332 



NATURE 



{Feb. 26, 1874 



The French Society of Geography and the Commission dele- 

 gated by the Syndical Chamljers of Commerce of Paris have 

 instituted a "Commission of Commercial Geography." This 

 Commission has for its object — I. To spread in France, either 

 by education or by publications, information relating to commer- 

 cial geography ; 2. To pursue the organisation or development, 

 from an industrial and commercial point of view, of explorations 

 in all quarters of the globe ; to take part in researches relative 

 to existing routes or to create new ones ; 3. To point out the 

 natural riches and the manufacturing processes which may be 

 utilised by commerce and industry ; 4. To inquire into all ques- 

 tions relating not only to the development of French colonisa- 

 tion, but also to the colonial systems of the various civilised 

 nations. The Commission is divided into four sections corre- 

 sponding to the above, and in the interval between the general 

 meetings these sections hold stated seances for discussing ques- 

 tions, their decisions being submitted to the approbation of the 

 Commission. 



The Paris JardindWcclimatisation has just received a flock of 

 six magnificent male ostriches and twelve females presented to 

 it by General Lacroix-Vaubors, who holds a high command in 

 Algeria. All attempts to breed these birds have hitherto 

 proved futile, but a new attempt is to be made under the 

 sun of Provence. The six ostriches will not remain long 

 in Paris, and are to leave soon for Hyeres, where the Acc'imati- 

 sation Society possesses a large estate. 



The Meteorological Society of France has decided upon 

 holding its next Biennial Exhibition at the Palais de ITndus 

 trie, Champs Elysees : it is to be an International one. The 

 expenses being paid by the Government, no charge will be 

 made for exhibiting. A special circular will be sent to the 

 English Society this year. 



The A'e-iU York Tribune in calling attention to the unauthentic 

 character of a story to the effect that the non-existence of the 

 companion star of Procyon, and of all except two of the satel- 

 lites of Uranus, had been determined by the new telescope at 

 Washington, announces the first important result obtained from 

 this ins' rument. There:ent observations haveresultei in the re- 

 discovery of the two smallest moons of Uranus, which have been 

 not only distinctly seen on several occasions, but have actually 

 been measured by Prof Newcomb and his a-sistant. Prof E. L. 

 Holden. The two larger moons of Uranus, first discovered by 

 Sir Wm. Herschel, a-e well-known objects, and can be seen 

 under favourable circumstances with any telescope of 12 in. 

 aperture. The two smallest were first discovered by Lassell, 

 about twenty years ago, through the fine instrument attached to 

 his private observatory near Liverpool ; but his observations 

 were very unsatisfactory (scarcely, indeed, determining the exact 

 number of moons), and it was not until he renewed his re- 

 searches at Malta that he obtained any accurate indications. 

 Since that time, and until this re-discovery, no one has seen these 

 satellites, and their detection and accurate observation through 

 the Washington instrument is gratifying evidence of its superior 

 power. 



Mrs. Mary Treat publislics in the American A'aturalisl for 

 December 1873 a remarkable contribution to our knowledge of the 

 sensitiveness of the leaves of the sundew, her experiments bemg 

 chiefly made on the large American species Dros.-ra filiforntis, 

 the leaves of which capture and kill mo'hs and butterflies two 

 inches across. Iler observa'ions are in accordance with those 

 already recorded on English species, that the motion of the 

 glands is excited only by organic substances, or if for a very 

 short time by mineral substances, that the excitement passes off 

 almost immediately. The most astonishing of her observations 

 is, however, that when living flies are pinned at a distance of 

 half an inch from the apex of the lea'', the leaf actually ber.ds 



towards the insect until the glands reach it and suck its juices. 

 In the Naturalist for January is an account of Roth's observa- 

 tions on the irritability of the sundew, made nearly a century 

 ago. 



We have before us the first number of what seems to us 

 likely to be a most useful work — "Insects of the Garden ; their 

 habits," &c., by Dr. A. S. Packard. The present number 

 contains 32 pp. with woodcuts and a coloured plate, and is pub- 

 lished at 25 cents. It forms part of a work called "Hall hours 

 with Insects," to be completed in 12 parts. 



An advance sheet of the forthcoming number ol Petermann's 

 Mittheilungen contains an official account of the voyage of Count 

 Wiltschek in the summer of 1872 to Spitzbergen and Novaya 

 Zemlya in the yacht Isbjorn, the chief object of which was to 

 plant a provision depot in the Arctic Sea for the Austro-Hunga- 

 rian expedition under Weyprecht and Payer in the Trgct/ioff'. 

 The account contains some valuable observations on the ocean- 

 currents, temperature, weather, wind, &c., of the region, and the 

 geology of Novaya Zemlya ; collections of the fauna and flora 

 of that iiland were made, and photographic views avere taken. 

 Nothing is known at present of the Austro-Hungarian expedition 

 in the Tegethcff, though it is probable that she may be wintering 

 somewhere on the coast of Siberia. 



The Government of Peru have for some )ears been expend- 

 ing vast sums of money in exploring the little known portions of 

 Peiu avhich lie to the west of the Andes, and Senor Raimondi, 

 a scientific man of the highest character, has, in the service of 

 the Government, been also exploring the remote valleys between 

 the Cordilleras, and at the head waters of many of the rivers 

 which flow down the northern slopes to the eastern plains, a work 

 in which he has been engaged for twenty years. The announcement 

 is now made that the labours of Senor Raimondi are to be uti- 

 lised in the publication, by the Government, of a magnificent 

 illustrated work, which is to embrace a narrative of his explo- 

 rations, and the result of all his researches upon the geogr.aphy, 

 natural history and climate of Peru. 



In a "Note Additionelle," by Mr. Albert Lancaster, of the 

 Belgian Academy, to Mr. W. T. Brigham's memoir on "Volcanic 

 Manifestations in New England, 163S — 1870," published by the 

 Boston Society of Natural History, the author records a number 

 of earthquakes omit'ed in Mr. Brigham's memoir. Taking all the 

 recorded earthquakes in New England during the last three 

 centuries, the author finds that '2 occurred ye.arly during the 

 seventeenth century, i '2 during the eighteenth, and 2'0 during 

 the nineteenth, though on account of the imperfect data of the 

 seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he thinks that 2'0 per 

 annum may be taken as the average annual number of eaith- 

 quike phenomena in New England. If the number of earthquakes 

 during the three centuries be examined in reference to the months 

 in which they occurrcJ, it will be found that theie are two dis.inct 

 maxima and minima, both showing an equality almoit to a unit ; 

 the former fall in February and November, the latter in April 

 and September, and they are to each other as 36 : i. Dividing 

 the number of earthquakes according to the seasons in which they 

 occurred, it is found that eighty-seven occurred in winter, forty- 

 three in spring, forty-three in summer, aiid ninety-one in 

 autumn. Enough is not yet known of the geological constitution 

 of New England to enable us to explain these remarkable results, 

 though it is hoped that the researches at present carried on by 

 the U.S. geological officials may ere long enable us to do so. 



The existence of gigantic Cephalopoda in American avatcrs 

 h.is long been suspected, and at last a large specimen ofa 

 "aquid," or sepia, haj been captured and preserved. The 

 measurements, as given by the Rev. M. Harvey, of St. John's, 

 Newfoundland, are, length of bodv, 7 ft, ; circumference, 5 ft. ; 



