May 30, 1872] 



NATURE 



83 



fury (though Mr. Wallace furnishes a possible analogy to ancient 

 custom in what we may call a sociable xVmok), the contagion of 

 fear makes it easily intelligible how even a district might come to 

 see and hear what had no existence save in the disturbed imagina- 

 tion of one. The Incubi and Suscubi of tlie i\Iiddle Ages in 

 Europe may be paralleled at the present day in asylums, and, 

 now as then, are met with among those who have placed them- 

 selves in conditions similar to the imhealtliy ones of the Convent. 



In reading over the confessions of the witches in England and 

 .Scotland, it is strange to find how exactly the language em- 

 ployed expresses the frequently described sensation; of women 

 labouring under uterine and ovarian disease. Doubtless, not all 

 thus suffered ; but the confusion once made and heard would be 

 repeated by the unhappy imbeciles from whom chiefly tlie witch 

 ranks were recruited. JoilN YoUNG 



Glasgow University 



The Vervain and Yellow Fever 



Ali.o\\' me to say a few words on the report of the English 

 Vice-Consul at Ciudad, Bolivar, concerning the efficacy of the 

 Vervain plant as a remedy for yellow fever and bhack vomit 

 (Nature, March 21, p. 412). The plant in question is 

 Slachytdrphn jamaicensis, Vahl, a very common and rather 

 troublesome weed, called in Spanish America " Verben.i, " in the 

 British West Indies " Vervain," and in the Brazils "Gervao." 

 Its medicinal properties have been greatly exaggerated, though 

 it is certainly somewhat aromatic and astringent ; but in yellow 

 fever and black vomit its efficacy is next to nothing. For a 

 good description of the plant and some notes on its supposed and 

 real virtues, I refer to Augusta deSt. Hilaire, " Plante; usuelles 

 du Bresil," plate 39 (Paris, 1S24). Another tolerably good 

 figure is given by Sloane, "The Natural History of Jamaica,'' 

 plate 107, I, who mentions several diseases against which it was 

 used in his times (and probably still), stating finally, that "it is 

 good against charms. " A. Ernst 



Caracas, Venezuela, May 6 



ELECTRIC VALENTINE 



TELEGRAPH CLERK $ TO TELEGRAPH CLERK ? 



"The tendrils of my soul are twined 

 With thine, though many a mile apart ; 



And thine in close-coiled circuits wind 

 Around the magnet of my heart. 



" Constant as Daniell, strong as Grove ; 



Seething through all its depths, like Smcc ; 

 My heart pours forth its tide of love, 



And all its circuits close in thee. 



" O tell me, when along the line 



From my full heart the message flows, 



What currents are induced in thine ? 

 One click from thee will end my woes." 



Through many an Ohm the Weber flew, 

 And clicked this answer back to me — 



" / am tliy Farad, staunch and true, 

 Charged to a Volt with love for tJi-cc" 



[Note by the Editor— 



Ohm = Standard of resistance. 

 Weber= Electric current. 

 Volt = Electromotive force. 

 Farad = Capacity (of a condenser). 



dp 

 dt 



\'clocity of Puck 



Once round the Earth 



40 mmutes. 

 of Ohm Q"^drant of merid ian of Paris 

 ' I second. 



,', I Ohm = 600 Pucks.] 



NATURAL SCfENCE AT OXFORD 

 T T has been resolved in Convocation that the Curators 

 -"■ of the University Chest be authorised to pay to the 

 credit of the Museum Delegates the sum of 1,000/., to be 

 employed at their discretion for the maintenance and 

 improvement of the CoUectiop.s in the Museum ; a full 

 statement of the expenditure for these purposes being 

 prepared annually and reported to Convocation. 



Magdalen Coi.\.-E.c,¥..—Di-inyships and Exhibition.— 

 There will be an election at this College ia October next 

 to not less than Six Deinyships and One E.vhibition. Of 

 the Demy ships, one at least will be Mathematical, one at 

 least in Natural Science, and the rest Classical. The 

 Exhibition will be in Mathematics, is of the value of 75/. 

 per annum, inclusive of all allowances, and is tenable for 

 five years. 



Exeter College — There will be an Election to a 

 Natural Science Fellowship in this College on Wednes- 

 day, June 10. The Examination will be in Biology. The 

 Fellow elected will be required to reside and take part in 

 the instruction of the College. The election will take 

 place under the conditions of the following special ordi- 

 nance of the College : — " Any Fellow who shall be elected 

 previous to June 1874, with the declared purpose of 

 taking part as Tutor or Lecturer in the College, 

 shall ipso facto vacate his Fellowship on ceasing to 

 reside. Provided also that if the said Fellow shall 

 have taken part as Tutor or Lecturer in the College for 

 seven academic years, consecutively or not, or for pirt of 

 the time in one office and part in the other, he shall retain 

 his Fellowship, subject only to the other causes of avoid- 

 ance of Fellowship. Any fellow so elected shall hold him- 

 self bound, on pain of the loss of his Fellowship, to take 

 part, if required, as Tutor or Lecturer in the College. If 

 any such Fellow be incapacitated through ill health for 

 educational work in the College, it shall be competent for 

 two-thirds of the Governing Body, with the sanction of 

 the Visitor, to dispense with the required residence during 

 the continuance of such ill health." The Follow elected 

 under the ordinance will be subject in all other respects to 

 the Statutes of the College. The Examination vvill begin 

 on Tuesday, June 11, and no person can be admitted as a 

 Candidate who has not passed all the Examinations 

 necessary for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the Uni- 

 versity of Oxford, or been incorporated as a graduate in 

 the University. 



Second Public Examination.— Pr^j.? School. — In 

 pursuance of the statute, the Board of Studies for directing 

 the Examination of Candidates who do not seek Honours at 

 the Second Public Examination, and also the Examina- 

 tion in the Rudiments of Faith and Religion, gives notice 

 that the books and subjects which may be ottered in the 

 Easter and Trinity Terms 1S74, and until further notice, 

 are — 



In Group C. — (i) The Elements of Plane Geometry, 

 including the doctrine of similar triangles. This includes 

 the portion of Geometry treated of in Euclid Books I. -IV., 

 with the definitions of Book V., and such parts of Book 

 VI. as treat of similar triangles. These subjects may be 

 read in any other treatise. The Elements of Trigono- 

 metry, including the trigonometrical ratios of the sum of 

 two angles, the solution of plane triangles, the use of 

 logarithms, and the mensuration of plane rectilinear 

 figures. (2.) The Elements of the Mechanics of Solid 

 and Fluid Bodies, including the composition and resolu- 

 tion of forces, centre of gravity, the simple machines and 

 the application of virtual velocities to them, the laws of 

 motion, the laws of falling bodies, the motion of pro- 

 jectiles, the pressure of fluids on surfaces, the equilibrium 

 of flo.ating bodies exclusive of the theory of stability, the 

 methods of determining specific gravities, the laws of elastic 

 fluids, simple hydrostatical and pneumatical machines. 

 (3.) The Elements of Chemistry, with an elementary prac- 

 tical examination. Candidates who intend to ofi"er this 



