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NATURE 



\Oct. 6, 1 88 1 



arrange the University Museum there. In 1856 he was intro- 

 duced to the late Prof. Goodsir, who recognised his aptitude for 

 anatomical work, and saw in him one who would be a congenial 

 helper in the work which he had in view ; and Mr. Goodsir 

 appointed him assistant conservator of the Edinburgh Anatomical 

 Museum — a museum which he has emiched with hundreds of 

 anatomical preparations (normal and morbid), and also many 

 comparative anatomy specimens, which are all characterised by 

 great taste in the way in which they are mounted. He soon 

 acquired an extensive knowledge of anatomy, human and com- 

 parative ; he had so remarkable a mechanical turn, and so 

 inventive a mind, that he devised many new methods for pre- 

 serving the human body for dissection, for mounting anatomical 

 preparations, for cutting microscopic sections, and for mounting 

 the same. He was an accomplished microscopist and a keen 

 fisher, and this led him to take a great interest in fish, especially 

 the Salmonida; ;''and, when the "fungous disease" broke out 

 amongst the salmon in the Tweed and other rivers, he investi- 

 gated this matter, and communicated his results to the Royal 

 Society of Edinburgh — results w hich are said to contain by far the 

 best description yet given of the pathological conditions of this 

 remarkable disease. Not only did Mr. Stirling encourage and 

 aid others, but, in turn, he was the esteemed and highly valued 

 friend of the late Prof. Goodsir and of Prof. Turner, both of 

 whom gave him every facility for can-ying on his investigations. 



The Royal Commission on Technical Instruction visited 

 Saltaire and Keighley on Tuesday, and were present at the 

 annual meeting of the School of Science and Art in the Keighley 

 Mechanics' Institute. Mr. Slagg, M.P., speaking of the objects 

 of the Commission, said that their great aim would be to develop 

 a plan by which their system of primary education should be 

 linked to a higher system, comprising a higher training and 

 leading up to the highest scholastic education the country could 

 afford. For his own part he did not see anything at the present 

 moment in foreign competition to appal them in the slightest 

 degree, and substantially he believed that they held their ground 

 very well indeed. Mr. Samuelson, M.P., said that it was im- 

 possible that they as a nation could continue to hold the superior 

 rank which they had taken among manufacturing countries if 

 they did not cultivate the industrial intelligence of their popula- 

 tion, and it was on that account that he thought the Commission 

 would result in great good. 



A REMARKABLE phenomenon occurred in New England on 

 September 6, almost exactly similar to one that occurred in the 

 same region on May 19, 1780. The Springfield Daily Re- 

 publican describes it as follows : — In this city the day began 

 with a slow gathering of fog from all the watercourses in the 

 early hours, the thin clouds that covered the sky at midnight 

 seemed to crowd together and descend upon the earth, and by 

 sunrise the atmosphere was dense witli vapour, which limited 

 vision to very short distances, and made those distances illusory ; 

 and as the sun rose invisibly behind, the vapours became a thick, 

 brassy canopy, thi-ough which a strange yellow light pervaded 

 the air and produced the most peculiar effects on the surface of 

 the earth. This colom and darkness lasted until about three 

 o'clock in the afternoon, once in a while lightening, and then 

 again deepening, so that during a large part of the time nothing 

 could be done conveniently indoors without artificial light. The 

 unusual complexion of the air wearied and pained the eyes. The 

 grass assumed a singular bluish brightness, as if every blade 

 were tipped with light. "S'ellow blossoms turned pale and gray ; 

 a row of sunflowers looked ghastly ; orange nasturtiums light- 

 ened ; pink roses flamed ; lilac-hued phlox grew pink ; and blue 

 flowers were transformed into red. Luxuriant morning-glorie^ that 

 have been blosoming in deep blue during the season now were 

 dressed in splendid magenta ; rich blue clematis donned an 



equally rich maroon ; fringed gentians were crimson in the 

 fields. There was a singular luminousness on every fence and 

 roof-ridge, and the trees seemed to be ready to fly into fire. The 

 light was mysteriously devoid of refraction. One sitting with his 

 back to a window could not read the newspaper if his shadow 

 fell upon it — he was obliged to turn the paper aside to the light. 

 Gas was lighted all over the city, and it burned with a sparkling 

 pallor, like the electric light. The electric lights themselves 

 burned blue, and were perfectly useless, giving a more unearthly 

 look to everything around. The darkness was not at all like 

 that of night, nor were animals affected by it to any remarkable 

 extent. The birds kept still, it is time, the pigeons roosting on 

 ridge-poles instead of flying about, but generally the chickens 

 were abroad. A singular uncertainty of distance prevailed, and 

 commonly the distances seemed shorter than in reality. When in 

 the afternoon the sun began to be visible through the strange 

 mists, it was like a pink ball amidst yellow cushions — ^just the 

 colour of one of those mysterious balls of rouge which we see at the 

 drug-stores, and which ni woaian ever buys. It was not till 

 between five and six o'clock that the sun had sufficiently dissi- 

 pated the mists to resume its usual clear gold, and the earth 

 returned to its everyday aspect ; the grass resigning its unnatural 

 brilliancy and the purple daisies no longer fainting into pink. 

 The tempeiature throughout the day was very close and oppres- 

 sive, and the physical effect was one of heaviness and depression. 

 What was observed here was the experience of all New England, 

 so far as heard fiom, of Albany and New York city, and also 

 in Central and Northern New York. In reference to this phe- 

 nomenon the New York Nation suggests that it may be worth 

 the while of weather-obsei'vers to note the approximate coinci- 

 dence between the interval sepai'ating the two dark days in New 

 England (May 19, 1780, and September 6, iSSi) and nine times 

 the sun-spot cycle of eleven years. 



The ceremony of cutting the first sod of the Giant's Causeway 

 and Portrush Tramway was performed the other day at Portrush, 

 in presence of the directors and a large company of the local 

 gentry and visitors at Portrush. Interest was attached to the 

 ceremonial owing to the fact that it is intended to work the 

 tramway by electricity, the company thus being the first to in- 

 troduce into the United Kingdom electricity as a motive power 

 for ti-amway and railway propulsion. The chairman of the 

 company. Dr. Traill, said that not many years would elapse 

 before this dynamo -electric power would be supplied, not alone 

 to tramways suitably situated for it, as this one undoubtedly was, 

 but also to railways. To shareholders in a company such as 

 this they could easily see what an important thing such a revo- 

 lution in locomotive power would represent. The working 

 expenses for haulage on a tramway such as theirs with horses 

 Mould be about \ld. per mile, and by steam power about ^d, 

 per mile, but there \vas eveiy reason to suppose that the working 

 expenses of their motive power need not reach \d. a mile. 



Some time ago we gave an account of the nature and uses 

 of celluloid. Among other things it may be used for preserving 

 typographical clichh and stereotypes. The process employed 

 for this pm-pose, we learn from La Nature, consists in taking an 

 impression of the engraved block by means of a special cement, 

 which receives the impression and rapidly hardens. After about 

 twenty minutes the cement can support a pressure of 250 kilo- 

 grams. The presses used to take the first impression ought to 

 be heated ; and the celluloid in sheet is then used to take the 

 counter-impression from which to print. Celluloid shows the 

 typographical reproduction of specimens of lace in a marvellous 

 fashion, by the actual impression of the lace itself. La Nature 

 gives an illustration of a piece of lace engraved in this manner, 

 and the reproduction of the pattern is perfect. 



A TELEGRAM from Constantinople of September 30 states 

 that an earthquake had occurred at Changeri, in Anatolia, which 



