Subjects: | Disease, Bacteriology, Invention, Machinery, Measurement, Observatories, Meteorology, Telegraphy, Geology |
Reports that 'Dr. Koch, the celebrated biologist, who was the first to discover the bacillus, or germ of consumption, has satisfied himself that cholera is due to a similar living microscopic organism', and he has obtained permission to continue his 'researches in India, where the facilities for the study of the bacillus will be greater than in Egypt'. Observes that some 'experiments' with 'hydraulic propulsion' conducted by a 'German inventor' have 'awaken[ed] much interest' especially among 'German naval officers', while from France come accounts of a 'new engine practically engaged in threshing Indian corn and pumping water in Algeria, by the action of the concentrated rays of the sun'. Records that on 17 October at the International Geodetic Conference in Rome, 'it was proposed that Greenwich should be adopted by all nations as a common prime meridian, and a committee was appointed to report upon the subject'. The same day, moreover, saw the formal opening of the 'new permanent observatory, which has been built on the summit of Ben Nevis', and which will 'communicate timely information of approaching cyclones by the telegraph wire that connects the observatory with the post-office at Fort William'. Also notes the occurrence of 'shocks of earthquakes' and 'strange rumbling sounds' in various parts of the world. (162)
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