488 
This has been proved by continuous experience in the Arctic 
s eas during the late half-century. For the above reasons your 
Committee deem it desirable to defer making their report, with 
a view to giving more definition to the objects sought to be 
© btained and to the best means of obtaining them, as also to 
ex pand this Committee, in order to elicit to the fullest extent 
the opinions and to secure support from those conversant with 
the various branches of science which are to be investigated 
during an exploration which, from its very important and serious 
nature, eminently merits the favourable consideration of this 
great and enterprising maritime nation. 
NOTES 
THE 59th annual meeting of the Association of German Natu- 
ralists and Physicians will take place at Berlin from the 18th to the 
24th inst. General meetings will be held on the 18th, 22nd, and 
24th, the sections, of which there are thirty, meeting at other 
times when and where they wish in the various places offered 
them for that purpose. At the same time there will be an 
exhibition of scientific apparatus, instruments, and educational 
objects. On the morning of each day a journal will be issued 
containing information of interest to members, and as much as 
possible of the proceedings at the various meetings of the pre- 
ceding day. The Physical Section is under the Presidency of 
Dr. von Helmholtz and Dr. Kirchhoff. Amongst the papers to 
be read are the following:—The microscope as an aid to 
physical investigation, by Dr. Lehmann; the determination of 
the electro-chemical equivalents of silver, by Dr. Kopsel ; elec- 
trical discharges, by Dr. Goldstein; on Palmieri’s investigations 
into the development of electricity in the condensation of steam, 
by Dr. Kalischer. The Presidents of the Chemical Section are 
Drs. Hoffmann and Landolt. In this Section there will be 
papers on silver oxydul, by Herr von der Pforten ; a new syn- 
thesis of naphthaline derivatives, by Dr. Erdmann; and on a 
peculiar phenomenon of reaction, by Herr Lie»reich. In the 
Botanical Section there will be prpers on Goethe’s influence on 
botany, and on the reception of water by the external organs of 
plants. In the Zoological Section papers will be read on dual 
eyes in insects, on the origin of the frontal ganglion in Hydro- 
philus, on freshwater Bryozoa, the Protozoa of Kiel Bay, on the 
boundaries of zoo-geographical regions from the point of view of 
ornithology, the fauna of North German lakes, and on the old 
Peruvian domestic dog. In the Section for Geography and 
Ethnology there will be several papers on Africa, especially on 
the Congo region ; one on the Kurds, others on South Polar ex 
ploration, on the Goajira Indians, and on the importance of the 
Xingu forthe ethnology of the northern part of South America. 
A great majority of the sections are occupied with medical sub- 
jects. One of these will be devoted to the discussion of 
the condition of Europeans in aifferent climates, their diseases, 
acclimatisation, &c. The last section of all is devoted to scientific 
education. 
Str Henry Roscoe has given notice that in the next session 
of Parliament he will call attention to the Report of the Depart- 
mental Committee on the National Science Collections, and 
will move a resolution. 
IN reply to a question by Sir John Lubbock in the House of 
Commons on the gth inst., the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
stated that the appointment of a Minister of Education, as 
recommended by the Committee of 1884, had not yet come 
under the notice of the Government, nor could he hold out any 
hope that it would be likely to come very soon under its notice. 
Lord Randolph Churchill said he suspected the proposal would 
involve an increased charge upon the public revenues, ‘‘and 
every alteration, reform, or modification of a department which 
would involve an increased charge possesses in my eyes an 
incurable defect.” 
EARTHQUAKES have continued at Charleston during the past 
week, but the shocks are decreasing greatly in frequency and 
NATURE 
[ Sepd. 16, 1886 
violence. One occurred on Saturday night and one on Sunday, 
but no harm was done by either. The Mexican Government 
has been officially informed that Tequisixtlan was shaken by an 
earthquake at 4.30 on the morning of September 3. The move- 
ment was from east to west. A Naples correspondent of the 
Times writes that the shock of the 28th ult. was severer than 
any which has been felt for some years. The panic was there- 
fore great, and was increased by superstition. There were two 
shocks—one was horizontal, the other vertical, but they followed 
each other in such rapid succession that they appeared to be one 
shock, and for many hours after the replica was expected with 
much apprehension. The shocks occurred about II p.m., and 
were felt severely at every place in the Bay of Naples, and in th 
Similar reports were received from Puglia, Calabria, and Sicily, 
where the shock was very severe. At Forio, in the Island of | 
Ischia, it was felt, and created a panic. Vesuvius has long been 
in a state of comparative repose. Prof. Palmieri says that at 
4 p-m. on the 28th it showed signs of renewed activity by 
frequent thunders, and by throwing masses of lava into the air. 
Mr. Ponp, the Government Analyst of New Zealand, has 
proved by actual experiment that the dust thrown out during 
the recent volcanic eruptions is of a highly fertilising kind. He 
obtained samples of the dust from three different places, and 
sowed a quantity of clover and grass seeds in each. The soil 
was kept moistened with distilled water, so that no manurial 
elements might be imparted by the water used. In all cases the 
growth was almost as vigorous as in rich volcanic soil. The 
rapid growth of the plants and their colour show that the dust is” 
a benefit to the soil on which it has fallen. 
THE programme for the autumn meeting of the Iron and 
Steel Institute, which is to be held in London on October 6, 7, 
and 8 next, has just been issued. The Council of the Institute 
has arranged to hold the meeting in London this year, for the 
second time in the history of the Society, with a view to afford- — 
ing Members the opportunity of studying the mineral resources, 
&c., of the colonies, as illustrated by what is shown at the Ex- 
hibition, and of coming into contact with colonists and Indians 
who are interested in mineralogical operations. That being so, 
perhaps the most interesting paper in the list is one on the iron- 
making re:ources of our colonies, prepared by Mr. Gilchrist 
(whose name is associated with the well-known basic process) 
and Mr. Edward Riley. Among other papers to be read there 
is one on the chemical composition and mechanical properties of 
chrome steel, by M. Brustlein; another on combustion: with 
special reference to its application in the arts, by Mr. F. Sie- 
mens ; another on the treatment of high-class tool steel, by Mr. 
A, Jacobs, of Sheffield; and one on modifications of Bessemer 
converters for several charges, by Mr. John Hardisty, of Derby. 
THE Paris Academy of Sciences has issued in separate form 
the text of the discourses pronounced at the Museum of Natural 
History on the occasion of M. Chevreul’s centenary, August 31, 
1886. The speakers were M. Fremy, Director of the Museum 3 
M. Jules Zeller, President of the Institute; M. Janssen, on 
behalf of the Academy of Sciences; M_ Broch, Corresponding 
Member of the Institute ; Colonel ike Mat, in the name of. the 
Washington National Institute; M. Ressmann, Italian Pleni- 
potentiary ; M. Gilbert Govi, President of the Neapolitan 
Academy of Sciences; M. de Bouteiller, on behalf of the Paris 
Municipal Council and the General Council of the Seine ; M. 
Chaumeton, President of the Association of French students; 
MM. Nadault de Buffon, Dehérain, Leroy, Auguste Vitu, | 
Gerspach, and Réné Goblet. The brochure is printed in uni- 
form size and type, with the weekly Comptes rendus of the 
Academy. 
