FOR GENERAL READERS. 



Vol. I. — No. 5. {New Series.) 



FEBRUARY 3rd, iJ 



r Weekly, Price Sd. 

 L By Post, SJd. 



PAGE 



Current Events 97 



Chinese Kites (?V/«j-.) 99 



Literature ii^riiM Science 100 



Deaths from Fevers {i//us.) loi 



Micro-Organisms in Water ._ ... loi 



Dynamite and Gunpowder ,_ ... 102 



General Notes 103 



Will Men Ever Fly ?— III. (j7/;«.) ... 105 

 Natural History : 



King's Chlamydosaurus {illus.) ... 106 



The Senses of Animals 108 



Trebizonde Honey ... ... 108 



Bursting of Leaden Pipes by Frost ... 109 



The Lineff Electric Tramway ... no 

 Reviews : 



Lectures on Electricity ... ... in 



Journal of Microscopy and of the 



Postal Microscopical Society ... ill 



C ONTENT S. 



PAGE 



Elementary Physiography ... 11: 



The Naturalist's Diary ... ... in 



Liver-Fluke and Rot in Sheep ... 112 



Guide to Photography 112 



Lecture Notes and Problems on 



Sound 112 



Biliousness, and its Rational Treat- 

 ment ... ... ... ... 112 



Journal of Society of Telegraph 



Engineers 113 



Institution of Mechanical Engi- 

 neers 113 



Leap Year 113 



The Gastric Juice Affected by S leep ... 113 

 Abstracts of Papers, Lectures, etc. : 



Royal Institution 114 



Geological Society 115 



Royal Meteorological Sociely ... 116 



Entomological Society 



Liverpool Microscopical Society 



.Society of Arts 



Physical Society of Glasgow 



Royal Botanic Society 

 Correspondence : 



The Fog Bow — Instinctive Fear — 

 Serpent Poisons — Micro-Organ- 

 isms — Why do Clouds Float ? 



Answers to Correspondents 



Recent Inventions 

 Announcements... 



Diary for Next Week 



Sales 



Exchanges ... 



Books Received 



Notices ... ... .„ 



PAGE 

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 116 

 117 

 117 

 117 



117 

 118 

 118 

 119 

 120 

 120 

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 120 



CURRENT EVENTS. 



The People's Lecture Scheme. — These lectures, 

 arranged by the London Society for the Extension of 

 University Teaching and by the Gilchrist Trustees, have 

 been decidedly successful. It is known that ten courses, 

 each of three lectures, have been delivered in different 

 parts of London. The total attendance has exceeded 

 20,000, or an average attendance of upwards of 650 at 

 each lecture. It is to be noted that in the East of London 

 the audiences were larger and more appreciative than at 

 the West. This is in one sense an encouraging feature, 

 showing that the masses are eager for sound knowledge, 

 perhaps the more because it has been hitherto but 

 sparingly placed within their reach. Eight of the courses 

 of lectures were scientific and two literary. Dr. Roberts, 

 the Secretary of the Society, states that the " success was 

 in direct proportion to the personal effort expended in 

 the district." 



Analytical Laboratories in Spain. — The Ministry of 

 Public Works has issued a decree for the prompt estab- 

 lishment of twenty chemical laboratories in the chief 

 cities of Spain, for the special purpose of the examina- 

 tion of wines, alcohol, and other beverages. The 

 samples after analysis are to be kept in depots, classified 

 according to the regions where they were produced. All 

 adulterations detected are to be made public. The heads 

 of the laboratories are commissioned to give information 

 as to the best preparation, care, and preservation of 

 wines. Every three months, a report is to be furnished 

 by the chief ofificial as to the analyses made of the 



various samples, and copies of this report are to be sup- 

 plied to all Spanish consular agents. Prizes are to be 

 awarded annually for the best and most successful pre- ■ 

 paration and preservation of wines. 



The Application of Electricity. — In his inaugural 

 address, the President of the Society of Telegraph Engi- 

 neers and Electricians, dwelt chiefly on electric com- 

 munication between distant places. He shows that on 

 comparing the numbers of telegrams sent in the different 

 towns it appears that the nature of the trade of a locality is 

 of more importance than its absolute quantity in deter- 

 mining the use made of the telegraph. Sea-ports rank in 

 this respect before inland industrial centres. Liverpool 

 sends yearly rather more than three messages per head 

 of its population ; Newcastle-on-Tyne rather more than 

 3^; Cardift' somewhat less, Newport (Monmouth) 4, 

 and West Hartlepool 3|. On the other hand Oldham 

 and Blackburn, each with an industrial population ex- 

 ceeding 100,000, do not rank at all among the 52 

 towns sending the largest numbers of messages, though 

 many places do which are much smaller. 



Probable Water Famine. — To the surprise oi many 

 meteorologists the unusually dry summer and autumn 

 of 1887 have been succeeded by a winter which, so far, 

 has also been exceptionally dry. Unless February fills 

 the "dykes" in its proverbial fashion, Liverpool and 

 Manchester will be in danger of a water-famine in the 

 spring and summer. The huge reservoirs in the Wood- 

 head Valley, which supply Manchester, were very low in 



