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SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



A telegram from Cleveland, Ohio, relates that 

 Father Odenbach, Professor of Physics at St. 

 Ignatius College, saw the great sun circle or halo 

 of Hevelius on Friday, December 6th. We be- 

 lieve that this halo has only been recorded on 

 three previous occasions. 



Sir W. H. Preece delivered the inaugural 

 address of the hundred and forty-eighth session of 

 the Society of Arts, dealing with the progress of 

 practical science in the nineteenth century. The 

 period was signalised by no iess than five great 

 discoveries : — The principle of evolution, the atomic 

 structure of matter, the existence of the aether and 

 the undulatory theory of light, and, lastly, electro- 

 magnetic induction and electrolysis, though in all 

 of these difficulties are to be faced. 



At an ordinary meeting of the Bontgen Society, 

 held on December 5th, Mr. Hall Edwards, L.E.C.P., 

 read a paper on " Bullets and their Billets," an 

 account of his experiences as surgeon-radiographer 

 to the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital in South Africa. 

 The old method of probe and finger exploration 

 was contrasted with the vastly improved results 

 obtained by the use of the X-rays. Before going 

 to South Africa the lecturer was inclined to believe 

 that the coils might be used with advantage in the 

 field, but actual experience had convinced him 

 that they could be much more profitably employed 

 in the field hospitals. 



Considerable interest has been aroused in all 

 quarters by Mr. Hill's motion condemning the 

 condition of the parrot, kangaroo, and fish-houses, 

 as well as the northern aviary, of the London 

 Zoological Gardens. The motion, as was foreseen, 

 was lost by a considerable majority, but it is evi- 

 dent that the matter will not be allowed to end 

 there, and it cannot be denied that there is room 

 for reform in many directions. We earnestly hope, 

 however, that no personal feeling will be introduced 

 into the discussion, nor anything said that could 

 be construed as an attack on those who have long 

 and faithfully served the Society. 



The British Astronomical Association recently 

 celebrated its hundredth meeting by a conver- 

 sazione at Sion Hall, Victoria Embankment, when 

 Mrs. Eoberts, D.Sc, gave an interesting address 

 on " Celestial Photography," with special reference 

 to the structure and conditions of the nebulae, and 

 the international movement for mapping out the 

 heavens. Views were shown of the Paris Ob- 

 servatory and Dr. Eoberts's Observatory at Star- 

 field. The most important instruments, the reseau 

 or ruled network on the photographic plates 

 employed, the methods of determining the mag- 

 nitude of the stars photographed, and measuring 

 the distances between them were also explained. 



The Earl of Denbigh has continued his experi- 

 ments in the growth of sugar-beet, and the result 

 is reported to be as favourable as in previous 

 seasons. It was arranged that four tenants on the 

 Home Farm at Newnham Paddox should each 

 grow half an acre of sugar-beet in the same field, 

 and under the same cultivation as a, crop of 

 mangolds. For the most part the plants came up 

 very irregularly, but, notwithstanding this, the 

 crops have turned out very satisfactorily. An 

 analysis which has been made shows that the roots 

 grown in England are much superior to those 

 grown in Germany. The cost of growing sugar- 

 beet may be put at £1 an acre more than for 

 mangolds. 



It is rumoured that Dr. Smith Woodward, who, 

 though of the same name is not even a distant 

 relative, will succeed Dr. Henry Woodward, whose 

 retirement we announced last month, as keeper of 

 the Geological department of the British Museum. 



The Christmas Number of the " Boy's Own 

 Paper" contains an interesting account of "Eels 

 and Elvers." The article, which is capitally 

 illustrated, is from the pen of Mr. H. H. Baker, 

 whose paper on Vaccination in our November 

 issue has attracted some attention. The article in 

 question, though primarily meant for boys, con- 

 tains much valuable information. We understand 

 that Mr. Baker is making a careful study of the 

 electric eel (Qynvnotus eleotri&us). 



The proceedings of the Zoological Society at 

 the opening scientific meeting of the session were 

 of more than common interest. Professor Eay 

 Lankester gave an abstract of a paper on Ocapia, 

 the new genus of the giraffe family, and pointed 

 out that the skulls were necessary to guide 

 zoologists in coming to a conclusion as to the 

 relationship of the animals. He put forward the 

 suggestion that the specimen in the South Ken- 

 sington Museum may be a female about two-thirds 

 grown, though admitting the probability of a 

 hornless member of the family existing at the 

 present day. Afterwards Mr. Oldfield Thomas 

 exhibited two skulls and the mounted head, with 

 neck, of the five-horned giraffe obtained by Sir 

 Harry Johnston in the North-Eastern part of the 

 Uganda Protectorate, and compared the skulls 

 with those of extinct forms of the Bramatherium. 

 Sir Harry Johnston described the habitat of the 

 Okapi, and gave reasons for thinking that further 

 discoveries would yet be made. 



The Friday evening meetings of the Eoyal 

 Institution will commence on January 19, when 

 Lord Eayleigh will deliver a discourse on " The 

 Interference of Sound." His Grace the President 

 will, after the discourse, unveil and present to the 

 . Institution, on behalf of the subscribers, a bust by 

 Mr. Onslow Ford, E.A., of Sir Frederick Bramwell, 

 Bart., Honorary Secretary of the Eoyal Institution 

 from 1885 to 1900. Succeeding Friday evening 

 discourses will be delivered by Mr. H. G. Wells, 

 Professor A. Crum Brown, Professor Arthur 

 Gamgee, Major P. A. MacMahon, Mr. W. Duddell, 

 Professor Henry A. Miers, Professor H. Becquerel, 

 Professor E. Eay Lankester, Geheimrath Professor 

 Otto N. Witt, and other gentlemen. The follow- 

 ing are the lecture arrangements before Easter : — 

 Professor J. A. Fleming, six lectures (adapted to 

 young people) on " Waves and Eipples in Water, 

 Air, and Aether " ; Dr. A. Macfadyen, six lectures 

 on '• The Cell : its Means of Offence and Defence 

 Immunity " ; Mr. W. N. Shaw, two lectures on " The 

 Temperature of the Atmosphere ; " Professor E. B. 

 Poulton, two lectures on " Eecent Eesearches on 

 Protective Eesemblances, Warning Colours, and 

 Mimicry in Insects " ; Dr. A. S. Murray, three 

 lectures on " Eecent Excavations at Delphi and in 

 the Greek Islands" ; the Eev. John Watson ("Ian 

 Maclaren "), three lectures on " The Scot of the 

 Eighteenth Century " ; Sir Henry Craik, two 

 lectures on " Scotland's Contribution to the 

 Empire"; Mr. E. T. Eeed, two lectures on 

 "Caricature in and out of Parliament"; Mr. 

 Hadovv, four lectures on " The Landmarks in the 

 History of Opera " ; and Lord Eayleigh, six lectures 

 on " Some Electrical Developments." 



