224 



SCIENTIFIC NE\AAS. 



[Mar. 9, lE 



lated the position of the comet to the end of the current 

 month. From these calculations it appears that the 

 brightness will.increase until March 17, and then diminish 

 again, until on the 29th it will be of the same brightness 

 as on February i8th. The position at 12 o'clock on the 

 night of March 6th was calculated to be : — Right ascen- 

 sion 20 hours 37'6 min. (increasing 37 min. daily); 

 Norih Polar distance, i2i°39' (decreasing i°3o' daily). 



Discovery of Fossil Remains. — An interesting dis- 

 covery has lately been made on the seacoast between 

 Whitstable and Heme Bay. Mr. R. Goldfinch, a resi- 

 dent of the latter town, was walking along the beach, 

 when, in the neighbourhood of Swalecliffe, his attention 

 was attracted by a projection out of the cla,y in the 

 Pliocene strata. Further examination showed the object 

 to be the fossilised remains of some animal, and with 

 assistance the specimen was dug out The encrusted 

 clay having been removed, it was found to be the tusk 

 of a hairy Northern elephant (Elephas primigenius). In 

 length the fossil is 57 in. along the curve, and its circum- 

 ference at the thicker end is about 17 in., from which it 

 tapers down to about 7 in. The fossil is in a very good 

 state of preservation, with the exception of the tip, 

 a small portion of which has been broken off. 



Utility of Physiological Research. — An illustration 

 of the practical utility of the study of bacteria has, accord- 

 ing to Invention, recently occurred at New York. An 

 Italian steamer arrived loaded with immigrants. There 

 had been no cholera on board, but, as the vessel reached 

 this port, a suspicious case of diarrhoea occurred in a 

 child. The symptoms were not perfectly typical of 

 cholera. Some of the dejections were taken, and steri- 

 lised tubes were inoculated and taken to the Carnegie 

 Laboratory. It would take four days to develop the 

 cultures, and the question arose whether the steamer 

 should be delayed for that period of time. It was finally 

 decided to do so. The cultures developed in the way 

 characteristic of Asiatic cholera, and the diagnosis was 

 made. Subsequently other cases of cholera appeared, 

 and the culture diagnosis was abundantly confirmed. 

 No more striking example of the utility of scientific 

 studies could be furnished than the one referred to. 



A New Germicide. — M. Maxinovitch calls attention to 

 the value of /3-naphthol as a germicide. It is, relatively 

 speaking, non-poisonous, as 585 grammes of it are re- 

 quired to kill a man weighing 65 kilogrammes, or ilb. 

 to every hundredweight of the body, a dose in which no 

 one is likely to indulge either from mistake or by inten- 

 tion. It is soluble in water to the extent of o'4 part per 

 1,000. If introduced into a "culture-solution" to the extent 

 of o'lo part per 1,000, it prevents the development of the 

 inicrobia of glanders, of chicken cholera, of splenic fever, 

 of pneumonia, of suppuration, of typhoid fever, and of 

 the diphtheria of pigeons. In the proportion of 0-20 

 per 1,000, it prevents the germination of the bacillus of 

 tuberculosis. A contemporary suggests that this dis- 

 covery has been made at the right time to tranquilise 

 the public mind alarmed at the" microbian invasion with 

 which we have been afflicted for some years." For some 

 years ? The invasion is not novel, but our eyes have 

 lately been opened to see the enemy. 



GiFF OF a Museum to UNivERSiTy College, Dundee. 

 -Some three months ago, Dr. Forbes Watson, the well- 



known authority on Indian produce, offered his great 

 collection of commercial products to the University of 

 Aberdeen. After three months' deliberation the Univer- 

 sity authorities found themselves unable to raise the 

 purchase-money, and regretfully declined the offer. Dr. 

 Forbes Watson then made the offer to Dundee. Dr. 

 Carnelleyand his father at once purchased the collection, 

 'and presented it to the University College. A great 

 part of this collection was brought together as an official 

 duty for the Indian Museum, and was presented by the 

 department to Dr. Forbes Watson when that museum 

 was broken up. It contains nearly 7,500 samples. 

 Between 700 and 800 of these are fibres, including 

 textiles and paper-making materials. There are over 

 500 dyes and dye stuffs, 500 oils and oil seeds, 600 or 

 700 gums, resins, and guttas, nearly 2,000 medicinal 

 substances, and more than as many samples of food stuffs. 

 — Dundee Advertiser. 



Zoological Society's Gardens. — The Zoological 

 Society's aviaries have just received an addition in the 

 shape of some specimens of a rare pheasant from Central 

 Asia, which have been brought home by Major Peacock, 

 R.E., of the Afghan Frontier Commission. These birds 

 belong to the species described by Mr. Sclater in 1883 as 

 Phasiamii principalis, from dead specimens procured on 

 the Murghab River, in Northern Afghanistan, by Mr. 

 Condie Stephen, by whom they were sent home for the 

 Prince of Wales's collection. The living birds are not in 

 very good plumage at present, owing to the hardships 

 experienced during their long journey and the confined 

 space in which they were necessarily packed, but the 

 species to which they belong is a very fine one, remark- 

 able for the red and purple plumage and white wings of 

 the cock bird, with a much longer tail than in the 

 ordinary pheasant. Major Peacock's specimens were 

 captured at Akcha, in Afghan Turkestan, on the 25 th of 

 January last, and were brought home at the special 

 request of Sir Peter Lumsden, who called Major Peacock's 

 attention to the desirability of introducing living 

 examples of this splendid pheasant into Europe. 



Reputation. — The late Professor Moses Stuart Phelps . 

 used to tell the following story. In the days when he 

 was a graduate student at New Haven, he took a walk 

 one morning with Professor Newton, who lived in the 

 world of mathematics. Professor Newton, as is his 

 habit, started off on the discussion of an abstruse pro- 

 blem. As the Professor went 'deeper and deeper, Mr. 

 Phelps' mind wandered farther and farther from what 

 was being said. At last Mr. Phelps' attention was called 

 back to his companion by the Professor's winding up 

 with, "Which you see gives us .v." "Does it?" asked 

 Mr. Phelps, thinking that in politeness he ought to reply 

 something "Why, doesn't it?" excitedly exclaimed 

 the Professor, alarmed at the possibility that a flaw had 

 been detected in his calculations. Quickly his mind ran 

 back over his work. There had, indeed, been a mistake. 

 " You are right, Mr, Phelps, you are right ! " almost 

 shouted the Professor. " It doesn't give \xsx, it gives us 

 _V." And from that hour Professor Newton looked upon 

 Mr. Phelps as a mathematical prodigy. He was the first 

 man who caught the Professor tripping. " And so," Mr. 

 Phelps used often to add, with his own peculiar smile, 

 in telling the story " I achieved a reputation for knowing 

 a thing I hate." — Inquirer. 



