the winds observed near land, the velocity at the different hours of the day gives a curve as clearly and decidedly marked as that of the temperature, the minimum occurring from 2 to 4 a.m., and the maximum from noon to 4 p.m., the absolute maximum being at 2 p.m. The difference between the hour of least and that of greatest velocity is for the Southern Ocean 6 miles; South Pacific, 4 miles; South Atlantic, 3 miles; and North and South Atlantic, each 3 miles. It is also to be noted that even the maximum of the day near land in the case of none of the oceans attains to the velocity observed over the open sea. The curve near land is substantially the same as the curves characteristic of stations on land. Thus, over the sea, where surface temperature is practically a constant day and night, the velocity of the wind shows no diurnal variation; whereas over land, and also near it, where the temperature of the surface is subject to a diurnal variation, the wind's velocity is also subject to an equally well-marked diurnal variation. On the other hand, at high-level observatories situated on true peaks, the maximum velocity occurs during the night, and the minimum during the day. In deep valleys in mountainous regions, an abnormally high barometer obtains during the night, which is the result of cold currents from the adjoining slopes that the cooling effects of terrestrial radiation set in motion. Now since these down-flowing winds must be fed from higher levels than those of the mountain itself, the winds prevailing on their tops are really the winds of a higher level, and blow therefore with the increased velocity due to that greater height. On the other hand, during the warmer hours of the day, the barometric pressure in deep valleys is abnormally low, owing to the superheating of these valleys as contrasted with the temperature of the surrounding region, thus giving rise to a warm wind blowing up the valleys, and an ascending current close to the sides of the mountain up to the summit. Now, since no inconsiderable portion of this ascending current, whose horizontal velocity is necessarily much retarded, mingles with the aircurrent proper to the level of the peak, the wind on the peak is retarded, and falls to the minimum of the day when the temperature is highest. The results of the averaging of the squalls over the open sea entered in the Challenger's log show a strongly marked diurnal maximum early in the morning, when the effects of terrestrial radiation are at the maximum. But over land the diurnal curves for whirlwinds, tornadoes, and allied phenomena, show the minimum at these hours, and the maximum at the hours when insolation is strongest. It is probable that the daily maximum occurs in each case at those hours when temperature decreases with height at a greatly more rapid rate than the normal. The distribution during the day of thunderstorms, and of lightning without thunder, is very remarkable. During the cruise 26 thunderstorms occurred over the open sea, of which 22 occurred during the 10 hours from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., and only 4 during the other 14 hours of the day. Hence, over the open sea, the diurnal curve of thunderstorms is precisely the reverse of what obtains on land. Of the 209 reported cases of lightning without thunder, 188 occurred during the 10 hours from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m., and only 21 during the other 14 hours of the day. The following are the hours of the maxima of these phenomena in the warmer months over land and the open sea respectively. Thunderstorms over land, 2 to 6 p.m.; lightning over land, 8 p.m. to midnight; lightning over the open sea, 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.; and thunderstorms over the open sea, 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. These facts are a valuable contribution to the science, from their intimate connection with the ascending and descending currents of the atmosphere. The second part of the Report, dealing with the monthly and annual phenomena, aims at giving a comparative view of the climatologies of the globe to a degree of com pleteness not previously attempted. The distribution of the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere and prevailing winds is illustrated by 52 newly constructed maps, of which 26 show by isothermals the mean monthly and annual temperature on hypsobathymetric maps, first on Gall's projection, and second on north circumpolar maps on equal surface projection; and 26 show, by isobars, for each month and for the year, the mean pressure of the atmosphere, with the gravity correction to lat. 45° applied, and by arrows the prevailing winds of the globe. Two other maps are given in the text, one showing for July the geographical distribution of the amount of the barometric oscillation from the morning maximum to the afternoon minimum; and the other, the annual range of the mean monthly pressure, which, in a sense, may be regarded as indicating the relative stability of the atmospheric pressure in different regions of the earth. For the details of this discussion, we must refer to the Report itself, the broad results of which Mr. Buchan thus summarizes: "The isobaric maps show, in the clearest and most conclusive manner, that the distribution of the pressure of the earth's atmosphere is determined by the geographical distribution of land and water in their relations to the varying heat of the sun through the months of the year; and since the relative pressure determines the direction and force of the prevailing winds, and these in their turn the temperature, moisture, rainfall, and in a very great degree the surface currents of the ocean, it is evident that there is here a principle applicable not merely to the present state of the earth, but also to different distributions of land and water in past times. In truth, it is only by the aid of this principle that any rational attempt, based on causes having a purely terrestrial origin, can be made in explanation of those glacial and warm geological epochs through which the climates of Great Britain and other countries have passed. Hence the geologist must familiarize himself with the nature of those climatic changes which necessarily result from different distributions of land and water, especially those changes which influence most powerfully the life of the globe." It is evident from what has been said that many of the results of the diurnal and seasonal phenomena of ocean meteorology are equally novel and important, and, when combined with the analogous results obtained from land observations, enable us to take a more intelligent and comprehensive grasp of atmospheric phenomena in their relations to the terraqueous globe taken as a whole than has hitherto been possible. THE BOTANICAL LABORATORY IN THE ROYAL GARDENS, PERADENIYA, CEYLON. THE HE attention of the readers of NATURE has been drawn more than once (vol. xxxi. p. 460, vol. xxxiv. p. 127) to the opportunities which are before botanists for the study of plants other than those of our own flora. But since the latter of these articles appeared, a step has been taken which will justify a return once more to this important subject. It is certainly one of the most healthy signs of the present time that our younger botanists desire not merely to pore over minute details of microscopical structure in the laboratory at home, but to become personally acquainted with plants in the open. When the somewhat sudden reversion occurred some fifteen years ago, from taxonomy as an academic study, to the more detailed examination of the tissues of plants in the laboratory, and the study of their functions, those who took a large view of the progress of the science must have seen with regret that the change, however valuable in itself, brought with it a new danger. Those who as students were first introduced to plants as subjects of microscopic study ran the risk of failing to appreciate the importance of external form: they acquired a knowledge of the minute structural details of certain plants, but did not acquire a strong grasp of the external characters of plants as a whole. But the pendulum which thus swung rapidly over to an extreme position is now returning to the mean. While duly appreciating the value of microscopic examination, the younger botanists are awake to the advantage, or even the necessity, of a wide knowledge of plants. The whole area of facts upon which those who are now engaged in teaching draw in the course of their lectures is much wider than it was ten years ago, and the extension has, perhaps, been most marked in the province of external morphology. This being so, there will be no need to press upon the men who are starting upon a career as botanists the importance of a visit to the tropics: they will look upon the collections in our Botanic Gardens, which they are hardly allowed to touch, as only a temporary substitute for a tropical jungle, where they may cut down plants as they please, in order to obtain specimens illustrating mature or developmental characters. Moreover, those characters of a tropical flora which are the most striking and characteristic are often those which must remain entirely unrepresented in our glass houses at home. An expedition to the tropics should, in fact, become a recognized item in the programme of preparation for a career as a teacher of botany. The advantages offered by the Royal Gardens at Peradeniya have already been pointed out in NATURE (vol. xxxiv. p. 127); but since that article was written steps have been taken by a Committee of the British Association to add to them. Backed by a grant of money, they have undertaken the establishment of a permanent laboratory in which visitors may carry on their work. A room has been set apart for this purpose in the official bungalow by the directorate of the Royal Garden. It has every advantage of position, being placed centrally in the garden, and within easy reach of the herbarium, &c.; while, since it is under the same roof as the Director's office, visitors would have the great advantage of the presence of Dr. Trimen himself as a referee in recognition of the plants of the rich native flora. In this room are to be found such apparatus and reagents as are ordinarily required for laboratory work, and steps are being taken to add other facilities. The mere mention of these facts will probably suffice to attract those who were not previously aware of them. The chief deterrent will be the cost of the journey. It has already been stated that £200 to £250 will suffice for all expenses of an expedition of six months' duration, while if two club together the individual cost would be considerably smaller. Though the Committee of the British Association have no power to use the money entrusted to them as a personal grant, still it is well known that there are sources from which such grants may be obtained in order to assist those who are engaged on a definite line of research. Bearing all these facts in mind, the value of such an expedition as that to Peradeniya cannot be too strongly urged on those who are about to enter definitely on a career as professed botanists. The widening of view, and opportunity for research, which any man of originality would obtain by it would amply repay him for his expenditure of time and money. Applications for the use of the laboratory, which is at present vacant, should be made to Prof. Bower (University, Glasgow), who is the secretary to the Committee. THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY OF HARVARD COLLEGE. PROF. EDWARD C. PICKERING has presented to the Visiting Committee the forty-fourth Annual Report of the Director of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College. The following are the more important passages: Henry Draper Memorial.-The first research on the spectrum of over ten thousand of the brighter stars is now nearly completed and is partially in print. The photographs required for the second research on the spectrum of the fainter stars are also nearly complete. The eleveninch telescope has been in constant use throughout nearly every clear night in photographing the spectrum of the brighter stars. This work is approaching completion for all stars bright enough to be photographed by means of our present appliances, with the large dispersion now employed. Good progress has also been made with the classification of the spectra, and the study of the slight differences in different stars. By the use of an improved process for staining plates with erythrosin, the yellow and green portions of the spectrum, even of the fainter stars, can be advantageously studied. Numerous experiments have been made with a device for measuring the approach and recession of stars, by means of an achromatic prism in front of the object-glass. Several peculiar spectra have been studied, especially that of Ursa Majoris. The periodic doubling of its lines seems to be due to the rotation of two components too close to be distinguished by direct observation. The detection of bright lines in one of the stars in the Pleiades suggests a possible explanation of the legend that seven stars were formerly visible in this group. During last spring an expedition was sent to Peru in charge of Mr. S. I. Bailey, assisted by Mr. M. H. Bailey, A station was selected on a mountain about six thousand feet high and about eight miles from Chosica. All supplies for the station, including water, must be carried by mules for this distance. Two frame buildings covered with paper have been erected, one for an observatory, the other for a dwelling-house. Since May 9 the Bache telescope has been kept at work during the whole of every clear night. 1236 photographs have been obtained. The plan proposed will cover the sky south of -15° four times, once with photographs of spectra having an exposure of an hour, which will include stars to about the eighth magnitude; secondly, with an exposure of ten minutes, giving the brighter stars; thirdly, with charts having an exposure of one hour, permitting a map of the southern stars to the fourteenth magnitude inclusive; and fourthly, with charts having an exposure of ten minutes, including stars to about the tenth magnitude. The weather for the first four or five months was excellent, being clear nearly every evening. Fogs and cloud which often covered the adjacent valleys and the city of Lima did not reach to the top of the mountain. The cloudy season is now beginning and the work will be more interrupted. But nearly one-half of the entire programme has already been carried out. A large number of interesting objects have been detected, among others several stars having bright lines in their spectra. Including the photometric work described below, the amount of material so far collected is unexpectedly large. Boyden Fund.-The climate of Southern California seems especially favourable to the undertaking desired by Mr. Boyden. An expedition under the direction of Prof. William H. Pickering was accordingly sent in November 1888 to the summit of Wilson's Feak, in the vicinity of Los Angeles. In order that as much useful work as possible might be accomplished, the thirteen-inch telescope and the eight-inch telescope now in Peru were sent to Willows, California, where the total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889, was successfully observed. Forty-seven photographs were obtained by the party during the three minutes of totality, and the instrumental equipment was much superior to any previously used for such a purpose. It was not until May 11, that the large telescope was successfully mounted on Wilson's Peak, by Messrs. E. S. King and Robert Black, but since then it has been kept at work throughout every clear night. The number of photographs obtained is 1155. The objects photographed are selected from a list of 625 double stars, 143 clusters and other celestial bodies, such as the moon and planets. As these same objects have been repeatedly photographed at Cambridge with the same instrument, an accurate comparison of the atmospheric conditions of the two places may be made. It will of course be impossible to derive a final conclusion until the observations have extended over at least a year, but the evidence already secured shows that in summer results can be obtained at Wilson's Peak which cannot be obtained here. The difference is very pronounced for such objects as the markings on Jupiter. Clusters like that in Hercules are well resolved, so that the individual stars are easily measured, which cannot be done with the best Cambridge photographs. As a testobject the sixth star in the trapezium of the Orion nebula is clearly photographed for the first time. A new variable star has been discovered in the midst of the cluster G. C. 3636. A beginning has been made of the measurements of the position and brightness of the double stars, and it is hoped to extend this work to the clusters, and thus furnish an extensive addition to this department of micrometic astronomy. Much experimental work has also been done at Cambridge, as is shown by the fact that nearly a thousand photographs have also been taken there. Moreover, the expedition to Peru is largely supported by the Boyden Fund. The meridian photometer will be used to extend two large series of observations to the south pole. These are the "Harvard Photometry," and the zones used in the revision of the Durchmusterung. This work will furnish photometric magnitudes of stars as bright as the ninth magnitude in all parts of the sky. The Messrs. Bailey have observed 67 series, one of them including 293 stars. In all, during less than six months, about 6700 stars have been observed, which have required 26,800 settings. The Bruce Photographic Telescope.-For the last six years experiments have been in progress here on the use of a photographic doublet in the preparation of maps of the stars. The eight-inch telescope now in Peru is of this form and was mounted here in 1885. Since then 4500 photographs have been taken with it. With an exposure of an hour twice as many stars can be photographed as are visible with a telescope having an aperture of fifteen inches, and as many stars as can be photographed in the same time with a telescope of the usual form having an aperture of thirteen inches. Moreover with a doublet a portion of the sky covering twenty-five square degrees can be photographed with good definition, while only three or four degrees can be covered equally well with telescopes of the usual form. The time required to photograph the entire sky will be reduced in the same proportion. With a doublet each hemisphere could be covered in one year with eight hundred plates. In 1885 it was proposed to photograph the entire sky with the eight-inch telescope, enlarging the plates three times. The results would resemble in scale and size the charts of Peters and Chacornac. The generous aid of Miss Bruce mentioned above will permit this result to be attained in the original photographs, without enlargement. A contract has been made with Messrs. Alvan Clark and Sons for a telescope having an aperture of twenty-four inches and a focal length of eleven feet. Meanwhile nineteen foreign Observatories have united in an Astrophotographic Congress to prepare a map of the stars to the fourteenth magnitude with telescopes of the usual form having apertures of thirteen inches. The plans have been matured with great care and skill. The courteous reference to the Bruce telescope and its proposed work by Admiral Mouchez shows that both plans can be carried out without disadvantageous duplication. Doubtless each plan will possess certain advantages over the other. The Bruce telescope will be especially adapted to studying the very faint stars. It is hoped that those of the sixteenth magnitude and fainter can be photographed. Its principal use will probably be for the study of the distribution of the stars, for complete catalogues of clusters, nebulæ, and double stars, and for the spectra of faint stars. The amount of material accumulated will be enormous, and the best method of discussion will form a very difficult and important problem. NOTES. THE bulletins relating to the health of Sir Richard Owen, who is suffering from a paralytic stroke, have called forth many expressions of sympathy from the general public, as well as from men of science. Hopes of his recovery are entertained, but at his advanced age the process must necessarily be slow. A CIRCULAR letter from the Conseil Général des Facultés de Montpellier, issued March 1, 1890, and addressed to the chief learned bodies, sets forth that on October 26, 1289, a Bull of Pope Nicolas IV. "érigeait en Studium generale les Facultés de Droit, de Médecine et des Arts, qui existaient déjà depuis longtemps dans notre ville." It is proposed, therefore, as we have already noted, that during the present year the University shall commemorate its entry upon its seventh century. The fête will probably be held towards the end of May. AFTER the reading of the papers at the ordinary meeting of the Royal Meteorological Society on Wednesday, March 19, the Fellows and their friends will have an opportunity of inspecting the Exhibition of Instruments illustrating the application of photography to meteorology, and of such new instruments as have been invented and first constructed since the last Exhibition. The Exhibition will, at the request of the Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers, be open in readiness for their meeting on Tuesday evening the 18th instant, and will remain open till Friday the 21st instant. AN International Exhibition of Mining and Metallurgy will be held this year at the Crystal Palace from July 2 to September 30. The Lord Mayor is the patron, the Duke of Fife the Hon. President, and the list of Hon. Vice-Presidents contains the names of Lord Wharncliffe, Lord Brassey, Lord Thurlow, Sir Frederick Abel, Sir Alexander Armstrong, Sir F. Dillon Bell, Sir Graham Berry, Sir Charles Clifford, Sir James Kitson, Sir Roper Lethbridge, M.P., Sir John Lubbock, M.P., Sir John Pender, Sir E. J. Reed, M.P., Sir Saul Samuel, Sir Warington W. Smyth, Sir Charles Tennant, M.P., Sir Edward Thornton, Sir Charles Tupper, Sir H. Hussey Vivian, and Prof. RobertsAusten. Mr. Pritchard Morgan, M. P., is chairman, and Mr. Henry Cribb deputy-chairman of the Executive Council, which consists of 20 gentlemen well known in engineering and mining matters. The following are the subjects likely to be included within the scope of the Exhibition :-Machinery, mining in gold and silver, diamonds and precious stones, ironstone and iron-ore mining, the manufacture of iron and steel, lead, tin, copper, and coal mining, petroleum and salt industries, and a number of other kindred subjects. Ambulance practice and the condition of miners will also be illustrated. A GENERAL meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments in Egypt will be held at the rooms of the Royal Archæological Institute to-morrow (Friday), at 5 p.m. Attention will be specially called to the wanton excision of portions of the well-known fresco paintings in the tomb of the Colossus on a sledge, dating from the Twelfth Dynasty, or between 2000 and 3000 years B.C., at Der-el-Barsha, the chipping out of cartouches of different Sovereigns from the Sixth Dynasty tombs at the same place, the mutilations of tombs at Beni Hassan, the malicious removal of curious bas-reliefs at Telel-Armana, and other recent acts of vandalism. Such outrages as these ought surely to be made practically impossible. All that is needed is that the matter shall be seriously taken in hand by the Foreign Office. AN attempt is being made by the Society of Antiquaries of London to raise a fund, the interest of which shall be used from time to time to defray the expense of excavations, or to advance archæological knowledge in such other ways as may seem suitable to the President and Council of the Society. The object is one which ought to commend itself to all who interest themselves in archæology. The Society wants a capital sum of only £3000. Subscriptions should be sent to the treasurer, Dr. E. Freshfield, 5 Bank Buildings, E.C. MR. GLADSTONE has consented to open the new Residential Medical College at Guy's Hospital on Wednesday, March 26, at 2 p.m. THE treasures of the Ruskin Museum at Sheffield are being transferred from the small building at Walkley, in which they have hitherto been kept, to more convenient premises. The Museum will be reopened by Lord Carlisle on July 15. THE March number of the Kew Bulletin opens with an account of Indian Yellow, or Purree, about the origin of which there used to be much uncertainty. Some time ago, in consequence of inquiries made in India at the request of the authorities at Kew, the mystery was cleared up; and full information on the subject will be found in the present paper. Another paper deals with Bombay aloe fibre, and there are sections on the commercial value of loxa bark, and on barilla. AN industrial and artistic Exhibition will shortly be opened in Ouéno, the most beautiful park in Tokio. M. de Lezey, writing to La Nature on the subject from Tokio, says that the Exhibition will be particularly rich in collections of Japanese antiquities. On February 22 the Johns Hopkins University celebrated the twelfth anniversary of its opening. It was announced that, of the various pressing needs of the University for expansion, that of the chemical laboratory was to be met by turning over to it for reconstruction the ill-ventilated Hopkins Hall. THE Collections belonging to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia grow so rapidly that the accommodation provided for them is wholly inadequate. A new building is to be erected, and the State Legislature has voted $50,000 as a contribution towards the expenditure. It is hoped that another "appropriation" of the same amount will be made, and that the rest of the money required will be privately subscribed. GERMAN papers announce the death of Dr. Karl Emil von Schafhäutl, Professor of Geology, Mining, and Metallurgy at Munich University, keeper of the geognostic collection of the Bavarian State, and member of the Academy of Sciences. He was not only an eminent physicist and geologist, but also a theoretical musician of some note. He was born at Ingolstadt on February 26, 1803, and died at Munich on February 25 last. and the Infinitely Small," to an audience numbering about 400, composed principally of working men. The lecture was illustrated by numerous lantern-views, and was evidently much appreciated. IN the Engineer of the 7th inst., there is an excellent article on the latest express compound locomotive on the North-Eastern Railway. This engine is for the east coast Scotch traffic on the section between Newcastle and Edinburgh-about 125 miles. A trial was made with a train of thirty-two coaches (total weight of train 270 tons) between Newcastle and Berwick, a distance of sixty-seven miles; and the time was seventy-eight minutes, or three minutes less than the Scotch express. With the heaviest loads an assistant engine will not be necessary. In another trial with a special train of eighteen six-wheeled coaches, a speed of about ninety miles per hour was obtained. This is the highest recorded speed by several miles. Diagrams were taken at various speeds, one set at a speed of eighty-six miles per hour on the level. This speed was carefully measured by stop-watch and mile-posts; the highest speed observed was just over ten seconds per quarter mile run. It is evident from these facts that passengers to the north will not waste much time on the journey when the summer traffic begins on the east coast route. SOME time ago we referred to a paper in which Dr. Daniel G. Brinton developed the theory that the ancient Etruscans were an offshoot or colony of the Libyans or Numidians of Northern Africa-the stock now represented by the Kabyles of Algeria, the Rifians of Morocco, the Touaregs of the Great Desert, and the other so-called Berber tribes. This paper Dr. Brinton has followed up by another, in which he compares the proper names preserved in the oldest Libyan monuments with a series of similar names believed to be genuine Etruscan. The resemblances in many cases are certainly striking, and Dr. Brinton's ideas on the subject deserve to attract the attention of scholars. AT a meeting of the Royal Botanic Society on Saturday, reference was made to a very interesting collection of seeds of economic and food plants, timber trees, &c., of Uruguay, presented by Consul Alex. K. Mackinnon. On the table were plants in flower of Narcissus poeticus, lately received from China, and several varieties of the same flower from the Scilly Isles, illustrating the cosmopolitan nature of this family of plants. In the Scilly Isles narcissi are grown by the acre, and over ten tons of the flowers are sent off weekly to market. IN the current number of the Revue des Sciences naturelles tuberculosis in hares. appliquées, M. Mégnin has a valuable paper on the existence of About two years ago he described a peculiar disease brought on by the presence of some species of Strongylus in the lungs of hares. The disease dealt with in the present paper is wholly different. M. H. BEAUREGARD, aide-naturaliste in the Paris Museum of Natural History, has published an elaborate monograph on the Vesicant tribe of insects. It is illustrated by many fine plates. THE skeleton of a mammoth has been discovered in the Russian province of Tula, and the Moscow Society of Naturalists have sent a commission to excavate it. MESSRS. MACMILLAN AND Co. are issuing a thoroughly revised edition of "A Treatise on Chemistry," by Sir H. E. published Part II. of Vol. III., dealing with the chemistry of the Roscoe, F.R.S., and C. Schorlemmer, F. R. S., and have just hydrocarbons and their derivatives. Since this part of the work was published in 1884, many additions have been made to our THE death of Victor, Ritter von Zepharovich, is also announced. He was Professor of Mineralogy at the German University of Prague, a member of the Academy of Sciences at Vienna, and author of the “Mineralogical Dictionary of the Austrian Empire," and many valuable mineralogical and crystallo-knowledge of this department of organic chemistry; and the graphical works. He was born at Vienna on April 13, 1830, and died at Prague on February 24 last. ON Tuesday evening, Dr. Dallinger delivered an interesting lecture at the Royal Victoria Hall, on "The Infinitely Great authors, as they themselves explain, have sought to represent the present position of the science by introducing the results of the latest and more important researches, with the effect that the greater part of the volume has been re-written. MR. JOHN MURRAY has published the nineteenth edition of "The Reign of Law," by the Duke of Argyll. THE Amateur Photographer has issued its fourth "home portraiture number." It reproduces one photograph each from the work contributed by sixty competitors for prizes. IN the Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Education for the year 1887-88 it is stated that 48 educational institutions in the United States receive the benefit of the national land grant of 1862. Among these institutions are the Arkansas Industrial University, the State Agricultural College at Colorado, the Maine State College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, and the Scientific School of Rutgers College. In 38 of the Colleges an officer of the Army or Navy is detailed to act as professor of military science and tactics. If a State has more than one school endowed by the national land grant of 1862, the school which is reported by the Governor of the State as most nearly meeting the requirements of existing law is held to have the first claim to the officer allotted to the State. M. A. ANGOT, of the French Meteorological Office, has published in the Annales of that office a very careful discussion of the diurnal range of the barometer, based upon the best available data for all parts of the globe. After having given the mean range for each month and for the year, he has calculated the amplitudes and phases of the first four simple harmonic oscillations into which the complex oscillation of the barometric diurnal range may be resolved, and which may be considered as the resultant of the superposition of two waves of different origin and character. One of these, which the author terms the thermic wave, is of a more or less complicated form in appear. ance, and is easily explained as being produced by the diurnal variation of temperature and by the differences that this variation presents between neighbouring stations. The other, the principal semi-diurnal wave, for which he has given the numerical law, presents a much more simple form, and is not at all affected by local conditions. It is possibly produced by the calorific action of the sun upon the upper strata of the atmosphere; but, as the author states, this is still only an hypothesis, and the theory of this part of the phenomenon remains to be established. His conclusions upon the effect of the thermic wave are very interesting, and the whole discussion will well repay a careful study. MR. T. W. BAKER writes to us that, in his note regarding the meteor of March 3, he omitted to state the time of its appearance, which was 7.28 p.m. AN important paper upon the crystalline allotropic forms of sulphur and selenium is contributed by Dr. Muthmann, of Munich, to the latest number of the Zeitschrift für Krystallographie. Besides the well-known rhombic pyramids and monoclinic prisms, sulphur may, under certain conditions, be obtained in a third crystalline modification, which has been termed by Gernez "soufre nacré." This third modification has been fully investigated by Dr. Muthmann, and, in addition, a new fourth totally distinct variety has been discovered. The third form is best obtained by boiling about five grams of powdered sulphur with 750 c.c. of absolute alcohol in a flask provided with an inverted condenser for one hour, filtering through a warmed funnel into a large flask heated to 70° C. in a water-bath, and allowing the alcohol to slowly evaporate. After about twelve hours a large deposit of brilliant tabular crystals is formed. Similar crystals of the third variety may be obtained by agitating a saturated alcoholic solution of ammonium sulphide with excess of powdered sulphur, filtering, diluting with a little alcohol and allowing to stand in a loosely covered cylinder. In a few hours crystals are found deposited, often measuring a couple of centi metres in length and 1-2 mm. thick. Another method which yielded very beautiful crystals of this modification consisted in allowing a solution of acid potassium sulphate to slowly diffuse in to a solution of sodium thiosulphate. In about four weeks' time, perfect crystals, almost white in appearance, and exhibiting strongly the mother-of-pearl lustre, were obtained. This third variety of sulphur also crystallizes in the monoclinic system. The ratio of its axes is ab:c = 10609: 1:07094. The axial angle B 88° 13'. The symmetry plane, b = (010) ∞∞, is so largely developed as to give the crystals the appearance of plates. At the edges of the plates the two primary pyramids (111) - P and (111) + P, a prism (210) ∞ ♪ 2, and a clinodome (012) R∞ are well developed. These crystals are totally distinct from those of the second modification; the axial ratios of the latter are a:b: co'9957: 1:09998 and B = 84° 14'. Upon the sides of the vessel containing the alcoholic ammonium sulphide solution prepared as above, Dr. Muthmann noticed curious tabular crystals of hexagonal section, which immediately became altered upon contact with a disturbing body, such as a platinum wire or glass rod. They were likewise found to consist of pure sulphur, and, on optical and goniometrical examination, were found to consist of a distinct fourth modification, also monoclinic. They greatly resemble a rhombohedron with predominating basal plane. They are best obtained by allowing to slowly evaporate in a tall cylinder a saturated solution of sulphur in alcoholic ammonium sulphide diluted with four times its volume of alcohol. The temperature during this crystallization must 14° C. Occasionally in this experiment all four forms of sulphur are obtained; the surface is covered with crystals of the third not exceed variety, tables of the fourth modification are deposited upon the sides, and the base of the cylinder is spangled with rhombic pyramids interspersed with monoclinic needles of the second form. If crystals of the third variety are suspended in their mother liquors and left for some days, they are converted into a voluminous mass of minute rhombic pyramids. The conversion into the more stable rhombic form is almost instantaneous if a rhombic crystal be dropped into the liquid containing suspended third variety crystals. The immediate alteration of crystals of the fourth kind is even more remarkable, the mere movement of the cover-glass, when examining them under the microscope, being sufficient to instantly change the optical properties to those of the rhombic form. It is interesting that this fourth form of sulphur is isomorphous with the form of selenium obtained by evaporation of a hot saturated solution in carbon bisulphide. THE additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include two Badgers (Meles taxus) from Ireland, presented by Mr. P. Bicknell; a Grey Hypocolius (Hypocolius ampelinus 8) from Scinde, presented by Mr. W. D. Cumming; a Rhesus Monkey (Macacus rhesus 8) from India, a Spotted Ichneumon (Herpestes nepalensis) from Nepal, deposited; an Axis Deer (Cervus axis), born in the Gardens. |