134 
IWAT OC Tee 
[JuNE 8, 1899 
upon opening the proceedings, Mr. Ritchie referred to the 
“forthcoming fishery conference at Stockholm, and said that 
whilst the Government were anxious to have the purely scientific 
branch of the subject dealt with, they had also instructed their | 
delegates to see whether some agreement could not be come to 
whereby there should be an increase of the productiveness of 
the fisheries, and thus secure a permanent increase of fish in the 
markets adjoining the North Sea. Sir John Murray, Mr. Arter, 
and Prof. D’Arcy Thompson will represent the Government at 
the conference. 
THE following State legislation in 1898, mentioned in the 
New Jersey 
American Naturalist, is of interest to naturalists. 
| 
(November to March). November{was one of the coolest on 
record, being 2°°8 below the average; this was followed by a 
hot December, with a mean temperature of 76°4, which has 
only once been exceeded. January was the coldest during the 
forty-two years’ records at Adelaide, and was followed by a hot 
February. The highest temperature during the month was 
113°°6, which was the hottest day since January 1880, During 
the summer the thermometer read over 90° on forty-two days, 
of which about half were over 100°. The mean temperature 
for the five months, 71°*6, is just above the average. 
AN apparatus, by means of which a record is automatically 
taken of the extent to which the steering wheel of a ship is 
moved and the helm put over, 
has been devised by Mr. J. E. 
Liardet. The apparatus con- 
sists principally of a couple of 
drums on which a ‘‘tape” or 
long strip of paper is wound. 
The movement of the wheel 
actuates these drums, unwinding 
the tape from one and winding 
it on the other, the motions 
being obtained by _ suitable 
toothed gearing. In the same 
way, a pencil fixed to a holder 
is caused to move to one side of 
the central line of the paper if 
the helm is put to port, and the 
other side when the helm is star- 
boarded, the amplitude of the 
movement of the pencil being 
proportionate to the angle of 
helm. In this way, an accu- 
rate record may be kept of the 
number of times and the amount 
the helm is shifted. It is pro- 
posed to add clockwork me- 
chanism, so that the paper will 
be continuously unwound at a 
uniform speed, and the time at 
which any movement is made 
will thus be recorded. 
ONE of the most interesting 
additions to the Field Columbian 
Museum in 1898 was the 
Schmidt-Dickert relief model of 
the moon, an illustration of which 
we are enabled to give by the 
courtesy of Mr. F. J. V. Skiff, 
the director of the museum. 
The model is in the form of a 
hemisphere having a diameter 
of 19 feet, and it exhibits very 
Model of the Moon. Field Columbian Museum. 
has provided for a State entomologist ; Louisiana has passed a 
Bill providing for the establishment of a biological station in the 
Gulf of Mexico, to co-operate with the United States Fish Com- 
mission for the investigation of problems affecting the fisheries 
of the State; New York has forbidden the killing at any time 
of wild moose, elk, caribou, and antelope; Ohio has repealed 
the law relative to the trapping or killing of musk-rats, mink, 
and otter. 
SiR CHARLES Topp has communicated some interesting 
notes to the Adelaide Advertiser of April 18, relating to the 
South Australia during the summer 
meteorology of 
NO. 1545, VOL. 60] 
past 
(Diameter, 19 feet.) 
accurately the surface features of 
the moon. It was prepared with 
great care from the charts of Beer and Madler, and of Dr. 
Schmidt, of the Athens Observatory. Five years were occupied 
in its construction. The sections of the model have been for 
several years in Chicago, but they have only been available to 
the public at rare intervals. It is through the generosity of Mr. 
L. W. Reese that this noteworthy object has been added to the 
collections in the Field Columbian Museum. The model as 
exhibited will undoubtedly prove of great interest to the 
public generally, and especially to students of astronomy. 
Chicago is fortunate in possessing such a striking representation 
of lunar topography. 
