250 
no doubt the surveyors-general of the colonies have in their 
possession many reports relative to the rock formations of their 
colonies. The map has been compiled from various sources, 
some of the maps and reports from which it has been taken 
haying been completed as far back as 1834; but to show the 
accuracy with which the yarious surveys have been made, it 
may be mentioned that in some cases where the geological for- 
mation of a district has been compiled from two surveys, made 
perhaps at the interval of many years, and by different indivi- 
duals, they have been found to join one another without the 
slightest mistake. Northern Australia is at present considered 
almost a /erra incognita with regard to its geological character, 
but still a good portion of this part of the continent has been 
completed from the records of old explorers, It is intended by 
the compiler that in the first map only the boundaries of the 
several rock fermations will be shown, as there are many large 
areas whose geological position has not yet been ascertained, 
and therefore no attempt will be made to classify them unless 
such classification is based on thorough geological information. 
The map will not be complete at first, but even in its present 
condition it will be of considerable value, and as the informa- 
tion it contains will be added to year by year, in the end it will 
become invaluable to the geological students of Australia. 
THE Atlantic telegraph cable authorities have just done a 
very handsome thing. Astronomers belonging to different 
countries have, for some time past, felt the great inconvenience 
caused by the delay in transmitting notes of observations of 
new planets, comets, &c., by post, and therefore, especially in 
America, the Atlantic Cable naturally suggested itself as a means 
of exchanging discoveries. But the great expense of despatches 
by it, and the poverty of astronomers, have prevented their 
making use of this means of communication to any great extent. 
For some time past, the scientific editor of Harper's Weekly if- 
forms us, Prof. Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, has been 
in correspondence with the authorities of the cable for the purpose 
of inducing them to transmit such communications free, and at 
last has had the pleasure of receiving from Mr. Cyrus W. Field 
the announcement that this boon has been granted. The precise 
details of the arrangement to be made are not yet fully estab- 
lished, but it is probable that, in case of important discoveries in 
America, the fact will be communicated by telegraph to the 
Smithsonian Jnstitution, which will at once forward it to the 
observatories in Paris, London, Berlin, and Vienna, which, in 
turn, will supply the information to their associates. These 
same institutions will be the recipients, by telegraph, of the first 
announcements in Europe, to be transmitted to the Smithsonian 
Institution as before, and the information sent from Washington 
either by the medium of the Associated Press, or by direct 
telegraphic despatch. The directors of the Atlantic Telegraph 
deserve great credit for their enlightened liberality, and for thus 
aiding in the scientific work of the day ; and it is to be hoped 
that the inland American telegraph lines, as well as those in 
Europe, will not be behind in their co-operation, so as to make 
it an absolutely free interchange from one country to the other. 
It is probable that the information in regard to the discovery of 
comets in Amefica will be sent more directly to the Vienna 
Academy of Sciences, as that body has a standing offer of 
reward for all such announcements, made under certain specific 
conditions. 
M. LE BARON PIERRE CHARLES FRANCOIS DuPIN, who, so 
long ago as 1818, was elected to the French Academy for his 
geometrical writings, died on January 18, aged 89 years. 
Pror. Huxey, the new Lord Rector of Aberdeen University, 
has given his friends there to understand that it will be impossible 
for him to deliver an inaugural address during the currency of the 
Present session. He hopes to be able to do this at the beginning 
of next session, 
NATURE 
A Oc ieee 
| Han. 30, 1873 
THE following are the scientific arrangements at Oxford for — 
this term:—The Rev. Bartholomew Price, M.A., will lecture 
onthe “ Dynamics of Rigid Systems,” beginning on Thursday, 
Feb. 6. The Rev. C. Pritchard, M.A., will lecture on ‘* The 
Ninth and Eleventh Sections of the Principia and the Lunar 
and Planetary Theories,” beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 4. R. B. 
Clifton, M.A., will lecture on ‘* Optical Instruments and Phy- 
sical Optics,” beginning on Saturday, Feb. 1. The Physical - 
Laboratory of the University will be open daily for instruction 
in Practical Physics, from 10 to 4 o'clock, on and after Thursday, 
Jan. 30. G. Rolleston, D.M., will lecture on the ‘‘ Nervous 
System,” beginning on Friday, Jan. 31. The workrooms in the 
Anatomical Department are open daily, from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. 
for practical instruction, under the superintendence of Mr, 
Charles Robertson, the Demonstrator of Anatomy, and Mr, 
S. J. Sharkey, of Jesus College. A special class will be formed 
for instruction in Practical Microscopy. Mr. E, Ray Lankester, 
M.A., of Exeter Coll., will lecture *‘On the General Classifi- 
cation of the Animal Kingdom,” on Saturdays, at 1 o'clock, 
beginning Feb, 1. J. O. Westward, M.A,, will deliver four 
lectures on Entomology—t, Structure ; 2, Transformations ; 3, 
Economy ; 4, Classification of Articulata, beginning Feb. 14. 
J. Phillips, M.A., being engaged in arranging a part of the 
Museum collections, does not purpose to lecture in the present 
term ; but he will be happy to meet members of the University, 
and to assist students of geology, sée lla solennitate, on Mondays 
and Wednesdays, in the Museum, at 12 o’clock. Marmaduke 
Lawson, M.A., will continue his course of lectures this term. 
THE following Lectures in Natural Sciences will be given at 
Cambridge during Lent Term. On Electricity and Magnetism, 
by Dr. Trotter, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, at 11, com- 
mencing Friday, Jan 31. On Electricity and Magnetism (for 
the First Part of the Natural Sciences Tripos and the Special 
Examination for the Ordinary Degrees), by Mr. Trotter, Tues- 
days, Thursdays, Saturdays, at 11, commencing Thursday, 
Jan. 30. On Chemistry, by Mr. Main, St. John’s College, 
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, at 12, commencing Thursday, 
Jan. 30. Instruction in Practical Chemistry will also be given. 
On Paleontology (the Annuloida, &c.), by Mr. Bonney, St. 
John’s College, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 9, commencing 
Thursday, Jan. 30. On Geology, (for the Natural Sciences 
Tripos, Physical Geology), by Mr. Bonney, Mondays, Wednes- 
days, and Fridays at 10, commencing Wednesday, Jan. 29. 
Elementary Geology (for the First Part of the Tripos and the 
Special Examination), Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11, com- 
mencing Tuesday, Feb. 4. On Botany (for the Natural Sciences 
Tripos), by Mr. Hicks, Sidney College, Tuesdays, Thursdays, 
Saturdays, at 11, in Lecture Room No. 1, beginning on Thurs- 
day, Jan. 30. 
Foster, Mondays and Wednesdays at 1. 
tical Physiology on Thursdays, at II A.M., commencing Thurs- 
day, Feb. 6. An Advanced Course of Practical Histology on 
Tuesdays, at 11 AM., commencing Tuesday, Feb. 4. 
A SLIGHT eruption of Vesuvius occurred last Saturday. Red- 
hot stones were thrown up in the midst of flames to a con- 
siderable height throughout the whole of yesterday, and at 
Castellamare the windows were shaken, On Sunday morning 
an unusual amount of smoke was issuing from the mountain. 
THE Meteorological Society of Mauritius have resolved to 
prepare as complete a list as possible of the hurricanes which 
have been felt at Mauritius and at Bourbon in former‘times, and 
of the years that have been remarkable for droughts or rainfall. 
Their main purpose in doing so is to test the hypothesis that the 
frequency of storms and the amount of rainfall have periodicities. 
Meantime preliminary lists of hurricanes at the two places have 
been prepared, in the case of Bourbon from 1733 to 1754, and in 
ham 
= > 
an 
. 
On the Physiology of the Senses, by Dr. M. — 
A Course of Prac- — 
