300 
NATURE 
[ ¥uly 29, 1886 
not be left undone without serious danger to one of the greatest 
industries of this country. Mr. Oldham Chambers then read a 
paper upon ‘‘ Carp Culture,” which was followed by the Rev. 
C. J. Steward with a paper upon ‘‘ Marine Temperatures and 
their Influence upon Fishes,” and Mr. Willis-Bund with a paper 
upon ‘‘ The Influence of the Weather upon the Migration of 
Fish.” After the several papers had been fully discussed, the 
proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman 
for presiding. 
IN a recent article the Ceylon Observer refers to the power of the 
coco-nut palm to conduct lightning. Sir Emerson Tennent long 
ago pointed out that this tree acts as a conductor in protecting 
houses from lightning, and in one instance 500 palms were struck 
in a single plantation during a succession of thunderstorms in 
April 1859. But the trees themselves suffer terribly in the pro- 
cess, for however slightly they may be touched by the electric 
fluid, they die. Sometimes only the edges of the branches are 
singed, at others a few leaves turned brown alone show where 
the tree was touched, yet however slight the apparent effect, in 
course of time the tree withers gradually and dies. In conclu- 
sion the journal quoted inquires why it is that coco-nut palms 
which have merely had their external parts, their foliage, 
almost imperceptibly singed should be as much doomed to death 
as those which have had their vital parts permeated by the light- 
ning, the fatal result being only protracted in the one case, while 
it is instantaneous in the other. 
At Nottingham the University College, Technical Schools, 
and a Museum are under the same committee as the Free 
Library ; and from the not very carefully edited Report of that 
committee the convenience of combination is further shown by 
special classes being opened at the first of them for elementary 
school teachers, while the expense is defrayed by the School 
Board. The Technical Schools, whose evening class students 
we trust will far exceed in number the regular daily pupils, are 
largely supported by voluntary contributions from the Drapers’ 
Company ; so natural and appropriate a use to put such money 
to, that it is to be hoped that the reforming spirit of the age will 
lead to the same commendable action voluntarily on the part of 
all such old trade guilds. As might easily have been foreseen, 
commercial classes held during the working hours of all those 
who felt their need have failed ; just like the free library at the 
Guildhall, London, so discreetly opened at first from ten till four 
—Jjust the hours when the pressure of business was greatest upon 
every one to whom it could be of any use! An experience of 
the Nottingham Committee seems to be that the highest working 
power of their money may be obtained by opening district 
branches, modestly termed reading rooms, yet each the germ of 
a branch library ; and also that the most economical size for a 
free library, as far as supplying literature to the working classes 
is concerned, is from three to four thousand volumes ; their 
libraries of that size having a greater circulation in proportion 
than either the larger or the smaller ones. 
WE have received the first number of a new technical journal 
named /xdustries, published in Manchester. As its name 
implies it is the intention of the publishers that it shall cover all 
the ground of the manifold manufactures of the country, and 
include the dissemination of technical education in its widest and 
most useful form. A new departure is taken in technical 
journalism, inasmuch as the publishers propose to offer a series 
of substantial rewards to those of their readers who may bring 
forward some new and useful advance in practical science. 
These awards will be granted on certain conditions being ful- 
filled, and will be made by the editors, assisted by two or more 
gentlemen eminent in the particular science. As a commence- 
ment it is the intention to arrange rewards in each of the follow- 
ing subjects, viz. engineering, electricity, and chemistry. In 
| by many savanés for zoological studies. 
order to increase the value of the reward, and should the suc- 
cessful reader desire it, a patent will be obtained by the publisher 
for the invention or process, which will be presented to the 
successful reader before the invention is described in the paper, 
and further, if a model is necessary, this also will be added to 
the reward. This inducement ought to add considerably to the 
subscribers’ list, and ensure the success of the paper; at the same 
time it will without doubt increase, the number of workers 
and probably add to the already large list of inventions. The 
paper is nicely printed, and the woodcuts are well executed. 
We find an illustrated Patent record at the end of the journal, 
and arrangements are to be made so as to include the more 
important American and German Patent Specifications. Journals 
of this class add greatly to the general advancement of technical 
education, and we wish the new venture every success in its 
youth and a strong and sturdy future. 
A Moscow journal states that it is contemplated establishing 
a university for women in that city, founded on private capital. 
It is to have three faculties—a mathematical, a natural history 
one (with medicinal studies), and a philological. Doubt is, 
however, expressed whether the Government wi'l sanction the 
scheme. 
FROM several parts of Western Norway complaints are being 
received of the great destruction of fir and spruce cones by a 
little unknown insect. 
FRoM the report of the Swedish Academy of Sctences for last 
year, it appears that the National Museum—which is under the 
authority of the Academy—succeeded in acquiring some splendid 
specimens of topazes from Brazil, containing fluids on which expe- 
riments are now in progress in the Academy’s chemical laboratory. 
Some specimens of argyrodite, containing the new element ger- 
manium, were also acquired, with which Profs. Nilsson and 
Petterson have been experimenting. The museum for lower 
invertebrates acquired from Lieut. Sandberg a very valuable 
collection of lower marine animals from the shores of Northern 
Russia, collected by this gentleman during his extensive journeys 
in these parts. At the Academy’s biological station on the 
coast of the province of Bohus, aquaria were kept in perfect 
working order from June till October. The station was visited 
Through Dr. Carlson’s 
researches on the former existence in Sweden of Zrafa nalans, 
the National Museum has become possessed of more than a 
thousand sub-fossil trapa fruits from Southern Sweden. In 
addition to the sums granted by the Government towards scien- 
tific researches on the recommendation of the Academy (p. 201), 
several others were made out of the funds administrated by that 
institution. Among them are the interest on the large sum left 
by the late Dr. Regwell for zoological studies, distributed for 
the first time; a sum of 250/. to Dr. S. Arrhenius for the 
study of the galvanic conductive force of electrolytes, and their 
relation to physics, at certain institutions in Russia, Germany, 
and Holland. Prof. Agardh was awarded the yearly Lettersted 
prize for his celebrated work ‘‘ Fresh contributions to the 
Systematic of the Algz.” The Lettersted fund for scientific 
research amounted at the end of the year to 30,000/. A number 
of smaller sums were also granted by the Academy towards 
researches on a variety of scientific subjects. 
Mr. Oris T. MASON sends us a reprint of his valuable paper 
on the progress of anthropology in 1885, which was originally 
embodied in the Smithsonian report for that year. Here anthro- 
pology is used in a very wide sense, giving scope to remarks on 
comparative psychology, biology, archzology, and sociology, as 
well as to the more closely-connected subjects of general and 
special ethnology. Some of the more important recent works 
a 
