134 
NATURE 
[Fune 11, 1885 
hundred persons are reported to have perished, and it is feared 
that the loss of life will prove even greater. 
A WATERSPOUT passed over a portion of the town of Hagenau 
(Alsace) on May 23 last, doing very great damage to houses and 
trees. 
AT Stendal (Prussian Saxony) a Committee for the erection of 
a monument in memory of Dr. Gustay Nachtigal has been 
formed, and contributions towards this object are solicited. 
TuE Austrian Central Tourist Club has addressed a petition 
to the Assemblies of all Austrian alpine provinces to pass a law 
prohibiting the wholesale uprooting of Z:ve/zwezss now carried on. 
The petitioners point out that hundreds of thousands of the plants 
are dug up and sent abroad, even to America, so that there is a 
fear that the favourite plant of all lovers of the Alps will be 
totally exterminated, except in a few remote plac s. In Switzer- 
land, it is stated, for several years past there have been stringent 
laws in the several cantons against uprooting and selling the 
Edelweiss. 
THE 76/e of wind in fertilising the ground is remarkably illus- 
trated, according to M. Alluard, by the very fertile valley of 
Limagne, in Auvergne. The prevalent winds there are west 
and south-west, and traverse the chain of the Domes, where are 
vast deposits of volcanic ashes. Much of this dust is thus carried 
to the Limagne valley, and settles there of itself, or is carried 
down by rain or snow. As it contains a large amount of phos- 
phoric acid, potash, and lime, it is highly fertilising, and its 
very fine state favours rapid assimilation. From observations 
on the Puy de Dome, M. Alluard estimates the annual deposit 
at 348 to 400 grammes per square metre, 
WE have received the Calendar of the University of Virginia 
for the academical year 1884-85. The science department 
appears to be exceptionally strong and well organised. 
ONE result of the recen visit of the Ameer of Afghanistan to 
India is that his palace at Cabul is to be lit by the electric light. 
He ordered the necessary apparatus when at Rawul Pindi, and 
three Cabulese have for some time past been studying its mani- 
pulation at Bombay. 
WE have received a copy of a lecture by Mr. Thomas Fletcher, 
delivered before the Parkes Museum of Hygiene, on ‘‘ Smokeless 
Houses and Manufactories.” It deals mainly with the lecturer’s 
personal experiences of the employment of gaseous fuel in his 
private residence and manufactory at Warrington, the appliances 
which he has used, a comparison of the cost with that of coal, 
the work done, &c. In reply to a question, Mr. Fletcher 
expressed the opinion that radiant heat is the only possible 
comfortable way of heating a living-room, and that it is therefore 
better to mix gas with air to prevent smoke, and heat as large a 
surface as possible to incandescence. 
ACCORDING to a report by the Director of Public Instruction 
in Tunis, there are at the present moment twenty primary 
schools in the Regency—eight in Tunis, and twelve in other 
towns—Susa, Monastir, Sfax, Goletta, &c. In this number 
are included three schools of the Israelite alliance at Susa, Tunis, 
and Mehdia. The number of pupils is 3974, composed of 2291 
boys and 1683 girls. The report states that there are in addition 
a certain number of primary schools in which the instruction is 
religious. Of these there are 113 in Tunis, and about 500 in 
the whole Regency. For secondary instruction there are three 
establishments, all in Tunis. These contain 23 classes with 38 
masters, giving instruction to 416 pupils, of whom 78 are French, 
27 Italian, 26 Anglo-Maltese, 74 Jews, 193 Arabs, and 18 of 
various nationalities. 
A MEETING of the National Fish Culture Association was held 
on Thurday last to consider the question of instituting sea tem- 
perature observations with a view to gaining independent and 
fresh knowledge with respect to our marine food-fishes. The 
subject of marine stations was discussed together with other 
matters relative to log-books to be issued to suitable investigators. 
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the 
past week include a Squirrel Monkey (Chzyso/hi2x sciurea) from 
Demerara, presented by Mr. T. C. Edwards-Moss ; a Common 
Badger (AZe/es taxus) from Derbyshire, presented by His Grace 
the Duke of Devonshire, K.G., F.Z.S.; a Common Badger 
(Mfeles taxus) from North Wales, presented by Mr. T. W. 
Proger; two Common Hedgehogs (Zrimaceus europeus), a 
Common Viper (Vipera berius) from Norfolk, presented by Mr. 
T. E. Gunn; a Chattering Lory (Zorius garrulus) from 
Moluccas, presented by Mr. H. D. Astley, F.Z.S.; a Red- 
crested Cardinal (Parcaria cucullata) from South America, pre- 
sented by Miss Hyrzan ; a White-tailed Eagle (Haliaetus albi- 
cil/a) from Perthshire, presented by Mr. H. Tennent Tennent ; 
a Manx Shearwater (Pufinus anglorum), a Puffin (fratercula 
arctica), British, presented by Mr. W. Graham, F.Z.S. ; an 
Egyptian Monitor (Varanus niloticus) from West Africa, pre- 
sented by Mr. H. Denny ; an African Lepidosiren (Protoplerus 
annectens) from African Rivers, presented by Mr. Cornelius 
Alfred Malony, C.M.G.; two Slowworms (Anguis fragilis), 
British, presented by Mr. F. J. Guy; a Sharp-nosed Crocodile 
(Crocodilus acutus) from Jamaica, deposited ; a Collared Fruit 
Bat (Cynonycteris collaris), an Axis Deer (Cervus axis 3), a 
Hybrid Luhdorf’s Deer (between Cervus duchdorfi and Cervus 
canadensis 8), a Burrhel Wild Sheep (Ovds durrhel), two Trian- 
| gular-spotted Pigeons (Columba guinea), a Variegated Sheldrake 
( Zadorna variegata), a Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), twenty 
Spotted Salamanders (Salamandra maculosa), thirty Pleurodele 
Newts (JZolge waltz), bred in the Gardens. 
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 
WEER, 1885, JUNE 14-20 
(For the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 
Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, is here 
employed.) 
At Greenwich on June 14 
Sun rises, 3h. 44m. ; souths, rth. 59m. 59°9s. ; sets, 20h. 16m, ; 
decl. on meridian, 23° 18’ N.: Sidereal Time at Sunset, 
13h. 49m. 
Moon (at First Quarter on June 19, 14h.) rises, 5h. 46m. ; souths, 
13h. 38m. ; sets, 2th. 25m. ; decl. on meridian, 17° 37’ N. 
Planet Rises Souths Sets Decl. on meridian 
be Feats bah h. m. oO. ar 
Mercury ... 2 58 10 56 18 54 20 45 N. 
Venus 4 26 12 48 21 10 24 11 N. 
Mars 2 18 (oy 4/ 17 56 19 17 N. 
Jupiter 9 28 TONS 7) ae 23r40) 12 32 N. 
Saturn Ay, 12 16 .z.. (20°25) eezeoee 
Phenomena of Jupiter's Satellites 
June h. m June h. m. 
Y=.) 20) 05) LU tring, 18 ... 2317 TL oeerdisaps 
22,37 _ T. ecli reap. |) 20) -2.)-20)33)) Uinatrreens 
16... 22 24 IV. ecl. disap. 
The Eclipses of Jupiter’s Satellites are such as are visible at Greenwich. 
June h. 
17 15 Jupiter in conjunction with and 3° 44’ north 
of the Moon. 
HS ees DR Saturn in conjunction with the Sun. 
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 
AFTER having lost, in December last, their director, Prof. 
W. G. Erofeeff, and in January one of their most active 
members, W. A. Domzer, the Russian Geological Commission 
has again sustained a heavy loss in the death of the distinguished 
G. P. Helmersen. According to the notice in the last issue of 
the J/zvestia of the Commission he began his scientific career 
more than sixty years ago, at the Dorpat University, and when 
Pelee > mA >> EE 
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