Turbo, but another species so named by Mr. Angas. Nor is the Nucula sulcata of A. Adams the same as

Bronn's much older species of that name. But a serious defect of the work consists in the description of the shells. We give one instance among many. Littorina novæ zealandiæ is described as "somewhat globosely turbinated," with the whorls "spirally irregularly linearly grooved;" and the characters of the several species are not arranged systematically or in any kind of sequence. Dog-Latin would be almost preferable to such English. Perhaps, however, the description of species made by the late Mr. Reeve may have been copied from his "Conchologia Iconica." Prof. Hutton says that there are "between 300 and 400 species" of the New Zealand mollusca and polyzoa. This is considerably less than half the number of those species which have been recorded as inhabiting the British seas. J. GWYN JEFFREYS

OUR BOOK SHELF

The Zoological Record for 1878; being vol. xv. of the Record of Zoological Literature, edited by E. C. Rye. (London: John Van Voorst, 1880.)

THIS publication seems to pursue the even tenor of its very useful way. The editor has to acknowledge grants of 250l. towards the expenses of the work from the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Society, and the Zoological Society of London. The "Record of the Arachnida for 1878" has been unavoidably postponed until vol. xvi., and Mr. Kirby has for the future undertaken all of the groups of the Insecta with the exception of the Coleoptera, which the editor will still review. Entomologists will perceive with regret that they thus lose the services of Mr. McLachlan, who has reported on the Neuroptera and Orthoptera since 1869. A special committee has been appointed to endeavour to expedite the publication of the annual volume, and arrangements have been made, both as regards the contributors and printers, which it is hoped will have the eventual effect of bringing out the record of one year's work during the succeeding year. This would be an immense boon, and though it is obvious that it cannot be effected at the first attempt, still the editor confidently expects that the Record of 1879 will be published in the beginning of 1881, and let us hope that ere the end of that year we may also have the Record of that one now coming to a close.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.] [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com munications containing interesting and novel facts.]

The Recent Gas Explosion

ON my return after the vacation the experiments on the explosion of gases in tubes were continued.

A tube was constructed by winding narrow strips of paper helically round a glass tube about 8 mm. in diameter; two-thirds of the width of the paper being glued, it was so wound as to make a tube of three thicknesses of paper. The interior of the tube was afterwards varnished with shellac. At the ends short pieces of glass tube about 5 mm. in diameter were fixed, one being provided with platinum wires in order to inflame the gas; the total length of the tube was 4360 mm.

The tube was filled with a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen, the end of the glass tube with the wires was plugged with wet cotton wool, the other tube being closed with an india rubber

cap; a spark was then passed. At a distance of 650 mm. from the open end, at which the ignition took place, the outer covering of the tube was split; at a distance of 1,900 mm. from the same point was a hole, at 3030-3040 another hole, and at 3085-3100 a third hole. The india-rubber cap was blown off the end of the tube. At the third hole the interior coating of that the orifice had allowed the escape of gas from both direc the tube was torn and blown back towards the opening, showing tions. Measuring the distances between the holes and the ends of the tube, we have the following numbers-From end to first split, 650 mm. ; from split to first hole, 1250; from first end of tube, 1260. hole to mean of second and third, 1200; from this point to

There seemed to be some doubt as to the uniformity of this tube, so another was made by rolling a strip of paper helically along a glass tube in such a manner that the edges did not overjoint; and a third to cover the joint of the second, the edges not lap. A glued strip was wound over this so as to cover the overlapping and yet touching one another throughout. The process was very tedious, and as the result showed, not successful. This tube was 75 mm. in diameter, and the glass ends 4'5, the total length being 8390 mm. The end of the tube farthest from the wires was firmly closed, after introducing the explosive mixture. When the gas was exploded in the tube 14 holes were made, in some places the tube giving way at joints, but without any great tear of the paper. Starting from the end of the tube the first hole was at 620 mm., the other holes being distant from one another 650, 530, 100, 475, 375, 320, 580, 455, 370, 885, 2115, 365, 85, and the other end 465 from the last hole.

A third tube was now constructed, but on a different principle. A sheet of glued paper was wound round a brass tube and at once removed; in this way a tube about 275 mm. long and 13.5 wide, and consisting of about 5 layers of paper was obtained. Thirty-two of these were joined end to end by glueing narrow strips of paper round the joints. The tube was varnished inside and out, and when completed was 9000 mm. long. The experiment was made after dark, and it was not found out until afterwards that a small quantity of water had entered the tube from the gas-holder while introducing the gas. In this case the explosion made 10 holes, but the joints obviously considerably strengthened the tube in their neighbourhood. The distances between the holes were not more regular than in the previous case. From the end to first hole 757 mm.; the other holes being distant 660, 1595, 146, 484, 230, 295, 308, 1325, 585, to end 2615. The end was not opened by the explosion.

I

anticipated, they show that a tube burst by an explosive Although these experiments have not exhibited the regularity mixture must not be expected to open along its whole length. Cooper's Hill, October 25 HERBERT MCLEOD

Geological Climates

I WAS not surprised at reading Mr. Duncan's letter in supposed reply to my communication to NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 532, as it fully proves my case against the slipshod logic of geologists in general. He writes:-"Where I now write, on the Bagshot sands and gravels of Cooper's Hill, facing the cold north with a touch of the east, there is a patch of bamboo canes in full leaf. They were in full leaf at this time last year. The plant survived out of doors the extreme frost and fogs of last winter and other evidences of a temperate climate, and it has been in beautiful leaf all this summer.

"Now everybody knows that in torrid India the bamboo grows

Mr. Duncan might as well have told your readers that where he now writes, "facing the warm south with a touch of the west," he beheld before his astonished eyes a tuft of grasses. He has not named the species of the "patch of bamboo canes which delighted his eyes, and which "everybody " knows came from "torrid India."

If Mr. Duncan does not know, at least "everybody" does, that species of the bamboo canes flourish in every latitude from Northern China to Southern Chili, including torrid India,'

where in some places you may have a half-inch thick of ice, in consequence of the starlight radiation of a clear summer's night. I have before me a list of twenty-four species of bamboo canes cultivated in most of the gardens of Europe, but they are all, with the exception of a species from the Himalayas (not "torrid India"), imported from the severe climates of Northern Japan and China.

At Fota, in the Cove of Cork, at Bamboo Island, they have lived, fruited, and reproduced themselves for nearly thirty years, and will probably continue to do so in the future, although no Corcagian will be silly enough to believe in consequence thereof that he is living in the climate of "torrid India."

In fact, I adduced the evidence of Araucaria Cunninghami, a most delicate self-registering plant thermometer, in testimony of the Eocene climate of Bournemouth; and I find myself confronted with Mr. Duncan's clumsy thermometer with not a single fixed point on its scale, in the shape of an unspecified “clump of bamboo canes." Let Mr. Duncan name the species included in his "clump," and I shall discuss the question fully with him.

The facts stated in my letter, although by no means uncommon, prove most convincingly to those who can appreciate them the untenable nature of Lyell's theory of the cause of change of geological climates.

I must state my argument again :—

1. In Eocene times groves of Moreton Bay pine lived, flourished, and held their ground at Bournemouth against all comers.

2. At the present time groves or forests of Moreton Bay pine live, flourish, and hold their ground at Moreton Bay against all

comers.

3. Therefore the climate of Bournemouth in Eocene times was similar to that of Moreton Bay at the present time.

Geologists often make use of syllogisms much less conclusive than the above, which is as good as any commonly used in biological reasoning, such as it is.

The present mean temperature of Bournemouth is 20° F. below what it was in Eocene times, which is equivalent to a difference of latitude in the northern hemisphere between 31° N. and 51° N.

I

Sir Charles Lyell feebly attempts to get rid of scientific conclusions as to temperature in two ways:

1. By a denial of the specific identity of the former and recent species compared.

2. By the unproved hypothesis of competing plants whose superior vigour and not climatal conditions, account for the absence of the species which formerly flourished.

In the case of the Moreton Bay pine I shall leave Mr. Gardner to defend the asserted identity of species; and I meet Sir Charles Lyell's second supposition (which is really romance writing, and not science) by the assertion that the Moreton Bay pine, even if protected by man, will perish in any locality whose mean winter temperature falls below 57° F.

The present mean January temperature of Bournemouth is 374 F., a temperature which would destroy in a single night a whole forest of Moreton Bay pines.

I was of course well aware that my argument from the former existence of Moreton Bay pines at Bournemouth was only one of many similar arguments that might be advanced from the former existence of plants or corals in localities in which they do not now live.

I know nothing, except from books, of the water temperature necessary for the several species of corals, nor do I know whether any species of the tertiary corals found in England are specifically identical with corals now living elsewhere. If Mr. Duncan would give us precise information on this subject he would throw most valuable light on geological climates.

The corals would give us more information upon the question than plants, because they would gauge for us the temperature of the water in England; that is to say, the temperature of the former Gulf streams of the tertiary period, from which we could calculate numerically the increase of solar radiation, necessary to produce such former Gulf streams; and possibly afterwards a measure of geological time.

I have elsewhere shown that the fossil tertiary plant beds of the Arctic regions show a falling off of temperature similar to that which has been proved at Bournemouth, of which the following is a summary :—

Mean annual temperature in Miocene time.

I again assert that it is not possible to explain these facts

X 66 Principles," vol. i. p. 173 (twelfth edition).

2 "Lectures of Physical Geography," p. 344.

without introducing causes differing in amount from those now acting on our planet. SAML. HAUGHTON

Trinity College, Dublin, October 16

The Yang-tse, the Yellow River, and the Pei-ho I READ with great interest the paper on the Yang-tse, &c., in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 486. It seems to me that Mr. Guppy has underestimated the quantity of water and sediment in these rivers. As to the Yang-tse, this arises from the year 1877 being one of the driest in Western and Central China generally, and thus the summer flood must have been one of the lowest on record. Besides what we know of the character of the season, an indirect proof of this can be had by comparing the rate of discharge in April and at the time of highest flood, as given by Mr. Guppy, with what is said by Mr. Oxenham, in his paper on the inundations of the Yang-tse. According to the latter the rise of water in April is not very large, the river not yet inundating its banks, and being thirty feet below the summer level. Thus in an average year the discharge in April would by far not equal half of that of August, as found by Mr. Guppy, but more probably be even below one-fifth of that of flood-time.

On this account the data given by Mr. Guppy for the Yang-tse are far below the average as to the discharge of water, and probably even more so as to the amount of sediment, as the proportion of sediment increases during high floods. In 1877 the loess country of North-West China was subject to the severest drought, so that the Han river, which generally contributes so much to the sediment of the main river, must have been very low in summer.

As to the estimation of the discharge of water in the Pei-ho, it is certainly much below the actual quantity, for Mr. Guppy has taken only the months of December to March, i.e. months of low water. The monsoon character of the rains, i.e. the great prevalence of summer over winter rains, is far more marked in Northern China than in the middle part of that country, so that the flood discharge of the rivers during and after the rains (i.e., from July to October) must be enormously in excess over that of winter. If, as Mr. Guppy says, the Pei-ho rises only six feet at Tien-tsin, this must be due to the banks being very low, so that the river during flood-time inundates the plain to a very great

face. The accompanying tracings from Catherwood's work will sufficiently explain my meaning.

Fig. 1, from the gateway at Labnah, pl. xix.; Fig. 2, from the gateway of the great Teocallis Uxmal, pl. xii.; Fig. 3, from

2.

FIG. 2.-Gateway of the Great Teocallis Uxmal (Plate 12). Las Monjas Chichen Itza, pl. xxi., illustrate the development of the fret. Fig. 4, from Las Monjas Chichen Itza, pl. xxi., shows another modification of the human face.

In his "Grammar of Ornament" Owen Jones says (p. 35): "In Mr. Catherwood's illustrations of the architecture of Yucatan

FIG. 3.-Las Monjas Chichen Itza (Plate 21).

we have several varieties of the Greek fret: one especially is thoroughly Greek. But they are, in general, fragmentary like the Chinese." The reason I would assign for this "fragmentary" nature of the design is that it was just passing from the disjointed ornament to the pattern stage. An examination of the plates

FIG. 4.-Las Monjas Chichen Itza (Plate 21).

will prove the profuse employment of the more or less grotesquely modified human face in mural decoration.

The hypertrophy of one set of organs, with the atrophy of another, and modification of a third, are paralleled in the specialisations of all degraded forms. ALFRED C. HADDON Zoological Museum, Cambridge

Temperature of the Breath

I AM unable to see what bearing "I. J. M. P.'s" suggestion that I should try the effect of dipping my thermometer, enveloped in a tightly-rolled handkerchief, in water at 108° has on this subject. Every one of course knows that a thermometer in such circumstances would eventually acquire the temperature of the water in which it is immersed.

The state of the matter is simply this: On the one hand works on physiology agree in stating that the normal temperature of the breath is from 95° to 97°, and that of the interior of the body from 98°.5 to 99° 5. These are what Mr. McNally would call "ascertained physiological truths." On the other hand I find that by breathing on the bulb of a thermometer enveloped

in about twenty folds-more or less-of a silk, cotton, or woollen cloth for five minutes, the thermometer indicates temperatures varying-owing to conditions not yet precisely ascertained— from 102° to 108°, which, as every one knows, are temperatures vastly greater than the accepted temperature of the breath or interior of the body.

There is no question of squeezing up the reading of a delicate thermometer by the tightness of the enveloping material, for the thermometer used in these experiments is an ordinary clinical thermometer, such as I use daily in practice, the bulb of which is made of such stout glass that no amount of pressure short of breaking the bulb will move the mercury in the slightest degree. The following variation in the mode of experimenting precludes the possibility of any pressure on the thermometer. I put the thermometer in a glass tube about three-fourths of an inch bore, open at both ends, packed the stem loosely with cotton wool, but left the bulb free at one end of the tube. I then enveloped the whole in a silk handkerchief and breathed through twelve folds of the material into the end of the tube where the bulb of the thermometer was, untouched by cotton wool, glass tube, or silk handkerchief. After five minutes the thermometer showed a temperature of 102°. In this case, and I believe also in my former experiments, the enveloping material merely acted as a bad conductor, retaining the heat produced by the breath.

As any one can easily repeat these experiments for himself, I would suggest to your correspondents that they should do so. When the facts have been established by reiterated experiments -my own observations have been corroborated by several of my friends-the explanation or significance of them will no doubt be speedily arrived at. Provisionally I suggest that these observations show respiration to be a powerful agent for getting rid of the superfluous caloric of the body.

How is this heat communicated to the breath? If it had anything to do with the conversion of the carbon of the blood into carbonic acid, the quantity of carbonic acid passed off by the breath would be greater when the temperature of the latter is higher, less when it is lower. But Letellier's experiments show that the amount of carbonic acid exhaled is greatly increased by external cold, and diminished by heat; whereas my experiments apparently show that the temperature of the breath is lower in external cold, higher in heat.

To solve the questions suggested by these experiments one would require the aid of a physiological laboratory, but as that is not at my command, and, moreover, as I could not devote the necessary time to them, I must leave their solution to others. October 20 R. E. DUDGEON

Soaring of Birds

where the phenomenon is of daily occurrence. I BEG to send you some data on the above subject, as I live Most of the large birds out here soar, i.e. can circle round and round without flapping the wings, and also can rise thus from 100 or 200 feet to some 8,000 by same means. The pelican, the adjutant, and several large birds allied to it, the vulture and the cyrus, rise thus.

Firstly they rise by flapping the wings vigorously, and when up some 100 or 200 feet, if there is a breeze, begin to soar in large circular sweeps, rising 10 to 20 feet at each lap, the whole bird being otherwise quite motionless, and the wings extended rigidly.

We have two steady winds here, from north-east and westsouth-west, and in one of these the birds rise to great heights, and can be seen as small specks up in the blue, and watched with telescope, going round and round, motionless otherwise. The following data are trustworthy :-The birds weigh from 20 to 40 lbs.; spread of wings, 10 to 12 feet; stand 3 to 5 feet high; speed flying or soaring, about 15 to 35 miles per hour (estimated).

cannot

}

They rise by flapping the wings. If there is no wind they do not soar; they generally begin to soar at 100 to 200 feet elevation when above the level of the forest. In soaring they (do not go in a right line, but in large curves of a spiral that leans to leeward. At each lap they can rise 10 to 20 feet, but lose position laterally of 20 to 50 feet to leeward. The soaring can go on without once flapping the wings, till the bird is almost out of sight.

If near, the feather-tips make a loud musical "sing," and the presence often first known by it. If watched, they come

round again nearly to the same place. With gun or rifle agains a tree-stem, I have often been able to spot the intersection with my aim beforehand, lap by lap; the drift is to leeward.

I take it the explanation is, that in passing round with the wind, and by slightly falling, great impetus is gained, which is slowed down by turning to meet and rise on the wind like a kite (if near, this is seen). I have seen the albatross and gulls floating, but this case or these cases "exemplify a major problem of rising as well steadily and without effort; it is also a clearer problem, the solution of which more or less solves the minor problems of mere flotation.

IT is stated in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 589, that Faraday gave the name of Regelation to the phenomenon of two pieces of ice freezing together. Surely this is an error? It was in 1856 when Sir Joseph D. (then Dr.) Hooker, Professors Tyndall and Huxley, and the present writer were in Switzerland together. Prof. Tyndall asked us to suggest a suitable term for the process; and it was Sir Joseph Hooker who said he could think of none better than Regelation. Prof. Tyndall instantly accepted it as exactly conveying the meaning he required.

Agassiz, however, in writing upon the difficulties of ascertain ing the temperatures of glaciers by introducing thermometers into borings, alludes amongst others to "la difficulté d'extraire les fragmens détachés qui se regelaient constamment " ("Études sur les Glaciers," p. 203). This shows that a similar expression had occurred to him as suitable for this phenomenon, as early as 1840, in which year his "Études" were published.

GEORGE HENSLOW

JOHANNES RUDOLF VON WAGNER

E

and at Philadelphia (1876) he was a leading member of the German Commission. The marked services which he rendered in connection with the Vienna Exhibition were recognised by his sovereign, who raised him to the nobility, and decorated him with the Order of the Crown. Prof. von Wagner was the recipient likewise of numerous decorations from most of the European countries.

The career of Wagner has been one of unusual and varied activity. Apart from the multifarious duties of an executive character which we have briefly enumerated, he found time to render to pure chemistry, and especially to applied chemistry, services of incalculable value. Like Poggendorff in physics and Kopp in pure chemistry, his inclination led him towards the literary side of his favourite studies, and it is on his accomplishments as an author that his fame chiefly rests. Still, as an investigator Wagner possessed remarkable and manysided aptitudes, and his name is associated with numerous researches, the majority of which aim at the practical application of scientific facts, or seek to ascertain the chemical nature of important industrial products. One of his first investigations (1847) was on yeast, and included a thorough study of its nature and growth, and especially of the influence exercised by the presence of foreign bodies on the phenomena of fermentation. In 1849 he commenced a research on the oil of rue, which was carried on at various intervals, and to which we owe much of our knowledge of the constituents of this important essence. In 1850 he assigned to the alkaloïd conine the structure of a dibutyryl-amine, a formula verified long after by Schiff's synthesis (1871) of paraconine, and by Michael and Gundelach's brilliant synthesis a few months since, of methyl-conine. Among other noteworthy theoretical results, mention may be made of his extensive monograph on polymeric isomorphism (1851), and his experiments in the same year establishing the nature of mercur-ammonium compounds as substituted ammonias-mercury replacing hydrogenby a distillation of the well-known "white precipitate" with amyl-mercaptan, which yielded sulphide of mercury and hydrochloride of amylamine. Shortly after he donine obtained from the roots of sulphur-wort and allied plants were identical, and established their chemical nature as angelate of the hydrate of peucedyle. One of Wagner's most important researches, commenced in 1850 and taken up several times since, had for an object the colouring-matters of fustic. In its course he discovered morin-tannic acid, which in company with morin gives to fustic wood its tinctorial properties. He studied carefully its reactions and its derivatives; and among the latter discovered pyrocatechin, the product of the destructive distillation of the acid. In 1853 he undertook a thorough examination of the oil of hops, separating the different chemical components, and finding amongst them quercitrin and morin-tannic acid. At this epoch he succeeded in obtaining the remarkable alloy formed by the union of four parts of potassium with 25 parts of sodium, which is liquid at ordinary temperatures, and resembles mercury in appearance. In 1867 he contributed an interesting research on the rapid increase of solubility of carbonates in water containing carbonic acid under various pressures. At the same time he broached a theory of the formation of deposits of a graphite, in which he attributed it to a decomposition of cyanides in nature analagous to that occurring in the manufacture of soda. Among his more important analytical researches were the determinations (1860) of the quantities of oil present in the nuts and seeds of many forest trees. As an able deviser of analytical methods Wagner exhibited numerous proofs. Among these mention may be made of the use of the iodine reaction for analysing chlorides of lime (1859), the use of iodine likewise for the determination of the alkaloïds (1861), the volumetric deter

chemistry in the sudden death from heart-disease of Prof. von Wagner, which occurred at Würzburg, October 4. Johannes Rudolf Wagner was born February 13, 1822, at Leipzig. As a student in the university of his native city he made choice of chemistry as a profession, and supplemented the then somewhat limited advantages of the Leipzig laboratory by a course of study at Paris, whither students from numerous countries were attracted by the brilliant lectures and investigations of Dumas. His residence there was followed by a lengthy journey to the various centres of scientific interest in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, after which he returned in 1846 to Leipzig to accept a position as assistant in the chemical laboratory of the university. In 1851 he was appointed Extraordinary Professor of Technical Chemistry at the Nürnberg Polytechnic. In 1856 he accepted a call to the Chair of Technology at the University of Würzburg, a position which he occupied until the time of his death. During this same time he also filled two important offices, that of Director of the Technological Conservatory at Würzburg, and (until 1868) that of Royal Examiner of the establishments for Technical Instruction in Bavaria. His peculiar abilities and wide range of experience led to his being frequently sent abroad by the Bavarian Government on scientific missions, notably in 1858 to England and Holland, and in 1861 to Paris. The same reasons led to his being called upon to play an important rôle in the International Exhibitions of the past twenty years. He was successively appointed on the juries for chemical products at the Exhibitions of London (1862), Paris (1867), and Amsterdam (1869). At Vienna (1873) he was the Chief Commissioner of Bavaria,

mination of tannic acid by means of sulphate of cinchonine (1866), the test for wool in silk fabrics by using nitro-prusside of sodium to show the presence of the sulphur contained in wool (1867), the application of ammonium vanadate to detect the presence of tannin in red wines (1877), and other tests for detecting methyleosine in the presence of eosine, nitrobenzene in the oil of bitter almonds, paraffine in bees-wax, stearic acid in paraffine, &c. Equally numerous were the improved methods of preparing chemical compounds and products introduced by him, including the preparation of pelargonate of ethyl, used extensively in perfumery, of finelydivided copper, of rufigallic acid, of calcium iodide, of precipitated alumina, of chloride of mercury, of arsenate of sodium, of benzoic acid, &c.

Among Wagner's purely technical researches reference may be made to the application of pyrocatechin for photographic purposes (1855), the determination of densities for technical use (1859), the method for purifying water for tinctorial purposes (1863), the use of paraffine for preserving sodium, and his important research (1877) on the reactions of vanadium compounds with a large variety of organic commercial products, in the course of which he obtained several important tinctorial results.

As an author Prof. von Wagner has manifested a degree of talent and a fertility surpassed by but few of his scientific contemporaries. An easy, lucid style, an intimate familiarity with the entire range of subjects touched upon, a fulness of detail united to a logical, systematic treatment of the matters in question, and a happy adaptation to the wants of even elementary knowledge, have rendered his works universal favourites. This is especially true of his "Handbook of Chemical Technology," which has survived a twelfth edition in Germany, and has been rendered accessible to French and English-speaking students by the masterly translations of Gautier and Crookes. It is doubtful whether in any other branch of applied science a manual exists which is so widely disseminated and has met with such practically universal success. Among Wagner's other works are: "Die Chemie" (1860; sixth edition 1873), "Theorie und Praxis der Gewerbe," 5 vols. (1857-64), "Die chemische Fabrikindustrie, second edition (1869), "Regesten der Sodafabrikation" (1866), and "Studien auf der Pariser Ausstellung " (1868). The technical journals of the past thirty years contain numerous monographs from his pen on individual branches of chemical manufacture, full of valuable information and statistics obtained by Wagner from private sources, and replete with those fruitful suggestions natural to a mind familiar at once with the facts of science and with their widespread applications. Unquestionably Wagner's chief literary achievement is his celebrated "Jahresbericht über die Leistungen der chemischen Technologie." Started eight years after the appearance of Liebig and Kopp's well-known "Jahresbericht" for chemistry in all its departments, this work of Wagner's has for a quarter of a century kept the industrial and scientific world promptly, thoroughly, and accurately informed of the progress made in every branch of applied chemistry. In its fulness and exactness it is an admirable type of the annual review, now regarded as indispensable for every branch of human activity by the German mind; and the vast influence which it has exercised upon the development of chemical industries is impossible to measure. The "Jahresbericht" for 1879, recently issued, forms a portly volume of 1,300 pages, with over one hundred woodcuts, and in its reviews evidences at every step a critical spirit able to cope with the scientific and practical questions constantly evoked.

Personally Prof. von Wagner was of a most attractive disposition, admired by his students not only for his rare talents as a lecturer, but also for his amiable character. His loss is felt as severely in a widespread social circle as in the world of science. T. H. N.

an

JAPAN1 II.

MISS BIRD'S work on Japan, as we have said, is cast in quite a different mould from that of Sir Edward Reed. With the exception of one or two chapters, she devotes her two volumes entirely to a record of her own experiences, casting them as in her well-known books on the Sandwich Islands and the Rocky Mountains, into the form of a series of letters. These have evidently been written in the midst of the experiences which they record, and this gives them a reality and a freshness which they could not have otherwise had. Her "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan" has all the best characteristics of her book on the Sandwich Islands. Indeed it seems to us that for the majority of readers it will have far more of novelty and quite as much interest as any of her previous works, while we doubt if any other book on Japan yet published gives so full and real an insight into the everyday life and the condition of the bulk of the people. Her work well deserves the title it bears. Many of the districts into which she, amidst all sorts of difficulties, succeeded in penetrating were certainly never before visited by a European woman, if indeed by a European of either sex. Sir E. Reed speaks of the people along parts of his route rushing out to see the "Chinese" pass; but so strange and literally uncouth did Miss Bird's appearance seem in some districts that the people could only set her down as "Aino." She of course saw all the usual sights in the usual tracks, all that Sir Edward Reed saw; and for this her intimacy with Sir Harry Parkes and his universally beloved lady procured her every facility. The result is not the almost unmixed admiration which we find in Sir Edward Reed's volumes; but then it should be remembered that she was not the guest of the Japanese Government, but practically of the representative of the English Government; and although Miss Bird is a thoroughly independent observer, still her opinions may have taken somewhat of their colour from her special surroundings. She states fully both sides of the question of Japanese progress, and while giving full credit to the Government for the best intentions, and admitting that vast progress has been made in recent years, still she has many drawbacks to point out. And no wonder; we fear that she, like some others who write on Japan, look for too much, and expect to find a Europe in the East, instead of a country struggling out of the bonds that swaddled it till only fifteen years ago. Still her criticisms are wholesome, and charitable, and good-natured, and we trust that they will come under the notice of those to whom, if taken in good part, they might be greatly beneficial. Miss Bird has much to say on the work of missionaries in Japan, but that is a subject into which we cannot enter here. She spent much of her time in the great centres among missionaries, and had ample opportunities of seeing the nature of the work they are doing. And her observations are of the greatest interest, and must be instructive to those who are hoping that the Japanese will ultimately put on the religious habiliments which have been shaped for centuries to the people of the West. One unfortunate result we may mention, and that is the deterioration of the manners of those who have been long under missionary influence. Surely this is not necessary.

Of course the great interest of Miss Bird's book is connected with her solitary journey, quite unhampered by official guidance, north through the centre of the Main Island, and most of all her sojourn in Yezo among the strange remnant of people known as Ainos. Her journey