SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



121 



Naturalists having correspondents in Greater 

 Britain will be pleased with the early prospect of 

 Imperial penny postage, and better still to hear 

 that the parcels rate is to be greatly reduced. The 

 proposed rates are : under 3 lbs. is., under 7 lbs. 2s., 

 with a maximum of 3s. for 11 lbs. 



The Annual Foray of the British Mycological 

 Society is to be held this year at Dublin, where 

 the headquarters will be at the Botanical Rooms 

 in the Science and Art Museum, Kildare Street, 

 from Saturday, September 19th to the 24th, 

 inclusive. Mr. Carleton Rea, 34, Foregate Street, 

 Worcester, will furnish particulars. 



The excursions and meetings arranged for 

 appear to be of an entertaining character. They 

 will include visits to the Herbarium at the Science 

 and Art Museum (under the direction of Dr. T. 

 Johnson), the Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin 

 (under the direction of Mr. F. W. Moore, A.L.S., 

 M.R.I. A.), the Powerscourt demesne, Malahide 

 district, Rathdrum district, Woodlands demesne 

 near Lucan, and Glenealy. 



Other business and social meetings have been 

 arranged during the same foray at Dublin. There 

 will be the reading of a presidential address by the 

 acting President, Dr. C. B. Plowright, on the 

 " Agaricineae of Britain" ; a reception at the 

 Botanical Laboratory at the Royal College of 

 Science ; several papers of interest are to be read, 

 and a fungus exhibition will be held. Rooms in 

 the Kildare Street Museum and at the Royal 

 College of Science have been placed at the disposal 

 of the local committee. 



The latest determination, that by Dr. Braun 

 formerly Director of the Observatory at Kalocsa, 

 in Hungary, who has given eleven years to this 

 problem, makes the mean density of the earth 

 equal 5'52765. A Torsion balance has been 

 employed, enclosed in a glass globe, the interior 

 of which was a vacuum, which after four years 

 was still perfect. 



The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union is appealing, 

 through Mr. W. Dennison Roebuck, its honorary 

 treasurer, for subscriptions towards a special fund 

 of £150, two-thirds of which has already been 

 subscribed, and an increased membership. The 

 former object is to pay off some outstanding 

 liabilities incurred in prosecuting the really good 

 work which the union has accomplished. The 

 committee deserve all the support which can be 

 given by our readers. 



" A Plea for Owls and Kestrels " is the title 

 of a paper, by Mr. Lionel E. Adams, B.A., that 

 appeared in the " Journal of the Northamptonshire 

 Natural History Society." We have been favoured 

 with a reprint, and find it of exceptional interest. 

 The author makes out an excellent case in favour 

 of the preservation of several birds of these groups. 

 His information is based upon examination of the 

 pellets ejected by the owls and of the evidence of 

 modes of feeding by the buzzards and kestrels. 



The annual conference of the Irish Field Club 

 Union in the Kenmare district was well attended 

 and successful. 



A short time ago the Zoological Society of 

 London secured for its Gardens in Regent's Park 

 a fine young giraffe from Senegal, at a cost of no 

 less than /900 for the specimen. It is now dead. 



In the " Irish Naturalist " for August, Dr. Scharff 

 has an interesting article on "The Irish Freshwater 

 Leeches." He brings down the eleven reputed 

 species to eight, and gives diagrams for the dif- 

 ferentiation of the species. 



We are glad to note that the Rastrick and 

 Brighouse Naturalists' Society has secured the 

 use of a room in the Rydings, at Brighouse. 

 This ought to go far towards strengthening the 

 position of the Society and adding largely to its 

 membership. 



Professor Ramsay and Mr. Travers have suc- 

 ceeded, through their investigations into atmos- 

 pheric air, in finding two new inert gases. They 

 have named them respectively "neon" and 

 "metargon." The former has an atomic weight 

 of 22, and 40 represents that of the latter. 



We understand a meeting of some of the local 

 scientific societies of the eastern counties was 

 recently held at Witham, in Essex, with a view of 

 forming a union for mutual benefit. As we have 

 not received any particulars from its organizers or 

 secretary, we are not able to give any information. 



The " Journal of Marine Zoology and Micro- 

 scopy " for June, 1898, is to hand. It is the organ 

 of the Jersey Biological Station, and will in future 

 be issued half-yearly at one shilling per number. 

 This part is illustrated with three plates. It may 

 be obtained from Mr. James Hornell, the Biological 

 Station, Jersey. 



We may hope to find before long that the 

 original usefulness of the Apothecaries' or "Physic 

 Garden," at Chelsea, may be freely available for 

 all students of botany, whether medical or other- 

 wise, now it is to be in the hands of new trustees. 

 The site is most conveniently situated on the 

 Thames Embankment, and near several places of 

 interest. 



An almost unique opportunity is afforded by the 

 acquisition of the Apothecaries' Garden, at Chelsea, 

 of establishing a National School of Botany by a 

 disinterested public body. The size of the garden 

 is not such as requires expensive maintenance, and 

 the small capital necessary for physiological re- 

 search laboratory and class-rooms ought easily to 

 be provided by public subscription. The buildings 

 need not be on the site of the garden itself. 



The neighbourhood of Chelsea is well situated, so 

 as to be within the means of students of a National 

 School of Botany. It is within easy reach of the 

 Botanical Department of the Natural History 

 Museum of South Kensington. Such a proposal is 

 well worth consideration, as the initial capital fund 

 need not be large, and there should be a certain 

 revenue from class fees. 



The annual report of the British Museum draws 

 attention to the reduction in the number of visits 

 of students to the reading room at Bloomsbury by 

 2,735. Those knowing the reading room and its 

 readers are well pleased with this reduction and 

 with the greater strictness in issuing the tickets of 

 admission. During the period under review no 

 less than 188,628 visits were made to consult the 

 national library. 



