Nov. 1 6, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



503 



General Mattfr 



University College, Liverpool. — Mr. Henry Tate 

 has presented the sum of ^16,000 to the council of this 

 college for the erection of the library block of the college 

 buildings. 



The Value of Higher Education. — The following 

 significant advertisement is quoted from the Birmingham 

 Daily Post: — "2d. per hour. French, German, natural 

 history, mathematics. Privately. University man. B.Sc." 



Apiculture Abroad. — In Austria apicultural societies 

 and publications receive subventions from Government 

 to the yearly amount of 20,000 florins. In France 

 similar aid is extended to the very modest figure of 

 435 francs ! 



Dr. W. Spottiswoode's Mathematical Works. — The 

 mathematical papers of the late President of the Royal 

 Society (Dr. W. Spottiswoode) are to be brought out in 

 a volume. The task of collecting and editing has been 

 deputed by Mrs. Spottiswoode to Mr. R. Tucker, the 

 editor of Clifford's Mathematical Papers. 



Contamination of Water. — Professor E. H. S. Bailey 

 remarked at the last meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion (quoted in Popular Science Monthly), that ammonia 

 may be sometimes a natural constituent of waters and 

 not indicative of any animal pollution. 



Utilisation of Atmospheric Nitrogen. — Dr. Charles 

 Marcel, of Ouchy, has offered the trifling prize of 1,000 

 francs for the best investigation of the use of atmospheric 

 nitrogen in food. He who devises a practical means of 

 fixing atmospheric nitrogen will gain millions, always 

 supposing that he is not robbed of his invention. 



An Indicator of Electric Currents. — A simple con- 

 trivance for showing whether or no a wire is traversed 

 by an electric current is due to Mr. P. B. Delany. The 

 instrument is a ring which can be worn on the finger and 

 which contains, instead of a stone, a small compass. On 

 approaching this ring to a conductor the needle indicates 

 the passage of a current. 



The Flying Machine. — Professor Joseph Le Conte 

 thus summarises the prospects of these devices : — " A 

 pure flying machine is impossible. All that we can 

 expect — all that true scientists do expect — is a skilful 

 combination of the balloon-principle with the true flying 

 principle to make aerial navigation possible in moder- 

 ately favourable weather." 



Absence of Oxygen in the Sun. — From spectro- 

 scopic observations lately made at the Grand Mulets, 

 on the ridge of Mont Blanc, M. Janssen, of the Academy 

 of Sciences, concludes that oxygen does not exist in the 

 sun's atmosphere in a state capable of producing the 

 spectral manifestations which it gives in the earth's 

 atmosphere. The spectral lines and bands of oxygen 

 disappear the higher we ascend. 



The Intermittent Lake of Carniola. — Herr Putik 

 {Popular Science Monthly) has lately re-examined this 

 lake in order to ascertain the cause of its periodical 

 emptying and filling. An enormous cave, known as 



Karlovka, situate at the north-western angle of the lake, 

 serves for the outlet of the overflow. It lies at the foot 

 of a range of perpendicular rocks and leads to a chain of 

 underground lakes, five of which Herr Putik has 

 explored. 



Origin of Human Fear of Darkness. — ■ Dr. F. 

 Oswald {Popular Science Monthly) points out the timidity 

 of our " poor relations" after nightfall. "In the day- 

 time the restless vigilance of the tree-man enables him 

 to hold his own against his wiliest foes. But after sunset 

 the owl-eyes of the prowling Felidae give them a fatal 

 advantage, and the instinct of night-fear may thus deeply 

 and perhaps indelibly have impressed itself upon the 

 mental organism of our forefathers." 



Royal Institution of Great Britain. — At the 

 general monthly meeting held on Nov. 5th, Sir James 

 Crichton Browne, M.D., F.R.S., vice-president, in the 

 chair, Mr. Amand Routh, M.D., was elected a member. 

 Seven candidates for membership were proposed for 

 election. The special thanks of the members were 

 returned for the following donation to the fund for the 

 promotion of experimental research : — Mr. Lachlan 

 Mackintosh Rate, ^50. 



The Heat of the Sun. — According to recent obser- 

 vations the heat of the sun at any given place is not 

 constant, but is liable to considerable variations. In 1883, 

 from the beginning of July to the middle of August there 

 was an increase of heat of 6 per cent; ; from then to the 

 middle of September a decrease of 8 per cent. ; from the 

 middle of September to the middle of October there was 

 little change. At the beginning of June, in September, 

 and in October, the sun was covered with a great number 

 of spots. In August there were much fewer spots. 

 The solar heat seems to vary inversely as the number 

 of spots. — Astronomie. 



The Distance of the Sun. — The results of the 

 American observations of the last transit of Venus, in 

 1882, have been tabulated and summarised by Professor 

 Harkness. Ten stations of observation had been estab- 

 lished in the United States, and 1,472 photographs of 

 the transit had been taken. The mean of the results 

 gives the parallax as 8-847 min. ; that is, the mean dis- 

 tance of the earth from the sun is about 92,385,000 

 statute miles. Professor Newcomb had, 20 years ago, 

 estimated the parallax at 8-848 min. ; and the American 

 astronomers estimate the possible error at not more than 

 130,000 English miles. 



The Late Mr. Richard A. Proctor. — A petition, 

 which has already been extensively signed by some of 

 the most distinguished men in science and literature, is 

 being drawn up to the First Lord of the Treasury in 

 favour of the claims of the widow and children of the 

 late Mr. Richard A. Proctor to a pension under the 

 Civil List in consideration of Mr. Proctor's services to 

 science and to the popularising of science. Mr. Proctor 

 left a family of six children by his first wife and two by 

 his second. The total resources of his widow are stated 

 to be not more than £i$o, and one of his sons suffers 

 from an incurable hip disease. 



Mirages. — On July 15th last, about 11 a.m., at Hudik- 

 wall, on the Baltic, a great number of spectators saw in 



