Nov. 17, 1881} 
: 
NATURE 
63 
THE Pesth correspondent of the Daily News, telegraphing on 
the night of the 9th inst., states that Agram has again ex- 
perienced a violent shock of earthquake. Shocks of earthquake, 
sufficiently severe to occasion considerable alarm, were felt at 
_ Chateau d’Oex, Canton Vaud, on Wednesday night and Thurs- 
day morning last week, The second of the shocks, which appear 
_ to have been altogether local, was accompanied by loud rumblings. 
There were three slight earthquake shocks in various parts of 
Switzerland last month, all local, and affecting only a very 
limited area, The first occurred at Monthey, in the Valais, on 
October 14 ; the second at Berne, on October 17; and the third 
_ at Ziirich, on October 27. A violent earthquake was felt on 
October 27 at 10,30 p.m. in the northern part of the canton of 
Ziirich. On the same day at 4.30 a.m. a slight shock was felt 
at Cilli and several other places in Styria. 
THE death is announced of Dr. Eduard Simon Heine, Pro- 
fessor at Halle University, an eminent mathematician. He died 
at Halle on October 24 last. 
WE regret to announce the death of Dr, Carl Arendts of 
Munich, a well-known geographer, and founder of the Geo- 
graphical Society of that city. Dr. Arendts died at Possenhofen 
on October 11, aged sixty-seven years. He was the author of 
numerous standard works, and editor of the excellent Deutsche 
Rundschau fiir Geographie und Statistik, which has just com- 
menced its fourth volume. 
Our readers are aware that Dr. Kobelt visited North Africa 
and Spain last spring, by the assistance of the Riippell Institu- 
tion of Frankfort, in order to investigate the molluscous fauna 
of the two countries, as well as to gather evidence bearing upon 
the question how far the land-connection between the two 
countries extended in bygone ages. He now reports that it 
may safely be assumed that the connection was not confined to 
the Straits of Gibraltar, but extended at least as far as the 
meridian of Oran and Cartagena, Dr, Kobelt will publish the 
detailed results of his investigations in the malacozoological 
journal, of which he is the editor. 
THE Gotha Natural History Society will arrange an exhibition 
of natural history aid geographical objects from November 20 
to December 20, The Duke of Saxe-Coburg Gotha has lent the 
Society a suite of rooms in the Castle for this purpose. 
A TUNNEL through the Col de Somport, near the Pic du Midi, 
in the Pyrenees, is the next large engineering work which will 
be undertaken in France. It will shorten the railway distance 
between Paris and Madrid by 100 kilométres, the Spanish line 
passing by way of Ayerbe, Caldearenas, Jaca, and Confranc, 
leading on the French side into the Gave de Aspe valley and 
Oleron. 
WE have before us the prospectus of a new entomological 
monthly journal, to be styled the Wzener entomologische Zeitung, 
of which the first part is to appear at the beginning of 1882, 
each part to consist of a sheet and a half of text, large 8vo. The 
editors are Ludwig Ganglbauer, Dr, Franz Low, Prof. Josef 
Mik, Edmund Reitter, and Fritz Wachtl, all of Vienna, and it 
will be published by Alfred Holder of that city. With so strong 
a staff it should prove a success. In s me respects it is intended 
as a successor to the for many years defunct Wiener entomolo- 
gisches Monatsschrift. 
Mr. LEo LEsQUEREUX, we learn from the Harvard Library 
Bulletin, No. 3, has made a preliminary Report on the Plants of 
the Dakota Group collected by Mr. Sternberg for the Museum 
of Comparative Zoology (to be published in the A/useum 
Bulletin), He says the collection is valuable in regard to the 
data it furnishes in confirmation of, or contradiction to, some of 
the general conclusions derived from the examination of the 
materials formerly described from this peculiar Cretaceous flora. 
For example, the disconnection of the flora of the Dakota group 
from that of the older zones—those of the Jurassic times—does 
not appear now so positive as formerly, or as it was indicated in 
the Cretaceous Flora Reports of Hayden’s Survey. On the 
other side, the disconnection of the Cretaceous flora from that ot 
the Lower Tertiary appears now still more evident, as the new 
species do not indicate any affinity with the plants of the Laramie 
group, which is positively Eocene by its types. Mr. Lesquereux 
is inclined to explain the distribution of the fossil plauts of this 
group over small areas, as showing that the trees apparently 
grew around small hillocks or dry surfaces of land disseminated 
in wide lagoons. If derived from distant shores the leaves 
should be more or less mixed, while a comparison of the different 
localities shows that the fossil leaves were derived from trees 
grown in the places where they are now found fossil. 
THE complete annihilation of Elm, according to the Geneva 
correspondent of the Daily News, appears to be now only a 
question of time and a little bad weather. At the request of the 
Government, Prof. Heim has just made another inspection of 
the Tschingel. He finds the work of disintegration proceeding 
much more rapidly than he expected. The entire summit of the 
Risikopp, the peak nearest Elm, is in movement, and its fall is 
not likely to be long delayed. It may miss the village, but the 
chance is very remote. The inhabitants remain meanwhile in 
their houses, which they have not to quit until the sentinels who 
are watching on the mountain warn them that danger is 
imminent. 
In Japan, according to a recent return, there are in all 159 
hospitals where the patients are treated on the principles of 
western medicine. Thirty-five of these are private institutions 
in the sense that they recetve no government aid, while twelve 
are naval or military hospitals. The remainder are scattered 
throughout the country; but they are said to be, in the remote 
districts, in a very crude condition. Vaccination, which is 
compulsory, is performed gratis everywhere, A law prohibit- 
ing the practice of physic or surgery by any except persons 
holding certificates of permission has recently been passed, A 
large school of medicine, with German professors, has been 
established for the past eight or ten years in the capital. 
At Nagy-Look (Hungary) the remains of a two-wheeled 
Roman car were lately discovered, with the skeletons of two 
horses attached to it. The objects are believed to date from the 
third century, and the 1 lace where they were found to have been 
the tomb of the owner. All the parts of the carriage are of most 
exquisite workmanship. 
THE Russian Government intend to construct a canal between 
the Dnjepr and Diina Rivers, the Orschitsa, a tributary of the 
Dnjepr, to form a part of the canal, The distance by water te- 
tween the Euxine and the Baltic would thus be shortened by 415 
versts. 
A RouMANIAN mechanic, Traiano Feodoresen, recently sub- 
mitted to the Chamber at Bucharest a project of a submarine 
vessel, and after examination of this by a committee the 
Government was authorised to meet the expense of construction. 
The vessel is to be capable of moving under water, at a depth of 
30 metres, for twelve hours, without requiring renewal of air. 
Steam is the motor, and the speed is quicker than that of sailing 
vessels, The vessel is simply sunk by opening certain valves, 
but return to the surface requires more complex operations, An 
electric light will render objects distinguishable at 30 or 4° 
metres, For renewal of air it is not necessary that the vessel 
rise to the surface; an apparatus can be sent up, which, by 
actuating a pump, forces air into suitable receivers. 
