158 
in the years 1875 and 1876, as having inaugurated the 
renaissance of the study of the structure and functions 
of plants which had been so brilliantly carried on by 
British botanists in earlier times. It must, we feel sure, 
afford you great and justifiable satisfaction to contem- 
plate the marvelous development of such studies in this 
country during the years that have passed since you 
quickened them into new life. 
The professorial career on which you had embarked so 
brilliantly was unfortunately, as it may have seemed at 
the time, brought to a close by your appointment to the 
assistant directorship of Kew in 1875 and your subse- 
quent appointment as director ten years later. The work 
that you were enabled to carry out at Kew has been of 
such national importance that, however much we may 
regret the loss of the stimulating influence you would 
undoubtedly have exerted as a professor, we all realize 
the great and lasting services you have rendered to bot- 
any, not only from the purely scientific point of view, 
but also in relation to the development and encourage- 
ment of botanical enterprise throughout the British 
Empire. 
Another notable result of the interest you inspired was 
the successful launching of the Annals of Botany, which 
has come to be one of the leading botanical periodicals 
of the world. We do not forget that it was your enthu- 
siasm that turned the scale when the question of ‘‘to be 
or not to be’’ hung in the balance. The Annals is a 
lasting monument to your courage and prescience. 
It would need a lengthy document were we to attempt 
to set out in detail the value of your many efforts for 
the promotion of our science, but in conclusion we feel 
we must refer to the noble work you did in saving the 
old Chelsea Physic Garden from destruction. Thanks to 
you, London has now a botanic garden where students 
and teachers can study the structure and functions of 
plants and pursue those studies which you did so much 
to promote. 
With our very kind regards and good wishes, 
Believe us to be, dear Sir William, 
Yours very truly, 
D. H. Scorr F, KEEBLE 
S. H. VINES A. B. RENDLE 
F. O. BOWER A. SHIPLEY 
BALFOUR H. WAGER 
H. T. Brown F, F. BLACKMAN 
D. PRAIN V. H. BLACKMAN 
F. DARWIN F. W. OLIver 
H. H. Drxon A. G. TANSLEY 
A. C. SEWARD F. E. WEISS 
J. B. FARMER A. W. Hitu 
and all the leading botanists in 
Great Britain and Ireland. 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 
THE University of Strasbourg has conferred the 
title of doctor honoris causa on Drs. Simon Flexner 
and Jacques Loeb, of the Rockefeller Institute for 
Medical Research; William H. Welch, of the Johns 
SCIENCE 
[Von. LVIII, No. 1496 
Hopkins University; William Maddock Bayliss and 
Ernest Henry Starling, of the University College of 
London; John Newport Langley, of the University of 
Cambridge; Edward L. Ehlers, of the University of 
Copenhagen; Jules J. B. Bordet, of the University of 
Brussels; Edoardo Perroncito, of the University of 
Turin, and Santiago Ramon y Cajal, of the Univer- 
sity of Madrid. 
Av the general public meeting of the American 
Chemical Society on Tuesday, September 11, ad- 
dresses of welcome will be delivered by C. H. Hall, 
chairman of the Milwaukee Section; Hon. Daniel 
Hoan, mayor of Milwaukee; Hon. Emanuel Philipp, 
president of the Milwaukee Association of Commerce, 
and President Fox, of Milwaukee University. The 
general addresses at this meeting will be delivered by 
Dr. Charles F. Burgess, who will speak on “Market- 
ing chemical discoveries,” and Dean R. T. Kendall, 
of the Medical School, Northwestern University, who 
will speak on “Bacteria and the chemist.” 
Tue following awards have been made by the Royal 
College of Physicians, London: The Baly gold medal, 
given every alternate year for distinction in the sci- 
ence of physiology, to Mr. J. .Barcroft; the Bisset- 
Hawkins medal, bestowed triennially for work in ad- 
vancing sanitary science or in promoting public 
health, to Dr. T. M. Legge. 
At the International Surgical Congress recently 
held in London, Dr. Davide Giordano, Venice, Italy, 
was elected president to succeed Sir William Mace- 
wen. The predecessors in the presidency of these 
congresses were: Kocher, of Berne; Czerny, of 
Heidelberg; Championniére, of Paris; Depage, of 
Brussels, and Keen, of Philadelphia. The next con- 
gress will be held in Rome. 
WE learn from the Journal of the American Medi- 
eal Association that more than twenty physicians of 
Ontario were candidates at the recent elections to the 
Canadian Parliament. The following physicians were 
‘the successful candidates: Joseph D. Monteith, Strat- 
ford; the Hon. David Jamieson, Durham; Arthur G. 
Wallis, Algoma; Leeming Carr, East Hamilton; 
George V. Harcourt, Parry Sound; Forbes E. God- 
frey, West York, and John P. Vrooman, Lennox. 
Tue National Alliance for the Increase of the 
French Population has awarded the first prize of | 
50,000 fr. to M. Paul Haury for the best popular 
pamphlet on the decreasing birth rate in France and 
the tragic consequences to the nation. 
Sir RicwarD GLAZEBROOK has been appointed 
chairman in charge of exhibits in pure science at the 
British Empire Exhibition to be held next year in 
London. . 
