6 Oti^X. 



FOR GENERAL READERS. 



Vol. I. (New Series.) 



JANUARY 6th, iJ 



[No. 



PAGE 



Introduction ... 1 



Current Events I 



The Eiffel Tower in Paris (i/Ius.) ... 3 



The Demagnetising of Watches (illits.) 4 



Utilisation of Fire Damp ... ... 6 



General Notes 7 



The Magic Lantern as a Teaching 



Appliance ... 9 



Why do Clouds Float ? 9 



Natural History; 



The Regal Walnut Moth {illus.) ... 11 



Owls 12 



The Sense and Senses of Animals . 12 

 The Alleged Purification of Water by 



Freezing 13 



Will-o'the-Wisp 14 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Reviews; — 



Other Suns than Ours 15 



Manual of Bacteriology 15 



Science Lectures at Newcastle ... 16 

 Edinburgh Geological Society {illus.) 17 



Lake Balls in South Uist 18 



Abstract of Papers, Lectures, etc. : 



The Royal Society 18 



Royal Meteorological Society ... 18 



Royal Scottish Society of Arts ... 19 



Royal Botanic Society 19 



Institution of Civil Engineers ... 19 



Geological Society ... ... •■• 19 



Zoological Society ... . ■ . ■ • • 20 



Physical Society ... ... ... 20 



Nottingham Mechanics Institute ... 20 



Parke's Museum of Hygiene 



Technical Education Notes 



Correspondence : 



Molehills under Snow. — A Curious 

 Phenomenon. — Serpent Poisons. 

 — Electric Sewage Treatment. — 

 Micro-organisms and their Capabili- 

 ties. — Effects of Electric Light upon 

 Books. — Automatic Addition. — 

 Jubilee Coinage 



Recent Inventions 



Announcements ... 



Diary for Next Week ... 



Sales and Exchanges 



Books Received 



INTRODUCTION. 



CCIENTIFIC NEWS was established nearly a year 

 ago as a monthly publication in order to bring sub- 

 jects of scientific interest within the reach of general 

 readers. Its increasing circulation has proved that the 

 need for such a paper existed and has entirely falsified 

 the predictions of certain sceptics who contended that 

 however good such a journal might be it would find no 

 readers. Our view was that a very large number of 

 persons have a decided taste for and a general knowledge 

 of science, though they may not have enjoyed sufficient 

 technical training to enable them to understand and 

 appreciate journals which address themselves to ex- 

 perts, specialists and professional readers. Moreover, 

 the elements of several branches of science are now 

 taught in many of our public schools ; there are science 

 schools in most of our large towns, and in addition 

 serious efforts are now being made to effect the spread 

 of technical education. 



Therefore, without going further a-field, we concluded 

 that our sceptical advisers were mistaken in their es- 

 timate, and that readers would be found, if suitable matter 

 were provided. The task we set ourselves was not 

 easy, and we freely admit that we have not always suc- 

 ceeded in fully carrying out our plans, but we hope that 

 our ten months' experience has enabled us to gauge more 

 accurately the nature of the subjects suitable for the 

 general reader, and the best method of treatment. 



Of late we have been urgently advised to publish 

 weekly, because in these days of rapid thought and hard 

 work, so much takes place in a month that the con- 

 necting links between monthly numbers are often lost or 

 forgotten. We have at last yielded to this advice. 



believing after mature reflection that by so doing we 



shall best serve the interests of our readers and ourselvef. 



At the same time we have taken the opportunity ot 

 introducing some novel features, both in the scope and 

 the arrangement of the journal, which will, we trust, be 

 welcome. 



We are not concerned with abstract science, which can 

 only be properly dealt with in papers which address 

 themselves to specialists, nor do we profess to treat 

 professionally such subjects as chemistry, physics, en- 

 gineering, etc. On the other hand, we do not presume 

 to think that because our readers have not received a 

 technical education, their intelligence is in any way in- 

 ferior to that of their technically-trained brethren. What 

 we wish therefore to do, is to play the part of collector 

 and interpreter, and to explain to our readers in plain and 

 untechnical language the important results of modern 

 scientific research. 



CURRENT EVENTS. 



Sir John Lubbock on Ethnology. — Sir J. Lubbock's 

 recent lecture in the Royal Victoria Hall contains many 

 views of great importance to the British people. The 

 speaker referred to many and serious blunders committed 

 in the attempt to force our moral code and our civilisation 

 upon savages who are totally unprepared for such a 

 sudden change. "We are very apt to forget that through- 

 out the far-stretching British Empire morals are very 

 much a question of latitude and longitude." Sir John 

 gave many amusing instances of savage ideas and mis- 

 conceptions. He mentioned that among African negroes 

 the doctor called in to a patient in some cases took the 

 medicine himself— "a custom not conducive to a large 



