June I, iSSS.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



511 



QSimttnl i^oteg!. 



Sawerthal's Comet. — This comet, of which we gave 

 an illustration on p. 393, according to Dr. Schwar, of 

 the Dorpat Observatory, increased in brightness by two 

 or three magnitudes between the 20th and 22nd ult. 



The Spread of Cholera. — Sir Joseph Fayrer in a 

 recent lecture mentions that in Bengal cholera advances 

 not with the rivers, but rather against them. Hence 

 contaminated water cannot be the sole agent for the pro- 

 pagation of the disease. 



The Theory of Diamagnetism. — M. R. Blondlot 

 {^Cotnptes Rcndiis) maintains the validity of Becquerel's 

 theory which considers that all bodies, and even void 

 space, are paramagnetic, a diamagnetic body being simply 

 a body less magnetic than is a vacuum. 



Tea Culture in Natal. — The growth of tea in Natal 

 has been attempted on a fairly large scale, and 

 has proved successful. In 1886 the total area 

 planted with tea-trees was 600 acres, with a yield of 

 57,000 lbs. Last year a crop of from 100,000 to 120,000 

 lbs. was expected. 



The Diameter of the Sun. — M. Auwers has deduced 

 for this diameter the value of 32 minutes, 2 seconds, 

 founding his calculations on the observations taken at 

 Greenwich, Washington, Oxford, and Neuchatel. No 

 decrease of this diameter, and no periodical variation can 

 be detected after a minute study for 33 years. 



Leaden Water-Pipes. — M. Hamon {Cosinos) protests 

 against the employment of leaden service-pipes under 

 any circumstances, contending that all waters attack lead 

 more or less, their action being increased by the presence 

 of organic matter, or of nitric and nitrous acids. Even 

 an imponderable trace of lead in water is unsafe. 



Atmospheric Phenomenon. — At Moscow on May 19th 

 a remarkable atmospheric phenomenon was observed at 

 sunset. The rays of the sun were intercepted by a cloud, 

 and, owing to some unusual refractive power of the 

 atmosphere, the entire city was coloured a vivid purple 

 hue. The curious effect lasted about eight minutes. 



Parallaxes of Stars. — Mr. Pritchard finds the 

 parallax of it Cassiopea to be 0-05, so that its light will be 

 70 years in reaching our earth. He calculates the dis- 

 tance of the Polar star to be approximately the same, 

 and announces that by his photographic process he will 

 be able to find the distances of 10 to 15 stars every 

 year. 



New Antiseptic. — Dr. Th. Schneider {Correspondenz- 

 Blatt fur Schweilser Aerste and British Medical Journal) 

 recommends a mixture of i part crystalline carbolic acid 

 and 3 parts of camphor, well shaken up together. The 

 mixture is said to possess the antiseptic power of carbolic 

 acid without its irritating and caustic properties and its 

 peculiar odour. 



Conversion of Peat into Coal. — The Revue Scienti- 

 fique describes this conversion as being in practical 

 operation in England, and as being in use lor metallur- 

 gical purposes. The material is brought to the specific 

 gravity of 1-25 by means of pressure and desiccation. 

 One hundred tons of peat yield only twenty tons of coal, 

 which, however, will be free from sulphur. 



Climate of Constantinople. — The annual mean re- 

 sults, according to Coumbury Effendi (Revue Frajtcaise) 

 are : — Days of rain, 84 ; days of snow, 14 ; days of storm, 

 15; days of northerly winds, 243; days of southerly 

 winds, 122 ; temperature, 57'7 deg. F. The mean annual 

 velocity of the the wind and the average of sunshine and 

 cloudiness — two most important factors — are not given. 



Danger of Pyrogallic Acid. — This substance, so 

 much used by photographers, is a formidable poison, and 

 should be kept out of the way of meddlers. Accord- 

 ing to the Photographisches Archiv, a cliild which had 

 strayed into the workroom of a photographer, in a small 

 Rhenish town took up a glass containing a solution of 

 this acid and drank some. It would undoubtedly have 

 perished if the father had not had the presence of mind 

 to administer an emetic. 



Adulterant for Chocolates. — According to the 

 Analyst, in the last issue of the International Review of 

 Food Adulteration, published in Holland, an English 

 firm is charged with offering for sale to manufacturers 

 of chocolate a brown substance, designed to improve the 

 colour. The powder is specially recommended as quite 

 non-injurious, very light, and of great staining power. 

 It was found to be a mixture of oxides of iron and alu- 

 minium. We (Analyst) should fancy that foreign makers 

 of chocolate do not require any instructions from England 

 as to the use of red ochre. 



Taverns and Public Health. — Cosmos notes the ten- 

 fold increase of mental alienation since the com- 

 mencement of the century, and connects this fact 

 with the multiplication of taverns in the north of 

 France. In Valenciennes there were in 1876 i2j 

 establishments tor the sale of alcoholic liquors ; 

 in 1880 they had reached 501, and in 1887 652, 

 in a population of 27,500. Whilst alcoholism, and 

 especially the use oi absinthe, has undeniably an 

 injurious action upon the brain, we must not forget that 

 other factors have been at work in the increase of insanity. 



Movement among the Scientific Societies of Edin- 

 burgh. — According to the Scotsman, the Scientific 

 societies of Edinburgh are entering into negotiations 

 with a view to a kind of amalgamation with the Philoso- 

 phical Institution. Each society is to retain its indi- 

 viduality, and carry on its special work as heretofore ; 

 but the Philosophical Institution is to form their common 

 head-quarters, where their libraries and other belongings 

 are to be kept. Such a step, if it can be carried out, 

 will considerably reduce the working expenses of the 

 societies, and prove a convenience to many of the 

 members. 



The Linn^an Society. — This Society, which in its 

 position ranks second to the Royal Society alone, cele- 



