Nov. 30, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



559 



of trees, three «r four feet in diameter, were laid 

 prostrate on cne ground. Suddenness, from first to last, 

 characterised the whole of this remarkable phenomenon. 

 There had been slight shocks of earthquake on the 8th, 

 9th, 10th, and 13th; also a momentary spasm at about 

 seven o'clock on the morning of the eruption, so feeble, 

 however, that many persons failed to notice it. Strange 

 rumblings, taken for distant thunder, were heard in the 

 mountains socBr"after seven. But of palpable warning 

 there was virtually none, with, perhaps, the bare ex- 

 ception that animals in the neighbourhood are said to 

 have shown signs of uneasiness and fear just before the 

 outburst. That animals are highly susceptibe to minute 

 tremors of the ground is a well-established fact ; and, 

 as the earth in the vicinity must have been more or less 

 affected before such an explosion as that of Bandai-san, 

 it is quite conceivable that theie may have been a suc- 

 cession of microseisms perceptible only to the delicate 

 senses of quadrupeds and other dumb creatures. Well- 

 waters are said to have diminished in some places be- 

 fore the eruption occurred. But neither before nor after 

 did the large Lake Inawashiro, to the south of the 

 volcano, give any sign of being affected by it. And, 

 generally, it must be owned that the Bandai-san catas- 

 trophe and the phenomena preceding it have not brought 

 us any nearer than we were before to the power of 

 saying when — or even where — volcanic mountains may 

 be expected to give vent to their hidden fury. 



- — «^*^v^«?-» 



Handbook of Sydney. For the Use of the Members of 



(the Australasian Association for the Advancement of 

 Science. Edited by W. M. Hamlet, F.I.C., F.C.S., 

 Government Analyst. Sydney : Turner and Hen- 

 derson. 

 Although this little book did not reach us until afier 

 the first meeting of the Australasian Association was 

 over, it yet possesses a permanent interest as a com- 

 pendium of the natural history — taking the term in its 

 widest sense — of the Sydney district. 



After an Introduction by the editor, dwelling on the 

 topography of Sydney and the picturesque character of 

 its harbour and vicinity, we find an essay on the climate 

 by Professor H. C. Russell, Esq., B.A., F.R.S., the 

 Government Astronomer. The temperature is decidedly 

 lower than we might expect from the latitude. The 

 mean temperature in the shade is only62° Fahr., which 

 is not greater than that of Toulon or Barcelona. But 

 the summer of Sydney averages only 71 , and the 

 winter 54 , whilst that of Toulon reaches a mean of 75 ° 

 in summer, and falls to 48J in winter. In the interior 

 of the country the mean summer temperature is 66°, 

 running up to 120 F. in the shade. 



The average rainfall at Sydney is 50 inches, and the 

 average number of days on which rain falls is 152. 

 Further inland the rainfall decreases rapidly, being only 

 38 inches at Paramatta. 



The account of the geology of the district, by C. S. 

 Wilkinson, F.G.S., the Government Geologist, brings to 

 ight the fact that in the Pleistocene period the rainfall 

 must have been more considerable than it is now, and 

 :hat the climate must have been more favourable for 

 :he continuous growth of a luxuriant vegetation. 

 Professor J. H. Maiden, F.G.S., the Curator of the 



Technological Museum, furnishes a very interesting 

 account of the botany of the region. He notes the 

 deplorable fact that " no instinct of pioneering man seems 

 to be stronger than his love of felling trees.'-' Hence, in 

 the neighbourhood of Sydney the native flora is becom- 

 ing sadly restricted. 



The mammalia of New South Wales are described by 

 Dr. G. Bennett, F.L.S. With the exception of the Mono- 

 tremata, forming as they do a transition between mam- 

 mals and reptiles, they are not very interesting. 



One of the few animal nuisances in Australia is the 

 flying fox {Ptcropns poliocephalus), a fruit-eating bat, 

 which is very destructive in orchards. 



The birds of Australia are overlooked in this manual, 

 a fact greatly to be regretted. 



The marine fauna, described here by Dr. W. A. 

 Haswell, F.L.S. , is extremely rich. It is much to be 

 regretted that the Aquarium, founded by the exertions of 

 the late Miclucho Maclay, has been allowed to collapse. 

 This establishment, like those of Naples, Hoboken, etc., 

 and unlike every aquarium in England, save that newly 

 founded at Plymouth, was a place for genuine scientific 

 research. 



The insects of the Sydney district are well described by 

 A. Sidney Olliff, F.E.S., of the Australian Museum. This 

 writer notes the affinity which exists between the fauna 

 of Australia and that of the western coast of South 

 America. The paucity of species of butterflies — only 

 320 known species in so vast and so sunny a country as 

 Australia — is something remarkable. Three species of 

 Papilio occupy themselves with damaging the orange 

 orchards. 



The Hymenoptera, the Orthoptera, and the Diptera of 

 Australia are not sufficiently known to be summarised. 



From this little handbook it will be seen that an 

 immensity of work remains to be done in Australia. We 

 hope that the new Association for the Advancement of 

 Science will, in the language of a homely old proverb, 

 " do the next thing," that is the work which can only be 

 done in Australia, and not waste its time and its energies 

 upon subjects which can quite as well be studied in 

 Europe. 



An Essay on Cramming. By Robert W. Davey and R. 

 H. Thompson. London : John Walker and Co. 



Among our many national peculiarities one of the most 

 striking and perhaps the most unfortunate relates to our 

 system of education. Every one knows that, according to 

 a scheme primarily imported from China, we treat exami- 

 nations not as a test of the progress made by any student, 

 but as the main object of education. We hear constantly 

 of students preparing for some particular examination, 

 and passing it or failing so to do. We constantly meet 

 with elementary treatises in different branches of science 

 written avowedly in reference to some particular exami- 

 nation, and we have a numerous and highly paid class 

 of examiners. Until lately the public flattered itself that 

 all this was as it should be ; that if a man had passed 

 such an ordeal he must be competent and conversely that 

 if he failed he must be ignorant. 



From this dream we are beginning to awake. No less 

 eminent an authority than Professor Huxley told us a 

 few years back that in these days we study not to know, 

 but to " pass," the consequence being that we pass and 

 don't know ! This saying has been found to be true. 

 Almost all men of eminence in science endorse it, and 

 admit that a man may have passed a brilliant examination, 



