Jupiter's equator.'

Mr.

This has been often noticed since; but perhaps the most remarkable known instance of this excess of motion near the equator is the case of the dark rift seen across a bright belt for six weeks in succession in the spring of 1860. The equatorial or southern end of this rift travelled away from the northern end at the rate of about 190 miles per hour! This rapid proper motion of one end of a vast rift in a cloud-beltto say nothing of the persistence of the rift for at least 100 rotations of the planet (that is, by day and by night for 100 Jovian days)-surely disposes effectually of the theory that the cloud-belts of Jupiter are raised by solar action resembling that to which our own cloud-regions are due. Ranyard closes his paper with the remark that "if a future more complete examination of the observations of Jupiter should confirm the suspicion that the sun and Jupiter have the same period of maximum disturbance, it would appear to show that the alternations on Jupiter are dependent upon some cosmical change, and not on any effect of tides, as suggested by Dr. Wolf in the case of the sun." Is it altogether so clear, however, that the imagined action of Jupiter in raising solar tides could not synchronize with a solar action raising tides in the deep Jovian atmosphere? We say this not as advocating the tide theory, but to show that the mere coincidence of solar and Jovian disturbances in point of time does not necessarily prove that the disturbing cause is cosmical as distinguished from some form of action exerted by these two bodies upon each other.

The Chemistry of Compressed Leather.-In Dingler's Journal for December, Dr. Dingler says that offal of leather, cuttings, and scraps, are first cleansed from dirt and dust, then soaked in water containing 1 per cent, of sulphuric acid, until the material becomes soft and plastic, next compressed into the shape of blocks, dried by steam, and lastly rolled out in mills. In order to soften the mass, 1 lb. of glycerine is added to 100 lbs. of material. The leather thus again obtained is applicable for the inner soles of boots, &c.

The Spectrum of the Aurora Borealis.-This has been well investigated by Mr. John Browning, who gives his results in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (November 11). During the display of the Aurora Borealis which occured on the evenings of October 24 and 25, he confined his attention to observing the spectra of the light, taking it in different parts of the sky. When the spectroscope was directed to the more luminous portions, which were generally of a silvery white, the spectrum appeared to consist of only one line. He could not succeed in verifying the position of this line; but it appeared to be situated between D and E in the spectrum. When observing the light of the red portions of the sky, a faint red line became visible. He had no means of verifying the position of these lines with any degree of exactitude; but he was able to throw into the field of view a faint continuous spectrum from a distant light, and also the bright yellow sodium-line produced by a spirit-lamp. The color of the green line was very peculiar; had he not been able to observe it by comparison, he could not have formed any idea of its position. It was an exceedingly light silvery-green, or greenish-gray,

and often seemed to flicker. Besides the two lines particularly described, he occasionally suspected others, one in the red and one in the blue; but he could not be at ail sure of this. The color of the light of the aurora seen over the greater portion of the heavens resembled exactly that of the discharge of electricity from an induction-coil through a vacuum formed from atmospheric air.

Duration of Lightning Flashes.-Mr. O. N. Rood has been carrying out researches on this subject, and the result of his experiments is that the duration of flashes of lightning, as observed by him, and measured by means fully described in this memoir, during a violent thunderstorm in August last, amounts, in round numbers, to about 1-500th of a second, the average length of the streak being 9o.—American Journal of Science and Art.

A New Deodorizing Material.-In the discussion which followed the reading of a paper, by Prof. Frankland, on the growth of fungi in potable water, before the Chemical Society, on Feb. 2d, Dr. Voelcker alluded to his discovery of the use of pulverized or spongy iron as a deodorizing material of greater potency than animal charcoal. Sewage-water passed through a filter of this substance is completely purified, a much smaller quantity of the substance being required than in

the case of animal charcoal; and this filtered water, after having been kept six months protected from growth appearing in it. the air, remains perfectly sweet, no trace of fungusThe spongy iron is obtained by calcining a finely divided iron ore with charcoal.

Improving Wine by Electricity.-At Digne, in Germany, several butts of wine were shattered by lightning, and their contents passed along the floor

into a cistern beneath. It was found that far from having suffered by the accident, the wine was improved, so as to sell at 60 instead of 10 cents per litre. Subsequent experiments tend to show that a current caused by the immersion of two platina electrodes in connection with a galvanic battery have a similar effect on wine. Even poor wines seem to assume an agreeable flavor through the process.-Food Journal.

The Aeroconiscope.-The lectures of Dr. Tyndall on dust and on the impurities of water have led to much discussion as to whether the particle's of organic nature (as indicated by their destruction when exposed to heat) are the germs of the lower forms of animal and vegetable life, or are merely dried and floating fragments of dead organisms that have been taken up and are in course of transportation by currents of air. To determine this point, we may resort to microscopical analysis, or we may adopt a still more satisfactory method, namely, that of cultivating the germs upon a proper soil, and Dr. Maddox has just read a paper before the Royal Microscopical Society, in which he gives the results of his investigations with an instrument to which he has applied the term Aeroconiscope. This consists of a small chamber open at one side, on the floor of which a small quantity of treacle mingled with acetate of potash and water is spread, and which is placed on a base revolving with the set of the wind, so that the opening is always directed windward. The results obtained have been interesting, for he found that there was

no relation between a prevalence of the germs and the direction of the wind from any one point of the compass more than another. The amount of spores collected varied from 250 on a cultivating surface of inch to a very few. The prevailing spores were pale, olive-colored, and oval. Some commenced germinating on the second day; others not before the twentieth. No attempt is made to name them, but they appear to be chiefly the spores of fungi. By far the largest proportion of the collections was made during the months of July and August.

Physiological Effects of Exposure to Increased Atmospheric Pressure.-Most people are aware that certain disagreeable sensations are experienced by the inmates of a diving-bell, during its descent, even to a few feet below the surface of the water, but the opportunity seldom occurs to note the effects produced by a descent to so great a depth that the pressure amounts to four atmospheres, or no less than 60 lbs. on the square inch. Yet exposure to this pressure has been experienced by the workmen engaged in laying the foundations of the piers of the St. Louis bridge over the Mississippi, and Dr. John Green has published in the Trunsactions of the American Otological Society the results of some, observations he has recently made. It was found necessary to use considerable precaution in admitting the workers into the chamber containing the condensed air; an intermediate chamber or lock was therefore constructed, into which the condensed air could be admitted gradually, occupying, for the higher degrees of pressure, from five to ten minutes. The exit was through the same lock, and occupied the same time. The increased oxidizing power of the condensed air was shown by the rapid wasting and guttering of the candles, which burned with a streaming smoking flame, and, when blown out, rekindled spontaneously from the glowing wick. During the later stages of the work the men could only work for an hour at a time, and a remarkable form of palsy was prevalent, from which nearly a dozen men died. The first effects of the gradually increasing pressure in the lock, were a distinct sensation of pressure upon the tympanic membranes of both ears, which, however, was immediately relieved by swallowing, or by inflating the ears from within. The respiration and cardiac movements remained unaltered until exertion was made, when they quickly became accelerated. It was found to be impossible to whistle. The ticking of a watch was heard with great distinctness. On leaving the chamber a strong sensation of cold was experienced, and catarrhs were frequent among the men. The condensed air escaped from the tympanum through the Eustachian tube in a series of puffs. Too sudden exposure to the condensed air in one instance caused rupture of the membrana tympani, and too sudden removal of the pressure in the same person spitting of blood.

Influence of Intense Cold on Steel and Iron. -The correctness of the popular idea (strongly encouraged by railway companies) that intense cold renders iron and steel more brittle, and may hence occasion the fracture of the tires of wheels during severe frost, which has caused many deplorable railway accidents, has long been doubted by practical physicists. The subject has now been

again investigated; and from some papers read at a recent meeting of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (and published in Nature, No. 65, Jan. 26) by Sir W. Fairbairn, Dr. Joule, and Mr. Spence, it would appear to be satisfactorily determined that a low temperature has no effect in rendering iron more brittle. Dr. Joule's experiments were particularly decisive, and consisted of applying weights suspended from the middle of steel needles at different temperatures, and letting the blunt edge of a steel chisel fall on castiron nails under similar circumstances. His general conclusion is that frost does not make either iron (cast or wrought) or steel brittle; and that accidents arise from the neglect of the railway companies to submit wheels, axles, and all other parts of their rolling stock, to a practical and sufhcient test before using them.

An Abnormal Potato.-An abnormal potatoone growing from the centre of another-was some time since presented to the Philadelphia Academy, and was reported on by Mr. T. Meehan. It had been handed to him by the curators; and on dissection, though no exact place of origin could be traced, there seemed nothing to indicate any other theory of origin than that one potato had really grown out of the centre of the other. But there were serious physiological reasons in the way of such a theory. A potato tuber is really but a thickened axis, in which the greater part of the interior structure would be incapable of developing a bud which would produce a tuber such as this one had done. The origin of a new tuber from an old one would be nearer the old one's surface. He had been looking for some further explanatory facts, and believed he had them then, in the potato tubers he handed to the members. They were about the size of hen eggs, and were pierced in every direction by stolons of the common couch grass, Triticum repens. They had gone completely through, as if they were so much wire, and in one instance two tubers had become strung together by the same stolon, as if they were two beads on a string. One would suppose that the apex of the stolon, when it came in contact with the hard surface of the tuber, would turn aside and rather follow the softer line of the earth; but there was no appearance of any inclination to depart from their direct course. They had gone apparently straight through. He had no doubt the potato before referred to was a similar case; a potato stolon had penetrated another potato, and instead of going through as these grass spears had done, terminated in the centre, and formed the new potato there. It was worthy of thought whether so much attention had been given to this direct force in plants as the subject deserved. It was well known that a mushroom would lift a paving-stone many times its own weight, rather than turn over and grow sideways, which it would appear so much easier for it to do; and tree roots growing against walls would throw immensely strong ones over, though one would think the pressure against the softer soil would give room for their development, without the necessity of their expending so much force against the wall.

The Vitality of Yeast.-Mr. H. J. Slack, in his recent interesting and instructive address to the Royal Microscopical Society, stated that M. Mel

sens made experiments last year on the vitality of beer-yeast. He found fermentation possible in the midst of melting ice, a temperature at which the yeast would not germinate. The life of the yeast-plant was not destroyed by the most intense cold that could be produced, about 100° C. below zero. In close vessels, when the products of fermentation gave a pressure of about twenty-five atmospheres, the process stopped, and the plant was killed. M. Boussingault, who was present when this communication was made to the French Academy, accepted the statement, on account of the known ability of M. Melsens; but he detailed experiments to show that other ferments had their activity destroyed by exposure to temperatures much less severe, or even by ordinary frost.

Ape Resemblances to Man.-Mr. St. George Mivart calls attention, in Nature for April 20th, to the strong approach towards the human structure (which he thinks has hitherto not been sufficiently insisted on) displayed by the Hoolock Gibbon, a fine specimen of which is now to be seen in the Gardens of the Zoological Society. It has generally been taken for granted that the palm of resemblance to ourselves can be disputed by the Orang (Simia), and by the African genus Troglodytes (which includes both the Gorilla and the Chimpanzee) alone. The third member, however, of the Anthropoid apes, the genus Hylobates (long-armed apes or Gibbons) appears to present claims of relationship in some respects even superior. Although the enormous length of the arms disguises the resemblance, yet the proportions of the Gibbon's frame (as in some respects long ago pointed out by Professor Huxley) are singularly human. The length of the leg as compared with the trunk, and the form and proportion of the bony thorax, are points which may be mentioned. A Gibbon is, again, the only ape which possesses that striking human feature-a true chin. The slight prominence of the nose is also very remarkable-a point which has not escaped the notice of Mr. Darwin, and which is to be seen in the living specimen referred to. Again, the power, quality, and compass of the voice are qualities justly dwelt upon by Mr. Darwin; and finally, the gentle yet quick and active nature of the Gibbon is eminently noteworthy. A confirmation of the above view is found in the existence, in the miocene deposits of South Europe, of fossil remains of the extinct giant Gibbon-the Dryopithecus.

Geographical Distribution of the Ostrich.The ostrich has usually been considered as peculiar to the continent of Africa, where two species have been recognized, one belonging to the northern portions, the other to the regions nearer the Cape of Good Hope. These species were long considered identical, and their distinctness was first suggested by the difference in the texture of the egg. In a recent work by Hartlaub and Finsch on the Birds of Eastern Africa, it is shown that either the ostrich of Northern Africa, or a third species, was known at a very remote period in Central Asia, and perhaps even in India; and that at the present time it occurs wild in Syria, Arabia, and Mesopotamia, where, in fact, it was mentioned by the earliest writers, including Herodotus, Aristotle, and Diodorus.

Electric Clocks. -Electric clocks, though very

useful, are liable, when kept in motion by a voltaic battery, to get out of order: the points of contact become foul from the number of sparks constantly passing; and the battery requires to be renewed from time to time. To overcome this difficulty, Sir Charles Wheatstone has improved his magnetic clock, and made it the perfection of a time-keeper, for it works without a battery; moreover it will keep fifty or sixty other clocks going at the same rate in any part of the same house. Sir Charles has also made such improvements in his magnetic bells, by substituting a small magnet for a large one, that their cost is largely reduced, while their efficiency is in no way diminished.

Heliotype.-A new process called heliotype, by which photographs can be printed independently of light, and in a permanent style, is attracting attention. It may be thus briefly described. The photograph is taken on a sheet of gelatine; this sheet is fastened down upon a plate of metal, and after a little preparation, in which sponge and water play a part, can be printed from as if it were an engraved block. Ordinary printing-ink laid on with a roller is used; and the sheet is printed in an ordinary printing-press, and with a remarkable preservation of the lights and half-tones. Oil-paintings, engravings, chalk-drawings, and anything, living or dead, that can be photographed, may, by this process, be reproduced and multiplied in a permanent form; and when a sufficient number of impressions has been taken, the sheet of gelatine can be lifted from the plate, and laid aside for future use. This is obviously a very important addition to the resources of art; from three hundred to four hundred impressions can be taken in a day, quite independently of weather; and, if required, the picture can be printed along with type in the pages of a book. Specimens were exhibited at a recent conversazione given by the President of the Royal Society at Burlington House, including chalk-drawings by the old Italian masters, landscapes, buildings, engravings, seapieces, maps, and a number of shattered and wounded bones from the recent battle-fields in France, intended to illustrate a work on surgery. All these specimens were reproduced with such skill that, in many cases, it would have been difficult to distinguish them from the originals.

A New Agricultural Machine.—Deep ploughing is essential for good beet-root as well as for other crops, and Mr. Thomson, of Edinburgh, whose turnpike-road locomotive, with india-rubber tires, we noticed last year, has invented and constructed a machine which will run up and down a field, draw a plough, and do many other kinds of farm-work. It has been fairly tried in heavy land, through which it drew merrily a plough that makes three furrows at once; and whatever be the work it is set to do, the cost is much less than when done with horse and cart. As to its capabilities, we are informed that this active agrarian locomotive will run home a crop from the field, fetch lime and manure and deliver it on any part of the farm, drag out roots of trees, saw timber, and thrash grain.-Chambers's Journal.

Australian Geology.-The remark has been made more than once, that Australia represents a geological condition which on this side of the globe

prevailed long ago, in the far-remote past. Living animals have there been discovered which on this side of the globe are found in a fossil state only; and another example has recently been sent from Queensland to the British Museum, where it is preserved in the zoological department. This additional example is a fish, described by naturalists as Ceratodus, which was was captured alive in a Queensland river. It is more than two feet in length, and belongs to the order described as ganoid, from the brightness of their scales. A full account of this remarkable fish, by Dr. Günther of the British Museum, will appear in the Philosophical Transactions. The fossil specimens found in our hemisphere do not come down beyond the Oolitic formation; there they cease, and a new order takes their place. This discovery suggests once more the question, Has Australia yet to undergo such a grand series of convulsions as have taken place since ganoid fishes lived in the lakes and rivers of the northern hemisphere? In some respects, Australia is an anomalous and unfinished country; and it may be that some day chains of mountains will be heaved up in that vast island, whereby its climate will be ameliorated, and springs and rivers will fertilize its now terrible wastes of desert.

American Items.-The gas wells in Ohio continue to discharge gas in considerable quantities. These wells are sunk by boring in the valley of the Kokosing, some of them to a depth of six hundred feet; and the yield of carburreted hydrogen is so great, that at the mouth of a two-inch pipe it produced a flame twenty feet high," and as large round as a hogshead." The quality is described as pure, and the quantity sufficient to light a large city. From some of the wells intermittent jets of salt water are thrown to a hundred feet in height, and others pour out a few gallons of oil. These are noteworthy facts in the history of the oil-bearing strata which have added so largely to the mineral resources of the United States.-The question as to the head-waters of the great river Amazon appears now to be settled by Mr. E. G. Squier, who has travelled widely in Brazil. In a paper read before the American Geographical Society, he states that the Marañon and the Ucayali unite to form the Amazon, and that the length of the Ucayali exceeds that of the Marañon by some hundreds of miles, besides being of greater volume. Ucayali is navigable a distance of 772 miles, and the Urubamba, which flows into it, a further distance of 216 miles, by small vessels; and this highest point of the navigation is not more than 220 miles from Cuzco, the capital of the most populous province of Peru. Here, then, we have a way opened across the American continent at its broadest part, which ere long may be tried by enterprising tourists; and we may believe that a grand future awaits those vast fertile regions on the lower slopes of the Andes.

The

Seasoning Wood.-A professor at Munich has published the results of his experience on the seasoning of wood, which, as a practical question, is worth attention in many quarters. Growing wood, he says, contains in winter about 50 per cent. of water, in March and April 46, and 48 per cent. in the next three months, with but little variation up to November. Timber dried in the air holds from 20 to 25 per cent. of water: never less

than 10 per cent. until all moisture is expelled, is deprived of its elasticity, and becomes brittle. If the natural qualities of the wood are to be preserved, the drying must begin at a moderate heat, and be carried on very slowly. For the drying of small pieces of wood, such as are used by joiners and cabinetmakers, the professor recommends a bath of dry sand, heated to a temperature not exceeding one hundred degrees. The sand diffuses the heat, and absorbs moisture; but it must be cold when the wood is first buried therein.

Wood dried by artificial means

Machine-work vs. Hand-work.-A paper read at a recent meeting of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, on Self-acting Machinery for knitting Hosiery, supplies another to the many striking comparisons that have been made between handwork and machine-work. A skilled knitter, using the ordinary needles, will knit sixty loops or stitches in a minute; a frame-work knitter, with his hand-frame, knits about 5,400 stitches in a minute; but three of the self-acting machines, described in the paper, which can be attended to by one girl, will knit 40,500 stitches in a minute. After this, we need not wonder that Leicester can weave stockings enough to supply the world.

Optical Phenomena.-Professor Listing of Göt tingen, in an article on certain optical phenomena, explains why birds are so often found dead under telegraph wires. It is not, as is popularly believed, that they were killed by a passing current while perched on the wires, but because, their eyes being in the same horizontal plane, they cannot calculate their distance from the wires, and are consequently killed by flying against them. It is to this same fact-the horizontal plane-that the difficulty of distinguishing the edges of the steps occurs while going down stairs, and of clearly calculating the

distance from one to another.

Tertiary Shells of the Amazon Valley.-Recent explorations by Prof. J. Orton and Mr. Hauxwell have determined the occurrence, on the borders of the Amazons, at Pabos and Cochaquinas, of Tertiary deposits yielding numerous shells. The species indicate fresh or brackish water conditions, and their perfect preservation indicates a quiet lake or estuary. These deposits are noticed, and the shells, which include two new species, are described by Mr. Henry Woodward in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History for January and February. The papers are illustrated by a capital plate of the fossils. Mr. Hauxwell's discovery proves that the estuary of the Amazons was once more than 2,000 miles above its present position.

Faune of the Red Sea and Mediterranean.The results of a dredging excursion in the Gulf of Suez, undertaken in the spring of 1869, by Mr. MacAndrew, were published last December. Three hundred and fifty-five species, many of them new to science, have been added to the Red Sea faunæ. Further researches only tend to confirm the distinction between the Red Sea and Mediterranean

species of Mollusca, so that a barrier between the seas must have existed from very remote time. This, however, is quite consistent with Prof. Issel's statement, that an examination of the geological conditions of the isthmus leads to the conclusion that the two seas were united during the Eocene and Miocene periods.