April 2, 1874] 



NATURE 



427 



NOTES 



An International Horticultural Show is to be held at Florence 

 in May, from the llth to the 25th. The SocitW Roynlc Toscaiic 

 d^ Horticulture o^e!% 100 medals of gold, 221 of silver, and 131 

 of bronze, and five grand prix d'honiicur are offered respectively 

 by the King of Italy, the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, 

 the province of Florence, the town of Florence, and the lady 

 patronesses. Prince DemidofT and Prof. Parlatore have also 

 placed gold medals for special classes, at the disposal of the 

 committee. Coincidently with the Show the International 

 Botanical Congress will be held at Florence under the presidency 

 of Prof. Parlatore. The programme of subjects for discussion 

 includes questions on the nature and functions of hairs on plants, 

 on cell circulation, on the latex, on the automic movement of the 

 leaves of plants, on the causes which determine the direction of 

 the root in the germination of a seed, on the causes which in- 

 fuerce the direction of the growth of branches, especially of 

 weeping trees, on the analysis of the organs of reproduction 

 between cryptogams and phanerogams, as well as many other 

 subjects more widely known, and subjects of debate such as the 

 origin of Bacteria, the determination of fossil plants by their 

 leaves, the distinction between species, race, and variety, and the 

 origin of insular and alpine floras. The President and Secretaries 

 of the Soeiete Royale Toscane d^ Horticulture announce their 

 readiness to communicate with any botanists who wish for fur- 

 ther information with a view to attending the Congress. The 

 official lanpiiage of the Congress will be Itahan, but papers 

 may be communicated and discussions conducted in any language. 

 Representatives to the Congress have been appointed from the 

 various countries of Europe, and from Egypt, Australia, Mexico, 

 Brazil, &e. Among the names of those who are expected are 

 announced the following English botanists : — Messrs. Hooker, 

 Trimen, Ball, Hiern, Hogg, Maw, Murray, Allmann, and 

 Binney, As a measure of precaution against the introduction 

 of the Phylloxera, the importation of vines and of other fruit- 

 trees into Italy has been rigorously prohibited since October 31 

 last. 



The Syndics of the Cambridge Botanic garden in their annual 

 report state that the Curator has nearly completed the re- 

 arrangement of the herbaceous plants, and it is hoped the 

 laborious task will be finished in the ensuing year. The plant 

 houses are in a good state of repair, but over-crowded. The 

 Professor and Curator are unable to see in what manner the 

 number of plants kept in them can be materially reduced w ithout 

 injuring the efficiency of the garden. Several of the finest and 

 most valuable fpecimen plants now thre.iten to grow through the 

 roof of the houses. The Syndics acknowledge some donations 

 of foreign seeds and plants, but they are under the necessity of 

 discouraging gifts of seeds of plants belonging to warmer regions, 

 because of the want of room for their proper cultivation. 



We are very glad, to hear that negotiations are pending for the 

 transfer of the valuable Museum of Natural History, which was 

 foimerly in the possession of the East India Company, from the 

 India House, where it has been for some time s'ored, to South 

 Kensington, where it will at last be available for reference and 

 study. This desirable transfer we strongly recommended in an 

 article which appeared about a year ago (Nature, vol. vii. 

 p. 457)- 



A ruRSE of 540 guineas has recently been presented by mem- 

 bers of the British Association and other friends to Mr. W. 

 Pengelly, F.R.S., F.G.S., as a testimony to the high value of 

 his labours in conducting the exploration of Kent's Cavern, 

 Torquay, and of his other services to science. After the presen- 

 tation it appeared that many of Mr. Pengelly's friends and 

 advisers had been left in ignorance of what was proposed. To 



enable all such persons to join in this mark of appreciation the 

 hon. sec. to the testimonial fund, Mr. J. E. Lee, F.G.S , Villa 

 Syracusa, Torquay, is prepared still to receive subscriptions up 

 to the 17th of April. 



A German Natural History and Anthropological Society for 

 Eastern Asia has now existed for a twelvemonth, having been 

 established on March 22, 1873. The headquarters is at Tokio, 

 and the Society consists of fifty-two members, twenty- three 

 being resident at Yokohama, twenty at Tokio, seven in Hiogo, 

 and two at Singapore. Herr von Brandt, the Minister for the 

 German Empire in Japan, is its president. The Society has al- 

 ready published a volume of "Proceedings," containing several 

 interesting and important papers on the subjects for the cultivation 

 of which the Society was founded, especially on the ancient cus- 

 toms and history of Japan. 



A MONUMENT to Antonio Eertolini, author of " I lora Ifa- 

 lica," has been inaugurated at Bologna. 



Dr. Ascherson, of Berlin, has gone to Egypt as a member 

 of a commission of exploration. Prof. Planchon, of Montpellier, 

 has been sent by the French Government to the United States to 

 inquire into the new vine disease caused by the Pemphigus 

 vitifolia. Other botanists at present occupied with foreign ex- 

 ploration are, Sig. Pichler in the east, and Messrs. Lorentz and 

 Hieronymus. 



The chairs of Botany at the Universities of Genoa and of 

 Modena were announced vacant at the end of January. 



The new edition of Pritzel's "Thesaurus" will be edited by 

 Prof. Jessen. 



Prof. Stefano de' Rossi has just started in Rome a Btdle- 

 tiiio del Vulcani. The learned geologist has undertaken to 

 chronicle and to comment upon all the volcanic phenomena 

 which are observed in Italy and the surrounding islands. Two 

 parts of the periodical have been published, giving details of 

 every commotion felt during 1873. The ground was in such 

 activity that Prof. Stefano de' Rossi has been able to report more 

 than three hundred separate phenomena. The mean number of 

 seismic commotions in the whole Peninsula is almost one daily. 



An aeronautical experiment of great importance took place on 

 March 22. The ballcon " Etoile Polaire " was sent up with 

 two aijronauts, M. Sivel and Croce-Spinelli, to test if the respi- 

 ration of an air rich in oxygen would enable observers to reach 

 a high level without being suffocated by the rarity of the sur- 

 rounding medium. The experiment was suggested by M. W. 

 de Fonvielle in his " Science en Ballon," and an apparatus was 

 constructed by M. Paul Bert, Professor at the Sorbonne, 

 and a Member of the National Assembly. The ' ' Etoile Polaire " 

 started at 11.40 a.m. from the La Villette gasworks, and at 

 12.4 r.M. had reached 5,000 metres. The temperature, which 

 was ^■ 13° C. on the ground, had sunk to — 10° C. M. Croce- 

 Spinelli was almost suffocated, but by using the oxygenised-air 

 respirator he recovered. His pulse, which was beating 86 on 

 the gi-ound, was beating 140, and with the respirator 120 only. 

 These experiments were conducted from 12.4 to 1.30 P.M., when 

 the balloon had reached 7,400 metres, where the thermometer 

 sank to — 24°. No observation vfas taken during the descent, 

 which took place at 2.12 r.M. at Bar-sur-Seine, 120 miles 

 from Paris. On landing, the temperature was + 17°. M. 

 Croce-Spinelli had with him a little hand spectroscope sup- 

 plied by M. Janssen. He stales that all the aqueous lines belong- 

 ing to the vapour had disappeared, and that the solar rays D and 

 /^ were growing vei-y dark. When not using the respirator the 

 sky seemed quite dark, but the blue colour was restored when 

 respiring oxygenised air. The measurement of the balloon was 

 2,800 cubic metres. It was elevated with 1,650 metres of lighting 



