July id, 1877] 



NATURE 



259 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 



Berlin. — No small degree of excitement has been caused in 

 the university circles of Germany by the expulsion of a Privat- 

 docent, Dr. Diihring, from the University of Berlin, not only on 

 account of the great rarity of the occurrence, but on account of the 

 circumstances leading to the act. Dr. Diihring, who has suffered 

 from blindness since the commencement of his pedagogic duties 

 in 1S65, has developed, notwithstanding, a remarkable degree of 

 mental activity in a variety of directions, issuing works on 

 political economy, metaphysics, mathematical physics, &c. , and 

 attracting a numerous auditory by the radical and unfettered 

 character of his utterances on these subjects. His unsparing 

 denunciation of the more shadowy side of German universities, 

 the system practically in vogue with regard to the appointment 

 of professors, &c., has induced a somewhat wide-spread feeling of 

 bitterness towards him, which has led to an accusation before 

 the university based on the unmeasured personal criticism of his 

 colleagues, especially Prof. Helmholtz, in lately issued works. 

 The expulsion has led to the holding of meetings and issuing of 

 addresses by the more radical portion of the students, who regard 

 the section of the Prussian constitution, " die Wissenschaft und 

 ihre Lehre ist frei " as endangered ; and the whole affair has led 

 to a thorough ventilation of the condition of the universities in 

 the press of the empire. 



Russia. — The Russian Government expends 2, 140,000 roubles 

 (over 3oo,cxx)/.) on its seven universities, of which sum the 

 Moscow University receives the most — 425,000 roubles. 



Salaries of German Professors. — From a recent state- 

 ment with regard to the salaries in the Berlin University, we 

 notice that the two well-known professors of chemistry and 

 physics receive each 1,500/. independent of the lecture receipts, 

 while 900/. is the salary of a number of other leading professors. 

 These figures are, however, much above the corresponding ones 

 of other German universities. 



Strassburg. — According to an imperial order the University 

 receives in the future the title " Kaiser Wilhelms Universitiit. " 

 The present attendance— 658— shows for the first time since the 

 re-establishment of the University a decrease in the number of 

 students. The faculty embraces 106 professors and privat- 

 docenten. The large anatomical laboratory is approaching 

 completion. 



Tl'BINgen. — The present number of students in attendance 

 on the University amounts to i, 103, the largest number attained 

 since its foundation. Extensive preparations are being made for 

 the celebration in August of the 400th year of its existence. 



Zurich. — The, University has at present an attendance of 

 324, of which the majority are in the medical faculty. Of the 

 seventeen female students fourteen study medicine and three 

 philosophy. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The Qiu-.rterly Journal of Microscopic Scienceiox July contains 

 several articles of special interest. First is the fourth part of 

 Mr. Archer's rcmmt' of recent contributions to our knowledge of 

 "Fresh-water Rhizopoda," in which Lccythiuni hyalinum, 

 Chlamidophrys stercorea, Platoum parviim, Gromia paiudosa,a.-ni 

 Cyphoderia truncala are described and figured. — Following is an 

 abstract of Mr. E. C. Baber's researches on the lymphatics and 

 parenchyma of the thyroid gland of the dog, with illustrations, 

 published at length in the Philosophical Transactious. — Dr. 

 Watney also, from the same Transactions, gives, with a plate, 

 an account of his study of the minute anatomy of the alimentary 

 canal. — Dr. Angelo Andres describes and figures a new genus 

 and species of Zoanthina Malacoderma'a (Fanceria spongiosa). 

 — Prof. Franz Boll follows with his "Contributions to the 

 Physiology of Vision, and of the Sensation of Colour." — Mr. A. 

 Saiig>ter has observations on the muscular coat of sweat glands, 

 in which it is shown that the epithelium of the gland rests directly 

 upon the muscle surrounding it. — Dr. Klein contributes a paper 

 on the minute anatomy of the omentum, describing certain bud- 

 like structures occurring on the fenestrated portion, the method 

 of production of the fenestrie, and some points in the formation 

 of the blood-vessels. — Mr. F. Darwin writes on the protrusion 

 of protoplasmic filaments from the glandular hairs on the 

 leaves of the Common Teasel, in which he helps to develop 

 the important principles of the incipient steps in the formation 



of special organs. — Mr. H. N. Moseley gives notes on the 

 structure of several forms of Land Planarians, with a description 

 of two new genera and several new species, and a list of all 

 species at present known. — Notes and memoranda conclude the 

 number. 



Bidlctinof the Buffalo {'N.\ .) Society of Natural Sciences, 1877. 

 This society has published a valuable list of the freshwater 

 fishes of North America by Mr. D. S. Jordan. Mr. M. C. 

 Cooke is contributing a similarly exhaustive list, with references, 

 of thehyphomycetous fungi of the United States. — An interesting 

 paper by Mr. F. S. Dellenbaugh gives some account of the so- 

 called Puebla Indians of the Rocky Mountain region, also known 

 as Shinumos. They were not really of Indian race ; they 

 seemed to have died out in consequence of the incursions of the 

 true Indians. The name Moquis, by which seven of their 

 villages are designated, signifies "the dying race." In their 

 retreat before the enemy they occupied the most inaccessible 

 retreats in the canons, built chff houses, cultivated minute patches 

 on the cliffs, lived in caves, Sec. They appear to have had 

 considerable artistic skill, from the designs, and even paintings, 

 left on sandstone in the walls of houses, &c. The writer urges 

 a careful exploration of all the extant remains of these people, 

 for they are rapidly being destroyed by careless and ignorant 

 settlers. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 

 Meteorological Society, June 20. — Mr. H. S. Eaton, 

 M.A., president, in the chair. — Henry Hearder and Henry 

 Law, M.Inst.C.E., were elected fellows of the Society. — The 

 following papers were read : — On an improvement in the me- 

 chanism of self-recording meteorological instruments, by the Rev. 

 C. J. Taylor, In order to obviate sluggishness in self-record- 

 ing aneroids and ordinary small-bore mercurial barometers, the 

 author places a small electric bell apparatus, from which the bell 

 h.is been removed, so that the clapper when in action shall 

 strike on the top of the vertical brass bar on which the record- 

 ing pencil slides ; by this means a very rapid succession of light 

 taps can be administered at a point which affects all the move- 

 able parts of the mechanism. — Results derived from the sun- 

 shine records obtained at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, by 

 means of Campbell's self-registering sun-dial, during the year 

 ending April, 1877, by W. Ellis, F.R.A.S. The instrument 

 consists of a very accurately-formed sphere of glass four inches 

 in diameter, supported concentrically within a well-turned hemi- 

 spherical metal bowl in such a manner that the image of the sun 

 fonned when the sun shines falls always on the concave surface 

 of the bowl. A strip of some material being fixed in the bowl, 

 the sun, when shining, bums away the material at the points at 

 which the image successively falls, by which means a record of 

 periods of sunshine is obtained. The duration of sunshine in 

 hours for each month of the year ending April 30 (excepting 

 from May i to 6, July 31, and October 27 to 31), was as 

 follows :— 



hrs. hrs. hrs. hrs. 



May I52"3 Aug. 2169 Nov. 35'9 Feb. 36-4 

 June i84'S Sept. lo6'l Dec. 6'5 Mar. 99-3 

 July 2143 Oct. 47-3 Jan. 187 Apr. 71-8 

 The greatest daily duration was I3'9 hrs. on June 11, daily 

 durations exceeding 10 hrs. occurred six times in May, eight in 

 June, ten in July, and eleven in August. One of the most 

 remarkable periods was August 7 to 14, the duration having 

 exceeded ten hours on every day during this time. It appears 

 that in the months of August, September, and October, the 

 mean maximum and minimum temperatures were both, on the 

 average, higher on days of greater sunshine than on days of lesser 

 sunshine, whilst in the months of January and February, an 

 exactly opposite condition existed. In the remaining months the 

 mean maximum temperature of the greater sunshine group was 

 higher, and its mean minimum lower, than the corresponding 

 mean maximum and minimum temperatures of the lesser sunshine 

 group. It also appears that there was more sunshine after noon 

 than before noon in every month, except August, March, and 

 April. — On the diurnal variation of tlie barometer at the Roya 

 Observ.atory, Greenwich, by W. Ellis, F.R.A.S. The Astro- 

 nomer-Koyal having communicated the numerical values of the 

 variations of the barometer as deduced from the photographic 

 records at the Royal Observatory, during the twenty years ending 



