May 4, 191 1] 



NATURE 



19 



takin (Budorcas taxicolor) is a dark-coloured animal with 

 a large tawny area — traversed by a black spinal stripe — 

 on the back. In the Sze-chuen takin {B. tibetanus) nearly 

 the whole of the upper parts, exclusive of the face and 

 ears, which are black, have become either golden-yellow 

 or whitish-grey, and this tendency to the development of 

 yellow culminates in the new Tsin-lin takin, in which all 

 the black has disappeared, so that the whole fur, which is 

 very long, is a beautiful golden-yellow. Mr. Thomas has 

 named this takin Budorcas bedfordi, in honour of the Duke 

 of Bedford, who is defraying the cost of the expedition 

 which resulted in its acquisition. Whether the three forms 

 are regarded as distinct species or as colour phases of one 

 species, they are of great interest as showing the evolution 

 of a golden from a black and chocolate type of colouring. 

 What renders this the,, more remarkable is the fact that a 

 similar development occurs in the case of the snub-nosed 

 monkeys (Rhinopithecus), in which the comparatively low 

 Mekon species is slate-coloured, while the elevated Sze- 

 chuen form is bright golden-yellow. 



The second Irish Road Congress, held in Dublin on 

 April 19, 20, and 21, attracted a large attendance of 

 members, most of whom were men actually engaged in 

 the construction and maintenance of Irish roads. The 

 work of the congress was divided into three sections, deal- 

 ing respectively with the laws and procedure relating to 

 road construction, statistics, &c. ; road construction and 

 maintenance ; and modes of locomotion. Twenty-five 

 papers were submitted, mainly of a practical nature ; but 

 the chief subject dealt with in the discussions was the 

 treatment of Ireland by the newly constituted Road Board, 

 the general opinion of the members finding expression in 

 a unanimous resolution to the effect that, in allocating 

 the funds at its disposal, the Board had not carried out 

 the avowed intentions of the sponsors of the Development 

 and Road Improvement Act in Parliament, viz. that the 

 proceeds of the special taxes raised with this object would 

 be distributed without reference to the sources from which 

 the money was drawn. The address of the president, Mr. 

 P. J. O'Neill, J. P., chairman. General Council of County 

 Councils, was almost entirely confined to this aspect of 

 the road question, and gave the key-note to the proceed- 

 ings ; but the discussions, in which Sir George Gibb, presi- 

 dent of the Road Board, and Colonel Crompton, consult- 

 ing engineer to that body, took part, also included sub- 

 jects of practical importance, such as the testing of 

 materials, direct labour as opposed to the contract system, 

 and the effect of motor traffic on the roads. 



At a meeting of the Royal Dublin Society held on 

 April 25, the Boyle medal of the society was presented to 

 Prof. John Joly, F.R.S. A report upon his work was read 

 1)\ Dr. j. M. Purser, and some of the subjects mentioned 

 in il are here summarised. Prof. Joly's researches deal 

 with physics, geology, mineralogy, botany, and biological 

 theory. In 1886 Joly published the method of condensation 

 in calorimctry, and investigated the specific heats of 

 minerals. He also determined the specific heats of gases 

 at constant volume. By the meldometer he determined the 

 fusion points of minerals, and showed the use of the 

 instrument in carrying out reactions of pyrochemistry. He 

 drtrrminnd the volume change of rocks and minerals on 

 fii-inn. Ill' also invented the incandescent electric furnace. 

 Joly advanced a physical theory on the origin of the canals 

 of Mars, accounting for the linear markings on the planet. 

 In i8g6, he invented a method of colour-photography" to 

 rrproduce with accuracy the colours of nature on a trans- 

 parent plate. In i8<)8 he showed how the sodium content 

 of the ocean could be used as a measure of geological time. 

 NO, 2166, VOL. 86] 



The theory of sedimentation has also been advanced by his 

 researches on electrolytic precipitation. By many researches 

 he has laid the sciences of petrology and mineralogy under 

 obligations to him. We would specially notice his invention 

 of a polariser whereby the value of birefringence as a means 

 of identification is increased, and his application of the 

 microscope to the determination of the quality of paving- 

 sets and road-metal. In connection with radioactivity, he 

 has advanced our knowledge of the properties of radio-active 

 substances. His explanation of Pleochroic Haloes in rocks 

 as due to radioactivity leads to conclusions as to the non- 

 existence of alpha-radiation from common elements. By 

 the determination of the thorium content of rocks, he has 

 established a mean value for its distribution in the surface- 

 materials of the earth. 



The council of the Institution of Civil Engineers has 

 made the following awards for papers read and discussed 

 during the session 1910-11 : — ^Telford gold medals to Mr. 

 W. J. Wilgus (New York) and Mr. J. Walker Smith 

 (Edinburgh) ; a George Stephenson gold medal to Mr. 

 Philip Dawson (London) ; Telford premiums to Messrs. 

 G. W. Humphreys (London), H. K. G. Bamber (Green- 

 hithe), A. E. Carey (London), William Dawson (Crewe), 

 and C. S. R. Palmer (London) ; and the Trevithick 

 premium to Mr. A. T. Blackall i(Reading). 



At the annual general meeting of the Institution of 

 Civil Engineers, held on April 25, the result of the ballot 

 for the election of officers was declared as follows : — 

 President, Dr. W. C. Unwin (London) ; vice-presidents, 

 Mr. R. Elliott-Cooper (London), Mr. A. G. Lyster (Liver- 

 pool), Mr. B. Hall-Blyth (Edinburgh), and Mr. J. Strain 

 (Glasgow) ; other members of council, Mr. J. A. F. 

 -Aspinall (Liverpool), Mr. J. A. Brodie (Liverpool), Mr. 

 W. B. Bryan (London), Colonel R. E. B. Crompton, C.B. 

 (London), Mr. W. Davidson (Australasia), Mr. J. M. Dob- 

 son (London), Mr. H. F. Donaldson, C.B. (London), Mr. 

 E. B. Ellington (London), Mr. Maurice Fitzmaurice, 

 C.M.G. (London), Mr. J. P. Griffith (Ireland), Dr. C. A. 

 Harrison (Newcastle-on-Tyne), Mr. W. Hunter (London), 

 Mr. G. R. Jebb (Birmingham), Mr. H. E. Jones (London), 

 Mr. E. H. Keating (Canada), Sir Wm. Thos. Lewis, Bart., 

 K.C.V.O. (Aberdare), Sir Thomas Matthews (London), 

 Mr. W. Henry Maw (London), Hon. C. A. Parsons, C.B. 

 (Wylam-on-Tyne), Mr. F. E. Robertson, CLE. (London), 

 Mr. Alexander Ross (London), Mr. J. W. Shores, C.M.G. 

 (South Africa), Hon. F. J. E. Spring, CLE. (India), Sir 

 Philip Watts, K.C.B. (London), Mr. W. B. Worthington 

 (Derby), and Mr. A. F. Yarrow (Glasgow). This council 

 will take office on the first Tuesday in November. 



American scholars are at present busily engaged in 

 exploring the materials for the study of the history of 

 their continent which are stored in the record-rooms of 

 Europe. A useful contribution to this inquiry is the cata- 

 logue of the Italian documents, which has been prepared 

 by Prof. C R. Fish, and recently published by the 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington. Students of the 

 history of countries other than .America will be interested 

 in the descriptions of the manuscript collections at the 

 Vatican, the Propaganda Ude, and other repositories at 

 Rome, Naples, Venice, Turin, and Florence, with the con- 

 ditions under which they are available for examination. 



In one of those comprehensive discussions of special 

 anthropological problems, of which the French reviews 

 hold an almost complete monopoly, M. B. P. Van der Voo 

 in the April issue of La Revue des Idees examines the 

 origin in the belief in metempsychosis. Finding its origin 

 to lie in the same group of conceptions which include the 



