DR. LONSDALE, the author of the Cumberland Worthies' lately noticed by us, is preparing a Life of John Dalton, the chemist, and founder of the Atomic Theory, who was a native of Cumberland. From members of the Society of Friends Dr. Lonsdale has got many valuable letters, and he has, for several years back, tried to gather what he could of Dalton's early history from those who knew him very intimately. The Lives by Dr. Henry and Dr. Angus Smith are excellent in a scientific point of view, but Dr. Lonsdale's work will deal mainly with Dalton's personal character.

AMONGST the new novels which Messrs. Hurst & Blackett will shortly publish are, Nathaniel Vaughan, Priest and Man,' by Fredrika Macdonald; Out of Court,' by Mrs. Cashel Hoey; and Gentianella,' by Mrs. Randolph.

MARK TWAIN sailed on Wednesday last from Liverpool for New York. He is expected shortly to revisit England.

MR. J. PAYNE will shortly publish a new volume of poems, entitled 'Tournesol, and other Romances. A translation by the distinguished French poet, M. Leconte de Lisle, of Mr. Payne's sonnets, Intaglios,' will be published at an early date, by M. Alphonse Lemerre. THE Palæographic Society has issued to its members the first instalment of its publications. THE clergy are quick at availing themselves of any excuse for restoring" their churches. The vicar of Cleobury Mortimer, in Shropshire, has been bold enough to adopt as a certain fact what is a probable hypothesis, that William Langland or Langley, the author of the Vision of Piers Ploughman,' was born in his parish about A.D. 1332. The vicar accordingly proposes to fill the east window of his chancel with stained glass, and, besides, "restore" generally the church, which consists of "a nave, and aisles of five bays, with a fine fourteenth century roof, a tower and spire, and a chancel." William certainly deserves any number of windows; but let us hope the

quartos of Romeo and Juliet,' for the new Shakspeare Society, and also edit a revised text, based on the second quarto, with its spelling of 1599.

It is announced that M. Prosper Mérimée has left an inedited work on 'Don Quixote,' which will be published with M. Lucien Biart's translation of Cervantes's romance. THE Société des Gens de Lettres has lately made an unsuccessful appearance in the French law courts. The aims of the Society are somewhat similar to those of the Société des Auteurs Dramatiques. The latter, it is well known, protects the interests of its members against the inroads of actors and managers of theatres, and the former in the same way defends its clients against the depredations of the journals. It

counts six hundred adherents, and has connex

ions with four hundred and fifty papers. These alone are entitled to publish the writings of the members of the Society. Lately MM. Moreau père et fils started an agency, called Agence Générale des Littérateurs,' which endeavours to do for outsiders what the Société tries with which France has copyright treaties. does for its members, both in France and in countries with which France has copyright treaties. The Société, not exactly liking this new rival, prosecuted MM. Moreau for "conthat the speculation of the defendants is a currence déloyale"; but the Tribunal decided legitimate one, and refused to award the damages claimed by the prosecutors.

to replace that which was unfortunately deTHE new library of the city of Paris, intended stroyed at the burning of the Hôtel de Ville by the Communists, was opened to the public on the 3rd. The new library occupies a portion of the Hôtel Carnavalet, in the Rue Sévigné, near the Musée Historique, now in process of stitute for the splendid collection of 125,000 formation. Although, alas! but a poor subvolumes which perished, the new library, even in point of numbers, has made a fair comvolumes or pamphlets, and 15,000 engravings. mencement. It contains as many as 23,000

SCIENCE

The Origin and Metamorphoses of Insects. By Sir John Lubbock, M.P. (Macmillan & Co.)

THIS little volume is an expansion of the address delivered by Sir John Lubbock, as President of the Biological Section of the British Association at Brighton, in 1872, and its contents first appeared as a series of papers in our contemporary, Nature. It is written in a clear and pleasing style, like all the author's scientific treatises, and is nicely illustrated Entomology stands in an exceptional position at present with regard to the general body of biological science. The mania for species-making and for unin telligent collecting has brought the study of insects to such a condition that the naturalist, aiming at obtaining large views of organic nature in its various aspects, has been led to neglect this class, or to look at it as a field already occupied by such a terribly narrow band of specialists that he would find little Recently, however, under the influence of therein sympathetic with his wider studies.

with outline woodcuts.

Messrs. Wallace and Bates on the one hand, and of Weissmann, Haeckel, and Sir John Lubbock himself on the other, the most im

portant and interesting inquiries into the geographical distribution of insects, the significance of their colours and forms, their mode of development from, and in, the egg, have study, no longer in the wearisome, unproducsprung into prominence; and entomological tive groove of the systematist, but in the full light of the theory of selection, has become one of the most attractive and promising specialities.

his attention in this little treatise is, "How are The main question to which Sir Johm directs we to explain the metamorphoses of insects?" Are the larval forms and pupæ to be regarded life-history of modern species, or are they as ancestral phases of existence repeated in the

THE Government of the Cape has made a grant of 100l. to the Rev. W. J. Davis, as a mark of its sense of the value of the Kaffir Grammar and the Kaffir and English Dictionary compiled by him.

A LARGE meeting was recently convened in Edinburgh, to discuss the propriety of erecting a statue of the late Dean Ramsay. The Duke of Buccleuch presided, and resolutions were moved by the Lord Advocate, the Bishop of Edinburgh, and others. There was a unanimous feeling in favour of erecting a memorial statue, and a letter from Mr. Gladstone, of a highly complimentary character, in reference to the late Dean, was read.

UNDER the name of the French Athenæum, an institution of a new kind is about to be opened in London. The chief object will be the delivery of lectures by French literary men on topics connected with French and English literature. The lectures will be in French.

MR. P. A. DANIEL is to edit the first two

engravings have been presented to the library; the rest have been purchased. Only about a hundred volumes from the old library survive, being those that had been lent out previously to the fire. The new library is indebted to the librarian, M. Cousin, for a gift of 5,000 volumes and 7,000 engravings; also to M. Besançon, doctor in medicine, for an tensive collection of books, pamphlets, newspapers, affiches, and other documents relating to the revolution of 1848.

ex

M. DE LOMENIE was received at the Académie Française on Thursday, the 8th. He was introduced by M. Guizot and the Duc de was introduced by M. Guizot and the Duc de Noailles. M. Jules Sandeau replied to his speech. M. Saint-René Taillandier is to be received next week.

AN important History of Railway Legislation' ('Die Entwickelung der Eisenbahngesetzgebung in England'), by Dr. Gustav Cohn, a German economist known to readers of the Fortnightly Review, has just been published at Leipzig. It forms the first volume of a work, the second volume of which will be published in a few months, and will examine the present state of the railway question, especially in England, in relation to the general question of monopoly and competition.

which exhibits them? Attempts have already been made to answer these questions, and are here discussed. Sir John inclines himself to the notion that the Insects have no near genetic relations with the Crustacea-but have been separately derived from worm-like ancestors similar to the Rotifera. The six-legged wingless larvæ, which are most familiar, perhaps, through the sugar-lice, which permanently retain this form, are considered by Sir John all insects. We cannot accept at all Sir as most nearly representing the ancestors of Insecta and Crustacea, which through the to the independence of Isopoda appear to us to be very intimately connected; nor do we think that there is in these pages anything like an adequate discussion of the subject. At the same time a number of facts are brought together in an interesting form, and are chosen so explain the subject to persons previously totally unacquainted with these problems of the development and genealogical affinities of animals. We can most cordially recommend the book to young naturalists.

John's view as

as to

The author has contrived to bring in a great deal of interesting matter relating to the embryology of other organisms besides insects, and some well-chosen woodcut sketches

After a chapter devoted to an account of the classification of insects, we have one on the influence of external conditions on the form and structure of larvæ; to this follows a discussion of the nature of metamorphoses, when the hydroid polyps, crustacea and echinoderms are brought in to illustrate the general subject. Then we pass to the origin of metamorphosis and a final chapter on the origin of insects. That a London banker, remarkable for his treatment of financial details, a prominent member of the House of Commons, a steady bat, an archæologist of European celebrity, should also be an ardent and successful entomologist, adding strange new forms to our knowledge, and with the microscope working out the development of others in the minutest manner-producing also such works as the latest volume of the Ray Society, viz., A History of the Thysanura,'-is one of those facts which astound "the intelligent foreigner," and are justly sources of pride and congratulation to Englishmen. It adds not a little to such a character when we find with it a readiness to write a simple and easily-mastered sketch, such as is this volume, for the edification of the younger students of science.

M. GARNIER.

INFORMATION has been received by the Geographical Society in Paris of the death of M. Francis Garnier, by the hand of an assassin, on the 7th of December last. The precise scene of this calamity—an event greatly to be lamented by the scientific world-has not at present been ascertained, but it is known that M. Garnier was sent up to Tongquin in November, 1873, for the purpose of arresting a French adventurer then carrying on a contraband trade in fire-arms in those districts. M. Francis Garnier was a lieutenant de vaisseau, and the second in command of the exploring expedition which, in 1866, 1867 and 1868, ascended the Mekong river from Saigon, and succeeded in making its way down the Yang-tzeKiang to Shanghai ; indeed, it was he who assumed the leadership of the party when Captain de Lagrée perished on the frontiers of Yunnan. On his return to Europe, M. Garnier spent some four years in superintending the official account of the journey in which he had taken so prominent a part, and the result of his labours is to be found in the three bulky volumes which were published by the French Government in 1873. M. Garnier in that work made a most important contribution to our knowledge of the history and antiquities of Indo-China, and his writings, if not very profound, display, at any rate, a conscientious industry and painstaking care. He no sooner laid his pen aside than he started once more for the East, where, as he has told us, it was his purpose to investigate "perhaps the most important, and certainly the most obscure problem in the geography of Asia," the courses, namely, which some of the great rivers of Indo-China follow before they emerge from Thibet. It is, therefore, with much regret that we hear of his sudden and violent end so soon after the re-commencement of his researches.

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES.

Ar the meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society held on the 9th inst., a most interesting communication was read from the AstronomerRoyal, containing a project for a new set of lunar tables, and detailing a few steps which he had already made towards their formation. It is well known that the tables at present in use are those of Prof. Hansen, of Gotha, which were very much nore accurate than those of his predecessors. Their author had succeeded in discovering some equations previously unknown, and was able, in forming his co-efficients, to avail himself of a great

mass of Greenwich observations, especially those made in recent years with the Altazimuth instrument, which furnished places of the moon at those parts of her orbit, near the conjunction, when it is not practicable to make observations on the meridian. Although, then, these tables are a great step in advance, yet there is room for further improvement; and the Astronomer-Royal thinks (in which we fully agree with him) that the form in which they are arranged is not well adapted for use, or likely to find permanent acceptance. The late M. Delaunay, of the Paris Observatory, had made further and important developments in the lunar theory, and was understood to be forming a fresh set of tables, when his premature decease cut short his labours before they were completed. In the new scheme just announced by Sir G. Airy, he proposes to base his operations upon the works of his predecessors, particularly of M. Delaunay, the greater part of whose theoretical work he will adopt; but in the actual numerical labour of the formation of tables, he hopes to arrange such adaptations as will enable much of it to be done by ordinary computers.

The stupendous work effected by the AstronomerRoyal during his tenure of office in the complete reduction of the observations of his predecessors of accurate observations with good instruments by at Greenwich, from the date of the commencement Bradley in 1750, together with their continuation by himself from 1836, and their extension, as already mentioned, by the use of the Altazimuth from 1847, to parts of the moon's orbit at which she necessarily always escaped observation on the meridian, have furnished the materials for all the important improvements in the lunar theory made by recent investigators. We are sure, therefore, that the whole astronomical world will join us in cordially wishing him success in his scheme now announced for himself making these great works of the fullest practical use by the formation of tables which will supersede all others, and long continue to represent with accuracy the motives of our erratic satellite.

At the same meeting, Col. Strange gave an account of the preparations which had been made for observation of the transit of Venus next December in Northern India. He took occasion to mention the official causes which had delayed these; but stated that they were now in a state which gave promise of being as complete as could be desired. The exact position of the station had not been selected, but it would probably be very near Peshawur; and the observations would be made under the able direction of Col. Tennant.

The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society has been awarded by the Council of that Society to Prof. Simon Newcomb, of the United States, for his Tables of Neptune and Uranus, and his other mathematical works..

GEOGRAPHICAL.-Jan. 12.-General Sir H. C. Rawlinson, K.C.B., V.P., in the chair.-The following new Fellows were elected: Dr. G. Anderson, Major J. B. Chapman, Capt. G. N. Channer, MajorGen. W. M. S. M'Murdo, Messrs. W. J. Beach, H. D. Bell, I. H. Burch, N. Bushell, A. W. M. Clark-Kennedy, W. W. Cooper, C. L. B. Cumming, C. T. Dent, T. Devas, W. Devereux, A. W. Edgell, W. Farquhar, T. C. Greenfield, B. Goldsmid, F. A. Lloyd, D. Macliver, G. P. Moodie, E. de Pass, M. W. Richards, W. Sparrow, G. Thomas, W. J. Valentine, E. Ward, and Rev. S. J. Whitmee. The Chairman stated that the East African Livingstone Aid Expedition had been reported as having arrived at Unyanyembe about the end of last August, and as having thence provided themselves

with fresh supplies for the continuance of their march to Ujiji, where it was hoped tidings would be obtained of Livingstone's whereabouts.-With regard to the West African, or Congo Expedition, he was glad to say that Mr. J. Young, who had already given 2,000l. towards the expenses, had now announced that he would defray the whole of the expense of this undertaking; and he, the Chairman, hoped the Society at large would join with the Council in expressing their thanks for this act of munificence.-Letters were read from Mr. T. D. Forsyth on the progress of the Yarkand Mission. The paper read was 'On the Geography and Resources of Paraguay,' by Prof. Leone Levi.

GEOLOGICAL.-Jan. 7.-Prof. Ramsay, V.P., in the chair.-Messrs. H. Miller, E. J. Hebert, T. J. Price, and G. A. Mosse, were elected Fellows; and Profs. A. Favre, of Geneva, B. Gastaldi, of Turin, and E. Herbert, of Paris, were elected Foreign Members. The following com

munications were read: The Origin of some of the Lake-Basins of Cumberland,' First Paper, by Mr. J. C. Ward,-'On the Traces of a Great IceSheet in the Southern Part of the Lake-District and in North Wales,' by Mr. D. Mackintosh,—and Notes on some Lamellibranchs from the BudleighSalterton Pebbles,' by Mr. A. W. Edgell.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.-Jan. 8.-C. S. Percival, Esq., LL.D., V.P., in the chair.-A resolution was passed conveying to the President, Earl Stanhope, the sympathy of the Fellows on the death of Lady Stanhope. This being an evening fixed for the election of Fellows, no papers were read. -The following gentlemen were declared elected : Messrs. E. W. Ashbee, W. M. Fawcett, C. P. Le Cornu, E. MacCulloch, J. H. Cooke, W. H. L. Shadwell, and Dr. W. Stokes.

ZOOLOGICAL-Jan. 6.-Dr. A. Günther, V.P., in the chair.-The Secretary read a Report on the additions made to the Society's Menagerie during December, and called special attention to a female Onager, or Wild Ass, and a pair of the new Japanese Storks (Ciconia Boyciana). He also called the attention of the meeting to a pair of the Spotted Wild Cat (Felis torquata of Jerdon).-Dr. A. L. Adams exhibited and made remarks on the Horns of a feral race of Capra hircus, from the Old Head of Kinsale.-Letters and communications were read by Mr. P. L. Sclater, on the species of the genus Synallaxis, of the family Deudrocolaptid: the specimens of this difficult group in nearly all the principal collections of Europe and America had been examined, and the existence of fifty-eight species ascertained, besides three of which the types were not accessible, and which were considered to be doubtful,-by Mr. G. Busk, on a New British Polyzoon, proposed to be called Hippuria Egertoni, after Sir Philip Egerton, who had discovered it growing upon the carapace of a specimen of Gonoplax angulatus, dredged up at Berehaven in the course of last summer,-by Mr. A. Sanders, on the myology of Phrynosoma coronatum, from Dr. J. E. Gray, containing a description of the Steppe-Cat of Bokhara, which he proposed to designate Chaus caudatus,-by Sir V. Brooke, Bart., on Sclater's Muntjac and other species of the genus Cervulus. In pointing out the distinctions which characterize the three existing species, Cervulus muntjac, C. Sclateri, and C. Reevesii, the author showed C. Sclateri, the species of most northern range, to be intermediate in specific characters and size between the two others. Sir Victor pointed out an advance in the specialization of the tarsus of Cervulus not hitherto observed. In this genus the navicular, cuboid, and second were anchylosed and third cuneiform bones together and formed one single bone, the first cuneiform being represented by a very small and separate bone,-by Sir V. Brooke, Bart., on a new Species of Deer from Persia, a pair of horns of which he had received from Major Jones, H.B.M. Consul at Tabreez in Persia, and which he proposed to call Cervus Mesopotamicus,-by Major H. H. Godwin-Austin on some birds obtained by

him in 1872-73 along the main water-shed of the Brahmaputra and Irrawaddy rivers: of these, ten were considered as new to science, viz., Sitta Nagensis, Garrulax galbanus, G. albosuperciliaris, Trochalopteron cineraceum, T. virgatum, Actinodura Waldeni, Layardia robiginosa, Prinia rufula, Cisticola munipurensis, Munia subundulata,—by Mr. Garrod, upon the morbid symptoms presented by the Indian Rhinoceros that had lately died in the Society's Gardens, and upon certain points in its anatomy,-by Mr. E. C. Reed on the Chilian species of the coleopterous families Cicindelidæ and Carabidæ.

MICROSCOPICAL.-Jan. 3.-C. Brooke, Esq., President, in the chair.-Dr. A. Carpenter was elected a Fellow.-The names of gentlemen proposed for election as Officers and Council were read by the Secretary, and Mr. Jones and Mr. Suffolk were elected Auditors.-A communication from Lord Osborne, offering to supply rotifers to Fellows who would apply to him, was read to the meeting. Mr. C. Stewart gave a résumé of a paper contributed by Dr. H. D. Schmidt, of New Orleans, 'On the Origin and Development of Red-Blood Corpuscles in the Human Embryo,' and illustrated his remarks by black-board diagrams, enlarged from a number of drawings which accompanied the paper. A discussion followed, in which Dr. Lawson, Dr. Matthews, Mr. Stewart, and the President took part.-A paper was read by Mr. A. Sanders, 'On the Zoosperms of Crustacea and other Invertebrata.'-Specimens of a simple method of preparing drawings of microscopic objects for class illustration were introduced to the notice of the meeting; and Mr. Richards exhibited a new arrangement for a tank microscope, for the examination of objects under water to a depth of eight inches.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.-Jan. 13.— The newly-elected President, Mr. T. E. Harrison, delivered an inaugural address on taking the chair for the first time since his election.-Twenty-one candidates were elected, viz.: Mr. W. Smith, as a Member; and Messrs. A. T. Atchison, A. L. C. Bamber, E. Bazalgette, G. H. T. Beamish, W. C. Burder, F. Coffee, W. G. L. Cotton, C. E. Cowper, J. Forest, W. Gill, J. E. Gore, R. F. Grantham, J. A. Griffiths, R. L. Jones, R. Nuttall, W. L. Owen, G. J. Perram, G. Pothecary, J. Somerville, and A. A. Whitehorne. The Council have transferred Messrs. F. C. Christy, G. F. Deacon, J. L. Haddan, G. A. Hutchins, A. Leslie, J. Mansergh, H. Prince, and W. Vawdrey, from the class of Associates to that of Members; and have admitted the following candidates as students, viz.: Messrs. J. G. Blackett, C. A. Cramer, G. J. A. Danford, H. E. G. Evans, J. C. Fergusson, C. M. Forbes, T. P. Gunyon, J. J. Hatten, A. C. Hurtzig, J. Pollard, O. M. Prouse, P. Thursby, C. H. B. Whitworth, and J. H. Williams.

MATHEMATICAL.—Jan. 8.—Dr. Hurst, President, in the chair.-Messrs. Lambert and R. F. Scott were elected Members; and the Revs. Dr.

Booth, W. H. Laverty, and Mr. W. J. C. Miller were proposed for election.-The following communications were made: "On the Transformation of Continued Products into Continued Fractions,' by Mr. J. W. L. Glaisher, 'The Foundations of the Differential Calculus and of Dynamics,' by Prof. Clifford,-'Method of Treating the Kinematical Question of the most General Displacement of a Solid in Space,' by Prof. Crofton,-and 'Link Trammels,' by Mr. Perigal.-The following were taken as read: 'On Hamilton's Characteristic Function for a Narrow Beam of Light,' by Prof. J. Clerk-Maxwell, and 'Preliminary Account of Investigations on the Free Motion of a Solid in Elliptic Space,' by Prof. Clifford.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.-Jan. 13.-Prof. Bush, President, in the chair.-Messrs. R. Johnson and M. J. Walhouse were elected Members.-A paper, by Mr. S. E. Peal, was read 'On the Nagas and Neighbouring Tribes.' The tract of country

occupied by the Nagas lies mainly between lat. 25° Ñ. to 27° 30' N. and long. 93° 30′ E. to 96' E. It is bounded on the east by the country of the Tsingpos, a distinct race showing strongly-marked differences in language, physique, and customs; on the north, by Assam; and on the west are various other tribes; while to the south the boundary is undefined. The inhabitants of the tract, although all termed Nagas, are divided and subdivided to so great an extent, that few parts of the world can present such a minute segregation of innumerable and independent tribes.-Mr. C. B. Clarke contributed a paper 'On the Stone Monuments of the Khasi Hills.'

MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK.

Mox. Asiatic, 3.- Srigiri, King of Ceylon,' and 'Ancient Sinhalese Inscriptions,' Mr. T. W. Rhys Davids; Origines of the Mongols, Mr. H. H. Howorth.

THE Bibliothèque Universelle et Revue Suisse, for December, has an extract of much interest made from his larger work, and communicated by the author, M. Eilhard Wiedemann, 'Sur la Polarisation Elliptique de la Lumière, et ses Rapports avec les Couleurs superficielles des Corps.'

THE Annales des Sciences Géologiques, for December, 1873, contains six papers of considerable scientific interest. Amongst others, we may name the 'Poissons Fossiles d'Oran et de Licata, by M. H. E. Sauvage, which is continued and completed, and 'Echinides Fossiles de l'Algérie,' by MM. G. Cotteau, A. Peron, and V. Gauthier. The plates accompanying those papers are most carefully executed.

THE Bulletins de la Société d' Anthropologie de Paris, Parts 1 and 2, for 1873, contain the Reports of all Séances from January to April in that year. United Service Institution, 84.-Economy of Coal, as viewed Many of the papers are of interest, but one, 'Des

Victoria Institute, 8.- Buddhism," Bishop Claughton.

by the Commander of a Steamer,' Capt. Shortland; 'Adams's
Patent Mensurator and Colometer, Mr. M. Adams.

TUES. Royal Institution, 3.- Respiration.' Prof. Rutherford.
Statistical, 74.- Recent Progress of National Debt,' Mr. R. D.
Baxter.
Civil Engineers, 8.- Mechanical Production of Cold,' Mr. A. C.
Kirk.

London Anthropological, 8.-Anniversary.

་

Zoological, 8.-Psittacula andicola, an apparently New
Species of Parrot from Eastern Peru, Dr. O. Finsch; ' Oryx
beatrix,' Major O. B. C St. John; New Species of Pteropus
from Samoa,' Mr. E. R. Alston.

WED. London Institution, 7.-Musical Lecture, Prof. Ella.
Meteorological, 7.-Annual General Meeting
Society of Arts, 8.- German Music, with especial reference to
the Works of Richard Wagner,' Mr. F. Praeger.
Literature, 8-Recent Contributions to the Portraiture of
Shakespeare,' Dr. C. M. Ingleby. 11

Geological, 8-Secondary Rocks of Scotland, II., Ancient Volcanoes of the Highlands and their Relations to the Mesozoic Strata,' Mr. J. W. Judd; 'Remarks on Fossils from Oberburg, Styria,' Mr. A. W. Waters. THURS. Royal Institution, 3.-Palæontology, with reference to Extinct Animals and the Physical Geography of their Time,' Prof. Duncan.

THE 'Natural History Transactions of Northumberland and Durham,' Vol. V. Part I., has been issued. In addition to the President's address, it has a valuable contribution On the Occurrence of Lepidoptera in Northumberland and Durham,' 'A Meteorological Report for 1872,' by the Rev. R. F. Wheeler, M.A. and the Rev. R. E. Hooppell, LL.D., and a very interesting 'Catalogue of the more Remarkable Trees' in those two counties.

PROF. EDWARD HULL communicated to the Geological Magazine for January, two papers On the Microscopic Structure of Irish Granites,' which are valuable contributions to this branch of inquiry. PROF. HENRY DRAPER, of the University of the city of New York, sends us a copy of his paper 'On Diffraction Spectrum Photography, illustrated by a Photograph printed by the Albertype Process, by Mr. E. Bierstadt.' The paper is itself an acceptable contribution to science, but the photograph is of great value. The spectrum was taken

on

a collodion plate, and transferred by the Albertype process to a thick piece of glass, from which the plates are printed; the spectrum we are assured, is absolutely untouched, the lines of the solar spectrum being correctly represented in their relative positions as printed by themselves.

A STATEMENT of the objects, and present resources of the School of Mines at Ballarat, has been prepared by the Council for general information. In 1873, 59 students were attending the school, and there is every prospect of its becoming an exceedingly useful institution in this new mineral district. The Report, by Mr. R. Brough Smyth, the Secretary for Mines, presented to both Houses of Parliament by His Excellency's command, is in every way re-assuring.

diverses Espèces de Prognathisme,' is especially deserving attention.

THE Comptes Rendus for December 22 prints a very important communication to the Académie des Sciences de Paris, by M. Berthelot, 'Recherches sur les composés Oxygénés de l'Azote; leur Stabilité et leur Transformation réciproques.'

THE Zeitschrift für Analytische Chemie, von Dr. C. R. Fresenius, for 1873, contains very numerous notes 'On Chemical Manipulation,' which are well worthy the attention of all chemical students.

THE following remarkable fact has been discovered, by a series of experiments made by Prof. Thurston, in the Stevens Institute of Technology, with his new testing apparatus. Metal strained so far as to take a permanent set, and left under the stress producing it, gains in power of resistance up to a limit of time, which in these experiments was about seventy-two hours, and to a limit of increase which has a value, in the best iron, of about twenty per cent., where the applied force is eighty per cent. of the ultimate breaking force.

THE Annales des Mines, Fourth Part, for 1873, Méthodes d'Exploitation des Couches Puissantes contains a long and valuable Mémoire sur les Report which was asked for by the American de Houille en France,' by M. Amiot, being a Institute of Mining Engineers. It is full of useful information, describing the applications of science which have been brought to bear on the working of coal with safety in France.

SOME craniological studies carried on in Turkey have been submitted to the Anthropological Society of Vienna by Dr. A. Weisbach. During several years' residence in Constantinople he has had excellent opportunity of studying the typical forms of Turkish skull, and has given elaborate measurements based on a collection of nearly 140 crania.

METAMORPHISM, as illustrated in the rocks of the Swiss Alps, has been made the subject of a paper communicated by Herr A. Müller to the Natural History Society of Basle. The author's researches are founded chiefly on the collection of Alpine rocks in the University of Basle, and he morphism of minerals in connexion with the metainsists on the advantages of studying the pseudomorphism of rocks.

INVENTION is active in Victoria. We have

received the volume 'Patents and Patentees' from We find the Registrar-General of the colony. 133 patents were applied for, and 81 granted in tical tables. From these we learn that the popu1871. This volume comes accompanied by statislation of Victoria in 1836 was 224, and that in

1871 it amounted to 752,445.

FINE ARTS

ROYAL ACADEMY of ARTS, Burlington House.-The EXHIBITION of WORKS of the late SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A., is NOW OPEN.-Admission (from Nine till Dusk), One Shilling Catalogue, Sixpence. Season Tickets, 58.

THE Séance of the Académie des Sciences of January 5 was chiefly occupied by the election of the Vice-President for the year 1874, the choice falling on M. Fremy; and the election of two members to represent the Academy during the year in the central administrative commission of the Institut de France, the two elected being East. Ten till Five.-Admission, 18. ALFRED D. FRIPP, Secretary. MM. Chasles and Decaisne.

The SOCIETY of PAINTERS in WATER COLOURS. The TWELFTH WINTER EXHIBITION of SKETCHES and STUDIES by the MEMBERS is NOW OPEN, at their Gallery, 5, Pall Mall

-NOW on VIEW. From 10 till 5.-398, Old Bond Street.Admission, ls.

DORÉ'S GREAT PICTURE of CHRIST LEAVING the PRE

*Francesca de Rimini,' 'Neophyte,' 'Andromeda,' &c., at the DORÉ GALLERY, 35, New Bond Street. Ten to Six.-Admission, 18.

Will shortly Close.

The SEVENTH EXHIBITION of the SOCIETY of FRENCH ARTISTS, 168, New Bond Street.-From Half-past 9 till 6.-Admission, 14.; Catalogue, 6d.

Illustrated.

tion.)

JAPANESE ART.

Notes on Japanese Art. By G. A. Audsley. (Printed for Private CirculaWE are indebted for a copy of this book to Mr. J. L. Bowes, of Liverpool, the possessor of a large collection of Japanese works of art. The volume contains the catalogue of an exhibition of enamels, Persian ware, Satsuma faïence, lacquer-work, porcelain, ivory carvings, metal-work, &c., which was held by the Liverpool Art Club, and the contents of which were supplied by loans from lovers of Oriental art. Mr. Audsley's lecture is concise and lucid. We have already had pleasure in admiring his taste and zeal for art and learning. He contrives to see the gist of his subject in a serviceable and effective way. He is an enthusiast for Japanese art, as he may well be; and he rates it considerably above Chinese. In principle he is undoubtedly right, although it would have been better to have extolled the islanders without depreciating the Celestials quite so vigorously as he does. However this may be, Mr. Audsley wisely praises the profound love of the Japanese for nature, and their fine taste in colour. They are in that respect immeasurably superior to the Chinese; and superior to them also in a true sense of humour —a statement with which we do not hesitate to agree. The Japanese surpass the Chinese in technical skill, draughtsmanship, and especially in feats of drawing, which astonish most western artists, when they give themselves the trouble to look at and really study the outlines of the Japanese painters. Mr. Audsley speaks of the conceit of Chinese artists, and does them no injustice if he means a self-centering habit of mind-not the same thing as "conceit," be it noted. He might have applied the term with perfect fairness to our own painters, who content themselves with a lazy admiration for feats of Japanese draughtsmanship, which very few in this island could equal, and fewer still surpass. Mr. Audsley gives a rapid sketch of the various and numerous materials on which Japanese art is exercised; the different birds, quadrupeds, fishes, monsters, trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses, &c., the landscape and sea studies, each in turn, come in for a few sentences of descriptive criticism; and the application of art to each of the classes of works enumerated is illustrated seriatim by the author of this lecture. As a popular account of the subject, we do not know a better work than this discourse; and we use the word "popular" in no invidious sense, for the fact is that at present materials for an exhaustive and exact account of Japanese art do not exist in forms available by Europeans. What Mr. Audsley has done, he has done well, and We are thankful.

One thing is certain, though we do not see that Mr. Audsley has observed it, and that is, that decorative art is practised in Japan -and Japan is the only country on the face

with us.

The photographs which illustrate this book are so numerous and clear that they form a little museum.

THE ROYAL ACADEMY.-EXHIBITION OF THE WORKS OF SIR EDWIN LANDSEER. (Second and Concluding Notice.)

We

The Prowling Lion (No. 315) was produced in 1822, and exhibited in the Academy of that year. It may have been painted a short time before, but it was probably due to the death of a lion in Exeter Change, an event which led to the painting of several lion-pictures, of which a couple are here, on a large scale (212, 238), being essentially studies rather than pictures in the common sense of that term. This work has the qualities of a grand style, such as nothing but the studies which John Landseer had inculcated, and Haydon counselled, could have ensured. The nobility of the picture with the Elgin Marbles, those noblest models for was probably in no small degree due to familiarity style, which, by the way, no one now-a-days seems to think worth studying. This picture is the last of the lion subjects which Landseer painted until many years had passed. The Watchful Sentinel (410), belonging to Mr. J. Chapman, of Manchester, was exhibited at the British Institution in 1822, and also shows the qualities of execution on the part of the painter, to which we have already referred as due to his early, sound, and severe studies. It represents a large black dog watching packages which have been left in a road; post-horses are in the distance. Mischief in Full Play (449) is stated to have been painted in 1822. detect none of the exhibited pictures of 1823 in this collection, although it is probable that they are present, disguised under other than their original names. In 1824 appeared Brutus (433), and Lord Henniker's fine picture of a brown horse, Brunette (313); this was at the Academy with Neptune, a Newfoundland Dog (305), which has been superbly engraved by Mr. T. Landseer. It represents the head and shoulders of a large dog, in full front view, with his mouth open and the tongue shown; the head is black, a white stripe dividing it, and having a black spot in the middle of the stripe. In this year appeared the much more famous Cat's Paw (281), sold from the British Institution to the late Earl of Essex for 100l., and peculiarly interesting as marking the cessation of Landseer's tutelage to his father, for up to this year he had resided at home, at 33, Foley Street, which John Landseer and his family occupied. Edwin Landseer had, however, a study in Cleveland Street when this picture was painted. A Black Horse (196), and Hours of Innocence (197), well known by Lewis's engraving, and a portrait of Lord Alexander Russell with his dog, were painted in 1825 the sitter has since become Colonel A. Russell of the Rifle Brigade. The fellow portrait of Lord Cosmo Russell was at the Academy in 1825, with 'Taking a Buck' and The Widow (314); we have a study for the second in Taking the Deer (179). The picture of 1826 was 'Chevy Chase,' which, as before noted, is not here. After this work appeared, Landseer was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, being then barely beyond the age of twenty-four years. Mr. Millais and Sir T. Lawrence are among the very few who have thus early entered on their honours.

"The Monkey who had Seen the World,' i. e.,

Turning to the pictures, we have in Saved (147) the large painting of a dog, with a child lying before it across its paws; a work which is too evidently lamp-born to be particularly acceptable. The dog is, of course, fine, but the child, which has been rescued from the sea, is quite dry, and usual, and the dog's paws are too big. In No. sleeps heartily. The landscape is cruder than 155 we have Prosperity, and in No. 158 is Adversity, both exhibited about eight years ago, and showing extremes in the life of a handsome bright bay horse, with the most delicate tinge of olive in his skin. In the former the animal is in that ever lady had; the fore legs and shoulders full beauty, attended by the smartest of boy grooms are more than questionable in drawing, but the draughtsmanship of the saddle is capital. The charm of the picture is the colour of the horse's hide. In The Duchess of Abercorn and Child (149), a lady with an infant in her lap, we have an unprecedented gleam of a fine sense of colour, such as Landseer rarely displayed; this is manifested by means of blue, of all colours in the world! Another version of the same which is here (164) shows it was not an accident. The Swannery Invaded by Sea-Eagles' was exhibited in 1869, but it had been in hand for many years, and possesses the noblest qualities of Landseer's art. Would it had been finished during his prime. The Sick Monkey (190) may take a place beside a 'Random Shot' as a specimen of true pathos. It is beautifully pathetic, and intensely rich in the truest sentiment. The face and action of the tender mother-monkey and the attitude of her ailing little one are triumphs of high design. Otter Hunt (197), which we had not seen since 1844, disappoints us greatly, being very coarse, rough, and painty, for Landseer. The Free Kirk (193) shows old Scotch folk at prayer, with others, including dogs, who doze during the sermon: it has much capital humour and genuine character, but it is rather slightly executed. The Challenge (199) is the well-known 'Coming Events cast their Shadows before Them,'-as a design, one of the painter's best; as a picture, far from being so. In Odin (200) the big black dog appears, seated, and painted, as the Catalogue tells us, "within twelve hours, with the object of showing the superior effect of one continuous sitting over more elaborated work." If this be the object of the picture's existence, it exists in vain, for it shows little of the alleged superiority of one mode of practice over another. And even if it did succeed in doing so, the proof would be worth next to nothing, after the picture had demonstrated, as it unquestionably does demonstrate, that power to paint so vigorously had to be attained by enormous and unflinching practice in "more elaborated work,"-as to which process of studying, see the neighbouring picture, The Intrusive Puppies (204),

The

produced on the "elaborated" system in 1821, and all the paintings we have named above as anterior to 'Chevy Chase.' The brilliancy of 'The Intrusive Puppies' bears favourably a comparison with the more pretentious, demonstrative Odin.'

Nevertheless, taking all the elements of Landseer's art into consideration, we think the period of 'Odin,' i. e., 1833-40, the culminating portion of his career. In it were produced 'Deer and Deer Hounds in a Mountain Torrent,' 'Suspense,' 'A Jack in Office,' Mr. Wigram's 'Hunters,' 'Collie Dog rescuing a Sheep,' The Drover's Departure,' 'The Old Shepherd's Chief-Mourner,' 'Distinguished Member of the Humane Society,' 'The Sleeping Bloodhound,' 'The Twa Dogs,' and others of the same category. A considerable portion of these masterpieces are at South Kensington. There are more popular pictures of this period which we value at a lower rate than these, notwithstanding that they exhibit certain qualities of the highest value in Landseer's practice: among these is Laying Down the Law (205), which, by the way, is fearfully cracked-looking in some places like a mosaic of tessera set in black cement. Like a large proportion of the number of pictures derived from the artist's middle period of practice, this one has become extremely horny. The fact is highly instructive. Early pictures are quite free from this defect; later pictures cannot yet be said to be secure from it, for they have not yet existed long enough for the causes of change to have their full effect.

Among the most brilliant pieces of painting in detail is the plumage of the peacock in Dead Game (216), painted in 1827. With all its intensity and grim pathos, there can be no question about the fact that Man Proposes, God Disposes (217),-a melo-dramatic title, by the way,-is too revolting in its suggestions. At the time the picture appeared, 1864, the impression it made was even more shocking than is now the case. If ordinary spectators felt thus strongly about this design, what must have been the feelings of those who were connected with Franklin's crews? Notice the flesh of No. 228, called Lady and Spaniels, and containing the portrait of Miss Power, Lady Blessington's daughter, as an example of the change to horniness so apparent in many pictures here. On the whole, we think Landseer never did better than with Mr. Heathcote's The Cover Hack (233), dating from 1848, and exceptionally fine for that period. This picture owes something to the glass which covers it. Like most of Mr. Heathcote's contributions to this gathering, see Nos. 150, 152, 160, 161, 162, 283, and 249, it is unusually rich and brilliant in colouring. The Shepherd's Prayer (242) was exhibited in 1842, without a title. Eos (323) has more grace than anything else that Landseer has given us; it is a masterpiece of draughtsmanship. But think how much Snyders, Velasquez, Titian, or Van Dyck would have bestowed on such a subject! It is one within the range of animal painting those artists affected. Notice how noble is the sense of the grandeur in the earth and sky of Landscape (413). The Monarch of the Glen (436), the well-known picture of the stag, proves him to have been an extremely "gentlemanlike" monarch. Compare the spirit which informs this work of 1851 with that which so vigorously animated The Boar Hunt (381), in which Landseer, just thirty years before, showed us how the big dogs took their yellow brute of an enemy by the ear, and how he ran for his life. In conclusion, it seems desirable to give the numbers only of pictures which, on one ground or another, we commend to the student's attention: these numbers are 155, 156, 190, 217, 222, 233, 253, 289, 290, 301, 310, 322, 323, 339, 341, 343, 347, 350, 352, and 354.

THE ROYAL ACADEMY ELECTIONS.

THERE will shortly be a meeting of the Members of the Royal Academy, Academicians and Associates, in order to elect a new A.R.A. The number of artists already nominated is 109, being 72 painters, 18 sculptors, 11 architects, and 8 engravers. Not a few of these are unknown by name, even to us, who have unusual opportunities for seeing good pictures. At least a score more are sufficiently well known by their works to dispell al anxiety from our minds on their account, their pretensions are ludicrous. The chances of some are long gone by. Of a much greater number it may be said that they are

applying too soon. High on the list stands the name of one of the most accomplished and powerful artists in Europe; lower down is that of a ladypainter, of not less distinction than merit; the names of two other ladies appear among the painters. As no female names occur in their category, the lady-sculptors seem not to be ambitious; we never heard of a lady-architect, and the names of ladyengravers, if such persons now exist, are not here. Of the painters' names, excluding those unknown to us, the following is an analysis:-Mr. A. Rankley is dead; a figure-painter. Of artists of the same kind, the number is 36. Besides these, there are 18 landscape-painters, 6 portrait-painters proper, 3 animal-painters, and 2 flower-painters. The sculptors, of course, belong to one genus; but there are varieties in a genus composed of individuals whose merits are strangely unequal; two only are men of considerable ability. In any other body than the Academy, one of these, if a sculptor had a chance at all, would stand high. Like several of the landscape-painters, some of the sculptors are the merest sketchers, others never had a gleam of artlight on their fortunes. Six of the architects are Gothicists-the name of one of these is, by the way, spelt wrongly; two are decidedly inspired by the Renaissance, others are open to convictions from either side; one might be induced to build in "the Greek style," but classical architecture is nowhere with these candidates for honour. As to the seventy-two painters, we surmise that not twenty will get more than a scratch or two each; and it may as well be said at once, that there is no chance for any architect, sculptor, or engraver. The "favourite " is a popular landscape-painter; but the "favourite" does not often win, as this gentleman has learned to his cost already. Of men of first-rate ability there are three. Two of these would, in France, if there were two places to fill, be elected by acclamation; the third is a landscape - painter, whose reputation will be uninjured by failure in this contest. The occurrence of Mr. Rankley's name suggests the possibility of ghostly candidates, who could not be described as novelties, because it is known that phantom Associates of the Royal Academy have before now existed, if we may use the expression. Elias Martin, one of the original A.R.A.s, elected in 1770, died long before 1832, when his brethren, having no tidings of him, took his name off their list. Theophilus Clarke, elected in 1803, had probably become the name of a shade when, in 1832, it was called no more. Is not the Academy a wonderful body? To it, as we are officially told, the ghost of the late Mr. Rankley is eligible for election. Would any other Society have kept Elias Martin's name on its rolls for sixty-two years, when, for he died in 1804, the man had been buried not fewer than twenty-eight years? T. Clarke was last heard of at Hammersmith in 1810, but the R.A.s believed in him until 1832. Again, Mr. Foley has not exhibited since 1861,

and still the R.A.s cherish his name.

Fine-Art Gossip.

MR. LEIGHTON will probably not contribute to the Royal Academy Exhibition any large picture, as he has an extremely important work in hand, a commission for a painting to be placed in a country seat. Of it we need only say that the subject is new, and the treatment as noble as it is original. This artist may be represented at the approaching Exhibition by a comparatively small painting, to which we have referred before, representing an antique juggler with balls, standing as if before a Greek company, nearly naked, the rose and gold of her flesh appearing with beautiful softness in the daylight; her sole garment being a semi-diaphanous cloth of green tissue. She appears in full view, at full-length, with face upturned to watch the flying balls which have left her hands, and now rise above her head; she holds more toys of the same kind. She stands on a carpet, and at her feet is a naked sword, for use in another feat of

skill. On the right and left of the background we have glimpses of rich foliage, the garden of the house; immediately behind the figure is a part of the wall, with Greek decorations. Another picture, which has been in hand for some time, is a view of an Hispano-Mauresque garden, or pleasaunce, in the Middle Ages, with a vista of a broad path, bordered by trellises and arcades of foliage artificially trailed. At the end of the vista appear the roof and dome of a pleasure-house; in the foreground, walking in the path, is a beautiful child, in a costume appropriate to the scene and its time, playing with, or rather attended by, two peacocks, one white, the other green. The most important picture by this painter which is likely to be forthcoming next season, represents Clytemnestra on her palace roof, waiting for the appearance of the fateful beacon. Near the battlements stands the queen, a tall, white-robed figure, her hands clasped finger in finger, her arms extended downwards, and all her form rigid yet convulsed, inspired, so to say, by the terrible tension of her soul, while her draperies, by their manifold involutions and troubled folds, seem as if they shared the agony of the woman. So stands Clytemnestra, her action and attitude being due to the climax of long and passion-tossed watching. She has drawn herself up to her full height, as if, in her eagerness for the signal, she strove to overlook the very horizon; with feet firmly-planted and placed side by side, straight knees, straight loins, the chest advanced with its magnificent bust and swelling throat, her head thrown a little back, and of the stern features the eyes only not mobile. Mr. Leighton may be able to add to these works one portrait, if not more than one.

MR. V. PRINSEP is engaged in painting several pictures, one of which represents at half-length, life-size, in profile to us, a young lady, dressed in black, and having on her shoulders a beautiful white cat, whose fur produces charming colour with the carnations and the sable gown of the damsel. A subject picture, probably to be styled 'The Coming Race,' depicts a party of gipsies walking on a road on Newmarket Heath. In front strides a tall young woman, in all the short-lived but superb beauty of her people. She is, in her grand way, flirting with a young man, a handsome fellow, so far as features and form can make him so, but with the furtive looks that characterize male gipsies. Behind is a toil-worn woman, with a huge baby slung before her; she looks lovingly at the child: near this person are a donkey and its cart, with the driver busily and freely using the stick. Another picture is to be called 'Milk.' A buxom young woman stands in a somewhat demonstrative attitude before the area-gate of a London house in a square, and vigorously pulls the bell. The work is remarkable for truth of lighting and beauty of toning. Three portraits, life-sized and full-length, of ladies, sisters, on one canvas, promise to be beautiful in colour.

THE exhibition of engravings after Landseer, noted in our last, was formed by Mr. Graves, jun., not by Mr. Evans.

THE last-issued Sessional Paper of the Institute of British Architects contains a paper by Mr. R. P. Spiers, on the Château de Pierrefonds, and its restoration.

MUSIO

SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY, Exeter Hall.-Conductor. Sir Michael Costa.- FRIDAY NEXT, January 23, Dr. Crotch's Oratorio, 'Palestine.' Principal Vocalists: Madame Lemmens-Sherrington, Miss Julia Elton, Miss Ellen Horne, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Carter, and Signor Agnesi. Organist, Mr. Willing.-Tickets 38.; numbered in rows, 58.; Stalls, 10s. 6d., at 6, Exeter Hall.

BRITISH ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY.- Patron, H.R. H. the Duke of Edinburgh. Conductor, Mr. George Mount.-FIRST CONCERT, THURSDAY, January 22, St. James's Hall, 8 o'clock. Overture, Les Naiades,' W. Bennett: Saltarello (first time of Performance), J. Hamilton Clarke; Scena, Infelice,' Mendelssohn, Miss Edith Wynne; Concerto, E flat, for Two Pianofortes, Mozart, Mr. Walter Macfarren and Miss Linda Scates; Recit. ed Aria, "I dreamt I was in heaven (Naaman '), Costa, Miss Augusta Roche; Symphony (No. 3) Eroica,' Beethoven; Duet, "Quis est homo," Rossini, Miss Edith Wynne and Miss Augusta Roche; Overture, Les Deux Journees,' Cherut ini. Grand orchestra of 75 performers.-Subscription for Six Concerts: Sofa and Balcony Stalls, Two Guineas; Reserved Area, One Guinea. Single Tickets: Sofa and Balcony Stalls, 108. 6d.; Reserved Area, 5s.; Balcony, 38.; Area, 28.; Gallery, 18.; Stanley Lucas, Weber & Co. 84, New Bond Street; Cramer; Lamborn Cock; Mitchell's Library; Chappell; Ollivier; Keith, Prowse & Co.; A. Hays; and at Austin's Ticket-Office.