234 



NATURE 



\yan. 21, 1875 



Association would always keep in view the possession by 

 the lecturers of those qualities which alone could secure 

 ultimate success in their enterprise, and which might be 

 summed up as follows : — First, the fulness of knowledge 

 which belongs to an accomplished master of his subject ; 

 second, the authority in statement which is derived from 

 original research ; and third, the disposition and power to 

 convey full and accurate information to others with sim- 

 plicity and clearness. 



The subject of Prof. Roscoe's lecture was " The History 

 of the Chemical Elements," and it was most completely 

 and successfully illustrated, especially in the department 

 of spectrum analysis. 



Sir William Thomson's lecture will be on " The Tides," 

 in which it is expected that a full exposition will be given 

 of the more important results arrived at by the British 

 Association Tidal Committee in their recent investiga- 

 tions. 



Dr. Carpenter has chosen as his subject "Man not an 

 Automaton," with reference to the recent lectures of Pro- 

 fessors Huxley and Clifford ; and the concluding lecture, 

 by Prof. W. C. Williamson, will be on " The Dawn of 

 Animal Life." 



It is the intention of the committee in future sessions 

 to provide courses of eight or ten lectures, embracing 

 all those branches of science that are susceptible of 

 being treated thoroughly before large and miscellaneous 

 audiences. What the pubKc now want is lectures of the 

 highest class, conveying ample information, but without 

 unnecessary technicality and learned difficulty. The 

 success of the Manchester Science Lectures for the 

 People and of the lectures delivered to the working men in 

 the towns visited by the British Association during recent 

 years, abundantly shows that such a desire is yearly be- 

 coming more and more prevalent. John Mayer 



ATLANTIC NOTES 

 Migration of Birds—The TlircxJicr and Whale 

 T N crossing the Atlantic last September, when 900 miles 

 •*■ distant from the nearest point of Newfoundland, two 

 land birds settled on the ship, and after a short rest 

 resumed their flight to the south-east, without partaking 

 of the food which was scattered in various places for 

 them. By the colour of their plumage and motion on 

 the wing, I believe them to be a species of lark. It may 

 well be asked whence did they come, and whither were 

 they going over that vast space of ocean, with no resting- 

 place nearer the continent than the Azores ? How were 

 they fed during their long journey, and what guided them 

 on their course ? for it is only reasonable to suppose they 

 had come on a bee line from their starting point, and 

 even then their muscular powers must have been severely 

 taxed. It appears to me that naturalists are not in pos- 

 session of the secret which enables birds of passage to 

 go many days without food at a time when their system 

 must be strained to its extreme limit of endurance. 



From the result of close observation, I do not believe 

 that land birds are often, if ever, driven to sea by the 

 force of the wind. Some other cause must influence 

 their movements. At the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, 

 when there has not been a storm for many davs, 1 have 

 seen scores of different species around the ship, amongst 

 them the hawk, the owl, the robin, and many others. 

 .\re those who alight and stay by the ship the stragglers 

 from the ranks of the armies which annually migrate, the 

 sick and worn who fall out by the roadside to die, whose 

 end in creation has been fulhlled, and their places ready 

 to be taken by the young and strong? This surmise is 

 strengthened by the fact that no care can preserve the 

 lives of these tired birds in captivity ; the hawk and dove 

 alike refuse food, and quicldy pine and die. 

 Birds must possess strong atTections, as they are always 



seen in pairs on these long journeys, wliicli is an addi- 

 tional argument in favour of their voluntary flight over 

 the ocean. It is scarcely possible they could remain 

 together in a gale sufficiently powerful to blow them ofif 

 the land, and more unreasonable still to imagine that the 

 strength which is able to carry them hundreds of miles 

 without a rest should fail to breast an ordinary gale under 

 the shelter of the land. Such facts as these vouch for 

 the facility with which the most remote islands may in- 

 crease the number of their species without the agency of 

 man. 



Off Youghal a gigantic thresher {Squalus iiuipcculd) 

 was passed. It was leaping lazily and obliquely from 

 the water, and after attaining its highest altitude, fell 

 heavily on the surface, without making any effort to 

 ease or guide its descent. This fish was not under four- 

 teen feet in length ; the belly of a pearly whiteness, and the 

 back marked,across with broad black bands. I have never 

 seen this fish north before ; but on the whaling grounds 

 of the southern seas it is common. I do not believe it is 

 dangerous to the life of the whale, as is often stated, but 

 am under the impression that the irritation caused by 

 the attacks of the thresher makes the animal vomit 

 up the squid and other small matter on which it feeds. 

 It is not reasonable to suppose that the blows inflicted by 

 so small an instrument as the thresher's tail can have 

 much effect through a foot of blubber. The whale has 

 also many ways of escaping from its puny enemy ; he 

 dives to a depth where the thresher cannot follow, and if 

 he could, his power of inflicting injury would be gone, 

 owing to the resistance caused by the water ; his speed 

 also enables him to escape at all times. The treaty of 

 offence which is said to exist between the thresher and 

 sword-fish appears to me to be very mythical. When the 

 whale is sick or dying, he is doubtless an object of attack 

 to all the shark species, as they wage war with the whaler 

 for the coveted blubber. W',M. W. Kiddi.k 



THE TRANSIT OF VENUS 



THE Times of yesterday contains some additional 

 news from the Transit parties, specially those of 

 France and Italy. 



The French news consists of telegrams from Shanghai 

 in the Northern and from New Caledonia in the Southern 

 Hemisphere. From the former station M. Fleuriais, the 

 astronomer in charge at Pekin, now states that he was 

 fortunate enough to observe all the four contacts, and 

 not two only, as was at first stated. The times were as 

 follows in local mean time: — First contact, 2ih. 32m. 

 42s. ; second, 22h. ; third, ih. 50m. 15s. ; fourth, 2h. 17m. 

 13s. Nor is this all ; no less than sixty photographs were 

 taken which M. Fleuriais pronounces good. We have 

 already stated that stations in Northern China are most 

 useful for the application of the Halleyan and direct 

 methods. From New Caledonia the best part of the 

 news refers to the photographic operations, 100 good 

 photographs being secured. Of the contacts, only the 

 interior one at ingress was observed. 



The news of the doings of the Italians comes from the 

 party in Bengal, in charge ot the distinguished spectro- 

 scopist Tacchini, including Dorna, Lafont, Morso, Abetti, 

 and Tacchini. The telegr.am comes from Maddapore, 

 and the party evidently occupied two stations. The first 

 three observed all four contacts, the last two only the 

 third and fourth. 



As before stated, the chief instrument employed 

 by the Italians was the spectroscope— an instrument 

 not recognised in the equipment of any of the English 

 parties. 



The observations were of the most satisfactory kind, 

 and the results may lead to a most important discovery m 

 solar physics. The time of interior contact at egress was 

 observed with the most rigorous exactness, both by the 



