268 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



M. Henri de Parville, editor of La Nature, 

 has been elected an officer of the French Legion of 

 Honour. 



Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., has been 

 appointed to the Fullerian Professorship of Physi- 

 ology in the Royal Institution. 



The veteran Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, F.R.S., 

 is about to publish a work entitled " The Wonderful 

 Century : its Successes and its Failures." The 

 book will be issued by Messrs. Swan, Sonnenschein 

 and Co. 



Among other deaths is that of M. G. de Layens, 

 the popular French botanist, who wrote, in colla- 

 boration with M. G. Bonnier, "The Elementary 

 Flora of France." 



The Scarborough Field Naturalists' Society has 

 issued the first part of "Natural History Records 

 of the Scarborough District." It consists of the 

 Vertebrates, exclusive of fishes. 



We have received from Herr Gebriider Barn- 

 traeger, Berlin, an artistically produced catalogue 

 of scientific works, chiefly botanical. They are in 

 most cases by German authors. 



Our correspondent, Mr. Alfred H. Bastin, of Ivy 

 House, New Road, Reading, desires it to be known 

 that he is able to undertake the setting and mount- 

 ing of insects. He will furnish particulars and 

 terms on application. 



Among our monthly budget of second-hand book 

 catalogues, that of Felix Alcan, 108, Boulevard 

 Saint Germain, Paris, will be found useful to those 

 of our readers who require works on social science 

 and general natural history. 



Our contemporary, " The Journal of Con- 

 chology," has increased the amount of matter on 

 each page, so that the contents are enlarged by 

 about twenty - five per cent. The last volume 

 contains a more useful index than those hitherto 

 published. 



The ornithological collection of Central Italy 

 in the Zoological Museum at Rome has received 

 from MM. Lepri and Patrizi a gift of several 

 hundred birds from the Roman region, in which 

 there are many rarities. The Museum already has 

 about 1,500 specimens. 



Mr. R. F. Scharff, in the last number of the 

 " Irish Naturalist," has an interesting note upon 

 the discovery of remains of a wild horse, Equus 

 caballus, near Naas, co. Kildare, Ireland. The 

 bones have be;n presented to the Dublin Science 

 and Art Museu n by Major Moore. 



We have received an interesting reprint of the 

 presidential address of Mr. J. Cosmo Melvill. It 

 was given before the British Conchological Society, 

 and is extracted from the Society's "Journal of 

 Conchology." The subject is an historical sketch 

 of the principles of nomenclature and their applica- 

 tion to recent mollusca, particularly in regard to 

 pre-Linnean authors. 



Dr. Henry Laver has arranged to publish by 

 Subscription a work on "The Mammals, Reptiles 

 and Fishes of Essex." It will be under the 

 auspices of the Essex Field Club. 



Professor Ernst Ludwig Taschemberg, a 

 celebrated entomologist, has died at Halle-an-der- 

 Saale. He was born in 1818, and was best known 

 by his work in economic entomology and the study 

 of Hymenoptera. He was appointed to an office in 

 the Zoological Museum of Halle in 1856. 



There is to be arranged at Cannstatt, Wiirtem- 

 berg, this February, a general and national 

 exhibition of all that concerns calcium carbide, of 

 acetylene gas and of its applications. This will 

 be first special public exhibition of one of the 

 most important lighting powers of the future. 



The Natural History Society of Provence, 

 started two years ago at Aix, under the presidency 

 of M. le Vicomte de Selles, meets bi-monthly. 

 The English winter visitors interested in biology 

 would do well to look up some of the members, as 

 this is one of the most interesting regions in 

 Europe, and includes the French Riviera. 



At the last Entomological Club Meeting held at 

 the Holborn Restaurant, Mr. Verrell, for the ninth 

 year in succession, acted as host for the evening. 

 There was a large attendance of members and 

 visitors, It was announced that, for the first time 

 for many years, the limit of eight members had 

 been reached. 



We are pleased to observe that the Journal of 

 the Board of Agriculture has lately included some 

 articles upon natural-history subjects. In the 

 number for December there are no less than four : 

 "The Mole," by J. E. Harting, F.L.S., "The Barn 

 Owl," "The Red Spider, or Spinning Mite," and 

 " An Orchid Bug " are titles of others. 



We are glad to hear that one of the leading 

 subjects for discussion in the International Zoo- 

 logical Congress at Cambridge in August next, is 

 to be the whole question of the chaotic condition 

 of scientific nomenclature. We sincerely trust that 

 certain acceptable rules may be laid down which 

 will bring to an end the present state of constant 

 change of generic and specific names in many 

 orders. 



We have received a new magazine, entitled the 

 " Home University," the first number of which 

 appeared on January 15th, price one shilling. The 

 object of this magazine is to deal with all subjects, 

 and be suitable for all readers. It is not intended 

 to be a school-book, or encyclopaedia, nor a 

 journal of science and literature, but it will partake 

 of the character of all three. In the number before 

 us the subjects are certainly very varied, including 

 history, languages, and some natural history. 



The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 

 has received from Mrs. Emma W. Hayden, the 

 sum of 82,500 in trust, to be known as the Hayden 

 Memorial Geological Fund, and to be in memory 

 of her husband, tbe late Prof. Ferdinand V. 

 Hayden, M.D., LL.D. A bronze medal and the 

 balance of the interest arising from the Fund are 

 to be given each year for the best publication, 

 exploration, discovery or research in the sciences 

 of geology and palaeontology. The fund is not 

 confined to American naturalists, but is open to 

 strangers. 





