4 6 



NA TURE 



[Nov 



1884 



at the Newcastle School, Staffordshire ; J. Brill, B.A., Fourth 

 Wranger in 1882, Assistant Professor of Mathematics in Uni- 

 versity College, Aberystwith ; W. F. R. Weldon, B.A., First 

 Class in the Natural Sciences Tripos of 1881, author of a num- 

 ber of papers in Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, formerly 

 Demonstrator to the Professor of Zoology and in the Morpho- 

 logical Laboratory ; A. R. Johnson, B.A., Sixth Wrangler and 

 First Division in the Mathematical Tripos of 1882-83 (new 

 regulations), author of papers in the Messenger of Mathematics, 

 &c. ; G. F. Stout, B.A., First Class in the Chemical Tripos of 

 18S1-82 (new regulations), and First Class (with distinction in 

 Metaphysics) in the Moral Sciences Tripos of 1883 ; G. B. 

 Mathews, B.A., Senior Wrangler in 1884, Professor of Mathe- 

 matics in the University College of North Wales, Bangor. It 

 is worth noting that Pure and Applied Mathematics, Che- 

 mistry, and Biology have been markedly recognised by this 

 election. 



Dr. Donald MacAlister has been appointed University Lec- 

 turer in Medicine, and Dr. Bushell Annington University 

 Lecturer in Medical Jurisprudence. 



Mr. Walter I Ieape has been approved by the Board for Biology 

 and Geology as Demonstrator in Animal Morphology, on the 

 nomination of the Lecturer in that subject, Mr. Sedgwick. 



Prof. Sidgwick, Prof. Adamson (Owens College), and 

 Messrs. James Ward and J. S. Nicholson are appointed Ex- 

 aminers for the Moral Sciences Tripos. 



Mr. A. R. Forsyth of Trinity College is appointed Examiner 

 in the Mathematical Tripos (Third Part) in January next, in 

 the place of the late Mr. R. C. Rowe. 



In reference to our note a fortnight ago (vol. xxx. p. 649), 

 we should state that, at Trinity College, Major Scholarships of the 

 value of 80/. a year, which may be raised to too/, subsequently, 

 are open for competition in Natural Sciences as well as in 

 Classics and Mathematics to persons not yet in residence, with 

 the usual restriction as to age. 



Sheffield. — Another step has been taken in the formation 

 of the new Engineering School at Firth College, Sheffield, in 

 the appointment of Mr. W. H. Greenwood to be Professor of 

 Metallurgy and Mechanical Engineering, and Mr. Ripper to 

 be Assistant Professor of Engineering. It may be in the 

 memory of our readers that the City and Guilds of London 

 Institute made a grant about eighteen months ago of 300/. a 

 year to the Firth College in aid of the establishment of a t hair 

 of Engineering. Since then additional subscriptions have been 

 promised for five years to the amount of 550/., together with a 

 capital sum of over 10,000/. A site for laboratories and shops 

 has been obtained, and these will be proceeded with as soon as 

 possible. It is hoped that the special advantages of Sheffield 

 will make it the central school of metallurgy, especially for iron 

 and steel, in the kingdom, and the Committee intend to spare 

 no efforts in rendering it a complete and effective one. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 

 The American Journal of Science, September. — On the amount 

 of the atmospheric absorption, by S. P. Langley. From nume- 

 rous observations taken at sea-level or at an altitude of nearly 

 15,000 feet, the author is led to infer that the mean absorption 

 of light as well as of heat by our atmosphere is probably at least 

 double the usual estimate of about 20 per cent. He also believes 

 that fine dust particles, both near the surface and at a great 

 altitude, play a more important part in this absorption, both 

 general and selective, than has been hitherto supposed. — A 

 study of tornadoes, by Henry A. Hazen. In this paper the 

 author examines some of the ordinary theories that are advanced 

 for explaining the origin and development of these destructive 

 phenomena. After showing some of the seeming difficulties 

 involved in these theories, he proceeds to point out a few of the 

 characteristics of the outbursts, with a view to opening up fresh 

 lines of investigation, upon which a further advance may be made 

 towards a true knowledge of the forces underlying them. He is 

 inclined to think that J. Allan Broun's theory, attributing torna- 

 does to the direct influence of the sun's electricity upon the 

 moisture of the air, or possibly to the indirect effect from the 

 sun's heat, is more satisfactory than the numerous theories of 

 friction, evaporation, condensation, sudden changes of tempera- 

 ture, and the like. — On the absorption of radiant heat by carbon 

 dioxide, by J. E. Keeler. The author considers it probable that 

 to the action of C0 2 in the atmosphere is due one or more of the 



great gaps in the invisible part of the solar spectrum which the 

 discoveries of Prof. Langley show to be much more extensive 

 than had hitherto been supposed. He further regards it as 

 certain that some other agent than this gas contributes essen- 

 tially to the total absorptive power of the atmosphere, so that a 

 method of analysis based on this power, in which the effect of 

 the second agent is neglected, cannot lead to correct results. — 

 Note on the Triassic insects from Fairplay, Colorado, by Samuel 

 N. Scudder. These fossil remains present an assemblage of 

 forms altogether different from anything hitherto found in the 

 Palaeozoic series on the one hand, or in the Jurassic beds on the 

 other. They seem to show a commingling of strict Jurassic 

 forms with a larger proportion of types which may be called 

 Upper Carboniferous or Permian, with a distinct Jurassic lean- 

 ing. Hence the probability that the beds in which they occur belong 

 to the Triassic or intermediate formation. — On the flexibility 

 of Itacolumite, by Orville A. Derby. From observations made 

 on this extensive series of quartzose rocks occurring in the gold 

 and diamond regions of Minas Gera „ Brazil, the author infers 

 that the peculiar property of flexibility attributed to them is not 

 an original characteristic, but only a surface character, a phase 

 of weathering or decay brought about by percolating waters. — 

 On the age cf the glazed and contorted slaty rocks in the vicinity 

 of Schodack Landing, Rensselaer County, New York, by S. 

 W. Ford. — On the relations of the mineral belts of the Pacific 

 slope to the great upheavals, by Geo. F. Becker. The views 

 of H. P. Blake and Clarence King regarding the parallelism of 

 the series of mineral belts on the Pacific slope to the great 

 mountain ranges, and attributing the deposits themselves to the 

 solfateric action accompanying the ejection of igneous rocks, 

 have since been mainly confirmed But, independently of any 

 theory, a conclusion of economical importance evidently follows 

 from the fresh facts recently brought to light. A great majority 

 of all the rich ores west of the Wahsatch Range occur in belts 

 following the western edges of distinct geological areas — the 

 Cretaceous in Utah, the Palaeozoic and Carboniferous in Nevada 

 and Arizona, the Jura-Trias in East California, &c. Hence 

 analogy points to the neighbourhood of the still unexplored por- 

 tions of these contacts as the most promising for future dis- 

 coveries of the precious metals. — Notice of the remarkable 

 marine fauna occupying the outer banks off the southern coast of 

 New England, No. 9, by A. E. Verrill. — Brief contributions to 

 zoology from the Museum of Vale College, No. lv. — Work of 

 the steamer Albatross in 18S3. — Geology of the Blue Ridge, 

 near Balcony Falls, Virginia, by John L. Campbell. 



October. — On the duration of colour-impressions upon the 

 retina, by Edward L. Nichols. Taking up the subject 

 where it was left fifty years ago by Plateau's researches, 

 the author concludes, from a protracted series of experi- 

 ments : (1) that the study of the duration of colour-impres- 

 sions produced by different portions of the spectrum tends 

 to confirm Plateau's results ; (2) that the persistence of the 

 image is a function of the wave-length producing it, being 

 greatest at the ends of the spectrum, and least in the yellow ; (3) 

 that it decreases with the intensity of the ray producing it ; (4) 

 that it is not the same for all eyes ; (5) that the duration is in 

 inverse order to the luminosity of the colours producing it ; (6) 

 that each wavedength of the visible spectrum produces three 

 primary impressions, red, green, and violet, of which the green 

 is the most evanescent, violet the most persistent ; (7) that the 

 duration of the retinal image depends upon the length of time 

 during which the eye has been exposed, decreasing as the 

 exposure increases. — Description of a fulgurite from Mount 

 Thielson, Oregon (one illustration), by J. S. Diller. — On the 

 paramorphosis of pyroxene to hornblende in rocks (two illustra- 

 tions), by Geo. H. Williams. — On the southward ending of a 

 great synclinal in the Taeonic Range (with a map and several 

 illustrations), by James D. Dana. The section of the Taeonic 

 Range here dealt with extends about 150 miles along the western 

 border of New England, mainly between Middlebury, in Central 

 Vermont, and Salisbury, in North- Western Connecticut. The 

 conclusions arrived at regarding the synclinal character of the 

 system and the Lower Silurian age of the rocks agree with those 

 of Sir William Logan, except that he made the limestone to 

 precede instead of to include the Trenton group. — On supposed 

 glaciation in Pennsylvania, south of the terminal moraine (with 

 a map), by Prof. H. Carville Lewis. The author considers that 

 all the existing surface phenomena may be explained by the 

 action of running waters and other causes independent of glacia- 

 tion. — History and chemical analysis of a mass of meteoric iron 



