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Here the work is based on the original ordnance survey 'maps, and the topographical details filled in from photography. These maps represent one of the most successful applications of photographic surveying. Again, in preliminary experimental surveys for irrigation purposes, or for deciding on the best route for a proposed railway, the camera, properly controlled, possesses many advantages over ordinary surveying instruments. In such cases it is often excessively difficult to determine beforehand how much plotting will be necessary to secure the object in view. The district may have to be re-visited over and over again to supply the requisite details, all of which may prove useless in the end. But with the photographic pictures secured by a camera, the plan may be plotted so far only as required, and if additional information be needed, the photographs can be made to give all the detail wanted without going again to the field. Irrigation surveys for agricultural purposes have been effected in the North-West Provinces with complete success by the photographic method, and are likely to be still further extended. Prof. Mills tried to apply the method to the determination of the content of a ship in dock by constructing a model of the vessel in clay, the necessary dimensions for which were to be taken from measured photographs. When the amount of clay in the model, and the scale of the photograph from which the necessary measurements have been taken are both known, the capacity of the ship is at once determined. In this particular instance, it is true, the method failed, owing to the impossibility of selecting suitable stations for the photographs amid the crowded machinery of a busy ship-building yard. But the attempt shows the wide applicability of the method and the extent of the field open to the intelligent use of photographic appliances.

But its greatest triumphs are, of course, to be seen when the method is continuously applied over a large area. One of the most successful operators is Mr. E. Deville, the Surveyor General of Dominion Lands, who has carried his investigations over the difficult passes of the Rocky Mountains, and surveyed the country up to the United States boundary of the Alaska territory. No less than 14,000 square miles of this inhospitable country were surveyed in the years 1893-94. The proper administration of the country, he tells us, required a tolerably accurate map, and means had to be found to execute it rapidly, and at a moderate cost. The ordinary methods of topographical surveying were too slow and expensive for the purpose; rapid surveys, based on triangulations, and sketches were tried and proved ineffectual; then photography was resorted to, with the result just mentioned. The same authority, as was natural to one in his official position, has made a very careful comparison of the relative expense of a survey made with the plane table and one with the camera: all such comparisons are liable to be modified by the climatic conditions of the country, and the amount of detailed plotting required. In the climate of the Rocky Mountains, Mr. Deville estimates that on one half of the number of days in a season, no work can be done with a camera, owing to smoke, fog, rain and snow storms. But quite as great a loss of time is experienced with the plane table, added to which the apparatus is more weighty, requiring more porterage, and therefore additional expense in removal. But neglecting these and some other slight advantages which are on the side of photography, he finds that the plane table survey is three times (rigorously as 164: 56) more expensive than that accomplished by the camera. This is a real practical advantage which is immediately appreciated, and on several grounds, not taken into Mr. Deville's estimate, such as the possibility of reducing the number of highly-trained assistants, it would seem that the difference of expenditure has not been overestimated. There is no sacrifice of accuracy to secure

this economy; the great improvement consists in the substitution of the methods of photography-methods, which proving highly popular, must tend to displace more and more the use of the plane table.

BALNIBARBIAN GLUMTRAP RHYME.

(Repeated by the children in the nurseries of Balnibarbi.)1
ISTANT scintillating star,
DIS

Shall I tell you what you are?
Nay, for I can merely know
What you were some years ago.

For, the rays that reach me here
May have left your photosphere
Ere the fight of Waterloo-
Ere the pterodactyl flew !

Many stars have passed away
Since your æther-shaking ray
On its lengthy journey sped-
So that you, perhaps, are dead !
Smashed in some tremendous war
With another mighty star-
You and all your planets just
Scattered into cosmic dust!

Strange, if you have vanished quite,
That we still behold your light,
Playing for so long a time
Some celestial pantomime !

But, supposing all is well,
What you're made of, can I tell?
Yes, 'twill be an easy task
Ι

If my spectroscope I ask.

There your spectrum now is spread
Down from ultra-blue to red,
Crossed by dark metallic lines,
Of your cooler layer the signs.

Hence among the starry spheres
You've arrived at middle years—
You are fairly old and ripe,
Of our solid solar type.

Ah, your sodium line is seen Strongly shifted towards the green. Hence you are approaching me With a huge velocity!

But, if some celestial woe
Overtook you long ago,
And to swift destruction hurled
Life on every living world,

Did there in the fiery tide
Perish much of pomp and pride--
Many emperors and kings,
Going to do awful things?

Mighty schemes of mighty czars—
Mighty armies, glorious wars!
From the Nebula they may
Rise to curse a world some day!
G. M. MINCHIN.

1 Balnibarbi is one of the countries visited by Gulliver; the "Glumtrap' is the Balnibarbian equivalent of the English nursery; and the babies of Balnibarbi are brought up on strictly scientific principles-as is evidenced by their knowledge in these verses.

NOTES.

The

THE preliminary circular for the jubilee meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to be held at Boston, August 22-27, has just been issued. Prof. Frederick W. Putnam, the president-elect, repeats the assurance given to the nominating committee at the last meeting, that this second Boston meeting, held on the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Association, "gives promise of being the most important scientific gathering ever held in the United States." A special effort will be made to increase the membership, in the hope that at least one thousand new members will be added. The meetings will be held at the rooms of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and of the Boston Society of Natural History, occupying three closely adjoining buildings. Association will be for one day a guest of Harvard University, and for another of the Essex Institute of Salem; the latter being the place of the museum of the Association, and its permanent office. A larger number than usual of the affiliated societies will meet in connection with the Association, including the American Forestry Association, the American Geological Society, the American Chemical Society, the Society of Economic Entomologists, the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science, the American Mathematical Society, and several more. After the meeting excursions will be made to the White Mountains and to Cape Cod. The local committee has been fully organised under the honorary presidency of Governor Roger Wolcott. The honorary vice-presidents include the presidents of fourteen colleges and universities, besides many other prominent gentlemen. The local secretary is Prof. H. W. Tyler, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 491 Boylston Street, Boston; and the general committee is a large and representative one, composed of the foremost citizens. The chairmen of the other committees are: Finance, the honorary treasurer, Colonel Henry L. Higginson; Reception, Dr. J. R. Chadwick; Rooms for meeting, Prof. Charles R. Cross; Invitations to foreign guests, Dr. Henry P. Bowditch; Excursions, General Francis H. Appleton; Cambridge committee, Prof. Charles W. Eliot, of Harvard University; Salem committee, Hon. Robert S. Rantoul, president of the Essex Institute; Executive committee, Prof. W. T. Sedgwick. An unusual feature is the committee for the reception of foreign guests. The circular explains that special efforts will be made to secure the presence of many eminent men of science from abroad.

A BUST of the late Prof. P. Schützenberger, the distinguished chemist, was unveiled at the Paris École de physique et de chimie industrielles on April 3. Prof. Schützenberger was the founder and first director of the school, and the bust is a testimony of the affection in which his memory is held by old students.

OLD students and admirers of Dr. W. K. Brooks, professor of zoology in the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, presented him with his portrait, painted by Mr. T. C. Corner, upon the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his birth on March 25. Many leading zoologists of the United States took part in this expression of esteem for Prof. Brooks.

THE autumn congress of the Sanitary Institute will be held this year in Birmingham, under the presidency of Sir Joseph Fayrer, Bart., K. C.S.I., F. R.S., commencing on September 27.

THE annual exposition organised by the Société Français de Physique will open to-day with a visit to the works of the Paris Compressed Air Company. On Friday and Saturday evening a large collection of apparatus used in recent physical investigations will be on view in the rooms of the Society; and on Saturday

afternoon short addresses will be delivered by MM. Ducretet, Morin, and Hurmuzescu.

THE Liverpool Marine Biology Committee's Easter party, now at the Port Erin Biological Station, includes Mr. Isaac C. Thompson, Mr. Frank J. Cole, Mr. R. A. Dawson, Mr. H. C. Chadwick, Prof. Herdman, and several students from University College, Liverpool. Prof. Boyce and others are expected later in April. The Lancashire Sea Fisheries steamer is also at Port Erin, and several dredging and trawling expeditions are taking place. Spawn of several fishes has been obtained, and fertilised, and is now developing in the tanks. Under the care of Mr. Chadwick, Curator of the Station, the aquarium is in a flourishing condition, and contains a number of interesting animals, some of which are spawning. A recent addition to the laboratory accommodation at the Station has been completed, which gives five additional work windows for students, so that there is now plenty of room for other workers.

DR. H. M. FERNANDO will probably be the director of the Bacteriological Institute to be opened in Colombo shortly. The final plans for the building have been completed, and the work will be taken in hand at once. It is expected that the Institute will be opened by the beginning of next year.

WE learn from Science that the United States Senate has passed a Bill for the protection of song birds, providing that the importation into the United States of birds, feathers, or parts of birds for ornamental purposes be prohibited, and prohibiting the transportation or sale of such articles in any territory of the United States or in the District of Columbia.

THE vanguard of exploring expeditions for the season is that of Dr. Carl Lumholtz and Dr. Hrdlicka, who left the American Museum of Natural History a few days ago in search of anthropological specimens for the museum. This will be followed in a few weeks by an expedition to the North-west, undertaken also for anthropological research, by Dr. Laufer, Mr. Gerard Fowke, Mr. R. Dixon, and Mr. H. Smith.

THE most violent earthquake in California since 1872 was felt on Thursday night, March 31. The shock was felt only in Northern California. The direction of vibrations was from east to west; and they were very heavy in a small area. The seismograph showed the duration of the earthquake to have been between thirty and forty seconds at the University of California, Berkeley. Damage was done to buildings at San Francisco and Vallejo; but no loss of life has been reported.

THE death of Prof. Salomon Stricker, the distinguished professor of experimental and general pathology in the University of Vienna, at the age of sixty-five, is announced in the British Medical Journal. Only a week or two ago Prof. Stricker celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his appointment as professor, and the occasion was celebrated by presenting him with a Festschrift entitled "Thirty Years of Experimental Pathology," the list of contributors including the names of E. Albert, A. Spina, G. Gaertner, Dr. E. Klein, and many other pathologists and histologists of note.

M. DE FONVIELLE writes :-The 1898 session of the international balloon scientific conference was held in Strasburg with great success. A large number of resolutions were adopted referring to the ascent of free balloons carrying registering apparatus, and balloons with meteorological and photographic instruments. The conference passed a vote in favour of the extension of kite experiments with recording apparatus or kiteballoons to the international meteorological stations, in order to procure better information on prevailing meteorological influences. It was resolved that an international experiment

should take place at the beginning of June. In addition to the Paris, Strasburg, Berlin, and Petersburg stations, two new stations will be established in Vienna at the expense of the Minister of War, and in Brussels. The expenses will be supported by the Belgian-Deutsch Society of Astronomy, which sent to Strasburg, as their representative, M. Fievre, one of their secretaries. The next meeting will take place in Paris in 1900, on the occasion of the forthcoming exposition. Among the members present at the recent meeting were the director of the Russian Meteorological Service; Commander Kovanko, director of the Russian Aeronautical Service; Herr Assmann and Dr. Berson, of the Berlin Meteorological Institute; M. Cailletet, member of the French Academy of Sciences; M. Teisserend de Bort; Mr. Rotch, director of the Blue Hill Observatory in Pennsylvania; M. Besançon; and Prof. Heim, the Swiss geologist, professor in the Zürich Polytechnicum.

WE regret to see that Mr. James I'Anson, an occasional contributor to our correspondence columns, died a few days ago. From the Engineer we learn that Mr. I'Anson was born at Gateshead in 1845, and came of an old North-country family. Soon after leaving school he commenced his apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer, and in 1866 he entered the engineering works of the late firm of Charles I'Anson and Co., becoming subsequently a partner. Some time after he became managing partner, a position which he held until his retirement in 1885. Mr. l'Anson was for many years a Fellow of the Geological Society, and he also sat upon the Council of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. He was a member of the Iron and Steel Institute and of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, to whose proceedings he contributed papers, as also to those of the Cleveland Institute of Engineers, the Mineralogical Society, and the British Archaological Association.

AMONG the problems interesting to the physicist and mathematician which are discussed at the meetings of the Institution of Naval Architects, few open up such a wide field of inquiry as those which form the subject of Prof. H. S. Hele-Shaw's paper, entitled "Investigation of the nature of surface-resistance of water, and of stream-line motion under certain experimental conditions," read before the recent meeting of the Institution. In a previous paper, read last July, the author showed how the flow of water in two dimensions past obstacles of various cylindrical and prismatic forms could be investigated experimentally by the use of water containing a quantity of air flowing between two parallel plates of glass, the air rendering the water turbulent where the motion was most rapid. The photographs, which Prof. Hele-Shaw reproduces, show in every case a clear line round the boundary of the solid, indicating a thin film in which shearing motion takes place past the surface, while outside this comparatively calm region streaks of air are noticeable. The figures, moreover, show the presence of regions of dead water behind obstacles with blunt edges, fully confirming the view that to minimise resistance a solid must be made to taper at its stern end rather than at its bow end. In the present paper diagrams are given showing the variations in thickness of the entrained film according to the smoothness or roughness of the surface of the solid, the addition of soap to the water, and other circumstances. A second field of experiment has been developed by the use of thin films of water flowing between parallel plates, in which the stream-lines are shown by the introduction of coloured bands. Unless the film be very thin (about o'5 mm.), the lines of colour become blurred, especially after flowing round an obstacle. The most remarkable result is the coincidence between the stream-lines in these experiments, where we are probably dealing with a case of laminated motion of a viscous liquid largely affected by the

bounding plates of glass, and the corresponding stream-lires calculated mathematically for the irrotational motion of a perfect liquid in two dimensions. It has been one of the great objections to the mathematical theory of fluid motion that the conditions imposed by the mathematician differ considerably from those occurring in practice. Prof. Hele-Shaw's investigations, however, bid fair to bring hydrodynamics within the range of experimental sciences, besides fulfilling the object for which they were primarily undertaken-that of teaching naval architects how to minimise the surface-resistance on ships.

The

AT the meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers on April 5, Mr. A. H. Preece gave an account of the present state of electricity supply in London. There are now in London eleven important companies and five vestries supplying electricity, and three other companies and three vestries are taking steps to start works. Five companies and three vestries supply the alternating current, and the remainder use direct-current systems. The direct-current systems are divisible into two classes-the highpressure and the low-pressure. In the former, rotary transformers are used to reduce the high pressure to a low pressure, while the latter produces and distributes electricity at the same pressure at which it is supplied to consumers. The direct-current systems are applicable to compact areas, and, with the use of high pressure, to scattered or isolated compact areas. chief advantages of the direct-current system are the possibility of using storage-batteries, which can not be employed with the alternating-current systems, greater efficiency in distribution, and greater adaptability to motive power. The favourite methods of distributing electricity are to transmit current at a high pressure in heavily-insulated cables in iron pipes, and current at a low pressure in insulated cable in stoneware conduits, or in cables heavily armoured and laid direct in the ground. Rubber is now little used, paper and jute, impregnated with insulating compounds, having been extensively adopted. The electric supply industry is rapidly growing, and no less than 40,000 h.p. is now being installed in London in order to meet the demand for electricity in the immediate future.

THE Times correspondent at Cairo makes the important announcement that M. Loret has discovered and opened at Thebes the tomb of Amenophis II, a king of the XVIII. dynasty, who reigned some 1500 years B.C. The tomb contains the mummies of Amenophis and of seven other kings, beside two mummies bearing no name, and four bodies which, though they have not been embalmed, are all in a complete state of preservation, with the features perfect. The hair upon each of these bodies is luxuriant, and the features are said to resemble to a marked degree those of the fellaheen of the present day. M. Loret's find is amongst the most interesting ever made it Egypt.

THE Central Physical Observatory of St. Petersburg has published an interesting pamphlet showing, for the whole of the Russian Empire, the absolute maximum and minimum temperatures at about 230 stations, accompanied by three maps, illustrating the above elements, and the ranges of temperature. The observations at some of the stations extend over a long series of years, e.g. St. Petersburg, 142 years; Moscow, 90 years; and Archangel, 80 years. The most remarkable temperatures and ranges are recorded in the Province of Yakutsk, in Siberia :-Verkoiansk, 90° F. with a range of 182 7; Markinskoe, 850, range 185°2; Yakutsk, 84° 1, range 1857. All these extreme minima occurred in the month of February, and the stations being a considerable distance apar testify to their accuracy and to the great rigour of the winter of that locality. The work has been compiled by Mr. A. Varnek; but the text being in Russian only, detracts somewhat from its general usefulness.

THE Sources of commercial india-rubber form the subject of two Cantor Lectures to be delivered at the Society of Arts on Monday, April 18 and 25, by Dr. D. Morris, C. M.G.

AN instructive article upon processes of alkali manufacture, with special reference to the works of Messrs. Brunner, Mond, and Co., appeared in yesterday's Times.

WE have received from Mr. C. Leeson Prince the summary for the year 1897 of meteorological records which he keeps at his observatory on Crowborough Hill, Sussex. Perhaps the most important event of the year occurred on May 30, when, as he says, "a more memorable thunderstorm passed over a portion of this country than has happened within living memory." This storm, from all accounts, did not actually occur at Crowborough Hill; but from its elevated position the progress of the storm, though twenty miles distant, could be

may mention that the experiments appear to have been carried out with great care. The thermometers were placed at various depths below and heights above the ground, and show clearly the effect of the soil upon the air temperature and humidity during the various hours of the day and night. The conditions of humidity were found to be very different between the level of the ground and the height of about 33 feet (at which the highest thermometers were placed), being less in the night and greater in the day in the lower than in the upper strata of air.

THE Rev. W. Sidgreaves, in his report of the Stonyhurst College Observatory for 1897, gives us the results of the. meteorological and magnetical observations made during the past year, with notes and comments. In addition to these observ. ations, which have been carried out with the utmost regularity, other branches of work have been followed. Thus prepara

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A reproduction (natural size) of some hailstones which fell at Seaford during the thunder-storm of May 30, 1897.

watched for a considerable time. Mr. Prince gives a reproduction of some of the hailstones which had previously fallen at Seaford during the same storm. These were found to be still larger, as will be seen by the accompanying illustration showing the hailstones in their natural size.

WE have received from Dr. T. Homén, of the University of Helsingfors, a laborious investigation, entitled "Der tägliche Wärmeumsatz im Boden und die Wärmestrahlung zwischen Himmel und Erde," being a continuation of a work published in 1894, in which the author dealt more particularly with earth temperature, evaporation and dew. In the present publication Dr. Homén attempts the determination of the amount of heat which enters various kinds of soil during the day, and the amount given up by radiation during the night. We are unable to give an adequate account here of the various interesting results contained in a quarto volume of about 150 pages, but we

tion was made for photographing trails of the November meteors, five cameras having been mounted round the objectglass end of the equatorial, but the weather proved too unfavourable. Again, 174 drawings of solar spots and facul were made during the twelve months, and enlarged drawings of spots near the solar limb were undertaken to obtain evidence about the level of the umbra. As regards stellar spectroscopy 240 plates were exposed, the work in hand being directed to the sequence of spectrum differences of the yellow and red stars, from those of the solar type to the type of a Herculis. An appendix to this report contains the results of meteorological observations for 1897, made at St. Ignatius' College, Malta, by the Rev. J. F. Dobson.

Science states that in addition to the plans of the Geological Survey for explorations in Alaska, the Treasury Department are about starting five or six expeditions to explore the Yukon river,

Copper river, and other water routes of the Territory, the United States Congress having granted 100,000 dollars for the purpose. SCIENTIFIC facts are presented to the public freely and attractively in three lectures which have been arranged at the Whitechapel Free Public Library and Museum. On Tuesday Prof. Hobday lectured on "The Horse and Dog and their relations and friends." On Tuesday, May 10, Prof. W. F. R. Weldon, F.R.S., will discourse upon "Butterflies"; and on June 7, Prof. Marshall Ward, F.R.S,, will give an address upon "A Piece of Wood." Admission to the lectures is free by ticket, which can be obtained in the Museum and Library.

APPENDIX II. for 1898 of the Kew Bulletin is entirely occupied with a list of New Garden Plants of the year 1897, including also the most noteworthy of those which have been re-introduced after having been lost from cultivation. In addition to species and botanical varieties, all hybrids, whether introduced or of garden origin, with botanical names, and described for the first time in 1897, are included.

MESSRS. J. AND A. CHURCHILL announce that they will publish in a few days a new work on "The Blood: how to examine and diagnose its diseases," by Dr. Alfred C. Coles, illustrated with six coloured plates. They will also issue a fifth edition of "A Manual of Dental Anatomy, Human and Comparative," by Mr. Charles S. Tomes, F.R.S., with many new illustrations. The part dealing with comparative odontology has been expanded to meet the requirements of students of biology.

THE additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Macaque Monkey (Macacus cynomolgus) from India, presented by Mrs. Grace Currie; a White-tailed Sea Eagle (Haliatus albicilla) from the Liautung Peninsula, China, presented by Mr. J. W. Carrell; ten Californian Quails (Callipepla californica) from California, presented by Captain Thos. Yardley Powles; a Common Viper (Vipera berus). British, presented by Mr. R. Tucker; an Egyptian Jerboa (Dipus ægyptius), four Egyptian Ichneumons (Herpestes ichneumon), six Gulls (Larus, sp. inc.), a Common Kestrel (Tinnun. culus alaudarius) from Egypt, a Leopard (Felis pardus) from West Africa, a Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus) from Malacca, deposited; a Chimpanzee (Anthropopithecus troglodytes, 8) from West Africa, a Rosy-billed Duck (Metopiana beposaca, ?) from South America, purchased.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

THE DOUBLING OF THE CANALS ON MARS.-The origin of the doubling of the canals visible on the surface of the planet Mars has again come to the front, and this time M. Antoniadi has put forward an explanation. His suggestion is that the doubling is only a phenomenon caused probably by the eye of the observer; in fact, it is the result of slight focussing errors when observing these markings. A full account of this curious cause of error is contributed to Cosmos (No. 687) by M. Th. Moreux, and M. Antoniadi himself gives a complete summary of his suggestion in the Bulletin de la Société Astronomique de France for April. According to the latter, a thin line, when gradually put slightly out of focus, becomes slowly double, the inner parts of which are blurred; in fact, a regular germination is observed. In addition to this, he finds that if several lines be made to cross at a point, all of these do not become double, but only certain of them. Not only do straight markings, but round and elongated spots become alike doubled. At the end of his paper, after remarking on the curious phenomenon of canals, as actually observed, becoming double in the course of a few hours, he says:

6

Ainsi, si Mars est couvert de canaux,' la vision imparfaite devra dédoubler ces lignes. Pareille vision indistincte peut provenir, ainsi que nous venons de le voir : 1° d'une minime erreur de mise au point; 2° d'oscillations diplopiques (fatigue)

de l'œil. Voila ce qui doit fatalement arriver, el ce qui arrive en réalité."

M. Camille Flammarion tells us in the same journal that M. Adolphe de Bœ, of Anvers, in the year 1891 suggested, in a letter to him, that this doubling might be the result of secondary images which, under certain conditions, might be formed in the eye. M. Flammarion is, however, no great believer in this idea, as it does not seem to sufficiently explain all the phenomena of doubling, germination, &c., which have been observed on the surface of this interesting planet, although the arguments brought forward reproduce very ingeniously the greater part of the observations. With him we echo the sentiment of wishing to know what M. Schiaparelli has to say on the subject.

COMET PERRINE.-The latest elements and ephemeris of this comet have been calculated by Prof. H. Kreutz, who gives the results in No. 4 Circular recently distributed.

The elements computed from the observations of March 19, 23, 27 and 31, differ slightly from those we have previously given, being ::

T = 1898 March 17 37558 Berlin M.T.

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43 3

45 38.4

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+46 150 00953 02438 0.64 It will be noticed that the brightness of this comet is gradually decreasing, and by the end of the month it will be about half that at the time of discovery.

THE APRIL LYRIDS.-As pointed out in this column on March 31 (p. 519), the April shower of meteors is due on 19-20 of this month. The conditions for viewing these bodies if they should be numerous will be very favourable, as the moon will be absent. As Mr. Denning tells us, the periodical maxima of this stream of Lyrids has a computed time of revolution of 415 years, a brilliant display having occurred on April 20 in the year 1803. The radiant point is 270° + 32°.

THE MEUDON OBSERVATORY.-Prof. Janssen is evidently bringing together a very strong force at the Astro-Physical Observatory at Meudon. We hear now that, in addition to the other experienced astronomers who are working there, M. Deslandres has been transferred from Paris, and will in future continue his valuable spectroscopic researches at Meudon.

URA.

PREHISTORIC RUINS OF HONDURAS AND YUCATAN.

IN 1891 the Directors of the Peabody Museum secured from the Government of Honduras (through the liberality of Mr. and to take away half of the objects found in the excavations, C. Bowditch, of Boston) the right to explore the ruins of Copan, during a period of ten years. The preliminary report of the exploration, now published by the Directors of the Museum. by a plan and many excellent photographic plates. gives the result of the first two years' work, and is accompanied

All those interested in American archaeology must be for ever grateful to the Committee directing the expedition for one in struction given to the explorers; it was to the effect that a wali should be built round the principal group of ruined structure and carved monoliths, so as to save them, if possible, from further destruction. This work has now been most satisfactorily

carried out, and the ruins, which were always safe from approach stantial stone wall nearly one mile in length. on the river face, are now enclosed on the land side by a sub

1 Memoirs of the Peabody Museum, &c. Vol. i. No. 1: Prehistori. Ruins of Copan, Honduras." by the Museum, 1891-95." "A Preliminary Report of the Explorati

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