3i8 



NATURE 



fVlAV 4. I'll I 



The influL-ncc of modern faciliti»» of coiiiijuini. ation on th«- 

 •pread of the dlaease if infUtcd upon a» ct>ni.tituting a 

 factor acting against and aometimffs having greater eff«*ct 

 than the rfiourcM of modern «anit.irv *. i.nco In som** 

 regions. 



At a meeting of the Kfsrnrch IV'ji.u im- m ./I Ui.,- k«», .il 

 Geographical Society on April 27, Mr. A. R. Hink» dis- 

 cussed recent progress in geodesy. Invar tapes and wires 

 have revohj lionised base measurement ; gravity surveys 

 have been carried out over large areas, while abnormalities 

 of gravity in more restricted regions have been determin«f! 

 with remarkable accuracy by the torsion balance; arcs of 

 meridian have recently been measured in Spitsbergen, 

 Africa, and Peru. In view of so much activity in 

 geodetic work, it is to be regretted that so little has been 

 done of late years in the United Kingdom. The measure- 

 ment of an arc of meridian and a detailed gravity survey 

 were instanced as pitx-es of work which should be carried 

 out in these islands, and discussion on th»"i»» matters was 

 invited. 



A Reuter message '— ^\dne> - that the 



schooner Kainan Maru. f the Japanese Antarctic 



Expedition, arrived there on April 30, the object of the 

 expedition having been abandoned. The vessel, which left 

 New Zealand in February for the Antarctic continent, was 

 obliged to turn back on account of the ice packs and ice- 

 bergs which she encountered, and reached Coulman 

 Island, off the coast of Victoria Land. The decision of 

 the explorers to abandon the attempt to reach the Pole 

 was also influenced by the fact that ten of the twelve 

 Eskimo dogs which were to have been used to pull the 

 sledges succumbed to the cold. After cruising in the 

 vicinity of Coulman Island for four days, the Kainan Maru 

 set out for Sydney. A Reuter message from Hamburg 

 reports that preparations are complete for the departure 

 of the German Antarctic Expedition on May 3 on board 

 the 598-ton barque Deutschland. The vessel will go first 

 to Bremerhaven, whence she will start for Buenos Aires 

 on May 7. 



W'l; regret to announce the death, on April 28, in his 

 lifty-ihird year, of Dr. J. Tatham Thompson, the well- 

 known ophthalmic surgeon of Cardiff. He had suffered 

 for many months from a painful and incurable illness. Dr. 

 Thompson was born at York, educated at Booth am School 

 in that city, and received his medical training at the 

 University of Edinburgh, where he had a distinguished 

 career and graduated M.B., CM., in the year 1885. For 

 some time he acted as assistant to the late Dr. .Argyll 

 Robertson, of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and after- 

 wards he obtained the appointment of ophthalmic surgeon 

 to the Edinburgh Western Dispensary. During his stay 

 in Edinburgh, he was distinguished by his artistic abilities, 

 and many of the drawings in Berry's " Diseases of the 

 Eye " were from his clever pencil. Dr. Thompson, how- 

 ever, soon went to South Wales, where he obtained the 

 appointment of ophthalmic surgeon to the Cardiff 

 Infirmary, which he held for many years. During this 

 time his pen was seldom idle. He found time to write 

 upon many ophthalmic subjects, including the influence of 

 school life upon eyesight, nystagmus among Welsh miners, 

 and the removal of foreign bodies from the interior of the 

 eye by the aid of the magnet. At the time of his death 

 Dr. Thompson was one of the vice-presidents of the 

 Ophthalmol<^ical Society of the United Kingdom. 



The death is announced of Dr. F. J. C. Terby, who 

 worked long and assiduously to promote astronomical 



NO. 2166, VOL. 86] 



sicienre. In a pr; h-.- torj*' 



at I^ouvain, he n. -al of 8 



aperture, and employed i; ai-iinly and ust-fully ii 

 of the surface marking* <>( tlje planets. Mars ; 

 interested him. and h*- made a careful discussion ui u 

 physical feature* of this planet, recorded from the tim* < 

 Fontana. This is a x'ery valuable contribution to o' 

 tional history. It puts into the hands of astronoov 

 accurate and ready summ.iry of a great anK>unt of «! 

 information, acquired by industry and sifted with 

 gence. His observations of Venus appear to have be ■■ 

 accurate and systematic, supporting Schiaparelli's view <• 

 the coincidence of the period of rotation with that o( 

 revolution. As an amateur astronomer, comets naturalU 

 attracted his attention, and the record of his ob«--r\ 

 of the physical features of many Will be found in th'- ; .. 

 of the Memoirs of. the Royal Academy of Belgium and w 

 the Bulletins. Of late years his observations appear t • 

 have been less frequent, probably on account of ill-i 

 but for many years he worked zealously, and his m 

 should be treasured as of one who laboured to inspir- 

 others with enthusiasm, and to nir>k.- th" «-;pn... ..) 

 astronomy respected. 



The Times records the death of Mr. lltnr\ SilK-rrcn, at 

 his residence in Cavendish Road, Harringay, on April 25. 

 Mr. Scherren had been a Carthusian monk, but abandoned 

 his orders in the year 1878, and subsequently resided in 

 IxMidon, where he devoted himself to journalism, more 

 especially in regard to its natural history side. One of his 

 favourite subjects was the zoological gardens of Europe, on 

 which he wrote many articles, the last appearing in The 

 Field of April 29, after his death. He also wrote an 

 interesting history of the Zoological Society of London, 

 of which he was elected a fellow in 1889. .Among his 

 contributions to zoology may be mentioned an account of 

 the early history of Gravy's zebra, and another of the 

 giraffe presented to King George IV. Mr. Scherren was 

 born at Weymouth in 1842, and educated at the Romanist 

 College at Mill Hill. For a period of twenty years he 

 was in the employ of Messrs. Cassell, during which he 

 acted as sub-editor of their " Encyclopa?dic Dictionary." 

 He also wrote for The Leisure Hour and other journals. 



Three letters have recently appeared in The Times 

 (.\pril 24. 25, 27) relating to a mysterious heraldic animal 

 known as the "jail" or "call," of which the effigy has 

 been recognised in St. George's Chapel, Westminster, on 

 a stall-plate supporting the arms of John Duke of Somer- 

 set, 1440. Later, the jail appeared among the Sovereign's 

 cognizances. .Although described as having horns, tusks, 

 and a short fluffy tail, the jail has been identified with the 

 goat, but the Rev. H. F. Westlake, custodian of West- 

 minster .\bbey, adopts the view that it was " the " ante- 

 lope. In an old document quoted by Mr. G. C. Druce, 

 the eall is stated to be as large as a horse, with a tail 

 like that of an elephant, goat-like jaws, and horns capable 

 of movement, its colour being black. Other accounts 

 state, however, that it has jaws like a wild boar and cloven 

 hoofs. It may be suggested, if the beast ever had cor- 

 poreal existence, that the African wart-hog may have 

 formed the <Kiginal type, that animal having a black hide, 

 cloven hoofs, an elephant-like tail, large tusks, and big 

 face-warts which might perhaps be regarded -■; ' ' <*'.c 

 horns. 



Much interest attaches to the description, by Mr. O. 

 Thomas at the meeting of the Zoological Society on 

 .April 25, of a new form of takin from the Tsin-lin range 

 of southern Shen-si, Central China. The typical Mishmi 



