JUNE 29, 1899] 
NATURE 
205 
rom the altar stone in the centre of the circle see the sun 
apparently poise itself for an instant upon the top of the stone 
known as the Friar’s Heel. This sight is a rare privilege, and 
as it depends upon a doubtful meteorological condition—a per- 
fectly cloudless sky at the point and time at which the sun 
rises above the horizon—those watching anxiously scan the sky, 
alas! in too many instances, to find that their night’s vigil on 
the Plain is barren of result. The last time the phenomenon 
was witnessed was in 1895. 
THE annual general meeting of the Jenner Institute of Pre- 
ventive Medicine was held at Chelsea on June 23. The report 
of the Council for the year was read and adopted. The report 
states that during the year the work of the institute continued 
to make satisfactory progress. The internal fittings of the 
Chelsea building are now completed with the exception of the 
museum, and the various departments are fully equipped and 
at work. The meeting received with enthusiasm the reference 
to Lord Iveagh’s gift of 250,000/. for the promotion of the 
objects for which the institute was founded. The gratifying 
announcement was made that Lord Lister had consented to act 
as chairman of the new governing body that will in future con- 
trol the affairs of the institute. Dr. Macfadyen’s report upon 
the general work of the institute during the year was read and 
adopted. During the year the organisation of work in the 
main laboratories of the institute was completed, and valuable 
additions made to the stock of scientific apparatus. The founda- 
tions of the new wing, which will complete the original plan of 
the institute, are at present in course of construction. The 
photographic department is fully equipped, and the necessary 
illustrations to scientific papers will in future be prepared in 
this laboratory. At no period has there been a greater body 
of research work in progress in the institute than at the present 
moment, and reference is made in the report to the more 
important investigations being carried on. A number of in- 
vestigations by Dr. Hewlett and others have been published 
during the year, anda second volume of the Zyamsactions of 
the institute is going through the press. As regards the courses 
of instruction, which have been well attended, the aim has 
heen to train the advanced student, as is done in foreign 
faboratories, with a view to subsequent research work. <A 
notable addition has been made to the departments of the in- 
Stitute by the foundation of the Hansen Laboratory for the 
study of the practical application of bacteriology to industrial 
and technical processes. Dr. G. Harris Morris has been placed 
in charge of this department, which is now at work. Dr. A, 
Harden’s report deals with the work of the chemical and water 
laboratory during the year. Dr. G. Dean’s report on the anti- 
toxin department describes the improved methods adopted for 
the preparation of diphtheria anti-toxin and the researches being 
carried out in connection with tetanus, pneumonia, anti-strepto- 
coccic serum, &c. 
AT the suggestion of Prof. E. Ray Lankester, Lieut. A. G. 
Froud has sent us a copy of a report, by Mr. G. T. Prior, 
upon some fine brown dust collected on board the P. and O. 
s.s. Swmatra during a thunderstorm in the Galita Channel, 
Mediterranean. The dust contained about 33 per cent. of 
doubly refractive grains, composed chiefly of carbonates of cal- 
cium, magnesium, and iron, After treatment with hydrochloric 
acid, the insoluble residue was for the most part without in- 
fluence on polarised light, and consisted mainly of silicate of 
alumina (clay), with a little organic matter ; only a few angular 
grains of quartz, and one or two very strongly refractive and 
doubly refractive grains, probably of iron, were observed in 
this insoluble residue. The dust was thus of the nature of an 
argillaceous and calcareous sand, and may have been carried 
by wind from the north of Africa. In his report, Mr. Prior 
NO. 1548, VOL. 60] 
remarks :—‘‘ An account by C. V. John, with analysis of fine 
brown dust which fell in Hungary in February 1896, will be 
found in Verh. Geol. Reichsanst. (ix., 1896, pp. 259-64). This 
dust, like the above, was characterised by the almost total ab- 
sence of quartz, and by the presence of grains of transparent 
amorphous clay material. It differed from the above, however, 
in not containing any large amount of carbonates. The simi- 
larity in chemical composition of this Hungarian dust with that 
of Nile mud is pointed out, and the suggestion is made that 
the dust may have been derived from Egypt.” 
Dr. Morre, naturalist, 13 rue Royale, Lyons, informs us 
that the'family of a deceased collector have an egg of the Great 
Auk (Alea tmpennis) among other ornithological objects they 
desire to sell. 
A FEW interesting facts with regard to the kea, or sheep- 
eating parrot, of New Zealand are related in the July number 
of the ZLezsure Hour by Dr. F. Truby King. The intense 
curiosity of these birds is stated to be sufficient to account for 
the habit of eating sheep acquired bythem. Dr. King thinks 
it is probably a mistake to suppose that the kea designedly 
makes at once for the kidney fat of the sheep upon which it 
has pounced. It eats into various parts of the body, though 
perhaps more often into the region of the kidney, as it is there 
that the kea gets the firmest stand on the back of the running 
sheep. This view is strengthened by the fact that the bird 
prefers double-fleeced sheep—that is, such as have remained a 
whole season unshorn, on which it obtains a firmer grip. 
IN an article on the Gold Measures of Nova Scotia (Canadian 
Mining Inst., March), Mr. E. R. Faribault remarks that 
the workable deposits of free gold are confined to the meta- 
morphic rocks of the Atlantic coast, and occupy an area of 
about 5000 square miles. The gold-bearing rocks are intersected 
by dykes and large masses of granite which have no connection 
with the auriferous veins. It is observed, however, that all the 
rich veins and the large bodies of low grade quartz, with few 
exceptions, follow the planes of stratification, and occur at well- 
defined points along the anticlinal axes of the folds. The rocks 
are regarded as of Lower Cambrian age. 
Dr. HEPITEs, director of the Meteorological Institute o: 
Roumania, has communicated to Cze/ ef Terre of March I an 
interesting summary of the climatology of the Roumanian coast 
of the Black Sea. Thanks to the observations persistently made 
by the European Commission of the Danube, there is an un- 
interrupted series of observations for twenty-two years at 
Soulina and another series of thirteen years at Constantza, made 
under the superintendence of the institute. The temperature of 
the air at both these places is nearly similar; the yearly mean 
at the latter place is 518. The highest shade temperature was 
97°°2 in July, and the lowest —5°°3 in January. The extreme 
temperatures recorded in other parts of Roumania are 108° at 
Giurgevo in July 1896, and —32°*r in January 1893. The rain- 
fall on the coast is comparatively small, the average annual 
amount at Constantza is 15°7 inches. It is very seldom that the 
rainfall in any one year exceeds 20 inches; at Soulina during 
the last thirty years it has twice exceeded 23 inches. Rain falls 
on an average on 76 days in the year, and is spread fairly equally 
throughout all the months ; snow falls on an average during 12 
days in the year. 
THE thirteenth volume (for 1897) of the Axalele of the 
Meteorological Institute of Roumania has recently been pub- 
lished. In his annual report, the director, Dr. S.C. Hepites, 
who is now retiring after thirty years of service to the State, 
gives a history of the meteorological service during the first 
thirteen years of its working. In 1883 there were only three 
