SCIENTIFIC SUMMAKY. 
Ill 
Chromatic and Spherical Aberration. Ey Dr. Royston-Pigott, M.A., 
F.E.S. — Perforating Proboscis Moths. By Henry J. Slack. — Trocho- 
sphsera M£quatorialis, a Spherical Rotifer found in the Philippine 
Islands. By Herr Semper. — Extracts from Mr. H. E. Fripp’s Transla- 
tion of Professor Abbe’s Paper on the Microscope. — On a New Method 
of Measuring the Position of the Bands in Spectra. By H. C. Sorby, 
F.R.S., &c., Pres. R.M.S. — Note on the Markings of Frustulia Sax- 
onica. By Assistant-Surgeon J. J. Woodward, U.S. Army. — Appendix 
to the Paper on the Identical Characters of Spherical and Chromatic 
Aberration. By Dr. Roysfon-Pigott, F.R.S., &c. — The Slit as an Aid 
in Measuring Angular Aperture. By Professor R. Keith. 
PHYSICS. 
Death of Sir Charles Wheatstone. — Physical Science has sustained the 
deepest possible loss by the death of Sir Charles Wheatstone, F.R.S., which 
took place at Paris, at the Hotel du Louvre, on October 20, 1875. Identi- 
fied as he was with the practical development of telegraphy, the name of 
Wheatstone was familiar to all, and the fact of the later years of his life 
having been devoted to subjects connected with electricity has led even the 
scientific world to lose sight of his valuable work in other branches of phy- 
sics. As early as 1823, while engaged in the manufacture of musical instru- 
ments, Charles Wheatstone published a paper on “New Experiments on 
Sound,” and on looking through the list of his published papers one recalls 
the value of his experiments in connection with sound and light. Still it is 
as the electrician that Wheatstone rose to the first rank in science, and, as 
we have already said, it is the conspicuous part he played in the invention 
and application of the electric telegraph that raised him so high in popular 
esteem. In 1834 Professor Wheatstone was appointed Professor of Experi- 
mental Philosophy at King’s College. In 1836 he was elected a Fellow of 
the Royal Society, when he read a paper entitled “ Contributions to the 
Physiology of Vision,” and this led to the invention of the stereoscope, 
which he first exhibited at the meeting of the British Association for the 
Advancement of Science in 1838. In 1868 Wheatstone was knighted in 
recognition of his scientific services, but thirteen years before the Emperor 
of the French had appointed him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour on 
account of his application of the electric telegraph. He was also a Member 
of the French Academy. A list of his principal papers, contributed to 
scientific societies and journals, has been published in the “ Chemical News,” 
where it occupies nearly a whole column. 
Experiments on the TJltra-Violet of the Spectrum. — In a late number of the 
11 Comptes Rendus ” (October 18), M. Croullerois states that in order to 
effect the measurement of the rotatory power of quartz in the ultra-violet 
of the spectrum, he had recourse to the procedure of Mr. Stokes, and made 
use of the analytical method of MM. Fizeau and Foucault but, notwith- 
standing the most favourable atmospheric conditions, it was impossible for 
him to carry the measurement of the rotations beyond the ray 0. It is true 
that in his experiments the normal ultra-violet spectrum, and the inter- 
ference band, were seen by reflection on paper saturated with the fluorescent 
