Aug. 17, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS, 



151 



©literal Mott$. 



Australian Association for the Advancement of 

 Science. — The first meeting of this Association will be 

 held at Sydney on September 4th. 



Alleged Cause of Leprosy. — In Turkey there pre- 

 vails a notion that leprosy may be occasioned by a stroke 

 of lightning. 



Landslip. — There has been another landslip on the 

 Scarborough and Whitby Railway, and traffic is again 

 stopped. A few days ago a large part of the hill round 

 which the line runs, after passing a place called the Peak, 

 fell and blocked the rails. This was cleared, and traffic 

 again resumed, but during Thursday night in last week 

 there was another slip, and the line was again blocked. 



Professor Brazier. ■ — This gentleman is retiring from 

 the Chemical Chair at Aberdeen University. Among 

 the probable candidates for the vacancy are Mr. H. J. 

 Jones, recent assistant to Professor Brazier : Dr. Orme 

 Masson, professor of chemistry in the University of 

 Sydney ; and Dr. J. Gibson, assistant-professor of chem- 

 istry at the University of Edinburgh. 



South London Polytechnics. — We understand that 

 the Corporation of London will be asked within a very 

 short time to exercise its well-known liberality in assist- 

 ing the grand scheme now on foot, and certain of success, 

 for creating in the south of London a series of polytechnic 

 institutes for the education and advancement of the 

 youthful portion (male and female) of our working popu- 

 lation. 



Registration of Plumbers. — At the City and Guilds 

 Institute, Finsbury, last Saturday week, an examination 

 was held under the auspices of the Company of Plumbers 

 for Certificates of Registration. The practical examination 

 included various branches of lead work, and the theoreti- 

 cal questions relating to the several subjects of plumbers' 

 materials, house fittings and sanitation. Seventy-five per 

 cent, of those attending passed the full examination. 



Lightning Conductors. — Arrangements have been 

 made by Mr. Edward Rigg, Recorder of Section G of the 

 British Association, for a joint discussion on "Lightning 

 Conductors," to be held in sections A and G at the Bath 

 meeting in September. Mr. W. H. Preece, F.R.S., the 

 President of Section G, will open the discussion, and 

 Professor Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S., will defend the posi- 

 tion he took up this year before the Society of Arts. 



The Preparation of Rhea. — The Board of Trade have 

 received information through the Foreign Office to the 

 effect that the opening of the competition of machinery 

 and apparatus for the preparation of rhea, which was to 

 have taken place at Paris on the 15th of this month, has 

 been postponed till the 25th prox. The period during 

 which applications for permission to compete will be re- 

 ceived has also been extended to the 30th of August. 



Meteor. — On Thursday morning in last week, at 2.30,8 

 magnificent meteor was seen from Manchester in the south- 

 west. The heavens were suddenly illumined by a splendid 

 burst of light, caused by the explosion of the meteor. 

 For at least three seconds after the white light had dis- 



appeared a well-defined train of red light could be seen 

 depending, as it were, from the clouds. It would be 

 interesting to know over what extent of country the flight 

 of the meteor was observed. 



Exploration in Morocco. — The following message 

 from Mr. Joseph Thomson and Mr. Harved Crichton- 

 Brown, transmitted by the Eastern Telegraph Company's 

 cable from Tangier, has been sent to the Royal Society, 

 the Royal Geographical Society, and to the friends of the 

 explorers : — " City of Morocco, July 28th. — We returned 

 to Amsmiz across mountains, safe and well, July 24th ; 

 many interesting geographical and geological notes ; so 

 far successful beyond our expectations. We were pre- 

 vented going direct from Glamoa to Gundaffy by tribal 

 revolt. We shall start on August 6th for third trip across 

 the Atlas, further 5.W. this time." 



The Greenland Expedition. — The captain of a whaler 

 which arrived at Sandefjord on August 4th reports that 

 he fell in on July 10th with the ship Jason, having on 

 board Dr. Nansen, of Bergen, and his companions in the 

 journey on snowshoes across Greenland. The Jason was 

 to have landed them at the east coast, but the first 

 attempt had been a failure, owing to heavy weather and 

 fogs. In order not to lose the seal-hunting season, the 

 Jason had turned southward again; but it was the in- 

 tention to shape a northerly course soon after July 10th, 

 when another effort would be made to land Dr. Nansen 

 and his party of explorers. Heavy masses of ice were 

 reported along the coast. 



Suicide Contagious. — Most of our readers will have 

 heard of the sentry-box at Paris in which a number 

 of sentinels hanged themselves in succession, until it 

 was destroyed by the order of the Emperor. Every one 

 is aware how persons came sometimes from a distance 

 to fling themselves over the Highgate Archway, to the 

 grievous peril of passengers on the road below, until a 

 lofty iron fencing rendered this mode of self-destruction 

 impossible. The same curious trait of human nature is 

 now being manifested at the Clifton Suspension-bridge, 

 which is about to be caged in with iron trellis-work from 

 end to end. A similar fascination attaches in Paris to 

 the Vendome column and that of the Bastille, which are 

 about to be caged in a similar manner, for the protection 

 not merely of the madmen in question, but of those 

 passing below. 



Crystal Palace School of Practical Engineering. — 

 On Saturday afternoon Mr. Arthur T. Walmisley, C.E., 

 President of the Society of Engineers, awarded the cer- 

 tificates gained by the students of the Crystal Palace 

 Company's School of Practical Engineering, the distribu- 

 tion taking place in the south tower of the Palace. Mr. 

 F. K. J. Shenton read the report, which stated that out 

 of thirty-two students who had attended the lectures 

 on " Railways, their construction and appliances," 

 twenty-two proved eligible for examination, and 

 eighteen satisfactorily passed. The result of the exami- 

 nations in the various sections was of a most satis- 

 factory nature. Mr. Walmisley, in addressing the 

 students, said that the report showed that good 

 work was being done in the school. He could speak 

 with a practical knowledge, having examined in the civil 

 engineering section two years ago. Civil engineering 

 was world-wide in its work, and could claim to have 



