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moment educating in its classes more than a hundred young men in chemistry, mineralogy, geology, and mining, they will not suffer so important an institution to die out or languish for want of funds. Mr. Robert Hunt, F.R.S., keeper of the Mining Records, is the hon. general secretary of the association. The Report for 1869 is published at Truro (Heard and Sons), and is to be had for a shilling.
Benzol has been applied to a somewhat novel purpose. If poured on a piece of ordinary paper, immediate transparency is produced, to such an extent as to enable one to dispense entirely with tracing-paper. On exposure to air, or, better, a gentle heat, the liquid is entirely dissipated, the paper recovers its opacity, and the original design is found to be quite uninjured.
We are glad to learn that the acceptance, by Dr. Czermak, of an honorary professorship in the University of Leipzig is likely to lead to a departure from the rule hitherto observed in the German universities, of treating physiology as an integral part of the medical course. No doubt lectures on general physiology, with a more particular view to the special requirements of the medical student, will always be necessary; but the claims of the general student to a sound knowledge of the principles and methods of this science can no longer be ignored. Independently of the fact that physiology deals with subjects of the highest possible general interest, it must not be forgotten that in its present stage of development it can hardly be looked upon otherwise than as an extension of the physical and chemical sciences. The lectures which Prof. Czermak contemplates giving for the general benefit of the University of Leipzig are not intended to be of a so-called popular nature. They will be of the same general character as the ordinary lectures on physics, logic, or general history. The Professor insists very strongly upon the absolute necessity of direct observation for a thorough understanding of the subject; and it is solely the want of a suitable theatre and apparatus for enabling large audiences to view physiological experiments, that prevents his entering upon the promised course of lectures this winter. Dr. Czermak spoke so eloquently and so thoroughly in earnest on this subject on the occasion of his recent installation as Honorary Professor, that we make no doubt he will be able to carry out his plans successfully during the ensuing summer term.
We have a fresh illustration of the intimate alliance between science and commerce. Mr. Winwoode Reade recently set out from Sierra Leone to explore the interior, the funds of the expedition being defrayed by the munificence of Mr. Andrew Swanzy, a London merchant. Communications have been recently received stating that Mr. Reade, travelling on a line to the south-east of the routes of Park and Caillie, has reached a point farther south than any of his predecessors. The solitary traveller, after surmounting many difficulties, was rewarded by reaching a hitherto unknown town named Farabana, situate about 10° N. lat. and 10° W. long. He had crossed several rivers, flowing we presume from the watershed of Mount Loma, and was among the head-waters of the River Niger. The town, Farabana, contains about 10,000 inhabitants, well-disposed, and eager for trade. Mr. Reade mentions his having experienced protection and help from the Sultan of Bornu; we suppose, by orders issued to his subordinate chiefs and headmen, in this outlying district of his kingdom. We may hope that Mr. Reade's discoveries will enrich our maps with accurate geography of the country to the north of the Cong Mountains, as marked on the maps, and of the Niger from its source to the point where previous travellers have struck its stream.
The theory of the derivation of the primitive population of Western Europe from an African source is likely to receive some confirmation from recent researches in Algeria. A Mr. Faidherbe, who has examined a necropolis of 3,000 Megalithic graves at Roknia, in the province of Constantine, reports that the skulls obtained have led him to the conclusion that the Berbers were the original people of the Atlas; and that they do not resemble any African or Semitic race, but rather the earliest inhabitants of Western Europe.
The "Transactions of the Swedish Academy of Sciences for 1868" contain a paper proposing the use of the reindeer moss and various other species of lichen as a material for the manufacture of sugar and alcohol. By means of dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid, the cellulose of the plant is turned first into dextrine, and then into grape-sugar. No experiments on a large scale have as yet been made, but the author of the paper is sanguine as to the economic success of such an undertaking. Of the other papers printed in this volume of "Transactions," we may mention the following:—"On a remarkable species of sponge living in the North Sea," by Professor Sven Lovén, and "Swedish and Norwegian Diatoms," by P. T. Cleve. These communications are illustrated by drawings. The other papers, with the exception of three by Edlund, detailing researches in reference to the electric spark, relate chiefly to the fauna and geology of various points of the Swedish kingdom. The Memoirs of this Academy for the year 1868, containing the more important papers presented, have not yet reached us.
The Native Guano Company, now successfully treating the sewage of the town of Leamington by the A.B.C. process, have applied to the Metropolitan Board of Works to enter into a treaty with them for the concession of the sewage on the south side of the Thames. The question has been referred to the Works Committee. Should the concession be granted, the movements of the company will be watched with great interest, as their success or failure will tend greatly to settle the question of the possibility of making the purification of the sewage of great towns a commercial success.
Herr Karl Bruhns, director of the Berlin Observatory, is preparing for publication a scientific life of Humboldt, to which several illustrious German scientific men have promised to contribute. The first portion, from the pen of Dr. Ave Lallemand, will contain the life, properly so called, of Humboldt. The second part will be devoted to an account of his researches and discoveries. This latter part will occupy eight chapters, and will be confined to writers possessing special qualifications for the task. Persons having in their possession unpublished materials relative to the life or labours of Humboldt are requested to transmit them to Herr Bruhns.
Oysters are now so dear in London that we may reap some contentment by learning that they are sold wholesale in San Francisco, at the rate of six shillings a dozen. These oysters are said very much to resemble our "natives;" being round, fat, full-flavoured, and very good; but they do not suit the taste of those who have long enjoyed the luxury of the large, delicate molluscs of the Atlantic seaboard. There are fine beds of the long-shelled oyster in the Gulf of California, and as they will not grow in the Pacific, they are transported 1,700 miles by steamer to "Frisco;" about half the cargo dying on the passage. Notwithstanding all the oyster controversy and oyster literature of recent years, it is still very hard to understand why they should be so dear in London. At Van Laar's shop, in in the Kalverstraat, at Amsterdam, the very finest oysters, thought by many to be much superior to the "natives," may be eaten at the rate of 50 cents to the dozen.
The first part of a Hand-List of Genera and Species of Birds, by Mr. G. R. Gray, has just been issued from the British Museum. It includes the Accipitres, Tentirostres, and Dentirostres, and forms an octavo volume of 400 pages. All the recognised genera, sub-genera, and species are enumerated, and not merely the