Sept. 1 6, 1880] 



NATURE 



461 



informed that the smell of American pennyroyal {Hedeoma pule- 

 gioidt-s), when sufficiently strong, drives them away at once. A 

 few drops of the essential oil extracted from this plant added to 

 an ointment and rubbed upon the skin will secure relief from 

 these pests ; likewise a sleeping apartment may be freed from 

 them by strewing about a quantity of the leaves of the plant ; or 

 by allowing a quantity of the essential oil to evaporate in it. 

 European pennyroyal (Mentha pidegiuni) is said to be very 

 similar, and might possibly have the same effect. 



Lyons, New York, August 30 M. A. Veeder 



Hardening of Steel 



In Nature, vol. xxii. p. 220, Mr. H. T. Johnston-Laris 

 supposes the absorption of hydrogen to be necessary for steel to 

 get hard. 



The following facts seem to prove that this absorption can be 

 very well dispensed w ith in hardening : — 



1. Small pieces of steel wire can be hardened by moving them 

 swiftly through the air when red hot, or by pressing them against 

 a piece of cold metal. 



2. Steel can be hardened very well by cooling in quicksilver. 

 Both facts seem to state that only rapid cooling is wanted for 



steel to get hard. T. W. Giltay 



Dordrecht, aSeptember S 



THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE 



TDROBABLY none of our colonies have done so much 

 ■'• for the promotion of the higher interests of their 

 people as New Zealand ; in this respect, indeed, it will 

 compare favourably w-ith almost any other country in the 

 world. Its university is wonderfully complete and well 

 organised ; all the faculties are well represented ; science, 

 as well as literature, has its right place in the curriculum ; 

 the best men are tempted to go out as professors from 

 the old country ; and laboratory research is fairly en- 

 couraged. Quite recently we referred to a proposed 

 system of education, which in its comprehensiveness and 

 completeness will hold its own with any national system 

 of education in Europe. The New Zealand Institute, 

 again, is probably one of the best organised, and for its 

 purpose, among the most efficient scientific bodies to be 

 found anywhere. It is virtually a Government institution, 

 and was organised by a special Act in 1S67. It seems to 

 bear the same relation to its incorporated societies that a 

 university does to its affiliated colleges ; it is independent 

 of these societies, which must comply with certain rules 

 imposed upon them by the Institute, and yet without 

 these societies its occupation would seem to be gone. 

 One part of its duty is the publication of summaries of 

 the Proceedings of the societies, and of such papers and 

 records in full as the Institute may deem of permanent 

 scientific value. The societies at present incorporated 

 with the Institute are the Wellington Philosophical 

 Society, the Auckland Institute, the Philosophical Insti- 

 tute of Canterburj-, the Otago Institute, the Westland 

 Institute, and the Hawkes Bay Philosophical Institute. 

 It must be gratifying in the highest degree to those w-ho 

 have the best interests of New Zealand at heart to find 

 a love for culture so widespread as the existence of these 

 societies indicate. And it must be remembered that, as a 

 condition of incorporation with the Institute, each society 

 must come up to a certain standard of membership and 

 contribute a considerable sum yearly to the promotion of 

 science, art, and literature, which is the aim of the 

 Institute. 



The genuine good work which the Institute is doing, 

 and its efficiency in promoting not only science, but 

 through that the practical interests of the colony, is 

 evident from the handsome volume of Transactions 

 which it publishes yearly, and which are entitled to take 

 their place among the best class of similar publications. 

 Some idea of the work which the Institute is doing, and 

 of the value of its Transactions, may be obtained from 



the two last volumes, for 1878 and 1879, which we have 

 just received. 



Of course the first aim of a society like this, in a fresh 

 country like New Zealand, should be the working out of 

 its natural history (in its widest sense) in a scientific 

 method. This the Institute has done and is doing, 

 and its publications, and the publications of the sepa- 

 rate societies, are already a mine of information on aU 

 subjects connected with New Zealand. The volumes 

 before us contain a large number of papers on zoo- 

 logy, botany, chemistry, and geology, all of them im- 

 portant contributions to these various departments of 

 science. Prof. Hutton, whose name is well known in 

 this country, contributes a number of valuable papers on 

 the various divisions of the fauna of New Zealand. 

 Prof, von Haast (another name well known to science) 

 has other various contributions of special value, and J\Ir. 

 T. W. Kirk, of the Colonial Museum, has a long list 

 of papers both on zoology and botany, all of them of 

 novelty and interest, and several of them on such practi- 

 cally important subjects as Grasses and Fodder Plants. 

 Other able workers in these departments are Mr. D. 

 Petrie, Mr. W. Colenso, Mr. Charles Knight, Mr. 

 Buchanan, and Mr. Buller. From Mr. J. C. Craufurd 

 and Mr. W. Collie we have valuable contributions 

 relating to the geology of New Zealand. Several of the 

 papers classed under the head of Miscellaneous are of 

 the greatest importance and interest. Thus we have 

 papers of immense practical value to the colony on the 

 Forest Question in New Zealand, by Mr. A. Lecoy ; on 

 the InfliTence of Forests on Climate and Rainfall, by Mr. 

 F. S. Peppercome ; and on Forest Planting and Con- 

 servation, by Mr. G. \V. Wilkins. Equally important 

 from a colonial as well as a scientific standpoint is Com- 

 mander Edwin's paper on the Principle of New Zealand 

 Weather Forecast. We have several excellent papers on 

 the New Zealand natives of much ethnological value : 

 " Notes on Port Nicholson and the Natives in 1839," by 

 Major Heaphy ; "On the Ignorance of the Ancient New 

 Zealander of the Use of Projectile Weapons," by Mr. 

 Coleman Phillips ; " Contributions towards a Better 

 Knowledge of the Maori Race," by Mr. W. Colenso ; 

 "Notes on an Ancient Manufactory of Stone Imple- 

 ments," by Prof, von Haast, F.R.S. ; and "Notes on 

 the Colour-Sense of the Maori," by Mr. J. W. Stack. Mr. 

 W. Colenso contributes papers on the Moa, a subject of 

 great scientific interest. Mr. J. H. Pope's " Notes on the 

 Southern Stars and other Celestial Objects " is a valuable 

 contribution to astronomy. Prof. Bickerton has several 

 papers on subjects of wide scientific interest, — on " Partial 

 Impact," the "Genesis of Worlds and Systems," the 

 "Birth of Nebute" ; while Prof. F. W. Frankland writes 

 interestingly on "The Doctrine of Mind-Stuff." There 

 are several good chemical papers by Mr. W. Skey. In 

 the Proceedings of the several societies there are numerous 

 shorter papers of varied interest, as on Moa Feathers, by 

 Dr. Hector ; on Musical Tones in the Notes of Australian 

 Birds, by INIr. C. W. Adams ; on a new fish, by Prof. 

 Hutto'n ; and many others on subjects of wide and varied 

 interest. We have besides meteorological, earthquake, 

 and other records, and a variety of miscellaneous matter, 

 all of real importance. 



An institution capable of producing so much valuable 

 work year after year deserves every encouragement from 

 the government of the country. The New Zealand 

 Government has hitherto granted a subsidy of 500/. 

 yeariy to the Institute, just sufficient, we believe, to defray 

 the expenses of printing the Transactions, which are 

 freely distributed to other societies all over the world. 

 We are therefore astounded to learn that the Governinent 

 has decided to withdraw this grant, thus suddenly bring- 

 ing these valuable Transactions to a standstill. We can 

 scarcely credit the statement; it is difficult to believe 

 that so enlightened a Government as that of New Zealand 



