CoLoneL Browne and Mr. Simmons have decided to attempt 
balloon journey across the Channel from Canterbury, on 
March 2, or as soon after that date as the wind permits. 
_ THE Mineralogical Museum of the Florence Institute for 
Superior Studies has become possessed of two remarkably fine 
-specimens of tourmaline and beryl from the granite vein of San 
‘Fiero, in Campo in Elba. These are represented by chromo- 
lithograph plates in the Rivista Scientifico-Industriale (January 
15). The one granitic piece, 30 cm. long, and 18 cm. broad, 
has 50 tourmalines (mostly of bottle-green colour) implanted in 
it, all of large size (some 62 mm. long and 12 mm, thick) ; there 
are also two beryls and a small crystal of zircon, The other 
-specimen is larger, measuring 40 cm. by 20 cm. ; it has 132 tour. 
-malines, 9 beryls, and 3 zircon groups, besides a large quantity 
_of orthoclase, quartz, and albite crystals. 
A NEW feature of the journal just named is the addition of 
“summaries, in French, German, and English, of the papers in 
“that portion of the review called the ‘‘ Giornale del Naturalista.” 
“The English, we may remark, is of a somewhat entertaining 
‘mature, 
__ AWN ascent was made from the La Villette Gasworks, Paris, on 
Thursday, February 9, with the Ved/can balloon. The balloon 
having ascended to an altitude of 3000 feet, the thermometer, ex- 
-posed in the sun, showed a temperature of 20° C., and the reading 
was published in the_Vil/e de Paris and other papers of the roth, 
It has elicited some astonishment, the weather being rather cold 
-andcloudy. But on the 11th the grass thermometer of Mont- 
souris Observatory exhibited a temperature of 17° C., and a 
total change of weather was observed. Kain fell in the night of 
the 11th-12th for the first time after a space of thirty-five con- 
tinuous days of uninterrupted and unprecedented dryness, The 
navigation of the Seine had become difficult owing to the low 
level of the water. During this extraordinary period the electro- 
meter of Montsouris gave without any interruption low readings, 
and with the exception of a very few instances it had been always 
positive, although the weather had been foggy for twenty-two 
days. 
AT the annual general meeting of the Teachers’ Training and 
Registration Society, and of the Bishopsgate Training College 
the other day, Prof. Goldwin Smith took laudable advan- 
jtage of the opportunity to impress on those present what 
‘Science teaching really means. ‘‘In respect of the teaching of 
science,” he said, ‘‘he had constantly brought before him the 
wide gulf fixed between the two different kinds of what persons 
all knowledge. The one was a mere learning to repeat a 
sverbal proposition, and the other was knowing the subject at 
first hand—a knowledge based upon a knowledge of the facts. 
‘That which they had constantly to contend against in the teach- 
ing of science in this country was that teachers had no concep- 
tion of that distinction, for they thought it quite sufficient to be 
able to repeat a number of scientific propositions and to get their 
pupils to repeat them as accurately as they themselves did. If 
he might offer one suggestion to the governing body of the 
college, it was that so far as they taught science at all they 
should aim at giving real and practical scientific instruction ; 
that it should be confined to those things about which there was 
no dispute ; and that the teacher should be instructed that his 
business in teaching was to convey clear and yivid impressions 
of the body of facts upon which the conclusions drawn from 
those facts were based.” 
UNDER the auspices of the Dundee Naturalists’ Society, a 
Gilchrist Course of Science Lectures for the People, is now being 
delivered in Dundee, Perth, Brechin, Montrose, and Kirkcaldy ; 
and in several instances the audiences have only been limited by 
the size of the lecture-halls. At Dundee and Perth, Mr. Wm. 
NATURE 
373 
Lant Carpenter’s lectures on the Transmission of Power by 
Electricity were practically illustrated (1) by the Northern 
Electric Light and Power Company, and (2) by Messrs. Pullar, 
of the Perth Dye-works, who employ ten dynamos for electric 
lighting. 
ATTENTION has recently been drawn to the commercial value 
of the Quillaia Tree (Quillaya saponaria), a native of Chile, the 
bark of which has been known for a considerable time both in 
this country and on the Continent, for the saponaceous principle 
which it contains. In consequence of the trees having been cut 
down to obtain the bark there is much reason to fear that the 
supply may fail, particularly if the demand increases. Quillaia 
bark, it seems, is very extensively used by wool and silk manu- 
facturers both in this country and in France, in consequence of 
its efficacy as a powerful cleansing agent. Our contemporary, 
the Colonies and India, in drawing attention to this tree, remarks 
‘*that a decoction prepared by placing a small piece of this bark 
and soaking it overnight in water will remove in a minute or two 
grease from articles of clothing and leave the cloth clean and 
fresh as if it was new. It may also be used for cleansing hair- 
brushes and other similar purposes, under conditions in which 
soap and other alkalies are powerless. It is also suitable for a 
hair-wash, and is said to be largely used by French hairdressers, 
though the mode of preparation is kept secret. Such a tree 
ought to be invaluable in Australia, New Zealand, Cape Colony, 
and other colonies where wool growing is a staple industry.” 
Among the uses to which this bark is put may be mentioned tha 
of a preparation for giving an artificial froth or head to ales, 
a very small quantity put into beer that has become dead 
causing it to be covered with froth. The bark occurs in com- 
merce in two forms, that of irregular pieces as taken from the 
tree, and in the form of powder. 
THE Clarendon Press will publish very shortly a ‘* Treatise on 
Rivers and Canals, relating to the Control and Improvement of 
Rivers, and the Design, Construction, and Development of 
Canals,” by Mr. L. F. Vernon-Harcourt, M.A., C.E. The 
author describes the physical characteristics of rivers; the 
methods and formule for measuring their discharge; and the 
various works, structures, &c., for improving rivers and fot 
forming canals. It contains an acccunt of some of the most 
important inland canals, and descriptions of celebrated ship- 
canals. The causes and means of prevention of floods in river- 
valleys are*fully diseussed. The past and present conditions of 
several of the most important rivers at home and abroad are 
de scribed, together with the successive works of improvement 
carried out on them, and the results achieved. Each of the 
various subjects treated of is concluded by a consideration of the 
value of the different works or methods referred to, and the 
principles upon which they are based. The book is copiously 
illustrated with woodcuts and twenty-one large lithographed 
plates showing most of the works, &c., described. 
UNDER the title of ‘‘Land and Freshwater Mollusca of 
India,” Col. Godwin-Austen proposes to publish lithographed 
plates of species of land and freshwater mollusca inhabiting 
India, Burmah, and adjacent islands in the Indian Ocean. The 
plates are intended to be of the same size (quarto) as the ‘* Con- 
chologia Indica” of Messrs. Theobald and Hanley, and thus 
will form a supplement to it. It will include species not pub- 
lished in that work and the numerous species that have since 
been discovered. Many of the minute forms that have not been 
sufficiently enlarged in the above work, and which are of little 
use for identification (for example, those in the genera Alyceus, 
Diplommatina, &c.), will be reproduced. Whenever it is 
possible, drawings of the animals will be given, together with 
the anatomy of such parts as the odontophore, generative organs , 
&c., which it is hoped will lead eventually to a better classifica - 
