330 



NATURE 



\Allg. 22, 1872 



society is I2j. 6i. Anyone deiirin? to become a member may 

 address himself to Don Serafm de Uliagon, Sordo 27, Madrid, 

 the treasurer, or to any other member. 



Prizes for Collections of Economic Entomology are offered 

 for competition in 1S73, and the following rules relating 

 thereto have been issued by the Royal Horticultural So- 

 ciety : — 10/. for a collection of British insects injurious to 

 some one order of plant used for food— as Cruciferne, Legumi- 

 nosa;, or corn. The order m.ay be selected by the competitor. 

 3/. for a miscelhneous collection of British insects injurious to 

 plants used as food. 5/. for a collection of British beetles injuiious 

 to timber and fruit trees either growing or felled. 2.1. for a col- 

 lection of British insects injurious to some one timber or fruit 

 tree. The insects are to be exhibited in their various stages of 

 development, accompanied by specimens, models, or drawings 

 of the injuries caused Ijy them. The collections are to be sent 

 in addressed to James Richirds, Assistant-Secretary, Royal 

 Horticu'tural Society, South Kensington, on or before Novem- 

 ber I, 1873. 



The threatened destruction of the "Cursns," at Stonehenge, 

 by the ploughing up of the land, is attracting so much public 

 attention, that we m.vy hope it udl be in time to arrest this piece 

 of Vandalism. 



The largest and most important of the fragments of the carved 

 column dug up by Mr. Wood at a depth of 23 feet on the sup- 

 posed site of the Temple of Diana at Ephesu*, has been set up 

 in the Grceco- Roman room at the British Museum. It meisures 

 about 6 feet in height and iSV feet in cii'cumference, and it is 

 supposed to have formed a portion of the first drum of one of the 

 thirty-six Ionic carved columns which, with ninety-one others, 

 supported and adorned the structure. Portions of the base ana 

 capital of the column were also found close by. On the side of 

 the drum, which has sustained comparatively slight injury, there 

 are five figures of considerable beauty, but all more or less muti- 

 lated. Of only two of these can the ilentity be determined — 

 namely, the figures of Mercury and Victory. Tlie former is per 

 feet, with the exception of the face, which is slightly mutilated, 

 and is regarded by competent jadges as a work of considerable 

 merit. 



Dr. Hayden, in charge of the Geological Survey of the 

 Territories, having completed his preliminary arrangements at 

 Oglen, has separated his forces into two divisions, one of which 

 was to proceed to Fort Hall, with waggons and a suitable outfit, 

 to be changed into a pack train at Fort Hall, and thence to 

 travel up the Snake Valley, under the direction of Mr. Steven- 

 son ; the o'her division, under the doctor's own charge, was to 

 start soon for Fort Ellis, and expected to be at work there by the 

 1st of July. Among other interesting observations already made 

 by Dr. Hayden's expedition, was the occurrence of invertebrate 

 animal life in great abundance in the Great Salt Lake. This 

 fact ii not entirely new, as the existence of dipterous larv.^: in 

 these waters has already been recorded by Captain Stansbury 

 and others. 



Prof. Davidson, of the United States Coast Survey, has re- 

 cently, before the Academy of Sciences of San Francisco, con- 

 tested the theory of Mr. Octave Pavy in regard to polar 

 curren's anl the topography of the polar regions. In his paper 

 the professor maintains, in opposition to the views of Mr. Pavy, 

 that the currents flow eastward through the straits north of the 

 American continent, and that the current through Beliring 

 Straits is local, and unimportant in its effects as regards the polar 

 basin ; that Wrangell's Land is not a region continuous to a great 

 distance toward the pole, as contended by Mr. Pavy, but a small 

 island or cluster of islands. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION MEETING AT 

 BRIGHTON 



BriohfoN, Tnc.^ilay Mornbig 



TJJERE is a general agreement that the Brighton 

 meeting of the British Association is a brilliant one ; 

 though we fear that this phrase, as used among Brigti- 

 tonians, refers rather to the fashionable character of the 

 audiences at the various sections than to the scicntitic 

 value of the papers read. Not that this latter has been 

 below the average ; but so far at least there has been no 

 one paper or discussion which has placed a distinctive 

 character on the meeting of 1872 as marking an epoch in 

 scientific thought. We miss, also (no dourjt owing to the 

 remoteness of the locality from the great intellectual foci 

 of the north), the familiar faces of nnny who are wont to 

 add life and interest to our meetings ; while the London 

 savans do not appear to muster in greater force than when 

 the meeting is held 300 miles from the metropolis. The 

 spacious dome of the Pavilion was crowded to its utmost 

 capacity on Vv'ednesday evening, to hear Dr. Carpenter's 

 opening address ; and so admirable are the acoustic 

 properties of the building, that each word was distinctly 

 heard in every corner, if we may use the term in describ- 

 ing a circular room. Among the distinguished visitors, 

 the curiosity of the audience was about equally divided 

 betveen Mr. Stanley and the ex-Emperor of the French, 

 both of whom occupied seats on the platform. The total 

 number of tickets issued up to Wednesday evening was 

 2,140, or only 400 short of the Edinburgh total. Although 

 the rooms in which the various sections are held arc scat- 

 tered, the distances are not great, and the splendid weather 

 makes it easy to get from one to another. The localiries 

 selected give rise to some singular incongruities ; as when 

 wandering into the Friends' Meeting House, where Secion 

 G finds its local habitation, we heard a piper read from 

 the '• Ministers' Gallery," " On the progress of invention 

 in breech-loading small arms during the past twenty 

 years." 



At the meeting of the General Committee previously 

 held, the Report of the Council was read, in which the 

 following are the more important features : — 



The Council announce that a vacancy has occurred 

 in the number of the trustees m consequence of the 

 death of Sir Roderick Murchison, and take this oppor- 

 tunity of expressing their regret at the great loss which 

 science has sustained by his death. He worked long, 

 earnestly, and with eminent success in the sciences 

 of geology and geography, and was at all times a s'eady 

 patron ol rising scientific men in all branches of science. 

 He was a member and strenuous supporter of this Asso- 

 iation at its first formation in 1831, and coaiinujd until 

 the close of his life a very constant attendant at its meet- 

 ings and a firm promoter of its interests. The Council 

 recommend that Sir John Lubbock, Bart., be selected to 

 fill the vacancy. 



The next subject referred to is the appointment of the 

 Committee to promote observations on the Total Solar 

 Eclipse of December last, from which a Report will be 

 read in due course. The results will be published by the 

 Association to form part of a series uniform with the con- 

 templated reports of the Royal Astronomical Society of 

 the observations of the eclipses of i860 and 1870. 



There were five other resolutions referred to the Council 

 for consideration or action, upon which the proceeding's 

 of the Council have been as follows : — 



First resolution : 



" That the President and Council of the British .-Vsso- 

 ciation be authorised to co-operate with the Piesident and 

 Council of the Royal Society, in whatever way may seem 

 to them best, for the promotion of a circumnavigation 

 expedition, specially fitted out to carry the ph)sical and 

 biological exploration of the deep sea into all the great 

 oceanic areas." 



