Jan. i, 1880] 



NATURE 



215 



gust of greater strength had caught the structure. There would 

 thus be, in addition to the ordinary vibration of the train, an 

 enormous lateral pressure from the wind. The carriages of the 

 train would also, of course, feel the full force of the blast, and 

 once the weakest part yielded the whole would go with a sudden 

 crash. In a letter to the Glasgow, Herald, Prof. Grant states 

 that the storm of Sunday was the most violent in Scotland for 

 thirty years, and that the rate of the wind about 7 p.m. was 

 upwards of seventy miles per hour, equal to a pressure of forty- 

 two pounds per square foot. No doubt there were frequent 

 sudden gusts reaching a rate of ninety miles per hour. A Com- 

 mission of Investigation has already been appointed. 



The Times correspondent describes a visit he made to inspect 

 Mr. Edison's new electric light at Menlo Park. Two of the 

 lights had been burning continuously for ten days without 

 injury to the baked cardboard horseshoe in the little glass globe 

 which furnishes the light. Cardboard, he states, seems suffi- 

 ciently durable, successfully resisting quite rough usage, such as 

 dropping, shaking, turning the current on and off thousands of 

 times, and raising the intensity of light to that of 400 candles. 

 All the arrangements are simple. Mr. Edison will put about 

 Soo lights at Menlo Park, while the inventions immediately go 

 into practical operation in New York city. The globe contain- 

 ing the horseshoe is exhausted to one-millionth of an atmosphere 

 by the Sprengel pump, measured by the M'Leod gauge. By 

 successfully dividing the electric current Mr. Edison gets indi- 

 vidual lamps of 16-candle power, each lamp having 100 ohms 

 resistance. Light is turned on or off, and the current regulated 

 with the same ease as gas is, while the current can be tram mitted 

 on wire as small as No. 36. The central regulator contains an 

 even current, while the meters accurately measure the supply 

 furnished to each consumer. Mr. Edison finds that the best 

 generators are of five to seven horse power, each one-horse 

 power maintaining eight lamps. Each lamp co:t> about one 

 shilling to manufacture, while a supply equivalent to 10,000 feet 

 of gas can be produced for tenpence or less. Mr. Edison 

 calculates the cost of furnishing light thus : — the consumption of 

 3 lb. of coal in a steam engine will maintain eight to ten lamps 

 one hour. Mr. Edison's system also furnishes electric power 

 for small industries, such as running sewing machines. Mr. 

 Edison's light is bright, clear, mellow, regular, free from 

 flickering or pulsations, while the observer gets more satisfaction 

 from it than from gas. Mr. Edison lights at Menlo Park, 

 dwellings, offices, desks, street-lamps, also laboratory and work- 

 shop, making it available for every lighting purpose for which 

 gas is used. 



Professors C. A. F. Peters (director of Kiel Observatory) 

 and Albert von Kolliker (Wurzburg) have been decorated by 

 the King of Bavaria with the Maximilian Order for Art and 

 Science. 



The death is announced of Dr. Alexander Sadeleck, of 

 Kiel, professor of mineralogy and geology at Kiel University, 

 on December 9, 1S79, at the early age of thirty -six years. 



The Emperor of Austria has presented the Austrian Gold 

 Medal for Arts and Sciences to Herr Wilhelm Hoffmann, of 

 Dresden, in recognition of his merits in advancing the art of 

 photography. 



Ox January 2, 1SS2, the University of Wurzburg will cele- 

 brate the 300th anniversary of its foundation. The Bavarian 

 Government had intended to set aside a sum of 2,000/. to defray 

 the expenses of the celebration. The Finance Committee of 

 the Bavarian House of Deputies have, however, declined to 

 allow the sum in question. 



The two first parts of an interesting work, " Bibliotheca 

 Belgica : Bibliographie generate des Tays Bas," have just been 



published. The editor is M. Ferd. van der Haeghen, librarian 

 of Ghent University. The work will contain (1) the description 

 of all works printed in the Netherlands during the fifteenth and 

 sixteenth centuries, as well as of the principal ones printed 

 between] 1600 and 1879; (2) a description of all works whose 

 authors are born Netherlanders, as well as of all works printed 

 abroad which refer to the Netherlands ; (3) a list of all the 

 works printed by Netherlanders who settled abroad. 



A highly interesting discovery has recently been made on the 

 Russian peninsula of Kertch. The director of the Kertch 

 Museum discovered a tomb dating from the third century B.C., 

 and from the reign of Persidas II., King of the Bosphorus. The 

 tomb is situated on the road from Temruk and near the Sennaja 

 Station. In it were found (1) a thick gold necklace, with a 

 lion's head at each end ; (2) a gold crown of about one inch in 

 breadth, the exterior part being formed -of intertwisted rings, 

 and ornamented with fine stones ; (3) several pairs of gold ear" 

 rings ; (4) two gold chains, of which one is ornamented with 

 figures ; (5) two gold bracelets ; (6) a round gold brooch, and a 

 gold pin representing Venus and Cupid ; (7) four gold leaves ; 



(8) a pearl necklace, some amulets, and three small gold rings ; 



(9) a phial, an urn, a vase, a spoon, &c. — all these of silver. 

 The opening meeting of the Epping Forest and County of 



Essex Naturalists' Field Club will be held on Saturday evening, 

 January 10, at the rooms of the Buckhurst Hill Art Classes, 3, 

 St. John's Terrace, at seven o'clock. The objects of the club, 

 as set forth in the proposed rules, are as follows : — ■" The investi- 

 gation of the natural history, geology, and archaeology of the 

 County of Essex (special attention being given to the fauna, 

 flora, geology, and antiquities of Epping Forest), the publica- 

 tion of the results of such investigations, the formation of a 

 library of works of local interest and other publications, and the 

 dissemination amongst its members of information on natural 

 science and antiquities." Excursions, under skilful direction, to 

 various localities of interest to the naturalist and antiquary, will 

 also be a main object of the Club. The Club will strongly dis- 

 courage the practice of removing rare plants from the localities 

 where they are to be found or of which they are characteristic, 

 and of risking the extermination of rare birds and other animals 

 by wanton persecution ; it will also endeavour to use its influence 

 with landowners and others for the protection of the same, and 

 to dispel the prejudices which are leading to their destruction. 

 In like manner the club will endeavour to cultivate a fuller 

 knowledge of local antiquities, historical, popular, and idiomatic, 

 and to promote a taste for carefully preserving the monuments of 

 the past from wanton injury. Considering the fine field offered 

 to the biologist in Epping Forest and the surrounding country, 

 it is certainly a matter of surprise that a society similar to that 

 now in process of formation was not long since founded. We 

 trust the club will meet ample support. 



The latest news from the St. Gothard Tunnel states that the 

 thickness of the soft strata recently encountered was only ten 

 metres, and that the boring machines are again at work on solid 

 and firm rock. 



An earthquake is reported from Agrara. It occurred during 

 the night of December S, 1879, and lasted three seconds. 

 Another phenomenon of the same nature was observed at 

 Seisenberg (Carniola) on December 4, at 6.45 A.M., lasting 

 two seconds. The direction of the shock was from north to 

 south. Ten minutes later a second shock was felt. The inten- 

 sity of the shocks was alarming. A smart shock was felt at 

 Geneva on December 30, at 12.15 P - M - Several shocks were 

 felt on December 26, at Lyons, where the winter has been 

 exceptionally severe. 



The rimes correspondent describes an eruption of Vesuvius 

 on the night of December 18, 1S79. The mountain has been in 



