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140 
THE advanced sheet of the AZitheilungen, which Dr. Peter- 
mann has been good enough to send us, is occupied with an 
exceedingly interesting and carefully compiled abstract of the 
history of discovery in the most northerly region of Asia, be- 
tween the Lena and Yenisei, from the year 1734 to 1866. This 
forms No. 73 of the papers on the geography and exploration 
of the Polar Regions, and is accompanied by one of those ad- 
mirably constructed maps which form so enjoyable and valuable 
a feature of Dr. Petermann’s invaluable periodical. The sheet 
also contains part of a second paper on Dr, Livingstone’s ex- 
ploration of the Upper Congo. 
Tue last number of Ze Zour du Monde contains a ‘* Revue 
Geographique” of 1872, devoted chiefly to African discovery. 
AT a meeting of the managers of the Edinburgh Royal In- 
firmary, held on December 23, the following resolution was 
passed :—‘‘ That the managers of the Royal Infirmary resolve 
to admit females already enroled in the students’ register for 
Scotland to receive clinical instruction, at a separate hour from 
that at which male students are admitted into the hospital, and 
in a stated number of wards, containing eighty beds, to which 
the female students must confine their visits ; and remit to a sub- 
committee to make the requisite arrangements and alterations.” 
AT a meeting of the new Medical Microscopical Society held 
on December 6, Mr. Jabez Hogg was elected President, and a 
code of rules was adopted. The meetings will take place on 
the third Friday of each month, from October to July inclusive, 
A MICROSCOPICAL soirée was given on the evening of Dec. 19, 
to the students of St, Thomas’s Hospital, by the President and 
Secretary of the physical staff of that hospital (Mr, Wagstaffe 
and Dr, Evans). 
WE learn from the A/Aeneum that the Earl of Derby would 
have formed one of the Arctic deputation, had he not been 
unavoidably detained in the country, and that he has expressed 
his cordial wishes for the success of the representation that has 
been made to Government. 
THE Revista del Sur, of Chile, states that showers of sand 
occurred on July 3, in Araucaria, of sufficient extent to cover up 
all the planted fields of the Indians, and oblige them to take 
refuge on the north side of the mountain. This rain, supposed 
to have come from an eruption of Mount Llaima, distressed the 
Indians so much as to drive them into the neighbourhood of the 
white settlements. 
Tue Court of the Haberdashers’ Company recently granted 
five exhibitions of 50/. each, for three years, to assist the holders 
(at Oxford, Cambridge, and London Universities) in their fur- 
ther educational or professional pursuits, Besides these exhi- 
bitions, 1507, was voted with a view to assist the education of 
children and grandchildren of liverymen, The same company 
has under its management five schools, new schemes for which 
are progressing with the Endowed Schools Commissioners. 
Tue November number of Siliiman’s Yournal contains the 
first part of a very able paper by Prof. Joseph LeConte, in 
which he proposes his “Theory of the Formation of the great 
Features of the Earth’s Surface.” It is an admirable example of 
clearscientific reasoning and deserves the attention of all geologists, 
especially of those who believe the earth to be an extremely thin 
crust enveloping a molten and gaseous mass, He believes that 
Humboldt’s formula, that all the effects of igneous agency are 
the result of ‘‘the reaction of the interior on the crust of the 
earth,” must form the point of departure of every true theory ; 
but in departing from this vague formula, only the most confused 
and contradictory notions seem to prevail among geologists. 
Mr. LeConte has for many years thought much on the subject, 
and his paper is an attempt to emerge from the chaos which now 
exists into something like clearness of perception on this 
NATURE 
— [¥an. 2, 1873. 
eee hs 
supremely interesting point. He is convinced that the whole 
theory of igneous agencies—which is little less than he whole — 
Joundation of theoretic geology—miust be reconstructed on the basis 
of a solid earth, Another very valuable article in this number — 
is Mr. C. A. Young’s ‘‘ Catalogue of Bright Lines in the Spec- 
trum of the’ Solar Atmosphere,” which has already appeared in 
NATURE. 
THE number of Za Revue Scientifique for December 2t, — 
contains Prof. Hackel’s introductory lecture on his taking 
possession of the chair of Zoology, recently founded in the 
University of Jena; the subject is ‘the Progress and Object of - 
Zoology.’ The same number contains a notice of the institution 
recently founded at Haarlem, named ‘‘ Bureau Scientifique 
central Néerlandaise,” which proposes to do for Europe what 
the Smithsonian Institution does for America, effect with 
certainty, regularity, and a minimum expense, exchange of 
publications between the now very numerous European scientific 
societies. Any Society wishing to benefit by this mode of 
exchange, sends a sufficient quantity of its publications to 
the Bureau, which in return sends back to it copies of the 
publications of all the societies connected with it, At the 
end of the year the necessary expenses are divided among ‘the 
various participating societies. The scheme looks plausible, and 
if well conducted might turn out to be very useful. 
As usual at this season of the year the Royal Institution is 
doing its best to purvey for eager holiday-making youth a 
judicious mixture of the ¢i/e and the dulce, and as usual it has 
been eminently successful, if we may judge from the delight with 
which the hundreds of boys and girls who filled the well-known 
theatre last week listened to Prof. Odling’s fascinating story of 
Airand Gas. It will be seen from our diary that the second and 
third on the same subject will be given on Tuesday and Thursday 
next. 
THE Scientific American contains some interesting statistics 
concerning the extremes of heat to which various parts of the 
world are subject. Probably the hottest country is Thibet, 
though its most southern part is 30° from the equator, its ex- 
treme summer temperature reaching to the height of 150°. The 
fact that the night temperature, even in summer, sometimes sinks _ 
to the freezing point, only serves to aggravate the discomfort of — 
this extreme heat. Next comes Senegal and Guadaloupe, with 
a maximum temperature of 130°, that of Persia being 125°, 
while the maximum of Calcutta and the delta of the Ganges is 
5° less. In Cape Colony and the African diamond diggings the 
midsummer heat is 105", that of Greece being only one degree 
less, while that of the comparatively far north city of Montreal 
is only one degree less than Greece, and one more than New 
York. In Great Britain, Siam, and Peru, the extreme does 
not exceed 85°, while that of Siberia is as high as 77°, two 
degrees higher than in Scotland, and four above that of Italy. — 
In Patagonia and the Falkland Islands the highest is 55°, ten 
degrees abovethat of Southern Iceland. In Nova Zembla the 
maximum temperature is only 34°, two degrees above the 
freezing point of water. 
WeE learn from the Zimes of Jndia that while Mr. T. T. 
Cooper is about to make another attempt to penetrate into 
China from Momein, the well-known French traveller, M. Gar- 
nier, who was the leader of the French expedition through 
Yunan into China, is about to start on another exredition from 
China through Thibet to India. M. Garnier has already left 
Hongkong for Shanghai to commence preparations for his 
journey. 
WE have received the prospectus of a new monthly half-crown 
magazine, to be commenced in January, and which we are told, 
has already received a large number of subscribers. It is entitled 
the Practical Magazine, and will be supported by original contri- 
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