228 



NATURE 



{July 18,1872 



sect Metamorphosis, by Dr. 1'. M. Duncan, F. K.S ; on Men- 

 day |Evening, August 19, at S. 30 P.M., a Discourse by Prof. 

 Clifford ; on Tuesday Evening, August 20, at S I'.M., a Suirce ; 

 on Wednesday, August 21, the Concluding GeneralMeeting will 

 be held at 2.30 r.M. 



The next meeting of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science will not be held at San Francisco, as 

 previously announced, but at Dubuque, commencing August 21. 



The following telegram respecting the Livingstone Search 

 Expedition has been forwarded from the office of the Submarine 

 Telegraph Companies in India: — "Aden, July 11. — Stanley 

 arrived, and leaves to-day by French steamer for Suez, with 

 Livingstone's son. Has letters from Livingstone to the Govern- 

 ment and friends. Found Livingstone unwell, but determined 

 to go farther on, and not return before completing perfectly his 

 worlc. Stanley's men return and accompany him." 



It is stated in L'Institiii that the Academie des Sciences of 

 Paris, at its last two sittings, has been again discussing in secret 

 whether it will do itself the honour of admitting Mr. Darwin as 

 a corresponding member in the section of Zoology. 



The chair of Natural History at Owens College has been 

 divided. Prof. W. C. Williamson, F.R.S., retains the charge 

 of Animal I'hisiology and Zoology and Botany ; whilst Geology 

 has been erected into an independent lectureship, and committed 

 to Mr. W. Boyd-Dawkins, F.K.S., the curator of the Natural 

 History Museum. 



We learn from Lcs Moiidcs that the French Budget Commis- 

 sion has opened provisionally to the Minister of Public Instruc- 

 tion a credit of 100,000 francs, to be appropriated to the collec- 

 tion of the special instruments necessary to the observation of 

 the transit of Venus which takes place on December 8, 1874. 

 The work of collection is being pursued with great activity at 

 the Imperial Observatory, under the direction of M. Alphonse 

 Martin. 



The Academy of Sciences in Bologna has announced that a 

 prize of 1,200 /«■(■ (48/. ), the "Aldini Prize," will be awarded 

 to the author of the best scientific experinrental essay on gal- 

 vanism or dynaiTiic electricity. Essays intended for the competi- 

 tion must be sent in between July I, 1S72, and June 30, 1S74, 

 and must be written in Italian, Latin, or French. They must be 

 either written or printed ; but, in the latter case, must not have 

 been published previously to the two years above mentioned. 

 Each essay is to bear a motto, and to be accompanied with an 

 envelope stating the name of the author. They must be ad- 

 dressed to the Perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Sciences 

 of the Bologna Institution. 



The Mdbotirne Argus states that valuable work is being per- 

 formed with the great telescope at the Melbourne Observatory. 

 At a recent meeting of the Royal Society, Mr. EUery, the 

 Government Astronomer, staled that some photographs of tlie 

 moon had been obtained better than any he liad any knowledge 

 of. The picture of the moon taken in the telescope was about 

 three inches in diameter, while the primary pictures of the pho- 

 tographs of the moon hitherto made public by Mr. De La Rue 

 were only three-quarters or seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, 

 though subsequently enlarged to something like two feet. 



The Times of India of June 21 prints at length the judgment 

 of the Marine Court of Inquiry into the disasters attending the 

 recent cyclone at Madras. The judgment contains the following 

 chronicle of the weather changes during the three days preced- 

 ing the cyclone : — On the afternoon of Monday, April 29, the 

 wind shifted from the S.S.E. to the X.E., a bank of clouds 

 forming to the S.E. The weather became gloomy, with light- 

 ning ;Jhe barometer^falling slightly. '■ On Tuesday morning the 



barometer had fallen, w ind and sea had increased from the N. 

 and E., with squalls, rain, and suspicious appearances generally, 

 surf rising, and the current at the shipping changing to the S. 

 During the night there were heavy squalls, with rain, thunder 

 and lightning. It was blowing hard in gusts ; sea increasing, 

 and weather still getting worse. On Wednesday, May I, the 

 weather had a very wild appearance, a heavy squall wiih surf; 

 wind about N.N. E. Very heavy squalls, with rain ; fresh gale 

 between the squalL. Towards afternoon it was blowing very 

 hard ; barometer falling. The barometric tide existed, but the 

 mercury was lower in the tube, the current at the shipping setting 

 stronger to the S. There appears to have been a break in the 

 clouds to the N.E. in the evening, and the wind moderated, 

 though still blowing liard, the barometer remaining depressed. 

 Towards midnight on Wednesday the barometer commenced to 

 fall rapidly, and the wind and sea increased to fury ; several of 

 the native vessels broke adrift, followed, after daylight, by the 

 English vessels, to which this inquiry is directed. On considera- 

 tion of the whole evidence, the court is ' ' forced to a conclusion 

 that during the day and night of Tuesday, April 30, the weather 

 was such as should have induced any pradeut man to take every 

 precautionary measure for the safety of his ship ; and that fronr 

 Wednesday morning there should have been no reasonable doubt 

 that the premonitory symptoms of a cyclone existed ; " especially 

 ' ■ at a season of tlie year when bad weather and cyclones are 

 expected on this coast." Experience, the judgment declares, 

 shov/s that the chances in favour of a vessel surviving a cyclone 

 by putting to sea in time greatly preponderate. It will be seen 

 from this that no blame whatever is attributed by the Court of 

 Incjuiry to Mr. Pogson. 



Three very remarkable paintings are now being exhibited at 

 No. 7, Haymarket, called "Arcdc Summer," "Crushed among 

 the Icebergs," and "Arctic Wreckers." In the year 1869 the 

 artist, Mr. Bradford, chartered the steamer Pttnther, of St. 

 John's, Newfoundland, and, inviting Dr. Hayes, the well-known 

 arctic explorer of America, to accompany him, sailed from the 

 above port for the sole purpose of getting sketches of the 

 hitherto unknown irozen north. Reaching the latitude of 76° N. 

 in Melville Bay, he remained there until the middle of August, 

 when the new ice began to form so fast that it was with great 

 difficulty they could force their way tinough the pack. Two ex- 

 perienced photographers accompairied the expedition, and ob- 

 tained most wonderful views of the arctic scenery. From the 

 photographs, and his own sketches, Mr. Bradford has now 

 produced these paintings, which must give a more perfect idea 

 of the wonders of the arctic regions to those who have never 

 visited them than any description could possibly do. It is diffi- 

 cult otherwise to realise tire gigantic height of some of the ice- 

 walls, the sea-fronts of the glaciers, from which tire huge icebergs 

 break off and drift southwards. Mr. Bradford wiU shortly pub- 

 lish a work, illustrated by over eighty of the finest photographs, 

 showing the different phases of life in those regions — the great 

 glaciers, fiords, mountains, Esquimaux life, icebergs, and the 

 ice phenomena of Melville Bay ; the edition will be limited to 

 250 copies. 



The first number is issued of a new monthly magazine, price 

 6(/., entitled Grcvillca, a record of Cryptogamic Botany and its 

 literature, edited by Mr. M. C. Cooke. It is intended as a me- 

 dium of communication among cryptogamists, chronicling dis- 

 coveries of new species, physiological observations, and other 

 matters of interest, and will doubtless fdl a useful place. In 

 the present number, which is illustrated by a coloured plate, the 

 fungologist, lichenologist, bryologist, algologist, and diatomolo- 

 gist will each find something to interest. If well supported by 

 those interested in this branch of botany, it ought to become 

 indisperrsable to all who wish to become au com ant with the 

 present position of cryptogamy. 



