thick and persistent fog.-Earthquake shocks were also felt during Sunday week in various parts of France. At Argèles (Hautes Pyrénées) there was one in the early morning, a second at nine o'clock, and a third about mid-day. At Dorignies, an industrial hamlet near Douai (Nord), the shock was sufficiently strong to cause real alarm. It occurred between six and seven in the evening. Houses shook, their timbers cracked, and glass and earthenware in cupboards were shattered.

THE Hungarian astronomer, Herr von Konkoly, who is mentioned as the future director of the Brussels Observatory, is exexpected to arrive there in about a week, for the purpose of explaining to the Science Department of the Belgian Academy his recent discovery relative to the cometary spectrum.

We understand that Messrs. McLachlan and Fitch, having been appointed by the Entomological Society of London a committee for the purpose of examining, and reporting upon, certain vine-roots forwarded by the Government of Victoria, through Kew, find as the result of their examination that the Phylloxera is present in considerable numbers on the roots, which were those remaining in the ground after the vines themselves had been destroyed.

A TELEGRAM has been received from Prof. Hull, F.R.S., the chief of the Geological Expedition to the Holy Land, announcing the safe arrival of himself and his party at Gaza, where they are at present detained in quarantine. A letter, dated December 2, was also received from him a few days ago, which has been brought by camel post vid Naklhl from Akabah, where the party arrived on November 27. In this letter Prof. Hull writes:-"We had every reason to be satisfied with the conduct of our Towârah Arabs. We spent three days in the neighbourhood of Jebel Musa, and made the a cent of the mountain, from the top of which Major Kitchener took angles to several prominent points; while on the same day Mr. Hart ascended Mount Catharina, a feat hitherto unperformed in one day, and was rewarded by finding several plants-representatives of colder climates. From Jebel Musa to Akabah we took the upper route, partially explored by Palmer. This has enabled us to add considerably to the accuracy of the geology and topography of the district; we have also taken a considerable number of photographs. On Saturday week we traversed a magnificent gorge cut through granite cliffs and extending for several miles, which, we believe, has not hitherto been described. It commences at the head of the Wady el Ain. We found the escarpment of the Tih much more broken and indeterminate than is represented in the maps, owing to the existence of several large faults or dislocations of the strata which traverse that district in a generally northerly and southerly direction, and we have finally determined the position of the leading line of fracture to which, at least, this po tion of the Wady el Arabah owes its existence. Our course through to the Dead Sea by the valley is barred, owing to a blood feud between two tribes. We have, however, contracted with one of the tribes to be escorted as far as the Wady Musa and Petra, after which we shall strike off west across Tih Plateau to Gaza. This will enable us to do the greater part of the work in the Wady Arabah which we proposed. We are all in good health, and have made excellent collections to illustrate the botany, geology, and zoology of the district."

THE budget of the Ministry of Public Instruction in France reaches the unprecedented sum of six millions sterling. Half of this sum is absorbed by the primary and infant schools. The dotation for astronomy and meteorology is 40,000l., exclusive of municipal credits voted by Marseilles, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyons, for their astronomical observatories; Besançon, Clermont, Paris, and Toulouse, for Besançon, Puy de Dôme, Montsouris, and Pic du Midi meteorological establishments. The

National Library of Paris receives 30,000l., and other public libraries in Paris, 11,000/; National Archives, 8000/. The pecuniary grants given to learned men amount to 8000!.; voyages and missions, 11,000l.; Collège de France, 20,000/.; Superior Normal School, 20,000/.; National Institute, 28,80ɔ.; Academy of Medicine, 3000/.; School of Hautes Études, 19,000l. ; Faculté d'État (Universities), 400,000l.; Grammar Schools (Lycées), 319,000l.; Museum (Jardin des Plante), about 40,000/.

THE following arrangements have been made for the meetings of the Society of Arts. The papers to be read at the ordinary meetings will be :-Electric Launches, by A. Reckenzaun; Science Teaching in Elementary Schools, by William Lant Trades, by Thomas Fletcher; Sanitary Progress, by B. W. Carpenter; Coal Gas as a Labour-Saving Agent in Mechanical Richardson, F.R.S.; The Progress of Electric Lighting, by W. H. Preece, F. R.S.; Forest Administration in India, by Dr. Brandis, F.R.S.; Reclamation of Land on the North-Western Coast of England, by Hyde Clarke; Water Regulation in England, by General Rundall; Telpherage, by Prof. Fleeming Jenkin, F.R.S.; New Process of Permanent Mural Painting (invented by Adolph Keim, Munich), by Rev. J. A. Rivington; Slate Quarrying, by W. A. Darbishire. At the meetings of the Sections the following papers will be read:-Foreign and Colonial Section—Canada as it will appear to the British Association in 1884, by Joseph G. Colmer, Secretary to the High Commissioner for Canada; The Portuguese Colonies of West Africa, by H. H. Johnston; Reflections on Chinese History, with reference to the present situation of affairs, by Demetrius G. Boulger; Borneo and its Products, by B. Francis Cobb; The Rivers Congo and Niger as Entrances to Mid-Africa, by R. Capper. Applied Chemistry and Physics Section-Manufacture of Gas from Limed Coal, by Prof. Wanklyn and W. J. Cooper; The Upper Thames as a Source of Water Supply, by Dr. Percy F. Frankland; Cupro-Ammonium Solution and its Use in Waterproofing Paper and Vegetable Tissues, by C. R. Alder Wright, F.R.S.; Economic Applications of Seaweed, by Edward C. Stanford. Indian Section-State Monopoly of Railways in India, by J. M. Maclean; The New Bengal Rent Bill, by W. Seton-Karr; Trade Routes in Afghanistan, by Griffin W. Vyse; The Existing Law of Landlord and Tenant in India, by W. G. Pedder. The courses of Cantor lectures will be on Recent Improvements in Photo-Mechanical Printing Methods, by Thomas Bolas; The Building of London Houses, by Robert W. Edis, F.S.A.; The Alloys used for Coinage, by Prof. W. Chandler Roberts, F.R.S., Chemist of the Royal Mint; Some New Optical Instruments and Arrangements, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S.; Fermentation and Distillation, by Prof. W. Noel Hartley.

THE Portuguese explorers, Senhores Capello and Ivens, have just sailed for West Africa. They proceed first to Loanda, thence northward to Zaire. It is expected that they will be absent for about two years.

M. ACHARD'S continuous electric brake has been worked suc

cessfully in competition with the Westinghouse and other systems. The electricity is obtained by a dynamo worked by the train itself, and can give light for signals and other purposes, when worked by the engine. The sliding valve of locomotives for admitting steam has been replaced by a piston, which renders similar service. A large diminution of friction and wear results from this improvement. The economy in coals is stated to have been 5 per cent.

DR. NACHTIGAL, the well-known African traveller, who is now German Consul-General at Tunis, has received the gold medal for Art and Sciences from the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

THE members of the International Polar Commission will meet in Vienna early in May next, where preparations for this meeting are already being made.

THE death is announced of Dr. Wilhelm Gintl, an eminent telegraph engineer, and formerly director of all Austrian telegraphs. He died at Prague on December 22, 1883, aged eighty

years.

LIEUT. WOHLGEMUTH, the leader of the Austrian Polar Expedition, has read a paper on the results of the Expedition at the last meeting of the Viennna Geographical Society; 124 aurora were observed, amongst which about ten were crownshaped. Amongst the old lava streams and in the crevices of the numerous craters of the island of Jan Mayen, Lieut. Wohlgemuth found traces of a still progressing volcanic activity, and three times observed well-marked subterranean shocks.

A SERIES of ornithological observatories has been established throughout Austria-Hungary at the instance of Crown Prince Rudolf, with a view of paying special attention to the migrations of birds, as well as to their breeding habits. The work done by these stations is satisfactory enough; yet it has been found that a complete insight into the periodical movements of birds cannot be obtained so long as similar stations are not spread over the whole globe. The subject is to form one of the principal topics for discussion at the approaching Ornithological Congress, which will be held under the auspices of the Crown Prince at Vienna on April 16 next and the following days.

AT Cobern, near Coblenz, a Franconian burial-ground has been discovered, containing many objects of interest, such as ornaments, weapon, glass and clay vases, stones with inscriptions, &c.

THE Turin Academy of Sciences has given a prize (4807.) to Mr. Hormuzd Kassam for his discoveries in the domain of A-syrian and Babylonian antiquities.

THE additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Bonnet Monkey (Macacus sinicus ?) from India, presented by Madame Kettner; two Rhesus Monkeys (Macacus rhesus & ?) from India, presented by Mr. G. Glyn Petre, F.Z.S.; a White-throated Capuchin (Cebus albifrons ? ), a Crab-eating Opossum (Didelphys cancrivora) from the West Indies, presented by Lady Brassey, F.Z.S. ; a Common Genet (Genetta vulgaris) from West Africa, presented by Capt. A. North Daniel; a Canadian Porcupine (Erithizon dorsatus) from North America, presented by Mr. A. Glidden; a Kinkajou (Cercoleptes caudivolvulus) from Brazil, presented by Dr. Byres Moir; a Ring-hals Snake (Sepedon hamachates), a Robben Island Snake (Coronella phocarum), an Egyptian Cobra (Naia haje), a Rhomb-marked Snake (Psammophylax rhombeatus), a Many-spotted Snake (Coronella multimaculata), a Hissing Sand Snake (Psammophis sibilans), a Smooth-bellied Snake (Homalosoma lutrix), a Spotted Slow-worm (Acontias meleagris) from South Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S.; two Gold Pheasants (Thaumalea picta 8?) from China, two Common Peafowls (Pavo cristatus 89) from India, deposited; five Knots (Tringa canutus), a Common Guillemot (Lomvia troile), British, purchased.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN

THE SOLAR MOTION IN SPACE.-The recently published volume of the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society contains a paper by Mr. W. E. Plummer, of the Oxford University Observatory, on the Motion of the Solar System. The data on which the author has founded his discussion are the proper motions of the stars in the southern hemisphere, as determined by Mr. Stone in the Cape Catalogue. The work is therefore a repetition and extension of the inquiry conducted by the late

Mr. Galloway, and it would [appear that the necessity of a rediscussion was suggested to Mr. Plummer by the discordances between the values of the proper motions there employed and those given by Mr. Stone. To illustrate the uncertainty in the result, particularly when based upon an in-ufficient number of stars, the position of the apex of the solar system is first derived from the same list of stars as that used by Mr. Galloway, but with improved values of the proper motion. The more tru-tworthy result from these restricted data places the apex in the constellation Ophiuchus some thirty degrees south of the generally received position.

Incorporating, however, all the southern stars whose known proper motions exceed one-tenth of a second (which raises the number of stars employed to 274), a more accordant re-ult is obtained. If the apparent magnitude be adopted as a criterion of distance, and the irregularities of proper motion be supposed due to the peculiar motions of the stars themselves, the coordinates of the apex are a = 270° 8', 8 = + 20° 20′, and the annual motion of the sun, viewed from the mean distance of the first magnitude stars, subtends an arc of 1" 690. Unfortunately, if the corrections computed on this supposition be applied to the individual proper motions, the sum of the squares of the residuals is slightly larger than the sum of the squares of the original

motions.

Selecting as a second hypothesis the suggestion that the distances of the stars vary inversely as their proper motions, the position of the apex is given in a = 276° 8' and 8 = + 26° 31', and the annual motion of the sun seen from the distance of stars whose annual proper motion is about 1"'5 seconds of arc, is o" 926. Introducing the necessary corrections, the sum of the squares of the proper motion in R. A. is reduced from 124"9 to 70" 4, and in declination from 54′′ 6 to 39′′ 3, a result that tends to support the reality of the second hypothesis.

THE LATE M. YVON VILLARCEAU. Antoine-FrançoisJoseph-Yvon Villarceau was born at Vendôme on January 15, 1813. He first studied in the local college, and subsequently went through the course of instruction at the Conservatoire in Paris, where, in 1833, he gained a first prize. In the same year he proceeded to Egypt with elicien David, and joined the mission under Enfantin: in this way his attention was directed to engineering. Returning to France in 1837 he was admitted to the École Centrale, which he left in 1840, being then first in the Mechanical Section. Already possessed of an independent fortune, in the years immediately following he was chiefly occupied with mathematical studies, with the view to qualify himself for the higher branches of mechanics and astronomy. In 1845 his first memoir upon comets, which was judged worthy of insertion in the "Recueil des Savants Etrangers," brought him under the notice of Arago, who, impressed with the originality of his ideas, offered him, in 1846, a place at the Observatory of Paris, to which establishment he was attached until the close of his life, at first as assistant, and since 1854 as titular astronomer. Villarceau was the author of a large jects, amongst others, on the stability of locomotives in number of memoirs upon mechanical and geodetical submotion, and on the theory of arches, accompanied by extensive tables and numerous practical applications, on the theory of the gyroscope of Foucault, and the compensation of chronometers; he made geodetical determinations in France between 1861 and 1865, which led to several important deductions. Amongst his earlier astronomical work was the development and application of a new method of investigating the orbits of the revolving double stars, which he ap lied to ʼn Corona Borealis and other binaries; this was followed by a memoir on the determination of the orbit of a planet, founded on the method of Laplace. In 1851, on the discovery by D'Arrest of the short-period comet which bears his name, Villarceau determined the orbit rigorously, and by means of his predicted places the comet was again observed, in 1857, by Maclear at the Cape of Good Hope. It was upon his plaus that, while Leverrier was in direction of the Observatory of Paris, the great equatorial in the west tower, which constituted a notable advance in the construction of such astronomical instruments, was erected. Villarceau died on December 23. At the funeral discourses were delivered by Col. Perrier in the name of the Academy of Sciences (of which Villarceau had been a member, in the Section of Hydrography and Navigation, since 1867); by M. Faye in the name of the Bureau des Longitudes; and by M. Tisserand in that of the Paris Observatory.

THE ENGLISH CIRCUMPOLAR EXPEDITION1 ON April 14, 1882, I was informed that I was appointed to the command of the Circumpolar Expedition. I at once proceeded to London, and was occupied until the day of sailing in practice with the magnetic instruments at the Kew Observatory, and the purchase of stores, &c., for the expedition.

On May 1 Sergeant F. W. Cooksley, Royal Horse Artillery, and Gunner C. S. Wedenby, Royal Artillery, and on May 6 Sergeant Instruc or of Gunnery J. English, R. H. A., reported themselves to me, and commenced attendance at Kew for in-truction.

Journey to Fort Rac.-We sailed from Liverpool on May 11, and arrived at Quebec on the 23rd. Here I spent some days, finding that the steamer for the north did not leave Winnipeg till June 10, and my party was very kindly afforded quarters in the citadel by Lieut.-Col. Cotton, commanding the Canadian Artillery at that p'ace.

Having obtained a free pass for our baggage on the Grand Trunk Railway, I started at once for Winnipeg, proceeding by the lakes, that being the cheaper route, and the one which, on the whole, exposed the instruments to the least knocking about.

We reached Winnipeg on June 9, and left on the following day by the Saskatchewan steamer. On June 26 we reached Carlton, where it was necessary to engage carts to take our baggage to Green Lake, a distance of 140 miles.

On the 29th th carts were taken across the river, and on the 30th we started for Green Lake, which we reached on July 9, having been delayed by the extreme badness of the road. The heat of the weather also rendered a long halt necessary in the middle of the day, and the flies revented our animals from feeding properly, incapacitating them for long marches or fast work, and on one occision forcing us to halt for a whole day, the oxen being so worried by them as to be unable to march.

At Green Lake we entered upon the system of water communication that forms the only roadway in the north, and by way of Portage la Loche, and the Clearwater and Athabasca Rivers, we reached Fort Chipewyan on July 30. Here we had to await the Mackenzie River boats, there being no other means of reaching Fort Rae, and it was not until August 17 that we were able to start on this last stage of our journey. We reachei Great Slave Lake on the 22nd, on the evening of which day a gale arose which stove in and sunk our boat, damaging most of our provisions. Fortunately we were able to repair the boat, but it was not until the 25th that the weather allowed us to proceed, and on the 27th we were again detained by a fresh storm, so that it was not until 10 p.m., on August 30, that we arrived at Fort Rae.

Fort Rae.-Fort Rae is situated in lat. 62° 38′ 52′′ N., and long. 115° 43' 50" W., at the south-west extremity of a peninsula that juts out from the north-east shore of a long gulf running in a north-westerly direction for more than 100 miles from the

northern shore of the Great Slave Lake. It is almost entirely surrounded by water, as shown in the annexed plan. The formation is limestone. The land rises to a height of some 200 feet, and it is covered in part with moss, in part with pines and scanty bru-hwood. A few vegetables are grown in the summer in the garden attached to the Roman Catholic Mission, but for focd the inhabitants chiefly depend upon the produce of the nets, and on deer, which are brought in by the Indian hunters attached to the post.

On arrival it was found that the magnetic instruments required a good deal of setting to rights, their boxes being filled with water and the fittings loosened, so that not a single instrument was quite in working order. There was, moreover, no building ready for their reception, so that it was not possible to keep August 31-September 1, as a term day, but we succeeded in getting the meteorological instruments in position so as to commence observations with them at midnight on the 31st.

We were fortunate in finding a building that admitted of con version into a magnetic observatory, it only requiring a floor, fireplace, door, and windows to be habitable. This work was at once commenced, and on September 3 the declinometer, on the 4th the bifilar, and on the 6th the vertical force magnetometer were mounted in their places. This observatory was finished on September 10, and another one commenced for astronomical and absolute magnetic observations, the continual wind rendering out-door observations unsatisfactory.

1 "Report on the Circumpolar Expedition to Fort Rae," by Capt. H. P. Dawson, R. A. Communicated to the Royal Society by Prof. G. G. Stokes, Sec. R.S.

The men of my party were accommodated in the house of one of the sub-officers of the fort, and I had a room in the house of the Hudson's Bay Company's officer in charge.

journey. One barometer and one thermometer were broken, The instrumen's, on the whole, suffered but little from the and the object glasses of the telescopes of most of the inagnetic instruments were nearly opaque, the cement joining the two lenses having, from some ciuse or other, melted on the journey. Our provisions were more damaged, 190 lbs. of sugar, 30 lbs. of tea, all our rice, and most of our baking powder having been destroyed.

The observations were then carried on without interruption until August 31, 1883.

only magnetic instrument whose performance was not satisfactory, Magnetic Observations.-The balance magneto neter was the as not only did it frequently get out of adjustment, but in times of magnetic disturbance it often viorated through so large an arc that exact reading was impossible. The other instruments were culty in reading them, but it was found necessary to extend the remarkably free from vibration, and there was never any diffi scale of the bifilar on the side of decreasing force, owing to the

great movements of this instrument.

The greatest magnetic disturbance was on November 17, 18, and 19, 1882, when all the instruments moved at times beyond the limits of their sca'es. On the first of these days the difference between the extreme easterly and westerly positions of the declinometer magnet exceeded 10°.

Aurora.-Aurora was observed on almost every clear night, and was usually attended by more or less magnetic disturbance. It did not appear to me, however, that the two phenomena stood in the relation of cause and effect, but rather that they were both due to a common cause. The most marked instance of connection between the two phenomena consisted in a rapid decrease in both vertical and horizontal magnetic forces which attended a sudden outburst of aurora in the zenith. This was observed on several occasions. The bifilar almost always showed a reduction of horizontal force during a display of aurora. I also think that the declinometer magnet tended to point towards the brightest part of the aurora, but that (sic) I have not yet had time to make that careful comparison of the auroral and magnetic observations which will be required to decide this point. It was found im possible to obtain photographs either of the aurora or of its spectrum-the latter invariably presented the characteristic yellowish green line, and occasionally, but rarely, several other bright lines were visible for a few moments towards the violet end of the spectrum, and once a bright band was seen in the red.

I was also unsuccessful in my attempts to measure the height of the aurora, chiefly from the want of a well defined point to measure to, also from the fact that some hours were required to prepare for this observation, whereas the appearance of a suitable aurora could not be predicted, and was, in fact, not of frequent occurrence, and then often only lasting a few seconds. For this observation two stations some miles apart should be connected by telegraph and occupied for many days, or even weeks, in succession.

Although I aid attention to the point, I never heard any sound from the aurora save on the occa ion mentioned in a former memorandum, but I made many inquiries on the subject from residents in the country, both English and French, and their statements agree so well, both with one another and with what I myself heard, that I am forced to conclude that the aurora is at times audible, and that on these occasions it appears to b, and probably is, very near the earth.

observations, the station was somewhat unfavourably placed for Meteorological Observations.-With regard to the meteorological observations of wind, on account of the hill to the north-east, but as winds from this quarter were rare, the effect on the results will not be great, especially as one of the anemometers was on an island in the lake, in an entirely open situation.

The anemometers did not work quite satisfactorily, being at times choked by ice; but I hope by the comparison of the two satisfactory results may be attained.

The wind was usually either south-east or north-west; and when it blew from the former quarter, the motion of the upper clouds often showed the existence of a north-westerly current.

The hair hygrometers were found to be useless out of doors in cold weather, on account of the formation of ice on the hair. The earth thermometers were read every alternate day the observations were interrupted by a carcajou, or other animal,

which extracted the thermometers from their tube for the sake of the fur in which it has been found necessary to envelop them, and broke them all; other thermometers were, however, substituted, and the observations continued. It was found impossible to obtain the temperature of the soil at a greater depth than four feet, on account of the rocky nature of the ground.

A series of observations of terrestrial radiation was made by means of a thermometer placed on the surface of the snow, but the almost continual wind detracts much from the value of these readings.

I was told by the residents of the country that the year was an unusually dry one, and certainly the rainfall is remarkably small; they also said that the winter was particularly mild and free from storms, which, from all accounts, and from the journals kept at the fort, seem to be both frequent and severe; as it was, we only experienced one, in February.

Astronomical Observations.-My first determination of the longitude was made by means of lunar distances, and time was found by the meth d of equal altitudes, but after the observatory was finished both these points were determined by transits, and the first value of the longitude found to be more than a minute in error. The latitude was determined by transit observations in the prime vertical, and is probably within a few seconds of the truth. The longitude may be ten seconds in error. The time was generally correct to within three or four seconds.

A more solidly constructed transit instrument would have been desirable, as it was found that in the cold weather it required so much force to move the telescope of the transit thecdolite on its axis that there was great ri k of disturbing the adjustments of this instrument, composed as it is of so many parts.

Food, &c.-Our supply of provi-ions proved quite sufficient. I had brou ht enough flour to admit of my issuing the usual ration of lb. per diem, and tobacco 1 lb. per month to each man. We also had a supply of Chollet's preserved vegetables, and a reserve stock of bicon, besides tea and sugar. Of the latter we were somewhat short, owing to the loss sustained on the journey up. We usually had fresh meat throughout the winter; in the summer we were occasionally reduced to dried meat. During the journey there and back we chiefly lived on pemmican. The Kev. Père Roure, of the Roman Catholic Mission, most kindly furnished us with fresh vegetables and potatoes throughout the

summer.

The conduct of the men under my command was everything that could be desired. They took great interest in the observations, and did their best to carry them out with accuracy and punctuality, and were always contented and cheerful, in spite of the inevitable di-comforts of their winter quarters and the occasional hardships of the journey.

Return Journey. We were running great risks of being overtaken by the winter, and therefore lost no time in our departure.

The last hourly observation was made at midnight on August 31, 1883, after which the i struments were dismounted and packed, their cases having been previously arranged in readiness outside the observatory. The remainder of the baggage was already in the boat, so that by 2.30 a.m. on September I we were en route, and reached Fort Chipewyan on September 17, and Portage la Loche on October 4, having experienced some delay in surmounting the rapids of the Clearwater, the hard frosts having frozen all the small tributary streams, thus considerably lowering the water in the river.

The boat awaiting us on the south side of the portage was frozen in, but fortunately the wind changed and the ice broke up before our arrival. Had it been otherwise, we must have waited until the rivers were thoroughly frozen and travelling with dog-trains possible. In that case we should have been compelled to abandon our instruments and baggage.

On the 21st we reached Carlton on the Saskatchewan, where we were detained a day, the man engaged to transport our baggage across the prairie having refu ed to proceed. Another man was engaged, and on October 31 we reached the railway at Qu'Appelle, arriving at Winnipeg the following day. We were fortunate in crossing the prairie with so little difficulty, as at the same time last year it was covered with three feet of snow.

At Winnipeg I remained a couple of days to adjust accounts with the Hudson's Bay Company, and on November 4 we started for Quebec, going by rail via Chicago. We reached Quebec on the 8th, and Liverpool on November 20.

In conclusion, I have to acknowledge the assistance received

from the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, who spared no trouble in carrying out my wishes, especially Chief Commissioner Grahame at Winnipeg, Chief Factors MacFarlane and Camsell in charge of the Athabasca and Mackenzie River Districts respectively, and Mr. King in charge at Fort Rae. To their hearty co-operation the success of the expedition is in great part due.

Results of Expedition.-The following is a list of the observations taken at Fort Rae, the result of our year's work there, which I have now the honour to lay before the Royal Society :Magnetic

Hourly

Declination from September 3, 1882, to August 31, 1883.
Hor. Force
Vert. Force

Term Day

4, 6,

:

In accordance with programme laid down by St. Petersburg Conference-from September 15, 1882, to August 15, 1883.

COMING to the vertebræ as a part of the osseous system, I will mention the zygapophyses, or antero-posterior direct processes, of which the posterior looks down and the anterior looks up. They move on each other, and the vertebral column bends from side to side. In the lower forms of mammals they are always flat, and in the hoofed mammals of the Puerco period they are all flat. In the Wasatch period we get a single group in which the articulation, instead of being perfectly flat, comes to be rounded; in the later periods we get them very much rounded; and finally, in the latest forms, we get the double curve and the locking process in the vertebral column, which, as in the limb, secures the greatest strength with the greatest mobility. In the first stages of the growth of the spinal cord it is a notochord or a cylinder of cartilage or softer material. In later stages the bony deposit is made in its sheath until it is perfectly segmented.

Now all the Permian land animals, reptiles, and batrachians retain this notochord with the beginnings of osseous vertebræ in a greater or less degree of complexity. There are some in South Africa, I believe, in which the ossification has come clear through the notochord, but they are few. This characteri tic of the Permian appears almost alone-perhaps absolutely alone as regards land animals. There is something to be said as to the condition of that column from a mechanical standpoint, and it is this: that the cord exists, its osseous elements di-po:ed about it; and in the batrachians related to the salan anders and the frogs, these osseous elements are arranged under the sheath in the skin of the cord, and they are in the form of regular concave segments, very much like such segments as you will take from the skin of an orange-parts of spheres, and having greater or less dimensions according to the group or species. Now the point of divergence of these segments is on the side of the column. They are placed on the side of the column where the segments separate the upper segments rising and the lower segments coming downward. To the upper segments are attached the arches and their articulations; and the lower segments are like

A lecture by Prof. E. D. Cope of Philadelphia, given in genera session before the American Association for Advancement of Science at Minneapolis, August 20, 1883. Stenographically reported for Science. Continued from p. 230.

the segments of a sphere. If you take a flexible cylinder and cover it with a more or less inflexible skin or sheath, and bend that cylinder sidewise, you of course will find that the fractures of that part of the surface will take place along the line of the shortest curve, which is on the side; and, as a matter of fact, you have breaks of very much the character of the segment; of the Permian batrachia. It may not be so symmetrical as in the actual animal, for organic growth is symmetrical so far as not interfered with; for, when we have two forces, the one of growth and the other of change or alteration, and they contend, you will find in the organic being a quite symmetrical result. That is the universal rule. In the cylinder bending in this way, of course the shortest line of curve is right at the centre of the side of that cylinder, and the longest curve is of course at the summit and base, and the shortest curve will be the point of fracture. And that is exactly what I presume has happened in the case of the construction of the segments of the sheath of the vertebral column in the lateral motion of the animal swimming always on one side, and which at least has been the actual cruse of the disposition of the osseous material in its form. I have gone beyond the state of the discussion in calling attention to one of the forces which have probably produced this kind of result. That is the state of the vertebral column of many of the vertebrata of the Permian period.

I go back to the mammalia, and call attention to the teeth. The ordinary tooth of the higher type of the mammalia, whether hoofed or not, with some exceptions, is complex with crests or cusps. In cutting the complex grinding surfaces we find they have been derived by the unfolding ex ensions of four original cups or tubercles. They have been flattened, have been rendered oblique, have run together, have folded up, have become spiked, have descended deeply or have lifted them elves, so that we have teeth of all sorts and kinds, oftentimes very elegant, and sometimes very effective in mechanism. In many primary ungulates, the primitive condition of four conical tubercles is found. In passing to older periods we find the mammalia of the Puerco period, which never have more than three tubercles, with the exception of three or four species. In the succeeding periods, however, they get the fourth tubercle on the posterior side. Finally, you get a complicated series of grinding or cutting apparatus, as the case may be.

Last, but not least, we take the series of the brain. No doubt the generalisation is true, that the primitive forms of mammalia had small brains with smooth hemispheres; later ones had larger brains with complex hemispheres. In general, the carnivora have retained a more simple form of brain, while herbivorous animals have retained a most complicated type of brain. The lowest forms of mammalia display the additional peculiarity of having the middle brain exposed, and the hemispheres or large lobes of the brain, which are supp sed to be the seat of the mental phenomena, are so reduced in size at the back end that you see the middle brain distinctly, though it is smaller than in reptiles and fishes. It is beyond the possibility of controversy that these series have exi-ted, and that they have originated in simplicity, and have resulted in complication; and the further deduction must be drawn, that the process of succession has always been towards greater effectiveness of mechanical work. There are cases of degradation, as in the growing deficiency in dentition in man. There is no doubt that a large number of people are now losing their wisdom-teeth in both jaws.

We are now brought to the question of the relations which mind bears to these principles. The question as to the nature of wind is not so complex as it might seem. There is a great deal of it, to be sure; but on examination it resolves itself into a few ultimate forms. An analysis reduces it to a few principal types or departments-the departments of intelligence and of emotions (with their modified smaller forms, likes and dislikes), and the will, if such there be. Those three groups, proposed by Kant, are well known, and adopted by many metaphysicians; and they stand the scrutiny of modern science perfectly well in both men and the lower animals. But the question of the material of the mind, the original raw stuff out of which mind was made, is one which is claiming attention now from biologists, as it always has done from physiologists proper and physicians. This is sensibility, mere simple sensibility, unmodified sensibility, or co..sciousness. Sensibility, in connection with memory, is sufficient for the accomplishment of wonderful results. It is only neces sary to impress the sensibility with the stimuli which this world affords, whether from the outside or the inside, to have the

record made, and to have the record kept. Among wonderful things this is perhaps the most wonderful: that any given form of matter should be able to retain a record of events, a record which is made during a state of sensibility for the most part, a greater or less degree of sensibility, which is retained in a state of insensibility, and is finally returned to the sensibility by some curious process of adhesion, and the results of impresses which are found on the material tissue concerned.

And these simple elements of mind are found in animals. No zoologist who has perception or honesty, nor any farmer or breeder, nor any person who has charge of animals in any way, can deny sensibility to all the lower animals at times. The great stumbling-block in the way of the thinker in all this field is the great evane cence of this sensibility: the great ease with which we di sipate it, the readiness with which we can deprive a fellow-being of his sense, is a stumbling-block in more ways than one. While it is a question of the greatest difficulty, nevertheless, like other departments of nature, doubtless it will ultimately be explained by the researches of physiologists. I only need to call attention to the fact as an important factor in evolution.

Of course, if these structures are suggested, affecting the mechanical apparatus, the question arises whether they were ma e ready to hand, whether the animal, as soon as he got it, undertook to use it, and whether he undertook to use the organism under the dire stimuli of necessity, or amended through ages these modifications in his own structure. We are told by some of our friends that law implies a Lawgiver, that evolution implies an Evolver; the only question is, Where is the Lawgiver? where is the Evolver? where are they located? I may say, it is distinctly proven in some directions, that the constant applications of force or motion in the form of strains, in the form of impacts and blows, upon any given part of the animal organism, do not fail to produce results in change of structure. I believe the changes in the ungulates to which I have called your attention are the result of strains and impacts, precisely as 1 have shown you the manner of the fracture of the vertebral column of the primitive vertebrates of the Permian period. This would require long discussion to render clear; nevertheless I venture to make the assertion that this series of structures is the result of definite and distinct organic forces, directed to special ends. We have yet to get at the conflicting forces which have produced the results we see. Mechanical evolution will give us a good deal to do for some time to come. Of course, if motion has had an effect in modifying structure, it behoves us to investigate those forces which give origin to motion in animals. First in order come the sensibilities of the animal, which we have traced to simple consciousness; stimuli, upon notice of which he immediately begins to move. primary stimulus of all kinds of motion is necessarily touch. If a stone falls upon the tail of some animal which has a tail, he immediately gets out of that vicinity. If a jellyfish with a stinging apparatus runs across an eel which has no scales, the eel promptly removes. External applications of unpleasant bodies will always cause an animal to change his location. Then he is constantly assaulted by the dire enemy of beasts, hunger, which is an instinct which is evidently universal, to judge from the actions of animals. This seems to have fa hioned, in large art, all forms of life, from the least to the greatest, from the most unorganised to the most complex. Each exercised itself for the purpose of filling its stomach with protoplasm. Then come the stimuli, which should be included under the class of touch, changes of temperature. No animals like to be cold or too hot; and when the temperature is disagreeable the tendency is to go away from that locality. Among primary instincts must be included that of reproduction. After that con.es the sensa tion of re-istance, or, carried to a high degree, of anger: when an animal's interests are interfered with, its movements resisted, it prompts to the most energetic displays. So you see it is a matter of necessity that mental phenomena lie at the back of evolution, always provided that the connecting link of the argument--that motion has ever affected structure-be true.

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is a point which of course adnits of much discussion. I have placed myself on the affirmative side of that question; and, if I live long enough, I expect to see it absolutely demonstrated. Of course the development of mind becomes possible under such circumstances. It is not like a man lifting himself up by his boots, which it would be if he had no such thing as memory. But with that memory which accumulates, which formulates first habits, and then structure, especially in the soft, delicate