Aug. 15, 1872] 



NATURE 



305 



for the new college has already been io.iired in the immediate 

 vicinity of the Birmingham Town-hall, and now that the list of 

 trustees is completed, the college may be expected to assume 

 form very sliortly. 



The announcement, a year or two ago, of the purchase by an 

 American of the celebrated Hay collection of Egyptian anti- 

 quities, at the time on exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 

 London, created quite a sensation, in view of its intrinsic value 

 and the desire which had been manifested to procure it for 

 the British Museum. In the increasing rarity of objects of this 

 kind, resulting from the great demand on the part of national 

 museums throughout the world, it is believed quite unlikely that 

 such a collection will again be brought together. Its riclmess in 

 mummies, objects in bronze, marble, alabaster, <S:c., together 

 with those of smaller size usually found in Egyptian tombs and 

 elsewhere, is veiy great. While this collection does not embrace 

 many statues or immense sarcopliagi, it is believed to be equal to 

 any in the completeness of its series of the smaller objects of 

 religious and domestic Egyptian antiquity, and not inferior to the 

 best collections of Paris, London, Berlin, or Leyden. It was 

 purchased by Mr. Samuel A. Way, of Boston, and removed to 

 that city, and offered to the Museum of Fine Arts, under certain 

 conditions, which the directors did not think best to accept. At 

 the death of Mr. Way, however, it passed into the possession of 

 Mr. Charles Granville Way, himself an artist of merit, who has 

 in turn offered it to the same establishment \vithout condition 

 other than it is to be kept in a room by itself, and to be called 

 the Way Collection. This stipulation, we learn from Harper's 

 IlWl-fy, was gladly agreed to, and the collection accepted by the 

 trustees, and its treasures will doubtless before long be opened to 

 the public. 



Harper s Weekly states that among some collections of speci- 

 mens of natural history and ethnology lately presented by 

 Governor W. M. F. Amy, of New Mexico, to the Smithsonian 

 Institution, were some mastodon remains, which were submitted 

 by Prof. IIeni7 to Prof. Leidy for examination. These were 

 found to indicate the existence of a very remarkable species of 

 mastodon {M. ohscurus), very different from the common M. 

 americanus, and previously known only by a few fragments from 

 California and a tooth found many years ago in the Miocene 

 formation of Maryland. One peculiarity of this species consists 

 in tlie e.Kistence of enamel on the tusks of the upper jaw, which 

 does not occur in the more modern M. americauns. It also had 

 tusks iu the lower jaw, projecting from the prolongation of the 

 jaw, as in the adult of the Miocene Mastodon aitgustidens of 

 Europe, and known only in the young animal of M. americanus. 

 The specimen referred to will be figured by Prof. Leidy in his 

 forthcoming report to Dr. Hayden on the vertebrate fossils of 

 the Western Territories. 



The second part of " Mycological Illustrations of New and 

 Rare Fungi," edited by W. W. Saunders, F.R..S., with illustra- 

 tions by Mr. Worthington Smith, will be ready in a few 

 days. Although more than a twelvemonth has elapsed since the 

 publication of the first part, it is hoped that in future the parts 

 will be issued more regularly at about quarterly intervals. 



We have just received the " Monthly Record of Results 

 of Observations in Meteorology, Terrestrial Magnetism, &c., 

 taken at the Melbourne Observatory during March, 1872 ; 

 together with Abstracts from Meteorological Observations 

 obtained at various localities in Victoria, under the superin- 

 tendence of Robert L. J. Ellery, Government Astronomer." 

 Prefixed is a useful table of the averages and extremes of diffe- 

 rent meteorological elements at Melbourne and other localities 

 for a number of years ; and the tables which follow, showing 

 the daily registrations for the month of March, seem sufficiently 

 minute in detail and drawn up with great care. 



THE nRITISH ASSOCIATION MEETING AT 

 BRIGHTON 



T7ROM Edinburgh to Brighton is a great leap, and the 

 -*- change is not merely one of clime and latitude. 

 Two towns could hardly be found presenting a greater 

 contrast. We exchange an ancient seat of learning for a 

 modern watering place, the narrow streets and lofty 

 houses of the Old Town for the palatial dwellings of the 

 Steyne, Arthur's .Seat for the New Chain Pier, the 

 memory of Scott for that of the Prince Regent. So far 

 the migration has little to recommend it ; but then we 

 have the set-off of being within easy reach of London ; 

 the British Association has, in fact, never before held its 

 meetings so near the capital, and the present may be 

 looked on as an ,e.\perimental trial of a metropolitan 

 meeting. 



The list of officers of the meeting, and of the sections, 

 has already been announced. The following is the diary 

 of proceedings for each day : — 



Wednesday, August 14 — General Committee in the 

 Town Hall, at i p.m. ; Committees of Sections, at 2 p.m. ; 

 Inaugural Address by the President, in the Dome, at 8 p.m. 

 Thursday, August 15 — Committees of Sections, at ioa.m. ; 

 Sections, at 11 a.m. ; soiree in the Dome, Corn Exchange 

 and Museum, at 8 p.m. Friday, August 16— Committees 

 of Sections, at 10 A.^r. ; Sections, at 11 A.M. ; discourse 

 in the Dome by Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., on the 

 Metamorphoses of Insects, at half-past 8 P.M. Saturday, 

 August 17 — Committees of Sections, at ioa.m.; Sections, 

 at 1 1 A.M. Excursions : lecture to working men by Wm. 

 Spottiswoode, LL.D., F.R.S , on Sunshine, Sea, and Sky, 

 in the Dome, at 8 p.m. Monday, August 19— Committees 

 of Sections, at 10 a.m.; Sections, at 11 A.M.; General 

 Committee in the Town Hall, at 3 p.m. ; discourse in the 

 Dome by Prof. W. K. Clifford, on the Aims and Instru- 

 ments of Scientific Thought, at half-past 8 p.m. Tuesday, 

 August 20 — Committees of Sections, at ioa.m. ; Sections, 

 at 1 1 A..M. ; soiree in the Dome, Corn Exchange and 

 Museum, at 8 p.m. Wednesday, August 21 — General 

 Committee in the Town Hall, at i p.m. ; concluding 

 General Meeting in the Dome, at half-past 2 p.m. 

 Thursday, August 22 — Excursions. 



The reception room will be in the New Museum and 

 Library, Pavilion, and the following will be the rooms for 

 meetings of Sections : — A, Mathematical and Physical 

 Science, Albion Room ; B, Chemical Science, Lecture 

 Room, New Museum ; C, Geology, Town Hall ; D, 

 Biology, Pavilion ; E, Geography, Concert Hall, Middle 

 Street ; F, Economic Science and Statistics, Old Ship 

 Assembly Rooms ; G, Mechanical Science, Friends' 

 Meeting House, Ship Street. 



An Exhibition of objects of interest and works of art 

 will be on view, during the meeting, in the Corn Exchange, 

 New Museum and Library, and the following Excursions 

 have been arranged : — Saturday afternoon, August 17 — 

 (i) To Glynde Station, for Glynde Place, the Chalk Pits, 

 and Mount Caburn ; to Glynde Station, for Firle Place 

 and Beacon ; (2) to Lewes, Southover, and Mount Harry, 

 returning to Stanmer Park ; (3) to Worthing, thence to 

 Cissbury, for the excavations by Captain Oliver, and then 

 to Findon ; (4) to Bramber, then to Steyningand Wiston. 

 Thursday, August 22 — (i) To Pevensey, Hastings, and 

 Battle Abbey, thence] to the Sub-We.alden Boring, or to 

 Norman Hurst (residence of Mr. Thomas Brassey, JVI.P.) ; 

 (2) to Arundel, Amberley, and Parham ; (3) to Chichester 

 and Goodwood ; (4) to Portsmouth, for steamer through 

 the Solent for Alum Bay, the Needles and Freshwater 

 Bay, Isle of Wight ; to Portsmouth, for the Dockyard, 

 Shipping, &c. ; (5) to Hayward's Heath, for Paxhill, 

 Wakehurst Place, West Hoathly Rocks, and Whiteman's 

 Green Quarry, Cuckfield. 



The Marine Aquarium, of which we shall take an oppor- 

 tunity of giving an account when it is in a more complete 

 state, will of course be one of the chief objects of attrac- 



