2 50 



NA TURE 



[Jan. 29, 1874 



coil of Stohrer's battery being pushed into eight and even four 

 centimetres), and has thus excited the ganglia at the base of the 

 brain, so that it is to them, and not to centres localised in the 

 cortex, that the movements noted must be referred. Another 

 reason why Hitzig doubts some of the effects of irritation in Dr. 

 Ferrier's cases is because, although there is such a remarkable 

 similarity between the brains of the dog and the cat, the latter 

 found that electrisation of the spot on the cat's brain correspond- 

 ing to the centre of movement for the tail in the dog gave no 

 result. Hitzig has repeated ^everal of the experiments hi which 

 Ferrier's results differed from his own, and declares that his own 

 views are re-confirmed. He will shortly publish a detailed 

 account of all his work in Du Bois-Reymond's Archiv. 



Dr. Peters of Berlm, in the 1873 Festschrift oi the Gesellschaft 

 Naturforschen der Freundc zii Berlin, has described a very inte- 

 resting new genus of Rodent animals, named by him Dinomys 

 branickii. The specimen on which the memoir is based is a skin 

 and skeleton, which were placed in his hands by Mr. L. Tac- 

 zanowski, Conservator of the Zoological Museum at Warsaw, 

 the latter naturalist having obtained it from Mr. Constantin 

 Jelski, who found it in the high lands of Peru. 



We are glad to know that a Microscopical Society has been 

 founded in Victoria quite recently, this being the first of such 

 institutions established in Australia. The first meeting, held at 

 Melbourne, was under the presidency of Mr. VV. H. Archer, the 

 Registrar-General of the Colony, who gave an interesting intro- 

 ductory address, in which he showed the great field there is for 

 fresh work in that comparatively unexplored country. 



We noticed in Nature last week the announcement of a 

 work by Sir Bartle Frere, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., called "The Im- 

 pending Famine in Bengal ; how it will be met, and how to 

 prevent future Famines in India," with maps ; to be shortly pub. 

 lished by Mr. John Murray. Amongst Messrs. H. S. King and 

 Co.'s forthcoming books we find the following : — " The Threat- 

 ened Famine in Bengal ; how it may be met, and the recurrence 

 of Famines in India prevented," by Sir H. Bartle Frere, 

 G.C.B., G.C.S.I., &c., with three maps. Is it not somewhat 

 strange that two publishing firms should announce separate 

 works by the same author, with titles that are so nearly syno- 

 nymous ? 



Messrs. H. S. King & Co. will shortly publish — " Longe- 

 vity : the Means of prolonging Life after Middle Age," by Dr. 

 J. Gardner, author of "jHousehold Medicine." " The Principles 

 of Mental Physiology, with their applications to the training and 

 discipline of the Mind, anl the Study of its Morbid Conditions," 

 by W. B, Carpenter, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S. "Physiology for 

 Practical Use," by variou, eminent writers. Edited by James 

 Hinton. 2 vols., with 50 illustrations. " The History of Crea- 

 tion : " a popular account of the development of the earth and 

 its inhabitants, according to the theories of Kant, Laplace, 

 Lamarck, and Darwin. With coloured plates and genealogical 

 trees of the various groups of both plants and animals, by Prof 

 Ernst Haeckel of Jena. "The New Chemistry," by Prof. 

 Josiah P. Cooke, of Harvard University, with numerous 'illus- 

 trations. 



Messrs. Wm. Blackwood and Sons have in the press the 

 following works relating to natural science : — An " Advanced 

 Text-book of Botany for the Use of Students," by Robert 

 Brown, F. R.G.S., Lecturer on Botany under the Science and 

 Art Department of the Committee of the Privy Council on Edu- 

 cation and author of the " Races of Mankind," just published 

 by Messrs. Cassell, Petter, and Galpin ; " Domestic Horticulture, 



Window Gardening and Floral Decorations," by F. W. Bu 

 bidge ; and ' ' Economic Geology, or Geology in its Relation t( 

 the Arts and Manufactures," by David Page, F.G.S., Profes;o. 

 of Geology in the Durham University College of Physical 

 Science, Newcastle. 



Mr. Willi.vm Topley's interesting paper, with maps and 

 sections " On the Relation of the Parish Boundaries in the South- 

 east of England to Great Physical Features, particularly to the 

 Chalk Escarpment," has been reprinted in a separate form from 

 the Journal of the Antlnvpological Institute. 



In Le Tour du Monde, is appearing a French translation of the 

 account of the voyage of the German Arctic Expedition of 1869 

 — 70, in the ships Gcrinanin and Hansa. The illustrations are 

 plentiful and beautiful. 



We have received the following reprints of papers by Mr. 

 F. W. Putnam, from the Bulletin of the Essex Institute (U.S. ) :— ' 



"Description of a Stone Knife found at Kingston, N.II.," 

 " Description of a Carved Stone representing a Cetacean, found 

 at Seabrook, N.H.," and " Descriptions of Stone Knives found 

 in Essex County, Massachusetts." 



The success of Professor G. W. Hough, of the Dudley Ob-Hl! 

 servatory, in constructing self-recording barometers and ther- 

 mometers, lends additional interest to his announcement of the 

 successful construction of an automatic evapometer and rain- 

 gauge. The apparatus consists of a vessel two feet square and 

 one foot deep, suspended on levers, and held in equilibrium by a 

 small spring, the amount of change in the weight of the mass, 

 either from rainfall or evaporation, being indicated on the scales 

 of a delicate balance. In order to secure the mechanical record 

 of the hourly variations in the weight of the vessel and of its 

 contents, the professor causes the lever to vibrate between 

 two platinum points so placed that whenever a change in the 

 weight of the vessel by a given amount (say ten grains) takes 

 place, a magnetic circuit will be established passing through an 

 electro-magnet. A micrometer screw will then be operated by 

 means of clock-work, thereby tracing a curve on a revolving 

 drum, precisely as in the case of the self-recording barometer and 

 thermometer. 



The principal articles in the last number of the Canadian - 

 Journal oj Science, Literature, and History are— on " An 

 Ancient Carved Stone, found at Chesterholm, Northumberland, 

 England," by the Rev. Dr. M'Caul; an article by Dr. Daniel 

 Wilson, on the work done by Alexander Gordon, the Scottish 

 antiquary, author of the Itiucrarium Scptcntrionale, and a paper, 

 also published separately, by Prof. H. A. Nicholson, on "The 

 Species of Favosites of the Devonian Rocks of Western Onta- 

 rio." Appended are meteorological tables for Toronto for the 

 half-year May to October 1S73. 



The addition to the Zoological Society's Gardens, during the 

 past week, include an Ocelot (Felis fardalis) from America, pre- 

 sented by Mr. J. Ryde ; a White-headed Sea Eagle {Haiiaetus 

 leucoeephalus) from Nova Scotia, presented by Mr. H. Walpole ; 

 two Grey-breasted Parrakeets (Bolborhynchus inonachus) from 

 Monte Video, presented by Mrs. C. Dawkins ; a Bernicle 

 Goose [Berniela leueopsis), European, presented by Mr. T. P. 

 Tyndale ; two Sclater's Curassows (Crax sclateri) from Maran- 

 liam, and a Prince Albert's Curassow (C. alberti) from Columbia ; 

 a Capybara (I/ydroeharus capyhara) from South America ; a 

 Rhea {Rhea ainerieana) from Rosaria, and a Chimachima Mil- 

 vago {Milvago chimachima) from Brazil, purchased or deposited, 

 the last-named bird being new to the collection. 



