July 2'^, 1872] 



NATURE 



249 



and October. Specimens collected during those months 

 would probably contain embryos in various sta,t;es of 

 development, the examination of uhicli would undoubtedly 

 lead to most interesting results. 



The largest specimens I have seen of Amblyopsis are 

 icveral males and females, each from four to four and a 

 half inches in length, which seems to be about as large as 

 the fish grows, though Dr. Gunther mentions a specimen 

 in the Biitish Museum of five inches in length. The 

 largest specimen captured of late years is said to have 

 been taken during the summer of 1871, and sold for ten 

 dollars to a person who was so desirous of securing the 

 precious morsel that he had it cooked for his supper. The 

 smallest specimen I have seen was one and nine-tenths 

 inches in length. F. W. Putnam 



NOTES 



Addresses of sympathy with Dr. Hooker, in the difficult 

 pt-siiion in which he is placed with reg.ird to the management 

 iif Kew Gardens, are flowing in cm all sides, from those iii- 

 tertsted in the maintenance of Kew as a scientific establishment. 

 At a meeting of the leading botanists and hoiticultutisls held 

 last week at the ulTice of the Gardiner'' s C/troniih; resolutions 

 wi re unanimously ]>assed expressing the sympathy of the meeting 

 wi h Dr. Ilocker, and in favour of an address to Mr. Gladstone, 

 c.dling attention to the eminent services rendered by him to 

 .'cicncc, and pointing out that it is absolutely essential for the 

 t liicient man.igement of the establishmtnt at Kew that the Di- 

 rector must have complete control over the subordinate officials, 

 free from any interference in matters of detail from his official 

 .'uperiors. The same course has been followed by the Council 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society, and by its various com- 

 mittees. At a Council of the Royal Botanic Society, specially 

 sunmioned for the purpose en .Saturday last, similar resolutions 

 were passed. The Council of the Meteorological .Society has 

 sent to Mr. Gladstone, Lord Derby, Sir John Lubbock, and Dr. 

 Hooker, copies of a resolution in the same direction. 



An interesting Ji'/r/twas held at the Royal Albert Hall onThurs- 

 day evening last, under the auspices of the -Society of Telegraph 

 Engineers, with the aid of the Postal Telegraph Department. 

 A model of every kind of telegraph instrument which has been 

 generally used for commercial purposes from tlie opening of 

 telegraphs to the present time was exhibited. Each apparatus 

 wcs connected up with wires proceeding from the central hall to 

 the galleries, and thus the actual practical working of the tele- 

 graph system was made apparent to those present in a very 

 effective manner. A descriptive lecture was at the same time 

 given by Mr. \V. H. I'reece, of the Postal Telegraph Depart- 

 ment, who lucidly explained the action of the electric current in 

 producing the simple elementary signals. The admirable manner 

 in which the lecturer made himself heard in every part of the 

 vast assembly was a general subject of remark. The most in- 

 teresting feature of the entertainment was the direct and instan- 

 tnneous working with India. Kurrachee, the terminus of the 

 Indo-European line in India, a distance of upwards of 5,cx50 

 nnles, was the town selected, and, in reply to a message of 

 imiuiry, that station said, " Here, Kurrachee," and followed it up 

 with the announcement thaf'locusts are swarming in Scinde." 

 After the conversations held with India from the Albert Hall 

 were concluded, the Grand Vizier of Persia, who was at Teheran, 

 .sent to the Albert Hall a warm message of congratulation to 

 the Prince of Wales, 



Lcs Moniits speaks with contempt and surprise of the treat- 

 ment which science meets with at the hands of the British 

 Government, referring particularly to the refusal of the latter to 

 grant a sum for the purpose of enabling scientific men to make 

 marine explorations on the co.ists of Europe and India, and 



to the conduct of Mr. Ayrton towards Dr. Hooker. The 

 latter is spoken of as a gentleman "eminent, talented, 

 universally honoured for his integrity, loved for his courteous 

 manner and the goodness of his heart, and who has devoted to 

 the service of the State a life not only laborious but illustrious.'' 



The new French Association for the Advancement of Science 

 intends to hold its first meeting at Bordeaux in the mouth of 

 September next, commencing on the 5th. 



We are sorry to see the following par.igraph in Les Mondcs of 

 July iS : — "No one has yet responded to the appeal we made 

 to the French savants to take part in force [en nomine) in the 

 Brighton meeting, which opens on August 14. We shall not 

 organise this scientific excursion unless we are able to count upon 

 a sufficient number of adherents. There is no time to lose." 

 We hope it is not too late, and that something like a representa- 

 tive party may be yet organised from among all classes of French 

 men of science. We are sure we can promise they will be 

 heartily welcomed and hospitably treated at Brighton. 



The Annual Meeting of the British Medical A.ssociation will 

 be held in Birmingham on the Gth^ 7th, Sth, and 9th days of 

 August next. 



Mr. W. a. Tilden, D.Sc. Lond., Demonstrator of Prac- 

 tical Chemistry to the Pharmaceutical Society, has been appointed 

 Chemical Master in Clifton College. 



By the provisions of the late Dr. William J, Walker's foun- 

 dation, two prizes are annually offered by the Boston Society of 

 Natural History for the best memoirs, written in the English 

 language, on subjects proposed by a Committee appointed by 

 the Council. For the best memoir pi-esented, a prize of sixty 

 dollars may be awarded ; if, however, the memoir be one of 

 marked merit, the amount may be increased, at the discretion 

 of the Committee, to one hundred dollars. For the memoir 

 next in value a sum not exceeding fifty dollars may be given ; but 

 neither of these prizes is to be awarded unless the papers umler 

 consideration are deemed of adequate merits. Memoirs offered 

 in competition for these prizes must be forwarded on or before 

 April I, 1873,'prepaid, and addressed, "Boston Society of Natural 

 History, for the Committee on the Walker Prizes, Boston, Mass." 

 Each memoir must be accompanied by a sealed envelope en- 

 closing the author's name, and subscribed by a motto corre- 

 sponding to one borne by the manuscript. The subject of tlie 

 Annual Prize of 1873 will be "On the Development and 

 Transformations of the Common House Fly." 



The Academy of Sciences and Belles Leltres of Caeii has 

 oflered a prize of 4,000 francs for a paper on " The part played 

 by leaves in vegetation." What is wanted is an account of exact 

 experiments and new facts calculated to clear up, invalidate, 

 confirm, or modify the doubtful points in the received theories. 

 Papers must be sent in Ijefore December 31, 1875, addressed to 

 M. Travers, secretary of the Academy, Caen. 



On Thursday last Mr. Thomas Baring, M.P., F.R.S., dis- 

 tributed prizes and certificates to the students who had passed 

 the examinations connected with the educational courses of 

 lectures delivered at the London Institution during the past 

 session. In the examination on Prof Huxley's lectures, "On 

 the Physiology of P.odily Motion and Consciousness," the first 

 prize was gained,by II. B. Hyde, jun. ; the second by Miss Caro- 

 line Lloyd ; and the third by A. J. Wallis. In the examina- 

 tion on Dr. Odling's course, "On Elementary Chemistry," the 

 first, second, and third prizes were carried off by II. Louis, A. 

 J. Richardson, and Miss Eleanor F. Garrett. In the examina- 

 tion connected with the lectures "On the Theory of Music," 

 delivered by Mr. E, J. Hopkins, the first prize was obtained by 

 Alfred Hare, and the second by Miss Frances S. \'ojsey. In 



