Sept. 28, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



335 



©literal jlotejss. 



Sanitary Precautions in France. — The Consultative 

 Committee of Public Health in France {Cosmos) has 

 interdicted the use of benzoic acid as well as that of 

 salicylic acid as an antiseptic addition to articles of food 

 and drink. The committee has also decided against 

 alloys of lead for capsuling bottles. 



Volcanic Eruptions. — Advices from the Philippine 

 Islands, via Hongkong and Yokohama, received at Queens- 

 town on Saturday morning, state that over 300 lives were 

 lost in those islands by the eruption of an old volcano, 

 named Mayon, at the latter end of July. Several hun- 

 dreds of houses were also destroyed by the lava and 

 ashes, and the natives were in a state of panic. Volcanoes 

 in the islands of the Bissayar group were also in a 

 violent state of eruption, and it is thought there has 

 been a terrible loss of life. The news was brought to 

 Queenstown from New York by the Umbria. 



Eruption of Stromboli. — Captain Hammond, ot the 

 steamship Duchess of Sunderland, reports that on the 

 1 2th inst., while on a voyage to Venice, he noticed that 

 the volcano Stromboli was in a state of eruption. Ordi- 

 narily nothing but thin vapour is observed to proceed 

 from the mountain, but on this occasion a huge flame 

 eclipsed the stars. At an altitude of 7 deg. the upper 

 portion of the flame burst into countless glowing par- 

 ticles. The deck of the steamer was covered with dust, 

 and the steamer was enveloped in dusty cloud for a 

 distance of ten miles. 



Ascent of Mount Elburz. — On the 25th ult. the 

 ascent of Mount Elburz was successfully made from the 

 eastern side by Baron Ungern Sternberg. In notifying 

 the event to the Tiflis Geographical Society, the Baron 

 wrote: — "We set out at 11, and crossed the glaciers 

 Iriktchat, Atrium, and Djelkaoughenkes, hitherto deemed 

 impassable. At an altitude of 15,200 feet I discovered 

 an enormous crater. We passed three nights on the 

 mountain at the different heights of 9,000, 14,760, and 

 17,840 feet. At the last height we passed through a 

 terrific snowstorm. Breathing was not attended with 

 any great difficulty. The health of my men has been 

 good. I descended by the southern side between Azaou 

 and the Terek." 



Discovery of Nuggets in Australia. — The Melbourne 

 Argus states that a nugget, weighing 386 ozs., and esti- 

 mated to yield 375 ozs. of pure gold, was, on July 23rd, 

 discovered in the workings of the Burnt Creek Company, 

 Dunolly. This is the largest nugget found since July, 

 1887, when one weighing 617 ozs. was unearthed in the 

 Midas claim. Two months previously a nugget 169 ozs. 

 in weight was discovered in the ground of the same 

 Company. These are the three largest nuggets found in 

 the colony since August, 1880, when one weighing 330 

 ozs. was found in Shicer's Gully, Wedderburn. A report 

 was also received by the Secretary for Mines (Mr. C. W. 

 Langtree) that a party of miners at Wedderburn, at 6 ins. 

 below the surface, had dug up a nugget 44 ozs. in weight. 



The Krakatoa Eruption. — The report of the Com- 

 mittee of the Royal Society appointed to inquire into the 

 history of the great Krakatoa eruption is now in the press. 

 It will contain an account of the volcanic phenomena of 



the eruption, and an essay on the nature and distribution 

 of the ejected materials, by Professor Judd ; papers on 

 the air waves and seismic sea waves caused by the erup- 

 tion, which, it will be remembered, was the most tre- 

 mendous instance known in modern times. The general 

 public will be most interested, however, in the report ot 

 the evidence collected from all quarters of the globe on 

 the unusual optical phenomena of the atmosphere 

 observed in 1883-86, including twilight effects, sky-haze, 

 coloured suns, and coronal appearances, supposed to have 

 been due to the presence of Krakatoa volcanic dust float- 

 ing in the upper regions of the air. 



Japanese Lacquer for Iron Ships. — The Japanese 

 Admiralty has finally decided upon coating the bottoms 

 of all their ships with a material closely akin to the 

 lacquer to which we are so much accustomed as a 

 specialty of Japanese furniture work. Although the pre- 

 paration differs from that somewhat commonly known as 

 Japanese lacquer, the base of it is the same, viz., gum 

 lac, as it is commonly cermed. Experiments, which have 

 been long continued by the Imperial Naval Department, 

 have resulted in affording proof that the new coating 

 material remains fully efficient for three years, and the 

 report on the subject demonstrates that, although the first 

 cost of the material is three times the amount of that 

 hitherto employed, the number of dockings required will 

 be reduced by its use to the proportion of one to six. A 

 vessel of the Russian Pacific fleet has already been 

 coated with the new preparation, which, the authorities 

 say, completely withstands the fouling influences so 

 common in tropical waters. It occupied the native in- 

 ventor for many years to overcome the tendency of the 

 lac to harden and crack, but having successfully accom- 

 plished this, the finely polished surface of the mixture 

 resists in an almost perfect degree the liability of bar- 

 nacles or weeds to grow, while presumably the same high 

 polish must materially reduce the skin friction which is 

 so important an element affecting the speed of iron ships. 

 The dealers in gum lac express the fear lest the demand 

 likely to follow on this novel application of it may 

 rapidly exhaust existing sources of supply. — Scientific 

 American. 



The International Meteorological Committee. — ■ 

 This committee held a meeting at Zurich, in the Poly- 

 technikum, from the 3rd to the 5th of this month. The 

 most important point on which action was taken was 

 the subject of future meetings to be held instead of 

 Meteorological Congresses organised by diplomatic 

 means. The following resolution was adopted : — " The 

 committee, in view of the circumstance that the assem- 

 bling of an international meeting, of the same character 

 as the congresses of Vienna and Rome, presents great 

 difficulties, considers that the commission it received at 

 Rome is exhausted, and that it ought to dissolve itself. 

 At the same time, in order to continue the relations 

 between the different meteorological organisations, which 

 have been productive of such good results during a 

 series ot years, the committee appaints a small bureau, 

 with the duty of using its best endeavours to bring about, 

 at some convenient time, an international meeting of 

 representatives of the different meteorological services." 

 By a subsequent resolution the bureau was made to con- 

 sist of the President and Secretary of the committee 

 (Professor Wild and Mr. Scott). Among other matters 

 on which action was taken may be mentioned Cloud 



