3oS 



NA TV RE 



{Jan. 



!8, tI 



A few miles east of one of my former homes— the settlement 

 of Berkeley, in California— there is an isolated peak of moderate 

 lieicht, from the top of which you may survey an area equal to 

 thia of the State of New York. From Mount Shasta on the 

 north to Mount Whitney on the south, you may trace the jasged, 

 often snow-white, crest which bears the name of Sierra Nevada. 

 Here and there a peak rises a little higher than its neighbours, 

 and can be identified from the look-out ; but human vision 

 cannot see the chains beyond the chains, nor the marvellous 

 valley Yosemite and the beautiful Lake Tahoe which are 

 sheltered within the nearest range of hills. All that the eye 

 can distinguish on the horizon are a few of the loftiest summits 

 as it turns toward the east, and a glimpse of the Farallone Islands 

 as it turns toward the west. So to-day, from a hill not very 

 hifh, we have looked upon a broad area, distinguishing only 

 the chief features of the landscape,— but we have seen the 

 mountains and the sea. 



A NEW ISLAND IN THE SOUTH SEAS 

 A CCORDING to the Melbourne Argu^ of December lo, 

 -^ further news respecting the volcanic outbreak which 

 recently occurred in the Friendly Group has been received from 

 Fiii, via Auckland. Intelligence concerning it first arrived 

 there by the schooner Midge, from Tonga. Before the vessel 

 arrived, however, the eruption had already reported itself to the 

 eastern portion of the Fiji Group, and the .Jr^'KJ Correspondent 

 furnishes the following account of it : — 



" .\t Ogea, one of the island outposts lying nearest to the point 

 of eruption, and distant from it about 175 miles in a south-west 

 direction, heavy discharges as of siege artillery were heard on 

 October 14, and continued at short intervals up till the 17th. 

 It is to be noted in connection with this that the outbreak 

 occurred, or was first noticed, in Tonga on the 12th, and that 

 mention is made of ' a low rumbling noise at intervals during 

 the night.' During the continuance of these heavy discharges, 

 Ogea was frequently and very violently shaken by earthquakes, 

 so that the people were in a state of great consternation. .\t 

 night-time a lurid glare, as from a great fire, was visible m the 

 direction of Tonga, and these phenomena culminated m a 

 terrific roar on the morning of the 17th, such as might be pro- 

 duced by thousands of big guns being discharged simultaneously. 

 Next day a small vessel which had been working the open sea 

 between the Fijian and Friendly Groups, called in to Ogea and 

 reported having passed through vast fields of pumice. This 

 served to confirm the idea generally prevailing that a terrible 

 calamity in the form of a volcanic outbreak had befallen and 

 had overwhelmed Tonga." 



fhe Tonga Correspondent of the Fiji Times, who was an eye- 

 witness of the eruption, has communicated the following account 

 of it to that journal : — 



" On the night of Sunday, October 11, 1SS5, more than one 

 slight shock of an earthquake was felt, and lightning was seen at 

 intervals at different quarters. Several persons noticed a low 

 rumbling noise at intervals during the night. At sunrise on 

 Monday morning, October 12, the natives reported that a 

 steamer was coming in. The Tongan Government was induced 

 to send out the schooner Sandfly, and about noon on the day 

 the outbreak was first seen Dr. Buckland, accompanied by the 

 Premier and various officials, started to see the volcanic erup- 

 tion which it was evident was going on. The Sandfly returned 

 on the l6th inst. and reported having reached [the scene of the 

 eruption on the 13th, but too late to see much ; that on the fol- 

 lowing morning a small island became for the first time visible, 

 and that the vessel had approached within about a mile of the 

 shore, but a strong current prevented nearer approach. On 

 October 17 a number of residents chartered Tugi's schooner, and 

 started for the spot, and on the succeeding morning witnesed a 

 spectacle of such surpassing magnificence as men have seldom 

 been permitted to view. An island of, I believe, not less than 

 nine miles superficial area was seen by us, which had been up- 

 heaved, presuming Cthe Sandfly's observations tD be correct, 

 within four days. On its shore a submarine volcano was 

 belching out a fearful quantity of what I believe to be 

 steam and salt water, throwing it upwards in a column 

 for a distance, I was told by a competent gentleman, of 

 a mile. To give an accurate description in detail of the 

 column and eruption generally is impossible. It is inde- 

 scribable. The shapes assumed by the steam clouds, after 

 the greatest height had been reached, were inexpressibly 



beautiful, and were fantastic to a degree. While these clouds 

 were still wreathing and curling, another and another column, 

 with well-defined lines, would shoot upwards, and the downpour 

 of liquid and the wreathing and curiing were again and again 

 renewed. The island, named by many ' Fakaogo fei lagi, or 

 Takaogo Island, is situated about 16 or 20 miles to the north- 

 west of Honga Hapai. I have not a chart to refer to, but 

 believe it is on the site of the Culdibras (?) Reef, marked onthe 

 chart, and which is some distance south of Tonga and Kao. 

 Vessels coming here from Fiji will be able to visit the island 

 without going much from their course. .■Vt night time flashes of 

 light are seen, but whether proceeding from flames of volcanic 

 fire or from the electricity generated during the condensation of 

 the volumes of steam, will be best known to scientific people. 

 Many and various are the conjectures as to how the island has 

 been formed, and conjectures alone can be made until the island 

 is visitech The whole matter is likely to create great interest, 

 and will afford an opportunity to scientific people to ascertain, 

 with a tolerable amount of certainty, the exact manner in which 

 these islands of the Pacific have in past ages been produced. 

 The height of the island on the occasion of the visit of the 

 Sandfly was from 20 to 30 feet, and when we saw it on Saturday 

 it appeared to be from 200 to 300 feet." 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 

 Oxford.— Whatever be the fate of the new Moderations 

 Scheme now being considered by a Committee of Congregation, 

 the present academic year will be remarkable for the vigorous 

 onslaught made by the younger Faculties on the time-honoured 

 requirement at Pass Moderations of " a little Latin and less 

 Greek." The waste of a year over classical work having no 

 direct bearing on the final school chosen by the student had 

 become so great a tax on time and patience that, when a blovv 

 was at last struck at the evil, but little opposition was expressed 

 in quarters %\here small sympathy with modern studies was 

 thought to dwell. If the Committee can agree on a working 

 scheme, a great relief will be afforded to students in Natural 

 Science in Oxford. . 



It is with much pleasure that we notice, after long interval, two 

 Colleges offering Fellowships in Pure Science. Merton offers a 

 Fellowship in Physics, and Lincoln in Biology. Besides these 

 Fellowships, Pembroke has a vacant Medical Fellowship. 



The nomination of Examiners in the Honour School of Natu- 

 ral Science (now conducted by a Committee of the Faculty) 

 took place this week. Prof. Burdon- Sanderson succeeds Dr. 

 Gamgee in Physiology, Mr. H. B. Dixon succeeds Mi. Vernon 

 Harcourt in Chemistiy, and Mr. J. Walker succeeds Mr. Hayes 

 in Physics. . , , -n u 



The following courses of lectures and practical classes will be 

 held during the present term :— nvu ^ 



In the Physical Department of the Museum, Prof. Chiton 

 lectures on Electricity, Mr. Walker on Polarised Light, and 

 practical instruction is given by the Professor, Mr. Walker, and 

 Mr Selby. At Christchurch Mr. Baynes lectures on Thermo- 

 dynamics, and gives practical instruction in Electrical Measure- 

 ments. At Balliol Mr. Dixon lectures on Elementary Heat and 



'in "the Chemical Department of the Museum Prof. Odling 

 lectures on the Phenic Compounds ; Mr. Fisher contmues his 

 course on Inorganic Chemistry, and Dr. Watts continues his 

 course on Organic Chemistry. Practical instruction is givenby 

 Messrs. Fisher, Watts, Marsh, and Baker. Practical instruction 

 is also given in the Christchurch and Balliol Laboratories. 



In the Morphological Department Prof Mos- ley lectures on 

 the Anatomy of the Vertebrata ; Mr. Spenser has a course on 

 Elementary Animal Morphology; and Mr. Barclay Thomp- 

 son, on the Osteology and Distribution of the Amphibia and 

 Reptilia. Mr. Arthur Thomson lectures on Human Myology, 

 and has a class for Practical Anatomy. Practical instruction in 

 Comparative Anatomy is given by the Professor, and Messrs. 

 Robertson and Spenser. , „ , c- j 



In the Physiological Department Prof. Burdon- Sanderson 

 lectures on the Physiology of the Nervous System, and will also 

 give twelve elementary lectures during the present and next term 

 on the Vital Phenomena of men and animals. Mn Uixey lec- 

 tures and has a class for Practical Histology ; Dr. Gotch has a 

 class for Practical Physiology ; and Mr. Poulton lectures on the 

 Physiology and Histology of the Special Senses. 



