March 6, 1884] 



jVA TURE 



433 



the distribution of ammonia at different altitudes. Ex- 

 amining the atmosphere from this point of view, MM. 

 Muntz and Aubin now find that at an elevation of nearly 

 3000 m. the quantity does not sensibly dirter froni that at 

 extremely low levels, which is ascertained to be about 

 I'll mgr. to 100 cm. Hence the diffusion of ammonia 

 in the air is as complete as that of carbonic acid. Con- 

 sequently it is in the gaseous state that this substance is 

 incessantly transmitted from the marine basins to the 

 atmosphere. The rain and snow collected on the Pic du 

 Midi also revealed the presence of ammonia in solution, 

 as was to be expected. 



Atmospheric Nitrification. — The analysis of rain falling 

 during thunderstorms is known invariably to yield certain 

 nitrous compounds in the form of sal amnaoniac. From 

 what is known regarding the affinities of nitrogen, it is 

 argued that these compounds are developed under the 

 influence of electric discharges. The nitrous compounds 

 (nitric acid and sub-nitric acid) are converted, in the 

 presence of water and of ammonia, into sal am noniacs, 

 which are precipitated by the rain. Hence electric dis- 

 turbances in the air came to be regarded as the chief 

 source of nitrous compounds. 



MM. Miintz and .-\ubin have analysed by the most 

 delicate processes the rain-water collected on the Pic du 

 Midi, but never succeeded in detecting any nitrates in it, 

 although they are always present in rain-water collected 

 on the plains. Their absence corresponds with the ab- 

 sence of thunderstorms taking their rise above the Pic du 

 Midi. Of 184 storms observed during a period of nearly 

 nine years by M. de Nansouty, the director of t'le 

 Observatory, not more than twenty-three originated at an 

 altitude of over 2300 m. ; but in no case were electric 

 phenomena observed at an elevation higher than 3000 m. 

 Hence the electric discharges, which give rise to the 

 nitrates, are limited to the lower atmospheric regions 

 between sea-level and 3000 m. above the sea. 



To the general results here resumed MM. Miintz and 

 Aubin have added some details concerning the formation 

 of vegetable soil. They have distinctly determined the 

 presence of nitric ferment in the ground on the highest 

 summits. But owing to the low temperature prevailing 

 at those altitudes, the activity of this ferment is extremely 

 weak. 



It may be observed in conclusion that the uniform pro- 

 portion of carbonic acid and ammonia in the atmosphere, 

 as determined by these remarkable researches, is a fresh 

 confirmation of Schlosing's theory regarding the inter- 

 change of gases between the sea and the air. The marine 

 basins are incessantly discharging or absorbing carbonic 

 acid and ammonia in suck a way as to maintain the con- 

 stant proportion of these substances. They thus consti- 

 tute a vast regulator, restoring to the atmosphere the 

 nitrous or carbonic compounds of which it had been 

 deprived by vegetation. 



SCIENCE IN ROME 



THE recent changes introduced into the constitution 

 of the Accademia del Lincei, followed by its re- 

 moval to new and sumptuous quarters in Trastevere, seem 

 to call for more than a passing notice. There are cer- 

 tainly many other famous societies scattered over the 

 Peninsula, all the large to-.vns of which have long possessed 

 one or more scientific, literary, or artistic corporations. 

 But, with perhaps the single exception of the Floren- 

 tine .A.cademy, none of them have been so intimately 

 identified with the progress of the physical sciences 

 since the "Renaissance" as this oldest of still e.xist- 

 ing learned institutions. Founded on August 17, 1603, 

 by the young prince, Federigo Cesi, for the express 

 purpose of cultivating " le scienze niatematiche e filoso- 

 fiche,"' it began its useful career forty years before the 

 birth of Nen-ton, and six before Galileo had rendered 



Jansen's telescope a suitable instrument for astronomic 

 observation. The very name of the Lincei, or " Lynx- 

 eyed," ' breathes the quaint spirit of the times, when 

 every capital in Italy had its centres of intellectual move- 

 ment, bearing such eccentric titles as the .Accademia dei 

 Sonnacchiosi ("The Drowsv'), dei Sitibondi ("The 

 Thirsty"), dei Svegliati ("the Wide-Awake"), degli 

 Ottusi'("The DuU"\degli Innomati ("The Nameless"), 

 dei Storditi ("The Dazed"), dei Tenebrosi ("The Dark- 

 Hngs''), and so forth. But while most of these ephemeral 

 corporations have left little but their names behind them, 

 the Lincei have gone on prospering and continually 

 widening the field of their utility until the .Academy now 

 finds itself formally constituted the chief national expo- 

 nent of the natural sciences in Italy, thus taking rank with • 

 the French Institute and the Royal Society of London. 



Although such a proud position could scarcely have 

 been anticipated by its founder, the .Academy none 

 the less possessed from the outset certain elements of 

 stability, which under favourable circumstances could not 

 fail to insure it a prolonged existence. Its generous 

 patron not only provided it with a home in his ancestral 

 palace, but also placed at its disposal a botanical garden, 

 a rich museum and a choice library soon increased the 

 valuable collection of Virginio Ce^arini. Its three first 

 membsrs, the founder, Fabio Colonna, and Francesco 

 Stellati, were all noted for their varied accomplishments, 

 and Colonna especially, at once a mathematician, philo- 

 sopher, painter, musician, and savant, may be regarded 

 as the greatest of botanists previous to Linne.- 



During the seven first years after its foundation, 

 Gaetano Marini tells us that the Academy "dared to 

 stand up against the tyranny of the Peripatetics, and to 

 introduce a new and more certam method of philosophy, 

 bravely and religiously enduring a long and most un- 

 worthy persecution " {1st. i. p. 493). The reference in the 

 last clause, necessarily worded somewhat vaguely, is to 

 the action taken by the Lincei in defence of Galileo, who 

 had joined the Academy, and who had in 1615 received 

 his first summons to Rome to recant his " errors." .A 

 feeble attempt seems to have been made to continue the 

 struggle between light and darkness till 1632, when 

 Galileo was finally " suppressed." The " Lynx-eyed " 

 were now shrewd enough to perceive that they had fallen 

 upon times when silence was " golden." Henceforth for 

 many years their records are practically a blank, broken 

 only in 1651 by the publication under their auspices of 

 Francisco Hernandez's great work on the natural history 

 of Mexico. 



After the untimely death of Prince Cesi in 1630 the 

 Academicians, now numbering thirty-two members and 

 foreign associates, received a temporary shelter in the 

 house of the Commendator Cassiano del Pozzo. Their 

 first organic constitution had been issued in 1624, and 

 since that period both residence and regulations have 

 been subjected to many changes. After the political uni- 

 fication of Italy and the selection of Rome for its capital, 

 fresh modifications became inevitable, and a new consti- 

 tution was published in the year 1S75. But so rapid has 

 been the progress of the natural sciences, and so great 

 the zeal displayed by the Lincei in the cause for which 

 their predecessors endured "a long and most unworthy 

 persecution," that further alterations in the sense of expan- 

 sion were soon felt to be imperative. According to the 

 reform introduced in July 1883, better provision is made 

 for the cultivation of all branches of physics by the final 

 and absolute exclusion of the arts and letters. The new 



' Tiraboschi tells us that this title was adopted "per che gli accademici 

 presero a Ijr simbolo un lince, a spiegar I'acutezza con cui si erano prefissi 

 di osservare e di studiar la natura " (viii. p. 72). 



= " Quicumque," savs Boerhaave, " historiam antiqjUatis plantarum 

 scire vult, legat opera Fahii Columnae, .lui \ix habet simileni. sed quidem 

 imitatores "(" Method, discend. Medic." pars 4, § 8). Colonna, who was 

 born in Naples in 1567. and died an octogenarian in 1647, was also the in 

 ventor of the musical instrument by him named the " sambuco linceo," in 

 honour of the Academy. ^ r*- * 



