40 



A'A TURE 



\Nov. 12, 1885 



the effect of different atmospheric pi'cisures upon this flame are 

 described, in connection witli wliich Mr. Harcourt and Mr. 

 Dixon went to the summit of Ben Nevis. They found that the 

 variation iu the burning of the pentane flame due to variation in 

 atmospheric pressure was less than had been anticipated, and tlia' 

 consequently no correction for such variation was necessary for the 

 photometric results obtained at the South Foreland. Sections 

 v., VI., and VII. deal with a very important question. A 

 tabular statement is given illustrating the range of temperature 

 within the gas and oil lanterns during the working of the higher 

 power of these illuminants. In the gas lantern three of the four 

 lens panels used to illustrate a fixed light have been seriously 

 damaged, as shown by copies of photographs published. Tne 

 lowest panel has not suffered. *i In the oil and electric lanterns the 

 lenses are uninjured. The inference is that the damage has been 

 caused by the direct or indirect action of heat. Section VIII. 

 consists merely of a reproduction of a table from Mr. Thomas 

 Stevenson's work on lighthouse construction and illumination in 

 reference to the penetrating power of lights in relation to the 

 increase of their intensity. Section IX. gives the result of 

 observations made to ascertain the suitability of the respective 

 illuminants for the exhibition of coloured sectors of light. The 

 question of duration of flashes is dealt with in Section X. Under 

 the heading " Divergence of Beam " Section XI. deals further 

 with this question of the size of the beam. Section XII. con- 

 sists of reports of experiments with sky-flashing lights, the object 

 being to illuminate the clouds with sudden beams of light. In 

 Section XIII. are given some memoranda for consideration in 

 estimating the expenses of first cost and maintenance for light- 

 houses illuminated by gas. Section XIV. consists of a table 

 showing the duration of fog at lighthouse and light-vessel stations 

 on the English coasts, compiled from four years' records. Sec- 

 tion XV. is a summarised journal of the lights shown each night 

 during the year of the experiments. 



It is stated that in order to make adequate provision for 

 medical education in Japan, the Government intends dividing 

 the country into six medical divisions, and to establish a medical 

 college in each, in which the future surgeons and physicians will 

 be trained. 



On the 20th ult. Prof. Teirien de Lacouperie delivered the 

 first of a series of lectures at University College, Gower Street, on 

 the Science of Language and its recent progress, in connection 

 with the languages of Indo-China. These languages, the lecturer 

 said, are a new field of research in comparative philology which 

 may lead to the reconsideration of several vital problems in 

 the science of language. They offer a more satisfactory solution 

 of these problems, and one more in accordance with the known 

 facts of language past and present, but their influence has hitherto 

 been injurious to the progress of linguistic science. The classi- 

 fication of languages into monosyllabic, agglutinative, and inflec- 

 tional, is, he said, now recognised to be inadequate, and was 

 based on a hypothesis of a primitive monosyllabic stage in the 

 histoiy of human speech which has never existed. The languages 

 of Thibet, Burmah, Pegu, Siam, Annam, China, are generally 

 called monosyllabic, and are still erroneously supposed by many 

 to be living illustrations of the imaginary primitive language of 

 monosyllabic roots. Such monosyllabism does not and never 

 did exist. There are, the Professor said, three sorts of 

 monosyllabism only — one of decay, one of writing, and 

 one of elocution. It is to the last that the tongues 

 of South-Eastern Asia belong, while the monosyllabism 

 of English belongs to that of decay. The languages of the 

 Far East, according to Prof. Lacouperie, belong to two great 

 stocks — the Turanian and Himalayan — besides a residuum of 

 Negrito and Papuan dialects. Turanian is represented by the 

 great Kuenlunic branch, including (a) the Chinese family, {h) 

 Tibeto-Burman group, (<") Yao-Karen group, ((/) Dravidiau 



family. Himalayan includes two great branches : (l) Indian, 

 for the Kolarian languages, &c. ; (2) Indo-Pacific, with four 

 divisions— (fl) Mon-Taic, subdivided into two families— (i) M5n- 

 Annam, (2) Tai Shan— (/>) Malayan, (c) Polynesian, (,/) Micro- 

 nesian. The second lecture, on the formation, evolution, and 

 influence of Chinese, will be dehvered on the 17th instant. 



At a recent meeting of the Manchester Literary and Philo- 

 sophical Society the special thanks of the Society were offered 

 to Mr. Henry Wilde for the great liberality recently displayed 

 by him in connection with the changes recently made in the 

 building belonging to the Society, and in which it holds its 

 meetings. When it was determined that new libraries should 

 be erected to accommodate the rapidly increasing number of 

 the Society's books, Mr. Wilde contributed the sum of 500/. to 

 the building fund. The difference between the elegance of the 

 new rooms and the dilapidated condition of the old ones offended 

 Mr. Wilde's eye, and he resolved that he would, at his own 

 expense, undertake their renovation. This he has now done at 

 an additional cost to himself of 1 100/. But the contribution of 

 that money is only a part of what Mr. Wilde has done. He has 

 personally superintended all the details of the work, rarely 

 missing a day, during the last three months, in devoting several 

 hours to that purpose. The results obtained evince at once the 

 taste Mr. Wilde has displayed in regulating the style and 

 character of the decorations. 



We learn from a communication in Naturen that apatite has 

 been found by Herr Enoksen, within the last few months, in 

 certain parts of Norway where its presence had not previously 

 been detected. The importance of this discovery to local 

 industry is all the greater, owing to the fact that the Bamh beds, 

 which have hitherto been the principal source froai which this 

 valuable mineral has been derived, are in the hands of a French 

 company, which purchased them some {years ago for 350,000 

 kroner, and still monopolises the trade. The demand for the 

 mineral is, moreover, very considerable in Norway, 'one Nor- 

 wegian factory, the chemical works of Stavanger, taking from 

 the Company about 1000 tons annually, at a cost of loo kroner 

 per ton. According to the well-known geologist, Herr Hans 

 Reusch, there is every reason to expect that apatite will be 

 found with tolerable frequency in Norway when working engi- 

 neers have learnt to distinguish it from the numerous valueless 

 minerals, to which its variability of colour gives it some resem- 

 blance — for the geological formation in whicli it has now for the 

 first time been detected near Stavanger, is not of uncommon occur- 

 rence in Norway. The little island of Hille, lying about five 

 miles to the north-east of Stavanger, where Herr Enoksen has 

 been so fortunate as to find true apatite, exhibits no products of 

 eruption, but has extensive deposits of mica schist, largely 

 intermixed with hornblende, and finely granulated gneiss. 

 Here apatite is found near titanic iron in isolated masses, 

 varying in size from a man's head to that of a nut. It occurs in 

 various parts of the island, but its true character was not 

 detected till Herr Enoksen showed that a piece of a stone not 

 uncommon in the Hille schists, which had been sent to him as 

 a scapolite, was in reality a fragment of genuine apatite. This 

 unexpected discovery has given great impetus to the further 

 search for this valuable mineral, which, as we learn from recent 

 reports, has also been found in the hornblende schists of the 

 Egersund. 



-An attempt has been recently made by Herr Liznar, of the 

 Austrian Meteorological Society, to determine the daily course 

 of cloudiness over different parts of the earth's surface. In most 

 places there are two maxima and two minima in the day. He 

 distinguishes four types, viz. : — (i) A maximum about midday, a 

 minimum in the evening ; this occurs, e.g. at Madrid (the maxi- 

 mum in summer becomes as late as 4 p.m.). (2) A maximum 



