194 
NATURE 
[ Dec. 16, 1869 
praise for what he has done; and the Mint is, for the future, to 
be looked upon as an outpost of the Treasury. One hoped, 
seeing how rare are the scientific rewards in England, that a 
post that had been held by a Newton, a Herschel, and a Gra- 
ham, might have been left as it was; but we hear that the 
Government have, in this case, some real justification for what 
they have done. In fact, it is the tendency shown by this 
action—a tendency to cut down everything, especially every- 
and not the action itself, which is more in 
thing scientific 
question. 
THERE is more and later news from Livingstone, who, judging 
from his letter to Dr. Kirk, published in the journals, is still 
weak in health. All we need give is his own idea of the 
work he has yet to accomplish :—‘‘As to the work to be 
done by me, it is only to connect the sources which I have 
discovered from 500 to 700 miles south of Speke and Baker’s 
with their Nile. The volume of water which flows north from 
latitude 12° south is so large, I suspect I have been working at 
the sources of the Congo as well as those of the Nile. I have to go 
down the eastern line of drainage to Baker’s turning point. 
Tanganyika, Nyige Chowambe (Baker’s?) are one water, and the 
head of it is 300 miles south of this. The western and central 
lines of drainage converge into an unvisited lake west or south- 
west of this. The outflow of this, whether to Congo or Nile, 
T have to ascertain. The people of this, called Manyema, are 
cannibals, if Arabs speak truly. I may have to go there first, 
and down Tanganyika, if I come out uneaten, and find my new 
squad from Zanzibar.” 
WE take a remarkable instance of resolute self-sacrifice from 
Mr. Hayward’s account of the Turki rebellion against the Chi- 
nese dominion in 1863 :—The Chinese garrison was shut up in 
the fort of Yarkand, and for 40 days besieged by the Turki 
army : the only terms offered were that all should embrace Islam. 
The old Amban—the Chinese Viceroy of Turkestan—summoned 
his officers to a council, held in an upper room, the lower room 
was piled with barrels of gunpowder, with a train leading from 
beneath the chair of state. ‘The officers assembled, wrangling 
about the probable ransom that would be taken. The Amban’s 
sons moved among them, offering tea and sweetmeats, his daugh- 
ters knelt weeping by his side, he himself sat calmly smoking 
his long pipe. Suddenly cannon shots were heard, and the 
shouts of Allah Akhbar announced the advance of the enemy to 
storm. A hint of the Amban’s resolution spread among the 
assembly, amidst the confusion he spoke a short farewell, and 
calmly turning his pipe-bowl, shed the embers on the train—and 
all was over. 
WE learn that the account of Professor Jacobi’s new pro- 
cess for the electro-deposit of iron, which has recently appeared 
in this country, does not include several improvements of great 
scientific interest which have recently been developed, an 
account of which we hope shortly to give. 
7THE following notice has been issued by desire of the Lord 
Chancellor :—‘‘ The electors to the Savilian Professorship— 
namely, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor of 
Great Britain, the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, the 
Lord Bishop of London, the Secretary of State for the Home 
Department, the Lord Chief Justices of the Queen’s Bench and 
Common Pleas, the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, the 
Dean of the Arches, and the Warden of New College (who may, 
if it be their pleasure, call into council the Vice-Chancellor of 
the University of Oxford)—will proceed to the election of a 
Savilian Professor on Thursday, the roth day of February, 1870, 
or as soon thereafter as may be. All candidates are required to 
be of the full age of 26 years, and, if Englishmen, to be Masters 
of Arts at the least. The other regulations respecting the 
Sayilian Professor may be seen in the University Statute sanc- 
tioned by Her Majesty the Queen in the year 1858. Candidates 
are to send their applications, addressed to Gordon Whitbread, 
Esq., 31, Great George Street, Westminster, S. W., on or before 
the 24th of January, 1870.” 
Here is another note from Oxford :—The examiners for the 
Radcliffe Travelling Fellowship—Dr. Acland, Dr. Rolleston, 
and Sir B. C. Brodie—have given notice that the next examina- 
tion for a Fellowship will commence on Monday, January 31, at 
10 a.m. Candidates are requested to send their names on or 
before Wednesday, January 19, by letter addressed to the Regius 
Professor of Medicine, Museum, Oxford. 
THE exploration of the caves at Wellington, in the western 
district of New South Wales, under the direction of Mr. Krefft 
and Dr. A. M. Thomson, is making good progress, and many 
remains of extinct animals, some of which are new to science, 
have been discovered. A trial shaft is already put down in the 
centre of the Breccia cave, to the depth of fifteen feet, and bones 
are still found at that depth, 
As already stated in this journal, the University of Edinburgh 
has just made arrangements to enable ladies who wish to do so 
to study medicine. Those who avail themselves of the oppor- 
tunity are taught in separate classes from those of the other 
medical students, each Professor at the University holding one 
class for men and another for women. Five lady students have 
already presented themselves for the medical matriculation 
examination. In London there isa ‘* Female Medical Society,” 
under the presidency of the Earl of Shaftesbury. The objects of 
the Female Medical Society are—‘‘1. To promote the employ- 
ment of properly educated women in the practice of midwifery, 
and the treatment of the diseases of women and children. 2. 
To provide educated women with proper facilities for learning 
the theory and practice of midwifery, and the necessary branches 
of medical science.’ To carry out these objects, the Society 
established a ‘‘ Ladies’ Medical College” five years ago, and 
eighty-two ladies have during that period availed themselves 
of the facilities it offered ; most of them have since started in 
business, and are succeeding admirably. 
Dr. PETERMANN, of Gotha, the well-known German geo- 
grapher, publishes an interesting article in the Cologne Gazette on 
the mission of Dr. Nachtigal to Central Africa. The latter was 
sent by the King of Prussia, on the 18th of February, 1869, to 
present Sultan Scheick Omar with some valuable gifts from King 
William, in recognition of the friendly reception given by the 
Sultan, in 1866, to Herr Gerhard Rohlfs and Herr Von Beuer- 
mann, an officer of the Prussian army. Dr. Nachtigal proceeded 
to Mursuk (near which place Miss Tinné was murdered), but 
finding that there was no prospect at present of reaching Bornu 
in safety, he proceeded on an expedition to Tibesti, in the Tibbu 
country, leaving the presents at Mursuk. Similar expeditions, 
says Dr. Petermann, have been undertaken by various eminent 
travellers during the last fifty years. In 1820 the Tibbu country 
was visited by Lyon; in 1822 by Denham, Clapperton, and 
Oudney ; in 1853 by E. Vogel; in 1855 by Dr. Barth; in 
1862 by Herr Von Beuermann ; and in 1866 by Gerhard Rohlfs. 
Most of these attempted to go through Tibesti, but without suc- 
cess; and Dr. Nachtigal is the only European who has ever 
accomplished this dangerous feat. He left Mursuk on the 6th 
of June last, and returned on the 8th of October, after a series of 
wonderful adventures and escapes, which are related in a report 
addressed by him to Dr. Petermann, and now in the press. 
Tue Weekly Bulletin of the Scientific Association of France, 
dated the 12th instant, contains letters from Algeria recording a 
series of violent earthquake shocks experienced at Biskra, 
Seriana, and Sidi Okba, in the Province of Constantine. The 
disturbances extended from the 16th to the 19th of November, 
and appear to have been of a very alarming character, The fact 
