56 
Notes . 
Prof. H. L. Smith, of Kenyon College, in the new American 
periodical “Science” (1880, vol. i., p. 26), remarks upon difficulty 
of effectually preserving dry mounts ; the appearance known 
as sweating sooner or later taking place, and spoiling — or at 
any rate impairing — the view of the contents of the cell. Prof. 
Smith has tried mounts of nearly every kind, and uniformly with 
the same result. Mr. F. Kitton, in writing on the same paper, 
says that he is unable to suggest a remedy. All experiments 
with the most varied materials have failed. The fault seems to 
lie in the cover glass itself, the same “ sweating ” frequently 
taking place in the lenses of eye-pieces. 
According to G. H. Schneider, vital processes are distinguished 
from mere chemical combinations by the circumstance that they 
lead to a final phenomenon, which again occasions a repetition 
of the whole series of phenomena of the course of life. 
It appears that the promised subscriptions to the Liverpool 
University Fund amount to nearly £100,000. 
The next meeting of the French Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science will take place in Algiers, April 14th, 1881. 
As a practical comment upon the article “ Cynolatry,” in our 
December issue, it appears, according to the “ Medical Press and 
Circular,” that about twenty persons were bitten by a rabid 
retriever in the outskirts of Leeds, in one day ! 
According to Dr. C. C. Merriman, insectivorous plants are 
more numerous and more perfectly developed in the Central Lake 
regions of Florida than elsewhere. 
Dr. Chervin has studied the medical geography of France, 
With especial reference to infirmities which disqualify for medical 
service. The regions most affected are the north-west, the centre, 
and the south-east. 
A Mr. Plimsoll thinks that he has discovered a plan by which 
a great proportion of coal-mine accidents may be prevented. 
The rhinoceros discovered in 1877 in Siberia proves to be a 
specimen of R. Merckii , a species intermediate between R. 
antiquitatis and the kinds now extant, but more nearly approach- 
ing the former. Fossil remains of this form have hitherto been 
found only in Western and Southern Europe, and it is therefore 
interesting to find a specimen with the skin, hair, &c., well pre- 
served, in the very coldest part of Siberia. 
“ Les Mondes ” describes a spectroscope specially devised by 
M. Lamansky for the study of the phenomena of fluorescence. 
We regret to learn the death of Dr. W. Lauder Lindsay. 
