‘< see RD 4 
. 
Fune 19, 1873] 
have any moisture which it may contain dried up by his 
(the sun’s) vertical beams ; while on the other, or dark 
side, the ground must be frozen hard to the depth of 
several feet, the mountains covered with glaciers, and the 
seas blocked up with icebergs. At the very margin 
between the two hemispheres there will be a narrow tem- 
perate zone, which will of course move round the moon, 
as the latter turns round its axis and presentsits different 
faces successively to the sun ; and the only way in which 
we can see that life could be supported with comfort at 
the moon (supposing the atmospherical difficulty sur- 
mounted) would be by moving constantly round it, so as 
to keep always in this temperate zone. A queer Noah’s 
Ark-like sight it would be to see the whole inhabitants of 
the moon, side by side, in a huge procession extending from 
pole to pole, and hurrying quickly round it at the rate of 
ten miles an hour—some riding, some driving, and some 
travelling in slow railway trains ; beasts, wild and tame, 
galloping by their side, and all the birds of heaven flying 
along over their heads!” The chapter, too, on Astrology, 
is of a very diverting character, and above all, Zadkiel’s 
horoscope of the heir-apparent to the British throne. 
In the face of such an avowal as the author has made, 
anything like rigidity of criticism would be out of place : 
but we cannot help expressing regret that his always 
pleasing and often beautifully written descriptions should 
occasionally require the support of a more accurate state- 
ment of facts. We have so much respect for his ability, 
and admiration more especially for the high tone of his 
principle, as to hope that the book may reach a second 
edition : but in that case we should hope for the removal 
of several blemishes which it might seem invidious to 
point out, but which will be obvious to the scientific 
reader. T. W. W. 
OUR BOOK SHELF 
Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists 
Vol. vi. No. 4. 
THIS is, we believe, the oldest field-club in existence, and 
has all along been one of the most efficient and most 
prosperous so far as numbers and funds are concerned. 
Its publications, moreover, are already numerous, and 
contain much valuable material for the natural history, 
archeology, and antiquities of Berwickshire. There must 
be already a vast amount of material shut up in the 
transactions of the now numerous local societies, of 
the greatest value in reference to the natural history of 
this country and to students of biology generally, but 
almost inaccessible except to the members of the various 
societies. It is a pity that some means could not be 
devised for bringing the most important contributions to 
local natural history, in its widest sense, together in some 
systematised form, so that they could be readily referred 
to and made available to students at large. Sir Walter 
Elliot refers to this point in his able address on Provincial 
Scientific Societies, and it is to be hoped that the Com- 
mittee appointed by the British Association will give it 
their consideration. Prefixed to the Proceedings before 
us is the President’s, the Rev. F. R. Simpson’s, address, 
which is wholly occupied with an interesting account of 
the various meetings of the club during the summer of 
1872. For this society is purely a field club, meeting only 
during the summer months, to explore some of the rich 
vales of Berwickshire or stretch their limbs over some of 
the bonny Cheviot fells, gathering rich stores of varied 
knowledge, and finding a glorious appetite for the sub- 
Club, 
NATURE 
141 
stantial dinner which usually winds up the meetings. 
One of the longest and most interesting papers is by one 
of the secretaries, Mr. James Hardy, “On Langleyford 
Vale and the Cheviots,” being a sort of survey of the dis- 
trict between Wooler and the base of Cheviot, and con- 
taining a wonderful amount of information on the geology, 
botany, zoology, and especially the prehistoric antiquities 
of the district. Mr. Hardy also contributes some valuable 
entomological lists to this part of the Proceedings, and 
various antiquarian papers; while Mr. Robert Hislop has 
a list of the rarer Coleoptera occurring chiefly in the 
parish of Nenthorn. Sir Walter Elliot contributes a list 
of the diurnal birds of prey hitherto found within the 
club’s limits. There are many other valuable papers in- 
cluding a memoir of the late Dr. William Baird, F.R.S., 
one of the founders of this old society, appended to which 
is a list of his many writings. There are two very well 
executed plates of flint implements and a sculptured 
stone, and a fine portrait of the Club’s late Secretary, 
Mr. George Tate. 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 
[Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 
by his correspondents, No notice is taken of ‘anonymous 
communications. } 
Dr. Bastian’s Turnip-Cheese Experiments 
In a former communication* I gave an account of a series of 
experiments by Dr. Bastian, in which it was established that, 
“*by following his directions, infusions can be prepared which are 
not deprived by an ebullition of from five to ten minutes of the 
faculty of undergoing those chemical changes which are charac- 
terised by the presence of swarms of Bacteria, and that the de- 
velopment of these organisms can proceed with the greatest 
activity in hermetically sealed glass vessels, from which almost 
the whole of the air has been expelled by boiling.” 
In the first paragraph of that paper I adverted to the import- 
ance in every experimental inquiry of defining as completely as 
possible the method by which any given result can be attained. 
With this consideration in view, I now propose to give an ac- 
count of additional experiments, made chiefly for the purpose of 
elucidating the influence of slight variations of temperature on 
the result. To guard against the possibility of mistake, it may 
not be unadvisable to remark that, whereas in the experiments 
previously reported upon, I took no part, excepting as a witness, 
I am exclusively answerable for those now to be recorded. 
Certain particulars in Dr. Bastian’s method have been objected 
to as possible sources of uncertainty. Thus it has been sug- 
gested that when a flask, of which the neck has been drawn out 
to a capillary orifice, is boiled even for ten minutes over a lamp, 
it is not certain that the whole of the liquid contained in it is 
heated to the temperature of boiling ; and again, that when the 
lamp is withdrawn in the act of closing the capillary orifice, 
germs may enter from without. Although I do not attach much 
importance to either of these objections, I have modified Dr. 
Bastian’s method, so as to render them inapplicable. The modi- 
fication, however, applies exclusively to the mode of heating the 
hermetically sealed flasks. As regards the preparation of the 
liquid, I have in no respects deparied from his instructions. 
The liquid is prepared by simmering slices of peeled turnip 
in a beaker containing about a pint of distilled water. The 
acid infusion thus obtained, is, if necessary, concentrated by 
evaporation until it possesses a specific gravity of from 1018 to 
1020. It is then filtered and neutralised with sodic carbonate. 
A little Cheddar cheese is rubbed up with a few drachms of 
the liquid in a mortar, and the mixture strained through 
calico, By adding the strained product tothe rest of the in- 
fusion a turbid liquid is obtained, in every drop of which parti- 
cles of cheese can be detected by the microscope, although 
there are scarcely any of a sufficient size to be distinguished by 
the naked eye. 
In the first four sets of experiments retorts were used, in the 
others flasks. In either case they were charged with the liquid 
of which the preparation has just been described (their necks 
having been previously drawn out), boiled over a spirit lamp, 
and sealed hermetically by directing the flame of the gas blow- 
* See NATURE, Vol. viii. p. 180, 
