Fuly 1, 1886] 
of their esteem for his devoted services, of which latter the Geo- 
logical Museum in the College is a lasting record. Numerous 
volumes and also pamphlets upon various branches of geology 
bear witness to his attainments and indefatigable zeal. 
From the report just issued by the Swedish Academy of 
Sciences we gather some interesting particulars of the scientific 
work prosecuted under the auspices of this Institution last 
year. On the recommendation of the Academy the following 
sums were granted by the Government towards scientific re- 
search, &c. :—A sum of 150/. to the Academy's Zoological 
Station in the province of Bohus; 200/. to Prof. H. Gyldén for 
the development of his theory respecting the movements of the 
larger planets; 250/. towards the publication of the Acta 
Mathematica ; 300/. towards the purchase of a zoological and 
ethnographical collection of objects brought by Dr. C. Bovallius 
from the West Indies and Central America ; 60/. towards Prof. 
Liljeborg’s work, ‘‘ Scandinavian Fishes’’; and two sums of 
50/7. each towards Herr Westerlund’s work, ‘‘ Fauna der in 
der palaarctischen Region lebende Binnenconchylien,” and Dr. 
Lindeberg’s exsiccate work on the Rubi of Scandinavia. In 
addition to these sums, various smaller amounts were granted 
by the Academy to a number of gentlemen towards scien- 
tific researches, as, for instance, for the study of certain 
algee on the coast of Bohus, for the study of the Scanian moss 
flora, for the study of the anatomy and histology of the 
marine Annelidz in the same province, and that of the Gastero- 
poda, &c. Of other scientific work continued last year may be 
mentioned the work on the great publication recording the scientific 
of the expedition to Spitzbergen, 1882-83, of which the re- 
searches on the aurora borealis and the electricity of the air are 
now in the press, and the rest, on other branches of science, will 
shortly follow ; and further, the arrangements of the valuable 
collection for the State Museum of ethnographical objects from 
all parts of the world—some 6000 in number—made by Dr. 
Stolpe during the voyage of the corvette Vanadis round the 
world. The Academy also purchased a large estate near 
Stockholm with the funds bequeathed by Prof. Bergius for the 
establishment of a horticultural garden, similar to that of Kew, 
to be under the supervision of the Academy. An important 
change has been decided on with reference to the publishing of 
the Academy’s Yournal, viz. to divide it into two parts—Pro- 
ceedings and Appendix—the former to be issued monthly, con- 
taining reports of meetings and short papers and the latter to be 
issued at intervals, containing longer and more scientific papers ; 
and these will be divided into four sections, each embracing a 
certain branch of science, which will enable a specialist to find at 
once the paper desired, and not necessitate the purchase of the 
whole yearly series. 
AN Australasian Meteorological Society has been formed at 
Adelaide, South Australia. 
On Edison’s system of telegraphing with trains in motion, the 
Scientific American (February 20, 1886) says :—The receiving 
apparatus at both the car end and the fixed end of the line is a 
telephon-. The sending apparatus is also similar at both ends, 
and consists of an interrupter or vibrating tongue driven by an 
independent battery, and making 500 vibrations per minute ; 
this vibrator is in circuit with the line battery, an ordinary Morse 
ley, and the primary of an induction coil. The secondary of 
the induction coil on the car is in connection with the tin cover- 
ing the entire roof of one or more cars; the secondary coil at 
the fixed station is in connection either with condensers or with 
other induction coils, which in turn are in connection with the 
ordinary line wires by the side of the track. Suppose a message 
to be sent from the fixed station to the car. The vibrator is 
always working, but till the Morse key is put down no current 
NATURE 
201 
instead of a continuous current being sent to line each time, it is 
an alternating one ; this induces a current in the secondary coil, 
and through it the condensers, for example, are charged alter- 
nately. The charge of the condensers is propagated through 
the line wires with which they are in connection, and influences 
the tin roof of the car, and ultimately the telephone by which 
the signals are read. 
Mr. BLANFoRD, Meteorological Reporter to the Govern- 
ment of India, has issued a memorandum on the Himalayan 
snowfall in the past season. A few years ago, it will be re- 
membered, Mr. Blanford propounded a theory of a connection 
between this snowfall and the monsoon, to the effect that the 
later and heavier the snowfall in winter and spring the later and 
feebler would be the following monsoon. ‘The forecasts based 
on this theory were fairly accurate last year, and accordingly his 
forecast this year was looked forward to with anxiety on account 
of the great value of early and copious rain to Indian agriculture. 
This year Mr. Blanford arrives at the conclusion that, 
although a considerable amount of snow fell in the North- 
Western Himalayas and the hills of Eastern Afghanistan, 
during the winter and spring, especially in January and Feb- 
ruary, there has been on the whole less than in the previous 
year. The snow range, as seen from Simla, is less thickly 
covered than it was in 1885, and the snow is at a higher level. 
The winds have been less northerly than usual on the west 
coast, and more decidedly southerly and easterly in the Punjaub. 
Hence he thinks that there will be no retardation of the mon- 
soon on the Bombay side; and the barometric levels are 
favourable to an advance of the easterly branch of the monsoon, 
so that no apprehension need be felt about the rains in Upper 
India. 
AT the meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania on April 
13, the Curator of the Museum stated that during the past 
month Mr. Vimpany had captured a black snake (Hoplocep halus 
curtus) at Longley, measuring about 4 feet 3 inches inlength. On 
opening it the unprecedented number of 109 young ones were 
foundin her. The specimens now before the meeting are thelargest 
ones, the measurement being from 8} inches to ¢ of an inch in 
length. Mr. Morton stated that the greatest number he had 
known previously to be taken from a similar snake was 32, 
but he had been informed by a resident of Tasmania that over 
70 had been taken from a similar species. 
In the Stonyhurst Magazine for May 1886, is a list of the 
flora of the Stonyhurst district. It contains a list of all plants of 
whose occurrence within a radius of ten miles from Stonyhurst 
satisfactory record can be found. 
From a communication by M. Nikolsky to the St. Petersburg 
Society of Naturalists (vol. xvi. 2), it appears that the drying 
up of Lake Balkhash is going on at a very rapid rate, and so far 
as the observations of the inhabitants may be relied upon, its 
level is lowered by no less than two feet every ten years. The 
maps of 1852 show that a very great reduction of the surface of 
the lake has taken place during the last thirty years. As to the 
fauna of Lake Balkhash M. Nikolsky makes the following 
interesting remarks. It does not include a single species of 
those fishes which are characteristic of the Aral-Caspian ichthyo- 
logical region. On the other hand, there is a very great resem- 
blance between the fishes of Lake Balkhash and the lakes on 
the high plateau of Central Asia, for instance, of Lob-nor. 
Three species are common to the Ili River and the Tarim, tribu- 
tary of Lob-nor. M. Nikolsky concludes from the ichthyological 
data that there is no ground to admit of any direct connection 
between Lake Balkhash and Lake Aral, If there ever was a 
sea which covered the Siberian lowlands as well as the depres- 
passes. The message is sent by the ordinary Morse signal, only ; sions of Lake Balkhash and the Aral-Caspian, the Balkhash was 
