Dec. II, 1873] 



NATURE 



113 



Copenhagen ! Where are the Diigongs of Rodriguez £o 

 charmingly described by Leguat ? Vanished ! Where 

 are the Sea-elephants of Ascension, Tristran d'Acunha 

 and the Crozettes ? So hunted down that it is not 

 worth a skipper's while to seek them ! Where are the 

 countless and mighty Otaries that Peron found in Bass's 

 Straits? Not thire assuredly!* The list of questions 

 migh} be extended indefinitely. Surely it is time to stop 

 such wanton, such short-sighted destruction. Let me not 

 be misunderstood, however. No one believes more firmly 

 than I do in the right which man has to turn animals to 

 his itsc. It is the abuse of which I complain. It is an 

 abuse of power to slaughter these creatures in such 

 places and at such times of the year as must lead to their 

 utter extinction ; and I know there are many naturalists, 

 some of high standing, who think with me, though per- 

 haps their acquaintance with the facts has not been 

 sufficient to make them see so clearly as I do that inter- 

 ference with the abuse must speedily be adopted or it 

 will be too late. Naturalists, as a rule, are rare in the 

 legislature of this country, but is there not one, at least, 

 to call upon the Government to take the necessary steps } 

 Granted that these steps are beset with difficulties — so 

 much the more honour to him who surmounts them. The 

 Russians and the Americans have been before us, and 

 through their wise measures there is now every chance 

 that the Seals of the Northern Pacific will continue to 

 exist for many a long year to the great profit of all con- 

 cerned. 



In this matter, as in similar cases, the present gene- 

 ration will deservedly be reproached by posterity if we 

 steadily shut our eyes to what has taken place and to 

 what is going on now. Alfred Newton 



NOTES 



SiGNOR SCHIAPARELLI, Director of the Milan Observatory, 

 has been appointed Director of the Florence Observatory in 

 place of the late Signer Donati. The Florentine Observatory, 

 which stands near Galileo's Tower at Arcetri, is in every way 

 superior to that of Milan, and we may look for considerable re- 

 sults from an astronomer who has already done much with small 

 opportunities. 



On Monday evening Sir Samuel Baker met with an enthusi. 

 astic reception at the meeting of the Geographical Society, from 

 a large, distinguished, and brilliant audience, which included the 

 Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh. Sir Samuel spoke 

 mainly of what he had done to suppress the slave-trade, and of 

 the almost overwhelming difficulties he and his brave wife had to 

 face in bringing the lawless African tribes to reason. After Sir 

 Samuel sat down, the Prince of Wales said a few words, and 

 testified to the sincerity of the Khedive. 



In his address at the opening meeting of the Newcastle-on- 

 Tyne Chemical Society, the president, Dr. Lunge, spoke of his 

 visit to ihe Vienna Exhibition, and of the rapid progress which 

 the Continent is making in the manufacture of the finer chemi- 

 cals. The reason, he says, is not far to seek. " You find in every 

 chemical works on the Continent, I may say, without exception, 

 one, sometimes several, chemists of thoroughly scientific training, 

 who have acquired their theoretical basis by three or four years' 

 studying at a University or a Polytechnical Institution. One 

 "works," to which I havejalready alluded, certainly one of the 

 largest in Germany, keeps something like half-a-dozen such 

 chemists (not practical managers), with salaries varying from 

 300/. to 400/., and it retains the services of an accomplished 

 chemist, of scientific reputation, at a salary of nearly 2,000/. per 

 annum, exclusively for theoretical work in the laboratory, with- 

 out any trouble or responsibility connected with the manufactur- 



• See Mr. Charles Gould's remarks in the Monthly Notices, &c., of 

 the Royal Society of Tasmania for 1871, pp. 61—67. 



ing work outside. But then, they do constantly invent new 

 things there, and make them in tons, or hundreds of tons, when 

 the chemical world outside has, perhaps, barely heard of the 

 discovery of a new compound, with a barbarous name, appa- 

 rently only obtainable at the rate of a few grains in a sealed tube 

 after many weeks' patient work. What I, maintain, after a visit 

 to the Vienna Exhibition, and at a few German and Austrian 

 chemical works, is, that foreign countries are taking the wind 

 out of our sails very fast in this line, and that both their rate of 

 progress and the means of attaining it are very much superior to 

 ours." • 



A PRELIMINARY meeting was held on November 29 in the 

 Physical Laboratory of the Science Schools, South Kensington, 

 to consider the formation of a Physical Society. The chair was 

 taken by Di-. J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S. Thirty-six gentlemen 

 were present, including most of the physicists of London. It 

 was resolved that the following gentlemen be requested to serve 

 as an organising committee :— W. G. Adams, E. Atkinson, W. 

 Crookes, A. Dupre, G. C. Foster, J. H. Gladstone, T. M. 

 Goodeve, F. Guthrie, O. Henrici, B. Loewy, Dr. Mills, A. W. 

 Reinold, and H. Sprengel. A letter was read from the Lords 

 of the Committee of Council on Education, granting the use of 

 the Physical Laboratory and apparatus at the Science Schools, 

 South Kensmgton, for the purposes of the Society. 



The PJiotographic Nctos says that a curious and important dis- 

 covery has been made by Dr. Vogel during the last few weeks. 

 It consists, as he describes it in a private letter, in'making the non- 

 actinic rays under certain circumstances actinic. " I have found " 

 he says, " that bodies which absorb the yellow ray of the spec- 

 trum make bromide of silver sensitive to the yellow rays. In 

 like manner I find bodies which absorb the red ray of the spec 

 trum make bromide of silver sensitive to the red rays. For 

 example, by the addition of corallin — which absorbs the yellow 

 ray- -to a bromide of silver film it becomes as sensitive to the 

 yellow ray as to the blue ray." This is one of the most impor- 

 tant and interesting observations in connection with actino- 

 cheraistry which has been made for several years. 



An examination will be held at Queen's College, Oxford, on 

 April 14, 1S74, and following days, for the purpose of filling up 

 four open scholarships of the yeairly value of 90/. tenable for five 

 years. Candidates must not have attained the age of 20 year."-. 

 One of the open scholarships will be awarded for mathematics 

 and one for natural science in case competent candidates offer 

 themselves. Candidates offering in natural science should be pro 

 ficient in either physics, chemistry, or physiology, and possess 

 some acquaintance with a second physical science. These candi. 

 dates are requested to signify by letter to the Provost, as early 

 as may ha in March, their intention of standing, and to state at 

 the same time the subjects they propose to offer, in order that 

 the necessary arrangements may be made for their examination. 

 Candidates are to call on the Provost in the College-hall at 9 

 P.M. on Monday, April 13, bringing with them satisfactory evi- 

 dence of date and (where necessary) place of birth, and testi- 

 monials of good conduct from their schoolmasters or tutors. 



The following alterations have been made in the programme 

 of lectures at the Royal Institution : — In consequence of Prof. 

 Tyndall's desire to give six lectures on the Physical Properties 

 of Gases and Liquids on Tuesdays before Easter, Prof. Ruther- 

 ford will give five lectures on Respiration before Easter, and six 

 lectures on the Nervous System after Easter. At the Friday 

 evening meeting, March 6, Sir Samuel Baker will lecture on the 

 Suppression of the Slave Trade of the White NUe. Dr. Burdon- 

 Sanderson will lecture after Easter. 



Mr. Henry Lee reports the development of a new calcareous 

 sponge -in the Brighton Aquarium. In its early condition it 



