1893. NEWS OF UNIVERSITIES, ETC. 477 
WE have received the third part of the second volume of the Actes de la Société 
Scientifique du Chili. Dr. Fernand Lataste contributes most of the small zoological 
notes, and another instalment of Borne’s memoir on Latrodectus is published. 
An excellent summary of the work of the Scientific Societies of Australia 
during the past year appears in the recently-issued Year Book of Australia for 1893. 
One new society was founded at Bathurst, New South Wales. 
Tue Cothenius Medal of the German Leopold-Caroline Academy of Naturalists. 
has been awarded to Professor Dr. Adolf Fick of Wurzburg, in acknowledgment of 
his researches in the physiology of muscle. 
THE Geographical Society of Berlin has bestowed the Humboldt medal upon 
Dr. John Murray, of Edinburgh; and the Geographical Society of Paris has 
awarded a gold medal to Dr. Fridjof Nansen. 
THE two gold medals of the Royal Geographical Society have been awarded 
this year to Mr. Frederick C. Selous and Mr. Woodville Rockhill. Mr. Selous is 
the well-known hunter who has contributed so much to our knowledge of the “ big 
game” of Africa. Mr. Rockhill is an American who has made many careful 
surveys of the ‘‘ Land of the Lamas.’’ The other awards of the Society are as 
follows :—The Murchison grant to Mr. R. W. Senior, of the Indian Survey; the 
Gill memorial to Mr. H. O. Forbes, for researches in New Guinea and the Malay 
Archipelago ; and the Cuthbert Peek grant to Mr. Charles Hose for his explorations. 
in Sarawak, Borneo. 
SomE months ago we referred to the fact that the Royal Geographical Society 
had opened its doors to women Fellows. This innovation, which was decided by 
the Council, instead of by a Special General Meeting of the Fellows, was looked upon 
as illegal and outside the jurisdiction of the Council under the Charter. A Special 
General Meeting, therefore, was called on April 24 last toconsider the matter. Some 
250 Fellows were present, and after an animated discussion, the question of admission 
of women as Fellows was negatived by 145 to 104. Although we heartily approve 
of the action of the Fellows, we are sorry to hear of this result, as we feel that the 
women who have been already elected Fellows of the Society have considerably 
more claims to the Fellowship than one-half of the male existing members. There 
has been for some time past much grumbling with regard to the difficulty expe- 
rienced in getting a seat when some distinguished traveller is discoursing for their 
information, the reason being that so many ladies are admitted as visitors that 
numbers of the Fellows themselves are crowded out. Several circumstances 
account for this, one of which is that most of the meetings of the Geographical 
Society partake more of the evening ‘‘ At Home”’ than of the scientific nature. At 
the Annual Meeting of the Society on May 29, we understand that Sir Mountstuart 
Grant-Duff resigns the Presidency, and Mr. Clements Markham is nominated to 
succeed him. 
In the list of fifteen candidates selected this year by the Council of the Royal 
Society of London for election to the Fellowship, Natural Science is represented by 
the following names :—Professor J. Cossar Ewart, Dr. W. T. Gairdner, Sir Henry 
H. Howorth, Mr. E. T. Newton, Mr. C. S. Sherrington, Professor E. C. Stirling, 
Professor J. W. H. Trail, and Dr. A. R. Wallace. The list will be submitted to a 
meeting of the Fellows on June r. 
