288 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



read before the Industrial and Scientific So- 

 ciety of that State, that besides its riches of 

 coal and iron, the State has clays of quality 

 suitable for the manufacture of every kind 

 of brick and stoneware. Tliey are not yet 

 developed, for want of skilled and expe- 

 rienced workmen, and because the world is 

 not acquainted with their qualities. The 

 different clays and their location are fully 

 described in the paper. 



The Arago prize of the French Academy 

 of Sciences has been awarded to Prof. Bar- 

 nard and Prof. Asaph Hall. 



The Geological and Natural History Sur- 

 vey of Minnesota has begun the publication 

 of bulletins embodying from time to time 

 such discoveries as may be made or scien- 

 tific contributions presented as they occur, 

 without waiting for the slower publication 

 of the formal reports. The first of the se- 

 ries of botanical studies, Bulletin No. 9, 

 contains five papers of interest in that 

 branch of the survey. The Bulletin will be 

 continued in occasional parts till a volume is 

 completed, 



OBITUARY NOTES. 



Colonel Alfred Burdon Ellis, com- 

 mander of the successful British expedition 

 against the Sofas in Africa and a valued con- 

 tributor to The Popular Science Monthly, died 

 at Teneriif e, March 5th, of African fever. He 

 was the only surviving son of the late Lieu- 

 tenant-General Sir Samuel Burdon Ellis, and 

 was born in 1852. He entered the British 

 army in 1872, and became a captain in the 

 First West India Regiment in 18Y9, major in 

 1884, and lieutenant-colonel in 1891. During 

 twenty-two years he saw a great deal of ac- 

 tive service in Africa. He served in the 

 Ashantee war and received a medal ; com- 

 manded the Houssa Constabulary in 18*78 ; 

 was employed in the Intelligence Depart- 

 ment during the Zulu war ; was the leader 

 of the expeditions to Tambi (Sierra Leone) 

 and Toniataber (Gambia) in 1892, and for 

 the latter received a medal with clasps ; was 

 civil commandant of Sekondi and Chamer on 

 the Gold Coast in 18Y4, district commander 

 of Quittah in 18*78, and of Accra in 18*79 ; 

 was chief officer of the troops on the Gold 

 Coast in 18S2 and 1S86 ; and was command- 

 ant in the Bahamas in 1889 to 1891, when 

 he was appointed to the command of the 

 troops in West Africa, with the local rank 

 of colonel. In 1892 he administered the 

 government of Sierra Leone. The last of 

 his dispatches concerning the expedition 

 against the Sofas Avas dated January 29, 

 1894. A few days after his return to Sierra 

 Leone from this expedition he was attacked 

 with fever, and was removed to Teneriffe. 

 He was the author of A History of the Gold 

 Coast, The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Gold 

 Coast of West Africa, The Tshi-speaking 

 Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa, 



and of the following articles in The Popular 

 Science Monthly : A Letter on the Lucayan 

 Indians, vol. xxxvi ; The Indwelling Spirits 

 of Men, vol. xxxvi ; On Vodu-worship, vol. 

 xxxviii ; Survivals from Marriage by Capture, 

 vol. xxxix ; On Polyandry, vol. xxxix ; The 

 Great Earthquake of Port Royal, vol. xl ; 

 Marriage and Kinship among the Ancient 

 Israelites, vol. xlii ; and White Slaves and 

 Bond Servants in the Plantations ; besides 

 which we have others on hand awaiting 

 publication. 



Dr. H. C. Georges Pouchet, Professor of 

 Comparative Anatomy in the Museum of 

 Natural History, Paris, died March 29th in 

 that city. He was the son of the F61ix 

 Pouchet who distinguished himself several 

 years ago in the controversy respecting spon- 

 taneous generation, and was born in Rouen 

 in 1833. He became assistant naturalist 

 and head of the anatomical department in 

 1865. He was retired in 1869 in conse- 

 quence of the publication of some article 

 relating to the Museum of the School of 

 Agronomy, but was raised in 1875 to the po- 

 sition he occupied at the time of his death, 

 succeeding Paul Bert. He was the author 

 of numerous works of scientific value, among 

 which were his doctor's thesis on the Colora- 

 tion of the Epidermis and his Traite cVOste- 

 oiogie compare. He was also a writer in 

 literature of considerable productiveness and 

 high reputation. 



Mr. William Pengelly, F. R. S., who 

 recently died in England, was a local geolo- 

 gist of mucti and excellent reputation. He 

 contributed greatly by the results of his per- 

 sonal researches to the work of Lyell, 

 Murchison, and others in establishing Eng- 

 lish geology. He continued the exploration 

 of Kent's Cavern, under the direction of the 

 British Association, through sixteen years. 

 Besides many other geological papers, he 

 prepared, in connection with Dr. Oswald 

 Heer, a monograph on The Lignite Forma- 

 tion of Bovey Tracey, Devonshire. He col- 

 lected and arranged the Devonian fossils of 

 the Pengelly Collection, now at Oxford. He 

 originated the Torquay Natural History So- 

 ciety, and in 1862 founded the Devonshire 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 Literature, and Art. He was Fellow of the 

 Royal and Geological Societies, and an 

 honorary member of the Societe d' Anthro- 

 pologic of Paris. 



Paul Jablochkoff, a distinguished Rus- 

 sian electrician and inventor of the electric 

 lamp which bears his name, died in Saratov, 

 Russia, early in April. He was an officer in 

 the Russian army, and was the first person 

 who succeeded in dividing the electric cur- 

 rent satisfactorily. His system of electric 

 lighting has been used in several cities of 

 Europe, and for a considerable time the 

 great thoroughfares of Paris, near the 

 Opera, were illuminated with his carbons. 



