September 17, 1896] 



NA TURE 



483 



M. MoUREAUX, who has just returned from Russia, has 

 made observations of some quite surprising magnetical per- 

 turbations. On August 29, special perturbations were ob- 

 served by him of the same kind that are generally registered 

 when connected with earthquakes. He remained several days 

 supposing that he had been mistaken, when he learned through 

 a steamer which arrived that Hecla had been in eruption on 

 that same night. The e.xact times of occurrence of these 

 perturbations were ilh. 36m., iih. 42m., iih. 46m. p.m. Paris 

 mean time. 



Prof. H. Mohn informs us that Captain Salvesen, Royal 

 Norwegian Navy, commanding the sloop-of-war EUida, on 

 July 28, when off the promontory of Stat, on the west coast 

 of Norway, saw the " blue sun " at sunset. The phenomenon was 

 seen twice, the ship being lifted on the waves, with an interval 

 of a few seconds of time. The sun was quite clear at setting. 

 It is curious that this beautiful sight is so rarely looked for. 



It is reported that the War Department of the United States 

 has sent to Paris for a set of the BertiUon instruments, and that 

 a thorough examination into the system of identification is to 

 be made with a view to its introduction into the United States 

 Army. 



The Evening Post of New York learns that Prof. C. W. 

 Dodge, of the Biological Department of the University of 

 Rochester, has asked the trustees to make an appropriation for 

 the establishment of a biological laboratory at Hemlock Lake, 

 a small lake thirty miles south of Rochester, from which the 

 city obtains its water-supply. Prof. Dodge proposes to make, 

 with the assistance of students from his department, a complete 

 biological survey of the lake. 



Prof. A. Hall, Jun., Director of the University of 

 Michigan Observatory, according to Popular Astronomy, has 

 secured an extensive series of observations of Polaris for 

 latitude variation. He is also engaged on the division errors of 

 the meridian circle, no examination of the errors having been 

 made for some considerable time. 



Mr. E. H. Parker, who has been for the past fifteen years 

 in the experimental department of Messrs. Wm. Denny and 

 Bros., Leven Ship-yards, has been appointed Secretary to the 

 Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, in the 

 place of Mr. W. D. Millar, who is retiring after twenty-five 

 years' service. 



We have received from Colonel A. T. Fraser, R.E. (retired 

 list), two radiographs, one of a European, and the other of a 

 Hindu hand, taken by means of Rontgen rays under precisely 

 similar conditions. Colonel Fraser is of opinion that the evident 

 difference in appearance suggests that the skin pigment of the 

 hand of the Hindu intercepts the rays. 



The Society of Medical Phonographers, to which we have 

 referred on former occasions, has made steady progress during 

 the past year, and now has 250 names on its books. The 

 Society issues a monthly medical periodical, entitled the Record, 

 in lithographed shorthand ; in addition to this publication it has 

 brought out two small pamphlets dealing with the use of short- 

 hand by the student and by the practitioner respectively, and 

 has issued a list of more than 2500 phonographic outlines of 

 medical terms. The Society intends, at the end of October or 

 the beginning of November, to hold an examination in .short- 

 hand for students of medicine commencing their first winter 

 session. Prizes will be given for proficiency in the art. 



A LIST of free popular lectures to be delivered in the Chemical 

 Theatre of Owens College, Manchester, on Saturday afternoons 

 ■during the session, has been sent us. On October 24 will 

 NO. 1403, VOL. 54] 



be begun the first of three discourses on " The Geological His- 

 tory of the District round Manchester," by Prof. Boyd Dawkins, 

 and on subsequent dates the following lectures will be given : — 

 " The Inhabitants of the Seas," by Prof. Hickson ; " Economic 

 Botany," by Prof. Weiss ; " Soils, their Nature and Origin," by 

 Dr. Burghardt ; "Birds," by Mr. Hoyle. In addition to these 

 lectures, others of a popular character will be delivered on Mon- 

 day evenings during the session. In the list we notice one by 

 the Archdeacon of Manchester, on " F'alling Starsas a Branch 

 of Astronomy"; one on "The Electric Furnace," by Prof. 

 Roberts-Austen; and two, by Prof. H. B. Dixon, on "The 

 Nature of Flame." 



The Pioneer Mail (Allahabad) Oi August 19 contains an 

 account of the proceedings at the last meeting of the Central 

 Committee of the Pasteur Institute of India. At this meeting 

 it was unanimously decided " that the scope of the Institute 

 as embodied in the extended scheme laid before the meeting be 

 accepted and published." The scheme in question is as follows : 

 I. The practical application of bacteriological methods to the 

 prevention and cure of disease, viz. : (a) Inoculations against 

 rabies, (b) Preparation and preservation of cholera vaccines 

 for distribution when necessary, and the carrying out of anti- 

 cholera inoculations, (c) Preparation of diphtheria anti-toxin. 

 {d) Preparation of anthrax vaccine, (t;) Preparation of tuberculin 

 (for diagnostic purposes). (f) Preparation of mallein (for 

 diagnostic purposes), (g) Vaccination against tetanus. II. 

 The investigation of tropical diseases especially prevalent in 

 India ; that is to say : (a) Research intended to generalise 

 methods already in use, and to test the actual value of proposed 

 methods, namely: (l) Vaccination against enteric fever. (2) 

 The use oi anti-veneneiasna\s.e-hit. (3) The curative treatment 

 of cholera. (b) The investigation of the following diseases : 

 malaria, kala azar, dysentery, abscess of the liver, beri beri, iStc. 

 [c) Fermentations, including indigo, opium, tea. III. The 

 provision of a centre which would afford to medical officers, 

 already trained in bacteriological technique, the means for the 

 prosecution of independent research, and for the acquisition of 

 advanced knowledge of bacteriological methods of dealing with 

 disease, under the guidance and supervision of the officers of 

 the Institute. The selection of the site for the Institute has yet 

 to be made. 



We are glad to hear that the Crystal Palace Company are about 

 to arrange for a series of entertainments and lectures during the 

 ensuing autumn and winter months, to be given every Wednesday 

 evening. The lectures will be devoted to the exemplification of 

 the various great discoveries and inventions of the Victorian era, 

 and will be delivered by eminent men of science. We wish the 

 Crystal Palace every success in this venture, and hope that the 

 Company's example may be followed by others. The last half- 

 century, perhaps, holds the record for the greatest advancement 

 in science during a period of this length, so that the lectures 

 will have a broad basis from which to draw their material. 



Very little doubt now exists as to the value of a captive 

 balloon for reconnoitring purposes ; and its importance has 

 been lately displayed during the recent manoeuvres. The 

 military correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette gives an 

 interesting account of this special detachment ; it consists of 

 three officers and a dozen sappers. The balloon can lift 

 2h cwt. The apparatus consists of a cart drawn by four horses, 

 with two drums or winches, and round them is the hawser of 

 twisted strands of wire which anchors the balloon. The 

 balloon is generally allowed to ascend 1000 feet, and this is 

 done by unwinding the wire. Messages are sent down in small 

 bags fixed loosely on the hawser, and the officer at the bottom 

 is either connected by wire with the General's headquarters, or 

 has mounted orderlies at his disposal. A simple and rapid 



