2l6 



NATURE 



[Jan. i, 1880 



an uneasy state for several years, and slight eruptions have con- 

 stantly taken place ; but the climax seemed to have been arrived 

 at on the 17th, when Vesuvius changed its mantle of snow for 

 one of lire. As the wind blew furiously from the north-east, the 

 lava descended in the direction of Portici, covering a large 

 portion of the cone and presenting a magnificent spectacle. On 

 the iSth there was less disturbance; but even in its state of 

 greatest activity the mountain made none of those awful efforts 

 which form a grand eruption. There were some local shoc'.is, 

 and a heavy breathing from the furnace, but there was no 

 tremendous explosion. The cup was full, and it flowed over. 

 This flowing over, however, if continued to great excess, may 

 produce far greater disasters than a roaring discharge which 

 finishes the whole business. Trof . Palmieri's reports of Mount 

 Vesuvius state that the present modest eruption has lasted since 

 1875. It commenced at the bottom of the vast and deep crater 

 left after the eruption of 1872, and was therefore only visible to 

 those who ascended to the summit of the mountain. But now 

 this crater is filled up by the new lava which flowed at successive 

 periods, and therefore the fresh streams which issue from the 

 eruptive cone How down the external parts of the mountain, 

 generally on the side towards Naples. The new eruptive cone 

 has gradually increased in height until it now protrudes about 

 fifty feet above the edge of the old crater. 



WHITING to the Western Daily Press under the date of 

 December 22, 1S79, Prof. Silvanus Thompson says : — I had the 

 opportunity about half-past ten this morning of witnessing from 

 Clifton Down a phenomenon which enjoys the repute of being 

 very rare. The entire gorge of the Avon was filled with mist, 

 so that the river in the bottom and the Leigh Woods opposite 

 were quite obscured. Standing on the western extremity of the 

 Observatory Hill, I observed a dim gigantic figure apparently 

 standing out through the mist upon one of the lower slopes of 

 Clifton Down, where it runs down in undulating ridges from the 

 promenade towards the river. A moment's glar.ce sufficed to 

 show me that it was my own shadow on the mist, and as I waved 

 my arms about the gaunt spectre followed every movement. A 

 gentleman who stood beside me likewise saw his spectre, but not 

 mine, as we ascertained by the movements executed ; nor could 

 I see his, unless we stood so close together that the spectres 

 seemed combined into one. The analogy presented by these 

 spectres with the famous Spectre of the Brocket!, seen by travellers 

 in the level rays of the morning sun from the summit of that 

 celebrated mountain, and described by Sir David Brewster in 

 his "Letters on Natural Magic," is very striking. 



A prize of 200/. has been offered by the Rev. E. Wyatt 

 Edgell, through the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, for 

 the best essay that may be sent in by August I next, on 

 " The Cause of Hereditary Tendencies in Health and Disease." 

 The subject is of first importance in its bearings not only on 

 personal but on natural health, and the Council of the Institute 

 expects to receive many valuable contributions in competition. 

 It only regrets that the generous donor, who for a long time has 

 filled the office of Honorary Treasurer of the Institute, is oblige 1 

 to resign office owing to a state of impaired health, which demands 

 for a time residence abroad. The Chairman of Council of the 

 Institute, Dr. Benjamin W. Richardson, F.R.S., and Dr. W. 

 larr, F.R.S., are appointed adjudicators of the prize. 



Prof. F. W. Hutton, of Dunedin, New Zealand, has been 

 appointed to fill the new Chair of Biology in the Canterbury 

 College at Christchurch. In consequence of this move the Chair 

 of Natural Science in the Otago University is vacant. We have 

 not heard what steps are being taken to fill it. 



A remarkable anthropological discovery has recently been 

 made at Sypniewo, near Marienwerder (Prussia), by Heir 

 Wilckens. In a bronze cauldron which was imbedded in the 



ground several feet deep, were found calcined human bones 

 (apparently both male and female), a golden hoop, an open 

 necklace with hook and eye, two square sticks of greenish glass 

 with marks on them, similar to the eyes of dice, twenty button- 

 like ball segments without holes, four bronze plates, and frag- 

 ments of some metal implements evidently burnt with the bodies. 

 The articles seem to be of old Etruscan or Phcenician workman- 

 ship, and are now in the hands of the Historical Society of 

 Marienwerder. 



" Water Analysis," by Prof. Frankland, a long-promised 

 contribution to an important question, will be published during 

 January, by Mr. Van Voorst. 



In reporting the reception of Prof. Nordenskjold and the staff 

 of the Vega at Nagasaki, the correspondent of the North China- 

 Herald notes that there was not a single case of scurvy during 

 the whole voyage. This, he learns, was owing to the free use 

 of a curious little berry that springs out of the eternal ice and 

 snow during the short summer ; it bears profusely, and has a 

 taste like the raspberry, but more acid. The fruit is dried, and 

 then mixed with the milk of the reindeer, and it can be carried 

 in a frozen state for thousands of miles. There was also used a 

 curious kind of food made from the whale's hide, which is pickled 

 and eaten freely during the winter. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Vellow Conure (Conurus sols/ilialis) from 

 Guiana, received in exchange ; a Vulpine Phalanger [Plialanglsta 

 vulpina), a Geoffroy's Dove (Peris.'era geoffroh), bred in the 

 Gardens. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



The eminent Russo-German traveller, Dr. Wilhelm Junker, 

 well known by his successful tours in the Nile districts, left 

 Cairo for Chartum on December 1. He travels rid Suez and 

 Suakin, and hopes during the present winter to reach the Upper 

 Nile districts beyond Chartum. This time the Monbuttu land 

 will form the basis of his operations, and he intends to penetrate 

 into the interior in the direction of the Congo or the Schari 

 rivers. 



Dr. Gerhard Rohlfs has arrived at Rome on his return 

 from North Africa. 



The expedition charged with the investigation of the question 

 whether it is possible to conduct the waters of the Amu Daria 

 into the Caspian Sea has started from St. Petersburg. General 

 A. J. Gluchowski is commander of the Expedition, and M. 

 Holmstrem acts as chief engineer. MM. Bole, Svichtchoff, and 

 Macsimovich are assistant engineers. Prince Gedroitz takes 

 part in the expedition in the capacity of geologist. These 

 gentlemen will be joined by Capt. Roop, from Turkestan, and 

 by Engineer Hellmann, from the Caucasus. The company will 

 first proceed to the delta of the Amu Daria, and then begin the 

 investigation of the river's course and of the surrounding territory, 

 with regard to elevation, geology, &c., &c. It is considered that 

 two or three years will be necessary for collecting the materials to 

 finally decide the question. 



Prof. Bastian has arrived at Batavia. He has made im- 

 portant ethnological and anthropological researches in Assam, 

 and has also brought together a valuable collection of illustrative 

 specimens. He then continued his studies in the Tadang 

 Islands, and will now do the same on the island of Java. 



The Geographical Society of Hamburg has elected the well- 

 known author of numerous descriptions of travels, cities, and 

 countries, Herr Ernst von Hesse Wartegg, as a corresponding 

 member. 



The Archbishop of Algiers has received from Zanzibar 

 favourable reports of the eighteen missionaries who left Algeria 

 last June and had reached Ugogo, as also of the missionaries 

 sent out last year for Tanganyika. The latter had lost their 

 superior, Pere Pascal, but had arrived at Ujiji and had been 

 well received there by the English mission and the Arab chiefs. 

 They had explored Urundi, a rich region, which they depict in 

 altogether different colours from Stanley, and by invitation of 



