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Professor W. Ramsay contributes to " Nature " 

 of July 4th, particulars of his discovery of both 

 argon and helium in meteoric iron. These elements 

 were obtained by heating the iron in vacuo, accom- 

 panying them was a comparatively large quantity 

 of hydrogen. 



Dr. Hart Merriman, Chief of the Division of 

 Ornithology in the United States Agricultural 

 Department, has raised his voice against the 

 slaughter of hawks, owls and crows in America. 

 He shows that they there feed largely on mice, 

 grasshoppers, etc. 



Mr. Walter P. Cohex read a paper before the 

 Wellington Philosophical Society, New Zealand, 

 on the appearance in some numbers of Venessa itca 

 in Wellington, in March, 1894, where this hand- 

 some butterfly had not previously been observed. 

 It is a northern New Zealand species. 



The number of " Natural Science " for Jnly is of 

 especial interest, as it is devoted to a resume of the 

 " Challenger Expedition," and contains contribu- 

 tions from some three dozen eminent naturalists. 

 There are also illustrations of the ship and mode of 

 conducting the scientific work on board. 



The excellent Society for the Protection of Birds, 

 which deserves the support of our readers, has 

 issued Nos. 19 and 20 of its publications, the 

 former being a pamphlet on the barn owl by 

 Mr. W. H. Hudson. No. 19 is a leaflet on the use 

 in their millinery, by ladies, of feathers of birds of 

 paradise, which is surely leading to the extinction 

 of these handsome birds. 



Naturalists studying or collecting eggs or 

 ornithological specimens, are frequently accused 

 of exterminating rare birds. This is quite a 

 mistake, with the exception of a very few rare and 

 local species. A single cold sleet shower passing 

 over a district at the season when young birds are 

 in the nests, will destroy tenfold more than all the 

 naturalists, and, for the matter of that, bird-catchers 

 and schoolboys added, in a whole year. 



We have received Bulletin No. X (May, 1895), OI 

 Botany from the Queensland Department of 

 Agriculture at Brisbane. It consists of contribu- 

 tions to the Queensland Flora, and includes two new 

 species of the fungoid genus Mutinus, described and 

 figured by the colonial botanist, Mr. F. M. Bailey, 

 F.L.S. They are allied to our Phalas impudicsus, 

 one 3/. feniagonus is very beautiful, but like our 

 species, very fcetid. 



We have received from Messrs. Watkins and 

 Doncaster samples of polyporus tablets, which 

 are narrow strips of pith-like material that are 

 coming into general use among leading entomolo- 

 gists for " staging " micro-lepidoptera, micro- 

 hymenoptera and other small insects. It is a great 

 improvement upon pith or cork for this purpose, as 

 it will not injure the finest pins. It is 2s. 6d. 

 per ounce, very light, and quite white in colour. 



The Moniteur Scientifique du Doctecr 

 Qcesxeyille (Paris, July, 1895) contains an 

 article on the chemical constituents of various 

 colouring matters, and the progress made in this 

 branch during the year 1894. The article, which 

 is by Mons. Ed. Ehrmann, is divided into eight 

 chapters, of which only four are given in this 

 number. There is also an article by 14. Engelhart 

 on the " Manufacture of Portland Cements by a 

 Dry Process." He does not think the dry process 

 would be suitable in England, as the calcareous 

 materials found here contain so great a proportion 

 of silica that purification is absolutely necessary ; 

 but in other countries he maintains the dry process 

 would be much better than the so-called " wet 

 process." 



La Nature (Paris, July 6th, 1895) has an article 

 on the course of the "•Auto-mobile Carriages," 

 illustrated by ten figures, showing the nine princi- 

 pal carriages in the race w^hich took place in France 

 on June nth last. Dr. E. Trouessart has an 

 article on •• The Extinct Gigantic Birds of Southern 

 Patagonia," illustrated by two figures, one of the 

 head and bill of the Phororhacos longissimus, and the 

 other an ideal restoration of Brontvrnis :. 

 represented as knocking down a Dinosaurien. 

 Remains of these birds are found in eocene 

 deposits. In the same magazine for July 13th, 

 M. E. Hennebert describes the National School of 

 Horticulture at Versailles, which is provided with 

 ample material for laboratory instruction. There 

 is a fine library and beautiful herbariums of native 

 and foreign plants. The article is illustrated 

 with a plan of the buildings and grounds and 

 elevation of the school, which appears to be doing 

 much good w-ork. The number for July 20th 

 contains an illustrated article on " Some Abnormal 

 Trees in France," rather with regard to size than 

 shape. It is also illustrated. 



Cosmos (Paris, July, 1895) contains a short 

 illustrated article on the new Meteorological Ob- 

 servatory in St. Helier, Jersey. This observatory 

 is really intended for a meteorological laboratory, 

 as it is proposed, besides the ordinary routine of 

 hourly or three-hourly observations, to carefully 

 watch and note all changes in the atmosphere and 

 general meteorological phenomena. The observa- 

 tory has been founded by and is under the imme- 

 diate direction of Mons. Marc Dechevreus, who is 

 already well known as the organiser of the Ob- 

 servatory of Zi-Ka-Wei, in China. The writer of 

 this article says that Mons. Dechevreus might say 

 that the sun never sets upon his possessions, as 

 during the summer solstice the hour of sunrise on 

 one observatory is the hour of sunset on the other. 

 In this number of " Cosmos " there is also an 

 article by Mons. Louis Rabourdin on the proposal 

 recently made by a member of the council to pull 

 down the Observatory of Paris. He sets forth the 

 work done in the past by this observatory as good 

 reason why it should not be destroyed, and urges 

 rather its development. 



