44^ 



NA TURE 



[Oct. I, 1874 



class of studies which will be of service in cavcers now open to 

 women, and if their education is directed towards facilitating 

 their entry into new occupations ; whether it would not be ad- 

 visable to introduce into secondary schools lor girls commercial 

 education and the study of drawing as applied to manufactures, 

 such as those of ribbons, lace, printed stuffs, wall papers, &c. 



A NEW horticultural garden has been opened at St. Petersburg 

 under Imperial patronage. It is fifteen acres in extent, and is 

 to be devoted principally to illustrate how native plants may be 

 combined for pretty and tasteful decorations. One large portion 

 is to be devoted to conifers, in order that there may be, even in 

 winter, green promenades. 



The consumption of osiers for various purposes, in England 

 especially, is very great. Besides her own production, this 

 country imports more than 5,000 tons, valued at about 40,000/. 

 About 300 varieties of osiers are known, the most important 

 beds being situated near Nottingham ; the home produce being 

 insufficient to meet the demands, great attention is being paid to 

 the cultivation beds in Australia, and a considerable quantity is 

 yearly produced in that country. 



The cultivation of the Angora Goat is attracting some attention 

 in Australia, where this animal appears to thrive veiy well. The 

 hair is said to make a very good "mohair" fabric, but its 

 quality depends very much upon the nature of the locality in 

 which the animals are reared. Undulating prairies with a good 

 supply of pure water are best adapted to the habits of this goat. 

 In sandy hilly districts it thrives admirably, but the hair is inferior 

 and falls off very quickly. The (lesh is excellent, and is preferred 

 in some parts of Australia to the best mutton. The milk is of 

 good quality and yields a good supply of butter and cheese. The 

 hair is worth about four shillings a pound, and one ram will 

 yield about four pounds at each shearing ; the best j3lan is to 

 shear them twice a year, as this prevents the hair from falling off 

 and from splitting ; at each shearing it is about six inches long. 

 Compared with the merino sheep, the Angora goat seems to have 

 the advantage in the fact that the former produces only three- 

 and-a-half pounds of wool, worth two shillings and sixpence per 

 pound, and that six merinos will eat as much as seven Angoras. 

 These facts are important in view of the acclimatisation of the 

 Angora goat in other parts of the world. 



The New Zealand Flax (Phornmim feiiax) is being culti- 

 vated in St. Helena, and there seems no reason why the same 

 thing should not be done in other countries. Hitherto no very 

 great attention has been paid to the cultivation of this plant, but 

 the natural supplies obtained in New Zealand are insufficient for 

 the demands of commerce. It is a mistake to suppose that an 

 illimitable supply can always be obtained because no cultivation 

 has been necessary in the first crops of the wild produce. This 

 is not to be regretted, for careful cultivation cannot fail to greatly 

 improve the fibre, and the best kinds alone will be worth the 

 trouble of proper rearing. Steps are however being taken to 

 cultivate the plant in New Zealand and in other countries which 

 have been fortunate enough to acclimatise it. In the Azores, at 

 St. Helena, in Algiers, and the south of France, it thrives well, 

 and has been easily naturalised. The fibre is principally used 

 for making ropes and paper, for the caulking of vessels, for 

 stuffing mattresses, and for coarse textile fabrics. The seeds 

 yield a valuable oil when crushed. 



The Crystal Palace Company are to give a magnificent fete 

 on behalf of the Hospital Saturday F'und on the sth inst. 



M. Henry Cockerill, of Aix-Ia-Chapelle, nephew of the 

 late John Cockerill, we learn from the Journal of tht Society 

 of Arls, who founded the great engineering establishment at 

 Seraing, near Liege, which until the immense extension of the 



Creuzot works was the largest on the Continent, has placed at 1 

 the disposition of the Societc Cockerill the sum of 50,000 francs, 

 to be invested in the public funds of Belgium, the interest to be 

 applied to the endowment of scholarships, to enable the sons of 

 workmen, or others employed by the society, to attend the 

 courses of study at the Mining School of Liege. 



THE_'popular_demand in America fora complete series of the 

 annual reports of the United States Geological Survey of the 

 Territories, under the charge of Dr. F. V. Hayden, has been so 

 great that the Secretary of the Interior has ordered the printing 

 of a second edition of the first three annual reports in one volume. 

 A compact 8vo. of 261 pp. with index has in consequence been 

 issued. The surveyjin its present form commenced in the spring 

 of 1S67 with thesmallgrant of S5,ooofor the survey of Nebraska, 

 and the following year a similar grant was made for Wyoming. 

 During these two years the survey was under the General Land 

 Office, and the first and second annual reports were included in 

 the reports of the commissioner. Their reprint is a great con- 

 venience forVeference. In the third year (1S69) the survey was 

 placed by Congress under .the Secretary of the Interior, and 

 $10,000 was granted for the examination of Colorado and New 

 Mexico. The volume for that year was issued as an independent 

 volume, and was reviewed in Nature, vol. iv. p. 24. These 

 reports differ from the memoirs of our English survey, 

 which are in illustration of single sheets or sometimes 

 quarter sheets of maps of the survey, for a United States 

 Report includes a whole State. Our own enter into detail ; 

 these give general views. Further, these reports give not 

 only the geological^ and palieontological features and mineral 

 resources of a .State, but its agricultural condition and prospects 

 are included. Speaking of the treeless prairies. Dr. H.ayden 

 expresses his belief that forests may be restored in a short time, 

 and gives many illustrations of what planters have effected in ten 

 years[in Nebraska. Cotton-wood {Populus monilifcni), Soft Maple 

 (Acer rubrum). Elm ( Ulmus amencana), Bass-wood or Linden 

 ( Tilia ainerkana), Black Walnut [Julians nigra), Honey Locust 

 {Glctiitsc/iia tricaiithus), and Willows, are the trees mostly culti- 

 vated. English agriculturists may perhaps be astonished at 

 hearing crops being spoken of as promising because the grass- 

 hoppers have left a full half crop of wheat. In the first report 

 are some interesting notes on the present condition of the Otoe 

 Indians ; and notes by Dr. Newberry and Prof. Heer, on the 

 fossil leaves of the Dokata group ; while the second report in- 

 cludes a sketch of the physical geography of the Missouri 

 Valley. Although called a geological survey, climatal and 

 meteorological observations are interspersed, as well as mucli 

 information about game and wild animals. There is also much 

 valuable agricultural information, that alone would create a large 

 demand for the reprint. 



We have received the Eighth Annual Report of the Aero- 

 nautical Society. The report is mainly occupied with an account 

 of experiments and calculations which have been recently made, 

 and contains a paper by Mr. D. S. Brown on the Aeroplane, 

 and a long and elaborate paper by Mr. James Armour, C.E., 

 entitled " Wings for Man." 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Praslin Parrakeet {Coracopsis harklyi) and 

 four Red-crowned Pigeons {Erythricnai pidclurrima) from the 

 Seychelles, presented by the Hon, Sir Arthur Gordon ; l«i' 

 Burchell's Bustards (Eupodolis kori) from S. Africa ; a Hocheur 

 Monkey ( Ccrcopillieciis nictilans) from W. Africa ; a Punjaub 

 Wild Sheep {Ovis cycloccros) from N. W. India j two Bl.ackish 

 Sternothcres (SUrnoth<crus sulmigir) from the Seychelles ; a 

 Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) from the British Seas, 

 deposited. 



