2 74 



NA TURE 



IFcb. 4, 1875 



l.ist, of whose life we gave some account shortly after. The 

 principal address at the ' meeting was by Prof. Asa Gray, who 

 sketched Dr. Wyman's life and his work as a biologist. Prof. 

 Gray speaks in very high terms of Dr. Wyman's work. In 

 the memoir on Troglodytes Gorilla, read before the Boston 

 .Society in 1847, and of which the osteology and introductory 

 history is by Dr. Wyman, and in the subsidiary papers, Prof. 

 Gray says, "maybe found the substance of all that has since 

 been brought forward, bearing upon the osteological resem- 

 blances and differences between man and apes." 



We note the receipt of the Annual Report for 1873 of the 

 Biiminghara Natural History and Microscopical Society, one of 

 tlie most energetic of this class of societies in the kingdom. 

 There is a very interesting address by the retiring president, Mr. 

 W. R. Hughes, F.L.S., in which he reviews briefly the recent 

 progress of the study of Marine Zoology. We are glad to see 

 th.'t the Society contemplates going so far afield on an exploring 

 excursion as the Mediterranean'; our readers may remember that in 

 theautumnof 1872 they made a very successful dredging excursion 

 to Teignmouth. Mr. Hughes suggests that the Birmingham and 

 similar societies should combine in a petition to the proper 

 quarter to obtain any surplus specimens from the Challenger col- 

 lodion which may remain after the British Museum and other 

 headquarters for specimens have been supplied. The suggestion 

 seems to us a very reasonable one, though it may be found that 

 after all the Cliallenqer specimens will not go very far in this 

 respect. We are glad to see that the Society continues to be 

 increasingly prosperous. 



We are gratified to learn that a Natural History Society and 

 Field Club was successfully inaugurated at Watford on the 23rd 

 uUimo. It has commenced with about fifly members, ladies 

 and gentlemen, and Mr. J. Hopkinson was appointed secretary. 

 We wish the Society every success ; it is the only one of the 

 kind in Hertfordshire, and we hope it will set itself in earnest 

 o extend and complete our knowledge of the natural history 

 of that ccunly. 



Prof. II.wden has lately printed a catalogue of the pub- 

 lications of the United States Geological Survey under his chprge, 

 filling a pamphlet of twenty pages. 



In the number of the /%3rOT«C(7(/;co/ 7(!«r«fl/ for Jan. 23, Mr. 

 E. M. Holmes throws considerable light on the botanical source 

 of the new drug Jaborandi. Prof. Baillon was the first to refer 

 it to a species of Piloearpis, but upon very insufficient materials. 

 Mr. Holmes, however, has succeeded in obtaining better speci- 

 mens, including some ripefiuits, and from these he arrives at the 

 conclusion that there are two or more distinct varieties of the 

 drug, one of which is very near if not identical with Pilocarpus 

 fennatifolins, Lem., another from a species ol the same genus 

 not yet known, and another still from a species of Piper. These 

 are now in use both in France and England, but several other 

 plants possessing similar properties and known under the same 

 nime of Jaborandi are in use in South America. With regaid 

 to its physiolcgical action, Mr. Martindale contributes some inte- 

 resting notes in the PharmaccuUcal Journal for Jan. 16. 



The Journal of the Siciety of Arts quotes an article from the 

 Journal de la Society d'l/orticiilture on indiarubber-producing 

 plants. This paper is a ;<'.t.YOTi' of well-known facts relating to 

 these valuable plants, the only point of interest being in connec- 

 tion with the Central American Caoutchouc Tree, Castilloa 

 elastica, Cerv., which, we are told, in the district of St. John, in 

 Nicaragua, furnishes employment to from 600 to Soo persons, in 

 drawing off the juice. In the neighbourhood of Panama about 

 2,000 persons are so employed. 



Some official correspondence relating to the conservation of 

 the Government forests in Ceylon has been published in Colombo, 



from which we learn that a good deal of Satin Wood [Chloroxy- 

 Ion swielenia), Calamander (Diosfyros /jucrsita), and Ebony 

 (Diospyros cbenum), exists in the forests, and that the system of 

 felling trees by the natives for firewood and other uses, though 

 illegal, is still carried on to some extent, many of the natives 

 being quite ignorant of forest reservation, while others are such 

 adepts at stealing that the forest officers are not sufficiently 

 numerous to prevent it. 



CoL. Playfair, the Consul-General' of Algeria, reports that 

 the cultivation of the vine in that country is becoming yearly of 

 greater importance, the advance in the prices of wine in France 

 having given a greater impetus to its cultivation in Algeria. The 

 Sahel, which comprises an area of 125,000 acres, is specially 

 suited to the vine culture, and it is anticipated that this space 

 will some day be nearly covered with the plant. At the time of 

 writing the report. Consul Playfair says, the Phylloxera had not 

 reached Algeria, and the importation of vine-cuttmgs from any 

 part of Europe was rigorously prohibited. 



Mr. J. M. Wilson, of Rugby, writes (Jan. 29), with reference 

 to Antares : — 



" The subjoined measures may interest the readers of the astro- 

 nomical column in Nature, vol. xi. p. 249. I will measure it 

 again soon : — 



Position. Dibtarnje. Date. 



26S7 3-46 73-42 



The additions to the Zoological .Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Clouded Tiger (Felis viacrocclis) irom 

 Burmah, purchased ; an Azara's Fox {Cauls azane) from South 

 America, presented by Mr. J. Williamson ; a Common Para« 

 doxure (Ptirado.xurus lypus), a Bonnet Monkey {Macaeiis radi- 

 atiis), and a Macaque Monkey {A/, cynomolgus), all from India, 

 presented by Mr. D. D. Abbott, Miss S. Melley, and Mr. F, 

 G. Lane respectively. 



DETERMINATION OF THE VELOCITY OF 



LIGHT AND OF THE SUN'S PARALLAX* 



T HAD the honour to submit to the Academy various improve- 

 ments relating to the method devised in 1849 by M. Fizeau 

 for the direct determination of the velocity of light. These 

 improvements, tried upon a moderate distance (10,310 metres 

 between the Ecole Polytechnique and Mont Valerien, J' = 

 298,500 kilometres, probable error below O'Oi), entirely suc- 

 ceeded, and permitted me to affirm that the improved method 

 was capable of giving results of great precision under the condi- 

 tions of operating at a greater and better determined distance 

 and employing more powerful apparatus. 



The preparations of the expedition for observing the Transit 

 of 'Venus drew the attention of astronomers to the utility of a 

 precise determination of the velocity of light, for this velocity 

 combined with certain astronomical constants allows the calcula- 

 tion of the sun's parallax, of which the direct observation de- 

 mands such laborious voyages atid the devotion of many astro- 

 nomers. Ttius, at the suggestion of M. Le Verrier, director of 

 the Paris Observatory, and of M. Fizeau, member of the Council, 

 the Council of the Observatory decided at the commencement of 

 1874 that a determination of the velocity of light should be 

 undertaken without neglecting anything that could give to the 

 operation all the desirable precision. 



The Council did me the honour of confiding to me this im- 

 portant operation. Much honoured by and very happy at this 

 decision, I should nevertheless have hesitated to accept so grave a 

 responsibility had I not been strongly encouraged by M. Fizeau, 

 who has not ceased during the whole duration of the labour to 

 offer me the most liberal and precious advice. 



After a searching examination of various stations I adopted 

 the Observatory and the tower of Montlhery, distant about 23 

 kilometres. I was guided in this choice by the consideration 



* Translated from a paper read by M. A. Cornu before the Paris Academy 



