48 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



"• A'special index, arranged according to species, has 

 been compiled by Messrs. G. B. Routledge, F.E.S., 

 and G. A. Lewcock, for the volume for 1894 of the 

 ' ' Entomologists' Record. " It is to be obtained from 

 Mr. Albert J. Hodges, 2, Highbury Place, London. 



The report of the detailed work, undertaken for 

 the United States Fish Commission, in investigating 

 the biology of the lobsters of the Maine Coast, is 

 now in the press. The work is illustrated with 

 fifty-four full-page plates, many being coloured ; 

 there are to be also forty figures in the text. 



At a meeting, held February nth, of the 

 Microscopical Society of Calcutta, Mr. S. J. Leslie 

 successfully demonstrated photo-micrograph}* by a 

 new and simple invention of his, costing, in addition 

 to an ordinary microscope., only a few shillings. The 

 results are stated to have been exceptionally good. 



Messrs. Appletox axd Co., the great American 

 publishers, announce a new series of " Useful 

 Stories." The series will include " The Story of 

 the Earth," by Prof. H. G. Seeley, F.R.S. ; 'the 

 " Story of the Primitive Man," by Edward Clodd ; 

 the "Story of the Solar System," by G. F. 

 Chambers. This ought to become a popular series. 



A Bill has been introduced into the Washington 

 House of Representatives to establish "The 

 University of America," in which each state, 

 territory, and congressional division shall be entitled 

 to an equal number of students, to be chosen by 

 open competitive examinations. The government 

 of the University is to be vested in a board of 

 twenty regents. 



M. S. A. Andree, a Swedish engineer, has 

 determined to make an effort to reach the North 

 Pole in a balloon during the summer of 1896. M. 

 Elkholm, of the Stockholm Meteorological Bureau, 

 who headed the Swedish expedition to Spitzbergen 

 in 1892, to watch the transit of Venus, will accom- 

 pany M. Andree. It is said that M. Elkholm has 

 devised a system of determining the velocity of the 

 upper currents of air by observations of the clouds. 



Dr. R. F. Scharff contributes to the March 

 number of the " Irish Naturalist " some interesting 

 notes on the Irish Caves, following those of Mr. 

 Carpenter on the same subject in the previous 

 month. The remarkable results of the exploration 

 of the Mitchelstown Cave, shows how necessary is 

 a thorough examination of all our British caves. 

 Dr. Scharff indicates, with the aid of a map, no less 

 than twenty-three important caves in Ireland. 



Professor F. Cheshire delivered an address re- 

 cently before the Camera Club on " The correlation 

 of the mouths of insects to the mouths of flowers." 

 His lecture opened up very great possibilities in the 

 employment of photography for the purpose of 

 showing, by means of the lantern, the fertilization 

 of plants by insects. Professor Cheshire has taken 

 a large number of photographs of insects in the act 

 of fertilizing various flowers. At another meeting 

 of the Club, Dr. C. S. Patterson showed that photo- 

 graphy might throw light on another subject, 

 namelv, the teeth of fishes in relation to their food. 



The Seventh Annual Report of the Microscopical 

 Society of Calcutta is to hand. The membership 

 is eighty-one, including some native gentlemen, the 

 meetings being held at the Asiatic Society's rooms, 

 and the Honorary Secretary is Mr. W.J. Simmons. 

 Among the papers read in 1894, are some of evident 

 interest, several having been published in the 

 society's monthly " Bulletin." 



Is it too much to hope that in a few years we 

 shall be able to explore unknown regions in navi- 

 gable balloons ? Mr. W. J, Bastard, of Islington, 

 and M. Victor Gentil, of Paris, have both latety 

 put forward designs for machines for aerial naviga- 

 tion, claiming that they shall be under man's 

 control. Unfortunately a very large sum of money 

 is required before these balloons can be tried. 



The Belfast Art and Industrial Exhibition for 

 1895 wiU open on April 10th, and will contain a 

 department for natural history and geology. 

 Among the more important exhibits expected, will 

 be a collection of photographs by Mr. R. Welch, 

 the well-known photographer of Belfast, illustrating 

 "Mountain Climbing in the Mournes." The 

 Mourne mountains are wild and exceedingly 

 interesting, as well as little known to English 

 Naturalists. 



Ix a recent interview Miss May Yohe, the 

 actress, stated that she was unable to sing when in 

 the near neighbourhood of flowers of strong scent. 

 Some months ago M. Joal published in France a 

 book called " Le Danger des Fleurs." According 

 to this author, soldiers have been known to faint 

 when passing gardens where grew the simple 

 peony ; brides have fainted at the altar because of 

 the orange blossoms adorning their costumes. Why 

 is it that certain flowers affect certain people ? 

 This interesting question requires investigation. 



We find from the Report of the Meteorological 

 Council to the Royal Society, for the year ending 

 March 31st, 1894, recently issued, that the Meteoro- 

 logical Office, in Victoria Street, London, is steadily 

 improving the accuracy of the daily published 

 forecasts. It is stated that the average, for the 

 ten years 1884-93, of more or less successful fore- 

 casts reached eighty-two per cent., while in the 

 year with which the recent report deals, eighty-four 

 per cent, of successes were achieved. The analysis 

 of these show fifty-nine per cent, complete 

 successes, twenty-five per cent, partial successes, 

 eleven per cent, partial failures, and five per cent, 

 total failures. It is well that naturalists who pro- 

 pose collecting-trips should be reminded that by 

 telegraphing, Meteorological Office, Victoria Street, 

 S.W., they may receive, for a fee of one shilling, a 

 private forecast of the probable weather advancing. 



Gilbert White's house at Selborne ("The 

 Wakes") is in the market. Cannot the Selborne 

 Society or any other society prevent the charming old 

 house from "being pulled down or altered " to suit 

 the requirements of a tenant " ? Would it not be a 

 fitting thing for Englishmen to purchase the house 

 where the author of those ever-delightful volumes, 

 " The Natural History of Selborne," lived, and use 

 it as a museum or something of the kind ? Every 

 year many pilgrims, both from the British Isles 

 and from America, make their way down to sleepy 

 Selborne. Surely these would subscribe a mite 

 towards this purpose. We also hear that White's 

 autograph manuscript of "The Natural History of 

 Selborne ' ; will be offered for sale by auction by 

 Sotherby and Co., during the coming season. 

 Portions of the letters contained in this lot have 

 never been published. 



