Dec. 



1880] 



NATURE 



205 



Hydroids of the White Sea," will be published in German and 

 French, with fifty tables of engravings. 



The Peabody Academy of Science ^(Salem, Massachusetts, 

 U.S.A.), after a forced suspension of its publications for six 

 years, announces that the Memoirs will be resumed at an early 

 date. 



Dr. Hoek of Leiden writes us that a first part of the Zoo- 

 logical Results of the Dutch Arctic Cruises with the 60-ton 

 Schooner JVillem Barents will .'^hortly be published. These re- 

 sults — a preliminary report of which Mr. D' Urban has given in 

 the October number of the Ann. and Mag. of A'al. Hist. — will 

 be published as an extra volume of the Niederliindisches 

 Archiv. filr Zoolcgie (Leiden, E. T. Brill). The different 

 articles will be written in English, French, or German, and the 

 distribution of the material has been as follows : — Sponges, Dr. 

 G. C. J. Vosmaer ; Echinoderms, Prof. C. K. Hoffmann ; 

 Hydroids and Polyzoa, Dr. W. J. Vigelius ; Nemertinears, Dr. 

 A. A. W. plubrecht ; other Worms, Dr. R. Horst ; Pycno- 

 gonids and Crustaceans, Dr. P. P. C. Hoek ; Lamellibranchiate 

 MoUusks, Mr. D. van Haren Noman ; Gastropodous Mollusks, 

 Mr. Th. W. van Lidth de Jeude; Fishes, Dr. A. A. W. 

 Hubrecht ; Birds, Prof. H. .Schlegel. The first part contains 

 the Worms, the Pycnogonids, the Lamellibranchiate Mollusks, 

 the Fishes, and a description of the only mammal captured, and 

 s\ ill be issued before the end of January. 



The death is announced of Prof. Karl B. Heller of the K.K. 

 Theresianum at Vienna, a naturalist w ell know n by his numerous 

 \\ritings. 



Reports from Honolulu describe an eruption of the Mauna 

 Loa Volcano (Hawai) as the grandest which has ever been 

 observed. It began on November 5 at some nine kilometres 

 distance from the summit of the crater. The eruption of lava 

 was accompanied by terrible explosions. 



E.\RTHQUAKES are reported (l) from Brescia, where a shock 

 w as observed on December 10 in the afternoon ; (2) from Schloss 

 Trakostyan and environs (in the mountains of Northern Croatia), 

 where three violent shocks occurred in the night of December 

 lo-il ; (3) from Smyrna, where, on December 12 at 9.40 p.m., 

 .a tolerably powerful shock was noticed. On the 23rd inst., 

 about 5 p.m., a shock of earthquake was felt at Bucharest, 

 Rustchuk, Kustendje, Galatz, Berlad, and Jassy. In the 

 night of December 16-17 'wo earthquake shocks were felt in 

 Agram, in close succession, about II p m. About the .same 

 -hour shocks were observed in various parts of Carniola and 

 .Slyria, e.g. in Gurkfeld at 1 1.4 and n.g p.m., in Grossontag, 

 near Friedau, three quickly-successive shocks ; in Pragerhof two 

 pretty sharp shocks ; in Peltau and in Marburg one strong shock 

 each. In Csakathurn (Hungary) and neighbourhood strong 

 earthquake motions were likewise observed the same night 

 about 11.20 p.m. In the night of December 2122 shocks 

 were again felt in Agram, of which one about I a.m. 

 was pretty violent. In the environs of Agram slight earth- 

 vibrations are still constantly bein^ experienced. At about 

 ten minutes past five o'clock p.m. on December 25 t\io rather 

 severe shocks of earthquake occurred at Odessa within a 

 very short interval of each other. They appear to have come 

 from the direction of the Middle Danube, and, passing through 

 Roumania and Bessai'abia, spent themselves here on the shores 

 of the Black Sea in South Russia. They seem to have been 

 most strongly felt at the Bessarabian towns of Bieletz, Kishineff, 

 and Tiraspol, for the walls of some of the houses were cracked 

 in consequence, At Odessa the effects were limited to buildings 

 and furniture being more or less roughly shaken, or light articles 

 such as vases, bottles, and glasses, being thrown down. The 

 weather v\'as extremely mild and calm at the time, and the sky 

 but very partially clouded. 



Falb's theory is gaining in favour with the population, 

 especially as he predicted fresh earthquakes in the Agram region 

 from December 15 to 31. Falb has enunciated his theory in a 

 newly-published popular work entitled " Die Umwalzungen im 

 Weltall " (Revolutions in the Universe). These are treated 

 under three heads : (i) in the star regions ; (2) in the region of 

 clouds ; and (3) in the depths of the earth. 



The tomb of Immanuel Kant at Kdnigsberg will soon be 

 decorated in a worthy manner. Upon a suitable pedestal a 

 marble bust of the great philosopher will be placed. The bust 

 is the work o( Prof. Siemering. 



" Allerlei gesammelte ornithologische Beobachtungen " is 

 the title of a new book from the pen of Rudolf, Crown Prince 

 of Austria, just published in a limited number of copies, which 

 have been presented by the author to his friends. 



A MOiNUMENT of the Celebrated ornithologist Naumann was 

 recently unveiled in the Schlossgarten at Kothen upon the 

 occasion of the centenary of Naumann's birth. 



The German Fisheries Union have, accordnig to the proposal 

 of Prof. Nitsche of Tharand, resolved to offer a prize of 500 

 marks (25/.) for the best treatise on the follov\ing subject : — Of 

 the ova of fish which are sown out for breeding, and particularly 

 of the ova of the Salmonidte, a large percentage is completely 

 destroyed by fungi, well-known to pisciculturists as byssus or 

 "mould," and belonging partly to the family of Schizomycetje 

 and partly to that of Saprolegniacece. A detailed botanical 

 description of the respective genera and species, their biology 

 and propagation, as well as an account of the manner of their 

 introduction into the piscicultural apparatus, of the conditions 

 which favour their development and of the way in which they 

 destroy the ovum, is now required. At the same time the ques- 

 tions are to be discussed whether and by wh.nt means it would be 

 possible to prevent their introduction, and w-hat measures would 

 best stop a continued spreading of the evil when once introduced 

 into a breeding place. The treatises are to be sent, under the 

 usual formalities, to the office of the German Fisheries Union, 

 9, Leipziger Platz, Berlin. The competition for the prize is to 

 be an international one, and the treatises may be written in 

 German, English, or French. The final term is October I, 

 1882. 



We have received specimens of the diaries published by 

 Messrs. De La Rue. While their beauty and convenience com- 

 mend them to everybody, they ought to be of special value to 

 lovers of science, as they contain so many scientific data. Their 

 get-up and general utility are beyond praise. 



The Comples rcndits of the Paris Academy of Sciences for 

 December 20 is entirely occupied with the discourses pronounced 

 at the funeral of M. Michel Chasles by representatives of the 

 various bodies with which the deceased member was connected — 

 MM. J. Bertrand, Bouquet, Laussedat, Dumas, and RoUand. 



At tlie last meeting of the St. Petersburg Society of 

 Gardening RL Grigorieff made an interesting communication 

 on Japanese gardens. The Japanese are most passionate lovers 

 of gardening, which is carried on by all classes of society) 

 from the great palaces to the most humble houses. Gardening, 

 as well as the art of making bouquets, is taught in schools, and 

 nowhere else in Europe are there so many gardens as in Japan. 

 The species cultivated in the small private gardens are mostly 

 mmiature representatives of great trees. All new species and 

 varieties of garden flowers and trees are sold at high prices and 

 become known throughout the country with great rapidity. M. 

 Grigoiioff exhibited during his lecture a most interesting collec- 

 tion of photographs of Japanese gardens. 



The Russian scientific bodies continue to express their 

 sympathy with Prof. Mendeleeff on the occasion of the refusal 



