The Teaching of Botany. I Do not think there is at present any book in English giving practical instructions for experiments in Physiological Botany. There is, however, an excellent book of this kind in German, Dr. W. Detmer's "Das pflanzen-physiologische Prakt.kum," published by Gustav Fischer, Jena, 1888. This, no doubt, contains all that your correspondent "A. H. (NATURE, ante, p. 151) requires, though it is perhaps somewhat more advanced than is necessary for school teaching. D. H. SCOTT. Old Palace, Richmond, Surrey. THE ORIGIN OF THE YEAR.1 IV. THE HE reformation of the Egyptian calendar, to be gathered, as I suggested in my last article, from the decree of Tanis, is not, however, the point to which reference is generally made in connection with the decree. The attempt recorded by it to get rid of the vague year is generally dwelt on. Although the system of reckoning which was based on the vague year had advantages with which it has not been sufficiently credited, undoubtedly it had its drawbacks. The tetramenes, with their special symbolism of flood, seed, and harvest time, had apparently all meant each in turn; however, the meanings of the signs were changed, the "winter season" occurred in this way in the height of summer, the "sowing time" when the whole land was inundated, and there was no land to plant, and so on. Each festival, too, swept through the year. Still, it is quite certain that information was given by the priests each year in advance, so that agriculture did not suffer; for if this had not been done, the system, instead of dying hard, as it did, would have been abolished thousands of years before. Before I proceed to state shortly what happened with regard to the fixing of the year, it will be convenient here to state a suggestion that has occurred to me, on astronomical grounds, with regard to the initial change of gn. It is to be noted that in the old tables of the months, instead of Sirius leading the year, we have Texi with the two eathers of Amen. In later times this is changed to Sirius. I believe it is generally acknowledged that the month tables at the Ramesseum is the oldest one we have; there is a variant at Edfu. They both run as follows, and no doubt they had their origin when a 1st Thoth coincided with an heliacal rising and Nile flood. Amen-t; but in later copies of the table the symb changed to that of Sirius. This, then, looks lik: change of cult depending upon the introduction of a re star-that is, a star indicating by its heliacal rising Nile rise after the one first used had become useless such a purpose. I have said that the Ramesseum month list is proba the oldest one we have. It is considered by some date only from Ramses II., and to indicate a fixed ye such, however, is not Krall's opinion. He writes:The latest investigations of Dümichen show that calendar of Medinet-Abu is only a copy of the orig composed under Ramses II. about 120 years before. I "But the true original of the calendar of Medinet does not even date from the time of Ramses II. I known to every Egyptologist how little the time of th Ramessids produced what was truly original, how just this time restricted itself to a reproduction of traditions of previous generations. In the calenda Medinet-Abu we have (p. 48) not a fixed year instituta. under Ramses II., but the normal year of the old tine vague year, as it was, to use Dschewhari's words que above (p. 852), in the first year of its institution, the ye as it was before the Egyptians had made two unwelc observations: First, that the year of 365 days did correspond to the reality, but shifted by one day in for years with regard to the seasons; secondly-which course took a much longer time-that the rising of St ceased to coincide with the beginning of the Nile f "We are led to the same conclusion by a conside. tion of the festivals given in the calendar of MedinetThey are almost without exception the festivals #2 we have found in our previous investigation of it calendars of Esne and Edfu to be attached to the s days. We know already the Uaya festival of the and 18th Thoth, the festival of Hermes of the Thoth, the great feast of Amen beginning on the Paophi, the Osiris festivals of the last decade of Cho and that of the coronation of Horu: on the 1st Tybi. "Festivals somehow differing from the ancient tra tions, and general usage are unknown in the calendar Medinet-Abu, and it is just such festivals which to enabled us to trace fixed years in the calendars of E and Esne. "We are as little justified in considering the my logico-astronomical representations and inscriptions! the graves of the time of the Ramessids as founded o fixed year, as we can do this in the case of the Medie Abu calendar. In this the astronomical element of calendar is quite overgrown by the mythological. Y only was the daily and yearly course of the sun a important event for the Egyptian astronomer, but > priest also had in his sacred books many mytholog records concerning the god Ra, which had to be ta into account in these representations. The mytholog ideas dated from the oldest periods of Egyptian hister we shall, therefore, be obliged for their explanation to remain in the 13th or 14th century before Chr but to ascend into previous centuries; I should N about the middle of the fourth millennium before Chr that is the time at which the true original of the Mott Abu calendar was framed. Further we must in the mythological and astronomical representations not e look the fact that we cannot expect them to s mathematical accuracy-that, on the contrary, if th a consideration, we must proceed with the gre caution. We know now how inexact were the represe tions and texts of tombs, especially where the Egy artist could suppose that no human eye would in-pe work; we also know how often representations stops for want of room, and how much the contents mutilated for the sake of symmetry." id it may be gathered from this that the Calendar was organized' when the Sirius worship came in and that change effected in 619 B.C. brought the hieroglyphic ns back to their natural meaning and first use. Before I pass on it may be convenient in connection th the above month-tables to refer in the briefest way the mythology relating to the yearly movement of the n, in order to show that when this question is considered all, if it helps us with regard to the mythology concted with the rising and setting of stars, it will as uredly help us with regard to the mythology of the ious changes which occur throughout the year. We have, as we have seen, in the Egyptian year really prototype of our own. The Egyptians, thousands of irs ago, had an almost perfect year containing twelve nths, but instead of four seasons they had three, the e of the sowing, the time of the harvest, and the time of inundation. Unfortunately, at various times in yptian history, the symbols for the tetramenes seem to ve got changed. The above-given inscriptions show that they had a Little child = Winter solstice. = Old man = Autumnal equinox. With the day of the summer solstice the sun reaches greatest northern rising amplitude, and at the winter lice its greatest southern amplitude. By the solstices year is divided into two approximately equal parts; ng the one the points of rising move southwards, ng the other northwards. is phenomenon, it is stated, was symbolized by the eyes of Ra, the so-called Utchats, which look in difit directions. They appear as representing the sun e two halves of the year. e have next to discuss the fixed year, to which the otian chronologists were finally driven in later otian times. e decree of Tanis was the true precursor of the odwin has already asked, "Does the Smith Papyrus refer to some sation of the Calendar made in the 4th Dynasty, similar to that made ope from the old to the new style," quoted by Riel, Sonnen- und Jahr," p. 361. Julian correction of the calendar. In consequence of this correction we now add a day every four years to the end of February. The decree regulated the addition, by the Egyptians, of a day every four years by adding a day to the epacts, which were thus 6 every four years instead of being always 5 as they had been before. In fact it replaced the vague year by the sacred year long known to the priests. But if everything had gone on then as the priests of Tanis imagined, the Egyptian new year's day, if determined by the heliacal rising of Sirius, would not always afterwards have been the 1st of Payni, although the solstice and Nile flood would have been due at Memphis about the 1st of Pachons; and this is, perhaps, one among the reasons why the decree was to a large extent ignored. Hence, for some years after the date of the decree of Tanis there were at least three years in force: the new fixed year, the new vague year, reckoning from Pachons, and the old vague year, reckoning from Thoth. But after some years another attempt was made to get rid of all this confusion. The time was 23 B.C., 216 years after the decree of Tanis, and the place was Alexandria. Hence the new fixed year introduced is termed the Alexandrine year. This new attempt obviously implied that the first one had failed; and the fact that the vague year was continued in the interval is sufficiently demonstrated by the fact that the new year was 216-54 days en retard. In the year of Tanis it is stated that the 1st Pachons, the new New Year's Day,the real beginning of the flood, fell on the 19th of June (Gregorian), the summer solstice, and hence the 1st of Thoth fell on the 22nd of October (Gregorian). In the Alexandrine year the 22nd of October is represented by the 29th of August, and the 19th of June by the 20th of April. It is noteworthy that in the Alexandrine year the heliacal rising of Sirius on the 23rd of July (Julian) falls on the 29th of Epiphi, nearly the same date as that to which I first drew attention in the inscriptions of the date of Thotmes and Pepi. This, however, it is now clearly seen, is a pure accident, due to the break of continuity before the Tanis year, and the slip between that and the Alexandrine one. It is important to mention this, because it has been thought that somehow the "Alexandrine year" was in use in Pepi's time! It would seem that the Alexandrine revision was final, and that the year was truly fixed, and from that time to this it has remained so, and must in the future for ever remain so. It must never be forgotten that we owe this perfection to the Egyptians. One of the chief uses of the Egyptian calendar that has come down to us was the arrangement and dating of the chief feasts throughout the year in the different temples. The fact that the two great complete feast calendars of Edfu and Esne refer to the only fixed years evidenced by records, those of Tanis and Alexandria, one of which was established over 200 years after the other, is of inestimable value for the investigation of the calendar and chronology of ancient Egypt. In an excellent work of Brugsch, "Three Festival Calendars from the Temple of Apollinopolis Magna (Edfu) in Upper Egypt," we have two calendars which we can refer to fixed years, and can date with the greatest accuracy. In the case of one of these, that of Esne, this is universally recognized; as to the other, that of Apollinopolis Magna, we are indebted to the researches of Krall, who points out, however, that "it is only when the province of Egyptian mythology has been dealt with in all directions, that we can undertake a successful explanation of the festival catalogues. Even externally they show the greatest eccentricities, which are not diminished but increased on a closer investigation." About some points, however, there is no question. The summer solstice is attached in the Edfu calendar to the 6th Pachons, according to Krall, while the beginning of the flood is noted on the Ist of that month. In the Esne calendar, the 26th Payni is New Year's Day. We read :"26th Payni, New Year's Day, Feast of the Revelation of Kahi in the Temple. To dress the crocodiles, as in the month of Mechir, day 8." Peculiar to the Esne calendar, according to Krall, is the mentioning of the "New Year's Festival of the Ancestors" on the 9th of Thoth; to the Edfu calendar, publication No. 1 of Brugsch, the festival "of the offering of the first of the harvested fruits, after the precept of King Amenemha I.," on the 1st Epiphi, and "the celebration of the feast of the great conflagration" on the 9th of Mechir. In feast calendar No. 1, the reference to the peculiar Feast of Set, is also remarkable, this was celebrated twice, first in the first days of Thoth (? 9th?), then, as it appears, in Pachons (10th). This feast is well known to have been first mentioned under the old Pharaoh Pepi Merinrā. It is a question whether in the new year of the ancestors and the feasts of Set, all occurring about the 9th Thoth and Pachons, we have not Memphis Festivals which gave way to Theban ones, for so far as I can make out the flood takes about nine days to pass from Thebes to Memphis, so that in Theban time the arrival of the flood at Memphis would occur on 9th or 10th Thoth. There is no difficulty about the second dating in Pachons, for as we have seen this followed on the reconstruction of the calendar. It is also worthy of note that the feast of the "Great Conflagration" took place very near the Spring Equinox. It is well to dwell for a moment on the Edfu inscriptions to see if we can learn from them whether they bear out or not the views brought forward with regard to this reconstruction. As we have seen it is now acknowledged that the temple inscriptions at Edfu (which are stated to have been cut between 117 and 81 B.C.) are based upon the fixed year of Tanis; hence we should expect that the rising of Sirius would be referred to on Payni, and this is so. But here, as in the other temples, we get double dates referring to the old calendars, and we find the "wounding of Set" referred to on the 1st Epiphi and the rising of Sirius referred to under I Mesori. Now this means, if the old vague year is referred to, as it most probably is, that 5 Epacts 30 Mesori 35 x 4 = 140 years had elapsed since the beginning of a Sothic cycle, when the calendar coincidences were determined, which were afterwards inscribed on the temple walls. We have, then, 140 years to subtract from the beginning of the cycle in 270 B.C. This gives us 130 B.C., and it will be seen that this agrees as closely as can be expected with my view, whereas the inscription has no meaning at all if we take the date given by Censorinus. I quote from Krall another inscription common to Edfu and Esne, which seems to have astronomical significance. I. Phamenot. Festival of the suspension of the sky by Ptah, by the side of the god Harschaf, the master of Heracleopolis Magna (A1). Festival of Ptah. Feast of the suspension of the sky (Es). "Under the 1st Phamenot, Plutarch, de Iside ac Osiride c. 43, b, notices the ἔμβασις Οσίριδος εἰς τὴν σenny. These are festivals connected with the celebration of the winter solstice, and the filling of the Uza On the 7th Epiphi of the 10th year of Ptolemy III. the ceremony of the stretching of the cord took place, Dümicher., Aëg. Z. 2, 1872, p. 41. 2 Op. cit., p. 37. eye on the 30th Mechir. Perhaps the old year, which Egyptians introduced into the Nile valley at the time their immigration, and which had only 360 days, c menced with the winter solstice. Thus we should in the festival of the suspension of the sky,' by: ancient god Ptah-venerated as creator of the work remnant of the time when the winter solstice marked the beginning of the year, and also the creatic The reconstruction of the calendar naturally enhan the importance of the month Pachons; this comes very clearly from the inscriptions translated by Brugs On this point Krall remarks: "It is therefore quite right that the month Pache which took the place of the old Thoth by the decree of Ta should play a prominent part in the feast calendars of days of the Ptolemies, and the first period of the Eng in general, but especially in the Edfu calendar, refers to the Tanitic year. The first five days of Pack are dedicated in our calendar to the celebration of t subjection of the enemies by Horus; we at once member the above mentioned (p. 7) record of Ecf the nature of a mythological calendar, describing advent of the Nile flood. On the 6th of Pachons member the great importance of the sixes in the Pe mæan records-the solstice is then celebrated. Uza-eye is then filled, a mythical act which we have z another place referred to the celebration of the sol and "everything is performed which is ordained" inbook "on the Divine Birth." Next let us turn to Esne. The inscriptions here stated to be based on the Alexandrian year, but only find 1st Thoth given as New Year's Day, 26 Payni given as the beginning of the Nile flood. Now I have already stated that the Alexandrine was practically a fixing of the vague Tanis year; thi a year beginning on 1st Pachons in 239 B.C. If we assume the date of the calendar coincides recorded at Esne to have been 15 B.C. (we know was after 23 B.C. and at the end of the Roman minion), we have as before, seeing that, if the vague T year had really continued, it would have swept with regard to the Nile flood, Pachons 30 Payni 26 fore 56 × 4 224 years after 239 B.C. This double dating, then, proves the continuation o vague year of Tanis if the date 15 B.C. of the inscr is about right. Can we go further and find a trace of the old beginning 270 B.C.? In this case we should have rising of Sirius 270 15 4)255 years 64 = say 5 Epacts and 2 months. This would give us 1 Epiphi. Is this mentioned Esne calendar? Yes, it is, "1 Epiphi. To perfor precepts of the book on the second divine birth child Kahi." Now the 26th Payni, the new New's Year Day, bət ciated with the "revelation of Kahi," so it is not sible that "the second divine birth" may have dim reference to the feast. It is not necessary to pursue this intricate further in this place; so intricate is it that, altho.... suggestions I have ventured to make on astro grounds seem consistent with the available facts are suggestions only, and a long labour on the Egyptologists will be needed before we can be be on firm ground. J. NORMAN LOCK PROPOSED HANDBOOK TO THE BRITISH I. From Colenterata :-Genus ANTENNULARIA. MARINE FAUNA. TH HE admirable monographs issued under the auspices of the Ray Society, and in Van Voorst's series, by such well-known authorities as Forbes and Hanley, Alder and Hancock, M‘Intosh, Allman, Hincks, Brady, Norman, and others, are amongst the most creditable and useful productions of British Zoology, and all naturalists must levoutly trust that there are still others of a like classical ature to follow, and that, for example, Prof. M'Intosh vill soon be able to complete his long-expected work on he British Polychæta. 66 But many Marine zoologists feel that, quite apart from uch exhaustive and expensive monographs, and only spiring to occupy a very much humbler position, there is ressing need of a pocket" or seaside "Invertebrate 'auna," which could be used in much the same way as he botanists' "Field Flora." It has been suggested to ne more than once during the last few years that I would e doing useful work in compiling such a book; and as o one else seems ready or willing to do so, I feel inclined > make the attempt. Some material has already been ccumulated for the purpose, but before going further I ish to lay my views before my fellow zoologists, in the ope that they will be kind enough to criticize the scheme nd give me the benefit of their advice. The only existing work of the kind is Gosse's wellnown, and, so far as it goes, very excellent little "Manual f Marine Zoology," but that book does not really meet e present want, as not only is the date of publication 355-6, since when the number of genera and species has obably been something like doubled, but also Gosse. erely gives the names of the species, while the book I ink of would, in order to be of any real use, require to m at giving a brief but sufficient diagnosis and figure of ery British species. I would adopt as 66 British" the ea defined by Canon Norman's British Association ommittee in 1887. Probably the most convenient form of publication ould be some four to six small volumes, each dealing th one or two of the large groups. This would allow of e groups being published as they were ready, not cessarily in zoological order, and would also be connient for the use of those interested in one set of imals. There would be definitions-perhaps with occasional alytical tables or keys-of orders, families, &c., down and including genera. Under each genus would be en all sufficiently defined species with a brief description each either in tabular form or in series, as seems most table in each case, and with an indication of size, ge, and habitat. Many species might be described y briefly in terms of preceding species, the differences rely being pointed out. By simplicity of language, idance of unnecessary repetition, and use of contions it might be hoped that each species could be fined on an average to a couple of lines. lustrations would be either in the form of numerous ll outline figures on thin paper plates inserted as near ossible to the pages where the descriptions occur, or mall groups of cuts (as in "Gosse") in the text. re would be a figure of the whole animal in each ortant genus, or small family, and the figures of the ies would represent the diagnostic points only, e.g. e zoophytes there would be a figure in the genus nularia of an entire colony, or shoot, while the es pinnata, setacea, catharina, &c., would be repreed each by a small figure showing the pinnæ, calycles, matophores as the case required. hall now give a few examples, taken from different 05, of the method in which the genera and species t be treated, in order that specialists may have the rtunity of judging and criticizing. 231 Stems simple or branched; pinnæ verticillate; nematophores along the stems; gonothecæ axillary, unilateral. A. antennina, L., stems clustered, usually simple; hydrothecæ separated by 2 joints. 6 to 9 in. high. Gen. distr. deep w. A. ramosa, Lamk., stems single, usually branched; hydrothecæ separated by I joint only. 6 to 9 in. high. Gen. distr. deep w. II. From Crustacea :-Family MAIIDE. III. HYAS. Carapace tuberculous, no spines; branches of rostrum not divaricated; second joint of antenna dilated; no teeth beneath last joint of walking legs. H. araneus, L., carapace not contracted behind postorbital process. 3 in. Common, shallow. H. coarctatus, Leach, carapace contracted behind postorbital process. I in. Gen. distr. shallow. PISA. Carapace may be tuberculous, with strong posterolateral spine; branches of rostrum divaricated at extremity; second joint of antenna slender; terminal joint of walking legs toothed beneath. P. tetraodon, Leach, carapace with small tubercles; antero-lateral margin with 4 spines. 2 in. Rare, S. coast. P. gibbsii, Leach, carapace with large rounded elevations, but no tubercles, no spines on antero-lateral margin. Rare, deep w., S. coast. MAIA. Carapace covered with numerous sharp spines; branches of rostrum strongly divaricated; no teeth beneath terminal joint of walking legs. M. squinado, Latr. 10 in. long. S. and W. coasts of From Tunicata :-Family MOLGULIDE. E. glutinins. Möll., circular area on side free from sand. in. Shallow w., gen. distr. E. globosa, Hanc.. entirely covered with sand. in. P. hancocki, Hrdn., matted fibres at poster. end. in. MOLGULA. Bran. s. with 6 or 7 folds each side. M. inconspicua, A & H., 6 folds, sandy, dors. lam. entire, no pap. on stigmata.in. M. impura, Hel., 6 folds, sandy, small papilla on edges of stigmata. I in. W. of Ireland, shallow. M. simplex, A. & H., few hairs, little or no sand, 6 folds, M. tubifera, Örst., 6 folds, anus fringed, dors. tub. horse- M. socialis, Ald., 6 folds, anus fringed, dors. tub. horse- M. holliana, Hrdn., 6 folds, dors, tub. serpentif., hairs but little sand on test. in. W. of Ireland, 10 fms. M. occulta, Kupf., 7 folds, dors. tub. horse-shoe, dors. lam. toothed, whole body sandy. I in. Shallow w. S. and W. coasts. M. oculata, Forb., 7 folds, siphonal region alone free from sand, and retractile between folds of test. I in. Gen. distr. Shallow w. M. capiformis, Hrdn., 7 folds, globular, not attached, no sand. in. S. coast, shallow w. M. citrina, A. & H., 7 folds, attached by left side, no sand. -in. under st., litt. E. and W. coasts. CTENICELLA, as MOLGULA, but branchial and atrial lobes laciniated. C. complanata, A. & H., 6 folds on left, 7 on right, depressed, attached, sandy, in. In conclusion, I need scarcely say that I shall be very grateful for suggestions, and, if the work is carried on, for any information from specialists about less known species, and the discrimination of allied forms, and for specimens, and also for references to any descriptions which might be likely to escape my notice. W. A. HERDMAN. 1 NOTES. IN consequence of the unavoidable absence abroad of the new President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Mr. W. H. Preece, F. R. S., on the 12th inst., he will deliver his inaugural address on the 26th inst. A PUBLIC meeting, arranged by the Technical Instruction Committee of the Essex County Council, will be held in the Shire Hall, Chelmsford, on Friday afternoon, January 13, at 4.30 p.m., Lord Rayleigh in the chair. An address will be given by Sir Henry E. Roscoe on technical instruction in agricultural counties, with especial reference to science teaching. Afterwards a discussion will take place. DR. PERCY RENDALL, F.Z.S., has accepted an appointment as Resident Medical Officer to the Sheba Gold-mining Company in the Barberton District of the Transvaal. He will reside at Eureka City, at an elevation of 5c00 feet above the sea-level. Dr. Rendall made a good collection of birds during his recent residence at Bathurst on the Gambia, of which he has given an account in the Ibis for last year (Ibis, 1892, p. 215). He has also made many valuable donations to the Zoological Society's Menagerie, amongst which is the unique example of the Nagor Antelope (Cervicapra redunca), presented by him in June, 1890. Of this scarce animal there is, we believe, no example in the British Museum. Dr. Rendall's new appointment will give him many opportunities of extending our zoological knowledge of a little known district. LORD WALSINGHAM, who has devoted much of his attention to the micro-lepidoptera, has filled the vacancy on the staff of the Entomologists' Monthly Magazine occasioned by the death of Mr. Stainton. LAST week a preliminary meeting was held at the house of Sir James Paget to consider what steps should be taken with regard to a memorial of Sir Richard Owen. It was decided that a committee should be formed to make the necessary preparations. The following, among others, have consented to serve as members :-The Presidents of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons and of most of the scientific societies, the Duke of Teck, Lord Playfair, Prof. Huxley, Sir Joseph Hooker, Sir Henry Acland, Sir John Evans, Dr. Michael Foster, Mr. Sclater, Sir W. Savory, Mr. Hulke, Sir Joseph Fayrer, Sir Edward Fry, Dr. Günther, Mr. Carruthers and Dr. H. Woodward. Sir William Flower will act as treasurer, and a general meeting will shortly be called. It has been suggested that the memorial should be a marble statue, to be placed in the hall of the Natural History Museum. PROF. WESTWOOD, who died on Monday at the age of eightyseven, will be greatly missed at Oxford. To most people he is known chiefly as a writer on the archæology and palæography of art, but he was equally eminent as an entomologist. He was one of the founders of the Entomological Society, and received one of the Royal Society's gold medals for his entomological researches. WE regret to record the death of General Axel Wilhelmovitch Gadolin, an old member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was born of Finnish parents on July 10, 1828, received his education in the Finnish Corps of Cadets, and till his death remained in the Russian Artillery, devoting his leisure time to mineralogical, and especially to mathematical, researches into the molecular forces which act in the formation of crystals. One of his earlier works, published in the Verhandlungen der Mineralogischen Gesellschaft zu St. Petersburg, was on some minerals from Pitkäranta. His chief work, published in 1867, was his "Deduction of all the Systems of Crystals and their Derivates from a Unique Principle." A deep impression was produced upon the members of the Russian Mineralogical Society by Gadolin's first communication upon this subjec The lucidity with which he deduced all systems of crystalliz tion from fundamental principles of equilibrium of molec forces, and the simplicity of the exposition of his researche entirely based upon high mathematical analysis, reminded hearers of some of the best pages of Laplace's writings. work soon became widely known in a German translat A paper on the resistance of the walls of a gun to the press of gunpowder gases also deserves mention, as, in addition to i formerly known formulæ of highest resistance of cylinders, i gave a new formula of minimal resistance. Later o method was used with great success by Klebsch, in his w known "Theorie der Elasticität fester Körper," for deda some general equations of equilibrium of solid bodies. THE last issue of the Izvestia of the East Siberian G graphical Society (vol. xxiii. 3) contains an obituary notice V. O rutcheff, of I. D. Chersky, who died in the far norther of Siberia, during his expedition to the Kolyma river, having given many years of his life to the active geologica ploration of Siberia. He began his work in 1872 at One where he made most valuable discoveries of post-tenter mammals. During the next two years he explored the Tu and Kitoi Alps, but his rich materials were lost during the g conflagration at Irkutsk in 1879. In 1875 and 1876 he expl the Nijneudinsk caves, making again remarkable finis quaternary mammals; and then he give fully five years t study of the stores of Lake Baikal, embodying the results of extensive researches in a map (6.7 miles to the inch), ar: vol. xii. of the Memoirs of the East Siberian Society, and xv. of the Memoirs of the Russian Geographical Society 1882 and 1883 he explored the Lower Tunguska, and a made rich finds of fossil mammals. The next five yerspent at the Academy of St. Petersburg, preparing the par Ritter's "Asia" which is devoted to Lake Baikal, and w out the rich materials collected by another lamented F explorer of East Siberia, Czekanowski. He also worked the collections brought in from the New Siberia Island MM. Bunge and Toll, and came to such interesting and conclusions as to the recent geological history of Arctic Se that the Academy of Sciences sent him out in 1891, at the b of a new expedition to the Kolyma region. There he the midst of his promising work. THE twentieth annual dinner of the old students of the R School of Mines will be held at the Holborn Restaura Tuesday, January 10, at 7 o'clock. The chair will be by Mr. W. Gowland, late of the Imperial Mint, Japan. MR. G. T. ATKINSON has been appointed Profes Cryptogamic Botany at Cornell University, Ithaca, S New York, in the place of Prof. W. R. Dudley, who has to the Leland-Stanford University, Paolo Alto, Califor AT the next public meeting of the French Academy, in Den 1893, forty-five prizes will be awarded for the best work a to the advancement of the various branches of scien these, the following are, by the terms of the bequests, c competitors of all nationalities. The Prix Lalande awarded for the most intereresting observation, or the or work most useful for the progress of Astronomy. is 540 francs. The Prix Valz, of 460 francs, is offere the same conditions. Three prizes of 10,000 francs queathed by M. L. La Caze, will be awarded annuals best contributions to Physiology, Physics, and Chee spectively. The Prix Tchihatchef, of 3000 francs, is annually to naturalists who have distinguished themse in the exploration of the continent of Asia or the adja |