June 14, 1877] 



]^A TURE 



133 



lowing insects : — The gooseberry span-worm (Eufitchia ribeayia, 

 Fitch), the imported currant worm {Nematusventrkosus, Klug.), 

 the native currant worm {Prhtiphora grossular!a:, Walsh), the 

 strawberry worm (Emphytus maciilalus, Norton), Abbot's white 

 pine worm {Lop/iyna abbotii. Leach), and LeConte's pine worm 

 {Lophyrin le contci. Fitch). There is an account of the progress 

 of the Colorado beetle, the army worm, the wheat-head army 

 worm, and the Rocky Mountain locust. 



Muscular contraction, it is known, is always accompanied 

 with electric phenomejia ; the difference of electric potential 

 between two points of a muscle, undergoes a diminution, which> 

 according to Bernstein, precedes by about i^-j of a second, the 

 contraction of the muscle. This electric variatwn has been 

 observed on various muscles, and in particular on the heart {by 

 Du Bois Reymond and Kuhne), and recently M. Marey has 

 represented it graphically by photographing the indications of a 

 Lippmann capillary electrometer. We learn from the Journal 

 lie Physique, that M. De la Roche has tried the experiment on 

 the heart of a living man. Two points of the epidermis of the 

 chest were connected with the poles of a capillary electrometer, 

 by means of electrodes, formed each of a bar of amalgamated 

 zinc, with a plug of muslin at its lower end saturated with sul- 

 phate of zinc. Held with insulating handles, the bars were 

 applied, one with its plug opposite the point of the heart, under 

 the left nipple, and the other to another point of the chest. The 

 mercurial column was then seen to execute a series of very 

 distinct periodical pulsations synchronous with the pulse ; each 

 pulsation even marked the double movement of the heart (of the 

 auricles and ventricles). The amplitude corresponded to about 

 TuW Daniell. 



We have received from Perthes of Gotha a special map o' 

 Eastern Turkey, by Dr. Petermann, so full of details that for the 

 war operations on and beyond the Danube, should the Russians 

 succeed in crossing, we know of no better. 



A Russian work, by M. Bogolubsky, on Gold and Gold 

 Mining in Russia, is worthy of notice. It contains very 

 interesting information upon that industry in Russia and 

 Siberia. We observe that the area of gold mines occu- 

 pies in the Russian empire about 2,100,000 square miles, and 

 now yields yearly about So.ooolbs. of gold, in value upwards of 

 3,000,000/. sterling. The total amount of gold produced in 

 Russia since 175 J has been upwards of 2, 503,000 lbs. 



A VERY thorough and exhaustive investigation of the Alaska 

 region may now be expected, through the agency of Mr. E. W. 

 Nelson, a well-known naturalist, who has lately proceeded to 

 Norton Sound, by way of Alaska, to relieve Mr. Turner. He 

 has been provided with the necessary outfit by the Smithsonian 

 Institution, and will probably greatly increase the amount of our 

 knowledge of that interesting country. 



We have received from Mr. Stanford "Botanical Tables for 

 the Use of Junior Students," by Miss Arabella B. Buckley. 

 There are two tables — one of some common terms used in de- 

 scribing plants, and the other a table of the chief natural orders 

 of British plants, arranged according to Bentham and Oliver. 

 Both tables are well arranged, and seem to us well calculated 

 to serve the purpose for which they are intended. 



M. Meguin has lately been making important researches on 

 Acarians, and on that strange asexual form called Hypopes, a 

 form which is not absolutely necessary for reproduction, but 

 which seems to occur under certain biological conditions, for the 

 indefinite conservation of the species. In the aerial reservoirs of 

 birds, especially Gallinace.T?, there breeds an inoffensive species, 

 which M. Meguin calls A'ytoJiles ^laber, which sends colonies even 

 into the bronchial branches, and into the marrowless bones oi th« 

 limbs in communication with the air vessels in birds. Another 



harmless acarian is found in the cellular tissue of birds living 

 and dying there, and persisting after death, surrounded hy a 

 calcareous tubercle, A third species, which lives normally 

 between the barbs of the feathers, produces at the time of moult- 

 ing, and in the skin of the birds, especially domestic and wild 

 pigeons, a hypopial vermiform nymph. Without this precaution 

 of nature, the species would be annihilated, by] reason of the 

 fall of the feathers in the moulting season. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Lesser White-nosed Monkey (CercopHkecus 

 petaurista) from West Africa, presented by Mrs. Cleaver ; a 

 Common Buzzard {Buteo vulgaris), European, presented by Mr. 

 F. Buckland ; a Smooth Snake {Coronella Icevis) from Hamp- 

 shire, presented by Lord Lilford, F.Z. S. ; three Crested Guinea 

 Fowls {Numida cristala), two Vulturine Guinea Fowls (Ntimida 

 vulluritia) from East Africa, an Imperial Eagle (Aijuila impi- 

 rialis) from Turkey, deposited ; four Summer Ducks (Aix sponsa), 

 bred in the Gardens. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 



Oxi'ijRD. — In a Convocation held June 5, the decree autho- 

 rising the expenditure of 7,000/. on the construction and fittings 

 of new chemical laboratories at the University Museum, to 

 which we referred p. 94, was introduced by Prof. H. Smith, and 

 carried on a division by 64 against 42. 



A second proposal to grant a sum of 2,400/. for additions to the 

 University Observatory was carried on a division by 46 placets 

 to 27 non-placets. 



Tlie Trustees of the Johnson Memorial Prize for the encou- 

 ragement of the study of astronomy propose the following sub- 

 ject for an essay: — "The History of the Successive Stages of 

 our Knowledge of NebuLx', Nebulous Stars, and Star-Clusters 

 from the Time of Sir Wm. Herschel." The prize is a gold 

 medal of the value of ten guineas, with what remains of the 

 dividends of four years on 33S/., reduced annuities, after deducting 

 cost for medals, and other expenses. The essays must be sent 

 to the Registrar of the University on or before March 31, 1S79, 

 under the usual conditions. 



Cambridge. — A curatorship in the Department of Zoology 

 at the Museum of the University of Cambridge has just been 

 estabHshed by the Senate, to which Mr. J. F. Bullar, B.A., of 

 Trinity College, has been appointed. Mr. Bullar graduated in 

 the first class of the Natural Sciences Tripos of 1S75, ^"'^ ^^^ 

 been twice nominated by the University to study at tlie Zoological 

 Station at Naples, where he is at present working. 



The various special examinations for the Ordinary B. A. 

 Degree were held on Friday and Saturday week, when the total 

 numljer of candidates was 204, while at the corresponding period 

 of 1 876 the number was igo. Candidates can select one of thefol- 

 lowing subjects for this final examination, viz.. Theology, Law, 

 Modern History, Natural Sciences, Moral Sciences, Mechanism, 

 and Applied Science. The number in each branch of study is 

 as follows : — Theology, 95, Law, 31, Political Economy, 29; 

 Modern History, 24 ; Natural Sciences, 21 — viz., 13 in 

 Chemistry, 5 in Botany, 2 in Zoology, i in Geology. In 

 Mechanism and Applied Science there are four candidates. 



Mr. William Napier Shaw, B. A. , has been elected a fellow 

 of Emmanuel College. He graduated as 1 6th Wrangler in the 

 Mathematical Tripos of 1876, and obtained a first-class m the 

 Natural Sciences Tripos, 1877, being distinguished in physics. 



London. — The Council of University College have elected 

 Mr. G. D. Thane Professor of Anatomy for two years. 



DoRPAT. — The Annual Report of the Dorpat University 

 for 1875, gives the number of students at the University as 

 S15, of whom 86 study theology, 173 jurisprudence, 121 history 

 and philology, 363 medicine, and 72 physics and mathematics. 

 The number of professors is 67. The library of the University 

 numbers 138,924 volumes. 



Rugby School Natural History Society. — The Report 

 of this Society for 1876, shows that it is in a "fairly healthy 

 condition," to use the words of the preface. A considerable 



