30O 



NA TURE 



\_July 24, 1884 



Mr. Peabody's will in premiums and medals given to four schools 

 in Baltimore. The library, however, is the object of largest 

 expenditure, and aims at being a high-class one in every respect, 

 12,000 dollars, or one-quarter of the entire expenditure, having 

 been laid out in the purchase of books. Important and uncom- 

 mon works are added, supplying the demands of scholars for 

 minute information. Such students are its most numerous users, 

 and there were but few works of fiction among the 2700 volumes 

 added during the past year. The library now reaches a total of 

 82,000 volumes. A catalogue of these is being compiled, the 

 first volume of which, heartily recommended by many scholars 

 and bibliographs, and already leading to greater use of the 

 library periodicals, contains S68 pages and 61,184 references, 

 yet only takes in A-C. We are told that it is offered under cost 

 price at seven dollars to subscribers, but the Provost's remark which 

 follows, that, besides being very expensive, " it is not desirable to 

 sell many copies, "shows how little the Institute aims at popularity. 

 And in no department, truly, can this be boasted of ! The 

 lectures seem to have been the most successful. The Report 

 observes that the annual members of the Conservatory of Music 

 ought to rise to 400 or 500 instead of S7 ; and 70 visitors a day 

 is not many, out of a population of nearly 400,000, to the Gal- 

 lery of Art. Less than 60,000 issues have been made out of 

 the great library, and the Provost thinks that the public will be 

 surprised to hear that a total of 100,000 persons have visited 

 the buildings for its various purposes during the year ! These 

 numbers show how, in America as well as in England, a small 

 rise in requirements brings one into a much rarer, less crowded 

 stratum of society. However, in all departments increased 

 interest and ' ' remarkable progress " are reported, which we 

 trust may increase tenfold. 



At a meeting of the Vaccination Officers' Association held on 

 Saturday last, a cordial vote of thanks was given to the National 

 Health Society for issuing their pamphlet entitled "Facts con- 

 cerning Vaccination," and the Association expressed their ap- 

 preciation of "the thoughtful kindness which prompted the 

 Society to assist the vaccination officers of the metropolis in the 

 discharge of their often difficult duties." We are informed that 

 the pamphlet in question has now been distributed from house 

 to house in most of the districts in the metropolis where small- 

 pox is epidemic, and that the demand for it still continues. 

 Something like 150,000 copies have already been issued since 

 the present epidemic began. 



As a supplement to our note of a meteor seen on the west 

 coast of Norway on May 27 (p. 200), it will be interest- 

 ing to read the following particulars supplied by Mr. Gjestland j 

 residing at Tysnas, in the province of Bergenhus. This gentle- 

 man states that he too saw the fire-ball a little after eight o'clock, 

 and subsequently heard a report as of distant rolling thunder. A 

 couple of days after he happened to be on a farm, Midtvaage, in 

 Onarheims parish, where a woman told him that she had seen the 

 " ball " fall a few feet from the house. On learning this Mr. 

 Gjestland, in connection with the parish engineer, began a search 

 in the direction indicated, and discovered, in a spot where the turf 

 covers the mountain ridge to a depth of about 20 cm., a hole 

 where the turf and mould had been as it were blasted away from 

 the rock, and in it a handful of pulverised stone, which, 

 however, in every respect seemed to resemble the mica schist of 

 the mountain. Two days after he learnt that a girl on the same 

 farm had found a very peculiar stone near the same spot, which 

 was thought to be the one searched for. Mr. Gjestland at once 

 proceeded to the farm, and has succeeded in obtaining the valu- 

 able specimen. He states that in shape and size it is like the 

 fourth part of a large Stilton cheese, cut vertically from the 

 centre to the side. The height as well as the diameter is 20 cm. 

 A fresh fracture on the surface shows that a bit has been broken 



off, probably by striking the rock, while the other side shows 

 an uneven, undulating surface partly polished. The exterior is 

 sooty and dark in colour, indicating that it had been exposed to 

 great heat, whilst the interior is grayish brown and interspersed 

 with bits of metal having the appearance of iron, some of which 

 are 1 mm. in length. The block has a considerable specific 

 weight, resembling that of iron-stone, is brittle, and may be cut 

 with a knife. The weight is 10/5 kilos. 



On July 3, at 9.32 p.m., a brilliant meteor was seen in Stock- 

 holm, crossing the sky from south-east to north-west, about 22° 

 from the zenith. The colour was first red, then yellow and 

 green, and became finally white as the meteor parted into 

 halves about 45 above the horizon. It afterwards burst into 

 fragments. When at its point of culmination, the meteor had the 

 appearance of a kernel about a third of the moon's disk in size, 

 with a trail of about the same width and ten times the diameter 

 in length. The whole lasted about four seconds. 



The French Northern Railway Company have begun experi- 

 ments on motive power generated by electricity at the Chapelle 

 Station, The Company have established an electric lift with 

 two Siemens electro-magnetic machines, one for elevating the 

 weight, and the other for moving the machinery alongside the 

 railway. 



During the night of July 19 an earthquake was felt at Agram. 

 It lasted four seconds, and was accompanied by subterranean 

 rumblings. No damage was done. 



An unknown benefactor recently offered to give 100,000 

 marks to the University of Heidelberg, on condition that ladies 

 should be permitted to study there. The University has declined 

 the offer. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Rhesus Monkey (Macacus rhesus $ ) from 

 India, presented by Mrs. A. Edwards ; a Gray Ichneumon 

 (Herpestes griseas) from India, presented by Lieut. A. H. Oliver, 

 R.N. ; a Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus galliots), South European, 

 presented by Mr. W. R. Taylor ; a Bronze-winged Pigeon (Phaps 

 chalcoptera) from Australia, presented by Mr. J. Latham ; five 

 Natterjack Toads {Bnfo calamita), British, presented by Mr. W. 

 Stanley ; three Striolated Buntings (Emberiza striolata) from 

 Africa, deposited ; a Four-horned Antelope ( Tetraceros quadri- 

 cornis) from India, a Maccarthy's Ichneumon (Herpesles mac- 

 tarthia) from Ceylon, three Common Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), 

 I li itish, six Aldrovandi's Lizards (Plestiodon aura/us) from North- 

 West Africa, purchased ; two Virginian Deer (Cariacus vir- 

 giniamts), an Argus Pheasant (Argus giganteus), bred in the 

 Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



Brorsen's Comet of Short Period. — We are now within 

 about two months of the probable time of the next perihelion 

 passage of this comet, and after the middle of August, when the 

 moon draws away from the morning sky, it may be within reach. 

 So far, however, no ephemeris for this return has been pub- 

 lished. The perturbations since its last appearance in 1879 will 

 not have been very material, and the mean motion in that year 

 would fix the approaching perihelion passage to about September 

 I4'5 G.M.T. If the longitudes in Dr. Schulze's orbit for 1879 

 are brought up to 188475, tne following expressions /or the 

 comet's heliocentric co-ordinates result : — 



x = r . [9-94286] . sin (j' + 207 567) 

 y = r . [9 '98506] . sin (v +- 126 22 -o) 

 - = '• ■ [973705] • sin (» + 6 ° 33'4) 

 Taking September 14-5 for the epoch of perihelion passage, 

 the comet's approximate positions are : — 



