. 
518 
dangerous delays which occurred in granting licenses to the late 
poisoning case tried at the Old Bailey. The society proposed to 
bz formed could, on the one hand, will bring its influence to bear 
t> restrain those ardent pursuers of science who did not regard 
the susceptibilities of the public, and, on the other, it could 
enlighten ths public, and so lessen the mor’id sensibilities which 
had been aroused. He then proposed that the society should be 
formed ; the motion was supported by the Master of the Rolls, 
who wished ‘*God speel” to those enga:ed in research for the 
alleviation of hnnan suffering. The motion was cirried xem. 
con, The presilent of the Royal Society, Mr. Spottiswoode, 
seconded by Dr. Quain, proposed that the association should be 
formed of representative members of the profes ion and others, 
and this was carried. Sir James Paget, Sir William Gull, Sir 
Risdon Bennett, Sir J. Lubbock, and others proposed and sup- 
ported resolutions on matters of detail, 
Ir is probable that the Obszrvatory of Popalar Astronomy 
established by a decree of M. Paul Bert i1 the Trocadero Palace, 
Paris, will be transferred into a general institute for popular 
education. The appointments gazetted by M. Paul Bert on the 
very day on which he left the Minis'ry will be declared void, 
and other appointments are to take place t» meet the require- 
ments of the enlarged institution, Since he resigned his seat in 
the Cabinet, M. Barthelemy St. Hilaire has resumed his great 
work of translating Aristotle. Up to the time of his appoint- 
ment twenty-four volumes had been published by him. The 
matter in hand will fill not less than twenty-six volumes, and is 
mo tly confined to the natural history. Two volumes on the 
Habits of Animals will be pubiished before the end of the year, 
and the others are to follow ia quick succession. The last 
volumes will be devoted to Problemata and Fragmenta. A 
copious index will be the crowning part of this magnificent 
publication. 
AT the meeting of the Royal Dublin Society, held on the 29th 
inst., Prof. Hull, F.R.S., laid before the ‘‘ Natural Science Sec- 
tion” a series of 28 maps of the British Isles and the adj ining 
parts of the European continent, to which he has given the name of 
Palzo-geological and Geographical Map:. With the ex eption 
of the last three of the series, the maps arein duplicate. On one 
is represented by colour the position of each geol gical forma- 
tion (or group of formations), and by a lighter shade of the sa ne 
colour is shown the area under which this formati n is considered 
to extend beneath more recent strata. On the corresponding 
duplicate an attempt is made to restore the ‘‘ palao-geography ” 
of the period represented by the formation in question—the land 
being represented by shades of brown, the sea by thoxe of blue, 
acco-ding to the heights in one case, and the depths in the other. 
The formations treated in this manner are: 1, the Laurentian ; 
2, the Cambrian ; 3, the Lower Siluria1; 4, the Up er Silurian 
anil Devono-Silurian (or Lower Old Red Sand tone); 5, the 
Devonian ; 6, the Old Red Sandstone and Lower Carboniferous ; 
7, the Upper Carboniferous ; 8, the Permian ; 9, the Trias ; 10, 
the Lias and Oolite (Jurassic); 11, the Cretaceous; 12, the 
Tertiary (Eocene and Miocene); 13, the Po-t-Pliocene or 
Glacial, in three maps. The above grouping was found to be 
the most convenient for repre-entation, and the colours use! for 
the formations are those of the Geological Survey. Some very 
interesting results are brought out respecting the physiography 
of past geological times, including the probable position of the 
old continent of Atlantis, which the author cons‘ders to have 
existed in Laurentian, Cambrian, and Lower Silurian epochs, 
The recent borings for coal, or water, under the Cretaceous and 
other strata of the soath and centre of England, have enabled 
the author to show with much precision the structure of these 
districts ; and he places a possible coal-basin under the margin 
of the North Downs and the Wealden area, thus agreeing with 
the views long since stated by Mr, Godwin- Austen, 
NATURE 
peg ee on eg ee a aki s 
(March 30, 1882 
V1ENNA is to have its Exhibition of Electricity in the coming 
autumn. A committee has been formed, under the presidency 
of Count Hans Wilczek. The Board of Trade has offered the 
committee every support, . 
Cot. BURNABY made a successful balloon trip across the 
Channel on Thursday last. He was alone, and had a large 1yad 
of ballast, by judicions expenditure of which he was able to avail 
himself of favourable air-currents. He left Dover at 10.35 a.m., 
and came to ground abut eighteen miles beyond Dieppe late in the 
afterno0., Tlis greatest altitude seems to have been 11,000 feet. 
A RECENT number of the Celestial Empire, referring to a 
di-covery of some ancient graves near Shanghai, gives an inter- 
esting accyunt of Chinese burial in former times, A man of 
means purchased his coffin when he reached the age of forty. 
He would then have it painted three times every year with a 
species of varnish, mixed wih pulverised porcelain—a composi- 
tion which resembled a silicate paint or enamel. The process 
by which this varnish was made has now been lost to the Chinese. 
Each coating of this paint was of some thickness, and when 
dried hal a metallic firmness resembling enamel. Frequent 
coats of this, if the owner lived long, caused the coffin to assume 
the appearance of a sarcophagus, with a foot or more in thick- 
ness of this hard, stone-like shell. After death the veins and 
the cavities of the stomach were filled with quicksilver fer the 
purpose of preserving the body. A piece of jade would then 
be placed in each no tril and ear, and in one hand, while a piece 
of bar silver would be placed inthe other hand. The body thus 
prepared was placed on a layer of mercury within the coffin ; the 
latter was sealed, and the whole then commit ed to its last 
resting-place. When some of these sarcophagi were opened 
after the lapse of centuries, the bodies were found in a wonderful 
state of preservation; but they crambled to du-t on exposure to 
the air. The writer well observes that the employment of 
mercury by the Chinese of past dynasties for the purpo-e of 
preserving bodies ought to form an interesting subject for 
consideration and discussion in connection with the history of 
embalmi ig and “ mummy making.” 
THE return of works licensed to be printed during the past 
two years by the Japane-e Department of the Interior is of much 
interest as showing the tendency of the minds of educated people 
of the country. The figures show that considerable mental 
activity exists in the country. Last year 545 works on political 
subjects were issued, again-t 281 the previous year. Law was 
represente | by 255 works against 207 in 1880; while in political 
econony the numbers were 25 ard 15 respectively. Geographical 
works declined from 170 in 1880 to 164 in 1881 ; while in medi- 
cine the increase was from 229 to 267. In scientific subjects we 
find 25 works on chemistry, and 22 on natural history in 1889, 
reduced 17 and 20 respectively in 1881. Natural philosophy 
al-o shows a decline from 19 t» 13; so do mathematics from 
116 to 107. Similarly works on astronomy have declined from 
9 in 1880 to 7 in 1881. In other classes of book-, however, we 
find a great increave.” Ethical and moral works have increased 
from 32 to 93; historical works from 196 to 276; books on 
poetry and poetical works from 491 to 556; books on drawing 
and writing from 127 to 339. Engineering works have increased 
from 8 to 28; and books on commerce from 70 to 113. School- 
books again this year are nearly half as numerous as all other 
books put together, numbering 704 against 707 last year. Lighter 
literature is by no means neglected, for 193 volumes of tales, 
novels, &c., were published during 1881. During the year 149 
new newspapers started, but the large proportion of 114 never 
saw thé commencement of the present year. In 1880 the publi- 
cation of 266 new journal: commenced, 47 of which soon 
succumbed. The operation of the press laws cannot be very 
stringent, when we find that during two years, of 415 newspapers, 
ee 
