Jan. 24, 1884] 



NATURE 



295 



Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, is apparently not quite full 

 grown, being between 7 feet and 8 feet in height, and has a well- 

 formed pair of tusks about 18 inches in length. It has a remark- 

 ably long tail, the stiff bristly hairs at the end of which almost 

 touch the ground. The ears are somewhat larger than in the 

 ordinary Indian elephant, and are curiously jagged or festooned 

 at the edges, whether as a natural formation or the result of 

 early injuries it is difficult to say. It is chiefly remarkable, how- 

 ever, for a peculiarity of coloration which is quite unlike that of 

 any elephant hi'lierto brought to this country. • In this elephant 

 the general surface of the integument is quite as dark as, if not 

 darker than, that usually seen in its kind, being, perhaps, of 

 rather a more blui-h or slaty hue. There are, however, certain 

 definite patches, disposed with perfect bilateral symmetry, in 

 which the pigment is entirely absent, and the skin is of a pale 

 reddish brown or 'flesh colour.' These patches are of various 

 sizes, sometimes minute and clustered together, producing only 

 an indistinct mottling of the surface, sometimes in large clear 

 spaces, but which are mostly, especially at their edges, dotted 

 over with circular pigmented spots of the [irevailing dark colour 

 about half an inch or more in diameter, which give a remarkable 

 and even beautiful effect. The largest and clearest light-coloured 

 tract is on the face, extending from the level of the eyes to the 

 base of the trunk. . . . The animal is not a pale variety of 

 the ordinary elephant, as some have supposed the so-called 

 ' White Elephant ' to be, but one characterised by a local 

 deficiency of the epidermic pigment, in symmetrically disposed 

 patches, and chiefly affecting the head and anterior parts of the 

 body. It does not result from any disease of the skin, as has 

 been suggested, but is doubtless an individual congenital con- 

 dition or defect." 



In Cosmos les Mondes for January 19 Prof. P. Guy describes 

 the remarkable sunrise witnessed by him at Perpignan on 

 January 8. From his bedroom window, looking southwards, he 

 noticed a sudden flash, which lit up the whole room, and which 

 was followed by a lovely pale light diffused throughout the 

 southern sky from horizon to zenith. This was at 4 a.m., and 

 consequently could not have been produced by the clouds 

 reflecting the light of the moon, which had set at 2.42 a.m. 

 The luminous matter presented a milk-white appearance, not 

 unlike that of the Milky Way, and scarcely more intense. So 

 transparent was it that the stars remained perfectly visible 

 without any diminution of their brightness through the vapours 

 which seemed to cause the effulgence. Mars and Jupiter, visible 

 near the zenith, were encircled by a halo like that often visible 

 round the moon. Along the southern horizon there stretched a 

 dark band formed by clouds at an elevation of about 15°, the 

 upper edge of which was lit up intermittently by the action of 

 successive waves of light resembling the sheet lightning so often 

 seen in summer. About 4.45 a.m. the light gradually faded 

 away, afier which the sky became overcast and quite dark. 

 The local and intermittent light. Prof. Guy thinks, was obviously 

 due to electricity, to which with less certainty may also be attri- 

 buted the more general manifestation. The upper regions of the 

 atmosphere contain a large quantity of electricity, as shown by the 

 potential increasing with the increased altitude. To its presence 

 are probably due such faint and phosphorescent diffusions of light 

 as are here described, and have often been observed elsewhere. 



After more than a fortnight's working without the slightest 

 hitch of any kind, the experiment of the direct electric lighting 

 of one of the District Railway trains between Kensington and 

 Putney may, it is stated, be fairly looked upon as a distinct 

 success. The fitting of the Putney train is of a rather hetero- 

 geneous character, being a collection of plant procurable without 

 special manufacture, the whole consisting of a launch boiler, a 

 small Willan's three-cylinder steam-engine, running at 500 revo- 



lutions, and driving direct off its own shaft, a Siemens' shunt- 

 wound dynamo supplying current for 50 Swan 20-candle power 

 incandescent lights. In addition there are two water-tanks, and 

 a coal-box, the whole being placed in a separate van, and this 

 tentative an-angement has this advantage — that by the removal 

 of the van to other lines more extended trials can be made on 

 longer trains, as in the present case only 30 of the lamps are 

 employed for the actual service of the train, the remaining 20 

 being kept lighted in the van itself. The effect on the train is 

 very brilliant, although the arrangements are not what are ulti- 

 mately proposed — namely, to place a small high-speed engine 

 and the dynamo on the tender and take steam from the loco- 

 motive itself, and so dispense with the attendant now required 

 in tlie special van. 



The fiftieth anniversary of the birth of Philipp Reis, the 

 inventor of the telephone which bears his name, was celebrated 

 by the Elektrotechnische Gesellschaft of Frankfort on January 7 

 by a special meeting in the afternoon, followed by a banquet, to 

 which the son of the deceased inventor and a number of his 

 surviving scientific friends and comrades were invited. A 

 memorial discour.-e was pronounced by Herr Postrath Grawinkel, 

 dwelling on the inventions of Reis and his now generally admitted 

 claims. At the banquet a speech was made by Dr. Petersen, 

 president of the Physical Society of Frankfort, on behalf of that 

 body, at whose session in 1 86 1 the telephone first saw the light. 

 The speeches and toasts lasted till after midnight. 



We mentioned last week that the Scottish Fishery Board on 

 the recommendation of Prof. Cossar Ewart had taken steps to 

 utilise the abundant machinery at their disposal for collecting 

 material that will assist in solving some of the important fish 

 problems. As a firstfruit of this organisation a splendid speci- 

 men of a torpedo was forwarded to the University of Edinburgh 

 by the fishery officer at Wick on Saturday last. Prof. Ewart 

 exhibited this, apparently the only torpedo ever found off the 

 Scottish coast, at the last meeting of the Royal Physical Society 

 of Edinburgh (January 16). After giving a short account of the 

 torpedo group. Prof. Ewart mentioned that the specimen exhi- 

 bited was taken about five miles off Lybster, that it was 28 inches 

 in length and 19^ inches across the pectoral fins, and that it 

 belonged to the species hebetans, several specimens of which have 

 been found in the English Channel. This torpedo will in all 

 probability be presented by the Fishery Board to the Edinburgh 

 Museum of Science and Art. 



The members of several scientific societies in the east of 

 Scotland having had under consideration the advantages that 

 would result from a federation of the various societies, believing 

 that thereby the value of their scientific work would be greatly 

 increased and their objects promoted, have determined to call a 

 meeting of delegates from the various scientific bodies in the east 

 of Scotland, to be held at the Perthshire Natural History Museum, 

 Perth, on Saturday, February 9 next. At this meeting it is pur- 

 posed to consider the question of federation, and how it may best 

 be carried out, and also to adopt a constitution, and to arrange 

 for a first general meeting. Some of the advantages of such an 

 association are thus briefly stated : — (l) Increased value of work 

 by having an aim in common ; (2) Increased zeal amongst mem- 

 bers by definite work being put before them ; (3) Improvements 

 in metho 1 of carrying out excursions; (4) Increased facilities for 

 intercourse amongst members of the different societies. The 

 idea of a federation of societies is not a new one. In England 

 the societies of three large districts have formed associations, 

 with excellent results ; and though in Scotland no unions of a 

 similar nature have yet been formed, the joint meetings (inaugu- 

 rated by the Inverness Scientific Society) of some of the northern 

 societiei, which have taken place annually during the past two 

 or three years, have been a step in the same direction. 



