March lo, 1887] 



NA TURE 



45^ 



The compound molecule explanation is a good working hypo- 

 thesis, which I think may account for the facts, while it does 

 not postulate the rather heroic alternative of calling into exist- 

 ence eight or nine new elements to explain the phenomena. 

 However, I submit It only as an hypothesis. If further research 

 shows the new element lheoi"y is more reasonable, I shall be the 

 first person to accept it. 



Neither of these theories agrees with that of M. Lecoq de 

 Boisbaudran, who also has worked on these earths for some 

 time. He considers that what I have called old yttrium is a 

 true element, giving a characteristic spark spectrum, but not 

 giving a phosphorescent spectrum in vjciio. The bodies giving 

 the jihosphorescent spectra he considers to be impurities in 

 yttrium. These he says are two in number, and he has pro- 

 visionally named them Zo and Z3. By a metliod of his own, 

 dilTeriug from mine, M. de Boisbaudran obtains fluorescent 

 spectra of these bodies ; but their fluorescent bands are extremely 

 hazy and faint, rendering identification difficult. Some of thein 

 fall near lines in the spectra of my G3 and G5. At first sight it 

 might appear that his and my spectra were due to the same 

 bodies, but according to M. de Boisbaudran the chemical pro- 

 perties of the earths producing them are widely distinct. Those 

 giving phosphorescent lines by my method occur at the yttrium 

 extremity of the fractionation, where his fluorescent bands are 

 scarcely shown at all ; whilst his fluorescent phenomena are at 

 their maximum quite at the terbium end of the fractionation, 

 where no yttrium can be detected even by the direct spark, and 

 where my phosphorescent lines are ahiiost absent. 



UXIVERSITV AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 



Cambridge. — Girton College has withdrawn from the ar- 

 rangement by which it was hoped that a united scholarship for 

 men and women might be established in geology and palfeonto- 

 logy out of the Harkness fund. The council of Girton do not 

 consider that the scheme proposed fulfils the essential condition 

 of pLicing students of Girton and Newnham on the same terms 

 as members of the University. A scheme has consequently 

 been propounded for men alone, open to B.A.'s of not more 

 than four years' standing. The electors are to be the Vice- 

 Chancellor, the Woodwardian Professor, the Examiners in 

 Geology in the Natural Sciences Tripos for the current and the 

 preceding year, and an additional elected examiner. The 

 electors are to take any steps they think desirable to ascertain 

 the qualifications of candidates, and in making the award they 

 are to have regard to proficiency in geology and paloeoiitology, 

 and to promise of future work. One scholar is to be elected 

 annually ; but in case no person shall be deemed worthy of 

 election, the income for the year is to go to a reserve fund, to be 

 given, when advi-able, to scholars to aid them in prosecuting 

 geological or pakeont>lo:^ical researches. 



The acceptance of the John Lucas Walker Student-hip 

 for the furtherance of original research in pathology, which 

 has been offered to the University by the Attorney-General, 

 is to be voted on iii the Senate to-day. The amended 

 regulations provide that the studentship shall be usually 

 tenable for three years, with power of further prolongation 

 for two years more when exceptionally valuable work has 

 been done by the student. The fund, consisting of abjut 

 8300/. 4 per cent, debentures, is to be managed by the Professor 

 of Pathology for the time being, the Professors of Physic and 

 Physiology, and the President of the London College of Phy- 

 sicians. The studentship is not to be awarded by competitive ex- 

 amination, but any other mode of ascertaining qualifications may 

 be taken. After full announcement of a vacancy, the Professor of 

 Pathology is to nominate the best qualified candidate, but the 

 other electors may overrule the nomination if they are unanimous 

 in favour of some other candi<latc. The student shall not 

 necessarily be a member of Cambridge University, and may 

 be of either sex. No occupation interfering with patho- 

 logical research may be followed by the student, who is 

 also to vacate his studentship if elected to a professorship 

 or fellowship. At least three terms of study are to be 

 pursued at Cambridge. Exhibitions or prizes not exceeding 

 50/. may from time to time be awarded by the managers to any 

 person, except the student for the time being, in respect of any 

 essay, discovery, or meritorious service connected with or con- 

 ducing to the science of pathology, and grants may be made 

 for the furtherance of original research in the science. 



The amended regulations for the Mechanical Sciences Tiipos 

 also come to a vote to-day. 



The Senate has accepted the subscription of 500/. offered 

 through Prof. Newton to enable the University to become a 

 Governor of the Marine Biological Association. 



The following new a|)pointments of electors to various Profes- 

 sorships have been made : Botany, Mr. Thiselton Dyer ; Political 

 Economy, Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P. ; Experimental 

 Physics, Dr. D. MacAlister; Downing Professorship of Medicine, 

 Dr. A. Macalister ; Mental Philosophy and Logic, Prof, A. 

 Marshall ; Surgery, Dr. A, Macalister. The remaining appoint- 

 ments are re-elections. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



American yournal of Science, February. — Kilauea after the 

 eruption of March 18S6. Under this general heading are 

 grouped three separate papers, disposed in chronological order, 

 describing tlie appearance of the volcano at different times since 

 the great outburst of last March. The first is a communication 

 to Prof. W. D. Alexander, Surveyor-General of the Hawaiian 

 Islands, by J. S. Emerson, assistant in the Survey, dated August 

 27, and embodying a series of observations ranging from March 

 24 to April 14. This paper is illustrated by a plate showing the 

 crater and new lake drawn to a scale of i : 20,000. The second, 

 liy L. L. Van Slyke, Professor of Chemistry, Honolulu, de- 

 scribes the general appearance of the volcanic district during 

 the month of July, wlicn considerable changes had already oc- 

 curred, including a general upheaval in the centre of Halema'u- 

 ma'u, and the reappearance of liquid lava in three different 

 places. The third conijjrises a report to Prof. Alexander by 

 Mr. Frank S. Dodge, on the survey of Kilauea in the last 

 week of September and the first of October, with a plate of the 

 crater on a scale of I : 6ooo. This observer expects that perhaps 

 in a few months the great central pit will again fill up and over- 

 flow, as it did prior to the last eruption?' — Volcanic action, by 

 James D. Dana. The general question of igneous disturbances 

 is discussed in connection with the recent eruptions of Kilauea, 

 Vesuvius, and Tarawera, The author's conclusions on the 

 causes of these phenomena, as summed up in his "Manual of 

 Geology " (1S63), are mainly confirmed, being attributed to the 

 hydrostatic pressure of the column of lava ;' the pressure of 

 vapours escaping in underground regions from the lavas, or pro- 

 duced by contact with them, acting either quietly or catastro- 

 phically ; and the pressure of tlie subsiding crush of the crust 

 forcing up the lavas in the conduit. — On the Coahuila meteorites, 

 by Oliver Whipple Huntington. It is shown that the assumed 

 new meteorite discovered near Fort Duncan, Maverick County, 

 Texas, and recently described by Mr. W. E. Hidden, is really 

 one of the "Coahuila irons," described by J. Lawrence Smith, 

 and supposed to belong to one fall, although found on the oppo- 

 site side of the Rio Grande from Maverick County. — A new 

 rhizostomatous Medusa from New England, by J. Walter Fewkes. 

 This is a lar^e acraspedote jelly fish, not only new to New 

 P^ngland, but also unlike any yet captured on the Atlantic coast 

 of North America. It was captured in September 1886 in Nev. 

 Haven harbour, and is allied to a common species found on the 

 west European seaboard, Pilana (Rhixostoma, auth.) octopus, 

 Haeck., and to P. puhnotoi the Mediterranean. — .\ short study of 

 the atmosphere of 8 Lyrse, by Orray T. Sherman. The author's 

 observations lead to the conclusion that in stars known to possess 

 a spectrum comprisin,j bright lines, these lines, while persistent in 

 place, are not persistent in intensity. Comparing Lockyer's 

 result in the study of the atmosphere with his own, he draws a 

 general conclusion regarding the condition of the stellar atmo- 

 sphere, describing it as consisting of an outer layer of hydrogen 

 positively electrified, an inner layer of oxygen negatively electri- 

 fied, and between them a layer of carbon mingling on its edge 

 with the hydrogen. The electric spark jiassing through the 

 mixture forms the hydrocarbon compound, whose molecular 

 weight carries it into the oxygen region where combustion ensues 

 with the formation of carbonic acid and aqueous vapour, both of 

 which descending under the influences of their molecular weight 

 ar? again dissociated by internal heat, and return again to their 

 original positions. — Phenacile from Colorado, by Samuel L. 

 Penneld, with notes on the locality of Topaz Butte, by Walter 

 B. Smith. Some interesting facts are communicated with regard 

 to the crystallisation of this remarkable mineral, the occurrence 

 of which in the United States (Pike's Peak, EI Paso County, 

 Colorado), was determined by Messrs. Cross and Hillebrand. 



