396 



NA TURE 



ypcb. 25, 1 1 



anthrax is only in certain cases guarded against by- 

 Pasteur's attenuated virus ; (3) that the dependence of 

 consumption on Koch's Bacillus tuberculosis is far from 

 established ; (4) that its fatality is very far below that of 

 small-pox or hydrophobia, and its treatment far more 

 successful. 



Consumption is the most important disease of tem- 

 perate climates, both by its prevalence, its mortality, and 

 its incidence on young adults ; so that the sacrifice of a 

 few rabbits or cats for even a remote chance of con- 

 trolling its ravages is well justified. But the chance is, 

 we fear, remote. 



NOTES 



The friends and former students uf Prof. P. J. Van Benedcn, 

 of Louvain, are about to celebrate there the fiftieth yearof his 

 professorship. Since the year 1836 this distinguished savant 

 has occupied the position of Professor of Zoology at the Louvain 

 University, and it is proposed to present him, on the occasion 

 of his jubilee, with a gold medal bearing his portrait. After 

 half a century of teaching and the accomplishment of a vast 

 amount of other work, Prof. Van Beneden still remains fresh in 

 mind and body. His writings have embraced with equal success 

 various branches of biological science, and have gained for him 

 a reputation of the first rank, which has just been crowned by 

 the award of the Cuvier Prize by the Academy of Sciences of 

 Paris. There is no doubt that the proposed demonstration to 

 honour Prof Van Beneden on his jubilee will find a ready echo 

 in this country, where he possesses numerous friends. 



In a recent debate in the French Chamber of Deputies on a 

 Bill permitting any person by will to regulate the conditions of 

 his funeral, a clause was added at the instance of M. de Mortillet, 

 the eminent anthropologist, enabling any person to dispose of 

 his body in favour of educational or learned societies. M. de 

 Mortillet stated that the Autopsy Society founded by Broca had 

 been allowed to retain the brains of Gambetta, Dr. Bertillon, 

 and two journalists, but the authorities might at any time take 

 these away from its museum, as also any bones or skeletons. 

 The proposition was adopted by 268 votes to 198. 



We are glad to receive a copy of the Aniuial Coiiifniiion 

 to the "■ Obsen'atory." Its object is to give, in a collected 

 form, the whole of those Ephemerides which have hitherto 

 been printed month by month in the Observatory. This 

 issue is regarded as an experiment, and the editors ask 

 for suggestions for the improvement of future Companions, 

 and for criticisms on the present one. In future it is intended 

 to issue it with the December number or before. The principal 

 sources from whence the Ephemerides have been derived are 

 as follows : — The " Meteor Notes " have been taken principally 

 from the valuable series of papers by JMr. Denning in vols, i., 

 ii., and iii. of the Observatory, supplemented from the British 

 Association Reports. Mr. Denning has also kindly revised 

 them. The Ephemerides for the physical observations of Jupiter 

 and Mars are derived by permission from those calculated by 

 Mr. Marth, and published by the Council of the Royal Astro- 

 nomical Society in the Monthly Notices. The Ephemerides for 

 the satellites of Mar.=, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are taken 

 from the American Nautical Almanac, corrected, in some cases, 

 for recent observations made at Greenwich. The elements of 

 occultations and times of eclipses of Jupiter's satellites are ex- 

 tracted from the English A'atttical Almanac. The Catalogue 

 and Ephemerides of Variable Stars are derived from the .A)i- 

 nuaire ilu Bureau des Longitudes. The publication will certainly 

 be of much practical value. 



On the evening of Wednesday, February 17, Prof. A. B. W. 

 Kennedy and the Committee of the Engineering Society held a 



successful soiree at University College, London, in connection 

 with the College Society. Visitors were received in the en- 

 gineering laboratory, where machinery was in motion, and Mr. 

 A. S. Ashcroft's autographic stress diagram apparatus was 

 shown in action. All the available space was occupied with 

 exhibits. The College Society organised a show of photographs 

 and photographic apparatus in the library, where Messrs. Clarke 

 and Clarke exhibited their method of printing by gashght. The 

 soirfe was attended by about 1000 visitors. 



Last autumn the run of salmon up most of our rivers, espe- 

 cially those falling into the North Sea, was quite unprecedented. 

 It is worthy of notice that at the same time (that is from August 

 to November) they ascended, in equal, if not still more remark- 

 able, numbers, the rivers that flow into the North Pacific Ocean, 

 as well on the Japan side as the American. The "canning 

 companies "in British Columbia were quite unable to obtain 

 boxes and barrels quickly enough to keep pace with the supply, 

 and fine large fish were sold for a cent apiece. Had this abund- 

 ance of the Salmonidit (sea-trout and bull-trout were as numerous 

 in proportion as salmon) been confined to this part of the world, 

 one might have supposed that an epidemic amongst dog-fish had 

 enabled a much greater number of smolts to escape at the mouths 

 of the rivers on their descent than commonly do ; but under the 

 circumstances some more satisfactory explanation seems to be 

 required. Possibly in some manner the quantity of ice in 

 northern waters on both sides of America had an influence upon 

 these fish, or those that prey upon them in the deep water. 



The Italian Ministry of Agriculture has just undertaken an 

 interesting experiment. Half a million of fish eggs were arti- 

 ficially hatched, and the young brood has been distributed all 

 over the centre of the Lake of Como. If the experiment suc- 

 ceeds fairly well, it will be taken up on a large scale, and the 

 department will undertake the re-stocking of the Italian waters. 

 Efforts will be made immediately to revive and extend the rear- 

 ing of lobsters. 



The old Tour St. Jacques la Boucherie, Paris, celebrated in 

 connection with Pascal's experiments on atmospheric pressure, 

 is now the site of a Laboratory of Physics. The inauguration 

 took place on January 13. The tower was lighted by incan- 

 descent lamps. 



Large sulphur deposits are reported to have been recently 

 discovered on the southern slopes of the Caucasus. 



EcuADOK was visited by natural calamities during January, 

 which probably have been the cause of great loss of life. On 

 January 12 the sky in and around Guayaquil was of a dark red 

 colour, as if coloured by an immense conflagration. Detona- 

 tions heard in the direction of Cotopaxi, and accompanied 

 by earthquakes and subterranean noises, showed that some vol- 

 canic eruption was in progress. The roise and shocks lasted 

 for two days and nights. At Yaguachi, opposite Guayaquil, a 

 rain of ashes was observed. It is feared that the town of 

 Latacunga, which is situated at the foot of Cotopaxi, is 

 destroyed. 



A REMARKABLE effect of lightning has been recently reported by 

 Prof. L. Weber in a German serial. At Ribnitz, in Mecklenburg, 

 during a violent thunderstorm, with rain and hail, about 6 a.m., 

 the lower pane of a window on the first floor was broken by 

 lightning, and a jet of water was thrown upwards through the 

 aperture to the ceiling, where it detached part of the ceiling, 

 and this, falling with the water, broke a small cigar-table 

 below. Three buckelfuls of water were afterwards taken from 

 the room. The hole in the window was like that from a bullet, 

 and there were radial cracks. The path of the lightning is not 

 very clear, but that it passed through the glass could not be 

 doubted. Some cigars on the table, it may be mentioned, were 



