64 



NATURE 



[_Nov. 1 8, 1880 



public inspection. On this occasion the most important docu- 

 ments of this collection were affixed to the walls, with a number of 

 other articles belonging to the archives. The most interesting is 

 certainly the original letter written by Fulton to Mollard ex- 

 plaining to him the principles of steamboat construction. The 

 letter is very long and exhaustive, and is accompanied by a 

 drawing. M. Mollard returned a very cold ansu'er after having 

 meditated for a full month, and he says that "Mr. Fulton's 

 communication will be lodged in the archives of the Conserva- 

 toire. " The date of Fulton's communication is the beginning of 

 Pluviose, An. 11; MoUard's answer is not exhibited, but has 

 been seen by our correspondent. 



The Jablochkoff light has been introduced by M. Herve- 

 Mangon into the Conservatoire. It will be fed by a Gramme 

 machine, which the establishment has purchased for its constant 

 use. The light will be placed in the amphitheatre, where M, 

 Herve-Mangon delivers, twice a week, his own lectures. 



The lighting of the Victoria Station of the District Raihv.iy 

 by means of the Jablochkoff electric light has been so successful 

 that it has been also applied to the Charing Cross Station, and 

 will shortly be introduced at Earl's Court. 



M. Martin is engaged in polishing the object-glass of the 

 large refracting telescope now building at the Paris Obser- 

 vatory. The diameter of this exceptional lens is 73 centimetre^, 

 and its weight 200 kilograms. The quality of the glass having 

 proved defective it has already broken twice, and the operation 

 is now being made on the third casting. 



On the occasion of the opening of the Ronalds Library at the 

 Society of Telegraph Engineers, a considerable number of rare 

 and curious books relating to electricity, magnetism, navigation, 

 &c., was exliibited. A list of these has been printed and would 

 be valuable to any one interested in the history of the depart, 

 ments of science concerned. 



A GOOD example of the thoroughness of German education is 

 given in the publication by Brockhaus of Leipzig of an "English 

 Scientific Reader," edited by Dr. F. J. Wershoven, its purpose 

 being to familiarise students with the style and terms used by 

 the best English scientific writers. The first part relates to 

 physics, chemistry, and chemical technology, and the extracts 

 are made with great judgment. Among the authors from whom 

 selections are made are Clerk-Maxwell, Fleeming Jenkin, 

 Crookes, Roscoe, Lockyer, Rankine, Bloxam, George Wilson. 



We have received the first two volumes of a new " Biblio- 

 theque Beige," for the popularisation of the sciences and arts, 

 published at Mons by Manceaux. The two volumes received are 

 " Traite elenientaire de Meteorologie," by MM. J. C. Houzeau 

 and A. Lancaster, two names \\ell known in connection with 

 this subject; and " Zoologie tlementaire," by Prof. Felix Pla- 

 teau, whose name must also be familiar to our readers in con- 

 nection with original research in a special department of the 

 subject. Both volumes are well printed and illustrated. Among 

 the volumes to follow arc " Palseontology and Conchology," 

 by A. Briart ; "Geology," by F. Cornet; "Botany," by F. 

 Crepin; "Mineralogy," and "Mineral Physiology," by L. L. 

 de Koninck ; "Mechanics," by H. Hubert; " Astronomy," by 

 M. Niesten ; "The Beginnings of Animal Life," by E. van 

 Beneden ; and " Physics," by vand der Mensbrugghen. 



Prof. Cornelius Doelter of Gratz was to proceed on the 

 iSth inst. to Paris, thence to set out on a mission of scientific 

 investigation to West Africa. 



According to official reports of the statistics of Bosnia and 

 Herzegovina, these contain 1272 p.arishes, 43 towns, 31 markets, 

 5042 villages, 189,662 houses, 200,747 dwellings. Of the 



1.158,440 inhabitants 607,789 are male, 550,681 female, 448,613 

 Mahommetan confession, 496,761 Greek-Oriental, 209,391 

 Roman Catholic, 3426 Jewish, 249 other confessions. 



The Procureur-General of Paris having complained, in his 

 official addiess on the occasion of the opening of the courts, that 

 the legal experiments in cases of poison were executed without 

 sufficient precautions being taken against the professional preju- 

 dices of the operator, all the n-;edical advisers of the criminal 

 courts in Paris sent in their resignation, after having taken the 

 advice of the Dean of the .School of Medicine and other scientific 

 authorities. Their number is nineteen. 



A fairly sitisfactory Report is given by Surgeon-Major 

 Bidie on the Government Central Museum at Madras. The 

 number of visitors, especially female, continues to increase, and 

 the special arrangements for native ladies attracted an average of 

 116 on the afternoon of tlie first Saturday of each month. 



The Garden has increased its size and reduced its price, 

 introducing several improvements. 



Lord Gifford, one of the Scotch judges, inopening the session 

 at the Edinburgh School of Art the other day, summed up very 

 neatly the advantages which a full and accurate scientific know- 

 ledge would bestow on tho e who were engaged in any practical 

 work whatever — (i) That scientific knowledge of their subject 

 would make work, whatever it was, intelligent, not mechanical ; 

 (2) it would make their work skilful and easy ; (3) it would 

 enable them to produce more exact and perfect work ; (4) it 

 would mal-:e their work advancing and progressive; and (5) it 

 would make their lifework in itself delightful, and a source of 

 pure and profound joy. 



A VERY favourable Twelfth Report of the Working Men's 

 College is issued. This institution completed its twenty-fifth 

 year last year, and during its existence has doubtless done much 

 good. The science classes have attracted an increasing number 

 of students in recent years. j 



Under the title of " The Free Libraries of Scotland" some 

 useful information is brought together in a pamphlet by " An 

 Assistant Librarian." The towns in Scotland in which there 

 are free libraries are Airdrie, Dundee, Forfai-, Galashiels, Glasgow 

 (Mitchell Libraiy), Hawick, Paisley, Thurso. The University 

 towns of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and St. Andrews are still with- 

 out such useful institutioui ; the Act has been adopted in Inver- 

 ness and Dunfermline ; Arbroath has twice rejected the proposal 

 to adopt the Free Libraries Act, 



We are glad to notice that the Highbury Microscopical and 

 Scientific Society is increasing in numbers and has some good 

 jjapers promised for the new year. It gave its fourth annual 

 soiree at Harecourt Hall on October 14, and the president, Mr. 

 Frederick Fitcb, F.R.M.S., gave his address on the "History 

 of the Microscope and Microscopic Research " on October 28. 

 On Saturday, the 13th inst., a visit will be paid to the Museum 

 of Practical Geology under the guidance of Prof. Rudler, F.G.S. 



In the Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria, April 

 1880, recently received, the Rev. R. H. Codrington contributes 

 some valuable "Notes on the Customs of Mota, Banks Islands." 

 Since Mr. Tylor in his " Early History of Manl^ind " so graphi- 

 cally sketched the remarliable custom of the " couvade" all 

 information as to its further geographical distribution is ethno- 

 logically valuable, and Mr. Codrington here adds the Banks 

 Islands to the area in which it is practised. There is also a 

 tradition that among the inland mountains there is or used to be 

 a race of wild men, which agrees with the stories that are current 

 in most of the Asiatic Islands. The Mota practices here described 

 are not to be confounded with those of the Motu of New 

 Guinci. 



