SCIENTIFIC NEAVS. 



[June I, iS 



presented Rameses II. as a young man, crowned with the 

 plumed and winged helmet known as the Astef crown. 

 Over his brow was the urceus, or sacred basilisk, the 

 emblem of sovereignty. A row of smaller basilisks 

 surrounded the lower part of the helmet, and above those 

 was the sun disc between the twisted ram's horns of the 

 god Knum. No such sweet and attractive portrait of 

 Rameses II., or, indeed, of any other Pharaoh, was known. 

 This beautiful head is now in the Boulak Museum. 

 Another slide exhibited a most perfect Hathor-head 

 capital. This head was as fresh as the day when it left 

 the hand of the sculptor. There was not a scratch upon the 

 soft and roun4ed cheeks, and not even the tips of the little 

 heifer-ears were broken. This was a work of the reign of 

 Osorkon II., who added a series of Hathor-head capitals, 

 with very questionable taste, to the grand lotus-bud 

 columns of the Hypostyle Hall. This head had been 

 ceded to the Egypt Exploration Fund by the Egyptian 

 Government. At the conclusion of her lecture Miss 

 Edwards made an earnest appeal for funds in aid of the 

 work of rescuing these discovered remains from the 

 destruction which they would certainly meet with if not 

 removed. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 At the last meeting of the Scientific Committee Mr. Hen- 

 slow observed that, with regard to Mr. Burbidge's remark 

 at the previous meeting, that " the scarlet runner does 

 not set its fruit in South America, but in this country it fruits 

 freely, owing to the bees, which bore through the base of 

 the flower," this was an error, as no flower is benefited 

 by the perforations made by insects from without. The 

 bees fertilise them, however, in the legitimate way ; but 

 in their absence the scarlet runner can scarcely fertilise 

 itself The French bean, on the other hand, is quite 

 sell-fertile, as horticulturists can force it in winter. 



Mr. Roupell sent a specimen of Sphirux ocellaia in illus- 

 tration of "mimicry," the dull colour of the upper wings 

 approximating to that of the dead leaves of the apple, on 

 whose branches it rested. This view did not find favour 

 with the entomologists present. 



Mr. Morris showed a fine specimen of Cynomorium 

 coccineuin, a curious parasitic plant from Gogo, whence it 

 had been received from the Governor of Malta, Sir 

 Lintorn Simmons. This is the fungus Melitensis of old 

 writers, and was formerly valued as an astringent ; in- 

 deed, so highly was it esteemed that the plant was placed 

 under the protection of a special guard. 



Sanitary Institute of Great Britain. — At the annual 

 general meeting, held at the Parkes Museum on Wednesday, 

 May i6th, Professor W. H. Corfield, M.A., M.D. (Chairman 

 of Council), in the chair, a report was presented by the 

 Council on the work of the Institute during the last year, and 

 on the Congress at Bolton in the autumn of 1887. The 

 Chairman gave an address, and the officers for the ensuing 

 year were elected : — The President, His Grace the Duke of 

 Northumberland, K.G. ; the Trustees, Sir John Lubbock, 

 D.C.L., F.R.S., Dr. B. W. Richardson, F.R.S., and Thomas 

 Salt, Esq., M.P. 



New Minor Planet. — Minor Planet No. 278 was dis- 

 covered on the morning of May 17th by Dr. Palisa at 

 Vienna. At 2.15 a.m. on that date, its position was right 

 ascension 16 hours 8 min. 8 sec. (decreasing 56 sec. daily) ; 

 North Polar distance in degs. 35 min. 12 sec. (increasing 

 \I min. daily). 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 by his correspondents, nor can he take notice of anonymous com- 

 municatioTis . All letters must be accompanied by the name and 

 address of the writer ^ not necessarily for publication^ but as a 

 guarantee of good faith. 



BRITISH LICHENS. 



In reply to the inquiries of " Lichen," in your issue of May 

 1 8th, permit me to say that if the book of Dr. Lindsay's he 

 saw in the British Museum was his "Popular History of 

 British Lichens," then your correspondent had in his hand 

 the most popularly written book on lichens in the English 

 language up to the present time. Sowerby's " English Botany," 

 with supplement, of course furnishes the best illustrations, 

 but as a hand-book on the subject Dr. Lindsay's is still the 

 best we have, i.e., of a popular character. 



Dr. Lindsay's book is now upwards of thirty years old, and 

 certainly its classification or arrangement is certainly very far 

 behindhand, but that does not invalidate his description of 

 species, as far as they go. If your correspondent can deter- 

 mine his findings better from Dr. Lindsay's book than from 

 Leighton's " Lichen Flora," etc., let him do so, and he may 

 find elsewhere the classification required. If all be obtained 

 up to classification, the most recent form of that may be found, 

 in part, at any rate, and at very small cost, in the pages of 

 "Grevillea," vol. xv., 1886 and 18S7. A new hand-book, 

 such as " Lichen " desiderates, is undoubtedly needed, but 

 the interest taken in lichenology has hitherto been so limited 

 that the question has been, Would such a book pay for 

 printing? Lichenology, of all botanical subjects, it must be 

 admitted, is the most difficult to popularise, and little has 

 been done in that way. The most popular and recent treat- 

 ment of the subject we know of, in any natural history 

 magazine, is that now being published by the Rev. W. John- 

 son, F.L.S., in the "Wesley Naturalist Journal." Beta. 



THE COLD WEATHER. 

 The unusually low temperature of the winter and spring 

 months of the last three years is not a little remarkable. I 

 subjoin a list of the mean temperatures as recorded at 

 Greenwich : — 



Apl. 



38-9 

 36-1 



33'7 

 39-6 

 46'4 



Deg. 



36-5 



7. — Dec. 

 8.— Jan. 

 , Feb. 

 , Mar. 

 , Apl. 



Five months 38.^ 

 The average of forty-five years is : 



December ... 

 January 



February ... 



March 



April 



Five Months 



Comparing these tables we shall find that during the last 

 three winter-spring periods of five months the temperature 

 has been nearly three degrees below the average. So far the 

 year 1888 has been notable for its ungenial weather, and it 

 forcibly recalls the unpleasant experiences of 1879, which 

 was one of the coldest years on record, and yielded the worst 

 harvest known. A Member of the Liverpool 



Astronomical Society. 



38-8 deg. 

 38-5 „ 

 397 „ 

 417 „ 

 47-1 M 



41-2 



BURNING OF THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY. 

 In your issue for April 20th (p. 369) there is reference to 

 the "ruthless burning of the books of the Alexandrian 

 Library." I beg to submit that this tradition runs counter to 

 internal evidence. The books were for the most part rolls, 

 not of papyrus but of parchment, a material very sparingly 

 combustible. Such rolls might be burnt up if thrust into a 

 furnace, but they could not be used for warming baths as 

 they would generate more stench than heat. Nor is it proven 



