254 
which exists in the three towns is bound to render one 
common organisation so cumbersome that it would neces- 
sarily check the freedom of development which is 
essential to success. Speaking for Manchester alone, 
does it need further argument that a more effective 
university may be formed by a close cooperation 
between Owens College, the Municipal School of Tech- 
nology, the School of Art, the College of Music, and the 
various theological colleges, than is possible with the 
present federation, which is confined to Owens College 
alone? And is it not obvious that the interest in higher 
education which would be roused by the common feeling 
of the governing bodies of all these institutions for a 
great university in Manchester will more effectively 
secure a high standard of work and a progressive spirit, 
than the artificial union of three colleges in different 
towns? In our effort to secure educational freedom we 
count on the sympathy of all who are truly anxious for 
educational progress, and we count more especially on 
the help of those who are now working out a similar 
problem in the University of London. 
ARTHUR SCHUSTER. 
NOTES. 
WE regret to see the announcement of the death of M. H. 
Faye, the eminent French astronomer, at the age of eighty- 
eight years. 
Dr. J. G. GARsoN has been appointed assistant general 
secretary of the British Association, in succession to the late 
Mr. G. Griffith. 
SPECIMENS of volcanic dust collected in St. Vincent and 
Martinique, during the recent eruptions, which have been placed 
by the Colonial Office at the disposal of the Board of Education, 
are exhibited in the Western Galleries of the Victoria and 
Albert Museum. To this exhibit there has been added some 
dust which fell in Barbados, with chemical analyses of the 
same, and drawings of the minerals which it contains. 
THE United States Congress has amended the law which pro- 
vided for the opening of the Universal Exposition at St. Louis, 
May 1, 1903, by deferring it for one year. This has been done 
for many reasons, the principal being that, since its inception, 
the scope of the exhibition has enlarged. Up to the middle of 
June the money available for the exhibition, including State 
and national appropriations, amounted to more than 4,000, 000/. 
A CORRESPONDENT sends usa cutting from the A/azchester 
Guardian, announcing that Mr. Assheton Smith has consented 
to present to the University College of North Wales a site on 
the Menai Straits for the erection of a marine zoological station. 
A special fund for the erection of this station is being started, 
and already Mr. H. R. Davies, of Treborth, who has acted as 
treasurer of the Puffin Island station since 1892, has led off with 
a handsome subscription. 
WITH respect to the recent coloured sunsets that have been 
and are being seen in this country, it is interesting to note that 
similar phenomena are being observed in Germany. Thus the 
Berlin correspondent of the Standard writes (July 7) :—‘‘ For 
some time past, both at sunrise and towards dusk, there has been 
visible here a remarkable glow of colour on the horizon, the sky 
exhibiting an appearance of unusual beauty. Men of science 
put forth the theory that this phenomenon is caused by particles 
in the air emanating from the fiery mass ejected by Mont 
Pelée.” The coloured sunsets referred to last week (pp. 
222, 230) were noticed at Lewisham on the evening of June 
26. Mr. R. McLachlan, F.R.S., writes to say that when 
facing nearly due east his attention was attracted by a peculiar 
NO. 1706, VOL. 66] 
NATURE 
[JuLY.10, 1902 
tint in the sky. On proceeding to the front of the house the 
effect was extremely brilliant, the red predominating. Mr. 
McLachlan thinks the tint in the eastern sky was probably due 
to reflection. Mr. A. R. Tankard writes to confirm the obser- 
vations of remarkable sunsets at Madeira, described by Mr. 
F. W. T. Krohn in NATuRE of June 26. He says that the 
peculiar sunset effects were not visible in the district of the 
Canary Isles and Madeira during April. As the chief eruptions 
in Martinique and St. Vincent took place in the first two 
weeks of May, and the curious effects described made their 
appearance subsequently, namely, in the early days of June, 
their connection with the eruptions is rendered probable. 
A NOTE in a recent number of the British Journal of Photo- 
graphy (July 4) gives a brief account of a balloon voyage of a 
very uncomfortable nature that was made by Dr. Miethe in 
company with Lieutenant Hildebrandt. The account, which is 
taken from the Photographisches Wochenblatt, states that the 
ascent was made at Tegel in the afternoon at three o’clock, and 
the balloon came to earth at half-past six between Nieder-Finow 
and Liepe. At the ascent the balloon passed first through a 
mist, and then suddenly into a thunder cloud, After attaining 
a height of 200 metres, the balloon/was suddenly carried to an 
altitude of 2000 metres, and then as suddenly fell half that 
distance. Meanwhile the storm was proceeding, but although 
the travellers did not see the lightning they were deafened with 
the thunder, and pelted with rain, hail and sleet. In their 
rapid leaps and plunges the car was frequently on a level with 
the balloon, and the tow-rope above their heads. The violent 
rocking of the car also added to the danger. Watches were 
not thought of, but according to the barograph this frightful 
experience must have lasted half-an-hour, when, through loss of 
gas by pressure, the balloon fell from a height of 2200 metres 
upon a dense wood of beeches, but for which the travellers 
would probably have lost their lives. One of them descended 
by the rope, and obtained help from the villagers at Liepe. 
WE have to record the death by drowning, on Tuesday, 
July 1, of Mr. A. D. Hogg, a student of the Royal College of 
Science, London. Mr. Hogg, who had been a botanical assistant 
to Prof. Bayley Balfour in the University of Edinburgh, his 
native place, came to London and the Royal College of Science 
as a National Scholar in the autumn of 1901. Having obtained 
high qualification in botany, zoology and geology, he recently, pro- 
ceeded to St. Andrew’s, at the suggestion of Prof. Howes, to 
study under Prof. McIntosh, in preparation for his return to 
South Kensington and zoology in the coming autumn. On the 
evening of his first day in the Gatty Marine Laboratory, seeking 
quietude and respite from the western sands, which were 
crowded at the time, he wandered to the mouth of the river to 
bathe. Not knowing the dangers of the spot, he swam out and 
was overcome, and in his loss science has become the poorer by 
an earnest and promising student. 
‘Rerorts from Vienna, published in the Daz/y Mazi, state 
that a severe earthquake lasting twenty seconds occurred at 
Salonica at 4.20 p.m. on Saturday, July 5. Before the news 
reached Vienna the instruments at the Laibach Seismological 
Observatory registered a great disturbance towards the 
south-east at an estimated distance of 600 miles. Later tele- 
grams state that the earthquake was felt right across the Balkan 
peninsula, The shocks began on Saturday afternoon, and con- 
tinued with frequent intervals until midday on Monday. A 
very cold wind is said to have accompanied the earthquake. 
More than 200 houses were wrecked at the village of Bani, 
three miles from Salonica. 
Ir is reported that two slight shocks of earthquake occurred 
jn the neighbourhood of Cheadle, Cheshire, on July 8. 
