H 



NATURE 



[May 2, 1872 



Street, at 2 P.M., and proceed to the Pab?ontological Depart- 

 ment, where a portion of the collection will be described. 

 — Whit-Monday and Tuesday, May 20 and 21, Excursion 

 to Bath (one or two days) ; directors, Mr. Charles Moore, 

 and the Rev. H. 11. Winwood. Monday : Assemble at 

 the Half Moon Hotel (ne.ar the Railway Station) at 

 I o'clock ; jiroceed to the Museum, the valuable and exceed- 

 ingly interesting paLx'ontological contents of which will be 

 described by the founder, Mr. Charles Moore ; then visit Weston 

 and Twerton, and inspect, under the guidance of the Rev. Mr. 

 Winwood, sections of Lower Lias (Ammoiit^s Biuklaiidi and 

 A. aiigiilalns zones). Proceed to Newbridge Hill, where are 

 sections of White Lias and the Rhii^lic series. — Tuesday : Hamp - 

 ton Down— fine sections of the Great Oolite, and a probable 

 representative of the Bradford Clay ; upper beds very fossiliferous 

 { Teydn-atiila carJiiim, TcrebratcU.a Biickinani, Crania .1 ntiquoriiiii, 

 &c., with Corals and Sponges). Dundasin the Bradford Valley 

 ^sections showing Marlstone, Upper Lias, and Inferior Oolite. 

 North Bank of Canal — section of Inferior Oolite (A'//j';/(7;o//(-//rt 

 spinasa zone), and Fuller's Earth. Cross the Avon to Freshford 

 — Mammiliferous River deposits, yielding Ovibos moschatns. 



The prophetic announcements of Prof. Agassiz in regard to 

 the discoveries he intended to make during his proposed deep- 

 sea dredgings in the southern waters continue, according to 

 I/arpt-r's Weekly, to be realised, as we learn from a letter to 

 Prof. Peirce, dated at Rio on the 12th of February last. The 

 weather had not been favourable for dredging for some time ; 

 but a suitable occasion presenting itself, the work was prosecuted 

 for one day, with very interesting results. The first discovery 

 mentioned by the professor was that of a living Pccten, very 

 similar in general appearance to a fossil form known as P. para- 

 doxus, found in Germany, and which he had been inclined to 

 consider a distinct genus, on account of certain peculiarities 

 which are not shared by any living shells known up to this dis- 

 covery. The specimen found is, however, strictly referable to 

 the same genus as the paraJaxns, especially as it has the same 

 prominent radiating ribs arising on the inner surface of the she 1 

 valve, to which the fossil is indebted for its specific name. 

 Although of very small dimensions, being scarcely two-thirds of 

 an inch in diameter, it is yet a specimen of very great signifi- 

 cance. The second discovery was that of a very remarkable 

 crustacean, and is, in part, the realisat ion of the expedation of 

 finding "genera reminding us of som e amphipods, and isopods 

 aping still more closely the trilobites than Serolis." A specimen 

 answering fully to this statement was taken in forty-five fathoms, 

 and at first sight seemed like an ordinary isopod, with a broad, 

 short, flat body. This, however, is not referable to any of the 

 orders or families of Milne-Edwards or Dana, and, for reasons 

 adduced, it has very striking relations to the trilobites, and is, 

 indeed, like them, one f>f those types combining the structural 

 features of several independent groups. It resembles the trilo- 

 bites in the fact that the head is distinct from the thoracic 

 regions ; and the large faceted eyes and the facial suture across 

 the checks connect it so closely that but for the presence of 

 antenna.', which project from the lower side of the anterior 

 margin of the buckler, the resemblance would amount to an 

 absolute idenlity in structure with the trilobites. The character 

 of the mouth is also that of the trilobite ; while the antenna' 

 cause its reference to the isopods. For this new genus the name 

 of Toinocaris Peircci is proposed. 



Details have been received of the earthquake which devastated 

 Antioch on April 3, to which we referred last week. The Greek 

 church, a strong stone-arched structure, built only a few years 

 ago, and capable of holding 500 or 600 persons, is utterly ruined 

 — one side and the entire roof are gone. The American Protest- 

 ant church and premises are also greatly injured, and four persons 

 of their small community were killed, though the Mission families 



are all safe. The number of killed and injured cannot be ascer- 

 tained with any approach to accuracy, and, of course, flying 

 rumours are abundant, one man saying that he thought there 

 must be 1,000 killed, while another said 500, and a third 250, 

 which is, perhaps, within the truth. There was time from the 

 beginning of the first shock to its close for many to escape the 

 falling houses or walls. Several smaller and lighter shocks 

 occurred for an hour or two afterwards, but not sufficiently 

 strong to shake down buildings. These shocks continued 

 at intervals through the next night ; and another, more dis- 

 tinct and wave-like, was felt to shake the house with a loud, 

 hollow, rumbling noise, about half-past six the next morning. 

 The first shock was immediately preceded by a rumbling and 

 creaking of the joints of the window and door frames, to which 

 a louder noise, like thunder, succeeded, and then walls and build- 

 ings feU. The old Roman bridge of four arches is rent in several 

 places until the water can be seen through it from above ; a part 

 of the parapet wall has also been shaken off, and the arch above 

 the city door at its east end has been hurled down, and lies almost 

 whole. Much damage has been done to houses in the lower 

 part of the town, and many of the inhabitants are now to be 

 seen encamping around in the fields or plain. The shocks 

 appear to have continued, with less severity, for several days. 

 One man declared he counted forty-four shocks within twenty- 

 four hours after the first one. They were all accompanied by a 

 noise like distant thunder or artillery, and produced a tremor of 

 the ground ; but no fresh ruin has been made by any of them, 

 except the first great shock about 8 A.5I, of the 3rd ult. 



EartH(ji;akes are becoming almost as frequent in the Mur- 

 rumbidgee district in Australia as in New Zealand. The Wagga 

 Express reports that recently (in January last) a smart shock was 

 experienced at Crabtree station and several other places on the 

 Upper River. Since June S — when the first and, with one 

 exception, the heaviest of the shocks was experienced — at least 

 a dozen distinct ones have been felt in this district. 



The Italian .Society of Spectroscopists is already doing work 

 which must command the attention of the scientific world. The 

 special object of the .Society is to collate the observations of all 

 Italian astronomers, so as to study daily the number, position, 

 size, and form of the protuberances, spots, and facula;. Three 

 numbers are already published of their Mcnioric, containing the 

 following papers : — An Introduction by Prof. Tacchini, of the 

 Observatory of Palermo, expounding the object and resources of 

 the Society ; a memoir by M. Lorenzoni, of the Observatory 01 

 Padua, on the spectral analysis of the protuberances ; numerical 

 tables to convert into heliocentric coordinates the apparent po- 

 sition of protuberances or spots ; a memoir by P. .Secchi on a 

 new micrometer for measuring the height of the protuberances ; 

 an article by Prof. Tacchini on the comparison of the observa- 

 tions of protuberances made simultaneously in July 1 871, at 

 Palermo by himself, and at Rome by .Secchi ; observations on 

 the solar protuberances and their distribution, by P. Secchi, 

 spectroscopic images of the solar margin, made at Rome, 

 Palermo, and Padua, by Secchi, Tacchini, and Lorenzoni on 

 December II and 12, 1S71, with a coloured plate. This youngest 

 outcome of solar physics is deserving of the heartiest support of 

 men of science in this country. 



According to the Sydney IlcraUl, the schooner Surprise has 

 lately made a visit to the coast of New Guinea, penetrating 

 fifteen miles up the Manoi River. Contrary to the general im- 

 pression, the natives, who were hitherto supposed to be ferocious 

 in their character and opj'osed to the visits of strangers, were 

 found to be mild and gentle in disposition. They were of the 

 Malay stock, and had never seen white people before. On the 

 departure of the schooner, under Captain Paget, they exhibited 

 every demonstration of sorrow, the women weeping and the men 

 accompanying the party to a considerable distance 



