Nov. 1 8, 1886] 



NA rURE 



57 



their true nature I have not yet been able to decide ; 

 however, I think it probable some of the brown flakes 

 are mica. 



The result of my examination leads me to conclude 

 that the dust is formed of material which was a glass 

 wherein a porphyritic structure, on a large or a minute 

 scale, was inconspicuous. This Matakava dust appears 

 to agree generally with, though it difiers varietally from, 

 that described by Prof Joly in N.\TURE (vol. xxxiv. p. 

 595), the main difference being that the biotite, which 

 seems rather common in his samples, is rare in, if not 

 absent from, the present one. I have not noticed sulphur, 

 pyrite, or magnetite in a recognisable form. 



It may be interesting to compare this dust with some 

 samples projected from Cotopaxi, and described by my- 

 self {Proc. Roy. Sac. No. 231). These specimens came 

 from various distances, ranging from twenty to sixty-five 

 miles from the volcano. That which fell on the summit of 

 Chimborazo (the most distant locality) consists of lapilli 

 and chips ; the majority of the grains range from about 

 ■001 to '003 inch : a very feu- only attain to a diameter of 

 ■01 inch, and this is barely exceeded. In this dust,however, 

 the lapilli are comparatively rare, the chips of glass and 

 mineral dominating, with a fair proportion of the latter. 

 A reference to the above paper will show the difference 

 between this ash, that from Krakatab, and the above- 

 described from New Zealand. This may be explained by 

 the fact that a porphyritic structure is common in the lavas 

 of Cotopaxi (as in the other summits of the district). 



T. G. BONNEY 



NOTES 



We have to record the death of General John Theophilus 

 Beaulieu, F. R.S. , at the age of eighty-one years. lie entered 

 the Indian Army in 1820 as a lieutenant in the Bengal Engineers, 

 and was for some time Superintending Engineer in the Public 

 Works Department for the N.W. Provinces. Among other services 

 to science and to India, General Beaulieu inaugurated the system 

 of magnetic observations in India, and was the author of a book 

 of logarithms of wide reputation. General Beaulieu was elected 

 a Fellow of the Royal Society fifty years ago, and has served on 

 its Council. 



The death is announced, at Berlin, of Dr. A. Fischer, so 

 long resident at Zanzibar, and who has done so much for the 

 exploration of the Kilimanjaro region. 



M. Chancourtois, General Inspector of Mines in France, 

 author of several works on geology, and Professor in the School 

 of Mines, has died suddenly at Paris at the age of sixty-seven. 



The following are the probable arrangements for the meetings 

 of the Society of Arts before Christmas : — " November 24, 

 William Anderson, M.Inst.C.E., "Purification of Water by 

 Agitatijn with Iron and by Sand Filtration." December i, ad- 

 journed discussion on the paper by Dr. C. Meymott Tidy, on 

 "Sew.ige Disposal" (read April 14, 1886). December 8, 

 Major-(Jeneral C. E. Webber, R.E., C.B., "Glow-Lamps, 

 their Use and Manufacture." December 15, J. B. Mar^h, 

 " Cameo-cutting as an Occupation." There will be five courses 

 of Cantor Lectures during the session: — (i) "Principles and 

 Practice of Omamental Design," by Lewis Foreman Day. 

 (21 " Diseases of Plants, with special reference to Agriculture 

 and Forestry," by T. L. W. Thudichum, M.D. (3) "Building 

 Materials," by W. Y. Dent, F.C.S., F.I.C. (4) " M.achines 

 for Testing Materials, especially Iron and Steel," by Prof. \V. 

 C. Unwin. (5) "The Structure of Textile Fibres," by Dr. 

 Frederick IT Bowman, F.L.S., F.G.S. Two Juvenile Lec- 

 tures on "Soap Bubbles," by A. W. Reinold, F.R.S., will be 

 given on Wednesday evenings, January 5 and 12, 1887. The 



meetings of the Colonial Section and of the Indian Section will 

 not commence till after Christmas. 



The General Committee of the Society for the Prevention of 

 Hydrophobia and Reform of the Dog Laws held its fourth 

 meeting on Friday last at the offices, 50, Leicester Square, 

 London, W.C., to consider a programme which had been 

 drafted by a sub-committee and circulated among members and 

 supporters. Mr. Victor Horsley, B.S., F.R.S., Secretary to 

 the Commission on Hydrophobia, attended this meeting by 

 invitation, and was unanimously elected a Member of Com- 

 mittee. Many letters were read expressing approval of the 

 programme and regretting that the writers were unable to 

 attend. Among the gentlemen who thus wrote were Dr. 

 Drysdale, Prof. Fleming, Dr. Norman Kerr, Prof. E. Ray 

 Lankester, Mr. Arthur Nicols, and Prof. Pritchard. The 

 Honorary Secretary having made a financial statement of a satis- 

 factory nature, the Chairman, Colonel R. H. Rosser, briefly 

 expLiined the care and time given by the sub-committee to the 

 programme, which was then discussed in detail, and ordered to 

 be printed with some additions and alterations. 



It is intended, in Section III. of the Manchester Jubilee 

 Exhibition, to exhibit the historical and modern methods 

 adopted in the several branches of electro-metallurgy, such as 

 gold, silver, platinum, nickel and copper plating, the purifica- 

 tion of metals by electrolysis, and generally to illustrate the 

 connection between electricity and chemistry. 



I-NFORMATION has been received by the Board of Trade 

 respecting the oyster fisheries of the Isle of Wight. The oyster 

 grounds and breeding ponds of the Isle of Wight are as follows : 

 — (i) Medina River ; (2) Brading Harbour ; (3) Newtown ; (4) 

 Fishhouse or Fishbourne. In 1867 the Isle of Wight Oyster 

 Fishery Company was started, having the Medina River and 

 Newtown Creek for its grounds. This oyster fishery is said to 

 have done well until 1S71, when it was troubled by refuse and 

 sewage discharged by mills at Newport, and a large quantity of 

 the broods were destroyed. The Medina fishery is now for sale. 

 About the year 1873 Major Boyle started a system for breeding 

 oysters at Brading, but in 1876 the harbour works were com- 

 menced, and Major Boyle had to relinquish his ponds. The 

 Harbour Board, however, still carry on the oyster breeding at 

 Brading. They have six or seven ponds near St. Helens, which 

 are estimated to contain five or six millions of oysters at the 

 present time. As Brading is not suitable for fattening, the 

 young oysters are sold to various growers to be laid down for 

 one or two years to render them fit for food. Newtown Creek 

 is the best fattening ground in the Isle of Wight, but the fishery 

 company is now in liquidation through want of funds, and the 

 business is in abeyance. At Fishhouse there has been a good 

 fall of spat this last summer, but the ground is much disturbed 

 by barges, which pi events the fishery from being fully developed. 

 The oyster fishery is consequently not very prosperous. The 

 creek, it may be mentioned, was recently cleared, and some 

 sixty or seventy thousand oysters were transferred to Newtown 

 to fatten in a pond placed at their disposal by the Newtown 

 Company. Besides the oyster fishery companies above referred 

 to, there are several fishermen who dredge for oysters at sea in 

 the Solent, and particularly in Osborne Bay. The oysters 

 dredged up are seldom fit for the market, and have usually been 

 sold to one of the companies to be laid down and fattened. 



In Dr. B. W. Richardson's recent Cantor Lectures on 

 " Animal Mechanics," speaking of the mechanism of the heart, 

 he described the number of the pulsations of the heart in different 

 animals — in fish, frog, bird, rabbit, cat, dog, sheep, horse — and 

 made a few comments on the remarkable slowness of the heart 

 — 40 strokes per minute — in the horse. Then the number of 



