June 14, 1877] 



NATURE 



i^.i 



like this leads one \o hope that a fair future is yet in store for 

 Spain. 



It is probable that the Sixth Congress of Russian Naturalists 

 will not be held this year, the Government not having granted a 

 sum of money for the expenses of the Congress, and private help 

 being unlikely to be forthcoming on account of the war. 



The fifth session of the International Congress of the Medical 

 Sciences will be held at Geneva, from September 9 to 15. In 

 connection with the Congress there will be an exhibition of new 

 apparatus and instruments used in medicine, surgery, physiology, 

 &c. Articles for exhibition should be sent free of all charges to 

 the "Direction de I'Exposition du Congres Medical ; Dr. J. L. 

 Reverdin, place du Lac, Geneva." Intending exhibitors should 

 intimate before August 15 what space they are likely to require. 



We hope shortly to give an account of the proceedings which 

 took place in connection with the recent Gauss centenary 

 celebration. We may here state that the festival speech was 

 delivered by Prof. Dr. Sommer, that a sketch for a monument 

 by the Berlin sculptor, Schaefer, was exhibited in the Festival 

 Hall, and that his Majesty, the Emperor of Germany, was a 

 contributor to the Memorial Fund. The following pamphlets 

 have appeared: — " Briefe zwischen A. von Humboldt und 

 Gauss. Herausgegeben von Dr. K. Bruhns ;" "Gauss. Ein 

 Umriss seines Lebens und Wirkens. Von F. A. T. Winnecke;" 

 " Uber die Anzahl der Ideal-Classen in den verschiedenen 

 Ordnungen eines cndlichen Kbrpers. Von R. Dedekind." The 

 committee also intend to publish an account of Gauss's relations 

 with Brunswick. 



Francb appears to be becoming more and more anxious to 

 do honour to her science worthies by the erection of statues. A 

 statue to Arago is being erected at Perpignan, in the department 

 of Orientales Pyrenees. Another to Niepce de .Saint-Victor, a 

 name well known in connection with improvements in photo, 

 graphy, will be erected at Chalons, his native place, by public 

 subscription, at the instance of the Municipal Council of the city. 

 It is also stated that a public subscription will be opened at 

 Lyons on behalf of Ampere, the inventor of the electro-magnet, 

 and the precursor of Faraday in the invention of the inductive 

 electricity. Ampere was bom in that city in 1775, and his 

 father was guillotined there on the Place des Terraux for having 

 been active in the great royalist rebellion against the Convention^ 

 which ended in the famous siege of Lyons and his capture by 

 Dubois-Crance. 



At the usual fortnightly meeting of the Royal Geographical 

 Society on Monday, a paper on " Journeys up the Niger and 

 Notes on the Neighbouring Countries," by Bishop Crowther, was 

 read. The paper, which dealt with the journeys of Bishop 

 Crowther in Western Africa, between 1841 and 1871, described 

 the character of the liver Niger, the villages of the natives upon 

 its banks, the tribes scattered about the neighbouring countries, 

 &c. It was remarked that the actual extent of the delta of the 

 liver was still uncertain, but the lecturer inclined to the opinion 

 that the affluents of the river, and particularly the Benuwe, on 

 the south bank, if traced to their source would lead to a rich 

 field of discovery. What might be called the delta of the river 

 was a vast tract of marshy country extending along a coast line 

 of 120 miles, and probably in parts some 150 miles in breadth. 

 In the course of the journey of some 700 miles no less than 

 thirteen tribes, speaking as many ditferent languages, were met 

 with. Ten of the tribes appeared to be of the same family, and 

 might be classed as aboriginal. The Housas were a tribe spread 

 in the widest direction, and the territory in which their language 

 was spoken appeared to be more considerable than any in Africa. 

 It was a beautiful language, and had become to Africa what 

 French is to Europe. The other important language of that part 



of Africa was the Fulah. The Filanis were a remarkable people 

 who had conquered extensive parts far to the south of the river 

 Benuwe. Dr. Barth stated that he had been told by natives of the 

 interior that in bygone d.iys an ancient kingdom called Ghanata 

 had existed. The trade routes which meet the Egga on the 

 Niger were important ; the chief came from the north, from 

 Tripoli, across the Sahara, with European produce on camels to 

 the Nupe kingdom, where it was distributed in the neigh- 

 bouring countries. It has been resolved by the Church Mission- 

 ary Society to send out a small steamer, drawing only three feet 

 of water, to push further into the interior, and afford assistance 

 to Bishop Crowther to carry the missionary work more com- 

 pletely among the natives. 



A Museum of Science and Arts has been established at St. 

 Louis, U.S. 



We are glad to learn that the experiments with Jablochkoff's 

 Electric Light are to be repeated at the West India Dock to- 

 morrow evening. We hope all will go well and fairly on this 

 occasion so as to allow a real test to be made of the practical 

 utility of the mvention. 



An Italian optician established in Paris has constructed a very 

 sensitive metallic thermometer on a new principle. The dila- 

 tions of a small sheet of platinised silver are amplified by means 

 of a system of levers, and the motion is communicated to a needle 

 on a dial, on which degrees are marked. The motion of the 

 needle is almost instantaneous. The apparatus has been tested 

 in the "Ville de Paris," a new balloon sent up on June 3 at 

 Paris. 



The St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists has intrusted Pro- 

 fessors Fr. Schmidt and Inostrantseff with a geological explo- 

 ration of the Valley of the Neva, from Schliisselburg down to 

 the Finnish Gulf. From the interest possessed by the glacial 

 accumulations in this valley, as well as the qualifications of both 

 professors for this special subject, we may expect much new light 

 on the question of the glaciation of Northern Russia. 



The Turkestan Gazette gives the latest news from M. Prshe- 

 valsky, dated from Lob Nor, February 22. After having 

 reached this lake by the valley of the Lower Tarim, M. Prshe- 

 valsky advanced 130 miles east of the lake. The survey and 

 the astronomical measurements of latitudes and longitudes he 

 has made give a totally new aspect to the map of the country. 

 The population on the banks of the Tarim and around the Lob 

 Nor is very sparse ; the people speak almost the same language 

 as that of Eastern Turkestan. The flora and fauna of the locality 

 are very poor ; some vegetation is found only in the Tarim valley, 

 the neighbourhood being a true desert. Duiing February and 

 March M, Prshevalsky was to stay in the Lower Tarim, during 

 May at Yuldus, and during June at Kunghes. About the begin- 

 ning of July he proposes to return to Kuldsha to begin in 

 August his journey to the Tibet. 



The Gardener'' s Chronicle learns that it is proposed to erect at 

 Ootacamund, in the Neilgherry Hills, a statue of the late Mr. 

 Maclvor, to whom the successful cultivation of Cinchona on 

 those Indian slopes is so pre-eminently due. 



We see from the Report of the Auckland (New Zealand) In- 

 stitute for 1875-7, that that society is in a flourishing con- 

 dition, and that during the year thirteen papers on subjects of 

 scientific importance in connection with the Colony were read. 

 About a year ago a fine new museum was opened, the cost of 

 building having been 4,000/., halt of which was raised by private 

 subscription and half obtained as a grant from the New Zealand 

 Government. 



At a recent meeting of the St. Petersburg Technical So- 

 ciety, M. Chikolef made an interesting communication as to 



