Augicst II, 1881] 



NATURE 



341 



read and excursions made to places of interest in the neighbour- 

 hood, and the meeting seems to have been altogetlier satisfactory. 

 Arrangements were made to hold a similar meeting next year at 

 Inverness. 



The Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association was 

 opened on Tuesday at Ryde, Isle of Wight. 



Another smart earthquake shock, not so strong however as 

 the last, was felt at Geneva on Friday morning. Three earth- 

 quake shocks were felt on Thursday night at Allevard, near Gren- 

 oble. An undulatory shock of earthquake was felt at Agram on 

 .[uly 28 at llh. 8m. a.m. Its direction was from south-east to 

 north-west, and subterranean noise accompanied it. Earth- 

 quakes are also reported from Haiti on July 5 and 7, from St. 

 Vincent June 24 and 25, and from Trinidad on June 29. 



The Annual Report of the Paris Observatory for the year 

 18S0 has just been published by the director, Admiral Mouchez. 

 The chief wurk of the Observatory was the continuation of the 

 revision of the Catalogue of Stars of Lalarde ; and of the 

 30,000 observations which were made by the meridian insliu- 

 ments 28,331 were made for this purpose. Until this is finished, 

 the Observatory cannot undertake any other great work ; and 

 a catalogue of 20,000 stars observed two or three times up to the 

 end of 1S79 is already prepared. As to the precise determina- 

 tion of positions of the fundamental stars, it is not yet begun, 

 the astronomers bemg engaged in the study of the errors of 

 instruments. M. Lcewy has continued the study of the flexion 

 of the meridional instruments, and the error for the larger one 

 was found to be about o'o2 mm., that is about one second of 

 arc. But M. Mouchez expresses the fear that this small error 

 will be less than several accidental errors depending upon 

 changes of temperature, upon the movements of the tele- 

 scope and upon the errors of refraction due to imperfect 

 observations of temperature at various heiglit.s. The great 

 equatorial telescope was but little used, mainly because of 

 the difficuhies of management of the revolving tower. With 

 the other equatorial telescopes the astronomers of the Ob- 

 servatory continued their work on the ecliptical charts, as 

 well as of Jupiter, of the comets, of several small planets, and of 

 double stars. The great telescope was employed for the first 

 time during last year for photography ; the photographs of the 

 moon, not, however, as fine as those of Rutherfurd — will pi'ob- 

 ably be soon much improved ; several photographs of double 

 stars, and even of nebulae, were obtained. The most interesting 

 work in physical astronomy was done by M. Thollon with the 

 spectriscope : one of the protuberances he studied was rather 

 remar'i.able by its immense length of eight minutes, that is of 

 300,000 kilon.etres. Much attenti' n was given to the transmission 

 of time to the clocks of the Observatory itself, of Paris, and of pro- 

 vincial towns. The astronomical u,u eum, which will be opened at 

 theOl'servatory, will soonbetiuite finished; it will contain a variety 

 of instruments formerly used by renowned astronomers, numerous 

 photographs of insti'uments of different observatories, and por. 

 traits ; as to these last, the Report speaks in hi^h terms of the 

 courtesy of several a'troromers in England, who have given all 

 facilities for the execution of portraits from originals in their 

 possession. After mentioning the various w orks pursued by the 

 astronc mers of the Observatory, besides their regular business, 

 the Report speaks of the preparations for the observation of the 

 transit of Venus in 1SS2. None of the methods empkiyed until 

 now have given quite satisfactory results, and the simple obser- 

 vation by telescope may yield errors of as much as ten and 

 fifteen seconds. The photograpihs, which it was necessary to 

 enlarge thirty and forty times, do not affoi'd the necessary cleanli- 

 ness. Thus the Observatory proposes to employ micrometrical 

 measures which will afford a greater degree of accuracy when 

 done by telescopes than those which are taken on photographs. 



The opening of the Periode " Electorale" has directed the 

 attention of the French Government to the opportunity of con- 

 necting the municipal telegraphic system of Paris with the 

 postal (Tganisation. It will be the work of a few days, and of 

 a few hu .dred pounds. 



From a privately issued report on silk cultivation in the Chinese 

 province of Kwangtung, we learn that in the Pakhoi district, on 

 the southern seaboard, wild silkworms are found wliicli feed on 

 the camphor tree, and their silk is utilised in a singular manner. 

 When the caterpillar his attained its full size, and is abiut to 

 enter the j#!//ff state, it is cut open and the silk extracted in a 

 form much resembling catgut. This substance, having undergone 

 a process of hardening, makes excellent fish line, and is generally 

 used for that purpose in the Pakhoi district. 



From the Colonies and India we learn that a thick vein of a 

 peculiar substance, which, according to local chemists, contains 

 50 per cent, of pure paraffin, has been discovered at Hawkes 

 Bay, New Zealand. It is said to be worth 40'. per ton, and to 

 exist in enormous quantities. 



The latest excavations made by order of the Athens Archseo. 

 logical Society at Tanagra, the well-known place in Bceotia 

 whence come the charming terra-cotta figures, have yielded im- 

 portant results. On the northern side of the town, in front of 

 the principal gate, fifteen tombs were discovered which were 

 completely untouched. They contained some sixty clay figures, 

 most of them perfect, and measuring between to and 35 centi- 

 metres in height. They represent satyrs and women standing 

 and sitting, and one is a group of two figures. Besides these 

 many vessels were found, amongst which some twenty lekythoi 

 (paint and oil phiaK) with antique-painted ornaments. Unfor- 

 tunately most of these were broken. One vase which was found 

 in a stone case shows an artistic inscription which designates it 

 as a work of Teisias. We may also mention that four'een 

 scraping irons « ere found, and also that in tw o of the tombs 

 some fifty small terra-cotta ornaments were discovered, m)st of 

 which were brightly coloured, and some covered with thin gold. 

 The excavations became even more important after April I. 

 The published report mentions twenty vessels, some broken, ten 

 of which are ornamented with paintings. Two of these are said 

 to be particularly fine. Of the numerous clay figures only eight 

 could be got out in a tolerably perfect condition. Of the.-e two 

 are reported to be the most perfect figures ever found at Tanagra. 

 One represents a winged youth who is about toraie himself into 

 the air ; before him is a maiden on her knees, her dress forming 

 an arc above her ; the youth holds her by the arms as if he 

 wished to take her along with him in his flight. The other 

 masterpiece is an Aphi'odite rising from the sea, diving up out of 

 a shell as it were. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Polecat {Mustela pulorius), British, presented 

 by Mr. H. C. Brooke; two Ground Squirrels (Xenis getulus) 

 from West Africa, presented by Dr. W. Hume Hart ; a 

 Bateleur Eagle (Hclotarsus ecaudatiis) from Africa, presented by 

 Mr. William Waters ; a Black-footed Penguin [Sphenisciis de- 

 mersus) from South Africa, presented by Capt. Robinson, 

 R.M.S. Wanoick Castle; two Black Storks (Ciconia nigra), 

 European, pre-ented by Dr. Rudolph Blasius ; two Wood Owls 

 (Syrniiim a/iico), European, presented by Mr. H. T. Archer; a. 

 Slow worm (Anguis frngilis albino), British, pre-ented by Mr. 

 A. Phipson, F.Z.S. ; two Green Lizards {Lacerta viridis) from 

 the Island of Jersey, presented by Mr. Claud Rassell ; a Sykcs 

 Monkey (Cercopithecus albigularis) from East Africa, a Common 

 Chamjtleon {Chanuzleon vulgaris) from North Africa, deposited ; 

 an Erxlebeu's Uovikty (Cercopithecus erxlebeni) from West Africa, 

 two Egyptian Mastigures {Uromastix spinipes) from North 

 Africa," two Aldrovandi's Skinks (Plestiodon auratus) from 



