416 NEWS [may 



mentioned, with a proviso that, if the conditions were not fulfilled, the land 

 should be held by his heirs in trust for the Royal Society or College of Physi- 

 cians to carry on the garden for the same purpose. The Apothecaries' Company 

 have recently found difficulty in keeping the garden in a proper state of 

 efficiency, and neither the Royal Society nor the College of Physicians were 

 prepared to undertake the trust on the condition of providing funds for its 

 maintenance. The only course then appeared to be to sell the garden and apply 

 the purchase monej 7, on a cypres object, but, happily, the trustees of the London 

 Parochial Charities have come to the rescue and saved the garden." 



It has been decided to execute various special works at Kew Gardens in the 

 course of the present year, including new filter bed, estimated to cost £2700 ; 

 experimental well near the river, £200 ; new frame for Alpine plants, £120, 

 etc. A sum of £200 will be set apart for purchases for the museum. 



We have received a polyglot advertisement of the Ghizeh Zoological Gardens, 

 near Cairo. The collection already includes a fair representation of mammals, 

 birds, and reptiles, including " mongeese " (a plural which we have never had 

 the courage to venture). Among other attractions are over 6 miles of paths 

 (of which over 3| miles are paved with coloured mosaic), the grottoes erected 

 in the time of Ismail Pasha, and over twenty bridges. 



In view of the visit of the British Association to Glasgow in 1901, an effort 

 is being made to draw up complete lists of the Fauna, Flora, and Geological 

 features of the Clyde District. A Natural History sub-committee has been 

 formed and the zoological part of the work has been portioned out among many 

 workers. The convener is Prof. John Young, M.D., the University, Glasgow ; 

 the vice-convener, Prof. Malcolm Laurie, D.Sc, St. Mungo's College. Glasgow ; 

 and the secretary, Rev. G. A. Frank Knight, M.A., Almanarre, Garelochhead. 

 Information is specially desired as to (1) Distribution of Species ; (2) Papers in 

 Magazines, Journals, and Transactions of Societies, which might otherwise be 

 overlooked ; and (3) Names of workers in the different departments who might 

 be willing to assist. 



The area, as arranged by the Committee to be overtaken, is — "the natural 

 drainage area of the Clyde, and of all the sea lochs which form extensions of its 

 estuary." The northern limit, therefore, is the watershed beyond the head of 

 Loch Fyne, and the southern boundary has been defined as a line drawn between 

 the Mull of Cantire and the most southerly point of Ayrshire. It is a big 

 undertaking, but the number of co-operating naturalists is already large, and 

 we may confidently look for a valuable handbook in 1901. 



An international veterinary congress will be held at Baden, August 9-14, 

 1899. The members of the congress will consist of delegates from foreign 

 countries, as well as from the German empire. On the programme it is 

 announced that an attempt will be made to prepare a uniform anatomical 

 nomenclature, of which there is much need. 



Prof. William Somerville, of the Durham College of Science, who is well 

 known as a strenuous representative of the science of agriculture, has made 

 numerous interesting agricultural experiments in the north of England, the 

 results of which have been recently published in a County Council Report. 



Prof. Cossar Ewart gave three lectures on zebras and zebra hybrids at the 

 Royal Institution in April, and among others to follow we may note those on 

 geology, by Prof. W. J. Sollas ; on the atmosphere, by Prof. Dewar ; on water 

 weeds, by Prof. L. C. Miall ; on the structure of the brain in relation to its 

 functions, by Dr. Frederick Walker Mott ; on pictures produced on photo- 

 graphic plates in the dark, by Dr. William James Russell ; on climbs and ex- 

 plorations in the Andes, by Sir William Martin Conway ; and on the discovery 

 of the future, by Mr. H. G. Wells. 



