434 
Parliament for Finsbury, and coroner for Middlesex. He 
became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 
in 1849, and graduated Doctor of Medicine at King’s College, 
Aberdeen, in 1852. At his father’s death in 1862 he became 
editor of the Lancet, the duties of which position he discharged 
for nearly twenty-five years, continuing, in spite of much recent 
suffering, active in his work up to last Easter. 
THE death is announced from Paris of M. Laguerre, Professor 
-of Mathematical Physics in the College of France, and a dis- 
tinguished mathematician, at the age of fifty-two. In his earlier 
years he was an officer in the artillery. He wrote and published 
in the Proceedings of various learned Societies numerous mathe- 
matical papers, but he never published a volume. 
THE annual Pharmaceutical Congress commenced its sittings 
at the Mason College, Birmingham, on the 3Ist ult., under the 
presidency of Mr. Greenish, of London, 
ON Friday, August 27, about midnight, an earthquake was 
felt all over the Levant, and as far to the west as Malta. At 
Alexandria the shock was felt fifteen minutes after midnight ; its 
apparent direction was from west to east ; at Athens a severe 
shock was felt about the same time. Its force was greatest and 
most destructive in Greece and the Ionian Islands. In the 
South-Western Peloponnesus, and particularly in the depart- 
ment of Messenia, towns and villages were destroyed. ‘Ihe 
towns of Filiatra and Gargaliano and Marathoupolis were laid 
in ruins, and Kyparassi and Choremi in Arcadia are similarly 
destroyed. The Eparch has, in consequence of the destruction 
of the houses, had to telegraph for tents for the people. Over 
120 persons were killed, and a large number injured. The 
Greek Government has despatched four war-vessels with neces- 
saries to relieve the inabitants. From Zante comes news that all 
the houses in Pyrgos have been destroyed. The shock was felt 
also in Zante, not a house having escaped damage, although no 
loss of life has occurred. Strong shocks were felt all over 
Greece. Some indications of the nature of the weather prior 
and subsequent to the shock are given by Reuter’s Correspondent 
at Zante. For some time past extraordinary atmospherical dis- 
turbances, excessive heat, dead calms, and unusually high tides 
occurred. At 25 minutes past Ir on Friday night, after a day 
of heavy and threatening weather, the whole of Zante was 
racked with a most violent, but steady and undulating, earth- 
quake lasting 15 seconds. The centre of the earthquake, 
the same correspondent says, was in the sea, 30 miles 
south-east of Zante, where it smashed the telegraph cable. 
After the shock the weather was threatening, indicating an 
approaching storm, and soon after a fearful storm burst 
over Corfu. Patras and the whole of the Ionian Islands 
suffered from the earthquake. The position of the centre of 
this shock is said to indicate some violent volcanic submarine 
agitation to the south of Zante. The weather after the earth- 
quake remained menacingly heavy, and it was expected that 
other shocks would follow. At 11 o’clock the same night a 
shock was felt at Naples. At Brindisi an upheaval movement 
of the earth, lasting two minutes, was felt, followed by an un- 
dulatory movement of about the same duration. There were 
also two successive prolonged shocks at Foggia, and two undu- 
latory movements at Caserta. At Taranto there were two very 
sharp shocks, one vertical, the other undulatory, causing great 
alarm to the inhabitants, who passed the night in the fields for 
safety. There was however no loss of life nor any serious 
damage at the places visited by the seismic disturbance. The 
Governor of Malta also telegraphs to the Colonial Office that a 
severe earthquake visited the island at 11 o’clock the previous 
night, causing much alarm, but no serious injury to buildings. 
No lives were lost. It appears that the correspondent in Alex- 
andria who states that the earthquake appeared to travel from 
NATURE 
[ Sept. 2, 1886 
west to east is correct. The wave was first felt at Malta about 
11, a little later in Naples (very slight), and in various parts of 
Calabria, then about midnight in the Ionian Islands, then in 
Gree:e, and at fifteen minutes past midnight in Alexandria, 
THE Premier of New South Wales has laid before Parliament 
the proposals of his Government for the celebration of the 
centenary of that colony in 1888. Amongst others, the New 
South Wales Government propose inviting the members of the 
British Association to hold their annual meeting for that year in 
Sydney, and the Premier stated that he had already communi- 
cated with the Association on the importance of the visit. Great 
stress was laid on the fact that the invitations would be extended 
to all British Universities, literary, scientific, and art Societies. 
We have received parts 1 and 2 of vol. ix. of the 77ansac- 
tions of the Seismological Society of Japan. Prof. Knott dis- 
cusses the well-worn subject of earthquake frequency, but in a 
wholly new and original way. His object is to determine the 
effect of the various causes which are said to influence earth- 
quakes, and his conclusion is that the annual periodicity in 
_earthquake frequency, when it does exist, finds a possible ex- 
planation in the annual periodicity of two well-known meteoro- 
logical phenomena—namely, snow accumulations over conti- 
nental areas and barometric gradients. No other cause, he says, 
that can be imagined or named fulfils all the conditions. Mr. 
Shida describes an automatic current recorder of his own invention. 
The resolution of the International Electric Congress held in Paris 
in 1884, that observations of earth-currents should be pursued in 
all countries was communicated to various Governments, to that of 
Japan amongst the number. Mr. Shida is Chief Engineer to the 
Japanese Telegraph Department, and it devolved on him to take 
the subject up. To this fact, doubtless, we also owe the third 
paper, which is by the same gentleman, on earth-currents. He 
describes briefly the work that has been done in the subject in 
the past, what is being done, and what might be done in Japan. 
From an examination of the magnetic observations made at the 
Meteorological Department of Tokio it appears that the declina- 
tion variations are not the effect of earth-currents, for, if this were 
so, then an increase of the western declination ought to correspond 
to a decrease of earth-current flowing from north tosouth, notan in- 
crease, as has been found byactual observation. The results show 
that both magnetic and earth-current variations are regulated by 
the same cause or causes, and that the sun plays an important part 
in producing the effects which are observed. The fact, however, 
that there appear to betwo maxima and two minima in these varia- 
tions tends to show that they are in part due to the action of the 
moon, The study of earth-currents, says Mr. Shida, has not ad- 
vanced pari fassu with other branches of seismological science, and 
he desires to establish a system of observation of the currents, and 
to devise and improve methods of observing. |The second part 
of the Zyansactions contains an elaborate and exhaustive paper (it 
fills nearly 200 printed octavo pages), by Prof. Milne, on the 
volcanoes of Japan. It represents the labour and collections of 
about ten years, and is deserving of special detailed notice. 
We are glad to observe, from a notice sent with the numbers, 
that the Japanese Zvansactions of the Society (ze. those written 
or translated into Japanese) have now reached their third 
volume. ‘Taken all in all, this Society is by far the most active 
and thriving of all the learned Societies of the Far East, and 
we have little doubt that it owes a great part of its vitality to 
the fact that Japanese men of science are pursuing the work 
inaugurated by Prof, Milne with the enterprise and ardour of 
their race. 
PRINCE PUTIATIN has presented to the Russian Archzological 
Society a stone slab which was recently found in the course of 
some excavations at the Bologne station on the St. Petersburg 
and Moscow Railway, along with some stone weapons and 
- ————a 
ating : 
ee 
eee cae. 
