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Russia, Biology of, 151; Science in, 190, 194, 287; Inter-
national Exhibition at Moscow, 393

Sabine's Report on Terrestrial Magnetism, Sir W. Thomson,
F.R.S., on (Br. A.), 264 ́

St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, 229, 452, 476
St. Thomas's Hospital Opened by the Queen, 148, 149

Salem, Peabody Academy of Science, 109; Proceedings of the
Essex Institute, 501

Salmon Ladders for Reservoirs (Br. A.), 337

San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences, 419
Sanitary Science and State Medicine, 137

Sanitary Science in India, 150

Saturday Afternoon Rambles, by Henry Walker, 157
Saturday Afternoon Scientific Excursions, Prizes Offered, 493
Saturn, Observations of, 360

Saturn's Rings, Lieut. A. M. Davies, F. R. A.S., on, 159, 203;
the Reviewer on, 306; R. A. Proctor, F. R.A.S., on, 223, 346
Saunders (W. Wilson, F.R.S.) on New and Rare Fungi, 240
Schenk, on German Fossil Plants, 35

Schobl (Dr.) on the Mouse's Ear, 253

School of Mines, its Proposed Transfer to Kensington, 259
Schorlemmer (C.) on Hydrocarbon, 95

Science and Art Department, Kensington; Summary of Report
for 1870, 259; Whitworth Scholarships, 260, 286; Prof.
Huxley's Instruction to Science Teachers, 168, 361; its
Administration, 404

Science for the People in France, 394

"Science in Plain English," by William Rushton, 142, 166
Scientific Instruction, Royal Commission on, 107

Scientific Value of Cheese Factories, 104

Sclater (Dr. P. L., F.R.S.), on Captain Sladen's Expedition,
405; on the Birds of the Lesser Antilles, 473

Scotland, Geological Survey of (Br. A.,, 292
Scotland, Report on Earthquakes in (Br A.), 317

Scott (Michael) on Improved Ships of War (Br. A.), 397

Scott (Robert H., M. A., F.R.S.), on the Minerals of Strontian,
Argyleshire, 37; on Forms of Cloud, 505

Scottish Arboricultural Society, 73

Scottish Naturalist, 319, 498

Sea, Colours of the, W. M'Master on, 203, 305

Sea-grasses, Geographical Distribution of, 211

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Spectra of Stars, 99

Spectroscope, Sir W. Thomson, F.R.S., on the (Br. A.), 267
Spectrum of the Aurora; 280; at Aberdeen 347, 366; T. W.
Backhouse on the, 66

Spectrum of Comet, 95; of Uranus, 88

Spectrum Microscope, Compound Prism for, 511

Sponges in the British Museum, 50

Sponges, their Affinities, by H. J. Carter and W. Saville
Kent (F.Z.S.) on, 184, 201, 224; from the Coast of Spain
and Portugal, 456

Spontaneous Generation, 125; Dr. Bastian on, 178; Sir Wm.
Thomson, )Br. A), on, 269; Papers at the Brit. Ass., 377
Sprung (A.) on a Rare Atmospheric Phenomenon, 346
Squaring the Circle, by J. Harris, Montreal, 25

Squier (E. G.), on the Ruined Cities of Central America, 466
State Aid to Science, 301, 461

State Scientific Questions, proposed Commission on, 130
State Medicine, Examinations for Diplomas at Dublin Univer-
sity, 137

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Statistical Society, Proceedings of, 154, 168
Staveley (E. F.), on "British Insects, 22
Steam Life Boats, John Fellowes on, 181
Steam Boiler Legislation (Br. A.), 397
Stellar Scintillation, Prof. Respighi on, 99
Stephan (M.), his Observations of Encke's Comet, 492, 499
Stephanurus, discovered in America and Australia, 508
Stevenson (T., C E.), on Towers of Cement Rubble for Beacons
and Lighthouses, 366; New Reflector for Lighthouses, 396
Stewart (Prof. B., F.R.S.), Mohn's Storm Atlas for Norway,
63; "Psychic Force," 237, 279; Temperative Equilibrium
with a Body in Motion (Br. A.), 331

Stokes's Dynamical Theory, Sir Wm. Thomson, F.R.S., on
(Br. A.), 267

Stonyhurst, Meteorological Observatory at, 247, 248
Storm and Danger Signal Light, Inextinguishable, 49
Storm-Atlas for Norway, 63

Storm of August 12, 1871, 326
Storm Signal Observations, 52

Secchi (Père) on the Sun and its Temperature, 41, 82, 204, 384 Storms, Magnetic, in Higher Latitudes, 441

Seeley (H. G.) on Ornithosauria, 100

Sensation and Science, 177

Stowmarket, Gun-Cotton Explosion, 309, 518

Strange (Lt.-Col., F.R.S.),

Permanent Commission on State

Science Questions," 130

Serocold (G. P.) on Rain after Fire, 83

Sewage, Prof. Corfield on, 287

Sharp and Dresser's "Birds of Europe," 308

Shaw (J.), Changes in the Habits of Animals, 506

Shetland, Magnetic Storms in, 441

Ships of War, Improved (Br. A)., 397

Shooting Stars of August 1871, 504

Signal Light for Storm and Danger, Inextinguishable, 49

Signal Service in America (See Meteorology, Hough, Prof. S. W.,

Maury, Prof. T. B., Wild, Prof.)

Silver, Coal and Gems, in Bolivia, 418

Skelton (Mr.) his New Lamp for Street Lighting, 477

Skull of the Eel, its Structure, 146

Slade Professorship at University College, 50

Sladen (Capt.) his Expedition to Yunan, 405

Smith (John) on "Domestic Botany," 304

Smith (Worthington G., F.L.S.) on New and Rare Fungi, 240
Smithsonian Institute, Washington (See America)
Smoke Jacket for Firemen, 126

Smyth (C. P., F. R.S.) Paris Observatory and Metric System, 120
Snake Bites, 74, 134, 192, 229, 287, 325

Societies and Academies, 17, 36, 57, 77, 95, 115, 134, 153, 173
195, 215, 234, 254, 300, 320, 339, 359, 379, 400, 419, 440,
479, 498, 519

Society of Antiquaries, Exhibition of Stone Implements, 50
Society of Arts, 32, 374; Award of Albert Gold Medal, 107
Solar Aurora, Prof. C. A. Young on, 345

Solar Eclipse (See Eclipse)

Solar Parallax, Prof. S. Newcomb on, 160; R. A. Proctor,
F.R.A.S., on, 183, 424

Solar Radiation Temperatures, 393

Solar Spectrum, Prof. C. A. Young on the, 445

Solly (Samuel, F.R.S.), Obituary Notice of, 436

Sorby (H. C., F.R.S.) on the Various Tints of Foliage, 341;
on Blood Spectrum, 505; Compound Prisms for Spectrum
Microscopes, 511

Sound, its Velocity in Coal, 487, 506

Striated Muscular Fibre in Gasteropoda, 114

Strontian, Argyleshire, Mineralogy of, 37

Strutt (Hon. J. W.) on Colour, 142

Stuart (J.) on Prof. Tyndall's "Fragments of Science," 237
Stuart (D. J.) on Thermometer Observation, 467

Submarine Telegraphs, 8; Injuries to, 436

Sun: Prof. Newcomb on, 41, 160, 183, 204, 322, 423; R. A.
Proctor, F.R.A.S., on, 41, 183, 322, 346, 424, 465, 487;
Père Secchi on, 41, 82, 204, 384; E. J. Stone on, 322
Sun, its Temperature, 42, 82, 204; Sir Wm. Thomson, F. R. S.,
on, (Br. A.), 268, 384, 449, 487

Sun's Parallax, John Flamsteed's Ghost, on, 503
Sun-Spots, J. Birmingham on, 102, 133; New Theory on, 163,
172, 175, 224, 359

Switzerland, Biology in, 171; "Bibliothèque Universelle et Revue
Suisse," 234; Waterspout in, 375

Sylvester (Prof. F.R.S.) and the Government, 324, 326
Symons (G. J.) on Solar Radiation Temperatures, 393
Tait (Lawson), on the New View of Darwinism, 201

Tait (Prof. P. G., M. A.) on Mathematical and Physical Science
(Br. A.), 270; on Thermal Conductivity of Metals (Br. A.),
352; on Thermo-Electricity (Br. A.), 396

Talbot (Fox) on a Method of Estimating the Distances of Fixed
Stars (Br. A), 396

Tapeworm (Tania mediocanellata), 500, 506
Tapir, New, from Panama, 417

Tate (George), of Alnwick, his Death, 210
Taunton School of Science and Art, 12

Technical Education, Wm. Rushton on, 142, 166; W. Mattieu

Williams on, 180

"Telegraph Earth," Quantitative Method of Testing, 399
Telegraphs, Submarine, 8, 436

Teleosaurus from Kimmeridge Bay, 153

Telescope for the Washington Observatory, 493
Telescope, the Melbourne, 109

Temperature, its Distribution in the North Atlantic, 251

Temperature of the Deep Sea, Dr. Carpenter on, 97, 162
Temperature of the Earth, 133

Temperature of the Sun, 42, 82, 204, 268, 384, 449, 487
Tennant (Lt.-Col.) on the Total Eclipse of Dec. 12, 1871, 339
Terrestrial Magnetism, Sabine's Report on (Br. A.), 264
Tests, Use and Abuse of, 467

Texas, Entomology of, 51

Therapeutics, Dr. T. K. Chambers on, 168

Thermal Equivalents of Oxides of Chlorine (Br. A.), 291

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Walker (Henry) on Saturday Afternoon Rambles Round
London," 157
Wallace (Alfred R., F.Z. S.) on Staveley's British Insects, 22;
on "Dr. Bastian's Work on the Origin of Life," 178; on
"H. Howorth's New View of Darwinism," 181, 200, 201,
240, 221, 222; on Recent Neologisms, 222, 242; on the
Population of the Indian Islands," 254; on Canon Kingsley's
"At Last: a Christmas in the West Indies," 282
Waller (W. E.) on a Rare Moth, 466

Thermo-Dynamics, Sir W. Thomson, F.R.S., on (Br. A.), 268; Ward (Thos.) on Optical Phenomenon of Colour, 68

Rev. H. Highton on, 46

Thermo-Electricity, Prof. Tait on (Br. A.), 396

Thermometer, Self-Registering, 430; Observations, 467
Thickness of the Earth's Crust, 28, 45, 65, 141, 344, 366, 383
Thomson (Prof. James), "Continuity of the Fluid State of
Matter" (Br. A.), 291; Water in Frost (Br. A.), 331
Thomson (Prof. Allen), Opening Address on Biology (Br. A.), 293
Thomson (Prof. Wyville, F.R.S.), Lecture on Natural History at
Edinburgh, 32, 74,190; Temperature in the North Atlantic, 251;
on Echinoderms (Br. A.), 334; on the Fauna of the North
Atlantic (Br. A.), 377; on Palæozoic Crinoids, 496
Thomson (R. W.), on Road Steamers (Br. A.), 337
Thomson (Sir Wm., F.R.S.), his Inaugural Address at the
British Association, 262; Remarks thereon by E. Ray Lan-
kester, F.L.S., 368; on the Origin of Life, 305; on Ocean
Circulation, 316; Report of the Tidal Committee, 375
Thorpe (Prof. T. E.), on Crookes's "Chemical Analysis," 81
Thunderstorms, at Calcutta, 287; near Glasgow, June 20, 1871,
202; of August 13, 1871, 335

Thunderstorms, Rev. C. A. Johns, F. L.S., on, 367

Tidal Committee (Br. A.), Report by Sir W. Thomson, 375
Tih, Desert of the, Report by C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake on, 33, 52
Time-signals, 74, 103

Tissandier, Gaston, on Aërostation, 3

Tobacco, a Poison for Snakes, 494

Todhunter (I., F.R.S.), Solution of a Geometrical Problem, 444
Tornado in Ohio, 308

Transparency, a Cause of, Prof. Zenger on (Br. A.), 354
Transparent Compass, 366

Transit Instrument at Greenwich, 103

Transit of Venus, 12, 103, 107; Preparations for Observations
at Greenwich, 260; Government Aid to Observation, 324
Tribe (Alfred), on Chemical Dynamics, 195 (Br. A.), 291
Trinidad, Scientific Association of, 43

Trout, Tailless, in Scotland (Br. A.), 333

Tunnel through Mont Cenis, Opening of the, 415
Turnbull (W. P.), Obituary Notice of, 394

Turner(W., M.D), Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, 359
Twisden (Rev. J. S.), on Ball's "Experimental Mechanics," 510
"Two Suns, Theory of," by M. Latterade, 216

66

Tyler (T.), on H. Howorth's New View of Darwinism, 221
Tylor (Edward B., F.R.S.), on Primitive Culture," 117, 138;
German Translation of his " Primitive Culture," 436
Tyndall (Prof., F.R.S.) on Dust and Smoke, 124, 164; “Hours
of Exercise in the Alps," 198; on the Colours of the Sea,
203; "Fragments of Science," 237; "Notes of Nine Lectures
on Light," 284; on the Bending of Glacier Ice, 447
Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club, 149
Typhoon in Japan, 375

Ullyett (Henry), on the Duties of Local Nat. Hist. Societies, 142
Underground Temperature, Report of Committee of Br. A., 396
"Unionida, Synopsis of," by Isaac Lea, LL.D., 119
Universal Atmosphere, 487

Uarnus, Spectrum of, 88

Utrecht, Science at, 31

Valencia, Meteorological Observatory at, 245

Vapour of Iodine, Dr. Andrews on (Br. A.), 316

Vascular Cryptogams, Classification of (See Williamson, Prof.)
Venus (See Transit of Venus), Observations of, 360
Vertebrate Skeleton, Mivart St. George, F. R.S., on the, 36
Vesuvius, Eruption of, 308

Vision, Defective, Dr. Boettcher on, 140

Victoria Institute, 50, 148

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Walden (Viscount) on the Birds of Celebes, 37

Volcano in America, 56; near Celebes, 286; Pacific Islands, 169

Washington, Signal Office at, 390, 410; Telescope of the
National Observatory, 493

Waterspouts in Cork Harbour, 325; in Southern India, 287; in
Switzerland, 375; at Constantinople, 212

Watson (H. W.), "Elements of Plane and Solid Geometry," 364
Weather Map of the War Department, Washington, 411
Webb (Rev. T. W., F.R.A.Š.) on Aurora by Daylight, 27; on
a New Dynameter, 427; on Dr. Engelman's Work on the
Light of Jupiter's Satellites, 442

Weinhold (Adolp. F.) his "Experimental Physics," 148
"Western Chronicle of Science," 220, 243

West India Islands, Ornithology of, 473; Conchology, 307;
Cyclone, 417, 454, 464; Hurricane and Earthquake, 375
West Wind, Prevalence of, 8; J. J. Murphy on, 102
Wet and Dry Bulk Formule (Br. A.), 353
Wheat Cultivation in India, 108

Wheeler (Prof.) on " Chemistry in the United States," 292
Whirlwind in Buckinghamshire, 324

White (Dr. J.B.), Lepidoptera of Perthshire, 190
Whitney (Prof.), Geological Survey of California, 420
Whitworth Scholarships, Science and Art Department, 260,
286; on Eclipse Photographs, 85, 160
Wild (Prof.), his Self-Registering Barometer, 432
"Wild Flowering Plants," by Thos. Baxter, 245
Wilder (Prof. B. G.), "Human Locomotion," 437
Williams (W. Mattieu, F.C.S.), on Science in Italy, 100, 468;
on Technical Education, 176; Iron and Steel, 226; An Offer
to the London School Board, 285

Williamson (Prof. W. C., F. R.S.) on the Fossil Plants of the
Coal Measures, 173; on the Classification of Vascular Crypto-
gamia (Br. A.), 357, 426, 490, 504; on Exogenous Structures
amongst the Stems of Coal Measures, 408

Wilson (J. M.) on Neologisms, 367; "Some Speculations on
the Aurora," 372; Meteor in the Isle of Man, 385; Teaching
Elementary Geometry, 387, 404; on a Plane's Aspect, 506
Winchester College Natural History Society, 169
Winstanley (D.) on Daylight Auroras, 280
Wirtgen (Dr. P. H.), "Flora der Preussichen Rheinlande," 211
Woodward (Henry, F.G.S.) "On the Fauna of the Carboniferous
Epoch," 59; on Ornithosauria, 100; on the Coal Period
(Br. A.), 354; Arachmidæ from the Dudley Coal-field, 376
Woolhope Naturalists' Club, 284

Working Men's Club and Institute Scientific Classes, 211
Working Men's College, 416

Working Men's University, Proposed, 41
"Workshop, The," by Prof. Baumer and others, 179
Worthing, Alleged Earthquake at, 349, 385
Yarkand, its Longitude solved, 38

Yarrell's "British Birds," Revised Edition of, 89, 403

Yates (Jas., F.R.S.), Legacies to University College, 260, 307
"Year Book of Facts," Timbs's, 239

Year Book of Science Advocated by Sir W. Thomson, 264
Yellow Rain in New Granada, 68; J. Jeremiah on, 161
Young (Prof. C.A.) on the Solar Aurora Theory, 345; on the
Solar Spectrum, 445; on an Explosion (?) on the Sun, 488
Young (John) on Carboniferous Fossils in West Scotland, 443
Yule (Col. II., C.B.), his Opening Address on Geography
(Br. A.), 297; on Rainfall (Br. A.) 358

Zenger (Prof.) on a Cause of Transparency (Br. A.) 354
Zodiacal Light, 42

Zöllner (Prof.), his New Theory of Sun-Spots, 163

66

Zoological Record,"
"88

Zoological Results of Dredging Expedition off Spain and Portugal
(Br. A.), 456

Zoology at the Br. A., 317, 377

Zoology, its Study in Great Britain, 193

Zoological Society, Frigate Bird at Gardens, 394; New Species
of Cassowary, 436; Proceedings, 36, 77, 134, 175, 513; New
Tapir from Panama, 417

Wales (Capt. Douglas) "On the Converging of the Wind in Zoology of New Zealand, 51; of Nova Scotia, 32; of Palestine, 32
Cyclones," 254

Zoology, Recent French Discoveries, 369

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it furnished him with the rudiments of various sciences that he could pursue and extend in his leisure moments. A few years more passed away, and the advances made in

THE SMALLER LECTURESHIPS AT THE every department of knowledge rendered it impossible for

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any man to undertake singly to lecture upon two different sciences, such as chemistry and botany, or even upon two such cognate subjects as anatomy and physiology. Each required its separate professor, who delivered from thirty to ninety lectures upon his special science, and attendance upon them was rigorously enforced both by the lecturer himself and by the examining bodies.

BOUT sixty years ago the student who determined to enter the medical profession was usually bound as an apprentice to some respectable country practitioner, and spent several years in acquiring the rudiments of his profession, by bandaging bad legs, dressing simple And now ensued a period that was undoubtedly opwounds, bleeding freely everybody that presented himself posed to all true intellectual training. The student, as and prescribing and dispensing for the poor. He then soon as he entered the profession, saw little practice, came to London, or attended one of the larger provincial but was everlastingly in attendance upon lectures. No towns provided with a hospital, and followed the practice mental effort was required, and, except in the case of of some celebrity, hearing an occasional lecture and much first rate lecturers, none, we are convinced, was ever clinical discussion, and finally presented himself for ex- exerted in acquiring and assimilating the information amination before the Master and Court of Assistants of conveyed. Here and there a good lecturer, thoroughly the College of Surgeons, and started in practice. Such master of his subject, chained his audience; but the training was solid and good; practice went before, and substance of four out of five lectures either entered theory followed after; some thought, indeed, the cart at one ear to pass out at the other, or was altogether went before the horse; yet the excellence of the plan refused admission to the brain by the locked portals of was shown in the high scientific position and lucrative the slumbering student. The horses were indeed put practice obtained by many a well-known name. As before the cart, but the team was so strong that they Shakespeare knew little Latin and less Greek, our stu- often ran away with the cart before anything useful had dent knew little anatomy and less physiology, but what been put into it. The requirements of the examining he did know was substantial, and served him in good bodies in regard to these lectures rendered it imperative for every school, however small, to have as numerous a staff of lecturers as the largest. The senior officers of the medical staff consequently took the more important subjects of medicine and surgery, anatomy and physiology, whilst the younger ones divided amongst them chemistry and botany, materia medica, forensic medicine, and midwifery. In many instances these latter posts were filled by gentlemen who had received no special training, but who accepted them and often worked at them with praiseworthy energy, merely to secure the succession to the medical staff, upon obtaining which the minor lectureship was at once given up.

stead.

A few years after the time we are speaking of, systematic courses of lectures upon various subjects, as upon chemistry, botany, anatomy and physiology, medicine and surgery, began to be delivered at the larger schools, at the instigation of the Society of Apothecaries, who were constituted by the Act of 1815 the guardians of "general practice," two or even three subjects being given by the same lecturer; and attendance upon these soon came to be regarded as an important part of the student's education. So far all was well. The several subjects mentioned above were treated broadly by such men as Abernethy, Cooper, Babington, and others, generally speaking with direct reference to medicine or surgery; and the student underwent a training that possessed considerable value in relation to his future profession, whilst

VOL. IV.

It is obvious that lectureships so obtained and so held must have been in many instances valueless alike to the lecturer himself and to the student who sat under him, yielding to the former a barren honour, and to

B

the latter a signed schedule, the advantage of the professor and not the advancement of the student being the point considered. During the last few years a reaction has been setting in against this perpetual lecturing, and the number required to be attended has been considerably reduced. The University of London deserves the credit of having been the first to break through this absurd system, by requiring attendance on only one or two courses, and this rather as evidence of the student being really engaged in the study of medicine than for any other purpose, leaving him free to acquire his information as best he can, but testing its extent and value by a searching examination.

No doubt many of the posts above alluded to are filled by men of great talent and ability, but their powers are crippled by the small means at their disposal, which prevents many illustrations or experiments from being exhibited which are almost essential for thorough teaching.

As a means of improving the system of education by supplying a better class of lectures on some subjects than those at present given, and at the same time obtaining better remuneration for the lecturers themselves, a scheme has recently been advanced by which it is proposed that certain medical schools in the metropolis should be amalgamated, a reduction in the number of lecturers being thus effected, whilst the pecuniary value of those that remain will undergo considerable augmentation. It is hoped that the value of these posts would then be sufficient to lead to their being accepted not by those who only use them as a steppingstone for advancement, but by gentlemen who have devoted themselves exclusively to the study of the department of science on which they lecture.

At the present moment the lectureships in several of the smaller schools yield such small returns to their holders as would astonish many of their hearers. As a matter of fact we could mention an instance where the proceeds of an entire summer course of lectures has amounted on the average for the past three years to a sum not exceeding 67. Can this for a moment be regarded as in any way proportionate to the intellectual labour, the time, and the money expended in their preparation, illustration, and delivery? It might be considered to be a moderate recompense for one lecture, but as payment for a course it is simply monstrous. Is it surprising that the lectures are often given without animation, and listened to without interest?

By amalgamating several schools, however, such chairs might, it is hoped, be so far increased in value as not only to lead men of high ability, and distinguished for their knowledge in particular branches of science, to accept them, but to provide ample funds to admit of their copious illustration, and for the purchase of expensive apparatus apparatus which the smaller schools now find it difficult or impossible to procure. It would not be difficult, we imagine, to find room for those who at present hold appointments as demonstrators, with lighter but not less important duties than they have hitherto performed. At all events it seems to us that the amalgamation scheme, if fairly carried out, would prove the most splendid example of the Conservation of Force with which we are acquainted, and on that ground alone should receive the cordial support of the medical teachers through

out the metropolis. In a future article we shall suggest what appears to us a desirable and practical scheme for medical education.

THE LITERATURE OF CHEMISTRY

THE

HE appearance of the April number of the "Journal of the Chemical Society " marks the commencement of a new era in English Chemical Literature, containing, as it does, besides the papers which have been read before the Society, the first instalment of the promised "abstracts." The papers selected for this purpose by the accomplished editor are ninety-one in number, comprising every branch of Chemical Science, Technology included, and are classified under six various headings, as "Physical Chemistry," "Inorganic Chemistry," &c. The abstracts themselves, made by the gentlemen whose names appear on the wrapper of the journal, are naturally of different degrees of literary merit, but seem to be carefully and conscientiously done; all the points of essential importance in the original papers being retained. The reader will thus not only have a good general notion of the extent of the researches made by any particular author, but also be able to repeat any of the experiments, or prepare any of the substances from the directions given. These abstracts are therefore really what they profess to be, and not merely notices of a few lines in length, from which but little more information can be gleaned than from the title of the paper.

The Council of the Chemical Society is to be congratulated on the energetic way in which it has endeavoured to supply a great defect in our scientific literature, by affording us the means of obtaining a general view of the progress of Chemistry both here and on the Continent. Chemists have hitherto had to depend chiefly on Will's "Jahresbericht," which, although useful in its way, has the double disadvantage incident upon its method of arrangement, first, in not being published until long after the end of the year, and, secondly, of being rather a résumé of the chemical work done, than a condensed account of particular researches. There is no doubt that these abstracts, if furnished with a full and comprehensive index, both of the subject-matter and the names of the authors, will become a standard work of reference, not only here but on the Continent.

It is to be hoped that other Scientific Societies will be induced to follow the example of the Chemical Society, and, by publishing abstracts of all papers connected with their particular branch of science, give an impetus to its cultivation, and render a knowledge of its general progress easily attainable. The value of such abstracts is greater than might at first sight appear; for the study of Science, both for its own sake, and in its application to the Arts, is extending so rapidly that it requires a considerable expenditure of time to acquire a knowledge of the numerous researches and discoveries which are now being made in any particular science, and leaves but little for the study of the sciences allied to it. If, then, each of the learned societies were to publish abstracts similar to those of the Chemical Society, it would render it comparatively easy for the workers in any one department of science to acquire something more than a superficial knowledge of the discoveries made in the others.

GLAISHER'S TRAVELS IN THE AIR Travels in the Air. By James Glaisher, Camille Flammarion, W. de Fonvielle, and Gaston Tissandier. Second and revised edition. With 125 illustrations. (London: R. Bentley, 1871.)

the invitation "Try Lapland" fails to stimulate the jaded nerves of the zealous explorer of "fresh fields and pastures new." In the realms of air, however, there is still plenty of new ground, if we may be allowed the Hibernicism. Mr. Glaisher and the illustrious French trio can claim this field as almost exclusively their own, though, OOTH the scientific and the lover of adventure will find doubtless, they will not long be left in undisturbed possesabundance to interest them in this handsome volume. sion of it. After a brief history of the rise and progress of The terrestrial fields of enterprise are getting exhausted. aërostatics in England, Mr. Glaisher here recounts to us Mont Blanc has long since been used up. We are getting the particulars of ten of his most remarkable ascents; tired of Central Africa and the Steppes of Tartary. Even and the Frenchmen then follow suit. The volume is got

BOTH

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up in drawing-room style, as a veritable livre de luxe; we wish we could transfer to our pages some of the beautiful chromo-lithographs by which it is illustrated, in particular, the wonderful mirage and luminous aureole which serves as frontispiece, and the falling stars as observed from the balloon, at p. 262. We must, however, content ourselves with two or three of the scarcely less effective woodcuts.

The scientific information contained in the volume is important, though rather as showing how little we know

at present of even the fundamental principles of Meteorology, than as establishing any new laws. With regard to temperature, Mr. Glaisher remarks that the decrease as we ascend is far from constant, and we must entirely abandon the theory of a decline of 1° of temperature for every increase of 300 ft. of elevation. With reference to the colour of the sky, he states that, as viewed from above the clouds, it presents a deep blue colour, which deepens in intensity with increase of elevation regularly from the earth if the sky be free from clouds, or

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