420 



NATURE 



[May 25, 191 1 



and methods introduced by him have passed through 

 the H'.\t-bt»oks into the electrolechnic practice. 



In the time that separates this period of experi- 

 mental activity from its resumption in 1873 fall ten 

 years devoted to the organisation of secondary educa- 

 tion and the re-organisation of the higher technical 

 instruction in Holland, which have proved a great 

 boon to tiie country. Tlie secondary schools have 

 spread enlightenment everywliere, and, providing 

 everywhere the preparatory instruction necessary for 

 attending the polytechnicum, they laid the foundation 

 for the development which technics have taken in 

 Holland. Equipped as they were by Bosscha's influ- 

 ence with pliysical and chemical laboratories, they 

 li.ivi' since attracted to science the greater number 

 oi the men of the present generation that have devoted 

 their life to it. Though absorbed in this very success- 

 ful organising work, Uosscha found time for his dis- 

 cussion of Regnault's measurements, which added 

 much to the value of these classical researches. 



Professor since 187J, and director of the Polytech- 

 nicum at Delft since 1878, Bosscha found the oppor- 

 tunity to continue his efforts for the reorganisation 

 and development of this institution. He was foremost 

 among those who raised its status to that of a tech- 

 nical university, what it afterwards became officially. 

 Bosscha's clear and fascinating lectures live in the 

 grateful memory of broad circles of his pupils. He 

 was the acknowledged master in criticism of experi- 

 mental methods. To have felt the influence of his 

 insight, inspiration, and high aims was to be full of 

 admiration and gratitude for one's life. The main 

 scientific work undertaken by Bosscha in this period 

 was in relation with the new Dutch standard metres; 

 an investigation of Fizeau's focussing method was 

 the starting point for a study which led him to the 

 development of a complete theory of centred optical 

 systems. The series of Bosscha's metrological re- 

 searches will always be regarded as a masterpiece of 

 scientific work of precision. 



To uphold Holland's honour in the domain of 

 science was Bosscha's constant aim all his life. 

 Having accepted in 1885 the secretaryship of 

 llu' Dutch Society of Sciences at Haarlem, he 

 l)eiamr the soul of this institution. His mani- 

 fold occupations — it will suffice to mention the 

 reorganisation of the Dutch Meteorological Service — 

 were all directed to the promotion of science, the ex- 

 tension of its influence, and the increase of sympathy 

 for Dutch science abroad. Working to the end of his 

 life with unimpaired power of thought, vivacity. of 

 appreciation, and glowing love for what was right, 

 serving science with his enthusiasm and eloquence, he 

 was always honoured by the Dutch physicists as their 

 leader. The last years of his life were devoted to 

 the edition of Huygens's correspondence and works. 

 To his literary talents and his passionate love for 

 historical justice we owe many vivid pictures of past 

 scientific life. As to Huygens, it may be said that 

 he was resuscitated by Bosscha, and no less talents 

 than his were needed to get all from Huygens's hand 

 presented to the scientific world in a forrn correspond- 

 ing to Huygens's greatness. 



Bosscha's increasing veneration for Huygens was 

 well in harmony with his own searching love for truth, 

 his aristocratic turn of mind, and his profound sense 

 of beauty. He combined great courage and force of 

 mind with an almost childlike simplicity and trustful- 

 ness and an infectious optimism. We lose in him a 

 noble, frank character, and a friend to w^hom one 

 never went without being warmed bv his kind affection 

 and stimulated by his faith that the future belongs to 

 the great ideas. 



H. Kamerlingh Onnbs. 

 NO. 2169, VOL. 86] 



fiOTES. 

 Dr. Fredrric A. Lucas has been appointed to Buccee<i 

 Dr. H. C. Bumpus as director of the American Mu- : 

 of Natural History, New York, and will take ofii. 

 Juno 15. The new director, who is now in li' 

 year, has been chief curator of the Brooklyn I: 

 .Arts and Sciences since 1904. He had prcvioui>!\ >. r-. ! 

 for twenty-two years in vark>us potts in the U.S. Nnti .p 1 

 .Museum at Washington. As an author he is Iv 

 for his books and papers on palaeontok>g)' and c>. 

 anatomy, as well as on museum methods. 



Prof. Ugo Monuello, director of the geoph>>i<.i! 

 observatory at Leghorn, has accepted the post of dip'ior 

 of the Observatorjo Regional do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 



Lord Curzon of Kedlestos has been elected president 

 of the Royal Geographical Society in succession to .M.ijor 

 Leonard Darwin. Captain H. G. L^ns, F.R.S., has l»-«ri 

 appointed one of the honorary secretaries, and Sir G. D. 

 Taubman Goldie, F.R.S., the foreign secretary, of thf; 

 society. 



The Hanbury mcdai ot the I'harmacfuticai ?>ocieiy for 

 191 1 has been awarded to M. Jean Eugene L^^ger, of 

 Paris. The new medallist is chief pharmacist to the 

 Ii6pital St. Louis at Paris, and a member of the com- 

 mittee of revision of the French pharmacc^Keia. 



Dr. J. G. Frazer (author of " The Golden Bough," 

 &c.) has been elected a member of the philosophical- 

 historical section of the Royal .Academy of <. ;.n^..c .^f 

 Berlin. 



We regret to have to record that at the raris-.Madrid 

 aeroplane race at Issy-les-Moulineaux on Sunday last a 

 deplorable accident occurred, causing the death of M. 

 Berteaux, the French Minister of War, and severe injuries 

 to M. Monis, the French Prime Minister. It appears that 

 one of the competitors in the race, M. Train, finding that 

 neither the engine nor rudder of his machine was working 

 satisfactorily, decided to descend, and in endeavouring to 

 avoid coming into contact with a detachment of cuirassiers 

 and the spectators, dashed into the group of Ministers and 

 their party, who only came into the aviator's view as the 

 cuirassiers rode clear of the group, with the lam*>ntahl. 

 result given above. 



We announce with deep regret the death, on ^aturday 

 last, at the age of eighty-seven years, of Dr. N. Story- 

 Maskelyne, F.R.S. 



We regret to notice the death, which took place on 

 Monday last, of Mrs. W. P. Fleming, the curator ••! 

 astronomical photographs at Harvard. 



The death is announced of Prof. B. Peter, for many 

 years the first assistant at the Leipzig Obseryatory. Prof. 

 Peter was born at Weida, in Saxe Weimar, in 1853, and 

 studied medicine at the University of Jena, but his liking 

 for mathematics and natural science led him to accept a 

 position, under Prof. Karl Bruns, at the Leipzig Obser\-a- 

 tory in 1876. Six years later he was advanced to the posi- 

 tion of first observer, and in 1899 was named professor 

 of practical astronomy, holding both posts until his death. 



Mr. Robert Service, who has just died at Dumfries, 

 was one of the best naturalists in Scotland. His pro- 

 fession of nurseryman and seedsman prevented his attend- 

 ing a university, and also involved close attention to busi- 

 ness for every working day. Nevertheless, he knew 

 intimately the haunts of every bird in the south of Scot- 

 land. Not only so, but he thoroughly understood 



