Miscellaneous Intelligence. 159 
10. Packard's coology. ike letter has been received from Pro- 
fessor Packard in re o Professor ni pag ’s criticism of his 
work, as regards the ea of the brains of vertebrates, on a 
tolerably complete account of the brains of the Vertebrates ; this 
would be out of place in such a work.” 
III. MisceLLaANEous ScrenTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 
1. The elem eegie’ Society of Japan.—A society under this 
name has been formed in Tokio, Japan, with the purpose of en- 
ficient guarantee that Ae new society will be a eae suquigi- 
tion to the science. At a general meeting held April 26, 1880, a 
paper was read by Prof. Milne,* which he summarizes as ‘follows : 
Wha ave attempted has been to show the position which 
the study of earthquakes and volcanoes occupies in the scheme, 
waiting to be worked out, for the elucidation of the natural laws 
upon which all "erated ener appear to be dependent. After 
t ive a condensed summary of the work whiee has been 
done in this country toward carrying out this se 
he paper, which is of considerable length, is es in full in 
the account of the meeting in the Japan Gazette of May 1, 1880. 
One item of genera interest is the actual horizontal movement of 
an earth particle during an earthquake shock, which Prof. 
ally. The movement in seven cases, reported from his own and 
Mr. E. > with & me observations, varied fro om 1°7 mm. to “4 or 5 
wi ean of 2°9 m 
the bob of a long pendulum may be assumed to be sensibly sta- 
tionary during most shocks. Tw wo levers at right angles to each 
very massive bob of endulum twenty feet lon 
are joined to their och so that each is affected si abe 
component of the movement resolved in its own direction. They 
are also unaffected by torsion of the pendulum or any other kind 
of relative motion of its parts. The long ends of the levers press 
gently against two smoked glass plates which are kept a 
continuously and uniformly by clockwork. So long as no earth- 
ach ley 
ver again on its revolving plate. The earthquake causes the 
* Professor Milne has given some 2 of his results in a letter to Natwre, vol. ced 
p. 208, say 1, 1880. 
