^86 



NA TURE 



\yan. 20, i: 



-character after coniin; into resitUnce has at last b^en acci.n- 

 plished. The arranjemsnt, which com^s in'o forca with the 

 beginning of tliis year, is that candidates for degrees in ma'he- 

 matics and natural science talie up resp jnsions (orsom? equivalent 

 examination at school) like other people, but by passing in one 

 extra subject they are excused the second classical etarainition, 

 in preparing for which they used to waste a gooj part of their 

 firit year of residence. The extra subjects from which candidates 

 may choose inclii le Greek, Latin, French, and Gerniin autlnrs, 

 Bacon's "Novum Organum," and the elcnents of logic. 

 This alter.ition will be an undoubted benefit to science men, for, 

 as the new examination involves no preliminary residence and 

 occurs four times a year, they can proceed at once to take up 

 the subject which they have chosen for their final schools. 



The following courses of lectures and practical classes are 

 announced for this term : — 



Prof. Pritchard is to lecture at the Observatory on "Planetary 

 Theory" and on "Astronomical Instrmients and Methods," 

 and offers practical instruction. Prof. Bartholomew Price lectures 

 at the Museum on " Optics." 



At the Clarendon Laboratory Prof Clifton continues his 

 course on " Electricity," and Mr. Walker lectures on " Double 

 Refraction treated Mathematically." The practical work remains 

 in the hands of the Professor, Mr. Walker, and Mr. Selby. Sir 

 John Conroy, who has undertaken Mr. H. B. Dixon's work at 

 Balliol and Trinity, lectures on " Ele uentary Electricity." 



In the Chemical department Prof. O Uing w.ll lecture on the 

 " Benzoic Compounds " ; Mr. Fischer and Mr. Watts continue 

 t'.eir systematic courses on " Inorganic" and " Organic Chem- 

 istry " respectively. Mr. C. J. Baker and Mr. Marsh assist in 

 the labor.atory teaching. In Mr. Vernon Ha'court's laboratory 

 at Christ Church and in the Balliol Laboratory the usual work is 

 to be carried on. 



The arrangements in the department of Morphology have 

 been somewhat distur!ie 1 by the appointment of Mr. Baldwin 

 .Spencer to the Biology Professorship at MelbDurne. Prof. 

 Moseley is to lecture on the "Comparative Anatomy of the 

 Vertebrata," and is to have Mr. G. C. Bourne as Assistant 

 Lecturer and DemDnstrator. Mv Birclay Tno-noion lectures 

 on the " Oiteology ;ini Distribution of the lohthyopsi la." 



In the new Physiological Laboratory, f'rof. Burlon Smierioi 

 lectures on the " Physiology of the Nervoui .Syste n," Mr. Dixey 

 on "Histology," and Mr. Buckmaster gives an elementary 

 course of Physiology for the n;wly-organisei preli ninary exa- 

 minition. Practical instruction is given in Physiology by Mr. 

 •Gotch, in Histo'ogy by Mr. D'.xey, and in Physiologic.il 

 Chemistry by Mr. Haldane. 



Quite a number of men are beginning to read for the new 

 Medical .School. The dissecting-room is under the charge of 

 Mr. Arthur Thomson, who lectures on the " Digestive System." 

 Prof. Prestvvich ii to lecture chiefly on "Ternary and 

 Quaternary Geology," including the Glacial period and questions 

 relating to the antiquity of man. Prof. Westwood lectures on 

 the "Arthropoda." 



At the Botanic Garden, Prof. Bayley Balfour lectures on 

 "Vegetable Morphology and Physiology," and has both ele- 

 mentary and adv.inced instruction in practical Botany. 



The Pitt-Rivers Anthropological Collection is now so far 

 arranged that the form.al opening will probably take place this 

 term. All the cases on the ground floor of the new building 

 have been arranged by Mr. B ilfour. Dr. Tylor is to lecture on 

 the " Development of Arts " a; illustrated by the collection. 



Next week the annual examination for a Radcliffe Travelling 

 Fellowship begins. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



Bulletins dc la SociJtJ d' Anihropologie de Paris, tome geme, 

 3eme fascic. 1SS6. — On the relations between the organs of 

 touch and smell, by Dr. Fauvelle. In this paper the author 

 considers the proposition advanced by M. Pozzi that the attitude 

 of an animal is always in accord with the exercise of its pre- 

 domin.ant organ of sense. On this assumption the biped station 

 would be the consequence of the predominance of vision over 

 smell, and the attitude of qaiidrupeds the result of the relatively 

 higher development of their sense of smell. In refutation of this 

 ■view the writer argues that the relations between the organs of 

 sight and smell in bipeds and quadrupeds are the reiult, rather 

 than the cause, of their different stations, while he shows that 

 whenever in the animal series the organs of sight would seem to 



have lost their importance in proportion to the development of 

 the sense of smell the latter is aided by delicate organs of touch 

 situated on those parts of the body which form its anterior side 

 when moving f.Drward. Thus in the vertebrates all the organs 

 of the senses are situated at the cephalic extremity of the 

 body. — On a woman with a tail. The case, reported by 

 M. Melikoff, was observed by Dr. Eliseeff, of St. Petersburg, 

 author of an interesting work on men with tails. According to 

 the statement of the woman, who suffered great pain froii her 

 caudal appendage, a similar abnorm,ality had been observed in 

 several female members of her family, in all of whom it had 

 appeared between the ages of r2 and 17 years. Dr. Eliseeff 

 refers this formation to erabryogenic causes, such as an arrest 

 of development in the foetus, and observes that such cases are 

 more frequent in males than in females, the latter, accordmg to 

 him, presenting a much more advanced corporeal development 

 than men. — A case of double uterus, by Dr. Landowski. — On 

 short-tailed dogs, by M. Duval. — Observations on the crania of 

 several insane subjects, by M. Manouvrier. — On the weight of ' 

 Gambetta's brain, by M. Duv.al. This paper, and the discussion ' 

 to which it gave rise, are especially interesting from the new ; 

 light which they throw on the assumed relations between the I 

 large volume of the brain and intellectual capacity, the weight 

 of Gambetta's being only 1 160 grammes, or, according to M. 

 Duval, 1246 after making all possible allowance for accidental ) 

 diminution by faulty methods of preparation, while the mean 

 for persons not gifted with more than ordinary intelligence 

 is 1360 grammes. — On a new variation of the ossa wormiana, 

 by M. Manouvrier. — A case of pilosity in a young Laotian girl, 

 by Dr. Fauvelle. — On acclimatisation in reference to French 

 colonisation, by Dr. Fauvelle. — On the anthropological character- ^' 

 istics of the Indo-Chinese peoples, by Dr. Maurel. — On the 

 origin of the bronze and tin of prehistoric times, by Mme. 

 Clemence Royer. The writer believes that Europe supplied the 

 sources whence bronze implements were fabricated by early man, 

 while M. Mortillet con-iders that both the material and the 

 production of the weapons, ornaments, and other objects of this 

 kind which belong to prehistoric times must be referred to In lia 

 and the Far East. — Enumeration of the megalithic remains of 

 Nievre, by Dr. Jacquinot. The number of such remains in the 

 whole of France, as certified by official inquiry, amounts to 6310, 

 of which thirty-five belong to Nievre. Among these special in- 

 terest attache; to the horizontal slabs of Saint Agnan, which 

 Dr. Jacquinot considers to have been altars for human sacrifices. 

 — Summavy of the answers given by New Caledonians to the 

 interrogatories of the Society of Sociology and Ethnography, by 

 M. Moncelon. These answers supply interesting materials for 

 the ethnographic study of these races, and show the importance 

 of following a definite plan in pursuing such inquiries. — 

 Anthropological observations of the Khmer tribes of Cambodia, 

 by Dr. Maurel. The writer, who supplies numerous anthropo- 

 metric measurements, believes that these peoples belong to the 

 Mongolian group. 



Rendiconti del Reale Istituto Lombard:/, November 11, 1886. 

 — Meteorological observations made at the Brera Observatory, 

 Milan, during the months of August and September. 



November 25. — Results of the experiments c.irried out at the 

 experimental farm of the Royal Milanese School of Agriculture 

 against the mildew of the grape-vine, by Prof. Gaetano Cantoni. 

 Of the various methods of treatment here described, the prepara- 

 tion of a sulphate of copper dissolved in water in the proportion 

 of three per thousand is shown to be the most efficacious. The 

 analysis of the wines obtained from crops so treated shows 

 that they usually contain a scarcely appreciable quantity of the 

 copper. 



Bulletin de I'Aiademie des Sciences de St. Betersk'unr, tome 

 xxi. No. 2. — Report on a memoir by M. Harzer on a special case 

 of the problem of the three bodies, by O. Backlund. It is con- 

 sidered a most valuable work, being the first attempt to apply 

 the method of Prof. Gylden. — New transcription of the Castren's 

 Koibal dictionary and Koibal poetry, made by M. Katanoff (who 

 is himself of Sagai origin), from the Abakan, with a preface by 

 W. Radloff. — Photometric researches on the diffusion of light, 

 by O. Chwolson, being numerical data of new experiments 

 mathematically treated. — Hydrological researchas, xlv. to xlvii., 

 by C. Schmidt. — Chemical analyses of water from lakes in North- 

 west Mongolia and in North Tibet. — -On a differential equation, 

 by B. Ichraenetzky. 



