April 2 1, 1887] 



NATURE 



593 



atmospheric pressure was found to be - 164° C, that of oxygen 



- i8i°'4, nitrogen - I94°'4, carbon monoxide - 190". and niliic 

 oxide - 1 53° '6. The melting-point of carbon monoxide was 

 also determined to be - 207°, and that of nitrogen as luw as 



-214°. M. Oslzewski's nearest approach to absolute zero was 



- 225° for solid nitrogen. The density of methane at 736 min. 

 and - 164° was found to be 0-415, that of oxygen at 743 mm. 

 and - i8i°'4 was I •124, while that of nitrogen at 741 mm. and 



- 194' '4 was found to be o'885. The densities were determined 

 by reading off the position of the liquid meniscus in the tube, 

 volatilising a portion by means of an aspirator, and again reading 

 off the height of the column, the volume of the volatilised por- 

 tion being measured by the amount of water running out of the 

 aspirator. At the fifth experiment with nitrogen, the tube, which 

 had survived two years' experiments, burst, and destroyed the 

 apparatus, so that the densities of carbon monoxide and nitric 

 oxide must be left for future experiments. 



Ox .Saturday next, and the two following Saturdays, Dr. R. 

 von Lendenfeld will deliver a course of lectures at the Royal 

 Institution on recent scientific researches in Australasia. 



On the 4th inst. the first meeting of the Sanitary Legislation 

 Conference was held in the rooms of the Sanitary Assurance 

 Association. The following resolutions were passed: (l) that 

 the sanitary registration of all buildings is desirable in the 

 interest of the public health ; (2) that it is desirable that the law 

 should forbid any building being used for public or semi-public 

 purposes, unless and until the arrangements for the water-supply, 

 drainage, and ventilation of such building have been certified as 

 satisfactory by some properly- qualified person ; and (3) that the 

 provision of a public sanitary register for the voluntary registra- 

 tion of private houses would be instrumental in promoting 

 sanitary improvement. 



An important topographical and geological Expedition has 

 been organised by the Canadian Government for the exploration 

 of the country watered by the River Yukon. According to 

 Lieut. Schwalk, who went over much of the ground for the 

 U.S. Government in 1883, this river is over 2000 miles in 

 length, and it is believed that in many districts there are valu- 

 able deposits of gold. The Expedition will start from Victoria, 

 British Columbia, early in May. The part of the work relating 

 to geology and natural history will be conducted by Dr. Daw- 

 son, Assistant-Director of the Canadian Geological Survey ; 

 and under him Mr. W. Ogilvy will take charge of the topo- 

 graphical work, and make an accurate survey and measurement 

 of as much of the Yukon as lies within British territory. 



It has been determined to transfer the Observatory of Rio de 

 Janeiro to Santa Cruz, nearly on the same parallel, and a little 

 more to the west. The Observatory is of considerable import- 

 ance, owing to its position, being nearly on the Tropic of 

 Capricorn, and it has recently been greatly improved by the 

 present Director, Sr. Cruls. It is stated in the Bolicttitio 

 mensiia'e of the Italian Meteorological Society, that from 

 January of the present year the Observatory will commence 

 the publication of a monthly Bulletin containing inter alia the 

 meteorological observations made at fifteen stations in Brazil. 

 Hitherto observations from that country have been very scarce 

 indeed. 



After the first International Ornilhographical Congress at 

 Vienna in 1884, numerous stations for observing the habits of 

 liirds were organised all over the world. Dr. A. B. Meyer, the 

 Director of the Zoological Museum at Dresden, was appointed 

 Director for the erection of all such stations in Saxonv. This 



gentleman, together with Dr. F. Helm, of Arnoldsgriin, has 

 jiist published the first Annual Summary for the year 18S5. It 

 contains the results of about forty-eight series of observations 

 from thirty-six stations, and articles on 180 species of birds. 



We have received four numbers of the ' ' Encyclopsedie der 

 Wissenschaften," edited by various eminent German men of 

 science, and issued by Trewendt of Breslau. One of these 

 numbers concludes an elaborate dictionary of mineralogy, geo- 

 logy, and palaeontology. Two others form part of an equally 

 elaborate dictionary of chemistry, and the remaining number 

 contains some sections of a treatise on botany. 



The Religious Tract Society are about to publish " Pioneering 

 in New Guinea," by the Rev. James Chalmers, who has lived 

 and travelled in New Guinea during the last eight years. A 

 special chapter contains answers given by natives to 115 

 questions carefully drawn up by Mr. Chalmers. 



"A List of British Birds," revised by Mr. Howard 

 Saunders, will be found of much service both for the labelling of 

 specimens and for reference. It has just been issued by Messrs. 

 Gurney and Jackson. 



EARTHQU.4K Es On April I, 2, 3, and 4 are reported from 

 Aden. No damage was done. 



We hear that Mr. Murray has resigned the post of Librarian 

 and Curator to the Karachi Museum. During his tenure of office 

 he has written several hand-books on the zoology of Sind, and 

 his Catalogue of the vertebrate fauna of that province is a 

 valuable epitome of the subject. He will be succeeded by 

 Mr. W. D. Gumming, who was for some time stationed at Fao, 

 in the Persian Gulf. While there Mr. Cumming devoted him- 

 self with much energy to the study of the avifauna of the 

 neighbourhood, and sent several interesting collections to 

 England, where they have been described by Mr. Bowdler 

 Sharpe. The collections proved to be one of the most important 

 acquisitions of the British Museum during the year 1886. 



Large cases, showing the nests of the Heron, Hen-harrier, 

 Starling, Sand-Martin, and Common Tern, have been lately added 

 to the Natural History Museum. Prof. Flower has also placed in the 

 great hall a large case illustrating the principal breeds of domestic 

 pigeons derived by man's selection from the common blue Rock- 

 pigeon {Coliimba livia). Popular guides to most of the depart- 

 ments have recently been published by the Trustees, and the 

 Index Museum in the great hall bids fair to supply the student 

 with a complete introduction to the study of zoology and botany. 

 In face of the energetic labours of the staff of this Museum 

 to render the collections under their charge educational for the 

 masses, it is satisfactory to learn that several members of Par- 

 liament have announced their intention of questioning the 

 wisdom of reducing the grant to the British Museum, as has 

 been done this year in deference to the rage for economy at 

 present in vogue. 



Prof. Barboza du Bocage has recently described a Sun- 

 bird and a Grass-warbler from the Island of St. Thomas as 

 Citinyris mivtonii and Prinia molleri. Zoologists will welcome 

 the return of Prof. Bocage from the realms of politics back to 

 the charge of the Lisbon Museum, which, under his care, rose 

 to a position of first-rate importance. 



Volume I. of the Journal of the Science College of the 

 Imperial University, Japan, which has been recently published, 

 contains a valuable paper by Mr. Sekei Sekiya, Professor of 

 Seismology in the University, on the comparison of earthquake 

 records given at the same station by difterent seismographs, the 



