84 
of their aquaria in large numbers, but they could not keep 
them alive more than a day or two after the attachment 
had taken place. 
The growing extent of the piscicultural operations of 
the Commission, as indicated by the Reports in Appendix 
E, is marvellous. Statistics of the distribution of shad- 
fry during 1882 are given in a paper by Chas. W. Smiley ; 
the total number distributed was over 30 millions. 
The total number of carp distributed was 259,000, of 
Penebscot salmon 1,716,000, of Schoodic salmon 1,482,000. 
It would be extremely interesting to have some informa- 
tion as to the result of all this work, as to the effect pro- 
duced on the supply of fish in the rivers, and on the pro- 
ductiveness of the fisheries. The Commissioner points 
out that it is of little use to put anadromous fish into 
rivers if the waters are obstructed by dams or made unin- 
habitable by pollution, and a new fish-way to remedy the 
former difficulty is described by Col. M. MacDonald in 
Appendix A. But all who are acquainted with the labours 
of the American Commission would be grateful if Mr. 
Chas. Smiley would apply his great power of handling 
statistics to exhibiting the economical results of the pisci- 
cultural work. J. T. CUNNINGHAM 
NOTES 
THE statue of Darwin will be unveiled in the great hall of the 
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, on Tuesday, June 9, 
at 12 o’clock, when Prof. Huxley, President of the Royal Society, 
on behalf of the memorial committee, will formally transfer it to 
the care of the Masters of the Museum, who will be represented 
by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Places will be 
reserved for the committee and subscribers to the memorial, but 
the greater part of the hall will be open to the public during the 
ceremony. The statue, which has been executed by Mr. Boehm, 
R.A., is of marble, and seated, rather larger than life-size ; it 
is pronounced by those who have seen it to be an admirable 
likeness as well as a fine work of art. a 
Ir is now twenty-one years since the Geological Magazine was 
first issued. During all that time Dr. H. Woodward, F.R.S., 
has been an editor, and for almost the whole of it the principal 
editor, on whom the main burden and chief responsibility of the 
work has fallen. It has been a work which has not only cost 
him much time and labour but also has been practically unre- 
munerative. His friends among geologists accordingly purpose 
to celebrate the ‘‘ majority” of the MWagazzne by presenting to 
him a testimonial in appreciation of his services to science. A 
meeting was held last week, at which an influential committee 
was formed, a list of which will shortly be circulated. The 
treasurer and secretary is Dr. Hinde, F.G.S. 
WE greatly regret to record the death of the Rev. Thomas 
W. Webb, Vicar of Hardwick, near Hay, Brecon, well-known 
for his writings on astronomical subjects. We hope next week 
to refer to the work he has done in astronomy. 
THE death is announced of Mr. Peter William Barlow, F.R.S., 
the well-known engineer. 
A CONGRESS on hydrology and climatology will, it is stated, 
be held at Biarritz during October next. The French Govern- 
ment has brought the matter to the notice of foreign Govern- 
ments, in order that the latter may take the necessary steps to 
be represented at the congress. 
On April 13 the Leander McCormick Observatory attached 
to the University of Virginia was opened by public ceremony. 
The buildings are situated on a hill called ‘‘ Observatory Moun- 
tain,” because in 1825 Thomas Jefferson erected a small obser- 
vatory there, which gradually fell into decay. They consist 
of residences for the director and assistant, offices, a small 
NATURE 
[May 28, 1885 
observatory for minor observations, and a large building for 
the dome. The observatory proper consists of a cylindri- 
cal building surmounted by a hemispherical dome forty- 
five feet in diameter, and a rectangular building used as a 
library and computing office. The walls are of brick, the 
circular portion being heavily buttressed, and bearing at the top 
a coping of Ohio stone. On t'iis rests cast-iron rails, on which 
the dome revolves. The latter weighs 25,000 lbs., and is com- 
posed of a framework of steel covered with galvanised iron and 
lined with painted canvas, having three openings covered by 
shutters when not in use. It takes five seconds to open one of 
these, and a minute and a quarter to revolve the dome quite 
round. The telescope, which is mounted on a brick pier under 
the centre of the dome, is similar at the Washington, Observa- 
tory. The clear aperture of the object-glass is twenty-six inches. 
Like so many other important scientific and educational institu- 
tions in the United States, this observatory is due to the gene- 
rosity of a wealthy native of the State, Mr. Leander McCormick, 
from whom it takes its name. This gentleman presented both 
telescope and building to the University. The cost is stated to 
have been about 13,000/., the telescope costing over 9000/7, The 
directorship of the observatory, to which post Mr. Ormord 
Stone, director of the Cincinnati Observatory, has been elected, 
is endowed with a sum of 10,000/., collected by public subscrip- 
tion ; while Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt has given the University a 
further sum of 5000/. as an endowment to pay the salary of an 
assistant observer, the expenses of publication, &c. According 
to the founder’s plan the observatory is not to be confined to 
purposes of the University alone, but for general scientific 
research, so that students from any part of the United States 
who desire to become professional astronomers may receive a 
thorough training there. In accordance with this plan the Pro- 
fessorship of Astronomy in the University is a wholly distinct 
post from that of Director of the Observatory. Prof. A. Hall. 
of the National Observatory at Washington, delivered the open- 
ing address, taking for his theme ‘‘ The Instruments and Work 
of Astronomy.” 
FROM various publications which we have recently received 
from the Government of Hong Kong Dr. Doberck, the astro- 
nomer, appears to have lost no time in employing the new 
observatory. The last batch of observatory papers include ob- 
servations on lunar transits across the meridian of Hong Kong, 
and on the height of Victoria Peak. As this eminence is the 
most important in the east (with the possible exception of Fuji- 
yama) in one sense—the sense in which Richmond Hill is more 
interesting than Mount Everest—it may be added that the mean 
height of the peak is 1710°6 feet above the Observatory, or 1818 
feet above the mean sea-level. There is also a report on five-day 
means of the principal meteorological elements for 1884, con- 
structed according to the recommendations of the International 
Meteorological Congress, and a complete weather report for the 
same year. With four well-equipped observatories (Tokio, 
Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Manila) at work, the meteorolgy of 
the China Seas will soon cease from being the sealed book which 
it practically is at present. 
Last year was a tolerably productive one for the collectors of 
prehistoric remains in Switzerland. The water of the lakes was 
almost constantly below the highest level, which is the most 
favourable state of things for explorations around the lake- 
dwellings. The remains discovered belong mostly to the Bronze 
period, and the chief localities in which they were found were 
Lake Neuchatel and the settlement of Wallishofen near Ziirich, 
the latter of which is the only station of the Bronze period yet 
know in Eastern Switzerland. Among the most remarkable 
articles discovered at this settlement in 1884 were a splendidly 
preserved bronze sword, several dozens of bronze hatchets, 
bracelets, &c. Of the remains of the Stone period discovered in 
