Aug. 6, 1874] 



NA TURE 



273 



We have reason to believe that it is tlie intention of Dr. J. E. 

 Gray to send in his resignation of Iha Curatorship of tlie Zoolo- 

 gical Department of the British Museum at the close of the pre- 

 sent year. Such being the case, he would retire from office 

 towards the middle of 1S75, within six months of his resignation 

 being accepted. 



An interesting experiment was recently made by MM. 

 Bertrand and Mortillet, directors of the St. Germains Museum, 

 in the Champ de Mano'uvre : the war implements constructed 

 from designs of Trajan's Column were tested, when it was found 

 that the catapult threw arrows a distance of 300 yards. The mark 

 was hit regularly each time up to 180 yards. The same can be 

 Slid of the oita^cr, which sends stones to a' distance of iSo yards 

 with astonishing precision, although weighing ijibs. The initial 

 velocity was calculated to be more than lifiy metres per second, as 

 the time taken to reach the mark is not mora than seven seconds 

 and sometimes less than five. All these apparatus are to be tried 

 at a public e.xhibition to be given in the beginning of next 

 October. 



On .Saturday last, the " capping day " of the graduates of 

 Edinburgh, the occasion w.as celebrated by the customary dinner 

 of the Edinburgh University Club, at St. James's Hall ; Dr. 

 Cobbold, F.R.S., in the chair. Amongst the distinguished 

 visitors present was the Right Hon. Sir Bartle Frere, K.C.B., 

 who, on replying to the toast of "The Visitors," remarked 

 on the high state of efficiency of the men who entered on 

 Foreign Service, having previously^studied at the northern Uni- 

 versity. During the afternoon a telegram was received from 

 Prof. Balfour announcing that upwards of 100 new graduates 

 were enrolled amongst the alumni of the University. 



At the last meeting of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and 

 Sciences, Prof. Marsh made a communica ion on the size of 

 brains of tertiary mammals, comparing the relative s'zes of those 

 of the Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene. His facts appear to 

 have a very important bearing on the history of the evolution of 

 mammals, and indicate future interesting lines of research. In 

 all the known examples of groups he has been able to compare, 

 he finds those of the Eocene have remarkably small brains ; those 

 of the Jliocene are larger, and the Pliocene still larger, v/hile 

 the existing species are again stiil larger. 



Dr. G. B. Halford writes to the Melbourne Argus on the 

 strength of the poison of Australian snakes as compared with 

 those of India, and also of the efficacy of liquor ammonite in 

 counteracting the poison. It is established that the poison of 

 the Australian tiger snake is as deadly as that of the cobra, bat 

 Dr. Ewart of Calcutta concludes from experiments that the 

 liquor ammonia as a counter-agent is inert. Dr. Halford gives 

 the details of a case in which a greyhound which had been so badly 

 bi..".3n by a snake as to be totally "insensible either to sound or 

 feeling, and ne\er moved,'' was rapidly brought to life and 

 strength by the injection of ammonia and water into the jugular 

 vein. Dr. Halford thus concludes his letter : — "They have far 

 more advantages in India for these inquiries than we have at 

 present. They have their snake men, who handle the reptiles 

 freely for them — a Gover.iment that has already given thousands 

 of pounds for the purpose of experiment and publication. I feel 

 myself a. very poor and insignificant rival, and yet there is 

 nothing I should like better than to pursue the subject to the 

 end, if that be possible — not to publish an illustrated work on 

 snake."!, with details of all the failures in treatment that have ever 

 occurred, but to discover the best renitidy or remedies for the 

 treatment of snake-poisoning. If the Government would assist 

 I woufd do the work ; or if they would appoint anyone else I 

 would help with every suggestion possible, for in the long interval 

 that has elapsed since my first experiments I have^ not been idle. 



It is good in science, as in other things, occasionally to reader' 

 pour mieux sauier. " 



It is said on good authority that the introduction of sheep into 

 the foot hills and higher portions of the Sierra Nevada, in Cali- 

 fornia, is beginning to make havoc of its proper flora. 



A Mathematical Society of Bohemia, with its head- 

 quarters at Prague, has announced its formation. 



The last meeting for the year of the American Academy of 

 Science and Arts was held in May, yet early in June the volume 

 of Proceedings was issued, containing all the papers of the 

 session. 



Prof. Silvestri, who has made a special study of the phe- 

 nomena of Mount Etna, announces that an eruption may be 

 expected shortly. 



The Hopa Chemistry Prize in the University of Edinburgh, 

 now converted into a travelling scholarship, has been awarded 

 to Mr. R. M. Robertson. 



A TELEGRAM from Melbourne, of Aug. I, slates that Coggia's 

 comet is visible there and presents a brilliant appearance. 



M. SiDOROFF, says the Eastern Budget, member of the Geo- 

 graphical Society of St. Petersburg, has addressed a report to 

 the Russian Admiralty with regard to the Austrian Polar Expe- 

 dition, of which nothing has been heard since August 1S72. 

 M. Sidoroffsays in his report that the Tii^cttholf w:!&\^%\. seen 

 by Count Wiltczek in a gulf near Cape Nassau, whose outlet 

 was then being choked up with ice. Since that time various 

 se.rmen coming from Novaya Zemlya have reported that the quan- 

 tity of drift ice in the Icy Sea had considerably increased, and 

 that in the summer of 1S73 it was extraordinarily abundant. 

 Formerly the ice on the coast of the above island only extended 

 to a distance of five versts in the month of June, while in mid- 

 summer 1S73 the width of thcj icy zone amounted to about 

 100 versts. M. Sidoroff believes that if Cape Nassau had been 

 free of ice, the Tegetthoff would certainly have gone round the 

 north-eastern point of Novaya Zemlya, which is only a day's 

 journey from Cape Nassau, and thus reached the gulf of Yeni- 

 seisk without difficulty. It is therefore probable that the expe- 

 dition is frozen up and in want of provisions, and M. Sidoroff 

 accordingly recommends the Russian Government to send food, 

 &c., by land to Cape Nassau, adding that he will contribute 

 100/. to the expenjes of the undertaking. The Admiralty has 

 approved of this proposal, and is now t-iking the necessary steps 

 for carrying it out. 



With regard to the question of "Sounding and Sensitive 

 Flames," Mr. A. K. Irvine, of Glasgow, writes — "About twelve 

 years ago I first observed the ' sounding ' flame as it occurs on 

 the combustion of gas and air passing through a disc of wire 

 gauze enclosed in a tube, and showed it to one or two scientific 

 friends, but I published nothing on the subject till 1871, when I 

 took patents in this and other countries for a miners' safety lamp, 

 which indicates by a loud musical note the presence of an explo- 

 sive atmosphere, by the ignition (at the ordinary flame of the 

 lamp) and combustion of the gas and air entering through a disc 

 of wire-gauze surrounding the wick tube. " 



The annual session of the British Arch^ological Association 

 commenced on Tuesday morning in Bristol, under the presi- 

 dency of Mr. Kirkman Hodgson, M.P., and will continue all the 

 week and conclude next Monday at noon. The members of the 

 Associa.ion, numbering about 100, and including arch otologists 

 from all parts of the country, assembled in the Guildhall, where 

 they were welcomed by the Mayor and Corporation. The party 

 then proceeded to the first point of interest on the day's pro- 

 gramme, namely, St. Mary Redchffe Church ; here Mr. F. 



