1895. • NEWS OF UNIVERSITIES, ETC. 439 



The medals of the Royal Society are awarded as follows: — the Copley Medal 

 to Professor Karl Weierstrass for his investigations in pure mathematics ; a R )yal 

 Medal to Professor J. A. Ewing for his researches on magnetic induction in metals ; 

 a Royal Medal to John Murray of the "Challenger" ; and the Davy Medal to 

 Professor W. Ramsay for his share in the discovery of argon, and for his dis- 

 coveries regarding the gaseous constituents of minerals. 



The following are recommended for election as officers and council for 1896 : — 

 President, Sir Joseph Lister ; Treasurer, Sir John Evans ; Secretaries, Professor 

 Michael Foster and Lord Rayleigh ; Foreign Secretary, Dr. E. Frankland ; other 

 members of the council, W. Crookes, Sir Joseph Fayrer, L. Fletcher, Dr. W. H. 

 Gaskell, Dr. W. Huggins, Lord Kelvin, Professor A. B. W. Kennedy, Professor 

 H. Lamb, Professor E. Ray Lankester, Professor C. Lapworth, Major MacMahon, 

 Professor J. H. Poynting, Professor A. W. Riicker, O. Salvin, Professor Marshall 

 Ward, and Admiral Wharton. 



On the evening of Thursday, October 31, the Royal Society opened its Session 

 with an informal social meeting of Fellows only. The come-as-you-please arrange- 

 ment was much appreciated, and is likely to be repeated. There were a few 

 exhibits, but the main purpose of the evening was conversation. It must have 

 occurred to many people that the rooms and organisation of many of our learned 

 societies might well be utilised a little more for purposes of good-fellowship. The 

 Cosmos Club at Washington broaches a barrel of beer and hands round long clays. 

 With us, early closing is in force, and thirsty ones are put off with the presidential 

 announcement that " tea and coffee are served upstairs." 



Miss Josephine E. Tilden has been awarded the Albert Howard Fellowship 

 for her work on American fresh-water algas. The Baly Medal of the Royal College 

 of Physicians has been awarded to Dr. W. H. Gaskell, of Cambridge. 



The Royal Academy of Belgium offers a gold medal for the best original 

 memoir, written either in French or Flemish, on each of the following subjects : — 

 (i) The intervention of phagocytes in the development of Invertebrata. (2) The 

 phosphates and carbonates in the soil of Belgium, giving the horizons and localities 

 of all minerals referred to. (3) The peripheral nervous system of Amphioxiis, 

 especially the constitution and genesis of the roots of the sensory nerves. (4) The 

 mechanism of the cicatrisation of plants. The manuscripts must be sent to " M. le 

 secretaire perpetuel, au Palais des Academies, Bruxelles," before August i, 1896, 

 signed, not with a pseudonym, but with a device, which must be repeated on a card 

 containing the name and address of the author and sent with the MS. in a sealed 

 ■envelope. We note with pleasure that the Academy insists on exactness of quota- 

 tion : authors must give the editions and pages of the works cited. We recommend 

 this earnestly to our own contributors. 



The Royal Society of New South 'Wales ofTers a medal and a sum of £2^ for 

 the best communications on original research in the following subjects: — "The 

 Origin of Multiple Hydatids in Man"; "The Occurrence of Precious Stones in 

 New South Wales, with a description of the Deposits in which they are found " ; 

 " The Effect of the Australian Climate on the Physical Development of the 

 Australian-born Population"; "The Physiological Action of the Poison of any 

 Austrahan Snake, Spider, or Tick "; "The Chemistry of the Australian Gums and 

 Resins"; "The Embryology and Development of the Echidna or Platypus"; 

 " The Chemical Composition of the Products from the so-called Kerosene Shale of 

 New South Wales " ; " The Mode of Occurrence, Chemical Composition, and Origin 

 of Artesian Water in New South Wales." Particulars can be obtained from the 

 ■honorary secretary, 5 Elizabeth Street, Sydney. 



The Standard and Diggers' News publishes in its number for September 7 

 portraits and biographies of Dr. A. H. Exton (president), Dr. Guybon Atherston 



