60 
1804. He began his career asa pharmaceutical chemist, but soon 
embraced pure science with such success that a chair of Chemistry 
was given to him in the University of Leipzig, in 1830. This chair 
he occupied until his death ; attending to his professional duties 
with great zeal, although a number of practical occupations (that 
of director of the Leipzig and Dresden Railway Company, the 
Leipzig Gas Company, &c.) divided his attention. We owe to him 
a great number of mineral analyses, a celebrated investigation of 
indigo, from which he was the first to obtain isatine (in 1840), 
and several other derivatives, also the analyses of several colour- 
ing matters, as jaune indien, euxanthic acid, oxypicric acid, of 
stearic and of mellitic acid. Together with Marchand he deter- 
mined a great number of atomic weights with considerable 
accuracy. With the same chemist, and, after his death, with 
Professor Werther in Kénigsburg, he edited the Journal ‘tur 
practische Chemie ”—a journal which will most likely cease 
to appear, both editors, as well as the publisher, having died 
during the last few months. 
Tue Kénigsburg chair has been offered to Prof. Baryen in 
Berlin, who declined it, and it still remains open. 
PROFESSOR STRECKER of Tubingen has‘accepted the chair of 
Chemistry in Wurzburg, in place of the late Professor Schirer, 
who was known chiefly as a physiological chemist. 
In the Anhnal Report of the Gardens of the Royal Botanic 
Society, Regent’s Park, recently issued, it is stated that during 
last season free orders of admission to the gardens for the 
purpose of study have been granted to 200 students and artists, 
and 10,653 specimens of plants have been given to professors 
and lecturers at the principal hospitals and schools of art and 
medicine. The collection of living economic plants now contains 
specimens of all the spices and condiments in domestic use, 
most of the tropical esculent fruits, and many of those from 
which furniture and other woods are obtained, the principal 
gums and medicinal products, and the poison-trees of Brazil 
and Madagascar. The lecturers at the schools of medicine 
attached to the various metropolitan hospitals are greatly 
indebted to the liberality of the Botanic Gardens in furnishing 
them with a copious supply of fresh specimens, so difficult to 
obtain in London, and without which the lectures would lose 
so much of their instruction. We may suggest, however, whether 
some improvements might not be introduced into the so-called 
“herbaceous” department of the Gardens. A needless amount 
of space appears to be occupied by the arrangement of British 
plants in two different classifications, the Natural and the 
Linnean, the latter being now entirely abandoned by all teachers of 
botany. Sufficient care also is not taken that the labels should 
correspond to the plants really growing beside them. It is 
confusing to the student to find immediately in front of a label 
a plant growing in full luxuriance belonging to an entirely 
different family, which has accidentally strayed there, and 
has not been weeded out. At Kew this department is kept 
in much better order. The Royal Botanic Society are now 
soliciting contributions in aid of the extension’of their magnificent 
winter-garden. 
ScIENTIFIC readers who want a treat should read M. 
Leverrier’s masterly argument against M. Chasles in his assertion, 
based on the forged papers, that Pascal had anticipated New- 
ton’s discoveries. How any one could pretend to be unconvinced 
after such an overwhelmingly true and logical exposition of facts 
surpasses comprehension. Under the title ‘‘ Examen de la 
discussion soulevée au sein de l’Académie des Sciences au sujet 
de la découverte de l’attraction universelle” M.  Leverrier 
has republished from the Comptes Rendus the whole of his 
argument in ninety-two quarto pages. We recommend all who 
can to read it, 
NATURE 
[ Mov. 11, 1869 
THERE was an omission—which we are very glad to supply— 
in our last week’s Note on the results of the dredging expedition 
of the Porcupine. A large, if not the greatest share of the 
labour, both as regards time and work, fell upon Mr. Gwyn 
Jeffreys, and this fact will make all look forward to the publica- 
tion of the results with a greater interest. 
THE many friends of Professor Morris, who have long admired 
the zeal displayed by him, not only in giving to the world the 
sound knowledge which he possesses of geology and palzon- 
tology, but in presenting it to his pupils in such a form as to 
enable them profitably to apply it in after life, now propose to give 
their recognition and appreciation a substantial form, by present- 
ing him with a suitable testimonial. To carry out this object, a 
committee has been formed, and Mr. Milnes, F.G.S., of the Coal 
Exchange, London, has accepted the office of treasurer to the 
committee, of which Sir Roderick Murchison is president. 
THE fruit of the Mango has recently been sold in Covent 
Garden market, obtained from Madeira. It had previously 
fruited at Chatsworth, and in the garden of Lord Powis; but, 
we believe, has not before been offered for sale in this country. 
AMONG the books which have reached us this week are two to 
which we wish especially in the interim to call attention in this 
column. One of them is the new edition of Sir John Lubbock’s 
“Prehistoric Times,” considerably enlarged ; and the other is 
““The World of the Sea,” translated from the French of the 
regretted Moquin Tandon, illustrations which it does one good 
to see, forming one of the many points of the latter. 
THE editors of the new “ Journal of Ethnology,” published in 
Berlin, circulate with their first number a hand-bill, in which, 
after calling attention to the extreme importance of photography 
for ethnographical purposes, they request photo -aphers of all 
nations to send to the publishers of the Journal t  ‘r addresses, 
and a statement of the ethnographical types to be fo »d in their 
neighbourhoods. It may fairly be questioned, whether scientific 
knowledge is likely to be much advanced by the indiscriminate 
collection of photographs of individuals, selected by persons 
totally unacquainted with ethnography. The editors seem, 
moreover, to be somewhat premature in issuing such a notice as 
this, as they appear to have taken no steps to arrange for the 
photographs being published; neither do they undertake to 
deposit them in any public library or museum. They merely 
say that men of business will no doubt be found, who will assist 
in a matter which assures them, as well as the photographers, 
the renumeration to which they are entitled. We venture te 
express a hope, that if any general response is made to this 
notice, the photographers will be at least cautioned to use great | 
care in ascertaining the tribe and parentage of the subjects they 
select ; also that, in all cases, one photograph may be taken i 
exact profile and another in exact full face. 
ASTRONOMY 
Winnecke’s Comet 
Tue following ephemeris of Winnecke’s comet been 
calculated by M. Oppolzer. 
R.A. N. Decl. 
hm s ae 
Nov. rr 1 25 40 II 30° 
13. «I 24 25 mr 128 
15 1 23 20 10 55° 
Teer aaied. 10 36°9 
XQ «I 21 37, 10 18"4 
aq 1 20 59 9 59'5 
23 I 20 29 9 40°4 
25 120 7 9 21°0 
27— 119 53 9 14 
20 «1:19:47 8 405 
