474 NATURAL SCIENCE. ^^^^^^^ 



Mr. F. a. Bather, of the Geological Department of the British Museum, has 

 been awarded the Rolleston Scholarship for his work on Fossil Crinoids and the 

 Phylogeny of the Cephalopoda. 



In the recently-issued list of Doctors of Science of the University of London 

 are included the names of Mr. Bernard Dyer, the well-known agricultural chemist, 

 and Professor T. Jeffrey Parker, of Otago. 



Mr. J. Bretland Farmer, M.A., Fellow of Magdalen College, O.xford, and 

 Demonstrator of Botany in the University, has been appointed to succeed Dr. Scott 

 as Lecturer on Botany at the Royal College of Science, South Kensington, Dr. Scott 

 having undertaken the charge of the Jodrell Laboratory at the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew. 



Mr. F. a. Bather contributes a paper to the last Report of the Museums 

 Association on the Fossil Crinoids in the British Museum, in which he describes his 

 "attempt to put into practice modern ideas of museum arrangement." He accepts 

 as his rule the American maxim that a museum is a collection of labels illustrated 

 by specimens. The paper mainly consists of a reprint of the thoughtfully prepared 

 labels he has attached to the collection, and will serve as an admirable model for 

 educational museums. He also makes the sensible suggestion that museums should 

 e.xhibit more chairs, and a few light " dumb waiters on wheels " for the use of visitors. 

 He thinks, however, the use of these as go-carts by children should be discouraged. 



We have received from Dr. A. Jentzsch a copy of his " Fiihrer durch die Geolo- 

 gischen Sammlungen des Provinzialmuseums der Physikalisch-Oekonoraischen 

 Gesellschaft zu Konigsberg." This is a pamphlet of 104 pages, illustrated by 75 

 process blocks, and two stratigraphical tables. The guide serves as an admirable 

 summary of the general geology and palaeontology of Eastern Prussia. The most 

 important collections in the Museum are the amber plants, and the inter-glacial 

 mollusca and plants. In the preface short reference is made- to the history of the 

 Museum and the principal collections it contains. We wish other German museums 

 would follow Dr. Jentzsch's example. 



The third part of the second volume of the Journal of the Marine Biological 

 Association contains several papers of much practical value. The most important is 

 a report by Mr. J. T. Cunningham, " On the rate of growth of some sea fishes, and 

 the age and size at which they begin to breed." The paper is a somewhat long one, 

 and is crowded with statistics respecting the cod, flounder, dab, sole, herring, sprat, 

 pilchard, anchovy, &c. The most interesting addition to the fauna of the Plymouth 

 district is a Siphonophore, which was comparatively abundant last autumn, and 

 even worked its way into the Sound ; it is described by Mr. Cunningham as a new 

 species, Mugf^i-sa atlantica, and has affinities with a species living round the Canary 

 Isles. Mr. Hughes is still continuing his experiments on artificial bait, but, so far, 

 with few practical results. 



While the National Laboratory at Plymouth is naturally devoting most of its 

 attention towards problems having an economic bearing, the Liverpool Marine 

 Biological Association is continuing its splendid work on the fauna and flora of the 

 Irish Sea. As the Association's old station at Puffin Island was rather inconvenient 

 of access, and as five |years' steady work has nearly exhausted the fauna of the 

 limited shores of that island, headquarters have now been removed to Port Erin, at 



