May 14. 1896J 



NA TURE 



The Journal of Botany slates that Ilcrr \'. F. Brotherus, of 

 Helsingfors, has just started on a botanical jmirney to Central 

 Asia ; he is going by way of Saniarcand and Tashkend to Thian 

 Shan, with the special purpose of investigating the mosses of the 

 highlands of Issikkoul. The district is a new and promising 



Tin: Bulk/in d( la SociV/i' Bo/aiiu/ia- dc 7'r,utce records the 

 death, on December 31, 1895, of M. R. P. Delavay, Roman 

 Catholic missionary at Vunnan, at the age of sixty-two. Since 

 his arrival in China in 1867, he had been a most industrious 

 explorer of the flora of that country, having sent home to the 

 Museum of Natural History in Paris more than 4000 species, 

 nearly half of them new. According to the Bulletin, he 

 described for the first time about fifty species of Rhododendron 

 and I'edieularis, and about forty oi Primula and Gcntiana. 



In connection with next year's country meeting, to be held at 

 Manchester, under the presidency of the Duke of York, the 

 Royal Agricultural Society will otifer two prizesof ;^Ioo and two 

 prizes of ^50 for self-moving vehicles for light and heavy loads. 

 In both classes the self-moving vehicles are to be propelled ex- 

 clusively by mechanical means. The points to which the special 

 attention of the judges will be called are : due regard to the 

 convenience of the public ; ease of handling, with special refer- 

 ence to stopping, starting, and steering ; economy in working, 

 price, simplicity, strength of design, and weight of vehicle. 



Our American correspondent writes, under date May i : — 

 " Columbia College will send a band of naturalists, under the 

 lcadershi|) of Prof. Bashford Dean, to explore I'uget Sound this 

 summer, leaving New York June 10. Three zoologists and one 

 botanist will accompany the party. The deep-sea work will be 

 done with the aid of the United States Fishery Commissioners' 

 vessel Albatross. The region is almost unexplored, and im- 

 portant results are expected. — A delegation of prominent 

 scientific men appeared before the Finance Committee of the 

 L'nited States Senate a few days ago, to urge legislation favour- 

 ing the metric system, but were informed by Senator Sherman 

 that it was probably too late to accomplish anything at this 

 session of Congress.'" 



The provisional programme of the Internal innal Congress of 

 Psycholog-y, to be held in Munich on August 4 to 7, under the 

 presidency of Prof. Dr. Stumpf, shows that there is likely to be 

 a jilethora of papers on all branches of the science of mind. 

 Eminent psychologists from many parts of the world have sent 

 papers, among those who have done so being iM. E. Bertillon 

 (Paris), Prof. Bernheim (Nancy), Dr. Alfred Binct (Paris), Prof. 

 Delboeuf (Liege), Prof. H. Ebbinghaus (Breslau), Prof. Sig- 

 mund Exner (Yienna), Prof. Stanley Hall (Worcester, Mass.), 

 Dr. E. Hering (Prague), Prof. P. Janet (Paris), Prof. Th. 

 I-ipps (.Munich), Prof. W. Preyer (Wiesbaden), Prof. Th. Ribot 

 (Paris), Prof. C. Richet (Paris), Prof. H. Sidgu ick (Cambridge), 

 .Mr. G. H. Stout (Cambridge), Dr. Carl Stumpf (Berlin), and 

 Dr. W. Wundt (Leipzig). Details as to the arrangements of 

 the Congress, which promises to be truly international in 

 membership, and broad in scope, may be obtained from the 

 General Secretary, Dr. Frhr. von Scluxnck-Xotzing, Max 

 Josephstr. 2/1, Munich. 



We learn from Die Nalur of April 26, that the Imperial 

 Russian Geographical Society has sent to the northern boundaries 

 of Russia a large number of notices relating to the possible 

 descent of Herr Andree's polar balloon in Russian territory. 

 The inhabitants are exhorted not to be frightened at the balloon, 

 to treat the occupants, in case of need, with all respect, and to 

 conduct them to the nearest Government autliorities ; the notice 

 also states that any expenses incurred will lie repaid. It is 

 NO. 1385, VOL. 54] 



further requested that if the balloon be sighted, information; 

 should be given of the direction in which it was going. The 

 document contains representations of the balloon, both in flying 

 and falling conditions. 



Prof. Ugolino Mosso {Atti della R. Accad. dei Lincei) de- 

 scribes a series of observations on human respiration at high alti- 

 tudes, performed with the object of testing whether the quantity 

 of carbonic acid exhaled in breathing is in any way affected by 

 the rarefaction of the air. For this purpose a number of soldiers 

 were tested in the course of an expedition on the slopes of 

 Monte Rosa, and further experiments were made by the author 

 on himself in an experimental chamber at the Phjsiological 

 Institution of Turin. These observations prove that the quantity 

 of CO., expired by a man at an altitude of 6400 metres, differs but 

 slightly from that expired at 276 metres above the sea-level. 

 Prof. Mosso subjected himself to pressures as low as 34 cm. of 

 mercury without feeling any ill-effects, the oxygen present being 

 still sufficient for purposes of respiration ; but when the pressure 

 was reduced to 30 cm., the author began to find his faculties 

 impaired, and in one case felt a great want of breath. After 

 about eleven or twelve minutes, he became incapable of making 

 accurate observations, and the experiments had to be dis- 

 continued. 



The Kew Observatory Committee of the Royal Society have 

 recently issued their Report for the year 1895. The Chairman of 

 the Committee is Mr. F. Gallon, and the Superintendent of the 

 Observatory is Dr. C. Chree. At the suggestion of the Council 

 of the Royal Society, the title of the Committee has been 

 changed during the year : the change consists in the insertion of 

 the word "observatory" and the omission of the word 

 "incorporated." The magnetographs have been kept in con- 

 stant operation throughout the year, but no very exceptional 

 disturbances were registered during that period. An analysis of 

 the declination and horizontal force results for selected 

 "quiet days" during 1890-94 has been published in the Report 

 of the British Association for last year. The self-recording mete- 

 orological instruments have also been in regular action during the 

 year, and the observations have been transmitted, as usual, to 

 the Meteorological Office. Sketches of sun-spots were made on 

 159 days, and the groups numbered according to Schwabe's 

 method. Various experimental investigations have been carried 

 on, in addition to the regular routine work, relating to fog, 

 atmospheric electricity, platinum thermometry, &c. A sum of 

 ^100 was obtained from the Government Grant Committee for 

 the purpose of making experiments on the behaviour of platinum 

 thermometers ; these are found to possess advantages even in 

 dealing with some ordinary temperatures which require to be 

 read at a distance from the spot where they are recorded. The 

 total number of instruments verified, and of watches and chrono- 

 meters rated, shows a considerable increase. 



It was not to be supposed that the astonishing announcement 

 made by Jiirgensen and Juhler as to the development of yeast 

 cells from the Aspergillus oryza would go unchallenged ; but it 

 must, at any rate, be a satisfaction to these investigators that the 

 inquiry has fallen into such skilled hands as those of Messrs. 

 Klocker and Schionning, both assistants in the famous Carls- 

 berg Laboratory. These gentlemen have repeated in every con- 

 ceivable manner the experiments of Jiirgensen and Juhler, and 

 have even greatly extended the scope of their original observa- 

 tions ; but in no single instance have they obtained any evidence 

 of the development of yeast cells from moulds. It would ap- 

 pear that too much weight has been given to mere microscopical 

 evidence, and not sufficient attention bestowed upon the acquisi- 

 tion of pure cultures. Perhaps the most interesting efforts to 

 decide this knotty question were those investigations made 

 with various fruits growing in a natural condition on trees^ 



