OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. STONYHURST DRAWINGS OF SUN-SPOTS AND FACULÆ. A little more light on the relation of faculæ to spots is contained in a paper communicated by the Rev. Walter Sidgreaves to the Royal Astronomical Society in December 1891. None of the drawings of solar phenomena made at Stonyhurst under the late Father Perry's direction afforded a clear instance of faculæ preceding the birth of a spot. Neither was there any positive evidence of the birth of a spot before the appearance of faculæ ; while every spot of importance was attended from the beginning with at least a small surrounding of faculæ. No absolute priority of one or the other could therefore be regarded as proved. During the minimum of 1889, however, Father Sidgreaves ob served two cases in which faculæ undoubtedly appeared before any trace of a spot could be detected. "On June 29, a small patch of faculæ was sketched near the eastern limb, in latitude -405, and in longitude 252°. There was no trace of a spot in the neighbourhood, and neither spot nor faculæ had been seen near the position for years. On the following day a small round spot appeared in latitude -40° 3, and longitude 252°2—that is, in the midst of the faculæ, the faculæ on this day being visible only just close round the spot." A similar development was recorded at the end of July, in latitude -22°, and longitude 155. Both the faculæ and spots were new, and clearly distinguished; hence, so far as these observations are concerned, their evidence clearly indicates that the birth of some spots is preceded by the appearance of faculæ. SOME APPARENTLY VARIABLE NEBULE.-Mr. Lewis Swift, in his ninth catalogue of new nebulæ discovered at the Warner Observatory (Astr. Nach., 3004), noted his inability to re-find a nebula previously seen in R. A. 3h. 36m. os., Decl. 95° 2' 1. A farther examination of the region led this observer to suspect that the object formerly located in the position given must have been a comet (Astr. Nach., 3014). Dr. Dreyer has looked up the observations of nebulæ in the region in question, and the information thus obtained leads him to conclude that the object is most probably a variable nebula (Monthly Notices, December 1891). The nebula appears to have been visible in 1827, 1848, 1850, 1851, 1856, and 1889, while it was not seen in 1785, 1855, 1864, 1865, 1872, 1875, 1877, and 1890, although it was specially looked for on two or three of these occasions. The two nebulæ h 229 and h 882, which Prof. Winnecke found were periodically variable (and his observations were supported by later ones inade by other observers), are believed by Dr. Dreyer to owe their apparent fluctuations of light to disturbing atmospheric influences. h 1452 is a similar diffused nebula with slight condensation, which Sir John Herschel suspected to be variable. But in this case, also, conclusive evidence of variability is wanting. THE CRYSTAL PALACE ELECTRICAL THE Electrical Exhibition at the Crystal Palace was opened on Saturday last. It is an Exhibition of great interest, not only to electricians but to the public, and should do much to enlighten ordinary visitors as to the methods and results of electrical science. At the present stage we need refer only to some parts of the display. When the Exhibition is complete, we shall give a fuller account of the principal exhibits. Much attention will, of course, be devoted to the section containing the generating machinery. Every important type of generating apparatus is shown in this department. Among the large exhibits is a 350 horse-power Davey, Paxman engine, capable of driving a powerful Kapp dynamo; and Messrs. Crompton and Co. exhibit a dynamo combined with a Willans engine of 200 horse-power-the dynamo being capable of running nearly 4000 8 candle-power glow lamps. There are many gasengines, some of which are shown by Messrs. Crossley Brothers, the original proprietors of the Otto gas-engine. Other exhibitors are the British Gas Engine Company, with cycle engines; Messrs. Dick Kerr and Co., with the Griffin gas-engine; Messrs. J. E. H. Andrew and Co., with the Stockport gas-engine; and Messrs. Day and Co., with a new form of gas-engine. All of these engines are used to drive dynamos of various makers. A most interesting exhibit is sent by the Postmaster-General, who displays a complete set of telegraphic apparatus. A large projector or search-light is shown by Messrs. Crompton and Co., who also exhibit, among other things, an electric crane capable of hoisting about a ton. No fewer than 10,000 glow lamps in one group are shown on a wire screen by the Edison-Swan Company, and arc lights, poles, regulators, and samples of submarine cables are displayed by Messrs. Siemens Brothers. A model of an electric launch built for use on the Thames is included among the exhibits of Messrs. Woodhouse and Rawson ; and a full-sized electric tram-car is shown by the Brush Electrical Engineering Company, who have also in the Exhibition various dynamos, arc lamps, and other objects. The exhibits in connection with telephony cannot fail to attract notice, and will do more than any amount of verbal explanation to make its principles intelligible. The National Telephone Company are arranging rooms where London operatic and other performances may be heard by visitors on payment of a small fee; and two stands belonging to the Consolidated Telephone Company, one in the nave, and another in the gallery, are connected by telephone. Messrs. Croggon and Co. show lightning conductors of the latest type applied to a model church, in connection with which a peal of bells are rung by electricity from a keyboard. Various styles of fittings for domestic electric lighting are displayed in a series of rooms in the galleries; and these will no doubt attract very general attention. The Medical Battery Company show well how electricity is applied in various departments of medical practice. The Exhibition has been organized with so much care, and on so great a scale, that it is sure to be widely appreciated. THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. PROF. S. P. LANGLEY, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, has submitted to the Board of Regents his Report for the year ended June 30, 1891. It includes, among other things, an account of the work placed by Congress under the charge of the Institution in the National Museum, the Bureau of Ethnology, and the National Zoological Park. As in a previous Report, Prof. Langley refers to the fact that owing to the changing value of money the purchasing power of the Smithsonian Fund, in the language of a Committee of the Regents, "while nominally fixed, is growing actually less year by year, and of less and less importance in the work it accomplishes with reference to the immense extension of the country since the Government accepted the trust "; and he urges that the fund should be enlarged, "if only to represent the original position of its finances relatively to those of the country and institutions of learning." If we may judge from the general tone of the Report, the required increase is more likely to be obtained from private benefactors than from the Government. Quite lately, as we recorded at the time, the Institution obtained from Mr. Thomas G. Hodgkins, of Setauket, Long Island, a handsome donation of 200,000 dollars. By reducing expenses in other directions, the Institution has been able to revert to its early practice of aiding investigators carrying on original research. Among the special grants may be named that of 500 dollars to Prof. A. A. Michelson, of Clark University, for continuing his important work upon a universal standard of measure founded on the wave-length of light; also a sum of 600 dollars placed at the disposal of Prof. E. W. Morley, to procure a special apparatus for determinations of the density of oxygen and hydrogen, an investigation requiring extreme precision and delicacy of manipulation, and promising results of wide application; while a sum of 200 dollars was placed at the disposal of Dr. Wolcott Gibbs, for investigations at his laboratory in Newport upon chemical compounds. To Prof. E. S. Holden, Director of the Lick Observatory, California, a grant of 200 dollars was made, to assist in perfecting his apparatus for securing photographs of the moon. The results of his studies in this field Prof. Holden has offered to place at the disposal of the Smithsonian Institution for publication at some future day, should it seem desirable. Prof. Pickering, Director of the Harvard Observatory, has also placed at the disposal of the Institution for publication a very valuable series of photographs of the moon, which have been secured at the Harvard Observatory, and which will be supplemented by photographs to be taken at the Harvard Observatory high-altitude station in the mountains of Peru. The Director of the Paris Observatory, Admiral Mouchez, 262 has likewise promised his co-operation in securing lunar photographs of the highest degree of excellence now attainable. With the aid of these three prominent Observatories, which have given especial attention to the subject of lunar photography, it is proposed to prepare a volume representing upon a large scale the best results that can be secured, thus placing on record a detailed description of the lunar surface, the value of which for comparison with observations and photographs of the future can scarcely be over-estimated. In furtherance of the plan for the establishment of standard sizes of screws and of diameters of tubing, &c., for astronomical and physical apparatus—a subject which has received the attention of Committees of the National Academy of Science, as also of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciencea few standards have been tentatively adopted, and copies of these are attainable by all interested in securing uniformity in this class of work. No memoir was added to the Smithsonian "Contributions to Knowledge during the year, but a paper presenting an account of new experiments in aero-dynamics by Prof. Langley was in course of preparation. These investigations were made at private charge, but it is in accordance with a policy long ago counselled by the Board of Regents that they should be published in a volume of the Institution's "Contributions." A statement relating to the establishment of an Astro-physical Observatory as a part of the Smithsonian Institution has already appeared in NATURE (vol. xliv. p. 254). With regard to this Observatory, Prof. Langley recalls the fact that preparations for A special it had been made by the late Secretary, Prof. Baird. interest was taken in the proposed Astro-physical Observatory by the late Dr. J. H. Kidder, formerly Curator of Exchanges in the Smithsonian Institution, and the sum of 5000 dollars was A like sum of received from his executors for this purpose. 5000 dollars was presented personally to the Secretary by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell for prosecuting physical investigations, and particularly those upon radiant energy; and this sum was, with the consent and approval of the donor, placed to the credit of the Smithsonian Institution upon the same footing as the Kidder bequest. Congress was asked to appropriate 10,000 dollars for annual maintenance, and this sum was granted, and became available on July 1 last. Speaking of the National Museum, Prof. Langley notes that at the close of the fiscal year the present building had been occupied one decade, and that during that period the total number of specimens of all kinds catalogued and ready for exhibition or study had increased from about 193,000 to more than 3,000,000. This rate of growth, as he says, is "probably The development unprecedented in the history of Museums." of the collections has not, however, proceeded "in such a symmetrical and consistent manner as is essential to the necessities of the work"; and such is the competition for "material," that the Museum is often unable to hold its own, not only with foreign Governments and with local Museums in other American More space and a cities, but even with private collectors. larger staff of curators are urgently needed. Some interesting statements are made with regard to the work of the Bureau of Ethnology. At the close of the last fiscal year, specific exploration of the mound area by the United States ceased, except so far as it was found necessary to correct errors A large part of the results of the work and supply omissions. A plan of several past years is in print, though not yet issued. of general archaeological field work has been practically initiated by a systematic exploration of the tide-water regions of the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and the Ohio Valley, which determined among other points of interest that the implication of great antiquity to forms of stone implements of America which have hitherto been classed with European paleoliths in age as well as in fabrication has not been substantiated by the ascertained facts. Careful exploration of the Verde Valley in Arizona followed that before made of other parts of the large south-western region of the United States in which the presence of many extensive ruins has given rise to fanciful theories. The data as classified and discussed have shown that the hypothesis of a vanished race enjoying high civilization, which has been proposed to account for the architecture of the ruined structures is unnecessary. The attention already given to In lian languages has been continued, in recognition of the fact that some of them are fast passing beyond the possibility of record and study, and that the ethnic classification of all of the Indian tribes can be made With regard to the National Zoological Park, Prof. Langley Already the establishment of a National Zoological Park under the management and guidance of the Smithsonian Institution has attracted the attention of similar institutions and of naturalists in other countries, and liberal offers of gifts and exchanges have been made. From Sumatra, from the islands of the Pacific, from the shores of Alaska, and from American national parks, have come offers of gifts or terms of purchase, but it has been necessary to defer acceptance of all these offers owing to lack of funds even to pay for transportation. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. LONDON. The Chemical Society, December 17, 1891.-Dr. W. H. Perkin, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair.-The following papers were read :-The composition of cooked vegetables, by Miss K. J. Williams. The vegetables examined after cooking were the artichoke (Jerusalem), broad bean, haricot bean, beetroot, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, lettuce, mushroom, onion (Spanish), parsnip, pea (green), potato, radish, salsafy, scarlet-runner, sea-kale, spinach, tomato, turnip, and Ultimate analyses of the cooked vegetables vegetable marrow. were made, and their heats of combustion determined. woody fibre, cellulose, fat, and the carbohydrates convertible into glucose were also estimated --Metallic hydrosulphides, by The authors have investigated S. E. Linder and H. Picton. the sulphides of copper, mercury, arsenic, antimony, cadmium, zinc, bismuth, silver, indium, and gold; and find that, with the These compounds, single exception of bismuth, all these metals form hydrosulphides of a more or less complicated character. when treated with acids, in most cases lose part of their sulCopper forms a soluble hydrosulphide possessing phuretted hydrogen, and form still more complicated hydrosulphides. the compo-ition 7CuS, HS; this, on treatment with acetic acid in presence of excess of sulphuretted hydrogen, yields a subexcess of sulstance of the composition 9CuS, HS; if no phuretted hydrogen be present, the compound 22CuS, HS is obtained. Hydrochloric acid produces still further condensation. Mercuric sulphide forms products approximately represented by the formulæ 31HgS,H,S and 62HgS, H,S. The latter formula represents the substance obtained in presence of Zinc sulphide solution acid, and is a very stable substance. two substances with oily products is obtained by passing chlorine gas through chlorobenzene in presence of dilute caustic soda. They are both colourless crystalline substances, which on heating, either alone or with alcoholic potash, give a quantitative yield of 1:34:5 tetrachlorobenzene. The ẞ modification of chlorobenzene hexachloride, CH,Cl,, melts at about 260°, and is more stable and less volatile with steam than the a compound, which melts at about 146°.-The sulphochlorides of the isomeric dibromonaphthalenes, by H. E. Armstrong and E. C. Rossiter. The sulphochlorides of five of the dibromonaphthalenes have been investigated. It is to be noted that, while the dibromonaphthalenes all have higher melting-points than the corresponding dichloro-derivatives, no such relation holds between the sulphochlorides of corresponding dichloro- and dibromonaphthalenes.-The action of alcohols on sulphonic chlorides as a means of producing ethereal salts of sulphonic acids, by H. E. Armstrong and E. C. Rossiter. The authors find that the ethereal salts of several but not all of the dibromonaphthalenesulphochlorides may be prepared by simply boiling them with dehydrated alcohol.-The action of bromine on a and ẞ bromonaphthalene, by H. E. Armstrong and E. C. Rossiter. The authors have succeeded in resolving into its constituents the mixture of dibromonaphthalenes obtained on brominating naphthalene with two molecular proportions of bromine. 14 : = acenaphthalide, by H. E. Armstrong and E. C. Rossiter. When a mixture of ortho- and paranitro-acenaphthalides is brominated, the ortho-compound, not the para-, as previously supposed, is alone attacked.-Camphrone, a product of the action of dehydrating agents on camphor, by H. E. Armstrong and F. S. Kipping. Several chemists have described camphorone, C,H1O, as a product of the action of sulphuric acid on camphor ; the properties of this substance, however, as given by different chemists, show great variations. The authors, on preparing the substance and purifying it by means of its hydrazone, find its composition to be, not C,H,,O, but probably C10H12O.Metaxylenesulphonic acids, Part II., by G. T. Moody. When acetmetaxylid (1:3: 4) is sulphonated, metaxylidinesulphonic acid (Me, NH, SO2H 13:46) is obtained in slender needles soluble in water. On diazotizing, and boiling with alcohol, it yields ethoxymetaxylenesulphonic acid; if the diazocompound be boiled with hydrobromic acid, the corresponding bromoxylene-sulphonic acid is obtained in slender needles. The salts of the above acids are described. The action of propylene bromide on the sodium derivatives of ethylic acetoacetate and ethylic benzoylacetate, by W. H. Perkin, Jun., and J. Stenhouse. The preparation and properties of the ethyl salts of acetylmethyltrimethylenecarboxylic acid, methyldiacetyldiadipic acid, and benzoylmethyltrimethylenecarboxylic acid, and their derivatives, are described.-Derivatives of tetramethylene, by W. H. Perkin, Jun., and W. Sinclair. The authors have prepared the monobromo-derivative of tetramethylenecarboxylic acid. Its hydroxy-, acetoxy-, and ethoxy-acids are also described, together with tetramethylene, methyl, and ethyl ketones and their reduction products. obtained from the hydroxide contains about 14 per cent. excess of sulphur as sulphuretted hydrogen; in presence of acetic acid a product represented approximately by the formula 12ZnS, HS is obtained. The authors consider that their results support the conclusion that the metallic sulphides are in most cases poly merides of very high molecular weight.-The physical constitution of some sulphide solutions, by H. Picton. The author has specially examined the solutions of mercuric, antimonious, and arsenious sulphides, and finds that in each case the sulphide is present in the form of very finely divided particles. In the "solution" of mercuric sulphide particles are visible under the microscope with a magnifying power of 1000 diameters, and are not diffusible even in the absence of a membrane. Arsenious sulphide may exist in "solution" in three distinct types of subdivision. In the first solution, the particles are just visible. In the second, the particles are smaller but not diffusible, and scatter and polarize a beam of light sent through the solution. The third solution is diffusible in the absence of a membrane, but the optical behaviour shows that particles really exist in the solution.-Solution and pseudo solution, Part I., by H. Picton and S. E. Linder. The authors consider that there is a continuous series of grades of solutions passing without break from a crystallizable solution to one containing the substance in a state of fine subdivision. They regard the very finely divided particles in the lower grades of solutions-colloid solutions-as-The action of bromine on a mixture of ortho- and paranitro-alarge molecular aggregates retaining many of their molecular properties. On passing up through the different grades of solution, the particles become smaller, and the forces holding them in solution become more definitely those of chemical attraction. A new property is described, which holds for a large range of solutions extending from pseudo-solutions to crystallizable solu tions. This property consists in the repulsion of the dissolved substance as a whole from one of the electrodes of a battery immersed in the solution. Thus, in the case of colloidal arsenic sulphide, the sulphide aggregates are repelled from the negative electrode; they are also repelled, though much less strongly, from the positive electrode. An exactly similar phenomenon is observed in the case of the crystallizable colouring-matter Magdala-red when dissolved in absolute alcohol, the repulsion being, however, from the positive electrode, no perceptible repulsion from the negative electrode being observable. This property is of much interest in itself, but also as exhibiting similarities between the different grades of solution. The charge proceeding in an acidified solution of sodium thiosulphate when the products are retained within the system, by A. Colefax. The action of acids on sodium thiosulphate was investigated by allowing the action to proceed for a known time, then titrating with standard iodine solution, and subsequently determining the amount of acidity of the solution. The author concludes that the change proceeding in an acidified solution of sodium thiosulphate, when the products, viz. sulphurous acid and sulphur, are retained in the system, is a reversible one, a limit being reached a certain time from the time of acidification. The value of this limit is affected by the state of concentration, the ratio of the mass of acid relatively to the sodium thiosulphate, the nature of the acidifying acid, and the temperature. Sulphurous acid cannot prevent the decomposition of thiosulphuric acid. The presence of both products of the change in the system seems essential to the attainment of a limit value, for sulphurous acid, when initially free in the system at the time of acidification, has but little influence upon the values expressing the extent of the chemical change. A higher temperature favours the interaction of sulphurous acid and hydrogen and sodium thiosulphates; but this is a secondary change, which proceeds at lower temperatures with extreme slowness. Spring's statement that sodium trithionate is formed by the interaction of iodine, sodium sulphite, and sodium thiosulphate, seems to be wrong: the author finds that on adding a solution of these two salts to one of iodine no sodium trithionate is produced; the sodium sulphite is completely oxidized to sulphate.-The action of sulphurous acid on flowers of sulphur, by A. Colefax. Contrary to the statement of Debus, sulphurous acid acts on flowers of sulphur at the ordinary temperature, producing thiosulphuric acid and a polythionic acid, probably trithionic acid; no pentathionic acid was found. The action occurs even in the dark, and proceeds much more rapidly at a temperature of 80°-90°. Water has no action on flowers of sulphur, either at ordinary temperatures or at this higher temperature.-The a and 8 modifications of chlorobenzene hexachloride, by F. E. Matthews. A mixture of these Geological Society, December 23, 1891.-W. H. Hudleston, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair.-The following communications were read :-On part of the pelvis of Polacanthus, by R. Lydekker.-On the gravels on the south of the Thames from Guildford to Newbury, by Horace W. Monckton. The author stated that the greater part of the hill-gravel in the district referred to belonged to the Southern Drift of Prof. Prestwich, and that the valley-gravels for the most part consisted of material derived from the Southern Drift. Small patches of Westleton Shingle and Glacial Gravel occurred near Reading and Twyford. He divided the Southern Drift into three classes:(1) Upper Hale type, characterized by the abundance of small quartz pebbles and the scarcity of chert. (2) Chobham Ridges type, with abundance both of small quartz pebbles and chert. (3) Silchester type; quartz scarce, and chert very rare or altogether absent. He described the localities at which these types occurred and their limits of distribution, and then referred to the Glacial Gravels of the Tilehurst plateau, which he believed to have been deposited before the excavation of the valley of the Thames between Reading and Goring. The author then dealt with the valley-gravels, which he believed to be mainly derived from the hill-gravels of the immediate neighbourhood, and showed how the various types of hill-gravel had contributed materials for the valley-gravels. He explained that, with the possible exception of the Westleton Shingle, he entirely rejected the theory of marine action in connection with the formation of these gravels, and thought that the Glacial Gravels were probably for the most part due to floods during melting of large quantities of ice. The remaining gravels, he believed, had been spread out by water in valleys; as denudation proceeded, the gravel, by protecting the ground upon which it lay, came to stand out as the capping of the plateaux and hills; as the gravel itself was denuded, the materials were carried to lower levels, forming new gravels; and this process has been repeated up to the present time. He explained that Prof. Rupert Jones and Dr. Irving had already adopted this theory in part, but that he differed from them in the entire exclusion of marine action. After the reading of this paper there was a discussion, in which the Chairman, Mr. W. Whitaker, Dr. Hicks, Mr. R. S. Herries, Prof. Grenville Cole, and Mr. Monckton took part.-The Bagshot Beds of Bagshot Heath, by Horace W. Monckton. PARIS. Academy of Sciences, January 4.-M. Duchartre in the chair. On an abnormal mode of propagation of waves, by M. H. Poincaré.-Remarks on the mechanism of the fixation of nitrogen by the soil and plants, à propos of a reply by MM. Schlosing and Laurent, by MM. Arm. Gautier and R. Drouin. -Note on the late Herr Kronecker, by M. Hermite. This is an obituary notice on Herr Kronecker, the renowned mathematician, who died at Berlin on December 29, 1891, after a short illness.-On electro capillary phenomena and differences of potential produced by contact, by M. Gouy. In order to obtain some new information as to contact force, the author has measured the surface tensions of more or less polarized liquid amalgams, in comparison with mercury. The first experiments were made with amalgams containing 1/1000 part of zinc, cadmium, lead, tin, bismuth, silver, and gold. And the results lead to the provisional statement that in a system consisting of non-polarized mercury, acidulated water, and an amalgam of 1/1000 more or less polarized, the superficial tension of the amalgam is a function of the apparent difference of potential between the amalgam and the mercury.The direct combination of nitrogen with the alkaline-earthy metals, by M. Maquenne. The metals employed have been used under the form of electrolytic amalgams. They unite rapidly with nitrogen when heated in a current of that gas, in the absence of carbon and its compounds; there is thus no intermediate formation of a metallic carbide. The ease with which the combination takes place may lead to a new interpretation of the synthesis of alkaline-earthy cyanides by the simultaneous action of nitrogen and carbon on the corresponding bases.-Nitration of hydrocarbons of the methane series, by M. Konovaloff. The normal hydrocarbons of the methane series may be nitrated by weak nitric acid, and give as principal products secondary nitro compounds. The yields are relatively good, and the method may be used to prepare secondary nitroparaffins. Corresponding amines and ketones are obtained by reduction of these products.-On the embryogeny of Sagitta, by M. S. Jourdain.-Influences of electric discharge during thunderstorms on apparatus registering terrestrial magnetism, by M. Em. Marchand. An examination of the tracings drawn by the registering magnetometers at Lyons Observatory since 1887, and the records of thunderstorms, establish a connection between lightning discharge and magnetic disturbances which has been frequently noted. Seventythree lightning discharges had their time of occurrence and approximate distance recorded during the last five years. Forty of these were accompanied by well-marked disturbances of the declination curve; in fifteen cases the oscillatory movements were slight, but could be easily found when the time of discharge was known; thirteen cases were doubtful; and in five cases absolutely no trace of an abnormal oscillation could be detected. No simple relation appears to exist between the distance of the discharge and the amplitude of the oscillation they produce. Some very violent thunder-claps have only been accompanied by slight magnetic perturbations, whilst others, far more feeble and distant, have produced very large ones. -On the absolute values of the magnetic elements on January 1, 1892, by M. Th. Moureaux. The following are the values at the Parc Saint-Maur Observatory, deduced from the mean of the horary observations obtained on December 31, 1891, and BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. Books. Elements of Agriculture: Dr. W. Fream (Murray). Annuaire, 1892, par le Bureau des Longitudes, Paris (Gauthier-Villars)Monograph of the British Cicada, Part 8: G. B. Buckton (Macmillan). Richard Wiseman: Surgeon-General Sir T. Longmore (Longmans).-U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries; Part xv., Report of the Commissioner for 1887 (Washington) - Observations made at the Blue Hill Meteorologica. Observatory, Mass., U.S.A., in the Year 190 (Camb., Mass., Wilson). Nature's Fairy-Land: H. W. S. Worsley-Benison; 4th edition (E. Stock).A Cyclopædia of Nature Teachings (E. Stock).-A Treatise on the Ligation of the Great Arteries in Continuity: C. A. Ballance and W. Edmunds (Macmillan).-Rand, McNally, and Co.'s Indexed County and Railroad Pocket Maps and Shippers' Guides of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington (Stanford).-Guide to the Examinations in Magnetism and Electricity, and Answers to Questions: W. J. Harrison (Blackie) -The Universal Atlas, Part 10 (Cassell). PAMPHLET.—The Evolution of Mind in Man: H. B. Medlicott (Kegar. Paul). SERIALS.-Bulletin of the N.Y. Mathematical Society, vol. i., Nos. 2 and 3 (New York).-Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. lix.. Part 2, 1890; Supplement No. 2 (Calcutta).-La Nuova Scienza, vol. vi. fasc. v. (lodi, Umbria).-Journal of the College of Science, Imperial University of Japan, vol. iv. Part 2 (Tokyo).-Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Zoologie, liii. Band, 2 Heft (Williams and Norgate).-Notes from the Leyder. Museum, vol. xiii. Nos. 3 and 4 (Williams and Norgate).-The Record of Technical and Secondary Education. No. 2 (Macmillan).-Journal of Physiology, vol. xii., Nos. 5 and 6 (Cambridge)-Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, December (Williams and Norgate). A New Precessional Globe.-Dr. K. Haas 250 250 250 The Alleged Discovery of a Bacillus in Influenza. On the Matter thrown up during the Submarine The Growth of the Pilchard or Sardine. By Prof. Science in Japan. By Prof. E. Ray Lankester, Evidence of a Wing in Dinornis. (Illustrated.) By Our Astronomical Column: Stonyhurst Drawings of Sun-spots and Faculæ Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 253 255 256 257 257 261 261 261 261 252 264 THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 1892. PARKE'S PERSONAL EXPERIENCES IN EQUATORIAL AFRICA. My Personal Experiences in Equatorial Africa as Medical Officer of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. By Thomas Heazle Parke, Hon. D.C.L. (Durh.), &c. With Map and numerous Illustrations. (London: Sampson Low, Marston, and Company, Limited, 1891.) it was not until long months afterwards that the broken off arrow's head was extracted by Dr. Parke. This part of the journey took four weeks, but after a day's rest at Avisibba the march was again resumed, the next halting stage being at an Arab encampment, marked in the map as Ugarrowa, from the name of the chief. This march was still through the forest, but along the course of the river, and it lasted over four weeks. During it the effect of the cold and wet weather began to tell upon the Zanzibaris; the constant tramping through the forest was also extremely depressing, malarious marshes and swamps had to be waded through, and even worse, the A FAIRLY large literature has now seen the light in camps at night had often to be pitched by their very which we have had numerous details about the expedition sent out for the relief of Emin Pasha. All of the as yet published volumes treating of this subject have been to a very great extent based only on personal experiences, being more or less expanded from notes taken at the time; it thus happens that of the history of this famous expedition it is difficult to obtain any general survey. As a contribution, however, to such a survey this book of Dr. Parke's is welcome. As the medical officer in charge, the exigencies of the many trying circumstances that arose rendered it necessary that he should attach himself most constantly to the sick camp, and so his narrative comes in to tell us of trials and hardships undergone, of which in Stanley's "Darkest Africa" we of necessity heard but little. In order that one may be able to appreciate the facts enumerated in this volume, the reader should bear in mind that the expedition across Africa was in stern reality several expeditions backwards and forwards through the most trying portion of this continent. Under the leadership of Mr. Stanley the officers selected left England late in 1886, but at the last moment the medical officer in charge was compelled to abandon the expedition, and in Cairo, Stanley, who had seen Parke in Alexandria, where the latter was on duty as a member of the British Medical Staff, appointed him as one of his officers. Of the journey to Cape Town, and from thence to the mouth of the Congo, little need be said, nor, indeed, are there any special facts of interest about the voyage up the river to Yambuya, where the entrenched camp was formed which was handed over to the care of Barttelot and Jameson. This portion of the journey took four months and a week; there was of course a certain amount of new experiences, some deaths among the native army, some accidents there were both by land and water, but these are all told within a compass of the first seventy pages. From Yambuya the land journey to the Albert Nyanza commenced, Mr. Stanley taking with him Nelson, Stairs, Jephson, and Parke, intending to return for the rear column, which had instructions to make their way slowly onwards in an eastern direction. Tedious was the progress made, paths had to be cut through the bush, one after another of the leaders and many of the men suffered much from fever. There was plenty of game in the forest, judging by the footprints, but already there was some scarcity of provisions. At Avisibba there was an encounter with the natives, when Lieutenant Stairs was shot in the chest by an arrow, from which peril he recovered, though edges. To all these troubles the want of food was added; of animal food there was almost none. At times hornets and ants came in swarms, and were more dreaded than the arrows of the natives. At Ugarrowa's camp a number of men had to be left, while the rest of the party went on without delay to Ipoto. Within a fortnight afterwards the hardships told so severely on the travellers that when the river navigation came completely to an end at the junction of the Ihuru and the Ituri to form the Aruwimi, itself a large confluent of the Congo River, fifty-two men who were unable to march were left behind with Captain Nelson, himself an invalid. This dreadful spot was afterwards known as Nelson's Starvation Camp. The rest of the party pressed on, and in ten days reached Ipoto, but through all these days there seems to have been but one great struggle to support life with a minimum quantity of food, men dropt from starvation ; their rifles and loads were then taken by others, and they were left. At Ipoto there were three chiefs, head men to Abed Bin Salim, and the people were all Manyuema. Food was to be had-goat flesh, fowls, Indian corn, and beansand nine days were spent here before the next move lakewards. Jephson left on October 26, 1887, to return to bring Nelson and all that might be surviving of his men. Mr. Stanley on the following day started for the lake, leaving Parke behind to attend to the sick army that Jephson was to bring up from Nelson's Starvation Camp, and then Jephson was to press on after his chief with all the then available men. Parke now found himself little better than a prisoner in the hands of the Manyuema, with the prospect in store of his troubles being increased by the return of the invalids with Jephson, and the additional horror of knowing that all he obtained from the Manyuema in the way of food could only be paid for by drafts on an uncertain future. On November 3 Jephson came into camp with Nelson, but with only three or four of the band of fifty-two who had been left behind at Starvation Camp. This frightful destruction from starvation took place at a spot within, even for feeble men, a three days' journey from their friends at Ipoto. On November 7 Jephson left Ipoto with forty-eight men, leaving Parke and Nelson behind with twenty-four cripples and three boys. For nearly three months long these men had to live through the greatest miseries and privations; sickness added to semi-starvation made existence almost insupportable, and the reading of this portion of Parke's notes is about the most saddening in the book. It is a pity that it should be interrupted by some eighteen pages of a very second-rate account of "bac |