in perpetual watering. There is of course a fort, and equally of course a 'plein.' The cemetery is significantly full. Almost all the tombs are kept whitewashed, and as many of them are curious chapel-like erections with flying buttresses, the effect at a distance is something between an ice palace and a clothes'-drying ground. The houses of the Dutch residents, shadowed in peepul or galela trees, stand back a little distance from the road, long, low, and cool, with thick white posts at their entrance gates. A long avenue of magnificent overarching trees leads eastwards from the pier, adown which the Governor may be seen driving any afternoon in a four-in-hand, with skyblue reins. It is lighted by means of lamps hung midway between the trees, for the Hollander, even although gas may be unattainable, considers civilisation incomplete without these adjuncts. Then too there is the club, with its zinc-topped tables set out café-fashion beneath the trees. It is called the Harmonie,' as is every Dutch club in Malaysia, and within all is dark and deserted and cool during the mid-day heat. The servants are curled up asleep behind the bar or in the corners of the rooms, and would stare in dumb astonishment at the apparition of a European; for the early business of the day over, and the rijst tafel, or lunch, despatched, the white residents get into their pyjamas and take a siesta till three or four o'clock. A couple of hours or so are then devoted to business, and towards sunset the male portion of the population meet at the Harmonie' to chat and drink pijtjes. Billiards is the most violent exercise taken; cricket, bowls, and lawn-tennis are unknown" (vol. ii. p. 156).

Among the pleasant reminiscences of the travellers about their travels in the north of Celebes will doubtless be those of their visits to the Tondano Lake with its pretty waterfall; to Talisse Island, where at "Wallace Bay" the habits of the maleo (Megacephalon maleo) were observed, and a good store of their eggs and bodies were collected; and to Kema, where a great babiroussa hunt was held.

The name Moluccas, at one time restricted to the little chain of volcanic islets lying off the western coast of Gilolo, of which Ternate is the chief, now includes all the islands between Celebes and the Papuan group. As regards magnificence of scenery, Ternate is perhaps the finest harbour in the Dutch Indies. The Resident, Mr. Morris, kept a large aviary of rare birds, amongst which the gems were two superb specimens both full-plumaged males of the twelve-wired bird of paradise. These exquisite creatures were fed on the fruit of the pandanus, with an occasional cockroach as a bonne bouche. "The feelings of admiration with which I watched these birds, which are among the most beautiful of all living beings, I need not," says the writer, "attempt to describe." The concluding chapters of this volume bring us to New Guinea, the very home of paradise birds. The portion of this great island visited was the western half, that claimed by the Dutch; which, from the variation in species from island to island, and the peculiarity of these birds of paradise, is perhaps the most interesting to a naturalist. A safe anchorage was secured at the extreme east end of the Island of Batanta, in "Marchesa Bay.” The first ramble on shore was unsuccessful. Scrambling over the mangroves' slimy roots, and struggling up to their knees in liquid ooze, they found that the land was hard to reach; the shore rose steeply from the sea; and the dripping wet jungle made progress all the more difficult. The party returned disappointed to the yacht, to find that some of the hunters were already back, equally empty-handed. Presently, however, "Usman and his compagnon de chasse appeared triumphant, carefully carrying a prize that we had hoped, but hardly expected, to obtain the curious and exquisitely lovely little Diphyllodes wilsoni, smallest of all the birds of paradise. Behind the head, a ruff of canary-coloured feathers stands

erect above the scarlet back and wings. The breast is covered by a shield of glossy green plumes, which towards the throat are marked with metallic green, and violet spots of extraordinary brilliancy. The two centre feathers of the tail, prolonged for five or six inches beyond the others, cross one another, and are curved into a complete circle of bright steely purple. But the chief peculiarity of the bird is the head, which is bald from the vertex backwards, the bare skin being of the brightest imaginable cobalt blue (the figure in Gould's 'Birds of New Guinea' gives no notion of the extreme brilliancy of the colouring of this part). The bizarre effect thus produced is still further heightened by two fine lines of feathers which, running lengthways and from side to side, form a dark cross upon the brilliant azure background. I could hardly make up my mind to skin this little ornithological rainbow, whose exquisite plumage it seemed almost a sacrilege to disarrange, but the climate of New Guinea allows of but little delay in this operation, and I set about my task at once. The bird had been scarcely injured by the shot, and I succeeded in making a perfect skin of it " (vol. ii. p. 254).

Dorei Bay, well known as the settlement of the Dutch missionaries, and the residence of Mr. Wallace in 1858, was the next station. Some few miles south of Dorei Bay is Andai, a small village nestling at the foot of the Arfak Mountains. The dense forests that clothe these mountains are the favoured haunts of such magnificent paradise birds as the great velvet-black Epimachus, with its tail a yard in length; the Astrapia, in its uniform of dark violet, faced with golden-green and copper; and the orange-coloured Xanthomelus. There D'Albertis had shot his Drepanornis, with its two fan-like tufts, one flame-cloured, the other tipped with metallic violet; and there Beccari braved the climate and made such splendid collections. The summits of the mountains were less than ten miles from where the yacht was, and yet this land of promise could not be entered. Our readers must seek the reason why in the narrative: here we can only add that the homeward voyage had begun.

In so short a sketch it is simply impossible to do more than give the reader an idea of what he may expect to find within the pages of these volumes. Students of geography, ethnology, and, above all, zoology, will discover therein a great deal that is of interest, and also much that is novel; and every reader will be pleased by the writer's freshness of style and keen enjoyment of Nature. To enjoy travelling, especially in the tropics, one must be of an equable, not to say of a cheerful, frame of mind. We close the perusal of Dr. Guillemard's delightful volumes with the impression that the company on board the yacht Marchesa was certainly of this kind.

In several appendixes to Volume II. there are lists of the birds met with in the various regions visited, and of the shells. There is also a list of the Rhopalocera collected in the Eastern Archipelago, and of the languages of Sulu, of Waigiou, and of Jobi Island. Tables are given of the total export in 1884 of the chief articles of produce in the Netherlands India, North and South Celebes, Amboyna, and Ternate.

THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION THE HE annual Report of Prof. Baird, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, has just been issued. It relates to the period from July 1, 1885, to the close of June 1886, and includes, in addition to the account of the operations of the Institution itself, a summary of the work done by the branches of the public service placed by Congress under its charge, namely, the National Museum and the Bureau of Ethnology. To this is added a sketch of the work of the U.S. Fish Commission, which is also under Prof. Baird's charge, and of that of the U.S. Geological Survey, which, although independent of the Smithsonian Institution, is in close relation with it by

reason of its field of exploration, and especially through the valuable accessions of material furnished by it to the National Museum.

With regard to the Smithsonian Institution itself there is not much to be said, except that its usual operations were steadily carried on during the year, with a marked increase in routine work. In the way of explorations there was less activity in the year 1886 than there has been in some previous years, but important collections of objects of scientific interest were received from various parts of America and Asia. Of the different classes of works issued by the Institution, the most valuable are the quarto "Contributions to Knowledge." A work in this series, entitled "Researches upon the Venoms of Poisonous Serpents," by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell and Dr. E. T. Reichert, was printed during the past year, and will soon be ready for distribution. Among the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections" of 1885-86 may be mentioned "A Catalogue of Scientific and Technical Periodicals (1665 to 1882), together with Chronological Tables, and a CheckList," ""The Scientific Writings of Joseph Henry" (not yet published, but entirely stereotyped), "Index to the Literature of Uranium, 1789-1885 (one of a series of bibliographies especially directed to the indexing of chemical literature), and "Accounts" of the progress of astronomy, chemistry, physics, geography, anthropology, and other sciences in 1885. The Smithsonian Institution has also issued the Bulletins and Reports of the Proceedings of the National Museum, and valuable publications of the Bureau of Ethnology.

It is well known that in bequeathing to the United States the fund with which the Smithsonian Institution was established, Mr. Smithson stipulated that his bequest should be devoted to "the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." The Institution has always complied with this condition in a most liberal spirit, and now its system of "free exchanges" has reached vast proportions. For the year ended June 30, 1886, the receipts for foreign transmission were 94,093 packages, weighing 195,404 pounds. The transmission filled 764 boxes, having an aggregate bulk of 5208 cubic feet. For domestic exchanges the number of parcels received and distributed during the fiscal year was 14,496, of which 2533 parcels (or about one-sixth) were received for the library of the Institution. Twenty years ago the Institution was made by law the agent of the United States Government for conducting the international exchanges of public official documents between it and foreign Governments, and during the past year 29 boxes, containing 56,229 packages, were received for Government exchanges, and 114 boxes were sent abroad. The exchange system of the Institution is found to be of so much public service that Congress supports it by an annual grant of 10,000 dollars.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the report is that which relates to the National Museum. It is five years since the work of moving into the new Museum building was begun. Two years ago the Director reported that the packing-boxes, several thousand in number, containing the accumulations of many previous years, had for the most part been unpacked, and that the entire floor space of the building would soon be occupied by exhibition collections. During the past year this result was attained, and (with the exception of one corner of one of the central halls still occupied by one or two collections received at the close of the New Orleans Exhibition, and which have not been opened on account of delay in preparation of cases for their reception) the entire floor space of about 100,000 square feet is open to the public, and the collections arranged in accordance with the provisional plan of installation. The work of mounting and labelling is still in progress, and each month shows marked advances.

The development of the Museum during the past year was unexpectedly great. About fifteen hundred separate lots of specimens were received. A certain proportion of

these were obtained from Government expeditions and surveys, and material of perhaps equal value through exchange, but by far the largest part of the increase, both in quantity and value, was in the form of gifts.

A census of the collections made in 1884 showed an estimated total of 1,471,000 "lots" of specimens in the Museum. The number at the present time is 2,420,934. The total number of "lots" of specimens received during the year and separately entered on the record of accessions was 1496, including 6890 separate packages. The construction of cases was constantly in progress, and during the year there were received and fitted for use and placed in the exhibition halls 84 cases, chiefly of the standard patterns. Forty-five storage cases were made for use in the laboratories, 5400 wooden drawers and trays, and 54,000 pasteboard trays. There were also purchased 3504 glass jars, for storage and exhibition of alcoholic specimens, and 24 barrels (1115 gallons) of 98 per cent. alcohol.

The distribution of duplicates was much the same as in previous years. About twenty-four thousand specimens were sent out to 118 institutions and societies: those to institutions in the United States are generally gifts, though many were sent in the way of exchange. For all foreign sendings, equivalents in the way of exchange were received or promised.

This

Many interesting details are given as to the various Departments in which the collections of the Museum are grouped. In the Department of Arts and Industries a prominent place is held by the section of textiles, which includes a very full series of the animal and vegetable fibres used throughout the world, together with good representations of devices for spinning and weaving, and of the various products of the textile industries. collection is nearly all permanently installed, provided with printed labels, and illustrated by diagrams. For lack of room, fully half of the material ready for exhibition has been stored away, and the cases prepared for its display are in boxes in the Armoury building. The space assigned to the exhibition series is still so crowded that the objects cannot be satisfactorily examined. To the collection of food substances, in the same Department, is assigned a large quantity of unassorted material. The few cases now on exhibition contain the foods of the North American Indians, of Japan and China, and some of the more curious and unusual articles of diet. There are also two cases of educational importance, which exhibit graphically the composition of the human body and its daily expenditure of tissues, and the manner in which this is compensated for by daily rations of food. This collection is modelled after the famous collection of a similar character prepared by Dr. Lankester and others for the Bethnal Green Museum in London. It is, however, based upon an entirely new series of analyses, and upon a revised plan prepared by Prof. W. O. Atwater, of the Wesleyan University and corresponds to the latest views in physiological chemistry. The collections in chemical technology already have a good nucleus, and the increase during the year in the collections of materia medica was greater than during any previous year except the first. The fisheries collection was opened to the public in May 1884, and since that time there has been constant improvement in the condition of the material exhibited. Some gaps in the series of illustrations of foreign fisheries have been filled by collections received from the Governments of Siam and Japan, and by the extensive collections from Great Britain, Sweden, Spain, France, Holland, and Greece, acquired at the close of the London Exhibition.

Of the collection of historic relics in the Department of Arts and Industries, we learn that it includes several hundred objects of national interest connected with the history of soldiers, statesmen, and important events. Closely related to the historical collection is the series illustrating the history of steam transportation, under the

If there shall in the future result the concentration here at the national capital of the extensive entomological material which naturally comes here, and which in the past has been scattered among specialists in all parts of the country, so that in the future the student may find valuable material to further his work in any order, I shall feel amply

rewarded for the action I have taken."

The Curators of all the Departments complain that in the new Museum building there is not nearly room enough for the display of the treasures placed under their care, and Prof. Baird presses upon the attention of the Board of Regents the urgent necessity for "additional quarters." One of the arguments used by him may, perhaps, not be without effect on public opinion. Efforts are being made to secure that in 1892 the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus-there shall be an exposition, presenting a complete illustration of the New World at that date, and of its progress in the arts and industries in the 400 years intervening. Prof. Baird points out that the collections of the National Museum for the most part tend towards such a display, and expresses his belief that if the new building for which he asks were erected it would be a very easy matter to organise and arrange it with this object in view, without unnecessary labour or great expense, and by the date mentioned, as the result of the current work of the Museum, without any spasmodic or unusual effort.

Of the Bureau of Ethnology we need only say that, during the fiscal year 1885 86, it continued its ethnologic researches among the North American Indians. Enthusiastic investigators carried on mound-explorations, explorations in ancient and modern stone villages, and general field studies. Much good office work was also done. This was, as usual, to a large extent the supplement to, and discussion of, the results obtained by exploration, and was executed by the same officers who had previously sought for materials and information in the field.

We have not space for further details, but probably we have said enough (as far as possible in the words of the Report itself) to indicate the very flourishing condition of the Smithsonian Institution and the establishments associated with it. The Institution is one of which Americans have good reason to be proud, and we cannot doubt that the claim for a new building, advanced by Prof. Baird on behalf of the National Museum, will be promptly and very carefully considered by Congress.

NOTES

PROF. BÉCLARD, Dean of the Medical School of Paris, died a few days ago of pneumonia. He was buried with great ceremony on the 12th inst. A large number of professors and students attended the funeral. His best work is on the thermic phenomena accompanying muscular contraction. He was a pleasant man, of fluent and happy eloquence, and a good writer. His place will probably be filled by Ch. Richet, the editor of the Revue Scientifique.

THE Academy of Vienna intends to have a special meeting for the celebration of the centenary of the death of Father Boscovich, the astronomer. A similar ceremony will take place

at Ragusa, his native place.

WE have received a proof copy of the annual address to the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, delivered by Mr. E. T. Atkinson, the

President, on the 2nd inst. It is an able and very interesting survey of the work done by the Society in the past year, and of the progress made outside the Society in the subjects to which the attention of its members is directed.

THE sixth annual meeting of the Sanitary Assurance Associa

last. Mr. Joseph Hadley, Secretary, read the annual Report, from which it appeared that the business of the Association during 1886 was much greater than in any previous year. The Report said that, of all the properties inspected, in only two Council could certify the sanitary condition of the property cases of first inspection had the arrangements been such that the

without alteration. The Executive Council reported having held several meetings for the purpose of revising the Sanitary Registration of Buildings Bill of 1886, and a new Bill had been prepared for presentation to the House of Commons. In the new Bill, the principle of compulsory registration would be restricted to schools, colleges, hospitals, asylums, hotels, and lodging-houses. On the motion of Mr. Mark H. Judge, seconded by Mr. H. Rutherfurd, the following resolution was unanimously passed :—“That, as soon as the Sanitary Registration of Buildings Bill, 1887, is in the hands of members of the House of Commons, the President of the Local Government Board be asked to receive a deputation in support of the Bill."

ON Tuesday last the forty-first session of the General Medical Council was opened, and an address was delivered, as usual on such occasions, by the President, Dr. Acland, F. R.S. Starting with a reference to the Jubilee, he traced some of the changes which have taken place during the last fifty years in medicine

and in the methods of medical education.

LORD RAYLEIGH will begin a course of six lectures on "Sound" on Saturday, February 26, at the Royal Institution.

IN the latest of his annual reports, President Eliot, of Harvard University, refers to the present position of science in the secondary schools of America. "A serious difficulty," he says, "in the way of getting science well taught in secondary schools has been the lack of teachers who knew anything of inductive reasoning and experimental methods. This he attributes in part to the fact that "good school methods of teaching the sciences have not yet been elaborated and demonstrated," and he urges that "it is the first duty of University departments of science to remove at least this obstacle to the introduction of science into schools."

WE have received the third part of the first volume of "The Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales," second series. It contains the papers read at the meetings held in July, August, and September 1886, and there are four plates. Among the contents are the fifth part of a "Catalogue of the described Coleoptera of Australia," by Mr. George Masters, an elaborate paper on the "Revision of Australian Lepidoptera," by Mr. E. Meyrick, and "Miscellanea Entomologica: No II. The Genus Liparetrus," by Mr. William Macleay.

IN the United States there is a very much larger number of female than of male teachers. According to the Woman's Journa!, men are hardly ever employed in elementary schools in cities, save as principals or as teachers of some special branch. In the ten cities of Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and St. Louis together, there are 12,719 public-school teachers, of whom 11,540 are women. The average percentage of male teachers in these cities is 9.

DR. M. TREUB, Director of the Botanical Gardens in Buitenzorg (Java), will be on furlough in Holland from the beginning of March till the end of November. In Dr. Treub's

absence Dr. W. Burck will serve as Acting Director of the Gardens. Only the correspondence about the Annales du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg, together with private correspondence, is to be addressed to Dr. Treub himself (Voorschoten, near

A FRENCH translation has just been issued of Preyer's "Physiology of the Embryo." This book is a valuable one, dealing with a very obscure subject, and also one of great interest to the physician as well as to the psychologist and physiologist. All the functions of the adult being are in turn considered in the embryo, the differences and similitudes being well pointed out. M. Preyer understands the value of a good method.

on

MM. CHARCOT AND RICHER have issued an interesting book "Les Démoniaques dans l'Art," that is, on hysteria studied in art manifestations of the past. The book contains quite a number of pictures after the old masters, which show that all the convulsions and attributes due to hysteria had been noticed and accurately pictured, although the manifestations were ascribed to diabolical influence The scenes figured in this book relate especially to exorcising and similar feats, and very well illustrate the power of observation of many of the old painters.

A NEW medical paper is to be published shortly in Paris, under Prof. Grancher's direction, at a very low price, containing much matter and appearing twice a week. It will be called the Univers Médical, and the feditor intends to devote a much larger part to foreign news than is usually given in French papers.

M. DUCLAUX, Professor in the Faculty of Sciences, issued on February 12 the first number of a new scientific periodical, the Annales de l'Institut Pasteur, of which he is editor, with a Committee comprising Messrs. Chamberland, Grancher, Nocard, Roux, and Straus. This periodical is to be published monthly, and will contain papers on bacteriology, physiologically and clinically considered. The first number contains a letter from Pasteur, giving very encouraging and positive facts concerning the efficacy of preventive inoculations, obtained in his own laboratory and in those of Russia and Italy.

HERR W. ENGELMANN, of Leipzig, has issued the first num ber of a monthly scientific periodical called Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie. The editors are Profs. W. Ostwald, of Riga, and J. H. van't Hoff, of Amsterdam.

ACCORDING to the American Meteorological Journal, an attempt is about to be made at St. Augustine, Flo., to sink a 12-inch artesian well to a depth sufficient to obtain water hot enough to heat buildings, pure enough for domestic purposes, and with pressure enough to run heavy machinery. Water can be found in Florida by boring 250 feet; and it is known that the artesian wells in that State have considerable pressure, and from a depth of 600 feet send water of warm temperature to a height of 45 feet when piped. The earth's internal heat is already forced into practical service at Pesth, where the deepest artesian well in the world is being sunk to supply hot water for public baths and other purposes. This well supplies daily 176,000 gallons of water heated to 158° F., and the boring is to be continued until the temperature of the water is raised to 176°. Heavy machinery is run by artesian well power in many parts of France, and the experience of the French shows that the deeper the well the greater the pressure and the higher the temperature. At Grenelle, a well sunk to the depth of 1802 feet, and flowing daily 500,000 gallons, has a pressure of 60 lbs. to the square inch, and the water from this well is so hot that it is used for heating the hospitals in the vicinity.

THERE is now ample evidence that the use of oil may be of considerable service in lessening the effect of dangerous seas. In one case the "slick" made by the oil extended 30 feet to windward, and the U.S. Hydrographic Office concludes that the oil is of use when the vessel is reaching ahead at the speed of eight or nine knots, with a beam wind and sea.

HERR SCHILLER, a well-known German architect, reports some facts which are of interest as indicating the radius of the circle of protection of good lightning-rods. On June 17 last, at the village of Mottingen, lightning struck a pear-tree 33 feet high. On one side, 115 feet away, was a school-house, with a rod 56 feet high. On the other side was a church, 328 feet away, and having a lightning-rod reaching up 154 feet. Both rods are well placed, and had worked well when tested, and the level of the foot of the tree is about the same as that of the two

buildings. It is evident, then, if the facts have been accurately reported, that the radius of the circle of protection is not more than twice the height of the rod.

ANOTHER earthquake is reported from Aquila. On the night of February 3, three shocks were felt, two of which were accompanied by strong undulatory motion.

EARTHQUAKES are also reported from the Vilayet Konia, in Asia Minor. On January 8, a subsidence of the ground was noticed at Holan Gola (Feneke district), accompanied with loud subterranean noises; many landslips took place in the adjacent hills. The shocks continued for six days, and the inhabitants of Feneke and the neighbouring villages took refuge in the fields. The earthquakes have destroyed seven villages.

ON January 15 the Hawaiian volcano Mauna Loa began to discharge. Frequent shocks of earthquake were felt. A letter written on January 19 says:— "There have been thirty-six hours' continuous earthquakes. The lava flows down the south slope, and if its course be unchanged it will flow into the sea without doing much damage."

THE Russian traveller M. Ogorodnikoff was told at Meshed that there are tin mines near that city and in various parts of Khorassan. In an article in the Revue Scientifique M. Berthelot points out that this accords with a passage in Strabo, who speaks (book xv. ch. ii. 10) of tin mines in Drangiana, the ancient name for the region now called Southern Khorassan. If there really have been tin mines in this district from time immemorial, there can be little doubt that they supplied the tin for the bronzes of ancient Egypt and Assyria.

THE first zoological station in the tropics has been founded by Dr. Sluiter, at Batavia. This gentleman is already well known by his works on the fauna of the Sunda Islands. The Natural History Society of the Dutch Indies has presented Dr. Sluiter with sufficient means to establish three work-tables with the necessary apparatus, and to purchase a sailing-boat.

The

MR. ABBOTT KINNEY writes to the Los Angeles Weekly Tribune that the floods in Southern California are becoming every year more violent and destructive. The testimony on this point, he says, is uniform, complete, and unimpeachable. streams now nearly all bring down more sand, gravel, and boulders, rise more rapidly, cut away more land, and dry up more quickly than formerly. Valuable valley lands are thus cut away or covered up, and in some cases the streams have spread out and deposited great fan-shaped mounds of sand and boulders. Mr. Kinney attributes the change chiefly to the destruction of forests. The brush and forests on the hills and mountains have been to a large extent swept away, and the result is that there is nothing to hold the water back. The rains do not penetrate into the soil and rocks which supply the springs, but rush suddenly off the mountains as from a roof, carrying the soil first, and then the gravel and boulders with them. The springs, deprived of their supply, diminish. The principal agent in the destruction of the natural verdure and protection of the mountains has been fire. Fires accidentally lighted, fires made by stock-men, bee-men, and fools, are, according to Mr. Kinney, producing effects that must eventually make Southern California a desert.