shocks were repeated at 

 intervals of one hour till seven o'clock in the morning, and 011 

 two days since the 12th slight tremors have been felt, but not of 

 sufficient power to do much damage. Since the event the 

 weather has become remarkably cool, considering our proximity 

 to the Equator, the average temperatures being, night and 

 morning, 72°, sun 97°, shade 56°." 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Bubaline Antelope (Alcdaphus bubalis 9 ), 

 a Domestic Goat (Capra /lircus) from Algeria, presented by Mr. 

 Robert Pitcairn ; a Black Hornbill (Buceros atratits) from West 

 Africa, presented by Mr. J. T. Carrington ; t«o Grey Monitors 

 (Vara 111s griseus) from Arabia, presented by Capt. J. S. San- 

 derson ; four Ural Phrynocephales (Pkryiwcephalus helioscopus) 

 from the east coast of the Caspian, presented by Dr. A. Strauch, 

 F. M.Z.S. ; twelve European Tree Frogs (Hyla arborea), Euro- 

 pean, presented by Mr. Carl Schorlemmer ; a Cape Hyrax 

 (Hj rax capensis) from South Africa, a Great Bustard (Otis tarda), 

 European, deposited; an Ocelot {Felts partialis), a King Vulture 

 ( Gypagus papa), a Brazilian Caracara (Polyborus brasiliaisis), an 

 Anaconda (Euncctcs murinus), a Common Boa (Boa constrictor) 

 from Brazil, purchased ; two Mandarin Ducks (sExga!ericulata), 

 two Cocka'eels (Calopsitta nova-hollandia), bred in the Gardens. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



A letter from Mr. H. M. Stanley, dated July 14 has been 

 publi.-hed in New York, in which he reports the discovery of a 

 new lake called Mantumba. He has also explored the river 

 marked in the maps as the Ikelembu, but which is really the 

 Mahmdu, and finds it to be a deep, broad, navigable stream. 

 Stanley expresses his increasing surprise at the density of the 

 population in the equatorial portions of the Congo basin, and 

 says if what he has seen may be taken as representing the state 

 of things generally, there is a population in this river basin of 

 forty-nine millions. Extensive commercial openings are offering 

 themselves. 



A telegram from New York, October 9, states that explor 

 ing parties who had just descended the Yukon River, in Alaska, 

 say that they travelled down the stream for two thousand miles. 

 They report the river to be one of the largest in the world, dis- 

 charging 50 per cent, more water than the Mississippi. Its 

 breadth in some places is seven miles. 



The Austrian African explorer, Dr. Stecker, after five years' 

 absence in the service of the German African Society, has just 

 returned home. For the mo>t part he travelled in company 

 with Flerr Gerhard Rohlfs, but Stecker has himself di>covered 

 abcut a doren countries east and smith of Abyssinia, which 



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