Mar. 5, 1874J 



NATURE 



351 



Liberal offers were made to procure an aeronaut, but were of no 

 avail, nobody amongst the Siamese presuming to ascend. Con- 

 sequently his Majesty ordered a slave, selected from amongst 

 the less heavy of his household, to be sent up in the ear. In 

 order to encourage the poor aeronaut, so frightened for his life, 

 he was promised to be rewarded with his eniranchisement. The 

 ascent took place and elicited much enthusiasm from the by- 

 standers ; but, unhappily, nothing was heard from the poor 

 fellow or of the craft. 



The Universal Exhibition to be held in the Champs filysees Pa- 

 lace in 1875 is merely a private enterprise; the French Government 

 having no intention to interfere except in giving its authorisation. 

 No charge will be made on the national lixchequer, but it is 

 rumoured and hoped that the Municipal Coitncil of Paris will 

 grant a considerable sum of money. 



Mr. G. J. Symo.\s writes to yesterday's Tiiiu-s suggesting 

 various metliods, all good, and we think practicable, of distri- 

 buting daily, or even at certain intervals during each day, the 

 accurate time throughout London. This is an advantage pos- 

 sessed for long by many provincial I owns ; though London in 

 this, as in many other respects, is far more "provincial " than 

 many a second-rate provincial town. AVe are glad to see, liow- 

 ever, from Mr. W. Abbott's letter in the same paper, that the 

 want complained of by Mr. Symons will soon, to some extent, 

 be remedied ; as one of the objects of the British Telegraph 

 Manufactory (Limited), which has just taken over all the inven- 

 tions of Sir Charles Wheatstone, is to establish a large electrical 

 driving clock in 1 central position of tlie metropolis. 



The Commissioners of the Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, 

 U.S., are making great efforts in the way of bringing together, 

 in the form of a zoological garden, a complete collection of 

 animals of North America, with a view of their exhibition at the 

 approaching Centennial Exhibition. The Commissioners are 

 also expecting considerable consignments from other parts of the 

 world, as South Africa, South America, &c., and the whole 

 enterprise bids fair to assume a very great magnitude. 



At a meeting of the California Academy of Sciences in No. 

 vember last, photographs of strange but beautiful hieroglyphics, 

 cut in wood, and found on Easter Island, were received from 

 Mr. Thomas Croft, of Papeeti, Tahiti. From vague traditions 

 among the natives, they were supposed to represent the written 

 language of some prehistoric nation. The stone idols found on 

 the isLind exhibit a refined form of art, and other relics found 

 there go to prove that the present population has gradually de- 

 generated from a previous one. In the letter accompany- 

 ing the hieroglyphics, Mr. Croft stated from the best infor- 

 mation he could obtain, that none except the priests and a chosen 

 few could decipher these strange characters. A letter was read 

 from this gentleman at the hst meeting, in which he stated that 

 he had found a native of the island who could read them, and 

 vho was going to teach Mr. Croft the language, so that he will 

 sliortly be able to translate them. Mr. Croft thinks that he has 

 discovered the relics of a great Malayan empire, which extended 

 its power over that part of the ocean at some former period of 

 the island's history. 



"The Treasury of Languages, a Rudimentary Dictionary of 

 Universal Philology" (London : Hall and Co.), is an attempt at 

 making an exhaustive alphabetical list, with brief explanations, 

 of all the known languages and dialects of the world. It con- 

 tains, besides, explanations of terms used in the science of 

 language. The volume contains 300 pages, with an average of 

 fifteen names on each page ; this will convey some idea of the 

 variety of tongues on the face of the earth. The author, who is 

 nameless, but who, we are told, is a " literary amateur," more- 

 over intimates that he has received additional material sufficient 

 to make a second volume. What a bewiklering field is before the 

 Btudeiit ot languages, to whom tlie jirescnt work is calculated 

 to b« extremely useful, 



We have received a second and richly illustrated edition of 

 Mr. Ilartwig's " Polar World " (Longmans). The record of 

 Arctic discovery has been succinctly brought up to the present 

 time, and the work is well calculated to convey to the gener.al 

 reader a vivid, and on the whole correct, idea of man and nature 

 in the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the globe. 



P.\RT I. of Vol. V. of the " Natural History Transactions of 

 Northumberland and Durham" (Williams and Norgate) has 

 come to hand. It contains the usual Annual Address of the 

 President, Mr. H. B. Brady, F.L.S., who recounts the excur- 

 sions of 1872, and touches on one or two important questions of 

 the day, with clearness, vigour, and brightness. The foUovvirg 

 are the titles of the papers in this part : — "Note on the recent 

 occurrence in Northumberland and Durham, of the Camberwell 

 Beauty Butterfly," by T. J. Bold, who also contributes papers 

 on "The Museum Collection of Briush Insects," and "The 

 Occurrence of Lepidoptera in Northumberland and Durham in 

 1872 ; " " Note on Bones dredged from the bed of the river Weir 

 in 1S72," by Dr. D. Embleton ; ".Meteorological Report for 

 1872," by the Rev. R. F. Wheeler and the Rev. Dr. R. E. 

 Hooppell ; " First Instalment of a Cat.-ilogue of the more remark- 

 able Trees of Northumberland and Durham," by Mr. G. C. 

 Atkinson, who has devised a " hypsometer," a simple but useful 

 instrument for ascertaining the height of trees; "Note on 

 Cinerary Urns found at Humbledon Hill, near Sunderland. " 



Part IIL of Vol. III. of "Proceedings and Transactions of 

 the Novia Scotian Institute of Natural Science," has been sent 

 us. Besides a summary of the Proceedings of the Society, it 

 contains twelve papers of varying value on scientific subjects, 

 eight of these being by three of the members ; this Society, like 

 many others at home apparently, having many names on its roll 

 but few working members. Three papers are by the Rev. Dr. 

 Honeyman, F.G.S., Director of the Provincial Museum : — " On 

 the Geology of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton," "On the 

 Metamorphism of Rocks in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton," 

 and " The History of a Boulder." Of the other papers we m.ay 

 mention two by Dr. J. B. Gilpin on "The Eagles of Nova 

 Scotia," and "The Stone Age of Nova Scotia;" " The Great 

 American Desert," by Mr. H. S. Poole ; and " The Vegetation 

 of the Bermudas," by Mr. J. M. Jones, F.L.S. Appended is a 

 brief note on the visit of the Challenger to Halifax. 



The " Report of the Birmingham School Natural History 

 Society for the year 1873," is on the whole satisfactory. All 

 the sections seem to be in good working order, their meetings 

 fairly attended, and some profitable field-work is being done. The 

 papers, abstracts of which are published in the report, are credit- 

 able to the young gentlemen who wrote them. 



We have received a large sheet containing Statistical Tables 

 relating to the Colony of Victoria, compiled from official records in 

 the Registrar-General's Office, Melbourne, by Mr. W. H. Archer, 

 Registrar-General. The tables contain a vast amount of infor- 

 malion,'well and compactly arranged, concerning the population, 

 industry, education, &c., of the colony. The sheet contains 

 also the usual meteorological statistics for the twelve mon:hs 

 of the year, and extending over a period varying from six to 

 fourteen years. 



The additions to the Gardens of the Zoological Society during 

 the past week include a Common Rhea {Rlica Americana] from 

 .S. America, presented by Mr. A. Maxwell; a Black-tailed 

 Godwit {Limosa melaiuira), British, presented by Mr. H. Stacy 

 Marks ; a Red-faced Deer {Cervus {vnops) and two Falcated Teal 

 {Qttcrqiiedula fiileata) from China, purchased ; a Chinese Water 

 Deer (Hydropotes iiiermis), a Reeves' Muntjac (Cci'jiilits reex'esi), 

 and n Japanese Teal (Qiieri/iiediila formosa) from China ; a Col« 

 lared I'eccnry {Dir<ilyles lajii(a) from S, America, deposited, 



