394 

Greenwich, and Camden Square, are identical, but the 
Camden Square grass is by far the most “ velvety,” and 
hence partially its much lower temperature. Another and 
more powerful influence is smoke. Although neither 
photographers (eg. Mr. F. Bedford) nor artists, (e.g. 
Goodall, R.A., and Cousens, R.A.) deem this a smoky 
quarter, it is certainly more so than the Royal Observatory, 
which again is more so than Chiselhurst. Adding 5° to 
my own readings for the succulence of the grass, we have 
the following mean values :—Camden 130°6, Greenwich 
141 °5, Chiselhurst 148°°4, whence there appears a regular 
increase with decrease of smoke. If Mr. Steward’s in- 
strument is in the heart of the City, the explanation is 
complete; but it may differ from the others in construction. 
(2.) As this article has become longer than I intended, I 
will not enter into proof respecting the share in unravel- 
ling the inconsistencies of sun temperatures which is due 
to amateurs, but if required am ready to do so. 
Lastly, it is solely to an amateur, the Rev. F. W. Stow, 
that we are indebted for establishing a small corps of ob- 
servers in all parts of the British Isles, and some foreign 
countries, who use only thermometers compared 77 the 
sun, and mounted on posts soas to be free from terrestrial 
influences. This is what the private observers are doing, 
while the public observatories either ignore the subject z7 
toto, or follow each its own traditions, and the meteoro- 
logical societies print indiscriminately readings of ther- 
mometers on grass and on posts in jackets, and out of 
them. G, J. SYMONS 


NOTES 
THE arrangements connected with the Eclipse Expedition are 
making fair progress. The committee have telegraphed to 
America inviting Prof. Young to take part in the observations. 
Prof. Zéllner, of Leipzig, has also been asked to join the expedi- 
tion. Weare glad to know that the committee have received 
the most generous and valuable aid from the directors of the 
Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, and of the 
British India Telegraph Company, This is as it should be. 
Ir is hoped that the spectroscope will be brought to bear on 
Encke’s comet this autumn, as the positions will be about as 
favourable as it is possible for them to be for brightness and a 
dark sky ground. Mr, Hind informs us that he thought he 
glimpsed it in Mr. Bishop’s refractor a few nights ago. 
Mr. Hrnp has communicated a very interesting letter to the 
Times on the solar eclipses of the next twenty years, which we 
hope shortly to reproduce with some additional facts. 
WE have received from the Royal Society of Victoria a pro- 
spectus of the proposed Eclipse Expedition from that colony. 
It states that the Eclipse will be visible as a total Eclipse over a 
zone about eighty miles wide, passing across the peninsula of 
Cape York, the Gulf of Carpentaria, and Arnheim’s Land to the 
north of Port Darwin. For the purpose of enabling scientific 
men in the Australian Colonies to observe the phenomenon, the 
Royal Society of Victoria proposes to charter a commodious and 
powerful steamer to carry a party to Cape Sidmouth, or such 
other point within the limits of totality as may be found most 
suitable. It is not proposed that the party should be limited to 
members of the Royal Society, but that it shall be open to the 
public generally in that and the other colonies. To secure how- 
ever that no ineligible persons are admitted to the party, the 
names of all who are desirous to join must be submitted to the 
Committee appointed for the purpose by the Royal Society. 
Communications have already been made to the neighbouring 
Colonies, and many favourable answers have been received. Ii 
will be necessary for the expedition to start not later than the 
last week in November, and it will occupy about three weeks. 
NATURE 





[Sept 14, 1871 
If possible, arrangements will be made to visit Feejee on the 
return voyage, 
AmoncsT the most recent additions to the Zoological Society’s 
living collection, are two specimens of the man-of-war-bird, or 
fregate-bird (/7egata aguila), a well-known denizen of the seas 
of the Tropics, but one that has never previously reached this 
country alive. Five of these birds were taken from a breeding- — 
place of this species in the Bay of Fonsecain, Central America, 
by Captain John M. Dow, C.M.Z.S., of the Panama Railway 
Company’s service, and presented to the society, and two of © 
them have reached the Regent’s Park Gardens in excellent 
health and condition, and may now be seen in one of the com- 
partments of the large Western Aviary. The Fregata is an 
aberrant form of the Pelecanoid type, remarkable for its great 
powers of flight, and with its structure modified accordingly. 
THE new Aquarium at Brighton is now making rapid progress 
towards completion, some of the tanks being nearly ready to 
receive their contents. The building is ona very large scale, 
and will contain upwards of fifty large tanks. Unfortunately, 
however, no one with any practical knowledge of the working 
of a large aquarium seems to have been consulted as regards the 
plans, and there are consequently certain defects in the mode of 
construction which are likely to interfere with the efficiency of 
the establishment. 
L’AsBE MOoIGNno, the well-known editor of Zes Mondes, pro- 
poses the establishment of what he terms a ‘‘Salle du Pro- 
grés,” in which an education shall be given which he considers 
the universities do not supply,—elementary, within the compass 
of any intelligent mind, and yet of the highest description as to 
quality. The main feature in the instruction thus given is to be 
the abundance of experiments and illustrations, whether in any 
branch of physical or natural science or in art. The illustrative 
diagrams he proposes to be reproduced on glass by photography, 
so that they can be packed conveniently in a small box, and then 
magnified on a large screen by the magic lantern. Admission to 
the courses at the Salle du Progrés is to be jat as low a price as 
possible, and for the working classes it is to be entirely gratui- 
tous. Under the title of ‘‘Daily Bread” (/e pain guotidien), 
L’Abbé Moigno proposes also the establishment of a daily 
journal of religion, politics, science, industry, and literature, in- 
tended to promote the regeneration of France by the culti- 
vation of a higher standard than that acknowledged by the bulk 
of French literature. We wish the Abbé every success, and be- 
lieve he may do much good by his efforts in these directions. 
How long are we to wait for scientific lectures for the people in 
London ? 
AN International Exhibition of Fruit, open to growers in this 
and other countries, is to be held in the grounds of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, at South Kensington, on October 4. 
THE recent numbers of the Aévwe Scientifigue contain an ad- 
mirable summary of the most important papers read at the recent 
meeting of the British Association. 
Dr. MorTIMER, late head-master of the City of London 
School, whose death is just recorded, numbered among his pupils, 
according to the Pa// Mall Gazette, several men very eminent in 
science, including Mr. Earnest Hart, and three senior wranglers, 
Mr. Aldis, Mr. Purkess, and the late Mr. Numa Hartog. 
In Mr. Robert Russell of Pilmuir, who died on the 3rd inst., 
Scotland has Jost one of her most painstaking and scientific me- 
teorologists. A Scottish farmer by birth and training, his whole 
life was bound up in the agricultural profession. On his favour- 
ite study of meteorology, and other subjects connected with 
scientific agriculture, he was a frequent contributor to various 
journals, was the author of a work on the Climate and Agricul- 
