May 12, 1870]. 
of Bolivia and Peru,” by Mr. David Forbes, F.R.S. The 
meetings will commence punctually each evening at 8.30 P.M, 
THE planet Lydia (No. 110), discovered by M. Borelly at the 
Marseilles Observatory on the 19th of April, had at 10%33™13s 
‘mean Marseilles time, the following position :—Right ascension 
122m39s*22 ; north declination 6°50'38”°8. Its horary motion 
has been determined as follows :—In right ascension —I‘'77, in 
declination +220; its magnitude is between 12 and 13. M. 
Borelly had previously discovered two planets, bearing the 
numbers gt and 99 in the system of asteroids revolving between 
Mars and Jupiter. These two planets had long been nameless, 
in consequence of the persistent refusal of M. Le Verrier to permit 
the astronomers under his jurisdiction to bestow any name upon 
them. The gist has now received the name of Egina, the 99th 
that of Diké. 
Tue planet which bears the number 109 in the series of 
asteroids, and which was discovered at Clinton by Mr. C. H. F. 
Peters, on the 9th of October last, has received the name of 
Felicitas. The following are the new elements of its orbit, which 
have been calculated by Mr. William A. Rogers, from three 
positions, on the 9th of October, 28th of November, and 22nd 
of January last :— 
Epoch: 
1869 ; Oct. gth, mean Washington time. 
Mean anomaly mee wes 
339° 5° 45”°21 
Longitude of perihelion . 55 50 : 
eonetbide of ascending node . 4 as 3 se 
Inclination . = 8 2 56 "10 
Angle ‘sine = eccentricity). . 17,27) 2) 67 
Logarithm of half of the greater axis” 0°4304068 
Mean diurnal motion ns 80241019 
WE have received the first sheet of Messrs. W. and A. K. 
Johnston’s new Illustrations for Botanical Lectures, selected and 
arranged by Professor Balfour. It is occupied with a general 
ideal drawing of the various organs of a plant ; and with illustra- 
tions of the embryo plant, cells and vessels, root and stem. If 
the series fulfil the promise of the first sheet, it will supply a 
desideratum for the botanical lecturer. The sketches are clear 
and well executed, and if they are too crowded, it is difficult to 
see how this could be avoided without making the series of an 
unwieldy size. We would suggest that their utility would be 
increased if they are also issued in sheets and uncoloured. The 
setting on a roller is not always the most convenient, and many 
would be glad to save the expense of the colouring. The de- 
scriptive pamphlet of text accompanying the sheet, by Professor 
Balfour, is in itself almost an elementary handbook of botany. 
In the last report of the Registrar-General, he gives a valuable 
classification of the geographical distribution of various diseases in 
the different districts of England, and concludes by remarking : 
“Tt is true that the returns of deaths can never furnish such 
immediate notice of the origins of epidemic diseases as returns 
of cases of disease ; but it is not true that the information of 
the death register is necessarily too late ; it is toolate as regards 
the individual, but it is not too late as regards the community, 
which can immediately adopt measures to quench the sparks 
before they involve it all in flames. The seas which divide this 
island from the rest of the world no longer ward off diseases, 
which are landed every day on her shores, and can no more be 
shut out than the east winds. The nation is associated with all 
races and nations by its maritime population, and with many by 
empire. And however much men may indulge the natural 
pride of nationality, in one respect their solidarity admits of no 
dispute ; they are all subject to the same diseases, and are all 
interested equally in the mitigation of the sufferings and losses 
those diseases occasion. How can those evils be mitigated 
unless their origin is known, and unless science determine the 
laws by which they are governed? And recorded observation 
on a European scale is as necessary for the determination in 
this field of life as observation of the skies in astronomy, 
NATURE 
33 
without which Copernicus, Newton and Laplace could never 
have built up the system of the universe, or have given the 
navigator the means of avoiding shipwreck and finding his des- 
tination over the ocean. England is the only country in the 
world at the present time which publishes weekly and quarterly 
observations on an extensive scale in time to be available for im- 
mediate administrative use. But the Registrar-General hopes 
soon to get the co-operation of other countries, and in a few 
years to see in operation among several of the principal nations 
of the world one well-concerted series of reports of their mar- 
riages, births, deaths, and most controllable diseases.” 
In the séance of the 11th April M. Duchemin brought before 
the Academy of Sciences of Paris the following curious fact in 
Natural History :—In the park of the Chateau de Montigny (Eure) 
belonging to M. Deroche, there is a large piece of water, through 
which a gentle current of beautifully clear water flows. In this 
lake numerous carp are reared, which thrive well, except during 
the first days of spring, when each year an extraordinary mor- 
tality occurs amongst them. In each animal one morbid symp- 
tom is always observable in the dead animals as they float on the 
surface of the water. In every case the animal is blind ; a kind 
of film covers the eyes and even a part of the head. An 
examination of the body brings to light no internal disease, beyond 
a slight fatty degeneration of the tissues. The viscera appear 
healthy, and contain no intestinal worms. The cause of this 
strange malady has not hitherto received any notice ; but from 
M. Duchemin’s researches, in conjunction with M. Deroche, it 
seems that the toad (Bufo calamita) is an enemy, if not of all 
fishes, at least of the carp in spring. It attacks it, exhausts it, 
conquers, and kills it. To determine the point, they examined 
all the carp in the pond, and found squatting on the head of each 
of those that were diseased an enormous toad, the fore-paws ot 
which were placed on the two eyes of the unfortunate fish. 
Thus, this ugly Batrachian, which presents so stupid an aspect, 
has yet sufficient intelligence to assume the offensive, and to 
overcome a large fish. If it has not agility and energy, it has 
cunning and perseverance. It would appear to kill by 
exhaustion, but it remains to be ascertained whether the 
acrid secretion of its skin assists in the conquest. 
Ina still more recent séawce of the Academy of Sciences, M. 
Duchemin, reverting to the above communication in regard to 
the mortality of the carp being in some instances due to the 
attacks of the toad, supplies observations which have been for- 
warded to him in support of his statemenis, and relates that 
from investigations undertaken at the Chateau de Montigny, the 
toad does not always remain permanently fixed on the head of 
the dead fish, but only so long as it gives signs of life. He ob- 
serves, too, that all the carps from which the attacking toads 
had been removed were more or less blind. They were placed 
with care in another pond, but none of them recovered from the 
injuries received. No author has hitherto noted this animosity 
of the toad for the carp, who perhaps themselves consume the 
eggs of the toad. He has obtained additional evidence from M. 
Mermet, Directeur des Eaux at Contrexville (Vosges), who states 
that it has been found impossible to preserve carp in a sheet of 
water in that neighbourhood in consequence of the presence of 
numerous toads. M. l’Abbé Caillet, Curé of Rosoy (Haute 
Marne), whilst confirming the above statements, writes to him, 
‘‘ The toad is a villanous beast. One day I observed one that 
had crawled beneath a hive. There, with his two forepaws ad- 
vanced and his throat wide open, he attracted the innocent bees, 
with which his sides were distended.” 
THE traffic of the Tower Subway—of the engineering features ot 
which we recently gave an account (see NaTURE, Vol. i., No. 11, 
p. 280)—has not been proceeding very smoothly, owing, we think, 
to defects in its management, and indeed was altogether suszendc d 
for a week or two, - The passage through the tube is stated to be 
