208 



NATURE 



\Juiie 29, £882 



of stations will thus be sixteen, with a complement of some 150 

 men. The work will be carried on continuously for thirteen 

 months, and the expeditions will leave their quarters on Sep- 

 tember I, 1883. On their return an International Conference 

 will assemble— it is suggested in London — in order to examine 

 the material collected, which will, it is hoped, give important 

 results, particularly as regards meteorology. 



"La lampe soleil," or the sun lamp as it is called, from 

 the likeness of its rays to solar light, was successfully tried on 

 Saturday last in the vaults of the Knyal Exchange. This lamp 

 is the invention of MM. Clerc and Bureau of Brussels, and is so 

 simple in its action as to require no regulating mechanism. It 

 consists of a square block of marble or dry limestone, having 

 two holes pierced into it from above. 1 he holes slant together 

 until they nearly meet just within the base of the block. Into 

 these holes are inserted the two carbon rods forming the poles 

 of the arc, and the current traversing the ] ai tition of calcareous 

 stone between their points heats it to incandescence, and thus a 

 soft white light is emitted from the bottom of the block. This 

 light is remarkably steady, and is very suitable for picture gal- 

 galleries. It was used to light the picture gallery in the recent 

 Paris Electrical Exhibition, and is now emplojed in the /oyer of 

 the Grand Opera House, Paris. The limestone is calcined by 

 the current, and the carbons feed themselves by gravity as they 

 are consumed. The ugly shape of the lamp is certainly against 

 its use, unless it be sufficiently well screened from view, but its 

 simplicity is decidedly in its favour. 



The new Report (1880) of the Smithsonian Institution contains 

 among other valuable material, a Bibliography of Sir W. 

 Herschel's writings, a list of his published portraits, and a long 

 and very careful synopsis of his scientific writings. This last 

 occupies nearly 100 pages, and its value to the student is evident. 

 Appended there is a subject-index to the scientific writings of 

 Herschel. The same volume contains the first results of the 

 attempt of the Institute to issue a yearly report of the work 

 done at observatories all the world over ; the report covers 

 upwards of 100 pages. 



Of the Smithsonian Report, upwards of 200 pages are occu- 

 pied with a Record of Recent Scientific Progress, in which Trof. 

 Baird writes the Introduction, Prof. Holden, Astronomy, Dr. 

 G. W. Hawes, Geology and Mineralogy, Prof. G. F. Barker, 

 Physics and Chemistry, Prof. Barlow, Botany, Prof. Theodore 

 Gill, Zoology, and Mr. O. T. Mason, Anthropology. Mr. Mason 

 also contributes a separate Bibliography of Anthropology, in 

 which (p. 412) we find the following curious entry — '.'Vikin's 

 (A.) ship." 



On the recommendation of the Agricultural Chamber in 

 Stockholm the Swedish Government has accepted the invitation 

 to participate in the International Fishery Exhibition to be held 

 in London next year, and granted a sum of about 3000/. towards 

 the expenses of representation. The Norwegian Government 

 has also accepted the invitation, and a small sum has been voted 

 by the Storthing. 



At a recent meeting of the Smoke Abatement Committee, 

 held at 44, Berners Street, Mr. Ernest Hart in the chair, jurors' 

 reports were handed in from Col. Fes'.ing, C.B., Prof. Chandler 

 Roberts, F.R.S., Mr. Atchison, Mr. D. Kinnear Clark, Mr. 

 Harris, and others, on behalf of the various juries, discussing 

 the results obtained and tabulating the figures shown by the 

 various tests. Great satisfaction was expressed at the excellent 

 results which these reports show to have been achieved by some 

 of the leading exhibits in the economy of fuel and abatement of 

 smoke in open grates, as well as the satisfactory action of open 

 grates and kitcheners intended for burning anthracite or smoke- 

 less coal. The hon. secretary (Mr. W. R. E. Coles) announced 



that the Manchester Exhibition of Smoke-Abating Apparatus, 

 carried out partly under the auspices of this Society, had proved 

 highly successful, and had attracted great interest among the 

 practical men in the Lancashire district, and would, it was 

 believed, be fruitful in good results. The arrangements were 

 discussed for converting this committee into a permanent institu- 

 tion for smoke abatement, under the provisions of the law. It 

 was announced that the Duke of Westminster would preside at 

 a meeting to be held at Grosvenor House on Friday, July 14, 

 for the purpose of distributing the awards, when it was expected 

 that all the reports and tabulations would be ready in the form 

 of a volume for public information. 



The Presideut of the Italian Antarctic Expedition has re- 

 ceived, at Genoa, a letter from Lieut. Bove, announcing the 

 arrival of the expedition at Punta Arenas, on April 24 from 

 Staten Island. Staten Island has been thoroughly examined as 

 to its fauna, flora, topography, hydrography, and commercial 

 utility. 



The Hope, commanded by Sir Allen Young, left the Thames 

 last week to search for and succour the Eiia, under Mr. Leigh 

 Smith, missing in the Arctic regions for about a year. The 

 Hope is 450 tons register, is fortified for ice work, well 

 equipped, and with provisions for two years, and a year's supply 

 for the Eira. Sir Allen, while he will doubtless use his discre- 

 tion, has been instructed to avoid entering the ice, if possible. 

 It has certainly been a peculiar Arctic season, so far as ice con- 

 dition are concerned, and Sir Allen may find when he gets on 

 the ground that all his calculations and arrangements are at 

 fault. 



Mr. C. Holcott Brooks, Secretary of the Califomian 

 Academy of Sciences, sends us the following note on a meteor 

 in Wyoming, which he states is "well authenticated in all 

 respects." "May n, at 4 p.m., in Weber Canon, Wyoming 

 Territory, while the sun was shining brightly, a sudden and 

 steady glow in the sky attracted attention to an immense meteor, 

 whose brilliant colours were beautiful beyond description. Its 

 track across the heavens was marked by a large red belt, which 

 after its brightness had died out, left a column of clearly de- 

 fined whit? smoke in its place. It fell in a south-easterly direc- 

 tion, and was observed by a scientist who recently arrived in this 

 ci'y, and who attended the meeting of the California Academy 

 of Sciences last evening." 



New seismic apparatus for indication of earthquake-motions 

 on Etna have been devised by the brothers Brassart, at the 

 instance of Prof. Tacchini. From an illustrated account in the 

 Rivista Scienlifica InJustriale, we gather that the indicator for 

 undulatory shocks is in form a, follows: a funnel grooved 

 interiorly (and looking like a small inverted umbrella) is fixed at 

 one end of a pivoted horizontal bar having a counterpoise ; it 

 has an aperture at the bottom, which allows of its oscillating a 

 little way with the bar on a vertical column, on which is placed 

 a vertical style with weight at top (this latter act being 

 facilitated by a sliding brass tube). This weight, by its fall 

 (contrary to the direction whence the shock comes), into one ot 

 the eight lettered grooves of the funnel (N, E, &c), indicates 

 the direction, and, depressing the bar, closes a circuit, making 

 an electro-magnet, the result being that the pendulum of a small 

 clock on the base-board is liberated. Thus if the clock had 

 been set at 12, and it indicated 5 when looked at, this would 

 show that the liberating shock had occurred five hours before. 

 An electric bell may be introduced ; also the liberation of the 

 pendulum may be effected without electricity. In an arrange- 

 ment for vertical shocks, a spiral of fine wire, with platina- 

 tipped weight, is suspended vertically over a cup of mercury ; 



