Oct. 12, 1871] 

NATURE 
477. 


eo that if the Society is worth anything = all, it is strong 
enough to outlive many unsuccessful papers.” Judged by this 
ya “standard, the Report before us is decidedly satisfactory. A few 
gly of the papers read during the half are printed at length ; 
“put they contain evidence of much careful work in the various 
departments of natural science. Only one field day was held 
during the half; and the further publication of the new edition 
of the ‘‘ Marlborough Flora” is postponed till the next number. 
“The committee reports that the Botanical Garden, which was 
i last half in the corner of.the Wilderness, has fully 
pe ealised the hopes of its originators. We confidently expect from 
the Marlborough College Natural History Society a long career 
of usefulness, and no small share in moulding the scientific tastes 
of the rising generation. 
IN ow last week’s number we referred to the Burmese hairy 
eat, A correspondent of the Zies has supplied some addi- 
ional information, He writes: ‘‘ When I was at Mandalay in 
1859, I saw the same woman and three of her children, The 
eldest and youngest were hairy like their mother, while the 
second, like his father, presented no such peculiarity. The hus- 
‘band was a man who report said had been induced to wed this 
woman to become possessed of the marriage portion which the 
‘King of Burmah had promised to bestow upon her on her bridal 
day. The bridegroom was a plucky individual at any rate, though 
his motives may have been somewhat mercenary. The hairy 
“woman, whose name I now forget, had a pleasant and intelligent 
face—there was nothing whatever repulsive in it. The hair on the 
face and breast was several inches long ; on the forehead it was 
parted in the middle, and blended with that of her head. Of a 
light brown colour on her cheeks, it paled gradually towards the 
bridge of her nose, and the centre of her lips, chin, and neck, 
‘Those of your readers who have a copy of Colonel Yule’s narra- 
tive of the embassy to Ava will see a good likeness of the woman 
‘and a description of herself and family.” 
THE fall Mall promises a novelty in literary publications. 
‘An English periodical is to be printed in {Berlin, bearing the 
title of The German Quarterly Magazine. Its object is to make 
‘the treasures of German learning accessible to the English speak- 
‘ing public. Two of the most eminent literary men of Germany, 
Profs. Virchow and Von Holtzendorff, have undertaken its joint 
‘management, conducting the editing alternately, so as to offer in 
one number articles chiefly on Natural Science under the great 
physician’s direction, and in the following essays on historical and 
political subjects published under M. Von Holtzendorff's super- 
vision. 
Messrs. ASHER AND Co. announce for November, ‘‘ Man 
in the Past, Present, and Future : a Popular Account of the Re- 
‘sults of Recent Scientific Research, as regards the Origin, Posi- 
tion, and Prospects of the Human Race;” translated from the 
German of Dr. L. Biichner, by Mr. W.S. Dallas, F. LS. 
THE first two parts are published of a new edition of Griffith 
and Henfrey’s ‘‘ Micrographic Dictionary.” The names of the 
editors, Dr. J. W. Griffith, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, and Prof, 
T. Rupert Jones, are a guarantee that the treatment of the various 
subjects will be carried down to the present state of scientific 
knowledge ; and that the book will be indispensable to every 
biologist and student of the microscope. 
’ Mr. Ropert Gray, late Secretary to the Natural History 
Society of Glasgow, has issued a prospectus of his work shortly 
to be published, “ The Birds of the West of Scotland, including 
the Outer Hebrides, with Occasional Records of the Rarer Species 
throughout Scotland generally.” Since the publication of the 
works of Sir William Jardine, Prof. Macgillivray, and Mr. Selby, 
nothing in a collected form on the Birds of Scotland has been 
brought under the notice of ornithologists, and the book seems 
likely to fill a useful place in ornithological literature. 

A NEw description of lamp for street lighting has recently 
been experimented on in London, the principle of which is the 
application of reflectors, in order to bend down and utilise the 
amount of light which is at present wasted by upward radiation. 
It is manifest that the rays of light from a street lamp which 
now strike the eye of a spectator placed on the ground are only 
a small portion of those actually emitted by the flames. The 
rays which pass through the upper portions of the sides of the 
lantern, or through its sloping roof, are entirely dissipated, or at 
best, if partially and imperfectly reflected by clouds or atmo- 
spheric particles, become visible only in the form of the red glow 
which overhangs a distant town. Mr. Skelton, the inventor, 
calculates that about two-thirds of the light given by the gas 
flame are in this way lost, and he has arranged strips of looking- 
glass in such a way that the loss will be effectually prevented. 
The upper half of each side of the lamp, and the whole of each 
side of the sloping roof, are occupied by a frame, in which the 
strips are placed with their reflecting surfaces downwards, in a 
manner somewhat analagous to the laths of a Venetian blind. 
The precise character of the effect produced will depend upon 
the distance of the strips apart, upon their width, and upon their 
angle of inclination ; but the general result is, subject to small 
variations, that the street receives three times as much light as 
would fall upon it through lanterns of the ordinary kind. The 
frames holding the strips are glazed on both sides, and made 
dust-proof, so that the mirrors will not themselves become 
soiled or tarnished, and the reflector as a whole can be cleaned 
in the ordinary way, by simply wiping the glass. The plan is 
equally applicable to every form of Jamp, and the patent in- 
cludes the application of prismatic reflectors, which would pre- 
sent advantages in certain cases 
WE learn from the Photographic News that a correspondent, 
writing from Florence, says:—‘‘ The Ruballino Society have 
lent their steamer Sardinia to Mr. Josellis for his marine ex- 
plorations. Mr, Josellis has invented a marine photographic 
apparatus connected with a diving bell, by which photographs ot 
the ‘world below the sea’ can be taken. This diving-bell can 
be made use of in many ways, but one can understand how use- 
ful to natural science a series of negatives (to be afterwards en- 
larged) of the myriads of zoophytes found in the subaqueous world 
would be.” Good news this for the managers of the approaching 
four years’ dredging expedition. We should like, however, to 
hear something more of the principles of the apparatus. 
THE editor of the Scottish Naturalist proposes to do for the 
Lepidoptera of Scotland what has been so well done for British 
plants in the Cyéele Britannica. He solicits the assistance of 
all persons acquainted with the subject in ascertaining the distri- 
bution of the species throughout the country, which for that 
purpose is divided into thirteen natural districts. In addition to 
the district distribution, information is solicited on the following 
points :—The vertical range of each species ; the relation between 
the range of a species and that of its food-plant ; the relation 
between the range of a species and the geological formation of 
the district ; the influence of the proximity of the sea, for some 
insects (as is the case with certain plants) appear to occur at a 
higher north latitude on the sea coast than inland; and local 
races or varieties. The list will be illustrated by a map of 
Scotland. It will appear primarily in the Naturalisi, but a 
limited number of copies will be printed in a separate form. 
THE ratio of suicides has been established by M. Decaisne re- 
cently before the French Academy of Sciences. It isin London 
only one in 175 deaths ; in New York, one in 172; in Vienna, 
one in 160; but in Paris, it has reached one in 72. The number 
of suicides from drunkenness, which in 1848 was 141 for all 
France, reached 4or in 1866. We doubt the accuracy of all these 
figures. 
