sopher and man of science, Mr. Darwin, he received over twenty telegrams from cities in Italy, expressive of Italian sympathy with the loss this country had sustained."

WE have received from Bucharest a little brochure of the

greatest interest, in the shape of a translation into Roumanian of Sir John Lubbock's British Association address, "Fifty Years of Science," by Prof. J. P. Licherdo pol. The translation, we learn from the title page, is made from the report in NATURE. Prefixed is a brief address to Sir John Lubbock, which is writ'en in vigorous and almost perfect English. "Your Fifty Years of Science,'" the translator writes, "has impregnated itself in the heart of the people who populate the plains and mountains of the Lower Danube. The scientific truths and literary beauties of such a work of genius cannot remain unknown to the Roumanians; I therefore took upon myself the pleasing duty of making it more known among them. I beg of you, therefore, to glance at it, and to receive it as your own; you will recognise it, perhaps, by its forms, which are impossible to be changed." As the translator styles himself Professor of Natural History and Physical Science, ex-Assistant Naturalist to the Museum of Natural History, and preparator in the Chemical Laboratory; and as a list of other scientific works, original and translated, is prefixed, it is evident that science has a hopeful place in Roumanian education and literature.

A COMMITTEE of members of the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Medicine, the Society of Agriculture, and the faculty of science in the Superior Normal School of Paris, has been formed for the purpose of presenting to M. Pasteur a medal in commemoration of his fruitful researches.

We regret to announce the death of Mr. Scott Russell, the eminent engineer, which took place on Thursday morning last, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. John Scott Russell, according to Engineering, was the eldest son of the Rev. David Russell, a Scotch clergyman. His great predilection for mechanics and other natural sciences induced his father to allow him to enter a work.

shop, to learn the handicraft of the profession of an engineer. He subsequently studied at the Universities of Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Glasgo v, and graduated at the last at the early age of sixteen. He had attained to such proficiency in the knowledge of the natural sciences, that on the death of Sir John Leslie, Professor of Natural Philosophy in Edinburgh, in 1832, the young Scott Russell, though then only twenty-four years of age, was elected to fill the vacancy temporarily, pending the election of a permanent profesor. About this time he commenced his famous researches into the nature of waves, with the vie v to improving the forms of vessels. His first paper on this subject was read before the British Association in 1835. The interest created by this paper was so great that a committee was appointed by the Association to carry on the experiments at their expense. Mr. Scott Russell discovered during these researches the existence of the wave of translation, and developed the wave-line system of construction of ships in connection with which his name is so widely known. In 1837 he read a paper be;ore the Royal Society of Edinburgh, "On the Laws by which water opposes resistance to the motion of floating bodies." For this paper he received the large gold medal of the Society. In 1844 Mr. Scott Russell removed to London. In 1847 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He for a short time occupied the post of the secretary of the Society of Arts, which place he resigned to become joint secretary with Sir Stafford Northcote of the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was, in fact, one of the three original promoters of the Exhibition, and under the direction of the late Prince Consort, took a leading part in organising it. Mr. Scott Russell was for many years known as a shipbuilder on the Thames. The most important work he ever constructed was the Great Eastern steam

ship. Mr. Scott Russell was one of the earliest and most active advocates of ironclad men-of-war, and he has the merit of having been the joint designer of our first sea-going armoured frigate the Warrior. In early life he took a great interest in steam locomotion on ordinary roads, and while at Greenock he constructed a steam coach which ran for some time successfully between Greenock and Paisley. His greatest engineering work was without doubt the vast dome of the Vienna Exhibition of

1873. The last engineering work which Mr. Scott Russell ever designed was a high level bridge to cross the Thames below London-bridge. It was intended to cross the river with a span of 1000 feet, and to allow of a passage beneath it for the largest ships.

THE death is announced of Mr. James Spence, Professor of Surgery in Edinburgh University, in the 70th year of his age.

director of the Batavia Observatory. He died on May 1, during WE regret to announce the death of Dr. P. A. Bergsma, late his passage through the Red Sea, on the way home from India. We quite recently announced the retirement of Dr. Bergsma from his post in Batavia Observatory, where he has done so much good work.

IN anticipation of the jubilee meeting this year the British Medical Journal devotes most of its last number to a Historical Sketch of the British Medical Association.

As a result of the action taken by the Essex Field Club with reference to the preservation of Epping Forest in its natural condition, a conference was held on Friday evening, June 9, at the residence of Mr. E. N. Buxton at Woodford. Of the verderers there were present besides Mr. Buxton, Sir T. Fowell Buxton, and Mr. Andrew Johnston. The scientific claims of those to whom the preservation of the forest as such is a matter of importance, were ably advocated by many well-known naturalists who had been invited to take part in the discussion. Among the speakers were Dr. Henry Woodward, Dr. M. C. Cooke, Mr. J. E. Harting, Mr. Charters White, the President of the Quekett Club, Mr. G. S. Boulger, and Messrs. R. Meldola and Wm. Cole, the President and Secretary of the Essex Field Club. The results of the conference were, as we

learn, satisfactory with respect to the future of the forest.

THOSE entomologists who study fossil insects, and palæontologists generally, should feel grateful to Mr. S. H. Scudder for having compiled "A Bibliography of Fossil Insects," forming No. 13 of the "Bibliographical Contributions" appearing in the Bulletin of Harvard University. It extends (including an appendix) to 47 pages in double column, and must include nearly 1000 references, to each of which, as a rule, are appended a few lines of explanatory notes. The subject is made to include spiders and myriopods, in addition to true insects. No trouble appears to have been spared in order to render it as complete as possible; on this point Mr. Scudder laments that the enormous. increase of popular literature that has taken place latterly, containing hosts of minor papers wholly popular in character, has vastly increased the labour of compilation without corresponding advantage. He doubts if as much activity is now shown in the department of fo-sil entomology as when the labours of Heer gave a sudden impetus to its study. Possibly the often eminently unsatisfactory and speculative nature of the subject has something to do with this.

WITH reference to Prof. Riley's extracts from Dr. Macgowan's papers on the utilisation of Ants in Horticulture, in China, a correspondent calls our attention to a long article in the Ceylon Observer for April 26, in which is reprinted the following extract from Tennent's Natural History of that island :-"To check the ravages of the coffee bug (Lecanium coffee, Walker), which for

some years past has devastated some of the plantations in Ceylon, the experiment was made of introducing the red ants, who feed greedily on the coccus. But the remedy threatened to be attended with some inconvenience, for the Malabar coolies, with bare and oiled skins, were so frequently and fiercely assaulted by the ants as to endanger their stay on the estates."

The Revue Scientifique, one of the most influential scientific periodicals in France, has been purchased by a company for the purpose of extending its publication and improving its

programme.

ON Tuesday evening Mr. Keane exhibited at the Anthropological Institute, on behalf of the finder, Mr. M. S. Valentine, of Richmond, Virginia, some very remarkable stone objects recently discovered by that archæologist in the neighbourhood of Mount Pisgah, North Carolina. In the course of his remarks Mr. Keane explained that these were merely a few typical specimens selected from an extensive collection of over 2000 articles, partly in stone and partly in micaceous clay found in this upland region, between the Alleghany and Blue Mountains, during the years 1879-82. The material of the stone objects is almost exclusively steatite, or soap-stone, which abounds in the district, and which might almost seem to have been sculptured with metal instruments, so perfect is the workmanship. The objects themselves are absolutely of a unique type, consisting partly of human and animal figures, either in the round or in various degrees of relief, partly of household utensils, such as cups, mugs, basins, dishes, and the like, partly of purely fancy, and other miscellaneous articles, illustrating the tastes, usages, and culture of the unknown people by whom they have been executed. Collectively they present, Mr. Keane maintains, a unique school of art developed at some remote period in a region where the presence of civilised men had not hitherto been even suspected. The human type, which presents great uniformity, while still by no means conventional, is distinctly non-Indian, according to Mr. Keane, but whether Mongolic or Caucasic it would at present be spremature to decide. All are represented as fully clothed, not in the hairy blanket of the Red Man, but in a close-fitting well-made dress somewhat after the modern "united garment" fashion. Some are seated in armchairs exactly resembling those known as "Ingestre Chairs," while others are mounted on the animals, which they had domesticated. These animals themselves are stated to be marvellously executed. Some of them represent the bear, the prairie dog, and other quadrupeds, as well as birds of North America. But others seem to represent types of the Old World, such as the two-humped Baktrian camel, the rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and European dog. There are also some specimens obviously executed since the appearance of the white man, as shown by the horse with his rider, firearms, shoes, &c. The material of all these has a much fresher look than the others, and is of much ruder workmanship, as if they were the work of the present race of Indians. These races are undoubtIndian type, Mr. Keane stated, and recognised edly of the pure themselves as intruders in this region, where they had certainly been preceded by more civilised peoples, such as the Moundbuilders and others, of whom they had traditions, and whom they had extirpated long before the arrival of the Europeans. Amongst these extinct peoples were the' Allegs or Alleghewis, whose name survives in the "Alleghany Mountains." These Alleghew is are said to have been a different race from the Indian, and it is possible, Mr. Keane thought, that in their new homes in the Alleghany uplands they may have continued or developed the culture of which we have met remarkable evidence in these stone objects. It is evident, however, that before any conclusions can be built on this interesting find, the con

ditions under which it was found must be carefully sifted by archæological specialists.

THE Municipal Council of Paris has voted the funds for executing six aeronautical ascents on the occasion of the festivities of July 14 next. Two of these balloons will be connected by a telephone wire in order to keep up constant verbal communications. These two connected balloons will ascend from the Place du Trone. It is hoped that by sending up balloons so connected many interesting observations can be made for the velocity of sounds at different altitudes, the differences of temperature of velocity of wind and of direction, &c., as well as differences of electrical tension.

DURING the progress of some excavations on Lord Normanton's estate, near Crowland, Peterborough, the workmen have exposed about three acres of a subterranean forest 10 feet below the surface. Some of the trees are in an admirable state of preservation, and one gigantic oak measures 18 yards in length. The trees are in such a condition that oak can be distinguished from elm, while a kind of fir tree seems to be most abundant, the wood of which is so hard that the trees can be drawn out of the clay in their entirety. The surrounding clay contains large quantities of the remains of lower animal life.

THE working of subterranean telegraphic lines is stated to be unsatisfactory in France and in Germany as well, and it is doubted whether the process shall be continued in France, although credits have been voted by the French Parliament for a sum of several millions of francs. These circumstances ought to be carefully investigated, as it is contemplated, we understand, to introduce the continental subterraneous method into this country.

M. COCHERY, the French Minister of Postal Telegraphy, has decided that the electrical laboratory established with the proceeds of the late Electrical Exhibition will be placed in the Bois de Boulogne. The reason alleged is the necessity of avoiding the shaking of the ground by the passing of carriages so frequent in Paris. The establishment will be open to the public under certain limitations and regulations, which will be printed in the Journal Officiel. The development of the institution will be only gradual, the profits realised amounting to only 300,000 francs, and the total sum required to 1,000,000 francs.

THE works of the French Company for the Channel Tunnel are progressing favourably. A number of workmen are engaged in mounting the engine designed by Col. Beaumont, which is placed in the lower gallery, and will be in working order in a few weeks. The boring will be executed under the supervision of an English foreman, who conducted the excavation of the first 500 metres on the English side.

FROM the Report of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, it seems evident that it is in a fair way of becoming one of the first make it for Glasgow what the British Museum Library is for libraries in the kingdom; the avowed aim of its trustees is to London. It contains already 40,000 volumes, a large proportion of which are scientific. The number of works taken out during classification), bore a large proportion to those on other subjects. the year in "Art, Science, and Natural History" (a curious

MR. JOSEPH SIMMONS, the balloonist, made a journey on Saturday in his balloon the Colonel from Maldon in Essex, across the Channel to beyond Arras in France, a distance of 170 miles, in one hour and three-quarters.

A PECULIAR and interesting auroral phenomenon, witnessed from the steamship Atlantic off the Newfoundland coast, on

A SUSPECTED VARIABLE STAR.-Mr. S. M. B. Gemmill writes from Glasgow, expressing the opinion that Draconis will prove to be a variable star. For some time past he has observed it to be almost equal to x in the same constellation, whereas Groombridge and others had given a difference of one magnitude. The "Durchmusterung " has 4'7 and 3.8 for these stars respectively, and the first Radcliffe catalogue, for which the magnitudes were very carefully est mated, has 4'4 and 37. Heis assigns a difference of half a magnitude. Mr. Gemmill states he has found a very slight fluctuation in Draconis, which seems to be periodic. Baily, in his notes to the British Catalogue, says: "This star is marked as of the 7th magnitude in the British Catalogue; but in the original entries it is designated once as 4, once as 3, and once as the 5th."

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVATORY, OXFORD.-The Savilian Professor of Astronomy, director of the University Observatory, has issued his annual report, which was presented to the Board of Visitors on the 1st inst. It is mentioned that a somewhat elaborate memoir is now printed in the Transactions of the Royal Astronomical Society on the application of photography to delicate celestial measurement. The inquiry into the relative motions of some forty stars in the Pleiades has been brought to a successful conclusion, the results agreeing generally with those recently deduced by M. Wolf, of the Observatory at Paris, who employed a very different instrument and method. A complete survey of the relative brightness or magnitudes of all the stars in the northern hemisphere reputed to be visible to the naked eye has been commenced, and it is hoped that before the date of the next report, all the stars brighter than the fifth magnitude, some five hundred in number, will have been measured. The report touches also upon the discordances between the observed degree of brightness of Comet 1882 a, with the results deduced from theory. The expenditure for the purposes of the Observatory, has, it is stated been under the amount provided by Convocation; a sum of 600l. per annum is available for three years from December last, and this the Savilian Professor considers will probably suffice for the future efficient maintenance of the Observatory, the only difficulty that might arise relating to necessary repairs, &c., of the present instruments, or the addition of new ones that may be needed.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES

M. LESSAR'S paper on his excursion from Askabad to Saraks (Izvestia, vol. xviii. fasc. 2) will be read with pleasure by those who are interested in the topography, inhabitants, and social conditions of this country. With regard to natural science, we notice the result of the levelling which was made along the line of the Transcaspian railway; it proved, that contrary to what was presumed, the country does not have a general slope from east to west. At the Aïdin wells there are several places situated below the present level of the Caspian, and all the tract between this place and the present shore of the Caspian-M. Les ar states cannot be regarded as the former bed of a river; it was probably the bottom of a very large gulf of the Caspian, which extended towards the east. It is most probable-he adds -that a levelling between the Tekke oasis and Khiva or Bokhara, will also show in the sand-steppes many tracts situated below the level of the Caspian, as has been found in the Sara-kamysh depression; and it will prove that the Murghal and Tejent could not flow into the Oxus, but flowed into the Caspian, much extended at that time towards the east. We notice in the same paper a remark with regard to termites; their hemispherical moulds, one to two feet in diameter, are very numerous in certain localities; numberless galleries are discovered under these moulds, which galleries are peopled with ants and with termites, about half an inch long, of an amber-colour; they cover the brushes and pieces of wood with numberless pipes in clay, and totally destroy them. The buildings of the Transcaspian railway have much to suffer from the attacks of the termites.

WE have received from Mr. Fisher Unwin several of his useful "Half-Holiday Handbooks." They are all for the districts around, and easily accessible from London. They are really handy, in paper covers, easily carried in the pocket, and well printed. Considering their low price, they contain a great del of varied information and many useful and well-executed

illustrations. Besides the objects which attract the ordinary tourist, they give a fair amount of information concerning the natural history of the districts to which they refer, and illustrations of the principal flowering plants, and occasional geological curiosities. We have no doubt these "Handbooks will meet with a wide sale; and we trust they will be the means of encouraging hard-worked Londoners to explore the beauties and natural productions of the interesting district aronnd the metropolis. The districts so far included in the series are Richmond, Bromley and Keston, Kingston-onThames, Tunbridge Wel's, Greenwich and Blackheath, Reigate, Croydon to the North Downs, Dorking. With the exception of Kingston, they have all maps and bicycle routes. As a general accompaniment to these, there is one volume devoted to geological rambles and tours, with twenty-five illustrations and sketchmaps.

"DIE Afrika-Literatur in der Zeit von 1500 bis 1750 N.Ch." is the title of a small volume by Prof. Philipp Paulitschke, published by Brockhausen and Bräuer of Vienna. It consists of the titles, with other bibliographical information, of 1212 works and papers and maps on Africa, published during the period em braced. These are arranged under five headings-General, North, West, South, and East Africa. Prefixed is a short, scholarly, and useful introduction on the growth of our know ledge of Africa from 1500 to the time of the great map reformer, D'Anville. The great utility of such a work must be obvious to all, and geographers owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Paulitschke for the great trouble he has been at in compiling the list, involving, as it must have done, extensive research and correspondence. No doubt omissions will be found that can be supplied in subsequent editions, but the work could scarcely bave been better done. We should be glad to know on what authority Dr. Paulitschke states that Lobo's "History de Ethiopia" was published at Coimbra in 1859. In the great Portuguese Bibliography there is no mention of its publication, except as embodied in Tellez's "Historia Geral" of 1660. The translation into French by Legrand was made from MS. Under North Africa is given Sir Peter Wyche's "Short Relation of the River Nile," which should have been under East Africa, as it is really only a translation of part of Lobo's narrative published by the Royal Society in 1669. But these are comparatively small matters.

DR. FRIEDRICH EMBACHER'S "Lexikon der Reisen und Entdeckungen" is a little work that will be welcome to all interested in the history of geographical discovery; it is published at Leipsic at the "Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts." It seems to be one of a long series of reference-books ("Meyer's Fach. Lexika") relating to different subjects. Dr. Embacher's volume is neat and well printed; contains brief notices of the leading geographical explorers, from the earliest times down to the present day, including even those now living; for example, there is a long notice of Stanley, and another of Prjevalsky. The first part is followed by a sketch of the progress of exploration in each of the great divisions of the world. The work seems to us to be done with great care, and the bibliographical references will prove very useful. The only omission of importance is the name of Mr. Darwin, which, since the work includes the names of Sir J. D. Hook r, the late Mr. Belt, and even the late Dr. Leared, surely ought to have found a place.

FROM Ferdinand Hirt of Breslau, we have received a volume of " Geographische Bildertafeln," edited by Dr. Oppel of Bremen, and Dr. Ludwig of Leipsic, with the co-operation of several specialists. This is only the first part, and is devoted to general geography. It consists of a series of carefully selected and arranged pictures, illustrating everything that ought to come under the general subject, which, in the German acceptation, seems to be a very wide one. There are in all, twenty-four sheets, containing a varied selection of illustrations of such subjects as the general surface of the earth and instruments of measurement, the geological periods, geological faults, mountain types, glaciers, volcanoes and hot springs, hills and plains, islands and coasts, oceans and seas, harbours natural and artificial, rivers, navigation, charts and meteorology, woods and forests, ethnography, scenes and means of travel, the chase, and so on. The utility of such a collection of pictures is evident. The selection seems to us to be carefully made, many of the illustrations being from well-known books of travel. supplement to any text-book of geography, it would be of great service, and would be sure to be welcome to the pupil.

As a

A NEW THERMOGRAPH1

THE instrument under consideration is a thermograph for recording the atmospheric temperature, the fluctuatiors of which are much less regular and more frequent than one who has not made a study of it would suppose. It records the temperature directly from the column of mercury in the tube of a thermometer by dots or perforations upon a sheet of paper previously riled with degrees and hours.

Its principal parts are, as shown in Fig. 1 of plate:

I. A thermometer in the form of an ordinary mercury thermometer, but open at the top of the tube, and having a wire entering the bulb and connected to one pole of a battery, the other pole of which is connected to the mechanism of the instrument.

2. An upright cylinder revolving by clockwork, covered with a paper which is divided vertically into twenty-four parts by lines representing the hours, and horizontally by lines representing the degrees.

3. A bar raised and lowered by mechanism driven by clockwork, furnished below with a needle entering the tube of the thermometer, and carrying a pencil-or preferably a pointdriven forward by a small electro-magnet when the circuit is closed by the needle entering the mercury, and then making a mark at the proper place upon the paper and indicating the temperature.

The bar carrying the needle rises about half an inch from the point at which the needle leaves the mercury, and then descends until the reedle again touches the mercury, whether that in the meantime shall have risen or fallen, when the point makes its mark upon the paper and the bar again commences to rise.

This movement is accomplished by the mechanism shown in the drawing, of which only the wheel E, gearing into the rack apon the needle-bar, is shown in Fig. 1, but which is shown in full and up on an enlarged scale in Fig. 2, which is a top view. The two wheels A and B are moved by clockwork (not shown), and are constantly revolving in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows. These wheels are not attached to the shaft u on which the wheel E is fixed, but are attached to sleeves which move without affecting that wheel except when they are joined to it by the clutches C or D. They are so geared that when the wheel E is joined to them, its rim moves at the rate of half an inch per minute. Upon the shaft wi h the wheel F is also a loose sleeve F, which is free when the clutch c is not in action, but which moves with that wheel when that clutch is on.

The levers actuating the two clutches unite and move upon a common pivot, from which point they extend as an arm, which is capable of a lateral movement between two stops, bringing one or the other of the clutches into action.

Opposite to the wheel E, the needle-bar passes through a guide, which is furnished on the back with a small wheel taking the thrust of the gear and reducing friction. For a lower guide, the needle-bar is furnished on each side with a rod parallel to the needle, and of nearly the same length. These rods are at such distance apart that they pass clear of the thermometer tube. They are not shown in the drawing, as they would lie directly in front of and behind the needle and tube.

The teeth of the clutches are partly V-shaped and partly square, or nearly so, as shown in Fig. 3; that is, they have slightly tapered sides but V-shaped points and bases, so that they enter freely, as entirely V-shaped teeth would do, and when in action they have no outward thrust. The V-shaped base strengthens the tooth and admits the point of the opposite tooth. A very small spring on each side of the sleeve F holds it out of gear while the clutch c is off.

Beneath the clutch arm is a pressure spring, one end of which presses against the end of the arm, and the other against a plate moving upon the same pivot with the arm, which plate also is capable of a lateral movement between its stops.

If this spring-plate is moved in either direction to its stop, carrying wi h it the base of the spring, the clutch-arm will be moved in the other direction, and the clutch on that side will be brought into action; and if the position of the spring-plate with the base of the spring be reversed, the position of the clutcharm will be reversed-that clutch will be disengaged, and the other one will be engaged-the wheel E being moved, and the needle-bar raised or lowered accordingly.

To the sleeve F is attached an arm which is connected by a draft-rod to the spring-plate.

When the clutch C is in action-as shown in the drawingconnecting the wheel A with the wheel E and the sleeve F, raising the needle-bar, the arm of the sleeve F draws upon the springplate-moving to that side the base of the reversing-spring, which, when its base has pas ed the line between the pivot and the end of the clutch-arm, presses that arm to the other side, disengaging that clutch, loosing the sleeve F, engaging the other clutch, and reversing the motion of the needle-bar, which now descends.

The length of the arm on the sleeve F is such that when the needle-bar has risen half an inch the spring-plate is moved over,

and the clutch-action is reversed.

the mercury and a circuit is made, the large electro-magnet, thus When, by descending, the needle is brought in contact with vitalised, attracts its armature, which is attached to a lever con

nected with and drawing upon the spring plate, and moves the base of the reversing spring to that side, changing the position of the clutch-arm, and reversing the action of the clutches and the movement of the needle-bar, while at the same time the recording-point upon the needle bar is, by its electro-magnet, driven into the paper, and the temperature is recorded upon the scale.

The sleeve F, being loose, yields to the movement of the spring-plate, and is afterwards held by its clutch, and acts as before.

The action of the large electro-magnet is supplemented by that of a spring drawing upon the same side of the springplate, whose strength is such that it is not quite sufficient of itself to overcome the thrust of the reversing spring, but whose force is greatest when that of the electro-magnet, by reason of