Fdy. 24, 1887] 



NA TURK 



401 



alTorded under pre%'ious conditions by llie skin, the work of the 

 lun^s is greatly increased, rendering them peculiarly susceptible 

 to bronchitis and pneumonia— ailments which are commonly the 

 forerunners of consumption. If we accept the theory of Koch, 

 they make the lungs a suitable habitation for the Bacillus tnher- 

 cutosis." Mr. Wyman contends that, in the case of civilised 

 races, the liability to consumption from over A'orked- lungs has 

 been tempered by hundreds of generations of ancestors habitu- 

 ated to the use of clothing. 



In the Report of the U.S. Geological Survey on tlie mineral 

 resources of the United States for 1885, it is stated that the 

 total mineral product is valued at 428,521,356 dollars, an 

 increase of 15,306,608 dollars over 1884. Among seventy 

 mineral substances cited, coal is the most important, showing a 

 total value of 159,019,596 dollars. An increase is shown in the 

 production of coke, natural gas, gold, silver, copper, zinc, quick- 

 silver, nickel, aluminium, lime, salt, cement, phosphate rock, 

 manganese, and cobalt oxide, while the production of coal, 

 petroleum, pig-iron, lead, precious stones, and mineral waters 

 decreased. According to the Report, it is probable that the 

 total output of 1886 was much greater than that of 1885, and 

 even larger than that of 1882. 



We have received the Aiiniiain for 18S7 of the Academie 

 Koyale des Sciences, des Lettres, et des Beau.t-Arts de Belgique. 

 It contains a full account of the organisation of the Academy, 

 and of the means by which it seeks to encourage science, litera- 

 ture, and art. Among the biographical notice> are articles on 

 the late Francois Lenormant and Edouard Morren. 



An illustrated work, entitled "Les Civilisations de I'Inde," 

 by Dr. Gustave Le Bon, is being issued in weekly parts by 

 Firmin-Didot et Cie. Dr. Gustave Le Bon is the author of a 

 work on " La Civilisation des Arabes." 



The Calendar of the Imperial University of Japan for the 

 current year, which we have just received, deserves special men- 

 tion, for it is the first that h.is been issued since the amalgama- 

 tion of the well-known College of Engineering and the Uni- 

 versity of Tokio into the single institution which forms the new 

 University. This inc irporation was made the occasion for 

 several organic changes, one of which is the almost total elimina- 

 tion of Europeans from the teaching staff, their places being 

 taken by Japanese. To understand the full e.ttent of the change 

 m this respect, it i^ necessary to remember that five or si.\ 

 years ago all the professors in the College of Engineering, 

 and nearly all in the University, were Europeans. An exa- 

 mination of the Calendar shows how the new University stands 

 in this respect. By the Imperial decree, which is the charter of 

 the institution, the Council of Professors regulate the studies and 

 generally look after the interests of the University and each of 

 its Colleges. There is not a single Western amongst the nine 

 Councillors. In the Law College, three out of thirteen pro- 

 fessors and lecturers are Westerns ; in the Medical Faculty, out 

 of thirty-four professors and assistants, there are three Euro- 

 peans ; there are three Europeans amongst twenty-four pr j- 

 fessors and assistants in the Faculty of Engineering ; two in 

 twenty-six in Science ; and three in nineteen in Literature. It 

 :■ probably not too much to say that, where one European is 



iching now, there were six Europeans five years ago. It was 

 ■ Illy to be expected that ultimately the Japanese would have 

 ihcir own men ready to take the places vacated by Europeans. 

 They had at vast expense sent abroad large numbers of youths 

 1.1 |,e educated for the various professions in Europe and 

 \iiierica, who, on their return, were competent to teach their 



untrymen ; and in looking down the listsof the Japanese pro- 

 fessors we see that most of them havi foreign degrees and 

 other qualifications. They come from almo-t every German, 

 French, British, and American University, and in some instances 



have taken high honours. They may therefore be presumed to 

 be competent for the work which they have undertaken, and 

 there is no special reason to believe that the step taken by the 

 Minister of Public Instruction in placing the higher education 

 of the country in the hands of his countrymen is premature. Be 

 this as it may, it is clear that the day of Europeans in Japanese 

 education is past, and this fact is only emphasised by the few 

 familiar names amongst a host of unfamiliar ones in the list of the 

 University. Moreover, even where tliere are one or two foreign 

 professors, the direction is all in Japanese hands. The Director 

 and the chief Professor in every Faculty are Japanese, so that 

 if the individuals are fewer in number, the functions and status 

 of each one remaining have also diminished. Time alone will 

 show whether the experiment — for undoubtedly the Imperial 

 University is at present in the experimental stage — will be suc- 

 cessful or not. He would be a bold man who, for example, 

 prophesied that the Faculty of Engineering in the new 

 University will maintain the high position won for the 

 old Imperial College of Engineering in the world of 

 science by a body of brilliant European professors, some 

 of whom are now in the front rank at home. In the 

 Calendar there is certainly evidence of much activity. An 

 Astronomical Observatory has been fitted up for the instruction of 

 the students ; there is also a Seismological Observatory, with 

 horizontal pendulum and vertical-motion seismographs. By the 

 aid of a complete set of these instruments now in the Observa- 

 tory, it is possible to measure earth-movements of different 

 grades of magnitude. In addition, a system of telegraphic com- 

 munication with diflferent parts of the city extends the area of 

 observation. A Botanic Garden and a small Marine Biological 

 Laboratory are likewise attached to the Science Department. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Green yion^ey (Cercopilhecus caUitrichus9 ) 

 from West Africa, presented by Mr. Julius Wilson ; a Secretary 

 Vulture (Serpcntarius reptilivorus) from South Africa, presented 

 by Capt. Larmer, s.s. Trojan ; a Crowned Hawk Eagle {Spik- 

 aetus coronatus) from Natal, presented by Colonel H. Bowker, 

 F.Z.S. ; a Spotted Eagle Owl {Bubo maculosa) from .South 

 Africa, presented by Mr. H. Justice ; a Brazilian Hangnest 

 (Icterus jamaicai) from Brazil, presented by Mr. W. G. Little 

 Gilmour ; two Crossbills (Loxia curvirostris), British, presented 

 by Mr. W. H. St. Quintin ; two White-fronted Lemurs (Lemur 



albifrons] from Madagascar, deposited ; a Capuchin ( Cebus 



) from South America ; two Chimachima Milvagos [Milvago 



chimachima) from Brazil, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 The Binary Star 8 Equulei. — This close and rapid binary, 

 which was discovered in 1852 by M. O. Struve, and measured 

 on a number of nights between that time and 1874, was supposed 

 by its discoverer to have a period of between 6 and 7 years or 

 one of about 13 years. More recently, Mr. Burnham, who 

 observed the star between l88o and 1SS3, concluded from an 

 examination of all the measures that the period was about lO'S 

 years. It is therefore the most rapid binary now known. At 

 the request of Prof. Glasenapp of St. Petersburg, Herr Wrub- 

 lewsky (Astroii. Nuchr. No. 2771) has computed a set of ele- 

 ments' from all the available observations. He finds the time of 

 periastron passage to be 1892-03, with eccentricity =o-20il, 

 mean distance, = o"-4o6 and period - ii'478 years. These ele- 

 ments do not, however, represent the observed position-angles 

 sr.tisfactorily, and it is desirable that the possessors of sufficiently 

 powerful telescopes should pay some attention to this very 

 interesting object, especially at the present time, when the com- 

 ponents are about at their maximum distance apart. Herr 

 Wrublewsky's orbit gives, for_l887-24, position-angle = 204°-9, 

 and distance = o""48. 



The Temple Observatory. — From the Report of Mr. 

 Seabroke, honorary Curator of the Temple Observatory, Rugby, 



