ii6 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Feb. 3, 1888. 



ferous times, the marls being compared with the Nyirok 

 of the Austrian geologists. 



ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 The monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wed- 

 nesday evening, the i8th inst., Mr. W. ElUs, F.R.A.S., 

 President, in the chair. 



The paper read was " The Non-Instrumental Meteor- 

 ology of England, Wales, and Ireland," by Mr. G. M. 

 Whipple. This was a discussion of the observations of 

 wind, cloud, thunderstorms, hail, snow, etc., made at the 

 stations of the Royal Meteorological Society during the 

 eight years (1878-1885), and published in the Meteorolo- 

 gical Record. The S. W. wind is the most prevalent, and 

 blows on the average seventy-four days in the year ; the 

 W, wind occurs almost as frequently, blowing sixty-five 

 days. The least dominant winds are the S.E. and N., 

 which occur on twenty-seven days, and the N.E. on 

 thirty-two days. Thunderstorms are most frequent in 

 the eastern and midland counties, and least frequent in 

 the north of Wales. 



Mr. Ellis, in his presidential address, reviewed briefly 

 the work and position of the Society, remarking that 

 such a Society, whilst unable to carry out expensive 

 original or experimental work, could yet act with great 

 advantage in inciting volunteer workers throughout the 

 country to united action, oi which one recent example 

 was the ready response to the request of the Society for 

 Photographs of Lightning, an excellent collection of 

 which had been obtained, and which would shortly be 

 exhibited ; in addition to which arrangements were being 

 made for the more systematic observation of thunder- 

 storms. Referring to the question of sympathetic rela- 

 tion between sun-spots and magnetism and meteorology, 

 he thought that any complete treatment of the question 

 in its meteorological aspect seemed to require that it 

 should be dealt with in a much more comprehensive 

 manner than before, for which purpose observations 

 more completely covering the surface of the globe might 

 be necessary — if, indeed, not necessary also for the solu- 

 tion of many other meteorological questions, the present 

 meteorological stations being distributed over the earth 

 in such isolated clusters. The attention given to 

 synoptic charts was most important, but the general 

 meteorological characteristics of places should also still 

 continue to be studied. In concluding, Mr. Ellis said 

 that at one time the science of meteorology seemed likely 

 to form an exception to the general rule of advance, for 

 more than any other it has required the united action 

 of many workers, but the field of inquiry of late years 

 opened out allows us already to talk of the New or 

 Modern Meteorology — phrases typical of the advance 

 achieved, although the knowledge gained seems only to 

 remind us of how much has yet to be done. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 At the anniversary meeting on the i8th ult., the Presi- 

 dent, Dr. D. Sharp, gave some striking illustrations of 

 the vast variety of insect life which must exist on the 

 earth. Dealing first with the public value of collections, 

 he considered them as one of the resources of civilisation 

 for improving the mental condition of the people. They 

 are also instruments for scientific inquiry, and for this 

 purpose their value increased in proportion to their com- 

 pleteness. Could we form an opinion as to how far 



advanced they are in this respect? Linnaeus 120 years 

 ago knew of only 3,000 species of insects, and at present 

 he thought there were 200,000 or 350,000 in the collec- 

 tions of the world, indicating an advance that might be 

 roughly stated to be at the rate of about 2,000 species a 

 year. But from the collections obtained by recent 

 travellers and from other data he inferred that we very 

 likely do not possess yet more than one-tenth of those 

 existing, so that at the present rate of progress we could 

 not hope to complete our collections of insects in less 

 than 1,000 years. But meanwhile, owing to the exten- 

 sion of the European races and destruction of the 

 primitive forests, many species have doubtless become 

 extinct, and others are rapidly dying out without any 

 specimens of them being preserved in collections. He 

 urged that we should endeavour to obtain those forms 

 likely to become soon extinct, especially those of islands 

 and archipelagoes. He wished it were possible to find 

 some travelling naturalists, who would not only them- 

 selves collect, but would teach others who were willing 

 to learn and resided in the localities they visited. 



LIVERPOOL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 

 At the annual general meeting held on the 20th ult, 

 the President (Mr. A. Norman Tate, F.I.C., F.C.S.) 

 delivered the inaugural address on " The Application of 

 the Microscope to Technological Purposes," in the course 

 of which he said : — The microscope is no longer what it 

 was a comparatively short time since, an instrument 

 employed more especially for recreative purposes, for a 

 few researches in natural history, and an occasional test 

 by medical men and chemists. It has proved itself sa 

 largely useful in many directions that microscopy has 

 become quite a science in itself, capable of being 

 employed not only in scientific research, but also in very 

 many of the practical applications of science, and 

 demanding a large amount of careful systematic study. 

 It has afforded to the physician and surgeon information 

 of the greatest value, and during the last few years it 

 has been especially serviceable in the study of micro- 

 organisms in connection with health and disease, and in 

 the examination of the minute structure of the tissues 

 of the body. The work done by its aid in relation tO' 

 bacteriology has been immense, and the results are being 

 rapidly systematised and put to useful purposes ; but, 

 great as has been the progress of bacteriology, there is 

 still a very wide field for further work, and room for 

 very many new workers. Its study has already been 

 made useful in examinations of the air for micro- 

 organisms, but the work yet done in this direction is a 

 mere trifle compared to the importance of the investiga- 

 tion in relation to health. In the examination of water 

 the microscope has also been of great service of late 

 years ; and a very interesting case is mentioned by 

 Dr. C. O. Harz, who, in examining the waters of the 

 Schliessee, in Bavaria, when it was covered with ice, 

 noted a dense turbidity at first, of a green or blue tinge, 

 but becoming yellowish-red or a peach colour before 

 finally disappearing. This was chiefly due to enormous 

 quantities of apalmella, which was attacked and finally 

 completely destroyed by a peach-coloured micrococus» 

 Another practical purpose to which the microscope may 

 be put is in the examination of foods, and especially in 

 connection with the preparation, transit, and storage of 

 preserved and other food-stuffs now so largely imported 

 from abroad. Also, it is serviceable in detecting sophisti- 



