December 29, 1898] 



NA TURE 



205 



itself to other workers in the same field, are only matters 

 of detail that in no way affect the facts established by 

 him. 



Dr. Vogel's activity was shown in almost every branch 

 of photography, and in many of its applications. His 

 astronomical work, especially in connection with eclipses 

 of the sun, is well known. The existence and prosperity 

 of the Imperial Technical His^h School of Photography, 

 at Berlin, is the best of evidence of his work as a teacher. 

 His " Handbook of Photography," " Practical Spectrum 

 Analysis," and other treatises, will long remain as useful 

 guides. The Pholographische Mitteilungcn, which he 

 established in 1864 and conducted himself until quite 

 recently, and the position that at one time he took up as 

 correspondent of other technical papers, show how much 

 he valued and worked for current photographic literature. 

 There are few men who have done such varied and 

 lasting work in connection with photography as Dr. H. 

 W. Vogel. 



NO TES. 



Wk notice with much regret the announcement that Prof. 

 A. A. Kanthack, professor of pathology in Cambridge Uni- 

 versity, died on Wednesday, December 21, at the early age of 

 thirty-five. 



The French Societe d' Encouragement pour I'lndustrie 

 Nationale has received a gift of twenty thousand francs from 

 M. Gilbert (of Givet), to be used for the advancement of 

 French industries. 



Mr. Frederick G. Jackson, the leader of the Jackson- 

 Harmsworth Arctic expedition, has received a knighthood of 

 the first class of the Royal Order of St. Olaf from King Oscar 

 of Sweden and Norway. 



A Biological Section for Agriculture and Forestry has been 

 established in connection with the Imperial Sanitary Bureau at 

 Berlin. Dr. Freiherr v. Tubeuf (of Munich) has been appointed 

 botanist, and Dr. J. Behrens (of Carlsruhe) bacteriologist to the 

 Section. 



The death is announced of Mr. John Barrow, F.R.S., at the 

 age of ninety-one. He took an active part in promoting the 

 search for Sir John Franklin, and was the author of several 

 books of travel and descriptions of glaciers in the Alps. He 

 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society so far back as 

 1S44. 



The following gentlemen have been elected corresponding 

 members of the Zoological Society : — Dr. Ludwig Heck, of the 

 Zoological Gardens, Berlin ; Mr. William T. Hornaday, of the 

 Zoological Park, New York, U.S.A. ; Dr. Herman von Ihering, 

 of the Musen Paulista, St. Paulo, Brazil ; and Prof. Louis von 

 M^hely, of the National Museum, Budapest. 



We learn from La Nature of December 24, that a mountain 

 observatory has been erected at Mont Mounier, the highest 

 point of the Maritime Alps, at 2816 metres above the sea-level, 

 and about 90 kilometres north-west of Nice. The cost of the 

 establishment has been defrayed by M. Bischoffsheim, a member 

 of the Institute, who also endowed the Nice Observatory. The 

 mountain station is connected by telephone with the telegraphic 

 station at the village of Beuil, and meteorological observations 

 are regularly made by M. Maynard. As the position is all that 

 can be desired for the purpose, we may hope for some valuable 

 results in connection with those obtained at the Nice Observ- 

 atory. During the frosts of winter the temperature at the upper 

 station falls to about 36° F. below the freezing point. 



NO. 1522, VOL. 59J 



A RECENT number of the Laiitet contains a paper by Mr. 

 A. F. Stanley Kent, entitled " The Specific Organism of Vac- 

 cinia." The author has found a diplobacillus present in large 

 numbers in the deeper parts of the vesicle. This organism he 

 has succeeded in cultivating in artificial media, and has been 

 able to produce, by its inoculation into animals, vesicles " in- 

 distinguishable from those produced in the ordinary course by 

 vaccination with current lymph." Mr. Kent further states that 

 animals which have been thus inoculated subsequently give no 

 reaction when revaccinated with active lymph. Many investi- 

 gators have been drawn into this field of research, but hitherto 

 the difficulties of deciding the claims of so many rival candi- 

 dates have proved insuperable. It will be important to have 

 Mr. Kent's results repeated and confirmed by other workers, 

 and there can be no doubt that his suggestive and promising 

 achievement will give fresh energy to the conduct of experi- 

 ments in this direction. 



The Shanghai Meteorological Society has issued its report 

 for the years 1896 and 1897. The headquarters of the Society 

 is at the Zi-ka-wei Observatory, of which the Rev. A. Froc, 

 S.J., is Director. The observatory receives daily two or three 

 telegrams from forty-two stations, including those from Corea, 

 Japan, Formosa, and the Phillipines, and issues storm warnings 

 to several ports. The present report contains a discussion of 

 two notable typhoons which occurred on September 9 and 29, 

 1897. The first of these was of unusual violence ; it fell like a 

 thunderbolt upon the city of Yokohama, and caused considerable 

 havoc there and in the neighbouring districts. The storm 

 struck the steamship Empress of India in lat. 33^ 30' N., long. 

 ■37° 5 E. , on the night of September 8-9, and in the course of 

 two hours the barometer on that vessel fell I '25 inch, and in less 

 than forty minutes the mercury again rose I '40 inch. During 

 part of its course the storm travelled at a rate of o%'er fifty miles 

 an hour. 



The effect of approaching storms upon song birds is the sub- 

 ject of an interesting contribution by Mr. C. E. Linney to the 

 U.S. Monthly Weather Review. It appears that during the 

 night of August 15-16 very severe electrical, wind, and rain 

 storms prevailed over the northern district of Illinois. An ob- 

 server in Henry County, Mr. W. W. Warner, noticed that for 

 forty-eight hours before the storm not a sound was heard from 

 the numerous song birds in the district. This observation was 

 so full of interest that Mr. Linney wrote for additional inform- 

 ation, with the result that he received numerous letters, some 

 confirming it ; others stating that birds sing louder and more 

 persistently before a great storm, and nearly all agreeing that 

 they are more restless than usual at such a time. Mr. Linney 

 has found the following weather proverbs referring to song birds 

 and storms : — When birds cease to sing, rain and thunder will 

 probably occur. — If birds in general pick their feathers, wash 

 themselves, and fly to their nests, expect rain. — Parrots and 

 canaries dress their feathers and are wakeful the evening before 

 a storm. — If the peacock cries when he goes to roost, and, 

 indeed, much at any time, it is a sign of rain. — Long and loud 

 singing of robins in the morning denotes rain. — Robins will 

 perch on the topmost branches of trees, and whistle when a 

 storm is approaching. — The restlessness of domestic animals 

 and barn-yard fowls before an approaching storm is well known, 

 and many of their peculiarities have been noted ; but the actions 

 of song birds do not appear to have previously received particular 

 attention. 



A FULL and well illustrated account of the manufacture of 

 aluminium at Foyers is contained in Coininerce for December 14. 

 The works, which were completed at the end of 1S96, are now 

 in full operation. The raw material bauxite is obtained in 

 County Antrim, whence it is transported to Lame. .\t Larne 



