556 



NATURE 



yApril lo, 1884 



for one of the Ghent newspapers. A still more interesting 

 arrangement is possible, and is indicated in Fi^. 4 Here 

 a separating condenser is introduced at the intermediate 

 station at (ihent between earth and the hne, which is 

 thereby cut into two independent sections for telephonic 

 purposes, whilst remaining for telegraphic purposes a 

 single undivided line between Brussels and Ostend. 

 Brussels can telegraph to Ostend, or Ostend to Brussels, 

 and at the same time the wire can be used to telephone 

 between Ghent and Ostend, or between Ghent and 

 Brussels, or both sections may be simultaneously used. 



It would appear then that M. Van Rysselber^jhe h.is 

 made an advance of very extraordirary merit in devising 

 these combination-. We have seen in recent years how 

 duplex telegraphy mpersedei sin^^le working, only to be 

 in turn superseded by the quadruplex S)stem. Multiplex 

 telegraphy of various kinds has been actively pursued, but 

 chiefly on the other side of the Atlantic rather than in 

 this country, where our fast-speed automatic system has 

 proved quite adequate hitherto. Whether we shall see 

 the adoption in the United Kingdom of Van Ryssel- 

 berghe's system is, however, by no means certain. The 

 essence of it consists in retarding the telegraphic signals 

 to a degree quite incompatible with the fast-speed auto- 

 matic transmission of telegraphic messages in which our 

 Post Office system excels. We are not likely to spoil 

 our telegraphic system for the sake of simultaneous tele- 

 phony, unless there is something to be gained of much 

 greater advantage than as yet appears. 



NOTES 



We are pleased to be able to announce that Prof. Flower's 

 title is to be " Director" of the Natural History Museum, South 

 Kensington, not "Superintendent," as Prof. Owen was styled. 

 According to the Civil Service Estimates for the present financial 

 year his staff consists of four keepers of departments (Botany, 

 Geology, Mineralogy, and Zoology), two assistant keepers 

 (Geology and Zoology), eleven first-class assistants, and fourteen 

 second-class assistants. Large as this number may seem, it is 

 notorious that in the Zoological Department at least a consider- 

 able reinforcement is required before the work can be expected 

 lo be efficiently performeil. 



We regret to learn from the Times that M. Dumas, the vener- 

 able Secretaire pemtnel of the Academy of Sciences, is lying in 

 a critical state at Cannes. 



Pope Leo XIII. has erected at his own expense at Carpinetc- 

 Romano, his native city, a meteorological observatory. It has 

 been placed at the top of the castle of the Pecci family. The 

 directorship of this establishment, which will be one of the most 

 important in the whole Italian system, has been given to Count 

 Lodovico. 



We are pleased to receive the first official ])ublication issued 

 from the Hong Kong Observatory by Dr. Doberck, giving the 

 results of observations during the month of January. We are 

 sure the establishment of this institution will be of the greatest 

 service both to navigation and to science. 



The first International Ornithological Congress ever held was on 

 Monday festively inaugurated at Vienna by its patron, the Crown 

 Prince Rudolph — himself a noted ornithologist. In his opening 

 speech, the Prince dwelt upon the great importance of those 

 studies in natural history which characterise this century, a 

 remark which was doubtless meant as a reply to the vehement 

 attacks on modern science recently made by the Clerical Deputy 

 tlreuter in the Austrian Parliament. Germany and Austria 

 have sent hither all their ornithological celebrities ; but the 

 Congress also includes delegates from the Russian and French 

 (.Governments, and members from Switzerland, Holland, and 

 Sweden. Even Siam and Japan are rei'resented, while Eng- 



land is conspicuous by her absence. The Congress began its 

 deliberations with the question of International Protective Legis- 

 lation for liirds. 



The sixth Archaeological Congress will be held at Odessa 

 from August 27 to September i. 



A SOMEWHAT novel feature in connection with the Inter- 

 national Health Exliibition this year will be the establishment of 

 a library and reading-room, a home for which the executive 

 council have assigned in a large double room in the Albert Hall, 

 overlooking the conservatory. .Steps have been taken to secure 

 a representative collection of works on vital statistics ; of reports 

 and regulations relating to public health ; of regulations with 

 reference to injurious trades and of works thereon ; and of 

 reports, statistics, and other works on the science of education. 

 Foreign powers have been invited to lend their cooperation in 

 this effort to create an international library of works of reference 

 bearing on the two divisions of the Exhibition, and several 

 responses have already been received. India and the Colonies 

 have also been asked to contribute towards the same end. Pub- 

 lishers and authors have likewise been invited to forward copies 

 of their works. In addition to the library of reference, there 

 will be a reading-room, to which the current numbers of periodical 

 publications of a sanitary or educational character will be ad- 

 mitted. All books and periodicals sent to the library and reading- 

 room will, under certain regulations, be arranged for the use of 

 visitors, and not merely for exhibition. The books will be sub- 

 mitted to the jurors, and a full catalogue will be issued. All 

 parcels for the library and reading-room should be addressed, 

 carriage paid, to the Secretary of the Library Sub-Committee, 

 Royal Albert Hall, London, S.W. The following handbooks 

 are being written in connection with the Exhibition : — " Healthy 

 Villages" (illustrated), by H. W. Acland, C.B., M.D., F.R.S. ; 

 "Healthy Bed-Rooms and Nurseries, including the Lying-in 

 Room," by Mrs. Gladstone ; " Healthy and Unhealthy Houses 

 in Town and Country " (illustrated), by Mr. W. Eassie, C.E., 

 with an appendix by Mr. Rogers Fieltl, C.E. ; " Healthy Furni- 

 ture and Decoration" (illustrated), by Mr. R. W. Edis, F.S.A. ; 

 " Healthy Schools," by Mr. Charles Paget, M.R.C.S. ; "Health 

 in Workshops," by Mr. J. B. Lakeman ; "Manual of Heating, 

 Lighting, and Ventilation " (illustrated), by Capt. Douglas 

 Gallon, C.B., F.R..S. ; "Food," by Mr. A. W. Blyth, 

 M.R.C.S. ; "Principles of Cookery," by Mr. Septimus Berd- 

 more ; " Food and Cookery for Infants and Invalids," by Miss 

 Wood, with a preface by R. B. Cheadle, M.D., F.R.C.P. ; 

 "Drinks, Alcoholic," by John L. W. Thudichuni, M.D., 

 F.R.C.P. ; "Drinks, Non-Alcoholic and Aerated," by John 

 Attfield, Ph.D., F.R.S. ; "Fruits of all Countries" (illustrated), 

 by Mr. W. T. Thiselton Dyer, M.A., C.M.G. ; "Condiments, 

 including Salt," by the Rev. J. J. Manley, M. A. ; " Legal Obli- 

 gations in respect to Dwellings of the Poor," by Mr. Harry 

 Duff, M.A., Barrister-at-Law, with a preface by Mr. Arthur 

 Cohen, Q.C., M.P. ; "Moral Obligations of the Householder, 

 including the Sanitary Care of his House," by G. V. Poore, 

 M.D., F.R.C.P. ; " Laboratory Guide to Public Health Inves- 

 tigation " (illustrated), by W. W. Cheyne, F.R.C.S., and W. 

 H. Corfield, M.D., F.R.C.P., M.A. ; " Physiology of Diges- 

 tion and the Digestive Organs," by Prof. Arthur Gamgee, 

 P'.R.S. ; "Fermentation," by Dr. Duclaux, with a preface by 

 M. Louis Pasteur, Membre de ITnstiiut ; "Spread of Infection," 

 by Mr. Shirley F. Murphy; "Fires and Fire Brigades" (illus- 

 trated), by Capt. Eyre M. Shaw, C.B. ; " Scavengering and 

 other such Work in Large Cities," by Mr. Booth Scott ; 

 ".Athletics," Part I. (illustrated), by the Rev. E. Warre, M.A. ; 

 " Athletics," Part II., by the Hon. E. Lyttleton, M.A., and 

 Mr. Gerard F. Cobb, M..\. ; " Dress in relation to Health and 

 Climate" (illustrated), by Mr. E. W. Godwin, F.S.A. ; "The 



