360 



SCIEJSrGE. 



[Vol. VI., No. 142. 



io investigate the mineral treasures of the region. 

 M. Gulishambaroff has made his name principally 

 in writing on petroleum, which will be one of the 

 subjects of investigation ; but the sulphur deposits 

 of the Turcoman desert are his main object. Spec- 

 imens of fine iron ore have also been sent in from 

 the Akhal oasis, and the extent of this is to be 

 reported on. The Herat territory, which is con- 

 tiguous to the new Russian acquisitions, is rich in 

 minerals. 



— The new Institute of hygiene founded in con- 

 nection with Berlin university, and presided over 

 by Dr. Koch, is so far advanced towards comple- 

 tion that lectures will be held in it this term. 

 It is principally intended for the study of bac- 

 teriology. 



— Prof. O. C. Marsh, of New Haven, discussed 

 the size of the brain in extinct vertebrates before 

 the British association recently ; this is a subject 

 which has engaged his attention for fifteen years. 

 In every instance he found that the mammals from 

 the lower tertiary had very small brains. He 

 carried out his investigation into the upper ter- 

 tiary, and found that the brain was much larger 

 in the pliocene than in the miocene. All the ter- 

 tiary mammals had small brains ; there was a 

 gradual increase in the size of the brain during 

 this period ; and this increase in the size was gen- 

 erally in the cerebral hemisphere or higher por- 

 tions of the brain. In some groups the convolu- 

 tion of the brain had gradually become more 

 complex. In some the cerebellum and the olfac- 

 tory lobes had even diminished in size. There is 

 now evidence that the same general law of brain 

 growth holds good for birds and reptiles from the 

 Jurassic period to the present time. The brain of 

 an^animal belonging to a vigorous race fitted for a 

 long survival was larger than the average brain of 

 that period in the same group ; and the brain of a 

 mammal of a declining race was smaller than the 

 average brain of its contemporaries of the same 

 grouj). The small animals now existing had pro- 

 portionally larger brains than the larger animals, 

 and young animals had proportionally larger brains 

 than adult animals. They found some interesting 

 examples which threw light on this question. For 

 instance, in the eocene they had an animal, the 

 oldest known ancestor of the rhinoceros, and it 

 had an exceptionally large brain. Taking aU the 

 facts together, it seemed as though this brain 

 growth was an important element in the survival 

 of animals. If the animal became large and un- 

 wieldly with a small brain, it would be liable to 

 suffer from any change of climate. In other 

 words, in early times the big brain conquered, as 

 it is the big brain that conquers in civihzation to- 



day. In the discussion which followed the paper, 

 Professor Flower said it was satisfactory to find a 

 case where the facts worked out coincided with 

 previously-formed theories, because that was not 

 always the case, and sometimes the facts or the 

 theories had to go to the wall. In this case they 

 had no such difficulty, and they had to thank the 

 American government for the way it had taken 

 up Professor Marsh's work and was disseminat- 

 ing it. 



— A very convenient summary of the results 

 obtained by the English society for psychical re- 

 search and the tendency of their work is to be 

 found in an article by Grace Peckham, M.D., en- 

 titled, ' A critical digest of the proceedings of the 

 English psychical society.' It is published in the 

 Journal of nervous and mental disease (New 

 York) for July, 1885 (published in September). 



— The Columbia college philosophical society is 

 to be revived this winter. It was organized in 

 1882, and during that and the following winter 

 held monthly sessions of much interest. Papers 

 were read by Prof. Archibald Alexander, Prof. G. 

 Stanley Hall of Johns Hopkins university, Prof. 

 Wilham M. Sloane of Princeton, Dr. Nicholas 

 Murray Butler, Dr. Edward W. Hopkins, and 

 others. The average attendance at these meetings 

 was fifty, and an even larger attendance is hoped 

 for this winter. 



— The English and American societies for 

 psychical research may receive some cooperation 

 from the Societe de psychologic physiologique just 

 started in Paris. This society purposes making a 

 study by observation and experiment of all phases 

 of psychical activity, both normal and pathological. 

 M. Charest is the first president, and MM. Janet 

 and Ribot the vice-presidents of the society, 



— The Russian papers announce that the sec- 

 tion of the Transcaspian railway from Kizil Arvat 

 to Askabad is almost complete, and that it may be 

 expected to be formally opened at an early date. 

 They are also asking whether the line is to stop at 

 Burdalik, its ultimate destination on the Amu 

 Daria, or whether it is to be carried beyond that 

 place. A commission, composed of members of 

 the different departments, has been appointed to 

 investigate the subject. 



— The portrait of Prof. Louis Agassiz, in our 

 last number, was drawn by Robert Lewis from a 

 large photograph by Sonrel, taken about 1865. 

 Sonrel, it will be remembered, was an artist in the 

 employ of Professor Agassiz, who afterwards, 

 from failing eyesight, turned his artistic skill into 

 the photographic field. The larger part of the 

 plates in Agassiz's ' Contributions to the natural 



