Annelids very generally, but with apparently arbitrary exceptions. b. In the vascular system of certain Leeches, but not of all (Nephelis, Hirudo). c. In the vascular system of certain Turbellarians as an exception (Polia). d. In a special vascular system (distinct from the general blood-system) of a marine parasitic Crustacean (undescribed), observed by Prof. Edouard Van Beneden. e. In the general blood-system of the larva of the Dipterous insect, Chironomus. f. In the general blood-system of the pulmonate mollusc, Planorbis. g. In the general blood-system of the Crustaceans, Daphnia and Cheirocephalus. 3. Diffused in the substance of muscular tissue. a. In the voluntary muscles generally of Mammalia, and probably of birds, and in some muscles of reptiles. b. In the muscles of the dorsal fin of the fish Hippocam pus, being generally absent from the voluntary muscular tissue of fish. c. In the muscular tissue of the heart of Vertebrata generally. d. In the unstriped muscular tissue of the rectum of man, being absent from the unstriped muscular tissue of the alimentary canal generally. e. In the muscles of the pharynx and odontophor of Gasteropodous Molluscs (observed in Lymnæus, Paludina, Littorina, Patella, Chiton, Aplysia), and of the pharyngeal gizzard of Aplysia, being entirely absent from the rest of the muscular and other tissues, and the blood of these Molluscs, with the single exception of Planorbis, cited above (2 ƒ). f. In the muscular tissue of the great pharyngeal tube of Aphrodite aculeata, being absent from the muscular tissue and from the blood in this animal, and absent from the muscular tissue generally in other animals. 4. Diffused in the substance of nervous tissue. a. In the chain of nerve-ganglia of Aphrodite aculeata. Zoological Society, Dec. 3.-Viscount Walden, F.R.S., president, in the chair. The secretary read a report on the additions that had been made to the Society's collection during the months of October and November, amongst which were particularly noticed a Nippon Ibis (Ibis nippon), and other birds, presented by R. Swinhoe, H. B. M. Consul at Ningpo, China.Mr. P. L. Sclater exhibited a nest of the Tigereta (Milvulus tyrannus), containing one egg of that bird and nine of the parasitic Molothrus bonariensis, which had been sent to him by Mr. W. H. Hudson, of Buenos Ayres.-Mr. H. E. Dresser exhi bited a series of skins of eagles of Europe and India. After a careful investigation Mr. Dresser had come to the conclusion that three good species had hitherto been included under the name of the Imperial Eagle, four under that of the Spotted Eagle, and two under the name of the Tawny Eagle. Mr. Dresser pointed out the various plumages and localities of these species.-Prof. Owen, F.R.S., read a paper on the osteology of the Marsupialia, being the fourth of his series of papers on this subject. The present communication contained a description of the trunk and limbs of the Wombats (Phascolomys).—A communication was read from Mr. R. B. Sharpe, entitled "Contributions to the Ornithology of Madagascar."-A communication was read from Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., on the Fossane of Madagascar (Fossa d'Aubentonii), of which animal the British Museum had recently received specimens.-A second communication from Dr. Gray contained notes of a Terrapin from British Columbia, which had been presented to the British Museum by J. K. Lord, as the Actinemys marmorata of Agassiz.-A communication was read from Sir Victor Brooke, Bart., giving the description of a new species of antelope from the river Gambia, living in the Society's menagerie, which he proposed to call Nanotragus nigri-caudatus.-A communication was read from Dr. A. Günther, containing notes on a hitherto unpublished drawing in the Buchanan-Hamilton collection, representing Barbus beacani. Three short communications were read from Mr. Andrew Garrett, of Tahiti, in which he gave descriptions of two new species of Separatista, two new species of Caecum from the Viti Islands, and a new species of Scissurella from the Panmotu Islands. Geological Society, Dec. 4.-Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., V.P., in the chair, "On the Tremadoc Rocks in the Neighbourhood of St. David's, South Wales." By Henry Hicks. The author stated that Tremadoc rocks occur in three distinct places near St. David's—namely, in Ramsey Island, at the north end of Whitesand Bay, and over a considerable tract of country about five miles east of St. David's. They rest conformably on the Lingula flags, and are about 1,000 feet thick in Ramsey Island. The author noticed the fossils found in these deposits, nearly all of which are of new species, and stated that the paleontological evidence proves these rocks to be nearly allied to, if not identical with, the lower part of the Tremadoc rocks of North Wales. The Upper Tremadoc rocks of North Wales seem to be represented at St. David's by the so-called Arenig rocks which overlie the deposits described in the present paper. On the Phosphatic Nodules of the Cretaceous Rock of Cambridgeshire." By the Rev. O. Fisher. The author stated that this paper was founded upon one read by him before the Society in May last, but subsequently withdrawn, in consequence of his obtaining information which necessitated a change of opinion upon certain points. The new portion related chiefly to those nodules which had been regarded as belonging to Porospongia or Scyphia, the fenestrated structure shown in sections of which the author now identified with the structure of Ventriculites, as described by Mr. Toulmin Smith, the whole arrangement, and especially the presence of an octahedral figure at the nodes where the fibres of the framework intersect one another, being in favour of this determination. The author described the peculiarities of these octahedra, and dwelt particu larly upon the fact that these sections of phosphatic nodules showed clearly that the fibres are really tubular, and not, as Toulmin Smith supposed, solid.-"On the Ventriculitide of the Cambridge Upper Greensand." By W. Johnson Sollas. A collection of supposed sponges found in the Cambridge Upper Greensand had been in part referred to the genera Scyphia and Porospongia, and in part left unidentified. An examination of sections of these forms by the microscope had revealed all the details of Ventriculite structure; and a careful comparison with Mr. Toulmin Smith's descriptions and specimens had resulted in the identification of those examined with four of Mr. Smith's species; thus Scyphia tessellata was shown to be equiva lent to Ventriculites tessellatus (or, more correctly, V. texturatus), Porospongia ocellata to V. cavatus, and other unnamed forms to V. quincuncialis and V. mammillaris respectively. The occur rence of ventriculite-structure in coprolitic material presents a favourable opportunity for a fresh inquiry into its nature; ac cordingly the author described the minute characters of the hexradiate elements of which the skeleton is composed, and the combinations of these hexradiates with one another. Abnor malities occur sometimes by the hexradiates becoming hepto radiate or pentaradiate, and sometimes by some of their rays bending quite away from their normal course. The whole of the skeleton fibre is distinctly tubular. Since the Ventriculite fibres have now been found fossilised in chalk, flint, and calcic phosphate, there can be little doubt that they were keratose, If this be so, we have a difference between Nitrea and Ventriculitide of ordinal value at least, and we must look for allies to the Ventriculites among the horny sponges. Verongia resembles Ventriculites in the single hollow cavity of its fibre and the non-spiculate character of its skeleton; Darwinella offers a resemblance in its hexradiate horny spicules, and Spongionella in the regular arrangement of These three genera are indices of the directions in which the Keratosa tended to vary. At a very early period great variation occurred among the Keratosa, which already, at the time of the Weisse Jura, had evolved such highly symmetri cal specialised forms as the Ventriculites; these, with their con temporary variations, such as Verongioid forms, lived on in great numbers throughout the Mesozoic period, with the close of which the Ventriculites altogether disappeared; and their nearest allies dwindled down to the dwarfed and rare genera Verongia, Darwinella, and Spongionella. and not siliceous in their nature. its fibres. Chemical Society, Dec. 5.-Dr. Frankland, F.R.S., &c. president, in the chair. The first two papers read were "On Hypophosphites" and "On the reducing power of Phosphorous and Hypophosphorous Acid and their Salts" by Prof. C. Rammelsberg.-A communication by Prof. A. II. Church, entitled "New Analyses of certain numeral Arseniates and Phosphates" followed, giving his results of the examination of the minerals, Fluonapatite, Arseniosiderite, Childerite, Uhlite, Tyrolite, and Wavellite.-"On the condition of hydrogen occluded by palladium as indicated by specific heat of the charged metal" by W. C. Roberts and C. R. A. Wright, D.Sc. This interesting compound, which was discovered by the late Prof. Graham, Master of the Royal Mint, and supposed by him to be an alloy of palladium and hydrogen, is obtained on making metallic palladium, the negative pole in the electrolysis of water aciduated with sulphuric acid. The authors find, however, that the charged metal cannot be regarded as a true alloy of the two elements. Anthropological Institute, Dec. 3.--Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S., president, in the chair.-Col. A. Lane Fox exhibited seven celts presented to him by Col. Pearce, R. A., who procured them from the grove and hill-top Temples of the Malayalis or hill-tribes of the Shevavoy hills, Salem, Madras Presidency. Col. Fox also read a report on Anthropology, at the meeting of the British Association at Brighton.-Professor T. Rupert Jones, F.R.S., read a paper "On Implements from the Caves of Périgord, France, bearing marks referable to ownership, tallying, gambling, &c." Among the implements of bone, decr-horn, and ivory found by MM. Christy and Lartet in the caves of the Dordogne district in France, are many bearing more or less definitely designed marks, such as scorings and notches, parallel, crossing, or otherwise arranged, and fittings in a roughly quincuncial order. One specimen in particular exhibited several of these kinds of markings, whether made for a purpose, for ornament, or by trivial whittling. Prof. Jones described several implements from the caves exhibiting one or more of these types of marks, and indicated their applicability to ownership, reckoning by tally, gambling, or mere fancy-work; he also suggested that therein we might have some of the earliest examples of magic signs and lucky charms, such as the old Norsemen and some Archaic people are said to have used and feared. Lieut. C. Cooper King, K.M. A., read a paper "On a Flint Implement Station at Wi-hmoor Bottom, Bagshot Heath." The interest of the discovery of flint chips and implements between Bagshot and Sandhurst lay chiefly in the peculiar nature of the locality in which these ancient traces of early human life were found. Apparently from the topography of the ground they had occupied the bed of a swampy valley which it was suggested had been, at the time of the deposition of the relics, a small lake area, near one of the great Western routes. It was further pointed out by the author that the flints themselves appeared not to be of local origin. and that the work performed at the place of discovery had probably been that of re-fashioning existing implements, rather than the construction of new ones from local flints. MANCHESTER Literary and Philosophical Society, Oct. 29.-Edward Schunck, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair. Dr. R. Angus Smith, F.R.S., described a remarkable fog which he saw in Iceland. It appeared to rise from a small lake and from the sea at about the same time, when it rolled from both places and the two streams met in the town of Reykjavik. It had the appearance of dust, and was called dust by some persons there at first sight. This arose from the great size of the particles of which it was composed. They were believed to be from th toth of an inch in diameter. They did not show any signs ot being vesicular, but through a small magnifier looked like transparent concrete globules of water. They were continually tending downwards, and their place was supplied by others that rolled over. 400 Nov. 12.-J. P. Joule, F.R.S., president, in the chair. Additional Notes on the Drift Deposits near Manchester, by E. W. Binney. F.R.S. An Account of some Experiments on the Melting Point of Paraffin, by Balfour Stewart, F. R.S. Nov. 26.-J. P. Joule, F. R. S., president, in the chair. Dr. R. Angus Smith, F.R.S., said that he, like others, had observed that the particles of stone most liable to be in long contact with rain from town atmospheres, in England at least, were most subject to decay. Believing the acid to be the cause, he supposed that the endurance of a siliceous stone might be somewhat measured by measuring its resistance to acids. He proposed therefore to use stronger solutions, and thus to approach to the action of long periods of time. He tried a few specimens in this way, and with most promising results. Pieces of about an inch cube were broken by the fall of a hammer, and the number of blows counted. Similar pieces were steeped in weak acid; both sulphuric and muriatic were tried, and the latter preferred. The number of blows now necessary was counted. Some sandstones gave way at once and crumbled into sand, some resisted long. Some very dense siliceous stone was little affected; it had stood on a bridge unaltered for centuries, in a country place however. These trials were mere beginnings; he arranged for a very extensive set of experiments to be made so as to fix on a standard of comparison, but has not found time.-"On some points in the Chemistry of Acid Manufacture," by H. A. Smith, F,C.S. NEW ZEALAND Wellington Philosophical Society, July to September.Weekly meetings have been held during the session, which was commenced by an address of the President, Dr. Hector, concerning certain matters that have been under discussion. Relative to the extinction of the Moa, he considers that there is evidence that they existed in Otago in considerable numbers within 200 years, and that a few may have survived to within seventy years. Referring to the first period in which Moas first appeared, he points out the absence of any evidence of there having been a Glacial period in the New Zealand area, there being no dispersed drifts. Nor is there any evidence of submergence since the last great extension of the glaciers which were coincident with a much greater elevation of the central ranges of the South Island than at present. Important contributions have also been made to the natural history of lizards, birds, and fishes of the colony by Dr. Butler, Captain Hutton, Mr. Travers, and others.-A series of papers is in progress by W. T. L. Travers, describing the changes effected in the Maories at the time they first acquired fire-arms and European implements, and when there was a sudden stride of a powerful race from the age of stone to that of iron.-An important paper by Captain Hutton on the geographical relations of the New Zealand fauna, in which he argues :-(I) A continental period in which South America, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa were joined, which he places about the close of the Mesozoic. New Zealand was then separated, prior to the spread of mammals, and has since then never been completely submerged. (2) Subsidence followed, and a second continent connected, New Zealand, Lord Howe's Islands, New Caledonia, and Polynesia. (3) Subsidence then reduced New Zealand to a group of Islands, upon which the Moa lived, so that many species arose (4) Re-elevation joined the small Islands and mixed the different species of Moa which inhabited a large Island disconnected from Polynesia. (5) This was followed by subsidence, when New Zealand acquired its present form, and the Moas continued till they were destroyed by the Maories. Sept. 17.-Captain Hutton read an elaborate paper on the date of the last great glacier period in New Zealand, and the formation of the Wakatipu Lake. The author, in opposition to the views expressed by Dr. Hector and to those held also by Dr. Haast, attributes the formation of the terraces that are so common in the valleys in the South Island to marine action, advancing the view that New Zealand has been submerged beneath the sea, since the valleys were eroded by glaciers the former extension of which he attributes solely to extreme elevation of the land during a preceding period, considering the view expressed by Dr. Hector that there has been a reduction of the area of land above the snow line by the erosive action of the glaciers as plains, the author stated that Dr. Haast's sections show that they unnecessary and exaggerated. Speaking of the Canterbury are nearly level in a line parallel with the coast between the Rangitata and the Waimakiriri, and that the gravel formation wraps round the spurs of the hills at the same level that it has at the river gorges, and considers that these facts and also the occurrence of vegetable deposits below the gravel of the plains, are readily explained by supposing these to be of marine formation, and quite inexplicable on the river formation theory. Another proof of recent elevation is the fact that the glaciers are now advancing and overriding their terminal moraines. The absence of stric on the rock surfaces the author considers to be a strong proof that the glaciers were extended during the Pliocene, and not a more recent period. The origin of deep lakes, taking Wakitipu as a type, and the sounds on the West Coast were next described with the view of proving that their formation is not due to subsidence or unequal depression, but only to the scooping out of the rock by glaciers. Dr. Hector could not agree with the conclusions arrived at further than attributing the erosion of the Alpine valleys and the rock-bound lake basins to the scoop. ing of ice. On the whole, he thought, no proof had been advanced of any Pleistocene submergence beneath the sea of the Alpine district since the excavation of the great valleys by the glaciers. After quoting Sir Charles Lyell, who points out that the time required for similar excavations is so extensive that it covers a period during which we know that great oscillations have taken place, Dr. Hector drew attention to the irregularity in the movement of the land during the earthquakes of 1848 and 1855, which amounted to 9 ft. elevation at Palliser Bay and was not perceptible at Porirua, while there is good reason to believe that in Blind Bay there was a marked depression. The elevation of the Billy Rock in this harbour, and the depression of the Hapuku Rock at the Astrolabe since the publication of the Admiralty Charts, was also advanced as evidence that unequal movements have taken place on a small scale, and of course such may be cumulative throughout long periods. Sept. 25.-Referring to the skeletons of the huia which were exhibitel, Dr. Hector pointed out that the great difference in the length of the beaks in the male and female huias is due only to the prolongation of the horny mandible of the latter, the jaw bones being the same size in both sexes. This is not like the kiwi, in which the apparent excess in the length of the beak in the female is really produced by the lengthened bones of the face. Anatomically, the kiwi has the shortest beak of any known bird of its size. The strong mucular crest on the skull of the male huia at once distinguishes it, however, and supports the view that the male beak is used as an adze, and the female as a probe. PARIS Academy of Sciences, Dec. 9.-M. Faye, president, in the chair.-MM. Littré and C. Robin presented their Medical Dictionary to the Academy together with a short descriptive note.-M. de Saint- Venant read the second portion of his paper on the division of the force of a vibratory movement into those due to simple oscillatory movements of various periods and amplitudes.-M. Jamin read a note on the distribution of Magnetism. This was a criticism on M. Treve's paper on this subject, read at the last meeting. The author disagrees with his statement that the poles of a magnet are displaced when an armature is applied.—M. Pasteur promised on a future occasion to reply to the observations of MM. Béchamp and Estor, made at the last sitting.-M. Claude Bernard then answered M. Bouillaud's criticism on his late paper on animal heat: he defends the generally received theory that animal heat is produced in the capillaries; he denied that he stated it to be produced in the liver; and argued against Lavoisier's o'd theory that it arose solely in the lungs. M. Bouilland replied, and defended Lavoisier's theory, which he considers to be proved beyond doubt. M. Milne-Edwards then spoke on the subject: he allu led to the experiments of his brother, William M. Edwards, which proved that carbonic anhydride continued to be evolved from the lungs of an animal when it was deprived of oxygen, thus showing that the former gas was brought by the blood into the lungs, and not formed in them by the act of inspiration. A letter from Father Secchi, dated Rome, November 22, was then read. It related to the solar spots and diameter: he has observed the diameter on the lines B and C, and finds that each gives different results; this he explains thus :-B gives the solar diameter without the chromosphere, C the diameter plus the chromosphere.-M E. Belgrand read a paper on the floods of the Seine and its affluents; after which MM. Is. Pierre and Ed. Puchot read some observations on several groups of isomeric substances derived from the alcohols of fermentation. The authors draw attention to the remarkable resemblances and differences in certain isomeric bodies, e.g. many isomers differing immensely in boiling-point, odour, and density at the boilingpoint, have the same density exactly at o°.-M. Burdin read a paper entitled a" Glance at the immense part played by ether in Nature," a paper relating to the luminiferous ether.—The following gentlemen were then appointed judges of the Montoyon Prize for Medicine and Surgery for 1873-MM. Cloquet, Nelaton, Cl. Bernard, Bouillaud, Robin, Sèdillot, Andral, Larry, Milne-Edwards. The following were appointed to award the Montoyon Statistical Prize:-MM. Ch. Dupin, Mathieu, Boussingault, Morin.-A Report on M. Alph. Milne-Edwards' researches on the anatomy of the semules was then read, and it was decided that the memoir should be inserted among those of foreign savants.-Memoirs were received from M. Rosmann on analytical researches on rocks as regards their constituents which are absorbable by vegetables: it was sent to the section of Rural Economy. On the destruction of the Phylloxera from M. Erb, and M. Balissat sent to the Phylloxera Commission.-A note from M. Borrelly giving an account of the discovery and observations of planetoid 128 at Marseilles was then read, and followed by a paper on Geometry of N dimensions by M. Jordan; and by a note from M. Quet on the force of a vibrating system.-M. Sainte-Claire Deville presented a note At on the thermic effects of Magnetisation by M. J. Moutier, which was followed by the conclusion of M. Th. du Moncel's paper on the accidental currents which are produced in a telegraphic wire, one end of which remains insulated in the air.-A very short note on electro-magnetism was then received from M. Trèves, and M. Wurtz presented a paper on dibenzy!dicarbonic acid by M. Franchimont. - M. H. Byasson's paper on the splitting up of the molecule of chloral-hydrate under the influence of heat and glycerine was then read. 110° the chloral-hydrate begins to split up int> chloroform, hydrochloric acid, and allylic formiate.-M. A. Conmaille read a paper on parathionic and thio-anylic acids. These acids, the last of which is isomeric with sulphamylic acid, are found in the mother liquors of coralline.-M. de Quatrefages presented a paper on a new species of chondrostome found in the waters of Rouergne by M. de la Blanchère. The systematic name of the new species is Chondrostoma Persei.-A note on the eye of the Germon, by M. Em. Morceau, was then read, and followed by a note on the immediate cause of the variations of the magnetic elements of the earth, by Father Sanna Solaro, who suggests that the ordinary diurnal variations are due to the movement of the sun acting on the statical electricity of the whole mass of the earth and its atmosphere. This movement continually displaces the resultant of the electric actions, and the instruments follow this movement. The perturbations are produced in the same manner.-A note on a Turonian colony in the Senonian stage of Saint Martory (Petites Pyrénées), by M. Leymerie, was then real. A note on the origin of the planetary week and on Plato's spiral, by M. Sédillot, followed. BOOKS RECEIVED ENGLISH.-The Eruption of Vesuvius, 1872; R. Mallet (Asher and Co.). -The Natural History of Plants, vol. 2: H. Baillon (I. Reeve and Co).Report of the Meteorological Observations in the North-western Provinces of India, 1871: M. Thomson.-Travels in Indu-China and the Chinese Empire: L. de Carné (Chapman and Hall). FOREIGN-Memorandum des Travaux de Botanique, 177-1871; E. Morren (F. Hayez).-Histoire des Sciences et des savants depuis deux siéces A. de Candolle (H. George).-Zeitschrift fur Biologie Band 8, Heft. 3.-(Through Williams and Norgate-Das Leben der Erde: Hammel.-Grundrisz der Physik u. Meteorologie: Dr. J. Muller-Untersuchungen uber das Wesen des Lichts und der Farben: D. Warmann.Physikalische u. chemische Untersuchungen Ul: u. Hummel. DIARY THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19. ROYAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.-Magnetical Observations in the Britannia and Conway Tubular Iron Bridges: Sir G. B. Airy, Pres. RS-On the Organisation of the Fossil Plants of the Coal Measures, Part iv.: Prof. W. C Williamson, F.R.S.-Observations on the Temperature of the Arctic Sea in the Neighbourhood of Spitzbergen: Capt. Wells, R. N. LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 8-On the General Principles of Plant-construction ; Dr. M. T. Masters, F.R.S. CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8-On the Polymerides of Morphine and their Derivatives: E Ludwig Major and Dr. C. R.A. Wright -Analysis of Water of the River Ma aunddy: E. Nicholson Communications from the Laboratory of the London Institution: Dr. H. E. Armstrong.-On the Formation of Crystallised Copper Sulphide, &c.: J. L. Davies. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1872 THE PROGRESS OF NATURAL SCIENCE DURING THE LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS I. On the occasion of the celebration at Breslau of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Prof. Goeppert's presidency of the Silesian Society for National Culture, Prof. Ferdinand Cohn delivered an address characterised by eloquence of the highestk ind on the above subject. As the wanderer, he said, who is climbing towards a high mountain peak, feels from time to time the desire to stand still a little, and look back on the way over which he has passed, to enjoy the wider outlook which he gains from his higher stand-point; so he thinks there are moments in the uninterrupted progress of science, when we long in some measure to strike a balance, and see how much acquired property the present puts aside as useless, how much it uses only for temporary purposes, and how many enduring acquisitions have been made. Dr. Cohn refers, no doubt with justice and some pardonable pride, to the foremost place held by Germany during the last quarter of a century, in the march of science. At the same time he awards due praise to other European states, and above all to England, which, during that time and more particularly at present, he thinks, abounds in men of the highest eminence, whose scientific achievements stand prominently out on account of their astonishing energy, clearness, depth, and independence of thought. Still, we cannot but admit that Dr. Cohn is right in asserting that Germany is free from the dilettantism which abounds in this country, and that as a rule science in Germany is both far more widespread, and far more thorough than it is among ourselves, and that the opportunities furnished there to all classes for scientific study at the ordinary educational establishments have until recently left us almost nowhere. But happily, signs of the beginning of the end of this state of things among us are becoming rife. After briefly referring to the intellectual awakening of Germany along with the rest of Europe at the time of the Reformation, and showing how this start forward was, especially in the case of Germany, in a great measure frustrated by the Thirty Years' War, Dr. Cohn pays a high and justly-merited tribute to France, and especially to Paris, on account of the supreme place she took during the first thirty or forty years of the present century in nearly all the sciences. The glory of France in this direction has however, he thinks, departed, and Germany is becoming daily more and more the intellectual centre of the world. Had Dr. Cohn written his lecture now, he might have somewhat modified his language; for within the last few months, the signs have been many, that in the direction of science the French are determined to try to hold their own with the foremost in Europe. Their professors are prosecuting an amount of research which puts our own to shame, while they are at the same time forming a school of investigators. We do not grudge to Germany all the praise she well deserves, and the influence which the results of German research exercise VOL. VI.-No. 165 on other nations, is likely to urge them to such vigorous and determined efforts, that, sooner or later, science and every other progressive influence shall be "great gainers." Meantime, however, Germany is doubtless in the ascendant. In the year 1845 appeared the first volume, and in 1846 the second of Humboldt's Cosmos. As comprising a view of the whole created universe depicted with the most wonderful sympathy, the book is as it were a canon forming a key to everything that was known of nature at than was in the highest degree A. von Humboldt. A Divina Commedia of science, the Cosmos embraced the whole universe in its two spheres, heaven and earth, Under the leadership of the great searcher of Nature, as Dante once by the hand of Virgil, we climb from the depths of the universe, with its furthest nebulæ and double stars, down through the star depths to which belongs our solar system, to the air and sea-enveloped earth, where form, temperature and magnetic condition are unveiled to us; then to the wealth of organic life, which, stimulated by the light, unfolds itself on its surface. It is an overwhelming picture of nature, of surpassing beauty of outline, abounding in grand perspective, with the most careful execution of the smallest detail. the time. No man was then more suited for such work But we cannot conceal from ourselves that the Cosmos, published twenty-five years ago, is in many of its parts now antiquated, not merely because it is wanting in many facts which have since been discovered, but most particularly because Humboldt was ignorant of some highly important questions which have since taken their place in the foreground of scientific discussion, while our scheme of the universe during the last ten years has been considerably modified by the introduction of new and influential ideas. Any one who to-day would attempt to recast the Cosmos, must proceed like the Italian architect who took the pillars and blocks of the broken temples of antiquity, added new ones, and rebuilt the whole after a new plan. There are three discoveries which during the last quarter of a century have entirely changed the position of natural science :-the mechanical equivalent of heat, spectrum analysis, and the Darwinian theories. Since, in the year 1842, an unknown physician in a Swabian country town, Dr. Mayer of Heilbronn, pointed out that a hammer 424 kilograms in weight, which falls from the height of a metre on an anvil, raises the heat of the latter by one degree centigrade, and that by this process of bringing a falling motion to a stand-still it is converted into a fixed quantity of heat-since then has science gained a new conception of the conditions of matter and of the powers of nature. This new doctrine appears in the mechanical theory of heat announced by Joule, Krönig, Maxwell, and Clausius, in the doctrine of the conservation of energy of Helmholtz and Thomson, and by means of the brilliant writings of Tyndall it has become the common property of the educated world. Electricity and magnetism, heat and light, muscular energy and chemical attraction, motion and mechanical work-all forces in the universe are only different forms of one and the same power, which has dwelt from the first in matter in invariable quantity, neither increased nor diminished. not the least trifle of it can be annihilated or created Only the phenomenal forms of power are changeable; I light can be converted into a chemical equivalent, this again into heat, heat into motion, and indeed a fixed quantity of one force always and only into an equivalent quantity of another. In like manner also the quantity of matter has remained unchanged from the beginning; not the least particle or molecule can be annihilated or created out of nothing, and only in the transformation of perishable bodies are the molecules formed into ever new combinations. What we distinguish as natural forces are only movements of molecules, for the least particles of matter out of which bodies are composed are not inseparably united to each other, but are loosely held together and in continuous whirling and undulatory motion; according to the swiftness and width of undulation of the molecule will this motion of our nerves be regarded now as sound, now as heat, then as light or as colour. Moreover, the chemical union of the elements of matter, the attractive power of gravitation in all the bodies of the universe, are but varied forms of this universal motive force. The unity and permanency of substance with its two attributes, matter and force, and their innumerable modifications, which go to form the bodies of the universe, were in the first instance enunciated as a philosophical maxim by the great thinker Spinoza. Now it is established as a philosophic fact by means of exact measure and weight. Again, on the inner organisation of the system of the universe has unexampled light been thrown by the wonderful researches which were begun in 1859 by two men, united by the closest bonds of a friendship which bore rich fruit for science. After the light of the sun had, in the third decade of this century, been brought into the service of art by Nièpce and Daguerre, Bunsen and Kirchhoff* compelled it also to render service to chemistry and astronomy. Like those magicians of the legend, who, through the power of their knowledge, compelled the spirits of the elements to disclose their most recondite secrets, the genius of these men compelled the rays of light imprisoned in the spectrum apparatus to make revelation of things in the world of stars which the curiosity of men had deemed for ever inaccessible. Already had Kirchhoff ascertained what terrestrial elements were present in the sun's atmosphere, and what were not; quite recently has it been discovered that there is even present in the sun a substance (helium) which hitherto has been unknown on the earth. Moreover also, the inner structure of the sun, the distribution of its incandescent, liquid, and gaseous parts, its luminous and coloured envelope, the nature of its spots and protuberances—all this is no longer a playground for fantastic imaginings, but the subject of exact research. Since the great eclipse of 1868, Lockyer and Janssen, Zöllner, Huggins, and Father Secchi have observed, day after day, storms, whirlwinds, flame-sheaves, outbursts of burning hydrogen to the height of 20,000 miles: thus has been developed an entirely new science-the meteorology of the sun. Moreover, on other obscure regions of the heavens, on the physical and chemical conditions, even on the laws of the movements of the fixed and double stars, on nebulæ and milky ways, on planets and comets, on zodiacal and northern lights, has spectrum analysis * In connection with this discovery it would have been a graceful act on the part of our author to have referred to the names of Stokes and Stewart.-ED. thrown its enlightening rays. No less by rigorous mathematical method, through which astronomy, even at an earlier period, had been brought to a certain amount of perfection, has she in the most recent time enjoyed an unexpected triumph, by solving, through the researches of Schiaparelli, the riddle of the comets, in being able to recognise the identity of their nature with that of the swarms of shooting-stars whose remarkable brilliancy long ago made them universally known. (To be continued.) EXPLORATION OF THE SOUTH POLAR AT T the conclusion of the last article the drifting seaweed was referred to as an important element in enabling us to ascertain the state of the sea about the Ant arctic regions. Let us now see whether the conditions of temperature, so far as they have yet been determined, are in harmony with the ideas already developed. By reducing the ascertained directions for all the months of the year to a mean, there is obtained for the maximum of the temperature a curve which coincides with the intersections of the following meridians and parallels of latitude : 60 63 53 75 43 A glance at a map shows that this curve leads into the midst of the ice-free field, and is only distorted somewhat from its regular course by Kerguelen Island. This curve can be followed even as far as Macdonald Island, which is of high importance, inasmuch as it can be proved from direct observation that a higher temperature of the water exists in these regions, as Dr. Neumayer himself has witnessed. When he, in December and January, 1856-57, was sailing about 53° S. lat., he proved from hourly observations that there was an influx of a warm current between 62° and 72° E. long. With respect to the higher temperature in the Pacific Ocean, it suffices to mention the circumstance that there exists on the Falkland and Campbell Islands a richer vegetable and animal life than is the case on other islands in the same latitude of the hemisphere. The unusual mildness of the regions is to be ascribed to the neighbourhood of the Australian continent, as well as to the prevailing west and north-west winds. If, on the other hand, a much poorer flora is found on Kerguelen Island than on the Auckland Islands, and if we should be at first inclined to regard this as evidence against the milder influx of warm currents, it should not be forgotten that Kerguelen does not enjoy the warming influence of a great continent, since it lies in the midst of the Indian Ocean, almost equidistant from the two nearest continents, and more than double the distance of the Auckland Islands from Australia. Both around New Zealand and near Kerguelen and south from Cape Horn, the cachelot (Physeter macroce phalus), which, it is known, seeks out the warmer waters, is found in abundance. |