NA TURE 



Sept. 30, 1880] 



affecting health, and the special dangers to which British soldiers 

 are exposed in India, more particularly during their first year in 

 the country, and the best means by which those dangers may be 

 averted." The work, if accepted, will be printed at the public 

 expense, and become the property of the State ; and it is not to 

 exceed in bulk "more than fifty or sixty pages of print, of small 

 pica, octavo size." 



An ingenions method for obviating the frequent stoppage of 

 trains at ^tations, and yet accommodating the passengers from 

 these stations, has been devised by M. Hanrez. A "waiting 

 carriage," comprising a steam-engine with special gear, and 

 space for passengers and luggage, is placed on a siding at the 

 station, and picked up by the train as it goes past The latter, 

 by means of a hook on its last carriage, catches a ring supported 

 on a post, and connected with a cable wound on a drum in the 

 wailing carriage. Thereupon the dram begins to unwind, and 

 in doing so compresses a system of springs, while the carriage is 

 moved at a rate gradually increasing to that of the train. The 

 engine of the carriage then winds in the cable, the train and 

 carriages are connected, passengers are ti-ansferred (the carriages 

 bein^ of the American typel from the joined carriage to the 

 train, and vice versa, then the two are disconnected, and the 

 engine of the carriage, working on the wheels, brings it back to 

 the station whence it was taken. 



Mr. R. Tucker writes :— A verification of M. Landry's 

 statement (Nature, vol. xxii. p. 495) may be acceptable : — 

 2°-" + I = 2" + I = 1844674407370955 161 7 

 = 274177 X 672S0421310721. 



Those of our readers who have girls to educate we recom- 

 mend to consult the Queen's College Calendar for 1SS0-81, 

 published by Macmillan and Co. 



The Sanitary Institute seems to have had a very successful 

 meeting last week, all the usual topics embraced in its programme 

 coming on for discussion. Dr. B. W. Richardson gave a very 

 interesting and instructive lecture on "Woman as a Sanitary 

 Reformer," one of the first conditions being her education in 

 physiology and such other sciences and arts as bear on every-day 

 household life. Dr. Richardson made it clear that if women 

 were educated as they ought to be they would be an immense 

 power in keeping houses and households in a healthy condition. 



We have received the new calendar of the Newcastle College 

 of Science. The cla<=ses in this institution now include mathe- 

 matics, experimental physics ^^•ith laboratory, chemistry %vith 

 laboratory, geology, including geological surveying, natural 

 history, land surveying, mining, modern history, French, 

 German, mechanical drawing. 



About SS,ooo/. has now been subscribed towards the cost of 

 the projected new University College at Liverpool, and little 

 more w ill be needed to make up the amount required. It «as 

 ori"inally intended to raise So, 000/. for the endowment of Feven 

 professorships and two lectureships; but part of the money 

 subscribed (about 7,000/.) has been contributed towards the 

 foundation of a Roscoe cliair of art- a professorship not origin- 

 ally contemplated ; Lord Derby gives 10,000/. to found a chair 

 of natural histoid ; Messrs. William, S. G., and P. H. Rathbone 

 give a like sum to found a King Alfred chair of modern history 

 and literature ; Mr. A. H. Brown, M.P., and Messrs. Cressfield 

 and Barrow also give 10,000/. to found a chair of ancient 

 history ; Mrs. Grant subscribes a similar amount to found a 

 chair in some branch of science ; and 10,000/. is given by the 

 trastees of the late Mr. Roger Lyon Jones to the Royal Infirmary 

 School of Medicine, to found a chair of experimental physics, 

 with which mathematics will be for the time associated. Between 

 7,000/. and S,ooo/. has been subscribed towards founding a chair 



519 



of philosophy, logic, and political economy. Though the 

 endowment funds are nearly complete, there remains the cost of 

 a building to be provided. 



We have received from Madras Dr. Oppert's work "On the 

 Weapons, Army Organisation, and Political Maxims of the 

 Ancient Hindus, with special reference to Gunpowder and 

 Firearms." 



The Aristotelian Society, which was founded last spring for 

 the systematic study of philosophy, has just completed its work 

 for this session, having studied philosophy from Thales to 

 Proclus. The session for i8So-8l will open on October 11 at 

 20, John Street, Adelphi, at 8 p.m., when an introductory 

 address will be delivered by the President, Mr. Shadworth H. 

 Hodgson, LL.D., on "Philosophy in Relation to its History." 

 During the session the Society intends to study medieval 

 philosophy, and the whole of modern philosophy, from Bacon 

 to Comte and Spencer. 



A SOCIETY for the Promotion of Agricultural Science has 

 been formed in the United States, which will meet annually for 

 the reading of papers, and which will in other ways endeavour 

 to encourage scientific research in connection with agriculture. 

 Such papers as are likely to be of permanent value will be 

 published. Prof. W. J. Beal of Lansing, Michigan, is president 

 of the society. 



At the last meeting of the Balloon Society a letter was read 

 from JI. de Fonvielle offering to bring over a balloon with a gas 

 capacity of 42,000 feet, and compete with Mr. Wright in his 

 balloon, both balloons to start simultaneously from the Crystal 

 Palace in a contest for the longest aerial distance travelled in 

 some particular direction. The proposal was referred to a 

 committee. 



We have received a handsome quarto publication, " Contri- 

 bntions to the Archa:ology of Missouri, by the Archaeological 

 Section of the St. Louis Academy of Science." This first part 

 is devoted to Pottery ; it will be followed by others, the object 

 being to furnish to those interested in the archrcology of the 

 country, a reliable statement of facts connected with the occur- 

 rence of prehistoric remains in this important region. The 

 present volume contains a general description of the south-eastern 

 Missouri district and of the pottery which has been found m 

 such abundance in the burial mounds of that region. Several 

 charts and plans and figures of characteristic specimens of the 

 pottery, beautifully drawn and lithographed, have been selected 

 for illustration. The authors of the two papers in the volume 

 are Mr. W. B. Potter and Dr. E. Evans. Should the present 

 venture' meet with encouragement other volumes may soon be 

 expected treating of "Implements," "The Construction and 

 Groupiu" of Earthworks," and " Osteological Remains." We 

 trust the° enterprise wiU meet ^vith the encouragement it well 

 deserves. The volume is published by George A. Bates, 

 Naturalists' Bureau, Salem, Mass. 



AN unusually severe shock of earthquake was felt at Fribourg 

 on Sunday, the 19th inst., about 11 a.m. A smart earthquake 

 shock was felt at Morat at 8 o'clock, a.m., on- the 2ist, and 

 another twelve hours later at Fribourg, which, though of shorter 

 duration than that of Sunday, caused considerable alarm. An 

 earthquake took place at Wellington, New Zealand, on July 28. 

 A SiLESiAN Botanical Exchange Club has been established, 

 evidently intended for the exchange of specimens among botanists 

 of all countries. A copy of the rules may be obtained by apply- 

 ing to Herr Adolph Toepffer, Bandenburg an der Havel, 

 Prussia. 



Dr. Hector, of the New Zealand Geological Survey, 

 expresses his opinion that in Westland and Otago vast auriferous 

 racts remain as yet untouched." 



