454 
NATURE 
[ Oct. 6, 1870 
the primary source of nearly all the power on the earth is the 
sun above. 
THE publishing trade shows indications of its usual activity at 
this time of the year. Among the announcements of forthcoming 
works from the leading houses bearing more or less directly on 
science, we note the following. From Messrs. Longmans and 
Co. :—The Life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer, by 
Isambard Brunel, B.C.L. ; A System of Logic and History of 
Logical Doctrines, by Dr. F. Ueberweg, 1 vol. ; The Sun: Ruler, 
Light, Fire, and Life of the Planetary System, by Richard A. 
Proctor, B.A. ; Spectrum Analysis in its Application to Terres- 
trial Substances and the Physical Constitution of the Heavenly 
Bodies, familiarly explained by Dr. H. Schellen, Director der 
Realschule I. O. Cologne, translated from the German by Jane 
and Caroline Lassell, edited, with notes, by William Huggins, 
LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S , 1 vol, crown 8vo., with coloured plates 
and other illustrations ; Select Methods in Chemical Analysis and 
Laboratory Manipulations, by William Crookes, F.R.S., &c., 
editor of the Chemical News ; A Handbook of Dyeing and Calico 
Printing, by William Crookes, F.R.S., &c., illustrated with 
numerous specimens of textile fabrics ; Text-Books of Science, a 
new series of elementary works on Mechanical and Physical 
Science, forming a series of Text-Books of Science adapted for 
the use of artisans and of students in public and other schools, in 
small 8vo., each yolume containingabout 300pages. From Messrs. 
Macmillan and Co. :—The Sun, by Balfour Stewart, LL.D., 
F.R.S., and J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. ; The Beginnings of 
Life, including an Account of the present State of the Spon- 
taneous Generation Controversy, by H. C. Bastian, M. D., F.R.S.; 
An Introduction to the Osteology of the Mammalia, by W. H. 
Flower, F.R.S. ; A Treatise on Magnetism, designed for the use 
of Students at the University, by G. B. Airy, Astronomer Royal ; 
New Volumes of the School Class Book Series—Elementary 
Lessons in Logic, Deductive and Inductive, by Prof. Jevons, and 
Elementary Lessons ia Pnysics, by Balfour Stewart, LL.D., 
F.R.S. From Messrs. Rivingtons :—Exercises adapted to 
Algebra, Part. 1, by J. Hamblin Smith ; A Manual of Logic, or, 
A Statement and Explanation of the Laws of Formal Thought, 
by Henry J. Turrell. From Messrs. Blackie and Son :—A trans- 
lation, by Prof. Everett, of Prof. Deschanel’s Elementary Trea- 
tise on Natural Philosophy, Part 1—Mechanics, Hydrostatics, 
and Pneumatics, illustrated with a coloured plate and many 
woodcuts. From Messrs. Asher and Co:—Man in the Past, 
Present, and Future, from the German of Dr. L. Buchner, trans- 
lated by W. S. Dallas, F.L.S. From Messrs. Churchill :—A 
.Manual of Botany, by Robert Bentley, Professor of Botany, 
King’s College, London, and to the Pharmaceutical Society 
(second edition) ; A Laboratory Text-Book of Practical Chemis- 
try, or Introduction to Qualitative Analysis, a guide to the course 
of practical instruction given in the laboratories of the Royal 
College of Chemistry, by W. G. Valentin, F.C.S. ; Handbook 
of Volumetric Analysis, or the Quantitative Estimation of Chemi- 
cal Substances by Measure, by Francis Sutton, F.C.S., Nor- 
wich (second edition, much enlarged). 
THE early publication is announced of ‘“‘The Year-Book of 
Pharmacy,” containing the proceedings at the yearly meeting of 
the British Pharmaceutical Conference, and a Report on the 
Progress of Pl.armacy, which will include notices of all Pharma- 
ceutical papers, new processes, preparations, and formulz pub- 
lished throughout the world. It will be edited by Mr. J. C. 
Brough. 
THE Professor of Chemistry to the University of Cambridge 
will begin a course of lectures on the Experimental Laws of 
Heat on Monday the 17th of October. Ie will also give in- 
struction in Chemical Manipulation on Mondays, Wednesdays, 
and Fridays, at 1 p.M., beginning on the roth of October, at the 
University Laboratory, which will be open daily from to till 6 
for the use of students. 
THE prospectus of the South London Working Men’s College 
for the coming session includes classes in the following depart- 
ments of Natural Science :—Chemistry, Physics, Animal Physio- 
logy, Geology, Metallurgy, and Applied Mechanics, as well as 
in Political Economy. The presence on the Council of the names 
of Professors Huxley, Fawcett, and Tyndall, Sir John Lubbock, 
and Dr. Cobbold, are a sufficient guarantee of the quality of the 
instruction given. 
PROFESSOR DUNCAN, F.R.S., will commence a course of 
evening lectures on Geology, at King’s College, London, on 
Monday, October roth, 
THE first meeting for the session of the Royal Microscopical 
Society will be held at King’s College, London, on Wednesday, 
the 12th inst., at 8 o’clock, when the following papers will be 
read by Dr. G. W. Royston Pigott, M.A. :—‘‘On Aplanatic 
Illumination,” and ‘‘On Aplanatic Definition, with Optical 
Illustrations.” 
A MEETING Of the Leeds Field Naturalists’ Society will be 
held on Tuesday, October 11th, at 8 o'clock, at the Young 
Men’s Christian Association, South Parade, to consider the 
advisability of holding weekly meetings during the winter 
session. 
OwENS COLLEGE, Manchester, has lately received a very 
valuable donation to its large geological collection, in the shape 
of a collection of fossil Marsupials from Australia. This collec- 
tion was to have been presented to the British Museum, but the 
donor ultimately decided to bestow it on Manchester instead. 
THE Jesuit College at Manilla, in the Philippine Islands, has 
established a meteorological observatory, with self-recording 
instruments, where records of earthquakes are made in that 
region so fertile of them. 
A MAGNIFICENT refracting telescope, with an object-glass of- 
25 inches diameter, is being constructed at the manufactory of 
Messrs. Clarke and Sons, Cambridgeport, Massachussetts, for the 
National Observatory at Washington. The money for this 
valuable instrument was voted by Congress last session, ana 
amounts to 50,000 dollars, about 10,000/. It is believed that 
this telescope, when completed, will be one of the largest in the 
world ; meanwhile, it will take four years to finish it completely. 
THE closing of Paris deprives us of the communication of 
metcorological observations and the Registrar-General of the 
records of births and deaths. The next international congress 
should provide for the requirements of science. 
THE recent great summer-heat in America has been attract- 
ing great attention there. According to the records of Yale 
College, it has been the hottest summer for the last 92 years. 
“‘From July 10, to Aug. 15, 1870, the mean daily temperature 
was, at New Haven, 85°, and no season since 1778 has shown 
so many consecutive hot days. Our highest temperature this 
summer was (July 17) noted at 98°, and this has only been ex- 
ceeded four times during the period above indicated at New 
Haven, the thermometer rising to 100° one day each year in 
1784, 1800, and 1845, whilst in 1798 it reached 101°.” This 
will be very interesting to compare with the temperatures ascer- 
tained this year in England. 
In the aquarium of the Dublin Zoological Gardens there are 
several specimens of the blind fish (Améblyopsis sfeleus) lately 
brought from the Kentucky caves by Prof. Mapother. The small 
specimens, being very transparent, show the vertebral column, the 
heart, and the optic bulbs very distinctly. In the largest there are 
dark red spots over the optic bulbs, probably due to their 
having been kept in an iron vessel, which may have given colour 
for a rudimeitary pigment membrane, 
