JuLy I, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



in the waters of tropical Africa. Although unsuccessful in ob- 

 taining the eggs of Ceratodus, owing to the early season, Professor 

 Spencer was able, from a careful study of the surroundings under 

 which the aninaal lives, to infer that its lung is of as great a ser- 

 vice to it during the wet as during the dry season — a theory in 

 direct opposition to the generally accepted one that the lung 

 functions principally during the dry season, when the animal is 

 inhabiting a mud-cocoon within the dry bed of the river. 



— A second attempt is to be made to build an observatory at 

 the top of Mont Blanc. As the workmen who tunnelled last year 

 through the snow just below the summit did not come upon rock, 

 M. Janssen has decided that the building shall be erected on the 

 frozen snow. A wooden cabin was put up, as an experiment, at 

 the end of last summer, and in January and early in the spring it 

 was found that no movement had occurred. According to the 

 Lucerne correspondent of the London Times, the observatory is 

 to he a wooden building 8 metres long and 4 metres wide, and 

 consisting of two floors, each with two rooms. The lower floor, 

 which is to be embedded in the snow, will be placed at the dispo- 

 sition of climbers and guides, and the upper floor reserved for 

 the purposes of the observatory. The roof, which is to be almost 

 flat, will be furnished with a balustrade, running round it, to- 

 gether with a cupola for observations. The whole building will 

 rest upon six powerful screw-jacks, so that the equilibrium may 

 be restored if there be any displacement of the snow foundations. 

 The building is now being made in Paris, and will shortly be 

 brought in sections to Chamounix. The transport of the building 

 from Chamounix to the summit of Mont Blanc and its erection 

 there have been intrusted to the charge of two capable guides — 

 Frederick Payot and Jules Bossonay. 



— Dr. J. Hann laid before the Academy of Sciences at Vienna, 

 on May 5, says Nature, another of those elaborate investigations 

 for which he is so well known, entitled "Further Researches into 

 the Daily Oscillations of the Barometer." The first section of the 

 work deals with a thorough analysis of the barometric oscillations 

 on mountain summits and in valleys, for different seasons, for 

 which he has calculated the daily harmonic constituents, and 

 given a full description of the phenomena, showing how the am- 

 plitude of the single daily oscillation first decreases with increas- 

 ing altitude, and then increases again with a higher elevation. 

 The epochs of the phases are reversed at about 6,000 feet above 

 sea-level as compared with those on the plains. The minimum 

 on the summits occurs about 6 a.m., and in the valleys between 

 8 and 4 p.m. The double daily oscillation shows, in relation 

 to its amplitude on the summits, nearly the normal decrease, in 

 proportion to the decreasing pressure, but the epochs of the phases 

 exhibit a retardation on the summits, of as much as one or two 

 tours. In the tropics, however, this retardation is very small. 

 He then endeavors to show that these modifications of the daily 

 barometric range on mountain summits are generally explained 

 by the differences of temperature in the lower strata of air. In 

 connection with this part of the subject, he considers that even 

 the differences in the daily oscillations at Greenwich and Kew 

 are mostly explained by the different altitudes of the two stations 

 and by the fact that Greenwich is on an open hill. In the second 

 section he has computed the harmonic constants for a large num- 

 ber of stations not contained in his former treatise of a similar 

 nature, including some valuable observations supplied by the Bra- 

 zilian Telegraph Administration, and others at various remote 

 parts of the globe. 



— The last meeting of the Royal Meteorological Society for the 

 present session was held on Wednesday evening, June 15. A 

 paper on " English Climatology, 1881-1890 " was read by Mr. 

 F. C. Bayard. This is a discussion of the results of the climato- 

 logical observations made at the society's stations, and printed in 

 the Meteorological Record for the ten years, 1881-1890. The in- 

 struments at these stations have all been verified, and are ex- 

 posed under similar conditions, the thermometers being mounted 

 in a Stevenson screen, with their bultis four feet above the 

 ground. The stations are regularly inspected and the instru- 

 ments tested by the assistant secretary. The stations now num- 

 ber about eighty, but there were only fifty-two which had com- 



plete results for the ten years in question. The author has dis- 

 cussed the results from these stations and given the monthly and 

 yearly means of temperature, humidity, cloud, and rainfall. His 

 general conclusions are: (t) With respect to mean temperature 

 the sea-coast stations are warm in winter and cool in summer, 

 whilst the inland stations are cold in summer and hot in winter. 

 (3) At all stations the maximum temperature occurs in July or 

 August, and the minimum in December or January. (3) Rela- 

 tive humidity is lowest at the sea-coast stations and highest at 

 the inland ones. (4) The south-western district seems the most 

 cloudy in winter, spring, and autumn, and the southern district 

 the least cloudy in the summer months, and the sea-coast stations 

 are, as a rule, less cloudy than the inland ones. (.5) Rainfall is 

 smallest in April, and, as a rule, greatest in November, and it in- 

 creases from east to west. "The Mean Temperature of the air 

 on each day of the year at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, on 

 the average of the fifty years, 1841 to 1890" was presented by Mr. 

 W. Ellis, F.R.A.S The values given in this paper are derived 

 from eye observations from 1841 to 1848, and from the photo- 

 graphic records from 1849 to 1890. The mean annual tempera- 

 ture is 49.5°. The lowest winter temperature, 37.3°, occurs on 

 January 13, and the highest summer temperature, 63.8°, on 

 July 15. The average temperature of the year is reached in 

 spring on May 2, and in autumn on October 18. The interval 

 during which the temperature is above the average is 169 days, 

 the interval during which it is below the average being 196 days. 



— The Todas, inhabiting the Nilgiri plateau, says Nature, are 

 not dying out gradually, as has long been supposed. The last 

 census figures show that they have increased by no less than 10 

 per cent during the last ten years, there being now nearly eight 

 hundred of them altogether. 



— In a recent number of the Journal of the Straits Branch of 

 the Royal Asiatic Society there is an interesting note on the little 

 inseotivora, Tupaia javanensis. It is very common in Singapore, 

 and especially in the Botanic Gardens, where it may be often 

 seen running about among the trees. It is easily mistaken for the 

 common little squirrel {Sciurus hippurus), of which it has much 

 the appearance. When alarmed it quickly darts up the trunk of 

 the nearest tree, but it is a poor climber, and never seems to go 

 high up like the squirrel. Besides these points of resemblance, it 

 appears to be largely frugivorous. It was found that the seeds 

 sown in boxes were constantly being dug up and devoured by 

 some animal, and traps baited with pieces of cocoa-nut or banana 

 were set, and a number of tupaias were caught. These being 

 put into a cage appear to live very comfortably upon bananas, 

 pine-apple, rice, and other such things; refusing meat. The 

 Rev. T. G. Wood, in his "Natural History," states that T. ferrii- 

 ginea is said to feed on beetles, but to vary its diet with certain 

 fruits. The common species at Singapore seems to be almost en- 

 tirely frugivorous, though its teeth are those of a typical inseoti- 

 vora. 



— The Mississippi Valley Medical Association will hold its 

 eighteenth annual session at Cincinnati, Oct. 13-14, 1893. An 

 excellent programme, containing the best names in the valley 

 and covering the entire field of medicine, will be presented. An 

 address on Surgery will be delivered by Dr. Hunter McGuire of 

 Richmond, Va., President of the American Medical Association. 

 An address on Medicine will be made by Dr. Hobart Amory Hare, 

 Professor of Therapeutics and Clinical Medicine, Jefferson 

 Medical College. Philadelphia. The social as well as the scientific 

 part of the meeting will be of the highest order. The Mississippi 

 Valley Medical Association possesses one great advantage over 

 similar bodies, in that its organic law is such that nothing can be 

 discussed during the sessions save and except science. All ethical 

 matters are referred, together with all extraordinary business, to 

 appropriate committees — their decisions are final and are ac- 

 cepted without discussion. The constitution and by-laws are 

 comprehensive and at th'? same time simple. Precious time is 

 not allowed the demagogue or the medical legislator. The offi- 

 cers of the Pan-American Medical Congress will hold a confer- 

 ence at the same time and place. E. S. McKee, M.D., Cincin- 

 nati, is the secretary. 



