March 2, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



121 



• — Prof. C. S. Sargent of Harvard university has 

 in preparation a new Nortli-American Sylva. The 

 drawings will be made by Mr. Charles E. Faxon, 

 and the work will be published by the U. S. govern- 

 ment. 



— The latest numbers of the zeitschrif t of the Berlin 

 Gesellschaft fiir erdkunde (h. 4 and 5, xvii. 1882) con- 

 tain papers on Russian surveys in 1881, by Lademann; 

 Haussknecht's travels in Asia Minor and Persia, by 

 H. Kiepert; on some Branches of the Amazon, trans- 

 lated from the Portuguese by W. Eeiss, with a map 

 showing the great irregularity of the channel between 

 long. 55° and 60° W. Gr., and its frequent expansion 

 into lakes. 



— One of the tables at the zoological station at Na- 

 ples is occupied the present season, by appointment of 

 the University of Cambridge, Engl., by an American, 

 Miss Emily A. Nunn, formerly professor of biology 

 at Wellesley college, Wellesley, Mass. 



— The Boletim da sociedade de geographia de 

 Lisboa, 1882, No. 5, contains continued articles on the 

 Portuguese possessions in eastern Africa, translated 

 from O'Neill's observations, on Portuguese colonies 

 (No. XX., in Belgium), and on the island of St. Nich- 

 olas (Cape Verde); and the results of meteorologi- 

 cal observations in Loanda, 1879-81, by Coelho, from 

 which we note the following factors. The barometric 

 pressure (at an altitude of 59 met.) has its maxi- 

 mum of 759 mm. in July or August, and minimum 

 755 in January or February; the daily variation is 

 2.7 mm. The temperature averages 23° C, varying 

 from 19° in July or August to 25° or 26° in Febru- 

 ary, with an average daily range of from four to eight 

 degrees; the absolute maximum is 31°. 7, and abso- 

 lute minimum, 13°.5. The relative humidity averages 

 82, and rarely falls below 70. The west wind is much 

 more frequent than any other, and seems to bring 

 two seasons of rain, one about December, and a 

 greater one about April; but in the three years of 

 observation the results are very variable, 1879 giving 

 a total rain of 571 mm., and 1881 having only 134. 

 From May to October inclusive, very little rain falls; 

 and June, July, and August are practically rainless. 

 Evaporation carries off about 1.9 met. of water a 

 year, and cloudiness averages five In a maximum of 

 ten. 



— During the last tourist-season in the Alps, four- 

 teen persons were injured in mountain-climbing, 

 three of them fatally. Bohren of Grindelwald was 

 struck by lightning on the Wetterhorn, and instantly 

 killed. Notary v. Hiitte of Bern, in attempting an 

 ascent of the Wilde Frau, had lowered a companion 

 by a rope over a steep wall some fifteen feet high ; 

 but was severely hurt in jumping after him, and died 

 from his injuries. A son of Surgeon Wahli of Bern 

 fell on the Niesen, while picking alpenrosen, and was 

 dead when found. 



— In October of last year, a society was organized 



in Ottawa, Canada, called the ' Ottawa microscopical 

 society,' with J. P. Whiteaves, Esq., F. G. S., as 

 president, and J. B. Tyrrell, B.A., as secretary aiid 

 treasurer. During the winter papers have been read 

 and illustrated on the following subjects: Deep-sea 

 soundings ; Microscopic structure of rocks ; Some in- 

 sect parasites; Diatoms; and Human cellular tissue. 

 The summer will be given to collecting, and next 

 winter the society hopes to have a large amount of 

 material for study. 



— An ingenious device for stirring up sluggish fish, 

 as a preliminary to catching them through the ice, is 

 mentioned by Lansdell in his recent book of travels, 

 Through Siberia, as being employed by the natives 

 on the river Irtish. The process is there specially 

 applied to the capture of sturgeon, which in winter 

 congregate in muddy hollows in the bed of the river, 

 where they lie motionless for the sake of the warmth. 

 The fishermen cut holes in the ice, and set spring- 

 lines at them, and then proceed to heat a number of 

 balls of clay red hot, and to throw them into the 

 river below the bait. The heat rouses the fish, which 

 rise, swim up the stream, and are caught. It would 

 be of interest to determine by experiment whether 

 any of our own food-fishes could be induced to take 

 bait by inciting them to activity by means of heated 

 bricks. 



— The Acadian science club has been formed in 

 Nova Scotia for the encouragement of home study. 

 The ' Acadian scientist,' published at Wolf ville, N.S., 

 is its oflScial organ. 



— There seems to be a common impression that 

 the nickel five-cent piece was intended to weigh five 

 grammes and to measure two centimetres. The coin- 

 age of 5-cent nickel coins (nickel and copper alloy) 

 was authorized by an act of Congress May 16, 1866, 

 and was begun during that fiscal year. The act left 

 the shape and devices upon the coin to the discretion 

 of the director of the mint, subject to the approval 

 of the secretary of the treasury. The weight of the 

 coin was fixed at 67.16 grains, or 4,352 milligrammes, 

 with a margin of 2 grains or 125 milligrammes each 

 way to allow for accidents of coinage. Three five- 

 cent nickels of the date 1866 were found to weigh 

 4.828, 4.869, and 4.920 grammes respectively. Two 

 of the date 1872 weighed 4.906 and 4.982. Seven 

 coins of different dates measured twenty and one-half 

 millimetres within one-tenth of one millimetre. 



Evidently there was no intention to make the coin 

 two centimetres in diameter, nor to have it weigh 

 either four grammes or five. It may be remarked 

 that all the coins are above the legal limit of weight 

 (4.48 grammes). 



— The National convention of agriculturists held 

 at the U. S. department of agriculture the last week 

 of January called together delegates from nearly 

 every state in the union. The first and second ses- 

 sions (Jan. 23 and 24) were devoted to a discussion of 



