74 
NATURE 
[Wov. 24, 1870 

of Physiology. By it Vesalius might be said to have laid the 
foundations of Physiology ; by it Harvey had been enabled to 
obtain the proofs of his great discovery. Without it all that had 
been written on Physiology would have gone for very little, and 
we should still have been in the Aristotelean mists darkened by 
the theories of the Schoolmen. He wished, however, to state that 
in the teaching of Physiology it would be necessary for him to 
resort to it much. He stated the plan he intended to pursue in 
carrying out the intentions of those who had placed him in that 
honourable position. Lectures he did not regard as a very fructi- 
fying mode of sowing seed. He thought it far better that men 
should work and see for themselves. With the munificent aid of 
Trinity College, he hoped, ere long, to make the physiological 
laboratory in Cambridge one of the best working laboratories in 
the country. He intended to have practical classes in addition 
to the lectures ; and students who were competent would have 
opportunities for private work. It would be a labour of love to 
him to render practical aid to those who needed it, and to 
promote the study of physiology by every means in his power.— 
A considerable number of the senior members of the University 
were present, as well as undergraduates, and warmly applauded 
at the close of the lecture. The lectures are for the present open 
to all members of the University without fee. 
AT the recent examination for the Natural and Experimental 
Science Moderatorship at Trinity College, Dublin, Gold Medals 
were awarded to R. Apjohn, W. F. Burton, and T. F. Fleet- 
wood (Sch.), and a Silver Medal to R. Barrington. The sub- 
jects examined in were—1. Physics ; 2. Chemistry ; 3. Mineralogy 
and Geology ; 4. Paleontology, Zoology, and Botany. No 
candidate was allowed to present himself for examination in 
more than two of the four branches. 
Rey. Pror. HAvcHToN, M.D., F.R.S., has commenced a 
course of Lectures in Trinity College, Dublin, on Physical 
Geology, and Prof. Macalister, M.D., a course on the Anatomy, 
Physiology, and Classification of the Mollusca, 
By the resignation of Mr. J. J. Bennett, the office of Keeper 
of the Botanical Collections at the British Museum is now vacant. 
The appointment rests actually with three only of the trustees, the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and the Speaker 
of the House of Commons, by virtue of their offices. Among the 
whole body of the trustees, who would naturally be consulted, 
there are only four scientific men, the President of the Royal 
Society, Sir R. J. Murchison, Lord Enniskillen, and Sir Philip 
Grey Egerton. Now that we are about to remove our national 
collections to a new building erected for the purpose, the sug- 
gestion naturally arises whether this is a condition of things 
which is desirable to perpetuate. The whole subject of the mode 
of appointments to these Government offices is one well worthy 
of the consideration of the Royal Science Commission. Mr. 
Bennett entered the Museum in 1829 as assistant, and succeeded 
the late Robert Brown as Keeper at his death in 1858. Mr. W. 
Carruthers, the present senior assistant, on whom the appoint- 
ment would naturally fall, and who is so well known for his re- 
searches in vegetable palzeontology, entered on that office in 1859. 
THE first course of Cantor Lectures of the Society of Arts 
for the ensuing Session will be ‘‘On Artists’ Colours and Pig- 
ments,” by Frederick S. Barff, M.A., F.C.S., and Fellow 
of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. It will consist of five 
lectures, to be delivered on Monday evenings, the 21st and 
28th November, and the 5th, 12th, and 19th December, at eight 
o'clock. These lectures will treat of—the Nature of Colour ; 
Chemistry and Manufacture of Colours and Pigments ; Vehicles 
and Media used in Painting; Fresco and Silicious Painting ; 
Destructive Influences on Colours, &c. Other courses of lectures 
are under arrangement for delivery during the Session. These 
lectures are open to members, each of whom has the priyilege 
of intreducing two friends to each lecture. 


THE Gardener's Chronicle states that an interesting exhibition 
of fruit has been recently opened at Appenzell, Switzerland. 
Eight communes have furnished 689 exhibits, comprising 80 sorts 
of apples and 120 of pears. The fruits are arranged according 
to the height above the sea of the localities where they are 
grown. Thus, in the lowest zone are shown fruits which have 
been produced from 1,300 to 2,000 feet above the sea; in the 
next, those grown at an elevation of 2,000 to 2,600 feet ; in the 
third group, those gathered at a height of 2,600 to 3,000 feet ; and 
lastly, are exhibited fruits produced above the last-mentioned 
elevation. Great care has been taken to ensure the accurate 
nomenclature of the fruits exhibited. 
A REMARKABLY low wave of temperature passed over these 
islands in the middle of this month. At Blackheath the mean 
temperature for the week ending Noy. 16 was nearly 7° below 
the average. It is remarkable that the wind was in the W.S. W. 
during nearly the whole of the week, the air being almost 
saturated with moisture, and yet the rainfall scarcely appreciable, 
o’o4in. For the fourteen stations in England, eight in Scot- 
land, and one in Ireland, recorded by Mr. Glaisher in the 
Gardener's Chronicle, the lowest minimum was 190° at Paisley, 
the highest, 31°5°, at Norwich, The mean temperature was 
nearly the same in Scotland as in England, about 37°5°. Another 
singular meteorological phenomenon occurred this week in the 
successive thunderstorms which burst over London from 3 A.M. 
on Tuesday morning the 22nd to 6 A.M. on Wednesday morning 
the 23rd. The wind was blowing strongly from the S.W. 
during the whole time, with occasional violent rain, and the 
average temperature was about 40° F. 
Tue Address on Medicine at the annual meeting of the 
British Medical Association will be delivered by Dr. George 
Johnson, and that in Surgery by Prof. Lister. 
THE current number of Fraser's Magazine contains the first 
portion of a paper on ‘‘ Mystic Trees and Flowers,” which will 
interest those who have paid any attention to the subject of 
Tree-worship, with regard to the origin of which no clear theory 
has yet been proposed. The writer considers that the religious 
homage paid to trees ‘‘ must be referred to a distinct religious 
phase in the development of races, and to a period later than 
the ideals and myths with which poets invested them.” The 
legends and superstitions of all countries are brought to- 
gether, showing the points of convergence of the great religions 
of ancient races; and the connection of the folk-lore of the 
present day with its prototypes in all ages and in all nations, 
Reference is made to the recent researches into the history of 
the popular tales of different countries, and the whole paper 
teems with suggestive facts. The principal trees dwelt upon in 
this instalment are the apple, oak, ash, lime, willow, palm, elder, 
and juniper. 
THE Zugineer states that when the Russian American tele- 
graph is completed the following feat will be possible. A 
telegram from Alaska for New York, leaving Sitka, say at 6.40 
on Monday morning, would be received at Nicoleaf, Siberia, at 
six minutes past one on Tuesday morning ; at St. Petersburgh, 
Russia, at three minutes past six on Monday evening ; at London 
twenty-two minutes past four on Monday afternoon ; and at New 
York at forty-six minutes past eleven on Monday forenoon. Thus, 
allowing twenty minutes for each re-transmission, a message may 
start on the morning of one day, to be received and transmitted 
the next day, again received and sent on the afternoon of the 
day it starts, and finally reaches its destination on the forenoon 
of the first day, the whole taking place in one hour's time. 
For the purpose of connecting the Madras Observatory with | 
the midnight and noon guns, the Indian Government has yoted 
200/, 
