igo 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Professor N. Zograf has communicated to the 

 Societe d'acclimatation of Paris, an interesting 

 paper on " Pisciculture in Russia." 



We hear with pleasure that a Civil List Pension 

 of ^200 per annum has been granted to Mrs. 

 Huxley, widow of the Rt. Hon. T. H. Huxley, 

 F.R.S. 



A useful article upon " The Orchids of County 

 Dublin," by Mr. Nathaniel Colgan, M.R.I.A., is in 

 the " Irish Naturalist " for August. It appears that 

 sixteen of the twenty-three species occurring in 

 Ireland have been found in Dublin County. 



The Secretary of the Royal Botanical Society 

 draws attention to a passage in Herodotus, proving 

 that double roses were artificially cultivated 400 or 

 500 years b.c. Reference is made to their having 

 as many as sixty petals apiece, and to their 

 fragrance. 



The use of compressed oxygen in ballooning has 

 been successfully tried by Dr. Berson, of Stassfurt, 

 who, by breathing it after reaching an altitude of 

 22,000 feet, was able to rise to 31,300 feet, without 

 discomfort ; and he believes higher regions may 

 be explored with its aid. 



Norway has lost one of her leading marine 

 zoologists in Professor Svenon Louis Loven, of the 

 Stockholm University, who died in his eighty- 

 sixth year. He has been a teacher of biology 

 since the year 1830, and was curator of the Royal 

 Museum of Natural History. 



Messrs. Chapman and Hall, have been con- 

 stituted sole agents in this country, the Continent, 

 and the Colonies, for the sale of the scientific and 

 technological publications of Messrs. Wiley and 

 Sons, of New York. Messrs. Wiley stand among 

 the leading publishers of works on science in the 

 world. 



In Indian Museum Notes, Vol. iii, No. 5, Mr. E. 

 C. Cotes reviews the work done in ten years 

 preceding 1894, by the Entomological Section of the 

 Indian Museum, during which he was connected 

 with it. Much valuable information and material 

 of an economic character was accumulated and 

 published. 



The Biological Laboratory at Cold Spring 

 Harbour, Long Island, New York, is described at 

 some length in the " Scientific American," of 

 August 17th last. The laboratory is in a pretty 

 building seventy-two feet long, by thirty-six feet 

 wide ; with abundant light and air. It is under the 

 direction of Dr. Conn and a board of managers. 



The Smithsonian Institution of the United 

 States of America has, on the advice of the 

 Committee appointed for their consideration, 

 awarded the Hodgkin's Fund prizes. The first 

 prize of $10,000 has been given to Lord Rayleigh 

 and Professor William Ramsey for the discovery of 

 argon. A second prize of equal amount is not 

 awarded, but the third prize of |i,ooo goes to 

 Dr. Henry de Varigny, of Paris, for an essay 

 entitled " LAir et la Vie." 



Fellows of the Geological Society will miss the 

 genial help rendered on their visits to Burlington 

 House, by the late Francis E. Brown. He died 

 with sad suddenness on August 2nd last. 



In Mr. Colgan's article on Dublin orchids, in 

 August "Irish Naturalist," the word " calcicole " 

 is introduced. He describes Orchis pyramidalis as a 

 calcicole plant, of course this refers to its associ- 

 ation with lime or chalk. He borrows the word 

 from the French of M. Coutejean, in " Geographie 

 Botanique," Paris, 1881. 



To the " Quarterly Journal of Microscopical 

 Science, " for August, Mr. Henry Bury, M.A., 

 F.L.S., contributes an important illustrated article 

 on the various early stages of sea-urchins, starfish 

 and sea-cucumbers. His investigations into the 

 subject extended over larval forms from each of the 

 five classes of Echinoderms. 



Among the present exceptionally numerous 

 vacancies in museum management, we note the 

 position of Keeper of Zoology in the British 

 Museum, South Kensington, through the 

 resignation of Dr. Albert Gunther, F.R.S., which 

 post he has admirably occupied for many years. 

 The salary is ^750 per annum. 



We observe that Mr. Rowland Trimen, F.R.S. , 

 has resigned the directorship of the South African 

 Museum at Capetown. The trustees are prepared 

 to appoint another in his stead, the appointment 

 being worth about /700 per annum. The applica- 

 tions are to be made to the Agent General for South 

 Africa, before September 15th, at Victoria Street. 

 London. 



The Piscatorial Society of London has been 

 discussing whether the angler's fish are, or are not, 

 learning to refuse the tempting baits used by 

 anglers to allure them. If not, it certainly cannot 

 be because they have not been systematically 

 shown the evils of taking the bait. Complaint is 

 made that both fluviatile and marine fish are more 

 dainty and less prone to temptation than of old. 



The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union will hold the 

 annual meeting for 1895 at York, on October 30th. 

 An exhibition of work and photographs done 

 during the year, will be held at the same time. 

 The 120th ordinary meeting will take place on 

 Saturday, September 21st, at Filey. The marine 

 zoology committee of the Union will take advantage 

 of the equinoctial low tides, to investigate the rock 

 pools on Filey Brig. 



We learn from the " Victorian Naturalist," of 

 the death of the indefatigable botanist, D. Sullivan, 

 F.L.S., who contributed largely to a knowledge of 

 the Victorian flora. An orchid of the genus Caleya 

 bears his name. It is stated that worry, in 

 consequence of compulsory retirement by the 

 Educational Department, in which he served for 

 nearly thirty years as a headmaster, so affected his 

 spirits and health, that his life was possibly 

 shortened. 



In the quarterly journal of the Geological 

 Society, appears an illustrated paper by Mr. E. T. 

 Newton, F.R.S., upon a human skull and other 

 bones found by Mr. Robert Elliott, of Camberwell, 

 in the palaeolithic terrace-gravel at Galley Hill, 

 near Northfleet, Kent. The important characters 

 of this skull are its lengh and narrowness, parallel- 

 sided and depressed shape. Attention is drawn to 

 the similarity between this skull and those of the 

 extant Eskimos, whom Professor Boyd Dawkins 

 considers to be descended from palaeolithic 

 ancestors. 



