Dec. 1 8, 1873] 



NA TURE 



131 



stood even by scientific men, and which could only be fully ap- 

 preciated and utilised years afterwards, when others should arise 

 who devoted themselves to the same branches of science as Mr. 

 Hancock had done." 



The Professorship of Zoology in the Royal College of Science, 

 Dublin, has become vacant through the appointment of Prof. 

 Traquair to the Keepership of the Natural History collections in 

 tlie Museum of Science and Art, Edinburgh. Candidates for 

 the appointment should apply, forwarding testimonials, to the 

 secretary, Science and Art Department, South Kensington, 

 S.W. 



On April 14 and following days, an Exhibition in Natural 

 Science will be offered for competition, in connection with 

 King's College, Cambridge. Candidates must be British sub- 

 jects under twenty years of age, unless already undergraduates of 

 the College, who arc also eligible, if in their first or second year 

 The Exhibition is worth at least 80/. a year, and is tenable for 

 three years, but not with any other Exhibition, Scholarship, or 

 Fellowship. There will be three papers in Natural Science 

 (including Chemistry, Physics, and Physiology), and papers in 

 Elementary Classics and Matliematics. 



Ninety-four essays have been sent in in competition for the 

 100/. prize offered by Lord Cathcart, the president of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, for the best essay on the potato disease and 

 its prevention ; but the committee appointed by the council of 

 the society to adjudicate the prize do not advise its being 

 awarded to any of the competitors. They recommended, how- 

 ever, that a sum of money be granted for the purpose of in- 

 ducing a competent mycologist to undertake the investigation 

 of the life-history of the potato-fungus, Pcronospora infestaiis, 

 in the interval between the injury to the potato plant and the 

 re-appearance of the fungus in the following year ; and that the 

 society should offer prizes for kinds of potatoes that would resist 

 disease during a series of experiments to be continued for three 

 successive years. 



A CORRESPONDENT sends US a letter from Dr. A. B. Meyer in 

 which the latter asserts that D'Albertis did not cross New 

 Guinea at all, and that he himself is the only explorer who has 

 done so. Willi regard to his statement that the fauna of New 

 Guinea is not rich, he says he refers to the higher vertebrates ; 

 he intends to publish shortly a " Prodromus Faunae Novae 

 Guinensis." The latitude of the point on MacCIuer Gulf, 

 at which he arrived in cro-sing, was 2° 38', and not 20° 38', as 

 by an obvious misprint was stated in his article in vol. ix. p. 79 

 of Nature. 



A PECULIAR result has been arrived at by Professor Fick, 

 of Wiirtzburg, in his experiments on the blood-pressure in 

 the heart and aorta of the dog (Verhandl. d. physik. raed., 

 vol. iv. p. 223). He finds that if a straight tube is the 

 manometer employed, the column of fluid lises higher 

 when the lower end is in the aorta, than when in the left 

 ventricle itself. There are several objections to the method 

 adopted which might tend to the production of this extraordinary 

 result, so contrary to all preconceivd notions and to the experience 

 of M. Marey, who, when discussing tli« subject (Circ. du Sang., 

 p. 192) remarks, " Frequently verified measurements, made by 

 the employment of ampoules on the horse, show that the maxi- 

 mum pressure in the aorta is slightly more feeble than in the 

 ventricle, though, in some ca ses, it is nearly the same." May it 

 not be tliat the presence of the tube in the ventricle, and the 

 associated imperfect closure of the semilunar valves, reduces the 

 pressure in the one case, and- ihat on its withdrawal into the 

 aorta the heart again resumes its more vigorous action. It 

 seems physically impossible that the aortic pressure should be 

 greater than the ventricular during any portion of the systolic 

 period in which the semilunar valves are open. 



A VALUABLE contribution to anatomical science, by Prof. 

 Turner, has appeared in the current number of the Journal of 

 Anatomy and Physiology, in whicli the relations of the difterent 

 cerebral convolutions to the parts of the brain-case with which 

 they are in contact are discussed. Each lateral half of the scalp 

 is divided with the aid of the best marked prominences and 

 sutures as landmarks, into ten regions, which are again capable 

 of further subdivision, and the convolutions found in each are 

 stated. It is shown that the lobes of the brain by no means 

 correspond exactly with the bones from which they have been 

 named, but frequently extend under the cover of others, or only 

 partially occupy the surfaces of their own. These observations 

 are particularly valuable now that the subject of the localisation 

 of the cerebral functions has attained such prominent im- 

 portance. 



Captain Potter of the U.S. whaler Glacier, we leam from 

 La Nature, says that he has discovered some relics of the 

 Franklin Expedition in the Polar regions. Captain Potter left 

 New Bedford, Mass., on July 19, 1871, and remained absent 

 twenty-six months, most of which time he spent in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the place where Franklin and his compinions 

 abandoned their vessels. At Repulse Bay a party of Esquimaux 

 came to trade with Captain Potter. He was considerably sur- 

 prised to see thein offering in exchange for culinary utensils, 

 part of a table-service of silver, which they declared belonged 

 to the appointments of Franklin. There are two large table- 

 spoons, two large four-pronged forks, an ordinary tea-spoon, 

 and sugar-spoon. All these articles are of old-fashioned make. 

 The natives assert that after having quitted their ships, Sir John 

 and his companions separated into two bands, one of which took 

 the direction of the Red River, and the other made for the 

 territory of the Hudson's Bay Company. They say also that 

 Sir John and his companions died solely from natural causes, 

 and Captain Potter believes tliey speak the truth. 



The adult female Indian Rhinoceros, which has been in the 

 Zoological Society's Gardens since July 1850, then not larger 

 than a full sized dog, died on Sunday last, having been ill for 

 some time previously. The coldness of the weather and the fog 

 were probably the exciting causes of its death, though no definite 

 pathological changes have been {ovccAon post-mortem examination. 

 There were no symptoms of senile decay. An interesting point 

 may be mentioned, which is, that one of the wisdom teeth from 

 the lower jaw was found in the ca;cum, with the fangs and 

 dentine entirely absorbed. This tooth must have been in this 

 peculiar situation for some lime, probably years, as it is almost 

 unworn, whilst the corresponding molar on the opposite side is 

 still in place, much worn, as is the same one in the maxilla of 

 the same side ; that opposite to the proper situation of the 

 missing tooth being almost as complete as when it was cut. 

 The large accumulation of hay in the ca;cum, in which the tooth 

 was embedded, appeared fresh and but little modified by the 

 digestive process, so that it must have been there but a short 

 time. In a Sumatran Rhinoceros, also, w-hich died some time 

 ago, two large beans were found in the cecum, which could not 

 have been introduced in the food for at least four or five months 

 befare the individual's decease. 



We have received a Catalogue of Apparatus suitable for 

 Lectures and Class Instruction in. Subject VIII. Acoustics, 

 Light, Heat, and IX. Magnetism and Electricity, in connection 

 with the Science and Art Department. The object of the Cata- 

 logue, which contains tlie names of 141 different pieces of appa- 

 ratus, is to show those articles on which the Department allows 

 adicountof 50 per cent. It is ot great importance that this 

 Catalogue should become widely known, and we hope the faci- 

 lities here offered for the acquisition of serviceable appaiatu 

 will be extensively taken advantage of. 



