40 



NATURE 



\_May 13, 18S0 



scientific institution was entirely due to our Hanoverian princes. 

 During the reigns of George IV. and William IV. Kew was much 

 neglected ; but since that date, owing to the efforts of Lindley and 

 Sir W. Hooker, that state of things had been remedied. The lec- 

 turer gave a long and elaborate account of the methods pursued 

 and the objects aimed at in the gardens at Kew. There was hardly 

 any country of which a native would not recognise some types of 

 vegetation with which he had been familiar. Plant distribution 

 to all parts of the world was extensively carried out from the 

 gardens, especially that of cinchona, caoutchouc, and Liberian 

 coffee. The herbarium, which was thelargest and best organised 

 in the world, and the library, were important features in the 

 gardens, and served to promote a scientific metliod of nomen- 

 clature, identification, and classification. In 1863 the Duke of 

 Newcastle, then Colonial Secretary, insti-ucted Sir W. Hooker 

 to publish a series of colonial floras ; and twenty-two volumes 

 had been issued and others were in progress. The floras of 

 Australia and Erilish India were especially valuable. In the 

 former there were 293 species of acacia and 135 of the eucalyptus. 

 Floras had also been published of Hongkong, Mauritius, and 

 the Seychelles, the British West Indies, and New Zealand. 

 The example of Kew in the matter of museums and economic 

 botany had been followed by Hamburg, Berlin, Ghent, Paris, 

 Boston, and our o\\ n colonies. The whole vegetable collections 

 of the India Museum had been recently transferred to Kew. 

 One of the most striking features of the gardens was the 

 enormous correspondence with the botanic establishments of the 

 colonies. Mr. Dyer then indicated the principles which should 

 guide the establishment of a colonial botanic garden ; one of 

 the chief of these was that it should be attractive and con- 

 veniently situate. It was also most important that it should be 

 under competent management, and he was glad to see that the 

 emoluments of directors had in some of our colonies been fixed 

 on a liberal scale. Mr. Dyer concluded by reviewing the progress 

 made by our colonies in botanical research. 



In the first four months of 1S80 the receipts for telegrams in 

 France have been increased by 1,500,000 francs, but the postal 

 department lost one-sixth of that amount. This result shows that 

 owing to the low rate of telegrams in France (\d. per word) 

 and the increased postage [l\d. per letter), telegraphy is 

 gradually taking the place of ordinary letters. 



Mr. S. H. Wintle contributes to the Launceslon Examiner 

 (Tasmania) of Feb. 20 some curious facts with regard to a "black 

 snake" which he succeeded in capturing by pinning to the ground 

 with a forked stick. In his haste Mr. Wintle pinned the snake 

 to the ground by the middle of the body; what then occurred 

 we give in his own words without comment : — "No sooner had 

 I done so — for now his rage was at its highest pitch — than in an 

 instant he buried his fangs in himself, making the spot wet either 

 with viscid slime or the deadly poison. Now comes that which 

 is of most interest from a scientific point of view. He had 

 hardly unburied his fangs when his coils round the stick sud- 

 denly relaxed. A perceptible quiver ran through his body, and 

 in much less time than it takes to write it he lay extended and 

 almost motionless, with his mouth opening and shutting as if he 

 were gasping, but no forked tongue thrust out. In less than 

 three minutes from the time he bit himself he was perfectly 

 dead. Here, then, was a striking example of the potency of the 

 fang-poison of the snake upon itself." An hour after the death of 

 the snake Mr. Wintle tried tlie effect of the poison in the fangs 

 on a mouse, which died in five minutes, and on a lizard, which 

 died in fourteen minutes. On r^L post-tnortem examination of the 

 snake the b dy was found almost bloodless, "as though the 

 action of the poison had destroyed the colouring-matter of the 

 blood." 



Mk. F. Lewis, jun., of Ballangod.i, Ceylon, sends us a snake 



story in connection with the correspondence on intellect in 

 brutes: — "A short time ago," he says, "'I caught a common 

 ' green snake,' and, anxious to try its power of intellect, I brought 

 my finger close to its nose, and seeing that it seemed disposed to 

 bite, I introduced the end of a match close to its mouth. This 

 it did not seem to care about touching, so thinl.ing perhaps that 

 if I moved it about before the animal's eyes it might attract its 

 attention, I did so, but without success. I then took the animal 

 by the neck, and brought its onm tail before its nose. This it 

 grasped at immediately, and with considerable ardour, but still 

 refused the match ! Why should the snake prefer its own tail 

 upon which to exercise its temper? I would suggest that if a 

 few experiments were tried on animal instinct or intelligence 

 some remarkable facts might be elicited, and probably some light 

 thrown upon a subject at present so intricate and complex." 



On Tuesday next (May 18) at the Royal Institution Mr. J. 

 Fiske will give the first of a course of three lectures on American 

 Political Ideas viewed from the Standpoint of Universal History ; 

 on Thursday (May 20) Mr. T. W. Rhys Davids will give the 

 first of a course of three lectures on the Sacred Books of the 

 Early Buddliists. The following are the arrangements for the 

 remaining Friday evenings : May 21, Mr. W. Spottiswoode, on 

 Electricity in transitu; May 28, Mr. Francis Hueffer, on 

 Musical Criticism ; and June 4, Mr. H. H. Statham, an Analysis 

 of Ornament. 



M. W. DE FONVIELLE has discovered a very simple process 

 for putting in rotation his newly invented electro-magnetic gyro- 

 scope. It is sufficient to connect one end of the frame with 

 each part of the self-acting interrupter. The only difficulty is to 

 place the magnets at a proper distance and not to use a stronger 

 voltaic current than required. For this operation to succeed, it 

 is desirable to understand well the mana?uvres of an iu;itrument 

 constructed on purpose. Some of the so-called electro-medical 

 bobbins succeed remarkably well, either with the primary, the 

 secondary, or a combination of the two working in tension. 



A PART of the St. Gothard Tunnel, 6,300 metres from the 

 south entrance, has fallen in, killing tliree workmen and injuring 

 three others. 



Five walled tombs, each containing a skeleton, have been 

 discovered at Chamblandes, Cautou Vaud. From the absence 

 of metal ornaments and other indications, they are supposed to 

 belong to an age prior to that of bronze. 



On May 9 a large number of officials and others assembled 

 at Noailles to celebrate the completion of a rural railway with 

 narrow gauge, of which we mentioned the inauguration a few 

 months ago. The speculation is succeeding very well, and great 

 improvements have been realised in all the surrounding country 

 since the system has been in operation. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Silver-backed Fox {Canis chama) from 

 South Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S.; 

 a Tayra {Galidis barbam) from South America, presented by 

 Mr. G. A. Muhlhaiiser; an Indian Chevrotain (Tragiilus 

 nmminna) from Ceylon, presented by Mr. W. H. Ravenscroft ; 

 a Ruddy Ichneumon (Herpestes smithi) from India, presented by 

 Mr. A. R. Lewis ; two Slow-worms (Anguis fragilis), British, 

 presented by Mr. O. Thomas ; five Bosca's Mud Newts 

 {Pdonectes boscai) from North Spain, presented by Dr. A. 

 Giinlher, F.Z.S. ; an Indian Cobra (Naia hajc) from India, 

 presented by Mr. W. R. Higham ; a Macaque Monkey (Macacus 

 cynomolgus) from India, a Goflin's Cockatoo (Cacatiia gofftni) 

 from Queensland, deposited ; four Upland Geese (Beinicla 

 magdlanica) from Patagonia, purchased ; an Axis Deer {^Cervus 

 axis), a Zebu (jffyj indicus), born in the Gardens. 



