= > 
| Feb. 15, 1883] 
NARORE 
373 
direct cable from London to Paris. ‘The instruments are in the 
London and in the Paris office of the paper, so that the transmis- 
sion is instantaneous. According to circumstances, the Reforme 
telegraphists use the Calais, Boulogne, or Dieppe cables. None of 
these gives a sensible retardation through crossing the sea ; but 
it is remarked that, contrary to expectation, the Dieppe cable 
is the best of the three. The transmission is made with an 
ordinary Hughes apparatus. 
THE following are the subjects of the lectures to be given at 
the Royal Institution by Prof. Robert S. Ball, the Royal Astro- 
“nomer of Ireland, on the Supreme Discoveries in Astronomy :— 
“The Scale on which the Universe is Built,” ‘‘The Sun no 
more than a Star, the Stars no less than Suns,” ‘*The Law of 
Gravitation,” and ‘‘ The Astronomical Significance of Heat.” 
The first lecture will be given on Tuesday, February 20. 
PROF, JOHNSTRUP, Rector of the University of Copenhagen, 
in a paper on ‘* The Glacial Phenomena manifested in Den- 
mark,” has shown that the Cyprina-mud deposits overlying the 
gravel in many parts of the Danish territories afford evidence 
that an interval of lesser cold must have followed the great 
glacial period. He moreover regards the presence of the shells 
of Cyprina islandia, and other boreal forms of similar habit, as 
a proof that the climate in this intermediate period must have 
been similar to that of the North Sea and the Cattegate in the 
present day. His views of the connection between these 
Cyprina deposits and the varied manifestations of glacial action 
are based on the hypothesis that the ice, which advanced from 
the interior of Scandinavia and covered Denmark and Northern 
Germany, must have been driven back, and that on its disappear- 
ance, the Cyprina mud was deposited ia horizontal layers. On 
the recurrence of another glacial period these deposits were 
crushed, dislocated, and often thrust into a vertical position by 
drifting ice-fields, which had ploughed and broken up the sea- 
bottom in their advance, This view is in opposition to the 
opinion more generally held by geologists, that Denmark was 
twice completely buried under one connected ice-pall, which 
owed its origin to the continental ice of the Scandinavian penin- 
sula. The direction of the striations and scouring lines in the 
island of Bornholm, ard in some parts of Iceland, which are 
now being carefully investigated, are, however, admitted to be 
favourable to the views advanced by Prof. Johnstrup. 
Mr. GEORGE STALLARD, B.A., of Keble College, Oxford, 
at present Science Master of St. Paul’s School, has been 
appointed Science Master at Rugby, in place of the Rev. C. M. 
Hutchinson, 
THE Council of the Meteorological Society have determined 
upon holding at the Institution of Civil Engineers, 25, Great 
George Street, S.W., on the evening of March 21 next, an 
Exhibition of Meteorological Instruments which have been de- 
signed for, or used by, travellers and explorers. The Exhibi- 
tion Committee invite co-operation, as they are anxious to obtain 
as large a collection as possible of such instruments. The Com- 
mittee will also be glad to show any new meteorological 
apparatus invented or first constructed since last March, as 
well as photographs and drawings possessing meteorological 
interest, 
WITH reference to the recent explosion of a zinc-plate oxygen 
gasometer, described by Herr Pfaundler in Wiedemann’s Annalen, 
Dr. Loewe states (Wied. Ann. No. 1) that to protect oxygen or 
atmospheric air from admixture of carbonic acid or acid vapour 
from the air of the laboratory, he has for many years placed 
them over lime-water, Some 20 to 30 gr. freshly slacked lime, in 
a powdered state, is placed in a strong linen bag, which is tied 
with cord just above the contents, and hung near the outflow 
tube of the water vessel of the gasometer. This ensures that all 
carbonic acid and acid vapours which the water of the gasometer 
may in time absorb from the air, are neutralised by lime-hydrate, 
and rendered innocuous. There is the further advantage, for ele- 
mentary analysis, that the potash or soda lye, which is preferred for 
washing the gases, remains long quite caustic, and thus serves— 
as it ought to do—less for purification of the gas than as an in- 
dicator of the gas current. After long use the linen bag of 
lime-powder is renewed, 
THE February part of Hartleben’s Geographische Rundschen 
contains an interesting account of Potanin’s journey through 
Mongolia in the years 1876-77; also some well-written articles 
on the Samoa Islands, on Eastern Africa, and the European 
census of 1881, together with a memoir of Count Hans Wilczek. 
SOME time ago we announced the commencement of the pub- 
lication of an ‘‘ Elektro-technische Bibliothek,” by Hartleben, 
of Vienna. The second volume of this series has just appeared, 
entitled “‘ Die elektrische Kraftiibertragung und ihre Anwendung 
in der Praxis,” by Eduard Japing. 
WE are requested by the Council of the Society of Telegraph 
Engineers and of Electricians to state that an International 
Electrical Exhibition will be held in Vienna under the patronage 
of the Austro-Hungarian Government, in the months of August, 
September, and October next. At the request of the Austrian 
Minister of Commerce, and of the Managing Committee of the 
Exhibition, the Council of the Society have appointed a Com- 
mi*tee for the purpose of receiving applications for space from 
intending British exhibitors, and for promoting generally the 
formation of a British section. Application should be made as 
early as possible, and should be addressed to the Secretary of 
the Society of Telegraph Engineers and of Electricians, 4, The 
Sanctuary, Westminster, S.W. 
THE Municipal Council of Paris is proposing to the adminis- 
tration to organise a medical service for the inspection of the 
eyes, ears, and teeth of the pupils of the public schools, in order 
to see how to cure constitutional or chronic diseases by which 
they may be affected. 
A LOCAL committee has been established in Annonay for the 
erection of a statue to commemorate the invention of the 
Montgolfier balloon. 
Upwarps of one hundred Palzolithic implements from the 
collection of Mr. Worthington G. Smith have been transferred 
to the collection of Mr. John Evans at Nash Mills, Hemel 
Hempstead. 
A ‘SECOND London edition”’ has been issued by Macmillan 
and Co. of Prof. Newcomb’s ‘‘ Popular Astronomy.” The 
principal additions relate to Dr. Draper’s investigation on the 
existence of oxygen in the sun; Janssen’s conclusions from his 
solar photographs ; Prof. Langley’s investigation on the solar 
spectrum on Mount Whitney, California ; the satellites of Mars; 
the supposed intra-Mercurial planet ; preliminary results from 
the late (1874) transit of Venus, and other recent methods of 
determining the solar parallax; the transit of Venus on Dec. 6, 
1882; the great telescopes completed within the last four years ; 
and recent developments in cometary astronomy. The preface 
is dated Washington, July, 1882. 
A DEposIT of remains of mammals from the diluvial period 
has been laid bare by the waves of the Wolga on the bank of 
that river between Zarizyn and Sarepta. M. Al. Knobloch, of 
Sarepta, has made a valuable collection of the bones found, 
which belonged to Evephas primigenius, Bos priscus, Elasmo- 
therium, Camelus Knoblochi, besides several antelopes, stags, &c. 
