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NA TURE 



\_Scpt. 



22, i; 



)i 



Classification of the Petrels, based upon those collected by the 

 Challenger Expedition. He divided tliem into two main families 

 — the Oceanitidn? or Oceanic Petrels, with four genera and seven 

 species, and the Procellariidae, divisible into three sub-families 

 of albatrosses, diving petrels, and true petrels. As to descent, he 

 considered tlie petrels were probably much modified descendants 

 of some ancient form related to the ciconiform birds of Oarrod, 

 i.e., the storks, American vultures, and their allies. Mr. P. H. 

 Carpenter, M. A., read papers On the various Larval Forms of 

 Comatiila, and also On the Species of British Comatula. Other 

 zoological papers of interest were by Prof. Busk On the Use oj 

 the Chitinoits Appendasres of the Skeleton in the Cheilostomatons 

 Polywa in the Diagnosis of Species ; Mr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., 

 On our Present Knaioledge of the Fauna Inhabiting British India 

 and its Dependencies ; Mr. P. A. Geddes, /Votes on Chlninydo- 

 myxa, and On a Neiv Sub-Class of Infusorians ; Gen. Sir J. E. 

 Alexander, On the Improz-etnent of Freshwater Fisheries, and a 

 further report was made On the Marine Zoology of South Devon. 

 Among other botnnicalcomnnmications we may note those of 

 Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S., On the Botany of Madagascar ; of Mr. 

 A. W. Bennett On the Colours of Spring Flo^ners ; of Mr. Joseph 

 Lucas On some Vestiges of the Ancient Forest of Part of the Penine 

 Chain. The department sat during five days, and twenty-eight 

 communications were disposed of, including twenty zoological 

 and eight botanical ; the latter, however, fully divided the 

 interest with the former, owing mainly to the papers of Sir John 

 Lubbock and Mr. Bennett. 



NOTES 



Dr. Rudolph Konig of Parts, whose acoustical fame is 

 world-wide, is about to publish in one volume, in the French 

 language, his remarkable researches in acoustics, which have 

 appeared at intervals in the Annalen der Physik and elsewhere, 

 during the past fifteen years. The work will, we understand, 

 be liberally illu'^trated with dr.awings of the newer and more 

 important pieces of apparatus which Dr. Konig has invented. 



M. Pasteur, it is stated, has resolved to visit the Bordeaux 

 lazaretto to study yellovir fever, and ascertain whether it is due to 

 a parasite, and can be guarded against by inoculation. 



The building of the Observatory of the Pic du Midi has been 

 completed on the very top of the mountain, at an altitude of 

 2600 metres. The old building, which was placed in a valley 

 at a less elevated situation, will be used merely as a station for 

 travellers. General Nansouty is now busy fitting the establish- 

 ment with apparatus and victuals for next winter, as, accord- 

 ing to every probability, it will be blocked by snow during more 

 than six months. The storms are so heavy that not less than 

 six electric hght conductors have been established for protection. 



The autumn meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute will be 

 held in London this year, on October 11-14, at the Institute of 

 Civil Engineers, under the presidency of Sir Henry Bessemer, 

 F.R.S. Numerous excursions have been arranged for, and the 

 following papers are announced to be read : — On the manu- 

 facture of steel and steel rails in the United States (supple- 

 mentary paper), by Capt. W. R. Jones, Pittsburg, Pa. ; on a 

 method of securing homogeneity in the Bessemer process, by 

 Mr. W. D. Allen ; on the manufacture of ordnance at Woolwich, 

 by Col. Maitland ; on the application of wrought iron and steel 

 to the manufacture of gun carriages, by Mr. H. Butter ; on the 

 manufacture of projectiles, by Mr. J. Davidson; on the distri- 

 bution of elements in steel ingots, by Mr. G. J. Snelus ; on tlie 

 use of brown coal in the blast furnace, by Prof. P. Ritter von 

 TUnner, Leoben, Austria ; on certain physical tests and proper- 

 ties of steel, by Mr. Edward Richards ; on the tin-plate manu- 

 facture, by Mr. Trubshaw ; on the use of American anthracite 

 in the blast furnace, by Mr. J. Hartman, Philadelphia ; on 

 variation of elements in cast-steel ingots, by Mr. F. Stubbs ; and 

 on the recent progress of the basic Bessemer process, by Herr 

 Paul Kupel« eiser, director of the Witkowitz Works, Austria. 



Great preparations are being made in Dublin for the forth- 

 coming meetiiisT of the Social Science Congress, which begins its 



sittings there on the evening of Monday, October 3, when Lord 

 O'Hagan, as president, will deliver the inaugural address in the 

 Exhibition Palace. Among the other addresses to be given are 

 the following: — "On Education," by Sir Patrick J. Keenan, 

 K.C.M.G., C.B. ; "On Health," by Dr. Cameron, M.P. ; "On 

 Economy and Trade," by Mr. Goldwin Smith; and " On Art," 

 by Lord Powerscourt. During the week garden parties and 

 conversazioni will be given by some of the leading citizens and 

 learned societies. 



Baron Mikluho Maclav, before leaving Sydney, gave to 

 the Linnean Society of New South Wales on July 25 a short 

 account of the progress of the Sydney Biological Station at 

 Watson's Bay, w hich has been opened through his energies, and 

 of which we recently gave some account. The building was to be 

 ready in a week's time, Dr. Maclay stated. The Royal Society 

 of Victoria have agreed to assist the establishment of the sta- 

 tion, not only by personal subscription, but also by an annual 

 grant from the funds of the Society. This last decision 

 is most important, opening the prospect of a permanent, ii 

 moderate, subsidy for the support of the institution. The Roya 1 

 Society of New South Wales will also probably, on the repre- 

 sentation of the President at the last annual meeting, follow a 

 similar course. "I entertain the hope," Dr. Maclay said, ".that 

 the es'ablishment of the Biological Station of Sydney will very 

 probably induce the other colonies to follow this good example, 

 and will be the means of uniting the scientific societies of dif- 

 ferent colonies. That the Biological Station of Sydney ^\ ill not 

 remain long isolated in this part of the world is a fact, as Dr. 

 Hector told me that he intended to estalilish one in New Zea- 

 land. The establishment of an Inteixoloni.al Biological Asso- 

 ciation, which should have for its object to assist in the forma- 

 tion, maintenance, and regulation of biological stations in 

 Australia, was a plan which, in my opinion, ou^ht not to remain 

 long a pium desiderium only. Therefore I called a public 

 meeting, June 15, with the object— I. To obtain a number of 

 yearly contributors, as the subsidy from the Government is in 

 proportion to the public subscription, and the yearly subsidies 

 from the Royal Society of New South Wales and Victoria are 

 very moderate. 2. To frame rules for the station. From the 

 gentlemen present at the meeting a committee was chosen for 

 the discussion of the proposed rules, this committee consisting 

 of six members, of which four are at the same time trustees of 

 the Biological Station ; after four meetings, agreed to a code of 

 rules, which will be submitted to the trustees of the Biological 

 Station." Certainly science in Australia is greatly indebted to 

 the intelligent energy of the Russian naturalist, and we trust 

 the work so well begun will be continued without abatement. 



The Epping Forest and County of Essex Naturalists' Field 

 Club's annual Cryptogamic meeting is advertised for Saturday, 

 October l. The Club is to be congratulated for the list of well- 

 known botanists who appear as referees and conductors. Thus 

 for Fungi we see the names of Dr. M. C. Cooke, M.A., F.L.S., 

 Mr. Worthington Smith, F.L.S., Dr. H. T. Wharton, M.A., 

 F.L.S., and Mr. James English ; whilst for Mosses and Lichens 

 the names of Dr. Braithwaite, F.L.S., and Mr. E. M. Holmes 

 F.L.S., are announced. 



The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union will have a Fungus Foray 

 on Friday and Saturday, September 30 and October I, at which 

 they will gladly welcome any mycologists who may be disposed 

 to assist them. The Friday's programme is to consist of an 

 excursion in the neighbourhood of Harrogate. On the Satur- 

 day is to be a " show," at which will be exhibited fungi, and 

 any objects illustrative of the subject which may be sent. The 

 dinner is to be on the evening of Saturday. Arrangements are 

 being made to search localities in all parts of Yorkshire for 

 specimens to exhibit ; and at the meetings the Union will be 



