SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



23 



SCIENCE GO SSIP 



During the year 1S94, no less than 1,377,58s 

 persons visited the Royal Gardens, at Kew, which 

 is about 450,000 less than in 1893. The difference 

 in weather is said to be accountable for the 

 reduction. 



Mr. John W. Taylor, F.L.S., after a period of 

 twenty-one years as editor and director of the 

 " Journal of Conchology," has retired.' The journal 

 becomes the sole property of the Conchological 

 Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and will be 

 edited by Mr. M. E. Hoyle, M.A., of Manchester. 



Mons. J. Poisson describes in " La Nature " the 

 explosive fruit belonging to a species of acacia. 

 These seed pods are of the shape and colour of 

 miniature cigars, being three centimetres long. 

 When placed in water, the pods, after two or three 

 minutes, explode with a loud noise, throwing one 

 valve with many of the seeds into the air. 



Writing to " Symons's Monthly Meteorological 

 Journal," Mr. G. H. Elder, of Blackheath, says 

 that during the remarkable thunderstorm of 

 January 23rd, his watch suddenly stopped. He 

 says it had never done so before ; and afterwards 

 he met no fewer than four people who said the 

 same thing had happened to their watches. 



An interesting communication upon the "Animals 

 found in the Mitchelstown Cave " in Ireland, 

 appears in the February number of the " Irish 

 Naturalist," by Mr! Geo. H. Carpenter, B.Sc. 

 This cave is said to be the only one in Britain 

 containing members of the blind subterranean 

 fauna. This may be attributed, however, to 

 imperfect exploration. 



The " Proceedings of the Liverpool Geological 

 Society" are issued, being part 2. vol. viii., edited 

 by Mr. H. C. Beasley. The presidential address, by 

 Mr. E. Dickson, F.G.S., on "The Estuary of the 

 Ribble," is a careful compilation of what is known 

 of the geology of that important region of Lanca- 

 shire. Professor W. A. Herdman, F.R.S., con- 

 tributes " Notes on the Submarine Deposits of the 

 Irish Sea." 



There was sold by auction, for forty-eight 

 guineas, on February 21st, at Stevens' Great 

 Auction Rooms, Covent Garden, what is considered 

 to be the largest egg known of the huge extinct 

 bird of Madagascar, JEpyornis maximus, probably 

 the "Roc" of Arabian romance. There are 

 remains of three species of JEpyornis to be found 

 in the drifted sands of the southern part of 

 Madagascar. 



Europe is suffering from a serious wave of the 

 so-called influenza epidemic, somewhat similar to 

 to that which followed the severe frost of 1S91. 

 There seems no doubt that it is produced by a 

 microbe which readily spreads among human 

 beings and some of the domesticated animals. A 

 medical contemporary points lout the danger of 

 children using toys which are inflated by the 

 breath of street hawkers suffering from that 

 disease or others, such as tuberculosis. 



It is announced that the Danish Government 

 has established a permanent meteorological station 

 at Angmegsalik, upon the eastern side of Greenland, 

 in latitude 65° 37'. 



The Society for' the Protection of Birds has 

 issued its Fourth Annual Report, being for j S.j ^ . 

 Established in 1889, it has now a members roll of 

 no less than 11,500. There are some interesting 

 notes in this report upon the probable early 

 extinction of several species of birds in different 

 parts of the world, to satisfy " Christian women of 

 Europe with ornaments." Among these is the 

 egret of Indo-China. 



The Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S., Pro- 

 fessor of Natural Philosophy in the Royal Institu- 

 tion, will deliver a course of six experimental 

 lectures on " Waves and Vibrations," at the Rojal 

 Institution, on Saturdays, March 2nd, 9th, 16th, 

 23rd, 30th, and April 6th. His lordship will also 

 deliver the Friday evening discourse on April 5th, 

 when his subject will be "Argon, the new Consti- 

 tuent of the Atmosphere." 



A statement has been made to the effect that one 

 of our more uncommon plants is likely to be 

 exterminated in some of its stations by interested 

 persons. It is the wild balsam or " touch-me-not " 

 [Impatiens noti-me-tangere). A raregeometroid moth, 

 Eustroma reticulata, feeds only on this plant, and to 

 enhance its scarceness is said to be the object of 

 this wanton destruction of the balsam in the 

 neighbourhood of Windermere. 



Mons. Mer has given the result of a series of 

 measurements, taken with great care and exactitude, 

 on a number of trees in the Vosges during the ex- 

 tremely wet season of 1888, and the correspondingly 

 dry one of 1893. These careful observations have 

 shown that dry seasons have a very marked ten- 

 dency to diminish the growth of trees in height, 

 and, to a less degree, in breadth. Very damp 

 seasons do not affect the height to any marked 

 extent, but have a great tendency to attenuate the 

 growth in breadth. The growth is normal in 

 ordinary seasons. 



The influence of the newer tendency to introduce 

 scientific thought and investigation into many 

 subjects which were a few years ago considered no 

 more than hobbies is to be noted among the " bird- 

 fanciers." The Bird Cage Club, with a large 

 membership, holds regular meetings at which 

 abstruce subjects connected with birds in captivity 

 are discussed and " Proceedings" published. Now, 

 we receive the "Avicultural Magazine," the organ 

 of the Avicultural Society for the study of foreign 

 and British birds. It is to be distributed monthly 

 free to the members. 



Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, M.D., F.R.S., 

 is nothing if not original. It is unusual for an 

 editor of a magazine to write the whole of the 

 journal himself without outside aid. Such, how- 

 ever, is the case with "The Ascelepiad," which 

 Sir Benjamin not only edits, but fully writes. It is 

 a half-crown quarterly, devoted to medical and 

 allied scientific subjects. In the last number 

 (42, vol. xi.) he gives a series of "Rules for the 

 Pre%'ention of Consumptive Disease," which will 

 be found well worth studying. He recommends 

 pure air as the first rule, active outdoor exercise, 

 uniform climate, uniform warmth in dress, regu- 

 lar hours of rest, sunlight, outdoor occupation, 

 muscular amusements, cleanliness, avoidance of 

 colds, and ample diet of easy digestion. Each of 

 these rules are explained in detail. 



