NATURE 



[May 5, il 



In Victor Hugo's romance, published in English, some 

 fifteen years ago, as "The Toilers of the Sea," a tale of the 

 first quarter of this century, he makes one of his sailors tell 

 another about such an " Ocean Post Office " at Cape Famine in 

 Magellan Straits. Cape Famine was the scene of an early 

 settlement which — in that bleak place — was entirely dependent 

 on the outside world for means of subsistence, and when these, 

 on one occasion, failed, through delay in the arrival of a ship, 

 the coloni.'ts died ; the circum-^tance giving the place its present 

 name. The existing colony in Magellan Straits, about twenty 

 miles from Cape Famine, is a Chilian settlement called Punta 

 Arenas, or Sandy Point. Its trade is in guanaco and emu 

 skins, brought to it by the Patagonian Indians. The colonists 

 do a little also in agriculture, coal-mining, and gold washing. 



Sailing-ships invariably now go round Cape Horn ; the 

 narrowness of the Straits at some points, their strong currents, 

 and the alternating fogs and wild winds that prevail making the 

 passage a very risky one for such vessels as are now employed in 

 ocean navigation. There are however two steamship companies, 

 a Liverpool and a Hamburg one, whose vessels pass through the 

 Straits, and, touching at Sandy Point, insure nearly weekly com- 

 munication between that place and the east and west. Hut the 

 oldest commanders of these steamers know of no such institution 

 as an ocean post office in Magellan Straits. Indeed at Sandy 

 Point there have long been the usual facilities for postage, and 

 the plan of the barrel is therefore not needed in the Straits. 



That plan is adopted in " Post Office Bay," in one of the 

 uninhabited Galapagos Islands, and possibly that fact, or the 

 adoption of some similar device in the Straits at a time, long 

 ago, wheji there was no settlement there, and of which a tradi- 

 tion may still remain, may Iiave suggested Victor Hugo's narra- 

 tive, which again may have been the origin of the paragraph 

 quoted in your columns. Arch. Roxburgh 



Valparaiso, March 23 



JOHN DUNCAN, THE ALFORD WEAVER- 

 BOTANIST 

 T^HE subscriptions spontaneously sent for the purpose 



-•■ of forming a fund to raise this deserving old botanist 

 above the need of accepting parochial relief have now 

 reached the handsome sum of 322/. igj-. lo^;'. Of this sum 

 there were sent through Nature 73/. 6s. ^d. ; to Mr. Jolly, 

 Inverness, 223/. \os. \od. ; to Alford direct, 90/. igj-. "jd. ; 

 through the Free Press, Aberdeen, 1 2/. 5^-. ; and through 

 the People's Jouriinl, AhsiAatn, iL The names of the 

 subscribers to the N,\TURE Fund have already been pub- 

 lished here. The list of the others is much too long to be 

 inserted, the very length showing the wide-spread interest 

 excited by the case. It includes above 300 separate sub- 

 scriptions, ranging from 30/. from Mrs. Alfred Morrison of 

 London, to \s. from a working man and from a child 

 botanist, and the names of many of our most eminent 

 scientists. Some interesting details might be given of 

 the warm sympathy expressed in the case; the wording of 

 special subscriptions, some large sums from nameless 

 donors, and the plans adopted by different persons in 

 different parts of the country interested in the old botanist, 

 to gain the help of the generous : but want of space 

 prevents these being entered on. One item deserves 

 mention, namely, the interest manifested in the case by 

 several scientific societies already mentioned in Nature; 

 though it must be added that the absence of the names 

 of some societies especially devoted to Botany, and of 

 the University of .Aberdeen, which received the gift of 

 John's herbarium, is not a little strange. The action of 

 these generous societies is no doubt a not unimportant 

 means of assisting scientific inquiry and " endowing re- 

 search." As already stated. Her Majesty was graciously 

 pleased to present a gift of 10/. 



A trust-deed has now been formally executed and 

 signed by John Duncan, disposing of the money thus sub- 

 scribed, and his books and other possessions, during his 

 life and after death, vesting all powers, with certain discre- 

 tionary liberties, in seven trustees, provision being made 

 for their permanent continuance. These trustees consist of 



Mr. William Jolly, H.M. Inspector of Schools, Inverness, 



whose sketch of Duncan in Good ]]'ords in 1S78 first drew 

 attention to the old man, and whose recent appeal in his 

 behalf has resulted in the present ample provision for his 

 comfort, Mr. Farquharson of Hau,'hton, near Alford, 

 chairman of the School Board of Alford, the Rev. Mr. 

 Gillan, and the Rev. Mr. Brander, the Established and 

 Free Church clergymen of Alford, and three other gentle- 

 men personally interested in Duncan ; the permanent 

 trustees of his property, if any remain, to be the ministers 

 of the Established and Free Churches of Alford and the 

 Chairman of the School Board of .Alford, with power to add 

 to their number, so that the full number shall never be under 

 five. It is provided, that he agrees to the provision made 

 for him during his life, which is ample, and that whatever 

 sum remains at his death shall be vested in safe securities 

 and the interest arising therefrom devoted to the founda- 

 tion of scholarships or prizes for the promotion of science, 

 especially Botany, in schools in certain parishes named, in 

 the Vale of Alford ; his books, which are numerous and 

 good, especially those on Botany, being gifted to the 

 parish of Alford, for the same object. Meantime the 

 greater part of the money in hand will be invested at good 

 interest. 



It must be gratifying to the subscribers to know that 

 not only will the comfort of the old botanist be secured 

 for the remainder of his life, but that any surplus, which 

 is almost certain to be considerable, will promote for all 

 time the pursuit of those studies that have made Duncan 

 famous, among the children, male and female, of the 

 district in which he has achieved his own scientific 

 work. The worthy man, now in his eighty-seventh year, is 

 frail, and the past severe winter has been hard upon him, 

 as upon all aged people ; but he may, and probably will, 

 survive for some years to come. His gratification 

 and gratitude at the kindness recently shown him are 

 expressed with childlike depth and sincerity. Any 

 remaining subscriptions offered should be sent without 

 delay to Mr. Jolly, Inverness, in order that all re- 

 quisite arrangements may be completed. 



ELECTRIC LIGHTING 

 1. 

 /^NE of the greatest experiments ever made in street 

 ^■^ illumination by means of the electric light was com- 

 menced on March 31 in the City of London. The enterprise 

 of the City authorities in this direction is the more com- 

 mendable, inasmuch as they had previously tried electric 

 lighting on the Holborn Viaduct and in Billingsgate 

 Market with very poor success. In fact, in these two 

 instances the experiment was a decided failure. 



Now however, gaining experience from the advances 

 that have been made in other directions, and especially 

 from the great success attending the illumination of 

 several railway stations, the City authorities determined 

 to divide the City into three districts for the purpose of 

 experiment. 



1. The London Bridge district: embracing London 

 Bridge, Adelaide Place, King William Street, the front of 

 the Royal Exchange and Mansion House, the Poultry, a 

 part of Cheapside as far as King Street, the upper part of 

 Queen Street, King Street, and the Guildhall Yard. 



2. The Blackfriars Bridge district : embracing Black- 

 friars Bridge, New Bridge Street, Ludgate Circus, Ludgate 

 Hill, St. Paul's Churchyard (north side), and the remaining 

 portion of Cheapside beyond King Street. 



3. The third district has not been lit up, and therefore 

 we need not refer to it. 



The first district is being Ht up by Messrs. Siemens 

 Brothers at a total cost of 3725/. for the twelve months, 

 replacing 13S gas-lamps. The other district has been lit 

 up by the Anglo-American Electric Light Company, on 

 the Brush system, for a total cost of 1410/., replacing 150 

 gas-lamps. 



