March ir, 1875 J 



NA TURE 



of ninety years. M. Mathieu was elected fifty years ago to fill 

 the place vacated by the death of Mestier. That celebrated 

 comet-seeker of the eighteenth century had been himself a mem- 

 ber of the Academy for fifty years. Two persons occupying the 

 same seat for a period of more than a century is an example 

 of academical hereditary longevity which is likely very seldom 

 to occur. M. Mathieu was the brother-in-law of Arago, a circum- 

 stance which had added much to his personal credit and influence. 

 He was a member of the Bureau des Longitudes, and editor of 

 the Anmiaire for more than sixty years. He had been employed 

 in the first part of the century in connecting French and English 

 triangulations. 



The supplementary part No. 42 of Petermann's Mittheilungen, 

 advance sheets of which have been forwarded us, contains the first 

 half of a translation from the Russian of the celebrated traveller 

 Sewerzow's exploration of the Thian Shan Mountain System in 

 1867-6S. A translation of the same traveller's exploration of the 

 Tschu and Syr Darya region in 1864- 65 appeared in the Joiintal 

 of the Royal Geographical Society for 1870, by Mr. R. Mitchell. 

 The present translation is accompanied with a magnificent 

 chromolithographic map of the mountainous region around 

 Lake Issyk-Kul, from Russian official surveys. .Sewerzow made 

 a careful study not only of the geography, but of all departments 

 of the natural history, of the meteorology, and general physical 

 characteristics of the region which he explored. 



The Council of the Senate of Cambridge University have had 

 under their consideration the duties and stipend of the Jacksonian 

 Professor. The Council are of opinion that it will be advan- 

 tageous to the University, as well as in direct conformity with 

 the design of the professorship, that the lectures of the professor 

 should be directed hereafter, at least in part, to the illustration 

 and advancement of the knowledge of some branch or branches 

 of applied physics. They further recommend that the next 

 Jacksonian Professor receive from tire University chest such a 

 sum as will with his endowment stipend raise the income of the 

 professorship to 500/. per aimum ; that he shall be required to 

 reside within the precincts of the University for eighteen weeks 

 during term time in every academical year, to give one course of 

 lectures in each of two terms at least, and to give not fewer than 

 forty lectures in every academical year. 



The same body have recommended that a managing council, 

 consisting of the Vice-Chancellor and twelve other members of 

 the Senate, be appointed in connection with lectures and classes 

 at populous centres ; and that the Syndics be requited to make 

 an annual report to the Senate. 



The Council of the Pathological Society, we learn from the 

 British Medical Journal, have arranged that a discussion shall 

 be opened, by Dr. Charlton Bastian, F.R. S., at the meeting of 

 April 6th, on the Germ-theory of Disease, being a discussion of 

 the relation of Bacteria and allied organisms to virulent inflam- 

 mations and specific contagious fevers. It is expected that Dr. 

 Burdon-Sanderson will take part in the discussion; and it is 

 hoped that, besides the members of the Society interested in 

 this important subject. Prof. Lister of Edinburgh, and it may be 

 Prof. Billroth of Vienna, will find opportunity of being present 

 and taking part in the debate. 



At the last soiree of the Paris Observatory, M. Cornu made 

 some exceedingly interesting experiments with his apparatus 

 for measuring the velocity of light. The mirror for reflect- 

 ing the ray had been placed on the top of a barrack at only 

 1,280 yards from the Observatory. The wonderful effect of 

 the extinction of the ray by a certain speed of rotation of 

 the wheel was easily observed, as also its reappearance with an 

 increased velocity. The cloudy state of the atmosphere did 

 not prevent the experiment from being a success. It is expected 



that the apparatus will be sent to the next meeting of the British 

 Association. 



At a recent meeting of the Senate of the University of 

 London, it was resolved that there is no sufficient reason for per- 

 petuating the slight differences which at present exist between 

 the curricula of the Women's General Examination and the 

 Matriculation Examination ; and that in and after the year 1S76 

 the curriculum of the Women's General Examination be the 

 same as the curriculum for the time being of the Matriculation 

 Examination, except that, in the year 1876, women shall have 

 the option of being examined according to the present instead of 

 the altered curriculum. 



The meeting of delegates of the French Societes Savantes 

 will take place at the Sorbonne after Easter, as usual, and will 

 have a special interest for meteorologists. M. Leverrier, who 

 will be appointed the President of the Commission of Sciences, 

 has sent a circular to the several presidents of the Meteorological 

 Commissions, asking them to send as many meteorologists as they 

 can to Paris on that occasion ; the intention of the Ministry being 

 to call a special Congress for Meteorology in order to group 

 together the various Departments into natural meteorological 

 districts. 



The destruction of seals in the Arctic seas has been carried 

 on to such an extent that fears are entertained of the annihilation 

 of these animals. The Peterhead sealers and whalers have 

 therefore determined to agree to a " close time," during which 

 it shall be unlawful for any sealing-ship to kill seals, or even to 

 leave port for the fishing-grounds ; thus giving tlie newly-born 

 seals time to develop into a useful size, and enabling even the 

 parent-seals to escape. It is hoped to extend this regulation to 

 oilier countries engaged in the industry ; and the Board of Trade 

 has been in correspondence with various authorities on the 

 subject. The papers in connection with the case have been pre- 

 sented to Parliament, and will shortly be printed, when the 

 decision of the Government will probably be made known. 



Though Indian tobacco is not much esteemed in this country, 

 owing to its being badly prepared, some 796,000 acres of land 

 are under tobacco cultivation, distributed as follows : — In the 

 Bombay Presidency over 40,000 acres ; in tlie Punjab, over 

 90,000; in Oude, 69,574; in the Central Provinces, 55,000; 

 in Behar, 18,500; in Mysore, 20,000; in Burmah, 13,000; 

 while in Bengal there are some 500,000 acres. 



We learn that the export of cinchona bark from the Nilgiri 

 hills, on the part of the Government, during 1872-73, the first 

 regular year of export, amounted to over 20,000 lbs., which 

 realised 4,000/. in the London market. It is anticipated thi;t 

 the returns of the exports for the past year, 1873-74, would 

 show a similar quantity, and that the trade in future years will 

 rapidly increase. Bark from private cinchona plantations in the 

 East Indies and Ceylon appears regularly in the London market, 

 fetching from \oJ. to 4J. per lb. " Very good average prices," 

 it is said, " as compared with those obtained by the South 

 American barks." 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Hog Deer (Cervus porcinus) from Kurrachee, 

 presented by Mr. H. Hughes ; a White-crowned Mangabey 

 (Ccrcocebes athiops) from West Africa, presented by Mr. W. 

 Gordon Patchett ; an Egyptian Jerboa (Dipts dgyptius) from 

 Egypt, presented by Mr. A. Carey, R.N. ; an Anubis Baboon 

 [Cyiwcephalus anubis) from W. Africa, presented by Mr. R. B. N. 

 \\'alker ; an Indian Wild Dog (Canis pitnavus) from India, 

 jiresented by H. E. the Governor-General of India ; three Crested 

 Falcons [Baza lopho/es), two Indian Cobras (Naia tripudians), 

 two Indian Eryx {Eryx jolinii) from India, purchased. 



