Jan. 7, 1886] 



NATURE 



235 



Rhymhola. Dr. Giles, the Surgeon-Naturalist to the Indian 

 Marine Survey, writes on the structure and habits of Cyrtophiutn 

 calamicola, a new tubicolous amphipod from the Bay of Bengal, 

 a description of a new species of the amphipod genus Melita 

 from the same place, and notes on Prothallus of Padina 

 pavonia. These three form part of the Natural History Notes 

 of the Indian Marine Survey steamer Invfiligator. Commander 

 Alfred Carpenter, of the same steamer, under the title "The 

 Swatch of no Ground," explains the presence in the deltaic banks 

 (" the-Swatch ") off the mouths of the Ganges and the Brahma- 

 putra of channels of great depth. Mr. Hill, the Meteorological 

 Reporter to the North- Western Provinces and Oudh, contributes 

 observations on the solar thermometer at Lucknow, while last 

 of all comes a paper from Japan. Dr. O. F. von Mollendorfif 

 (not to be confounded with his brother of recent Core.an fame) 

 writes on Japanese land- and freshwater-moUusks, a series of 

 notes based chiefly on a collection made by Dr. John Anderson 

 during the year 1884, and sent to the writer for classification. 



We are glad to learn that Prof. Morse, Director of the Pea- 

 body Academy of Science, has in the press a work entitled 

 "Japanese Homes and their Surroundings." Prof. Morse, it 

 may be remembered, was Professor of Zoology in the University 

 of Tokio, and his prehistoric discoveries in Japan formed one of 

 the earliest of the publications of that institution. The pub- 

 li hers of the work, which will contain numerous illustrations by 

 the author, are Messrs. Ticknor and Co. of Boston. 



At a meeting of the Seismological Society of Tokio held on 

 November 18, 1885, in the University there. Prof. Shida de- 

 scribed an instrument which he had designed to give an auto- 

 matic record of earth-currents. The chief feature in it is an 

 ingenious method of obtaining a record of the position of the 

 coil or needle which indicated the current which might be pass- 

 ing through the instrument. This was accomplished by the 

 needle, as it turned, making a series of almost frictionless elec- 

 trical contacts between a series of metallic points and a film of 

 liquid. The instrument has been practically worked, and is said 

 to have yielded satisfactory records. A second paper by the 

 same writer gave a history of all the facts with which we are 

 acquainted respecting the phenomena of earth-currents. A con- 

 siderable portion of the material embodied in the paper was 

 derived from Prof. Shida's own observations on the lines and 

 cables of this country. He made numerous references to 

 instances where earth-currents of unusual magnitude had accom- 

 panied or preceded earthquakes. Many theories have been 

 advanced to account for these phenomena, and it has been 

 demonstrated by several investigations that they have a connec- 

 tion with the occurrence of sunspots. In the discussion which 

 followed, Prof. Knott referred to the possibility of these disturb- 

 ances being due to the inductive action of electrified bodies of 

 air, while Prof. Milne added to the instances adduced by Prof. 

 Shida of the simultaneous occurrence of earthquakes and earth- 

 currents. Earthquakes occurring in America have, by the 

 currents which had accompanied them, recorded themselves in 

 liurope. 



The Japanese do not appear to have lost any of their faith in 

 the efficacy of vaccination for the small-pox. They have just 

 enacted a very stringent law on the subject, for, besides ordinary 

 vaccination in the first year of infancy, it provides for at least 

 two subsequent re-vaccinations at intervals of from five to seven 

 years, so that by the time a child ha^ reached its fifteenth year 

 it will have been vaccinated three times. Besides, during epi- 

 demics of small-pox, local authorities have power, when they 

 deem it necessary, to order the vaccination of all the inhabitants 

 of their districts, irrespective of the vaccinations required by the 

 law. 



We are informed that it is not the case that Dr. Sklarek has 

 arranged to edit a new scientific journal to be published in 

 Brunswick. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Macaque Monkey (Macaciis cynomolgus_ 9 ) 

 from India, presented by Mr. T. W. Hall ; a Sooty Mangabey 

 (Ceirocelms fii/igiiti}siis 9) hom West Africa, presented by Mr. 

 T. Riseby Griffith ; a Common Badger [Meles laxus), British, 

 presented by Mr. Charles E. Russell ; a Siamese Blue Pie 

 [Urocissa tnagnirostris] from Siam, a Chinese Jay Thrush 

 [Garrulns ckimnsis) from China, a Brazilian Hangnest [Icterus 

 jamakai) from Brazil, presented by Mr. Charles Clifton, F.Z.S. ; 

 an Alexandrine Parrakeet (Paltconiis aUxandri) from India, 

 presented by Mr. C. Kerry Nicholls, F.Z.S. ; a Ring-necked 

 Parrakeet {Paheornis torqttaius] from India, presented by Miss 

 Shackthwaite ; a Larger Hill-Mynah {Gracula intermedia) from 

 India, presented by Mis; G. Lampard ; a Greater Spotted 

 Woodpecker (Dendrocopics major), British, presented by Mr. 

 A. S. Hutchinson ; a Scops Owl (Scops gin), British, presented 

 by Mr. J. H. Leech, F.Z.S. ; a Caracal (FMs caracal), a Puff 

 Adder {Vipera arietans), three Horned Vipers [Vipera cornuta), 

 an African Cobra [Naia haje), a Hyghian Snake (Elaps hygi(r), 

 a Smooth-bellied Snake (Homo.'osoiiia lutrix), two Rhomb- 

 marked Snakes [Psainmophylax rliombeatus) from South Africa, 

 presented by the Rev. G. II. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S. ; twelve 

 Quails (Coliirnix communis) from South Africa, presented by 

 Capt. M. P. Webster ; a Leopard {Fdis pardus) from India, 

 five Mauge's Dasyures {Dasyurns inaugeei), a White-backed 

 Piping Crow {Gymnorhina leuconota) from Australia, deposited; 

 a Virginian Opossum [Diddphys virginiana) from North 

 America, purchased ; a Collared Fruit Bat [Cynonycteris 

 collaris), born in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 Discovery of a New Nebula by Photography. — MM. 

 Paul and Prosper Henry have recently announced the discovery 

 by means of photography of a new nebula in the Pleiades. It 

 was first photographed on November 16 last, and, though it 

 was again photographed on December 8 and 9, MM. Henry 

 have as yet been unable to detect it by direct telescopic observa- 

 tion.' The nebula is about 3' in extent, and " tres-intense." It 

 presents a well-marked spiral form, and seems just to escape 

 Maia. Its position is as follows: — R.A. 3h. 38m. 57s., Deck 

 24° i N. 



Gore's Nova Orionis. — M. C. Wolf, who has examined 

 the spectrum of this star, finds that the impression of the pre- 

 sence of bright lines which a first glance produces is not con- 

 firmed when the spectrum is more carefully examined under a 

 high dispersion. The spectrum is simply that of the well-known 

 third type, viz. a continuous spectrum crossed by a succession of 

 bands, which terminate towards the violet in a very dark and 

 sharp edge, and which gradually shade away towards the red. 

 M. Wolf further believes that he was able, in the moments of 

 best definition, to resolve the dark bands into lines. The Nova 

 therefore does not appear to resemble the so-called "temporary" 

 stars, but to be simply a variable of the same class as Mira 

 Ceti. Prof Millosevich gives its e.xact position for iSSj'oas 

 follows:— R.A. 5h. 48m. 59'59s., Deck 20° 9' i3"-2 N. ; or 

 im. 25'2is. /and 5' 59"'I4 s of x' Cygni. It is almost precisely 

 due north of a Orionis, and distant from it 12° 46' 20". 



The Astronomical Prizes of the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences. — The Lalande Prize of the Academic des Sciences 

 has been decreed to M. Thollon for his great map of the solar 

 spectrum. This map, which has so far demanded four years 

 of uninterrupted work, extends from A to /', and contains 3200 

 lines, 900 of which M. Thollon has been able to identify as of 

 telluric origin. The Damoiseau Prize is reserved, no memoir 

 having been offered for it. The subject proposed is the same 

 as in former years ; a revision of the theory of the satellites of 

 Jupiter ; a discussion of observations with special reference to 

 the direct determination of the velocity of light ; and lastly, the 



