4i8 



NA TURE 



{March 5, 1885 



indicate an oscillatory motion. The chimneys, in many cases, 

 were turned half around on their axes, without any further dis- 

 turbance of a single portion of the structure ; and, in fact, an 

 examination of the various marks left by the earthquake of 

 December 25 places it beyond doubt that there was a trembling 

 as well as an oscillatory movement. 



Ox Wednesday evening last week, at half-past eight, three 

 heavy shocks of earthquake, lasting for two seconds, and passing 

 from west to east, were felt at Temesvar, in Southern Hungary. 

 On Thursday morning there was another and slighter shock. 

 Two sharp shocks were felt on Friday in Spain, most severely in 

 Granada, Loja, Alhama, and other districts on both sides of the 

 Sierra Tejea. In the Provinces of Granada and Malaga many 

 houses were damaged, and buildings that had suffered in the 

 previous earthquake were now knocked down. 



The last number of the Bulletin of the Essex Institute (Salem, 

 July to December, 18S4) is of especial interest, as it contains the 

 proceedings held in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary 

 of the foundation of the Essex County Natural History Society, 

 of which the Institute is the natural heir and successor. The 

 papers which were read were all appropriate to the occasion. 

 Prof. Morse dealt with the condition of zoology fifty years ago 

 and now, in connection with the growth of the Institute. Mr. 

 Robinson discussed the progress of botany in Essex county during 

 the half-century, and the influence of the Society on it, dividing 

 his paper into three parts : (1) The condition of botanical know- 

 ledge now as compared witli fifty years ago ; (2) the progress 

 made in that period in the district, as shown by the increase of 

 libraries, public museums, private herbaria, &c. ; and (3) the 

 practical benefit and general knowledge bestowed upon the 

 people of the county by such increased accurate knowledge of 

 the subject and the facilities for obtaining it. It would be im- 

 possible to sum up more clearly and thoroughly, from all points 

 of view, the benefits of such societies as the Essex Institute to 

 their localities and to the progress of science in general than is 

 done in this paper. Mr. McDaniel deals with geology and 

 mineralogy, in which the work has not been so great as in 

 botany, zoology, and prehistoric archaeology, "'owing to the 

 bent and profession of the leading members." The com- 

 memoration papers conclude with a brief historical sketch by 

 Mr. Samuel Fowler, who notices as evidence of the liberality of 

 the founders of the Society that, though nothing was heard of 

 women's rights fifty years ago, they invited ladies to join them, 

 adding in their circular : " It is anticipated that they will con- 

 tribute much to the success of the Society." The historiographer 

 is able to add that these anticipations were realised, for " ladif 

 have always taken a deep interest in the Society and its work i 

 and have greatly aided us in many ways." The result of this 

 "stock-taking" after half a century is a legitimate source of 

 pride to the inhabitants of the good old town of Salem and its 

 neighbourhood. 



It will interest many of our readers to know that an Exhi- 

 bition of Photographs by Amateurs will be held at 103, New 

 Bond Street, from April 23 to May 9, under the auspices of the 

 "London Stereoscopic Company." This, as far as we know, 

 will be the first of its kind, and will doubtless be patronised by 

 a large number of exhibitors, and tend to encourage the growing 

 popularity of photography amongst amateurs. Several photo 

 graphs by the late Mr. Cameron, of the Standard, will form an 

 interesting feature of the Exhibition. Prizes to the value of 

 200/. will be awarded. Intending exhibitors are requested 

 to communicate with Mr. T. C. Hepworth, at 108, Regent 

 Street, W. 



The popular Chinese practice and superstition with regard to 

 persons in an epileptic fit are not a little curious. When a 



person gets an attack of epilepsy, those about him rush away for 

 a few blades of grass, which they put into his mouth. They 

 believe that during an attack of epilepsy the spirit leaves the 

 body, and, there being a vacancy within, it is immediately filled 

 by the spirit of an animal, generally a sheep or a pig, and the 

 sound in the person's throat as he begins to revive is taken for 

 the bleating of the one or the grunting of the other. Under 

 these circumstances they attempt to propitiate the animal by 

 putting grass into the man's mouth, possibly under the im- 

 pression that they can entice the animal's spirit in the man to 

 remain till his own returns ; and on no consideration will they 

 remove him till the fit is over, for, if they did, they believe his 

 own spirit would not be able to find him again, and thus he 

 would die. 



Messrs. W. Swan Sonnenschein & Co. will shortly pub- 

 lish a translation, by Prof. Hillhouse, M.A., of the Mason 

 Science College, of Strasburger's " Das kleine botanische 

 Practicum." 



The next Ordinary General Meeting of the Institution of 

 Mechanical Engineers will be held on Friday, March 20, at 

 25, Great George Street, Westminster. The chair will be taken 

 at 7.30 p.m. by the President, Mr. Jeremiah Head. The fol- 

 lowing papers will be read and discussed, as far as time will 

 admit : — On recent improvements in wood-cutting machinery, by 

 Mr. George Richards, of Manchester (adjourned discussion) ; 

 description of the tower spherical engine, by Mr. R. Hammersley 

 Heenan, of Manchester ; on the history of paddle-wheel steam 

 navigation, by Mr. Henry Sandham, of London. 



The Annual Report of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club 

 is a respectable volume of about 260 pages, with twenty- 

 four plates containing about fifty illustrations, devoted in 

 the present number wholly to cromlechs and other prehistoric 

 remains in the north and west of Ireland. The Society has 

 attained its majority (the past year being its twenty-first), and 

 the secretary is able to report that it was never more prosperous, 

 either as regards increased membership, financial condition, or 

 the value of the work done. Among the papers read during 

 the winter session we notice : on the antiquities of the West of 

 Ireland, on a microscopical examination of a bit of groundsel, 

 Magilligan strand after a storm (in which Canon Grainger de- 

 scribes the castaways after a gale), ants, a trip to America, the 

 age of the basalts of the North-East Atlantic (by Mr. J. Starkie 

 Gardner), while the appendix contains three longer papers : — 

 Notes on Irish coleoptera, by Messrs. Hallilay and Stewart ; 

 the cromlechs of Antrim and Down, by Mr. Gray ; and notes on 

 prehistoric monuments at Carrowmore, near Sligo, by Mr. 

 Elcock, It is to the two last that the numerous illustrations are 

 attachcl. 



M. Waldemar Czerniawsky, already knownfor his works 

 on the fauna of the Black Sea, has now published at Kharkoff 

 a work on the " Crustacea decapoda Pontica littoralia," accom- 

 panied by several plates, being a veiy elaborate description of 

 the Black Sea Decapods. The number of Pontic species of 

 Decapods has been increased by twenty, reaching thus forty- 

 eight species, with numerous varieties, though it will probably 

 be greater when the depths of the Black Sea have been better 

 explored. The results of this work are numerous and interest- 

 ing. The species offer altogether a very great variety of forms. 

 The Black Sea contains the local forms of Mediterranean varie- 

 ties, while in the Celtic region are found the local forms of other 

 varieties. The author asserts that the metamorphosis of the 

 superior crabs, such as Carcinus, which presents nine different 

 stages, are a repetition of their genealogy, and arrives at a series 

 of very interesting conclusions as to the genealogy of different 

 species. All three species of Astacus which are found in the 

 Ponto-Caspian fauna are maritime forms which have immigrated 



