Marcli 24, 1887] 



NATURE 



495 



The botanical collections of the late Thomas Moore, F. L. S. 

 Curator of the Botanic Garden at Chelsea, belonging to the 

 Society of Apothecaries, have been acquired for the Herbarium 

 of the Royal Gardens, Kew. The most important portions 

 are: — (i) The general fern herbarium, which contains the 

 types of the numerous species described by Moore, especially 

 those introduced into European cultivation. (2) The collection 

 of forms and \'arieties of British ferns, which is probably unique 

 in richness and completeness ; it is especially interesting as the 

 basis of Mr. Moore's well-known and bciutifully illustrated 

 works on the fern flora of the British Isles. (3) The fern 

 herbarium of R. Ileward, F.L.S., which is especially strong in 

 West Indian species. 



British field botanists will be glad to learn that the Scottish 

 Rights of Way Society has been successful in its action brought 

 in the Court of .Session against the proprietor of Glen Doll in 

 Clova. Loril Kinnear has found that "the pursuers had estab- 

 lished a su/Rcient use and possession of the road for more than 

 forty years to entitle them to a judgment." There is probably 

 no portion of the Highlands of Scotland from which botanists 

 would feel it a greater hardship to be excluded. For years it has 

 been so well watched by keepers that access to it h.os been 

 impossible, except to such botanists as are swift and sure of 

 foot. The present owner is the first who has denied a right of 

 way through it, and, if we are not mistaken, the action only 

 concerns this right to use the road. It is to be feared that 

 efforts will not be wanting to confine the public to the road, and 

 to deny all access to those parts so interesting to the field 

 botanist. 



A SERIES of charts showing the surface temperatures of the 

 Atlantic coast waters, from the eastern coast of Maine to the 

 extreme southerly coast of Florida, is being prepared by the 

 United States Fish Commission. The Commission is aided in 

 this important undertaking by the Lighthouse Board and the 

 Signal Service. Observations have thus far been made at 

 twenty- four lighthouse .'-tations, showing the surface temperatures 

 at these localities during the past five years. The temperatures 

 at each station are shown in detail for each year by ten-day 

 means, and the facts are combined with those brought out on a 

 series of isothermal charts giving the relations of the different 

 stations. The results are likely to be of great value in connexion 

 with the study of the migration of the mackerel, menhaden, 

 shad, and other migratory fishes. 



.An interesting discussion has just been started in the Paris 

 Academy of Medicine, concerning the bad results of mental 

 straining in young persons. Attention has especially been 

 called to the fact that many French girls, under the pressure of 

 competition, are injuring their health by over-work at school. 

 About 12,000 of them are trying to get the superior diploma 

 which would confer upon them the right of getting an appoint- 

 ment in Government schools. Only 2000 will be able to get 

 appointments. 



A.N excellent address on the physical training of girls was 

 lately given by Dr. Rayner W. Batten to the Gloucestershire 

 br.anch of the British Medical Association. It is printed in the 

 British Medical Journal. Speaking of ladies' Colleges, 

 Dr. Batten s.iys he does not know of more than one that 

 h,a3 such a thing as a proper playground, whilst a leading 

 College, if not the first in the country, with abundant 

 means and ample opportunities, makes no pretence of having 

 any playground at all. Dr. Batten urges that drill and cali- 

 sthenic exercises are not enough. There must be recreation as 

 well, "and at present, in our ladies' Colleges," he says, " the 

 exercise, with the exception of tennis, has little of the recreative 

 element in it.' Dr. Batten is of opinion that all Colleges 



should have playgrounds — large spaces, open to the fresh air 

 and sunlight — that every girl should be made to play, two half- 

 holidays a week at least being given for that purpose, and that 

 the games should be varied, so that girls may not have to go on 

 doing what they are conscious of not doing well. " Every girl 

 will soon find out her strong and weak points in play as well 

 as in work, and if the game is to be a recreation she must be 

 allowed to choose her own form, the only obligation being that 

 she is to play, and that no books or work are to be brought on 

 the playground." 



At the meeting of the Essex Field Club on Saturday next, 

 the 26th inst.. Prof. Sylvanus P. Thompson will read a paper on 

 W illiam Gilbert, the founder of the science of electricity, and 

 an Essex worthy entitled to rank with R.ay among the pioneers 

 of science. Those wishing to attend the meeting should com- 

 municate with the Secretary, Buckhurst Hill, Essex. 



On the night of March 7, about 11.30, a brilliant meteor 

 was seen in Dalcarlia, in Central Sweden. It was first seen in 

 the north-west, going in a southerly direction, but soon after- 

 wards it changed its course more easterly. Its colour was a 

 brilliant white, and its greatest size about that of the moon. It 

 w.is 1 ost to sight behind the horizon, leaving only a faint trail 

 behind. 



From a recent official French Report on oyster-culture in 

 France we learn that the two principal centres are at Arcachon 

 in the south-west and Auray in the north-west. The Bay of 

 Arcachon has since 1854 held a foremost place in oyster-breed- 

 ing. In 1857 there were twenty parks, or district oyster-beds : 

 in 1S65 the number had increased to 297, with an output of over 

 10,000,000 oysters. At the present time the little bay, which 

 has a total area of 37,500 acres, has oyster-beds covering an 

 area of 15,000 acres, which provide annually about 300,000,000 

 oysters for consumption. With regard to the oyster-beds at 

 Auray, on the coast of Brittany, these, though not so important; 

 .as those of Arcachon, have still a considerable output, and, from 

 being exhausted and unproductive when their rehabilitation was 

 first undertaken, have become full to overflowing. In 1876-77 

 we find that 7,000,000 oysters were placed on the market from 

 Auray ; in 1S85 the number had risen to over 70,000,000. 



The ideas of M. Victor Meunier with regard to the domestic- 

 ation of apes are discussed in the new number of the Reziie 

 d' Anthropologie by Madame Clemence Royer, the French trans- 

 lator of Darwin. Madame Royer does not doubt that, under a 

 proper system of training, apes might be made good workers. 

 They lack perseverance, indeed, but in general intelligence they 

 are, she thinks, superior to the dog, the horse, or even the 

 elephant. She points out, however, that it would be necessary 

 to feed domesticated apes with great quantities of fruit, bread, 

 and eggs, that the process of educating them would be costly, 

 and that for many generations they would probably be injuriously 

 affected by the climate of Europe. Her opinion is that, if the 

 experiment is to be made, it should be made first of all in tropical 

 countries, where apes might be taught to labour in connexion 

 with the cultivation of coffee, cocoa, .and cotton. 



An interesting paper on "The .Application of Gems to the 

 Art of the Goldsmith " was read to the Society of Arts on 

 Tuesday, the iSth inst., by Mr. Alfred Phillips. It is printed 

 in the Society's Journal. Mr. Phillips gives a very favourable 

 account of the capacity of English workmen employed by gold- 

 smiths at the present day. When masters encourage them to 

 depart from the beaten track, they readily adapt themselves, 

 Mr. Phillips says, to work which, ten years ago, would have 

 been sent as a matter of course to specialists on the Continent. 



