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NA TURE 



\_April I 7, I : 



TilK fullowing are the arrangements for the lectures at the 

 Koyal Institution after Easter : — Dr. Klein, two lectures on the 

 Anatomy of Nerve and Muscle, on Tuesdays, April 22 and 29 ; 

 Prof. Gamgee, five lectures on the Physiology of Nerve and 

 Muscle, on Tuesdays, May 6 to June 3 ; Prof. Dewar, seven 

 lectures on Flame and Oxidation, on Thursdays, April 24 to 

 June 5 ; Mr. Hodder M. Westrojip, three lectures on Recent 

 Discoveries in Roman Archaeology, on Saturdays, April 26 to 

 May 10 ; and Prof. T. G. Bonney, four lectures on the Bearing 

 of ■Microscopical Research upon some Large Geological Pro- 

 blems, on Saturdays, May 17 to June 7. The following is a list 

 of the Friday evening lectures : — April .25, the Art of Fiction, 

 by Walter Besant ; May 2, Krakatoa, by Prof. Judd ; May 9, 

 Mohammedan Mahdis, by Prof. Robertson Smith ; May 16, the 

 Dissolved Oxygen of Water, by Prof. W. Odling ; May 23, Sidereal 

 Astronomy, by Dr. David Gill ; May 30, Sur les Couleui's (in 

 French), by Prof. E. Mascart ; June 6, Prof. Dewar. 



Besides subjects of general anthropological interest, the fol- 

 lowing specially American topics, as to several of which Canada 

 affords important evidence, are suggested for papers to be read 

 in the Anthropological Section at the Montreal meeting of the 

 British Association. The papers on each subject will, as far as 

 possible, be grouped for reading on the s.ame day, so as to insure 

 a general discussion. (l) The native races of America: their 

 ])hysical characters and origin ; (2) Civilisation of America before 

 the time of Columbus, with particular reference to earlier inter- 

 course witb the Old World ; (3) Archaeology of North America, 

 ancient mounds and earth-works, cliff-dwellings and village- 

 houses, stone architecture of Mexico and Central America, &c. ; 

 (4) Native languages of America ; (5) European colonisation 

 and its effects on the native tribes of America. It is requested 

 that all papers may be sent to the office of the Association, 22, 

 Albemarle Street, London, W., on or before July i. 



The International Ornithological Congress at Vienna was 

 brought to a conclusion on Friday last by an appropriate speech 

 from its patron, the Crown Prince Rudolph, who, among other 

 things, warmly thanked the scientific men from abroad for their 

 appearance in Vienna. The next Congress will not take place 

 till three years hence, and will be held in Switzerland. The 

 Crown Prince has accepted the honorary office of Patron of the 

 Permanent International Committee for the Establishment of 

 ( )rnithological Observatories, or stations for the observation of 

 the habits of birds, especially those of the migratory species. 

 Prof. Blasius, the president of the third section, to whose sphere 

 the subject belongs, explained the nature, object, and importance 

 of such ornithological stations of observation. M. Rodde pro- 

 jiosed that the meteorological stations should be used as orni- 

 thological ones. Dr. Schier of Prague afterwards gave an 

 account of his efforts to secure a regular system of observation. 

 He had received from some hundreds of correspondents many 

 valuable notices in regard to the line of passage of migratory 

 liirds. 



The Academy of the Lincei have elected Prof. Francesco 

 P.rioschi, a senator, to fill their presidential chair recently left 

 vacant by the death of Signor Quintino Sella, electing at the 

 same time Commendatore Fiorelli, who so long directed the ex- 

 cavations at Pom])eii, to fill the office of vice-president. The 

 new president, Signor Brioschi, is a distinguished mathe- 

 matician. 



An interesting little volume appears this week in Edinburgh 

 containing an annotated list of the illustrious dead who have been 

 in any way connected with Edinburgh University. The names 

 are classified according to the departments with which they are 

 connected, "Zoologists and Botanists, " for example, beginning 

 with Erasmus Darwin and ending with Charles Darwin. The brief 



notes attached to the names have, we believe, been compiled 

 by various specialists. 



The .\nthropological Institute will hold its first meeting in its 

 new premises. No. 3, Hanover Square, on the 22nd instant. 



The next Ordinary General Meeting of the Institution of 

 Mechanical Engineers will be held on Thursday, May I, and 

 Friday, May 2, at 15, Great George Street, Westminster. The 

 Chair will be taken by the President, Mr. I. Lowthian Bell, 

 F. R. S., at lialf-past seven p.m. on each evening. The following 

 papers will be read and discussed as far as time will admit: — 

 On Thursday, May i, on the consumption of fuel in loco- 

 motives, by M. Georges Marie, of Paris ; on portable railways, 

 by M. Paul Decauville, of Petit-Bourg, Paris ; on the Moscrop 

 engine recorder, and the Knowles supplementary governor, by 

 Mr. Michael Longridge, of Manchester. On Friday, May 2, 

 description of the automatic and exhaust-steam injector, 

 by Mr. A. Slater Savill, of Manchester ; description of the 

 apparatus used for testing current-meters, at the Admiralty 

 Works at Torquay for experimenting on models of ships, by Mr 

 Robert Gordon, of Burmah ; description of the Francke "Tina " 

 or vat process for the amalgamation of silver ores, by Mr. Edgar 

 P. Rathbone, of London. 



The Report of the U.S. Solar Eclipse Expedition, Science 

 states, has just been ordered to be printed by Congress. Among 

 its contents are : — Meteorology of Caroline Island, by Mr 

 Winslow Upton Botany of Caroline Island, collections by Dr. 

 W. S. Dixon, U.S.N., and identifications by Prof. W. Tre- 

 lease ; Notes on the zoology of Caroline Island, by Dr. W. S. 

 Dixon, U.S.N. ; Memorandum on the butterflies, &c., of Caro- 

 line Island, collections by Dr. J. Palisa, identifications by 

 Messrs. Herman Strecker and Arthur G. Butler ; Chemical con- 

 stituents of the sea-water of the lagoon of Caroline Island, deter- 

 mined by Messrs. Stillwell and Gladding ; Observations of 

 twenty-three new double stars, by Prof. E. S. Holden and Prof. 

 C. S. Hastings ; Plans for work on the day of the eclipse, by 

 Prof. E. S. Holden. 



From Science we learn th.at at the request of the Navy Depart- 

 ment, the Fish Commission steamer Albatross, Capt. Tanner 

 commanding, was fitted out during the winter for the purpose of 

 carrying on a series of deep-sea soundings and dredgings in the 

 Caribbean Sea, a region very little known in respect to its depths. 

 The vessel left Washington on January i, and reached St. 

 Thomas on the 17th, and, after coaling, proceeded on her voyage, 

 making the following ports : — Curaijoa, Trinidad, the Island of 

 Oiaiba, Alta Vela, Jacmel, Gonaives, Santiago de Cuba, Navassa, 

 and Kingston (Jamaica), where she arrived March i. She left 

 Kingston March II, and arrived at Aspinwall, via Savanilla, 

 March 25. On her return from Aspinwall she will proceed via 

 Cape San Antonio to Key West, expecting to arrive at the 

 Washington navy-yard about the middle of May. The expe- 

 dition has been a great success in all respects, numerous satis- 

 factoiy series of soundings and temperatures having been taken, 

 and large numbers of marine animals obtained. In the collec- 

 tions incidentally obtained during the stay of the steamer at 

 Trinidad were two specimens of the guacharo bird, Steatornis 

 caripcnsis, which is such a rarity in museums, and two of the 

 great fishing-bat. 



On Easter Monday the Essex Field Club held a meeting at 

 Saffron Walden, about sixty members and visitors being present. 

 Alighting at Audley End Station, the party drove to Lord Bray- 

 brooke's mansion, where they had an opportunity of inspecting 

 the fine collection of birds and prehistoric and Roman antiquities 

 contained in the museum. The Club was then conducted to a 

 neighbouring hill, known as Ring Hill, where an ancient circular 

 entrenchment is to be seen, and from there proceeded to a wood 



