59: 



NA TURE 



\Oct. 2 1, i8So 



Narrative of a Visit in 1872," by SirE. J. Reed, K.C.B., M.P. ; 

 "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," by Isabella Bird (these works are 

 just published) ; "Personal Life of David Livingstone," by Dr. 

 W. G. Blackie ; " A Pilgrimage to Nejd," by Lady Anne Blunt ; 

 "The Power of Movement in Plants," by Charles Darwin, 

 assisted by Francis Darwin ; "The Cat ; an Introduction to the 

 Study of Back -boned Animals," by St. George Mivart ; " Silieria 

 in Europe, a Naturalist's Visit to the Valley of the Petchora," 

 by Henry Seebohm ; "The Gardens of the Sun : a Naturalist's 

 Journal on the Mountains and in the Forests and Swamps of 

 Borneo and the Sulu Archipelago," by F. W. Burbidge. Messrs. 

 Allen and Co. announce : " The Expiring Continent ; a Narra- 

 tive of Travel in Senegambia," by A. W. Mitchelson; "A 

 Dictionary of Ethnological and Philological Geography," by Dr. 

 R. G. Latham; "Incidents of a Journey through Nubia to 

 Darfur," by Sydney Ensor, C.E. Among Messrs. Crosby, Lock- 

 wood, and Co.'s announcements are: "The Fields of Great 

 Britain; a Text-Book of Agriculture," by Hugh Clements ; "A 

 Rudimentary Treatise on Coal and Coal-Mining," by Warington 

 W. Smyth, F.R.S. Messrs. Sampson Low and Co. announce : 

 "New Guinea," by L. M. D'Albertis ; " Seven Years in South 

 Africa," by Dr. Holub. Messrs. Longmans promise the second 

 series of Helmholtz's " Popular Lectures on Scientific Subjects," 

 translated by Dr. E. Atkinson. Messrs. Chatto and Windus ; 

 " A Simple Treatise on Heat," by W. M. Williams. Macmillan 

 and Co.: "Island Life," by A. R. Wallace; "A Visit to 

 Wazan," by„L. S. Watson; "Voyage of the Vega," by A. E. 

 Nordenskjold ; "Text-Book of Geology," by Prof. Geikie ; 

 "Ideal Chemistry," by Sir Benjamin Brodie, Bart.; "A 

 Treatise on Organic Chemistry," by Professors Roseoe and Sclior- 

 iemmer ; vol. ii. of Mr. F. M. Balfour's " Treatise on Com- 

 parative Embryology ;" "Anthropology," by Dr. E. B. Tylor ; 

 "Mathematical Papers," by the late Prof. Clifford; "History 

 of the Steam Engine," by R. L. Galloway. 



The inauguration of the Paris Popular Observatory took place 

 at the Trocadero Palace on October 11, on the second terrace of 

 the Eastern Tower. Four telescopes — thi-ee reflectors and a 

 refractor, have been placed at the disposal of the public. No 

 fee is taken from the visitors, who have only to make appli- 

 cation to the Popular Observatory Otfice, Trocadero, and register 

 their names. A series of lectures on practical observations will 

 soon begin. A room is also reserved for microscopical obser- 

 vations, which will be opened during the daytime. 



The Sheffield Public Museum boasts of an equatorially 

 mounted telescope which the public are permitted to use under 

 certain restrictions and under the direction of Mr. E. Howarth, 

 the curator. 



M. Hervij-Mangon, the new director of the Conservatoire 

 des Arts et Metiers, gave yesterday a great dinner in honour of 

 Mr. Graham Bell, the inventor of the photophone, which was 

 exhibited and tried in that establishment. 



The CaUsaya bark plants cultivated in Jamaica appear to 

 have been replaced by an inferior hybrid between true Cinchona 

 Calisaya and C. succirttbra. In order to remedy this state of 

 things Mr. J. E. Howard, F.R.S., the well-known quinologist, 

 liberally placed cuttings from his authentic plant of Cinchona 

 Ledgeriana at the disposal of the Royal Gardens, Kew. Three 

 healthy plants raised from this source have lately reached 

 Jamaica, besides others which have been sent to Ceylon. 



Camoensia maxima, the most striking leguminous plant known, 

 has flowered for the first time in cultivation in the Botanic 

 Garden, Trinidad, to which it was sent two years ago from Kew. 

 Welwitsch found it abundantly in the forests of Angola. The 

 flowers are nearly a foot long, with a reddish calyx and cream- 

 coloured petals with a golden border. The standard is 3 4 in. 



broad, which gives some idea of the scale of the other parts. 

 There are living plants also at Kew, but at present it has shown 

 no indication of flowering under glass. 



A CORRESPONDENT states that when he was a schoolboy at 

 Hamburg, male crickets (species not indicated) were sold there 

 in cages made of four playing-cards, and at the rate of a penny 

 a-piece. 



Another correspondent states that the electric lamps illu- 

 minating a large concert-room in the Champs Elysees at Paris, a 

 year or two ago, -jvere extremely attractive to insects of various 

 orders. Who knows that the Thames Embankment may not 

 become the nightly resort of members of the Entomological 

 Society ? 



The Committee of the Topographical Society of London, 

 which has been formed for the pm-pose of collecting and publish- 

 ing maps, views, and other materials for the history of London, 

 have made arrangements for the holding of the inaugural meeting 

 of the Society on Thursday, the 28th inst., at 4 o'clock. The 

 Lord Mayor has granted the use of the Long Parlour at the 

 Mansion House, and will preside on the occasion. Cards for 

 the meeting may be obtained from Mr. Henry ^B. Wheatley, 

 F.S.A., 18, John Street, Adelphi, W.C. 



We are glad to see a new edition of the late Sir J. W. 

 Lubbock's Star Maps, under the title of " The Stars in Six Maps 

 on the Gnomonic Projection," with explanatory notes by Mr. 

 James Glaisher, F.R.S. Letts, Son, and Co. are the publishers. 



It is proposed that an International balloon race should 

 take place at Paris on October 31. Active steps are being 

 taken, and the necessary authorisation will be procured without 

 difficulty from the public authorities, but an obstacle of a quite 

 unexpected nature remains to be solved. For motives, which 

 it is very difficult to determine, the Parisian Company who 

 monopolise the gas, and sell it at the enormous price of three- 

 pence per cubic metre, refuse to dispose of the commodity to 

 aeronauts. As no provision in the charter has been made for the 

 right of inflating balloons, it remains to be seen whether or not 

 the gas monopolists will persist in their refusal. » 



M. Sadi Carnot, the French Minister of Public Works 

 has appointed a Commission to explore the antiquities of the 

 Regency of Tunis, and determine what works could be exe- 

 cuted with advantage in a country of which the welfare is of 

 such importance for the good of the largest French dependency. 



Til's. Pcskr Lloyd gives a detailed account of the earthquake 

 which seems to have been felt generally all over Transylvania on 

 the night between the 3rd and 4th inst. From about 7 o'clock 

 in the evening rumbling noises were heard throughout the night, 

 especially in the hilly districts. About 6.15 a.m. a shock was 

 felt which lasted a couple of seconds, and the shock was repeated, 

 in some places twice, in others as often as ten times. Doors 

 were opened and shut, windows rattled, bells were rung. In 

 several places a movement of the ground was felt, in a direction 

 from north-west to south-east ; in some places this movement 

 lasted as long as ten seconds. In the neighbourhood of Tovis a 

 small railway-station building was overthrown. At Felvinez the 

 shocks were very severe, lasting fully two minutes. Several 

 public buildings had rents in the walls, and nearly the whole of 

 the ceiling of the Reformed Church fell. At Bistritz the people 

 were so alarmed that they rushed from their beds into the streets 

 and open places. In general the disturbance was greater in the 

 western portion of the province. 



An interesting "Note on the Distribution of some of the 

 more important Trees of British Columbia " has been contributed 

 by Mr. George M. Dawson to a recent number of the Canadian 



