June 8, iSSS.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEV\^S. 



535 



©General Mott$. 



Production of Betose. — It is said that the yearly 

 production of beetroot sugar in France is 600,000 tons, 

 whilst in Germany it exceeds a million. 



Proposed South Polar Expedition. — According to 

 the National Zcituiig, Mr. Henry Villard is planning a 

 German South Polar Expedition. It is said that the 

 project is very favourably entertained in influential quar- 

 ters, and that there are good prospects of its being 

 carried into effect. 



Large Hailstones. — Professor Grant, of Glasgow, 

 reports that hailstones as large as pigeons' eggs fell in 

 the storm which raged over Scotland on May 20th. 

 This is corroborated by a gentleman at Grangemouth, 

 who had the curiosity to measure and weigh one stone, 

 which was foz. in weight, and li inch in diameter. 



Solomon Islands. — We learn from Nature that Mr. C. 

 M. Woodford, the successful naturalist explorer of the 

 Solomon Islands, is about to leave England on a third 

 visit to the group. After spending some time in various 

 parts of the islands not previously visited, he will in- 

 vestigate Santa Cruz, Woodlark Island, and other islands 

 lying to the south-east of New Guinea. 



Discovery of a New Star. — On the nights of the 8th 

 and 9th ult., the Rev. T. E. Espin, of the Wolsingham 

 Observatory, noticed a star of the eighth magnitude in 

 the constellation Cygnus which, not being registered in 

 the ' Durchmusterung,' is presumably new. Its colour 

 is red, and the spectrum was found to be not continuous. 

 The approximate place is R.A. 2ohrs. 42 mins., N.P.D. 

 45° -9'- 



Transparent Platinum. — According to the EngUsIi 

 Mechanic, when a mixture of platinic chloride and 

 glycerine is evaporated to dryness in a glass dish, a per- 

 fectly transparent deposit of metallic platinum is 

 obtained ; the light transmitted through this is of a dark 

 greyish-blue tint. In this respect, therefore, platinum 

 shows close analogy to gold, which, as is well known, in 

 thin leaf transmits green light. 



Tunnelling a Volcano. — We learn from the English 

 Mechanic that a scheme is under consideration in Mexico 

 for tunnelling the volcano of Popocatapetl through the 

 wall of the crater, in order to reach the immense sulphur 

 deposits inside the mountain. A narrow-gauge railway 

 will connect the tunnel with the town of Amecameca, 

 which, in turn, will connect with the Morelos road leading 

 to the national capital. 



Electric Lighting at the South Kensington 

 Museum. — In his annual report to the Science and Art 

 Department of the Privy Council, General Festing states 

 that the working expenses of the electric light at South 

 Kensington Museum amounted to _;^i,224. If gas had 

 been used the cost would have been ^2,845. It would 

 be interesting to hear more of this matter, for if the 

 figures be correct electric lighting must be cheaper than 

 gas — and that remains to be proved. 



Marinated Mackerel. — At a recent show of the Corn- 

 wall Polytechnic Institution, Mr. Perry, of Penzance, 

 exhibited some jars of marinated pilchards, which, after 

 twelve months' keeping, were found perfectly good. 

 The same process is now successfully applied to 

 mackerel. The principle is the exclusion of air by means 

 of a layer of paraffin wax or ozokerite, which is poured 

 in melted, so as to close the top of the jar. A writer 

 in the Field preserves honey in the same manner, and 

 the method might doubtless be extended to the more 

 delicate fruits. 



Under-sea Explorations. — Some members of the 

 Liverpool Geological Society spent the Whitsuntide 

 holiday in dredging off the coast of the Isle of Man. 

 Their object was to discover a deep-sea channel supposed 

 to exist near the Manx coast. The Liverpool Courier, 

 which gives an account of the expedition, says that in 

 pre-glacial times when land extended over much of 

 what is now the Irish Sea, a prolongation of the valley 

 of the Mersey probably ran in a north-westerly direction 

 for some distance, but is now buried under the drift 

 deposits. 



Scientific Research Fund. — Amongst the grants 

 recently made by the Committee of this fund are ;^ioo 

 to Professor Piazzi Smyth, for spectroscopic work ; £^0 

 to Professor Tait, for work in natural philosophy; ^,2^ 

 to Messrs. Hebertson and Rankine, on behalf of the Ben 

 Nevis Observatory, for apparatus for photographing 

 clouds and optical phenomena at Ben Nevis ; ;^ioo to 

 Mr. Joseph Thomson, for exploration and the collection 

 of objects of natural history in Morocco; ;^ioo to Mr. 

 Hoyle, of the Challenger Office, for systematic report on 

 Cephalopoda ; ^40 to Mr. R. Kidston, for an inquiry into 

 the distribution of the fossil fauna in the British carboni- 

 ferous rocks; and _;^ioo to Mr. J. Rattray, for investi- 

 gation of the diatomaceae. 



Deep sea Exploration. — On May 25 a party ot 

 scientists, consisting of Dr. Ball (Astronomer Royal), the 

 Rev. W. S. Green, Mr. Joseph Wright, F.R.G.S., Mr. 

 Lloyd Praess, C.E., Mr. R. Day, Mr. W. D. K. Kane, 

 and Mr. T. H. Poole, C.E., left Queenstown in the 

 powerful tug, Flying Falcon, on a six days' exploring 

 expedition, under a grant from the Ro3'al Irish Academy, 

 to the south and south- west coasts of Ireland, for the 

 purpose of discovering the several species of fishes and 

 animals in different depths of the ocean to the depth of 

 one thousand fathoms. The scientists were provided with 

 a complete dredging apparatus. The rarer species of 

 animals, when brought to the surface, will be photo- 

 graphed by Mr. Day, and carefully preserved for distri- 

 bution between specialists in England and Ireland. 



A New Zealand Sulphur Island. — According to Mr. 

 R. W. E. Macivor, White Island, in the Bay of Plenty, 

 New Zealand, is part of the crater of a huge, submerged 

 conical volcano. Part of the island disappeared during 

 the volcanic disturbance in New Zealand a year or two 

 ago. The mineralogical and other characteristics of the 

 place in 1S83 were such as are common in volcanic 

 regions, but a noticeable feature were some curious 

 hollow spheres, consisting of an exterior crust of gypsum 

 and a little sulphur, with transparent sulphur crystals 

 inside. In the midst of the central plateau is a lake, 



