Jad. 26, 1874J 



NATURE 



249 



Geological Fund to Mr. Alfred Bell and Mr. Ralph Tate, 

 F.G.S., between whom it will be divided. 



We are glad to note that the Emperor of Brazil has conferred 

 upon Dr. Hugins, F. R. S., the honourable distinction of Com- 

 mander of the Order of the Rose. 



We are informed there is a scheme in contemplation for the 

 erection of an aquarium at Margate. The building will com- 

 mence at Cold Harbour and pass round Fort Point to the flag- 

 staff point on the Fort Promenade, and will be earned out by a 

 limited liability company, with a capital of 15,000/. In all like- 

 lihood the work will be commenced early in the spring and will 

 take about nine months to complete. According to present 

 plans the aquarium will be 250 ft. long by 100 ft. broad, and will 

 be connected with a large hall suitable for concerts and balls. 



Tjie Royal Irish Academy have granted to Messrs. Draper 

 and Moss the sum of 30/. towards their researches on Selenium, 

 and 35/. to G. J. Stoney, F.R.S., towards the construction 

 of the Academy's spectroscope. 



On the 19th inst. Prof. Corfield delivered a lecture on Small- 

 pox and Vaccination, in connection with the Laws of He.ilth 

 Class of the Birmingham and Midland Institute. 



A COURSE of " Science Lectures for the People " has been 

 arranged by the Council of the Crewe Mechanics' Institution, to 

 be delivered in their hall. The following is the programme for 

 the next two months : — February 5th and 12th, two lectures on 

 "Mechanics," by Sedley Taylor, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity 

 College, Cambridge ; February 19th and 26th, two lectures on 

 "Waves," by G. W. Hicks, B.A., scholar of St. John's Col- 

 lege, Cambridge ; March 5th and 12th, two lectures on "Light," 

 by William Garnett, B.A., scholar of St. John's College, Cam- 

 bridge. These two last will treat of spectrum analysis, and its 

 application to the Bessemer flame. H. N. Read, B.A., of St. 

 John's College, Cambridge, will give the two concluding lectures 

 on "Chemistry," on March 19th and 26th. Each lecture will 

 be illustrated by experiments. 



We have received two more of the penny reprints of the 

 Science Lectures for the people delivered at Manchester, namely : 



"Muscle and Nerve," by Prof. Gamgee, M.D., F.R.S., and 



"The Time that has elapsed since the Era of the Cave Men of 

 Devonshire," by William Pengelly, F.R.S. They both seem 

 admirably adapted for the purpose for which they were given, 

 the subjects being treated clearly and familiarly without that 

 sacrifice of scientific accuracy which is often the bane of popular 

 lectures delivered before mixed audiences. 



We have received the thirteenth annual report of the Man- 

 chester Scientific Students' Association, containing an account of 

 the various soirees, excursions, and papers for the past year. 

 We are pleased to see tliat the Committee speak very favourably 

 of the position and prospects of the Society. The total number 

 of members is 177. During 1873 two soirees were held, seven- 

 teen lectures delivered on various branches of science, and 

 eleven excursions made to places of scientific and antiquarian 

 interest in the locality. 



.\ NLW society has been formed at Londonderry under the 

 name of the " Londonderry Scientific Association" to promote 

 the study of physical, natural, and historical science. Courses 

 of lectures will be dehvered on scientific subjects, single lectures 

 on special subjects by eminent Lecturers will also be provided as 

 occasion may serve, and excursions made during the summer for 

 the field-study of Geology, Zoology, and Botany. The first 

 meeting was held on January 14, when Air. W. E. Hart, M. A., 



President "of the Society, occupied the chair and opened the 

 proceedings by reading a paper on " Local Scientific Societies ; 

 their aims and objects ; " in which he pointed out the importance 

 of the study of natural science, both as in itself a valuable 

 branch of education, and as a means of intellectual discipline. 

 This was followed by a discussion on the " Relations of Physico- 

 Geographical Conditions to Civilisation." The " Londondeny 

 Scientific Society " is chiefly composed of ex-members of the 

 "Londonderry Natural History and Philosophical Society," 

 which ceased to exist some two years ago. 



We learn from Mr. Gerard Krefft, F.L.S., Curator of the 

 Australian Museum at Sydney, that the museum, which is the 

 oldest and richest in the Australian colonies, was visited last year 

 by nearly 250,000 persons, who were admitted free. We un- 

 derstand that Mr. Krefft will be glad lo receive specimens of all 

 kinds from any individuals interested in the progress of science 

 in iS'^ew South Wales. 



Mr. Henry Solly writes to the Times with reference to tlie 

 address issued by the Trades Guild of Learning noticed in 

 Nature. He says that the Guild originated with himself, 

 and was first proposed at a meeting he called last March to 

 a number of leading working men, when Lord Lyttelton was in 

 the chair, and when Mr. James Stuart, of Trinity College, Cam- 

 bridge, tlie originator of the University Extension Scheme, was 

 present at his invitation. A Provisional Committee was then 

 formed, consisting of most of the working men present, with the 

 addition of Mr. Stuart, Mr. Webster, Q.C., Mr. Hodgson Pratt, 

 Mr. Edward Hall, himself, and a few other friends of the move- 

 ment. That committee resigned its trust, after doing a good 

 deal of work, to a conference held in June at the Hall of the 

 Society of Arts, v/hen the Guild was formally founded, and a 

 Council was appointed on which nearly the whole of the Pro- 

 visional Committee was placed. 



During several days in December, says the Lr^ant Times, 

 consternation prevailed in the town of Adramytti, in Asia Minor, 

 in consequence of certain ominous noises which seemed to pro- 

 ceed from a considerable depth below the earth's crust. The 

 sound which was heard at intervals and resembled the report of 

 distant cannon, was accompanied and followed by shocks of 

 earthquake, which added to the terror of the inhabitants. At a 

 short distance from the town and in the surrounding villages 

 there was no such cause for alarm, the earth maintaining its 

 normal condition of harmless repose. These details are, no 

 doubt, trustworthy, as they are taken from the report sent in by 

 the Governor of Adramytti to the Governor-General of the Vice- 

 Royalty of Smyrna. 



On December i, at 10.25 A.M., a violent shock ot earthquake 

 was felt at Sofia, in European Turkey. The shock was accom- 

 panied by a loud subterranean noise. 



There were two shocks of earthquake at 8 p.m. on Dec. 26 

 at Salonika, in European Turkey. 



At the Berlin Medico-Psychological Society in November 

 last, says the Medical Times and Gazelle, Dr. Ilitzig, the author 

 of the method of examination of the brain by electricity, made 

 some remarks on Dr. Ferrier's well-known experiments on the 

 localised functions of the brain, especially with regard to the 

 discrepancies between his own and the latter's results. He con- 

 siders that the chief of these is that while lie and Fritsch have 

 found only one part of the convexity of the hemispheres capable 

 of electrical excitation, Ferrier extends this property to nearly 

 the whole of it. This Hitzig explains by saying that Ferrier 

 has in his experiments used two strong currents (ihe secondary 



