230 



NATURE 



{July 6, 1882 



At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Darwin 

 Memorial Fund, held on June 30 at the Royal Society's Rooms, 

 Burlington House, it was announced that the total subscriptions 

 already promised or received amounted to ^2487 13J. It was 

 decided that the memorial should take the form of a marble 

 statue ; and a sub-committee was appointed to make the neces- 

 sary arrangements. It was agreed to ask the trustees of th2 

 British Museum for permission to place the stitue in the large 

 hall of the British Museum (Natural History), South Kensington. 

 The sub-committee consists of the following : — Mr. \V. Bowman, 

 Sir J. D. Hooker, Prof. Huxley, Mr. C. T. Newton, and Sir F. 

 P. Pollock, with the Chairman, Mr. W. Spottiswoode, Pres.R.S., 

 the Treasurer, Mr. John Evans, Treas. R.S., and the Hon, 

 Secretaries, Prof. Bonney and Mr. P. Edward Dove. 



We would draw the attention of our readers to a letter which 

 we print this week from Dr.-Sophus Tromholt, relative to the esta- 

 blishment of an observatory in Sweden for the Aurora Borealis 

 " and other phenomena of Terrestrial Magnetism." Dr. Trom- 

 holt, it will be seen, is anxious to obtain for his proposal the 

 opinion and advice of those familiar with the subject. Doubtless 

 some of our readers might in this matter render useful help. 



In the sitting of the Paris Academy of Science of July 2, M. 

 Berthelot, who had crossed the Channel with M. de Lesseps to 

 visit the English works of the Channel Tunnel, gave an enthu- 

 siastic description of the galleries excavated at Dover, and the 

 working of the Beaumont machine. 



Dr. Ziegler of Freiburg has recently prepared five wax 

 models illustrating the development of the head of Sinedon 

 pisciformis, Salmo salar, and Rana temporaria, founded upon 

 the investigations of Dr. Ph. Stiihr of Wurzburg. These models 

 are likely to be of great service to students in mastering the 

 development of the skull, being greatly superior for this purpose 

 to the best diagrams. The price of the series, conveniently 

 packed in two boxes is 55 marks. 



The splendid dining-room and picture-gallery, together with 

 the grand staircase of Stafford House, the residence of the Duke 

 of Sutherland in Mayfair, have now been fitted up with the 

 incandescent electric light. The lamps are those of Lane-Fox, 

 as supplied by the British 'Electric Light Company, and the 

 arrangements have been made by Mr. W. Mackie, who has been 

 entirely successful in producing a fine effect. There are about 

 250 lamps displacing Sooo wax candles, and they are fed by the 

 current from six Gramme machines of B type. The field 

 magnets of these machines are excited by the current from two 

 E Gramme machines, it being found preferable to adopt this 

 plan. The power is derived from a 20 H.P. (nominal) steam- 

 engine built by Marshall. The lamps are all in parallel circuit, 

 so that the total resistance of the lighting circuit, including 

 leading- wires of copper, is only o - 6 ohms. The leads con- 

 sist of copper strand wires £th of an inch in diameter, 

 properly insulated and protected. The pure character of the 

 incandescent light, together with its sanitary and artistic 

 advantages, is causing • it to make its way in West-End 

 mansions. 



A special meeting of the Anthropological Institute will be held 

 at No. 4, Grosvenor Garden?, S.W., the residence of Gen. Pitt 

 Rivers, F.R.S., the President of the Institute, on Tuesday, July 

 II, at half past eight o'clock, p.m., when the following papers 

 will be read : — I. Note on the Egyptian Boomerang, by General 

 Pitt Rivers, F.R.S., President. 2. On the Longevity of the 

 Romans in North Africa, by the Right Hon. Lord Talbot de 

 Malahide, F.R.S., President of the Royal Archaeological 

 Institute. 3. On Neolithic Stone Implements, &c, from Wasa 

 on the Gold Coast, by Capt. R. F. Burton and Commande r 



V. L. Cameron, R.N., C. B. 4. Exhibition of Bushman Draw- 

 ings, by Mr. M. Hutchinson, with Note by Mr. W. L. Distant. 



The Anniversary Meeting of the Sanitary Institute will be 

 held in the Royal Institution Theatre, Albemarle Street, on 

 Thursday, July 13, at 3 p.m. An address will be delivered by 

 Edward C. Robins, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A., entitled: "The Work 

 of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain." The chair will be 

 taken by His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, K.G., Pre- 

 sident of the Institute. 



The late Dr. Karl Remeis has left a sum of 20,000/. to found 

 an astronomical observatory in his native town of Bamberg, 

 Germany. He has besides given the future observatory a 10-inch 

 refractor and several other instruments. 



The great summer excursion of the Geologists' Association 

 will be this year to the West Riding of Yorkshire, on July 1 7 

 and five following days. 



From the Scotsman vie learn that H.M. ship 1 'riton arrived 

 at Granton on Sunday week from Sheerness, where she had been 

 fitted up for the prosecution of deep-sea investigations. The 

 steamer is commanded by Staff-Commander Tizard. At the 

 request of the Royal Society, the Triton has been detached 

 for two months to investigate certain questions of phy- 

 sical geography in the Faroe Channel, which have a bearing 

 on the results of the Challenger Expedition. On Monday week 

 the vessel was supplied from the Challenger office in Edinburgh 

 with dredging aud sounding gear, deep-sea thermometers, and 

 other apparatus. Mr. Murray and his assistants are to join the 

 vessel at Stornaway in the course of three weeks ; and she will 

 be engaged for about six weeks in investigating the Faroe 

 Channel. After completing this work, the Triton is to come 

 into Oban to take on board Prof. Tait, and convey him to the 

 North Atlantic, where, in a depth of 2000 fathoms, he proposes 

 to test certain experiments which he has been performing on the 

 Challenger deep-sea thermometers. (See Nature, vol. xxv., pp. 

 90, 127.) In regard to the proposed Faroe expedition, it may be 

 remembered that an exploration of the channel in question was 

 made by Staff-Commander Tizard and Mr. John Murray, during 

 the summer of 1880, in H.M.S, Knight Errant, the results of 

 which were recently submitted by Mr. Murray to a meeting of 

 the Edinburgh Royal Society. On that occasion Mr. Murray 

 referred to the discovery by the Lightning and Porcupine, in 

 1S68-9, of two contiguous areas having widely different bottom- 

 temperatures, called by Dr. Carpenter the cold aud warm areas 

 respectively. At that time, he said, there was no suspicion of 

 the existence of a sub-marine ridge separa'ing those two areas. 

 Certain theoretical considerations, however, based on some of 

 the general results of the Challenger expedition, induced Com- 

 mander Tizard to express the opinion that these two areas were 

 separated by a ridge rising to within 200 or 250 fathoms of 

 the surface. When a divergence of temperature was ob- 

 served at some distance above the bottom in adjoining 

 areas, it was inferred that a ridge intervened, and that the point 

 of divergence indicated the height of the ridge. It was to make 

 soundings in reference to this question that the Knight Errant 

 was detached (see NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 405). Referring to 

 the probable limitation of the British fauna, Mr. Murray re- 

 marked that since the depth limit had been disproved by the 

 finding of animals at all depths, an artificial limitation must be 

 substituted, and he thought it would be a temperature limit, for 

 Arctic, British, and deep-sea species were obtained by the 

 Knight Errant. There were climates on the surface of the sea, 

 as well as on land, each having its peculiar fauna, and this sur- 

 face fauna could be traced on the bottom by the dead shells 

 found in the deposit. 



