April %, 1875] 



NATURE 



457 



were it for nothing else than the practical results of its labours, 

 and we have no doubt that the statements forwarded to the 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer will be seriously considered, with 

 the result that the prayer of the Society will be granted. 



We take the following from the Times : — ^The vote pro- 

 posed this session for Aid to the Science Commission is 

 but 597/. It is fully exj^ected that the labours of the Com- 

 mission will be completed by the end of December ; but 

 there is much work yet in hand. Five reports have been pub- 

 lished, and five more are in preparation, on — i, .Science Teacli- 

 ing in Public and Endowed .Schools ; 2, the University of Lon- 

 don ; 3, the Scotch Universities ; 4, the Irish Universities ; 5, 

 the Advancement of Science. Reports on science teaching in 

 public and first-grade schools in England and on the aid given 

 by the State to science in France have been prepared by the 

 secretary. It is proposed that three of the Commissioners 

 should visit the various colleges in Germany to make inquiry 

 with regard to scientific instruction and the advancement of 

 science in that country. 



From the Annual Report of the Geologists' Association, we 

 leam that that Society is in a prosperous condition. The increase 

 to its numbers during last year was thirty-one, and the total 

 number of members of all classes was, on Jan. 1st, 339. 



The soin'f o{ the Paris Observatory, which took place on the 1st 

 of April, was a very brilliant one. The saloons were crowded 

 with provincial savanis and their families. The great glass of the 

 new reflector had been arranged on its edge ;in the Meridian 

 Hall, so that visitors might admire the perfection of its polish. 

 The company retired at a late hour, and on the following 

 morning, we regret to say, M. Leon Leverrier, the eldest son of 

 the illustrious astronomer, was found dead in his bed. He was 

 thirty-seven years of age, a pupil of the Polytechnic School, and 

 the consulting chemist of the Western Railway. 



The competition for prizes in connection with the University 

 of Aberdeen, to which we alluded in our number for March 25 

 (p. 413), is, we are informed, confined to those who were 

 matriculated students of the University during Session 1S74-75. 



The African e.xplorer. Dr. Mauch, who fell from a window at 

 \y Blaubeiiren on the 27th ult., died on the 4th inst. 



We have received from Dr. H. Hildebrand Hildebrandsson, 

 of Upsal, a valuable paper just published on the upper currents 

 of the atmosphere. Systematic observations of the movements 

 of the cirrus cloud were set on foot at most of the Meteorological 

 Stations in Sweden in December 1873. This paper, which is an 

 able discussion of these observations, is an important contribu- 

 tion to the vital question of the circulation of the atmosphere ; 

 we shall give a detailed notice of it in an early number. 



An international conference for telegraphy will be held at St. 

 Petersburgh on the rst of June. Twenty-four nations and twenty 

 submarine companies are said to have agreed to send delegates 

 to deliberate on a new telegraphic convention. 



By the will of the late Mr. James Young, of Bournemouth, the 

 testator leaves, amongst other legacies, the sum of loo/. to John 

 Stenhouse, M.D., F. R.S., to show his appreciation of his ser- 

 vices to mankind by the great discovery of charcoal as an air- 

 filterer. 



Part 3 of Petervi ami's Mittheilungtn contains the beginning 

 of a report on Livingstone's travels in Central Africa, from 1866 

 to 1873, with extracts from his journals, and a large map drawn 

 by Petermann after the English edition of Livingstone's journals. 

 Even the most recent discoveries are entered on the map ; for 

 instance, the outlet of the Tanganyika Lake, discovered by 

 Cameron, by which this lake is in direct communication %vith 

 the source-district of the Congo, which Livingstone visited, 



without being able, however, to discern all its relations and con- 

 nections. It is very doubtful whether in England a map can 

 already be found, which is in the least to be compared to that of 

 Petermann. 



The conversazione oi the Royal Society, which we announced 

 in a recent number, took place last evening ; we hope to be 

 able to give details next week. 



Supplement No. 40 of Petermaim' s Mittheilimgen consists 

 of a detailed description of the Alpine region lying bet ween the 

 valleys of the Rhine and the Inn, the author being A. Walten- 

 bergen. It is accompanied by one large general and two smaller 

 special maps. 



The meeting of the delegates of the French learned societies 

 was inaugurated on the 31st March, and w.as held on the 1st and 

 2nd of April, at the Sorbonne. The conceding s-'ance was 

 occupied with the distribution of rewards, under the presidency 

 of M. Wallon, the new Minister. M. Wallon gave a summary 

 account of all the works which are carried on with the help of 

 Government. He alluded to a recent law passed by the Na- 

 tional Assembly, and which now regulates gj-ants to travelling 

 expeditions. A special commission has been established to 

 appoint explorers and determine the amount of money required 

 in each case in order to fulfil the ends of the journey. Each 

 person sent out has to write an account of the work done, and 

 the commission must report on the value of results thus ob- 

 tained. 



A new notation for thermometers has been invented by the 

 present director of the Copenhagen Meteorological Board, and 

 consists merely in taking the complement to 100° of each nega- 

 tive degree. Although it has been intended for the Celsius 

 thermometer, it can be extended to Fahrenheit with much 

 advantage in the rare cases in which negative degrees are used 

 on that scale. Suppose the following series of temperatures 

 has been obtained : -I- 7 - 3 + i — 5 -h 4 - 3 - 2 -(- 5, for the 

 minimum of successive days in March, according to the new 

 style it should run so : -r 7 -f97 +i -1-95 +4 -t- 97 + 98 + 5. 

 The sum is 404 minus 400 = 4. Mean is equal to f = i. If 

 possible, it is more difficult with Fahrenheit than with Celsius 

 to commit any enor, and means are taken with each scale with 

 an equal facility. 



From the Tenth Quarterly Report of the Sub-Wealden 

 Exploration, we learn that the total depth of the new boring 

 commenced February 11 is 373 feet. From the surface to the 

 gypsum, say about 127 feet, the beds consist of alternating shales, 

 limestones, and calcareous clays, all effervescing with acid ; more 

 or less fissured, varying in compactness and hardness from that 

 of Purbeck kerbstone to that of Windsor soap. A considerable 

 thickness, over 30 feet, of pale grey sand and sandstone imme- 

 diately succeeds the gypsum, followed by calcareous shales, to 

 the Kimmeridge clay at about 290 feet. This sand is supposed 

 by the authorities to be the representative of the Portland series. 

 It contains casts of annelides and the claws of one or two small 

 species of crab. The report contains an account of the boring 

 at Sperenberg, about twenty-three miles south of Berlin, which 

 was prosecuted to a depth of 4, 1 72 feet. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Red-bellied Wallaby (Halmatiirus billar- 

 dieri) from Tasmania, a Vulpine Phalanger (Plialangista vul- 

 fiiia) from Australia, presented by Mr. Bolton Glanvill Corney ; 

 a Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) from 

 Moluccas, presented by Mr. William Holbora ; a Crowned 

 Partridge (Ro/luliis cristatus) from Moluccas, presented by Mr 

 Barclay Field ; an Indian Python {Python moluriis) from India, 

 presented by Mr. A. J. S. Terris ; a Nisnas Monkey (Cercopi. 

 thecits pyrrhonoius) from Nubia, deposited ; a Wheatear {Saxi. 

 cola ananlhe) European, purchased. 



