4 66 



NA TURE 



[March 19, 1885 



Society's Medal and 25/. 17. On the tin deposits of New 

 South Wales ; the Society's Medal and 25/. 18. On the iron- 

 ore deposits of New South Wales ; the Society's Medal and 

 25/. 19. List of the marine fauna of Port Jackson, with de- 

 scriptive notes — as to habits, distribution, &c. ; the Society's 

 Medal and 25/. Series VI. To be sent in not later than May I. 

 1887 : — No. 20. On the silver-ore deposits of New South Wales ; 

 the Society's Medal and 25/. 21. Origin and mode of occurr- 

 ence of gold-bearing veins and of the associated minerals ; the 

 Society's Medal and 25/. 22. Influence of the Australian 

 climate in producing modifications of diseases ; the Society's 

 Medal and '25/. 23. On the Infusoria peculiar to Australia ; 

 the Society's Medal and 25/. The competition is in no way 

 confined to members of the Society nor to residents in Australia, 

 but is open to all without any restriction whatever, excepting 

 that a prize will not be awarded to a member of the Council for 

 the time being ; neither will an award be made for a mere com- 

 pilation, however meritorious in its way — the communication, 

 to be successful, must be either wholly or in part the result of 

 original observation or research on the part of the contributor. 

 The successful papers will be published in the Society's annual 

 volume. Fifty reprint copies will be furnished to the author 

 free of expense. Competitors are requested to write upon fools- 

 cap paper, on one side only. A motto must be used instead of 

 the writer's name, and each paper must be accompanied by a 

 sealed envelope bearing the motto outside and containing the 

 writer's name and address inside. All communications to be 

 addressed to the honorary secretaries, A. Liversidge and A. 

 Leibius. 



A lecture on "Cholera, what it is, and how it may be 

 guarded against," will be given by Prof. Burdon-Sanderson at 

 Toynbee Hall, 28, Commercial Street, E., on Thursday, March 

 26, at S.I 5 p.m. 



A meeting of scientific men was held on Saturday at the 

 University College, Liverpool, at which it was resolved to 

 prepare a scheme for investigating the marine fauna of the 

 neighbouring seas, so that a commencement of the work might 

 be made during the ensuing summer. Prof. Herdman had the 

 organising and details entrusted to him. 



The Duke of Westminster and the Committee of the Sunday 

 Society have issued invitations to a National Conference with 

 authorities and officers of museums, art galleries, and libraries 

 which have been open in the United Kingdom on Sundays. 

 The Conference has been called specially for the purpose of 

 directing the attention of Parliament to the results which have 

 attended the Sunday opening of museums, art galleries, and 

 libraries in the United Kingdom, and it is expected tbat repre- 

 sentatives will be present from each of these institutions. The 

 Conference will assemble at St. James's Hall, on Wednesday, 

 March 25, at half past two, and the proceedings will commence 

 at three o'clock precisely. 



At the meeting of the Society of Arts on Wednesday, the 

 25th inst., Mr. A. J. Ellis will read a paper on the "Musical 

 Scales of Various Nations." The paper will be illustrated by 

 playing the scales, and occasionally strains on properly tuned 

 instruments, and will form a continuation of the paper [on the 

 "History of Musical Pitch," read by Mr. Ellis before the 

 Society in 1S80. It is the result mainly of an examination of 

 native instruments and performers, by which the exact pitch of 

 the notes used was determined by Mr. Ellis and Mr. Hipkins, 

 and will exhibit the scales in use in ancient Greece, in Arabia, 

 India, Java, China, Japan, and other countries. The chair will 

 be taken by Sir Frederick Abel, the Chairman of Council of the 

 Society. 



The Committee of the Saltpetre Producers' Association, on 

 the west coast of South America (Comite Salitrero at Iquique, 

 Chili) offers 1000/. in prizes for essays on the use of nitrate of 

 soda as manure. Of this amount (1) a prize of 500/. will be 

 awarded for the best popular essay showing the importance of 

 nitrate of soda as a manure, and the best mode of its employ- 

 ment. The essay, in its theoretical part, is to treat of the effect 

 of nitrate of soda on vegetation, as compared with other 

 manures containing nitrogen, and should exhibit the present 

 state of knowledge on this point. In its practical part the essay 

 is to give directions for the use of nitrate of soda in the various 

 conditions of plant-culture. References and quotations, and 

 purely scientific "explanations, if necessary, are to appear as 

 notes. The essay may be written in English, German (Italic 

 character), or French. The writing must be distinct, and on 

 one side of the paper only. It is desired that the length of the 

 essay may not exceed six sheets of printed octavo. Each manu- 

 script is to be signed with a motto ; the name and address of the 

 author is to be given in a sealed envelope bearing the motto out- 

 side. The essays are to be sent on or before October I, lS85, 

 to any of the undermentioned judges. (2) A prize of 500/. will 

 be awarded for the best essay treating of the same subjects on 

 the basis of new experimental researches, made by the author 

 himself. The essays must fulfill the conditions already men- 

 tioned. They may be sent to any of, the judges on or before 

 January 1, 1S87. The Committee of judges consists of the 

 following agricultural chemists : — Germany : Prof. Paul Wagner, 

 Director of the Agricultural Station at Darmstadt. England: 

 Mr. R. Warington, Agricultural Laboratory, Rothamsted, 

 St. Albans, Herts. United States of America : vacant. 

 France : Prof. L. Grandeau, Director of the Agricultural Sta- 

 tion, and Dean of the Faculty of Natural Philosophy at Nancy. 

 Belgium : Prof. Petermann, Director of the Royal Agricultural 

 Station at Gembloux. Holland : Prof. Adolf Meyer, Director 

 of the Agricultural Station of the State at Wageningen. 

 Russia : Prof. L. Thorns, Director of the Agricultural Station 

 at the Polytechnical Institution at Riga. If none of the essays 

 received should thoroughly satisfy the committee of judges', they 

 are authorised to award inferior prizes of not less than 150'. 

 each. Any essay for which a prize is awarded becomes the 

 absolute property of the Saltpetre Producers' Association at 

 Iquique, which also reserves to itself the right of translation 

 into other languages. 



In his series of lectures on electricity, M. Becquerelyf/j ex- 

 hibited at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers a loud speaking 

 telephone, which was heard without difficulty throughout the 

 amphitheatre. This will be one of the attractions of the forth- 

 coming electrical exhibition at the Observatoire. The halls will 

 be lighted by a new lamp constructed by MM. Breguet and Co. 



The January number of the Melbourne Review contains a 

 very interesting article on the climatic vicissitudes of Victoria, 

 by Mr. G. S. Griffiths. Referring to the researches of Baron 

 von Miiller, the writer says that that learned botanist has dis- 

 covered striking testimony to the occurrence of rapid climatic 

 changes in Australia. First he found that during the older 

 Pliocene period the Australian flora was lauraceous — plants of 

 the warmth-loving laurel family predominating. In the newer 

 Pliocene deposits these laurels have been swept away, and are 

 replaced by a meliaceous flora and by plants of a still more 

 tropical character. Once more an active vegetation disappears, 

 and in its stead the myrtle family, with its characteristic 

 eucalypts, overspreads the whole land, and still keeps possession. 

 What great climatic vicissitudes (Mr. Griffiths asks) could rob a 

 region of a whole suit of vegetation and repeat the act twice 

 within a brief period? He thinks this evidence to be strongly 

 corroborative of the occurrence of interglacial periods. There 



