Nor. 19. 1885] 



NA TURE 



61 



mean that changes of pressure only require to be taken 

 account of in the very exact instrumental observations 

 carried out in first-class observatories. It is also im- 

 portant that a respectable weathercock should be in sight, 

 for the direction of the wind exercises, as is well known, 

 a potent influence on the condition of the air, as revealed 

 by the scrutiny of a celestial object through a telescope. 



A good " Six's " thermometer is quite good enough for 

 general purposes, although not a self-registering instru- 

 ment of the highest scientific precision. As a hygrometer, 

 " Mason's wet-and-dry-bulb " instrument leaves nothing 

 to be desired. 



The one special precaution of a meteorological charac- 

 ter to be taken in connection with all astronomical ob- 

 servations, whether made in an observatory or in the 

 open air, is that equality of temperature should be secured 

 everywhere. Whilst the due ventilation of the observa- 

 tory should at all times be provided for, it is absolutely 

 essential, in order to insure good results with every kind 

 of instrument, that all doors and windows should be 

 thrown open, so as to obtain a free current of air every- 

 where for fully half an hour before observations are to 

 be begun ; in hot summer weather, indeed, a longer time 

 will generally be found necessary. The object of these 

 precautions is obvious enough : it is to insure the inside 

 air and the metal of the instruments being cooled down 

 (or, as it may sometimes happen, being warmed up) to 

 the temperature of the external air. In order to learn 

 whether this equality exists, every observatory should 

 have a thermometer outside as well as inside. The 

 former should be hung on the north side, away from the 

 sun, and, if possible, not actually in contact with the 

 observatory itself G. F. CHAMBERS 



{To be cojititiucd) 



NOTES 

 We learn with much pleasure from Science the election of 

 Prof. E. S. Holden to be President of the University of Cali- 

 fornia, and Director of the Lick Observatory. Prof Holden's 

 resignation as Director of the Washburn Observatory at Madison, 

 Wis., takes effect on January i next. His appointment as 

 Director of the Lick Observatory will hardly be a matter of 

 surprise to those who are aware that, as consulting astronomer, 

 he has virtually had the direction of the work as it has pro- 

 gressed, visiting the site on Mount Hamilton in 1881, and again 

 in 1S83 and 1884. Very happily the choice both of the Lick 

 trustees and of the regents of the University has fallen upon 

 Prof Holden. It is understood that, in his letter of resignation 

 to the regents of the University of Wisconi-in, he strongly urges 

 the name of Prof W. A. Rogers, of Harvard College Observa- 

 tory, as his successor. 



The wealthy American, Senator .Stanford, proposes to esta- 

 blish a Cahfornian University. He intends to give to it, besides 

 estates worth 5,303,000 dollars, a donation in money increasing 

 its endowments to 20,000,000 dollars. The University will be 

 located at Palo- Alto, thirty miles from San Francisco, and is 

 apparently to be modelled somewhat after the plan of the Johns 

 Hopkins institution. 



The prospectus has been issued by Herr Fischer, publisher, of 

 Jena, of a new scientific periodal entitled Zoologische Jarhbiichcr : 

 Zeitschrift filr Systematik CeograpJiie und Biologic der Thieve, 

 which is to be brought out under the editorship of Dr. J. W. 

 Sprengel, of Bremen. Notwithstanding the vast number of 

 scientific journals, both author and publisher think that this 

 department of science does not receive the attention which it 

 deserves. It is not excluded, they say, from scientific periodi- 

 cals ; but communications relating to it appear more or less as 

 strangers by the side of others. The new periodical will be 



wholly devoted to this class of subjects. In the first section the 

 papers will, for the most part, be of a higher kind than the 

 mere description of new species, except those for which no 

 special journal exists. The geographical section will contain 

 studies on the distribution of all kinds of animal and vegetable 

 life, and special attention is promised to the biological section. 

 Contributions will be received in German, French, English, and 

 Latin. The periodical will appear quarterly, each four issues 

 making a volume. 



The success of the last electrical exhibition at the Paris . 

 Observatory was so complete that the International Society of 

 Electricians is preparing another for next spring. 



.\ GE.\ERAL meeting of members of the French Association 

 for the Advancement of Science has been summoned to approve 

 of the fusion with the Societe Franijaise. Lectures and meetings 

 will take place this year under the patronage of the united 

 societies as a single body. 



The well-known electrician, Dr. Janies Moser, who was 

 working for .some time at Prof Guthrie's laboratory, has been 

 appointed s.% privatdoceut at Vienna University. 



The Colonial fisheries are to form a prominent feature at the 

 Indian and Colonial Exhibition which is to be held next year. 

 The Aquarium will be considerably enlarged, and special tanks 

 are now being prepared for the reception of the various fish from 

 the Colonies. A tank of colossal proportions is to be allotted 

 for the purpose of exhibiting turtles in large numbers which will 

 be despatched from India together with other specimens in the 

 early part of next year. We do not yet know what fish are to 

 be forwarded from the various colonies, but the utmost care will 

 have to be exercised and the most perfect arrangements made 

 in order to provide for their various necessities. The collection 

 promises to be one of great interest and value, although its 

 success all depends upon how the fish withstand the long 

 journeys to which they will be subjected. 



Towards the end of October the remarkable sun-glows 

 were again seen at Stockholm. In the western horizon a yellow 

 cloud-bank, strongly illuminated, appeared behind a number of 

 tiny clouds, greyish in colour, the sky above the former, to a 

 height of about 45^, being lurid, entirely colouring the clouds. 

 Later on in the evening the glow imparted to the edges of the 

 clouds the most remarkable reflections of colour, varying from 

 ochre to yellow, violet, and pink, with shadings of blue. At 

 times the higher-lying clouds formed most remarkable forma- 

 tions. It seemed that the glow was situated between cumulus 

 and cirrus clouds. 



On October 21, at about 5 a.m., a brilliant meteor was 

 obi-erved at Skaado, on the south-east coast of Norway. It 

 appeared first near the zenith, and describing a circle of about 

 70", dis.appeared in the south-west, about 20° above the horizon. 

 In spite of the sky being covered with clouds, and its being still 

 dark, the country around was lit up as in daylight, objects being 

 clearly discernible at a great distance. As no sound or explosion 

 was heard, it is assumed tha' the track of the meteor lay in the 

 upper parts of the atmosphere. 



Some Thames trout are being spawned at Sunbury by the 

 Thames Angling Preservation Society, who are doing their 

 utmost to replenish the stock of this fine species of Salmonidcc, 

 which, unhappily, have now become a rarity. The ova will be 

 incubated by the National Fish Culture Association, and the 

 fry will ultimately be deposited in one of the Thames nurseries. 



The Catalogue of the Library of the Royal Society of Tas- 

 mania is a considerable volume ; and it is a matter of some 

 suqjrise to find that men of science in this distant colony have 



