May 7, 1874] 



NA TURE 



17 



Tryon and his associates have been engaged for several years 

 past, namely, the arranging, labelling, and mounting of a very 

 extensive collection of shells belonging to the Academy. The 

 total number by actual count is 14,161 species, in something less 

 than 100,000 specimens. The collection is stated to be one of 

 the finest extant. 



The Cambridge Natural Science Club held six meetings 

 during the past I-ent term ; there are now fourteen members 

 Undergraduates and Bachelors, nearly all of whom were in 

 residence and attended regularly, often bringing friends as 

 visitors. The following were the subjects discussed : — Climbing 

 Plant?, introduced by Mr. Stone, St. Peters ; the Functions of 

 the Cerebral Hemispheres, introduced by Mr. Bridge, Trinity ; 

 Precious Stones, a paper by Mr. Alfred Buxton, Trinity ; 

 Zoological Colonies, a paper by Mr. A. J. Jukes Brown, St. 

 Jolm's ; Metamorphosis, a paper by Mr. A. M. Marshall, 

 St. John's ; Allotropism, a paper by Mr. C. P. Clough, St. 

 John's. The meetings commence again on Saturday the 

 25th inst., and will be continued during'.the present term, and 

 through the Long Vacation, should a sufficient number of 

 members be in residence. 



At the last monthly meeting of the Manchester Geological 

 Society, Mr. Plant exhibited a large collection of remains o{ Bos 

 priscus and Kanejfer, obtained from Castleton, Derbyshire. The 

 largest bones were portions of the skull, with the horn-cones at- 

 tached, femora, and vertebra;, all much incrusted. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 last week include a Common Crowned Pigeon [Goura coronata], 

 hatched in the Gardens ; a Prince Alfred's Deer {Cemiis aifredi) 

 and a Vulpine Phalanger {Phalangista vulpina), bom in the 

 Gardens ; and a Great Kangaroo {Macropus pgantem) from 

 Australia, deposited. 



THE METEOROLOGICAL CONGRESS AT 



VIENNA * 



THE Meteorological Congress, which held its meetings in 

 Vienna from the 2nd to the l6th of September last, had 

 its origin in a wide-spread conviction that since meteorology 

 can be prosecuted with success only when it is treated inter- 

 nationally, uniformity of procedure among different nations is 

 indispensable ; and it was to bring about this uniformity that the 

 Connress was convened. A preliminary Conference was held at 

 Leipsig in August 1872, for the purpose of preparing the pro- 

 gramme for the Congress. The Austrian Government issued 

 invitations to other Governments to send delegates to the Con- 

 gress. To these invitations every European country, except 

 France, responded, and the United States and China were also 

 represented. 



The questions which were discussed, and the names of the 

 delegates, have ah-eady appeared in NATURE.f^ The following 

 is the deliverance of the Congress on tliese questions : — 



1. A decision regardmg the best mercurial barometer for sta- 

 tions of the second order was postponed to a future Congress. 

 Aneroids should not be employed at stations where there is no 

 other barometer, but they may be used as interpolation instru- 

 ments alongside the barometer. 



2. It was considered impossible to lay down fixed rales for 

 general adoption in the protection of thermometers, on the 

 ground that regard must be had to local conditions, and that the 

 mode of exposure which is most to be recommended, in a space 

 which is open and accessible to all winds, and at a height of 4^ 

 to 6 ft., cannot be used everywhere. 



3. Casella's minimum, and Hermann and Pfister's metallic 

 thermometer, since they are found to become frequently de- 

 ranged, cannot be recommended for stations at which they can- 

 not be kept in proper order and their errors ascertained. For 

 minimum thermometers, amyl-alcohol is to be preferred to ordi- 



^ " Repon of the Proceedings of the Meteorological Congress it Vienna." 

 Protocols and Appendices. Translated from the OfBcial Report. Published 

 by the authority of the Meteorological Committee. London, 187^, 



t Naturh, vol. viii. p. 4^8. 



nary alcohol, as being less liable to distillation. It is recommended 

 that maximum and minimum thermometers be read at the last 

 observation of the evening, and entered on the day on which they 

 are taken. 



4. Reference having been made to the experiments on radia- 

 tion by Symons, Stow, and Soret, further experiments were 

 recommended to be undertaken by physicists, so that the subject 

 might be brought into the sphere of the regular observations. 



5. Lamont's method of observing earth temperatures, which 

 consists of a wooden tube, to the bottom of which the thermo- 

 meter is let down, and up which it is drawn in order to be read, 

 was recommended as giving more trustworthy results than ther- 

 mometers with long tubes fixed in the ground. New experi- 

 ments should be made in different countries, in order to decide 

 the question at what depths observations should be taken. 



6. The use of the wet- and dry-bulb hygrometer is in the 

 meantime recommended, and the attention of physicists is drawn 

 to the invention of some new apparatus by which the humidity 

 of the air may be more accurately determined. Hair hygrometers 

 can only be used with safety where care is taken to have their 

 indications compared with those of the wet- and dry-bulb hygro- 

 meter, so as to determine tlieir corrections, especially near the 

 point of saturation, where the readings are often too low. 



7. It was agreed to introduce the English designations of the 

 directions of the wind : — N. = North, E. = East, S. = South, 

 and W. — West, and to give only sixteen directions of the wind ; 

 and in the case of intermediate directions being observed, it is 

 proposed to count them alternately to the one or the other. 

 Lambert's formula is not to be recommended in deducing the 

 mean direction of the wind ; but, on the other hand, the fre- 

 quency and mean force of the winds which correspond to the 

 different directions should be given in numbers. In the distribu- 

 tion in the windrose, those winds whose velocity is less than \ 

 metre per second, or 2i English miles per hour, are not to be 

 regarded, but counted as calms. The direction of the cloud- 

 drift should be observed and noted. 



8. No general scale for the estimation of wind-force is yet 

 recommended, but it is desirable that a gradual advance be made 

 towards giving the velocity of the wind in metres per second. 



9. Wild's apparatus for measuring the force of the wind, 

 already in use in Switzerland, Baden, and Russia, was recom- 

 mended for introduction at stations of the second order. The 

 velocity of the wind obtained by anemometers should be ex- 

 pressed in metres per second, and tables should be prepared for 

 the mutual conversion of metres per second, kilometres per hour, 

 and English miles per hour. 



10. The best form for the receiver of the rain-gauge is a circu- 

 lar one with the area of one-tenth of a square metre, that is, 

 having a diameter of about 14 in. The receiver of the rain- 

 gauge should be placed at a height of not less than I, and 

 better, of \\ metres above the ground, or at a height of from 

 3 to 4.^ ft. In the published results the height above the ground 

 should be stated. Where it can be done, the measurement of 

 the rainfall should be at the end of the fall ; in other cases the 

 first observing hour of the day is recommended, in which case 

 the amount is to be put down to the previous day. It is recom- 

 mended that the duration of the fall be stated in hours. 



11. It W.1S .agreed to introduce symbols for the character of 

 the precipitation in the " Remarks" column, and to give in the 

 monthly resume the sum of the days of rain and snow separately ; 

 to have two columns, one for the quantity fallen, and one for the 

 depth of the unmelted snow ; and to give, in the yearly risumi, 

 the maximum fall in twenty-four hours for each month. It was 

 further recommended to state the number of days when the fall 

 is less than 0^04 in. and 001 in. 



12. Hail is defined to be as a precipitation of frozen water, in 

 which the stones attain such a size that they may be expected to 

 do damage to agricultural products. 



13. (a) In order to obtain data regarding thunderstorms which 

 admit better of comparison, it is recommended only to count the 

 days of thunderstorms, but this is not intended to prevent indi- 

 vidual observers from inserting in the column of " remarks," in 

 addition, the number of the storms, the time of their com- 

 mencement, their duration, direction of motion, &c. 



(b) As days of thunderstorm, only those are to be noted on 

 which both hghtning and thunder have been observed. If only 

 lightning without thunder has been noticed, the entry for the day 

 should be sheet lightning. 



14. As regards evaporation, the evaporating dish should not 

 be less than seven inches in diameter, and it is indispensable 

 that it be absolutely identical as regards diameter and depth at 



