fluid were quiescent, is easily explained; and the explanation is illustrated by the diagram of curves, § 7 below, with the timevalues given for sugar and common salt. Look at curve No. 1, and think of the corresponding curve with vertical ordinates diminished in the ratio of 1 to 40. The corresponding diffusion would take place for sugar in II seconds, and for salt in 31 seconds. The case so represented would quite correspond to a streaky distribution of brine and water or of syrup and water, in which portions of greatest and least salinity or saccharinity are within half a millimetre of one another. This is just the condition which we see, in virtue of the difference of optic refractivity produced by difference of salinity or of saccharinity, when we stir a tumbler of water with a quantity of undissolved sugar or salt on its bottom. If water be poured very gently on a quantity of sugar or salt in the bottom of a tumbler with violent stirring up guarded against by a spoon-the now almost extinct Scottish species called "toddy ladle" being the best form, or, better still, a little wooden disk which will float up with the water: and if the tumbler be left to itself undisturbed for two or three weeks, the condition at the end of 17 × 105 seconds (twenty days) for the case of sugar, or 5'4 × 105 seconds (six days) for salt, will be that represented by No. 10 curve in the diagram. 6. If the subject be electricity in a submarine cable, the "quality" is electric potential at any point of the insulated conductor. It is only if the cable were a straight line that x would be (as defined above) distance from a fixed plane but the cable need not be laid along a straight line; and the proper definition of x for the application of Fourier's formula to a submarine cable is the distance along the cable from any point of reference (one end of the cable, for example) to any point of the cable. For this case the diffusivity is equal to the conductivity of its conductor, reckoned in electrostatic units, divided by the electrostatic capacity of the conductor per unit length insulated as it is in gutta-percha, with its outer surface wet with sea-water, which, in the circumstances, is to be regarded as a perfect conductor. For demonstration of this proposition see vol. ii. Art. lxxiii. (1855) of my collected papers. 7. Explanation of Diagram showing Progress of Laminar Diffusion.-In each curve at distance ON from initia surface or interface, and at time equal in seconds to ["curve-number"]' divided by sixteen times the diffusivity in square centimetres per second. Prof. G. H. Darwin sent a paper On the Mechanical Conditions of a Swarm of Meteorites and on Theories of Cosmogony. -This is an abstract of a communication made to the Royal Society, in which the author proposes to apply the principles of the kinetic theory of gases to the case of a swarm of meteorites in space. In the author's theory the individual meteorites are considered to be analogous to the molecules of the gas; and thus a swarm of meteorites, in the course of conglomeration into a star, possesses mechanical properties analogous to those of a gas. Lockyer and others have expressed their conviction that the present condition of the solar system is derived from an accretion of meteorites, but the idea of fluid pressure seems necessary for the applicability of any theory like the nebular hypothesis. The author then proposes to reconcile the nebular and meteoric theories by showing that the laws of fluid pressure apply to a swarm of meteorites. The case of a globular swarm of equalsized meteorites is considered, and then the investigation is extended to the case in which the meteorites are of various sizes; the latter extension does not affect the nature of the proof, and only slightly modifies the result. In the case of a swarm of meteorites condensing under the mutual attraction of its parts, the author shows that the larger meteorites will tend to settle towards the centre of condensation, and that consequently the mean size of the meteorites will decrease from the centre towards the outside of the swarm. NOTES. WE mentioned some time ago that the executors of the late Sir William Siemens, desiring to have his biography authori‘Quality” ( represented by NP). tatively published, had placed its preparation in the hands of Ratio of the velocity at N to the constant velocity at Current-density Ratio of temperature minus mean temperature to mean temperature Ratio of density minus mean density to mean density Ratio of potential at N to constant potential at end Dr. William Pole, F.R.S., Honorary Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers, who had long been a personal friend of Sir William and his family. The work is now finished, and will be published immediately, in one volume, by Mr. Murray. It will be followed by other volumes, containing reprints of Sir William's most important scientific papers, lectures, and addresses, edited by his secretary, Mr. E. F. Bamber. City parochial charities, the Charity Commissioners are to acquire the buildings, with seven acres of land, at present occupied by the Royal Naval School at New Cross; and from the same source they will set apart an endowment of £2500 per annum. This will be met by the Goldsmiths' Company by the appropriation out of their corporate funds (not trust funds, but funds over which they have absolute control) of an annual endowment of a similar amount-a gift equal to a sum of £85,coo. It is intended that the new Institute shall be called "The Goldsmiths' Company's (New Cross) Institute." It is satisfactory to learn that all the scientific work connected with the Fishery Board for Scotland is now absolutely in the hands of a small Committee, of which Prof. Ewart is convener, and that the Board has at last a scientific secretary. A Special Committee on Bait, appointed by the Secretary for Scotland, began its sittings on Monday. THE first meeting of the Council of the Sanitary Institute, which has recently been incorporated, was held at the Parkes Museum last Friday. Sir Douglas Galton, K.C. B., F. R.S., was unanimously appointed Chairman of the Council, and Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., the registrar. The Institute is founded to carry on the work of the amalgamated Sanitary Institute of Great Britain and the Parkes Museum, and it was decided to hold the Institute's first examination for local surveyors and inspectors of nuisances on November 8 and 9. A programme of lectures for the winter session is being prepared. A letter was read from the Charity Commissioners saying that they considered that the new Institute was likely to prove a powerful means for the diffusion of sanitary knowledge, and promising to place at its disposal, for the delivery of lectures, the buildings which the Commissioners propose to establish in various parts of London. THE delegates to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures are hard at work at the Pavillon de Ereteuil, near St. Cloud. They are taking steps to verify the "prototype metres' which have been executed at the expense of the French Government, and are to be delivered to the various nations which have crdered them. The expenditure of this establishment, which is supported by contributions from several nations, amounts to £4000. The head of the administration is M. Broch, a Norwegian astronomer and meteorologist. Turkey is nominally one of the subscribing nations, but she has never contributed a farthing to the funds of the Bureau, and some time ago the other nations were obliged to subscribe a supplementary sum to make good the deficiency. THE School of Art Wood-carving, City and Guilds Institute, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, has been re-opened after the usual summer vacation, and we are requested to state that one or two of the free Studentships in the evening classes maintained by means of funds granted to the school by the Institute are vacant. To bring the benefits of the school within the reach of artisans, a remission of half-fees for the evening class is made to artisan students connected with the wood carving trade. Forms of application for the free Studentships and any further particulars relating to the school may be obtained from the manager. Saturday evening. Prof. Ewing gave an interesting account of the progress which has lately been made in the teaching c science in Dundee. HERR HERNSHEIM, the German Consul at Matupi, one of the South Sea Islands, has presented his native town, Mayence. with an ethnological collection which gives an interesting picture of the manners, customs, and conditions of life of the inhabitants of the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Caroline, Marsha", Pelew, and Solomon Groups. TOWARDS the cost of the University just opened in Tomsk, Count Demidoff contributed £9000, M. Cybulsky £7500, and the State the balance, £22,000. M. Sibiriakoff has made a donation of £8500 for scientific Scholarships. THE Hon. A. C. Houen, a Norwegian resident at Rome, has presented the Christiania University with £6500 for the purpose of founding scientific Scholarships. He recently gave the same institution £10,000 for a like object. AT a recent meeting of the Geographical Society of Stockholm, Dr. F. Svenonius read a paper on the origin and present state of the glaciers of Europe, dividing them into Alpine, Greenland, and Scandinavian. Referring to the latter, Dr. Svenonius stated that the glaciers of Sweden, to which he hal devoted years of study, were far more important than was generally imagined. They could be divided into some twenty different groups, all being situated between 67° and 68§° lat. N., i.e. between the sources of the Pile River and Lake Torne. They number upwards of one hundred, and cover a total area of at least 400 square kilometres. The largest is the Sorjik group. the area of which is between 65 and 75 square kilometres. THE great "Bibliography of Meteorology," at which Mr. C. J. Sawyer, of the United States Signal Service, has been working for some years, is now completed. It comes down to the year 1881, inclusive; and Mr. Sawyer estimates that it contains 50,000 independent titles. General Greely, the Chief Signal Officer, is anxious that the work should be printed ; and in his last Annual Report he pointed out that, if this were done, future international co-operation would probably secure, by a system of rotation, from the various European Governments, the publication of a series of supplements which would keep the world abreast of the steadily increasing volume of meteorological publications. THE Administration Report of the Meteorological Reporter to the Government of Bengal for the year 1887-88 states that it has been decided to submit, for two years only, brief accounts of the principal points, while every third year a detailed Report is to be prepared. The present Report is the first of the triennial series. The most important changes during the year have been in the storm-signal service. Until recently, regular stormsignals were not allowed by the port authorities to be displayed in Calcutta, so that ships on several occasions left their safe anchorage in the port, and were proceeding down the river, before they became aware of the display of storm-signals. This condition has, however, been completely changed during the year 1887-88, and signals are now shown, by orders of the Bengal Reporter, in Calcutta, and have been extended to all the ports from the south of Burmah down to the extreme south of the Madras Presidency, or, roughly speaking, he has to warn a coast-line of about 2400 miles in length. His work and responsi bility have therefore been very decidedly increased. The obser vations for the weather service are now taken at 8 a. m. instead of 10 am. The advantage of this change, for the issue of storm-warnings in useful time, is obvious. THE Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean for September shows that the weather during August was generally fine over that ocean. Gales of varying force, however, occurred about once a week over the steam-ship routes. On the 13th and 14th a depression moved along the coast of New England, and | reached Newfoundland on the 15th; from this position it moved to the eastward, and appears to have reached this country. No other storm crossed the ocean entirely. Less fog was encountered than is usual during August, and with the exception of a few bergs in the Straits of Belleisle no ice was reported during the month. M. G. ROLLIN, of the French Meteorological Office, has published in the Annales of that institution a valuable article entitled "Remarks on Synoptic Charts." He has carefully examined day by day the movements of the atmosphere, with the view of determining the possibility of predicting the arrival of storms coming from the Atlantic. His experience of the American telegrams coincides with that arrived at in this country, that they cannot at present be turned to practical use in weather prediction. But he has made a serious attempt to render them useful in the future, by the establishment of certain types which connect the weather of the Atlantic with that of the adjacent continents, and he finds that many conditions, without being actually identical, are sufficiently alike to be classified together. His concluding remarks, however, show that much further investigation is necessary before any definite rules can be laid down, and that the atmospheric changes are often so rapid that the difficulties of weather prediction on the exposed coasts of Europe are likely to remain very great for a long time to cone. A BEAUTIFUL crystalline substance of much theoretic interest was exhibited at the recent Bath meeting by its discoverer, Prof. Emerson Reynolds, F.R.S., of Dublin University. Its mode of formation and analysis prove that it is Si(NHCH5)4, or silicotetraphenylamide. It is the first well-defined compound in which silicon is exclusively united with the nitrogen of amidic groups, and is formed by the action of excess of phenylamine on silicon tetrabromide. The new compound crystallizes from carbon disulphide in fine transparent, colourless prisms, which melt sharply at 132°. When heated in vacuo, aniline distils over, and a residue is obtained which appears to be the silicon analogue of carbodiphenylimide. Considering the important part which silicon plays in Nature, and its close resemblance to carbon-which affords a large number of important nitrogen compounds-it is surprising that little is yet known of the relations of silicon and nitrogen. The investigation of the new substance is likely to throw much light on this general question. AT the same meeting Prof. Emerson Reynolds also exhibited a number of new silicon compounds of a different type from that above noticed. They were obtained by the action of silicon tetrabromide on the primary thiocarbamide and some of its derivatives. The products are addition compounds: that obtained with the primary thiocarbamide has the formula (H,N,CS), SiBr, and analogous compounds were formed with allyl, phenyl, and diphenyl-thiocarbamides. The allyl product is a colourless and very viscous liquid, the others are vitreous solids at ordinary temperature. When the primary thiocarbamide compound is dissolved by ethylic alcohol, it is decomposed, and affords tetra- and tri-thiocarbamide derivatives free from silicon. The first of these products is a fine crystalline substance, whose formula is (H,N,CS),NBr; the second is a sulphinic compound, (H5N2CS),Br. C2H Br. Prof. Reynolds succeeded in effecting the synthesis of the first compound by the direct union of thiocarbamide with ammonium bromide, and subsequently pro duced a series of similar bodies by substituting for ammonium bromide the bromides, iodides, and chlorides of ammonium bases. Although the derivatives of thiocarbamide are very numerous, only those were known which result from one or two molecules of the amide; but the existence of the new compounds exhibited by Prof. E. Reynolds proves that thiocarbamide can afford much more highly-condensed products. AN important quantitative reaction between iodine and arseniuretted hydrogen has recently been investigated by Dr. Otto Brunn. During a series of attempts to completely eliminate arseniuretted hydrogen from sulphuretted hydrogen prepared from materials containing arsenic, it was found that this could be completely effected by passing the mixture over a layer of iodine. The mixed gases were first dried by passage through a calcium chloride tube, and were then led through a tube 12 mm. wide, containing the layer of powdered iodine; a plug of glass wool moistened with potassium iodide to remove vapour of iodine was placed at the end of the layer, and attached to the extremity of the tube were a couple of flasks containing lead acetate solution to absorb the sulphuretted hydrogen. On removing the iodine tube and heating the issuing gas in the usual drawn out form of hard glass tube, a fine mirror of metallic arsenic was deposited, but after insertion of the iodine tube not a trace of deposit was obtained, while a yellow coating of iodide of arsenic was formed upon the surface of the iodine. This led Dr. Brunn to experimentally determine whether the reaction was quantitative or not. Equal volumes of a mixture of hydrogen and arseniuretted hydrogen were passed in two successive experiments through a solution of silver nitrate in the one case, and over a layer of iodine 25 cm. long in the other. As is well known, silver nitrate is quantitatively reduced by the hydride of arsenic to metallic silver, the arsenic being oxidized to arsenious acid. It was found that the amount of arsenic absorbed by the iodine was exactly equal to that absorbed by the silver nitrate, and hence the iodine reaction is happily found to be also a quantitative one. Chemists have therefore a ready means of freeing both hydrogen and sulphuretted hydrogen from the last traces of this most objectionable hydride of arsenic. It was finally shown that hydride of antimony behaves in a precisely similar manner with iodine. THE Trustees of the Australian Museum have issued their Report for 1887. The total number of visitors was 122,799, as against 127,231 in 1886. This Museum is open on Sundays from 2 o'clock to 5, and the privilege seems to be much appreciated. The average daily attendance throughout the year was 330 on week-days and 709 on Sundays. The collections of the Museum are being steadily increased, mainly by purchases, exchanges, and donations, but also by collecting and dredging expeditions sent out by the authorities of the institution. An expedition, under the charge of Messrs. Cairn and Grant, to the Bellenden Ker Ranges, in Northern Queensland, resulted in obtaining for the Museum about sixty-eight species (198 specimens) of birds, and eleven species (thirty-five specimens) of mammals, seven of which are new to the Museum, and three are new to science; besides a number of insects and other Invertebrates. The Trustees were enabled also during the year to send an Expedition to Lord Howe Island, in company with the Visiting Magistrate, Mr. H. T. Wilkinson. The Ethnological Hall referred to in last year's Report has been fitted up with cases, and the valuable ethnological collections, mostly acquired during recent years, are arranged there. The Trustees anticipate that this will prove to be "not the least interesting portion of the Museum." AN interesting "Hand-book of Sydney" has been published for the use of the members of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science. The editor is Mr. W. M. Hamlet, Government Analyst, Sydney. His object is to give an epitome of the history, meteorology, geology, flora, and fauna of Sydney and the surrounding neighbourhood, together with a brief account of the commerce and industries which have grown up in the mother country of Australia during the first half-century. THE Royal Society of Canada has issued its Proceedings and Transactions during the year 1887. This is the fifth volume of the series. Among the papers (some of which are in French) we may note the following: the Eskimo, by Franz Boas; notes and observations on the Kwakiool people of the northern part of Vancouver Island, and adjacent coasts, made during the summer of 1885, with a vocabulary of about seven hundred words, by George M. Dawson; on the Indians and Eskimos of the Ungava District, Labrador, by Lucien M. Turner; on a specimen of Canadian native platinum from British Columbia, by G. Christian Hoffmann; microscopic petrography of the drift of Central Ontario, by A. P. Coleman; Michel Sarrazin matériaux pour servir à l'histoire de la science en Canada, by the Abbé Laflamme; a review of Canadian botany from the first settlement of New France to the nineteenth century, : by D. P. Penhallow; illustrations of the fauna of the St. John group, by G. F. Matthew; squirrels, their habits and intelligence, with especial reference to feigning, by T. Wesley Mills. THE first volume of the "Geological Record," for 1880-84 (inclusive), has just been published. The second volume is partly in type, and will be ready by the end of the year. The editors are Mr. W. Topley and Mr. C. Davies Sherborn. Three alterations have been made in this issue of the "Record." Titles only are given physical geology is all included under one heading, instead of three as heretofore; supplements are abolished, titles omitted from previous years appearing in the main text. ACCORDING to the Report of the Committee of Council on Education (England and Wales) for the past year, the class subjects under the head of "Elementary Science" have practically not been taught in the elementary schools throughout the country. Only thirty-nine schools have taken up any of these subjects, while geography, for instance, has been taught in 12,035 schools. With regard to the training colleges for teachers it has of late years been arranged that success in the examinations in science held by the Science and Art Department should be reckoned in fixing the students' places in the class list of candidates for certificates as teachers of public schools. It is curious that in the training colleges in Wales-Bangor, Carmarthen, and Carnarvon-not a single student presented himself in mathematics, theoretical mechanics, animal physiology, or inorganic chemistry; and out of 713 male students who passed the examinations in science under the Science and Art Department before entering training colleges in the country only seven passed in applied mechanics, nine in organic chemistry, and six in botany. Amongst the female students who passed the Science and Art Department, animal physiology and physiography were the favourite subjects, while not one passed in applied mechanics, only one in theoretical mechanics, and three in organic chemistry. We have received a copy of "Rural School Education in Agriculture (Scotland)," the opening lecture delivered to an agricultural class of rural teachers in the University of Edinburgh by Prof. Robert Wallace. At the outset he gives a short history of agricultural education in the University of Edinburgh (the Chair was founded in 1790), and comments on the fact that the students attending his classes are rural schoolmasters from every county in Scotland. Last year a Government grant of £300 to the University enabled the Senate to arrange special classes for his hearers. The students, he says, are not intended to be farmers. They are to be, so to speak, literary experts on agricultural matters, who are to direct the minds of lads in rural districts into proper channels, and to stir up amongst them an intelligent curiosity as to the animal and plant life around them. A suggestion made by Prof. Wallace as to the formation of libraries for the help of the rural teachers is worthy of attention. Each of these libraries should have a cyclopædia of agriculture, and one guinea a year should be expended on each to provide some leading agricultural periodical. This is all that would be absolutely necessary. He also advocates the changing of the text-books at present in use in agricultural classes in Scotland. THE additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Patas Monkey (Cercopithecus patas ) from West Africa, presented by Master Lewis Levy; a Drill Baboon (Cynocephalus leucophæus ) from West Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. Richardson; a Rhesus Monkey (Macaca rhesus) from India, presented by Miss Jessie Bone; a Common Marmoset (Hapale jacchus) from Brazil, presented by Mis Demerara, presented by Mr. Robert Sentonally; two Grey Maud Bryden; a Ring-tailed Coati (Nasua rufa g) froz Ichneumons (Herpestes griseus & 9) from India, presented respectively by Mr. A. Cresser and Miss Alice Rutherford; two West African Love Birds (Agapornis pullaria) from West Africa, presented by Miss Ethel Levy; a Salt-water Terrapin (Clemmys terrapin) from North America, presented by Mr. Nicholas Fenwick Hele; four Blue-bearded Jays (Cyanocorax cyanopogon) from Para, a Violaceous Night Heron (Nycticoras violaceus) from South America, purchased; a Laughing Kingfisher (Dacelo gigantea) from Australia, deposited. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. THE LIGHT-CURVE OF U OPHIUCHI.-Mr. S. C. Chandler investigated the light-curve of this most interesting variable about a year ago (NATURE, vol. xxxvii. p. 36), and found en dence of a slight shortening of the period. Mr. Chandler's light-curve also showed an irregularity in the increase of light after minimum, similar to that which Schönfeld had already tion, that is, in the speed of recovery almost amounting to 3 exhibited in the light-curves of Algol and S Cancri-a dimina short halt. It is evident that it is of great importance to decide whether this irregularity is due merely to 'some personality of the observer, or is truly characteristic of the star's variation, for in the latter case it would be difficult to reconcile it with the view now generally held that the variability of stars of the Algol type is due to the transit of a dark satellite. Mr. Sawyer has recently published (Gould's Astronomical Journal, No. 177) the light-curve from his own observations, which are 527 number, made on 57 nights, and involve 1135 comparisons. Mr. Sawyer's curve shows an irregularity similar to but slighter than that of Mr. Chandler's, but the retardation takes place sooner after the minimum, and the mean of the two curves gives an almost perfectly symmetrical curve for both decrease and recovery. It would seem likely, therefore, that for this star at least this curious irregularity is a purely subjective one, and the regularity of the mean curve would seem to afford confirmation to the satellite theory. in Oct. 11, 1888] NATURE * Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding evening and the setting that of the following morning. Oct. Occultations of Stars by the Moon (visible at Greenwich). 16 74 Aquarii B.A.C. 8214 16 20 Oct. 20 μ Ceti U Cephei T Monocerotis U Geminorum ... 21 21 61/ ... Reap. h. m. 23 39 o 41+ ... + Occurs on the following morning. R Camelopardalis. 14 26'1 T Ophiuchi... 16 27'3 U Ophiuchi... 17 10'9 Z Sagittarii. ... ... 18 14.8 ... ... ... ... Decl. 8i 16 N. 3 29 S. 7 9 N. 22 18 N. 15 54 S. I 20 N. Oct. 16, 3 M M crossed it at three different places, and thus obtained an insight Most THE French Maritime Survey is sending a special mission to ELECTRICAL NOTES. PROF. FITZGERALD (B. A. Address, Section A), in drawing attention to Hertz's experiments, has done the greatest possible service to electrical science. Hertz not only proves the existence of the ether, but the fact that an electric field is due to the oscillatory motions of the ether. Everyone who has the means will probably be repeating these experiments. The Electrician is publishing a capital résumé of Hertz's work by Mr. De TunzelProf. Fitzgerald himself had predicted this result at Southport in 1882, and Prof. Oliver Lodge has actually measured these wave-lengths-the shortest ether wave measured being 3 yards by extremely simple and beautiful experiments. ACHESON (NATURE, July 26, p. 305) is pursuing in Pittsburg his inquiry into the influence of the disruptive discharges of He confirms his formula, powerful alternating currents. 84 20 N. M 18, M Ο Μ 0 M Air 14, 3 O m Air Paraffin and cotton 18 55 S. 33 14 N. 43 48 N. ... 20 476 ... 34 14 N. 22 250... 57 51 N. ... M signifies maximum; m minimum. ... Meteor-Showers. R.A. Geminorum 90 105 a constant, and finds for 16, 23 O m Slow; trained. The Orionids. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. WE notice in the last number of the Izvestia of the East Siberian Geographical Society (vol. xix. 1), a most interesting note, by L. A. Jaczewski, on the geological results of the last The immense border-ridge of the great Sayan expedition. plateau of East Asia, which stretches from the sources of the Iya to Lake Baikal, was very little known. Many explorers have visited the valleys of the Irkut and Oka which flow at its northern base, but very few have crossed it, and if they crossed the huge ridge, it was mostly to the north of Lake Kosogol, where a broad passage is opened from the lowlands to the high plateau. The Expedition of MM. Prein and Jaczews Ozite and cotton. Ozite is a residuum of petroleum. LENARD and Howard (Electrotechnik Zeitschrift, July 1888), have succeeded in making flat spirals of pure bismuth which, in the magnetic field, vary in resistance from 10 to 20 ohms, according to the strength of the field, and form a good practical mode of roughly measuring its intensity as suggested by Leduc. DR. BORGMAN, of St. Petersburg (Phil. Mag., September 1888), has been experimenting on the transmission of electric currents through air when flames or points are used as electrodes. Some years ago, Prof. Hughes showed many of his friends similar experiments with telephones, but for some reason or other he has never published the results. The experiments were extremely interesting, as indeed are those of Borgman, who finds a difference in the surface resistance of the cathode and anode flames. He attributes much to the influence of light as studied by Hertz, Hallwachs, Wiedemann and Ebert, and Arrhenius. These results have a very important bearing on the new views of electrical action that are following from the inquiries of Fitzgerald, Hertz, Lodge, and others. AN extremely suggestive and very original paper was read at the British Association by Prof. Hicks, "On a Vortex Analogue of Static Electricity." Attractions, repulsions, lines of force, charge, positive and negative electrification, induction, |