Oct. 28, 1880] 



NATURE 



615 



The results of the observations made from the two balloons 

 sent up from the Crystal Palace on Thursday last have not yet 

 been discussed. But it may be stated that the direction of the 

 wind was remarkably steady, as during the run the two balloons 

 were constantly kept in view of each other in spite of the want 

 of light and transparency of air. This result is all tlie more to 

 be noted that the variations in the altitude of the two balloons 

 were frequent and considerable, o tq 5000 feet. The variation 

 of temperature did not amount to more than 5° C. between the 

 maximum of the readings and their minimum. A peculiar 

 current was observed just on arriving on the coast, which is usual 

 under such circumstances. The composition of the clouds was 

 very complex. First, a layer of transparent fog covered almost 

 the whole of the land and gave a watery appearance to it ; 

 second, cumuli described as analogous to pulled bread were 

 floating at a height of 1000 metres and descended gradually 

 as the sun was nearing to the horizon; and lastly, a large 

 number of parallel strati stretching south-westerly in the 

 direction of the sun, and seemingly diverging from it. The 

 velocity of the wind was about half a mile per minute, and 

 pretty well determined by observers located in one of the 

 two towers of the Crystal Palace. As to the prognostication 

 of the route, it was nicely done by Mr. Coxwell, who told M. 

 de Fonvielle that he should land between Portsmouth and 

 Winchester. A question arose between M. de Fonvielle and 

 Commander Cheyne about the bearing, the latter's compass 

 having been reversed by an optical illusion, but the azimuth was 

 given with great accuracy, and the uncertainty between the two 

 would not have lasted for a minute if the possibility of the error 

 could have been ascertained. The swinging of the balloon 

 round its axis was sufficient to prevent the use of a new 

 compass designed on purpose for aeronauts. 



It has been represented to us that in our notice of Prof. 

 Owen's work the statement that "he was lecturer on palceon- 

 tology at the School of Mines in Jermyn Street in 1856" may 

 lead to a misapprehension. We have therefore to state that 

 although Prof. Owen delivered a course of lectures in the theatre 

 of the School of Mines in the year in question, he held no 

 appointment in that institution. 



Mr. Graham Bell has been honoured in the scientific, as 

 well as other circles of Paris during the past week. He exhibited 

 his photophone at the establishment of M. Antoine Breguet and 

 elsewhere, and was the object of much curiosity wherever he 

 went as "I'homme qui fait parler la lumiere." 



At the opening meeting of the Geologists' Association on 

 November 5, the president, Prof. Rupert Jone=, will read a 

 paper on the origin and progress of that society. 



The next number of the Victoria Philosophical Institute's 

 Journal is announced to contain papers by Prof. Stokes, F.R.S., 

 Prof. Hughes of Cambridge, Prof. Nicholson, M.D., F.R.S.E., 

 of St. Andrew's, and Dr. Ilormuzd Rassam, with maps and 

 details of his discoveries. 



Mr. Fletcher of Warrington has sent us a specimen of a 

 new gas heating burner which seems w^ell adapted for many 

 purposes and trades which are as yet unsupplied with satis- 

 factory heating apparatus. It seems to us to have all the ad- 

 vantages claimed for it by Mr. Fletcher. It has from three to 

 four times the power of any burner similar in appearance ; the 

 flame is solid, intensely hot, and perfectly free from smell ; it 

 gives a duty higher than the calculated theoretical maximum for 

 the gas consumed, and it cannot be damaged by the dirtiest 

 work. In case the perforated copper dome gets choked whh 

 dirt, it can when the burner is warm be lifted off and washed or 

 brushed clean. Any liquid spilt so as to get inside the burner 

 flows out by the side tube without the possibility of damaging 



the burner. The body of the burner is cast all in one 

 piece, without a joint, thus doing away with one great fault, 

 causing liability to leakage in most of the burners at present in 

 use. Altogether this burner seems to be one of the greatest 

 advances yet made in the practice of heating by gas. Mr. 

 Fletcher lias also sent us a useful practical paper on Heating 

 (including cooking) by Gas, read the other day before the 

 Philosophical Society of Glasgow. 



Part iii. is to hand of the magnificent "Bedfordshire 

 Pomona," the illustrations of the apples and pears in which 

 continue to be as numerous and life-like as ever, so much so as 

 to make one's mouth water. The papers in this part are on 

 " The Crab, its Characteristics and Associations," by Mr. Edwin 

 Lees, F.L.S. ; "The Orchard, its Products: Cider and Perry," 

 by the Rev. C. H. Birlmer ; the latter a paper of considerable 

 length, minute detail, and great practical value. Mr. David 

 Bogue is the London publisher. 



Among the lectures to be given this winter at the Museum 

 and Library, Queen's Road, Bristol, are the following :— 

 November 22, Prof. S. P. Thompson, B.A., D.Sc, " The Rain- 

 bow," illustrated with experiments by the electric light ; January 

 17, iSSi, Prof. Rolleston, M.A.,M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S. , Linacre 

 Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, Oxford, "The Early 

 Races of the British Isles " ; January 31, Sir John Lubbock. 

 Bart., M.P., F.R.S., F.L.S., " Fruit and Seeds "; February 14, 

 Rev. J. M. Wilson, M.A., F.R.A.S., Head Master of Clifton 

 College, "Double and MuUiple Stars"; February 28, Dr. W. 

 H. Stone, F.R.C.S., Lecturer on Physics at St. Thomas's 

 Hospital, "The Measurement and Determination of Musical 

 Pitch," illustrated with experiments ; March 14, Prof. W. J. 

 SoUas, M.A., F.R.S.E., F.G.S., Curator of the Bristol Museum, 

 " Coal and the Bristol Coalfields." 



We have received the Catalogue of the General Lending 

 Department of the Newcastle-on-Tyne Public Library, a very 

 thick volume, with a much thinner one containing a list of the 

 books of the Juvenile Lending Department. We may notice 

 them more at length in a future number. 



We have received a very favomrable Sixth Annual Report 

 from the West London Scientific Association and Field Club, 

 which commenced its new session on the second Tuesday of this 

 month. 



'Vyo. Reports of the Dunedin (N.Z.) Naturalists' Field Club 

 for 1S78-S0 are, we regret to see, desponding. It finds some 

 diificulty in keeping up the interest of its members, rather a 

 strange thing in the land of the New Zealand Institute. The 

 Report contains catalogues of the indigenous and introduced 

 flowering plants occvurring in the Dunedin district. 



On September 23 Rangoon was visited by three distinct 

 shocks of earthquake ; all parts of the province had previously 

 been visited by shocks. A shock of earthquake lasting two 

 seconds was felt at Cordova on the 2ist inst., accompanied by a 

 loud subterraneous rumbling. A slight shock, lasting six 

 seconds, was also felt at Madrid on the same day. The shock 

 was stronger in the centre of tlie city than in the outskirts, and 

 shocks occurred in several towns of the province of Zamora, 

 but no damage has been done. On the same date a shock, the 

 after effects of which were felt in almost every part of the 

 country, occurred both at Lisbon and Coimbra, without however 

 doing any damage. 



It is stated that at the National Exhibition to be opened at 

 Milan next year there will be a captive balloon, on the model of 

 the one which was so successful in Paris in 1S7S. It will 

 measure not less than iSo feet in circumference, 84 feet in 

 height, and contain 15,000 cubic feet of gas. To it will be 



