Mav 20, 1909] 



NA TURE 



02/ 



with self-recording gauges. The rainfall over this vast 

 area varies very greatly, according to position and alti- 

 tude and the strength of the monsoons. On the whole, the 

 amounts for 1907 differed little from the average ; in Java 

 the e.\trenie yearly values were about 29 inches and 

 1963 inches (both in the eastern part), and at outlying 

 stations about 21 inches to 1975 inches (both in Celebes). 

 The results at more than 700 stations in Java, including 

 the observations at non-official stations, for the period 

 1879-1905, have recently been separately published by Dr. 

 W. van Bemmelen. In addition to the above-mentioned 

 publications, the observatory has issued the results of 

 several valuable investigations relating to seismology, 

 tides, &c., and has completed a magnetic survey of the 

 \yhole archipelago. Papers have also been published bear- 

 ing upon the moon's influence on meteorological and 

 magnet"L'al phenomena. 



RECENT PAPERS ON FISHES. 

 A REVIEW, by Mr. E. W. L. Holt, of recent contri- 

 butions to our knowledge of the life-history of the 

 eel, forms the subject of No. 8 of IrL^^h Fisheries Scientific 

 Investigations for 1907 (1909). After a survey of the 

 development and migration of the species, the author is 

 of opinion that the breeding-resort of the eels of northern 

 Europe is in the deep water outside the 500-fathom line 

 to the south-west of Ireland, where alone their lepto- 

 cephali have been taken in abundance. It by no means 

 follows from this that all north European eels which reach 

 the sea succeed in arriving at the breeding-area, and 

 possibly Finnish eels never breed at all. If this be so, 

 it becomes a practical certainty that elvers — unlike salmon 

 — do not return to the rivers from which their parents 

 started, as, indeed, is improbable on other grounds, seeing 

 lint eels — unlike salmon — are hatched in the sea. 



In the second part of vol. xxxi. of Notes from the 

 I.eyden Museum, Prof. Max Weber, of .Amsterdam, 

 describes a large number of new species of fishes collected 

 by the members of the Siboga Expedition in Austro-Malaya. 

 A large proportion of these were taken in littoral or sub- 

 littoral waters, but others were captured on coral-reefs or 

 in deep water with nets. Many of the new forms are 

 blennies and gobies, no fewer than seven new species of 

 the type-genus (Gobio) of the latter group being described. 

 The present preliminarv notice is published on account of 

 the interest attaching to these fishes from a distributional 

 point of view. 



To vol. vii., part i.. of Annotationes Zoologicae 

 Japonenses. Mr. S. Tanaka contributes two papers on 

 Japanese fishes, one dealing with those inhabiting rock- 

 pools at Misaki, and including descriptions of two new 

 ■-pecies, while the second is devoted to eight new species 

 from Japan generally, two of these being gobies and one 

 a blenny. 



Finally, three new species of cisco, or lake-herrings, of 

 the genus Argyrosomus from the great lakes of North 

 .America are described by Messrs. Jordan and Evermann 

 in No. 1662 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National 

 Museum (vol. xxxvi., pp. 165-172), where a note is 

 appended on the soecies of white fish (Coregonus) Inhabit- 

 ing the same region. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



BiRMiNciiiAM. — Sir E. Ray Lankcster. K.C.B., has re- 

 signed his appointment as Huxley lecturer for the coming 

 session, and Mr. W. Bateson, F.R.S.. has accepted an 

 invitation to fill the vacancy thereby caused. 



On July 7 the King is to perform the opening ceremony 

 of the new buildings of the University. These buildings, 

 which are situate in the south-west corner of Edgbaston, 

 are about three miles from the centre ol the town. They 

 comprise the Great Hall, an imposing structure about 

 160 feet in length. So feet in width, and 60 feet high; 

 two separate blocks devoted to engineering in its various 

 branches, civil, mechanical, and electrical; another block 

 for mining and metallurgy, with additional buildings for 1 

 NO. 2064, "^^OL. 80] 



the manufacture and working of iron and steel ; and a, 

 power-station for the generation of electrical power, which, 

 is distributed to the different blocks for driving machinery 

 and for lighting purposes. These sections have all beea 

 in working order for two or tlirce years ; and at the 

 present time there are approaching completion two blocks 

 for the departments of physics and chemistry respectively^ 

 and a third structure which will serve the function of a 

 central library. Rising high above all these is the 

 Chatnberlain Tower, with its clock and bells, measuring 

 from base to summit about 325 feet, the gift of a local 

 donor as a tribute to the Chancellor of the University. 



C.\MiiRiD&E. — In connection with the Darwin centenary, 

 it is proposed to confer' the degree of Doctor of Science, 

 Iwnoris causa, upon : — E. van Beneden, professor of zoo-- 

 logy in the University of Lifege ; Robert Chodat, professor 

 of botany in the University of Geneva ; Francis Darwin, 

 F.R.S., of Christ's College; Karl F. von Goebel, pro- 

 fessor of botany in the University of Munich ; L. von 

 Graff, professor of zoology in the University of Gratz;. 

 H: Hohding, professor of philosophy in the University of 

 Copenhagen; J. Loeb, professor of physiology in the 

 University of California, Berkeley; E. Perrier, director o£ 

 the Natural History Museum, Paris; G. .A. Schwalbe, 

 professor of anatomy In the .University of Strassburg ; 

 H. von Vochting, professor of botany in the University of 

 Tubingen ; H. de Vries, professor of botany in the Uni- 

 versity of Amsterdam ; C. D. Walcott, secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, Washington; E. B. Wilson, pro- 

 fessor of zoology in the Columbia University of New York; 

 and C. R. Zeiller, professor of paleobotany in the Ecole- 

 Natlonale Sup(5rleure des Mines, Paris. 



The special board for biology and geology has approved 

 a "rant of 251!. from the Balfour fund made by the 

 managers to .Mr. R. C. Punnett, In furtherance of his. 

 experiments to investigate the inheritance of certam. 

 features in rabbits. 



The syndicate on alternatives for the general examma- 

 tion, after consultation with the special boards affected,, 

 recommends that the schedules for the first examination 

 for the M.B. degree be adopted for the proposed pre- 

 liminary examination in science, and that the examina- 

 tions be conducted bv the same examiners and on the same^ 

 papers. It is proposed to allow that the three subjects of 

 the examination— chemistry, physics, and elementary 

 biology— be taken separately, but all candidates must pass 

 in each subject. Detailed regulations have been issued' 

 as regards the amendment of the ordinances which the 

 various suggestions will involve. 



The new agricultural buildings are now well advanced, 

 and it is hoped they will be ready for occupation by 

 October. The amount of expenditure already incurred is 

 14 oooL and it is now necessary to obtain specifications 

 and estimates for furniture and fittings. It is estimated 

 that these, together with the architect's commission and' 

 incidental expenses, will amount to 3500!. At the present 

 time the bulldlnjj fund amounts to 17,000;., and there 15 

 thus a balance of 3000!. in hand. A further sum of 200of. 

 has been promised as soon as iS.ooof. has been subscribed. 

 Strenuous efforts are therefore being made to obtain the 

 looo!. required to reach this amount. 



London.— Wednesday, Mav 12, was Presentation Dav 

 at the University. In 'the absence of the Chancellor (Lord' 

 Rosebery), the Vice-Chancellor (Sir Wm. Collins, M.P.) 

 presided. Before the proceedings in the Great Hall com- 

 menced, the first general parade of the University con- 

 tingent of the Officers' Training Corps, which mustered 

 more than 400 strong, was held in front of the University. 

 Addresses were delivered by the Vice-Chancellor and by 

 Sir Henrv Mackinnon, Director-General of the Territorial 

 Force, the first report of the new principal. Dr. H. A. 

 Miers, F.R.S., showed continued progress, the """™^j 

 of matriculants having risen from 3277 in 1907-8 to, 38._& 

 in iqo8-9. A corresponding increase was also reported in 

 the number of first degrees granted (from 1192 to 1336) ■ 

 and of higher degrees (from 64 to 78). In concluding his 

 report, the principal directed attention to the great _ pro- 

 gress which had been made In the organls.atlon of higher 

 education in London since the re-constitution of the Uni- 

 versity, and the "appalling deficiencies " which still existea-- 



