I.^O 



NATURE 



\yitiic lo, i8So 



Prof. F. M'Coy, Mr. J. F. Moulton, Prof. C. Niven, Dr. J. Rae, 

 Prof. J. E. Reynolds, Dr. W. A. Tilden. 



In the last number of the Berlin Chemical Society's Journal 

 Prof. V. Meyer aDnounces that he has been able to determine 

 the density of iodine vapour at a considerably higher temperature 

 than before, and that he has obtained values closely approxi- 

 mating to those required on the assumption that the gas then 

 consists of monatomic iodine molecules. He proposes to extend 

 his obsen-ations, if possible, to still higher temperatures, in order 

 to ascertain whether the dissociation can be carried further ; for 

 this purpose he proposes to employ the recently described oil 

 furnace of Deville and Troost, which is capable of fusing 

 porcelain, and he hopes to be able to make use of vessels of 

 graphite if those of porcelain are not sufficiently refractory. 



From a copy of some correspondence which has passed 

 between Sir Joseph Whitworth and Lord Beaconsfield, we see 

 that Sir Joseph wrote to his Lordship on February 21, calling 

 his Lordship's attention to what he had done so far back as 

 tnenty-four years since to the improvement of rifled arms. 

 "By means of elaborate and careful experiments I obtained 

 facts, and established certain laws, both with regard to artillery 

 and small arms. These laws have never been invalidated. 

 Some, though denied and disregarded at the time, are now- 

 accepted without question by all who have stu 'led the subject, 

 not only in this country but abroad ; while others, equally im- 

 portant, have not yet been acted upon." Sir Joseph, after stating 

 that he is anxious to point out the very unsatisfactory nature of 

 the present system of determining questions, or rather of advising 

 the responsible Minister on subjects which require a knowledge 

 of mechanics and metallurgy, says : " I believe I am not 

 doing any injustice to the officer or officers who have, or who 

 have had, for years past, to advise the Secretary of State for 

 War in these matters, when I say they have no such knowledge 

 — they cannot have it. The very fact that they are able end 

 distinguished soldiers precludes it. Nor, as far as I am aware, 

 has the possession of mechanical knowledge, or of what I may 

 term a mechanical instinct, any bearing on their selection for a 

 post for which administrative ability is necessarily a first qualifi- 

 cation. Further, the War Office has no such skilled technical 

 advisers as the Admiralty has in naval architects and naval 

 engineers. It is to this that I attribute the deficiency in our 

 artillery and small arms. Instead of being, aj we might be, in 

 advance of other nations, it is a question whether we are on a 

 level with some of them." Sir Joseph then asks the favour of 

 an interview, in order to bring this matter more clearly before 

 Lord Beaconsfield, who received the request very favourably. 

 Unfortunately, before Sir Joseph was able to carry out his disin- 

 terested intentions, he was compelled to leave the country on 

 account of his health. 



A NEW skating surface called "crystal ice" has been invented 

 by Dr. Calantarients of Scarborough. Considering that after 

 all ice is merely a crystalline substance, and that there is no lack 

 of sub tances that are crystalline at ordinary temperatures, Dr. 

 Calantarients experimented with a variety of salts, and after a 

 time succeeded in making a mixture consisting mainly of car- 

 bonate and sulphate of soda, which, when laid as a floor by his 

 plan, cm be skated on with ordinary ice-skates ; the resistance 

 of the surface is just equal to that of ice, it looks like ice, and 

 indeed when it lias been skated on, and got " cut up " a little 

 the deception is quite astonishing ; a small experimental floor 

 has been laid in the skating rink at Prince's, and has proved so 

 successful that no doubt a large floor will be laid thei-e or at 

 some other convenient place in the autumn. This floor will 

 obviously have great advantages, both over artificial ice floor's, 

 which are very expensive indeed, and over floors for roller- 

 skating. The surface can at any time be made smooth again by 



steaming with an apparatus for the purpose, and the floor itself 

 when once laid will last for many years. It is interesting to 

 observe that the mixture of salts used contains about 60 per cent, 

 of water of crystallisation, so that after all the floor consists 

 chiefly of solidified water. 



Members of the General Committee and others who have not 

 yet paid their subscriptions to the Clifford Testimonial Fund are 

 requested to forward them to Messrs. Robarts, Lubbock, and 

 Co., or to either of the honorary secretaries. Dr. Corfield, 

 No. 10, Bolton Row, M.iyfair, W., and Dr. Lee, No. 6, Savile 

 Row, W. 



In our next number we shall give the first instalment of a 

 paper by Drs. De La Rue and II. W. Miiller, on some of their 

 most recent Experimental Researches in Electricity. The 

 second instalment of this paper w ill be accompanied by a fine 

 steel plate illustrating the experiments, kindly furnished to us by 

 Dr. De La Rue. 



We understand that a most interesting entomological problem 

 has been solved. The singular aquatic animal originally described 

 by Latreille as a crustacean under the name Prosopistoma, and 

 which the French entomologists have affirmed to be the aquatic 

 condition of an insect of the family Ephemcndiv, has been traced 

 through all its transformations by M. Vayssiere, and the result 

 rs such as to entirely confirm their belief. 



The Annual Visitation of the Royal Observatory was made 

 on Saturday, when the Astronomer- Royal preseirted his usual 

 report. 



The first of the Davis Lectures for iSSo, on "Teeth," by 

 Prof. Flower, was given in the lecture-room in the Zoological 

 Society's Gardens, in the Regent's Park, on Thursday last week. 

 The other lectures are as follows, the hour of lecture being 

 5 p.m. : — June 10, " Cats," by Prof. Mivart, F.R.S. ; June 17, 

 " Tadpoles," by Prof. Parker, F.R.S. ; June 24, " Hawks and 

 Hawking," by J. E. Harting, F.Z.S. ; July I, "Cuttlefishes 

 and Squids," by Pi'of. Huxley, F.R.S. ; July 8, " Waterfowl," 

 by P. L. Sclater, F.R.S. ; July 15, " Birds," by W. A. Forbes, 

 F.Z.S. These lectures will be free to Fellows of the Society 

 and their friends, and to other visitors to the Gardens. 



As we announced last week, the annual meeting of the Helvetic 

 Society of Natural Science will be held at Brieg (Canton Valais), 

 at the foot of the Sim plan, on September 12 to 15. The great 

 building of the college and the palace of Baron Stockalper are 

 at the disposal of the Society. The committee speak in 

 glowing terms of the various attractions which will be found in 

 this locality by geologits, mineralogists, and entomologists, the 

 "generous wine of Valais" being not the least among the 

 attractions promised to botanists. 



The twelfth meeting of the Scandinavian Naturalists and 

 Phy.-icians will take place at Stockholm oir July 7 to 14 inclusive. 

 A numerous attendance is expected from Denmark and Norway, 

 as well as from other countries. 



A LARGE German Horticultural Exhii/ition is planned for the 

 summer of 1882. It will be held at Bremen in connection with 

 the tn enty-fif th anniversary of the foundation of the Horticultural 

 Society of that city. 



It is believed that the engineers of the St. Gothard Tunnel 

 will be able to overcome the ditliculty arising from the thi'eatened 

 collapse of the passage in the part known as the " Windy 

 Stretch." According to Prof. Colladon, the strata in this section 

 are composed of a calcareous aluminous schist, which has a gr-eat 

 affirrity for moisture, and swells enormously on exposure to the 

 air. If a tuimel were made through Mont Blanc, 3,000 metres 

 of similar material would have to be pierced and vaulted. 



