132 



NATURE 



\_yune 9, 1 88 1 



be received by the bun. secretary, Bedford College, 8 and 9, 

 York Place, W. 



Among the houses of historical interest on which the Council 

 of the Society of Arts have just erected memorial tablets, is 

 No. 35, St. Martin's Street, Leicester Square, in which Sir 

 Isaac Newton lived for some time. 



M. LlTTRfe, the eminent philologist and philosophical writer, 

 died on the 1st inst., at the age of eighty years. His celebrated 

 French dictionary is probably the best dictionary ever published 

 in any language ; not only is its method thoroughly scientific, but 

 it contains nearly every important scientific term in use in French 

 scientific literature. 



Last night a complimentary dinner was given at Freemasons' 

 Tavern to Dr. Danford Thomas, the nev? Coroner for Central 

 Middlesex. Over a hundred representatives of the various 

 professions were present. Dr. B. W. Richardson was in the 

 chair. 



The conversazioni of the Society of Arts and the Civil 

 Engineers, on Thursday and Friday last, were as usual success- 

 ful ; over 2000 people were present at each. 



The anuiver£,ary meeting of the Vienna Academy was held 

 on May 30. R. Maly, Professor of Chemistry at Gratz, and 

 F. Lippich, Professor of Physics at Prague, were elected cor- 

 respondents. 



The Dundee Naturalists' Society have three dredging expedi- 

 tions in their programme of excursions this summer— one on June 

 II to St. Andrew's Bay, a second on July 20 to the Bell Rock, 

 and a thurd on August 31 to Lunan Bay. 



Mr. Edison has written to M. Georges Berger, asking for 

 120 horse-power to work the large generator he is sending to 

 Paris for the forthcoming exhibition. 



Experiments are being made with a view to running trains 

 through the St. Gothard Tunnel by electricity, with motive 

 power obtained from the Reuss and the Tessin. The boring of 

 the Arlberg tunnel proceeded last mouth at the rate of six and a 

 half metres per day. The making of the luies of access will 

 hortly be undertaken. 



At an examination held by the Sanitary Institute of Great 

 Britain on June 2 and 3, six candidates presented themselves, 

 and the Institute's certificate of competency as Local Surveyor 

 was awarded to Samuel S. Grimley and to Arthur Whitcombe, 

 and the Institute's certificate of competency as Inspector of 

 Nuisances was awarded to John Latein Cowderoy, to Joseph 

 Rain«, and to William Wilkinson. 



We have received a copy of a paper by J. H. Collins, F.G. S., 

 published in the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, 

 No. xxiii., which contains analyses of the new minerals Hen- 

 woodite, Enysite, Duporthite, Penwithite, as well as of other 

 minerals and rocks. Good analyses of minerals are always 

 useful for reference ; and Mr. Collins is rendering a :ervice to 

 science in publishing the results of his work. His paper would 

 have been more valuable had he mentioned the methods em- 

 ployed for separation and determination of the mineral con- 

 stituents, as, for instance, in the analyses of minerals containing 

 alumina, iron, and phosphoric acid. It would likewise save 

 trouble if the percentage composition of his assumed formulce for 

 minerals were placed in parallel columns with the quantities 

 obtained. That they agree "fairly well " is a little vague. 



The earthquake shocks on Mount Vesuvius were followed on 

 the 1st inst. by a strong eruption. Broad and active streams of 

 lava ran quickly down the north-east side of the mountain. 



A SHOCK of earthquake occurred at Serajewo (Bosnia) on 

 June 2, at 4I1. 40m. a.m., duration 2 sec. 



On the 1st in>t. the Duke of Edinburgh placed the top stone 

 on the new Eddystone Lighthuuse. The stonework of the 

 structure has now been completed after a labour of three -^tax". 

 The lantern has yet to be placed on the top of the structure, and 

 the illuminating apparatus has to be fixed, and all the internal 

 fittings are to be applied, but this is work that can be carried on 

 at any time of the tide, so that the whole of the work will, it is 

 expected, be completed in another year, twelve months within 

 the period stipulated in the contract. 



In a report on the health of Swatnw, ju^t published by order 

 of the Inspector-General of Chii ese Maritime Customs, Dr. E. 

 J. Scott refers to a plague of caterpillars which vi^ited the 

 neighbouVhood last summer, literally covering the fir trees, on 

 which they lived exclusively, and Jeaving them perfectly deiuded 

 of leaves. The hiU sides in many places looked as if a fire had 

 passed over the trees and scorched them. The Chinese were 

 very much afraid to handle theje caterpillars, as they dccl.aied 

 that they were exceedingly poisonous, and Dr. Scott -ays they 

 are to some extent right, as he knew of two foreigners who were 

 injured by them. When cru-hed, they exuded ,\ glutinous tiuid 

 of a light-green colour, very irritaiin^ to the skin, and producing 

 rash, which caused much inconvenience for ten days or a fort- 

 night. 



Dr. Hahn has recently publi bed a work, in which he 

 gives photographic reproductions of more than one hui dred 

 thin sections of meteori es on thirly-two plates. In that class 

 of meteoric stones which bear the name of chondrite-, on 

 account of the curious nund nuclei they contain, Dr. Hahn 

 believes he can demonstrare the existence of a whole serits 

 of organic forms belonging to the animal world. A num- 

 ber of the sections shows a structure clo ely resembling corals. 

 Dr. Weinland publishes an article on this subject in No. i6 

 of the Ausland, Dr. Hahn having placed ihe thin sections 

 at his disposal ; and he states that he gained the cnnvicti-in that 

 he was really beholding remains of animals belonging to the 

 family of Favosites, well known among Silurian, Devonian, and 

 Coal fossils. For further information we must refer our readers 

 to the article mentioned. 



An epidemic among tl e crayfish of all the rivers and rivulets 

 of the Stettin district has led to the complete destruction of that 

 crustacean in those waters. 



In the north of France great devastation is caused by large 

 field-mice (Arvicola arvabs) among the crops. The plague is 

 particularly severe in the departments of Seine-et-Oise, l-ure-et- 

 Loire, Loirct, Seine-et-Marne, Yonne, Aube, Marne, and Haute 

 Marne. 



" La Belle Jardiniere," one of the largest clothing esta- 

 blishments in Paris, is employing with success magnetoelectric 

 machines for the transmission of power, from the b .semcnt 

 to the top of the building. The two machines have been built 

 by Siemens Brothers. 



An ojera performed on the stage of the Paris Grand Opera 

 House was heard satisfactorily at the Rue Kiche Opera House by 

 a number of French officials a few days ago. The feat was per- 

 formed with the new Ader telephone, of which the pecuiiaiities 

 have not been made public. The performance will be repeated 

 at the International Exhibition. 



M. Merejkoffsky's report on his .anthropological journey in 

 the Crimea (Izvestia, 1881, fasc. 2) contains interesting measure- 

 ments of skulls of the Crimean Tartars— ihe pure Steppe Tartars 

 who do not present a mixture with Greeks, as the south-coast 



