1899] NEWS 89 



On December 3rd Mr. J. Arthur Thomson lectured to the Edinburgh Health 

 Society on "Facts of Inheritance" ; on December 11th Dr. Richard J. A. Berry 

 lectured on " The Nervous System, its Uses and Abuses " ; and the course closed 

 on December 17th with a lecture by Dr. George R. Wilson on "Rational 

 Enjoyment." The previous lectures in this (the fifteenth) course were on the 

 following subjects: — "Crime," by Lieut.-Col. M'Hardy, Chairman, Prison 

 Commissioners for Scotland ; " Corpulence," by Dr. J. C. Dunlop ; " Lord 

 Lister and his Work," by Mr. Alexander Miles ; " Milk as a Vehicle for the 

 Spread of Disease," by Dr. James Foulis. The last-named has been the 

 subject of a prolonged and animated discussion in the Scotsman. 



On the 28th November, Mr. C. W. Andrews of the Natural History 

 Department, British Museum, gave a lecture before the Royal Geographical 

 Society on his recent exploration of Christmas Island, the lovely islet which 

 lies in the Indian ocean about 190 miles south of Java, It rises from the 

 summit of a submarine ridge separating two great abysses, the western ex- 

 tremity of the ridge forming the Keeling or Cocos Islands. The climate is 

 delightful, the vegetation luxuriant, the fauna fairly rich, including some new 

 birds and mammals. But it is in its rich deposits of phosphate of lime that the 

 wealth of the island chiefly consists. 



The following are among the lecture arrangements at the Royal Institution 

 before Easter : — Sir Robert Ball, 6 lectures (adapted to young people) on 

 Astronomy ; Professor E. Bay Lankester, 10, on " The Morphology of the 

 Mollusca " ; Mr. A. Henry Savage Landor, 3, on " Tibet and the Tibetans " ; 

 Dr. Allan Macfadyen, 4, on " Toxins and Antitoxins " ; The Bt. Hon. Lord 

 Bayleigh, 7, on the " Mechanical Properties of Bodies." The Friday evening 

 meetings will begin on January 20, when a discourse will be delivered 

 by Professor Dewar on Liquid Hydrogen. 



The year 1899 is the Centenary year of the Royal Institution, and arrange- 

 ments are being made with a view to its celebration in a fitting manner. 



Mr. P. W. Christian, who has spent much time in Samoa and other Pacific 

 islands, and has made a study of Polynesian dialects, lectured at Eton College 

 on October 29. That which most took the fancy of his hearers was his account 

 of how he introduced cricket into several of the islands. The population takes 

 such an interest in the matches that the partisans of the losing side try to loot 

 the houses of the winners. Result, a free fight. Another feature of the game 

 is that every able-bodied man has an innings. Hence a match lasts for many 

 weeks, which, considering its usual termination, may be considered fortunate. 



Sven Hedin is classifying his geological specimens, which he will present to 

 the High School of Stockholm, and is preparing a detailed account of his journey 

 from Kathgar to Khotan for Petermann's Mittlteilungen. His archaeological 

 collection and manuscripts will be arranged by Professor Grunwedel, and 

 exhibited in the Berlin Museum, whilst Dr. Ekholm is dealing with the meteoro- 

 logical notes. The maps and charts, covering 552 sheets, have been confided 

 for enlargement and reproduction to Justus Perthes, of Gotha. Dr. Hedin 

 proposes to start on his next journey of Asian exploration about the middle of 

 1899. He intends to cross the Taklamakan desert twice, thoroughly explore 

 one of the largest rivers of Turkestan, and again study the interesting Lob Nor 

 problem. The most important part of the work will, however, be explorations 

 in the north and interior parts of Tibet. Dr. Hedin hopes to be able to spend 

 a winter in some of the highest alpine regions of Tibet at a height of about 

 15,000 feet. Then he will pay a visit to the new Viceroy of India, and will 

 return over Himalaya, Karakoram, and Kashgar. Dr. Hedin will again go 

 alone, and he calculates that his three years' travel will cost no more than 

 £2500. 



