Auo. 27, 1874J 



NATURE 



343 



of the other, and in many instances with much more than twice. 

 How rare is this occurrence may bo judged from the fact that 

 there is no case in the 140 years' table just referred to. The 

 nearest approaches are — Chatswortli, in^iySS, 19 '86 inches, in 

 17S9, 36 •31, the former being 55 per cent, of the latter. A still 

 nearer approach occurred at Cobham, in Surrey, in 1851 and 

 1S52, when the totals were 17 '38 and 34 '19 inches respectively, 

 the former being 51 per cent, of the latter. In Table II. no cases 

 are admitted unless much more striking than the above. The 

 districts in which these exceptional ratios occur are (as might be 

 expected) principally those in which the excess in 1S72 was 

 greatest, but there are also a few of which the explanation is not 

 so obvious. It is very satisfactory to feel that these two excep- 

 tional years have found in the British Isles the most nearly per- 

 fect system of observation in the world. 



Your committee cannot close their report without expressing as 

 far as words can do so the loss which they have sustained in the 

 death of Prof. Phillips, one of the orii;inal members appointed 

 in 1S65, who, notwithstanding the numerous other demands upon 

 his time, was always as willing as he was able to assist the com- 

 mittee in any of the various difficulties which the extent of their 

 operations inevitably involve. 



PrcUmiuary Report on Dnd^ing on the Coast of Durham and 

 North Yorkshire. 



The dredging off the coasts !of Durham and North Yorkshire, 

 provided for by a grant from the British Association last year, 

 was carried out during the week beginning on the 13th July. A 

 suitable vessel was engaged, and being on the whole favoured 

 by the weather, we dredged every day until the iSth inclusive. 

 During two days the R.A. M. Marman accompanied us. We 

 were indebted to him for valuable assistance in naming some of 

 our specimens, as well as (or kindly undertaking to report on 

 some sections of the work. 



On two days out of the six the sea was too rough to allow 

 of the dredges being worked very successfully, and one dredge 

 was unfortunately lost by getting fast on hard ground while a 

 very strong tide was running, but with these exceptions the work 

 was carried out satisfactorily. The dredging ranged from near 

 Tynemouth, on the north, to Scarborough, on the south, the water 

 varying in depth from 20 to 45 fathoms, the greater portion of 

 the time being devoted to a belt known to fishermen as the 

 " inner fishing bank," lying from four to eight miles from the 

 shore. One day, however, was spent at the greater distance of 

 tliirty to forty miles from shore, and another day at a distance of 

 about seventeen miles. 



Time has not allowed of anything more than safely to' pre- 

 serve and arrange our captures. On a future occasion we hope 

 to give a full account of the results obtained. 



NOTES 



The final programme of the Oriental Congress, to be held in 

 London next month, was settled on Tuesday ; we hope to be able 

 to say something about it next week. 



M. Ai-LUARD, director of the Meteorological Observatory 

 which is being erected on the Puy-de-Diime, regrets that, owing to 

 the backward state of the works, the building cannot be opened in 

 the end of September, as was expected. It is hoped, however, 

 that the work of the Observatory will be commenced before 

 winter. The construction of the tekgrapliic line which will con- 

 nect the station on the plain at Clermont with the station on the 

 summit of the Puy-de-D6me has been completed. The formal 

 inauguration will take place next summer. One main cause of 

 the delay is owing to the fabulous prices demanded by the small 

 proprietors through whose lands the approaches to the Observa- 

 tory must be made ; no blame whatever for the delay can be 

 attached to the staff of the Observatory. The Government 

 authorities, central and local, have shown the greatest zeal in 

 forwarding the construction of the works. 



The Emperor of Austria has conlerred the decoration of 

 Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown, with a patent of here- 

 ditary nobility, on Dr. Julius von Ilaast, director of the Museum 

 of Canterbury, New Zealand, in recognition of his eminent 

 scientific merits and attainments. 



Sir William Faiu bairn, Bart., F. R.S.,diedonthe iSihinst., 

 in his eighty-fifth year, having been born at Kelso, in Scotland, in 

 1789. What Sir William has done to improve the manufacture 

 of iron is well known. He was one of the founders of the 

 British Association, and was its president in 1861. Many papers 

 by Sir William appeared in the Philosophical Transactions, in 

 the Reports of the British Association, and in the Transactions 

 of the Philosophical Society of Manchester. Some of liis works, 

 however, were also published separately. Among his chief pro- 

 ductions may be .specified treatises on " Canal Navigation," on 

 " The Strength and other Properties of Hot and Cold Blast 

 Iron," on "The Strength of , Locomotive Boilers," on "The 

 Strength of Iron at Different Temperatures," on " The Effect ot 

 Repeated Melting upon the Strength of Cast Iron," on "The 

 Irons of Great Britain," on "The Strength of Iron Plates and 

 Riveted Joints," on " The Application of Iron to Building Pur- 

 poses in General," on " Useful Information for Engineers," &c. 



It is stated that the Crown has appointed Mr. John Ferguson, 

 M.A., to the chair of Chemistry in Glasgow University, vacant 

 by the retirement of Dr. Thomas Anderson. 



The subscriptions announced up to Saturday last on behalf of 

 the University of Edinburgh Buildings Extension Scheme amount 

 to 69,017/. The total sum required from^the public is 100,000/. 



The Council of the Ray Society, in presenting their Thirty- 

 first Annual Report, congratulate the members on the continued 

 prosperity of the Society. The arrears in the issue of the annual 

 volumes, long a cause of much inconvenience, have been at 

 length overcome. Since the last meeting, at Bradford, two 

 Tolumes, those for the years 1S72 and 1873, have been distributed ; 

 a third volume, that for the year 1S74, is finished, and will be 

 issued in October. The volumes for the years 1872 and 1S73, 

 consisting of the first part of the British Annelids, by Dr. 

 Mcintosh, although containing less text and fewer illustrations 

 than in some of the previous memoirs, have been in the matter 

 of production equally costly. The very beautiful plates, printed 

 in colours by lithography, required many stones for their proper 

 development, and necessitated a corresponding outlay. The 

 volume for the present year, on the Spongiada;, by Dr. Bower- 

 bank, completing the series on that subject, and, illustrated by 

 ninety-two plates, is also a njost excellent example of work both 

 on the part of the artist and the lithographer. As the cost of 

 this volume has been in excess of the yearly income, it is hoped 

 that a considerable addition of subscribers will justify the money 

 expended. The proposition alluded to in the last Report, viz., 

 that of reducing the price of certain of the earlier works of the 

 Society, has been much appreciated by the members, and has 

 proved a financial success. It has been suggested that the ma- 

 chinery of the Society might be more largely employed in the 

 production of Monographs on the Fauna and Flora of Great 

 Brit.ain ; the Council therefore solicit assistance from .authors 

 who possess the requisite knowledge and who may be willing to 

 assist in the undertaking. In conclusion, the Council, in order to 

 obtain funds sufficient to carry out the objects of the Society, 

 urge upon members the necessity of gaining new subscribers. 



In an address recently delivered before the Dublin Obste. 

 trical Society, Dr. Evory Kennedy discussed the development 

 and spread of scrofula from an evolutionary point of view. This 

 is an aspect of hereditaiy disease which admits of much exten- 

 sion ; one which requires a much larger accumulation of statis- 

 tics than we yet possess, and a far deeper insight into the phy- 

 siological basis of pathology than wa can expect for some time 

 to come. There is one argument brought forward by Dr. Ken- 

 nedy that deserves especial attention, which is, that as scrofula 

 tends to early death, or the production of a few early dying 

 offspring, the fact that it is not diminishing in its ravages provts 



