January 29, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



183 



consumptive ' to observe and enforce all the 

 sanitary rules and regulations of the Board of 

 Health for preventing the spread of consump- 

 tion.' 



Recorder Goff, of New York, in speaking 

 recently before the Medico-Legal Society, called 

 attention to the very unsatisfactory condition of 

 experttestimony before courts of justice. He had 

 observed that juries were universally sceptical 

 in regard to such testimony. He said that he 

 would favor the establishment of a board which 

 would select men who would be qualified to 

 serve as experts. 



A NEW quarterly journal. Archives d' anatomic 

 microscopique, is announced by Masson et Cie. 

 It will be under the direction of MM. Balbiani 

 and Kanvier, and M. Henneguy will act as 

 managing editor. 



We have already announced the new journal, 

 MonatschriftfilrPsychiatrie und Neurologie, edited 

 by Professors Wernicke and Ziehen. The first 

 number has now been published at Berlin. 



La Nature, the French weekly journal of pop- 

 ular science, will hereafter be edited by M. H. 

 Parvil in place of M. Gaston Tissandier, who for 

 twenty-five years has been its editor. 



Professor James Seth has become one of 

 the editors of the Philosophical Review, published 

 by Ginn & Co. for Cornell University, 



Eeuter's agency states that two Danish offi- 

 cers, MM. Oloufsen and Philipsen, have just ar- 

 rived in St. Petersburg on their return from a 

 journey of exploration to the Pamir country, 

 where they reached places hitherto untrodden 

 by Europeans. They have brought back with 

 them over 300 photographs of places they have 

 visited and types they have met. During their 

 travels they met, among others, tribes who are 

 still fire-worshippers and totally uncivilized in 

 their mode of life. The men of these tribes, 

 and even their animals, are of very small size, 

 the bulls and cows being no larger than a Euro- 

 pean foal, the donkeys about the size of a large 

 dog, and the sheep about as large as a small 

 poodle. The use of money is unknown to them, 

 and their only trade consists in the bartering of 

 furs. Women are bought at the rate of five or 

 six cows or fifteen sheep apiece. These natives 



are very timid, and on the approach of strangers 

 take to flight. MM. Philipsen and Oloufsen 

 have secured numerous scientific collections, 

 which they intend presenting to the Natural 

 History Museum in Copenhagen, and have also 

 made interesting meteorological observations. 

 In the course of their voyage they occasionally 

 reached a height of 14,000 ft. above the level of 

 the sea. 



According to the London Times an electric 

 omnibus, belonging to the London Electric 

 Omnibus Company and propelled by electricity 

 on the RadclifFe Ward system, has made a suc- 

 cessful trial trip. Starting from Northumber- 

 land Avenue, it was able to ascend the com- 

 paratively steep slope of St. Martin's lane with- 

 out any difficulty, although it was loaded with 

 all but the full number of passengers it is con- 

 structed to carry and the streets were far from 

 being in a good condition. In the crowded 

 traffic of Oxford street it showed itself to be per. 

 fectly under the control of the driver as regards 

 both steering and speed. It easily threaded its 

 way among other vehicles and its pace could 

 be regulated at will to pass almost everything 

 else on the road or to crawl along with the 

 slowest, while its powerful brakes enabled it 

 to be pulled up dead within a yard or two. 

 The pneumatic cushions interposed between the 

 frame and the car do much to diminish vibra- 

 tion, and the smoothness and easiness of the 

 running are in marked contrast to the uneasy 

 rumble which usually accompanies London 

 omnibuses. 



The results of the quinquennial census of 

 France, taken on March 29, 1896, show a 

 population of 38,518,975, an increase of 125,- 

 027 during the five j'ears. The towns hav- 

 ing more than 30,000 inhabitants show an in- 

 crease of 320,000. Most of the agricultural dis- 

 tricts, with the exception of Brittany, show a 

 decrease. 



The London Times reports that the Council 

 of the Royal Colonial Institute, for themselves 

 and on behalf of about 4,000 Fellows of the In- 

 stitute residing in all parts of her Majesty's 

 dominions, have forwarded to the Prime Minister 

 a memorial urging on the government the ad- 

 visability of taking early steps for the unification 



