440 



NA TURE 



{Sept. 26, 1872 



bridge in the Michaelmas Term :—" Heat and Electricity," by 

 the Professor of Experimental Physics (Mr. Maxwell), on 

 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at 12 M. ; begin October 

 23. " Chemistry," by the Professor of Chemistry (Mr. Liveing), 

 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at 12 M. ; begin 

 October 21. "Practical Chemistry," by the Professor of 

 Chemistry, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at I p.m. ; 

 begin November 4. " Zoology and Comparative Anatomy," by 

 the Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy (Mr. 

 Newton), on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at 1 r.M. ; 

 begin October 21. " Anatomy and Physiology," by the Pro- 

 fessor of Anatomy (Dr. Humphry), on Tuesdays, Thursdays, 

 and .Saturdays, at I P.M.; begin October 22. " Practicar 

 Anatomy," by the Professor of Anatomy and the Demonstrator 

 of Anatomy (Dr. Wilson), at 9 A.,\I. daily till October 21 ; after 

 wards on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays ; begin October 

 7. " Materia Medica and General Therapeutics," by the 

 Downing Professor of Medicine (Dr. Fisher) or his deputy, on 

 Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, at 9 a.m. ; begin October 

 22. " Clinical Medicine," by the Regius Professor of Physics 

 (Dr. Paget), on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 

 at 10 A.M.; begin October 10. "Clinical Surgery," by C. 

 Lestourgeon, M.A.,on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at II A.M. ; 

 begin October 22. Attendance on the lecture on Botany, 

 Chemistry, Materia Medica, Anatomy, Physiology, and Dissec- 

 tions is recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons, England, 

 as one of the sessional courses required by the regulations of the 

 C ouncil of that College. 



We understand that Mr. Darwin's new work on " E.xpre3sion 

 in Animals," a subject to which he has devoted great attention, 

 will shortly be published in this country, as well as a German 

 translation by Dr. Carus. 



Lord Cathcart, the President of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society, has offered a prize of 100/. for the best essay on the 

 causes and remedy for the potato disease. 



On Saturday morning a conference was held in St. Thomas 

 Charterhouse Schools to inaugurate a system of Science Teach- 

 ing for Elementary School Teachers. The Rev. Evan Daniel, 

 Principal of Battersea Training College, was voted to the chair, 

 and there was a very large attendance of teachers of both sexes. 

 The chairman spoke strongly of the necessity of immediately 

 starting an institution for the efficient teaching of science. On 

 all sides, he said, there was an outcry for it. All provisions 

 hitherto made by the Government for the teaching of science 

 were wholly inadequate. The school is to be known as the St. 

 Thomas Charterhouse School of Science, and its programme for 

 the ensuing session, which commenced on Monday evening last, 

 shows that, in addition to the evening classes, there will be day 

 classes for general students. The subjects include chemistry, 

 geology, mathematics, animal physiology, acoustics, vegetable 

 anatomy and physiology, magnetism and electricity, botany 

 systematic and economic, plane and solid geometry, music, &c. 

 Several professional lectures will be given during the session, 

 and biology students will have opportunities of making micro- 

 scopical observations. Any communications or inquiries should 

 be addressed to Mr. C. Smith, the organising teacher. 



TiiE Royal Microscopical Society will hold its first meeting 

 for the sessioji on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at King's College, at 

 8 P.M. 



C'APTAIN BuFTON, who has been exploring the unknown in- 

 terior of Iceland, has returned to England, llis collections, (ic, 

 we believe, are at present left in the care of the Anthropological 

 Institute, London, as he had to leave England at once in order 



to take up his appointment as Consul at Trieste, to which he was 

 appointed on the death of the late Mr. Charles Lever. 



The Academy of Sciences of Bologna has resolved to give in 

 1874 a prize of 1,200 francs (frix Aldiiii) for the best scientific 

 experimental essay on Galvanism or Dynamic Electricity. Tlie 

 competition remains open till June 30, 1874 ; the works may be 

 either written or printed, but in the latter case they must not be 

 jjublished before 1S74 ; and then they may be written either in 

 Italian, Latin, or French. 



The Academy of Sciences of Vienna instituted in 1S69, for the 

 purpose of encouraging astronomers to search for comets, eight 

 special prizes, which it has kept up each year since as part of its 

 programme. Each of these prizes consists of a gold medal of the 

 value of 20 Austrian ducats (between 9/. and 10/.) They are 

 intended to reward observers who discover a telescopic comet, or 

 a comet visible only by telescope at the time of its discovery. 

 One condition is that the comet has not previously been seen, 

 and that its appearance has not been previously proved with cer- 

 tainty. The discovery should be immediately announced to the 

 Academy by telegraph or otherwise without wailing for further 

 observations, the Academy undertaking to notify at once to the 

 different observatories the fact of the discovery. The place and 

 time of the discovery ought to be indicated, as v/ell as the position 

 of the comet and its orbit as exactly as possible with the first inti- 

 mation ; the data should be completed at leisure by further ob- 

 servations if it be possible to make them. When the comet has 

 not been seen by other observers, the prize will be presented only 

 when the observations of the discoverer have been sufficient to 

 enable the orbit to be determined. The prizes are decided each 

 year at the general meeting of the Academy held at the end of 

 the montii of May. If the first announcement of the discovery 

 reaches the Academy between March i and May 31, the prize 

 cannot be decided till thejollowing year. 



The Society of Science and Arts of Utrecht ofters prizes for 

 papers on the six following subjects: — i. E.xperimental Researches 

 upon the Inhibitory Nerves. The author must not restrict him- 

 self to a mere critical review of existing opinions on the subjects ; 

 he must elucidate them by new experiments. 2. Researches on the 

 development of one or uiore species of invertebrate animals whose 

 history is not yet knoH n ; the paper must contain all the illustra- 

 tions necessary to the r.nderstanding of the text. 3. Researches 

 upon the influencewhich slight variations of external circumstances 

 may exercise upon the evolution of the embryo of one or more 

 species of invertebrate animals. 4. Description of the larva and 

 nymph of the common cockchafer, to complete the monograph 

 on that insect in its perfect stpte by Strauss-Durckheim. This 

 must be accompanied by the necessaiy figures. 5. Researches 

 to determine the norm.al variation of the temperature of at least 

 thirty-five places in the northern regions of Europe. The 

 monthly means of old observations ought to be reduced so 

 as to agree with the time at which the observations are actually 

 made. 6. To investigate and point out how the waters of the 

 rivers which traverse the Netherlands could be purified so as to 

 become drinkable without detriment to the public health ; at the 

 same time to indicate the probable expense of their application 

 on a large scale. Each of the prizes will consist of a medal of 

 the value of about 27/. sterling, or its equivalent in money. The 

 papers may be written in French, Dutch, German (Roman letters), 

 English or Latin. They ought to be sent to the Secretary of the 

 Society, M. N. F. Van Nooten, before December i, 1S73, the 

 name and address of the author ought to be attached to each 

 memoir in a sealed envelope. 



Demerara papers record the death, in the early part of the 

 summer, of Mr. C. F. Appun, an enterprising naturalist who ^ 

 had done much to explore both the physical features and the 



