June 27, 1872] 



NATURE 



169 



or who are in the first term of their residence. A Minor 

 Scholarship is tenable for two years, or until the scholar is 

 elected to one of the Foundation Scholarship?. The Exhibitions 

 are not limited in respect to the age of candidates. It is under- 

 stood that minor scholars or exhibitioners may be candidates for 

 Sizarships. 



The announcement Last week that Mr. E. R. Lankester h.ad 

 gained a X.itural Science Scholarship at Exeter College, O.'ifonl, 

 should have read " Fellowship." 



The East London Museum at Bethnal Green was formally 

 opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales on Mond.ay last. 



The Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Litera- 

 ture, Science, and Art, will shortly hold its annual meeting at 

 Exete', under the presidency of the Bishop of the Diocese. 



Prof. Hu.MriiRY gave his second lecture on " Human 

 Myology" at the Colle;je of Surgeons on Wednesday, the 19th. 

 In it he traced the elements of the lateral muscle upon the limbs, 

 form'ng muscular expansions over them which, he said, were 

 most cleii'Iy marked in the ruiimtntai-y claw-like limbs of some 

 snakes, but sufficiently distinct in ourselves. In the upper limb, 

 for instance, they form a superfici'J ventro-appendicular cone, 

 which is divided, sectorially, into the pectoralis, the latis^imus 

 dorsi, and the trapezio-deltoid. In the lower limb the corre- 

 sponding slieet is divided into the gracilis, the gluteus magnus, 

 and the sartorius, with the tensor vaginns femoris. The deeper 

 l.iyers of the ventro-appendicular cones more closely invest the 

 shoulder and hip-joints. That in the upper limb he divided 

 into the infra-spinatus and teres minor, the coraco-brachialis and 

 subscapularis, and the supra-spinatus ; and that in the lower limb 

 he divided into the gluteus medus and minimus, the adductors 

 and obturator, the iliacus and the pyriformis. The professor re- 

 marked that the developmental processes are so freely modified 

 in accordance with the special requirements of each limb that an 

 exact homological comparison of the m.uscles is out of the ques- 

 tion ; and he showed that the difference in the direction of the 

 rotation of the upper and of the lower limbs upon their respective 

 girdles has been attended with considerable modification of the 

 attachment, especially of the insertion of the several muscles. 

 He spoke of the clavicle as an ossification in one of the inter- 

 muscular sf-pta of the ventral muscle, and as, therefore, corre- 

 sponding serially with the epicostal or " intermuscular " bones 

 developed in the abdominal wall of some lizards. Poupart's 

 ligament belongs to the same series, and spans the crural arch 

 as the clavicle spans the brachial arch. Various points in the 

 disposition of the muscles of the upper parts of the limbs and the 

 purposes served by them were discussed. 



SiGNOR G. A. Pasquale, in a paper presented to the " Acca- 

 dcmia delle Scienze fisichee matcmatiche" of Naples, attributes 

 the injury done to vegetation by the recent eruption of Vesuvius 

 neither to scorching nor to the mech.anical action of the ashes in 

 closing the pores of the leaves, the effect being much more 

 sudden than if due to the latter cause ; but to the injurious 

 effects of the chloride of sodium which falls in considerable quan- 

 tities with the ashes. 



The following account of the recent thunderstorm at Birming- 

 tham, by Mr. T. L. Plant, is taken from the GarJi-no's 

 Chroiisch-: — " Birmingham and vicinity were visited on June iS 

 by a thunderstorm, accompanied by the most tremendous 

 quantity of rain and enormous pieces of ice, ever registered 

 within my records. The sudden heat after the low temperature 

 in the early part of last week caused the air on the 17th 

 and iSlh to become highly surcharged with electricity. On 



Monday night the heat was intense, lowest thermometer 62". 

 The rapid increase of temperature will be understood by the 

 following copy of my daily readings from the 12th :— 



Highest Tcinfcrntiirc in the Sliade. 



.. 13 63' I „ iS ".'.'. 88° 



M 14 77° I (highest temperature re- 



" '5 So^ cjrded in June since 1S5S 



At 12.45 tlie storm commenced, and lasted three hours and a 

 half For fully half an hour the rolling thunder was incessant. 

 The depositions of ice began about two o'clock, and during a 

 period of 20 minutes to half an hour there was a fall of large 

 frozen bodies, mingled with tremendous rain, to an extent that 

 finds no parallel in these annals. Some of the pieces of ice 

 (which were of most irregular formation) measured quite an inch 

 in lengtli. During the height of the storm the wind was high 

 and calm in alternate succession, and changing to various points 

 of the compas.s, and ultimately south, as at first. The fall of 

 rain in this great tempest was 2-47 inches. This is the largest 

 quantity that has been registered in Birmingham, even exceeding 

 the great storm on the evening of July 6, 1845. Most of the 

 rain (which is equal to 250 tons of water to the acre) fell in 45 

 minutes." 



The School of Science in connection with the Albert Memo- 

 rial Museum at Exeter shows the zeal with which science is being 

 cultivated in that city. The number of individual students under 

 instruction during the current session has been 67, viz. : — 7 in 

 elementary mathematics, 13 in theoretical mechanics, 36 in 

 inorganic chemistry, 9 in vegetable anatomy and physiology, 9 

 in systematic and economic botany, 7 in physical geography, 4 

 in machine construction and drawing, and 9 in building construc- 

 tion. The Museum has made considerable progr.;ss during the 

 year. 



We have .again to notice the incrcxsing success of artizin stu- 

 dents at the Oldham School of Science and Art, in practical 

 Inorganic Chemistry ; nineteen have passed out of twenty-one 

 exam inecl by the Department. 



From the Report of the Free Libraries Committee of Birming- 

 ham for 1871, we are glad to see that, although the numl)er of 

 volumes in the library bearing on science is small, the demand 

 for them shows considerable interest in these subjects among the 

 frequenters of the library. 



The Committee of Trustees of the Industrial and Technolo- 

 gical Museum of Vtctoria have issued their report for the year 

 1871. The progress of the Institution is spoken of as having 

 been satisfactory, the number of visitors having greatly increased 

 as well as of objects in the INIuseum. Illustrations of the mine- 

 ralogical wealth of our colonies must always be of the highest 

 importance, and there is now in the Museum a collection of the 

 rocks of Victoria, classified and labelled, as well as a large series 

 of fossils from difterent parts of the country which have not 

 yet been classified. The models of mining machinery, formerly 

 in the University Museum, are now also exhibited in this Museum, 

 forming a most important and complete collection, which has 

 excited great interest among the visitors. The exhibition of 

 vegetable products, illustrative of their industrial uses, is rapidly 

 increasing, and is now being systematically arranged, but is not 

 yet catalogued. The collection of animal products, illustrative 

 of their industrial uses, is very useful and complete. Courses of 

 lectures ha\'e been delivered at the Museum, the primary object 

 of which has been to make science- in its relation to industry 

 known among the artisan and mechanical classes, and the com- 

 mittee hope that this object has been in some measure attained. 



